Hole in My Heart Podcast

We do! Who is Steve? Who is Laurie? Who is Matt?  Today, we are going to get to know the people behind the microphones.  Steve shares his story of depression, feeling inauthentic, and finding hope in Jesus in the midst of addiction. Matt offers his journey of depression and subsequent porn addiction in marriage. Laurie shares how she learned to trust Matt again after his deception and addiction, a...

You guysssss!!!!! After over a year off of the air, the Hole in My Heart Podcast is back!!! We are back and we got a shiny new studio and some awesome new friends who are producing this thing. Through a new partnership with West Michigan’s 91.3 WCSG, the Hole in My Heart Podcast has the opportunity to reach more people with the truth that the gospel is good news for *everyone* every day. (!!) Toda...

Well, dear family, we have an announcement. What is it? First, let's hang out for a while, and talk about... How did that "word for the year" go for you? In light of that reality, how has the gospel been uniquely good news for you this year? What is coming next for the podcast and our ministry in 2022? We'd love for you to sit at the podcast table one more time with us. :)   //Highlights: "If you...

The ugly truth has just come out: One spouse has just confessed to unfaithfulness and the other is reeling in shock. Where do we go from here? Is there hope for a marriage in crisis? Does Jesus have something to say to this place? We are thrilled to bring back our friends Johnny and Amanda McKenna, who have been in this place and walked through—with Jesus’ help—to the other side. Give it a listen?...

Did you know that CS Lewis’ lifelong best friend was gay? Did you know that Francis Schaeffer was against orientation-change pursuit for gay people? Did you know that Billy Graham was a compassionate defender of gay people who fell into sexual sin? Did you know that John Stott encouraged the church to “repent of the crippling ‘homophobia’… which has coloured the attitudes toward homosexual people...

In a world of pain, identity can be hard to find. With a diagnosis of PTSD, it can be even harder. How do we navigate knowing who we are—and equally important, who God is, in a world that assaults us with lies day in and day out? How do we do that with trauma? With cheerfulness and grace, Bonnie Gray tells her story and helps to answer these questions. Listen with us? // Highlights: “If you go thr...

Emotional health is something that can feel elusive and impossible. But is it? And even if "attaining" total emotional health on this side of eternity is unlikely, what steps can we take to at least walk toward it? And why do we need to? With the wisdom and tenderness of a kind father figure, pastor and author, Pete Scazerro, helps us answer some of our questions about the pursuit of emotional hea...

Sometimes, God wants to use counseling to help us heal. Sometimes, it’s the Bible. Sometimes, it’s the powerful word from a dear friend. Sometimes, it’s prayer. Sometimes (oftentimes?), it’s all of the above. When Michelle Kyle and I (Laurie) met together for coaching, she said she felt “stuck.” I didn’t know if I could help her get unstuck, but using a prayer technique I have been engaging for 15...

This is another episode we would pay you to listen to if we could.  Do you approach your friendships, your work, or the pain in your life more as the orphan, the stranger, or the widow?  Don’t know what that means? We didn’t either until we read “Redeeming Heartache” and then talked with the brilliant psychologist, Dr. Dan Allender, and to our new wise friend, author and therapist Cathy Loerzel. D...

Without unnecessary clutching of our metaphorical pearls, when we look around, it does seem like there is something going on spiritually when it comes to an attack on the human body. What’s going on? Pastor and author Sam Allberry, a friend of the show and author of the new book “What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves” helps us answer this questio...

Desires: We all have ‘em. And sometimes they really get in our way. What are we supposed to do about this? Does Jesus care about our desires? Does He value them? As our good friend Curt Thompson points out, Jesus first question in the gospel of John is, “What do you want?” Clearly, our desires matter to God. How and why? Listen with us to find out. // Highlights: “Jesus’ assumption is that what I...

How many people do you know who currently feel slightly-to-very discouraged about their faith? Do you have a sense that the Bible could be a great help, but you don’t want to come across as legalistic or dismissive of their struggles? How do you walk alongside your friends? (Or, how do you walk alongside yourself if you’re struggling with cracking the Bible?) Author, podcaster, and Bible teacher T...

“I’ve thought, ‘I don't know if I can do this, I don't know if I'm good enough or talented enough or whatever,’ but never had I thought [before that moment], ‘I don't know if I want to,’ because I really knew the price of going forward.” —Christine Caine The first time we had this conversation with anti-human trafficking activist and internationally sought-after speaker and author Christine Caine,...

Real talk: When we think about raising our little kids in a porn-saturated world, we want to raze the whole broken system to the ground. That we even have to have this conversation plain ol’ stinks. (Darn you, Fall of Man!)  Then, we start to brainstorm: How long can I keep porn away from our kids? (Forever?) What if they have already discovered it? (Am I the worst parent?) How early are we suppos...

So...shame. It's talked about quite frequently and often with rightful animosity, but have you ever considered there might be some good types of shame? Buckle your seatbelt as we engage the three types of shame and why they are so important--not just when engaging the LGBT+ conversation, but anyone's life. Matt, Laurie, and Steve also dive into how the rest of SEASON FIVE will look, and why they a...

Engaging conversations on race or sexuality is a hard, holy task. As Christians, we don’t always do it well, even if our hearts are in the right place. Are these conversations the same? How are they different? Can we advocate justice and unity without endorsing what is not God’s best? And how do we do this with our friends? Stephanie Thole entered into this conversation with extraordinary grace an...

Sometimes, we need the cold water bucket of siblinghood thrown over our heads and our questions. What happens when we feel attraction toward our friends? What if we become enmeshed with other people? How do we guard against turning inward rather than outward, and encourage one another to continue on mission with Jesus? Rachel Gilson shares her story and the beauty of being family in Christ in real...

After witnessing three excommunications of leaders in the church, Brad Klaver vowed that he would never share his same-sex attractions with anyone. The Holy Spirit had other plans. After over a decade of pastoring and marriage, God brought Brad face to face with himself—and it changed his life forever. Will you join us as we listen again to this beautiful story of gospel transformation? I Highligh...

Guys! We’re back with this highly requested conversation with our REAL LIFE FRIENDS Johnny and Amanda. What happens when a pastor suffers addiction in silence? What happens when he has an affair? What happens when health problems keep a couple from having sex? Is there hope for marriages that go through these things? Johnny and Amanda are here to say YES! God is a God of redemption and their story...

We are thrilled to be revisiting the Broken and Beloved Pastors series! In the next three episodes, we’ll hear the stories of three pastors who are, like all of us, “more loved than we can imagine and more sinful than we believe.” What happens when a pastor wrestles with gender dysphoria? What happens when the same pastor is called to bring that wrestling into the light, in his marriage and with h...

The gender conversation today is swirling with confusion and hurt for everyone involved. How do we as Christians enter into this conversation? Today, we revisit a conversation with Heather Skriba, who, having wrestled with gender dysphoria her whole life, has a compassionate and truthful perspective on this issue. We’re thrilled to share this episode once again! Join us! I Highlights I “God never...

So often, sexuality brings shame right on its heels. How can we banish it? How can we heal? Join us today as we revisit this conversation with Dr. Dan Allender to learn how stepping into the light and grace of Jesus can heal our shame when it comes to sexuality. ***Heads up: We do address sexual trauma in this episode, though not graphically. If this is part of your story or that of someone close...

As Laurie says, “We’re kind of lament-obsessed around here.” It’s true. And it made running this episode a second time an easy choice for this series. Since the first time this episode ran, there is still pain and brokenness in our lives, and we need a place to take it. Cue Mark Vroegop, ushering us to the feet of Jesus with this spiritual practice that truly has revolutionized our lives. Will you...

Welcome to TAKE TWO of Exploring Our Souls of Shame! Rerunning this episode was an obvious choice because we *all* deal with shame. Curt Thompson beautifully describes not only the experience of shame, but also its antidote: Jesus. Join us as we learn resilience and joy in this brilliant conversation! I Highlights I “The gospel–if it is good news–does not begin with ‘I am more sinful than I believ...

Welcome to the first episode of our Take Two series! It was so hard to choose episodes to highlight over the past four (FOUR?!) seasons, but we’ve narrowed it down to a few that we’ll show you over the next several weeks. This episode discusses Chapter 5 of Francis and Lisa Chan’s book, *You and Me Forever*, as well as some of the good and hard of Matt and Laurie’s own story! Get ready for a good...