On The Trail

Happy Easter Week! Your sense of identity is deeper than what you can express in words. Last week we talked about the Fast Track of the brain that processes some of this nonverbal understanding. This week, we're looking at the brain's "mirror neurons" to deepen this understanding. Mirror neurons learn about "me" by looking at "you." This is one of the reasons why community and relationships with p...

How Do I Know Who I Am? - The Fast Track to Identity On the Trail Podcast: Season 3, Episode 22 How did God design our brain to form our sense of identity? In a new microseries, we're talking about our neurotheological identity. Our primary goal this episode is to understand that our brains operate not only at the speed of conscious thought but also faster than conscious thought. How does this "fa...

Breakthrough in Discipleship On the Trail Podcast: Season 3, Episode 21 Are you looking for breakthrough in your discipleship journey? This week we are contextualizing the BUILD Model of Breakthrough within the FISH Model of Discipleship. What does it look like to walk in your freedom and identity in Christ, in the Spirit, in Scripture, and in heart-focused community while addressing the physical...

Build Your Plan for Breakthrough  On the Trail Podcast: Season 3, Episode 20 Are you looking for breakthrough in an area of your life? Are you helping someone on their journey to breakthrough?  In this episode, we're beginning to pull the Breakthrough series together. How can we use the B.U.I.L.D. Maturity Model as a checklist or rubric for working through our breakthrough journey?  How can we app...

What is our authority in Christ and what does it look like on a practical ministry level? In this week's episode, we're covering a theology of our authority in Christ, and we're going over the biblical ideas of binding and loosing with steps for removing demonic permission: Confess, Cancel, Command, Commit. Join us on the trail. P.S. At Deeper Walk, we have many resources about spiritual warfare....

A lot of people want to know, can Christians be possessed? We would say no. But c an Christians give demons access? We would say yes .  In this week's episode, we're going over five main areas where people — including Christians! — give the demonic permission to claim a foothold in our lives. We remember these five areas with the acrostic SOUL-L: Sin, Occult, Unforgiveness, Lies we believe, and Li...

What can demons do? On the Trail Podcast: Season 3, Episode 17 The devil isn't a bumble bee. Leaving him alone doesn't mean he leaves us alone. In this episode we're starting the "Defeat Demons" topic within the Breakthrough series. We'll give a basic legal understanding for spiritual warfare, looking at the roles of permission and authority. We're also asking how demons can affect our bodies, our...

Not every thought that enters your head is yours. When we’re listening in prayer, how can we know the thought we’re hearing is from the Holy Spirit and not a demon or the pizza we ate last night? In this episode, we're looking at a practical discernment checklist, addressing some concerns regarding the occult or our imaginations, and more. Join us on the trail. P.S. If you're reading along with us...

Maturity & Walking in the Spirit  On the Trail Podcast: Season 3, Episode 15 So often our discipleship solutions are designed for adults and do not take into consideration the actual maturity of the people being discipled. Would you expect a child to have the same prayer skills as a grandparent? Whether we're talking physical or emotional maturity, or for how long we've known Christ, walking w...

This week we’re beginning the next segment of our Breakthrough! series: Listening to the Spirit.  From the opening verses of Scripture, the Holy Spirit is there bringing life, power, and wisdom. He is the Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2) and the Helper Christ said the Father would send us (John 14:26).  Throughout Scripture, two common actions associated with the Holy Spirit are anointing and filling....

How do joy and fear bonds affect our relationship with God? God designed us for joyful attachments—and that includes with HIM! This week we're focusing on how understanding joy and fear bonds can help us both with our biblical interpretations and our personal walks with God.  What are common metaphors for attachment in the Bible? Why is idolatry such a big deal in the Bible? What are some strategi...

Is your brain running on fear? If your brain isn't running on its preferred fuel—joy, it will default to fear. Last episode we started looking at the relational infrastructure of our brains. This week we're looking at Fear vs. Joy Bonds through the lens of fear-based attachment styles. What's Your Attachment Style (fear edition)? Our friends at Life Model have identified three core types of fear b...

God designed the infrastructure of our brains to run on relational joy. What does this mean for our daily life? In our first series of 2025, we're diving back into the B.U.I.L.D. Maturity Model from Breakthrough! and covering the important emotional engine of Increase Your Joy Bonds. If our brains run on relational joy, it's probably a good idea to know more about our relational attachments, our j...

Your true self is the person God designed to live on the fuel of relational joy.  In our final episode of 2024, we are here to have a jolly R.A.R.E. time as we consider what it looks like to be our true selves during the holidays. We've got strategies to keep in mind for remaining relational and living with joy, we're going to pray for you , and there may be a surprise Santa Hat appearance.  📣 📣...

What does it look like to be me when the holidays are difficult?   This two-part holiday series strategizes how to "act like myself" during the press and potential triggers of the holiday season.  In part one, we're specifically addressing two common reasons for why this can be difficult and making some plans for how to remain ourselves despite relational pain or pecking order issues.   Join us on...

Does it ever feel like you have a powder keg inside you?   Hit the wrong button, and negative emotions erupt inside. Or perhaps you've seen this in a loved one and find yourself in a "button dance" to avoid pressing each other's buttons.  In this episode, we're looking at the relationship between beliefs and wounds . When our hearts are wounded, it's easy to believe lies that take root and shape o...

My true identity is who I am in relationship to God.  God is the definer of my identity. Because of this, any hole in my sense of identity is also a hole in my view of God, and any hole in my view of God is going to affect how I see myself.  When we need a breakthrough in the area of beliefs, it's probably related to a lie we're believing. So, this week, we're also looking at two kinds of deceptio...

Our emotions can't tell the difference between a truth and a lie.  Many breakthrough strategies have to deal with beliefs at one level or another. For the next three episodes, we'll be looking at this engine of the Breakthrough Model.  This week is all about the power of beliefs to drive our emotions and behavior. Sometimes we can't even picture what doing something looks like, and that keeps us s...

Part of being aware of our body is knowing how to quiet. We quiet our minds by replacing toxic thinking with good thinking. We quiet our bodies by changing our body chemistry and calming our amygdala.  In this week's episode, we're looking at four practices that can help us quiet our body when we feel stressed.  We can remember these as B.E.S.T. practices for quieting:  B reathe in a box [inhale,...

How can the BODY affect our breakthrough journey?  In this series, we are exploring five areas where we often need a breakthrough. The first of these five engines that drive our emotions is the body.  This engine functions like a two-way street. Sometimes emotions affect our body. Sometimes our body affects our emotions.  If we have a physical issue, we probably need a physical solution. Maybe thi...

How can the brain affect our breakthrough journey?  To continue this Breakthrough! series, we're talking about our God-given identity and maturity development by looking at three keys of brain function and five levels of maturity.   For instance, the brain craves the fuel of ____. (If you filled in the blank with “JOY,” you may have listened to our series on joy. If not, check out this compilation...

In this episode, we are introducing the core paradigms of the Breakthrough! series: Three Levels of Breakthrough and Five Engines that Drive Our Emotions. When people are in search of a breakthrough, it's usually at one of three levels of need , and each need has its own solution: LEVEL 1: Relieve pain by focusing on symptoms .  LEVEL 2: Repair damage by focusing on root issues .  LEVEL 3: Rebuild...

And we’re back! Sabbatical is over, we are together again in a new studio, and we're celebrating our 100th new episode with a new season! (Can you sense a theme here?)  Season Three is kicking off with a series all about Breakthrough! In this episode, we're looking at growth models.  Growth models are crucial because they determine which solutions we believe are essential to transformation .  What...

Has your life ever felt chaotic and empty?  From Genesis 1 onward, God has shown us His purposes for bringing order and fullness to our lives. In this compilation, we're revisiting the Advent & Incarnation series. (Stephanie says it's never the wrong time of year to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ.)   But more than the Christmas season, we're looking at God's heart and plans for the...

We are a people who believe God defines reality.  In this compilation series, we contrast the occult with the Kingdom, specifically regarding the involvement of spirits in the world and the roles of power and authority. Power can be defined as the ability to make things happen . Authority can be defined as the right to represent power . At the start we look at the nature of the occult, ways it’s b...