Still Standing with Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

I'm Still Here. You haven't quit. You haven't collapsed. You didn't walk away. But somewhere in the last year, maybe longer, you stopped recognizing the version of yourself that used to show up automatically. And you've been quietly waiting for that person to come back. That wait is costing you more than the original loss did. This is the Season 2 premiere of Still Standin...

You knew before you admitted it. You knew when the work stopped fitting. You knew when your energy changed. You knew when showing up became maintenance instead of mission. But you stayed. In this episode of Still Standing , Clarence Stowers talks about the hidden cost of staying in a season that has already ended. This isn't about quitting hard things. It's about telling the truth about...

If you have been listening to this show, you deserve to hear this directly. Something is changing. Not because things went wrong. Because things finally went right. This is Bridge Episode 2 of Still Standing. Today I am not pivoting. I am closing one chapter with intention, so we can both walk into the next one with both hands free. What You Will Learn: ① Why this show has always been about you, a...

Thirty years. That is how long I did this before I admitted something I had known for a while. The podcast I was making no longer matched the life I had actually lived. This is the bridge episode for Still Standing with Clarence E. Stowers, Jr. No frameworks. No 3-step system. Just the truth about what ended, what it cost, and what this show is now - delivered in five minutes. What You'll Hea...

Nine weeks ago, I sat in front of this microphone and told you the truth. I told you we sold our church building. That God went silent. That fear had me by the throat. That loneliness almost broke me. That I didn't know if I would make it. I told you that faith felt far. And then I walked you through every chapter of the book I wrote from inside that season. Nine weeks. Sixteen chapters. One...

Everybody has an opinion about what you should be doing with your life. Your family. Your church. Your followers. But not one of them will live with the consequences of you abandoning your calling. In Episode 58, we walk through Chapters 15 and 16: Protecting Your Purpose and Protecting Your Plan. This is the last of the four non-negotiables: peace, paper, purpose, plan. If you know what God calle...

Everybody wants peace. Nobody wants to protect it. Everybody wants financial freedom. Nobody wants the honest conversation about money. Today, we do both. Episode 57 of the When Faith Feels Far series. Chapters 13 & 14: Protecting Your Peace and Protecting Your Paper. What You'll Learn: ① Why peace is infrastructure — and what collapses when it goes ② How to spot the peace thieves disguis...

You can start over. But if you start over without deciding what is non-negotiable, you will rebuild the same broken thing with a fresh coat of paint. This is Episode 56 of the When Faith Feels Far podcast series. Today, we walk through Chapters 11 and 12: A New Beginning and What's Non-Negotiable. After we sold the building, my first instinct was to recreate what was. Find a new space. Run th...

Gratitude in the middle of grief sounds offensive. Joy when your life is in ruins sounds delusional. But what if they are the two things that kept me alive? This is Episode 55 of the When Faith Feels Far podcast series. Chapters 9 and 10: The Power of Gratitude and Joy That Overcomes. The Problem Bitterness is creeping in. Joy feels like a foreign country. You cannot remember the last time you gen...

Keep your expectations low, and you can't get hurt again.  That's not wisdom. That's a cage you built after the last thing fell apart, and it's been running your decisions ever since. This episode is for anyone who's stopped hoping because they can't afford to be wrong again. In this episode, I walk through Chapters 7 and 8 of When Faith Feels Far , why hope is a defi...

You are the strongest person in every room you walk into. And you are quietly terrified that one more hit will take you out. This is Episode 53 of the When Faith Feels Far series. Today we go through Chapters 5 and 6: Fighting Fear and Anxiety, and Loneliness, Loss, and the Ache of Isolation. Not the kind of fear you post about. The kind that wakes you up at 3 AM with a racing heart and a list of...

You have been praying. Real prayers. Face-down, desperate, "God, I need You to say something" prayers. And the only thing coming back is your own breathing. This is Episode 52 of the When Faith Feels Far series, and it is the one most people need but never say out loud. We are walking through two of the hardest seasons a believer can face: the silence of God and the paralysis that follow...

When Everything Collapses When Faith Feels Far | Episode 51 You handled it. You made the call. You kept everybody else together. But the dust settled, and now you feel like a stranger in your own life. Nobody prepared you for the aftermath: the confusion, the identity loss, and the quiet isolation that follows collapse. In this episode, Clarence walks through Chapters 1 and 2 of When Faith Feels F...

I was sitting in an empty church building. Keys in my hand. About to hand them over for the last time. And in that moment, I did not feel faith. I felt forgotten.  This is Episode 0 of a 10-part series based on my book, When Faith Feels Far. I tell the full story of losing Mars Hill's church building during COVID, introduce the difference between change and transition, and lay out a 10-week r...

Busy is not a badge. It's a symptom. I was in a meeting last week and someone asked me, "How are you?" And without thinking, I said, "Busy." Like it was a badge of honor. Like it proved I mattered. Then I sat with that for a second. Why did I say that? Was I actually busy? Or was I just overcommitted? Because there's a difference. And once you see the difference, you...

You are not waiting for motivation. You are waiting for a system that does not require it. I used to sit at my desk and wait. Wait for motivation. Wait to feel ready. Wait for the right mood to show up so I could do the work that mattered. And some days it came. Most days it didn't. And I kept thinking, "What's wrong with me? Why can't I just focus?" Then I realized. I was...

New to the podcast? Start here. You look successful on paper. You have built a career, proven yourself, and earned your seat at the table. But your peace is fragile, your decisions feel heavier, and you are tired of advice that does not match the complexity of your life. This 7-minute episode tells you exactly who this podcast is for, what you will and will not hear, and how to get the most out of...

You keep changing the calendar, but your patterns stay the same. So every "new year" ends up feeling like a repeat of the last one. This episode is about why that happens, and what to do about it. The Problem: Most people treat January like a restart button. New goals. New plans. New motivation. But by March, the old patterns come back. The habits win. The dates change. You don't. T...

You guard your money. You track your money. But your attention? You give it away for free. I checked my screen time report last Sunday. Six hours and forty-two minutes on my phone. In one day. And I kept thinking, "Where did that time go?" Then it hit me. I would never leave my wallet open on a table and walk away. But my attention? I give it away for free. All day. Every day. Your atten...

You are not tired because you worked hard. You are tired because you decided too much. I made 47 decisions before 9 a.m. yesterday. What to wear. Which route to take. Whether to check email now or later. Small stuff, right? Except by 9:15, I was already mentally done. And I hadn't actually accomplished anything yet. That's decision fatigue. And it's stealing your best hours before y...

Your Phone Is Not the Problem. Your Standards Are. Everyone blames the phone. But the phone is not making decisions. You are. In this episode, we're talking about attention, specifically, why blaming your device is like blaming the restaurant for your weight gain. The people who get deep work done aren't using different technology. They have different internal standards. That's the...

Podcast Show Notes Episode Overview Today, we explore "Finding Joy Despite Life's Hardships: A Guide to Overcoming Setbacks" by Clarence E. Stowers, Jr. This 6-week study guide shows how to find joy despite inevitable hardships and transform setbacks into growth opportunities through faith in God. Key Takeaways Mistakes are opportunities for learning and growth Life doesn't alw...

Episode Overview We live in uncertain times—political division, economic instability, and social tension make it easy to feel overwhelmed. Many place their hope in temporary things, only to be left disappointed. This episode challenges you to consider your anchor and offers a lasting alternative. Key Discussion Points 🔹 The Illusion of Stability – Uncertainty seems like the only constant. Many fe...

In this episode, we explore finding an unshakable foundation in a constantly changing world. Political divisions, economic instability, and social tensions overwhelm us, leading to disappointment and fear. This episode challenges listeners to consider their hope and offers an alternative by anchoring it in something unmovable. Key Discussion Points: The Illusion of Stability: We live in a world wh...

The Journey of Faith: Relinquishing Control and Trusting God This episode explores the transformative journey of faith and spiritual growth through relinquishing control and trusting in God’s plan . Using the analogy of a trust fall, we uncover how letting go can lead to greater peace and understanding. This message is supported by biblical wisdom and practical steps and equips you to embrace surr...