The Strong Women Podcast

Our post-Christian c ulture often promotes justice at the expense of mercy . God takes injustice seriously, and His forgiveness is the only thing in the universe that can deal with the full weight of injustice while also securing our redemption. According to theologian and apologist A my Orr-Ewing , Christians have a precious opportunity in this cultural moment to show our neighbors how God meets...

You and I are not machines. We are trees. That's just one of the beautiful observations in Joy Clarkson's latest book , You Are a Tree: And O ther Metaphors to Nourish Life, Thought, and Prayer . Joy joins us this week for a delightful conversation about metaphors and how they deepen ou r understand ing of the human experience , including love, sadness, creativity, and even our own humanity .    ...

Laura Perry Smalts spent nine years rejecting God and chasing a different "gender identity." Despite Laura's social, hormonal, and surgical attempts to become a man, the promises of gender ideology proved to be lies. In the face of her anger and hatred of God and the Church, God miraculously broke through Laura's heart with loving conviction and compassion. Tune in to hear her incredible journey a...

Sometimes we forget how radical and powerful God's grace is. This week's guest, Toni McFadden, has not forgotten. Toni travels the country to speak about abortion, promote healthy sexuality and relationships, and advocate for the unborn. After Toni had an abortion in high school, God transformed her life through radical salvation, healing, and a new calling. Her life testifies to how Jesus forgive...

Living with unmet longings often feels like suffering. Rachel Miller knows, from experience, that our longings confront us with a n opportunity to struggle toward Go d and community , rather than away from them. Her latest book is When It Hurts to Hope: Honest Conversations about Living with Unmet Longing . She joins us this week to talk about wrestling with longings and desires, and correcting th...

What is motherhood all about? Elizabeth Schlueter helps us perceive the beautiful truth about motherhood amid cultural extremes . She joins us this week to challenge common myths about motherhood and cast a Christian vision for the beauty of self-giving love and sacrifice. Whether you're married or single, raising children or not, you'll be encouraged to form a virtuous life centered around sacrif...

Megan Donahue grew up in a Mormon family whose roots reach all the way back to the founding of Mormonism. Though she sincerely believed as a child , she was discouraged from thoroughly investigating what she had been taught . Eventually , Megan's beliefs unraveled as she grappled with long-held questions and the burden of works -based religion . Through the mess of doubt, she stepped away from eve...

Gender ideology is the biggest lie capturing young people today. The Church is called to care for the victims of this lie while walking in truth and love. Mary Rice Hasson joins us this week to share how Christians can offer a better hope than gender ideology and practically love those who struggl e with their identity.     As believers, we were never meant to simply wait around until Jesus return...

This week we're joined by author and illustrator Ned Bustard . Ned lost his wife Leslie to cancer last year , but her beautiful spirit and faith are captured in the new book, Tiny Thoughts That I've Been Thinking . Leslie saw God's goodness in life's smallest details and infus ed ordinary moments with Christ ' s light . Come hear about her legacy of faith and the exercise of trusting God ' s plan...

Elisabeth Elliot was a n imperfect yet faithful Christ- follower with a complex life story . This week, Ellen Vaughn returns to discuss Being Elisabeth Elliot , volume two of her amazing biography of Elliot 's life . Tune in to hear about El isabeth's return from foreign missions, her writings, her struggles with loneliness, and the complexities of her later life and marriages .     Strong Women P...

Did you know that the U .S. is one of the most active sex-trafficking countries in the world? Amid these sobering statistics, Vi c ki Proffit spends her time car ing for survivors and pointing them to the lov e of Jesus. Vi c ki is the Executive Director of Sarah's Home, a sanctuary for survivors of sex trafficking in Colorado. In this live interview, s he share s powerful stories of how God has r...

We are forgetful people. But as we rehearse the story of the Gospel together through redemptive spiritual rhythm s , we can remember and be shaped by truth. A s we commemorate Christ's death and resurrection this Holy Week , Bishop Michael Williams joins us to talk about the story of Easter, the Church calendar, and how God forms us through participation in the life of the Church .     The Benedic...

Stories have a profound way of shaping us . They form our attention, affections, and our character , for better or worse . That's why reading what's good, true, and beautiful matters — and this takes practice. Jessica Hooten Wilson returns to the podcast to help us embrace the practice of reading as a means of spiritual formation.       Doubts and hard questions are a welcome part of the Christian...

Not many of us associate d iscipline, commitment, and obedience with joy and freedom —but today's guest, Pamela Patnode , knows that these things lead to flourishing and joy in the Christian life . When we live according to God's design by loving Him and others, we experience true life . Listen in and let Pamela's testimony encourage you to cultivate a life of commitment to the Lord.      Doubts a...

Christians have the privilege of participat ing with God as He makes all things new . But many believers have unwittingly settled for a small worldview and a privat iz ed faith that has little effect on the cul ture a round them . That 's why the Colson Center is committed to helping Christians develop a Christian worldview that shapes all of life—not just Sunday mornings. The primary way we do th...

Korie Robertson is a wife, mom, grandma, and business owner —but listeners may know her best from the popular reality show Duck Dynasty . From getting married at 18 to saying "yes" to a reality show to starting a media production company, Korie 's pursuits have been marked by a desire to love Jesus , love people, and make Christ known . She joins us this week to share about her family's unexpected...

When most of their children were grown and out of the house, God called Becky Spencer and her husband to care for children in need in Africa—over 9,000 miles away from their home in Kansas . Becky joins Sarah to share her testimony of following God's lead and being met by His faithfulness every step of the way. H er testimony of choos ing to love before you feel loving, experiencing God's re stora...

Dr. Juli Slattery returns to the podcast to debunk the unhealthy assumptions about marriage, sex, and relationships that many Christians have adopted from modern, secular culture. R ather than embracing these cultural views , we can humbly embrace what God has to sa y about t hings like sex, marriage, singleness, and the Church community . As we embrace God's design for these things, we are better...

Parents, our kids are being shaped and influenced every day. If we aren't shaping them, the world is. Katy Faust, founder and president of Them Before Us, returns to the podcast to explain how we can teach our children in age-appropriate ways to recognize truth, beauty, and goodness, and to lovingly push against the damaging worldviews assumed by secular culture.     Them Before Us     Strong Wome...

With the rise of the transgender movement and the damage it's doing to you ng people on a huge scale, t he Ch urch has a vital rol e to play in speaking the truth and l oving t he victims of this cultural confusion. Carrie Abbott , founder and president of the Legacy Institute, has faithfully followed the Lord's leading to educate Christians on God's design for gender, sexuality, and relationships...

Do you ever wish you could have been an eyewitness of Jesus' life on earth—to see His disciples, healings, teachings, and miracles with your very own eyes? Well, the prolific writer Dorothy L. Sayers (a close acquaintance of C.S. Lewis) wrote a collection of radio plays recounting the life and ministry of Jesus to offer a sense of what it would have been like to witness the Savior face-to-face dur...

When we receive God's forgiveness, we are simultaneously freed from shame and freed to love and serve those around us. Today's guest, Lisa Henry, has lived a life marked by God's providential leading and orchestrating, even when she didn't realize it. She joins us this week to share how God brought her to faith , freed her from the shame of her abortion, and commissioned her to bring hope and help...

H uman dignity doesn't end when suffering begin s —b ut t oday more than ever our culture peddles the lie that it's better to choose death than to suffer. Jesus has something better for us. Christ calls us to love every image bearer with His committed, sacrificial, persevering, and selfless love —even when th ose we care for can contribute absolutely nothing . As a palliative care doctor of over 3...

Our world is so confused about what i t means to be human—and even more confused about what it means to be male and female. The extreme responses to this confusion include deny ing s exual d ifferen ce on the one hand , as if men and women are interchangeable—or overemphasiz ing it, as if men and women are practically different species . But the reality of our God-given humanity , including our di...

The incarnation of Jesus isn't a religious fairy tale. It's a true story that happened at a particular point in time , the true stor y that mark s a new era of human history . J. Warner Wallace uses his experience as a homicide detective to investigate the history around Jesus , the extraordinary details of His incarnation , and H is unparalleled influence on world history . God ' s kindness, prov...