Unashamed Unafraid

“When I watched porn again or relapsed, I felt God was done with me now … but Jesus fully sees me and fully knows my whole story, and still loves me. That is so powerful.”  Amanda stumbled on pornography at an early age. Thinking she was alone in her addiction she finally decided to share it with a friend - willing to accept rejection - only to discover that her friend Katie struggles too. Along t...

Matthew and Brooklyn brought both honesty and baggage into their relationship. Brooklyn’s achievement-based upbringing coupled with past mistakes left her wrestling with her sense of self-worth. Matthew's addiction to pornography led to a struggle with comparisons that cast a shadow of pain and darkness over the early years of their marriage. Despite it all, their story is a heartwarming journey f...

The UU crew get together to wrap up the year and answer the following questions: What has been your favorite episode this past year and why? What has been an area of growth for you this past year ? If people can pray for you what do you need most? What has been a meaningful worship song for you this past year? As our gift to you, here is the song list from the UU team of their top 2023 “go to” tun...

“A relationship with a healer cannot exist without a wound to heal. Telling Jesus to go and heal another because ‘I’m good’ doesn’t allow Christ room to heal your heart and deepen a relationship with Him.” Kurt shares his story of struggling in constantly seeking validation. He got an early massive dose of feeling good enough when he was called to be a bishop/pastor in church in his twenties and t...

Physically, emotionally, and sexually abused as a child, Pete tried to navigate through shame, anger, and confusion alone while self-medicating with many things, but especially with an addiction to lust. Constant cycles of confession and relapse didn’t help, but getting a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and multiple bands of brothers have helped him find the path to hope and healing. Through...

Anita Anita used to avoid looking at herself in the mirror to hide from deep feelings of shame and brokenness. Life started out rough for her and led to years of drug and sex addiction, abortion and an affair. Today though, she looks in the mirror and feels joy and is cherished by God. In this episode, she shares the story of her transformation: a journey from being broken, to being healed through...

“We are only standing where we are because of Jesus.” - Kylie  Wife of a pastor and worship leader, Kylie felt alone in her sex addiction which began in her late teens around the same time of her parent’s divorce. Her husband Chris had his own struggles with substance abuse and other addictions. Together they struggled to juggle an exterior life of ministering while internally battling their secre...

Family and personal therapist Tony Overbay dives in deep with James and Steve on many topics and shared this quote: “The strongest force in the human personality is to act in alignment with how you see yourself” which lead to a discussion of how identifying ourselves primarily as addicts is very limiting and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy which limits our ability to become “recover-e-d” as...

Marni opens her heart to share a painful marriage, turning her first husband over to Christ, managing through betrayal trauma, prayerful divorce, and how to move forward when her happily ever after was shattered. Moving out of her marriage was painful, but she kept her focus on her kids and deepened her relationship with God and began to find peace and eventually got remarried and has become a lif...

In this episode, Tamara joins Steve and Cassy to share her inspiring story of recovering from an addiction to pornography. Tamara’s struggle with addiction inspired her to learn more about God and as a result she developed a more meaningful connection with him. She no longer views Him as a “genie” but rather her friend who she loves dearly.  If you would like to connect with Tamara you can visit h...

The authority you'll sense in John comes not from a best-selling book or successful podcast, but from a deep inner strength born of hard-fought victory over adversity. His journey began with a difficult childhood, where abuse and the loss of his father weighed heavily. As life unfolded, John fought battles with addiction, trauma and devastating losses, reaching a crushing low point that threatened...

In this episode, Evan and Missy share their inspiring story of how they found redemption and healing through Evan’s struggle with multiple addictions. Through Evan’s struggle with addiction, and the work he and Missy have done to recover, they were able to develop personal relationships with Jesus Christ, and their relationship has been able to heal.  If this episode resonates with you, or if you...

Eric speaks straight from the heart as he shares his journey of overcoming abuse, steep shame, lack of motivation, and low self-esteem to find recovery.  This was not a short journey. Eric was first introduced to several recovery resources many years ago and he was even encouraged by his parents and girlfriend but nothing stuck until he found his own motivation.  As a newlywed, Eric has been open...

Madi was 13 when she first encountered pornography. As a young Christian woman, she struggled to find resources online to help young women overcome addiction as most resources were for women who discovered their husband’s addiction and for men struggling with addiction. Feeling isolated and alone living a dual life, she finally got up the nerve to disclose what was going on to her father and local...

Brady and Aubrey share their story of redemption and healing from Brady’s struggle with pornography addiction. For years Brady felt he had to “out work” his addiction. Once Brady realized that God loved him individually, his recovery began. Brady and Aubrey share how his struggle with pornography addiction helped them both develop personal relationships with Jesus Christ, which has healed their re...

Devin and Joslyn radiate with a powerful light, but their journey has been a challenge. Prior to their marriage, Devin opened up to Joslyn about his struggles with pornography. Joslyn worked for an addiction recovery program and knew the potential risks but saw Devin 'on his recovery game'. They married and things went well - for a while.  Join us as we witness the transformative power of God in t...

Another great episode with a couple in recovery.  When Chandler and Jade met each other, Chandler walked Jade through his journey of how he has struggled and what he is doing to overcome addiction. Jade spent time writing and working with God and chose to join Chandler in their combined path to continue to get to know God and let Him shape her perspective. To reach out and help others, Chandler cr...

Sathiya Sam is an author, and recovery coach and pastor for recovery. Sathiya is very passionate about this because he struggled with getting free from addiction and was frustrated by the lack of resources available for those who struggle with addiction and want to get out. Have a listen to his story and a taste of his book.

Oftentimes men feel the need to fight their battles alone out of fear of appearing weak and incapable. A brotherhood can remind them that they’re not alone. In a brotherhood men truly care for each other and within the brotherhood there is safety to talk about any aspect of your life.  CT, Doug, and Seth join Steve and Jason to discuss what their brotherhood means to them and how it was formed thr...

After Devin and Tanna agreed to tell their story on Unashamed Unafraid, they faced unexpectedly difficult obstacles and even thought about turning the car around on their way to the recording. We're very glad they fought through so we could share this beautiful episode that shines a light of hope on the sometimes very messy and confusing processes of recovery and healing.   Devin and Tanna share h...

Unashamed and unafraid, Josh boldly shares his story of a poser life by day and a life of acting out with multiple partners while trying to keep it a secret from his first wife by night. But now Josh is willing to give up everything to God to make things right and get back into good standing with his church, his family, and start new with his second wife Heather and her kids.  Heather’s story is o...

We at Unashamed Unafraid are just like you. Over the past year, we've struggled and experienced failures and successes as God has tried us, changed us and loved us. In this episode, we invite you to get to know us better as we share our favorite episodes and worship songs of 2022 and speak to our own personal struggles and growth. In addition, we celebrate what 2022 has meant to the podcast. Learn...

“Criticism isn’t something to avoid. It is something you should expect when you are making it big.” Sometimes our experiences can bring us more insight than years of study and practice.  In this episode Smith Alley at age 18 shares perspectives and insights that rival therapists.   Smith had a “normal” life growing up. He had a mom and a dad who showed him love and he thought he was going to conqu...

Choosing to Live in Expectancy Join us as Steve and James sit down with Magic Marc once again, to explore the topics of living with expectations versus living in expectancy.  Marc explains that living with expectations means we have a tight attachment to end results.  Those expectations are actually just premeditated resentments.  Often we place the highest expectations on ourselves. This can caus...

D.J. Bishop is a client centered, experiential therapist, dedicated to helping people transform their life stories. His work focuses on supporting his clients in identifying and challenging harmful narratives and cultivating more connected relationships with themselves, their loved ones, and the world around them. D.J. is a unique therapist in that he “walks the walk.”  Everything he asks his clie...