Embracing Brokenness

Why do so many sincere Christians still feel tired, anxious, disconnected, or as though something is missing from their faith? In Part 1 of this special Embracing the Way conversation, Steve and Colleen Adams introduce the message behind their upcoming book, Embracing the Way: Discovering the Life You Were Made For in Union with Christ. Drawing from their own stories, Steve and Colleen explore the...

What if the addiction isn't really the deepest problem? For Caitlin Hawk, drugs, alcohol, destructive relationships, and years of shame were symptoms of something much deeper: she didn't know who she was. A gifted young athlete, Caitlin learned early to measure her worth through performance. When that foundation began to crumble, alcohol, drugs, relationships, and rebellion became ways to...

Chuck Mobley has spent much of his life leaping before he looked—jumping from airplanes and bridges, surviving near disasters, starting a business with little preparation, traveling the world, and repeatedly finding himself in situations that could have gone very differently. But beneath the adventures is another story. Chuck spent years chasing attention, affirmation, achievement, and the feeling...

What if the renewal of our communities does not begin with politics, programs or institutions—but with the transformation of the human heart? In this episode of the Embracing Brokenness Podcast, Steve talks with Rob Loughery, author of Building Redemptive Community: What Christians Can Do to Make Community Great Again. Rob has spent more than thirty years working at the intersection of business, r...

Anxiety is not always our identity. Sometimes it is a signal pointing toward something deeper. Gabriel Andreson joins Steve Adams for an honest conversation about panic attacks, hidden pressure, trauma, performance-based identity, control, therapy, and healing. Gabe shares how his first panic attack at 30,000 feet became the beginning of a much deeper journey. Along the way, he discovered that las...

What happens when the dream you've chased your entire life suddenly disappears? David Pollack knows. From becoming a three-time All-American at Georgia to playing in the NFL, working on ESPN's College GameDay, suffering a career-ending neck injury, losing his broadcasting job, and walking alongside his wife during her battle with brain cancer, David has learned that our identity cannot rest in wha...

Many believers know they're saved but still struggle to experience the peace, joy, and freedom Jesus promised. In this episode, Steve Adams sits down with bestselling author Gary Thomas to discuss The Life You Were Reborn to Live . Together they unpack the subtle spiritual lies that keep Christians trapped in fear, striving, isolation, entitlement, and performance-driven faith. If you've e...

What if addiction isn't the real problem? In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Steve Adams sits down with author, speaker, and storyteller Jon Seidl to discuss his new book, Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic. Jon shares his journey through anxiety, trauma, addiction, recovery, and ultimately deeper intimacy with Christ. Together they explore why addiction often begins long befor...

Richard Blackaby joins Steve Adams for a powerful conversation about spiritual maturity, daily rhythms with God, and what it really means to experience God in everyday life—not just in the extraordinary moments. Drawing from the legacy of the bestselling study Experiencing God and the new release Experiencing God in Everyday Life, Richard shares deeply personal stories about his father, Henry Blac...

What does it really cost to follow Jesus? And what does it cost us when we don’t? In this powerful conversation, Steve Adams welcomes Morgan Snyder to the Embracing Brokenness Podcast for a deep and honest discussion about discipleship, formation, healing, risk, and the slow work of becoming whole in Christ. Morgan reflects on his 26 years in formal relationship with Wild at Heart, his transition...

What happens when artificial intelligence reads a manuscript about intimacy with God… and then creates a podcast explaining it? That’s exactly what happened when one of our endorsers uploaded our upcoming book Embracing the Way into NotebookLM. Within moments, it generated a 20-minute conversation—two voices unpacking the heart of our message with surprising clarity, accuracy, and even emotional t...

What if the greatest danger of artificial intelligence isn’t what it can do—but what it can replace? In this episode of the Embracing Brokenness Podcast, Steve and Colleen Adams explore a growing concern: AI is no longer just a productivity tool—it’s becoming a relational substitute. From AI companions to emotionally intelligent chatbots, we are entering a moment where technology can mimic what on...

Easter reminds us that death is not the end—but it does invite a deeper question: how are we living in the time we’ve been given? In this episode of the Embracing Brokenness Podcast, Steve and Colleen explore “The Dash”—the small line between your birth date and death date that represents your entire life. Through the story of Alfred Nobel, personal experiences with loss, and a powerful reflection...

In Part 2 of our Reclamation series, Steve and Colleen Adams explore what it looks like to reclaim the parts of our story that were shaped by failure, shame, and consequences. In this deeply personal episode, Steve shares the part of his story he rarely tells publicly — the collapse of a successful real estate business in the 1980s, federal fraud charges, and the prison sentence that followed. For...

What does it mean to reclaim the parts of yourself that trauma, shame, and pain taught you to hide? In Part 1 of this two-part conversation on Reclamation , Steve and Colleen explore how Jesus restores what was lost through wounds, false beliefs, and spiritual fragmentation. Colleen shares deeply from her own story of abuse, abandonment, healing, and the reclaiming of the true self through Christ....

Jesus promises a white stone, hidden manna, and a new name known only to the one who receives it. In this episode, Steve & Colleen Adams explore identity, healing, and what it means to “conquer” when competing voices are loud. Colleen shares her story of hearing God call her “Delightful” through trauma and reintegration; Steve shares how God restored his identity as a Warrior in a season of lo...

In this annual conversation, Steve Adams, Colleen Adams, and Michael Kurtz invite listeners to begin the year through consecration , not pressure or performance. Rather than goal-setting, the focus is surrender—offering the year back to God as an act of union with Christ. They explore listening for a word or phrase for the year as an invitation into formation, why God’s work is often cumulative ov...

Spiritual formation doesn’t happen in isolation—but it also doesn’t happen in unsafe spaces. In this episode, Steve and Colleen explore what makes a community truly safe and why safety is foundational to healing, trust, and transformation. This honest conversation parallels themes from their upcoming book Embracing the Way , inviting listeners into a slower, relational vision of walking with Jesus...

In this powerful start to a new year, Steve sits down with longtime friend Rich Timmons—creative visionary, gallery owner, teacher, and author of Come… meet Jesus—for an honest conversation about faith, loss, and redemption. Rich shares how a Good Friday business collapse became the moment he finally cried out to God, and how a “Joseph and Mary” divine appointment helped lead him to Christ. He ref...

It’s the week of December 29, 2025—and Steve & Colleen Adams take time to look back with gratitude on what God has done through Embracing Brokenness Ministries this year, while also sharing a glimpse of what’s ahead in 2026. A central theme rises above everything: learning to wait on the Lord —to live from presence, intimacy, and obedience, not outcomes. Along the way, they share a few powerfu...

When life teaches you to hide, Jesus invites you to heal. Author Clinton Parker joins Steve to share the story behind his new book, Beauty in the Dandelion: Shame Shattered by Grace and Love—from chaotic beginnings and early exposure to darkness, to the slow rescue of grace, safe people, and a Father who delights. We talk practicals: naming shame vs. guilt, breaking isolation, finding “safe” commu...

What does true freedom look like? At age 15, Warner Batty was sentenced to life without parole for taking a life. Fifty years later, he walked out of a Pennsylvania prison—free not just in body, but in spirit. In this raw and redemptive conversation, Steve sits down with Warner to talk about his journey from hopelessness and self-hatred to forgiveness and freedom in Christ. Hear how one man—“the h...

What happens when a pastor’s life falls apart—and God writes a better story? In this raw and redemptive conversation, Steve sits down with Greg Lindsey, author of The Rest of Your Story: The Path to the Christian Life You Want, to talk about failure, forgiveness, and the long road to freedom. Greg shares openly about the affair that nearly ended his marriage and ministry—and how Jesus met him in t...

Steve and Colleen talk with Tom and Karen Friedrichs of Broom Tree Landing, a ministry that offers no-cost retreat, coaching, and spiritual direction to pastors and ministry leaders who are tired, hurting, or on the edge of burnout. They share their own story of pastoral exhaustion, how God accelerated their “retirement dream” into a right now calling, and several powerful provision stories — incl...

Steve sits down with author and leadership coach Preston Poore to discuss his new book How Is Greater Than What. Together they unpack the overlooked “how” of leadership—why character, integrity, and faith matter more than performance. Hear Preston’s vulnerable stories from his years at Coca-Cola, how he learned to lead with heart, and why our identity in Christ defines every “how” in life and lead...