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8 Christian Podcasts You NEED to Check Out!

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It’s been a while, but I felt like it was finally time for the second installment of my favorite podcast recommendations. I listen to podcasts almost constantly, partially because I love to learn and partially because there are some days where it’s the only “adult conversation” I get! If you read the first post, you know that my podcast interests are fairly diverse. I’ve tried to carefully weed out any podcasts that regularly use foul or vulgar language, graphic descriptions, or inappropriate topics. I’ve managed to narrow my list down to a couple dozen podcasts that I know will provide entertainment but also lift my spirits or challenge me in some way.

These are all absolutely fabulous Christian podcasts that have encouraged me and blessed my walk with God in various ways. The first category focuses on biblical motherhood and marriage, but there are some fabulous family-related podcasts out there for men too (check out Pairadocs and Dad Tired)! While I think it’s important to have the community and discussion that the first category provides, it’s just as important, if not more so, to delve into scripture and ensure the foundations of our faith are secure. That is the purpose behind the second category, “Doctrinal/Bible Study.” With that said, here are eight Christian podcasts you NEED to check out:

Christian – Motherhood & Family Life: 

  1. God Centered Mom by Heather MacFadyen – this is my favorite podcast for Christian women seeking wisdom and community in their roles as mothers and wives. Heather interviews incredible Christian women role models about everything from depression to finances to homeschooling to entrepreneurship. Her podcast is unique in that she actually offers ideas for listening groups so that women can actively build community and continue the conversations she starts in each episode. They’re like book clubs, but with less pressure, more flexibility, and biblical conversation!
  2. Risen Motherhood by Emily Jensen & Laura Wifler – a podcast that focuses on finding and/or infusing the Gospel into all the facets of motherhood. These women breathe biblical truth into the hardest, funniest, deepest parts of life raising a family in modern society. It’s refreshing, encouraging, and convicting all at once. They are dedicated to ensuring that they are rooted in biblical truths and principles, which lends a lot of credence to each episode. This is one you can count on and listen to over and over and still learn more each time!
  3. Cultivating the Lovely by MacKenzie Monroe – a podcast that helps Christian women find and cultivate the lovely moments and aspects of their roles as mothers, wives, etc. MacKenzie has the sweetest spirit and each episode feels like an intimate conversation between good friends. She does a lot of interviews with Godly role models, and she also tackles difficult subjects with a few co-hosts she brought on recently. MacKenzie manages to be uplifting and refreshing every time, and I count her podcast among the lovely things in my life!
  4. The Open Door Sisterhood by Alexandra Kuykendall & Krista Gilbert – a podcast about everything to do with being a Godly wife, mother, and woman. These women do a lot of interviews with other incredible Godly women, they also recommend great products and tips, and they really work to encourage fellowship and community among Christian women.

Christian – Doctrinal/Bible study:

  1. Just Thinking and Let My People Think both by Ravi Zacharias – these are incredible podcasts by one of the world’s leading Christian apologists. Ravi’s approach to teaching is compassionate and grounded, as well as incredibly insightful. I’ve read some of his books too, and I can tell you – Ravi is BRILLIANT. God clearly gifted Ravi with a mind to explore, understand, and extract biblical truths and then translate them to the everyman. I cannot recommend these podcasts highly enough, as well as everything else RZIM does.
  2. She Proves Faithful by Lauren Hlushak – this podcast is scripturally based and so, SO well done! Lauren draws from her experiences in her own faith walk as a pastor’s wife and active church member. Lauren is honest, vulnerable, relatable, and genuine. It is evident that, as her website states, her goal is to “be catalog of resources to help women learn more about our Great God and how to prove faithful in all He’s given us to do.“
  3. Proverbs 31 Ministries: Everyday Life by Lysa Terkeurst – the episodes of this podcast are literally one minute long and put out daily. They are hosted by the various staff members of Proverbs 31 Ministries, including Lysa Terkeurst herself. Each episode is meant to be an infusion of gospel and grace into your daily life.

So there you have it! I hope that at least one of these will bless and encourage you in your faith journey. If they do, be sure to subscribe and leave them a 5-star review on iTunes or whichever platform you use for listening to all your favorite podcasts. Do you enjoy any of these podcasts already? Are there others that you think should be on this list? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Happy Listening!

Cassie

PS – no one on this list or affiliated with them asked or paid for these recommendations. These are solely my recommendations based on my personal experiences. There are NO affiliate links in this post.

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Something Beautiful Happened

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32920291-2Something Beautiful Happened: A Story of Survival and Courage in the Face of Evil by Yvette Manessis Corporon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

four-stars

Introduction

Yvette Manessis Corporan immediately strikes the reader as being the type of person who is well-connected, well-educated, and well-spoken, all while remaining humble and welcoming. Her life is fascinating in many aspects, and yet in another way it’s another beautiful example of the typical American story – descended from hard-working immigrants who are proud of their culture and yet thankful for the opportunities afforded them in the United States. As she sought to tell her family’s version of this tale, she stumbled across so many wonderful details and life lessons. In very easily read, almost conversational (dare I say it felt like an interview?) prose, Corporan weaves a tale that when viewed from afar would resemble the beautiful intricately woven clothing of the Greek people of Erikousa.

The story

Yvette Manessis Corporan becomes obsessed with uncovering the details of a story told to her by her grandmother. It’s a story of courage, loyalty, and friendship across dangerous and age-old cultural divides. Yvette’s grandmother had been one of many villagers who daringly helped to conceal a Jewish family amidst their largely Christian (Greek Orthodox) community during WWII. There were knocks at the door almost every night, but they never knew who would be on the other side – Nazi soldiers out for blood, or the poor Jewish family they had befriended coming to teach sewing lessons while the children slept peacefully. As Corporan dug deeper, she found family members of the survivors and was able to orchestrate an elaborate but beautiful reunion between the Jewish descendants and the Greek islanders. Even as Corporan worked tirelessly on this reunion, her own extended family were brutally attacked, gunned down by a modern-day would-be Nazi who mistakenly thought they were Jewish. The stories flash back and forth as Corporan seeks to reconcile the two scenarios. This book is a beautiful journey through shared memories, beautiful cultures, and moving introspection.

Literary analysis

This book is very well-written. It does bounce around a bit, and there are times where the author switches names back and forth as well. As long as you can keep up and not get distracted (I had no problems), this novel is a pleasure to read. I found no grammatical errors in this first reading.

Conclusion

I recommend this book, especially to those who enjoy books on personal journeys (such as “Eat, Pray, Love”) or historical reflection (such as books about Holocaust survivors).

View all my reviews on Goodreads by clicking here!

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Grace: Finding Home

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I grew up in a military family. I went to a military college. I joined the military. Then, I married into the military. My birth certificate was signed by my Daddy as a Second Lieutenant and a military doctor who later became my doctor in college. The military is indeed a small world. But it’s MY world; it always has been, and I’ve grown accustomed to its many nuances. I start getting the “itch” to move around the two-year mark and I absolutely love researching the next place. House hunting has become somewhat of a hobby. I love moving, making new friends, exploring new places, finding those hole-in-the-wall places that become a regular family haunt. I even secretly enjoy the packing and unpacking processes. The only aspect of moving I’ve always secretly and ashamedly hated is church hunting (perhaps I’ll share more on that in a future post). I mean it! I. LOVE. MOVING.

But I will admit that I dread the inevitable question of home. “Where are you from?” Well, can you quantify that? Do you mean where did I live longest? England. No, I don’t think of myself as “basically British.” Where did I graduate high school? Georgia. Nope, I have no sentimental ties to either of my two high schools other than some of the friendships I maintained over the years. At this point they usually ask, “OK, well where were you born?” California. To most people it would seem like I have no home. In fact, I honestly usually just say I’m from Georgia, where my parents retired, in order to keep things simple. Every once in a while the particularly curious (nosy?) people press anyway because I “don’t sound like [I’m] from Georgia.” But you get the picture. My life has been fairly nomadic. And yet, I’ve never felt cheated or as though I’ve missed out on having a home. Everywhere we went, God provided family and fellowship. I have friends and adopted family all over the world. God has blessed and enriched my life beyond measure.

Now, we are facing leaving the military life behind. It’s really happening. We are seriously planning to move to one place and hope to stay there (or very close) for the rest of our lives. And I’m TERRIFIED. Why? Because I will have to reevaluate and perhaps redefine my concept of home. In her book Keeping Place, Jen Pollock Michel discusses the concepts of home and housekeeping, and how they effect our spiritual lives. In the first chapter – which is a fascinating look at nostalgia and homesickness – she says, “words not only describe how we feel; they distinctly shape how we understand our feelings…as complex emotional beings, we need nomenclature for fear and self-doubt, longing and desire. In short, we must be taught to explain ourselves to ourselves as well as to others.” I love the idea that our words shape our perception of our lives and the world around us. In searching my heart during this time of transition, I was surprised to find that I am a little bit apprehensive about staying in one place, but mostly at peace with the thought of finally settling into a new life.

There will be so many changes. In fact, it seems to me that these first few years of my marriage have been nothing but huge, life-altering changes. But as I look back, I see God’s hand in every one of those situations, quietly but forcefully moving to make our lives better and draw us closer to Him. I know that every year will continue to bring new changes. But I also know a God who is never surprised and, in fact, has an amazing plan in store for me and my family. There’s nothing new under the sun, and I can have peace knowing that the God of the universe is quietly working behind the scenes of my chaotic, lovely, messy life.

Will you pray with me as we go through this transition? And I beg your patience in the coming months as I’m sure this change and the many stages involved will feature regularly on the blog. I’ve also decided to finish my Masters degree, in addition to everything else! Please bear with me and I promise to keep you updated with all the craziness.

I remain hapless but hopeful,

Cassie

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Grace: Set Apart

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Have you ever been so lonely, you just wanted to be left alone to wallow in your loneliness? Call it a pity party, call it laziness, call it antisocial – whatever you deem it, it’s miserable and not of God. And yet, that’s where I’ve been. Perhaps it’s still where I am, to some extent, although admitting it and dwelling on it in prayer these past few weeks is the first step to pulling out of it. Let me back up a bit and explain before you get the “abandon hope all ye who enter here” vibe. 


I’ve had a cutesy post about Christian community percolating for weeks now. I’ve written and rewritten it. I’ve sat down to do final edits and post, only to ditch the whole thing and walk away in frustration. I’ve tried to post it for almost six weeks now. Something held me back every time, sometimes with my finger literally hovering over the return key. 


I wanted to talk about how I just finished a Bible study with a women’s group at my church entitled, “Believing Jesus: A Journey Through the Book of Acts,” by Lisa Harper and Annie Downs. I’ll be honest – I’ve never studied Acts in-depth, so I was curious to see what it contains and how it would change my walk with God. If you’re not familiar with Acts, it was written by “Doctor Luke” (as Lisa calls him), the same man who wrote the Gospel of Luke. It is an action-packed account of the early days of the Christian church immediately following the ascension of Christ. The book is wonderful and really hit home for me. The longest I have ever lived in one place was four years, and I have been privileged to live and travel all over the world. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve managed to find a wonderful church home that became as dear to me as extended family. And within that family, there were always those select few women who became dear sisters.


You know the type – the kind of women who hold you accountable but also hold you as you sob; the kind of women who encourage you, strengthen you, but also tell you when you’re being selfish. These are the women to whom you bare your soul, second only to your husband (and God of course). Everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve been blessed to find at least one such woman and I still keep in touch with most of them today. They know my heart, they’ve loved me as only sisters in Christ can love. 


For some reason, five years ago this part of my life just froze in place. I had just moved to a new location, excited to be in a serious relationship and growing what seemed to be the beginning of a successful career. The next year was the single most miserable year of my life. There were certainly some very bright moments, such as when the man who is now my husband proposed and we were legally married a month later. But we didn’t live in the same state, let alone the same house. I was miserable at work. I moved again within a year and had a beautiful wedding. But I almost immediately deployed for six months, thereby missing out on the opportunity once gain to develop any deep friendships. We moved again less than a year after my return. I was eight months pregnant, in a new state, freshly separated from the military (read: unemployed by choice to be a stay-at-home mom), and still practically newlywed. I was desperate for connections. 


Since then I’ve joined several Bible studies, toddler groups, spouse groups…I’ve reached out, volunteered, prayed earnestly…nothing. For the first time in years, I recently had time to sit down and really take stock of my life and the tremendous changes we had endured in just a few short years. Please don’t misunderstand me – I adore my husband and trust him implicitly. No one knows me like he does. But I craved that deep, sisterly, Christian fellowship like I’d had in the past. It still hasn’t materialized and I’ve implored God, in tears at times. The days drag on as I do my best to balance our now two children, my husband’s frequent absences (due to work), finishing my Master’s, staying involved in our church and community…I’ve been drowning in the everyday stresses of the mundane.


But just in the last few days, God has started to gently reveal to me the reason for this perceived loneliness. I’ve always thrown myself into every relationship, priding myself on being a “people person” and an “extrovert.” I always refused to ever say no to anyone and relied on others at the cost of my personal relationship with God. I was putting others above God. It was putting a strain not only on my relationship with God, but also my home life. My husband, and even my mother, have always been quick to point out my seeming inability to tell anyone no. But I still didn’t see how I was basically relegating God to the backseat. 


So this is a tremendously painful moment of grace in my life – God’s grace in revealing this to me and forgiving me for my selfishness and pride; grace from my husband and family for not focusing on them as much as I should; and finally, grace in allowing myself time to pray, grow, and persevere. “Grace” is my word for 2017. I never could have known in January just how fitting that would be. It is even more amazing to me that God chose a book called Glimpses of Grace, by Gloria Furman, to show this to me. I wrote a review of this book on Goodreads and posted it to the blog in May. It has completely changed my life and the way I see my role in my family. I have a new focus now – learning to live the Gospel out in my home and allow God to work through me. As I do this, everything else will fall into place. And my loneliness will subside as I fill my heart and my home with the grace and love of Christ. I know it sounds idealistic, but it’s the overarching truth that should be (WILL be) the focal point of our home. I also know it won’t be easy and making such a commitment puts us directly in the crosshairs spiritually. Despite the inherent threat and effort involved, I need to put extra effort into ensuring God is at the center of my life and my home, at all costs. This is the only way we will have peace and live within the grace of God. 


Lysa Terkeurst mentions three encouraging thoughts about spiritual loneliness that really resonated with me:

  1. Look for the gift of being humbled – look for the opportunities for God to humble your heart and prepare you for life.
  2. Look for the gift of being lonely – chances are you aren’t alone; use this opportunity to reach out to others who may be struggling in similar ways.
  3. Look for the gift of silence – it is often in the moments of silence that we hear God’s voice.

Lysa says: “I’m trying to weave more silence into the rhythm of my life now so I can whisper, ‘God what might You want to say to me right now? I’m listening.’ “

Being lonely may be painful at times, but it give me ample opportunities to grow closer to God. Instead of praying for God to provide a confidant, I now pray for God to help me feel satisfied in Him.


I’ve been learning a lot of other things as well as God has given me the time, desire, and resources to read voraciously. I’ll be sharing these other lessons in the coming weeks as I continue to heal and learn to delight in the Lord. 
Won’t you join me? 


Hapless but hopeful,

Cassie

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