Happy New Year! This week, we are celebrating 300 episodes of the HopeCast with a very special sharing of brief testimonies from listeners. Enjoy hearing about the impact that 300 episodes have made and consider listening to one of our 299 topics discussed here!

It's Christmas Week, which is a great time to prepare for the many triggers that come with the holiday season. Ricky and Bonnie discuss managing expectations for the holidays, how to prepare for the holiday not being picture-perfect like the movies and how to navigate tricky family interactions. We hope you all have a joyous and happy holiday!

This week, Ricky and Bonnie discuss how to approach conversations with teens about navigating their LGBTQ+ friendships with truth and grace. In a culture where everything screams that love is agreeing 100% with another's decisions, young people can struggle with honoring Christ and honoring their friends simultaneously, and Ricky and Bonnie are here to give tips for discussing these things with teens.

This week is just Bonnie and Marsha! Our Women's Minister and Friends & Family Director discuss how transgenderism is often lumped together with same-sex attraction in the LGBTQ+ community, but that the struggle of transgenderism is a little more on the opposite spectrum of same-sex attraction. They talk about what is often going on under the surface of someone struggling with their God-given gender and how we can meet those struggles with the love of Christ.

Ricky and Bonnie are joined by Marsha Inman, the Friends & Family Director at Living Hope, to discuss how parents can navigate their children's struggle with their genders from young and still in the home, to adult and returning home for the holidays. They talk about asking good, open questions, setting boundaries, and continuing to love with grace and truth.

Happy Thanksgiving, HopeCast Listeners! Whether you are in the U.S. gearing up for Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving is not a holiday you celebrate in your part of the world, gratitude is something we can all grow in. Thankfulness can shift your perspective in many ways. This week, Ricky and Bonnie are here to discuss how gratitude can improve your relationships with both with other people, something people with LGBTQ+ struggles often find a lot of heartache in, and most importantly with the Lord Himself.

In this episode, Bonnie and Ricky discuss a recent survey of church-goers and the common misconceptions believed even among people who attend church (not necessarily Christ-followers). They meet these misconceptions with the truth of God's Word.

This week, Ricky and Bonnie sit down with another participant from our Living Hope Women's Group, Bridget, who shares her story from her testimony to finding Living Hope to pursuing a degree in apologetics and now a certification in Biblical Sexuality Ministry through the Institute of Biblical Sexuality.

This week is another one of our most played episodes! This week, Ricky and Bonnie define emotional dependency, why it is important to talk about and the steps to navigate relationships in a way that is healthy and glorifying to Christ.

This week - a repost of one of our most popular episodes! Ricky and Bonnie discuss a topic that is rarely spoken of in churches. However, it is necessary to discuss whether an act that is not necessarily mentioned plainly as sinful in the Bible is still not a part of God's design for his children.

This week, Ricky and Bonnie are joined by Tiffani, an Living Hope participant who shares her story of what brought her to Living Hope and how she has benefitted from finding a community that is open, transparent, and understanding, but encourages her to pursue Jesus above all.

In this episode, Ricky and Bonnie talk about the devastating effects of leading a double life, and how, though bringing sin to light can be terrifying, it is also promised to be the most freeing thing we can ever do.

This week, Ricky and Bonnie discuss the ineffectiveness of responding to someone who struggles with a phrase like "Just don't be gay..." and how, more often than not, these feelings and struggles are not a choice, but the result of a long journey of unmet needs. They suggest and encourage more thoughtful responses that are more loving (though not affirming in the lifestyle) and that are more likely to open doors for spiritual support and encouragement rooted in truth.

This week, Ricky and Bonnie discuss the feeling of shame that often comes with same-sex attraction and the formative events that can feed into that struggle. They talk about how none of us are meant to live in that shame forever, and ways to overcome those shameful feelings.

In this episode, Ricky and Bonnie discuss the concept of gender dysphoria in our culture today, and both the rhetoric that feeds this confusion, and the truth that meets this confusion and provides clarity. They also talk about and encourage a wide spectrum of both male and female expression as depicted in Scripture itself.

In this episode, Ricky and Bonnie talk about strongholds and how they often arise in our lives and how we tend to feed them, but, conversely, how we can, with God's power, work to defeat them in our lives. North Texas Giving Day is September 18th, but you can start giving now! Find out more at northtexasgivingday.org

This week, Ricky and Bonnie tackle explaining what defensive detachment is. If you start to relate to their description, do not get uneasy, but keep listening - they will continue to discuss how even one of them relates strongly to the description as well and tips to create balance in relationships and cultivate friendships that are healthy. North Texas Giving Day is September 18th, but you can start giving now! Find out more at northtexasgivingday.org

Ricky and Bonnie discuss the struggle of not feeling perfectly created by God as the gender and the expression of the gender He created us to be and how that encourages us to believe that our gender is a mistake. They discuss the truth that Scripture proclaims about God's perfect design and that He has made us as we are to be a reflection of His image and how to reframe our minds to align with this truth.

Ricky and Bonnie discuss here the importance of "taking every thought captive to obey Christ" as directed in 2 Corinthians 10:5. They talk about why it is necessary and some practical steps to follow through - especially when it comes to thoughts about sexual and relational desires that are not in line with what God has designed for His children.

We are excited to announce that the Institute of Biblical Sexuality, the training arm of Living Hope Ministries, has launched the Rooted Counseling: The Center for Relational and Sexual Wholeness. Ricky and Bonnie sit down with Leah Niccolls, the Director of Rooted Counseling to talk about what Rooted Counseling will offer and how this counseling center will offer unique assistance for those dealing with sexual trauma.