What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
Greg Oliver
61 episodes
3 days ago
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Since the late '90's / early 2000's, Passion Music has been blessing the Church with song after song to sing together. And one of its primary worship leaders is our guest Kristian Stanfill. Kristian is the voice you've heard on songs like "One Thing Remains," "Death Was Arrested," "Glorious Day," and "Come to Jesus." He is a passionate, enthusiastic worshipper and worship leader who leads at Passion conferences and at his home church, Passion ...
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"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Since the late '90's / early 2000's, Passion Music has been blessing the Church with song after song to sing together. And one of its primary worship leaders is our guest Kristian Stanfill. Kristian is the voice you've heard on songs like "One Thing Remains," "Death Was Arrested," "Glorious Day," and "Come to Jesus." He is a passionate, enthusiastic worshipper and worship leader who leads at Passion conferences and at his home church, Passion ...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Since the late '90's / early 2000's, Passion Music has been blessing the Church with song after song to sing together. And one of its primary worship leaders is our guest Kristian Stanfill. Kristian is the voice you've heard on songs like "One Thing Remains," "Death Was Arrested," "Glorious Day," and "Come to Jesus." He is a passionate, enthusiastic worshipper and worship leader who leads at Passion conferences and at his home church, Passion ...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" RE-RELEASE. This episode originally released July 22, 2024. For men and women seeking recovery from unwanted sexual behavior, few people have been as influential or helpful as Michael John Cusick. Michael is a therapist, author, and Founder/CEO of Restoring the Soul, a counseling practice that provides opportunities for life-changing breakthrough with licensed and experienced therapists. Their holistic approach creates an atmosphere of sa...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" The scariest thing about kids and tech isn’t just what they can find—it’s what can find them. Greg & Bobby sat down with Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes and president of Better Tech, to map a practical path through the chaos: clear relational scripts, layered technical guardrails, and a mindset that trades “set it and forget it” for steady, confident presence. Chris breaks the work into two buckets—relational and technical—and...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Anytime we can encourage people in caring professions we love to do it! If you walk with, pastor, or counsel people going through hard times, this is a conversation you're going to want to hear. Karrie Garcia is a pastor, life coach, and author who inspires change in others by boldly sharing her journey to freedom. She has seen firsthand how God’s true redemptive purpose for our lives does not begin once we’re free from pain, rather it stems di...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" It can be scary to examine spiritual messages we've heard all our lives, but it sometimes can also be the path to experiencing God more truly, deeply, and biblically. Steve Cuss is an author, speaker, and pastor who has a passion for understanding what drives Christians to feel anxiety, fear, and exhaustion about their faith & relationship with God. He has written books that examine the role anxiety plays in leadership (Managing Leade...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" It's December, and just like last year, we're giving you something extra for the holidays. Each week in December we'll release a new episode for you to enjoy! Please remember to follow/subscribe to the show, write a positive review, and share us with others. ALSO, if the show means something to you, please consider a financial gift to help us continue! (Link to give below) For the first December episode, we caught up with a friend who is both a...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" It's critical for ministry leaders to understand their responsibility and opportunity to help people in their churches who are sexually struggling. That was a key theme in our rich conversation with Sam Black, Director of Recovery Education at Covenant Eyes. Sam explained that empathy plus action breaks porn’s grip, and how churches can become truly safe communities for strugglers and spouses. We talked about practical tools, trauma-informed in...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" What if sadness isn’t the problem—what if the real drain is the energy we spend trying to avoid it? To celebrate our 50th episode, Greg & Stacey talk with therapist and author ADAM YOUNG (host of The Place We Find Ourselves podcast) for a frank, tender, and deeply practical conversation about story work, lament, and the courage to feel. Adam unpacks why facing your past can enlarge your heart, expand your capacity for joy and grief, and fin...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" It's always fun and encouraging to talk with other people who work in the same spaces. NICK LIBERTO is the executive director at Proven Ministries, an organization committed to "seeing a revival of sexual integrity throughout the entire Bride of Christ." They provide support and resources for men, women, and ministry leaders. Proven has created many resources to support sexual integrity, including TheSexTalk.com, an online course for parents wh...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" In the category of sexual addiction recovery, there are a few people who deserve to be called pioneers. BARBARA STEFFENS is definitely one of them. Over the last quarter century she has begun and advanced invaluable philosophy and resources related to partner betrayal trauma. Previous sex addiction conventional wisdom referred to the addict's partner as a "co-addict," used phraseology that ignored the post-traumatic stress partners undergo, and...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. RE-RELEASE. This episode originally released June 3, 2024. What is a recovery intensive? How is it different from weekly therapy or extended inpatient treatment? How could it help my recovery process? To address these important questions, Greg enlists the help of three friends, therapists who consistently staff the Roots Retreat Men's Recovery Intensive from Awaken. Adam Calvert, James Horne, an...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Suffering. We don't like it. Most of us probably don't even like the word. Suffering brings to mind experiences of abuse, neglect, rejection, abandonment... traumatic events that lodged themselves into our lives as long-term traumas. How do we get away from suffering? Our guest CATHY LOERZEL gives an answer many won't like. We don't get away from suffering. It is inevitable and unavoidable in this life. We are made for perfect care, yet none of...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" The Bible presents many topics that elicit passionate and polarizing opinions. One of these is how unmarried Christians should evaluate their calling and purpose as it relates to marriage. Our guest, PIETER VALK, has a lot to say on the subject. As a Christian who for most of his life has experienced same-sex attraction and a commitment to honor a traditional Biblical sexual ethic, Pieter has embraced a life of vocational singleness. But he doe...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" People addicted to pornography often experience lots of shame and self-contempt ("What's wrong with me?!"). They often see their sexual desire, and the fact that they go to porn to try and satisfy it, as THE problem. Our guest, DREW BOA, disagrees. In his new book Outgrow Porn: Find Lasting Freedom Without Fighting an Exhausting Battle, Drew says, "Your sexuality is not the problem, and the urge to watch porn is not bad either. It's a sym...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" When couples in conflict feel a million miles apart, are they? Are the areas of "stuckness" as insurmountable as it sometimes feels? KELLY BOURQUE, is a therapist who specializes in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), a modality of counseling that focuses on attachment science and how it shows up in romantic relationships. Kelly is the founder of Red Therapy Group in Franklin TN. EFT is a modality based in attachment theory, and is helpful in al...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" People walking through the wilderness of addiction can have a hard time finding places that feel truly safe to open up. Yet authentic connection is the key to freedom from addiction. One of the things that gives the safety people seek is a person who chooses to be open about their own "limp," not hiding from their personal failures. John Steakley is that kind of person. Since walking through his own addictive struggle with alcohol, John h...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" For people in the Birmingham AL area, or who are part of the PCA denomination, BOB FLAYHART is probably a name you've heard. In 1989 Bob was the founding pastor of Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church, and served as lead pastor there until 2024. Bob has remained a consistent advocate for the pure message of God's unconditional love, grace, and transforming power through the gospel. Both Greg and Bobby benefitted from Bob's (and OMPC's) openne...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" When Stacey and I talked with Corinne Vance for Episode 41, we started recording early and the conversation got really interesting really quickly (at least for us). We got to know a lot about Corinne: how she came to faith, her early experiences with Christianity, and how that has impacted her as a therapist. We thought you might enjoy a little extra helping of our talk with Corinne, so here it is! Please keep listening in...we'll be giving you...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" There are certain experiences that are excruciatingly hard to talk about, and from which healing is incredibly difficult. Sexual abuse is far more common than most people realize, yet survivors often feel isolated and carry shame over their abuse. They need kind, caring people to support their healing. Corinne Vance is that kind of person. She has worked therapeutically with men, women, and adolescents for over 20 years. She has provided traini...
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" What do you do when your spouse tells you she wants a divorce and is in love with another man? That was a question Harrison Scott Key never thought he'd have to answer. But it's exactly what happened. Over the course of several years he navigated an excruciating saga of fighting for his marriage and for his sanity. He tells the story in his New York Times bestselling book How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told. In our convers...
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Since the late '90's / early 2000's, Passion Music has been blessing the Church with song after song to sing together. And one of its primary worship leaders is our guest Kristian Stanfill. Kristian is the voice you've heard on songs like "One Thing Remains," "Death Was Arrested," "Glorious Day," and "Come to Jesus." He is a passionate, enthusiastic worshipper and worship leader who leads at Passion conferences and at his home church, Passion ...
