Give Me 1 Reason

Do not miss this one, Brandon is a friend I met when I was a non trad 42 year old church lady headed to college and he was an 18 year old metal head in my philosophy class. Our journeys have collided at different points in our lives the last 14 years and here we are. He honestly tells me what he thought of my worldview and comments in class those eons ago as well as how philosophy sent him on a long strange trip of doubt, belief and then back to doubt. Articulate and engaging, Brandon is honest and non judgmental but at the end of the day, only wants to believe what is true. Islam, Psychedelics and the meaning of life....just a few of the things we discussed. I loved this conversation and gleaned so much from it, I hope you do as well

This is my guy...a precious young man I have had the privilege of running into a few times the last couple of years. His light and energy is contagious. He let me know he wanted to talk to me after hearing my last episode on Dogma Debate. I honestly had no idea where he was coming from and was surprised to say the least. Richie is honest, forthright, heartfelt and deeply sincere as he lays out what he believes and then tells his story which left me in tears. I must tell you I foolishly recorded this in a bar and the back noise is frustrating though my producer worked hard to minimize it. I must say it is so worth it!!! Again,, had no idea before I entered this one what it would entail and I am so proud of it and him <3

A story about....A Christian mom who is a pastor talks with her atheist sons...they ask the hard questions and she is challenged in her core as she second guesses the way she raised them...in the end there is nothing but love. __________________________________________________________ This was again hard for a parent to hear but important for a parent to hear. I listen as my two oldest tell me why they have left the faith as I search for reasons and answers to their questions. Sometimes it is painful and challenging to your worth as a parent to have these honest conversations yet I am very proud of the fact we can have them. Human suffering, the problem of evil, why God is not worthy of our worship and why wont I give in and give up my faith in light of their seemingly reasonable rejection of the God of the Bible are just a few of the things discussed. Hard to hear till the very end and it ends not resolved but we all learned more about each other and I am good with that. I affirmed their religious past and why I felt we did the best thing for them at the time, the things that seemed silly now yet I still defended them. This was done in the middle of the night over Christmas and again...whiskey ;)thankfully To my sons, I love you forever, I'll like you for always...as long as I'm living...(you know the rest)

This one is especially hard. As many of you know my first podcast episode on Give Me One Reason was with my firstborn son Ryan who has been an atheist for sometime. Though difficult, I ventured into this territory again 25 episodes later to have an honest, heartfelt and somewhat painful talk with my second born Michael Price this past Christmas. In this episode, Michael admits that his relationship he felt to God was somewhat organic and felt real in spite of the indoctrination he received growing up in a Christian home. He recalls years of wanting to be a missionary someday as a young boy and then actually doing it for almost a decade of his life. A former YWAM staff member (Youth With a Mission) and a heart first, zealous young believer, Mikey now has some pretty shocking things to say that were hard for me as his mother to hear. But I not only heard, I did my best to listen as the midnight hour was far gone and a bit of whiskey was still in my glass. I love you so Michael ...I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always...

Heather shares her perspective on the stance of the church in general in LGBTQ people and how this has framed her worldview and caused her to second guess things she heard as a child. She was in an open and accepting household to her own sexuality and feels loved and is grateful for that. She honestly has never had a negative experience having to do with religion though she is familiar it and knows they happen. She reminds us Jesus had two dads and celebrated love with people others thought were unworthy. Thank you Heather for joining us!!!

Strahinja is a Serbian born young man who is an Orthodox Christian. He explains why he is a believer and why he believes Orthodoxy is more generous and simple than American Evangelicalism. He is easy to listen to and his kindness shows through in this podcast.

Joseph has listened to ¾ of the Dogma Debate catalog and enjoys pondering issues of faith and doubt. He said he would love to go on and debate the famous David Smalley but he cannot let go of that last thread that prevents him from being an atheist. He got saved at 17 and even spoke in tongues but is not sure what it adds to his life at this point. Drawn to logic and reason that should trump superstition, he had a remarkable experience that he cannot explain during a car accident. I have been waiting since the inception of this podcast to talk to Joseph and I was not disappointed. It was a fun and spirited conversation that made me go ’hmmmm’ a few times. Joe is anti Apostle Paul and feels he hijacked the pure message of Christ. Also, Joe brings up why books were not continually added to the Bible throughout the years…is God dead? Is that voice still speaking and who can judge if it is valid or not? Join me for a thoughtful and deep dive into issues of faith.

Close to death 11 times in his life, a creative DJ/audio master who sees his work as art and seems far older than his 21 years. Jamison has an eclectic friend group with varying degrees of belief and non belief who subscribe to three basic rules in life to maintain their friendship. He talks about why he gets up in the morning and what gives him hope for the future

Spencer talks honestly about post military life and the challenges of being conservative politically as a young adult. He talks about politics, faith and the danger of Red Flag laws. Though he does consider himself a believer, he resonates with Gospel of Thomas and as a universalist believes we all have a spark of the divine.

Meet Ellie, a thoughtful girl who wants to edit movies and is good at looking for that gotcha moment in life and film that makes you think! Her parents met at Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and she came from a devout Christian home. She remembers hearing about the rapture and being scared she wouldn’t go if she didn’t tell everyone she knew about Jesus so they wouldn’t go to hell. As a young girl, her first statement meeting people was ‘Do you know Jesus?’ She believes now she has had a real experience with God although much of her youth she just believed what she was told. She came from the purity culture and tried very hard to resist the ‘worldly urges’ albeit somewhat unsuccessfully as a normal teenage girl, feeling shame about her inability to please a stringent God and her family. Marked by shame, she came to terms with some heavy hitting issues about her faith and her own sexuality.