Anxious Faith

Hi friends, listen to this short clip or read below for an important announcement from our team!As you might know, Anxious Faith is a project run by Our Daily Bread Ministries here in Australia. We’ve been blessed to journey with this community for four years now, and we’re so thankful for where God has taken this initiative. But it’s time for a new chapter, and with that, we’re announcing that Anxious Faith is coming to a close.What does that mean for you? Well, firstly, don’t worry; our episodes and blog posts aren’t going anywhere, and you’ll still find them all at anxiousfaith.org and wherever you get your podcasts. There’s so much content there for you to listen, read, watch and share with others!Our heart here at Anxious Faith has always been to explore the messy intersection between our faith and life’s struggles, and to see what the Bible has to say about the things we face; and that hasn’t changed. Our team will continue produce impactful content and resources for you, it just means that now, they’ll fall under the banner of Our Daily Bread Ministries.To be the first to hear when our new content is out, you can follow us on Instagram as @‌odbm_au and subscribe to our mailing list at anxiousfaith.org.This community wouldn’t have grown and flourished without the generosity and vulnerability of guests we’ve had the privilege of hearing from. It’s through their stories that our own lives—and we hope yours, too—have been encouraged and enriched. We’ve listed the names of each podcast guest we’ve heard from here below, and we’d like to take a moment to honour each of you.If you’ve been impacted by the stories we’ve shared or you’re curious to know more about what our ministry is up to now, both here in Australia and globally, we’d love to hear from you — you can get in touch with us or find out more about our heart and mission at odb.org.On behalf of all of us—James, Maddy, Ethan & Stephen—it’s been a privilege to walk alongside you these past four years. We can’t wait to start sharing what’s next, and we hope you’ll stick around to find out! Special thanks to all our podcast guests over the years:JessJoshMary ArgallMadeleine ScholefieldMike RiddellDr Sarah (GP)Chris MacLeodPip ShearerJordon StoyanoffMatt ScholefieldStephen UnwinJemimahHarrison CarrDr Kuruvilla GeorgePippa BatcheldorJoshuaAl HsuDr Katherine ThompsonDr Sarah MorrisMark McNairMary HinchliffeAmelie SalasAkos BaloghTiffany CicconeBen BolandDr Katy UnwinLara d’EntremontNoni PotterGabby WilkinsonJosh GazzardDr Matt LucasKimberly SmithJacob RaymentKeola ParagasErin MountSteve MitchellJustin HughesAmanda AnaestadPaul GrimmondDaniel Ryan DaySheridan VoyseyKatherine CatlettDr James Banks

As followers of Jesus, hope isn't a foreign concept. But we also know that Jesus said that a life following him wasn't going to be easy - we'd face troubles, difficulties, and challenges. What do we do when they hit? How can we have hope, when life around us may seem hopeless? This episode we speak with Katherine Catlett, an ex-cheerleader from the US, who has an incredible story of faith and finding hope, even in the face of tragic circumstances beyond her control. --  Links we mentioned:  Katherine Catlett When Hope Feels Intangible - Anxious Faith blog Sign up to the Anxious Faith mailing list --  Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to invite people to take a break from the noise of the world and connect to God. We want to help people understand how the Bible is connected to their everyday lives by creating moments for pause and reflection, so the threads between scripture and what people are facing seem clear.  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.  We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

We’ve all heard the line before: we were made for connection. We all know how good friends can be, but for more people than we expect, friendlessness and disconnection are significant issues in their lives. How do we go about fixing that? This episode we're joined by Sheridan Voysey, founder of Friendship Lab, to look at how we can grow our friendships and connections. --  Links we mentioned:  Friendship Lab Ep 33 - It’s Lonely out There featuring Kimberly Smith Sign up to the Anxious Faith mailing list --  Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to invite people to take a break from the noise of the world and connect to God. We want to help people understand how the Bible is connected to their everyday lives by creating moments for pause and reflection, so the threads between scripture and what people are facing seem clear.  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.  We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

If you've listened to  Episode 43 Rest: How We Find Rest in God we shared some practical ways through prayer or reading the Bible to actually rest in God. This bonus episode is designed for you to listen to when you've got a quiet place away from interruptions, and to read through Psalm 23 with us in a contemplative, meditative way. We hope it's a help!

We all recognise the importance of rest, but how often do we find ourselves indulging in mindless entertainment when only resting in God can truly satisfy? In the first episode of our new season, we'll delve into what it means to rest in God and how we can practically do that.  --  Links we mentioned:  Five-part series on Rest, written by Stephen Unwin  Sign up to the Anxious Faith mailing list to join our Rest reading plan  Blog post: 3 Things That Stop Us from Resting Well  --  Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to invite people to take a break from the noise of the world and connect to God. We want to help people understand how the Bible is connected to their everyday lives by creating moments for pause and reflection, so the threads between scripture and what people are facing seem clear.  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.  We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

We’ve heard lots about anxiety; both from those who experience it, and those who help treat it. We’ve talked to doctors and pastors and counsellors and sufferers and everyone in between to find out how they experience anxiety, and what we can do about it.  But what about exploring the very concept of anxiety, as a whole, in light of God’s Word? How should Christians deal with anxiety? And why is it such a struggle for so many of us?  Who better to ask these questions of than the guy who wrote the book on it? We’re joined this episode by Paul Grimmond, the Dean of Students at Moore Theological College and author of the book ‘When the Noise Won’t Stop: A Christian Guide to Dealing With Anxiety’. With Paul we’ll explore the biblical perspective of anxiety, including what it is and whether we’re meant to feel anxious for certain things. We’ll also take a deep dive into some of those well known “anxiety verses” such as Philippians 4:6, and unpack the context behind them and what they’re really saying to us.  -- You can find Paul’s book, ‘When the Noise Won’t Stop’, at Koorong, Matthias Media or on Amazon. To find out more about Paul’s role as Dean at Moore Theological College, click here.  -- Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that?  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs. We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

Men are notoriously bad at understanding our emotions—let alone actually sharing about them with someone else—and it’s to our detriment.  Here in Australia, it’s Movember; a month where the titular charity encourages guys to raise money for Men’s Mental Health by growing a moustache. And awareness like this is sorely needed — because men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women.  So how do we as men learn to open up and start talking about what we’re going through? And…why should we? Does the Bible tell us to? What better way to open up this conversation than to sit down and chat with Akos Balogh, a fellow Aussie bloke helping us figure some of this out. We’ll talk through some of the reasons why guys don’t like sharing about our emotions, and dive into why it’s a really important thing for us to do not just as men, but as followers of Jesus, too. So, here’s our chat with Akos. You may recognise Akos as our podcast guest from Episode 24 - We Are Not Our Feelings, where he shared on his own struggle with anxiety, and what he’s learned about difficult emotions. He’s also written several pieces on our blog, including ‘10 Surprising Things I’ve Learned About Having Good Mental Health’ and ‘As a Christian Bloke, Here’s What I’ve Learned About Dealing With Difficult Emotions’. And, if you want to see more of how Akos engages with faith, mental health, and culture, you can check out his personal blog at akosbalogh.com. -- Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that?  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs. We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

Contrary to what many of us have grown up believing, porn addiction is not a “guys’ issue”. It’s a human one. Join us as we chat to Amanda Anaestad, cofounder of The Victory Collective, a ministry centred around community and resources for women struggling with a porn addiction.   Amanda was first exposed to pornography by accident in middle school, and it grew into an addiction that had a hold on her for many years. She shares with us how she only ever heard of porn being discussed as a problem for men, and how her feelings of shame and isolation stopped her from reaching out and getting help.  Because of her own experience, Amanda and her friend set out to build a community of women bravely speaking out and helping each other find healing.  We’ll hear from Amanda about her own journey and recovery, which included opening up to her now-husband about her secret struggle, as well as the importance of community and confession, and how God can—and does!—bring lasting healing to anyone who struggles with porn. -- The Victory Collective’s mission is to help women navigate their porn recovery journeys with grace by providing resources, personal insight, and a supportive community. Their goal is to provide women with a safe space to heal, grow, and find freedom in the grace of Jesus. You can find out more here. -- Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that?  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs. We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

As we began to branch out in topics here at Anxious Faith, we were surprised by the number of people who resonated with the episodes and blog posts we’ve done around OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This often-misunderstood condition can be so hard to live with, and yet there are therapeutic approaches that can offer hope and relief for those living with OCD. One of those approaches is called Exposure Response Prevention, or ERP, and we were intrigued to meet Justin Hughes—a licensed professional counsellor in Texas—who talks about ERP not just as a therapy for OCD, but as an inherently spiritual practice, too. Interesting, right? Exposure Response Prevention therapy is designed to help people with OCD learn to face the triggers to their obsessions without following through with the compulsion that comes with it. But this approach, as Justin shares, is actually a way that all of us can approach anything that is difficult in our life, faith, or relationships, even if we don’t suffer from OCD ourselves.  In today’s episode, Justin will take us through what ERP looks like, and we’ll spend some time unpacking how this practice can help us all grow our faith.  -- Justin K. Hughes is a writer, speaker and licensed professional counsellor passionate about helping those impacted by OCD. He has a Masters from Dallas Theological Seminary and is the owner of Dallas Counseling, a private practice in Texas. Justin is passionate about advocating for those who feel controlled by fear and anxiety. To read his blog, check out his new course on overcoming OCD or get in touch, you can visit his website: https://www.justinkhughes.com/. -- Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that?  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs. We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

Self-awareness is something that we all need; in order to be healthy, loving, thriving people, we need to understand a bit about ourselves and how we interact with other people, the world around us, and even God. And, for those of us who struggle with our mental health, learning how and why we function and react to things the way we do can be a key part of working towards healing.  But is there a point where leaning into self-awareness is actually just…selfish? Tinged with pride, and putting too much emphasis on ourselves?  Today we’re chatting with Steve Mitchell from the UK, who works as the Senior Vice President of the European branch of our organisation, Our Daily Bread Ministries. Steve is also an Executive Coach who has a passion for helping people have transformative conversations. His goal through coaching is to help people grow in self-awareness so that they can ultimately become healthier members of their communities — and the broader body of Christ. We’ll hear what coaching is, how it works, and whether there’s a point when spending too much time thinking and talking about ourselves is actually selfish… and unhelpful. Steve also gives us a practical example of a coaching session using a real scenario to help us all learn how we can have better conversations with people in our lives that lead to greater self-awareness and the ability to better understand, love, and care for each other. Let’s dive in. -- Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that?  We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs. We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.