3 Biggest Misconceptions about Christianity

Some beliefs sound Christian until you open the Bible.They’re familiar. They’re comfortable. And they can quietly reshape what you believe about church, Jesus, and eternity.In this episode of UPD Podcast, Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb examine three common misconceptions and ask a harder question: have we built our faith around what Scripture teaches, or around what we want to be true?

What are we teaching our sons to do when everyone else goes along? The Cornell 7 controversy opens a difficult conversation about parenting, peer pressure, sexual responsibility, and the courage to speak up.In this episode of UPD Podcast, Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb discuss the story through the lens of Christian faith and their own experiences with partying, addiction, fatherhood, and redemption.Drawing from Proverbs 7, they explore why preparing kids for temptation takes more than a list of rules. It takes honest conversations, an understanding of their worth in Christ, and parents willing to model what they teach.In this conversation:• Alcohol, drugs, pornography, and the choices we normalize• Peer pressure and the responsibility to protect vulnerable people• Raising sons who respect women’s dignity• Helping daughters know their worth• Making home a safe place for difficult conversations• Finding forgiveness and a new beginning through JesusThis episode offers faith-based commentary on the Cornell 7 controversy, rather than an investigation or determination of the allegations.Content note: Discussion of sexual assault allegations, substance use, pornography, and past suicidal thoughts.CHAPTERS00:00 Episode preview00:57 Why we’re discussing the Cornell 702:49 The story as discussed in this episode07:02 UPD Fireside Chat07:38 The conversations parents need to have10:51 Biblical wisdom on alcohol and judgment15:28 Pornography, expectations, and objectification22:44 Peer pressure and the courage to speak up25:01 Proverbs 7: Recognizing the warning signs39:07 Reacting to campus hookup culture46:24 Seeking validation through sex49:19 Practical tools for parents55:09 Raising sons who protect others’ dignity56:22 Raising daughters who know their worth57:26 Making home a safe place to tell the truth59:06 Choosing friends and finding wise counsel1:01:35 Modeling the life you want your kids to live1:05:27 A message to young men1:07:43 Fireside Chat and Patreon1:09:21 A message to young women1:13:44 The woman at the well: Grace and a new beginning1:18:56 Taking a first step toward healingSUPPORT UPDMore conversations, behind-the-scenes content, and Bible Briefs:https://www.patreon.com/updodcastCONNECT WITH USQuestions, stories, or prayer requests:[email protected] to UPD Podcast for honest conversations about faith, culture, and following Jesus.#UPDPodcast #ChristianParenting #BiblicalManhood

The danger isn’t always a stranger on the street. It can reach your child through a phone, an app, or a conversation you never knew was happening.Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb travel to Jacksonville, Florida, to sit down with Bryan Weight of Operation Light Shine and Detective Ryan Ellis for an honest conversation about child exploitation, human trafficking, and the people working every day to protect children.We discuss how Operation Light Shine equips law enforcement, how digital evidence helps investigators identify victims, and why parents and communities have a role in prevention.We also talk about the personal cost of this work: protecting your marriage, staying present as a father, maintaining your faith, and continuing to fight when the need feels overwhelming.

You want a godly wife. But are you becoming the kind of man she can trust?In this episode of UPD Podcast, Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb tackle Christian dating, preparing for marriage, and the hard conversations you need before saying “I do.”Prompted by a listener’s question, they start with the man in the mirror: your character, self-control, dependability, and willingness to hear honest feedback. Then they unpack Proverbs 31, choosing a spouse, sex before marriage, and the baggage that can follow you into a relationship.Drawing from their own mistakes, recovery, and marriages, Jonny and Andy discuss why honesty matters, why mentors are essential, and how to build a marriage where both people feel safe and heard. Producer Felix also shares what he wishes he had known before his own marriage.

What if you've wasted years of your life?Augustine of Hippo spent years chasing pleasure, success and answers everywhere except God. Teresa of Ávila spent nearly two decades living what she later described as a divided spiritual life.Yet neither story ended there.In this episode of UPD Podcast, Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb continue their Martyrs & Saints series with the lives of Augustine and Teresa of Ávila: two Christians whose stories remind us that spiritual drift, failure and wasted years don't have to be the final chapter.We talk about Augustine's dramatic conversion, his mother's relentless prayers, Teresa's radical transformation later in life, spiritual stagnation, silence and prayer, taking responsibility for sin, and what can happen when someone finally gives God their full yes.If you feel like you've missed your window, wasted too much time or gone too far off course, this episode is for you.

In ancient Rome, being a Christian could cost you everything.Saint Sebastian served inside the Roman imperial system while secretly encouraging persecuted Christians. When his faith was discovered, he was sentenced to death. He survived, recovered, and instead of disappearing, walked back into danger to confront the emperor.More than a century earlier, philosopher Justin Martyr spent his life searching for truth. After finding Christianity, he defended the faith publicly, refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, and ultimately gave his life for what he believed was true.In the first episode of our Martyrs & Saints series, Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb explore these stories, the Roman persecution of Christians, and the question they leave for us:What kind of faith are we building today, before anything is asked of us?Because the goal isn't simply to admire the faith of people who came before us. It's to develop a faith capable of standing when following Jesus actually costs us something.

What if God is doing His deepest work in the seasons where He seems the most distant?In this episode of UPD Podcast, Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb sit down with Dr. Jeremy Sims, author of *The Way of the Spirit: Recognizing and Responding to God's Subtle Movements*, for a conversation about learning to recognize the Holy Spirit in the ordinary, painful and quiet moments of life.Jeremy challenges the way many Christians think about God's presence. We often assume God is close when life feels spiritual and far away when we're suffering, stuck or hearing nothing. But what if we've misunderstood what God is doing?The conversation explores suffering, anger, fear, grief, silence, addiction, spiritual disciplines, comparison, success and the constant noise that can keep us from recognizing God's work in our lives.They also discuss what happens when you finally get quiet enough to confront what's underneath the surface, why spiritual growth can't always be recognized in real time, and why following Jesus isn't about forcing God to give you the outcome you want.Sometimes God doesn't give you an answer.Sometimes He gives you space.And sometimes the thing you're desperately trying to escape is the very place where He's forming you.

This episode of UPD Podcast asks a difficult question: If you're following Jesus, are you actually changing?Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb are joined by Nolan Poore to talk about spiritual growth, self-control, marriage, brotherhood, discipline and what it means to intentionally become more like Christ.Starting with a viral conversation involving Bryce Crawford, the guys discuss homosexuality, judgment, sin, love and why Christians can be quick to condemn certain sins while overlooking their own.Then the conversation turns to 2 Peter 1 and a challenge for every Christian: faith isn't the finish line.Following Jesus means continuing to grow.How do you build self-control? What happens when church starts feeling routine? Can serving God actually become an excuse for neglecting your marriage? How do Christian men hold each other accountable without becoming self-righteous?And what does it look like to relentlessly pursue the person God intended you to become?You don't need to fix everything today.You just need to take your next step.

Detective Heidi Chance spent 25 years with Phoenix Police, including 14 years working human trafficking cases and going undercover to catch sex buyers and traffickers.In this episode of UPD Podcast, Heidi takes Jonny Hanson and Andy Lamb inside the reality of sex trafficking, undercover operations, online grooming, pornography, protecting children in the digital age, and the men creating the demand.Heidi also shares how her faith in Jesus allows her to confront extraordinary darkness without losing her joy, and why she believes God specifically called her into this fight.Viewer discretion advised. This episode contains mature discussion involving sexual exploitation and minors.https://www.achanceforawareness.com/

Former professional MMA fighter Garrett Gross spent years fighting both inside and outside the cage.Before founding Operation 17:2 and dedicating his life to protecting vulnerable children, Garrett's own life was marked by fighting, alcohol, drugs, arrests, incarceration and a relentless pursuit of becoming a professional fighter.In Part 2 of Garrett's conversation with UPD Podcast, Garrett sits down with Andy Lamb and Jonny Hanson to tell the story behind the man.Garrett explains how a childhood love of fighting eventually led him into MMA, where he went 20-2 as an amateur with 17 knockouts before turning professional. But while his fighting career was growing, his personal life was unraveling.Garrett opens up about substance abuse, alcohol, selling drugs, repeated arrests, DUIs and eventually serving time in the Illinois Department of Corrections. It was inside prison, with little else to do, that Garrett first began seriously reading the Bible.But his transformation didn't happen overnight.After prison, Garrett moved to Florida and began trying to rebuild his life. Eventually, he found himself heading to South Florida with a motorcycle, a backpack and $300 to pursue his dream of training at American Top Team.Then his motorcycle broke down.What happened next became one of the defining moments of Garrett's life.After praying that God would put someone in his path who could keep him moving in the right direction, a stranger named Ryan showed up to help Garrett with his motorcycle. Garrett would soon discover that Ryan wasn't just another fighter. He became Garrett's pastor, boss, jiu-jitsu coach and Christian mentor.This conversation isn't just about addiction recovery or MMA.It's about Christian brotherhood, vulnerability, discipleship, shame, isolation, masculinity, addiction, prison, fighting and the slow process of becoming more like Jesus.Following Jesus didn't instantly make Garrett's life easy.It gave him a new reason to fight.If you're battling addiction, shame, isolation or the feeling that your past disqualifies you from being used by God, this conversation is for you.