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Maybe you’ve grown up as a Christian going to church or maybe you’re not interested in religion at all. But when you’re scrolling, hanging out with friends, trying to sleep, or overwhelmed with your day-to-day, do big existential questions ever pop in- you know- things like, “Why am I here? How did all this get here? What happens after I die?” “Is there a God and is there really meaning to all this?” ”What’s so special about Jesus Christ?” We’ve all experienced deep longing for something this world can’t seem to satisfy. Even someone as wildly successful as Taylor Swift knows that to be true. “I had won album of the year at the Grammys for a second time...” She said, “and I remember thinking afterwards, ’Oh my god, that was all you wanted!... That was all you focused on. You get to the mountaintop and look around and you’re like... what now?” If you’re tired and feeling overwhelmed with all the different voices yelling for your affections- telling you what to go after- whether it be success, beauty, the perfect partner, social media followers, money, or power… only to leave you let down and unsatisfied, searching for more… Maybe like my friends and me, you’re after finding something REAL. Every week, join me (Janell Wood), special co-hosts and guests as we ask questions, look for answers, and search for the source of something REAL: Restoration, Eternity, Authenticity, and Love. I believe those things can ultimately be found in relationship with Jesus Christ, but don’t take my word for it. Listen to our conversations for yourself and go on a journey with us: Is Jesus the REAL thing?
Episodes
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Today, Mark Sowersby joins Janell on the podcast. Mark shares about his experience of being abused as a child, how his identity was impacted by the abuse, and how he dealt with it. He shares how he came to faith at 16 years old, meeting his biological father at 45 years old and much more.
Mark and Janell chat about what it means to forgive, dealing with the desire for justice, overcoming darkness on a practical level, dealing with dry seasons of faith, and more! We hope this episode is an encouragement to you!
About Mark
In 2019 Pastor Mark went through a time of great healing. He began speaking about the nightmare of abuse and years of suffering he experienced in his childhood. And how condemnation, shame, and guilt were replaced with forgiveness, joy, and life in abundance.
He now speaks about his story and his testimony of healing, forgiveness and freedom through his ministry, Forgiving The Nightmare.
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
FSR s5e22 with Leke
FSR s5e23 with Mabel
ForgivingTheNightmare.com
Forgiving the Nightmare - Mark Sowersby
Mark’s Instagram
Bleeding Daylight Episode with Mark Sowersby
The Footprints Poem
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Though Leke could not join Janell for this recording, Mabel NInan joins us on FSR today! Mabel shares her story of growing up in India with a Christian mother. She shares about her own desire for marriage, a bit of her faith journey, and the perspective shift that changed her view of serving God. She talks about how being an immigrant effects her faith, longing for eternity, finding community, and why unity among believers is important. They talk about the essentials of the Christian faith, the idea of “Believe. Receive, Become,” and much more! We hope you enjoy today’s episode!
Born and raised in the minority Christian community in India, Mabel Ninan, moved to the US in 2008 shortly after getting married. Her family has called ten different places across two continents and seven cities home. A contributor to Guideposts' All God's Creatures: Daily Devotions for Animal Lovers 2022, Mabel’s writings have appeared in The Upper Room, CBN.com, Leading Hearts Magazine, and (in)courage.me. Host of the YouTube podcast, Immigrant Faith Stories, she has been serving in women's ministry for nearly a decade. Mabel is pursuing M.A. in Theological Studies from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. A lover of books, tea, and Zumba, she lives in Northern California with her husband, son, and Maltese.
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
Mabel's Website
Far from Home: - Mabel Ninan
Sit Walk Stand -Watchman Nee
Gospel Spice Podcast with Stephanie Rousselle
FSR with Stephanie Rousselle (March 2021)
Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
Happy July, everyone! Today on the podcast, we’re introducing you to Gbemileke! Gbemileke is from Nigeria and she shares a lot about the Nigerian culture, Jollof Rice, and what it was like for her to grow up in Nigeria. Her father worked at a university, so she shares about growing up around the university’s culture.
In this podcast, she addresses how her dad’s abusive actions towards her family caused her mom to take the kids and leave. She talks about how moving away from the university affected her and her family, how depression set in, how she would go to a Mosque on Fridays and church on Sundays, her experience with faith deconstruction, and how all of that influences her today.
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
Jollof Rice recipe
Celestial Church of Christ
God will make a way - Don Moen
Kisses from Katie
Redeeming Love
Books by Phillip Yancey
-Where the Light Fell
-Finding God in Unexpected Places
-The Jesus I Never Knew
-What’s so Amazing about Grace
John Piper
Ravi Zacharias
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Today, Hilary Morgan Ferrer joins the podcast! She share a bit about what has been going on in her life since her last appearance on the podcast, and the passion behind Mama Bear Apologetics. She talks about faith deconstruction, hypocrisy, spiritual obstacles and expectational doubt and so much more! She also shares what causes her personally to believe in the God of the Christian Bible. We hope you enjoy this jam-packed episode!
Hillary Morgan Ferrer is the founder and Mama-Bear-in-Chief of Mama Bear Apologetics. She feels a burden for providing accessible apologetics resources for busy moms. She is the chief author and editor of the bestselling Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies and Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality: Empowering Your Kids to Understand and Live Out God’s Design. Hillary has her master’s degree in biology from Clemson University and is working on a master’s degree in apologetics from Biola University. She loves helping moms to discern both truths and lies in science and culture, and she also specializes in understanding the root causes of doubt. She and her husband, John, have been married for 15 years and minister together as an apologetics team. She can never sneak up on anybody because of her chronic hiccups, which you can hear occasionally on the podcast.
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
FSR s5e17 Totti’s Intro Episode
FSR s2e18 part 1 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s2e18 part 2 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s3e22 with the Exchange Ladies
FSR: Holy Tension and Tough Topics with Drew Berryessa
FSR: Same-Sex Attraction and the Church with Drew Berryessa
FSR: Are Christians Judgier than Jesus? With Drew and Cynthia
Can We Trust the Bible? with Leah Chapman and Andrew Foster
Mama Bear Apologetics
Mama Bear Books
Mama Bear Apologetics Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
MBA Episode 71: I Pity the Fool
FSR: Christian and LDS: What’s the Difference? with Lindsey Medenwaldt (2022)
FSR: Why Christianity? with Lindsey Medenwaldy (2021)
FSR: Today’s Big Questions with Hilary Morgan Ferrer (2019)
A Living Letter Ministries
Biola Apologetics Program
Clay Jones
William Lane Craig
C. S. Lewis’ Trilemna
Is Atheism Dead? - Eric Metaxas
The Discovery Institute
The Parable of the Talents -Matthew 25:14-30
Proverbs 15:22
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise
Luke 9:23
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Though Totti could not be present for the recording of Today’s episode, Lu is back. She and Janell have the pleasure of speaking with the host of the Unbelievable? Podcast, Justin Brierley! They talk about The Big Conversations Season 4 (over on Justin’s YouTube), the concession Richard Dawkins made about Christianity, the fine tuning of the Universe, making the leap between deism and Christianity, why it’s more dangerous to believe in a personal God than an abstract intellectual idea of Him, and so much more! We hope you enjoy this episode!
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
FSR s5e17 Totti’s Intro Episode
FSR s2e18 part 1 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s2e18 part 2 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s3e22 with the Exchange Ladies
FSR s5e14 with Bryan Drake
FSR s2e15 with Lu and Allen Crostic - Part 1 and Part 2
FSR s4e5 with Lu and Allen Crostic
FSRs4e9 with Lu and Stéphanie Rousselle
Unbelievable? with Justin Brlerley
Unbelievable? with Phillip Yancey
Richard Dawkins and Francis Collins: Biology, Belief and Covid
Unbelievable?: Why After Ten Years of Talking with Atheists, I'm Still a Christian - Justin Brierley
Against the Tide (movie)
John Lennox
Richard Dawkins
Christopher Hitchens
C. S. Lewis
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Apologist Abdu Murray joins the podcast today! Though Totti could not be present for this recording, two other wonderful young women, Zoe and Leonie, join Janell and Abdu!
Abdu shares his story of growing up Muslim, how he came to pursue Christianity, and what ultimately solidified his decision to follow Jesus. They discuss questions regarding God’s existence, how we can chose one religion without exploring all of them, the how and why of our existence, and so much more! We hope you enjoy this episode!
Abdu Murray offers the credibility of the gospel message as a speaker and writer with Embrace the Truth. He has authored several books including Saving Truth, Grand Central Question, Apocalypse Later, and the forthcoming More than a White Man’s Religion. For most of his life, Abdu was a proud Muslim until a nine-year historical, philosophical, theological, and scientific investigation pointed him to the Christian faith. Abdu has spoken to diverse international audiences and has participated in debates and dialogues across the globe. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. Abdu lives in the Detroit, Michigan area with his wife and their three children.
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
FSR s5e17 Totti’s Intro Episode
FSR s2e18 part 1 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s2e18 part 2 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s3e22 with the Exchange Ladies
Embrace The Truth
Abdu Murray - YouTube
”Was Jesus Raised from the Dead?” - Abdu Murray and John Loftus Debate
Grand Central Question - Abdu Murray
Saving Truth - Abdu Murray
More Than a White Man’s Religion - Abdu Murray
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus - Nabeel Quereshi
God is not One - Stephen Prothero
Steps to the Cross - John C. Scott
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Gernot Zeilinger is our guest on the podcast today! Gernot is an Austrian husband and father of three. He grew up in a Roman Catholic family, but turned towards socialism, atheism, and punk when he was a teen. He shares his story of how his 5-year-old daughter’s questions lead him to investigate Christianity, how he came to finally surrender to God, and how Christianity was set apart from fairytales. They also talk about how the Resurrection is the best explanation, how the Gospel writer’s honesty points to truth, and much more! We hope you enjoy this episode!
Gernot has a B.A in International Business Administration as well as a Certificate in Theological Studies from Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford and a Certificate in Christian Apologetics from the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Systematic and Philosophic Theology at the University of Nottingham and has started the process to become ordained in the Lutheran Church in Austria. He is currently working for Campus für Christus (the Austrian subsidiary of CRU) to create an apologetics ministry there named PROFUNDUM, focused on building bridges and dialogue between Christianity and secular perspectives to show the truth and relevance of Christianity for the world.
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
FSR s5e17 Totti’s Intro Episode
FSR s2e18 part 1 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s2e18 part 2 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s3e22 with the Exchange Ladies
FSR s4e16 with Josh White
FSR s3e2 with Josh White
Profundum.Austria on Instagram
Surprised by Joy - C. S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Cover-Up in the Kingdom - Steven Baughman
Not a Fan - Kyle Idleman
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Ravi Zacharias
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
This month, Totti joins us on the podcast!
Totti shares about being raised in Germany, her experience as an exchange student (how she met Janell), and her experience with religion.
Totti has been on the podcast previously, but she shares how, even though she is atheist, she came back.
This episode is very thought provoking. We hope you enjoy getting to know Totti and her faith journey!
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We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!
FSR s2e18 part 1 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s2e18 part 2 with Totti and Brandon
FSR s3e22 with the Exchange Ladies
Ruby’s Episodes from 2021
Intro
Reason for Faith: Finding Jesus after 40+ years of Atheism with Louie van Praag
Why Jesus? with Alex Davis
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy with Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick