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PODCAST

Honoring the Journey

Life is a journey, and we’re all walking our own unique path. But every now and then, we get the chance to step onto someone else’s path, to see the world from their perspective, and to learn from their experiences. That’s what we do here on Honoring the Journey. We walk alongside others, explore their stories, and then step back onto our own path—hopefully with new insights, deeper understanding, and a broader perspective for the journey ahead. Honoring the Journey is hosted by Leslie Nease, a

religion & spirituality religion

All Episodes

01:03:46

Overcoming Fear, Finding Faith: Honoring the Journey...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/10/05

Today we welcome Jason Becker, host of the podcast “What the Hell Do I Know? with JB,” for a powerful conversation about faith, doubt, deconstruction, and spirituality. Jason shares growing up Southern Baptist, being taught fear-based salvation and repeatedly praying the salvation prayer into his 30s, and how that coercion fueled later questions about hell, control in the American church, and conflicting doctrines. He describes moving into ministry, challenging treatment of LGBTQ+ people, planting

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01:08:11

Religion & The Brain: Honoring the Journey of Dr....

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/09/28

What happens in our bodies when the beliefs we grew up with begin to unravel? In this episode of Honoring the Journey, Leslie talks with Dr. Shaleen Kendrick, author of Your Three Brains, about her experience growing up as a megachurch pastor’s daughter and how understanding the brain and nervous system helped her make sense of religious trauma. We explore fear, curiosity, and what it can look like to find wholeness as we make room for a new story.Find out more about Shaleen and her work on her

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00:55:57

Religious Trauma & The Nervous System: Honoring the...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/09/21

On today's Honoring the Journey, Leslie sits down with Kallie Klug a somatic practitioner, yoga instructor, and author of Tired of Being Good, to explore the concept of "fawning" as a biological stress response rooted in people-pleasing. They discuss how growing up in religious environments can wire the nervous system for chronic fawning by coupling goodness with salvation and stigmatizing anger as sinful. Kallie breaks down the physiology behind the fawn response and how it layers freeze and

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00:59:53

Let's Talk About Religious Trauma: Honoring the...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/09/14

This conversation with Vernique Esther went so many places, and I loved every minute of it! Vernique grew up in a beautiful and sometimes chaotic mix of denominations, cultures, and ideas about God, shaped by her Haitian and West African roots. Her journey eventually led her into a legalistic campus ministry that she now describes as “culty,” an early marriage that ended in devastating infidelity and divorce, and the political upheaval of 2016 that caused the cracks in her faith to break wide open

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01:04:09

LSD to Galilee: Honoring the Journey of Rob Zahn

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/08/31

Today, Leslie has a conversation with Rob Zahn, a Lutheran pastor and author of LSD to Galilee. The episode weaves together Rob's unconventional path into ministry, the story of discovering his estranged father on his deathbed and uncovering his father's ties to a 1960s drug-smuggling countercultural movement (the Brotherhood of Eternal Love), and a deeply theological conversation about certainty, deconstruction, and where the divine can be found — including surprising historical and academic

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01:01:43

From Christian Worship Leader to Atheist: Honoring...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/08/24

In this episode of Honoring the Journey, we hear from the lovely Promise Backlund (Eve Was Framed), a former worship leader in Charismatic Churches, to discuss her deconstruction from an evangelical upbringing to eventual atheism. We explore themes like the fear of hell and losing salvation, the loss and rebuilding of authentic friendships, navigating family relationships after leaving the faith, and the difference between dogmatic belief and lived kindness — all tied to her new book, The Gospel of

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01:08:20

Grief, Deconstruction & Holding Onto Jesus: Honoring...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/08/17

In this episode of Honoring the Journey, Leslie sits down with writer, artist, playwright, and speaker Rob Bell—someone whose work had a tremendous impact on her own deconstruction journey. If you’ve spent any time questioning or reexamining the faith you inherited, chances are you’ve come across Rob’s work. His groundbreaking book Love Wins famously landed him in hot water within evangelical circles for challenging long-held beliefs about hell, salvation, and the character of God.In this rich

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01:08:32

Bridge Builder: Navigating Faith, Family &...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/08/10

Today on Honoring the Journey, Leslie welcomes back Britt Hartley from No-nonsense Spirituality for a wide-ranging conversation about navigating relationships with family members who are still religious after leaving the faith. The two cover the emotional dynamics of deconstruction, including the desperate need for validation, the defensive reactions of loved ones, and why leading with vulnerability rather than debate tends to be far more effective for maintaining connection. They explore how

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00:47:01

Funny Songs, EDM, Gay Christians, & More: Honoring...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/08/03

Helpful links we discuss on the pod:Page on homosexuality and Christianity - www.kexc.us "You Should Know" song (topic of homosexuality and Christianity) - https://youtu.be/UNqMMsoVDZU?si=s3tkxcnypuSU8yAy INEVITABLE (dance, trance, electropop music) - www.inevitablemusic.org Kurplunk (various styles, all funny songs) - www.kurplunk.lol Kurt's career search handbook, Here Today Hired Tomorrow - www.kurtkirton.com and

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00:57:54

Walking Away from MAGA: Honoring the Journey of...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/07/27

What happens when someone wakes up and starts to question their entire life? He was MAGA, happily patriarchal and deep in evangelicalism, but one day he began to question it all. In this episode of Honoring the Journey, Leslie chats with Steven Francisi, founder of Healing Roots On Up and author of From A-Hole to All Right.Steven shares a raw and wide-ranging story that begins with a difficult childhood in New York marked by inconsistent parenting, feeling like an outsider in his own Italian family

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01:10:37

Unbelieve: Honoring the Journey of Marla Taviano

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/07/20

Today on Honoring the Journey, Leslie interviews Marla Taviano — a former evangelical Christian author who wrote books for conservative Christian wives and later went through a very public deconstruction.Marla shares her journey from being deeply embedded in evangelical Christianity (as a missionary, author, Christian school teacher, and camp counselor) to leaving the faith altogether, driven by growing questions about salvation-focused theology, racism, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and the pro-life

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01:09:26

Shalom and The Un-spun Gospel: Honoring the Journey...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/07/13

In today’s episode, Leslie talks with theologian and activist Lisa Sharon Harper about her faith deconstruction. Lisa traces her family's centuries-deep American roots, from enslaved ancestors to Indigenous heritage and describes how a 2003 pilgrimage retracing the Trail of Tears forced her to reimagine the evangelical gospel through her great-great-great-grandmother's eyes, sparking a year of depression and ultimately a full "decolonization" of her faith. The conversation weaves through the

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01:02:10

Let's Talk About Deconstruction: Honoring the Journey...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/07/06

In this episode, titled “Let’s Talk About Deconstruction”, Leslie interviews Phil Drysdale, a Scotland-based psychotherapist, researcher, and founder of Deconstruction Network, for a wide-ranging conversation about the psychology of deconstruction. Phil shares his own journey from a fundamentalist upbringing through deconstruction while traveling the world as a speaker, and how that led him to spend nearly two decades coaching and now doing therapy with people leaving high-control religious

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01:06:36

Changing Our Mind About LGBTQ: Honoring the Journey...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/06/29

Today, Leslie sits down with David Gushee, a Pastor and Professor of Christian Ethics who is also a writer of one of the most influential books of Leslie’s deconstruction process—Changing our Mind. Leslie invites David to share his journey with us all trough being a Southern Baptist convert to a progressive Christian Scholar. David openly shares about his gradual theological broadening from accepting women in ministry to ultimately affirming LGBTQ inclusion in 2014, which cost him his standing in

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00:57:23

Testify to Love: Honoring the Journey of Melissa Greene

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/06/22

Today, Leslie invites Melissa Green, a former member of the beloved Christian music group Avalon, for a wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation about faith deconstruction, spiritual evolution, and the courage to question inherited beliefs. Melissa traces her journey from growing up in the Southern Baptist church and becoming a member of Avalon, through the pivotal moment when founding member Michael Passons was quietly removed from the group after being outed as gay, to her gradual theological

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01:01:48

From the Alter to the Stage: Honoring the Journey of LJR

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/06/15

Today on Honoring the Journey, Leslie chats with Luke Justin Roberts (LJR) — a recording artist she found on TikTok. Luke was a former worship leader who grew up deeply embedded in evangelical and homeschool culture. They talk about his winding spiritual path from devoted churchgoer to questioning, deconstructing and finding his true path to freedom and now making music that speaks to others who are questioning their inherited beliefs.Luke shares candid stories about his childhood faith, the

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00:59:11

Rethinking Hell, The Bible & The Nature of God:...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/06/08

Today, we chat with pastor and author Brian Zahnd for a wide-ranging conversation about faith deconstruction, theological reimagining, and the journey of losing — and rediscovering — Jesus. Brian shares how, after 30 years of ministry, he found himself rethinking core evangelical doctrines including hell, the Bible's role as foundation, and the nature of God, ultimately arriving at the conviction that "God is like Jesus." He candidly recounts the painful fallout of losing 1,000 church members

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00:59:06

Songs of Peace in Times of War: Honoring the Journey...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/06/01

In this episode of Honoring the Journey, Leslie has a conversation with Savannah Locke — artist, songwriter, and podcaster — for a rich, wide-ranging conversation about faith deconstruction, religious trauma, and spiritual reimagining. Savannah shares her personal journey from confident evangelical Christianity through a crisis of belief, her discovery of the Anabaptist tradition and the transformative phrase "God looks like Jesus," and how that journey inspired her album Songs of Peace in Times of

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01:00:36

"What the Hell Did You Expect Me to Do": Honoring the...

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/05/25

Today, Leslie speaks with Chris Kratzer, a former Lutheran and Southern Baptist evangelical pastor who spent over 20 years in ministry before undergoing a profound faith deconstruction. Chris shares how ambition and ego initially drove him into the contemporary megachurch world, how a series of personal crises — including a near-suicide — forced him into radical honesty about his faith, and how he eventually became an affirming, progressive voice for those questioning religion.He and Leslie discuss

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01:10:48

Honoring the Journey: A Deep Dive Into Quantum Theology

Honoring the Journey ·

2026/05/18

This special episode of Honoring the Journey is an insightful group conversation between Leslie and five guests — physicist Jenny Nielsen, mathematician-turned-writer Nish Dubashia, theologian John Van de Lair (South Africa), philosopher Eric English, and author/publisher Keith Giles — all contributors to the anthology book Quantum Theology, Volume 1.The discussion begins with playful introductions and embarrassing playlist confessions before diving into the core thesis: that quantum physics —

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