Articles, episodes & guides

Life After Addiction

Clean and Sober. Now How Do You Get a Job?

with Shayne Weister

You got clean. Now how do you get a job? Shayne Weister on finding work, mentorship, and rebuilding a life after recovery, from $10 an hour to his own business.

Life After Addiction

You Beat the Addiction. Now Beat the Debt.

with Jacob Dobscha

A real plan for getting out of debt after addiction, with Jacob Dobscha of LD&B in Harrisonburg. The first $1,000, the debt snowball, and the church that paid the bills.

Life After Addiction

The Warning Signs of Relapse Most People Miss

with Nathaniel Gray

Nathaniel Gray has stayed free 20 years. The peer recovery specialist on the relapse warning signs that show up long before someone picks back up.

Field Notes

What If the Crushing Is the Blessing? | Table 61

with Jason Stuhlmiller

We set up to sell furniture and ended up recording one of the most honest conversations we've had in a while. No studio, no stage, just three of us on the floor of an empty garage at The Table 61 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It started with one question. What if the crushing is the blessing? From there we got into the olive press, the wine that has to age, why Jesus wasn't in a hurry to be seen, and the trap of chasing the destination while missing the process that's forming you. I was honest about the last six months, coming back expecting something to take off and running into a wall instead. Jason Stuhlmiller of The Table 61 brought the teaching on the debtor's ethic, the debt we put on ourselves that God never handed us, and how we've gotten better at earning than receiving. We landed on love, influence, and the new command in John 13. If you've been doing everything right and still feel stuck in the pressure, this one's for you.

Field Notes

The Calling Stayed, But the Plan Changed

A rainy day conversation with Justin and Ashley about a ministry season with no clean five-year plan. Listed the building. Didn't sell. A gift changed everything. The calling is clear. The model is not.

Field Notes

She Fed 50,000 Meals After the Flood Took Her Own Home

with Sandi Blankenship

In February 2025, historic flooding tore through McDowell County, West Virginia. Sandi Blankenship's basement filled with five feet of water. Her daughter lost everything. The food pantry she had been running for nearly a decade was destroyed. And while her own home was still under water, Sandi helped coordinate over 50,000 hot meals for her neighbors. That sentence alone tells you most of what you need to know about this conversation.

Stories

How Grief Turned Into Addiction After Losing His Daughter

with Jeremy Shifflett

Jeremy Shiflett watched God work what felt like miracle after miracle in the NICU. And then, the moment he crossed back home, everything unraveled. Jeremy puts words to a moment many people recognize but rarely admit: the split second where faith feels distant and the old escape routes feel close again. In this episode we talk with Jeremy about the grief of losing his infant daughter at 10 months old, the slow drift from trying to cope into prescription drug addiction, and how clonazepam left him numb and chasing relief. From there, his story moves into meth addiction, the strain it put on his marriage and parenting, and how relapse tends to come back worse. He also speaks honestly about NICU trauma during COVID, financial pressure, isolation, and the role community played through prayer, text messages, and a bake sale that arrived exactly when the bank account ran dry.

Stories

God Retired Me From Atheism

with Bill Gates

Bill Gates, and yes, that really is his name, spent twenty years as an atheist before one Sunday night at a friend's church changed everything. Twenty-eight years later, he and his wife Sunseri are stepping into Living Free with a simple question: how do you disciple the specific thing someone is actually carrying when a Sunday sermon has to speak to everyone?

Field Notes

Why "Just Say No" Missed the Point with Jeff Arp

with Jeff Arp

Some of the best conversations about addiction come from people who never struggled with it themselves. Jeff Arp is one of those people. He sat down with us to talk about the paradigm shift that happened when a seminary-trained pastor finally learned the word trap, and what changed in his preaching, his counseling, and his view of the people sitting in front of him on Sunday morning.

Stories

The Bail Bondsman Pastor Who Shows Up When Everyone Else Walks Away

with Pastor George Williams

Pastor George Williams posts bail at 2AM, pastors a biker church on Sundays, and leads mission trips to one of the poorest counties in America. He shares how working in the justice system shaped his ministry and what it takes to build a recovery center in Appalachia.

Field Notes

Progress Over Perfection: Why I Mulched Before the Paint Job

Sometimes momentum matters more than getting everything in the right order. Why visible progress keeps you from stalling out in recovery, ministry, and life.

Scripture & Hope

The Robe, the Ring, and the Sandals: What God Gives When You Come Home

The Prodigal Son had a speech ready when he came home. The father didn't let him finish it. Instead he gave three gifts: a robe, a ring, and sandals. Those weren't random. The robe is identity, who you are in Christ. The ring is authority, what you carry. The sandals are purpose, where you're going. Most people take the robe. Some take the ring. But a lot of people just stare at the sandals. They get clean, they get forgiven, and then they do nothing with their faith. The ones who stay free are the ones who put the sandals on and walk into something. In this sermon preached at Victory Church in Winchester, VA during missions week, Justin shares the stories of John Selby, who stood before a judge expecting prison and received mercy, Nathaniel, who turned one yes into seven sober living homes in Richmond, and a little foster baby who gave Justin the words he needed on the hardest morning of his life. Your yes doesn't have to be big. It just has to be a yes.