Gary Wilkerson Podcast

Parents in the church can feel ashamed of having a prodigal child. They may have actually been condemned for their child’s suffering or wandering path. In this episode, Gary Wilkerson is joined by his wife, Kelly, and son, Evan, as they discuss how their family was ultimately able to draw closer to God as a result of Evan’s prodigal journey. While this time can be immensely painful for parents and families, God is always faithful. Gary, Kelly, and Evan talk about how God redeemed and healed their own relationships and lives through what seemed like a very dark period.

Many of us have struggles that we aren’t comfortable sharing with others. These secret sins seem so taboo that if we told anyone, they might stop speaking to us. Often these deep soul wounds manifest as anxiety or anger or other sins that affect our relationships with friends, family and community. So how do we get to the root of these issues? How do we find healing from these sins that constantly seem to trip us up?

We’re told in Matthew 19:26 that with God all things are possible. How many of us actually trust in that promise, though? We serve a God who can do incredible things, and the most spectacular is when he saves one of his children. This week, we’re joined by Holly Dziedzickie and "Nora" from Cambodia who share a striking testimony about how God’s power and goodness saved one girl from certain death and brought her into new life.  

Many believers discuss their sins and problems in very specific terms like anger, worry, doubt. They think these sins are at the core of their struggles, but that usually isn’t true. Our sins are more often symptoms of deeper heart issues. When we wrestle with a sin over and over without victory, it’s almost always because we aren’t getting to the root of the problem.

None of us can live without failure. What defines us is how we recover from our low points. At our rock bottom, do we turn toward God and delve deeper into community, or do we isolate ourselves? Today, Nate Larkin joins Gary Wilkerson to talk about how we can choose a better path in the middle of our failure.

In this "best of" episode, we revisit the inaugural episode of the Gary Wilkerson Podcast. Gary talks about how hope in Jesus Christ can transform the destitute and anyone who feels as if they have lost meaning in life. If you’re going through a season of hopelessness remember God is there. He cares about you and he loves you intensely.

God’s commands can sometimes seem so impossible to fulfill, so distant from what we want. In these moments, it can be so easy to become angry at God. Our visitor this week, Holly Dziedzickie, shares how her frustration with God’s commands led her down a rebellious path until he called her back in the most extraordinary way.

Unhealthy habits in life usually begin in small steps. They start when we say, “Oh, I can stay up late for this event and still wake up early for work tomorrow. I can splurge with my diet this week and work it off later.” Sooner or later we may find that these small choices have begun to build into serious health problems. This week, Gary Wilkerson talks with a Christian nutritional counselor, Laura Harris Smith, who shares her descent into a deadly medical condition, the way God healed her body and her journey into good health.

Shame and feeling incomplete or insignificant often leads us to seek out worldly solutions. As we spiral into isolation and harmful patterns of living, we can quickly find ourselves with addictions that we’d never imagined having. No one sets out to become a pornography addict, but many have found themselves caught. Unable to pull away from explicit material, they feel forced to watch as it consumes their thoughts and lives. This week, Gary Wilkerson and Bob Ditmer discuss the deeper injuries to our hearts and souls that can lead to addictions like pornography. They want believers to know that we can find healing that leads to freedom.

Shame is a feeling everyone knows. It is born out of something deep in our hearts, and we need God if we want to find freedom from it. As we are on this journey of healing and freedom from shame, we need people who point us toward God and pray for us. God calls us to live as a body in active connection with one another and constantly aware of one another’s needs.