From pagan to pastor: how I found God and my purpose
Create with Franz
You can be searching for meaning everywhere—in religion, in politics, in service—and still feel utterly broken inside. What if that deep emptiness is the one thing blocking your healing from PTSD and anxiety? Justin McLane shares a powerful story of radical transformation. Raised in an anti-Christian home, Justin spent nearly 28 years actively practicing paganism... in an attempt to fill a persistent void and overcome a deep feeling of emptiness. As a U.S. Army Combat veteran, Justin recounts how his internal battles with PTSD, depression, and anxiety mirrored his external search for...
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How to create a happy marriage
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Are you tired of hearing the same old marriage advice? ("Happy wife, happy life," "Learn to compromise")? Maybe what the experts tell you leaves you feeling frustrated, disconnected, and battling resentment. In this game-changing episode, we host Monica Tanner, Relationship Coach, host of the Secrets of Happily Ever After podcast, and Amazon Best-Selling author of Bad Marriage Advice: 15 myths that will make you miserable. Monica is here to teach you how to stop settling and start building your marriage on holy ground. She tackles the single biggest mindset trap couples fall into and shares...
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Faith and forgiveness: your healing blueprint
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If you have been deeply hurt in some way, you know how difficult it is to forgive and move on. You might feel uncertain on what the future holds for you. Today, Helen Glanville shares with us a powerful, deeply personal story of love, loss, and public judgment that led her to a profound truth: faith is the only anchor in uncertainty. Helen faced intense scrutiny after falling in love with a lawyer involved in one of Australia's most publicized white-collar crimes. She discovered that her survival—and healing—depended on the radical choice to forgive. Helen found peace in prayer, learned to...
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Finding inner peace at Christmas
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The Christmas season is meant to be a time of peace and joy, but for many, it's a season of stress, conflict, and heartache. Are you worried about an impending divorce, family disputes, blended family friction, or the strain of unemployment, depression, or abuse? You are not alone. In this special holiday episode, I discuss this rather prickly issue with Clive Twain, an offshore helicopter captain in the UK. A lifetime friend, committed Christian, and author of the highly-praised book, Grace for Grace, Clive lives in the UK with his wife and daughters. Over an hour or so, he shares powerful,...
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Pause, Pray, Plan: Finding True Peace
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Do you believe peace is possible when chaos is everywhere? Are you caught in the exhaustion of trying to control everything, leading to spiritual drift and burnout? In this episode, we reveal that peace is not a reward; it is a spiritual choice that results in stability. I had a chat with Rev. Dr. A'Shellarien Addison, the first woman Chaplain in the 240-year history of the Delaware Army National Guard, a spiritual clinical trauma-informed practitioner, and author. Dr. Addison shares her personal journey of nearly losing her peace while juggling high-pressure leadership and family life....
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The Hustle Trap: 3 Skills to Reverse Overworking and Underliving
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Are you overworking and underliving? This episode is for the high achiever, the executive, and the entrepreneur who is ready to reach their next level without the hustle and grind. I speak with Dawn Ledet, The Self-Trust Coach, about her personal journey from executive burnout to becoming a self-trust expert. Dawn shares the moment she hit a wall—even selling her car in a desperate attempt to force herself to stop overworking—and how that battle became a beautiful window into deeper faith. Dawn breaks down the myth that hustle is your greatest strategic advantage and shows you how...
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God inspired me to rewrite my cancer story
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What happens when your deepest crisis becomes your greatest spiritual awakening? In this powerful conversation, Siobhan Shaw shares a profound, life-altering testimony about her journey through a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. She reveals how this crisis led her into a life of unmistakable divine whispers and supernatural direction that guided her medical and life choices. Siobhan discusses the simple, yet radical, truth that transformed her: when God asks you to rewrite your story, you must pick up the pen. This episode is a raw, beautiful look at what it means to live in a constant state of God's...
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The Invisible Grief: When Pain Has No Name
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Grief isn't always about loss of life—it can be about the loss of the life you imagined. In this powerful episode, we sit down with Katy Parker, a trauma-informed grief and loss coach and the compassionate force behind the Journeyofsmiley blog. Katy opens up about her personal journey as a trauma survivor and chronic pain warrior, explaining why many of us don't even realize we are carrying invisible grief. She defines this unacknowledged pain—the loss of health, innocence, safety, or time—and how it quietly controls our lives. You'll learn the vital first step to healing: admitting the...
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I found my true North - my call to serve
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What does it take to turn a life of struggle into one of purpose? In this episode, we have a heart-to-heart with Caroline Gutierrez, a rising nursing student whose journey is a powerful testament to the healing power of faith. From overcoming ADHD and substance abuse to discovering her true calling, Caroline shares how her Catholic faith provided a foundation for sobriety and a path toward serving others. We'll explore her transformative experience volunteering with the Christian non-profit Mercy Ships in Madagascar, and how her time on a hospital ship brought her personal story of resilience...
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Love-centered healing from bullying
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In this episode, we're joined by Tom Dahlborg, a seasoned healthcare leader, author, and mental health advocate. Drawing from his extensive experience and his family's personal journey with a suicide attempt, Tom shares his unique, faith-centered approach to addressing bullying and childhood trauma. The conversation will focus on understanding the root causes and consequences of bullying (including Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs), and then explore actionable, love-centered strategies for healing. Tom will introduce his core principles of "love in action," "heart-and-mind...
info_outlineYou can be searching for meaning everywhere—in religion, in politics, in service—and still feel utterly broken inside. What if that deep emptiness is the one thing blocking your healing from PTSD and anxiety?
Justin McLane shares a powerful story of radical transformation. Raised in an anti-Christian home, Justin spent nearly 28 years actively practicing paganism... in an attempt to fill a persistent void and overcome a deep feeling of emptiness.
As a U.S. Army Combat veteran, Justin recounts how his internal battles with PTSD, depression, and anxiety mirrored his external search for meaning. His journey to faith began when he made a conscious decision to quest: Was it truly possible that God existed? As his honest quest led him to a personal relationship with God, his mindset changed, and his mental health followed: the PTSD, depression, and anxiety all melted away.
However, his conversion created new divisions: both his parents and other relatives stopped speaking to him... Justin uses his experience to address why we stop communicating with people we disagree with and shares the crucial need to keep the lines of dialogue open.
Now a full-time pastor, Justin proves that you can anchor yourself in faith and truly unleash your potential. In this episode, he shares how it felt to have the absence of God in our life.
He also gives us the exact practical, actionable strategies that will bring small - but fundamental - changes in our life. With consistency, those steps into a new realm help us to develop a personal relationship with God and to find freedom from the internal and external conflicts that divide us.
Topic covered: how to fill a void in life, why do i feel empty inside, lost spiritual meaning, spiritual awakening, searching for purpose, conversion from paganism to christianity, ex pagan finds God, starting a relationship with God, Christian healing ptsd, faith over depression and anxiety, military veteran ptsd faith, how to talk to family about faith, religious family conflict, Justin mclane pagan to pastor.
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