Top Moments of 2025: Love, Sex, Intimacy, and Following Jesus
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Release Date: 12/30/2025
AI and the Soul: The Way of Jesus in an Algorithm-Driven Culture
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
In this wrap-up episode to our AI and the Soul series, Dr. Carol explores how algorithms and artificial intelligence are shaping not just our habits but our souls, offering “relationship prescriptions” for navigating the growing influence of digital technology. She examines how the digital world subtly “disciples” us, training us to expect life to be easy, quick, constantly stimulating, and within our control, while real growth, spiritual formation, and the way of Jesus are often slow, difficult, and beyond our control. While emphasizing that AI itself is neither good nor bad, she...
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AI and the Soul: A Psychologist Talks About Loneliness and the Digital World
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
In this thought-provoking conversation, Jason VanRuler joins Dr. Carol to explore the growing influence of artificial intelligence on human relationships, intimacy, and spiritual life. Together they examine emerging trends, such as young people forming “relationships” with AI, and discuss what defines genuine connection, including truth, challenge, authenticity, and emotional depth. While AI can offer affirmation, the conversation highlights its limitations as a “yes man” that cannot replace the vulnerability and growth found in real human relationships. They also unpack how technology...
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AI and the Soul: A Pastor Talks About Embodied Faith in a Disembodied Age
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Christianity has always been an embodied faith—rooted in presence, touch, community, and shared life. But we now live in a world of digital discipleship, online relationships, and increasingly, AI-shaped interactions. What does this mean for the church, for our spiritual formation, and for the kind of community our hearts were made for? In this episode in our series AI and the Soul, Dr. Carol sits down with Jay Kim, pastor and author of Analog Church and Analog Christian, to talk about why physical presence matters more than ever. They discuss how AI and digital tools can...
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AI and the Soul: A Theologian Talks about How AI may be Forming US
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Artificial intelligence is becoming woven into everyday life – our work, our personal lives, even our emotional and spiritual reality. But what does this technology do to us as people made in the image of God? In this first of our series on "AI and the Soul", Dr. Carol talks with Dr. John Dyer, professor, author, and leading thinker on theology and technology, about how our tools shape our souls. You’ll hear why AI is a helpful tool, but also how it quietly forms our desires, habits, and spiritual practices in ways we rarely notice. Together they explore what makes humans unique,...
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What Jesus Really Teaches About Marriage and Divorce
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
In this episode, we take up one of the most painful and frequently asked questions in the church: What about God and divorce? Whether someone is in a miserable marriage, has been left by a spouse, or is carrying the wounds of divorce, this conversation is both challenging and important. We unpack the biblical meaning of covenant, and why divorce is so devastating—not because it ranks highest on some hierarchy of sins, but because it tears apart something God intended to reflect His faithful love. "God hates divorce” is not condemnation, but is a window into the grief of a Father...
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When Feelings Fade: Keeping a Relationship Alive When Romance Wears Off
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Today Dr. Carol is joined by Lindsey Maestas, a writer and podcast host known for saying the hard things gently, and for telling the truth about love with honesty, depth, and compassion. Together, we talk about what happens when the feeling of being “in love” begins to fade, and why romance alone is never enough to sustain a relationship. Lindsey shares vulnerable stories about her own marriage, including a season when she was ready to call it quits, and the inner shifts that led her to choose staying, growth, and daily faithfulness instead of walking away. We explore common relational...
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How to Love Authentically
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
You've heard of the Five Love Languages. But what's next? In this episode, we’re joined by marriage and family therapist and author Leslie Parrot to explore what it really means to love in ways that are not just well-intended, but deeply felt. Good intentions alone aren’t enough, but empathy and curiosity help bridge the gap between how we express love and how it’s actually received. Drawing from decades of clinical experience and relational wisdom, Leslie offers insight into why a deeper understanding of love languages matters, not as a formula, but as a pathway to deeper connection. ...
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The Story Beneath the Struggle: How a Former Transgender Found Transformation
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Dr. Linda Seiler decided to follow Jesus in high school, but her sexual and emotional struggles didn’t simply disappear. In this episode, she shares her own story and the insight she’s gained through decades of ministry and trauma-informed care. Now an ordained Assemblies of God minister and Executive Director of ReStory Ministries, Linda helps us explore what was missing in the early years of her faith journey and why sincere belief alone often isn’t enough to bring freedom. We talk candidly about how modern culture frames sexual orientation and gender identity as fixed and...
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Built to Last: Timeless Truths for Your Marriage
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Need some marriage wisdom? Greg Smalley has spent his entire life immersed in conversations about marriage. As the son of the late Gary Smalley—and now Vice President of Marriage and Family Formation at Focus on the Family—Greg has witnessed up close both the beauty and the messiness of intimate relationships. In this conversation, Greg reflects on why he chose to step into this demanding work, what drew him to a calling so intertwined with his family legacy, and how his own 30+ year marriage to Erin has shaped what he teaches today. We also explore how marriage challenges have...
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Untangling God from the Wound: Healing After Spiritual Abuse
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Faith is meant to bring life. But what happens when it become harmful? In this episode, Dr. Carol sits down with Jeff and Terra Mattson, a husband-and-wife author team whose work bridges leadership, psychology, and spiritual formation. He brings the perspective of an executive coach; she offers the clinical insight of a licensed professional counselor. Together, we explore the idea of toxic faith: how faith can be distorted through fear, control, shame, or misuse of authority, and how to discern the difference between spiritually abusive systems and the ordinary, imperfect humanness found...
info_outlineWhether you’re new to the podcast or want a fresh dose of encouragement, this highlight reel brings together the insights that helped people grow in intimacy with God and with each other.
And here are links to the full conversations from which the excerpts were taken for this episode:
- Overcoming Contradictions Between What You "Know" and What You Feel About Love, God, Intimacy, and Sex with Michael J. Cusick
- Knowing and Being Known: Fulfilling Your Need for Intimacy with Erin F. Moniz
- How to Find True Connection Through Courageous Authenticity with Tom Bennardo
- From Criticism to Blessing: Transforming How You Speak to Your Spouse with Ann Wilson
- More Than Behavior: What Surrendering Your Sexuality to Jesus Means with Dr. Juli Slattery
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