Many dads live in the house. A lot of them still aren't there.

Alex Proffitt is the Area Director of Young Life for Sevier County, Tennessee. He came back from camp this summer angry — because half the boys he talked to and a lot of the girls were carrying the same wound. One kid looked at him through tears and said, "I just don't understand why my dad won't choose me."

Alex knows something about that. He grew up in a divorced home. He signed up for Young Life leadership as a front so people back home would think he was a good Christian kid. What pulled him out wasn't a program. It was an area director who welcomed him back when he knew he didn't deserve it.

In this conversation we talk about what teenagers in his county are actually carrying, what Christian parents keep handing off that they shouldn't, and why an adult who thinks he's too old and not cool enough is exactly who a sixteen-year-old needs.

This is the first in a series of conversations with the ministry partners Northview Church supports.

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Young Life needs male leaders. About 75% of Alex's current team is women, and they need men willing to step into the lives of boys. If that's you:

www.younglifeseviercounty.com

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CHAPTERS

00:00 The kid I still think about

03:03 Divorced at three, church every Sunday

11:55 The dealer's apartment that scared me straight

19:41 What Young Life actually is (and isn't)

23:53 70% of teenagers aren't in any youth group

25:42 What kids around here are carrying

26:20 "Why won't my dad choose me?"

29:31 Getting students into a local church

34:18 The part of this job that wears you down

37:13 Ministry at night, family at home

38:25 Seniors leading freshmen

40:56 What Christian parents keep getting wrong

43:46 You're not too old to reach a teenager

45:09 What Alex needs you to pray for

49:50 What God made me for

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The God Made Podcast with Greg Rains

Northview Church | Kodak, TN

The conversation explores the formation of beliefs, the authority of Scripture, the impact of outrage and exhaustion, the influence of content consumption, the labor pains of formation, the role of people in formation, and evaluating content consumption. Key takeaways include the impact of repetition on beliefs, the contrasting effects of Scripture and content consumption, and the deceptive nature of the absence of correction.

Takeaways

• Repetition shapes beliefs
• Scripture confronts, feed conforms
• The absence of correction feels like peace

Chapters

• 00:00 Evaluating Content Consumption

When God feels silent, it's easy to assume He's distant—or even gone. But what if His silence doesn't mean His absence? In this episode of the God Made Podcast, we open Psalm 13 and discover how David wrestled with God's silence, why honest prayer is an act of faith, and how to trust God's character even when He seems quiet.

If you're walking through unanswered prayer, spiritual dryness, or a season of waiting, we pray this conversation encourages you and points you back to the faithfulness of God.

In this episode:

00:00:00 Why God sometimes feels silent
00:11:28 What Psalm 13 teaches about honest prayer
00:15:55 Why silence doesn't mean abandonment
00:20:14 One practical step to strengthen your faith this week

Question for you:
Have you ever experienced a season when God felt silent, only to realize later that He was working all along? We'd love to hear your story in the comments.

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs this reminder today.

#GodMadePodcast #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Prayer #GodFeelsSilent #UnansweredPrayer #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #Psalm13 #TrustGod #HopeInGod #WalkingByFaith

You are not a bad parent. You are just pouring into your kids' world — and quietly leaving eternity on the table.

This is a conversation about godly parenting in a culture that never stops adding to the calendar. Greg and Kristi Rains offer honest christian parenting advice for the family that is doing everything right and still feels like something is missing. Drawing from biblical parenting principles in the book of James, they talk about the slow drift that happens when busyness quietly crowds out the most important things — and what it actually looks like to build a christian family around what lasts. If raising godly children matters to you, this conversation will give you something real to take home.

Part of the God Made Podcast — parenting tips and faith conversations that help you move from Sunday into everyday life.

Most of us have a list of reasons why we can't seem to break the cycle. This week Kristi asks Greg the questions most people think but don't say out loud — what does it feel like to know the truth and still feel the pull, what does a pastor lose that he preaches against, and what's the honest first step when conviction hits and you don't know what to do with it.

No scripts. No polish. Just two people telling the truth.

Because Sunday doesn't fix everything.

What made the Apostle Paul so resilient, useful, and faithful through opposition, suffering, and change?

In this episode, Greg and Kristi look at seven habits and disciplines that shaped Paul’s life and helped him remain faithful to the end.

Paul didn’t rush to be validated. He prayed for people specifically. He never stopped learning. He kept his hands dirty. He refused to walk alone. He never graduated from grace. And he trained with the finish line in mind.

These habits were not a formula for earning God’s favor. They were patterns of faithfulness formed by grace—patterns that shaped Paul’s character, strengthened his ministry, and helped him endure when following Jesus became costly.

This conversation explores both sides of Paul’s life: the private habits that prepared him for powerful ministry and the deeper convictions that kept him faithful through hardship.

The question is not only, “What shaped Paul?” It is also:
What habits are shaping us into people God can use—and what will help us remain faithful to the end?

Why do smart people keep making dumb decisions?

The problem is not always a lack of information. Sometimes being smart simply makes us better at justifying what our hearts already want.

In this solo episode of the God Made Podcast, Greg unpacks James 3:13–18 and the difference between intelligence and biblical wisdom. James warns us that not everything that sounds reasonable is actually wise. Some decisions may look logical on the surface while being driven by jealousy, selfish ambition, pride, or fear.

So how can you tell whether a decision is truly wise?

The answer is not found only in the argument you can make. It is found in the fruit your decision produces.

In this episode:

Why intelligence and wisdom are not the same thing
How we rationalize choices we already want to make
The warning signs that your heart may be misleading you
The difference between earthly wisdom and wisdom from above
Why defensiveness may reveal more than you realize
Three questions to ask before making an important decision
How to seek biblical wisdom in everyday life

Before you make your next major decision, ask yourself:

What do I want badly enough that I may be rationalizing it?
What kind of fruit is this decision already producing?
Am I genuinely willing to yield if God shows me that I am wrong?

A bad decision does not become wise just because you can explain it well.

Do not judge wisdom by the explanation. Judge it by the harvest.

📖 Scripture: James 3:13–18
🎙️ The God Made Podcast helps Christians move faith from Sunday into everyday life.

Subscribe for weekly conversations about Christian living, relationships, spiritual growth, and following Jesus in the real world.

#BiblicalWisdom #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy

What really happens when you stop going to church—and is attending church every Sunday enough to make someone a faithful follower of Jesus?

In this episode, Greg and Kristi have an honest conversation about both sides of church involvement.

First, they explore what Christians can gradually lose when they become disconnected from a local church. The greatest danger is usually not missing a single Sunday. It is allowing isolation to become the normal way we attempt to follow Jesus.

Christian community provides encouragement, accountability, relationships, opportunities to serve, and people who help us remain faithful when life becomes difficult. While sermons and online content can be valuable, they cannot fully replace life within the body of Christ.

But simply showing up is not the finish line.

A person can attend church regularly, listen to sermons, sing worship songs, and still remain spiritually passive. Presence in the room is not the same as becoming a devoted disciple of Jesus.

Greg and Kristi discuss the difference between attendance and engagement, how church hurt can make connection difficult, and how Christians can begin moving from merely attending toward building relationships, serving others, obeying Scripture, and participating in the mission of the church.

This conversation is not about earning salvation or shaming people into attending more services. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. The goal is not merely better attendance—it is meaningful engagement with Jesus and His people.

The God Made Podcast helps everyday Christians navigate the real struggles of following Jesus with biblical truth and practical wisdom.