If you've followed along with Pretending God Is Real, this is where both of our journeys landed. Sarah and I started the same experiment a week apart. On day 13 she said she couldn't take the leap until she felt it. On day 21 she jumped anyway.

We get into what happened in between, why faith might work more like marriage than proof, and the fear that kept me saying "just exploring" long after it stopped being the whole truth.

• What happened between day 13 and 21
• Faith as a daily choice, like marriage
• Logic gets you to the door
• Coming out of the Christian closet
• Putting God above your husband
• Stepping back from someone for God
• Masculinity needs kindness and strength

If someone in your life is on the fence, send them this one.

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Follow and Subscribe to Sarah:

www.youtube.com/@sarahdavidsonjames
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Music by Isaac Haines:
https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:
https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:00-01:17 Intro01:17-05:44 What happened between day 13 and day 2105:44-10:59 Logic gets you to the door, faith turns the knob10:59-15:44 Faith is a deadlift, not a bicep curl15:44-18:27 Why "do you believe in God?" is the wrong question18:27-20:27 Coming out of the Christian closet20:27-24:30 Hiding a cross out of fear of judgment24:30-28:09 Having an affair with God28:09-33:04 Stepping back from a girl to step toward God33:04-40:14 Two rejections and a bus ride40:14-46:39 Can stubbornness protect your faith?46:39-50:44 She found her husband by not saying no50:44-56:43 Why masculinity needs kindness and strength56:43-01:02:19 The dinner where "calm masculinity" was too much01:02:19-01:08:02 Why politics is junk food for your mind01:08:02-01:10:26 What Sarah wants to be asked about01:10:26-01:10:38 Outro

Chris Synesael is a pastor here in Victoria, and for the last month he's been reading the stories of Jesus with me. I sat him down with one question: who would you be without your faith?

His answer wasn't a sermon. It was insecurity, anger, and control, the stuff his faith has slowly been healing. From there we got into the $20 Raptors ticket that changed his life at 17, why nobody gets to opt out of faith, and the question about God he still wrestles with.

• Who he'd be without his faith
• The difference between responsibility and fault
• Can therapy heal the soul?
• Everybody believes in something
• A $20 Raptors ticket and "liquid love"
• Why God seems to work through pain
• The worst pickup line that worked, eventually

If you've ever wondered what faith actually does to a person, start here.

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Music Credit/Licenses:
https://isaachaines.ca/MB01TPMOYU7RHJJMB01M1HHONXAC0NMB01GJZV2IFOUCPMB01QBNYNRLM44BMB01SRR80XLHBO7

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:
https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:00-03:32 Who would you be without Jesus?03:32-13:51 Insecurity, anger, and digging up the root13:51-17:55 Responsibility isn't fault: which difficult do you want?17:55-20:33 Can therapy and meditation heal the soul?20:33-25:37 Hunger implies food: reasoning toward God25:37-32:23 Everybody believes in something without evidence32:23-37:53 A $20 Raptors ticket and "liquid love"37:53-41:17 What if they found the bones of Jesus?41:17-47:47 Christianity isn't just "Be like Jesus"47:47-50:54 Why does God do His best work through pain?50:54-56:18 The worst pickup line that worked, eventually56:18-01:02:03 Chris asks me: what has faith been like?01:02:03-01:09:54 The problem of suffering: a God who feels it too01:09:54-01:10:55 What a pastor actually wants to be asked about

Anthony Marino spends twenty days fixing machines at a mine and ten days building his podcast, Deep and Ridiculous. I asked him which one he's resting from. He didn't hesitate.

This is about the voice that tells you to go and the louder one that tells you to stay. A flight he almost cancelled. A plane he almost walked off. A relationship where the anxiety was right the whole time. And underneath all of it, the question neither of us fully answers: how do you know when it's fear talking?

Recorded at 10:30 at night, after spending six hours building the set. This is the first conversation from our Vancouver production. Our behind-the-scenes vlog gives a glimpse of the shenanigans, which you can watch here:https://youtu.be/ciUH98saA1c

This conversation was messy, beautiful, and human. I didn't cut any of it out. We discussed:

• Why his first podcast quietly died
• How intuition whispers, while fear shouts
• Silence as a tool for discernment
• The anxiety that was trying to warn him
• Calling it God, and why that freed him
• Fear, judgment, and the pack
• What lights him up for hours

If someone you know is sitting on a whisper, send them this one.

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Subscribe to Deep and Ridiculous:
https://www.youtube.com/@its.anthonymarino

Music by Isaac Haines:
https://isaachaines.ca/

Dig Deeper Into All Things Kaizen:
https://linktr.ee/zacarnold

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Timestamps

00:00-00:29 Intro00:29-01:14 Which job is he resting from?01:14-04:22 Building a set like adult Lego04:22-07:19 Why the first podcast died07:19-11:01 The whisper that wouldn't shut up11:01-13:47 How do you tell fear from intuition?13:47-21:48 Running in silence21:48-27:16 The whisper he ignored27:16-29:13 The night the anxiety disappeared29:13-38:50 Not everybody's going to like you38:50-46:22 Undiagnosed autism, and good with it46:22-51:50 "Sure, call me a Christian"51:50-01:07:15 Trying God on like a good shirt01:07:15-01:17:44 The flight he almost cancelled01:17:44-01:23:09 Why fear gets louder the closer you get01:23:09-01:26:24 What lights him up01:26:24-01:26:53 Outro