Hole In My Heart Podcast
The Hole in My Heart Audio Podcast explores how the gospel is good news for everyone every day.
· Watch the video version of this podcast
· Learn more about Laurie & Matt Krieg
• Join the private Facebook group for Hole in My Heart listeners
Host, teacher, and author, Laurie Krieg, and her husband and licensed therapist, Matt Krieg, partner up with producer Steve to engage in challenging topics such as shame, trauma, and anxiety.
We apply a historically-biblical sexual ethic to the topics of marriage, sexuality, and porn-addiction and funnel all those conversations through the hope-filled good news of the gospel.
We laugh (and we cry), but we are always focused on the joyful challenge of walking with Jesus. Will you join us?
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New Episodes Every 2 Weeks!
* This podcast and its content are designed and intended to provide a place for conversation. Topics and advice covered in this podcast should not be taken as professional medical advice or emotional or spiritual counsel. If you or a loved one needs professional help, they should seek a licensed professional. The views covered and discussed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of WCSG radio or Cornerstone University. Ideas presented are not necessarily endorsed by WCSG radio or Cornerstone University.
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Episodes
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Episode 242: The Gap between Our Experience and our Faith | Michael John Cusick
Friday, May 9, 2025
THIS EPISODE. We literally cried. All of us. And it led to a mentoring relationship between Matt and our guest, Michael John Cusick. Why? We were struck thinking about how to *actually live* in that tension between our faith and our experience. Join us? Next Steps: Michael’s site here. His book here. Join the HIMH Pod FB group here. Follow Laurie on IG (where she is the most active) here.
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Episode 241: Ministering to Families in Crisis | Jennifer Ripley
Friday, April 25, 2025
As ministry leaders and therapists (Matt and Laurie), we have often wondered: When do church leaders and pastors utilize therapists and para-church ministries and when do they care on their own? Do pastors always outsource? Do they never outsource? What role does the church have for families in crisis? Let’s talk about it with author and psychologist (and lover of the Church), Jennifer Ripley. | Highlights | “The church…will bring you casseroles, but when a crisis shows up, we often don’t know what to do.” “Pastors have a role in a person’s life that a therapist or medical doctor does not ...
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Episode 240: How to Help Our Kids Navigate A Porn-Saturated World | John-Michael Bout
Friday, April 11, 2025
If the average age of pornography exposure is between 8 and 12 years old, and the majority of Christians are looking at it regularly, we need to talk about it. Specifically, documentary creator and author John Michael Bout helps us ask and answer: How can we help our kids prepare to see it? How can we help them recover? What hope do we have? | Highlights | “Parents are often like, ‘We live in a technological world. I know there is pornography out there. I have no idea what to do!” We can throw our hands in the air, and bury our heads in the sand. I always want to say to parents, ‘...
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Episode 239: How to Form a Gospel-Identity in the Next Gen | Jonathan Holmes
Friday, March 28, 2025
It’s so easy to identify as “I am what I do” or “I am how I feel.” The next generations especially seem to feel this pull. How can we help Gen Z and Alpha understand who they are in Christ? How can we start with our own identity so we speak from a place of firm-footing instead of hypocrisy? Author and therapist Jonathan Holmes is here to help lead us. | Highlights | “A gospel identity is one that is received and not achieved.” —Jonathan Holmes “All of us parents can struggle with wanting to make our kids into our image, rather than helping them fulfill and live into their image-bearing cap...
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Episode 238: Screens: From Fighting to Flourishing | Chris McKenna
Friday, March 14, 2025
Many parents feel a mixture of emotions about screens: On one hand, we see they can be useful tools. On the other, we feel a lot of shame because we are probably addicted to them ourselves and we let our kids use them too often. We feel shame, anger, and . . . gratitude? How should we feel? How can parents approach screen time with their kids—and move us all from fighting to flourishing? Christian dad, tech-guru, and founder of Protect Young Eyes, Chris McKenna, is here to help us. | Highlights | “Some of the loudest voices advocating for our children are coming not from the Chu...
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Episode 237: Parenting Without Panic | Rachel Gilson
Friday, February 28, 2025
Parents and caregivers of the next generation need help to lead their kids in an affirming-LGBTQ world. Our guest and author, Rachel Gilson, said it well on today’s episode: “Even my friends who had great discipling moms and dads didn’t grow up in this cultural moment. Their moms and dads didn’t have to help them navigate these cultural questions.” She continued: “So even they feel out on a limb: ‘No one prepped me for this.’ There is a panic of feeling without a guide and lost. That’s no one’s fault but it’s where a lot of us find ourselves now.” Parents were not prepared for this. H...
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Episode 236: Remember Discipleship? Let’s Do It | EK Strawser
Friday, February 14, 2025
Discipleship is something Christians are talking about more. It’s so important. But…what is it? Today, author and pastor Eun (EK) Strawser helps understand what discipleship is as well as: --How can we become a community that centers discipleship? --How can we know if we are doing it “right”? --How does parenting relate to discipleship? | Highlights | “Discipleship means to imitate Jesus within the context of a community for the renewal of the local place around you.” “If discipleship is centered within a community, then that also means within a family.” “The discipleship of ...
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Episode 235: The Most Important Part of Parenting | Dan Allender
Friday, January 31, 2025
This episode left us speechless. Today, we are joined again by psychologist and author Dan Allender to talk about the most important part of parenting: Your marriage. (If you are a single mom or dad, we bless you and intersperse much of the conversation with relating the conversation to close friendships.) For those of us who are married, why is that the most important part of marriage? Dan tells us well: “Our children are given the gift of watching the reality of love and life brokenness and beauty being played out in the theater of our marriage,” he says. “They are in the audien...
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Episode 234: Your Parenting + Discipleship Q & A | Matt, Laurie, Steve
Friday, January 17, 2025
To launch our spring season focused on parenting and discipling the next generation, we are starting with YOUR QUESTIONS. We toss around: “What parts of ‘the sex talk’ were helpful for us when we were growing up?” “How can we protect our kids’ bodies without being a helicopter parent?” “How can we approach school systems that don’t agree with our beliefs?” “Should we talk to our kids about p*rn even if they don’t have unlimited access to the internet?” Pull up an earbud and join us! | Highlights | “My parents taught me, ‘You are not defined by your behavior by your sin. It does not identi...
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Episode 233: Why Can’t We Stay Friends? | Bryan Loritts
Friday, January 3, 2025
Happy new year! Let’s talk about friendships? Author and pastor Bryan Loritts joins us today to discuss: Are friendships seasonal? (Should they be?) How can we make and keep lifelong friends? How should we think about boundaries with friends? | Highlights | “The reason so many of our relationships are superficial is we are too scared of taking the time and the risk to walk in truth with each other.” “There is a place to draw boundaries. I am just cautious against that being our reflex reaction the first time someone does something to us.” “Many people confuse transparency with au...
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Episode 232: The Genesis of Gender | Abigail Favale
Friday, December 20, 2024
If you care about the gender conversation at all, we believe this conversation is critical. Dr. Abigail Favale wrote Laurie’s favorite book on gender this year called “The Genesis of Gender,” and the conversation about it is—*chef’s kiss*—rich and practical. Together, they talk about: —Is sexual difference an afterthought of the Bible? How can we define woman and man? Is the fact that intersex people exist the proverbial “trump card” for more than two sexes? How can people walk alongside those they love who wrestle with gender? (And what if we wrestle ourselves?) | Highlights | “The gend...
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Episode 231: Everyday Evangelism | David Bennett
Friday, December 6, 2024
We LOVED this conversation. In the midst of divisive ... everything… in the world today, it reminded us about what really matters: JESUS. THE GOSPEL. And that sharing Jesus (evangelism) is an absolute joy when you love Him. Theologian, author, and our friend, David Bennett, is the one who reminds us of our first love (Jesus), and also helps us think through: —Why should we tell people about Jesus? How can we make it less awkward? Should it feel natural to us? What if people respond poorly? | Highlights | “If I was married, I would tell people how amazing my spouse is all the tim...
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Episode 230: Laurie’s Book Club | Anxious Generation
Friday, November 22, 2024
We’re trying something new called Laurie’s Book Club, where “she reads the book so you don’t have to. Granted, we would love it if you read the book and “discussed” it alongside us on the pod, but if you’re anything like most of the world, you’d love to hear a summary of the book, any major nuggets, a little discussion, and call it a day. That’s what we are starting today! The book of focus is Jonathan Haidt’s instant NYTimes best seller, The Anxious Generation. It’s globally shaking up families, school systems, and even legislation around phones and screen times for the Gen Z—and we ...
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Episode 229: Let’s Get a Proper Theology of Suffering | Kelly Kapic
Friday, November 8, 2024
Suffering, eh? Sounds … super … fun. Ya know, the older we get, the more we realize just how important our theology of suffering is when we are … well, suffering. As Kelly Kapic said in today’s episode, “You don’t realize how flimsy your theology of suffering is until you use it as a resource to live on.” For example, if we think suffering should be escaped, *when* we suffer we will try to outrun it. (Which is hard to do if we are enduring physical pain.) If we think suffering should be embraced, *when* we suffer we might try to make it our identity. Let’s get a proper theology of sufferi...
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Episode 228: Discipling Someone Who Wrestles with Gender | Kat LaPrairie
Friday, October 25, 2024
When I [Laurie] met Kat, she was planning to marry her girlfriend and was considering transitioning to male. But God was already drawing Kat to Himself, and He tapped me on the shoulder to join the process. Hear the whole discipleship journey between us today on the podcast. | Highlights | “I would be doing absolutely nothing and I would feel this conviction … This fear of ‘Am I making the right choice? Am I rejecting The One?’” —Kat LaPrairie “This is going to be difficult, it is not solved, my life is still a mess, but this is the first choice in a series of choices that is going to make ...
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Episode 227: Recovering Our Souls From P*rn Addiction | Sam Jolman
Friday, October 11, 2024
A new Barna study says 54% of Christians watch p*rnography. This number is only 7 percentage points behind the percent of all U.S. adults who consume it (61%). We need help. How can we get the help we need for our addictions at a soul-deep level? Author and therapist Sam Jolman is here to assist. Together, we discuss: —Is male sexuality just extra broken or what? —How can we (as men and women) process our first encounter with p*rnography? —How can we as parents help ready our kids for a porn-pervasive world? —What can we do if we are caught in an addiction cycle? Is there anything to do ot...
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Episode 226: Are You Weak? Good! | Eric Schumacher
Friday, September 27, 2024
Many of us grew up in the church hearing that weakness was a good thing: In our weakness, God is strong through us. If that’s true, why does weakness feel so terrible? Today, we talk with author, podcaster, and pastor, Eric Schumacher about “the good gift of weakness,” why many of us don’t like it, and why it is the best place to thrive as a human being. We also discuss: —How did Eric’s “failing at ministry” help him to recover his life? —Is weakness found in creation and in the new heavens and new earth, not just in the sinful world? —What if we are tired of being weak? | Highlights | “I...
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Episode 225: How to Stay Sane Through Another Political Cycle | Preston Sprinkle
Friday, September 13, 2024
Something we so appreciate about Dr. Preston Sprinkle is he doesn’t tell us what to think, he encourages us to think about what we are thinking about. When it comes to engaging politics, we need people to help us think about politics biblically first. If you’re like us, you’re all done with politics…yesterday. And yet, we cannot escape it. Is there a way to engage it without losing our minds (and faith)? Theologian, author, podcaster, and friend of the podcast, Preston Sprinkle, is just the expert we need to help us think about politics biblically. We discuss: How can we vote with a Kingdo...
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Episode 224: Why We Need to Look Back to Move Forward | Lisa-Jo Baker
Friday, August 30, 2024
If you have ever struggled to process your story (and who hasn’t??), this episode is for you. Author, teacher, and child-of-a-one-time angry father, Lisa Jo Baker, takes us by the hand and guides us to take the tiniest look back so we can move forward into healing. | Main Themes | Why do we avoid going back into our stories? Why do we need to? (Do we need to?) How can you write a book about the most painful places in our lives? What if those we love don’t want to or can’t reconcile? | Highlights | “A thought dropped into my head, ‘You need to speak about what it was like to be the child o...
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Episode 223: Protecting Our Kids in This Wild World | with Julia Sadusky
Friday, May 31, 2024
If you’re a parent or mentor of young kids right now like we are, I am pretty sure you could marinate in fear every day of the week. Add the fact that it is up to us parents and mentors to teach these kids facts and wisdom about sexuality and body safety, and you can just find us in a panic attack on the floor every-other day of the week. But what if we didn’t have to? What if we could learn how to wisely lead them in the midst of this wild world? Today, psychologist and author Julia Sadusky helps us to do just that. Together we discuss: • Why is avoiding conversations about bodies and sex...
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Episode 222: Q & A with the Kriegs | Therapy, Burnout, and Your LGBTQ Q’s
Friday, May 17, 2024
It’s that time again: Let’s take your questions and try to respond with wisdom! Here are the ones we respond to today! How do you know when or if you need to move on from a therapist? How can we walk with people experiencing unwanted sexual desires? How do I recover my soul from burnout? How do I talk with my kids about a family member who is transitioning? How do I know if a temptation is spiritual attack or fruit from my sinful nature? | Highlights | “Our kids do not have to be fed rage and othering in order to cultivate a heart that is both passionate for truth and grieves over sin.” —L...
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Episode 221: Two Approaches to Pride | Part 2 with Elizabeth Delgado Black
Friday, May 3, 2024
Today, we conclude our two-part series looking at strategies to intentionally and evangelistically approach Pride Month. To continue the conversation, we talk with Elizabeth Delgado Black who is an evangelist and the co-founder and president of Kaleidoscope. Together, we talk about practical ways to love LGBTQ people like Jesus as well as: Can we talk a little bit about language? Why use LGBTQ language at all? How do LGBTQ people in New York City seem to view Christians generally? Why? How does Elizabeth’s nonprofit seek to love LGBTQ people into the Kingdom of God? What contextual ways d...
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Episode 220: Two Approaches to Pride | Part 1 with Stephen Nylen
Friday, April 19, 2024
Some Christians write off June’s Pride festivals as Sodom and Gomorrah. They don’t think anyone there could possibly want God. Are we so sure about that? At least two ministries in the U.S. are regularly going to Pride festivals in their areas, and they are seeing people come to know Jesus because of their presence, preaching, and practical love of neighbor. This week, we interview a street evangelist who has been going to Grand Rapids, Michigan’s Pride Festival for the last five years. We ask: Why does he go? What heart does he have when he goes? What pushback does he receive? What fruit d...
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Episode 219: Treasures in the Dark with Katherine Wolf
Friday, April 5, 2024
When we are going through suffering, we don’t usually think, “Hmm, what treasures might God have for me to discover here?” It just feels like suffering. However, author and major stroke survivor, Katherine Wolf, has a message for us: God has gems for us to find in the darkness. “If you have to go through hardship, why not get the treasure? My goodness, don’t waste the pain,” she says. What else do we talk about? What exactly are these “treasures” anyway? How should we respond to our friends’ immediate suffering? What if we are in a major depressive season? Is there hope for us? What if we ...
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Episode 218: How Not to Be Discouraged in a Discouraging Year with Derwin Gray
Friday, March 22, 2024
“Hope in the gospel and discouragement are not mutually exclusive,” Pastor Derwin Gray encouraged us on today’s episode. But, how is that possible? The world can feel so defeating: Politics, racial division, pastor scandals, congregant sin, and the drudgery of faithfully trying to do this thing called advancing the Kingdom of God wherever we are called can overwhelm anyone. How can we both experience grief, discouragement, or mourning, and allow it to propel us further into the heart of God? Author and pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in America, Derwin Gray, preaches exactly ...
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Episode 217: What Trees Can Teach Us About Living with Joy Marie Clarkson
Friday, March 8, 2024
This is a very gentle but powerful episode. Since having the conversation, I (Laurie) can’t stop seeing the people-as-trees metaphor everywhere. How? You’re just going to have to listen to find out. :) // Highlights: “We all have the seasons in life. We can’t expect the same things of ourselves in every single season. When we don’t experience seasons that are fruitful or blooming, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong with us, it can just mean we are in a different season.” —Joy Marie Clarkson “You can’t have buds and the blooms [on a tree] without ... the old leaves dying.” —Joy Mar...
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Episode 216: From Christian Cult to Christ Follower with Christy Lynne Wood
Friday, February 23, 2024
Christy grew up in a hyper-legalistic system that added rigid rules to the gospel of Jesus. (You might have seen glimpses of it if you watched the documentary, ‘Shiny Happy People.’) Even after leaving, Christy internally battled the legalism that attached itself to her knowledge of the real Jesus. How did she break free—not only physically, but mentally and spiritually? We also explore: What is the difference between authority and authoritarianism? How can you tell if you’re in a legalistic system? Why would someone be drawn to such a structure? How can we break free from either a direct ...
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Episode 215: A Testimony of Surrendered Gender with Kyla Gillespie
Friday, February 9, 2024
Oh, wow. This story. How does one woman go from a childhood of following Jesus as much as she knows how, to professional hockey, to same-sex relationships, to transitioning to male for six years, to finding the real Jesus, and then to de-transitioning in the midst of a loving church community? This episode has her story. Hear a testimony and take part in a conversation on how to walk well with people who wrestle with gender today on the podcast. // Highlights: “I was crying out to God on the bedroom floor, and I heard him say, ‘Kyla. Return to me.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean, retu...
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Episode 214: What is Uniquely Hard and Hopeful for Married People Now? With Chris Bruno and Tracy Johnson
Friday, January 26, 2024
Is anyone else feeling like they are in a rut in their marriage? Maybe you’re not in crisis mode, but it’s kinda just . . . meh? It’s easy to function; to sit on opposite couches and scroll on your phone. But, do you wonder if marriage could be better than that—not with some fantastical potion or even a weekend intensive per se, but what if it began with small, simple movements of risk toward one another? Today, marriage experts Tracy Johnson and Chris Bruno guide those of us who feel “in a rut” toward a gentle path of hope. How? Grab a coffee drink you’ve never ordered before (you’ll get ...
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Episode 213: The Value of Singleness with Dani Treweek
Friday, January 12, 2024
We are going to talk about singleness until we as the Church get this right, friends. People talk about how marriage gives us a vision of eternity in how two different people seeking union shows the world a picture of how God (who is so different from us) will be one with His church. But, how does singleness show us a picture of what we will experience in the new heavens and new earth? Author and ministry leader, Dani Treweek, is here to tell us how. // Highlights: “I have become absolutely convinced that singleness is not just the absence of something good, but it is the presence of some...
Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.
PROVERBS 23:4-5 NLTGrand Rapids / Lakeshore
Kalamazoo
Battle Creek
Benton Harbor