Cloud of Witnesses Radio

Who Do You Think You Are: Guilt vs. Shame: How God Heals the Human Person Through the Church Today

Who do you think you are? Not the mask you wear on a good day, not the collapse you fear on a bad one—but the person whose thoughts shape feelings, whose feelings drive actions, and whose actions can be changed by a wiser rhythm. We trace a clear line from identity to behavior and show why life isn’t as random as it feels: see yourself one way, and the pattern follows; shift the lens, and healing becomes possible. Join Jeremy Jeremiah, Mario Andrew, and Cloud of Witnesses special guests Father Deacon Anthony, an ordained deacon in the Antiochian Orthodox Church, and associate marriage and family therapist, Jacob Sadan (https://jacobsadan.com/) in this frank and inspiring discussion of sin. We explore how identity shapes feelings and actions, why guilt heals while shame condemns, and how the church’s ordered practices offer a reliable path from chaos to wholeness. Stories from Scripture, honest talk on pride and despair, and a call to stillness make the way forward clear and practical. • identity as the lens that drives emotion and behavior • order in Scripture and the church as a healing system • fasting as meaning-filled practice tied to memory and love • Peter’s guilt vs Judas’s shame as a map for repentance • pride hiding inside despair and perfectionism • rhythm and stillness re-regulating a dysregulated life • engineered emotion contrasted with prayerful quiet • objectivity through tradition and the witness of saints • shame withering in light and community We unpack the difference between guilt and shame through the stories of Peter and Judas. Guilt invites repair and repentance; shame condemns the self and hides in the dark. Along the way, we confront the hidden pride that fuels despair—“backwards pride” that says we should have been above failure—and we offer a kinder, truer stance: you are not uniquely good or uniquely bad. You are human, loved, and in need of a system that helps you grow. That system has roots. From order in Scripture to the structure of worship, fasting, and community, the church provides reliable practices that re-regulate a restless heart. We contrast engineered emotion with drawn-out stillness, arguing that while loud rooms can stir real feelings, quiet prayer forms real people. Listening becomes a two-way relationship where we stop only asking and start hearing the “small voice” that clarifies who God is and who we are. Finally, we make the case for objectivity in the spiritual life. Tradition and the witness of saints give us a mirror that doesn’t flatter but frees, helping us see our true place on the path without shame or pretense. When light replaces secrecy, shame shrinks, and habits of love take root. If this conversation helps you swap chaos for rhythm, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with the line that stayed with you—what truth do you want to keep in the light? Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdh Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnesses Find Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok. Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

Your Church Should Be Older Than Your Mom | Orthodoxy Preserves While Protestants Still Cannot Agree

Your Church Should Be Older Than Your Mom | Orthodoxy Preserves While Protestants Still Cannot Agree. A restless teenager collides with the Jesus People and catches fire for Christ—but the fire has no hearth. Years later, after Anglican ordination and years of pastoral ministry on the Canadian prairie, Fr. Lawrence Farley (https://nootherfoundation.ca/) names the ache many believers feel today: Scripture untethered from apostolic Tradition slowly dissolves into preferences, platforms, and personality-driven faith. What followed was costly and clarifying—laying down his orders, entering the Orthodox Church, moving a young family with almost nothing, and helping plant a mission that had to fight for every soul. Along the way he discovered the priest’s true work is fatherhood: gathering a family at the altar, preaching Christ, serving the sacraments, and learning to wash feet when it hurts. Together we take up the questions filling comment sections and pews alike. Why did streams of Protestantism drift toward liberalization? How did separating the Bible from the Church that preserved it fracture Christian unity? What does it mean to “live on Catholic capital,” and why do new conservative movements keep splintering from older ones? Fr. Lawrence traces a line from Reformation fault lines to the Jesus People’s wide tent, showing how experience without shared confession leaves believers unmoored. Against that churn, he explains why Orthodoxy’s ancient worship, coherent doctrine, and living tradition are quietly drawing young men, families, and weary pilgrims across the West. But this isn’t nostalgia or culture-war comfort. “Come because we’re anti-woke, stay because of Jesus,” he insists. Canons and rules matter only if they serve repentance and the healing of the heart; otherwise we trade chaos for a new Phariseeism. Fr. Lawrence offers bracing counsel on vocation—if you can be happy doing anything else, do it—and describes pastoral life as a slow crucifixion that somehow becomes a wellspring of joy. He points listeners to accessible resources for evangelicals exploring Orthodoxy, deep dives into the Psalms, a forthcoming book on suffering through Lamentations, and his weekly blog, No Other Foundation. If you’re searching for a faith that’s older than trends and sturdy enough for modern storms, this conversation offers clarity, challenge, and hope. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s restless, and leave a review telling us where you’re seeing ancient tradition bring new life today. Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdh Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnesses Find Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok. Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

Bold Christian Claim: What If The Church Never Paused for 1500 Years? From Pentecostal Cult to Jesus

What if the ache you feel on Sunday isn’t a lack of passion, but a hunger for roots? Tony Nektarios Vasquez joins us to share how a Pentecostal upbringing, a non-denominational season, and eventually a Calvinist-leaning church plant still left him asking where the first 1,500 years fit in. His story is not a theory lesson—it’s a family saga: a praying father discovering the Desert Fathers, a brother slipping out to Vespers, a wife and children encountering reverence for the first time, and a co-pastor who realized that history, Scripture, and worship belong together. We trace Tony’s path from Pentecostal roots and a non-denominational church plant to a sober look at church history, liturgy, and apostolic succession. Family doubts, online study, and the beauty of Vespers turn hesitation into conviction as Scripture and tradition align. • questioning charismatic altar practices and emotionalism • moving from Reformers to the first 1,500 years • parish visits to St James and first Vespers • answers on icons, relics, and intercession from Scripture • liturgy as continuity with Old Testament worship • apostolic succession and the promise that the Church endures • closing a young church to enter Orthodoxy • finding healing and stability in the sacraments We walk through the uncomfortable questions most avoid. Are altar manifestations genuine or coached? Does sola fide stand when held beside James and the early Church? How do relics, icons, and the intercession of the saints square with the Bible? Tony takes us inside St. James Orthodox Church in Modesto, where incense and chant weren’t novelty, but a doorway to Christ-centered prayer. He shares the moment his daughter said the hymns made her want to cry, the way Revelation reframed prayer as a communion of heaven and earth, and how apostolic succession answered the authority problem that haunted his independent church. This conversation is a guided tour from system to story, from proof texts to a living tradition. We touch on the continuity between Old Testament worship and the Divine Liturgy, the claim that the Church Christ founded never paused or rebooted, and the quiet courage it took to close a young church for a faith that felt both ancient and alive. If you’ve wondered where the dots connect—Scripture, history, and sacrament—this is an honest map drawn in real time. If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful journeys into the ancient faith, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your questions and stories shape future episodes—drop them in the comments and say hello to Tony. Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdh Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnesses Find Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok. Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

After the Shot: Leaving Mormonism & Witnessing Tragedy: What Happened to Charlie Kirk at UVU

A packed campus, a live mic, and a question that cut to the bone: is the historicity of the LDS church stronger than Protestant Christianity? Noah Nielsen—born into a deeply LDS family, now a Christian and Division I runner—was there at UVU with his phone out, capturing the exchange about Nephites, Lamanites, witnesses, and the golden plates moments before a single gunshot froze the crowd. His perspective ties together two seismic moments: leaving a faith that shaped his childhood and surviving a tragedy that reshaped his sense of safety. A student-athlete recounts the day a campus Q&A turned deadly and the long journey that led him from deep LDS roots to Christian faith. We explore evidence claims about Mormonism, the missing clips controversy, trauma after the shooting, and the costly choices of conviction. • UVU event setup, lack of security, and crowd mood • Why Noah filmed the LDS exchange and what was said • Historicity challenges: Nephites, Lamanites, witnesses, golden plates • Family’s exit from LDS after research and social fallout • BYU transfer, rebaptism ultimatum, and walking away from a scholarship • Theology contrast between biblical monotheism and exaltation claims • Firsthand account of the shot, panic, and escape • PTSD, returning to campus, and rebuilding trust in public spaces • The guiding question of conscience and cost We walk through Noah’s backstory from Northern Ireland to Utah, where church life was family life. When his mother’s sincere study unearthed troubling sources—the Book of Abraham, polyandry, the Kinderhook plates, Nauvoo Expositor, and Carthage Jail—their home shifted from certainty to questions. The social cost in Utah was immediate and painful, culminating in a move across the country to breathe again. Noah’s own study moved beyond history into Scripture, where the biblical insistence on one uncreated God clashed with the LDS path of exaltation. That conviction would be tested later when a rebaptism ultimatum was tied to his BYU scholarship. He declined and rebuilt at UVU under a punishing deadline. Then there’s the day itself. Noah arrived early to a pulsing amphitheater with little visible security. He filmed the faith debate that many claimed never happened, watched the dialogue tighten around evidence, and then heard the shot. What followed was panic, a scramble through bottlenecked exits, and the long shadow of trauma: avoiding campus, scanning every room, and relearning how to be in public places. Through it all, Noah returns to a simple question that steers his choices: what’s the point of gaining the world if you lose your soul? If you value honest stories about faith, freedom of speech, and the cost of conviction, this conversation will stay with you. Listen, share it with someone who needs it, and tell us which moment struck you most. And if the full, uncut conversation helps you process it all, support the show and access it on Patreon. Subscribe, leave a review, and join us for more candid, thoughtful stories that refuse to look away. Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdh Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnesses Find Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok. Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

The LDS Problem: When Prophets Teach And Doctrines Shift Where Does Truth Live? Baylie Response Vid

A funeral sermon reconstructed from four sets of notes shouldn’t bear the weight of an entire theology—unless it did, over time. We dive into the King Follett Discourse with clear eyes, tracing how a two-hour address in 1844 became a flashpoint for modern conversations about the nature of God, prophetic authority, and what truly counts as doctrine in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Response to  @bayliebelieves [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCn56ZhInIwvDlwcLMHkveZQ]  Two contrasting claims collide over the King Follett Discourse: a challenge that it’s non-canon and unreliable versus a rebuttal that later LDS prophets taught its themes for decades. We trace what counts as doctrine, how sermons turn into beliefs, and why splinter groups say the center changed. • framing the LDS vs Christian critique over God’s nature • the status of King Follett as non-canon funeral sermon • limits of note-based reconstructions and windy-day reporting • claims that Joseph Smith affirmed God’s eternal divinity • the seventy-year continuity of related teachings by LDS leaders • canon versus sustained teaching as sources of doctrine • splinter groups alleging apostasy and doctrinal retreat • a plea for rigorous, charitable truth-seeking and reading full sources We lay out the core tension. On one side, you’ll hear the case for treating King Follett as non-canon, incomplete, and unreliable for defining belief, especially when listeners cherry-pick a sentence to score a point. On the other, we follow the historical thread: the ideas associated with the discourse were reiterated by successive LDS leaders for decades, shaping nineteenth-century Mormon thought and leaving a long tail that still touches today’s debates. When doctrines appear in sermons and are echoed across presidencies, do they become functionally authoritative, even without formal canonization? Along the way, we cut through the noise: the windy-day reporting, the four accounts, the claim that Joseph Smith affirmed God’s eternal divinity, and the counterclaim that he taught divine progression from manhood. We also map why splinter groups like the FLDS say mainstream LDS leadership abandoned earlier teachings, and how that accusation reframes the question of continuity versus change. If you care about LDS doctrine, Christian theology, or how living faith communities define truth, this conversation offers a thoughtful, historically grounded roadmap for better questions and better answers. If this resonated with you, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves religious history, and leave a review with your take: what should define doctrine—canon, sermons, or sustained teaching? Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdh Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses Radio: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnesses Find Cloud of Witnesses Radio on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok. Please leave a comment with your thoughts!