The CrossCounsel Podcast

196 | The Anger We Don't Admit

In this episode of the CrossCounsel Podcast, Steve reflects on emotionally healthy spirituality, hidden pain, and the tension many Christians feel between outward faith and inward struggle. Drawing from a recent class discussion and the CrossCounsel MELT process, the conversation explores how buried anger, grief, fear, and shame often remain underneath spiritual performance and Christian language. Rather than glorifying emotion, this episode emphasizes that emotions can serve as signals pointing toward deeper heart-level beliefs that need God’s truth and healing. Topics include emotional honesty, spiritual bypassing, discernment, discipleship, suffering, and the difference between information and true transformation. Steve also shares personally about recent loss, ministry growth, and the importance of prayer during this season for CrossCounsel. CrossCounsel Website [https://www.crosscounsel.com] CrossCounsel on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=crosscounsel%20international%20ministries]

195 | Transformation Toward Your God-Given Mission

Steve concludes his conversation with Dwight Clough where they discuss how true transformation begins not with information, but with intentionally meeting with God in the places we most want to avoid. They emphasize that God has a meaningful mission for each person and desires to walk closely with us, bringing both joy and purpose. Rather than running from pain, growth comes when we willingly step into it, trusting that Christ is already present there. They explore how suffering, when engaged with God, becomes a pathway to deeper healing and confidence that we cannot manufacture on our own. The conversation also challenges rigid certainty, highlighting the importance of humility, being open to being wrong, and engaging others with curiosity instead of defensiveness. As trust and understanding grow through listening, relationships deepen. Ultimately, they point toward a renewed expression of Christianity marked by transformation, love, and a shared pursuit of God’s purpose in everyday life. CrossCounsel Website [https://www.crosscounsel.com] CrossCounsel on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=crosscounsel%20international%20ministries]

194 | Loving What God Loves - with Dwight Clough

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Dwight Clough around two foundational questions: Who are we, and why are we here? Dwight points to the Great Commission as central to our purpose—not as a narrow call to make statements, but to make disciples. He draws a clear distinction between making declarations and actually loving people well, as Jesus did. True disciple-making begins within, as God brings peace, healing, and alignment to our own hearts, which then flows outward into relationships and communities. Reflecting on the parable of the talents, Dwight challenges us to consider what God has entrusted to us—and how we are using it in this season. Ultimately, this episode invites us to think bigger, live transformationally, and love what God loves—remembering that none of us have arrived. CrossCounsel Website [https://www.crosscounsel.com] CrossCounsel on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=crosscounsel%20international%20ministries]

193 | Why Real Transformation is Harder Than We Think - with Dwight Clough

In this conversation, Steve Freitag sits down with Dwight Clough, author and longtime friend of CrossCounsel. Dwight and his wife Kim first connected with the ministry nearly 25 years ago, shortly after the events of 9/11, when they encountered the teaching of Dr. Ed Smith and the foundations of what would later become known as the MELT process and Transformational Prayer Ministry. Dwight is the author of numerous books exploring faith, transformation, and the inner life. He co-authored Amazing Faith (Moody Press) and has written several other influential works including What I Believe About You, End the Divide, The Gift of Transformation—a CrossCounsel favorite—and a new book he will discuss in this conversation. Many people first approach prayer ministry because they are struggling with something—fear, anxiety, shame, destructive patterns, or difficulty forgiving someone. But as Dwight explains, what begins as a search for healing often becomes something deeper: an invitation into ongoing transformation and communion with Jesus. In the conversation Dwight shares a personal story about discovering the roots of anger that surfaced whenever his wife became sick. What began as frustration uncovered a deeper childhood memory connected to fear and insecurity when his own mother was ill. The shift that followed was not simply a new insight—but an encounter with truth that changed his heart. Together they explore: • Why many Christians think inner healing is about fixing a problem rather than living in transformation • The difference between intellectual insight and heart-level freedom • Why experiencing the love of God can actually feel difficult or even frightening • How fear, shame, and cultural expectations keep many believers from being honest about what is happening inside them • Why real change comes when Jesus meets us in the places we feel most broken Ultimately, this conversation points toward a deeper reality of the Christian life: transformation does not come from trying harder or understanding more information—it comes from encountering the truth and love of Christ in the deepest places of the heart. CrossCounsel Website [https://www.crosscounsel.com] CrossCounsel on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=crosscounsel%20international%20ministries]

192 | Truth and Transformation: A Conclusion That Continues

This title reflects an important reality: while this episode concludes our focused MELT series, the work of truth and transformation in our lives never truly concludes. In this conversation, Steve and Mary finish their discussion on the T in MELT — Truth and Transformation, bringing this series to a close for the time being. They reflect on why identifying memories, emotions, and lies is only part of the journey, and why lasting change comes when the Spirit of Jesus brings truth to the places where lies once lived. Steve then offers a final word, connecting this work to Scripture. Drawing from 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and Romans 12:2, he explains how sanctification and the renewing of the mind describe the same transforming work of God — a process that produces real peace, forgiveness, and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The series concludes, but the work of truth and transformation continues. CrossCounsel Website [https://www.crosscounsel.com] CrossCounsel on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=crosscounsel%20international%20ministries]