Daryl Carlson is a Certified Meta-Coach & NLP Master Practitioner who loves to help people free themselves from the deep indoctrination of Christianity. He knows that challenge all too well having been indoctrinated from birth, biblically trained at Moody Bible Institute, and worked for 15 years as a missionary in Alaska, Russia, and Ukraine. Daryl…
Talking with one of our best friends Jason Elam Desert Sanctuary Resources Book: Out Into the Desert Book: The Hotel Book: Being Book: The Being Journey companion guide Book: The Tea Shop Book: Apparent Faith Email: Karl at karl4hand@gmail.com Email Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Twitter: @karl4hand YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@karl4hand42
Amber started really evaluating her faith in her early 20s, and it’s continuing to grow through all difficulties from leaving a cult. After many years of deconstructing, she decided to start her social media presence to give voice to cult survivors and give a space for others to not feel alone. Fundie Freed Facebook *…
Justin is an ex-vangelical, certified hypnotist, and trauma-informed coach who is passionate about change work and psycho-spiritual healing. After realizing that the church and religion didn’t have the answers to his deep pain and sense of inadequacy, Justin began to search outside of the church and deconstruct his deeply held core beliefs. It was in…
https://www.facebook.com/Kylelb23 Desert Sanctuary Resources Book: Out Into the Desert Book: The Hotel Book: Being Book: The Being Journey companion guide Book: The Tea Shop Book: Apparent Faith Email: Karl at karl4hand@gmail.com Email Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Twitter: @karl4hand YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@karl4hand42 Advertisements
Sheri was born with two extreme and violent parents. Her father was a drug dealing ex-con once nominated to be a Grand Dragon in the KKK. Her mom was a speaking-in-tongues, book-burning, evangelical. He terrorized her and her mom demonized her. It took her until she was 27 years old to realize that what was…
Jodi and Jesse were both raised in the Pentecostal church. Jesse’s family was heavily involved in their local Church of God. Jodi’s parents were evangelists; her aunt, uncles, and grandparents were pastors in the Assembly of God denomination. They met when Jodi’s parents stopped traveling and became pastors at the AG church Jesse’s family attended.…
Bruce Epperly has served as a university and seminary professor, university chaplain, and local church pastor. He is the author of over 70 books, including Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God, The Elephant is Running: Process and Open and Relational Theology and Religious Pluralism, One World: Process Theology and the Lord’s Prayer, and Prophetic Healing:…
Joshua Lawson is a former pastor who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies. He is the author of The Face of Addiction, which tells the story of twelve individuals whose lives were forever changed in the early days of the opioid crisis in central Appalachia. His latest book, Drugs & Jesus, is the…
This begins our series of stories from people who are moving forward in the Desert Desert Sanctuary Resources Book: Out Into the Desert Book: The Hotel Book: Being Book: The Being Journey companion guide Book: The Tea Shop Book: Apparent Faith Email: Karl at karl4hand@gmail.com Email Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Twitter: @karl4hand YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@karl4hand42
Dr. Mark Gregory Karris is a licensed marriage and family therapist in full-time private practice in San Diego, California. He specializes in religious trauma, men’s issues, and couples therapy. He is a husband, father, and recording artist. Mark is the author of the best-selling books Divine Echoes: Reconciling Prayer with the Un-controlling Love of God and Religious…
Vanessa R Brooks is a wife, mom, grandmother, and fur-baby mom. She is a Doctoral candidate, thought-leader, humanitarian, and entrepreneur. Vanessa served in the public sector in the social services industry, and pastor a church she founded for 14 years. She is the founder of Life After Church, a spiritual community where she provides spiritual…
Siri K. Zemel, PhD is an advocate for integrative healing, including the incorporation of spiritual experiences alongside traditional healthcare. Dr. Zemel received her PhD in Mind Body Medicine from Saybrook University, with a concentration in healthcare systems. She holds a Master’s Degree in nutrition science with a graduate minor in counseling psychology from the University…
Dave the Mystic (David Barnett) is an energy medicine practitioner, healer and intuitive with over 40 years' experience in Colorado. He has multiple technical degrees and is truly a rocket scientist. In the early 1980 & 90’s, Dave had some turning points in his life that led to a passion in discovering and developing his…
Seth Showalter is a single gay man who is the proud father of a lively cat by the name of Lizzie. Seth works as a Therapist for a Certified Behavioral Health Organization in the Central Region of Missouri. Seth runs a mental health podcast solo called “Mental Health Uncovered” where he gives people the floor…
Dr. Paul Fitzgerald earned the Doctor of Ministry with research in internalized shame and trauma. For more than 25 years he and his wife, Susanna, have assisted people in wholehearted, authentic living through HeartConnexion Seminars. His professional training includes Inner Relationship Focusing and BioSpiritual Focusing. He is a member of the International Focusing Institute and…
I realized some time ago that that we are part of a collective on a journey of discovery and enlightenment. I also am learning that some will always lag behind because they are waiting for a well-worn path or worse, they are driving around on streets that are already paved in a kind of follow-the-leader…
Kicking off this month talking about church harm and mental health. Desert Sanctuary Resources Book: Out Into the Desert Book: The Hotel Book: Being Book: The Being Journey companion guide now! Book: Apparent Faith Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Email: Karl at karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Twitter: @karl4hand
People have always been drawn towards things like religion to try to explain the things we could explain. The ceremonies and communities we built around our understanding and misunderstanding helped us shape some meaning into the world. I believe we can honor those traditions and, sometimes, even memorialize them while boldly and consciously moving into…
We made it through Thanksgiving. So, we sat down to talk about stroke recovery and navigating the holidays. Grab your favorite drink and join us. Desert Sanctuary Resources Book: Out Into the Desert Book: The Hotel Book: Being Book: The Being Journey companion guide now! Book: Apparent Faith Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Email: Karl at karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Twitter: @karl4hand
Laura and I sat down to have a conversation about spiritual life and how deep and simple our practices are now. This a list of 10 things but not in any way a prescription. Let’s keep evolving and having these discussions. Check out our new book, Out into the Desert to help do the evaluation.…
Lola is a cosmetologist from Birmingham, AL who left the Church of Christ cult in 2019. After a devastating divorce, she deconstructed her faith and began exploring new paths to grow closer to spirit. She is a co-host for The Messy Spirituality Podcast. She is currently pursuing a spiritual path filled with witchery and enlightenment.…
Tracy King activates potential. For more than 20 years she has dedicated her career to designing transformational experiences. She is a master learning designer, professional development consultant, bestselling author, and owns an instructional design agency. Her work synthesizing how brains learn into a model for crafting transformational experiences has been featured on NBC, ABC, FOX,…
Rev. Dr. Sheri Pallas is an author, ally, and activist. She hosts a weekly live stream, Fireside Creators, with experts and the experienced, tackling tough topics. Sheri was raised between two extremes of judgment and hate. Her father, a drug dealing ex-con once nominated to be a Grand Dragon in the KKK. Her mom was…
Wren Margaret Grace is a neurodivergent adoptee, mother of 6, Domestic Violence survivor, chronic illness warrior, and passionate about moving Humanity through our existential crisis with the hopes of a better future for all of us, especially the future generations. Wren was raised as Independent Fundamental Baptist, graduated from a strict Bible college, and after…
Order The Hotel Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now! Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64 Find me on Twitter@karl4hand See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart Book: The Tea Shop
Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now! Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64 Find me on Twitter @karl4hand See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart Book: The Tea Shop
We decided to talk about my latest books Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/ https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary· Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com· Find me on Twitter· See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary· Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s HeartBook: The Tea Shop
Glenn and I have a friendship that is a great example of how two people don’t have to agree on everything to get along. We have several things in common, one major focus we share – helping others find healing. Glenn is a coach and a lover of people. His podcast was coming to a…
Katy Valentine is my metaphysical, New Testament scholar friend. She has a heartbeat for helping people and encouraging them to find their gifts. I have always experienced here to be kind to everyone. We talked about my book Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. Find Katy on her website, https://www.katyvalentine.com/ Order Being or the…
Kerri is one my most interesting friends. Her focus is on ancient wisdom to heal mother wounds. She helps people access the sacred within and help them create a better world for themselves. She is a writer, speaker and helper for many. See her website https://kerrihummingbird.com/ From her website: “As we awaken the Mother Goddess…
I feel like we were just getting started in this conversation. Abby, Ari, and Jordan live in Taiwan and teach English there. They also collaborate on the Free China Podcast. On their media site, they discuss various political and social issues. These three make me optimistic about the future! Listen in as they discuss how…
I love deeply spiritual people! Even though I have a hard time with religion, I love to talk to people that exude depth when they speak. I love when I sense integrity in their voice – and, I always feel this way about my friend, Rachel. Now, I know where she gets it – I…
We’ve known them for a couple of years and we finally got to meet with them at their home in Navarre, FL. This was a fun conversation we had when we had Chinese food and reflected on getting know each other online and then finally meeting. It is hard to hear at times, so turn…
This is a very important conversation about being fully human. Aaron is a therapist and ex-pastor. You would probably expect us to talk about deconstruction, but we actually talked about moving forward. Aaron recognizes the need for transformation and healing and he loved my book, Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity, because it impacted…
This is a new feature on the Desert Sanctuary. Once a month Jason Elam will join us to co-host The Desert Sanctuary! Jason has a smooth announcers voice, but he also has keen insight and he and Brandi Elam are two of our best friends! Jason is also host of The Messy Spirituality podcast. This…
(This is the introduction to my book: Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. It releases next Monday, May 11th. I hope would give it a chance and pre-order or save it on your wish list to order on opening day.) I learned the value of hard work from my family-of-origin early in life. Doing…
Photo by Yan from Pexels Many of werre given confusing messages about our bodies from our traditions. In the past 100 years, we have been learning a lot about how all that works — things that even some of our Sacred Texts didn’t know about. My new book Being is about what I discovered about my trauma and…
It has been a while since I wrote a blog post on this site. Most of my blogs are now on Patheos. If you haven’t been, there, make sure and check it out. Also, my new web site points to all of my stuff including this site, so make sure and check there often. But…
Laura and I sat down to record our story about the Tea Shop and how it changed my life. We relive the experience that we had there and talk about release of the book. The Tea Shop will be out in early September! https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or…
I’ve been writing a lot the past two years. It helps me know what I think (most writers can relate to that). When I went through my decostruction, and then began to work hard on myself and dealing with the things I struggle with, it was very helpful to be able to write. Laura took…
This morning, I was a little upset for a period. I woke up later than usual and poured a cup of coffee. Laura was already up which is unusual. Most mornings, I come to my chair and experience some very quiet, peaceful time alone. Today was different as I needed to take the dog out…
We adopted Winston into our family when he was about 2 years old about three and a half years ago. Miniature Australian Shepherds are trainable and by nature are herding, community kind of animals. We often say they are smart, but what we mean is that they are about like an above average 3-year old…
As I write the words to this chapter, the world is amid what most would describe as a crisis. It is described on a government website in my home state as, “an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in many locations internationally, including in the United States.…
Earlier this year, I began working at a hardware store. I had been off work for about 2 months and I needed to start earning some regular income. I also did not want to move across the country to continue in my previous profession. Our grandchildren are both nearby and I just built a deck…
If you have read my book, Apparent Faith, and you have read Wm. Paul Young’s book, Lies We Believer about God, you can probably see how it inspired me to tell my story through that lens of raising my children. It was a great privilege to be able to have this conversation with the Author…
About three years ago, I started eating a vegan diet. The reasons weren’t really ethical. The main reason was that, at age 50, I was beginning to have some worrisome health issues just like my father and grandfather. To make it more relevant, my brother-in-law dropped dead of heart condition while at the gym working…
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha Don’t worry about tomorrow…each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus Recently, a friend of mine said, “All my thought experiments involve a time machine.” That makes a lot of…
The old wisdom used to be, “Don’t ever talk about religion and politics.” That’s still probably good advice for me and my mother. It only leads to trouble. But, my children are different. For whatever reason, they have quite a bit to say about religion and politics. Since I was a pastor, we tried to…
Not a cause Not applause Not performing Not reforming Not success Not finesse Not tripping Not skipping Simply present, no matter where Simply loving, no matter who’s here Simply conscious, of all that is there Simply thankful, for all that I bear. Karl Forehand _________________________________________________________________________________________ Message me at any time if you have questions: karl@karlscoaching.com…
This morning I got inspired. I’m blessed that it lasted throughout my busy day and I still have some left to, hopefully, finish this blog. Being inspired always makes me think of a word in the New Testament, theopneustos, which is sometimes translated “inspired,” but more often translated “God-breathed.” Since theo relates to God and…
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