Today's conversation with Brad Chaddick is a great one! Sarah and Brad begin with a classic Arizona conversation - complaining about the heat. Brad starts his story by sharing about his childhood growing up in southern California and attending a mega church. He has many sweet memories associated with that time in his life, but he also says he feels some key elements of a walk with Christ were missing. The community felt surface level and any sin issue was talked about with a lot of shame and condemnation. Around 5th grade Brad was exposed to pornography while serving on a mission trip in Japan. This began a struggle that lasted over a decade. At one point Brad tried to open up about his struggle but he was only met with "just pray about it" or "Jesus will heal you." These statements paired with his sin unfortunately led to a lot of doubts. If prayers don't lead to healing what does that mean? Like many Christians who are addicted to pornography Brad thought that marriage would help to solve this problem. He met his wife Sarah-Ann in college but unfortunately this struggle came into their marriage as well. By the grace of God Brad began attending a 12-step program and for the first time in his life he felt like he had help. Healing began to take place. But why wasn't this found initially in the church? Brad shares more about how he had to confront his disillusionment with the church and how he had to come back to a true relationship with Jesus. We appreciate the way Brad articulates his desire for authentic, deep community centered in Christ. Though he had struggled with connections he did not give up. The Lord came through in some amazing ways. You'll hear about his journey to community and how a lot of that has happened at Desert Springs. We would really encourage you to listen to this story and take hold of the challenges Brad presents!

Tuesday night Men's Connect Group at DSCC: https://dscchurch.churchcenter.com/groups/connect-groups/tuesday-night-men-s-fellowship

Brandon Baker's testimony on The Stories Collective, Episode 36: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AP4LhnEg5mBxtnhJORwoG?si=f566fc3fcc3b4658
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