Dana Russell had spent most of her adult life serving in ministry. However, a successful music ministry and many discipleship weekends that impacted thousands of young girls weren’t enough to heal a deep wound in her heart. The private pressure that she had been living under for decades eventually resulted in a very public extramarital affair. In a moment, her whole world was turned upside down.
Dana joins Dale on today’s 95podcast to share how Jesus helped her trade the shadows of shame and rejection for His all-encompassing shadow of peace. This is a raw and honest conversation on how the things we attempt to hide in the shadows are exposed to the light at some point in our lives.
Links to Resources Mentioned or Related
- Order: Trading Shadows
- Email Dana
- Link to NEW! Soul Care Essentials Online: 3-Session Video Series
- Link to NEW! Soul Care Essentials Cohort: 6 Weeks of Guided Conversations for Post-Conference Groups
- 95Network – Soul Care Essentials
- 95Network – Healthy Church Assessment
- Read Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There By Now
- Watch Podcast on YouTube
Key Takeaways
1) It’s impossible to “serve your way” into healing by doing ministry-wide-open. The mounting pressure you feel will finally stop you in your tracks.
2) The need for our earthly father’s love is a fundamental quest for most of us. Imagine the emotional impact of finding out much later in your life that the man you thought was your father turned out to be untrue.
3) Pornography is such a massive destroyer of true intimacy in a marriage. Yet, millions of people, even ministry leaders, struggle with it every day.
4) Honest confession is a path to complete healing and wholeness. Once you’ve decided to come clean, you can forgive yourself and others.
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