May 15, 2025 • 26 mins
Constance Hastings shares her unique journey from a non-religious upbringing to becoming a faith-based author and counselor, offering wisdom for those with loved ones who doubt or question Christianity. Through her personal story and book "The Trouble with Jesus: Considerations Before You Walk Away," she demonstrates how to engage authentically with skeptics through relationship rather than argumentation.
• Constance was raised by non-religious parents but attended a Christian school where she accepted Jesus at a young age
• Despite "drifting" during college years, God continuously drew her back to faith through relationships and circumstances
• She wrote "The Trouble with Jesus" specifically for doubters and skeptics, with an edgy narrative voice that interrupts to question and challenge
• The book confronts common obstacles to faith with chapters like "Jesus chose losers" and "Jesus valued women"
• The core approach to reaching skeptical loved ones begins with "bloodying your knees in prayer"
• Meaningful faith conversations must happen through relationship, not manipulation or pressure
• Jesus' question to Martha—"Do you believe this?"—represents the essential choice every person must make
• Even when people walk away from faith, "the eyes of God still follow" them in patient pursuit
• Parents should consistently plant seeds of faith in their children through teaching, modeling, and church involvement
Visit ConstanceHastings.com to subscribe to her free weekly blog and receive a 20% discount code for her book, plus a free ebook from the publisher by filling out the form at the back of the print edition.
Grab the Healthy Sustainable Weekly Rhythm Guide for Busy Moms ► ► https://aliesehalcomb.com/weeklyrhythms
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Okay, all right, let me get back to where I was.
Welcome to the PeacefulMompreneur.
I am so excited that you'rehere Today.
We are going to be talkingabout having that person in our
lives that we love so dearly,who has walls and doubts about
Jesus.
There's all of these obstaclesthat are coming up against us as
(00:23):
we're trying to share, and sowe're trying to walk that out
lovingly, and so my guest todayis going to talk all about that.
Constance Hastings brings anoutsider's perspective to what
insiders know about the story ofJesus.
Raised by non-religious parents, educated in a Christian school
(00:44):
, lover of great literature,teacher of the disadvantaged,
ordained in the mainlinedenomination, mental health
counselor outside of the church,she aims to make connections.
Speaking in new places, the oldvoices of meaning.
She and her husband splitresidence between Wilmington,
delaware, and Jacksonville,florida, so as to be near both
(01:06):
of their children.
Constance, thank you so muchfor joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
She and her husband split residence between
Wilmington, delaware andJacksonville, florida, so as to
be near both of their children,constance, thank you so much for
joining us.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I mean, thank you, I'm really looking forward to
having this conversation,absolutely so.
You have a differentperspective than a lot of people
, right?
So why don't you give us alittle bit more in-depth about
your background, right?
So I've bulleted some stuff offand it's very interesting.
So how did you get where youare and what you talk about?
Oh, start with the big questionright.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, my background is not the usual story for people
of faith.
My parents, as you said, werenot particularly religious and,
as a matter of fact, my fatherowned a bar.
But during the time I wasstarting school, it was when the
schools had been desegregated.
(01:55):
There was a lot of conflictgoing on.
They didn't want me to have toexperience that.
But down the street there was asmall, independent, private
Christian school and the tuitionwasn't too high.
So they made the decision tosend me there.
I sometimes say, for all thewrong reasons, god placed me in
(02:17):
that Christian school.
But it was there that theteachers loved me.
They knew my background, theyknew my parents, they knew where
I lived and how I lived.
But they loved me and theytaught me well and I responded
especially towards the teachingof the Bible and at a very young
(02:37):
age I accepted Jesus into mylife because I just knew that I
needed what he gave me on thecross and I felt so responsible
for that and so sorry for that.
But God lifted that burden offof me.
(02:58):
I'm talking about a physicalsensation and I sometimes say
later, as I grow up up, I readPilgrim's Progress and when
Pilgrim comes to his place ofrepentance at the cross.
He had that same experience andthat's when I knew that's my,
that was my salvation story.
So I grew up and you can imaginethere were some things that
(03:22):
sort of conflicted from what Iwas learning at school and how
we lived at home.
Not too far off or radical, butstill just enough, said I
realized there was a differenceand it was.
It was hard.
My parents or my mother wouldtake me to church until I was
(03:43):
old enough to be dropped off bymyself and you know, then
somebody would come pick me upand that kind of thing.
But I didn't really have thatchurch connection and home that
you have when your family isthere and totally involved.
And it was hard.
(04:04):
In college you could say that Idrifted, never really losing my
faith, but just not particularlypracticing it and having the
usual struggles that a youngperson would have.
However, god, I sometimes sayGod never lets you walk away.
And that's what happened when Igraduated and was seeking a job
(04:30):
.
The only job I could find thatwas available, who would hire me
, was a school in the southernpart of the state and it turned
out that my department chair wasalso the son of a preacher and
I guess probably this couldn'thappen today.
(04:52):
But we started dating and hebrought me to church and we were
married and our life includedchurch together.
And that's when I really beganto grow spiritually.
Interestingly, because I'd beenin that Christian school, I
knew all the Bible verses and Iknew all of the hymns you know.
(05:13):
So people weren't puttingtogether this background that I
had until I actually came totell them about it.
So years went on but I neverjoined the church and some
people thought that was kind ofstrange.
But I looked around and I couldsee that there were people who
(05:35):
went to church and who, you know, were involved in church but
really didn't have a depth ofbelief that I knew God would
require of us, and so I justreally refrained from doing that
for 20 years.
And after that, again, holySpirit, as I sometimes say,
(05:56):
grabbed me by the neck and saidit's time to join and I'm going.
Why, what's the purpose?
Why should I put my name on alist when there are other people
there who have no clue of whoyou are and what you want in
their lives?
And you know the call wouldn'tgo away until one day I read it
(06:19):
was during Lent, actually, andwhen Jesus went before Pilate.
During Lent, actually, and whenJesus went before Pilate,
pilate said to him the chiefpriests and leaders have brought
you here before me and itoccurred to me, if Jesus would
not leave his church, who wouldparticipate in the festivals and
(06:40):
the rituals and who was part ofa people that were chosen by
God, then how could I refuse tojoin mine?
And yes, I did, thinking theHoly Spirit would walk away and
we could get on with life.
Doesn't happen that way.
I, within weeks, had a callingto go into formal ministry, and
(07:06):
that's when I made the decisionto become a deacon in the
Methodist Church.
But at that time the deacon hada choice of working exclusively
in a church or having ministryoutside the church connecting
the two, or having ministryoutside the church, connecting
the two.
And I went back to school, Igot a degree and had an 18-year
(07:29):
practice in faith-basedcounseling.
Again, god, don't you thinkthat's enough?
Yet so it was, let's see.
Yeah, it was probably about 20years after that that again, I
(07:53):
was working in a church.
Let's put it this way I wasn'tworking in the church, but I was
working with a church,primarily in missions and having
counseling practice and I wasinvited by another church the
women's group there, not too faraway from where we lived to
(08:14):
come and do a Saturday morningBible study, a retreat, mini
retreat, kind of thing.
And of course I agreed.
But I knew these women andthese women.
They were smart, they wereprofessional, they were leaders
and I just had the sensationthat the usual Bible study
(08:35):
wasn't going to have the impacton them that I would hope for.
Yet 66 books in the Bible and Icouldn't come up with a thing.
We've been through this, people, what do you want me to do?
And I was getting so frustratedand one day I just looked up
(09:02):
and I said, all right, thetroubles with Jesus, oh, and
that became the study.
Yeah, that really brought me in.
I started writing the outlinefor it.
I did the study.
It was very impactful.
(09:22):
God showed up.
I went back to my home churchand I did it again.
The same results.
And that's when I knew thatwhat I had there was actually
the beginning of a book.
It took another 10 years or sofor me to write it and for it to
be published.
But here it is now.
The Trouble with JesusConsiderations Before you Walk
(09:44):
Away.
So this, this is the journeythat God took me on and brought
to me here.
People say the trouble withJesus, and you can almost read
it in their face that they thinkI have a problem with God.
And it's not that I have aproblem with God, at least any
(10:09):
more than most people do, that Ihave a problem with God, at
least any more than most peopledo, but rather I could see that
in Jesus' life.
He was born into trouble.
He experienced a lot of troublefrom those around him.
Even those who should have beenthe closest to him really
caused him some realdifficulties, and in the same
(10:32):
way Jesus challenged those inhis life as well, and eventually
this converged with the churchleadership being against him I'm
talking the Pharisees,primarily and even the Roman
government and the oppressionthat the Jewish people were
(10:54):
experiencing in the firstcentury.
And when that converged itultimately led to his
crucifixion.
But thank God, the trouble withJesus is he overcame that
trouble, he overcame death andhe resurrected.
And here we are now living withthat trouble, knowing his
(11:16):
trouble and yet waiting for himto come again to overcome that
trouble.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
That's amazing and I love the title right.
I think it grabs you right.
So people will definitely wantto read it, want to know what
you're talking about and, yeah,they may be irritated before
they pick it up because theythink that you have a problem.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Oh, I've had some fun with that, but at least let me
also clarify yeah, this book isnot written for the confirmed
you know, bathed in bloodbeliever.
This book is written for thedoubter, for that skeptic the
one as you introduced earlierhas obstacles against belief in
(11:59):
Jesus Christ, and that's ourworld, and my hope and my prayer
is that this book can speak tothat person.
If you just give me a second,I'd like to read to you the very
first paragraph of the book.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Now, let's be clear about this you can tell your
story any way you see it, and Ican jump in with my two-bit
commentary when I want, but noneof this.
Believe it or you're going toburn crap.
I'm only willing to listenbecause I agree, jesus' story
may have some things I likeabout it, but it's my choice
what I do with it.
(12:39):
I've been given other beliefsystems about the universe, how
we got here, what it means topass through this life.
I guess, though, I just thinkthere's more, and I'm willing to
give Jesus the benefit of thedoubt, and doubt is what I bring
to this table.
You can hear, I hope, in that anedginess to it.
(13:01):
That voice is one that,throughout the narration of the
story of Jesus, will interruptand challenge and bring
questions and even get sarcasticat times.
It's not offensive, but it isedgy, and it's that interplay
there that I hope speaks to thatperson who has doubts and
(13:25):
questions that swell into justwondering if this isn't anything
to really be believed.
My hope and my prayer is thatsomeone who has this book would
be able to take it and give itto that person who is the
doubter, the skeptic, and say ifyou'll read this?
(13:49):
Could we have a conversationand then let the Holy Spirit do
what the Holy Spirit does.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yes, that's beautiful and I think in the intro we
were talking about.
You know, we all know thesepeople, right?
They either have been part ofthe faith or, like you know, or
have been around it, and they'rejust not sure if they still
believe it.
Or they've never been part ofthe faith or, like you know, or
have been around it and they'rejust not sure if they still
believe it or they've never beenpart of it and they're maybe
kicking the tires of it, right,like, maybe this is real, but I
(14:20):
don't want to be jumping in andI got a lot of doubt, like you
had mentioned.
So most of our audience theyare young mom.
Well, they're not young.
They don't have to be young.
Okay, you just have youngerchildren, right, cause I'm not a
young mom, but I do have ayoung son and, um, they have
(14:43):
these people in their lives thatother people can't reach, and
so I've talked about that before.
As a mom with children, you goto places that any like random
people can't go to.
You can't go to a park withoutkids.
You don't go to a pediatricianswithout children.
It's a weird if you do, and soyou have access to these people.
You may build relationshipswith people not based I mean,
eventually, based on your valuesand where you're going to
(15:05):
church and that type of thing,but you have interactions with
others you wouldn't have nevermet in any other circumstance,
right?
So many of those people are inthis boat.
They either they're doubtingtheir faith that they thought
they had, or they've neverbelieved it before.
But you seem kind ofinteresting and you say you're a
Christian, so maybe, maybe youknow, and so how do we lovingly
(15:30):
engage with these people that wemeet where you know, that we
just wander around at that's sotrue, elise.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
They are all around us and it has to begin in prayer
and I sometimes say bloody yourknees over it, deep prayer.
Okay, bloody your knees over it, deep prayer.
Ask to be able to speak to thatperson that the Holy Spirit is
calling, and God knows who thatis.
Often this is someone in yourlife about whom you care deeply.
(16:03):
That's my family.
That truly is my family, and myhusband, my son and his wife
are strong believers.
But others in our family havedoubts and they know who I am,
they know I've written this bookand that kind of thing Sort of
(16:23):
tolerate.
You know kindly who I am and soforth.
But there is that separationand these are people about whom
I pray deeply and when the timecomes, that will be the time in
your relationship wheresomething may happen.
(16:44):
There may be questions thatcome up and, without being
directive, telling people howthey should live and so forth,
would be a good time to just sayI know you have a lot of
questions and maybe we just needto talk through those questions
and, as I said, you can presentthe book to them.
The subtitle is ConsiderationsBefore you Walk Away
(17:14):
considerations before you walkaway, you know.
So these are things that peoplecan relate to and understand
and come to that and so manythings in the book are our time
with the second chapter is thetrouble with Jesus was he chose
losers?
The trouble with Jesus was hevalued women.
The trouble with Jesus was histeachings are twisted, they
(17:38):
throw curves, so what you thinkyou're reading might not be
fully what the message is behindthere.
And to be able to have theseconversations about what Jesus'
life was like, what histeachings truly were, and how to
bring that person to a place of, as indicated right in the
(17:59):
first paragraph of choice In thebook of John, jesus is called
to visit his friends Mary andMartha, and their brother,
lazarus, was very sick.
Jesus took four days before heshowed up and by then Lazarus
said he was in the tomb.
(18:20):
And when he arrives, marthagoes to him and says Lord, if
you had been here, my brotherwould not have died.
If you had been here, mybrother would not have died.
You can hear in that statementalmost like a manipulation, like
(18:42):
this isn't how you're supposedto work.
And another chapter in the bookis the trouble of Jesus is he
refused to be the divine fixer.
God doesn't work on our agenda.
But then she says to him but Iknow you can do whatever God
tells you to do.
Jesus responds with I am theresurrection and the life.
(19:07):
Do you believe this?
And that's the question.
The core question of Jesus'ministry is that in all that we
experience in life, all thethings that we go through, it
all comes down to that choice.
(19:27):
Do you believe this, and willyou allow me to enter into your
life and begin to show you how Ican help you overcome this
trouble, like I'm trying to sayhere really is?
It takes strong relationshipfor this to happen, as well as,
(19:48):
as I said, letting the HolySpirit do what the Holy Spirit
does.
When Jesus met the rich rulerwho said to him what do I have
to do to you know?
Basically have eternal life,jesus said well, what do the
scriptures say?
And he ticked off thecommandments.
The commandments do not steal.
You know, do not kill, etc.
(20:10):
Etc.
But he left out the ones aboutyou know, keep the sabbath holy,
have no other gods before you.
He knew the relationship withothers, he did not have the
relationship with god, and butjesus?
Jesus cut him some slack andsays to him okay, do these okay.
And he says but is thereanything else?
(20:31):
And jesus looked him squarelyand sell all you have and give
the money to the poor.
And the man walked away.
But, most important, jesuswatched him go.
And that's, I think,significant is that even when we
(20:51):
would walk away from God, evenwhen we would walk away from God
, the eyes of God, still followus and watch us and keep that
(21:12):
call upon us that we reallycannot escape throughout our
entire life because of the graceof God.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
That's wonderful.
I love that, and I love, likethe first thing that you said
was bloody your knees, rightprayer.
That's how we do this, and Ithink that's beautiful and also
really convicting, because oftenwe want, like a step-by-step
guide of how to save yourfriends and your family.
Right, if only that existed.
It does not.
Um, the holy Spirit does knowthat, and so each person is
(21:37):
different, and so you just haveto lean into him and trust that
he is going to lead us the waythat we need to go and when we
need to go there, and so I lovedeverything that you were
talking about.
And he knows the time.
And then the whole thing like,do you believe this?
That is the question that itjust like comes down to do you
(21:57):
believe this?
Um, that's awesome, so thankyou for all of this.
So can you tell everybody wherethey can get your book?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
and I think that you have an offer for everyone who
is listening yes, um, you canget the book anywhere you love
to buy your books.
I particularly suggest that yougo to a local bookstore and
support the bookstores, andhere's the reason why If you go
to an online retailer, whathappens is the book is in a
(22:28):
warehouse, it slipped into thesleeve of an envelope, a label
put on it, mailed out, but ifyou buy it from a bookstore, it
has to be boxed, shipped,unpacked, put on a shelf,
displayed and the um, how do Iput the?
The um?
(22:49):
The visibility of the book ismuch greater through a bookstore
and, besides, you're supporting, in a local bookstore, people
that live around you.
So I find that.
However, as far as an offer, Ihave a website which is actually
a companion blog to the book.
(23:12):
The blog includes that skeptic,doubting voice and deals with a
specific passage, a gospelpassage that we know, that are
all very familiar, but we know,and the challenges in it.
Usually, maybe, an eight to 10minute read comes out once a
(23:35):
week.
And so if you go on my websiteand this is my website
ConstanceHastingscom there'll bea pop-up and the pop-up will
ask if you want to subscribe.
If you subscribe to the blogand the blog is free, there's no
cost.
You know and you know how thisworks.
(23:55):
If you don't like it, you canalways unsubscribe.
But I will personally email toyou a website and a code and you
can get 20% off the purchase ofthe book through that.
So you'll, you'll get the umthe website, you'll get a book.
Oh, there's one more thing andyou'll get the.
(24:18):
You'll be emailed the blog eachweek.
But here's the second offer Atthe end of each book, very last
page, there, okay, and you cansee, you can see.
You can go in and you can, youcan fill this out.
(24:39):
There is a there, okay, fillthat out.
The publisher will provide afree ebook as well.
So when you buy the book at a20% discount, you also get a
second book.
It's two books in one and I'mI'm really thrilled that they go
ahead and do that.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, that's amazing.
That's a really good deal, andso your website will be in the
link to the in the show notes onthis, and so everybody can get
that Is there.
Before we wrap it up, we'reabout to um thinking about our
audience, right?
Moms with young kids.
Is there any last words ofadvice that you would give them?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Well, I know they've heard this before, but cherish
the time that you have, but justrealize that the holy, holy
call upon you in teaching yourchildren about God and about
Jesus and celebrate them in allthe ways in which they live and
(25:42):
learn about Christ.
When our son was growing up youknow from the time he was
little reading Bible stories tohim, involved in Sunday school
and youth groups and so forth wewere there all the time
supporting him.
He was musically inclined andthe church allowed him to be
(26:04):
part of the praise and worshipteam.
It cost us thousands of dollarsin musical equipment, but today
I'm proud to say that my son isa man of faith.
Sometimes he amazes me in howfirm he is in what he knows that
(26:26):
God can do, and I'm so gratefulto God for that and for the
wife that he has chosen, whoalso is a strong believer as
well.
So you know you plant the seedsnow that's what you're doing
and let God water them and youwill have that greatest garden
of blessing before you.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Thank you so much.
I love that so much.
All right, thank you forjoining us, constance.
Thank you for having me,absolutely.
Okay, all right, let me get back to where I was.
Welcome to the PeacefulMompreneur.
I am so excited that you'rehere Today.
We are going to be talkingabout having that person in our
lives that we love so dearly,who has walls and doubts about
Jesus.
There's all of these obstaclesthat are coming up against us as
(00:23):
we're trying to share, and sowe're trying to walk that out
lovingly, and so my guest todayis going to talk all about that.
Constance Hastings brings anoutsider's perspective to what
insiders know about the story ofJesus.
Raised by non-religious parents, educated in a Christian school
(00:44):
, lover of great literature,teacher of the disadvantaged,
ordained in the mainlinedenomination, mental health
counselor outside of the church,she aims to make connections.
Speaking in new places, the oldvoices of meaning.
She and her husband splitresidence between Wilmington,
delaware, and Jacksonville,florida, so as to be near both
(01:06):
of their children.
Constance, thank you so muchfor joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
She and her husband split residence between
Wilmington, delaware andJacksonville, florida, so as to
be near both of their children,constance, thank you so much for
joining us.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I mean, thank you, I'm really looking forward to
having this conversation,absolutely so.
You have a differentperspective than a lot of people
, right?
So why don't you give us alittle bit more in-depth about
your background, right?
So I've bulleted some stuff offand it's very interesting.
So how did you get where youare and what you talk about?
Oh, start with the big questionright.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, my background is not the usual story for people
of faith.
My parents, as you said, werenot particularly religious and,
as a matter of fact, my fatherowned a bar.
But during the time I wasstarting school, it was when the
schools had been desegregated.
(01:55):
There was a lot of conflictgoing on.
They didn't want me to have toexperience that.
But down the street there was asmall, independent, private
Christian school and the tuitionwasn't too high.
So they made the decision tosend me there.
I sometimes say, for all thewrong reasons, god placed me in
(02:17):
that Christian school.
But it was there that theteachers loved me.
They knew my background, theyknew my parents, they knew where
I lived and how I lived.
But they loved me and theytaught me well and I responded
especially towards the teachingof the Bible and at a very young
(02:37):
age I accepted Jesus into mylife because I just knew that I
needed what he gave me on thecross and I felt so responsible
for that and so sorry for that.
But God lifted that burden offof me.
(02:58):
I'm talking about a physicalsensation and I sometimes say
later, as I grow up up, I readPilgrim's Progress and when
Pilgrim comes to his place ofrepentance at the cross.
He had that same experience andthat's when I knew that's my,
that was my salvation story.
So I grew up and you can imaginethere were some things that
(03:22):
sort of conflicted from what Iwas learning at school and how
we lived at home.
Not too far off or radical, butstill just enough, said I
realized there was a differenceand it was.
It was hard.
My parents or my mother wouldtake me to church until I was
(03:43):
old enough to be dropped off bymyself and you know, then
somebody would come pick me upand that kind of thing.
But I didn't really have thatchurch connection and home that
you have when your family isthere and totally involved.
And it was hard.
(04:04):
In college you could say that Idrifted, never really losing my
faith, but just not particularlypracticing it and having the
usual struggles that a youngperson would have.
However, god, I sometimes sayGod never lets you walk away.
And that's what happened when Igraduated and was seeking a job
(04:30):
.
The only job I could find thatwas available, who would hire me
, was a school in the southernpart of the state and it turned
out that my department chair wasalso the son of a preacher and
I guess probably this couldn'thappen today.
(04:52):
But we started dating and hebrought me to church and we were
married and our life includedchurch together.
And that's when I really beganto grow spiritually.
Interestingly, because I'd beenin that Christian school, I
knew all the Bible verses and Iknew all of the hymns you know.
(05:13):
So people weren't puttingtogether this background that I
had until I actually came totell them about it.
So years went on but I neverjoined the church and some
people thought that was kind ofstrange.
But I looked around and I couldsee that there were people who
(05:35):
went to church and who, you know, were involved in church but
really didn't have a depth ofbelief that I knew God would
require of us, and so I justreally refrained from doing that
for 20 years.
And after that, again, holySpirit, as I sometimes say,
(05:56):
grabbed me by the neck and saidit's time to join and I'm going.
Why, what's the purpose?
Why should I put my name on alist when there are other people
there who have no clue of whoyou are and what you want in
their lives?
And you know the call wouldn'tgo away until one day I read it
(06:19):
was during Lent, actually, andwhen Jesus went before Pilate.
During Lent, actually, and whenJesus went before Pilate,
pilate said to him the chiefpriests and leaders have brought
you here before me and itoccurred to me, if Jesus would
not leave his church, who wouldparticipate in the festivals and
(06:40):
the rituals and who was part ofa people that were chosen by
God, then how could I refuse tojoin mine?
And yes, I did, thinking theHoly Spirit would walk away and
we could get on with life.
Doesn't happen that way.
I, within weeks, had a callingto go into formal ministry, and
(07:06):
that's when I made the decisionto become a deacon in the
Methodist Church.
But at that time the deacon hada choice of working exclusively
in a church or having ministryoutside the church connecting
the two, or having ministryoutside the church, connecting
the two.
And I went back to school, Igot a degree and had an 18-year
(07:29):
practice in faith-basedcounseling.
Again, god, don't you thinkthat's enough?
Yet so it was, let's see.
Yeah, it was probably about 20years after that that again, I
(07:53):
was working in a church.
Let's put it this way I wasn'tworking in the church, but I was
working with a church,primarily in missions and having
counseling practice and I wasinvited by another church the
women's group there, not too faraway from where we lived to
(08:14):
come and do a Saturday morningBible study, a retreat, mini
retreat, kind of thing.
And of course I agreed.
But I knew these women andthese women.
They were smart, they wereprofessional, they were leaders
and I just had the sensationthat the usual Bible study
(08:35):
wasn't going to have the impacton them that I would hope for.
Yet 66 books in the Bible and Icouldn't come up with a thing.
We've been through this, people, what do you want me to do?
And I was getting so frustratedand one day I just looked up
(09:02):
and I said, all right, thetroubles with Jesus, oh, and
that became the study.
Yeah, that really brought me in.
I started writing the outlinefor it.
I did the study.
It was very impactful.
(09:22):
God showed up.
I went back to my home churchand I did it again.
The same results.
And that's when I knew thatwhat I had there was actually
the beginning of a book.
It took another 10 years or sofor me to write it and for it to
be published.
But here it is now.
The Trouble with JesusConsiderations Before you Walk
(09:44):
Away.
So this, this is the journeythat God took me on and brought
to me here.
People say the trouble withJesus, and you can almost read
it in their face that they thinkI have a problem with God.
And it's not that I have aproblem with God, at least any
(10:09):
more than most people do, that Ihave a problem with God, at
least any more than most peopledo, but rather I could see that
in Jesus' life.
He was born into trouble.
He experienced a lot of troublefrom those around him.
Even those who should have beenthe closest to him really
caused him some realdifficulties, and in the same
(10:32):
way Jesus challenged those inhis life as well, and eventually
this converged with the churchleadership being against him I'm
talking the Pharisees,primarily and even the Roman
government and the oppressionthat the Jewish people were
(10:54):
experiencing in the firstcentury.
And when that converged itultimately led to his
crucifixion.
But thank God, the trouble withJesus is he overcame that
trouble, he overcame death andhe resurrected.
And here we are now living withthat trouble, knowing his
(11:16):
trouble and yet waiting for himto come again to overcome that
trouble.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
That's amazing and I love the title right.
I think it grabs you right.
So people will definitely wantto read it, want to know what
you're talking about and, yeah,they may be irritated before
they pick it up because theythink that you have a problem.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Oh, I've had some fun with that, but at least let me
also clarify yeah, this book isnot written for the confirmed
you know, bathed in bloodbeliever.
This book is written for thedoubter, for that skeptic the
one as you introduced earlierhas obstacles against belief in
(11:59):
Jesus Christ, and that's ourworld, and my hope and my prayer
is that this book can speak tothat person.
If you just give me a second,I'd like to read to you the very
first paragraph of the book.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Now, let's be clear about this you can tell your
story any way you see it, and Ican jump in with my two-bit
commentary when I want, but noneof this.
Believe it or you're going toburn crap.
I'm only willing to listenbecause I agree, jesus' story
may have some things I likeabout it, but it's my choice
what I do with it.
(12:39):
I've been given other beliefsystems about the universe, how
we got here, what it means topass through this life.
I guess, though, I just thinkthere's more, and I'm willing to
give Jesus the benefit of thedoubt, and doubt is what I bring
to this table.
You can hear, I hope, in that anedginess to it.
(13:01):
That voice is one that,throughout the narration of the
story of Jesus, will interruptand challenge and bring
questions and even get sarcasticat times.
It's not offensive, but it isedgy, and it's that interplay
there that I hope speaks to thatperson who has doubts and
(13:25):
questions that swell into justwondering if this isn't anything
to really be believed.
My hope and my prayer is thatsomeone who has this book would
be able to take it and give itto that person who is the
doubter, the skeptic, and say ifyou'll read this?
(13:49):
Could we have a conversationand then let the Holy Spirit do
what the Holy Spirit does.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yes, that's beautiful and I think in the intro we
were talking about.
You know, we all know thesepeople, right?
They either have been part ofthe faith or, like you know, or
have been around it, and they'rejust not sure if they still
believe it.
Or they've never been part ofthe faith or, like you know, or
have been around it and they'rejust not sure if they still
believe it or they've never beenpart of it and they're maybe
kicking the tires of it, right,like, maybe this is real, but I
(14:20):
don't want to be jumping in andI got a lot of doubt, like you
had mentioned.
So most of our audience theyare young mom.
Well, they're not young.
They don't have to be young.
Okay, you just have youngerchildren, right, cause I'm not a
young mom, but I do have ayoung son and, um, they have
(14:43):
these people in their lives thatother people can't reach, and
so I've talked about that before.
As a mom with children, you goto places that any like random
people can't go to.
You can't go to a park withoutkids.
You don't go to a pediatricianswithout children.
It's a weird if you do, and soyou have access to these people.
You may build relationshipswith people not based I mean,
eventually, based on your valuesand where you're going to
(15:05):
church and that type of thing,but you have interactions with
others you wouldn't have nevermet in any other circumstance,
right?
So many of those people are inthis boat.
They either they're doubtingtheir faith that they thought
they had, or they've neverbelieved it before.
But you seem kind ofinteresting and you say you're a
Christian, so maybe, maybe youknow, and so how do we lovingly
(15:30):
engage with these people that wemeet where you know, that we
just wander around at that's sotrue, elise.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
They are all around us and it has to begin in prayer
and I sometimes say bloody yourknees over it, deep prayer.
Okay, bloody your knees over it, deep prayer.
Ask to be able to speak to thatperson that the Holy Spirit is
calling, and God knows who thatis.
Often this is someone in yourlife about whom you care deeply.
(16:03):
That's my family.
That truly is my family, and myhusband, my son and his wife
are strong believers.
But others in our family havedoubts and they know who I am,
they know I've written this bookand that kind of thing Sort of
(16:23):
tolerate.
You know kindly who I am and soforth.
But there is that separationand these are people about whom
I pray deeply and when the timecomes, that will be the time in
your relationship wheresomething may happen.
(16:44):
There may be questions thatcome up and, without being
directive, telling people howthey should live and so forth,
would be a good time to just sayI know you have a lot of
questions and maybe we just needto talk through those questions
and, as I said, you can presentthe book to them.
The subtitle is ConsiderationsBefore you Walk Away
(17:14):
considerations before you walkaway, you know.
So these are things that peoplecan relate to and understand
and come to that and so manythings in the book are our time
with the second chapter is thetrouble with Jesus was he chose
losers?
The trouble with Jesus was hevalued women.
The trouble with Jesus was histeachings are twisted, they
(17:38):
throw curves, so what you thinkyou're reading might not be
fully what the message is behindthere.
And to be able to have theseconversations about what Jesus'
life was like, what histeachings truly were, and how to
bring that person to a place of, as indicated right in the
(17:59):
first paragraph of choice In thebook of John, jesus is called
to visit his friends Mary andMartha, and their brother,
lazarus, was very sick.
Jesus took four days before heshowed up and by then Lazarus
said he was in the tomb.
(18:20):
And when he arrives, marthagoes to him and says Lord, if
you had been here, my brotherwould not have died.
If you had been here, mybrother would not have died.
You can hear in that statementalmost like a manipulation, like
(18:42):
this isn't how you're supposedto work.
And another chapter in the bookis the trouble of Jesus is he
refused to be the divine fixer.
God doesn't work on our agenda.
But then she says to him but Iknow you can do whatever God
tells you to do.
Jesus responds with I am theresurrection and the life.
(19:07):
Do you believe this?
And that's the question.
The core question of Jesus'ministry is that in all that we
experience in life, all thethings that we go through, it
all comes down to that choice.
(19:27):
Do you believe this, and willyou allow me to enter into your
life and begin to show you how Ican help you overcome this
trouble, like I'm trying to sayhere really is?
It takes strong relationshipfor this to happen, as well as,
(19:48):
as I said, letting the HolySpirit do what the Holy Spirit
does.
When Jesus met the rich rulerwho said to him what do I have
to do to you know?
Basically have eternal life,jesus said well, what do the
scriptures say?
And he ticked off thecommandments.
The commandments do not steal.
You know, do not kill, etc.
(20:10):
Etc.
But he left out the ones aboutyou know, keep the sabbath holy,
have no other gods before you.
He knew the relationship withothers, he did not have the
relationship with god, and butjesus?
Jesus cut him some slack andsays to him okay, do these okay.
And he says but is thereanything else?
(20:31):
And jesus looked him squarelyand sell all you have and give
the money to the poor.
And the man walked away.
But, most important, jesuswatched him go.
And that's, I think,significant is that even when we
(20:51):
would walk away from God, evenwhen we would walk away from God
, the eyes of God, still followus and watch us and keep that
(21:12):
call upon us that we reallycannot escape throughout our
entire life because of the graceof God.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
That's wonderful.
I love that, and I love, likethe first thing that you said
was bloody your knees, rightprayer.
That's how we do this, and Ithink that's beautiful and also
really convicting, because oftenwe want, like a step-by-step
guide of how to save yourfriends and your family.
Right, if only that existed.
It does not.
Um, the holy Spirit does knowthat, and so each person is
(21:37):
different, and so you just haveto lean into him and trust that
he is going to lead us the waythat we need to go and when we
need to go there, and so I lovedeverything that you were
talking about.
And he knows the time.
And then the whole thing like,do you believe this?
That is the question that itjust like comes down to do you
(21:57):
believe this?
Um, that's awesome, so thankyou for all of this.
So can you tell everybody wherethey can get your book?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
and I think that you have an offer for everyone who
is listening yes, um, you canget the book anywhere you love
to buy your books.
I particularly suggest that yougo to a local bookstore and
support the bookstores, andhere's the reason why If you go
to an online retailer, whathappens is the book is in a
(22:28):
warehouse, it slipped into thesleeve of an envelope, a label
put on it, mailed out, but ifyou buy it from a bookstore, it
has to be boxed, shipped,unpacked, put on a shelf,
displayed and the um, how do Iput the?
The um?
(22:49):
The visibility of the book ismuch greater through a bookstore
and, besides, you're supporting, in a local bookstore, people
that live around you.
So I find that.
However, as far as an offer, Ihave a website which is actually
a companion blog to the book.
(23:12):
The blog includes that skeptic,doubting voice and deals with a
specific passage, a gospelpassage that we know, that are
all very familiar, but we know,and the challenges in it.
Usually, maybe, an eight to 10minute read comes out once a
(23:35):
week.
And so if you go on my websiteand this is my website
ConstanceHastingscom there'll bea pop-up and the pop-up will
ask if you want to subscribe.
If you subscribe to the blogand the blog is free, there's no
cost.
You know and you know how thisworks.
(23:55):
If you don't like it, you canalways unsubscribe.
But I will personally email toyou a website and a code and you
can get 20% off the purchase ofthe book through that.
So you'll, you'll get the umthe website, you'll get a book.
Oh, there's one more thing andyou'll get the.
(24:18):
You'll be emailed the blog eachweek.
But here's the second offer Atthe end of each book, very last
page, there, okay, and you cansee, you can see.
You can go in and you can, youcan fill this out.
(24:39):
There is a there, okay, fillthat out.
The publisher will provide afree ebook as well.
So when you buy the book at a20% discount, you also get a
second book.
It's two books in one and I'mI'm really thrilled that they go
ahead and do that.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, that's amazing.
That's a really good deal, andso your website will be in the
link to the in the show notes onthis, and so everybody can get
that Is there.
Before we wrap it up, we'reabout to um thinking about our
audience, right?
Moms with young kids.
Is there any last words ofadvice that you would give them?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Well, I know they've heard this before, but cherish
the time that you have, but justrealize that the holy, holy
call upon you in teaching yourchildren about God and about
Jesus and celebrate them in allthe ways in which they live and
(25:42):
learn about Christ.
When our son was growing up youknow from the time he was
little reading Bible stories tohim, involved in Sunday school
and youth groups and so forth wewere there all the time
supporting him.
He was musically inclined andthe church allowed him to be
(26:04):
part of the praise and worshipteam.
It cost us thousands of dollarsin musical equipment, but today
I'm proud to say that my son isa man of faith.
Sometimes he amazes me in howfirm he is in what he knows that
(26:26):
God can do, and I'm so gratefulto God for that and for the
wife that he has chosen, whoalso is a strong believer as
well.
So you know you plant the seedsnow that's what you're doing
and let God water them and youwill have that greatest garden
of blessing before you.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Thank you so much.
I love that so much.
All right, thank you forjoining us, constance.
Thank you for having me,absolutely.
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