From Pigsties to Preachers: What Bacon, Spurgeon, and Mental Illness Teach Us About Grace

Welcome to Sunburned Souls, my friends. My name is Dave Quak and I am your host. And at the moment we are on annual leave in a way with the family, which is super cool. We did some recording before we went away and so for this week plus last week, we're looking at some of the sound bites that are playing on Christian radio stations all over Australia.

00:00:19:01 - 00:00:53:07
Dave Quak
So about a year ago, we had the idea of making one minute, succinct, mental health focused sound bites and seeing if there's any interest on the airwaves. And we started contacting the different radio stations and giving them samples. And now, by God's grace, is like 14 stations playing the sound bites and all over the place, people are just hearing these little words of wisdom or stupidity or fun or whatever, but they're all designed to give people a boost in their mental well-being, or at least get them thinking about what it's like to live in the shoes of someone with mental ill health.

00:00:53:07 - 00:01:19:06
Dave Quak
And so they are actually catching on really quickly. And I reckon by the end of this year we'll have them in another like 6 or 7 stations. And so what I'm going to do today is similar to last week where we broke a few apart. And I'll give you a little bit more of the context of what was going on as we were recording those sound bites and what was going on in and around the stories, because story really is such an important medium of communication.

00:01:19:08 - 00:01:44:01
Dave Quak
You know, King Jesus spoken stories, Solomon spoken stories. God himself gave us the story, the narrative, you know, the redemptive history narrative of God's people coming to him through all the different means and modes, like God's into story. And as creatives, we need to be people who can communicate the gospel through story and show stories of restoration. And so hopefully that's what we're doing at Sunburnt Souls.

00:01:44:01 - 00:02:10:00
Dave Quak
And so today, this first clip takes place in one of my favorite countries in the entire planet, and that is Thailand. I mean, I like Thailand because the beaches are cool, the people are nice, the food is amazing. But the context of the clip that I'm going to show you in a minute is that I went to Thailand with a mate and I wasn't sure of my faith, and God did show much over there that I ended up getting baptized.

00:02:10:00 - 00:02:31:09
Dave Quak
I got baptized in the Holy Spirit. He like moved in my life. I went there one way and I came home another way. And one of the things that he broke in me was my fear of impressing people and my fear of looking stupid. I know I sometimes still have a little bit of a fear of that when it comes to the naughty D word.

00:02:31:11 - 00:02:46:23
Dave Quak
You know, dancing. I don't ever want to do dancing, but other things I'll do. And I don't mind if I look stupid. And so this clip was inspired in my favorite place at a time in my life where I first got switched on to Jesus in a real and serious way.

00:02:46:24 - 00:02:53:04
Dave Quak 
Here on some bent souls, we explored life, faith, and our mental well-being. Here to share more is Dave Clark.

00:02:53:09 - 00:03:09:15
Dave Quak
I was in Thailand with a mate, and we were cruising around in the back of a ute with these teenage locals. They sing a couple of songs and then they're like, hey, you guys sing a song. For some reason, the only song we could come up with was The Home in a way thing, and we sang it from start to finish with all kinds of gusto.

00:03:09:17 - 00:03:35:08
Dave Quak
They clapped at the end and they weren't even being sarcastic. I think they liked it because I could tell that we weren't embarrassed, so we didn't hold back. Have you ever missed out on something because you feel embarrassed or because you're holding back? Maybe it's time to challenge that. It might be difficult if you've got some mental ill health going on like I do, but ultimately it's a matter of taking one step and doing it once and then doing it twice and continuing to do it.

00:03:35:10 - 00:03:41:08
Dave Quak
If you need some help, let me know. Because you know we belong together.

00:03:41:10 - 00:03:47:07
Dave Quak 
For more candid conversations on faith and mental well-being, check out some It's Old Skool.

00:03:47:09 - 00:04:13:11
Dave Quak
It's funny when you record these things, you can't actually remember the actual moment when you recorded it, and I have no idea what came over me when I sang The Home in a way song in that sound, but because now it's getting listened to by people all over the place and I'm not a singer, but I think that's the point of that clip, is that there's so many things we miss out on in life because we're worried about not looking cool or whatever else, but I just say we should go for it.

00:04:13:11 - 00:04:33:04
Dave Quak
Hey, like, there are so many great experiences to be had if we just get out of our comfort zone. And the cool thing about this is that all of us are able to do it at the level of our experience. Like right now, stepping out of your comfort zone might be going to the movies by yourself, and that's okay.

00:04:33:06 - 00:04:59:20
Dave Quak
Or it might be going traveling through Southeast Asia by yourself, and that's okay. Or it might be going in as starting a business with a friend or something. You know, stepping out, doing something. But because you have been made in the image of God, you've got everything you need built within you to be successful in these endeavors. And it doesn't mean that always I'm going to go right all the time, but you do have the resources to have a crack.

00:04:59:22 - 00:05:22:19
Dave Quak
You've got the community of believers who hopefully have your back. You've got God himself who promises to look after you. So if you're holding back from anything in your life right now, and you'll end in needing to overcome some fear and take some steps, all in, I encourage you to take those steps because you never know what God might do on the other end of your courage.

00:05:22:21 - 00:05:29:01
Dave Quak 
Here on some bent souls, we explore life, faith, and our mental well-being. Here to share more is Dave Clark.

00:05:29:03 - 00:05:54:16
Dave Quak
I'm currently coming down from some bipolar mania and unfortunately I've got some problems I need to rectify. I made a financial decision that I didn't think through. I made a deal with somebody I needed to get out of. Nothing was too outlandish that I can't want it back, but it's extremely frustrating being in this place again. I find myself in this place over and over and over, and the most difficult part is choosing what to do now.

00:05:54:18 - 00:06:17:10
Dave Quak
Do I beat myself up for weeks knowing I've done it again? Or do I show myself grace knowing I'm on a journey? I'm not sure how this will pan out because it's all a little bit raw, but if you've stuffed up according to your mental illness, I would encourage you to run towards grace. Jesus already paid for your mistakes, so you need to accept his forgiveness and move on and just keep trying your best.

00:06:17:12 - 00:06:22:15
Dave Quak 
For more candid conversations on faith and mental well-being, check out some Sunburnt Souls. Scum!

00:06:22:17 - 00:06:44:19
Dave Quak
I reckon sometimes in the Christian church we've sort of taught ourselves or modeled to the younger generations that the more sorry you are is in, the more you beat yourself up and the more you sit there sour after a horrible kind of incident, the more God's going to forgive you. And I get that. We want to show remorse, and I get that we want to repent.

00:06:44:19 - 00:07:18:10
Dave Quak
Absolutely. And I also get that we do need to go through a process of actually processing what we've done wrong, but I don't think we need to beat ourselves up and punish ourselves for the things that Jesus has already been punished for. And I think that's the key to whether we're doing repentance properly is that if we are punishing ourselves for what we've done wrong is in, you know, really coming down on ourselves with guilt and shame and condemnation and really hammering ourselves.

00:07:18:12 - 00:07:38:24
Dave Quak
I would say that that's not what repentance looks like. I would say that's self-abasement. I would say that is guilt driven and not of the Lord. But what I would say is that we are feeling conviction, which is from God. Convictions different to condemnation. Conviction is from God, but instead of it leading to guilt, it leads to freedom.

00:07:39:01 - 00:08:01:04
Dave Quak
Have your process do what you got to do, but let it lead to freedom and not to guilt and condemnation. Actually, as I'm looking through the recordings now, I realize that this is a theme that I must have been wrestling, wrestling with, and working through at a point in time because there's so many actual recordings that are about a similar thing.

00:08:01:04 - 00:08:07:13
Dave Quak
So I'm going to play one more just for anybody else who also struggles getting free when they've messed up.

00:08:07:15 - 00:08:13:20
Dave Quak 
Here on some bent souls, we explore life, faith, and our mental well-being. Here to share more is Dave Clark.

00:08:13:24 - 00:08:32:19
Dave Quak
Always scrolling the other day, and an ad popped up on my feed that I definitely didn't want my kids to see, and I absolutely didn't want my wife to see. I was embarrassed because they say they send you ads according to your history, but I swear I wasn't doing anything wrong. Have you ever felt busted as an adult?

00:08:32:21 - 00:08:58:21
Dave Quak
It's such a weird experience. Some people think it's because we feel guilty, but if you're walking with Jesus, all guilt has been dealt with on the cross. There's no condemnation for those that are in Christ. So why do we bring condemnation upon ourselves? If you make a mistake, run to Jesus. Forgive yourself, and move on. Do you want to know what the ad was inviting me to a vegan silent retreat?

00:08:58:22 - 00:09:01:24
Dave Quak
There is no way I was searching for that.

00:09:02:01 - 00:09:07:23
Dave Quak 
For more candid conversations on faith and mental well-being, check out something in souls.com.

00:09:08:00 - 00:09:24:21
Dave Quak
I hope you guys didn't think I was looking at porn or whatever. I don't know what you were thinking I was looking at, but that clip makes the same point as a lost clip. I mean, we will stuff up and it doesn't matter if we're mentally well or mentally ill. That's not even the discussion in these two clips.

00:09:24:21 - 00:09:51:03
Dave Quak
I mean, old people stuff up all the time, and what I'm talking about is the recovery time. I think that a spiritual maturity indicator is the length of time it takes you to bounce back when you've made a mistake. And I actually think the shorter the time it takes you to bounce back, the more deeply you understand the grace of God and the more quickly you can appropriate his grace into your life.

00:09:51:05 - 00:10:18:00
Dave Quak
You don't feel the need to beat yourself up anymore, because you know that Jesus has been beaten to take that sin away. And so I just want to encourage anyone who finds it hard to set themselves free. Remember that Jesus has set you free, and that Jesus looks at you as completely set free because of the sacrifice. And God doesn't have an issue with you anymore because of the blood of Jesus, which does cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

00:10:18:00 - 00:10:44:23
Dave Quak
So then why would you have an issue with yourself if God doesn't have an issue with you? That's just what I think. If he sees you as blemish free son, daughter, child, coworker, then you should see yourself that way to all right. The second last one for today is about Charles Spurgeon. Now, if you don't know who he was, he was like a Baptist preacher who was probably the first megachurch pastor.

00:10:45:00 - 00:11:07:04
Dave Quak
And it was the before the days of, like, digital and amplification. And so he had to basically yell to thousands of people and preach the gospel. And he was full on. He was only 20 when he took over the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, and it became like a 6000 seat auditorium. A few years later, and he preached without amplification.

00:11:07:04 - 00:11:30:11
Dave Quak
He went crazy. He was such a cool and interesting and amazing and mentally ill and complicated man. What I like about Spurgeon is that he was real with his mental health. He worked it out with his church that every now and then he'd just disappear like he'd go into darkness. And they understood, and then he'd emerge from the darkness.

00:11:30:11 - 00:11:52:06
Dave Quak
And not only that, he was like fun. So he used to love smoking cigars. And there's this account that someone was like, oh, you shouldn't smoke a cigar. You're a minister of the gospel. And then they had a retort and he says, but I love cigars. And he was being a bit cheeky. And then the report is like, well, how many cigars are too many?

00:11:52:08 - 00:12:21:16
Dave Quak
And then it says, the account says that he thought about it and said, well, I would say that smoking two cigars at once is too many, which I love that sort of humor. So Charles Spurgeon was the man he was also a man of God. He was also an ordained minister and an awesome example of the truth and the fact that God can and will and does use people with mental ill health for his purposes.

00:12:21:18 - 00:12:50:02
Dave Quak
God uses people who are mentally ill to advance the kingdom. And so I think sometimes in churches and I can't speak for all churches, but sometimes there's an idea that those with mental illness are somehow exempt from ministry, and it's just not the case. I mean, even if you look scripturally, Elijah, who was like the prophet of prophets, who was called by God to be a part of one of the most amazing miracles that ever happened.

00:12:50:02 - 00:13:19:21
Dave Quak
And you probably remember the story he was on, you know, having a showdown on a mountain against 400 prophets of Baal. And, you know, they're shouting each other down on behalf of their gods. And at the start, Elijah is not doing a lot of shouting because the battles are in a fanatic sort of state, where they're cutting themselves and calling out to their God who doesn't even exist, really, and asking him to send fire on to an altar.

00:13:19:23 - 00:13:39:04
Dave Quak
And Elijah sort of sits back for the first bit, and then they start getting more fanatical, and Elijah starts being a bit cheeky to start saying things like, you know, maybe you'll gods relieving himself, you know, maybe gods on the toilet. Actually, just as I'm thinking about that Spurgeon had similar humor. Elijah had similar humor. I've got similar humor.

00:13:39:10 - 00:14:05:08
Dave Quak
Maybe those that are a little unhinged have the best humor. Anyway, so Elijah is taunting them and eventually nothing happens. And then God calls. Elijah calls out to God and says, you know, God send fire, and he sends fire, and he blows up this altar. Not, not, not even, you know, until Elijah had already covered the altar in water, lots and lots of water to make the miracle so obvious.

00:14:05:10 - 00:14:29:22
Dave Quak
And then eventually Elijah cuts down all the prophets of Baal. And that's the end of their reign, at least for a little while. And Elijah is in the middle of this amazing account where God's glory is magnified, where he is used by God. Right? You cannot deny that Elijah is used by God to be part of a miracle, to see God's power fall down.

00:14:30:03 - 00:14:52:10
Dave Quak
And it was just like a mountaintop experience. But then a couple of days later, you'll see this. I think it's in one Kings 18 or 2 Kings 18, one Kings 18 where Elijah goes back to town, and Jezebel, one of the queens who followed that pagan god Ba'al says to Elijah, you know, I'm going to have your head.

00:14:52:10 - 00:15:19:00
Dave Quak
I'm going to kill you. Basically gives him a death threat. And this man who had just seen some of the most miracle jealous interventions God has ever done, and he's also seen these 400 prophets of Baal, like murdered, dead, gone, get scared of this threat from this one woman. And he runs into the desert and he leaves his, disciples and his helpers behind.

00:15:19:00 - 00:15:54:08
Dave Quak
And then he runs another day into the desert, and he lays down underneath a tree and prays, Lord, take my life. I'm no better than my ancestors. And so the prophet, prophet of old prophets prays a suicidal prayer in a moment of darkness. Am I saying he has depression? I don't know, but he had a moment of depression where his mental well-being was fatigued, where he was spiritually spent, where he was over it, and he prayed to die.

00:15:54:10 - 00:16:18:03
Dave Quak
He was used by God to do amazing miracles. And people who are like Elijah and don't always think 100% clearly and can get into a bit of darkness. Also called to be used by God. So check out Spurgeon's story as a man who didn't have it all together, who also was used mightily by the Holy Spirit.

00:16:18:05 - 00:16:24:19
Dave Quak 
Here on Summit Souls, we explored life, faith, and our mental well-being. Here to share more is Dave Clark.

00:16:24:21 - 00:16:45:04
Dave Quak
It's safe to say that Charles Spurgeon was one of the big wigs in the Christian faith, known as the Prince of Preachers. He was famous for fulfilling his church week after week, declaring the goodness of God and seeing people set free. He did not muck around. He'd call people out. He'd preach about sin. He went hard. But he also wrestled with his own darkness.

00:16:45:06 - 00:17:10:05
Dave Quak
Although they didn't call it depression at the time. He writes about his melancholia, his darkness, his brokenness. Spurgeon wasn't powerful because of Spurgeon. Spurgeon was powerful because of God through Spurgeon. It really doesn't matter what physical and mental limitations we think we might have. If God wants to rest on you and speak through you, well, that's his decision.

00:17:10:05 - 00:17:12:15
Dave Quak
So get on board and enjoy the ride.

00:17:12:17 - 00:17:18:11
Dave Quak 
For more candid conversations on faith and mental well-being, check out Summit Soul's Accom.

00:17:18:13 - 00:17:47:19
Dave Quak
I found that to be super good news that even when we're like, you know, broken and a little crushed and a bit squeezed and that everything's not quite where it we feel like it needs to be, that God's not, repelled by that or is not surprised by that, nor is he, like, disappointed by that. I feel like it's just that he wants to walk with us through that and help us through all things, so we can be the vessels that he's called us to be.

00:17:47:19 - 00:18:14:00
Dave Quak
And we can only do that with his strength and that's what I love about guys like Spurgeon and Elijah, and even like what I appreciate about what God's doing in my life and those around me, is that we're coming to recognize that his power is made perfect in our weakness. So once we come to recognize that, you know, mental well-being issues, even when we're falling, God can be glorified, which is super cool.

00:18:14:02 - 00:18:31:14
Dave Quak
Now, special treat I save till the end. And I didn't tell you about this at the start. I've been doing a bit of recording for the radio stations and I'm a few ahead, which means this next one I'm going to show you hasn't been aired anywhere. So it's not on any radio stations yet, but it will be down the track.

00:18:31:16 - 00:18:53:08
Dave Quak
But this is the first release. Now, maybe that's not a as exciting to you. It is as it is to me, but I'm excited because it's about bacon. That's the cool thing about creating things is that you can literally put your own spin on anything. And mine today is on bacon. And you might think, well, how on earth does bacon relate to mental well-being?

00:18:53:10 - 00:18:55:24
Dave Quak
You'll see it does.

00:18:56:01 - 00:19:02:02
Dave Quak 
Here on some bent souls, we explore life, faith, and our mental well-being. Here to share more is Dave Clark.

00:19:02:02 - 00:19:21:07
Dave Quak
Bacon is one of the best smelling foods on the planet, but my uncle had a pig farm and a pig sty has got to be the worst smelling thing on the planet. Ironically, bacon can't exist without the pig sty, so the bad stench is necessary in order to get the beautiful scent of bacon. My wrestles with my mental well-being are often like this.

00:19:21:13 - 00:19:44:21
Dave Quak
Usually the best times are preceded by the worst times. It seems to be that the worse the seasons are and the more they stink, the more sweet the victory is when you get through the struggle. And here's the craziest thing about it all you're not in the sty by yourself. Jesus wants to help you. Jesus wants to coach you, and he wants to be with you in the mud, lifting you up.

00:19:44:23 - 00:19:50:08
Dave Quak
Invite Jesus into the pigs eyes and watch him turn the stench into bacon.

00:19:50:10 - 00:19:55:11
Dave Quak 
For more candid conversations on faith and mental well-being, check out Sunburnt souls.com.

00:19:55:13 - 00:20:20:05
Dave Quak
See, I told you bacon was related to mental well-being, but it's so true. So many times we don't get the great things in life unless we go through the hard things in life. You know, so much of our life is really, you know, you climb a mountain for four hours to get ten minutes of a nice view at the top, like it's just seems to be the way that often our reaping comes after a lot of sowing.

00:20:20:05 - 00:20:46:00
Dave Quak
And now, you know, mountaintop experiences come after a lot of valleys as well. And so when you're experiencing the sweet times where you get to smell the bacon and eat the bacon, where you've gone through the hardship and you're getting the rewards, make sure you savor and enjoy those rewards. Sometimes life doesn't offer up very many rewards. Sometimes it's like hard going and it's a it's a slog.

00:20:46:02 - 00:21:09:18
Dave Quak
And so you got to make sure you take the times that are good, because times aren't always going to be good. But when they are, celebrate them. But if you're gone through hard times and it does smell like a pigsty and it feels like everything sucks, just know that it's not always going to be this way. If you stick it out for long enough and keep pushing forward for long enough, eventually the tide turns.

00:21:09:18 - 00:21:32:20
Dave Quak
Eventually, you know, if you didn't have God, you'd say the lock. The lock changed. But eventually things do change. Eventually seasons change and you go from brokenness to restoration. You know, Elijah, as I mentioned before, went from mountaintop experience down into the valley, into the depths. But then God ministered to him, and God worked with him and held him close.

00:21:32:20 - 00:22:03:17
Dave Quak
And eventually he got up and he gathered himself and he got back on mission. He was high, he was low, and he was made right again. So my friends, once again, thank you so much for tuning into some bent souls. I pray these short, you know, lessons this week and last week have been a blessing. If you want to delve deeper in your mental well-being and get more healthy and more on track, I do have a course called Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health that is on our website.

00:22:03:19 - 00:22:23:23
Dave Quak
It's $28 for 28 days, and the people who have done it feel like it's a helpful tool. It's about, you know, it's a small investment ten minutes a day, but it seems to be hitting the spot. And anything you can do to grow in this sphere is good. And if you can help us out by sharing this on your socials or anything, please do.

00:22:24:00 - 00:22:49:05
Dave Quak
I know everybody asked that. So if you don't want any, that's fine. But if you can, that would really help us out because as I've said before, we're kind of like middle grade podcasts where we're not, you know, a small podcast that has started and died and we're not huge or anything. We're in the middle with 90% of the podcasts and what it takes for the podcast to jump out of the middle into one that people listen to is for other people to help us out.

00:22:49:05 - 00:23:10:14
Dave Quak
And you may not want to, and that's cool. But if you see value in what we're doing, if you could help us out by sharing this around, I'd be super stoked otherwise. May God bless you. May his peace surround you. May His Holy Spirit chase you around your house, blessing you, filling you with his love and compassion. And thanks so much for tuning in to somebody and souls.