Why do so many successful men still feel empty?

You built the business.

You bought the house.

You climbed the ladder.

But something still feels off.

In this powerful episode of the Words of Encouragement Podcast, Mike Van Pelt and I confront a hard truth:

Your identity is not your job.

Your identity is not your money.

Your identity is not your status.

And if you build your life on the wrong foundation, success won’t fix it.

We discuss:

• Why high-performing men struggle internally

• The identity crisis happening in the church

• Spiritual warfare most men don’t recognize

• Why “fast-food faith” keeps men stuck

• How to realign your identity with Christ

• Why success without alignment leads to emptiness

If you are a Christian man navigating pressure, leadership, marriage, business, or purpose — this conversation will challenge you.

This isn’t hype.

This is identity authority.

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Instagram: @iamfrankielubin

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#ChristianMen #IdentityInChrist #FaithBasedLeadership #MensMentalHealth #SpiritualWarfare #PurposeDrivenMen #Masculinity

There are moments in the faith journey that few people talk about—moments when you still believe God is real, powerful, and faithful, yet you don’t trust what He’s doing in your life right now.

In this deeply honest solo episode of Words of Encouragement, Frankie Lubin opens up about the tension between belief and trust. Belief is intellectual—you know God exists. Trust is relational—you feel safe in His hands. And when life brings financial pressure, family challenges, unanswered prayers, and long waiting seasons, trust can feel shaken even when faith remains intact.

This episode gives language to what many believers feel but hesitate to admit: disappointment with God does not mean you’ve lost your faith. Through personal testimony and biblical reflection, Frankie explores why trust often breaks when prayers go unanswered, obedience doesn’t seem to produce results, or God feels silent in moments when clarity is needed most.

Referencing Jesus in the Garden, Job’s suffering, David’s refining seasons, and Solomon’s rise and fall, this conversation reveals a powerful truth—staying with God while you’re hurting is still an act of faith. Trust isn’t rebuilt by pretending nothing hurts; it’s rebuilt by remaining present with God in the middle of the pain.

This is not surface-level encouragement or motivational noise. It’s an honest conversation about unedited prayers, real emotions, and choosing relationship over retreat when faith feels tested.

If you’re in a season where you believe God but struggle to trust Him, you don’t have to carry that alone.

🙏 Join the Words of Encouragement Prayer Group — a safe space to pray, be prayed for, and walk through faith seasons together.

👉 Join here: https://prayergroup.lovable.app

God is not offended by your honesty.

And staying, even while you hurt, is still faith.

Most men are taught how to be strong.

Very few are taught how to be anchored.

In this episode of Words of Encouragement, I sit down with Cole Hergott, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Canada’s largest private Christian university, to talk about a reality many men won’t admit:

👉 You can be disciplined, consistent, and high-performing…

👉 and still feel lost on the inside.

We unpack what real strength actually looks like when no one’s watching—and why discipline without identity eventually leads to burnout, broken relationships, and spiritual emptiness.

This conversation goes far beyond the gym.

We talk about:

• Why God is not transactional

• The silent identity crisis in men and athletes

• Leadership that forms character, not just results

• Marriage as a calling, not a convenience

• Fatherhood and how your kids learn who God is through you

• Why clarity matters more than motivation

• Strength that shows up even when feelings don’t

If you’ve ever felt strong on the outside but unsettled on the inside—this episode is for you.

🙏 JOIN THE PRAYER GROUP

You don’t have to carry everything alone.

We pray together every Monday at 8 PM EST.

If you need prayer, community, or spiritual grounding, join us here:

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There’s a kind of waiting that comes after loss.

After addiction. After relapse. After ruining what you once had.

This episode of the Words of Encouragement Podcast is for the person who feels disqualified — not because life happened, but because of choices they made. Drugs. Alcohol. Running. Numbing. And now you’re sober, clearer… but still asking:

God, will You still use me?

This devotional speaks to rebuilding faith after self-inflicted loss, trusting God’s timing when you’re starting over, and learning how to worship even when shame tries to keep you silent.

You’re not waiting because God forgot you.

You’re waiting because He’s restoring you.

📖 This episode touches on:

Faith after addiction

Shame, regret, and starting over

Trusting God’s timing when you feel behind

Worship as an act of surrender, not perfection

🙏 Join the Prayer Group

👉 https://prayergroup.lovable.app

If this episode spoke to you:

👍 Like the video

💬 Comment what season you’re in

📤 Share this with someone rebuilding their life

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You are not disqualified.

You are being rebuilt.

What if you were never broken — just disconnected from who you truly are?

This episode goes beyond motivation and into identity, healing, faith, and truth.

In this powerful episode of Words of Encouragement, host Frankie Lubin sits down with Jason Weatherford to unpack a raw and unfiltered journey of loss, addiction, identity, and restoration.

Jason shares his life story — from childhood trauma and substance abuse to prison, isolation, and eventually rediscovering purpose, faith, and self-worth. This isn’t surface-level inspiration. It’s an honest conversation about the inner war many people fight silently.

This episode explores:

Why so many people feel lost even when they believe in God

How trauma and pain can disconnect you from your true identity

The difference between coping and actually healing

What self-love, faith, and wholeness really look like in real life

If you’ve ever felt called for more but stuck in cycles you couldn’t explain, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

🙏 You’re Not Meant to Carry This Alone

If this episode stirred something in you and you feel like you need prayer — not advice, not judgment — you’re invited into our private Words of Encouragement Prayer Group.

This is a safe space to:

Submit prayer requests

Be covered in prayer

Sit in community and encouragement

👉 Join here:

https://prayergroup.lovable.app

Key Themes

Identity • Faith • Healing • Testimony • Purpose • Inner Battle • Self-Worth • Transformation

Call to Action

👉 Subscribe for weekly Words of Encouragement

👉 Share this with someone who feels lost or disconnected

👉 Comment what part of the conversation resonated with you

Does God still speak today?

And if He does… why do so many people feel like they can’t hear Him?

In this powerful episode of the Words of Encouragement Podcast, Frankie Lubin sits down with Leslie Butler, a seasoned coach and spiritual guide, to have an honest, grounded conversation about hearing God, recognizing the Holy Spirit’s voice, and why clarity is often blocked—not absent.

This isn’t hype.

This isn’t religious noise.

This is about listening.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Why God is still speaking—but many miss it

How distraction, fear, and conditioning silence discernment

The difference between intuition, emotion, and the Holy Spirit

What it looks like to live aligned instead of overwhelmed

How obedience often comes after clarity, not before

Frankie also shares a personal moment that changed his life—when ignoring God’s voice nearly cost him everything.

This episode is for:

Believers who feel spiritually disconnected

Leaders seeking clarity instead of chaos

Anyone asking, “Is God trying to tell me something?”

🎧 This conversation isn’t about religion.

It’s about relationship.

👇 Drop a comment if this confirmed something you’ve been sensing.

📌 Subscribe for weekly faith-based encouragement, identity, and purpose-driven conversations.

In this emotional episode of the Words of Encouragement Podcast, Frankie Lubin sits down with Ieta, a domestic violence survivor, community leader, and minister whose life changed forever the day her son snapped. What followed was a heartbreaking tragedy that took both her son and daughter-in-law — and left four children behind.

Instead of letting grief destroy her, Ieta chose to walk with God through the darkest season of her life.

She lost her son, her marriage, her home, and nearly her purpose… but God rebuilt her piece by piece.

In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Frankie and Ieta discuss:

• Domestic violence and the patterns that lead to it

• What happens emotionally when someone “snaps”

• How generational trauma shows up in families

• The silence victims carry

• Turning tragedy into ministry

• Holding on to God when your world collapses

• Frankie’s personal story of childhood trauma

• How faith, therapy, and community help you heal

• Breaking cycles so they don’t reach the next generation

This episode is real, vulnerable, and necessary.

If you or someone you love has been affected by domestic violence, we pray this conversation brings clarity, healing, and courage.

Share this episode with someone who needs it. Lives can change through awareness and testimony.

🔗 Connect With Frankie (Mr. Made Different)

Instagram: @mr.madedifferent

Podcast: Words of Encouragement

For speaking, collaborations, and interviews — contact via Instagram.

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In this episode of the Words of Encouragement Podcast, I sit down with Isabel Varela – holistic business coach, fashion creative, and founder of Repurpose Your Life.

Isabel grew up as the only kid “like her” in a small town in Louisiana, repurposing trash into art, dreaming about New York, and escaping into fashion and magazines. That dream eventually took her into the fashion world… and into massive debt, a shopping addiction, and a double life.

At 28, Isabel hit rock bottom: seven maxed-out credit cards, unpaid rent and car notes, and a phone call about repossession. On the outside she was winning – in magazines, dressing celebrities, in five stores across Texas and Louisiana – but on the inside she was drowning.

In this raw conversation we talk about:

How she went from shopaholic and denial to facing her debt and addiction

Closing her fashion brand and getting a job as a seamstress at Nordstrom

Moving to New York City with debt and still paying it off in 7 years

The 8-year relationship and engagement she ended the day before invitations went out

Why decluttering isn’t just about closets – it’s about identity, stories, and systems

Hyper-independence, not asking for help, and crying in Central Park while healing

How grief (losing both parents and her mentor) pushed her to go all in on purpose

Her 3-part framework: Declutter → Repurpose → Transform & Rise

We also talk about my own transition season – moving from painting houses to podcasting and feeling called to build something that actually feeds people’s souls, not just my bank account.

If you’re in a season of transition, feeling stuck, guilty for wanting more, or trying to figure out how to let go of an old version of yourself… this episode is for you.

TIMESTAMPS (CHAPTERS):

00:00 – Intro & Isabel’s childhood in Louisiana, art, and fashion

07:20 – Building a fashion brand… and secretly drowning in debt

11:30 – Rock bottom: repossession calls, shame, and finally asking for help

14:30 – Therapy, debt management, and learning her soul is “good and lovable”

21:30 – The 15-minute phone call with Barneys that changed everything

23:50 – Moving to New York City with debt and three jobs

27:40 – Ending an 8-year engagement the day before invites went out

33:10 – Decluttering clothes, business systems, and people’s inner lives

36:50 – My own transition from painting houses to podcasting

43:20 – Resentment, outgrowing your work, and reframing “the job that feeds you”

53:00 – Lightning Round: books, daily rituals, lies she unlearned, current healing

1:00:10 – What this season is teaching her: trust and surrender

1:01:30 – Words of encouragement to her 18-year-old self

1:05:43 – Closing prayer & how to connect with Isabel

CONNECT WITH ISABEL:

IG / TikTok / YouTube / LinkedIn: @iamisabelvarela

Free 45-Minute Business Systems Audit: Comment “AUDIT” or connect with her via this link. https://www.isabelvarela.com/

CONNECT WITH ME:

Instagram: @mr.madedifferent

Website: wordsofencouragementpodcast.com

👇 COMMENT BELOW:

What’s one thing you know you need to declutter – in your home, your business, or your heart?