We all carry lies about ourselves. Some of them are deep. Some of them feel completely real. Some of them started as a small thought and grew into something we started to believe as fact.

This week I volunteered at a middle school camp. The kids wrote down burdens and sources of shame on little cards and pinned them to three crosses. What was on those cards was heavy. And the thing that stood out was how many of those burdens, no matter how different they looked, shared the same root: they were lies.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The truest thing about you is not what the enemy says, not what other people say, and not what you have told yourself on repeat. You were made in the image of God. You were fearfully and wonderfully made. God did not speak you into existence the way He spoke the rest of creation. He formed you intentionally. And for those who are in Christ, you were bought with a price.

The lies will keep talking. This episode is about answering them with the ultimate truth.

If you or someone you know is carrying something heavy, you can submit a prayer request at 330podcast.com. It only goes to me.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

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Elliot steps out from behind the mic and tells the story he’s been praying about sharing. He grew up in a stable, church-going home in Jacksonville, thrived in seventh grade at a Christian school, and then watched that world come apart after a move to Wilmington. What followed was years of deep depression, anxiety, multiple psychiatric hospitalizations, and a plan to end his life at 18. A psychologist named Sharon became the turning point. Years later, marriage and three kids brought new joys and new crises—including a newborn fighting for his life in the PICU and a daughter’s sudden heart emergency. Through it all, one truth stayed true even when Elliot had gone silent: he abandoned God, but God never abandoned him. This episode is the long way home, told with the same honesty the show has always aimed for.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and serious childhood medical events.

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John’s disciples watched the crowd leave them for Jesus and panicked. John did not. He had the draw. He handed it over so people would go to Jesus. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This episode sits in the second half of that sentence.

John decreased a status. The rich young man would not decrease a grip. Matthew calls him a young man. Luke calls him a ruler. Mark adds that he ran and knelt, and that Jesus looked at him and loved him, and still let him walk. He kept the commandments he liked and would not leave what made him large. His possessions had become another god. With man this is impossible. With God all things are possible. The problem is not that you have things. The problem is what you will not leave to follow Jesus.

The narrow gate will not take the baggage. Jesus Christ is the gate. Decrease is how you fit. It is not the ticket. Paul says we were buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. If you follow Jesus, you have already had a funeral and a wedding. The old man does not fit through. If dying to yourself only sounds like a loss, you are still eulogizing the old self.

Once you can tell it is the Lord, it is not a nudge and it is not a suggestion. Jesus does not take suggestions from the throne. Luke 9:23: deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow. A disciple is not a consultant. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Scripture in this episode: John 3:30; Matthew 19:13–15; Matthew 19:16–26; Mark 10:17, 21; Luke 18:18; Exodus 20:3; Matthew 7:13–14; Romans 6:3–4; 2 Timothy 3:2; Luke 9:23.

Prayer requests: 330podcast.com.

I must decrease.

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John the Baptist’s own disciples watched the crowd walk downriver toward Jesus and panicked. John did not. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This episode sits in the first half of that sentence.

We quote it. We highlight it. We are not living it. That is not a news cycle. Sin entered, the world broke, and we were cut off from God. Jesus came in a body and fixed what we could not. He increases when He is actually first — in the house, in the prayer, in the church, in the feed — not when we try harder at us.

Naming the wreckage is not the solution. Turn to Jesus. Abide in the vine. True repentance is not managing sin. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Prayer starts with His name and His kingdom, not our list. Then contend for the faith that was delivered once. Welcome the person. Do not bless the sin. He must increase until all have heard. He must be known.

Scripture in this episode: John 3:26–30; John 15:4–5; Philippians 2:13; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ezekiel 36:26; Galatians 2:20; Matthew 6:9–13; Jude 3; Matthew 28:18–20.

Prayer requests: 330podcast.com. Next time: Part 3 — I must decrease.

He must increase. He must be known.

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John the Baptist did everything right. Priestly blood. Wilderness. Crowds. He pointed away from himself. He put his hands on the Son of God in the Jordan. Then he told the truth about a king and landed in a cell.

Faithfulness did not buy him a painless life. Baptizing Jesus did not make him immune. From prison he sent one question to the only Person who could answer it: Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

This episode is Part 1 of a three-part walk through John 3:30. The voice, not the Word. Next time: He must increase.

If you have walked through hardship, loss, betrayal, or an injustice that shook your faith — who did you turn to? Who will you turn to next? Turn to Jesus. Turn to the Word.

Prayer requests: 330podcast.com. Put “prayer” in the first line.

Scripture in this episode: Isaiah 40:3; John 1:19–23; Matthew 3:11–17; Joshua 3; John 3:27–30; Matthew 14:3–4; Matthew 11:2–6.

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30, ESV.

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John 3:30 — “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Episode 1 of the 3:30 Podcast. Elliot talks about how God speaks, why this show exists, and what happens when the Lord tells you to step into a river that has not split yet.

Joshua 3: the priests had to get their feet wet before the water stood up. God already did the hard part. Obedience is usually just the first step.

Also in this episode:

• Belief that stays in the mouth versus trust that walks — Luke 6:46 and Titus 1:16
• Numbers 13: forty years in the wilderness because they were afraid, despite God promising the land
• Rahab, who believed enough to act
• A simple close: obey God and get your feet wet

If something in this episode lands on you, stop and pray. You can also send a prayer request at 330podcast.com.

The 3:30 Podcast. He must increase. I must decrease.

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