Removing Shame from a Gospel of Grace | An Interview with Kurt Francom

Richie T. Steadman is a radio host, producer, actor, and founder of
the Latter-day Saint podcast, “The Cultural Hall”, where he has
been entertaining and informing since 2011. Richie worked for 16
years as the producer of the popular Utah radio show, “Radio from
Hell”. He served a mission in Cleveland, Ohio, and lives in Salt
Lake City, Utah. Richie T’s interests extend far beyond the
studio—he’s passionate scholar of Mormon history and a dedicated
husband. In this podcast, Richie T interviews Kurt Francom about
his book, Is God Disappointed in Me?, and they talk about how we
can teach and lead without creating shame. The Lisa Show,
photographed by Justin Hackworth Links Is God Disappointed in Me?
The Cultural Hall Never Giving Up on the Lord (Even When You Want
to) | An Interview with Richie T. Steadman There is already a
discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts HERE.
Watch on YouTube Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Highlights
3:45 Introduction to Kurt’s book, Is God Disappointed in Me? Kurt
talks about why he wrote the book. 9:15 Guilt vs shame. What’s the
difference? Shame is an attack on the divine identity. It’s more
than just feeling bad. 11:00 Kurt shares his experiences as a young
bishop and not understanding shame and how to help people with it.
13:30 When we want to change we hyper-focus on behaviors. However,
first we need to have acceptance of who we are and the identity we
have been given and God loves us as we are then we can really
change. 15:10 How can leaders help people not feel shame but focus
on divine identity instead? 19:15 Kurt shares an experience as a
bishop. Some people walking into the bishop’s office don’t need the
checklist of things to do or the conference talk to study in order
to change. They need empathy. They need to heal wounds. They need
to feel God’s love to help them change. 24:00 Who is Kurt’s book
for? What can people get from it? 26:30 Have you ever felt that God
was disappointed in you? How did you work through it? Kurt shares
his personal experience of shame and feeling that God and his
parents were disappointed in him. 35:00 The process of writing a
book 37:30 One of the reasons Kurt was drawn to write a book is
because it’s not just about knowing the gospel but being able to
articulate the gospel. 38:40 How it feels to have a book out in the
world. What’s the feedback from people? 41:40 I don’t want to be in
a high demand religion. I want to be in a highly redemptive
religion. We want people to leave church feeling like they are
happy they went and not like wow I’m never good enough for those
people. 42:50 Let’s stop focusing on behaviors in our church but
creating a place where people just feel loved. 45:00 Are we
embracing grace differently now? 46:50 Establishing a grace-filled
home and in our relationships 49:50 Kurt talks about his calling as
ward podcaster. The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top
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Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to
lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at
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