Sunburnt Souls | Faith, Mental Health & Mayhem

We sit down with New Zealand artist and worship leader Omega Levine and go behind the lyrics of “All Things New,” the song that’s helping people reconnect with Jesus when they feel lonely, numb, or one step from giving up. 

We talk honestly about faith and mental health: growing up in a strict Christian home while carrying deep trauma, being bullied for his appearance, and hitting a suicidal breaking point. From there the story moves into life on the road with the Parachute Band, the pressure of public ministry, and the private spiral that turned into a double life of anxiety, alcohol, and drugs. If you’ve ever wondered why “coping” can feel like it works until it ruins you, this conversation puts language to it. 

Omega also shares what changed, not through hype but through real life: a timely friendship, a house filled with early morning worship, long walks where he started talking to God again, and the slow work of counseling and healing. We dig into why authenticity matters, why Christian radio and churches shouldn’t be afraid of truthful lyrics, and what he and his wife Talia are praying for as new doors open and new music drops, including his upcoming single “Waiting.” 

If this story gives you hope, subscribe, share it with someone who needs a way back, and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about trauma, addiction recovery, worship music, and real faith. What part of Omega’s journey did you relate to most?
Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 
Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here
🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION
Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health
A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:
Embrace your identity in Jesus
Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace
👉 Start your 28-day journey today
📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter
⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW
Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.
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Chest pain at your desk is terrifying. Getting rushed to the hospital, spending days in coronary care, and then hearing “your heart is fine” is disorienting. Hearing “it was a panic attack” can feel even worse. Christine Wood joins us to share the moment her body forced an honest conversation about stress, anxiety, and the hidden cost of a life that looks faithful on the outside but is collapsing on the inside.

We talk about years in vocational ministry, the pressure to keep everyone happy, and the surprising shame that can come with a mental health diagnosis, especially when you’re the one who usually supports others. From there, Christine tells the story of the circuit breaker she and her husband chose: selling up, resigning, buying a caravan, and taking the long road around Australia. As the pace slows, sleep improves, laughter returns, and the soul starts to breathe again.

At the center is Matthew 11:28-30 and Jesus’ promise of rest for the weary and burdened. Christine unpacks the idea behind her book The Burdens We Carried and names several burdens many of us normalize: busyness as virtue, body image pressure, guilt and shame on replay, and the deceitfulness of wealth that crowds out faith. If you care about Christian mental health, faith and anxiety, burnout recovery, Sabbath rest, and practical discipleship, this conversation offers both clarity and hope.

Subscribe for more honest conversations, share this with someone carrying too much, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. What burden do you need to hand back today?
Get Christines book here 
Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 
Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here
🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION
Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health
A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:
Embrace your identity in Jesus
Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace
👉 Start your 28-day journey today
📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter
⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW
Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.
Listen and Rate on ...

We talk with our longtime friend Dan Patterson about what it takes to keep serving God when criticism gets loud and personal online. We share practical boundaries, spiritual habits, and grounding rhythms that protect mental health while staying faithful over decades. 
• Dan’s library artifacts as a window into the historical roots of Christian faith 
• the slow, faithful work behind “overnight” growth and why evergreen content matters 
• why comment sections can distort reality and magnify the loudest critics 
• repaying vitriol with love and turning negative prompts into prayer 
• keeping a prayer list for repeat offenders and what it does to your heart 
• resisting pride and letting the closest voices carry the most weight 
• staying anchored through local church, real friendships, Scripture, worship, and unplugging 
Mate check out the video content on our YouTube blesses you that’s where we’ve got hundreds of things that speak to so many different topics 

Subscribe and Follow Questioning Christianity

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 
Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here
🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION
Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health
A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:
Embrace your identity in Jesus
Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace
👉 Start your 28-day journey today
📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter
⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW
Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.
Listen and Rate on ...

We talk with Dr. Amanda Wilson about learning she’s neurodivergent later in life and how that diagnosis helps her give herself grace while building a career that fits her limits and strengths. We also trace her long road to Jesus and why accessible church community, practical structure, and honest support matter for mental health.

• growing up between Deep South Christianity and Bay Area liberal church culture
• identifying ADHD and autism traits through orthodontic work and life patterns
• leaving high-volume clinical practice to reduce burnout and sensory overload
• finding faith through Catholicism, mission work, and years of searching
• meeting Jesus through Regeneration Recovery and disciplined journaling and scripture
• navigating stress, micro seizures, and relying on prayer and boundaries
• making church more accessible with quiet services, online groups, and accommodations
• early orthodontics, airway development, nasal breathing, and homeschooling observations

Contact and Follow Amanda at her Website , Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, or Linkedin

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 
Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here
🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION
Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health
A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:
Embrace your identity in Jesus
Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace
👉 Start your 28-day journey today
📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter
⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW
Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.
Listen and Rate on ...

Warnings-some disturbing circumstances are described 
Kurt has just stepped into retirement after 38 years in policing, and he walks us through what prolonged exposure to trauma can do to your mental health, your body, and your faith. If you have ever searched for answers about police PTSD, first responder mental health, anxiety, depression, or trauma triggers, this conversation will feel uncomfortably real and deeply human. 

We talk about the “jar of marbles” effect, how critical incidents accumulate until one more pushes you past capacity. Kurt shares how PTSD can show up with a delay, why certain smells and sounds can flip your nervous system in an instant, and how stigma keeps people quiet when they most need support. We also cover what has changed in policing culture, including employee assistance programs, peer support, chaplains, and critical incident leave, plus why mental injury deserves the same care as a physical injury. 

Just as important, we dig into what helps. Kurt explains why he refuses to camp inside a diagnosis, how exercise and sunlight can reconnect your physical and mental health, and why small “sleep hygiene” changes can matter more than people think. He also shares a perspective we all need to hear: when someone is struggling, they often need a listener, not another expert with advice. The episode closes with a hope-filled framework that holds both realism and faith: accept the natural, but expect the supernatural every day. 

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who carries a heavy load, and leave a review so more people can find these stories. What part of Kurt’s journey did you relate to most?
Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 
Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here
🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION
Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health
A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:
Embrace your identity in Jesus
Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace
👉 Start your 28-day journey today
📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter
⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW
Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.
Listen and Rate on ...