Stop Hiding, Start Healing

This is Chris Hughes with the Christian Perspective Podcast with Chris Hughes, where we encourage our listeners to engage the culture with Jesus Christ. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds, so enjoy it, share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. I'm at the National Religious Broadcasters Association standing next to a guy who's really been a mentor in my life, and this guy is an author.

He's got a big booth here. His name is Craig Brown. Craig, God bless you, brother. Thanks for putting up with me when I was just a little wet behind the ears Christian radio sales guy. Stu, I never knew that you were little, for one.

You're taller than I am, and you were a great three-point shooter behind the art guy. Just love you. Just great to be associated with you in the NRB. Be here promoting my book, Stop Hiding, Start Healing, because far too many people are going to church to hide instead of healing due to their shame, their guilt, their pain, other things in their life.

And they're not fully embracing everything that Cross has to offer. So I've been there myself personally. I've been serving in Christ Centered Recovery Ministry for the last 22 years.

This is my observation. I did it myself. I hid instead of heal, and I see far too many people doing it in churches, and churches need to be instrumental and intentional of reaching people at the pain level. So how many people listening to my voice right now are hiding when they need healing? And that was the story of Craig Brown.

That was you. And this book is personal, isn't it? Hold it up. Let me see this book. So I'm looking at it right now.

Now, I like the subtitle, Discover How to Be Set Free from the Pain and Shame of Your Past so that you can live a life of freedom, meaning, and purpose. Talk about that real quick. What does that mean? It's just it.

That's it. Well, yeah. I mean, we hide from our past, our pain, because it's, for one, we know it's there. Secondly, it's painful to go there. Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve were busted, it all began there. They felt shame, they felt fear, they were disobedient, and then they were separated from God. Same thing happens now with the shame, the pain, and the guilt. See, salvation is it, but it doesn't end there. You've received everything you need to be healed and go from a place of brokenness to wholeness, but you have to do the work, but it's too painful. A lot of people, the shame they keep, they carry, can only be shattered by Jesus. So people are still carrying that burden with them, even though they're a Christ-centered believer, they're born again, they go to church to worship, they're serving in leadership, they're there to get well, but they're still holding it back because it's too painful, and they want to hide it rather than heal it. That's why I want the Lord just to use this book to be an encouragement to others for them to read and realize, one, they're not alone. Number two, come out of isolation. Number three, come out of hiding.

Get into a Bible preaching, gospel preaching, church, and find your path and safe people, trusted people to help you on your journey to healing. And you've got these cool little bands. How about those bands? What do they say on them? Let me put one on right now.

Yes, indeed. What does it say? It says, stop hiding, start healing. Put it on my wrist right now. And it says, Luke 12 2. What does that say? Everything that is covered will be uncovered, and every secret made known.

So this is going on my wrist right now. The man of God who wrote this book. What's the biggest takeaway you want people?

Take us into the nuggets. We don't want to give away the whole thing. We want people to buy the book, stop hiding, start healing. I guess everywhere books are sold, right? You've got some on sale here at the Religious Broadcasters Convention. One of your former colleagues, Terry Faye, KKLA, huge Christian station LA. You were at WAVA, which is celebrated 30 years with Salem. You were at the NRB in a different capacity a few years ago at the old Sheraton in DC. Now it's in Nashville, but you were making noise. Terry, what's it like to see one of your former colleagues write a book? He's here at NRB.

Talk about this guy, Craig Brown. Well, what I guess I just was telling his wife was that there, I guess there is life after Salem, after all. At Salem, they never tell you.

They say, you leave and we don't know what's going to happen here. But it's a tribute to us guys in Christian Radio. We have the Truth Network. I'm honored to be on the board of Salem. Dad and Uncle Ed, God put it on their heart years ago. And you see Craig Brown, who is a major leader in that Salem office, led by Dave Ruhlman, the legend himself. Tom Moyer, Craig Brown.

I was a little upstart working for a secular radio company. I'd go up there and just like I go to LA and you guys would all take the little stew. Okay, now here's what you do, little stew.

Here's how it's done right. But isn't it encouraging to see a man of God like him, like in his second career, doing this, bringing people to Jesus, you know, with this whole message of stop hiding, start healing. How does that hit you, Terry? I think it's outstanding. I mean, I think it's great to, you know, expand what you can do and found your niche and go for it, man.

Excited for you. And how about stations like KKLA, like The Fish in LA, like all the Christian radio stations. Many are hearing my voice right now that are brave enough to carry Truth Talk. Craig, what's it like now communicating this message across Christian radio, where you used to be a part of Christian radio. You're still a part of it, but in a different way with all these authors. Well, Christian radio has been a beacon of hope for years from the very first one, you know, and we're called to be a beacon of hope, whether individually, corporately, whatever that is, for the people that are broken, that are hurting, to be able to tune in, to listen, to have their lives changed, and us be used to share that message heart to heart, face to face with them.

I mean, that's very, it's not real complicated. You know, you're driven, all of you both, and I used, and I am still am, I'm still equally you as a radio guy. I love radio, love Christian radio. And it's just hitting, getting them every single place they are, wherever they are. And if this message can get them out of hiding and get them into a place of healing. Now, now you asked me about in a nutshell, the first chapter is when the pain is greater than your fear. We never change. We never change anything in our life until the pain is greater than our fear.

And that's really the starting place for the book. When the pain's greater than your fear, you're going to change. It happens in sales. It happens in leading a team. It happens in dealing with people individually.

When am I going to get knee replacement? That's when the pain is greater than the fear of what's going to happen. The emotional baggage we carry, the people, the people at this Christian radio convention, the people who show up at church every week that have such deep pain and they're hiding, they don't have healing and we're not knocking them. We're not going to heap more shame on them, Craig, but we're calling them to Jesus.

There's a cross of pain that was born for them. Take us home with a call right now to people out there that are hurting. They haven't read your book, stop hiding, start healing yet.

We want them to, but right now someone's out there hurting. What would you say to them listening to truth talk wherever they are driving down the road or wherever? Well, I would say to them, first of all, you're not alone. Don't look around like you're on that Island thinking that none of us have experienced pain, despair, shame, guilt, or any of that because we have, all of us have issues. All of us have things in our life that we have to deal with. Now you may be dealing with something. Maybe it's a past addiction or current addiction, a divorce, abortion, trauma, whatever that is, okay? And you feel it's too painful to go there to get healing. It's not.

It's not. The cross, everything on the cross, embrace everything on the cross, forgiveness, loving yourself, finding a safe place to go and find others in your life to help you. And it's there for you. It's there, but I understand you're inhibited.

I understand you're fearful of what people will think. Don't think that way because you have loving, caring individuals like myself, Stu, Terry, others that are out there to be able to help you. Christian Radio should be instrumental in helping you in that.

The local church should be instrumental in helping you in that. And if it's not, reach out. Find us. Find us at Stop Hiding, Start Healing on Facebook. Will you have a website for the book or anything like that? StopHidingStartHealingBook.com.

StopHidingStartHealingBook.com. I'm available. I've been to the Valley of Darkness and back. I've been there and I understand. I'm available to help you.

Craig Brown, God bless you. And you said something earlier about a church. The station you're listening to, Truth Talk right now, likely there's some solid local churches on here.

Get plugged in. This is the point of the church, to get our arms up. We're as much a battleship as we are a hospital ship. We need to offer prayer, healing and care and concern and minister to people who are hurting, Craig. And that's why we're here. So let's get to a church where that's available, where the Word of God is taught, because there's something powerful about the Word of God. You know, sweeter than honey, even the honeycomb, it says in Psalm 19, right? More valuable than gold. And it gets in there and it convicts, but it also gets in there and converts. It also gets in there and brings healing, right? Absolutely.

Exactly. The book is Stop Hiding, Start Healing. The author is my longtime friend and mentor and just a great man of God, Christian radio veteran. Who's this sweet lady sitting by here taking orders? That is my wonderful wife of 30 years.

We know the secret to your success. She's right there. We're at NRB. It's loud.

There's all kinds of people walking. There's a friend over there. People looking at the Christian radio booths and all the big, everyone's here, you know, all kinds of pastors, authors, leaders, but Craig Brown is here. I'm gonna get a picture with you right now by that. I'm gonna rush you down to your next interview. Okay. God bless you, my friend. God bless you, Stu. This is the Truth Network.