Candace Nassar (00:00)
Well, welcome Courtney. I am so thrilled that you’re joining us today. I already know I like you because you’re a fellow teacher, and I’m looking forward to you sharing your story with our listeners today. So can you start by just telling us a little bit about yourself?
Courtney Reissig (00:08)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (00:15)
Yeah, so my name is Courtney Reissig and I’m married to Daniel. We’ve been married for almost 17 years. I have four boys, so they range in ages between twins who are 13, and then we have a son who is almost 11 and then we have a son who’s almost nine. So we are nearing the end of the elementary school years and moving into the middle school and high school years and I am a high school English teacher.
Prior to going back into the classroom, I served in vocational ministry on staff and in church for a number of years and led women’s ministry, adult discipleship, curriculum development.
And so I have always thought that the classroom is where I should be. And so I’m really, I like the schedule as a mom, but I also really, really love teaching high school students. And I’m a writer. And so I spent most of my twenties and thirties writing. And so I’ve written a number of books and I just wrote my first kid’s
Candace Nassar (01:00)
Mmm.
Candace Nassar (01:10)
that’s exciting. Well, I know that the newest book that you’ve released is someone to believe in. so we’re going to talk about that today. And I’m excited because it is going to really resonate with so many people.
Courtney Reissig (01:16)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (01:23)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (01:24)
So what led you to write this particular book?
Courtney Reissig (01:29)
Yeah, so the Gospel of John has always been really dear to my heart. Like I said, I served on staff in a church for a number of years and then we did church planting prior to that. And so when we did church planting, I led the women’s ministry in a lay capacity and led women’s Bible study out of my home. And my first kind of meeting with the Gospel of John was participating in a women’s Bible study and we barely scratched the surface of it. It was 12 weeks.
And I remember thinking, I want to spend more time on it. And I went to seminary. And so I learned the overview of the New Testament, spent some time in the Gospels, but never really honed in on John. Fast forward a couple of years, and I led the Bible study through John.
And again, remember thinking, man, there’s just so much here to mine the depths of. And I had already written a couple of trade books at the time and thought, I’d love to write a book on the Gospel of John, but didn’t really have, kind of like a framework for it. And then I was on staff in a church and I oversaw the curriculum development for this adult Sunday school curriculum.
And so spent more time in the Gospel of John and just grew to love John’s the way he writes, the structure with which he writes. John is an older disciple as he’s writing, so he’s writing near the end of his life. So there’s a maturity to his awareness of Jesus’s ministry as he reflects back on what he walked through and experienced. And so I began working on a proposal for the book,
Candace Nassar (02:37)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (02:52)
And I really do think the Lord needed me to marinate on John for all those years, for me to land on where this book landed. And when the proposal had been written, a couple of chapters had been written. At the time I had left, I resigned from my position in the church over some mishandling of sexual abuse. And so it was a very, really difficult time.
Candace Nassar (03:11)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (03:13)
For me, I lost my job. I wasn’t fired, but I gave up my job and gave up my position. And in that time period, I had about six months of trying to figure out what to do next. And it was like, I think I’m going to go back to this book and finished it. Got a publisher accepted it. And I think I needed to spend time in John for myself again to
Candace Nassar (03:18)
Sure.
Courtney Reissig (03:36)
land on Jesus as someone to believe in. And so at every turn I found Jesus believable for whatever struggle I had at the moment. So the book does not deal with what we walk through, but it definitely ministered to me as we walked through it and as I wrote the book.
Candace Nassar (03:51)
Wow, you know, I have to share that the book of John was what I went to study in the first Bible study I ever attended that ended up leading me to faith in Jesus. And yeah, it was the book of John. And that was the first place where I learned that as a first time. Well, first time I’d ever really read scripture. Let’s start there. But that Jesus died for me.
Courtney Reissig (03:58)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (04:01)
Wow, wow.
Courtney Reissig (04:11)
Yeah.
Courtney Reissig (04:15)
Yes, yes.
Candace Nassar (04:15)
personally, right? And he wanted that relationship with me and that just completely rocked my world. I mean, the book of John, I tell people all the time, start there if you’ve never read the Bible because it is so rich. And so tell us a couple of your favorite stories that really minister to you.
Courtney Reissig (04:25)
Yes, yeah.
Courtney Reissig (04:29)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (04:34)
Well, I love that you said that it was the book that led you to faith because that’s John’s whole point. So he ends the book in John 20: 31 and he says, these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, son of living God, and by believing you may have life in his name. So his goal is that we would see Jesus and John. That’s the whole point of the book. And then it would lead to life saving faith in the son of God. And so the book of John did its purpose in your life. And so what I love about John is John
Candace Nassar (05:00)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (05:03)
is so theologically rich. And I think sometimes as modern believers, we look at the past and think of they are more archaic and they don’t write as well as us, they don’t know as well, they don’t have as much. But John literally is taking the Old Testament and weaving it all the way through so that we would see Jesus not only as the Son of God who came, but the one who fulfilled all of these things in the Old Testament.
Candace Nassar (05:14)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (05:21)
Mmm.
Courtney Reissig (05:31)
So John is very Old Testament heavy. If you don’t have an understanding of the Old Testament, will not be as rich. Of course you will be able to understand it because the Holy Spirit works through his word and you don’t have to know the Old Testament to understand the new, but it will make it more rich. And so I love the connections to the Old Testament probably because my love and interest in studying scripture,
Candace Nassar (05:49)
Hmm.
Courtney Reissig (05:53)
when I first came to faith in Christ was in the Old Testament, even when I was in seminary, I had a high interest in the Old Testament. And so I think I’ve always kind of been drawn to the Old Testament. And so when I got to John, I saw all these connections to he’s the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He’s the bread of life. And you see in Isaiah 55, he’s the one who nourishes us, He feeds us, but also come drink from the living water, which you see in John 4 and also in John 7, when Jesus talks about, am the living water. I am the one who is overflowing, quenching all of your thirst. So I think there’s that connection. I think the personal nature of Jesus. John 4 is the longest recorded conversation Jesus has with anyone in the scriptures.
Courtney Reissig (06:40)
And it’s with a woman and with a woman who is not fully Jewish, which I find people talk about the Gospel of Luke of being the one that’s very women centric because it is, but I find it’s maybe John isn’t as women centric, but it has this long, this long interaction of Jesus who finds this woman and not only saves her, but then uses her as the first evangelist to go and tell everything she’s ever heard a whole community, a whole town believes because of her testimony. So the woman at the well, yes.
Candace Nassar (07:13)
Yeah, the woman at the well, that’s, yeah, that’s one of my favorites in the whole scriptures as well, because, because, you know, as as mom, sometimes we can feel so isolated and so alone. And and she clearly did. She was isolated from her culture, from her community because of the life that she had lived and in the fact that Jesus would come to her and and seek her out and speak into her life and say, I see you.
Courtney Reissig (07:15)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (07:21)
Right. Right.
Courtney Reissig (07:26)
Right, right.
Right.
Courtney Reissig (07:34)
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Candace Nassar (07:39)
and I know you and you can be free. It is just the most incredible thing. I love that you mentioned that so so good. Okay. So was there a season during this time when you were writing this book that your faith felt shaken?
Courtney Reissig (07:41)
Yes.
Right.
Courtney Reissig (07:56)
Yeah, so I think when I first set out to write the book before, when I was still on staff in my church, I think I had maybe had something else in mind of what was shaking my faith. I think the longer you’re a believer, you have different iterations of things that shake your faith. But this one was, so I was on staff, the church I was a part of had mishandled allegations of abuse, multiple allegations, not only one instance, but multiple allegations.
And I do feel like those are progressive layers of revelation when that happens. It’s like peeling back an onion and realizing, this, they said this and they were actually meaning this because they were lying in this instance. Or I thought I knew this person and yet they knew this all along and I didn’t know this. just the betrayal. Yeah, I mean, a complete and utter betrayal. And there is a
Candace Nassar (08:38)
Mmm.
Candace Nassar (08:45)
Betrayal.
Courtney Reissig (08:52)
I always want to be clear that my children weren’t abused. People I love dearly, these children were abused, but not my own children. And so there’s an element of outrage, but also we got to move on and live our lives. And it’s not like this continual thing hanging over us, but it was completely disorienting and betrayal of when I realized that abuse was happening, had happened and had been covered up and not disclosed, I wrongly assumed that everyone assumed this was a wrong thing.
And so the believing like, we’re gonna go forward with this and we’re gonna be honest about this and we’re going to care for survivors with this and then to be met with, no, we’re not gonna do that. The thought, I knew you was just really.
Courtney Reissig (09:35)
That was the all I kept thinking was I thought I knew I listened to you preach. I planned how to help people grow in their faith with you. And now you’re willing to hurt these people’s faith by not by not helping them. I think that was really disorienting. then to Little Rock is not a super big town. And so to have to leave a church community of a very large church that was influential in the city and then to
Candace Nassar (09:43)
Yeah.
Courtney Reissig (10:02)
have to find a different place to worship was really difficult. There was not a place we went that people didn’t know about it. Originally it was kind of public, but not very public until it started when it’s in the paper because of, like, criminal trials. And so and every time because I was the whistleblower, every time an article was written, it was talked about. Yes. And so
Candace Nassar (10:15)
Mmm.
Candace Nassar (10:23)
Your name.
Courtney Reissig (10:25)
There was nowhere we could go. so there is this whole thought all the time of like when I talk to someone, do they have an opinion about this? when I go to my kid’s school, do people know about this? and social media was really awful at the time. I mean, it was just like it’s one thing. I mean, people have walked through these things really publicly nationally, but there was a disorientation of having it happen in the small community of people where you did not know who you could trust and who your your friends were.
And so having to realize Jesus is my friend, like he really actually is my friend. And he really knows what it’s like to say, hey, I hardly knew you to people who he walked alongside in fellowship was a comfort.
Candace Nassar (11:01)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (11:05)
Mmm.
Did you ever have a moment when you felt like you just wanted to leave the church altogether?
Courtney Reissig (11:13)
Oh, yeah. we’re I mean, two and a half years in probably two. Yeah, two and a half years into all of this. And I think there’s still layers of disorientation and struggle. I remember someone telling me that it took them like they went through something similar, in a different context. And she said it took me a year to be able to read my Bible again. And at the time, I was pretty early on in it. I was like, I can read my Bible fine.
Candace Nassar (11:37)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (11:42)
Like, that by God’s grace, my relationship with the Lord and my continual going to Him in faith, by God’s grace has not been shaken. At times it’s the only thing I feel comforted in. But yeah, it took a long time. I don’t think I still 100 % am like, I feel really safe here and really great in this context. And I think a lot of that is because spiritual…
abuse and is real and having to learn to trust the church again is hard. But yeah, there were definitely times where I was like, I don’t want to do this.
Candace Nassar (12:08)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (12:17)
Yeah, you know, I just I hear this more often. I mean, not so not always sexual abuse. I absolutely cannot. I actually am involved in children’s ministry at our church, and that just kills me beyond words. But just church hurt and you know, know how it affects the individual, how it affects the family, and then the world that looks and sees and what a just just a terrible thing. I mean, it’s the devil.
Courtney Reissig (12:27)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Courtney Reissig (12:38)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (12:42)
100%.
Courtney Reissig (12:43)
It is, it is. I have a colleague that I work with and I was talking with him recently. He doesn’t go to church and not a believer. And he said, you know, I used to go. And then I just was like, like he said, all, like churches do such bad things.
And I was like, there is a pressure, I think, for churches to feel like they have to protect their reputation and institution. And so what happens when a crisis happens or when spiritual abuse or sexual abuse or anything happens, they kind of go into protect mode when really that has the reverse effect. actually makes them… It does. It does. Right.
Candace Nassar (13:17)
right? It ruins the witness. It ruins it if they would come forward and just admit it. Yeah. And so let’s, let’s think about how I always talk to people when they’ve gone through or seen just some real hypocrisy in the church. I say, don’t judge Jesus by his people because we are sinners saved by grace. And so let’s, let’s unpack how Jesus really truly
Courtney Reissig (13:35)
Uh-huh, yes. Right. Right. Right.
Candace Nassar (13:45)
showed himself to you during that time a little bit more.
Courtney Reissig (13:50)
Yeah, so one thing that really strikes me is understanding that the scriptures are not silent on this kind of stuff. So, I mean, one example, when you said just being honest of what’s going on, even in the final moments of Jesus’ life, there’s two responses to sin. So you have Peter who denies Jesus, and you have…
Courtney Reissig (14:10)
Judas, who also denies Jesus. Judas, instead of coming forward and acknowledging what he did, he kills himself. So he goes into self-preservation mode. His suicide is an attempt at self-preservation. And he goes and tries to posture and get in with the religious leaders and all these things. And Peter also flees in fear. But
Candace Nassar (14:17)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (14:31)
The real humility is that Peter never pretended like he didn’t deny Jesus and he wasn’t perfect. I mean, that’s what’s helpful is like Peter continued to fail. The New Testament bears out that Peter continued to compare himself to John at the end of John and say, what about him? And Jesus then goes to him and says, look, Peter, you’re failing again. And then like, don’t worry about him, follow me.
And so I think the humility that believers have to have to say, hey, like I’m going to get it wrong sometimes, but I’m going to keep repenting and then being honest and going back to Jesus, and I think at the end of the day, the one who kept Peter was not Peter, it was Jesus. And
Candace Nassar (15:13)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (15:16)
when we try to keep ourselves and we try to manage outcomes or manage PR or manage whatever, when we try to do that, we crumble. But when we acknowledge that Jesus is the one keeping us and it’s not ourselves and it’s not our goodness and it’s not our ability and it’s not anything we’re able to do for ourselves, then I do think that helps us say, hey, like I’m broken. I’m and I do think there’s a lot of posturing that we have.
Candace Nassar (15:39)
Yeah.
Courtney Reissig (15:43)
a posturing of success when we really should have a posture of humility. I think Jesus just revealed himself to me in so many ways of that. I think the big one is he was keeping me. I could not keep myself. But the thing that has anchored me over and over and over again is that he will one day make things right. So the book of Revelation also speaks to churches that fail.
Candace Nassar (15:46)
Love that.
Candace Nassar (16:03)
Mm.
Candace Nassar (16:08)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (16:08)
There’s a lot we talk about Revelation with all the end time stuff but the very beginning of Revelation talks about these real churches who were faithless and There is a real judgment for them and the hope I have is that Injustice will one day be made right it it will not last it will not stay and I When I try to fix it myself, it won’t go it won’t go well
But the whole of the Bible is filled with injustice after injustice after injustice. And God promises he will make it right. And so, yeah, go ahead, sorry. We do, yeah. Yes.
Candace Nassar (16:35)
Yeah.
Candace Nassar (16:39)
Yeah, because I was just gonna say we live in a broken world. I mean, it’s a sin infected broken world and things happen over and over. And, you know, that’s one of the beautiful things about the Bible is all of the failed stories, you know, and how God meets people. And he’s the same yesterday, today and forever.
Courtney Reissig (16:50)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (16:56)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (17:02)
Yes, yes.
Candace Nassar (17:04)
And one of the things that made me, you were talking, I thought of, you know, just confession and how we tend to fear confession, I think, in a way, or we don’t want to confess because it humbles us. It requires us to agree with God that we have done something that He didn’t want us to do. But in no way does He say, banish us, you know, and, you know, it’s our own guilt.
Courtney Reissig (17:13)
huh. Right. Right.
Courtney Reissig (17:21)
Yes.
Right.
Courtney Reissig (17:28)
Right, right.
Candace Nassar (17:31)
and shame that does that. And he wants to take that away. I mean, going back to the woman at the well, right? He is like, come and sit with me. I will give you living water. And so, yeah, that is it’s just it’s that confession, I mean, what kind of story would we have if we did everything right? I mean, that’s what we have to say that we screw up sometimes. And that’s the beauty of Jesus and Christianity that he comes to us in those times.
Courtney Reissig (17:32)
Right, right, right.
Courtney Reissig (17:58)
Right, one of the things I love the Old Testament, and I don’t talk about this story in the book, the… all through Genesis. Genesis is filled with stories of people doing bad things and falling and messing up. And Abraham is such an example of faithlessness, even though Hebrews tells us he’s a man of faith. He’s filled with so much faithlessness and he gives his wife over to…
a foreign man because he’s afraid twice, not once. He didn’t learn his lesson one time. He did it again. But the story of Hagar is such a… I love that story because… I think if you’re talking about abuse, I think it’s a story to tell to a survivor of Hagar’s, a woman who had no choice of her own to have a baby with Abraham. It was not her choice. She was a servant. She was a slave.
Candace Nassar (18:24)
Twice.
Mmm, yes.
Courtney Reissig (18:47)
She’s cast out after she has the baby because of jealousy and she names God El roi the god who sees and it is and you think of if you ever wonder if god sees We can go back to Hagar. Hagar tells us Hagar still speaks god sees god sees all and god deals with it And the thing is with Hagar is her story Doesn’t end necessarily with like victory She’s not freed. She’s still a slave. She goes back
Candace Nassar (18:54)
Mm, one of my favorites.
Candace Nassar (19:13)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (19:17)
and her son’s not the son of the promise. Like there’s no amount of earthly looking at this as she was freed in this life. But she names God the God who sees. And then you see also Leah names her children with a hope that God sees her because she’s also the forgotten woman in Genesis 29 and 30. She’s the woman who’s forgotten by her husband and also mistreated, used by her father.
Candace Nassar (19:37)
Right.
Courtney Reissig (19:41)
to gain more power. I mean, all throughout the stories of scripture, we have a God who sees and he sees the injustice and he sees the brokenness and he will one day make things right. We just don’t always see it. And I think when the things that disorient people of making them want to walk away from the Lord, John, again, also all throughout the Gospel of John shows us that he is a God who is worth believing in. He’s a savior who’s worth believing in.
Candace Nassar (19:49)
Amen.
Courtney Reissig (20:08)
because he is the only hope that we have for all the things we struggle with, whether it’s our unquenchable thirst like the Samaritan woman or Nicodemus thinks he’s religious enough. He thinks he can save himself and Jesus says that doesn’t work either. so you’ve got, I love Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, they’re put next to each other in the scriptures as the two complete opposites and yet Jesus is able to speak to both. So.
Candace Nassar (20:21)
Mm.
Candace Nassar (20:27)
Right?
Courtney Reissig (20:33)
I think at the end of the day we need to trust that he’s the God who sees and he’s the God who is worth believing in.
Candace Nassar (20:38)
Yeah.
Candace Nassar (20:38)
So beautiful. Let’s shift gears for a few moments and talk about how this affected your kids and how, when you know we’ve been through hurt in whatever Christianity, with church or even just hard times. You know how do we live that, in front of our kids? How can we talk to our children so that they don’t, you know have this trauma fear and anxiety going forward that they carry?
How did you do that?
Courtney Reissig (21:04)
Yeah, so it was hard. I mean, walking through abuse in a church context is hard. We had to have hard conversations with our kids. We had to introduce them to things we didn’t want to introduce them to, but I think at the same time, it made them more resilient. It taught them to value safety, taught them to value autonomy and being able to talk about their, what’s going on in their lives and advocate for themselves and others.
But we had to really wrestle with the brokenness of this world. And we, I think we also had to wrestle with like, people are gonna make different decisions than we do as a family. And that’s okay. I think that was a hard thing is people land in different places on how they respond to certain things and having them be like, this is our family and this is how we’re responding. And just because they don’t respond the way we do doesn’t mean that we.
Candace Nassar (21:35)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (21:56)
don’t like them, judge them or don’t like them or talk about it with them or family conversations or family conversations. think we were really, we wanted them to feel like it was a safe place to be frustrated and sad while also saying that not everywhere we go is a safe place for us to talk about these things. So my hope is that at the end of the day, it leads them to trust.
Candace Nassar (21:56)
judge them or, mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (22:23)
in God’s Word and not in people. I think that I will say for me the most disorienting thing and the most freeing thing I learned in this was I was putting a lot of stock in I’m in the right camp, I’m in the right tribe, I work at the right church, I say the right things, I do the right things and I’ve arrived. I’ve made it as a Christian and I did not realize I was putting my hope in those things until those things were gone.
Candace Nassar (22:26)
Mmm.
Courtney Reissig (22:48)
and I was super disoriented. my hope for this is that my kids will be better than me, that they won’t put their hope in an institution or a tribe or a camp that you’re supposed to be in. Now, these are all important things. It’s important to know what you believe. It’s important to have like-minded people around you. But those are not where we put our faith in. We put our faith in the Lord and in his word. And so my hope at the end of it is that
Candace Nassar (22:59)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (23:13)
the word is their anchor and not people. And so when people disappoint them that maybe it’s not so disorienting or so earth shattering. I think a lot of the times we are so broken by circumstances is because we put our faith in people and we have to again and again and again remind ourselves that people are people. They can’t be trusted like God can, but God can be trusted.
Candace Nassar (23:16)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (23:37)
And it’s a perpetual problem that people have had for centuries and will continue to have. So, but that’s my hope for them is that they go to God’s word and not to people.
Candace Nassar (23:38)
Right?
Candace Nassar (23:44)
Yeah.
Candace Nassar (23:47)
I love the fact that you shared. I mean, were obviously shared age appropriate to a degree, but at the same time, they knew that something had happened and they knew what it was that you were honest as a family and talking about how to deal with it. I think so many times we try to shield our children from things like that and we really do them a disservice because when they can process in our homes with us hard times,
Courtney Reissig (23:52)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (23:57)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (24:04)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (24:08)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (24:13)
it’s a lot better than when they will face it on their own and have to process it. And then faith becomes real to them too, because they see mom and dad living it out, and, really believing that Jesus, he’s going to help your family and that you’re going to trust him and that he is, I hate to say it, but someone to believe in, right? So I love that. That is so good.
Courtney Reissig (24:15)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (24:29)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (24:35)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (24:39)
and your kids have switched churches and they’re doing okay.
Courtney Reissig (24:42)
Yeah, they are, they are doing okay. I mean, I think at the end of the day, kids are super resilient. We say that all the time, but they are. I think if mom and dad are okay, then I think that they’re gonna be okay, so I’ve been back in the classroom for a couple of years, but I work with kids whose parents aren’t okay. And so I see…
Candace Nassar (25:05)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (25:05)
I’ve had a new perspective of like, my kids are fine. Like they, if mom and dad are fine, they really are gonna be fine. Now it might be a blip in their life of difficulty and they’ll look back on that and say it was a defining moment for them, but they are gonna bounce back. The buffering adult is a real thing and having two buffering adults who are with you all the time, who are your parents and have always been there for you is…
Courtney Reissig (25:28)
such a stabilizing force for kids. The Lord makes their brains rapidly changing for a reason to protect them. think they I think it’s a mercy. yeah, they I think they’re fine. They they learn resiliency. I think I struggle. I think there’s a lot of good talk in church culture of stay in one church and plant yourself and all that kind of stuff.
Candace Nassar (25:40)
Mm.
Courtney Reissig (25:54)
I 100 % think that’s great. Like being rooted and planted is a great thing. But I don’t think it’s at the expense of leaving for a good reason. I think kids have to understand what’s a good reason to leave a church. What’s a bad reason to leave a church? Not liking the music is not a reason to leave the church or even not liking the kids ministry. I mean, like those are like those are things that. Yeah.
Candace Nassar (26:03)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (26:12)
Right, that’s right.
Candace Nassar (26:19)
It’s that’s about what we’re getting out of it, right? Yeah.
Courtney Reissig (26:23)
Right, it’s not a menu. It’s not like McDonald’s and you go and take a few things you like and leave the rest. mean, but mishandling of abuse, spiritual abuse, leadership, theology. like theology is a huge one. Those are big reasons to shape our kids and help them think critically. Those are good reasons to think through those things. So. Yep.
Candace Nassar (26:30)
theology, I mean.
Candace Nassar (26:40)
Mm hmm. Yeah. And when we know the word, we know, you know, we have that basis, that foundation. And you know, one of my favorite verses also in the Bible is Matthew, where Matthew seven, I’m pretty sure that we build our house, the wise builder builds his house on the rock. And when the storms come, their house will not be shaken. But the foolish builder builds his house on the sand.
Courtney Reissig (26:57)
Mm-hmm. Yes, yes.
Candace Nassar (27:05)
And when the storms come, it falls with a mighty crash. so storms are going to come. I have a dear friend right now who is walking through. Her husband has end stage liver disease and she is like, we don’t know if he’s going to live. And it’s extremely hard to see and to watch. But you know, she just said yesterday, I have built my house. We have built our house on the rock.
Courtney Reissig (27:10)
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (27:17)
Hmm.
Courtney Reissig (27:24)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (27:31)
and we will survive this. And she said, I don’t know how people do it without Jesus, right?
Courtney Reissig (27:33)
Yes, yes.
No, no, no, no, I don’t. I really don’t. I think it is, I see why people lose their faith completely, lose their lives, like their whole livelihood completely because they can’t function, because they don’t have Christ.
Candace Nassar (27:55)
Mm Yeah. Yeah. So, wow. Well, I love this, that you shared all of this. I didn’t know this was going to come out. And so I really appreciate it. I think it was a great conversation. I know that the Lord was leading it. I wish you all the best and the recovery continues. So and I know that your book is going to be great. I’m assuming that you talk about some of these things in the book or
Courtney Reissig (28:04)
you
Courtney Reissig (28:18)
Thank you.
Courtney Reissig (28:21)
I do, yeah, I do. talk about it some in the book. It was so fresh that my goal was not for it to be like an expose. And because I had written so much of the book prior to this, I don’t really touch on it as much. I have some pockets of it throughout the book and I just really didn’t want the story to be the story of the book. I’ve talked about it a fair amount since then and then talked about it in podcasts and stuff since then. And so…
Candace Nassar (28:31)
right.
Courtney Reissig (28:46)
But I do touch on it at certain points. What’s interesting is when I wrote the initial proposal for the book, I included a story of a Sunday sermon that I had heard that really shaped my trust in the Lord when things were shaky. And I kind of end the book with that pastor is no longer my pastor. And so, but it’s that passage you talk about in Hebrews that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Candace Nassar (29:03)
Mmm.
Courtney Reissig (29:09)
and that was a really pivotal sermon for me. And I end the book with that person can no longer be ministering to you because of things you now know and yet that word still is true.
Candace Nassar (29:22)
Yes, that is what’s so beautiful, right? Is that God’s Word is always true and never, never returns void. You were ministered to even though He’s no longer ministering to you.
Courtney Reissig (29:28)
Yes. Right.
Courtney Reissig (29:35)
Mm-hmm. Yes, yes, yes. from mouths can come blessing and cursing. because, yeah.
Candace Nassar (29:41)
I hope that there’s a listener out there that needed to hear that God can restore whatever horrible thing they’ve been through, particularly church hurt, which is just because it’s so hard to keep it separate from the Lord. And I really, really appreciate your story. Is there anything else that you want to encourage our moms with before we leave?
Courtney Reissig (29:50)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Courtney Reissig (30:07)
Yeah, think the, I think that the, the thing that just continues to anchor me is everyone else may fall away, but Jesus doesn’t. Jesus does not fall away. And I think the hope for anyone who’s struggling, who might think it’s not worth it, the Jesus is, he’s worth it. He will keep you. He will keep you. He will, I mean, he Peter. Peter did all kinds of things.
Candace Nassar (30:27)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (30:29)
Peter lost faith and I mean, he keeps weary people. He doesn’t cast out. And Isaiah talks about a bruised reed he will not break. And I think for people who are walking through church hurt and disappointment and disillusionment, we’re bruised reeds and he will not break us. And so trusting that he is worth believing in.
Candace Nassar (30:51)
Mm-hmm.
Courtney Reissig (30:52)
is and I think I would hope that the book would be an encouragement to help anchor you around Jesus and not around your circumstances.
Candace Nassar (30:59)
Wow, that’s beautiful. All right, well, we’re gonna put all of that in our show notes and we just appreciate your story so much. Thank you, Courtney. You bet.
Courtney Reissig (36:19.362)
Thanks for having me.
