Blessed Are the Canceled
A podcast exploring how rejection, mockery, and abandonment can lead to a deeper encounter with God. Hosts Brenna Blain and Josh Butler combine personal stories, theology, and cultural analysis to discuss shame, outrage, betrayal, suffering, forgiveness, resilience, and spiritual inheritance. They examine how experiences of pain and exile can become formative and how the places of deepest abandonment might be where God is most present.
Episodes
Blessed are the Canceled — Official Trailer
What happens when your world falls apart?Blessed are the Canceled is a podcast about how being rejected, mocked, and discarded can actually become a pathway into the presence of God.Hosted by Brenna Blain and Josh Butler.Launching May 26.New episodes every Tuesday.Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.🎧 Listen:Spotify: Coming soonApple Podcasts: Coming soon📬 Substack:Brenna Blain: htt
STORM: When Your World Falls Apart
What happens when your world falls apart?In today’s episode, “Storm,” you’ll hear a behind-the-scenes account of the moment Josh’s world unraveled—the experience of being canceled, and what it actually felt like from the inside.This episode explores what we mean by “canceling,” why it’s more complex than we often assume, and how Scripture reframes these moments—not just as loss, but as a
CONTAGIOUS: Why No One Wants to Be Around You
What happens when people pull away? In today’s episode, “Contagious: Why No One Wants to Be Around You,” we take you behind the scenes of Josh’s exit from The Keller Center at The Gospel Coalition, then zoom out to explore a theology of disgust. In Leviticus, the Bible uses language like clean and unclean—categories that can feel strange, even offensive to modern ears. But they turn out t
SCAPEGOAT: How We Try to Save the People We Love
In today’s episode, “Scapegoat: How We Try to Save the Ones We Love,” we’ll take you behind the scenes of Josh’s resignation from his church, and explore how internal leadership fractures can surface when an organization comes under the pressure of a firestorm. We’ll unpack a theology of scapegoating and discover it’s far more complex than the way the word is usually used. (Spoiler alert
UNDERWATER: When God Lets You Drown
In today’s episode, "Underwater: When God Lets You Drown," you’ll get an inside look at the most hidden, and most painful, part of Josh’s story: a seven-year dream he believed God had given him, and how it came crashing down in the firestorm.We’ll explore what the Christian tradition calls the dark night of the soul—what it is, what it isn’t, and how we navigate seasons when it feels like
OUTRAGE: How to Feed the Machine
In today’s episode, “Outrage: How to Feed the Machine,” you’ll get an inside look at how the attack on Josh was more organized than it first appeared, driven by a particular tribe with a pattern of misrepresenting and digitally swarming dozens of Christian leaders.We’ll explore how social media got hijacked by outrage marketing, how online bullies learned to weaponize anger to build a pla
BETRAYAL: When a Friend Wields the Knife
In today’s episode, “Betrayal: When a Friend Wields the Knife,” you’ll hear Josh reflect on those who retracted their endorsements during the firestorm, and we’ll go behind the scenes of how one close friend leveraged the firestorm in ways that fractured his church community. We’ll move from the national to the local: it’s one thing to be attacked by people who don’t know you. It’s anothe
APPEASE: Why Good Leaders Fail
In today’s episode, “Appease: Why Good Leaders Fail,” we go behind the scenes as Josh reflects on leadership failures he and others made in an attempt to appease a small group of leaders.Along the way, we explore how anxiety can infect a church or organization, and why being a non-anxious presence matters in moments of crisis. We’ll also dig into the tensions that arise when you’re both a
TRAUMA: How Your Body Keeps the Score
In today’s episode, “Trauma: How Your Body Keeps the Score,” you’ll hear Josh reflect vulnerably on the tremors, sleeplessness, and suicidal ideation he experienced in the year following his cancellation, and the painful childhood memories it brought to the surface, memories God gradually began to heal.We’ll explore a theology of trauma and the body: How are the body and mind connected? W
INHERITANCE: When God Is All You Need
In today’s episode, “Inheritance: When God Is All You Need,” Josh reflects on how he began to reconcile the haunting sense that God had moved on–that he had been discarded, and his future handed to someone else. We’ll explore a theology of inheritance: What is our inheritance in Christ? Can it be taken away? How does God form and provide for us in seasons when it feels like we’ve lost eve
CATHOLIC: Where My Wife Found Peace
In today’s episode, “Catholic: Where My Wife Found Peace,” you’ll hear Josh share a part of his family’s story that he hasn’t told publicly until now. It’s the story of his wife Holly’s entrance into the Catholic Church, a journey that culminated in the year following his cancellation.This wasn’t a reaction to the firestorm, and it wasn’t a sudden change of direction. It was the fruit of
FORGIVENESS: How to Move Forward
In today’s episode, “Forgiveness: How to Move Forward,” you’ll hear Josh reflect on his own slow, costly process of letting go of bitterness and resentment toward those who wronged him. You’ll also hear how he learned to forgive himself for mistakes and regrets he wished he could take back. We’ll explore a theology of forgiveness: How do you move forward when real harm has been done? What
RESILIENCE: Turning Your Past Into Power for Your Future
In today’s episode, “Resilience: Turning Your Past Into Power for Your Future,” you’ll hear Josh reflect on how he slowly rediscovered confidence in the voice of God, and how the experience of being canceled, while deeply painful, became something God used over time to bless and strengthen him.He’ll also share his dreams for the future—both literal and figurative—and how the image of a ts
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