What happens when faith is reduced to a feeling?

In this episode, I sit down with Fr. Justin Havens, a missionary priest serving at St. Joseph the Hesychast Serbian Orthodox Church, to talk about one of the most important spiritual questions of our time:

Is truth something you feel… or something you encounter?

Drawing from years of missionary work in Utah—one of the most spiritually unique regions in America—we unpack the contrast between subjective religious experience and objective truth in Christ, and why so many people today are starving for something deeper.

This is a conversation about:
• the limits of emotional spirituality
• the reality of the ascetical life
• and why Orthodoxy is quietly exploding in places no one expected

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In this episode, I'm joined by Fr. John Whiteford to explore one of the most misunderstood books in all of Scripture: the Book of Revelation.

For many modern Christians, Revelation is treated as a roadmap of future geopolitical events—something to decode through headlines, wars, and speculation. But in the Orthodox Christian tradition, Revelation is something far deeper: a vision of heavenly worship.

We begin by breaking down the true meaning of the Divine Liturgy—not as a symbolic gathering or a teaching session, but as real participation in the worship of heaven itself.

From there, Fr. John explains how the imagery of Revelation—altars, incense, angels, hymns, and the Lamb—directly corresponds to what the Church has preserved in her liturgical life for centuries.

This conversation reframes Revelation entirely: not as a prediction chart, but as an unveiling of the eternal reality that the Church enters into every time the Liturgy is celebrated.

We also address how modern misreadings of Revelation—especially those rooted in recent theological innovations—have led many Christians to interpret global events, particularly in relation to Israel, through a distorted and often dangerous lens.

Ultimately, this episode is about recovering a right understanding of worship, Scripture, and the Kingdom of God—and seeing the Divine Liturgy for what it truly is: heaven on earth.

Fr. John Whiteford is an Orthodox priest serving in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). He is the rector of St. Jonah Orthodox Church in Spring, Texas, and has been a longtime teacher, writer, and defender of the Orthodox Christian faith.

He is widely known for his work in apologetics, particularly in explaining Orthodox theology in contrast to modern Protestant innovations. Fr. John has written extensively on Scripture, Church history, and liturgical theology, and is especially respected for his clear, direct approach to difficult theological topics.

Through his writing and teaching, he has helped many people rediscover the depth and continuity of the historic Christian tradition.

Find more from Fr John here: https://saintjonah.org

And here: https://frjohnwhiteford.substack.com

And here: http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com

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In recent years the language of autism and ADHD has moved from clinical psychology into mainstream culture.
What was once a narrow medical diagnosis has expanded into a broad identity category embraced by millions online.
But what explains this sudden rise?
In this episode of Counterflow, Buck Johnson is joined by psychiatrist and writer Dr. Hannah Spier to explore the cultural, psychological, and social forces behind the modern "neurodivergence" movement.
Drawing from her widely discussed essays on autism, identity, and modern narcissism, Dr. Spier argues that the explosion of neurodivergent identity may say as much about modern culture as it does about mental health.
Together they discuss the expansion of autism diagnoses, the rise of self-diagnosis through social media, and the growing tendency to frame personality traits and social difficulties through psychological labels.
The conversation also explores how modern identity culture, social media validation, and new expressions of covert narcissism may be contributing to the neurodivergence boom.
Finally, Buck and Dr. Spier examine a deeper question: what happens to a culture when mental illness becomes identity?

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