Recently, I posted a clip from Justin Zhong, the satellite leader of Sure Foundation Baptist Church – and NIFB church in Indianapolis, IN. https://www.instagram.com/p/C-bBCruy-DK/?hl=en The comments were swarmed by NIFB congregants from churches led by leaders in that movement, such as Steven Anderson, Roger Jimenez, and, of course, Aaron Thompson …

Send us a Text Message. Amanda and Kyle embark on a perilous journey through more cult ideology around dating, sex, marriage, and purity. Bill's vision (for everyone except himself and his brothers) involves some pretty steep expectations of young men that are, dare we say, impossible in 2024. Young women fare much better under Bill's system in tha…

⚠️ Content Warning ⚠️ Two weeks ago, Pastor Justin Zhong got behind the pulpit of Sure Foundation Baptist Church and made credible violent threats against Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Ray Comfort, John MacArthur and others. I unequivocally condemn political and religious violence in any form, and I believe that those who make threats of this sort shoul…

Send us a Text Message. Support this podcast check out the PATREON You may be asking, why do we need a part three? My friend Dave who acted the character Jimmy Barclay on Focus on the Family's Adventure's In Odyssey has a lot to say. One of the very few children who grew up amongst the Christian Nationalist organization and propaganda machine to bl…

Send us a Text Message. A special guest joins us to discuss the case against Amanda's brother. Jennifer, an Assistant District Attorney and podcast listener, prosecutes sexual assault cases in her state and has some interesting thoughts on Amanda's experience as a witness, the politics that impacted the case against her brother, and the legal outco…

Grab your copy of A Well-Trained Wife: https://amzn.to/4dbE3aE “Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles––a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included str…

Send us a Text Message. Support the podcast join the PATREON In this episode Dave and I discuss very sensitive information. Elements of self harm are self hate are brought up. Please listen with caution. Dave and I discuss the ALOHA episode of Adventures in Odyssey. For those that want to be on the podcast make sure to reach out—link in the show no…

Send us a Text Message. Amanda and Kyle discuss the IBLP Advanced Seminar seven-step chart about how a woman becomes immoral. Obviously, this is all “supported” by random verses from the King James Version of the Christian Bible. So, normal cult stuff. Amanda shares her childhood judgement of females who wore clothes that actually fit (so immoral) …

Send us a Text Message. To support the podcast please check out the PATREON This guest played Jimmy Barclay on Adventures in Odyssey. Please welcome Dave. It is truly an honor to have Dave on this show. We have become friends over the past year, and I am so thankful he is sharing his time and story with us all. Adventure in Odyssey is a children’s …

Send us a Text Message. The Ten Unchangeables make a reappearance in the courtship process. The IBLP Advanced Seminar Textbook lays out intense instructions for how to interrogate a potential romantic partner. Kyle is incredulous, Amanda is shocked he's still shocked by cult material, and much laughter ensues. Support the Show.…

There's a lot of strange stuff out there about the Bible. So I interviewed Bible scholar and historian Wesley Huff to give some clarity on this topic. Timestamps: 03:59- Myth #1: The Bible was put together at the Council of Nicaea, where books were taken out. 09:39- Myth #2: The Bible has changed over time, especially with books being taken out, te…

Send us a Text Message. Support the podcast check out the PATREON I am excited and honored to have my friend, author D.L. Mayfield, on the podcast today. D.L. spent many years in Christian publishing before escaping the evangelical movement, deconstructing, coming out, and becoming an atheist. D.L. and I share a creative space on social media and a…

Send us a Text Message. In the next installment of courtship in the cult, Amanda tells Kyle all about the IBLP Basic and Advanced Training Seminar's instruction regarding the four levels of friendship and how they govern dating or courtship relationships. Support the Show.By Amanda & Kyle Briggs

On November 13, 2020, I shared an episode of the Preacher Boys Podcast featuring Bruce Kennedy discussing his experiences at North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, CA. On the episode, we discussed several scandals relating to this particular ministry, and one in particular was that of Norlan Macias - a former member of North Valley Baptist Chu…

Send us a Text Message. Support the podcast join the PATREON Please Welcome Dr Jamie (they/them)! I am so thankful they are here today. Dr Jamie socializes in Dissociative Identity Disorder and is the author of TEN books. Their knowledge on DID specifically stemming from high control regions is vast, please enjoy this discussion on their upcoming b…

Send us a Text Message. Amanda shares her own courtship experience and the ill-fated romance that followed. She explains purity culture concepts such as "giving away your heart," being a "chewed up piece of gum," and being a "trampled garden." Amanda and Kyle discuss how Amanda's ex found out about her childhood abuse and how that information impac…

Check out the Psycho-Therapy Podcast: https://rebrand.ly/psychotherapypodcast Check out Figuring It Out: https://www.youtube.com/@figuringitouttv/videos Welcome to the Preacher Boys Podcast! In this episode, we delve deep into the importance of inclusivity and diversity in the healing journey from trauma and abuse. My guest today is Ashley Easter, …

We're digging deeper into the world of MLMs (Multi-Level Marketing). In this interview, I talk with two former MLM leaders, Kathy and Noble Gibbens, who are absolutely delightful. They were in a well-known MLM for over 20 years and were very successful. So why'd they leave it all? This is a follow-up to my initial MLM video. With as long as this in…

Send us a Text Message. A conversation Amanda has put off for a long time plays out amid trauma laughs, real laughs, and incredulity (on Kyle's part). Join us for a conversation about an IBLP cult staple: courtship. Presented as an alternative to "secular dating," courtship is Bill Gothard's highly controlled and supposedly impeccable standard for …

Send us a Text Message. Support the podcast check out the PATREON Joanna Whaley has been a guest on the pod previously, she and I get together for this bonus episode. Carl Lentz and Laura Lentz launched a podcast about his side. Joanna and I are former mega church leaders who break down his language nuances. Check out Joanna's socials. For those th…

Send us a Text Message. Amanda and Kyle are reunited for another episode! They answer some listener questions, then Kyle asks Amanda about something she mentioned in passing that startled him and required further investigation. Support the Show.By Amanda & Kyle Briggs

Send us a Text Message. Support the podcast, check out the PATREON Pastor Paul is back for a part two. In this second half we discuss how important it is to discover love of self inside relationships. The church teaches that in order to be loved by God we need to completely die to ourselves. Paul and I talk about how the church uses this to control…

Send us a Text Message. What do Celine Dion and Wisdom Booklet #1 have in common? Well, it's all coming back to me now as Amanda and Kyle go down the rabbit hole (or up the mountain?) into the world of ATI where male supremacy makes an immediate appearance. Listen along as Kyle reacquaints Amanda with the concepts of the cult's flagship homeschooli…

I’m so glad to welcome Erica Smith, M. Ed to today’s episode of the Preacher Boys Podcast. Erica is an experienced, award-winning, and internationally recognized sexuality educator whose main area of focus is sex education for people leaving high-control religions. Connect with her here: https://www.ericasmitheac.com/ ✖️✖️✖️ Support the Show: Patre…

Send us a Text Message. Please support this podcast by checking out the PATREON This was recorded the day before the Trump verdict was read- Earlier this season I had Pastor Paul on, I knew I wanted to have them back on for Pride month. During this podcast I deviated from the normal format and let the conversation go where it wanted to go. Paul and…

Send us a Text Message. In the most vulnerable episode to date, Amanda shares her songwriting diary and describes how the music helped her cope with reporting her brother, losing her biological family, going through a divorce, struggling with her mental health, and, ultimately, finding hope, love, and joy in life. Support the Show.…

I highly encourage you to watch the past interview with Cathy that we referenced in the episode: https://youtu.be/DoPQVDE9c7k ✖️✖️✖️ Grab a copy of Ryan's book: https://amzn.to/45j7dl4 ✖️✖️✖️ BOOK DESCRIPTION: What would you do if you learned—from a podcast—that your dad (a pastor) was a serial sexual abuser? For Ryan George, this isn't a hypotheti…

Send us a Text Message. Support this podcast check out the PATREON Please welcome my friend Noah (He/him/they/them). Noah is a transgender male and his story is about mending himself. Raised inside fundamentalist evangelicalism and under the strict parenting styles of James Dobson, Noah is reparenting himself through learning how to love himself. J…

Send us a Text Message. Kyle teaches Amanda about the experience of growing up in public school. It all started over a dinner date conversation that resulted in running back to the Airbnb to record Amanda's questions/shock/terror about "evil public school." The IBLP cult taught that public school was immoral, so Amanda had a lot to learn about the …

On June 2nd, 2023, the documentary series "Shiny Happy People" premiered on Amazon Prime. While the series' tagline promised to expose some Duggar family secrets, it ended up revealing much more, particularly the work and philosophy of Bill Gothard, the creator of the Institute in Basic Life Principles and the Advanced Training Institute. Gothard's…

We're delving into the world of MLMs (Multi-Level Marketing Companies) and exploring their allure and controversy. And let me tell you... MLMs can be one of the strangest and most intriguing phenomena in the business world. I never intended this video to be as long as it did. But the more research I did, the more I decided that I needed to cover. I…

Send us a Text Message. Coming to you live from the middle of a cross-country move, Amanda and Kyle answer more listener questions. They discuss the impact of cults/trauma/sexual assault/sin on health, and Amanda shares how she overcame her IBLP cult-induced beliefs that her medical struggles were punishment from God. Amanda also recommends some bo…

Purchase a copy of Baptistland: https://amzn.to/3R6MzP2 About the Book: It began with just wanting to tell the truth. But truth-telling has a way of snowballing. When Christa Brown first spoke out about the sexual abuse she endured in her Texas childhood church, she never imagined it would expose the ethical chasm at the core of the Southern Baptis…

Send us a Text Message. Thanks to some help from a listener, Amanda and Kyle finally tackle their long-awaited topic: Bill Gothard's teachings on sex rules in marriage! To absolutely nobody's surprise, the IBLP cult has a lot to say (ahem, dictate) about how married people go about their sexual relationship -- including days they should not have se…

Grab a copy of Cait's book, Rift: https://amzn.to/4dMIoBN Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing and to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay…

Send us a Text Message. In an angsty and emotional conversation, Amanda tells Kyle about the complexity of Mother's Day with an abusive mother. Amanda shares how the IBLP cult enabled parental abuse and what it’s like to cut ties with abusive parents. Support the Show.

Joe Nucci is a psychotherapist and writer whose content contextualizes mental health misinformation, pop-psychology facts and fallacies, and culturally misconstrued ideas. Joe’s debut book will be released in 2025. ✖️✖️✖️ Support the Show: Patreon.com/PreacherBoys ✖️✖️✖️ If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-he…

On today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Meg Applegate, the CEO of Unsilenced Project Inc., a non-profit on a mission to stop institutional child abuse by empowering self-advocates to promote lasting social change. At the age of 15, Meg was abducted by two strangers in the middle of the night from her California home and was told that “she was com…

Send us a Text Message. Amanda tells Kyle about Bill Gothard's teachings on adoption. It turns out adoption is considered a medical situation. It also turns out couples who can't have biological children shouldn't adopt because, according to Bill, God doesn't think they should be parents. Amanda explains the concept of "sins of the father" and how …

Joe Nucci is a psychotherapist with thousands of hours of experience working with psychological and personal development issues. He specializes in treating anxiety, depression, complex trauma, couples, families, and adult children of dysfunctional families. I wanted to share this 8-minute sneak peek of our full interview – which will be released on…

Send us a Text Message. Support the podcast by checking out the PATREON Today I have the honor of interviewing Jason Kirk. Jason is a NYT sports editor and he took time in-between the draft to have this conversation. Aside from Jason's job at the NYT, he and his wife co-host the VBS podcast, and he authored "Hell is a world without you." This book …

In today's episode, I discuss why I shut down the Preacher Boys Facebook group for two weeks and what I hope changes. ✖️✖️✖️ Support the Show: Patreon.com/PreacherBoys ✖️✖️✖️ If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-help ✖️✖️✖️ CONNECT WITH THE SHOW: preacherboyspodcast.com https://www.youtube.com/@PreacherBoys ht…

UFOs and aliens can be a fringe topic that many Christians don't know how to navigate. Surprisingly, there are many academics and theologians that have seriously looked into this from a Christian worldview. In this fascinating interview, I talk to Dr. Brian Huffling about this topic and his surprising conclusions. 👀WATCH👀: ● Subscribe to Dr. Huffli…

Send us a Text Message. Amanda and Kyle discuss what it's like to leave a cult and be that "weird" person trying to navigate the real world. Amanda shares the hurdles she faced as a weird person after leaving the IBLP cult, the process of recognizing she was different than those around her, and how she made non-cult friends. Amanda and Kyle talk th…

Ashley Easter is a passionate advocate committed to guiding individuals toward liberation and empowerment. With an unwavering dedication to helping others break free from abuse and oppression, Ashley channels her energy into creating a space where individuals can unlock their full potential. Driven by a profound belief in the possibility of a life …

Magic Mind made this episode possible! Get 20% off your first order of Magic Mind by visiting MagicMind.com/PreacherBoys and using the discount code PREACHERBOYS20 ✖️✖️✖️ If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-help ✖️✖️✖️ CONNECT WITH THE SHOW: preacherboyspodcast.com https://www.youtube.com/@PreacherBoys https:…

Send us a Text Message. Amanda and Kyle respond to many listener questions about reaching a healthy sex life after experiencing sexual trauma in or outside a cult. They discuss different therapy modalities that helped Amanda heal, why females in the IBLP cult dissociated from their bodies, and why distance from harmful people helps the healing proc…

Today is the 300th episode of the Preacher Boys Podcast, and a lot has happened since episode one… The podcast journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. From taking a seat with Chris Hansen to joining forces with Paris Hilton in protest to my appearance on TV in Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals, the show has opened doors I never could hav…

Send us a Text Message. Support the podcast- Join the Patreon Cait West and I had an opportunity to sit down and discuss her upcoming book "Rift" A memoir of breaking away from Christian Patriarchy. Cait West demonstrates why it is so important for survivors to both tell their stories and connect with others who survived the evangelical movement. H…

Over its impressive 26-season run, Law and Order: SVU has consistently mirrored real-life events in its gripping fictional storylines. From the Chris Brown domestic abuse case to the Casey Anthony investigation and the Michael Jackson allegations, the show has always stayed on top of the headlines. It should come as no surprise that, in 2015, SVU a…