Faith Meets Academia
Welcome to Faith Meets Academia!
Struggling to connect your faith with everyday life, career ambitions, or academic pursuits? Hosted by a university professor and ordained minister, Dr. Adrian Reynolds, this podcast will help you translate your faith-based values into personal growth, professional development, and academic success. Faith Meets Academia emphasizes that faith and work can forge a mutually sustaining partnership.
Each episode breaks down complex academic concepts into everyday language and connects them with timeless spiritual principles for transformational learning and development. By the end of each episode, you will be equipped with practical tools to set the tone for a purposeful, productive week.
Join the journey today!
Your host, Adrian Reynolds (Ph.D.), is an ordained minister, learning coach, and assistant professor of medical education at an R1 university. He is on a mission to merge educational innovation with biblical wisdom. Dr. Reynolds brings over two decades of teaching experience across the educational continuum: from working with underserved, high school students as a state-certified instructor of Spanish to coaching students in graduate and professional degree programs in evidence-based teaching skills and the science of learning.
Dr. Reynolds’ work is located within the rapidly growing field of applied learning sciences and is driven by both socio-cognitive and sociocultural approaches to learning and teaching. His preventive model of academic coaching has been published in journals such as Medical Teacher and Clinical Teacher. He has held over 1,000 (one-on-one) academic coaching sessions with medical students, residents, fellows, and pre-med students. Dr. Reynolds has developed numerous peer-teaching programs for medical students in addition to courses in the science of learning for residents, pre-med and high school students.
Dr. Reynolds has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ for over 10 years both nationally and internationally. He has long been recognized to seamlessly intertwine academic concepts with biblical principles: His approach to preaching and teaching the word of God is centered around growth mindset (Philippians 4:13), transformational learning (Romans 12:2), and reflective, mindful practice (Philippians 4:8, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:97).
As a missionary ambassador, Dr. Reynolds has embarked on transformative journeys that bridge cultures and continents, bringing tangible support and hope to those in need. Most recently, in the fall of 2023, his dedication to humanitarian causes led him to Mozambique: From the bustling streets of Maputo to the serene countryside of Inharrime, through the unwavering support and sponsorship from faith-based leaders and communities, Dr. Reynolds has played a pivotal role in the allocation of humanitarian aid and educational resources, providing essential support to elevate community wellbeing.
Earlier that year, he engaged in a mission focused on cultural exchange and relationship-building in the Maputo province to better understand and address local challenges. Through these missions, Dr. Reynolds exemplifies the true essence of a missionary ambassador, integrating service, education, and faith into impactful action.
Faith Meets Academia
Episode 49: A Testimony Not Given Might Be a Blessing Withheld (Part 2)
Have you ever hesitated to share your success story because it felt like boasting? That reluctance might be keeping someone from the very encouragement they desperately need.
In this second episode of our three-part series "A Testimony Not Given Might Be a Blessing Withheld," Dr. A. introduces four transformative principles that empower you to share your testimony with integrity and purpose. Moving beyond the discomfort of seeming self-promotional, these strategies reframe your experiences as bridges that help others journey from doubt to confidence, from "I can't" to "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
The first principle invites you to shift focus from accolades to journey, sharing not just achievements but the complete story including obstacles overcome and emotions processed.
Next, we explore celebrating community by acknowledging the network of supporters who made your journey possible.
The third principle grounds testimony in purpose by examining what greater message God might be communicating through your experiences.
Finally, we discuss transforming testimonies into calls to action that inspire others to reflect, serve, or take their next faithful step.
These principles create a framework where sharing success becomes an act of service rather than self-promotion. Your story (complete with setbacks, comebacks, and breakthroughs) might be exactly what someone needs to move forward in their own journey.
By withholding your testimony, you might inadvertently withhold a blessing meant for someone else.
Join Dr. A. next week as he concludes this series with his own personal testimony.
Subscribe now and discover how your story can become a powerful instrument of encouragement and hope.
WEBSITE: https://faithmeetsacademia.buzzsprout.com/2312145/episodes
CONTACT: faithmeetsacademia@gmail.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely my own and do not reflect or represent the positions, policies, or opinions of my employer, any organization or academic institution with which I am affiliated. This podcast is a personal initiative, and is not connected to my official/ formal duties and responsibilities as a university professor.
Hey there, welcome back to FMA, faith Meets Academia. It's such a pleasure, such a joy to have you back. Thanks for returning. I hope that you'll have a blessed week. Happy Monday. Hey, this week is going to be great because there is greatness in you. 1 John 4, 4,. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Speaker 1:Remember, you can find Faith Meets Academia on any major podcast platform, whether it's Spotify, apple Podcasts, amazon Music, audible you name it. Faith Meets Academia is out there. Share with your friends, share with a colleague, share with your family. I'm certain that they'll be able to find some insights in any one, at least, of the 49 episodes Well, 49, by the time I finish with this one that I have recorded over the past year. All right, so let's dive right into part two of this three-part series titled A Testimony Not Given Might Be a Blessing Withheld. All right, so let's dive right into part two of this three-part series titled A Testimony Not Given Might Be a Blessing Withheld.
Speaker 1:I'm going to introduce to you just four key principles that you can use to help share your testimony without a feeling of guilt, in other words, without feeling like you're boasting or bragging. Sharing your testimony with integrity and with clarity. All right. Number one shift from spotlight to story, focus on the story. So sharing success ain't nothing wrong with it, right? I mean, especially when you're using your story as the means to an end, right? So you're using it as a bridge to help take people from where they are to where God has called them to be, from all the self-doubts to self-confidence, from all the self-doubts to self-confidence, from the I can't do to the I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You're helping to take them from a place of feeling stuck, feeling stagnant, to a place of freedom, through sharing your testimony. Yes, john 8.36 says Therefore, if the Son, that's Jesus Christ, makes you free, you shall be free indeed. And so when sharing your testimony, the key is to avoid using titles or accolades as the destination. Instead, share how the end result, the outcome, the achievement, reflects a deeper journey and a larger purpose.
Speaker 1:So when you talk about the promotion that you've received, let's say, I mean it really becomes a powerful testimony when you're sharing the entire journey. And, by the way, when I talk about sharing a testimony, it could be in a conversation, I mean it could be within the walls of your place of worship, if there's an opportunity to do that, and how long it is or how short it is, I mean, depends on how much time you're a place of worship. If there's an opportunity to do that, and how long it is or how short it is, I mean, depends on how much time you're allotted and how much you have to share. So when I talk about sharing the whole journey, it's within whatever limitations that you have, but when you share the journey, share the challenges and the obstacles that you had to overcome along the way, the setbacks, the comebacks, the tests of your patience. So let's say you're sharing a promotion that you received on the job. It's important to relate how you got there right, not just the success you've had along the way, but were there any obstacles you had to overcome? Perhaps there were times when you know that you've done your best, you've put in your best work, but you still didn't get that pay raise, you still didn't get that promotion. And how did you feel in those moments? How did you get, how did you work through those emotions that you experienced? All right, so here's the second principle Celebrate the community.
Speaker 1:What do I mean by that? Hey, in this life we don't walk alone. Whatever we've achieved, whatever we've been able to overcome, we have a community of supporters, believers, cheerleaders, label them as you wish, but there are people who are playing key roles as advisors, mentors, consultants, encouragers, inspirers you name it. I mean, think about how you got to where you are, whether it's in your spiritual journey, whether it's in your professional development, whether it's in your academic achievements. Think about where you are and all those who were a part of your support system. And were it not for their support, were it not for their prayers, were it not for their encouragement, how different would your life be today? So, as part of your testimony, you recognize all the family, friends, mentors you name it who have made the journey just a little smoother for you, even through their own testimony. Now we're onto something. You see how that works. That testimony is the gift that just keeps on giving. So, giving credit to where credit is due, recognizing that you didn't get to this point all by yourself or through your own power or will, that recognition builds a sense of unity and it lets others know that their behind-the-scenes work and support truly matters.
Speaker 1:Okay. Third principle Are you ready? Ground your testimony first, in purpose, right, and to do that. You can ask questions like well, what purpose does this achievement or this test that you have overcome, what purpose does it serve? What message is the Lord trying to send to me here through this testimony? Who is it going to help? Testimony, who is it going to help? Why does this testimony matter in the grand scheme or the bigger picture of my faith walk or my mission? When your progress, your deliverance, your breakthrough, your blessing, your achievement is framed as part of God's plan, then it stops sounding like you're just promoting yourself to talk about yourself and it begins to resonate as part of the mission to spread the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Okay, the fourth principle here it goes Make your testimony a call to action. Call to action, cta. Yeah, don't let your testimony just sit there. All right, it should move people into action. A story that just ends with here's my story, look at me, you know, closes the door. But when it's encouraging someone to reflect on their own journey or become a partner in your mission, or just to simply step forward in faith, then it becomes a call to action. So be intentional about pointing people to the next step. You may invite them to pray, to give more, to serve more, to reflect more, to study the Word of God just a little bit harder and search for meaning, insight and how it applies to transforming their everyday lives. So extend the impact of your testimony by connecting your story to someone else's hope and vision.
Speaker 1:Now, in next week's episode, come back next Monday. It'll be the final episode of this three-part. It'll be the last of this three-part series. I will share my own testimony, one of many, and I pray that it'll be a blessing to you and that hopefully it'll illustrate these four key principles. Happy Monday. Thanks again for joining. Enjoy the rest of the week and don't forget that a testimony not given might be a blessing withheld. Stay blessed.