Uncomfortable Grace

Coty Nguyễn

Through Uncomfortable Grace, I create space for honest, Spirit-led conversations that challenge the Church to return to truth, unity, and holiness. Each episode confronts the hard stuff... sin, division, lukewarm faith and invites listeners into deeper surrender, practical discipleship, and a revived relationship with Jesus. This isn’t about surface-level inspiration... it’s about transformation.  Support the work I’m doing by giving toward this podcast. Your generosity helps me host guest speakers and expand the reach of this cast as we seek to offer the world Christ. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2517535j/support

  1. 2D AGO

    When the Church Makes Peace With Death: Abortion, the Death Penalty, and the Gospel We Keep Avoiding

    Send a text When compassion gets confused with killing and dignity is used to dress up death, it’s time to slow down and ask what God has actually said. We trace a straight line from Genesis to the Gospels to show why human life is sacred, how the image of God grounds dignity beyond productivity or autonomy, and why death is never a solution in the kingdom Jesus announced. Along the way, we take on the hard question many Christians avoid: can a pro-life ethic make peace with the death penalty? Drawing from a Wesleyan lens, we wrestle with justice, protection of the innocent, and the space grace needs to work, even behind bars. You’ll hear a clear case for choosing life that isn’t about party lines or slogans. We name how a culture of death takes root—by making worth conditional, calling killing care, and treating dependence as weakness—and we contrast that with Jesus’ pattern: moving toward the sick, raising the dead, and defeating the grave through resurrection. We address common pushbacks around compassion, choice, and judgment, and show how biblical compassion never ends a life to ease pain. Instead, it bears suffering with people and refuses to trade a person’s future for our present comfort. Our goal is not to win arguments, but to call the church back to faithfulness where truth and mercy meet. If resurrection is real, death is the enemy, not a tool. Join us as we challenge easy narratives, repent of failures, and commit to protecting every life—unborn, disabled, elderly, incarcerated, and even guilty—because Jesus is Lord of life and death doesn’t get the final word. If this moved you or made you think, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with the verse that shaped your view of life. Support the show

    23 min
  2. JAN 27

    Guarding Scripture In A Heated Debate About Immigration

    Send us a text What happens when politics borrows the language of the pulpit? We open the door on a hard conversation: immigration, slogans that sound compassionate, and the subtle ways the church can trade theological depth for quick applause. Our aim isn’t to inflame, but to shepherd—calling out misused scripture while holding fast to mercy, order, and the lordship of Jesus. We dig into the claim “Jesus was an immigrant,” exploring why the heart behind it matters and why the history doesn’t fit modern categories. From there, we challenge the assumption that empathy justifies lawlessness, tracing a biblical thread from creation’s order to Israel’s laws to the early church’s discipline. Grace doesn’t dissolve boundaries; it transforms people within them. Along the way, we ask why easy slogans spread faster than truth and how repentance, not affirmation, keeps the gospel alive in our hearts. Drawing on a Wesleyan lens—Scripture as primary authority, with tradition, reason, and experience in their proper place—we offer a path to love immigrants without twisting texts. We unpack how turning Jesus into a political mascot silences his lordship, and how weaponized compassion, however well-intended, distorts the gospel’s call to holiness. The final charge is simple and demanding: love the stranger, pursue justice, resist cruelty, and refuse to bend Scripture to our instincts. Uncomfortable grace is still grace, and truth spoken in love still stands. If this conversation helps you think more clearly and love more faithfully, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful theology, and leave a review to help others find the show. Support the show

    20 min
  3. JAN 27

    When “More Loving” Becomes Less True

    Send us a text A single line from Matthew 7 can steady or shatter the soul of a preacher, and it’s the line that drives this conversation: not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. We wrestle with how a “more gracious” gospel can sound compassionate while quietly redefining obedience, minimizing repentance, and removing the shape of discipleship. Instead of abstract theology, we trace concrete consequences—how words from the pulpit form consciences, how silence can masquerade as kindness, and why Jesus reserves his sharpest warnings for those who mislead the vulnerable. We unpack a crucial distinction: grace doesn’t lower God’s standard; it lifts the sinner to it. That lens reframes familiar debates about holiness, self-denial, and the narrow gate. Drawing on James’s charge that teachers are judged with greater strictness and Ezekiel’s watchman imagery, we consider the weight of pastoral responsibility. We also revisit John Wesley’s vision of transforming grace and social holiness, clarifying how the Wesleyan quadrilateral only holds when Scripture governs experience, tradition, and reason—not the other way around. Across these themes, one thread holds: sincerity isn’t safety. Paul’s warnings about “another Jesus” and “another gospel” are not relics; they are pastoral guardrails for a church tempted to trade revelation for affirmation. The goal here isn’t outrage but reverent clarity. We invite you to test everything by Scripture, let love speak truth without flinching, and recover the courage to warn because warning is love. If this conversation makes you tremble, you’re standing in the right place. Share this with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep the dialogue honest and hopeful. Support the show

    23 min
  4. JAN 13

    Why ‘Gay Christian’ Should Never Have Existed

    Send us a text Let’s talk about who gets to name you. We step into a charged topic—sexuality, identity, and Christian discipleship—with a slow pace, a gentle tone, and uncompromising clarity. No culture-war posturing, no cheap shots, just an honest wrestle with Scripture, the language of new creation, and the cost of following Jesus when desire runs deep. We begin by separating what often gets fused: attraction from behavior, temptation from sin, struggle from identity, and pastoral care from theological affirmation. From 2 Corinthians 5 and Galatians 2, we explore how Christianity doesn’t stack labels on top of faith but replaces them through death and resurrection. If identity flows from belonging, not feeling, then Christ holds the naming rights. That reframes the phrase “gay Christian,” not as a slur or denial of experience, but as a theological category the church cannot affirm without bending the gospel’s aim—transformation, not management. We also address authority. The long-running debate over clergy and sexuality ultimately asks whether Scripture can still say no, especially to leaders. The church has never claimed sinlessness for overseers, only submission to Christ and His Word. Without that anchor, discipleship thins into slogans. Yet we refuse to ignore church failures: mocking, exclusion, and silence where presence was needed. Repentance is due. Real love tells the truth and stays at the table, honoring believers who carry a costly obedience rather than lowering the bar to make pain disappear. You’ll hear a hopeful call that spans every struggle: you can wrestle, stumble, and rise again, but you cannot refuse transformation and call that faithfulness. The gospel does not say fix yourself first, or come and stay the same—it says come, die, and be raised. If that stirs questions or pushback, good. Pull up a chair, bring your story, and help us keep truth and love together. If this challenged or encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can join the conversation. Support the show

    22 min
  5. 12/02/2025

    Living The Gospel Through The Liturgical Year

    Send us a text What if the most sacred work God does in you happens on the days that feel slow, repetitive, and utterly ordinary? We walk through the liturgical year—Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and the long green stretch of Ordinary Time—and show how the church has learned to keep time by Jesus rather than by sales cycles and sport seasons. Each season carries a color and a theme that preaches: purple for waiting and repentance, white for glory and joy, red for Spirit and mission, green for growth and steady faithfulness. We start with Advent’s honest ache and move into Christmas joy, then Epiphany’s widening light. Lent invites a wilderness of preparation where we lay down illusions of control and make room for the grace that cuts deeper than convenience. Easter unveils a fifty-day feast because resurrection takes practice; it’s not just a song for Sunday but a new way to live all week. Pentecost ignites the church with flame and purpose, pushing us from pews into neighborhoods as the Spirit still fills, empowers, and sends. Finally, we linger in Ordinary Time, the longest season and the place most of us live. Ordinary does not mean boring; it means ordered—a steady heartbeat where roots go deep and character grows. We explore how color, symbol, and rhythm can disciple our attention, reframe our routines, and remind us that every season is sacred. If you’re craving fireworks, we invite you to find grace in the daily—prayer that persists, worship that endures, obedience that keeps showing up. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a fresh vision of time, and leave a review with the season that’s shaping you right now. Support the show

    18 min
  6. 11/25/2025

    Living Stones, Real Momentum

    Send us a text What if your faith isn’t weak—just unplaced? We explore 1 Peter 2’s image of “living stones” and trace how the book of Acts turns that picture into action: people gathered, prayed, obeyed, and the Spirit generated momentum no program could fake. Along the way, we name the quiet saboteurs of growth—isolated living, disunity, gossip, and consumer Christianity—and contrast them with the practices that actually build a spiritual house: surrender to Jesus the cornerstone, commitment to community, and obedience in small, unglamorous steps. We unpack why strength in numbers is more than a feel‑good slogan; it’s spiritual warfare math. One can chase a thousand, two ten thousand—exponential impact that emerges when believers align under Christ. Acts becomes our blueprint: upper room waiting, bold witness with the Twelve, prayer that shakes prison doors, generosity that meets needs, and daily growth that the Spirit adds. We talk about recognizing holy momentum already moving around you—a growing prayer meeting, a stirring for confession, a small group that suddenly carries weight—and why true movement is joined, not manufactured. This is a call to yield to the Builder. Stones do not place themselves, and neither do we. Let God shape your edges through real fellowship, accept the post that serves the whole, and trade spectator faith for participation that bears weight. If you’ve felt like a lone stone cracking under pressure, step back into the wall and watch what God can do when placement meets presence. Subscribe, share this with a friend who helps you stand, and leave a review with one small act of obedience you’ll take this week—where is God placing you next? Support the show

    18 min
  7. 10/28/2025

    Holiness That Burns Bright

    Send us a text What if the missing power in your faith isn’t more hype but a deeper surrender? Cody opens up about being pulled into repentance and makes a bold case for holiness as the beating heart of the Christian life. Not perfectionism, not legalism—holiness as the Spirit’s fire that burns away what cripples love and rewires desire until we want what God wants. We trace the difference between forgiveness and transformation, exploring why justification frees us from sin’s penalty while sanctification frees us from its power. With Titus 2 as a compass, we unpack grace that confronts before it comforts and trains us to say no to ungodliness. You’ll hear a candid critique of comfort culture, services that can move a crowd but not a soul, and the ways churches often make sin manageable instead of miserable. Then we move to hope: a vision of holiness that laughs louder, loves deeper, and carries unshakable peace. This episode gets practical. Confession over hiding. Truth when a lie would be easier. Quiet service without applause. Fasting from what numbs the soul, guarding your eyes, blessing enemies, keeping your word. We revisit Isaiah’s burning-coal moment to show how God exposes sin to cleanse, not to shame. And we cast a vision for a consecrated people whose daily choices can host miracles, where gossip dies, division dries up, and generosity flows. The claim is simple and searching: the next move of God will come through consecration, not charisma, and holiness is for every believer—parents, students, business leaders, teens. If you feel the tug to go deeper, take it as an invitation. Ask God to sanctify you wholly and expect refining, because fire precedes glory. The same grace that saved you will sanctify you; the same Spirit who convicted you will empower you; the same blood that forgave you will purify you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s hungry for more, and leave a review telling us the one habit you’re laying down this week. Let’s become living proof that grace still changes people. Support the show

    20 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Through Uncomfortable Grace, I create space for honest, Spirit-led conversations that challenge the Church to return to truth, unity, and holiness. Each episode confronts the hard stuff... sin, division, lukewarm faith and invites listeners into deeper surrender, practical discipleship, and a revived relationship with Jesus. This isn’t about surface-level inspiration... it’s about transformation.  Support the work I’m doing by giving toward this podcast. Your generosity helps me host guest speakers and expand the reach of this cast as we seek to offer the world Christ. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2517535j/support