The CrossCounsel Podcast
Welcome to the CrossCounsel Podcast! Since 1997, we've been finding a better way to experience healing, growth, and maturity in Christ.
Join our co-founder, Rev. Steve Freitag, and special guests as they explore how the Spirit of Jesus transforms us into people who are strong, steady, sturdy, secure, and appropriately compassionate.
Diving into our MELT Process isn't easy, but it's well worth it. Those who are willing to engage with both their present and historical pain—and confront their "demons"—can discover unimaginable freedom and peace.
Much of this may feel surprisingly simple, yet deeply transformative—strangely normal.
Together, let's do all we can in the work God calls us to do.
The CrossCounsel Podcast
193 | Why Real Transformation is Harder Than We Think - with Dwight Clough
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In this conversation, Steve Freitag sits down with Dwight Clough, author and longtime friend of CrossCounsel. Dwight and his wife Kim first connected with the ministry nearly 25 years ago, shortly after the events of 9/11, when they encountered the teaching of Dr. Ed Smith and the foundations of what would later become known as the MELT process and Transformational Prayer Ministry.
Dwight is the author of numerous books exploring faith, transformation, and the inner life. He co-authored Amazing Faith (Moody Press) and has written several other influential works including What I Believe About You, End the Divide, The Gift of Transformation—a CrossCounsel favorite—and a new book he will discuss in this conversation.
Many people first approach prayer ministry because they are struggling with something—fear, anxiety, shame, destructive patterns, or difficulty forgiving someone. But as Dwight explains, what begins as a search for healing often becomes something deeper: an invitation into ongoing transformation and communion with Jesus.
In the conversation Dwight shares a personal story about discovering the roots of anger that surfaced whenever his wife became sick. What began as frustration uncovered a deeper childhood memory connected to fear and insecurity when his own mother was ill. The shift that followed was not simply a new insight—but an encounter with truth that changed his heart.
Together they explore:
• Why many Christians think inner healing is about fixing a problem rather than living in transformation
• The difference between intellectual insight and heart-level freedom
• Why experiencing the love of God can actually feel difficult or even frightening
• How fear, shame, and cultural expectations keep many believers from being honest about what is happening inside them
• Why real change comes when Jesus meets us in the places we feel most broken
Ultimately, this conversation points toward a deeper reality of the Christian life: transformation does not come from trying harder or understanding more information—it comes from encountering the truth and love of Christ in the deepest places of the heart.