One on One with Mista Yu

Cassian Bellino: Pullups, Bible Scholars, and Finding Community On An Island

• Mista Yu

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If faith has ever felt thin, like a story you respect but can’t quite live inside, this conversation might be the turning point. Cassian Bellino, host of Biblically Speaking and builder of the Biblically Heard community, shares how a restless hunger for context took her from lukewarm belief to a practice that blends scholarship, honesty, and everyday courage. We travel with her from Cincinnati winters to Tucson sunrises to Hawaii’s tight-knit culture, and then further—to a Thai-English church in Bangkok where she asked a pastor for what many of us secretly want: tell me who these people in scripture are, how they lived, why the details matter.

What follows is a story of obedience in small steps. A plane ride rebuke that felt like a call. A format built for clarity: read the verse, say it plainly, and invite a scholar to open the history, language, and theology that make it come alive. Cassian is candid about the cost: spiritual attacks that evolve, creative fatigue while working a nine-to-five, and the slow burn of growing a podcast without shortcuts. She also names the wins that keep her going—DMs from nonreligious friends who encounter God and don’t know where to turn, and a download map lighting up across 120 countries.

We dig into common misconceptions: why it’s not “cringe” to learn your faith; how many pastors aren’t trained as deep scholars (and why that’s okay); and where churches can stretch—bringing rigorous context so stories like the bleeding woman shift from flannelgraph miracles to a tapestry of law, language, and hope. Finally, Cassian outlines Biblically Heard, a mentorship-first community built more like AA than a coffee-hour—WhatsApp threads, women’s spaces, Sunday prayer, and a vision for pairing seekers with guides who won’t flinch at hard questions.

Find Cassian and her Biblically Heard community here: www.bibspeak.com


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SPEAKER_01:

Welcome back to one on one with Mr. U. Of course, I'm your host, Mr. U in studio with us, the host of Biblically Speaking. A quick podcast about your personal journey and scripture and secret clarity in it. We need that today. So Cassian Bolino is in the house for us today.

SPEAKER_02:

Hi, I'm so good. Thank you so much for having me on your show, Mr. U.

SPEAKER_01:

Pleasure to have you here. I'm excited about the conversation. It's gonna be a really good one. Uh customer, I always have our guests come in and share about their childhood, they open where you're from, how'd you get from where you were to where you are right now? Share.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it's such a funny question. Where you're from, you know, like where did I just move from? Where do I associate my childhood with the most? Where was I born? Um, I'm proud to say I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but I no longer live there because those winters were way too cold. Um, no, I was born in Cincinnati and I've lived all over the world. I I have three older siblings, I have loving parents, and I feel like having that Midwest in my blood has really shaped me into a good human. But I've lived in Switzerland, I've lived in Colombia and Thailand, lived in California, recently Arizona, and now I live in Hawaii. So where am I from? I feel like it's say I'm from the midwest Midwest, but I'm also a Southwest girl. I I love Arizona, I love the desert.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. Tell me how you changed from being a Midwest girl to a Southwest girl. What's one of the values-wise? How are they both different?

SPEAKER_02:

It's so funny because I don't think there's anything you can do in Ohio other than eat carbs, cheese, and then drink alcohol. Um, the nearest Whole Foods is like 30 minutes away. You watch football. Um, I don't watch football and I don't eat that many carbs, and I try to drink a lot less alcohol, but when you move west, it felt like going to a different country. I remember going to California from Ohio, and I was like, you put strawberries in your salad, like what's going on here? Like it is different. And people go outside, the weather's really nice. Um, but yeah, I mean, living in the southwest, especially Tucson, Arizona, where there's not much and like it's ungodly how hot it can get. You get really good at outdoor activities, you know, you get really good at working out at 5 a.m. before the sun comes up. And um, I mean, yeah, you just you get older, you have different tastes, you do different things. But I I love the desert. I mean, the monsoons, the hoodoos, the hooobs, like all of it's amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought these words were made up. Those are real. What's a boob? What?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, very real. Look it up.

SPEAKER_01:

So now you're in Hawaii now. So what's going on over there? Because I always heard maybe maybe this could be a myth, but I always heard that Hawaii has a rough economy. So the view about it is you want to move out of there, it could be rough, you know, slitting to live comfortably. Is that true from what you're seeing? Is that a real thing? Uh what's Hawaii like? What's going on out there?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think the values in Hawaii are different. Like, I've lived in California, and absolutely the price is very similar to living in California. I would say groceries are like 30% more expensive than Tucson. I think Tucson's like the third poorest city in America, though. So I would say that um Hawaii, like, you just don't go out as much. I think when you live in a place like LA, you don't surf and free dive and hike as much as you would in Hawaii. You're gonna go out to eat and you're gonna go shopping. So you're always kind of spending money in those places. When you come to Hawaii, you meet amazing people. You maybe spend a little bit of money on a good surfboard, some good diving gear, but then your activities on the weekends are basically free because you're going swimming at the beach, because you're going hiking in the mountains. And sure, if you don't drink a lot and you don't like going to restaurants, you go to Costco and then you cook at home. Um, it definitely has this really beautiful culture of people looking out for one another. Um, I think there is like a howley and a local, like a Kamaina. There's a slight difference between, you know, the people that were born here and the people that weren't, but it's unprecedented how amazing this place is. You know, I you walk around and you immediately have friends. It's very inviting. Um, just the activities are beautiful, the place is beautiful. I think like of all the things that are amazing about Hawaii, though, the people are truly what make it, and you become your best self. And not just because you're working out all the time or the food is so so good, or like the sun is out, it's because people like push you to be your best and bring you bring out your best self here. So I think that's what makes it the best place on earth.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's the spot you're gonna be in, huh? You like it that much.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm quite spoiled. I like where do you go from here? You know, like go back to Tucson.

SPEAKER_01:

If that's the only comparison, I get why you can do that, but of course not.

SPEAKER_02:

No, I've I've screwed myself over, and any place after this will not compare.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, look at the locale. I mean, I I I get that. Yeah, somebody know what we get some intel because uh I want to visit at some point in time, but haven't gotten around to that part yet. But absolutely our conversation if anybody has a question for myself or for Miss Cassian, definitely leave a uh question in the live chat. You'll answer those as soon as we see them pop in. Happy to do so. And of course, you want to get a shout-out on our show. You know what you gotta do. Text Mr. U at 904-867-4466. Send me a text at 904-867-4466. Get your name in your city, no blood type, no social security number, get your name in your city. I'll shout you out next episode and we'll uh have some fun. Uh giving an intro to the whole world.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so so tell me, tell me, uh, because when you talk about is something that I definitely ascribe to. Um in this place, and I'm gonna have a real good time having a discussion with you. But tell me when did it begin for you uh when you saw catching the need for God the most? When did it show up the most? Everybody has a story, or it's known for me as a conversion story, but where for you do you feel like you saw it the most? Like, you know what? This is it, kind of period.

SPEAKER_02:

I yeah, I okay, so I wasn't raised atheist or agnostic, but I definitely like I was raised in a loving household, you know, Russian Orthodox one Sunday, non-denominational church the next Sunday. And like me and all my siblings were just rotate every single week because it was like my dad's church, my mom's church, every other week, and they wanted us to have this very like well-developed sense of Christianity. And you know, anytime I got in trouble in high school, it always came back to like God. Like it was never just on Sunday type of Christianity. But when I exited high school and I exited college, I was so lukewarm. I just like did not, it wasn't in my heart, it wasn't in my soul. I understood why it should be. I understood that it was important and I honored it. Like I had some boundaries that were based in the faith. But was I on fire for God? Absolutely not. And I saw my family on fire for God, and I was like, God, if they like I love these people and I trust them and they think you're cool, but I don't think you're cool. So can you just like show me, you know, like my prayer my entire life was like, God, I just want to want you, but I don't. And I think that like it was just that honesty of like, I was raised in the faith, and yet I still don't know or love God. But if I knew him, like if someone just explained a little bit more to me rather than just like read your Bible, like what this Bible is very, very confusing. I need it in context. I need what I've learned in school and what the Bible teaches. I need a little bit of explanation. Who can do that? And so I was living in Thailand and it was my first job out of college. I lived in Bangkok for a year. It was one of the best years of my life, and I was so far from home, and I just needed some sense of familiarity. And I went to this church and it was so cool. It was half Thai, half English. The pastors were this couple from Sweden. So it was just this like beautiful, multicultural, all over the world, you know, kind of found my place there. It was the closest thing I had to home. And I got really comfortable in that church. And I remember after service one day, I went up to the female pastor and I was like, I feel like if you just gave some context on like who John is and how old is John and where are we in the world and what's happening like geopolitically? If you just give us some context before we jump into scripture, I think everybody would benefit from that. Who does that? Like, who goes up to the pastor and tells them how to do their job? I just clearly entitled, clearly had no idea of boundaries, but I genuinely thought I was doing like this is a helpful suggestion. Maybe she doesn't know. And she was like, God bless you, Casp, but maybe you just need to go to our Bible study. And I was like, I'm in it, I'm already in this Bible study. And I guess like to me, Bible studies should be doing this already. They should be giving context, they should be doing translations, but like Bible studies are led by like the guy next to you in the congregation, you know, like they're not led by PhDs or scholars. So she's like, Okay, I love your hunger. Maybe you just go to seminary. And while that is a very valid suggestion, I should go to seminary. Look at this hunger that I have. You know, I'm asking her to do more than her job. I in that moment felt quite abandoned because like I looked to my pastor as like the know-it-all of the of the Bible. Like, shouldn't she be the person that teaches me? And now she's telling me she can't. So I felt kind of abandoned. Um, I went and had lunch with my friend at church, and I was just like, gosh, I just wish there was a podcast where like there was just a really funny person, but a really smart person, not a pastor, it's not a lecture, just someone who answers questions. And um, that was 2018 in Thailand. And then five years go by. God works on my heart, he brings books into my life that make me start like, oh, it's kind of cool to read Christian literature. And I get a vision from the Lord at some point. He brings me out of an unequally yoked relationship, he brings me into amazing Bible studies. All of those things happen. And now I'm in Hawaii in 2023, still haven't found that podcast. And I looked, I was joining Bible studies, I was watching YouTube videos, I was getting taking courses, too much, too little, never enough. I bring it up to my sister and I'm like, gosh, I just like wish that that podcast existed. I still haven't found it. And uh my sister's like, Well, maybe you're supposed to do it. I was like, girl, you saw me in college. Me represent the faith. Like, I am I am, I'll be the first one to tell you that like I'll be the biggest hypocrite. Like, absolutely not. I am not a Jesus girl. And I gave God every single reason why you got the wrong girl. And it got to a point where he not only answered every single one of the issues that I had. I don't know technology, I don't have gas, I'm scared, I might fail. Every single one of them, he had a solution. It was the word him answering the prayers over like six months. I was like, oh, God's like responding. Like, how did I find myself in this conversation right now? How did I find a PhD to interview? It was I met this pastor on a plane and he came up to me and I told him a plan, and he was like, Hey, bad news. This isn't a suggestion, this is a command from the Lord, and you need to obey it. I'm like, okay, well, I guess I'll do it. If no one hears it, no one hears it. And this girl, she gave me really great encouragement, and she was like, Listen, it doesn't sound like God wants you to start a podcast. It sounds like God wants to spend time with you. So just do that. And so that's where it was. And it, I just kind of structured the podcast on like what I needed. What did I need to grow in my faith? What do I need to see God in a way that it is without a doubt the best decision to follow Him? Like, if He can show me objectively that He's smart and He's cool and He's amazing, why wouldn't I follow God? So the structure was just what's this verse mean? This is how I understand it. Now, scholar, explain it the way I should understand it. And then that was two years ago.

SPEAKER_01:

So all that, all that being said now, all that stuff all encapsulated now. We're here. How would you view Cassian at this point? As far as your uh your affinity toward God, your but I'm sorry, the desire is still there. I I've talked to you outside of this uh episode, so I I really know. But how would you how would you see not wait yourself, but you know what I'm asking for? How would you how how do how do you see yourself now after all this time, the transformation, if you will?

SPEAKER_02:

I have so much left to learn. I have so I know nothing. It's it's unfathomable. Like it's such a it's a perfect thing to spend your life on because you'll never understand all of it, and that's what makes it worth studying. That's what makes him God. Um, but I the more I learn, and this is so cliche, but the more I learn, the more flawed I am, the more I need him, the less I understand, the more I need to keep studying. You know, you kind of go in thinking like you'll figure it out, but I'm nowhere near that. Like the dependence only grows the deeper I get into it. But it is um undeniable the change that it's put me through because of the position it's placed me in.

SPEAKER_01:

So I mean, just that's why we're talking about support systems in our offline conversation. Maybe we'll come back to that because it could be a valid uh discussion to continue to keep having. But what's your biggest pain point and challenge for you and your walk with God right now? What would you say?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think that like the spiritual attacks are endless, you know. I don't think I'll ever escape those. And I don't have the expectation that I will. But over time, spending more time on this podcast and getting more passionate and it actually changing my heart posture, the attacks from the enemy just get sneakier and sneakier. And at first it was from a place of like, oh, I have self-doubt and insecurity. And then it got to the point where I would wake up and my first thoughts would be, I'm not worthy of success. I'm not, I'm, you know, only worthy of failure. And I was just like, okay, God, like I know this isn't you, I know this isn't me. This is an attack from the enemy. And then it started kind of creeping into like, well, you're nothing if you're not making money, and this like desire for money. And then it started attacking my relationships. And and right now, it's this jadedness, this exhaustion, this lack of inspiration. That's the biggest thing plaguing me right now, as far as I want this podcast. I have no intention for it to stop. There are it's we're well into next year when it comes to planning. And um, I just like am exhausted because now I have a nine to five. This is purely something I do in my free time for free. This is what you could say is a hobby, but like I'm trying to make it something, but it's taking time. Podcasts take forever to build. So in my second year, I'm very tired. I I don't have as much inspiration. And I'm just like trying to pray that away because I know that like this is from God, anointed by God. He did not give this to me for me to get bored or um losing creativity. Like, he's the God of endless creativity. So I'm just trying to like block away these attacks of like, I don't know what to do next. And I guess we'll keep doing the same old saying, you know, that's just not who I am, and that's not who God is. So that it's annoying and inconvenient, but it's not impossible.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I believe because I pray for you, I have some man stuff can help you out. So we'll talk about that stuff after the show's done, if you don't mind. Okay, keep just keep on moving. So tell me uh seems like you evolved as a person since those times in in in Bangkok, right? Hopefully. Yeah, but it sounded like you sound like you changed at least a little bit. What is something? I mean, and this is it. We you can be don't be overly humble, it's not necessary. I just want to just kind of hit your heart. What's something about you, yourself you like and appreciate about you? And I heard a lot of things that you want to do and things you didn't do well and everything, but I I want I want to take this time for cash in to appreciate cash in. What do you like about yourself?

SPEAKER_02:

I think I'm a really good listener. Podcast has made me very good at talking and hosting, but I think that I am I think like my main purpose in life is to help people. And I think that comes in like I'm really good at holding space for people, and no matter what they want to talk about, I think I I do a really good job of helping them talk a little bit more in ways that help them process and help them feel heard and feel understood, even if I haven't experienced it. I think that I am wonderful at talking to people and you know, finding a lot of joy in anything. I love to laugh. You know, I just started dating somebody, and like one of his first pieces of feedback was like, You laugh so much. Like, I love your laugh, but everything you do, like you like he's like, Yeah, you love God and you love to laugh. Like those are like his two main adjectives about me, which is so great. Um, but I just I think there's so much joy, and I think I can very easily find it. And I love helping people find solutions, even if that solution is just to feel heard. Um yeah, and I I think that I tend to lean on the side of optimism, and even if I don't, I'm I'm okay with the deep feelings and emotions that I feel because I'm a I'm a very emotional person, but I'm I'm at peace with that. I don't think there's any flaws in being somebody that has big emotions, and um, I'm very proud of myself for never holding back my emotions.

SPEAKER_01:

No, that's that's that's commendable. That's that's that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you so much for asking that question.

SPEAKER_01:

You god, you're a feeler. I mean, who wants who wants somebody who doesn't feel anything?

SPEAKER_02:

Emotions can be scary though.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, but if you want to hear how you appreciate yourself because at the end of the day, you better because sometimes in this walk, in this space that we're in, trying to uh accomplish this spiritual growth thing, sometimes you're solo and there's nobody over there around, and sometimes the support system comes in, like we'll talk about later, but at the end of the day, sometimes what you spend the most time with is you, but appreciate about yourself, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

The biggest misconception people have about cashing.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, one of the biggest misconceptions people have about Cassian. I don't know. I think people might like, I think I just have like an RBF or something. Maybe people think that I'm just like a restaurant place. I don't know. I think some people think I might be like really tough or really intense, and I don't see myself like that at all. I think I can be very serious about things and maybe a little quiet at times, but um, I would not say that I'm like an intense person. Like I have people in my life that I would characterize as intense, and I am I don't think that I'm like that at all, but I think sometimes maybe I look like it because I'm just like not showing emotion or very serious or whatever it might be. But um that and that people think I can do like a ton of pull-ups, but I really can only do five.

SPEAKER_01:

So I hate to like how we didn't how are we getting exercise?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, you said like misconceptions, you know. I think that I just wanted to clarify that how come on, give me some more clarity.

SPEAKER_01:

I need clarity.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, I think like maybe if I trained I could like hit consistently 20, but right now I'm just up to five pull-ups, but I'm trying. People think I can do more, they're always asking because why the hell I'm I'm playing with you, but I it's like super muscle.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I see so I see some I see some definition, but I mean I didn't know. This is a good stuff, all right. So what you talk love to talk about is is is scripture, and you love to talk about the Bible, and you love to dig deep and get into it. And I love that because I I'm a firm believer and I try to live this every day that we have to be in a seeker's mentality all the time because we're never gonna find all the answers, and we're never gonna be at a place where we got enough information and seeking more because, like you said, God is so vast and so broad, there's so much to learn, and at the end of the day, we can live a 100-year life and we'll still never learn everything. We're gonna learn more in glory than we will in all our years of seeking. But what do you think is the biggest misconception about the Bible or that people have about the Bible? Even if something you had yourself, what's what's the biggest misconception you believe in?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my gosh, there's so many. I'm sure your podcast attacks I'm sure your podcast attacks similar misconceptions, or just one of the I think like this journey has helped me understand like the villains in our faith that we don't even know exist until we're like going into it. And there's a couple, I think, like one is that it's okay not to know our faith. You know, you're raised in church and people come to you and they say, like, okay, you're Christian. Well, what about this? And you're like, oh, I don't know. Like, I just go to church. You know, I go, I celebrate Christmas and I celebrate Easter. But like, if we gave our lives to this faith, shouldn't we hold ourselves to a higher standard of actually knowing more about it? And I think we get away with too much. I think that we as Christians, we allow it for ourselves and we allow it for others. And I think it's worse that we allow it for others, because our job is to be able to give a defense for our faith. Our job is to bring people home. And if we can't have that defense, if we can't defend why we're even doing it, how like why would anybody else do it? If I can't sell you on why you should be able to do 20 pull-ups, why would you ever try? You know, if I can't test my like if I don't have a testimony to like how the benefits it has for me and how it transformed my body. I'm just messing with you again. I um but it is pull-ups. I'm gonna do my pull-up bar, I'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you might pull-ups is like a theme right now. She's gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02:

I do I do think that we just get away with way too much. And I think that's something I don't think it's just laziness and I don't think it's ignorance. I think like I want to blame the enemy that it's normalized it. And additionally, I think there's this like really weird inherent aspect of Christianity that becomes cringy and becomes weird. And I I personally experienced that when I like before I went got into this, I was like, Oh gosh, I hope nobody finds out about my podcast that then I'll be weird and they they won't want to go out with me and they'll think I'm suddenly like conservative and homophobic. And it's like I'm I'm just learning about my faith, and I want to learn why homosexuality is bad, but I don't hate homosexual people, and I want to learn why maybe God doesn't agree with transgenderism, but why? Like, I I'm not trying to like develop these opinions to divide, it's just to understand. And as soon as I was in the faith and I was learning about it, and I was passionate about it, and I was learning all these cool stories that explain context of the bleeding woman and Noah's Ark and Nephilim and all these things are fascinating. So I started talking about them because I was fascinated. God bless my friends, because they asked and they listened, and most of my friends are not Christian. But when did when did we learn that like learning about our creator and our world wasn't cool, was nerdy, was cringy. Again, I think it's an attack from the enemy. So I think these misconceptions of learning about your faith is weird and it's reserved only for like the scholars and pastors and like Bible thumpers, or that we don't actually have to know something that we give our life to. Like, you know more about your husband than you knew about the God that created you or your wife. Um uh, and then yeah, I think those are the two main ones. One that did surprise me the most early on was that your pastor probably doesn't know as much as you think they do. And when I approached my pastor back in Thailand and was like, hey, tell me more, she probably just didn't know and she didn't have time. Like there's many reasons she probably said no. But I was talking to Dr. James Sedlasek, and he's in many of my episodes because I think arguably he's one of the smartest people I've ever met. But when you go to seminary to become a pastor, that route is like 400 hours of like leadership, um, learning about the New Testament, learning one ancient language, and that's enough, you know, like that's already a whole seminary of four four years to learn the Old Testament and a different language and different translations for other years. So I had the expectation that my pastor had studied the entire Bible, all of the ancient languages, knew the translations, knew the history, knew the context, but that's not what was required in their education to become a pastor. How you know and learning about that, it's like, well, I thought you were leading the church. Shouldn't you know everything? Like, no, I mean, like, who wants to go to school for eight years when you're only required four? So um, it's not the pastor's fault. Obviously, it's just the the way that's built up. But when you talk to somebody like Sedlisek, he's like, I've done both. I know all the ancient languages, I know the historical context, but I'm also a pastor and I have that leadership skill. So for him, I was like, all right, then we're gonna start Old Testament to New Testament, we're gonna connect both sides. And I I've picked his brain a lot on a lot of episodes.

SPEAKER_01:

No, that's good, that's good. You talked a lot about community in our uh pre-interview, and I'll if we dropped that word a couple of times here already, but you started one called Biblically Heard. Kind of tell us how that community got started, how you're creating meaningful connections for its members, and just the role that community plays in your spiritual growth. So, kind of a three-part question. So take your time for it.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. I so what I needed when I started this was just like a mentor. I needed somebody that I could go to and say, like, hey, like I really like having sex, but like God says I can't. Who else am I gonna go to about this? I can't go to my parents, I can't go to my siblings, can't go to like my pastor, but like I need to talk about this. And so I just needed somebody that I could be like authentic, but also have that like biblical guidance from. And it reminded me a lot of AA. And I had to go to AA when I was in college. I had to go for a whole month because I got in trouble with a fake ID and a lot of alcohol. And a very kind lawyer said, I think you should go to AA as much as possible. And so when I went to my court date, I had gone to AA every single day for 30 days, and it actually helped quite a lot. You know, I'm not giving legal advice here, but that totally helped lessen my whatever they were gonna give me. And I learned so much about the AA community during that month, especially with how sponsorship and how supportive and how kind that community is. And I wish something very similar existed for that in the Christian church. And I think we try to replicate that through like Bible studies and friends and community, but I think we've all had that experience where you go to a Bible study and it's like, well, I can't share my trauma because it's a little too heavy for the cookies and the coffee that everyone else is like sharing right now. But you need that rawness of like, I'm doing the nastiest thing and the dirtiest thing and the unforgivable thing. Who do I go to about that? And um, so I wanted that. And that's what the intention is for Biblically Heard is to create a community where like everybody can show up and be like, I've been a Christian for 60 years and I still didn't know that. And I'm a brand new Christian, I've never gone to church. Who do I talk to? And we're still figuring out where it's gonna exist. Um, I think you have the link for the school. I've paused the school just because it's like tech-wise, not very easy to use. It's now a WhatsApp group, actually. So everyone can get WhatsApp, it's like messages, it's free. Um, and it's just like a free group chat of I think there's like 60 people, and people post prayer requests and what they need. There's also a separate women's chat just for like more women-based issues. And then on Sundays, we try to meet for 15 minutes just to pray over the community because I don't know who's praying over this, but we need to protect it and just protect it from like attacks and inspiration and direction and who we who and what we talk about. But the goal is for this to eventually evolve into some sort of program where people can be teamed up and mentors can step forward and people can get the support that they need because that is what Cass in 2018 needed. So I want to build that for her.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. For those that are listening but can't actually see what's on the screen right now, bibspeak.com, bib speak.com. Can we show the Cass in? Find out more about the community, how to get involved, how to join it, what it can potentially offer you. So it's gonna be on the screen.

SPEAKER_02:

What the link to join the WhatsApp group is on the website.

SPEAKER_01:

Um look, look, say it again.

SPEAKER_02:

That link to join that WhatsApp group is on bibspeak.com.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, good stuff. Okay, good, good, good. I love this. Okay, just a few more questions left, and then I'll let you get out of here. But we're definitely gonna have a conversation about community and supports or something here in the theme here. But one of the things that I I love that you're doing a podcast about these same topics and issues and concerns, and somebody had to be a voice for this. I mean, I I I thought our show would do it, but according to what you said, uh our show. Don't do enough of it for your liking. So you have to start your own show. But it's it's all good. But what's been the most rewarding moment for you as a podcast host and even a leader in this community?

SPEAKER_02:

Um I think it was so like so much has happened when you like go viral and you get like tons of followers, you get to engage with people kind of all over the world. And I think like two things probably stand out the most as like really amazing. And one is I have like lots of friends here in Hawaii, and some of them are Christian, some of them very openly not, all very supportive, you know. Like I said, this is an amazing community here. Um I have many friends, it's very easy to make friends out here. But one time I got a DM from one of my friends who like I'm an acquaintance with, you know, don't really hang out with him, but he messaged me and he's like, Cass, you're the most Christian person I know. And then he just told me about an encounter he had recently with God. And he's like, I know for a fact it was God. And I just like I don't know what even why I'm messaging you. I it's just one of these things where God is talking to me and I don't know what to do about it. Do you think I'm crazy? And I just like encouraged him because you know, I'm like, maybe it's God. Sounds like it's God. Like, who am I? You know, I'm not gonna be like the messenger, but I just that sounds beautiful that you've like you were so emotionally moved by this. I I think it is. And then I um he ended up giving me like a ride. So we had like a long conversation in the car, and it was just so cool to be like, oh God, maybe that's why I was mostly friends with atheists and agnostics, because then I could be that light. And like that's not to like toot my horn, like I'm the light. It's like, God, you were very strategic. And here I was like feeling ashamed that I didn't have enough Christian friends, but maybe you did this so that I could be the nearest light that like they would have otherwise never experienced, just so they could see you. And so I like to think that's what God is doing because I think that's so wonderful that like some people are like, hey, I finally have someone to go to about this, and I'm fine, like you're the first person to ever tell me about this. Like, I hope that I'm serving that purpose. And so I feel like that was a good moment. Another one is I was sitting on my couch, just kind of going through my like podcast stats, you know, because that's what podcasters do. So we just go through our stats. And I was just looking through like how many listens and just kind of being really grateful of like, I thought nobody was gonna listen to my podcast. And like my numbers aren't by no means very big, but I'm proud of them, you know, and they're not Joe Rogan numbers, but they're not one, they're not zero, you know. And the fact that like more than a hundred people are listening is insane to me. But I looked on the stats and it said all of the countries that the podcast is being listened to, and it had a hundred and twenty countries in it. And I just like cried and cried, but like people have heard these stories outside of like my immediate friends and family, like people in countries I didn't know existed, countries I can't pronounce, have heard this podcast and heard answers from scholars with PhDs clarifying contextual scripture, like understanding practical theology, like that. I'm so grateful that God let me be a part of that.

SPEAKER_01:

Surprise you guys.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

So just a few more questions and then we're gonna go ahead and just get out of here. What do you think is the biggest area or biggest growth opportunity for the church?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, I have my preferences. I what I wish the church did because it's offered so much growth for me, is spending more time on understanding contextual theology and scripture. Like, you know, I I was uh in church and we're talking about the bleeding woman. And if you know anything, any of my interviews, that's one of my favorite episodes. Highly recommend it with Dr. Sedlisek. And um, I thought that episode was gonna be 15 minutes long. It's like a two-line scripture, and we spend two hours on this one scripture about the bleeding woman, and so I'm in church. I know tons about the bleeding woman now, and they talk about, you know, bleeding for 12 years, isn't that crazy? And I'm like, they left so much on the table, you know, because it's a miracle. Woman touches the magic cloak of Jesus and she's healed. That's crazy, crazy miracle. You know, maybe they maybe if the pastor goes a little bit deeper, he can recognize that that woman bled for 12 years and then he immediately brings back to life a girl that was 12 years old for the entire life of this girl that just died. This woman was bleeding and he just restored her, and he just restored her. Maybe the pastor touches on that, but the pastor doesn't touch on Jewish cleanliness laws, like what it means to be clean and unclean, the fact that a bleeding woman is considered unclean and now she's touched a prophet who's holy and clean, and how he didn't become unclean by her, but he in fact made her clean. Maybe they don't touch on the fact that, you know, when this woman was touching the canaf, the corner, the cloak of Jesus that had a blue, blue cord in it, that's referenced in Exodus when God is talking to Moses, or in Malachi, the kanaf in the angel's wings, or in uh Ruth, when you know, spread your knaff over me when she's talking to Boaz. Left so much on the table. And I just I I think that as churchgoers, we grow. We only benefit when a pastor knows that kind of deep theology and can provide more context. When you can stand up and say, Hey, can you give me the equivalent of John today? How old is he? What does he do for work? Where does he live? I think that the pastor should answer that question because I and anybody else would benefit and we'd be able to see our scripture not as an ancient book or something we should compulsorily, like compulsively, um, that's not the word, um, compulsory, like follow with compulsion. I'm sorry, it's 7 a.m. in Hawaii, all right? Be kind to me. Um I think that we would have much more relatability to it and you know, find more heart in it and understand that this is a living word. And so I just I wish and I hope, and I am seeing it at some churches that we don't just go to church, read a scripture because we have to, but we go to church and the pastor brings the scripture alive. And I truly have gone to a couple of churches where they do that. And for the ones that don't, when we have conversations about it after, everybody benefits when there's more explanation provided. So I think we're going in that direction. I hope so, and that's what I want.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. So the pen ultimate question before the very last one, and you know what that last one is. So get ready for that. What do you what kind of advice would you give to somebody who is kind of just feeling disconnected in their faith? Maybe they're dealing with some shame and guilt and doubt. How what are they gonna find if they reach out and find biblically speaking or they reach out and find the biblically heard community? What are they gonna find there?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think they're gonna find that like the unseen realm is something we need to recognize, not like in a spooky kind of like ghouls and ghosts and demons kind of way, but when you understand how the unseen realm works, you're gonna understand that that guilt and that shame that you feel for those sins that you've committed, or the fact that you don't know your faith very well like I did, those are just attacks from the enemy. Those are what they're using to keep you from going to God. And so my advice to you is to go to God and be completely honest. Even if it's God, I don't even want to be praying to you right now. God, I'm ashamed to be praying to you because you make me feel weak. Whatever those feelings are, God can handle it. I don't know the small God that you God created you. He created the sin that you're ashamed of. Like God can handle the things that you are afraid to go to him about. So just go to him and be honest. And I think you will feel heard, you will feel seen, you will feel unburdened, and then go to him and say, God, what I need is to actually want you, because any any way that I'm gonna want you is gonna come from you. The fact that I'm praying comes from you. So help me pray to you. Give me the prayers that I'm gonna give back to you because everything I have is from you. And I think that is gonna be like the start of a very honest and real relationship that God can actually work with because now you're open and now he's something to work with. And so I just encourage people to recognize the enemy and be very humble and honest with where you're at in your faith walk and like let God do the rest.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. You can get to uh cast via uh www.bipspeak.com. You'll also find the biblically her community, bibspeak.com. Of course, our link tree is right here on the screen. It's forward slash biblically speaking. If you got link tree, you already know the uh the what what the prefix is, so I'll have to spell it out for you. But forward slash biblical speaking, you can figure that part out on your own. It's pretty easy.

SPEAKER_02:

I'll actually modify that. Sorry, I haven't updated PodMatch in so long. Just go to my website, and that everything there is updated there. Just go to my website.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I'm just kidding. You have a right-hand corner is a QR code. Where if you want to reach out to me, have any questions for me, coaching wise, uh-wise, whatever it is you're looking for, podcast-wise, podcast assistance, and support coaching, qr code up a right-hand corner. Please use that. And last question for the day, Cassian. It's called a CMB question. Everybody that comes in asks answer is asked and they answered. Career, mission, and vocation. Theoretically, I take everything you've done career-wise, mission-wise, and vocation-wise, off of the table. That's a diminishable work. You're doing great work. I love what you're doing. Temporarily, it's gone. What do you think Cassian is doing today? What is Cassian Bolino doing today?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my gosh, that's such a good question. Um, Cassie's doing today. Cassie probably calling her mom and her sisters.

SPEAKER_01:

Not no. Oh, no. No, you do that every day. I'm talking about something you've never done. I don't mean your daddy's kid. Oh, you go to the supermarket to shop. I want to crowd.

SPEAKER_02:

I think it's I think it's a if are you talking about like what I would do for work, or are you saying like I wake up and like the first thing, career, mission, and vocation?

SPEAKER_00:

Where'd you be there?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, okay. I didn't know we were redefining this. I thought it was like, I don't know, like what's important to me is calling my family. Um you know what I would do is I would disappear into the hills of northern Italy and I would live with a nonna and I would bake bread. That's what I would do. I think food is so important. If I wasn't doing anything I was doing right now, I would be working with food and I'd be cooking, and I would be doing it in like the home country of where that food was created. Like really authentic Italian focaccia, really authentic southern France, like southern French bread. I'd be like growing that food and cooking it, and I'd just be eating great food all day.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, now the footman chef is listening. I'm not in that space professionally anymore, but I'm still listening now. Why aren't you doing that now? Then why aren't you cooking?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I don't know. I you know that's something that I've always said I would like to do, like, oh, I'll spend five days learning how to bake and cook in Italy, but I just haven't gotten around to it, but it's something I've always wanted to do.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's a list of things we got to talk about.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, I guess we're starting our therapy session right when we hang up.

SPEAKER_01:

Cassie, good to have you here. It's been a fantastic conversation. I so appreciate it. Any parting thoughts for our listeners and viewers from you? You got 60 seconds. Go for it.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, the way that you do a proper pull-up is just kidding.

SPEAKER_00:

You gotta do that.

SPEAKER_02:

Check me out on bibspeak.com. If you want to connect with me personally, go to Instagram. I don't have a social media manager, so that's me. If you ever just want to DM me, if you have a question, if you want to come on the show, if your friend should come on the show, I would love to talk to any PhD that can offer any practical theology, any contextual understanding of the faith. Um, this is a growing community that only exists because of everybody's involved and everybody's learning from it. Um and I'm not the only curious and confused one, so I hope that everyone engages and I hope you listen and give me feedback. But thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you, Cassian, for coming on our show. That's the host of Biblically Speaking and the leader of the biblically heard community. Caskin Belino's in the house. This is one-on-one, Mr. U. That's Cash and I'm Mr. Yu. We're out.

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Mista Yu (Yusef Marshall)

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