107: Stephanie Rousselle | When An Atheist Encounters God -

107: Stephanie Rousselle | When An Atheist Encounters God

Stephanie Rousselle | When An Atheist Encounters God

Stephanie Rousselle is the founder of Gospel Spice Ministries and the host of the Gospel Spice Podcast. Her motto is, “God’s glory, our delight!”

Born and raised in France, she has lived for her one Lord for the last two decades on three continents, four countries and five cities through six professional roles. She now leads a team of seven at Gospel Spice Ministries. She is a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, entrepreneur, former women’s ministry director and strategy consultant. And she is 100% French!

With her trademark French accent, she has been teaching Scripture to thousands over the last 20 years in France, the UK, Africa and the US, and now to thousands more on six continents through the Gospel Spice Podcast. Stephanie thrives on Bible-centered inspirational writing and speaking, and dark chocolate. She loves few things more than a good laugh, especially at herself, because grace is real, and life is short.

Stephanie Rousselle joins me to discuss life as an atheist, encountering God as a foreign exchange student, surrendering to Jesus, teaching God’s Word and how her various cultural experiences impacts her reading of God’s Word.

Questions Stephanie and I Discuss:

(2:17) Introduce yourself, your family to our listeners and tell everybody a little bit about what you do.
(5:32) Tell everybody about Gospel Spice Podcast (and ministry).
(11:57) You are French born and raised. Take our listeners back to your childhood and share some details about the family and culture in which you grew up.
(23:10) What led you to open your heart and mind to the idea of God?
(33:07) You returned to France as a young Christian, what did the next 5-10 years look like for you?
(41:28) How has the way you read Scripture been impacted by living in numerous cultures around the world?

Quotes to Remember:

“My dad in particular, was a very strong atheist, but it was something I had researched and decided to take as my worldview.”

“I ended up giving my life to the Lord, which was a painful process, because this girl is very full of self.”

“My baptism was the stone of remembrance of this is what the Lord has done for me and my faith. At that moment in time it was real and that did keep me through very dry seasons in France.”

“There’s so much more to life with Christ than I’ve ever experienced.”

“We can also always grow deeper in intimacy with Him. There’s no limit. The only limits are the ones we put on ourselves.”

“We need to learn as 21st century Western Christians, a little bit of endurance in our faith. We need to persevere. We need to realize what a blessing it is, but also not be afraid of some of the costs that might come with it.”

“I was not seeking God. I was perfectly happy in my atheism, I did not have any awareness of a God shaped hole in my heart….I was so unaware of self, that God had to break that little by little.”

“I was a perfectly content atheist. I really had come to the conclusion from an intellectual perspective that God could not possibly exist, that it was an invention of man. It was a crutch. for the weak.”

“I realized many, many years after I came to faith that the only experience I had of the Christian faith was through the lens of my atheist authors…. I had never read the Bible for myself. I had never actually met a flesh and blood Christian….I didn’t actually know what Christians believed. I only knew what atheists said that Christians believed which was biased. Regardless of what you are researching, you want to go to the actual proponents of what you’re studying. If you want to know more about Buddhism, go talk to Buddhists. Don’t read Christian books about Buddhism. If you want to learn more about Islam, go talk to Muslims. Don’t read Christian books about Islam….Go to the source, because that is going to help you see what people actually believe.”

“I quickly came to the realization from an intellectual perspective, that the resurrection is a historical fact. And so I have a problem, because intellectual integrity requires you to do something with that kind of information. You can’t just ignore it….I could only embrace it or reject it. These were my options. I was too terrified to embrace it. But I also knew it was true. “

“If you are a spiritual parent to anyone, you have a holy sacred duty before the Lord, to carry them in intercession and in prayer.”

“That prayer of weakness, Lord, I might not be willing to delight in your glory right now. But I’m willing to be made willing.”

Scripture References

Resources Mentioned:

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