Introducing The Deep Dish

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Deep Dish – "Introducing The Deep Dish"

Hosted by Melissa Krueger and Courtney Docter | Release Date: February 27, 2025

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Introduction to The Deep Dish

In the premiere episode of The Deep Dish, hosts Melissa Krueger and Courtney Docter warmly welcome listeners to their new platform dedicated to fostering deep, meaningful conversations among women about the profound truths of God. The podcast aims to equip women to engage in richer discipleship relationships within their local communities, all while enjoying the convivial atmosphere symbolized by a slice of deep-dish pizza.

Why "The Deep Dish"?

Melissa and Courtney delve into the inspiration behind the podcast's name, "The Deep Dish." While the spiritual rationale centers on having substantial, gospel-focused conversations, the name also pays homage to their shared love for deep-dish pizza, a recurring element in their friendships.

Melissa Krueger [03:09]: "We wanted to create a space where we could have what we're calling deep conversations about deep truths... That just impact the moments of our days."

Courtney Docter [03:14]: "We love deep dish pizza. We make sure that every time we're together in real life, we find some place with deep dish pizza."

The Importance of Deep Conversations

The hosts emphasize the necessity of moving beyond superficial daily chatter. They observe that most conversations typically revolve around schedules, activities, or light-hearted topics like TV shows and social media trends. However, Melissa and Courtney advocate for intentionally steering discussions toward the gospel and its influence on every facet of life.

Melissa Krueger [00:34]: "When you've had a good conversation with someone, you're chewing on it later. We're hoping to have those here."

Courtney Docter [03:31]: "Everything that we do. And so what we wanted to do was invite people into that and then also kind of spark ideas on how other people can incorporate these kind of conversations in their real life friendships."

Authenticity and Vulnerability in Relationships

The podcast highlights the balance between authenticity and focus. While being vulnerable and genuine in friendships is essential, Melissa and Courtney argue that true depth in conversations arises when women discuss significant topics beyond personal vulnerabilities. They believe that centering conversations on the gospel allows for deeper connections and impactful discipleship.

Melissa Krueger [04:32]: "We're supposed to live vulnerable and obviously authentic lives... It allows them to actually speak gospel truths into my life in a way that is much more on target."

Courtney Docter [05:11]: "Authenticity and vulnerability, but not just. That's not the end game... The end game is knowing how the gospel speaks into all those areas."

The Role of the Gospel

Central to The Deep Dish is the integration of the gospel into everyday conversations. Melissa references Daniel 2:20 to underscore God's role in revealing wisdom and understanding through community and discourse.

Melissa Krueger [06:05]: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever... He reveals deep and hidden things."

Courtney Docter [07:18]: "He reveals these deep and hidden things in His Word, but then sometimes they're revealed to us through the context of having these conversations."

The hosts share personal anecdotes about using communication tools like the Voxer app to discuss scriptural connections, illustrating how shared insights can strengthen friendships and deepen faith.

Impactful Thought and Reflection

Melissa introduces Philippians 4:8 as a guiding principle for the podcast's ethos, encouraging listeners to focus their thoughts on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

Melissa Krueger [09:17]: "We're hoping to create here... a place to think on deeper things, to think about what is good and right and true."

This emphasis on intentional thinking aims to influence not only personal reflections but also the nature of conversations within friendships, fostering an environment where meaningful and transformative discussions can flourish.

Upcoming Topics and Guests

As the episode progresses, Melissa and Courtney offer a sneak peek into the first season's lineup, featuring a variety of topics and esteemed guests:

• Mentoring and Discipleship: Conversations with Vanessa Hawkins and Jen Wilkin, exploring how to disciple the next generation within the local church.

  Melissa Krueger [14:08]: "Vanessa's still working in the local church... how that shaped how we all view discipleship and mentoring."

• Contentment: An in-depth discussion with Elizabeth Woodson, focusing on her insights from her book on contentment—a topic dear to Melissa.

  Melissa Krueger [15:01]: "Nancy Guthrie, and she has written multiple books on prayer... we want to do more and help with that."

• God’s Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility: A dialogue between Melissa and Courtney tackling the interplay between divine sovereignty and human agency.

  Melissa Krueger [15:02]: "You and I are going to have a conversation on... God's sovereignty and man's responsibility."

• Parenting Teens: Insights from Ruth Cho Simons and Sandy Taylor, who work closely with teenagers, offering practical advice for parents raising teens.

  Melissa Krueger [15:36]: "Ruth is raising six boys right now... We'll be talking to a lot of great people about great things."

• The Working Genius: A discussion with Ann Westraight on identifying and utilizing one's God-given talents in ministry and daily life.

  Melissa Krueger [16:25]: "Talking about one of our favorite topics, which is the working genius."

These conversations are designed to reflect the diverse and multifaceted nature of Christian living, ensuring that listeners find relevant and enriching content that intersects with various aspects of their lives.

Cultivating Thoughtful Conversations

Melissa shares an anecdote about a speaker who posed the question, "What do you think about when you're not thinking?" This reflection prompts listeners to consider the origins of their thoughts and how engaging in deep conversations can redirect their focus toward meaningful and spiritually enriching subjects.

Melissa Krueger [12:40]: "What am I thinking about when I'm not thinking? Where do I go... to think about God's sovereignty, a man's responsibility."

The hosts express their hope that The Deep Dish will inspire listeners to ponder their thoughts and engage in conversations that have lasting impacts beyond the podcast's duration.

Conclusion and Encouragement to Subscribe

Melissa and Courtney conclude the episode by encouraging listeners to subscribe to The Deep Dish to facilitate easy access to future episodes and support the podcast's mission of fostering deep, gospel-centered conversations.

Melissa Krueger [16:58]: "We hope that you're going to join us for these conversations... think about such things."

Courtney Docter [16:25]: "We're going to cover the gamut just like we do in real life... real-time conversations."

Listeners are invited to become part of this transformative journey, engaging with content that seeks to deepen their understanding of God's Word and its practical application in daily life.

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Note: This summary intentionally omits promotional segments and advertisements present in the original transcript to focus solely on the substantive content of the episode.

Transcript

[Courtney Docter]

Hey, friends, we'd love for you to join us for a live recording of the deep dish at TGC25 in Indianapolis, April 22nd through 24th. Meet new friends and join us as we discuss why Bible study in the local church matters. Register [e-mail] TGC25 we can't wait to see you there again. That's tgc.org TGC25 it's just a good question to ask yourself what characterizes your thoughts and what characterizes your conversations?

[Melissa Krueger]

Yeah, when you've had a good conversation with someone, you're chewing on it later. We're hoping to have those here. Hi, friends. My name is Melissa Krueger, and I am here with my good friend, and I'm really happy to get to say this and co host Courtney Docter. And we are so excited to introduce you to our new podcast, the Deep Dish. Courtney, this is something we've been dreaming about for a long time. We've been talking about it, thinking about it. Can you tell us a little bit about why it's called the Deep Dish? What are. What are we gonna do here?

[Courtney Docter]

Do you want the spiritual answer or the less than spiritual answer? They're both real answers, but, you know, one of them just sounds. I'll start with the spiritual one. The reality is you and I, because this is why we've been dreaming about this. We recognize that in any relationship that we have, they can be relationships at home or at school or at work or your neighborhood. The majority of our conversations, if we start paying attention to what we're talking about, the majority of our conversations focus on, like, what we're doing that day. My husband and I laugh all the time. It's like we download our schedules multiple times a day to each other. So we talk a lot about what we're, you know, about to do or what we want to do. We might talk about, you know, the show we just watched, or you and I like to talk about the funny reels that we've seen on social media and pass those back and forth. But. But the other thing, I mean, the. The important thing that you and I recognize is that it's really important that we are intentionally having conversations that focus on the gospel and how the gospel impacts really everything. Everything that we do. And so I do think in real life, you and I are super intentional about doing that with each other, that we talk about how something we're going through or something we're thinking about or even something funny we're talking about. How does the gospel impact that. And so we wanted to create a space where we could have what we're calling deep conversations about deep truths, meaning that we're talking about the deep truths of the gospel and how they actually just impact the. The moments of our days. And so what we wanted to do was invite people into that and then also kind of spark ideas on how other people can incorporate these kind of conversations in their real life friendships. So that's what we're doing. But what's the less than I was like.

[Melissa Krueger]

That sounds super spiritual. I know, I know. Where's the name really from? Come on, give us the real sou.

[Courtney Docter]

Well, you and I eat our fair share of deep dish pizza. We love deep dish pizza. We make sure that every time we're together in real life, we find some place with deep dish pizza. We have been mailed frozen deep dish pizzas, which we're always like. That's always a good gift, right? Feel free. Anybody that wants.

[Melissa Krueger]

We're looking for a deep dish sponsor just to fill our freezer. The deep dish pizza will always be what unites us in deep ways. But I think so often when we hear the term going deep with one another, we, especially as women, we think, oh, we're going to be really vulnerable with one another. And that's kind of where we. We move toward one another. And I think one thing you and I have experienced through our friendship and even just through different friendships that we have with people is that you actually go deeper with people when you're focused on some other object, not just one another. And so, I mean, I. I can think of when we were writing salvation stories, what's that name? You're writing this Bible study one time that I can't remember what it's called yet. That. And we would just. We would be Vox. Okay. Voxing is an app that we will talk about regularly. So let's just introduce Voxer to them as a walk sponsor.

[Courtney Docter]

Us too. Yeah. Love the Voxer app.

[Melissa Krueger]

Every day I'm eating my turkey sandwich. I need to tell Courtney. So I box her. It's just a walkie talkie app. And we would just be talking though, about, oh, my goodness, this connection we see in scripture and to have someone else to get excited about that. And you know when you're just reading the Word and you're seeing something in Exodus that connects to John and you need to tell someone about it. And actually that grows a friendship. I think that grows relationships more than anything else. Even more than deep dish pizza. Somehow.

[Courtney Docter]

Even more than deep dish pizza. But the reality is. Right. I do think we're living in a moment where authenticity and vulnerability are very prized. And I agree. I think that we're supposed to live vulnerable and obviously authentic lives. Consistency between who we are, what we say, what we believe, how we act. But they're not the end goal, are they? They actually serve the greater goal that you're talking about, which is when I am authentic and vulnerable with my friends and my family and those around me, which is how I should be living, it allows them to actually speak gospel truths into my life in a way that is much more on target. And so, yes, authenticity and vulnerability, but not just. That's not the end game, is it? The end game is, is knowing how the gospel speaks into. Into all those areas. And so we need friends that can. That are willing to step into that space.

[Melissa Krueger]

That's right. And I think Daniel 2:20. I was looking this up yesterday, and this is what he said. Blessed be the name of God forever and ever. To whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings.

[Courtney Docter]

He.

[Melissa Krueger]

He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. And what I think we have just found through walking with the Lord for a long time, being in women's ministry for a long time, is that, you know, we can go to all these places or even people searching for wisdom, but it's really God revealing it. So as we look to him. And I can say, I mean, I think you would say this too. Since becoming a Christian, I've been blessed to always be in a community who's seeking God together. And so, you know, it just through our lives as Christians, whether it's been a Bible study, whether it's been accountability groups, it's been seeking the Lord in that, knowing that he reveals the wisdom. And he often does that as we're having conversations together about His Word.

[Courtney Docter]

Exactly. That's what I was thinking when you were reading that, like, he reveals these deep and hidden things in His Word, but then sometimes they're revealed to us through the context of having these conversations. Like you were saying when we would vox about, oh, guess what? I saw this connection between John and. And Exodus. And yeah, I am so grateful for our sponsor, Crossway. They publish such great books and they also are the publisher of the ESV Bible and one of the Bibles that they have you and I have a special interest in. Melissa. It's the ESV Women's Study Bible, so designed to help women in all seasons of life pursue a deeper, better, more faithful understanding of the Scriptures. And so many of our friends have contributed to this, and we know that it is such good work. Melissa, tell us a little bit more about the ESV Women's Study Bible.

[Unknown]

Yeah, I always love having a study Bible because, you know, we want to study the Word, we want to get into it ourselves, but. But sometimes you get to these points and you're like, I have no idea what's going on here. It's so nice what Crossway has done in this ESV study bible. They've got over 500,000 words of study content with over 350 reflections that connect Scripture to life. And so it's really wonderful because these reflections are written by women. We've got Trillia Newbell, who's a good friend of ours, Lauren Chandler, Ann Voskamp, Jen Wilkin, Kristin Getty. All of these women have contributed to this. So not only do you get the. The whole ESV Study Bible, but you also get these wonderful reflections from a variety of women.

[Courtney Docter]

Yeah. So if you are serious about God's Word and you want to learn more about what the Bible teaches, I highly commend the ESV Women's Study Bible to you. You can pick up a copy wherever books are sold or visit Crossway.org and if you want 30% off, visit Crossway.org/ and find out how you can get 30% off with a Crossway plus account.

[Melissa Krueger]

And then there's an extra connection that's made when someone adds to this.

[Unknown]

So it's.

[Melissa Krueger]

It's this beautiful way I think the Spirit works in. In community with God's people. It's like, yes, the Word is the basis. It's what's revealing. But it's happening somehow as we're all talking together. And so that's what we're hoping to do. And also just to live out Philippians 4. 8. And this is what it says. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, what is. Whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. And I know, you know, I can think about a lot of junk as I go through my day. I mean, I can just. I'm bored. Okay. I'm going to scroll, you know, or whatever. And then I'm like, on Amazon and now I need this new product or whatever. You know, I can set my mind on lesser things. And I think what we're hoping to create here, even for ourselves, is a place to think on deeper things, to think about what is good and right and true. How does what we think about affect what we talk about?

[Courtney Docter]

Oh, I mean, it's a direct correlation. And I think we can even look at certain friend groups and say, what are those conversations? Like, what characterizes those conversations? Because different friend groups bring out different things in us. And I was, when I was growing up, so I grew up in a house that had a phone desk in the kitchen. I don't think they do those anymore because we don't really have like phones in the house. Right. But we had a desk that was cord too. A what?

[Melissa Krueger]

A cord.

[Courtney Docter]

For sure.

[Melissa Krueger]

I.

[Courtney Docter]

We actually had rotary dial because we lived kind of out of the city, but we had a phone desk. So an entire like piece of furniture dedicated to sit, you know, with the phone book and the, and there was a, A cork board like at the. On the wall at the back of the phone desk. And my mom would. Who still cuts out newspaper articles. Cut out this little.

[Melissa Krueger]

All these things are like ancient. Newspaper, phone book. No, sorry.

[Courtney Docter]

Because you know what?

[Melissa Krueger]

We can relate to people.

[Courtney Docter]

And we like it. We like it.

[Melissa Krueger]

Artifacts of world.

[Courtney Docter]

Artifacts. Sorry, mom. If you're listening to this, they are artifacts. So she cut out this little square from, you know, maybe a advice column and, and thumbtacked it to the bulletin board. So I spent a lot of time at that phone desk as a teenager. So I read this little piece of newspaper cut out, clipping over and over and over. And this is what it said. And I don't, you know, there's some things I would disagree, but the general premise is so true. So this is what I said. Little people talk about other people, average people talk about things, and great people talk about ideas. And it was even shaping as a child to ponder, you know, what do I talk about? What do I talk about? Mostly sort of that, that question of what am I characterized by. And so what I'm thinking is going to directly be revealed, you know, for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so it's going to be directly revealed. In my wor. Our words just reveal what's going on in our heart and our mind. And so it's just a good question to ask yourself what characterizes your thoughts and what characterizes your conversations?

[Melissa Krueger]

Yeah, I can remember one time hearing a speaker. He was actually Speaking on Romans 8. One of. I know our. Both of our favorite passages. One of your favorite books. And, and, and he Said, what do you think about when you're not thinking? And I remember, like, so where does your brain just go? What are you pondering as you're just walking, you know, throughout your day? And it was really. It was actually very revealing. What am I thinking about when I'm not thinking? Where do I go? And so I do hope. I mean, one of my real hopes with these conversations is that they're going to make our mind go to, oh, yeah, what do I. What do I think about this? God's sovereignty, a man's responsibility. What do I think about that? Like, as. As I'm going about my way, I'm hoping that even just us having these conversations that I'll be chewing on, you know, when you've had a good conversation with someone, you're chewing on it later and you're thinking, huh, I gotta think about that differently. I think that's, you know, we're hoping to have those here and that these will last well past the 30 to 40 minutes that we are talking, but that they're going to help us think about what we're thinking. And I love that.

[Courtney Docter]

That's exactly it. That's exactly it. Well, okay, why don't you give us a little bit of a sneak peek then on some of the conversations that we're going to be having just in our first season that we hope you all join us for.

[Melissa Krueger]

I know it's, let me just say, come for the other people, don't come for us. I mean, we've got great people coming on. Two people who I'm super excited to have on here are Vanessa Hawkins, Jen Wilkin. We're going to be talking with them about mentoring and discipleship. And I love getting to talk, the four of us. I love the four of us anytime we get to talk together. But we all in the past worked in the local church. Vanessa's still working in the local church. And I am, you know, I'm just really excited to see how that shaped how we all view discipleship and mentoring, because that comes up in any women's ministry or any church context. How do we disciple the next generation? Will also be talking to Elizabeth Woodson. I'm super excited to talk with her because she has written a book on contentment and that's a favorite topic of mine. So I'm looking forward to us getting to.

[Courtney Docter]

You've written a book on it, too.

[Melissa Krueger]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I need to, like, read 10 more books on it, you know, so, like, keep sending them to me. One of our favorites. We're going to get to talk to is Nancy Guthrie, and she has written multiple books on prayer. So that is something I think we all want to not just think about more, but we want to do more and help help with that. You and I are going to have a conversation on a nice light topic, God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. So tell me about. Yeah, well, we'll have to have that conversation.

[Courtney Docter]

I'm looking forward to that.

[Melissa Krueger]

Yeah, I'm gonna have a conversation on parenting teens with Ruth Cho Simons and Sandy Taylor, two friends. Sandy is actually. She is, she works with teens in New York. She's a counselor. And Ruth is raising six boys right now. So we, you know, got a lot of teens among us and that'll be.

[Courtney Docter]

Things to say about it.

[Melissa Krueger]

Yeah, yeah, that'll be. It's a fun, fun group to get to talk. And they have Sandy has all girls, Ruth has all boys, and I've got a little bit of each. One person I'm really looking forward to talking to is our colleague, co worker Ann Westraight. And we are going to talk about one of our favorite topics, which is the working genius. And so, yeah, these are just a smattering of the things we're going to talk about. Any other conversations you're excited about, Courtney?

[Courtney Docter]

Oh, I'm excited about all of them. We do have some amazing people joining us and I think just covering a wide variety of topics because like we said at the beginning, we want to talk about how the Bible intersects and impacts and informs every, every area of our lives. And so we're, we're going to cover the gamut just like we do in real life. This is, this is kind of real time conversations. And so we're going to be talking to a lot of great people about hopefully a lot of great things.

[Melissa Krueger]

We hope that you're going to join us for these conversations. If you can go and subscribe right now to the Deep Dish from the Gospel Coalition, it'll help other people find it. It will also help you find it again because if you're like me, I get lost and say, which podcast am I looking for today? So if you subscribe to it, you'll be able to find us easily. And we really do hope that you will join us for these conversations as we think together on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever's pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. That's what we're hoping to do. Thanks for joining us.

[Courtney Docter]

Bye, friends.

[Unknown]

Hey, friends, it's Melissa Krueger. Here, and I'm so excited that you're listening to the Deep Dish. Want to stay connected and get even more resources for growing in your faith? We've got a new newsletter for you, and we're so excited about it. When you subscribe, you'll get discussion questions for the Deep Dish episodes, memory verses, updates on what's happening with women's initiatives, as well as some of our favorite staff picks. And these are really fun. So head over to tgc.org women and sign up today. We can't wait to connect with you again. That's TGC.org women.