Podcast Summary: "I Believe, But Help My Unbelief"

Podcast: With The Perrys
Hosts: Preston Perry & Jackie Hill Perry
Release Date: March 2, 2026

Episode Overview

In this candid and insightful episode, Preston and Jackie Hill Perry (frequently referred to as Amanda in the transcript, but commonly known as Jackie) dive deep into the theme of faith, belief, and especially the lived reality of wrestling with unbelief as Christians. Through real-life anecdotes, biblical exploration, humor, and practical advice, they seek to answer:

• How does one grow in faith?
• What does it look like to struggle with belief?
• How do spiritual disciplines and heart-level repentance interact with trust in God?

Key Discussion Points

1. Banter & Setting the Tone (00:10–08:02)

• Opening Jokes: Episode starts with playful banter about sports team loyalties (Chicago Bears vs St. Louis Rams) and city pride, laced with typical Perry humor and back-and-forth ribbing.
  • Memorable moment (03:12): Preston jokes, “Next time when we have prayer at church, I want you to be just as loud for the Lord as you are for the Bears.”
• Transition to Main Theme: The laughs set a relaxed, relatable tone before they shift to discussing faith.

2. What is Faith and How Does it Grow? (08:04–15:41)

• Defining Faith (08:04): Preston reads from Hebrews 11, emphasizing, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…” (08:18).
• Personal Growth: Jackie shares that her faith initially grew under good leadership and through discipleship, but stresses that mere head knowledge isn’t enough.
  • Jackie (09:13): “How I grew in faith initially was getting under good leadership who taught me how to read the Scriptures... but you can be under good leadership and read the Word without actually walking in faith.”
• Learning Through Failure: Jackie describes how God allowed her to encounter failure so that she'd learn to trust Him, not her own wisdom or strength. (10:58)
• Faith vs. Works: Preston observes, “Faith isn’t just a bunch of ideas that are true in my head... my faith is put into practice when my reliance and surrender to that truth shows up in the things that I do.” (13:34)
• Root of Sin: They emphasize that “at the root of all sin is unbelief” and not just pride.

3. The Internal Struggle: Unbelief & Self-Condemnation (11:55–18:32)

• Identifying Doubt: Jackie discusses her early Christian walk: “I didn’t really believe God saved me holistically... I often condemned myself instead of running to Christ.” (11:55)
• Practical Outworking: Both discuss that genuine faith becomes visible in our decisions, our behavior, and especially when challenges come (suffering, trials).
  • Preston (15:05): “Underneath so much hustle is unbelief that God will provide. Underneath a desire for fame is unbelief that God sees you.”

4. Mimicking Faith vs. Authentic Faith (15:41–18:42)

• Performing for Acceptance: They explore the dangers of externalizing faith—trying to “mimic” faith through works without heart transformation.
  • Jackie (16:01): “Our works are filthy rags to the Lord without faith.”
• Evidence of Faith: Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit are presented as indicators; lack of fruit exposes areas of unbelief.

5. Unbelief, Sin, and the Heart's Desires (18:32–28:33)

• Describing Temptation: Preston unpacks Genesis 3, stating, “When we are tempted to sin, we are being tempted to distrust something about God’s nature.” (21:03)
• Both reflect on Eve’s temptation: Was something inside her (curiosity, desire) that led to unbelief even before sin?
• Human Condition: “Our natural disposition now is not to trust God. We’re born trusting everything else but Him.” (27:13)

6. Covetousness, Idolatry & the Practicalities of Doubt (28:33–31:09)

• Modern Examples: Jackie names how “lust of the eyes” and coveting (“you start looking at God with a side eye because you’ve been looking at so many other things”—29:54) drive practical unbelief.
• Romans 1 Connection: Preston explains how we take good things (food, friendship) and turn them into “God things” through disordered love.

7. Apologetics and the Role of Evidence in Faith (31:09–36:38)

• The Place of Evidence: Jackie links apologetics to faith-building, not just winning arguments.
  • “Apologetics is ultimately meant to increase our faith because we study the evidence...” (31:32)
• Sharing Faith with Others: They discuss strategy in evangelism—moving from argumentation (head) to Holy Spirit-led encounters that reach the heart.

8. Deep Repentance: Going Beyond Surface-Level Change (38:38–46:32)

• Getting Underneath Behavior: Preston emphasizes the need to address not just “what” people do, but why—they share how true heart change happens when we root out underlying beliefs. (e.g., lying rooted not in the act itself, but in fear of man or people-pleasing)
• Legalism vs. Faith: They critique superficial righteousness and explain how real repentance is specific, rooted in accurate self-knowledge, and always leads back to Christ.
  • Jackie (45:20): “In our communication and discipleship, getting to the soil and replacing the lie with faith is necessary for people to have deep and lasting sanctification.”

9. Works, Justification, and True Motivation (46:32–52:21)

• Works as Worship: Jackie argues that good works should flow from a place of faith and acceptance, not to “earn” God’s love.
• Illustration (54:01): Jackie’s soda bottle and Mentos analogy for the Holy Spirit’s transformative work—good works “erupt” naturally when the Spirit lives inside.

10. The Role of Spiritual Disciplines (57:54–63:54)

• Repetition and Remembrance: Jackie compares working out physically to spiritual disciplines—“If you can discipline yourself to go to the gym four days a week, you can discipline yourself to read the Scriptures.” (57:54)
• The ‘Memory Problem’: “At the core of our unbelief... is also we have a memory problem. We need to be reminded of God’s Word.” (59:14)
• Dependence, Not Self-Sufficiency: Preston references a John Piper illustration about needing to “fill up” every day and how daily spiritual disciplines force us to depend on God, not ourselves (61:54).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Preston (13:34): “Faith isn’t just a bunch of ideas that are true in my head... my faith is put into practice when my reliance and surrender to that truth shows up in the things that I do.”
• Jackie (45:52): “All good spirit-led teaching, all good spirit-led evangelism helps people with their faith. Because what it really does, it gives people the right language to learn about themselves, to repent to God.”
• Preston (46:32): “Faith is us coming in alignment with reality.… Unbelief is disagreeing with what's true.”
• Jackie (54:01): “The Holy Spirit is like the Mentos dropped into the soda. Our good works pour out naturally, not from our own effort but because something changed inside.”
• Preston (57:42): “God is very much after removing every opportunity for boasting. Walking by faith means saying ‘I didn’t save myself. I’m not saving myself. Only God gets the glory.’”
• Jackie (59:14): “We have to train ourselves. At the core of our unbelief and our lack of faith is not just sin—it’s a memory problem.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:10–04:00] – Opening sports banter and humor
• [08:04–09:19] – Introduce topic: “How does one grow in faith?”
• [10:58–13:34] – Jackie/Preston on personal journeys of trust and failure
• [15:05–16:34] – Dangers of mimicking faith via works; root of sin is unbelief
• [21:03–22:48] – Parallel between Eve's temptation and ours; identifying what about God we distrust
• [28:33–29:56] – Lust, covetousness, and their effect on faith
• [31:09–34:19] – The place of apologetics and evidence
• [38:38–46:32] – Deep repentance & getting to the root of heart issues
• [54:01–56:39] – Soda bottle/Mentos illustration of Spirit-led works
• [57:54–63:54] – How and why to practice spiritual disciplines

Concluding Thoughts

The Perrys close the episode by reiterating the central role of faith: authentic Christianity is not about behavior modification but heart transformation, a daily, humble, and specific alignment with God’s reality, and a reliance on the Holy Spirit. Spiritual disciplines are essential not for earning approval, but for reminding ourselves of God’s truth and stirring up faith.

Jackie (63:40): “We need God’s help to please God...That could be a humbling thing.”
Preston (63:54): “And right there is where faith grows.”

This episode offers a raw, relatable, and deeply practical look at faith’s challenges and joys, providing language, strategy, and motivation for both questioning believers and those seeking deeper trust in God.