702: Venezuela, Vanilla Ice, & the Church's Anxious Nerves with Sara Billups

The new year began with a successful U.S. military operation to capture Venezuela's president. But the mission killed approximately 80 people and is being condemned by some American and international leaders as illegal. Esau McCaulley joins Phil and Skye this week to discuss the fallout from the operation. Was it legal? Was it moral? And what does it reveal about Trump's vision of America? Kaitlyn talks with author Sara Billups about her new book, "Nervous System," and how our age of anxiety is affecting Christians and the whole church. Also this week—the Trump administration celebrated the holidays with Christian memes, festive taunts, and "Ice Ice Baby." Holy Post Plus: Ad-Free Version of this Episode: Bonus Interview with Sarah Billups: 0:00 - Show Starts 2:52 - Theme Song 3:13 - Sponsor - BetterHelp - This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at and get 10% off your first month! 4:15 - Sponsor - Our Place - Go to and use code HOLYPOST to get 10% off site wide on beautiful cookware! 5:23 - Christmas 7:35 - Trump Got Venezuela? 13:46 - What Does America Want to Be? 28:34 - Trump Administration's Christmas 36:10 - Optimism and America 44:50 - Sponsor - Poncho - If you've been looking for the perfect shirt—something breathable, fits great, feels even better, and stands out in a good way—give Poncho a try. Get $10 off your first order by using this link: 46:02 - Sponsor - Brooklyn Bedding - Use code HOLYPOST for 30% off sitewide for a great night's sleep! Go to 47:04 - Sponsor - DripDrop - Fast hydration in 16 original flavors! Get 20% on your first order and use promo code HOLYPOST! Go to 48:05 - Interview 50:28 - Why Write About Anxiety? 56:14 - Practicing Non-Anxiousness 1:02:40 - Lasting Effects of Fundamentalist Mindsets 1:09:17 - The Church as a Non-Anxious Presence 1:18:09 - End Credits Links: Nervous Systems: Spiritual Practices to Calm Anxiety in Your Body, the Church, and Politics by Sara Billups: Holy Post website: Holy Post Plus: Holy Post Patreon: Holy Post Merch Store: The Holy Post is supported by our listeners. We may earn affiliate commissions through links listed here. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

You can listen to 702: Venezuela, Vanilla Ice, & the Church's Anxious Nerves with Sara Billups online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

702: Venezuela, Vanilla Ice, & the Church's Anxious Nerves with Sara Billups is an episode from The Holy Post by Phil Vischer.

This episode is 01:18:42 long.

This episode was published on Jan 7, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Holy Post when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.