Normal Church, Longing, and the Gift of Small Places with Thomas Austin Theo Folk Singer Songwriter

Thomas Austin is a Nashville-based Theo folk singer-songwriter. He studied songwriting at Belmont University, has released two EPs — Indiana and Evergreen — and a full-length album, Eternal Life. His song "Normal Church," released this year, found its way to thousands of people navigating the exact tension it describes: loving the church and being honest about it at the same time.Thomas doesn't write songs that make money. He figured that out in college and decided to keep going anyway. What he writes instead are songs full of questions, sarcasm, longing, and humor — the kind of music that some people call sad and he'd call the most honest thing he knows how to make. This conversation gets into all of that: the theology behind his writing, what CS Lewis taught him about how to love something and still poke fun at it, why longing is sacred rather than something to suppress, and what it looks like to build a small faithful thing in a world that only rewards the big ones. He's 27. He plays house shows. He reads every DM. Takeaways:👉 Why Thomas writes questions rather than answers — and why that's the only kind of song he knows how to make👉 The three-layer difference between small-l longing and Big-L Longing — and why the second one is proof of something👉 How CS Lewis laughs at what he loves — and why that's a spiritual practice, not just a style👉 The "Normal Church" song: what inspired it, who got mad, and what Andy Gullhorn told him before he released it👉 Why melancholy in music isn't sadness — and what it says about our emotional literacy as a culture👉 What Thomas means when he says his writing and his life are the same thing at their best👉 Why flourishing is like a ghost — and what you actually do with thatThis Episode Is for You If…👉 You've left a church role and you're still figuring out what you believe about the church itself👉 You feel longing for something different and aren't sure if that makes you a bad Christian👉 You're building something small and faithful and wondering if that's enough👉 You love beautiful, melancholic, honest music and want to know where it comes from⭐️ Get my guide to clarify your next step: https://itstheinbetween.com/📝 Show Notes: https://itstheinbetween.com/episode35-thomas-austin/✅ Connect with me (Instagram:) https://www.instagram.com/theevandoyle/If you liked this episode, please give it a thumbs up 👍, subscribe, and share it with your friends.