How much of the Bible story in your head comes from Scripture, and how much from tradition, art and assumption? Former missionary Julie Remington found that living in another culture changed the way she reads the Bible. In this episode, she talks with Rodney about why translation is always interpretation, how a single Greek word may change our picture of the first Christmas, and what the story of the prodigal son looks like through the lens of honour and shame.

Julie also shares the journey behind her picture book, The Forgotten Nativity, which was built on what she calls honest imagination. She talks about praying through the writing process, working with a scholar on historical accuracy, and teaching her daughter that it’s okay to say “I don’t know, let’s look it up.” You’ll also hear about her plans for a part two and a family advent guide. The Forgotten Nativity Honest Imagination on Facebook Honest Imagination on Instagram

Some people say the wounds left by a father’s absence are psychological, while others say they’re spiritual. What if healing requires both? Fremon Williams, a husband, father, pastor, speaker and author, lost his dad at 15 and carried deep father wounds for years, until an encounter with Jesus outside a nightclub at 2am changed everything. He talks with Rodney about the grief he bottled up, the ways he tried to numb it and the long journey toward wholeness.

Fremon explains what a father wound really is, how even a good father can unintentionally leave one, and why believing the lies that come with it holds us back. He also shares the story behind his book, Healing Father Wounds, and offers practical encouragement for anyone ready to begin their own healing, including the role of forgiveness. The episode ends with a heartfelt message to fathers: you matter, you’re needed, and you don’t have to suffer in silence.

Fremon Williams Online

Can a psychologist hold a deep Christian faith and still take modern therapy seriously? Eric Johnson has spent more than 35 years teaching psychology and counselling, and over 25 years counselling people himself. As founder of the Christian Psychology Institute, he has written books and dozens of papers on bringing a Christian worldview into the counselling room. In this episode, he shares his story honestly, from his days as one of the last hippies, to giving his life to Christ at 18, to discovering that his faith had stayed largely in his head.

Eric explains how his marriage and family nudged him towards deeper healing, and why he believes Christ-centred counselling goes beyond both a Bible-only approach and secular psychology alone. Together, Rodney and Eric explore worldview, childhood trauma, the slow journey of healing, and the role the local church can play in making it okay to be broken. If you’ve ever wondered how faith and therapy can work together, this conversation offers hope and a way forward.

Christian Psychology Institute

Why doesn’t knowing better always lead to doing better in marriage? Rodney Olsen sits down with Alan and Autumn Ray, who have been married since 1970. They met in college, and Alan spent more than 27 years in the Air Force. They came to faith about a decade into their marriage, only to find that their old reflexes in conflict didn’t disappear overnight. Out of that struggle, they helped build Marriage Team, where over 85% of couples considering divorce choose to stay together.

In this honest and encouraging conversation, Alan and Autumn explain the playbook analogy, why couples so often talk past each other, and how practical skills such as listening, forgiveness and conflict resolution can transform a relationship. They also share the story behind their Rick and Jane Learn to Be Married series, offer wisdom on money, selflessness and safety in unhealthy relationships, and reflect on why commitment matters long after the early rush of love fades.

Rick and Jane Learn to Be Married

Mike Dyson’s story begins before he was even born, when a woman named Lena helped change his mother’s mind about an abortion. In this conversation with Rodney Olsen, Mike shares how rejection, isolation and a false belief that he was too broken for God shaped much of his life. After a powerful encounter with Jesus in 1980, a lack of discipleship left him feeling “unredeemable” for 13 years, through a difficult marriage, a Marine career and a battle with alcohol.

Mike describes the night his kids’ words reached him, his surrender on the couch and his journey of healing, which included learning to stop blaming others and reading the Bible one chapter at a time. He also unpacks the two shadows of Psalm 23 and Psalm 91, which inspired his book, The Shadow: Walking Through the Valley, Abiding Under His Wings. Whether you’re feeling stuck in the valley or wondering how to walk alongside someone else, this episode is full of hope, honesty and encouragement.

WEBLINKS The Shadow Website Mike Dyson’s Author Facebook Page Mike Dyson on Facebook

Are science and faith really at odds? Richard Krauland spent more than 40 years unsure about God and for a time called himself an atheist. In 1994, a night spent reading the Gospel of Matthew changed his mind, his heart and his behaviour. He went on to lead a billion-dollar-plus company while living with lifelong illness and surviving a car accident that left him temporarily paralysed from the neck down.

In this episode, Richard talks with Rodney Olsen about his book, The Bridge from Science to God. He shares stories of what he describes as divine intervention, explains why he believes scientific discovery points toward an intelligent designer, and reflects on what it means to love others as Jesus taught. Richard welcomes sceptics, and you don't have to agree with him to enjoy the conversation.

The Bridge from Science to God

Brian Gray's story doesn't follow a tidy redemption arc. Told at just four years old to "go fight your own battles," he spent the next decades doing exactly that, spiralling into addiction by fifteen, a broken marriage, and eventually five years in prison. It was on a beach in Hawaii, charging at a man with a shotgun and begging to be shot, that everything changed. Brian shares the raw, unflinching details of that pivotal moment and the instant deliverance from alcohol and drugs that followed, a freedom he's never looked back from since.

Today, Brian runs residential care for at-risk youth and, alongside his wife, a transitional home for women in recovery and their children. In this conversation, he opens up about the "dependent neglect" behind so much destructive behaviour in young people, the patience it takes to love kids who push every button, and why faithfulness matters more than visible success. He also discusses his book, Rap Sheet to Resume, written for anyone who feels too broken to be of use, and shares the remarkable three-year journey of one teenage boy whose transformation still moves him today.

Rap Sheet to Resume: Finding Blessing in Brokenness

Michael Dittman builds telescopes for NASA by day and has spent the last nine years processing a decade of chronic pain, a shattered family and his daughter's four overdoses into a story of hard-won redemption. In this conversation he talks candidly about the gap between knowing the right theological answers and actually experiencing the delight of an intimate relationship with Jesus, tracing how thirty years of striving, shame and unexplained physical suffering eventually gave way to a single, transformative encounter at a men's retreat: hearing Jesus say "I know, me too."

From infertility and inflammatory arthritis to his daughter's descent into addiction and two painful church experiences, Michael doesn't shy away from the mess. He explains how a small, untrained house church taught him more about genuine transformation than forty years in churches with gifted preachers ever did, and shares the framework he now teaches through Grace Forge, the ministry he and his wife Karen have built around the idea that God has already forged the grace we need. His new book, In the Wake of Jesus: Grace That Changes You and the World, unpacks it all.

Michael G. Dittman GraceForge