Radiant Podcast

The story behind the worship song Everything to Me, and what it looks like to call God worthy through pain, confusion, and loss when you can’t feel him. Olivia wrote the opening line, “You are worthy,” at a time when she didn’t believe it. She shares how the song began at a songwriting retreat in a season when it felt like truth and relationships were being shaken, how she wrote both verses in one...

Saying yes when God gives you a big ask that doesn’t make sense. Donna shares what stepping out in faith cost her, and the peace she found. It started with one question on a weeklong trip to Thailand: “If God asked you to come back and stay longer, would you?” Within three days, three more people asked her the same thing. Donna shares how a lifelong heart for missions, held back by fear and financ...

Scott Volk serves on the leadership team of the Spirit and Truth Church Network. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, he shares what's been burning in his heart: the question of identity. Jesus was 30 years old and had done nothing significant in ministry when God declared him beloved. His sonship wasn't earned — it was given. Scott makes the case that the church is...

Pastor Rich leads Hope Church in South Carolina — one church, one service for 30 years before going multisite nine years ago. Now with three campuses, he realized their model had become so optimized that it was leaving no room for the Holy Spirit to move. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, he shares what it looked like to make that shift, why he stopped chasing trusted mo...

Pastor Mike leads Radiant Jackson in Jackson, Michigan — a church he planted about 12 years ago, after nearly three decades of faithful service at Radiant Church in Kalamazoo. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, he reflects on what he would tell his 20-year-old self: it's not talent, it's faithfulness. Little things done consistently over a long period of time prod...

Pastor Mat spent seven years building Takeover Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Then on a Good Friday with 20 people in the room, God told him maybe the church should die. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, Mat tells the full story — the moment at the altar, the conversation with his wife Adrianne, the team meeting, the relaunch as The Altar, and what happened just month...

Pastor Kent leads Kingdom Collective in Fort Wayne, Indiana — a church five and a half years old that found the Spirit and Truth Church Network after a Google search for a prayer conference for revival. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, he shares what it meant to be part of a network when their founding pastor had to transition out — and what it looked like when their ne...

Pastor Jerry leads Radiant Ludington in Ludington, Michigan — a church he planted 12 and a half years ago with a vision to plant life-giving churches and ministries all along the coast of Lake Michigan. This past year he launched a second campus, and found himself trying to pastor two congregations in completely different seasons simultaneously. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Con...

Pastor Jeremy leads Vertical Life Church in and around Raleigh, North Carolina. In this conversation recorded live at the Arise Shine Conference, he draws a sharp distinction between being a child of God — which costs nothing, it's simply given — and being a friend of God, which has to be cultivated and costs everything. From there he takes aim at a quiet drift in the American church: building...

Pastor Edgar planted a church in Guadalajara, Mexico in February 2019 — a Radiant Church plant out of Kalamazoo. Three weeks after launching, he shut it down. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, he talks about what it's like to do ministry in an environment where the logistics are never easy, small groups start at 9 p.m., and parking means parking in the grass. But wha...

Pastor Chris leads Home Church in Northern California, with a second location in Tracy — about an hour east of San Francisco. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, he shares what holistic transformation actually looks like in a California mission field, the story of a man who got baptized after 40-something years outside the church and is now on their second location launch...

Pastor Jerimy planted Christ Chapel in Spring Hill, Tennessee — a town just south of Nashville that already had 68 churches for 45,000 people. In this conversation recorded at the Arise Shine Conference, he makes a compelling case for what revival actually looks like when it's sustainable: not five nights in a tent with a guest speaker, but a slow, steady, week-after-week move of God that you...

55 episodes. Real people from Radiant Church — telling the truth about what God has done in their lives. Marriages restored, prodigals coming home, and countless stories of God showing up faithful. This short recap covers everything Season 1 was about — and teases what's coming this fall in Season 2.

After years of infertility, Zach and Ashley got their miracle — and then some. On New Year's morning 2022, a positive test. At six weeks: identical twins, rare and unexpected, what felt like the double portion they'd been praying for. At 21 weeks, everything changed. Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Stage three. The doctor sent them home with nothing: "I don't anticipate your gi...

Kyle came home to Michigan after 18 years chasing country music in Nashville — and walked straight into the last chapter of his dad's life. From hockey dreams ended by concussions to decades of partying, failed relationships, and chasing something he couldn't name, Kyle felt God drawing him long before he understood what it was. His dad's cancer diagnosis in 2020 and death that Decembe...

What if the hardest seasons of your life are building something that outlasts you? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Pastor Abree brings a conversation on resilience — and why every believer needs it. Jesus didn't promise that saying yes to him would make life easier. He promised trials. And how we respond to those trials is what shapes us, our families, and the generations after us. Thi...

What do you do when the road to having a family almost costs you your life? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Jake and Jessica share the story behind their three kids — a story that started with an ectopic pregnancy that nearly killed Jessica, followed by years of grief, failed attempts, and the quiet agony of watching everyone else's family grow while theirs waited. They talk openly abo...

she had pushed everyone out of her life and was convinced that if she disappeared, no one would notice for days. In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Shelly shares how 26 years of running from God led her through a destructive marriage, eight years in an abusive relationship, and a fentanyl overdose that nearly killed her. What changed everything wasn't a program — it was a landlord in a co...

What does it look like to trust God when your situation doesn’t change? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, a couple shares their ongoing journey through chronic health struggles and infertility, opening up about unanswered prayers, disappointment, and the daily choice to keep believing God is good even in the waiting. This is not a story with a resolution, but an honest look at faith in the m...

What does it look like to trust God with your money over the long haul? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Betts shares a 25-year journey of choosing to tithe while working through debt, uncertainty, and real-life pressures. What started as a struggle with control and financial security became a steady path of obedience, shaping how they lived, gave, and trusted God through every season. This...

“I had never seriously considered quitting until that moment… it literally almost took me out.” In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Spencer shares the hidden battle behind his drive for excellence—how perfectionism, comparison, and the belief “I’m not good enough” nearly crushed his identity. What started as a teenage pursuit of musical greatness slowly revealed a deeper root: shame. Years lat...

What do you do when the life you planned is replaced by a diagnosis you never saw coming? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Nate and Cristin share the story of their daughter Maddie — from a traumatic birth and unexpected medical complications to the crushing moment of receiving a rare genetic diagnosis. They open up about missed expectations, fear in their marriage, wrestling with God, and...

What happens when your past feels louder than your purpose? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Carrie shares her journey of wrestling with shame, insecurity, and the quiet belief that God could use other people—but not her. She opens up about doubting her worth, comparing herself to others, and carrying the weight of mistakes that made her feel disqualified from meaningful ministry. But over...

What do you do when the life you prayed for keeps slipping through your hands? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Brendan and Greta share their five-year journey through infertility, misdiagnosis, chronic illness, depression, and miscarriage—and the quiet lie that began to take root: God must be far away. From doctors who dismissed them, to months of negative tests, to the heartbreak of pregn...

What do you do when hope keeps leading to heartbreak? In this episode of the Radiant Podcast, Josh and Sandy share their journey through repeated pregnancy loss, grief layered upon grief, and the emotional toll of four miscarriages back to back. They speak honestly about the shock of loss, the fear of hoping again, and the exhaustion that comes when sorrow keeps returning. Rather than offering eas...