Canyon Pathways Podcast

Kewmars Kazemzadeh grew up in post-revolution Iran in a secular, partly Jewish family — navigating a society where the government was imposing an ideology on a people who had not asked for it. He had no religious upbringing. His first prayer was a teenage bargain with God over a girl who wasn't paying attention to him. What started as a transaction became a conversation — and the conversation...

Confidence is a tricky thing in midlife leadership. For some of us it's been quietly draining away — through a loss, a reversal, an injury, or pain we've carried a long time. For others it's a newer ache: there was once a confidence tied to our wins, and now a fresh challenge has us rattled. Either way, the higher we climb, the lonelier it can get. We "mask up" for the day...

What does real progress look like for a man who has already built the business, made the first million, and still felt like it wasn't enough? For J.P. Avekoe — CEO of Hardy Global and co-founder of Rise and Shine Africa, a 240-acre initiative in Togo — that question took decades, three strokes, a failing heart, and a near-fatal motorcycle crash to answer. In this episode of the Canyon Pathway...

We all want progress. We want to feel like we’re moving… like something is changing… like we’re not just stuck. But midlife has a way of complicating that. Sometimes it feels like a grind. Sometimes it feels like we’re going backward. And sometimes everything looks like it’s moving forward on the outside… while something inside is wearing down. In this Field Note, we slow down and reconsider what...

Anticipation sits at the center of leadership. In this episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast, Sherman Bradley sits down with Aseka Taabu , a Canyon Pathways brother based in Nairobi, Kenya, to explore the Field Note word Anticipation and how it shapes the journey of sonship and leadership. Anticipation isn’t simply about predicting what might happen next. It’s the posture of reaching forward—seei...

Jacob Johnson is the founder of Calion Wax Company , a home fragrance social enterprise that has donated nearly $900,000 to U.S.-based nonprofits fighting human trafficking since launching in 2017. But the number is just the surface.  Underneath it is a kid who grew up with a front-row seat to his pastor father's hidden life — the scripture readings at 6 a.m., the moral failures after dark, a...

In this episode of the Canyon Pathways podcast, host Noel Bouché explores the profound depth of what it means to be intentional . Drawing inspiration from an unlikely source—the 90s alt-rock hit "Father of Mine" by Everclear—Noel unpacks how intentionality is less about strategic planning and more about the relational effort of reaching toward another. From the etymology of the word to t...

As 2025 draws to a close, I had the rare gift of sitting down with my brothers Sherman Bradley and Luke Smith for a roundtable conversation—not to wrap things in a neat bow, but to stay in the tension of grace, truth, and what it means to be sons who stay at the table . This year has been marked by growth, correction, encouragement, and a few hard conversations. And what we've learned—what we...

Patrick Rooney is a husband, father of four, entrepreneur, and investment professional who has spent more than a decade living and working in the United Kingdom. He grew up in Wheaton, Illinois — one of the most church-dense communities in America, by his own admission — played collegiate football, and built a career in financial services that regularly puts him in rooms with billionaires. And yet...

In this Field Note episode of the Canyon Pathways podcast, I reflect on the complex and often misunderstood idea of wealth. At midlife, many of us are asking deeper questions about what it means to be secure, successful, and significant. But what if true wealth has less to do with accumulation and more to do with access? Through the lens of sonship, we explore how wealth shows up not only in finan...

In this episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , host Sherman Bradley welcomes his longtime friend and brother, Dr. Pastor Jackie Jackson—a seasoned pastor, teacher, and community leader whose story spans decades of ministry, reconciliation, and faithfulness. Together, they unpack two deeply connected words in Jackie’s Canyon journey: Reserve and Surrender . This conversation is rich with wisdom f...

There’s a kind of strength we rarely talk about—one that doesn’t come from pushing through or pressing harder, but from loosening our grip. In this Field Note, I reflect on the quiet courage of surrender. Not the surrender of defeat, but the surrender of trust. Of handing back what was never ours to hold in the first place. From Jeremiah’s counsel to the parable Jesus told in Luke 15, I’ve been mo...

What does it mean to be a peacemaker when you've grown up inside a family that war almost destroyed? George Romeos — co-founder of Cosmovision ministry in Athens, Greece, and a key host for Canyon Pathways retreats on the island of Aegina — sits down with Luke Smith to answer that question through the lens of his own extraordinary family history. George's mother, Irini — whose name means...

In this Field Note episode of the Canyon Pathways podcast, Noel Bouché reflects on the true nature of peace—not as a passive absence of conflict, but as a courageous and costly reality rooted in covenant. Drawing on the ancient understanding of peace as shalom and its connection to sonship, Noel explores how peace is formed through sacrifice, maintained through covenant, and often misunderstood wh...

David Kosobucki came to the Canyon Pathways retreat in Spearfish, South Dakota, not knowing what the retreat was about. What he found there mirrored almost exactly what God had already been doing in him — quietly, over decades, pressing him toward a question he hadn't been able to name: What does it mean to be a son? On paper, David's credentials are substantial: lead pastor at Horizon C...

In this Field Note episode of the Canyon Pathways podcast, Noel Bouché invites us to explore the difference between comprehending and understanding . In a world that prizes intellect and rewards those who “grasp” and “master” situations, this episode offers a different vision—one rooted not in seizing control, but in standing under a reality greater than ourselves. Noel shares how true understandi...

In this episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , Sherman Bradley sits down with Kenyan leader and friend Steve Njenga for a heartfelt conversation on unity—not as agreement, but as courageous togetherness. Steve shares his personal journey of navigating difference, staying present in moments of tension, and choosing relationship over retreat. Together, Sherman and Steve reflect on what it means to...

In this Field Note episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , host Noel Bouché reflects on the nature of unity—not as sameness, but as togetherness rooted in shared essentials. Drawing from Scripture, cultural moments, and personal experiences, Noel explores how the biblical concept of E chad (Hebrew for One) calls us toward a kind of unity that holds space for difference. Whether in leadership, fam...

In this episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , host Sherman Bradley sits down with Joe Gachira , a leader, mentor, and civic-minded entrepreneur from Nairobi, Kenya. Together, they explore the deeply relational and spiritual act of empowerment —not as a top-down command, but as a call to raise others up through sonship, trust, and purposeful presence. Joe shares personal stories of transformatio...

In this Field Note episode of the Canyon Pathways podcast, Noel Bouché unpacks the word empower —not as a soft sentiment, but as a bold act of entrusting others with ability, authority, and autonomy. He explores how true empowerment mirrors the character of a Father who places confidence in His children, not by hoarding power, but by putting it into our hands. Through cultural reflections, persona...

In this Canyon Pathways Podcast conversation, Luke Smith sits down with Michael Perrin to dive deep into the word authority —a word that, for many of us, is loaded with mixed experiences and emotions. For some, authority feels like control, punishment, or shame. For others, it’s a title or position to chase. But what if true authority looks entirely different? What if, at its core, authority is ab...

In this Field Note episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , I (Noel Bouché) take a closer look at the word AUTHORITY —a word that stirs both longing and resistance in many of us. For so many men in midlife leadership, authority feels like a double‑edged sword. We want it, we question it, we push against it, and yet deep down, we ache for the covering and stability it can bring. Too often we equate...

In this episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , Luke Smith sits down with our friend Peter Glynn to explore the theme of discovery —not just in the sense of travel or adventure, but in the much more sacred journey of becoming who you were created to be. Peter’s life has taken him across continents, through boardrooms and battle zones, and deep into the wilderness of both the world and the soul. W...

In this Field Note episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , I (Noel Bouché) explore the word “DISCOVERY” —not as a grand uncovering of something new to the world, but as a sacred uncovering of what’s long been lost or buried in our own hearts. As boys, discovery was a way of life. From childhood curiosity to young adult ambition, we chased the thrill of newness. But somewhere in midlife—amid sprea...

In this episode of the Canyon Pathways Podcast , our brother Luke Smith hosts a powerful conversation with Rob Casey about the journey of PROVISION—not just as something we receive, but as something that redefines how we see ourselves, God, and others. Rob shares honestly about his early struggles with identity, insecurity, and the deep ache to be accepted. He opens up about the tension between ne...