In Good Faith

Larry Cesspooch was born on the Uintah & Ouray Ute Reservation in Northern Utah, where his grandmother picked him out when he was still a child as having spiritual gifts. But it wasn't until after he returned from serving in the Navy as a radioman in Vietnam that he began to take on the duties of a spiritual leader among his people in the Ute tribe. He talks about the creator, our purpose in life,...

Dr. Tala'at al-Shuqairat is a medical doctor who found himself leading worship in his local mosque when he came to the US, since there was no one else to do it. As he studied more deeply, he found himself more and more committed to his faith, and discovered that he actually saw the differences between his religion and his culture more clearly once he had left his homeland in Jordan. In this episod...

Dr. Richard Mouw was the President of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, for 20 years, where he still teaches. He is known world-wide for extended interfaith dialogue with adherents of Islam, Catholicism, and the LDS Church, among others, and shares why he feels that's important, and how civil conversation with those of other faith traditions can strengthen your own faith. (Also, his fav...

Chaplain (and retired Major General) Douglas L. Carver has served at every level of the Army, from Platoon to the Pentagon--ending his 38-year career serving as Chief of Chaplains. In this interview he talks about what makes a good chaplain, putting listening ahead of preaching, and about finding your "life verse" in the scriptures.

Lieutenant Colonel Ruth Segres wasn’t looking for a ministry. In fact—as a child of the 4th generation of preachers in her family—she was looking elsewhere, but when ministry came calling, she finally answered that call and found herself completely at home in a place she had never imagined, as a Chaplain in the United States Air Force.  You’ll love her spirit, her commitment to the men and women s...

Author and activist Dr. Eboo Patel is nationally and even internationally known for his interfaith work on college campuses as the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, but as a young man, religion wasn’t even on his radar.  In this interview we’ll follow his path back to faith and to interfaith work, and why he feels it’s important enough to devote his life to it. If you’ve ever wondere...

Whether it's in her books, her podcasts, or her online articles, Elissa Bjeletich finds ways to make her Orthodox Christian beliefs more than Sunday-only events, and to live them out with her family and in her private moments throughout the week as well.

Bob Greiner serves as a Deacon at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston, and works as an administrator at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, where he spoke with me about his faith journey through several denominations, on receiving his call to ministry at an age when most people are retired, and how he feels connected to God through service. (Photos: Top, Deacon Bob Greiner. Bottom, Cathedral Church...

Rev. Elizabeth McVicker, Pastor at First United Methodist Church and Centenary United Methodist Church, shares her family's journey from China to Burma to the US, and how her call to ministry unfolded bit by bit. And, she'll tell us why she considers herself a "utility pastor." Rev. Elizabeth McVicker

Dr. Dale Coulter, Associate Professor at Regent University School of Divinity in Virginia Beach, shares his faith as a Pentecostal member of the Church of God. He talks about combining faith and scholarship for a broader view of each, and about the experiential nature of Pentecostal worship. "I've come to the conclusion that we're shaped today by the prayers that were uttered by our ancestors 100...

Mike Hampton, from Christ United Methodist, talks about the turning points in his faith journey, and the ways he sees the hand of God in his life.

Dr. Steve McKinion, from the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, talks about his own turning points--including whether he'd commit himself to what he believed, and about the way real faith in God doesn't just prepare us for heaven, but teaches us how to live with each other here and now. Dr. Steve McKinion

It was a simple childhood prayer for her father's healing from mental illness that set Leide Lessa on a path of physical and spiritual healing in her faith. She shares how God speaks to each of us in a way we can understand, and how as a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship, she does her "real job" of expressing love whether it's speaking to a group or with an individual. Leide Les...

At a certain point in her life, Jennifer Ristine, a Consecrated Woman of the Catholic order Regnum Christi, found herself drawn to Mary Magdalene, and asking to have a heart like Mary's was; faithful even to the foot of the cross. It was years later she received an unexpected answer to that prayer when she found herself sent to the excavation of ancient Magdala--the city of Mary Magdalene--on the...

"When the picket lines went up at all the downtown stores [to boycott stores which wouldn't serve black people], there were white priests and nuns on the picket line and I remember seeing that and thinking that there's another way to be Christian, this is the real deal." From his origins in Mississippi, writer and teacher Danny Duncan Collum has always wanted to change the world for the better, th...

"..If we want true friendship with God, we can't run away from the requirement that God--in kindness, in an effort to become our friend, to become our confidant, so we can have trust in Him--allows us to be pushed by the vicissitudes of mortality to the extremities of experience." In a life that includes moving twenty-plus times, most of them internationally, author and activist Melissa Dalton-Bra...

"One of the wonderful things about being a Rabbi is you get to be a part of people's stories...the joy and the sorrow." Rabbi Sam Spector shares his perspective on learning to "see holiness" in other people, whatever their backgrounds, as fellow children of the creator. He speaks personally about visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and what he asks people who state a disbelief in God and in pr...

Is Buddhism a life path, a philosophy, or a religion? The short answer is, "Yes." The longer answer is, "It depends." Joshua Hill, from the Tiep Hien Zen order shares his own path, and how he helps prisoners, addicts, and mental health patients to detach from the turmoil of a troubled mind and find peace in observing experiences, including suffering, from a quieter place. It's information and a pr...

After all she's been through, chaplain and counselor Emily Christensen still finds meaning in choosing faith over bitterness. She shares how she prepares to be with people under stress, and how her earliest communion with God while sitting on a swing set as a child laid the foundation for her mature belief. Find the book “Keeping Kyrie” at: https://www.emilychristensenphd.com/books/?fbclid=IwAR09c...

Dr. Oliver Crisp is from the UK originally, but teaches at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. In this episode he explores being both a theologian and a believer, how he's seen the hand of God in his and his family's life, and touches on the connection between the arts and religion. Dr. Oliver Crisp

“I realized that God sometimes tells us to do something, but then it doesn’t really pan out the way we think it’s going to, but then it drives us to do something else, and then it works out.” Daniel Stone's earliest experiences with God were as simple as asking to be made well from a cold, but they laid the foundation for a trust that has allowed him to be led through uncertain paths to the destin...

Dr. Darin Davis may be the Vice President of Mission at Baylor University, but much of his spiritual energy comes from being the pastor at Blue Ridge Baptist Church near Waco, TX. He shares the moments that changed the course of his life, and tells of the "real deal Christians," like his "Grandma" Grace, who helped make them happen.

Dr. Jean Kelly, of Otterbein Unversity, calls herself a "cradle Catholic," yet it was experiences in her adult life that lead her to increased devotion. She explains finding peace through "lectio divina," or sacred reading, and tells her students who go out in the world to serve, that "if they feel a little uncomfortable, they're probably in the right place."

“Every day there are more and more kids that come to this world, and that feel enveloped by a sense of darkness, and I feel that my calling is to break through this cloud, with the light of their inner connection with God.” - Rabbi Benny Zippel Whether leading Chabad Lubavitch of Utah for over 25 years, or tending to troubled youth with Project Heart, Rabbi Benny Zippel has a sense of mission for...

More than once, Dr. Mary Lou Shea has had the rug pulled out from under her life plan, but she also knows what it's like to have God lead you to a new path; one that unexpectedly fits you to a "T."