Into the Fire: Powered by Dream City Church

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Mayra Rodriguez.  Mayra is a former Planned Parenthood trainer and clinic director who is now a national pro-life activist.   Mayra, Debi and Sam discuss taxpayer funding and Planned Parenthood.  Last year, Planned Parenthood received almost 800 million dollars in taxpayer funding, almost 2 million dollars per day.  They discuss why executive orders cannot ful...

This week, Debi and Sam host a solo episode to discuss some of the ethical concerns within the big money business of the fertility industry. This is an episode you may want to preview before allowing young children to listen.   Debi and Sam discuss the dangers of egg harvesting. Many young women get ads luring them to sell their eggs.  This is also a procedure that is required for both IVF and sur...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Aubrey Matthesius, co-campus pastor at Dream City Church Aubrey, Debi and Sam talk about the views and parenting styles of Millennials and Gen Z.    So many young women have been either fearful of motherhood or feel as though it is a negative experience.  Aubrey talks about how she never held a baby or changed a diaper until she had her own child a little over...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Jenna Bentley, director of government affairs, and Matt Beienburg, director of education policy at Goldwater Institute. Debi, Sam,  Jenna and Matt discuss the ballot initiative process and the need to prohibit DEI in state law. In Arizona, there are multiple ways to get a proposition on the ballot. It can be confusing for voters, especially since our laws diff...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Dave Ansell, pastor of the Scottsdale campus of Dream City Church. Pastor Dave was a pastor in California prior to joining the Dream City family. He talked about living and holding church services in southern California during the COVID lockdowns and how his eyes were opened to the manipulation and control that was happening. It was ok to protest in the street...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Sandra Christensen, elected board member of PVUSD governing board.  Sandra, Debi and Sam discuss the roles and responsibilities of school boards.  Sandra talks about how she got involved and why she ran for the school board in Paradise Valley.  Debi, Sam and Sandra talk about why it is important for Christians to pay attention to what is happening at their loc...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Peter Gentala, president of the Center for Arizona Policy.  Peter was formerly an attorney with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.    Please note that while this episode is not sexually explicit, it does discuss adult topics. Please preview before allowing young children to listen. Peter, Debi, and Sam discuss the issue of sexual exploitation of minor...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Lisa Santagate, co-director of Dream Marriage and co-director of Wellness Ministries at Dream City Church Lisa, Debi and Sam discuss the issue of mental health within the church.  The rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues are basically the same in and out of the church. Why? Lisa talks about the fruit of the Spirit, how we can tell if we...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by David Weaver, volunteer leader at Dream City Church David, Sam and Debi talk about David's journey of coming to know the Lord in his 40s.  He talks about how other men in the church modeled  what it means to be a father and a husband, something he had never really seen before.   David, Sam and Debi also talk about the term "toxic masculinity"  a...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Pam Trudeau, director of Mom's Pantry  Pam, Debi and Sam discuss the rising need for food in our communities. With housing, gas and food costs on the rise, more and more families are having difficulty making ends meet. Food banks and food pantries can help alleviate hunger. Pam talks about her experience with Mom's Pantry from volunteer to director. ...

This week, Debi and Sam are joined by Kristie Sexton, director of women's ministry at Dream City Church Kristie, Debi and Sam discuss the unique challenges and pressures that women face in today's culture.  Rates of sex outside of marriage, porn use, abortion and mental health challenges are virtually the same in and out of the church. Why?   Kristie talked about "the list" tha...

This week, Debi and guest co-host Sam Oriza are joined by Season Reynolds Season, Debi, and Sam discuss the explosion of single adults in the United States.  46.4% of the adults in the US are single. Ministries within churches often focus on college-age singles and family ministries but have very little specifically geared toward older single adults.  Loneliness and frustrations over delayed or un...

This week, Debi and guest co-host Sam Oriza discuss federal spending. While our podcast typically covers more local level engagement, this episode touches on some federal issues.  Why are there so many 3-letter agencies in the federal government?  Just how big is our national debt?  What is DOGE and what is it attempting to do? As Christians, why should we care about national debt and federal spen...

This week, guest co-host Sam Oriza interviews Debi about her decades long involvement in pro-life activism and some of what she has learned through years of research into the industry. The abortion industry is a profit driven industry. Planned Parenthood alone has a net worth of 2.5 Billion dollars.  What many people don't know is how much criminal activity abortion clinics and abortionists t...

This week, Debi and guest co-host Sam Oriza are joined by Kim Miller, founder and president of Arizona Women of Actiona. Kim, Debi and Sam discuss the importance of sports programs and opportunities for girls, including Sam's experience playing college softball and Kim's 3 daughters' sports opportunities. They discuss the executive order signed by president Trump to protect girls sp...

This week, Debi and guest co-host Sam Oriza are joined by Cid Cota, pastor of the San Carlos Apache campus of Dream City Church Debi, Sam and Pastor Cid discuss the importance of understanding life on the Reservations and the unique needs that arise in those communities.  Pastor Cid shares his story of growing up on the Reservation, moving away and moving back.   They discuss how Arizona has the h...

This week, Debi and guest co-host Sam Oriza are joined by Brad Baker, associate pastor at Dream City Church Pastor Brad has a candid conversation with Debi and Sam about his life and how he sees the current trends in culture.  He talks about growing up in a pastor's home and serving in ministry for most of his life, including many years as a youth and family pastor. They discuss how every gen...

This week, Debi and guest co-host Sam Oriza are joined by Luke Meredith, Co-Pastor of the Colorado City Dream City Campus and Co-Director of the Short Creek Dream Center. Luke shares some of his backstory and how he ended up at the Short Creek Dream Center.  He talks about the miraculous twists and turns of life and how that helped prepare him for ministry to people with very unique needs.   Much...

This week, Debi and guest co-host Sam Oriza are joined by Angel Barnett, CEO of Dream Institute Debi, Sam and Angel discuss Dream Institute and the work that is being done to help women and children in need.  Dream Institute includes the Short Creek Dream Center which is rescuing families from religious abuse and from familial trafficking in the form of child marriage and polygamy.  Dream Institut...

This week, Debi was joined by Sam Oriza, volunteer leader at Dream City Church. Debi and Sam discuss Sam's college experience at a Christian college in the Pacific Northwest during the height of the lockdowns.  Sam discusses how she was raised in a Christian home but when she went away to college, she quickly realized that even at a Christian school, the worldview of students, professors and...

This week, Debi was joined by Robert and Jennifer Oriza, volunteer leaders at Dream City Church. Robert, Jennifer and Debi discuss being salt and light.  They discuss the importance of serving in the local church and how much God uses our service to help us grow in our relationship with him. Serving also helps us figure out our gifts and our calling.  They also discuss being engaged in the communi...

This week, Debi was joined by  State Representative and outgoing Speaker of the House, Ben Toma Debi and Representative Toma discuss why it is so important that people of faith serve in office. Representative Toma is a Christian, family man, business owner, and volunteer at his local church. Who stepped up years ago to run for office. Debi and Rep. Toma talk about what the Speaker of the House doe...

This week, Debi was joined by Renee Matchet, co-pastor at the Glendale campus of Dream City Church.  This past election season, so much of the messaging and the political ads were targeted at women.  However, it was a warped and anti-biblical version of womanhood.  The messaging was designed to push the idea of a need for abortion, being a girl boss and despising men. It was basically a full displ...

Debi and Alison discuss the Christian roots of our nation and why the "separation of church and state" is not part of our laws.   They discuss the very clear biblical roots in our founding and our founding documents.  They talk about the Christian roots of education and of medicine in this nation.  Our current state of decline is directly related to the removal of biblical values from pu...

This week, Debi was joined by Harrison and Lauren Russell.  Harrison is the worship pastor at the Phoenix campus of Dream City Church and Lauren works in the Communications department.  This is an extended episode because Harrison and Lauren have such an incredible story to share. Hear their testimony from childhood sweethearts to marriage, and parenthood. Along the way, there were some undiagnose...