The Cordial Catholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by JuliaMarie Woolbright, an atheist convert to Catholicism to tell, first of all, her story of conversion to the Catholic faith, but then the story of her ongoing conversion through the experience of her daughter, Anastasia. Diagnosed in utero with Anencephaly – a fatal type of neural tubal defect where a baby is born without parts of their...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Cameron Riecker, a Catholic apologist, speaker, and YouTuber to share his thoughts on a variety of topics including discernment, evangelizing our Protestant brothers and sisters, common Evangelical misunderstandings of Catholicism, Mary's role in the Church, and much more. It's a great conversation and Cameron is a phenomenal ap...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Nathan Lancaster, a campus missionary completely sold out for Jesus Christ and His Church – with a fantastic passion for his faith and a great story to tell! First, Nathan talks about his incredible story of deeper conversion to Christ through campus ministry. Then, Nathan and I dive into what's going on on college and university cam...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Ken Kopelson to tell what I think is one of the most unique and amazing conversion stories I've ever heard. Raised in a conservative Jewish home, Ken began asking questions about Christianity when a family member converted and began to share about Christ. Those discussions sparked a radical conversion to Christ and 45...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Brandon Eaves and Chris Kellam, two former Evangelical seminarians, to talk about how, as Evangelicals studying Scripture, they discovered the Biblical basis for the papacy and the Catholic view of justification. Brandon and Chris, two good friends with a great dynamic, explain how many of their misconceptions about Catholicism were dism...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Austin Molt, an Evangelical pastor, who's invited me to try and convert him to Catholicism – in 60 minutes! Austin, the pastor of New Vintage Church in Richland, WA, introduced himself to me a while back and we struck up an online friendship. He's doing and has done some great, deep thinking about the Catholic fai...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my new friend Joseph Dinesh from the incredible JD Catholic Engage YouTube channel to talk, first of all, about his amazing faith journey and then to dig into some of the anti-Catholic misunderstandings and misconceptions that Protestants have about Catholicism. JD's journey is one of a passionate young man converted away from the no...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Soren and Ever Johnson. Soren, a convert to Catholicism, and his wife, raised in a large Catholic family, are pioneering authentic Catholic communities in parishes across the world. They join me to discuss the "Evangelical sacrament" of fellowship and the need to bring authentic community to Catholics. We talk about the importan...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Scott Oakland, a former Baptist pastor, a Reformed and Lutheran elder and, finally, a grateful Catholic convert. Scott shares the story of how his love for the Bible and his quest to find the Church founded by Christ drew him ever deeper in towards the ancient Catholic Church. From a Baptist pastor, questioning his beliefs about infant ba...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Dr. Douglas Beaumont, a former Evangelical seminarian professor and a convert to the Catholic faith, to unpack how trying to decipher the "Evangelical essentials" led to his conversion. Dr. Beaumont, a student of the late Evangelical theologian Dr. Norman Geisler, studied deeply into the history of the Church, the Bible, and tri...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by the legendary, pioneering Christian  musician John Michael Talbot to share his incredible journey into the Catholic faith. John Michael is a natural born storyteller so you'll want to buckle up for this story; from encountering Christ in an Evangelical context as a country rock musician, to wrestling with denominationalism, question...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by veteran Catholic apologist Tom Nash to talk about the biblical basis for the Catholic Church. How can we use the Bible to explain the origins of the Catholic Church? We dig into apostolic succession, the centrality of the Mass, Jesus' desire for Christian unity in John 17 (and how to accomplish this), and some of the Church-dividing...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by the legendary Brandon Eaves to talk about his journey from Evangelical Christianity through to the Catholic Church. Brandon, who you've heard about on this show before, has an incredible story to tell. After the Catholic conversion of a close friend, Brandon began to ask questions about the Catholic Church – what would compel such a...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by two of the most fantastic guests of all time Caleb and Natali Perkins from Shema Culture to talk about their conversion journey, their incredible ministry, and how they see the Holy Spirit dismantling the barriers between Catholics and Protestants right before their eyes. In this epic, 2-hour long conversation, Caleb and Natali unpack wh...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Dr. James Prothro to talk about the historical and biblical roots of the Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation. Where does the idea of the Sacraments come from? Where do we see the roots of repentance, reconciliation, and forgiveness in the Old Testament? What about penance? And how do these historical roots connect to how Catholics pract...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Gerard Figurelli, a former pastor, radio host, apologist, and a student under some of the very best Evangelical minds in North America, to tell his incredible story of his return – his reconciliation – with Rome. Raised Catholic, Gerard received all of the sacraments but never really felt connected to Christ until a radical encounter in...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by one of my heroes, Early Church scholar Dr. Thomas Scheck to unpack his amazing story of growing up Catholic, leaving the faith for Evangelical Christian, and then coming storming back to the Church after 17 years away. It's a great journey! Listen as Dr. Scheck explains why an encounter with two Baptist roommates in college fired hi...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by one of the most remarkable guests I've ever had on the show, Daniel Dinneen, an Instagram evangelist, to talk about his amazing journey through addiction, loss, and a sinful lifestyle into his total dedication to Christ, His Church, and the work of his online ministry. Once you begin this episode you aren't going to want to sto...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Chris Kellam, a former pastor, an Evangelical seminarian, and a Catholic convert to share his absolutely amazing journey of conversion. Chris' story is one of a serious Evangelical Christian – a pastor, working on his Master's degree at seminary – realizing that not every Christian agreed on some of the theology and belief he t...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by the wonderful Dr. Mark Giszczak from the Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology to talk about suffering. It's a perennial topic and, as I suggest in this episode, one of the top reasons that I hear about for people leaving the Catholic faith. Why does God allow so much suffering? What's the difference between human-cau...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Izabela Ciesinska to talk about her incredible faith journey and her wonderful new book. Raised nominally Catholic, Izabela wandered into the New Age movement as a young adult and eventually into atheism, deciding that there can't possibly be a God until she was struck by incredible, natural beauty on a road trip with some friends....

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by the incredible Louis Damani Jones. A revert to the Catholic faith with an incredible story to tell, an African American Catholic with a rich experience of Catholicism to talk about, and a social justice leader in the community, deeply rooted in Catholic social values and the work of some of the best and bright Catholic theologians. You d...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined once again by my good friend Catholic convert, author, and historian Rod Bennett to propose a really interesting thesis he's been chewing on these days: that the "unwritten tradition" often criticized by non-Catholic Christians was actually written down. Maybe you've heard this claim before? That as Christians should rel...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by former White House speaker writer, New York Times #1 best-selling author, Bible scholar, historian, and Catholic convert Joshua Charles to talk about his simply incredible conversion story. A lifelong Protestant, Joshua was steeped in Scripture from an early age, collecting study Bibles as soon as he could read and it was his love for Scr...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic Answers apologist extraordinaire Joe Heschmeyer to talk about a topic that we get lots of questions about on this show: Calvinism. What does the Catholic Church have to say about this Reformation-era idea? What's the Catholic view of it? What's the Catholic response to it? And how can a Catholic become equipped to speak...