The Redeemed Man

With Christmas almost upon us, this week The Redeemed turns its podcast over to Army veteran and ministry leader Jordan Thome, who offers his thoughts on Jesus’s statement “I am the light of the world” and what it means for us. Jesus, he says, is the fulfillment of prophecies and covenants made long before He came to earth. Reflecting more deeply on those promises kept, and increasing our apprecia...

It’s the season of gift-giving, and in this week’s podcast Ricky Smith, lead pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia , talks with Nate Dewberry about the most important gift any of us have ever received: God’s love, expressed through His son Jesus. Many times we might not consider ourselves worthy of that gift; other times we might not think about it at all. But God sending His son t...

Jeremy Simmons thought he had everything—he had a fast-paced career, he was “planting” a new church, he had a successful wife and two beautiful daughters. But when his marriage fell apart, he says he felt “like I was watching the towers of my life fall down around me.” Moving back in with his parents and starting over was a humbling experience, but when he stopped trying to control everything and...

Rock Sandretto is an entrepreneur who, along with his beautiful wife and four children, manages a variety of successful business ventures in the Birmingham area. But if you told him about all that 15 years ago—when he was struggling to kick a drug addiction and his own parole officer told him he probably wasn’t going to be able to do it—he might not have believed you. The road to redemption was a...

This week we shift from our usual podcast format to three short segments with men for whom The Redeemed has made a real-life impact. You’ll meet Ron, who’s been involved with his church but was seeking a deeper connection with God; Vincent, who originally attended the Restored conference just to meet Tim Tebow but ended up finding something greater; and Noel, who’s taking what he’s gained from The...

Personal trainer Chad McManus may focus primarily on his clients’ physical fitness, but his own personal philosophy is that physical, mental, and spiritual health are all connected, which can make it hard to improve one part when the others are lacking. In this week’s podcast with Nate Dewberry, Chad talks about recovering from the pain of divorce, being a dad (and stepdad), and the dangers of the...

The stops on Thomas Cox’s physical fitness journey include four years as a quarterback for the UAB Blazers, seven as a college football coach, and the creation of both a health-oriented meal delivery service and a successful catering company. One of the biggest keys to his success, he says—in business, fitness, and life—is being willing to do hard things. “When hard tasks come up that are unknown,...

An interest in health and fitness that Brannen Dorman developed as a young kid eventually took him to Wheaton College, where he was a fullback on the football team; to coaching at schools in Florida; and now to Training Think Tank in Alpharetta, Georgia, where he helps athletes and others set fitness performance goals and plan how to achieve them. Though the world of fitness is “not a Christ-centr...

Mark Pettus, President of Highlands College in Birmingham , draws on his invaluable experience in growing Church of the Highlands' student ministry from a few dozen to several thousand to share insightful leadership strategies on how to effectively lead as followers and responsibilities increase in this week's conversation with Nate Dewberry. Mark highlights the worth of building a well-...

Greg Countryman didn’t make it from special-ed student to quadruple-degreed college graduate, professor, and now sheriff of Muscogee County, Georgia, without gaining some important insights along the way. This week the three-decade law enforcement veteran talks with Paul Amos about his personal journey, the challenges one faces as a high-profile public servant, and the hallmarks of good leadership...

Cal Walters is a U.S. Military Academy graduate, Iraq veteran, JAG officer, and professor. Over the course of a decorated career, which has included service under other highly esteemed military officers, he’s learned quite a bit about leadership, which he shares through his podcast, “Intentional Leader”; he also shares them with Nate Dewberry in this week’s edition of The Redeemed Man podcast, alo...

The theme for the month of October at The Redeemed is leadership, and in this podcast Paul Amos and Nate Dewberry introduce the topic by talking about what they’ve learned—not just as leaders of companies or organizations, but as leaders of families. Among those lessons: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but don’t let those mistakes define your identity, either; don’t just assume that the “view fr...

From the first time Gage Dollar picked up a bat as a tee-ball player in his youth, he was hooked. He went on to become a star pitcher for the Central High School baseball team in Phenix City, Alabama, and then for the Alabama State Hornets—years of experience that taught him about teamwork, appreciating one’s blessings, and the value of community in becoming a confident and authentic leader. Gage...

“We have plans, but God directs our path,” says Omar Mance. His own life is proof of that: He went to LSU with hopes of making it to the NBA, but after sensing he needed something different in his life, he transferred to a smaller school, which set him on the road to becoming a coach and mentor. After coaching stints at a wide variety of universities, Mance founded The Circle Legacy , a nonprofit...

Blake Russell says he was “19 years old but with a Hollywood-sized ego” when he went from merely doing drugs to selling them. That arrogance would cost him a promising baseball career, a girlfriend—and, eventually, his freedom, as he spent years in prison for trafficking methamphetamine. In prison, though, he had a “sentimental moment” that guided him to God and forever changed his life. Blake, no...

Since 1954, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has been reaching out to schools to help young athletes build community, grow in their faith, and find an identity in Christ that transcends their accomplishments on the field of play. This week Paul Amos talks to two volunteers with FCA’s West Georgia chapter , area director Jonathan Karastury and Calvary Christian baseball coach Scott Donoho...

Ian Morgan Cron is an Episcopal priest, therapist, and author who has written extensively about personality types and how they interact, as well as the “broken stories” we tell ourselves that perpetuate self-destructive behavior. In this week’s podcast, close friends Ian and Paul Amos discuss topics ranging from the enneagram personality test to breaking free of false narratives, sharing our truth...

Though he’s still young, Army recon platoon leader Josh Babb has faced plenty of difficulties and dilemmas, from identity struggles to an unhealthy dependence on pornography to the challenge of finding community when you’re in the military and frequently on the move. But Josh says he managed to find the answers to all of those challenges and more in scripture, and his relationship with the Lord ha...

Not only was quitting drinking only the beginning of Andy Brannum’s spiritual journey, it may have been the easiest part. When Andy (reluctantly) answered the call to ministry, he encountered a whole new set of challenges, from overwork to living with a wife and three kids in a 900-square-foot house. In this week’s podcast, Andy talks with Nate Dewberry about these struggles, times when he challen...

Steven Pemberton is more than happy to tell you about the mistakes he’s made and the trials and tribulations he’s gone through. What he won’t try to do is blame them on anyone else. If anything, he says, owning up to the mistakes he’s made in his life allows him to see how much God has helped him grow since then. This week Steven has an open, honest, and upbeat conversation with Nate Dewberry abou...

The theme for August at The Redeemed is stories of hope and restoration. Paul Amos and Nate Dewberry give a brief introduction to that theme in this short edition of The Redeemed Man podcast, emphasizing the importance of sharing our stories with one another—both the stories of our sins and failings and the stories of our triumphs. Ultimately, we have to remember that any truly inspiring redemptio...

Some “adrenaline junkies” chase their thrills by climbing mountains, racing cars, or skydiving. But the adrenaline rush that compulsive gamblers get from placing bets is even more addictive—and far more destructive. This week Nate Dewberry talks with a recovered gambling addict about how he got hooked, how he nearly lost everything, and how he overcame his addiction. The big key, he says, has been...

Getting a glimpse of one of dad’s Playboy magazines is so common it’s treated as a rite of passage for many men, but beneath that patina of innocence lies the potential for real and lasting damage. Rev. Michael Cusick was first exposed to porn at age 4 and by his teen years was a full-blown porn addict; it continued to blossom into a sex addiction that nearly destroyed his marriage. But he turned...

When Shawn Ryan counsels addicts at Pennsylvania Adult and Teen Challenge, he speaks as someone who has seen addiction from the inside—and ridden it all the way to rock bottom. But even after relapses, a year in jail, and temporarily having his children taken away, he still had friends who weren’t willing to give up on him—and neither was God. This week Shawn talks with Nate Dewberry about his har...

Jeff Struecker ’s 23-year career in the United States Army has taken him from the training grounds of Fort Moore to the bloody streets of Iraq and Somalia. It’s also taken him on a unique journey from soldier to chaplain, a journey that allowed him to share his faith with many other men in uniform and continue changing lives as the founding pastor of 2 Cities Church in Columbus, Georgia . In conve...