Ordinary People with Levi Steele

What do you do when the God you say you've seen twice seems silent? Pastor Rex King led Mountain View Baptist Church in Thomaston, Georgia, for 43 years. He tells Levi Steele about the day he broke down screaming in his office, the four years he watched his wife, Vicki, suffer, and the prostate cancer he is facing now. He also explains why he believes being in church and being in Jesus are two...

An 81-year-old widower on grief after losing his wife of 57 years, being angry at God, and the Christian marriage advice he gives younger husbands. Charles Richardson also talks about reading struggles, losing his daughter to ALS, and the verse from 2 Timothy his wife wrote out for him over 40 years ago. We love hearing from our listeners! extraordinarystories2025@gmail.com

Brian and Ivy Scoggin never planned to adopt. Then a verse in James led them into foster care, an adoption fell through on its final day, and a month later a friend at the hospital called about a two-day-old, five-pound baby girl. Brian, former drummer for Casting Crowns and now pastor of Mount Gilead, and Ivy, a pediatric speech therapist, also share the frightening ultrasound that led their chur...

He never proposed, and they've been married 33 years. Vonda Kay Blount grew up in Zebulon, Georgia, the oldest child of parents who divorced when she was nine. She tells Levi Steele how she became the "little mother" to her brothers, how a Sunday school lesson on the Romans Road changed her life at 11, and why divorce is "a process that continues forever." Plus: the kinderg...

What happened to the value of hard work? In this episode, Pastor Ryan Christopher joins us to explore what the Bible teaches about diligence, from the first garden to Paul's call to "work heartily, as for the Lord." He shares why work is part of God's design rather than a curse, and why so many people today have drifted away from that understanding. The conversation then turns to...

Bryce Dempsey's early childhood was full of love and stability, until his parents divorced when he was seven. With his mom working hard to hold the family together, Bryce went looking for belonging elsewhere and found it in the wrong crowd. What started as fitting in turned into years of drug use that pulled him further from the life he once knew. In this episode, Bryce opens up about those ye...

Austin and Kellie Adams came to faith from very different places. Kellie grew up in a loving, church-going family, doing all the right things on the outside while quietly living a secret life of sin. Austin grew up in a broken, dysfunctional home and spent years feeling like he had to prove his worth to everyone around him. On the surface, their stories couldn't look more different. But undern...

Rocky Stubbs grew up in Williamson, Georgia, where childhood came with a time clock. While other kids were sleeping, he was working night shifts in the cotton mills to help provide for his family — then fighting to stay awake in class the next morning. That early education in responsibility shaped everything that followed. Rocky went on to spend his life in two callings that often overlapped: teac...

Pastor Billy Smith of Christ Chapel Community Church joins me to talk about LifeWise and Bible teaching during school hours, the biggest challenges facing American Christians today, why following Jesus means living sold out, and what's next for him as he prepares to step into a new ministry role

Kyle Garner was born at 26 weeks and given no chance of survival. Twenty-nine years later, he shares his story — and what it taught him about a God who still works miracles. Love the show? We want to hear from you. Email us at extrordinarystories2025@gmail.com Follow the show on social media: YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@officialordinarypeoplepodcast Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/off...

Before he was shaping school culture, Ben Steele was shaping fences, framing houses, and putting in long days on the farm. In this episode, we sit down with my dad to trace the path that took him from rural roots to over two decades in school administration. We talk about the lessons he carried with him from farm work and construction to the classroom and the front office — the value of showing up...

When Zack Ward was diagnosed with MOGAD — Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease — he and his wife Samantha had never heard of it. Neither had most of the doctors they met. Over the next two years, the rare autoimmune disease attacked Zack's nervous system, at times leaving him paralyzed and forcing him to relearn how to walk. In this episode, Zack and Samantha share w...

What does a real relationship with Jesus actually look like day to day? In this episode, I sit down with Landon Stone— a 22-year-old college student and intern at Christ Chapel Community Church and Christ Chapel Community College— who has devoted his life to following Jesus and studying the Bible. Landon shares practical, real-world examples of what it means to live out your faith, grow as a disci...

Former college baseball player, teacher, husband, and dad Zach Jones breaks down the personal finance system that transformed his family's money — and why the average American is in more debt than you think.

What happened to the church we read about in Acts? In this episode, Bob Steele joins us to compare the New Testament church with the modern church — the practices, the priorities, and what may have been lost along the way. From there, the conversation turns to end times prophecy: what Scripture says about the days before Christ's return, which signs believers are told to watch for, and whether the...

Savannah Cain is a nurse, wife, and mother of three whose life has been shaped by foster care, redemption, and healing. After growing up in the foster care system in Georgia and coming to Christ at a young age, she walked through divorce, single motherhood, and a season of severe anxiety and OCD before finding freedom through inner healing and forgiveness.

There's a massive disconnect in today's job market. While many chase corporate careers, blue-collar jobs and trade skills are desperately needed—and often pay surprisingly well. In this episode, we sit down with  Tyler Dunn, Director of Career Technical & Agricultural Education at Harris County Schools in Georgia , to explore why these critical positions go unfilled and what it means f...

In today's solo episode, I talk about some of the biggest issues plaguing America and what we can do to solve them. If this episode resonated with you, please follow and rate the show. It genuinely helps the podcast reach more people. And if you enjoyed the conversation, share it with a friend who could use the encouragement. Follow the show on social media: YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@...

Today I sit down with someone very close to me, my aunt Camille Steele. In this interview, we talk about her childhood, from growing up on the Chattahoochee River to riding four-wheelers through the countryside. She also opens up about her two-year battle with cancer and how Jesus became her everything in the middle of her darkest hour. If this episode resonated with you, please follow and rate th...

In today's episode, we take a look back at some of the most powerful moments from the last 25 episodes. These moments are full of encouragement, inspiration, and hope, and will leave you challenged and refreshed. If this episode resonated with you, please follow and rate the show. It genuinely helps the podcast reach more people. And if you enjoyed the conversation, share it with a friend who coul...

Today were doing something different. For the next two weeks, we'll be taking a break from new interviews and instead re-airing remastered versions of episodes recorded on an older show. Today's guest is Dr. James Adams. Dr. Adams was 90 at the time of this recording, two years ago, and is still faithfully serving the Lord to this day. If this episode resonated with you, please follow and...

On this episode of Ordinary People with Levi Steele, Michael Powell joins me to share an incredible story—a secret he kept hidden for 62 years and nearly forgot himself. We explore how profound hardships can reshape our lives in unexpected ways, and the transformative power that emerges when we finally confront what we've been carrying. This is a powerful conversation about resilience, revelat...

In this powerful and vulnerable part 2 conversation, I sit down with Raymond Carrillo, the next-generation student ministries pastor at Oak Hill Church, whose faith journey is anything but typical. From the wounds of childhood abuse to years of running from the very God who could heal him, he shares the raw, honest story of how he finally stopped running—and discovered a purpose worth pursuing. Th...

What happens when we run from God? And what does it take to finally turn around and find Him? In this powerful and vulnerable conversation, I sit down with Raymond Carrillo, the next-generation student ministries pastor at Oak Hill Church, whose faith journey is anything but typical. From the wounds of childhood abuse to years of running from the very God who could heal him, he shares the raw, hon...

Jason Hoard has spent his life chasing two great loves—bluegrass music and his faith. From picking up the mandolin at seven years old to touring with Third Day, he's lived the kind of musical journey most people only dream about. In this conversation, we dive into his decades-long love affair with bluegrass festivals, what it's been like building a career in Christian music, and how faith...