Ask Mom and Dad

Greg and Tonya open with a Wall Street Journal piece on adult children deciding to cut off their parents—sometimes over politics, lifestyle differences, or advice from therapists and peers online. They push back on the idea that ordinary friction automatically equals “toxic,” and they talk through the real difference between biblical counsel that points toward repair and a therapy culture that often prioritizes feeling better right now.They share their own early-marriage story of setting clear boundaries with Greg’s mom (it wasn’t permanent, and it wasn’t easy), look at what Scripture actually says about honoring parents even when it’s hard (including 2 Timothy 3 and James on listening and anger), and name the tension between wanting to belong and being told to separate. They also talk about identity rooted in Jesus instead of self-discovery, the real enemy behind family division, and why prayer for the person you’re struggling with can change the room before anything else does.If you’ve felt the pull to step away from family—or you’re watching it happen around you—this is a grounded, practical conversation about boundaries that still leave room for relationship.

Scriptures for further reference: 2 Timothy 3:1-5, James 1:19, James 1:21, James 1:22-25, James 1:26, Matthew 15:11, Matthew 7:24-27, Psalm 34, Psalm 91:4, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:44, 1 Peter 5:8, John 16:33, Matthew 16:18, Romans 10:17, 2 Peter 1:3




CHAPTERS
0:00 Welcome and the article that started the conversation
1:00 Family estrangement, therapy culture, and online peer advice
8:00 Biblical counseling versus modern therapy that focuses on feeling better
12:00 Their own story: boundaries with Greg’s mom early in marriage
15:00 When cutoffs happen—grandchildren, church families, and real harm
19:00 Identity in Jesus, the church as counsel, and why self-discovery falls short
21:00 2 Timothy 3, honoring parents, and last-days attitudes
24:00 Redefined “violence,” words versus real threat, and what actually shapes us
29:00 Parenting, generational trends, and who is supposed to inform a child’s identity
33:00 James on quick to listen, slow to speak, and defensiveness as anger
40:00 Therapy culture, affirmation over instruction, and owning your own reactions
45:00 Prayer, Psalm 34, and the real enemy behind family division
49:00 Closing prayer and practical next step

Tonya sat down to keep writing and found out a chunk of the book had never actually saved. Six or seven thousand words, gone, right in the middle of the part she was most proud of.Greg and Tonya start there, then end up somewhere else. The missing pages were about a desert season in Phoenix, fear around Elijah, and the older stories God used to get Tonya ready for it. A car she was asked to give away. A breakup that shoved her into a prayer journal. Five years of begging to hear something and only getting one word back: wait.It is a conversation about ownership, security, and what you lean on when the voice you are used to goes quiet. If you have ever lost work, lost a plan, or wondered whether God was still in the room, pull up a chair.
CHAPTERS00:00:00 The Book Stopped Saving
00:04:32 Trials, James, and Why the Book Exists
00:07:18 The Car That Was Not Really Hers
00:17:52 Ownership Gets Harder With Kids
00:23:37 Five Years of Hearing Only Wait
00:29:12 Security, a Breakup, and a Picnic Table
00:35:30 The Anonymous Bag of Skirts
00:41:09 A Prayer by the Bed

Tonya has been trying to write a book for a couple of years. Not because publishing is hard now—anybody can print one. Because the story itself keeps getting bigger than the moment that started it.It began with their youngest son. Accidents. Fear. A stretch in Phoenix that felt like a desert on the outside and in her soul. And then this quiet thing she almost walked past: a promise God had already tucked into Elijah’s name, spoken back to her when things were at their worst. God would protect him. He was there.In this episode of Ask Mom and Dad, Greg and Tonya sit with that book while it’s still unfinished. Seven chapters mapped. About eighteen thousand words in. She’s aiming for something you can actually hold—deep enough to carry the promise, not so padded it loses what God put on her heart. Along the way they talk about Amazon books, instant “experts,” AI that can catch a muddy sermon but shouldn’t write your life, and why a story still needs a living soul behind it.If you’ve ever felt a promise in the dark and didn’t know how to tell it, this one is for you.

CHAPTERS 
00:00 Coffee, Questions, and Getting Settled 
01:31 Why Everybody Suddenly Has a Book
07:21 The Book Tonya Can’t Rush
14:18 Elijah, the Desert, and a Promise She Almost Missed
18:15 Filling It Out Without Losing the Thread
20:19 Tools Can Help—They Can’t Live the Story
32:52 Why a Book Doesn’t Make You an Expert
38:37 Trusting the One Who Holds the Whole Thing Together

Greg and Tonya keep meeting the same kind of faith: know the commandments, work hard, make it to Sunday, want the life God blesses.Just not always God in the center of it.This episode is about that gap. The fear of God is not a short list that makes you a good person. Jesus made it personal—love Him with everything, then treat the person in front of you like they already belong. They sit with Psalm 127 and the anxious toil we dress up as responsibility. They sit with Ephesians 2, where the wall that said “you don’t belong here” comes down, and strangers become members of the household of God.That’s the turn. You don’t visit the temple anymore. You’re being built into it. Jesus is the one holding the load. The gathering is the house coming alive in one room. And the people you pass in the grocery store are not on the other side of a wall He already tore down.If He’s building the house in you, you don’t have to protect it. You can invite people home.Come sit with Greg and Tonya.
CHAPTERS
00:00:11 – Ask Mom and Dad
00:06:34 – Sacred, Secular, and Muddy Water
00:10:48 – Fear of God Isn’t a Checklist
00:15:14 – Anxious Toil and the Gift of Rest
00:17:12 – Belonging Without Being the Center
00:21:45 – The Wall Came Down
00:27:40 – When the Temple Starts Talking
00:32:00 – He Carries the Load. You Have a Role.
00:39:59 – Living It Around Your Own Table

We just got back from England, where churches stand on nearly every corner… and yet so many people have never actually encountered Jesus.Greg and Tonya talk about the difference between “here’s a place to sit” and “come sit with me.” They dig into why the word “religion” itself can become a wall, what people really mean when they say “I’m not religious,” and how genuine relationship—not more programs or prettier buildings—creates the kind of access that changes everything.From a widower who just wanted to die, to a woman with tattoos talking about angels in the park, to the quiet work of preparing the ground so the seed can actually take root… this conversation gets honest about the barriers we don’t always see and the comfort zones we have to leave if we want others to feel at ease enough to meet Jesus.Pull up a chair. This one’s worth listening all the way through.

CHAPTERS
 00:00:00 – Opening Banter and the Real Question
00:02:46 – England: Churches Everywhere, Understanding Nowhere
00:05:06 – Jesus as a Person, Not Just a Feeling
00:14:57 – Visible Access vs. Meaningful Access
00:26:47 – “Places to Sit” or “Come Sit With Me”?
00:27:21 – When the Word “Religion” Becomes the Barrier
00:38:27 – Preparing the Ground and Leaving Comfort Zones
00:49:34 – Listening for Stories and Lowering the Walls

We spent ten days bouncing between Oxford and the southern edges of London helping mission teams move from place to place. What started as practical work turned into a running conversation about everything from tube seats that try to dump you on the floor to food that actually lists real ingredients first.Along the way we kept running into the same quiet surprise: a Christian history that is still thick in the air even when a lot of people no longer notice it. Older men who pray with a weight that feels older than the room. Door-to-door conversations that open more easily than we expected. Standing in places where the gospel was fought for and realizing how much of what we take for granted came from there.Greg and Tonya process the funny, the awkward, and the weighty parts of the trip without polishing it up. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to carry faith into a culture that still has the memory of the gospel but not always the life of it, this conversation is worth sitting with.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 – Funky Toes and Why Older People Talk About Things Nobody Asked For
00:01:56 – Back From London: Ten Days of Mission Work and No Real Plan
00:06:03 – Scones, Fig Bars, and Why the Food Tastes Different
00:10:01 – “Way Out” Signs, Restroom Confusion, and Gen Z Slang
00:14:13 – Hearing Prayers That Carried a Different Weight
00:21:00 – Aging Churches and the Men Who Still Live the Faith Out Loud
00:27:00 – When Ease Makes a Nation Forget Where the Gospel Came From
00:33:00 – Door-to-Door Conversations and Learning to Talk About a Broken World
00:36:00 – Tyndale, Wycliffe, Kings, and the God Who Uses Them AllTAGS MissionTrip,

Hey, it's Greg and Tonya—jumping into a conversation that started with a walk through a famous LA celebrity graveyard and quickly got real. We talk about the minimal, often sad markers on stars like Natalie Wood, Farrah Fawcett, and Dean Martin, contrasting them with the faith-filled family plots that feel connected and hopeful.

All that fame and fortune, yet so little evidence of what is lasting. What is the evidence of peace or eternal hope. We dive into Ephesians 1, the true inheritance we have in Christ, and why that changes everything about how we live, grieve, and leave a legacy. Along the way we touch on actors finding faith today, Ruth's faithfulness, Job's trials, and what it means to build your life on something that doesn't fade.If you've ever wondered what your life will be remembered for—or how to hold onto hope when things get heavy—this one’s for you. Come have a seat at the table with us.

CHAPTERS
00:00:02 - Fun Intro & Graveyard Discovery
00:01:51 - Celebrity Graves vs Family Faith Markers
00:05:17 - Ephesians 1 and Eternal Inheritance
00:06:14 - Epitaph Games & Hollywood Stories
00:14:03 - Grief, Lost Children & Hopelessness
00:20:12 - Modern Actors Finding Christ
00:31:32 - Ruth, Naomi & Legacies of Faith
00:45:49 - Wrapping Up: London Trip & Final Thoughts

Greg and Tonya sit down and just start talking about how discouraging the headlines are and how hard it is to know what’s true anymore. They wrestle with why so many people—even in Christian circles—end up putting their hope in politics, theology, or systems instead of in Jesus Himself.From Adam and Eve trusting the first lie to modern deceptions, they unpack how we got here and what it actually looks like to walk with Christ daily instead of just collecting the right beliefs. They share from Philippians, talk about the song “All I Have Is Christ,” and give straight warnings about anything or anyone that tries to stand between you and Jesus.If you’re tired of the noise and hungry for something real, this honest conversation from two people who’ve been married a long time and love Jesus more will meet you right where you are. Come listen—you might walk away encouraged to press on.

CHAPTERS
00:00:15 - Podcast Kickoff and World Feels Heavy
00:01:52 - Headlines, Lies, and Where Real Hope Comes From
00:03:02 - History of Getting It Wrong Since Genesis
00:08:00 - Theology vs. Knowing Jesus Personally
00:11:20 - Pressing On Like Paul in Philippians
00:15:15 - Back to the Garden: Intimate Walk with God
00:20:36 - All I Have Is Christ and True Humility
00:30:50 - What the Church Is Really For (and Warnings)

Greg and Tonya sit down and immediately start laughing about their cluttered house, messy closets, and how hosting Bible study forced them to clean up. But the conversation quickly turns serious as they wrestle with what real rebirth looks like — for their church, for our country, and for us personally.

They dig into Juneteenth, the Civil War, Lincoln’s call for national prayer and fasting, Stonewall Jackson’s surprising story, and how God sometimes removes even godly leaders to accomplish His purposes. From Philippians 2 humility to the danger of thinking we know better than God, they explore why anger and division keep growing and what it takes to get back to unity.

If you’ve felt discouraged by the news, politics, or the feeling that everything is falling apart, this episode will challenge and encourage you. Come listen as Greg and Tonya remind us that only God can truly heal and rebuild.

CHAPTERS
00:00:14 - House Clutter, Kids, and Forced Cleaning
00:02:13 - VBS Plans and Rebuilding Church Life
00:04:22 - Church Life Cycles and National Rebirth
00:05:27 - Juneteenth, Civil War, and Lincoln’s Prayer
00:15:01 - Trusting God Over Politics and Human Plans
00:24:02 - Philippians 2, Humility, and Working Out Salvation
00:35:18 - Higher Ideals, Anger, and Unity in Christ
00:37:55 - Joshua’s Warning: Don’t Forget God

Greg and Tonya kick things off laughing about their exploding tomato jungle and the never-ending quest for the perfect homegrown tomato before diving headfirst into real life. They unpack their morning Bible study in Philippians, where Paul prays that love would abound more and more with knowledge and discernment.The conversation gets honest fast: how do we tell truth from noise in a world full of tickled ears and YouTube cathedrals? They talk about the danger of making government, doctors, or cultural voices into idols, why true agape love changes how we see everything, and what it really means to put on the right lenses before you interpret the world.If you've ever wondered how to stay grounded when everyone around you is resonating with whatever feels good, this one's for you. Come sit on the couch with Greg and Tonya.

CHAPTERS
00:00:14 - Intro & Tomato Garden Update 
00:06:00 - Diving into Philippians & Prison Epistles
00:10:00 - Caesar vs Christ: Loyalty in Roman Culture
00:19:00 - Who Are You Actually Listening To?
00:22:00 - The Lenses We See the World Through
00:31:00 - What Real Agape Love Looks Like Today
00:44:00 - Renewing Your Mind & Finishing Strong