Dr Mike Ayers grew up without a present or affirming father, but instead of repeating that cycle, he dedicated decades of his life to understanding what intentional fatherhood actually looks like. Drawing on his background as a researcher, a pastor of 25 years, and a dad of three, Mike shares the framework behind his upcoming book Father Friend,  a research-backed guide built around seven core competencies to help dads show up well at every stage of their child's life. This is a conversation full of both honesty and genuine encouragement for dads who want to do better.

From the critical 7-to-12 age window where a father's influence peaks, to the importance of finding mentors and building community with other dads, Mike covers practical ground that any father can act on today. He also speaks to those who love and support dads, including partners who want to encourage the men in their lives without pushing them away. Whether you're a brand new dad, deep in the parenting years, or looking back with a few regrets, this episode will leave you feeling seen, motivated, and better equipped for the journey ahead.

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Bill Nienhuis, President of Childcare Worldwide, joins Rodney Olsen for a conversation about what it really means to make disciples, not just decisions. Drawing on his own formation as a young believer shaped by Sunday school teachers, choir directors, and a Bible-reading grandmother, Bill reflects on how God used decades of seemingly unrelated experience, including 25 years in the Bible software industry, to prepare him for his true life's work amongst children in Kenya, Uganda, Peru, and India. Through Childcare Worldwide's Life Center model, local churches come alongside children for up to ten years, planting seeds of the gospel and trusting the Holy Spirit to bring the harvest in His own time.

Bill shares the moving story of Diana, a withdrawn girl from an abusive home whose encounter with a caring Life Center teacher eventually led her entire family to faith and baptism. He also challenges listeners to rethink their role in the Great Commission, not as something that requires expertise or overseas travel, but as a daily posture of availability to God. Whether through prayer, relationship, or resourcing organisations like Childcare Worldwide, Bill believes every believer has a part to play in the worldwide work of making disciples.

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Wesley Farnsworth grew up in a pastor's home with a deep faith, a desire to fit in, and a set of expectations he placed entirely on himself. A chance online search as a teenager opened a door to addiction that he would quietly battle for the next 20 years, all while building an impressive career as a US Air Force photographer, capturing everything from war zones to presidential inaugurations. In this honest and moving conversation, Wesley shares how shame kept him locked in silence, what finally pushed him to walk through the doors of a Celebrate Recovery meeting, and the extraordinary moment when telling the truth set him free.

Now an author, speaker, and Celebrate Recovery leader, Wesley Farnsworth is on a mission to help others take off their masks and step into the life God has for them. He talks about his book The Blueprint of Becoming, which uses the metaphor of stars and navigation to explore how our choices shape our lives and why God needs to be our North Star. He also gives a glimpse into his upcoming book When Faith Meets Fire, a deeply personal reflection on maintaining faith through unemployment, illness, and loss. This is a warm, candid, and deeply encouraging episode for anyone who's ever felt too broken or too ashamed to ask for help.

Wesley Farnsworth’s Website

In this episode of Bleeding Daylight, Rodney Olsen sits down with Doug Moore, a man whose 30 years across three wildly different worlds, wilderness trail guiding, youth ministry, and nursing as a registered sexual assault nurse examiner, have uniquely equipped him to speak into one of the most urgent crises facing families today. Doug is the author of The Vanguard Project: Equipping Fathers to Fight for Their Sons, a practical field manual for dads who want to lead their boys through the minefield of digital addiction, pornography, and a culture that is quietly numbing the next generation to the things that matter most.

Doug and Rodney explore how the developing brain is genuinely incapable of handling what it's being handed, and what fathers, present or imperfect, can actually do about it. They also discuss the challenges facing single mums, the alarming trends emerging among girls, the dangers of outsourcing our children's formation, and the hope that comes from understanding that our scars don't disqualify us from leading our families well. This is a conversation for every parent who wants to move from fear to action.

The Vanguard Project

After more than two decades as a pastor, Timothy Stobbe stepped away from Waypoint Church without a clear plan for what would come next, just a deep sense that the time had arrived for something new. In this warm and searching conversation, Timothy shares the journey that brought him to that moment, from a childhood faith sparked in a truck on a rainy Wednesday evening, to a campfire calling at sixteen, to the slow-burn discernment that eventually led him out of the only professional world he'd known. He talks honestly about what he misses from pastoral life, what he's discovering in the space he now has, and the daily devotional podcast, Meet Me in the Word, that has become his anchor in this in-between season.

What makes this episode particularly resonant is Timothy's willingness to sit with uncertainty without dressing it up. He speaks about waiting not as something to endure, but as something to inhabit with purpose and patience, a theme he captures in a poem he shares during the conversation. Whether you're navigating your own season of transition, struggling to maintain a consistent time in the Word, or simply looking for permission to slow down and trust, Timothy's story offers something genuine and encouraging.

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Valerie Carter is the founder and director of RRT Ministries, Rescued, Redeemed, Transformed, a global Christ-centred ministry walking alongside survivors of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and complex trauma. Growing up in Oakland, California, Valerie experienced profound abuse from a very young age, but also an extraordinary encounter with heaven that gave her both the promise of healing and a clear assignment for her life. In this conversation she speaks with remarkable honesty about the fear that gripped her for decades, the moment repentance broke it completely, and the cancer diagnosis that confronted her with the cost of unforgiveness. Hers is a story of a life not just survived, but genuinely transformed.

For more than 20 years, Valerie has been turning her own hard-won freedom into hope for some of the most wounded women in the world. She offers a frank and eye-opening look at what human trafficking actually is, often far closer to home than most people realise, and shares the gentle, patient, faith-filled approach she uses to walk survivors towards healing through her program, The Great Exchange. Whether you have experienced significant trauma yourself or simply want to understand how God redeems the darkest of stories, this episode will move you, challenge you, and leave you with a deeper understanding of what it truly means to be rescued, redeemed, and transformed.

Rhame Neubauer grew up surrounded by church, but it wasn't until a camp counsellor sat down with a 12-year-old girl and explained the gospel that everything changed. That encounter ignited a faith so alive that by 17, Rhame felt God clearly calling her to a life of missionary work. But the road ahead looked nothing like she'd imagined. What followed were 12 years she describes as her dark years, a period marked by abuse, chronic illness, and a shame so deep that she couldn't bring herself to let God into the places that hurt the most, even as she continued to believe in Him.

This is a conversation about what it really looks like to come back, not in a single dramatic moment, but in a crawl of small, obedient steps that slowly became a sprint. Rhame shares how she went from being told she would never have children to naturally conceiving two, from isolation and brokenness to a marriage she describes as beyond anything she could have asked for, and from hiding her story to writing it all down in her book, This Love is for You, Girl. It's a raw, honest, and ultimately joyful testament to the truth that God's grace reaches further than our shame ever could.

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Doreen Virtue was once one of the most recognised names in the New Age world, a bestselling author, a psychotherapist, a regular guest on Oprah and CNN, and a global spiritual teacher whose books were translated into 38 languages. Raised in a Christian Science household that blended biblical language with New Thought philosophy, she spent decades teaching angel spirituality, psychic development, and divination before a series of encounters with Scripture brought her face to face with the real Jesus. In 2017, while reading Deuteronomy 18, she was so profoundly convicted that she fell off her chair, cried out to God, and gave her life to Christ, immediately walking away from everything she had built.

In this deeply candid conversation, Doreen speaks honestly about the cost of that decision, the deception she unknowingly spread across the world, and why she now devotes herself to warning Christians about New Age thinking that has quietly seeped into many churches. She draws on her insider knowledge to help believers identify false gospels, test the spirits as 1 John 4 instructs, and understand why the true Jesus of Scripture is so different from the one portrayed in much of popular culture.

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Mark Osborne spent decades in the background, playing rhythm guitar on the worship team, raising his kids, and going to church, while quietly living without real purpose, spiritual depth, or a genuine connection with God. A mild heart attack at 48 nudged him toward healthier habits, but it was the day he sat alone on his birthday with a bowl of Captain Crunch and asked God why he wasn't happy that something finally cracked open. What followed was a fitness journey that spiralled into ego, social media obsession, a marriage pushed to its breaking point, and ultimately, a moment on his knees that changed the direction of his life entirely.

In this honest and encouraging conversation, Mark shares how he and his wife rebuilt their relationship and their faith from the ground up, what he's learned about the difference between self-improvement and Christ-centred development, and why he now believes discipline is not a pathway to self-mastery but a fruit of the Holy Spirit. He also speaks directly to men who are drifting, and to the women who love them, offering practical wisdom and genuine hope. Mark is the host of The Valiant Forge podcast. This episode could be the beginning of taking you from a life of staying in the background to the future that God has planned for you.

Dr. James Torkildson brings more than four decades of clinical experience to a conversation that covers far more than mental health. From a dramatic conversion experience in an army chapel in Germany to a career spent helping thousands of people understand the roots of their pain, James speaks with the kind of quiet authority that only comes from having lived through both the darkness and the light. He unpacks why he sees psychology and faith as complementary rather than competing, and why most of what psychology gets right can be traced directly back to scripture.

His book, Awaken! Exposing the Web of Deception, Threatening Our Faith, Family and Freedom, forms the backdrop for a wide-ranging discussion about truth, deception, the eternal perspective that changes everything, and the urgent need for the church to rediscover its true north. Whether you're grappling with emotional health, questioning what's shaping our culture, or simply looking for a conversation that takes both faith and reason seriously, this episode offers wisdom that is both deeply grounded and immediately practical.

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