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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

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The father may have thought he was walking the road to Capernaum all alone. Quite the contrary. Christ had supernaturally gone into the nobleman’s residence and not only healed the son, but also won the hearts of the entire household. Was the father’s prayer answered? By all means! It was answered in a manner greater than he had requested.

Yours will be as well. Perhaps the answer will come this side of heaven. Perhaps it awaits you on the other side. Either way, this story urges you and me to keep walking and believing in our God who is our ever-present help in trouble.

Ever-present. You’ll never be put on hold or told to check back later. Ever-present. As near as your next breath. Ever-present help. He is here to help. That’s the message of this miracle. That’s the message of the Gospel. Remember friends, you are never alone.

Read more You Are Never Alone: Trust in the Miracle of God's Presence & Power

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

After getting fired from his job without prior notice, Wil became so depressed that he admitted himself into an inpatient mental health facility. Then one day, after weeks with no progress, he was taking his daily walk when his therapist, seeing him, smiled and called out, “I bet I’ll beat you to the community room.” Wil recalls, “That small act triggered something inside of me.”

Long before Michael Martin became President and CEO of ECFA, he experienced something that changed the way he thought about trust, stewardship, and the health of Christian ministries.

In this special bonus episode, Michael shares the personal story behind his passion, including a season when the Christian university he attended faced serious financial and governance challenges. What happened left a lasting impression on him and helped shape the work he would eventually dedicate his life to.

Michael and Ryan Gordon also explore why ministry drift is often subtle, why fear and pride can keep leaders from inviting accountability, and why even strong organizations need safeguards.

This conversation goes beyond policies, financial statements, and governance structures. It gets to the heart of what accountability protects: trust, credibility, donor confidence, healthy leadership, and ultimately the Gospel witness.

If you’re a leader, pastor, board member, executive, or donor, this episode offers a practical and hopeful look at why accountability matters before a crisis ever happens.

In this episode:

• The experience that made accountability deeply personal for Michael
 • Why organizational drift usually happens slowly
 • The connection between accountability, credibility, and trust
 • Why accountability is not the same as perfection
 • How fear and pride can make ministries resistant to outside accountability
 • Why safeguards help protect leaders and organizations
 • What Michael means when he says “accountability accelerates the Gospel”
 • Why accountability can be redemptive, not punitive

Additional Resources

ECFA.org

2 Corinthians 8:20–21: “For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.”

How Leaders Lose Their Way: Buy the Book or Listen to our interview with Peter

If you've been pushing hard but feeling empty, this episode will challenge everything you believe about high performance. DJ Vanas — Air Force veteran, member of the Ottawa Nation, and author of The Warrior Within (Penguin Random House) — brings centuries of tribal wisdom into a single, urgent message: you cannot be of service to anyone when you are falling apart.

DJ has spoken at Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and Yakima Tribal Jail in the same week. His work spans 574 federally recognized tribes, healthcare systems, military organizations, and Fortune-level business teams. He doesn't teach cutting-edge frameworks — he teaches ancient ones that have been proven under the worst conditions in human history.

Connect with DJ Vanas

⁠⁠nativediscovery.com⁠⁠

⁠⁠Buy the Book: The Warrior Within⁠⁠

Contact ANI

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Share this program with a friend or family member at www.joniradio.org!

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

If every yes sits with you, chances are every roadblock sits with you, too. In this month’s episode, we look at five ways leaders can empower their teams to say yes. Put them into practice, and your best people will stop waiting on you and start leading.

Get the free leader guide for this episode here: https://www.life.church/leadershippodcast/5-ways-to-build-a-team-that-can-say-yes-without-you.

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ABOUT CRAIG

Craig Groeschel is the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church and one of today’s most trusted voices in leadership. Since 2016, he’s shared practical, empowering leadership insights to help you grow through the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast.

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The Gospel of John tells the story about a man from Capernaum who approached Jesus in Cana. “Come heal my son?” the man asked. Jesus said the boy would be healed, and the man set out for Capernaum.

Do you find yourself somewhere between Cana and Capernaum? Like the official, you begged Jesus for help. And like the official you didn’t receive the answer in the way you wanted. This is the issue of the not yet answered prayer, or the not answered in the way I asked prayer.

How should we react? I’m sorry that the job did not materialize or the cancer chose to metastasize. Life has its share of dark, dank moments. Read the Bible from the table of contents in the front to the maps in the back, and you will not find any promise of a pain-free life on this side of heaven. But you will find this assurance, “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” You are never alone.

Read more You Are Never Alone: Trust in the Miracle of God's Presence & Power

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

“Close it up. I’ve seen enough.” Those were the words of an older, experienced beekeeper to me one afternoon when I was learning how to tend a hive.