Encounter with God Together

Isaiah 52-55This week on Encounter with God Together, Gail welcomes back Whitney Cunningham, President Emeritus of Scripture Union-USA, as we step into Isaiah 52–55 in our daily reading guide.Whitney makes the case for what he calls "the fifth Gospel"—the Gospel according to Isaiah—walking us through the historical background of Israel's divided kingdom before landing on the fourth and final Servant Song, one of the most detailed Old Testament pictures of Jesus in all of Scripture. Along the way he unpacks the "already, not yet" tension running through the book, and closes with three questions to carry into your own reading this week.

Featured Guest: Whitney T. Kuniholm, SU-USA President Emeritus
Whitney Kuniholm is President Emeritus of Scripture Union-USA. He is a speaker and the author of several books on personal and group Bible study, including The Essential Series, three church-wide Bible reading programs based on his books. To date, the Essential Series has reached more than 20 million people and has been translated into 25 languages. You can see previous episodes and read his blog at www.BibleEssentials.org

Isaiah 46-51

Andre Curtis, defensive safeties coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, joins Gail Martin for this latest Coaches in the Word interview, reflecting on the Encounter with God reading from Isaiah 46–51. He walks through God’s challenge to every idol — “I am God, and there is no one like Me” — and shares how nearly two decades in the fellowship have shown him a God whose plans are established from beginning to end and whose salvation will be fulfilled. This is the last episode in our Coaches in the Word series this summer.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 Featured Guest: Andre Curtis, Defensive Backs and Safeties Coach, Kansas City Chiefs
Andre Curtis is the defensive backs and safeties coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, a role he took on in 2026 after two decades of NFL coaching experience. A native of Beaverdam, Virginia, and a former linebacker at Virginia Military Institute, Curtis began his coaching career at his alma mater before coaching at Georgia Southern. His NFL journey includes stops with the New York Giants, where he was part of a Super Bowl XLII championship staff, followed by the St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, and Dallas Cowboys before joining the Chiefs.

Isaiah 42:10–45:25

Todd Downing, wide receivers coach of the New England Patriots, has been part of the pro football coaches’ fellowship for almost twenty years. From Tennessee to the Jets to New England, his family has journeyed through Encounter with God for decades — and through every team change, the fellowship has been the one hat that never changed.

Downing is a returning guest on Encounter with God Together, and this time he dove into Isaiah with a theme that stopped him in his tracks: God’s exclusivity. Seven times across Isaiah 42–45, God reminds his people exactly who he is. We may not carve idols out of wood anymore, Downing says, but plenty of things compete for the attention that belongs to God alone — and even the strongest followers of Jesus can let those things creep in if they’re not careful.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 Featured Guest: Todd Downing, Wide Receivers Coach, New England Patriots
Todd Downing is the wide receivers coach for the New England Patriots. A native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, he has spent more than two decades in the NFL, with stops that include the Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans, and New York Jets. He served as offensive coordinator for both the Raiders and the Titans and reunited with head coach Mike Vrabel in New England after their years together in Tennessee. A longtime member of the NFL coaches fellowship, Todd has journeyed through the Encounter with God guide with his family for many years.

Brad Idzik is the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, a role he has held since 2024. A Durham, North Carolina native, he played college football at Wake Forest before beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Stanford. In 2019 he joined the Seattle Seahawks as assistant wide receivers coach, the start of a partnership with Dave Canales that has shaped his entire NFL journey. When Canales became offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay in 2023, Idzik followed as wide receivers coach, and when Canales was named head coach in Carolina the next year, Idzik came with him to lead the offense. Widely regarded as the architect of that system, he was among the youngest coordinators in the league when he took the job.

His introduction to the NFL coaches fellowship came through Canales during their years together in Seattle, and Encounter with God has since become a daily foundation for his faith, a practice he now shares with his wife and one that keeps him connected to fellow coaches across the league no matter where the season takes them. Coaching runs deep in the Idzik family: his father, John Idzik Jr., served as an NFL executive and general manager, and his grandfather coached in the league for years before him.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Featured Guest: Brad Idzik, Offensive Coordinator, Carolina Panthers

Brad Idzik is the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, a role he has held since 2024. A Durham, North Carolina native, he played college football at Wake Forest before beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Stanford. In 2019 he joined the Seattle Seahawks as assistant wide receivers coach, the start of a partnership with Dave Canales that has shaped his entire NFL journey. When Canales became offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay in 2023, Idzik followed as wide receivers coach, and when Canales was named head coach in Carolina the next year, Idzik came with him to lead the offense. Widely regarded as the architect of that system, he was among the youngest coordinators in the league when he took the job.

His introduction to the NFL coaches fellowship came through Canales during their years together in Seattle, and Encounter with God has since become a daily foundation for his faith, a practice he now shares with his wife and one that keeps him connected to fellow coaches across the league no matter where the season takes them. Coaching runs deep in the Idzik family: his father, John Idzik Jr., served as an NFL executive and general manager, and his grandfather coached in the league for years before him.

Matthew 13, 14

This week on Encounter with God Together, Gail welcomes Tony Dews, running backs coach for the New England Patriots, to the Coaches in the Word series.

As we move through the parables in Matthew, Tony reflects on the compassion and grace of Christ, why Jesus taught the way he did, and what the parable of the wheat and the weeds reveals about God’s patience with each of us.

Tony opens up about what it really means to read the Word for yourself instead of settling for a secondhand faith, why the hardest people to witness to are often the ones closest to you, and how small choices can shape the direction of a life. Honest, humble, and full of encouragement, this conversation is a reminder that our greatest treasure may be the testimony God gives us to share.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 Featured Guest: Tony Dews, running backs coach, New England Patriots
Tony Dews is the running backs coach for the New England Patriots, a role he stepped into in 2025 after reuniting with head coach Mike Vrabel. He came to New England from the New York Jets, where he coached running backs in 2024, and before that spent six seasons with the Tennessee Titans, coaching running backs from 2018 to 2022 and tight ends in 2023. During his years in Tennessee, he helped guide Derrick Henry to an NFL Offensive Player of the Year award, multiple Pro Bowls, and one of the most productive rushing stretches in recent league history.

A former tight end at Liberty University, Tony began coaching in the late 1990s and built a two-decade college career that included three separate stints at West Virginia, where he was part of the 2008 Fiesta Bowl championship team, along with stops at Michigan, Pittsburgh, Arizona, and several others.

Over his career he has coached nearly every position on both sides of the ball, and colleagues consistently point to the energy and culture he brings to a room. A committed follower of Christ, Tony is part of the Coaches Fellowship and joins Encounter with God Together during the off-season to share from the Word.

Matthew 12:15–13:35

As we wrap up the quarter and bridge into a new one, the “Coaches in the Word” series resumes with Super Bowl winning coach Klint Kubiak, now in his first season as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Klint shares the reflections God has been stirring in him as he reads through the Gospel of Matthew alongside the Encounter with God guide. Along the way he talks about the brotherhood of coaches who keep one another rooted in the Word, on and off the field. He offers two summarizing ideas from the passages: think before you speak and prepare yourself to be good soil. What does it look like to be all in?

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠. Featured Guest: Klint Kubiak, head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders
Klint Kubiak is the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, named to the role in February 2026 in his first head coaching position. He came to Las Vegas after serving as offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks in 2025, a season that ended in a Super Bowl LX victory.

A safety and team captain at Colorado State, he moved to the offensive side of the ball at the start of his coaching career, with early stops at Texas A&M and Kansas before a long NFL run that included the Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings (where he became offensive coordinator), San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Seattle.

Klint comes from a well-known football family as the son of former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl winning head coach Gary Kubiak, and he and his wife Tessa share a heart for living out their faith in the public arena of the NFL Sunday.

Matthew 11

When a career-ending injury took Leslie Frazier off the field, he had no idea where God would lead him next. “Never crossed my mind,” he says of the coaching career that followed — one that now includes three Super Bowl rings.

But it was never about the rings. Through every transition — from player to coach, from setback to sideline — Frazier learned to walk by faith, trusting that the path God set before him would glorify His name.

That trust led Leslie into the coaches’ fellowship Tony Dungy helped start more than twenty years ago, where coaches from across the NFL come together each month around Scripture Union’s Encounter with God® to study the Word and hold one another accountable.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠.

 Featured Guest: Leslie Frazier, assistant head coach of the Seattle Seahawks
Leslie Frazier is the assistant head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, a role he has held since 2024 alongside head coach Mike Macdonald. Now in his 27th season as an NFL coach, his football journey began on the field: he played five seasons as a cornerback for the Chicago Bears and was a member of the legendary 1985 Bears defense that won Super Bowl XX.

After his playing days, Frazier built a long and respected coaching career, including serving as defensive backs coach and assistant head coach for the Indianapolis Colts during their Super Bowl XLI championship, four seasons as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, and six seasons with the Buffalo Bills as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. With Seattle's recent title, he now holds Super Bowl rings as both a player and a coach.

A devoted follower of Christ, Frazier was among the coaches who, with Tony Dungy, helped start the NFL Coaches Fellowship that gathers twice a month around the Encounter with God guide. He and his wife have three children.

Genesis 7–11:9

Our Coaches in the Word series continues this week as Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales joins Gail Martin on Encounter with God Together.

Picking up in Genesis 7–11:9, Dave digs into the story of Noah and asks what it really means to obey God when the call looks foolish to everyone watching. Along the way he reflects on why Scripture so often works through imperfect, unlikely people—and what that means for how we lead, follow, and treat those around us.

It’s an honest, grounded conversation about living out faith in a demanding profession. Open your Encounter with God guide and join us for the week ahead.

 Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠.

 Featured Guest: Dave Canales, head coach of the Carolina Panthers
Dave Canales is the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, a position he has held since January 2024, when he became the seventh head coach in franchise history. In his second season he led Carolina to an NFC South title and the team's first playoff appearance since 2017.

A California native, Canales began coaching in 2004 at Carson High School, his own alma mater. He entered the NFL in 2010 with the Seattle Seahawks, spending 13 seasons there in a range of offensive roles—including wide receivers coach, quarterbacks coach, and passing game coordinator—before serving as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023 and then taking the helm in Carolina.

Beyond the field, Canales is a man of deep faith and the son of a pastor. He has been part of the NFL coaches' fellowship for over a decade, drawing on Encounter with God in his daily walk with the Lord. He and his wife, Lizzy, have four children.

Genesis 1-6

SU-USA President Gail Martin is joined this week by Whitney Kuniholm, SU President Emeritus, as they discuss readings in Genesis.

Covering Genesis 1–6, Whitney walks us past the two themes we all recognize — creation and the fall — to focus on the one that's easy to overlook: the nature of sin, or how sin actually works in our lives.Drawing on the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and God's grief in Genesis 6, Whitney shares honest reflections from his own experience.

Follow along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide at ⁠scriptureunion.orgThe “Coaches in the Word” series will resume next week.

 Featured Guest: Whitney T. Kuniholm, SU President Emeritus
Mr. Kuniholm is President Emeritus of Scripture Union, USA. He is a speaker and the author of several books on personal and group Bible study, including The Essential Series, three church-wide Bible reading programs based on his books. To date, the Essential Series has reached more than 20 million people and has been translated into 25 languages.

Genesis 1

This week on Encounter with God Together, host Gail Martin welcomes back Matt Eberflus, assistant head coach of defense for the San Francisco 49ers, for week three of our “Coaches in the Word” series. Matt shares how the NFL Coaches Fellowship has carried him through the peaks and valleys of professional sports, the colleague who first noticed Christ at work in his life, and the mentor who drew him in.

Together they dig into the opening verses of Genesis, finding fresh wonder in familiar words: the joy of simply resting in the truth that God created, and a powerful picture of how the Spirit hovers over our own formless beginnings before transforming us.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at scriptureunion.org.

 Featured Guest: Matt Eberflus, assistant head coach of defense for the San Francisco 49ers
Matt Eberflus is the assistant head coach of defense for the San Francisco 49ers, a role he stepped into in 2026. A Toledo, Ohio native and former college linebacker at the University of Toledo, he brings more than three decades of coaching experience to the sidelines. He previously served as head coach of the Chicago Bears (2022–2024), defensive coordinator for both the Dallas Cowboys and the Indianapolis Colts and spent seventeen years coaching at the collegiate level before entering the NFL. Known around the league for his defensive expertise and disciplined, opportunistic units, Matt is also a devoted follower of Christ who came to faith just over a decade ago and has been an active member of the NFL Coaches Fellowship ever since.