Entrusted Podcast

Jeff Donnithorne spent 25 years in the Air Force and retired as a colonel. Today he teaches in Auburn University’s School of Aviation. In between, he flew combat missions as an F-15E weapon system officer, earned a PhD, led the Air Force’s school of advanced strategy, and moved his family to Kenya for a year of medical missions. Jeff describes his life as “an ongoing testimony of God’s love, faithfulness and provision.” In this conversation he traces that thread from growing up as an Army kid at West Point to meeting Jesus through Young Life and Intervarsity. He talks about learning to live out his faith inside a fighter squadron, deploying to Afghanistan weeks after 9/11, and meeting his wife Katherine through a friend’s email introduction. We also cover the identity shift from commandant and colonel to stay-at-home dad, and what gardening taught him about God’s design. Then the year at Tenwek Mission Hospital in western Kenya, and how his family fights for margin and community now that they’re back in Auburn. Jeff and his family are members of Grace Auburn Church. This episode came to us as a listener recommendation. Thank you, Todd. Want an Entrusted hat? Comment below, email [email protected], or text one of us. Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome to Entrusted 00:05:26 Jeff Donnithorne 00:07:36 First and second birth 00:18:50 Why the local church matters 00:30:55 “Jeff, what do you want to do?” 00:53:52 Faith inside a fighter squadron 00:58:46 9/11 and the first deployment to Afghanistan 01:14:26 Katherine, Hotmail, and the road to Alaska 01:27:50 Military strategy and spiritual warfare 01:35:04 Retirement and the call to Kenya 01:38:21 Who are you without the uniform? 01:53:03 Entrusted

Pastor Bernard Anderson grew up in church every time the doors were open. He was a good kid from a good family in Wetumpka, Alabama. And he had no idea he didn’t know Jesus. That changed in 1974 when a fellow student at Troy stopped him in a dorm hallway and asked a question nobody had ever asked him: “Are you a Christian?” That conversation led to his salvation and three years of discipleship with a young white man in a season when that kind of friendship was rare in the South. But Bernard sensed a call to ministry and ran from it. He wanted a briefcase job. He found it in the car business, first on the sales floor, then in management, then as an owner. For more than a decade he lived in what he calls the far country, until God allowed it all to come apart and called him home. Today Bernard marks 30 years of vocational ministry, the last 17 as pastor of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Auburn, much of it while still working full time. In this conversation with Ben, Blayne, and guest host Greg, he talks about growing up during integration, being denied admission to Auburn, the danger of success without God, preaching without a manuscript, unity in the church across racial and cultural lines, and reconnecting with the man who led him to Christ after more than 40 years. His life verse says it all: the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Subscribe for more conversations with people in our community about what God has entrusted to them. Instagram: @entrustedpodcast Timestamps 00:00:00 Welcome Pastor Bernard Anderson 00:02:30 The Mount Moriah sign ministry 00:08:28 First Birth 00:13:51 Growing up during integration in Alabama 00:19:46 “Are you a Christian?” Salvation at Troy 00:36:09 Running from the call to ministry 00:46:10 From the want ads to selling Toyotas 00:52:20 Success, drift, and the far country 01:10:06 Coming home: repentance and restoration 01:16:46 Answering the call: seminary and bivocational ministry 01:25:02 Preaching without a manuscript 01:31:01 Finding Kim after 40 years 01:36:54 One church: unity beyond race and politics 01:53:12 Romans 11:29: the irrevocable calling of God

Ashley McCrary grew up in Mobile, Alabama, the third of four girls in a hardworking family, and gave her life to Christ at five years old at Spring Hill Baptist Church. But it wasn’t until years later, in a college Bible study at Auburn, that she could answer the question that changed everything: when did the Word of God change your life? In 2012, a friend noticed a dark spot on Ashley’s eye. It was ocular melanoma, a cancer that affects about six in a million people, and her right eye was removed weeks later. In 2020 the cancer returned with over 100 tumors in her liver. Eleven treatments, a first-in-the-world clinical trial, and weekly trips to Philadelphia later, Ashley has been told there are no options left. She shares how God provided before she ever knew the need, through an elevator ride, a persistent Aflac rep, and a $45 premium. She talks about meeting her husband Dave in high school, learning to follow so he could lead, and why Psalm 23 has become her daily prayer. And she shares how the Eye on Grace Foundation has funded over $1 million in travel grants for ocular melanoma patients and their caregivers across 47 states, three Canadian provinces, and eight countries. His grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in weakness. https://www.eyeongracefoundation.org/ Timestamps 00:00:00 Brock’s Back 00:04:43 First Birth: Growing Up in Mobile 00:10:32 Chick-fil-A and Learning to Work Young 00:22:02 Saved at Five Years Old 00:30:33 Meeting Dave 00:43:12 When God’s Word Changed Her Life 00:47:53 Learning to Follow So He Can Lead 00:55:59 “For God So Loved Me” 00:59:57 Diagnosed With Ocular Melanoma 01:16:42 The Elevator, the Mouse, and the Cancer Plan 01:20:45 The Cancer Returns 01:24:43 The Eye on Grace Foundation 01:29:42 What She’s Been Entrusted With

Mitchell Dean is the Fellowship of Christian Athletes director for East Alabama and pastor of Resurrect Church in Opelika. He is also the author of Broken Cisterns: From the Crack House to the Church House, the Same Thirst, the Same Savior. Mitchell tells the story of a pastor in Columbus who saw a liquor bottle on a front porch and knocked on the door anyway. That one act of faithfulness started a ripple that reached his great-grandparents, his grandparents, his parents, and eventually Mitchell himself. He describes growing up in church while missing the person of Christ, how a shoulder injury in college broke him, and why he turned down a coaching job to join FCA with no salary. We also talk about personal evangelism in everyday places, a neighbor his children led to Christ, planting a house church, his father-in-law's redemption from addiction, praying for your children, refusing to give up on lost family members, and what a failed Ironman taught him about being loved apart from performance. Greg joins Ben and Blayne as guest co-host for this episode. Broken Cisterns (paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Cisterns-Church-Thirst-Savior/dp/B0FVG9FRL5 Broken Cisterns (Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/BROKEN-CISTERNS-CHURCH-THIRST-SAVIOR-ebook/dp/B0FW3Y211J East Alabama FCA: https://www.eastalabamafca.org Follow Entrusted on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/entrustedpodcast Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro and Guest Co-Host Greg 00:05:58 First Birth/Second Birth 00:08:02 A Liquor Bottle, a Knock on the Door, and Four Generations 00:11:04 The Shoulder Injury That Broke Him 00:16:37 Morality vs. the Person of Christ 00:22:24 Called to Ministry: Choosing FCA Over Coaching 00:31:09 Faithful in the Little 00:36:36 Everyday Evangelism and Walking at the Pace of Grace 00:48:04 Mr. Phillip: The Neighbor His Kids Led to Christ 00:53:28 Planting Resurrect Church and His Father-in-Law's Redemption 01:05:44 Ministry as a Family and Praying for Your Children 01:15:25 Don't Give Up on Lost Family Members 01:19:55 The Ironman and Being Loved Apart From Performance 01:25:44 Broken Cisterns and Godly Ambition 01:38:20 Entrusted With the Gospel

Kevin Webb has served as college pastor at Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn since 2017. In this episode, Ben and Blayne sit down with Kevin to trace God's providence through his life. He grew up in the mill town of Piedmont, Alabama, came to faith at Vacation Bible School at age 7, and was discipled one-on-one at the Auburn BCM before his freshman year even started. Kevin shares how expositional preaching at Lakeview and hearing Louie Giglio and John Piper at Passion 99 gave him a big view of a sovereign God. He also tells how he met his wife Laura at a Christian bookstore and what it cost his family to work three jobs while pursuing a PhD in systematic theology at Southern Seminary. He talks honestly about walking away from that PhD, seven humbling years pastoring East Tallassee Baptist Church, and the unexpected phone call that brought him back to Lakeview. In the second half, Kevin walks through covenant theology from Adam to Christ. He explains the covenants of Scripture, federal headship, typology, and why his understanding of how the covenants fit together leads him to baptize believers only. He lays out where Baptist and Presbyterian covenant theology agree and where they differ, and why it matters: God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God, and every promise He makes is yes and amen in Christ. Kevin's encouragement to college students: plant your life in a local church, among people who are not just your age. Timestamps 00:00:00 Welcome Kevin Webb 00:04:53 Growing Up in Piedmont, Alabama and Coming to Faith 00:15:20 Discipled at the BCM Before Freshman Year 00:19:37 The Bookstore Girl and a Move to Lakeview 00:23:07 Expositional Preaching, Passion 99, and a Big View of God 00:29:18 The Call to Ministry and Seminary 00:34:27 Three Jobs, a PhD, and Walking Away 00:43:55Pastoring East Tallassee Baptist Church 00:49:50 The Call Back to Lakeview College Ministry 00:56:46 Plant Your Life in a Local Church 01:01:50 Covenant Theology: Why I'm a Baptist 01:22:35 Baptist vs. Presbyterian Views of the Covenants 01:33:18 Why Covenant Theology Matters 01:47:59 What God Has Entrusted to Kevin

Josh Chance didn't set out to be a missionary. He started in chemical engineering, switched to exercise science, audited financial statements for Alabama loggers, sold investments for American Express in Nashville, got a master's in education, taught seventh-grade science for six years, and built houses through the 2008 crash. Then a stranger called from Seattle asking if he'd build a Bible translation facility in South Sudan. Blayne sits down with Josh — a decade of service in Tanzania and Rwanda behind him, now back in Auburn with SIL — for a conversation that starts with a Vacation Bible School conversion and ends with the question of what's actually worth investing a life in. Along the way: why assurance of salvation can't be found by looking inward, whether a kid raised in church really "chose" anything, what it means to be a missionary in a law office or a financial advisory firm, and what happens when you're the only white family in central Tanzania the week COVID shuts down the world. There are roughly 7,400 languages spoken on earth. About 800 have a complete Bible. Around 500 still have nothing at all — no alphabet, no written word, nothing. Josh explains what it actually takes to change that, one village and one verse at a time, and why the smallest people group on the list is worth the work. https://global.sil.org/ https://tyndalebibletranslators.org/missionaries/josh-sue-chance/ 00:00:00 Cold open — Blayne and Josh Chance 00:02:21 Auburn, 1974 — saved at a Vacation Bible School 00:09:15 Did I only believe it because my parents did? 00:13:04 The assurance of my faith isn't in my faith 00:15:06 Chemistry, auditing, advising, teaching — and what "enough" means 00:21:10 Is your career a mission field? 00:33:55 The call: Bible translation in South Sudan 00:43:47 Ten years in Tanzania — what SIL actually does 00:50:17 COVID closes the country 01:00:01 How a Bible gets written from scratch 01:12:07 Two eternal things — the best investment he knows 01:18:30 How to pray, give, and get involved

Pastor Al Jackson led Lake View Baptist Church in Auburn for 42 years, but his path there ran through a political science degree, a season chasing a US Senate seat, and a redirect from Washington DC to a dining hall in New Mexico. In this conversation he traces his first birth in Florala, Alabama, his second birth at age ten, and the night years later when he was filled with the Spirit and God began rewriting his ambitions. He talks candidly about the brutal first 28 months of his pastorate, the temptation to build a bigger platform instead of staying put, and why he has no fear of what comes after this life. Timestamps 00:00:00 Cold open and introducing Pastor Al Jackson 00:04:29 First birth: a "tithing baby" raised in Florala, Alabama 00:10:11 Second birth: saved at age ten during a revival 00:13:06 Two teenage passions: football and Republican politics 00:19:19 Arriving at Auburn with a plan to become a senator 00:22:57 Filled with the Spirit and learning to witness 00:29:47 Turning down a Congressional job for Glorieta, New Mexico 00:34:09 The call to preach takes root 00:42:41 Meeting and marrying Kim 01:08:01 Hearing God say "You're going to Auburn" 01:15:20 The brutal first 28 months as Lake View's pastor 01:32:54 Faithfulness over platform: what he was entrusted with

Anthony Lerew spent parts of a decade pitching professionally for the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Royals, and clubs in Japan, South Korea, and Venezuela, including a no-hitter that to this day remains the last one thrown in Venezuelan winter ball. He had the cars, the money, and the career most kids dream about. He was also empty. In this episode Anthony walks through growing up in a strict Pennsylvania home, a decade of heavy drinking that nearly cost him his leg after a motorcycle accident, and the moment lying in a hospital bed that changed the direction of his life for good. From the mound to the Mission. Timestamps 00:00:00 Cold open 00:01:11 Meet Anthony Lerew: from the mound to the mission 00:06:39 Growing up in Pennsylvania and tough love 00:11:13 Drafted by the Braves on graduation day 00:15:54 Life in pro ball and the slide into drinking 00:30:42 The no-hitter in Venezuela 00:41:50 Everything the world offers, still empty 00:46:03 The accident that nearly cost him his leg 00:57:10 The sermon that changed everything 01:02:12 Fourteen surgeries and a miraculous healing 01:19:02 A new calling: Standing on the Rock 01:39:36 What Anthony is entrusted with today

Alex McPherson was the number one kicker in the country. Seven SEC offers, his dream school, a perfect 13-for-13 season, and a brother already kicking in the NFL. He thought he knew what God meant when he heard "I need you in Auburn." Then he got sick. Ulcerative colitis took him from 165 pounds to 117. He couldn't sit through a church service. He couldn't keep water down. Two medications failed, and at 21 he made the decision to have his colon removed. This is the whole story — the play where he got saved, the night at camp when he chose Auburn, the years he lost, the surgery, the Missouri game, and what he learned about where his identity actually lives. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Cold open and welcome 00:01:53 Fort Payne: three brothers, church, and football 00:05:36 Saved at a church play 00:15:51 Seven SEC offers and "I need you in Auburn" 00:32:41 Auburn: the Iron Bowl and a perfect season 00:41:00 The first flare-up and a diagnosis 00:53:05 "I'd rather live without my colon" 01:04:20 Giving it to the Lord — and the comeback 01:09:07 Missouri, Portnoy, and six for six at Arkansas 01:21:19 Identity, suffering, and what he's been entrusted with