Impactus podcast

More information is being created and shared today than ever before, leading to a vast, ever-expanding ocean of information and data. We are bombarded and shaped by voices from social media influencers, YouTubers, and podcast hosts.

And yes, you're listening to a podcast today, so you can add Impactus into the mix of voices!

But how can we be wise and discerning enough to audit and edit the voices we let in?

In Philippians 1:9-10, the apostle Paul said: "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."

How can we gain that kind of knowledge and discernment so we can approve what is excellent vs. what is unhelpful or untruthful?

How can we incorporate rhythms and space in our lives to be men who are rooted in Christ?

This topic emerged at our conference in Edmonton and culminated in a powerful, divine moment as our speaker shared and prayed for the men in attendance. That speaker was none other than our podcast guest, Jason Ballard.

Jason is a pastor at The Way Church in Vancouver, Canada. He also serves as the Executive Director of The Pastorate, formerly known as the Canadian Church Leaders Network (CCLN), and hosts The Pastorate podcast, where he engages in conversations that strengthen the hearts of pastors and share stories from the Church in Canada.

In this meaningful conversation, we'll learn about Jason's powerful ministry, how to be deeply rooted in Christ, and how to listen to Christ as the ultimate Teacher and voice in our busy lives.

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Copyright © 2025 Impactus. All rights reserved.

Here at Impactus, we have just finished the run of our in-person conferences for this year, where we had the incredible opportunity to minister to over 2600 men across Canada!

If you didn't make it to one of our events this conference season, we're delighted to have one of our keynote speakers, who spoke in Winnipeg on being "Rooted in Truth," join us for this podcast.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling is the Ambassador for the Canadian Bible Society. He has dedicated his life to sharing God's Word and has spoken and lectured worldwide in a variety of contexts.

In this fascinating conversation, Dean and Andrew talk about many things, such as:

• Andrew's incredible story of faith and ministry
• The role of the Canadian Bible Society in spreading God's Word to people everywhere
• The amazing things that we are seeing God doing all across the world
• The season of renewal that is happening in the Church, especially in the younger generation
• The nature of truth, and how we can hold to it and proclaim it in a world that increasingly dismisses it

Join us for all this and more on the Impactus podcast!

Website: https://impactus.org/

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Opioids are claiming the lives of thousands of Canadians from all walks of life.

With more than 44,000 opioid-related deaths since 2016, the overdose crisis is one of the most severe public health crises Canada has ever faced, and men are much more likely to be affected by addiction than women. There is hardly a day that passes when we do not hear of the fentanyl issue in geopolitical, provincial, and local conversations.

But what should the response be from the Church, and how can we, as Christian men, be part of the solution? And what can you do if addictions have trapped someone you love?

In this podcast, Dean sits down with a leading Canadian Christian Addiction Medicine Physician who has both a medical and theological perspective on why there is hope for the Canadian opioid crisis.

Dr. Meera Grover is a medical doctor with the highest level of training in addiction medicine available to physicians in Canada. She began her work in addictions as a theology student at Regent College. Her work in Vancouver's notorious downtown east side brought her face-to-face with the ethical questions around safe injection sites.

She is a frontline worker with intimate knowledge of the issue who has personally wrestled with the dilemma. Her recent book Why I Help People Take Drugs is designed to help people better understand the complexity of stories that each person with addiction brings to the table and to see ways that God works among people with addiction.

Join Dean and Dr. Grover for a fascinating and in-depth conversation about a very challenging topic, and find the hope Jesus is bringing to the opioid crisis!

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Copyright © 2025 Impactus. All rights reserved.

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Despite the rise of people identifying as "non-religious" in Canada and the growing trends of secularism in our post-Christian culture, there is good news on the horizon.

Alpha Canada released a 2024 report that indicated signs of hope and opportunity. It revealed:

• Post-pandemic, church leaders in Canada are perceiving an inexplicable spiritual openness and curiosity in our communities.
• This "spiritual openness" includes lapsed Christians, or those with no faith, becoming more spiritually curious in the past three years, receptive to the message that Jesus saves, and displaying a "higher likelihood" that they would actually come to church.
• Church leaders across Canada are prioritizing sharing the Gospel with an increased clarity and commitment to the Great Commission.

Our own annual Spiritual Health of Men survey, sent to several thousand men connected with our ministry, consistently shows that sharing their faith is an ongoing challenge for men, but also an amazing opportunity for the church to lean in, and where men and men's ministries can play an important part.

In this month's podcast, we will talk about these important matters!

Join us as we chat with Jason Persaud, the National Director of Church Experience for Alpha Canada. Jason and Dean discuss the ongoing challenges of evangelism for men and the great reason for hope in these exciting days as God opens doors for the Gospel to be shared in our communities!

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Former England superstar football captain David Beckham recalls being sent off the field in the 1998 World Cup Finals:

"It was probably the longest walk in my life…looking back, I'm not sure what thoughts were going through my mind: it was a swirl of fear, guilt, anger, worry, and confusion.

"My head was spinning…I walked into the dressing room. The rules stated that I had to stay in there for the remainder of the match. England lost. We were out of the World Cup.

"When the England players came back into the dressing room, no one breathed a word to me. There was almost complete silence. I could feel my stomach tightening even more. I gulped, breathed in, and gulped again. I was in a packed changing room, but I had never felt so lonely in my life. I was isolated and afraid...I was trapped in my own sense of guilt and anxiety."

Men often think we are wired to be tough, strong, "just deal with it" guys, but the reality is that many of us struggle with deep concerns, fears, and anxieties. We often suffer alone, isolated and lonely.

But we don't have to deal with this on our own.

Today, we'll examine the starting point for handling anxiety. Our guest today is Jonny Ardavanis. He is the lead pastor of Stonebridge Bible Church and the founder and president of Dial In Ministries, a ministry that provides biblical resourcing for the next generation. He is passionate about people coming to know and love Jesus Christ as they pursue a deeper understanding of His Word. Jonny lives in Franklin, TN, with his wife and two daughters.

Jonny has recently written a book called Consider the Lillies: Finding Perfect Peace in the Character of God. This is no gardening book; rather, it points us to an antidote to fear and anxiety in the unshakable and timeless character of God.

He shares from his personal struggles with anxiety, explores how guys navigate anxiety and fear, references the many men in Scripture who grapple with these same things, and most importantly, why knowing God's character as Lord and Father is so important to helping us navigate anxiety, worry, and fear.

Join us for an amazing conversation!

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When you hear the word "warrior," what comes to mind?

Maybe the movie Gladiator?

The WWF's Ultimate Warrior?

The latest UFC champion?

Now, when you hear the word "disciple," what do you think of?

Something very different? Maybe something incompatible with the first word?

But what if these two terms could fit together?

Our guest on this episode believes the words "warrior disciple" go hand in hand for the man following Christ, and, in fact, can be a catalyst for seeing men's lives transformed by the Gospel.

Scott Roberts is a dynamic Christian leader and writer. He is the author of the men's ministry book Warrior Disciple. Scott is passionate about empowering men to live boldly and fearlessly for the Lord Jesus Christ. He is also a devotional and article writer for Impactus. As a church elder, teacher, and men's ministry leader, Scott is dedicated to helping men grow in their faith and embrace their calling as disciples of Christ, and he's developed a great new resource to do just that.

In this podcast, Dean and Scott talk about:

• What a "warrior disciple" is and why the term is so important
• The new men's discipleship book Warrior Disciple and how it can be a crucial and intentional tool for ministry to men
• How men can stand guard against the forces of the enemy and the world
• Ways to engage men in the church to step up into their God-given roles
• How Scripture informs a man's spiritual journey
• The role that discipline plays in a man's faith, marriage/singleness, fatherhood, career, and church life
• How love, strength, and courage work together in the life of a man
• Advice for pastors and men's ministry leaders on how to build an intentional model of discipleship for their men

Thanks for joining Dean and Scott for this important conversation!

https://www.impactus.org/podcast/becoming-a-warrior-disciple/

Some of you may be old enough to remember the sitcom Eight is Enough, about a family with eight children trying to get by.

Well, for our guest in this podcast, it's not eight, but ten!

Today, we're going to speak with Jason Weening, a dad of ten who has dedicated his life to fatherhood and helping other dads along the way.

Jason and his wife, Alli, have been married for 20 years. He speaks to parents, encouraging them to be intentional in their "most important organization": their family!

After spending 15 years in the business world, he moved into a ministry role at his local church. Their adventure-loving family recently returned from living in the Dominican Republic for 6 months. In 2024, he released an adventure book for kids, Danger in the Jungle. He co-hosts the Helping Men Thrive podcast and supervises the care of hens, ducks, cows, and vegetables on their small hobby farm. You can find him on his website, Helping Dads.

In this fascinating conversation, we talk about things like:

• What being the father of ten kids is like!
• How fatherhood shapes our views and experiences of leadership
• Jason's book from his Riders of the Lost Reptiles series, and how the writing relates to boldness and adventure
• How we can teach our sons and daughters the importance of resilience and facing life's challenges head-on
• Learning to manage the many distractions of life and how to bring them under control, finding God's peace in a frantic world
• The challenges and importance of creating lasting memories and connections in our families and how to do it
• The meaning of the term "your most important organization" and why it's so important

Join us for this very interesting conversation with a great dad!

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If you're a Marvel movie fan, Iron Man is probably familiar to you. In this episode of the Impactus podcast, we are excited to talk with a real-life "Iron Man"—a humble businessman from Hamilton, Ontario, who was the first Canadian to run not one, not two, but three Ironman races in three consecutive days for over 45 hours of physical exertion.

But he wasn't running for himself but for a greater cause.

Gord Pauls owned and operated a General Insurance brokerage for 28 years and opened a running apparel store in 1996. He is an accomplished runner and triathlete and a respected, personable, and inspirational leader in the Hamilton running community.

Since taking up running twenty-six years ago, Gord has completed over 35 marathons, including 12 Boston Marathons, with a personal best time of 2h:51m. In addition, he has run countless other races, often raising money to support charities. He also races to encourage some of the hundreds of runners he has inspired through his example and instruction. As a coach, Gord has seen his clients meet and exceed their goals.

Not satisfied with being an outstanding runner, Gord took up duathlons and triathlons in recent years, earning berths on the Canadian National Teams plus completing eight grueling Ironman Triathlons. In 2010, he became "Canada's only Triple Ironman," a back-to-back-to-back Ironman race with a total distance of 678 km, raising a quarter of a million dollars ($257,000) for micro-credit loans in Haiti.

Gord talks with us about the physical struggles of his favorite activity and how pushing himself through these excruciating exercises has impacted and inspired his faith life and the call to love and serve others through what he is doing.

Join us for an inspiring conversation with an inspiring man!

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Is "Men's Ministry" still a thing?

Is it still relevant? Do we even need it?

Here at Impactus, we like referring to this area as "Ministry to Men," and that's more than just semantics. We need a new understanding that men need ministry, not just programs, and that men are called to do ministry in their churches and communities.

On this podcast, we're delighted to have one of the most recognizable names in Ministry to Men back with us: Steve Sonderman.

Steve is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of the men's ministry movement in America. He started one of the first men's ministries in the country for the growing church population at Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He is the founder of the national No Regrets Men's Ministries and the annual No Regrets Men's Conference, which today draws thousands of men across the country and around the world.

Steve regularly consults with churches and leaders and has authored books on leadership and curriculum studies for men. Steve and his wife, Colleen, have four grown children and are proud grandparents.

If you are part of a Men's Ministry or a leader in one, then this conversation is for you, as we jump into topics like:

• The challenges of the "man crisis" that we can see in our culture and churches
• The impact that can happen when a man gets truly mobilized in his faith
• How we can embrace a "multiplication mindset" when ministering to men and why it's so crucial
• Why "apprenticeship" is so important in Men's Ministry, and what are some of the ways we can engage in it
• The difference between "knowledge-based" discipleship and "obedience-based" discipleship
• In our challenging cultural moment, what reasons we can have to be hopeful and excited about what God is up to
• The various amazing things that Steve is seeing God do in the lives of men all around the world

Come and join us for this fascinating and in-depth discussion on the Impactus podcast!

Families are under attack. Culture seems to be encroaching on us. Pressure comes from all angles…education, ideology, politics, and sometimes even the Church.

But maybe there's a much more sinister battle at work—in our minds, hearts, and homes.

In this podcast, we'll discuss "Fighting for Family" with Chris Bennett, who recently released a book under this title.

Chris is a pastor, storyteller, writer, and producer from Dallas, Texas. His wife Julie is a writer, producer, speaker, and two-time cancer survivor from Edmond, Oklahoma. Together, Chris and Julie are the founders of Welcome Home Lifestyle, a production company that creates and promotes content celebrating healthy, thriving families, friendships, and communities.

Chris and Julie are also co-hosts of the Finding Family podcast. The Bennetts currently reside in Malibu, California, where Chris serves as lead pastor of Vintage Church Malibu.

Dean and Chris have an intriguing conversation, exploring topics like:

• What it means to be men who fight for our families
• How to navigate the challenges of transition and turmoil in a godly way
• Being men who fight for what truly matters
• The biblical principle of "honor" and why it is so crucial to healthy relationships
• Why humility is so essential for men to embrace
• How actively practicing hospitality transforms both us and those we invite in
• How singles can embrace these ideas in their context

All this and more, in this month's edition of the Impactus podcast!

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Website: https://impactus.org/

Check Our Resources for Men: https://impactus.org/resources/

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