What happens when a TV show brings 30 people back to church — in a single congregation? That's just one of the stories Demetrius Troy shares in this episode.

Demetrius plays Lazarus in The Chosen, the most-watched Christian drama in history. But long before the cameras rolled, Demetrius was a cradle Orthodox Christian — baptized 40 days after birth, raised on icons, prayer at the table morning and evening, and the ancient faith tradition of "come and see."

In this conversation with John Whaley, Demetrius opens up about what it's really like to be part of a show with that kind of reach, what he does when someone is moved to tears by meeting Lazarus in a grocery store, and why he believes The Chosen is the iconography of our time. He also shares the surprising darkness of his current project — the Suicide Trilogy, three films about faith, grief, and a pastor whose daughter has taken her own life.

And: over 1,000 people in 62 countries are praying for him and the cast by name. He shares what it feels like — and what he asks them to pray for.

Find us on YouTube @rooftopperspectivesPod and Instagram @rooftopperspectivespodcast.

Austin Bradford is the producer of Rooftop Perspectives. In this conversation, John Whaley turns the mic around.

Austin shares his full story: growing up in church, walking away at 22, hitting rock bottom while bartending, and being relentlessly pursued by a campus minister who wouldn't stop showing up at his coffee shops and parks. He talks about driving solo to Utah to learn how to hear God, sitting under a tree on a mountain in Capitol Reef National Park, and hearing one sentence: "surrender your passions." He came home to find all his camera gear stolen.

Out of that stripping-away came something unexpected — a men's Bible study he accidentally led in November 2021 that grew to 30 guys in his living room by December, and eventually to a movement of over 1,000 young adults in Knoxville doing daily community together. He shares the night a friend's doctor said he'd never walk again, the prayer gathering that felt like a mandate to meet monthly, and the moment they filled a warehouse they thought was too big with 250 people and 10 spontaneous baptisms.

Austin also speaks into what he's watching in his generation right now — the shift from hype to depth, the hunger for authentic relationship, and a simple takeaway that's reshaping how he thinks about everything: prayer is not a resource for ministry. It is the ministry.

Find us on YouTube @rooftopperspectivesPod and Instagram @rooftopperspectivespodcast.

Cyril Rayan came to America in 1991 from Mumbai, India — chasing a master's degree in electrical engineering at Mississippi State University. He wasn't looking for Jesus. But a campus minister named Stephen Foster made it his mission to share the gospel with every foreign student he could find. Over several months of coffee and onion rings Bible studies, Cyril came to faith. His wife Jemima would later say what became the defining line of his life: "You were born in India, but you were born again in America."

Today Cyril is co-founder of Potter's Ministries, founding pastor of Blessing Church in San Jose, CA, and the author of a new book — "35 Defining Moments of Faith That Shaped America" — written in under 90 days in response to what he believes is America's most critical hour in generations. In this conversation with John Whaley, Cyril shares the staggering stats behind America's spiritual crisis (176 million identify as Christian; only 6% hold a biblical worldview), the 1579 prayer by Francis Drake that most Americans have never heard about, the Moravian prayer movement that ran for 100 straight years, and why he believes this is not the moment to give up on America. He also shares what God showed him about redigging the Wells of Revival — including a September 18 prayer gathering at the U.S. Capitol that took 9 months to secure.

Learn more at wellsofrevival.us and pottersministries.org. Find us on YouTube @rooftopperspectivesPod and Instagram @rooftopperspectivespodcast.

Frank Shelton spent 18 years as a staffer on Capitol Hill. He was ordained in 1998, preaching 110 times in 52 weeks while still holding a full-time government job. Then came the moment of decision — a US Capitol Police training course, a prayer, a ripped thigh muscle, 13 days in the hospital, and a $40,000 bill. He calls it the moment God literally answered his prayer and shut the door. In this conversation with John Whaley, Frank shares the full story: his family's dramatic journey to faith, a woman named Judy who witnessed to Elvis Presley in 1974 and eventually led Frank's entire family to Christ, leaving a six-figure career and millions in retirement behind to become a full-time evangelist, and what he's seeing now — a generation rising that wants real truth, preached hard, and is willing to die for it. One of the most compelling testimonies you'll hear this year.

Learn more at frankshelton.com. Find us on YouTube @rooftopperspectivesPod and Instagram @rooftopperspectivespodcast.

Jonathan Friz is the founder of the 10 Days prayer movement — an annual global call to fasting, mourning, and repentance based on the biblical Days of Awe. What started as a vision of entire cities shutting down to seek God has grown into a movement spanning hundreds of cities worldwide. In this conversation with John Whaley, Jonathan shares the encounter that launched it all, the Jonah and Nineveh parallel God showed him, and what he's seeing on the ground globally — including a nation where the number of people experiencing a specific spiritual gift went from 1 in 200 to 1 in 2 in just five years. He also explores why unity, as Jesus prayed in John 17, may be the critical missing piece before the greatest harvest in history.

Learn more at 10days.net. Find us on YouTube @rooftopperspectivesPod and Instagram @rooftopperspectivespodcast.

Chuck Hooten has been leading worship since he was 16. Now at 48, with decades of experience across every corner of American Christianity, he's written a book about what he believes is the church's biggest blind spot: we've made worship about the song instead of the posture. In this conversation with John Whaley, Chuck unpacks the theology of surrender and sacrifice at the heart of true worship, the moment God told him "I missed you this morning," the "stage to table" shift reshaping how believers gather, and why Gen Z is being drawn away from big production toward ancient, presence-centered worship. A refreshingly honest conversation about what it means to worship God with your whole life — not just on Sunday morning.

Find us on YouTube @rooftopperspectivesPod and Instagram @rooftopperspectivespodcast

Jonathan Blair played George Whitefield in the film A Great Awakening — and in this conversation with John Whaley, he shares what making that movie revealed about one of the most consequential and overlooked relationships in American history. The friendship between Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin wasn't just personal — it may have seeded the ideals of liberty, equality, and God-given rights that later defined the Revolution and the Constitution. Jonathan also opens up about the filming of the coal mine sermon sequence: a moment on set where something shifted, one take was all it took, and the entire crew fell silent. A remarkable conversation about history, faith, and what it might mean for right now.

Watch A Great Awakening on Amazon Prime.

Tom Phillips spent 40 years at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — and he's convinced the next Great Awakening isn't on its way, it's already begun. In this episode of Rooftop Perspectives, John Whaley sits down with Tom for a wide-ranging conversation that covers his unexpected journey from pre-med student to Billy Graham's inner circle, Billy Graham's lifelong prayer for revival to sweep America coast to coast, what the Asbury Revival revealed about the state of the church, and what God is doing through Gen Z evangelists right now. Tom also shares a striking statistic: 82% of unchurched young people say they'd go to church if someone simply invited them. His word for this season — drawn from Psalm 85:6 — is a call to be a walking revival yourself, rather than waiting for one to arrive.

What does God do with a broken family, a rebellious teenager, and a mother who prays? In this episode of Rooftop Perspectives, John Whaley sits down with John Steigerwald — Executive Director of the North Carolina Boys Academy, a Teen Challenge ministry dedicated to helping adolescent boys overcome addiction and life-controlling problems through the power of Jesus Christ. John shares his own journey: growing up in addiction-filled home on Long Island, coming to faith at 16, and spending decades watching God restore what seemed beyond repair. He also speaks candidly to the crisis facing young men and families today — and what it looks like to trust God when you don't know what to do. His takeaway will stay with you: ask God to open your eyes to where he is working, and join him there.

In this episode of Rooftop Perspectives, John Whaley sits down with Abby Walner — a 26-year-old Gen Z evangelist living and ministering in New York City. Abby is the founder of the Worldwide Fast, a leader of New York Will Be Saved, and host of the Forever on Fire podcast. She shares her journey from drifting away from faith in high school to encountering Jesus in a radically transforming way, and what it looks like to live fully surrendered to him in one of the world's most secular cities. From organizing a major evangelistic event on Coney Island to calling believers into prayer and fasting, Abby's story is a bold reminder that the simple gospel still changes everything.

Find Abby's podcast Forever on Fire on YouTube and Spotify.