Jonathan sits down for a clear, frank discussion with friend Rev. Brian Barlow, the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Banning, CA.  

Brian shares his heartfelt testimony of sexual brokenness and subsequent transformation by the Lord which eventually led to a ministry to the sexually and relationally broken and church pastorate. 

Rev. Barlow, in addition to pastoring, serves with many local and national ministries including Lutheran’s for Life, Y4Life, LINC-LA and Help4Families. He also served as Regional Director for Desert Stream Ministries, SoCal from 2016-2020. 

Brian and his wife Nicole have four boys ages 11,9,5 and 1.

Jonathan sits down with longtime friend, Glenys Brookbanks, a renowned artist and exhibiting painter in New Zealand. She has also been a pioneer leader in relational healing groups in New Zealand. 

 Glenys and her husband Warren live in close community with their adult family in Auckland, New Zealand. She has led many Embracing Life groups as well as those of Desert Stream Ministries over several decades. Her passion for Jesus, the Cross and the Church is abundant in her teaching. She is a co-author, along with Jonathan and Andrea Hunter, on the upcoming book, More Power! Understanding and Experiencing the Cross.  

Jonathan visits with friends Eric and Marta Darby. Eric is a former, longtime Board member of Embracing Life Ministries and has participated in ELM’s Zoom seminars on depression and anxiety.  Marta, along with her husband Eric, has taught Desert Stream Ministries’ Living Waters program for several years. Marta also has a considerable, online following within the Cuban-American community with her blog, “My Big Fat Cuban Family”. The pair have been associated with the Vineyard Christian Church in Orange County, CA for over 30 years.

 The friends look back on how they met and came to be involved in healing ministry together…both with Desert Stream and Embracing Life Ministries. 

A good portion of the podcast focusses on the profound impact Marta’s near-death Covid hospitalization had on their family, and the daily battle they were forced to wage against the spirit of death and all its various manifestations.  

Jonathan sits down to talk with friends Russell and Marion Pyle, who share their riveting story of their God-directed experience in overcoming a deadly, cancer diagnosis. 

 Russell and Marion Pyle each have extensive resumes of their vast experience in film, television, stage and media. However, when Russ was diagnosed with a deadly, bladder cancer back in 2012, they entered into foreign territory. A Holy Spirit -led strategy emerged for battling the cancer and amazingly, 10 months later, Russell was completely healed! This podcast is about their incredible story of overcoming cancer that resulted in Marion’s book, Healed, Healthy and Whole, How We Beat Cancer with Integrated Therapies and Healing Strategies.

You can buy the book here:  Healed, Healthy and Whole: Pyle, Marion M: 9781629520988: Amazon.com: Books

Jonathan gets together with Neil and Debra Driscoll, the Associate Directors of Embracing Life Ministries, to talk about their history with the ministry.

 2023 is the 25th anniversary of Embracing Life’s first publication, Embracing Life Series (ELS).  To commemorate the occasion, Jonathan has Debra and Neil Driscoll share about their first encounter with ELS two decades ago and how it radically changed their lives and involvement in ministry life!

Jonathan sits down with dear friends and co-authors of Embracing Life’s publication More Hope! Emerging from the Shadow of Breast Cancer…Beth Webb and Andrea Hunter.

 October is “Breast Cancer Awareness” month and coincidentally, “AIDS Awareness” month.  Jonathan, Beth and Andrea share memories of the early years of Embracing Life Ministries– formerly AIDS Resource Ministry (ARM) – recollecting their heartfelt experiences while ministering to the HIV-affected.

Beth (a cancer survivor) and Andrea also share how More Hope! came together and has since become a valuable, healing resource for women struggling with a cancer diagnosis.

Link to More Hope!  publication: More Hope! — Embracing Life Ministries

In this podcast Jonathan sits down with Annette Comiskey, wife of Andrew Comiskey, the founder and director of Desert Stream Ministries.  Annette has served alongside Andrew for over 4 decades ministering to wives and family members and those seeking healing for their own areas of personal wounding and sin. Having received much healing for the sexual abuse she experienced in childhood, Annette understands the process, hope and restoration that can be found in and through Jesus Christ. 

She adores her family and is most “in her element” with their 4 kids (all grown, 3 married) and their multiple grandkids.

Web site:    Desert Stream

Jonathan visits with Kent and Cathy Larson, associate pastors at Vineyard Community Church (VCC) in Laguna Niguel, California where they oversee prayer and pastoral care. 

During their time at VCC they established HOPE (House of Prayer for Everyone), Vineyard healing Rooms, Mercy Arts Community and Mercy Transformation Center. Their passion is to provide resources to bring people into full transformation in Christ through a lifestyle of face-to-face encounters with the living presence of Jesus and joyful, relational and intergenerational community. 

Website: Immanuel Prayer Ministry – Inner Healing Ministry

Jonathan sits down with friend Karen Covell, founding Director of The Hollywood Prayer Network (HPN) as well as producer of TV specials, documentaries and children’s programming.
 
Karen has a broad and extensive resume of work in the Hollywood TV, film and music industry. Her unwavering, prayerful intercession for the entertainment industry through her HPN leadership, has given Karen a seasoned perspective and special insight into how the Lord is moving in that community. Karen is married to film and TV composer, Jim Covell; they have two sons, both professional filmmakers in their own right.

Website:  Hollywood Prayer Network - Praying for the Entertainment Industry

Jonathan has a conversation with guests Shannon Brooks and Cassie Erickson. Both women serve as directors of discipleship programs at The Dream Center, in Los Angeles, California which provides support to those affected by homelessness, addiction, hunger and lack of education through residential and community outreach programs.

 Cassie and Shannon share what brought them to The Dream Center and go on describe its ever-expanding outreach as more Dream Centers are established throughout the U.S. and around the world. Co-founded by Pastor Matthew Barnett in the mid-1990’s, The Dream Center currently helps tens of thousands, each week, through various ministries and outreach programs.

 Web Site:  Transforming Lives (dreamcenter.org)