On episode #60 of Halfway There we are trying something new: a podswap! This episode originally appeared on The Godwatch Podcast as episode #20 but the host of that show, Phil Gauthier, was gracious enough to propose a swap of interviews and the winner is you because this conversation Phil has with Jason Kane is one of the more amazing conversion stories I’ve heard. God sometimes uses the things you wouldn’t expect to get our attention but if you listen carefully, you’ll see his handiwork all ov...
Aug 10, 2017•1 hr 42 min
Tammy Helfrich is a coach, speaker, writer, and podcaster who shares her growing trust in God. Her podcast called Right Where You Are is an encouraging listen that should be added to your podcast rotation. Just jump over there and subscribe right now. Tammy shares stories that all seem to have one theme: trusting God with it all including her career, her family, and her current ministry. If you enjoyed Tammy’s story, you can connect to her on Twitter or Facebook , or her website . Stories Tammy ...
Jul 31, 2017•52 min
Billy Hallowell is a journalist who has appeared in places like the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, Fox News, and worked at TheBlaze.com for several years. Now, he is the senior editor at Faithwire.com . His most recent book Fault Line is about the cultural forces that shape our thinking and how to respond to them. Today he shares how Christians can build bridges to culture using a little kindness and some good stories. Stories Billy shared: What he has learned about navigating differences...
Jul 24, 2017•50 min
Today’s guest is Michael T. Cooper, president and CEO of International Needs , an organization whose vision is to “transform lives and change communities by helping Christians serve both God and neighbor within their own countries.” He shares the story of how he came to Christ at a student event, the ministry that God led him into ministry planting churches in Eastern Europe, and people who invested in him. Stories Michael shared: Growing up in a nominally Christian family. Girls, Beer, and Figh...
Jul 17, 2017•54 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Rebecca Lemke is a 21 year-old housewife, mom, and author about her experiences in what’s known as “Purity Culture.” We talk about how the strict legalism of some people around her almost overshadowed the grace preached at her own church, how God brought the right people into her life to give her a better understanding, and why she wrote a book about the experience. You can get her book The Scarlet Virgins: When Sex Replaces Salvation at Amazon (affiliate link). Stories Rebecca shared: How Purit...
Jul 10, 2017•47 min
In today’s short episode, I share my review of a book that changed how I think about engaging the culture. The book was A Free People’s Suicide by Os Guinness . Have fun celebrating independence and freedom! And think about how you can promote each in the coming year. The post Happy Independence Day! appeared first on Eric Nevins ....
Jul 03, 2017•17 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Ever since I first read Richard Foster’s book called Prayer and learned that there were many different ways to pray and connect with God and not just the intercessory approach my evangelical church practiced, I’ve thought that it’s valuable to learn about those other methods. Today’s guest is Rich Lewis who blogs teaches about centering prayer at Silence Teaches . He shares how he discovered the contemplative practice called centering prayer, how he goes about it every day and what the benefits ...
Jun 26, 2017•51 min
Mike Sares is a pastor and author at Denver’s Scum of the Earth church. Today, he shares how he became the founding pastor of Scum, the unique ways God has spoken to him, and why risk and art are so important to the church, even today. This is an episode you won’t want to miss. Get Mike’s book detailing his story, God’s work in his life, and the challenges of his unique ministry. Pure Scum: The Left-Out, the Right-Brained and the Grace of God Stories Mike shared: How he came to Christ after high...
Jun 19, 2017•1 hr 7 min
Trevor Kapralos is a nurse in the Washington DC area. I met him through another Halfway There guest (and good friend) Rob Karch . That’s appropriate because if there’s a theme in Trevor’s life it’s the power of Christian community for living this life of faith together. Trevor the power of Christian community in the following stories: The unusual assignment to cover a Belarussian church in Uttica, NY (10:45) The amazing background of the church and the powerful way God brought them to the United...
Jun 12, 2017•58 min
Paul Sohn is an author, public speaker, and coach who works with millennials to answer life’s biggest questions. He recently founded Qara , an organization dedicated to providing resources for those in the formative adult years, the 20s. His book, Quarter-Life Calling: Pursuing Your God-Given Purpose in Your Twenties , helps guide young people through confusion into the purpose God has for them. But how did Paul get here? We talk about that and so much more: Paul’s shares how his family’s life w...
Jun 05, 2017•44 min
This is my dad at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. Happy Memorial Day, my friends! This is one of those holidays that I always think of fondly because (a) it’s the unofficial start of summer and I usually smoke some sort of meat, (b) my grandmother traces the widespread adoption of this holiday to our family (naturally!) so why not enjoy it, and finally, (c) it’s a perfect time to reflect on those who gave their lives for all that the United States represents. Today on Halfway There, I sh...
May 29, 2017•5 min•Season 1Ep. 1
In this betweenisode, we talk about the amazing transformation of King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. You’ve heard the Sunday School stories but did you know he acknowledged God as the true sovereign of the universe? That story doesn’t get shared as often but it’s one we can learn from. Listen above or in iTunes, Google Play Music, or Stitcher Radio now! Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. The post The Testimony of a King (Daniel 4) appeared first on Eric Nevins ....
May 23, 2017•17 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Welcome to Halfway There’s 50th episode! When I started this show last year, I hoped but did not know if it would become something that people would listen to and enjoy. The stories were compelling and there was enough depth in the experience of these ordinary Christian to make at least the first set publishable. Here we are 50 episodes later and the show has been downloaded over 11,680 times, featured nearly 1,220 years of experience walking with the Lord, and it’s reaching new people every day...
May 15, 2017•57 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Mike is the gracious husband of Jan Costas who shared her story with us in two parts here and here. In today’s episode, we learn hear his story, why he went on the Camino, and how he learned to trust God in a whole new way on the trail. Stories Mike shared with us: How he and Jan met in Germany (6:00) Why he ended up in Germany during the time the wall went up (10:23) His experience overseas working in Arab communities (28:14) Why he went on the Camino (38:10) How Mike’s journey with the Lord st...
May 08, 2017•1 hr 8 min
This episode is a continuation of our conversation with Jan Costas. Jan Costas is one of the sweetest and courageous people I know. She and her husband Mike took the trip of a lifetime last year that really changed them and their relationship when they did the Camino de Santiago, which is an ancient pilgrimage. Jan learned a number of significant lessons on the trail and she shares them with us. Some of the stories Jan shares: What she told herself to keep herself going after the Camino did not ...
May 01, 2017•55 min
Jan Costas is one of the sweetest and courageous people I know. She and her husband Mike took the trip of a lifetime last year that really changed them and their relationship when they did the Camino de Santiago, which is an ancient pilgrimage. Jan learned a number of significant lessons on the trail and she shares them with us. Some significant stories in the episode: How she came to Christ after attending church for much of her life (5:45) The story of their theater company that went under and...
Apr 24, 2017•1 hr 5 min
This week’s super short episode brings Resurrection Day greetings from me to you and a quick preview of the story that finishes out season 3 of Halfway There. The post Happy Resurrection Day appeared first on Eric Nevins .
Apr 17, 2017•3 min
VJ and his wife run a business club whose motto is “to shape the values of business” and has 900 members. He wants to bring the principles in the Bible to bear on business in his country where 0.01% are Christians. “The church does not reach the influential in the society,” he says, so VJ to created his business club to share a video that helps business people learn skills that are biblically based even though the people may not know it. VJ was born in Central Asia to a mother who was a communis...
Apr 10, 2017•48 min
Steve Simms serves a Salvation Army church in Nashville, TN at Berry Street where they hold a different kind of service than any you’ve probably ever experienced. In today’s episode, Steve shares with us how he came to faith by becoming agnostic, the difference between a faith that is dead and one that is alive, and how he lets the Lord lead his services. Steve first found Christ in college but that wasn’t the first time he was exposed to religious teaching. He calls it a two-step process. As a ...
Apr 03, 2017•1 hr
Sarah is from Muscatine, Iowa, the nose of the midwest (just listen, it’ll make sense). Her family has a long tradition of faith which is a fascinating story which she shares with us including the story of how her grandfather found new life in Christ at a Billy Graham crusade. You can tell the Spirit of God runs deep in her family and the special way this has shaped Sarah which “naturally birthed in me a gift of faith,” she says. Sarah also grew up in an environment where the Bible was taught an...
Mar 27, 2017•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Moses Ehambe is a professional basketball player and a considers himself a missionary “doing God’s work with the talents” he’s received from him. Moses grew up in Arlington, TX, whose parents emigrated from Congo and serves as a pastor in the local church. His family was always at church and Moses was the worship band’s drummer so whenever there was worship music, he was there. When it came time for Moses to enter college, his talent was clear and he went through the visitation process to find a...
Mar 20, 2017•46 min
Hugh Brandt works to “engage city leaders to help them live out their calling for the well-being of their city” with a part of CRU called Cities Project . Today he shares the journey that took him from missionary to missional. Hugh was probably always destined to be a missionary. His mother, who sacrificed her own dreams to care for others, prayed he would serve in South Africa before he was born. He didn’t know that until he went to Lesotho, the country inside South Africa. God had answered his...
Mar 13, 2017•59 min
Dan Rudman is an evangelist who works on campuses, prisons, and around the world to spread the Gospel. He shares how God called him to this life through circumstances that looked like failure. Dan grew up in a traditional, moralist family but didn’t really go to church and so knew nothing about the Gospel. Heading into college he was “stiff-arming religion,” and floundered his freshman year. One day, a student was sharing a film by Josh McDowell talking about relationships and his own story of c...
Mar 06, 2017•1 hr 9 min
Tim Voss taught physical education for 22 years at Trinity International University. Today he shares the story of how God called him to teaching, led him to Trinity after developing a program at Moody Bible Institute, and saw him through the most difficult moments of his life. Those difficult moments revealed just how present God. His daughter went in for a procedure and died a week before her wedding. The grief, Tim says, was heavy. Even in the middle of that experience God placed the right peo...
Feb 20, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Jill May shares how she went from struggling mom and pastor’s wife to Season 1 winner of NBC’s Strong, a reality show that paired ordinary women with trainers and set them in competition with one another. Winning a reality show is very cool. But the story of God’s leading her there? Now that’s awesome. Jill grew up in rural Minnesota to a church going family. Sometime in her late high school years during a period of asking the big questions about life she began reading the Bible which changed he...
Feb 13, 2017•1 hr
Mark Casson of Metanoia Prison Ministries shares how he found the Lord in prison while being tried for his crime. He shares the story of how how he pleaded guilty and the ways that God honored that brave choice, how he learned to fellowship with believers of all stripes, and how God used his experience to almost immediately after he left prison to serve prisoners all over the country. Mark believes that prisoners are a neglected ministry in most churches (see Matthew 25:31-46) and is working to ...
Feb 06, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Today, Tonya Jewel Blessing shares how she learned to love the mess and serve with a joyful heart. It wasn’t always easy and we talk about the long process God used to prepare her for life in rural South Africa. But the process was full of moments that inspired her to trust just a little bit more. Tonya is also the author of The Whispering of the Willows (Amazon affiliate link), work of fiction that connects her to her roots. Her parents grew up in the area of Appalachia where the story is set a...
Jan 30, 2017•49 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Today’s episode features author of Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics to Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb, Keith Giles (Amazon affiliate link which means if you buy from this link Amazon sends a little my way). How integrated should the Kingdom of God and the leaders of a nation be? The question may seem strange to Evangelical ears when the objective of some for multiple decades has been to pass laws and “influence” political leaders. But just because this has been the case does not mean it i...
Jan 23, 2017•1 hr 23 min
Quentin Banks met Jesus in the St. Louis County jail. That’s just the beginning of his story. He is one of my favorite people ever to share on Halfway There because of the powerful work God has done in his life. Quentin is the definition of a man seeking after God’s heart while still wrestling with a world that is far from His ideal. The stories he shares about how he comes to trust God will encourage you, too. As always, please subscribe in iTunes and while you're there please leave a review of...
Jan 16, 2017•1 hr 16 min
What have I learned after asking over 25 people about their life with God? Trust in God is learned sometimes the hard way. Today we look at how this experience of learning to trust God over a long period of time is common, even in Scripture. I show through the Abraham’s story that he learned to believe God through the ups and downs of his own life so that by the time God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22 he just does it. The following stories are featured in clips from today’s show: ...
Jan 09, 2017•22 min
