One At A Time, with Kyle Idleman

Jesus came to save the world, speak to the crowds, and call his disciples. But He meets us one at a time.

In this podcast, we’ll wrestle with the question of forgiveness as Chad finds out he’s going to be a dad for the first time. This news comes on the heels of hearing from his biological father, who abandoned him 23 years earlier. This news put Chad on a path to understanding his true identity and learning how to forgive, even without being reconciled.

Jenny grew up in the church and came to faith at an early age. She discovered gymnastics at three and that was the focus of her life until an accident left her paralyzed from the chest down. I often see Jenny at church—always in her wheelchair and usually with a smile. Her courage and faith inspire me. If your story hasn’t turned out how you had hoped. If your struggles feel overwhelming, and your situation feels hopeless, I hope Jenny’s story will inspire you to be brave, to keep dreaming, to live with the confidence of knowing Jesus can redeem anything.  So, what do we do when life hands us a tragedy? Usually, we want to know the reason why it happened, but what if instead of looking for a reason, we looked for a purpose. In this episode, we’ll wrestle with the question, “Why did this happen to me?”

Eric Wood is a friend of mine. We regularly meet up with about a half-dozen other guys, and we encourage and challenge one another. From 2009-2017, Eric was an offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills. He made the Pro Bowl in 2015, and was elected the team captain for several years running.    Eric says the 2017 season, his last in the NFL, was special because it was the first year the Bills made the playoffs during his time there. It was also special because, as the season wound down, his wife and daughter were back home in Louisville because his wife was about to give birth to their son. The Bills lost in the first round to Jacksonville, and Eric immediately turned his thoughts to home. As he was leaving Buffalo, the first hints of a major change in his life began to take shape in the form of a career-ending injury. Soon after returning home, Eric’s son was born as he was learning that his career as a professional football player was over. Life doesn’t always go as we plan it, and Eric’s story takes a turn that he didn’t expect—a turn that he’s still processing.    We all face detours in life. Something unexpected happens that derails our well-laid plans for our careers or maybe our family. At some point in our lives, most of us have had to face the unexpected, and we find ourselves asking the question, “What comes next?” In this episode, we’ll hear from Eric as he begins to grapple with that question.

When you hear Ashley Davidson tell the story of how she first met her husband Matt, you’re reminded of those stories that are almost too good to be true. Matt was a counselor at White Mills, a camp where Ashley’s little brother attended one summer. He wouldn’t stop talking about Matt, and suggested that Ashley should go out with him. Later, when Matt baptized her brother, she met him, and even though they went on a few dates, they ended up going their own separate ways. Fast forward a little bit. Ashley’s praying to God on the heels of a relationship that didn’t work out. All she wanted was to be a wife and mother, and as she took her concerns to God in prayer, the Holy Spirit came to her and told Ashley that she would marry Matt Davidson…whom she hadn’t talked to in months.   Ashley was so convinced by this that she reached out to Matt, and though he was seeing someone else, she persisted. Soon, they began dating again and were married a year later. It was the kind of love story Christians pray for, where prayers are spoken to God, who answers with the perfect spouse—but it’s a story without a fairy tale ending. Matt Davidson passed away in 2012, leaving behind Ashley and their three children.    I wish you could have known Matt. He was one of the most joyful, loving people on the planet. He loved Jesus and loved people as genuinely as any pastor I’ve ever known. When Matt died, we felt his absence, but Matt’s legacy lives on. When someone who is young and healthy and making a difference in the world dies unexpectedly, it’s hard to make sense out of it. Even if God doesn’t cause such a tragedy, it’s hard to understand how he’d allow it. In this episode, we'll wrestle with the question, “How can anything good come out of this?”

While we take a couple weeks off to wrap-up our next batch of stories, we wanted to give you a preview of what's coming....

Steve Romeo worked hard his whole life, and when he turned sixty-two-and-a-half, he decided it was time to take it easy. But before he cashed his first retirement check, he woke up blind one night, and then found out he had two different forms of cancer. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we’re somehow in control of our lives, but what happens when life catches us off-guard? In this podcast, we’ll wrestle with the question, “Where is God when my plans fall apart?”

From age 11 to age 49, Tony Cash spent 36 years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement. He was fearless of crime and consequences, and his world was made of violence and chaos. For many people, this is just how life is; they don’t know anything else. You can feel trapped inside an ever-deepening well, and even when your heart and mind long for things to be different, there doesn’t appear to be a way out. For Tony, there wasn’t an easy way out… but there was a light. In the harsh world of crime and prison, Tony found Jesus and slowly but surely, Jesus began to guide him into a new way of life – a life that has led dozens of others to Jesus as well. Tune in to Tony’s story as we ask the question, “Can I really change?”

Most pastors I know didn’t plan on becoming a pastor. There’s usually a story connected to it of how God unexpectedly led them down that path. A number of years ago, I saw that our church was getting ready to plant a new church in Harlem, New York called Renaissance Church. That’s when I first heard the name Jordan Rice. He was going to be the lead pastor. Like other pastors I know, he didn’t plan on becoming a pastor, but his story is unlike any story I’ve ever heard. He grew up in a home full of lawyers, and he was headed that way, trying to avoid being a pastor of a church. But on April 15, 2010, Jordan heard Tim Keller speak at Calvary Baptist Church in New York. Keller’s sermon, titled God Loves Cities, painted a picture of cities that compelled Jordan to do something. He was practicing family law, but as soon as he heard the sermon, he knew the law was behind him.   By June, his wife, whom he’d recently married, became sick. This began a journey of profound loss and confusion that ultimately became a beautiful story of redemption. At the heart of it, you’ll hear of a God who calls and a God who cares for us in the midst of dark moments. Today, we’ll wrestle with the question of, “How does God lead me through darkness?"

Please note that this episode discusses the reality of human trafficking, the adult entertainment industry, and the sex industry. You won’t want to listen to it with young children.   At the fringes of our culture, there are human beings—people made in the image of God—living in a darkness that is hard to imagine. For most of her life, that’s where Mary Francis lived. She was born in Louisville, the last of 15 children, and she moved from one poor neighborhood to another as a kid. Her parents split up, and they passed her back and forth. At fifteen, she went to live with her father, but she was really alone on the streets, vulnerable to people who would take advantage of her. That summer, a man who had originally shown her kindness by showing her attention and buying her ice cream had his sights on exploiting her, which he did for many years. This man took her from one establishment to another, where men used Mary and humiliated her.   Even when she finally got free of this man, she found herself trapped in the sex industry, where she stayed for thirty-five years. She knew nothing else, and had no safety outside of this man, to whom she returned. Her story is deeply sad, but filled with profound redemption. Through the kindness of strangers, God drew Mary to him, and now she uses her story to help others. Usually, we try to understand someone’s story through a question, but for today’s episode, I want you to ask yourself the question a stranger asked Mary - “What can I do to help?"

On today’s episode, I’m going to share a little of the story of my friends, The Boyd Family. We’re going to wrestle with the question, “How do I make the most of the opportunities God gives me in life?”    You may know the Boyd Family better as Infinity Song, the music group made up of a number of the Boyd kids, or you may know the music of Victory Boyd, who has a solo record out. We’ve had Victory out to our church a few times, and there is something transcendent about her music and talent.   We’re going to look at how they’ve stewarded the talent God has given them, and I’m sure you’ll want to hear more of their music when the interview is over.

On this episode, of One at a Time, Kyle Idleman sits down with Ashley Weece, a staff member at Southeast Christian Church, to talk about his vision for the podcast. They discuss why he wanted to make a podcast, what he learned making Season one, and what his hopes are for season two. Subscribe today and we’ll see you back here next week for the launch of Season 2 of One at a Time. Credits: Executive Producers – Kyle Idleman, Carey Meyer, and Don Gates Produced, edited, and mixed by Mike Cosper for Narrativo Group Music by Dan Phelps

How should we think about our social media habits? What good can come from them, and what harm? On this episode, Kyle sits down with Andrea Amettis and Meg Rich, two people with very, very different social media habits, to discuss the ways that social media can be used for good and bad purposes. They talk about why Andrea has given most of the platforms up, and why Meg has stayed engaged online. It’s a challenging conversation that will give you the opportunity to reflect on your own habits, and the ways God might be able to use you as a source of encouragement for others when you’re online. Credits: Executive Produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer Produced, edited, and mixed by Mike Cosper and Narrativo Group Theme Song by Dan Phelps

On this episode of One at a Time, Kyle Idleman sits down with Brock O’Dell to talk about a subject that affects more households that you might think: pornography. Brock struggled for several years – starting as a teenager – with an addiction to porn, and over the years, learned to fight the good fight and resist the temptation. As Brock puts it, people aren’t just searching for porn, porn is searching for them too. Recognizing this, we need to learn how to talk about it.  In this conversation, you’ll hear about how kids discover porn, the damage it does, and the paths of grace that lead away from it. Credits: One at a Time is a production of Narrativo It’s executive produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer This episode was produced and mixed by Mike Cosper Our theme song is by Dan Phelps

On this episode of One at a Time, Kyle Idleman sits down with Darian Sanders in Boston, just before he went on stage in The Lion King. Together, they discuss the unlikely path Darian took from his dream of being a high school band teacher to local musical theater to serving as a worship pastor before getting his big break—at 29 years old—on Broadway. Darian points out the various doors that God opened before he finally had the courage to pray his big dream.   Credits: One at a Time is a production of Narrativo It’s executive produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer This episode was produced and mixed by Mike Cosper Our theme song is by Dan Phelps

On this episode of One at a Time, Kyle talks with Dennis and Lori Brooks about praying big prayers. Dennis and Lori were at a time in their lives when many people start thinking about becoming empty nesters. They had older kids going off to college, and their youngest was eight. But God had plans for them. They found themselves called to open their home to foster care and adoption. Through a series of ups and downs, they fostered and adopted two beautiful girls, Lizzy and Treasure. When Lizzy received a cancer diagnosis, their whole lives turned upside down and God taught them what it truly meant to pray big prayers. Learn more about Lizzy's battle against Wilms Tumor here.   Credits: Produced by Narrativo Executive Produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer Edited and Mixed by Mike Cosper Music by Dan Phelps

On this episode of One at a Time, Kyle talks with Shane Wood about Mantras and the use of symbols in the Bible. Shane is Professor of New Testament Studies and the Associate Academic Dean at Ozark Christian College. He’s recently published the book, Between Two Trees: Our Transformation from Death to Life (Leafwood, 2019). Kyle focuses on John 15 and what it means to be the branch. He and Shane discuss the way God uses symbols in the Bible to convey meaning and engage with us, asking the question, “How do we abide with Jesus and find a way to connect with him so that we too might produce fruit in our daily lives?” Credits: Produced by Narrativo Executive Produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer Edited and Mixed by Mike Cosper Music by Dan Phelps

At Southeast, we’re in the middle of a sermon series called “Mantra”, in which we’re exploring phrases that we hope shape the life and character of our church. This week’s mantra is “Catch the Wind.” In the gospels, Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to the wind, teaching us to value adventure and action over safety and comfort. Our guests on this episode, Matt and Kristi Robison, know what it’s like to catch the wind. Their story is one of how God led them step-by-step through adoption, through several moves that were unforeseen, and to launch Hope Place in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s a story of faith and of God’s faithfulness, of leaning on the Holy Spirit, and living like sails that catch the wind. You can learn more about Hope Place here. Credits: Produced by Narrativo Executive produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer Edited and Mixed by Mike Cosper Theme Song by Dan Phelps

Continuing with our series of Mantras, in this episode Kyle explores what it means to "Wreck the Roof," reflecting on the story from the gospels in which a group of friends tears a roof off a house to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus. He talks with Shawn Arvin from Love City, a ministry in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville that is doing some outstanding outreach work for their neighbors. Love City opened a preschool for the children in the neighborhood and a restaurant that employs people from the neighborhood, started two urban farms, and have revitalized Portland’s Westonia Park. They also reflect on how  God cares for people “one at a time” through Shawn's story about God pursuing him until he came to faith in Christ and who now pursues others to share the good news of Christ.    Credits: Produced by Narrativo Executive Produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer Edited and Mixed by Mike Cosper Music by Dan Phelps

Continuing our Mantra Series, this week’s episode looks at the mantra “Grip the Plow.” With this idea, we’re challenging believers to get their hands into ministry for the Kingdom. In particular, we’re going to revisit the ministry of Tony and Kim Cash, who you may remember from episode 6 of season 1. On that episode, we heard about how God saved Tony from a life of violent crime and called him to be a missionary – a disciple who makes disciples. We also heard how Tony brought he and Kim together to be partners in ministry.   On this episode, we’ll hear about what God has done since then through them. Their ministry in the prison system has led to more than 140 baptisms, many of which are the result of recent converts who’ve shared the gospel with others and produced second, third, and fourth generation Christians. Their testimony is a powerful and encouraging picture of what it means to “Grip the Plow.”   Learn more about the Cash’s ministry at www.tonyandkimcash.com   Credits:   One at a time is a production of Narrativo. It’s executive produced by Kyle Idleman and Cary Meyer. It was edited and produced by Mike Cosper. Our theme song is by Dan Phelps