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Greg and Tonya open with a Wall Street Journal piece on adult children deciding to cut off their parents—sometimes over politics, lifestyle differences, or advice from therapists and peers online. They push back on the idea that ordinary friction automatically equals “toxic,” and they talk through the real difference between biblical counsel that points toward repair and a therapy culture that often prioritizes feeling better right now.They share their own early-marriage story of setting clear boundaries with Greg’s mom (it wasn’t permanent, and it wasn’t easy), look at what Scripture actually says about honoring parents even when it’s hard (including 2 Timothy 3 and James on listening and anger), and name the tension between wanting to belong and being told to separate. They also talk about identity rooted in Jesus instead of self-discovery, the real enemy behind family division, and why prayer for the person you’re struggling with can change the room before anything else does.If you’ve felt the pull to step away from family—or you’re watching it happen around you—this is a grounded, practical conversation about boundaries that still leave room for relationship. Scriptures for further reference: 2 Timothy 3:1-5, James 1:19, James 1:21, James 1:22-25, James 1:26, Matthew 15:11, Matthew 7:24-27, Psalm 34, Psalm 91:4, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:44, 1 Peter 5:8, John 16:33, Matthew 16:18, Romans 10:17, 2 Peter 1:3 CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome and the article that started the conversation 1:00 Family estrangement, therapy culture, and online peer advice 8:00 Biblical counseling versus modern therapy that focuses on feeling better 12:00 Their own story: boundaries with Greg’s mom early in marriage 15:00 When cutoffs happen—grandchildren, church families, and real harm 19:00 Identity in Jesus, the church as counsel, and why self-discovery falls short 21:00 2 Timothy 3, honoring parents, and last-days attitudes 24:00 Redefined “violence,” words versus real threat, and what actually shapes us 29:00 Parenting, generational trends, and who is supposed to inform a child’s identity 33:00 James on quick to listen, slow to speak, and defensiveness as anger 40:00 Therapy culture, affirmation over instruction, and owning your own reactions 45:00 Prayer, Psalm 34, and the real enemy behind family division 49:00 Closing prayer and practical next step

Tonya sat down to keep writing and found out a chunk of the book had never actually saved. Six or seven thousand words, gone, right in the middle of the part she was most proud of.Greg and Tonya start there, then end up somewhere else. The missing pages were about a desert season in Phoenix, fear around Elijah, and the older stories God used to get Tonya ready for it. A car she was asked to give away. A breakup that shoved her into a prayer journal. Five years of begging to hear something and only getting one word back: wait.It is a conversation about ownership, security, and what you lean on when the voice you are used to goes quiet. If you have ever lost work, lost a plan, or wondered whether God was still in the room, pull up a chair. CHAPTERS00:00:00 The Book Stopped Saving 00:04:32 Trials, James, and Why the Book Exists 00:07:18 The Car That Was Not Really Hers 00:17:52 Ownership Gets Harder With Kids 00:23:37 Five Years of Hearing Only Wait 00:29:12 Security, a Breakup, and a Picnic Table 00:35:30 The Anonymous Bag of Skirts 00:41:09 A Prayer by the Bed

Tonya has been trying to write a book for a couple of years. Not because publishing is hard now—anybody can print one. Because the story itself keeps getting bigger than the moment that started it.It began with their youngest son. Accidents. Fear. A stretch in Phoenix that felt like a desert on the outside and in her soul. And then this quiet thing she almost walked past: a promise God had already tucked into Elijah’s name, spoken back to her when things were at their worst. God would protect him. He was there.In this episode of Ask Mom and Dad, Greg and Tonya sit with that book while it’s still unfinished. Seven chapters mapped. About eighteen thousand words in. She’s aiming for something you can actually hold—deep enough to carry the promise, not so padded it loses what God put on her heart. Along the way they talk about Amazon books, instant “experts,” AI that can catch a muddy sermon but shouldn’t write your life, and why a story still needs a living soul behind it.If you’ve ever felt a promise in the dark and didn’t know how to tell it, this one is for you. CHAPTERS  00:00 Coffee, Questions, and Getting Settled  01:31 Why Everybody Suddenly Has a Book 07:21 The Book Tonya Can’t Rush 14:18 Elijah, the Desert, and a Promise She Almost Missed 18:15 Filling It Out Without Losing the Thread 20:19 Tools Can Help—They Can’t Live the Story 32:52 Why a Book Doesn’t Make You an Expert 38:37 Trusting the One Who Holds the Whole Thing Together

Greg and Tonya keep meeting the same kind of faith: know the commandments, work hard, make it to Sunday, want the life God blesses.Just not always God in the center of it.This episode is about that gap. The fear of God is not a short list that makes you a good person. Jesus made it personal—love Him with everything, then treat the person in front of you like they already belong. They sit with Psalm 127 and the anxious toil we dress up as responsibility. They sit with Ephesians 2, where the wall that said “you don’t belong here” comes down, and strangers become members of the household of God.That’s the turn. You don’t visit the temple anymore. You’re being built into it. Jesus is the one holding the load. The gathering is the house coming alive in one room. And the people you pass in the grocery store are not on the other side of a wall He already tore down.If He’s building the house in you, you don’t have to protect it. You can invite people home.Come sit with Greg and Tonya. CHAPTERS 00:00:11 – Ask Mom and Dad 00:06:34 – Sacred, Secular, and Muddy Water 00:10:48 – Fear of God Isn’t a Checklist 00:15:14 – Anxious Toil and the Gift of Rest 00:17:12 – Belonging Without Being the Center 00:21:45 – The Wall Came Down 00:27:40 – When the Temple Starts Talking 00:32:00 – He Carries the Load. You Have a Role. 00:39:59 – Living It Around Your Own Table

We just got back from England, where churches stand on nearly every corner… and yet so many people have never actually encountered Jesus.Greg and Tonya talk about the difference between “here’s a place to sit” and “come sit with me.” They dig into why the word “religion” itself can become a wall, what people really mean when they say “I’m not religious,” and how genuine relationship—not more programs or prettier buildings—creates the kind of access that changes everything.From a widower who just wanted to die, to a woman with tattoos talking about angels in the park, to the quiet work of preparing the ground so the seed can actually take root… this conversation gets honest about the barriers we don’t always see and the comfort zones we have to leave if we want others to feel at ease enough to meet Jesus.Pull up a chair. This one’s worth listening all the way through. CHAPTERS  00:00:00 – Opening Banter and the Real Question 00:02:46 – England: Churches Everywhere, Understanding Nowhere 00:05:06 – Jesus as a Person, Not Just a Feeling 00:14:57 – Visible Access vs. Meaningful Access 00:26:47 – “Places to Sit” or “Come Sit With Me”? 00:27:21 – When the Word “Religion” Becomes the Barrier 00:38:27 – Preparing the Ground and Leaving Comfort Zones 00:49:34 – Listening for Stories and Lowering the Walls

We spent ten days bouncing between Oxford and the southern edges of London helping mission teams move from place to place. What started as practical work turned into a running conversation about everything from tube seats that try to dump you on the floor to food that actually lists real ingredients first.Along the way we kept running into the same quiet surprise: a Christian history that is still thick in the air even when a lot of people no longer notice it. Older men who pray with a weight that feels older than the room. Door-to-door conversations that open more easily than we expected. Standing in places where the gospel was fought for and realizing how much of what we take for granted came from there.Greg and Tonya process the funny, the awkward, and the weighty parts of the trip without polishing it up. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to carry faith into a culture that still has the memory of the gospel but not always the life of it, this conversation is worth sitting with. CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Funky Toes and Why Older People Talk About Things Nobody Asked For 00:01:56 – Back From London: Ten Days of Mission Work and No Real Plan 00:06:03 – Scones, Fig Bars, and Why the Food Tastes Different 00:10:01 – “Way Out” Signs, Restroom Confusion, and Gen Z Slang 00:14:13 – Hearing Prayers That Carried a Different Weight 00:21:00 – Aging Churches and the Men Who Still Live the Faith Out Loud 00:27:00 – When Ease Makes a Nation Forget Where the Gospel Came From 00:33:00 – Door-to-Door Conversations and Learning to Talk About a Broken World 00:36:00 – Tyndale, Wycliffe, Kings, and the God Who Uses Them AllTAGS MissionTrip,

Hey, it's Greg and Tonya—jumping into a conversation that started with a walk through a famous LA celebrity graveyard and quickly got real. We talk about the minimal, often sad markers on stars like Natalie Wood, Farrah Fawcett, and Dean Martin, contrasting them with the faith-filled family plots that feel connected and hopeful. All that fame and fortune, yet so little evidence of what is lasting. What is the evidence of peace or eternal hope. We dive into Ephesians 1, the true inheritance we have in Christ, and why that changes everything about how we live, grieve, and leave a legacy. Along the way we touch on actors finding faith today, Ruth's faithfulness, Job's trials, and what it means to build your life on something that doesn't fade.If you've ever wondered what your life will be remembered for—or how to hold onto hope when things get heavy—this one’s for you. Come have a seat at the table with us. CHAPTERS 00:00:02 - Fun Intro & Graveyard Discovery 00:01:51 - Celebrity Graves vs Family Faith Markers 00:05:17 - Ephesians 1 and Eternal Inheritance 00:06:14 - Epitaph Games & Hollywood Stories 00:14:03 - Grief, Lost Children & Hopelessness 00:20:12 - Modern Actors Finding Christ 00:31:32 - Ruth, Naomi & Legacies of Faith 00:45:49 - Wrapping Up: London Trip & Final Thoughts

Greg and Tonya sit down and just start talking about how discouraging the headlines are and how hard it is to know what’s true anymore. They wrestle with why so many people—even in Christian circles—end up putting their hope in politics, theology, or systems instead of in Jesus Himself.From Adam and Eve trusting the first lie to modern deceptions, they unpack how we got here and what it actually looks like to walk with Christ daily instead of just collecting the right beliefs. They share from Philippians, talk about the song “All I Have Is Christ,” and give straight warnings about anything or anyone that tries to stand between you and Jesus.If you’re tired of the noise and hungry for something real, this honest conversation from two people who’ve been married a long time and love Jesus more will meet you right where you are. Come listen—you might walk away encouraged to press on. CHAPTERS 00:00:15 - Podcast Kickoff and World Feels Heavy 00:01:52 - Headlines, Lies, and Where Real Hope Comes From 00:03:02 - History of Getting It Wrong Since Genesis 00:08:00 - Theology vs. Knowing Jesus Personally 00:11:20 - Pressing On Like Paul in Philippians 00:15:15 - Back to the Garden: Intimate Walk with God 00:20:36 - All I Have Is Christ and True Humility 00:30:50 - What the Church Is Really For (and Warnings)

Greg and Tonya sit down and immediately start laughing about their cluttered house, messy closets, and how hosting Bible study forced them to clean up. But the conversation quickly turns serious as they wrestle with what real rebirth looks like — for their church, for our country, and for us personally. They dig into Juneteenth, the Civil War, Lincoln’s call for national prayer and fasting, Stonewall Jackson’s surprising story, and how God sometimes removes even godly leaders to accomplish His purposes. From Philippians 2 humility to the danger of thinking we know better than God, they explore why anger and division keep growing and what it takes to get back to unity. If you’ve felt discouraged by the news, politics, or the feeling that everything is falling apart, this episode will challenge and encourage you. Come listen as Greg and Tonya remind us that only God can truly heal and rebuild. CHAPTERS 00:00:14 - House Clutter, Kids, and Forced Cleaning 00:02:13 - VBS Plans and Rebuilding Church Life 00:04:22 - Church Life Cycles and National Rebirth 00:05:27 - Juneteenth, Civil War, and Lincoln’s Prayer 00:15:01 - Trusting God Over Politics and Human Plans 00:24:02 - Philippians 2, Humility, and Working Out Salvation 00:35:18 - Higher Ideals, Anger, and Unity in Christ 00:37:55 - Joshua’s Warning: Don’t Forget God

Greg and Tonya kick things off laughing about their exploding tomato jungle and the never-ending quest for the perfect homegrown tomato before diving headfirst into real life. They unpack their morning Bible study in Philippians, where Paul prays that love would abound more and more with knowledge and discernment.The conversation gets honest fast: how do we tell truth from noise in a world full of tickled ears and YouTube cathedrals? They talk about the danger of making government, doctors, or cultural voices into idols, why true agape love changes how we see everything, and what it really means to put on the right lenses before you interpret the world.If you've ever wondered how to stay grounded when everyone around you is resonating with whatever feels good, this one's for you. Come sit on the couch with Greg and Tonya. CHAPTERS 00:00:14 - Intro & Tomato Garden Update  00:06:00 - Diving into Philippians & Prison Epistles 00:10:00 - Caesar vs Christ: Loyalty in Roman Culture 00:19:00 - Who Are You Actually Listening To? 00:22:00 - The Lenses We See the World Through 00:31:00 - What Real Agape Love Looks Like Today 00:44:00 - Renewing Your Mind & Finishing Strong

Greg and Tonya are back with their usual mix of laughs, rambling, and real talk. They kick things off forgetting how to open the show, joking about cold feet and socks, then dive into the mountain of paperwork for their upcoming mission trip to London. From there it gets deep fast—Greg shares what he's teaching at church about the Faith of Our Fathers and why America flourished for 250 years while revolutions like France's didn't. Tonya recounts being at the big re-dedication event in Washington DC, praying over the nation with leaders and her daughter. They talk boundaries, protecting kids, the wild training videos they had to watch, and how they raised their own children through real arguments, imperfections, and constant pointing to Jesus. If you're a parent wondering how to pass on genuine faith in a chaotic world, or you're concerned about where our country is headed, this episode will encourage and challenge you. CHAPTERS 00:00:18 - Show Open & Cold Feet Comedy 00:02:28 - Mission Trip Paperwork Madness 00:04:34 - Boundaries Training & Common Sense 00:07:06 - Faith of Our Fathers Series 00:10:18 - DC Re-Dedication Event  00:19:16 - Psalm 33 & Trusting God as a Nation 00:23:19 - Raising Kids Through Real Messy Life 00:39:02 - Loving God First for Families & Country

Greg and Tonya sit down after a chaotic family reunion and right before Tonya heads out again—this time for a national prayer gathering on the Mall. But the real conversation kicks off when they start wrestling with a tough question: why do people sit under solid teaching for years and still show so little fruit? From the Israelites complaining in the desert, to Moses losing his cool at the rock, to James 4 calling out our quarrels—they unpack what real discipleship actually looks like. It's not just more information. It's walking in the dust of the Rabbi, modeling dependence on God, and helping people move from self-sufficient to Christ-sufficient. They talk parenting, empty-nest ministry, the difference between head knowledge and heart change, and why true discipleship often feels like long-suffering love. If you've ever wondered how to measure spiritual growth or how to disciple adults who already "know it all," this one's for you. Pull up a chair with Greg and Tonya—real talk, real Scripture, real hope for the next generation.  CHAPTERS  00:00:10 - Family Reunion Chaos & Loud Cafeteria Memories 00:02:46 - On the Heels of Mother’s Day & Tonya’s Upcoming Trip 00:05:00 - The Timothy Question: Who Really Shapes Our Faith? 00:08:20 - Numbers 20, the Rock, and Complaining in the Desert 00:13:00 - James 4: Passions, Worldliness & Asking God 00:19:50 - Hearing God’s Voice vs. Relying on People 00:27:50 - How Do You Actually Disciple Adults? 00:42:30 - Long-Suffering Love, Protection & Measuring Growth

Greg and Tonya sit down and talk real about something a lot of believers quietly wrestle with: the Holy Spirit. After a wild hailstorm chat, they jump into Greg’s Bible study on Colossians and unpack why Jesus really is enough—no extra keys, no secret rituals, no spooky ghost stuff.They laugh about how the words “Holy Ghost” freak people out, wrestle with the Trinity, share stories of the Spirit redirecting plans, comforting in chaos, and changing lives from the inside out. If you’ve ever felt nervous about “hearing God,” wondered why churches swing from ignoring the Spirit to chasing signs, or just want to know what it actually looks like to walk with Him daily—this one’s for you.Come laugh, think, and get encouraged that you’re never alone. Chapters 00:00:42 - Weather Chaos and Family Car Stories 00:02:58 - Bible Study Sparks: Jesus Is Enough in Colossians 00:05:00 - The Holy Spirit—Ghost, Guide, or Both? 00:08:07 - Understanding the Trinity Without Losing Your Mind 00:10:38 - Gnosticism, Asceticism, and Modern “Secret Keys” 00:14:03 - Mysticism, Visions, and Psychedelics—Where’s the Line? 00:21:19 - Hearing God’s Voice and Walking in His Power 00:37:02 - Living Satisfied in the Spirit Every Day

Greg and Tonya are back talking about the one topic that makes everybody squirm—money in the church. They unpack Greg’s current sermon series on generosity and why so many of us get tangled up between “love of money is the root of all evil” and the clear biblical call to be cheerful, open-handed givers. They ask the big question: If Noah tried to build the ark in today’s church, would the finance team shut it down? From Malachi’s “test me” challenge and the early church sharing everything they had, to stories of leather portfolios, Mercedes, and youth ski boats, they wrestle with stewardship, control, micro-managing, and what real cheerful giving looks like. If you’ve ever felt tension between giving generously and wanting every dollar accounted for exactly how you think it should be, this conversation will challenge and encourage you. Tune in for honest husband-and-wife talk about living with open hands instead of clenched fists. CHAPTERS (No timestamps)Opening Chat & Spring AllergiesWhy Pastors Have to Talk About MoneyIt’s All God’s—We’re Just StewardsThe Danger of Worldly Management ThinkingNoah’s Ark & Other “Bad” Financial Decisions God BlessesFaith vs Fear: Dead Sea or Flowing River?Trusting Leaders With God’s ResourcesClosing Encouragement to Give Cheerfully

After a rough several weeks battling travel & sickness Greg and Tonya are back. They jump straight into the big stuff happening in the world right now. They talk about the U.S. strikes on Iran, the dramatic rescue of that F-15 pilot on Easter weekend, and the wild contrast between how America values one soldier’s life versus how some regimes treat their own people.From there the conversation gets deep and honest: Why does every single life matter so much to us? Where does that value actually come from? They walk through the Judeo-Christian roots of Western civilization, the difference between Hebrew and Roman views of human dignity, and how God spared no expense to rescue us through Jesus.It’s raw, it’s timely, and it’ll make you think about why we stand with Israel, why we fight for the unborn, and why we refuse to let current events shake our trust in the real King.If you’ve been wrestling with the news, the politics, or just wondering what the Bible actually says about all this, pull up a chair. You’re gonna want to hear this one. CHAPTERS (No timestamps)Catching Up After Weeks AwayThe Iran Conflict and What It Really MeansThe Easter Miracle of the Rescued PilotWhy One Life Is Worth Billions in RescueJudeo-Christian Roots of Human ValueIsrael, Rome, and the Leaven of the KingdomWhy We Stand With Israel Without Being CockyThe Real Kingdom We’re Waiting For