Advertise on podcast: Bleeding Daylight

Can a psychologist hold a deep Christian faith and still take modern therapy seriously? Eric Johnson has spent more than 35 years teaching psychology and counselling, and over 25 years counselling people himself. As founder of the Christian Psychology Institute, he has written books and dozens of papers on bringing a Christian worldview into the counselling room. In this episode, he shares his story honestly, from his days as one of the last hippies, to giving his life to Christ at 18, to discovering that his faith had stayed largely in his head.   Eric explains how his marriage and family nudged him towards deeper healing, and why he believes Christ-centred counselling goes beyond both a Bible-only approach and secular psychology alone. Together, Rodney and Eric explore worldview, childhood trauma, the slow journey of healing, and the role the local church can play in making it okay to be broken. If you’ve ever wondered how faith and therapy can work together, this conversation offers hope and a way forward.   Christian Psychology Institute

Why doesn’t knowing better always lead to doing better in marriage? Rodney Olsen sits down with Alan and Autumn Ray, who have been married since 1970. They met in college, and Alan spent more than 27 years in the Air Force. They came to faith about a decade into their marriage, only to find that their old reflexes in conflict didn’t disappear overnight. Out of that struggle, they helped build Marriage Team, where over 85% of couples considering divorce choose to stay together.   In this honest and encouraging conversation, Alan and Autumn explain the playbook analogy, why couples so often talk past each other, and how practical skills such as listening, forgiveness and conflict resolution can transform a relationship. They also share the story behind their Rick and Jane Learn to Be Married series, offer wisdom on money, selflessness and safety in unhealthy relationships, and reflect on why commitment matters long after the early rush of love fades.   Rick and Jane Learn to Be Married

Mike Dyson’s story begins before he was even born, when a woman named Lena helped change his mother’s mind about an abortion. In this conversation with Rodney Olsen, Mike shares how rejection, isolation and a false belief that he was too broken for God shaped much of his life. After a powerful encounter with Jesus in 1980, a lack of discipleship left him feeling “unredeemable” for 13 years, through a difficult marriage, a Marine career and a battle with alcohol.   Mike describes the night his kids’ words reached him, his surrender on the couch and his journey of healing, which included learning to stop blaming others and reading the Bible one chapter at a time. He also unpacks the two shadows of Psalm 23 and Psalm 91, which inspired his book, The Shadow: Walking Through the Valley, Abiding Under His Wings. Whether you’re feeling stuck in the valley or wondering how to walk alongside someone else, this episode is full of hope, honesty and encouragement.   WEBLINKS The Shadow Website Mike Dyson’s Author Facebook Page Mike Dyson on Facebook

Are science and faith really at odds? Richard Krauland spent more than 40 years unsure about God and for a time called himself an atheist. In 1994, a night spent reading the Gospel of Matthew changed his mind, his heart and his behaviour. He went on to lead a billion-dollar-plus company while living with lifelong illness and surviving a car accident that left him temporarily paralysed from the neck down.   In this episode, Richard talks with Rodney Olsen about his book, The Bridge from Science to God. He shares stories of what he describes as divine intervention, explains why he believes scientific discovery points toward an intelligent designer, and reflects on what it means to love others as Jesus taught. Richard welcomes sceptics, and you don't have to agree with him to enjoy the conversation.   The Bridge from Science to God

Brian Gray's story doesn't follow a tidy redemption arc. Told at just four years old to "go fight your own battles," he spent the next decades doing exactly that, spiralling into addiction by fifteen, a broken marriage, and eventually five years in prison. It was on a beach in Hawaii, charging at a man with a shotgun and begging to be shot, that everything changed. Brian shares the raw, unflinching details of that pivotal moment and the instant deliverance from alcohol and drugs that followed, a freedom he's never looked back from since.   Today, Brian runs residential care for at-risk youth and, alongside his wife, a transitional home for women in recovery and their children. In this conversation, he opens up about the "dependent neglect" behind so much destructive behaviour in young people, the patience it takes to love kids who push every button, and why faithfulness matters more than visible success. He also discusses his book, Rap Sheet to Resume, written for anyone who feels too broken to be of use, and shares the remarkable three-year journey of one teenage boy whose transformation still moves him today.   Rap Sheet to Resume: Finding Blessing in Brokenness

Michael Dittman builds telescopes for NASA by day and has spent the last nine years processing a decade of chronic pain, a shattered family and his daughter's four overdoses into a story of hard-won redemption. In this conversation he talks candidly about the gap between knowing the right theological answers and actually experiencing the delight of an intimate relationship with Jesus, tracing how thirty years of striving, shame and unexplained physical suffering eventually gave way to a single, transformative encounter at a men's retreat: hearing Jesus say "I know, me too."   From infertility and inflammatory arthritis to his daughter's descent into addiction and two painful church experiences, Michael doesn't shy away from the mess. He explains how a small, untrained house church taught him more about genuine transformation than forty years in churches with gifted preachers ever did, and shares the framework he now teaches through Grace Forge, the ministry he and his wife Karen have built around the idea that God has already forged the grace we need. His new book, In the Wake of Jesus: Grace That Changes You and the World, unpacks it all.   Michael G. Dittman GraceForge

Jason Tatlock grew up as a pastor's kid before spending thirteen years in academia, eventually earning a PhD studying ancient Israel. Alongside his wife Krista, he now co-leads King on a Hill Ministries, shepherding pastors across India, Uganda, Pakistan and Kenya, and has recently released a new devotional called With. In this conversation, Jason talks about how his scholarly love of the ancient world and biblical languages deepened his understanding of faith, and how a season of debilitating anxiety reshaped the way he now ministers to others.   Jason shares confronting, moving stories from the field, including brick workers trapped in debt servitude in Pakistan and pastors in India facing real persecution for their faith. He unpacks the Hebrew meaning of hope, the compassion ministry Katharos, and why genuine Christian community matters more than we often realise, especially before the storms of life arrive. It's a rich, honest conversation about scholarship, suffering and the hope that carries us through both.   King on a Hill Ministries With: More Than a Word

Dr David Pendergrass is a pastor, biblical scholar and pastoral counsellor with a PhD in historical theology, and in this episode he talks with Rodney Olsen with striking honesty about the doubt that has shaped nearly 30 years of ministry. David shares the story of his dramatic call to ministry as a teenager, then walks through the two seasons in his life when he walked away from faith intellectually, driven by a deep fear of being "duped" by something that simply wasn't true. He explains how he worked through that doubt by seeking out trusted mentors, reading widely, and eventually writing his own book.   The conversation moves beyond David's personal story into the bigger questions facing the church today: why so many people quietly deconstruct their faith rather than work through their doubts, why so few pastors have the theological training to sit with hard questions, and why David believes the true test of any gospel message is whether it would still hold up for believers suffering under persecution overseas. He also offers practical, compassionate steps for anyone currently wrestling with their own doubts, and a challenge to church leaders to be more honest about what they don't know.   WEBLINKS David’s Website David on YouTube

Brett Knight has spent his career standing in the space between justice and grace. A former criminal defence attorney who later became an ordained pastor and author, Brett has watched the drug epidemic up close from both sides of the courtroom. In this conversation with Rodney Olsen, he traces his own faith journey from head knowledge to a genuine relationship with Christ, and shares the pivotal moment as a prosecutor when he asked God to let him see addiction the way God sees it.   Brett's book, From the Gavel to Grace, grew out of hundreds of real encounters with people trapped in addiction, and the families desperate for answers. In this episode he unpacks the true meaning of tough love, the boundaries that protect without abandoning, the reasons churches often struggle to welcome people in recovery, and the "sin snobbery" that keeps many of us from extending the grace we've received ourselves. Alongside stories of heartbreaking loss, Brett offers real accounts of restoration that continue to fuel his conviction that no one is beyond reach.   Brett Knight’s Website

Michelle Konson built what looked like a picture-perfect life: a career as a corporate attorney in South Africa, a loving marriage, and four children. But underneath the surface, she was quietly unravelling, using survival strategies she'd developed as a child to try to control a world that no longer responded to control. In this honest conversation, Michelle traces her path from unrecognised childhood patterns to a genuine reckoning with her story, and shares how that journey eventually led her into trauma-informed training, group therapy, and years of untangling the fragments of her own past.   Michelle now helps others do the same through her journal, Untangling Your Story, a tool designed to bridge the gap between everyday struggle and formal counselling. In this episode, she talks candidly about the role of community and empathetic listeners in healing, why digging up the past isn't about blaming those who hurt us, and how her Christian faith has shaped her understanding of forgiveness, grace and self-compassion. It's a conversation about patterns, permission, and the freedom that comes from finally telling ourselves the truer version of our story.   Michelle Konson’s Website Michelle Konson on Instagram

Garvin Antoine grew up in Trinidad in a home marked by poverty, an alcoholic father and very little guidance about what life ahead would demand of him. It wasn't until he was much older that he learned his father had been thrust onto the streets at just ten years of age, a discovery that dissolved years of bitterness in a single conversation. Around the same time, Garvin discovered he had twin brothers he'd never known existed, a revelation that eventually drew his whole family, including his once-resistant mother, back into faith and church community.   Those experiences now shape Garvin's work as the author of Build Before the Storm and as a developer of faith-based technology tools helping churches stay connected with their people. In this conversation, he unpacks his five-pillar framework for facing life's inevitable hardships, from the simple but often ignored step of awareness, through to building daily habits with his "5-5-5" system, and the non-negotiable role of mentors and support in genuine growth. It's a candid, practical conversation for anyone who knows a storm is coming, even if they don't yet know what shape it will take.   Build Before the Storm

Jodi Cowles has lived more than half her adult life outside her homeland, working across seven countries and three continents as an author, publisher and entrepreneur. In this episode of Bleeding Daylight, she talks candidly about growing up with what she calls a "flannel graph" version of Jesus, a one-dimensional God who couldn't hold up against grief, doubt and real life questions. Jodi shares how the death of her young brother, a crisis of faith at Bible college and a furious, typewritten confession to God eventually led her to a far bigger and more trustworthy understanding of who He is.   Jodi also opens up about the years she spent working across the world, the cross-cultural insights that reshaped how she reads Scripture, and the gruelling four-year process of adopting her daughter in Istanbul, including a literal sprint through the airport as their visa came down to the wire. She reflects on the vulnerability of putting her story into print in her memoir, Then Came Joy, and on the gratitude and grief she's learned to hold together through recent family health scares. It's a rich, honest conversation about faith that's been tested and found good.   Jodi Cowles' Website

Moriah Hagel is an author, speaker and co-founder of the Seasons Young Adults Conference. Her journey into writing began not with a plan of her own but with a Bible study on a college campus where she felt anything but settled. In this episode, she traces the path from that first unplanned teaching moment through to her three books, First and Forever: Singleness in Ephesians, Alignment: God's Will or Mine, and her latest release, To Live: Finding the Mind of Christ. Along the way she talks honestly about singleness, the disruption of 2020, and the loss of her nephew, who lived just 49 days, and what each of those seasons taught her about putting God first rather than her own plans.   This conversation moves through some deeply personal territory, from the vulnerability of writing about her own shortcomings to the surprising readers whose lives have been shaped by her work. Moriah reflects on what it means to build an identity that doesn't shift with marriage, career or circumstance, and why she believes that foundation has to be established now, in whatever season you're in. It's a warm, grounded conversation about faith, creativity and the slow work of staying aligned with God through both the good years and the hard ones.   Hagelbooks

Matthew Wingo left a high-flying corporate career to pour his life into helping men find freedom from the patterns that once controlled him. In this episode, he takes us through the shattering of two marriages, the "hidden orchard" of secrets he tended in the dark, and the moment a 12-step recovery programme helped him finally connect the dots of his own story. With honesty and humour, Matthew talks about shame, obedience, and the daily choice to walk in the light rather than hide behind a smile.   Now the founder of Turnright Ministry, a men's 12-step leader, worship guitarist and author of Turn Right: The Pursuit of Noble Things, Matthew shares how grace met him in his lowest moments and how he's since made amends with the people he hurt along the way. This conversation is a powerful reminder that no one is ever too far gone, and that character isn't built in a single decision but refined daily, one obedient step at a time.   WEBLINKS

David Small's life reads like a movie script. He grew up dreaming of coaching ice hockey, worked as director of hockey operations for Team Canada West, and scouted for the Los Angeles Kings, before spending over a decade with the Free Burma Rangers in one of the world's most forgotten wars. He's walked through minefields, been bombed and mortared, and written a bestselling book, Nameless Faceless People: Ten Years with the Free Burma Rangers, about what he found on the other side of fear.   In this conversation, David talks candidly about how six months of volunteering turned into a decade of service, the difference between relief and development work, and why he stepped away from the Free Burma Rangers to found the Jungle Discipleship School, training young Burmese leaders scarred by war. He reflects on courage, grace, the fatherhood of God, and what it really means to show up for people in their darkest moments, whether that's in a jungle war zone or on a neighbour's doorstep.   WEBLINKS