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What if the biggest breakthrough in your life isn’t a new strategy, but finally knowing you’re a beloved son of God the Father? Pastor Ed sits down with global evangelist and author Mel Tari to discuss the inner shift that transforms a man’s marriage, parenting, and purpose from the inside out. Mel brings the warmth of a spiritual father and the clarity of a storyteller, and he doesn’t soften the question that confronts all of us: have we merely attended church, or have we actually received Jesus and become a child of God?

Mel shares his journey from a small village on the island of Timor in Indonesia, where he battled malaria for years, to a moment when he hears God speak with surprising directness. He unpacks the unforgettable “barn and cow” illustration that separates religion from new birth, then walks through what he knew instantly after receiving Christ: forgiveness of sins, God as Father, heaven as home, and eternal life. Along the way, we talk about a powerful lesson for anyone praying for change: don’t just chase healing, embrace the Healer.

If you want Christian fatherhood that feels real, spiritual leadership that serves your family, and a faith that actually moves you forward, this conversation will light you up.

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NFL Draft day is supposed to feel like a finish line. For most men, it feels like a test of identity. Pastor Ed sits down with his lifelong friend and former NFL standout, Brian Holloway, to talk about the pressure behind the NFL Draft, the calls you hope you get, and the silence you fear, plus what all of it reveals about who we are when our biggest dream is on the line.

We swap stories from the old-school league, from helmets that offered “not much protection” to the chaos of draft-day promises, trades, and sudden dead phone lines. Then we zoom out to the truth fans rarely hear: getting drafted does not mean you have made the team. Training camp, cut day, and the fight to belong expose a deeper need for every man, athlete or not: a core identity rooted in being a beloved son of God, not a job title, platform, or paycheck.

Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the one takeaway you want to live this week. Also, visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links for a free book download and information about personal coaching.

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Ready to be the parent or grandparent you’ve always dreamed of becoming? Subscribe and tune into this podcast each week, and check out our resources, heartfelt encouragement, and practical tools to help you make a lasting impact on the ones you love most. Click this link below:

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What if the best thing you can give your kids is not another lecture, but a better reason? Pastor Ed sits down with philosopher and theologian JP Moreland for a candid, practical conversation about fatherhood, discipleship, and Christian apologetics—the kind that helps real families handle real questions.

JP tells the story of meeting Jesus in college after hearing thoughtful evidence for Christianity, including the New Testament's historical reliability and the case for Christ’s resurrection. From there, we talk about why so many young people don’t just leave a church building, they leave the faith, and how “anti-intellectual” habits can quietly teach our sons and daughters that questions are dangerous. We argue for a better model: love God with all your mind, and let that shape the way you lead at home.

We cover moral relativism, the modern misuse of “tolerance”, and how to speak truth with compassion in tough conversations, including stories that show why listening often reveals the deeper wound underneath the debate. If you care about raising resilient kids, navigating college culture, and building a Christian worldview that actually holds up, this one is for you.

Subscribe for more, share this with a parent or grandparent who needs encouragement. For a free book download and information about personal coaching, visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links.

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Ready to be the parent or grandparent you’ve always dreamed of becoming? Subscribe and tune into this podcast each week, and check out our resources, heartfelt encouragement, and practical tools to help you make a lasting impact on the ones you love most. Click this link below:

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You can feel it in the air right now: families are tense, churches are divided, and it’s easier than ever to slap a label on someone and call it wisdom. We wanted to go deeper than hot takes, so we sat down with Alexander Fenter, a South African pastor and author of Doing Reconciliation, to talk about what biblical peacemaking actually looks like when life is messy and relationships are fractured.

Alexander grew up white under apartheid and describes the slow awakening from privilege to conscience, and the moment God confronted him with a hard line: “You are your brother’s keeper.” From there, we unpack shalom, the Bible’s vision of peace as wholeness and right relationship, not conflict avoidance. We talk about reconciliation with God, with ourselves, with one another, and with creation, and why the gospel changes how we see “the other,” whether that’s race, politics, class, or the person who hurt us.

If you want Christian fatherhood that’s honest, healing, and strong, this conversation will give you language and next steps.

📩 Connect with Alexander Venter:
Facebook: facebook.com/alexander.f.venter
Website: Alexandercenter.com/teachings/

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Ready to be the parent or grandparent you’ve always dreamed of becoming? Subscribe and tune into this podcast each week, and check out our resources, heartfelt encouragement, and practical tools to help you make a lasting impact on the ones you love most. Click this link below:

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One survivor answered a question about trafficking prevention with a sentence that stopped us cold: “I wanted to see my dad love my mom.” That one line pulls the curtain back on something most people miss. Human trafficking is not only a law enforcement problem or an internet problem, but it is also a fatherhood problem, an identity problem, and a family stability problem.

We sit down with Patrick Erlanson, whose journey from early faith to deep disillusionment led him to explore other worldviews before an encounter with Jesus changed the course of his life. His work with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and later with trafficking prevention exposed him to the brutal mechanics of exploitation and the way predators target kids who feel unseen, unprotected, or unsure of who they are.

From there, we shift to solutions that start at home. We unpack what makes a father trustworthy, why kids need consistency more than perfection, and how practicing repair through real forgiveness can heal a family. We also explore identity and adoption as a gospel anchor: being chosen, named, and made an heir, which strengthens children against counterfeit identities offered by traffickers and a confused culture.

If you care about Christian fatherhood, strong marriages, protecting children, and rebuilding family leadership, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a dad who needs it, and leave a review with the one takeaway you’re bringing home.

📩 Connect with Father-Con:
Website: www.father-con.org
X: @father_con
IG: @father.con
FB: /FatherConEvents
Threads: @father.con

Patrick Erlandson SM:
IG: @patrickerlandson
Threads: @patrickerlandson

Visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links for a free book download and information about personal coaching.

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Ready to be the parent or grandparent you’ve always dreamed of becoming? Subscribe and tune into this podcast each week, and check out our resources, heartfelt encouragement, and practical tools to help you make a lasting impact on the ones you love most. Click this link below:

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Leadership doesn’t usually collapse in a single moment; it leaks from the inside out. We’re sharing a raw, timely teaching from Pastor Alexander Venter, recorded in a room with a group of church leaders, and it lands right where many of us feel the ache: the public fallout of Christian leadership scandals, the quiet damage of spiritual abuse, and the temptation to confuse gifting with godliness.

Alexander Venter from South Africa makes a bold claim that reframes the moment we’re living in: the exposure of hypocrisy can be the very revival we’ve been praying for, because judgment begins in the house of God and leaders are accountable to Jesus, the head of the church. From John Wimber’s piercing line “Give Me My church” to the warning against “playing God,” we explore what it looks like to lead by being led, in humility, under the Holy Spirit, without leaving our fingerprints on what belongs to Christ.

The heart of the teaching is spiritual formation. Proverbs 4:23 serves as a leadership roadmap: guard your heart and cultivate it like a garden, because everything in life and in church leadership flows from your inner condition. We talk character over charisma, the slow formation that happens through what we watch and follow, and the practices that plow up hard ground so the kingdom can bear real fruit. The episode closes with a poem and a prayer that invites forgiveness, freedom from condemnation, and a return to first love.

If you care about building healthy church leadership, spiritual disciplines, integrity, and a Jesus-led community, listen through and even share it with a leader you love.

You will want to follow this amazing brother in the Lord!

📩 Connect with Pastor Alexander:

Facebook

Instagram

Teachings

Amazon

Visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links for a free book download and information about personal coaching.

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Ready to be the parent or grandparent you’ve always dreamed of becoming? Subscribe and tune into this podcast each week, and check out our resources, heartfelt encouragement, and practical tools to help you make a lasting impact on the ones you love most. Click this link below:

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Mary Magdalene shows up at a grave expecting loss and walks away with a name, a calling, and a future. That’s the doorway we step through this Easter morning to the places we actually live: shame, father wounds, regret, family pain, and the quiet fear that it’s too late to change.

We follow the Bible story of the empty tomb, and the moment Jesus speaks Mary’s name, we move straight into what resurrection power means right now. We talk about a new beginning through surrender to Jesus, access to God as Father, and a new identity that is not built on performance or broken appetites.

God chooses you, renames you, blesses you, and gives you an inheritance you can pass on to your children. Listen, share with someone who needs hope, and if it helped you, subscribe and leave a review so more families can find it.

Visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links for a free book download and information about personal coaching.

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Ready to be the parent or grandparent you’ve always dreamed of becoming? Subscribe and tune into this podcast each week, and check out our resources, heartfelt encouragement, and practical tools to help you make a lasting impact on the ones you love most. Click this link below:

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The most honest question you can ask yourself on Good Friday is also the most uncomfortable: if you stood before God right now and He asked, “Why should I let you into heaven?” what would you say? If your answer starts with “I tried,” “I was better than,” or “I did my best,” you’re not alone. That instinct is the default setting of the human heart, and it’s exactly why the cross of Jesus can sound like foolishness until grace finally breaks through.

Then we sit with the thief on the cross, the man who brought nothing to the table and still heard Jesus say, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” No baptism. No Bible. No time to fix his past. Just one qualification: the man in the middle cross said he could come. We also connect this truth to real life, especially marriage and family conflict, where blame and bitterness grow when everything stays in the first person.

If you want a faith grounded in forgiveness, repentance, and the finished work of Christ, press play. Subscribe, share this with someone who’s tired of striving, and leave a review so more people can find this Good Friday message.

Visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links for a free book download and information about personal coaching.

Support the show

Ready to be the parent or grandparent you’ve always dreamed of becoming? Subscribe and tune into this podcast each week, and check out our resources, heartfelt encouragement, and practical tools to help you make a lasting impact on the ones you love most. Click this link below:

https://www.thefatherdifference.com/links