The Full Library
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Four conversations, one road out. Blake Wieland woke up in a jail cell at 24, his second arrest that month. Shawn Martin was living in a garage with methamphetamine while his wife packed his car. Davis Garner carried his grandfather's warning for thirty years. Ervin Lee owned liquor stores and drank every day for four months. This special brings their stories together: the descent, the moment each of them got up, and the verses that carried them.
Alex is a retired Dallas businessman and Tom's friend since second grade. When Alex was 30, his infant son Philip was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died 18 months later, and the grief took him to the darkest place a person can go. What kept him alive was love for his family and a community that would not let go, long enough, he says, to have his day in court with God. He found that day in the book of Job.
Lorenzo grew up in Italy surrounded by centuries of Christian art and history, hearing about Jesus without ever knowing him, and spent years chasing meaning that left him empty. He had already studied whether any of it was true and concluded it was, and then did nothing with it, because he did not want any Lord over him. Romans 10:9 is the verse that convicted him, and today he and his wife are training as church planters in Bologna.
Thirty years into the apartment business and thirty years married to Amy, Jeremy anchors on Philippians 3, written from a prison cell by a man who said he had not arrived yet. A survivor of child abuse who chooses not to describe it, he says what matters is not the thing itself but that he is not defined by it. At fifty-two, the line still reverberates: leave what is behind, and press on toward the goal.
A survivor of decades of addiction who works with the unhoused community in Dallas, Shawn ran from discipline from childhood on, and it cost him jobs, homes, and the trust of his family. Out of resources behind a friend's house, he was given what he calls a drastic experience, like Paul's on the road to Damascus. His passage is Acts 9, and what he takes from it is what came after the light: it was not overnight, it took months, and he says he is still at it daily.
Raised in Navasota, Texas, by the three ladies who told him his circumstances would not dictate how his life came out, Ervin went on to two decades in corporate America and his own liquor stores in Dallas. Everything the world promised left him empty, and the morning he told God he was done he heard, “I don't give death, I give life. Get up.”
In this special episode, Tom's wife, Lorri, takes the guest seat. At an early age, Lorri heard Jesus saying “Come to me” during a worship service. Her favorite verse, Matthew 19:14, has shaped her decades of teaching children about God's love through Bible stories.
Davis grew up on Chicago's west side, waking to gunfire and visiting his father in prison at age six. After years of repeating the cycles he was raised in, broken relationships, substance use, and legal trouble, he shares with Tom how his life fell apart and what began to change it.
Greg was 23 years old when al-Qaeda attacked the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, killing 17 of his shipmates. He shares how Psalm 103:12 anchored his faith through trauma and loss, and what forgiveness as far as the east is from the west really means.
Married 48 years and four decades into pursuing intimacy with God through Scripture, Rick shares how a single moment in a men's Bible study made Philippians 3:10 the anchor for the fall of his life.
From Oklahoma State to severe alcoholism, Blake lost jobs, cars, and relationships, until the morning he woke up in a jail cell in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, ready to change. A five-word letter from an older woman in his church showed him what new creation really means.
A real estate developer and leader at JPI, Payton grew up on a small ranch and built a Wall Street career chasing money and status, until his carefully planned life fell apart. A strange banging sound on a flight became the sign that led him to Romans 12:2.
A Texas A&M graduate from a military family, Karsten landed in affordable housing consulting while navigating the pandemic job market. Matthew 5:13-16 turned an unexpected detour into a calling to be salt and light in his work.
A retired businessman and father of four, Elmer walked through a year when a troubled company and the sudden loss of his daughter collided. Proverbs 3:3 became his guide for holding on to truth and mercy in the darkest season of his life.
Executive coach and founder of the Noble Force, Mark was hospitalized with severe Crohn's disease in 2018 when an unexpected visitor preached Philippians 4:4-9 at the foot of his bed. That sermon, and that passage, have carried him ever since.
Pastor of a Burmese church in Dallas. Growing up in a small village in Myanmar, her father's advice, to reach God before reaching family in hard times, planted this verse deep in her heart as her identity in Christ.
Texas Radio Hall of Famer and the 48-year voice of Dallas sports. Two near-fatal car accidents in his 30s made him the living dog of Ecclesiastes: a man who came to faith late, and is now absolutely certain God wants him.
Host Tom Lamberth takes the other side of the questions with his wife and guest host, Lorri. An unexpected cancer diagnosis made Tom rethink how he was living, and 1 Peter 4:10 showed him God wanted him to use his gifts and become a “yes man.”
A realtor and marketing professional in DFW. Gracie shares a story of hope and the power of praying aloud, inviting God's peace into her life and calming her crippling anxiety.
Jessica thought being a living sacrifice meant working hard at her own goals. Then a moment on her couch changed how she read Romans 12:1, and she began asking God how he wanted to make her uncomfortable.