Just Talkin' About Jesus
A place with real people sharing their real faith.What was the moment when you first realized how real Jesus is?Tell me about your But God moment.Have you had moments when you were so low you could only rely on your faith?What makes you joyful when the rest of the world isn't?These are a few of the questions that lead my interviews.Once a month we have a roundtable chat with a few people about a topic.
Christian Sexual Trauma Healing: Survivor Testimony of Redemption and Hope
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Tiffany Brearton was the bright light in every room until childhood sexual abuse began rewriting her story.
By eighteen she was walking into a strip club, believing her body was her worth. Years of broken relationships, divorce, and the death of her second husband followed, and then Jesus met her in the middle of it all.
In this honest conversation, Tiffany shares the healing steps that helped her (a church trauma group, therapy, EMDR, and prayer),
why testimony breaks shame,
h...
He, She, Them, and Me: Responding in Love and Truth to your LGBTQ+-identified Child
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Wendy Terry grew up knowing Jesus loved her, yet spent decades hiding her real feelings and building an identity of always having it all together.
In her forties, a miscarriage, four growing children, and a major depressive episode brought it all crashing down.
Wendy shares how God met her through safe community, a prayer room, and a simple instruction to "just show up," and how she learned to ask her Creator what He says about her.
She also opens up about par...
Cyclones, Calling, and a Sheep Farmer’s Son: Ian Reilly’s Story
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Engineer, painter, entrepreneur, and author Ian Reilly joins Jan to talk about growing up on a sheep farm, building a tech startup at 52, and the two cyclones that shaped his years teaching in Samoa.
Along the way, Ian shares what he learned about cultural Christianity, connecting across language barriers, and the quiet influence of a life lived faithfully. His memoir Encounter recently won the New York City Big Book Award.
https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/hope-and-wonder
License code: XXAPHVLRL1J...
Feeling Left Out? How God’s Chosen Identity Heals Rejection: Joanna Immanuel
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Have you ever felt left out? In this episode, Jan Johnson talks with Joanna Immanuel (from Germany) and Angie Clayton, editor of the anthology Chosen, Sacred Journeys with a Faithful God, about how God turns the hard places of our lives into places of calling.
Joanna shares how an acorn and Isaiah 61 reshaped her view of the “dirt” in her story, and how being called forth by God healed the little girl who felt she never measured up.
Angie explores the great exchange, beaut...
Church Hurt, Panic Attacks, and Learning to Be Angry at God with Dustin Kleinschmidt
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Pastor and author Dustin Kleinschmidt joins host Jan Johnson to talk candidly about church hurt, ministry burnout, and the process of grieving and healing after stepping away from full-time pastoral leadership.
Dustin shares how he was called back to lead a church in crisis, the "trifecta" of events that nearly destroyed it, the breaking point that led him to resign, and the panic attacks and anger at God that followed.
Together they explore identity, boundaries, lament, and what it looks like to keep lo...
From Single Immigrant Mom to Bestselling Author: Stefania Leao's Story of Prayer
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Stefania Leao came to the United States from Brazil for a one-week visit and stayed almost ten years. As a single mom who didn't speak English, she began each morning reading the Bible and writing a prayer.
Those simple notes became a devotional book now available in five languages, reaching a church in Malawi, the Brazilian national team, and people on the streets of San Francisco.
Stefania and host Jan Johnson talk about prayer, humility, obedience, and how God uses ordinary people. If yo...
From Gang Life to Gospel: Ariel Aguilar's Story of Faith | Just Talking About Jesus
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Before he was a pastor, church planter, and missionary, Ariel Aguilar ran with gangs.
In this conversation with host Jan Johnson, Ariel shares how a medical crisis —
his wife's cancer diagnosis during pregnancy —
became the turning point that led him to give his life to Christ.
From there, his story takes us through freezing mission trips in Mongolia, a young man named Togi who came to faith weeks before he passed away, and Ariel's current ministry, Door Kno...
Faith and Sobriety: How Jesus Freed Erin Zandstra From Alcohol Addiction
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Erin Zandstra grew up knowing of God but not knowing Him — and spent decades filling that gap with alcohol, broken relationships, and a desperate search for identity.
In this raw conversation, Erin shares her road from a DUI and jail time to radical surrender, and what it really means to find your worth in Christ instead of what you do or what you've survived.
A powerful testimony on faith, sobriety, and grace.
Welcome to Just Talkin' About Jesus.
I'm Jan...
Walking the Camino: A Pilgrim's Journey Toward Repentance and Joy
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At 78, retired pastor Jerry Heslinga walked 160 miles of the Camino de Santiago with his son-in-law — and came home with more than sore feet. Jan Johnson talks with Jerry about faith conversations on the trail, a stranger's story of reconciliation, and the lifelong lesson of repentance that met him somewhere between Portugal and Spain.
A conversation about journeys — the ones in Scripture, and the ones we're still walking.
Psalm 92. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Leban...
Faith-Based Addiction Recovery: Attorney Brett Knight's Story of Grace
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Brett Knight is a criminal defense attorney, recovery pastor, and author of From Gavel to Grace.
In this episode, he shares his personal journey from a childhood of poverty in rural Illinois to prosecuting criminal cases, and ultimately to a calling in recovery ministry. Brett unpacks the real pattern he's seen behind addiction after walking hundreds of people through recovery — and why healing the pain matters more than punishing the behavior.
He also talks candidly about grace, boundaries, and what "tough love" should actu...
Byron Easterling Interview: Christian Author Talks Worship & Ministry
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Musician, composer, and author Byron Easterling joins Jan to talk about the presence of God in worship, a wild encounter in a London hotel lobby,
the blessing his father spoke over him before passing away,
and the one question that can unstick anyone who feels spiritually stuck.
A conversation about calling, mentorship, and never retiring from the gifts God has placed in you.
Psalm 71:18 — “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I...
Eric Stephens Testimony: From Rejection to Rooted in Christ
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Ordained pastor, life coach, and founder of Redwood Christian Ministries Eric Stephens joins Jan and co-host Marti for a raw conversation about growing up caught between two rejections — one from an absent father, one from a world he tried to fit into by becoming its villain.
Eric shares the prayer that changed everything, the three train horns that answered it, and the years it took him to understand that his real struggle was never the addiction itself but the rejection underneath it.
He also...
Beauty From Ashes: Wendy Wall on Africa, Deepwater Horizon, and Building a Holy Habit
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Author and Bible study leader Wendy Wall joins host Jan to talk about hearing God's voice in the middle of upheaval — a sudden move to Angola just after a 50-year civil war, the Deepwater Horizon disaster that upended her husband's career, a providential relocation to Trinidad that let her be near her dying mother, and a season of loss that included her mom, grandmother, aunt, great-aunt, and family dog.
Wendy shares how a misunderstood conversation with God about "habits" turned into a 66-day spiritual experiment — and e...
Lie Makers and Light: Cheryl Bostrom on Breaking Generational Chains Through Story
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Award-winning Pacific Northwest novelist Cheryl Bostrom joins Jan and Marti to talk about the trauma that shaped her early years, the grandmother who introduced her to God through nature, and the faith that transformed generational dysfunction into a life devoted to storytelling.
Cheryl opens up about her mother's mental illness, the neurodivergent characters she writes with such care, and the concept of "lie makers" — the false beliefs that keep us stuck until we find and release them.
She also previews her upcoming historical nove...
Servants of the Lord Maria Fix: Siberia Survivor's Story Told by Sister Mercy
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Host Jan sits down with her own daughter, Sidney — now Sister Mercy of the Servants of the Lord — to talk about a woman who changed both their lives:
Maria Fix, a Russian Catholic who survived Soviet arrest, a 55-day cattle-car journey, the death of her toddler sister along the way, and nearly two decades in forced labor camps, before spending the rest of her life running an underground church and finally, in her eighties, professing final vows as a religious sister.
Along the way, S...
Trading the Wonder Woman Cape: Trisha Nix on Rest, Community, and Trusting God's Timing
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Recorded live on a retreat on the Oregon coast, host Jan Johnson talks with new friend Trisha Nix about wilderness seasons — the ones we sometimes walk into ourselves.
Trisha shares the quiet, undramatic moment she gave her life to Jesus as a child because of a teacher who cared enough to bring her to church, the season she calls her own wilderness after an impulsive move to Costa Rica left her with nothing, and what she's learning now about community, rest, and letting go of the...
Hope After Suicide Loss: Jackie Baker’s Grief Journey
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What happens when grief changes everything?
In this heartfelt episode, Jackie Baker joins Jan Johnson to talk about losing her son Sebastian to suicide and the long road of learning how to live again.
Jackie shares the realities of traumatic grief, the stigma surrounding suicide loss, the pressure grieving parents often feel, and how her faith carried her through years of sorrow. Together they discuss lament, identity, marriage, unanswered prayers, and why healing is not about forgetting.
Jackie’s new book, Me...
"FINE: Falling Apart on the Inside, Nice Exterior" — Nicole Roth's Guide to Breaking Free
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Joy coach, author, and dietitian Nicole Roth spent decades chasing achievement, applause, and the approval of everyone around her — and didn't realize it was breaking her until a brave woman pulled her aside and said the truth out loud.
In this conversation with host Jan Johnson, Nicole unpacks the four patterns she calls the 4 P's — performance, perfectionism, people pleasing, and pretending — and what happens when shame quietly drives all of them.
She shares the difference between learning about God and actually talking to Him, why...
Strong Roots, Stormy Skies: Juliet Dawn's 35-Year Journey from Trauma to Testimony
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Recording artist and former X Factor contestant Juliet Dawn joins host Jan Johnson for an unflinching conversation about thirty-five years of trauma — abuse, miscarriages, the loss of her twin sons, two nervous breakdowns, and chronic illness — and the faith that carried her through every layer of it.
Juliet shares how a prayer she prayed at twenty-one shaped the rest of her life, how a long-lost song became prophetic, and how a single handwritten note from a stranger became a divine commission to write through her pain...
When God Goes Quiet: Surviving (and Growing Through) Your Wilderness Season with Marti Darcangelo and Jessica Deyoung
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Wilderness seasons are real, and they are rarely fun — but they are never wasted. In this episode, Jan, Marti, and guest Jessica DeYoung pull back the curtain on what it actually looks like to walk through a spiritual wilderness: the silence, the confusion, the doubt, and yes, the breathtaking encounter with God on the other side.
Jessica shares vulnerably about a recent “teaching wilderness” where she did everything right — read her Bible, prayed, kept showing up — and still felt completely alone. Marti brings grounded wisdom about lean...
Stand in Prayer: Learning to Pray with Purpose, Power, and Intentional Strategy with Liz Holtzman
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Forty years in prayer ministry will teach you a few things. But what Liz Holtzman has learned goes far beyond what to say — she's learned WHY it works, and that knowledge changes everything.
Liz is a retired special education teacher, intercessor, Bible study author, and longtime leader in Moms in Prayer International. Her new Bible study, Stand in Prayer: Purposeful Prayer with Powerful Outcomes, grew out of decades of teaching sixth graders, mentoring women, and showing up to pray when she didn't always have the wo...
More Than a Secret: One Woman's Journey from Affair to Healing with Alicia Barr
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Alicia Barr grew up in a small town, built a career, and loved Jesus deeply — until church hurt left her numb and vulnerable.
What followed was a four-year affair she didn't know how to escape.
In this episode, Alicia shares her unfiltered story: the seduction of sin, the slow spiral, and the supernatural moment that finally broke the cycle.
She talks about grief, counseling, learning to receive grace, and why she wrote the book nobody else would write.
This is a c...
When Grace Found Me: Jai Roza's Journey From New Age to Jesus
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Jai Roza was an ordained deacon at 14 — and planning his suicide at 17.
In between, he was channeling spirits, drowning in demonic voices, and watching his faith collapse along with his family.
In this episode of Just Talking About Jesus, Jai shares the midnight phone call that pulled him back from the edge, what happened when his Bible started glowing, why the Book of Acts made him physically leave church in a rage, and how God interrupted a prayer of repentance to teach him the...
Pain as the Birthplace of Blessings: Finding Hope Through Grief with Hadassah Treu
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What if your pain had a purpose?
Jan welcomes Hadassah Treu, a Christian author and speaker from Bulgaria, for an honest and hope-filled conversation about grief, depression, and the surprising blessings that can be born from our hardest seasons.
Hadassah shares how she found Jesus in communist Bulgaria, survived multiple battles with depression, lost her husband suddenly in 2020, and emerged with a message: suffering surrendered to God is never wasted.
She also walks through key scriptures in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Job tha...
When Science Proves the Bible: 14,000 Days of Divine Control with John Zachary
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What if you could use NASA eclipse data and ancient Babylonian star charts to verify that God has been orchestrating human history for thousands of years? That’s exactly what this week’s guest, John Zachary, has spent half a century doing.
A former aerospace engineer who worked on fighter pilot ejection systems, John discovered that the Bible contains mathematically precise, repeating 14,000-day prophetic cycles—from the Ark of the Covenant’s movement under Moses, to the destruction of three temples, to the very day of the c...
From Clown to Cook County: How God Uses Every Broken Piece | David Ebel
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David Ebel was born dying — subject to a medical experiment at one day old, carrying 21 birth defects, and living in chronic pain from age 6. By 20, he had made five suicide attempts. Then he walked into a church because a girl was cute, found Jesus, and nothing was ever the same.
In this episode, David walks us through an extraordinary life shaped by obedience: from dressing as a clown to share the gospel with children, to 12 years of road ministry in 49 states, to planting a church in...
Finding Humor in the Bible
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Jan, Marti, and Kyle celebrate the International Day of Laughter by exploring something you might not expect — humor in the Bible.
From Balaam arguing with his donkey (Numbers 22) to Jonah stomping around like a toddler (Jonah 4),
to the prayer group that wouldn't open the door for the very person they were praying for (Acts 12),
the Bible is full of moments that are ironic, unexpected, and even laugh-out-loud funny.
They also take a detour through God's wildest creation — the octopus — and discus...
"From Rebel to Redeemed: Faith, Creativity, and Hearing God's Voice" Wendy and Derek
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Wendy and Derek's Website
Derek Hatdnger has lived a lot of life — and God has used all of it.
From a difficult childhood marked by family upheaval and financial stress, to years of spiritual rebellion, to nursing a first wife through cancer and experiencing a life-altering encounter with God, Derek's testimony is raw, real, and full of grace.
Now married to Wendy, a freelance illustrator who has her own story of God's faithful provision through the uncertainty of creative work, the Hadi...
Healing the Hidden Place: Releasing Shame and Receiving Grace with Jessica DeYoung
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Shame wants to keep you silent. But God wants to use your story.
In this episode, Jan sits down with Jessica Deyoung, founder of the Made Whole Movement, to talk about one of the hardest topics we carry — shame. Jessica opens up about her own journey: cancer at age five, growing up in a difficult home, walking away from God in college, and the abortion and shame that followed. She shares the transformative moment when she heard the Lord say, “Daughter, you’re forgiven” — and how that ch...
"Mary, It's Me"—Finding Jesus in the Middle of Your Grief
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The Trouble with Jesus
Easter isn't just a holiday — it's a story about getting up when grief has pinned you down.
In this episode, Jan and guest Constance Hastings walk through the resurrection accounts in John 20 and Matthew 28, exploring the raw human emotions of that first Sunday morning.
Why did Mary Magdalene not recognize Jesus at first?
Why did the disciples go back to fishing?
And what does it mean that Jesus called her name —...
Jesus, Passover and the Final Cup with Lon and Ryan Wiksell
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To celebrate Episode 100, host Jan revisits one of her most meaningful conversations — a deep dive into Passover and its profound connection to Easter and the Christian faith. Joining her are Dr. Lon Wiksell and his son Ryan Wiksell, a father-son duo of ordained Christian ministers from very different faith traditions — Messianic Judaism and the Episcopal Church — who together founded Our Father Abraham to help Christians understand the Jewish roots of their faith.
In this rich conversation, Lon and Ryan walk us through the Passover Seder's four c...
Step Out Anyway: What It Really Means to be Courageous
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In this rich and honest conversation on Just Talkin' About Jesus, host Jan sits down with friends Lynn Shortman and Luba Shalya to talk about something every believer wrestles with — courage. Together, these three women unpack what courage really looks like in the life of a Christian: not the absence of fear, but the willingness to act in faith anyway.
Luba shares the courage it took to launch an online women's prayer group for Oregon, the grief of losing two children, and how spe...
From Chaos to Kenya with Ashley Davis
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Helping Hands International
In this powerful episode of Just Talkin' About Jesus, host Jan Johnson sits down with Ashley Davis — a woman whose childhood was marked by domestic violence, abandonment, addiction, and trauma.
Ashley takes us on a raw and redemptive journey from growing up in chaos in Washington State, to finding faith through a godly young man in Seaside, Oregon, to becoming a devoted wife, mother, children's ministry leader, and missionary to Kenya, Africa.
Ashley shares how God drew her to H...
Swallowing Sunshine: Finding Joy with Brenda Savanhu and Marti Darcangelo
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What does it feel like to truly encounter God's joy?
In this episode of Just Talking About Jesus, Jan Johnson, Marti Darcangelo, and Brenda Savanhu gather around a powerful quote from Methodist missionary E. Stanley Jones —
"When I met Christ, I felt that I had swallowed sunshine" —
and let it spark a rich, honest conversation about choosing joy even in the darkest seasons.
From King Jehoshaphat's battle cry to Moses glowing on the mountain, from Paul writing from prison to perso...
"Were My Wounds Not Enough For You?" — Nakesha's Story of Abuse, Addiction & Radical Redemption
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What happens when a child raised in severe abuse — physical, sexual, and spiritual manipulation — somehow hears a quiet voice saying you are meant for more?
Nekesha's story is one of the most remarkable testimonies of redemption you'll ever hear.
Growing up with a father who twisted scripture to justify abuse, Nekesha found herself homeless, addicted, and self-harming as a teenager — convinced she wasn't worth saving.
But God had other plans.
Nekesha shares how a therapist's secret act of kindness, and a husband...
Chosen for the Fire: Finding Purpose in Your Hardest Season with Angie Clayton and Ruth Cowles
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"What if the hardest thing you're walking through isn't happening TO you—but FOR you? What if you were actually chosen for this season?"
This isn't your typical "chosen" conversation—it's a paradigm shift about surrender, submission, and the sacred journey of trusting a faithful God even when nothing makes sense.
In this deeply moving episode of Just Talking About Jesus, Jan welcomes Angie Clayton (compiler of the book Chosen: Sacred Journeys with a Faithful God) and Ruth Cowles for an hone...
Thriving in the Barren Place: When God Meets You in the NICU with Paula Romang
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What happens when the Christian life you imagined doesn't match the reality you're living?
When the prayers aren't answered the way you hoped?
When suffering becomes your daily companion?
Paula Romang thought that if she just did all the things and checked all the boxes, God would deliver her version of the wonderful Christian life on a silver platter.
Good Christians don't suffer.
What she found out was that lie wasn't true.
Paula Romang shares he...
Forgiving the Unthinkable: An Abortion Survivor Speaks
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Amy Miles thought she knew her story: adopted as a premature baby with cerebral palsy by loving Christian parents. But when she decided to search for her birth mother after having her first child, she discovered a truth that would change everything—she had survived a failed abortion at 27-30 weeks gestation.
In this powerful episode, Amy shares her journey from shock and survivor's guilt to forgiveness and purpose. She opens up about:
The moment she learned she was an abortion survivorHow she went fr...Locked Out— Let into My Heart: How Jesus Kept Knocking
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Michelle Fewell shares her remarkable testimony on Just Talkin' About Jesus, Episode 91.
From a childhood marked by kidnapping and displacement, through years of anger and rebellion against God, to a life-changing encounter in a small Bronx church—Michelle's story demonstrates God's faithful pursuit.
This conversation offers hope for parents praying for prodigal children and reminds us all that God's word never returns void.
Discover how forgotten keys became a divine appointment and why dwelling in the secret place of the Most High...
Is Your Mind Looping Negative Thoughts? Transform Your Mind: Angie Clayton and Marti Darcangelo
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Jan Johnson has started Let’s Talk About It! once a month where we have a few of us dissecting a topic. Today’s episode is one of those.
Do you ever get stuck in stinkin’ thinkin’?
You know what I’m talking about.
Someone says something to you that sticks in your head… and not the good kind of something.
The next thing you know, you start to believe it because you ruminate on it.
It keeps coming to...
