Crusade with Me

What happens when you take away everything we normally use to hide?

For their anniversary, Dave and Kat did something completely outside their normal world: they spent their Arizona trip at a clothing-optional resort.

They expected awkwardness. They expected vulnerability. They definitely expected a story.

What they didn’t expect was what the experience would reveal about shame, judgment, aging, body image, intimacy, marriage—and the masks we wear every day.

In this special Crusade After Dark, Dave and Kat tell the Arizona story and wrestle with one of the Bible’s most...

Christians have been given plenty of rules about sex.

But which of those rules actually came from God—and which came from culture, tradition, fear, or our interpretation of Scripture?

In Episode 180 of Crusade With Me!, we ask a question that may make some people uncomfortable: Did God actually put limits on sex?

We dig into what the Bible really says, including the often-used Greek word porneia, and wrestle with the difference between sexual desire, sexual immorality, wisdom, commitment, harm, and judgment.

This isn't an argument that anything goes. An...

We’ve been taught that strong desires can be dangerous—that maturity means controlling them, resisting them, or sometimes pretending they aren’t there.

But what if desire itself isn’t the enemy?

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, we explore where desire comes from, what it may be trying to tell us, and the difference between suppression, indulgence, and formation.

Maybe self-control doesn’t mean killing the fire inside us. Maybe it means understanding that fire well enough to direct it toward something good.

What if the better que...

Episode 178 — Why Did God Make Sex Feel So Good?

If sex were only about reproduction, why did God make it pleasurable?

Why did He create desire, attraction, intimacy, and bodies capable of experiencing such powerful pleasure?

For centuries, Christians have sometimes talked about sexuality primarily in terms of temptation, rules, and restraint. But what happens when we begin with a different question:

Why did God design it this way in the first place?

In Episode 178 of Crusade With Me, Dave and Kat step into a conversation about sex, pleasure, ma...

What is that fire inside you?

The drive to build. The urge to create. The desire to achieve. The anger that demands action. The attraction that pulls you toward another person. The sexual energy that can feel almost impossible to ignore.

Where does it all come from—and what is it for?

In Episode 177 of Crusade With Me, we explore the powerful energies woven into human life: ambition, creativity, anger, attraction, desire, and eros. Are these forces something we should fear and suppress? Something we should simply indulge? Or were they gi...

If you could create God, what would He be like?

Would He agree with your politics? Approve of your choices? Dislike the same people you dislike? Would He ever look at something you deeply believe and tell you, “You’re wrong”?

For thousands of years, human beings have tried to understand the divine—from Zeus and Odin to the gods and philosophies of the ancient world. But maybe we never stopped creating gods. We simply gave them new names: money, success, politics, pleasure, identity…and ourselves.

In this episode of Crusade With Me, we follow...

What does it really mean when someone says, “I’m spiritual, but not religious”?

In Episode 175 of Crusade With Me, Dave and Kat explore one of the fastest-growing ways people describe their relationship with faith—and ask whether spirituality without something outside ourselves to define truth can eventually become a spirituality of our own making.

This isn't an argument for religious labels or institutions. It's a conversation about truth, authority, community, surrender, and the difference between seeking God and creating a god who agrees with us.

Can we be spiritual without being religious? Can reli...

What if the biggest obstacle standing between you and the truth… is you?

We all like to believe we're open-minded. But once a belief becomes part of our identity, changing our mind can feel like losing part of ourselves. Our brains defend what we already believe. Our tribes reward agreement. And sometimes questioning the accepted story can cost us relationships, reputation, or belonging.

So what happens when the evidence points somewhere we don't want to go?

In Episode 174 of Crusade With Me, we explore confirmation bias, the power of first impressions, cancel culture, tr...

Is Something True Even If Nobody Believes It?

If everyone believed something false, would that make it true? And if nobody believed something true, would it suddenly become false?

In Episode 173, Dave and Kat wrestle with the difference between belief and Truth—and the uncomfortable possibility that reality doesn't need our agreement.

Are good and evil real? Does reality have an order? Why are we so good at seeing other people's deception while missing our own?

And perhaps the hardest question of all:

Do we really want the Truth if...

Episode 172 – Reality Always Sends the Bill

Every choice has a consequence—even the ones we think no one will ever see.

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, we explore one of life's simplest and most challenging truths: reality always keeps the score. Our habits, relationships, character, and faith are all shaped by the small decisions we make every day.

Why do some choices lead to peace while others lead to regret? What if God's commands aren't arbitrary rules, but the way reality itself was designed to work? And where does grace fit when...

What if accountability isn't punishment...

What if it's freedom?

This week, Dave and Kathy returned home from a week at the Jasper County Fair expecting to remember horses, ribbons, and competition. Instead, they found themselves watching something far more revealing—human nature.

Children accepted responsibility with remarkable humility. Adults often searched for someone else to blame.

Why is it so difficult to simply say, "I was wrong?"

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, we explore why accountability has become one of the rarest virtues in modern life, and wh...

For six episodes we've been asking difficult questions.

Why do we feel like there has to be more than this?

Why can't we sit still?

Why has wonder faded?

Why are we more connected than ever, yet increasingly alone?

Why won't our minds ever stop talking?

What did ancient wisdom know that we've forgotten?

Now we arrive where King Solomon finally arrived after chasing pleasure, success, wealth, wisdom, work, and every earthly pursuit imaginable.

"The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is this...

For centuries, humanity searched for wisdom not because life was easy—but because it wasn't.

Today we have more information than any generation in history, yet anxiety, distraction, loneliness, and exhaustion continue to rise. We know more... but are we actually becoming wiser?

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, we step away from the endless noise of modern life and listen to voices that have endured for thousands of years. From King Solomon and Ecclesiastes to the wisdom of the early Church, we explore truths that technology cannot replace and progress cannot improve.

...

Have you ever noticed that your mind almost never becomes quiet?

It replays yesterday. It worries about tomorrow. It imagines conversations that never happen. And somehow, in all that noise, we mistake every thought for the truth.

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, we journey inward to explore one of life's greatest battles—the conversation happening inside our own minds.

Together we'll explore:

• Why our thoughts seem to run endlessly. • Why attention follows whatever we repeatedly think about. • What ancient wisdom teaches about stillness, silence, and clarity. • How to stop be...

We have thousands of followers, hundreds of contacts, and endless ways to communicate. Yet loneliness has quietly become one of the defining struggles of our time.

How did we become so connected... and so alone?

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, we explore the difference between communication and genuine relationship. Technology has made it easier than ever to reach one another, but true connection requires something far more valuable—our attention.

Together we'll ask:

• Have we mistaken contact for connection? • Why does presence matter more than proximity? • What can ancient wisdom t...

When was the last time something truly left you speechless?

We carry supercomputers in our pockets, watch rockets land themselves, and can speak with someone on the other side of the world in an instant. Yet somehow, we've become harder to amaze than ever before.

Maybe the world hasn't become less extraordinary.

Maybe we've simply stopped paying attention.

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, Dave explores why wonder quietly disappears—not all at once, but beneath layers of busyness, distraction, certainty, and constant noise. Together we'll ask whether our loss of...

Why is silence so uncomfortable?

Why do we instinctively reach for our phones, turn on the television, scroll social media, or fill every empty moment with noise?

Maybe the problem isn't that we've forgotten how to rest.

Maybe we're afraid of what we'll discover when everything finally becomes quiet.

In Part Two of the Attention series, we explore one of the defining struggles of modern life: our inability to simply be still. From endless distractions to relentless busyness, we've become experts at avoiding silence—even though silence has always been the pl...

Have you ever looked around at your life—even a good life—and quietly thought, there has to be more than this.

You're not alone.

In Part 1 of our new seven-part series, Attention, we begin exploring one of the most important questions of our time: What is capturing our attention, and where is it leading us?

We chase success, entertainment, possessions, relationships, accomplishments, and endless distractions, hoping they'll satisfy the restless longing inside us. Yet no matter how much we consume, the feeling remains: there has to be more.

What if that...

As America celebrated its 250th birthday, it's worth asking a deeper question: What does true freedom really look like?

In this special episode of Crusade With Me!, Dave and Kat reflect on the blessings of living in America, the sacrifices that have preserved our liberties, and the legacy we hope to leave for future generations. Together, they explore one of the most powerful chapters in Scripture—Romans 8—where the Apostle Paul reminds us that the greatest freedom isn't political or national, but spiritual.

America can protect many freedoms, but only Christ can set us free from...

What does a lifetime of faithful ministry look like?

In this special episode of Crusade With Me!, I sit down with Rev. Schumacher, a pastor whose life has been marked by humble service, deep theological conviction, and a genuine love for people.

Our conversation spans decades of ministry—from serving as a missionary in Africa with his family, to his pioneering work with the deaf community through the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, where he helped develop sign language for use in the Church's liturgy. We discuss the importance of communicating the Gospel so that everyone can...

What if the greatest obstacle between you and God isn't your past—but your belief that you've gone too far?

In this episode of Crusade With Me!, we explore two powerful passages of Scripture that reveal the very heart of God. In First Timothy 1:12–17, the Apostle Paul calls himself the "foremost of sinners," yet boldly proclaims the immeasurable grace of Christ. Then, in Gospel of Luke 1–10, Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, reminding us that God is not waiting for the lost to find Him—He is actively seeking them.

Togeth...

The older I get, the less certain I become about many things.

Twenty years ago, I thought I had most of life's answers figured out. Today, I realize that certainty is often easier than wisdom, and arrogance is far easier than humility.

In this episode, I share why Crusade With Me! exists in the first place. This podcast was never created because I believed I had all the answers. It was created because I need the questions.

Together, we'll explore what it means to "connect the dots" in life. Sometimes we connect dots...

Most people don't reject God because they hate him.

They reject Him because they're busy.

Busy building careers.

Busy chasing dreams.

Busy paying bills.

Busy scrolling phones.

Busy entertaining themselves.

And before long, the important gets crowded out by the urgent.

Jesus tells the story about that. Luke3:13-18

John tells us what happens when we let God's love shape our lives. I John 14:16-24

Together these readings challenge us to examine where our priorities truly are.

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Crusade With Me! Dave sits down with a lifelong friend — Pastor Mike Hesterman — to revisit a 30‑year friendship and a 50‑year faith journey.

Pastor Mike opens up about his early life as a self‑described scoundrel, his years of rebellion, his time in the Army during a racially tense and dangerous season, and the night in 1975 when he was forced to confront the question: “If I died tonight… where would I go?”

What follows is a raw, honest, and moving conversation about:

In a world fighting for your attention, Jesus asks a deeper question: What are you really looking at?

In Episode 157, we explore how focus shapes formation — and how the things we continually behold begin to shape who we become. Drawing from Matthew 6:22–33 and Romans 5:1–10, this episode dives into:

You’ll walk away with clarity, conviction, and a practica...

We all think we know how life is supposed to work.

We make plans. We form opinions. We create expectations about what God should do, how He should do it, and when He should do it.

But what happens when God's plans are different from ours?

In this episode of Crusade with Me! Dave and Kathy explore the gap between what we think we know and the reality God reveals through Scripture.

Abram thought he understood his future. He had a plan, a timeline, and a logical conclusion about...

Crusade with Me! is back.

After months away from the microphone, we're beginning a new chapter with a simple but life-changing question:

What if the secret to peace, purpose, and growth is not becoming someone else—but becoming who God created you to be?

A tree never struggles with its identity.

An oak doesn't wish it were a maple. An apple tree doesn't envy an olive tree. A tree doesn't wake up one morning and decide it would rather be a goat.

It simply receives what God made it to...

Our last time.

Countdowns.

Fireworks.

Endless advice on how to reinvent yourself by midnight.

As if life responds to pressure.

As if becoming whole can be rushed.

But tonight, we slow down.

Because the dawn is not rushed.

The sun has never forced its way into the sky.

It has never strained to arrive.

It simply rises, steady, patient, right on time.

That is how real beginning work.

One more episode will follow—an episode of hope, prayer, and strength for the days ahead. But today… today is about grounding.

What do we leave you with? What must remain when the music fades and the episodes stop coming?

The answer is not a feeling. Not a memory.

It is Truth.

And tonight… the wait is nearly over.

For weeks we have watched. We have trained. We have waited in the long quiet of Advent.

And now — the night has arrived.

The night when angels sing. The night when eternity steps into time. The night when heaven bends low and the world is never the same again.

This is Christmas Eve.

A quick chat with Ribeye (Grandson) with ten questions about Christmas. Ah, the Christmas spirit.

And today, we stand in a sacred in-between. This is our final episode of Advent. And there are only three episodes left in this entire journey.

That is not coincidence.

Because Advent has always been about living in the tension between what has already happened and what has not yet come. Christ has come. Christ is present. And Christ will come again.

Advent does not ask us to rush forward. Nor does it allow us to linger in the past. It calls us to wait with intention.

Not idle waiting. Not...

One hundred and fifty episodes in a little less than a year. That number is not just impressive— It’s meaningful.

Because Scripture gives us 150 Psalms. And the final Psalm—Psalm 150—doesn’t analyze, argue, or explain.

It simply says:

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

So today, Crusaders, this episode is a breath. And this breath is praise.

The first Christmas wasn’t shiny. It was dark, uncertain, and fragile.

If you’ve lost your fa la la this year, this episode is for you.

This is Episode 148, and as this year draws to a close, so does this podcast.

We’ve spent a year walking together—through Scripture, tradition, encouragement, and challenge. Our final episode will air on New Year’s Eve, and we hope this journey has brought you comfort, a deeper faith, and maybe even a little wisdom along the way. We’ve learned so much from this time we’ve shared together.

Today, we conclude our study of the Ten Commandments with the Ninth and Tenth, as taught in Luther’s Large Catechism. But our Advent series conti...

This is Episode 147, and today we continue our Advent journey through the Nativity Fast. We’ll reflect on three powerful passages of Scripture—Psalm 82, Isaiah 8:9–9:7, and 1 Peter 4:1–19—and then we’ll turn to the Seventh and Eighth Commandments, explained in the great catechetical tradition of Martin Luther’s Large Catechism.

This episode is about justice and truth: preparing our hearts to live faithfully, guarding against theft and falsehood, and walking in holiness as we await the coming of Christ.

This is Episode 146, and today we’re entering deeply into, the Nativity Fast, the season of Advent and the call to holiness that prepares us for the coming of Christ.

We’ll be reflecting on three powerful passages of Scripture:

- Psalm 102:13–17

- Isaiah 2:1–22

- 1 Peter 1:13–25

And then, we’ll spend time unpacking two of the Ten Commandments—the Fifth and the Sixth—as explained in the great catechetical tradition of the Church.

This episode is meant to be both encouragement and challenge: a...

Today we’ll talk about Advent as a season of holy waiting, the Nativity Fast as a discipline of simplicity, and then we’ll dive into the 3rd and 4th Commandments. And yes—we’ll wrestle with the hard question: how do we honor father and mother when those relationships were complicated.

Today’s episode is a journey through gratitude, discipline, and obedience. We’ll begin at the Thanksgiving table, praising God for His abundant gifts. Then we’ll step into the Nativity Fast, a season of preparation and watchfulness. And finally, we’ll begin our study of the Ten Commandments, focusing on the first two—commandments that strike at the very heart of our lives."

The Fast Before the Feast

The world rushes toward Christmas with lights, sales, and sugar. But we are called to slow down. To prepare the way of the Lord—not with glitter, but with stillness.

“Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!” (Mark 1:3, NASB)

This fast is not about punishment. It is about preparation. It is about clearing space in our lives to receive the Christ who comes.