We are two ordinary people that have a passion for Jesus and a passion for people. We love showing people how to exchange their old life for something amazing, life-giving, eternal, fresh and new. We want to encourage Christians to have that same passion. Since the gift of “evangelism” runs through our core, we want to help equip you with the tools you need to share the gospel with confidence. And that is why we have our podcast, Give ’em Heaven. We publish every Tuesday and each episode is full of encouragement and tools for Christians to be faithful at sharing their hope with those God puts along their path.
SCOTT has over 30 years of ministry experience. He is a gifted speaker, church planter, equipper and trainer. Over the years he has trained many pastors and ministry leaders. Scott’s real passion is evangelism. Seeing people profess Jesus as Lord is at the heart of all he does. Scott has started multiple successful businesses and loves coaching business leaders to be their very best. He loves sports and officiates both high school and college sports. He is innovative, creative and has outstanding interpersonal and relationship building skills. In his off time he loves fly fishing and bow hunting in the mountains of Colorado.
TINA is a mother of 4 adult children. She has been involved in children’s ministry and authored the children’s curriculum for the Big Red Bus and Camp Big Red. As a pastors wife she was involved in women’s ministry and initiated “Coffee Cup Counseling” at her coffee shop. She is currently working on her masters in Biblical counseling. She is certified as a peer counselor and a mental health coach. Tina is the producer/editor and the creative force behind the Give ’em Heaven podcast. In her free time she loves anything outdoors: hiking, biking, paddleboard, or just napping in her hammock.
Listen to the full podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Give 'em Heaven with Scott and Tina, Episode 44
Nate shares how he met Jesus.
I realized that doing it my way wasn't working, there was something missing. Jesus was the right way, there is no other way!" And now I look at other people and ask them, "Why not?" Why wouldn't you want to follow Jesus?
Nate's life is a great testimony to those around him. He was a D1 Quarterback, he has a great job, a beautiful girlfriend, and he loves life. He says that as he meets people and they find out that he is a Christian – they are amazed. Actually they begin to question, "Why does Nate follow Jesus?" "Maybe there is something real about this God." And then they begin asking questions.
Nate explains that he likes to "poke around", he likes to drop some Jesus sayings and see if anyone responds. He explains, "That power is in God’s hands, I just give them some tools, if they are interested I’ll offer – I like to do the soft approach with sharing the gospel. I use this same approach in sales."
To hear more of Nate's story, you can find the Give 'em Heaven with Scott and Tina podcast on your favorite podcast platform, from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart radio, and others.
Or visit our website: giveemheaven.life
Nate's goal and dream was to play college football for a D1 school. Nate knew his talent wasn't good enough for D1 but he also knew that hard work pays off. He walked on at Indiana, with no scholarship, no nothing. In 2012 he red shirted his first year and the next year he got that full scholarship. His dream came true.
The football team had a chaplain that went to every game, every practice. Nate grew up Catholic which he describes as being very religious, but this Chaplain was Christian. The chaplain taught the athletes how God's word can help you live your life, and teaches you to be an honorable man.
But Nate's football injury ended after a career injury.
We asked Nate to define success for himself. He described it as: to pursue Jesus for the rest of my life, and my future kids are Christians, their kids are Christians, and there is a lot of good fruit that is surrounded by me – and I stuck with God through it all, the hard times and easy times. I was able to laugh along the way.
Let Nate's testimony encourage you on your journey!!
As you listen to the interview with Nate – you will see his "God journey". He learned basic Bible stories as a kid. So he was familiar with God. His football coach was a Christian and the coach had a chaplain travel with the team. The chaplain taught them how to apply the Bible to life. He answered questions for them. The chaplain demonstrated God's love by having the football boys over for dinner and opening up their home.
Later, after a serious injury, while Nate was in the hospital, the God of the Bible spoke to him. At that point Nate believed. After that- during a phone call with a friend- Nate said a few words that pointed the friend to the possibility that Nate was a Christian -born again! That friend invited Nate to dinner where he gave him a Bible and answered any of Nate's questions. Nate was born again!
Does his story sound familiar? In the Bible the apostle Paul talks about one day on the road he saw a great light, he fell to the ground blinded. At that moment God spoke to him. He went home to recover and a man came to Paul and answered all of his questions. Paul was born again!
Think about your life – if you are loving others like Jesus, then you may be a part of the journey of many people leading them to Christ and you may not even know it.
Keep shining! God is working!!
Nate says that his quarter life crisis was actually the reality that his quarter life might be over. In the hospital room he began questioning, "What was the purpose of life?" It was there that God reached out and asked him, "Do you believe? Do you believe?" During this interview we asked Nate, "Why did you choose to follow Jesus?" Nate responded with conviction, "I wish I could say that I chose to follow him, but honestly, I really think He picked me. He chose me, He gave me the opportunity [to be a part of His family]. Yeah, I have free will, but it was in my heart, it felt right. I realized that doing it my way wasn't working, there was something missing. Jesus was the right way, there is no other way!" And now I look at other people and ask them, "Why not?" Why wouldn't you want to follow Jesus?
As you listen to Nate's story through his college football career and up to today, let some of his story soak in. Listen for the people in his life that introduced him to Jesus. Who were the instrumental players? Challenge yourself with the question, "I am influencing others in my life?" Listen to the fun ways Nate ministers to people today. And ask yourself, "How can I use Nate's story to encourage my life's journey?"
Sometimes, sharing our faith with those around us seems intimidating – but most of the time all it takes is to live our lives out loud, let people see Jesus through your life and be available to mentor and speak life into others lives.
Learn more and ask questions on our website: giveemheaven.life
Christians and their worldview are treated with increasing intolerance. Please comment below with some words of encouragement for these young people – and for all young people .
We will copy your comments and send them to Lilly, Taylor and Caleb. 😍
This was a chaotic episode because we interviewed 3 siblings in their early teens. You will hear a lot of bings, bangs, breathing, and some whistles – we teased them for being ADHD!!
We reviewed the foundations of their faith: basic things like who is God, what is sin, who is Jesus, and how do you get to heaven. Their answers were solid; kudos to their parents who gave them their firm foundation.
But as the discussion continued you can hear the challenge of being a Christian in today’s world and hopefully your heart will be broken for teenagers all over the world who are being attacked viciously by the enemy of God.
We want to challenge you to engage with the young people around you. Talk with them, listen to them, and share your hope in Christ with them.
Taylor and her sister both talked about the pull that social media had on their minds. They shared that the expectations social media had on them was hard to follow. They felt like it was hard to keep up – the right make up, the right look, the right way to walk, to talk, to be . . . .
"The older generation, even those who aren't Christian, have more of a Christianized worldview because of the significant past influence of Christianity. Today's younger generations do not have such a worldview because their thinking has been secularized through education and culture." p. 18 from the book, The Great Reset, by Ken Ham.
We want to challenge – to be salt and light in this post Christian culture. Don't shrink back inside the comfort of the 4 walls of your church building. Engage with those outside – and pray for our young people.
Lilly expressed during the interview on Podcast Episode 43 that most of her friends don’t believe in God. Even a few of her friends who once said they believed now say they no longer believe. She was very open about her feelings and stated that at times she feels it would just be easier to follow the crowd.
It is satan’s game plan to seek ultimate revenge. He wants to do whatever he can to destroy God’s goodness. It is his plan to twist our young people’s thoughts. He seems to be doing a good job at it too.
Our culture is shifting. No longer are we considered a Christian nation. Young people are being persuaded to believe that there are many gods and they challenge the fact that Christians say there is only One True God.
Every influence in our young peoples lives is anti-God.
So Scott and I want to challenge you to reach out to the youth in your life and encourage them. Cheer them on. Let them hear your testimony – tell them why you chose to follow Jesus.
Hang on tight! This was a chaotic episode because we interviewed 3 siblings in their early teens. You will hear a lot of bings, bangs, breathing, and some whistles – we teased them for being ADHD!!
We reviewed the foundations of their faith: basic things like who is God, what is sin, who is Jesus, and how do you get to heaven. Their answers were solid; kudos to their parents who gave them their firm foundation.
But as the discussion continued you can hear the challenge of being a Christian in today’s world and hopefully your heart will be broken for teenagers all over the world who are being attacked viciously by the enemy of God.
During wartime the missionaries were told that they had two day to leave the country. After that their safety would be at risk. So they left, leaving behind the work that they had started. Since then the country has been closed to Americans.
Now Adam's team has an open window. They can return to the country. But this time their strategy will change. They will equip the pastors with the tools they need to minister in their villages. And then Adam's team will leave. This time they will leave behind something sustainable.
We can apply this strategy to the people we meet. There may be times that you meet someone for one moment, a passing in time. Will you be able to leave them with a message that can give them life? Something sustainable?
#giveemheaven #evangelism #gospelmessage #shareyourhope #exchangeministries
If you are in the area, come play some golf at the LOZ Golf Lounge in Osage Beach, MO. This is Adam's business and a portion of the profits benefit the training and equipping of pastors in West Africa.
Adam also hosts several golf tournaments, these proceeds also support the teaching of pastors in West Africa.
You can listen to Adam's story in Episode 39 of the Give 'em Heaven podcast.
#giveemheaven #evangelism #gospelmessage #shareyourhope #exchangeministries
Our conversation this week is with Adam Demark, founder of Equip2Serve. His mission is in West Africa, teaching and training local pastors how to read and understand the Bible. They then will be equipped to pass their training along to others in their villages.
Sadly, many in America have access to a Bible but they never open it or read it. The excuse is that it is too hard to understand. It doesn't make sense to me or it doesn't apply to my life.
First, we as Christ followers need to be reading our Bible daily and then encouraging others to read their Bible and then look for opportunities to talk about what you read.
An easy way to approach this is after a conversation with someone you may say, "I want to text you a passage of scripture that may help you in this instance. Will you read it? And then next week let's get together and talk about it."
Simple, easy way to help others learn how to read the Bible and understand how it applies to their life. 😉
Romans 15:20 has been Adam Demark's life verse. His heart is in West Africa where there are many who have not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Similarly to Africa, many in the US have not heard the gospel message either. Although we have every opportunity to hear it through media and free access to weekly church meetings. However, Christianity or religion has turned away many people.
Why is that? Could it be that people are not seeing "authentic believers in Jesus Christ?" Maybe they just see people who claim to be "Christian".
We want to challenge you to be the messenger of the Gospel in your work environment. First, extend the love of Christ freely. Let your light shine among all the people that are in your "space". Most of the time the people that you work with are not Jesus followers. They, like the West Africans, may have never heard the Gospel Message.
Pray and ask God to give you the courage to be His messenger.
#giveemheaven #evangelism #gospelmessage #shareyourhope #exchangeministries
Our conversation this week is with Adam Demark. Adam is a teacher at Ethnos 360 training center as well as the founder of Equip2Serve. Equip2Serve teaches local pastors in West Africa. Adam spent his formative years living in the war-ravaged countryside of Liberia. He always knew that he would return to Africa in some way. He has a passion to help equip the local pastors to be effective ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their community.
equip2serve.com
#giveemheaven #evangelism #gospelmessage #shareyourhope #exchangeministries
In Podcast E38, Chris mentions over and over the phrase "to lead well". He explains that he tries to learn 3-5 things about the people he is leading. This could be anything outside of work or school. Maybe some personal "fun" things. Or family things. He suggests, "how can a person lead well if they don't know the people that they are leading?" We can use this advice in our life as well, how well do you know the people around you? Your neighbors? Your co-workers? The people who sit next to you in church? If we make an effort to know the people that are around us then this may open up the opportunity to "lead them to Christ".
Great advice Chris!!! We as Christians need to do better at "owning our mistakes!" This is a great picture to the world that we are not perfect!! We, as Christians, mess up just like everyone else. But the amazing part of being a Christian is that God forgives our sins, He picks us up, brushes the dirt off our knees and cheers us on!
Chris Byington is a Dean of Students at Camdenton High School. The question we wanted to know is how can you share the hope of Christ in a secular environment? Chris' encouragement is solid. We can all challenge ourselves with the idea: do we live our lives in a consistent way? Do our morals and values line up with the Bible on a daily basis? Are we the same person on Sunday, at home, and at work? By following this simple advice we can effectively shine the light of Christ in a dark world.
Listen to more in our podcast episode 38.
#giveemheaven #evangelism #gospelmessage #shareyourhope #exchangeministries #camdentonhighschool
Enjoy Episode 38, our interview with Chris Byington, Dean of Students at Camdenton High School. He shares how he lives an authentic life in a public school. He gives a lot of examples and advice that we all can follow in our daily lives.