David Petrash: How a Random Church Encounter Led to Complete Spiritual Surrender

David Petrash: How a Random Church Encounter Led to Complete Spiritual Surrender

David Alan Petrash is a submariner, pastor, businessman, and water-treatment professional whose life bridges faith, service, and leadership. He served eight years aboard U.S. Navy nuclear submarines as a nuclear engineer before embarking on a distinguished career in industrial water treatment, where he became a Certified Water Technologist and award-winning corporate trainer with Nalco Water, Solenis, and Siemens. Alongside his technical career, David spent more than three decades as Senior Pastor of Grace Point Vineyard Church in Wolfeboro, NH and Connections Vineyard Church in Tucson, AZ, where he delivered hundreds of sermons that blend scriptural depth with everyday wisdom. Today, David and his wife, Trina, co-own City Wide Facility Solutions of Southern Arizona, a multimillion-dollar enterprise serving regional businesses. Drawing from his unique background - from submarine hulls to the pulpit and the boardroom - David writes with both authority and compassion, inspiring readers to live with faith, courage, and purpose. rippleoffaith.com [http://rippleoffaith.com/]

Paul Granger: Why We Must Stop Equating Exhausting Productivity With God's Faithfulness

Through full-time volunteer ministry, Paul commits to cultivating authentic, accessible space to process the difficult questions of life, through content, conversation and community. While he is honest about his personal faith, he seeks to be available regardless of ones beliefs, knowing the value and importance of connection even when minds do not change He has spent the last two decades serving with various ministries, like YWAM River City. He's a content-creator, through his podcast "Where did you see God", 24+ books, and an array of videos. A husband and father of three, he believes each day presents opportunities to "love God and love others", at home, locally, and globally. Visit: wheredidyouseegod.com [http://wheredidyouseegod.com/]

Karen Prior: Using a Sand Hourglass to Disconnect in a Crazy Modern World

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is the 2025-26 Karlson Scholar at Bethel Seminary. She is a reader, writer, and speaker., she is the author of You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful (Brazos 2025); The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Brazos 2023); On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos 2018); Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson 2014); and Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press 2012). She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan 2019) and has contributed to numerous other books. She is a contributing writer at The Dispatch and has a monthly column for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, and various other places. She hosted the podcast Jane and Jesus. She is a research fellow at Comment and a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum. She and her husband live on a 100-year-old homestead in central Virginia with dogs, chickens, and lots of books. karenswallowprior.com [http://karenswallowprior.com/]

Loni McGackin: Making a Wild Phone Call to a Prison Just to Step Out on Faith

Born and raised on St. Croix, Virgin Islands 🇻🇮 Mom to one amazing son, Elijah, who is now 20 and learning how to be an auto mechanic Masters degree in holistic nutrition Certified personal trainer for ten years Now working as a nationally registered EMT in Seattle, WA I gave my life to Jesus in the fall of 2022 in a small country town of Louisiana where I was living at the time. It happened spontaneously and organically while getting ready for the day. But God had been knocking on my door for a looooong time before that. I finally answered His call and God has turned my world upside down in the best ways. This part below is not part of my bio but just a little more backstory for your information. After I gave my life to Jesus, I immediately stopped practicing and teaching yoga. I threw away all books, clothing, items associated with yoga and new age practices. God cleaned up my language and I stopped swearing like a sailor. I started reading the Bible and found an amazing church where I got baptized in March 2023. In July 2024, I drove cross country by myself to Washington state to follow the Lord’s command and pursue women’s ministry. On day two of my new life in WA, God showed me three times that He wanted me to volunteer at a women’s prison. From there, things happened quickly and I started as a volunteer with Prison Fellowship, a Christian organization dedicated to sharing the gospel with the incarcerated and helping their families. Life sure was a roller coaster the first year and a half here in WA, and I started to question if I had heard God incorrectly. I lost my job, housing, had very little money, and was all alone. But God provided for me every step of the way and just when I was about to give in and give up to my doubts and fears (my mom suggested I move back home to St. Croix for a bit), God stepped in to show that He wanted me to stay here in WA and changed all of my circumstances swiftly. I found a wonderful job at a private ambulance company in Seattle and have been working there since July, sharing the gospel and praying with patients and coworkers. I moved into a temporary home with a lovely couple until I could get back on feet and then earned enough money to find my own place in Seattle. God has been too gracious; He is far better to me than I deserve. And now, I have the opportunity to share to a wider audience all the amazing things He has done and continues to do. And it’s all because of who God is, His goodness and love.

Heather Justice: Why Setting Boundaries Does Not Make You a Mean Person

Heather is a published author, speaker, Host of Between the Now and the Next Podcast, and survivor of abuse. She is passionate about encouraging women to set healthy, Godly boundaries and ushering them into understanding and owning their identity in Christ! She wants all women to know that they are loved and highly favored by our Heavenly Father! She resides in Florida with her two "dog"ters Zoey and Gia.You can connect with her on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/heathernjustice/], TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@heathernjustice]. and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/hnjustice]. You can watch her podcast, Between the Now and the Next on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hnjustice] and you may purchase her book on Amazon [https://amzn.to/4czCJAE].