The WoodsEdge Podcast

LIFE LESSONS 04: I Gave God One Year

In this episode of the WoodsEdge Podcast, Dave Ray sits down with Student & Young Adult Pastor Justin Kessler for an honest conversation about growing up around the church without really knowing God, a years-long battle with substance abuse, and what it looks like when someone finally says yes to Jesus — and means it.

LIFE LESSONS 03: Lord, What Are You Trying to Do in Me?

In this episode of the WoodsEdge Podcast, Dave Ray sits down with longtime WoodsEdge member Sunbo Eze for an honest conversation about growing up in a family of mixed faith, her son's difficult diagnosis, and what it really means to trust God when life doesn't go the way you planned.

LIFE LESSONS 02: The Two Things I Said I'd Never Do

In this episode of the WoodsEdge Podcast, Dave Ray sits down with WoodsEdge elder and guest preacher DeLeon Bennett for a conversation about calling, trust, and the cost of following God into the unknown. DeLeon opens up about growing up in church while missing the main thing, a reluctant call into preaching, and what it looked like to obey God through years of uncertainty in business and life.

LIFE LESSONS 01: What's Stealing Your Joy?

In this episode of the WoodsEdge Podcast, Dave Ray sits down with Rob Renfroe — retired pastor and beloved guest preacher — for an honest and life-giving conversation about joy. Together, they unpack what Rob calls the "joy stealers" — bitterness, busyness, guilt, negativity, and worry — and why worry tends to top the list for most people in every season of life. But this conversation doesn't stop at what robs us. It goes deeper into what restores us, and why joy is less a feeling to chase and more a series of decisions to make. Resources: The Joy Stealers - https://a.co/d/0hNqVA2d

THE HARD STUFF 05: Anxiety, Depression, and the Christian Life

In this episode of the WoodsEdge Podcast, Pastor Jeff Wells joins Dave Ray and Dr. Paul Looney to have an honest conversation about mental health and the Christian life. Together, they explore the realities of anxiety, depression, and emotional struggle, and how the church can become a place where brokenness is met with compassion instead of shame. Through biblical truth and clinical insight, the conversation highlights how God often meets us in our weakness, why vulnerability matters in the body of Christ, and what practical steps believers can take toward healing and hope. This episode reminds us that even in seasons of deep struggle, God is present and faithfully at work in our lives.