S13 Ep 1 | I Love People, Pastoring, Training, Understanding : Ralph Warren Season 13 launches with the warm, grandfatherly advice of Pastor Ralph Warren as he and host Dr. Matt Davis examine life transitions and practical ways parents can prepare their children. As a history buff, Pastor Warren briefly sketches highlights from six generations of his lineage. The conversation includes analysis of his multicultural church—its development, the quest for the “common good,” the biggest detriment, and strategies for grooming a spiritually mature congregation. The episode concludes with actionable steps and diagnostic questions to help young people discern God’s will. About our guest Ralph Warren, pastor of Lake County Baptist Church in Waukegan, Illinois, and our 2026 Spring Opening Meetings speaker, is passionate about learning. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he pursued degrees in laboratory medicine. Surrendering to be a pastor, he began studies in pastoral theology and earned master’s degrees in education and exegetical theology. He enjoys training young people in his church’s Christian school and in Bible colleges abroad. He and his wife, Tiffany, have two grown children.

“History is a wonderful learning tool,” claims Katie Schmoeckel, associate history professor at Maranatha. Justifying history as a required subject, she links it with “dark sayings of old” in Psalm 78’s admonition to rehearse God’s works so that future generations might trust and obey Him. She desires students to be able to evaluate life through a scriptural framework, develop and apply discernment, and successfully articulate a biblical worldview for others. “It’s a life skill,” she says, and history is a testing ground. Katie and host Dr. Matt Davis examine how worldview has shaped the past. Dr. Davis highlights the disturbing percentage of evangelical teens unable to identify differences between their worldview and those of secular peers, emphasizing the vital role of institutions like Maranatha. They conclude by reflecting on the lasting influence of mentors.

Dr. David Handyside, former dean of Maranatha’s School of Education, returns to the podcast share how the Lord directed his life’s work through progressive stages—from youth Bible camp to Christian college to a long career in education. As his story develops, it intersects in Illinois with the life of host Dr. Matt Davis, creating points at which their perspectives naturally blend. Dr. Handyside reflects on the privilege of teaching Sunday school, starting with a small group of Hmong people, which eventually grew into a vibrant international class of nearly 60. He also recounts how, even in retirement and despite his initial reluctance, the Lord led him to accept a post on the Watertown School Board where, as Dr. Davis notes, he can be “a redeeming influence in our community.”

Though he has not formulated a mission statement, guest Jon Crocker claims his would emphasize a guiding biblical theme: the centrality of Christ in everything. He and host Dr. Matt Davis trace that theme through Christ’s charge to Ananias in Acts 9, a preaching-assignment text which continues to resonate with Jon. The conversation then turns to the suffering linked to ministry and the inevitable conflict between the gospel’s nature and the world. Jon describes how Satan’s tactics differ regionally—sometimes blatant, sometimes covert. He briefly identifies “hot spots” where the gospel is visibly advancing, while stressing that Christ is building His church even when not clearly seen. The episode concludes with evaluation of mission models and a reminder that missions is a universal commission, not merely an American endeavor.

“You use it everywhere … It’s at the heart of what it means to disciple,” claims guest Ben Coronado, lauding the relevance of Maranatha’s biblical counseling studies. The program was an interlude in his MDiv studies and is now the focus of his doctoral pursuit. Ben explains the practical integration of his life mission into his daily routine. After recounting his pastoral call, the dialogue shifts into a broader reflection on today’s unwillingness to promote vocational ministry among young men. In retrospect, Ben identifies ministry skills he acquired as student body president and from extension opportunities. Then, host Dr. Matt Davis contrasts Ben’s internship at Shalom Ministries with the growing trend of antisemitism among professed Christians, attributing the trend to misguided theology.

Maranatha’s Baseball Coach Jodi Faithfull joins the podcast in a lively discussion of how the Lord used talents, desires, and passions to guide him to his current position. Growing up in Canada, where hockey dominated sports, he desired to be a strength and conditioning coach in the NHL. An internship at a state university and experience in various organizations allowed him to see that the demanding schedule of such work was not conducive to supporting a strong family life. He and host Dr. Matt Davis examine aspects of the job as a strength and conditioning trainer, the influence coaches can have with athletes, and ways to broaden that influence from mere physical development to spiritual cultivation. They also delve into Coach Faithfull’s bioethics course and how we should respond to escalating incivility in our society.

“If we step back and take a look at the big picture of what God is doing,” if we see God’s hand in circumstances and recognize that “this is what God is asking us to experience,” we can “serve the Lord with gladness,” Pastor Dwayne Morris contends in this podcast episode. He then charts God’s hand in a riding accident, in serious medical conditions his children experienced, and in a tragedy, noting that the Lord may be asking through these trials, “Do you trust Me? I’m trying to both conform you and let you experience a little bit of My glory.” He and host Dr. Matt Davis examine how we irreverently question God when we feel we suffer unjustly, and they discuss Pastor Morris’ newest ministry helping those with addictions, roughly 80 percent of whom are “self-medicating for a trauma they haven’t been able to process.”

In this candid episode, Camp Program Director Craig Lawson and host Dr. Matt Davis discuss in depth the qualities of an effective mission statement. Assigned to write a mission statement while in college, Craig prepared a short-sighted, vocationally specific version. He and Dr. Davis agree that the best statements offer flexibility for varied applications but must “still provide enough guidance … to make prioritized decisions.” Craig’s improved edition hinges on the word “participate,” which launches them into a discussion of the freedom such a stance provides, the liberating relief of leaving results to the Lord while also acknowledging the responsibility of every believer to participate in some aspect of ministry. In the final analysis, Craig advises college students to prioritize church involvement during college and in future job searches.

The expression “famous last words” applies to guest Emily Haynes. “One day you will be dean of women,” an associate dorm supervisor once playfully predicted. Emily adamantly replied, “Absolutely not!” Yet the Lord steadily guided her from teaching piano into the conjectured dean of women position. She and host Dr. Matt Davis review that process. Joining the Student Life Office as a dorm supervisor in 2010, she learned the one surprising rule—every day you must laugh. Emily enjoys her work, which mainly entails counseling and discipleship, though it includes a modicum of discipline too. She explains varied aspects of the dual mentorship role of working with students and dorm supervisors. Naturally, she partners with parents as well, assuring them of attentive student care. Maranatha’s supportive environment “ought to be pretty reassuring to parents,” Dr. Davis observes, “once you describe all the different things we have in place to help their students thrive.” Now a 15-year veteran, Emily insists, “The rule still applies; there is laughter every day.”

Athletics as ministry offers a great “classroom” with many teachable moments, as you will hear in this episode with guest Phil Price, MBU faculty member and assistant basketball coach. He claims to have had a “front-row seat,” spending all but seven years of his life on a Christian campus. Growing up shadowing his coaching father and later playing in multiple sports, he treasures having been mentored by Godly men. Among various topics, he and host Dr. Matt Davis review his sports involvement, the “relationship of math as a discipline and the concept of truth as a reality,” lessons of grace learned from a bicuspid aortic valve, and transition to the role of “old guy” and mentor to a younger generation.