July 30, 2025 • 29 mins
What does it mean to truly hear God's voice in today's noisy world? Jonnie T, host of Refuge Freedom Stories podcast and author on Substack, brings an authentic perspective to this question that will resonate with both spiritual seekers and long-time believers.
From his early encounters with faith at age 19 to falling away and finding his way back, Jonnie's winding spiritual journey offers powerful insights about divine persistence. "God was kind of taking the scales off my eyes," he explains, describing the moment in a bar when he suddenly realized, "I don't really belong here." This pivotal realization started him on a path that would eventually lead to podcasting, writing, and street ministry.
Jonnie demystifies the often misunderstood concept of "hearing God's voice," describing it not as dramatic audible conversations but as something more subtle—an impression, a Scripture passage suddenly becoming alive, or an unexplainable urge to pray for a stranger. His practical approach emphasizes immediate obedience: "If you feel like God is pressing you to go and pray for somebody, you got to act on that immediately, because then the enemy doesn't have time to come in and put those doubts in your head."
His everyday evangelism offers a refreshing template for faith-sharing that doesn't feel forced or awkward. When service representatives call him for technical support, he asks two disarming questions: "Do you listen to podcasts?" and "Is there anything I can pray for you about?" The responses have been surprisingly open. He suggests a subtle but significant shift in language—asking to pray "with" someone rather than "for" them—creating a collaborative spiritual moment rather than a hierarchical one.
Ready to tune your spiritual ears to a divine frequency? Jonnie's story reminds us that God speaks in whispers, impressions, and unexpected encounters—we just need to learn how to listen. As he powerfully states, "The moment that we speak to God, God already puts things into motion to minister to you." The conversation awaits.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone and thank you again for joining me
on another episode of theDorsios Show Today.
On our episode we have Ronnie T, who is incredibly passionate
about Jesus.
He is a speaker, trainer andbudding author, host and
(00:21):
producer of the Refuge FreedomStories podcast and author Glory
to Glory on Substack.
Johnny, thank you so much forcoming on the show today.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Dorsey, it's great to be here with you and thank you
so much for previously being aguest on Refuge Freedom Stories.
I really enjoyed ourconversation.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yes, definitely, I enjoyed that as well.
Can you introduce my audienceas someone else introducing you?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Sure, I'd like to introduce you to Johnny T.
As Dorsey said, he hosts andproduced Refuge Freedom Stories
podcast.
He's also branching out toco-host a new podcast called the
Exchange Life and is a buddingauthor on Substack from Glory to
Glory and working on a fewbooks.
Devotional, hopefully, willcome out later this year.
(01:17):
Essentially, Johnny is a manwho loves God deeply and is very
thankful and blessed to walkthis life with Jesus and
ultimately I just want to livefor the world, to see nobody but
Jesus in him.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Amen.
What's the story behind thename of the podcast that you
host?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, so back in 2020 , a friend of mine, reverend
Alan Campbell.
He runs a ministry calledRefuge Ministries Canada, and
Refuge Ministries Canada wasbirthed out of Alan's own
experience.
He ended up in penitentiary dueto life on the streets and the
things that he was involved in,and when he was in there, some
(02:05):
Salvation Army guys came in andministered the gospel to him and
he gave his heart to the Lord.
And the Lord spoke to his heartand said Are you tired of
living your life this way?
And he said yes, and so when hegot out of prison, he was asked
by a youth detention center togo and share his story in one of
the western provinces in Canada, in Alberta.
(02:26):
And when he was there, heministered and a young man who
was 12 years old came up to himand said well, my heroes are
Charles Manson and JeffreyDahmer.
And he said, oh well, my herois Jesus.
And this young man gave hisheart to the Lord.
But when Alan was flying backto Ontario, he realized there
was nobody to mentor that youngman, and so he started Refuge
(02:48):
Ministries Canada, and that wasover 25 years ago, and so they
were the first point of contactfor young offenders and others
that get out of prison to helpthem get a place of their own
for six months, you know, tobreak that cycle with other
people, and they get Bibleteaching and they get mentorship
and help them find work, and soon and so on.
(03:10):
And in 2020, he called me up andhe said hey, johnny, I just
read a survey that said that 77%of Canadians believe in
miracles.
I said, well, that's great, Ibelieve in miracles too.
And he says yeah, we've seen alot of miracles through the
ministry over the years and Iwant to do a radio program.
And I said, well, that's great.
I said what do you want me todo?
And he said, well, do you wantto help?
I said, sure.
(03:31):
So I said I can help you withthe technical side of things and
being kind of a geeky,computerish guy.
And I said but you're going tohave to find a radio show host
because I don't have that kindof voice.
And then the next day or the dayafter, another guy called him
up and said hey, I really likewhat your ministry is doing.
Is there anything you need?
And Alan said yeah, I need aradio show host.
(03:51):
And so we started our half hourradio show and it's been on
stations across Canada since2020.
And a couple of months after westarted the show, someone came
up to me and said do you guyshave a podcast?
And I had this big light bulbmoment over my head and I said,
no, but we're going to.
And I knew nothing aboutpodcasting whatsoever absolutely
(04:14):
zero.
And so God took me on thiswhole journey of launching the
program into a podcast and we'vebeen going ever since.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
What type of people do you interview on your show?
As you said, you interviewed meon your show.
What are the other types ofinterviews and stories that you
talk about on your show?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, so we've interviewed everybody, from
addicts and people who areaddicted to drugs, alcohol,
pornography, different thingslike that.
We've interviewed a lot ofveterans I have a very special
place in my heart for veteransand we've interviewed musicians.
We interviewed a lady that cameout of human trafficking.
(04:59):
We interviewed a major leaguebaseball manager that won the
World Series Major LeagueBaseball manager that won the
World Series.
We've interviewed a man whomade $100 million by the time he
was 31.
It's a wide range of people.
There's no particular type ofperson that we're looking for to
be interviewed.
What we are looking for ispeople whose lives have been
(05:21):
changed by the power of God, andI think the wide variety of
guests that we have on thepodcast just expresses that to
the world, because God is sobroad in his love for each of us
and yet he created usindividually, so we each have
our own personal journey towardshim, and the ways that he
ministers to people's lives isjust incredible, because the way
(05:45):
God would speak to you could bemuch different from the way
that he speaks to me, and itcould be different from the way
he speaks to somebody else, andso it's just so interesting to
hear how he has spoken to allthese people and it just shows
the vastness of his character,his love for us of his character
, his love for us.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I've just gotten introduced to Substack and just
started knowing a little bitabout it.
What is your book about?
Glory to Glory, on Substack.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
So from Glory to Glory is a Substack of articles
and notes and the podcast isalso posted there.
You can post podcasts on substack as well and basically, you
know, as I do my devotionsevery day with the lord and
things like that, he, I believethat he reveals things to me,
(06:39):
not, you know, any kind ofspecial way, but just things
that kind of speak to my heartand, and so I felt a burden to
share that, and so that's whatI've been doing for the last
year and a half or so ispublishing these articles.
When I read something and itspeaks to my heart, I think,
well, god probably wants tospeak to somebody else's heart
with this same kind of message.
So that's essentially what itis is a collection of those
(07:02):
articles and short notes and,again, as I said, the podcast as
well.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And so they're all on Substack and you could find
them under.
From Glory to Glory Tell meabout your life growing up and
your story.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, so I grew up in a home that ended up in divorce
.
My parents split up when I wasyoung and you know that had
anybody that goes through that,that has an impact on how they
perceive the world and thethings going on around them, and
so on and so on, and so I grewup in some level of poverty.
(07:41):
You know, with my mom and mybrother, and when I was 19, I
was going to a church and thepastor preached a message and I
just believed that I needed togo forward and ask Jesus into my
heart.
So I did that and I just feltthis sense of joy, this sense of
(08:02):
I had a smile on my face thatyou couldn't wipe off for three
hours, just like a Cheshire cat.
A big grin on my face, and sothat was a real starting point
for me.
And then, you know, sometimeafter that, uh, some issues came
up and I kind of fell away fromthe Lord.
The Bible talks about the seedfalling in different types of
(08:22):
ground, and I think in my case Ijust didn't have enough of a
good root in the Lord to keep meplanted there, and so I kind of
wandered for a little while andthen in my middle I met my wife
my now wife and she had justbecome a Christian and my own
spirit recognized that joy andthat peace in her that
(08:45):
ultimately I was looking for.
You know, we all look for Godin different ways before we know
him, and people get involved ina whole bunch of different
things, and so that was my case,but I do remember that God was
drawing me just before we metand I remember, you know, going
to the bar and looking aroundand thinking to myself what am I
doing here, Like I don't reallybelong here, this is not what I
(09:08):
should be doing with my life.
So God was kind of taking thescales off my eyes.
And I'm the one who met her.
It was just, you know, reallyprominent to me that I need to
give my heart back to the Lord.
So I did that, and so since thatpoint, you know like life has
its own burdens and strugglesand challenges that we all face,
but through all those things,Jesus has always been faithful
(09:30):
to reveal himself to me in waysthat I can understand him and to
help me to draw closer to him.
So now I'm super passionateabout hearing his voice.
I'm really trying to plug intotuning my ears to the frequency
of his voice, just like youwould tune into a radio station
or something like that, becausethat's so important.
(09:51):
It's all about thatrelationship with him and that's
what changes us from day to day.
It's not we can't do it in ourown strength, but as we align
ourselves with him and we lethim live his life through us.
That's when we're going to seechange in ourselves and those
around us.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
You know, you mentioned about you know hearing
the voice of God, and what doesthat look like to you?
What does you know?
How do you view that?
When you, when you hear thevoice of God, what does that
sound like to you?
What does he speak to you about?
You know when he does speak toyou.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah.
Well, there's times where, likeI said about the Substack
articles, like when I'm readingin the Bible and something just
becomes alive to me, if you wantto look at it that way
Something just kind of jumps offthe page and I go, wow, there's
something there and I need todig into that.
That's one way that God wouldspeak to me and through his word
(10:48):
.
And anytime that we believethat God is speaking to us, we
need to go back to the word,because the word never changes
and that's the truth.
There are other times when it'salmost like an impression, it's
like a real need or a realsomething that has to be done
right then and there.
For example, I was in mydevotions the other day and I
(11:09):
read a passage of scripture thatI'd read many, many times
before and yet something jumpedout at me and immediately I knew
that I had to write it down andpost an article about it,
because it was something thatwas speaking to me and I thought
somebody else needs to hearthis.
So I try to be obedient to whenI get those promptings.
Or sometimes it might be thatyou're in a mall or you're
(11:31):
somewhere and you just feel likea need to see somebody and say
I've got to go pray for thatperson or I've got to go talk to
that person about God.
So it's not like an audiblevoice.
Those are rare.
We're not all Saul's, we're notall on the road to Damascus type
of thing, but God definitelydoes speak to us.
It could be through anotherperson, it could be through his
(11:54):
word, it could be through like asense or a presence, just those
kinds of things.
Even sometimes when you'relistening to Christian music,
there's times where you justsense God's presence.
So I think for me that's kindof things.
Even sometimes when you'relistening to Christian music,
there's times where you justsense God's presence.
I'm still learning that there'sa great book and it's called
(12:15):
hey, it's Me God.
Are you there?
It's Me God.
By Dr David Chodka.
If you want to read that book,it's awesome.
It gives you a realunderstanding of how to
fine-tune the ways that you hearthe voice of God.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I actually had Dr David Chodka on my show.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
He's a great guy.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, I had him on the podcast too.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, he's full of life and the Spirit for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah, I had him on twice now because I had to, you
know, cut the show into twopieces.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, he likes to talk.
Preachers like to talk, that'sfor sure he does.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
How did God you know when you were growing up and you
know going through everythingthat you went through how did
God change your life?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
God change your life?
Yeah, so I mean, as I mentioned, you know, when you, the world
has its ways of trying toconfuse people and to draw them
away from God by giving themsubstitutes, you know, and that
can be people or drugs, oralcohol or whatever it might be.
So you know, that was thetypical kind of lifestyle that
was going on around me andthat's essentially what I fell
back into.
(13:24):
And yet, when I gave my heartback to the Lord, like that seed
that was planted in my heartwhen I was 19, it was still
there.
And so as I kind of wanderedaimlessly for a few years and
found my way back to God, likehe planted that seed in better
ground and as it started to grow, things just drop off really
(13:45):
quickly.
You know, as I said, like Ialready knew that I shouldn't
really be in some of thoseplaces and doing some of those
things, and God just kind ofreinforced that.
So it was very easy.
A lot of those things droppedaway real quickly.
And then, as you or as I,started to grow more in the lord
, you know, I just started toreally embrace christianity as a
(14:08):
way of life and, you know,going to church more and going
out on the streets and preachingand singing and trying to reach
people and tell others aboutwhat god has done for my life.
And I remember one day at worka guy came up to me and I guess
that the change must have beenrecognizable or significant
enough, because he came up to meand he says hey, johnny, he
(14:29):
says what really happened to you?
And so I told him hey, this iswhat happened.
I, you know, gave my heart backto Lord and he's just helping
me, you know, make life betterand with a walk with him.
So that's kind of how it went.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
You mentioned earlier and you just mentioned it again
, about you know going out onthe streets and you know
speaking and preaching, and youknow, you know sometimes you're
in the mall and you know youfeel like, you know you want to
go and play for somebody in thatmall.
What is that experience like?
Because sometimes you know youwould think to yourself, well, I
(15:06):
don't want to do that, I'mafraid of you know what their
reaction is going to be.
I'm afraid of what the whatthey're going to say and think
of that nature.
What have the reactions be andhow have that you?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah.
So, and that's a great question, because just the other day,
when we were recording anepisode for the other podcast,
the Exchange Life, we weretalking about obedience and
that'll be coming out inprobably April sometime.
Obedience, when God is speakingto you and as I'm learning is
it has to be immediate.
So if you feel like God ispressing you to, let's say, go
and pray for somebody, you gotto act on that immediately,
(15:48):
because then the enemy doesn'thave time to come in and put
those doubts in your head andsay, well, is it really me, or
am I just trying to do that onmy own?
What's going to happen?
All those kind of lies that theenemy is trying to put in front
of us to stop us from followingGod.
So obedience has to beimmediate, and so, for example,
(16:10):
one day it was, we give outt-shirts for the podcast and I
believe you have one RefugeFreedom Story t-shirt, right,
and so I was wearing thatt-shirt and I was in a Home
Depot and I was going throughthe self-checkout, buying
whatever things I was buying,and one of the workers came up
to me and she said do you needany help?
(16:30):
And I said, no, I'm good.
And she said can I ask youabout your shirt?
And I said, sure, and I saidit's a podcast, I'm blessed to
host and produce it.
And she said what's it about?
Kind of like you asked me.
And I said, well, it's allabout how God's changed people's
lives.
And she said, well, that herdaughter had taken her own life
(16:56):
and that her and her husbandwere having a really hard time
dealing with that, obviously.
And so God brought me acrossthat lady's path to have the
opportunity to pray with her andjust tell her you know God
loves you, god sees that God ishere, type of thing.
And so there's been situationslike that.
(17:16):
Or, for example, when I'm on thephone talking to a service
representative of a companywhether it's like an internet
company for technical issues or,you know, maybe a service call
to whatever it might be I alwaysask people two questions.
The first one is do you listento podcasts?
And the reason I'm asking thatis so I can tell them about the
podcast as a tool that they canlearn about God.
(17:40):
And the second question I askthem is is there anything that I
can pray for you about?
And you would be surprised athow open people really are to
having that question asked ofthem, because everybody's on a
journey towards God.
Some will plug into Him andsome will choose to take a
different path away from God,but God draws everybody to Him
(18:05):
and so when we ask people if wecan pray for them, god allows us
to participate in ministeringto their heart, about their need
that they have personally.
And there's been sometremendous discussions with
people over the phone aboutpraying with them and they're
just touched.
And some people, even when youcall into a ministry for prayer
(18:28):
like a 700 Club or 100 HuntleyStreet or something like that
those people there that arespending their time ministering
to others in prayer they haveneeds too.
So when we call in and ask forprayer about a situation, I like
to ask them is there anythingthat we can pray for you about?
And some of those people saidyou know what?
Nobody's ever asked me thatquestion before, and I think
(18:50):
people are just waiting for Godto bring somebody across their
path that would take the timeout of their schedule to pray
for them and show them that Godreally does love them.
So I think it's important toact in obedience immediately and
if you get that prompting inyour heart and say you know what
that person looks like.
They're having a tough day.
I should go pray for them.
(19:11):
Go and pray for them.
Go and ask them if there'sanything that you can talk to
them with about God.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, and I'm part of a youth group.
You know leadership team at mychurch and we were talking about
, you know praying for otherpeople and you know one of the
leaders said that probably oneof the things if you ask
somebody can we pray for you,they probably will not,
regardless of religion.
(19:38):
You know what God they believein.
They probably will not say noto that prayer.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah, and I think too that you know it's not that we
should be perhaps saying can wepray for you?
It's more like can we pray withyou about something?
You know, because if we go andI've said it myself can I pray
for you.
But if we go to somebody and wesay, can I pray with you about
something, is there somethingyou'd like prayer with?
Because then it engages them inthe conversation.
(20:08):
It's not an us and them kind ofthing, and I think that's an
important aspect too.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
And it's not an us and them kind of thing.
And I think that's an importantaspect too.
And I may rephrase my questionas I ask that of people what
have been?
Speaker 2 (20:22):
your biggest success in your life?
Well, that's a subjectivequestion for sure.
You know the world measuressuccess in a lot of different
ways, and a lot of those waysdon't line up with biblical
principles.
I think the biggest successwould be family.
Another would be just beingpart of God's family too.
(20:45):
It's so important to me.
That's something else that I'vereally started to see more in
the last short while is that youknow the things the Bible says
the things of this world willpass away, right, you know our
love for the things of thisworld will pass away, and I just
(21:07):
feel like all that the worldhas to offer is fading very,
very quickly in my life and myheart and I'm becoming more
focused on just living a lifethat expresses God to the world,
and I think the two work inconjunction with each other,
because the more we seek himthen the less interest there is
(21:30):
in the things of the world andwhat the world puts as
priorities.
So I would say, if you want tocall that success, I would say
that that's one of the mostimportant things in my life.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
What have been some of the biggest besides what
you've been through in your lifewith accepting God and then
going you know, going out intothe world?
Besides that, what have beenyour biggest challenges in your
life and how did you overcomethat?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah.
So you know, as I talked abouthow I grew up, we grew up in
poverty.
My mom worked hard, you know,to try and make ends meet for us
, but we did without a lot, andso you know I'm blessed to have
worked.
You know, to try and make endsmeet for us, but we did without
a lot, and so you know I'mblessed to have worked, you know
, throughout my life and God hasalways been there to provide,
(22:21):
and I did feel a bigresponsibility on my shoulders
to work, and I'm very thankfulthat he made avenues and opened
doors for me to work.
So I appreciate that.
Challenges, you know, I thinkkind of letting go of the things
that the world tells me areimportant and becoming more in
tune with God can be a challengefor everybody and it has been
(22:44):
for me.
God is understanding and lovingand he works through us at a
pace that we can deal with.
He doesn't say you need to getrid of this and this and this
and this, like He'll take usalong that journey and He'll
draw us closer to Him.
Other challenges would be wherewe talked earlier about how do
we know God's speaking to us?
(23:04):
That's one of the biggestchallenges that I'm going
through and have been for sometime.
It's just, if I believe Godwants me to do something and I
didn't do it, then the enemy isquick to condemn us.
Now the Bible says there's nocondemnation to those of us who
are in Christ Jesus, but yetthat doesn't negate the fact
(23:26):
that perhaps God wanted me to dosomething or say something to
someone and I didn't for, as youmentioned earlier about the
fears and the things like that,and so I've missed out on a
number of opportunities.
I believe to be part of whatGod wanted to do in somebody
else's life.
So that kind of breaks my heartand that's definitely one of
(23:48):
the biggest challenges.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
What is a legacy that you would like to leave?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I think just being like it's not about me, right?
You know?
I think if there's anythingthat could be said or thought
about me, it would be that I'm aman after God's own heart and I
just want to leave this worldwith a truth or an understanding
(24:20):
that God really is alive andGod really does want to change
people's lives.
And there's hope.
And I think, if you know, whenmy time comes to pass through
this veil into the next lifewith God, I just hope that I'm
remembered as someone who youknow was a God-fearing man and
wanted to be part of what hewanted to do in the world.
(24:41):
There's no greater legacy thanthat.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
I always like to ask my guests to leave a word of
knowledge or a word ofencouragement for my listeners.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Absolutely.
What I would tell anybody who'slistening today is that it
doesn't matter what you've donein your life, where you are
personally right now, what yourchallenges are, what your
struggles are, god already knowsthat you're going through those
(25:17):
things.
He knew you before he createdyou in your mother's womb.
He already knows your life frombeginning to end, and I would
encourage you don't give up onGod, because he's not going to
give up on you, and just that.
All it takes is prayer.
It just takes a moment to sayGod, help me, god, change me,
god, bring somebody to share theword with me, and God will hear
(25:41):
that prayer.
I was reading Daniel today.
When Daniel was praying,gabriel came to him and said the
moment you started to pray, Iwas sent forth to come and
minister to you.
So the moment that we speak toGod, god already puts things
(26:03):
into motion to minister to you.
So be encouraged that God isalive, god loves you and God has
a purpose for your life, anddon't let the world steal that
away from you.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Amen.
Well, Johnny T, thank you somuch for coming on the show.
Where can my listeners get yourbook and listen to your podcast
?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, so Refuge Freedom Stories is heard on all
major podcast platforms and awhole bunch of other platforms,
so it's easy to find.
You know Apple, spotify, youcan find it on Substack, and the
Exchange Life podcast is alsoon all those platforms, and if
you go to Substack, from Gloryto Glory, you'll find articles
(26:52):
and notes published there.
The devotional that I'm workingon right now isn't published
yet, but it should be outsometime this year.
I just have to finalize thedraft and figure out how to
publish it.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well again, granny T, thank you so much for coming on
the show.
We greatly appreciate havingyou.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
It's been great to see you again, Darcy, and great
to have the conversation withyou.
God bless you in all you do forGod's kingdom.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
God bless you as well .
Well, guys and girls, thank youso much for coming on the show.
We greatly appreciate havingyou and tuning in and listening.
Please go and like and sharethis episode and be encouraged
by so.
Until next time, God bless.
Bye-bye.
Hello everyone and thank you again for joining me
on another episode of theDorsios Show Today.
On our episode we have Ronnie T, who is incredibly passionate
about Jesus.
He is a speaker, trainer andbudding author, host and
(00:21):
producer of the Refuge FreedomStories podcast and author Glory
to Glory on Substack.
Johnny, thank you so much forcoming on the show today.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Dorsey, it's great to be here with you and thank you
so much for previously being aguest on Refuge Freedom Stories.
I really enjoyed ourconversation.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yes, definitely, I enjoyed that as well.
Can you introduce my audienceas someone else introducing you?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Sure, I'd like to introduce you to Johnny T.
As Dorsey said, he hosts andproduced Refuge Freedom Stories
podcast.
He's also branching out toco-host a new podcast called the
Exchange Life and is a buddingauthor on Substack from Glory to
Glory and working on a fewbooks.
Devotional, hopefully, willcome out later this year.
(01:17):
Essentially, Johnny is a manwho loves God deeply and is very
thankful and blessed to walkthis life with Jesus and
ultimately I just want to livefor the world, to see nobody but
Jesus in him.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Amen.
What's the story behind thename of the podcast that you
host?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, so back in 2020 , a friend of mine, reverend
Alan Campbell.
He runs a ministry calledRefuge Ministries Canada, and
Refuge Ministries Canada wasbirthed out of Alan's own
experience.
He ended up in penitentiary dueto life on the streets and the
things that he was involved in,and when he was in there, some
(02:05):
Salvation Army guys came in andministered the gospel to him and
he gave his heart to the Lord.
And the Lord spoke to his heartand said Are you tired of
living your life this way?
And he said yes, and so when hegot out of prison, he was asked
by a youth detention center togo and share his story in one of
the western provinces in Canada, in Alberta.
(02:26):
And when he was there, heministered and a young man who
was 12 years old came up to himand said well, my heroes are
Charles Manson and JeffreyDahmer.
And he said, oh well, my herois Jesus.
And this young man gave hisheart to the Lord.
But when Alan was flying backto Ontario, he realized there
was nobody to mentor that youngman, and so he started Refuge
(02:48):
Ministries Canada, and that wasover 25 years ago, and so they
were the first point of contactfor young offenders and others
that get out of prison to helpthem get a place of their own
for six months, you know, tobreak that cycle with other
people, and they get Bibleteaching and they get mentorship
and help them find work, and soon and so on.
(03:10):
And in 2020, he called me up andhe said hey, johnny, I just
read a survey that said that 77%of Canadians believe in
miracles.
I said, well, that's great, Ibelieve in miracles too.
And he says yeah, we've seen alot of miracles through the
ministry over the years and Iwant to do a radio program.
And I said, well, that's great.
I said what do you want me todo?
And he said, well, do you wantto help?
I said, sure.
(03:31):
So I said I can help you withthe technical side of things and
being kind of a geeky,computerish guy.
And I said but you're going tohave to find a radio show host
because I don't have that kindof voice.
And then the next day or the dayafter, another guy called him
up and said hey, I really likewhat your ministry is doing.
Is there anything you need?
And Alan said yeah, I need aradio show host.
(03:51):
And so we started our half hourradio show and it's been on
stations across Canada since2020.
And a couple of months after westarted the show, someone came
up to me and said do you guyshave a podcast?
And I had this big light bulbmoment over my head and I said,
no, but we're going to.
And I knew nothing aboutpodcasting whatsoever absolutely
(04:14):
zero.
And so God took me on thiswhole journey of launching the
program into a podcast and we'vebeen going ever since.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
What type of people do you interview on your show?
As you said, you interviewed meon your show.
What are the other types ofinterviews and stories that you
talk about on your show?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, so we've interviewed everybody, from
addicts and people who areaddicted to drugs, alcohol,
pornography, different thingslike that.
We've interviewed a lot ofveterans I have a very special
place in my heart for veteransand we've interviewed musicians.
We interviewed a lady that cameout of human trafficking.
(04:59):
We interviewed a major leaguebaseball manager that won the
World Series Major LeagueBaseball manager that won the
World Series.
We've interviewed a man whomade $100 million by the time he
was 31.
It's a wide range of people.
There's no particular type ofperson that we're looking for to
be interviewed.
What we are looking for ispeople whose lives have been
(05:21):
changed by the power of God, andI think the wide variety of
guests that we have on thepodcast just expresses that to
the world, because God is sobroad in his love for each of us
and yet he created usindividually, so we each have
our own personal journey towardshim, and the ways that he
ministers to people's lives isjust incredible, because the way
(05:45):
God would speak to you could bemuch different from the way
that he speaks to me, and itcould be different from the way
he speaks to somebody else, andso it's just so interesting to
hear how he has spoken to allthese people and it just shows
the vastness of his character,his love for us of his character
, his love for us.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I've just gotten introduced to Substack and just
started knowing a little bitabout it.
What is your book about?
Glory to Glory, on Substack.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
So from Glory to Glory is a Substack of articles
and notes and the podcast isalso posted there.
You can post podcasts on substack as well and basically, you
know, as I do my devotionsevery day with the lord and
things like that, he, I believethat he reveals things to me,
(06:39):
not, you know, any kind ofspecial way, but just things
that kind of speak to my heartand, and so I felt a burden to
share that, and so that's whatI've been doing for the last
year and a half or so ispublishing these articles.
When I read something and itspeaks to my heart, I think,
well, god probably wants tospeak to somebody else's heart
with this same kind of message.
So that's essentially what itis is a collection of those
(07:02):
articles and short notes and,again, as I said, the podcast as
well.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And so they're all on Substack and you could find
them under.
From Glory to Glory Tell meabout your life growing up and
your story.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, so I grew up in a home that ended up in divorce
.
My parents split up when I wasyoung and you know that had
anybody that goes through that,that has an impact on how they
perceive the world and thethings going on around them, and
so on and so on, and so I grewup in some level of poverty.
(07:41):
You know, with my mom and mybrother, and when I was 19, I
was going to a church and thepastor preached a message and I
just believed that I needed togo forward and ask Jesus into my
heart.
So I did that and I just feltthis sense of joy, this sense of
(08:02):
I had a smile on my face thatyou couldn't wipe off for three
hours, just like a Cheshire cat.
A big grin on my face, and sothat was a real starting point
for me.
And then, you know, sometimeafter that, uh, some issues came
up and I kind of fell away fromthe Lord.
The Bible talks about the seedfalling in different types of
(08:22):
ground, and I think in my case Ijust didn't have enough of a
good root in the Lord to keep meplanted there, and so I kind of
wandered for a little while andthen in my middle I met my wife
my now wife and she had justbecome a Christian and my own
spirit recognized that joy andthat peace in her that
(08:45):
ultimately I was looking for.
You know, we all look for Godin different ways before we know
him, and people get involved ina whole bunch of different
things, and so that was my case,but I do remember that God was
drawing me just before we metand I remember, you know, going
to the bar and looking aroundand thinking to myself what am I
doing here, Like I don't reallybelong here, this is not what I
(09:08):
should be doing with my life.
So God was kind of taking thescales off my eyes.
And I'm the one who met her.
It was just, you know, reallyprominent to me that I need to
give my heart back to the Lord.
So I did that, and so since thatpoint, you know like life has
its own burdens and strugglesand challenges that we all face,
but through all those things,Jesus has always been faithful
(09:30):
to reveal himself to me in waysthat I can understand him and to
help me to draw closer to him.
So now I'm super passionateabout hearing his voice.
I'm really trying to plug intotuning my ears to the frequency
of his voice, just like youwould tune into a radio station
or something like that, becausethat's so important.
(09:51):
It's all about thatrelationship with him and that's
what changes us from day to day.
It's not we can't do it in ourown strength, but as we align
ourselves with him and we lethim live his life through us.
That's when we're going to seechange in ourselves and those
around us.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
You know, you mentioned about you know hearing
the voice of God, and what doesthat look like to you?
What does you know?
How do you view that?
When you, when you hear thevoice of God, what does that
sound like to you?
What does he speak to you about?
You know when he does speak toyou.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah.
Well, there's times where, likeI said about the Substack
articles, like when I'm readingin the Bible and something just
becomes alive to me, if you wantto look at it that way
Something just kind of jumps offthe page and I go, wow, there's
something there and I need todig into that.
That's one way that God wouldspeak to me and through his word
(10:48):
.
And anytime that we believethat God is speaking to us, we
need to go back to the word,because the word never changes
and that's the truth.
There are other times when it'salmost like an impression, it's
like a real need or a realsomething that has to be done
right then and there.
For example, I was in mydevotions the other day and I
(11:09):
read a passage of scripture thatI'd read many, many times
before and yet something jumpedout at me and immediately I knew
that I had to write it down andpost an article about it,
because it was something thatwas speaking to me and I thought
somebody else needs to hearthis.
So I try to be obedient to whenI get those promptings.
Or sometimes it might be thatyou're in a mall or you're
(11:31):
somewhere and you just feel likea need to see somebody and say
I've got to go pray for thatperson or I've got to go talk to
that person about God.
So it's not like an audiblevoice.
Those are rare.
We're not all Saul's, we're notall on the road to Damascus type
of thing, but God definitelydoes speak to us.
It could be through anotherperson, it could be through his
(11:54):
word, it could be through like asense or a presence, just those
kinds of things.
Even sometimes when you'relistening to Christian music,
there's times where you justsense God's presence.
So I think for me that's kindof things.
Even sometimes when you'relistening to Christian music,
there's times where you justsense God's presence.
I'm still learning that there'sa great book and it's called
(12:15):
hey, it's Me God.
Are you there?
It's Me God.
By Dr David Chodka.
If you want to read that book,it's awesome.
It gives you a realunderstanding of how to
fine-tune the ways that you hearthe voice of God.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I actually had Dr David Chodka on my show.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
He's a great guy.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, I had him on the podcast too.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, he's full of life and the Spirit for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah, I had him on twice now because I had to, you
know, cut the show into twopieces.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, he likes to talk.
Preachers like to talk, that'sfor sure he does.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
How did God you know when you were growing up and you
know going through everythingthat you went through how did
God change your life?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
God change your life?
Yeah, so I mean, as I mentioned, you know, when you, the world
has its ways of trying toconfuse people and to draw them
away from God by giving themsubstitutes, you know, and that
can be people or drugs, oralcohol or whatever it might be.
So you know, that was thetypical kind of lifestyle that
was going on around me andthat's essentially what I fell
back into.
(13:24):
And yet, when I gave my heartback to the Lord, like that seed
that was planted in my heartwhen I was 19, it was still
there.
And so as I kind of wanderedaimlessly for a few years and
found my way back to God, likehe planted that seed in better
ground and as it started to grow, things just drop off really
(13:45):
quickly.
You know, as I said, like Ialready knew that I shouldn't
really be in some of thoseplaces and doing some of those
things, and God just kind ofreinforced that.
So it was very easy.
A lot of those things droppedaway real quickly.
And then, as you or as I,started to grow more in the lord
, you know, I just started toreally embrace christianity as a
(14:08):
way of life and, you know,going to church more and going
out on the streets and preachingand singing and trying to reach
people and tell others aboutwhat god has done for my life.
And I remember one day at worka guy came up to me and I guess
that the change must have beenrecognizable or significant
enough, because he came up to meand he says hey, johnny, he
(14:29):
says what really happened to you?
And so I told him hey, this iswhat happened.
I, you know, gave my heart backto Lord and he's just helping
me, you know, make life betterand with a walk with him.
So that's kind of how it went.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
You mentioned earlier and you just mentioned it again
, about you know going out onthe streets and you know
speaking and preaching, and youknow, you know sometimes you're
in the mall and you know youfeel like, you know you want to
go and play for somebody in thatmall.
What is that experience like?
Because sometimes you know youwould think to yourself, well, I
(15:06):
don't want to do that, I'mafraid of you know what their
reaction is going to be.
I'm afraid of what the whatthey're going to say and think
of that nature.
What have the reactions be andhow have that you?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah.
So, and that's a great question, because just the other day,
when we were recording anepisode for the other podcast,
the Exchange Life, we weretalking about obedience and
that'll be coming out inprobably April sometime.
Obedience, when God is speakingto you and as I'm learning is
it has to be immediate.
So if you feel like God ispressing you to, let's say, go
and pray for somebody, you gotto act on that immediately,
(15:48):
because then the enemy doesn'thave time to come in and put
those doubts in your head andsay, well, is it really me, or
am I just trying to do that onmy own?
What's going to happen?
All those kind of lies that theenemy is trying to put in front
of us to stop us from followingGod.
So obedience has to beimmediate, and so, for example,
(16:10):
one day it was, we give outt-shirts for the podcast and I
believe you have one RefugeFreedom Story t-shirt, right,
and so I was wearing thatt-shirt and I was in a Home
Depot and I was going throughthe self-checkout, buying
whatever things I was buying,and one of the workers came up
to me and she said do you needany help?
(16:30):
And I said, no, I'm good.
And she said can I ask youabout your shirt?
And I said, sure, and I saidit's a podcast, I'm blessed to
host and produce it.
And she said what's it about?
Kind of like you asked me.
And I said, well, it's allabout how God's changed people's
lives.
And she said, well, that herdaughter had taken her own life
(16:56):
and that her and her husbandwere having a really hard time
dealing with that, obviously.
And so God brought me acrossthat lady's path to have the
opportunity to pray with her andjust tell her you know God
loves you, god sees that God ishere, type of thing.
And so there's been situationslike that.
(17:16):
Or, for example, when I'm on thephone talking to a service
representative of a companywhether it's like an internet
company for technical issues or,you know, maybe a service call
to whatever it might be I alwaysask people two questions.
The first one is do you listento podcasts?
And the reason I'm asking thatis so I can tell them about the
podcast as a tool that they canlearn about God.
(17:40):
And the second question I askthem is is there anything that I
can pray for you about?
And you would be surprised athow open people really are to
having that question asked ofthem, because everybody's on a
journey towards God.
Some will plug into Him andsome will choose to take a
different path away from God,but God draws everybody to Him
(18:05):
and so when we ask people if wecan pray for them, god allows us
to participate in ministeringto their heart, about their need
that they have personally.
And there's been sometremendous discussions with
people over the phone aboutpraying with them and they're
just touched.
And some people, even when youcall into a ministry for prayer
(18:28):
like a 700 Club or 100 HuntleyStreet or something like that
those people there that arespending their time ministering
to others in prayer they haveneeds too.
So when we call in and ask forprayer about a situation, I like
to ask them is there anythingthat we can pray for you about?
And some of those people saidyou know what?
Nobody's ever asked me thatquestion before, and I think
(18:50):
people are just waiting for Godto bring somebody across their
path that would take the timeout of their schedule to pray
for them and show them that Godreally does love them.
So I think it's important toact in obedience immediately and
if you get that prompting inyour heart and say you know what
that person looks like.
They're having a tough day.
I should go pray for them.
(19:11):
Go and pray for them.
Go and ask them if there'sanything that you can talk to
them with about God.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, and I'm part of a youth group.
You know leadership team at mychurch and we were talking about
, you know praying for otherpeople and you know one of the
leaders said that probably oneof the things if you ask
somebody can we pray for you,they probably will not,
regardless of religion.
(19:38):
You know what God they believein.
They probably will not say noto that prayer.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah, and I think too that you know it's not that we
should be perhaps saying can wepray for you?
It's more like can we pray withyou about something?
You know, because if we go andI've said it myself can I pray
for you.
But if we go to somebody and wesay, can I pray with you about
something, is there somethingyou'd like prayer with?
Because then it engages them inthe conversation.
(20:08):
It's not an us and them kind ofthing, and I think that's an
important aspect too.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
And it's not an us and them kind of thing.
And I think that's an importantaspect too.
And I may rephrase my questionas I ask that of people what
have been?
Speaker 2 (20:22):
your biggest success in your life?
Well, that's a subjectivequestion for sure.
You know the world measuressuccess in a lot of different
ways, and a lot of those waysdon't line up with biblical
principles.
I think the biggest successwould be family.
Another would be just beingpart of God's family too.
(20:45):
It's so important to me.
That's something else that I'vereally started to see more in
the last short while is that youknow the things the Bible says
the things of this world willpass away, right, you know our
love for the things of thisworld will pass away, and I just
(21:07):
feel like all that the worldhas to offer is fading very,
very quickly in my life and myheart and I'm becoming more
focused on just living a lifethat expresses God to the world,
and I think the two work inconjunction with each other,
because the more we seek himthen the less interest there is
(21:30):
in the things of the world andwhat the world puts as
priorities.
So I would say, if you want tocall that success, I would say
that that's one of the mostimportant things in my life.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
What have been some of the biggest besides what
you've been through in your lifewith accepting God and then
going you know, going out intothe world?
Besides that, what have beenyour biggest challenges in your
life and how did you overcomethat?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah.
So you know, as I talked abouthow I grew up, we grew up in
poverty.
My mom worked hard, you know,to try and make ends meet for us
, but we did without a lot, andso you know I'm blessed to have
worked.
You know, to try and make endsmeet for us, but we did without
a lot, and so you know I'mblessed to have worked, you know
, throughout my life and God hasalways been there to provide,
(22:21):
and I did feel a bigresponsibility on my shoulders
to work, and I'm very thankfulthat he made avenues and opened
doors for me to work.
So I appreciate that.
Challenges, you know, I thinkkind of letting go of the things
that the world tells me areimportant and becoming more in
tune with God can be a challengefor everybody and it has been
(22:44):
for me.
God is understanding and lovingand he works through us at a
pace that we can deal with.
He doesn't say you need to getrid of this and this and this
and this, like He'll take usalong that journey and He'll
draw us closer to Him.
Other challenges would be wherewe talked earlier about how do
we know God's speaking to us?
(23:04):
That's one of the biggestchallenges that I'm going
through and have been for sometime.
It's just, if I believe Godwants me to do something and I
didn't do it, then the enemy isquick to condemn us.
Now the Bible says there's nocondemnation to those of us who
are in Christ Jesus, but yetthat doesn't negate the fact
(23:26):
that perhaps God wanted me to dosomething or say something to
someone and I didn't for, as youmentioned earlier about the
fears and the things like that,and so I've missed out on a
number of opportunities.
I believe to be part of whatGod wanted to do in somebody
else's life.
So that kind of breaks my heartand that's definitely one of
(23:48):
the biggest challenges.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
What is a legacy that you would like to leave?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I think just being like it's not about me, right?
You know?
I think if there's anythingthat could be said or thought
about me, it would be that I'm aman after God's own heart and I
just want to leave this worldwith a truth or an understanding
(24:20):
that God really is alive andGod really does want to change
people's lives.
And there's hope.
And I think, if you know, whenmy time comes to pass through
this veil into the next lifewith God, I just hope that I'm
remembered as someone who youknow was a God-fearing man and
wanted to be part of what hewanted to do in the world.
(24:41):
There's no greater legacy thanthat.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
I always like to ask my guests to leave a word of
knowledge or a word ofencouragement for my listeners.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Absolutely.
What I would tell anybody who'slistening today is that it
doesn't matter what you've donein your life, where you are
personally right now, what yourchallenges are, what your
struggles are, god already knowsthat you're going through those
(25:17):
things.
He knew you before he createdyou in your mother's womb.
He already knows your life frombeginning to end, and I would
encourage you don't give up onGod, because he's not going to
give up on you, and just that.
All it takes is prayer.
It just takes a moment to sayGod, help me, god, change me,
god, bring somebody to share theword with me, and God will hear
(25:41):
that prayer.
I was reading Daniel today.
When Daniel was praying,gabriel came to him and said the
moment you started to pray, Iwas sent forth to come and
minister to you.
So the moment that we speak toGod, god already puts things
(26:03):
into motion to minister to you.
So be encouraged that God isalive, god loves you and God has
a purpose for your life, anddon't let the world steal that
away from you.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Amen.
Well, Johnny T, thank you somuch for coming on the show.
Where can my listeners get yourbook and listen to your podcast
?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, so Refuge Freedom Stories is heard on all
major podcast platforms and awhole bunch of other platforms,
so it's easy to find.
You know Apple, spotify, youcan find it on Substack, and the
Exchange Life podcast is alsoon all those platforms, and if
you go to Substack, from Gloryto Glory, you'll find articles
(26:52):
and notes published there.
The devotional that I'm workingon right now isn't published
yet, but it should be outsometime this year.
I just have to finalize thedraft and figure out how to
publish it.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well again, granny T, thank you so much for coming on
the show.
We greatly appreciate havingyou.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
It's been great to see you again, Darcy, and great
to have the conversation withyou.
God bless you in all you do forGod's kingdom.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
God bless you as well .
Well, guys and girls, thank youso much for coming on the show.
We greatly appreciate havingyou and tuning in and listening.
Please go and like and sharethis episode and be encouraged
by so.
Until next time, God bless.
Bye-bye.
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