Encounter Grace Podcast

In Part 2 of our Healthy Teams in the Local Church series, we move from people to culture—because even the best people struggle in the wrong environment.

In Episode 1, we introduced the game-changing paradigm: Ministry teams have a dual purpose—task AND discipleship. Now we take the next step: How do you actually build that kind of team?

We unpack the final four traits of healthy ministry teams—focusing on the cultu...

Every church has them—nursery teams, worship teams, youth leaders, elders, volunteers holding everything together behind the scenes. But here’s the reality: healthy churches are built on healthy teams… and healthy teams don’t happen by accident.

In this first episode of our Healthy Teams in the Local Church series, we introduce a paradigm shift that can change everything about how your ministry operates. Mos...

What happens when a young Muslim man leaves Pakistan for America, discovers the gospel, and risks everything to follow Christ?

In this episode of Encounter Grace, Jason McKnight sits down with Ali Master, author of Beyond the Golden Door, to discuss his remarkable journey from Islam to Christianity, the challenges of leaving behind deeply held beliefs, and the freedoms that transformed his life.

Ali shares his story of coming to Amer...

What if some of the anxiety, shame, insecurity, and striving you carry isn’t actually coming from your circumstances… but from believing the wrong story about who you are?

In this episode of Encounter Grace, we explore one of the most foundational questions of the Christian life:

Who are you, really?

Not your job.

Not your accomplishments.

Not your failures.

Not what others said about you.

Not even what you feel about yourse...

Life is a series of decisions—and some of them shape the entire direction of your life.

From career moves to relationships, finances to family decisions… how do you actually know you’re choosing wisely?

In this episode, we walk through a simple but powerful framework for making wise, God-honoring decisions—without getting stuck in confusion, fear, or overthinking.

We start with the foundation: defining the win...

What if one small daily habit could reshape your future?

In this episode of our One Practice series, we introduce a simple but powerful discipline that can dramatically increase clarity, confidence, and freedom in your financial life:

Track Every Dollar.

For the next 6–8 weeks, write down every dollar that leaves your hands. No judgment. No complicated budgeting system. Just accurate data.

Why? Because wise decisions require clea...

In this special episode of the Encounter Grace Podcast, Jason sits down with NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby for a thoughtful and deeply personal conversation about faith, public service, leadership, and the spiritual foundations of freedom.

Chief Justice Newby reflects on:

• The spiritual roots of the American founding

• George Whitefield and the Great Awakening

• Why freedom requires responsibility and virtue

• How prayer and co...

Why do we keep going back to things that don’t actually satisfy?

Whether it’s scrolling late at night, staying constantly busy, chasing approval, or numbing out with food, entertainment, or substances—we all have ways of coping when life feels overwhelming.

But what if those patterns aren’t just bad habits… What if they’re pointing to something deeper?

In this episode, we unpack the idea of BEEPS&m...

What happens when an NHL star encounters Jesus in the middle of a professional hockey career?

In this episode of Encounter Grace, Jason McKnight sits down with former NHL player, Stanley Cup Champion, and leadership coach Ryan Walter for an unforgettable conversation about hockey, faith, leadership, mindset, and spiritual growth.

Ryan shares stories from 15 seasons in the NHL, including playoff intensity, guarding Wayne Gretzky, winn...

• We have a future that is secure.

The Ascension strengthens our faith, deepens our worship, and anchors our hope in the victorious reign of Christ.

Forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus did something that many Christians rarely think about — He ascended into heaven.

We talk often about the Cross.We celebrate the Resurrection.We love Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

But the Ascension? It often gets overlooke...

Many Christians quietly wonder if they are doing something wrong in their spiritual life.

Maybe you’ve tried to follow the same devotional routines others recommend… but instead of feeling closer to God, you feel distracted, discouraged, or disconnected.

In this episode, we explore Gary Thomas’s Sacred Pathways — a framework that helps us understand how God uniquely designed each person to experience relation...

Did the early church invent the story of Easter… or did Easter give birth to the church?

That question matters more than most people realize. Because if the Resurrection accounts were written decades later as theological storytelling, then Christianity rests on inspirational myth. But if the stories recorded in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20–21 reflect eyewitness testimony of real events… then the Resu...

Have you ever said something in an argument and immediately thought, “That didn’t even feel like me”?

Most relational damage doesn’t begin with bad theology or evil intent. It begins when something in our brain quietly shuts off.

In this episode of our One Habit series, we unpack relational circuits — the brain’s God-designed capacity to stay connected under stress.

You’ll learn:

• What relat...

Why do we so quickly assume the worst about situations, relationships, or even ourselves?

Someone doesn’t text back… and we assume something is wrong. A conversation feels awkward… and we conclude we said something foolish. We feel anxious… and our mind jumps to the worst-case scenario.

Our brains are constantly interpreting events and creating explanations — often faster than we realize. But sometime...

Holy Week invites us onto sacred ground.

From the Garden of Gethsemane to the cross, Jesus walked a path of profound loneliness, abandonment, and suffering unlike anything we will ever experience. In this episode, we explore the deep connection between Psalm 88 and the final hours of Christ’s earthly life — a Psalm filled with darkness, raw honesty, and unresolved pain.

What if the loneliness of Jesus is not just part of ...

Easter is the center of the Christian faith. But how do we know it actually happened?

In this episode, we explore the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Christianity doesn’t rest on vague spirituality or inspiring moral teachings—it rests on a historical claim: that Jesus of Nazareth truly died and physically rose from the dead.

Looking at the historical facts surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, the empt...

As Christians approach Good Friday and Easter, we remember the cross—but what actually happened there?

Was it simply a tragic execution of a good teacher? Was it a symbolic act of love? Or did something far deeper take place?

In this episode of Encounter Grace, we explore the doctrine of the atonement—the Bible’s explanation of what Jesus accomplished through His death.

We look at two foundational truths every Christ...

Spiritual warfare isn’t usually dramatic. It’s subtle. Quiet. Ordinary.

In this episode of Encounter Grace, we explore one of the most overlooked aspects of the Christian life: how we sometimes give the enemy access without even realizing it.

Drawing from Ephesians 4:27 and James 4:7, we unpack the SOUL-L framework — five common ways believers unintentionally open doors in their thought life and spiritual formation:

Why do communication tools stop working the moment conflict gets intense?

Most of us assume conflict is a communication problem. But what if it’s actually a regulation problem?

In this episode of Encounter Grace, we unpack:

• Why articulate people suddenly become incoherent in conflict
  

• The difference between Relational Mode and Enemy Mode
  

• Why you cannot resolve conflict from a dysregulated nervous system
  

• What “c...