On Mission

On Mission

On Mission is a podcast that explores personal mission in the lives of leaders in ministry, community, and business. Each episode features a leader dedicated to pursuing a life of excellence, service, and eternal significance.

Episodes

September 30, 2025 43 mins
Delve into this episode as host Dr. Matt Davis and MBU graduate Jonathan Gilliam chat about a range of topics from cross-country running to marriage, from Jonathan’s current camp staff responsibilities to God’s calling. Tapping into his recent graduation, they address his college expectations and what aspects prepared him for life. Jonathan appreciates his extension involvement in a small church and highlights his internship, which...
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In this engaging episode, host Dr. Matt Davis interviews fall meetings guest speaker Pastor Joel Mikkelson, asking why he chose to present messages on the attributes of God. Mentioning the apparent conflict between scarcity as the economic standard for determining value and God’s infinity, Dr. Davis asks the intriguing question, “Then what is God’s value?” They address God’s holiness and how it suggests “boundaries of scarcity.” Th...
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September 2, 2025 45 mins
If internship offers experience for one’s resume, what does internship lodging provide? In Ethan Rosen’s case, it led to far more than anticipated, as he narrates on this podcast episode. Ethan could not afford lodging for his sports management internship, so his coach introduced him to a church whose members opened their homes one summer for several weeks each. Thus, Ethan met a seed producer, became enthralled with the business, ...
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August 19, 2025 49 mins
Podcast listeners may recognize the voice of this episode’s guest—Jim Schneider, executive director of VCY America and host of Crosstalk, a nationwide live call-in program examining issues of concern for Christians. After a brief glimpse at the global scope of his organization, he and host Dr. Matt Davis share common experiences and the challenges of call-in programs. They examine how VCY’s mission statement guides program choices...
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August 5, 2025 47 mins
Guest Ian Ferguson returns for his second visit to the podcast, accompanied this time by business partner Glenn Aldridge of CoSurge CPAs, a firm that provides audit leadership for other CPA businesses nationwide. Host Dr. Matt Davis steers their discussion through narration of their firm’s merger and determination of core values (succinctly stated in an acronym for Surge), posing such questions as what could undermine the ethics of...
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May 6, 2025 49 mins
“It’s not who’s right, but what’s right,” asserts podcast guest Alex Rodriguez. The son of hardworking Cuban parents, Alex attended college on a baseball scholarship, hoping eventually to support his family. A torn rotator cuff abruptly cancelled the scholarship, forcing him to enroll in community college and get the job that began a 41-year relationship with Chick-fil-A. Regarding Chick-fil-A, Alex explains to host Dr. Matt Davis...
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April 29, 2025 54 mins
This episode’s guest, Mr. Randy Tanis, is closely linked with Maranatha and Watertown, having graduated from MBU and having served as youth pastor at Calvary Baptist Church for 21 years. Originally, Randy came to college to play football, but then “surrendered to stay.” Working with Neighborhood Bible Time for three summers, he was drawn into youth ministry. He and host Dr. Matt Davis reminisce about how that decision remains the p...
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April 22, 2025 54 mins
Jamison Coppola, Government Relations Director for American Association of Christian Schools, and host Dr. Matt Davis unite in this informative episode of OnMission to probe a topic of obvious mutual concern—religious liberty, especially as it relates to Christian education and traditionally-held Christian principles. They explain the implausibility of legislators and staff predicting all ramifications of proposed bills, especially...
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April 15, 2025 47 mins
Recent Artist Series soloist, master class instructor, and chapel speaker Dr. David Parker adds this episode of OnMission to the roster. Contrary to stereotypical expectations, Dr. Parker’s exuberant laugh and unpretentious demeanor convey genuine warmth and belie his professional expertise that has afforded him invitations to perform and teach nationally and abroad, including opportunity to sing in a backup ensemble for renowned I...
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April 8, 2025 46 mins
Evangelist Glen Shank, whom former classmate and host Dr. Matt Davis knows as Shorty, served as a Maranatha representative for several years and as an assistant pastor for twelve. The Lord used both positions to gradually direct him into his present ministry. When asked his mission, he dedicated a week of intentional reflection, examining his life verse and “encapsulating” it into a comprehensive statement which he shares on the po...
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April 1, 2025 46 mins
In this podcast interview, host Dr. Matt Davis and Dr. Charles Plummer, Maranatha’s Human Resources director, discover they share common experiences of bagging groceries and playing trombone, albeit their trombone explorations ended differently. Trombone performance and music were Dr. Plummer’s profession and passion. With a doctorate in musical arts in pedagogy and literature, he taught, played professionally, composed, and arrang...
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March 25, 2025 59 mins
Advancing as a manager with Martin Marietta Corporation after college, Dr. Carl Herbster became convicted of the need to invest his life in something of greater eternal merit. His mission became “to serve God and to help other people serve God.” Dr. Herbster and host Dr. Matt Davis review the varied ministries Dr. Herbster’s mission has included—from early days leading a fledgling Christian school, to the multi-faceted ministry of ...
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March 18, 2025 50 mins
Having defined his mission in an earlier podcast, Mr. Sam Brock, Executive director of Ironwood Christian Camp, returns with host Dr. Matt Davis to analyze parachurch ministries and their partnership with independent local churches. They clearly acknowledge the primacy of the church in God’s plan and the role of parachurch organizations to serve the church, but note the challenges that can threaten affiliations. Dr. Davis outlines ...
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March 11, 2025 46 mins
MBU associate professor Janet Tschida, regales host Dr. Matt Davis with the story of her delayed music education and the setback that threatened it. She explains her mission saying, “I remember in college thinking … what does God want me to do … where … and with whom … I was missing the fundamental question … who does God want me to be.” Having established her God-intended identity, she says her mission is “to encourage those in m...
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February 4, 2025 54 mins
Dan Bjokne joined MBU as Director of Development in May 2024. In this lively interview, he explains to host Dr. Matt Davis how he can trace God’s hand in his life, from his first job in a reconditioned container factory to his “reconditioned” (reborn) soul as a public-school teacher, to his repurposed life serving in multiple ministries. Referencing Exodus 17, Dan describes his mission by saying, “I just want to be Aaron. I just wa...
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December 24, 2024 46 mins
The scenario presented in this episode of On Mission is the following: a teen boy with no Christian background is saved while reading a gospel tract, immediately seeks a Bible-preaching church, and eventually becomes a preacher. Who would write that narrative? Only God. And that is guest Dr. Oliver’s story. Dr. Oliver, a pastor and Maranatha’s new board chair, discusses with host Dr. Matt Davis his mission to preach. They explore...
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December 17, 2024 51 mins
Are you a high school student worried about what to do next? Take heart. In this podcast episode Paul Brown explains steps the Lord used to guide him to an answer to that dilemma, an answer that surprised him, one that would take him from a business major in a community college to a physical education major in a small Christian college and then to his current position as Maranatha’s athletics director and women’s basketball coach. ...
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December 10, 2024 43 mins
Sometimes personal needs direct career choices, as MBU Assistant Professor Aria Saunders explains in this podcast episode. Aria pursued a master’s degree in science and biomedical engineering with an emphasis in assistive technologies and served as research coordinator in a lab specializing in developing medical equipment for people with disabilities. She focused her research primarily on type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease whic...
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November 19, 2024 49 mins
Ministry often includes the unexpected, as Pastor Dan Pelletier recounts in this episode of On Mission podcast. Having served from the East Coast of the United States to a tiny island in Micronesia, Dan’s heart is entrenched in youth and Christian camp ministries. However, when a conference center he directed closed, the Lord provided lodging in the steeple of Hamilton Square Baptist Church in the heart of San Francisco. Then, thro...
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October 29, 2024 48 mins
Dr. Matt Davis welcomes Jon Bladine, Director of Longview Camp in Arcade, New York, as his guest on this episode of On Mission. Jon discusses how the Lord guided him to camp ministry, the skills that have been beneficial, and those he had to acquire, as well as the challenge of revitalizing a struggling ministry. Out of college, Jon had plans to be a missionary pilot; his journey may resonate with those who have undergone training ...
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