Removing Barriers

Episode 228

Series: On the Mission Field - 27

Courtney Mathos is a missionary to the country of Bolivia and she joins us on the Removing Barriers Podcast to share what God is doing on the field in that country. Bolivia is a largely Catholic country, but there are significant numbers of adherents to other religions and faiths, and many inhabitants practice syncretism with their ancestral religions. As a result, you never know what...

Episode 227

Series: How Were Your Barriers Removed - 40

What happens when God reaches down into a loving but troubled family and starts saving souls? Great things, of course! In this episode of the Removing Barriers Podcast, we sit down with Eric Harrell to hear about how the Lord Jesus Christ saved him and made a 180 of his trajectory through life. A dedicated pillar in the children's ministry of his local church, Eric has a...

Episode 226

On this episode of the Removing Barriers Podcast, we discuss H. R. 22, the SAVE America Act. The bill has passed in the House but faces significant challenges in the senate, even with the strong bipartisan support. What is the SAVE America Act? Can it really do much to safeguard the nation's elections after the unfettered illegal immigration into the country? Is it true that the bill either will or can be used to...

Episode 225

Evangelist David Sommerdorf sits down with the Removing Barriers podcast to discuss his newest book Legalism, Liberty, and Lawlessness. If there was ever a time where Christians were confused about the differentiation between these things, it could certainly be today. Whether we are holding on to a standard as proof of justification or whether we are dismissing all standards as legalism to live with no Christian dist...

Episode 224

Marriage. It is ordained by God, highly rewarding, yet challenging to successfully live out and under constant attack from all sides. Today on the Removing Barriers Podcast, we are privileged and very grateful to sit down with David and Debra Sommerdorf to talk about their marriage of over 40 years: how they met, God's work in their hearts and in their family over the years, and biblical principles that wove a be...

Episode 223

Bonkers - 16

In January of 2026, ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed in a violent confrontation with border patrol agents carrying out their duties in Minneapolis and corporate media pundit turned Youtuber Don Lemon allegedly participated in an anti-ICE protest inside of a church during a service. Pretti, who had been involved in violent encounters with ICE previously, became the new face and martyr of the political left...

Episode 222

Series: On the Mission Field - 26

On this episode of the Removing Barriers Podcast, we are joined by Will Klassen, missionary to the Mexican Mennonites in Chihuahua, Mexico. Mexican Mennonites, with varying degrees of intensity, are generally isolated from other Mexicans around them, choosing only to fully engage other Mennonites. Will Klassen grew up in Canada in a religious Mennonite household devoid of the pure gos...

Episode 221

On a cold January day in Minneapolis, a young mother senselessly and tragically lost her life protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. How her life was lost is intensely disputed; she was either a radicalized leftist that tried to kill an ICE officer with her car or she was an innocent wallflower just trying to get out of a dangerous situation. The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle, but the...

Episode 220

The new year is a perfect time to reflect on the past, present, and future. On today's episode of the Removing Barriers podcast, we are reflecting on the past, the present, and the future that we have in Christ. Who are we and what will we become because of Christ in us? What is our position in Him? The Bible gives us an innumerable number of declarations and promises that answer these questions, and we can trust...

Episode 219

Series: On the Mission Field - 25

In today's episode of the Removing Barriers podcast, we interview Joanna Smith, missionary helper to the great country of Colombia. She will be helping her brother, a veteran missionary already established there, in reaching the lost souls for Christ. Perhaps you wonder why missionaries are needed in a country in which over 90% of the people identify as Christian. Isn't a coun...

Episode 218

Have you ever recommended a Christian fiction book, only to preface the recommendation with tons of warnings, disclaimers, or caveats? Why are there so few books in that genre that can be recommended without reservation? Today on the Removing Barriers podcast, we interview a guest who at one point wondered the same thing and decided to do something about it. Bethany Klassen was born in Canada but grew up in Mexico af...

Episode 217

Series: On the Mission Field - 24

We have another great opportunity to sit down and talk with missionaries! In this episode, we are talking with Zach and Sarah Smith, missionaries to American Samoa. If you are anything like Jay, the only thing you might know about American Samoa are the famous people that originate or descend from there, like Tulsi Gabbard or Dwayne Johnson. There is so much more to the territory than its...

Episode 216

Bonkers - 15

Let's continue our Bonkers series with six headlines sure to have you scratching your head. We are one step closer to providing engineered babies to paying couples as Silicon Valley quietly pushes the legal barriers to genetic editing, A fourteen year old boy murders his elderly neighbor and show not a shred of remorse or concern. Don Lemon hits the streets and tries to convince people that crossing t...

Episode 215

You may have seen these ads in subways,  billboards, and other public spaces as you go about your day, claiming that we don't need God to be Good. You don't need God, we're all basically good, and we can all discern right from wrong without Him. Is this true? After all, some argue, not everyone believes in God, so we have to create a more inclusive and tolerant morality in our society. In this episode of ...

Episode 214

As any believer who shares their faith will tell you, we will inevitably encounter tough questions about God, the Bible, life, and truth. Why do bad things happen to good people? Where do babies go when they die? Where did Cain get his wife? What happens to people who've died having never heard the gospel in life? On this episode of the Removing Barriers Podcast, we are grateful for recurring guest Pastor Todd...

Episode 213

What do you think of when you hear the word "marriage?" Perhaps the words love, sacrifice, or happily-ever-after come to mind. Maybe you think of the fact that marriage is hard work: difficult, but worth it. Still, perhaps others have negative connotations of marriage, like heartbreak, divorce, or abuse. The Bible says that marriage was established in the beginning -- a mystery and metaphor of Christ and hi...

Episode 212

The assassination and martyrdom of Charlie Kirk at a Prove Me Wrong event at Utah Valley University is already going down in history as one of those events where everyone remembers where they were when it happened. Only time will tell how it will reverberate in the future. Charlie Kirk was many wonderful things, especially a husband and father, but the most important thing about him was his faith in the Lord Jesus Ch...

Episode 211

Bonkers - 14

Did you know that living in Iran is preferable to living in America if you're black? Or that cotton plant decorations are racist? On this episode of the Removing Barriers podcast, we are continuing our Bonkers series, were we pick out news headlines and discuss how they demonstrate that this world has gone bonkers. Some headlines are serious, some frivolous, but they all prove this fact. In this episo...

Episode 210

The gruesome murder of Iryna Zarutska on a public train in Charlotte, North Carolina shocked the world. Completely unprovoked and unexpected, the Ukrainian refugee's death added to the heavy and persistent burden we groan under: the realization that things have gone terribly wrong in our nation and the principalities we wrestle against (and the people submitted to their evil influence) are increasingly belligeren...