The Grand Awakening Podcast

Randall J. Hekman
  • 3.5 (2)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Bimonthly

We talk with pastors and other leaders in the greater Grand Rapids area about their heart for revival and spiritual awakening. Our hope is that as other pastors hear how revival is a priority with those we are interviewing, that will motivate them to join with us in praying for and seeking revival in our area for the glory of God.

  1. 6d ago

    Todd Ponstein shares how following God's call, while challenging, produces incredible results

    Todd Ponstein was born and raised in West Michigan and graduated from Calvin Christian High School and then Hope College.  He has been married to his beautiful bride Kris for 37 years, and the Lord has blessed them with 3 sons and 5 grandchildren.  Todd is the founder and president of Georgetown Development Company, which develops and manages commercial and residential property in the West Michigan area.    He is also is a lay pastor to True Life Bible Church in Wyoming, MI, and is the founder and President of MentorMe, a parachurch ministry that plants adult Christian men and women into the lives of at-risk youth to help them.  Todd loves any sport that involves a ball, and he himself is an avid pickle ball player. In addition, Todd currently coaches football at Unity Christian High School.   In this podcast, Todd tells how, despite attending church and Christian schools for many years, he woke up one day, at the age of 30, to realize that he had never truly been born again in Christ. So after choosing to give his life fully to Jesus, Todd's life dramatically changed!  He recounts his growing hunger for the Bible and fellowship with Jesus and other followers of Christ. Following that, he describes how God gave him incredible peace despite his business being in major financial trouble. And then how God led him to start a church that he led along with his business. His example of courageously following our Lord's leading in these and other activities helps challenge all of us to do the same!

  2. Sep 1

    Randy and Marcia Recount the Joy of Sharing our Faith with Those Who Don't Yet Know Him!

    Randy and Marcia Hekman have been married for 57 years, but only have 12 children (and 39 grandkids) to show for it! They now lead The Grand Awakening, a nonprofit with the goal of calling the Church of West Michigan to revival, leading to another Great Spiritual Awakening. After graduation from MIT and GWU Law School, Randy served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and then was a Probate-Juvenile Court Judge for 15 years before leaving the bench to serve various roles in the Christian nonprofit world. Prior to the birth of their firstborn, Marcia taught at Thomas Jefferson High School in Northern Virginia. Since then, she has been an awesome fulltime mother of their growing family. She also is a gifted artist and an incredible evangelist, wholeheartedly sharing the Gospel with many who don't yet know Jesus. In this podcast, Marcia shares how she came to faith in Christ many years ago and the joy she continues to have in sharing the Gospel with others. She then relates how all of us can tell others about Jesus and His incredible offer of salvation and a personal relationship with God. Finally, Randy and Marcia share how a recent trip to McDonalds for breakfast resulted in two folks placing their faith in Jesus. Amazing how God orchestrated all that!

  3. Jul 7

    Dr. Rex Rogers shares how important godly leadership is for life to be productive and even joyful

    Dr. Rex M. Rogers is the former president of Cornerstone University and, subsequent to that, of SAT-7 USA. He is the author and voice of his podcast called Discerning What Is Best with Dr Rex M Rogers. In his podcast, Rex applies unchanging biblical principles in our rapidly changing world and provides a very helpful Christian worldview of current issues and everyday life. His books include Be One of God's Unlikely Leaders—Live With Focus, Get Things Done, Gambling: Don't Bet On It, Christian Liberty: Living for God in a Changing Culture, and, most recently, "We Hold These Truths"—Responsible Christian Patriotism. Learn more about Rex at www.rexmrogers.com. In this podcast, Rex helps us better understand the ungodly trends that have been impacting our nation in recent years and how, apart from God's people choosing to rise up and courageously lead by sharing the truth in love to all aspects of our culture, we are heading to a very bleak future. It's clear that only the nation with virtuous citizens who are seeking to live lives pleasing to God can truly be given liberty by their government. Otherwise, due to man's sinful nature, government will be required to grow more powerful and controlling in its attempt to preserve a degree of peace and safety. Rex also shares how all leaders—including Christian pastors—need a degree of loving but truthful accountability to keep them from going "off the rails" with hubris and/or other sinful issues.

  4. Jun 30

    LaTonya Jones shares how God has called her to proclaim the Gospel and that true Revival is coming!

    Dr. LaTonya Jones, Ed.D leads Fishers of Men World Ministries. She is also the founder of "The Altar Call Tent Revival" that brings a message of repentance to State Fairgrounds throughout the United States. Dr. LaTonya's beliefs are rooted in the Word of God toward the end that the Father may be glorified in all that she does.  ​Dr. LaTonya is a United States Army retiree and Combat Veteran (Operation Iraqi Freedom). She has also served as a Public Official for 20+ years, managing a full-range of federal programs, contracts and Projects up to $28.7 Billion dollars with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a host of Federal Agencies. She has dedicated her life to serving in both public and private arenas. Dr. LaTonya holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Administration, a Master Degree in Business Administration, and a Doctorate degree in Education. In this podcast LaTonya Jones shares how, despite being more of an introvert, still chose to courageously obey the Lord's leading to start her ministry of "Tent Revivals" in which she is called upon to regularly share her faith in Christ with large groups of people. She also shares how, while coming to faith in Christ at age 14, she subsequently spent a few years wandering spiritually before returning wholeheartedly to Jesus, where she continues to abide by His grace. LaTonya concludes by telling how optimistic she is that, while we know things will deteriorate prior to Christ's Second Coming, she feels we are now in the midst of a great Revival and Spiritual Awakening in America. We pray it continues to grow for His glory and the saving of millions!

  5. Jun 23

    Kent Evans shares how men can grow in their faith and lead their families closer to God

    Kent Evans is a follower of Jesus, married to wife April for over 30 years, and, together, they have five amazing sons (plus two even amazing daughters-in-law). They make their home in Kentucky. After two decades in the business world, Kent co-founded Manhood Journey to help dads become disciple makers. He also became the host of the "Father On Purpose" podcast with his friend Lawson Brown. He is also the author of some books on the subject. His goal in writing and speaking is to: Light a fire under Christian men to live their faith daily Inspire men and women to live their faith in the workplace Speak wisdom into the lives of married couples, parents, and families Motivate leaders to become disciple makers Kent takes his reading of the Bible, his faith, and the Gospel very seriously. He enjoys communicating with audiences everywhere. In this podcast, Kent describes how the Lord led him into his current ministry to help dads become better disciple makers of their children. One key is for men to truly get into the Word of God, the Bible, on a regular basis. Truth truly sets us free to become all that God desires for us! Kent shared how many of the thousands of men that he communicates with are discouraged and down on themselves, feeling like total failures as fathers. They need to hear God speaking to them through His Word and the Holy Spirit rather than being bullied by our arch-enemy satan. Kent also agreed about the importance of persistent prayer for our wives and children.

  6. Jun 12

    Grand Awakening Podcast

    Sarah Holliday is a writer and editor with a passion for biblical truth. Formerly a reporter for the Family Research Council and The Washington Stand, Sarah authored articles and news scripts, hosted the daily news brief, and appeared on various podcasts and interviews. Sarah is a graduate of Boise State University with a degree in Creative Writing & Narrative Arts. She also has a certificate in Theological Studies from Reformation Bible College located in Sanford, FL.  Sarah continues to write on pro-life issues, religious liberty, bioethics, and the intersection of faith and culture — seeking to bring journalistic rigor and gospel-centered hope to every conversation. In this podcast, Sarah describes how, in college, God called her to learn more about why she should trust the truths of the Bible and to share these truths in love with those around her. That led to her attending Reformation Bible College and then beginning to work at Family Research Council. She totally loves communicating truth in a loving and persuasive manner. When asked what the American Church most desperately needs, Sarah shared how, compared to so many Christ-followers in other nations, we American Christians can tend to lose focus on what are God's top priorities for His followers. We can feel we are entitled to comfort and no pain, when the Bible makes it clear that trials and pain and even persecution are a normal part of our lives as Christ's followers. Sarah concluded the podcast by praying for us American Christians to be totally surrendered to our Lord who gave His all for us.

  7. Apr 14

    Tripp Hurst tells how God's wonderful mercy now compels him to share God's grace and truth with many

    Tripp Hurst has been married to Nhung for 25 years and they are blessed with a daughter, Lexi. Tripp is a former Radio DJ with 20 years of experience, most of that taking place in Memphis, TN where he was raised.  Now that Tripp lives in West Michigan, he currently serves inside the Kent County Jail with Reach the Forgotten Ministries. He also reaches out to other incarcerated folks inside the State Prison in Muskegon. In the past, Tripp has interacted with a number of evangelistic ministries, all of which helped develop his faith and equipped him to share the Gospel with those who don't yet know Him.  He also trained with Living Waters Ministries about doing open-air preaching. And, recently, Tripp did an open-air service in Indianapolis, Indiana during the Final Four basketball series held in that area around Easter time.  Finally, another one of Tripp's interests is theater. He loves acting in plays and even serves on the Board of Directors of Master Arts Theatre here in West Michigan.  In this podcast, Tripp shares how, while his parents raised him in the church, he never became a true follower of Jesus. Twenty-five years ago, Tripp married Nhung, who was a true Christian. She soon realized her husband had only been faking his faith, so she began to pray earnestly that he would soon become a true Christ-follower. It took 10 painful years of addictions and other awful issues to finally see God answer Nhung's prayers. And not only did Tripp then come to Christ, he began to be on fire for Jesus, and that passion continues to this day! He absolutely loves sharing the Gospel with anyone who needs to hear.

  8. Mar 30

    Brad Formsma shares about the incredible benefits and blessings that flow from a life of giving

    Brad Formsma is the founder of I Like Giving, an organization which has inspired millions of people to live generously through its Generous Business, Generous Family, and Generous Classroom initiatives. He's also the host of The WOW Factor, a podcast for business leaders, and a popular speaker at corporate, church and community events. Brad's most recent projects include the "Generous Students" curriculum for grades K-5 (plus a 26-week homeschool edition) and the Generous Kids Book Club, teaching children seven ways to live generously. Brad and his wife Laura live in Southern California and are the proud parents of 3 adult children. In this podcast, Brad talks about how the example of his grandfather's generosity was so instrumental in Brad himself becoming a generous and giving man of God. Brad also shared how, through various media platforms, his ministry is now encouraging many young people to learn the life and joys of giving that will ideally start them on a lifetime of being generous to others. It truly is more blessed to give than to receive!

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About

We talk with pastors and other leaders in the greater Grand Rapids area about their heart for revival and spiritual awakening. Our hope is that as other pastors hear how revival is a priority with those we are interviewing, that will motivate them to join with us in praying for and seeking revival in our area for the glory of God.

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