God’s Power Stories | Finding God’s Lead, How God Shows Up, Bible and Everyday Life Stories, Approaching God with Boldnes

Anna Moore Bradfield - Author, Facilitator, Speaker, and Prayer Warrior
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Your mom, your grandpa, somebody in your life whom you love and admire said that the Bible holds the answers to every question or problem you’d ever have. Wow. Think of it. After all, you have questions! You’ve been known to have a problem or two. It would be great if you could find the answers you’re looking for. You crack open that Bible a couple of times but just as quickly shut it. You want to love digging into Scripture. Instead, you find it intimidating, judgmental, and maybe even unbelievable. Let’s change that. Hi! I’m Anna Moore Bradfield, an award-winning and bestselling author, Christian speaker, and facilitator of workshops and events. I’ve been where you are. Plenty of times. I’ve questioned if God cared at all about what I was going through. Did he even have a plan for my life? When I got up the guts to tell him to his face, I found that he had very broad shoulders and that he could take anything I dished out. Then he began revealing himself to me. In this podcast, we’ll share: • Stories from the Bible that reveal God’s interactions with His people, confirming His desire for intimate, consistent, and loving relationships. • Stories from everyday life that testify to God’s revelation through the Holy Spirit. • Ways to develop a Bible study and prayer life that help us to become both open and full throttle geeked to boldly approach God’s throne. It’s easy to miss these life-changing moments if we aren’t looking for them. But the more we look, the more we find. As you engage with this podcast, you’ll find yourself looking to the Word with fresh eyes and a renewed desire to discover God’s plan for your life. You’ll find that the same God who led all the great characters of Scripture way back in Bible times is crazy about you, too. In fact, he’s been thinking about you all day. I’m rooting for you! And I can’t wait to connect with you 😊. If you've been blessed by this podcast, help us bless others with your financial giving. It might be the best money you've ever spent. Pre-order Leaven, book four of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Legacy, book one of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles  Start reading Lunacy, book two of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Loosed, book three of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Use this affiliate code to get great bonuses with Galaxy.ai: GF4MX8R In addition to the podcast, join the community Ask me to speak or facilitate at your event Follow me on Instagram: anna.moore.bradfield Follow me on Facebook: anna.moore.bradfield.author RSSVERIFY

  1. 18h ago

    116 | The Man Who Hated Social platforms Was Told to Build One: Shawn Whitson on ActsSocial

    What if the last person on earth who wanted to build a social media platform was the one God told to build it? I'm Anna Moore Bradfield, and in this episode of God's Power Stories, I sit down with Shawn Whitson, founder and CEO of Acts Social, a faith-first alternative to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok built on the model of authentic community in Acts 2:42 and 47. Shawn is also the author of the upcoming memoir Called Out of Nowhere, and he is refreshingly honest about the fact that he was never the ideal candidate. He deleted most of his own social media accounts years ago because, in his words, they were just yuck. Shawn has been a serial entrepreneur since he was twenty, and the tech company behind Acts Social had been a string of failures: an Apple shutdown, the pandemic, one hard setback after another. He had been praying about whether to walk away. Then, one December morning in 2022, right after he and his wife Sharee finished their morning devotional, he got what he calls a gut punch from the Holy Spirit. It stood the hair up on his body. It spooked him, and it was peaceful at the same time. The message was clear: build a social media platform to glorify My kingdom worldwide. We talk about what it has cost to obey. Shawn and Sharee sold their home to fund the platform, and then sold a second home and downsized again when the money ran thin. We talk about the naming story (a trademark threat from Amazon, a shy teammate who spoke up on a call, and a dot-com that should not have been available), and about the relentless spiritual warfare and cyberattacks that have come at the platform nearly every month. Then we get into what makes Acts Social so different. Shawn's team trained the algorithm by flipping the usual model upside down: negativity, bullying, and put-downs get little reach, while gratitude, prayer, and encouragement can go viral. Early testers said it felt fake. It was simply too positive. We also talk about his challenge to anyone stuck in the doom scroll: try a seven-day or forty-day fast from traditional social media, and see what happens when your dopamine comes from the Holy Spirit. Key Takeaways: God often calls the person who feels least qualified, and obedience matters more than résuméA real calling will likely cost you something, sometimes your comfort, sometimes your houseSpiritual opposition tends to increase as your work gains attentionPositivity is not fake; it only feels that way after a diet of negativityA fast from doom scrolling can change how you feel, think, and prayKey Themes: Obedience to God's calling · Faith-first social media · Spiritual warfare · Sacrifice and surrender · Marriage and partnership · Doom scrolling and mental health · Christian entrepreneurship Who Will Benefit: Anyone who feels unqualified for what God has put in front of them, entrepreneurs and creators building something with a mission, parents and young adults worn down by social media, and anyone who needs a reminder that when God calls, He qualifies. You are never too far from your calling, and God has never needed the perfect person, only the willing one. If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link, all four Lambswool Chronicles books, community, and speaking inquiries at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    116 | The Man Who Hated Social platforms Was Told to Build One: Shawn Whitson on ActsSocial

  2. Oct 27

    115 | From Terror to Trust: Joni Topper on the Night Psalm 4:8 Became Real

    What do you do when the peace you've always taken for granted is shattered in your own bedroom? And the only thing you know to do seems so wonky, even to your own way of thinking? In this GPS episode, I sit down with Joni Topper. She's a pastor's wife, speaker, worship leader, songwriter, and author of "The Power of a Well-Placed Yes: God's Abundant Faithfulness in a Small Church." Joni's faith was planted early by a mother who had survived an alcoholic childhood and made a deliberate decision to raise her daughters differently. At the age of 7, Joni prayed to accept Christ in her living room. But at 16, that faith was tested in a way she never expected when a stranger broke into her home and assaulted her while she slept. Joni lost her peace until she did something that she calls "wonky." What she found in Psalm 4:8 became the turning point of her life. She made a decision to trust God, and she's never lived in fear the same way since. We talk about her ministry today, too. Joni shared how a canceled musical partnership and an unexpected invitation to a writers' conference led her, in her retirement years, into a completely new calling as an author and speaker, built on the belief that God can use even the smallest, seemingly dull acts of obedience for something meaningful. Key Takeaways: A decision to trust God can happen in complete privacy. Joni's pivotal moment of faith came alone, in her bedroom, and it changed the trajectory of her entire life. You can thank God for the good without blaming Him for the bad. Joni pushes back on the idea that crediting God for protection means holding Him responsible for every hardship; He allows growth through difficulty, not cruelty. Warnings from wise mentors deserve real weight. Being "unequally yoked" isn't only about faith versus no faith, but about depth of commitment, and ignoring that warning cost Joni real heartache. Daily manna, not stockpiled faith. Exodus 16 teaches that trust in God is a daily practice, not a one-time event. God doesn't require flashy obedience. Joni's ministry was born from unexpected doors opening in her retirement years, proving that even small, unglamorous acts of faithfulness matter deeply to God. Key Themes: Childhood faith · Trauma and trust · Psalm 4:8 · Being unequally yoked · Daily dependence on God · Late-in-life calling · Storytelling as ministry · God's relentless pursuit Who Will Benefit: Anyone who has experienced trauma or injustice and wonders where God was in it, anyone considering marriage and weighing a mentor's warning, believers seeking a daily (not one-time) understanding of trust, and anyone wondering if it's too late in life to step into a new calling. If you're spiraling right now, wondering if God really cares — crawl into His lap. He reaches, and reaches, and reaches for you, and He will never stop. I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. And this is God's Power Stories. If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link, all four Lambswool Chronicles books, community, and speaking inquiries at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    115 | From Terror to Trust: Joni Topper on the Night Psalm 4:8 Became Real

  3. Oct 20

    114 | "It's Different With Me": Ryan McKinney on the Lie That Nearly Killed Him

    What if the substance that you told yourself was "the safe one" was quietly leading you to the exact same place as the one that took your father's life? I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. In this episode of God's Power Stories, I sit down with Ryan McKinney, the founder of the 143 Movement and the CMO at ActsSocial. He's the host of the ActsSocial Podcast, a 24-year-old who has already lived through more than most people twice his age. Ryan lost his father to a drug overdose in 2016. And in the years that followed, he told himself a story so many of us tell: that alcohol and marijuana were different...safer, more controllable, and a "better path" than what took his dad. Ryan takes us through how that rationalization quietly built a life he couldn't fully control, culminating in one terrifying night just after high school when he drank himself into an alcohol overdose, alone in his kitchen. Though he doesn't remember most of what happened, his mother does. Their dog, Angel, wouldn't stop barking at 4 a.m. So, Mom came downstairs and found Ryan unconscious on the floor. Paramedics got him back. If Angel hadn't barked, if his mother had ignored her, this conversation would not exist. That night changed him, but not all at once. Inspired by his mother's unshakeable, sober, joy-filled example through her own losses, Ryan built the 143 Movement out of love and positivity long before he fully surrendered his life to Christ. It wasn't until a night in the fall of 2024—high, alone, and unexpectedly prompted to open his Bible—that everything shifted. He opened to 1 Peter and read about the devil prowling like a roaring lion. Something broke open in him that had never broken before. We talk honestly about the "it's different with me" rationalization that keeps so many people stuck, about sin as a spectrum rather than a hierarchy, about the courage it takes to speak truth into someone else's life even when it's uncomfortable, and about why Ryan believes no one is ever too far gone to find their way home. Key Takeaways: "It's not as bad as..." is a dangerous rationalization. Comparing our struggles to someone else's worse ones doesn't make ours safe. It just delays us from facing them.God can reach you in your lowest, haziest moment. Ryan was high the night he felt prompted to open the Bible. God met him there anyway.Sin isn't measured by visibility. Ryan points out that Jesus confronted the religious leaders as much as anyone else. Sin comes in many forms beyond the obvious ones.Open rebuke is better than hidden love. Sometimes loving someone means having the uncomfortable conversation, not just praying from a distance.You are never too far gone. Desires can change. Addiction can lose its grip. The closer you get to God, the more your heart's desires actually shift.Key Themes: Addiction and recovery · Rationalization and self-deception · Faith and sobriety · Divine intervention · Accountability · Grief and loss · Sin without hierarchy · Coming home to Christ Who Will Benefit: Anyone minimizing their own struggle by comparing it to someone else's, parents and loved ones of someone in active addiction, young adults navigating faith and temptation, and anyone who has ever believed they were too far gone for grace. You're never too far gone. Take one step toward God, and He will carry you the rest of the way. I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. This is God's Power Stories.

    114 | "It's Different With Me": Ryan McKinney on the Lie That Nearly Killed Him

  4. Oct 13

    113 | The Wall She Wrote on: A Trauma Therapist's 35-Year Journey to Healing

    What if the thing you locked away thirty-five years ago is still fully alive inside your brain. It's waiting, unprocessed, and exactly as it happened? I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. In this episode of God's Power Stories, I sit down with Lisa Saruga, a licensed professional counselor, trauma therapist, speaker, and author of The Trauma Tree: Going Beyond Survival, Growing Toward Wholeness. Lisa is also a survivor. At eighteen years old, in her college dorm room, she endured a violent assault where she was nearly suffocated, knifed, and raped by a masked intruder who told her he was going to kill her. She survived. And then she did what so many of us do with our deepest wounds. She minimized it, told almost no one, and packed it away on a shelf in her brain for thirty-five years. Then came a phone call. Her cold case had been reopened, and the attacker had been identified. In an instant, everything she thought she had dealt with came flooding back with the full force of the original trauma, because, as Lisa explains, that's exactly how the brain stores what it hasn't processed. We talk about why she now prefers the term post-traumatic stress injury over disorder, how trauma physically changes the brain's amygdala and hippocampus, and why healing is possible no matter how many decades have passed. Lisa also shares a powerful story of how she stood in the very dorm room where she endured the assault, hours before the building was demolished. Her husband handed her a fistful of Sharpie markers. She tells us what she wrote on those walls, what she discovered when they finally broke through it with a sledgehammer, and what she found waiting on the other side. It will stay with you long after the episode ends. We talk honestly about self-blame, about Job's friends and the human instinct to find fault so tragedy feels avoidable, about the long and imperfect process of forgiveness, and about Psalm 27:13, "I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living," a verse Lisa clung to and ultimately relearned the meaning of. We also talk about the moment healing turns a corner. If you've ever locked something away and told yourself it was handled, this conversation is for you. Key Takeaways: Unprocessed trauma is stored, not gone—the brain keeps it fully intact until it is faced Post-traumatic stress is an injury, not a disorder—your brain reacted exactly as it was designed to Forgiveness is not a single decision but a daily, ongoing process Self-blame after trauma is common and rooted in a need to feel safe from what happened to someone else Healing turns a corner when we begin comforting others with the comfort we ourselves received Key Themes: Trauma and healing · Forgiveness · Post-traumatic stress injury · EMDR therapy · Self-blame · God's goodness in the land of the living · Comforting others · Survivor story Who Will Benefit: Anyone carrying an unprocessed wound from years or decades ago, survivors of assault or violent trauma, counselors and caregivers who want language for what their clients are experiencing, and anyone wondering whether God was present in their darkest moment. If something in this conversation stirred up memories you thought were long settled, know that it is never too late to begin healing. God's goodness is still here, in the land of the living. If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link, all four Lambswool Chronicles books, community, and speaking inquiries at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    113 | The Wall She Wrote on: A Trauma Therapist's 35-Year Journey to Healing

  5. Oct 6

    112 | The Gift His Mother Prayed Into Him: A Conversation with Author Matthew Elliott

    What if the hardest chapters of your own life were actually training you to write the very story someone else needed to read? I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. In this episode of God's Power Stories, I sit down with fellow biblical fiction author Matthew James Elliott, a writer, former ministry leader, and the creator of a world where the Kedoshim live, a fictional universe set in the time of the early church. Matthew grew up largely raised by pastors at the Salvation Army church his father served, while his mother struggled for years with serious mental health battles including depression, anxiety, and what he now understands to be a spiritual gift of discernment that manifested as night terrors and a sensitivity to spiritual warfare. Those same struggles of depression and anxiety would eventually become Matthew's own. Now, they shape the emotional realism at the heart of everything he writes. We talk about his books—Finding Philemon, The Cyprus Journal, The Ephesus Pages, and his most recent release, The Hope of Inheritance —and why he chooses to release his stories episodically, almost like a modern-day Charles Dickens serial. He opens up about the book he's currently writing, A Broken Embrace, which connects a paralytic healed at the pools of Bethsaida to a firsthand account of the crucifixion. It was a scene that started as five hundred words and became an entire chapter because, as Matthew put it, researching the details of the cross brought him to tears. This conversation is about more than craft. It's about what happens when a writer stops trying to build a platform and starts simply obeying what God has given him to say and how the darkest seasons of our lives so often become the very things God uses to reach someone else. Key Takeaways: Our pain is not wasted. Matthew's years of watching his mother's mental health struggles, and later facing his own, didn't disqualify him from ministry through writing. They equipped him for it.A parent's final blessing can shape a lifetime. Matthew's mother's dying prayer over him—passing on her spirit of discernment—became the foundation for his life verse and his calling.Writing can be a form of processing, not just producing. Matthew often writes scenes in real time as God is revealing something to him personally, using his fiction as a form of spiritual journaling.Shifting from platform-building to obedience changes everything. Matthew shared how God redirected his focus from selling books to simply being faithful to the stories he's been given to tell.Biblical fiction gives permission to wonder. Imagining what could have happened in the margins of Scripture can help readers relate their own struggles to the very real, very human people of the early church. Key Themes: Mental health and faith · Writing from lived experience · Generational blessing and legacy · Biblical fiction as ministry · Obedience over platform-building · Grief and healing · Spiritual discernment Who Will Benefit: This GPS episode is for writers who wonder if their pain disqualifies them from being used by God, for anyone processing mental health struggles within their family of origin, for biblical fiction readers and writers looking for a new series to dive into, and for anyone who needs to hear that God can turn even our darkest seasons into the very thing someone else needs to read. I'm honored to be one of the featured authors for Matthew's biblical fiction blog tour: (19) PenWorks of The Word Blog Tour - Part One | Facebook I'm Anna Moore Bradfield. This is God's Power Stories.

    112 | The Gift His Mother Prayed Into Him: A Conversation with Author Matthew Elliott

  6. Sep 22

    110 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 2, The Alter of The Unknown God

    What are the odds that a church bell rings out across Athens at the exact moment a teacher reads aloud the words "To an unknown God"—while standing on the very hill where Paul first spoke them? In this powerful series finale, Anna and John climb Mars Hill (the Areopagus)—the rocky outcrop where the Athenian council once tried serious cases, and where Paul delivered one of the most strategically brilliant sermons in the New Testament (Acts 17:16-34). They unpack why Paul opened not with condemnation but with genuine observation: "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects"—turning misdirected religious passion into a bridge rather than a battleground. Featuring a remarkable live recording of Jonathan Cahn teaching at the exact site, complete with a church bell ringing at the precise moment he read the words "To an unknown God" from the ancient altar inscription—an unplanned, unmistakable God moment captured on tape. This episode explores Paul's profound theological claim that God "is not far from each one of us... in Him we live and move and exist," revealing that Athens, for all its temples and altars, had been reaching toward a God who was already standing in the room. The episode—and the entire twelve-part In the Margins series—closes with worship and anointing in the city where Paul once stood, a tender and vulnerable reflection from John about how this trip changed him, and a final challenge: the God of Athens' unknown altar is not far from any of us. He never was. #InTheMargins #MarsHill #Areopagus #UnknownGod #ApostlePaul #Acts17 #JonathanCahn #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #InHimWeLiveAndMove #SeriesFinale #FaithJourney #Athens #BiblicalArchaeology #ChristianTravel #GodMoments #BibleStudyPodcast #NotFarFromEachOne #SevenChurchesOfRevelation #TheUnknownGod If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    110 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 2, The Alter of The Unknown God

  7. Sep 15

    109 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 1, The City That Almost Got It Right

    What happens when a city has all the genius, all the devotion, and all the precision in the world—and points it at the wrong thing? In this first of two Athens episodes, Anna and John walk through the Ancient Agora, where Paul reasoned daily with strangers in Acts 17:17, using the Greek word dialegomai—dialogue, not lecture—to meet people exactly where they were. They explore the Acropolis and the Parthenon, marveling at the ancient Greeks' astonishing architectural precision (including entasis, the intentional inward curve of columns designed to appear perfectly straight to the human eye)—all poured into worship of Athena, a goddess who wasn't there. They visit Pnyx Hill, birthplace of Athenian democracy, and reflect on the paradox of a civilization that gave the world profound civic ideals while also condemning Socrates, excluding women, and depending on slavery. This episode doesn't shy away from the very human side of pilgrimage: after days of exhausting travel, Anna and John admit they didn't make the climb to the Parthenon's summit—and found peace in that limitation. They wander through Syntagma Square, the Panathenaic Stadium, and the ancient neighborhood of Plaka... where they end up eating McDonald's in the shadow of the Acropolis. Because sometimes the most honest thing you can do on a holy journey is admit you're hungry. Athens was brilliant. Athens was broken. And Athens was reaching for something it couldn't quite name—setting the stage for what happens next, on Mars Hill. #InTheMargins #Athens #AncientAgora #Acropolis #Parthenon #PnyxHill #ApostlePaul #ActsOfTheApostles #AncientGreece #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #Entasis #AthenianDemocracy #BiblicalArchaeology #FaithJourney #GreeceTravel #ChristianTravel #BibleStudyPodcast #Plaka #Socrates If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    109 | In the Margins: Athens, Part 1, The City That Almost Got It Right

  8. Sep 8

    108 | In the Margins: Cenchrea, From These Same Shores

    What does it feel like to watch two former Muslims commissioned as missionaries on the exact shore where Paul once fulfilled a vow before setting sail toward Jerusalem? In this shorter but deeply resonant episode of In the Margins, Anna and John travel to Cenchreae, the humble eastern port of ancient Corinth where Acts 18:18 tells us Paul cut his hair to fulfill a Nazirite vow before departing for Syria. Unlike the grand tourist sites of Ephesus or Corinth, Cenchreae is quiet, worn, and honest—a place where something real happened two thousand years ago and, remarkably, still happens today. Their group gathered on this rocky shore to pray and worship at the water's edge, small against the vastness of the sea—much as Paul and the original disciples once were. Then came the moment that stopped everyone: two men who had come out of Islam to faith in Jesus, now serving as missionaries, joined the group and were commissioned right there on the shore, echoing Acts 13's sending of Barnabas and Saul from Antioch. This episode explores the profound meaning of being "sent"—not self-appointed, but interrupted, redirected, and commissioned by something larger than personal ambition—and reflects on how every stop of this entire journey, from Smyrna's martyrdom to Ephesus's lost first love to Corinth's dysfunction and redemption, prepared the ground for this singular moment of watching the mission continue, unbroken, from the same shores where it began. #InTheMargins #Cenchreae #ApostlePaul #ActsOfTheApostles #NazariteVow #Missionaries #Sent #ChristianPodcast #RevelationTour #FaithJourney #GreeceTravel #ChristianTravel #Acts13 #BiblicalArchaeology #ExMuslimBelievers #CalledAndSent #BibleStudyPodcast #CorinthPort #FromTheseShores #TheMissionContinues If this podcast has been a gift to you, help us reach someone who needs it. Find the giving link along with links to my books and community at beacons.ai/annamoorebradfield

    108 | In the Margins: Cenchrea, From These Same Shores
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About

Your mom, your grandpa, somebody in your life whom you love and admire said that the Bible holds the answers to every question or problem you’d ever have. Wow. Think of it. After all, you have questions! You’ve been known to have a problem or two. It would be great if you could find the answers you’re looking for. You crack open that Bible a couple of times but just as quickly shut it. You want to love digging into Scripture. Instead, you find it intimidating, judgmental, and maybe even unbelievable. Let’s change that. Hi! I’m Anna Moore Bradfield, an award-winning and bestselling author, Christian speaker, and facilitator of workshops and events. I’ve been where you are. Plenty of times. I’ve questioned if God cared at all about what I was going through. Did he even have a plan for my life? When I got up the guts to tell him to his face, I found that he had very broad shoulders and that he could take anything I dished out. Then he began revealing himself to me. In this podcast, we’ll share: • Stories from the Bible that reveal God’s interactions with His people, confirming His desire for intimate, consistent, and loving relationships. • Stories from everyday life that testify to God’s revelation through the Holy Spirit. • Ways to develop a Bible study and prayer life that help us to become both open and full throttle geeked to boldly approach God’s throne. It’s easy to miss these life-changing moments if we aren’t looking for them. But the more we look, the more we find. As you engage with this podcast, you’ll find yourself looking to the Word with fresh eyes and a renewed desire to discover God’s plan for your life. You’ll find that the same God who led all the great characters of Scripture way back in Bible times is crazy about you, too. In fact, he’s been thinking about you all day. I’m rooting for you! And I can’t wait to connect with you 😊. If you've been blessed by this podcast, help us bless others with your financial giving. It might be the best money you've ever spent. Pre-order Leaven, book four of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Legacy, book one of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles  Start reading Lunacy, book two of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Start reading Loosed, book three of my biblical fiction series The Lambswool Chronicles Use this affiliate code to get great bonuses with Galaxy.ai: GF4MX8R In addition to the podcast, join the community Ask me to speak or facilitate at your event Follow me on Instagram: anna.moore.bradfield Follow me on Facebook: anna.moore.bradfield.author RSSVERIFY

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