In this powerful episode of the Courageous Crossroads Podcast, Keith Mercer shares his remarkable journey from growing up in the violent streets of Southeast Washington, D.C.—once known as the murder capital—to becoming a first-generation college graduate, athlete, leadership coach, and motivational speaker. Faced with extreme adversity from a young age, including witnessing a murder at […]
In this deeply moving episode, Eric Voelker—educator, former pastor, coach, and two-time NCAA wrestling champion—opens up about what true courage looks like at this stage in his life. Far from the spotlight of athletic victory or public ministry, Eric shares how the most courageous thing he’s ever done is simply showing up, day after day, […]
Jeff Johannesen is a retired CPA and former Chief Strategy Officer at RSM, where he spent over four decades transitioning from client service into high-level leadership, helping shape the firm’s national and global direction. In this episode, Jeff shares his journey from a small-town Iowa farm to the boardrooms of a major professional services firm, […]
Chris Norton is a motivational speaker, author, founder of the Chris Norton Foundation (www.chrisnortonfoundation.org), and former collegiate football player who defied a 3% chance of ever walking again after a life-altering spinal cord injury. Known for his viral walk across his college graduation stage and down the aisle at his wedding, Chris now travels the […]
Jimmy May is a retired Navy SEAL with over two decades of service, including six wartime deployments across Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and the broader Middle East. A Texas native now based in California, Jimmy is the founder of Mayday Executive Services, which curates high adrenaline, high-security experiences for executives, and Beyond the Brotherhood (www.beyondthebrotherhood.org), a […]
Dr. Nicholas Honkamp is an orthopedic surgeon based in Des Moines, Iowa, and the president of DMOS Orthopaedic Centers. Born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa, Dr. Honkamp studied at the University of Notre Dame and later earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa. His journey into orthopedics began through hands-on experience in athletic […]
Francis Collins isn’t just a brilliant scientist—he’s one of the most influential geneticists of our time. As the director of the Human Genome Project, Collins helped map the 3 billion letters of human DNA, advancing medicine and biology in ways once thought impossible. But perhaps even more compelling than his scientific achievements is his personal […]
Alister McGrath didn’t stumble into Christianity through emotion or crisis—he reasoned his way there. Born in Northern Ireland in 1953, McGrath began his academic life as a scientist, studying chemistry at Oxford. A brilliant scholar, he would go on to earn not one, but three PhDs from Oxford—in science, theology, and intellectual history. Today, he’s […]
For over 50 years, Antony Flew stood as one of the world’s most influential atheist philosophers. Long before Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens became household names, Flew was the go-to figure for arguments against the existence of God. But in a surprising turn late in life, Flew publicly changed his mind—shifting from atheism to belief […]
Larry Sanger, best known as the co-founder of Wikipedia, spent decades as a committed skeptic. With a Ph.D. in philosophy and a deep background in analytic thought—where atheism and agnosticism are the norm—Sanger approached life with intellectual rigor and an unwavering commitment to reason. He wasn’t hostile to religion, but for over 35 years, he […]
