Initiated by GOD

Candice grew up in church. After becoming pregnant as a teenager, she felt the support she had known fall away. Years later, following a divorce and the end of a job, she sensed a call to move her prayer community onto TikTok. Seventeen people joined the first day. In this conversation with Jessica, Candice talks about church hurt, learning to hear God for herself, the fear of starting something unfamiliar, and why she believes digital ministry still needs real human connection. She also shares what it took to keep showing up after the first prayer session. What does it look like to make room for people who still love God but feel disconnected from church? Share your thoughts below. Subscribe to Initiated by God for more conversations about faith, purpose, and obedience. #InitiatedByGod #ChurchHurt #DigitalMinistry

From a homeless teenager living out of his car to a PhD holder and founder of Love Beyond Walls, the speaker’s story is one of profound transformation and faith. In this episode, he shares the raw realities of trauma, poverty, and invisibility, and how mentorship, community, and unwavering belief in purpose reshaped his life. Discover how Dr. Lester’s journey challenges stereotypes about homelessness and reveals the power of empathy over sympathy. Hear about his bold choice to live on the streets to raise awareness and the deep lessons learned about human dignity and service. Takeaways include: - Purpose often emerges from the pain we endure. - Healing requires both personal responsibility and community support. - True empathy means seeing beyond circumstances to the inherent worth in everyone. - Faith can sustain us through the darkest seasons. - Service to others transforms both giver and receiver. How do you see purpose unfolding in your own life amid challenges? Share your thoughts below. Subscribe for…

The conversation doesn’t have to end when the video does. If Hardly Initiated has challenged your thinking, opened your mind, or made you feel understood, come be part of what’s next. We’re building the Hardly Initiated community, and we want you in it. Join the waitlist to be among the first to hear when we launch 👉 https://stayinitiated.com. Darius Benders had about $1,200 to his name and needed his mother’s help to pay his phone bill. Then he drove to Atlanta for a conference he could barely afford. Was that faith—or a risk he couldn’t afford to take? On Initiated by God, Jessica Laine MacDonald sits down with Darius for a conversation about the pressure of starting over, the relationships that changed his direction, and what happened after he gained access to money. An entrepreneur and credit and funding educator, Darius shares how a conference connection led to weekly accountability calls and, in his account, $167,000 in funding in 47 days. But Jessica keeps pressing beyond the numbers: access to money…

A successful marriage. Successful businesses. Luxury cars. A multimillion-dollar life. But behind what looked like success, Joy Hunt says she was losing access to her finances, overlooking warning signs and slowly losing herself. In this episode of Initiated by God, Jessica Laine MacDonald sits down with attorney, entrepreneur, mother and business owner Joy Hunt for an honest conversation about financial control, betrayal, divorce, faith and what happens when the life you worked so hard to protect begins falling apart. Joy explains why she says she “colored the red flags green,” how she found herself asking for grocery money while living in a home with a $10,000 mortgage, and why one of her hardest realizations was that although she knew how to protect businesses, she had failed to protect herself. They also unpack: • How financial abuse can hide behind the appearance of provision • The difference between enduring a difficult season and accepting disrespect • Why successful women sometimes protect the image…

Can you survive a wound and still unknowingly repeat it? Jessica Laine MacDonald sits down with psychotherapist, Bible teacher, and author Dr. Sarita Lyons to examine how childhood pain follows us into marriage, parenting, faith, and conflict. Dr. Lyons explains why we can become—or attract—the person who hurt us, how self-protection can sound like discernment, and why biblical honor does not require enabling abuse or pretending the past was healthy. She also distinguishes confession from genuine repentance and offers a practical standard for recognizing lasting change. The conversation includes Dr. Lyons’ personal journey away from Jesus, her dramatic return to faith, and the lessons behind her book Honor Thy Mother. This episode is for anyone ready to tell the truth about what happened without allowing it to determine what happens next.

Would you turn down $37 million if accepting it meant walking away from your purpose? Live from Invest Fest, Jessica Lane McDonald joins Touré Roberts, Tim Timberlake, and Philip Anthony Mitchell for a powerful conversation about discerning opportunity, pursuing success, and remaining faithful to what God has called you to do. The panel examines why every open door is not necessarily a God-directed door, how ambition can distort discernment, and why convictions must be established before a major opportunity arrives. They also discuss stewardship, intimacy with God, identity beyond achievement, and the character required to sustain influence. In this episode, you’ll discover: • How to distinguish a good opportunity from a God opportunity • Why success can become a dangerous distraction • How peace, purpose, and convictions can guide major decisions • Why character matters more than talent • What it means to pursue prosperity without being possessed by it • How to trust God during seasons of waiting and…

The world knows the King name. Very few understand the weight Dr. Bernice King had to carry behind it. Before she was old enough to choose her own path, Dr. King inherited one of the most significant legacies in American history. Behind that public responsibility was a private struggle with grief, anger, identity, faith, and the pressure of constantly being compared to her father. Then came a moment that changed everything. After struggling in law school, Dr. King reached such a painful place that she was prepared to end her life. In that moment, she heard God speak: “Put the knife down. People are going to miss you.” In this deeply personal episode of Initiated by God, Dr. Bernice King sits down with Jessica Lane McDonald to discuss: • When the King legacy became her God-given assignment• Resisting the pressure to become her father• The personal losses that made her afraid to experience joy• The moment God saved her life• Why it is okay to be angry with God while grieving• Fighting anger, ego, pride, and…

I left the Invest Fest stage with one question I couldn’t shake: Does God promise financial abundance to every believer—or is provision connected to purpose, stewardship, and assignment? After a powerful conversation with Pastors Philip Anthony Mitchell, Touré Roberts, and Tim Timberlake about business acumen and biblical wisdom, I had to confront an uncomfortable truth: A business can be profitable and still be out of alignment.An opportunity can look perfect and still not be your assignment.An open door is not always God’s door. In this episode of Initiated by God, I share why I stepped outside my comfortable lane of teaching money, how criticism made me question this podcast, what disappearing from social media for six months taught me, and why obedience cannot depend on applause. We’re talking honestly about: • The difference between prosperity and accumulation• Why success isn’t always confirmation from God• How comparison can make you chase someone else’s assignment• When stewardship quietly becomes…

At 19, Anthony O'Neal was sleeping in the back of his car in a Walmart parking lot, washing himself with Dawn dish soap because he had nowhere else to go. He had already decided that night was going to be his last. It wasn't. And what happened in that back seat became the foundation of everything he teaches now. In this episode of Initiated By God, Jessica Laine McDonald sits down with bestselling author and financial educator Anthony O'Neal for a conversation the church rarely has out loud — the difference between being taught to give and being taught to build. Anthony breaks down why the poverty mindset convinces believers they don't deserve wealth, why your income is not your greatest wealth-building tool, and why he tells his own family no without flinching. He talks about tithing during a month his company made zero dollars, the three layers written into his estate, and why his nieces and nephews have never received a birthday gift from him — only a 529 receipt. He also says something that will make…

She built the show. Then she walked away from it. After the Philip Anthony Mitchell episode, Jessica realized something she couldn't unrealize: she'd been interviewing people instead of finding the thing inside them that applies to everybody. That one realization didn't just change how she preps an episode — it changed the entire direction of this platform. So we made a decision. Hardly Initiated isn't just a podcast anymore. It's a network. In this episode we open up about the pivot nobody asked us to make: why Jessica stepped away from relationship content to build Initiated By God, why Michael is considering taking over the show he handed off, what the comments got wrong about "replacing then with a woman," and how five shows a week get made. Two people who already have full lives, two boys, and Invest Fest two weeks away. We're also introducing the full lineup for the first time: MONDAY — Initiated By God with Jessica Laine McDonald TUESDAY — Hardly Initiated with Michael J. MacDonald WEDNESDAY —…

He told her he didn’t want to get married. She didn’t cry, didn’t beg, didn’t ask why. She left — and started dating a millionaire major league baseball player. A year later, a broke, overweight preacher called her and said five words: “God said you’re my wife.” She said okay. That was 31 years ago. In this episode of Initiated By God, Jessica Laine MacDonald sits down with Bishop R.C. Blakes and Lady Lisa Blakes — the couple behind The Father Daughter Talk, Queenology, and a global movement healing women around the world. They open up about losing their entire church overnight in Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding from zero at 40, the depression nobody saw while he was saving lives every Sunday, and how Lady Lisa turned surviving childhood abuse into a ministry that fills altars with women who thought they were alone. Bishop Blakes breaks down the father wound — how it gives the world access to a woman’s soul, why it’s the root of “my type,” and the biggest lie wounded women tell themselves. Plus: why you…

A prophet walked into a small church in Waxhaw, North Carolina, pointed at a woman, and exposed an affair in front of the whole congregation — down to the hotel key sitting in a man's wallet. He was right. And he now says he was wrong. In this episode of Initiated By God, Jessica Laine McDonald sits down with Bishop Demetrius Senegal — the "master prophet" training nearly 7,000 prophets across 43 countries — for one of the most unfiltered conversations you'll ever hear about the prophetic. He breaks down the difference between false prophets, true prophets, and people who are simply not prophets, why the "10 millionaires by Friday" prophecy machine needs to be held accountable, and what really opens the door when believers dabble in tarot cards, psychics, and horoscopes. He also goes where most prophets won't: the time his gift outran his maturity, the prophecy a political leader ignored right before losing everything, why he asks God to show him nothing about the women he dates, and how to finally tell the…

The first episode of Initiated By God had to start here. Last year, Jessica Laine McDonald's head shattered a windshield. She lost her memory. She doesn't remember any of it — but her journal does. One entry reads: "Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell prayed for you." What she didn't know until recently: he stopped his entire staff meeting, shut down every room in the building, and formed a prayer circle around her on FaceTime. The next day, her recovery began. That's why he's sitting across from her for the very first conversation of this new assignment. In this episode, Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell opens up like few have heard him before — the night he sat with a shotgun and a bottle of Hennessy before God met him in a bathroom, the four years he ran from his calling, the five-year battle with depression he's never preached about, and the week half the country tried to cancel him. He breaks down what really happens the moment you say yes to God, how to tell His voice from your own and the enemy's, why rest is…