Built 4 More

At 12 years old, Jake Olson woke up from surgery knowing he would never see again. After battling cancer for most of his childhood, doctors had run out of options. Removing his remaining eye was the only way to save his life. In an instant, everything changed. He went from being a normal middle school kid who loved sports to learning how to read Braille, relearn how to socialize, and figure out how to live in a world he could no longer see. But what happened next is what makes his story unforgettable. Jake made a decision in that moment that most people never make he refused to become a victim of his circumstances. Instead of letting blindness take the life he loved from him, he chose to fight for it.

After losing his sight, Jake made a promise to himself that blindness wasn’t going to rob him of the things he loved. Years later, that promise would lead him back onto the football field, first as a high school player, and eventually as a walk-on long snapper at USC. Despite being completely blind, Jake earned the trust of his coaches and teammates and went on to take the snap in a Division 1 college football game, something he once believed would only be possible if he kept his eyesight. What once looked like the end of his story became the beginning of a purpose far greater than he could have imagined.

This conversation is about adversity, identity, and the reality that every person faces a moment where they have to choose whether they will live resentful… or fight on. Jake shares how gratitude became his first step out of victimhood, how hardship can either make you bitter or build your faith, and why circumstances don’t have the power to define the life you’re capable of living. If you’ve ever felt stuck, discouraged, or defined by something that happened to you, this episode will challenge the way you think about what’s actually possible with the life you’ve been given and remind you that even when life doesn’t go according to plan, your story is far from over.

In this episode of Built 4 More, Dylan Mandell joins Pastor Joby Martin and Denny Thompson for a powerful and hope filled conversation about unwavering faith and a life fully surrendered to God.

Dylan faced cancer four times, but his story is not one of doubt or drifting faith. It is a testimony of a young man whose confidence in God only deepened through suffering. Pain did not cause him to question God’s goodness. It revealed it. Each battle stripped away self reliance and strengthened his trust in God.

This episode explores what it looks like to live with unshakable hope, to believe God’s promises without needing clarity, and to walk forward knowing that purpose is often formed through hardship. They talk about identity in Christ, the power of surrender, and why suffering does not stop God’s plan but often sharpens it.

This is an encouraging and faith filled reminder that God is present in every trial, that endurance produces strength, and that a life anchored in Christ can stand firm no matter how many storms come.

If you are facing adversity, walking through pain, or needing a reminder that real faith does not waver when life gets hard, this episode will strengthen you.

Denny and Joby sit down for a raw Q&A on faith, work, leadership, and what it actually looks like to follow Jesus when life is demanding and you keep falling short.

They talk about calling and career, why failure doesn’t disqualify you, and why repentance and responsibility are non-negotiable for growth.

They go straight at leadership, coaching, fatherhood, influence, and integrity, why competence matters, why serving people beats using them, and why you can’t lead anyone where you’re not willing to go yourself.

They address sin, scars, discipline, culture, politics, and discernment with clarity and conviction, calling men to stop drifting, stop blaming, and start owning their lives.
This episode is about daily obedience, choosing the harder path, being present where your feet are, and trusting God with the results.

If you’re frustrated with yourself but still hungry to grow, this conversation will hit home.

Ty Kelly joins Built 4 More for a real conversation about faith, family, identity, and what it looks like to lead when life gets heavy. Ty is a Jacksonville local who went from being a baseball phenom where the game became his identity, to building a massive social media platform by making people laugh, and then learning the hard way that attention can’t be the thing that drives you. He opens up about marrying his high school sweetheart, raising three kids, and how God used parenting to make grace real to him, not performance based religion, but a deeper understanding of what it means to be loved by the Father.Ty also shares the most difficult season of their marriage when his wife Haley faced major preventative surgeries due to a genetic cancer risk, and what it required of him as a husband, a dad, and a man who finally had to admit he could not do it on his own. The episode gets into the pressure of social media, the desire to be liked, the reality of being attacked online, and how those moments exposed what he was building his identity on. More than anything, Ty keeps coming back to the same point: the platform most people are praying for is usually already right in front of them, in their home, their marriage, their kids, and their day to day faithfulness. If you’re chasing purpose, wrestling with identity, or trying to become the man God is calling you to be right where you are, this one will hit.

In this episode of Built 4 More, Lysa TerKeurst sits down with Pastor Joby Martin and Denny Thompson for a raw and honest conversation about pain, betrayal, faith, and trusting God when life does not turn out the way you planned. Lysa opens up about walking through deep personal adversity, seasons of heartbreak, and the tension of loving God while wrestling with unanswered questions. This is not surface level encouragement. It is about what faith really looks like when disappointment hits close to home.

The conversation dives into how to keep your heart soft when you have every reason to shut down, how to lead yourself through grief without letting bitterness take root, and why healing often takes longer than we want it to. Lysa shares hard earned wisdom on boundaries, obedience, forgiveness, and what it means to stay anchored in truth when emotions are loud and circumstances feel overwhelming.

Together, they unpack how adversity exposes what we truly believe about God, how to walk through pain without letting it define you, and why faithfulness in the middle of the struggle matters more than having everything figured out. This episode is for anyone navigating loss, broken trust, or a season where the future feels unclear. If you are trying to hold on to your faith while carrying real hurt, this conversation will meet you where you are and point you forward.