History Makers Radio

Justin Michael is the former frontman of the beloved Australian Christian band Compliments of Gus. He's now serving as a Pastor in Victoria, and continues to write, record, and serve as a worship leader and creative mentor - carrying forward the same authenticity and passion that defined his band years, now lived out in his solo artistry. Steve Mckenna caught up with Justin recently, listen in to his story!

Justin Lippiatt is a recovered alcoholic and drug abuser. He's also and Author, a Church planter and has a heart for Marketplace ministry. He has experienced painful divorce, depression, and homelessness in his early life. He often states that, "my scars are a roadmap to my past, but don't define my pathway to my future, by God's Grace". The journey with The Lord has provided him with the empathy and insights required to develop relationships with most people, from every walk of life. Since his arrival in Australia from South Africa in 2007, he has been involved in many transformational aspects of ministry. Wes Leake caught up with Justin to hear his story, listen in!

Brian Doerksen was a well known Worship leader show passed away recently. This week, to honour his amazing legacy we will be featuring a conversation that Matt recorded with Brian. Brian wrote well known songs like, Come now is the time to Worship, Refiners Fire and Light the Fire again. Listen in to his story!

Marziyeh Amirizadeh, Marzi, is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death by hanging in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity. She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation in Evin prison—one of the most brutal prisons in the world. Marzi is a published author, public speaker, and activist for religious freedom. Her first book, Captive in Iran, recounts her capture and imprisonment. Her second book, A Love Journey with God, recounts how Marzi found God, the struggles she experienced as a Christian woman in an Islamic Country, and how God can turn any situation into triumph. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran. Andrew McLennan spoke with Marzi about her story, listen in!

Linda Bencomo is a worship leader with a powerful story to tell! She was in a Cult in Samford, Australia for a number of years. In this conversation she shares how she escaped and how she was able to discern the lies from the truth after many years of healing. Listen in to her story!

Matt Gray is an audio engineer and a musician with a great story to tell! Many years ago, he was the Drummer for the band, "Leo Nine," formerly known as "Battered Fish." He's worked as a commercial radio producer for Austereo and has been active in recording and mastering bands including the like Travis, Jet, Eskimo Joe, Evermore, Superjesus, Sarah Blasko and Killing Heidi. He has seen thousands of projects come through the doors attracting a wide range of high profile international and local artists including: Giorgio Moroder featuring Sia, Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears whose singles saw number 1 chart success in the Billboard Dance charts. In this conversation, Matt shares about his faith journey, and his heart to see Christian artists have a platform in Australia. Listen in to his story!

Shane and Shane is the combination of solo artists Shane Barnard and Shane Everett. After meeting in college, Shane and Shane began writing songs and touring the country leading worship. Many years later, they're writing more music than ever, with no intention of slowing down. Their desire has always been to glorify the Lord instead of themselves and they do so by writing music that is biblically based, lyrically rich, and sonically engaging. Check out their discography! Over the past few years, Shane and Shane have dedicated their lives to encourage and equip worship leaders and their teams through an online resource called The Worship Initiative. The Worship Initiative is an equipping ministry and a collective of worship leaders that, over the past few years, has grown into a thriving community in and of itself. This is a flashback interview from many years ago and my co-host was Karen Hunt, listen in!

In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, I chat with Pastor Dan Paikea from Gold Coast Chapel, to talk about one of the hardest seasons his family has ever faced. On June 11th, 2025, Dan's son Joel was involved in a devastating motorbike accident while out delivering Uber Eats. Within hours, the family found themselves in the ICU facing a reality no parent ever wants to hear. Doctors told them the injuries were severe and they could not guarantee Joel would survive. What followed was a journey through trauma, uncertainty, faith, and an incredible outpouring of community support. Joel suffered multiple life-threatening injuries including a severe brain injury, a torn aorta, a shattered femur, and extensive damage to his leg. He spent nearly a month in a coma and months recovering in hospital. But this story isn't just about the accident. It's about what happened in the weeks and months that followed. Dan shares what it was like sitting in the ICU not knowing if his son would wake up, the tension between medical reality and faith, and how thousands of people around the world began praying for Joel. We talk about the moments that stood out during the recovery, the role of worship and prayer in the hospital room, and the surprising encounters with paramedics and surgeons who were there the night Joel's life was saved.It's an honest conversation about pain, hope, faith, and the power of community when life suddenly turns upside down. If you or someone you love has ever faced a moment where everything felt uncertain, this conversation will encourage you!

Eddie Penney is a highly decorated former U.S. Navy SEAL and Marine Corps veteran known for his extensive combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. After retiring in 2016, he became an entrepreneur and speaker focusing on faith, mental health, and overcoming trauma. Andrew Mclennan caught up with him to hear his story. Listen in!

Eddie Penney is a highly decorated former U.S. Navy SEAL and Marine Corps veteran known for his extensive combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. After retiring in 2016, he became an entrepreneur and speaker focusing on faith, mental health, and overcoming trauma. Andrew Mclennan caught up with him to hear his story. Listen in! Also,...

Eddie Penney is a highly decorated former U.S. Navy SEAL and Marine Corps veteran known for his extensive combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. After retiring in 2016, he became an entrepreneur and speaker focusing on faith, mental health, and overcoming trauma. Andrew Mclennan caught up with him to hear his story. Listen in!

Nicky Gumbel from the Alpha Course shares a story about Barbara Clapham who came to live in London. At the age of 33, she decided she was going to look for a church. One Sunday she arrived at Holy Trinity Brompton. The young woman who was welcoming people at the door smiled at her and...

Max Lucado tells the story about the man who wanted to learn to dance. He bought a book about dancing and went home and started to research it. Once he thought he’d finally got the knack, he asked his wife into the lounge room to show her what he’d learnt. He followed the instructions clearly...

With the ball tampering scandal and all the drama surrounding international cricket, it’s easy to be disillusioned. For one cricketer who is a man of faith who is Marnus Labuschagne who plays for Queensland as well as the Brisbane Heat. On the bottom of his cricket bat he has the verse Isaiah 40:31, which says...

Sam Humphrey is a New Zealand born actor who’s best know for playing General Tom Thumb in the film The Greatest Showman. He’s also been featured on the TV show Neighbours. He was born with a rare genetic disorder. A common form of dwarfism. As a child he was also diagnosed with the inflammatory bowel...

Eddie Woo is the high school maths teacher and internet sensation who won the Australia Day Local Hero Award in 2018. After one student couldn’t make it to class, he decided to film his maths classes and put them on YouTube. Now he’s reached millions of people all around the world with his Wootube channel....

Eddie Woo is the high school maths teacher and internet sensation who won the Australia Day Local Hero award in 2018. After one student couldn’t make it to class, he decided to film his maths classes and put them on YouTube. Now he’s reached millions of people all around the world with his Wootube channel....

One of the most popular Christian songs ever is “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe. The song was written by Bart Millard after a tough time in life. In the movie of the same name, “I Can Only Imagine”, it tells the story of how Bart was abused as a young man. His mother abandoned...

In 1857, in New York City, Jeremy Lanphier started a lunchtime prayer meeting, praying for revival in his nation. And after advertising the prayer meeting widely, only six people turned up. After three weeks of faithfully gathering, his prayer meeting had 40 people joining in on daily meetings. On October 10 that year, the stock...

A recent survey showed that 85% of US Christians only prayed for themselves and their families. Only 15% prayed for the world around them, yet the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 2 that we must pray with supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks for all men, for kings and for all who are...

A man went to a barber shop to have his hair cut and hist beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things on various subjects, when they eventually touched on the subject of God. The barber said, “I don’t believe that God...

Have you ever taken your children to the shops and just at the checkout, there’s all the chocolate and they toys and the lollies that tempts the kids right at their eye level? They’re so clever at placing just the right thing to tempt your kids at just the right time. I heard a story...

The story is told of a police constable in Canberra that mapped out the worst crime spots in the city. He also mapped out the churches and then combined the two maps. It turned out that the areas that where the churches were had the lowest crime rate and the areas with the worst crime...

Doctor J. Edwin Orr, the greatest authority ever on revival in the church was a lecturer at Wheaton College. He took some students in 1940 in a brief visit to England, to visit the Epworth refectory where John Wesley was based. Beside the bed are two worn impressions in the carpet where it was said...

Bob Gas from “The Word for Today” tells the story of a nine year old boy named Philip who suffered with down syndrome. In Sunday School the other kids made fun of him because he was different. The Sunday before easter the teacher gave each of the kids a plastic egg and asked them to...

Nicky Gumbel from the Alpha Course shares lots of stories about how he loves his wife Pippa. But he says there is a difference between knowing his wife and knowing about his wife. He said that if there was a book about his wife called “The Book of Pippa”, he could read through it and...

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Is the cup half full or half empty? There’s a great story that’s told about a pair of twin boys where one was an optimist and the other was a pessimist. On the twins birthday when the boys were at school, the father loaded the pessimists room with...

Nicky Gumbel the founder of the Alpha Course tells the story about how he met Eric Idle, one of the comedians behind the famous Monty Python films. They sat next to each other on a chair lift in the Swiss Alps just after Nicky had conducted a wedding. He said they had a great chat...

Chuck Swindoll shares in his book the “The Grace Awakening” about how grace is risky. He said lets imagine that you have a six year old son whom you love dearly. Tragically one day you find out that your son has been horribly murdered. After a length search, the investigators of the crime find the...

I love watching eagles. They spread their massive wings and the wings lift them up to new heights. Did you know that eagles don’t fight snakes on the ground? They pick them up into the sky and change the battleground. In the sky, the snake has no stamina, no power and no balance in the...

Bob Gass from “The Word for Today” shares the story about John Griffith, the railway controller. His responsibility was for a draw bridge over the Mississippi River. One day he took his young son to work with him. After putting the massive draw bridge up, Griffith was eating lunch when suddenly he heard the whistle...

In his book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, C.S. Lewis described a world where truth and values had been usurped by another ideology. It was an ideology that created a world where it was always winter and never Christmas. And anyone that opposed it faced suffering and persecution. Many are noticing that in...

A little boy once said to his mum, “Who’s book is this?” The mum replied, “It’s God’s book, the Bible.” Then the boy said, “Well why don’t we return it? We never read it?” Many in the West have several bibles in each house, we have them on apps, online, on CD, DVD & some...

Brother Andrew from Open Doors, well known from the book, “God’s Smuggler,” took a courageous risk many years ago & started smuggling Bibles into Communist China. He prayed the now famous prayer, “Lord you can make blind eyes see, now make seeing eyes blind.” The guards at the checkpoint didn’t see the bibles in his...

An old Chinese pastor once said, “There are 3 kinds of christians. Some who have the bible but don’t read it, they don’t count. Some who read the bible & don’t live it out, they don’t count. And there are those who read the bible and live it out, those are the ones who count....

According to the university of Iowa, the average 2 year old child hears 432 negative statements each day, but only 32 positive statements each day. And by the time your kid is in high school he or she will hear an average of 15 negative comments to every one positive! The Bibles says in Ephesians...

Many people love the icing on the cake. I’ve even seen some kids just eat the icing and leave the cake on the plate. But the way cakes are created, it’s best to eat both, and too much icing is not good for you! Sex is a bit like the icing on the cake. You...

Once there was a river that was infested with dangerous crocodiles. People from the nearby village would often be attacked and lose limbs and have terrible scars, and sometimes lives would be lost. But the longstanding tradition of the village was that people would never talk about the crocodiles, it was a taboo subject. Many...

Research shows that the divorce rate for couples who marry in a church is 40%. For those married by a Celebrant it’s 60%. For those who live together before they are married it’s 80%. And for those couples who read their bible daily it’s 1 in 1051 that get divorced. When we follow God’s design...

They say that a smart chess player can think seven moves ahead before he makes his next move. I think we need to think the same way for our children’s sake and for the sake of our children’s children. Recently I spoke to a friend of mine who’s a pastor in Seattle, USA. He said...

With the introduction of social media into our lives. Everyone has become a broadcaster. Everyone like to share their opinions and their point of view. And people like to discuss and argue over different topics. Whether it’s online or face-to-face, we need to be careful about what we say. We need to be careful about...

I saw a poster recently that really got me thinking. It said “Jesus avoided people, so should you.” I thought, it’s true that Jesus did go off to solitary places to pray at times and he didn’t always avoid people. He loved them and he ministered to them, he did miracles with them. But it...

They say that a good leader will keep two steps ahead of the people they’re leading, but there’s a lot of pressure in keeping ahead of the rest. And now more than ever the spotlight is on the politicians and bosses and pastors. With social media available to all, they can come under attack from...

For thousands of years the definition of marriage has been between one man and one woman. And some are trying to change that definition in the name of equality. They’re saying it’s discriminating against what they believe. But for those that hold to the teachings of Christ and have been doing so for years, isn’t...

I heard a great story about what it means to have a relationship with God. The story is told about a first year Mathematics student that had an exam. He asked his professor “If you could take an A4 piece of paper as a cheatsheet into the exam. The professor agreed and told all the...

We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s like a battle between David and Goliath.” This biblical term has stayed in our vocabulary for years. It’s often used when the small guy takes on the big guy. When I hear that phrase used, it reminds me to my visit to the Valley of Elah in Israel. The...

One of the most amazing and life changing experiences for me has been visiting the holy land in Israel. Walking on the same streets that Jesus and the Disciples walked. Visiting Jerusalem where King David and King Solomon ruled. Sailing on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Visiting the valley where David slew Goliath....

As a pastor, one of the most moving experiences in ministry for me, has been to visit some of the asylum seekers at one of the detention centres. Sitting and talking with these refugees from Iran, Somalia, Myanmar. Many have come on boats, seeking a better life. Fleeing the persecution from their countries. Regardless of...

I heard a story about the importance of having a vision and having dreams for your life. There was a young guy who didn’t have much confidence in life. He didn’t brush his hair. He didn’t wear deodorant. He walked around dragging his feet. And didn’t have a dream or a goal for his life....

There’s a well known story about twin brothers who’s father was the town drunk. One of them grew up to be a successful business man. The other grew up to be the town drunk. When either of them were asked how they ended up the way they did, both of them said “Well, with my...