"Covenant & Conflict" is a thought-provoking podcast produced by the “Gateway Center for Israel” and hosted by Nic Lesmeister and David Blease, where ancient biblical truths meet contemporary issues head-on. Each episode offers a deep dive into complex and often divisive topics with subject matter experts, aiming to explore the intersection of covenantal values and modern debates. Instead of fostering division, this podcast seeks to model respectful engagement and peaceful discourse amidst conflict.
The gospel outline most of us learned jumps from creation straight to Jesus in the New Testament. Our kids inherit the missing storyline in the Bible and it shapes how they see Israel.On this episode of Covenant & Conflict, Nic sits down with his wife Tabatha, who holds a master’s in practical theology with a concentration in the land of the Bible. Their advice for parents starts before any theology: bring your kids into the story of Scripture, where Abraham’s family is at the center, Jesus was and still is Jewish, and Jewish people brought the gospel to us. They also name the small habits that keep the blind spot alive, like calling it the “Old” Testament.What we cover in this episode:• What a 14-year-old is hearing from classmates at a Christian schoolIsrael and the nations, and why we are the nations• The family language the Bible uses and the institutional language we use• Jeremiah 31, Romans 11, Ephesians 3, and Psalm 83 to read together• What “Zionist” and “Israel” mean when your kids hear them at school• Staying caring, curious, and committed to God’s word in the conversation00:00 Identity is formed in the story01:18 Meet Tabatha and why this conversation matters09:11 Start with Israel and the nations14:33 The blind spot we pass down28:01 Scriptures to read with your kids45:41 What “Zionist” and “Israel” actually mean52:43 Closing thoughts and prayer
12 Aug 2026
Why Israel is Key to Reaching the World
In 1999, Wayne Wilks had a vision in a Budapest hotel room. Seventeen years later, on a balcony in that same city, he had another one... and it became Gateway Center for Israel.
Nic Lesmeister sits down with Wayne to trace the whole story: an altar in Amarillo where a missions call turned into a lifelong love for the Jewish people, a festival in Odessa that filled a new Bible institute with purpose, and a moment in Ethiopia that quietly pointed toward who'd carry it all forward. They walk through decades of open doors, prophetic words, and one visa that cleared as the plane was boarding.
What we cover in this episode:
Wayne's 1982 altar moment in Amarillo and the Ezekiel study that reframed "to the Jew first"
The 1996 Odessa festival and the Isaiah 37 visa story
Ethiopia's ancient Jewish community and Zimbabwe's Lemba tribe
The Ethiopia courtyard moment that pointed toward Nick
The Budapest balcony vision and the founding of Gateway Center for Israel
Chapters
0:00 Why Israel Is Key to Reaching the Nations
4:54 Wayne’s Call to Missions
9:31 A New Revelation About Israel
16:52 The Calling That Led to Ukraine
32:17 A Life-Changing Encounter in Ethiopia
48:47 The Birth of Gateway Center for Israel
59:03 What’s Next for the Church and Israel
29 Jul 2026
What Happens when Your Family Rejects Your Faith
"If you walk out those doors, you're not coming back home." She walked out anyway, and that was only the beginning.On Covenant and Conflict, Trystan Tice tells David how a secular Jewish teenager from South Florida ended up asked to leave home for believing in Jesus, and what it cost her to keep going. She traces the years of persecution, the questions across the kitchen table, and the slow way her own family's hearts began to turn.What we cover in this episode:• Growing up culturally Reform Jewish, with faith as identity rather than belief• The church service where she wept and couldn't explain why• Praying "if Jesus is the truth, answer me" and watching her desires change• Being told to leave home, and the friends who took her in• Canceling her own baptism to honor her mother, then baptized in the Jordan RiverChapters00:00 From Jewish to Following Jesus01:55 Growing Up Jewish Without Knowing God04:20 The Church Service That Changed Everything09:41 How Reading the Bible Changed My Life13:54 Kicked Out for Following Jesus20:25 Baptized in the Jordan River26:39 How My Entire Family Found Jesus
Reach and audience
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
17 ratings
Spotify
4.7 / 5
17 ratings
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