The Rugged Path

Hunter Gochenour: The Lost Sheep Gets Found | The Rugged Path

Tue, 26 May 2026 04:00:00 -0500

Hunter Gochenour spent 30 years doing it his way — and it nearly cost him everything. He grew up in a Luray, Virginia mountain town with a mother unraveling into meth addiction and a father who was barely present. By 18 he was in Myrtle Beach selling cocaine and Adderall, driving Corvettes, and watching people around him disappear. When a close friend turned up shot multiple times in the back of the head and the death was ruled a suicide, Hunter decided it was time to leave before the same thing found him. What followed was an Army career that started with four enlistment attempts and recruiter fraud and eventually landed him in the 18X-Ray Special Forces pipeline, through Infantry Basic, Airborne School, and the Special Operations Combat Medic course — until a bull riding injury put him on med hold. He deployed to Poland with the 82nd Airborne, served as a recon team leader, and was med-boarded out in 2024 against his will. By the fall of 2025, two relationships were over, the divorce was finalized, and Hunter was sitting on a horse farm outside Southern Pines with a .320 in his hand. A friend showed up with sunflower seeds. Then on November 10th, 2025, he drove to his buddy Tom's house, knocked on the door, and said he thought he needed to be saved. He walked into the yard and gave it all up on his knees. Tom had unknowingly cooked dinner for him and laid out four gifts and a card. Hunter says God knew he was coming. In this conversation, Hunter and Dan cover the full arc — the childhood he survived, the Army career he fought to earn and didn't want to lose, the ego that kept God out for 30 years, the spiritual warfare that hit the moment after salvation, and the January 2026 job site accident where a 16,000-pound machine ran over him and he walked away with a bruise on his ankle and drove himself to the hospital. Hunter is 30 years old, six months saved when he sits down with Dan, still mid-fight — and already leading other men to Christ wherever he finds them. Subscribe to The Rugged Path on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Rumble, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and Podbean. New episodes drop every two weeks. Show notes and full episode archive at theruggedpathpodcast.com.

Chris Loschiavo: He Put the Gun Down Because of a Bible on the Counter | The Rugged Path

Tue, 12 May 2026 04:00:00 -0500

Chris Loschiavo grew up in church because his mother made sure of it. He was saved at six, baptized at twelve, and spent the next two decades doing exactly what he wanted while God kept redirecting him anyway. A coin toss made him a Quartermaster officer instead of Infantry. That sent him to Fort Bragg instead of a combat deployment. That put him on a helicopter to Kandahar as a first lieutenant doing the work of three senior officers. Every maddening redirect, every plan that fell apart, was a hand he would only recognize in hindsight.

In January 2007, alone in his condo in Fayetteville with a finished bottle of red wine and his loaded Glock 19, Chris came closer to ending his life than he had ever admitted to anyone. He looked across the room, saw his Bible sitting on the kitchen counter, put the gun down, and picked it up. He would deny that night had ever happened for the next ten years -- calling other soldiers who attempted suicide weak and selfish while he buried the truth so deep he almost believed it himself. It took a military psychiatrist in Korea nine years later to crack it open. He wept in her office. She diagnosed him with depression and PTSD. He finally told the truth.

This conversation covers 20 years of a man hearing God and choosing himself, until he finally didn't. It covers military identity, suicidal ideation, shame as a long-term survival strategy, marriage strain, and what it costs to walk away from everything you worked for since September 12, 2001. Chris turned down three battalion commands and a dream job at his alma mater because he believed God was calling him somewhere else. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in July 2025 and opened a barbecue food truck in the Sandhills of North Carolina. It is not paying him yet. He says he has never been more at peace.

If you have ever sat in a pew and gone through the motions while carrying something you were not ready to hand over, this one is for you. Subscribe wherever you listen, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

Keith Golightly: Special Ops Intelligence Officer Becomes Pastor | The Rugged Path

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:00:00 -0500

Keith Golightly grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas, with no connection to faith, no knowledge of his grandfather except through a handmade leather wallet sent from prison, and no warning before his family fell apart. He is now an associate pastor at Grace Church in Southern Pines, North Carolina, a former US Army special operations intelligence officer, and one of the most clear-eyed people you will find talking about what God does with a broken family and a hardened heart. Keith's story runs through a father's suicide attempt on a Dallas highway overpass, a chance invitation to a college campus ministry, and more than half a decade inside JSOC running counter-ISIS intelligence operations that fed reports to the White House. He deployed to Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. He ran Bible studies downrange. He resisted the culture of chest-reading and ego that runs through special operations while staying fully inside it, understanding himself not as a soldier who happened to be a Christian but as a Christian who happened to be a soldier. The turning point came on a Thursday night at Sam Houston State University, when Keith walked to an altar for the first time and prayed the first prayer of his life. The years that followed were a sustained process of God refining what had been hard -- the bitterness toward his mother, the distance from his father, the pride that special operations culture rewards and God does not. His final OER from a squadron commander who was not a believer read: "You're a friend to the squadron." The Holy Spirit reminded him of John 15. That was enough. Listeners will come away with a sharper understanding of what it costs to carry faith into a culture that runs on ego, what forgiveness actually requires, and what it looks like when a man's deepest ambition shifts from building a career to building a family. Keith closes with the last verse of the Old Testament and why it is the thing he wants most to get right before he leaves the earth.

Will Johnson: From Suicide Attempt to Saving Lives | The Rugged Path

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 04:00:00 -0500

Will Johnson survived LA gang territory, found Christ in Germany, and was saved from suicide by divine intervention in Oman. This Air Force veteran's journey from the violent streets of Panorama City to ministering to over 200 students as a track coach is nothing short of miraculous. Growing up where drive-bys happened multiple times per week, Will's Vietnam veteran father kept him out of gangs through presence and wisdom. A high school play about Iwo Jima stirred his desire to serve, leading to Air Force enlistment. In Germany, battling severe homesickness and brutal winters, he found Christ during Easter service watching Jesus carry the cross. After falling back into worldly living and receiving an Article 15, Will attempted suicide from a fifth-floor hotel room in Oman. Miraculously, the window was sealed shut and a childhood friend appeared at his door. Through God's orchestration of his simple prayer 'God, you pick' when choosing duty stations, his brother and two separated cousins all ended up stationed together in North Carolina, fulfilling a prophetic dream. This led to radical salvation and tent revival ministry. Will met his wife at the same deployment location where he'd attempted suicide, chose family over military career, and witnessed multiple miraculous healings. Now he serves as a track coach teaching students their identity should be rooted in Christ rather than performance. What you will hear: - Growing up in LA gang territory with constant violence - How a Vietnam veteran father kept his sons safe - The moment God dealt with his soul in Germany - Divine intervention preventing suicide in Oman - Miraculous family reunification through prayer - Meeting his wife where he almost died - Healing miracles during military deployments - Ministry through coaching 200+ students - Why he challenges people to pressure test their unbelief.

Connect with The Rugged Path at www.theruggedpathpodcast.com. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts for more raw, honest stories of faith tested and proven real.

Sean O'Dowd: From Combat Survivor to Gospel Detective: A Master Sergeant's Faith Journey | The Rugged Path

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 04:00:00 -0500

What happens when a battle-hardened Master Sergeant who survived the impossible believes he's beyond saving? Sean O'Dowd's story begins in the mountains of Afghanistan, where he should have died when two anti-tank mines threw him 50 yards through the air. Instead of gratitude, this miraculous survival led him down a dark spiral of rage, drinking, and destructive behavior, convinced he had broken all ten commandments and was unsavable.

In this powerful conversation, you'll discover how God's protection manifested in impossible ways during six combat deployments, why Sean's wife's near-death experience changed everything, and how supernatural forgiveness opened his heart to Christ's grace. Learn about the veteran suicide crisis affecting our warriors, the spiritual battles they face returning home, and how one man's rock bottom became his launching pad for radical ministry.

This episode reveals Sean's transformation from seeking man's approval to reducing his size to make God bigger, his calling from profitable gym owner to $19/hour police officer, and how he now uses every arrest as a gospel opportunity. You'll also hear Dan's passionate call-out of cool kids clubs in Christian culture that drive people away from authentic faith, plus practical wisdom on pressure-testing your beliefs and embracing correction as a pathway to growth.

Ready to be challenged and encouraged by a story of impossible survival, supernatural grace, and radical surrender?

Listen now and discover how God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Visit www.theruggedpathpodcast.com for more faith-building conversations that will strengthen your walk with Christ.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

5:05 Growing Up Between Two Cultures

8:31 From Bullied Kid to Tough Guy

10:08 WWII Grandfather's Legacy

20:36 Cool Kids Clubs Problem in Church

41:59 Breaking All Ten Commandments

55:55 Driving Over 500-Pound Bombs Daily

01:06:20 First Combat Prayer: God I Need Strength

01:09:09 Taliban Safe House Discovery

01:32:00 The IED Blast That Should Have Killed Me

01:56:14 The Veteran Suicide Crisis

02:24:30 Wife's Near-Death Experience

02:29:20 The First Time Anyone Forgave Me

02:46:35 Surrendering at Grace Church

03:01:55 From Gym Owner to $19/Hour Cop

03:02:35 Gospel Ministry in Police Work

03:03:49 Hugging the Guys I Arrest

03:29:32 God Qualifies the Called

Jason Hazleton: From Special Forces to Spiritual Fatherhood | The Rugged Path

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 01:02:19 -0500

Jason Hazleton is a retired Green Beret who left a high-paying contractor career to step into full-time ministry, discipling men and leading small groups at Grace Church in Southern Pines, North Carolina. After 22 years in the Army — including combat deployments to Afghanistan, losing teammates, and surviving close calls that should have killed him — Jason came to a breaking point where he had to surrender his pride, his accomplishments, and his plans to God. This is a story about humility, obedience, spiritual fatherhood, and what it looks like to follow Christ into the unknown. In this episode, Jason shares his upbringing in upstate New York, his time in the infantry and special operations, the death of his brother in a hunting accident, losing Nick Robertson in Afghanistan, hearing the Holy Spirit speak on patrol, battling pornography, and the slow process of God breaking his pride. He also talks about his 20-year marriage, raising two daughters, discipling a homeless man named Joe, and the moment he walked away from a six-figure job to obey God's call into ministry. What you will hear: Jason's deployment to Afghanistan and the day his teammate Nick Robertson was killed by a sniper - How Jason heard the Holy Spirit tell him to sit down seconds before an IED detonated, saving his life - Jason's decision to retire from the Army early to pour into his daughter's education and watch her go from struggling to number one in her class - The breaking point where Jason lost a contractor job he had lined up and fully surrendered to Matthew 6:33 - Jason baptizing Joe, a homeless man he discipled for over a year, and watching God restore his life. Connect and subscribe: Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Rumble, and Podbean. Join the newsletter at www.theruggedpathpodcast.com. Follow on social media. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.