Mike Donehey is a recording artist, author of the bestseller Finding God’s Life for My Will, speaker and a founding member of the band Tenth Avenue North. Mike has seen his fair share of the unexpected. Following a potentially fatal car crash as a teen, Mike learned to play the guitar while still in bed recovering from his injuries. Learning the guitar gave birth to songwriting, and that songwriting led to the formation of the band Tenth Avenue North. One of the most loved and successful artists in Christian music, Tenth Avenue North radio favorites include Love Is Here, By Your Side, You Are More, Losing, Worn, I Have This Hope, and the multi-week no. 1 smash Control (Somehow You Want Me). Despite the group’s widespread popularity, Tenth Avenue North’s members sensed at the beginning of 2020 that they each had their own unique roads to follow. Mike seized this opportunity to expand as a storyteller, communicator and thought instigator wherever his voice can be heard. In addition to recording his first solo album and preparing his second book, Mike brings you this podcast, Chasing the Beauty. Each Chasing the Beauty episode will look for God and joy in the unexpected places. To quote Ann Voskamp, “The secret to joy is to keep seeking God where we doubt He is.” Mike and his guests will look at those places - the heartbreaking, the awkward, the uncomfortable, the weird, and the wild - to find God. And where God can be found, joy can be found as well (“Those who sow with tears will reap with shouts of joy.” Psalm 126). For more about Mike, visit www.mikedonehey.com (https://www.mikedonehey.com/) .
Ep. 21: The Delicate Dance of the Babylon Bee
How do you stay hopeful, gracious, loving AND create thought-provoking satire at the same time? That is Mike’s question for Seth Dillon, CEO of The Babylon Bee. Mike and Seth, a college friend of Mike’s, talk through these necessary tensions in this episode of Chasing The Beauty.
• 28 minutes, 38 seconds
Ep. 25: Surprised By Song
Mike and recording artist/songwriter/producer Matt Maher sit down to a barbecue lunch and talk about learning how to lean into Jesus, unafraid of our true humanity, and the miracle of how God uses songs.
• 1 hour, 6 minutes, 17 seconds
Ep. 19: Starting Over
Mike’s long-time friend and touring companion Mac Powell, formerly of Third Day, joins Mike, formerly of Tenth Avenue North, to talk about their similar life trajectories. Are they each starting over or are they both right where they are supposed to be? The hope is that this conversation will be encouragement that even if we don’t always know the answers, it doesn’t mean we can’t find God in the midst of our questions.
• 41 minutes, 20 seconds
Ep. 16 Confession
Author and speaker John Lynch (The Cure, TrueFaced) joins Mike in a conversation about how confession doesn’t need to be something to be terrified of, but can actually be something to look forward to. Mike and John explore the ways of getting to the place of recognizing that repentance is not a promise from us to God, but a gift from God to us.
• 50 minutes, 50 seconds
Ep. 24: People Loving Nashville
Mike sits down with Ryan Lampa, founder and CEO of People Loving Nashville, to talk about the mission of bringing relief, community, connection, and restoration to those most vulnerable where he lives. Even while performing his full-time job of overseeing tour operations for TobyMac, Ryan and People Loving Nashville have never missed a Monday serving the homeless population since 2008. Join Mike and Ryan for a dose of inspiration to follow and serve as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
• 1 hour, 4 minutes, 36 seconds
Ep. 17 Missed It By An Inch
It's easy to feel like God is with you in the midst of success, but how do we believe He's working in the middle of our failures? In this episode, I explore this question with my professional golfing friend Kevin Streelman. Kevin is a two-time PGA tour winner and long-standing PGA veteran. Kevin’s heart for God and for others shines through as we discuss his long and arduous road to finally making the PGA tour and how most of his heart-wrenching misses were nothing less than God's providence.
• 48 minutes, 12 seconds
Ep. 23: Finding God in a Broken Back Story
Mike’s guest is Katy Nichole, singer/writer of In Jesus Name (God of Possible), the fastest rising #1 song in Christian music chart history. While this looks like overnight success, Katy recounts the physical and mental pain she endured for years that are a part of that story. Together, Mike and Katy explore how God brought each of them through seasons of suffering that led them to being able to see the miracles God performs every day.
• 1 hour, 5 minutes, 5 seconds
Ep. 18 Glory I Couldn't See
In this season leading up to Christmas, as can often happen in life, there's the possibility of getting caught up in the busyness and missing the Glory. Mary's circumstances changed in an instant when she received Gabriel's visit, but she saw the Glory. Mike shares about making the choice to pause and embrace our circumstances and seeing the Glory right in front of us.
• 16 minutes, 24 seconds
Ep. 13 Coming To America
Rend Collective's Gareth and Ali Gilkeson are Mike's guests in a conversation about risk. Ali and Gareth, who left their home in Ireland to come to the United States, share with Mike about their journey, how they approach risk and the elements of faith that go into navigating life.
• 34 minutes, 54 seconds
Ep. 15 Finding Dori - Dori's Journey
In the episode Finding Dori - Sharon’s Story, Mike and his mom talk about the events that led to Mike hearing as an adult from his mother that he has a half-sister. Here, Mike talks with his half-sister Dori about how she discovered her birth mother and the ways her journey led to who she is today.
• 43 minutes, 7 seconds
Ep. 22: Finding Joy in the Next Chapter
Mike and former Nashville Predators captain Mike Fisher talk about the beauty in the next chapter. For Mike, it's transitioning from nearly two decades as a hockey star to being an at-home husband to wife Carrie Underwood and a father more immersed in the daily experiences of their children while also seeking and listening for what God has next for his life. The two Mike's delve into the heart place that seeks the beauty when life transitions to a new season.
• 37 minutes, 50 seconds
Ep. 20: Finding God In The Flop
This week Mike is interviewing his friend, director Andy Erwin, whom along with his brother Jon are the filmmaking team known as the Erwin Brothers (I Can Only Imagine, American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story) whose films often talk about redemption, faith and the human spirit. Mike and Andy talk about successes and flops and how to find God in it all.
• 50 minutes, 38 seconds
Ep. 14 Finding Dori - Sharon's Story
While on tour with Tenth Avenue North, Mike received a call from his mother asking if she should meet Mike’s half-sister who had made contact with her. This was the introduction to a story Mike had never heard. For most of his life, he knew nothing of a half-sister, about what had happened to his mother as a young woman, or the adoption story that followed. After that phone call, Mike’s entire family eventually met a sister they did’t know they had. In this episode, Mike talks with his mother and hears much of this story for the first time.
