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Javier Stops by the Hot Mess Happy Hour Podcast 🍸 Jul 07, 2026

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This week, Javier stops by the Hot Mess Happy Hour Podcast and it didn't disappoint. It was a hot mess!

About Hot Mess Happy Hour:

Are you always running late? Do you leave things on top of your car and drive off? You might be a hot mess too so this podcast is for you! Laugh along as we share crazy hot mess stories during our weekly happy hour with yours truly. We'll also share tips and tricks for those affected by ADHD like your host, Susan Cokas! So grab a cocktail and get ready to laugh! It's Hot Mess Happy Hour!

Check out the Hot Mess Happy Hour:

https://hotmesshappyhour.buzzsprout.com/

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Chain of Command part 7 Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

Federal prosecutors say the man known as Rony Denis isn't Rony Denis at all.

The arrest finally came in the fall of 2025. Three years after the FBI raids. But the church is still operating. So my friend Jared Smith from the Heliocentric YouTube channel and I drove down to Fayetteville to attend a Sunday service and see what's left of the House of Prayer Christian Church.

And the whole sermon, it turned out, felt aimed at two specific people in the pews.

This is the final chapter of the Chain of Command series. But it ain't over yet.

Watch Jared's Atheist Church Audits on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HeliocentricOfficial

Written and Produced by Javier Leiva Edited by Puneeth Shenoy | Podcast Pundits https://www.podcastpundits.com/ Music by Joe Basile | thechicken.net

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PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

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Chain of Command part 6 Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

In Part 6, the FBI comes knocking.

Rony Denis and his top associates allegedly defrauded the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and military veterans out of more than $23.5 million. The House of Prayer Bible Seminary looked like a school. Veterans used their GI Bill benefits to enroll, paying the church hundreds of dollars a month for classes that led nowhere and credits worth nothing outside these walls.

Rony Denis is still a free man. But not for long.

Written and Produced by Javier Leiva

Edited by Puneeth Shenoy | Podcast Pundits https://www.podcastpundits.com/

Music by Joe Basile | thechicken.net

Get early access and bonus content

PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio

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Chain of Command part 5 Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Rony Denis wasn't just the spiritual leader at the House of Prayer Christian Church... He was their god.

In Part 5, former members start connecting the dots on how Rony Denis consolidated control, and it's worse than you think. He ordered members to smash their own phones in front of the congregation. He commanded public confessions. And when he set his eyes on something he wanted, whether that was another man's wife or a ten-year-old boy, he found a way to take it.

Written and Produced by Javier Leiva

Edited by Puneeth Shenoy | Podcast Pundits https://www.podcastpundits.com/

Music by Joe Basile | thechicken.net

Get early access and bonus content — join on Patreon or try PRETEND+ free on Apple Podcasts.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

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The Lottery Curse with Murder: True Crime Stories Jun 05, 2026

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I teamed up with Carter Roy for a special guest collaboration on Murder: True Crime Stories and this one is something else. For the full episode, follow Murder: True Crime Stories on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1745145932In November 2006, Abraham Shakespeare won $30 million in the Florida Lottery. He couldn't read or write, and within two years he'd given most of it away to anyone who asked. Then Dee Dee Moore showed up promising to protect what was left — and within months, she had his house, his insurance, and his power of attorney. Not long after, Abe vanished.

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Chain of Command part 4 Jun 02, 2026

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Note: This episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse and psychological manipulation.

It started with a revolt. Thirty ministers walked out of NTCC mid-service and never looked back. They thought they were done with high-control leadership, mandatory tithing, and pastors who ruled by fear. They were wrong. In this episode, former pastor Arlen Bradeen and Greg Shepard tell us what happened when they followed Rony Denis to Georgia — and what it cost them to finally get out.

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Chain of Command part 3 May 26, 2026

Show notes

In part three of Chain of Command, we hear from those who grew up in the New Testament Christian Churches of America. From Victor Johanson, a former Army soldier who confirms on tape that NTCC ministers got vasectomies because children would interfere with their ministry. From a woman we're calling Kaylee, who was raised inside the church and was groomed and assaulted by a family member who was also an NTCC minister. And we look at how the church's CEO, Michael Kekel, has publicly stated at one point that no church is under a legal obligation to report child abuse.

This episode discusses sexual assault and the grooming of minors. Please take care while listening.

Want to keep going? Bonus episodes featuring the full unedited conversations with Victor Johanson and Kaylee are available right now on PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts and on Patreon. You'll get bonus episodes and full access to the PRETEND archive.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Stay Away From NTCC (former member YouTube channel run by Tracy Pelfrey)
The Mountain News (Bruce Smith's reporting on NTCC)
Washington State Senate Bill 5375 (clergy mandatory reporting law, May 2025)

Support and resources:

If you or someone you know is currently serving in the military and feels pressured by a religious group, you have options. Military OneSource is available 24/7 at 1-800-342-9647. Your installation chaplain can also provide confidential support across all faiths.

If you're a former member of NTCC or another high-control group and looking for support, the International Cultic Studies Association at icsahome.com offers resources, recovery workshops, and a directory of professionals familiar with high-control group recovery.

If you've experienced sexual assault, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at rainn.org.

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Chain of Command part 2 May 19, 2026

Show notes

Part one was about control. Part two is about the money.

Behind the soul-winning and the sermons and the bylaws, the New Testament Christian Churches of America runs a very well-funded business. Tithing is tracked, enforced, and tied to your military paycheck. Fall behind and you go before the general board. Fall further behind and you lose your credentials.

So where does the tithing money go? Church CEO Michael Kekel told his congregation they owed $25,000 a year in property taxes on the fellowship hall. But tax records tell a different story. The fellowship hall paid $9.65. The $25,000? That's the bill on a personal house in the name of Kekel's wife.

In this episode:

-Tracy Pelfrey, former NTCC member of 17 years

-Bruce Smith, reporter, The Mountain News, who has covered NTCC for nearly two decades

-Sarah DeJonghe, former Navy Seabee and NTCC ex-member

-Archival recordings of R.W. Davis, founder of NTCC

-Archival recordings of Michael Kekel, CEO of NTCC

Next time on Pretend: Former members say that NTCC fosters a culture where adult men courting teenage girls isn't just tolerated — it's encouraged. That's next time.

Listen to Part 3 now:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

If you or someone you know is currently serving in the military and feels pressured by a religious group or organization, you have options. The Military OneSource confidential helpline is available 24/7 at 1-800-342-9647. You can also reach out to your installation chaplain, who can provide confidential support across all faiths and no faith at all.

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Chain of Command part 1 May 12, 2026

Show notes

In 1996, Sarah DeJonghe was a 20-year-old Navy Seabee stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Two guys in uniform approached her on base and invited her to church. She said no.

They came back anyway.

Four months later, Sarah was out of the Navy and on her way to a Bible seminary in Washington State. She didn't see it coming. Neither did the dozens of other military members who found themselves drawn into the New Testament Christian Churches of America, a church that has spent decades planting itself outside US military bases around the world, marketing itself as a home away from home for single, lonely soldiers.

Former members say it's a cult.

Want to keep going? Part Two is available right now on PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts and on Patreon. You'll get every episode of this series ad-free and a week early, plus bonus episodes and full access to the PRETEND archive.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985 Patreon: www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio

Resources mentioned in this episode:

NTCC bylaws (publicly available): https://myntcc.org/bylaws/
Stay Away From NTCC (former member YouTube channel run by Tracy Pelfrey) - https://www.youtube.com/@StayAwayFromNTCC
Bruce Smith's reporting at The Mountain News

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Operation Cockblock Revisited May 05, 2026

Show notes

A Colorado businessman with a criminal record, no credit, and a gift for charm somehow convinced dozens of women to finance his cars, his home, and his lifestyle. When they finally compared notes, they didn't get mad. They got organized. This is the story of Bill Sullivan, and the self-appointed militia of scorned women who banded together to take him down: Operation Cockblock.

Before you go:

Stick around for a sneak peek at Chain of Command, PRETEND's new investigative series about a secretive church that brands itself a "ministry to the military" and has been operating near U.S. military bases around the world.

🎧 Listen now on PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

💙 Or on Patreon: https://patreon.com/pretendradio?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

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