Remember flared pants, slide projectors, and those old Scripture in Song books? Gary sits down with the Kiwi legends themselves, David and Dale Garrett, who (despite not reading music or playing instruments) wrote and gathered the simple, singable choruses that shaped a generation of church worship here and around the world. They share the wonderfully unplanned story of how it all started, the cassette-tape origins of "Hallelujah, God Reigns" (nearly binned!), and a chance encounter with a very tall Jack Hayford.

Now in their eighties and still going, David and Dale talk candidly about grief - including the heartbreaking loss of their daughter Rachel - God's call to honour indigenous culture and land, and why they believe older generations shouldn't be put out to pasture. A warm, funny, and moving chat about memorable songs, God's unchanging presence, and keeping going without "the memo" to retire.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

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Heavy metal and church don't usually go in the same sentence, but here we are. Gary talks to Brian "Head" Welch, guitarist for Korn, about the documentary Loud Crazy Love and the wild true story behind it - crystal meth, suicidal thoughts, a rock star lifestyle he thought could stay secret, and a moment in his office where he reckons God's love physically wrapped around him. It's raw stuff: rejection from both his old rock world and the Christian community, the struggle raising his daughter as a single dad, and getting baptised in Israel with CNN cameras rolling.

Brian's disarmingly honest about how messy grace can be - years of anger issues after "getting saved", punching walls, a rocky patch with his teenage daughter, and his own parents' unlikely late-in-life conversion (his dad's now a door greeter, of all things). Gary gets him talking about forgiving himself, devouring the Bible like a man possessed, and why he decided to put all this dirty laundry on film for the world to see. Fair warning: if you're after George Jones or Beethoven, this one's not for you.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

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Gary digs out an old TV chat with Irish preacher Bob Gass - the man behind the wildly popular daily devotional, The Word for Today. Turns out those bite-sized daily thoughts start life as 400-500 words scrawled longhand on a yellow legal pad, whittled down to exactly 285 (every word's a worker, apparently) with help from his wife's mum transcribing it all twelve times over.

Bob talks about preaching his first sermon at 13, arriving in America at 17 with two sermons and 25 cents to his name, and being mentored the old-school way - no Bible college, just a pastor's family, a Grundig recorder, and some brutally honest feedback. He also fields questions from the audience and Facebook on hearing from God, doubting your faith, and why simple truths (Jesus loves you) often land harder than clever theology.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

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Part two of Gary's chat with Bob Gass, the man behind that little devotional you've probably seen lying around - The Word for Today - now read in a dozen-plus languages and beamed out across the globe. Recorded in front of a UK studio audience (plus a few Facebook questions thrown in), Bob gets into the meaty stuff: grief, growing up in a strict Belfast church household, why he reckons churches don't talk about money enough, and the wedding-day prophecy that basically predicted his whole writing career.

Along the way there are stories of readers who've been gobsmacked by the devotional's uncanny timing, some classic Bob one-liners (decapitation for boring preachers, anyone?), and a genuinely moving reflection on what it means to grieve well. Stick around for his simple two-word trick for "restoration" - rest and store - it's a ripper.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

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Gary reckons a good thriller gets better when it's set just down the road - and The Target ticks that box, with the Picton Ferry, Havelock and Wellington all getting a look in. Author Riley Chance joins him to chat about weaving real New Zealand history (like the 1984 Trades Hall bombing) and current societal issues - unions, surveillance, family violence - into page-turning fiction that quietly gets you thinking.

They get into Orwell, why Riley's ditched social media (turns out helping billionaires get richer wasn't much of a drawcard), and where AI fits for a writer who's very protective of his own creative process. Riley's clear on one thing though: read The Target as a cracking thriller first - if it makes you ask a few uncomfortable questions about NZ society along the way, even better.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

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Gary sits down around the piano in Belfast with a genuine gospel music legend: Bill Gaither. If you've ever hummed along to "He Touched Me" or "Because He Lives" without knowing who wrote them, well, now you do. Bill unpacks the stories behind his best-loved songs, from Larry Gatlin's "Greatly Blessed, Highly Favoured" to the accidental beginnings of the Homecoming videos, and explains why a good gospel song needs solid theology, poetry and heart in equal measure.

Along the way Bill talks candidly about the songs he wishes more people had heard, working (and gently competing) with wife Gloria's lyrics, and that time Donnie McGuire wrote a better melody than he did in 45 minutes flat. There's talk of loss, perspective, crossing cultures and denominations, and why "most of it's bad" but the good stuff survives — Steve Allen's line, not Gary's. A warm, funny, occasionally moving chat with one of gospel music's true elder statesmen.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

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Ever wondered if you're actually a leader, or just someone with a fancy title? Gary sits down with Kris Cooper, author of Elegant Leadership, to unpack what leadership really means - and why "elegant" isn't just a fashion word. They natter about humour, courage, forgiveness (yes, forgiveness), and whether Jacinda Ardern counts as an elegant leader (spoiler: it depends who you ask).

From leadership at home with the kids to knowing when it's time to gracefully exit stage left, Kris walks Gary through her A-to-Z of leadership traits - love, laughter, letting go, and a surprising amount of grace. Oh, and there's a poem about smiling that'll get you right in the feels. Stick around for Gary's final, deadly serious question: how do you actually know if you're meant to lead?

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

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Remember when we weren't supposed to mention the jab at parties? Well, Gary's going there anyway with physicist Shaun Hendy, one of the scientists who helped steer New Zealand through COVID and copped plenty of hate mail for it. Shaun's written a book about the whole saga - the good calls, the mistakes (like not prioritising vaccines for Māori and Pacific people), and why he reckons misinformation is now scarier than the virus itself.

They get into why NZ actually did remarkably well by global standards, why H5N1 bird flu is the thing keeping scientists up at night, and Shaun's slightly unsettling conclusion: the next pandemic isn't an if, it's a when. Oh, and Gary discovers Shaun thanked his wife last in the book's acknowledgements - not the smoothest move, mate.

Tune into A Very Tall Man from Midnight - 6:00am on the Rhema Media App.

For more from the show, visit the A Very Tall Man page at rhema.co.nz

Produced using AI tools under human supervision.

Support A Very Tall Man: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link

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