The Threshing Floor
Since the debut of The Threshing Floor, life has changed significantly for our hosts. Through those changes there have been periods of time where new episodes have not been possible. However, each time the podcast has had to take a backseat to life, we have returned with renewed passion and energy to bring the game of Redemption the best podcast experience possible. Thanks to the dedication of our hosts and sponsors, and the humbling support of our listeners, The Threshing Floor continues to evolve and grow alongside the game of Redemption!
John Hendrix, Host and Founder
📍 Tuscaloosa, AL
John Hendrix, more widely known in the Redemption community as simply Hendrix, discovered the game of Redemption in 2019 after he was introduced to it by his friend Brad Gaillard who served as the youth pastor of their church. Brad had played the game in his teenage years but wasn’t even sure if it was still going and had just randomly thought about it in passing one day. However, after talking about the game on a random Wednesday night, Hendrix began a deep dive into the game and its history via online research. Hendrix had previously played Yu-Gi-Oh! in his youth and even as a young adult but put the game away after significant changes to the game along with growing concerns about some of the themes within the game and how they conflicted with his Christian beliefs. After realizing the potential of a card game that offered the deep strategy of deck construction while also respecting his Christian beliefs, Hendrix was hooked!
A few days later, Hendrix and Brad met up at their local Lifeway and purchased G/H Starter Decks, I/J Starter Decks and a handful of Angel Wars booster packs, and they were off and running! For the next several weeks, Brad and John worked together to conclude youth services and shuttle kids home using the church vans. They then met up at Brad’s house where they stayed up into the early morning hours playing games of Redemption. It did not take them long to outgrow the Starter Decks, and their desire for more strategy and interaction led them to building their own decks. Hendrix built a “flood” deck that was built around Noah and his family as the central figures and Brad purchased and tweaked a Joshua heroes Contender Deck from Your Turn Games. As the weeks passed by, Hendrix got deeper and deeper into the game and eventually discovered the amazing community behind the game.
In August of 2019, Hendrix met up with the Chamber brothers after discovering they were located just a couple hours from his hometown. Jay and Jeremy had just returned from Nationals a couple weeks earlier. Bummed to hear that he had narrowly missed the opportunity to attend the National tournament, Hendrix made a solemn plan to be at the next one the following year. While preparing for attending the National tournament and wanting to be as prepared as possible, Hendrix continued researching the game and its evolving meta game diligently. Sometime around March of 2020, John Earley and Josiah Beers, two legendary players of the game, came out with a Redemption focused podcast titled Top Cut Savvy, which aimed to help the average player improve at the competitive game. Hendrix was a huge fan of this podcast project and its ambitious goals. However, that project was short lived and only produced 6 episodes before closing up shop.
It was around this same time that the Covid-19 pandemic became a serious concern for our country, and its impact was felt everywhere, including within the Redemption gaming community. Due to government mandated restrictions and travel limitations, the 2020 National Tournament was re-located to Maryland from its originally planned location in Pennsylvania. Further concerns around Covid and its impact on travel limited Hendrix from being able to attend the 2020 National Tournament as he had intended since August of 2019.
In light of this, Hendrix experienced his first Nationals in August of 2021 in Canyon Lake, Texas where he roadtripped the 12 hour drive with his now good friend Jeremy Chambers. As part of that experience, he was able to meet many of the people he had been interacting with online for nearly two years. This further solidified the deep connection that had been growing between Hendrix and the game of Redemption.
Shortly after that National tournament, the leadership of Redemption announced several sweeping changes that would impact the future of the game including the first “rotation” in its 25+ year history. Understanding the impact these changes would have on the game and also missing the Top Cut Savvy Podcast that shut down earlier in the year, Hendrix realized the need for Redemption to have a podcast that focused on its evolving game and community. Without any prior knowledge or experience of podcasting, Hendrix did what he does best and did another deep dive into learning via extensive online research.
After a few weeks of researching and talking with close friends within the Redemption community, equipment was ordered and The Threshing Floor Podcast was launched! Episode 1 featured a roundtable style discussion about the newly announced “rotation” and featured a few of the friends that had help solidify the idea of the podcast in its short development period. From that first episode started a journey of learning on the go as Hendrix learned about podcasting from researching and applying trial and error as he progressed forward.
After roughly 6 months of recording and publishing episodes, The Threshing Floor became sponsored by Covenant Games in a partnership that would last multiple years. What was special about this sponsorship was that it came from John Earley’s purchase of Covenant Games and was a significant show of support from one of the minds behind Top Cut Savvy which was largely responsible for planting the seed that would eventually become The Threshing Floor when John and Josiah published their podcast in the spring of 2020. A true full circle moment came on episode 51 when both John and Josiah joined the podcast as featured guests.
In May of 2023, Brad, the friend that had introduced Hendrix to the game of Redemption, joined the podcast as the first official co-host. This lasted for a year, but due to busy schedules not aligning and less time for the game on Brad’s part, Brad stepped away from his role as co-host. It was during this period of transition in May of 2024 that the podcast underwent significant changes to re-brand. These changes included introducing a new format that included segmented content within the episodes, Your Turn Games becoming the new title sponsor and the introduction of Jake Antonetz, also known as Agur the Wise, as the new co-host. Additional changes that assisted with re-branding the podcast was new artwork designed by Redemption community member Daniel the Creator and professional voice over effects to introduce each episode and the segmented content within. You can read about these changes here, and listen to the first episode that featured these changes on episode 76.
Jake Antonetz, Co-Host
📍 Universal City, TX
Jake Antonetz, widely known in the Redemption community as Agur the Wise, first encountered Redemption as a middle school student during the Warriors expansion era which began in 1999. He spotted the cards at local Christian bookstores and school book fairs, playing casually with one friend and enjoying the experience immensely.
What initially hooked Jake was the perfect blend of strategy and biblical themes. TCGs had always intrigued him as a child, but he had never been allowed to play Pokémon or Magic in his youth. Redemption offered that strategic depth in a way that honored his faith, which made it deeply appealing. Eventually, however, Jake found himself with no one to play the game with and despite his enjoyment of Redemption, that led to life pulling him away.
After experiencing other games such as World of Warcraft TCG, Hearthstone, and spending considerable time with Magic the Gathering as a content creator and judge, Jake rediscovered his old Redemption cards in April of 2022. This led him to research if they held any resale value (they did not), but to his surprise, the game was not only still active but had thriving community, despite being significantly smaller than communities of the other games he had played. He joined the Redemption Discord server shortly after, and within hours Roy (Mr. MiYoda), who is one of the members of Redemption’s leadership group, reached out with an invitation to play locally—an immediate and profound blessing from God! The local playgroup and card store The Arena warmly welcomed him, generously blessing him with modern cards to help him get started. This re-entry quickly rekindled his passion for the game he had discovered in middle school.
As he immersed himself in the community, the relational and spiritual aspects became just as meaningful as the gameplay. His biggest accomplishment in Redemption gameplay was co-authoring the deck that claimed the top 2 placings in Type 1, the most popular format of Redemption, at the National Tournament in 2024. Jake finished 2nd and his co-author of the deck, Tim Estes, took 1st place.
As a devoted listener who devoured every episode of The Threshing Floor, Jake was thrilled when the opportunity arose to join as co-host in May of 2024, alongside John Hendrix. This coincided with a major re-branding of the podcast, including new segmented content, fresh artwork by community member Daniel the Creator, professional voice-over effects, and sponsorship from Your Turn Games. Jake brought his love of game design to the show through the Agur the Creator segment, which quickly became one of his favorite contributions.
Today, Jake remains actively involved in the Redemption community by hosting tournaments and has plans to do more YouTube content in addition to his co-host role here on the podcast. He approaches his hobbies with intense focus and passion, which can sometimes risk dominating his time. Yet, Redemption serves as a healthy reminder of life’s true priorities. The game and its community continually reconnect him to God, helping him moderate his involvement while fostering an environment where players pray for and encourage one another. These spiritual blessings have made the hobby especially meaningful.
Through it all, Jake’s deepest desire is that Christ be glorified in his life as a husband, father, teacher, evangelist and through the game of Redemption. With renewed energy after life’s necessary pauses, he continues contributing to the podcast and community, grateful for the way this unique card game strengthens faith and builds lasting relationships.