Our Divine Bond with Animals and Nature featuring Steve Wohlberg & Sy Garte
Steve Wohlberg: When people are hurting, when they need a touch of love, animals can be a big part of God revealing to us that He cares about us.
Our Divine Bond with Animals and Nature featuring Steve Wohlberg & Sy Garte – Episode #474
Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. In honor of National Dog Day, we’re sharing a heartfelt story about the special bond we share with our pets—and the comfort they bring in life’s hardest moments. Steve Wohlberg, a husband, father, author, and speaker, grew up in Hollywood with a deep love for animals. From Great Danes to turtles to a dog named Jax, animals have always been part of his story. After a painful loss, Steve began to explore what that bond really means—and how it can point to something bigger than ourselves.
Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Dr. Sy Garte, a retired research biochemist who spent much of his life convinced that science held all the answers. Raised in an atheist household, Sy’s early perspective left little space for questions of faith or meaning beyond the material world. But as his life unfolded, experiences both personal and professional began to challenge that view and a growing curiosity led him to reconsider what he believed about life, purpose, and truth.
Let’s begin with Steve’s story.
Steve Wohlberg: My name is Steve Wohlberg. I currently live in North Idaho way up in the mountains surrounded by forests, but I am originally from the wild Southern California, the North Hollywood area. I grew up in a very secular Jewish home that unfortunately was not spiritual at all. We didn’t read the Bible. We didn’t pray. We didn’t go to the synagogue. We didn’t go to church. So when it came to God or Jesus, there was just a blank slate. As I got into my teen years, I unfortunately got involved with the wrong crowd and went off the deep end into a wild life of the discos back in the seventies and the rock and roll concerts and marijuana and other drugs, and it’s really miraculous to me that I’m still alive at the age of sixty-five. I’m very thankful that I’m alive. I have a wonderful wife and two beautiful children. We have a twenty-year-old son named Seth and a daughter who is sixteen. And I’ve become a writer.
God called me into the ministry when I was twenty years old. I read the Bible for the first time and discovered Jesus as my Savior—the Garden of Gethsemane [Matthew 26:36-46] is what really spoke to my heart. I got on my knees, I accepted Jesus into my heart, and I continued on after that into Christian education. I eventually became a minister and began to teach classes, and now I’m the Director of White Horse Media. I’m just a very blessed man to have a chance to serve Jesus in my life, and I’m very thankful.
The Love and Loss of Our Beloved Pets
Growing up in the Hollywood Hills, I’ve always loved animals. I had a fish tank, and I would catch lizards. Sometimes we’d go to Palm Springs, and I would catch iguanas and bring them back and put them in a fish tank that didn’t have any water in it. We also had a beautiful Great Dane dog named Maxine. She was such a wonderful dog, and after Maxine died, we got Misty, another Great Dane. I had a fish tank. I had a bird. I even got an alligator for a while and put him in a terrarium. I had turtles. We’ve had cats. So, I was just always interested in animals. My first job was actually working in a pet store on Ventura Boulevard just down the street from where we lived. Animals have always been a big part of my life and of my family.
My wife and I got married in the year 2000. It wasn’t long after we got married when we had a house in Fort Worth, Texas that we found a little dog, and we named him Jax. He was a toy rat terrier, a cute little guy, and he became like our kid. Jax was like our little boy—we loved him, and he brought such great joy to our hearts.
One day, my wife and I were visiting some friends, and we took Jax with us. We came back to our house, which was in a very quiet, rural neighborhood, and normally when Jax is outside, we would have him on a leash, but this particular time, we didn’t see anybody around. We parked right next to the front door of our house, so we opened the door to go in and Jax got out with us. We were all heading toward the front door, and all of a sudden, unexpectedly, a car drove right by in our quiet neighborhood. Jax bolted after the car, and he bit the back wheel of the car.
It all happened so fast—just like a blink of an eye. The next thing I knew, he was laying on the ground twitching. The car was gone, and I picked him up. It took us quite a while to find a veterinarian that was open on a Sunday afternoon. He stayed there for three days, and we were praying that he would somehow recover. We prayed for him, and then he just shut down and died right in front of us. Oh, what a heartbreak that was.
I sent an email to a couple of friends who I had asked to pray for us and said, “You don’t need to pray anymore because Jax has just died.” The first person wrote me back and just offered some words of comfort, but the second person wrote and said, “I’m so sorry, Steve, and I hope that you will see Jax again someday in the Kingdom of God.” And that was a rather new thought to me.
As I was sitting there staring at my computer and pondering that email, all of a sudden, I experienced a very strong sense of the presence of the Lord. I remember taking a mental step back and thinking to myself, What’s going on here? God is talking to me as I’m reading this email about possibly seeing Jax in His Kingdom, and I thought, Why is the Lord doing this? I hadn’t really thought about the idea of seeing my favorite animal in His Kingdom, so at that moment, I decided I’m gonna study a new topic. I’m gonna really research from Genesis to Revelation to see what it says about animals.
What the Bible Says about Animals
I found so many verses that showed that animals are important. Genesis 2:9-19 talks about how when God first made Adam, He surrounded him with animals and He named the animals. Exodus 20:11 talks about how on the sabbath, even the cattle are to rest. Proverbs 12:10 talks about how a righteous man regards the life of his animals. The last chapter of the book of Jonah, in the very last verse, God talked to Jonah—his disobedient prophet—and He told him, “Shouldn’t I have compassion on Nineveh, on all these people?” And then He added, “…and much cattle.” The last part of the book of Jonah is showing that God was concerned even about the animals. In Matthew 10:29, Jesus said, “Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without your Heavenly Father’s notice.” All these verses just really spoke to me [showing] that of course God loves people supremely, but animals are important in His plan as well.
Will I See My Pet in Heaven?
For many years, I would give Bible prophecy seminars, and we would always have a question box up near the front so that if people had questions about the topic, they could put those questions in the box. And after a few nights, I would take some of these questions out and read them to the audience before I got into my topic for the evening. The question was, “Will I see my dog in heaven?” Will I ever see my favorite animal again?”
This is a topic that is actually on a lot of people’s minds. I think the reason why people grieve so greatly over the loss of a pet is because God our Creator is the author of the bond between people and animals. So, He’s the One that started this—just like He’s the author of the bond between husbands and wives, children and parents, parents and grandparents, etc. The bond that we have with certain animals, I believe He’s behind it, and I believe He created it. He authored it, and there are lessons that we can learn about His character. I really believe that God ministers to people through animals. When people are hurting, when they need a touch of love, animals can be a big part of God revealing to us that He cares about us.
“I think the reason why people grieve so greatly over the loss of a pet is because God our Creator is the author of the bond between people and animals. I really believe that God ministers to people through animals.” – Steve Wohlberg
It makes sense that a loving God—who’s the author of the bond—that when He creates the new heavens and the new earth, He just very well might bring back my favorite pet.
Looking Into the Face of Our Master
I had a new dog, and her name was Pooka. She was just such a wonderful dog. About two years ago, she got cancer and finally the time came we had to put her down. We set up the appointment with the nearby vet. She couldn’t walk very well, but she knew that I was there, and she wasn’t afraid by that time. The attendant shaved a little bit of her fur off of her leg and then gave her the shot. And this is one of the most amazing things that’s ever happened to me. Right after the shot went in, before she died, she turned her head and she looked right at me—I’m gonna cry just telling you this—she stared right at me and then she was gone.
It just impressed me so much that the last thing she did was look full view into the eyes of her master. I thought, That’s the way we need to be with Jesus. When we get into tough times or if we’re about to die, we fix our faith on Him because He loves us and He wants us to have such a relationship with Him—that we just look to Him like my dog looked to me.
“The last thing [my dog Pooka] did was look full view into the eyes of her master. I thought, That’s the way we need to be with Jesus. When we get into tough times or if we’re about to die, we fix our faith on Him because He loves us and He wants us to have such a relationship with Him.” – Steve Wohlberg
God can use tragedy, and He can bring good things out of it, as hard as it was. It really makes me look forward to heaven and to the new earth where we’ll be with not only Jesus but with friendly animals.
“God can use tragedy, and He can bring good things out of it. It really makes me look forward to heaven and to the new earth where we’ll be with not only Jesus but with friendly animals.” – Steve Wohlberg
Narrator: To learn more about Steve and his work, follow him on social media, and be sure to check out his book, Will My Pet Go to Heaven?, at your favorite retailer.
Stay tuned to Sy Garte’s story after a brief message.
JESUS CALLING: STORIES OF FAITH Returns for Season 4!
Hey everyone, this is Faith Broussard Cade, your host for the fourth season of Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith on UPTV. We’re so excited to bring you inspiring stories of people from all walks of life, who have turned to their faith in times of struggle, and in times of joy. We’re going to hear from some extraordinary guests this season, including Julie Chen Moonves, who you might know as the host of Big Brother. We’ll also be joined by NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw and Light Heavyweight Champion boxer Andre Ward, GRAMMY award winning gospel singer BeBe Winans, the world renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and actress Taraji P. Henson, in addition to many others. And of course, you’ll get to hear more about me and my story, too. I can’t wait to see you there. Stay tuned for the new season coming soon on UPTV!
Our next guest is Dr. Sy Garte, a biochemist, author, and former division director at the National Institutes of Health. Raised in a firmly atheist household, Sy believed science was the only path to truth, but over time, questions emerged that science alone couldn’t answer. As his career and worldview evolved, he found himself drawn to ideas he once rejected. Sy shares how his journey led from skepticism to belief—and how he now works to bridge the gap between science and faith.
Sy Garte: My name is Sy Garte. I’m a retired research biochemist.
I was brought up in a very atheist family, and my initial views on religion in general were extremely negative. I had only known bad things [like] the Crusades—all the standard atheist propaganda about how bad Christianity is. Not only did I not believe in God, I thought that religion of all kinds were evil. And that was the indoctrination that I got as a child and carried with me into my early life.
Unraveling the Puzzle of Human Beliefs
I absorbed the idea that science is the only real path to truth, and that’s a fairly common philosophical view these days. It’s often called scientism, meaning that if you want to know anything that’s true, you have to find a scientific rationale. Of course, now I know that that philosophical viewpoint is completely in error. There are millions of things that we know to be true that we know not through science. Science can only address a certain number of things because the scientific method is not able to ask and answer questions on things like, Why do I love this or that person? Why am I the way I am?
“There are millions of things that we know to be true that we know not through science. Science can only address a certain number of things because the scientific method is not able to ask and answer questions on things like, Why do I love this or that person? Why am I the way I am?” – Dr. Sy Garte
The whole idea of believing in scientism is to rule out a great deal of reality, and I was perfectly happy to rule all that out because I was a teenager and then a young adult. But as one grows and experiences life, one begins to see that is not a viable way of thinking.
I then went to college and majored in chemistry, following my dad who was a chemist, and then I went into biochemistry in graduate school and got a PhD in biochemistry. During that educational process, I began learning things like quantum mechanics and physics and some things in chemistry. When I was learning some things in biochemistry about how life works, I started realizing that the ideology that I had been taught about pure naturalism, pure reductionism, determinism, all of those philosophical views were really not accurate according to science. So, I began thinking that there may be something missing in my worldview, something I was not taught about, [something] my parents didn’t know about, and that led me gradually into a more of an agnostic view.
Forgiveness Can Lift a Heavy Weight Off Our Souls
One day I was having a very impassioned discussion with a woman who was close to me. I was telling her about my childhood experiences in my neighborhood in Brooklyn where I had been severely traumatized and violently attacked. [I was] explaining how angry I was and how if I ever found those people again, I would take vengeance on them. She said something that got me absolutely furious. She said, “You have to forgive them.” And I said, “What? Never.” I would never forgive them. And she kept saying it, “You have to forgive them.”
I knew that she was speaking about a Christian idea, this idea of forgiveness, which was foreign to me, and it connected with me in some way. The next day or so, something came over me and I started crying. And I said to her, “I forgive them.” It had been thirty years since all this had happened, and it was the first time that I felt a large weight coming off of me.
There were other things that happened to me that made me see that I had been lied to about Christianity. It wasn’t the evil, manipulative, oppressive force that I’d been taught. It was something kind of nice. It got me to read stuff about God and the existence of God, but I was not convinced. I’m not even sure I could explain why—it didn’t connect with me.
The first time I went to a church, I was terrified. I’d never been inside a church before in forty-seven years. I didn’t know what would happen, but it was wonderful.The priest gave a sermon that was all about love and people shook my hand and wished me peace and smiled at me. I was a stranger. I didn’t belong there, but they were kind. And that made a huge impression on me—no judgment, just welcome. That’s when I really started thinking, Maybe this is not so bad. But I couldn’t get to the point of believing in ideas about resurrection and the virgin birth and all the things that I’d been told were in Christianity. But the Holy Spirit was active.
Faith Breaks Through Skepticism
I was driving alone on a six hour trip. I was in the center of Pennsylvania, and I had the radio on, and I heard a preacher. I wasn’t really paying much attention, but I heard his voice, and I was thinking, I wonder what I would do if I were a preacher and I had to preach a sermon. What would I say? It was kind of a funny thing to think about, but then, something happened. I don’t know what it was, but I turned off the radio, and I pulled off to the side of the road. I felt myself preaching a sermon outdoors to this amphitheater of people. I began preaching to them, and I said, “If you think that God doesn’t love you, you’re wrong, because I know He loves you, because He loves even me. And if He could love me, how could He not love you?”
“If you think that God doesn’t love you, you’re wrong, because I know He loves you, because He loves even me. And if He could love me, how could He not love you?” – Dr. Sy Garte
And after I had said these things in my mind, I burst into tears and I had a feeling of absolute joy and freedom. A huge weight fell off of me. I said out loud, “I believe.” After that, I continued driving and I said to myself, Now what? Because I didn’t know any other Christians and I certainly didn’t know any other Christians in science or in the department I was working in. Turned out none of that was true. I did know them, but I didn’t know they were Christian. There are lots of scientists who are Christians who don’t go around proclaiming it. I kept it to myself for years. I didn’t know what to do with it.
Eventually, I saw that there was a meeting of something called the American Scientific Affiliation, which turns out it is the oldest organization of Christians who were scientists. I went to that meeting, and that was the beginning of a whole new chapter because among other people, I met Francis Collins, who later became the director of the NIH [National Institutes of Health]. N.T. Wright was there—lots of folks who are amazing Christians and scholars and scientists. And that kind of broke the spell for me. I became public with this new way of seeing the world and lost my shyness. I started going online and talking about it and meeting other Christians. That eventually turned into me going to church and finding a church. I was baptized, and I don’t think I have missed a Sunday since then—and that was twelve years ago.
Science and Scripture Harmony
Belief in Jesus Christ, belief in biblical reality, and everything in science are not in conflict, but in fact, completely compatible. There is an amazing amount of new scientific knowledge and biology, and all of this is being done, by the way, by non-theists. In other words, straight mainline, mainstream scientists publishing in peer-reviewed journals—they are finding that all of life has purpose, agency, and even cognition. The littlest bacteria are able to do things like they have memory. They act according to their environment. They can get together in groups and do things together when it suits the purpose of the colony. They act as if they’re not little bacteria, but as if they’re animals. And of course, we have purpose. Human beings act according to purpose. Now, the reason this is so significant is that the word purpose or teleology has been banned from science for almost ever—ever since modern science became modern science. And that’s correct for physics and chemistry, because after all, no earthquake says, “Oh, I think I feel like shaking the earth a bit.” And no volcano says, “Ah, I’m in the mood to erupt. I think I’ll erupt.” No, everything that happens outside of life is the result of chemical and physical forces of nature and can be understood that way. I think that if you ask the right questions about all of this—where did this purpose come from, where did this cognition come from, why is life this way—there’s no scientific answer that relates to physics or chemistry, just as there’s no scientific answers to how life began that relates the physics and chemistry. So either we need some new laws that only apply to biology, or we can just simply say, “No, there’s no scientific answer—it’s from God,” and be satisfied with that.
“Belief in Jesus Christ, belief in biblical reality, and everything in science are not in conflict, but in fact, completely compatible. I think that if you ask the right questions about all of this—where did this purpose come from, where did this cognition come from, why is life this way—there’s no scientific answer that relates to physics or chemistry, just as there’s no scientific answers to how life began that relates the physics and chemistry.” – Dr. Sy Garte
We Can “Hear” God When We Become Quiet
I try to spread the word, and the word that I’m trying to spread is two things—one is, of course, the idea of science being in harmony with faith, but the other one is an answer to comments I often get from atheists which is, “Well, your testimony is very interesting. I’m glad that God came to you, but I never hear anything. I ask and nothing happens.”
We go through a lot of life not seeing and hearing everything that’s around us because we’re so busy all the time. We’re so distracted with so many things. It’s hard to hear the voice of God because it even says in Scripture, “God was not in the earthquake, He was not the hurricane, He’s not in the fire, [but] God was in the small, still voice, in the quiet.” So, we have to be quiet if we want to hear the voice of God. You don’t know what form it’s going to take. It could be somebody smiling at you. It could be anything. But pay attention and you will hear it.
“We have to be quiet if we want to hear the voice of God. You don’t know what form it’s going to take. It could be somebody smiling at you. It could be anything. But pay attention and you will hear it.” – Dr. Sy Garte
I’ll be reading an excerpt from Jesus Listens, September 18th:
Powerful Lord,
Help me to trust You and not be afraid, remembering that You are my Strength and my Song. It blesses me to ponder what it means to have You as my Strength. You spoke the universe into existence—Your Power is absolutely unlimited! When I face my weakness and entrust it to You, Your Power can flow freely into me. However, I’ve found that my fears can hinder the flow of Your Strength. I’ve learned that trying to fight my fears is counterproductive—this keeps me focused on fear rather than on You. Instead, I need to concentrate on Your great faithfulness. When I relate to You in confident trust, there’s no limit to how much You can strengthen me.
In Your joyful Name, Jesus,
Amen
Narrator: To learn more about Dr. Sy Garte, visit www.sygarte.com, and be sure to check out his latest book, Beyond Evolution: How New Discoveries in the Science of Life Point to God, at your favorite retailer.
If you’d like to hear more stories about God’s heart for His Creation, check out our interview with Michael and Zina Goodin from Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary.
Next week: Mickey Guyton
Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we’ll hear from country music star Mickey Guyton, who shares her journey of breaking barriers and finding her voice in an industry that wasn’t always ready for her.
Mickey Guyton: I’m not only pursuing a career for myself, but pursuing a career for people that are after me. Like, how can I help them? This may never happen for me, but how can I help the people that are coming up after me?
