Ask A Pastor

Pastor and writer Rayshawn Graves thinks through tough questions about Christianity and the church and how the truth of God's word applies to our lives.

Last refreshed: August 18th, 2025 at 1:42 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

Why Study the Bible?

Today we have a special guest with us - Nicole Unice. Nicole is a pastor, author, speaker and leadership coach. You can find more from Nicole on her podcasts How to Study the Bible, and Let's Be Real. In this episode, Rayshawn and Nicole cover: 1. The fact that the Bible is a mystery. 2. Nicole's journey in becoming a detective of the Word. 3. The three questions Nicole asks every time she reads the Bible. 4. Placing yourself in the characters of the Bible. 5. The practice of Lectio Divina and w...

Oct 06, 2021•14 min

What Role Does the Church Play in Racial Reconciliation?

In this episode, we cover: 1. The term “racial reconciliation” and the ways that God’s Word has spoken to the reality of racial division but also, God’s deep commitment to the work of not just spiritual, but ethnic and racial reconciliation. 2. This history of racial division in the United States and the part racial reconciliation plays in healing this division. 3. The role the church plays starts with the right posture: not from a place of trying to achieve unity, but from a place of realizing ...

Sep 08, 2021•10 min

Is Talking About Race a Distraction in the Church?

If you’ve been around the last few years, you know that our society has been having a national conversation about race and racism in America – again. But talking about race has done more to expose division than cause it – mostly because when it comes to the topic of race, most people where they stand or what they believe about the issue until the conversation is happening, and what we believe often rises to the surface during intense moments. Some people can’t understand why racism keeps coming ...

Jun 30, 2021•11 min

How Important Is Diversity in a Church?

This question is not necessarily tricky, but there is no catch-all answer. Diversity is a big word that can include many realities. Diversity comes up a lot in our context in the United States because of various ages, stages of life, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultures. So how important is diversity in the church? Even though diversity is seen through our world and creation, it can be challenging to achieve when bringing people together who are different. If w...

Jun 25, 2021•10 min

Why Should I Pray in Difficult Times?

You may notice that whenever something bad happens, one of the most popular things to say is, “I am praying for you.” These words and expressions can be meaningful at times. Still, recently this phrase has been interpreted to be the opposite and has become the cliche thing to say when we have nothing else to. So what is prayer? Is it distinct from action? Does it do anything? And why should we pray in difficult times? When followers of Jesus pray, as Jesus commands us to, our praying comes from ...

Jun 14, 2021•8 min

How Do We Keep Peace with People in Such Divided Times?

It doesn’t take much for us to look around at both this year and last, and see that we’re living in some pretty divided times. Maybe it’s not so much that people have become divided. Maybe it’s that people have been divided, and now we’re just seeing these divisions rise to the surface and fill our relationships with tension that we never knew was there. So how do we keep the peace? And what is the “peace” we are trying to keep? Jesus is not just an example that we’re trying to emulate. Jesus is...

Jun 13, 2021•11 min

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