You are helping to run a ministry and you learn that one of the people you are trying to help has stolen all of the money that was donated to put him in school. That puts you in a weird spot. Do you let your donors know that their money was stolen? Or do you keep it a secret and press on, knowing that the secret is kept for the greater good? In this episode, we'll switch the perspective from those who need help to that of a helper who has learned of a secret and feels the tension both of speakin...
Feb 23, 2025•26 min•Season 2Ep. 51
We're called to suffer for Jesus, but how much is too much? How do we care for ourselves while also helping others? What do healthy boundaries look like and how do we balance sacrifice with self-care?
Jan 08, 2025•33 min•Season 2Ep. 50
Do the poor hurt those who are trying to help them because it's within their nature to hurt others? Do they lie, steal, or cause harm because they are inherently different? Or is it perhaps a bit more nuanced than that... Well, if you believe the latter then, congratulations, you're not racist. But the question remains... why would the poor sabotage an effort to improve their lives? If there isn't some intrinsic difference between us and them, why do they behave so differently? You might be surp...
Dec 06, 2024•28 min•Season 2Ep. 49
We love to talk about how to help the poor without hurting them, but it's not nearly as common to talk about how to help the poor without them hurting you . It happens more than you might think, and I have a lot of experience with it. But why do they do it? Why do they hurt people who just want to help them? And how can we protect ourselves and set boundaries to ensure that both the helpers and the helped maintain a healthy relationship?
Nov 13, 2024•24 min•Season 2Ep. 48
"If you left the church because you had a bad experience with people, you didn't have a relationship with God, you had a relationship with people." - A really dumb thing to say Let's talk.
Apr 10, 2024•26 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Post modernism, apologetics, suffering, doubt, the universe, a burrito advertisement, and a debate about the existence of God. Enjoy.
Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Season 2Ep. 46
It's often tempting to interpret Jesus through our own cultural lens. But taking an honest approach to who Jesus was will require exiting our culture and stepping into his... if that's even possible.
Jan 24, 2024•20 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Joshua Milton Blahyi (aka "General Buttnaked"), often referred to as the "Modern Day Saul" has been held responsible for around 20,000 deaths during the Liberian Civil War. But his story doesn't end there. After a dramatic, Damascus Road-like conversion in the midst of the war, Blahyi became a drastically different man with a different outlook on his role in this country. In this episode, I sit down with Joshua to hear his story and discuss how a society like Liberia can be changed for the good,...
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 7 min
The fundamentalist literal reading of the Bible leads to some pretty interesting views - one of them being an actual mark that followers of the antichrist receive that destines their souls to eternally serving this beast in hell. Crazy stuff. Unfortunately it's not really true... like at all...
Jan 03, 2024•26 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Back in the 19th century, the Dismal Dane went on a rampage against the church with the greatest and most deadly weapon he had - a pen, in the battlefield of his day - the newspaper column. What resulted was an attack that is just as much relevant for us as it was for the Dutch almost 200 years ago.
Dec 13, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Don't waste your life. Waste someone else's!
Nov 29, 2023•32 min•Season 2Ep. 41
This episode is not about long skirts or grape juice or hell (but we might get there eventually). For now, let's take a moment to go to the core of what fundamentalism is and where we might find it.
Nov 14, 2023•24 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Evangelical Christianity is often centered around the gospel message, which is often reduced to words spoken. Is this all that Jesus intended? Is there something missing? Is The Godfather overrated? I'll answer at least two of those questions in this episode.
Sep 13, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Tearing apart, criticizing, and demolishing is easy, building is not. So as we are deconstructing elements of our faith, where do we begin the process of reconstructing that which is good? How do we put back together the Lego house, currently scattered across the floor in a million pieces, into something better than before?
Aug 30, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 38
If you are flying in an airplane and decide to deconstruct it, don't be surprised when you crash. Deconstructing is insanely beneficial for the growth of a Christian, but where's the line? When is deconstruction dangerous? When does deconstruction become demolition?
Aug 17, 2023•24 min•Season 2Ep. 37
How does an atheist feel when they walk into a store and hear Christian music playing? In this episode, I sit back down with Mike to talk about Christian music. Although not a Christian, he grew up on Steven Curtis Chapman, DC Talk, Kirk Franklin, etc. The conversation leads us into the present, which deepens the conversation far beyond music and into the psychology of evangelism and Christian witness from the perspective of an nonbeliever.
Jun 14, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Apologetics is typically an intellectual approach to defending the "faith." Philosophy, logic, science, etc. But is this really what we should be defending? Did Peter know that his encouragement to believers to continue doing what is good despite pushback and persecution would be used to justify arguing with atheists centuries later?
Jun 07, 2023•30 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Mike, a pastor's kid who lost his faith while attending Christian college, shares his story, his struggles, and his own unique perspective on Christianity. In this episode, I interview my long time best friend and cousin, the person who has influenced me more than anyone else, the one who taught me how to think deeply, and the person with whom I share a closer bond than anyone else on the planet.
May 24, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Doubt is authentic. It's real. It's something so many Christians struggle with. But is it good? Does doubt strengthen your faith or weaken it? And should we be praised for doubting or condemned? In this episode, we'll venture into the darkness of doubt, the silence of skepticism.
May 17, 2023•21 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Cannot wait to get going again! After a season of intellectual and psychological hibernation, I'm back, and things are getting even more awkward... This season we'll get into topics like doubt, apologetics, fundamentalism, worldliness, Satan, The Chosen, and some surprise interviews with friends you won't want to miss!
May 09, 2023•5 min•Season 2Ep. 1
After spending almost a year in Liberia, I'm back in the states and my brain is a scrambled egg. Culture shock, freezing rain, and dark days have left me in a state of muddled confusion. But I finally managed to squeeze out an episode. I recorded a version of this episode that was scripted, but I found it rather boring and wooden. So I plugged the mic back in and just went for it... Christians can be pretty hard on themselves. We feel our unworthiness and our guilt and our shame. But do we ever ...
Dec 22, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 31
When the gospel becomes an instrument of cultural colonization, missions ceases to be missions.
Nov 23, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Alright, here we go... humor me for a moment. What if the gospel we've been preaching is not the gospel of the Bible? I know, I know... it seems heretical to even ask that question. But trust me on this one. If I didn't have verses to support this, I wouldn't bother much with it.
Nov 07, 2022•38 min
In this special birthday episode, I congratulate myself for not dying for another consecutive year. Why are Christians afraid to die? It seems weird, since we're all about eternal life and resurrection and all that. Just sit back and enjoy the ride on this one. We'll cover a lot of ground but we'll end up where we began.
Oct 09, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 28
"Things are just goin down the drain. Jesus is comin back soon, y'all!" This is a sentiment shared by many American Christians. Things get bad. Then Jesus returns. That's how the Bible portrays this world, right? In this episode, we're going back to the Left Behind days to see why so many think this way and whether or not Jesus would agree.
Sep 19, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 27
American Christianity seems to be centered around a once-a-week gathering. Is that... weird? We seem so adapted to it that we often don't stop and reflect on how strange that is, especially when so much of the bible covers topics outside of church worship services. And as community deteriorates in American culture, how does the church transcend the status of just another club to belong to and truly become the Church? I'm not going to pretend like I have all the answers, but these are certainly q...
Sep 14, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Why do Christians run and hide from the darkness of the world, from anything that would be considered "secular?" Is this biblical? After all, aren't we commanded to be holy and not to become like the world, not be be friends with the world, and to keep ourselves unstained from the world? I had a feeling there was something off here, and as I worked on this episode, I think I was able to find exactly what that is.
Aug 27, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 25
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" is a false proverb. People who think critically, offer new perspectives, or re-examine popularly held beliefs are not treated like kings. The more they search, the lonelier they feel. The more they shout, the more they hear their own echoes. And the more they question and explore, the more they realize that their journey is not the enlightening quest they thought it would be. Instead, it turns out to be an awkward endeavor that burdens them wi...
Aug 16, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 24
"Jesus was sort of joking most of the time. He said a lot of pretty radical stuff, but he didn't mean most of it. So, let's take a moment today and dissect what Jesus said and see if maybe we can create a system of ethics that works a little bit better for everybody." - American Christianity
Jul 20, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Do you see relationships as potential converts to the faith? Whenever you meet someone who isn't a Christian, are you immediately burdened by the obligation to rescue them from hell? If so, then let's chat.
Jul 06, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 22
