Pick Up the Mike

Nick Greiner grew up as Pastor Mike's son, a shy kid who traded New Jersey sweater vests for Western Pennsylvania after a move he did not want. He shares how childhood anxiety shaped his early years, why he fought to quit football, and how obsessive push-ups and a guitar got him through cyber school. He talks about sneaking a blank audition CD into a stack of papers to land a full ride at North Gr...

In this week's episode, Mike and Will pick up in Romans 8:18-22, where Paul says our present suffering isn't worth comparing to the glory to come. They dig into why all creation is groaning like a woman in labor, then tackle listener questions on dealing with a controlling spouse and why some churches affirm same-sex marriage. They wrap up with a few Big Fred stories you won't want to...

In this special 9/11 anniversary episode, Mike and Will open with some practical wisdom on withholding judgment and assuming the best of others' motives before diving into the main event: a hard look at Islam's history and its ongoing persecution of Christians, from Nigeria to lower Manhattan. They react to a string of videos — some graphic, with a warning given beforehand — covering every...

In this week's episode, Mike and Will continue their walk through Romans, picking up in chapter 8 as Paul unpacks what it means to be adopted as sons of God rather than slaves living in fear. Along the way, they wrestle with why Paul uses the word "sons" instead of "children," dig into the promise that our suffering now is nothing compared to the glory being revealed in us,...

In this week's episode, Mike and Will move into Romans 8, unpacking why Paul calls it the pinnacle of the whole book — starting with "no condemnation" and working through what it really means to set your mind on the Spirit instead of the flesh. Along the way, they get into a wild AI story about Claude and ChatGPT breaking out of their test environments to hack a company, debate the d...

Mike and Mandy are joined by three guests from across the world for a conversation that'll open your eyes — diving into the story of Kuza, a Kenyan gospel ministry reaching people across six African countries. Then they dig into the personal stories behind it: Marvin, Matt, and Edgar — three very different men whose winding paths to faith and ministry prove God's still writing some wild st...

In this week's episode, Mike and Will dig into Romans 7, tackling the tension every believer feels: why does the law seem to stir up sin instead of stopping it? Along the way, they wrestle with who Paul is actually describing in the chapter's hardest verses, unpack the difference between the "old nature" and the "new man," and get into a real debate over whether addicti...

Jay Decker grew up as a missionary kid but dreamed of nothing more than a house with a white picket fence back in America. Then his best friend died in front of him at 16, and everything changed. Hear how Jay wanted nothing to do with missions ended up inventing a business cover to reach a people group with no written language, no Bible, and no church - and the photo that arrived years later that...

In this week's episode, Mike and Will dig into Romans 6, wrestling with the question every Christian eventually faces: if grace covers all sin, why not just keep sinning? They break down what it means to be dead to the law but alive in Christ, and preview the "two natures" debate coming in Romans 7. Mike also recaps his mission trip to Kenya, before closing out with a hot take on the...

With Mike still out of the country, Will invited Josh Oliver on the podcast to share his story. Josh grew up in Ford City, raised by a single dad after his parents' divorced early on. He shares how he made a childhood profession of faith at a VBS Harvest, spent his teen years chasing hockey and parties instead of God, drifted through a rough freshman year college, and found his way back to Chr...

Fred Neal grew up three feet from Kittanning High School, sleeping to bass-thumping cars and sitting in the back row where "God can't find me back here." Hear how a friend's drug-fueled seizure sent him crying out to God with a kids' Bible in hand — and how that one Sunday led to 16 years on staff at Harvest, alongside his own father. A candid, often funny conversation about...

Mike and Mandy dig into some of the worst preaching trends online right now — from Willow Creek's legacy to a lesbian bishop, a "God is a black woman" panel, and a Lutheran sermon that accuses Jesus of losing his temper. Then a turn toward hope: Conor McGregor's faith, an AI-made short film reviving old-school femininity, and a British history lesson on who actually ended slavery...

In this week's episode, Mike and Will dig into Romans 6, tackling the question every Christian eventually faces: if grace covers all sin, why not just keep sinning? Along the way, they break down what it means to be "baptized into His death," push back on antinomianism, and get into a real debate over Catholic and Eastern Orthodox views on purgatory, the papacy, and church tradition...

Joe Zambotti grew up in a welding shop, riding motocross, and skipping church whenever his dad would let him — until his 13-year-old sister burned head to toe changed everything. Hear how a Pennsylvania body shop owner finally found what years of running from God never could — and how his dying sister led their own father to Christ from a hospital bed. ---------------------------------------------...

Matt Cooper grew up outside Fox Chapel in an angry, "name it and claim it" household. He shares how a he got saved at 14 in a cabin, spent his teen years chasing girls instead of God, found his way back through a stranger's testimony in college, met and married his wife Laura, and bounced through five churches in five years before landing — almost against his will — at Harvest. -----...

Thilak Pappu spent his early years in Kerala, India chanting Hindu devotional songs, climbing sacred mountains barefoot, and bargaining for idols at the market. But no amount of religion could answer his four questions. Hear how a Hindu worship leader from South India found what the Ganges River, a saffron-robed guru, and thirty million gods could never give him — and why he got on a plane back to...

Mike and Will tackle an anonymous question about what it actually means to be biblically married — and whether the government has anything to do with it. Then Romans 5, where one man's bite of fruit killed the whole human race and one man's obedience saves it. And finally, a sprawling conversation about AI, college graduation rates, and why the most historically unprecedented thing happeni...

Jim Bracelin never planned to learn sign language — just enough signs to share the gospel if he ever met a deaf person. Hear how that reluctant "bare minimum" commitment turned into decades of full-time deaf ministry, what it looks like when God moves a Scottish boy 3,617 miles just to cross your path, and why 93% of deaf people will never hear a clear presentation of the gospel in their...

Mike and Will open with a question from the young adults group — does God actually hate Satan? — and find out it's harder to answer than it sounds. Then it's Romans 5, where Paul somehow makes suffering sound like good news. And finally, a crowdfunded documentary about Noah's ark, dinosaur bones with soft tissue, and why AI might be the best evangelism tool nobody's talking about y...

Mike and Will wrap up Romans 4, dig into why Abraham's 20-year wait is actually the whole point, and explain the difference between hope that's wishful thinking and hope that's a sure thing. Then things get interesting — five months is apparently all it takes to lose your mind on Islam and Israel, three women pastors make their case, and a scene from The Apostle that shows what it look...

Mike and Will wrap up Romans 3 and begin chapter 4, dig into Abraham as the original faith-not-works case study, and explain why being justified is a whole lot better than being pardoned. Then things get interesting — a deep dive into Islam that will either wake you up or freak you out (probably both), why the peaceful majority is always irrelevant, and a dying senator who figured out there are no...

Mike and Will work through more of Romans 3, unpack what justification actually means and why it's not the same as being pardoned, and work through the scandal of grace. Then a tour through the cultural delusion being set up in real time: the Pope's universalism, TDS as a psyop, citizen journalism, and why the table has been getting set for the Antichrist for a very long time. ------------...

Mike and Will push deeper into Romans 3, wrestle with what it actually means to "get your heart right" before communion, and answer the question Paul keeps asking — if sin makes God look good, why not just sin more? Then the Pope is everywhere in the news and it's time to talk about it — a blunt tour through papal history, the charismatic renewal, and why the Catholic Church's bi...

Mike and Will jump right into this week's episode, answering a listener question about whether it's even worth starting a family when the world feels like it's falling apart, then diving into Romans 2 where Paul drops the bombshell that true salvation has nothing to do with your bloodline or rule-keeping - further stating that only Jews can go to heaven. Then they react to Trump's...

Mike and Will dig into Romans 2, unpack what a chiasm is and why it matters, then take on a hot-button issue facing the modern church — women pastors — tracing the debate all the way back to Betty Friedan, second-wave feminism, and the culture war that's been reshaping Christianity ever since. Plus: a spirited defense of Bugs Bunny. Book: A Republic If You Can Keep It Book: Recovering Biblical...