Pastor With No Answers: The MIXTAPE Era

With newly added commentary, this is a re-airing of the first episode of Pastor With No Answers Podcast , “Can a Christian Be a Universalist?”   (originally aired Oct 4th 2015).  A question I was only dabbling in at the time, although was very optimistically suspicious, given what I’d already taken in of various books, including the Bible.  Now, it’s hard for me to see it any other way.  Just like...

[Recorded on the evening of July 15 2024, in this episode:  Joey Svendsen , Ellen Mauro , Matt Oxley , Stoy Prioleau ] What does it say about the heart of a human being when one celebrates the demise of an enemy?  Is that a deficiency of something one should be praying for God's help about, or is such a celebration ever celebration-worthy?  The crew discuss their thoughts on the assassination...

[Recorded on the evening of May 15 2024, in this episode:  Joey Svendsen , Hayne Griffin , Robbie Madison , Matt Oxley ] With “Firefighter Hayne” present, the host crew discuss some pretty intense emergency situations that Hayne was also present at while working his vocation as a rescue worker. Somehow the discussion shifts to everyones' most fearful ways to die and whether the jumpers'...

[in this episode:  Joey Svendsen , Hayne Griffin , Jed Payne , Stoy Prioleau ] British actor and comedian, Russell Brand, apparently converted to Christianity and this sort of thing makes Joey and Jed excited, while Hayne could not care any less than what he does about celebrities "joining the team."  All three consider themselves Christians and thus discuss the possible intricacies that...

Joey discusses how he feels the church is still way too focussed on the "letter of the law," muddying the waters of love and holding the exact counterproductive beliefs the Apostle Paul warns against in his letter to the church in Galatia.  If the church allowed Jesus' words to reign supreme and took serious His command to love, Christianity would cease from being  " just anoth...

[This Episode: Hosts, Hayne Griffin , Matt Oxley , Joey Svendsen and guest, John Pavlovitz ] Any one want more courage and compassion when cruelty is trending?  Can we get an amen or two?   With guest and author John Pavlovitz, we navigate themes of judgment, emotional reactions, and the delicate balance of maintaining hope within societal systems. Together, we uncover the transformative power of...

[appearing on this episode: Joey Svendsen and guest, Amanda Udis-Kessler ] Amanda Udis-Kessler PhD. wrote a book on ethics, Abundant Lives: A Progressive Christian Ethic of Flourishing .  This book sets out to invite sociologically informed engagement in human well-being, based on Jesus’ command to love God and our neighbors.  Talking through many facets of its content, Joey and Dr. Amanda discuss...

[On this episode: Zoë Roff , Amy Alderman , Joey Svendsen ] *Special song tribute by Riggy Roc ( Stoy Prioleau )   Listeners, This is Joey.  On this episode, my co-host and friend Amy Alderman join Zoë Roff in paying tribute to her brother Zeth and reflecting on his passing away by suicide.  We all four went to the same high school, know the same people; so for us, it was a meaningful glimpse back...

[appearing on this episode: Joey Svendsen, Amy Alderman and guest, David Schirduan ] David Schirduan grew up with a very similar faith-background as Joey's, but the biggest difference?  David spent a part of his "youth group, high school days" in the youth group that Joey led almost 20 years ago. David creates literature for folks who enjoy role-playing games, many of these games al...

[Contributors to this Episode:  Matt Oxley , Hayne Griffen , Joey Svendsen ,] Co-hosts Matt Oxley and Hayne Griffen share their stories of deconstruction, Matt all the way to unbelief and Hayne, into "belief territory" that most evangelicals would deem heresy.  The two dig deep into Hayne's story including his upbringing and how he now parents his own kids.  Matt laments on the lack...

[Contributors to this Episode: Joey Svendsen , Liz Miller, Stoy Prioleau , Matt Oxley ] Stoy's cultural upbringing and mentoring (or lack of) instilled various perspectives about sex, marriage and success, that he'd later have to grow out of.   Joey and Liz lament over inappropriate hip-hop lyrics, having sons who love hip-hop, and Matt exhorts Christians to repent from capitalism.    St...

[Contributors to this Episode: Joey Svendsen , Hayne Griffen , Jack Hoey , Derek Kubilus ] In EP10 of the Podcast, 4 months or so ago, Derek Kubilus introduced us to his perspective on a Universal salvation plan carried out by Jesus, captured in his new book, Holy Hell .  Regular guest, Jack Hoey, read the book and didn't have a positive reaction, even felt like it was contemptuous.  Hosts Jo...

[in this episode: Dr. Tiffany Yecke Brooks and host, Joey Svendsen ] Dr. Tiffany Yecke Brooks joins to talk her newest book, Holy Ghosted: Spiritual Anxiety, Religious Trauma, and the Language of Abuse , which is a follow-up to her previous book Gaslighted by God.  Together, her and Joey discuss spiritual anxiety (including scrupulosity), the important difference between deconstructing faith and d...

[ on this episode: Jed Payne , Joey Svendsen , and Jared Svendsen] " Fam of the podcast," Jed Payne and literally family, Joey's big brother, Jared Svendsen join to talk conspiracies; touching on 911 and the moon landing, but focussing on the possibility of aliens.  They also discuss skepticism, media biases, biblical implications of all of it and whether or not they'd enter a...

[ on this episode: Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler and Joey Svendsen ] Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, MD started a TikTok account, began to acquire a very large following and literally became hooked.  After he started to ignore his family because of the " TikTok addiction," his wife and daughters took matters into their own hands, pointed out to him the severity of his issue and pleaded for him to get...

[ hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen ] What if all Christian Youth Group Ministries could be turned into Youth Centers that were instrumental in supporting youth of all faiths, backgrounds, and sexualities? Get The B-Sides Feed   Facebook Discussion Group here. E-mail the PWNA team here. Music :   Mechanical River E-mail Joey here. Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo...

[ hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen , Stoy Prioleau , Amy Alderman, Robbie Madison , Matt Oxley , Jed Payne ] Joey opens up about what he feels may be too much personal apathy about politics and voting.  After sharing with a handful of the show's co-hosts on this one, he's met with more cynicism than he can handle.  Four of the five  present are convinced that the USA &qu...

[ hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen ] Corey Nathan, host of the Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other Podcast, joins the show to discuss a weakness of his.  He has a very hard time keeping composure when it comes to difficult discussions about politics and religion.  But deep in his heart, as a former Jewish man, now Christian, he knows that love is the goal. ...

[ hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen and Matt Oxley ] Jack Hoey (the father) and Jack Hoey (the son) join Joey and Matt to discuss the likelihood of God's existence, why God doesn't make things more obvious, whether or not people can condition themselves to believe, how dependable the bible is to base meaning of life on, and what stock should be placed on spiritual experie...

Hayne tells a beautiful story of redemption and love winning over evil.   Get The B-Sides Feed Facebook Discussion Group here. E-mail the PWNA team here. Music: Joe Guevara [Jejune] E-mail Joey here. Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo) PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc ): Apple Music Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.  

[PRE-ORDER NOW "Deconstructing Without Losing Yourself" by Angela Herrington] host contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen The author of "Deconstructing Without Losing Yourself,"  by Angela Herrington, joins Joey to talk about her new book (releasing this month).  Together they discuss their personal journeys of deconstruction, including the obstacle of fear and how to have...

[hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen , Robbie Madison , Stoy Prioleau ] Joey's been saving up questions revolving around black people and racism, these aren't the sort of questions you ask a stranger in the check-out line.  He also shares some stories of being the recipient of racism at the hands of black people, for his two friends (and co-hosts of the show) Robbie and Sto...

[hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen , Robbie Madison , Amy Alderman , Hayne Griffen ] Stories of old prank calls that almost landed Joey in jail, a disgusting fecal matter prank story, people who want Pat Robertson to burn in jail and whether Satan deserves mercy.    Oh, and when the telemarketer calls, WWJD? Get The B-Sides Feed (comes with access to our private community) Facebook...

[hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen , Robbie Madison , Hayne Griffen ] Favorite Christmas Movies, sexist Christmas Movies from the 1940s, what to expose kids to and whether people will ever see the harm in cell phones similarly to the way society looks at smoking cigarettes.  And while we're at it, should "Baby It's Cold Outside," be cancelled? Merry Christmas fr...

Please listen at your own risk, as the content on this one is very heavy. [hosts contributing on this episode: Joey Svendsen , Ellen Mauro , Hayne Griffen ] Joey had a seizure a couple of weeks ago and his friends' security camera captured it all.  With "firefighter Hayne" present, we learn a bit more about seizures but we also hear some horror stories he's seen on the job as a...