Growing Up Christian

This week we’re diving into a few different stories! We’re starting out with one of our favorite subreddits, r/christiandatingadvice. Then we discuss the arrest of a California pastor and recent Congressional candidate who was duped by a youtube predator catcher called “Big Bad Wolf.” Finally, we talk about an less-than-ambitious attempt to create a “straight, white only” conclave in the mountains...

This week, we’re taking a look at a twisted ongoing story out of Indianapolis surrounding a megachurch called Life Church. When the son of prominent pastor Nathan Peternel with close personal ties to Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith is arrested for distributing CSAM, it raised more than a few eyebrows. As it turns out, Jonathan Peternel isn’t the only one with skeletons in his closet… The domino effect...

This week we’re looking at a little local literature from our friends at the nearby church of Christ. Direct mail is a tough medium with which to elicit a response. I haven’t studied the charts and graphs, but I don’t imagine many people come to the Lord via longwinded mailers. However, I received one this week that got my attention. It’s entitled “Socialism is Not Just an Economic Theory! (The Mo...

This week we’re joined by award-winning investigative journalist, TJ Raphael! We came across TJ’s work when we discovered her podcast series Liberty Lost which is the culmination of a two year investigation into a maternity home owned and operated by our alma mater, Liberty University. The Liberty Godparent Home is advertised as a ministry of compassion whose mission is to offer “a better choice”...

EPISODE 250!!! It’s crazy to think we’ve been doing this show for almost 5 years… We’ve met so many great people and had so many interesting conversations over the last half a decade! And what better way to celebrate 250 episodes than with our friend, comedian Spencer Bland. Spencer has moved to LA, and he’s pursuing a career in standup comedy full force. We talk about life in LA, the slow radical...

This week we’re looking over a little of what the algorithm has vomited onto my lap, recently! This one covers a lot of ground, folks. We’ll hear a sermon from a former white witch trying to warn the faithful about the dangers of Halloween, the plethora of Christ-centered knickknacks and doodads hawked by TikTok grifters, and finally, a truly unique group of individuals brought together by their l...

This week we’re discussing a number of stories from across the internet, including the bizarre Sweet Home Alabama cover the current and former US ambassadors to Israel recently performed, Greg Locke continuing to be one of the worst people in the country, Dinesh D’Souza’s new documentary about the Israel/Palestine, another pastor with lavish tastes caught stealing donations, and the recent executi...

This week we’re happy to welcome back our friend Burton Miller, fresh off of his recent comedy tour! Burt joins us this week to discuss our childhood bullies, BookTok literature, Joseph Smith’s magnificent holy spectacles, and look over some of the final words of persecuted prophet from the book of Mosiah, Abinadi. Burt just launched a new podcast of his own that we think a lot of you guys will en...

These are stressful times, friends. We thought it might be nice to take you all on a little auditory vacation with the soothing Carribean vibes of Caucasian Christian reggae artist, Abba Alabanza! This brave artist is leading a one man revolution against the gay community… and music as an artform, it seems. Then we’re jumping into the next chapter of Mosiah, continuing our Book of Mormon odyssey w...

This week we start off with the strange, confusing, and suspicious narrative around the Kirk assassination, and then we’re jumping into a chapter of Mosiah that discusses the strained relations between the good, wholesome, chosen Nephites, and the evil, dangerous, spiteful-for-no-reason Lamenites. It’s a book with more than a few modern parallels and a heap of repetitive language (as usual). Enjoy...

This week we’re discussing the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the recent raid on several compounds of the Kingdom of God International church. Pastor David Taylor and his right hand, Michelle Brannon, are facing serious criminal penalties for essentially running a forced labor cult centered around call centers where his followers were forced to solicit donations or face serious consequences. Th...

This week we’re joined once again by musicians Chris and Logan from Tan and Handsome! They just released a new EP titled 2 Tan 2 Handsome, and it goes so hard. Follow Tan and Handsome on IG and Youtube (@tanandhandsome), X (@tanandhandsome_) and check out 2 Tan 2 Handsome streaming everywhere!

This week we’re discussing an absolutely insane story that the mainstream press hasn’t done a great job of covering. Over the past couple of weeks, the Las Vegas Police, the FBI, and several southern Nevada law enforcement offices conducted a sting targeting online predators. They nabbed eight .pdf files, but two men in particular drew attention from the general public: Redemption Church pastor Ne...

This week we’re looking at a couple of ridiculous stories where pastors have recently found themselves in legal trouble (to put it lightly)! Then we’re diving into a few posts on one of the most triggering subreddits, r/christiandatingadvice. This is a place where 20-something youth group kids go to ask questions with somewhat obvious answers to a group of people who give them really awful spiritu...

This week we’re blazing through a few more short books within the Book of Mormon! A fella can take some serious liberties when creating his own lore from scratch, and in this portion we’ll look at the introduction of a specific type of prophetic figure: the seer. Enjoy the episode!

This week we’re back in the Book of Mormon after several months’ hiatus, and I have to say, it feels good to really sink your teeth into the Word! We’ve abandoned the notion of going through it chapter by chapter because it is, sigh… kinda boring. So we’re jumping ahead a bit and looking at the the Book of Jacob chapter 6. Lots of lessons here, kids, so grab a notepad and enjoy the show!

This week we’re catching up on a few of the avalanche of news stories that have built up over the past few weeks! We glance at the ongoing Epstein case, the absolutely hilarious PR nightmare that is the Trump Administration’s response, and then talk about an ambitious young buck from our past who went from bottle feeding Jerry Falwell pureed Big Macs at Liberty University to the Executive Chairman...

This week we’re happy to welcome back musician and host of the You Have Permission podcast, Dan Koch! We discuss the challenges of discussing current events with half the population, brainstorm some ideas to fix the Christian movie industry, and we gauge and quantify Dan’s reactions to the past years’ key controversial cultural moments. It’s a lot of fun and you can hear part 2 of our conversation...

This week Casey is joined by keynote speaker, success coach, best-selling author, and host of the Dream Think Do Podcast, Mitch Matthews! Mitch works with a wide variety of clients with the goal of “helping them remember who they are, what they’re capable of, and what’s possible when you build something on purpose.” We discuss his early life in church, the life-altering brush with tragedy that pro...

*TRIGGER WARNING: this episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault and abuse. This week we’re finally going to dive into the Michael Tait allegations. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, he is a lifelong Christian musician originally known for being in DC Talk, but he spent the last 16 years as the lead singer of the Newsboys. Earlier this month The Roy Report published the first of sever...

This week we’re talking about what everyone is talking about – Israel’s surprise attack on Iran, the possibility of direct American involvement, the MAGA split over a new Middle East war, and of course, the Trump family’s latest attempt to squeeze money out of red-blooded midwestern patriots with early onset dementia, T1 Mobile. What a time to be (temporarily) alive, am I right?

This week we’re taking a look at one of Christendom's favorite spirit-filled Hollyweird flunkies: Stephen Baldwin. You might think you know how bizarre Stevie B is, but I’ll bet you don’t…

This week we're catching up after a two-week hiatus and discussing the cautionary tale of Mitchell Summerfield, pastor of Word of God Church in Raleigh, NC! Remember the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) that kept businesses afloat and employees secure in their jobs during the pandemic? Pastor Mitch remembers them well, having collected over $400k from...

This week we’re catching up and diving into the dark, mysterious, and sticky world of the only man on Earth with both a bowl cut AND the Holy Ghost baptism, Bob Hickman! Truck driver by day and internet prophet by night, Bob is a fascinating character that you may recognize by his opening line “God entered my body, like a body my same size. Like me floating into you, or you floating into me…” Rece...

This week we’re excited to welcome back filmmaker Tyler Eaton! The last time we spoke (Ep. 73 – Pure Flix Presents “Caviezel Dead: The Seventh Trumpet”), Tyler was still raising funds for a horror comedy called “Mysterious Ways” about two sibling youth pastors who accidentally summon a malevolent entity during an anti-Halloween social media stunt. Well after several years and a mountain of manhour...