Growing Up Christian

This week we welcome back one of our absolute favorite podcast pals, Mike Valdes! Mike is a actor, musician, and a very funny comedian who always gets us giggling, and this episode was a really fun opportunity to catch up. Mike always has a lot of irons in the fire, and right now he’s doing a lot of shows with Don’t Tell Comedy, a group which puts together amazing secret lineups in all sort of une...

This week we’re excited to welcome back a very funny standup comedian and all-around great dude, Jeremy Alder! We touch on being a sneaky Christian kid in a conservative household, the complexities of having kids interested in church as an exvangelical, and his fantastic social media series “Christians Who Don’t Suck,” where Jeremy gives a 1 minute overview of a historic Christian figure whose wor...

This week we’re joined by Biblical scholar and author, Dan McClellan! We first became familiar with Dan’s work on social media where he posts some really thought-provoking videos delving into things like commonly misquoted scripture, bad doctrine, and misconceptions about Biblical translation. He is an absolute authority on these subjects and has the scholarly accolades to back it up. His new book...

This week we’re joined by Russell Stark of Upward Intuition, a charity organization that is working to build skateparks in areas where kids have no place to spend time and host professional demonstrations, competitions, and camps where kids not only take part in, but find a place for themselves within the culture of skating! He’s also a former student of Pensacola Christian College, which is a con...

This week we’re joined by musician and old friend of Sam, Calvin Cadoret! We’ve been hearing a lot of hoopla about House of David on Prime, and decided to give the pilot a watch. For those of you with a better algorithm than me, House of David is a historical drama series following the life of King David. Reviews were mixed… Calvin’s band Loudsounds brings a really interesting blend of “atmospheri...

This week we’re joined by Australian musician and meme lord, Guard! Guard reigns supreme as one of the undisputed masters of meme pages and has built many of them over the years, including tinderVSreality, mycringe, mymoistmemes, and dopegrounds. In this episode, we discuss his Christian upbringing in South Africa and Australia, the Vineyard church he was a part of, his Christian Science school, a...

This week we’re discussing the work of famed independent filmmaker and author, Derek Savage! Derek has produced a number of interesting kids movies and books over the years, including Cool Cat Saves the Kids, Bible Birdie, Trolly the Trout, and The Dancer: A Male Stripper Story… need I say more? This is a fascinating wormhole I went down this week, and I think you’re going to enjoy it!

This week we’re chatting about the Zizian cult! The Zizians are a group composed of vegan extremists connected to 6 murders scattered around the country. This is a strange ongoing case, and something we’ll be watching with great interest. Enjoy the show!

This week we’re excited to welcome back pastor, author, and cofounder of Revolution Church, Jay Bakker! Jay joins us after a trip to Ireland where he toured historical sites connected to one of his heroes, John Hume, a legendary Irish politician and peacemaker who worked to build bridges between Catholic and Protestant factions during “The Troubles.” We discuss John’s life, the shifting landscape...

This week we’re headed back to the Book of Mormon to continue the story of Nephi and his naughty brothers! Draw your Salt Lake swords and read along with us in 1 Nephi chapters 5-9. Enjoy the show!

This week we’re joined by comedian and writer Burt Miller! Burt grew up outside of Las Vegas, splitting time between his parents and their very different Evangelical churches. We discuss his upbringing, the strange divulgence of the two youth groups he spent time in, coming to grips with his sexuality, and finding a big ol’ bag of adult items on a church trip through the desert. Burt is preparing...

This week we have a special episode with two of our all time favorite guests, comedian Spencer Bland and philanthropist and influencer Charles McBryde! Spencer was the one who originally introduced us to his long-term friend Charles, and we thought it would be fun to get everybody together. We discuss topics such as the evolving nature of belief, defining your own connection to faith in spite of t...

This week we continue our journey through the Book of Nephi! Chapters 3 & 4 find Nephi and his scumbag brothers (who God has appointed him to rule over because they are bad and he is so, so good) on a quest to obtain the sacred plates of brass on which is inscribed the history and genealogy of the Jewish people. However, the wealthy and powerful Laban isn’t exactly eager to give them up, and l...

This week we’re taking a momentary break from the Book of Mormon to grouse about the avalanche of executive orders from our new old president. We didn’t even come close to covering all of them, but we did drill down on a few of Sam’s favorites. It’s wild out there, and it’s hard to say what could happen over the next few years. Buckle up, folks. This pleasure cruise is starting to feel more and mo...

This week we continue our trek through the Book of Mormon! We got to thinking after last week’s episode that we probably should’ve just started at the beginning. We’ve never read it, so we’re all going to learn and grow together… So come, just as you are, and join us on this spiritual journey through the first Book of Nephi!

This week we’re finally doing it: we’re beginning our in-depth study of the Book of Mormon! For those of you following along in your own unBible, we’ll be in Alma Chapters 17 & 18. We’ll be discussing the inspiring story of Ammon, a Nephite (the good guys) missionary intent on sharing the good news of the yet unborn Lord Jesus Christ with the Lamanites (naughty, wicked, murder-y fellas) across...

This week we’re hanging out and discussing some the holidays, some big personal developments, and the ongoing insanity that is our news cycle. This is a bit of a “relaxed fit” episode, but it was fun to catch up after a week off. Enjoy the show and have a happy new year!

This week we’re joined by musician AJ Tartol! AJ plays drums and does backing vocals for SeeYouSpaceCowboy, and is a vocalist for BuriedButStillBreathing. AJ grew up in church and started playing in the worship band at a very early age. However, as he hit his teen years, he started to drift away from Christianity. We had a great time talking to AJ, and can’t recommend SeeYouSpaceCowboy enough! You...

This week we’re excited to welcome back one of our favorite people in the world, Dr. Luke! Luke has a book coming out next month called Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy , and we’re anxiously awaiting its release. If you haven’t caught Luke on the show in the past, he’s a Liberty University graduate that endured “gay conversion therapy” under LU’s infamous anti-gay(win...

This week we’re pleased to welcome back writer and host of the Tell Me About Your Father podcast, Matt Phillp! In this episode we cover a broad range of topics like cringe youth group object lessons, the absurd difference between America’s self-concept and what it looks like from the outside, the symbolic importance of wheat in film, and the morality and necessity of the Oxford comma. It’s a fun c...

This week discussion seems to revolve around death… Personal loss, remembrance, sentimental attachments, and lastly, a Special Forces operator named John “Shrek” McPhee. Known as “the Sheriff of Bagdad,” John McPhee served as a Delta Force sniper among other things in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and now he teaches combat training. He came to our attention because he’s been playing the podcast c...

This week we’re joined by Jeremiah to discuss the colorful cast of characters being appointed to the highest offices in the land! It’s traditionally known as a cabinet, but I think this is more of a pantry given the number of rotten potatoes inside (that’s my joke and you need to cite me if you use it. I will press charges.). As always, if you’d like to get in on the fun, join our Discord server!...

This week we’re pleased as heck to welcome back activist, documentarian, and internet provocateur Charles McBryde! Since we last spoke, Charles has been working diligently on a documentary about the plight of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (better known as UNRWA). Back in March of this year, the US and several other nations cut funding for the or...

This week (and what a week it’s been) we got together to discuss the election, how we got here, and the absurdities of American politics. If you want to pipe in on the discussion you can join our Discord using the link in our Instagram bio. *Intro clip by the great Tim Dillon from episode 304 of his show “What America Means to Me.”

This week we’re joined by Drew and Grant of Twinnuendo, a 50% gay podcast about two brothers reuniting after 20 years of living worlds apart! Drew is a drag queen living in LA with his husband and dog, while Grant is a former pastor raising 4 kids with his wife in Florida. The two of them reconnected after Grant’s turbulent exit from the church about a year and a half ago, and their show is all ab...