Pastor With No Answers: The MIXTAPE Era

Co-hosts Robbie Madison and Matt Oxley, join host Joey Svendsen with the original purpose of continuing a conversation from episode 340, “Courage Not to Cancel the Racist,"   asking the question, "what about the statues of racists?" We accomplished this while at the same time, Joey believes the Holy Spirit moved in real time, opening his eyes to a facet of his white privilege that w...

[with special appearances from Pete Enns, John Mark McMillan, Brandan Robertson, Jared Svendsen and Hayne Griffen] The original intent of the episode was to get deep into the theology of the Cross of Jesus, and Brian Zahnd covered us [profoundly]  in that department.  We discuss with Brian how the church explains too much the “death and resurrection of Jesus,” stripping it from its beauty and powe...

Welcome to a new (and permanent) angle of Pastor With No Answers Podcast .   Ellen Mauro , Amy Alderman and Liz Miller , all mothers and wives,  one hates her job as a stay at home mom, each medicated for anxiety and really bad OCD.   One seems to be pro-violence,  one swings both ways, each  of them think critically enough not to cancel everyone who makes a mistake, and all three want to follow J...

Derek and I have hung out online doing podcast episodes  for the last 7 years or so and we've talked very little about Christian faith.  In this episode, that's the focus; Derek's faith  - Joey Deconstruction is the buzz word.  Those who "deconstruct" typically demolished "static pillars" of fundamentalism and over time, new ones go up.  There exists different be...

[At top of episode, Ellen, Ryan and Joey discuss Ryan's ignoring of God, why it's a bit morbid when a Christian asks "was he/she a believer" after some one dies, and how the church is trying to convince Ellen's friend to stay with her cheating husband because he "reads the word" and "it was only a blowjob."] For our main talk, biographical author, Georg...

BONUS EPISODE This situation is so intriguing, if you're interested in human behavior.  So much here.    But this episode is like the RobCast .  There's just one person talking here.  The big difference  between this episode and the RobCast is that they have Rob Bell, he's smart, and has tons of answers.    I have a smart therapist who has helped shape how I see humans and encourage...

Dr. Latimore, author of “Unshakable Faith of Famous and Little Known African Americans from Colonial Times to the Present"   joins co-hosts Robbie Madison and Joey Svendsen to discuss the important outlooks and insights his book delivers on. In our diverse communities, churches, organizations and political spaces, [Black] history offers a window into the meaning of America  and the opportunit...

Matt Johnson used to live in Mark Driscoll’s basement as “one of the interns” (inside joke you’ll find out later) and eventually became an integral part of Mars Hill Church's operations and ministries, as a pastor.  On this episode, Matt and Joey reflect on Christianity Today’s The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast, including guesswork on Driscoll’s heart, ( "that only God can judge&quo...

What a roller coaster ride, “riding through” purity culture as a guy.  I can’t imagine the beautiful world of being a teen and accepting (even embracing) sexuality (and all the feelings) as a gift to be celebrated; instead we were taught shame and guilt about one of the most natural and beautiful gifts there are.  – Joey (host) Purity culture affected the guys here in various ways.  Lots of “sexua...

What if in the "Genesis 1 beginning," things had already began?  What if the infamous, "In the Beginning" beginning, happens to be about  one small area, guarded by an angel (Garden of Eden).  S. Joshua Swamidass, MD, PhD ,  author of The Genealogical Adam and Eve: The Surprising Science of Universal Ancestry , challenges widely-held presuppositions held about the Genesis creat...

[ Episode is Rated R and contains offensive language, including slang for female body parts.  Last thing we desire is for folks to be uncomfortable, triggered or offended.  Please proceed with caution] Co-hosts Ryan Amick and Ellen Mauro discuss some new territory on a common theme we have on this show: PC Culture. Why is Ryan (a white, straight male) sad about not being able to say certain words?...

We've heard the stories, we've seen their signs, our jaws have dropped, our stomachs have turned. Why do they do what they do? How do they reconcile their actions with the teachings of Jesus? How do they claim to practice love? Back in August of 2020, Jack Hoey III and Joey talked to the leader of Westboro Baptist, Tim Phelps.    You can listen to that episode here (part 1).  This time a...

[Evangelicals, on this episode, we aren’t laughing at you.  The guest is too nice to do this and I’d be too much a hypocrite] We released Eastern Orthodox Part 1 with former "rock stars ( Luxury ) gone Orthodox Priests" because I had no idea what the heck it meant to be orthodox and had to know.  Little did I know, the episode would influence my brother (former co-host and current produc...

[Not a " christian " or " non-christian " conversation,"  nor a conversation revolving around my personal sexual ethics. Okay, now with that out of way -- Joey} God gives graciously.  Can this be seen any clearer in the sophisticated way humans are able to experience pleasure within one's very anatomy?   And just like most other things, humans have managed to screw (n...

Professor at Duke, best-selling author, podcast host of Everything Happens Podcast , is a self-identified “incurable optimist" who is very candid in her dealings with personal life-altering pain and how God fits into (or does not fit into) the equation.   As she shares her story, listeners can acquire new lenses for how they see and process pain, suffering and God.  For example, what if suffe...

At top of the episode, Joey’s pastor Josh Surratt joins to talk about big church buildings, whether he’s comfortable with Joey’s different approaches to Christian faith, if he’d like to be a celebrity pastor and if there's anything he dislikes about the church he leads.    Within white evangelical church cultures, many black people have  found their voices and convictions unvalued.  It's...

Author and Theologian, Sharon Putt (formerly Sharon Baker), Chip Judd and host, Joey Svendsen all have similar spiritual upbringings but Sharon and Joey believe in a Christ-centered universal salvation.  It’s one thing to reject this belief, another thing for a Christian to say the bible doesn’t support it.  One's view of scripture  may "clearly say anything" he think it says, but w...

I had no idea the direction my home state was heading in.  Our government is making some adjustments to their “capital punishment policies,” which includes (yes, you read right) a firing squad.  We talk about this while Shane shares the correlation between capital punishment and slavery.  According to Shane, this issue can’t be separated by race.  We talk the theological and moral implications of...

Host Joey Svendsen was on the BlackSheep Podcast to talk about himself for an hour.  Hosts of BlackSheep, Mason and Cullen, ask Joey what he believes and what music he’s listening to and they were wonderful in allowing us to release this on our channel as well.   Joey goes into the history of Pastor With No Answers and how it represents a biographical synopsis of all the ways he’s changed in his f...

How do you ever have a "normal feeling Christmas" again when on that one Christmas morning, you woke up to the news Rian Fuller woke up to.  On Christmas of 2015, Rian lost her best friend Karen Bessinger, who just happened to be the one who gave her birth.  Here we discuss whether or not Christmas is "redeemable" for Rian again; and we wonder why the hell couldn't God hav...

Subscribe here to keep up with all things " Pastor With No Answers " as well as a new digital family we'd love to have you a part of.  You don't have to be alone in your spiritual questions  and you don't have to play by society's "new standard" of taking sides and being polarized.  Join us! At top of episode, Joey proposes some double-standards to co-hosts...

With eight hundred staff members, 1000 students, Bethel Church / Music (based out of Redding California) is a household name in the evangelical church world.  Jenn just wrote a book, “All Things Lovely: Inspiring Health and Wholeness in Your Home, Heart, and Community .” In the context of this book, we talk supernatural healings, antidepressants, importance of church community, and holistic health...

From the ages of six to 26, Ashley Broderick has persevered through chronic panic disorder without the guidance of any healthcare professional or the assistance of antidepressants.  Now the mother of two (one high schooler) with more knowledge and coping skills,  and now also incorporating the help of the mental health profession, she has acquired great strength and made great strides of health. ...

James Wellman with us today to talk about his newest book, High on God: How Mega Churches Have Won the Heart of America .  Most would have Wellman in the "progressive Christian" camp, he began his research assuming his cynicism about Mega Churches would be vindicated and that he'd find that these things should go away for good.  Instead, he discovered that Mega Churches generally pr...

New York Times best-selling author, Kristin Kobes Du Mez wrote Jesus and John Wayne which is   " a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism and reveals how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with a 'spiritual badass.’”...