Pod Have Mercy

The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry a...

John and Matt catch up on the inauguration and how as Christians we are called to continue to model the ways of Jesus instead of being driven by other ideologies. 

The first podcast of the new year! We welcome back Dr. Marc Boom to give us an update on the vaccine, current cases in Houston and what we can expect in the coming months. 

Matt and John are here to host a special Thanksgiving episode! John teaches Matt how to fry a turkey and they discuss Christmas traditions and what they are up to for the Holidays.  

Gil Rendle is an author, speaker, facilitator, and influential thought leader who has spent more than 40 years working across the religious landscape, first as a United Methodist pastor and then as a consultant. For the last 11 years, Gil has worked as a senior vice president of TMF’s Leadership Ministry facilitating conversations with denominational leaders on how to lead courageously i...

Dr. Cleve Tinsely joins us this week to talk about our nation's response to the election and how spiritual leaders can move forward. 

This week we welcome back Marlon Lizama! John and Marlon talk about their first cars and John reveals a shocking detail about his youth. They also discuss the creative process and how we can use creativity to benefit our mental health and our spiritual lives.

John and Matt talk about ways that we can cope with stress during the election season! 

The guys talk about the presidential election, wisdom and humility, Howard Thurman, The Social Dilemma and much more! 

This week John and Matt welcome their wives to the podcast! They talk about the misconceptions of what the role of a Pastor's wife consists of and how it has changed over time. They talk Christmas traditions, raising girls vs raising boys, how they met, the challenges of parenting during covid and everything else!

This week Matt and John talk about how Christians should not put their faith in a political party but in God. John gives detailed instructions on how to reverse sear a steak and other helpful tidbits for the quarantined Christian. 

The podcast welcomes Marlon Lizama and Yung Chris! Marlon and Chris are part of a dance crew called Havikoro that has performed in over 80 countries. We talk about the intersection of art and the church, how Havikoro began and the role that Chris and Marlon will play in the future of Chapelwood. Marlon “Marley” Lizama is a poet, writer, artist, author, activist, and dancer who focuses on the cultu...

In this episode John and Matt have a candid conversation about social media and how we can have empathy for people who may not think like us. This episode is all about impressions, laughter and Facebook rants!  

John and Matt are back this week without a guest. They ask each other some questions, talk post-COVID life and ways that we can see things differently in the desert of boredom and anxiety. 

Today Trevor Barnett joins the podcast to talk about Hurricane Harvey, Imelda and Laura. He shares details of the ongoing efforts to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey and how Chapelwood is partnering with The Restoration Team to provide assistance and serving opportunities to our community.  Chapelwood.org/helpothers  therestorationteam.org

Dr. Cleve Tinsley is back on the podcast this week! John, Matt and Cleve take a deep dive into the work of Howard Thurman. They dissect the work of Thurman and discuss how his books are so relevant for this time. 

John and Matt welcome Robert Hilliker to the podcast. Robert is a mental health professional and worked for three years at The Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston where he served as the Manager of Executive and Treatment Services.  As a therapist in the adult intensive outpatient program he provided clinical treatment services to individuals, couples, families, and groups. Robert co-founded...

This week's podcast is a continuation conversation with Dr. Marc Boom. Matt, John and Josef discuss reopening schools and churches and the recommendations from Houston Methodist Hospital. 

We welcome Dr. Marc Boom back to the podcast to give an update on COVID-19 and how the Houston Methodist hospitals are responding. Dr. Boom shares long term effects of COVID, vaccine updates, an update on the condition of our frontline workers, and his projections on a possible regathering date for schools and churches. 

In this special final episode John and Matt reminisce on their favorite moments over the first season of Pod Have Mercy. The podcast will resume on the first week of August with some special guests and new topics! 

John and Matt welcome Reverend Marc Boswell, Ph. D to the podcast this week. Marc is the Executive Director of Together for Hope. Together for Hope (TFH) represents a national, long-term effort to work with people in 20 of the nation's most impoverished counties in order to affect change around the causes and consequences of economic disparity. 

John and Matt get together this week to discuss current events, Matt's wedding anniversary and where we're seeing Jesus this week. 

This week we welcome Peter Johns and Rev. Michael Sciretti to the podcast. Michael and Peter share some of their contemplative prayer practices and ways that we can renew our mind during this time. 

On this week's episode we are joined by Gregg Taylor. Gregg is the senior pastor of Park Avenue UMC in Minneapolis. John and Matt check in with Gregg for insight on what it's like to be a pastor in Minneapolis right now and how he is ministering to his community. 

John and Matt welcome Christian Washington to the podcast. John and Matt listen as Christian discusses his personal struggles with racial profiling. They answer questions that have been submitted around race and BLM.