The Debrief Podcast with Matthew Stephen Brown

How does Sandals Church view homosexuality, what exactly is the unforgiveable sin and is it ever possible to lose our salvation? This week Pastor Matt tackles the tough questions we hear quite often at Sandals Church.

Plenty happens before we record each episode of The Debrief, and most of the time the mics are on. Now's your chance to listen in on some behind the scenes fun with Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie and some of our most recent guests.

How do we know if God will answer our prayers or not? What makes God more likely to perform a miracle? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie wrap up the book of Acts and share what’s ahead for the Debrief in 2017.

What happens when a Christian commits suicide, are some sins worse than others and do people really have free will? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie talk through Acts 26 and what the greatest Christian of all time had to say when he was on trial.

Can going to prison ever be a good thing, how do we handle hard times and when did the bible stop being cool with multiple wives? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie jump into Acts 25 and what happened when a new Roman governor came to town.

When is it ok to rebel against the government, will God really judge everyone and how do we know the Bible is reliable? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie walk through Acts 24 and Paul’s latest trial.

How to respect bad leaders, why you may have to say sorry even if you were right and how to respond when things seem absolutely out of control. This week Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie geek out about Thanksgiving and get into Paul’s showdown with his fellow Jews in Acts 23.

How do you grow in your faith when you’re really busy and making sense of apparent contradictions in the bible. Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie picking up from last week’s cliffhanger as Paul gets his people to listen closely before he says one word to make them all want to kill him.

If two people both feel they’ve heard from God and disagree, how do you know who is right? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie walk through Acts 21 and what happens when a bunch of religious people can’t seem to figure out what to do. 

How should church really work, how do we watch out for wolves and how do we know what God is asking us to do? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie follow along as Paul continues his wild journey in Acts 20, taking the scenic route, bringing a guy back to life and dropping some pretty serious bombs on his fellow Christians. 

How should Christians exercise our right to vote? Is choosing not to vote, or voting to legalize marijuana, a sin? Can someone be a true follower of Jesus and get into politics as a career? And should Christians all agree on who we elect for president? In this special episode, Pastor Matt Brown offers real answers to our tough questions about politics and voting.

Can we still expect miracles to happen, should we pick fights with demons and what’s the deal with sorcery? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie walk through Acts 19 and your questions, with a couple of surprises along the way.

Can you be friends with people who don’t share your faith, how should Christians handle Halloween and when should you just walk away? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie tackle your questions and the story behind Acts 18.

What should you do when you’re wronged, how do you deal with a difficult boss and what does it actually mean to actually be a good person? This week Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie talk through Acts 17 and answer your follow-up questions.

Is stress actually a good thing? Pastor Matt, Justin and Stephanie talk through conflict, stress and circumcision and what happened when Paul came across a couple of very strong-willed women. 

Pastor Matt Brown, Justin Pardee and Stephanie Keen talk through how to survive conflict, why Christians go to church on Sundays and how to talk evolution. The team walks through Acts 15 and what the early church decided Christians really can and can’t do.

Pastor Matt Brown, Justin Pardee and Stephanie Keen are together again to talk through whether or not you can lose your faith. As they get into Acts 14, they discuss if God only works through open doors and why the Bible talks about people tearing off their clothes when things get weird. 

Melody Workman and Stephanie Keen team up with Pastor Matt Brown and Justin Pardee to answer questions about picking a church, predestination and government sorcerers. The crew also talks through Acts 13 and how to respond when we face outright rejection.

Purgatory, dinosaurs and a belly full of worms. This week’s conversation on Acts 12 and audience follow-up questions cover everything from whether Christians get special protection from bad things to whether or not prayer actually changes anything.

Melody Workman joins Pastor Matt and Justin to answer questions about religious flexibility, the Catholic church and eating lizards. We get in to Acts 11 with questions about repetitive scripture, the first missionaries and responding to so-called prophets.

Plenty of people who have no interest in going to church still pray when they really need something from God. Does God listen to or answer the prayers of those who aren’t really Christians? Pastor Matt Brown, Claude Hickman and Stephanie Keen talk through how to know if God wants us to do something or go somewhere that might be taboo.

It’s a fact commonly recognized that one of the greatest plot twists in any story when your sworn enemy decides to join your team. In Acts 9, that’s exactly what happens to the early church. Was it a good idea to ask some questions first? Or should we just accept everyone with open arms? And what happens when someone other than Jesus tried to raise a person from the dead?

For the first time in forever, Christians leave Jerusalem and start telling people in other cultures and countries about Jesus. Along the way they come across a magician and a traveling eunuch. In this episode, Pastor Matt Brown shares why it’s ok to ask God for specific things and what we’re really supposed to do to be saved.

Acts 7 is primarily a speech by Stephen walking through the entire history of the bible. Why on earth did a guy who was facing death choose to offer a history lesson as his defense? Pastor Matt Brown shares what Stephen was really doing and what this means for us.

When the church experienced racism, how did the apostles respond? What does the bible actually say about different degrees of sin? Finally, how did Stephen go from serving food to becoming an even greater speaker than Peter? Find out as Pastor Matt Brown is joined by special guest Pastor Tim Timberlake.