Jim Wilhelm

The Sawdust Trail: A Red Dirt Half-Hour Hour

Music EN ↓ 6 episodes

The Sawdust Trail is where revival meets Red Dirt. Hosted by Pastor Jim Wilhelm, this podcast treats folk songs as sacred texts—walking stanza by stanza through outlaw hymns, Dust Bowl laments, and Red Dirt ballads like they’re scripture. Think revival tent pitched on an Oklahoma backroad: the Spirit is loose, the stories are true, and the music carries more theology than some seminary libraries. This is Theology in Three Chords—exegeting songs with the same care we give the Bible.

Author

Jim Wilhelm

Episodes

The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie: Colter Wall’s Confession & the Gospel of Mercy 28.09.2025 12:36

HERE’S THE SONG I AM TALKING ABOUT. GO LISTEN, COME BACK HERE, THEN, GO LISTEN AGAIN: Colter Wall – The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie What happens when temptation rolls up dressed sharp and smooth, with a Cadillac and a smile? Colter Wall’s “The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie” isn’t just a song—it’s a modern parable. A crossroads story. A prayer whispered through a cigarette haze. In this episode of The...

Armor: Grace, Fire, and the Narrow Way 21.09.2025 15:28

HERE'S THE SONG I AM TALKING ABOUT. GO LISTEN, COME BACK HERE, THEN, GO LISTEN AGAIN: “Armor” — Jason Boland Related episode: ⁠⁠⁠My Theology in Three Chords on “Dark and Dirty Mile”⁠⁠⁠ Hear it, too: ⁠⁠⁠“Dark and Dirty Mile” — Jason Boland & The Stragglers⁠⁠ In this Theology in Three Chords episode, we lay Jason Boland’s “Armor” on the table like a well-worn psalter and listen for the gospel in...

Black Sheep – Ben Fuller | The Sawdust Trail: Theology in Three Chords 14.09.2025 11:30

HERE'S THE SONG GO LISTEN FIRST, COME BACK HERE, THEN GO LISTEN AGAIN: https://youtu.be/yTCdrfyzUfg?si=a5UYe3Ar3LoUaGeW Ben Fuller’s Black Sheep is more than a hit—it’s a testimony. A late-night outlaw gospel where fences, ditches, smoke, and scars all meet the relentless grace of the Good Shepherd. In this episode of The Sawdust Trail: A Red Dirt Gospel Half-Hour Hour , Pastor Jim Wilhelm exe...

What I Love About Sunday: A Southern Sunday Sabbath 07.09.2025 13:07

HERE'S THE SONG GO LISTEN FIRST THEN COME BACK AND LISTEN HERE THEN GO LISTEN AGAIN: https://youtu.be/pm3aCyRD3Vg?si=jSkTj9AvGg3nFdOC On this week’s Theology in Three Chords episode of The Sawdust Trail , we walk verse by verse through Craig Morgan’s “That’s What I Love About Sunday.” From Raymond’s grease-stained hands to Miss Betty’s off-key alto, from chicken dinners to baptismal waters, th...

Walking the Sawdust Trail Revival, Memory, and the Mystery of Grace 31.08.2025 22:23

HERE'S THE SONG GO LISTEN, COME BACK HERE, THEN GO LISTEN AGAIN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3C0flrdWAA&list=RDA3C0flrdWAA&start_radio=1 Step into the tent and walk The Sawdust Trail —a revival ground where faith, memory, and mystery collide. In this Theology in Three Chords episode, Pastor Jim explores Tom Skinner’s song Sawdust Trail as more than music: it’s the namesake of this pod...

Like a Blind Man: Faith, Sight, and the First Steps on the Sawdust Trail 24.08.2025 13:41

HERE'S THE SONG. GO LISTEN. COME BACK HERE AND LISTEN. THEN GO BACK AND LISTEN AGAIN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j0yt4p0w24 Welcome to The Sawdust Trail, where revival meets Red Dirt and the hymnal only needs three chords. In this first episode, Pastor Jim exegetes Tom Skinner’s Like a Blind Man —line by line, stanza by stanza—as if it were scripture. From the blind man in the middle of the...