The Substance

Few podcasts in the Christian space (if any) have had the impact that The Rise And Fall Of Mars Hill has had. While it might be easy to look at the podcast and think that it's something in the vein of a celebrity gossip show, a closer look will show that it's about a broken culture in Western Evangelicalism. We recorded this a while back (about when half of the episodes were out) but the themes do...

If you've been a listener for any amount of time, you know that we love and support what The And Campaign is all about. Purposeful political and civic engagement from a faithful biblical perspective (as opposed to having our social priorities dictated by the Democrat or Republican Party) is a thing that all of our communities could use more of, and we are grateful to have The And Campaign being a...

There aren't a whole lot of Thanksgiving films out there but we decided to keep the themed Substantive Cinema shows going this year (last month we covered The Thing for Halloween Listen Here! and we're likely to cover a Christmas themed movie next month). Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was an immediate hit when it was released in 1987 and it has endured as a Thanksgiving classic. It's a classic o...

The world and societies that most of us find ourselves living in is not one that was constructed in order for everyone to flourish. The reasons for this are complex but the fact is that from our jobs to parenting to making friends to growing spiritually, this world is not the ideal environment for us to do the things that are most natural to our humanity. Alan Noble engages this reality in his new...

We've all been a bit tired lately so this may not be our sharpest episode but we had fun and hope you do to. If you'd like to send us a question or topic suggestion for a future Topic Toss Up (or any sort of show) be sure to let us know in the comments on our new website or send us an email. Enjoy and we'll see you next week! Substance Shoutouts: Vincent- SiR "You Ain't Ready" Trevor- Foundation P...

Happy Halloween, everyone! Themed Substantive Cinema shows are always fun to do, and doubly so when we get to release a show on the actual holiday/event we're tying in with. This year we're covering John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing. Widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films of all time, The Thing is also a subversively substantive movie. It deals with themes of suspicion and paran...

Welcome back to another Substance Pod episode! We're glad you chose to join us this week.   This week, we talk on the subject of spiritual gifts. We've brushed the topic before in previous episodes however, Trevor and Vince wanted to take it a bit deeper. Take a listen to the open and free flowing conversation.   Leave a thumbs up on YT and comment your thoughts on this episode...

This week we're joined by longtime friend of the podcast, Alexis Busetti. We connected with Alexis around our relaunch and really appreciate her consistency and focus on restorative justice. She's put out over 100 weekly episodes with some incredible guests (a number of whom you've heard on our show as well) and has a helpful perspective on encouraging folks in their journey of understanding God's...

When people think about Malcolm X they are likely to have strong feelings one way or the other, whether or not they are familiar with his life and writing. Phillip Holmes is our guest this week and he and his longtime friend, rapper and pastor Taelor Gray, have set out to examine the words and life of Malcolm X from a Christian perspective and to set the record straight a bit. We had a wonderful t...

A real nice episode for y'all today: Mental Health in the Black community Favorite Passages: 2 Timothy 2:1-7; Jude 1:3; Mark 4:35-41 Inerrancy Shoutouts: Philip: The Big Picture (Ringer Podcast) on Siskel & Ebert Vince: Zainab Johnson Trevor: Ziggy Ramo Black Thoughts (Black Face)

Sorry the notes have not been up to our normal standard lately. Hoping to fix the last couple episode’s notes this week! This is the last week to vote for The Substance as the Best Local Podcast in Kansas City (link in notes for Ep. 65) so please do that if you haven’t yet. This week’s topic is one that several listeners have asked for and one that we’ll certainly return to in future shows. Decons...

Mitch Wiley returns to talk with us about Chris Nolan’s 2010 hit film Inception.

**Vote for The Substance as Kansas City's Best Local Podcast Kyle Strobel joins us to talk about God-honoring ways to use power for the good of those around us and for ourselves. Buy The Way of the Dragon/Lamb Buy Beloved Dust (Kyle mentioned it as "Part 1" to Dragon/Lamb) Shoutouts: Harry Potter Patrick Rothfuss Kingkiller Chronicles Book 1 Book 2   Follow Kyle: Twitter  Facebook ...

** Vote for The Substance as Kansas City's Best Local Podcast ** Hey! Because of our hectic schedules (and the hectic schedules of some of the authors we've reached out to lately), it's been a minute since we have gotten to do a Substantive Stories episode. This week we have the pleasure of bringing you our conversation with Courtney B. Ellis. Courtney has recently published her third book, Happy...

It's Topic Toss Up time again and in this episode we look at the conversation in the Church and culture surrounding reparations as well as discuss the principles and realities relating to searching for a new local church. We hope you enjoy and please let us know what you think! Holy Post episode with Gregory Thompson on Reparations   Substance Shoutouts: Trevor- With by Skye Jethani   Ph...

For those who have been in the church a while or those who have visited a time or two, without knowing might have had a pastor or two use some manipulative sermon tactics. Most likely it was done unconsciously but done nonetheless. Join us this week as we explore what these tactics are, how they manifest, and most importantly what we can do about them. If you are just in the congregation, desire t...

In 2017 when Jordan Peele released Get Out it was an instant hit. Critics loved it, audiences loved it, and it made more than fifty times its budget at the box office. What was it about the film that resonated with so many people and led to Jordan Peele's historic Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay? The film deals on a visceral level with the ugliness of racism in America, causes viewers to as...

We're excited, this week, to be joined by fine artist (and Associate Living Master) Josh Tiessen. Josh is a young but immensely talented and accomplished artist currently living in Canada. He is also a follower of Christ who takes his gifts and the platform those gifts give him seriously. His current body of work that just got a deluxe Gallery Edition hardcover book release, Streams in the Wastela...

Our release schedule has gotten a little off with all the life changes the three of us have gone through recently but we're back with another Topic Toss Up and we can assure the listeners that it won't be two months until you all get another one. It's a audience oriented show as both topics come from listener emails we've received in the last couple of months. First up, we revisit the heated hot d...

If you've been around the Church or faith communities for a while, the topic of the assurance of salvation is, no doubt, something that you've heard sermons and lessons on or talked about with the folks in your circle. It's an important topic for a number of reasons and on today's episode, we're going to seek to make it clear and simple. Thanks for joining us for this discussion and please let us...

It's been two months since we've done a Substantive Cinema show (was really trying to get a great guest on last month but had scheduling issues), but we're back to the format with a very timely subject for July, Richard Linklater's Last Flag Flying (2017). The film brings up substantive questions about patriotism, truth, and friendship as well as being a funny and touching road movie. Watch it on...

Hey, thanks for joining us and giving the podcast a listen. If you've been listening to the show for a while or following us on social media, you'll know the last few months have been a busy time for Trevor, Philip, and Vince. This week we're giving ourselves a second to recharge and releasing an episode we did at the end of last year with Josh Murtagh on his podcast, The Two Things You Shouldn't...

Hey, thanks for joining us! We didn't plan to release this episode on the 4th of July purposefully, but here we are and it's kind of perfect. As American Christians, we can honor neither identity if we are not honest with ourselves and those around us. Bradley Mason joins us to talk about a topic that's become the new buzzword for the thing that folks should fear and oppose whether they know what...

After three consecutive guest episodes, we're excited to be back with the original Substance crew. Shoutout to everyone who's left us a 5 star review on Apple review (thank you Summer & Dani for the newest ones)! We're back in the Bible this week talking about a very familiar story. The Good Samaritan is one of the most widely known parables, both inside and outside of the Church. The story of...

This week we're joined by Eric Nevins for an encouraging conversation on ministry in the age of new media. Eric is the host of the Halfway There podcast (and had published around 250 episodes!) and is the Founder of the Christian Podcasters Association. We discuss the power of podcasting, online community, and Eric path of finding his calling. Enjoy and share with a friend! Shoutouts: Skye Jethani...