The Uncommon Truth

As followers of Jesus, what should our lives look like? Here in the West, do our lives look any different from our friends and neighbors who don't know Jesus? In a time of radical upheaval surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we discuss the radical change that knowing and following Jesus should bring to our lives and churches. Watch our daily livestream broadcasts, Live From The House:  w ww.changeo...

In the midst of COVID-19 social distancing measures, church members have been sorely missing their church families. At the same time, some who have walked away from traditional church communities have began to come back via online services and Zoom chats. It raises the question, what does Jesus say about being plugged into a community of believers? In this weeks episode, we discuss how authentic c...

Steve and Vicki Orsillo are the senior pastors at the Father's House Church of Oroville. They have been so popular as occasional guests that we have asked them to join more regularly. This week, they discuss Jesus' perspective on selfless living in a world overcome with selfishness. Watch our daily livestream broadcasts, Live From The House:  w ww.changeoroville.org  -  www.facebook.com/fathers.ho...

On March 27, 2020, The Uncommon Truth and the Father's House Church said goodbye to associate pastor, podcast contributor and School of Transformation director Geordie Mumby. Steve and Vicki Orsillo, senior pastors of the Father's House, join the show to remember his, "Uncommon Hope," and talk about having a foundation in the words of Jesus when the life's storms rage. Watch Geordie's sermons:  G...

This week's episode is a rebroadcast of a discussion from October 2019, and is surprisingly relevant for today. Steve and Vicki are no strangers to life's difficulties. They sat down with Max to talk about the role of adversity in the growth of their faith. To date, this has been the most listened to episode of The Uncommon Truth, and it is one Christians all around the world will benefit from dur...

If you're like most Christians, you probably have an idea of how you want your faith to grow. Most of us can think of a few areas that we would like to have more success in, but we don't really know how to get there. We're taught by our culture to do life on our own, independent of others, but nothing seems to change. Steve joins the show to talk about Jesus' plan for just such a scenario, and it...

How many of us have grown comfortable or complacent when reading the words of Jesus? When you read a parable in which Jesus calls out the religious leaders of day, who do you identify with? If you're like most in the West, you're probably more likely to place yourself in Jesus' shoes than those of the Pharisees.  What if we take a step back and assume He's talking directly to you and I? In this ep...

Nolan Zink went from a chronic addict and felon to a father, husband and pastor. He joins The Uncommon Truth to talk about how accountability saved his life. Accountability is a topic that many Christians find awkward or intimidating. It is often completely misunderstood. Most of the time when we in the Church talk about accountability, we approach it like a car wash. If and when we sin, we return...

Max is joined on the show by two guests this week: Nick Zeppi and Ildiko Zink. Nick is a pastor and assistant director for Life Recovery Ministries. He joins the show to preview the upcoming Jesus Man Conference which he will be speaking at. In the main part of the show, Ildiko recounts her amazing story of growing up in post-Communist Hungary, and eventually Northern California. Going to Jesus fo...

  Derek Devine, men's pastor and former NFL quarterback, joins the show to talk about the state of manhood in light of the upcoming Jesus Man Conference. The conference will be in Oroville, CA on March 24-26, 2020. In North America, our idea of what real manhood looks like has slowly been warped. These warped ideas of manhood have even begun to infiltrate Christian thought and culture. In these co...

We are all familiar with the saying, "God is love," but do we know what that means? Where do we get our definition of love? Do we define what love is based on who we know God to be, or vice-versa? If God really is love, then it must follow that everything He does is also love. Yet our society's definition of love is constantly changing and often has more to do with feelings than anything else. As...

Where do we get our understanding of heaven, life after death and the Kingdom of God from? Is our concept of these ideas something that Jesus or Paul would recognize? When we hear these terms, where do our minds go?  Geordie Mumby joins the show to explain how our modern, Western ideas about heaven have been shaped more by our culture than by the words of Jesus. Is our goal as Christians simply to...

Burnout, lack of motivation, and spiritual dryness are commonplace in the North American Church. It seems like we take seasons such as these for granted, as natural parts of our spiritual lives. Yet, do these beliefs line up with what we find in the early Church and Jesus' teachings? Steve Orsillo rejoins the show to bring perspective from his forty-four plus years of following Jesus. He challenge...

While most Western Christians accept the Bible as accurate and authoritative, we don't always use correct historical interpretation to understand what it says. When we approach scripture, we tend to do so with a series of misconceptions that can cloud our understanding.  Geordie Mumby has studied the New Testament in depth, and has taken the time to explore the historical context. He joins the sho...

In the North American Church, music and worship styles play a big role in our church experience. It is one of the first things we notice when attending a new church, and a big factor in whether or not we continue to attend. Many of the West's largest congregation are more recognizable from their syndicated music than what they preach.  The question is, how does what we sing in our churches impact...

The overall trend in our society today seems to be moving away from traditional understandings of truth. More and more, instead of facts and logic, we use how we feel and what we've experienced as benchmarks for how to live and make decisions.   When we approach the bible and our faith this way, it can have serious consequences on our theology. Are we going to take the bible at face value, or rewr...

It is no secret that institutional Christianity has struggled to engage Millennials and young adults in general. Many young people today—even those who identify as Christians—find the Church outdated, hypocritical, or simply irrelevant to their lives. How do we engage them with the truth of Jesus while standing firm in that truth? Danielle Devine joins the show to preview the new book she has writ...

It doesn't take a statistician or sociologist to figure out that the institutions of Christianity are on the decline in the Western world. Falling numbers, decreasing cultural relevance, and lessening political voice all paint a picture of a religion in decline. More and more people are leaving organized religion, and even casual knowledge of the Bible is uncommon. So how do we interpret this as C...

A couple episodes ago, Max and Steve discussed the epidemic that is the culture of victimhood in the West. This week, Max is joined by TFHC pastor Lisa Bowers who shares about something she calls the orphan-victim-martyr cycle and how to combat it. Lisa points out that, as Christians, we are not immune from flawed thinking. When we get stuck in a mindset that puts too much focus on what we lack, i...

This week is a special episode for the Uncommon Truth. For the first time, Max sits down with Steve Orsillo and his wife, Vicki, to have a discussion about faith in the midst of difficult times. Steve and Vicki founded The Father’s House Church in Oroville over twenty years ago. Though they display joy and peace in private and public, their lives have been far from easy. This past week, the Orsill...

Max welcomes Nathan Taylor to the show this week. Nathan is a staff member and urban missionary serving at The Father's House Church in Oroville. Like Max, Nathan and his wife moved down to Oroville from Canada, choosing to leave behind successful businesses and ministries in the process. The Taylors have been in Oroville for five years now. Max and Nathan discuss their similar journeys, and Max t...

Accountability is a commonly heard buzz word in Christian circles, but defining what it looks like can be difficult. Most of us know that following Christ is not something that we can do in isolation, but beyond that, there is not much that is agreed upon. Generally speaking, being open and honest with personal struggles is not something that comes easy to Christians in the West, and the news is l...

In recent years, Western society has become enmeshed in a narrative that defines a person or group's value based on their perceived victim status. We find ourselves in a cultural moment that seems to elevate how much someone has been oppressed, slighted or marginalized. The consequence seems to be a heightened sense of individual entitlement, bitterness and selfishness. In contrast, Jesus and the...

Christians, by definition, are followers of Christ. One of the ways the Jesus described Himself was as Truth embodied; He is the way, the truth and the life. We might not realize it, but this is a radical claim. Claiming to be the incarnation of Truth is a big deal. Yet today, the more radical part of this claim might be the assertion that something called truth actually exists. We live in a cultu...

In today's day and age, Christianity is increasingly seen as easy, simple and undemanding. In a world that prioritizes selfishness and ease, the Christian faith in the West is gradually becoming more self-centered while asking less of its adherents. However, all it takes is a quick glance through the New Testament to see that we have taken a wrong turn somewhere. We all want to grow in our faith a...