This Poor Pastor's Podcast

Do you ever have self-doubt?  Do you want to help people but face the fear that no one actually needs or wants to hear what you have to say?  Are you convinced the world wouldn't even notice if you disappeared?  Pastors and normal people face these fears on a regular basis.  This is my honest discussion of my battle with those doubts, and what I am trying to do about it. 

In this episode, I share some of my favorite lines from J.R.R. Tolkien's writings.  I hope you find it an encouragement.

In this episode, I want to share my heart with you concerning the evil that exists around us, and what we can do about it.  What does that have to do with the Tree of Life?  Listen and find out!

Is it time to acknowledge that the office of Pastor has outlived its usefulness?  Do Christians even need to be under a pastor?  Haven't pastors done more harm than good?  Should I just quit and go get an honest job?  After all, doesn't the Bible say that I have the Holy Spirit and don't need anyone to teach me anyway?  

Episode 90 generated some questions that I thought would be good to discuss.  Rather than wait until Monday, I decided to release this response episode earlier, and continue with next's week show as planned.  In short, does promoting the idea of a "minimum viable product" in Christianity lend itself to people doing less than their best?  Does it encourage people to be less godly, le...

Exactly what does a person need to do in order to be an acceptable Christian?  Some won't like that question for various reasons, but I am going to ask it anyway. When cultures and preferences collide, is there a way to maintain fellowship and our own positions at the same time?  I think there is, and that is what I am going to talk about in today's episode. 

The subject of struggle and suffering is a difficult one to tackle.  There are no easy answers, and I am not going to try to answer them all in this episode.  That being said, I do want to talk to you about contrast, and how even the darkness can serve a really amazing purpose in our lives.  I hope it helps. 

In this episode, I want to just introduce the concept of listening for the voice of wisdom in our lives.  Often we make the mistake of conflating influence or success with wisdom.  They are not the same.  

Sometimes you just need to dig a giant hole in your front yard to kickstart your life. Want to know what I am talking about?  Listen to this week's episode and find out!

Did you know that not every action of Bible heroes is admirable?  Not everything is there for us to follow as an example.  Some things are there for us to see what not to do.  In today's episode, I want to ask you to consider a different view of Saul in the days following his calling as an apostle and subsequent conversion.  You may not agree, but at least give it a listen. &nb...

Watching our children grow up is hard.  Being a child growing up is hard.  The same is true, whether in a family or in a church.  There is so much intergenerational fighting going on today that I think is needless.  In this episode, I want to extend a plea to good people on both sides of the divide.  

A special bonus episode. Don't worry, I'll have another one on Monday! Have you ever had a passage of Scripture quoted at you, or about someone else, in which the one doing the quoting assumed they were the hero and the "others" were the villains?  It happens more than you might think, especially in movements and churches where there is a high level of legalism and control.  None of us are immune...

I know some may be bored with this topic already, but I hope you will stick with me a little longer.  I am increasingly aware of the growing (or maybe only emerging) disparity among Christians over the idea of faith.  There are two mainstream views of faith, that you may not even be aware of, but that you will notice once they are pointed out.  The first is that faith is built on ev...

Are reason and faith the enemy of faith?  Does the Bible ever teach us to believe without reason?  Is it more virtuous to have a "faith position" than a reasoned one?  Let's talk about it.

In this episode, I just want to share my heart with you.  I just returned from a long weekend away.  I had my heart stirred, and I was challenged regarding doing a work in people's lives.  Grab a cup of coffee, and let's chat.   Want to send some encouragement my way?  Creating a podcast takes times, resources, and effort.  If you want to help, you can find me on Venm...

This is going to be a multi-episode discussion, but I really think we need to talk about it.  Have you ever been shut down when asking a question about a specific passage of Scripture?  Have you ever been accused of false doctrine or heresy simply for questioning whether a certain proof text actually says what the established narrative claims?  Why is having a discussion about the B...

Last year I released an episode dealing with this topic.  I had a few listeners reach out asking for more content on this topic.  This episode is part of my desire to do that.  Teaching and preaching the Bible is one of the greatest privileges I can think of. I want to do it the best I can, and give people the greatest chance possible to see how the story of the Bible should impact...

In this episode, I just want to chat with you about a struggle I have been having.  I want to be transparent about the challenges of pastoring two churches.  The two churches are my online church and my in-person church.  It really is like two separate entities, and it is exhausting.  Maybe you are feeling the same way?  Let me know! Hey, do you like the work I am doing he...

Have you ever seen a church that had all the right metrics, only to find out that things were not Biblical?  Have you experienced abuse at the hands of church leaders who used certain metrics to support the rightness of their behavior?  Have you wondered how God could "so obviously" blessing if things were so wrong behind the scenes?   In this episode, I want to give you some help i...

Hey everyone.  This is the final episode of 2021.  In this episode, I share some Christmas cheer, as well as talk about what is ahead in the new year for this podcast.  I'd love to hear from you!

Hey everyone, in this week's episode, I am doing something I have only done one other time in over 70 episodes.  I am sharing a sermon I preached at our church on a Sunday morning, December 12, 2021.  The response from the people was overwhelmingly positive.  At the end of the message, I played a music video of the song "O Come All Ye Unfaithful" by Sovereign Grace Music.  For copyright reasons, I...

Would you say that the atmosphere at your church is for the better or for the worse?  Is it a place of comfort and joy, or anxiety and anger? Are we preaching to help people?  Really help them?  Or are we just getting things off our chest?   In this episode, I want to encourage pastors to give a gift to their congregation this year.  The gift of a commitment to guiding the...

Many churches take an almost antagonistic attitude toward Christmas.  They stubbornly dig in their heels and dare people to skip church.  Years ago, I decided I wanted to be a blessing to our church during the Christmas holidays.  In this episode, I talk to you about some ways that I have tried to do that and challenge you to do something different this year.  Who knows...you m...

If you want to help hurting and broken people, I have good news for you.  You can.  There are so many people who need help.  In this episode, I want to give you some important information to help you do just that.

In this episode, I want to talk to you and challenge you about moving toward broken people.  It is a recurring and still emerging theme in my life.  Maybe it is in yours as well.