Two Pour Spirits

Your table is not your own, which is why you have to wait for it. But you don't have to do the dishes, which is a plus. Yet you have to eat in front of complete strangers, who are side-eyinging you, which is not preferred. And the food could be gross, perished, or poisoned. So there's that. But it does bring together anonymous enemies for table fellowship.  In this episode, Chris and Kyl...

Three guys walk into a hotel room in Brazil, clip mics onto their t-shirts, and start excasting. All heaven breaks loose. They start talking about everything from Dante to Milton, iPhones to Jamaican rum. Their focus, however, is on discipling desire. What should a Christian crave? How to do you train a toddler to only see the Tree of Life, and to ignore what God has said is forbidden?  In this ep...

It's pretty easy to ruin your family. Just sell your soul to your career. Then you can uproot your family or stay super late at work and miss bedtime. Or be a workaholic. Bring your work home with you and forego playing cornhole with the kids and grandparents over spring break. Or just be slothful: abnegate parental jurisdiction and confer it upon the T.V.  In this episode, Chris and Kyle tac...

You don't have to carry around all that guilt. Or put your arm around hypocrisy like you usually do. Don't you want to get rid of that haunted conscience? You just have to stop pride clutching. Walk over there, and say it. Say, "I'm sorry." Say, "I love you." Say, "good job."  Parents aren't above peccadillos. Fathers can utter felicitations. Super...

What happens when you take a human ear, put a splash of John Cassian in it, pour some wisbits from Hugh of St. Victor on top, and then pepper it with a little Plato? You get a podcast episode that talks about domestic disorder and patterns of fear, frustration, and freakouts. You get a conversation about household habits—parents as abbots and children as mini-monks.  In this episode, Chris and Kyl...

Spitballing, here, but perhaps leisure is a factor in the instigation and perpetuation of mental illness. Perhaps our experience of entertainment, in which we passively enjoy or amuse ourselves to death, is decapitating our attention. Maybe concerts, movies, competitions, travel, and literature are full of sneaky and sinister sins and the screens we hold have our souls in their hands. Just spitbal...

"Blood is thicker than water," they say. What they don't tell you is that it boils much quicker and everybody gets burned. As every parent knows, sibling interaction can go from perturbation to ire and then absolute rage in a hot minute. 0 to 100. The bickering, nitpicking, and talebearing pile up. Next, you've got speed bumps and stop signs on the road to forgiveness and recon...

You like the taste the soap? Yea, me neither. But how do you know what soap tastes like? I bet your mother probably introduced it to your palate back when you were a young buck spitting swear words left and right. You probably also got reprimanded with a skinny finger and thrown in timeout for a hour. Oh, I bet you got spanked, too. A lot. Well, welcome to the club.  In this episode, Chris and Kyl...

What is a parent? What is the field and domain of parenting? Do you become a parent as soon as you have a kid? Can you be a parent without having your own kid? Are parents responsible for teaching their children how to brush their teeth, or is that the dentist's job? Once a parent, always a parent? Should parents get discounts like vets? Do parents have to like their kids?  In this episode, C...

You can’t walk around town without pants—you’ll get arrested for indecent exposure. And you can’t play basketball without sneakers or you’ll get a rusty nail in your big toe. Also, wear gloves when pounding salt or you’ll get blisters the size of tangerines. Pretty good legal, biological, and utilitarian reasons to pick your attire with prudence, right? But for the Christian something more is need...

Creation is dripping with communion and hospitality. It all starts with the triune God setting the table for human beings. We get to eat green leaves and chicken legs. Then the Lord becomes the very bread and wine that spiritually and physically sustains us. With every bite, we ingest layers and layers of membership. And when we eat with others, that membership transforms into fellowship and commu...

You may put a lot of time and thought into how you present things inside the home – like the inspirational quotes on the walls and the fluffy toilet paper in the guest bathroom. But what about loving your neighbor around and surrounding the home? Should we put up that political sign? Should we slap devils on all our windows at Halloween? Can we really love our neighbor and cultivate the common goo...

Priests didn’t admit thieves into the Holy of Holies. So maybe you shouldn't let “Auntie Jean,” self-proclaimed atheist, eat at the kids' table. Jesus wouldn’t let robbers set up shop in the temple. So maybe don't invite Aaron, your Epicurean stock trading neighbor, over to have a beer in the garage. Who you are inviting into your home may be calling into question your family’s valu...

It's not a hotel—just a place to sleep. It's not a cave either—a place to get away from the crowd, from nuisance. It's also more than a box with meaningful memories and memorabilia. Your home is an extension of your body, and your body is not your own, but belongs to Christ. So your house belongs to Christ. So what are you doing with it? Witnessing to Him and blessing your neighbors...

You have to know their middle name. And maybe not what they ate for dinner last night, but definitely what makes them tick and irks them. And their birthday. And the names of their kids, if they have any. And a willingness to say, “I can’t do this on my own. I need your help.” You earnestly want to read their book and you would willingly lay down your life for them.  In this episode, Chris and Kyl...

A Christian marriage and family is good for our neighbors, not just for us and our spouses and kids. It witnesses to a coming Kingdom full of covenantal communion, not leftovers of rotten relationships. A Kingdom full of trust and hope, not loss, disappointment, or shame. A Kingdom of neighboring, and the best kind of space and room, in which we find sacrifice, security, and fulfillment.  In this...

Our children are not our own. They look like us, and talk like us, but they aren’t ours. They are a heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). They are good gifts from God that have been entrusted to us to raise and steward. Culture doesn’t see it this way. Having children is a choice that, for some, “is not for me.” Children are seen as ornaments or accoutrements.  In this episode, Chris and Kyle pres...

We like to hide our feelings in our hunger. To get lost in our craving. Until we indulge it in consumption. But that’s when we come up short. We come up empty. Consumption doesn’t work. Strolling through the store doesn’t make us happy—it makes the insatiable even more uncomfortable. Don’t let your “negative” emotions march you down to the hell of capricious indulgence. Fill your heart with what c...

What hath the Spirit and the Son to do with sex and society? It's a question that will make the pious cringe, but will make the private quarters of the home thrive and the public square flourish. Sex is good. Say it out loud: "Sex is good." But how, when, where, why, who, what? That matters. OnlyFans, Pornhub, incelism, and the "impurity spiral" ain't going to get us...

When 2.5 million women are on OnlyFans, others identify with the four Bs movement, some have committed to "boysobriety," men are addicted to pornography, dads are abandoning their kids by the dozen, college bros commit to becoming incels, and elementary school kids are now talking about “the rizz,” a conversation about the family and marriage is in order. We are far, far off the path.  I...

In this final installment of "The Four Ps," Kyle and Chris discuss sticking to the script and disagreeing with laser-tight focus and order. It can be done, and they proffer a few suggestions. Like: You can't be jumping around topics like a wild kangaroo or opening the can of worms at 10 p.m. right before bed. Especially if you've had a few drams of Maker's Mark Cask Streng...

Chris and Kyle continue in their four-part series on the "Four Ps of Disagreement." In this episode, they chat about the obvious: If you can't hear people, you can't disagree with them.  But also, if you have to stand for two hours. If the thermostat is turned up to eighty degrees. If the walls are painted pink. If grizzly bear sightings are a possibility. It's a no-go. Di...

Continuing a four-part series on the "Four Ps of Disagreement," this episode tackles the thorny issue of picking the right people to disagree with. You can't disagree with everyone—you don't have enough time, breath or brain power. But you also shouldn't disagree with everyone. Some aren't worth it.  In fact, the wise and caring thing to do would be to dismiss or igno...

This episode begins the last series in Season 1—a four-part series on the "Four Ps of Disagreement." Why disagree ( point )? Who should we disagree with, and who should we avoid like the plague ( people )? Where should we disagree ( place )? How do we do it ( process )?  This is a focused summary and detailed application of all that Chris and Kyle have discussed in Season 1 regarding dis...

Can we be honest for a sec? People don't get honesty. They can't really define it, and they don't comprehend how essential it is to any relationship.  Honesty isn't truth-telling or forthrightness. It carries a different posture and tightens relationships differently. There's more affection, more involvement.  Honesty is kinda like really important. For having a clear cons...