University Overwhelm

In this day and age, it is common to have friendships and communities that are exclusively online. Scott and Sophia ask the question: Can online friendships/communities be healthy? Are they authentic? Real life friendships are defined by Scott and Sophia as in person, face to face, relationships. The theme for Season 3 is Building Healthy Community. If you are finding that the majority of your fri...

Building Healthy Community is the theme for Season 3! Scott and Sophia kick things off by defining friendship and talking about what THEY mean when they use that term. If you struggle with any of these things, you need to give this episode, and season, a listen: Making friends Keeping friends Being honest in friendships Stating your needs to your friends Going through hard times and needing suppor...

Scott and Sophia sit down to recap Season 2. They discuss themes they noted in each pastor interview episode, as well as individual nuggets that really resonated with each of them. If you've skipped around and listened to a few of the episodes, this will be a great listen to you to inspire listening to more episodes. If you've listened to all of the episodes, this will be a great listen fo...

Mike Kunzinger is the Pastor of The Church of the Good Shepherd. It is an Anglican Church here in Lynchburg. Scott and Sophia talk with Mike about the importance of traditions that have been honored and passed down for generations. The importance of reading through the scriptures, as a congregation, on a regular basis. And the purpose behind certain practices during a church service such as baptis...

Scott and Sophia are joined in the studio by the Dillards! Aleah and KD have been involved in FCA for many years. They share their experience in a Parachurch Ministry and how that ministry relates to being plugged into a local church. KD and Aleah spend time explaining the importance of being plugged into a local church, and how involvement in a parachurch ministry can open up doors for disciplesh...

Gospel Community Church (GCC) is a Non-Denominational Church. Scott and Sophia interview Pastor Brenton Lehman on this week's episode. Brenton shares his perspective on what makes a healthy church, what it looks like to care for the local community, and why college students getting plugged into a local church is vital. Find GCC's website here: https://gospelcc.org/

Christ Covenant Fellowship (CCF) is a reformed Baptist church. Scott and Sophia interview Brandon Read, who is an Associate Pastor at CCF, on this week's episode. Brandon shares his thoughts and insight on what makes a healthy church, how to view traditional practices in light of the gospel, and why active community is vital in the Christian walk. Find CCF's website here: https://www.ccfva...

The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second........is to love your neighbor as yourself. Sophia and Scott interview David Docusen in this week's episode. David is the author of a book called Neighborliness. What should we as Christians be doing, in this day and age, to love our neighbor? Who is our neighbor? What are red a...

Scott and Sophia are back with another pastor interview! This week, they sit down with Cody Bingham who is the pastor of Elon Baptist Church. Cody shares his perspective on what he believes makes a healthy church, why age diversity in community is important, and how impactful it is when the congregants and the pastor know one another personally. Find Elon Baptist Church's website here: https:/...

Finding a healthy church includes being able to discern red flags and signs that a church is, unfortunately, unhealthy. Scott and Sophia discuss various things church leaders or members may say or do that should raise concerns in our listeners' minds. This is not a comprehensive list, nor should anyone listen and assume that everything mentioned means they should immediately leave a church if...

Mercy Presbyterian is the featured church on this week's episode! Ben Spivey is not on staff at Mercy, but he does run Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) on Liberty University's campus and he works closely with Mercy's pastoral staff. Scott and Sophia interview Ben on topics of the purpose of the Sunday morning service, why students should get involved in the local church, and what b...

So you've been going to a local church for a few weeks and you're really liking it! You connect with the style of preaching, you find the leaders and members to be healthy from what you can tell, and you would like to figure out what that church believes. Scott and Sophia give practical tips on how to find Doctrine Statements, Statements of Faith, Values, etc. on the church's website....

Bedrock Lynchburg is a Southern Baptist Church. Jeremy Minor is one of the Leading Elders. Scott and Sophia have Jeremy on this episode of the podcast to talk about what he believes are signs of a healthy church, why college students should make it a priority to plug into a local church, and what things Bedrock Lynchburg does for its church members, as well as the local Lynchburg community. Find B...

What is a worldview? How does it get developed? What forms it? What's the difference from a worldview and a Biblical worldview? Do Christians form their Biblical worldview, or does God? Why should college students be thinking about their worldview when they've got enough going on already? Dr. Van Engen is a Professor at Liberty University and teaches various biblical studies courses. Many...

Pastor Luis Nodal joins Scott and Sophia on this episode to discuss what a healthy church looks like, how to get plugged into a local church, and what opportunities there are at Thomas Road Baptist Church for Liberty University students to get involved. This episode is the first for this season as far as talking to local pastors goes. If you want to get a glimpse at the heart behind a pastor's...

What does the phrase "get plugged in" even mean? Churches uses it in various contexts to inspire its members to get involved in serving, or to join small groups, or any number of things. Scott and Sophia break down their definition of what "get plugged in" means, how they view its importance, and give examples of what it looks like. This episode is intended to keep things clear...

What kinds of activities help deepen spiritual formation in a college student? Does involvement in a local church actually help students to grow their relationship with God? What impact does a deep relationship with God and Christian community have on a college student's life? Austin Smith, Dr. Perry Glanzer, and Dr. Ted Cockle all work for Baylor University, and were all involved in a longitu...

Lukas Hafeli joins Sophia in studio to talk about how to study your Bible! Lukas shares a method that was taught to him by his pastor years ago. It requires only a notebook and a Bible and can be something you implement in your day immediately. Sophia shares the Inductive Study Method taught to her when she was in Elementary School that she has stuck with into adulthood. It can be simple or in dep...

Building Healthy Community continued! Practical tips and tricks for Y O U to know how to build healthy community, and how to let go of unhealthy people in your life. Give this episode a listen if you struggle in this area!

Drew Pelkey joins Scott and Sophia in studio to talk about the book Find Your People by Jennie Allen. If you struggle with building any type of community, building healthy community, or simply understanding why it even matters, then give this episode a listen. Drew, Scott, and Sophia share information from the book as well as personal insights into the topic.

You make the rules! Sort of.... When it comes to establishing a habit or a discipline, you know yourself better than others. You can read a book where the author gives a tip on how to get to bed earlier, but if that does not work for you, then don't do it! Finding what works best for yourself is half the battle. You can set the parameters around something and what "counts". Just beca...

There are some buzz words that start off with the proper definition attached, but then quickly slide into whatever the cultural use becomes. Gaslighting* started off as the understanding that when someone is correct about something and they are talking to someone else who is disregarding the facts and is focused instead on making the person think they are crazy for thinking that way. Now, it has b...

Sophia has a new soapbox that she's standing on and it's the topic of Discernment! Scott and Sophia discuss discernment in the context of cancel culture. Should we throw out an entire book that someone published if some of the theology is questionable? Should we call for someone to lose their platform because we disagree with them? What music should we as believers listen to? Discernment i...

Problem Solving continued! Joe Ruiz is still with Scott and Sophia chatting about Problem Solving as well as conversations he's had with students over the years.....

Scott and Sophia are joined in the studio by Joe Ruiz! He is a Senior Associate Director in the Office of Community Life alongside Sophia and Scott. Joe has worked in the education field for many years, and shares his insight on the skill of problem solving, as well as some areas that he sees students struggling in. The three of them talked for so long, this episode had to get split in two! Make s...