When I Heard This - Podcast

What actually keeps a marriage together after the wedding? And why does it seem like every Christian has a different answer? This is the final episode in our seven-part series on marriage, and we’re ending where most of the debates begin. Does the government need to recognize your marriage for God to? Are vow renewals or other rituals actually necessary? What makes a marriage “good,” and does God...

Where exactly is the line… and who decided it was there? One of the fastest ways to start an argument in church is to ask where the boundaries of marriage actually are. Somehow everyone agrees marriage matters, but not everyone agrees on what that means. In this episode, Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman tackle some of the most uncomfortable questions in the entire marriage series. What does the Bible s...

Why does marriage seem to have worse PR than ever? For something that most people still say they want, marriage spends a lot of time getting blamed for everything. It’s too restrictive. It’s outdated. It gets in the way of personal freedom. It gets in the way of God. Somehow it manages to be accused of doing all of it at once. In this episode, we dig into the idea that marriage is “the joining of...

Everybody talks about marriage like everyone knows what it is. Then somebody asks what actually makes two people married, and suddenly the room gets very quiet. In this episode, Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman continue their series on marriage by tackling the surprisingly difficult question of what Christians actually mean when they talk about marriage. What steps are required? Is marriage primarily a...

What if the church has spent thousands of years talking about marriage... and we're still arguing over what it actually is? This week, the conversation gets even weirder. Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman dive into one of Christianity's biggest identity crises: marriage. Is it a sacrament? A covenant? A contract? Why did Jesus never get married if marriage is supposed to be central to the Christian life...

Why does marriage in the Bible get weird so fast? The moment you start reading the Old Testament, you're hit with questions nobody seems eager to answer. Cousins marrying cousins. Multiple wives. Concubines. Arranged marriages. People getting married way younger than anyone is comfortable with today. And somehow livestock keeps showing up in the conversation. In this episode, we continue our serie...

What if marriage was never primarily about marriage? Most people have opinions about marriage. Fewer people can explain what the Bible actually says it is. Somehow we've all inherited strong takes, relationship advice, and enough wedding industry content to last several lifetimes, but the foundational questions often get skipped. In this first episode of a new series, Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman s...

At some point this whole faith vs works conversation starts sounding like a group project where nobody knows how grading works. Can you get into heaven with faith but no works? Works but no faith? Are some churches accidentally turning Christianity into spiritual performance reviews? And how do you know your faith is actually faith and not just anxiety wearing Bible verses as camouflage? In the fi...

At what point does “doing good works” start sounding like a performance review nobody asked for? Episode 182 continues the ongoing discussion about faith and works according to scripture, except this time the conversation gets painfully close to the way people actually think about effort, productivity, church culture, and whether Christians secretly believe God is grading participation with a clip...

If “doing good” is the goal… why does nobody agree on what that actually means? This episode takes the whole faith vs works conversation and makes it slightly more uncomfortable. Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman dig into what scripture says about doing good, and why it’s not as clean or checklist-based as people want it to be. Is faith enough? Do your actions prove something? Or are we all just trying...

So… is faith something you have, or something you’re actually doing? Because those are two very different conversations. This episode keeps pushing past the surface-level “have faith” idea and starts asking what that even means according to scripture. Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman get into how faith actually works, how you get it, and what you’re supposed to have faith in beyond just saying the word...

So… does anyone actually agree on what “faith and works” even means, or are we all just arguing using the same words differently? Because the second you ask basic questions, things get weird fast. This episode starts breaking down the whole faith vs works conversation from the ground level. Not the usual talking points, but the actual definitions. What is faith, what counts as works, and where the...

So… how exactly does God feel about war… and who’s actually responsible when it all goes wrong? This one wraps up the Christian war ethics conversation and yeah, it gets messy fast. They dig into whether wars of choice are ever justified, what scripture actually says about leadership and violence, and whether “good reasons” still count once everything spirals. Then it keeps going. Civilian fallout...

Is there such a thing as a just war, or do Christians start sweating the second the questions get too specific? In Episode 177 of When I Heard This, Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman keep the war conversation going and get into the mess people usually try to dodge. This episode looks at Christian war ethics, what scripture says about war, and whether intention, method, or outcome matters most when peopl...

What happens when you actually read the Bible passages about war… instead of quietly skipping them? Because once those stories show up, the conversation about faith, violence, and responsibility gets a lot more complicated. This episode kicks off a larger discussion about Christian views on war and what Scripture actually says about it. Not the polished answers people tend to repeat, but the uncom...

Is Lent actually a historic Christian practice… or did we just turn it into a 40 day sugar detox? In this episode, the guys unpack what Lent really is, what it means, and why Christians have observed it for centuries. They talk about the church calendar, fasting, repentance, spiritual discipline, and why the number 40 keeps showing up in Scripture. It is less about chocolate and more about formati...

What if everyone gets saved in the end… and that is actually the problem? In this second and final conversation on universalism, we dig into the “Disney ending” version of theology. The idea sounds comforting. No eternal consequences. No final separation. Everyone reconciled. Cue the emotional music. But what does that do to justice, holiness, leadership, and the actual claims of historic Christia...

If everyone makes it to heaven in the end… what exactly are we doing here? Is universalism a serious theological position, or is it just the gospel rebranded for a culture that hates the idea of anyone being left out? In this episode, the conversation turns toward Christian universalism and the growing popularity of the belief that all people will ultimately be saved. Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman e...

Bible college sounds great in theory. Real life tends to ask better questions. This episode continues the Bible college conversation, but drops the polished language and turns up the pressure. Nate comes in hotter with the questions most people think about but usually keep to themselves. What is Bible college actually designed to do. Who does it serve well. And what happens when the classroom vers...

Thinking about Bible college? Or still trying to figure out what it was actually supposed to do? This conversation starts at the basics, before anyone starts arguing in the comments. This is the first episode in a multi-part series on Bible college, and it intentionally starts slow. No shock value. No hot takes yet. Just context. Nate and Dr. Joseph talk through what Bible college is designed for,...

When church leadership makes headlines, the fallout is never just internal. And this time, the story is heavier than most. Sensitive content warning: This episode discusses allegations involving fraud and sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised. In this In the Headlines episode, Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman talk through the ongoing Bethel Church scandal involving Shawn Bolz, Kris Vallotton, an...

If meaning is just something we make up, why does it keep falling apart? In this episode, the conversation goes straight at atheism and the meaning problem it creates. Not as a debate and definitely not as a gotcha. More like an honest look at what happens when belief in God is removed and purpose is expected to hold itself together anyway. We talk about why meaning feels necessary even when peopl...

The conversation didn’t end when the episode did. Temptation has a way of sticking around after you think you’ve moved on. This episode is the follow up nobody plans for. An extension of the temptation conversation that keeps going once the big spiritual points are made and real life kicks back in. Nate and Dr. Joseph Tillman dig into what happens after the rules, after the warnings, and after the...

What happens when temptation does not end neatly, or at all? This episode closes out the temptation conversation without pretending there is a clean bow to tie on it. Instead of offering a final fix, it looks at what temptation actually feels like over time, especially for people trying to take faith seriously in real life, not just in theory. The conversation digs into how Christians are taught t...

Why does temptation always show up right after you think you’re fine? Like it’s been waiting for a cue. In Episode 167 – Temptation Strikes Back, the conversation keeps going on how Christians actually deal with temptation in real life, not the cleaned up version we pretend exists. We talk about why temptation feels repetitive, why it hits when your guard is down, and why church answers often soun...