Pastor With No Answers: The MIXTAPE Era

Latest Episodes:

334 - Eastern Orthodoxy (Part 2), Moral Dilemmas & Pacifism Feb 08, 2022

Show notes

[Evangelicals, on this episode, we aren’t laughing at you. The guest is too nice to do this and I’d be too much a hypocrite]

We released Eastern Orthodox Part 1 with former "rock stars (Luxury) gone Orthodox Priests" because I had no idea what the heck it meant to be orthodox and had to know. Little did I know, the episode would influence my brother (former co-host and current producer of this show) to fully convert to the best paradigm of faith he’s ever worshipped in, perfectly suited to how he’s wired up. He’s all in, I’m happy for him. -- Joey

But there’s more to the story. The Orthodox church is THE REAL church? My brother claims there’s one true church and the implications would say that most of us aren’t in it. Father Josiah Trenham Ph.d, comes on to discuss this very question. He also explains the importance of church buildings, “the invisible church doctrine” of evangelicals, how the functionality evangelicals ascribe to the “sinner’s prayer” is heresy, how Pentecostals aren’t Pentecostal enough and how prayer is the goal of life. The question is posed here also, “If the true church is infallible, why did most of its adherents take part in the American slavery?”

At top of episode, me and some friends talk moral dilemmas and pacifism.

FATHER JOSIAH TRENHAM is a native Southern Californian. He was ordained to the Holy Priesthood in 1993, and was awarded the Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Durham, England, in 2004. He has served as pastor of St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, Ca. since 1998. Father Josiah was married in 1988, and has ten children.
Robbie Madison
Web / Instagram / Music
Hayne is on Classmates.com.

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Current DonorSee giving opportunity
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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy.

Executive Producer of PWNApod: Jared Svendsen

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

333 - All About Sex [Not Really a Christian Conversation] Feb 01, 2022

Show notes

[Not a "christian" or "non-christian" conversation," nor a conversation revolving around my personal sexual ethics. Okay, now with that out of way -- Joey}

God gives graciously. Can this be seen any clearer in the sophisticated way humans are able to experience pleasure within one's very anatomy? And just like most other things, humans have managed to screw (no pun intended) this up also. Erica Smith, sex educator of 20 years, speaker, writer, consultant (including online one-on-one's) and creator of Purity Culture Drop Outcomes on to talk all things sex, some advice and insight for all.
This episode covers a variety of topics surrounding human sexuality, including the benefits of regular masturbation for men and women; and the conundrum between valuing feminine freedom and power, while hating their objectification. Is it a bummer to be asexual? Would it be helpful for people to expand the definition of what sex is? Are some people wired incompatible with monogamy?

Erica points to the Puritanical values that have been baked into the very sexual fabric of America, impacting those in and well outside of church/religious culture?

At top of episode, Robbie Maddison, Hayne Griffith and Joey Svendsen talk vaccines as Joey shares the very close call his mother had a few weeks ago with that there COVID-19.

Erica Smith, M.Ed
Instagram / Site / Purity Culture Drop Out Program

"must read" book Eric referred to called
Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life

Robbie Madison
Web / Instagram / Music
Hayne is on Classmates.com.

Executive Producer of PWNApod: Jared Svendsen

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

332 - Moving Forward With a Life I Didn't Choose (w/ Kate Bowler) Jan 25, 2022

Show notes

Professor at Duke, best-selling author, podcast host of Everything Happens Podcast, is a self-identified “incurable optimist" who is very candid in her dealings with personal life-altering pain and how God fits into (or does not fit into) the equation.
As she shares her story, listeners can acquire new lenses for how they see and process pain, suffering and God. For example, what if sufferers can benefit from relinquishing the desire to find “a deeper reason” for their suffering? The discussion also gets into some theology, especially concerning the inconceivable perceptions of God that most Christians share when it comes to salvation, mercy and love.

At top of episode, Robbie Madison, Hayne Griffen, and Joey talk Cobra Kai’s beautiful inappropriateness, Robbie gets mushy talking about Joey as a pastor, and there’s a little crying by all as the hosts discuss some experiences with grief, the stupid things that overly spiritual people say to those who suffer, and why grace can still be given. And why does God seem to never heal people? Does praying ever work? (Special note: If you are easily offended by “race joking,,” including Joey's offensive word for white people, avoid this portion. Robbie is one of Joey’s best friends, happens to be a black; and best friends cut up and clown.)

Kate Bowler
Website / Instagram / Podcast

Kate’s books:
No Cure For Being Human
Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection
Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I Loved

Robbie Madison / Web / Instagram / Music
Hayne’s phone number: 843–795-7161 (don’t call this number, dummy)

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Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.
Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter

Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Join the PWNA Discussion Facebook Group

PWNAcontact@gmail.com for correspondence.
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy.

Produ

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

331 - No More White Churches For Me (w/ Dante Stewart) Jan 18, 2022

Show notes

At top of the episode, Joey’s pastor Josh Surratt joins to talk about big church buildings, whether he’s comfortable with Joey’s different approaches to Christian faith, if he’d like to be a celebrity pastor and if there's anything he dislikes about the church he leads.
Within white evangelical church cultures, many black people have found their voices and convictions unvalued. It's a very ugly truth but many white, evangelical churches embrace black membership and even love “the look” of having black leadership. But once black leaders use their God-given leadership and insight to influence – or at the very least – to share their hearts with white people, it’s viewed as "stepping out of line," even sinful.
Dante Stewart, former defensive back of God’s favorite college football team, Clemson Tigers, wrote a book called “Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle;in which he shares his reasons for permanently leaving white evangelicalism, why it’s not his job to help white people change, and ways to help us all reimagine spiritual virtues like rage, resilience, and remembrance, exploring how these might function as a work of love against an unjust, unloving world. How's that for a run-on sentence!
Dante Stewart / Twitter / Instagram / Website / Book on Amazon
Pastor Josh Surratt / Twitter / Instagram

Books mentioned in this episode:
More Beautiful and Terrible History by Jeanne Theoharis
The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson
The Case for Rage by Myisha Cherry

Produced by: Jared Svendsen

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

330 - A Christian Universalist agrees: “No Way to the Father But By Son.” Jan 10, 2022

Show notes

Author and Theologian, Sharon Putt (formerly Sharon Baker), Chip Judd and host, Joey Svendsen all have similar spiritual upbringings but Sharon and Joey believe in a Christ-centered universal salvation.
It’s one thing to reject this belief, another thing for a Christian to say the bible doesn’t support it. One's view of scripture may "clearly say anything" he think it says, but what is his view about the (seemingly clear) passages that discus humanity and all of earth being redeemed. We discuss God and love, in context of the afterlife; and whether there had to be an adversary for us to be able to truly love and chose God. Joey pushes back on the very common and sensible objection of “you’re defining God and love by your own standards.” Both Sharon and Chip are very biblically studied and Chip has never considered Jesus saving everyone.

Sharon Putt (formerly Baker) / Info / Razing Hell book
Chip Judd / Website / Instagram

Join us as a Patron!

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Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter

Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Join the PWNA Discussion Facebook Group

PWNAcontact@gmail.com for correspondence.
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton.

Executive Producer of PWNApod: Jared Svendsen
Subscribe here to keep up with all things "Pastor With No Answers" as well as a new digital family we'd love to have you a part of. You don't have to be alone in your spiritual questions and you don't have to play by society's "new standard" of taking sides and being polarized. Join us!

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pwnapod)
R2o1KCj57KYk1OBSNsmZ

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

329 - S.C. Rounding up Firing Squad to Execute Bad Guys (w/ Shane Claiborne) Jan 02, 2022

Show notes

I had no idea the direction my home state was heading in. Our government is making some adjustments to their “capital punishment policies,” which includes (yes, you read right) a firing squad. We talk about this while Shane shares the correlation between capital punishment and slavery. According to Shane, this issue can’t be separated by race. We talk the theological and moral implications of all this and dispel of some assumptions held by more conservatively-wired folks.

Shane Claiborne / Website / Twitter / Ministry

Join us as a Patron!

Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.

Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter

Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Join the PWNA Discussion Facebook Group

PWNAcontact@gmail.com for correspondence.
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy.

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

330 - Me, Myself, My Faith, Music, and Redneck Family (w/ BlackSheep Pod) Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

Host Joey Svendsen was on the BlackSheep Podcast to talk about himself for an hour. Hosts of BlackSheep, Mason and Cullen, ask Joey what he believes and what music he’s listening to and they were wonderful in allowing us to release this on our channel as well.
Joey goes into the history of Pastor With No Answers and how it represents a biographical synopsis of all the ways he’s changed in his faith. And God forbid any one admit he is a Christian mainly due to spiritual experiences/encounters.
Joey is a true music snob (so he’s told) and shares his 10 favorite Christmas songs, what five albums influenced his musical tastes, why Emery stood out to him during pop-screamo’s heyday, and how Underoath’s freshman release album was the only UO material he listened to. Make sure you stick around for the outtakes of the Mars Hill spoof.

The BlackSheep Podcast
Mars Hill Sketch contributors: Justina Sparling, Jason Farr, Grayson LIttle, Jed Payne, Hayne Griffen.

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Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.

Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter

Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Join the PWNA Discussion Facebook Group

PWNAcontact@gmail.com for correspondence.
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy.

Andrew Holder produced this episode. E-mail him for podcast producing needs: andrewholder74@gmail.com

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

329 - December 25th is a Bad Day to Lose Your Mom Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

How do you ever have a "normal feeling Christmas" again when on that one Christmas morning, you woke up to the news Rian Fuller woke up to.
On Christmas of 2015, Rian lost her best friend Karen Bessinger, who just happened to be the one who gave her birth. Here we discuss whether or not Christmas is "redeemable" for Rian again; and we wonder why the hell couldn't God have just picked a different day to take her mom home? Maybe September 14th? Or how about January 14th?
Christmas is expected to be -- and treated by the masses -- as the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year," but for those who suffered great loss in recent prior years, this is impossible. And this tension between "happy holidays" and grief, is utterly painful, so I'm told.
The pain of this world, the untimely loss of one you call mother and friend, in this episode we reflect on life, loss, and eternal perspective. There's also some mysterious "post death interactions" that will have you supernatural romantics smiling and crying, while the logical, boring people will roll eyes in skepticism. HA! Love to all. Merry Christmas.
And we mourn with those who mourn. We pray more peace for all mankind. The kind that passes all understanding.
Rest in Peace
Karen Bessinger
January 26, 1964 -
Dec 25th 2015.
Special thanks to Rian Fuller for sharing her life (and the life of her mom's) with us.
*Rian was referred to on this episode inadvertently by her maiden name, "Bessinger." *
Episodes mentioned in this episode:
How Does a Widowed Mom in her 30s View Life and God? (Part 1 w/ Liz Miller)
How Does a Widowed Mom in her 30s View Life and God? (Part 2 w/ Liz Miller)
A Practical Discussion on Grieving During the Holidays
A Merry-Less Christmas, Newly Widowed
Rian Fuller Instagram / Photography Business
The Sing Team and their Christmas Album is featured throughout episode. Congrats on a rad Christmas release!
Join us as a Patron!

Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.

Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter

Current DonorSee giving opportunity
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PWNAcontact@gmail.com for correspondence.

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

328 - Three White Dudes Dreaming About Unity in the Church Dec 07, 2021

Show notes

Subscribe here to keep up with all things "Pastor With No Answers" as well as a new digital family we'd love to have you a part of. You don't have to be alone in your spiritual questions and you don't have to play by society's "new standard" of taking sides and being polarized. Join us!
At top of episode, Joey proposes some double-standards to co-hosts Matt Oxley and Ellen Mauro, in how male "body-part slang," like the word "d*ck" is acceptable for casual use while the female "body-part slang word" "p***y," isn't.
Brian Allain has partnered with the likes of Diana Butler Bass, Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne to actually try and bring Christians from all spectrums (fundamentalists and progressives) together, aligned in love. They (plus others) all compiled some essays on how we can do it in How to Heal Our Divides: a Practical Guide. Brian and I discuss with special guest-host, Andy Squyres, the reasons for division, we reflect on the lost art of seeing humans as complicated, we look at how our beliefs in the afterlife dictate the rest of our practices, and ponder whether or not the late Rachel Held Evans (or you fill in the blank with your favorite "neighborhood progressive") was in the same "body of Christ" as Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham (or you fill in the blank with your favorite "neighborhood fundamentalist.")

Brian Allain: Website
Andy Squyres: Website / Instagram / Twitter
Podcast Hosts: Ellen Mauro Instagram / Matt Oxley

Join us as a Patron!

Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.

Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter

Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Join the PWNA Discussion Facebook Group

PWNAcontact@gmail.com for correspondence.
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy.

Executive Producer of PWNApod: Jared Svendsen

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.

327 - Jenn Johnson, Co-Founder and President of Bethel Music Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

With eight hundred staff members, 1000 students, Bethel Church / Music (based out of Redding California) is a household name in the evangelical church world. Jenn just wrote a book, “All Things Lovely: Inspiring Health and Wholeness in Your Home, Heart, and Community.” In the context of this book, we talk supernatural healings, antidepressants, importance of church community, and holistic health. Joey also asks her questions about eternal punishment, “grave soaking,” and the celebrity culture that is so common in today’s church world.
At top of episode, Matt Oxley and Ellen Mauro discuss a major problem in today's youth and Ellen challenges Joey's negative use of the word "woke." If being "woke" is awakening to social injustices, that's never a bad thing. Right?

Jenn Johnson / Instagram / Website / Bethel Church
Podcast Hosts: Ellen Mauro Instagram / Matt Oxley

Join us as a Patron!

Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.

Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter

Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Join the PWNA Discussion Facebook Group

PWNAcontact@gmail.com for correspondence.
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy.

Executive Producer of PWNApod: Jared Svendsen

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

PWNA Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Closing song by Derek Minor and other music by Mechanical River.