Pastor With No Answers: The MIXTAPE Era

Latest Episodes:

326 - Panic Attacks Will Knock You on Your Aspirin Bottle Nov 21, 2021

Show notes

From the ages of six to 26, Ashley Broderick has persevered through chronic panic disorder without the guidance of any healthcare professional or the assistance of antidepressants. Now the mother of two (one high schooler) with more knowledge and coping skills, and now also incorporating the help of the mental health profession, she has acquired great strength and made great strides of health. Without an act of God, however, this will always be a part of her battle. We’ll call it “Ashley’s Thorn” (cool band name, you’re welcome).

Panic attacks are brutal, but listeners may not know the extent of how intense they can be, how long the effects can be intrusive, and how violent the anxiety can become. During the pandemic, Ashley witnessed the many anxiety flare ups in others, due to all the employment/economy and health uncertainties; and realized they were all experiencing [in 2020] what her day to day feels like all the time.
From thinking her baby is being kidnapped in the room next door to turning the car around so she can help a child she accidentally hit (that she knows she didn’t accidentally hit), Ashley also shares the culprit of childhood trauma that is a major contributing factor to why she struggles like this. She is an example of one who seeks out help from the mental health profession, but also can't make it through all of this without faith in her Maker. Pastor WIth No Answers (and Friends) Podcast is supported by Betterhelp! Go get some betterhelp!
Special thanks to Ashley Broderick for sharing your story and offering solidarity to those who suffer with mental illness. -- PWNA Team
My Story of Mental Health Crisis (Part 1 of 5)
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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.
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.

325 - A Case for the Mega Church Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

James Wellman with us today to talk about his newest book, High on God: How Mega Churches Have Won the Heart of America. Most would have Wellman in the "progressive Christian" camp, he began his research assuming his cynicism about Mega Churches would be vindicated and that he'd find that these things should go away for good. Instead, he discovered that Mega Churches generally provide a healthy sense of belonging to its members and typically contribute a lot of good into their surrounding communities. Do these churches help meet emotional needs? Are evangelicals a more generous bunch than their progressive counterparts? Here’s a very practical and simple explanation for keeping Mega Churches around.

At the top of the episode, Matt Oxley, Ellen Mauro and Joey Svendsen discuss their former fundamentalism, why Matt’s not a Christian anymore and why a "universalistic salvation" evangelistic message would be the most effective gospel message, even if it wasn’t true.

Pastor WIth No Answers Podcast is supported by Betterhelp!
Go get some betterhelp!
My Story of Mental Health Crisis (Part 1 of 5)

James Wellman / Twitter / High on God
"Evangelical vs. Progressive" book

Ellen Mauro Instagram

Matt Oxley Instagram

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Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Ellen Mauro Instagram

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.

324 - Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Nov 09, 2021

Show notes

New York Times best-selling author, Kristin Kobes Du Mez wrote Jesus and John Waynewhich is "a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism and reveals how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with a 'spiritual badass.’” She claims the key to understanding this transformation is recognizing the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a professor of history at Calvin University and the author of A New Gospel for Women. She has written for the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Christian Century, and Religion & Politics, among other publications. Recently she's been a major contributing voice on Christianity Today's The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast.

Here we talk about the historical timeline of how culture has viewed gender, how these views have changed through the years, and how the sort of American nationalism we currently see is fairly a new thing (1970s). We talk the role John Eldredge’s “Wild at Heart” book played into this mess, the great harm of "the Billy Graham Rule" and how institutionally, the church really isn't tending towards healthier postures with gender.
Pastor WIth No Answers Podcast is supported by Betterhelp!
Go get some betterhelp!
My Story of Mental Health Crisis (Part 1 of 5)

Kristin Du Mez / twitter / Instagram / Website
Ellen Mauro Instagram

Join us as a Patron!
Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.
Tip any amount $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Ellen Mauro Instagram

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.

323 - Intimacy (with that special some one) Without Sex? Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

We all know people can survive to the next day, without having sex of any kind. But in a romantic relationship, is sex an integral part of getting close? What if sex is physically impossible? The good stuff people are looking for in "sexual intimacy," can it also be found in non-sexual acts that are exclusive to our partner?
Ellen doesn’t really care about having sex. Joey likes sex but he is getting old, so he likes it less. Hayne likes sex, but his lovely wife is going through chemo treatments, so it’s been a bit bare. Hayne passes along some wisdom from his grandma and rocks Joey and Ellen’s world. In the words of Ellen Mauro, “this was the most epic sex conversation she’s ever had.” Hopefully it's helpful to others too. Thanks, Hayne!

Join us as a Patron!
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Ellen Mauro Instagram

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.

322 - [All About] Demons Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Michael S. Heiser, a biblical scholar, author (“The Unseen Realm”) and podcaster, (“The Naked Bible Podcast) just released his newest non-fiction book, “Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness.” In this conversation (and in his new book), he debunks popular presuppositions, myths and traditions about these real powers of darkness. So Satan was NOT the worship leader of heaven?

Here we talk about three distinct demonic rebellions and their significances and ponder on why God didn't just smoke the demons in the first place. We learn the difference between principalities and demons and whether or not Joey’s great-grandfather saw these little bastards, nearing the end of his life.

We also manage to fit in some dialogue about after-life theories, foreknowledge and predestination, free will, open theology and whether the sex between the "sons of god demons" and human women was consensual.

Michael Heiser / Podcast / Non-profit

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Special thanks to:

Guest producer Andrew Holder: Music / Instagram / E-mail Andrew for your podcasting production needs: andrewholder74@gmail.com
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.
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.

321 - Supernatural Encounters? You Be the Judge Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

Real people, real friends, real stories. Was it supernatural? You get to make the call. Did Pastor Chip Judd stop a demon from bullying his wife? Did Joey and his brother call a spirit out of the supernatural realm when they were teens? Did God send a little girl’s father back for last good-byes? Did God interact with a missions team in Haiti, through flood lights and a shooting star? Did Ellen have a demon in her room as a little girl? Did our other two guests witness demon possession or a severe mental episode? What’s the relation (if any) between the two?
Guests in order of appearance: Chip Judd, Ellen Mauro, Liz Miller, Tyler and Kayla Thompson, Jason Lott, Tommy Hall, Fr. Vincent Lampert, Jared Svendsen
(PWNAcontact@gmail.com for info on correspondence):
Join us as a Patron!
Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.
Send $ 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.
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.

320 - Woke Culture Gone Wild Oct 19, 2021

Show notes

Joey is feeling like an out of touch, inappropriate at times, old grandpa. Talking it over with co-hosts Ellen Mauro and Jed Payne, the question at hand is: does the woke culture need to wake up and stop some of its irrational shananigans or does Joey just need to catch up and grow up?
Throughout this episode, Joey also makes a rare "be a Patron of the podcast" pitch and let's you in on various new perks of the new giving tier, The Collection Plate. You'll hear some examples of patron-only perks, including two "PWNA Style" devotions and clips from a patron-exclusive Q/A with the 1946 Movie Team to discuss a biblically-affirming view on the LGBTQ+ community (with special contributions from Pricilla Svendsen and Pastor Chip).
You'll also hear clips from an unreleased "Podcumentary" telling the story of a "community experiment" Joey conducted in 2019 that is birthing a new online community.
Join us as a Patron!
Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.
Send $ to Venmo for a PWNA Sticker.
Ellen Mauro Instagram
Jed Payne Instagram
Jed Payne’s “Church and Other Drugs” Podcast

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.

319 - The Ugly Little Secret About "Nice Christian Girls." Oct 14, 2021

Show notes

All hell is breaking loose now in "Evangelical-Land" as more women speak out authoritatively and aren't taking huge strides to be nice about it. Does Jesus call us to more than niceness?
Author, Pastor and full of that Ph to the D, Sharon Hodde Miller has navigated the treacherous waters of being a woman and a pastor, while living in the south. We discuss her book "Nice: Why We Love to be Liked and How God Calls us to More," as she lays out how christian women, especially leaders and those with influence, have been rewarded and lauded over the years for their "niceness." It's even been the most lucrative posture for a woman to take in the Christian market of speaking gigs and book sales.
Sharon has a knack for being patient and gracious to those with different backgrounds with varying theological views; and highlights the importance of unity, despite differing opinions on important theological matters. In other words, she fits right in with the PWNA fam. "Jesus didn't broad brush people and we shouldn't either. " -- Sharon
Why did Jesus choose 12 dudes and not one woman? Why are the badass women in the bible to this day not given the badass credentials that are due to them?
All this and more, good friends.
Sharon Miller: Instagram / Twitter / Website / Church
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter
Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Support Us:
Join us as a patron!
or leave a Venmo tip
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.
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.

318 - [Bad] Bible Teachings Help Fuel Human Trafficking? Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Author (“Women Rising”) and Podcaster, (Faith and Feminism Podcast) Meghan Tschanz, was fully invested in ministry work when she found herself no longer able to go with the “evangelical flow" of how women were treated and how their role in this world was characterized "biblically."
And once she saw the connection between traditional church views on female roles and the violence and trafficking of women in general, it couldn't be unseen; now she feels compelled once and for all, to live a life of speaking out, putting her convictions over “keeping the peace” with evangelicalism.
During this conversation, Meghan talks about the damage women have sustained over the years by traditional patriarchal translations of scripture. Through many current views of scripture, women are pressured to take responsibility for the sexual attention (even unwanted advances) their bodies attract instead of teaching men to have self-control. Men are taught that “power over women” is good and admirable. It shows she respects you. Hell, the church even taught Joey to objectify woman. It was probably accidental, but all the same.
God’s beautiful word in the hands of mankind can be a dangerous thing, folks.
Forced genital mutilation is an epidemic and needs to be stopped. How conservative families struggle through and respond to a member entertaining more progressive viewpoints. How men can use the bible to keep power.

Meghan explains why despite the glaring patriarchal context of scripture, the point of scripture has always been to liberate people. All people. All genders.
Stay tuned, in two days, we'll have Sharon Hodde Miller.
Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter
Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Support Us:
Join us as a patron!
or leave a Venmo tip
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.
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.

317 - Brian McLaren (w/ guests: masturbation, sex talks, daughters becoming women) Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

Welcoming back a PWNA regular,
[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. Click here to lock yourself in as a $5 patron in an $8 Patreon giving tier. 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!]
Joey, in this brand new episode fresh after reading Faith After Doubt, probes many topics including the uneasiness Christians have when people find some truth in other religions, whether Christian leaders use fear to control "flocks," and how our beliefs about God will most certainly affect how we represent God and God’s kingdom.

Brian McLaren is committed to Jesus now more than ever, but equally more than ever, is staunchly opposed to Christianity being supreme over all over religions. Brian also updates us on the upcoming follow up to “Faith After Doubt,” “Do I Stay Christian” (release Spring 2022)."

Ellen, Jed and Joey discuss masturbation, how their church-upbringings addressed sex in youth ministry and how church leaders 20 years ago, tried to use Joey’s “yet to be conceived” daughters to scare him from porn viewing/addiction.

Brian McLaren
Brian McLaren Twitter
Other Episodes with Brian McLaren:
273 - Brian McLaren and His New Book Faith After Doubt
230 - Why Does Jesus Sound So Harsh?
Ellen Mauro Instagram
Jed Payne Instagram
Jed Payne’s “Church and Other Drugs” Podcast

Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter
Current DonorSee giving opportunity
Support Us:
Join us as a patron!
or leave a Venmo tip
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.
Executive Producer of PWNApod: Jared Svendsen
*Chapter markers inserted for your listening convenience*