Posts in "Podcast"

Welcome to The Pastor Next Door.

What if you had a pastor living next door?
Not an uptight, self-righteous jerk—but someone who could sit with you in your doubts,
listen without fixing, and encourage your questions instead of shutting them down.

That’s the spirit of this podcast.

The Pastor Next Door is a place for honest conversations about faith—
especially when faith feels fragile, complicated, or worn down.

Here, we talk about what it means to cultivate spiritual fitness
not as self-improvement or religious performance, but as the slow, grace-filled work of becoming people who can endure, trust, and love over time.

This podcast is shaped by a covenantal, Reformed tradition and by voices like Eugene Peterson, N. T. Wright, Michael Horton, Richard Rohr, and Brennan Manning—
all of whom remind us that faith is less about having the right answers and more about staying in the relationship.

Across seasons, we’ll explore:

  • personal spiritual formation rooted in grace,

  • faith deconstruction and reconstruction,

  • congregational life and health,

  • and leadership that doesn’t cost you your soul.

You don’t need certainty to be here.
You don’t need to have your faith figured out.
You don’t need to clean anything up first.

Just pull up a chair.

I’m glad you’re here.
Welcome to The Pastor Next Door.

0.2 - Brittle Faith to Enduring Faith

What if the cracking of your faith isn’t a failure—but an invitation?

Many of us were given a version of faith that worked right up until life applied pressure. Built on certainty, rules, and platitudes, it held together for a while. But grief, doubt, disappointment, and silence from God have a way of exposing how brittle that kind of faith really is.

In this episode of The Pastor Next Door, we explore the difference between brittle faith and enduring faith—and why the breaking apart of faith may actually be the beginning of something deeper and more honest.

In this episode, we explore:

  • Why faith rooted in agreement collapses under real life
  • How control masquerades as spirituality—and why relationship matters more
  • Why doubt and lament are not threats to faith, but signs of it
  • What it means to trust God without certainty
  • How Scripture (especially the Psalms) gives us permission to speak honestly
  • Why faith is not something we perform for God, but practice with God

Drawing from Scripture, personal story, and the words of a desperate father who prayed, “I believe; help my unbelief,” this episode makes space for wrestling, grief, and unfinished faith—without shame.

If your faith feels fragile right now, you’re not behind.
You might actually be paying attention.

This episode also sets the stage for what’s coming next on the podcast:

  • Season 1: Personal spiritual fitness — slow, ordinary practices rooted in grace
  • Season 2: Faith deconstruction and reconstruction
  • Season 3: Community, connection, and belonging
  • Season 4: Leadership without burnout

No quick fixes.
No pressure to arrive.
Just an honest, grace-filled space to keep going.

Take your time.
Grace and peace, friends.
May you love well.

Transcript

0.1 — Grace Is the Environment Where Growth Happens

Welcome to The Pastor Next Door.

This is Season 0, Episode 1—the beginning of a small, slow, grace-centered project built around one core conviction: grace is the environment where growth happens.

In this opening episode, I introduce the heart behind the podcast and the idea of spiritual fitness—not as striving, productivity, or self-optimization, but as a growing capacity to live from our union with Christ. This is not a podcast about rules, recipes, or becoming impressive. It’s about becoming available.

The Pastor Next Door Trailer

What if you had a pastor living next door? Not someone with all the answers— but someone willing to sit with your questions. A podcast for the curious, the skeptical, the faithful, and the worn-out.

New episodes coming soon.

#ThePastorNextDoor #Podcast #FaithAndDoubt #Spirituality #Christianity

🎧 Listen to the trailer…

Transcript