Church & Community
825 conversations across 16 years of the show. Try a few, or go by subject.
A few to try
-
Bear Grylls' church critique, prayer, and discipleship
- Is Bear Grylls right that Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches, and would you stay if the production were stripped away?
- How do you practice real one-on-one discipleship instead of relying on church programs?
The hosts discuss Bear Grylls' Christian Post interview: he is unabashedly open about his faith but says Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches today, urging people to stay…
-
The church at Sardis and what makes a church great
- How would you know if you were in a dead church?
A host who has been preaching through Revelation 2-3 raises the church at Sardis, which has a reputation of being alive but is dead, and wonders how anyone would know they were in a dead church.
From No. 442 · Christians Don’t Understand Christianity
-
Church, emotions, and the self-focus of affluence
- How do you help people in an affluent, self-focused culture see that they need Jesus?
Ben revives a question from two or three shows back: are church services and worship tunes postured toward certain personality types — predominantly emotions and dealing with emotions?
From No. 603 · Found Out
-
Confetti and lasers: what should God's people be known for?
- Do we want to be known as the confetti and lasers people?
- What should God's people be known for?
Ben redirects to the docket's denomination question: when someone hears Silas's church described as 'the confetti and lasers people,' should that sting?
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers
-
Dawson's question: what to watch for in a new church
- What should you pay attention to when stepping into a church community for the first time?
Dawson, a third in-studio voice, asks what to pay attention to when stepping into a church you've never visited.
From No. 595 · Trust But Verify
-
Feeling spiritually meh: causes, experiences, and ways through
- Have you ever felt spiritually meh, what does it feel like, and how do you get out of it?
The main discussion: what it means to feel "spiritually meh" — not rebelling against God, but not wanting to do the prayer, Bible reading, and other connecting practices you know are good.
All conversations
819 conversations
-
Do accountability partners actually work?
- Do accountability partners actually do anything?
Mike raises his accountability-partners question: the standard dude-circle advice to get a buddy to hold you accountable for Bible reading, porn, church attendance, and drinking.
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers
-
What does it mean to make disciples
- What does it mean to make disciples — is it just giving information, or does it involve accountability and structure?
The hosts take up the third topic: two extremes of disciple-making. On one side, being only an information provider and leaving everything to the Spirit; on the other, running…
From No. 545 · By Invitation Only
-
Is it more holy to sing only the Psalms or only scripture?
- Is it more holy or valuable for a church to sing only the Psalms or only scripture in worship?
The hosts take up the man whose church sings only Psalms (and a harder variant: only exact scripture, citing Ephesians' "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs").
From No. 487 · Sing What You Want
-
Jim Palmer's 25 mistakes: putting church over community
- Is putting church over community a real mistake or a false dichotomy?
A host reads Jim Palmer's list of '25 mistakes I made' as a pastor of a large North American church, and the hosts decide to walk through the list one critique at a time.
From No. 458 · 12 to 13 Mistakes From Wildin
-
Dear LFTP: the meddling in-laws and the deficient spouse
- My husband complains about me to his parents, who trash me — what do I do about the meddling in-laws?
A Dear LFTP letter from a wife whose husband of twenty years complains about her to his parents; she has found messages where the in-laws called her 'a bad mother, terrible person, crazy evil, the devil.'
From No. 426 · Confidence in the Holy Spirit
-
The mythical 'perfect Christian' posturing
- Is the 'perfect Christian' posture a real thing churches run into, or just an easy target for opinion pieces?
A host asks whether the 'perfect Christian' — people posturing as having it all together — is a real thing churches run into or just an easy target for opinion pieces.
From No. 424 · When Culture Lacks Objective Reality
-
Would you follow Christ alone?
- Would you follow Christ on your own if your church community were taken away?
Mike asks whether listeners would follow Christ on their own if community were stripped away, no Zoom church, no classes, picturing Moses herding sheep alone in the desert and a shepherd living three months in a distant field.
From No. 402 · It’s OK to Stay Home
-
Caring about what people care about
- When someone's pet is facing surgery, is showing up or praying for the pet a legitimate pastoral-care move?
- Do people wrongly assume pastors are available to do anything at any time?
The dog-surgery news sparks a real discussion: would you go sit in the vet waiting room, and should you pray for someone's pet?
From No. 396 · Pet Pastoring and Confounded on Dear LFTP
-
Dear LFTP: 'Maid of Honor Fails to Follow Shower Instructions'
- Who is in the wrong — the bride or the maid of honor who won't follow the shower instructions?
The second Dear LFTP letter, titled 'Maid of Honor Fails to Follow Shower Instructions' (not a bathing problem — a bridal shower problem): the bride was clear she didn't want a…
From No. 603 · Found Out
-
Dear LFTP: the $4,200 loan that never came back
- How do I get past the sadness over the $4,200 loan my friend never repaid — do I just let it go?
The final Dear LFTP letter: a year ago a supposed friend asked to borrow money — her husband had left the country to renew his visa, her car was repossessed, she had no way to get to work.
From No. 603 · Found Out
-
Leadership training for church leaders: get a business manager
- Do people who lead churches need leadership training?
Mike's real question: to what extent do people need leadership training to lead churches? Ben gives two distinct answers.
From No. 602 · Relationship Counseling
-
Dear LFTP: Ralph calls three or four times a week
- How can I get my retired friend Ralph to call less frequently without being rude?
The letter: 'Ralph,' a longtime best friend, retired and is bored, so he calls three or four times a week 'even when there's nothing new to talk about,' rehashing the same things; subtle hints haven't worked; letting it go to voicemail just earns a callback request.
From No. 602 · Relationship Counseling
-
Dear LFTP: the birthday-gift pressure
- My friends insist on giving me birthday presents I can't reciprocate. Shouldn't my wishes have been respected since it's my birthday?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter: a part-time worker paying her own health insurance asked friends to skip presents at a triple birthday dinner; they refused, saying she needn't reciprocate.
From No. 601 · Humble Faithful Idiot
-
The New Testament case for human shaping
- What does the New Testament actually say about spiritual authority and submission?
Ben walks the New Testament texts: Hebrews 13:17 ('obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls') presumes a soul-watching laborer, not a rule-maker;…
From No. 600 · Rage The Elephant
-
Is modern Christianity biased toward a personality type?
- Is modern Christianity (its sermons and worship music) biased toward a certain personality type?
A host asks whether what churches teach, focus on, and sing is biased toward a certain personality type — prompted by emotive worship lyrics (the 'sloppy wet kiss' line in a…
-
How to tell your voice from God's: the Bible test and leniency
- How can you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking?
Ella distills the question: how do you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking? Her first answer: we have a Bible — what God is telling you is probably already in it ('Ben's gonna have a proud papa moment').
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
-
Dear LFTP: the retired people-pleaser and her boundary-blurring friends
- How should a people-pleasing retired woman handle friends who ignore her 'I need advance notice' boundary?
Mike reads a letter from a single retired woman with a side business, frustrated by friends who invite her last-minute, get annoyed when she declines, and tie her up with 'utter nonsense' calls and texts despite her 'I need advance notice' replies.
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
-
Dear LFTP 2: the neighbors' piling newspapers
- Dear LFTP: at what point can we pick up our out-of-town neighbors' piling newspapers and recycle them?
Mike reads the second letter: new neighbors have been out of town for weeks and their newspapers are piling up — at what point may the writer recycle them?
From No. 595 · Trust But Verify
-
Kassin resets the mountaintop conversation
- How do we take mountaintop religious experiences with us instead of becoming dependent on curated moments?
In-studio guest Kassin reframes the docket's third question from his church-camp curriculum work: camps and worship nights curate high-emotion experiences meant to point people to Jesus, but then drop attendees back into everyday life with no way to find Christ there.
-
Evaluating the event: Elijah, Josiah, the sign of Jonah, the donuts test
- How do we tell whether a church element has become the thing itself rather than pointing to Jesus?
The hosts work through evaluation tools for curated experiences: Elijah didn't ask God to repeat the fire, and Jesus refused to repeat signs for the Pharisees ('you get the sign…
-
Dear LFTP: the friend group's new wife
- How do we tell the husband that they are not invited, and who should deliver the message?
A host reads a second Dear LFTP letter: ten college-friend couples are planning a once-in-a-lifetime cruise, and nobody wants the remarried friend's demanding new wife on the ship.
From No. 592 · Because I Got High
-
Dear LFTP #2: friends who always bring extra people
- How do we stop friends from inviting extra people to our gatherings?
Mike reads the second letter: dear friends who socialize a lot keep inviting extra people to gatherings at the listener's lake house — including, once, a passed-out stranger ('my coyote fell asleep on the couch').
-
Local pastors, mutual refinement, and the 'pods' joke
- What word comes after "community"?
The best pastor for you is the person in your life who can look you in the eyeballs; walk into every room expecting the other person might refine you — that only works locally.
From No. 590 · Theodore Franco
-
Dear LFTP 2: the college friend after 35 years
- Should the woman reconnect with the college friend after 35 years?
Mike reads the letter: three college girlfriends, one lost touch thirty-five years ago and is now reconnecting; the writer feels her loyal friends "deserve" her attention and the returner "has not been a good friend."
From No. 590 · Theodore Franco