In this episode, I wrestle with a claim I’ve been seeing more and more in Christian spaces: that “gentle parenting” is not the same as “godly parenting” and that starting from empathy or believing kids are inherently good is somehow dangerous or unbiblical. Instead of turning this into another parenting culture war, I slow the conversation down. I explore what gentle parenting actually is, what people mean when they talk about godly or gospel-centered parenting, and why these two ideas keep getting pitted against each other.

Drawing from my own experience as a parent, a former teacher, and someone shaped by fear-based faith, I push back on the either/or mindset and make the case for a more honest, relational approach to raising kids, one rooted in love, empathy, consistency, boundaries, and the humility to admit we’re all still learning as we go.

If anything in this episode resonated with you and you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

What's up y'all!

In this episode, I explore the growing tendency within evangelical church culture to confuse critique with persecution and why that confusion can be so damaging. This conversation grew out of a recent church experience, a sermon that reframed fear as rebellion, and my own attempt to engage in private, thoughtful dialogue that never quite materialized. Drawing from personal experience, theology, and lived impact, I reflect on what happens when churches prioritize defensiveness over listening, certainty over curiosity, and ego over humility. This isn’t an attack on the church, but an honest examination of how faith communities can lose their capacity for dialogue, and why reclaiming that capacity matters for real healing, growth, and care.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

In this episode of Clemenz With a “Z,” I’m not talking about co-sleeping or parenting techniques as much as I’m talking about access:  who gets it, when, and what we teach our kids about belonging long before they have words for it. Sparked by two very confident but completely opposite Christian takes on kids sleeping in the bed, this episode moves past certainty and into something more human: fear at 2 a.m., Hot Wheels offered as currency for closeness, the exhaustion of real parenting, and the quiet ways children learn whether love is conditional or not.

Hot Wheels at 2 A.M. is a reflection on presence before principle, discernment over formulas, and what it means to raise kids and build families without outsourcing our humanity.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

Lately, I’ve been struck by how many of our religious conversations seem to turn into debates that leave us more divided, more entrenched, and more certain, but not more understanding. In this episode, I explore the idea that the problem might not be our disagreements, but the questions we’ve been trained to ask in the first place. Looking at the way Jesus consistently redirected the conversations people wanted to have, this episode reflects on how faith has become more about camps and certainty than curiosity and connection and what might change if we learned to ask better questions instead.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

We live in a world of constant noise and increasingly, our churches mirror it. In this episode, I reflect on what happens when worship never pauses, when silence feels unwelcome, and when space is something we’re quick to fill. This isn’t a critique of music or emotion, but an exploration of why silence matters, in church and in everyday life. Drawing on personal experience and a poem that helped name what I was feeling, Let It Breathe is an invitation to notice how much noise we carry, and to consider what might heal, clarify, and return to us if we made a little more room for space.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

I'm Back!

After an intentional pause, this episode is a return, a re-orientation, and an honest reflection on why this podcast exists and where it’s going. What began years ago as conversations about masculinity and fatherhood has grown alongside me into something deeper, a space to unlearn, feel, rethink what we were told, and become whole.

This episode is about remembering the “why,” honoring the evolution, and inviting you into the next chapter of Clemenz With a "Z" wherever you find yourself in your own becoming.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

Sometimes the hardest seasons are the ones that make us. In this episode, I share a story I’ve never told publicly, the moment everything I’d worked for almost came undone during my student teaching. What started as a field trip turned into one of the most difficult and defining chapters of my life. Through betrayal, uncertainty, and months of fighting to graduate, I discovered something I didn’t know I had: the ability to stand up, to keep going, and to find strength in the middle of conflict. Drawing from A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and the timeless Hero’s Journey, this episode explores how our greatest struggles often become the very things that shape us, and how, as the comedian Katt Williams once said, that’s what every hero of every story has in common.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

We love verses like Jeremiah 29:11.  You know, the ones that promise a future and a hope. They’re comforting, clean, easy to print on a mug or a graduation card. But what happens when life doesn’t match the verse? When the “plan” falls apart and the promises feel hollow? In this episode, Coffee Mug Theology, I talk about how we’ve turned ancient words of exile and endurance into quick-fix slogans, and what gets lost in translation when we do. This one’s about loss, anger, meaning, and what it really means to find faith when the plan stops working.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

We grow up on stories that tell us life is about slaying the dragon and winning the prize. Disney fairytales, men’s groups, even church slogans repeat the same script: the battle is always “out there.” But Joseph Campbell flipped the story, reminding us that the real dragon is within, and the way forward isn’t conquest, it’s following your bliss.

In this episode, I wrestle with what that actually means for men, fathers, and anyone trying to move beyond sea-level living.

We’ll talk about shallow scripts, quiet desperation, and the deeper kind of dragon-slaying that leads not to prizes, but to presence, aliveness, and depth.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.

In this episode, I step into the shadows with Marvel’s Thunderbolts, a story of misfits, scars, and the power of presence. From Sentry’s battle with the Void to Yelena’s moment of recognition, the film raises a question we all wrestle with: what do we do with the darkness inside of us? Some days we try to bury it, some days we stare right into it, and some days we need someone else to remind us we don’t have to face it alone.

Along the way, I reflect on Robin Williams, both the roles he played and the quiet, compassionate ways he showed up for others in real life and on Jesus, who never rushed people out of their pain but entered it with them. Together, they remind us that empathy doesn’t mean fixing or rushing the darkness away. It means staying. It means naming the shadow without shame. And sometimes, it means discovering that our misfit-ness, our scars, and even our Voids might be the very places where healing begins.

If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at [email protected] or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.  

You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps.

And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack:

Thanks for being here.