Episode 200! I can’t quite believe we’ve reached this point: two hundred conversations, stories, and reflections shared with you. And for this milestone, I wanted to talk about something that’s been weaving through all of them: the power of metaphor.

From Iron Man’s first suit to the parables of Jesus, from Joseph Campbell’s wisdom to Pete Holmes’ “finger and moon,” metaphors shape how we see the world and ourselves. In this episode of Clemenz With a “Z”, I explore why we need metaphors, how they sneak past our defenses to speak to the heart, and what happens when we mistake the metaphor for the thing itself. Along the way, I connect modern myths like Marvel movies to ancient scripture, and even take a surprising detour into The Lord of the Rings to unpack Smeagol’s haunting transformation into Gollum. Whether it’s a shepherd, a superhero, or a hobbit clutching his “precious,” these stories are pointing us toward something bigger, if we’re willing to look past the finger and see the moon.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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.  

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

Thanks for being here.

What do a punk rock lyric and the teachings of Jesus have in common? More than you might think. In this episode, inspired by Frank Turner’s raw line from “1933”:  “Be suspicious of simple answers, that shit’s for fascists (and maybe teenagers)”.  We dive headfirst into the beauty and challenge of the messy middle. From the “greatest commandment” conversation in the Gospels to the wisdom of mystics like Teresa of Ávila, Thomas Merton, and Richard Rohr, this is an invitation to live in the tension, embrace complexity, and resist the lure of easy answers. If you’ve ever felt like life, faith, and God are anything but simple, you’re in good company.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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.

What if no one sees the whole picture and that’s the point? In this episode, I explore the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant through the lens of my time in the ICOC, where we weren’t just taught that we held the truth we were the truth. But faith shaped by geography, cultural inheritance, and rigid certainty eventually started to crack. This episode is about those cracks. About what happens when we mistake our piece for the whole. About how the voices we were taught to ignore might just be holding something sacred. And about the possibility that listening, really listening, might be one of the holiest things we can do.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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 take a deep dive into a sermon titled Sex By Design, delivered at a Christian marriage retreat. The pastor laid out what he called the “6 Divine Truths About Sex” (and their “demonic counterparts”), while his wife stood silently beside him the entire time. I walk through each so-called truth, unpacking the theology, the metaphors, the unspoken subtext, and the ways these messages still shape, and often harm our understanding of sex, intimacy, and worth. Along the way, I share my own “Divine Truths About Sex,” ones rooted not in fear or control, but in agency, healing, and the belief that your boundaries, your story, and your body are yours.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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 wrestle with one of the hardest, and most liberating truths I’ve come to face: that the pain, division, and harm in our world isn’t just the result of some ancient curse or cosmic enemy. It’s us. We’ve been taught to blame Satan, to blame Adam, to see ourselves as born broken. But what if that story isn’t the whole story? What if we carry both light and dark within us, and what if the power to heal begins when we finally stop blaming and start owning? From wolves and theology to shame, sin, and systems, this episode is a call to step into honest reflection… and hopeful responsibility.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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.

What if we’ve been looking at sin all wrong? In this episode, I reflect on the way sin was framed for me growing up, how it became a label, a burden, a weight I carried long after forgiveness was promised. I talk about my time as a teacher, how I tried to help students see that their choices don’t define their worth, and how that same truth applies to us as adults. I explore the original meaning of sin: “to miss the mark” and what it means to reframe sin not as a list of dos and don’ts, but as the things that either give to us or take from us. Inspired by The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, this episode is an invitation to let go of shame, reclaim our humanity, and step into something more freeing, more honest, and more whole.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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.

To be honest with y'all, I’ve been sitting with this one.

This episode is a response and a critique from of a podcast episode I recently listened to titled “Boyhood Resurrected.”

As someone who’s deeply invested in the work of raising boys, mentoring teens, and wrestling with what masculinity means today, I came to this episode curious, but also aware of the mouthpieces of this conversation.  What made me uncomfortable is that I agreed with some of what they said. I understand the concerns about boys feeling lost in modern systems. I share the desire to see boys grow into healthy, resilient men. That’s part of my life’s work.

But Boyhood Resurrected left me frustrated, unsettled, and, honestly, mad. Not just because of what was said, but because of what was assumed: about men, about women, about parenting, about power. This isn’t just a conversation about raising boys. It’s a cultural playbook wrapped in fear, control, and shame. And I think we need to talk about it. Because our boys deserve more than tired tropes and toxic narratives. They deserve agency. They deserve complexity. They deserve to be whole.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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 if the thing you were always taught to fear… was actually the thing trying to lead you home?

In this episode of Clemenz With a Z, I dive deep into the power of doubt not as a spiritual failure, but as a sacred invitation. I reflect on growing up in a faith system that demanded certainty, punished questions, and taught me that doubt was a sign of weakness. But over time, I’ve come to believe the opposite: that doubt isn’t the enemy of faith. It’s often the birthplace of something more honest, more human, and more mine.

From the story of Thomas to insights from Richard Rohr, Rob Bell, and Peter Enns, this episode explores what happens when we stop fearing the unraveling, and start trusting what it might reveal. If you’re deconstructing, doubting, or just exhausted from pretending, this one’s for you.

If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show.

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 sit down with Jeremy Steele, also known as The Skeptic Pastor for a conversation that’s honest, wide-ranging, and refreshingly unpretentious. Jeremy is a United Methodist pastor, author, podcast host, and the founder of Not Church, a faith community for people who’ve been hurt by religion but haven’t given up on the sacred. We talk about what it means to unlearn harmful theology, live with doubt, and stay curious without becoming cynical. If you’ve ever wondered how to hold onto your spirituality without the baggage, or if you’ve walked away from church but still long for something deeper, this one’s for you.

You can follow Jeremy on Instagram @skepticpastor, check out his podcast Unbelief (available wherever you listen to podcasts), and learn more about his inclusive, online community at notchurch.net. His book including How to Not Suck at Being Christian, and others, are available wherever books are sold.

As always, you can find more episodes, blog posts, and ways to support the show at clemenzwithaz.com, or follow me on Instagram @clemenzwithaz. or you can contribute to the GoFundMe here:  https://gofund.me/7ebb0524.  Every little bit helps keep this going, and I’m so grateful for it. Thanks for being here and for staying open.

What does it really mean to “share your faith”? In the church I grew up in, it didn’t mean storytelling or connection—it meant recruitment. Evangelism wasn’t optional; it was expected, required, and tracked. In this episode of This Was Supposed to Be the Place, I unpack the intense pressure we felt to bring people to church, the shame tied to “not producing fruit,” and the way our relationships became tools for expansion. From Kmart training days to paintball invites to spiritual performance disguised as purpose, I trace how sharing faith got twisted into selling it. And then I share the moment it all flipped—sitting in a friend’s truck, drinking a beer, having a real conversation with no script and no strings. It turns out, maybe that’s what sharing your faith was supposed to look like all along.

If this one hit close to home—if you ever felt like your worth was tied to how many people you “brought out,” or if you still carry that little voice saying, you didn’t do enough—just know: you’re not alone. And you’re not crazy.

Some of us were just kids trying to survive youth group politics and Kmart evangelism while pretending we were saving the world.  If you want to reach out in any way, you can do that at [email protected] or DM me at the Clemenz With a Z instagram page.  

As always, if you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review—it helps more people find these stories. And don’t forget: I’m just a channel, I ain’t the source.

You can support the show by visiting clemenzwithaz.com, and grabbing something cool from the shop, subscribing to my Substack, or contributing to the GoFundMe here:  https://gofund.me/7ebb0524.  Every little bit helps keep this going, and I’m so grateful for it.

Until next time, take care of yourself, stay grateful, and keep growing. Peace!