We break the mold to talk to Alex who survived Youth Group in the 2000's! Alex takes us on an insightful and often hilarious journey that reveals his deep commitment to Christ and equally serious journey through questions, doubt, and change.

Disclaimer: Scott got confused on some of the timelines in this episode but he still led a couple of groups when Alex was in High School.

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What was more scary to a 90s youth group kid? Finding out the world might older than 6000 years or realizing that Left Behind was actually terrible fiction? This week we discuss how fear of cultural takeover motivated us to defend our faith at all (well, most) costs.

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Another survivor of youth group in the 90s, Brant joins us to talk about his tender coccyx as well as other important topics such as returning to the church his parents help found (find out how he almost burnt it down), the utility of a historical Job, and why he bought the home of his childhood best friend.

• Twitter: ⁠⁠@SurvivedYG⁠⁠
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As we got deeper into interviews we realized a lot of the reminiscing is - naturally - positive and funny. However, in this disclaimer episode we talk about how things weren't always rosy and how shame was common for 90s youth group kids.

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A youth group kids in the 90s we were very tempted to judge the faith of others. Some things really haven't changed! Today we are joined by our old/new friend Alex as we discuss, with trepidation and sadness, how Christians call each other fake for a variety of issues. We talk about partying and politics and why ultimately we feel deeply that the church needs to work at regaining trust.

• Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SurvivedYG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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The third installment in our politics series takes issue with the difference between American and Christian Freedom. While very different, our hosts discuss why its hard to watch the church conflate the two. How much distinction of those two ideas should be discussed in a sermon around July 4th? And why does one lean so heavily on the other? If you've ever been to a church on July 4th that has an American fly on stage, this episode is for you!

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Continuing on in our politics series, Caleb and I bring the conversation to today and how things have changed for us but more importantly why. We know its a heavy topic but we hope you can stick with us as we try to keep it pretty light-hearted. By the end of the episode, you'll realize that neither Caleb nor I are very manly whatsoever so all of those Braveheart references never landed well for us.

Also, be very careful summoning the ghost of Mark Driscoll.

This is the 1st installment of our summer mini-series on politics. We'll have a total of three episodes talking about what we learned about politics in the 90s from youth group, where our hosts Caleb and Scott believe today, and what does Christian Freedom actually mean.

We start out by talking about the subversive message of politics in 90s youth group. It's not as bleak as it sounds!

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A quick preview and disclaimer about our upcoming mini-series into politics.

Rounding out the core friend group we talk to our best bud Mike who has never, ever been afraid to beat people up in the name of Jesus. When he wasn't doing that he was beating us in basketball or driving us around town. Mike was invited to youth group in 1995 and has never left the church since. We talk about what keeps him going there and how he watched his own kids grow up in the same youth group he helped create. If you get a chance, please support Mike's struggling ice cream business. I believe it's called Dairy Queen.

• Twitter: ⁠⁠@SurvivedYG⁠⁠
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