Just A Guy In The Pew Podcast

Have you ever prayed and felt like God wasn't listening? No matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to feel His presence?

I've been there. Even in ministry, I've found myself asking, "God, where are You?"

But here's something I've learned: Just because God feels far away doesn't mean He's abandoned you.

This week, Victor and I talk about why we sometimes feel distant from God and what we can do to draw closer to Him.

In this episode, we discuss:

🔹Three reasons God may feel far away

🔹How distractions, sin, and shame affect our relationship with Him

🔹Why unanswered prayers can leave us angry with God

🔹Why faith is about more than feelings

🔹Practical steps to reconnect with God

We also share some personal struggles and a simple 7-day challenge to help you grow closer to Him. No matter where you are in your faith right now, God hasn't given up on you. Don't give up on seeking Him.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

When you first met your wife, you pursued her. You wanted to see her. You asked questions. You planned things. You noticed her. But somewhere along the way, life happened and sometimes the woman you couldn't wait to spend your life with starts to feel more like a roommate you're managing life with.

This week on the podcast, Victor and I ask a difficult question: When did I stop choosing her?

On this week's episode we talk about:

🔹How good marriages slowly drift without us realizing it

🔹Why your wife still needs to know she's worth pursuing

🔹How resentment and “keeping receipts” create distance

🔹The difference between living together and actually sharing a life

🔹Simple ways to start choosing your wife again every day

And by the end of the show, we will give you a 7-Day Choose Her Challenge—one intentional thing each day that tells your wife, I still choose you.

If your marriage has felt distant lately, or you simply want to love your wife better, I hope you'll find help in our message this week.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

There’s a strange contradiction a lot of men live with: We desperately want someone to know we’re struggling—but we keep telling everyone we’re fine.

We get really good at smiling, showing up, taking care of everyone else, and convincing the people around us that everything is okay. Then we wonder why nobody really knows us.

This week, Victor and I talk about:

🔹Why men can have good friends and still feel completely alone

🔹Why we’re so afraid to let people see what we’re really going through

🔹Why you can’t expect someone else to know you if you’re not honest with yourself

🔹What Jesus shows us about vulnerability and asking others to stay with us

We also give you four practical things you can do this week to stop carrying everything alone.

If you've ever thought, “Nobody really knows what I’m going through,” this episode is for you. Check out the episode and share it with someone who may need to hear it.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

Have you ever promised yourself, “I’m never doing that again”—only to find yourself right back there a few days or weeks later? Lying. Judging. Anger. Drinking. Gossip. Lust. Whatever the struggle is, eventually we start asking:

Why do I keep doing something I don’t want to do?

This week on the podcast, Victor and I get very real about why we keep falling into the same sins—and why the battle is often lost long before the actual fall.

We talk about:

🔹How to recognize the patterns that lead you into temptation

🔹Why simply “trying harder” usually isn’t enough

🔹The doors we keep leaving open in our lives

🔹The second temptation that comes after we fall

🔹Practical steps you can take to actually start fighting differently

If there’s something in your life you genuinely want to change, this episode is for you.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

Have you ever lost your temper over something small—and ten minutes later wondered, Why did that bother me so much?

Maybe the anger isn't actually the problem. Maybe it's pointing to something underneath.

This week, Victor and I get real about why we get so angry, what our anger may be trying to tell us, and how Jesus wants to heal more than the behavior—He wants to get to what lies beneath it.

If you keep telling yourself, I'm not going to lose my temper again, only to find yourself doing it anyway, this episode is for you.

In this episode we cover:

🔹Why anger itself isn't necessarily sinful

🔹What's often hiding underneath our anger—fear, rejection, insecurity, shame, hurt, exhaustion, or the need for control

🔹Why the people we love often end up paying for wounds they didn't cause

🔹What Scripture and the Church teach us about anger

🔹How Jesus wants to heal the what beneath the surface instead of simply helping us manage the symptom

🔹Concrete steps to take to deal with Anger issues

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

There is a question that men ask me all the time. How do you know if you’ve really changed? If you’ve really healed? If you’re actually becoming the man God created you to be?

This week, we wrap up our Power Made Perfect series with the final step: Restoration.

And here’s the truth: a restored life isn’t a perfect life. You’ll still struggle. You’ll still be tempted. You’ll still fall sometimes. The difference is that you don’t have to respond the way you used to. When that changes, you start to see the difference in who you used to be and who you are becoming. Restoration is coming to understand whose you are, who you are, and then beginning to live in and through that relationship each day of your life.

In this episode, we talk about:

🔹Why restoration is a lifelong process

🔹The difference between reacting from your wounds and responding from Christ

🔹Why suffering doesn’t disappear when you follow Jesus

🔹How to recognize the evidence that you really are changing

🔹How the entire Power Made Perfect process becomes a way of life

One of the biggest things I’ve learned is this: I’m not who I used to be—but I’m also not yet who God is making me into.

That’s restoration. Not perfection. Not the absence of struggle. It’s a lifelong journey that I can look forward to each and every day. With every success and every difficulty, there is an opportunity to learn and a chance to become more like Christ.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

Your Wounds Don't Have to Define You

There are things that happened to us years ago that may still be driving the way we live today.

The rejection. The abandonment. The shame. The fear.

We may not even realize how much the wounds—and the lies we believed because of them—are affecting our relationships, our choices, and even the way we see God.

This week in the Power Made Perfect Series, we’re talking about Healing. It is one of the most crucial phases in the process of restoration.

In this episode:

🔹How to recognize the wounds you’re still living out of

🔹The lies we begin believing because of what happened to us

🔹Why changing behavior isn’t always enough

🔹How to invite Jesus into the places that still hurt

🔹How our wounds can become signs of victory instead of defeat

Your wounds are part of your story. They don’t have to define it.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

There are things you’ve done that you wish you could take back.

Choices you regret. Sins you’re ashamed of. Parts of your story you wish no one knew.

And even after you’ve repented, there can still be a voice inside that says:

“God may forgive you…but He can’t really love you the same.” Guys, that is a lie.

This week in our Power Made Perfect series, we move from repentance to reconciliation.

Repentance is when we turn around and head back toward the Father.

Reconciliation is what happens when we discover who is waiting for us when we get there. Just like the prodigal son, we can come home expecting to be treated like a servant.

But the Father says: No. You are still my son.

In this week's episode, John covers:

🔹The difference between repentance and reconciliation

🔹The false image of God many of us carry

🔹Why your worst mistakes are not your identity

🔹What the prodigal son reveals about the heart of the Father

🔹What actually happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation

🔹Why Confession isn't about punishment—it's about restored relationship

🔹How reconciliation prepares our hearts for healing

Guys, some of us have asked God to forgive us, but we’re still carrying around identities He never gave us. Failure. Addict. Drunk. Angry. Unworthy. Disappointment.

Those things may describe battles you’ve fought. They do not describe who you are.

Only God gets to tell you who you are and what you're worth. And He calls you His son. It's time to start believing Him.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

There’s a big difference between remorse and repentance.

Remorse says, “I hate what I did.”

Repentance says, “I don’t want to live this way anymore.”

In this week’s episode of our Power Made Perfect series, Victor and I move from surrender into repentance—the point where surrender starts becoming visible in the way we actually live.

We can tell God we surrender our lives to Him, but eventually we have to get up and start walking in a different direction. Like the prodigal son, repentance is when we stop talking about going home, get out of the pigpen, and start walking back to the Father.

In this episode, we talk about:

🔹The difference between remorse and true repentance

🔹Why repentance requires the old self to die

🔹What metanoia—a real change of mind and direction—looks like

🔹Why we don’t repent so God will love us—we repent because He already does

🔹How God's grace doesn't remove our responsibility; it gives us the power to take responsibility

🔹Why repentance isn't just giving something up—it's becoming someone new

🔹Five practical steps to begin turning away from what is separating you from God

Here’s the question I want you to sit with this week:

What is the one thing in your life that you already know God is asking you to turn away from?

Don’t give yourself a list of twenty things. Name the one. Stop making excuses. Bring it to confession. Make one concrete change. And if you fall, turn back quickly.

Repentance isn't simply feeling differently about your sin.

It's beginning to live differently because you see your sin differently.

Get up. Turn around. Start walking back to the Father.

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK

There are some things in our lives we simply cannot fix. But that doesn’t stop us from trying. We grip tighter. We work harder. We run every scenario through our heads. We tell ourselves, “If I can just figure this out, I can make it okay.”

But eventually, we have to face the truth: we were never in control to begin with.

This week, Victor and I continue our Power Made Perfect series with the next step in the process of restoration: surrender. Vulnerability required the mask to die. Humility required our pride and self-sufficiency to die. Now surrender requires something else to die:

Control.

Last week, humility brought us to the place where we could finally admit, “I can’t save myself.” But admitting we need a Savior and actually letting Him save us are two very different things.

In this episode, we talk about:

🔹Why surrender is not weakness, passivity, or giving up.

🔹Why our need for control is often driven by fear.

🔹Why we struggle to trust the goodness of God.

🔹The difference between trusting God and trying to control the outcome.

🔹Why surrender has to become a daily choice, not a one-time decision.

🔹How our past wounds and disappointments can make it difficult to trust God.

🔹Why surrender still requires us to act and cooperate with God’s grace.

🔹How Jesus Himself shows us what true surrender looks like.

🔹Practical ways to identify what you're still holding onto and finally give it to God.

Maybe there’s something in your life right now that you’ve been white-knuckling—your marriage, your children, your future, your finances, your health, a wound, or a struggle you just can’t seem to overcome.

At some point, we have to open our hands.

Surrender isn’t giving up. It’s giving God permission to do what only He can do.

The question is: Will you let Him?

Follow this link to order your signed copy of our new book, Power Made Perfect: https://store.justaguyinthepew.com/

Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk where Jesus walked with John 👉https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-the-holy-land-with-john-edwards-and-fr-james-clark/

Launch a Life Changing Group for Men in Your Parish! ⛪️

http://www.justaguyinthepew.com

Become a Partner in the Pew! 🤝

http://www.donorbox.org/pew

DOWNLOADS📚

Get a copy of my new eBook, “12 Ways Guys Can Get Closer to Jesus”! http://JUSTAGUYINTHEPEW.COM/EBOOK