Many systematic theologians talk about God like they got God pegged while Isaiah says "God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours."

While many claim things along the lines of "God won't bless your finances if you don't tithe before taxes," I'm still  trying to process what it means for God to love me.  What does that mean for all of us?

This is an episode about God.  If you're pursuing theology for a snapshot of God, give up the pursuit because God is too big for that.   

What we are left with:
If God is all-loving, God can't be all-powerful because there is evil in the world.
If God is all-powerful, God must not care or love creation because there is evil in the world.

Many Christians still claim God to be both, all-loving and all-powerful  (I'm one of them -- Joey).
But while others, like Thomas Oord, actually try to make sense of this dichotomy, coming up with other possible explanations, he's pushed to the side as a heretic.   

Thomas Oord's new book Pluriform Love, unpacks a "Thomas Oord version" of open theology, which is a belief that supposes God not to be all-powerful.

If this doctrine is true, how do we know we are "eternally safe" in heaven (where ever that is)?
How do we reconcile God's wrath and eternal love with his eternal grace, love and redemption.  So what the hell is going on out there and how does all this work?  Does God have emotions?  Why did God create us in the first place?

We can only speculate.

Enjoy these conversations?  Check out the digital community version of Pastor With No Answers Podcast, only patrons have access to.  Read about it HERE.  Watch a quick video HERE.   Join HERE.   These perks may change your life.

ANNOUNCEMENTS / LINKS
4 Week Experience
Attacking Christian Universalism with Sharon Putt (8/4 @ 8:30PM EST on our YouTube)

Podcast Talkers/co-hosts on this episode
Thomas Oord / Instagram / Book
Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook


Podcast Socials // PWNA Discussion Facebook Group / YouTube

Thanks //  Derek Minor for theme song and other music / Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends for other music.

e-mail the PWNA team here. 

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Ellen would rather be alone than to have an affair.  Are pedophiles simply stuck with their attraction to kids?  Is it true love when a victim loves his aggressor? If it's "true love," is that a good thing? 

Matt has a trauma-filled childhood that we haven't been filled in on yet, Ellen wants more black friends in her life, and Joey makes a blunder that he felt sick about. 

Enjoy these conversations?  Check out the digital community version of Pastor With No Answers Podcast, only patrons have access to.  Read about it HERE.  Watch a quick video HERE.   Join HERE.   These perks may change your life. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS / LINKS
4 Week Experience

Podcast Talkers/co-hosts on this episode
Ellen Mauro / Instagram
Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook
Matt Oxley  / Web  / Twitter

Podcast Socials // PWNA Discussion Facebook Group / YouTube

Thanks //  Derek Minor for theme song and other music / Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends for other music. 

e-mail the PWNA team here. 

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Worship leader in an evangelical church, cousin of Brian Welch (Korn), struggler of bipolar disorder, and author, Scott W. Box, joins the show to discuss mental illness, grace and Heroic Disgrace, his recent book release in which he tells his story and unpacks the gospel concept of "winning by losing."

We also discuss how God can make healthy what He chooses not to heal, and how Scott's struggles with mental illness compelled him to seek Jesus deeper.  Isn't that a good thing?

Joey also reflects on his madness of reverting back to OCD spiritual rituals back in his mental health crisis in 2019 and how leaning on others' faith is necessary when personal faith has run dry.  Can your brain ever be too unhealthy to process God in a positive light?  Joey has experienced times when thoughts of God were a detriment.   

Two pastors reflect on their journeys through mental health crises and having personal experience, describe their experiences with being suicidal and how selfishness wasn't part of the equation. 

Ben Archer, Patron of the show (which means he's in the Bear W/ Community), joins Joey to talk deconstruction and reflect on BadChristian.  And up top, a couple of my black friends reflect a bit on how Will Smith's actions was a poor representation of African-Americans. 

Scott W. Box's book Heroic Disgrace.
Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook
Matt Oxley (co-host) / Web  / Twitter

Join Bear W/ Community (a community for PWNA patrons)
Read About / Join / Video
Welcome Packet
4 Week Experience

Socials / Connect:
PWNA Discussion Facebook Group
Podcast Website
YouTube
E-mail us  for correspondence.

Thanks
Theme song and all music, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Originally aired 7/13/2021.  

For additional context, listen to the whole episode as it was originally aired RIGHT HERE.

As originally posted.

Mennonite Pastor, Duke Graduate and author, Melissa Florer-Bixler, joins to talk about what she calls “reproductive justice.”  Is a living embryo an actual living person?  Is it mere tissue waste?  “No” and “no,” according to Melissa.  We discuss these matters and reflect on a truth that many evangelical Christians do not want to face:  their pro-life stances are actually conditional and far from consistent.  Just ask a beautiful (and desperate) couple who went the in vitro fertilization route, were successful, but have additional frozen embryos that will never be used.  What does a consistent pro-life stance look like and what sorts of hypocrisies are currently rampant in those who claim pro-life?  Within discussions along these lines, is there an important distinction between human life and personhood?  

Melissa / Site / Twitter
Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook
Ellen Mauro / Instagram

Join Bear W/ Community (a community for PWNA patrons)
Read About / Join / Video
Welcome Packet

Socials / Connect:
PWNA Discussion Facebook Group
Podcast Website
YouTube
E-mail us  for correspondence.

Thanks
Theme song and all music, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Originally aired 7/8/2021.  

For additional context, listen to the whole episode as it was originally aired RIGHT HERE.

As originally posted.

While some people call ProGrace.org “pro-life lite,” others label it as teetering on pro-choice.  Angie Weszely and her organization (Pro-Grace) takes heat from both sides, and as you’ll hear in this episode, she doesn’t believe Jesus would own either label. He always starts with grace, and this seems to be something unfortunately lacking in many hearts of those in the pro-life camp.  Co-host Ellen Mauro, who considers herself a “pro-life liberal” and one who is pro-life but votes pro-choice, joins us to talk about perhaps the most polarizing and potentially heated issues of the century. 

ProGrace.org is a movement that offers training and other resources founded on a belief for God to give us a creative solution based on His wisdom and provision - and His love for BOTH the woman and the child.

Angie Weszely / Twitter / Site
Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook
Ellen Mauro / Instagram

Join Bear W/ Community (a community for PWNA patrons)
Read About / Join / Video
Welcome Packet

Socials / Connect:
PWNA Discussion Facebook Group
Podcast Website
YouTube
E-mail us  for correspondence.

Thanks
Theme song and all music, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

One woman married to an Air Force pilot (Jessica Reagan), another woman who grew up in a military family (Liz Miller).  One black guy (Robbie Madison), one white guy (Joey Svendsen).  Each grew up (and was taught to) loving the U.S.A. but as adults, this love looks a lot different.  What does it mean to love your country but not trust the government?

How can our country be as bad as some of our citizens claim, when people all around the world are still trying to get here? 

Why are so many Americans more concerned about our country looking good than they are about taking an honest look at the history? 

Is there a lot of good being done by our military that we just do not hear about? 

We even talk a bit about the "good" and "bad" of kneeling at the flag like Colin and how Robbie and Liz to this day are nervous about the flag touching the ground.  Happy 4th of July! 

Who you will be hearing from:
Liz Miller / Instagram
Jessica Reagan / Instagram
Robbie Madison / Web / Instagram
Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter

Join Bear W/ Community (a community for PWNA patrons)
Read About / Join
Bear W// Community Video

Raffle and Welcome Packet
Raffle
Welcome Packet
Updates via Remind App (or text @Bearwit to 81010)

Socials / Connect (open to all):
PWNA Discussion Facebook Group
Podcast Website
YouTube
E-mail us  for correspondence.

Thanks
Theme song and all music, courtesy of Derek Minor

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

From joey blowing up a woman's restroom while ladies are waiting to use, to a bunch of "girl body part talk," co-hosts Liz Miller, Amy Alderman, and Ellen Mauro have "homie time" with Joey; which means listen at your own risk.  Lots of "adult clowning," so get the earmuffs out for the kids.

After getting through the sh*ts and giggles, Liz expresses love and grace towards people who "do not agree with her lifestyle," and Joey proposes that society is getting more woke. 

co-hosts
Ellen Mauro / Instagram
Liz Miller / Instagram
Amy Alderman / Facebook
Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter 

Join Bear W/ Community (a community for PWNA patrons)
Read About / Join
Bear W// Community Video

Raffle and Welcome Packet
Raffle
Welcome Packet
Updates via Remind App (or text @Bearwit to 81010)

Socials / Connect (open to all):
PWNA Discussion Facebook Group
Podcast Website
YouTube
E-mail us  for correspondence.

Thanks
Theme song and all music, courtesy of Derek Minor

Andrew Holder sound engineers, mixes, and helps with overall production.
E-mail him here for all your podcast needs. 

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

The Bear W/ Community holds "Big Gatherings" each month; some of them like this conversation, are open to the public.   

What you are hearing on this episode is one of those meetings and the beginning of regular gatherings to discuss the potential of unity amongst affirming and un-affirming Christians.  With Liz Miller (Christian woman married to a woman) and Hunter Gregory (Christian man engaged to a man) as some of the main voices in this conversation, we all discuss whether it's possible to truly love a queer person without affirming his or her sexuality. 

Lots of grace in this one, thrown in all directions.  If you have engaged evangelicalism, you keenly understand how people land on both sides of this one.  Matt Oxley, one of the co-hosts (queer himself, former evangelical) has empathy for those who do not affirm him.   He sees them as "victims" of a smear campaign that's been going on for the last hundred years.   

How about this one?  Is it good or bad, that not one un-affirming person Joey approached to engage in this discussion, was willing to?  Hunter Gregory says "that's a bunch of malarky and hogwash." (probably not his exact words)

Join Bear W/ Community (a community for PWNA patrons)
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Welcome Packet
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Socials / Connect (open to all):
PWNA Discussion Facebook Group
Podcast Website
YouTube
E-mail us  for correspondence.

Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook

Thanks
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Any difference in shooting a barking dog verses killing a gnat for buzzing in your ear?

Pastor With No Answers Podcast partners with Tony Jones of The Reverend Hunter Podcast and Neil Dudley of Pederson Natural Farms, The Cowboy Perspective Podcast, and The Pederson Farms Podcast for an episode that will air on all three shows!

Lots of "pet talk," (can you leave a dog in the kennel all day?  can you let your cat die instead of paying the vet $1000 to save her?) lots of animal and human life talk.  Tony loves hunting and Neil's farm kills 1500 pigs every week, yet both have yet to be desensitized by the loss of life for the little piggies turned bacon on Neil's farm, or for Bambi's mom that Tony's bullet met right before she fell to her death. 

What's the "eye lash rule" of killing animals?  Has Walmart contributed to a societal flippancy towards buying and eating meat?   What does "humane treatment" of animals mean anyway, and why isn't Tony a fan of that terminology?  Is this something Christians should talk more about, consider more deeply?   As a Christian, what are some of Neil's convictions about the treatment of animals when running a farm?  Does he look after the animals' best interest in the process of "harvesting" them?  Would it be unchristian not to?

Can there even be any moral implications for going around killing plants and animals, if God doesn't exist? And in that case, does this conversation even matter?


Tony Jones  // The Reverend Hunter Podcast // Twitter

Neil Dudley // Pederson Natural Farms // The Cowboy Perspective Podcast // The Pederson Farms Podcast  

Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook

Bear W/ Community (a community for PWNA patrons)
Read About / Join
Bear W// Community Video

Raffle and Welcome Packet
Raffle
Welcome Packet
Updates via Remind App (or text @Bearwit to 81010)

Socials / Connect (open to all):
PWNA Discussion Facebook Group
Podcast Website
YouTube
Tik Tok
E-mail us  for correspondence.

Thanks
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Other music originally composed by

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music

Were church leaders  reckless,  using little wisdom when standing up for and “teaching truth?”  Was it an accident so many of us were messed up in the process?   Co-hosts Ellen Mauro, Hayne Griffen, and Joey Svendsen mourn the lack of love and wisdom seen in church's approach to sexuality and youth,  it's reluctancy to even love those with other views, and it's impulse to beat the mess out of some one who is not "one of us" any more.  

My journey is full of changes in how I see God, faith, the Church and spirituality in general.  I have also found church family amongst people who would be labeled "evangelical" by most.  

That’s why as I mourn the hypocrisy in the "capital C church," I also cannot help but to  speak on behalf of people who i have often seen live with good intent, bringing forth a lot of goodness and hope into the world. 

But it’s tiring to see the church act more like Judas than Jesus; and even more bothersome?  We’re being desensitized as we watch the church claim "Jesus as Lord," without following in His footsteps of love.  This is a false claim and is ruining the credibility of gospel and thus the church.  -- Joey

Robbie Madison “The Way that You Love” single / Spotify / Apple Music  

Joey Svendsen / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook

Ellen Mauro / Instagram

Bear W/ Community
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Join our mailing list to keep up with everything.
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[email protected]  for correspondence.

Thanks
Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor
Andrew Holder sound engineers, mixes, and helps with overall production.
E-mail him here for all your podcast needs. 

E-mail Joey here.

Support Joey's work by Being a Patron / (Venmo)

Theme Song by Stoy Prioleau (aka: Riggy Roc): Apple Music