How do you ever have a "normal feeling Christmas" again when on that one Christmas morning, you woke up to the news Rian Fuller woke up to. 

On Christmas of 2015, Rian lost her best friend Karen Bessinger, who just happened to be the one who gave her birth.  Here we discuss whether or not Christmas is "redeemable" for Rian again; and we wonder why the hell couldn't God have just picked a different day to take her mom home?   Maybe September 14th?  Or how about January 14th?   

Christmas is expected  to be -- and treated by the masses -- as the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year," but for those who suffered great loss in recent prior years, this is impossible.  And this tension between "happy holidays" and grief, is utterly painful, so I'm told. 

The pain of this world, the untimely loss of one you call mother and friend, in this episode we reflect on life, loss, and eternal perspective.  There's also some mysterious "post death interactions" that will have you supernatural romantics smiling and crying, while the  logical, boring people will roll eyes in skepticism.  HA!  Love to all.  Merry Christmas. 

And we mourn with those who mourn.   We pray more peace for all mankind.  The kind that passes all understanding.   

Rest in Peace
Karen Bessinger
January 26, 1964 -
Dec 25th 2015.

Special thanks to Rian Fuller for sharing her life (and the life of her mom's) with us.
*Rian was referred to on this episode inadvertently by her maiden name, "Bessinger." *

Episodes mentioned in this episode:
How Does a Widowed Mom in her 30s View Life and God? (Part 1 w/ Liz Miller)
How Does a Widowed Mom in her 30s View Life and God? (Part 2 w/ Liz Miller)
A Practical Discussion on Grieving During the Holidays
A Merry-Less Christmas, Newly Widowed

Rian Fuller Instagram / Photography Business

The Sing Team and their Christmas Album is featured throughout episode.  Congrats on a rad Christmas release!

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Executive Producer of PWNApod:  Jared Svendsen

Subscribe here to keep up with all things "Pastor With No Answers" as well as a new digital family we'd love to have you a part of.  You don't have to be alone in your spiritual questions  and you don't have to play by society's "new standard" of taking sides and being polarized.  Join us!

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Subscribe here to keep up with all things "Pastor With No Answers" as well as a new digital family we'd love to have you a part of.  You don't have to be alone in your spiritual questions  and you don't have to play by society's "new standard" of taking sides and being polarized.  Join us!

At top of episode, Joey proposes some double-standards to co-hosts Matt Oxley and Ellen Mauro, in how male "body-part slang," like the word "d*ck" is acceptable for casual use while the female "body-part slang word" "p***y," isn't.

Brian Allain has partnered with the likes of Diana Butler Bass, Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne to actually try and bring Christians from all spectrums (fundamentalists and progressives) together, aligned in love.  They (plus others) all compiled some essays on how we can do it in How to Heal Our Divides: a Practical Guide.  Brian and I discuss with special guest-host, Andy Squyres, the reasons for division, we reflect on the lost art of seeing humans as complicated, we look at how our beliefs in the afterlife dictate the rest of our practices, and ponder whether or not the late Rachel Held Evans (or you fill in the blank with your favorite "neighborhood progressive") was in the same "body of Christ" as Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham (or you fill in the blank with your favorite "neighborhood fundamentalist.")

Brian Allain:  Website

Andy Squyres: Website / Instagram / Twitter

Podcast Hosts:  Ellen Mauro Instagram / Matt Oxley 

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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy. 

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With eight hundred staff members, 1000 students, Bethel Church / Music (based out of Redding California) is a household name in the evangelical church world.  Jenn just wrote a book, “All Things Lovely: Inspiring Health and Wholeness in Your Home, Heart, and Community.” In the context of this book, we talk supernatural healings, antidepressants, importance of church community, and holistic health.  Joey also asks her questions about eternal punishment, “grave soaking,” and the celebrity culture that is so common in today’s church world.  

At top of episode, Matt Oxley and Ellen Mauro discuss a major problem in today's youth and Ellen challenges Joey's negative use of the word "woke."  If being "woke" is awakening to social injustices, that's never a bad thing.  Right? 

Jenn Johnson / Instagram / Website / Bethel Church

Podcast Hosts:  Ellen Mauro Instagram / Matt Oxley 

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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy. 

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From the ages of six to 26, Ashley Broderick has persevered through chronic panic disorder without the guidance of any healthcare professional or the assistance of antidepressants.  Now the mother of two (one high schooler) with more knowledge and coping skills,  and now also incorporating the help of the mental health profession, she has acquired great strength and made great strides of health.  Without an act of God, however, this will always be a part of her battle.  We’ll call it “Ashley’s Thorn” (cool band name, you’re welcome). 

Panic attacks are brutal, but listeners may not know the extent of how intense they can be, how long the effects can be intrusive, and how violent the anxiety can become.  During the pandemic, Ashley witnessed the many anxiety flare ups in others, due to all the employment/economy and health uncertainties; and realized they were all  experiencing [in 2020] what her day to day feels like all the time. 

From thinking her baby is being kidnapped in the room next door to turning the car around so she can help a child she accidentally hit (that she knows she didn’t accidentally hit), Ashley also shares the culprit of childhood trauma that is a major contributing factor to why she struggles like this.  She is an example of one who seeks out help from the mental health profession, but also can't make it through all of this without faith in her Maker.   Pastor WIth No Answers (and Friends) Podcast is supported by Betterhelp!  Go get some betterhelp!

Special thanks to Ashley Broderick for sharing your story and offering solidarity to those who suffer with mental illness.  -- PWNA Team

My Story of Mental Health Crisis (Part 1 of 5)

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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends. 
 
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James Wellman with us today to talk about his newest book, High on God: How Mega Churches Have Won the Heart of America.  Most would have Wellman in the "progressive Christian" camp, he began his research assuming his cynicism about Mega Churches would be vindicated and that he'd find that these things should go away for good.  Instead, he discovered that Mega Churches generally provide a healthy sense of belonging to its members and typically contribute a lot of good into their surrounding communities.  Do these churches help meet emotional needs?  Are evangelicals a more generous bunch than their progressive counterparts?  Here’s a very practical and simple explanation for keeping Mega Churches around.  

At the top of the episode, Matt Oxley, Ellen Mauro and Joey Svendsen discuss their former fundamentalism, why Matt’s not a Christian anymore and why a "universalistic salvation" evangelistic message would be the most effective gospel message, even if it wasn’t true.   

Pastor WIth No Answers Podcast is supported by Betterhelp!
Go get some betterhelp!
My Story of Mental Health Crisis (Part 1 of 5)

James Wellman / Twitter / High on God
"Evangelical vs. Progressive" book

Ellen Mauro Instagram

Matt Oxley Instagram 

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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends, and Ray Deezy. 
 
Executive Producer of PWNApod:  Jared Svendsen

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New York Times best-selling author, Kristin Kobes Du Mez wrote Jesus and John Wayne which is   "a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism and reveals how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with a 'spiritual badass.’”  She claims the key to understanding this transformation is recognizing the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism. 

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a professor of history at Calvin University and the author of A New Gospel for Women. She has written for the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Christian Century, and Religion & Politics, among other publications.  Recently she's been a major contributing voice on Christianity Today's The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast.  

Here we talk about the historical timeline of how culture has viewed gender, how these views have changed through the years, and how the sort of American nationalism we currently see is fairly a new thing (1970s).  We talk the role John Eldredge’s “Wild at Heart” book played into this mess, the great harm of "the Billy Graham Rule" and how institutionally, the church really isn't tending towards healthier postures with gender.     

Pastor WIth No Answers Podcast is supported by Betterhelp!
Go get some betterhelp!
My Story of Mental Health Crisis (Part 1 of 5)

Kristin Du Mez / twitter / Instagram / Website
Ellen Mauro Instagram

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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

Executive Producer of PWNApod:  Jared Svendsen

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We all know people can survive to the next day, without having sex of any kind.  But in a romantic relationship, is sex an integral part of getting close?  What if sex is physically impossible?  The good stuff people are looking for in "sexual intimacy,"  can it also be found in non-sexual acts that are exclusive to our partner? 

Ellen doesn’t really care about having sex.  Joey likes sex but he is getting old, so he likes it less.  Hayne likes sex, but his lovely wife is going through chemo treatments, so it’s been a bit bare.  Hayne passes along some wisdom from his grandma and rocks Joey and Ellen’s world.  In the words of Ellen Mauro, “this was the most epic sex conversation she’s ever had.” Hopefully it's helpful to others too.  Thanks, Hayne!

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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

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Michael S. Heiser, a biblical scholar, author (“The Unseen Realm”) and podcaster, (“The Naked Bible Podcast)  just released his newest non-fiction book, “Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness.”  In this conversation (and in his new book), he  debunks popular presuppositions, myths and traditions about these real powers of darkness.  So Satan was NOT the worship leader of heaven?

Here we talk about three distinct demonic rebellions and their significances and ponder on why God didn't just smoke the demons in the first place.  We learn the difference between principalities and demons and whether or not Joey’s great-grandfather saw these little bastards, nearing the end of his life.  

We also manage to fit in some dialogue about after-life theories, foreknowledge and predestination, free will,  open theology and whether the sex between the "sons of god demons" and human women was consensual.  

Michael Heiser /  Podcast / Non-profit

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Special thanks to:

Guest producer Andrew Holder: Music / Instagram / E-mail Andrew for your podcasting production needs: [email protected]

Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.
 
Executive Producer of PWNApod:  Jared Svendsen

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Real people, real friends, real stories.  Was it supernatural?  You get to make the call.  Did Pastor Chip Judd stop a demon from bullying his wife?  Did Joey and his brother call a spirit out of the supernatural realm when they were teens? Did God send a little girl’s father back for last good-byes?  Did God interact with a missions team in Haiti, through flood lights and a shooting star?  Did Ellen have a demon in her room as a little girl?  Did our other two guests witness demon possession or a severe mental episode?  What’s the relation (if any) between the two?

Guests in order of appearance: Chip Judd, Ellen Mauro, Liz Miller, Tyler and Kayla Thompson, Jason Lott, Tommy Hall, Fr. Vincent Lampert, Jared Svendsen
 ([email protected]  for info on correspondence):

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Current DonorSee giving opportunity

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Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

Executive Producer of PWNApod:  Jared Svendsen

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Joey is feeling like an out of touch, inappropriate at times, old grandpa.  Talking it over with co-hosts Ellen Mauro and Jed Payne, the question at hand is:  does the woke culture need to wake up and stop some of its irrational shananigans or does Joey just need to catch up and grow up?

Throughout this episode, Joey also makes a rare "be a Patron of the podcast" pitch and let's you in on various new perks of the new giving tier, The Collection Plate.  You'll hear some examples of patron-only perks, including two  "PWNA Style" devotions and clips from a patron-exclusive Q/A with the 1946 Movie Team to discuss a biblically-affirming view on the LGBTQ+ community (with special contributions from Pricilla Svendsen and Pastor Chip).   

You'll also hear clips from an unreleased "Podcumentary" telling the story of a "community experiment" Joey conducted in 2019 that is birthing a new online community.   

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Ellen Mauro Instagram
Jed Payne Instagram
Jed Payne’s “Church and Other Drugs” Podcast

Joey/PWNA Instagram and Twitter
Current DonorSee giving opportunity

Join the PWNA Discussion Facebook Group

[email protected]  for correspondence.

Theme song, courtesy of Derek Minor

Other music originally composed by Joel Hamilton and Joel Hamilton + friends.

Executive Producer of PWNApod:  Jared Svendsen

Send a text to the crew (we may read these on air)

Be a Patron / Tip the Host (Venmo)