Monica, Erik, and Jason discuss the challenge of overthinking mission in a church context. Having freedom to allow ministry to happen naturally can sometimes feel unwise or purposeless. However, it also creates an environment where pure, simple and valuable ministry can take place without the slow process of strategizing, budgeting, meeting and coordinating. Shockingly, this is the first time Jason had to crack open a can of coke while recording. It won’t be the last.

Monica, Erik & Jason re-visit a topic they covered in 2019; Non-traditional Forms of Church. No one could have imagined that we would be experimenting with non-traditional church meetings in 2020. In fact, when we originally discussed this topic, Erik predicted that “in a generation or two we are really going to have to embrace this.” Like a lot of things on the Calling & Context Podcast, that prediction was only slightly right and we aren’t ready to call him a prophet!

Monica, Erik, and Jason are back together in the podcast studio after a brief hiatus. They’re discussing what they’ve been learning in this season of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Jason and Erik are right back at it with plenty to say and lots of laughs!

Monica, Erik, and Jason discuss the biblical way churches should be making decisions. They discuss how churches have gone off track with American style voting and how this harms genuine elder leadership. This episode is going to challenge church members and church leaders to really consider how their churches are being made. They discuss how detrimental building factions and coalitions can be to a local church. Also, Erik won’t soon be put in charge of mowing the church property.

This episode first aired on Feb 5, 2020.

Monica, Erik, and Jason discuss the ministry gifts found in the Book of Ephesians. They discuss how the gifts look practically in the church. They discuss where the ministry gifts live in their ministry roles, but how much that is reflected in most churches. Jason is a fancy golfer and Mark Numbers gets a huge shout out for being an amazing high school basketball player!

This episode first aired on Jan 29, 2020.

Monica, Erik, and Jason discuss how difficult it can be to find our way to what God wants us to do in ministry. They talk about how important it is for people finding their way in the church to show up for small things and build equity with the church family and how often this leads to more opportunity. Jason shows off his Eeyore impersonation.

This episode first aired on Jan 22, 2020.

Monica, Erik, and Jason discuss the challenging topic of cultivating our marriages while in ministry. They spotlight how important it is to listen to our spouses input into our calling and how difficult it can be when our spouse isn’t all in on our calling. They also talk about how important it is to take time away from the ministry to cultivate our marriages. Erik shares that his wife is a closet hippie.

This episode first aired on Jan 15, 2020.

Monica, Erik, and Jason discuss how important it is to build a community of friends that gives healthy interaction beyond our current environments. They encourage leaders to seek out those relationships and to be vulnerable with our weaknesses. Erik and Jason share that their relationship is built on comic relief and their own absurdity. Big surprise!

This episode first aired on Jan 8, 2020.

Monica, Erik, and Jason share their unique callings and journeys to vocational ministry. They talk about the two ditches that exist on each side of God’s calling on our lives; the lack of participation in the general calling of every believer and overstepping the specific calling of the elder/pastor roles in our churches. Erik shares that he dressed like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz to win souls for Jesus... really!

This episode first aired on Jan 1, 2020.

Monica, Erik, and Jason discuss the discipline of keeping the gospel the center of every conversation in your church with the ability to speak it into every context. Jason and Erik have different shoe problems to solve and allegedly unicorns do not exist. What!?

This episode first aired on Dec 18, 2019.