Pontificating Pastors

This is the one where we talk about the church and money. It's the one where we talk about the idea of giving and why it is part of the church worship service rather than fundraisers being outside the worship time. It's the one where we are honest about how church giving affects us directly, where we talk about words like tithes and offering, and where we talk about money and ministry. ultimately it's the one where we realize that giving is an act of worship!

This is the one where we get to do the podcast LIVE from Lake Tahoe. It is the one where we are together with other pastors at a sermon planning retreat. It's the one where we welcome our friends Joe and JJ onto the podcast to talk about one of the things that we do in church that all four of us do each Sunday- preach! Ultimately, it is the one where we look at the preaching moment in a worship service and realize that it involves so much more than a 30-45 minute speech. Ultimately, it's the one where we talk about the fact that preaching is a relational event that helps us encounter God in new ways! 

In this episode, Michael and Nate have just spent the weekend together at Tyler's graduation. It's the one where Michael is finally able to just sit in a worship service and take it all in, which inspires our conversation about why we pray at altars. It's the one where we talk about remembrance, where we talk about the importance of body posture, where we even delve into the communal aspect of praying together. Ultimately, it's the one where we realize that our own lives have been shaped by moments around an altar!

This is the one where we talk about all the singing that is done in Church. It's the one where we talk about the nature of worship music and how it shapes up as a congregation. It's the one where we talk about making a joyful noise, or maybe sometimes not so joyful. Ultimately, it is the one where we talk about the power of music in our lives!

This is the one where we talk about the importance of gathering together. It is the one where we lament the fact that COVID did not allow for us to do so as often as we would have liked. This is the one where we talk about gathering spaces as sacred spaces. It's the one where we even address the dreaded handshaking time and the tradition of "passing the peace." Ultimately, it's the one where we realize that there is something about gathering that spurs us on in our relationship with God and our relationships with others!

This is the one that kicks of our new season about "Things We Do in Church." It's the one where we catch up after a brief hiatus from podcasting. It's ultimately the one where we look at this somewhat strange and yet beautiful meal we call "communion" or "the eucharist!"

This is the one where we are finally back together after a bit. It's the one where Michael asks some Nate some rapid-fire questions which leads to a discussion about competition and how we reconcile the gospel that calls us to lay our lives down with our competitive nature. Ultimately, it's the one where we choose to live in the tension between healthy competition and the gospel!

This is the episode about Michael's daughter and Nate's son getting married! It's the one where we talk about the great cloud of witnesses in this community we call the Church! We thought we would republish it and see if we could get it published on apple this time! (For some reason the last one never showed up!)

This is the one where we haven't talked to each other in 13 weeks. It's the one where we talk about Nate's lessons from sabbatical, where Michael is examining his core values, where our kids are still getting married this summer, and where we talk for a long time because we haven't gotten to do this in a while. It's ultimately the one where we find out if our audience is still out there somewhere, so that will be up to YOU!