Voxology

By Voxology

Voxology (Formerly the Vox Podcast with Mike Erre) is a collection of voices that question and discuss our culture's most relevant topics in relation to Christ and Christianity. We talk LGBTQ, America... more

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The podcast currently has 608 episodes available.

Best of Voxology

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: Why Jesus Speaks so Harshly: The Seven Woes for Today
Today, Mike Erre, Tim Stafford, and super special guest host Suzie P. Lind open a serious conversation about spiritual abuse by reading Matthew 23 alongside current headlines of pastor misconduct and church corruption. The episode asks why Jesus’ harshest words land on religious leaders, and what that reveals about abusive systems, hypocrisy, and the responsibility of shepherds. Suzie brings a crucial perspective as a pastor, elder, and woman in church leadership, helping widen the conversation beyond the usual assumptions. The discussion moves between biblical context, present-day church culture, and the personal work of examining how easily leaders can become what they condemn. The group walks through Matthew 23 and focuses on Jesus’ repeated rebukes:hypocrisyburdening people without helpingstatus-seekingspiritual blindnessneglect of justice, mercy, and faithfulness Chapters: 00:00 - Welcome back and introduction of Suzie P. Lind 02:34 - Coaching update, Patreon thanks, and book club announcement 04:00 - Trigger Warning: The reality of abuse headlines 07:24 - Why this feels like a culture problem, not just bad individuals 1 3:33 - Jesus’ woe over Jerusalem and why the tone matters 1 5:15 - Reading Matthew 23 in full context 17:07 - Hypocrisy, burden-bearing, and shutting the kingdom’s door 18:58 - Justice, mercy, faithfulness, and the “gnat and camel” warning 19:25 - Whitewashed tombs and outward righteousness 20:49 - Jerusalem weeps: judgment and grief together 22:09 - Why Suzie agrees with Jesus, but still feels the weight of it 23:12 - Why readers identify with Jesus instead of the Pharisees 27:03 - Jesus as prophet, not just teacher 29:44 - Holding religious leaders accountable for the people’s condition 32:01 - Reading the passage personally, not just externally 35:27 - Prophets as formed people, not instant caricatures 36:32 - Ancient Israel’s built-in self-critique 37:09 - Suzie on fear, responsibility, and benefiting from systems 38:35 - Oppressed people can become oppressors too 41:07 - Malala, forgiveness, and breaking cycles of violence 44:11 - Why the inside/outside distinction matters so much 45:01 - Ezekiel 34 and shepherds who feed on the flock 48:38 - Modernizing the woes into a diagnosis of abusive churches 49:27 - Heavy loads, guilt, and abusive marriage counseling 52:38 - Suzie’s painful example of being told abuse was “her cross to bear” 53:55 - “I will rescue my flock from their mouths” 56:04 - Status, titles, and performative leadership 57:00 - Majoring on minor issues while neglecting what matters most 58:08 - How churches decide what to emphasize and what to ignore 61:24 - First-importance issues, disputable matters, and biblical priorities 63:41 - Wrap-up, gratitude, and what comes next As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram. We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV. Our Merch Store! Esty Learn more about the Voxology Podcast Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio Follow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on Facebook Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy
August 24, 20261h 6min
Number 2: Do Not Do What They Do: Jesus’ Warning About the Pharisees
This episode starts with a celebration of Dolly Parton’s extraordinary generosity and cultural impact, then moves into a serious theological conversation about hypocrisy, leadership, and what makes a church spiritually healthy or toxic. Mike, Suzie, and Tim connect Jesus’ warnings in Matthew 23 and Luke 12 to modern church culture, power, and the temptation to perform righteousness rather than live it. Why was Dolly Parton so universally loved, from the left to the right? Should Churches have a tax exempt status or does that malform the Church, structuring it like a business? How are we, today, to relate to the Pharisees and Jesus's warnings about their posture?Timestamps00:00 - Dolly Parton as a cultural and moral icon 01:00 - Surprising examples of Dolly’s generosity 03:00 - Why Dolly is beloved across ideological lines 05:25 - The question of doctrinal purity and salvation 06:53 - Rob Bell versus Mark Driscoll and the “greater heresy” debate 08:08 - Measuring a life by fruit, dignity, and consistency 12:05 - Benny Johnson, Rome, and the irony of Christian empire language 15:07 - Listener question: can 501(c)(3) status shape toxic church culture? 16:40 - Suzie on tax status versus church culture 18:28 - When tax structure becomes an opportunity for corruption 21:37 - Tim on systemic abuse and why the model feels broken 24:41 - Why leadership still matters in the New Testament 26:08 - Ephesians 4 and leadership for church flourishing 27:33 - Hebrews 13, submission, and the danger of abusive authority 31:48 - Spiritual leadership modeled by Jesus, not American hierarchy 34:29 - Paul’s refusal to build status around himself 35:51 - Teaching through the first woe in Matthew 23 39:40 - Hypocrisy as “judging under” and split identity 41:30 - The yeast of the Pharisees as corrupting influence 43:49 - Fear, sparrows, and what Jesus says to disciples under pressure 47:38 - Three ways truth gets exposed: life, persecution, and final judgment 51:23 - Gehenna as a kingdom image, not a simplistic hell map 54:17 - The God who judges also knows and loves you 55:23 - Public confession, denial, and persecution 56:17 - Tim on work, power, and the American dream as a church model 58:38 - Why the point is not only identifying Pharisees, but avoiding becoming them 61:06 - Suzie on famous failures, confession, and being found out in mercy 63:35 - How secrecy and lack of truth-telling deepen corruption As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram. We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV. Our Merch Store! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_market Learn more about the Voxology Podcast Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio Follow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on Facebook Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy
August 31, 20261h 7min
Number 3: How To recognize Spiritually Healthy or Spiritually Toxic Environments
Spiritual abuse doesn’t begin with one bad person. It grows through a culture of approval, secrecy, fear, and loyalty that slowly teaches people to stay quiet, play along, and mistake control for faithfulness. Mike Erre and Tim Stafford break down the eight phases of a power-through-fear church and contrast them with the kind of community Jesus actually builds - a pocket of tov, where goodness, wholeness, and courage can exist without hype or performance. If you'd like to support the work at VOXOLOGY, and join us next month for the book club, you can join here: https://www.patreon.com/c/voxology/posts If you're interested in Spiritual Coaching, you can email [email protected]:00 - Opening banter, kids back in school, and community updates 02:01 - Spiritual coaching and the Patreon book club announcement 03:49 - Frustration with corruption, outrage fatigue, and local engagement 09:31 - Refugees in Tennessee and creating pockets of hope 12:08 - A listener asks if introversion is sinful 14:54 - Quiet time as formation for community, not a spiritual end point 17:24 - Why introverts can still be harmed by solitude without structure 18:38 - Why spiritual disciplines need purpose, framework, and discernment 21:50 - Spiritual abuse is a culture, not just a bad person 24:48 - Step one: power concentrated in one person 26:14 - Insider approval, status enhancement, and filtered influence 28:09 - Outsiders, status degradation, and fear of disapproval 30:04 - Secrecy, image management, and what happens behind the wall 32:59 - Banishment, loyalty tests, and being expelled from the circle 34:29 - How church culture also shapes who gets seen as a leader 36:34 - Compassion and empathy as the first marks of a healthy culture 38:30 - Grace, failure tolerance, and hierarchy as responsibility 41:25 - A bottom-shaped triangle: leadership exists for the community 45:17 - Putting people ahead of the institution 47:39 - Truth telling, confession, and why churches avoid self-exposure 50:25 - Justice over loyalty culture and the misuse of Matthew 18 52:26 - Power dispersed, not accumulated 54:25 - Service over celebrity and power-under leadership 56:18 - Overperforming, underperforming, and leaders inserting themselves between God and people 58:08 - What heroes a culture celebrates and why ordinary faithfulness matters 61:27 - How do you build a healthy church in a hype-driven world? 62:55 - Practices of resistance: no hype language, no sermon-series hype machine 65:42 - The woman caught in adultery as a model of calm, teaching, and restoration 69:03 - Christ-likeness over leadership culture and the CEO model of church 72:12 - Richard Foster’s marks of spiritual power: love, humility, self-limitation, joy, vulnerability, submission, freedom 73:11 - Mike’s daughter testifies in a stalking case and the cost of being believed 77:31 - Why he stays in an organized church and what a healthy community can look like 80:33 - Why people won’t stay just for hype, and the need for pockets of tove 81:53 - Building boring, sustainable, life-giving community As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram. We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV. Our Merch Store! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_market Learn more about the Voxology Podcast Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio Follow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on Facebook Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy
August 17, 20261h 26min
Number 4: Hypocrisy, Confession & The Mercy of Being Found Out
In this episode, Mike, Suzie and Tim discuss how American Christianity can reward false selves, why being “found out” can actually be mercy, and how confession is less about shame management and more about restoration, integration, and real connection. Together, they unpack why American Christianity rewards the false self, why imposter syndrome is often a symptom of a broken system, and how “being found out” can be a form of grace instead of punishment. If you’ve ever felt the pressure to look certain, sound authoritative, or keep the real mess hidden, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar in the best way. Timestamps 00:00 - Voxology welcome and naming the team 02:49 - Wendell Berry, privilege, and the Subversive Witness book club 03:19 - Berry on freedom, affluence, and community 04:55 - Suzie reads “The Peace of Wild Things” 05:49 - Mike reads “I Dream of a Quiet Man” 06:47 - Fear-based politics and “what happens to the church?” 10:53 - Hypocrisy, imposter syndrome, and why it matters for teachers 13:15 - Suzie on weekly prep anxiety and co-learning 17:14 - Timothy on the performative church system 20:38 - Why the false self gets rewarded 23:58 - Therapy, the “glittering image,” and the good bad split 26:49 - The impossible job description placed on pastors 32:30 - “Everything hidden will be disclosed” 34:50 - Found out as grace, not just judgment 36:43 - Mercy, judgment, and praying children are caught before harm 39:26 - Sex, consequences, and a new way to think about judgment 42:21 - Confession as more than stamping 1 John 1:9 on a problem 46:41 - Examen as a practice of noticing God’s presence and absence 48:33 - How confession has changed over time 50:26 - Sin as obstacle to fullness, not just rule-breaking 54:01 - Finding a non-threatening place to tell the truth 55:56 - Privacy versus secrecy 57:13 - 12-step confession, healing, and accountability 61:00 - Shame, connection, and being loved in weakness 62:13 - Jesus’ warning about hypocrisy and spiritual abuse 64:09 - Why the gospel also addresses how we live, not just what happens after death 65:58 - Humanity, restoration, and confession as a return to true self 67:18 - Back to 3D faith and closing thoughts As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram. We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV. Our Merch Store! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_market Learn more about the Voxology Podcast Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio Follow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on Facebook Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy
September 07, 20261h 9min
Number 5: Why the American Gospel Leads Us to Support War, Torture and Artificial Intelligence
Mike, Tim, and Suzie begin with a reflection on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, then move into a wide-ranging conversation about AI risk, political despair, and the church’s role in a polarized culture. The episode keeps returning to one central concern: if the gospel is reduced to a legal transaction, it can produce hypocrisy instead of transformation. This is an episode about grief, discernment, and the cost of misreading the gospel. It’s also about hope that is not tied to elections, institutions, or tech promises - but to formation, courage, and the ordinary work of becoming more like Jesus. CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Weather, Halloween decorations, and the opening banter 02:04 - Marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11 02:52 - Suzie on where she was when the attacks began 04:05 - Tim’s dorm room memory and the campus response 05:07 - Remembering the shock before social media and nonstop news 06:22 - The helpers, national unity, and the emotional whiplash 07:59 - Pat Tillman and the post-9/11 heroic imagination 08:22 - What 9/11 changed in America 10:39 - Why AI suddenly feels terrifying 11:07 - Anthropic’s own warning about recursive self-improvement 12:00 - A former Anthropic researcher resigns and sounds the alarm 13:26 - Real-world misuse of AI by governments and criminal actors 15:44 - Tim on why AI fear is not just hype 16:41 - Deepfakes, stolen art, and the erosion of trust 17:41 - Why AI cannot replace human experience or care 19:01 - Suzie on shifting from skepticism to concern 20:29 - Why regulation lags behind technology and profit 21:59 - Feeling overwhelmed and the urge to prepare 22:30 - Groceries, supply chains, and practical anxiety 23:22 - Satire, Trump, and the absurdity of political power 26:31 - What is the church supposed to do now? 29:37 - Tim on community, school board elections, and hope 30:27 - The church’s role in the failures of the last 25 years 33:53 - Suzie on Christians causing harm and doing good side by side 35:45 - Church leadership, politics, and speaking up for human dignity 38:22 - Naming reality, grieving propaganda, and carrying hope 39:48 - Why the legal-only gospel enables hypocrisy 42:42 - Poking around the courtroom metaphor 44:35 - The DMV analogy and salvation as a pop quiz 45:30 - Why belief without transformation leaves room for contradiction 46:38 - What Mike means by “demonic” corruption of the gospel 49:35 - Repentance, transformation, and formation into Christlikeness 50:43 - Tim on freedom, peer pressure, and teaching tools instead of just rules 53:54 - Emotional immaturity, family-of-origin wounds, and self-protection 55:23 - Defining family, illumination, and the mercy of being found out 57:54 - Salvation as participation, covenant, and faithfulness 59:05 - Marriage vows as something embodied over time 60:01 - Why the church needs a gospel that naturally leads to formation 62:01 - Nature, sunsets, breathing, and not surrendering to exhaustion 64:40 - A final joke about judgment, rapture, and cultural milestones As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram. We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV. Our Merch Store! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_market Learn more about the Voxology Podcast Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio Follow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on Facebook Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy
September 14, 20261h 7min