2 Pastors and a Mic

Did God really abandon Jesus on the cross? And if God is always good, how do we make sense of the moments when life feels anything but good? For our 300th episode of Two Pastors and a Mic, we're celebrating LIVE from the Netherlands with our good friend Jason Clark from Rethinking God with Tacos! Together with our live audience, we explore some of the biggest questions about God's goodness, including what Jesus meant when He cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", the illusion of separation from God, what the future of the church might look like, and how we experience God's love in the middle of suffering, grief, and doubt. 

00:00 - Celebrating 300 Episodes Live in the Netherlands
02:14 - Welcoming Special Guest Jason Clark
03:34 - Looking Back on 300 Episodes
04:34 - If You Could Say One Thing About Jesus...
06:31 - What If Following Jesus Was Fun?
08:03 - Did God Abandon Jesus on the Cross?
08:38 - Understanding Psalm 22 and the Cross
11:15 - The Delusion of Separation From God
12:38 - Why Believing in Separation Matters
14:33 - What Does the Future of the Church Look Like?
17:39 - Finding Community Through Your Passions
19:07 - How Do We See God's Goodness in Crisis?
20:43 - Did God Cause the Suffering?
23:02 - Finding Connection and Grace Through Grief
24:22 - Can Faith and Doubt Exist Together?
27:22 - They Worshiped Jesus and Still Doubted

What would you tell yourself if you could go back six years and have a conversation with the person you used to be?

As we approach our 300th episode of Two Pastors and a Mic, Cory and Channock take some time to reflect on how much has changed since they first started recording. We talk about what we thought we understood about God, what we're more and less certain about today, and how our priorities have shifted when it comes to ministry, relationships, and life. We also share some of our favorite episodes, unforgettable guests, hilarious behind-the-scenes moments, and the unexpected ways this podcast has impacted people around the world.

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 299
01:14 - Looking Back on Six Years of Podcasting
03:05 - What Would We Tell Our Younger Selves?
05:58 - The Unexpected Impact of the Podcast
10:11 - What Did We Care Too Much About?
12:08 - What Did We Think We Understood?
13:39 - What Are We More Certain About?
14:26 - What Are We Less Certain About?
16:41 - What Matters More and Less to Us Now?
18:17 - Why Curiosity and Family Matter More
20:07 - Have We Become the People We Hoped to Be?
21:31 - Our Favorite Podcast Episodes
22:48 - Episodes and Guests We'd Love to Revisit
24:24 - Our Funniest Behind-the-Scenes Moments
28:03 - Our Most Uncomfortable Conversations
29:19 - What Surprised Us Most About 300 Episodes?
29:51 - Looking Ahead to Episode 300

In Episode 298 of Two Pastors and a Mic, Cory and Channock talk about the ongoing process of unlearning old beliefs, behaviors, and patterns—even after our understanding of God, ourselves, and other people has changed.

00:00 - Welcome Back & Netherlands Recap
02:36 - A Listener’s Story That Changed Us
05:13 - Revisiting What We Actually Want
07:02 - Wanting More Peace, Fun, and Freedom
12:04 - What Are We Still Unlearning?
13:17 - When Our Beliefs and Behaviors Don’t Match
14:44 - Breaking Free From Performance
16:23 - When Beliefs Change Before Our Behavior
17:24 - Unlearning Fear Around Giving
19:17 - Why Do Old Reactions Keep Showing Up?
23:41 - How Our Faith and Practices Have Changed
26:18 - Deconstruction, Reconstruction, and Unlearning
28:34 - This Week’s Challenge: Practice the New Way

In Episode 297 of Two Pastors and a Mic, Cory and Channock have an honest conversation about how difficult it can be to figure out what we actually want—and how much of our desires may have been shaped by culture, family, church, other people’s expectations, or an earlier version of ourselves.

They talk about things they spent years pursuing that don’t matter nearly as much anymore, wanting validation more than the thing itself, feeling guilty for admitting certain desires, and how our definition of success changes as we get older.

00:00 - Welcome to Episode 297
03:16 - A Difficult Conversation About What We Want
04:48 - What Did You Think Life Would Look Like By Now?
06:28 - How Our Wants Change
07:02 - What Did You Spend Years Wanting?
08:03 - Realizing You Wanted the Wrong Things
09:03 - How Our Definition of Success Changes
10:36 - Who Taught You What to Want?
11:05 - Desire, Expectation, and Validation
11:23 - Feeling Guilty for Wanting Something
13:19 - Money, Ministry, and Other People’s Expectations
14:25 - Why Did Jesus Ask People What They Wanted?
15:31 - Your Desires Matter
16:03 - Did Christianity Make Us Suspicious of Desire?
16:21 - What Do You Want at This Stage of Your Life?
18:02 - Three Questions to Discover What You Want
18:19 - I Want More… I Want Less…
19:58 - Closing Thoughts

In this episode of Two Pastors and a Mic, Cory and Channock talk about destination addiction, contentment, and how easy it is to romanticize a life we aren’t actually living while missing the one happening right now.

They also talk about why joy can feel vulnerable, why we sometimes wait for something bad to happen when life is going well, and whether our hope for the future can actually keep us from participating in the present.

00:00 - Live From the Netherlands
01:40 - Why Do We Romanticize the Future?
02:13 - Life Will Be Better When…
04:40 - Destination Addiction
05:07 - The “When, Then” Trap
05:48 - Learning to Be Content Now
06:13 - Living in the Season You Once Prayed For
07:35 - Are You Postponing Happiness?
08:39 - Why Is It Hard to Express Joy?
09:40 - Does Joy Feel Vulnerable?
10:10 - Are We Protecting Ourselves From Joy?
12:10 - Joy Isn’t Circumstantial
13:37 - Can Hope Keep Us From Living?
15:51 - Enduring Life Instead of Enjoying It
16:23 - Learning How to Live Now
17:13 - What Season Do You Now Miss?
19:37 - What Will You Miss About Today?
20:08 - Recognizing a Season Before It’s Gone
22:44 - Catch Your “When”
23:25 - Name What’s Already Good Today
23:54 - Change Your “When” to “Now”
24:55 - You Are Loved Right Now