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TitlePub. DateDuration
The Reality of Not Fitting In, Part 1: Church and Ekklesia (119)12 Nov 202500:15:53

This episode is available in video format here: https://youtu.be/vHH8tYyzNIE

Maybe the reason you don't fit in church… is because you were never meant to. In Part 1: Church and Ekklesia, I talk about the core reason there is  tension between institutional religion and the living, breathing community Jesus called ekklesia. If you've ever wondered why church isn't a good fit for you anymore, and you find yourself not fitting in, this conversation will hit home.

This isn't about walking away from the faith. It's about rediscovering what authentic community looks like outside the walls of religion. Let's talk about what happens when we discover that belonging to Christ doesn't mean belonging to a system.

Guilt-Driven Faith: How Religion Uses Guilt to Control You (118)09 Nov 202501:22:12

Amber Stephens (https://www.youtube.com/@breathin.godsgrace247) joined me live on Sunday, November 9th as we explored the topic of living life in a guilt-driven faith. Here's the Grace Cafe link to our conversation with Amber about her story. https://www.podpage.com/the-grace-cafe-podcast/breaking-point-with-amber-stephens-015/

Here's the link to the video version: https://youtube.com/live/PcyU3kdgvZU

Twisting the Truth: How Church Uses Scripture to Silence Women - Part Two (109)18 May 202500:43:11

In this episode we continue talking about the topic of how the institutional box church misrepresents and misinterprets passages of scripture that mention women in the body of Christ. We take a look at the historical and cultural context of Paul's first letter to Timothy and specifically, 1 Timothy chapter 2. In giving his reasons for writing this letter to Timothy, Paul instructs him to dispel myths that had arisen in the assembly (1 Timothy 1:3-4). In chapter 2 of his letter we see Paul begin to dismantle some of those myths and those myths centered around the worship of the pagan idol, Artemis. The culture in Ephesus was heavily influenced by the worship of Artemis. Artemis was a female goddess of Greek origin and the worship and culture of Artemis was female centric. While males could participate in the worship of Artemis, women were dominate and men had a lesser role (kind of the opposite of what we see today in most churches). 

Here are some of the myths Paul addresses:

  • In the Ephesian culture, Artemis was looked to as the protector of women in childbirth. 
  • Women stood a better chance of Artemis hearing and answering their prayers if they wore expensive clothes and jewelry when petitioning Artemis.
  • Artemis was born before her twin brother Apollo, meaning woman was created before man.

We also need to keep in mind these important points:

  • Timothy was not a pastor. There's no indication of that anywhere in Scripture. That's a church history-driven idea that is incorrect.
  • The letters of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are not "pastoral letters" written to pastors. Calling them pastoral letters is another false assumption delivered to us from church history.
  • The letters to Timothy and Titus are not across-the-board manuals for doing church. They address specific problems that arose in specific locations involving specific people at a specific time. Failure to recognize this and instead promote the false assumption that everything in them is applicable to every generation without regard to the historical and cultural context they were written in, has led to the muzzling of half of the body of Christ.

Books mentioned in this episode:

I brought this episode over from the Grace Cafe podcast. It's part 2 of a 4-part series I'm re-posting here on the UnSunday Show. The link to the Grace Cafe podcast is below if you would like to see other episodes on this topic.

Enjoy!

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How Our View of Church Informs Our View of God, Part 1 (19)08 Jul 201900:48:57

Welcome to episode 19 of the UnSunday Show. My friend Greg McInturff joins me in these next two episodes as we talk about how our view of church informs and/or mis-informs our view of God. Now that I'm a Christian, is God really satisfied with me? Am I enough? Am I doing enough? Should I be doing more and giving more? Is God watching and waiting for me to mess up?
 
 Often, the moralistic messages we hear from pulpits weigh us down and make us feel condemned or ashamed because they are heavy on performance and light on grace. We hear a lot about our failures but little to nothing about our identity in Jesus. Institutional religion is performance based and employs the tools of guilt, shame, and condemnation to keep us on a performance treadmill in order to ensure the longevity of the institution. Many have had enough of this kind of system and are walking away from the institutional church in search of a more authentic experience and have come to realize that this type of performance based Christianity has given us a wrong view of what God is like.
 
 Join Greg and I in part 1 of this topic as we begin a discussion about how church informs our view of God, either for good, or for bad.
 
 Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Church and Ekklesia: A Conversation With Bonnie Petroschuk (18)01 Jul 201900:47:55

Welcome to episode 18 of The UnSunday Show. This episode is a conversation I had earlier today with my friend, Bonnie Petroschuk about her recent journey out of the institutional church and into Ekklesia. In her own words, Bonnie was known as "Mrs. Church" and was shocked by her own journey as she began to see and understand the significant differences between the two and realized she could no longer stay in the institutional system. I think you'll be encouraged by Bonnie's story and parts of it will be like your own.
 
 You'll find Bonnie's blog at: http://goodnewsofgodsgrace.blogspot.com/
 
We also talked about, and I recommend:

Enjoy!

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Can Fallen Pastors Be Restored? (17)19 Jun 201900:35:44

Welcome to episode 17 of The UnSunday Show. I've listened to two different podcasts over the last couple of weeks that asked the question, "Can fallen pastors be restored?" One was from a former mega-church pastor who had an emotional affair with someone and in the process of working through that, several people surfaced with other charges of arrogance and pride that led to his being removed from that position.
 
 The second was an interview with a former pastor who admitted to having an affair and both podcasts were asking the same question, can a fallen pastor be restored?
 
 I believe this question is symptomatic of a larger problem that plagues most institutional churches in the west. It assumes there is a valid top-down position of authority in the Ekklesia and in both of these podcasts, restoration meant climbing back into a role of being in charge. It's another indication that Christ's words, "it shall not be so among you" with regards to top-down authority in the church he's building, have become meaningless to us.
 
 I also continue my interaction with Jon Zens' book, A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick? Here are a couple links to my articles I reference in this episode.

Let's talk about it...

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Bringing Moses to Church (16)05 Jun 201900:36:49

Welcome to episode 16 of The UnSunday Show! I'm taking a short break in this episode from my interaction with Jon Zen's book because I'm recovering from pneumonia and I don't have much of a voice right now. So instead, I'm bringing over one last episode from my old Ekklesia Podcast and I'm calling it Bringing Moses To Church, because I think that's what we do and in so doing, we cause a lot of confusion about how God views us, where we stand with God in any given moment, and how we view God.
 
In this episode I touch on some foundational topics like:

  • Christ's ekklesia (or church) never existed historically until Acts 2. 
  • Why does God look so different in the Old Testament?
  • The Old Covenant pointed to the New Covenant.
  • The Old and New Covenants cannot be mixed. They are incompatible with one another. The New Covenant has made the Old Covenant obsolete. Stop bringing Moses to church!
  • The Old Covenant was temporary and historically time-bound.
  • The Old Covenant produced a physical people where only some within it knew the Lord. The New Covenant produces a spiritual people where everyone in it knows the Lord. To be in Christ is to be in the New Covenant.

-Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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The Clergy/Laity System Is Not Neutral (15)09 May 201900:30:25

Welcome to episode 15 of The UnSunday Show. In this episode I continue my interaction with Jon Zens' book, A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick? as I look closer at the top-down authority structure of the clergy/laity system. In my opinion, this system is not neutral but adds an intentional, built-in layer of division within the body of Christ. The pastor-centric, top-down clergy/laity systems in most institutional churches is a product of church history. There is no New Testament warrant for its existence. In fact, the New Testament clearly mitigates against it.
 
The result of 2,000+ years of the clergy/laity system is that we can't function apart from the pastor. The pastor is central to the extent that the identity of the entire local church is wrapped up in the person of the pastor in charge and if he or she fails to show up on a Sunday unannounced, we don't know what to do. We even assign ownership of our local churches to the one pastor in charge. This expresses itself in phrases like, "I go to pastor John's church" or "Pastor Jim started a new church." This system of complete dependence on one person was first introduced by Ignatius of Antioch in the early 2nd century when he said,

"Let no one do anything in the church apart from the bishop. Holy communion is valid when celebrated by the bishop or someone the bishop authorizes. Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the church."

Here are some links related to this episode:

Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Captain and Commander? (14)01 May 201900:38:12

Welcome to episode 14 of the UnSunday Show! In this episode, I continue my interaction with Jon Zens' book entitled, A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick? In Section 5 of the book, which is called Why Has Church Become So One-Part Driven?, Zens shares the following quote from David L. McKenna,

"[The pastor] is like the cerebellum, the center for communicating messages, coordinating functions, and conducting responses between the head and body.... The pastor is not only the authoritative communicator of the truth from the Head to the Body, but he is also the accurate communicator of the needs from the Body to the Head."

Later in the chapter he quotes C. Peter Wagner as saying,

"The army has only one Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ. The local church is like a company with one company commander, the pastor, who gets his orders from the Commander-in-Chief. The company commander has lieutenants and sergeants under him for consultation and implementation, but the final responsibility for decisions is that of the company commander, and he must answer to the Commander-in-Chief... The pastor has the power in a growing church... The pastor of a growing church may appear to outsiders as a dictator. But to the people of the church, his decisions are their decisions."

Let's talk about it!
 
 Zen's book and my blogs mentioned in this episode:

Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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One Body, Many Members (13)18 Apr 201900:19:41

Welcome to episode 13 of The UnSunday Show. I finally bought a book that I first saw in 2008. It's called A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile by Jon Zens. It's subtitled, What Makes American Christianity Tick? I think the title says it all. It's an excellent book that I really enjoyed reading so I thought I would share it with you by way of interacting with short excerpts from it. This will be the first of several episodes interacting with this book. I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes us.

My first exposure to Jon Zens was in 1995 and I had the opportunity to meet him later that same century (I've been waiting for a chance to use that "century" phrase!). If you're not familiar with his writings, I think you'll find them informative and encouraging. You can find Jon Zens on-line at Searching Together. Here's a link to the book:

Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Leaving Religion, Finding Ekklesia: A Conversation With Rocky Glenn and Jim Gordon (12)11 Apr 201900:55:55

Welcome to episode 12 of the UnSunday Show! I caught two of my friends at a weak moment and they both agreed to come on the show and talk with me about their individual journeys out of the institutional church. My conversation with Rocky Glenn and Jim Gordon centered around their reasons for leaving that religious environment, their experiences along the way, and what community looks like now, apart from religious influence and obligation.
 
 Jim and Rocky's stories are indicative of millions who've left the institutional church environment in favor of a more authentic experience apart from it, me included. We haven't left the faith or the body of Christ. One cannot leave the body of Christ without walking away from Jesus. The two are mutually inclusive. Like so many others, we've simply discovered a more genuine expression of the body of Christ apart from religious obligation and conformity to institutional rules, expectations, and traditions.

Grab your favorite beverage, pull up your favorite chair and join our conversation.
 Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Community and Accountability (11)04 Apr 201900:18:41

Welcome to episode 11 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about community and accountability. Most of us think community and accountability are two sides of the same coin, or that one (accountability) is necessary for the other (community) to function. Community is the agreed upon goal and we think accountability is the bus that will take us there. But it's not. That bus is traveling in the opposite direction.
 
 Accountability encourages people to pretend. Community invites us into the Father's affection where we can feel safe and accepted, fully known and fully loved without any pretense. In an accountability structure, we learn to hide the stuff that's the real us or that we think will disappoint others and God. We learn how to fake it and which masks to wear to fake people out in every circumstance. In accountability structures, we are focused on getting people to do what they don't really want to do by way of manipulation and behavior management with corresponding rewards and punishments.
 
 Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Dying Daily and Carrying Crosses (10)28 Mar 201900:21:48

Welcome to episode 10 of The UnSunday Show. We've reached double-digits! In this episode I talk about two phrases in scripture that religion has successfully convinced us are spiritual disciplines: dying daily and bearing our cross. Religion has turned these into closely related spiritual disciplines where I need to be killing myself off every day and learning to hold up under the weight of life's circumstances, or bearing my cross.
 
 But is that what these phrases mean? Are bearing my cross and dying daily spiritual disciplines indicative of spiritual maturity? Let's talk about it.

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Twisting the Truth: How Church Uses Scripture to Silence Women - Part One (108)11 May 202500:41:03

This is part one of four episodes I'm bringing over from the Grace Cafe podcast on the topic of women in the church and how institutional Christianity uses scripture out of context to silent women. Here's a breakdown of the episodes I'm bringing over:

  • Twisting the Truth: How Church Uses Scripture to Silence Women - Part One (this episode).
  • Twisting the Truth: How Church Uses Scripture to Silence Women - Part Two (next week).
  • Did The Law of Moses Silence Women? A Second Glance at 1 Corinthians 14:34-40
  • Headship and Submission

This week and next, explore the question, did Paul command women to be silent in church? This episode is a much needed overview of what the New Testament says about women in the body of Christ. We look at several of the clear passages of scripture to lay a good foundation for this topic before jumping into the sometimes not-so-clear waters of 1 Timothy chapter 2 and 1 Corinthians 14 next time. Grab your favorite beverage and listen in!

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If We Confess Our Sins (09)21 Mar 201900:28:33

Welcome to episode 9 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about 1 John 1:9 and the confession of sins. This passage says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The question I address in this episode is does John mean believers need to repeatedly confess sins in order to experience forgiveness up to that point in time? If so, how do we reconcile 1 John 1:9 with other New Testament passages that teach the once-for-all forgiveness of sins secured on the cross? Let's talk about it.
 
My paper referenced in this episode:

Enjoy!

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Our Journey Out Of The Institutional Church (08)14 Mar 201900:42:13

Welcome to episode 8 of The UnSunday Show. My wife joins me in this episode from our old Ekklesia Podcast as we talk about our journey out of the institutional church and the events and circumstances surrounding it. We both hit a wall of performance about 10 years ago within the institutional church environment that resulted in a crash and burn for each of us from performance-based Christianity. We tried to stay within other modern church settings for a few years but became increasingly uncomfortable in that setting as time went on and our eyes were opened wider to a different reality, increasing our inability to stay there. We finally left that environment about 4 years ago and have discovered a more genuine and authentic experience of ekklesia outside those walls.
 
 If you find yourself on a similar journey of leaving the modern church setting, we hope you find encouragement in this episode.
 
 -Mike

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Preaching and Preachers (07)07 Mar 201900:33:50

Welcome to episode 7 of the UnSunday Show. "Preach the word" were Paul's words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2. This short phrase presents two concepts that I talk about in this episode by asking the questions, what is preaching and what are preachers, and what did he mean by "the word"?
 
 We take what we know in our modern-day pastor-driven model, and superimpose it back into scripture on passages like this. We assume that preaching and preachers are a reference to pastors and what they do because that's what we see all around us. We've been told the pastor is the preacher and preaching is what's done from behind the pulpit every Sunday as we're instructed and challenged to live better lives and get better at this whole Christian thing.
 
 But is that how the New Testament presents preaching, preachers, and the phrase "the word of God" to us? Is the pastor the preacher, making preaching on Sundays a biblical requirement or imperative? Is that what Paul meant when he encouraged Timothy to "Preach the word" or has that interpretation come to us via church history and tradition?
 
 Let's talk about it.

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Rethinking Formal Church Membership (06)03 Mar 201900:50:03

Welcome to episode 6 of the UnSunday Show! This is a bonus episode, published outside of my normal Thursday posts. If you like what's going on here, please share it with a friend. In this episode, I talk about formal church membership. Formal church membership is an accountability contract the institution will require you to sign in order to have leverage over you as motivation to keep supporting the institution. That's not a description you'll see on any church website, but it cuts to the chase and it's true. Make no mistake, what you're signing is an accountability contract designed to keep you in conformity with the institution's established requirements using rewards for compliance and punishments for failure to comply.
 
 There are usually 3 areas covered in most formal church membership contracts that are there in order to secure conformity to the established rules of the group. They are:

  1. Money and Personal Resources
  2. Power, Authority, and Accountability
  3. The Threat of Excommunication For Failure to Comply

This episode is a re-post of one of my Ekklesia podcasts from about a year and a half ago. I'm reposting it here because it says everything I wanted to say in this episode, so why re-invent the wheel? There are a couple of small things in it that I would reword today, but those aren't show-stoppers. I also present some foundational thoughts on how we've brought Old Covenant imagery into the New Covenant ekklesia (church) and how detrimental that is to both our view of God and the church.
 
 Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Pastors and Pulpits (05)28 Feb 201900:16:22

Welcome to episode 5 of the UnSunday Show.

"Wherever the pulpit is going, that's where the church is going."

That statement appeared in my Twitter feed not long ago. Unfortunately, it's true. In our modern-day top-down hierarchal church structures, one man or one woman is at the helm, driving the entire institution. Far from being an accomplishment to be celebrated, this structure is a symptom of something gone terribly wrong in the history of the church. The centrality of the pulpit and the person behind it has crippled and rendered lame, the functioning of the one anothers within the body of Christ. The priesthood of every believer has been reduced to a priesthood of a select few. Let's talk about it.
 
 The two blog posts I reference in this episode that this episode is based on:

Enjoy!

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Leaders and Leadership (04)21 Feb 201900:27:34

Welcome to episode 4 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about leaders and leadership. I believe we read our 21st century model of institutional Christianity back into Scripture when we talk about leaders and leadership. I believe our present-day top-down authority systems are in conflict with the model we've been given in the New Testament. Our top-down hierarchy model in modern-day institutional church settings is in opposition to Jesus' instruction that within his assembly, "it shall not be so among you." Let's talk about it.
 
 In this episode I reference my paper,
 
 Who Are The Leaders and What is Leadership?
 
Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Let's Talk About The Clergy/Laity Distinction (03)14 Feb 201900:38:04

Welcome to episode 3 of the new UnSunday Show! This episode is an episode from my old Ekklesia Podcast that I brought over to share with you.
 
 We hear it all the time and it's used in so many ways that we don't think to question it. We assume it's true because we've been told it is for so long. I'm talking about the clergy/laity distinction. Far from being a help, the clergy/laity caste system stands in the way of a church where every believer is a priest. It reduces the priesthood of all believers to a priesthood of a select few "professional" Christians. It creates an "us and them" mentality that adds a new layer of separation within the the assembly and renders most of the church passive while the professional segment of the church assumes more and more power.
 
 I am more convinced than ever that the clergy/laity distinction and its resulting top-down authority structure is a key enabler of abuse in the church.
 
 Let's talk about it.

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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What Is a Pastor? (02)07 Feb 201900:31:05

Welcome to episode 2 of this newly launched UnSunday Show! In this episode, I begin taking a look at pastors. What does the New Testament say about pastors? What is an elder? What is a bishop? What is an overseer? The New Testament letters use these terms to describe certain individuals within the assembly, but how do we know who's who and how do we sort it out? Does the New Testament employ these terms as honorific titles and/or career paths to be pursued?
 
 These are subjects we will return to often as we continue to peel back layers of church tradition and ask honest questions about some of our practices and assumptions within 21st century institutional Christianity. Here's a paper I wrote containing some of the issues I talk about in this episode:
 
 Rethinking Religion, Part 1: What Is A Pastor
 
Thanks for joining me!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Introduction to the Show (01)31 Jan 201900:20:57

Welcome to episode 1 of The UnSunday Show with Mike Adams. This episode is an introduction to The UnSunday Show and an introduction of yours truly. I present some topics to you in this first episode that we will return to over and over again as we peel back more layers. In fact, every episode will include new topics as well as previously discussed topics re-visited. Let's get this show started!
 
 Enjoy!

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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What Happens When You Stop Going To Church? (107)05 May 202501:35:12

Let's talk about what happens when we stop going to church. This is from the livestream that I did on May 4th, 2025 on YouTube. Here's the link in case you want to watch the video:

https://www.youtube.com/live/CHWejf9tjwk?si=tQtWdw1Jzf3VubJe

You can follow the UnSunday Show on YouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Stuck in Moses (106)20 Apr 202500:14:53

The video version of this episode is on my YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/H89bdlfkwHg

In this episode I share a quote from Michael C. Kapler's book, Clash of the Covenants: Escaping Religious Bondage Through the Grace Guarantee. This is an excellent book that I recommend without hesitation. You can find it on Amazon at https://bit.ly/3Rump8V

I'm thinking of doing a live video next Sunday on YouTube. Is that something you would like to see? Would you watch it? Let me know here: https://www.unsunday.com/contact/

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Grace Alone: The Freedom of Bringing Nothing to the Table (105)23 Mar 202500:10:17

The gospel isn't a group project. If grace is free, why do we try so hard to add to it? In this episode, I talk about how bringing nothing to the table isn't a burden but is ultimate freedom. Grace apart from works is a death sentence for institutional religion that can't be tolerated there.

Let's talk about grace!

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Sweating for Jesus? Why Sanctification Isn't About Working Harder (104)16 Mar 202500:17:00

Holiness Isn't a Hustle. Many believers feel trapped in a cycle of performance, thinking sanctification is about sweating for Jesus. Too often, we're taught that sanctification, or holiness, is about working harder, doing more, and proving ourselves to God. But what if it isn't about striving to do more but about resting in what's already been done? 

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Breaking the Pulpit Barrier: Freeing the Body of Christ (103)09 Mar 202500:20:32

"The moment the church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her." -Charles Spurgeon

The pulpit is in the way. Pulpits have a long history of being an obstacle that is in the way of the Body of Christ functioning as God intends for it to function. When the Body of Christ is gathered together are we limited to the voice of one person behind a pulpit telling us their opinion of what to believe, what to do, or scolding us for doing it wrong? Or is every believer qualified to participate and contribute with their spiritual gifts, building up the Body of Christ? 

In this episode, I share examples of how the traditional church mindset elevates the pulpit as the focal point of our meeting together and disables the Body of Christ by limiting participation to the elite few; pastors and church leaders.

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Why Can't I Read My Bible Anymore? (102)02 Mar 202500:11:31

"I don't want to read my Bible anymore. Is there something wrong with me? I need to fix this!" 

This is a common theme that happens when we leave the institutional box church. Many times, any desire to read the Bible disappears and we start to think there's something wrong with us that needs fixed. We tend to think that losing a desire to have a regular Bible reading schedule makes us disappointing to God and getting back to having a daily Bible reading experience is imperative. 

But there's a reason we lose the desire to read the Bible when we leave institutional religion and it usually because the Bible has been weaponized against you in some way in order to prevent you from leaving. This is one form of spiritual abuse, so is it any wonder that you've lost the desire to read it? 

Next week: Breaking the Pulpit Barrier: Freeing the Body of Christ

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The Lie of a Deceitful and Desperately Wicked Heart (101)23 Feb 202500:19:36

Let's talk about Jeremiah 17:9 and his statement that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Is it true? Are our hearts deceitful and wicked and not to be trusted or is there more to that description that needs clarification? Let's talk.

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Tradition Gave Us The Word Pastor (100)09 Feb 202500:20:39

Welcome to episode 100 of The UnSunday Show! I was so focused in this episode on what I wanted to say that I forgot to mention this is episode 100. Triple digits! Yay!!! This is the final episode on the subject of pastors, elders, and shepherds. In this episode I talked about how the word pastors, which only appears in Ephesians 4:11, was a result of church tradition. In every other occurrence of the Greek word translated pastors in Ephesians 4:11, it's translated as shepherds. We saw a few of those last week when we talked about elders in the body of Christ. This week we look at more occurrences of the same word and all are translated shepherds or shepherd.

Why is that? I believe a big part of the reason is because the translators allowed the structure of the institutional church around them to influence and direct their interpretation of ποιμένας (poimenas) to mean pastors instead of shepherds and in so doing, the institutional church system of a top-down authority structure was reinforced. 

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Breaking Down Religious Strongholds - Live With Joel Brueseke (117)03 Nov 202500:58:42

Joel Brueseke from the Growing in Grace podcast joined me for this YouTube livestream as we talked about the strongholds of church and religion that have a grip on us and are so much a part of us and our thinking after spending decades in that environment. You can watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/live/_Rt43IYBkPE?si=2zeJADzG2B0FQ2-t

Are Elders Pastors? Yes and No (99)02 Feb 202500:33:35

This episode is a continuation of last week's as we turn our attention to the topic of elders in the body of Christ. Elders, overseers, shepherds, bishops, and pastors. How are these terms used in the New Covenant scriptures and are they related in some way? Let's sort these out in this episode.

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Do Pastors Have a Special Calling? (98)25 Jan 202500:31:06

Do institutional church pastors have a special calling to be pastors? Let's take an honest look at this in light of the New Testament scriptures.

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Covenant Confusion: A Conversation With Mike Kapler (97)08 Dec 202401:04:28

This episode of the UnSunday Show is a conversation from the 2018 archives of The Grace Cafe podcast that Mike had with Mike Kapler of the Growing in Grace podcast. It centers around the content of Mike Kapler's book, Clash Of The Covenants: Escaping Religious Bondage Through The Grace Guarantee. We talked about many topics that often lead to confusion for believers, including the Sermon on the Mount, the Prodigal Son, the Old Covenant, the New Covenant, and more. I'm posting this on both the Grace Cafe and the UnSunday Show.

Links we talked about in the episode:


I'm (Mike) bringing some episodes over from the old Grace Cafe podcast while I wait for my voice to heal enough to carry on a conversation. 

Enjoy!

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Mike's Health Update (96)23 May 202400:11:35

I recorded this conversation with my wife on The Grace Cafe podcast but am posting it here as well. It's a short health update from yours truly. Push play and give it a listen and thank you for following my podcasts!

I was recently invited to speak on the Grace at Last podcast with Corinne Kinstler on the subject of women in the church. I would really appreciate it if you would give it a listen as well. My conversations with Corinne are always well-seasoned with grace and this one is no different. It's one I really enjoyed! Here's the link to that episode:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grace-at-last/id1689072652?i=1000655385359

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Declaration of Conformity: Formal Church Membership's Hidden Agenda (95)20 Apr 202400:19:05

I was installing a couple of lights in my garage and when I opened one of the boxes, a paper fell out with the heading at the top that read:

FCC's Supplier's Declaration of Conformity

So naturally, my mind went to formal church membership because at its core, formal church membership is a declaration of conformity. So let's talk.

Links I mention to my previous episodes on church discipline:

Enjoy!

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The Debilitating Delusion of Institutional Religion, With Trent Antle (94)03 Mar 202400:59:49

I asked Trent Antle to join me on this episode of the UnSunday Show because I wanted to hear more his story and I wanted others to have that same opportunity. After 20 years as a pastor in the institutional church setting, Trent began to see through the facade of propped-up religion as his eyes were being opened more and more to the New Covenant gospel of grace. He eventually walked away, not from Jesus, but from the system of organized church. This is his story and I hope you'll be encouraged by it.

This episode is also available on video at https://youtu.be/jpfAKZ8PwPo

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Why Is The Church So Captivated by the Law and the 10 Commandments? (93)14 Feb 202400:17:45

Why is the modern church so captivated by the 10 Commandments when the New Covenant scriptures tell us plainly that the Law has been fulfilled and abolished? One reason is the theological systems we subscribe to that have the Law and the 10 Commandments as their centerpiece. One such system is Covenant Theology.

I also mentioned in this episode that we've combined the Instagram, Facebook, and Threads accounts for the UnSunday Show and the Grace Cafe podcasts into one account on each platform. You'll find us on these platforms at our new name of grace.podcasts. We hope to see you there!

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Old Covenant Imperatives Don't Belong in the New Covenant (92)18 Jan 202400:07:41

This episode is the audio I pulled from a video I just did. I came across a post in one of my social media feeds where a church had posted Joshua 1:8 as a memory verse for its people to memorize this week. The passage reads,

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:8)

Is it helpful to commit to memory a passage commanding that the Law of Moses be meditated on and that my successful meditation on the Law will ensure my success in life? You'll find links to the video below. 

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The False Doctrine of Top-Down Authority and Honorific Titles (91)31 Dec 202300:29:47

Welcome to episode 91 of The UnSunday Show. In this episode I take a hard look at top-down authority and the use of honorific titles in the body of Christ. These things are not neutral and in fact, they do harm to the body of Christ by choosing to ignore the clear directives of Jesus concerning these important topics. In short, they prevent the body of Christ from fully expressing Christ to the world.

I also include a short update about my YouTube channel for those of you who follow me there. Be sure to listen to the end to catch that.

Links:
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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Welcome to the Real World (90)11 Dec 202300:25:25

In this episode of the UnSunday Show, I ramble on about some important things that have been on my mind recently concerning institutional church and its inability to reflect the heart of Jesus and his kingdom in the world. 

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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The Ascension of Church Leaders Diminished the Free-Flowing Expression of Christ (116)27 Oct 202500:11:04

When church leaders ascended and became prominent in the assembly, the body of Christ suffered and continues to suffer. This episode takes a look at how institutional leadership reshaped gatherings that were once spontaneous, relational, and Spirit-led.

The video version of this episode is available on the UnSunday YouTube page at https://youtu.be/LuZuQbrp8ck and was recorded outside.

My Interview on The Grace At Last Podcast (89)20 Oct 202300:00:44

This is a short announcement to let you know I was interviewed on the Grace at Last podcast and that episode is out! I had a great conversation there with Corinne Kinstler, host of the Grace at Last podcast as we talked about church, the New Covenant, and a host of other topics along the way. Go check it out at: https://www.lastministry.org/grace-at-last-podcast/022-what-i-should-know-about-church-with-mike-adamsnbsp

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The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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What Does "Study to Show Yourself Approved" Mean? (88)17 Sep 202300:12:06

Welcome to episode 88 of The UnSunday Show. Today we're going to talk about 2 Timothy 2:15. This is another verse in a long list of verses that has been taken out of context and weaponized by institutional religion to mean something that it was never intended to mean. Here it is in the King James Version:

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV)

As a new believer years ago, I was told that this verse meant God expected me to stay on track with my study of the Bible as a demonstration to others that I was serious about my faith and that God approved of me because I was committed to the book, the Bible. 

But this verse has nothing to do with the Bible or the practice of studying the Bible. After all,  there weren't any Bibles when Paul penned this. Institutional religion gave us that interpretation and it has nothing to do with the context of the passage. But this passage does raise some questions and these are what I talk about in this episode:

  1. What does 'study' mean?
  2. What does 'approved unto God' mean?
  3. What is the 'word of truth'?
  4. And how do I know when I'm rightly dividing it?

Don't forget to visit the newly re-launched Grace Cafe Podcast, co-hosted by me and my wife. It's in your podcast app or on the web at https://www.gracecafepodcast.com/

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Is Sanctification Progressive? (87)10 Jul 202300:17:53

Welcome to episode 87 of The UnSunday Show! What is sanctification? Is my sanctification progressive and ongoing, or is it already complete? Much of organized religion would have us believe that our sanctification isn't guaranteed and that it's progressive, relies on me,  and I'm supposed to be getting better at doing as time marches on. But is that the New Covenant version of sanctification? Let's talk about this important topic on this episode of The UnSunday Show.

Important Announcement!! My wife and I have relaunched The Grace Cafe Podcast! We made the decision to close it down back in 2019 or 2020 but it's back! The web address is https://www.gracecafepodcast.com/. Check it out and give us a follow.

Other Places You'll Find Me

The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com
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My Grace-Centered Conversation with Corinne Kinstler (86)27 Jun 202300:46:16

In this episode of the UnSunday Show, I share with you the recent conversation I had with Corinne Kinstler. Our paths crossed several month ago as Corinne was exploring the possibility of starting a new grace-centered podcast that would reflect her changes in thinking as she had moved out of a legalistic, religious environment into a better understanding of grace and the New Covenant. I think you're going to like this conversation. I sure did! It's full of honest transparency as Corrine shares her story and journey out of legalism and into the security of the New Covenant gospel.

Links we talked about in this episode:

Enjoy!

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Morning Coffee: Pastors and Elders (85)20 Jun 202300:26:21

I'm way overdue for another morning coffee session with you so I thought I would remedy that with this episode. So let's talk about pastors and elders as I give you an update on where my thinking on this topic is going. This episode is also available as a video by visiting https://www.unsunday.com/videos/85-morning-coffee-pastors-and-elders/

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How Sermon Centrality Hinders The Body of Christ (84)04 Jun 202300:13:48

In this episode of the UnSunday Show I want to talk about sermons and sermonizing. If the body of Christ is a kingdom of priests (and it is) where everyone who wants to, can actively participate, sermon centrality is certainly one of the biggest factors in preventing that from happening. Sermons and the art of sermonizing are a product of church history. They're an add-on to the body of Christ that stifle the priesthood of all believers. Let's talk...

Here's the link to my new Facebook page that I mentioned in this episode: https://www.facebook.com/unsundaypodcast


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What Happens When We Don't Read The Bible In Light of The New Covenant? (83)28 May 202300:19:59

When we read our Bibles without regard to whether the passage we're reading resides in the Old Covenant or the New Covenant, we're mis-reading it. It's common today to give little or no consideration to a New Covenant/Old Covenant context and by doing so, we end up flattening out all of scripture as though every verse or passage is of equal weight and that all of it applies to us today. This is a big mistake that blurs the lines between law and grace and ends up mixing the two and grace becomes non-grace. Let's talk about it.

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