Stuff Your Pastor Won't Say

What if The Lord of the Rings could help us contextualize the unseen realm more clearly?We talk about: Tolkien, Michael Heiser’s The Unseen Realm, the divine council, spiritual hierarchy, evil, corruption and stewardship. This episode is basically Zach taking five business days to make one point because he is thinking out loud and trying to organize a Tolkien thought, a theology thought, and a fatherhood thought in real time.But the point is worth getting to:Evil cannot create. It can only corrupt what God has already made.Tolkien was not writing a theology textbook, but his world gives us a picture of something Scripture says over and over again. God creates order, beauty, and life. Evil introduces dissonance, deception, despair, and corruption. And when people fail to guard what they have been given, evil takes ground.We also talk about how easy it is to live with a flannelgraph version of reality. Clean. Flat. Safe. Simple.But Scripture gives us a bigger and stranger picture than that. There is a real spiritual realm. There are powers and principalities. There is order and hierarchy. There is rebellion and corruption. And above all of it, there is the Most High God who is sovereign over every creature, every kingdom, and every unseen power.Commission: Pick one area of your life where you have been called to be a faithful steward. Then ask a simple question: am I guarding what God has given me?Chapters:00:00 Nerdy Setup and Sauron’s Deception02:09 Sauna and Tolkien’s Creation Story07:12 Divine Council, Elohim, and The Unseen Realm17:19 Modern Church Blind Spots and Angel Hierarchy30:21 Dwarves and Divine Mercy33:28 Genesis 6 and Orc Origins39:19 Stewardship, Borders, and Despair52:46 True Myth and the Next Episode

Something that doesn’t get talked about much in normal church circles: the Sons of God, the Watchers, and the Nephilim.In this episode, we explore what the text actually says and why it has captured so much imagination over the centuries. We look at the different interpretations people hold and why this conversation matters more than we might think.In this conversation, we discuss:Why the “sons of God” language is significantHow ancient Jewish readers understood the textHow the New Testament references this momentWhy spiritual rebellion runs from Genesis to RevelationWhat this means for how we understand evil and corruptionWe also talk about how easy it is to either over-spiritualize everything or dismiss the supernatural entirely. Neither approach is healthy. Scripture presents a worldview that includes a real spiritual realm, real rebellion, and a real God who is sovereign over all of it.Key Scripture:Genesis 6:1–42 Peter 2:4Jude 6Chapters:00:00 Watchers 101 Setup02:05 Enoch and the 200 Watchers06:24 Watchers in Deuteronomy and Daniel32:29 Seed War and Ancient Tech47:48 Ancient Tech and Artifacts50:21 Watchers as Earthly Kings57:22 Babel, Gates, and DMT01:10:40 Judgment and Modern Echoes

As we close out Season 1, this episode zooms out and sets the stage for where the conversation is headed next. We wrestle with identity, the fall, and the consequences that still shape our theology, churches, families, and culture today. From shallow faith and church hurt to the supernatural, mystery, and the limits of what humans can truly know about God, this episode isn’t about neat answers. It’s about asking better questions and refusing a small, manageable version of belief.This conversation opens up threads we plan to explore in future episodes, and we need your help deciding where to go next. Send us a message on Instagram with the topic you want discussed:@stuffyourpastorwontsay@zacheway@djessemaseTopics we cover in this episode include:• Deep church vs wide church and why depth often gets sacrificed• The identity of men and women before the fall• The fall and how it distorted work, marriage, authority, and desire• Why shallow faith collapses and leads to deconstruction• Church hurt and whether better discipleship could prevent it• Can God be fully known, or is mystery essential to faith• The danger of shrinking God to be manageable and safe• Orthodoxy vs lived faith, belief vs practice• God as infinite and humans as finite• Why American Christianity avoids power and the supernatural• Signs, wonders, and modern disbelief• Parenting and forming deep belief instead of inherited religion• Genesis as foundation, not metaphor• Male and female design, curse, and redemption• How comfort dulls spiritual awareness• Why “I don’t know” can be a faithful answer

The fall didn’t just introduce sin. It fractured work, marriage, desire, and identity. In this episode we finish the Genesis 3 narrative by looking at what God says after Adam and Eve eat the fruit. Is this a set of punishments, or an explanation of how life now works outside of God’s original design?We walk through the curse on the serpent, the multiplied pain of childbearing, the breakdown of harmony between men and women, and the transformation of work from worship into toil. The focus is on the tension introduced between desire, authority, and leadership, and how that continues to shape marriage, gender conflict, and culture today.We debate natural consequence versus punitive judgment, explore how the fall attacks core aspects of male and female identity, and encourage to not to live as victims of the curse. We end with a call to remember who you were designed to be and to resist letting brokenness define your work, relationships, or sense of purpose.This episode closes Season One and sets the foundation for the deeper, stranger, and more controversial conversations coming in Season Two. 00:00 Introduction and Recap01:12 The Curse of the Serpent03:00 The Curse of Eve04:04 The Curse of Adam06:51 Theological Implications and Debates10:26 Natural Consequences vs. Punitive Judgments20:27 Desire and Rule: Gender Dynamics29:11 Modern Reflections and Cultural Shifts29:58 Third Wave Feminism and Regret30:33 Cultural Responses and Time Telling the Truth32:11 Biblical Curses and Their Implications33:18 The Identity of Adam and Eve40:41 The Nature of Eden47:08 Animals and Spiritual Sensitivity54:59 Call to Action: Embracing Identity Despite the Curse

There was a couple of pivotal moments leading to humanity's original sin, in this episode on the early chapters of Genesis. we discuss the story of the serpent's deception, Eve's temptation, and Adam's complicity in eating the forbidden fruit. We discuss theological, psychological, and even fringe ideas, then analyze the communication gaps and blame-shifting between Adam and Eve, and the cunning nature of the serpent. How these ancient events still affect today and prep us to understand the impact of the "curse" that followed. 00:00 Introduction and Series Overview01:24 The Serpent's Deception02:00 Eve's Miscommunication and Its Implications03:01 Adam and Eve's Disobedience05:00 The Blame Game Begins06:06 The Consequences of the Fall09:24 Theological Reflections on Pre-Fall and Post-Fall Worlds14:28 Adam and Eve's Shame and God's Confrontation20:51 Analyzing the Blame Game26:14 The Serpent's Role and Cunning Nature28:00 Talking Animals in the Bible28:51 The Cunning Serpent29:43 The Long Game of Deception32:05 Satan's Fall and Ambition39:59 The Curse and Its Consequences43:49 Modern Implications of the Curse51:59 The Importance of Genesis

Dive into the early chapters of Genesis to discuss the creation of Eve and her significant role as a 'suitable helper'. We explore the distinctions between Genesis 1 and 2, challenge the modern interpretations that diminish or misunderstand this concept. Highlighting the term 'Ezer', used both for Eve and God, we reveal the profound significance of Eve's role. This episode reshapes traditional views, calling for a biblical re-examination that celebrates complementary strengths in relationships. Listen in as we unpack the intricacies of Genesis and how it speaks to the complementary nature of men and women, encouraging deeper conversations within marriages.

We look at work through the lens of Genesis, where God plants a garden and places Adam in it to cultivate and keep it. Work wasn’t a burden, it was part of design. It gave purpose, structure, and a way to partner with God in bringing order to creation. We talk about how that original assignment still shapes us, why responsibility is tied to identity, and why avoiding work always leaves us restless. We also push into how modern culture has cheapened work, how the church often avoids talking about it, and why recovering a biblical view of work changes how we show up in our homes, jobs, and communities. This episode invites you to rethink work as worship, stewardship, and calling.

This episode opens by going straight to the beginning. We talk through Genesis 1:26–28 and why understanding where we come from shapes how we move through the world. We unpack identity, purpose, dominion, male and female, and why modern culture feels so directionless. We share real conversations from work, from friends, and from parenting, where people feel lost, overwhelmed, or unsure who they are, and we connect that to the deeper crisis of not knowing our origin story.We talk about the tension we’ve both felt in the church, not in a bitter way but in an honest way. The width-over-depth model, the consumer mindset, the burnout, and how a lot of people deconstructed because they were never taught how to think theologically or live out their faith outside Sunday morning. We explore why understanding creation matters for the arguments people have about gender, identity, responsibility, and agency. We touch on the curse in Genesis 3, the male and female design, and how ignoring those categories has shaped our culture.We also dig into theology, mystery, and the limits of human understanding. Some things are clear, some things raise questions, and some things we just won’t ever fully box up. We talk about why that shouldn’t collapse someone’s faith, why the American church often treats God as small and manageable, and why people freak out when they reach the limit of what they can mentally explain. We reflect on seminary stories, apologetics, deconstruction, and the difference between knowing about God and actually trusting Him.The point of the episode is simple. If we don’t understand who God is, who we are, and what we were made for, then nothing else makes sense. Identity gets blurry. Faith gets thin. Politics becomes ultimate. Culture becomes loud. And people drift. We’re trying to bring clarity. We’re trying to give language to things people feel but haven’t said out loud. And we’re inviting listeners to walk through these conversations with a friend, not alone.If this episode hits something in you, share it with someone who thinks like you or challenges you. Talk about it together. Don’t isolate. Don’t white-knuckle your faith. We’re starting at the beginning because everything else builds from here.

This intro sets the stage for what Stuff Your Pastor Won’t Say actually is and why it exists. We talk about the moment we both felt a push to do more, to step into something beyond work, parenting, and the busyness of life. That shared call is what sparked this project. We walk through how our backgrounds shaped us, from being homeschooled to punk scenes, carpentry, missions work, and eventually leadership roles in business and operations. The theme running through all of it is responsibility, clarity, and using our gifts with other people instead of trying to muscle through life alone.We also unpack the tension we’ve felt with the modern church. Not in a bitter way, but in an honest way. We’ve seen burnout, the outsourcing of faith to staff, the consumer mindset, the focus on width instead of depth, and the corporate models that don’t always match Scripture. We talk about why so many people deconstructed, why some are drifting back now that they have kids, and why the current church model doesn’t always prepare families for the world they’re raising kids in. We share the frustration of watching pastors be expected to be experts in everything while being disconnected from normal work and normal pressures. The point isn’t to attack pastors, but to say the things people feel but rarely voice.We explain why this podcast matters. We want to wake people up, not with shock value, but with clarity and courage. We want to give language to thoughts people haven’t been able to articulate and help them step into the conversations they’ve avoided. We want to help men stop going alone, stop hiding behind church programs, and start taking ownership of their faith, their families, and their influence. Our hope is that listeners share this with a friend so they can process it together instead of trying to sort through these topics in isolation.We outline the heart of the show: honest conversations about faith, culture, politics, responsibility, family, and the church. Lay theology and lay politics shaped by real life. We’re not running a church or a nonprofit, and we have no donors or tithing to protect. That freedom lets us say the things normal people say privately but never hear from a pulpit. Our goal is simple. Obedience, clarity, and service. If the gospel is true, it should shape real life. If people feel asleep, we want to help them wake up. If they feel isolated, we want to help them find someone to walk with. If they feel stuck, we want to give them the courage to move.The episode ends with a simple challenge. Don’t listen alone. Share this with someone who’s your kind of weird, someone who thinks like you or pushes you. Let it spark a real conversation. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. This podcast exists to help you do the second one.