I have a pulpit.  It is astonishing to me that God has called me and used me as a preacher of His Holy Word.  This has been an incredible privilege and one that I feared for many years.  I had an intense fear of public speaking and I wouldn’t have believed you if you had told me when I was 20 that I was going to preach almost every Sunday from the ages of 36-53.

But I have a strong opinion about the purpose of a pulpit.  It is to expose the people of God to the Word of God.  The Word of God is an ancient text that requires explanation in order to understand it and apply it to our lives in 2026.  My pulpit is NOT for cultural commentary.  My pulpit is not to address current events.  My pulpit is not a place to convey my political opinions.  My pulpit is not a place to convey my favorite spiritual topics.  It is a place where the Word of God is to be explained systematically, carefully, and prayerfully.

So I began blogging early on at ReCAST Church in order to address current cultural trends, or just generalized things God had laid on my heart.  If you know the name, Karl Barth, you likely have a strong opinion about him and his theology.  But he did say some poignant and worthwhile things.  He said, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”

The pulpit is for my Bible and my blog has been for the ‘newspaper’.  My blog has been the place where I attempt to write out my biblical and pastoral opinions and thoughts about the world around me.  I enjoy writing.  And yet in recent years I have been challenged by some younger people regarding the waning place of written blogs in our current culture.  I have heard from more than one Gen Z’er, ‘Everyone has a podcast!’

And so this week we launched a podcast.  The target audience is the congregation of ReCAST Church.  It is for the church.  I am hopeful that it might be beneficial on two levels.  As I host guests on the show, I hope to be able to share some thoughts on current topics in a format that people are already using.  And second, I think this will prove to be a good place for people to get to know each other, as I invites guests from the church and occasionally missionaries we support to be interviewed.

I’m used to preaching.  I like writing.  But having a video camera and microphones recording a ‘casual conversation’ is going to take a while to get used to.  Maybe it will fly and prove to be a beneficial tool for ReCAST Church.  Maybe it will flop and the only two views each week will be me and the mom of the person I’m interviewing.  I’m pretty committed to giving it a good go.  There are three episodes as of the launch yesterday.  If you think it’s a good idea, give it a view.  The title is “But First … Read Your Bible”. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Watch, like, subscribe, and ring bells or whatever I’m supposed to say about that stuff.

I’m fairly excited about the opportunity.  I’m fairly skeptical about whether or not it succeeds in becoming a valuable part of our church life.  I like new adventures.  Fail or fly it will still be fun.