In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Jason and Christian celebrate their success in iTunes with a new bottle of Scotch, which naturally leads to a discussion about Dwarves tasting Orc blood. After a quick update on Jason’s success as a car salesman, an offer for a free Drunk Ex-Pastors shot glass, and an analysis of a one star iTunes review, they address some negative statements made about Christian by a Calvary Chapel pastor who would like to remain anonymous. Of course, Jason and Christian won’t let that happen. They then attempt to catch up on voicemails and discuss a variety of topics, from whether or not Ruby Red Squirt and a hot dog bun can become the blood and body of Jesus Christ, to whether or not the Bible is misogynistic, and if … [Read more...]
Game of Pulpits: Politics and Power at Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa—indeed the movement as a whole—is in a state of disarray. The late Chuck Smith, former pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, has an 85 year old brother named Paul who recently posted a video on YouTube titled “My brother’s succession plan for Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.” (Based on his ramblings in the video about computer hacking and viruses, my guess would be that someone else actually posted it for him.) Paul claims to have spent the last few months of his brother Chuck’s life living with him and discussing the future of Calvary Chapel and has decided that now is the time to reveal the content of their conversations. A quick bit of backstory… For the last decade or so of Chuck’s life, there was no shortage … [Read more...]
Podcast #12: Slingin’ Cars, Avoiding Ebola, and Jason’s Speech Therapy
In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Jason and Christian start off the show with an experimental shot meant to give them wings. Jason then imparts his best “white-trash scheme” as a free service to anyone needing to send a letter but who is short on postage. As Jason transforms before our ears into a better and better car salesman (and a less and less trustworthy person, obviously), Christian begins Jason’s speech therapy, which, unfortunately for Jason, may last the entire episode. They then check in on the status of Jason’s haters and as a free public service announcement give their listeners a simple way to avoid the Ebola virus. Christian is biebered by (not drunk) ex-pastor Bob Coy, the “Tiger Woods” of Calvary Chapel, while Jason is … [Read more...]
Yes by Might, Yes by Power: Lawsuits and Leadership at Calvary Chapel
As we delve into in episode #9 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, the church that we grew up in (Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa) is embroiled in a bitter lawsuit, brought by two of the now-deceased founding pastor’s children, concerning both leadership and ownership of the church’s vast financial resources. My contention was that in the context of a paradigm where the only way to judge a leader’s authority is by whether or not you agree with him, this kind of in-fighting and lust for power is par for the course. Still, it is disheartening to see church leaders behaving with no more dignity and decorum than secular leaders, and for my part, I can totally see how so many of my friends have lost their respect for the Christian church because of the … [Read more...]
Podcast #9: Cops, Calvary Chapel, Hell, and Football
In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Jason presents Christian with a gift that he needs but will never use; the discussion turns to whether or not the police force attracts people who were picked on in school and therefore need to take out their frustrations on the powerless and weak; we discuss the recent controversy surrounding the lawsuit against our former church, Calvary Chapel, by two of its now-deceased founding pastor's children; we answer a Twitter follower's question about whether Jesus and Paul thought hell was a real place of eternal torment; and lastly, Jason exhibits his laser-sharp understanding of how to win at football (besides just shooting lots of homeruns, which is obvious). … [Read more...]