Podcast Episodes

Pastor DawnCheré Wilkerson faced a long journey of infertility not knowing if or when the journey would end. As she walked through this grueling journey, God showed her the beauty and purpose that can be found in seasons of waiting on him. He taught her that all of life can be viewed as a joyful, soul-deepening, intimacy-building wait. Her book, Slow Burn: The Work and Wonder of the Wait, leads readers through this God-given insight. With Joey Svendsen and Katie Walters, the three discuss the difficulty of waiting, the beauty of trials, God being all we need, and the wonderment of heaven when we will finally receive the joy of all our needs being met once and for all.

On this episode, Roy Jacques, Chip Judd, and Joey Svendsen discuss their views on the current state of the Church. From rampant unacknowledged hypocrisy to over-zealous political affiliations at the expense of God's Kingdom, the three share whether, at times, they are uncomfortable being associated with the Church. Churches consist of people who hurt people, because humanity is flawed, even in the church. Chip reflects on his decades of ministry, including church consulting and counseling of pastors and church staffs and says that some churches are flawed at a toxic level.  Along the way, the three friends discuss professional athletes' exuberant salaries, Roy's broken heart after sending his two oldest to college, socialism vs. capitalism, and Chip gives an update on his current health—nine months after his double lung transplant.

Lisa Limehouse helps women and couples find hope and healing from the devastation of marital betrayal. Through her non-profit, Beauty Beyond Betrayal, she has helped hundreds of couples redeem their relationship and restore what was broken. In this conversation with host, Joey Svendsen, Lisa shares her own stories of being betrayed, but also of being the betrayer decades ago. With scripture and God's spirit of guidance at the core of her ministry, she educates listeners on the intricacies of marital affairs, how they happen, why they happen, and the "dos and don’ts" of recovering from one. Beauty Beyond Betrayal includes group programs, one-on-one coaching sessions, online courses, free webinars, and a podcast to help couples find restoration.

Long time Worship Pastor, Tara Banks has experienced the most difficult year of her life. In this episode she shares her story of God's faithfulness and describes her grateful heart despite the immense suffering. Through it all, Tara wrote a book called Finding Everyday Fruit: Discover and Develop a Life Formed by the Fruit of the Spirit. With host Joey Svendsen, the two discuss the Fruit of the Spirit in the context of her book; and switch topics to question worship services: Should big screens show closeups of worship leaders during services? Why does Seacoast play high quality worship music and what role do human emotions play in the worship experience? And, what does it say about a person who has a challenging time worshipping to songs he or she doesn't like? 

Pastor Joel Delph and his wife, Kelly, join Lynne Stroy and Joey Svendsen to close out this mini-podcast series that coincides with the Seacoast message series, Digital Detox. The four reflect on Joel’s message, Learning to Live Free, that highlighted smartphones as useful tools but terrible masters. Joel emphasizes that “not everything given to us is for us,” and each contributor shares their own specific distractions where this truth applies. From cancel culture to parenting in a tech-saturated world, and the struggle of “remaining in Christ” while “remaining on our phones,” this final bonus episode wraps up the series with one more challenge to take a true digital detox.

Dennis Lacoste, who attends Seacoast Church, was in the World Trade Center at the time of impact; and mentally and physically, he'll never be the same. On this episode, Dennis recounts that dreadful day with painful, personal recollections. No stranger to suffering, Dennis also shares about a childhood injury that almost took his life. Dennis reports to listeners that although there’s been pain, God will bring good out of it all.  At the top of the episode, the host crew talks a bit about 9/11 and compares and contrasts that day with the Pearl Harbor attacks. And, what does it look like for Christians to celebrate the death of such an evil doer like Osama Bin Laden?

Pastor Josh Walters is joined by his wife, Katie Walters, and friends Lynne Stroy and Joey Svendsen to continue the conversation from Josh’s message, “Getting off the Digital Treadmill” (Part 2 of the Digital Detox message series). The heart of the discussion centers on the freedom and life-giving benefits of breaking unhealthy digital habits—especially around smartphone use. Together, the group reflects on their first week of digital detoxing and the eye-opening insights it’s brought.  Along the way, they explore Joey’s “freak out” reaction to his first encounter with ChatGPT, how boredom, when embraced, can actually lead to peace, the wasted energy of engaging with internet trolls, and why families often find themselves glued to their phones at the dinner table. Lastly, Katie shares a personal challenge with technology use that she hasn’t yet solved, sparking a thoughtful conversation as Josh, Lynne, and Joey brainstorm alongside Katie, possible paths forward.

Currently on tour together, John Mark McMillan and Zach Bolen (frontman of the band Citizens) join the podcast to discuss faith, life on the road, songwriting, personal testimonies, and what being real with God looks and feels like to them. Many people interact with their songs as "worship tunes," but they don’t fit the Contemporary Christian Music mold and for various reasons, these guys aren't setting out to write worship songs. Throughout this episode you’ll hear their songs intertwined through the whole thing (get ready to worship). Also, host, Joey Svendsen deems John Mark a saint, Zach and Joey recount their stint as a comedic duo, and John Mark gives a theory on why Generation X may gravitate toward the 80s music sound as they age. 

Tomelex Copeland and Joey Svendsen, both "old dudes" represent Generation X in this first discussion of a 3-part bonus series, "Digital Detox," coinciding with the current teaching series on the weekends at Seacoast Church.  They are joined by Mena Fox and Braden Sutton, both representing Generation Z, bringing their take on society's relationship with smartphones.  Each contributor of this discussion self-assess the health (or lack of) of their personal technology use and reflect on the current technology addiction rampant in society.  As part of the discussion they also discuss whether culture will self-correct, and, as a whole, form better practices.  Even though the research shows that Gen-Z is wrought with anxiety due to smartphones, deeming it "the Anxious Generation," this problem of addiction touches every generation, even grandmas and grandpas with Ipads.

Host, Joey Svendsen lost his dad unexpectedly over the summer. On this episode, he is joined by three friends and fellow Seacoast staff as he shares what it was like to lose his father. He also describes what felt like supernatural activity right before his dad passed away in the hospital. Joey articulates the current state of his heart and counts his sadness as good grief as he tributes, with thanksgiving, the blessing of being raised and loved by his dad, Virgil Svendsen. Along the way, Joey, Abbie, Bri, and Pastor Teddy, ponder the afterlife and whether the dead have any interaction with (or knowledge of) life on earth. They also talk about the power of music and reflect on the dangers of going on a cruise as a new popular Netflix documentary recounts the story of a girl who boarded a cruise ship and was never seen again.