Reviews

After stumbling upon this podcast and literally listening to it three times, I am so grateful to you and the work you do. You have reconfirmed my belief that there are no random coincidences. I thank you thank you thank you! God bless you and the work He has called you to do.

Once again, I’m learning more and diving deeper into the gospel than I have in my prior 61 years. I grew up in the “church “ from the age of 6 months with a father who attended seminary and became a preacher in a very conservative church. I constantly questioned the rigidity of the rules and the Bible, thinking of Father as an angry ruler. Thank you for your in-depth teachings, which, in addition to #holypost podcast have stretched my thinking and totally given me a new relationship with Father. May Father continue to bless your minds and hearts with wisdom to share with all of us.

I have been a listener to the show for about 3.5 years and don’t know why I’ve never reviewed! First learned of Mike Erre at a college ministry conference and was captivated by his beautiful teachings of Jesus. This show has been drastically influential to me in my walk of faith. It’s challenged me to be gracious of different points of view and Mike’s teachings on scripture have opened my eyes to the incredible historical context and meanings behind passages and books of the Bible that we were originally taught to read at face value. I think Mike is a great model of holding things we find difficult in scripture and in the world in tension and has encouraged me to do the same. Tim and Bonnie have been great additions to the show!! It’s always good to have other voices and ideas added to the mix. And as a female listener, Bonnie’s insight and experience were much appreciated. Although, I will never forget Andy Bear <3

Wow, what an interesting and fun podcast. I love the way things are presented and I am asked to think as I listen. I love the humor and real talk. I love the dogged determination to view everything through the lens of Jesus Christ. Thank you for helping me do that. Blessings on all your hard work to bring this podcast to me.

I have listened to the Vox podcast for three years now and have loved the thoughtful perspectives on faith. It has been refreshing to hear people who formerly identified as evangelicals graciously critique the current structures in the modern American church, as well as provide hopeful ways for the church to become more faithful into the future. Any christian who is serious about thinking through difficult issues and reconstructing their faith to reflect biblical and thoughtful values should be listening to the Vox podcast.

In 2009, I had just moved to California and a friend of mine invited me to attend his church. It was a mega church, and I really didn’t expect to be challenged in any way (I was open to being a part of institutional church, but really wasn’t having success finding anything other than the evangelical sinner’s prayer type church or churches that held to fluffy easy “gospel”s). I walked in and rolled my eyes at the smoke, big screens, and rock music atmosphere and had trouble even sitting through the worship music. Then Mike Erre spoke. I felt like I had finally found a “pastor” who was on the journey with me and who was not afraid to ask hard questions. He also had a similar understanding of what the gospel message consists of... which is important to me, as I believe most evangelical churches have dumbed the gospel down to be mental ascent to certain “objective” facts about Jesus and God. Fast forward to 2020, my personal journey has continued to parallel Mike’s in so many ways. We have both been confronted with major character flaws of our own making and have had to reach out in humility for help, our beliefs about scripture and doctrine have changed, our borders defining who is “in” and who is “out have expanded. In some ways I have more traditional views than him and in others I find myself more progressive leaning towards hopeful universalism. Regardless, he continues to challenge me and encourage me in my version of “spiritual homelessness”. I wholeheartedly recommend this podcast. Through years of listening, I’ve laughed through episodes, wept through episodes, and found myself pushed to think critically in ways I hadn’t before. Listen and find Jesus increasingly beautiful, and the Way of Jesus increasingly fulfilling (though not without a cost)!

I love this podcast beyond what words I have and emotions I can describe. These conversations are so important and I hope that Christians and non-Christians can come together and learn!

Great podcast, it has offered some opposing views to what I had believed growing up, which has led to research and learning and growth on my part. Also... Gombis. Good. And the hairstyle rundowns are solid. I’m in your camp on that front Mike.

Genuine and thoughtful conversations! Love this podcast! Highly recommend, has helped me understand God and has strengthened my faith. Thank you!!!

I definitely don’t want to cramp your style and make you do shorter conversations but I really liked that format this week. It was easier for me to get to listen to it all at once and not have to break it into a million pieces and then sometimes never get to finishing it. I always love the conversations and this was so incredibly convicting and helpful

Thanks for your transparency and venerability. Facing the truth about ourselves is very painful. The only way out is through. It is the way of the cross. Please know there are so many of us who love you, are here for you and are cheering you on.

As an evangelical who’s been kicking & screaming for quite some time over how we’re presenting ourselves to the world, I have been so encouraged by your podcast. I know Mike from years back and it’s been refreshing to hear his (& your) perspective again. THANK YOU for giving me hope that I don’t have to completely disassociate from my tribe but that I can wait patiently and watch for the yeast to do its work and to be a part of that working out of the kingdom too. It’s been life and breath to me!

Mike, Bonnie, Tim, You all are one of the main reasons I enjoy walking my dogs so much. I am so grateful for your insight into the scriptures and for your willingness to devote yourselves to having important conversations about faith and what it means to be a Jesus follower. Thank you for all that you do.

So grateful for this podcast! Very few teachers impact me and challenge me quite like those on the Vox Podcast do. The conversations open up ancient teachings into a modern context in a meaningful and relevant way. Thanks Mike, Tim, and Bonnie! Also, can’t forget the OG Andy Lara. Miss him on the podcast.

When I started wrestling with the tough questions of this life and realized that the answers being provided by the (typical) church don’t satisfy, Mike has been a voice that has encouraged me to dive deeper into these questions. I have a desire to follow Jesus with all my heart and this podcast is a wonderful place to grow in who Jesus is, what the Bible says about our relationship with Him, while being ok with questioning our faith. The child like answers I got in Sunday school don’t hold up with the painful questions I have as an adult and it’s been a blessing to hear these questions addressed and, most importantly, from different views so we can find what holds the most biblical truth with least amount of difficulty, while being guided by the Holy Spirit as we long to grow closer to Jesus in character and communion.

This has become one of my favorite podcasts. I look forward to my Monday evening commute back home because it typically posts Monday andI find myself disappointed if its not posted when I get to the car. There’s a lot to like about the group of folks who put this together. The cohosts Mike and Bonnie are genuine, vulnerable Jesus followers who obviously love the church but thinks it important that there is a space to discuss issues that separate Christians or put the church at odds with its Lord. Mike is great at concise yet thoughtful analysis which is delivered in a rapid fire enthusiasm that reveals his love of the subject and yet somehow is respectful to those not as well versed. Bonnie adds an invaluable, thoughtful female perspective that is often missing from other Bible centered resources. Producer Tim described what happens here as “speed theology” ( like speed dating) on a recent show. That’s a good description of the pace of the ideas delivered but its anything but the shallow toe dipping into relationship that occurs on a 15 minute date. Its an invitation to explore issues that cause many disquieted souls to stay away from the church and thus to miss out on the beauty and majesty of Jesus that finds its home there, despite all the warts and crags that are obvious at first glance.

Thank you for being a place for those of us wrestling with our faith. I love that you are a afraid to ask any question, and willing to listen to folks you disagree with. It is very refreshing and has reignited my hope in the way of Jesus.

Im a mom of three, a 4, 2, and 1 year old and this is my weekly listen while I wash dishes and I ALWAYS look forward to it. Its so thought provoking and oozes deep love for humanity. Thank you for giving voice to my wonderings and keeping my brain engaged while Im in the thick of peanut butter sandwiches, sticky fingers, and 2 am wake ups. <3 I absolutely LOVE being a mom, and I feel that this podcast helps me to be a better one. My husband and I have definitely found a home with VOX.

My wife and I look forward to this every week more than any other podcast. Great content but more importantly not a bunch of churchy garbage. The direction is on point. Truly a voice for the Christian misfits and spiritually homeless.

Thank you for loving, challenging, and shepherding the spiritual homeless in to the Vox community. PS. Mike, Bonnie, and Tim blew my mind long before Gombis arrived...

Been great listening to this podcast, definitely has explained, clarified, and changed my views on some things. I also have loved the grace and kindness extended to people on this podcast.

This podcast is awesome! You all are amazing and you make me laugh, cry (episode 213, Mike thanks for sharing and being open), and I occasionally learn a thing or two 😉 Grateful for the work you do. -Sergio Garces

Mike, Bonnie, Tim and the guests that they have on really stretch and bolster my faith in Christ. I look forward to listening weekly. I have gone back and listened to many of the back episodes as well because Mike and company really embody grace and truth. They are real people and help me put my faith into action!

The truth behind Bonnie’s stellar translation work. 5 stars for Tim.

I've been bienge listening like crazy, I can't get enough of Mike and the crew. Love the addition of Bonnie and when Tim chimes in. Over the past 2 years I've been deconstructing and ended up with a ton of podcasts that were more just focused on bitterness and negativity vs being uplifting and challenging. Then I found VOX - the episodes challenge me, encourage me and let me know I'm not alone and that there is something good to come of this whole journey. The spiritually homeless episode hit home for me and tons of other episodes have totally lined up with things I wanted or needed to hear. Love the interviews and really like the responses at the end sharing agreements or disagreements. Thanks team, keep it up!

I’m not going to lie. I am a Mike fan. Listening to Mike, and learning from him has very much shaped my theology and helped in directing my desire to live a Jesusy life (there have been many others as well of course). I have listened off and on since the beginning, but the last few months, especially since the spiritually homeless episode has been like freaking water to my soul. While many feel alone while in a deconstruction season, I have not as much, I think thanks to this podcast and just being willing to be open about my own transformation... there are so stinking many of us waking up to new and deeper aspects of Jesus and what it is to actually be Jesusy. Freaking crap the world needs so much more of that. Anyway, just finished the episode with Finch and wanted to first give Tim 5 stars, and then second confess that in my transition from a blind and passionate “conservative” (mostly just because this was what I was born into that and that was the way of the church I grew up in) I have a banner against people who are blindly conservative and seem to immediately put me in the heretic box. I want to want to be able to love them, especially since I was one of them for much of my life, but in all honesty, a part of me is just angry and hurt and I feel like THOSE people are hurting the church and a whole lot of people as well... see, those people... I just don’t get it yet. That I even say “those” or “they” points to my own crap. I’m still transforming and always will be. Hopefully at some point soon I can sit at a table with my enemies trusting that God is God and I can love them while passionately but graciously disagreeing with them. Anyways, that’s my banner confession. I’m sure I have a ton more that I am forgetting or unaware of.

Absolutely love this podcast can’t wait for to come out every week it has changed the way I approach my faith and the way I deal with others but I do have one complaint , the audio is very quiet compared to other podcasts and I can hardly hear it in my old Peterbilt and also more Tim please . Thanks so much!

Really enjoy listening each week. Love hearing all three perspectives in addition to the guest du jour.

Including the little doses of Tim. He knows how to keep us wanting more 😆😉

Mike just sounds handsome.