Just A Guy In The Pew Podcast

There’s a big difference between remorse and repentance. Remorse says, “I hate what I did.” Repentance says, “I don’t want to live this way anymore.” In this week’s episode of our Power Made Perfect series, Victor and I move from surrender into repentance—the point where surrender starts becoming visible in the way we actually live. We can tell God we surrender our lives to Him, but eventually we have to get up and start walking in a different direction. Like the prodigal son, repentance is when...

There are some things in our lives we simply cannot fix. But that doesn’t stop us from trying. We grip tighter. We work harder. We run every scenario through our heads. We tell ourselves, “If I can just figure this out, I can make it okay.” But eventually, we have to face the truth: we were never in control to begin with. This week, Victor and I continue our Power Made Perfect series with the next step in the process of restoration: surrender. Vulnerability required the mask to die. Humility req...

Most men don't have a problem admitting that life is hard. The problem is admitting they can't fix it on their own. That's exactly where so many of us get stuck. This week on the Just a Guy in the Pew Podcast, Victor and I continue our Power Made Perfect series by talking about the second step in the process of healing and restoration: Humility. Humility isn't thinking less of yourself. It's finally seeing yourself truthfully. It's recognizing where pride, self-reliance, and the need to stay in ...

Most of us have spent our lives believing the same lie: Real men don't struggle. Real men don't ask for help. Real men keep it all together. But what if that's exactly what has been keeping us stuck? This week, Victor is back in the studio as we begin a brand-new seven-part series based on the process of healing and restoration in my new book, Power Made Perfect: Finding True Strength in Christ. In this first episode, we dive into the very first step of the restoration process: vulnerability. Th...

Most Christians love to talk about God's mercy. Far fewer want to talk about His judgment. But Jesus spoke about it constantly. Not to scare us, but to prepare us. In this powerful conversation, John sits down with renowned Catholic author and evangelist Ralph Martin to discuss his new book, The Coming Judgment: Are We Ready? Together they explore why the Church has grown quiet on one of the most important teachings of the Gospel and why recovering it may be essential for our spiritual lives. Th...

The Christian life was never meant to be lived alone. In this heartfelt episode, John steps away from the plans and simply shares what's been on his heart after a powerful night of prayer and adoration. Reflecting on the countless emails, messages, and stories from listeners around the world, he reminds us that the mission of Just a Guy in the Pew has never been about one voice—it has always been about one family walking toward Christ together. Whether you're carrying addiction, loneliness, a st...

Most everyone has felt stuck, that your life would be so much better if everyone else just got on your level one way or another. We know that’s a distraction by the enemy to get you focusing on the speck in your brother’s eye while you walk around with a two-by-four hanging out of your own. But what do we do to finally overcome that? How do we fight against this and win? Long story short: we can’t on our own power. It’s only the power of Jesus Christ that can lead us to victory. And that starts ...

Most of us were taught how to work hard, provide, and solve problems. But very few of us were ever taught how to truly love, communicate, or lead our families the way Christ calls us to. That leaves a lot of men frustrated. We work harder, say less, withdraw emotionally, and wonder why our marriages keep drifting further apart. This week, I sit down with Dr. Greg Popcak, the founder of CatholicCounselors.com and host of EWTN’s More2Life program, to have one of the most practical conversations we...

Tell me if you’ve ever said something like this before: “If my boss wasn’t such a jerk, I’d like my job.” “If my wife would just listen to me, we’d be able to be happy.” "If only my friends would stop doing x, y, or z, I’d be able to be myself.” This blame game is a favorite tool of the enemy going all the way back to Eden. As long as we’re focused on what other people aren’t doing right or how they’re hurting us and waiting on them to change, we’re not facing ourselves and becoming the saints w...

How do you stay true to Christ? I hear this question so often. People are creatures of habit; when things get difficult, it’s easy for us to go back to our bad habits, our addictions, our sins. As the book of Proverbs says, we so often go back to our sins the way a dog goes back to its vomit. What I’ve discovered in my life is that the key to staying faithful to Christ is to understand the gift that He’s given you. That’s what we’re talking about in this episode. We’ll get into: 🔹The difference...

As Catholics, we treat Mary with a particular sense of reverence and honor. But sometimes it’s hard to know how to relate to her, and how to open ourselves up to a relationship with her without feeling like we’re somehow taking time away from her Son. The truth is that she always brings us closer to Jesus, so the time we spend with her is time spent with Him. That’s what my friend John Heinen, executive director of The Catholic Gentleman, joins us in the pew to talk about. Today, we’re going to ...

God did not create us to have a mediocre marriage. My good friend Paul George, the author of Rethink Happiness and Holy Grit, joins us today to discuss common ways our marriages get put on the back burner and how to make sure that our union is treated like the sacrament that it is. In this episode we’re talking about: 🔹Different seasons of marriage 🔹How the fall of Adam and Eve contributed to our current relationship weaknesses 🔹How to model what marriage looks like to our kids. Paul also tal...

"What happens when young Catholics stop sitting on the sidelines? Today Fr. Jacob Dumont, a local superior for the Legionaries of Christ in Cincinnati and my spiritual director, joins us in the pew to talk about the explosion of faith happening in the Church right now. This is happening in particular among younger people, and so many of them are searching for truth, purpose, and something real, and are finding it exactly where we’d hope: in the Catholic Church, which contains the fullness of tru...

Folks, today is a huge day for the ministry. My new book, Power Made Perfect: Finding True Strength in Christ launches today, and I am so excited for you to read it. This whole episode is dedicated to telling you what this book is about, how it came together, and how grateful I am that the Lord brought each one of you here - whether to the podcast, to a pilgrimage, to a mission, or anything else - so that He could make this happen. This book is all about power: - The power we lost in the Garden ...

Many of us live in the past or in the future, and we’re not present to anything. The devil loves to use this tactic to rob us, to get us listening to the wrong voice and pulling us away from the one thing we can do something about: the present moment. We talked last week about some of those voices and who they’re coming from. Today Victor and I follow this theme some more and talk about what happens when we listen to those voices and focus on the things we can’t change. We can’t change the past,...

“Who told you that?” That question from God changed everything for me. Over the last few months, I found myself exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious, disconnected, and spiritually dry while trying to “do more” for ministry, family, and everyone around me. And in prayer, I heard the Lord ask: “Who told you that?” Who told you to carry everything? Who told you your worth comes from productivity? Who told you pressure and exhaustion were from Me? This week’s episode is one of the most honest conversatio...

Boldness. Not the kind that stays inside, but the kind that shows up in your life. Because once God does something in you, He wants to do something through you. That’s where many of us stop. We face our wounds. We start to change. We get back on track, and then we settle. But Christianity doesn’t end with transformation. That’s where it begins. In this episode, John and Victor explore what it means to live your faith out loud, not for attention, but for mission: - Why people stop at personal gro...

There’s a word that keeps showing up in the Book of Acts: Boldness. But before the Apostles lived it on the exterior they had to find it in the interior. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just send us out—He first cuts us to the heart (Acts 2:37). He leads us through: Conviction → Conversion → Commission And that starts with something most of us avoid… Facing what’s really going on inside. In this episode, John and Victor talk about: Why interior boldness is the hardest kind of courage How avoiding your i...

This week on Just a Guy in the Pew, Victor and I walk through Acts 3—the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate. For over 40 years, he sat in the same place… asking for coins. But when Peter and John show up, they don’t give him what he’s asking for—they give him what he actually needs: Healing. And it raises a hard question for all of us: What are you asking people and things for… that only Jesus can actually give you? A lot of us are doing the same thing—settling for things that manage the pain in...

It’s easy to treat Easter like the finish line. But what if it’s actually the starting point? In this episode, John challenges the temptation to return to old habits once Lent is over and instead calls listeners to something deeper. If you’ve ever felt the slow drift back into old patterns after a spiritual high, this episode is a direct call to stay the course, make a decision, and follow Him with everything. Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk in the Footsteps of Pope St. John Paul II with J...

It’s easy to follow Jesus when everything is good. It’s much harder to stay with Him when He is suffering. The question is simple but challenging: will you stay with Him, or will you move on to what’s more comfortable? John walks through the reality of Holy Week and why so many of us are tempted to skip past the cross on our way to Easter. This is an invitation to do more than go through the motions. It is a call to be present, to stay in the garden, to stand at the cross, and to walk with Jesus...

Lent is an invitation to encounter Jesus. In this episode, John and Victor reflect on how easy it is to approach Lent as a checklist of sacrifices instead of a path toward deeper relationship with Christ. If your Lenten practices have ever felt mechanical or disconnected from real change, this conversation is an invitation to refocus the season where it belongs. Lent is not about what you give up. It is about who you encounter. Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk in the Footsteps of Pope St. J...

Becoming the man God created you to be does not happen by accident. It requires intention, surrender, and a willingness to be formed. In this episode, John welcomes Fr. John Burns back to the pew to talk about what real formation looks like for men and why so many settle for comfort instead of transformation. If you have ever felt stuck, passive, or unsure of what God is asking of you, this conversation is an invitation to step forward with purpose. Get Involved with Fr. John's ministry: https:/...

The Church was never meant to thrive on priesthood alone. In this episode, John sits down with Fr. John Burns to talk about a part of the Church many people rarely think about until it is missing: consecrated women and religious life. Fr. John shares his own vocation story and the moment God redirected his life from pursuing success to becoming a priest. He shares the heart behind Friends of the Bridegroom, the apostolate he founded to help renew the Church by renewing consecrated life. Together...

Lent is not about checking a box or proving how disciplined you can be. It is about bringing your whole heart back to God. In this episode, John and Victor reflect on what real conversion looks like and why simply giving something up is not the same as returning to the Lord. Drawing from Joel’s call to “rend your hearts, not your garments,” they challenge listeners to move beyond surface-level sacrifices and into true interior change. If you have ever treated Lent as routine or felt unsure how t...

Waiting may be one of the hardest tests of faith. In this final episode of this discussion series, John reflects on what it means to trust God’s timing when prayers feel delayed and hope feels fragile. Drawing from the story of Jairus and the hemorrhaging woman in Mark 5, he explores two desperate situations, two very different timelines, and one Savior who was never late. If you are in a season where God feels slow, this episode is an invitation to refuse panic, stay close in the waiting, and s...

Sooner or later, every believer runs into a collision between what we hoped God would do and what He is actually doing. In this episode, John continues his reflection on grief and adversity by diving into one of the hardest realities of faith: wrestling with God when trust clashes with fear and our need for control. If you are in a season that feels confusing, unfair, or out of your control, this episode is an invitation to stay in relationship, pray honestly, release control, and let the strugg...

Storms have a way of exposing the questions we are often afraid to ask out loud. In this episode, John reflects on grief, suffering, and the moments when life feels like it is taking on water, leading many of us to quietly wonder, “Does God even care?” If you are walking through adversity, grief, or uncertainty, this episode is a reminder that God is not indifferent to your suffering. He sees you, He is present, and He is leading you to the other side. Stay in the boat. Learn more about our pilg...

Adversity has a way of revealing where we really turn for refuge. Reflecting on personal loss, including the recent passing of his father, John invites listeners to honestly examine how they respond when life becomes painful and uncertain. Drawing from Scripture, the Church’s teaching, and his own journey through grief, addiction, and healing, he challenges men to stop numbing their pain or handling it alone. If you are walking through hardship right now, this episode is a reminder that sufferin...

Loneliness is one of the most widespread and least talked about struggles facing men today. John and Victor name what so many feel but rarely say out loud, the quiet isolation that exists even in homes, marriages, parishes, and pews filled with people. If you have ever felt unseen, disconnected, or like you were carrying life on your own, this conversation is both a challenge and an invitation. Learn more about our pilgrimage: Walk in the Footsteps of Pope St. John Paul II with John 👉https://se...