Just A Guy In The Pew Podcast

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...

Strength, discipline, and self-reliance are often praised as the highest virtues of manhood. But what happens when those very traits become obstacles to trust, intimacy, and faith? In this episode, John sits down with former Navy SEAL officer Sam Blair for an honest conversation about identity, surrender, and the spiritual battle beneath high performance. If you’ve been trying to carry everything on your own, this conversation is a reminder that real strength begins when we stop relying on ourse...

As a new year begins, it is easy to fall into the trap of resolutions rooted in self-reliance, perfectionism, and shame. In this episode, John and Victor talk honestly about why those approaches fail and why true renewal does not come from reinventing ourselves by our own effort, but from allowing God to convert and restore us to who we were created to be. Find a healthier way to approach 2026 by grounding life in identity, choosing accompaniment over isolation, and committing to daily surrender...

What does it actually mean to be a man of God today? In this episode of Just a Guy in the Pew, John Edwards sits down with Pete Burak, Vice President of Renewal Ministries and author of the brand new book, A Man on Purpose: 10 Rules of Life from a Faithful Father. They dive into the growing crisis of masculinity, the loss of identity and purpose for men, and the need for authentic Christian manhood. Pete shares personal stories about his father, the lessons that shaped his life, and the moment t...

The week after Christmas can feel strangely heavy. The celebration is over, the quiet settles in, and the weight of a new year starts pressing in. In this episode, John reflects on the line from O Holy Night that hit him in a new way, “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,” and why this sacred pause between Christmas and New Year’s is meant for hope, not anxiety. He challenges listeners to make a simple “holy list” with three focus points: one thing to let go of, one thing to heal, and one...

Christmas is not about having it all together. It is the reminder that God chose to come close precisely because we do not. In this episode, John reflects on what it means for Jesus to enter into the real pressures of Christmas week, including stress, regret, loneliness, family wounds, and the feeling of not being ready or worthy. Drawing from the Nativity, Scripture, and his own story of addiction and conversion, John reminds us that Jesus does not wait for perfection; He waits for permission. ...

We live in a culture that hates to wait. Lines, delays, silence, and stillness all feel like problems to solve instead of places to meet God. In this episode, John reflects on how Advent invites us to do the opposite: to slow down, to wait, and to let the Lord work beneath the surface of our busy lives, even in seasons of suffering like his father’s recent cancer diagnosis. Waiting exposes our fears, idols, and false escapes, and how God uses it to strip away unhealthy self-reliance and grow pat...

Many men want to do better as husbands and fathers but feel lost on where to begin. In this episode, John welcomes back author and founder of the Fathers of St. Joseph, Devin Schadt, to talk about his new book The Rule, a practical guide for living the spirituality of St. Joseph in everyday life. Devin shares how the book was born out of his own discouragement and how men repeatedly asked for clear, concrete direction on becoming the men God created them to be. He and John discuss the pillars of...