Resident Strangers

It’s Tuesday again, which means a new episode of Resident Strangers is here! This week is exciting as the crew begins digging into listener-submitted questions and suggestions. Over the next two episodes, we’re diving into a big one: Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament? Some see stark differences between the two, while others believe God has always been the same.

Steve points out that this que...

Happy New Year and welcome back to Resident Strangers!

A new year naturally invites reflection and a longing for something new. Steve opens the conversation by emphasizing the importance of spiritual self-examination, reminding us how easy it is to let life simply happen to us rather than living with intention. He points to 1 Kings 19, where God asks Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” This is a question that can still challe...

Merry Christmas from Resident Strangers! This is our final episode of 2025, but don’t worry, Steve, Rich, and Sarah are already working on and planning great conversations for January and the start of 2026.

The crew kicks things off with Christmas excitement (and, of course, a little friendly teasing of Rich, longtime listeners know why! 🎄). In the middle of the laughter, Steve offers some timely pastoral wisdom: don’t miss the sea...

With Thanksgiving just days away, the Resident Strangers crew sat down to reflect on the themes of gratitude and thankfulness. After swapping their own Thanksgiving plans, the conversation shifted toward what it truly means to live with a thankful heart.

Rich shared that growing and maturing in Christ is deeply tied to learning contentment, that gratitude is, in many ways, the opposite of selfishness. Sometimes all it takes is stepp...

What does it actually mean to grow as a Christian? In today’s episode, Steve, Rich, and Sarah dig into the idea of spiritual maturity. After a fun conversation comparing the TV shows they each grew up with they shift to what really matters: growing in Christ.

Steve kicks things off in 1 Peter 2, where spiritual growth is pictured through the human life cycle. Just like a baby slowly learns to eat and move, even an adult who becomes ...

Does the Bible actually teach the sinner’s prayer as the way to receive salvation? It’s Tuesday, which means a new episode of Resident Strangers is here!

This week, Steve and Rich are revisiting a topic from earlier this summer during the predestination series and bringing some clarification to a big question: What does it truly mean to believe?

They unpack what it means to genuinely place your faith in Jesus and ...

Steve is back in the studio with Rich and Sarah for another great conversation! This episode marks the third and final installment in our unofficial mini-series on prayer. Steve dives right in with one of the most beautiful prayers in Scripture which is Elijah’s prayer in 1 Kings 18. He reminds us that prayer doesn’t have to be complicated; it’s simply talking with God, expressing what’s already in your heart. When we do that, it t...

Larissa joins Sarah and Rich once again as they continue their conversation on prayer. Many believers would agree that some of the most powerful moments of prayer and closeness with God often come during seasons of difficulty. Scripture is full of prayers born out of hardship, many of them being expressions of lament.

In this episode, Rich highlights Psalm 13 as a model of lament: it begins with a raw complaint, moves into a heartfe...

Sarah and Rich are joined by a very special guest — Larissa Holland! Larissa is Rich’s wife, and we’re so glad she could be part of this meaningful conversation.

While Steve will be back soon, the crew wanted to begin a new series of discussions around prayer, starting with Jesus’ model of prayer from Matthew 6. In this passage, Jesus clearly answers the question, “How should we pray?”

Together, they unpack what it means to be mindfu...

Today on Resident Strangers, Steve, Rich, and Sarah tackle a topic that continues to stir deep discussion in the church—women in ministry.

Right out of the gate, Steve clarifies that spiritual gifts are not tied to gender. In the same way, he says, the use of those gifts within the church should not be restricted by gender. Rich builds on that thought, reminding listeners that every follower of Christ is called into full-time minist...

In today’s episode, Rich and Steve take a big picture look at different church leadership structures. Leadership within the church can vary widely from one congregation or denomination to another, and even individual churches often interpret these structures in unique ways.

Most of what we understand about church leadership comes from the New Testament. In Acts, we see both the rapid spread of the church and the development of forma...

Resident Strangers is BACK! 🎉 And so is Sarah Schalow, from maternity leave. The whole crew is together again! After a full summer run of episodes, the team took a short breather, but you can now expect new episodes to drop regularly back into your feed.

Today kicks off the first in a 3-part series on church polity. We start at the beginning: what exactly is a denomination? Rich explains it as a formal organizational structure that...

Does anyone really love change? It’s uncomfortable and often hard but necessary for growth. Churches especially can struggle with it. The world is always shifting, so how can the church stay anchored in truth while adapting to culture?

Steve emphasizes that churches must stay mission-minded, and Rich puts it this way: if every Christian is a missionary, then every Christian should also be a student of culture. And when you study cul...

Just like people, churches go through life cycles and if you’re part of a church, you’re living in one right now. Steve shares a sobering statistic: in the U.S., 8,000–10,000 churches close every year. Drawing from his work as an executive on the board of Venture Church Network, he takes us behind the scenes to explore why churches close and how understanding a church’s life cycle can reveal its overall health.

One key factor stands...

It’s Tuesday, and that means another great conversation is ready for you! Today, Hailey, Steve, and Rich dive into the topic of churches and their philosophy of ministry, the driving force behind a church’s health and longevity. The church doesn’t belong to “us”; it belongs to Jesus. When that focus shifts, things can quickly go off track.

They explore the many different approaches churches can take (there’s not always a clear right...

It’s a new episode of Resident Strangers! Be honest — have you ever withheld the truth from someone because you didn’t think they could handle it? Or have you joked around with your friends but made one sarcastic comment that went too far? Maybe you’ve been caught up in gossiping. Whatever the case may be, we all have misused the power of our words. What we say has the power to affect people. God knows this, and He knows our sinful...

Welcome back to Resident Strangers! This episode covers how to read and interpret the Old Testament and the New Testament. We should read both parts of the Bible a bit differently since they have different purposes. The team explains these purposes and the nuances with how we should interpret and apply certain scripture to our lives. In the Sabbath episode (linked below), we mentioned the Old Covenant or the law, so we further disc...

Welcome back to Resident Strangers! Today, we are expanding on a topic we’ve mentioned a lot on this podcast, and that is taking verses out of context. We dive into some of the most-used verses out of context and break them down to understand what they actually mean. As Steve says, context is king when it comes to understanding scripture. It’s important to study the context and original audience of bible passages so we aren’t misun...

Welcome back to Resident Strangers! This episode is all about living on mission! How do we obey the Great Commission? What does it mean to be a missionary? Living on mission means sharing the gospel and making disciples, which is living like Jesus. When we think of living on mission or being a missionary, we typically think of being a missionary overseas. These trips are important and effective, but we are also called to live on mi...