TEN FOOT POLE
This podcast is for millennial skeptics, regular Sunday church goers, those who have given up on church, pastors, and explorers just wanting to learn a little more about the big book. Each week Rev. A.J. Houseman and guests will talk about Bible texts from the RCL and digging deeper into aspects of the week's texts that get glossed over or totally ignored in most preaching. The Bible has a lot of parts that are racy, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright horrifying. Let's talk about it.
Episodes
This isn’t your grandmother’s Advent devotional. Advent After Dark’s final episode is a provocative, thoughtful, and surprisingly tender journey into the Bible’s most sensual book: Song of Songs. We unwrap a new layer of sacred desire, embodied spirituality, and poetic longing—inviting listeners to see scripture with fresh eyes and maybe blush a little along the way. It’s love poetry so lush it borders on scandalous. And yet, it’s ...
I feel like you can't have a study about sex and the Bible without diving into David and Bathsheba. Dive into this story with us as we unpack sex, abuse of power, and murder in 2 Samuel 11:2-27 in our third part of our Advent After Dark study!
Discussion Questions:
1. How was this story told to you as a kid?
2. How was Bathsheba’s role portrayed in how you have heard this taught before?
3. Women: what were you taught about “tempti...
Deuteronomy 22:13–21 is one of the Bible’s most disturbing passages about virginity, honor, and punishment—where a woman’s sexual history becomes a public trial, and her body is treated as evidence. For Advent After Dark: Unwrapping Sacred Smut, this text offers a raw lens into purity culture, patriarchy, and the weaponization of sexuality.
Discussion Questions:
1. What were you taught about sex and virginity growing up? Was the Bibl...
Genesis 19:30–38 is one of the Bible’s most unsettling sex stories—Lot’s daughters, believing the world has ended, get their father drunk and sleep with him to preserve their family line. It’s a tale of desperation, incest, and survival, and it’s ripe for exploration in our first episode of Advent After Dark: Unwrapping Sacred Smut.
Discussion Questions:
1. What have you been taught about this story before?
2. What does consent mean ...
Before we begin our Advent After Dark series, let’s talk about the basics. What is sacred? What is profane? What do we put in these categories and how do they affect how we understand the world around us through our Biblical lens? Pastor Kyle and Pastor A.J. ask these hard questions as we prepare for our Advent series. Is sex inherently profane? Or is it a sacred gift from God? Dive in for this off the cuff episode!
Discussion Que...
“Though nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast.” My favorite hymn, Canticle of Turning, lends some wisdom to unpacking our Luke Gospel text for this week. Join Pastor Chris and Pastor A.J. in diving deeper! This is Luke 21:5-19 for Sunday, November 16, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are the fundamental words of wisdom that you experience in Christ?
2. Where do we fail to see our fellow humans as beloved ch...
We dive into what the concept of the resurrection even is. Jesus is challenged by the Sadducees about seven brothers all marrying a woman. In the resurrection, whose wife is she? Jesus’ response is like, “you are totally missing the whole point!” Join Pastor Melissa and Pastor A.J. in talking about Luke 20:27-38 for Sunday, November 9th, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. What is your working theology of the resurrection?
2. What matt...
Jesus gives blessings and woes in this Sermon on the Plain. Some of the things Jesus calls to can make us uncomfortable. Where do we see ourselves in Jesus’ words? Are we the wealthy being casted down? Or the lowly being lifted up? Join Pastor Laura and Pastor A.J. in talking about Luke 6:20-31 for All Saints Sunday. November 2nd, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. Who does Jesus see?
2. Where have you heard the justification that “the...
Welcome back to Ten Foot Pole Podcast with Season 5! We are diving back into the Gospel of Luke until our Advent special series starts! Join Pastor Allison Johnson and Pastor A.J. in talking about prayer. Jesus tells a parable about a couple of guys praying. Is one better than the other? Who? Is anyone’s prayers “better”? Let’s talk it out. Luke 18:9-14 for Sunday, October 26, 2025, not Reformation.
Discussion Questions:
1. How...
Season 4 finale! The pastors talk about a sort of “part 2” to last week’s episode. What are we to set our eyes on? Do we pay attention to Jesus in our midst? Dive in with us on Luke 12:32-40 for Sunday, August 10, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. What theology have you been taught around “where your treasure is there your heart will be also?”
2. How do you feel about the imagery of Jesus being “the robber?”
3. How do you respond to th...
Oh, here we go… the most unpopular topic out there: money. Jesus has some strong opinions about wealth, but there may be more to it than we’ve ever heard in the prosperity gospel or a good stewardship Sunday sermon. Join Pastor A.J. and Pastor Sarah Locke in talking about Luke 12:13-21 for Sunday, August 3, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. Why do you think Jesus tells this parable in response to the man’s question?
2. What is your work...
Today we dive into prayer. What does it mean and how does God respond? We look at the language for prayer that Jesus shares with his disciples in Luke. There are lots of different ways to pray and we find meaning in prayer in all sorts of different ways. What does your prayer journey look like? We look at Luke 11:1-13 for Sunday, July 27, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you formulate your prayers?
2. How do you pray when the...
We’ve all heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan, right? Pastor Becca and Pastor Jon help us get some deeper insight into what each person’s role is in this story. Maybe the Levite and the Priest weren’t so awful? Let’s dive deeper into this classic parable that Jesus shares to talk about loving our neighbors. This episode is on Luke 10:25-37 for Sunday, July 13, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. What do you think the significance of...
In this episode we dive into what good apostles look like, what evangelicalism is and is not. We share stories of accompaniment as a model for mission. This episode talks about Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 for Sunday. July 6, 2025.
Discussion Questions:
1. When have you been a guest of others’ hospitality?
2. What experiences with mission work do you have?
3. What does accompaniment mean to you?
4. What do you feel like is good evangelicali...
In this episode Pastor A.J. is joined by a great panel of guests to share their faith stories and journey with the church through a perilous time. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Delaware-Maryland Synod Assembly in Westminster, Maryland. Tune in to hear their stories!
In our last installment of our Revelation study, we look to the end of the story where we find the grand finale of God’s love being poured out for all and the doors of Heaven being thrown open wide for all to come. We talk about the supposed 144,000 that enter Heaven, aka this great multitude, and the books that will be opened to share God’s grand love. Thank you to all who participated in this study!
Discussion Questions:
1. What is...
Pastor A.J. and Pastor Tuhina talk about the thousand year reign and Satan being put in a cage… then let out. This episode may ask more questions than give answers. What does this mean for our theology to have God have these powers and allow Satan to have a say? Dive in to help us unpack Revelation 20:1-10 for the 4th part in our Revelation study.
Discussion Questions
1. Pastor A.J.’s big question: Why do you think Satan needed to ...
The number of the beast: 666 has been ascribed to many over the course of history. Pastor Eric and Pastor A.J. dive into talking about the two new beasts introduced in Revelation 13, as well as, some gematria and how these numbers have been calculated over the centuries. Who would the author have been originally talking about and why would he have written in code? Join us as we unpack some of these big mysteries!
Discussion Questi...
We are diving into week 2 of our Revelation study. This week we will talk about the first beast in John of Patmos’ vision: the dragon. Join Pastor Chris and Pastor A.J. in unpacking the story of the lady who gives birth, what happens to her child, and the role of the dragon in the divine war. Study guide is available at tenfootpolepodcast.com/revelation
Discussion Questions
1. Have you read or heard this vision before with the preg...
Welcome to our first episode on the book of Revelation in our 5 week study. This week, Dr. Lewis and Pastor A.J. lay out some of the context for what is to come. The book of Revelation may not be even remotely what we have heard in popular culture. It’s not about the end of the world, but rather a word of encouragement for the church. Stay tuned for more on the visions from Revelation!
Discussion Questions
What have you learn...
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