What do you do with a Bible story that doesn't sound like the God you know? In Ezra 9–10, a godly, Bible-loving priest orders a mass divorce, sending vulnerable women and children away, and the book just ends. Was he right? Wes McAdams and Barrett Bingham wrestle with one of Scripture's most troubling passages: how to tell when the Bible is prescribing and when it's merely describing, what the prophet Malachi might say about it all, and why well-meaning, God-fearing people so often make bad situations worse. Plus, listener questions about staying friends with someone practicing demonology, wrestling with sins committed after baptism, and loving LGBTQ neighbors without compromising the truth. If you've ever read a Bible story and thought, "That can't be right," this conversation is for you.

This week's full sermon, "Ezra Rebuilds the People," can be found at: https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/ezra-rebuilds-the-people/

Ever feel like you did everything right, and it's still not enough? The returned exiles rebuilt the temple, but it didn't look like the good old days and they didn't live happily ever after. Sound familiar?

This week Wes and Matt discuss Sunday's sermon, and a new series through Ezra and Nehemiah called Unfinished Business. They talk about how disillusionment quietly slides into discouragement and distraction. They dig into why churches — and individuals — reach for what's easy instead of what's hard, what it means to hold grief and joy in the same hand during worship, and why every generation is tempted to believe its moment is the grand finale. If you've ever wondered whether faithfulness is worth it when nothing seems finished, this conversation meets you there.

This conversation was prompted by the sermon, "Zerubbabel Rebuilds the Temple" (preached Sunday, July 5). You can find that full sermon here: https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/zerubbabel-rebuilds-the-temple/

"I'm trying to forgive myself," it's something many of us have said. However, here's a question that might stop you cold: where does the Bible actually tell you to forgive yourself? In his Father's Day sermon, Wes made the case that it doesn't. That may sound controversial until you realize how freeing it is to realize that you don't have the authority to extend forgiveness to, or withhold forgiveness from, yourself.

In this episode, Wes and Barrett unpack that surprisingly liberating claim from 1 John 1:5–10. If you're stuck replaying old failures, trying to convince God you're worth saving, or wondering whether your sin is somehow the exception, this conversation could be incredibly encouraging. The way out isn't self-forgiveness, it's self-forgetfulness.

This conversation revolves around the sermon, "Don't Freak Out When You Mess Up." Which can be found at: https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/when-you-mess-up/

Someone tells you you're wrong — and instantly your chest tightens, your jaw sets, your defenses go up. Why does being corrected feel like being attacked? And what are we supposed to do with that flash of anger when it hits us in our own homes, with the people we love most?

This week on the P.S. Podcast, Wes McAdams and Barrett Bingham circle back to Sunday's "Don't Freak Out" sermon from 1 Peter 3:1–7 — a passage often weaponized, badly misread, and quietly avoided. They dig into a listener's honest confession ("it triggers my anger"), the difference between feeling attacked and actually being attacked, and how Jesus responded when he was reviled. There's also a hard look at how this text has been misused in marriages. If criticism sends you spiraling, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

This conversation revolves around the sermon, "Don't Freak Out: When Someone Says You're Wrong" https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/when-someone-says-you-are-wrong/

What do you do when someone you love is doing something wrong; not just annoying, but genuinely sinful? Most of us default to one of two extremes: we either avoid the conversation entirely or we talk about the person to everyone except them. Neither path leads anywhere good. In this episode of the P.S. Podcast, Wes and Matt unpack Jesus' teaching in Matthew 18 about confronting sin in the family, and the conversation goes places you might not expect. What does it actually mean to approach someone with the "mind of Christ"? What's the difference between gossip and accountability? And what do you do when someone brings you gossip? The answers challenge some deeply ingrained habits; and they all keep coming back to one thing.

You can listen to the full sermon, "Don't Freak Out When There's Sin in the Family" at https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/when-theres-sin-in-the-family/

In this episode of the P.S. Podcast, Barrett and Wes unpack Sunday’s sermon from Philippians 4:2–9, continuing the “Don’t Freak Out” series by talking honestly about stress, anxiety, and family life in light of the gospel. They discuss why so many Christians feel guilty for being anxious, how passages like “be anxious for nothing” have often been misapplied, and why Paul’s call to rejoice is only good news when it is firmly “in the Lord.” Wes explains what it means to “agree in the Lord,” how to put our conflicts, stress, and family tensions into the larger context of God’s kingdom, and why we must learn both to lament and to rejoice as people of hope. Along the way they explore the difference between therapeutic and theological reading of Scripture, how the gospel offers more than “cheap” reassurances about temporary circumstances, and how real hope lets us hold joy in one hand and grief in the other.

This conversation is based on the recent sermon, "Don't Freak Out: When Stress is Overwhelming." You can listen to that full sermon at https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/when-stress-is-overwhelming/

Everyone knows the sting of a broken promise. Whether it's a friend who let you down, a spouse who didn't follow through, a leader who failed to deliver. That kind of disappointment has a way of unraveling us. But what if the real problem isn't the broken promise itself? What if it's where we placed our trust to begin with?

Psalm 146 has a provocative word for people-pleasers, idealists, and anyone who's ever put too much faith in a political leader or a loved one: don't trust in princes. Wes and Matt dig into what that really means, not just for governments and authorities, but for marriages, families, and churches, and wrestle with the honest tension between holding people accountable and not falling apart when they fall short. How do you hold grief in one hand and joy in the other? This conversation might change how you think about trust.

Listen to this Sunday's sermon, "Don't Freak Out: When Promises Are Broken" (Psalm 146) at https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/when-promises-are-broken/

In this episode, Wes McAdams and Barrett Bingham dig into the book of Habakkuk after Wes's Mother's Day sermon left him questioning whether he'd chosen the right text. They discuss plans falling apart, complaining to God, choosing patience over panic, and what it really means to rejoice in a Savior when the situation gives you nothing to celebrate.

Listen to Sunday's sermon, "When Plans Fall Apart" (Habakkuk 3:17-19) at https://www.ccmcdermott.org/sermons/when-plans-fall-apart/