Podcast
Pastor Plek's Podcast
Hosted by Pastor Plek · EN
Pastor Chris Plekenpol deals with Faith, Culture, and everything in between. Recording from Austin, TX, Pastor Plek deals with many of the issues that he faces pastoring in a post-Christian environment. He takes questions from his congregation and beyond to help Christians navigate culture from the Christian perspective.
16episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
From Victim to Victory
1w ago01:01:44Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.Lydia Vadez doesn’t tell a polished story. She tells the true one, the kind that starts in survival mode and slowly learns what safety feels like. We sit down and trace her journey from a childhood marked by physical abuse, secrecy, and being blamed for things she couldn’t control, all the way to the moment she realized she knew the name Jesus without knowing Jesus personally. If you’ve ever carried pain while still trying to be “the strong one” for everyone else, you’ll feel seen here.We also talk about adulthood wounds that repeat old patterns: craving love, ending up in domestic violence, and living on constant defense because trust feels dangerous. Then motherhood turns everything up. Lydia opens up about raising her kids largely on her own, the pressure of providing, and the heartbreak of watching both of her daughters attempt suicide during COVID after relentless bullying. It’s a direct conversation about teen mental health, suicide warning signs, school bullying, racism, and what it looks like to keep showing up when you’re exhausted.What makes Lydia’s story different is the shift in how she responds to life. She describes learning to run to the Father instead of running to fear, finding a church community that keeps pursuing her, and practicing prayer when money is tight and problems are loud. We also dig into forgiveness as a form of freedom, not denial, and how her goal now is to leave her kids something stronger than security: God in their hearts.If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs hope, and leave a review so more people can find these stories of faith, healing, and real life.Support the show
Transcribe →From Communist Russia to the Holy Land
2w ago01:02:18Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.A gospel booklet shows up in the mail behind the Iron Curtain and it changes a teenager’s life forever. Sergei grew up in Belarus under the USSR, where the aftershock of World War II, state propaganda, and restricted Christianity shaped everything from what people believed to what they feared. We talk through what “freedom” looks like when the government can track believers, disrupt services, and fine families for worship. Then the story jumps forward to Israel. Sergei moved in 2021, started building life as a tour guide, and soon found himself living through October 7 and the long months of alarms that followed. He explains Iron Dome in everyday language, what safe rooms and community shelters are actually like, and why Israelis keep working, parenting, and praying even when sirens become part of the weekly routine. We also get into the human side of it: meeting neighbors in a shelter, watching kids serve in the IDF, and learning the difference between fear and caution. We zoom out on the headlines too, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and why phrases like “from the river to the sea” can hide a much deeper rejection of Israel’s right to exist. Sergei shares history from the 1947 partition plan, describes how propaganda spreads, and offers a Bible-shaped way to pray for Israel and for hearts to recognize Yeshua as Messiah. If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it.Support the show
Transcribe →Grief And Grace
3w ago00:57:35Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.A single moment can split your life into “before” and “after” and you do not get to vote on the timing. Don and Susan Thayer know that kind of turning point firsthand, and they share their story with a level of honesty most people only admit in a counselor’s office: childhood trauma, adoption, ministry life, and the sudden loss of their 19-year-old son, Parker, during a family vacation.We talk about what grief actually does, not the inspirational version. Don describes anger at God, the brutal swing from shock to sorrow, and the scary places his mind went when the pain would not let up. Susan explains the difference between knowing Bible verses and having them hold you up when your face is on the floor, plus how healing from sexual abuse can resurface years later inside marriage and why patient love matters. If you have ever wondered whether your faith can survive tragedy, this conversation stays with the tension instead of papering it over.Then the story turns outward to Chiang Mai, Thailand and a business as mission model built around coffee. Through P-Rex Coffee, they partner with local believers serving Hill Tribe communities, supporting a Christian dorm, discipleship, and sustainable livelihoods for coffee farmers. It is grief and grace in motion, with a mission that keeps the gospel close to the ground and the product connected to real people.If this resonates, subscribe, share this with someone walking through loss, and leave a review so more people can find stories like this. What part of their journey did you most connect with?Support the show
Transcribe →When Popes Speak And Presidents Post
Apr 1600:32:09Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.384: The news cycle keeps daring Christians to pick a side fast, speak loud, and “own” someone online. We slow it down and ask better questions: what does Scripture actually say about rulers, war, and the temptation to turn political leaders into religious symbols?We start with Pope Francis, Vatican II, and the claim that Christians and Muslims are essentially seeking the same God, then pivot to war and morality through Romans 13 and just war theory. When people press us for hot takes on Iran or any conflict, we admit the limits of what we know and argue for a posture of humility, prayer for leaders, and trust in God’s providence. That isn’t passivity; it’s refusing to play omniscient commentator.Then we tackle the Christian celebrity moments that confuse people the most: Paula White’s over-the-top comparison of Trump to Jesus, and the viral AI image that makes Trump look like Christ healing someone. We talk blasphemy, the second commandment, Psalm 2, and why leaders still have a duty to honor God even if they don’t believe. We also dig into JD Vance, the Pope, and ordo amoris “ordered loves” to explain why Christian ethics includes real duties to family and nation without erasing love for the world.If you care about faith and politics, Christian worldview, government and the Bible, and how the church should speak in public without losing the gospel, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us: what’s the most faithful way to pray for leaders you disagree with?Text your questions to us at 737-231-0605 or visit pastorplek.com. We talk faith, culture, and everything in between.Support the show: https://wbcc.churchcenter.com/givingSupport the show
Transcribe →Sock Disciples And The Two Year Debt Diet
Apr 1601:00:15Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.383: A certified letter can do what years of denial never will. When David Hennig opened mail warning him he was years behind on taxes and could lose his home. The “nice life” illusion cracked, and the real story surfaced: pride, hidden debt, emotional shutdown, and a marriage that quietly ran out of road.David walks through how he went from a no-faith background to a slow, honest Christian testimony shaped by accountability and hard choices. He shares what it was like to carry $70,000 of debt across family, friends, and the government, how an unexpected intervention forced him to name every number, and why moving in with his parents as a grown man became the humbling reset he needed. We also dig into the moment his wife, Danielle, asked for God to be at the center of their relationship and how trying churches eventually led to a message that felt uncomfortably personal, followed by baptism and a gradual shift in priorities.If you’re wrestling with debt, rebuilding trust, or trying to lead your family with faith and confidence, press play, then share this with someone who needs a reset. Subscribe, leave a review, and text us your questions at 737 231 0605.Support the show
Transcribe →From Prison to Purpose
Mar 500:52:20Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.382: A single question in a prison bunk rewired Cameron’s future: “Are you safe?” From there, everything changed. What began as a teenager’s slide into weed, cocaine, and quick money hardened into years of county time and a near-OD his own father—an EMS captain—responded to. But that stark wake-up call in a trustee camp reframed safety as responsibility: provide for your daughter, build trust, and walk a straighter road with God. The turnaround didn’t arrive with fanfare; it came with early mornings, blue-collar hustle, and thousands of small, boring, holy decisions.If this story moved you, hit follow, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people find the show.Text your questions to us at 737-231-0605 or visit pastorplek.com. We talk faith, culture, and everything in between.Support the show: https://wbcc.churchcenter.com/givingSupport the show
Transcribe →Shadows to Light, Part Three
Feb 1900:38:18Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.381: A war zone will test your body, your marriage, and your faith—and sometimes all three at once. Bruno DeCanto sits down with us to unpack a wild, unfiltered journey: anti-trafficking missions on Ukraine’s front lines, a marriage unraveling under pressure, and a stage 3 cancer diagnosis he hid so he could keep rescuing kids. What follows is a raw account of near-ruin, unexpected redemption, and the strange places courage can take you.If this moved you, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review to help others find these stories of faith on the front lines.Text your questions to us at 737-231-0605 or visit pastorplek.com. We talk faith, culture, and everything in between.Support the show: https://wbcc.churchcenter.com/givingSupport the show
Transcribe →Shadows to Light, Part Two
Feb 500:41:48Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.380: What does it take to move toward the world’s darkest places and bring people back alive? Covert missionary Bruno DeCanto is back to continue sharing a wild, human story that runs from South Sudan’s conflict zones to Ethiopia’s Tigray region and into the heart of Ukraine’s war. The mission is simple and brutal: extract the vulnerable, outmaneuver traffickers, and keep preaching hope even when the air is thick with dust and gunpowder.If you care about anti-trafficking, faith under fire, and the real cost of rescue, this story will stay with you. Listen, share with a friend who needs courage today, and if it helps you see hope more clearly, subscribe and leave a review so others can find it.Support the show
Transcribe →Shadows To Light
Jan 2900:49:00Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.379: A nameless voice, a battered past, and a purpose that won’t quit. Bruno sits with us to unpack how a jailhouse encounter with Jesus turned a prize fighter into a quiet force against trafficking from Oaxaca and Panama City to the airstrips of South Sudan. This isn’t a highlight reel built on bravado; it’s a ground-level look at the systems of exploitation, the cost to families who fight them, and the small faithful steps that move people from danger to safety.If this conversation expanded your view of missions, trafficking, and what real courage looks like, share it with a friend, subscribe for Part Two, and text us your questions at 737-231-0605. Your voice shapes where we go next.Support the show
Transcribe →From Rape to Redemption with Matt Badgley
Dec 1800:46:47Tap to summarizeHave a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.378: Matt Badgley's life began with unimaginable trauma - conceived through rape to a drug-addicted mother. His childhood was marked by poverty, abuse, and abandonment, leading to a suicide attempt at 14. However, God intervened through Young Life ministry, where Matt encountered the unconditional love of his Heavenly Father. Today, he's breaking generational cycles by raising godly children with his wife Brittany. His story demonstrates that no situation is too broken for God's redemption, and our worst experiences can become the foundation for ministry and hope for others.Text your questions to us at 737-231-0605 or visit pastorplek.com. We talk faith, culture, and everything in between.Like, share, and subscribe! We love seeing and responding to your reviews and comments.Support the show: https://wbcc.churchcenter.com/givingSupport the show
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