The Pilgrim's Perspective

How Do We Handle Pride Month?? | Ep 19

It's June. And if you're a pastor, a church leader, or just a follower of Jesus trying to figure out how to love people well while holding to what the Bible says — this episode is for you.Joe Moates and Pastor Justin Cooper sat down to tackle one of the most loaded conversations in our culture right now: What does the church actually do with Pride Month? Not the political version of that question. The pastoral one.How do you preach this without losing people you're trying to reach? What do you say when someone looks you in the eye and asks you to endorse something you can't? How do you protect your kids and your congregation from a culture that is discipling them 24 hours a day?The Bible has answers. They're just not always easy to deliver. But silence has never been the faithful option.#pride #pridemonth #pridelove

What will Actually Grow Your Church | Ep 18

Is Sunday School still relevant — or have connection points and small groups taken over? In this episode, we dig into the real differences between Sunday School, connection points, small groups, and other discipleship models to help your church figure out what actually works. We talk about how to grow a Sunday School class, what it takes to build a genuine culture within that class, and why the how matters just as much as the what when it comes to connecting people in the local church. Whether you're a Sunday School teacher, a pastor trying to figure out your discipleship strategy, or someone who just wants to see their church grow deeper — this one's for you. #PilgrimsPerspective #SundaySchool #ChurchGrowth #Discipleship #ChurchLife

Contemporary Music and the Church | Ep 17

The church has a music problem — and most pastors won't say it out loud. What happened to the hymns that carried the weight of doctrine? What happened to congregational singing that wasn't a concert? Somewhere between the 1980s and now, church leadership made a decision: if the world has a sound, the church should sound like it too. And in chasing relevance, they handed the pulpit mic to Hillsong, Bethel Music, and the CCM machine — movements built more on emotional manipulation and theological ambiguity than on the Word of God. In this episode of The Pilgrim's Perspective, Joe and Pastor Justin Cooper pull the curtain back on the contemporary worship industry. We're not just talking about personal preference. We're talking about what God actually said about the music He accepts — and what He rejects. From Amos 5:23, where God tells Israel "Take away from me the noise of your songs", to Colossians 3:16, where Paul commands that the Word of Christ dwell richly in song — the Bible sets a standard. And the modern church has abandoned it.

Creating and Defending a Culture | Ep 16

Every church has a culture. The question is whether you built it — or whether it just happened to you.In this episode, Pastor Justin, and Joe Moates get real about one of the most overlooked responsibilities of church leadership: intentionally shaping the environment where the Gospel takes root. Culture isn't a vibe. It's not your logo or your worship style. It's what people feel the moment they walk through the door — and what they say about your church when no one's listening.They break down what a healthy church culture actually looks like, what quietly kills it, and why most churches are reacting to their culture instead of leading it. If you're a pastor, elder, deacon, or anyone serious about the local church, this one's for you.

The Machine in the Room: What AI Is Doing to Your Faith, Family, and Future | Ep 16

Artificial Intelligence is no longer coming — it's already here, and it's already inside your home, your church, your teenager's phone, and your marriage. In this episode of The Pilgrim's Perspective, Joe, Pastor Justin, and Joe Moates tackle one of the most urgent conversations Christians need to be having: What does a biblically grounded faith look like in the age of AI?They break down the real dangers — from a Florida teenager who died by suicide after forming an emotional bond with a chatbot, to AI-fueled romance scams costing Americans over $1.3 billion, to churches quietly replacing pastoral care with algorithmic advice. But they also refuse to throw the whole thing out. They walk through the ways AI is actually being used for good — in ministry, evangelism, families, and discipleship.