Live Free with Josh Howerton

What does it look like to contend for your faith when culture is shifting, pressure is rising, and following Jesus may cost you something?

Pastor Josh Howerton sits down with Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell for a raw and deeply personal conversation about Philip’s journey from the streets of Queens and Rikers Island to surrendering his life to Christ and eventually becoming a pastor. Philip shares how God transformed his life, shaped his preaching, and taught him that faithfulness—not platform, influence, or recognition—is the true measure of ministry.

The conversation also turns to some of today’s most controversial issues as Josh and Philip discuss biblical authority, spiritual deception, Islam, politics, persecution, end-times theology, and why they believe Christians must contend for biblical truth. Through it all, Philip challenges believers to reject apathy and faithfully represent Christ wherever God has placed them.

In this episode:

Philip Anthony Mitchell’s powerful testimony of coming to Christ

Why faithful ministry often begins in obscurity

Why Philip preaches with such urgency

What it means to “contend for the faith”

Biblical authority in an age of spiritual confusion

Josh and Philip’s concerns about Islam, religious freedom, and cultural change

Their perspective on end-times prophecy and the return of Christ

How to remain faithful through criticism and opposition

Why your mission field is wherever God has placed you

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

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📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

Does the Bible contradict itself? What should you do when someone points to two passages that seem impossible to reconcile?

Pastors Carlos and Paul tackle one of the biggest questions Christians and skeptics ask about Scripture. Starting in 2 Timothy 3, they unpack what Christians actually mean when they say the Bible is inspired and trustworthy—and then put those claims to the test.

From different Gospel accounts and genealogies to faith versus works and supposed scientific errors, this conversation offers a practical framework for approaching difficult passages without ignoring honest questions.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why the Bible should shape how we see the world

What “God-breathed” Scripture actually means

The difference between a contradiction and a difference

How context, audience, genre, and authorial intent affect interpretation

How to approach alleged numerical, historical, chronological, theological, and scientific contradictions

Why Paul and James don't contradict each other on faith and works

What to do when difficult questions begin shaking your confidence

Why Scripture is meant to transform you—not simply inform you

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

💬 This week’s giveaway: Comment HAT

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

How do you actually study the Bible—and how do you know whether a spiritual experience is really from God?

In this episode of LIVE FREE, Pastors Josh Howerton, Carlos Erazo, and Paul Cunningham unpack 2 Timothy 2 and get practical about becoming people who know God’s Word and live it out. Carlos and Paul also share powerful reflections from their trip to Israel, including what Gethsemane and Galilee taught them about Jesus, His sacrifice, and the ministry happening right in front of us.

Then the conversation gets practical: How do you avoid pointless Christian arguments without compromising truth? How much power do your words really have? What are the best ways to study Scripture? And when someone claims to have seen heaven or experienced a supernatural vision, how should Christians respond?

In this episode:

Why Jesus remains faithful even when we fail

How to know which theological disagreements are worth fighting over

Why your words can bring life or death into your relationships

Four practical methods for studying the Bible

How to use SOAP and inductive Bible study

Why biblical knowledge requires time and intentionality

How to test visions and near-death experiences against Scripture

Why God’s Word—not personal experience—remains our authority

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

💬 This week’s giveaway: Comment HAT

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

What if some of the “lost” or “banned” gospels actually tell us more about the real Jesus than the Bible does? It’s a claim that continues to resurface—and a recent viral conversation on The Joe Rogan Experience brought it back into the spotlight.

In this bonus episode of LIVE FREE, Pastors Carlos and Paul react to claims about the Gnostic Gospels and examine the historical evidence behind Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Were books about Jesus intentionally suppressed by the Church? Were the Gnostic Gospels actually written first? And can we trust the New Testament to give us an accurate picture of the historical Jesus?

Along the way, they also discuss why Christians should pursue truth without becoming hostile toward people asking sincere questions—and why getting Jesus right matters.

In this episode:

What the Gnostic Gospels actually are

Why they were rejected by the early Church

When the biblical Gospels were written compared to the Gnostic texts

The evidence supporting Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Why the full character of Jesus matters

How to respond when popular voices make questionable claims about Christianity

Why the real Jesus continues to transform lives 2,000 years later

If you’ve ever wondered whether books were removed from the Bible, whether the Church hid alternative accounts of Jesus, or how confident we can be in the Gospels, this conversation is for you.

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

Should Christian parents ever remove a child from their will? And is an inheritance something children are entitled to—or something parents are responsible to steward before God?

In this episode of LIVE FREE, Pastor Josh reacts to a viral Dave Ramsey conversation with a Christian mother wrestling with whether to leave an inheritance to her adult children. From there, he tackles the deeper biblical questions behind the controversy: stewardship, generational resentment, school choices, socialism, and what parents should do when their children walk away from the values and faith they were raised to embrace.

This isn't about creating a one-size-fits-all rule. It's about learning to think biblically about money, family, responsibility, grace, and the legacy we leave behind.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Whether children are biblically entitled to an inheritance

How stewardship should shape the way Christians think about wealth

Why Christian parents should think carefully about education and discipleship

How Pastor Josh evaluates socialism from a biblical worldview

Why inheritance decisions shouldn't be driven by anger or revenge

How grace and generosity factor into decisions about a rebellious child

How Josh and Jana are approaching inheritance in their own family

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download