Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

Is Jesus the Defining Characteristic of Your Life?

July 10th, 2019  |  36 mins 27 secs

branches, catholic, catholic community, community, dave vanvickle, evangelization, evangelize, gomer, hospitality, jesus, john 15, michael gormley, ministry, parish, parish ministry, vine

Dave “Don’t Fear the Reaper” Van Vickle and I are talking about how to keep Jesus at the heart of your ministry and your life. Today’s totally made up middle name for Dave is brought to you by listener Lina., who also asks the questions that we are answering in this show - thank you Lina! We’re talking about the vine, the branches, and the backyard … (Dave bought a new house). We start with how to open your home to engage the culture and build community and then get to a question from Lina who asks, “What are the practical steps to stay grafted onto the vine when you’ve been sent to work out in the vineyard?” In other words, how do we keep Jesus as the defining characteristic of our life when we feel called to go off and do great things on our own or within our parish?

We Don’t Need Christianity to Be Popular, We Need to Make Disciples

July 3rd, 2019  |  46 mins 15 secs

catholic, catholic church, catholic parish, catholic prayer, conversion, dave vanvickle, disciples, evangelization, evangelize, gomer, gospel, gospel truth, michael gormley, ministry, parish, prayer groups, repentance, unashamed of the gospel, unfiltered christianity, watering down the gospel

We want people to convert to the Catholic Church not because it’s a popular thing to do, but because they have a genuine experience of God’s love and truth through the Church. This means we can’t water down the gospel. Dave “Lay Assistant to Exorcists” VanVickle and I talk about this vital aspect of winning hearts for Christ, as well as the importance of repentance. On a more practical note, we also talk about how to start intercessory prayer groups.

Waking the Dead: Transforming a Heart of Stone

June 26th, 2019  |  33 mins 23 secs

catholic, catholic church, catholic ministry, community, conversion, dave vanvickle, evangelization, evangelize, gomer, gospel, michael gormley, ministry, parish, youth ministry

Dave VanVickle (that’s right, no nickname today) and I are waking the dead! We’re talking about how to really reach people through evangelization. Not just a short moment of emotional connection that fades the next day, but a true conversion where a person reorients their life to God.

10 Principles of Spiritual Warfare

May 29th, 2019  |  22 mins 26 secs

angels, catholic, catholic community, catholic parish, catholic youth ministry, dave vanvickle, demons, devil, dre, evangelization, gomer, ministry, parish, religious education, spiritual warfare, spiritual warrior

There’s good news and bad news. Bad news: Gomer is out today, so no fun nicknames. Good news: this episode is all about equipping you for spiritual warfare and fighting the kingdom of evil. Spiritual warfare and evangelization go hand-in-hand. Turns out the devil doesn’t like it when you try to win souls for Christ. Acknowledging the reality of spiritual warfare is an important first step. Once we realize that we’re fighting battles everyday, we can use these principles to guide the way.

Being a Leader in Evangelization

May 15th, 2019  |  50 mins

advice for priests, catholic, catholic evangelization, catholic leaders, catholic ministry, catholic parish, evangelization, evangelize, how to be a leader, leadership, parish, parish life, priest, spread the gospel

We need leaders in the Church. If you want ministries at your parish, that aren’t happening (or aren’t going very well) this may be your que to step up as a leader in evangelization. In this episode, we talk about how priests, lay employees, and volunteers can be leaders in their own right, and you don’t have to wait for someone to formally empower you to lead others.

Easter, Discipleship, and the Resurrection

April 24th, 2019  |  8 mins 52 secs

catholic, catholic church, catholicism, disciple, discipleship, easter, easter 2019, easter reflection, evangelization, evangelize, evangelizing, jesus christ, resurrection, what it means to be a disciple

Hallelujah! It's the Easter Octave and I for one am glad Christ rose from the dead. This week it's just me, Mike "Gomer" Gormley, your humble co-host of EKSB. I wanted to offer you fine folks an Easter message on discipleship and the Resurrection. Our regular show will return next week! Happy Easter!

Kerygma and Parish Touch Points

April 17th, 2019  |  39 mins 3 secs

apologetics, catechists, catholic, catholic church, catholic education, catholicism, dave vanvickle, evangelization, evangelize, evangelizing, kerygma, mike gormley, parish, parish volunteeers, religious education, spreading the faith, youth minister

Calling all DREs, catechists, youth ministers, and parish volunteers! Have we got a show for you. (Yes, that was a VeggieTales reference.) We start off today answering some tough questions about the kerygma, and then pivot to ways you can infuse evangelization into programs your parish already has like baptism prep, marriage prep, and religious education. Our advice isn’t the only way to do it, but it is a (pretty darn good) way to do it. How do you evangelize at your parish? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave.

Evangelizing and Morality: Birth Control and Same-Sex Attraction

March 20th, 2019  |  42 mins 16 secs

abortion, bible, birth control, catholic, christ, contraception, evangelization, gospel, gospel message, holy, jesus, mike and dave, moral issues, moral living, morality, prolife, same-sex attraction, scripture, talking about god

We tackle the biggest, most complicated, stickiest moral issues–contraception and same-sex attraction. How is a Catholic evangelist to approach such a minefield when proclaiming the gospel? In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” So we know that we have to tell people about moral issues, but we need to make sure we’re doing it in a way that actually helps. We talk about when, how, and why to bring these issues up, and examples of times these strategies have actually worked (we promise we’re not using you as guinea pigs).
We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your story, question, or comment–or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave.

How to Share the Faith BOLDLY

March 13th, 2019  |  38 mins 35 secs

be bold, be brave, catholic, catholic church, christianity, christians, evangelization, faith, gospel message, gospel truth, how to be bold, mike and dave, share the faith, spread the good news

Mike and Dave give practical advice about how to get over that awkward feeling and share the Faith BOLDLY. Telling someone the good news about Jesus isn’t hard ... if you really, truly believe it. You’re not imposing your arbitrary morality and spirituality on someone, you are proposing to them the truth of God’s love for them and their elevated status as creatures made in the image and likeness of God. Like Mike says, “If you discovered the cure to cancer, and you kept it to yourself–you would be a monster ...We have even greater news, but so often we keep it quiet.” Mike also gives solid advice to a listener who asks about how to talk to her husband, who is a Muslim, about Christianity.

Christ and Culture: How to Be in the World but Not of the World

February 27th, 2019  |  44 mins 49 secs

ascension press, be in the world but not of the world verse, christ and culture, christian community, christian life, evangelization, evangelization podcast, every knee shall bow podcast, john 17:16-26, richard niebuhr

What does it mean to be in the world but not of the world and how does this affect evangelization?

Many people assume there are two ways to approach this notion.

On one side is the thought of Christ against culture—that to be loyal to Jesus or the Church I need to run completely away from the world.
On the other side is the Christ of culture—that Jesus is the peak and pinnacle of all culture’s greatest desires, aspirations, and hopes.

Which one is right? What balance should we strike?

Today, Mike and Dave take these two basic concepts and break them down into practical, real life situations. They explain what we should do in regards to the world around us and stress the importance of finding the distinctive Christ element that sets your life apart. We walk a delicate line being in the world and not of it, but Mike and Dave make this line a bit easier to see.