Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

Dave “Velvet Fog” Van Vickle and I dive into history, culture, and politics (oh my!). We talk about three types of culture—pre-Christian, Christian, and post-Christian—and what Catholics can do to navigate the current political climate and evangelize in the culture without getting swept up in it. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “When you get rid of religion, all you have left is politics, and so politics becomes religion.” SHOWNOTES Mark Sayer, evangelical pastor and social commentator - “Post-Christianity is one where the Christian project is continued, but forgetting its sources, a Kingdom without a King.” Sherry Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples - “God has no grandchildren” Mark Sayer - “Every generation can forget God and every generation can remember Him.” St. Pope John Paul II, Memory and Identity: Conversations at the Dawn of a Millennium - “One of the most importan

Dave “Milk and Honey” VanVickle and I are talking about Catholic education, and the opportunities we have to evangelize in and out of the classroom. We love Catholic schools, but so many students who attend leave without any inclination to practice the Faith. Dave and I attempt to identify the root of this problem and talk about what leaders, teachers, and parents can do to evangelize their students and create lifelong disciples. Snippet from the Show “The greatest tendency of our Catholic schools is to teach faith like history—just another liberal arts thing to memorize facts, figures, and dates to get a good grade on the test.” Check out this episode and the shownotes (including the 5 Practical Tips and instructions on how to get Gomer's FREE program) at media.ascensionpress.com

So you’ve got the kerygma down … now what? Dave “I’m Kind of a Big Deal” VanVickle and I talk about how to mature in your faith after an initial proclamation of the gospel. The kerygma is not the end of evangelization, it’s just the beginning. It’s how someone takes the first step to becoming a disciple of Jesus, but we can’t stop there, we have to make sure that we’re preaching, but also teaching. Snippet from the Show “An initial proclamation of the kerygma is not enough. It is the doorway to faith, but once you cross that threshold, you are in the house of faith, and now you must conform your life to Christ.” SHOWNOTES Catechism of the Catholic Church, 89 - “There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.” Pope St. John Paul II in Catechesi Tradendae - “The Church has always cons

Dave “Thunderclap” VanVickle and I are talking to the one and only Mark Hart—author, speaker, and Executive Vice President of Life Teen. We talk about the struggles parishes have to organize a movement of evangelization and the difficulty of training and empowering individuals to spread the gospel. Instead of just telling people to evangelize, Mark is on a mission to teach people to evangelize with a new program—The 99. Featuring Fr. Mike Schmitz, Fr. Josh Johnson, Leah Darrow, Sr. Miriam James Heidland, and more, the program will help parishes start a movement of evangelization in their communities. See more at evangelization.com. Snippet from the Show - “The Church is an organized religion, but we’re painfully disorganized on a parish level.” SHOWNOTES Quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi - “Preach the gospel at all times, when necessary, use words.” Mark’s 4 Practical Tips 1. As part of your morning prayer, ask the Lord for greater awareness of the people he’s putting in your path that day. 2. Pray a

Dave “Too Hot to Handle, Too Cold to Hold” VanVickle and I are focusing on the role of the laity in the Church when it comes to explicit word and deed evangelization. The Church needs the voice of the laity to speak up! Priests can’t go into your office and nuns can’t go into your friend’s house (probably). We are the ones that must carry the Gospel into our homes, schools, jobs, and public places. Snippet from the Show “Catholics were attempting to be modest and self-critical instead of being triumphant … We went from being triumphant and engaging in apologetics to just being apologetic.” Check out the shownotes for today's episode at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow

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? Snippet from the Show “The presence of suffering and persecution is the way that God makes you better, stronger, and woven even tighter with Christ the vine.” Check out the shownotes for today's episode at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbo

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 practical note, we also talk about how to start intercessory prayer groups. Check out today's shownotes at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow (https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-podcasts/every-knee-shall-bow/)

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. Snippet from the Show “Taking someone’s heart of stone to a heart of flesh is a supernatural act. You are making them alive in Christ Jesus. That is a bigger miracle than resurrecting a deceased corpse to natural life.” Check out the shownotes at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow (https://media.ascensionpress.com/podcast/waking-the-dead-transforming-a-heart-of-stone/)

Public speaking to teens: a favorite pastime of … no one. But somebody has to do it, and with some prayer and preparation, your talk can be a great opportunity to change hearts and minds—just look at the fruits that come from Steubenville Conferences. Dave “Father of Wildlings” VanVickle and I go over how to prepare a talk for high school students that will bring the house down. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “Christ is the one who destroys the walls of hostility that we keep building up. Every new barrier we put up, Christ is the one who tears them down. God is pursuing us.” SHOWNOTES How to prepare a talk for high schoolers * Select a piece of Scripture: The Word of God is the only thing that gives real clarity in the world. * Be yourself: teens appreciate authenticity * Speak to their experience. 5 Practical Tips 1. Find three narratives where Jesus pursues (or talks about)

It’s difficult to spread the gospel if you haven’t read it. Dave “Too Hot to Handle, Too Cold to Hold” VanVickle and I talk about why it’s vital to regularly read Scripture and how to immerse yourself in the Word. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “The most effective evangelists are those who are steeped in the Word. Evangelization is the fruit of encounter, meditation, and study of Sacred Scripture. It’s an overflow of what’s in your heart because of your total commitment to the Word of God.” SHOWNOTES If using Scripture to prepare a talk: * Take the theme and look for the scriptural narrative around it. * Let the Scripture narrative guide the talk, don’t use the Scriptures just to prove your point. * It is important to be regularly reading, studying, and praying the Scriptures in order to feel comfortable with them. If worried about misrepresenting Scripture or using it the wrong

It’s hard to start proclaiming the kerygma, “God loves you and has a plan for your life”, when someone doesn’t believe in God. Dave “All Thriller No Filler” VanVickle and I wade into the world of apologetics as we address a listener's question about how to evangelize an atheist. Our faith is rational. Don’t fear questions about what we believe, because at some point over the past two thousand years, that question has already been asked and answered. We just have to find it. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “Catholic students need to understand that faith is not irrational. We don’t leave our minds at the door. That’s the Catholic tradition, it’s OK to question.” SHOWNOTES Christianity has reasons for its beliefs. Start with Jesus as a man, his birth and resurrection. Pray and ask others to pray with you for conversion. Ask: What is your moral absolute? What do you base your mora

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. Snippet from the Show “Spiritual warfare is more than a metaphor for the spiritual life, it’s a reality ... We’re all at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil.” 10 Practical Principles of Spiritual Warfare 1. By his passion and death, Christ won a definitive victory over Satan and the kingdom of darkness and any personal victory we have is a participation in the victory Jesus won and gave to his church. 2. The devil and the fallen angels play a mysterious role in the drama of salvation. The battle that they wage again

Today Dave “Open Book, Closed Heart” VanVickle and I talk about extraordinary and ordinary means of fighting the devil, which leads (naturally) into a conversation on evangelization and how to lead when you’re not in charge. Snippet from the Show “One person can bring about dramatic change at a parish.” We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. SHOWNOTES How do you lead when you are not in a leadership position? * Try to be close friends with the current staff on evangelization teams. * Try to win the front of “what is the truth” and make sure everyone is on the same page on what they believe. * Give talks on what the life of catechists and parish workers should look like. * Encourage the use of Scripture and the new Catechism for formation. * Give talks on how to have a personal relationship with Jesus in the context of the Catholic Church. * Offer a talk on the history of the Catholic Church in America since

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. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “The word ‘leader’ can be intimidating, but the Holy Spirit is the primary agent of evangelization. You’re just the lead follower of the Holy Spirit.” SHOWNOTES Priests * The homily needs to be kerygmatic. * Give a call to action every homily. * Win your staff. * Make sure your staff is on board with the mission. * The parish priests need to be available to the people, especially for sacraments. * Try to imitate St. John Vianney. Lay Employees * It is poor form to give a class or work

Dave “Thunderdome” Van Vickle and I are talking about the importance of digital evangelization. If we are trying to meet people where they are, we need to be online. We cover best practices for parishes and individuals to spread the Word on the web, as well as examples of things we’ve seen work really well (like this podcast). We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Check out the shownotes and resources at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow

We have a great show today. Not that we don’t usually, but today is especially good. We start with a question from a parish leader about intercessory prayer groups (Dave’s group is #goals). Then we cover what individuals and parishes can do for the newly converted and what tools we have for someone after their initial “yes” to Jesus. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “Walking alone is the greatest way for the devil to destroy your newfound faith.” SHOWNOTES Questions from our listeners: How do you start an intercessory prayer group? What resources are there? 1. Start by finding the people who are already praying. 2. Give each intercessor a job description (example: one Memorare a week, holy hour a month). 3. Add fasting and prayer days with sign-ups (daily, weekly, monthly). 4. Plan a monthly holy hour where we pray for the parish. 5. Boost prayer life through monthly conferences.

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!

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 eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. Snippet from the Show “People aren’t going to surrender their life to Christ if we’re hitting them over the head with moral issues and their failure … but there is no gospel without repentance.” Check out this episode at ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow (https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/everykneeshallbow/) for shownotes and resources from the show.

You’ve got frequently asked questions, we’ve got infrequently given answers. We tackle questions about what to do when you encounter someone purchasing the Plan B pill, what to do when people (especially family members) give dumb reasons for why they don’t go to church, the role of Mary in evangelization, and talking to family members about having a sacramental wedding when they’re angry with the Church and you’re long distance. (Whew.) We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. _Snippet from the Show “We so desire the conversion of our friends and relatives and neighbors that we feel disappointed when the outcomes haven’t happened. But the success is in the evangelizing. The conversion is up to Jesus. One sows the seed, the other waters, God alone gives the growth.”_ Check out the show on ascensionpress.com/everykneeshallbow to browse the resources from the show.

We’re talking to the one and only Jeff Cavins, Catholic speaker and author of the new book, The Activated Disciple. We’re pumped to interview him about discipleship and sharing the Faith (and so are our moms). Jeff’s book really gets to the heart of discipleship. It gives us a practical roadmap to a path of discipleship and explains what it actually means to be a disciple. We also get Jeff to give us his practical tips for evangelization. You can get Jeff's book at ascensionpress.com. We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave. _Snippet from the Show “There’s a difference between having a branch named Jesus on your vine vs. realizing that you are a branch on the true vine that is Christ.”_