Clemenz With a ”Z” Podcast

Roy Clemenz
  • 4.8 (29)
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This podcast is me sharing stories as I search for balance in an imbalanced world. I discuss topics such as fatherhood, masculinity, and religion through stories of myself and interviews.

  1. 3D AGO

    EP 205 Comfort, Not Bruises: God’s Discipline, Parenting, and Why Spanking Only Breeds Domestication

    This episode started as a response to something I heard on a Christian podcast about God’s discipline. The words weren’t new, I’ve heard the same script my whole life, but they brought back memories of how deeply this theology shaped me. Growing up, I learned to see every disappointment and setback as punishment, every “no” as God disciplining me. What really grabbed me, though, was how seamlessly the hosts moved from talking about God’s discipline to how they plan to spank their child, as if one naturally flowed into the other. That hit me hard, because I know the damage that both of those messages can cause. In this episode, I share why spanking doesn’t produce wisdom but only breeds domestication, what scripture actually means when it talks about “the rod,” and why a God of love can’t be confused with a God of fear. At the heart of it all is this question: what kind of legacy do we want to leave? One rooted in control, or one rooted in trust and love? If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    30 min

  2. SEP 12

    EP 204 Off the Island: Thomas Merton, Mirrors, and Learning to Affirm Others

    In this episode, I sit with the words of Thomas Merton, an American Trappist monk, writer, and mystic whose reflections on faith, identity, and community continue to resonate decades after his death. Merton warns against what he calls “the heresy of individualism,” the temptation to define ourselves only by what we’re not, to build our lives on separation and judgment. His challenge struck me deeply, because I’ve lived that temptation:  shrinking myself, building an island of “no,” and cutting myself off from connection. In this conversation, I explore what it means to move off the island, to see others as mirrors, and to rediscover the breath of the Spirit by starting with yes. If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    19 min

  3. SEP 10

    EP 203 Sanitizing Our Heroes: What We Lose When We File Down the Edges of Truth

    I was on a plane recently watching the new Bob Dylan movie when a scene with Pete Seeger stopped me in my tracks. Why in the world would a folk singer be in court over a song? That moment opened up a hidden history I had never been taught: “This Land Is Your Land” wasn’t just a patriotic anthem, it was a protest. And it made me start to see a bigger pattern. We do this all the time. We take prophets, revolutionaries, artists, even Jesus himself, and we sanitize them. We file down the edges until all that’s left is a safe version that won’t disrupt us. In this episode, I want to ask: what do we lose when we do that? And what might happen if we went searching for the verses, the voices, the truths that were cut out? If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    20 min

  4. SEP 4

    EP 202: Who’s Right? And is that even the right question anymore?

    This episode started with a reel:  Two pastors, loud and confident, claiming they were standing in the footsteps of Jesus by resisting culture and government control. And while I disagreed with their message, something deeper stirred in me. Because I’ve heard that same level of certainty on the other side too, in the progressive voices I often align with. And honestly? I’ve heard it in myself. So the question that kept echoing wasn’t just “Who’s right?” it was “Is that even the right question anymore?” In this episode, I explore the danger of certainty, the ways we all use scripture to back ourselves up, and the spiritual cost of needing to always be right. But more than that, I ask: Is any of this moving us closer to something good? Something more free, more human, more like Jesus? If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    27 min

  5. SEP 2

    EP 201 Speaking to the Human: The Radical Act of Seeing the Person Before the Problem

    In a world where everyone seems to be talking past each other,  online, in politics, and even in the church, what would it look like to slow down and actually see the person in front of us? In this episode, I explore the word sonder, the realization that every person you encounter is living a life as vivid and complex as your own and how Jesus embodied that in every interaction. From the woman caught in adultery to Zacchaeus to the bleeding woman, Jesus saw the human before the problem, the wound before the wrong. I also wrestle with my own struggle to do the same, especially in a culture addicted to clicks, likes, and quick takes. This isn’t just about changing the way we speak to others. It’s about challenging ourselves to speak from a place that sees, honors, and values the humanity of the person right in front of us. If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    18 min

  6. AUG 14

    EP 200 Looking Past the Finger: How Marvel, the Bible, and Gollum Teach Us the Power of Metaphor

    Episode 200! I can’t quite believe we’ve reached this point: two hundred conversations, stories, and reflections shared with you. And for this milestone, I wanted to talk about something that’s been weaving through all of them: the power of metaphor. From Iron Man’s first suit to the parables of Jesus, from Joseph Campbell’s wisdom to Pete Holmes’ “finger and moon,” metaphors shape how we see the world and ourselves. In this episode of Clemenz With a “Z”, I explore why we need metaphors, how they sneak past our defenses to speak to the heart, and what happens when we mistake the metaphor for the thing itself. Along the way, I connect modern myths like Marvel movies to ancient scripture, and even take a surprising detour into The Lord of the Rings to unpack Smeagol’s haunting transformation into Gollum. Whether it’s a shepherd, a superhero, or a hobbit clutching his “precious,” these stories are pointing us toward something bigger, if we’re willing to look past the finger and see the moon. If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    16 min

  7. AUG 12

    EP 199 Be Suspicious of Simple Answers: Punk Rock, Jesus, and Why the Best Truths Live in the Messy Middle

    What do a punk rock lyric and the teachings of Jesus have in common? More than you might think. In this episode, inspired by Frank Turner’s raw line from “1933”:  “Be suspicious of simple answers, that shit’s for fascists (and maybe teenagers)”.  We dive headfirst into the beauty and challenge of the messy middle. From the “greatest commandment” conversation in the Gospels to the wisdom of mystics like Teresa of Ávila, Thomas Merton, and Richard Rohr, this is an invitation to live in the tension, embrace complexity, and resist the lure of easy answers. If you’ve ever felt like life, faith, and God are anything but simple, you’re in good company. If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    22 min

  8. AUG 8

    EP 198 The Whole Elephant: What if no one sees the full picture and that’s the point?

    What if no one sees the whole picture and that’s the point? In this episode, I explore the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant through the lens of my time in the ICOC, where we weren’t just taught that we held the truth we were the truth. But faith shaped by geography, cultural inheritance, and rigid certainty eventually started to crack. This episode is about those cracks. About what happens when we mistake our piece for the whole. About how the voices we were taught to ignore might just be holding something sacred. And about the possibility that listening, really listening, might be one of the holiest things we can do. If this episode meant something to you, I’d love it if you’d take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a review, it really helps more people find the show. If you would like to reach out to me you can drop me a line at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com or drop a DM at the clemenz with a "Z" instagram page.   You can head over to https://gofund.me/7ebb0524 every bit helps. And if you’re looking for more reflection, honesty, and spiritual wrestling, check out my Substack: Devotionals for the Deconstructing & Disillusioned, it’s a space for people who still have soul, but no longer fit in the boxes they were handed. Thanks for being here.

    17 min
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4.8
out of 5
29 Ratings

About

This podcast is me sharing stories as I search for balance in an imbalanced world. I discuss topics such as fatherhood, masculinity, and religion through stories of myself and interviews.

Information

  • Creator
    Roy Clemenz
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2019 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Clemenz With a ”Z” Podcast

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