When a Pastor Explores The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | An Interview with Jeff McCullough

Jeff McCullough is on a quest to learn about all things Latter-day Saints. He's not looking for a debate. He's looking to explore and learn, and to fight criticism with curiosity. Jeff is a Protestant, Evangelical Pastor with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and the creator of the HelloSaints YouTube channel. He completed his undergraduate in Digital Media from a Free-Methodist school, Greenville University, and received a Masters in Biblical Studies from Moody Theological Seminary. Jeff is married with four children, lives in the St. Louis, Missouri area, and has worked in pastoral ministry for almost 15 years. Highlights 1:30 Introduction to Jeff and his background 3:10 Jeff is not the typical Leading Saints guest. He was born and raised Evangelical Protestant. He is now an Evangelical Pastor. 6:15 Often our doctrines and practices can become elevated to a point that we begin to major in the minors. What is most important is the spiritual reality of your soul before the one that created you. 7:55 What was the moment that you thought you wanted to become a Pastor? 9:10 The steps Jeff took to become a Pastor 12:15 Why Jeff started Hello Saints. A channel where Jeff explores the church in a respectful way. 21:20 What you can expect on Jeff’s channel. He invites his audience to be curious and connect. 23:40 Negative culture. Why aren’t we talking about it more? 25:30 We can all maintain our dignity and disagree with people without tearing each other down 29:00 Is it a good or bad thing to live in “the Utah bubble?” Do we need more diversity? 31:10 Missionary work in our church and measuring our success based on baptisms. What are we missing? 33:10 What are sinner’s prayers? 35:30 Jeff talks about his religion and focusing on the wrong things. Let’s focus less on the numbers and more on how you are living out your testimony. 37:15 Is Jesus looking for a checklist and that we’ve checked all the boxes? 38:45 Jeff talks about how he guides his congregation, as to not focus on the numbers and the sinners' prayers 41:45 Kurt and Jeff share their perspectives on church programs. While the programs are inspired and great sometimes they feel like homework. The most important part of the gospel is creating and strengthening our relationship with Jesus Christ. 47:45 Anything that we ever build, even with the best intentions or in ministry, will at some point lose its focus and become an idol. We’ll have to tear it down and go at it again. 49:50 What Jeff wished he had known when he first became a Pastor 46:45 Jeff shares his view on the Book of Mormon and why he hasn’t read it 1:06:00 Jeff’s view on Brigham Young and Joseph Smith and the things he struggles with pertaining to the church. 1:10:10 The thing that intrigues Jeff the most about Joseph Smith 1:12:40 Final thoughts and wrap up Links HelloSaints YouTube channel Instagram: @hello.saints HelloSaints Patreon Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Watch on YouTube! Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast has ranked in the top 20 Christianity podcasts in iTunes, gets over 500,000 listens each month, and has over 10 million total downloads as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help latter-day saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, Ganel-Lyn Condie, and many more in over 500 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric,