Between Heaven & Earth

Episode 38: Necessity of Ancient-Future Confession: Our own stories

Summary
In this episode of Between Heaven and Earth, Justin Howard and Amy Howard discuss confession as a powerful pathway to healing, freedom, and restoration. They challenge the idea that confession is only private or “Catholic,” introducing “directed confession” as a biblical practice of bringing hidden sin, shame, and trauma into the light within safe Christian community.
Drawing from personal stories, Scripture, and pastoral experience, they explain how secrecy fuels isolation while honest confession creates space for healing and encounter with the Holy Spirit. The episode also explores the church’s need for healthier cultures of honesty, accountability, and restoration for both leaders and everyday believers.
Highlights✨ Confession is a pathway to healing and freedom🕊️ “Directed confession” combines honesty, community, and prayer💡 Shame loses power when brought into the light⚠️ Churches often lack safe spaces for honest confession🔥 Testimonies of freedom can spark revival culture
Key Insights✨ Confession restores relationship with God and others🕊️ Healing deepens in trusted Christian community💡 Trauma and shame both need to be brought into the light🔥 Freedom becomes contagious when people share their stories

Episode 37: Kingdom Ecclesiology: People of Peace

Episode 36: Kingdom Ecclesiology: Interview with a Disciple-Maker

Summary
In this episode of Between Heaven and Earth, Justin and Amy Howard talk with Matt Schneider, a former Anglican priest turned missionary in Springfield, Massachusetts. Matt shares his journey from traditional ministry to launching a grassroots disciple-making movement in a highly post-Christian context. He critiques the North American church model as overly centralized and ineffective at producing true disciples, placing unrealistic expectations on pastors while fostering passivity among congregants.
Matt advocates for a return to a New Testament model of shared leadership through the fivefold ministry and emphasizes equipping everyday believers to actively participate in disciple-making. He highlights the importance of relational discipleship, Scripture engagement, and community-based spiritual growth over program-driven church structures. Addressing concerns about decentralization, he argues that empowered, Scripture-rooted communities are better positioned to guard against false teaching than rigid institutional systems.
Highlights 
🌍 Called to Springfield, MA, a leading post-Christian city
📖 Seminary lacks practical disciple-making training
⚖️ Pastors are overburdened in an unsustainable model
🔥 Advocates for shared leadership over traditional pastoral roles
⚠️ Decentralization can strengthen, not weaken, doctrinal health
✨ Vision: equip ordinary believers to multiply disciples
Key Insights 
🌍 Mission in Hard Places: Prioritizing spiritually resistant regions reflects a missional mindset.
📖 Training Gap: Churches lack leaders equipped for relational, reproducible discipleship.
⚖️ Broken Model: Centralized leadership creates burnout and passive church cultures.
🔥 Rethinking Leadership: Biblical ministry is shared, not centered on one role.
⚠️ Truth in Community: Scripture-engaged communities help safeguard sound doctrine.
✨ Multiplication Vision: Empowered believers create broader, lasting spiritual impact.
About Matt: 
"I've been married to Hawley for 17 years, and we have six children whom we homeschool. We live in Springfield, Mass., which the Barna Group called the most post-Christian city in America in 2019, which is why we moved there. I started following Jesus in 2007, and that came with a calling to become a missionary to Americans. We are on the North America team with Biglife, a global disciple-making organization. Our family strives to be disciples of Jesus who make disciples, and we are laboring to see a powerful move of God in America before Jesus returns. I'm convinced a huge piece of this is for the American church to rediscover what it means to be the church. This is why I also serve as a leader with an initiative called Lampstands, which is a prophetic voice for decentralized ecclesiology. We're helping the church in North America rediscover biblical patterns of gathering and multiplication. To connect with me, visit lampstands.com. There are two downloadable PDF documents on the Lampstands website I recommend: "5 Practices for Following Jesus with Your Whole Heart" and "Decentralized Ecclesiology: Returning to the Roots of the Church," which are both easy to find on the home page. We have a blog that is updated weekly with topics related to being the church in simple ways." 
Connect on Social Media: @belampstands

Episode 35: Kingdom Ecclesiology: Metrics of Success

SummaryThe episode redefines church success beyond attendance and programs, calling believers to live missionally in everyday life. It emphasizes disciple-making, healing (“mending”), and testimonies as true measures of spiritual growth, while challenging passive church culture and overburdened leadership.
Highlights🙏 Moves beyond traditional success metrics🏡 Everyday life as mission field💬 Testimonies matter🔄 Multiply disciples🔥 Healing + intimacy with God🤝 Shift from passive to active believers🌿 Kingdom-centered church model
Key Insights🙌 Success = transformation, not numbers🏠 Church happens daily, not just Sundays💔 Healing is essential to discipleship📖 Testimonies show real growth🔄 Multiplication over attendance🤯 Leadership lacks clear metrics💖 Intimacy with God defines success
Additional ReflectionsA call to rethink church and embrace a relational, Spirit-led, disciple-making life.

Episode 34: LENT

SummaryIn this episode of Between Heaven and Earth, Justin and Amy Howard describe Lent as a season of fasting, prayer, and repentance that deepens dependence on Jesus. Rooted in the church calendar, Lent invites believers to embrace human frailty, reflect on Christ’s life, and create space for God through simple, intentional practices.
Highlights🙏 Lent focuses on prayer, fasting, and generosity.🔥 Ash Wednesday reminds us of mortality and grace.🌱 Fasting builds dependence on God.📖 Scripture meditation deepens spiritual growth.🌿 Simple rhythms make Lent meaningful in daily life.
Key Insights⏳ The church calendar provides steady spiritual rhythm.🍽️ Fasting is voluntary weakness that fuels prayer.🌱 Growth is often unseen but cultivated through discipline.💡 Practical sacrifices help integrate faith into everyday life.
ConclusionLent is a grace-filled invitation to repent, pray, and trust God to form deeper spiritual growth through simple, faithful practices.

Episode 33: Kingdom Ecclesiology: Missional Hospitality (the closest to a silverbullet we've found)

The Celtic Way of Evangelism
BELAY Affiliate LinkSummaryBetween Heaven and Earth, hosted by Justin and Amy Howard, explores missional hospitality as an everyday practice of joining God where He is already at work. In this episode, they clarify that being missional is not about entertaining or programs, but about generous presence and shared life. Drawing from their early ministry of hosting simple pancake breakfasts in a small apartment, they show that hospitality is rooted in authenticity, not perfection. Through stories of healing and connection, the hosts invite listeners to start small and see their tables as places where God’s kingdom becomes visible.
Highlights🏠 Missional hospitality is intentional welcome, not entertaining🥞 Hospitality requires presence, not resources or perfection💬 Shared life and listening are central to formation🌱 Small, intentional steps make hospitality accessible😢 Simple welcome can bring healing and transformation🍽️ Our tables reflect the Lord’s table and God’s kingdom
Key Insights🛠️ Shared Mission Over Pastoral Performance: Missional life invites all believers to participate, easing unhealthy pressure on pastors and fostering communal responsibility.
🔍 Joining God at Work: Missional living begins with attentiveness to where God is already moving rather than creating activity for Him.
❤️ Presence Over Presentation: Hospitality is about making room for people as they are, embracing vulnerability and limits.
🌿 Small, Faithful Practice: Hospitality grows through simple, repeated acts of welcome that anyone can offer.
🕊️ The Sacred Table: Everyday meals carry theological meaning as signs of God’s coming kingdom.
ConclusionThis episode presents missional hospitality as a simple, faithful way of life rooted in generosity and presence. By starting small and opening their lives to others, listeners are invited to participate in God’s healing work through ordinary, sacred acts of welcome.

Episode 32: Kingdom Ecclesiology: Big church, little church - doesn't matter - do these things!

SummaryThe episode “Between Heaven and Earth,” hosted by Justin and Amy Howard, challenges church models that overburden pastors and underutilize congregants. Using the image of an energetic dog confined to a small space, the hosts describe how spiritually gifted believers become frustrated when limited to passive roles. They contrast “pioneers” and “settlers,” critique the overemphasis on Sunday services, and advocate for smaller, relational communities rooted in Acts 2. The episode calls believers to engage missionally where passion, gifts, and context meet, while also acknowledging pastoral burnout and the need for supportive, sustainable church practices.
Highlights🐕 Underused spiritual gifts lead to frustration.🔄 Different callings in the church need equal honor.⏰ Sunday-centric models encourage passivity.🌿 Smaller communities foster deeper discipleship.🤝 Pastors need support and shared responsibility.
Key Insights🐾 Limiting participation stifles spiritual vitality and engagement.🔄 Churches thrive when diverse callings are released, not constrained.⏳ Consumer Christianity grows when church life centers only on Sundays.🌱 Relational, small-group contexts better reflect early church life.⚖️ Shared responsibility protects pastors and empowers believers.
LINK TO GIVE EncounterBuilder Coaching

Episode 31: Kingdom Ecclesiology | The Weight Pastors Carry—and the Gifts We Don’t

The “Between Heaven and Earth” podcast with Justin and Amy Howard examines church leadership and challenges the modern expectation that pastors do everything. They introduce spiritual formation practices and Encounter Life cohorts that help believers grow in their relationship with God.
The episode reframes “pastor” as a function within the fivefold ministry rather than a title, advocating for shared leadership among elders and deacons. It addresses burnout caused by unrealistic demands and calls the church to move from consumerism to active discipleship, equipping all believers to participate in God’s kingdom work.Highlights🌟 Modern pastoral expectations are unrealistic and contribute to burnout.📖 Pastor is a function within the fivefold ministry, not a title.🤝 Healthy leadership involves shared responsibility among elders and deacons.💔 Emotional dependency on pastors fuels burnout and unhealthy dynamics.🛠️ Encounter Culture Mission Collaborative offers cohorts for spiritual growth and renewal.
Micro Churches & Missional Communities
The Tampa Underground 
The Kansas City Underground
The Underground Network
 
Book Resource
The Starfish and the Spirit
 
Five-Fold Ministry (Ephesians 4)
5Q | Alan Hirsch
 

Advent Week 5B

The Immanent Frame
Lectio Divina “Sacred Reading"
Highlights
✨ Advent is a season of dual preparation: celebrating Christ’s birth and anticipating His second coming.
📖 The devotional uses a fourfold Scripture reading method: acquaintance, friendship, intimacy, and union.
🎶 Original music by Jared Deem enriches the prayer experience.
📝 Journaling is encouraged to process distractions and deepen reflection.
💖 Emotions, doubts, and physical sensations are welcomed as part of spiritual engagement.
🙏 The practice invites participants to invite the Holy Spirit’s healing and transformation.
🌿 The series aims to cultivate a tangible experience of God’s presence amidst the holiday busyness.

Advent Week 5A

The Immanent Frame
Lectio Divina “Sacred Reading"
Highlights
🎄 Advent is a season of dual preparation: celebrating Jesus’ first coming and anticipating His second advent.
📖 The practice of Lectio Divina is used to engage Scripture deeply through repeated readings and prayerful reflection.
✍️ Listeners are encouraged to journal their thoughts, emotions, and insights during the prayer time.
🎵 Original music accompanies the series, enhancing the contemplative atmosphere.
💖 Emphasis on welcoming all emotions—both pleasant and uncomfortable—without judgment during the spiritual encounter.
🙏 The featured Scripture passage is Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), a hymn celebrating God’s mercy, justice, and faithfulness.
🌿 The prayer concludes with blessings for ongoing spiritual growth, healing, and peace throughout the Advent season.