Collars & Calluses

Bill and Rich introduce Collars and Calluses and begin a series shifting from Proverbs to ecclesiology, responding to online “ortho bro” and Roman Catholic apologetics urging Protestants to convert. Drawing on decades of pastoral experience and personal study, they argue that both Rome and the East market stability, certainty, masculinity, and unbroken historical continuity, but that church history is messy, diverse, an...

Continuing their Proverbs series, Bill and Rich focus on speech and the art of persuasion as a dominion tool meant to order life under Christ’s lordship. Using Proverbs 16:20–24, they distinguish persuasion (truthful, for another’s good) from manipulation (as in Proverbs 7), and connect persuasion to leadership, preaching, parenting, courtship, and even self-persuasion (Psalm 42). They highlight practical principl...

Bill and Rich return to Proverbs to address speech as a major theme, emphasizing Proverbs 18:21 that “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” They argue words can genuinely harm or heal and that a man’s speech reveals his heart, requires self-mastery, and is essential to leadership, including tone and authority. They ground a theology of language in God’s creative and sustaining speech in Genesis and...

In this episode of Collars and Calluses, Bill and Rich continue their practical counsel for young men by discussing money, vocation, grit, and joy. They argue that wealth is a blessing and a tool of dominion, but warn against loving or idolizing money, urging contentment, stewardship through budgeting (beginning with a tithe), saving, investing, and safeguards like term life insurance; they also stress using wealth to provide for f...

Bill and Rich return to Collars and Calluses to continue practical counsel for young men, focusing on dealing with anxiety, having a plan, and learning skills. They distinguish normal concern from sinful anxiety rooted in failure to trust God, arguing anxiety undermines character, competence, and confidence and can spread socially, especially affecting leadership in marriage and family. They stress courageous action despite fear, a...

In this solo “Collars and Calluses” episode (with Rich away), Bill answers listener questions about leading at home when a husband converts after marriage but his wife remains unbelieving, or when a Christian wife leans feminist. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 7 and broader biblical principles, he urges men to win their wives by embodying attractive Christian leadership—nourishing and cherishing, instructing with pati...

 In this episode of Collars and Calluses, Bill and Rich resume a discussion of Rich’s “13 Rules for Life: A Counsel for Young Men,” framing the rules as wisdom-guidelines rooted in Proverbs and applied to modern culture. They cover taking initiative and practicing chivalry with women as signals of male protection and provision, while rejecting “white knighting” and noting some women may exploit ch...

 Bill and Rich continue their Proverbs-focused series by discussing practical manhood through the theme of appropriateness, especially in speech, and framing manliness as an “art” learned through Scripture, experience, and lived models. Aimed particularly at younger men, they introduce Rich’s blog article “Counsel for Young Men: 13 Rules for Life” and cover three rules: (1) seek wisdom and submit ...

In this Collars and Calluses episode, Bill and Rich answer listener questions about sex in marriage, emphasizing that Scripture treats procreation and pleasure as a unified “package deal,” with marriage requiring openness to children and a high view of children as blessing and duty under the creation mandate. They warn against adopting the world’s anti-child mindset and argue contraception must be evaluated by mot...

Hosts Bill and Rich answer a listener’s question about vocational direction for men who lacked guidance beyond “get good grades and go to college.” They argue this reflects under-fathering and urge men not to adopt a victim mentality but to seek mentors, assess strengths and weaknesses, and pursue marketable opportunities rather than “follow your passion,” noting work is often hard and fulfillment incl...

The episode of Collars & Calluses responds to a listener question about Romans 11 and modern Jews, outlining three views: dispensationalism (Israel and the church as two peoples of God with ongoing special status for Jews), covenantal futurism (a future mass conversion of Jews), and a minority preterist view claiming Romans 11 was fulfilled before AD 70 with no continuing Jew/Gentile distinction. The hosts argue Romans 9–...

Bill and Rich answer listener questions on Collars & Calluses, inviting more submissions via collarsandcalluses@gmail.com and on X (@wrs2_, @Vicar1973). They discuss how the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) is relational and manifests differently in masculinity and femininity, arguing the church and culture have often privileged feminine expressions of virtue; they illustrate this through distinct motherly and fath...

The hosts of “Collars & Calluses” introduce a Q&A backlog and address whether the U.S. war with Iran is just and whether CREC pastors should rebuke Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, noting he is in the CREC and that critics want public denunciations. They argue Christians should avoid dogmatism because citizens lack full information, the history is messy, and this issue shouldn’t divide friendships or churche...

Bill and Rich return to their Proverbs theme of wealth, focusing on how Solomon teaches that generosity—especially toward the legitimately poor—can lead to true riches, connecting giving to the biblical pattern of death and resurrection and to Paul’s “sowing and reaping” in 2 Corinthians 9. They warn against prosperity-gospel manipulation and stress discriminating charity that avoids enabling idleness ...