Q: Greetings. I just found your videoes online and I wanted to reach out. You realize that most of the music history you share on your videos is crap, right?
A: You realize you misspelled “videos,” right?
Q: My mom introduced me to your work… And I honestly do not understand the appeal of your writing… All you do is write on the same things and cover the same topics, day after day, but in different ways.
A: Not true, sir. I also draw the same pictures day after day.
Q: You evidently have a platform for being heard, but you refuse to use this platform to talk about [political topic deleted]… This nation NEEDS a voice to speak out and decry the evil that surrounds us, and your refusal to do so reveals an ultimate cowardice on your part…
A: I disagree. My ultimate cowardice is revealed in my fear of snakes.
Q: You are so misguided!!! Not everyone goes to heaven, Sean. Your theology needs a little work. God is not purely love and grace, He is an exacting judge. Someday He will separate the wheat from the chaff… We are not ALL God’s children, as you say. Only those who believe and are saved are His children. I’m going to heaven, where are you going?
A: Wherever you aren’t.
Q: I don’t understand why someone walks the Camino de Santiago. …You say it’s to meet all the people, but can’t you meet people here in the US? Are you really doing all you can to be friends with people in your own country? I seriously do not understand why you must travel across the whole world to meet inspiring people, it seems like “Millennial escapism” to me.
A: I absolutely agree with you. You don’t understand.
Q: I take umbrage at the fact that you make so many jokes about Baptist churches.
A: Well don’t take it all, please. Save some umbrage for the other 238 Baptist sub-denominations.
Q: THERE ARE MANY KIDS IN OUR CHURCH WHO ARE RAISING A LOT OF MONEY TO GO ON A MISSION TRIP TO AFRICA, AND I NEVER DONATE BECAUSE IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO ME! WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO FEED THE HUNGRY IN AFRICA WHEN THERE ARE STARVING AND HUNGRY PEOPLE HERE IN OUR OWN COUNTRY?! AM I MISSING SOMETHING? IT’S SUCH A WASTE OF MONEY AND THESE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE JUST HAVING A VACATION! I HEARD THEY EVEN WENT ZIPLINING OVER THERE. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
A: I think your Caps Lock is stuck. Also, I think it’s time you started a food drive.
Q: You said that the song “How Great Thou Art” was a Ukrainian song. You are so wrong, it is actually a German song, but DISCOVERED by an American missionary.
A: The lyrics to “How Great Thou Art” are actually Swedish, not German. They were written by Swedish minister Carl Boberg in 1885. The lyrics and melody were republished by a German nobleman with little success in Germany. Then, the song was republished in Russia, and met even less success.
Then, in the 1930s, American missionary Stuart Hine heard a unique version of this song being sung in the Carpathian Mountains by Ukrainian villagers. The translation was slightly different from the original Swedish lyrics, and the melody slightly different. In short, it was Ukrainians who fostered this song, and thereby introduced the world to it.
Q: I don’t have much tolerance for bad writing. I am unsubscribing. Thank you.
A: Please, don’t thank me. Really, it was nothing.
Q: I just wanted you to know that I have unsubscribed from your email list.
A: I’ll sleep better now. Thanks for letting me know.
Q: You are speaking out of your league again, Sean. I am a pastor of a non-denominational church located in [a small town in] Missouri… I have four years of theology under my belt, and have been in this field for many years… Why don’t you leave matters of faith to actual real theologians who have, quite literally, taken apart Scripture letter by letter to find the true answers?
A: Agreed. You keep finding answers. And I’ll keep finding God.
Q: Your replies to negative messages and emails are snarky and uncalled for. And they don’t represent the loving Sean I know. I know you probably don’t intend to, but you come off like a smart ass.
A: I’m not so sure about the “smart” part.