Josh Howerton
Senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in Dallas, Texas, and host of Live Free
Josh Howerton (Senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in Dallas, Texas, and host of Live Free) hosts Live Free with Josh Howerton. Topics they speak about most include Progressive Christianity, Christianity, Marriage and long-term partnership.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Progressive Christianity
Howerton cited John Mark Comer's view that progressive Christianity leads toward leaving the faith.
“in my experience, progressive Christianity is just a stopover on the way to post-Christianity”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 1:17:58
Howerton argued that progressive Christianity empties Christianity of its content while keeping its outward form.
“The big thing about progressive Christianity is they will hollow out your religion and wear it like a skin suit”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 1:16:10
Howerton advised people to leave churches displaying pride or BLM flags.
“If you walk into a church, especially in the Northeast or in Austin, and there's a pride flag or a BLM flag, run”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 32:59
Christianity
Howerton pointed to Germany as a former center of revival that is now barely Bible-believing.
“There was a time where the greatest revival in the world was happening in Germany. Today, it's 1.7% Bible-believing Christian”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 44:39
Howerton estimated that Lakepointe baptized more than 800 people in a single weekend.
“I think this weekend we will have ended up baptizing well over 800 people”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 3:40
Howerton cites R.T. Kendall's view that revival requires reuniting word-focused and spirit-focused churches.
“There has been a great divorce in the church between word and spirit”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: The Biggest THREAT to Christianity is Happening RIGHT NOW (ft. Philip Anthony Mitchell) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 23, 2026) · Listen from 43:31
Marriage and long-term partnership
Howerton recommends a monthly date-night exchange framing correction positively.
“She asked me, what are three ways I've been blessing you? And what's one way I could bless you more?”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:08:14
Howerton advises wives to change husbands chiefly through respect and encouragement.
“You can't disrespect a man into respectability, so how do you change him? You give him a crown and he'll become a king”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:53
Homosexuality and Christian parenting
Howerton advises parents of young children questioning gender or sexuality to remove them from influencing relational networks.
“If you change your kid's inputs, you're going to change your kid's outcomes”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 51:38
Howerton says the line for parents is sin, welcoming a same-sex couple to dinner but not allowing them to sleep together in the home.
“Was eating at your house a sin? No. But two dudes sleeping with each other in your bedroom is a sin”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 53:32
Marks of a healthy church
Howerton advises leaving a church that displays a rainbow flag.
“if you're walking into a church and there's a rainbow flag, run for the hills, brother”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 44:19
Howerton argues a good church teaches the whole counsel of God, including culturally unpopular passages.
“pastors don't have to try to be controversial. They just have to be willing to read Bible verses”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 43:50
Charismatic movement
Howerton recounts that weeks after a personal encounter with the Spirit, a woman was healed of deafness during his sermon.
“About three weeks later, in the middle of one of my sermons, God heals a woman of deafness”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 36:24
Howerton asserts the charismatic movement is the fastest-growing movement in church history.
“That's the fastest growing movement in all of church history globally”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 23:19
Christian nationalism
Howerton accused progressive Christians of criticizing conservative Christian political engagement while doing the same thing themselves.
“They're running a bait and switch on you and you keep falling for the same play every time”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 1:41:06
Howerton argued that progressive pastors such as Talarico and Hamilton are moving into politics as secularism declines.
“you're starting to see demonic false teachers moving from pulpits to politics”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 1:27:34
Evangelizing unbelieving family members
Howerton suggests the parent limit faith conversations to one gentle question a year while praying intensely.
“Give yourself permission to only once per year, once per year, give yourself permission to ask a gentle question”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:21:53
Eternal security
Howerton holds that salvation cannot be lost but can be counterfeit, citing Judas.
“you can't lose your salvation, but you can fake it. That's Judas”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:15:59
Assemblies of God
Howerton claims the Assemblies of God grew 51% while most major denominations declined over 35 years.
“AOG is the one that's like breaking every trend, bro. Every trend. Plus 51%”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 23:02
Religious revival in the United States
Howerton says the share of Americans claiming Christ has shown an uptick in the last 18 to 24 months for the first time in his lifetime.
“Last 18, 24 months, first time in our entire lifetimes, you got this little thing going on”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 30, 2026) · Listen from 17:58
Penal substitutionary atonement
Howerton argued that people need a substitute in Christ rather than a second chance.
“What she doesn't need is a second chance. What she needs is a substitute”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 45:21
Second Epistle to Timothy
Howerton argued that pastors should preach the Word rather than cater to what attracts people.
“if you preach the word of God, the word of God attracts the presence of God and the presence of God will attract the people”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 29:26
Great Awakenings
Howerton theorized that major revivals have been preceded by new technologies used to spread the gospel.
“Virtually every great awakening and revival in history is preceded by some new mechanism or technology being leveraged for the spread of the gospel”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 11:19
Performance anxiety in preaching
Howerton discloses that he suffered months of severe anxiety attacks around preaching in 2019.
“in 2019, I had eight months of very extreme anxiety attacks before and during preaching”
Live Free with Josh Howerton: The Biggest THREAT to Christianity is Happening RIGHT NOW (ft. Philip Anthony Mitchell) | Live Free with Josh Howerton (Sep 23, 2026) · Listen from 1:38:02
Podcasts hosted
- Live Free with Josh Howerton · 3 episodes in TMT
Appearances
How to Find a GOOD Church (and When to Leave) ft. Ed Newton & Matt Chewning | Live Free with Josh HowertonLive Free with Josh Howerton · Sep 30, 2026 · 1 h 26 min
Pastor Josh Howerton and pastors Ed Newton and Matt Chewning discuss revival in American churches and answer listener questions on church health, family, marriage and salvation.
- James Talarico’s HERETIC Pastor Exposed in Undercover Video (Pastors RESPOND) | Live Free with Josh Howerton
Live Free with Josh Howerton · Sep 28, 2026 · 1 h 46 min
Lakepointe pastors Josh Howerton, Carlos Erazo, and Paul Cunningham discuss 2 Timothy 4, outline five common false teachings, and critique a viral video of James Talarico's pastor.
- The Biggest THREAT to Christianity is Happening RIGHT NOW (ft. Philip Anthony Mitchell) | Live Free with Josh Howerton
Live Free with Josh Howerton · Sep 23, 2026 · 1 h 49 min
Pastor Josh Howerton talks with pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell about his conversion from street life, his preaching, Islam, end-times theology, public opposition and preaching anxiety.
Discussed in
- 8 Ways Christians Open the Door to the DEMONIC (ft. Jonathan Pokluda) | Live Free with Josh Howerton
Live Free with Josh Howerton · Oct 5, 2026 · 1 h 36 min
Pastor Carlos Erazo and Jonathan Pokluda discuss spiritual warfare, demonic footholds, occult practices, signs of revival, and a simple method for sharing the gospel.
Often appears with
- Ed Newton · 1 shared episode
- Matt Chewning · 1 shared episode
- Carlos Erazo · 1 shared episode
- Paul Cunningham · 1 shared episode
- Philip Anthony Mitchell · 1 shared episode