Episodes
Tuesday Aug 29, 2023
Ep:.1296: Do Christians Have to Go to Church?
Tuesday Aug 29, 2023
Tuesday Aug 29, 2023
Theme Scripture: Revelation 3:22
When Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his disciples in Matthew 28, “Go and make disciples of all the nations." He told them to baptize these disciples and teach them all that he had taught and commanded them to know and do. Ten days later, God’s spirit came upon the apostles, and this is where the Christian church had its beginning. Fast forward 2,000 years, and we find Christianity divided into countless denominations. We see an apparent decline in Christianity as church attendance seems to be steadily decreasing. So, is going to church a significant marker for being a true Christian? To have a real answer for this question, we need to establish a clear understanding of the scriptural relationship between church and its role in a true Christian’s life.
Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
Ep. 1295: How Can I Transform My Prayer LIfe? (Part II)
Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
heme Scripture: Jeremiah 10:23
In our last episode, we talked about many big-picture aspects of how the humbling and amazing privilege of prayer works. We learned that, as is usually the case with true Christian discipleship, there is much more to praying than talking to God about things and letting him know what we need and want. Today we will focus on the details of our prayer life. We will look at many of those simple questions about the practicality of prayer. Questions like, how do we fit prayer into busy lives? How do we pray when we are not feeling grateful for anything? How do we know if God is answering our prayers or if we are just making up answers?
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Ep. 1294: How Can I Transform My Prayer LIfe? (Part I)
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Theme Scripture: Jeremiah 10:23
Prayer is an incalculably awesome privilege, and yet it is massively misunderstood. Prayer can easily become a ritual, an almost automatic activity like brushing our teeth. We know we need to do it because we know it’s really good for us. So, we do it at what we think are the appropriate times and in the appropriate ways. Prayer can also become a time of wishful thinking, a time when we essentially tell God how our lives could and should look. It can also become a complaining session, a finger-pointing session and even a pity party. Wait, let’s take a breath! Prayer is the opportunity and privilege to talk to the God of all things through His son Jesus. If we are going to use this amazing tool, we want to be absolutely clear as to how it works and why it works!
Tuesday Aug 08, 2023
Ep. 1293: Am I Playing the Social Status Game?
Tuesday Aug 08, 2023
Tuesday Aug 08, 2023
Theme Scripture: Matthew 20:27-28
It is a natural human response to want to be recognized for who we are and for what we contribute. This is easy to observe. Just look at a small child who does something to be helpful or obedient. When their parent recognizes and praises their behavior, their face beams with delight! While it is positive and nurturing to praise growth and maturity, we also need to be wary. As with anything else that provokes goodness in our sinful world, the simplicity of building another up can be misrepresented and funneled into the ever-growing competition for status among our peers. Now it’s no longer about building up, it is all about establishing our place in the pecking order and fighting our way to be higher up on that ladder. This is NOT a new phenomenon as the Bible has MUCH to say about avoiding it!
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
Ep. 1292: Does Biblical Truth Really Make Us Free? (Part II)
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
Theme Scripture: John 8:31-32
In our last episode, we spoke with our good friend and brother in Christ, Howie Clare, from New Zealand. We met him through our Christian Questions ministry several years ago. Howie’s life had forever changed when his wife of 12 years left him with no explanation. To try and help him cope with his profound sorrow and loss, his son suggested he listen to Christian podcasts, and that's how he found us. He not only became a listener, he also reached out to us via e-mail which led to our meeting him via Zoom and studying with him. All of this led to several other changes in his life as his hunger for and enlightenment through scriptural truth drove him to many unforeseen steps and life decisions.
Tuesday Jul 25, 2023
Ep. 1291: Does Biblical Truth Really Make Us Free? (Part I)
Tuesday Jul 25, 2023
Tuesday Jul 25, 2023
Theme Scripture: John 8:31-32
Today we want to talk about freedom. Not freedom in the sense of being released from some form of physical captivity, and not freedom in the sense of being able to express yourself without fear. No, the freedom we want to focus on is bigger and deeper. It is the freedom we can be given when we are drawn to God through Christ and find our way to becoming a true disciple. True discipleship does have a high cost. The reason for that cost is to insure an eternity of freedom in Christ and a dwelling place with our heavenly Father.
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Ep. 1290: Is the Jewish Nation Really God’s Chosen People?
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Theme Scripture: Jeremiah 31:33
Israel. Just say the name and likely if anyone listening follows anything about events on the world stage, they will have a strong opinion one way or another. This is fascinating because the nations of Togo and Honduras, while not well-recognized in world events, have about the same population as Israel. What is it about this tiny nation on this tiny sliver of land that draws such attention? Biblically, there are thousands of years of history and events that keep Israel in the forefront of world events. From a Christian perspective, we know God had cast them off as a result of rejecting Jesus as their Messiah. So, what’s the story with that consequence? Did Israel lose their standing with God on a permanent basis, or is there hope for their future? If there is hope, what does it look like?
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Ep. 1289: How Do I Know If I Have Really Forgiven Someone?
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Theme Scripture: Matthew 6:14
We have all been wronged by someone. Sometimes the wrong is especially deep and hurtful, and we are debilitated by it. We have all also heard the saying “forgive and forget." The forgiving part sounds like a really magnanimous Christian thing to do. However, it can be deeply challenging, depending upon the hurt we have suffered. The “forgetting” part? Well, that can be overwhelmingly difficult - and in many cases may not even be possible. So, what is a Christian to do? How do we know who and when to forgive? Are the biblical “rules” for forgiving others always the same? What if I forgive and really mean it but then begin to feel like I want to change my mind?
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Ep. 1288: Are My Promises Reliable?
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Theme Scripture: Ephesians 4:29
If we make promises, we should keep them. This statement seems simple enough, and yet when we look around, how much confidence do we have in it? Do we see an unequivocal keeping of promises in our political leadership? Do we see it in the business world? The world of advertising or education? Do we even see it in our family and social interactions? In our last episode, we spoke extensively about the fact that God is absolutely a God of promise – what He says, He always does. We as Christians are bound to His promise-keeping standard of excellence as the model for our own words and actions. So, how do we go about raising the bar with our own commitments? What instructions can we find in God’s word that will focus us on keeping our word?
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
Ep. 1287: What Does God Promise Us as Christians?
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
Theme Scripture: 2 Peter 1:4
As Christians, our faith in God should translate into unquestionable loyalty and trust. If God says something will be so, it is a guarantee it will happen. While this deep faith in the word of God should bring powerful comfort to our lives, it's also capable of bringing us serious doubts and concerns. How can this be? If God is as good as His word (and He is), then where do the doubts come from? They arise when we do not understand or misapply His Word. They arise when we ourselves stand outside of the circle of God’s protective providence and seek to claim promises not meant for us. In other words, God’s promises to Christians are only meant for true disciples of Jesus. This may sound like an excuse to some, but it is in fact a basis for how God’s favor works in the lives of His true children.