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In the 2022 State of Theology research by Ligonier and Lifeway Ministries show that trends over time and the 2022 survey results reveal an increasingly belief among evangelicals that God is pleased by worship that comes from those outside the Christian faith.

Let's find out what the Bible says! 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

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U.S. adults increasingly reject the divine authorship of the Bible, relegating it to the same category as other religious writings and purportedly sacred texts. Maybe that’s you? 

Holding this view makes it easy to cherry pick biblical teaching that that resonates us with while simultaneously rejecting any biblical teaching that is out of step with our own personal views or broader cultural values.

It makes faith in Jesus so much more a struggle. 

Numerous biblical passages testify to Scripture coming from God but today’s verses are probably the most important

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

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The cultural value of individualism makes it unsurprising that most Americans deem church membership as optional for Christians. According to an annual study by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Ministries on the State of Theology 68% of evangelicals believe that every Christian has an obligation to join a local church.

There are a few verses that speak to church membership but in today’s verse will help further answer the question  “what is the church?”

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

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According to an annual study by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Ministries on the State of Theology, most U.S. adults and almost two-thirds of evangelicals believe that humans are born innocent in the eyes of God. Maybe you fall into that category? What does the Bible truly teach on this? That’s the point of this podcast after all right?

At the root of this is a foundational truth for life.

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

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As we look at ourselves and at the world, it is clear that human beings, along with the rest of creation, undergo frequent changes. But does this principle of change apply to God as well?

According to an annual study by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Ministries on the State of Theology…a majority of adults in the U.S. believe that God learns and adapts to different circumstances. Over half of evangelicals believe this statement. So, what does the Bible really say?

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

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Do you ever wonder if your deepest desires and dreams matter to God? For me, I feel like I don’t even deserve to ask God for things I desire or dream for. Like who am I to ask for such a thing? God you’ve done enough for me, how dare I be so selfish? That’s my perspective though. I know it’s not biblical but it is how I’ve felt and still feel a lot of the time. 

Today’s verse provides clarity, to the truth the God DOES in fact care about your dreams and desires and challenges how we think about those things.

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

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How long can we trust God before we end up trying to take control? How long do I have to feel this anxiety? How long do I have to be afraid? How long do I have to wait before he heals me? Where is my blessing? I believe in His promises but where are they? How do you “have faith” when things in your life seem so far from where you think they should be? 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over

Whether it is your family or your workplace, do you know those people that just walk in, and their joy just lights up a room? Can think of others where they are just joyless; they are just negative and it rubs off.

This is even a reminder for me to take stock on how many joyful people are around me…or not. 

Today’s verses tell us that real joy can exist outside of relationships and standard of living. 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over

What is that one thing in your life that seems too difficult to overcome? Just focus on one thing. I’ll ask you more guided questions. What is this one thing that is keeping you from moving forward? Or moving at all? That makes you want to quit or avoid? These can be addictions, pain, grief, illness, financial insecurity, depression, anxiety but don’t stop at that, get really specific about this one thing even though there may be many. What is this stronghold? What is this fortress that’s keeping you from peace, keeping you from God, keeping you from being whole? Say it out loud.

Guess what?

What I learned from today’s verses is that there is an actual strategy to gain victory over whatever stronghold is in your life at this moment. 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over

What do you think of when you think of judgment from God? Some picture natural disasters or plagues. Or spectacular economic collapse. Either way, most people's conception of divine judgment is dramatic and devastating. Yet more often God chooses very simple and yet even more deeply devastating ways to judge His people.

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

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When it comes to fear, some people never want to admit that they’re afraid. Fear of man in our cultural context can be subtle and we can easily deny that it has gripped our hearts. We all lock our doors and glance nervously around us when we’re passing through certain neighborhoods in the city. But the fear that causes us to be hypocritical or to avoid confrontation at all costs, the fear of rejection or shame, can be just as paralyzing and real, and yet we can call it other names – being considerate, not wanting to make a fuss, being shy, not liking confrontation. But in the end, fear is fear, and it’s far better if we confess it and own it. Everyone has fears, so we would be foolish to deny them. Today we look at David - who was afraid in every sense of the word and would put our fears to shame honestly. And we will read a verse from Psalm 56 that comes from it.

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

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The Bible is that it's a brutally realistic book. I'm grateful for that. It doesn't cover up sin or minimize suffering. Some Christians act like it does. Some will attack the Bible for condoning rape and slavery and murder, but the Bible doesn't condone those actions; it just shows them for what they are. In today's passage, we see two heart-breaking "horror show" incidents: A woman who has had a discharge of blood for twelve years and a young girl who dies at twelve years old. Twelve years is an awfully long time to bleed but a terribly short time to live. Sadly, we live in a world where these things happen all the time. So, where is God?

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

Chapter 9 in Isaiah brings a promise of a future blessing in the Messiah, verse 6 is a famous verse “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;” this is the prophecy of Jesus Christ given nearly 700+ years before his birth. Today though we are going to read and reflect and meditate on the two verses prior and understand in a deeper and fuller way who Jesus is and what God has done for you. 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

God’s commandments are simple to understand but we don’t follow them. I understand what I SHOULD do and WANT to do but I DONT always. Here’s a question that smacked me upside the head as I studied today’s passage…How patient is God with me?

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over

Psalm 141 gives us a practical example to follow of how to respond to evil. It is a Psalm of dealing with liars, manipulators, schemers on the outside…but also our own hearts do the same thing to us. It’s incredibly practical for today. We have very real enemies plotting against us every day. Our own hearts deceive us, our feelings and emotions change all the time, we cannot and should not trust them to lead us.We need Psalms like this that point us toward the Lord because we need him to be our focus and our leading. 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over

We are not comfortable with the idea of submission. I can’t tell you the amount of conversations I’ve had with close friends and family about it as it relates to the Bible. Some examples...

“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority”

“Submit yourselves, then, to God.”

"Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands (as you do to the Lord.)

“not my will, but yours be done.”

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority:”

 "let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Seems kind of negative. Sounds as though women are not worth as much as men. 

I’m not comfortable with that kind of submission either. As a matter of fact, in the words of Elisabeth Elliot “I’m not particularly comfortable with any kind, but since it was God’s idea and not mine, I had better come to terms with what the Bible says about it and stop rejecting the whole thing just because it is so often misunderstood and wrongly defined.”

So let’s get it right shall we?

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

What is your hope? What are you going to plead when you face your Maker and Judge in maybe twenty years — thirty, forty, five, or even three hours? What will your plea be when he says, “So, what right do you have as a sinner in my absolutely perfect presence in heaven?” What will your answer be?

If you try to say, “I was as good as so-in-so,” that will not cut it. You might’ve been as good as this person. That’s not a help. “I volunteered and donated money.” “I got baptized.” That will not help. “I went to such and such church. That’s a good one.” Wrong, wrong. Not a good one. That’s the wrong plea. Christ is good, and we are sinners. When I face God as a judge someday, I will not plead my goodness or righteousness. I can’t. I’m not. I’ll plead his goodness and righteousness and my faith in him alone. I can only do that because of the faithfulness and grace and mercy he has shown me throughout my life. What about you?//

Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over

We are dropping into the narrative of Jesus’ earthly ministry on the way to Jerusalem. He had appointed 72 other disciples in addition to the twelve to travel ahead of him two-by-two into towns that he would be visiting.  They were to carry out the mission of proclaiming the kingdom of God, not just in their words but in their actions. This was a life or death mission and it needed to be done quickly. They were going to face hostility like lambs among wolves Jesus said. They were to travel light and avoid distractions. They were granted authority to perform miracles as a way to authenticate their message of the coming Messiah. They were focused on their calling. We pick up in today’s verses when the 72 return. Full of joy about what they have accomplished, and the authority and power they had in Jesus’ name. 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

I came across today’s verse in my personal prayer time. It was this verse that was combined with the directive to “give God whatever glory or adoration comes to mind.” It actually gave me trouble. I thought to myself and asked myself, “how do I actually do that?” How do I give God glory? How do I show Him that I adore Him? What should I actually say to Him right now?

Then I thought about what I’d want to hear from my daughters (they’re 8 and 4 btw) I didn’t mean to interject my own ego into it but it helped me shape into words what I value and adore God for. But I didn’t stay long there and here’s why this really shocked me…my next thought was “what do I do to give God glory?” and I realized I don’t have to do anything…my daughters don’t have to do anything to show that they love me or adore me…just to hear the words and have them in my presence is enough. Just for them to love others is enough.  It’s the same with God. Tell him what he means to you, be specific, be close to Him, tell Him what you love about him, what he’s done for you and treat others that way. 

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over

Have you ever felt far from Jesus? If I asked you to close your eyes and imagine he is sitting right next to you, how would you feel? 

It’s normal to feel far from Him, I think that’s why Jesus’ final teaching showed us how to remain close to Him. It’s practical and easy to wrap our heads around and we will dive into that today.

Think about what is going on in your life right now and your relationship with Him as we prepare to read our verse today: John 15:7

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Everything you need is here

Included in that link is a list of resources and references I use in this podcast and can help you grow deeper in your faith as well. 

As always – ratings and reviews are massive! They really help others discover the podcast and ultimately help us improve VERSED. Thanks in advance for that 😊

Love you all – keep making hope louder!

John

FOLLOW ME ON IG! @johnlawhon

Subscribe to The Pour Over