gospel spice podcast

Episode 125 – Today is another Special Christmas Gospel Spice gift for you! Stephanie welcomes three dear friends, each with their own message right in time for Christmas. Join us for three short conversations to make this season unique among all. From a calling to leave everything to serve God overseas and even through death, to a special Christmas experience, to a passion to honor Jesus among the least of these—allow these conversations to inspire you, and take your Christmas experience to new levels with our guests.

Cindy DeBoer shares her family’s story away from the typical American dream and towards embracing radical obedience. Moving overseas (twice!) and dealing with uncurable illness has shaped Cindy’s faith and taught her to delight in God through the highs and lows of life. This is one story you do not want to miss—personal promise from Stephanie!

Marci Renee too has moved overseas several times, and lived cross-culturally most of her life. She now lives in Spain with her family, and has unexpectedly found herself in the trenches of the fight against human trafficking as she now works with a local halfway house, restoring women whose lives have been shattered beyond description. And yes, this is a Christmas story—about redemption for the least of these. We can relate. You will not be the same after you hear Marci—another promise from Stephanie.

Finally, Christine Trimpe joins us to tell us about her discovery of the deeper meaning of Christmas—joy! Embrace her quest to seek and find joy in the gospel of Luke, the perfect Advent gift this season. Stephanie loves Christine’s contagious joy and her desire to share her passion with all those she encounters.

Scroll below for all the ways to connect with these precious ambassadors of Jesus, this Christmas season and beyond!

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU!! 

"A Gospel Spice Christmas" is a five-day devotional and reading plan available exclusively on YouVersion / the Bible App.

Do you long for fresh spices to flavor your spiritual experience of the Incarnation of Christ? Are you tired of stale clichés that taste like microwaved Christmas dinner leftovers? Are you hungry for an explosion of fresh flavors in your Christmas devotions? Experience a Gospel Spice Christmas alongside the shepherds, and discover how to make your life a daily nativity scene where Christ can be born in ever-deepening ways.

Click here or go to your YouVersion Bible App on your phone, and search "Gospel Spice." It is our gift to you! Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH OUR GUESTS

Cindy DeBoer

Website: https://cindydeboer.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.deboer.79

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cindydeboerwrites/

Marci Renee

Website : https://culturalstoryweaver.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/culturalstoryweaver

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/culturalstoryweaver/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/culturalstory

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-cultural-story-weaver/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/culturalstoryweaver/

Christine Trimpe

To order Christine’s book: Seeking Joy through the Gospel of Luke (https://christinetrimpe.com/joy)

Bonus Chapters of Seeking Joy––an early Christmas gift for you: Seeking Joy BONUS Chapters--an early Christmas gift! (https://christinetrimpe.com/seeking-joy-bonus-chapters)

Contact email: Christine@christinetrimpe.com  

Website: www.christinetrimpe.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristineTrimpeLLC

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachchristinetrimpe/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KetoChristineMI

YouTube: @ChristineTrimpe https://youtube.com/christinetrimpe

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/joyfulketolife/

PAY GOSPEL SPICE FORWARD THIS CHRISTMAS.

Did you know that this show is completely free because of listeners just like you who pay the show forward, so that it is free for you? We do not want to add paid advertisements because we believe that your time is precious. So, would you consider joining the Gospel Spice family by paying Gospel Spice forward? Because we are a registered non-profit organization, your donation is 100% tax-deductible (in the USA). Contact us for monthly payments, or donate by Credit Card or via PayPal.

We invite you to join us to reach even more than the 125 countries we currently serve, and the thousands upon thousands who enjoy the Gospel Spice podcast.

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools brought to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. The Gospel Spice Ministries exist to inspire Christ-followers in our generation to delight in the glory of God by knowing and experiencing Jesus more intimately. We provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Donate by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 115 - Stephanie is deeply passionate about the message of Os Guinness. In Part 2 of this interview, Os and Stephanie take things personally: how will our true knowing of God shape our calling and tranform us into the force for transformation God is calling us to be? Os takes us to the Old Testament truths of justice, community and covenant as radically important ideas that show the world the way forward for each of us personally.

“There are two revolutionary faiths bidding to take the world forward,” Guinness writes. “There is no choice facing America and the West that is more urgent and consequential than the choice between Sinai and Paris. Will the coming generation return to faith in God and to humility, or continue to trust in the all sufficiency of Enlightenment reason, punditry, and technocracy? Will its politics be led by principles or by power?”

While Guinness cannot predict our ultimate fate, he warns that we must recognize the crisis of our time and debate the issues openly. As individuals and as a people, we must choose between the revolutions, between faith in God and faith in Reason alone, between freedom and despotism, and between life and death.

GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY

We are giving away copies of the Magna Carta of Humanity, the phenomenal book that we are discussing today on the show. To enter for a chance to win, go to gospelspice.com/giveaway. Winners will be drawn at random among the entries and contacted directly.

MEET OS GUINNESS

Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide, The Global Public Square, Last Call for Liberty, and Carpe Diem Redeemed. His latest book, The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai's Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom, was published in 2018. Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012. Os has spoken at many of the world’s major universities, and spoken widely to political and business conferences across the world. He lives with his wife Jenny in the Washington DC area.

You will find him at http://www.osguinness.com/

IF YOU’VE ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, YOU WILL LOVE OUR GOSPEL SPICE SERIES!

 Click to check out the first episode of each season:

We are currently in the middle of our series titled "Centering on Christ: the Tabernacle" which is such a fitting context for today's interview! Check out the first episode in this current series on gospelspice.com or wherever you are listening to this one from!

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/

"Identity in the Battle": https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

 

The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

The Psalms: 

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

 

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

 

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 114 - Stephanie is deeply passionate about the message of Os Guinness. How are we to understand the times we are living in? How are we to live as Christians and agents of both reconciliation and truth in a culture that seems to seek neither? How are we to fulfill our calling, individually and corporately? The stakes could not be higher--and the answers are found in Scripture. Join us for a fascinating conversation, a deep dive into the human heart, and an ambitious call to live for such a time as this.

In these stormy times, loud voices from all fronts call for revolution and change. But what kind of revolution brings true freedom to both society and the human soul? In his latest book and on Gospel Spice today, cultural observer Os Guinness explores the nature of revolutionary faith, contrasting between secular revolutions such as the French Revolution and the faith-led revolution of ancient Israel.

He argues that the story of Exodus is the highest, richest, and deepest vision for freedom in human history. It serves as the master story of human freedom and provides the greatest sustained critique of the abuse of power. His contrast between “Paris” and “Sinai” offers a framework for discerning between two kinds of revolution and their different views of human nature, equality, and liberty. Drawing on the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Guinness develops Exodus as the Magna Carta of humanity, with a constructive vision of a morally responsible society of independent free people who are covenanted to each other and to justice, peace, stability, and the common good of the community. This is the model from the past that charts our path to the future.

“There are two revolutionary faiths bidding to take the world forward,” Guinness writes. “There is no choice facing America and the West that is more urgent and consequential than the choice between Sinai and Paris. Will the coming generation return to faith in God and to humility, or continue to trust in the all sufficiency of Enlightenment reason, punditry, and technocracy? Will its politics be led by principles or by power?”

While Guinness cannot predict our ultimate fate, he warns that we must recognize the crisis of our time and debate the issues openly. As individuals and as a people, we must choose between the revolutions, between faith in God and faith in Reason alone, between freedom and despotism, and between life and death.

Part 2 of this conversation will release as a bonus episode later this week. Stay tuned!

MEET OS GUINNESS

Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide, The Global Public Square, Last Call for Liberty, and Carpe Diem Redeemed. His latest book, The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai's Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom, was published in 2018. Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012. Os has spoken at many of the world’s major universities, and spoken widely to political and business conferences across the world. He lives with his wife Jenny in the Washington DC area.

You will find him at http://www.osguinness.com/

GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY

We are giving away copies of the Magna Carta of Humanity, the phenomenal book that we are discussing today on the show. To enter for a chance to win, go to gospelspice.com/giveaway. Winners will be drawn at random among the entries and contacted directly.

  IF YOU’VE ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, YOU WILL LOVE OUR GOSPEL SPICE SERIES!

 Click to check out the first episode of each season:

We are currently in the middle of our series titled "Centering on Christ: the Tabernacle" which is such a fitting context for today's interview! Check out the first episode in this current series on gospelspice.com or wherever you are listening to this one from!

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/

"Identity in the Battle": https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

 

The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

The Psalms: 

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

 

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

 

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 110 – In the wake of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, how are we to understand the Middle East today? How should Western Christians approach Israel and all things Jewish? What about Bible prophecy in light of the Jewish state today? Who are the enemies and the allies of the West, and of Israel, in the Middle East today?

Stephanie is joined again by Joel Rosenberg, New York Times bestselling author of novels and nonfiction books with nearly 5 million copies in print. This is part 2 of Joel Rosenberg's exclusive interview with Stephanie. Make sure to first listen to part 1, episode 109!

An evangelical Christian, dual U.S.-Israeli citizen and global influencer living in Jerusalem, Joel Rosenberg embodies the Gospel Spice mission to inspire you to taste and see that the Lord is good, through an in-depth experience of the cultural flavors of Scripture. Joel is an unmatched storyteller with a contagious passion for Christ and his people. This makes him the ideal Gospel Spice anniversary guest as we celebrate our 2nd anniversary this month! Not to mention, Stephanie has been a fan of his books and political analyses for almost 20 years now.

In his latest book, Enemies and Allies, Joel asks, “do recent changes in the Middle East signal peace?” One Arab country after another is signing historic, game-changing peace, trade, investment, and tourism deals with Israel. At the same time, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are forming a highly dangerous alliance that could threaten the Western powers. Meanwhile, the U.S. is drawing down its military forces in the Mideast and focusing on matters closer to home. Where’s it all heading? Enemies and Allies takes readers behind closed doors in the Middle East and introduce them to the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the change.

Today, Joel also tells us about his Jewish family and growing up in America, before moving to Israel with his wife Lynn and his four sons in 2014. We talk spices and Jewish flavors – spiritually and literally! Joel takes us on a tour into Jerusalem—its streets, flavors, smells and most importantly, its uniquely global culture today. How is the Jewish Christian church doing today? Make sure to listen to find out! How can we understand what is happening in the Middle East today, from Afghanistan and Tehran to Jerusalem and Amman? Joel Rosenberg joins us to share a sobering truth about our world today: “To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it.” This applies spiritually, but also politically today more than ever, as history has shown.

Then we move on to more personal things: how does Joel study Scripture in general, and prophecy in particular? How does his expertise on all things Mideast inform his thriller writing? What should we Christians know about the Middle East today to understand our world? How does our perspective on Israel inform our faith? And, how does prophecy build faith?

We talk about expanding our view of God to make Him our delight and glorify Him – a topic near and dear Stephanie’s heart, as you might know!

How does Joel use his thriller-writing talent to sneak in other topics? Well, you GOT to hear Joel’s analogy of the meatloaf smoothie. It’s got to do with leveraging our entertainment culture to share the gospel, and it is irresistible.

And then, how should Christians view Israel? This is a heavy question with answers ranging from disdain, to ignorance, to idolatry. Joel brings a balanced, discerning view that is sure to inform your approach to all things Jewish—spiritually and yes, politically too.

This leads us to a conversation about the famous Abraham accords that normalized relationships between Israel and 4 Muslim nations in 2020: how do these breakthrough accords inform our attitude as Christians today? How about Iran? How about Afghanistan and the role of the US in the Middle East today?

 IF YOU’VE ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, YOU WILL LOVE OUR GOSPEL SPICE SERIES!

 Click to check out the first episode of each season:

We are currently in the middle of our series titled "Identity in the Battle" which is such a fitting context for today's interview! Check out the first episode in this current series: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

 

The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

The Psalms: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

MORE ABOUT JOEL ROSENBERG

Joel has been profiled by the New York Times, the Washington Times, and the Jerusalem Post and has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs in the U.S., Canada, and around the world. As a sought-after speaker, he has addressed audiences at the White House, the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol, the Israeli president’s residence, the Israeli Knesset, the European Union parliament in Brussels, and business and faith conferences in North America and around the world.

Joel became famous in 2002 when writing novels that had the uncanny tendency to become reality. He says, “Before my first political thriller was released, I had never in my life been on national television. Nor had I been on but a few small radio shows. But when The Last Jihad was published in November of 2002, I suddenly found myself interviewed on more than 160 radio and TV programs. Sean Hannity. Rush Limbaugh. Michael Reagan. Fox News. MSNBC. I had the opportunity to talk to more than twenty million people in less than sixty days.

The media was intrigued that anyone could have written a novel that opened with a plane hijacked by radical Islamic terrorists flying a kamikaze attack into an American city and then led to a war between the United States and Iraq over terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. They were even more intrigued that I’d begun writing nine months before 9/11 and had finished the book before any of it had ever happened for real. How was this possible? Did I work for the CIA? Did I have some sort of inside information? To each host I would explain how after more than a decade in Washington as a senior advisor to a number of U.S. and Israeli leaders including Steve Forbes, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Natan Sharansky, I had decided to write a political thriller about a War on Terror I was convinced was coming and how such a war might be triggered. I explained the research I had done, and the process I’d gone through of writing a first novel.

Such questions only intensified after my second thriller, The Last Days, was published in October 2003. It opened with the death of Yasser Arafat and an American president pushing hard for peace and democracy in the Middle East. Thirteen months after it was published, Arafat died, and two months later President Bush decided to make democracy in the Middle East the centerpiece of his second term agenda.

What was particularly odd was that the first few pages of Days put readers inside a U.S. diplomatic convoy heading into Gaza as part of the peace process that would involve an Israeli pullout from Gaza and the West Bank when that convoy was attacked by a massive explosion. Just two weeks before Days hit bookstores, something terrible happened. A U.S. diplomatic convoy heading into Gaza as part of the peace process was suddenly attacked by a massive explosion.

Among the readers of his books are Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former President George W. Bush, former CIA Director Porter Goss, former Delta Force Commander General Jerry Boykin, former senior White House advisor Jason Greenblatt, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former Israeli Interior Minister Natan Sharansky, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, and many other US, Israeli, Arab and other foreign leaders.

Joel’s latest non-fiction book, “Enemies and Allies,” releases this week and is already poised to become a global bestseller (you can order it here: https://joelrosenberg.com/non-fiction/). Do recent changes in the Middle East signal peace? One Arab country after another is signing historic, game-changing peace, trade, investment, and tourism deals with Israel. At the same time, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are forming a highly dangerous alliance that could threaten the Western powers. Meanwhile, the U.S. is drawing down its military forces in the Mideast and focusing on matters closer to home. Where’s it all heading? Enemies and Allies will take readers behind closed doors in the Middle East and introduce them to the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the change.

Make sure to go to and subscribe at Allarab.news and AllIsrael.com for regular updates. For more information, visit joelrosenberg.com and follow Joel on Twitter (@joelcrosenberg) and Facebook (facebook.com/JoelCRosenberg).

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 109 – With the 20th anniversary of 9/11 barely behind us, how are we to understand the Middle East today? How should Western Christians approach Israel and all things Jewish? What about Bible prophecy in light of the Jewish state today? Who are the enemies and the allies of the West, and of Israel, in the Middle East today?

Stephanie is joined by Joel Rosenberg, New York Times bestselling author of novels and nonfiction books with nearly 5 million copies in print, to celebrate our show's 2nd anniversary this month. Their conversation was so fascinating that we will publish it in two episodes this week (episode 109, this one, and episode 110 on September 15, 2021).

Watch the live recording of this fascinating conversation on our YouTube channel and make sure to subscribe: 

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An evangelical Christian, dual U.S.-Israeli citizen and global influencer living in Jerusalem, Joel Rosenberg embodies the Gospel Spice mission to inspire you to taste and see that the Lord is good, through an in-depth experience of the cultural flavors of Scripture. Joel is an unmatched storyteller with a contagious passion for Christ and his people. This makes him the ideal Gospel Spice anniversary guest! Not to mention, Stephanie has been a fan of his books and political analyses for almost 20 years now.

In his latest book, Enemies and Allies, Joel asks, “do recent changes in the Middle East signal peace?” One Arab country after another is signing historic, game-changing peace, trade, investment, and tourism deals with Israel. At the same time, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are forming a highly dangerous alliance that could threaten the Western powers. Meanwhile, the U.S. is drawing down its military forces in the Mideast and focusing on matters closer to home. Where’s it all heading? Enemies and Allies takes readers behind closed doors in the Middle East and introduce them to the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the change.

Today, Joel also tells us about his Jewish family and growing up in America, before moving to Israel with his wife Lynn and his four sons in 2014. We talk spices and Jewish flavors – spiritually and literally! Joel takes us on a tour into Jerusalem—its streets, flavors, smells and most importantly, its uniquely global culture today. How is the Jewish Christian church doing today? Make sure to listen to find out! How can we understand what is happening in the Middle East today, from Afghanistan and Tehran to Jerusalem and Amman? Joel Rosenberg joins us to share a sobering truth about our world today: “To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it.” This applies spiritually, but also politically today more than ever, as history has shown.

Then we move on to more personal things: how does Joel study Scripture in general, and prophecy in particular? How does his expertise on all things Mideast inform his thriller writing? What should we Christians know about the Middle East today to understand our world? How does our perspective on Israel inform our faith? And, how does prophecy build faith?

We talk about expanding our view of God to make Him our delight and glorify Him – a topic near and dear Stephanie’s heart, as you might know!

How does Joel use his thriller-writing talent to sneak in other topics? Well, you GOT to hear Joel’s analogy of the meatloaf smoothie. It’s got to do with leveraging our entertainment culture to share the gospel, and it is irresistible.

And then, how should Christians view Israel? This is a heavy question with answers ranging from disdain, to ignorance, to idolatry. Joel brings a balanced, discerning view that is sure to inform your approach to all things Jewish—spiritually and yes, politically too.

This leads us to a conversation about the famous Abraham accords that normalized relationships between Israel and 4 Muslim nations in 2020: how do these breakthrough accords inform our attitude as Christians today? How about Iran? How about Afghanistan and the role of the US in the Middle East today?

MORE ABOUT JOEL ROSENBERG

Joel has been profiled by the New York Times, the Washington Times, and the Jerusalem Post and has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs in the U.S., Canada, and around the world. As a sought-after speaker, he has addressed audiences at the White House, the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol, the Israeli president’s residence, the Israeli Knesset, the European Union parliament in Brussels, and business and faith conferences in North America and around the world.

Joel became famous in 2002 when writing novels that had the uncanny tendency to become reality. He says, “Before my first political thriller was released, I had never in my life been on national television. Nor had I been on but a few small radio shows. But when The Last Jihad was published in November of 2002, I suddenly found myself interviewed on more than 160 radio and TV programs. Sean Hannity. Rush Limbaugh. Michael Reagan. Fox News. MSNBC. I had the opportunity to talk to more than twenty million people in less than sixty days.

The media was intrigued that anyone could have written a novel that opened with a plane hijacked by radical Islamic terrorists flying a kamikaze attack into an American city and then led to a war between the United States and Iraq over terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. They were even more intrigued that I’d begun writing nine months before 9/11 and had finished the book before any of it had ever happened for real. How was this possible? Did I work for the CIA? Did I have some sort of inside information? To each host I would explain how after more than a decade in Washington as a senior advisor to a number of U.S. and Israeli leaders including Steve Forbes, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Natan Sharansky, I had decided to write a political thriller about a War on Terror I was convinced was coming and how such a war might be triggered. I explained the research I had done, and the process I’d gone through of writing a first novel.

Such questions only intensified after my second thriller, The Last Days, was published in October 2003. It opened with the death of Yasser Arafat and an American president pushing hard for peace and democracy in the Middle East. Thirteen months after it was published, Arafat died, and two months later President Bush decided to make democracy in the Middle East the centerpiece of his second term agenda.

What was particularly odd was that the first few pages of Days put readers inside a U.S. diplomatic convoy heading into Gaza as part of the peace process that would involve an Israeli pullout from Gaza and the West Bank when that convoy was attacked by a massive explosion. Just two weeks before Days hit bookstores, something terrible happened. A U.S. diplomatic convoy heading into Gaza as part of the peace process was suddenly attacked by a massive explosion.

Among the readers of his books are Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former President George W. Bush, former CIA Director Porter Goss, former Delta Force Commander General Jerry Boykin, former senior White House advisor Jason Greenblatt, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former Israeli Interior Minister Natan Sharansky, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, and many other US, Israeli, Arab and other foreign leaders.

Joel’s latest non-fiction book, “Enemies and Allies,” releases this week and is already poised to become a global bestseller (you can order it here: https://joelrosenberg.com/non-fiction/). Do recent changes in the Middle East signal peace? One Arab country after another is signing historic, game-changing peace, trade, investment, and tourism deals with Israel. At the same time, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are forming a highly dangerous alliance that could threaten the Western powers. Meanwhile, the U.S. is drawing down its military forces in the Mideast and focusing on matters closer to home. Where’s it all heading? Enemies and Allies will take readers behind closed doors in the Middle East and introduce them to the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the change.

Make sure to go to and subscribe at Allarab.news and AllIsrael.com for regular updates. For more information, visit joelrosenberg.com and follow Joel on Twitter (@joelcrosenberg) and Facebook (facebook.com/JoelCRosenberg).

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries.

In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God.

In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family.

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people!

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking.

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

(*ListenNotes ranking, 2023)

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 108 - Welcome to our final episode in our Summer 2021 series, Identity in the Battle. Here is what is on the menu today, and for the next few weeks...

(If you have joined us recently, a big hearty WELCOME! We are SO HONORED you are with us! We warmly invite you to start our Identity in the Battle Series at the beginning with episode 101 titled "What does it mean to be IN Christ?").

Over the course of the last eight weeks, we took deep dives into the letter to the Ephesians with a focus on putting on our God-given identity, and then putting on the armor to fight the battles of this life, grounded in who God says we are.

Today, we invite you into one last taste from Paul's words to the Ephesians. 

Paul reminds us that we have a choice: to sit on the sidelines OR take your place in the battle. Which will it be?

We already know the end: will this lead to complacency, or to courage? Paul challenges us to know that the scope of the battle is against evil, not against people. How will this flavor your conflits today?

Stephanie reminds us of foundational spiritual warfare strategies: 

1-     Become aware.

2-     Train up.

3-     Start standing firm.

4-     Keep resisting.

5-     Train others to resist.

As she puts it, "don’t go into the battlefield unarmed, or you won’t stay unharmed."

As we conclude, remember that the reality of our identity is found in the fullness of Christ.

Over the next two weeks, we will welcome two very special guests to celebrate our second Gospel Spice Anniversary! It's been two years now since we launched our little podcast. It is now reaching thousands upon thousands in over 120 countries! What a mind-boggling journey the Lord has laid out for us. It is our delight to walk it alongside you! So make sure ot tune in next week.

And then, after two weeks of special episodes, we will kick off our brand new study, called "Centering on Christ: the Tabernacle" with Episode 112. Stephanie shares that this is the season that led her deepest into study and Scripture. It has deepened her intimacy with God in fresh, spicy new ways, and we are pretty confident it will yours, too! So make sure to tune in for our new series starting just after our celebratory episode.

Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family.

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially - this is a team effort and we need your help to keep creating these high-quality episodes, as always available completely for FREE!

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries.

In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God.

In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO PARTNER WITH GOSPEL SPICE TODAY!

First, PAY Gospel Spice Forward: Give a tax-deductible gift so others can experience our ministry for free, just like you! You can pay it forward with any debit, credit card, or via PayPal. See below for more details about your impact.

Also, PLAY Gospel Spice Forward: SHARE the podcast and the studies with your friends and family. FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW on your favorite podcast app (leave a comment + a star rating on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Pandora, IHeart, Google Podcast, etc…). It REALLY is the best way to help others find this content-rich podcast. 

And, last but not least, PRAY Gospel Spice Forward: We pray for you weekly. We covet your prayers for our ministry, the thousands we reach, and our team! Contact us to let us know you are praying for us!

NEW!

Another way to partner with us is to purchase our workbooks and online Bible studies. We keep them at the lowest possible cost, but they require a lot of work from us! For example,

- a complete Bible Study requires an average of 500 man-hours.

- a workbook for a series requires almost 100 man-hours.

MORE ABOUT PARTNERING WITH US FINANCIALLY:

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status.

Our goal is to provide in-depth, high-quality, free Bible resources for all. They are free, but expensive to create! We need your financial support to keep producing and distributing them. Please pay Gospel Spice forward today! For example, a podcast episode takes close to 10 hours of work (and we release 2 each week). They come to you completely free, but we would truly love your support.

We want the money to go to those who really need it. Once our operating costs are paid, 100% of your donation is redistributed to our partners who fight human trafficking. Each year, we aim to give as much as we can. For example, Stephanie works more than full time for Gospel Spice, entirely for free. All board members and volunteers are donating time. We limit our operational expenses to the bare minimum.

Your pay-it-forward donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170.

We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Thank you!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Do you enjoy Gospel Spice? Then let's deepen our relationship! There are 4 very simple ways to do that, and it would truly mean the world to us. 

1- If you’ve enjoyed this episode, you will love receiving our newsletter. It contains value-packed free gifts and rich content each month. It’s at gospelspice.com/signup. There is always something new and exciting happening around here, and I don’t want you to miss out! Sign up at Gospelspice.com/signup

2- Did you know Gospel Spice has a YouTube Channel? There’s exclusive content there too. So, join Gospel Spice on YouTube! It's at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice

3- Also please give us a star rating and a comment on your podcast listening app. Your reviews actually really do make a difference to help others discover and experience Gospel Spice. You would be surprised how helpful these are! So please leave a star rating and a review of a sentence or two. Thank you!

4- As always, we are praying for you! You can confidentially email us your prayer requests and praise items at the email address contact@gospelspice.com. It is our privilege to pray for you!

So, would you please invest 3 to 5 minutes of your time, maybe even right now, to do one (or more!) of the following suggestions:

1-      signup on our website for our newsletter to receive gifts you’re going to love - at Gospelspice.com/signup

2-      find us on YouTube, and see what content we’ve put together to help you grow closer to Jesus - at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice

3-      rate Gospel Spice on your listening app – it’s one of the easiest ways to share the gospel!

4-      and finally, tell us how we can pray for you!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 107 - We are in a battle. It is raging, it is fierce, and it is up close and personal. It is not a battle against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual darkness. How do we fight it?

(If you have joined us recently, a big hearty WELCOME! We are SO HONORED you are with us! We warmly invite you to start our Identity in the Battle Series at the beginning with episode 101 titled "What does it mean to be IN Christ?").

This is a very practical episode. What does it mean to put on the armor of God? What purpose does it serve? What does it symbolize? 
In episode 104, we saw that "the only way to stand up to the devil is to kneel before God." Then, in episode 105, we looked at the first three of seven pieces of spiritual armor. So today, we study the final four pieces of our spiritual armor.

Our text is Ephesians 6:16-20 (NIV): "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

A shield? A Roman army-issued shield was the size of a small door. It was no round ceremonial token! It was the primary defense against long-distance attacks. It also allowed an exceptional display of team effort to save mutual lives. It provides a timely illustration about the relationships within the body of Christ today on the battlefield. 

Flaming arrows? Yes, Satan plays dirty. Fire is not necessary to kill. A well-shot arrow is enough. So why fire? Take a listen to uncover Satan's strategy in his use of fire, and how YOU can counterattack with the true Fire from the Spirit.

A helmet? The helmet of salvation is essential. What is salvation? We look at a few key verses:

- Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, Phil 2:12

- Rom 8:28, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

And then, your head represents your mind. Here are some of our key texts from today. They're the kind of verses that satan doesn’t want you to know. He knows his time is short, but he’d rather YOU didn’t know that. If you did, you’d become wise and a threat to him!

2 Cor 10:4-5 - The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power(B) to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Stephanie challenges you to deeper living: "Move from a philosophy of scarcity to one of abundance today."

A sword? Stephanie takes us on a trip to France as she unveils how two French words will deepen your understanding of the sword that is the Scriptures.

(Heb 4:12 - the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.)

A secret weapon? Yes! Prayer is our spiritual weapon and it is powerful! Pray at all times, in all circumstances: to kneel before God is the only way to stand up to the devil.

Do not leave today's episode without chewing on this comforting truth: you’re not alone in the fight.

Note: This episode is the 5th in our Gospel Spice Identity in the battle Summer 2021 series. If you missed it, make sure to listen to Episodes 101 through 105 before you launch this one! Also, it is the final of three episodes focusing on our spiritual armor.

 

----- IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE BIBLE STUDY ------

You have the option to go beyond listening to this series, and to participate actively. It is completely free, a resource by Gospel Spice Ministries. Go to gospelspice.com/identity to register for a self-paced Bible study. You will receive a downloadable, printable workbook containing listening guide for each of the 6 episodes in this series, space for note taking, and discussion questions if you want to do this study with a friend! What better way to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend this season, than to discuss your identity in the battle together? So, grab a friend or family member, or someone to mentor or be mentored by, and register together. 

Special bonus! When you register, you will be added to an exclusive live Zoom call with Stephanie and the Gospel Spice Ministries team to discuss the episodes and ask YOUR questions! There will be 2 live calls over the course of this series (August 2021 only, upon initial release of the episodes).

Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries.

In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God.

In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 105 - We are in a battle. Last week, we saw that "the only way to stand up to the devil is to kneel before God." Today we study and put on the first of seven pieces of spiritual armor. This is taken straight from Ephesians 6:14-15 (NIV): Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

(If you have joined us recently, a big hearty WELCOME! We are SO HONORED you are with us! We warmly invite you to start our Identity in the Battle Series at the beginning with episode 101 titled "What does it mean to be IN Christ?").

This is a very practical episode. What does it mean to put on the armor of God? What purpose does it serve? What does it symbolize? 

Truth? Truth is what God says. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). We wear truth when we are IN HIM: be strong IN the Lord and IN the strength of His might.

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Breastplate? There's the theory, and then there's the practice. The breastplate of righteousness protects our heart. Satan is after your mind, your emotions, your will. He knows you are clothed in Christ’s righteousness, so you can stand. So, identify the lies of the enemy (with the belt of truth) and then DO SOMETHING about it: protect your heart by clothing yourself in the righteousness of Christ.

Shoes? Roman army shoes were knee-high boots designed to stand firm (giving stability) and to move fast (giving motion) both. They are powerfulyl symbolic of our identity in Christ. Because they speak of readiness, they inform our attitude as believers.

Isaiah 52:7 - How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation.

Note: This episode is the 4th in our Gospel Spice Identity in the battle Summer 2021 series. If you missed it, make sure to listen to Episodes 101+102+104 before you launch this one! Also, it is the second of three episodes focusing on our spiritual armor. Episode 107 will continue today's lesson. Make sure to tune in when it releases!

Here are some of our key texts from today. They're the kind of verses that satan doesn’t want you to know. He knows his time is short, but he’d rather YOU didn’t know that. If you did, you’d become wise and a threat to him!

Isaiah 11:5 - Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. (NIV)

Isaiah 59:17. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak (ESV).

Deuteronomy 33:29. He is the shield that protects you, the sword that you boast in. Your enemies will cringe before you and you will tread on their backs.

Deuteronomy 6:7-9 - Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol[b] on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (HCSB)

 

----- IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE BIBLE STUDY ------

You have the option to go beyond listening to this series, and to participate actively. It is completely free, a resource by Gospel Spice Ministries. Go to gospelspice.com/identity to register for a self-paced Bible study. You will receive a downloadable, printable workbook containing listening guide for each of the 6 episodes in this series, space for note taking, and discussion questions if you want to do this study with a friend! What better way to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend this season, than to discuss your identity in the battle together? So, grab a friend or family member, or someone to mentor or be mentored by, and register together. 

Special bonus! When you register, you will be added to an exclusive live Zoom call with Stephanie and the Gospel Spice Ministries team to discuss the episodes and ask YOUR questions! There will be 2 live calls over the course of this series (August 2021 only, upon initial release of the episodes).

Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries.

In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God.

In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 104 - We are in a battle. The most important takeaway Stephanie wants you to keep today is this:   "The only way to stand up to the devil is to kneel before God."

This is an all-important episode to ground your battles in the only foundation that will never be shaken: your identity in Christ.

Just to make sure you remember this: we cannot lose our salvation. We are secure in Christ. That’s the whole point. It’s GOOD NEWS, this armor. There is a battle, and we have won already.

God is giving us spirit-issued uniform. We don’t have to buy it ourselves, He purchased it at great cost. It is the highest quality and it is more than enough for the task ahead. It’s wonderful news! We are not walking into this battle naked. We are not delicate china hiding behind cabinet doors. We are warriors equipped to win, under the command of our general, Christ the Lord, our Warrior-King.

This episode is the 3rd in our Gospel Spice Identity in the battle Summer 2021 series. If you missed it, make sure to listen to Episodes 101+102 before you launch this one! Also, it is the first of three episodes focusing on our spiritual armor. Episodes 105 and 107 will continue today's lesson. Make sure to tune in when they release!

----- IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE BIBLE STUDY ------

You have the option to go beyond listening to this series, and to participate actively. It is completely free, a resource by Gospel Spice Ministries. Go to gospelspice.com/identity to register for a self-paced Bible study. You will receive a downloadable, printable workbook containing listening guide for each of the 6 episodes in this series, space for note taking, and discussion questions if you want to do this study with a friend! What better way to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend this season, than to discuss your identity in the battle together? So, grab a friend or family member, or someone to mentor or be mentored by, and register together. 

Special bonus! When you register, you will be added to an exclusive live Zoom call with Stephanie and the Gospel Spice Ministries team to discuss the episodes and ask YOUR questions! There will be 2 live calls over the course of this series (August 2021 only, upon initial release of the episodes).

Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries.

In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God.

In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 102 - Stephanie invites us into the Father's heart today. We start by deciphering the meaning of "downpayment of the Holy Spirit." Staying away from Christianese, we taste the beauty of experiencing the Holy Spirit today. The downpayment of the Holy Spirit as guarantee of our inheritance is a drop of heaven, that makes us long for the ocean of it.

Then, we look at what we call "the cross-shaped dimension of the gospel": Finding our identity in Christ means growing in intimacy with Him. 

The depth of your desire to know the secret things of Christ is the measure of your spiritual growth. There is a massive difference between knowing something about God, and knowing God. Jesus reveals His secrets to us, His mind, and He enables us to reveal the secrets of our hearts to Him. This is the proof of the great delight He takes in us, and teaches us to take in Him.

We then turn to the importance of Christ's position today: seated at the right hand of God, and interceding for us. How is it relevant practically for you and me today?

Ephesians 2:8-10 is the core of our study:  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This episode is the 2nd in our Gospel Spice Identity in the battle Summer 2021 series. If you missed it, make sure to listen to Episode 101 (last week) before you launch this one!

 

----- IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE BIBLE STUDY ------

You have the option to go beyond listening to this series, and to participate actively. It is completely free, a resource by Gospel Spice Ministries. Go to gospelspice.com/identity to register for a self-paced Bible study. You will receive a downloadable, printable workbook containing listening guide for each of the 6 episodes in this series, space for note taking, and discussion questions if you want to do this study with a friend! What better way to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend this season, than to discuss your identity in the battle together? So, grab a friend or family member, or someone to mentor or be mentored by, and register together. 

Special bonus! When you register, you will be added to an exclusive live Zoom call with Stephanie and the Gospel Spice Ministries team to discuss the episodes and ask YOUR questions! There will be 2 live calls over the course of this series (August 2021 only, upon initial release of the episodes).

Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries.

In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God.

In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 101 - Welcome to our brand new Gospel Spice series, Identity in the Battle. Over the course of the next eight weeks, we will take deep dives into the letter to the Ephesians with a focus on putting on our God-given identity, and then putting on the armor to fight the battles of this life, grounded in who God says we are.

In this first episode of this new series, Stephanie ponders that embracing our identity and calling in Christ takes a lifetime. It is a slow process of discovering, accepting, embracing our identity--and doing this, daily by letting it change who we are, into who God created us to be. It is rooted in the simple key of finding our roots IN CHRIST.

Paul mentions the theme of adoption much in our first chapter, so we take a deep dive into what adoption means--on earth, and in heaven. By looking at the legal and practical requirements, we taste new depths of flavors from our own declared adoption, in Christ, into the family of God as belove children. We ponder the inheritance promised to us: the freedom of children is their newfound inner spiritual freedom to choose to love God with all their strength, mind, soul and spirit and love one another as themselves.

Friend, intimacy with God is possible. Hearing His voice guiding you can be your reality this side of heaven.

We conclude this first episode in our series by weighing the meaning of the "sealing" of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean? What can we compare it to? And how is it truly transformative? Stephanie says, "Our true purpose cannot be realized apart from full surrender and belonging into this new family. Our growing likeness to Him gives us boldness through Him."

Finally, she shares, "one thing I have learned, and that is to let the Holy Spirit guide and direct. I am in the passenger seat of my life. Work from the Spirit, not your own natural abilities."

This series focuses on our identity for the first 2 episodes (today and next week) and then moves to the battlefield we are called to enter in this life. Satan fights hard to prevent us from being convinced of our adoption in our bones, because he knows the power of a child of God fully released for the kingdom.

----- IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE BIBLE STUDY ------

You have the option to go beyond listening to this series, and to participate actively. It is completely free, a resource by Gospel Spice Ministries. Go to gospelspice.com/identity to register for a self-paced Bible study. You will receive a downloadable, printable workbook containing listening guide for each of the 6 episodes in this series, space for note taking, and discussion questions if you want to do this study with a friend! What better way to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend this season, than to discuss your identity in the battle together? So, grab a friend or family member, or someone to mentor or be mentored by, and register together. 

Special bonus! When you register, you will be added to an exclusive live Zoom call with Stephanie and the Gospel Spice Ministries team to discuss the episodes and ask YOUR questions! There will be 2 live calls over the course of this series (August 2021 only, upon initial release of the episodes).

 

Notes:

The first chapter of the letter to the Ephesians spells out our identity in Christ:

o   From all eternity – He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. (1:3)

o   chosen and predestined for adoption into His family: In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will" (1:4-5).

o   Redeemed: “redeemed through His blood” (1:7), and 

o   Sealed w Presence of HS: “sealed by the Holy Spirit” (1:13).

o   Saved by grace alone, not works: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast'' (2:8-9).

 

 

Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

 

------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------

The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries.

In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God.

In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus.

PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs.

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Do you enjoy Gospel Spice? Then let's deepen our relationship! There are 4 very simple ways to do that, and it would truly mean the world to us. 

1- If you’ve enjoyed this episode, you will love receiving our newsletter. It contains value-packed free gifts and rich content each month. It’s at gospelspice.com/signup. There is always something new and exciting happening around here, and I don’t want you to miss out! Sign up at Gospelspice.com/signup

2- Did you know Gospel Spice has a YouTube Channel? There’s exclusive content there too. So, join Gospel Spice on YouTube! It's at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice

3- Also please give us a star rating and a comment on your podcast listening app. Your reviews actually really do make a difference to help others discover and experience Gospel Spice. You would be surprised how helpful these are! So please leave a star rating and a review of a sentence or two. Thank you!

4- As always, we are praying for you! You can confidentially email us your prayer requests and praise items at the email address contact@gospelspice.com. It is our privilege to pray for you!

So, would you please invest 3 to 5 minutes of your time, maybe even right now, to do one (or more!) of the following suggestions:

1-      signup on our website for our newsletter to receive gifts you’re going to love - at Gospelspice.com/signup

2-      find us on YouTube, and see what content we’ve put together to help you grow closer to Jesus - at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice

3-      rate Gospel Spice on your listening app – it’s one of the easiest ways to share the gospel!

4-      and finally, tell us how we can pray for you!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 94 - Stephanie welcomes friend Megan B. Brown to discuss the intricacies of full surrender and complete commitment to the Lord amidst a whirlwind of difficult life circumstances.

Today, discover the story of someone who challenges others to dare to step up as she has been challenged to step up. We discuss the challenges of a military career, as Megan's husband is currently actively deployed overseas. Megan is a missionary to American military communities around the globe. We discuss what an active missional lifestyle looks like on a daily basis--in our neighborhoods and communities. as Megan says, "lives are most certainly changed on sofas." We need to embrace the local church model of home meetings to develop a sturdy foundation of trust with the Lord and with each other. What do successful local, God-centered communities look like?

We also discuss what it looks like to submit our gifts to the local church, and how to step fully into what the Lord has ordained for and through each one of us. 

What does it look like to "do it afraid"? What truths from the Lord will help us surrender to Him?

GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY!!

Megan is giving away 5 copies of her new book, Summoned. Go to gospelspice.com/giveaway for a chance to win!

If you've enjoyed this episode, you will LOVE our Gospel Spice series! Check out the first episode of each season, as a way to get ready for Episode 100 and our brand new "Identity in the Battle" series, starting on Episode 101!

Some listeners' favorites:

The Gospel of Matthew:https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

The Psalms: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

 

MEET MEGAN B. BROWN.

Megan B. Brown is a new and upcoming author, a Christian speaker, and a military missionary. She is passionate about equipping the United States military community to carry the redemptive story of Jesus to the four corners through radical hospitality, sound biblical teaching, and community discipleship.

Megan is the author of Summoned: Answering a Call to the Impossible, releasing in May 2021 by Moody Publishers and the Managing Editor for Brave Women, Strong Faith- an anthology collection of stories written by military women and wives. In Summoned, you’ll enter the story of Esther—her calling, pain, and role in God’s plan for salvation—and see how God is always working in the lives of His people, even when He seems distant. Through this 8-week study, you’ll develop a deeper appreciation for God’s Word and begin to see that stepping out in faith for His glory is often the first step to encountering His redeeming love.

Megan says, "I wrote a book a book about a phenomenal woman, but really, I wrote a book about a phenomenal God."

While Megan loves writing- books, blogs, and articles- Megan also enjoys traveling around the country speaking at ministry events, retreats, conferences, and churches.

You will find Megan here:

https://www.facebook.com/megan.b.brown.96

https://www.instagram.com/megbrownwrites/

https://www.meganbbrown.com/

 

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 93 - Stephanie welcomes Tessa Afshar, bestselling author of historical and biblical fiction. Tessa grew up in Iran in a nominally Muslim family before emigrating to the UK. She became a Christian in her twenties, and it has dramatically affected her life's focus. She had a dream about Christ, and she says, "I am one of the only persons in the universe to ever say that my first reaction to Christ was... disappointment"! But then she saw His eyes and she discovered "unbroken love."

Tessa writes biblical fiction to draw us deep into the reality of life over the 2,000+ years covered in Scripture. In other words, she does through fiction what the Gospel Spice podcast does through teaching: giving us a fresh perspective to help us fall in love with God more!
Tessa and Stephanie discuss her conversion story, and the importance of seeing ourselves through God's eyes.

  If you've enjoyed this episode, you will LOVE our Gospel Spice series! Check out the first episode of each season:

The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

The Psalms: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

 

IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE: SUMMER 2021 EXCLUSIVE BONUS CONTENT

Go to gospelspice.com/identity to register for FREE for exclusive bonus content to experience our upcoming summer series, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE, at a whole new level. 

 

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

 

GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY!

Tessa is giving away a copy of her phenomenal Bible Study, The Way Home: God's invitation to new beginnings.

Go to Gospelspice.com/giveaway to enter for a chance to win! The winner will be announced on the same page next week.

------------

Tessa Afshar is the best-selling author of historical and biblical fiction. Her novels have won a number of awards, including the Christy and the INSPY. She recently released her first bible study and DVD called The Way Home: God’s Invitation to New Beginnings, based on the book of Ruth. Tessa was born to a nominally Muslim family in the Middle East and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She then moved to England, where she survived boarding school for girls, before immigrating to the United States. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of Tessa’s life forever. She holds a master of divinity from Yale University, where she was elected to serve as co-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School for one year. After working in women’s ministry for twenty years, Tessa now works as a full-time writer. Tessa and her husband live in New England where they proudly tend their small, mediocre garden.

Visit her online at TessaAfshar.com.

Make sure to order her latest AMAZING novel, Jewel of the Nile, by clicking here. (released June 1, 2021)

Her Bible Study, wich we discussed on the show, is also available by clicking here.

You will find Tessa on Facebook and on Instagram.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 92 - What is wisdom? What is righteousness? Who are the primary role-models in wisdom and righteousness in the Old Testament, and how do they point us to Christ?

As we conclude our last episode in our Gospel Spice Proverbs series, Stephanie invites us to take a final look at what righteousness and wisdom truly are, and then we will gaze at the Face of Him who is our righteousness. We ponder perseverance and endurance in the faith in oiur struggle against lust--in whatever form.

On righteousness:

Proverbs talks a lot about the righteous and the wicked, the lazy, the fool. It teaches by example—what is righteous by showing what is wicked. 

The moment you accept Christ, life does not become a stroll in the park. Perseverance in your faith is the hallmark of your faithfulness. Your authenticity is proven by your walk. The walk of faith is a slow transformation with lots of roadblocks and deadends and detours, many coming from the past – past idols trying to trip you up in guilt and shame. But you are a new creation in Christ. You are the Bride of Christ, pure and blameless and spotless and righteous—not on your own strength but HIDDEN IN HIM.

If you think that conversion is a fast-pass to transformation, you are in for a deception. Faith is slow-cooked more often than it is pressure-cooked, though both happen.

Righteousness is valuing God above all else. It means that ethics and morality find their source in respecting God as the ultimate worth. Righteousness is more than doing the “right” thing: righteousness is valuing God as ultimate in all things. Valuing God as ultimate in all things is the ultimate right thing, and that is what makes you righteous in His eyes.

Our righteousness is exhibited when we too value and respect the worth of God without wavering and upholding it in all that we do, to the nest of our strength in Christ. In other words, We as humans are to practice righteousness towards the goal of obtaining it, knowing it is already ours in Christ.

On wisdom:

Solomon was the wisest king who ever lived, yet we have seen that he didn’t end so well. The consequences cannot be overstated.

Proverbs extols wisdom associated with a man who, by everyone’s judgment, was considered wise and is so to the present day. Yet he failed to live by wisdom. The result is further affirmation of the testimony of the Law, that our hope is in One. Even so great a force as wisdom, when it is nurtured and embraced, cannot rescue us from the evil that resides in our hearts. Solomon’s details and bad ending, moral of the story: even the wisest man, apart from Christ, is not wise enough.

“The universal Voice of God was by the ancient Hebrews often called wisdom.” (AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God)

“This habit of explaining the Voice by appeals to natural law is at the very root of modern science. In the living, breathing cosmos there is a mysterious Something, too wonderful for any mind to understand. The believing man does not claim to understand. He falls to his knees and whispers, “God.” The man of the earth kneels, too, but not to worship. He kneels to examine, to search, to find the cause and the how of things.” AWTozer

Folly is looking for an explanation in the dirt of the earth, under the sun. Wisdom is knowing that God will be found above the sun. And so, wisdom, the voice of God, calls and searches the one who wants to cultivate their spiritual heart.

If you have ever experienced inexplicable loneliness, or otherworldly longing, or a feeling of awe and wonder, a moment of light and lightness – that is the Voice of God guiding your spiritual heart to find your rest in Him.

On wisdom from above, in the Face of Christ Jesus:

Jesus describes the wisdom that is from above in His Sermon on the Mount.

Take the Beatitudes and write them in reverse – you will get the wisdom from the world: accumulate riches. Be selfish. Be on the lookout for Number One. Live for this world alone.

Jesus is not offering an opinion here. Jesus never gives opinions. He gives truth. HE KNOWS. His wisdom is not from under the sun like Solomon’s. His wisdom is not the result of his study of human nature or nature itself. Jesus gives truth because He is fully God. He is speaking from within the intimacy of the Trinity.  His words are not opinions. They are truth. The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ definition of wisdom that is from above.

So, worship God, who is from above the sun. Worship Christ, the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. This is taken from Hebrews 1:1-5, which tells us that God spoke wisdom through the Old Testament, in Proverbs for example, but that He went all out in Christ: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."

 

---------------Note to PARENTS---------------

We CARE about your family!! As usual, Stephanie brings in a fictitious character to illustrate our theme. This week's trait is lust. Therefore, the initial illustration, while not explicit, might not be for the youngest ears--unless you are ready to answer spicy questions about intimate relations. Stephanie's mention is brief, but an inquisitive little heart may pick up on questions worth asking! Decide for yourself when to best listen to the first 5 minutes of this episode!

 

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

--------- NEW SUMMER SERIES STARTING JULY 19 2021 ---------

Stephanie mentioned our new Gospel Spice series, Identity in the battle, starting July 19, 2021. We offer a brand new option to go deeper into our series together. It is completely free, and registration will open on JUNE 1, 2021 at gospelspice.com/identity. It is only available over the Summer 2021, so if you catch this episode after we've closed our Summer 2021 series, stay tuned for MORE options! Check gospelspice.com for the latest updates.

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO PARTNER WITH GOSPEL SPICE TODAY!

First, PAY Gospel Spice Forward: Give a tax-deductible gift so others can experience our ministry for free, just like you! You can pay it forward with any debit, credit card, or via PayPal. See below for more details about your impact.

Also, PLAY Gospel Spice Forward: SHARE the podcast and the studies with your friends and family. FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW on your favorite podcast app (leave a comment + a star rating on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Pandora, IHeart, Google Podcast, etc…). It REALLY is the best way to help others find this content-rich podcast. 

And, last but not least, PRAY Gospel Spice Forward: We pray for you weekly. We covet your prayers for our ministry, the thousands we reach, and our team! Contact us to let us know you are praying for us!

NEW!

Another way to partner with us is to purchase our workbooks and online Bible studies. We keep them at the lowest possible cost, but they require a lot of work from us! For example,

- a complete Bible Study requires an average of 500 man-hours.

- a workbook for a series requires almost 100 man-hours.

MORE ABOUT PARTNERING WITH US FINANCIALLY:

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status.

Our goal is to provide in-depth, high-quality, free Bible resources for all. They are free, but expensive to create! We need your financial support to keep producing and distributing them. Please pay Gospel Spice forward today! For example, a podcast episode takes close to 10 hours of work (and we release 2 each week). They come to you completely free, but we would truly love your support.

We want the money to go to those who really need it. Once our operating costs are paid, 100% of your donation is redistributed to our partners who fight human trafficking. Each year, we aim to give as much as we can. For example, Stephanie works more than full time for Gospel Spice, entirely for free. All board members and volunteers are donating time. We limit our operational expenses to the bare minimum.

Your pay-it-forward donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170.

We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Thank you!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 89 - Will I dare ask myself if greed is an issue in my life? What is keeping me away from God today? Could greed be a problem?

There’s a French saying: some people are so poor, all they have is money. Today we are talking about replacing greed, and all forms of idolatry, with joy.

Greed. What does the Bible say about it? 

Proverbs 1:19 - Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

Proverbs 11:28  -Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

Greed doesn’t give. Greed robs. Greed robs YOU of joy.

To start us off, Stephanie challenges us--and herself--with seven questions to self-diagnose if we have unknowingly fallen victim to greed, in one form or another:

1.     Is it MY money or God’s?

2.    What would I do differently if I knew I would be dead in a year?

3.     WHY do I want more money?

4.     How do I spend my time? thinking of ways to earn more, or of ways to advance God’s Kingdom?

5.     How would I behave if I lost everything?

6.     Am I truly generous?

7.     Do I compromise character to make more money?

Then we ponder the link between joy and righteousness and the only true cure against greed.

Idolatry is misplaced worship. 

Proverbs describes where joy cannot be found.

The summary of the entire book of Proverbs can be found in Mark 8:36: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" That’s the definition of unrighteousness.

Joy "must be sharply distinguished both from happiness and from pleasure" - CS Lewis

Joy is “unsatisfied desire, which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.” – CS Lewis again.

God promises to give us a joy that surpasses anything this world has to offer. Here’s the question: how much of your life to do you spend experiencing this joy, vs looking for joy elsewhere?

Psalm 35:27 - Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

Haydn, the great musician, was once asked why his church music was so cheerful, and he replied: "When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen ; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit."

Joy is the juice of gladness that comes from the fruit of peace, itself springing up from the ground of righteousness – our righteousness in Christ. Matthew Henry defines joy as "a constant delight in God."

Who does the work of transforming our hearts to find satisfaction in God? God Himself is the One who transforms our heart to increasingly see Christ as our supreme treasure, even as we seek to find our satisfaction in Him.

Cyprian was a third-century North African. As he was anticipating death, he penned these last words to his friend Donatus in 258AD: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them.”

This is an episode you do not want to miss. We look forward to serving you through it this week!

 

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

 

--------- CELEBRATING THE ASCENSION AND PENTECOST ---------

This year, Gospel Spice is not publishing episodes dedicated to the celebration of the Acension and Pentecost. These are crucial, momentous events in the life of Christ, and of the church. Please go to https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/gospel-spice/series/experience-the-ascension-and-pentecost/ to listen to all our content on this pricelesss topic! You will also find several other topic-themed inspiring series at the bottom of the page: gospel-spice.com

--------- NEW SUMMER SERIES STARTING JULY 19 2021 ---------

Stephanie mentioned our new Gospel Spice series, Identity in the battle, starting July 19, 2021. We offer a brand new option to go deeper into our series together. It is completely free, and registration will open on JUNE 1, 2021 at gospelspice.com/identity. It is only available over the Summer 2021, so if you catch this episode after we've closed our Summer 2021 series, stay tuned for MORE options! Check gospelspice.com for the latest updates.

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 87 - Are you ready for a fresh, spicy approach to the love of God today?

We've all heard that God loves us. Do we really believe it? How can we live in deeper awareness of God's love for me? The Book of Proverbs might not be overtly explicit about God's love, but it is the underlying foundation for the entire book. So, today, we are pondering God's love: what does it mean that "God is love"? Why is He love? What does His love look like? We're not staying in shallow waters. We are peeking under the hood of Proverbs to look at how the engine of this book truly functions. And we discover that Love is the fuel behind every motion in Proverbs.

Stephanie starts us off this week with a powerful quote by her countryman, Blaise Pascal, on his famous "God-shaped hole" in the human heart:

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself” -- Blaise Pascal, 1670.

We see that, IN God, our primary life calling: to REST in LOVE and DELIGHT in HIM in return. To make God our rest and my delight. We are created to LOVE and BE LOVED. We are attracted by LOVE like an irresistible magnet. And, we can only love well when we are loved well. Love is an experience of the heart AND mind. It is a decision of the will that transforms your heart and turns living into loving.

Stephanie challenges us to embrace the challenge of the Christian life: to nurture the One Craving of craving the One--Christ, that is. And we discuss practical ways to do just that. They may sound overworn and cliche, but there's a reason some paths are well-trodden by countless generations of Christ-worshipping believers across time and space: these well-worn paths actualyl work, and actually lead us deeper into God. They are called prayer and the study of Scripture. Stephanie gives us a fresh perspective to rejuvenate our desire to walk these paths daily. We are challenged to learn to experience the consequences of growing in our craving of God alone.

Then, we look at the practical outsome: True love is binding yourself to the One you love. It is a surrender of freewill to embrace freedom to love another. God displays His supernatural glory through human impossibilities. He chooses us to make us a willing partner of His acting through us.

Love the Lord your God, and then love your neighbor as yourself. - Jesus.

Join us today for a fresh, in-depth dive into the love of God!

 

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

 

--------- CELEBRATING THE ASCENSION AND PENTECOST ---------

This year, Gospel Spice is not publishing episodes dedicated to the celebration of the Acension and Pentecost. These are crucial, momentous events in the life of Christ, and of the church. Please go to https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/gospel-spice/series/experience-the-ascension-and-pentecost/ to listen to all our content on this pricelesss topic! You will also find several other topic-themed inspiring series at the bottom of the page: gospel-spice.com

 

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 86 -- Jennifer Rothschild is sharing her experience of physical blindness and spiritual eyesight with us today. We go deep in the trenches of self-reliance, and she says, "I used to rely on my own strength, and I thought it was grace." She tells us that without Christ's power in us, we can't experience true success. Our strength can be our greatest liability.  Jennifer says that blindness has exposed her true weakness: her dogged self-reliance! Learning that our greater weakness is self-dependence teaches us to boast in our weakness because that is where the power of Christ can dwell.

So, we talk about the imperative of surrender to a God who knows us exactly as He created us to be. How do we make surrender our number one goal? This is one of the themes of "Take Courage: a study of Haggai" the latest book that Jennifer wrote--because she needed it for herself, and hopes to share it with others who seek to rebuild against discouragement after 2020 and amidst 2021. Jennifer reminds us through Haggai that you are never too young, or too old, for God to call and qualify and equip you for the work and identity He has for you.

Jennifer says, "true success is obedience." How do you not get weary of well-doing? Haggai teaches us that obedience and faithfulness ARE success. It is not about size and glitter, but about surrendering our 100% to God.

Jennifer shares with vulnerability how taking courage is an instruction amidst weakness and disappointment, not something for the strong. It is about receiving courage, not mustering it up out of our own strength. So, it starts with emptying yourself of self-reliance, stop trying to grip control, taking "be strong" off your to-do list, and tell God that you can't -- but that HE CAN! Case in point, Stephanie started this interview with a few butterflies in her stomach and a slight case of fan-girling, but Jennifer made her feel at ease immediately by her kindness and approachability. This was a perfect practical example of how to celebrate success as God defines it--not as we do.

And, did you wonder what Jennifer's favorite spice is? Take a listen to find out! It's full of spiritual depth, too!!

Stephanie apologizes for the lower quality of her own voice at occasions on this episode... the recording had technical difficulties, but the good news is that Jennifer's voice is perfectly recorded!

If you've enjoyed this episode, you will LOVE our Gospel Spice series! Click to check out the first episode of each season:

The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

The Psalms: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

 

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

 

------- GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY ------

Jennifer is giving away a copy of her latest Bible Study, Take Courage: a study through Haggai. So, go now to gospelspice.com/giveaway to enter for a chance to win!

-------- ABOUT TAKE COURAGE: A STUDY OF HAGGAI ----------

Do you ever feel like the happy ending of your story is a million miles away?

Then you know how the Jewish people felt when they returned to their wrecked land after exile and began rebuilding the temple. They were distracted, discouraged, and ready to throw in the towel. But the prophet Haggai reminded them they could find courage in the God who had never left them.

Sometimes the landscapes of our lives feel wrecked, with our hope and purpose in shambles. We too get distracted and discouraged. However, God’s presence and promises give us courage to press on and trust Him with our story.

In this 7-session study on the Book of Haggai, learn to walk confidently in your calling, stay motivated despite opposition, and courageously invest your life in God’s purposes, trusting Him for results you may never see in this lifetime.

------ GET TO KNOW JENNIFER ------

At the young age of fifteen, Jennifer was diagnosed with a rare, degenerative eye disease that would eventually steal her sight. It was more than a turning point for the Miami, FL, native. Her dreams of becoming a commercial artist and cartoonist faded. Words and music have replaced her canvas and palette for more than 30 years.

Known for her substance, and down-to-earth style, Jennifer weaves together colorful illustrations, universal principles, and music to help audiences find contentment, walk with endurance, and celebrate the ordinary. Through her signature wit and poignant story-telling, audiences are prompted to look beyond their circumstances to find unique “gifts,” in unusual packaging.

Jennifer has taken her message of encouragement across the country speaking at national and regional gatherings of busy professionals, dedicated volunteers, and overwhelmed moms and dads. Jennifer has been a featured speaker for the nation’s largest conference for women, Women of Faith, and has teamed up with Beth Moore and others to lead national women’s conferences. Thousands have come away with a new vision for their future, their family, and their work.

She is the author of 17 books with combined sales approaching one million units, including the newest video-based Bible study, Take Courage: A Study of Haggai and the best-selling Lessons I Learned in the Dark. In addition to her writing and speaking, Jennifer is an accomplished songwriter and recording artist, with six albums to her credit – including Remember and Walking by Faith: The Music Captured Live, among others.

Jennifer has been featured on The Today Show, Dr. Phil, ABC’s Good Morning America, and the Billy Graham Television Special, and on other national TV and radio programs including Hour of Power, Life Today, Family Life Radio, TBN, and others. Her life story and message has been the cover story of numerous national publications including Today’s Christian Woman, Virtue magazine, Becoming Family magazine, HomeLife magazine, and others.

Jennifer is also the founder and host of Fresh Grounded Faith Events and the womensministry.net Leadership Library that equips women in ministry to lead well. She resides in Springfield, Missouri with her husband of 31 years, Dr. Philip Rothschild (a professor). They have two sons, Clayton, married to Caroline, and Connor. And her favorite title is Gigi to her two grandsons. Jennifer enjoys visits to theme parks and riding a bicycle built for two. She got a real charge singing the national anthem for the Atlanta Braves and bungee-jumping from seven and a half stories. Jennifer is a voracious reader; she loves classical music, dark chocolate, and the smell of a hazelnut-coffee candle.

Stay in touch: 

http://www.facebook.com/jennifer.j.rothschild;

http://twitter.com/jennrothschild.

jenniferrothschild.com for more!

https://www.freshgroundedfaith.com/events/

--------- CELEBRATING THE ASCENSION AND PENTECOST ---------

This year, Gospel Spice is not publishing episodes dedicated to the celebration of the Acension and Pentecost. These are crucial, momentous events in the life of Christ, and of the church. Please go to https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/gospel-spice/series/experience-the-ascension-and-pentecost/ to listen to all our content on this pricelesss topic! You will also find several other topic-themed inspiring series at the bottom of the page: gospel-spice.com

 

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 84 - We are resuming our journeyr through the Book of Proverbs after our amazing guest interview with Jill Briscoe in our previous episode. Today, Stephanie takes us deep into the topics of fear, insecurities and anxiety in order to ponder the Christ-centered alternative: faith and trust.

Many proverbs are centered on the concept of fear--both as something to avoid when it is the fear of man, and as something to nurture when it is the fear of God. What do these proverbs mean, and what can they teach us today?

As has now become our habit, we start off by meeting a fictional character who embodies the traits we will be pondering today. Her name is Jessica, and she tries hard to please everyone! Stephanie takes us to a profound quote by Thomas Chalmers about the "expulsion power of a new affection" as the underlying secret to replace fear by faith. We examine fear to conclude that it is always a secondary motivation in the transformation process, and that growing in faith makes for a much more powerful vector of transformation.

Faith predates the fall in the garden, but fear follows it. Therefore, in Christ we are given the opportunity to return to our deepest roots, restoring the harmony of our intimacy with the Father in the garden, and even more. Because of the transformative power of faith in Christ, we can become salt and light--this is actually the context of Jesus' famous teaching about our identity as salt of the earth and light of the world!

We ponder that genuine faith and trust in God are only possible when we rejoice and delight in God first, and foremost, and, actually, all in all. Faith is grounded in who God is; fear is grounded in who we are in our own eyes, or in the eyes of the world.

We examine this powerful thought by Saint Augustine, that challenges us to give up the "fruitless joys we are afraid to lose" in order to "embrace the joy-filled fruit we cannot lose." We do this, by looking at Peter's faith when he dared to step out of the boat. Will we dare to step out of our own boats in faith, keeping our eyes on the One who holds our hand?

This event in Peter's life teaches us that, if we have faith in mankind, we will have the fear of man; but if we have faith in God, then we will cultivate the only healthy fear: the fear of God, which is the "beginning of wisdom" and the "beginning of knowledge" as Proverbs teach us.

So, what is the fear of God? How can it be good, since we've expounded on fear being bad, so far? It requires a look at who God is. His preeminence in presence, power, goodness, justice, love, patience and kindness set Him so very much apart, that He is a category all His own. To be "set apart" literally is the root of the word "holy." The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge because God is a category all His own, and we cannot fear Him as we fear man. It's not the same fear because it's not the same category.

The fear of God is wise because it is awe and reverence and worship and adoration--not cowering in fear of getting hurt by a vengeful tyrant. God's identity makes Him trustworthy and, therefore, make His guidance much sought after.

We end with yet another favorite quote of Stephanie's, "complaint supposes ill-usage." If we complain that God has not come through for us (as we all are prone to do!) we basically state that God is out to get us, or that He does not have our best interest at heart; that He behaves towards us with ill-will. When we take time to think this through, we realize it is not consistent with who we know God to be. In other words, complaining against God is always rooted in a faulty understanding of His grace and heart on our behalf. It means we can correct our faulty view, and therefore grow in joy and contentment! What a delightful prospect.

Such promises are NOT for the fearless, perfect version of you, some time in the future. They are for you TODAY, as you are, imperfections and all. And that is the best news we can hear all day!

If it is true that we become what we behold, then behold Christ. Anything lower is beneath you as a royal priesthood, adopted child of God.

---------------

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

 

As a reminder, you will find a complete listening guide as downloadable PDF in the shownotes or at gospel-spice.com so you can take full advantage of this PACKED episode!

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO PARTNER WITH GOSPEL SPICE TODAY!

First, PAY Gospel Spice Forward: Give a tax-deductible gift so others can experience our ministry for free, just like you! You can pay it forward with any debit, credit card, or via PayPal. See below for more details about your impact.

Also, PLAY Gospel Spice Forward: SHARE the podcast and the studies with your friends and family. FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW on your favorite podcast app (leave a comment + a star rating on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Pandora, IHeart, Google Podcast, etc…). It REALLY is the best way to help others find this content-rich podcast. 

And, last but not least, PRAY Gospel Spice Forward: We pray for you weekly. We covet your prayers for our ministry, the thousands we reach, and our team! Contact us to let us know you are praying for us!

NEW!

Another way to partner with us is to purchase our workbooks and online Bible studies. We keep them at the lowest possible cost, but they require a lot of work from us! For example,

- a complete Bible Study requires an average of 500 man-hours.

- a workbook for a series requires almost 100 man-hours.

MORE ABOUT PARTNERING WITH US FINANCIALLY:

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status.

Our goal is to provide in-depth, high-quality, free Bible resources for all. They are free, but expensive to create! We need your financial support to keep producing and distributing them. Please pay Gospel Spice forward today! For example, a podcast episode takes close to 10 hours of work (and we release 2 each week). They come to you completely free, but we would truly love your support.

We want the money to go to those who really need it. Once our operating costs are paid, 100% of your donation is redistributed to our partners who fight human trafficking. Each year, we aim to give as much as we can. For example, Stephanie works more than full time for Gospel Spice, entirely for free. All board members and volunteers are donating time. We limit our operational expenses to the bare minimum.

Your pay-it-forward donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170.

We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Thank you!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 81 -- Welcome to our new Gospel Spice season in the Book of Proverbs.

Stephanie hopes to provice a Christocentric approach to the Book of Proverbs as "wisdom from above the sun." If you are NEW to Gospel Spice, we invite you to discover us at gospelspice.com. Stephanie teaches about 2/3 of the time here, and then has amazing guests for the rest of our time! For example she recently welcomed Liz Curtis Higgs and Geof Morin to celebrate Easter. And now, we are back to our usual rhythm with our new Proverbs series. Expect amazing guests every third week! 

For this series, Stephanie will start each episode by introducing you to a fictional character... but they may hit close to home! They will embody a value or trait that will be the focus of the episode. We will meet eight characters, and they will teach much about wisdom... or the lack thereof!

Stephanie is offering a FREE listening guide to this episode. You will find it in the shownotes to print or follow along!

Today, we will seek to understand what is wisdom by first looking at what it is not. What does Proverbs tell us about the "simple"? The "foolish"? The "wicked"? Who are they, how are they the same and different, and what can we learn from them... to avoid becoming like them?

We will ponder "wisdom under the sun" as Solomon touts in Ecclesiastes; and then realize that, through Christ, we are given access to the wisdom that is from above the sun--the only one that will truly carry us through life.

We will look at the wisdom of the world, and contrast it with the wisdom of Christ. How does Jesus complete the wisdom of Proverbs?

We will ponder the lessons from the lives of the authors and compilers of the Book of Proverbs. What do they teach us? How did their walk match their talk? Who inspired them? 

How does our theology influence our experience of Proverbs... and vice-versa?

Stephanie challenges us to ponder these nuggets of wisdom in Christ:

Wisdom is genius. 

Humility is heroic.

Faith is daring.

Love is extravagant.

And, surrender to God is true boldness.

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

------ JOIN THE GOSPEL SPICE COMMUNITY! --------

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

You can also support us financially through PayPal or directly by secure link. We are a registered non-profit 501c3 organization, and your donations are fully tax-deductible in the USA!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 80 - There are times when words just don't suffice to express excitement and wonder. Today is such a day! Get this: Stephanie welcomes Liz Curtis Higgs. Yes, THE Liz Curtis Higgs! Stephanie has grown in wisdom at her feet, and is delighted--utterly--to share her words of beauty and wisdom with you this Easter. Liz beckons you into an Easter experience like no other. Oh, beloved, come and enter into the beauty of Easter today.

Liz weaves the story of Mary of Bethany in that timeless moment when she worshipped Christ, on the Saturday just before Easter. Mary helped prepare Jesus for the suffering to come by pouring out her love for Him in a fragrant and tangible expression of worship. Smell the perfume Mary shed at His feet. See the scandal and the glory of pure worship. Behold the beauty of authentic praise. Learn from Mary, whose actions spoke louder than words.

Liz has got to be the funniest Bible teacher you have ever met--wait until you hear of the book she is considering writing one day, on all the but's in the Bible... 🙂

What is one thing we ought to remember Mary of Bethany by? Liz gives a profound answer. Take a listen today to be inspired!

 If you've enjoyed this episode, you will LOVE our Gospel Spice series! Check out the first episode of each season:

Our Easter Series: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/gospel-spice/series/a-gospel-spice-easter/  

The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/

 

The Psalms: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/

 

The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/

 

The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/

 

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

For more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, check out gospelspice.com.

 

----- GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY -----

Liz is giving away a copy of her book, The Women of Easter, to one Gospel Spice listener! Go to gospelspice.com/giveaway to enter for a chance to win!

The winner will be announced next week here.

----- MEET LIZ CURTIS HIGGS -----

Liz is the author of 37 books, with 4.6 million copies in print. Her latest release, 31 Proverbs to Light Your Path, shows how thirty-one nuggets of truth reveal God’s faithfulness: “I will instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths” (Proverbs 4:11). In another recent devotional, 31 Verses to Write on Your Heart, Liz explores 31 favorite verses chosen by more than a thousand women.

The Women of Easter shines a spotlight on three Marys who play vital roles in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Women of Christmas offers a heartwarming Bible study wrapped inside a beautiful gift book with Verse by verse, Liz unwraps the biblical stories of Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna, who each welcome the Christ child into the world in a marvelous and miraculous way. 

In her best-selling Bad Girls of the Bible series, Liz breathes new life into ancient tales about the most infamous—and intriguing—women in history, from Jezebel to Mary Magdalene. Scripturally sound and cutting-edge fresh, these popular titles have helped more than one million women around the world experience God’s grace anew.

Women of Faith, Women of Joy, Extraordinary Women, Among Friends, Time Out for Women, Moody Women, Women of Virtue, Win-some Women, Women’s Journey of Faith, Women Who Worship, Christian Women Communicating International—if it’s a conference for and about women, Liz Curtis Higgs is honored to be there. She has spoken at more than 1,800 conferences in all 50 states of the U.S. and 15 foreign countries, including South Africa, Indonesia, Germany, Ecuador, and Japan.

Her messages are biblical, encouraging, down-to-earth, and profoundly funny, helping both sisters and seekers embrace the truth of God’s amazing, unchanging grace.

Liz’s dedication to platform ministry has not gone unnoticed. In 1995 the National Speakers Association honored Liz with their Council of Peers Award of Excellence. Her alma mater, Bellarmine University, presented her with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005. And she received an Honorary Doctorate from Georgetown College in 2010.

You will find Liz everywhere:

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LizCurtisHiggs

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/LizCurtisHiggs

Pinterest: www.Pinterest.com/LizCurtisHiggs

YouTube: www.YouTube.com/LizCurtisHiggs

Vimeo: www.Vimeo.com/LizCurtisHiggs

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!