in faith

Kicking off a 3-part sub-series: Did God Really Say? (He usually did.) Today we answer the question: where does the Bible say to "invite Jesus into your heart and be saved"? That phrase isn't, but we can search through a number of other Scriptures to try to find the concept.

People like to remind religious folk that Jesus ate with sinners--but what do you think those dinners were like? What might have been some topics of discussion? Well, this week we take a look at five of the dinners recorded in the Gospels, who attended, and what reaction they had to sitting with Jesus and breaking bread.

What do we do when we realize we believe in a heresy? When someone else believes in one? When our pastor preaches one? There's no one-size-fits-all, but we'll take a look at a few key scriptures to help guide us.

How might Christians view tradition? The Pharisees were somewhat notorious traditionalists, and perhaps why the church tries to be so relevant today. But can we also shun tradition at our own peril--or, at least, a diminished experience in the body of Christ? Tune in to hear Scripture for and against Church tradition.

Is "Christian Supernatural" an oxymoronic genre? If you hear a book in that genre, do you think "how could a supernatural story be Christian, or vice versa?" This is the episode for you, potentially. Listen in for the briefest of dives into six Scriptures that remind us we're in a supernatural story whether we see it or not.

Today we look at a few key passages of Scripture as we consider how much value things on earth have. Is it worth fighting for? Getting into arguments over? Judging others for? Removing from our lives just for the sake of removing it? Or, by denying ourselves things, are we only writing a new law that God never gave us? Just three passages today, to maybe help us answer these questions.

When we're told to "bear much fruit" because it is "to God's glory" it is important to know what kind of fruit we should be bearing. Today we look at what we can expect, what we should expect, and what we should pray for and intentionally bear--no gardener simply throws out random seeds. Neither should we only haphazardly cultivate crops within our character and our souls.

Fate...freewill...someone should write a fantasy book exploring this idea...

What is predestination? Are we able to choose salvation, or has God already determined it beforehand? We start with each verse that uses the word to see some context, and then go all over the Bible to see where else it might pop up--or might not.

What do you consider sin? Is it doing something bad? And if we are destined for Hell because of our sins--then do we just need to stop doing bad things? What about people who are mostly good? Or, at least, aren't evil?

Or do we need to think of sin differently? Listen in for a slant on this idea you may not have considered before.

This week was a busy week, and I did not have the time I need to fully prepare for a discussion on predestination. So instead we're talking about red flags--when is a behavior or action a red flag, versus something we can either overlook or work through? When can we sit in uncertainty, and when should we run? Let's take a look at an interesting real-world example to help us understand how to better tell people about God.

It feels like sometimes, so much emphasis is put on coming to Christ, on being saved, that the "by faith not works" starts to bleed into the walk with Christ. Or the walk with Christ is largely ignored--that as long as you are saved, you've done the most important thing. And while it is a critical first step, it is still just the first step. In today's episode we look at why there is so much more to look forward to between salvation and heaven.

Today we're answering this question--is salvation easy, or hard? What do we have to do to be saved? What is the actual process? Do I just say a prayer? Do I have to do anything first?

All this and more!

Does the Old Testament still apply? Or are the promises of Jeremiah 29:11 only for ancient Israel? Tune in to find out--or to encourage yourself of what you already know.

Psalm 1:3--does the tree planted by streams of water bear fruit each season? Every season? Should we as Christians see the ripened fruits of our labor constantly? And what about "everything we do prospers"--does that mean something specific to Americans, perhaps?

So much to answer and discuss--listen in to learn more.

When you find work that gives you joy, criticism arises: well, it must not be hard work (and hard work is the only work that counts); that's great you have that, but when are you getting a real job?; and, with your education and experience you should be able to get a good job, not this...whatever you're doing.

But are those things important? Will God only call you to do the most difficult things? What constitutes a "real" job? And isn't working for the kingdom "good"?

Answers to all this and more in today's episode as we continue to look at work, redefined.

When God said: "Six days you shall work, but on the Seventh you must rest," was it one command? Or two? That is, do we only work because we must? And only rest because we must? Or was this commandment put in place because without it, we would love work so much as to do it every day? My guess is most of us would take any any time off from our jobs that we could--but I don't think that's what God intended when He "prepared good works in advance" for us to do. Listen in as we try to re-imagine a life of working for God.

Plenty of preaching tells us to desire what God desires; and we please Him when we do what He desires. But what is it, then, that He desires? Join me on a journey through Old and New Testament as we explore 39 verses telling us just that.

Are denominations biblical? Paul prays for the church to be unified; now we are fractured almost endlessly. At every perceived heresy, it seems like, a new denomination arises.
But it doesn't mean we have to abandon the idea of denominations. Instead perhaps we can return to Scripture and find a better frame of mind when we consider doctrines and beliefs, and even the idea of the "true" Christian.

Some of the questions that come to mind when making a difficult life-choice is: "What if I screw up? What if I choose something God doesn't want for me? Will everything just fall apart?"

It can be easy to think, in a works-based society, that God similarly only gives us what we need if we're doing what He wants us to. Even if you've got the "salvation by grace alone" thing down, don't we still have to obey Him for Him to bless and provide for us?

Listen in and see what you think after we look at some critical Scriptures.

What is freedom? Freedom from law? What is law? Funny how something that is talked about so much has so many definitions behind it. Today though we answer these for those who follow Christ, adhering to Scripture as much as we can. We're still mostly working on the foundation though, with some (maybe) good real-life examples thrown in.