The Well

Of all the things Jesus said according to the Gospel writers; "Fear not" or "Do not be afraid", were among His most common exhortations.  In fact, those words from the Divine were spoken to Abraham, Moses, and numerous others who's stories are told in God's Word.  Yet in spite of this frequent refrain, many of us live our lives in a nearly constant state of fear.  In this podcast we'll talk about the difference between feeding our fears, and feeding our faith.

We all know that the pace of life is accelerating, and the fact that this is causing us to become less patient with things/people/circumstances that force us to slow down and wait.  This week we'll look at a man named Simeon, a devout and righteous person, who was made to wait for the moment when God would allow him to see the Messiah.  There's a pattern we see in that story that is often mirrored in our own lives as we wait for God to fulfill promises He has made to us.

In this podcast we'll discuss an essay titled, The Mundanity of Excellence in connection with Paul's admonition in 2nd Corinthians that the believers "excel in everything."  Yes we live by God's grace, yet He wants us to respond with joyful obedient lives that bear good fruit for His purposes.  In other words, God desires that you and I enjoy life with Him as partners in His work.  But first we have to understand where excellence comes from, and how we develop it in our lives over time.

We find ourselves in "communities" of varying types; clubs, neighborhoods, and simple informal communities of like-minded people.  We can find groups and individuals to adopt as our community around most any interest or affinity we might have. And this is a good thing, because we understand that God wired us to be in relationship with others.  So if being in fellowship/community with others is one of our greatest desires, and there are countless available ones to choose from...why do we need Christian community?  In this podcast we'll look at some of the features (and blessings!) of being in a community of faith.

Laura Rasmussen is an American Pastor who spent 31 days walking the Camino de Santiago, a spiritual pilgrimage that ends in Spain.  Along the way she gained new insights into who God is, and what it means to enter into a "friendship" with Him.  We're blessed to have Laura share a few thoughts with us, and who knows, maybe this conversation will prompt something in you.

We'll look at Hebrews 12 this week, and in particular, the notion that life is called a "race".  God has called each of us to run (live) our own race with faithfulness and perseverance, yet we must acknowledge that He is the one who sets our course.  As tempting as it is to go our own way in life, we won't experience flourishing if we try to do our own thing.  Flourishing results from understanding the course God has set before us...and running that course as we're led.

All of us have things that we regret saying and doing, and we often feel guilt over these things.  Guilt can be a good thing; it drives us to confess, apologize, repent and make changes in our lives.  Show me a person who never feels guilt, and I'll show you someone with serious psychological issues!  However, guilt that accumulates and goes unchecked can also lead to a serious issue - shame.  Shame causes us to loathe ourselves and engage in some devastating practices.  In this podcast we'll look at how God deals with our guilt and saves us from shame.  

In this week's episode we talk with Chuck Proudfit, founder of "At Work on Purpose".  Having studied trends in church and culture for many years, Chuck shares valuable insights about where the church is in 2019 and how we can better serve the Lord in our rapidly changing world.  This is a must listen for church leaders!

We love DIY projects...such a great feeling of accomplishment after a job well done!  This week we'll think about how we often try to approach our relationship with God with a DIY attitude; we can work it out ourselves.  Good luck with that!

I love the ad campaign for Snickers candy bars (I love the candy too), that features the phrase, "You're not yourself when you're hungry."  It causes me to ponder those moments when "I'm not myself", and consider the reasons why.  For me, the answer is often tied to my energy level.  This weeks podcast covers the topic of Sabbath and the idea that in taking Sabbath time, we make room for God to provide for and strengthen us.