Afleveringen
-
What does it mean to be full of truth? We know that God spoke everything into existence by merely speaking. And we know that Jesus is the Word made flesh. So, how are we able to communicate the truth (God's truth) to those around us? Speaking truthfully can be challenging. Even though our tongue is a small organ, it is sometimes the hardest to control. We would challenge you that if you're able to control your tongue and your words, then you can take control of the rest of your body as well (actions, attitudes, etc.). The Bible says that out of our hearts, our mouths will speak. So let's make sure what we are planting in our hearts is what we want to grow and mature and come out of our mouths.
-
"A person who voluntarily serves another or acts as his minister." This is why Jesus called Himself a servant. He came to voluntarily serve and act as our minister during His time on earth. He set the ultimate example of service and sacrifice. Serving in today's culture and climate, we are able to choose when, where, how, and whom we serve–we stay in charge. Jesus didn't choose when, where, how, and whom–He met needs as they came to Him.
"Nearly every moment of every day we have the opportunity to give something to someone else–our time, our love, our resources. I have always found more joy in giving when I did not expect anything in return." S. Truett Cathy
-
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
-
What is love? And why is that such a difficult question to answer in today's culture? We open this episode by comparing 1947's dictionary meaning and today's dictionary meaning to see how far away we've come from love centered around God.
God is love, but that love is only to be viewed and seen in light of all of His other virtues. God's primary virtue is holiness, so we cannot separate the two. God's love "is a static disposition of the will towards His people that is always unchanging."–Knowing Fatih Podcast
We are so thankful that God is more committed to Himself and His covenant than just a feeling towards us.
Love is found when we look at its corresponding object. If we love what God loves, then our love is morally good. But, if we start loving what God hates, then our love has become a twisted sin. If we suggest "love is love" apart from a corresponding object, then we have rendered it as an idol and removed it from its moral anchor: the one true and living God.
At the end of the day, do we define love, or does God?
-
From the very beginning God set the stage for good work. Even before the fall God designed Adam and Eve (man and woman) to work and take care of what He had created. It wasn't until after the fall that our attitude and behavior became tilted towards this stewardship. When we work, we are working for the Lord.
Laziness ultimately boils down to idolatry. So is its opposite: workaholism. Both of these vices are a form of self-worship. We can either think too low or too highly of ourselves, which therefore affects how we treat work. These vices are sinful, but they are more-so a symptom of a deeper sin issue: worship. Where our affections are set, is where our behavior will follow. So if our affections are set toward comfort, we will praise being comfortable over working for God.
It is impossible to be faithful to God and lazy. Godliness takes hard work.
-
We know that we have each been gifted with different abilities and talents. These unique things should be fostered and practiced so that we can use them for God. The body of Christ is made up of such a diverse group of believers, so it is imperative that we use those things to point to Christ. The purpose of our talents is not for self-gain, but ultimately for serving others and glorifying God. When we diligently develop our talents, they can open doors of opportunity to impact society and people who would otherwise not take notice of God. However, our work should be motivated by our love for God and not for the spotlight it might afford us. We can help our children identify their God-given talents by asking the following questions. What is a task that comes easily to them? What are they naturally good at? What are some of their biggest character strengths?
-
How do we break down our time? How do we set our priorities? How we think about this shows were our worship and idols lie. The Bible tells us to "look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time. (Ephesians 5:15-16) If we give God the adoration and reverence that He deserves, then we will give Him ultimate control over every aspect of our lives. We must live our lives in dependence on Him. When we choose wisdom, we will make the most of each day, being faithful to however many of them God grants us to live. Worship is an aspect of our faith that we can just reserve for Sundays, but we challenge you to think about how worship can be incorporated into your life every day. Especially so your children will see. Making time with God a priority will bring opposition, but is such an important decision to make. Setting your purpose for spending time with God will encourage you to seek Him more often and will help you cultivate your relationship with Him.
-
God made us to be relational beings. Because He is a triune God, it is only fitting that we have need for others since God Himself has never been alone. Even when the world was perfect in the Garden of Eden, Adam was given Eve to do life with. Adam needed someone when the world was in its perfect state, so how much more should we need others now that we live in the fallen world. Community helps us sanctify ourselves because people push us to change and be more Christ-like. When we're in a faith-filled community, we're able to remind each other of God's truth in any situation. We can share what God is doing in our lives, we can unite in prayer for one another, and we can serve together to make a bigger difference. As we live our lives in committed community with other believers, we model Christian holiness for our children. Some statements to remember: We belong to God. We no longer belong to the world. We belong together in the church.
-
Peace—it's not just about the absence of conflict, it's also about positive blessing. How can we practice this virtue and not be agitated with passion or undisturbed? Sometimes it can boil down to sacrifice. We might have to sacrifice pride or the thought of "being right" in the moment in order to create a peaceful environment. God's peace isn't a magic wand, it only comes when we exercise faith. When our eyes are fixed on God, there is a peace this world cannot rob from us. We know that we can trust God amidst any turmoil or uncertainty.
-
Unruffled, endurance without murmuring, constitutional fortitude–is that what comes to mind with you think of patience? It is definitely more dense of a definition then we normally default to. This episode covers how to have true patience and understanding not only with our children, but with ourselves, and other people. "it is not the patience which grimly waits for the end, but the patience which radiantly hopes for the dawn." - William Barclay. We wrap up by talking about God's patience and how it's hard for us to see what's happening beneath the surface even when we don't see progress. We are thankful that God is not slow, but that He is patient.
-
As we continue our third category, we are talking about attitudes and behaviors that stem from our heart. "Out of the heart the mouth speaks." We want to display the Fruit of the Spirit in how we speak and act. Gentleness gives people dignity of birth and allows them to see tenderness that comes from Christ. We discuss how gentleness surprises people, dignifies them, and ultimately gives them a picture of Christ. Since we are the closest thing to Jesus Himself that people will see, how we treat people is what they will believe we think Jesus is like. We are able to offer hope when we encourage other believers in the faith. When we encourage one another we are not just trying to make them feel better, we are also strengthening their heart for the task at hand.
-
Since it's the beginning of 2024, we talk about what we have coming up in the new year. From daily kid's podcasts, to an online community, to board books—we're planning on expanding our Biblical Family Virtues to make them better and more accessible for you! Is there anything else you'd like to see??
-
We know everyone has special memories and traditions that come with the Christmas season. In this episode we share some of our favorite things about Christmas, as well as some of our favorite memories. Listen and laugh along as we go through each of our top 5 Christmas things.
-
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." (Romans 15:13). As Christians, we can joyfully radiate hope because we've experienced God's grace. Our hope is not just in a future event, it is based on substantial evidence found in God's Word. Biblical hope is confident. And it is confident because it isn't based on yourself, your power, your wisdom, etc. Our hope is ONLY found in God, God's power, God's wisdom, etc. We can make bold choices of faith because of the confidence and courage that only comes from a biblical hope.
-
We want to foster a joy in obedience in our children, not drudgery. Our role as parents is crucial for children to view God as their ultimate authority. As we give our kids structure and point them towards God they will see our parenting for what it really is, a mirror of who Christ is to them. As we parent, we have the opportunity to be owners or ambassadors. Having ownership means we are always seeing what we can get FROM our children, while being an ambassador means faithfully representing the character of the leader who has sent us. Which, in the case of our parenting, God has entrusted us with our children. How can we view our parenting as an opportunity to show God's grace?
-
"Self-discipline leads to a self-reliant, self-sufficient life." BUT, is that really what we want for our children? We challenge that idea in this episode. We believe it would be better to have them be "God-disciplined so they will be God-reliant, and live a God-sufficient life." As we develop humility, submission, and discipline in our children we are developing an internal reliance on God and His moral character which ultimately overshadows any other authority. As Christians, it's important we seek God's boundaries for our behavior. We are never just dealing with our children's words and actions. We are also dealing with their heart which ultimately controls their behavior. It is important that as parents we remember to correct in a way that speaks to their heart issue, not just their words or actions.
-
When we operate with wisdom, we use discretion and exercise our knowledge. We can either avoid evils or attempt good. Prudence is wisdom applied in practice. "Knowledge consists of knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom consists of not putting it in a fruit salad." (Miles Kington) When we use wisdom, we are living every moment as if we are physically before God. As Christians, we have confidence in knowing that wisdom is God-given. When we gain wisdom, we are gaining His thoughts. If we rely on our knowledge alone, we have misplaced our trust in ourselves and are operating out of outright arrogance. Today it seems, we have the most information available to us at this point in history, and ironically, the least amount of wisdom. We want wisdom for ourselves and our children. Listen to see how you can gain wisdom from God.
-
We discuss the differences between mercy and grace. Mercy is with-holding what we deserve and grace is getting what we do not deserve. Because God is holy, He is the only one who can act in complete justice in these areas. Forgiveness is the key ingredient in any relationship. As Christians, we operate in horizontal and vertical forgiveness. Horizontal forgiveness is towards and from other people, and vertical forgiveness is how we receive forgiveness from God. We also talk about the fulfillment of the New Testament and Christ in the area of forgiveness. Instead of the Mosaic Law in the Old Testament which shed blood sacrificially in the temple/tabernacle at certain times and under certain circumstances; Jesus' death has forever forgiven our sin and there is no need for continual blood sacrifice. While we don't have to ask for daily justification, we do need to seek forgiveness to restore our fellowship with God after we have sinned.
-
The biblical virtue of self-control is one that we want our children to practice habitually so that it comes naturally to them later in life. What are the differences between self-control and self-discipline? Well, we talk through both of those ideas and which one we ultimately want to develop in our children. Once we're able to operate in this virtue, we will become God-dependent instead of other-dependent. Self-control is not only about controlling our actions; but it's also about controlling our thoughts and attitudes too. Through exercising this virtue we are allowing the fruits of righteousness to be cultivated in our lives and in our children's lives.
-
We believe that God can use His Word and prayer to change us, which is the whole point. We have been justified with Christ, but now our daily sanctification is a process by which reading our Bible and praying provide us with opportunities to make sure we're reflecting God in all that we do. The Bible is written FOR us not TO us. It contains eternal, objective truth that clearly shows God's overarching plan through all of Scripture. We come to God's Word and prayer asking, "What does this show us about God and His character?" NOT "What does this say about me?" With this biblical virtue, we are saying that we are dedicating our parenting to seeking God so that our children SEE our example. If we expect them to follow God, then our actions need to follow our words.
-
We discuss the significance of Christ Jesus as the second person of the Godhead. His death was necessary, He alone provides a path to God and salvation, and people must accept Jesus to have eternal life. Atonement was necessary for all the sins anyone has committed. Because God is holy, He must act in judgment towards sin. If God were to overlook sin that would make Him imperfect and ultimately we would be allowed to do whatever we want. This would undercut the authority of God.
- Laat meer zien
