Deeper

Complacency is one of the biggest challenges that the church in America faces right now. We After centuries of Christian dominance in government and culture, our influence (Like the church in Sardis) is declining. What are ways we may still be a little complacent? How do we grow out of that? And how do we influence our culture when our culture doesn't want to listen to us anymore? 

We as humans have an absolutely corrupt view of power. We want it, fear it, don't know how to use it. How can we recognize when we are living in fear of it? How do we know if we are using our power poorly? And what role does empathy have in our need to combat fear in ourselves and others? 

If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, what does that mean for our interaction in the world?  How do we deal with the chaos of the world and still keep our heads on our shoulders? And what on earth can we do during a Christmas season with no snow? 

We are a part of a global flock following our Good Shepherd. How do we make sure we keep ourselves safe from division and discord? 

Christ says He is the light, and helps illuminate the paths we are supposed to take. Sometimes it can be tricky to see what it is we are actually supposed to do, though. As we start our Advent season, Dan and Austin look at the importance of waiting and trusting God, even when we have no idea what we are supposed to be doing with our lives. 

Self-control in our spiritual lives is very similar to that necessary when starting a workout routine. How do we start good spiritual disciplines in a way that helps us sustain it long-term? 

Gentleness is a super important filter for all our actions, but it's not one we like to use. Our culture tells us that gentleness is weakness, but Jesus talks often about the subversive power of gentle words and actions. Has gentleness ever solved systemic injustices? Is there ever a time to use a "whip" (metaphorically or literally) in defense of the faith or in an effort to bring Christ's kingdo...

Reliability (or Faithfulness, depending on what term you want to use) is easily lost and difficult to gain. How can we recover lost reliability? 

In what feels like an especially charged election season, it can be very easy to get caught up in our politics and forget that we are Christ-followers first and foremost. So, in this special episode, Dan and Austin talk about the mindset to bring into our research on candidates, Christlike responses to our candidates of choice winning and loosing the elections, where we can find hope when politics...

Sometimes we get so caught up in our defense of the faith that we can do more harm than good. How do we know when to engage our apologetic mind? And how can we tell if our generosity is really self serving? 

When we are told to make every effort to live at peace, it means CONSTANTLY be making every effort. ANd not just with people we like, but with people we dislike and disagree with. What can we do to make sure we are relying on the Peace of God more than the peace this world offers? 

Joy is so much more than mere happiness, it's a whole lifestyle and attitude. What can we do if we are struggling to find joy? How do we recover if we've lost all our hope? 

Pastor Eric Everhart sat down with Austin and Dan for his first ever Deeper podcast, where we asked him about freedom, uncomfortable love and botany (briefly). 

On this special "double feature" episode, Austin and Dan talk about the last two weeks' sermons! They discuss dangers to salvation and the challenge of underestimating our spiritual resumes, and then turn to our "Danger Zones" and ways we can identify dangeorus situations before we find ourselves caught up in them. 

When we go through big challenges, we often find ourselves in similar seasons as Noah did - seasons of darkness, hope, planning for the future and an arrived destination. Though we aren't at our final destination as believers, we are given tools to navigate these seasons better. What are they and how can we use them well? 

If you watch a movie like "Fight Club" for the first time and expect it to be a comedy, you'll be very confused and come away with probably a different message than the writer intended. Similarly, if we read scripture without knowledge of the genre it is, we may misinterpret or misunderstand what God tried to teach us. How do we learn about biblical genres and ancient historical contexts? And, mor...

There are few examples of people actively running from God's plan as clearly as Sampson. Yet, God still used him- and his parents- as examples of faithfulness and support. What can we learn from the parents of a child who avoided his calling like the plague? 

Snakes are commonly used symbols in the Old Testament, but often in conflicting ways. They can be Good - like Aaron's staff or the Bronze Serpent from Numbers 21 - or Bad, like the Serpent in the Garden from Genesis. What do we do with these conflicting symbols? 

We spend so much time trying to determine who is "in" when it comes to faith matters that we often end up driving people away. Today, Dan and Austin talk about our tendency to divide instead of unifying and ask questions about what it means to care well for people who might not be fully on board with "All that Jesus stuff". 

Armed with a slew of gardening and gym metaphors, Dan and Austin explore more about prayer. How can we actually, genuinely pray for our enemies without our natural ulterior motives? They take a stab at that while also addressing habits, challenges and practical steps for improving our prayer lives. 

Crowns display a person's importance, role in cociety, job, and family lineage. Though we might not have actual crowns, we all have roles in society and in our families that are worth celebrating. How do we balance those crowns with our "crown" of salvation? What takes precedence? 

For quite a while, it was very "in" fashion to wear punny t-shirts identifying us as believers. Is that a good practice, or do we run the risk of being performative? Dan and Austin ask that question as well as others about encouraging others with our faith, ways we can get more battle-ready when the enemy finds a crack in our faith, and how to tell if we are using our faith as a bartering tool wit...

After debuting a new, "fun" segment of the podcast, Austin and Dan dive again into the concept of Shalom peace- a mindset and goal as opposed to our common understanding. They then discuss the prevalance of modern day idols and ways we can be more intentional with our self-reflections. 

Righteousness is a big topic... what does it mean to live righteously? What roles do gratitude and justice have in our desires to live in a righteous manner? And is Deeper officially a sponsored podcast (spoilers: we are not, despite it maybe looking like it)

Christians believe that the Bible is our main source of truth... so what do we do when people disagree on interpretations? Dan and Austin discuss the challenge of living by a standard the world doesn't need to hold itself to, as well as the issues around interpersonal disagreements about truth.