More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message! Life is made up of moments, opportunities. Have you ever had an opportunity that you missed because you didn't prepare? Here's what I know; moments are not seized in a moment.  Life's greatest moments come to those who have prepared. John the Baptized was a man in the story of God, who prepared the way for Jesus.  His life-purpose came from the Prophet Isaiah...

Send me a Text Message! As we listen to and ponder Luke 2. I think the main message is simpley, "Jesus is  the treasure of Christmas." When it comes to the continuing story of  Christmas, Jesus is written all over the pages of the book. It's so easy to focus on all the other elements. Shepherds and Wisemen and angels, oh my. Mangers and Santa and Elves, oh my. But nothing matters mo...

Send me a Text Message! The full title of this advent Christmas series is “Christmas Preparations – 24 Days with Luke.” But I’m calling it "Christmas Prep" for short. Three plus years ago, we started this podcast with a jet-tour through the New Testament; the whole new testament in 40 episodes. We covered Luke back then, but it was 5-6 chapters an episode! For our Advent series we are go...

Send me a Text Message! For our last episode on gratitude, I’m going to read a very familiar Psalm, Psalm 23. It might not even mention gratitude or thanksgiving but if you believe the Psalm is true, it will give you all kinds of things which could explode in gratitude! Psalm 23 is a description of a life that has been blessed beyond belief. That's not a bad phrase to carry around in our hear...

Send me a Text Message! Our gratitude moment today comes from a story in the life of Jesus when he offered us such an overflow of life, that it would be like a river pouring out of our hearts. How many of us are looking for a little more life?  How many of us have found that we are drinking at wells and eating at tables that just don't satisfy...and no matter how long we drink we come up slig...

Send me a Text Message! This episode on gratitude is going to take us back to the book of Colossians, to ponder the possibility that thanksgiving is not just a day, it's a way of life. It's not just the words we say, it’s the way we live…thanks-giving-living. In Colossians 3, we'll hear Paul say, "Whatever you do, no matter what it is, or when you do it, or who sees you do it,...

Send me a Text Message! The theme of this episode on gratitude is simply, be the one. It's based on a moment in the life of Jesus, a story found in Luke 17:11-19.  Jesus healed a group of men who had experienced the trauma of leporsy. But only one returned to say thank you. So my challenge to all of is to simply...  Be The One! Be the one who always comes back. Be the one who lives by an inte...

Send me a Text Message! Let's not forget Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is not simply a day in the season of Advent. And it's not just a day. It's a practice and there's simply some element of the wonder of Christmas receiving that we can’t fully enter into without the discipline of gratitude. One of my favorite passages on thanksgiving is found in Philippians 4:4-9. In these few w...

Send me a Text Message! We are starting a short series on gratitude, leading into an Advent Series. And first we turn our hearts and minds to some words from Paul in Colossians 1:3-14. Paul is thankful for his friends in the church in Colossae. He is thankful for all that God is doing in and through them and all around them. He's grateful for the gospel-fruit that he sees in their lives. What...

Send me a Text Message! Our look at Daniel has been an opportunity to ponder the question, “How do I thrive, not just survive, but how do I thrive when the culture around me is filled with chaos, turbulence and uncertainty and to make matters even more difficult, isn’t always friendly to my faith? How do I go beyond surviving to thriving? And what we’ve found is that in order to thrive, we need a...

Send me a Text Message! In the last few episodes, we’ve come back more than once to the importance of prayer, right? It’s fascinating to me that the two people most entrusted with God’s revelations about the end of time, the time of the end were both people of prayer; proven, persevering, you might even say gritty people of prayer. So as we come to the last chapter, the conclusion of God’s vision...

Send me a Text Message! Daniel 11 is part of the last and longest vision that Daniel was given, or at least that he was given and recorded. But this episode is going to take a bit of a turn from Daniel 11 to the book of Revelation. Both Daniel and John are elderly men when they are given their visions of the end of times. And both Daniel and John are humble people of prayer. Prayer mattered deeply...

Send me a Text Message! Daniel 10 has a unique context, perhaps more than any other chapter in Daniel's story, we catch a glimpse of the spiritual battle taking place in the heavenly realms. And in that battle few things are more important than prayer...and when we pray together, it's exponentially good. So ask yourself who prays for me? Who do I pray with. I have a team of people over 3...

Send me a Text Message! Daniel 10 gives us a behind-the-curtain look at a battle that's been raging for millenia. It's a spiritual battle between good and evil, between darkness and light. Paul would later talk about this battle and encourage us with these words, "Be strong in the Lord." In other words, your strength isn't enough. This is not a battle against flesh and blo...

Send me a Text Message! Our greatest barrier to a life that thrives is a sin-soaked heart. It keeps us from life and leads us to addiction. It ravages marriages and breaks families. It hardens  hearts and creates anxiety filled minds. It drains joy and reaps discouragement. It causes us to hate or even worse ignore our neighbors. A sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. But our greatest...

Send me a Text Message! Daniel 9 contains a prayer of confession of sin. It's a deep dive into sin. I wonder if we often come to sin, like it's no big deal. Like, I know I've messed up once or twice but what's the big deal? In fact, think of how we use the word sin or sinful. Sometimes we put sinful and delicious together and describe our favorite dessert! Sinfully delicious. W...

Send me a Text Message! In Daniel 9, we see Daniel going into a time of fasting and prayer and mourning. Let me say this, I'm so convinced that if we want to make a difference in our world, if we want our stories to be wrth reading, if we want a taste of God's glory, at some point we will have to take the same journey. At some point our hearts will have to groan for the brokenness, groan...

Send me a Text Message! In this episode of When Lion’s Roar, we are heading into chapter 8. Remember Daniel 7 marks a transition in Daniel, shifting from history to prophecy; shifting from stories and lessons learned from God’s work and words spoken in Babylon to God’s future work. Chapter 8 contains a pretty dramatic, very draining vision given to Daniel of "the time of the end." It&apo...

Send me a Text Message! In Daniel 7 we move from history to prophecy. And just as Daniel opened his book  by peering behind the curtain of history to tell us that God was the hand behind  Nebuchadnezzer's victory over Isreal, now he looks forward to the end of time to tell us that Jesus is the King of the Kingdom that will not be shaken. Every other kingdom including the Kingdom of America wi...

Send me a Text Message! More Than Bread is a podcast passionately dedicated to helping people dive into the Bible and feast on every Word that comes from the mouth of God, so that we can find our place in a Kingdom that will never end led by a King who will never be voted out. And isn’t that why Daniel is such a good book for these days, because that’s what he did. He found his place in a Kingdom...

Send me a Text Message! Chapter 7 marks a significant transition from the stories and lessons of chapter 1-6, to the prophecies of Daniel 7-12. So let's take an episode or two to review what it takes to thrive, even when the lion roars. And the first point to review is that God is in control. The story of Babylon conquering Jerusalem is not a tragic story of evil overcoming good. God gave Jer...

Send me a Text Message! The story of Daniel 6 is the story of a man whose life was so centered on God, saturated with God, that he simply could not imagine a life without prayer, even for a day. Faced with a 30-day prayer pause or time with the lions? If Daniel had asked my opinion I would have said, "You know you can pray without bowing your head. You can pray silently. It's just 30 day...

Send me a Text Message! In Daniel 6, Daniel is over 80 years old. Don't miss that. He's 80 years old and he's just as committed, courageous and on fire for God as he was at 15. He's seen a lot., been through more. But along the way he has developed a deep trust in God, a vital prayer life and a conviction that praying for his leaders matters. In the days to come, it’s my prayer...

Send me a Text Message! We live in turbulent, chaotic, uncertain times, maybe not as bad as, but at least similar to the days of Daniel. In some ways, the question asking, hand-wringing, heart-judging, and apocalypse warnings that are taking place...is normal. It happens in times of transition. Change is difficult, but even more than that, times of transition bring about a sense of uncertainty. We...

Send me a Text Message! In his book, “Follow Me” Jan Hettinga, writes, “The ultimate issue in the universe is leadership. Who you follow and what directs your life is the single most important thing about you.” So when it comes to politics, I've been saying to people, "Regardless of your vote, please, before you vote, make sure you can name your leader." Because if your leader is Ch...