The Surge Podcast

How do we handle an amazing message we didn't earn?

How fare are you willing to go for love?

Why did Jesus become a Real Person for us?

Would Mary have gone along with God’s plan if she realized it would end at the cross?​

Why would God send angels first to a bunch of snot-nosed boys tending sheep to share news of Jesus’ birth?  

What do I do when I do the right thing and things get worse?

How do I respond when my world blows up?

How do we navigate a world where people are constantly harming us?   Text is James 2:8-13. We zero in on the importance of playing the mercy we’ve been shown in Christ forward to others who don’t deserve it any more than we did. Ouch!  The warning is that, if we don’t, God won’t be merciful to us.  In other words, our salvation comes with God’s expectation that we know we should show mercy to—i.e....

Isn’t it normal and right to have favorite food, favorite teams, favorite clothes, and favorite people?   Text is James 12:1-9. It’s all about the horrors of favoritism. God doesn’t play favorites: he sees us all equal in our sin, all equal in our salvation, all equal in our worth. So don’t let your preferences become prejudices, don’t compare and keep score. Remember that in addition to loving Go...

What impresses God and what doesn’t?         James 1:26-27 is the text. God hates external piety with a poisonous tongue, angry bickering over lesser theology, rituals devoid of spiritual reality, man-made rules, and fear and isolation from the world. He’s impressed with us helping the helpless and living a life that’s set apart to Him,

Can being a Christian improve your luck?   When we say someone is “lucky” what we usually mean is that they are fortunate. The biblical term for that is “blessed.” James 1:21-25 gives us some great insight on improving our odds at being lucky, fortunate, or blessed: get rid of the crud we know about; get more insight from God’s word because there’s probably more stuff you need to change you didn’t...

If the bible is ok with expressing righteous anger, why am I getting called out for my temper?     It’s about tempering our temper. We’re to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Too often, we overlook the first two and jump right to anger. And we’ve all got that in us, but we can rein it in if we listen and be slow to speak and to get angry. We are to be new creations in Christ, so...

Why do I do things sometimes that, in hindsight, are clearly counter to my own best interests?   It’s all about temptation.  Bottom line:  when we screw up, we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves. It’s not someone else’s fault. We have desires, some good, but some bad. We play around with those desires, and pretty soon we start thinking about fulfilling them. We flirt around the edges for a while...

Is my net worth really just the value of the stuff I own?   James, writing to a dispersed community of Christians who have lost most everything, encourages them to find their vet worth is what God says about them, not what their possessions or earthly status or other people say about them. Our value comes from whose we are, not what we have. And if you have stuff, make sure you know it’s from God...

In a relationship, is there one thing I can do that will make all the difference?  

If we’re putting the other person first, do we just give up on our own hope, dreams, and desires? 

What is one thing that will make a marriage great?  

If a relationship ain’t broke, why do we have to talk about it? 

Dealing with our Emotions from a Relationship with God

Dealing with Joy