Love God First

The account of the flood in Genesis 7 and 8 can trip up many people because they assume it shows God to be a mean and vindictive God. But by taking a closer look (and exercising our biblical worldview), we see a different story revealed about God's character. Join us today as we come back to Genesis and consider what is really shown about God's attributes in the flood story.    Here's that book I...

We are wrapping up our time in First Timothy and applying what we have learned about loving from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. This episode will bring it all home to our own lives! 

We are picking up again on this question of how to love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith from 1 Timothy 1:5. In this second episode we are defining more terms and then looking at the good effects of loving this way and the bad effects if we do not regularly tend our heart, our conscience and our faith. 

We are journeying far from Genesis on this episode and looking at a verse from First Timothy that addresses what our primary goal as Christians is. You may not be surprised to hear the answer: the primary goal is love. But the deeper question is how do we love the way Paul describes in this passage? Listen to find out!

What can we learn from such a simple act as God closing the door of the ark? There is actually a lot! Join me on this five-minute snippet (ok, so the snippets are actually getting a bit longer) as we consider what the act of closing the door says about God's character and about His involvement in our lives. 

In this five-minute snippet (that is really 7 minutes) we look at how Noah's family boarded the ark. They didn't give in to fearing what others would think of them while obeying God. For us, it can be difficult to do that, especially considering the cutting remarks people make on social media. So let's step back in this short episode and ask ourselves what is truly important as we strive to follow...

This episode is another five-minute snippet where we take an extra brief look at something from Genesis. In the flood story, Noah's family isn't described much at all. In fact all we know is that they got on the ark. So what can we learn from that?! Find out on this episode!

In this six-minute snippet, we talk about one way the story of the flood is relevant to us, and it has to do with the first command the Lord gives Noah in Genesis Chapter 7. God tells Noah to "Enter the ark." Listen  to find out how in the world that simple command can be such a comfort and help to each one of us!   

Walking with God requires surrender, obedience, and courage. Listen to a conversation with Pastor Mary Bursch and myself where we talk about  times when the Lord has wanted us to step out in faith in different ministries, how we organize our daily devotion time, and more, in this wrap up to the question: how do we walk with God faithfully over a lifetime.  And for those interested in getting more...

We have seen how Noah walked with God and obeyed so well, and now we are going to talk about some practical aspects of walking with the Lord successfully over a lifetime. The topic is so broad that we won't hit everything, but we will talk about some key elements like: • taking the first step of faith and surrender to become a Christian • letting the Lord refine us regularly • being willing to let...

Noah obeyed God amazingly. So what was the key to his success?  In this part two episode, we get into more of the practical aspects of walking with God so that we too can obey all the Lord commands us, just like Noah did.  

Noah wasn't just a blameless man in his generation. Today we begin to explore the other characteristics Noah had and talk about the one thing that made him stand out. In this part one of two episodes, we lay the foundation for answering the question, "How do we live at Noah's faith and obedience level today?" 

Noah did an amazing thing. He built an ark. And that is mostly what we focus on when we talk about Noah. But the guy was also a stellar man of God! In this episode we are going to look at one of the elements that made Noah unique in his generation: he was blameless. And we are going to find that being blameless is actually achievable and essential for us too!

We are hearing the conclusion of our family story about how we followed God's leading to move to another state and start serving at a whole new level of ministry in Oregon. We were living out the concept that God initiates, and we respond. That's what the great forefathers and foremothers of faith modeled in the Bible for us, even in Chapter 5 of Genesis where we read through what seems to be just...

There are all kinds of examples in the Bible of the Lord giving a profound promise to someone and then waiting for a really long time to fulfill it. In this episode, I share a family story where we saw that exact truth played out. Hopefully it will build your faith and help you to persevere when He does that in your life too!

Sometimes it is easy to wonder if the Lord is actually doing anything in our lives. Is He working in us or in our circumstances to fulfill the promises He has made? This episode focuses on a chapter in Genesis where it is difficult to see the Lord's active involvement, but the truth is God was indeed working and doing something amazing. And if we wait long enough in our own lives, we too will see...

We are taking a short break from Genesis and jumping over to Joshua 1 to finish up this study on courage and how to practice it in our lives as we walk in faith with God. What do we do when fear rises up? How can we train our minds to turn from it? We'll look at some practical helps and hopefully lay down any fears that have become too large in our lives in the process!

Who doesn't need more courage? Between sickness, responsibilities, children, parents, money, accidents, and regular life, I think we would all agree there is enough to worry about and have fear over. So what's the solution? A good first step is to take a look at a person in the Bible who could have had a lot of potential fear of his future and then see what God told him to do. In this episode and...

We wrap up our conversation with Dr. Steve Schell today on discipleship. We continue discussing the question: how do I become a disciple? And we also talk about how to stay a disciple our whole life. Pastor Steve brings his usual deep insights to any conversation, so you don't want to miss this episode!

Our very special guest, Dr. Steve Schell, is going to help us in this episode to truly understand how to become a sold out disciple of Jesus. Prepare to be engaged and challenged! 

We are taking a break from Genesis so that we can talk about a really important topic: the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This episode is a preparation episode to help get listeners ready for our next two episodes which talk about discipleship. On this episode we will be covering three questions: What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit? Why do I want it? How do I get it? And by the end, you will b...

How can we learn to worship God at a higher level? On this episode we are looking at the phrase "to call on the name of the Lord" from Genesis 4. By studying what it looks like to call on the name of the Lord, we can become even deeper worshippers of our Savior. And why does that matter? Listen to this episode to find out!

You have probably never heard of Lamech in your life, but this guy from Genesis has some things to teach us, not because he was some model of upright behavior, but because he was such a violent, vengeful man. What on earth can we learn from a guy like that?! You'd be surprised at how a non-example can be a great teaching tool for us to remember how important it is to forgive and NOT take matters i...

How did Cain move to a city after he left his parents? And where did his wife come from? People struggle with these kinds of questions about the Bible, and if we do not deal with the struggle, it can begin to erode our faith level in the Bible and even in God. So let's deal with these questions biblically, and let's arrive together to stand on the mountaintop of a faith that has a firm, secure fou...

In this episode my guest (and husband) Marc Hagman reminds us from where evil and hardship truly come. This episode also gives us some good practical tips on how to comfort another believer with our words when tough times hit!