Adventist Review Podcasts

The old proverb reminds us, “Some things must be seen to be believed.” And so it often is with grace: we can’t believe in something so miraculous—so unexpected, undeserved—even though God’s Word repeatedly declares it: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2;8). Until we see grace in the flesh—in someone near enough to care—we wond...

When you picture someone who changes the world, who comes to mind? A CEO? An influencer with millions of followers? But what if the most lasting impact rarely happens on center stage at all? Meet Andrew—a fisherman so ordinary his name simply meant "man." No famous sermons. No epistles. No miracles bearing his name. He didn't even make Jesus' inner circle. Yet today five nations claim him, and the...

What makes us valuable to God—all stubborn, broken, wayward as we are? It’s not the sometime good we do— forgiving unrepentant foes; feeding hungry kids afar; warming pews and saying prayers; performing unpaid mission work. Not one of these, nor all of them, can make us dearer to the One who chooses from His unforced, unrequired love to cherish every soul He made. “I have loved you with an everlas...

“If you could go back in time to change one thing about your life, what would it be?” The answers range from comic to cautionary: “I’d be better-looking.” “I’d have a smaller nose.” “I’d make a lot of money.” “I’d marry a different person.” For each of us, there’s one thing we would change to give ourselves a better story. “I’d understand God’s love much sooner in my life,” say the truly wise amon...

Breathe deeply now, and let your heart grow quiet as you turn from sins forgiven. “By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20). It’s not the voice of God that drives you on to fear, or rush, or labor past your strength. We dare not make the Spirit own...

“We must hear the gospel every day because we forget the gospel every day.” Attributed to many pens, the proverb is profoundly true, regardless of who wrote it. Even though it undermines our vanity of recall, it underlines that we frequently ignore the most important things. Our default thinking is unarguably a fault: we trust ourselves to do what is impossible. For millennia, humans have sought c...

A Light in the Pearl of the Indian Ocean: The Faith and Courage of Rosie Le Même One night, a young woman in Mauritius prayed — and her room filled with light. A voice told her to go to Europe. She went. What she found there would change not just her life, but an entire region. Rosie Le Même never set out to start a movement. She simply wanted to follow God with her whole heart. But her quiet cour...

Hidden Wounds: How Sexual Trauma Shapes Intimacy and Faith She sat alone in a dark church parking lot, desperate to speak but unsure where to begin. Her marriage was loving — so why did she feel frozen, broken, and afraid? Sexual trauma doesn't stay in the past. It follows survivors into their most intimate moments, distorting the very things God designed to be beautiful. In Hidden Wounds, registe...

What stops our progress, pulls us backward, paralyzing us with shame? The past—our past—the foolish, broken history that trails each of us. None can escape its power: all feel its painful weight. Even those the world calls saints are men and women who know their brokenness most fully. The great apostle Paul famously moaned, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Ro...

Faith to the Very End: Pastor Jack and His Final Witness He was diagnosed with a rare cancer at 19. Doctors took the muscles from his leg, and he learned to walk — and live — all over again. But Pastor Jack wasn't done. For years he preached, pastored two congregations, and poured himself out for others. Then the cancer came back. What happened in that emergency room on the last night of his life...

Selfless Love: How to Infuse Your Marriage With Divinity Most of us enter marriage hoping to be loved well. But what if the real question isn't what can I get — it's what can I give? In this thought-provoking article, Keala Thompson explores why so many marriages drift toward selfishness or cold transaction, and what it looks like when a relationship is anchored in something deeper. Drawing on Scr...

Sit quietly with grace, and let it work its slow, substantial change. Nothing is more common for those whose hearts have been divinely warmed than to pledge themselves to new, exacting duties. We’ll read our Bibles for an hour each day; pray for all our friends and even for some enemies; tell “unconverted” colleagues, neighbors—even strangers—of their task to do as we have done. We move at hyper-s...

“This is not your own doing” (Eph. 2:8). One author calls it “the most contrary line in human history”—six words that run against our culture, schooling, and experience. We push ourselves from bed to answer the alarm we set just hours before. We wash and eat and ready clothes for work, conscious that one slip in our performance may unravel all the day. We move ourselves to work to push through hou...

What if a church leader you trusted made a serious mistake—how would you respond without causing division or gossip? In this timely, practical guide, veteran pastor Shane Anderson shares hard-won wisdom from decades of denominational service: the three common pitfalls to avoid (assumptions, social media, withholding tithe) and four Christlike steps that actually bring resolution. Learn how prayer,...

What makes your eyes light up with glee, or stirs you to an unforced smile? Is it the 4-year old who stomps through puddles—without boots? Is it the lily blooming on some sun-drenched bank, so hidden no one else can find it? Is it the ballad from your youth that fills your thoughts with gentle love?  So grace delights us when we learn that it is God’s first way of seeing us—that He is glad to see...

What if two ordinary fishermen in a tiny boat appeared out of nowhere during a deadly Mozambique flood—only to vanish without a trace? Young pastor Simoque was drowning in the raging Limpopo River, praying desperately for his family, when strong hands pulled him to safety and carried him home through the storm. But when he rushed back with money to thank them… no boat, no footprints, no sign they...

Frustrated with your church? Thinking about leaving? You're not alone. Many Christians — especially in the Seventh-day Adventist community — are wrestling with that very question as their churches shift in directions they never expected. But what if leaving is exactly the wrong move? In Protesting the Church, the case is made that true Protestants don't walk out — they stay, speak up, and work for...

What if the most heartbreaking grief in the book of Job wasn’t just Job’s—but his wife’s silent agony beside him? She lost everything too: ten children, security, and now watched her husband suffer in ashes. In one raw moment she cried out, “Curse God and die!”—words born not of rebellion, but overwhelming pain. Yet God never rebuked her. No condemnation, only merciful silence and later restoratio...

What if true victory over evil comes not through raw power, but through the suffering of a Lamb? Jesus faced every temptation to “win” the easy way—by force, presumption, or compromise—yet chose the costly path of unselfish love instead. In Gethsemane He refused the sword; on the cross He conquered by dying. This powerful article reveals the stark contrast between the dragon’s way of domination an...

If you can’t recall the day or the hour you came to faith, you’re in good company. Millions of believers candidly describe both deep faith in Jesus as their Saviour and an inability to recall just when it happened—a “sunrise experience” as one author calls it. This is the way that grace unfolds, for “Damascus Road” conversions are far fewer than we claim. That road, it should be noted, was 150 mil...

What if a shattered childhood in secular Seattle, followed by an unwilling move to 120-degree Saudi Arabia, could forge one of the most mission-driven leaders in the Adventist Church today? In this heartfelt episode, Shawn Boonstra sits down with General Conference Secretary Rick McEdward. From culture shock in a military compound, to a powerful call into ministry, to serving in the Middle East an...

What if returning just 10% of what God has already given you could transform your trust in Him—and fuel a global mission? Far from a burden or ancient ritual, biblical tithing reveals a God who owns everything yet invites us to test His faithfulness. This thoughtful exploration shows how the Adventist Church’s unique solidarity-based system supports pastors, teachers, missionaries, schools, and me...

I sing because I'm happy; I sing because I'm free; For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. The soprano’s voice soars above the swell of the orchestra, her eyes caught up to heaven. Every heart in the concert hall leans forward, drawn by an ache, a longing. Why do such moments move us so deeply—in seasons of faith, or in our midnight struggles? Why does our hope cling more tightly...

What if your faith story feels too ordinary for God to use? In this raw, unfiltered episode of unScripted, Shawn Boonstra sits down with assistant editor Hannah Drewieck to talk about staying connected to your world church — and why the quiet, everyday faith might actually be the most powerful kind. Hannah shares her surprising journey from Hope Channel International to Adventist Review, how she s...

It seems, at first, a profoundly foolish question: “Do you want to be healed?” Jesus once asked it of a paralyzed man who for 38 years had lingered beside a legendary pool. The answer feels self-evident: who wouldn’t instantly reach out for healing, for wholeness, for a mended body and the restoration of fractured relationships? But Jesus knows how tenderly we caress our wounds; how suffering weav...