Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear

This week, Pastor J.D. answers the question, “How do you handle it when a Christian leader falls?” Show Notes: Unfortunately, I think we can all think of a Christian leader that we’ve looked up to and respected who has fallen —either morally, disqualifying themselves from ministry, or denouncing the faith altogether.  There are few things quite as devastating as when you look to someon...

This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question from one of our listeners, Brennan: “Should evangelicals participate in Lent?” Show Notes: This one is going to be one of the classic, “yes, no and it’s up to you” kind of answers. First of all, if you’re not familiar, Lent is the practice that some denominations observe by setting aside the 40 days leading up to Easter (actua...

This week, listen in to Pastor J.D.’s thoughts on revival that he shared at a recent Summit Church staff meeting. Show Notes: There are two ways God sends revival: “ All at once ” and “ over time “ Rick Warren has said that Saddleback has never had a revival, only a ‘vival’ While Saddleback isn’t a perfect church, there’s a lot of evidence of genuine spiritual a...

This week, Pastor J.D. finishes the Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity . The final question is, “ What is the difference between being religious and being spiritual? ” Show Notes: This is a really important question because the fastest growing category in the United States is “spiritual but not religious,” which I talk about in my book, Ess...

This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity . The fifth question is, “Is downplaying the sinfulness of homosexuality necessary to reach the next generation?” Show Notes: I had one good friend tell me I should leave the topic of homosexuality out of the book, since it can be so hard for some people to swallow. I recognize tha...

This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, “Essential Christianity.” The fourth question is, “Can anyone actually know they will go to heaven?” Show Notes: I’ve talked about this before, but if there were a Guinness World Record for the amount of times someone asked Jesus to save them, I’m pretty sure I’d hold it. By the time I was 19...

This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity .  The third question is, “ If God is real, why doesn’t everybody believe in him? ” Show Notes: Like we talked about in our last episode, there is abundant evidence for the existence of God. So then, why doesn’t everyone believe in him? The truth, Paul says, is that we suppre...

This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity .  The second question is, “How do we even know there’s a God?” Show Notes: This new book, Exploring Christianity , looks at 10 key words in the book of Romans to help us explore the truth behind Christianity. In Romans 1:19-20, Paul makes it clear that God has made himself a...

This week, Pastor J.D. begins a new Ask Me Anything series based on his new book,  Essential Christianity .  First up: “What Is Christianity, In a Sentence?” Show Notes: I get asked questions like this a lot because there’s so much misunderstanding about what Christianity is or isn’t. So, I’m going to give you a sentence that I think defines Christianity in a sentence, but first, let’s...

This week, Pastor J.D. answers the question, “Should Christians watch Game of Thrones? (or anything with nudity?)” Show Notes: This is similar to our questions on music, but I do think it’s more specific. I’ll talk about nudity specifically, but let’s expand it a little bit to shows that have various kinds of sinful things in it. First of all, we’ve got to reali...

This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons as he answers the question, “What Does It Mean Practically to Follow Jesus?” Show Notes: What does it mean to become a Christian? According to the gospels, very simply, it means to follow Jesus. It doesn’t mean to start being perfect; it’s not to know every answer to every theological question, it’s just to follow Jesus ....

This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons on the life of King David as he answers the question, “How can I know where God is moving?” Show Notes: David doesn’t figure out what he wants to do and ask God to bless it; he asks God what God wants to do and seeks to follow him. We see countless examples of this, like the question that opens chapter 2: “After this, David inq...

This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons on the life of King David and his friendship with Jonathan and discover what makes the best  friendship. Show Notes: Here’s what David’s friendship with Jonathan did: 1. It shielded David. Jonathan alerted David to danger that he was unaware of. He saw things that David could not see. The central point is that t ogether is bett...

This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons where he explained a question based on Matthew, Chapter 7: “Can you be active in church and still go to hell?” Show Notes: On that final day there will be a lot of people, Jesus says, to whom he says, “You were active in my church; you were super religious; but you never really repented; so I never knew you.” Are you going to be in that nu...

This week we wrap up our marriage and family series. Pastor J.D. jumps from talking about traditional marriage and family to answer a controversial family question. Show Notes: Two perspectives to this: 1. Is it biblically permissible? 2. Even if it isn’t, is this one of those ‘live and let live’ areas? Not everything Christians believe about morality do we believe should be put into laws others w...

The presents may all be unwrapped, but how much is too much? It may be too late for this Christmas, but perhaps in the new year this is a question you’d like to wrestle with in your family. Show Notes: Christmas is about gifts, mostly the extravagant gift of Jesus.  Jesus calls us to follow him–how did he leverage his resources. Certainly, it’s wise to understand the times we are in, t...

This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. discusses how many kids Christians should consider having. Show Notes: Proverbs 24:27: Establish your work in the field, afterward build your house. Doesn’t mean you have to wait a long time or that you need to be rich. But you probably don’t want to be on the rocks.  In general, we are waiting too long to have kids and not havi...

This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. gives us the second half of his 10 stages of grace-saturated, gospel-centered fighting. He’s joined by his wife, Veronica, for another episode. Show Notes: If you missed the first half of this episode, take a look now . 10 Stages in Grace-Saturated, Gospel-Centered Fighting: 6. Believe in God’s purpose for your marriage We...

This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. answers a question about marital conflict. He’s joined by his wife, Veronica, for another episode. Show Notes: Let me dispel a myth right from the beginning: good couples are not couples who never fight; good couples are couples who have learned to fight fairly; to fight Christianly. If you’re one of those starry-eyed enga...

This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. answers another question about how to parent teenagers. This time he’s joined by his wife, Veronica. Show Notes: A wandering child does not mean failure : God played the parent role for two humans and they both rebelled. Cain and Abel were parented exactly the same. One became a man of God, the other a murderer. Key resour...

This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. answers a question about how to parent teenagers. Show Notes: First, let me say how underprepared and unqualified I am for this one. I’m certainly not the expert! One of my mentors said the teenage years are like the scene in Apollo 13 where they’re coming back into the earth’s atmosphere, and they’re goi...

This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. shares the second half of his answer to the question: “What counsel would you give young Christians about dating?” Show Notes: 4. Resolve to seek God first and your significant other second. When you reject the “marriage completes me” myth, you can put your eyes on Jesus and let him supply your needs. The best marria...

This week, as we continue our marriage & family series, Pastor J.D. shares the first half of his answer to the question: “What Counsel Would You Give Young Christians About Dating?” Show Notes: You’ve probably noticed this by now, but our culture isn’t doing awesome with the whole dating and marriage thing. Our culture yearns for good, fulfilling, lifelong marriages but obviously d...

This week, we continue our marriage & family series with part two of last week’s episode: “What Are the Biggest Obstacles Christians Face in Marriage?” Show Notes: Myth 3: Everyone else is doing better than we are. Everyone thinks they are unique in their struggle. Truth : 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you…”  Social Media has turned this common lie of Sata...

This week, we kick off a brand new series on marriage, family, and relationships. First up, we’ll look at the first part of Pastor J.D.’s answer to the question: “What Are the Biggest Obstacles Christians Face in Marriage?” Show Notes: When I got married, our mentor looked at us and said: To be happy in marriage, J.D., you guys need to remember one thing: Women are a lot li...