Church for Normies

Rewards and kickbacks.  We've become so used to them in our economy that sometimes we think it happens - and should happen - everywhere.  Maybe even God's Kindom and "economy"!  But we need to be sober about this: Yes, God does reward faithfulness - but we must be careful to not let that be our motivation.  What should be our motivation?  That was the topic of Rick's messa...

As a species, humans have done incredible things!  Medically, we've invented CT and PET scanners, developed antibiotics and monoclonal antibody treatments and mapped out our genome; the internet made all knowledge free and accessible; we have the technology to predict the weather, volcanoes, earthquakes; we can sail, fly, or travel with relative ease. We've even gone to the moon! Yet for all...

Have you ever heard of the Disney Fast Pass ?  Now, it would already cost a family of four about $5,000 to spend a week at "the happiest place on earth," but a Fast Pass will let you skip the lines!  That's right - for about $200 extra, you can jump ahead of the poor hoveled masses who didn't have the cash to pay!  Isn't that great?  😳 And we see this in our culture in many pl...

Have you ever been so confused about the subject that you needed someone to explain the right questions to ask?  How about the embarrassment of not realizing you've just committed the ultimate social faux pas ?  Getting triggered?  No?  Then you need to listen to Rick's message and this podcast!  Today, Rick and Sean discuss the parable of the Two Debtors.  Double-che...

“God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be," wrote Brennan Manning, "because nobody is as they should be.”  And that's the truth.  That is the Gospel.  In this podcast, Rick and Sean discuss the powerful love of God, a love so powerful, that we can almost get a shadow-glimpse that even God was caught off his heels. (Wait - can that be said?)  Or as Mann...

How do you explain to people that the greatest rescue mission in the history of history is found in the Bible?  You may not believe it, but that's all the Bible is: a rescue mission, not a religion.  But most people don't see that.  It's easy to see why: Isn't the Bible about belief in God and what that means?  Yes.  But more importantly, it's what God has always purposed...

Tim Ferris commented, “Focus on being productive instead of busy.”  But the average disciple's behavior reveals that being a "busy Christian" is the same thing as being a productive Christian.  That's not necessarily so.  We need wisdom to keep us from "idle busyness" (and certainly not "idol busyness"!) and help us to focus on what we're truly going to be held accountable for. In t...

Teaching by storytelling is powerful.  Organizational psychologist Peg Neuhauser found that learning which stems from a well-told story is remembered more accurately, and for far longer than learning derived from facts and figures. In fact, psychologist Jerome Bruner’s research suggests that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they’re part of a story. This is nothing new to peo...

Chalk it up to Jesus, the Master Teacher, to tell stories with emotional and spiritual impact to totally wreck our presumptions about life and our priorities!  This week, Rick and Sean discuss the Parable of the Unjust Steward (AKA: "How to get away with poor management and get immortalized in Jesus' teachings!"), and the surprising twist on how it affects the velocity of your faith!  Ma...

Ever heard the phrase "They can't see the forest for all the trees"?  We don't like to admit it, but our presumptions, projected settlements - and naked prejudices - stand in the way of God's purposes in our lives.  It requires hitting the pause button and reassessing, listening to the Master.  Filling in for Rick on July 11th, Pastor Chris VanDyke used a hidden gem of a story that...

Religion is popular because - amongst other things - it gives a framework of a philosophy of life and living instead of groping around without any foundation or value.  People often mistake Christianity for simply another religion in the marketplace, never considering that Jesus NEVER intended to spark a "religion", per se,  but to demand absolute trust and faithfulness in himself. &nbsp...

Kingdom Secrets Series #7 - Do you ever get tired of waiting on God? Impatient with injustice or evil?   That was the question posed by Pastor Rick Hale.  Of course, no one wants to wait. It's been scientifically proven that it takes an enormous amount of self-discipline to delay gratification and that marketing teaches and reinforces us from an early age to crave more and hunger more an...

Because the Church encompasses the globe and fully 1/3rd of humanity claims to be Christians, it's easy to make assumptions that the growth of the church happened by hook or crook.  But why should we assume that Jesus the Christ, the author of the parables we're looking at in this current series ever thought his parables would endure?  Jesus stayed within a 200-mile radius around Israel,...

We all know that when you plant a seed in the ground and the soil has reasonably good conditions for growth, that seed will germinate.  But did you ever ask yourselves, "WHY?"  Not simply because it's genetically encoded that way (not a simple fact, when you consider the molecular complexity of it all), but because the Encoder - God our Father - designed it that way for a purpose.  ...

There are tons of interesting people at Grace Community Church in Roswell, NM, and one of them is Alan Gedde : a family man, a family-oriented pastor, innovator of Children's ministry, former school board member and chairman,  elk hunter and master with the bow ... now he's got a podcast! What goes on in this renaissance man's head?  Found out in episode 83! Why are we called Living Your...

It has been said that only two things like change: Babies and Lightbulbs. But for the disciple of Jesus Christ, change - directed change, strategic transformation - are the building blocks we fill up with the time God gives us.  Or we allow it to lie derelict. In this podcast, Sean talks to Pastor Barry Anderson, Pastor of Equipping who shares some further insights from his message on May 30t...

Ever heard the phrase: "If you're not confused, you're not paying enough attention."  While surrendering yourself as a disciple to Jesus Christ IS the wisest and best decision you'll ever make, there should be sober moments in your life where you are crystal clear about what he demands of you.  It's not cheap, it's not easy, it's ALWAYS beneficial, and it requires a lot of thought and -...

"The Kingdom of God is like ..."  With those words, the Lord Jesus introduced many mini-stories to paint a picture of what God's Kingdom and reign looks like.  They are called parables. Many teachers used - and still use - parables.  But no one used them like Jesus.  Even after two millennium, phrases like "the prodigal son" or "pearl of great price" still have meaning.  I...

Columnist and humorist Dave Barry wrote: “When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that person is crazy.”  Crazy or not, we need leadership.  Blessed are the people who have a good leader! What's interesting is that in this last installment of his latest series, Rick argues that if we want...

The Good Life will cost you.  But then again, something is going to cost you.  It was Stephen Covey who wrote: "I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions." In 1962, a quartet of scruffy young musicians when to Decca records to see if they were interested in recording and distributing them.  "No," they replied, unimpressed with the lads from Liverpool: "G...

The Family is the basic building block of humanity.  That's the way God designed it.  As goes the marriage, so goes that community, that nation, and its place in history.  One of the greatest blessings to humanity was God's instructions to us on his intentions and operations. In this aspect of The Good Life, guest speaker Kevin Price uncovers God's empowerment for the Good Life in o...

"Living the Good Life in the World" is not a travelogue going around the world to 5-Star resorts, eating at 3-star Michelin restaurants.  No, it has a lot more to do with who is in the mirror and what we think, do, and say.  Doesn't sound exotic, does it?  But it's more powerful than you realize! In this podcast, Rick and Sean discuss his latest message in his latest series about th...

When you hear the phrase, "The Good Life," what comes to mind?  Riches and retirement? Beaches or mountains?  Fame and fortune?  What if the good life had nothing to do what what you had, but the consequences of who you knew? Rick started a brand-new series and he talked with Sean about the implications of living the good life where God makes the definitions. Why are we called Livin...

She has been called "the apostle to the Apostles" ("apostle" literally means "sent one") because she announced the Resurrected Jesus to the Twelve.  Not only was she "just a mere woman", but she had the nasty reputation of being (formerly!) demon-possessed ... but she's mentioned 13 times in Bible, and was so faithful and devoted to Jesus, she risked life and limb to simply be near him - even...

"The Chosen" - a TV series by VidAngel and director Dallas Jenkins, has taken the historically-based series by storm on the mobile platform.  "The Chosen" is the first-ever multi-season TV show about the life of Jesus. In this special episode of The Living Your Dash podcast, Sean interviews actor Steve Shermett who has a unique relationship with Dallas Jenkins and was himself in episodes 4 an...