Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is an encore episode. The original "Piano" episode appeared first in Season 5, Episode 256, on February 27, 2024. The piano, perhaps more than any other instrument, changed the way music is played. As with a lot of things I tried as a child, I’d be a better person now if I had worked harder at it. Today we’ll discuss where t...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is an encore episode. The original first appeared in Season 5 as Episode 230 on August 29, 2023. This week we will discuss the short and winding road, and how San Franciscans have turned it into a blessing instead of a problem; the disaster of 1906 and how humans’ best efforts made it far, far worse; Norton I, emperor of the United St...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is an encore episode. The original "Werewolves" aired as Episode 237 on October 26, 2023.  The story of the werewolf is a metaphor for the battle of good and evil within all of us. Are you human, or are you an animal? You get to choose. This week we will discuss the closest thing to a werewolf the Bible has to offer; the ori...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is an encore episode. It originally debuted on July 6, 2023, as part 3 of Episode 222. This is the final part of my conversation with Reagan McClenny and Adam Shanks. Reagan preaches for the Timberland Drive church of Christ in Lufkin, TX; Adam preaches for the Edwards Lake church of Christ in Birmingham, AL, and his podcast, Preach I...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is an encore episode. It originally appeared as part of Episode 222 on July 5, 2023.  Adam Shanks, host of the Preach Impediments podcast, is also the author of In God We Trust, an excellent book on money management. You can find it at Adam’s website, Edenhollow.com. In this segment, Adam and Reagan McClenny, who preaches for the chur...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is an encore episode. The original, Episode 222, debuted July 24, 2023. The month of March will feature episodes from at least two years ago. Season 8 begins April 2026, Lord willing. This week I am joined by Reagan McClenny and Adam Shanks, both of whom are participating in this month’s Balancing the Christian Life Conference. Find o...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re ending Season 7 by talking about things crumbling over time. Let’s hope it’s not too meta. This week we’ll discuss how we can develop a taste for things that don’t go bad (it’s not as obvious a choice as you might think); how a national landmark fell apart because of its genius builder’s personal failures; how our tiny underground ne...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Everyone knows about “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” That’s what God gives, and I hope and trust it’s what I’m giving about Him and His word. We’ll discuss the role the Ten Commandments played in ancient Israel, up to and after the time they lost them; a former U.S. president whose message was just too spectacular...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Each and every one of us has a reputation. Whether yours is for good or ill, or whether you want to keep it or change it, that’s up to you. This week we’ll cover Solomon’s thoughts about pursuing a good reputation vs. chasing a big bank account; the world’s most famous gunfighter and how he both lived and died for his reputation; the futur...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Here we conclude my discussion with Noah Diestelkamp and BJ Sipe on the topic of honor; I hope you’ve benefitted from it half as much as I have. We wrap up by talking about the honor God says is waiting for us at the end, how we build confidence in His promises, and how we sustain ourselves along the way while He waits to give it to us. If...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Believe it or not, we’re not done yet talking about how we show honor to politicians and other public figures. I guess we just can’t help ourselves. Again, Noah Diestelkamp and BJ Sipe are here sharing their thoughts; as the conversation continued, we tried to get a little more practical in our application. Regardless of your political aff...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We’re back with more from my conversation with Noah Diestelkamp and BJ Sipe, preachers with the churches in Cedar Park, Texas, and Danville, Kentucky, respectively; check out their links in the show notes. It’s the segment you’ve all been waiting for: a definitive answer as to whether we really have to honor our governmental officials, eve...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I’m joined by two eminently honorable preachers of the gospel – Noah Diestelkamp and BJ Sipe. Bios and links are provided below; make sure you check out their outstanding work in the kingdom. I asked them to comment on Biblical honor, starting with the way we show honor to one another as Christians. I think you’ll be blessed by what they h...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Climbing can be exhilarating. It can also be daunting, and even dangerous. We’ll deal with both extremes this week – the experiences that draw us closer to God spiritually if not physically; the alternative “highs” that may interfere with bigger purposes; the mountains God moves for us, as opposed to the ones He asks us to climb; and the a...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! At long last, I’m ready address one of the hottest topics of the day – one that Jesus deals with frequently. We’ll cover what if anything immigration policies in Jesus’s day have to do with us; the nature of nationalism and how it crosses geographical and cultural boundaries; whether Jesus is for or against building walls (yes, there is an...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! It’s in our nature, I think, to want to leave something permanent behind, something people will see and take note of. This week we’ll discuss the monument Samuel left and how it has inspired hymn singers and preachers for decades; a president who chose no memorial at all over one made under false pretenses; one of the most famous landscape...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Maybe it’s the advent of winter – or at least what passes for winter in Central Texas. But ice has been on my mind of late, and I thought I’d share. This week we’ll cover climate change from a Biblical perspective; one of my favorite books of 2025 and what it tells us about human resiliency; one of the most overused metaphors in the natura...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Forgive the rough cut! I am having no end of trouble on my end -- the least effect of which is, I cannot put a standard podcast out. But I did make a recording for you! Hopefully my technical problems will be worked out by next Tuesday. Also, you'll note I didn't include 10 brand new books -- just 9. Forgive me! My top books of 2...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! So, it's the week of Christmas. And it's episode #350. I didn't plan to save the "Smiles" episode for a week like this, but now I'm glad I did. We'll discuss why smiles are so rare in the Bible and why you shouldn't worry about it; how the cutest little girl and the saddest "Little Tramp" i...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Steve Wolfgang, preacher for the Downers Grove church in the Chicagoland area, has been schooling us regarding math, church style, this week. As you likely have figured out, we’re wrapping the discussion up with division. What has “split the church” in times past? What “splits” are on the horizon. Or is it even possible to “split the churc...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Our favorite category of math in local churches is multiplication, no doubt about it. And in this part of my conversation with Steve Wolfgang, we discuss the pros and cons of growth — and yes, there are cons. We all want the church to grow. But is a quick response a good response? What if any warning signs should be anticipated when the go...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Steve Wolfgang is back, helping us with math lessons of sorts from God’s word. This part of our discussion relates to subtraction — the unfortunate but often necessary process of taking souls out of fellowship. When is it necessary? And how do we carry it out when it is? By the way, perhaps I should have mentioned it before, but Steve was...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Steve Wolfgang preaches for the Downers Grove church in the Chicagoland area. He is well-known throughout the brotherhood for his grasp on historical trends throughout the centuries. This week I’m harnessing his abilities in a somewhat unconventional way, using a math theme. We start here by discussing the way we add people to our fellowsh...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Bad things happen in life. That's just the way it is. The question is whether we will be able to recover and build better afterward. This week we'll discuss how flirting with disaster can come back to haunt you and your family; how a man froze to death trying to get you a better deal on silk and gunpowder; how my own carpentry wo...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Trust is a rare commodity these days -- earned slowly, lost quickly. Christians should thank God we have One worthy of trust, and a host of others trying their best. This week we'll discuss the trustworthy One and the untrustworthy alternatives; the danger in picking the wrong partner when committing a felony; a staple of trust-buildi...