Deeper Christian Podcast

As Christians, we often wait to hear what God tells us to do through His Word, and then decide if we want to obey or not. Yet, we as believers, are called to have a pre-decided yes and have a readiness to respond to anything God asks us, no matter what it is or the cost and inconvenience to our lives. In this episode, Nathan talks about the proper posture of our souls and a special Hebrew word tha...

In this episode, Nathan invites you to join him and Stephen Manley at an upcoming conference this June. He also plays a short excerpt about what it means to be obsessed with God. » Learn more about Stephen Manley's Training Camp this June ----------------- » Join the Deeper Christian community and receive the Deeper Digest  each Saturday, which includes all the quotes, articles, podcasts...

All four Gospels declare the “good news” of Jesus Christ, but John’s account (written years after the other three) is seemingly more personal, relational, and filled with the richness of intimacy. In this episode, Nathan gives an overview and talks about the person, poetry, and passion of John’s Gospel. » Listen to the other book of the Bible overviews on the NRJohnson Sermon Podcast -------------...

The beauty of the Christian life is that we live in what scholars often call the “now and not yet.” In other words, while we have salvation and redemption NOW, there is also a waiting and longing for our future (completed) salvation and redemption. Throughout Scripture, salvation is used in all three tenses: we were saved (past), are being saved (present), and will be saved (future). In this episo...

Due to the continued conflict in Israel, we switched our November study tour to an Early Church Bible Study Tour in Turkey ("Asia Minor"). Consider joining me this November in a study tour in Ephesus, Colossae, Laodicea, and many other New Testament locations. » Learn more about the upcoming Bible Study Tour ----------------- » Join the Deeper Christian community and receive the Deeper Digest...

Many Christians know that memorizing the Bible is helpful and important, but few of us do it. In this episode, Nathan talks about a few benefits of memorizing God's Word and gives some encouragement on how to get started. Also, check out Nathan's new book 30 Day Adventure to Know Jesus More! ----------------- » Join the Deeper Christian community and receive the Deeper Digest  each Satur...

Joshua 1:8 commands us “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night , that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Biblical meditation is drastically different from New Age meditation. In biblical meditation, we are to fill up, ponder, consid...

There is a two-fold reality and position in every believer's life—we are IN Christ and He is IN us. And this changes everything. In this episode, Nathan discusses the two positions of a Christian's life and how that relates to being a new creature in Christ Jesus and clothed with His garment of salvation and righteousness. Check out Nathan's new book 30 Day Adventure to Know Jesus More! ----------...

The Christian life is supposed to grow, deepen, and mature in Christ over time. Yet, far too many believers have stalled in their spiritual lives and are unsure how to progress forward. In this replay of a webinar Nathan gave, he discusses five specific ways to grow spiritually and how you can thrive in Christ Jesus in this season of your life. Download the webinar notes Ellerslie Online   –...

Discipleship is not something we accomplish and then move on to the next thing; rather, biblical discipleship is a lifelong pursuit of Christ, growing in our understanding and relationship with Him, and being conformed to His image. The concept of discipleship is akin to an apprentice that takes on not just the knowledge but the  lifestyle  of the one to whom they are following – in...

I've been reading through Leonard Ravenhill's biography ( In Light of Eternity: The Life of Leonard Ravenhill by Mack Tomlinson) and have been deeply stirred by the life Ravenhill lived and the passion he had for prayer and revival. In this episode, I give several quotes from the book about Leonard's passion for prayer and examine what it means for us to be men and women of prayer in the days in w...

Many Christians start a Bible reading plan at the first of the year … but we often miss one important thing while reading the Bible. In this episode, Nathan gives a fresh reminder on the one thing we should be most aware of as we read through Scripture this year.  Don't have a Bible reading plan? Here are some helps to get started: 5 Creative Ways to Read the Bible This Year That WON’T Be Bor...

Happy New Year! Being a new year, many of us are writing down our resolutions and dreams for this year. Yet, as Christians, we need to rethink resolutions and goal setting and consider if there is a better way.  In this special New Year’s edition of the Deeper Christian Podcast, my good friend Dan McConnaughey talks about new year resolutions and how we can resolve to live as Christians this...

How can Christians live with continual peace, joy, and calm? How can we as believers NOT be anxious or worried about anything? Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:6 that there is no reason for worry, fear, or anxiety and instead commands Christians to be “anxious for nothing.” And Paul isn't the only one—hundreds of passages throughout Scripture exhort us not to fear, worry, be anxious, forebode, fre...

When the angels appeared to the shepherds, they declared that a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger was a "sign." This sign was a declaration of what Jesus was going to do (and be) at the Cross. In this episode, we talk about Luke 2 and the marvelous sign of Christmas. ----------------- » Join the Deeper Christian community and receive the Deeper Digest  each Saturday...

The Christmas season is a wonderful reminder of how undeserving we are that the God of the universe came to dwell among and within us. The picture of Jesus born in a stable is one of my favorite meditations during Christmas. Just as He was willing to be born in a place of muck and mire, so too, He is willing to come within the muck and sin of my life. But the profundity of the Gospel is that while...

While Jesus does give us life (eternal life!), the beautiful reality of Scripture is that the life He gives is not "something" but Himself. He is our life , as Paul declares in Colossians 3:4 …and John goes on to write that we are to live through Him (1 John 4:9). In this episode, we talk about what it means for Jesus to not merely give us life, but to be our life. I also mention a new series...

God gave Himself for us to showcase His marvelous redemption in our lives. He bought us out of captivity to sin and darkness and has purified us for Himself. And just as God is our inheritance so too we have become His. In this study, we examine God’s grand redemption which Paul wrote about in Titus 2:14 and we discover that God wants to use us to showcase His life, love, and Gospel to the world a...

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that the attitude, mindset, and language of a Christian is to be marked by thanksgiving. While we as a culture may celebrate a day of thanksgiving once a year, the life of a believer is always marked by it. ----------------- » Join the Deeper Christian community and receive the Deeper Digest  each Saturday, which includes all the quotes, articles, podc...

Jesus Christ is returning soon. While we patiently await His return, how are we supposed to live now? In this fourth study from Titus 2:11–15 we talk about how to "look for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" and give nine biblical ways we can practically “hope” and have an eager expectancy for the Lord's Return. ----------------- » Join the D...

Christians have been radically transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. We are brand new creatures in Christ who are now to live completely different than the world around us. And the amazing reality of the Gospel is that God’s grace, through His Holy Spirit, enables us to live as we ought – even in the present day in which we live. In this third study from Titus 2:11–15 we talk about how...

For Christians, it is far too easy to live, think, and talk like the world around us—yet Paul tell us those are the things we are to deny and reject. As Christians, we are called to live set apart and different than the world around us. In this second study from Titus 2:11–15 we talk about how God's grace is training, disciplining, and enabling us to reject ungodliness and worldly desires and now...

When we truly understand the depth and richness of God's grace, it no longer becomes a cliché to call it "amazing." In part one of a new series examining Titus 2:11–15, we talk about the missing aspects of God's manifold grace and specifically discuss three things Paul tells us about God's grace in Titus 2. ----------------- » Join the Deeper Christian community and receive the Deeper Digest...

With all that is going on in Israel the past two weeks, here are seven key ways we can pray: 1. Pray for peace Psalm 122:6 reminds us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem 2. Pray for protection 3. Pray for comfort 4. Pray for the furtherance of Gospel 5. Pray for the repentance of the terrorists 6. Pray for hostages Click here to get a list of the names of the hostages that we know of so far 7. Pray...

For many believers, we have become distracted from what Paul calls the "simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3). In short, we are too easily preoccupied with everything but Jesus … even if it is good and godly things. As we celebrate our 300th episode, we talk about the single most important thing—the truth that Jesus is all and He is to preeminent and first place in our...