Donelson First Podcast

How would you respond to an expectant mother contemplating abortion?  Is abortion okay in the instances of rape or incest, or when the life of a mother is at risk? In this episode, Pastor Jeffrey tackles these tough and often divisive questions through the detailed response offered in Scripture.

Family is really, really hard. There is no way around it. In this episode, Pastor Jeffrey offers suggestions on helping your family be best united and prepared to face the hard together and to learn to grow closer even in the midst of challenges and difficulties.

There are many misconceptions about who or what is the Holy Spirit. Some believe the Holy Spirit is as a wind moving in our lives with very little control or knowledge on our end as to its movements. Others envision the Holy Spirit as a mystical or magical force that can only be summoned on special occasions or by certain people who possess such abilities to communicate with spiritual forces. Stil...

Time is such a critical aspect of life. It too is a gift for us each that, if not careful, can be misused. In this episode, Pastor Jeffrey discusses this gift in relation to the creation of the world, the existence of dinosaurs and the afterlife.

What is the biblical role of the deacon, Elder's wife, and Ministry Team? This week, Pastor Jeffrey continues our conversation on Church governance and how following the guiding principles set forth in Scripture Equips the Church to love the people of God well.

What is the proper alignment of Church governance and how do each of these roles differ in aiding to the benefit of the Church?

No matter my worldly knowledge, personal successes, accomplishments, accolades, and notoriety, if I get my eternity wrong, nothing else matters. I need salvation because the dreadful reality of the presence of sin in my life requires there is no other way for me to avoid spiritual death.

Many Christians view holiness as a lofty position at which one almost never arrives. God views holiness as a state of being I can achieve as I daily resolve to do what is right.  Holiness requests I forsake the life I want for the life God demands.

Everything I need to know about God's expectations and parameters for divorce & remarriage are in God's Word. On many topics, God states repeatedly what He feels and believes in Scripture. However, God does not always do this. While there are few verses on the topic of divorce in the Bible, those mentioned are extremely clear.

Asking "Why me, God?" insinuates the expectation that life is to be easy, and, as a Christian, God is expected to isolate me from humanity's misfortunes. Of course, this is not true. Such knowledge may not change my situation, but it does give me an opportunity to embrace peace and trust rather than anger in the midst of my dark moments.

There are many different interpretations and disagreements among the Church. Two people won't see everything, every situation, and every life choice the same every single time. This is okay. What is not okay is to use such disagreements as an excuse to draw battle lines of conflict over which you never work to dissolve.

In the Bible, the main things God wants us to clearly know, He made clearly known. Both the first and the last call of Jesus to His followers was one of evangelism. So it is obvious that sharing the gospel is critically important to Jesus. It too should be important to me.

God welcomes my questions. God can handle my questions. However, God does not have to answer my questions. If God can be trusted when He speaks, He too is worthy of my trust when He is silent.

After life on planet earth, every human faces the same reality. Every human will either go to heaven or hell, and every human gets to decide which one will be their eternal destination. As a follower of Jesus Christ, eternity does not begin when I die. Instead, it begins when I surrender my life to Jesus. 

Church without Jesus is nothing more than a collective group of people completely wasting their time. If we strive for personal holiness in our lives, we then corporately reflect the nature of Jesus Christ as the Church.

Family is extremely important to God. Therefore, family must be extremely important to me. I must take seriously my role in helping my family shine as an Orthodoxy-led family.

To better understand the cross and the reason for why we celebrate the empty tomb, we first must understand the fullness of what Jesus did and why He did it!

To not believe that the truth of all Orthodoxy centers on the person of Jesus Christ, is to not believe in any Orthodoxy. Without Jesus my life has no meaning. Without Jesus, my choices, big or small, really do not matter, and eternity is horrific... and hell awaits us all.

Nowhere in scripture does God muddy the waters on the gender or the sexuality by which we have been created. Nowhere. Our children are confused because we are allowing the messaging to encourage their confusion. Orthodoxy is the only guide that will lead humanity in the right and holy and ordained direction.

Humanity – the pinnacle of God's creation. God was really showing off when He created man and woman. And now the ownership is on us to live up to the standard by which we have been created.

Lies, no matter how convincing, are still lies. Lies mislead. Lies create confusion. Lies have consequences. Lies will always lead to death. There are many lies surrounding the events of the origin of the world. How you view the first chapter of the Bible dictates how you view the remaining 1,188 chapters of the Bible, and, ultimately what you deem as truth… or lies.

Did Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Joseph, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob know God's name? The answer might surprise you.

The markers for a moral compass, for right and for wrong, to distinguish the east from the west, have already been established for us. Fortunately, we do not have to define the markers. We just have to follow them.

There are 5 unique ways in which God chooses to communicate His Word to His people. Understanding the uniqueness of each will allow the reader of God's Word to more richly dissect the character of God.

The amount of time I spend in the bible is evidence of what I believe about the power of the bible... and its impact on my life personally, socially, mentally, and spiritually.