Faith Matters Podcast

Faith Matters with Brian and Andi Hale Dr. David Jeremiah has lined out '31 undeniable prophecies of the apocalypse' for us in his book, The Book of Signs. Listen in as Brian reviews chapter 9, Persecution. American culture is growing increasingly hostile toward Christianity. We are in the first stages of repression of Christian speech and actions, and even stronger measures may well follow. We mu...

Playing the Long Game For our final day together exploring God’s blessings, I want to share where I believe being a bigger blessing starts: clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and caring for the sick. Every statistic about people living below the poverty line or experiencing homelessness reveals how much our cities are hurting below the surface. Every number has a name, every name has a story,...

Irreplaceable Praise In fractal geometry, there is a complex set of numbers that produces an infinitely intricate shape when plotted on a plane. It’s called a Mandelbrot set, after the founder of fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot. Clouds and coastlines are classic examples of this endless complexity. Any detail can be magnified to reveal even more detail, ad infinitum. The blessings of God are a...

Holy Anticipation There are half a dozen “double promises” in Scripture. The prophet Isaiah promised a double portion of joy or prosperity, depending on your translation of choice (Isaiah 61:7). The apostle Paul conferred double honor on those who lead well (1 Timothy 5:17). And a double portion of Elijah’s spirit netted twice as many miracles in the ministry of Elisha (2 Kings 2:9). But perhaps t...

Flipping the Blessing Now, I know what you may be thinking. Am I promising health, wealth, and prosperity? The answer to that is an unequivocal no! God promises us something so much better than physical health or material wealth. Plus, some of God’s greatest blessings are blessings in disguise. The blessing of God is not an immunity card against pain and suffering. Jesus said point blank, “In this...

Original Blessing The Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler was famous for beginning counseling sessions with new clients by asking, “What is your earliest memory?” No matter how his patient replied, Adler responded, “And so life is.” Adler believed that our earliest memories leave a profound imprint on our souls. Imagine him sitting down with the first Adam and asking his trademark question. Adam’s...

Faith Matters with Brian and Andi Hale Reviewing The Book of Signs by D. David Jeremiah; Ch 8 - Radical Islam Americans do not seem to take the threat of Islam seriously. In fact, research tells us that US citizens are essentially oblivious to the potential danger of radical Muslims. God is at work in the Islamic world. Many Muslims are being confronted with the gospel in their dreams. Our prayers...

in 2 Corinthians 10:4, Paul says our spiritual weapons can destroy Satan’s fortresses. Weapons such as prayer, reading the Word, obedience, meditation on Scripture, fasting, and service can blow up the devil’s strongholds. And that’s what we must do. These fortresses don’t need to be remodeled. God doesn’t tell us to capture them, change the locks, and use them for Him. Satan’s fortresses must be...

Satan knows not only where to get at us, but also how to get at us. That’s why we need to understand the method he uses to defeat and imprison us. In 2 Corinthians 10:3–5, Paul reveals the devil’s primary battle strategy: Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. W...

If your problem originates in the heavenly places, then you need a solution that originates in the heavenly places as well. Most of us are vaguely aware of angels because they’re not part of our physical world. But we need to understand that the angels of God and the demons of hell are the warriors in the cosmic battle between God and Satan. When you hear believers say they are being attacked by t...

The essence of the war we’re talking about is spiritual. Because this warfare is first and foremost spiritual and not physical, the degree to which you and I will be successful is the degree to which we are prepared to understand and fight this battle on a spiritual level. While waged in the invisible, spiritual realm, spiritual warfare is manifested in the visible, physical realm. In other words,...

Days after the tragedy of 9/11 struck our nation’s soul, members of the special forces known as the Green Beret were asked to pack their bags, leave their families and head straight into the heart of warfare. While each of us back home struggled to come to grips with the devastation that came about so suddenly, these men set out to do something about it. They flew there with one goal in mind: Stop...

Faith Matters with Brian and Andi Hale Follow along as Andi and Brian continue evaluating The Book Of Signs, Chapter 7- Immorality by Dr. David Jeremiah and what it means for us in today's upside down world. American culture now resembles a stained glass window through which no light is shining. We are living in a world where anything goes, but nothing satisfies. Our moral compass seems no longer...

Dealing with Uncertainty on YouVersion read by Brian and Andi Hale Day 1 of 5 Finding Courage in the Face of Uncertainty Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Joshua 1:6 Think of Joshua as he prepared to lead the Israelites into Canaan—a place overrun by their enemies. Although God promised the...

Practice Being Still “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 Just after they escaped from Egypt, Moses encouraged the Israelites with those words. Perhaps he understood that our natural reaction in moments of uncertainty is to restlessly bounce between anxiety and despair. Feelings of uncertainty can result in the prefrontal cortex in your brain “shutting down”: impa...

Practice Being Still “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 Just after they escaped from Egypt, Moses encouraged the Israelites with those words. Perhaps he understood that our natural reaction in moments of uncertainty is to restlessly bounce between anxiety and despair. Feelings of uncertainty can result in the prefrontal cortex in your brain “shutting down”: impa...