Faith Matters Podcast

When our relationship is one of delight in the Lord, we are not going to want to do things, possess or use things, or enter into any relationship that will damage, in any way, our relationship with the Lord. Think back to the way you felt when you were deeply in love. To the best of your ability, you didn’t let anything come between you and your loved one. Nothing mattered as much as keeping your...

Faith Matters with Brian and Andi Hale Join us as we review The Book of Signs, Chapter 1; Israel The first international sign is Israel. In the past 70+ years, this tiny nation has become the geopolitical center of the world. The Bible prophecy centers on Israel. The story of Israel starts with The Abrahamic Covenant between God and Abraham. Although many of the prophecies of Israel have already c...

You Can Because He Did You can feel bad for orphans who live in shacks halfway around the world, but if it doesn’t move you enough to do something about it, you might be missing what God has called each of us to do. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Care for the widows. Defend the cause of the poor. Speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves. Help the weak. Rescue those who are oppresse...

A Ripple Effect I’ll never forget the day in 2013 when my dad called me from overseas and told me he had just rescued four young girls from traffickers. He was preaching at an underground pastor’s conference in a remote country where Christians are persecuted. When the conference was over, he heard there were four girls about to be sold. He took out all the money he had in his wallet, and with tha...

Your Life Does Matter If your spirit has faded recently, I want to ignite a new spark in your life. I want to show you that wherever you are and whatever you do, not only can you find meaning, but you can accomplish a mission that you have already been called to and equipped for. Jesus said Satan is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). One of the greatest lies the devil ever told was that our lives d...

Light in the Darkness Mission looks different for everyone. It might take you into the darkness on a rescue mission to those being human trafficked. It might keep you home in your neighborhood, breathing life and spirit into your children or neighbors. When you are mission-driven, you use your ability and God’s empowerment to help, serve, guide, teach, pray, and lead others in innumerable ways as...

Living a Mission-Possible Life Scripture gives us one shared, big-picture purpose: to glorify God. That means that as believers, we honor and serve God with our lives, our natural gifts, our resources, our bodies, our worship, and our decisions. Now, glorifying God doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become a missionary or plant yourself on the other side of the world. Nor does it mean you have t...

Escape Room "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38 An escape room is a game in which a team of players discovers clues, solves puzzles, and accomplishes tasks in a limited amount of time. If the game ends and you're still stuck inside, a staff member will enter the room to show you the clues you missed, walk you through the solution,...

Escape Room "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38 An escape room is a game in which a team of players discovers clues, solves puzzles, and accomplishes tasks in a limited amount of time. If the game ends and you're still stuck inside, a staff member will enter the room to show you the clues you missed, walk you through the solution,...

Escape Room "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38 An escape room is a game in which a team of players discovers clues, solves puzzles, and accomplishes tasks in a limited amount of time. If the game ends and you're still stuck inside, a staff member will enter the room to show you the clues you missed, walk you through the solution,...

Escape Room "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38 An escape room is a game in which a team of players discovers clues, solves puzzles, and accomplishes tasks in a limited amount of time. If the game ends and you're still stuck inside, a staff member will enter the room to show you the clues you missed, walk you through the solution,...

Escape Room "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38 An escape room is a game in which a team of players discovers clues, solves puzzles, and accomplishes tasks in a limited amount of time. If the game ends and you're still stuck inside, a staff member will enter the room to show you the clues you missed, walk you through the solution,...

J.R.R. Tolkien Even once we’ve made the choice to view our work as a sacrificial response to the call of our Caller, we still live in a world that constantly wars against our decision. If we are to effectively create for the glory of God and the good of others, rather than primarily for our own fame and fortune, we must, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “not be conformed to this world, but be tra...

C.S. Lewis Viewing our work as a calling from God changes our motivations for creating, how we create, and even the products we choose to create. As we submit to the agenda of our Caller, we will be on the lookout for ways in which we can glorify God and love others through the things we create. As the life of C.S. Lewis shows us, when we are abiding in Christ (John 15:4), His Spirit will open our...

Casper ten Boom Ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, work has been arduous and difficult (Genesis 3). But as we saw yesterday in Genesis 2, work is not inherently bad—it was designed by God to be an act of worship and a meaningful way for humans to glorify God and serve others. In a fallen world, it can be difficult to see the goodness, meaning, and eternal significance of our work. I...

Creator God “In the beginning, God created.” You’ve heard that a thousand times, but let this truth sink in for just a moment. The first thing God reveals about Himself in Scripture is not that He is loving, holy, omnipotent, gracious, or just. No, the first thing God shows us at the genesis of time is that He is the Creator God! For the first six days, God revealed His creative spirit by speaking...

The New World Order isn’t coming to America. It’s here. From the day Satan was kicked out of heaven, he has attempted to create the New World Order, in total rebellion against God. The anarchists in America are trying to destroy our democracy. They are not patriots. We cannot function without the rule of law. Historically, every attempt to establish the New World Order began with rebellion. Evil c...

TRUE COLORS: The Most Offensive Truth Pastor Bob McCartney gave a sermon series on current social issues this fall highlighting the truth found in the Bible. Here are my notes from this eighth and final sermon in his series, True Colors. Your citizenship in the kingdom of God makes all the difference in your salvation. There is only ONE way to go to Heaven and it is by totally trusting in Jesus. 1...

Put It Into Practice After 21 days of rewriting thought, you have wiped out the toxic thought and replaced it with positive, productive thought. Here’s how we change our lives. — Dr. Caroline Leaf Matthew 4:1-11 tells about the devil tempting Jesus when He was in the wilderness for 40 days. During that time, Jesus went without food. The devil knew He was weak, and he tempted Jesus to turn from God...

Fix Your Thoughts When we fill our thoughts with the right things, the wrong ones have no room to enter. — Joyce Meyer Testing our thoughts and learning to take them captive is a huge part of the mental battle we have with our thoughts. So, when we can learn to do that as a regular practice, we will gain control over our thoughts. But what if we chose to be more proactive with our thoughts in orde...

Capture Your Thoughts Taking thoughts captive means controlling them instead of letting them control you. — Priscilla Shirer We were created in the image of God, and we are His masterpieces. What would our lives be like if we lived like we believed that truth? The biggest reason we don’t is because we have let toxic thoughts run rampant in our minds. We can’t let them dictate our lives—we must cho...

Test Your Thoughts The thoughts you keep in a loop determine the direction of your life. — Steven Furtick We have a lot of thoughts every day. In fact, many experts believe we think somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 thoughts per day. That averages out to 2,500 to 3,300 per hour. Remarkable, isn’t it? It would be great if our thoughts were all good. But many of them are negative and toxic. The go...