Faith Matters Podcast

KNOWING WITH CERTAINTY “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lin...

WONDER AND MYSTERY“‘Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus …’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.’” LUKE 1:31, 34-35 (ESV)It is not J...

THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST’S ADVENT “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” 1 JOHN 3:4-6 (ESV) Why do we anticipate Christmas with such relish? For the believer, the a...

Prayer That Changes History Once James had been murdered, Herod’s religious Jewish contingent was thrilled with his initiative and applauded him. Suddenly he saw an easy way to gain favor with a party that had always given him such opposition. Acts 12:3 says, “When he [Herod] saw that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded further and arrested Peter also” (AMP). This time things would be very d...

Powerful Prayer Begins Where Complacency Ends Someone once said, “Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. ‘Good enough’ becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, a...

Disturb Us, Lord! The Urgency of Revival I am an evangelist who works on the front lines of the battle for souls in some of the most difficult, dangerous, and remote locations on earth. For us, prayer is not a luxury or an accessory – it is a matter of survival. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of a dreadful day that is fast approaching when multitudes of lost souls will declare with eternal regret, “Th...

Utter Dependence I must have prayed for weeks before I preached my first sermon at 14 years of age. I pleaded for God’s help and blessing, knowing that without it I would be a miserable failure. Today, I often preach more than twelve times in a single week. I no longer feel nervous, even when preaching to crowds of hundreds of thousands, and therein lies the danger. Although I feel comfortable and...

Complacency: A Lethal Enemy The pounding at the door rattled the entire house just before the foot of an impatient Roman soldier kicked it from its hinges. Peter was still in bed when the guards grabbed him and hauled him into the dusty Jerusalem streets where a prison wagon was waiting. The high priest had exercised his political power and commanded that the disciples of Jesus be rounded up like...

What does love require of me? This clarifying, but terrifying question should stand guard over our consciences. It should serve as guide, signpost, and compass as we navigate the unavoidable complexities inherent in every relationship. It should inform how we date, parent, boss, manage, and coach. It should form a perimeter around what we say and do in our roles as spouses, coworkers, and neighbor...

Join Andi and Brian Hale as they read God's Word.

Sometimes . . . in fact, more times than we would like to admit, an option we’re considering creates a little tension inside of us. Something about it is just a bit uncomfortable. Something about it doesn’t seem exactly right. It gives us pause. It bothers us. It causes us to hesitate. And, oftentimes, we have no idea why. Experts sometimes refer to this phenomenon as a red flag moment, an interna...

Someday you would like to be able to sit down or lie down with your kids or grandkids and tell ’em your story. Your entire story. And as they get older, you would like to be able to add layers and details rather than hoping they don’t ask. If you’re single, you want to someday sit across the table from someone you hope to spend the rest of your life with and tell your story. All of it. We all want...

Our hearts are deceitful. They can be dangerous. It’s why we’re so convinced and at times so convincing. We don’t merely lie to ourselves; we deceive ourselves. There is a way to keep our deceitful hearts in check. Here are three tips: To begin with, admit it. The sooner you embrace this uncomfortable, disquieting fact about yourself, the quicker you’ll be able to develop and maintain a healthy su...

Remember Your First Love The beginning is always exciting, isn’t it? Even if taking a leap of faith also feels a little terrifying, there is still the anticipation of what’s to come that compels you forward with a little extra pep in your step. It can be tempting to reach for that new beginning feeling and abandon what you’re in the middle of because the middle just isn’t as exciting. Maybe it’s e...

Don’t Look To The Left Or The Right In the process of continuing on and staying committed, it can be very tempting to look around and see what others are doing. It’s not wrong to be inspired by or adopt new ideas from people around you, but it is wrong to compare yourself to them or put yourself in competition with them. Remember, your race is specifically marked out for you. Their race is specifi...

Trust God With The Pace Not only do we need to trust God with the plan for our lives, but we also need to trust Him with the pace of our lives. Even if it’s a little bit – or a lot – slower than we think it should be or would like it to be. It can be tempting to catch a glimpse of God’s plan, assume we understand the process, and run with it. But God is the only One who knows the plan, path and pa...

There Is A Race Marked Out For You Don’t quit. Whatever it is for you today, you have the power and the strength to carry on, even if it doesn’t look like dance parties and celebrations. It might look like you showing up in your pajama pants or with tears in your eyes, but you can do it. You can keep going. You can keep showing up – to the blank page, to the piano, to your prayer closet, to your m...

Poetry of the Indescribable As a teenager relegated to the back forty with the sheep, David probably had no idea that people would be reading his poetry thousands of years later. The future David envisioned for himself while hanging around sheep 24/7 was probably not that grandiose—certainly not a picture of the “you can be whatever you put your mind to” messages youth hear today. David’s father d...

Surprised by God For Moses this was another ordinary, lonely day in the wilderness tending his sheep. But for God it was a historic day, marked by an ambush through angelic visitation and a burning bush. The scene was Sinai—God’s holy mountain. Did Moses know where he was? Was he trespassing on holy ground? It was too late to check. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, igniting a bush. There wa...

Pregnant with Promise We first meet Sarah and learn of her barrenness in Genesis 11. The conception of her son, Isaac, does not come until Genesis 21. The chapters in between represent 39 years of waiting. Today, a woman’s “success” is not measured by the fruitfulness of her womb, although infertility is painful for any couple longing for children. In Abraham’s day, an empty cradle was shameful. A...

Breath of Wonder What did that first breath feel like? Did Adam’s body shake and rattle like the bones coming together in the valley of dry bones? Did he cough and cry like a baby at birth? Was the oxygen so rich that he experienced a euphoric high? Did his eyes squint at the blinding glory of God’s presence face-to-face with him? Oh, so many questions. No birth since then has been the same, and y...

Ask for Wisdom Throughout this Plan we’ve learned that wisdom ultimately comes from knowing Jesus Christ and following His ways. When He alone is our foundation, we can walk in freedom, victory, and hope. But, maybe you don’t feel like you have wisdom. You see other people who appear to be so wise; people seem to hang on their every word. They’re the people that everyone wants a little bit of thei...

The Right Foundation In Matthew 7:24-29, Jesus is teaching about the foundation we build our lives on. He said that whoever listens to His teaching and follows it is wise. They’ve built their foundation on solid rock, that won’t shift or move when storms come. But whoever hears his teaching and doesn’t follow it is foolish. Their foundation is placed on sand, which is easily disturbed when winds a...