Grace or Grit

The King James Version of the Bible translates the Greek word apologia in the following manner: defence (3x), answer (3x), answer for one's self, & clearing of one's self.  It's defined as 1). verbal defence, speech in defense & 2). a reasoned statement or argument The word apologia is found in 1st Peter 3:14-16, "If you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are you: and be not afraid of their ter...

Sometimes I wish I could be like Joshua and lengthen my days at will.  For sure, there are days that include more items on my to-do list than can be done in 24 hours. Last week I asked for some advice from a couple of men in our church. One of them, Matt Taylor, has been a guest on the podcast before.  I asked him and another godly man for suggestions for podcast topics.  The result...

This is a wonderful interview with Pastor Said Usuf of the Omega Church in THE GAMBIA.  You will be greatly blessed by his testimony concerning how he came to faith in Christ and how God moved him into the gospel ministry.   Hopefully you will pick up on some of the great things that we share in common with Pastor Said, as well as a few of the unique challenges that he and his people fac...

Or wives... if you consider Israel as one and Judah as one.  Did God divorce His wives? It's a relevant question for reasons that we don't even get into in this episode, but it's relevant also because divorce among humans is a topic addressed repeatedly in the Bible.  And, it's a major problem in our society.  The statistics are indeed grim.   It's not our goal to beat anybody...

What is a miracle?  Is it "a conspicuous show of power outside of the common course of nature"?  Or, is it something else? What does it mean when we say that God works providentially behind the scenes?  According to Dave, it means that God is constantly providing for & preparing for His desired outcomes through the common course of nature. But consider this: Patrick claims that...

In this episode, Dave and Patrick attempt to answer these (and some additional) questions concerning fasting, lent, and penance. Are all of these (fasting, lent, and penance) found in the Bible? Who fasted in the Bible? What guidelines do we find for fasting in the Bible? Why do we fast? How do we fast properly? Are Lenten fasts in line with biblical principles? What are the most likely “pitfalls”...

In the Old Testament of the Bible, we find in the book of Leviticus that God commanded His people saying, "You shall not rule one over another with rigour." What did He mean by that? If you check a variety of English translations you will encounter other words in the place of the word rigor: ruthlessness, harshness, severity, brutality. So again, what is that all about? God is gentle, patient, kin...

Shortly after Jesus' resurrection, He showed up hungry in one of the meetings where His apostles were gathered.  In that context He wasted no time reminding them what He was all about and what their responsibility was. They were witnesses of His resurrection.  They had the gospel truth.  They had the job of telling the world about the living Christ. It is recorded for us in Luke 24:...

Solomon wrote that “A dream comes through the multitude of business…” (Ecclesiastes 5:3). I take that to mean that when you are involved in a lot of different things, you keep thinking about them and working out solutions even in your sleep. I’m no expert on dreams, of course, but I do have personal experience to reflect on. Mostly I don’t consider dreams to be significant. I may be WAY wrong abou...

In this episode, Dave asks Patrick to answer 7 questions about short term mission trips. Here they are: What are the legitimate spiritual and practical dangers of short term mission trips? How can short term mission trips (at least in your context) actually reach the local population for the sake of the gospel? How can short term mission trips help the full time missionaries on the field? How can...

Shortly after I (Dave) became pastor, one of our deacons (Bob Schmidt, who is now in heaven) stopped me one Sunday and started talking about how he was happy for camp and how excited everybody gets about it every year and all that, but he was concerned about how everybody seems to come back gung-ho for Jesus every year, yet a month later everything goes right back to how it was before camp; like i...

Why? It is perhaps the deepest, most profound, most significant, most interesting, most painful, and most difficult question that humanity has to have and wants answered.  Toddlers ask it repeatedly.  Jesus asked it from the cross.   On this episode Dave interviews a guest who has had to wrestle with this question quite a bit.  Cody Stevens and his wife Joan have a wonderful so...

I love to read.  Reading is like magic.  It takes you away from where you are and transports you to other places, other times, and even into the minds of other people.  But that is only a manner of thinking and speaking.   In actuality though, reading is truly a powerful tool.  If you think about it, God chose to reveal Himself to us most clearly and certainly in a book. &...

Veteran missionary Jim Tanner shares his testimony of how God worked on and through him and his wife as they served the Lord and preached the gospel on the other side of the world. Listen as Dave and Patrick share fellowship and Christ's love with one another and with this dear missionary.

For me, though it’s a bit of an oversimplification, I think I can break the levels of biblical doctrines down like this: - Primary - the fundamentals of the faith (virgin birth, deity of Christ, sufficiency of Scriptures, salvation by grace through faith, the resurrection, etc.) - Secondary - things that make me a baptist (other than # 1 biblical authority which is primary... baptized membership,...

Are you spiritual, or religious?  Or, are you both? Some claim to be neither, but likely they are deluded.  Everyone is religious.  At least, that proposition is easily defended. But what could it mean for someone to claim to be religious, but not spiritual?  Or how about the other way around? Listen as Dave and Patrick approach these questions as humbly as they can.

I learned how to create podcasts.  Well, I didn't really learn that from COVID, but I did learn it during and because of COVID.  I also created a website ( davetalley.com ), figured out how to use ZOOM, discovered how to make online small groups a success, and became fairly good at turning multiple music video recordings into one. But that's not really what I'm getting at here. What did...

The easy answer to the question, "Is violence ever justified?" would be, "No."  In many ways our society repeatedly regurgitates such a mantra while simultaneously contradicting that very message constantly through both art and action.  But we aren't living in a fantasy world, we are living in a very raw, real, and difficult world.  And, like it or not, violence is as almost as old...

In Deuteronomy 10:17 & 18 we read these words, “The LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regards not persons, nor takes reward: He does execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.”  Again, Psalm 68:5 similarly shows us God’s Spirit inspired description of Himself as " A f...

Contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction. But it is not (and must not be allowed to become) complacency, lethargy, or apathy. Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. But unfortunately it can include greed, covetousness, jealousy, and cruelty. Are these two things naturally contrary to each other.  Are they mutuall...

Food before dessert.  Work before play.  Meaning before diversion.  Business before pleasure. What are we talking about?  The priorities of life. We live in a time when many people (even Christians) in our society spend most or all of their time on interests that have little or no eternal value.  It's one thing to take a break from the grind; to escape in order to recharge...

On this episode of Grace or Grit I (Dave Talley) have given my usual co-host (Patrick Reed) the week off, because today I have as a very special guest on our podcast, my mother: Rebecca June Talley.  That should be introduction enough.  Listen as we talk about old times and God's great grace!

Our experiences this side of the grave determine what our experiences will be like on the other side of the grave.  If we will, we can invest our temporary material resources now in eternal spiritual endeavors and thereby “lay up treasurers in heaven.”  We can exchange dollars for crowns.  Our currency here is no good there anyway, so it's best that we insure that our wealth is heav...

"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name..." (John 1:12). Does that verse indicate the order of things in our salvation?  Dave affirms that such is the case.  Patrick says, maybe not. This podcast is an explanation of Monergism and the proper order of regeneration and faith?  Which comes first, the chicken or th...

The rhythms of life are those helpful routines that we get into that make us productive. The ruts of life are those hurtful cycles that we also get into that limit our effectiveness. There are certain terms that I used to never hear used the way they are often used now.  One of those terms is "rhythms."  For a long time I only heard that word used in reference to sound.  It was the...