On Being Christian

The idea of trouble, as we experience it ourselves and/or see others experiencing times of trouble, is interesting because it's never as hard to understand that you're in trouble as perhaps it is to understand how you got into trouble, or more importantly, how to get out of it. Knowing that there is a problem is not nearly as valuable as understanding how to resolve the problem. Which is what we'r...

I think it's safe to assume that most of us would like to have "significant" lives and make "meaningful" contributions, to know that who we are and what we do matters. However, many times we do this by comparing what we can see, understand, and accept as valuable to what we define as invaluable, again based off what we can see, understand, and accept. If our definition of value/significance change...

Across "religious" beliefs there is a general acceptance as to who God is, however there is widespread debate and confusion as to who Jesus Christ is. This episode makes very clear, from the perspective of Biblical Doctrine, exactly who the Christ of God is. The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry of Wasatch Front Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Authored and hosted by Pastor Nolan G....

Fear is a powerful emotion. When fear manifests itself as reverence (fear) towards God, it becomes very appropriate and useful in the Christian life. However when fear is misplaced, it becomes a disease. Fear, as a disease, causes us to make inappropriate and unhelpful decisions with respect to being a Christian. This episode is about what not to fear. The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry...

The word religion has become a term we use to define almost any position that anyone might take on any issue. Pure Religion however, is actually definable by the Doctrine of the Word of God. The Bible says that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, so I'm not sure when we decided that we could change definitions defined in His Word. This episode is about the simplicity of definable Pure R...

Somehow being a Christian has been allowed to become about culture, status and experience, when in reality being a Christian is really just about being obedient to the Word of God. In fact, culture, status and experience can get in the way of being just simply obedient. This episode is about the human qualities that make obedience needlessly difficult. The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry...

At times we face significant challenges/problems in this life, some of which have the power to change the course of our life. Some of these challenges and problems are just part of the human experience, and some, as powerful as they are, can be the result of our own foolish decisions. Whichever may be the case, sometimes our problems linger, not because they can't be solved or overcome, but rather...

Our society is becoming increasingly more filled with chaos and anarchy; we’ve never had access to more information, while at the same time we’ve never been more inept at utilizing the information. We have all the “smarts” in the world and yet we seem to have zero wisdom, this causes anxiety and depression and fear. Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Luke chapter 21, gives us 5 things to consider as a...

In the Military, we had an acronym we called SOPs, which stands for Standard Operational Procedures. SOPs served as a selection of known, unchanging responsibilities, so that even if the plan fell apart, we knew the fundamentals to fall back on. In the Bible, we find some Christian SOPs, and if you apply this doctrine, regardless of what life may throw at you, you’ll have the proper fundamentals i...

In the Military, we had an acronym we called SOPs, which stands for Standard Operational Procedures. SOPs served as a selection of known, unchanging responsibilities, so that even if the plan fell apart, we knew the fundamentals to fall back on. In the Bible, we find some Christian SOPs, and if you apply this doctrine, regardless of what life may throw at you, you’ll have the proper fundamentals i...

In many ways we tend to look for reasons to make things more difficult than they really are, it’s one of the ways we attempt to make ourselves feel better about not taking immediate action (we say we’re “deliberating” or “thinking about it”). This episode attempts to put all of that nonsense aside. Here’s the simple reality from the Word of God when it comes to obedience - either you are obedient,...

In our society, we like to try to convince ourselves that there are "styles of truth" or grey areas, between the truth and the lies. When it comes to those who tell you about God, there are Preachers of God's Word (those who preach the truth), and there are False Prophets (which is literally everyone else). My prayer for you is that you listen to what God says about Himself in His Word, as opposed...

This episode is about the influence of a father. A father (however active or involved in his children's life he may or may not be), will have a negative influence or a positive influence on his children. It is impossible for him to have no influence. We will use the Word of God to show the stark differences in the two types of influence that a father may have, and how you personally can have the m...

This episode is about the damage that can be done when the one who should be protecting you and advocating and preparing for your future success, instead advocates and prepares for their own personal continued success, because of an unbiblical and consuming focus on their own self. The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry of Wasatch Front Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Authored and ho...

So many of our life systems are set up from the perspective of what's called "risk management" - we purchase insurance to protect ourselves against the potential of loss, we form boundaries around our friend groups to keep people we don't want to interact with separate from us, we look for jobs based off benefit packages, and otherwise live life continually in the pursuit of what benefits us. If w...

This is the final installment of our three-part series concerning Awareness. We've looked at Awareness of the Pastor, and the required Awareness of the Brethren (fellow Christians), now we're going to take a close look at perhaps the most difficult form of awareness -Awareness of Self. Not in keeping with what we think, but rather in keeping with the objective doctrine of the Word of God. It's oft...

Continuing our look at 'Awareness', in this episode we’re talking about the 2nd thing - Awareness of the Brethren. Because of today's technology we all seem to be very aware of many things which have nothing to do with our duty to the Lord and our Christian walk. The Scripture lays out three relationships (relationship with the Man of God, relationship with fellow Christians, and our relationship...

Over the course of the next 3 episodes, we're going to be looking at the concept of 'Awareness'. Specifically, three things that according to the Bible we should be very conscious of. Because of today's technology we all seem to be very aware of many things which have nothing to do with our duty to the Lord and our Christian walk. The Scripture lays out three relationships (relationship with the M...

The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry of Wasatch Front Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Authored and hosted by Pastor Nolan G. Ruby. If you would like to support this ministry, you can give here . Thank You! This title may come across as provocative, but when we attempt to make ourself the solution, by our religion, our tradition, our concepts, our agenda, etc, then we do, through ou...

Who does the Bible say Emmanuel is? You might be surprised that the Biblical description of Emmanuel differs greatly, and often times in many ways, from the "religious" description. I'll take what the Bible says over culture anytime. Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. God Bless! The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry of Wasatch Front Baptist Church in Salt Lake City...

It has been said, and I believe it's true, that Christianity is in the middle of a "crisis of confidence". I believe that this is because Christianity, like many other things in today's culture has become incredibly self-serving. Confidence in Christian service comes from serving God from His perspective, for His purpose, and with the goal of the end result being beneficial to Him and not to ourse...

It has been my desire of late, and my prayer to the Lord, to more effectively reach people as a witness and for the cause of Christ. But as is often the case, when I put the matter before the Lord, He sort of turned the tables on me, showing me first what must change within my own self before I could ever reach others for Him. That's what this episode is all about. I hope you find it helpful. The...

It has been said that the government of the United States is wholly inadequate for anything other than a just and moral people. Freedom is only a blessing when used from a moral position for moral purposes. Morality is from God, thus freedom must be used in the way that God designed. This episode is about the Biblically defined purpose of freedom. The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry of Wa...

So much of our current culture is about doing everything you can to stay inside your comfort zone, but so much of the Biblical culture that we read in God’s Word is about God moving people outside their comfort zone, and asking them to trust Him with the results. There is a great section of Scripture in Joshua which shows us how we might be successful when the Lord asks us to do things we’ve never...

This is a short story that clearly puts forth two possible future outcomes, both directly related to the choices you choose to make today. One choice (the path of entitlement, victimization, and laziness) will put you before mean men. The other choice (the path of humility, personal responsibility, and diligence) will stand you before kings. The On Being Christian Podcast is a ministry of Wasatch...