On The Trail

Happy Four Years of Podcasting!! See the links below for an epic giveaway.   We were born into the middle of a great, cosmic conflict that affects every area of life. As Christians, we really only have three options. We can live in fear, in ignorance, or we can learn to fight.   Where in the Bible does it say, "Ignore the devil, and he will leave you alone"? Nowhere! It warns us repeatedly, "Be al...

Could the monster in the closet be real? How can we help children who see scary things? How does our worldview inform what we believe is possible? Today we’re continuing our prequel discussion of spiritual warfare before launching our next book study. Last episode we addressed the reality of so many Christians who think spiritual warfare is not something to concern everyday believers. And it’s und...

Is spiritual warfare an elective for advanced Christians? Maybe you hear "spiritual warfare" and think "paranormal activity." Maybe you've been a Christian for a long time and haven’t had to deal with spiritual warfare. How important is it really? Many Christians feel like they see no evidence of spiritual warfare around them. They might undersand that cosmic realities exist and intercessory praye...

"Christianity is not a religion. It's a relationship." What does this adage actually mean? John 15 gives a picture of this when Jesus describes our relationship to Him as branches attached to a vine. Relationships are attachments. Christianity is about forming an attachment with Jesus Christ, then spending the rest of our lives walking deeper with Him. And if we want to be relationally engaged wit...

Does it ever look "awfully peopley out there"? Community is one of the great gifts of being human, but it comes with its share of hurt and problems... Belonging is a transformation agent crucial for cultivating emotional resilience. In this On the Trail episode, we discuss Building Bounce Chapter Seven: Connecting with People , where we talk about relationships in the Bible, vulnerabilty and authe...

Did you know your brain has its own propaganda department? The left side of your brain can be thought of as your narrative engine. Part of its job is to explain life. Our beliefs can have a profound impact on our bodies, our emotions, and our behavior. It is no wonder that the Bible has so much to say about meditating on God’s Word, renewing the mind, repenting, thinking about what is true, practi...

Learning how to let yourself enter into the feeling of appreciation for five minutes or more helps your body relax and your mind quiet. For Christians, appreciation goes beyond only a brain exercise. It's an act of connection with God.  With that in mind, in this On the Trail episode, we discuss Building Bounce Chapter Five: Appreciation , where we unpack the joy-building tool G.A.M.E.S. for pract...

The number one predictor of good emotional health is the ability to quiet. Quieting is about learning how to calm our bodies and minds once triggered and about learning how to practice being quiet without the regular need for distraction.  With that in mind, in this On the Trail episode, we discuss Building Bounce Chapter Four: Quieting , where we unpack tools such as the acrostics B.E.S.T. for qu...

Time to pop the hood and get a look at our wiring! What has brain science to do with emotional resilience?  God has designed our brains to run on the fuel of joy, and joy is what is crucial to resilience. So, understanding how God designed our brains to operate helps us understand what we should develop in order to be as resilient as possible.  With that in mind, in this On the Trail episode, we d...

Your emotional capacity is determined by how much emotional weight you can carry. Good news! You have the ability to grow this capacity, and your worth is not tied to your capacity.  In this On the Trail episode, we discuss Chapter Two: How Much Weight Can You Handle? This chapter unpacks an overview of A & B Trauma, Life Model's Stages of Maturity as they relate to handling emotional capacity...

Life is hard. We all get overwhelmed at times. But some people seem to bounce back from their upset emotions faster than most. Are they just born happy? Or is there a secret to building emotional resilience that anyone can learn? It's time for our next book study! While many topics we cover on this podcast are about repair, this topic could be thought of as construction.  Building Bounce explains...

Jesus Christ takes our sin and gives us His righteousness. This great exchange is the foundation of the Christian life.  He erases our debt, and fills our spiritual bank account. We die to a life that ends in death, and we are raised to a life that endures for eternity.  In this episode, we talk about the exchanged life, what it is, how to walk it out, and how to enter into it if you are ready to...

Over and over throughout Holy Week, we see Jesus doing the hard thing because He loves us.  Jesus Christ was never bolder or more clear about His true identity than in the final days before His death on the cross. He loves us enough to get in our face and call us out when we are on a path that is heading to destruction. The words and actions of Jesus may seem harsh, but in reality they were loving...

Palm Sunday wasn't just marketing for Jesus. It was an offer to accept Jesus Christ as King.  Our Messiah—our King—is one to whom we swear allegiance because we trust Him. To be saved by faith is not just accepting the gift of eternal life. It is trusting Jesus Christ enough to follow Him and obey even when we don’t understand where He is taking us and why the journey is so hard.  This doesn’t mea...

We don't interact with people as they are. We interact with people as we imagine them to be.  How does the devil want you to see your situation? How does God want you to see your situation?  To close our Jumpstart Your Prayer Life series, we're looking at The Word Picture Approach as a means of exposing the devil's lies and attuning to God's perspective. This approach was inspired by friend and fo...

Do you ever stop to pray and instead find yourself fighting off distracting or discouraging thoughts?  Have you ever wondered how people pray for hours not just minutes?   Next in our Jumpstart Your Prayer Life series, we're looking at The Two Notebook Approach as a means of being intentional and focused in conversational prayer with God. This approach was inspired by Marcus's contemplations on Jo...

Are your relational circuits on when you pray? Do they have to be?  In this episode, we look at the brain science principles of the Joy Switch and Mutual Mind for how to relationally engage with God in prayer. Moving beyond big picture principles, we walk through the process of Immanuel Journaling inspired by the book Joyful Journey by Jim Wilder, Anna Kang, and John & Sungshim Loppnow.  Our g...

God designed our brains for relationship — not just with fellow humans but also with Him!  In this episode, we explore some of the theology and neuroscience of prayer. How did God wire us for relationship, and how can we see that reflected in our prayer life?   Our goal with this series is to encourage you to deepen your prayer life and explore various approaches to your relationship with God. By...

How do you think of God when you pray?  Last week we began a new series on prayer. This week we continue exploring the theological dynamics of approaching God as King, Father, and Shepherd while also discussing an overview of the 5 Levels of Prayer in harmony with the Life Model stages of maturity. From infancy to our elder years, we have expanding capcacity to engage in prayer on our own and in c...

Does prayer actually change anything?  It's time for a new series that will help you jumpstart your prayer life. We like to put things into context, so we're launching with a practical overview of the theology of prayer. How does God's soveignty interact with our prayers? How do fear and joy affect our prayer life? Is God a just king? Does God want to talk to us when we're less than perfect?  This...

We're wrapping up the series with a look at three crucial elements for personal growth and family transformation, and you can remember them with your ABCs: Allies, Bible, and Cleansing.  In this episode, we cover questions along the lines of... ▪️ What's the relationship between allies and accountability ? ▪️ What can allies look like in a family context? ▪️ Why is it important to have a " Bible-f...

This week we're in Chapter 5 of The Spirit-Filled Home: "Jump-START-ing Your Marriage." Yes, you spotted it! We're working through an acrostic featuring five essential strategies to jumpstart your marriage and all-around strengthen your home:  S.T.A.R.T.  🕊️ Seek the Spirit’s leading.  ⚔️ Take thoughts captive.  🤺 Attack the real enemy.  💕 Resolve resentment.  🌻 Train yourselves in the habits o...

In this episode of our Spirit-Filled Home series, we tackle some of the tough stuff of the home.  We walk through the WLVS model, which stands for Wounds, Lies, Vows, and Strongholds, and how important it is to address deeper emotional issues that often underlie surface-level problems in relationships. Understanding these issues working below the surface helps us foster healthier relationships and...

In this episode, we continue our book study of The Spirit-Filled Home with Chapter Three: Parenting Challenges.  Whether you are reflecting on your childhood, working on your own personal maturity, or parenting your children, this episode is for you.  This episode is all about the relationship between personal maturity and effective parenting. In it, we give a brief overview of the five stages of...

Flesh manifests itself through relational conflict (Gal 5; Jas 4:1-2).  In this episode, we continue our book study with Chapter Two: The Flesh-Filled Home exploring the characteristics of homes that walk more by the flesh than by the Spirit, the nature of conflict, and the importance of emotional capacity. We call out three A's of immaturity—avoidance, anger, and addiction—and highlight the need...