The Bible Speaks to You: Think, Pray, Love like Jesus

152 –  Sometimes, the best prayer is just being in God’s presence A lot of people think they don't know how to pray. They assume you have to say certain words and phrases in a certain way for your prayer to be "right." But there is no on right way to pray. It's more about feeling God's presence. Then the right ideas will come to you to pray with. Being in God's presen...

151 – Have you ever had to deal with modern day Pharisees? It's a big problem in a lot of churches, where someone in a church’s leadership becomes dictatorial, self-righteous, legalistic, and does everything to stay in control. Part of the problem is that Pharisees today, don't realize they are Pharisees. In this week's episode, I talk about What a modern day Pharisee is like The 4...

150 – I asked for your questions about the Bible. Wow! Several weeks ago, I asked listeners to send in their questions about the Bible. Thanks to everyone who responded. What wonderful and thoughtful questions. Asking questions is one of the most important ways to learn. Unfortunately, some churches discourage questions. They don't want people to think for themselves. I feel the exact opposit...

149 – Have you ever wondered why you are where you are at this point in history? I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how each of us has a unique place and purpose in God’s creation. The Bible is full of examples of the right person being in the right place at the right time, saying and doing the right thing. One of the best examples in the Old Testament of someone being in the right place at the...

148 – When does Christ open the book with seven seals? Recently, I was studying Revelation, Chapter 5, where John of Patmos is shown a scroll sealed with seven seals. Chapter 6 then describes what happens as the seals are opened. A lot of Christians are incredibly fixated on what these seals represent and the events that follow in the book of Revelation. There are so many different opinions and th...

147 – What do you do when your church isn't following Christ? Recently I’ve met several people who have left their churches because their pastor, the leadership team, or the church as a whole, was not really following Jesus or obeying his teachings. I know folks who have been abused emotionally, spiritually, theologically, and sometimes even physically, in their churches. One or more of their...

146 – Is it really possible for us to be filled with God's fullness? And what does that even mean? Over the years, I’ve met people from all walks of life who, to greater or lesser degree, don’t feel complete. They identify themselves with their mistakes. They see themselves as victims of other people or circumstances. They don’t feel loved, good enough, or worthy. I have struggled with this m...

145 – Have you ever wondered why some prayers get answered and some don't? Personally, I believe all prayers are answered, just not always according to our preconceptions. There are times when we think our prayers have not been answered, but we just didn’t realize that the answer was, “No,” or something different from what we were expecting. Is it ever God’s will that someone not be healed or...

144 – Keith Ferrin shares a unique way to read the Bible that reveals more of your identity in Christ. This week, Keith Ferrin and I have a conversation about experiencing the Bible's message on a whole new level that reveals more of who we really are as children of God. Keith shares why he's so passionate about the Bible. Here are some of the ideas he shares:  The world’s lies are reall...

143- Jesus said to go into your closet and shut the door when your pray. Did he mean that literally? What is Jesus really asking us to do? Imagine you were in the crowd when Jesus was giving his Sermon on the Mount. He's talking about praying and all of a sudden he says you should go into your closet and shut the door. Most people you know pray on the street corners or in the synagogues. Jesu...

142 – Sometimes we need to stop learning about God Several years ago, I knew a fellow who was always studying the Bible. He was always trying to learn more about God. He’d look up every little detail about whatever topic he was researching. He knew a lot about God. He could always quote verses from the Bible that seemed appropriate for almost any situation. But all this knowledge about God was mos...

141 – What would spiritual rebirth look like in your church? Our churches are facing some pretty challenging times. We need a more spiritual approach to church, but in our individual churches as well as all of Christianity. In this week's episode, I talk about how the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus about the need to be born again, can apply, not just to us as individuals, but also c...

140 – Is it really possible to leave all for Christ? It's easy to say the words, but it's not so easy to actually let go of all our personal opinions,  perceptions and preconceptions. But that's what Jesus encourages us to do. Does that mean we're supposed to sell all our worldly goods, give it all to the poor, live on the streets or in a cave, depend on charity, or get our mon...

1 39 – How often do you actually bless the people in your life? And what about loving and blessing your enemies?  The real question is "Why should we bless our enemies and how do we do it?" My guest this week, Pierre Pradervand, talks about how he discovered the power of blessing everyone he meets. It all started when someone undermined him at work. At first Pierre was really mad and ful...

138 – What do you do when you feel unappreciated? Have you ever felt your talents and abilities were underutilized on a project you were working on? People just don’t seem to appreciate how much you have to offer at work, at church, or wherever? You just don’t get the recognition, or the leadership opportunities you deserve? I have felt that way many times over the years. And along with those feel...

137 – What if you had lived during the time of Jesus and heard him preach? Would you have believed what he said and followed him? Would you have recognized that he was the Messiah? What if Jesus came to your house for dinner? What would you ask him? What would he ask you? What would he tell you was the most important thing to do in life? This episode is all about what Jesus would say to do first....

How can we cultivate a mindset like Jesus? When I was a kid, I loved to plant things in the garden. At a very early age, my mom helped me know the difference between the plants I was trying to grow and the weeds that seemed to grow without any help from me.  One day when I lost my temper and said some things I shouldn’t have, my mother said to me, “James, your thinking is like a garden. Every time...

135 – Did you know that your past does not define you? Only God does. But don't you know someone who does define themselves by their past? I have good friend who does. He still thinks of himself as mixture of being a victim of his father's emotional abuse and the recipient of his mother's tender love.  Most health care and well-being professionals would agree that we're a mixtu...

134 – What can we learn from moms in the Bible? This week I interview my friend, Pam Fields, host of The Mom Next Door, Stories of Faith Podcast. Mother's Day is this weekend and it was great to chat with Pam about lots of the moms in the Bible and the lessons we can learn from them. Here are the Bible mothers we talked about: Sarah and Hagar Jochebed (Moses's mother) Hannah and Peninnah...

133 – Why does the Bible say we should fear God? There are lots of places in the Bible where we're told we should fear God. And sometimes, God actually says, "Fear Me." But what does it really mean to fear God? Are we actually supposed to be afraid of Him? In this week's episode, I explore several of the different Hebrew and Greek words for "fear." All these words hav...

132 – What happens after Easter? Do we just go on with our lives as if nothing special has happened? All too often, we get busy with family activities, projects at work, planting the garden, planning a vacation. The list goes on and on.  In and of themselves, these activities are probably good and needed.  But honestly, how much do we continue to remember and be inspired by the resurrection two, t...

131 – Jesus's resurrection is the reason we celebrate Easter Easter is here in just a few days, but Jesus’s resurrection is hopefully not an event we remember only once a year. As I’ve been pondering what Easter is all about over the last few weeks, I keep coming back to the resurrection and why it’s so important. During most of the year, many Christians focus on Jesus’s death on the cross as...

130 – Are you using your spiritual gifts? This week I talk with Laura Padgett about using your spiritual gifts. We talk about Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, where he discusses the spiritual gifts given to us by God. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11   NLT 4  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5  There are different kinds of service, but...

129 – Are you worshiping God in spirit and truth? What does that even mean? In this week's episode, I take a look at Jesus's conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. (See John, chapter 4) Jesus said things to her that he said to no one else that we know of. He cut right to the heart of what true worship is when he said, "The true worshipers must worship the Father...

128 – Have you ever stopped to ask why church is important? There is a big shift taking place with church-going people. There has been an exodus from many churches for all kinds of reasons:  Emotional and sexual abuse from church leaders Discrimination based on gender, race, and political views The patriarchy in some churches has turned away people who believe the body of Christ should provide equ...