The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson

The fastest way to burn out is trying to live someone else’s calling. We close out this set of leadership lessons with a challenge that cuts through noise and ego: fulfill your ministry. If you’re a Christian man wondering whether you “really” have a ministry, we make it plain. In Christ, you’re in ministry, and our job as pastors is to equip you for the work God already intends for you to do.  We...

Chasing the next job, the next role, the next “break” can feel like motivation, but it can also become a trap. We dig into a simple leadership lesson that keeps showing up in real life: be faithful with what God has entrusted to you today instead of living for the myth of “there.” If you’ve ever thought, “Once I get to that next season, then I’ll take discipleship seriously,” this conversation is...

Your next big decision might not need more research, more opinions, or another round of “what if” scenarios. It might need one clear filter from John 2:5: “Do whatever he tells you to do.” We take that single verse and apply it to real leadership pressure where the stakes are high and the outcome is not guaranteed.  We walk through the wedding at Cana and pay attention to the part we usually skip:...

Fear can feel like wisdom when you’re staring down an uncertain future, a hard conversation, or a leadership role that feels bigger than you. We go straight at that tension with a practical Christian leadership lesson: choose faith over fear. The difference comes down to one question we keep returning to: when you look ahead, who do you believe is in control, you, your circumstances, or God? We di...

Most leaders love vision because it feels inspiring. But what happens when you hit the goal, the season changes, or your “preferred future” turns out to be too small? We talk about a leadership idea that cuts through the hype: direction is more important than vision, and the path you choose today shapes where you end up tomorrow.  We pull that thread through Proverbs 3:5–6, where Scripture uses un...

A Navy pilot sits in front of an enemy camera, bruised, exhausted, and forced into a propaganda film. Instead of playing along, he stares straight into the lens and blinks a message in Morse code: “SOS” and “TORTURE.” That’s James Stockdale, and his decision under pressure opens a sobering conversation about resilience, truth, and what happens when your circumstances refuse to change. We walk thro...

A grizzly bear, a shredded back, a broken leg, and two men who steal the little he has left. Hugh Glass should have died in the Dakota wilderness in 1823, but he doesn’t. He crawls. For six weeks. Nearly 200 miles. That story isn’t here to hype up “grit” or pretend pain is easy. We use it to ask a harder question: what actually keeps a man moving forward when his life feels like hostile ground? Fr...

One wrong step can turn a normal morning into a fight to survive. We start with the true-to-life, gut-level story of Aaron Rawson, alone in a slot canyon in southeastern Utah when an 800-pound boulder pins his arm and leaves him with no plan, little water, and no one expecting him home. It is intense for a reason: many of us know what it feels like when the world drops out from under us in a singl...

Sharks in the water, no drinking water in the raft, and no land for a thousand miles. We start with the true story of Louis Zamparini, shot down in World War II, drifting for weeks in the Pacific, then captured and brutalized in Japanese prison camps. It’s the kind of resilience story that forces you to ask what a human being is made of when everything gets stripped away. But the most surprising p...

A ruptured tendon can do more than wreck your training plan. It can expose the parts of you that only feel steady when life is easy. We start from that raw place and talk honestly about resilience when recovery is slow, pain is loud, and the future feels like a long, frustrating process instead of a quick fix. Then we drop into one of the clearest case studies in grit and leadership you’ll ever he...

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Prosperity is a loaded word, and Psalm 1 doesn’t let us keep shallow definitions. We slow down on the image of a man who becomes like a tree planted by streams of water, steady through heat, fruitful in season, and unwithered over time. That picture raises a hard, honest question: are we actually rooted in what can sustain us, or are we chasing quick growth with no depth? We connect Psalm 1 to Jes...

Psalm 1 doesn’t just call us to avoid bad influences, it calls us to build a life that’s actually rooted. We dig into the sharp contrast between the man who is blessed and the life that turns into chaff, and we slow down on the word that changes everything: “but.” It’s not enough to stop walking in the counsel of the wicked if we never replace that space with something stronger. The turning point...

The scariest kind of drift is the kind you get used to. Psalm 1 doesn’t just warn us about “bad people” it exposes a pattern: we start by walking near harmful influence, then we stand in it long enough to adopt it, and eventually we sit down and get comfortable in a culture that scoffs at God. If your faith feels stale or your relationship with the Lord feels stagnant, this is a serious place to l...

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A party is happening, the lost son is home, and one person refuses to come inside. We dig into the older brother’s anger in Luke 15 and uncover a form of spiritual danger that looks “good” on the outside but is hollow on the inside: resentment. When faith turns into scorekeeping, service starts to feel like slavery, obedience becomes leverage, and joy dries up fast. We read the closing verses of t...

A son blows up his family, burns through his future, and ends up feeding pigs and that’s only the opening scene. Jay Reisner (lead pastor at Faith Bible Church) fills in on The Daily Blade and takes us line by line through Luke 15:11–32 to show how Jesus crafts the parable of the prodigal son to hit both the obvious sinner and the respectable critic. If you’ve ever wondered why this story still fe...

A son looks his father in the eye and basically says, “I want your stuff, not you.” That’s the gut-punch at the center of Luke 15’s third parable, and it’s why this story cuts deeper than a lost sheep or a misplaced coin. I’m Jay Reisner, filling in this week, and I walk through the parable of the man with two sons to show what Scripture reveals about willful lostness, rebellion, and the long road...

Grumbling religious leaders. A table full of sinners. And Jesus telling stories that land like a mirror. We step into Luke 15 with guest teacher Jay Reisner, lead pastor of Faith Bible Church, to explore why Jesus responds to criticism with parables that feel simple on the surface but cut straight to the heart of the gospel. First up is the lost sheep: not a villain, just a wanderer. We talk about...

The tension that sparks Luke 15 isn’t a theological debate, it’s a meal. Some of the most rejected people in society draw near to Jesus to listen, and the religious leaders can’t stand what they see: He receives sinners and eats with them. That short complaint reveals a lot about what we believe God is like, what we think grace costs, and who we assume is welcome. Jay Reisner joins The Daily Blade...

Isaiah 53 ends in a place most people don’t expect. After describing a servant who is crushed, rejected, silent before his accusers, and killed for crimes he did not commit, the text suddenly turns and says he will “see his offspring” and “prolong his days.” That isn’t poetic optimism. It’s a problem that demands an explanation: how does a dead man thrive? We walk line by line through Isaiah 53:10...

Silence usually reads like surrender, especially when you’re being accused in public. We open Isaiah 53:7-9 and wrestle with a detail that still feels upside down: the suffering servant is oppressed, afflicted, and yet refuses to defend himself. That “lamb led to the slaughter” picture isn’t sentimental, it’s surgical. It forces the question every man faces sooner or later: is restraint weakness,...

Isaiah 53:4–6 is one of those passages that leaves no room for vague faith. We slow down and read the words carefully: grief carried, sorrow borne, transgressions pierced, iniquities crushed, peace purchased, healing given. Then we ask the uncomfortable question hiding in plain sight: why do we keep assuming that suffering automatically means God is punishing the person who suffers?  We unpack why...

A conquering king with an army feels like the obvious answer but Isaiah 53 says the Savior won’t look like that at all. We open the chapter and let it collide with our instincts: the servant grows like a young plant out of dry ground, with no outward majesty to draw crowds, and he is despised, rejected, and marked by sorrow. If you’ve ever equated strength with spectacle, this passage is a jolt. ...

We’re wired to look for a certain kind of savior: big presence, obvious strength, and a win everyone can see. Isaiah 53 starts by tearing that picture down. The servant doesn’t arrive like a towering tree or a conquering king. He comes up like a young plant in dry ground, with no outward majesty, no beauty that draws a crowd, and a life marked by rejection.  We walk through Isaiah 53:1-3 and conne...