The Messy Walk Podcast

To tease the start of a new series, Pastor Adam and Steph reveal the title and topic of the episodes to come. *Scripture referenced in this episode: 1 Peter 5:1-3, Hebrews 13:7

Politics. Even the word itself has become evocative, stirring up strong emotions in many who hold firmly to their views on policies, leadership, and morality. As the United States of America approaches another presidential election, Pastor Adam and Steph offer a series of questions we can ask ourselves to see where our true allegiances lie. Are we being misled by the sneaky golden calf of politics...

It is good for people to have positive relationships, be they platonic, professional, or romantic. On the other hand, when the relationship becomes the ultimate concern in our lives it creates a problem of controlling our thoughts and actions. Thus the relationships we have with the people closest to us can become a sneaky golden calf. To help us keep our priorities straight, Pastor Adam and Steph...

Every person, when faced with enough hurt, shame, regret, loneliness, or stress is susceptible to falling into the tight grip of addiction. We can become addicted to all sorts of things. Unfortunately, these addictions take positions of power and cause more harm than good. Although the sneaky golden calf of addiction may leave us high and dry, Pastor Adam and Steph seek to reveal how Jesus Christ...

One of the most common sneaky golden calves in our culture is money. Not that money is objectively evil; it can be a great resource to accomplish all sorts of good in the world. However, when the pursuit of money becomes the most important thing in our lives it makes it impossible for us to earnestly serve God. With this in mind, Pastor Adam and Steph talk about the idolization of money, and how t...

Reputation is a double-edged sword, and it can easily become a sneaky golden calf. When speaking of a person's reputation, we are often describing how their character is perceived by others, which is closely tied to whether the person is well-liked or not. As we read our Bible, we find both passages that encourage having a good reputation, and passages that give caution to being liked by everyone....

The value of success, particularly career success, is instilled in us from a very young age. There are those of us who are driven to achieve, to become the best we can be, and we want to accomplish it by almost any means necessary. The value of success and career climbing can become a sneaky golden calf in our lives when we don't take the time to humble ourselves before God. Pastor Adam and Steph...

Being a parent is a great gift and honor. For those who have children, their kids are a joyful piece of life, and nothing seems more important than making sure their sons or daughters have the best there is to offer. It's not wrong to love your children. The problem is that sometimes our love for our children can easily overshadow our love for God and our commitment to Him. We can find ourselves w...

In the first episode of a new series called "Sneaky Golden Calves," The Messy Walk Podcast host, Steph, is joined by her husband Jonathan as they talk about idols that we commonly have without realizing it. This week's episode focuses on the sneaky golden calf of entertainment. Oftentimes the things we enjoy are not inherently sinful, but our desire to be entertained can become more important to u...

In today's episode, Pastor Adam and Steph share details about future episodes of The Messy Walk Podcast. This includes the title of the upcoming series, the topics that will be covered, and ideas for the following series.

Not everyone has been a bully, and not everyone has been bullied before, but the odds are that most people have at least witnessed someone else being bullied. There is always a bystander in every bullying situation who sees someone else being mistreated. When faced with such a situation, what is the bystander to do? Pastor Adam & Steph give an example of someone from the Bible who we can take...

Being a victim of bullying is hard. It can make a person feel defeated and resentful toward the bully and even themselves. Sometimes it feels inescapable. What is a victim to do when they are constantly being pestered? Pastor Adam and Steph take us back to scripture to show us what Jesus taught is the appropriate response to bullies. The goal is to repay evil with good. We are not told to allow ou...

No one can be bullied unless there is someone to bully them. We know that bullies pick on people they perceive as different from themselves in some way, but the question is: why? The truth is that hurting people often hurt other people. In this week's episode, Pastor Adam and Steph talk about the continuous cycle of bullying among those who have been bullied before, and they discuss how to repent...

Bullying is not limited to kids on the playground, nor does it always involve stealing someone's lunch money. There are many different ways people are bullied, and it is a frequent problem in all age groups. This week's episode is the start of a new series about bullying, and about understanding the four players involved in each bullying situation. Pastor Adam and Steph first talk about the "outsi...

The Bible is in a lot of ways complex, yet there are also many things detailed in scripture that seem to fall outside of the natural order of things. Miracles, paradoxes, odd stories, controversies, and a plethora of difficult commands are all inside. It's enough to sprout seeds of doubt in the mind, and to cause skeptics to ask, "Is everything in the Bible really true?" Pastor Adam and Steph take...

Do other people care about me? Each of us has asked this question from time to time. Maybe it seems like people are only nice in order to gain something, or maybe it feels like people pay no attention at all. In any case, this is a question that puts us at the center of our own world. On today's episode, Pastor Adam and Steph explain why we should change this self-centered question to one that hel...

We all sin, and we have all done things that weigh heavy on our conscience. Guilt keeps us from enjoying the life we have, and it disables us from being truly free. Because we know that we have messed up, we ask, "Does God forgive me?" Jesus's answer to that question is an emphatic "Yes!" However, there are times when we just don't feel forgiven, and it is during those times when we must change th...

When thinking on what actions to take, what career to pursue, or any other big decision, we might feel pressure and ask God, "What do I do?" It is good to seek God for guidance, yet sometimes it is helpful to look inwardly, change the question, and ask ourselves, "Who am I becoming?" Our identity is not tied to our work, but is given to us by God's design. In this week's episode Pastor Adam and St...

In today's episode, Pastor Adam and Steph address an age-old question. There is  undeniably so much suffering in our world which also leads people to debate about the problem with evil, pain, or suffering, and to ask, "Why doesn't God do something?" It is reasonable to wonder why life ahs been made so hard, and the Bible does offer some explanations for that often shared sentiment. Yet, if we see...

We all wonder at times, especially during difficult seasons, if God really loves us. However, God has made his love for us very clear, and he has demonstrated it by sending Jesus to die for us even though we sin against him. Although we can not expect to live flawless lives, it would not be right to accept God's love and then ignore the ways he says to honor him. The question we must ask instead i...

Is God moving? We want to know if God is truly at work in our world because sometimes it's hard for us to see. We ask the question not realizing that God is always moving. The problem, then, may be that we are too oblivious, and we need to be made more aware of where he is going and how we can follow him. In this episode Pastor Adam and Steph change the question. Instead of asking, "Is God moving?...

It's the start of a new series, and Pastor Adam and Steph are challenging us to rethink the questions we ask about God and our life. Sometimes it's hard to find the answers we are looking for because we are asking the wrong questions in the first place. If we can learn how to change our questions it can help us to reach conclusions that are far more helpful. Today's episode focuses on the question...

To finish up the series of Why Worry is Wrong, Pastor Adam and Steph remind us that it is unwise to worry when we know who holds our tomorrow. If we learn to trust God and put him first in all things, then we recognize it is of no benefit to worry. Wisdom in understanding that God is in charge of your future, and he knows what is best for you.

It should be a goal of our lives to make our actions and our mindset be congruent with the life of faith that Jesus has called us to. If we are believers in Jesus and we worry, we behave as if we do not trust that God has promised to provide for us. In today's episode, Pastor Adam and Steph help us to see how worry is unreasonable for those who have faith in God, and how logical it is to trust he...

It would not make sense to put a lot of focus into something that is both unprofitable and unenjoyable, yet when we worry that is exactly what we are doing. We are so often worried about things that are beyond our control, and to what end? God, our Father, promises to take care of us, but the stress or worry is not helpful or needed. Pastor Adam and Steph show us through scripture why worry is unn...