This Is WholeLife

A bonus conversation and ‘messsage tangent’ stemming from episode 273 and the story of 1 Kings 13. Let us know your thoughts by voicemail or text to 407-965-1607 or podcast@wholelife.church!

Great Question 1: Man of God? – Ken Wetmore In 1 Kings 13, the “man of God” from Samaria lies to the man of God from Judah with lethal consequences. How can he be a man of God and do such terrible things?  The Bible does not shy away from differentiating between true prophets and false prophets, so it implies the lying prophet is a true prophet in relationship with God. How can his title and...

Chosen Family – Ken Wetmore As you process the emotions of choosing to open your life up to someone else, consider that God chooses you. God picked you to be family, and now you get to decide whether you want to be a part of God's family. In place of our #WholeLifeReflections this week and the realization that we have all been ‘Chosen’ by God we are extending the invitation from this past Saturday...

Chosen For This Moment – Bernie Anderson and Ken Wetmore In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy but I came to bring life to the full.” How do we participate in fulfilling Jesus’ words by helping to bring FULLNESS OF LIFE to every child living in extreme poverty? If you would like the opportunity to join WholeLife Church members who have already committed to being ‘C...

SERIES: THIS IS US: Participation – Ken Wetmore Jesus calls for us to not merely talk about our values, but to live them - in other words, to participate. We are to participate in loving, accepting, forgiving, giving grace, studying the Bible, and worshipping. Our participation is for the purpose of falling more deeply in love with Jesus and sharing that relationship with a world that needs to kno...

SERIES: THIS IS US: Worship – Ken Wetmore Who you worship and how you worship are at the heart of the Bible’s message. Fighting over worship styles misses what true worship is all about. True worship is found in the truth, as it is in Jesus, and our spirits connecting with God’s Spirit. When we do this, everything else will fall into place, and we will one day find ourselves gathered around the th...

SERIES: THIS IS US: The Bible – Ken Wetmore Love letter or instruction manual? How you approach the Bible is crucial. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day proved it was possible to have the Scriptures completely memorized but miss the point. From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, the Bible is all about Jesus and an intimate relationship with Him. Jesus invites us to study the Bible so that we can kn...

SERIES: THIS IS US: Grace – Ken Wetmore They say you can’t choose your family, but that isn’t the case. Adoption is one of the most beautiful and loving acts because the one doing the adopting is choosing a specific person to be a part of their family. God has adopted us. We are a part of God’s family. We have all the rights and privileges that come with that adoption. We have done nothing to dese...

A short story about consequences and forgiveness by and about Ken Wetmore, recorded during Episode 266: This Is US: Forgiveness on Tuesday, July 7th. The full episode can be found here: https://bit.ly/ThisIsWholeLife or wherever you listen to podcasts! Send us your feedback by voicemail or text to 407-965-1607 or by email at podcast@wholelife.church and we will feature your comments on the next ep...

SERIES:  THIS IS US:  Forgiveness – Ken Wetmore Defining forgiveness is not as simple as Googling the definition. Truly understanding and practicing forgiveness is layered, complex, multi-faceted, and often counterintuitive. It is anything but easy. In spite of this, in multiple places in the Gospel Jesus sets forgiveness of our fellow human beings as a condition for receiving the forgiv...

SERIES:  THIS IS US:  Forgiveness – Ken Wetmore Fred “Mister” Rogers has been called the champion of radical acceptance. A Presbyterian minister, Mister Rogers took his cues about acceptance from Jesus. Jesus is the original champion of radical acceptance. Acceptance is not the endpoint of a relationship. It is the beginning. It allows transformation to occur in God’s time and God’s...

SERIES:  This Is US Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of Blacks enslaved unjustly in the United States. On this day, it is right to reflect on God’s core value: love. The Bible is so adamant about the centrality of love that John does not write that it is one of many attributes of God, but instead writes “God is love.” God showed what love is when he became one of us, lived with us, and...

SERIES:  THIS IS US - ’I Am Ken Wetmore…We Are WholeLife Church’ –  Ken Wetmore Where I (Ken Wetmore) grew up in North Carolina, the quickest way to get to know someone was to find out who their parents were. That’s because every family has values. Anyone who knows the family has a pretty good idea of what they can expect from members of that family. In John 14:9, Jesus tells his discipl...

‘Eyes Of Empathy’ – by Jeff Cinquemani Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the man who sat paralyzed by a superstitious pool—each time Jesus looks into their questions and poses another question that digs deep into the real issue. As a way of showing us to look beyond the surface, Jesus teaches us to see a new perspective, perhaps to find a better understanding. He asks us to empathize...

Transitions: Navigating Change – ‘ Belief In An Unchanging God’ – by David Banks Transitions are a part of life. Whether positive or negative, change is constant in the human experience. Is this also true for spiritual beliefs? Have your beliefs changed throughout your life? How has your understanding of God and your patterns of observance changed over the past 5, 10, even 50 years? In H...

Transitions: Navigating Change – ‘Something Old, Something New’ – by Adonna Andino Whether you're going off to college or saying goodbye to a beloved pastor, there will always be times when you have to leave something behind and adjust to something new. In these tough transition periods, we can gain wisdom from those who've been through it before and take comfort from the fact that God's voic...

Transitions: Navigating Change – ‘Hard, Scary, Important, and Beautiful Change’ – by Jo Newell Change is hard and change is scary. However, change can be important and beautiful. Jo will share stories of when she was faced with hard, scary, important, and beautiful change and how God’s mercy and grace brought her through each of these experiences and what it taught her. This week on...

Transitions: Navigating Change – ‘Finding Peace In Who I Am Becoming' – by David & Jordan Vargas David and Jordan share their stories of how God has led them through life changes and their shared experience of the Spirit working in their journeys. This week’s #WholeLifeTakeAways:  What do you think people who know you deeply would say makes you valuable? In what areas in your life do...

Transitions: Navigating Change – ‘ The Winding Path ’ – by Chad Hess What does it look like to follow God’s calling for your life? God’s plan is not a straight journey to a destination. There are always twists and turns, brought about by change. These changes can be painful and difficult, but they make us into who we are and the person that God wants us to be. God has led Chad down a very win...

Our annual church retreat canceled all live and online services last week so this week is just a quick setup for this week upcoming and invitation by Randy to join the Loop this week and participate with your questions and comments by using one of the following: ■ Text/Voicemail:  407-965-1607 ■ Email:   podcast@wholelife.church ■ WLC Mobile App:  Media Tab/Podca...

Following Jesus Beyond the Cross – ‘The Follower’ In their hearts, Jesus' disciples struggled to fill something, to prove something, and to make something of themselves (just like us today), but the whole time he was there with them, all he wanted was for them to follow—just follow. How could this change Jesus' followers today? This week one of our #WhoLifeTakeAways asked: The fullness o...

Following Jesus Beyond the Cross – ‘The Leader’ When Peter followed Jesus out of the boat to walk on the water, it seemed like an incredible feat to do what Jesus did. But the thought was there, “If he can do it, why can’t I?” until he realized it was God all along. The Leader is not just our teacher, though his words are incredibly thought provoking. The Leader is not just our friend, but he’s fo...

Following Jesus Beyond the Cross – ‘The Destination’ He is risen and is our ‘destination’. This week one of our #WhoLifeTakeAways asked: As you think about Christ knowing everything about you, what makes it so comfortable for you to hang onto that thought? What do you keep discovering about God the more you know he sees your heart? So, what about you? How have you dealt with Christ...

Things to Remember - ‘There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow’ There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow. This isn't just optimistic thinking; it is the promised reality of God. However, before we step into the ultimate one at the end of earth’s history, maybe one between now and then would be God’s friends finding unity on three platforms: Jesus is the Savior, God calls us to love, and There’s a glor...

Things To Remember – ‘Love Each Other and Everybody Else    It is our mission to love people—to love people so well that in, and through, and because of God’s love being exercised through us, the people we love will be drawn into a lifelong friendship with God, and they too will start loving people. Religious organizations like denominations will codify, policy-make, and set rules t...