Shows
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWe Read a Christian Perspective on Trauma and It Fascinated Us!If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.We recently found a Christians perspective on dealing with trauma, and it fascinated us. For decades, we modern people in the western world ignored trauma, and now some seem to be over obsessed with trauma. We've lost a Christian, biblical balance. What is the Christian perspective? How can we be honest about it in our own lives without losing hope? How do we deal with trauma without succumbing to its bewitching temptation? What does Christ say about trauma? Join us f...2024-03-1631 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsThe Spiritual Value of an Examined LifeIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.In our fifteen years of working together, Gary and I realize that God has put a few key messages on our hearts: Calling, Hearing God, Friendship, Humility …… and the incredible spiritual value of Living an Examined Life.Christian self-examination is not narcissistic self-preoccupation, nor is it is morbid self-flagellation. Christian self-examination is the learned skill of breaking free from the things that hold us back and the awakened spiritual recognition of the talents God has planted in us for His...2024-02-2127 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsServing the Lord for the RewardIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.At the very beginning of the book of Job, Satan asks God, "Does Job serve God for nothing?" And, honestly, we should all ask ourselves the same question. Do we serve God for God Himself, or do we USE Him to get crowns and gold stars?It is ever-so-easy to serve God for honor-roll children and Facebook likes. It is ever-so-easy to use God's glory for our hidden purposes.In this episode, Gary and Sam share their reflections on...2024-02-0626 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWhat Should I Do with the Little Time Remaining?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.A chance conversation on the way home from an airport led us to re-think what God is calling us to do?What season are you in? What is God calling you to add to your life, to subtract, or to multiply? He is always talking, always refining, always inviting. And giving us room to respond or not.What are YOU going to do with the little time remaining in your life? God has an idea.For more...2024-01-3024 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsFinding Hope in the Baffling Purposes of GodIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Oswald Chambers wrote, "God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s."How often in our lives does God's deepest purposes seem His biggest mistakes? How often do we find His plans for goodness to be so baffling that we almost lose heart?...2023-08-0826 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWhere Do We Find Courage?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Ancient societies taught their children "courage," both as a skill and as a virtue. But we've lost that art, except as ways of hiding our heads in the sand or putting our trust in ourselves.How are we to face the terrors and torments of life: death of loved ones, disgrace, discovery, or the need to speak an uncomfortable truth?Join us as we reflect on the powerful spiritual gift of Courage!For more information about Gary...2023-07-1839 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsLiving a Life that Brings Life to OthersIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.God has a clear and beautiful purpose for your life, a life He has designed, birthed, nurtured, and shaped since before we were born.His plan it to bring life to others through our lives; to bring hope, and joy, and peace, and encouragement, and purpose, and Life with a capital "L." Through each of us to others, His life in us bring His life to all we meet.Join us as we reflect on the powerful, spiritual vitality...2023-07-0334 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsThe Spiritual Treasure of Humble Self-HonestyIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Even non-believers highly value an honest self-appraisal. Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living," and Mark Twain said, "Making good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from evaluating our bad decisions.” Why are so many people today so scared to admit their faults? To humbly say, "I need help"? Why are so many of us believers so afraid to look deeply into our hearts for behaviors, motives, and blindness?Join us as we reflect on the powerful, spi...2023-06-2736 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWhat Is the Spiritual Value of Friendship?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.In the Garden of Eden, Adam was lonely. He wasn't lonely because there was something wrong with him. He was lonely because he was perfect, he was made in the image of God. And God wants for his people, friendship.Yet Christians today never talk about spiritual friendship. We talk about servanthood, brotherhood, and sisterhood, but Jesus says, "I no longer call you servants, I call you friends." And Scripture says, "There is a friend that is CLOSER THAN A BROTHER."2023-06-1824 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsThe Hidden Treasure of Personal RetreatsIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.The second most repeated command is Scripture is to "remember the Sabbath." While Scripture also forbids us to conform to a moralistic approach to the Sabbath, Jesus also says it was made for our good. What is the value of taking "time away" with God? What are its treasures? And what are best practices? For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sa...2022-08-0630 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWe Long for a Calling Driven Community!If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.We long to see a community of believers committed to helping each other grow into their calling, into becoming the men and women God designed us to be.Too many organizations recruit and train people for IT'S purpose; but Jesus leaves the 99 to find the lost sheep, to make it His. How we use our community's strengths to help believers find their God-given purpose for them personally?Prompted by this article by Sam Williamson: https://beliefsoftheheart.com/2012/06/12/i-long-for-a-calling-driven-church/2022-07-3030 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsA Beautiful BarricadeIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.We undervalue the importance God places on friendship. Oh we say we treasure brotherhood, sisterhood, and community. But God works hugely through friendship. And we haven't learned how it can save us.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart. 2022-07-1230 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsThe Pain of Transitions ... And Finding Spiritual HopeIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Transitions are those times in our life when deep changes come, usually un-asked for and often unwelcome, and those changes can be brutally painful. How can we recognize them? And how can we find spiritual hope?For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart. 2022-06-1836 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsAre You Down-in-the-Dumps Too? Or Is It Just Us?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.It seems like everyone we meet is just a tad bit discouraged. Not really depressed, but kind of melancholy, feeling the blues, just experiencing the doldrums. At least we are. What about you?For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart. 2022-06-1131 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsHow Do We Handle The Radical Changes We Face?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.None of us have seen such an acceleration of cultural change. And much is abhorrible, as if we've given ourselves over to the world. How should Christians act in the face of such radical changes?For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart. 2022-06-0329 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsThe Spiritual Significance of CuriosityIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.There is a rich, spiritual virtue that most Christians ignore; it is the virtue of persistent curiosity, to live a life of fascination with God and what He is up to.To take on online course on hearing God, visit Sam's site: https://beliefsoftheheart.com/hearing-god-online-course/For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.And very special thanks to Keith Medley for his FANTASTIC 27 string guitar background song...2022-04-0129 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWhat Are The Best Measurements?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.We all measure, all the time, all things we meet; especially our own lives. What are the best measurements for your life? To take on online course on hearing God, visit Sam's site: https://beliefsoftheheart.com/hearing-god-online-course/For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.And very special thanks to Keith Medley for his FANTASTIC 27 string guitar background song. You can find more of Keith's music at: http://w...2022-03-2532 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWhen Safety-ISM Leads to Fear-ISMIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.We all want our children to grow into healthy adults, but there is a kind of safety-ISM that breeds a state of fear we call fear-ISM. And God wants something else for our lives.To take on online course on hearing God, visit Sam's site: https://beliefsoftheheart.com/hearing-god-online-course/For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.And very special thanks to Keith Medley for his FANTASTIC 27 string...2022-03-1426 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsDo You Have A Transcendent Pursuit?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.We want to share with you a life giving practice Gary and I created (by accident) in December 2011. It's an exciting, intentional, motivating way to begin each New Year. We've been doing it for years. In the show, we promised to write down our process, which follows:How To Develop a Transcendent Pursuit:First, find a friend or two (or more) who would like pursue this with you. Or you can join us (for free) at The Noble H...2021-12-0237 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsFatigue: Why Don't We Think First For A Change?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Why does fatigue take so much out out us? It's not just being tired: we snap and snarl at others, and indulge in self-pity. How do we handle the inner effects of fatigue on us and our family?For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.And very special thanks to Keith Medley for his FANTASTIC 27 string guitar background song. You can find more of Keith's music at: http://www...2021-11-1930 min
Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsCommunity and Calling: Would You Be Missed?If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Have you ever wondered if you would be missed if you left your community? Scripture says we are a body, and so any missing part would be missed indeed. God might call us elsewhere, but everybody's departure should be noticeable.Community and Calling are linked. Just as the hand needs the foot, so our communities needs us to discover and walk in our calling. For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://b...2021-11-1133 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsSidelining Scripture: When We Bench the Bible for Somebody YoungerIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text. Many of us just sideline Scripture. We claim it's authoritative and accurate, but it just doesn't seem applicable to our lives anymore, like, we've outgrown it. So, like we do with many older players, we bench it, and put someone younger on the field.Sometimes I wonder which position is the most dangerous position to take on Scripture: outright denial of its authority? or benching it for someone younger.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: h...2021-11-0531 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsWe Are So Fascinated by This, We Just Have to Talk About ItIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Gary called me this week to discuss a podcast he was listening to: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. It was so fascinating, we just had to share our conversation with you. We hope you find it challenging as we do, and we hope we all grow in knowing the real God as he really is, not as we self-focused humans often mis-portray him.To hear the podcast we reference, click here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/podcasts/rise-and-fall-of-mars-hill/ (While we...2021-09-0347 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsDealing with DiscouragementIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.On February 26, 2020, just a few weeks before COVID 19 became a household name, Gary and I (with friend John Hard) recorded a conversation together on "Dealing with Discouragement." Unknown to me at the time, I was just recovering from COVID myself, thinking it had been bronchitis. So it is even more fascinating for us to look back at this discussion in light of what would become a national discouragement for months to come. As Gary and I re-listened to it, we thought i...2021-08-2329 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsSerious CuriosityIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Curiosity is a great way God leads. Moses went over to look at the Burning Bush out of curiosity. How might God be leading you in ways you haven't considered?For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart. 2021-08-1630 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsFear-ISMIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.It's wrong (and foolish) to live unaware of the dangers around us, but it is more wrong (and more foolish) to let the environment around us cause us to live in a state of fear. But fear is exactly the message bombarding us from both the left and right, and center: the message of FEAR-ISM.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam v...2021-07-3033 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsFinding HappinessIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.We all want happiness, who wouldn't?, and the world offers lots of shortcuts. What is God's plan for our happiness? What does He offer us? Listen as Gary and Sam discuss another "counterfeit answer" from the world, and the offering from God. For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of t...2021-07-2336 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsThe "Business" of Ministry ??If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.How is God calling us to do ministry in a spiritual fashion that cannot be replicated apart from the work of God? How much do we adopt the tips and techniques of the world, and how much do we stand apart?For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the...2021-07-0731 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsImproving GodIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Today we address the cultural moment of our culture's mishandling of God by appearing embarrassed to declare the "whole counsel" of God. Do we really think we, today, this cultural moment, know more about human problems than God does?For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: The Noble Heart Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart. 2021-06-3031 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsExposing Counterfeit Answers - Self EsteemIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.The first house Carla and I bought was a trilevel. Only two of the three floors were completed, and we decided to finish the third floor ourselves, creating a family room, office, and second bathroom. I had worked with carpentry, wiring, and plumbing before. But I had never done drywall. I figured the drywall mud would be easy to sand down, so after hanging sheetrock, I caked on mud like a teenage boy piles his plate at an all-you-can-eat buffet. And I...2021-06-2227 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsLiving an Evaluated Life - Counting BulletsIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.The Special Forces have a saying:The battle isn’t over until all the bullets have been counted.Their principle understands that the last battle is always a precursor to the next. Whether we won or lost that contest, we will be sure to face another. If we don’t learn from our last encounter, we will be weakened for our next.To nurture the life of God in us, our Father invites us into an h...2021-06-0824 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsOvercoming the Twisted Root of BitternessIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.It is hard to make it to the age of forty without falling prey to some form of betrayal. It may have been a spouse, friend, parent, child, or a business partner; but we’ve all experienced the bitter taste of having someone close betray us.Which means we all have to learn the spiritual lesson of forgiveness.Oswald Chambers wrote, “Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how...2021-06-0824 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsEngaging in Situational AwarenessIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Scripture says every believer lives on the border between two kingdoms. But unlike the geographical border between the United States and Canada, the border between these kingdoms runs through the center of our hearts.And these two kingdoms are in a battle to the death. Alexander Solzhenitsyn says, "The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being."On our most "spiritual" days, perhaps we recognize the spiritual forces behind the events of life, but...2021-06-0824 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsAbandonment and LifeIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Jesus said, “Of those born on this earth, no one is greater than John the Baptist.” Everyone I know would love to hear that kind of high praise. What made John so great? John was famous throughout Israel. Common folk and leaders made pilgrimages to hear him speak. But after John baptized Jesus, John’s disciples began to abandon him to follow Jesus. And John said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)John’s life reveals the mystery o...2021-06-0825 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsNurturing the Life of God in Us through CommunityIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Healthy living has become a major emphasis of modern society. Even many middle-schoolers can tell you that a balanced, nourishing diet significantly contributes to physical and mental well-being. (Whether they care to participate in that healthy diet is a different issue.)Likewise, there is a healthy spiritual diet that nurtures His life in us. God is at work, transforming us from one degree of glory to another; and He invites us to participate in the nourishment of the Spirit....2021-06-0823 minAlert & Oriented: Conversations about God between FriendsNurturing the Life of God in UsIf you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.”There is an innate desire in every human to bear fruit in this world. Some desires are for good (raising a family or caring for the poor) and some are of the flesh (greed or need for prestige). Jesus said that “It is to your advantage that I go away, for I do not go away...2021-05-1824 min