Living Spring Podcast

"Just Be Yourself" is the mantra of individual obsessed Western culture. Get all you can and be yourself. It sounds great. And, at times, it is a good reminder against going with the flow. However, what does God think? How much of you and how much of Jesus does He want to see? This week we learn that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Whether right or wrong, everyone has an opinion about you. You even have an opinion about yourself. These opinions can wreak havoc on our lives if we let them. There is only one opinion that matters. That’s what we talk about this week.

What do you do when things get hard? Do you fight? Do you run? To what or whom do you run? All of us struggle with difficulties in life and we feel the need to escape. As we see this week, there is another option.

All of us like to be in control. We like to control our relationships, traffic, bosses, health or whatever. After all, we have our best interests in mind don't we? This week we talk about handing control over to God so that our lives don't end up out of control.

In our country’s Declaration of Independence it has the statement that we all have inalienable rights for the pursuit of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” That is great for our country but what happens when our pursuit doesn’t bring the happiness we are chasing. Worse yet, what if it feels like God isn’t bringing our happiness either? This week we discuss the lie that “You need to be happy.”

Many of us live lives that are always striving for more. We want to be rich-er, skinny-er, smart-er etc. But where does that come from? When is "er" "er-nough?" While goal setting is fine, this week we talk about some of the secrets of being content in the process.

Why is it so difficult to change? There are some things that are easier than others and then there are things that we continue to do even after we know we shouldn't. Sometimes identifying the root cause is the impetus to change.

Your greatest regret probably started with the words "I want...." Sometimes what we want gets in the way of the mission that God has for our lives. This week we talk about how to prioritize our desires in a way that not only honors God but also helps us manage life.

First responders run to trouble rather than running away from it. We call them heroes and they are. But what if we are called to be first responders in our relationships with our neighbors, schools, home and workplace? This week we talk about bringing healing and help to the situations all around us.

Wouldn't it be great if your life changed for the better in one fell swoop? We all know it doesn't work that way but we all wish that it would. How do we change? Maybe it's not the big stuff. Maybe it's the small stuff. That's what we talk about this week.

What does it look like to make a step towards Jesus? This week we talk about why your trajectory matters. You don't have to be perfect but you do have to be purposeful.

Whether or not your father was terrible or fantastic, we all have one. Most likely he falls somewhere in between. Even when fathers try to do the right thing, it sometimes comes off clunky. Fortunately all of us have a perfect Father. Jesus shows us exactly what He's like!

Have you ever been to a therapist? Some are great and some, not so much. Jesus was called "Wonderful Counselor." This week we talk about 6 things your Wonderful Counselor would tell you if you were in therapy with Him.

Have you ever received a gift that didn't mean much when you got it but later was incredibly useful. Maybe you didn't understand its value at first. This we we talk about a phrase that was placed upon a baby that, at first, didn't seem to work.

Does our culture have an impact on you or do you have an impact on our culture. For most of us it is a combination of both. This week we talk about how to navigate those waters.

How does God choose someone? Does he need a certain type of person? Do you need to be poor? Do you need to be rich? This week we look at who God uses. More importantly we look at how He uses circumstances, sometimes negative, to accomplish His purpose. He just might be able to use anyone in any circumstance.

What do you do when someone thinks differently than you? Do you argue, ostracize, belittle, ignore or something worse? The early church dealt with an issue that was very important to everyone involved. For some, it meant surgery. For others, it meant giving up something they have believed in for generations. This week we learn from the early church about how they handled disagreement.

Isn't it amazing how you day can be starting out great and one phone call, wrong turn, mistake in judgement can ruin everything. The opposite can be true as well. How do you respond when that happens? This week we see how the Apostle Paul handled things when there was the tiny little problem of people trying to kill him.

With an election year wrapping up, who would Jesus vote for? Would he care? We think the better question is, "Would he love both candidates?" Is it possible to disagree with someone and not alienate and belittle them? We talk about that this week. We talk about that this week.

How do you grow a church? Great preaching is a must. Great worship band? A necessity. And, of course, persecution. Wait, what?