Christ 2r Culture Podcast

The trees, lights, shopping and festivities of the holiday season make it hard to remember the reason we celebrate, the baby in the manger. As we prepare to remember the birth of our savior, we are looking at selected passages in the book of Ephesians to reminded us how blessed we are through God the Father's gift of His Son.

One of the popular bumper stickers today says, "Coexist." The purpose of the bumper sticker is to encourage all religions to just work together because they are just different ways of worshiping the same God. Is that true? According to Jesus, the good news Jesus proclaimed can not coexist but it insists on being the exclusive way to be forgiven of our sin and know God.

When was the last time you shook your head in disgust as the newscaster read the profile of a criminal on the evening news? When we hear those stories, we look forward to people getting what they deserve. What we forget is that Jesus loves sinners, even the most heinous ones. As we continue our way through the Gospel of Mark, we find Jesus choosing a heinous tax collector that repented of his sins to be part of his inner circle.

What is the most important thing the Christian faith offers the world? Some think it is morality because Christians desire to live ethical lives. Some think the most important thing Christianity brought to the world is love because Christians love one another and even love their enemies. Some think the most important thing Christians offer the world is social care. It is true that Christians are behind the formation of hospital, orphanages, and care for the poor. One thing Christianity offers that is more important than any of these is forgiveness for our sin against God. Jesus offers it completely, fully and freely by the authority of his word. Join us as we learn how Jesus offers forgiveness to you.

Leprosy was one of the most feared diseases in the ancient world. The bodily disfiguration and social loss was devastating. As Jesus continues his miraculous healings, we find Jesus not only heals a leper but he takes one the isolation and shame he experienced. This is an amazing reminder what Jesus does in love for us. He forgives our sin and he takes on the isolation and shame that is ours because of sin.

Does God still heal? Some television preachers claim the ability to heal supernaturally with just a touch. Should we believe them? Do they have the ability to heal like Jesus? As we continue our study in the book of Mark we look at Jesus' healing ability and how it differs from gifts of healing today.

When Jesus began his ministry he taught in the synagogue at Capernaum. Unexpectedly a demon possessed man burst out screaming in fear. Join us as we learn what this passage teaches us about under cover demon possession and influence as well as Jesus' authority.

When it comes to following Jesus, since it is by faith, it is the easiest thing to do. As we see Jesus calling his disciples, we also find that following Jesus is the hardest thing to do in your life because it means placing Jesus first.

When was the last time your life fell apart? As we continue our study in Mark's gospel, we learn why God occasionally directs his people into tough times and the good he plans to do in us through them.

The best way to tell people about Jesus is not what you would. Instead of telling people the good news about Jesus, we need to begin with the bad news of our sin. As the Gospel of Mark opens, we meet John the Baptist telling people about their sin to prepare their hearts to hear the good news of Jesus.

The way to understand a book in the Bible is to understand its background and its author. As we begin our study of the Gospel of Mark, we meet Mark the book and Mark the person. We learn how God loves to use ordinary people in extraordinary ways to advance Christ's kingdom.

What happens when you visit the Full Gospel Church of Seoul, South Korea? Three people greet you at the door. One of them becomes your personal host for the service helping you find your place and sitting with you. Your host will take you to the church bookstore after the service and insist on buying gifts for your children, then they offer to take you to lunch. One of the reasons this 850,000 member church has growth to staggering proportions is the intentionality they give to hospitality. In this study, we learn God's vision for hospitality in the church and why it is important.

In 1851, an English missionary named Allen Gardiner was shipwrecked. He and his shipmates landed on a small uninhabited island off the coast of South America. Over the next six months each of them died of starvation. As far as we know, Allen was the last one to die. As a Christian, he spent time in the word of God every day until he died. The last entry in the journal that was found beside his dead body had his reflections on Psalm 34:10. In this entry, he summarized his thoughts on this verse by essentially saying, "I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God." How could a dying man be overwhelmed by God's goodness? In this final chapter of Habakkuk, we discover how to be overwhelmed by the goodness of God even when the world around us is falling apart.

For a month our nation was captivated by the sudden disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student, After a month of pursuing leads, Cristhian Rivera was charged with her murder after he led investigators to her body in a field that was covered with corn stalks. While her family grieves her death, we are grateful for the law enforcement officers who worked tirelessly to solve her murder and begin the process of a measure of justice being served. Sadly, unlike Mollie, many crimes are not solved. Murders get away with killing. Thieves get away with stealing. Where is God when we face injustice? In Habakkuk we learn that God is on his throne and he is handling out justice, not just in eternity but many times he orchestrates this world to bring a measure of justice in this life. Nobody gets away with anything.

Fifty-three percent of professing Christians claim they do not struggle with coveting. Yet coveting is one of the most subtle sins. It is easy to commit because it exists one in our thoughts. Join us as we learn how to replace coveting with contentment in our thought life through our knowledge of God's good plans for us through Jesus.

When he finally turned himself into police, the amount he stole was $64.8 billion dollars. Bernie Madoff pulled off the largest financial frauds in U.S. history and the largest Ponzi scheme in world history. How did he do it? It was based on his ability to lie. He was such a good liar that almost 5,000 people entrusted their savings into his hands. While Bernie pulled off one of the largest lies in world history that damaged the US economy, we are inundated with hundreds of smaller lies every day, which seek to damage our history. Join us as we learn the source of lies and God's plan to restore truth.

Only 1 in 10 Christians believe they have broken the eighth commandment. Stealing is more than cold-hearted thievery. It can be done in much subtler ways, especially at work. Join us as we learn what God says about being a thief.

Pornography is thirty percent of the traffic on the Internet. Over forty percent of those who are married admit to having either a literal or emotional affair even though they are married. Clearly sex in America is out of control and the family is under attack. When God gave this commandment, he gave it to protect the family and for our good. Join us as we discover how to enjoy the blessing of fidelity and avoid the trap of seduction.

The Ten Commandments are hard to keep. The seventh commandment, which warns us about adultery, according to Jesus is violated whenever we lust. Every one of us has broken this command. The tenth commandment, which warns us about coveting our neighbors stuff, is a commandment that magazines and junk mail encourage us to break every day. The sixth commandment, which warns us against murder, is the one command most of us are confident we haven't broken. When we look at the command a little closer, we find it is actually the one command we break more than any other. Join us as we discover God's vision for the sanctity of life.

We live in a time that glorifies rebellion, especially against parents. Good luck finding a teen band that sings, "Have you helped your parents lately?" Good luck finding a teenage magazine that encourages you to help with chores around the house. Teen rebellion is glorified while honoring parents is vilified. God calls us to swim against the current on this one. The Bible promises that fighting against parents takes away life while honoring parents is the key to blessing in life, not just in your teen years but even through your adult years. Join us as we learn the importance of honoring the God-ordained authority figures in our lives.