Changing

In today’s episode of Changing, Donald gives us insight into the meaning of the serpent. Throughout scripture (and history), we see the snake as an evil being. But how did that negative connotation come about, and is it accurate to what we know? Join us as our host, Donald Kelly, answers these questions and discusses the snake on the stick.

The Lord told Moses how to heal the poisoned: 

• In Numbers, the people just had to look at the serpent to be healed. But, naturally, people didn’t believe that. 
• We often feel like if we don’t understand something, we won’t work toward it (like our faith.)

The history of the serpent:

• BYU professor Andrew C. Skinner discusses the serpent and how the creature can be linked to a myriad of connotations, from healing and divine law to evil and cunning.
• In Egypt, snakes represent several gods, and life-giving powers were attributed to them because they shed their skin and emerge from it, symbolizing rebirth.
• A snake biting its tail was a common representation of eternity because of its everlasting nature and “showing” its new body.

Pharaohs wore snakes on their headdresses to represent deity and sovereignty.

• When Moses was commanded to deliver people out of Egypt, he threw his staff in front of the Pharoah and his court to prove that God commanded them. 
• In Phonecians, later in history, people worshipped snakes because the poison they held delivered instant judgment.
• Snakes aren’t bad, but they give and take life. Like God, the Serpent shows God’s power over life and death.

But why is the snake viewed as something negative? Why is the serpent on a stick? Find out on the next episode of Changing Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

For many of us, faith comes in and grows with us over time. But there are still things we can do to help encourage that growth and help us grow in your faith. In today’s episode of Changing, Donald discusses three things we can do to increase our faith and relationship with God. 

• Study scripture more, do more prayers, and talk more with God
• Reading first-hand experiences educates and helps us become more faithful when we break down scripture.
• Understanding the history, characters, and world events framing the narrative in the Bible helps us gain a deeper understanding and respect for the story being told.
• Fast
• Fasting is an ultra-powerful prayer in which you give up physical needs to prioritize your spiritual needs. 
• To learn more about fasting, check out our previous podcast episode.
• A fasted prayer could be for anything important to you, whether financial, physical, or emotional.
• Practice faith
• Implement the Lord’s practice into your life. Follow his commandments, tithe to those who need support, and good things will come back to you.
• There are countless instances in scripture where we see people who follow the Lord’s directions receive the blessing and good fortune they helped others achieve; do the same for yourself!

Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

While you likely aren’t constructing a statue or temple in your backyard for them, false gods and idols are still present in today’s society. In today’s episode of Changing, Donald discusses the importance of identifying these false gods in our life, common idols, and how we can work to remove them for a healthier and more fruitful relationship with the Lord. 

Common Idol: Social Media

• Is social media bad? No. But it can certainly rob us of our agency. 
• When you’re at church, are you unable to listen to your service because you’re checking your phone? If yes, you are likely putting social media before God.
• When you get out of bed in the morning, do you thank the Father for blessing you for a new day, or do you check your phone for social media updates?
• Don’t completely remove social media from your life, but instead, compare it relative to the time you spend with God. 

Common Idol: Sports and ESPN

• Sports aren’t bad. However, many neglect their family relationships and relationship with God because of it. 
• If you think you can’t attend church because you don’t want to miss a game, you might have a problem.
• While you shouldn’t completely remove sports from your life, look at how you spend time with sports compared to your time with God and your family. Then, determine if you should scale back and remove some of it from your schedule.

TV Shows and Celebrities

• There are celebrities and TV shows we watch all the time. Do you feel a stronger relationship with these actors than God? Only you can answer that question.

Bonus: Anything!

• At the end of the day, you can put anything before God. It could be family, friends, work, or even hobbies. Don’t let anything come between you and your relationship with God.
• Talk and meditate with God instead of pursuing false idols, and you’ll feel happier, stronger and more at peace with your life.

Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

How and what exactly is a fast, and why should we do one? In today’s episode of Changing, Donald answers all our fasting questions and explains how and why we should add this method of worship to build our relationship with the Lord.

What is fasting?

• Fasting is going without food (and sometimes water) for specified periods. 
• As Christians, we do 24-hour fasts one day each month, where we go without food or water. 
• However, in other religions, some have up to 40-day fasts where they only eat during specific times of the day.
• Fasts can even be with other earthly tethers like social media or alcohol.

How can you fast?

• The idea is that you are getting rid of something your body needs. But you are putting the needs of your spirit over the needs of your body. 
• The best way to overcome those physical desires is by praying and asking the Lord for help.

How to have a fast:

• Have a purpose, prepare properly, and pray to the Lord for strength throughout the fast.
• When Donald wanted to get baptized, his mom forced him to wait. But Donald fasted, prayed, and asked the Lord to help his mom become more accepting of his baptism. 

Ultimately, you fast because you love God and want direction from him. It’s a spiritual experience, and Donald heavily encourages you to try one and embrace your spiritual needs. 

Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

No matter what stage of life you’re at, we all feel the temptation to give up. After all, why should we bother trying to do good each day? In today’s episode of Changing, Donald discusses how we can persevere through obstacles and continue living by God’s word, even when it seems difficult.

Israelites were the Egyptian’s slaves for hundreds of years.

• The Lord sent Moses to be the instrument to lead the Israelites out of slavery to their promised land.
• When Moses told everyone they were leaving, the people were skeptical. After all, Moses wasn’t the first one who tried to escape.
• The Israelites crossed out of Egypt to travel to a home of happiness. However, many Israelites grew anxious about their Egyptian captors apprehending them.

God guided them thus far, and he didn’t bring them to die.

• What would you do? You could run, fight, or give up. Or you could do what Moses did - have faith. 
• Moses likely thought about how much faith and trust the people had put in God during their journey. They didn’t come this far to only come this far.
• We know what ended up happening - Moses parted the sea, and after the Israelites passed, the water drowned the Egyptians who gave chase.

The moral of the story? If God told you that he’s going to do something, and you remain faithful, trust him! This is the person who created everything. If he can create everything, he can probably help you pay that utility bill, raise a family, or find a job. You need his guidance and strength to do what he knows you should do.

Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

Father’s Day is an important holiday for many reasons. While our relationship with our heavenly father is imperative, loving and serving our earthly father is just as important. In today’s episode of Changing, Donald discusses how we can serve our father and build a better relationship for long-term growth with five different strategies.

Learn about your past.

• Research your family tree and do genealogy to learn about your family’s past.

Cook a meal with your father.

• What’s the cuisine or recipe your dad loves making or eating? 
• Create those things with him, and create a family recipe to pass down to your own kids.

Talk to him.

• Learn about how he met your mother, what he used to do when he was younger, or memorable moments from his own life.
• Conversations about his interests will help you learn more about him and give him a chance to speak about his aspirations. 

Plan a vacation or stay-cation:

• Plan a short trip together depending on your resources and relationship with your father!
• Consider traveling back to his hometown or a memorable time of his life so he can share another part of his life with you.

Play a game.

• Whether in-person or remote, playing a game together will be an easy and enjoyable way to spend time together and enjoy one another’s company.

A final bonus tip: pray for him. Especially if you don’t have the best relationship with your father, you’d be amazed at what can happen when you approach the situation with humility to the Lord.

Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

Serving God isn’t reserved just for Sunday morning; it’s something we should incorporate into every area of our lives. And what better way to start than our own homes? In today’s episode of Changing, Donald discusses five practices and strategies to serve the Lord within your own home. 

Commit as a family and as an individual to make your house a holy place

• When Donald first attended church, his family did not come with him. Wanting to study scripture in peace, Donald hid in the bathroom for solitude.
• He dedicated himself to the Lord, and his family saw the effort he was making.
• Look at the movies you’re watching, the music you listen to, and your attitude toward Jesus in your house. Set the atmosphere that leads to a positive change.

Study the scripture and pray as a family each day

• Study scripture daily to learn about the lord and make your house one of holiness.
• Read and study with your family to have a supportive and loving environment.

Do wholesome family activities.

• Go on trips together as a family, hold holiday barbecues, and just spend time together.
• It creates relationships and bonds that lead to a better atmosphere and environment.

Serve one another.

• Be of service to one another within the family.
• Can you help your brother with the dishes? Can you do something for your parents? Ask yourself what you can do to support those in your home.

Have a family council

• Holding a family council helps ensure your family has the means and the attitude necessary to act with kindness and holiness at the forefront of your mind.

Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

The most powerful things we can do as Christians are to love, share, and invite others to change and love God. In today’s episode of Changing, Donald discusses these three topics and explains how we can use them to help everyone feel the inspiration to draw closer to Christ.

Love

• Everything the Savior did comes back to love. We need to love our brothers and sisters if we want to help them.
• It’s not about you; it’s about helping and caring for other individuals.
• The best way you can help someone change and grow closer to God is by loving them.

Share

• Many people refrain from talking about church when friends and coworkers ask us what we did over the weekend. But why not? 
• Share about the beautiful choir performance, a fish-fry fundraiser, or any other important event that could benefit them. You’re sharing something that could genuinely help them!
• You can also share your church’s events and information, or God’s messages, on social media.

Invite

• Give your local community a natural way to be a part of your church community. 
• As they spend time around your church community, they’ll feel God’s presence, and, over time, they’ll see the trajectory to change.

Above all, first, lead with love. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.

On today’s episode of Changing, we’re joined by fellow podcaster Stephen A. Hart as he describes his relationship with Christ and how he gained faith amid multiple obstacles in his life. 

Stephen was incredibly successful as a business owner.

• After graduating from college in ‘99, Stephen found himself in the mortgage industry before starting his first business in the financial sector in 2005.
• In 2007, his business was thriving. Because of that, he purchased things like a million-dollar brownstone and a Jamaican wedding.
• His success was cut short, however, when he discovered a massive investment had tanked.

How did Stephen recover from the tanked investment?

• Having everything ripped from under him three weeks into marriage had a massive blow to his pride. 
• Shortly after the business collapse, so did the real estate and financial market.
• Everything fell apart. Left with personal debt, Stephen had to dissolve his business and start over with a new structure.

Amid this turmoil, he found God.

• After this ordeal, Stephen wanted to understand what life was really about. 
• He realized he needed to look to God for what's next. He changed his entire mindset and began to focus on new goals.
• And so, over the next ten years, he reframed everything. The way he looks at money, his life, and his legacy. 

How does Stephen maintain his relationship with God?

• Throughout the pandemic, Stephen anchored himself in Matthew 6:25-34 and Phillippians 4:6-8.
• His focus this last year was to go not one day at a time, but one hour at a time.
• Stephen’s lasting advice: change happens. We’re always working on ourselves, but over time, those changes will lead to positivity in your future if God is at the center.

Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as his website. Reach out to him if you have any questions or want to know more about his journey to Christ.

We’re not always at our strongest, but through our faith, it’s something we can fortify and improve. In today’s episode of Changing, Donald discusses the importance of faith and how we, as followers of God, should be willing to overcome obstacles through our faith.

Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son. 

• In Genesis 22, Abraham leads his son, Isaac, up the mountain to sacrifice him. This experience is profoundly sad, but Abraham knew God would not lead him wrong.
• Not only did Abraham have to trust God, but Isaac had to trust Abraham. Everyone knew the other was doing the right thing. 
• While we aren’t asked to sacrifice children, we make sacrifices every day, from our money and time to our food and willpower. Frequently, we don’t act like Abraham.

We all have times when we feel our sacrifice is too great. 

• Donald remembers questioning how he’d be able to afford his new rent payment when he moved to a new office building. 
• However, he realized if he stepped foot in the dark, the Lord would provide the opportunity he needed.
• Think about how many people the Lord has helped throughout the bible. If he did that for them, he would do those for you.
• If you don’t have sufficient faith to do something, pray. Pray to the Lord for strength to go up the mountain and do what you need.

Whatever situation you’re in, the Lord will provide. He’ll provide what you need if you have faith in him. If this podcast speaks to you or helps you on your journey to change, let us know by leaving a rating or review. Share your testimony or contact Donald at [email protected], or contact him on Twitter or Instagram.