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Can we genuinely believe that the Bible is the word of God? The unique and ultimate standard? Many people don’t. Others of us, however, do so for good reasons. Here are my three:

Jesus believed it. When the devil came to tempt him, Jesus quoted Scripture. When Jesus rose from the dead, he taught from Scripture. He set his own stamp of approval upon Scripture. What else is needed?

Fulfilled prophecies confirm it. In his life Christ fulfilled 332 distinct prophecies from the Old Testament. The mathematical probability of these prophecies being fulfilled by one man is one in 840 untrigintillion. That’s 840 followed by 96 zeroes.

Changed lives affirm it. No other book has impacted people like the Bible.

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

I viewed the opening displays of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City with curiosity but kept my emotions in check. That changed when we entered the inner exhibit, which the curators have wisely closed off from children and those wanting to shield themselves from the more heartrending images. As I encountered story after story of heartbreak and loss, waves of lament rose within me.

When we witness or remember such destruction and pain, we can join the cries of those who have voiced their distress to God. This includes the words of anguish found in Lamentations, which many scholars believe the prophet Jeremiah wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem. In the tightly formed structure of this poem, he releases his sorrow and grief over the pain of God’s people: “See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed” (Lamentations 1:20). And yet he looks to God as the ultimate judge, knowing that only He can deal with the sins and destruction: “Let all their wickedness come before you” (v. 22).

This kind of honest crying out to God can help us to grapple with painful atrocities such as what happened on September 11, 2001, or other current-day evil deeds. We look to God for help, hope, comfort, and justice.

Find helpful resources at www.joniradio.org today for people struggling with suicide.

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

Satan’s strategy is simple: poison your thinking with stinking doubts, deceit, and discouragement. If he can master your mind, he will master your life. The more minds he can control, the more portions of society he can influence. Tell him to get lost.

Do with your thoughts what I do with emails.  Until a couple of years ago, I didn’t know I could block emails. Consequently, I couldn’t clean out my inbox. Then I was told about the ‘Block This Sender’ command. I spent the better part of an afternoon erecting Do Not Enter signs to turn away nuisances. It took time, but I emptied my inbox of unneeded and unsolicited emails.

You can do the same! You can “take every thought captive and make it obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 GNT).

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Your anchor, your North Star, your wings, and your why – in today’s episode, John is sharing a lesson that will help you find the foundation of all these things: your purpose. Discover practical steps and powerful insights for living every day with intention and discipline. 

After John’s lesson, Mark Cole offers his perspective on how to apply it to your life and leadership. 

Key takeaways: 

• Finding your why gives you direction.

• You discover your purpose through your passion and your giftedness. 

• Purpose puts steel in the backbone of discipline.  

Our BONUS resource for this episode is the How to Live with Purpose Every Day Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John’s teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Purpose and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” 

Take the next step in your growth journey and become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member. Click he

Culture doesn’t protect itself. If you don’t design it, you’ll default to one—and it’s usually not the one you want. In this episode, Jenni unpacks the build phase of the LeadCulture Framework: the rhythms and systems that take culture from aspirational to operational.

Joining her is Carson Pedraza, Executive Director of Operations at Local Church in South Florida. Carson has been instrumental in creating a playbook that protects and reinforces culture across the employee journey—from interviewing and onboarding to staff meetings and even staff transitions.

Together, they’ll explore:

• Why culture unravels without intentional rhythms
• How to weave values into everyday practices and team rhythms
• Practical systems that ensure culture isn’t just written on the wall, but lived in real time

If you’ve ever felt like your team is drifting, rehashing the same issues, or slipping toward disengagement, this episode will help you design rhythms that sustain a thriving culture over time.

We need your help to get the LeadCulture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:

1. Review us on Apple podcasts
2. Subscribe - we’re available wherever you listen to podcasts.
3. Share - let your friends know about the podcast by sharing your favorite episode on social media!

Anita Bailey’s heart was warmed when she got this social media message about her son Jalen: “I was a greeter today at [church] and a young man with a child in his arms came up to me and put his arms around me. . . . I stared for a second, then I recognized him and said, ‘Jalen’! We embraced and chatted briefly. What a fine young man!” The greeter had known Jalen in his rebellious days when Anita and her husband, Ed, felt powerless to save their son from the consequences of his unwise choices, which resulted in twelve years in prison for him.

Though the Baileys felt powerless, they were not prayerless. And neither was King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. When harassed by a menacing coalition of enemy forces, he called a prayer meeting (vv. 1-4). “Our God, will you not judge them?” he prayed. “For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (v. 12).

Have you ever felt powerless or clueless in the face of circumstances that were out of your control? Why not call a prayer meeting—either alone or with others? That’s what Jesus did in the face of His coming crucifixion (Luke 22:39-44). Prayer space is the sacred place where the petitions of powerless people are offered to our almighty God in the name of Jesus.

Julian Lowe never expected to be a pastor, which ironically freed him up to become one. He talks about what he learned at the Groundlings, in Music, and in ministry, sharing why he feels white men...

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (GNT) reads, “The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.”

The image is that of a warrior, a soldier, a fighter. Our enemy is the unsolicited, unhealthy, and unwelcome idea. Rather than indulge such thoughts, we take a wrecking ball to them. We “take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” We poke a spear against the spine of toxic thoughts, march them outside, and toss them on their derrieres. Discipleship, at its core, is Christlike thinking.

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.