Formed by Jesus Podcast

In Week 3 of our Spiritual Warfare series, we look at the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11 tells the story of humanity trying to make a name for themselves by building a tower, likely a ziggurat, in an attempt to invade heaven and recreate Eden on earth. But God comes down to disrupt their plans, confuse their language, and scatter the nations. What started as a third rebellion to create heaven on earth on human terms ends as a tragic story of humanity repeating the same sin from the garden: to see, desire, and take.

But the way of Jesus is to hear, trust, and obey. Where Babel climbs up to make a name for itself, Jesus comes down, humbles Himself, and is given the name above every name. A biblical theology of spiritual warfare helps us discern not only who we are up against, but what we are building, and whose name we are building it for.

https://passioncreek.church/teaching/a-biblical-theology-of-spiritual-warfare/the-tower/

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How to Make Peace at Work When You Can’t Change Jobs (Ephesians 6)

In August 2020 amid pandemic fallout, church disruption, and personal panic attacks, the speaker recalls a mentor asking pastors how to keep going when work they once loved becomes what they hate, introducing a chart of responsibility, control, and reward that explains boredom and burnout and how frustration in work is normal in a fallen world. Turning to Ephesians 6:5–9, he addresses the slavery text with historical context, clarifying Paul isn’t endorsing slavery but guiding Christians within a broken system and planting gospel seeds that undermine it. He then applies workplace principles: spirit-filled employees work respectfully, sincerely, willingly, and expectantly, avoiding “eye service” and people-pleasing by remembering they work for Christ, their true reward. For leaders, Paul warns against power-wielding and threatening, reminding bosses they are under God’s authority. The episode closes with group and growth practices to pursue redemptive (not exploitative) work that serves others for God’s approval.

00:00 August 2020 Memories

00:44 A Pastor’s Breaking Point

01:43 The Work Health Chart

02:37 Boredom vs Burnout

05:31 Peace Without Quitting

05:57 Ephesians 6 Setup

06:43 Slavery Context Explained

12:22 Workplace Principles Today

13:44 Four Marks of Employees

19:02 Eye Service Trap

22:55 Working for Jesus

25:27 Bosses and Control

29:18 Pastor Story Application

35:36 Responsibility Practice

38:24 Redemptive Work Challenge

39:07 Final Response

Parenting Wisdom with My Mom (Principal Lisa Vancamp): Kids as Arrows, Seasons of Parenting, and Priorities

On the Formed by Jesus podcast, the host interviews his mother, Lisa Vancamp, about parenting, peacemaking with children, and viewing kids as “arrows” to launch into the world. Lisa shares how she embraced each stage of childhood, prayed through fears about the teen years, and tried to present upcoming phases as something to celebrate. They discuss avoiding fear-based or scarcity language with children, protecting kids from adult burdens, and modeling faith through consistent church involvement, Bible reading, and avoiding gossip. Lisa outlines overlapping parenting “seasons” (caregiver, cop, coach/cheerleader, and consultant), emphasizing clear expectations, formation through discipline, and giving advice mainly when asked. She also highlights not comparing siblings and concludes that children don’t inherit convictions as much as they inherit priorities.

00:00 Meet the Guest Mom

00:26 Kids as Arrows

02:48 Celebrating Teen Years

07:43 Money Talk and Scarcity

12:13 Millennial Parenting Shifts

18:09 Church Expectations and Discipline

23:44 Family Stories and Quirks

27:55 Parenting Seasons 0 to 4

30:22 Cop Not Dictator

32:46 No Victim Mentality

34:04 Priorities By Example

36:19 Gentle Correction Shift

39:30 Coach And Cheerleader

41:25 Sports Benefits And Idols

43:50 Grades Excellence Mindset

45:49 Consultant After High School

47:52 Boundaries And Freedom

53:24 Protect Each Child

55:15 Priorities Become Theology

55:48 Leaves On Trees Finale

For those with children, parenting can often become a battleground for peacemaking. We can ignore conflict, lash out in anger, or hold impossibly high expectations over our kids while they grow up. In Ephesians 6, Paul shows parents how to avoid these pitfalls. He tells them not to stir up anger in their children, but to “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” To bring them up means to nurture them so they’re prepared for the world when they leave the home. Training them means instilling discipline in them towards holiness, and to instruct them means to give them counsel, to listen, and to speak encouragement over them. Peacemaking in parenting then is more than avoiding conflict. It’s bringing peace to the household, or what the Bible describes as wholeness, flourishing, and living in the fullness of what God intended. Every parent is forming their child. The question is whether we are doing it intentionally.

Why We Go Slow: Peacemaking, Discipleship, and Honoring Your Parents | Formed by Jesus Podcast

In a new studio format, the hosts explain why their church focuses on one spiritual practice for months rather than covering many topics quickly, arguing that transformation and discipleship require slow, repeated formation and that practices like peacemaking need longer than a few weeks. They discuss how the Sermon on the Mount may be a condensed synthesis of Jesus’ teachings and why sermon-based group guides help people process teachings beyond Sunday. They outline a revised group rhythm influenced by Practicing the Way—learning, practicing, and reflecting/processing—emphasizing deliberate practice and debriefing to avoid ingraining unhealthy habits. The conversation applies this to honoring parents, clarifying honor versus affection or control, exploring thresholds in relationships, and distinguishing lament from contempt, including how to respond when parents have caused deep harm without slipping into gossip or bitterness.

00:00 New Studio Banter

01:26 Why Long Practice Series

03:03 Sermon on Mount Strategy

05:50 Discipleship Over Content

07:50 Rethinking Group Guides

11:14 Learn Practice Process

13:36 Deliberate Practice Debriefs

16:27 Honor Parents Nuance

17:07 Life Relationship Thresholds

20:33 Culture Contempt Authority

23:52 Honor Not Friendship

24:49 Honor Across Cultures

26:26 When Parents Are Abusive

29:45 Gratitude For Survival

31:54 Lament Versus Contempt

34:58 Gossip And Control Traps

38:39 When To Confront

40:49 Biblical Parenting Limits

43:30 Hebrew Greek Banter

44:32 Closing Blessing

Our church gathers every Sunday at 8:30am & 10:15am at Queen Creek Junior High.

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https://passioncreek.church/sundays/

In week 7 of our Peacemaking practice, we turn our attention toward our relationship with our parents. Regardless of how old you are now, all of us have parents. And just like with our marriages, our relationships with our parents can be both a blessing and a burden. In Ephesians 6, Paul gives us instructions on how to navigate these relationships. He begins by telling children to obey their parents. But then he moves from obedience to honor, quoting the fifth commandment from Exodus 20. The distinction matters because obedience is seasonal, but honor is forever. As children, we honor our parents’ authority of command. As adults, that authority changes into an authority of counsel. The authority changes, but the honor doesn’t.

The word honor carries the idea of weight, value, and significance. To honor someone is to give them weight, to recognize their value rather than treating them as insignificant. Honoring our parents, then, doesn’t mean giving them control of our lives or pretending they’re perfect; it means learning to recognize their value, give them appropriate weight, and love them well as the relationship changes.

00:00 Why Thresholds Matter

01:32 Relationships Shift With Change

03:12 When Kids Become Adults

05:35 Peacemaking With Parents

07:47 Obedience Versus Honor

09:32 Exodus And The Ten Words

13:06 The Promise And Authority

18:18 Command Versus Counsel

21:08 Jesus Confronts Corban

23:42 Honor Means Action

27:47 What Honor Is Not

29:18 Seat At The Table

32:51 Honor Versus Contempt

35:15 Identity In The Father

37:16 Practices For This Week

In week 6 of our Peacemaking Practice we take all that we have learned about peacemaking and apply it to our marriages. Our marriages can be both a tremendous blessing and a painful burden. In Ephesians 5, Paul addresses this tension by giving commands to both husbands and wives. He starts by commanding both to submit to each other with humility in verse 21. Then he commands husbands to love their wives sacrificially and wives to submit to their husbands respectfully.

Both of these commands challenge our tendency to focus on what our spouse owes us rather than what Christ is calling us to give. Peacemaking begins when we stop trying to win and start allowing Jesus to form us into people who love, serve, forgive, and pursue one another.

In week 6 of our Peacemaking Practice we take all that we have learned about peacemaking and apply it to our marriages. Our marriages can be both a tremendous blessing and a painful burden. In Ephesians 5, Paul addresses this tension by giving commands to both husbands and wives. He starts by commanding both to submit to each other with humility in verse 21. Then he commands husbands to love their wives sacrificially and wives to submit to their husbands respectfully.

Both of these commands challenge our tendency to focus on what our spouse owes us rather than what Christ is calling us to give. Peacemaking begins when we stop trying to win and start allowing Jesus to form us into people who love, serve, forgive, and pursue one another.

Sometimes the hardest things we endure are not the things done to us, but the things we have done to ourselves. We carry past failures, mistakes, and missed opportunities with us throughout our lives. All of us have stories of relationships we have never repaired, chances we have never taken, and regrets from both things we have done and things we have left undone.

But in Ephesians 5, Paul gives us a way forward. He reminds us that our past is real. All of us began in darkness. But now, through Jesus, we are in the light. We can make the most of our time today by learning to make peace with our past, confessing darkness, and accepting the life in the Spirit God has called us to live today.