Gospel for Life

Satan has one main strategy: deception. We tend to think that he works through bizarre manifestations, but he primarily works as a deceiver, and he’s very effective. Jesus said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44).

We’re not always good at recognizing Satan’s lies, which causes great damage.

Canadian pastor Chris Quiring has written a book to address this issue, and to help us learn how to identify Satan’s lies, trace them to their source, and replace them with God’s truth. The book is called The Lies That Bind: Exposing The Lies Keeping You From A Rich And Meaningful Life.

Full show notes at DashHouse.com

Key Ideas

We all have an idea in our minds of how we think life should go, and then real life happens.

“We’ve only tasted the entree, the hors d'oeuvres of the fullness of life in God. We have the fullness of that life yet to come as the Kingdom of God breaks into this world, as the new creation becomes a new permanent reality.”

“You're not awesome. You're loved, and that's awesome.”

“While we should absolutely pray for and enjoy such mountaintop experiences with God, we need to, as pastors, we need to teach our people of the glory of the ordinary, the glory of plodding, the joy of simply being attentive to the life, the relationships, the geographic spaces that we inhabit, and to go, What does it look like to glorify God here in this space?”

“The one thing that we owe absolutely to God is never to be afraid of anything.” (Charles de Foucauld)

Read the full show notes (including a transcript) at DashHouse.com.

On this episode of Gospel for Life, host Darryl Dash is joined by Mason King, pastor at the Village Church in Texas and author of A Short Guide to Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian.

The book goes beyond basic spiritual practices and discusses areas that are often neglected such as attention, emotions, and limits. Mason shares insights on how to find real joy in submitting to God and living within limits, the importance of being biblically literate and theologically sound, and how to handle emotions and manage burnout. He also reflects on his own journey and shares his own struggles and areas of growth, including managing anger and learning to love oneself as a Christian.

Tune in to this inspiring episode on spiritual growth and discipleship in a secular age.

Episode page

I don’t know many books on unanswered prayer. That’s why Blake Long’s new book Taking No for an Answer: How to Respond When God Says No to Our Prayers is so necessary.

Episode Links

Episode page at DashHouse.com

Links Mentioned

I love books. I suppose I’m sometimes prone to think that a particular book I’ve read recently is one of the most important books and that everyone needs to read it.

But I’m not exaggerating when I say that about The Thrill of Orthodoxy by Trevin Wax. It really is one of the most important books written in the past couple of years.

Episode Links

Episode page at DashHouse.com

In Good Time is not another book on how to use your time better. Instead, Michel wants to reimagine our relationship with time. She wants to help us let go of time anxiety by embracing new habits like receive, wait, enjoy, and remember.

Episode Links

Episode page at DashHouse.com

We hear a lot of advice about how to grow spiritually. But what actions will make the biggest difference?

According to one study, reading the Bible is the number one action you can take to grow. “When it comes to reading the Bible, hands down, this is the input goal that has a direct impact on the total score of all the output goals, or discipleship attributes,” writes Daniel Im in his book No Silver Bullets, reflecting on a study by Lifeway Research.

I’m glad that George Guthrie has written A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better.

Episode Links

Episode page at DashHouse.com

I’m always excited to see a new resource explaining the value of liturgy, especially one that focuses on helping people with a low-church background to appreciate liturgy.

That’s why I’m grateful to see Earth Filled with Heaven: Finding Life in Liturgy, Sacraments, and other Ancient Practices of the Church, written by Aaron Damiani. Damiani knows what it’s like to move from a low church background to begin to appreciate liturgy, so he’s able to help people like me.

Episode Links

Episode page at DashHouse.com

Check out the book on Amazon.

Singing is a big deal for Christians.

It’s “one of the most repeated commands in Holy Scripture,” according to Jim Thompson, author of Sing Loud, Die Happy: An Exploration of How God's Gift of Song Is Meant to Change Us. “It’s right up there with ‘believe’ and ‘do not fear.’” It’s so important that Martin Luther said, “Next to theology, I give to music the highest place and the greatest honor.”

And yet I’m not sure that many of us have given much thought to why singing matters to us as Christians.

That’s why I’m Thompson wrote this book.

Episode Links

Episode page at DashHouse.com

Check out the book on Amazon.

Since starting the Gospel for Life podcast, I’ve interviewed a couple of dozen people. This episode’s guest is my favorite so far.

Charlene Dash is a gospel-integrated nutrition coach She supports women experiencing setbacks in health and fitness as they gain competence, strength, freedom, and joy in their nutrition, movement, and living.

Char is a Revelation Wellness group instructor and is also certified with Precision Nutrition. And she also happens to be my wife.

In this episode, Char talks about how and why to care for our bodies as part of the Christian life.