Jacobs Ladder Podcast

By David Hilgendorf (Christian, Messianic, Jewish)

Dave Hilgendorf from DaveHilgendorf.com interviews men from all walks of life who are choosing daily to be led by the Holy Spirit and live out their Christian faith at their work and because of that t... more

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FAQs about Jacobs Ladder Podcast:

How many episodes does Jacobs Ladder Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 247 episodes available.

Jacobs Ladder Podcast episodes:

April 22, 2019Mental Health for Men with Kenny Luck-CMAW047
What You'll Hear:

What the Bible calls our inner being is the matrix of what makes up how we think, our character, our affections, we live out of our heart

That inner being has a view of self, God, and others and sometimes has wounds

The relative health of what's on your inside will get projected to your life, relationships and profession

To the degree pyschology is a truth process, it's good and helpful.

The truest thing about us is what God says is true about us

We're created by God, we're created for God, and we're going to God

The mental health of the average U.S. Christian man is not so good

There's been a disintegration of family and family connection and fragmentation

We have 25 yr old 12 year olds, who have used their influence and power to hurt women and children

We need more Dads in the home to provide more love and boundaries for their kids

The solution is right in front of us, the courage to acknowledge it is just not there

The world wants an outside in approach (gun control, education, drug use), the Bible has an inside out approach: an encounter with a living God

Men are the failed brand in our culture and depression is a huge issue

Our culture is down on men and up on women

Men retreat into fantasy and porn and gaming because they feel sad

The majority of people committing suicide are men, not women, that is the devil's endgame-death

To the degree that medication helps a person engage in reality, God, and function it's a good thing

A medicated person still has a character and still needs to make a choice

You need Christ in your life to mentor you into spiritual and pyschological health

The expectation in the West is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and we believe the fantasy narrative about how life is supposed to be and our expectations are idealized

Jesus said that in this world you're going to have trouble

Most people in the West try to build their lives to escape trouble

If Jesus is an accessory to my life, that's not the Christian life

Suicide is a huge problem and is demonic, it's rooted in believing a lie

22 service men and women every day are taking their own lives

Suicide has accelerated recently partly because of the fragmentation created by social media

We have to let God answer the big question of life of who we are

We're created by God, we're created for God, and we're going to God

God says, in-between now and then, get to know Me, and let Me show you how to live

Go to www.EveryManMinistries.com, on Twitter kenny_luck
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44min
April 14, 2019 Tribute to My Dad-CMAW046
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4min
April 09, 2019Being Vulnerable with Raleigh Sadler-CMAW045
What You'll Hear:

Raleigh wasn't growing up in a Christian household. He was invited to a vacation Bible School and they had cookies

He later prayed to receive Christ at 8 years old, though he doubted it for years

He is the founder and Exec Director of Let My People Go, a non-profit dedicated to stopping human trafficking which is the exploitation of vulnerability for commercial gain

He had his dream job as a campus pastor in West Virginia when they phased out his job. At the same time, God was calling him to be involved in the issue of human trafficking

A great way to find what God is doing is to seek out those most vulnerable

Our churches often reflect us, our socio-economic background. We like to be comfortable

It's easy to love those who are clean and aren't dealing with trauma.

God is calling us to love those of His choosing, not those of our choosing

We can seek out those most vulnerable in the workplace, just like in our high school cafeteria

If we want to get to know someone, we have to actually sit down, and hear their story on their terms

If we do this, it will broaden and will deepen our dependence on the Gospel

Vulnerability is not easy, but it's worth it

When we talk to people and are being transparent in a way where we're actually risking something, people open up

Men have been taught that emotional constipation is the norm and something to which we should aspire

If we focus on self protection, we'll never be free to protect others

The Pharisees used their religiosity as a mask and hid behind it, as Christians we often hide behind our own masks and we aren't vulnerable

If you're not vulnerable with God, you're not going to be vulnerable with others

There's a big difference between the theology of the glory and the theology of the cross

Human trafficking can happen anywhere because there are vulnerable people anywhere

Human trafficking includes sex trafficking, but also labor and domestic servitude

Debt bondage involves a trafficker making someone owe them something and continues to increase the debt

Your brokenness could ultimately point someone to wholeness

Go to www.thevulnerablebook.com or www.lmpgnetwork.org
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38min
March 24, 2019Healing Charlotte with Greg Jackson-CMAW044
What You'll Hear:

Greg became a Christian at a young age with the guidance of his mother.

He later spent a year in jail, where he learned more about God

He reverted to his old ways, and about 3 years ago he rededicated his life to Christ and got baptized and hasn't looked back

He's been rapping since age 12 and was rapping for the world.

His grandmother said you better have a backup plan, so he went to the Art Institute of New York and worked at several restaurants in Charlotte as a sous chef

On September 23, 2016, Keith Lamont Scott was shot by Charlotte police. He had some mental issues and didn't take his medicine that day.

Greg saw young men and women standing on top of cop cars and throwing rocks at police. Police were shooting tear gas.

Greg wanted to show his younger brother how to act with self control

The next day he went downtown with his friend. People were doing a silent protest, which Greg was against along with riots.

They led the group to march to the police department and protested for 7 days.

A police officer extended a hand shake to him and invited him to learn more about police training.

Greg met Sheriff McFadden who was also an African American. He asked Greg 3 questions 1. Do you know what justice is? 2. Have you ever seen justice? 3. Do you know what justice looks like if you've seen it. He answered no and things changed.

A protestor was shot by another protestor.

Greg realized he hadn't sowed any seeds in his community and didn't deserve to be there protesting

He and a friend started Heal Charlotte to build bridges in the community

They went to a transparency workshop, created by the CMPD.

They created The Constructive Conversational Training to help officers. 75 officers went through the training.

Police started looking at people as advocates for the community

They've had a Thanksgiving dinner and started an after school program in the neighborhood Greg lived in with the help of his property manager

"There are heavenly creatures in this city that have been connected to the vine of God"

They've had a 17% crime decrease in his neighborhood

They have a CMPD Tuesday day where the cops come and talk to the kids

His community feels safe and they feel served

Emergency calls have gone from 77 to 7 a week

Their new mission is a place based organization that focuses on neighborhood revitalization

They have a heal a home project

They want to be allies and mentors and servants of the Kingdom

In Charlotte there's a church on every corner, but they need more servants in the community

The church is responsible and has a duty to walk with the imperfect

The denominations and separations is hurting us

Greg loves cross worship, the blessing of Abraham is upon us due to the level of our faith not our skin color

Identity yourself by the impact you make in the world and what you do for the Lord

African-Americans have a wall that doesn't allow others to get over it. Everyone should put their wall down. There needs to be a trust so people can work together. We're trying to save ourselves from something, when we all need each other.

I had to trust in the Lord that He would not lead me astray, and that helped me trust a lot of people

We can no longer plan to help somebody from a birds-eye view

Everybody is impatient and inconsistent from the black-side to the white-side

Contact www.healcharlotte.org
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47min
March 13, 2019Stewardship with Bill McGee-CMAW043
What You'll Hear:

Growing up in a traditional church in a small town, Bill just thought about his faith as something you do. When he went to college, through FCA he heard about Jesus as someone to have a relationship with instead of someone who wants to have their thumb on you

The atmosphere his daughter is now in at college is very different and against Christianity

Bill took a job with IBM. The more he hung around people who were more concerned with lifestyle and money the more he became like them. He was compromising his beliefs and grew distant from the Lord.

His wife started praying for him a lot. Things started to not work out for him.

He and his wife agreed he should leave that job and he became blacklisted, and so he started his own consulting business

God brought to him men for him to minister to, and it kept growing. Eventually Bill's pastor asked him to join the staff at their church as Men's Ministry pastor.

Stewardship is much more than just money

In past human history, they had to spend all of their time just getting by. We now have much more free time.

TV, the internet, entertainment and social media consume our free time

We need to be intentional and plan our time for the things that are high priority

"Everyone will find time to do what they want to do, and if they don't they'll find an excuse"

The Momentum is a grander scale of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University where the whole church goes through the concepts

If you can get the church to talk about money, you can get them to talk about anything

Time and money affect our relationships more than anything

Dave Ramsey gets in your face and tells it like it is

A tithe is an act of worship

God can't have your heart if He doesn't have your money

Money is where the natural and the supernatural come together

If you worry more about how you're going to spend your money than how you're going to spend time with God, there's a problem

God holds our relationships together like a skewer holds an apple together that's cut into slices

If the husband isn't leading well, the wife won't respond well

So many couples put children above their marriage, but children should be third in priority behind God and the spouse

Your children are learning from your example

Every man wants to win, but if you don't have other men holding you accountable, it's going to be a whole lot harder

If we could do it by ourselves, we would have done it already

You have to be OK with the fact that there are some people you just don't need to be friends with

Be straight with a man and tell someone you like what you see in his character and ask him to start meeting in a group regularly

Don't ever give up on the calling God has placed on your life, write it down, and start praying

Contact [email protected]
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53min
February 23, 2019Fortitude Amidst Disasters with Dr. Jamie Aten-CMAW042
What You'll Hear:

Dr. Aten grew up in a small farming community. He was baptized at age 8. His faith didn't become his own until college.

His college professor asked him why he was a Christian and he didn't have an answer

He was given a bunch of books starting with "Mere Christianity" and he ended up with frequent talks with his professor

As a result, he was mentored in his faith by an agnostic.

He continued that tradition of meeting weekly

He is the founder and Exec Director of Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College

He worked as a minister and got his PhD in Counseling Psychology

He went to the Univ of Southern Mississippi where Brett Favre graduated and Jimmy Buffet dropped out

He helped out with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and came to Wheaton College and in 2 years was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer.

As a child, he went through a tornado and took from that experience that everything went back to normal after a disaster. Through cancer, it's not just about surviving the disaster, you have to learn how to survive survivorship

SUV is a spontaneous unintended volunteer who can do more harm than good. A tech said to him "God only tests the strong, at least you don't have it as bad as when I had cancer".

Show up and be present, your presence will say more than any words you could ever say

Don't give bumper sticker theology sayings

Be patient and honor the person's struggle in that moment

"The suffering we're going through is part of the Fall"

There is a place for justice, but there is great power in forgiveness.

"We can either let our pain divide us or unite us. Often times when we're struggling we isolate ourselves from others but that's really when we need to let others into our lives."

"By telling our story to others, it helps us gain master over that trauma or event" but make sure it's with something who will honor you

We should forgive ourselves for mistakes we've made in our own lives

Sometimes we don't want to give up our survivor guilt because we'll have to acknowledge the shame in our lives

Normal is a setting on a washing machine

There is virtue in resilience and endurance but fortitude is something else.

Resilience is trying to get on the other side of adversity to get back to life, while spiritual fortitude allows us to find life even amidst of the suffering.

Spiritual fortitude is our ability to metabilize suffering and still try to do good even when we are beaten down and the odds are against us. Spiritual fortitude helps us to better live in the present

Embrace humility during times of adversity. This will be a blessing to us and to those who walk beside us.

Contact www.jamieaten.com

Links on survivor guilt: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hope-resilience/201901/resilience-and-suffering
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52min
February 11, 2019Spirit-Filled Jesus with Mark Driscoll-CMAW041
What You'll Hear:

Mark Driscoll was born in North Dakota and grew up in Seattle, WA. His Mom was a born again Catholic and loved Jesus but Mark did not.

Mark's girlfriend gave him a Bible and he started reading it when he went to college.

In his Freshman year, he was on a men's retreat on a walk by himself and God spoke to him audibly and told him to marry Grace, preach the Bible, train men, and plant churches.

He's been married 26 years and they have 5 kids

He pastors at Trinity Church in Scottsdale, AZ

Don't chase signs and wonders, chase Jesus

The Bible is the most widely translated, most widely published and least read book there is

"I'm in the Bible every day because I like it"

"I can hear from God through His Word any time I want"

"You cannot consider one minute in God's Word as a wasted minute"

"Jesus' life is admired by Christians and non-Christians, the question is can His life be experienced by God's people?"

"Sometimes the Trinity is portrayed as the Father is the mean one, Jesus is the nice one and the Holy Spirit is the weird one... actually they live together in relationship and it's the Holy Spirit who empowers the life of Jesus"

God wants us to appreciate the life of Jesus and to experience it

There are several misconceptions about Jesus including that Jesus is an alien which keep us from modeling our lives after Jesus

"Most people see Jesus as perfect but don't understand how He overcame temptation"

Clark Kent pretended to be like us, but Jesus truly was like us

"When you understand Jesus relates to you, it becomes a lot easier for you to relate to Jesus"

Most of the creeds skip over Jesus' entire life. Jesus had to learn and grow because He set aside the continuous use of His divine attributes

There's a difference between sin and trial and error

Jesus experienced 12 different lanes of relationships as we do

It's very important for us to forgive as Jesus did, it pushes the demonic out of your life

Men have a performance mentality at their work

God said He was pleased with Jesus before He did anything

Our relationship with God starts with His approval and then we work from that not for that

Work is worship. Jesus spent the first 30 years of His life swinging a hammer with His Dad. This was sacred work because He was doing the will of God

Doing your job well is part of your ministry

If we are faithful with the work that we do, God super-naturally open opportunities for us to share our faith

Sometimes people are looking for our character before they want us to hear our testimony

2 Cor 5:21 is one of Mark's favorite verses

See God as a relational father who loves and enjoys His children

Contact www.markdriscoll.org for free Bible teaching
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43min
January 27, 2019A Christian Man at Work with Dave Hilgendorf-CMAW040
Replay of "Real Men Connect" Podcast interview, used with Permission What You'll Hear:

Dave grew up in a home with a loving family that faithfully went to church every Sunday, but faith was considered a private matter

In College Dave continued to go to church but led a sinful lifestyle

He got a great job as an engineer at General Mills, but wasn't satisfied with his job or relationships and quit his job to try and get rich quick in real estate flipping homes

8 years later Dave hit a low point, divorced and broke, and was invited to a church where he met Kari. He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, married Kari, adopted her 2 girls, declared bankruptcy and began a new job as an engineer again

He struggled with what it meant to live out his faith through his work

The book "God has a dream for you" by Bill Godwin inspired him to write the book "Jesus is at Work"

Most people don't think of their work in spiritual terms but instead just as a way to make money

Going to college with a habit of not talking about and thinking about God's will for his life was not good

Having joy at work starts with being close to God and reminding yourself of your true purpose

Joy is a consistent attitude of gratitude and is different than happiness which fluctuates daily

God values work, one of the first things He did with Adam and Eve was to give them work

It's not up to us to decide whether or not our work matters, it's up to God

Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller says common grace is God blessing everybody, sinner and saint. No matter what work you do you are part of God's common grace to mankind

God's purpose for our life and our work is for us to love Him and love others

We should bring our faith and our life into every part of our life

God's assignment is specific things God wants us to do in our work

His general assignment for our work is the same for all of us, including excelling, loving others, having integrity, sharing the good news

God is not going to be mad at us if we don't do these assignments, but if we do them we will have the abundant life He wants for us

We should avoid comparing ourselves to others at work because this can lead to both envy and judgment

If we focus too much on our hobbies or our retirement it can prevent us from being present at our work and miss opportunities God has for us at our job

We should be positive about our work when we can and when we are feeling negative try to keep our mouth shut

If you're stuck between a job and a dream, take steps in that direction but don't step off the boat until you're at the dock

We should let God be our promoter by trusting in Him rather than trying to make something happen, be patient. The test is after the fact whether you can sincerely that what happened was from God

Biggest mistake was going bankrupt

The one attitude I would change in men with their work is apathy

Next big thing if couldn't fail would be to write a high impact fiction book

Greatest force in the universe is a man's sex drive, God did that for a reason, if we channel that energy within the boundaries God gave us we will be blessed and not cursed

Still struggle with sadness/discontent/being judgmental

Contact go to http://davehilgendorf.com
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48min
January 14, 20193 Worldviews with Bill Brown-CMAW039
What You'll Hear:

Bill became a Christian during his senior year of high school when he got invited to a speaker and some pizza

He majored in math and wanted to become an astronaut

He got married

He started teaching theology at Bryan College

He later went to become President at Bryan and then Cedarville University

The best part was the ongoing discipleship of the students

Most churches don't prepare students well for what they're going to experience at university

Many students either walk away from their faith completely or they begin to compartmentalize their faith

There are some great ministries on campuses that lead students to Christ

Universities will often hire people who are against religion

The biggest challenge for Christian universities is the cost of education

We all have a worldview, or you could say a worldview has us

God has put eternity in our hearts

We get messages about worldview constantly, so we need to be thinking about what those messages are saying, and respond appropriately

All worldviews are in 1 of 3 groups, and they answer 4 ultimate questions 1. Where did everything come from? 2. Why am I here? 3. How am I supposed to live 4. What happens when we die?

You have to answer these questions

Naturalism says there is nothing spiritual and includes atheism

Theism says there is one personal eternal God who created the universe, and includes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Transcendentalism says everything is spiritual and everyone is reincarnated, and includes Hinduism, new age, and in movies like Star Wars

Technology has dominated trends in worldviews, including pornography, sexting, and gender identity

Young people come the conclusion that nothing matters except themselves

A big trend is apethy

Post-modernism is a reaction against the modern world and says science has been used as a weapon

It's morphed because of technology, it says there is no absolute truth and no ultimate meaning

The attitude now is "I just don't care", there's nothing you can do to make someone love or to care

We should appeal to the fact that everyone is made in God's image

We need to rely on the Holy Spirit with speaking with people that don't care

We need to reflect God with our lives by living a life of joy and hope, reaching out to serve and treat people with dignity

Our lives should generate a spark of interest from others

We need to know not just what we're saved from but what we're saved for

The Colson Fellows Program allows participants to learn about a Christian worldview through intensive study over a year

Contact [email protected]
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41min
December 29, 2018Being Dangerous with Goodness with Kenny Luck-CMAW038
What You'll Hear:

Kenny was the last of 7 children. His Dad was in the military and was like a ghost

Kenny felt ignored and was on a broken quest for recognition and visibility

By age 17 Kenny made a lot of money and had friends but was very empty. He came home from a party and prayed a prayer of desperation and said to Jesus "I need to see you", he felt an incredible presence in his mind and heart of acceptance and had a burning bush moment. 2 months later he went to UCLA, started attending a Bible study and never looked back

That kind of encounter is available to all believers

In College he got involved in Campus Crusade for Christ and had great men discipling me. He joined the staff at Campus Crusade for Christ working with Josh McDowell, then went into the marketplace and ended up CEO of a company while attending Saddleback Church and then became a lay pastor

He was Men's pastor at Saddleback from 2000-2014

We need to trust God with timing of job changes, He doesn't wear our watch

If a man wants to go into full-time ministry, often he thinks falsely it will be easier and he'll feel better in ministry vs a position in the marketplace

We need to look in the mirror and check ourselves and get counsel

Your life in God will never outperform your view of God

God has you here for a purpose. Your first purpose at work is to be productive. A big mistake is when a Christian's work product doesn't reflect the God they want to talk about

The best employees are the ones who act like an owner. They care as much about the company as those who founded it. God is then pleased and management is pleased.

The Gospel in deed makes a path for you to share the Gospel in word

We are in a spiritual battle when it comes to our marriage and there are forces against our marriage

Our marriage needs to be protected and defended by two people

Kenny wrote his book "Dangerous Good" because men want to do great things and be dangerous with goodness like a superhero. After realizing they can't be a superhero they try be dangerous in bad ways, the rip-off version of an identify for men

Jesus broke the rules for the male culture of His time

Well tell the stories when we take risk

The life we think is risky, such as with sex or money or doing unethical things, these types of risk make a man selfish and horrible at relationships. Jesus said to take risks on loving Him and loving people, and then our lives will be filled with purpose and meaning

Jesus said He came so we would have life and to the full

We're made by God, we're made for God, and we're going back to God. If we get those 3 things we're going to be living a full life

The truest thing about you is what God says is true about you

Say Yes to a relationship with God and yes to a relationship with other believers, God will take you the rest of the way

We can have a revolution of identity as a child of the King and then a revolution of being a shining light of men who are dangerous with goodness as in the book of Acts

When God wants to do something big He starts with the men

The church has the women and kids around the world. It's waiting on the men.

The end is near and there's an urgency we need to live with

Don't miss your moment in history

go to www.EveryManMinistries.com
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53min

FAQs about Jacobs Ladder Podcast:

How many episodes does Jacobs Ladder Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 247 episodes available.