Life Around "The Fire"

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Hunger is rising for a faith that runs deeper than services and schedules. We talk candidly about why programs alone can’t sustain a soul, why so many leaders end up burned out, and how true power flows when character is shaped in God’s presence. Using 1 Samuel as our guide, we slow down to the real pace of formation hidden inside a narrative that spans centuries, not minutes. Those quiet stretches—when nothing seems to happen—are where leaders decide whether to rely on hustle or learn to be carried by the Spirit.

Saul’s story becomes a sober mentor. He tastes the thrill of anointing, prophesies with boldness, and then hides among the baggage because fear still rules his heart. Later, pressed by people scattering and timelines slipping, he takes the sacrifice into his own hands and loses what could have been a lasting legacy. We unpack the gap between gifting and character, the seduction of people-pleasing, and the cost of rushing God’s order. The takeaway is clear: gifts can open doors, but only character—formed in God’s presence—can carry the weight of leadership without breaking.

We share practical ways to build what lasts: prioritize presence over production, welcome private testing before public collapse, practice waiting with prepared action, and measure fruit by transformed lives rather than busy calendars. For pastors, entrepreneurs, team leads, and anyone responsible for others, this is a call back to the Source. Listen for a prayer of healing and restoration for those wounded by burnout or disillusionment, and an invitation to re-enter community with renewed strength.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who leads, and leave a review to help others find these conversations. Your story might be the encouragement someone else needs today.

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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A nation on the brink of change, a community under siege, and a leader torn between the fear of people and the fear of God—this conversation journeys through 1 Samuel 10–13 to uncover why character, not charisma, determines the future. We explore Israel’s move from judges to monarchy and why the desire to look like other nations exposed deeper heart issues. When Nahash threatened Jabesh Gilead with humiliation, the crisis revealed the danger of life on the fringe and the power of unity in covenant community.

We trace Saul’s early promise—prophetic signs, the Spirit’s empowering, and a new heart—alongside the cracks that later defined his reign: fear, impatience, disobedience, jealousy, and a habit of prioritizing public opinion over God’s commands. These are not ancient relics; they’re modern leadership pressures. We talk candidly about how gifting can lift you into visibility while undealt-with issues quietly erode trust, and why waiting on God’s timing is not weakness but wisdom. Had Israel waited, they would have aligned with God’s choice of David—a leader after God’s heart—rather than accelerating a solution that mirrored their divided desires.

This episode offers practical counsel for leaders and communities: stay connected to the center of fellowship where character is forged, build rhythms of confession and counsel, measure success by faithfulness not noise, and resist the lure to trade holiness for hype. We close in prayer, asking for a generation of leaders whose private lives are stronger than their platforms and whose power serves love. If this resonates, share it with someone who leads, subscribe for the next deep dive on Saul and David, and leave a review with one insight you’re taking forward. Your voice helps this message reach those who need it most.

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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Hungry for a faith that feels alive, guided, and grounded in peace? We dive into covenant alignment as a relationship that reshapes daily life—less striving, more trusting—and learn how seeking first the kingdom reframes every choice, habit, and plan. Instead of chasing clarity, we begin with obedience, stepping when God says step, and discovering that direction often arrives mid-journey. Along the way, we talk about how character outlasts speed, why boundaries protect what we love, and how to build simple rhythms of prayer and Scripture that actually bear fruit over time.

We also open up a needed mindset shift: this walk isn’t a list of can’ts; it’s an invitation to participate in what heaven honors. That includes the Sabbath and the biblical feasts, not as salvation requirements but as relational rhythms that align us with God’s timing. Our Sukkot story brings the point home with a tangible moment of healing and a deeper experience of peace—a reminder that resistance can be an invitation to breakthrough when our will aligns with God’s. If you’ve ever felt like you’re fighting battles you didn’t need to fight, this conversation offers a reset and a way back to the straight and narrow without shame.

You’ll hear practical guidance on self-awareness, choosing better inputs, and avoiding the detours that lead to unnecessary warfare. We reflect on Abraham’s obedience, the prodigal story’s overlooked older brother, and the simple courage it takes to say, “If Your presence doesn’t go with me, I won’t go.” The heart is clear: become a person who is blessed to be a blessing, walking in the works prepared for you with integrity, patience, and joy.

If this conversation encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a fresh start, and leave a review so others can find it. Have questions or stories to share? Email [email protected]—we’d love to hear from you.

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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What if the battles wearing you down aren’t yours to fight—but signals that your life is out of alignment with the covenant you’re already part of? We open a new series with teacher Stephen Crews to explore covenant alignment: a clear, scriptural path from striving to authority, from constant warfare to steady union with God.

We start by defining covenant as a binding oneness—one plus one equals one—and alignment as active agreement with God’s will. Stephen traces the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15, where God alone walks the blood path, pledging to fulfill his promises by his faithfulness, not our effort. That scene becomes the root of Christian identity for Jew and Gentile alike, the reason Paul calls us Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise. Forgetting our roots breeds confusion and fuels replacement theology; remembering them anchors our practices in a story bigger than our timelines. If authority follows agreement, then misalignment often explains the friction we feel: thoughts that contradict truth, habits that dilute devotion, and speech that reduces faith to performance.

From there, we move to Genesis 22 and the sobering clarity of worship as obedience. Abraham says “Here I am,” takes the next step without seeing the full staircase, and trusts God to raise the promise if needed. That’s avodah—worship as service, surrender, and work offered to God. The thread runs to Jesus in John 13: knowing his identity and destiny, he takes the towel and serves on the way to the cross. Real authority flows from yielded identity, not noise. The question becomes practical: are we fighting battles that alignment could resolve?

We close with simple, tested ways to realign: calibrate your inner world with Scripture, speak what God speaks, prune distractions that steal attention, and order time around presence and faithfulness. Let the blood of Jesus define your boundary and belonging. Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, then take the next faithful step. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs clarity in the fight, and leave a review to help others find the series. What area of your life will you realign this week?

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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A ruthless demand to “gouge the right eye” sounds like distant history, but the siege of Jabesh Gilead reveals something uncomfortably current: the enemy still bargains for small concessions that cost us our sight in the battles that matter. We walk through 1 Samuel 11, unpack who Nahash the Ammonite was, and explain why the right eye carried military, social, and spiritual weight in the ancient Near East. That lens opens up a larger theme—Israel’s recurring loop of revelation, drift, oppression, and rescue—and why so many of us feel trapped in the same pattern today.

From there, we zoom out to the promise Jeremiah foresaw and Jesus fulfilled: a new covenant written on hearts, not just on stone. Forgiveness is the doorway, but indwelling life is the house. We talk candidly about addiction, the futility of white-knuckled willpower, and the moment surrender stops being defeat and becomes transfer of power. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just come upon us for a moment; he lives within, teaching us to wait for power rather than rush into treaties with temptation.

You’ll hear practical, grounded steps to break cycles: ask for time the way Jabesh did, wait for help instead of grabbing the first escape, and choose the pace of peace over the hurry of fear. Prayer, simple obedience, quiet trust, and grateful worship become daily weapons, not religious chores. Refuse the “just one eye” deals. Keep your sight, keep your depth perception, and keep your future. Greater is the One within you than the pressure around you, and the same power that raised Jesus now strengthens your next choice.

If this conversation helped you see your own battle more clearly, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s fighting a cycle, and leave a review so others can find the show. What treaty do you need to refuse this week?

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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*** Editors note: David refered to Nahash as being a Philistine King. He was an Ammonite Ruler, not a Philistine King. *** Pressure makes bad deals look reasonable. We slow down to a pace of peace and turn two vivid stories—Jabesh-Gilead under siege in 1 Samuel 11 and Samson’s collapse in Judges 16—like a diamond, catching fresh angles on compromise, courage, and restoration. Nahash’s demand to gouge the right eye wasn’t only cruelty; it was strategy to erase vision and disable resistance. The elders’ unexpected move—asking for seven days—shows how time, community, and clear heads can keep us from signing away what we can’t afford to lose. Across the valley, Samson’s strength doesn’t vanish in a moment; it leaks through repeated choices until one sentence gives everything away. Then comes the chilling line: he did not know the Lord had left him. And yet, even in captivity, hair begins to grow.

We talk plainly about how choices and words set momentum. Your speech either builds a future or mortgages it. Your pace either makes room for wisdom or hands the pen to panic. Reading scripture with a hermeneutic eye—what it meant then and how it lands now—we surface practical tactics for spiritual warfare that don’t rely on bluster: buy time before binding decisions, get your people around you, refuse relief that demands permanent harm, and practice truth-telling even when it costs. We also name hope where it’s hardest to see. Restoration rarely explodes; it accumulates. Disciplines return. Discernment sharpens. The hand of God steadies those who turn back, and sometimes the final chapters accomplish more than the early victories ever did.

If you’re feeling besieged or ashamed, this conversation offers a map: delay the treaty, call for help, guard your words, and trust that what feels lost can grow again. Listen, share it with someone who needs courage today, and if it helped you, follow the show, leave a review, and tell us where you’re choosing peace over pressure.

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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What if the real contest in your life isn’t busyness or burnout, but worship—what you give your attention to, and who gets to shape your desires? We open Scripture to 1 Samuel 11 and Judges 16 and trace how Israel’s story reveals the quiet currents that steer a soul: subtle influences, cultural pressure, and the unseen powers that promise fullness but leave us empty. From Samson’s slow drift to a people galvanized by God’s Spirit, we unpack how allegiance gets formed in tiny choices, and how those choices either cloud the heart or clear the way for courage, clarity, and peace.

We talk about being grafted into Israel’s promises through Jesus, why collective worship hosts God’s presence, and how the Holy Spirit fills without taking life while other spirits take without truly giving. Along the way, we confront modern materialism, name the lure of counterfeit comforts, and explain why attention is the gateway to affection and allegiance. If you’ve felt far from God, too compromised to turn back, or trapped by patterns that started as coping and morphed into control, this conversation offers a practical path home: repentance as reorientation, habits that aim your gaze at God, and community that keeps your compass true.

You’ll leave with language and tools to guard your attention, anchor your identity, and discern influence that leads to life. We also share a heartfelt prayer for those ready to realign and receive the fullness only Jesus gives. If this speaks to you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review so others can find the message. Then tell us: where is your attention leading you today?

Support the show

Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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What if the warning you’re tempted to ignore is actually an act of mercy? We walk through 1 Samuel 10 and the moment Israel traded a theocracy for a visible king, only to find Saul hiding among the baggage on coronation day. The picture is vivid and painfully familiar: when comparison drives our choices, we crown the wrong kings and pay for it later. From Baal’s seductive promises to the modern pull of envy and entitlement, we unpack how desire, image, and insecurity collide—and why God’s red lights are gifts, not obstacles.

As we trace the story, we explore the deeper issue beneath the politics: a heart that longs to be like everyone else. Saul’s reluctance and Israel’s momentum expose the cost of ignoring obvious signs, yet the thread of grace remains unbroken. We confront the lie of being “too far gone” with the good news that the blood of Jesus doesn’t just cover sin—it removes it. That shift from mere forgiveness to remission reframes failure, restores dignity, and opens the path back to wisdom. Through honest reflection and a grounded, hopeful prayer, we point to a better King who gives himself for his people and teaches us to stop at the next red light before harm multiplies.

If you’ve barreled through boundaries, felt the sting of comparison, or wondered whether you can truly start over, this conversation meets you where you are. We share personal testimony, practical insight, and a call to weigh the unseen costs of our choices. Listen for a fresh vision of leadership, holiness, and the freedom that comes from fixing your eyes on Jesus rather than the crowd. If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope today, and leave a review to help others find the show.

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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What if your home life felt lighter, your marriage steadier, and your faith more alive—not by doing more, but by aligning your time with God’s? Stephen Crews joins us to trace a humble, hopeful path from the family dinner table to covenant alignment, sharing how Sabbath and the biblical feasts became the backbone of his spiritual growth, marriage, and parenting. His story moves from a loving childhood and long hours on the basketball court to an unexpected conversion and a marriage defined by extreme ownership, patient leadership, and simple, steady practices that invite the presence of God.

We dig into why attention shapes identity—beholding and becoming—and how small decisions compound into a life of peace. Stephen explains how honoring the Lord’s calendar isn’t about legalism; it’s about relationship and rhythm. He describes eight years of observing the feasts and the surprising ways God has met him, including a last-hour answer at Passover that still anchors his confidence. We talk about leading at home by example, learning prayer from a spouse, and why a weekly Sabbath can quiet the noise, strengthen unity, and make room for genuine rest. If the times feel darker, this conversation offers a bright, practical map: realignment over hustle, presence over performance, and a household faith that actually works.

If this resonates, share it with a friend who’s craving a saner pace, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review to help others find the show. What’s one rhythm you’ll try this week—Sabbath rest, a shared meal, or your first feast?

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Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.

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Attention builds identity. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with Stephen Crews as we explore what it really means to “behold and become.” We start with Psalm 27:4—one thing, one focus, one desire—and trace how a lifestyle of beholding Jesus forms habits of mind and heart that outlast hype and hurry. Stephen shares concrete rhythms for silence, Scripture, and prayer, including a simple image for quieting mental noise: let the day’s thoughts pass like groceries on a belt until the line clears and you can listen. The goal isn’t chasing experiences; it’s cultivating relationship—steady, honest, and deeply transformative.

From there, we dig into grace as power, not permission. Drawing on 2 Corinthians 12 and Titus 2, we unpack how grace meets us in weakness, trains our desires, and enables real change. Sanctification becomes a partnership: God works in us as we align daily choices to His presence. We talk fruit of the Spirit as the public evidence of private abiding—love, patience, and self-control that others can “pick” in real life, especially under pressure. Along the way, we get practical about boundaries, fasting, and the slow work of renewing the mind so Scripture moves from page to personal encounter.

We end with a call to apprenticeship: become like the Teacher by living with Him, adopting His practices, and staying resilient when you stumble. If attention is destiny, this is how to aim yours: guard your quiet, keep your focus, and let grace do what effort alone never could. If this resonates, share it with someone who’s hungry for a steady way forward, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review to help others find the podcast.

Support the show

Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved! 
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life. 
Shalom to you and your home.