Episode Summary: The resurrection reminds us that the gospel is not just about our personal, private salvation and growth in holiness (which is called the two-chapter gospel.) Such a gospel leads to separating from the lost, forgetting their inherent value as those created in God’s image, and devaluing the (common grace) contributions they make to our culture. In contrast, the resurrection of Christ’s physical body reminds us that the true gospel story has four chapters: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Christ-followers are called to be part of the greatest mission in the history of the world, Christ’s renewal of our corner of planet earth to bring about the righteousness and flourishing that God intends for each part of his creation. This episode seeks to capture our hearts with the greatness of the mission our Lord has assigned to us.

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. Celebrate the fact that your calling from Christ is to part of the biggest enterprise in the history of the world—Christ’s overthrow of Satan, sin, and death and establishment of his kingdom of righteousness over nook and cranny of earth.
2. The Council of Nicaea countered the heresy that Christ’s resurrection was just spiritual by insisting that Orthodox Christianity believes in the resurrection of the body. It also decreed that all towns with cathedrals build hospitals. How are these two decisions related to one another?
3. How does the two-chapter gospel deny what Jesus said was his reason for coming to earth when he quoted Isaiah 61, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor”? 

Resources Used 

• All Things New by Hugh Whelchel
• The Call of the Jericho Road by Tim Keller
• Discipling Men’s Hearts Through Kingdom Theology by Gary Yagel (doctoral dissertation)

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Episode Summary: Though we associate Jesus’ arrival on a donkey with children and palm branches, those actually with Jesus who shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” saw his arrival as the coming of the promised Messianic King who would fully and finally overthrow their enemies. This episode is devoted to better understanding the nature of Christ’s kingship and kingdom, which was not only misunderstood by the crowd and his disciples but is misunderstood by many Christians today.  

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What stood out to you from David’s foreshadowing, Ezekiel’s prophecy or Jesus’ triumphal entry that emphasized our calling to fight Satan?
2. What stood out to you from David’s foreshadowing, Ezekiel’s prophecy or Jesus’ triumphal entry that emphasized our calling to battle our sinful nature and strive for godly attitudes?
3. What stood out to you from David’s foreshadowing, Ezekiel’s prophecy or Jesus’ triumphal entry that emphasized our calling to join in Jesus restoration of everything on planet earth broken by sin?

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Episode Summary: Since it is the nature of men to want to win in everything they do, Christian Christ-followers want to win as disciples. Paul defines this success as reaching spiritual maturity, but such a target on the wall can be nebulous. In I Samuel 24, however, David displays three striking marks of spiritual maturity that give us a clear example to emulate. This episode explains these three marks of spiritual maturity.

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. How can you better follow David’s example of listening to a biblically trained conscience even in the face of overpowering circumstances and peer pressure?
2. If you think about it, Satan’s revolt and Adam and Eve’s sin were a defiance of God’s authority. How can Christians oppose injustice by those in authority but guard against movements that play upon sinful envy or rebellion against authority?
3. What do David’s words to Saul teach you about how to forgive one who is unjustly harming us?

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Episode Summary. Many of us haven’t thought much about protecting our families, not just physically but emotionally. Feelings of depression, worry, bitterness, worthlessness, and fear can devastate our loved ones. One of the most eye-opening questions a husband can ask his wife is, “Are their fears that sometimes grip your heart?” This episode is designed to help us know how to cope with our own fears and know how to help our kids and wives deal with theirs. We will sit at the feet of David and see what he learned when terror filled his heart because he was captured and taken to the king of Gath—the ruler of the hometown of Goliath whose head David had cut off.

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. Although the pressure point you have faced may not be fear but another strong emotion, what can you learn from the first Psalm we studied, Psalm 56 about trusting God with the situation, the emotion in order to rest in God?
2. Notice that as David pens Psalm 34, which looks back on the terrifying experience of being captured by the Philistines, he voices intense determination in the very first verse, to bless the Lord at all times. How do you think his experience of being captured and rescued from Achish strengthened this determination?
3. What do you think of the idea that David’s invitation to everyone in Psalm 34, “taste and see that the Lord is good” is an excellent approach to evangelism. How might this idea shape our efforts to share Christ with those around us? 

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Episode Summary. Christians find universal comfort in knowing that the Bible never flatters its heroes but exposes their numerous flaws. Such honesty inspires us with hope because we know that we ourselves are deeply flawed. Such a hero was David who had big successes but even bigger failures. This episode provides encouragement for all of us as we see David succeeding bigtime, failing bigtime, but always getting back up after he falls. 

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. How is David typical of most Christian men?
2. Consider the three steps David took in Psalm 59. Why might these steps enable us all to pass the test of our faith when we face impossible situations?
3. David learned some hard lessons through his dishonesty, which cost the lives of the priestly families at Nob. Which of these lessons most stands out to you?
4. Has your sin hurt another so badly that you have trouble believing that Jesus’ blood can really wash it' away. If so, ask Jesus to help you. Remember, every person sitting beside you in church is a murderer because it was our sin that sent Jesus to the cross. 

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Episode Summary. Christian tradition records envy as one of the seven deadly sins, along with lust, greed, pride, gluttony, wrath, and laziness. God warns us, Envy makes the bones rot (Prov 14:30b). This episode examines how King Saul’s envy of David steadily eroded the health of his soul. It then examines how to attack four roots of envy that can grow in our hearts. 

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What new observations about competition, jealousy and envy stood out to you?
2. What stands out most to you about the way envy got control of Saul?
3. We observed four roots of envy: pride which wants to be exalted, low self-assurance that you are loved so you need peer respect too much, low self- esteem so you must prove yourself, and discontentment which makes you prone to wanting what others have. Which root concerns you most about your own life?

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Episode Summary. This episode examines the most famous friendship in the Bible the bond between Jonathan and David. We study their example to see how we can enjoy stronger brotherhood connections ourselves, because experiencing such brotherhood bonds has always been God’s intent, as Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 explains.  Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Resource Used for this Episode

• Got Your Back: Helping Christian Men Forge the Brotherhood Connections They Need
• Check 6 Wallet Card Pack 

 For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What stood out to you the most about Jonathan and David’s friendship?
2. What do you think of Stu Weber’s statement, “something inside us longs for someone to die with…someone to die beside…someone to lock step with. Another man with a heart like our own?” Have you ever had a friend like that?
3. What steps do you need to take to build or to maintain the kind of brotherhood connection David and Jonathan had and Jesus modeled?
4. What can you do to help the other men in the church get out of isolation and into brotherhood connections in the Body of Christ? 

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John Eldredge is right when he says, “A man must have a cause to which he is devoted even unto death, for this is written into the fabric of his being (Wild at Heart). The adage is true, “If a man doesn’t have a cause to die for, he doesn’t have a cause to live for.” This episode is about the greatest cause in the history of the world—the kingdom of Jesus defeating the kingdom of evil and spreading righteousness over earth. David’s defeat of Goliath, which foreshadowed Jesus’ victory over sin, provokes the question, “Is there some Goliath Jesus wants me to more intentionally fight,” and provides practical insight for spiritual battle from David’s defeat of Goliath.

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. Do you think there are some sins in Christian men’s lives that they have been so overpowered by that they give up fighting? What might they be? How can this story of David and Goliath give them faith to step onto the battlefield?
2. Do you think there are cultural battles that many men believe reflect such spiritual power from the kingdom of darkness that they are reluctant to launch intentional fight against them?
3. Which of the six principles exhibited in David’s defeat of Goliath stood out most to you? 

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Episode Summary. One of the great truths of life is that one’s mental perspective determines one’s attitude. Eve believed the lie that God’s command not to eat the fruit was selfish and that God was keeping something to be desired—the knowledge of good and evil—from her. That perspective led to the attitude of rebellion which led to the action of sin. This episode seeks to better understand how wrong thinking leads to wrong attitudes, which is why we need to protect the rising generation from the destructive ideas invading their lives.

For Further Prayerful Thought:

1. What examples most stood out to you about the way our mental perspective determines our attitude?
2. Of the eight ideologies identified and evaluated through a biblical lens, which ones do you see most clearly in the culture? Which ones do you think are most deceiving teenagers?
3. What are the evil parallels between Marxism and cultural Marxism? Why do you think that otherwise mature Christians who are calling the church back to a concern for social justice are falling into some of its evil tenets? 

Link to Leadership Diagram

Link to Resources

• A Practical Guide to Culture, Stonestreet and Kunkle
• The Secular Creed, Rebecca McLaughlin
• Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age, Rosaria Butterfield
• Mamma Bear Apologetics, Hillary Ferrer

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This episode answers the question, “What do dads need to do to develop their child’s potential, i.e. to be faithful stewards of this treasure entrusted to us, not just because we love them, but because God has important contributions for them to make to his world.”  

Link to Leadership Diagram

Past Podcast Episodes on spiritual gifts: S2 E #38-41, 7/18/21-8/8/21 

Link to The Five Love Languages

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