More Light

Join Ben and Elizabeth as they talk through the process of healing in it’s various forms. Ben shares with us his first awareness of wounds and the road of healing it has taken him on. Elizabeth shares with us her journey in healing while seeking health. What we find here is that “the process of healing exists in order we grow closer to His divine love”. We learn that Christ loves to heal His body as wounds give us a focus on our need of Him. Discussed further in this podcast is the reality that Christ knows better what we need than we know ourselves and that He will do what it takes to have all of us.

Enjoy this podcast!

The Relational Soul by Richard Plass and James Cofield

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund

Jesus is King by Timothy Keller

Join the fam as they make pico de gallo and have a lighthearted conversation on craftsmanship. Not only will you here Levi’s voice in this episode, but also Calvin munching on fresh tomatoes! Taken from Genesis 1, which gives us a call to care for creation, Ben and Elizabeth give a brief peek into the care for craft within their family life. Mentioned more than once is the reality that this is a slow process and takes time to develop. In making this point Andy Crouch writes “If I make dinner tonight for my family, nothing much will change in my family’s culture. But if I make dinner tonight, tomorrow night, next Tuesday and for the next fifteen years of our children’s lives, seeking to do so with creativity, skill and grace that grows over time, even if I never become an avant garde chef and always follow the recipe, that discipline alone will indeed create a powerful family culture with horizons of possibility and impossibility that we may not even now be able to glimpse.” Growth in this world is a slow process.

Enjoy this episode!

You Are What You Love by James K.A. Smith

Culture Making by Andy Crouch

Join Ben and Elizabeth as they spend a beautiful morning on a rooftop in Denver. Here they explore the realities of the invisible world and get down to the “nitty gritty” of aroma. They break the podcast up into three sections (1) Worship (2) Sin and (3) grace.

1. Worship

Ben reminds us here that“We smell like what we worship”. Taken into account is Paul in Athens as his “spirit provoked” by all the idols around him. The “idols” we worship start to really stink up the place and create a strong aroma.

2. Sin

Talked about is how misguided worship (when we replace the love of God with other things) is sin. Sin carries a stench with it and has the power to change the feel of a place and family. We see how sin plays a dark role in family life as it wreaks havoc and causes disunity.

3. Grace

As we see our sin and repent of it we see a real change take place. The house lights up and is filled with the “aroma of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15). The house begins to smell like Christ as He becomes the central worship of our hearts. Discovered is a pleasant, compelling, attractive aroma.

Enjoy this episode!

Jesus the King by Tim Keller

Join Ben and Elizabeth as they explore both the negative and positive side of complaining.

Negative: Grumbling and murmuring. Our current situation has “turned the volume up” on what’s happening in our hearts. Our hearts are quick to grumble, especially when fleeting comforts of the world are taken away from us. Ben mentions that grumbling is like a “dark hidden guest” that lives in our hearts and loves to spread like an infection. To grumble is to blame God for the issues we see happening in our life.

Positive: Groaning, longing, wrestling. The Scriptures do not condemn complaining, but rather they encourage it. We are to complain in this way, we are to take our situations and honestly talk to God about them, we are to groan to Him, we are to ask him questions about how confusing life really is. We are to complain like David does in the Psalms “How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever” (Psalm 13) This is the aim. Not to blame God but to talk to Him.

Enjoy!

Valley Of Vision

The Rare Jewel Of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

Prayer by Tim Keller

The imagination is a lovely gift. Join Ben and Elizabeth as they talk through ways they cultivate the imagination within their household. From potty training to the beauties of architecture the imagination is put to use. Seen is a gracious God who fuels our imaginations through His Word. One example of such language comes from the Psalms: “From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work”

Enjoy this episode!

Skip To The Loo by Sally Lloyd Jones

Desiring The Kingdom by James K.A. Smith

The Stories We Tell by Mike Cosper

MiddleState Coffee

Hey guys!

This episode Ben and Elizabeth share with us some of their camping experiences. They first draw our attention to the beauties of creation.

Psalm 19 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaim His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”

Creation sings to us a song! It draws us in and compels us to worship our glorious God. Ben poses the question “are we inhaling the beauties of creation and letting it do its work in us?”

Andrew Davis is quoted “As we walked as children through the beauty of a forest in the splendor of fall, breathing in deeply the musty smells of the forest floor, feeling the warm breezes of a late fall afternoon on our faces, having our breath stolen by the fiery glory of a sudden scenic vista, a magnificent mountain valley, splashed with vivid reds and golds of trees preparing for the impending winter, our hearts were being shaped for the central reality of the universe: Almighty God.”

We learn in this episode that behind the mess of camping (which is painted for us) the glories of God are nonetheless in it. Ben and Elizabeth walk through some of their family camping experiences and flush out some camping take aways.

Enjoy!

Creation Booklet by Andrew M. Davis

Art Of Manliness

Turquoise Lake 2018

Tent life 2018

Twin Lakes 2018

This is our OG Dodge Caravan - the last and only time we slept in it instead of putting up a tent. We froze our tails off that night. Poor Levi.
Lost Park Campground 2016

Sugar Loaf Campground near Granby, CO 2019

Cottonwood Lake area near Buena Vista, CO 2019
photo taken by Elizabeth

Moose in his element

Hey guys!

Join Ben and Elizabeth as they talk about money from Matthew 6. They discuss three overarching ideas in regards to money:

1) Money Can Be An Idol.

Tim Keller writes “a counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.” Why do we put money in this place? In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us not to put money in this place because money and possession will not last.

2) Money Clouds Our Vision

When we worship money our desires for it increase, our hearts look for it and desire it and overtime will darken our hearts. In Matthew 6 Jesus talks about the eye for this reason. In God’s good grace He enlightens the eyes of our hearts to desire Him and the life He gives rather than money with it’s destructive power. We are to pay close attention to the desires of our hearts.

3) Money Is A Cruel Master

The prophet Isaiah writes “Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” Money is a cruel master because it never does what we think it will do. We think it will satisfy, but it never does, we think it will give us life and security, but it never can. It is like drinking water from the sea, the more you drink the more dehydrated you get.

The power to break the love of money is to look at the love of God seen in Christ Jesus. Jesus pours out His wealth on the cross for us that we might be rich (2 Cor 8:9) We are rich in Christ, and He is a good master.

Enjoy!

Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

Sex & Money by Paul Tripp

Redeemer Fellowship Sermon On Money

Ben and Elizabeth talk through the precious gift of time and how we were created to use it for God’s glory. They speak on how time matters for the heart, soul, mind and body. Time matters, and what we do with it impacts these areas dramatically.

The heart: The heart is the center of a person. Talked about in this episode is the importance of feeding the heart good nutritious food each morning in starting our day.

The mind: God created the mind in order it be stimulated. Talked through are ways in which we can use our time for the benefit of a clear and healthy mind.

The body: The body is to be cared for, but this takes time. Talked about are ways in which the body can be used for God’s glory. The body matters and how we use our time effects it directly.

Enjoy this episode!

On Reading Well, Finding the Good Life through Great Books, by Karen Swallow Prior