Open Doors: Conversations with Heart of the Father

“The J’s are in the house” this week as Jenn and Janet Lozano along with Jacqueline Harper sum up Chapters Three and Four of Matt Lozano’s book Free to Be Holy.

“Reading Chapter 3 was like going into the throne room. I just encountered the Lord,” said Jenn.

God is totally other – completely unique and excellent in every way. And yet He’s excellently accessible to us!

Jesus carried the world’s sin on the cross, but it didn’t change Him. He emanated perfect excellent love.

Listen to Janet describe an Unbound conference in Poland where she profoundly experienced God’s presence, giving her courage to intercept security guards and minister to someone in desperate need.

Learn what we can do to see God with the eyes of our heart, plus three aspects of God’s grace. Discover the difference between guilt and shame.

Picture Matt seeing the stars unhindered while on a camping trip to West Virginia. Compare that to Unbound ministry, where a filter is removed allowing someone to see God’s love, presence, his activity in their lives.

If you haven’t yet read Free to Be Holy, check it out. Go somewhere quiet, sit down, and expect an encounter with God. At the very least, listen to this podcast!

“There is always more to see,” writes Matt.

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy
See our upcoming events
Join us for our April Freedom in Christ Conference near Philadelphia

Release: April 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by  Henry Aquino

On this Holy Thursday, we begin studying Matt Lozano’s book Free to Be Holy.  

What is Holiness? The Hebrew word kadosh translates as “set apart, sacred, holy.”  This applied to items used in the temple vessels and nothing made holy could be returned to ordinary service. Proper ritual allowed outward participation, but not interior restoration. Through Jesus, God removes our hearts of stone and gives us hearts of flesh.

There are fascinating parallels between the purposes of blood in the human body and the work of Jesus’ blood upon our soul. Blood animates, heals, and reproduces.

Holiness is a lifestyle of making oneself available to God. We limit holiness by continuing to earn God’s favor yet“We can’t be holy without Jesus,” writes Matt.

What isn’t holiness? False approaches to holiness include: performance, out-of-reach holiness, and having false standards.

When we put something above Jesus, we inevitably fail and can fall prey to the enemy’s traps of shame, self-hatred, or pride.

Escaping our sense of inferiority means putting off self-justification and pressing into Jesus. Our relationship with Christ is what we need to rely on.

The Pharisees were so focused on Jesus actions that they missed Him – the Savior right in front of them.

Deepening our walk in holiness means being available to Jesus. It’s not just about what we avoid but what and Whom we embrace.

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy
Use code FREE2B for 20% off of Free to Be Holy  through the remainder of Holy Thursday, March 28.

See our upcoming events
Join us for our April Freedom in Christ Conference near Philadelphia

Release: March 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by  Jacqueline Harper

As we approach Palm Sunday, Matt and Lisa discuss the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem from Mark 11: 1-10.

See parallels to the crowning of King Solomon, who was placed on David’s mule and cloaks laid down. What was symbolized by laying down cloaks before Jesus?

Zechariah 9 prophecies about the king entering on a colt. What might have been the hidden meaning behind the unridden colt?

Matt continues offering intriguing, thought-provoking questions:

Why were the people so excited?

Why did Jesus suddenly allow a dramatic display of his kingship?

Where do we picture ourselves in the triumphal entry scene and why?

What might Jesus have been thinking as he was riding through Jerusalem?

Why does the story close in an anticlimactic way?

Enjoy Matt and Lisa’s answers to these questions and discover where in the story they picture themselves. Where do you place yourself in this sacred scene from Mark 11?

In closure, we pray together the Prayer of Abandonment by Charles de Foucauld.

You won’t want to miss this final episode in our 2024 Lenten Reflection Series.

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy
Use code FREE2B for 20% off of Free to Be Holy  through Holy Thursday, March 28.

See our upcoming events
Join us for our April Freedom in Christ Conference near Philadelphia

Release: March 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by  Henry Aquino

Grab a cuppa and enjoy some time with Jacqueline and Jenn as they continue our Lenten series, reflecting upon Jeremiah 31:31-34 where the word ‘covenant’ is mentioned four times.

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, felt so sad about the condition of his people. Amidst Israel’s failure, he offered hope – a promise that God would forgive all our sins and remember them no more.

In the Old Covenant, people couldn’t uphold their end of the things, so God made a new covenant – one people can keep.

In the new covenant, everything is simplified. Jesus Himself is the new covenant, the law made flesh, offering the cup of His blood. Jesus walked the road to his death and resurrection and we also walk it in relationship with him.

God writes His law on our hearts through the Holy Spirit. In the Old Covenant, the law was external, but now it’s alive inside of us. Just like our beating hearts pump blood through our bodies, the Holy Spirit infuses us.

How does God “remember our sin no more?” When God looks at us, He sees His son. He is already seeing what’s going to happen through His son. The criteria for the new covenant is not circumcision or the law, it was relationship with God through Jesus by declaring that Jesus is Lord.

Hear Jacqueline’s story of her progression of faith in college and listen to Jenn as she closes with Joel 2:12-13 where we are exhorted to return to God with our whole heart.

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy
Use code FREE2B for 20% off of Free to Be Holy  through Holy Thursday, March 28.

See our upcoming events
Join us for our April Freedom in Christ Conference near Philadelphia

Release: March 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by Jacqueline Harper

What a treat to hear Matt and Jenn Lozano together for Week Four of our Lenten series as they cover the story in John 9 about Jesus’ healing a man born blind!

Jesus makes room in His day to heal this man and he does the same for us!

During Lent, we consider the darkness and undergo self-reflection. Why is there so much brokenness in the world? We join the disciples in asking Jesus why bad things happen.

In the Scriptures, the Torah conveys the idea of divine retribution, but then we see righteous Job questioning God about suffering. God’s answer to Job, coupled with Jesus’ reply to the disciples in John 9 shows that suffering allows the works God to be made visible. “That’s the why,” says Matt. We all are blind and Jesus is doing something in time that gives us sight.

God created light on the first day but brings salvation on the seventh day – the day of rest. Jesus proclaims His kingdom on the Sabbath by doing things like restoring sight to the blind and casting out demons.

Just as the blind man received mud on his eyes and obediently went to the pool of Siloam, we each can be touched by Jesus and we too can participate in our own healing. Learn what the word “Siloam” means and how that applies to each of us!

At Lent we live in the darkness, knowing that sight is coming. The answer is Jesus – He is the Light of the World!

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy
Use code FREE2B for 20% off of Free to Be Holy  through Holy Thursday, March 28.

See our upcoming events
Join us for our April Freedom in Christ Conference near Philadelphia

Release: March 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by Henry Aquino

Amidst the cold of winter, enjoy warm conversation and memories shared by Janet and Lisa as they discuss Romans 5:1-2, 5-8.

God poured out His Word into our hearts. Pouring relates to our baptism and God himself infuses the virtues of faith, hope, and love into us when we are open to receive them.

Through our faith, we rejoice in hope. Janet explains the difference between hope and optimism.

We hear of an early Unbound session when a deeply painful story brought about weeping by all participating. God’s love was spoken, poured out and the recipient experienced freedom to forgive, saying, “Thank you. Now I have hope!”

Tissues are kept handy in an Unbound session because tears of both sorrow and joy often spring forth. These tears help water the seeds of the gospel.

Listen with us to these deeper examples of hope, love, and faith, and also a lighter story of how Lisa found hope in a gift shop!

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy
Use code FREE2B for 20% off of Free to Be Holy through Holy Thursday, March 28.

See our upcoming events

Release: February 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by Henry Aquino

Are you going deeper this Lent?

Join Neal and Jacqueline as they reflect on the liturgical readings for this coming Sunday.

You'll be blessed as they discuss many beautiful themes, beginning with a word on testing. The first reading is from Genesis chapter 22. 

Sometimes we complain about the testing we are going through.  Yet, here Abraham is asked to do what God the Father would do.

Such an amazing story of faith.

Neal and Jacqueline converse about Abraham and more including life's purpose,  the uniqueness of our destiny, and knowing who we are as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

You will want to listen over and over again.

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy
Use code FREE2B for 20% off of Free to Be Holy through Holy Thursday, March 28.

See our upcoming events

Release: February 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by Jacqueline Harper

Jenn and Lisa kick off our Lenten series!

Join us as Lent begins, talking about God’s covenant in Genesis 9: 8-15.

We start with the theme of light in the Scriptures. Light bursts from darkness in creation, the post-flood prism of light is the rainbow, and Jesus comes as the Light of the World.

A covenant offers three aspects: a promise, a family, and a sign and each relates to these “light” moments in Scripture.

PROMISE: At Creation, consequences are promised if eating the forbidden fruit. After the flood, God promises never to flood to world again. Jesus offered promises such as eternal life, the Holy Spirit, and the sharing in His sufferings.

FAMILY: The Creation family was Adam and Eve. Noah’s family was saved at the flood. With Jesus, we have the family of Christ. Jenn reminds us that Jesus’ invitation is for all people.

SIGN: A sign is the Holy Spirit being present at each event. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters at Creation, the dove of the Holy Spirit brought an olive branch to Noah, and the descent of the Dove at Jesus’ baptism.

Don’t miss Lisa’s story about seeing a literal “sign from God.”

This episode is a treasure – a spiritual pot of gold surrounding God’s rainbow of hope.

Find Matt's book Free to Be Holy

See our upcoming events

Release: February 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by Henry Aquino

Join Matt Lozano and Gilbert Rodriguez as they share details from the Freedom In Christ conference held in San Juan, Mexico, last summer.

Gilbert is Associate Director of Adult Faith Formation in the New York Archdiocese and has extensive ministry experience. He helps run Freedom in Christ conferences in Spanish. Gilbert tells of first benefitting from Unbound ministry in 2012 and how he was set free from fear. He continued on to make major life decisions, including a marriage proposal!

We hear Matt extol the hospitality of the Mexican people and the goodness of heart he witnessed there, saying, “The Father’s blessing is imbedded in them.”

Stories are shared about individuals set free through Unbound prayer with joy, even to the point of abounding laughter! Gilbert relates a funny memory involving caramel at a Cathedral and Matt follows up with a tale about a stolen Rolex watch. We even learn of a skeptical priest who was won over, saying the Unbound session he witnessed was “like heart surgery!”

This encouraging episode reminds us that Unbound ministry is growing amidst our southern neighbors in Mexico. Listen and enjoy!

Release: February 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by Jacqueline Harper

“We want to be saints, not celebrities!”

In this meaty episode, we hear from popular author and theologian Dr. Scott
Hahn, founder and president of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
Dr. Hahn chronicles his personal understanding of holiness beginning with his
earliest experiences as a juvenile delinquent and how he discovered
scripture and encountered Christ on a Young Life retreat. Hear then how Dr.
Hahn’s presence at Dr. R.C. Sproul’s Bible studies shaped his approach
towards God.

Holiness became a topic of primary interest culminating in Dr. Hahn’s book,
Holy is His Name: The Transforming Power of God’s Holiness in Scripture
which represents years of research and biblical study, but also draws one to
the cross. “We are free to be holy, and we are only truly fully holy when we
are freed,” he states.

Learn what Dr. Hahn considers to be the job description of a theologian and
hear his comparison between holiness and righteousness.

This deep discussion mentions Greek words like “caritas agape” and
individuals like Augustine, Aquinas, King Uzziah, and the prophet Isaiah.

You’ll find out why Dr. Hahn considers his book, Holy is His Name, and Matt’s
book, Free to Be Holy a “one-two combination.”

The episode concludes with Dr. Hahn sharing what he believes to be a slice
of Heaven on Earth.

You won’t want to miss this deep discussion on a topic relevant to all
Christians.

Release: February 2024
Music by Christian Harper
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm
Production by Henry Aquino