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Holiday season or pressure cooker? Between the nonstop events, gift budgets, and Hallmark-level expectations, December can intensify everything—joy and grief, laughter and loneliness, unity and old wounds. We get candid about why family dynamics spike this time of year and map out a practical way to move through it with grace and truth.

We start by naming the hidden currents: idealized scripts that make real life feel lacking, grief that returns on anniversaries, and the logistics of blended schedules that stress even strong relationships. Then we dig into family systems—the unwritten rules, predictable roles, and the “togetherness force” that pressures us to go along to get along. When beliefs diverge, a comment about politics or health can secretly ask, “Are you still one of us?” Instead of cutting off or complying, we offer a better path: emotional maturity as being defined and connected at the same time.

You’ll hear clear, usable tools: how to set boundaries that serve relationship (not as excuses to disappear), how to listen deeply when your blood pressure spikes, and how to shift from fixing others to researching your own reactions. We look to Jesus as our model for calm clarity under pressure—from the temple at twelve to his composed presence before Pilate—showing that differentiation doesn’t require defensiveness.

Walk away with a simple holiday plan: decide your values in advance, notice your body’s triggers, choose healthier modes of communication, and prepare one-to-one questions to build real connection with each person. Assume everyone else will be who they’ve always been; focus on the one variable you can control—how you show up. If you can grow your maturity even a notch, you’ll feel it not only around the table but in your marriage, parenting, friendships, and work.

If this conversation helps, share it with a friend, subscribe for future episodes, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. What’s one boundary you’ll set to protect connection this year?

Links

Navigating Grief During the Holidays - Praxis Episode

How to Slow Down When Life Speeds Up - Blog Post

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What if the most important work of your life happens where no one sees it? We dig into a core conviction of missional discipleship—God cares about the who, not just the do—and trace how that truth reframes leadership, mission, and everyday faith.

We start with Jesus’ own pattern: decades of hidden formation before three years of public ministry. That ratio alone confronts our bias for speed and scale. From calling the Twelve to be with him before sending them, to telling returning disciples to rejoice in belonging rather than power, Jesus centers identity over output. We connect these scenes to John 15’s abiding, clarifying that lasting fruit grows from union, not hustle. Along the way we name how the fruit of the Spirit is character, not competence, and why performative religion—clean cups on the outside, chaos within—erodes witness.

Then we get practical about the pressures we all feel: the midday pull to produce, the subtle ways church culture can celebrate results over reality, and the harm that follows when we measure leaders by charisma and numbers instead of character. We talk about building congruence so your public life matches your private life, treating people as co-stewards in God’s story rather than instruments in ours, and finding stability when identity is rooted in Christ instead of applause. Finally, we offer simple, repeatable practices: prioritize prayer over productivity, reflect daily to notice where you’re hurried or hiding, and invite honest feedback to close blind spots. Real transformation is slow and often invisible, but it’s the only path to durable fruit and trustworthy leadership.

If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review to help others find the show. What “who before do” shift will you make this week?

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What if the order of your life is backwards? We’re tackling a simple idea with radical implications: trust leads and effort follows. Starting with Jesus’ baptism and temptation, we explore how identity received—not achievement earned—powered his ministry. From there, we trace how the New Testament consistently places grace before effort, and why that sequence frees us from the grind, clarifies our calling, and sustains real fruit.

We get honest about the cultural worship of hustle and how easily it sneaks into church life. From “pastorpreneur” pressures to BHAGs that sound holy but center ego, we challenge the metrics that define success. Instead of bigger buildings and busier calendars, we talk about character, faithfulness, and fruit that lasts. Along the way, we name the “religious false self,” the temptation to do impressive things for God without doing them with God, and the quiet erosion that happens when our worth rides on outcomes.

This conversation isn’t abstract. We share everyday moments where the order flips—sermon prep, worship leading, parenting, even a Sabbath gone sideways—and how small shifts recalibrate everything: prayer before action, rest before work, and identity before activity. Trust doesn’t cancel effort; it focuses it. When God initiates, God sustains. The result is a non-anxious presence, a deeper peace under pressure, and clearer discernment of where to put your best energy right now.

If this resonates, hit follow, share it with a friend who’s tired of running on empty, and leave a review. Tell us: where do you sense God inviting you to trust first this week?

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The kingdom of God was the centerpiece of Jesus' teaching, but what exactly does this kingdom look like? Far more than a distant heavenly realm we'll experience after death, God's kingdom is a present reality that Jesus embodied through his revolutionary ministry. When we understand that "God's kingdom looks like Jesus' ministry," we gain a powerful lens for discipleship today.

Jesus didn't just announce God's kingdom theoretically—he demonstrated it tangibly. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, forgave sins, welcomed outcasts, and consistently challenged systems of oppression. These weren't merely nice religious acts; they were disruptive to the social, economic, and political structures of his day. They revealed an alternative kingdom that upended hierarchies and offered liberation to the marginalized.

This paradigm challenges our tendency to spiritualize Jesus' message while ignoring its real-world implications. It also confronts our modern habit of filtering Jesus through our political preferences rather than allowing his life and teaching to shape our politics. God's kingdom is political—in that it addresses power structures and systems of injustice—but it's not partisan. It doesn't fit neatly into our contemporary political categories.

As disciples today, we're called to continue embodying this kingdom through both individual transformation and community action. Rather than outsourcing kingdom work to political parties or getting entangled in partisan debates, we can unite around Jesus' vision by becoming students of his way, creating spaces for mature dialogue across differences, and actively participating in kingdom work through our local communities.

What might happen if we truly let Jesus' ministry—not our political ideologies or cultural preferences—define what God's kingdom looks like? Join us as we explore this revolutionary conviction that shaped Jesus' life and can transform ours as well.

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What comes into our minds when we think about God shapes everything else in our lives. Yet most of us carry distorted images of God that we've picked up from our upbringing, painful experiences, or cultural messages—images that create barriers to authentic relationship with him.

In this episode, we unpack five common misconceptions about God that might be operating beneath the surface of your faith: the Distant Deity who remains uninvolved, the Sovereign Puppet Master who controls everything, the Cosmic Cop who's always disappointed, the Vending Machine God who exists to fulfill our wishes, and the Passive Enabler who never confronts our destructive patterns.

These false images create profound spiritual consequences. They make us hide when we fail, blame God when we suffer, and live as functional atheists in our daily lives. But what if there's a clearer, more accurate picture?

We explore how Jesus provides the perfect revelation of God's character. Looking at Jesus shows us a God of cruciform love—self-giving, non-coercive, and deeply present—who moves toward us in our brokenness rather than away. This truth doesn't just correct our theology; it heals our hearts.

Whether you're struggling with disappointment in God, battling shame, or simply longing for a more authentic connection with your Creator, this conversation offers practical ways to examine your core beliefs and make Jesus your interpretive key. Because when we see God as truly like Jesus, everything changes.

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What if God doesn't wait for us to clean up our act before loving us? What if He actually meets us exactly where we are—in all our messy, broken reality?

In a discussion about our second mental model for missional discipleship, we unpack the life-changing truth that "God bends to meet us in reality." This isn't just feel-good theology—it's the pattern we see throughout scripture and most vividly in Jesus himself.

From Genesis where God sought Adam and Eve after their sin to Jesus dining with tax collectors and sinners, we discover a God who consistently stoops down to meet humanity in their brokenness. The good news is that we don't need to fix ourselves before approaching God. The challenging news? We must be honest about where we truly are.

Many of us struggle with pretending, especially in church settings. We put on our "Sunday best" not just in clothes but in behavior and spiritual appearance. Yet authentic transformation begins only when we drop the masks and embrace reality—when we learn to "hug our cactus," as Mac puts it.

Whether you're wrestling with shame, struggling to trust God's grace, or finding it difficult to extend that grace to others, this episode offers practical wisdom for embracing reality and experiencing the freedom that comes with it. Because when we stop hiding, we discover God has been waiting there all along.

Listen now and discover how to live authentically in God's grace—no more pretending required.

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When was the last time you felt the pressure to "bring God" to a situation? What if God was already there, working long before you arrived? This episode challenges our fundamental assumptions about mission and discipleship by exploring the conviction that God's presence always precedes our participation.

We dive deep into what "missional" truly means – not as a trendy church growth strategy, but as a theological reality that reshapes how we engage with the world. From examining Jesus' own approach of only doing what he saw the Father doing, to unpacking common misunderstandings of missional theology, we reveal how this perspective shifts our posture from striving to discernment.

When God is the primary agent in mission, we're freed from the weight of producing spiritual results through our own efforts. All of life becomes sacred ground for spiritual formation – from workplace conversations to washing dishes. Church leadership transforms from performance to equipping, and our metrics shift from outcomes to faithfulness.

With suggestions for developing a divine detective mindset, attending to God's work in others through better questions, and prayer walking with new awareness, you'll discover how to spot God's activity all around you. This isn't just theological abstraction – it's an invitation to a lighter, more collaborative way of discipleship that centers God's movement rather than our own.

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What if the way Jesus saw the world could transform how you live your everyday life? In this illuminating conversation, we unpack the concept of mental models—those invisible frameworks that shape everything from how we parent and lead to how we interpret Scripture and engage in mission.

Think of mental models like prescription glasses. While rarely noticed, they constantly filter how we see reality.

Where do these frameworks come from? Our first formation in family, personal experiences that shape our beliefs, education that trains our thinking, and the cultural waters we swim in all contribute to our unique set of lenses. These mental models are neither inherently good nor bad—they're simply the tools our brains use to make sense of a complex world. The question becomes: are they accurate and life-giving?

What makes this conversation particularly powerful is realizing that Jesus was consistently in the business of disrupting flawed mental models. He challenged how people viewed God, showing Him as an intimate Father rather than just a distant deity. He transformed perceptions of the marginalized, treating each person as an image-bearer. He inverted models of power, demonstrating that true leadership comes through service.

Join us as we preview our exciting new series exploring the mental models behind Jesus' approach to missional discipleship—convictions like "God's presence precedes our participation," "God is like Jesus," and "God cares about who we are, not just what we do." Through examining and updating our mental models, we can align our thinking more closely with Christ and participate more fully in His mission.

How might your life change if you could see the world through Jesus' eyes? Listen now and begin the journey of transformation.

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What does it truly mean to love your enemies in the way of Jesus? This question isn't just theological theory—it's a practical challenge we face whenever someone wrongs or mistreats us. In this powerful conclusion to our forgiveness series, we explore what might be Jesus's most radical teaching: not just breaking free from cycles of enemy-making, but actively loving those who harm us.

Most people naturally default to either fight (retaliation) or flight (passive submission) when wronged. Jesus offers a stunning third way—what we're calling "Kingdom Aikido"—that refuses to mirror evil while still actively resisting it. By examining Jesus's teaching in Matthew 5:38-48 through its historical context, we discover that "turn the other cheek" wasn't advocating doormat Christianity, but a creative nonviolent resistance that exposes injustice while preserving human dignity.

Through compelling examples and personal stories, we unpack four essential components of this approach: refusing to respond in kind, reclaiming your agency, holding up a mirror to injustice, and inviting the wrongdoer to repent. This isn't just about theoretical ethics—it's about practical wisdom for transforming conflicts in our families, workplaces, and communities. What might change if we approached challenging relationships not with passive resignation or aggressive hostility, but with the creative, dignity-affirming resistance Jesus modeled?

Loving enemies isn't easy, but it's at the heart of the gospel. After all, "we love God only as much as we love our worst enemy." Join us as we explore what it means to follow Jesus in the radical art of turning enemies into friends.

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The journey from forgiveness to reconciliation is one of the most challenging paths in Christian discipleship. While many believers embrace God's forgiveness and understand the importance of forgiving others, the question of what comes next often leaves us confused, frustrated, or even stuck.

In this episode, we unpack a powerful distinction that clarifies the forgiveness process: "Forgiveness is a solo, reconciliation is a duet." Through the inspiring story of Elizabeth Elliott, who forgave and lived among the indigenous people who killed her missionary husband, we witness the transformative power of extending grace beyond our human capacity.

But what happens when forgiveness doesn't lead to reconciliation? Must we always return to relationship with those who've hurt us? We explore the nuanced spectrum of reconciliation—from simple cordial peace to full relational restoration—and the wisdom required to discern what's appropriate in each situation. When trust has been broken, particularly in cases of abuse or serious harm, reconciliation may look very different than simply returning to how things were.

At the heart of genuine reconciliation is a mutual commitment to acknowledging reality. Without both parties willing to face the truth of what happened, reconciliation becomes impossible or unsafe. Yet even when perspectives differ, grace can cover the gaps when hearts are open.

For those navigating this difficult terrain, we offer practical guidance on setting healthy boundaries, clarifying your needs, and communicating respectfully during the recalibration process. Whether you're seeking reconciliation with someone who's not ready or discerning how to respond to someone who wants to reconnect with you, these practices can help you embody both grace and wisdom.

Ready to deepen your understanding of forgiveness and reconciliation in your own relationships? Listen now, and discover how to practice the way of Jesus even in your most challenging relationships.