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Have you ever had an experience when circumstances were completely out of your control and there was nothing you could do…except trust God? When that happens it's a good reminder that God is the potter and we are the clay.

One of the most challenging stages of parenting is transitioning to the empty-nest season, especially when our adult children make decisions we disagree with. Mary DeMuth guides us on this journey of finding joy regardless of our wayward adult kids, sharing practical and spiritual tips on how to stay connected with children who have left the Christian faith.

I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but God will. Let God give you what your family doesn’t. How do you do that? By emotionally accepting God as your father. It’s one thing to accept him as Lord, another to recognize him as Savior, but another matter entirely to accept him as Father.

To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign in the universe. To accept him as Savior is to accept his gift of salvation offered on the cross. But to regard him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects. That’s exactly what God has done! God’s proven himself as a faithful father. Now let God fill the void others have left. You are his child, and he’ll give you the blessing he promised!

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Remember that suffering never separates believers from their heavenly Father.

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Episode 2.57

The letters are shorter now. The tone is quieter. The man who once turned the world upside down writes from a cell, preparing to hand the mission to others.

In this final chapter of Paul’s story, Zach and Michael explore the Pastoral Epistles — 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus — tracing the voice of a man who has nothing left to prove and everything left to give.

Paul’s words reveal a mentor, not a martyr; a father in the faith, not a fading apostle. He remembers mercy (“Christ Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am foremost”), sets things in order (“Appoint elders in every town”), and finishes with peace (“I have fought the good fight…”). The “Old Soldier” models what it means to end well — not by strength, but by steadfastness.

Covered in this episode:

– How grace defines identity even after decades of ministry (1 Tim. 1:12–17)

– Why Paul’s legacy is measured in disciples, not monuments (2 Tim. 2:2; 4:6–8)

– What “guarding the good deposit” means for the next generation (2 Tim. 1:14)

– Why aging in faith should deepen gratitude, not cynicism

– How the gospel teaches us not just how to live, but how to finish

Takeaway:

The mark of maturity is not how loudly we start, but how faithfully we end.

Paul finishes his race not defeated, but fulfilled — a man at peace with both his failures and his finish.

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Why does James say Abraham was justified when he offered Isaac? Wasn't Abraham a believer before that? I struggle so much with Hebrews 12 and the discipline of God. How can I see grace in this chapter? And what about the idea of Esau selling his birthright? That seems scary to me!

Romans 13:1

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

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