This is exactly the episode we needed to hear. Hopefully you feel the same. John Eldredge said, "We live in a love story set in a world at war." How do we maintain our pursuit of Jesus and His Kingdom in the middle of the war story with which we're all quite familiar? With all these competing interests, what does it look like to push everything else aside and run for Jesus like the only one who can sustain us. So as not to bury the lead, it requires daily connection with Jesus and with others who love Him like you do. Thank you for coming along with us on this, our 79th episode. (Still a little ways from 100.) If you like what you heard, feel free to leave comments or find either of us in the YouVersion Bible app or Bible.com.

Starting with Acts 17:28 we go on an exploration of what it means to live, move, have our being, exist, and find our identity in Jesus Christ. Paul borrowed this concept from two, at the time, well known Greek philosophers, Aratus and Cleanthus. Paul realized that Jesus is the integrating force of the entire universe and he worked with the contemporary language of his day to help his audiences understand this. Now, 2000 years or so later, how are we to understand this and live into it? We're not scholars or theologians, but this is what we dive into in this episode.

The wilderness. It's often lonely, trying, and humbling. We've all been there in some form or fashion, whether it's estrangement from loved ones, the feeling that God is a million miles away, or just a crisis of faith that pushes us to our soul's breaking point. What can we learn from Moses, David, Elijah, and Jesus in their wilderness experiences? In this episode Rick shares stories of his own times in the wilderness and we pull out some beautiful lessons and even more lovely reminders that even when we feel lost and like we're wandering in a wasteland, God promised to never leave us or forsake us. We're never truly alone. Let's go into the wild together.

For the first time in three months we're back in front of the mics. It was a great holiday period (albeit quite busy) but it's so good to come back and talk about the Kingdom of God. It's a new year but the message is the same. Today we talk about developing themes in our walk with God, particularly "presence" and what it means to be "people in two places at once." They may seem like disparate themes, but it's all about Jesus, our union with Him, and how He wants nothing more than all of us so He can give us all of Him. Thanks for joining us. If you like what you hear, please comment and like. Happy New Year!

What is the posture of a servant? There are no volunteers in the Kingdom of God, only servants. A servant is, perhaps more than anything else, available and humble. They don't bristle at service. They don't consider themselves too good for even the most menial task. Being a servant isn't a position, rather it's a condition of our hearts. There's a vast difference between a server and a servant. Jesus is without question the ultimate example of a servant. Someone once asked, "If you knew you had one day to live, what would you do?" Jesus knew and He washed feet. How then should we live?

Our discussion today ranges across a spectrum from the way the Bible continues to amaze us no matter how many times we read these inspired and timeless words to how we long just to be as much with Jesus as is possible. However, where we eventually land is that Eden is inevitable. The story God has been telling since the beginning is the only way that this will all turn out. We get to choose what side of the story we end up on, but God gets the final word and that final word is nothing but good, better than anyone can imagine. Thanks for going with us on this journey. You can reach us at [email protected] if you want to hear more.

Somewhere I heard it said once, "In the end, people don't get what we deserve, we get what we desire." On the face of it, when considering this from the Eden perspective, the Kingdom of God viewpoint, I believe it's a true statement. But as we explore this topic further we realized it isn't so binary as it seems at first. And once we pushed into the topic further, it became clear that even God doesn't get what he deserves, but if we strive to give God what He deserves (all our worship, devotion, and love), He delights to give us what He desires - union with Himself. He transmits His existence to us. MIND BLOWN! Thanks for exploring this with us and coming away with a deeper question rather than a pat answer. Reach out to us at [email protected]

The Kingdom of God is not for spectators and the presence of God is not a vacation spot. Similarly, resilience doesn't happen by accident. It's our union with Jesus that restores our humanity and enables us to be a light in the darkness, that shining city on a hill Jesus spoke of. More than intimacy with Jesus, we are invited into, indeed we are made for union with Jesus. But this union must be cultivated. Like any farmer will tell you, cultivating for growth and good returns requires sustained intentionality over a period of time. As the dark of the world gets darker, it's union with Jesus developed by purposeful engagement with Him that makes His people shine ever brighter. Join us as we explore what this means and how we can work it out in our lives. If you want to connect with us, you can do so at [email protected].

Leaning into Jesus as much and as often as we can.

Check out the NT Wright video we reference here

We've each got the particular lives we lead. They include our hobbies, our jobs, our families, friends, vacations, and moments that really matter to us. And of course those look different for everyone. What we explore in this episode is how we are each tempted every single day to go to those things for the resilience, rest, and recovery that God wants us to find in Him. We're not talking about sin, that is always wrong, but rather the perfectly acceptable things about life that only become problematic when they are a substitute for the presence of God. Thanks for joining us. If you want to reach out to us, you can do so at [email protected].