The Hope For Life Podcast

Today I interview Professor Rikk Watts. You can access his bio from the link below. Here's an outline of the episode:

4:58 - What is the Bible?

9:12 - Why are there so many translations of the Bible?  Which is best?

12:30 - How confident are we that the Bible we have is the Bible that was originally written? 

16:10 - Is it God’s book and is it a good book?

25:40 - How do we know what the Bible means?

27:09 - How should an average person read the bible?

30:00 - Can the average person really understand - Rikk talks about practical approaches to greater understanding

33:04 - How do we balance the tension between the need for expertise/hard work to understand Scripture with the fact that everyone can read it and understand it?

35:22 - Two angels or one? What do we do when the Bible seems to contradict itself?

42:42 - The widows mite and how to handle different interpretations of the same text 

49:40 - The first verses in Mark and the significance of cross-references.

 59:15 - What’s the difference between citations, allusions, and echoes?

1:02:43 - What is proof-texting?  Is Paul proof texting in Galatians chapter 3?  

1:07:00 - How do we handle difficult texts?  Is God an abusive Father in Isaiah 9?

1:11:00 - What is the role of the Spirit of God in reading and understanding the Bible?

1:13:00 - Final advice on reading the Bible.

Rikk's Bio:

https://www.regent-college.edu/faculty/research-faculty/rikk-watts

Today I interview Doug Pippus and Mark Buchanan about calling. It's an episode that left me praising the faithfulness and goodness of Jesus!

1:25 - Intro to calling  

3:56 - Where does the idea of “calling” come from?

8:20 - Abuses and misunderstandings of “calling”

16:40 - What gives God the right to call me?  Cultural pushback to God as master and Lord

20:40 - Mark and Doug’s stories of discovering goodness and  wonder of Jesus - The Caller is good!

34:37 - Three levels of calling - general, specific, and immediate

37:00 - Thoughts on the general calling of God and Tim’s inability to run his life well

52:10 - Thoughts on specific calling

58:10 - Mark and Doug respond to specific calling

1:11:47 - Thoughts on Immediate Calling

1:22:10 - A Final Story 

1:00 - Who is Geri Fitch and why are we talking about mental health?

2:45 - Steps anyone can take to pursue mental wellness

4:25 - The messages we hear

8:40 - Mental wellness is linked to what you think and what you do

11:20 - People who do well aren’t just gifted, and learning to win arguments with yourself

18:40 - The tricks and lies of anxiety and depression

21:55 - More on self-talk and arguing with yourself

24:15 - Discerning the truth

29:00 - What helps a person with complex, multi-layered challenges move forward?

42:00 - Living as the caregiver of someone who seems to be stuck in complex and multi-layered challenges

53:00 - Advice for people who want to fast, but have a hard time separating it from insecurity and trying to lose weight

58:00 - Advice on looking for a good therapist

Most retirees travel from Calgary to places like Phoenix, but Gary and Peter raised money to purchase critical food and medical supplies for Ukrainian refugees and then repeatedly drove into the war zone to deliver them with a European pastor.

1:30 - The origin story

3:45 - Rethinking retirement

5:25 - A quick summary of the trip

10:20 - The local churches they worked with

13:20 - Describing the places they saw

18:15 - Describing life in a war zone

28:40 - Why were you in a war zone? How did being there impact you?

37:08 - The challenges of the trip

45:55 - What they learned about the Ukrainian people and how they were inspired by the Ukrainian church

57:00 - Lessons the Ukrainian Church has to teach us

107:20 - Final thoughts

Most retirees travel from Calgary to places like Phoenix, but Gary and Peter raised money to purchase critical food and medical supplies for Ukrainian refugees and then repeatedly drove into the war zone to deliver them with a European pastor.

1:30 - The origin story

3:45 - Rethinking retirement

5:25 - A quick summary of the trip

10:20 - The local churches they worked with

13:20 - Describing the places they saw

18:15 - Describing life in a war zone

28:40 - Why were you in a war zone? How did being there impact you?

37:08 - The challenges of the trip

45:55 - What they learned about the Ukrainian people and how they were inspired by the Ukrainian church

57:00 - Lessons the Ukrainian Church has to teach us

107:20 - Final thoughts

1:45 - Introducing Phil Reinders

3:40 - Phil’s comments on the rising interest in Rule of Life amongst Western Christians

8:00 - Which spiritual disciplines do people dabble in where they should dive in?

14:50 - Further thoughts on dabbling versus diving in

17:35 - What are some of the most common renunciations people have to engage in to make space for new rhythms?

26:22 - What’s your favourite spiritual practice in this season and why?

28:54 - Honest discussion of Phil’s personal prayer life

38:20 - What do you do when you sense you’ve lost the heart of the practice? (I’m just ticking off my Bible reading on the app)  46:00 - How much freedom is there in the way we practice spiritual disciplines? 

50:38 - How long should someone stick with a discipline before they can evaluate if it’s fruitful?

52:00 - The tension between grace (do I have to?) and truth (If I never want to, what does that mean about my spiritual life?)

56:50 - Where does God’s role end and our role begin?

58:15 - What spiritual rhythms work best in the life of a young family?

101:40 - Addressing a cycle of trying and failing alongside the discovery of our brokenness through spiritual practices.  

104:48 - What would you say to someone who feels defeated and stuck?

106:25 - Final Words - a blessing for those practicing a rule of life

Four people at Hope For Life Church decided to participate in a radical lenten fast in 2024. This podcast captures some of their insights and will spur you to consider the impacts fasting would have on your life with God. You'll laugh a time or two along the way too.

1:00 - What was the lenten fast and why did you do it?

4:00 - How hard was this to do?

6:37 - What did you learn about the things that control you and more generally about yourselves through this fast?

13:30 - What did you observe about each other growing through this lenten journey?

24:48 - How did fasting affect your experience of Good Friday?

30:18 - What’s one of the most important things you learned through this fast?

46:33 - Would you do this again? 

49:34 - What do you want to say to the church about this experience?

59:55 - Final comments

102:20 - "More Christians are dieting than fasting," AND "do I have to???"

104:00 - God isn’t trying to wreck your life

105:45 - Will Tim join next year’s fast?

Join us as Tim interviews Fred Waters, former COO of the Salvation Army and all around fantastic human being!

Introducing Fred (1:00)

Fred’s faith formation - let’s talk revival! (5:36)

The story of the Salvation Army and discussion of addictions (9:15)

More talk about addictions and hope (21:17)

Lessons learned working for the Salvation Army (26:50)

What role does the average Christian and church play in affordable housing, addictions, and other social ailments? (30:00)

More talk of ways forward as a society - let’s talk partnership (35:27)

Discussing vision, institutions, and fundraising (40:00)

What else would you say to the average Christian about social ministry in Canada?  Talking about housing first strategy, why everyone can’t just help themselves, and the epidemic of individualism. (41:35)

Story time with Fred - stories of God showing up miraculously throughout Fred’s life (49:19) 

Final thoughts - salt and light in my neighbourhood (57:41)

Geri Fitch recently spoke to a few Calgarian churches on values based parenting.  The audio quality is poor, but the content is worth your time!

In this episode, we cover lots of ground... and Matt's accent doesn't hurt.  

0:00 - Introduction - Introducing Matt Pamplin from Hamilton

3:45 - The Story of St. Claire Part 1

“people were longing for an authentic community that wasn’t just based on a meeting or an event… how do we do this life together?" 

10:10 - Story of St. Claire Part 2 - “Are you starting a Sunday gathering or a church?”

15:00 - Experts Versus Ordinary Saints

18:15 - What is a Missional Family and the Early Years of St. Claire

26:00 - Spiritual Family and Community in the Age of Individualism and Consumerism.

30:30 - The Good News of a Highly Committed Community

35:20 - The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Community

“Missional, family isn’t a once a week thing, but it does involve one.”

42:20 - How Many in a Missional Family?

43:15 - What’s the Connection Between Community and Mission?

“one of the biggest lies we’ve been told is that people aren’t hungry for the good news."

49:35 - Final Comments