One of our members asked about what books I would recommend to our church family. In this episode, I walk through a handful of those recommendations.

Mere Christianity—C.S. Lewis

*Changed Into His Image—*Jim Berg

Strangely Bright—Joe Rigney

It’s Good to Be a Man—Michael Foster & Dominic Bnonn Tennant

Eve In Exile—Rebekah Merkle

My Dear Hemlock—Tilly Dillehay

How To Lead Your Family—Joel Beeke

Why Children Matter—Douglas Wilson

Solomon Says—Mark Horne

Chronicles of Narnia—C.S. Lewis

The Hobbit—J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings—J.R.R. Tolkien

Pilgrim’s Progress—John Bunyan

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

Should Christians cremate their dead? While the Bible does not speak to the issue directly, there are Biblical truths that help shape our thinking about how to handle the dead. Let’s think about it.

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

If we look at the stories in Scripture about the exploits of great men and women and then decide that our lives don’t matter, we’re missing the point. These big stories of God’s grace help us know how to see God’s grace at work in our own life.

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

In the account of Philip, we encounter an unusual moment: people are baptized as disciples of Jesus, yet they do not receive the Spirit right away. Luke presents this as an exception—which implies the norm is that the Spirit accompanies Christian baptism.

That raises an important question: what is baptism’s role in the life of a Christian? Does it save? Or is it the means by which we receive the Spirit—as if the Spirit could be compelled by the act itself?

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

Westside’s mission is to make deeply formed disciples of Jesus. But what do we mean by a “deeply formed” disciple? In this episode, Pastor Josh explains just what it looks like to be deeply formed by Jesus.

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

Our faith can feel fragile, like the right gust of doubt could send it crashing down. But how do we strengthen our faith? C. Michael Patton’s book, “Increase My Faith”, offers a helpful breakdown of the essence of faith. This book helps you diagnose the source of fragility so that you can “work out” your faith and grow your confidence in the truth.

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

In this episode, we reframe technology and media as morally neutral tools that become morally significant in use, and we explore a distinctly Christian approach that seeks redemption through repentance and faith in Christ, lived out through the ordinary, “low-tech” means of worship.

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

C.S. Lewis offered some helpful thoughts on the nature of our praise to God that I think can help demystify what it means to praise. Let’s consider what God requires in our praise and how to praise Him rightly.

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

Fasting as a dieting technique has come back into style in recent years, but fasting as a spiritual discipline has not. What does the Bible say about fasting and how should Christians obey this admonition practically?

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .

How should Christians think about raising their children? In a culture that says kids should choose their own beliefs when they grow up, the Bible presents a very different vision. In this episode, we consider the calling God has given parents and the church to shape the faith of the next generation—and why the way we think about discipleship will shape the way we raise our children.

Westside Unscripted is the pastor’s podcast of Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. If you have a topic you would like to hear addressed on the podcast, reach out to Pastor Josh at [email protected]. If you would like more information about our church, visit www.bibledirectionforlife.com .