Wisdom for the Heart

Share a comment

Your spiritual life follows your appetite. Peter doesn’t start with a complicated checklist for holiness; he starts with one command that cuts through the noise: long for the pure milk of the Word. We walk through 1 Peter 2:1-3 and ask the uncomfortable question it raises for all of us: how long can we really go without Scripture before our souls start running on empty?

We also get painfully practical about what spoils hunger. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander are not “small issues” that sit safely on the side of an otherwise faithful life. They cling like dirty clothing, shaping what we say, what we assume, and what we repeat. If we want Christian holiness that holds up under pressure, we have to throw off what feeds the old nature and stop treating sin like an exception clause.

Then Peter’s illustration lands with force: crave the Word like a newborn craves milk. Not politely. Not occasionally. Relentlessly. That craving has a purpose: spiritual growth that God produces through Scripture from the inside out. And the reason we keep coming back is simple: we’ve already tasted the kindness of the Lord, and we know the Author behind the words is worth returning to.

If this challenged you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s the biggest appetite spoiler you need to put off this week?

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

A hand-cranked washing machine, “miracle” cough lozenges, a coal stove endorsed by Mrs. Spurgeon, and one painfully memorable first-date outfit all make the same point: time changes almost everything. But there’s one Christian distinctive that’s supposed to stay stubbornly the same in every generation, whether it’s first-century Rome, Victorian London, or your life right now.

We open with the strange but beautiful reality that believers often feel immediate kinship with other believers, even when they’ve just met. Then we turn to 1 Peter 1:22–25, where the main verb is impossible to miss: love one another. We dig into Peter’s foundation for that command: “obedience to the truth” as surrender to the gospel, and a “purified” soul as God’s past act in the new birth. Real Christian love is not a personality trait or good manners. It’s the fruit of being born again through the living and enduring Word of God.

From there, we get concrete about what biblical love looks like: sincere love without masks, fervent love that stretches like an athlete to the limit, and intentional love from the heart that starts as a decision of the will and becomes action. We close with Peter’s incentives to love, our shared family identity in Christ and our shared authority under Scripture that outlasts every trend and empire, plus a final challenge to push the walls of our love wider than we thought possible. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

A clean name is priceless, and this message argues you can’t purchase it with success, money, or moral effort. We start with two stories that linger: a mob-connected lawyer who turns on Al Capone at great personal cost, and his son Butch O’Hare, a WWII pilot whose bravery becomes legend. Both stories set up one theme: real freedom always has a price, and someone pays it.

From 1 Peter 1:18-21, we walk through four portraits of Jesus that make the gospel concrete and personal. Peter says we’re redeemed not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, the unblemished and spotless Lamb of God. We connect the dots to the Passover, Isaiah’s suffering servant, and the stunning claim that the church is purchased with God’s own blood. Along the way, we challenge the “futile way of life” that gets inherited and normalized, and we ask what kind of legacy we’re actually handing to our kids and grandkids.

Then we go deeper: the cross is not plan B. Scripture presents the crucifixion as foreknown and arranged before the foundation of the world, which changes how we think about God’s providence and our assurance. The gospel isn’t only true “for the world,” it must become true “for me,” with faith placed in Christ alone and hope anchored in the God who raised Him from the dead. If you’ve ever wondered what redemption really means, why the Bible talks so much about blood, and how resurrection victory reshapes daily life, this is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the line that challenged you most.

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

“Conduct yourselves in fear” might be one of the most misunderstood commands in the Bible. We take 1 Peter 1:17 head-on and redefine holy fear as reverent awe, not nervous terror. When Peter reminds us that the Judge is also our Father, everything changes: holiness stops feeling like a performance and starts looking like everyday Christian living that says, through a thousand small choices, “I belong to God.”

From there, we walk into the judgment seat of Christ, the Bema, and clear out a lot of confusion. We separate the Great White Throne judgment for unbelievers from the Bema evaluation for believers, and we anchor assurance of salvation in the finished atonement of Jesus Christ. No condemnation means no heavenly trial to decide your destiny, and no public replay of forgiven sin. Instead, Scripture points to an impartial evaluation of service, motives, and faithfulness that puts weight and meaning on even the most ordinary acts of obedience.

We also explore three pictures the New Testament uses for the Bema: a refining fire that reveals quality, an awards platform that honors endurance, and a performance review that measures what was spiritually profitable. If you’ve ever wondered whether your unseen service matters, or how to live with real reverence without living in dread, this conversation gives you a clear, practical framework for holiness, sanctification, and hope. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs assurance, and leave a review telling us what “holy fear” means to you now.

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

If someone investigated your life for a week, would they find anything that makes the gospel look true?

We open with a haunting idea from early Christian history: an apologist once told a ruler to examine believers and “observe their purity.” That kind of argument feels almost unthinkable now, and that’s exactly why it matters. From 1 Peter 1:13-16, we map a practical, grounded approach to Christian holiness that doesn’t collapse into either fear of the culture or a fake “church voice” that disappears by Monday morning.

We walk step-by-step through what it means to stay clean in an unclean culture: disciplining our thought life, staying level-headed in our emotions, fixing our hope on the future grace of Jesus Christ, and breaking with old habits that used to define us. Then we tackle a discouraging myth that quietly cripples everyday discipleship: the belief that only pastors or missionaries have a calling. Peter’s language is for all believers. Your vocation, your workplace, your home, and your current season are sacred ground where God has planted you to reflect his character.

We also get the honest truth about holiness. It’s comprehensive, touching all of life without becoming a checklist. It’s not new, because God has been saying “be holy, for I am holy” since Leviticus. And it’s not something we create with man-made rules to win man-made approval; it’s conformity to our Father. A closing story of a hotel maid in India puts skin on the message: quiet excellence and joyful integrity can become a powerful Christian witness.

Subscribe for more Bible teaching on 1 Peter, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. What’s one area of your life where you need holiness to be “all behavior” this week?

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

What do a mouse in the bathroom and termites in the walls have to do with your spiritual life? More than we like to admit. We talk about the subtle way Christians can “live with” spiritual pests: tolerated thoughts, excused habits, and private compromises that slowly weaken the foundation of faith and credibility. Peter’s words in 1 Peter 1:13-14 push us past more information and toward real application, where belief finally shows up as behavior.

We break down four early steps for staying clean in a corrupt culture without isolating from the world: prepare your mind for action by tightening what you let into your thought life, stay sober minded by gaining emotional self-control under pressure, fix your hope completely on the future grace of Jesus Christ, and start breaking old patterns tied to former desires. Along the way, we unpack what it means to be “obedient children” and why obedience is the one family likeness that should mark every believer, no matter how different we are.

If you feel the cultural undertow pulling you toward “everybody’s doing it,” this conversation offers a clear framework for resisting conformity and choosing integrity that looks like Jesus in everyday work and everyday decisions. Listen through, then share it with a friend who’s been fighting the same battles and leave a review so more people can find the show.

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

Authority has a terrible reputation right now, and we get why. It can be used to control, shame, and silence. But we argue there’s another reason people hate authority: it interrupts our obsession with personal freedom, and it forces us to face the possibility that some things are actually true. That’s the tension behind Paul’s letter to Titus, written to a young leader serving on Crete, a culture marked by drunkenness, sexual immorality, and spiritual blindness.

We walk through Titus 2:15 and the three commands that form a practical church game plan for cultural impact: speak, exhort, and reprove. First, we make the case for ordinary gospel conversations, not just sermons. We talk about bringing Jesus Christ into the hallway, the backyard, the workplace, the flight, and the dinner table, and we connect that to “sound doctrine” that shapes real life: integrity, self-control, parenting, responsibility, and honest work.

Then we turn up the intensity. Exhortation is more than information; it’s an invitation with urgency, grounded in the grace of God that offers salvation, the blessed hope of Christ’s return, and a call to be zealous for good deeds. And yes, we also go to correction. Real worship and real discipleship alter us like a tailor, not just iron us. We close with the hard truth: people may try to disregard you when you speak with biblical authority, but faithfulness means staying clear, prepared, and courageous.

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. What part of the plan do you need most right now: conversation, motivation, or alteration?

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

Your plans for the future probably include savings, insurance, and retirement. None of that answers the hardest question: what is your way out when life ends? We follow Paul’s logic in Titus and land on a bold claim that changes everything, Jesus Christ is not merely a teacher or helper, he is our great God and Savior, the visible manifestation of the invisible God, and the One Scripture points to when it talks about God “appearing.” 

From there, we get uncomfortably practical. Grace is not passive permission; we talk about grace as training, a daily curriculum that teaches us to say no to ungodliness while saying yes to a new life at the same time. That means you never outgrow the need for repentance, self-control, and clear choices, and you also never outgrow the need for fresh obedience. We dig into what it means to live sensibly, live righteously by a real external standard, and live godly in the present age without being shaped by the present age. 

We also take on the modern obsession with “values” and ask what happens when values are subjective and virtue disappears. A vivid story from the Titanic exposes how quickly “priceless” can become worthless under pressure, and it sets up the deeper question: what will stand when we face God’s standard of rightness? Finally, we lift our eyes to the blessed hope, the promised appearing of Christ, and the gospel heart of it all: Jesus gave himself to redeem us from every lawless deed, purify us, and make us zealous for good works, right now, while we wait. 

Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

A wilderness story can wake you up. The image of a man who planned every mile of his journey but forgot to plan his way home sets the tone for a conversation about grace as both a guide for life and an exit strategy for death. We open Titus 2 and discover that grace is not only a doctrine to affirm—it is a teacher who meets us where we are, repeats the lesson as often as needed, and forms our habits day by day.

We unpack how grace trains us to say no to the patterns that once owned us and yes to practices that make us whole. Saying no is not dour moralism; it’s the freedom to disown what corrodes our joy. At the same time, grace calls us into sensible living marked by self-control and sound judgment, righteousness anchored to God’s standard rather than shifting personal values, and godliness that turns routine into worship. You don’t graduate from temptation, and you don’t age out of formation; grace keeps teaching while you keep walking.

Along the way, we challenge the cultural script that replaces every no with now and swaps virtues for marketable values. The text points us to a steadier path—habit, devotion, and a mind renewed by truth. Whether you’re new to faith or long on the road, this is a clear map: refuse what dims the soul, practice what reflects Christ, and remember that salvation appears for all kinds of people. Grace prepares you to live well today and to leave well when the time comes.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs the nudge, and leave a review with the one habit you’re choosing to practice this week.

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show

Share a comment

What if your 9-to-5 is the most sacred space you step into all week? We explore how ordinary work—emails, errands, meetings, and messy teamwork—can become a place where humility, honesty, reliability, and loyalty turn heads and open hearts. Pulling from Paul’s challenge against grumbling and pilfering, we look at the quiet choices that build trust: showing up on time, keeping your word, refusing to trash-talk the boss, and saying no when asked to lie. It’s not blind compliance; it’s courage with a clean conscience.

We travel from a startling case of mass restitution during the Welsh revival to a vivid portrait of Daniel, an exiled civil servant whose integrity protected a pagan king from loss and lifted him to uncommon influence. Loyalty here is not favoritism—it’s good faith that seeks the welfare of the place you serve, even when it’s imperfect. Along the way, we ask hard questions about the little forms of theft that creep into teams and budgets, and we offer a path back: confession, repair, and consistent follow-through.

At the center is a deeper motive: to adorn the gospel at work. Like a jeweler’s setting that makes the gem sparkle, your life can highlight truth without hype. When colleagues see steady joy, honest books, and quiet courage, curiosity follows. Our final story about a child named Sarah—who found her greatest honor in placing a single flower in a vase—reminds us that nothing done unto God is small. If you’re ready to make Monday meaningful, to turn routine into worship, and to let integrity rewrite your office culture, this conversation will give you a simple, sturdy way forward.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs Monday hope, and leave a quick review so more people can find these conversations.

We want to translate Stephen's through the Bible teaching series - The Wisdom Journey - into 10 new languages next year. Your support makes that possible.

Make a tax deductible gift right now: https://www.wisdomonline.org/give

Learn about our plans to reach the nations: https://www.wisdomonline.org/2050

Support the show