The Gospels lay out a story about a conversation that takes place between a man possessed demons, and Jesus Christ. In this conversation there are many things for us to learn, some of which are: the lack of power we have over the darkness of this world; the lack of power the darkness of this world has over Christ; and God's love for those who need a Saviour.

We serve a great, wonderful, and mighty God, who can reach into the depths of sin and death and rescue the chiefest sinner, as the Apostle Paul said. However the Word of God does very clearly lay out one sin (one individual form of blasphemy) that cannot be forgiven. This episode is about that one sin which God will not forgive.

There's two ways in which we can live this life, but only one that we can live it as Christians. We can live this life given over to our own ideas and concepts, or we can live it as Christians, given over to the doctrine of the Word of God. This episode is about the inevitable realities of a life lived with, as well as without, Christ.

One of the most difficult parts about being confronted with the truth about ourselves, is how unsettling it can be. However, when Christ confronts or convicts our conscience, He offers right along with the conviction a space for repentance and forgiveness. This episode is about that space for repentance.

In many situations in life, it's not that we don't go to Christ, it's that we go to Him in a very incorrect manner. There is quite a lot we can glean from a man in the Bible, who's name we're never given, we're only given his title - Centurion; we can learn much from his approach to Christ, which even Christ himself said, he marveled at.

In this episode, we're looking at the fascinating aspect of Paul's life, where he goes from "chief of sinners" to "not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles"; from worthless to worthy. Paul recognizes all the glory from such a transition belongs exclusively to Jesus Christ, and as it is true for him, so it is true for us.

At times familiarity can be a helpful thing, but in many instances, religion has become much too familiar (or has attempted to do so), with the Lord. He is to be reverentially worshiped with complete obedience to the doctrine of the Word of God, not systematically structured into the life we want to live.

When Christ does only things that Christ can do, the question is often "What manner of man is this?" This episode is a brief attempt to answer that question, but the matter can only be truly answered within the heart of the individual. What manner of man is Christ to you? What have you accepted concerning His love and requirements of you? Christianity is not practiced en masse, but individually, because of what Christ has done for the individual.

Happy New Year! As you go into this year, a question which you might ask yourself is whether or not THE GOD is your God. Is the God of the Bible the same God who governs your affairs? Or is He just someone else to consider along with the other gods you serve? This episode encourages the simple question as you go into a new year of whether or not God is your all in all, or just part of your sum. Being Christian is to make God your all in all.

When one is presented with the truth, there's only two options - to receive it (as it is in truth, the Word of God, as God is Truth), or to reject it (and rejection of truth is at best only temporary, as the truth will always be manifested in the end). This episode is about the benefits and value of receiving truth immediately, regardless of what it means for your own opinions. The denial of self, for the acceptance of truth, is what being a Christian is all about.

Over the course of Christ's earthly ministry, He made many statements and did many works (miracles), which very clearly proved who He was; yet people were always asking Him who He was. What we see in this episode is the fact that even now, the problem is not that Jesus Christ is not clear, it's just that we're not listening.

As we're about to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday, this episode of the On Being Christian Podcast looks specifically at thankfulness and contentment. We begin with a few thoughts from God's Word (specifically King David), a few more thoughts from President Abraham Lincoln, and we close out with some final thoughts from special guest Paul Harvey (sort of), who in his own words, shares the origin story of Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless!

One of the heights of frustration, speaking personally, is when people express the desire for peace with their words, but live in an entirely Godless way - guaranteeing the lack of peace. This episode is about where peace comes from and how we will never have peace when we refuse to live by the truth.

In contrast to the tendency of our current culture's attempts to push subjective opinion as if it were objective truth; here are four clear Biblical statements that show the reality that for the Christian being blessed + being effective is directly tied to being obedient.

I have learned that there are four questions from the Bible which are very helpful concerning those things I ask my self when I face discouragement. Discouragement is a very real difficulty we face, but it is certainly not something that we have to let control us; it does not have to have the last say, and this Episode is about exactly what to do when faced with it. I pray it is helpful.

We have so much access available today to continual (near instant) information; but do we ever stop to think that we give all of that “instant access to information” a gateway into our minds and lives as well, which comes with weariness it would seem. Sometimes, weariness is the price we pay for comfort. Would it be understandable to say that perhaps we would do ourselves a favor (and not be so weary), if we started lookin to earn comfort instead of just gaining it?

In this episode we’re going to take a look at how God looks at the heart. Within the greater realm of religion Christ has been reduced to someone we study, consider, ponder, or even admire, but not obey; to biblical Christians, He was and is so much more! What you’ll find is that Christ deals directly with your heart, most of the time before you’re even willing to yourself.

Many times we look at Christianity like a solution to issues in life that we don’t like. The value of being a Christian however is that we have an eternal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, which at times will require us to conduct ourselves in ways secular culture does not appreciate. This episode is about the importance of standing on the doctrine of the Word of God, especially when it costs you something (and it most certainly will cost you something).

At the risk of oversimplifying things, you can be one of two different types of people. You can be a peacemaker or a troublemaker. This episode is about the value of being a peacemaker, as well as the fact that it takes the Prince of Peace to be a peacemaker.

In this episode we continue our study on the BeAttitudes and we've combined the Merciful and the Pure in Heart. For several reasons, among them is the fact that if you have not let Christ purify your heart, there is no way for you to be merciful. What a God we serve! I hope you enjoy episode #34!