Building Faith

A quick survey of the most recent data confirms something that most people know intuitively about social media. It is an enormously influential means of communication in our society. One of the more compelling and concerning takeaways from all of the data about this immensely influential medium is that the use of social media is NOT primarily driven by content production, but rather by content consumption... consumption on a massive scale. In this first episode in our new series on Social Media, we discuss some important principles about its use and the need for Christians to exercise biblical discernment and caution when choosing the content we consume.

Over the last 5 episodes in this series, we have sought to identify some key questions that we believe are crucial for us to ask and answer if we are going to think and respond biblically to the very real problem of racial tension. In this 6th and final episode in the series, Dr. Shane Koehler will help us address the challenging, yet crucial question that every individual believer and every church must face... What should we do?

One of the most prominent and destructive features of the current cultural moment is the elevation of collective ethnic identity to such an exaggerated degree that our society has become dangerously splintered. Sadly, this trend has intensified among professing Christians as well. In this 5th episode of our series on Racial Tension, we will discuss the fundamental issue of identity from a biblical perspective as we look to God’s Word to answer the question, “Who are YOU?”

Genesis 3 teaches us that, in a fallen world, everyone in society bears some responsibility and pays some price for society's ills, and that includes racial injustice. But simply stating the general principle that there is plenty of blame to go around doesn't sufficiently answer the basic question, "Who's to blame?" In this 4th episode of our series on Racial Tension, we will try to answer this question from a clear and comprehensively biblical perspective.

In a recent TV interview, Greater New York Black Lives Matter president Hawk Newsome warned, “If this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.” A quote like this may seem unnecessarily provocative, but it warrants some thoughtful analysis. What do they want, specifically? What does “this system” include? And, if the system has to be burned down and replaced, what will it be replaced with? In other words where is all of this going? In part 3 of our series on Racial Tension, we will try to bring biblical clarity to these questions and provide some direction for how we, as Christians, ought to respond.

In the classic fairytale comedy, The Princess Bride, one of the characters, Vizzini, keeps exclaiming the word, "Inconceivable!", when something happens that he was sure could never happen. After a few of these exclamations, the beloved character, Inigo Montoya, simply says, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." In part 2 of our series on Racial Tension, we will see that there are several terms that are often repeated by pundits, politicians, professors and protestors that do not mean what you might think they mean.

It is clearly a distressing time in the life of our country. So, how should the church, corporately, and believers, individually, respond during this period of social unrest and profound racial discord? And, in the midst of all the noise and confusion swirling around these complex issues, where is the hope? In this first episode of a new series on Racial Tension, we will begin to answer these and other important questions.

After a long summer hiatus, we are back at it with a new Building Faith podcast, Uncertainty & Hope, Part 2. In our last episode in May, we were a couple of months into the COVID-19 shutdown, so we thought it would be helpful to record a short series on biblical hope. In part 1 of the series, we focused on what biblical hope actually is and how it starkly contrasts with superficial conceptions of worldly hope. In this new follow-up episode, we discuss how our understanding of biblical hope should work itself out in our lives.

I hope I don’t get sick. I hope I don’t lose my job. I hope I get to see my friends soon. I hope the economy recovers from this pandemic shutdown. In this episode, we begin a series of discussions on the subject of hope. What is biblical hope and how does it differ from the more common notions or expressions of hope we hear or say? We will answer those questions in this episode of the Building Faith Podcast.

In this episode, we continue our discussion of the well-known Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. Through this model prayer, Jesus provides the ideal framework for our prayers, but more importantly, He teaches us how faithful prayer enables us to rightly relate to and deeply commune with our Heavenly Father.

Do you find yourself struggling with consistency, fervency or effectiveness in prayer? Well, you are not alone. Even Jesus' disciples struggled in this area and appealed to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11:1)." In this episode, we return to our series on prayer with a 2-part examination of Jesus' simple, yet profoundly insightful instruction on how we should pray.

Uncertainty, fear, anxiety. These terms might be too mild to describe what many people are experiencing right now during the coronavirus pandemic. Many concerns are mounting, not the least of which are vast concerns about the financial hardships people are, or will likely experience as a result of this unprecedented crisis. In this episode, Richard and Shane turn their attention to these concerns in what is, hopefully, a very helpful discussion about how Christians can avoid the grip of anxiety and persevere through this season of testing with a profound confidence in God.

What is, or should be distinctive about Christians as they navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode, we explore some of the most devastating pandemics in history and we highlight how Christians in past eras distinguished themselves by serving and sacrificing for others in profound ways.

In this episode, Shane takes us deeper into our discussion about prayer and the discipline that is required for us to have intimate and transcendent fellowship with God.

This is a transition episode that will move us from our discussions on the providence of God into a new series on prayer. Where does God's sovereignty and His working out all things according to His will intersect with our prayers? We will begin to address that important question in this new episode on Providence & Prayer.

In this 3rd episode of our series on the providence of God, we explore our tendency to drift into a mystical and compartmentalized way of thinking about God's work in our lives rather than seeing the wonder of His active and concurrent work in and through the routine, and often tedious details of life.

In this episode, we discuss three key aspects of God's providence found in Scripture and we expand upon some of the particular ways that our understanding of God's providence deepens our fellowship and strengthens our walk with the Lord.

In the first episode of a new series on The Providence of God, Pastor Shane introduces us to this great doctrine and challenges us to think deeply about where we are truly placing our faith, particularly when our circumstances do not go according to plan.