Coffee with Alan Podcast

Philippians 3:19 is an interesting and weird passage that seems to indicate people were worshiping food and eating, but it has such a deeper and richer meaning that Paul is both correcting and encouraging the Way God's Saints live this life.

Trail thoughts on "Self-Control" as a way of life from observations from Galatians 5:19-26 & 2 Peter 1:3-7. Self-Control isn't just simply stopping yourself from doing back, it's intentionally directing your life toward good. I use the analogy of a car to illustration this point. You control the car using 3 things; the steering wheel, the accelerator, and the brake. A life intentionally lived only by the brake pedal doesn't go anywhere, a life lived without the brake pedal is out of control and harmful, and a life lived without the steering wheel is a life with no direction or trajectory, so your life might end up somewhere good or off the side of a cliff.

Coffee with Alan - 6-2-22 - Israel Over the years, I've tried to navigate thoughts and beliefs about the nature of Israel, God's covenant with them, salvation, the importance of allegiance and blessing with Israel as a Saint and as an American. In this coffee with Alan, I delve into a new-to-me perspective and biblical arguments given that I am currently holding and fleshing out the many of the implications of. In essence; God's covenant is still very much active with Israel. He still blesses Israel, holds His covenant with Israel, and blesses people and nations who bless Israel. *Though, they are not saved nor will they participate in the resurrection to eternal life in the NEW Jerusalem unless they come to faith in the LORD Jesus Christ.

How do we conduct ourselves in this world as God's saints? The New Covenant is all about being mindful and intentional with how we live our lives and interact with one another in the Church and with outsiders in the world around us. Love on purpose.

Having a great discussion with my friend Mindy who came to faith in Jesus a little over a year ago. Her story is such a great encouragement and reminder of God's amazing grace.

Stop being a Karen! How do we live life without getting or being so easily offended?

Christ has won the Victory! Over what? Why? What does this have to do with us? How to we benefit and enjoy the Victory that Jesus Christ has won? And how does this give Glory to God?

Too often in church theology and practice, we don't make much of the Holy Spirit as much as we do the Father of Jesus. There is often an overemphasis of the Bible over and above, and no where near equal to, the Holy Spirit, the third and just as vital member of the Trinity as the Father and the Son. During this Coffee with Alan, we discuss the vital importance of not placing our study of the Bible over walking by the Spirit. The Bible is not a part of the trinity, the Holy Spirit is. We need to not become a one-winged bird in our faith. In order for our faith to take flight, we must see the scripture and God's Holy Spirit as the two wings by which our faith propels us upward and onward.

We don't intentionally seek to offend people, but often we shy away from offending others by capitulating our core beliefs and the spirit and truth of how we operate and function as a church to the whims and opinions of the culture around us. We have relegated the faith to an intellectual understanding rather than a real spiritual experience. This is why many have weighed and measured the local church and found it wanting. How do we engage with the Spirit and cultivate an ability and freedom to shift our thinking about how to experience God in the local church collectively, relationally, and personally?

You've heard it said “Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship.” During this coffee with Alan, we take a deeper look into these family dynamics as they pertain to our faith. Because when we view our faith through the lens of “family” we start to see God and ourselves in a right relationship.

SO often, the Church makes our faith SO complicated and we forget the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and His FULL and COMPLETE grace given to us through His life, death, burial, and resurrection. It is so good to be reminded reminded often about the joy and simplicity of our faith!

Why do we suffer? How do we suffer? What HOPE do we have to suffer well? There is joy to be experienced when we know how to suffer well. Come find out how.

"They say one day you'll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember..." The words of this song were ringing through my head one morning, and I kept wrestling with them. So in this CWA, I discuss the results of this kind of thinking on peoples lives; whether Christian or not, and how the only way to really sing this song with positive life-changing results, is through the lens of a Christian whose hope is not in this life, but the confidence to live this life, is dependent on our hope in eternity.

Our purpose in life is to give God Glory by everything and in everything we do. This is why there is hope, this is why there is peace, and this is why there is joy in every circumstance no matter the daily anxieties and frustrations. Our reading today is 2 Corinthians 4.

Coffee with Alan 7-2-21 - Retreat Luke 5:16 - Jesus often went away to deserted places to spend time in the Father's presence praying. We need to do the same. The busier you are during the week, the more often you need to retreat.

I sit down with David Runia from C3 (Christian City Church) here in Belgrade, and talk through how we put together our series and how we teach the Bible.

"If you live by men's praise you'll die by their criticism." Tune in to a special Coffee with Alan were I sat down with Elijah Scheidler to talk through our Facebook conversation around this quote and unpack the deeper theological and practical insights for our lives around living out our true identity to both not think about ourselves MORE highly than we ought, but also considering the exhortation to not think of ourselves LESS highly than we ought.

An applicable conversation about what it means to have your foundation in Christ through experiencing the challenge of difficult circumstances.

There is a power behind using the table to bring forgiveness and generosity to a situation or person you're tempted to judge and condemn. What can we do to bless and invite relationship rather than curse and cut ourselves off from others?

Does it sometimes feel that you gain enemies specifically when people disagree with you? This truly has become a difficult issue for many in our culture. It's not just something to "get over", but to help ourselves process through for the sake of unity in the body of Christ and living a life of love by the Spirit of God.

Coffee with Alan 4-28-21 - Beatitudes & Woe-atitudes The kingdom of heaven is a completely counter-cultural ethic grounded in Godly morals. What made Jesus so offensive to His original audiences was that He wasn't affirming the cultural narrative of His day, but was proclaiming a different and new "Way" in which many would be "blessed", but for those who tried to stick to and blend their human ethic grounded in logical and reasonable approaches to life with this new kingdom ethic...Jesus was explaining that they would have a hard time with that.

How do we teach our children about the great love Jesus' poured our on the cross? Join me as I share the love and power of Jesus He gave for us on Good Friday!

Thoughts on the cleansing of the temple and the difficult teachings of Jesus.

With so much around us being prophesied both good and bad, how do we live with hope in these troubled times where you don't know who to believe?

What does Church Unity look like in 21st Century churches compared to 1st Century Church? Music has always played a huge part in building a culture of unity and "one another." How are churches in the Gallatin Valley participating in this effort toward unity?

You're never stuck, you're never too far gone, you've never messed up too bad that there's no way to shift trajectory and shift your destiny (like I preached on Sunday).

I'm made a big deal about our first and only allegiance being to the Kingdom of God, in my sermon on Sunday I addressed it maybe a bit too harshly/strong. In this Coffee with Alan, I talk about the conversation of balanced yet not necessarily divided devotion to God, Family, and Country and how we as believers hold a primary allegiance to God and His Kingdom first, and our love for everything else is served through that lens of citizens of God's Kingdom.

What is "apathy"? This question lies at the heart of our future as individuals and has eternal consequences for future generations. We learn a hard, but good lesson from Rehoboam and Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12 & 2 Chronicles 10. Apathy becomes simply focused our lives upon that which doesn't bring glory to God. This is so much bigger of a conversation than the simply things that are typically considered "religious." This is just the beginning of this conversation, but it benefits our lives and the generations to come for us to think through and carefully and prayerfully consider these concepts today.

Can God dwell with humanity? Solomon realized His temple was far insufficient for the task...but is Jesus?

The Magi were a religious caste from Persia, but who were they and why are they figure in the birth narrative of Jesus? Come discover this wonderful truth of God's purposes in bringing the Magi to become part of the gospel story of Jesus!

In the midst of the differences between the grey hairs and young hairs, how do we actually CULTIVATE a Culture of Wisdom and transformation?

“People today care less about growing up or gaining wisdom and far more about staying young, maintaining relevancy, and dressing according to the latest youth fad.” (“Pastor Paul”, by Scot McKight) In America today we have a culture defined by Juvenilization - the shifting of the focus of culture from the older/elder to the younger. What happens when the youthification of culture and the church takes hold? What happens when Peter Pan becomes everyday reality?

As we live our lives, often we can just simply live without a keen self-awareness of our personality, how we interact with the world around us, why we respond in certain ways to people or situations, so in this coffee with Alan time, we talk about the 5 Reasons to Develop a Keen Self-Awareness, in order to "pay careful attention to how we live" as Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:15-17.

Is there anything worth giving thanks for this year? Sure, a roof over your head, food to eat, friends and family…but if these circumstances change…what is it that truly brings a feeling of thanksgiving even when your life is tried and tested? Come find out in this week's Coffee with Alan.

Psalm 121 - Where does our help come from?! If you've been paying any sort of attention to the news, your news feed, and the attitudes and movements of humanity, this world is in utter chaos now more than ever. What is the perspective we as the Church of Jesus Christ should have amidst the shifting sands of politics, economics, and culture all around us? Faith...faith where? Christ. So get your studded tires installed, put on your spiked ice shoes, and place your faith in the only firm foundation in this life...the LORD.

It's the morning after election night and things are up in the air and many are anxious and still full of stress. During this time of waiting, we are reminded WHY we are told to wait upon the LORD. Our God is a God of peace, joy, and hope. He is not ever described as being anxious. So we too are called to first experience and then to manifest His peace, His non-anxious presence in the world, by waiting on Him.

As we come to the date of America's Election, and many things shake up and shape up across the country, I want to talk a moment and refocus our thought on what truly matters and where our hearts and minds should be directed during this time as you engage in your civic rights to vote for who governs this country and how it is run. How do you always keep Christ at the forefront of your heart.

God challenges us to test Him, to try Him, to experience Him and His blessings by worshiping Him through generous giving. We try and play games with Him and never fully experience His blessing. We can often think like Judas and say "this...money could have been used for _______" instead of experiencing Jesus' heart, "giving this to me was beautiful and she is blessed because of it and the world will tell her story" - which we're still telling today! What story could God tell through you when you say "YES" to generously giving your tithes and offerings to your local church (God's storehouses) and to others (caring for one another/neighbor)?

As Alan preached Sunday, money is a tool and when used by faith, God loves to bring flourishing to our finances. Not "rich", but flourishing, life as God intends it to be. Today, Alan gives us some practical thoughts about money as well as a beneficial tool you focus and use your money with God's purposes.

This week, we discuss daily living and interactions in the church. Alan talks about the importance of living by conscience and allowing others to live by their conscience as we all live/walk by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When a body of believers is capable of doing this, a spirit of FREEDOM is cultivated within the church, unity is formed, and transformation is experienced.

In this week's Coffee with Alan, we talk "briefly" about the festival of Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths) and the POWER of the Plan and Story lived out through celebration, specifically during THE HOLIDAY of Sukkot.

In this episode, Alan discusses various questions, comments, and objections he's heard from various conversations concerning whether the Bible we have today is trustworthy to hang out lives and faith upon. Tune in as Alan helps to give answers and assurance upon WHY the Bible is not only trustworthy, but why it is the MOST trustworthy ancient book in all existence.

Coffee with Alan 9/16/2020 - Conspiracy Theories Link to Frank Viola's Article. https://frankviola.org/2020/05/14/shamdemic/