The Well Said Podcast

How do we become people who are truly generous? One principle that has been at work in our lives is the observation that we will never be truly generous unless we perceive ourselves to be truly wealthy. If we see ourselves as those who are always lacking and in need, we will have a very difficult time being liberal in our giving. The message of the gospel is not merely that we are saved out of hell, or that our sins are forgiven. It goes much further than that. It tells us that, in Jesus, we are loved, bought, accepted and redeemed. We are welcomed into the family of God and we are given the infinite riches of heaven itself. This mindset causes a revolution in how we see ourselves in the world.

Uprooting Bitterness From Your Heart by The Well Said Podcast

Our Summer Recommends by The Well Said Podcast

Deconstruction has definitely been a buzzword this past year. With the scandals in and around christian circles, comes another wave of disillusionment and doubt. How do we process this as christians? Too often, when we as christians come across a friend or loved one who is going through a challenging season in their faith, whether its doubt or questioning, we get very defensive and insecure ourselves. And that makes sense. We get defensive when our deepest beliefs are challenged. One of the most important ways we can begin to work through this challenging question is to hear a story about how it actually happens in the life of a fellow christian. What we learn along the way is that honest questioning is one of the most important ways that God teaches us both of our own limitations, as wells as his faithfulness.

Embracing the Discomfort of True Belonging by The Well Said Podcast

Every generation has its temptations and challenges. One of the great blessings of our time is affluence. We have so much stuff. Many of us were raised not knowing any true needs. And in the midst of that, we are formed by technology to think that the greatest things in our life can come to us through the swipe of a screen or a click of a button. So its no surprise that our generation has a real issue when it comes to diligence, responsibility and work ethic. So how do we think biblically about the concepts of work and money? How do we build our lives around a healthy set of values and convictions about where we put our energy and resources? This week on the podcast we take on the question of our work and money in a "quick success culture". Enjoy the episode and let us know what you think! Full episode link in bio!

Good Love Takes Deep Work by The Well Said Podcast

Learning to express our joy in Jesus by The Well Said Podcast

Processing the Fall of Christian Leaders by The Well Said Podcast

God's Love & Your Restless Heart by The Well Said Podcast

Changes Takes Practice by The Well Said Podcast

Loving People Through Difficult Seasons by The Well Said Podcast

Discovering & Following God's Calling For Your Life by The Well Said Podcast

Giving Negative Feedback To Those We Love by The Well Said Podcast

This week on the podcast we take a moment to think a little more deeply through the process of uprooting our fears. As I mentioned in the previous post, the challenge with fear is that it can masquerade itself so well in the under layers of our hearts. Fear can become a deep mover of our worldview and our goals that we take it as a normal way to live. The joy and power of the gospel comes at us in this specific challenge. It unmasks the foundation of fear as our inherent weakness and guilt as sinners. We respond in fear because, deep down we know that we have failed and that we can't make ourselves right. The justifying power of the blood of Jesus comes to erase this guilt at its root. It washes us clean and brings us into the family of God as though we have never sinned. And it gives us a sure daily foundation to continue the task of uprooting false fears in our life and walk in joyful courage with our King.

How do we make sense of the craziness in the world around us today? And how do we protect our own hearts and minds in the process? This a talk that I did at one of our True North Worship Nights. I hope you find it helpful!

What's it like being a police officer today? This week on the podcast, we get a chance to hear an answer to that question. With all the political upheaval of the last few months, some of us have to deal with the results more than others. Most of us see the mischaracterization and inaccuracies from a distance. And then we go back to our regular lives, unchanged. Others have to suit up and go to work every day, facing the realities of a world angry and divided. Our law enforcement officers have been in that latter category these last couple of months. Now, please understand as someone who holds to a biblical theology of the depravity of man, I am not one to paint one side or the other in perfect, flawless color. In our divided world, everyone is plagued by sin. And that includes our attempts at justice. No police force or police officer is perfect and there are certainly abuses that must be corrected. And yet, in the noise and anger of the moment, we often overlook the significance of the work that is done all around us - the work that never makes it to the news. The work of protecting our communities. The work of chasing down real bad guys. The work of hauling in drunks who are vomiting all over your back seat and spewing profanities at you all the while. This is a work that deserves our attention and our respect. This week on the podcast I sit down with a good friend of mine who works in law enforcement and take some time to see things from his perspective. Episode link in bio!

We all know that relationships are one of the most important aspect of our lives, but what does it actually take to build richer relationships? The challenge with this question is the fact that over our lives we get into certain relational habits the prevent us from cultivating richer and deeper connections. Often times, we are not even aware of these habits. What is more, these habits are often difficult to analyze in ourselves because, most likely, the people in our lives have similar habits. This is where we see one of the great blessings of life in the community of Christ. As a body of Christ, we are a diverse collection of folks from all walks of life, who help counterbalance our weakness and help to demonstrate to us aspects of Jesus that we have been previously blind to. At the end of the day, the perfect example of rich relational wisdom is Jesus himself. He is the only one who came and loved us perfectly. When we take moment to look at his life, there are a few key characteristics of building richer relationships that we can see. This week on the show we take a moment to dive into some of these specific details and how they play out in our everyday relationships. Here is a brief outline of the discussion. Rich relationships include: * Letting people in to your inner life * Learning to take others in * Cultivating trust * Learning to let things go and not hold on to grudges * Communicating real presence

I think one of the single most important threats to our physical, social and spiritual health comes at us through the influence that technology is having on our hearts and minds. I know that sounds extreme and perhaps cliche. I know that I am saying this on social media. But for those of you who know me, you know that I don't use such sweeping statements lightly. We live in the age in which the apocalypse is coming about not through external forces but through the internal crumpling of our mental fabric. And we are doing it too ourselves. This week on the podcast we tackle the question of protecting and cultivating our minds and hearts in a distracted digital age. The thing is, there is a specific reason why technology, and social media in particular, has had such a powerful impact on society - it has found a way to tap into our deepest heart longings, and to set them ablaze. To make us perpetually addicted to the salt water that makes our souls drier and drier. Of all people in society today, we as christians need to be experts is soul care. And yet, resources that we are give in Scripture and biblical community often go unnoticed.

What is the first rule of marriage? “Its always the guy's fault”. You may have seen that on a meme or a tee shirt. It's become a common phrase today, and it's meant as a sarcastic statement for the fact that women won't ever give in in an argument until the guy admits his fault in the situation. Ironically, the statement can be surprisingly true when considered a bit more carefully from a biblical lens. From the very beginning, Scripture shows us that men are created as leaders who bear a significant element of responsibility for the things that go on in their homes, church and communities. This highlights a God-built feature of differences between the roles of men and women, especially in marriage. God has given us men the unique calling of protecting, providing and leading. And when something has gone downhill, there is an inevitable element of responsibility that we bear. How do we shoulder this calling? And what does this responsible leadership look like in guys, especially in the context of relationships? This week on the podcast!

One of the great dilemmas of our age is the “Peter Pan Syndrome”. Our younger generations are having a tougher and tougher time growing up into adulthood. We are “launching” later and later in life, and even with that, many are failing that launch miserably. One of the underlying issues causing this is an assumption that adulthood is where all our fun, freedom and joy goes to die. We want to hang on to the “young and free” years because we believe that this is our only season in life where we will have fun. I turn 30 in two months, and with a mortgage and three kids in the minivan I think it's safe to say we are neck deep into the adulting world. This week on the podcast we pause for am minute to reflect on this journey and how adulthood is surprising us. One of the most foundational surprises I am seeing personally is that I am having way more fun than I ever did. Sure life is more complex. But its also way more rewarding. The layers of growth, challenges and deepening knowledge of God are yielding an experience of daily life that is much richer than the years when I was simply “young and free” (though honestly I still very much consider myself very young and more free than ever before). Full episode link in bio. Enjoy the show!

Dealing with your emotional and spiritual skeletons by The Well Said Podcast

Race in American With Andrey Gorban by The Well Said Podcast

How do we build deeper community? by The Well Said Podcast

Racism and the Church by The Well Said Podcast

What is a woman? Interestingly, this has become one of the most controversial subjects today. The beauty of God's creation order arises in the variety and distinctiveness of his purposes for his creatures, not their sameness. As christians living in a culture that continually presses down on us with a philosophy that flattens out manhood and womanhood into sameness, the only way that we will grow and thrive is if we have roots firmly planted in the beauty and complexity of God's design. This week on the podcast we try to start that conversation, or at least share some of the things that we have learned over the last 7 years together.

Cultivating Spiritual Discipline by The Well Said Podcast

Making Sense of Violence in the Bible by The Well Said Podcast

The last couple of weeks have transformed the world as we know it. It is now impossible to go back. Two weeks ago seemed so peaceful and innocent. But here we are. Washington State has the most cases of the coronavirus or COVID-19. This is a challenging time for us, as we are scrambling to readjust to the new information that we face every day. How do we root ourselves to Christ? How do we move forward in wisdom?

Is all power inherently evil and corrupting? Does that fact that I possess certain gifts or opportunities in life automatically rob someone else of having those gifts? How do we react to the reality of inequality in our world? One of the key assumptions that powers your answers to these questions is how you see the world. Either the world is created by a good, infinite and powerful God, or the world is the result of blind forces. If God is the King of kings, then all questions of power and authority must be measured against the standard of his ultimate power. If God is the giver of all gifts, then all that we have must be seen as a gift from him, which we must steward properly. But if there is no God, then there are no gifts, no real authorities - and all power and privilege is abusive and dangerous. This week on the podcast we dig down into some of these thorny issues and share some thoughts on how we as christians can think through them more effectively and clearly.

Jake Locker Pt. 2 by The Well Said Podcast

Jake's story of faith has many twists, turns and detours in the road. It includes playing football for the UW and then going on to play in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans. Today Jake is retired from the NFL and focuses his life on leading his business, Locker Room Fitness, being an active part of his church community and leading his wife and kids into a life more rooted in the gospel. Enjoy the show!

This week's episode is a recording of a talk I did on the subject of faith in the face of doubts. For more information, check out @truenorthbellingham on Facebook or Instagram. Enjoy the show! Have you ever had the experience of seeing someone you know what away from the faith? Many of us have been there. It's a challenging experience. One that kinda rocks your world and makes you question your own standing in the gospel. If that person walked away from Jesus, how do I know that I won't either? How do I know that my faith is even real? How do I know that its not just a product of the way I was raised? Or here's another one. We all know friends or relatives who have lived in the church community for a long time, who verbally confess faith in Jesus, but at the end of the day, they don't really live it out. They don't feel anything during worship. They find the Bible dull and boring. And yet they say they believe in Jesus. What is the difference between your faith and there's? Is it just emotions? Why is it that Jesus is so real to you and yet so distant to them? As challenging and uncomfortable as these experiences are, they are a huge opportunity for us to truly grow up in our convictions about who Jesus is and who we are as his disciples. No matter how long we have been christians, we are in a continual need of challenging and questioning our relationship to him with the goal of exposing false attitudes and deepening our love for him. Faith only grows through our wrestling. Without that internal struggle, our love dries up. There is no such thing as a christian who is always solid, strong and never doubts.

We got married 7 years ago. It was the middle of December and everyone was in the middle of the holiday hustle and bustle. I was in the middle of a nursing program in college. We had no money. I sold my car to pay wedding and honeymoon expenses. And yet, despite the challenges and hurdles, these past 7 years have been a journey of joy and growing love. Anyone who is married knows that all joy in marriage is the result of hard work, humility and wisdom. And these things don't come naturally. As we look back at ourselves 7 years ago, we see two very different people. God has shaped and molded us so much these past few years. So many lessons learned through failure and repeated attempts. In this week's episode we take a moment to look back over some of the top lessons we've learned and how we continue on the path of growth as a family. Enjoy the show!

This week on the podcast we tackle the question of pain and suffering. Why does a good God allow bad things to happen? How do we think through this as followers of Jesus? The interesting thing is that often times this issue is framed as a problem that christians have to answer, because we say we believe in a God who is both good and powerful. The reality is that the question of evil and suffering is a central question for every single worldview and belief system. Here's the other important point: at the end of the day, no matter what perspective you ask it from, no human religion or system of thought has an answer that perfectly satisfies all our questions. At the end of the day, all answers end with some element of mystery. The question is, does your answer enable you to truly live in a world that is both beautiful and broken? Does your answer provide you with a story big enough to enable you to live, to love and to fight in life's battles with courage and hope? Does it enable you to throw a feast under the shadow of death? We argue, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only one that provides that kind of answer.

2010-2019: The Decade in Review by The Well Said Podcast

Hey y'all, I am so excited to share this episode with y'all. A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Sergey to hear about his journey of serving God, following the call of the gospel and how it eventually landed him in the coffee industry. Our deepest beliefs and convictions will always bleed out from the heart and mind out to our fingertips. This story is a very fascinating example of that fact. The method for Mirror Coffee starts out in the years of experiences, traveling and spiritual development for Sergey. Check out @mirrorcoffeeroasters on Instagram and Mirror Coffee Roasters on Youtube for their first product drop this week!

The holiday season can be a complicated time. On the one hand, we are surrounded by the warm lights, sounds and smells of celebration. We've got our Christmas vibes goin. And we love it. But on the other hand, it can be a depressing reminder of the fact that these warm and wonderful emotions sometimes vanish and we realize we can't just squeeze out joy. Actually sometimes we can find ourselves feeling quite powerless to truly connect with the experience of joy that we know we should be feeling. Why is it that in this season, of all times, we feel like God and joy are distant and detached? How do we inspect our hearts and minds to see his presence more clearly? How do we tune our view of God, so that we can learn to experiencing his loving and giving heart? Short answer: trinitarian fullness. The glorious picture that the Bible presents about God is that before anything, he is an overflowing relationship of love, joy and wonder. Christianity teaches us that this is God, no matter who we are. This is God before we ever wanted to know him. And this is God even when we know we fall short. Enjoy the episode! PS - Here is the link for the sermon we mention - sermon starts at 30 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uluQUZolsM8

Why Do Christians Disagree So Much? by The Well Said Podcast

Kanye West and Real Repentence and Faith by The Well Said Podcast

To be human is to worship. Or put another way, to be human is to be a creature of ultimate desire. We worship the things that we desire and seek after most, because we look to these for satisfaction, peace and completeness. Though we are created to know and love the One who made us, our sin leads us to believe the lie that our ultimate satisfaction and well being can be found in other things. This really is the essence of sin: placing ultimate hope for satisfaction in anything outside of God. This is also what makes our lives so complicated. This is why we struggle with so many things that we know are wrong. Our hearts and our desires often run deeper than we can see directly. The heart is a deep well of mystery. Thus, we have a hard time identifying the sources of our daily struggles. This week on the podcast we sit down with my wife and talk about how the gospel of Jesus comes in to destroy our idols and equip us to expose those idols and uproot them, replacing them with a deeper and richer life of worship. Enjoy the show!

Why You Should Read More Fiction by The Well Said Podcast

One of the most complex seasons of our lives is the season of dating and transition into marriage. No two stories are exactly alike. And there really is no perfect formula one can prescribe that will guarantee safe passage to these rough and challenging waters. Quite unfortunately, christians have often done harm by adding unhelpful or even harmful ideas and expectations to dating and marriage. In this episode, we pause to reflect on some of the lessons we have noticed in the last few years. As part of this conversation, we talk about the history of Joshua Harris' book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” and both the positive and negative impact that it has had. At the end of the day, the deepest challenge for us as christians in this question is to not merely respond defensively to the ideas of our culture but to actually cultivate a rich perspective of relationships and sexuality that is rooted in the Bible. Enjoy the episode and let us know what you think! Here is the link to Harris' Documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybYTkkQJw_M&t=5s

Alright guys so this past month we have officially moved into the mini-van world. This was once again a reminder for my wife and I that life is moving along quickly and we are not the 23 year olds we used to be. We are growing up. We are moving though the 20's, with the 30's coming in fast. So this week we pause and think out loud about what it means to be growing up. What it means to be young. What it means to stay young. And what it means to embrace the maturity and wisdom that comes with age. When we look around we realize quickly that we live in a culture that is obsessed with youth. Sure its good to be young and free. It's good to have energy and dreams. But being young also means being naive. It means lacking wisdom. It means that there is so much we have yet to learn. This latter emphasis seems to be totally missing today. Young people are placed at the center of the culture and given the stage. Not only is this bad for the world. It's bad for us young people. It doesn't help us grow up in wisdom and maturity. And it makes it very difficult for us to understand what it means to be an adult. Enjoy the show!

Following Jesus today means so much more than just reading your Bible and going to church. If God is real, and if he desires to dwell in our hearts and lives through the gospel message, then it is a life that must be full of life. It's supposed to peel back the curtains on reality. It's supposed to show us the world in brighter color. Teach us to feel more deeply. Instill in us a deep sense of hope. And most importantly, usher in a truer sense of God's presence. So how do we combat our sense of fallenness and disenchantment and recapture the wonder? I think that this is one of the most important questions that christians need to be asking today. We can't settle down for the basics. We need to be dissatisfied with the vague and shallow experience of our culture and demand more. Ask greater questions and seek a deeper experience of spiritual life. There is no way that we can capture this question in its fullness in one episodes. But perhaps here is a start! Enjoy the show! Here is the link for the True North Conference sessions for Saturday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRvalZmjxT8&t=7661s The book that we mentioned was N. D. Wilson's Death By Living.

These last few months have been quite the rollercoaster for our family. It's been almost a year now since we started the initial process of getting licensed as foster parents. As you might guess, this was kind of a crazy step for us. A time full of uncertainty, questions and even a bit of fear. The process took a bit longer than we anticipated, but we are in! And now that we are neck deep, we thought it would be a good time to take a moment and share you guys how it's been and what we've been learning. The focus of this podcast is the challenge of following Jesus in our post christian culture. And at the end of the day, this journey has been one of discipleship for us. All the new people we have met, the stories we have crossed paths with, the opportunities that we have witnesses - all serve to expand our understanding what it means to love God and neighbor. Despite the immense challenges, it's been such so amazing to see how Jesus really walks with us in things we do in his name. And the more we need him, the richer his grace. Also check out the website to Skookum Kids at http://www.skookumkids.org

Where has the magic gone? Why does it often feel like faith in today's world is like trying to run with weights on your feet? Why do we sense a continual tug of doubt even though we've been following Jesus for a long time now? These are just some of the questions that we often ask as we try to make sense of our hearts as followers of Jesus today. The short answer is this: we live in a world that has been disenchanted. Here is the link to the lecture by James K. A. Smith - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-not-to-be-secular-responding-to-a-new-millennium/id1160981662?i=1000376038579 Check out well-said.org for more details on this show and others!

What is fatherlessness and why is it one of the biggest factors that lead to increased crime rates, mental illness and even medical problems? In an individualistic culture, we are very good at prizing the rights of the individual. And yet we are very bad at understanding the importance of the family and the role of men. And yet the cliche that we are all used to is incompetent, absent or withdrawn men. What we forget is the fact that the results of this problem are not isolated to me, but leave their mark on every part of our lives. Al Mohler interview link - - https://albertmohler.com/2013/09/16/a-culture-increasingly-hostile-to-men-a-conversation-with-psychologist-helen-smith

Why You Need to Learn to Fail by The Well Said Podcast

Where have all the good men gone? I understand that it today's politically charged culture, that question itself can be seen as offensive and controversial. But here's an observation that I've seen lately. For all the ways that christians today seek to stand against the progressive push in sexuality, we are have largely failed to articulate and model and powerful vision of biblical masculinity. As a result, the younger generations of men are left without model or example, and become sitting ducks to the weak and pessimistic manhood of modern culture. Our goal in this conversation was just to plant the flag for the beauty, power and joy of biblical masculinity. We understand that we are both young men in process. We need to grow in wisdom, understanding and strength ourselves. And yet we see that there is no future to the community of the saints around us without a compelling call to biblical masculinity. Enjoy the episode! Here is the link to the article we mention on the show: - https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/not-safe-but-good

After we finally put the kids down to bed, my wife and I decided to sit down and finally put down some thoughts about what we've been learning over the last six years of marriage and family. One of the first things that we wanted to start with is to challenge our modern expectations of the good life. So here's the key question that will shape the most significant portion of your life: what do you expect from love, marriage and family? More specifically, what part does pain and trails play in your theology of progress and growth. Whether we realize it or not, most of us will often resort to the common assumption that, though discomfort is unavoidable, we need to work as hard as we can do avoid it. The great plot twist of the gospel is that God accomplishes victory through situations that feel like defeat. Through death, he gives us life. And it is through our daily embrace of death that we grow in wisdom, maturity and richness of heart. This idea puts a completely different spin on what we expect from love, marriage and family. Enjoy the show!