Podcasts about gospel spice ministries

Stephanie invites you today to spice up your faith by exploring unexpected connections between two great feasts. She dives deep into the intertwined celebrations of Pentecost in the Christian tradition, and Shavuot in the Jewish faith. Both festivals are celebrated 50 days post-Easter and Passover respectively, and invite us to reconnect with themes of gratitude, thanksgiving, and divine revelation. Through the enduring cycles of joy, preparation, and revelation, both Shavuot and Pentecost call believers into a deeper understanding of divine grace and the cyclical journey of faith. You can purchase the Spring Feasts workbook to take notes while you listen, including the gorgeous visuals we created to accompany your experience: https://www.gospelspice.com/offers/ct6coMYd In the Christian liturgical calendar, Pentecost, celebrated on June 8, 2025, mirrors Shavuot's setting—50 days after the major religious observances of Easter and Passover. It marks the momentous occasion when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus's followers, empowering us to spread the gospel. God's presence attributes joy and delight to Pentecost, making it a critical event that signifies the birth of the church and believers' empowerment. Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, concludes a significant period of anticipation following Passover. Observers commemorate this festival by reading the Ten Commandments and partaking in the harvest of wheat, lauded as the superior grain. Symbolically, Shavuot represents the culmination of the spring feasts, and includes the unique preparation of two loaves of leavened wheat bread, symbolizing humanity's sinful nature. Celebrated with offerings, figs, olive oil, and more, Shavuot is a joyous occasion steeped in history and spirituality. Stephanie discusses these celebrations as a "rehearsal dinner" for the future wedding banquet, the final joyous gathering in Christ's return. This celebration encapsulates both preparation and revelation, drawing a parallel to the Israelites' three days of preparation to receive the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. The festival's ladder-shaped challah symbolizes Moses' ascent to receive the Law, while its inclusion of yeast signifies the sinful nature that, through divine grace, will be fully redeemed. Central to both Shavuot and Pentecost, is the theme of harvest. The gathering of wheat represents the process of evangelism. As believers are sanctified through trials, they are refined wheat, ready for offering and transforming into the spiritual bread of life. In the same vein, Pentecost is a reminder of the Great Commission—empowering believers to go forth and harvest souls for the kingdom of God. Christ embodies the fulfillment of Shavuot. Just as Shavuot celebrates God's revelation to Moses, Pentecost commemorates the Holy Spirit's descension, ushering a new covenant. This underscores a deeper spiritual truth: the festival of Shavuot rehearses the believers' ultimate communion with God, transcending into a season of salvation heralded by Jesus' coming. Stephanie highlights a fascinating contrast between Jewish and Western traditions: the Jewish cyclical view of time versus the Western linear perspective. Shavuot, celebrated from sundown on June 1 to nightfall on June 3, 2025, emphasizes the end of the spring harvest—a marker in the cyclical liturgical calendar that heralds a pause until the fall feasts. Meanwhile, the Western tradition tends to perceive time as linear, steadily moving towards a future point. This cyclical nature of the Jewish liturgical calendar offers hope and progress, especially during periods that may seem monotonous. After the spring feasts conclude, the Jewish calendar enters a four-month period without festive observances until Rosh Hashanah. Stephanie encourages believers to view these "ordinary" times as infused with the joy and anticipation of Shavuot and Pentecost, reflecting the Christian longing between Christ's first and second comings. This period is an invitation to embody thankfulness, evangelism, and charity, preparing for the ultimate harvest in the final gathering. Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on Holy Day traditions in upcoming episodes of Gospel Spice! Don't forget to check out our essential workbook to accompany this study. Stephanie personally created the content to invite you deeper into study. Don't miss out! It's at https://www.gospelspice.com/store DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Jesus has set the Easter table richly, for us to partake. Come to His table today through our exploration of Easter, which took place on the very day of the Jewish Feast of First Fruits. What does it mean for us today? The story of Easter is a tapestry woven with complex emotions—the somberness of Good Friday followed by the overwhelming joy of Easter Sunday. The sequence takes us through the contemplation of Jesus' crucifixion, echoing the depth of human suffering and sacrifice. As Christians, we are invited to relive these moments, acknowledging the pain while eagerly anticipating the joy of resurrection. Easter, often referred to as the most important day in the Christian calendar, transcends time and history. It bridges the gap between Jewish traditions and the new covenant established by Jesus. You can purchase the Spring Feasts workbook to take notes while you listen, including the gorgeous visuals we created to accompany your experience: https://www.gospelspice.com/offers/ct6coMYd The Feast of First Fruits mark the beginning of the harvest, while Pentecost signifies its culmination. Both events are intrinsically linked through the work of the Holy Spirit. The First Fruits celebration on Easter sets the stage for the Holy Spirit's coming at Pentecost, bridging the gap between the initial offering and the full harvest, pointing to the birth and growth of the Christian church. The Feast of First Fruits, celebrated the Sunday after Passover, used to hold immense significance in Jewish tradition. Rooted in Leviticus 23:10, this feast involves offering the first barley harvest to God, symbolizing gratitude and the anticipation of a plentiful harvest. It's a day Jews can't eat bread or drink wine until sacrifices are made, an act mirrored by Jesus' Last Supper—where he promised a new covenant symbolized through bread and wine. During the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the practice of communion, tying it to the Jewish Passover. He told his disciples that he would not eat or drink again until he was in God's Kingdom, thus establishing the new covenant. The meal shared at Emmaus is another crucial moment. When Jesus broke bread with his disciples, they recognized him, affirming his authority and lordship. The breaking of bread in this context goes beyond a mere meal; it's a reaffirmation of Jesus' identity and the fulfillment of his promises. Interestingly, Jesus reappears to his disciples but does not partake in the meal at Emmaus. Instead, he later eats fish with another group of disciples, a humble act connecting to his earlier ministry and ultimate sacrifice. This post-resurrection meal underlines his humility and serves as another reminder of the first fruits principle—Jesus is the first fruit of resurrection. Paul's letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:20) highlights that Jesus' resurrection on the Feast of First Fruits symbolizes the future resurrection of believers. Jesus is the firstborn of creation and the first to rise from the dead, promising eternal life for all who follow. The concept of First Fruits extends to envisioning a perfect, sinless world—a harmonized existence in the eternal presence of Christ. This heavenly vision, often referenced in biblical texts, portrays a future where every generation enjoys everlasting peace and the profound joy of being in God's presence. In today's context, the call for revival echoes the ancient practice of offering First Fruits. Believers are urged to be the first fruits of revival in our times, sharing the message of hope and resurrection with a world in need. It's a reminder to live with purpose, reflecting the truly life-changing power of Jesus' resurrection in our daily lives. Don't forget to check out our essential workbook to accompany this study. Stephanie personally created the content to invite you deeper into study. Don't miss out! It's at https://www.gospelspice.com/store DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Stephanie explores with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith the intricacies of identity, rest, and spiritual fulfillment. According to a recent article from CNBC, Americans have been taught that our work is the single most important way to prove our worth. In essence, what we do has been heralded as far more important that who we are. No matter our life stage -student, graduate, adult, parent, or retiree – the message has been communicated (and received) that we need to perform in order to matter. Researchers assert that this mindset is making us miserable and induces high rates of depression, shame, and substance abuse. Dr. Dalton-Smith debunks the myth of "having it all," emphasizing the importance of finding rest in the journey, rather than aiming to relentlessly complete life's tasks. She shares her personal journey of relinquishing control, choosing instead to trust and obey God, which allowed her to embrace her identity beyond societal roles and accomplishments. Scripture reveals aspects of God that illuminate parts of ourselves and encourages a journey of becoming aware of these divine connections. Through her book "Being Fully Known," Dr Saundra invites us to behold God's character, becoming aware of His presence within us, and belonging in a way that uniquely reflects His image. Stephanie and Dr. Dalton-Smith explore the joy of embracing life's mysteries, moving through cycles represented by fields of suffering, surrendering, stretching, and soaring. These fields reflect the dynamic, non-linear nature of spiritual growth, grounded in God's character rather than worldly achievements. Embracing such cycles and living in obedient surrender will lead to deeper rest and fulfillment. Dr. Dalton-Smith proposes the "abide-act" framework—a cyclical practice involving periods of resting in God's presence, followed by active steps based on what He reveals. This approach invites us to pursue our unique, God-given path without succumbing to societal pressures or predefined identities. This approach allows us to discover God's limitless creativity in crafting our journeys. Through personal anecdotes, Dr. Dalton-Smith exemplifies how past pain and experiences are redeemed to fulfill God's purposes, turning them into sacred work that doesn't feel burdensome, but life-giving instead. Dr Saundra encourages believers to redefine success and fulfillment through a biblical lens, fostering a cycle of beholding, becoming, and belonging that transcends linear progression and celebrates divine rest and purpose. MEET DR SAUNDRA DALTON SMITH Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith is a board-certified internal medicine physician, an international speaker, and the CEO of Restorasis, a workplace well-being consulting agency. She is also the award-winning author of Set Free to Live Free and Sacred Rest and the host of I Choose My Best Life podcast. Dr. Saundra lives in Alabama with her husband and their two sons. https://www.drdaltonsmith.com/  We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog Identity in the battle | Ephesians https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/ Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/ Shades of Red | Against human oppression https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/ God's glory, our delight  https://www.podcastics.com/episode/126051/link/   Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Stephanie here! We are taking a temporary break from the Book of Proverbs to immerse ourselves in the two major Jewish and Christian liturgical events happening this week, roughly at the same time (which is unusual): Lent and Purim. I always find it fascinating to find fresh ways to worship Jesus Christ through the connections between different feasts and seasons. So today I invite you to delight in Christ through the unexpected juxtaposition of Purim and Lent. We invite you into a delightful exploration of the divine tapestry that intertwines the ancient traditions of Purim with the solemn reverence of Lent, ultimately pointing to the redemptive Lordship of Jesus Christ. You can purchase the Spring Feasts workbook to take notes while you listen, including the gorgeous visuals we created to accompany your experience: https://www.gospelspice.com/offers/ct6coMYd Purim, a joyous and festive Jewish celebration, commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people as detailed in the book of Esther. The intricacies of the story, from the absence of God's name in the book of Esther to the sovereignty and deliverance of His people, provide a rich tapestry to explore. In the Christian tradition, Lent serves as a period of preparation and reflection leading up to Easter, encompassing forty days marked by fasting, sacrifice, and repentance. Both Purim and Lent share a dark background of struggle and the hope of a joyous feast, creating an intriguing juxtaposition. Steeped in history and tradition, Purim and Lent leads us to worship Jesus at their intersection. It's compelling to note that while Purim is celebrated with joyful feasting and the giving of gifts to the poor, Lent involves fasting before the celebration of Easter. Both observances intertwine notions of hardship and hope, underscoring the resilience and faith exhibited by believers. Purim and Lent beckon us to seek and find Jesus in the heart of these sacred observances. So, join the conversation today! Don't forget to check out our essential workbook to accompany this study. Stephanie personally created the content to invite you deeper into study. Don't miss out! It's at https://www.gospelspice.com/store DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Wisdom. Most of us would say we possess some measure of it. And yet, we would probably all sign up for more, if it didn't prove so, well… elusive? Unattainable? Reserved for the “truly spiritual”?  What if our desire for wisdom led us to look for the right answers in the wrong places? What if wisdom was accessible to anyone who asks? Most importantly, how do we get this wisdom that is not of the world? Gospel Spice Ministries invite you to ponder the wisdom of the book of Proverbs through a Christocentric perspective over the next few weeks. We promise spiritual flavor explosions steeped in the biblical concepts of hope, faith, and joy in the Lord. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom Every week, we invite you to meet a fictional character who teaches us much about God. Today, meet Lauren. Lauren is a talented interior designer, and she knows it. That's why she hates it when an outsider tries to teach her something in her field of expertise. It happened just recently again when Mary and Bob gave her advice on how to use color to accent a room. That conversation drove her crazy. She respectfully tuned out their poor advice while mentally listing superior alternatives, before sharing that list with them. She did them a favor—their silence was proof of approval. Or take the other day, when she was asked to volunteer to help clean the church kitchen after an event. That made her angry. Don't they know she has important things to do with her time, and better ways to use her gifts? For example, she recently met with this famous movie star and they really hit it off. She loves telling people how she, Lauren, gave sensible advice to this actress for her next role. See, she has more important things to do. She encourages her tendency to compare to others, in every area. She sees it as a competitive spirit. Comparison has been encouraged by her teachers and her parents as far as she can remember. She truly believes it's the path to personal growth—when you measure yourself up against others, and increasingly notice progress. Since comparing is a source of growth, she does others a favor by flaunting her latest success. She just lost 15 lbs and is letting everyone know. She would not mention the actual weight loss, but her tight-fitting clothes show the progress well enough. She has noticed the appreciative looks around her at the firm. She is proud to know she is inspiring them to try too. God knows some of them could use some weight loss too—take Sharon and Kim, for example. She got aggravated with that stupid Bill at work recently, who dared hint that she was judgmental. What a complete idiot. But here is the truth: if people don't have their act together, that's because either they're not trying hard enough, or they choose to rely on others rather than work hard. She makes a point of never asking anyone for help. What would they think? She prides herself on her humility. Take her house, for example. Considering her status and salary at the designing firm, she could afford a much bigger one. So, there. Plus, she is at church most Sundays. They should be grateful, because here's the honest truth: that church really is not half as good as it could be. Hum… maybe she will give the head pastor some much-needed advice next time she sees him. Our world is full of Laurens. Do you know one? She might never have heard a key Scriptural message from proverbs: God gives grace to the humble, but justice to the proud. Jesus Himself, in Matthew 7:1-2, warned us that we will be judged by the very standard we use to judge others. God won't even pull up the ten commandments; He will look at how we treated others, and that will be the basis of how He treats us. A sobering thought. Indeed, it is a terrifying thought, apart from the grace of God. Mark Twain famously said, “It's not the parts of the Bible I can't understand that bother me; it's the parts that I do understand.” The way I see it? Anything short of begging for grace is sheer folly. In our previous article and podcast episode, we focused on fear, and we saw that fear stems from a deflated view of God. Today, we see that pride stems from an inflated view of self. French is going to come to our help by showing us that bad pride always stems from comparison. In French, we have two words for your one English word “pride.” Orgueil (pronounced [ɔʁɡœj]) is always negative, and it is always pride in relation to someone else: it's comparing to others, and coming out on top. Conversely, fierté (pronounced [fjɛʁ.te]) is generally in relation to yourself. You are your own standard, and you measure improvement against yourself. It is much more positive. Orgueil and fierté  teach us that true pride is humble because it knows its limits and surrenders to God. The true glory of mankind is not to seek glory for ourselves—that is worldly pride. Humans are truly glorious when we seek to know God. Our purpose and identity are found, not in pridefully seeking to make ourselves equal to God, but in seeking to know God. Humble pride seeks not to be God, but to know Him. As believers, we have an awe-inspiring privilege: we are beckoned to enter the Throne Room boldly… on our knees. That is pride rooted in humility; it is God-dependence rooted in gratitude. When we approach the Throne to pray, for others and for ourselves, we nurture humility which, in turn, breeds gratitude and compassion. Pride cannot pray. Therefore, prayer is the antidote to our all-pervasive pride; prayer is both the soil and fruit of humility. You can't enter the Throne room without being captivated by the beauty of the Sovereign. His beauty is supremely displayed in the Son, the radiance of the Father's glory (Hebrews 1:3) cloaked in the humility of human flesh (Philippians 2:5). The Book of Proverbs highlights the wisdom that is from above: a crucified Lord, foolishness to the proud but salvation to the humble. Take a listen to the Gospel Spice Podcast, Episode 379, to further ponder the beauty of our Lord's humility. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog Identity in the battle | Ephesians https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/ Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/ Shades of Red | Against human oppression https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/ God's glory, our delight  https://www.podcastics.com/episode/126051/link/   Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Wisdom. Most of us would say we possess some measure of it. And yet, we would probably all sign up for more, if it didn't prove so, well… elusive? Unattainable? Reserved for the “truly spiritual”?  What if our desire for wisdom led us to look for the right answers in the wrong places? What if wisdom was accessible to anyone who asks? Most importantly, how do we get this wisdom that is not of the world? Gospel Spice Ministries invite you to ponder the wisdom of the book of Proverbs through a Christocentric perspective over the next few weeks. We promise spiritual flavor explosions steeped in the biblical concepts of hope, faith, and joy in the Lord. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom Today, Stephanie takes us deep into the topics of fear, insecurities and anxiety in order to ponder the Christ-centered alternative: faith and trust. Many proverbs are centered on the concept of fear--both as something to avoid when it is the fear of man, and as something to nurture when it is the fear of God. What do these proverbs mean, and what can they teach us today? As has now become our habit, we start off by meeting a fictional character who embodies the traits we will be pondering today. Her name is Jessica, and she tries hard to please everyone! Stephanie takes us to a profound quote by Thomas Chalmers about the "expulsion power of a new affection" as the underlying secret to replace fear by faith. We examine fear to conclude that it is always a secondary motivation in the transformation process, and that growing in faith makes for a much more powerful vector of transformation. Faith predates the fall in the garden, but fear follows it. Therefore, in Christ we are given the opportunity to return to our deepest roots, restoring the harmony of our intimacy with the Father in the garden, and even more. Because of the transformative power of faith in Christ, we can become salt and light--this is actually the context of Jesus' famous teaching about our identity as salt of the earth and light of the world! We ponder that genuine faith and trust in God are only possible when we rejoice and delight in God first, and foremost, and, actually, all in all. Faith is grounded in who God is; fear is grounded in who we are in our own eyes, or in the eyes of the world. We examine this powerful thought by Saint Augustine, that challenges us to give up the "fruitless joys we are afraid to lose" in order to "embrace the joy-filled fruit we cannot lose." We do this, by looking at Peter's faith when he dared to step out of the boat. Will we dare to step out of our own boats in faith, keeping our eyes on the One who holds our hand? This event in Peter's life teaches us that, if we have faith in mankind, we will have the fear of man; but if we have faith in God, then we will cultivate the only healthy fear: the fear of God, which is the "beginning of wisdom" and the "beginning of knowledge" as Proverbs teach us. So, what is the fear of God? How can it be good, since we've expounded on fear being bad, so far? It requires a look at who God is. His preeminence in presence, power, goodness, justice, love, patience and kindness set Him so very much apart, that He is a category all His own. To be "set apart" literally is the root of the word "holy." The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge because God is a category all His own, and we cannot fear Him as we fear man. It's not the same fear because it's not the same category. The fear of God is wise because it is awe and reverence and worship and adoration--not cowering in fear of getting hurt by a vengeful tyrant. God's identity makes Him trustworthy and, therefore, make His guidance much sought after. We end with yet another favorite quote of Stephanie's, "complaint supposes ill-usage." If we complain that God has not come through for us (as we all are prone to do!) we basically state that God is out to get us, or that He does not have our best interest at heart; that He behaves towards us with ill-will. When we take time to think this through, we realize it is not consistent with who we know God to be. In other words, complaining against God is always rooted in a faulty understanding of His grace and heart on our behalf. It means we can correct our faulty view, and therefore grow in joy and contentment! What a delightful prospect. Such promises are NOT for the fearless, perfect version of you, some time in the future. They are for you TODAY, as you are, imperfections and all. And that is the best news we can hear all day! If it is true that we become what we behold, then behold Christ. Anything lower is beneath you as a royal priesthood, adopted child of God. MORE ABOUT TODAY'S EPISODE | MEET JESSICA! So, today, meet Jessica. It's been a long weekend for Jessica, and she's glad to be back home. She's dirty, sweaty, smelly, and exhausted. The family went camping—the kids had been begging for months, and her husband had gotten new gear, including a comfortable sleeping pad for her. He knew how much she values her comfort. What he doesn't know is how viscerally Jessica hates camping. He wouldn't know, of course, because she makes a point of not letting her preferences get in the way of theirs. That's what a good wife and mom does, right? Actually, the family loved it so much, they agreed to go again next month. She agreed to go, too. She is not looking forward to it, but it's vastly preferable to being home alone all weekend anyway. Jessica is extremely loyal to her loved ones. She asks their opinion about everything before making a decision, and then asks their feedback about everything she has done. She enjoys being with them 24/7. Actually, one of her greatest fears, causing sheer panic at the thought, is to be alone all weekend at home. She would hate that even more than camping. Her loyalty is one of her key defining traits, in her opinion. It's not just with family. Jessica prides herself on being a good friend and follower. She may not be gifted at taking initiative, but she thrives in following loyally. This means the occasional sacrifice, but isn't that what friends do for each other? And this applies to her church family, too. For example, she often gets called on to cook meals for her church body, when a new mom has a baby or when someone is sick. The truth is, she doesn't enjoy cooking at all. But Jesus said we are to bear our cross, right? Plus, they really need her. Jessica values looking young and good. She is always put together, with a smile on her face. Projecting such a confident image serves two purposes, in her mind: it makes Christ look good to outsiders, and it helps her avoid the anxiety she knows she would experience if she was seen at the grocery store with less than her best makeup and outfit on. With every passing year, she becomes more and more health conscious and seeks to ward off aging. She is always the first to get her flu shot. She eats well, knows all her vitamins, buys expensive anti-wrinkle cream, and exercises several times a week. Plus, it beats being home alone when the kids are at school and hubby is at work. She stay informed about what is happening in the world, and especially the tragedies of life. She spends a lot of time imagining how she would react if those calamities happened to her. Her mind always goes to the worst-case scenarios; she calls it wisdom in being well-prepared. She is not sure how that happens, but she always lands in the same hypothetical scene: what would happen if her husband died and she was left to fend for herself? She knows it does not sound very trusting in God, but she really doesn't know what to do about it. So, Jessica prays that the faith of her church friends will somehow rub off on her, because she does not seem to be able to muster much of it on her own. And in the meantime she seeks to forget her growing anxiety by numbing it with escapes to a world of make-believe: she spends a lot of her days watching innocuous shows on Netflix and reading copious amounts of romance fiction. And then there's always the escape of the ever-comforting deep house cleaning. She has more and more often found herself deep-cleaning at three in the morning when sleep would not come, despite the sleeping pills she's gotten accustomed to. House cleaning is soothing. As she is scrubbing the kitchen tile again, she wonders: is she living the best version of her life? What would you tell Jessica? Would you pick up a brush and join her on her kitchen floor? Would you make her a cup of tea and tell her to take a deep breath and chillax a little? Proverbs challenges us with two options when fear paralyses us: to numb it, or to expulse it. Proverbs 31:6-7 describes the numbing through wine and forgetfulness. Jessica would recognize herself there. The alternative to numbing is expulsing the fear. Thomas Chalmers writes in the 1750's about the “expulsion power of a new affection.” He means that removing fear is not enough; it needs to be replaced by something else: a deeper, more powerful affection. Jesus shared the story of the demon-possessed man who found himself in a worse situation when seven more demons came to invade the house that had been cleaned, but not filled (see Luke 11:24-26). In other words, fear is always a secondary motivation in the transformation process. It needs to be kicked out, but then the void left must be filled by something superior: faith and joy in God are the alternative proposed in Scripture. Joy is always a more powerful motivator than fear, because joy in God existed before the fall of man which ushered in fear. Joy in God predates fear in the garden of Eden. Joy in God will exist through all of eternity future when fear is but a dim memory. We will experience lasting change today when we choose to rejoice in God more than we choose to fear hypothetical scenarios, or even the consequences of our very real actions. Fear comes from a disordered life, which is the result of disordered loves. Jessica loves, but she loves disorderly. Her loyalty is sincere but misguiding. Fear and love cannot truly, deeply cohabitate in the same soul: perfect love drives out fear (1John 4:18, NIV). We see this most evidently in the relationship that God calls us to have with Him: we are called into the love of the Father, even more than we are called away from sin. Fear is self-centered, while faith is Christ-centered. Faith is grounded in who God is; fear is grounded in who I am on my own. The cure against anxiety and unbelief is not more information; it is joy in God. Faith and trust become more real when we choose to delight and rejoice in God, rather than fear our own inadequacies. This is what Jessica needs to discover. If you have faith in man, you will live in the fear of man; if you have faith in God, you will delight in the fear of God. Fearing God, in the Proverbial sense, is true wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, Psalm 110:10). Don't think of the “fear of God” as cowering before a powerful tyrant. The fear of God is a well-placed, reverent awe of His greatness and beauty and power. His great love does not preclude His majesty, but only enhances it. We must expulse fear, but we can only do so when we replace it with something more powerful and lasting: joyful faith in God. We are salt and light as result of experiencing the transformative glory of God through Christ. We invite you to discover Jessica's full story from fear to faith on the Gospel Spice Podcast this week, and to hear more about joyful faith in God as YOUR daily reality, starting today. Don't wait. God awaits you there. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom   We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog Identity in the battle | Ephesians https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/ Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/ Shades of Red | Against human oppression https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/ God's glory, our delight  https://www.podcastics.com/episode/126051/link/   Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Wisdom. Most of us would say we possess some measure of it. And yet, we would probably all sign up for more, if it didn't prove so, well… elusive? Unattainable? Reserved for the “truly spiritual”?  What if our desire for wisdom led us to look for the right answers in the wrong places? What if wisdom was accessible to anyone who asks? Most importantly, how do we get this wisdom that is not of the world? Gospel Spice Ministries invite you to ponder the wisdom of the book of Proverbs through a Christocentric perspective over the next few weeks. We promise spiritual flavor explosions steeped in the biblical concepts of hope, faith, and joy in the Lord. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom  How should we prioritize wisdom and holiness? Why should our lives aim to reflect our Lord's? Our intention is to create and nurture a lifelong quest to cultivate holy wisdom in practical ways by acquiring new perspectives on daily living and “being transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Biblical wisdom is irresistibly attractive because it centers on Jesus Christ. In this episode, we will learn to see our heart as the driver behind our will (yes, the pun is absolutely intended!) and how we can surrender our will to God's perfect wisdom from above the sun. Our will both shapes and is shaped by our identity, so we will wonder: how can we center our identity on Christ? We follow Lady Wisdom and Folly in the pages of Proverbs today. We look at seven things the Lord hates, and how they all speak of behavior-based identity. We see that the road of flattery and deceit leads to death, but the road of integrity and truth leads to life. Then, we dare to dive into what it means to consider Christ as our Bridegroom. How is He our spiritual Husband? What does it mean? What does Scripture teach on that? And how is a human marriage as God intends, between a man and a woman, a picture of His heavenly intention of a spiritual marriage between Christ and His bride, the Church universal composed of all the true believers across time and space? Proverbs provides us with two mirrors to understand life: the self-centered-love mirror, with a distorted reflection; or the Christ-centered-love mirror, which points to God. We end with a powerful word picture helping us see that we live inside the picture book of God's universe, where marriage and wisdom are but stick-figure picture of the true Reality, with a capital R, that awaits us beyond the book. We live inside this universe-book today, but the Holy Spirit beckons us already, in Christ and through wisdom, to peek over the edge of the page into the glorious bottomless infinity of God's weighty presence. Through the Book of Proverbs, God invites you to taste the intoxicating love of His Son through the Holy Spirit. Come and be filled. Taste and see that the Lord is good today! Each week, we will meet a fictitious character embodying a specific trait we hope to learn from. Comfort and forgetfulness, foolishness and lack of perspective, lust and envy, pride and arrogance, selfishness and self-centeredness, fear and anxiety, greed and vanity, deceit and manipulation. We have a rocky road ahead—where a glorious Savior awaits. And so today, meet Brian. Brian has a charming, magnetic personality. He is extremely pleasant in public company, and able to make fascinating conversation. This is due partly to his vast intelligence, and partly to his self-reliance and ability to perform well. He has cultivated his many talents in eclectic ways and has become accustomed to being admired for them. He plays the violin with quite some skill. His academic knowledge often makes him the most learned person in the room. He is well-traveled and loves to experience new foods at the latest fashionable restaurants in his little town. It started as a genuine quest for joy and happiness, and who could blame him? Over the years, he developed a craving for this feeling of superiority. He performed to cultivate the tinge of admiration in the voices of others. Adulation became the leitmotiv of his joy. He placed his hope in his super-sized abilities. He decided that his faith is best placed in himself. Brian's superior intelligence allowed him to outsmart most people with impunity: he realized he could get away with a great deal… and increase his status in people's eyes—and in his own eye. The deceit and will-full manipulation started innocently enough; it was lying for a good cause—at first. He loved feeling in control of his environment through flattery. Over time, his insatiable hunger to be admired and in control, because it was met with success, enticed him to come to a powerful conclusion: he was truly superior to others. He started having adulterous affairs to soothe his ever-growing right to be loved, admired, and in control. He craved that feeling of being the giver and the receiver of all things—to be a god, really. He was growing closer to divinity—ultimate in control and power and influence. For a while more, his self-deception worked well enough to mask the looming chasm of hopelessness. When it didn't, light drugs bridged the gap and helped Brian maintain his own self-image and deep-seated sense of superiority. Not to mention, drugs gave him reprieve from the stress of having to remember the many threads of deceit in his business and his personal life. He increased the dosage when he needed drugs to drown his own accusing conscience until he forgot its voice altogether. What a relief! Most recently, Brian has turned to more powerful drugs for yet one more reason: to dim the pain of wondering, deep down inside, if he is not as significant as he thinks he is. He is wondering if that is why he never really left his small hometown to try the “big leagues.” Better to be a large fish in a tiny pond, where he can use others as a self-reflecting mirror to boost his own self-proclaimed divinity. Brian's mom, his last advocate, keeps warning him to stay away from the lure of addiction to women and drugs. He ignores her. What does she know, the old hag? Unfortunately, he recently had to move in with her—he lost his business due to his drug addiction, and his latest wife just kicked him out after she found out he had slept with her best friend. He doesn't even remember why he had married her in the first place. Her loss. What would you tell Brian today? Like most of us, Brian desires hope and joy. He turned to deceit and manipulation because he thought he could control them into a fastpass to happiness. They appealed to him because his heart was rooted in the wrong quest—the quest for happiness within himself. Our quest is rooted in our identity, and Brian's identity is misplaced: he places his worth in himself. He has recently come to the unsettling realization that he might not be the equivalent of a modern-day god. He is created in the image of God, but he is not God. There is a world of difference. As believers in Christ, we all intend to build our life with hope, joy, and faith. Brian shows us that there are two paths we can take in this life: the first is the road of deceit and self-deception that ends in death. It has pitstops and long residencies in manipulation, lying and adultery. The second path is the road of integrity and truth that ends in life. It lingers in and develops self-sacrifice, love, and self-awareness. This second path teaches us that we discover who we are when we are loved for who we are. Brian never allowed anyone to love him for who he truly was, and he never even allowed himself to love himself as he was—warts and all. Brian doesn't see that our physical world with its longings and passions is but a picture book of the greater spiritual realities that tug at his heart. Our gifts and abilities and talents are shadows pointing to greater spiritual realities. Brian mistook his many talents for divinity. He mistook the shadow for the real thing. He is imago Dei, but he is not God. The Bible teaches that the universe is a stick-figure picture book to show us the great Reality of God. We humans live inside the picture book of the universe as the crowing act of creation. Our many abilities are shadows of a greater, spiritual reality—we are created in the image of God; we ourselves are not God. Imagine a children's book illustrating each alphabet letter with a corresponding word. Imagine you have never actually seen a duck, which is the photo for the letter D. Seeing the photo of the duck is not the same thing as actually experiencing the duck. Knowing it's not a donkey, a donut or a dandelion is not enough to know what a duck is. If you have never seen a duck in real life, you cannot say that the picture book is a satisfactory substitute. The picture book is only a sample of the true Reality, a stick-figure shadow of it. The universe points to the Reality of God, but it is not the same thing as experiencing God in His fullness. How tragic it would be to be content with the picture book when Reality awaits! Brian has mistaken the 2D-flat rendition of the duck for the real thing; he has confused his many-talents imago dei identity with being dei–being God. We have not yet experienced complete Reality. God is much more real, tangible and weighty than anything we have ever experienced on this side of the picture book. Unlike Brian, let us keep the eyes of our faith on the true foundation of our hope and joy. None of us has ever experienced the fullness of the presence of God. And yet, in Christ, the Holy Spirit beckons us through wisdom to peek over the edge of the page into the glorious, bottomless infinity of God's weighty glory and presence. Heaven and the material universe meet in Christ Jesus: God “has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:2b-3a, NIV). Christ is pure and glorious and enthralling and intoxicating with otherworldly beauty. He makes Himself ours, and He calls us His beloved, His cherished, His bride. That is the foundation of our identity. It is the only solid ground for life-giving, long-lasting, true-Reality hope, and faith, and joy. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom  DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Wisdom. Most of us would say we possess some measure of it. And yet, we would probably all sign up for more, if it didn't prove so, well… elusive? Unattainable? Reserved for the “truly spiritual”?  What if our desire for wisdom led us to look for the right answers in the wrong places? What if wisdom was accessible to anyone who asks? Most importantly, how do we get this wisdom that is not of the world? Gospel Spice Ministries invite you to ponder the wisdom of the book of Proverbs through a Christocentric perspective over the next few weeks. We promise spiritual flavor explosions steeped in the biblical concepts of hope, faith, and joy in the Lord. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom How should we prioritize wisdom and holiness? Why should our lives aim to reflect our Lord's? Our intention is to create and nurture a lifelong quest to cultivate holy wisdom in practical ways by acquiring new perspectives on daily living and “being transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Biblical wisdom is irresistibly attractive because it centers on Jesus Christ. Each week, we will meet a fictitious character embodying a specific trait we hope to learn from. Comfort and forgetfulness, foolishness and lack of perspective, lust and envy, pride and arrogance, selfishness and self-centeredness, fear and anxiety, greed and vanity, deceit and manipulation. We have a rocky road ahead—where a glorious Savior awaits. And so today, meet Samantha. Samantha goes to church every Sunday and tithes faithfully. She remembers the time when she accepted Christ with fondness and nostalgia—life was so simple then! She wonders sometimes: “Was is really the same me? When did my life become so busy?” She is married, raising two teenagers, and working full time. At work and at home, she is risk-averse and values intelligence. Having a backup plan seems common sense, and she prizes her own wisdom in making sure all the angles are always covered. Samantha has an active social life, between her husbands' business partners and her own friends and clubs, including her gym. She loves social media—such a great avenue to share her amazing life with the world, and to hear from her many friends! Samantha places a high premium on people's opinion of her. Actually, she might go as far as calling herself a people pleaser. She gives to a selection of charities when she gets their ask letters in the mail. She also spends quite a lot on herself, but she feels she deserves it. At church, she is always inspired by those who seem to have deep intimacy with God. She notices them everywhere—on the worship team, or sitting next to her during the message, or praying with one another between services. She wonders how they do it, but she would never actually ask them: what would they think? She knows she would probably benefit from spending more time with God than just at church on Sundays; but that will have to wait. All her friends seem to be running the same race; she figures it is the way life is. After all, she's already giving God a portion of her time and money. Recently, something quite undefinable has shifted. She feels it most when the busyness subsides for a moment. She finds herself increasingly critical of her husband and kids, and short of patience when they don't satisfy her expectations—which seems to be a more common occurrence. She finds herself looking forward to that glass of wine every night, just to unwind. She has slowly developed anxiety and seeks relief on her fridge's shelves. She has gained 18 pounds and lost countless hours to sleeplessness. And she is not feeling better. Her phone informs her weekly that her screen time increases in double digits. Apparently, she is seeking solace with her social media friends. It's hard to believe, because Facebook does not bring her the soothing forgetfulness it once did. She regularly leaves her social media scroll feeling restless and anxious at how she does not measure up anymore. What must her friends think? Hum. What do you think, dear reader? The world would tell us that Samantha is wise. She is hedging her bets. She is doing it all—the family, the career, the social life, the church attendance, the regular physical exercise. She has one foot firmly planted in the world, and the other tentatively resting on her Christian faith. What would the Book of Proverbs say to Samantha? Proverbs differentiate the wise from the simple, the fool and the wicked. It teaches us that the first step of wisdom is to unlearn the ways of the world—the very ones that are still so pervasive and influential in Samantha's life. Wisdom begins by unlearning the world's values to acquire humility. Proverbs highlights the path of the wise, rooted in humility and grounded in Christ. Humility is to see everyone the way God does. Proverbs is the Old Testament roadmap to Christlikeness, not primarily because it tells us how to live, but because it shows us the God who maps our road. Wisdom is available to all who seek it. It is rooted in a Biblical, Christocentric approach to God. Wisdom is a God-breathed process that will take us ever deeper into intimacy and wonder. The Book of Proverbs challenges us to pursue God as our highest goal. This is the wisest thing we could choose to do with our life. We invite you to discover the rest of Samantha's story, and the wisdom of God Himself in the pages of the Book of Proverbs on the Gospel Spice Podcast this week. Stephanie challenges us to ponder these nuggets of wisdom in Christ: Wisdom is genius.  Humility is heroic. Faith is daring. Love is extravagant. And, surrender to God is true boldness. Make sure to check out the optional-but-oh-so-helpful mini e-book to go along with the series at gospelspice.com/wisdom  DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Advent is an exquisite tapestry of remembrance and hope. It urges us to transcend the temporal allure of holiday celebrations and step into a sanctuary of reflection, rest, and renewed faith. Advent embodies a period of waiting that bridges past, present, and future expectations of Christ's advent. So today, Stephanie invites us to enter the heart of Advent—a time of reflection, prayer, and preparation centered around the comings of Jesus Christ.   Drawing from the Anglican liturgical tradition of the weekly "collects," prayer can transform the season, linking believers to a contemplative experience and encouraging introspection. On that note, consider checking out our Gospel Spice Advent Course, a series of 12 videos that will guide you on a prayerful 24-day journey that will highlight original, unexpected, deep insights for your heart and faith. More at gospelspice.com/advent The Advent season encapsulates both the commemoration of Christ's first coming, and the anticipation of His return. This duality highlights Jesus' role, initially as a humble Messiah, and soon as a returning Judge and King. Amidst the festive frenzy, we need to remember to emphasize rest during Advent. For many, resting in God's presence contradicts a performance-driven mentality. This, in turn, beckons us to relinquish control and engage in trust. Resting in God not only fosters spiritual quietness, but also enhances our awareness of His guidance. As the season progresses, Stephanie extends an invitation to experience Advent not merely as a time of expectation, but also as a process of spiritual readiness. Repentance, grace, and prayer point us towards preparation for Jesus' imminent arrival. This sacred anticipation encourages us to reflect on our identity in relation to God, seeking quietness, trust, and strength through His presence. Advent sends forth a sacred invitation to step away from commercial clamor and enter into a season of faith-journey marked by expectation, repentance, and joyful anticipation. Let us heed this call to embrace Advent as a season of profound spiritual transformation and expectation in Christ! Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on Holy Day traditions in upcoming episodes of Gospel Spice! Don't forget to check out our essential workbook to accompany this study. Stephanie personally created the content to invite you deeper into study. Don't miss out! It's at https://www.gospelspice.com/store DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) What matters to us here at Gospel Spice is to create a place where people who seek deeper intimacy with Jesus, will find Him. We want a warm, welcoming atmosphere to journey ever deeper into the heart of God. We believe it is the ultimate calling of the Christian life, and I like to summarize it with my motto, God's glory, our delight. That is why we invite you to “taste and see” that the Lord is good. And we have been doing this every day since 2019. We need YOU to keep Gospel Spice alive and growing.   Financially speaking, we rely on people who understand this vision and who understand that we cannot function without a minimum budget. We run an extremely tight budget. For example, I work full time but don't draw a salary. And yet, we have expenses – for example, the equipment and technology we use, and also the wonderfully gifted staff who make it possible to deliver high quality content all around the globe, and then the necessary occasional promotional budget to make it possible to be discovered by those who seek to live a life spiced with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need your help.   So we would love for you to consider if this ministry is blessing you to pay gospel spice forward. You can partner with us monthly with 10, 25, 50, 100, a month, or you can make one donation, once. And because we are a register nonprofit organization in the United States under the status of a 501c3 charity, it means that the amount that you pay to gospel spice is fully tax deductible. Completely tax deductible. So you're even saving money as you invest in gospel spice ministries. It is an eternal investment, and we are very grateful to you for it. Now it's very important to us that we give back as much as possible from what you give us. And so we commit to giving the majority of what we receive, once all of our administrative costs are paid, to organizations that fight human trafficking on the front line. There are many worthwhile causes in the world, so why this one? Because I have always personally felt deep compassion for victims of human trafficking – maybe because I have never been its victim myself, so I feel a responsibility to help those less fortunate than me. Also, because Jesus tells us to love our neighbor. Human trafficking is modern day slavery, and that is something that revolts the heart of God. We want to play our part in raising awareness and then financially supporting those who fight this great evil.   So, we do some due diligence. We pick organizations who have proven themselves trustworthy of our support. And then we give money to these Christians organizations that fight human trafficking. So would you consider paying us forward at gospelspice.com/payitforward? Your hard-earned money is always well used at Gospel Spice. Ultimately, you are giving back to the Kingdom, a portion of what Jesus has given you. We are well aware of the privilege to steward your partnership. And my prayer is always that you will find your own life spiced with the gospel as you partner with us to flavor the lives of those around us, near and far, with the spice of the gospel.   Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Jesus has set the Easter table richly, for us to partake. Come to His table today through our exploration of Easter, which took place on the very day of the Jewish Feast of First Fruits. What does it mean for us today? The story of Easter is a tapestry woven with complex emotions—the somberness of Good Friday followed by the overwhelming joy of Easter Sunday. The sequence takes us through the contemplation of Jesus' crucifixion, echoing the depth of human suffering and sacrifice. As Christians, we are invited to relive these moments, acknowledging the pain while eagerly anticipating the joy of resurrection. Easter, often referred to as the most important day in the Christian calendar, transcends time and history. It bridges the gap between Jewish traditions and the new covenant established by Jesus. The Feast of First Fruits mark the beginning of the harvest, while Pentecost signifies its culmination. Both events are intrinsically linked through the work of the Holy Spirit. The First Fruits celebration on Easter sets the stage for the Holy Spirit's coming at Pentecost, bridging the gap between the initial offering and the full harvest, pointing to the birth and growth of the Christian church. The Feast of First Fruits, celebrated the Sunday after Passover, used to hold immense significance in Jewish tradition. Rooted in Leviticus 23:10, this feast involves offering the first barley harvest to God, symbolizing gratitude and the anticipation of a plentiful harvest. It's a day Jews can't eat bread or drink wine until sacrifices are made, an act mirrored by Jesus' Last Supper—where he promised a new covenant symbolized through bread and wine. During the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the practice of communion, tying it to the Jewish Passover. He told his disciples that he would not eat or drink again until he was in God's Kingdom, thus establishing the new covenant. The meal shared at Emmaus is another crucial moment. When Jesus broke bread with his disciples, they recognized him, affirming his authority and lordship. The breaking of bread in this context goes beyond a mere meal; it's a reaffirmation of Jesus' identity and the fulfillment of his promises. Interestingly, Jesus reappears to his disciples but does not partake in the meal at Emmaus. Instead, he later eats fish with another group of disciples, a humble act connecting to his earlier ministry and ultimate sacrifice. This post-resurrection meal underlines his humility and serves as another reminder of the first fruits principle—Jesus is the first fruit of resurrection. Paul's letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:20) highlights that Jesus' resurrection on the Feast of First Fruits symbolizes the future resurrection of believers. Jesus is the firstborn of creation and the first to rise from the dead, promising eternal life for all who follow. The concept of First Fruits extends to envisioning a perfect, sinless world—a harmonized existence in the eternal presence of Christ. This heavenly vision, often referenced in biblical texts, portrays a future where every generation enjoys everlasting peace and the profound joy of being in God's presence. In today's context, the call for revival echoes the ancient practice of offering First Fruits. Believers are urged to be the first fruits of revival in our times, sharing the message of hope and resurrection with a world in need. It's a reminder to live with purpose, reflecting the truly life-changing power of Jesus' resurrection in our daily lives. Don't forget to check out our essential workbook to accompany this study. Stephanie personally created the content to invite you deeper into study. Don't miss out! It's at https://www.gospelspice.com/store DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) What matters to us here at Gospel Spice is to create a place where people who seek deeper intimacy with Jesus, will find Him. We want a warm, welcoming atmosphere to journey ever deeper into the heart of God. We believe it is the ultimate calling of the Christian life, and I like to summarize it with my motto, God's glory, our delight. That is why we invite you to “taste and see” that the Lord is good. And we have been doing this every day since 2019. We need YOU to keep Gospel Spice alive and growing.   Financially speaking, we rely on people who understand this vision and who understand that we cannot function without a minimum budget. We run an extremely tight budget. For example, I work full time but don't draw a salary. And yet, we have expenses – for example, the equipment and technology we use, and also the wonderfully gifted staff who make it possible to deliver high quality content all around the globe, and then the necessary occasional promotional budget to make it possible to be discovered by those who seek to live a life spiced with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need your help.   So we would love for you to consider if this ministry is blessing you to pay gospel spice forward. You can partner with us monthly with 10, 25, 50, 100, a month, or you can make one donation, once. And because we are a register nonprofit organization in the United States under the status of a 501c3 charity, it means that the amount that you pay to gospel spice is fully tax deductible. Completely tax deductible. So you're even saving money as you invest in gospel spice ministries. It is an eternal investment, and we are very grateful to you for it. Now it's very important to us that we give back as much as possible from what you give us. And so we commit to giving the majority of what we receive, once all of our administrative costs are paid, to organizations that fight human trafficking on the front line. There are many worthwhile causes in the world, so why this one? Because I have always personally felt deep compassion for victims of human trafficking – maybe because I have never been its victim myself, so I feel a responsibility to help those less fortunate than me. Also, because Jesus tells us to love our neighbor. Human trafficking is modern day slavery, and that is something that revolts the heart of God. We want to play our part in raising awareness and then financially supporting those who fight this great evil.   So, we do some due diligence. We pick organizations who have proven themselves trustworthy of our support. And then we give money to these Christians organizations that fight human trafficking. So would you consider paying us forward at gospelspice.com/payitforward? Your hard-earned money is always well used at Gospel Spice. Ultimately, you are giving back to the Kingdom, a portion of what Jesus has given you. We are well aware of the privilege to steward your partnership. And my prayer is always that you will find your own life spiced with the gospel as you partner with us to flavor the lives of those around us, near and far, with the spice of the gospel. We have a high-quality, deeply inspiring, truly original Advent devotional for you! Stephanie created this original video series for YOUR ADVENT season! It will draw you closer to Christ, and deeper into the presence of God.  It is comprised of 12 videos leading up to Christmas, and a gorgeous devotional PDF to accompany it. You will not want to miss out! Go to gospelspice.com/advent to download your FREE one-day sample, and/or purchase the Gospel Spice Advent devotional at an amazing price. Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Passover is a prologue to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. This most essential of Jewish feasts seamlessly transitions from prophecies in the Old Testament, to fulfillment in Jesus. We invite you today to see how this prophetic landscape is shaped with divine orchestration by the hand of our deeply loving God! Passover is a significant Jewish feast that not only commemorates the deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, but also points to Jesus' mission and identity. We invite you today to navigate through the rich tapestry of the Passover tradition, examining its prophetic nature for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The observance of Passover, with its sacrificial lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread, is rooted in Old Testament events. Two lambs are central to this feast: one for each family and one to be sacrificed at the temple. The sacrificial lamb of the feast points to Jesus Christ, who becomes the ultimate sacrificial Lamb for our redemption. The act of painting lamb's blood on doorframes to prevent death eerily prefigures the sacrificial significance of Jesus' blood. Jesus deliberately fulfills the Passover feast of Pesach by instituting the Lord's supper, and by going to the cross on our behalf. From washing his disciples' feet as an act of servanthood, to identifying Judas as the betrayer, Jesus adds new meaning to His last Passover meal - from the way He references the Passover elements, to how He identifies as the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone (Psalm 118). The Passover feast is inextricably linked to the mission of Jesus, from the symbolism of the Passover elements to Jesus' own actions during the Last Supper. For instance, the 3rd cup of the Passover meal, identified as the cup of redemption, embodies the essence of the new covenant, which Jesus describes as the cup of his blood shed for the salvation of humanity. Join us to experience Passover as Jesus did. Don't forget to check out our essential workbook to accompany this study. Stephanie personally created the content to invite you deeper into study. Don't miss out! It's at https://www.gospelspice.com/store DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Stephanie navigates through key biblical passages that tie Rosh Hashanah (also called the Feast of Trumpets) to the second coming of Jesus. This feast invites us to tell the Lord, in answer to His invitation to seek Him, “Your Face, Lord, will I seek.” He always initiates relationship: How will we choose to respond to His holy trumpet call? Picture this: the sound of trumpets, a grand gathering of believers, and the triumphant return of Jesus. It's like something out of a thrilling movie, but it's actual biblical truth! The Jewish fall feasts remind us, it's time for introspection and readiness. The feasts invite us to embrace a season of repentance, anticipation, and fervent prayer. It's a divine blend of remembering and looking forward—a call to prepare our hearts for the imminent return of Jesus. The Feast of Trumpets echoes the Shofar to lead us into awe and worship through its prophetic biblical truths. Our episode today peels back the layers of significance behind the trumpet call and how it links to the church's rapture. Rosh Hashanah is an invitation to embrace the call of the trumpets, marvel at the profound threads of prophecy, and prep our hearts for the triumphant return of Jesus Christ. Rosh Hashanah is not your average New Year's celebration. It's a powerful blend of reminiscing and gazing ahead with hope. The blowing of the shofar during this feast serves as a wake-up call for repentance and a reminder to seek God's grace. For believers in Christ, embracing the new beginnings and spiritual awakening embedded in Rosh Hashanah paves the way for readiness for Christ's return. Psalm 27 has traditionally been used to prepare hearts and minds for the grand Autumn feasts. This sacred song sets the stage, resonating with themes of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the millennial kingdom. It's like a spiritual GPS, guiding our hearts as we gear up for the festivities ahead. So, join Stephanie in telling the Lord, “Your Face, Lord, will I seek.” DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

In a world filled with hopelessness, rage, and despair, how do we, as Christians, respond with compassion and love, without eventually experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue? Stephanie is offering you today an enlightening conversation with Hal Donaldson, the founder and president of Convoy of Hope, where he shared valuable insights about the Christian responsibility to acknowledge truth while approaching it with compassion and care. In a fast-paced world that celebrates achievements over rest, author and founder of Convoy of Hope, Hal Donaldson, emphasizes that taking care of yourself isn't optional if you want to live selflessly and fulfill God's calling on your life. When it comes to our personal well-being, success is often more dangerous than failure. Hal Donaldson discusses the profound impact of witnessing hopelessness on a global scale. From his experiences traveling globally with Convoy of Hope, he has seen both the deep needs and opportunities for people to find hope and faith. In a world where despair can be overwhelming, Donaldson emphasizes the importance of responding to rage and disapproval with acts of compassion, mirroring the example set by Jesus Christ. Reflecting on Mother Teresa's advice to "do the next kind thing that God puts in front of you," he inspires us to embody compassion in our actions, particularly in response to hopelessness. But we must be careful: When it comes to our personal well-being, success is often more dangerous than failure. As we try to fulfill others' expectations, we deplete our time, energy, and enthusiasm and end up feeling wrung out or burned out, sometimes even flaming out in spectacular ways. It may feel like the solution is just to quit--our jobs, our passions, our ministries--but there is a way to pour into others and take care of ourselves. The conversation focuses on the pivotal role of the church in demonstrating love and compassion to all people, irrespective of their beliefs. Hal and Stephanie exchange thoughts on the Christian responsibility to acknowledge the truth while approaching it with compassion and care. This brings to light the significance of the church's role in responding to the needs of the world with a God-centered perspective. By shining a light of hope and love into the darkness of despair, the church can serve as a beacon of God's mercy and grace to those who are hurting. Hal sheds light on embracing opportunities to address the needs of the world with a God-centered perspective. Hal Donaldson shares personal experiences and encourages listeners to see the potential for the church to make a positive impact. In a world where hopelessness seems ever-present, he emphasizes the importance of not just acknowledging the needs, but actively seeking opportunities to serve and bring hope. Through stories of his work with Convoy of Hope, Donaldson inspires a call to action for individuals and congregations to seek ways to serve in their own communities, demonstrating compassion and love to those in need. In a world where hopelessness and despair can be pervasive, Hal Donaldson provides a powerful reminder of the importance of responding with compassion and love. By acknowledging the truth with grace and demonstrating God-centered compassion, we can offer hope to those who are hurting. Through his work with Convoy of Hope, Hal Donaldson exemplifies the transformative impact of embracing opportunities to address the world's needs with a mindset centered on God's love and mercy. As we reflect on his wisdom and experiences, let us be inspired to live out our faith by bringing God-centered compassion to a world in need of hope and healing. MEET HAL DONALDSON Hal Donaldson is the president and CEO of Convoy of Hope, a global, faith-based, nonprofit organization that works with communities to address root causes of poverty and hunger. According to Forbes, Convoy of Hope is among the 50 largest charities in the United States. Through its disaster responses and community development programs, Convoy: Has distributed more than $2.5 billion worth of food and supplies. Helped more than 250 million people. Currently feeds more than 570,000 children every school day. Hal has received numerous public service awards. He has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Arts in biblical studies from Bethany University. He and his wife, Doree, have four daughters. https://haldonaldson.org/ ABOUT “WHAT REALLY MATTERS” When it comes to our personal well-being, success is often more dangerous than failure. As we try to fulfill others' expectations, we deplete our time, energy, and enthusiasm and end up feeling wrung out or burned out, sometimes even flaming out in spectacular ways. It may feel like the solution is just to quit--our jobs, our passions, our ministries--but there is a way to pour into others and take care of ourselves. Sharing the dramatic, true, and untold story behind the creation of Convoy of Hope, Hal Donaldson and his daughter Lindsay Donaldson-Kring pull back the curtain on Hal's journey to greater mental, physical, and spiritual health amid the all-engrossing task of starting and sustaining a ministry. They reveal the toll ministry and compassion work can take on both individuals and families, then point toward healing and wholeness. Insightful and encouraging, this book offers practical, real-world solutions to persistent problems associated with being the hands and feet of Jesus in a hurting world. In a fast-paced world that celebrates achievements over rest, author and founder of Convoy of Hope, Hal Donaldson, emphasizes that taking care of yourself isn't optional if you want to live selflessly and fulfill God's calling on your life. When it comes to our personal well-being, success is often more dangerous than failure. As we try to fulfill others' expectations, we deplete our time, energy, and enthusiasm. We end up feeling wrung out or burned out, sometimes even flaming out in spectacular ways. It may feel like the solution is to just quit — our jobs, our passions, our ministries — but there is a way to pour into others and take care of ourselves. Sharing the dramatic, true, and untold story behind the creation of Convoy of Hope, Hal Donaldson and his daughter Lindsay Donaldson-Kring pull back the curtain on Hal's journey to greater mental, physical, and spiritual health amid the all-engrossing task of starting and sustaining a ministry. They reveal the toll that ministry and compassion work can take on both individuals and families, then point toward healing and wholeness. Insightful and encouraging, this book offers practical, real-world solutions to persistent problems associated with being the hands and feet of Jesus in a hurting world. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Get Your FREE Guide "How to Study the Bible" at www.coffeeandbibletime.com!From intellectual atheism in France to discovering a vibrant faith in the US, Stephanie Rousselle of Gospel Spice Ministries shares her remarkable spiritual journey. In a nation where secularism reigns and the growth of Eastern religions and Islam is surprising, Stephanie discusses the unique challenges of sharing the gospel in France and the inspiring revival happening among French Christians today. Her story is a testament to God's personalized approach to guiding individuals to faith, blending intellectual and relational experiences seamlessly.Have you ever felt spiritually dry? We all have. Stephanie and I talk about reframing these periods not as failures but as opportunities to deepen our intimacy with God. We explore the concept of waiting with holy expectancy, transforming discontent into growth and trust in God's broader, gracious will. Lastly, we savor the delicious delight of God's goodness through the metaphor of food and spices. Drawing from Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good," we explore the rich connection between physical senses and spiritual experiences. Personal anecdotes and cultural insights highlight how savoring simple pleasures like cinnamon can lead to profound spiritual insights, making this episode a celebration of cultural diversity, personal growth, and boundless joy in our walk with God.Stephanie's Favorites & Recommended Products:Website: gospelspice.comPodcast: Gospel SpiceGo-To Bible: ESV Study BibleFountain PenCloth-Bound JournalFavorite App: Lectio 365Send us a Text Message.Ask Ralph - Christian FinanceJoin financial expert Ralph Estep, Jr - Daily tips for balancing your faith and finances. Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the Show.Check out our website for more ways to fully connect to God's Word. There you'll find: Coffee and Bible Time Prayer Journals Coffee and Bible Time Courses Coffee and Bible Time Shop Find more great content on our YouTube channel: Coffee and Bible Time Our most popular video is “How I Study My Bible + In-Depth Bible Study!” with over 2M views! Follow us on InstagramVisit our Amazon ShopLearn more about the host Ellen KrauseEmail us at podcast@coffeeandbibletime.comThanks for listening to Coffee and Bible Time, where our goal is to help people delight in God's Word and thrive in Christian living!

Bonjour! Stephanie here. There is nothing quite as mesmerizing as the worth of God – the very word “worship” comes from the ancient English worth-ship and recognizes the ultimate worth of God. So today I invite you down the lane of another French word which, I pray, will allow you to enter fresh, deep worship. That French word is “Valeur.” So, drawing from the biblical concept of intrinsic worth, subjective value, and objective worth, let's dive into the multifaceted aspects of this word and how it relates to our understanding of worthiness, valor, and the intangible qualities that draw us to God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ found in Scripture. We begin by unveiling the nuanced meaning of "Valeur." Exploring the layers of value, worth, and valor, we will highlight the intricate connection between these concepts. By pondering the biblical perspective on value, we will examine how our worth is ultimately defined by God's opinion of us. This foundational understanding shapes our perception of self-worth and value, inviting us to recognize our intrinsic worth as valued and cherished children of God. Deeper still, let's ponder with fresh awe and reverent worship the intrinsic worth of God, emphasizing that His supreme worthiness is what sets Him apart as the ultimate and only worthy Being. This will inspire us to acknowledge the objective worth of God, anchoring our appreciation of His supreme value and dignity. Next, I invite us into the exploration of Christ's valor. Scripture paints a poignant picture of Jesus as our valiant Savior, weaving together His humility, sacrifice, and love in the face of the Cross. Through this, the Bible inspires its readers to embrace the valor of Christ within ourselves, recognizing that the same valor is made available to us through the Holy Spirit. Shifting focus to the intriguing French expression "je ne sais quoi," I hope to show you its resonance with the intangible qualities that draw us to the Gospel, inspiring us to live out our faith in a way that embodies the gospel to the world, thus attracting others to the beauty and magnetism of Christ in our own lives. As such, we have a responsibility to steward that divine "je ne sais quoi”: as recipients of God's unmerited favor, we are called to cultivate and manifest these intangible qualities in our lives. Scripture compels us to exude Christ's aroma, drawing others to the undeniable allure of the Gospel through our actions, character, and faith. We will talk about what it looks like, and how to do that. So, today let's enter Scripture reverently, because it invites us to not only recognize our intrinsic worth through God's eyes, but also to embody that captivating "je ne sais quoi" that draws others to the beauty of Christ's love and grace. Scripture unveils the intrinsic worth and valor of the Gospel, and compels us towards the unfathomable beauty and depth of hope and redemption found in Christ Jesus. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Do you enjoy Gospel Spice? Then let's deepen our relationship! There are 4 very simple ways to do that, and it would truly mean the world to us.  1- If you've enjoyed this episode, you will love receiving our newsletter. It contains value-packed free gifts and rich content each month. It's at gospelspice.com/signup. There is always something new and exciting happening around here, and I don't want you to miss out! Sign up at Gospelspice.com/signup 2- Did you know Gospel Spice has a YouTube Channel? There's exclusive content there too. So, join Gospel Spice on YouTube! It's at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice 3- Also please give us a star rating and a comment on your podcast listening app. Your reviews actually really do make a difference to help others discover and experience Gospel Spice. You would be surprised how helpful these are! So please leave a star rating and a review of a sentence or two. Thank you! 4- As always, we are praying for you! You can confidentially email us your prayer requests and praise items at the email address contact@gospelspice.com. It is our privilege to pray for you! So, would you please invest 3 to 5 minutes of your time, maybe even right now, to do one (or more!) of the following suggestions: 1-      signup on our website for our newsletter to receive gifts you're going to love - at Gospelspice.com/signup 2-      find us on YouTube, and see what content we've put together to help you grow closer to Jesus - at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice 3-      rate Gospel Spice on your listening app – it's one of the easiest ways to share the gospel! 4-      and finally, tell us how we can pray for you! Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Stéphanie Rousselle, founder of Gospel Spice Ministries, grew up staunchly atheist. "Religiously atheist", she jokes. In her native France, the general attitude toward religion is one of condescending contempt. Much of Europe is post-modern, therefore much of society is "post-God". As a teenager, Stéphanie spent time as a foreign exchange student with a family in the United States. This family just so happened to be Christian. Over the course of her year with them, Stéphanie experienced a peaceful, intentional love. She saw faith in practice, not just in philosophical theory. As the seed of faith was watered and planted in her, she describes the discomfort of coming into agreement with the Gospel. Stéphanie believes God confronted her with the reality of Christ's resurrection to appeal to her intellectual integrity. Unable to deny the facts, she took a bold step of faith to believe! Even though she adopted a this belief system, she struggled to actually put her faith in the claim that God is a perfect and trustworthy Master. Adopting an ideological belief is one thing, but to lean the full weight of your life on a God you cannot see, touch or feel is another. The Holy Spirit invited Stéphanie to embark on a soul-journey to truly experience His presence, transcribing head-knowledge to heart-knowledge.  Today, she is a wife, mom, podcaster, Bible teacher, and lover of Jesus. Our Father woos all of us to His heart is such creative, unique ways. Connect with Stéphanie's ministry here. SUPPORT His Heartbeat through Crown of Beauty Internationalhttps://www.crownofbeautyinternational.com/donateCONNECT with His Heartbeat and Crown of Beauty InternationalWebsite// Facebook//InstagramEmail: crownofbeautyinternational@gmail.comConnect with Sue Corl's Instagram//Facebook// WebsitePurchase Sue's Transformational Bible Studies and Devotionals on Amazon!Sue Corl's best-selling books: Crown of Beauty Bible Study, Broken But UndefeatedCrown of Beauty International: EMPOWERING WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD WITH GOD'S TRUTH!Crown of Beauty International: EMPOWERING WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD WITH GOD'S TRUTH!

We are in February. And February, in the United States in particular, has to do with Valentine's Day and romantic relationships in specifically, but more in general, relationships and friendships. And so I have an interesting conversation with Elizabeth Laing Thompson about her new book, “When a Friendship Falls Apart.” I absolutely fell in love with her! It's a thick volume, especially by modern day standards where it seems like, publishing houses give us shorter and shorter books. This is not the case. Her book is a massive compilation of all the tips, all the advice, everything you need to know if you've ever been in a friendship that ended badly or that is going poorly or that has hurt you in any way, shape, or form. Through this book Elizabeth hopes to minister to those who are experiencing this often undiagnosed, unrecognized grief of friendship loss or friendship breakup, as she calls it. There are difficult emotions that accompany friendship hardship. So, she and I talk about important things, like: -          friendship breakups: coping with loss and pain; -          healing and forgiveness: overcoming bitterness; -          Biblical wisdom: applying Scripture to relationships; -          trust and vulnerability: rebuilding connections; -          grieving and mourning: processing friendship loss; -          finding beauty in brokenness: embracing imperfections; -          prayer and guidance: seeking God's direction. Elizabeth acknowledges that the hardest part in navigating a friendship breakup is finding the right people to talk to about it. She acts as this one friend you need. She keeps you company. She points you to Gospel counsel as you navigate the loss of the friendship as it was. And then she offers wisdom for navigating future friendships after a loss because that's absolutely key. How do you even dare to open your heart again after it's been wounded? She is grounded in Scripture. She points to God's views on forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing after hurt. And then she gives us the best practical tools for navigating those conversations. How do you initiate a reconciliation conversation? What words can you use that are going to be most productive without escalating potential conflict? She is blending personal story, biblical examples, faith filled wisdom. I love all of the many, many interactions with Scripture that she gives us. She asks, how do we guard against the poison of bitterness so we can process the hurt and move forward? Elizabeth talks about when and how we can seek this reconciliation and what does look like. And this is anything but cliche. I promise you that. How do we know if the time has come to actually leave a friendship behind? How do we open up again and then trust our freshly wounded hearts to new friendships? Friendship loss is this unique kind of grief. It's a private and confusing kind of grief. And as we struggle to digest the pain and we wonder, how could this happen? What do I do now? Elizabeth is here to help hurting hearts find healing, find lessons to learn from the past, and stay open to new friendships in the future. Again, it's so full of hope. Some of the key advice I will remember from the book are, -          Learn to navigate and overcome the pain and challenges of friendship breakups with grace and biblical wisdom. -          Cultivate trust in relationships, acknowledging that past hurts can affect future connections but not define them. -          10. Find joy and hold onto positive memories even when some friendships can't be repaired, allowing healing to take place. -          Protect your heart in extreme friendship scenarios by seeking comfort in prayer and scripture. -          Give oneself permission to grieve and process the loss of friendships -          Seek beauty in broken friendships and adopt a more open-minded and accepting approach to making connections despite past hurts. -          Bring fears and insecurities to God as a source of courage and guidance in seeking and fostering friendships. -          Let God guide and protect in the process of building trust and forming meaningful connections. -          Look ahead to the eternal promise of friendships in heaven, where unity and safety abound. -          Reflect Jesus in current friendships and strive for unity, echoing His prayer for oneness in John 17. -          Categorize friendships and address potential misunderstandings by applying practical tips and Scripture. -          Understand and appreciate the concept of mismatched expectations in friendships to prevent conflicts and foster understanding. -          Seek divine guidance, wisdom, courage, and the capacity to love and care for others within friendships through prayer. -          Engage in the process of repairing broken relationships with humility, grace, and a desire for beauty in brokenness. -          Root out bitterness and unforgiveness from friendships, replacing them with prayer and forgiveness to facilitate reconciliation. -          Embrace the healing power of forgiveness and prayer, remembering that holding onto bitterness only causes further harm. -          Find comfort in God as the perfect friend and reflect His love and forgiveness in all friendships. -          Treasure and honor the meaningful memories made within brokenness, seeing them as precious testaments to the resilience of relationships. How would you describe the best leaders you have personally learned from? I think teachability, humility and a deep dependence on Christ would top my list. And therefore, To be a leader is to know how to go to the source to get replenished. To lead well, you need to go to the well yourself. Also, To be an effective Christian leader is to know that you can only lead well when you are led well. And then you go and reproduce in others what Jesus has done in you. In the words of Paul, you are able to say, "… what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." 2Timothy 2:2 – Paul describes 4 generations of leaders in this passage. Himself, Timothy, who leads others who then will lead others. When you drink from the leading well, you lead well. So, we invite you to join us on The Leading Well, a brand new leadership course by Gospel Spice Ministries. Details at https://www.gospelspice.com/leadership  To be a leader is to have a posture of the heart that is always thinking in terms of go, make, do. In the words of Jesus at the great commission, He calls us to GO to all the world, MAKE disciples and Do the things he has called us to do. Go, Make, Do. We see “the well” as a place of refreshing – for yourself but also so that you can bring refreshing through God's Word to others. We want to come alongside you and equip you with a blueprint to lead others well, in the context of your own life and calling – from small groups to one on one mentoring and much larger settings. So, we invite you to join us on The Leading Well. Drink from the well, and lead well. Welcome! Support us on Other, PayPal and Other!

Struggling with temptation? Jesus shows off His identity and power in our wilderness. That's out theme today. Welcome! Hello my friends! Stephanie here. It is so, so good to get ready to dive into another Bible lesson today. I want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and for being a part of the Gospel Spice podcast family. Your enthusiasm and engagement mean the world to us! We have no small topic ahead of us! We are exploring the temptation of Jesus and how it relates to our own struggles with sin and temptation. Last week, we discussed the necessity of God's perfect justice and the problem his love presents. We discovered that there is no cutoff or grading system for entering heaven. Instead, God, in His love, came up with a solution through Jesus on the cross. Today, we'll examine Matthew 4, where Jesus faces temptation in the wilderness. We'll see how Jesus, fully God and fully man, withstands the pressure and inspires us to true obedience and surrender. We'll also uncover the significance of the number 40 in Scripture and the parallels between Jesus' experience and Israel's wilderness journey. Through Matthew's account, we will see how Satan cunningly approached Jesus, acknowledging him as the Son of God, but attempting to entice Jesus to use His powers for personal gain. Jesus, however, remained true to His heaven-born calling and responded with divine wisdom, quoting from the book of Deuteronomy to ward off Satan's attacks. Matthew emphasizes Jesus' obedience to the commandments of the Deuteronomic covenant, highlighting that Jesus succeeded where Israel consistently failed. This passage serves as a reminder that no human can attain the perfection of God's standards. Yet, in facing temptation head-on, Jesus demonstrates His unmatched loyalty to God and establishes Himself as the only Savior. I warmly encourage you to listen to the full episode, as we unpack the profound implications of Jesus' temptation and its relevance to our lives today. Whether you are currently facing your own season of weakness or seeking inspiration for true obedience, I pray that our time together today will provide valuable insights and practical application points. As a podcast that strives to bring you thought-provoking content and deep dives into the Gospel, we want to invite you to join us on this transformative journey. Share this episode with your friends and family, engage in conversations around the significance of temptation and obedience, and continue to seek the truth that sets us free. We here are incredibly grateful for your ongoing support and cannot wait to embark on new explorations of the Gospel with you. So, grab your Bible and let's jump right in to this intriguing passage. Welcome to Gospel Spice. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit alongside Jesus and his initial audience? To experience the fresh spiritual flavors that the Messianic Jewish culture weaves into the four gospels? Well, that's exactly what we here aim to do through this original series, JESUS RABBI AND LORD. Stephanie invites you to dig deep into Scripture, unearthing raw diamonds that may need a little cleaning up, but will ultimately shine brightly. So get ready to embark on this enlightening and transformative journey with Gospel Spice. Prepare to encounter Jesus in a way that resonates with our modern world and discover the richness of the gospel through the lens of Jewish culture. Let's dig deep, uncover the hidden spices, and experience the beauty of the Scriptures together. Welcome to Gospel Spice! Grab your headphones, hit play, and let Gospel Spice be the catalyst for encountering Jesus in a way you've never experienced before! Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog Identity in the battle | Ephesians https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/ Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/ Shades of Red | Against human oppression https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/ God's glory, our delight  https://www.podcastics.com/episode/126051/link/   Do you enjoy Gospel Spice? Then let's deepen our relationship! There are 4 very simple ways to do that, and it would truly mean the world to us.  1- If you've enjoyed this episode, you will love receiving our newsletter. It contains value-packed free gifts and rich content each month. It's at gospelspice.com/signup. There is always something new and exciting happening around here, and I don't want you to miss out! Sign up at Gospelspice.com/signup 2- Did you know Gospel Spice has a YouTube Channel? There's exclusive content there too. So, join Gospel Spice on YouTube! It's at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice 3- Also please give us a star rating and a comment on your podcast listening app. Your reviews actually really do make a difference to help others discover and experience Gospel Spice. You would be surprised how helpful these are! So please leave a star rating and a review of a sentence or two. Thank you! 4- As always, we are praying for you! You can confidentially email us your prayer requests and praise items at the email address contact@gospelspice.com. It is our privilege to pray for you! So, would you please invest 3 to 5 minutes of your time, maybe even right now, to do one (or more!) of the following suggestions: 1-      signup on our website for our newsletter to receive gifts you're going to love - at Gospelspice.com/signup 2-      find us on YouTube, and see what content we've put together to help you grow closer to Jesus - at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice 3-      rate Gospel Spice on your listening app – it's one of the easiest ways to share the gospel! 4-      and finally, tell us how we can pray for you! Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog Bonjour! Gospel Spice exists to inspire our generation to delight in God. We do this through the podcast, online Bible studies, leadership trainings, and more. We want to serve Christ-followers who seek to live a life spiced with the gospel. We want to love God, because He first loved us. We want to experience the fullness of life with Him—and not be content with stale, boring, leftover faith. Jesus tells us that the most important thing is to love the Lord our God, so we take Him seriously. He adds that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Now, there are many ways to do that, but I have always personally felt deep compassion for victims of human trafficking – it is modern day slavery, and it revolts the heart of God. And so, they are our particular neighbors here at Gospel Spice. We want to play our part in raising awareness and then financially supporting those who fight this great evil.   Now we would love to invite you to join the team in one of three ways: 1, pray Gospel Spice forward – pray for our guests, our listeners and participants, and for us too! 2, play Gospel Spice forward by telling your friends about us, and by please leaving positive reviews and comments on your podcast listening app; and 3rd, PAY GospelSpice forward. Less than 1% of our listeners are supporting us financially. We need your help! Please pay Gospel Spice forward today. It can be a one-time donation, or a monthly one, for the amount of your choice. Your donation is fully tax-deductible in the US. Plus, once we cover our costs, a significant portion of your donation will be given back to Christian organizations that fight human trafficking, and that we vet thoroughly. So, you can know that every dime you give is used for the Kingdom of God. Every little bit helps. So, be part of the spice of the gospel by becoming a financial partner today! How would you describe the best leaders you have personally learned from? I think teachability, humility and a deep dependence on Christ would top my list. And therefore, To be a leader is to know how to go to the source to get replenished. To lead well, you need to go to the well yourself. Also, To be an effective Christian leader is to know that you can only lead well when you are led well. And then you go and reproduce in others what Jesus has done in you. In the words of Paul, you are able to say, "… what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." 2Timothy 2:2 – Paul describes 4 generations of leaders in this passage. Himself, Timothy, who leads others who then will lead others. When you drink from the leading well, you lead well. So, we invite you to join us on The Leading Well, a brand new leadership course by Gospel Spice Ministries. Details at https://www.gospelspice.com/leadership  To be a leader is to have a posture of the heart that is always thinking in terms of go, make, do. In the words of Jesus at the great commission, He calls us to GO to all the world, MAKE disciples and Do the things he has called us to do. Go, Make, Do. We see “the well” as a place of refreshing – for yourself but also so that you can bring refreshing through God's Word to others. We want to come alongside you and equip you with a blueprint to lead others well, in the context of your own life and calling – from small groups to one on one mentoring and much larger settings. So, we invite you to join us on The Leading Well. Drink from the well, and lead well. Welcome! Support us on Other, PayPal and Other!

How can 2024 bring an explosion of flavor to your spiritual taste buds? Stephanie Rousselle's hope-filled story as a former atheist to founder of Gospel Spice Ministries, is unforgettable. She helps us to start this year by trusting the goodness of God. www.gospelspice.com

Stephanie Rousselle is joined by a special guest, Katie Reid, to dive into the topic of surrendering and finding strength in God. In this episode, Katie shares her insights on surrendering to God's will and finding identity in Christ. Together, Stephanie and Katie highlight the importance of recognizing our weaknesses and relying on God's guidance. Katie candidly reflects on her own journey of understanding the surrendered life, reminding us that surrender is not a one-time event, but a continuous process. Stephanie and Katie explore the concept of being "all in" for God, irrespective of whether we are task-oriented or not. They discuss the struggle of wanting to be productive and achieve our to-do lists while staying grounded in our relationship with God. Katie's book, "Made Like Martha," offers practical wisdom on how to surrender and find peace in our busy lives. They encourage listeners to trust God and seek Him first in every aspect of their lives, using the example of Jesus' disciples who followed Him wholeheartedly. They discuss how rushing through our relationship with Jesus is like grabbing a quick meal from a drive-thru, while settling in and savoring His presence is like enjoying a slow-cooked meal with loved ones. They speak of Peter walking on water and the profound lesson it teaches about stepping out of our comfort zones with God's strength. They remind us that our value comes from God, not from our accomplishments, inspiring us to relinquish our striving and settle in the grace He freely gives. The Gospel Spice podcast, with its unique blend of biblical teachings and modern-day application, is here to help you deepen your faith and grow in your understanding of who Jesus is and who we are in Him. We invite you to join us in this beautiful journey of surrender and discover the strength that comes from trusting in God completely. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CONVERSATION Stephanie and Katie discussed the beauty of surrendering and finding our true identity in Christ. Here are three key takeaways from this inspiring conversation: 1️⃣ Seek God's guidance: Katie emphasized the importance of seeking God first and trusting His leading in our lives. It's essential to be in God's Word and surround ourselves with other believers, as it is one of the founding elements our personal relationship with Him. Quieting ourselves, praying, and journaling can all help us hear from God and untangle our thoughts. 2️⃣ Enjoy God's presence: Rather than solely seeking solutions or checking off our to-do lists, it's more important to build a relationship with God and enjoy His presence. Being "all in" for Him, regardless of our personality traits or tendencies, is crucial. Remember, just like a slow-cooked meal nourishes our bodies and souls, being with Jesus as a family member nourishes our spirits. 3️⃣ Surrender and find strength in weaknesses: Surrendering to God's control can be challenging, but it's an opportunity for growth and experiencing His goodness. We don't need to rely on our own strength or accomplishments to please Him. Instead, we can bring our weaknesses to Him, trusting that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Just like Jesus surrendered to the Father's will, we can enter into a covenant with God and let Him do the heavy lifting. BONUS! QUESTIONS TO GO DEEPER, ON YOUR OWN OR WITH A FRIEND 1. How has your understanding of surrendering to God's will evolved throughout your journey of faith? 2. What are some practical ways you can discern God's voice and guidance in your life? 3. How do you strike a balance between being a "doer" and finding your identity in Christ? 4. Have you ever struggled with feeling less spiritual because of societal pressures to be productive? How did you overcome it? 5. What areas of your life do you find it most challenging to surrender control to God? How can you invite Him into those areas more intentionally? 6. In what ways have you experienced the nourishment of a slow-cooked, intentional relationship with Jesus? How has that differed from a "drive-thru" kind of faith? 7. How can we shift our perspective from trying to impress God to simply enjoying Him and our relationship with Him? 8. What are some practical steps you can take to settle into your relationship with Jesus and savor the experience? 9. How can we find strength in surrendering to God's will and allowing Him to do the heavy lifting in our lives? 10. Reflecting on Jesus' statement "it is finished," how does it challenge your understanding of what it means to truly surrender and trust in God's all-sufficiency? MEET KATIE REID Katie Reid is a dynamic woman living in the heart of Michigan. She shares her life with her husband Adam, who serves as the lead pastor in their church. Together, they have raised five energetic children, spanning from age seven to nineteen. Boredom is never a word that describes Katie, as she is constantly engaged in various pursuits. She is notably recognized as the author of the book "Made Like Martha." Katie also dedicates her time to The Martha & Mary Show podcast, where she fervently encourages individuals to embrace their purpose while grounding themselves in the Word of God and embracing the freedom bestowed upon them by the Spirit. With her infectious enthusiasm and unwavering dedication, Katie Reid serves as an inspiring role model to all who cross her path. You will find Katie at https://www.katiemreid.com/ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Other, PayPal and Other!

Stephanie reflects on the concept of freedom and the idea of choosing our master. As she shares her personal journey of relinquishing control, Stephanie challenges the notion that we are the best masters of our own lives. Instead, she encourages us to look beyond ourselves and find a master who is infinitely better than us. Join us as we explore the true meaning of freedom and discover the power of putting our trust in a trustworthy God. In our culture, the world tells us to follow our own hearts, to be the masters of our own destiny. But as Stephanie points out, our hearts are not always trustworthy guides. She admits her own shortcomings and realizes that she is not the best master for her own life. Can any of us truly claim to be? Stephanie challenges us to consider who or what we are following in our own lives. Stephanie then invites us to shift our perspective and look outside of ourselves for guidance, for a master who is infinitely better than us and who has our best interests at heart. She highlights that true freedom lies in choosing the right kind of help. In this case, it is choosing God as our master, the master who loves us infinitely, who knows all and has ultimate power and control. Faith, Stephanie reminds us, is not a step in the dark. It is about stepping out boldly because we know whose hand we are holding. It is trusting in a God who has proven trustworthy time and time again. Putting our faith in our own hearts would be misplaced faith, but putting our trust in God brings us freedom and a clearer view of reality. So, dear friends, let us consider who or what is truly guiding our lives. Are we choosing to follow our own flawed and finite hearts, or are we surrendering to the loving and wise guidance of our Heavenly Father? Let us choose the master who knows our purpose, who guides us towards true freedom, and who transforms us into the best version of ourselves. True freedom is not found in independence but in choosing whom we will follow. We all have a master, something or someone who controls our lives. So, who will you choose as your guide to true freedom? Get ready for an episode that will captivate your heart and inspire you to embrace the gospel in a whole new way. Welcome to Gospel Spice. Let's dive in. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit alongside Jesus and his initial audience? To experience the fresh spiritual flavors that the Messianic Jewish culture weaves into the four gospels? Well, that's exactly what we here aim to do through this original series, JESUS RABBI AND LORD. Stephanie invites you to dig deep into Scripture, unearthing raw diamonds that may need a little cleaning up, but will ultimately shine brightly. So get ready to embark on this enlightening and transformative journey with Gospel Spice. Prepare to encounter Jesus in a way that resonates with our modern world and discover the richness of the gospel through the lens of Jewish culture. Let's dig deep, uncover the hidden spices, and experience the beauty of the Scriptures together. Welcome to Gospel Spice! Grab your headphones, hit play, and let Gospel Spice be the catalyst for encountering Jesus in a way you've never experienced before! Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) This month we are celebrating the anniversary of Gospel Spice! We launched our first episode in 2019, when we faithfully and haltingly followed God's pretty clear directions! Would you please take a moment to celebrate with us? There are 4 very simple ways to do that, and it would truly mean the world to us.  1- If you've enjoyed this episode, you will love receiving our newsletter. It contains value-packed free gifts and rich content each month. It's at gospelspice.com/signup. There is always something new and exciting happening around here, and I don't want you to miss out! Sign up at Gospelspice.com/signup 2- Did you know Gospel Spice has a YouTube Channel? There's exclusive content there too. So, join Gospel Spice on YouTube! It's at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice  3- Also please give us a star rating and a comment on your podcast listening app. Your reviews actually really do make a difference to help others discover and experience Gospel Spice. You would be surprised how helpful these are! So please leave a star rating and a review of a sentence or two. Thank you! 4- As always, we are praying for you! You can confidentially email us your prayer requests and praise items at the email address contact@gospelspice.com. It is our privilege to pray for you! So, would you please invest 3 to 5 minutes of your time, maybe even right now, to do 1 or more of the following suggestions: 1-      signup on our website for our newsletter to receive gifts you're going to love - at Gospelspice.com/signup  2-      find us on YouTube, and see what content we've put together to help you grow closer to Jesus - at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice 3-      rate Gospel Spice on your listening app – it's one of the easiest ways to share the gospel! 4-      and finally, tell us how we can pray for you! Do you enjoy Gospel Spice? Then let's deepen our relationship! There are 4 very simple ways to do that, and it would truly mean the world to us.  1- If you've enjoyed this episode, you will love receiving our newsletter. It contains value-packed free gifts and rich content each month. It's at gospelspice.com/signup. There is always something new and exciting happening around here, and I don't want you to miss out! Sign up at Gospelspice.com/signup 2- Did you know Gospel Spice has a YouTube Channel? There's exclusive content there too. So, join Gospel Spice on YouTube! It's at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice 3- Also please give us a star rating and a comment on your podcast listening app. Your reviews actually really do make a difference to help others discover and experience Gospel Spice. You would be surprised how helpful these are! So please leave a star rating and a review of a sentence or two. Thank you! 4- As always, we are praying for you! You can confidentially email us your prayer requests and praise items at the email address contact@gospelspice.com. It is our privilege to pray for you! So, would you please invest 3 to 5 minutes of your time, maybe even right now, to do one (or more!) of the following suggestions: 1-      signup on our website for our newsletter to receive gifts you're going to love - at Gospelspice.com/signup 2-      find us on YouTube, and see what content we've put together to help you grow closer to Jesus - at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice 3-      rate Gospel Spice on your listening app – it's one of the easiest ways to share the gospel! 4-      and finally, tell us how we can pray for you! Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog We offer high-quality, full color, gorgeous PDF downloadable workbooks to come alongside each episode of this original series of Gospel Spice, Jesus Rabbi and Lord. These workbooks allow you to build your library of in-depth Biblical studies and content to maximize your time in Scripture and amplify your intimacy with God. For each episode, we offer: - an episode summary - a listening guide - key takeaways from the episode - key quotes - Bible verses to enhance your experience - up to 10 questions per episode to take charge of your quiet time - topics for further research, based on the episode content. There are 3 workbooks, each containing over 10 episodes to cover the entire series. You can buy them separately, or as a bundle for an amazing price! Go now to https://www.gospelspice.com/jesus for the details and to purchase your Jesus Rabbi and Lord workbooks! Support us on Other, PayPal and Other!

Are you settling for less as a Christian writer? In today's encore episode, you will learn to delight in God's glory and never settle for less.Christian communicators should strive for God's glory in their writing. Stephanie Rousselle discusses success, competition, and spiritual habits writers must hear. Stéphanie is the founder of Gospel Spice Ministries and hosts the Gospel Spice Podcast. Her motto is, “God's glory, our delight!” Born and raised in France, she has lived for her One Lord over the last two decades-- on three continents, four countries, and five cities through six professional roles. This 100% French native is a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, former women's ministry director, and strategy consultant. Stephanie loves sharing nuances taken from the French and English languages and cultures to experience Scripture from the inside out. Linda Goldfarb and Stephanie discuss the power writers have when they experience God's glory in their lives and their profession. Stephanie compares experiencing delight in the glory of  God to a French croissant, and it's fabulous. They talk about true success, how we are a collective, not competitors, and how writers are not to hustle but to be actively still while developing habits of grace.LINKSStephanie Rousselle  Stephanie's Free Resources   Inspire Christian Writers Conference     If you enjoy Your Best Writing Life's content- consider a monthly donation through Patreon. Support Your Best Writing Life podcast. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this episode --LindaAbout your host - Linda GoldfarbBesides hosting Your Best Writing Life, Linda Goldfarb is a multi-published award-winning author, audiobook narrator, international speaker, board-certified Christian life coach, co-owner, co-founder of the LINKED® Personality System, and co-author of the LINKED® Quick Guide to Personality series.Linda and her hubby, Sam, are empty nesters leading full lives. With four adult children and 15 grandbabies– life is a new adventure every day. She loves sipping frothed coffee with friends, traveling the countryside with Sam, and sharing transparent moments with family.Visit Your Best Writing Life website.Join our Facebook group, Your Best Writing LifeAbout your host - Linda GoldfarbAwarded the Spark Media 2022 Most Bing-Worthy PodcastAwarded the Spark Media 2023 Fan Favorites Best Solo Podcast

Stephanie and her guest Shadia Hrichi delve into the richness of messy stories and God's incredible redemption. We have the privilege of welcoming back the brilliant and passionate Shadia Hrichi. Shadia is known for her love of messy stories and the people who have experienced pain and trials. Together with Stephanie, she uncovers the beauty of redemption in the lives of characters such as Hagar, Legion, Tamar, and Rahab. Throughout the episode, you'll witness Shadia's deep personal connection to these stories, particularly the themes of sexual pain, betrayal, and heartache. But don't worry, redemption is the thread that weaves through it all, pointing to the transformative power of our Lord. Shadia also shares a powerful story of how she prayed a bold prayer during a conference, asking God to translate her Bible study, Hagar, into Arabic. Discover the amazing way God answered her prayer and be inspired to pray bold prayers too! Shadia tackles the controversial topic of Rahab's profession. While some scholars try to paint her as an innkeeper, Shadia stands firm in highlighting Scripture's truth that Rahab was indeed a prostitute. Join us as we explore the redeeming power of God's grace in Rahab's life and how it symbolically reflects the story of the church body. The conversation takes an even deeper turn when Shadia shares her personal experiences and challenges faced while writing her latest Bible study, Rahab. Prepare to be inspired by her powerful testimony of how the Lord met her in profound ways during this project. Lastly, Stephanie and Shadia discuss the impact of our words and actions on others, even when we can't see the immediate fruit of our labor. Stay tuned as they dive into the incredible story of how God used Shadia's words to impact her own mother, leaving a lasting legacy of faith. We encourage you to listen to this thought-provoking and faith-strengthening conversation. It's bound to ignite your passion for redeeming stories and remind you of the incredible work God is doing in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Join us on this captivating journey of faith, redemption, and transformation! NEW! Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode: 1️⃣ God's redemption knows no bounds: Through the messy stories of Hagar, Tamar, Rahab, and Legion, we see how God can redeem the darkest of circumstances and bring beauty out of pain and trials. 2️⃣ Pray bold prayers: Shadia shares her personal experience of praying for the translation of Hagar into Arabic, a bold request that was answered six months later when she received a copy of the book being distributed in churches in Egypt and beyond. Let's be encouraged to pray bold prayers and trust that God can move mountains! 3️⃣ Embrace the true word: There is a temptation to alter Scripture for the sake of political correctness or to make it more palatable, but Shadia reminds us of the importance of not hiding from the true Word. Let's embrace the wisdom, goodness, and beauty of God's redemption, even when it challenges our preconceptions. NEW! QUESTIONS TO GO DEEPER, ON YOUR OWN OR WITH A FRIEND 1. How do you personally define a "messy story" and why do you think the speaker is attracted to them? 2. How does the story of Rahab challenge your understanding of redemption? 3. In what ways do you relate to the experiences of pain, betrayal, and heartache mentioned in this episode? 4. Have you ever prayed a bold prayer? If so, what was the result? If not, what would a bold prayer look like for you? 5. How does the story of Hagar being translated into Arabic and distributed in churches in Egypt and beyond illustrate the beauty of redemption? 6. What are your thoughts on Shadia's discussion about the word "zona" in the book of Joshua and the temptation to alter Scripture to fit certain narratives? 7. How does Rahab's story reflect the story of the church as a whole, with the church being the prostitute in need of rescue and redemption? 8. What are your thoughts on Shadia's emphasis on not hiding from the true Word in scripture when it comes to Rahab being referred to as a prostitute? 9. How has your faith been challenged and nurtured through studying Scripture and personal experiences, as Stephanie and Shadia mentioned? 10. Can you think of a time when you doubted the impact of your words or actions in sharing Christ with others, only to later realize that God's grace was working through you? ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR A SIGNED COPY OF "RAHAB" Signup here: https://kingsumo.com/g/mbmw1n/exclusive-rahab-media-tour-giveaway  More about RAHAB here: http://rahabbiblestudy.com/  ABOUT SHADIA HRICHI Shadia shares, "I never imagined I'd become an author, but I was certainly a bookworm, to which a shoebox full of “Reader of the Year” awards my mother saved can attest. I've always loved to read … and still do. But there was one Book I never opened until years later. Because I was not raised to believe in God, I was 30 years old the first time I began to read the Bible. And oh, what a treasure I found! If only I had found it sooner . . . My teenage and young adult years were filled with both good and bad choices – triumphs and tragedies. Abortion, date rape, substance abuse, marital abuse and divorce left many wounds and scars. And yet, it is precisely these heartaches that God has gently used to invite me to know Him more—to deepen my faith and fall in love with Him again and again. God gives me courage to share some of my stories in the Bible studies I've written, such as: - RAHAB: Rediscovering the God Who Saves Me - TAMAR: Rediscovering the God Who Redeems Me - HAGAR: Rediscovering the God Who Sees Me - LEGION: Rediscovering the God Who Rescues Me - Worthy of Love: A Journey of Hope and Healing After Abortion I love studying and teaching the Bible – especially the amazing, but messy, stories of real people who faced real problems. In addition to receiving a masters in biblical and theological studies from Western Seminary, I received a masters in criminal justice from the State University of New York (I'm a nerd at heart). But God's Word is so beautiful, I'll never tire of reading it. Even before I entered seminary, God opened the door to begin a speaking ministry to share the beautiful truths of Who He is and His power of redemption. In the beginning, I was often invited to speak for pregnancy centers. While speaking for pregnancy centers remains a deep passion and joy, God has since broadened the ministry to have me speak at conferences, churches, and women's retreats. From there, God has invited me to serve Him by serving writers. In fact, I have a whole page specifically for writers, complete with workshops, such as Am I Ready to Write a Bible Study?, as well as coaching and other services. But perhaps my favorite is serving women's groups by joining them for virtual “Q&A and Get to Know the Author” zoom meetups. The truth is that I love digging deep into the Bible and sharing what God teaches me. In fact, one reader compared me to a scuba instructor—gently guiding readers into the beautiful depths of God's Word. I've only been scuba diving once (it was cool!), but my two favorite pastimes are studying the Bible and visiting the ocean. Perhaps it's a suitable analogy after all." Meet her at https://www.shadiahrichi.com/  DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on Other, PayPal and Other!

Bonjour! Stephanie here. I just had the most fun and delightful, enthusiastic, encouraging conversation with my dear friend Jenny Cote. She has been on Gospel Spice before, but that was over 3 years ago, and I thought it was high time to invite her back because I believe she creates some of the very top resources we can use in our Christian walk – us, and kids of all ages! Jenny write historical fiction with a touch of delightful fantasy. I never have time to read fiction, which is one of the great sadness of my life! But I want to always make time for Jenny's books. Her writing is deeply Biblical, and she will make you fall in love with Jesus more. And even though she writes for kids of all ages, I think I want to include myself in that bracket of kids of all ages – all of us grown ups have much to enjoy in her books. Like so many of her readers, I initially picked up her book for my son. But then I started reading… and I was hooked! You will be too. it's still early to talk about Christmas, but I think this should make your list for your kids, grandkids, cousins, nieces and nephews – just don't forget to read it for yourself first. MORE ABOUT "THE MARQUIS, THE ESCAPE AND THE FOX" Escape through a maze of deception, betrayal, and death is the key to survival for thirteen rebellious colonies that dare to fight against tyranny and win their independence. Powerful forces seek to cut off the head of their Don't Tread on Me snake by assassinating General George Washington as the unstoppable British fleet sails into New York Harbor. The Epic Order of the Seven must identify and stop the assassin, or the epic Battle of New York will be over before it even begins. The Declaration of Independence rallies patriots to tear down the statue of King George III, but will its words be worth dying for? The Howe Brothers chase Washington and his dwindling Continental Army across New Jersey until he learns how to outfox them and lives to fight another day at Trenton and Princeton. The animal team knows those small victories won't be enough to win a war and must convince France to covertly join the fight. They must help France's wealthy Marquis de Lafayette sail for America to fight alongside Washington, but first he must escape King Louis XVI who has other plans for the reluctant courtier. The third installment in the Epic Revolutionary saga, The Marquis, the Escape, and the Fox covers events from April 1776 to April 1777. MORE ABOUT JENNY COTE Award-winning author and speaker Jenny L. Cote, who developed an early passion for God, history, and young people, beautifully blends these three passions in her two fantasy fiction series, The Amazing Tales of Max and Liz® and Epic Order of the Seven®. Likened to C. S. Lewis by readers and book reviewers alike, she speaks on creative writing to schools, universities and conferences around the world.  Jenny has a passion for making history fun for kids of all ages, instilling in them a desire to discover their part in HIStory. Her love for research has taken her to most Revolutionary sites in the U.S., to London (with unprecedented access to Handel House Museum to write in Handel's composing room), Oxford (to stay in the home of C. S. Lewis, ‘the Kilns', and interview Lewis' secretary, Walter Hooper at the Inklings' famed The Eagle and Child Pub), Paris, Normandy, Rome, Israel, and Egypt. She partnered with the National Park Service to produce Epic Patriot Camp, a summer writing camp at Revolutionary parks to excite kids about history, research and writing. Jenny's books are available online and in stores around the world, as well as in multiple e-book formats. Jenny holds two marketing degrees from the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. A Virginia native, Jenny now lives with her husband, Jock and Liz in Roswell, Georgia. Find more at https://www.epicorderoftheseven.net/ MORE ABOUT MAX AND LIZ The Amazing Tales of Max and Liz® is a two-book prequel series that begins the adventures of brave Scottie dog Max and brilliant French cat Liz. Book One: The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud introduces Max and Liz, who meet on the way to the Ark and foil a plot by a stowaway who is out to kill Noah and stop his mission. Book Two: The Dreamer, the Schemer, and the Robe brings Max, Liz, and friends to work behind the scenes in the life of Joseph in the land of Egypt. The Epic Order of the Seven® series picks up where the Max and Liz series left off. Book One: The Prophet, the Shepherd, and the Star gives Max, Liz, and the gang their most important mission yet: preparing for the birth of the promised Messiah. Their seven-hundred–year mission takes them to the lives of Isaiah, Daniel, and those in the Christmas story. Book Two: The Roman, the Twelve, and the King unfolds the childhood, ministry and passion of Jesus Christ with a twist – his story is told within the story of George F. Handel composing Messiah. Book Three: The Wind, the Road, and the Way covers Acts 1-18 and Paul's first two missionary journeys. Book Four: The Fire, the Revelation, and the Fall concludes the story of Acts to the fall of Rome, showing the miraculous birth of the church amidst persecution by the Roman Empire. Book Five: The Voice, the Revolution, and the Key begins a five book Revolutionary War saga featuring Patrick Henry and the Marquis de Lafayette. Her latest release is The Declaration, the Sword, and the Spy (April 2020), covering events from Lexington and Concord through the Declaration of Independence. Future books will feature C.S. Lewis and WWII. Jenny's books have been developed into audiobooks (The Ark and The Voice) and VBS curriculum (Heroes of HIStory) with animation by Magnetic Dreams in Nashville, TN, and original music by Marco Randazzo. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) The perfect gift for everyone - apparel, drinkware, stickers and more for all the women, men and kids in your life! https://www.gospelspice.com/merch Experience the peace and presence of Jesus like never before, by walking in His footsteps on this virtual, highly personable tour of first-century Israel! Sign up today at gospelspice.com/footsteps for all the details. DATES | October 5 to November 16, 2023 (registration closes on October 10, so register now!) LOCATION | Online!  Life is busy, and full of worry, anxiety, and stress. What if what we needed was a solid reminder of Jesus' very real presence in our lives? What if walking in His footsteps for a few weeks might prove the cure to our endless challenges, so that we may view our life as He does? It's said that a visit to Israel will forever change your experience of Scripture. That statement is right. But more than that, it will forever change your experience of Jesus. Here at Gospel Spice, our goal is to know Jesus more. It means deepening our theology, for sure, but what about discovering the little things Jesus enjoyed? Think of your best friends, or deeply loved ones. You know their favorite color, food, and scent. Not because it's life-changing, but because it is about intimacy, and knowing one another well. So, how about discovering one of Jesus' favorite childhood smells, or the Galilee skyline He woke up to every morning? It may not alter your theology, but it will help you know Him more. Do you need a full measure of His peace and comfort? Do you need to be reminded of His love for you? Do you need His guidance to navigate your life right now? Stephanie just returned from the Holy Land and invites you to walk in the footsteps of Jesus on this virtual tour of first-century Israel from the comfort of your own home. We will be journeying through Scripture together to meet Jesus where He walked, taught, and fellowshipped with His friends in Galilee. We will encounter Him on the Passion walk, from the Upper Room to Golgotha. We will meet Him in the Garden Tomb. So, pack your virtual sandals, along with a very real Bible and pen, to journey through Scripture in the footsteps of Jesus! Sign up today at gospelspice.com/footsteps for all the details. Support us on Other, PayPal and Other!

Stephanie welcomes pastor and author Jared C. Wilson for an intriguing conversation about what a true, authentic friendship with Jesus feels and tastes like. They talk about how it will transform your life, and your very identity. It is about knowing Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship in His sufferings – as Paul tells us in Philippians 3:10, which is Stephanie's favorite verse and lifelong quest! So, you are invited to join this conversation to embrace friendship with Christ in ways that will take you deeper than any other relationship on earth. Stephanie and Jared talk about what friendship is – what is has been historically, and what our modern technologies have turned it into. They discuss the importance of a lifelong quest for humility as the key to ever-deepening intimacy with Christ. They talk about the danger and reality of staleness with Him and how to remedy. They talk about that “holy heartburn” the disciples on the way to Emmaus experienced when Christ gave them the greatest, most comprehensive Bible study ever – and how we can join in on the experience. Jared touches on the importance of suffering in the midst of life as a touchpoint towards Christ – much as we would rather avoid it. Stephanie reads all the books whose authors she welcomes here at Gospel Spice (yes, that is a LOT of reading). But once in a while, a book draws her in so deeply, and resonates with her own longing so closely, that she finds herself lingering within its pages and relishing its flavors. So it was with Jared's book, “Friendship with the Friend of sinners.” So, listen in, and then consider grabbing your own copy – for yourself and for a friend! Stephanie suspects you will be glad you did. MORE ABOUT JARED C. WILSON Jared C. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Author in Residence at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a pastor and Director of The Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. An award-winning author of over 20 books, Jared also hosts the For The Church Podcast and co-hosts The Art of Pastoring Podcast, which is published by Christianity Today. Jared is not a catalytic "agent of change" or a visionary anything. He is a failed church planter and once made a mess of his marriage. He likes food too much and worries way too much about what people think, and he's definitely not all that he's cracked up to be. After nearly 30 years of ministry, he's mainly learned that he's kind of a nincompoop. But he knows Jesus loves him. Find more at https://www.jaredcwilson.com/ MORE ABOUT “FRIENDSHIP WITH THE FRIEND OF SINNERS” Are you longing for true connection? The Bible calls Jesus the friend of sinners, but it's hard to imagine what friendship with Jesus really looks like. How are we supposed to feel that close to a holy, perfect, and invisible God? How do we see Jesus as the real person he is? And how do we experience true friendship with him when we struggle to maintain true friendship on earth? Join author Jared C. Wilson as he explores what it means to be a friend of Jesus. Through candid personal stories and insights into the Gospels, Wilson uncovers easily overlooked details of the close relationship Jesus had with his followers. He reveals the ways we often hold Jesus at arm's length and shows how to draw close to him through radical honesty, consistent communication, and unconditional love. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) YOU ARE INVITED to follow in the footsteps of Jesus this fall! Stephanie invites you to join her for this virtual tour of first-century Israel to experience Jesus' teachings like never before. This original online Bible Study by Gospel Spice will be taught exclusively from October 5 to November 16, 2023. Go to gospelspice.com/footsteps to register, and all the details! YOU ARE INVITED to follow in the footsteps of Jesus this fall! Stephanie invites you to join her for this virtual tour of first-century Israel to experience Jesus' teachings like never before. This original online Bible Study by Gospel Spice will be taught exclusively from October 5 to November 16, 2023. Go to gospelspice.com/footsteps to register, and all the details! Support us on PayPal!

Bonjour! Stephanie here. You know how sometimes we love to have Christmas in July? Or, in this case, maybe in September? Today was such a special day for me. I just had the most delightful conversation with Max Lucado about the power of honesty and the grace of God. Here is what Max has to tell you: “Could you use a fresh reminder of God's grace? Do you need to be told, maybe for the first time, God never gives up on you? If so, join Stephanie and me for a delightful conversation about God's grace, about the beautiful city of Paris, about life in a world where forgiveness is abundant. Join us, please, on Gospel Spice.” And, yes, we also did talk about Paris, about good food and all sorts of other fun things. And I'm honestly still processing the richness of our conversation. I cannot wait to share it with you. We're going to talk about the dangers of manipulation, and the hope that honesty brings into our lives. You're going to find yourself probably agreeing with us on the unmatched, though often misunderstood power of grace in Christ. We're laughing and we're almost crying together from sheer gratitude over God's goodness for us. And I'm sure you can relate. Have you ever wondered if you've had one too many stumbles for God to use someone like you? Or, have you asked if you could benefit from an encounter with God's unending, unbending, unswerving love and freedom? That is what Max talked about with me today—through the lens of Jacob's life. And if your answer is yes, like Jacob, then Max invites you to see how God's grace transformed Jacob's life. Now, I really wish I couldn't relate to Jacob as much as I do because he's not the perfect hero by any means. If anything, he's quite the anti-hero. He's a manipulative cheat, and he doesn't understand grace until God literally smacks him with it, disabling his hip in the process. And so Max Lucado and I talked about that – and we invite you to join the conversation right now! MORE ABOUT “GOD NEVER GIVES UP ON YOU.” Ever wonder if you've had one too many stumbles for God to use someone like you? Could you benefit from an encounter with God's unending, unbending, unswerving love and devotion? If your answer is yes, it's time for you to see how God's grace transformed Jacob's life. And if you feel undeserving of God's grace, this book will serve as a refresher course on God's perfect plan to use imperfect people to do great things. God Never Gives Up on You is for the strugglers among us and the fumbler within us. For those of us who are part saint, part scoundrel; we mean well, but we don't always do well. We have breakthroughs and breakdowns, often in the same hour. We need no reminder of our failures, but we could always use a refresher course on God's perfect plan to use imperfect people to do great things. But where can we find examples of God's steadfast grace? No one is more suited to help assure you of God's grace than Jacob. He was less a prodigy and more a prodigal. Strong on savvy. Weak on conscience. Jacob took advantage of his famished brother and pulled the wool over the eyes of his dying father, yet God never turned his back on Jacob. And he won't turn his back on you. If you are ready to start counting on God's grace and believe he never gives up on you, this book is for you. Jacob's story invites us to believe in a God who sticks beside the unworthy and underachievers and leads us safely home. If God can use Jacob to further his kingdom, he can use us too. Buy the book HERE. MORE ABOUT MAX LUCADO Max Lucado is a pastor, speaker, and best-selling author who, in his own words, “writes books for people who don't read books.” He serves the people of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, and his message is for the hurting, the guilty, the lonely, and the discouraged: God loves you; let him. As a writer, Max is known for combining poetic storytelling and homespun humor with the heart of a pastor. All of his trade books began as sermon series at Oak Hills Church, and his sermons all begin with Max asking himself this question: “What can I say on Sunday that will still matter on Monday?” He's been dubbed “America's Pastor” by Christianity Today, and “The Best Preacher in America” by Reader's Digest. Max's books have sold more than 145 million copies in over 50 languages worldwide. He published On the Anvil, his first trade book, in 1985. His 44th trade book, Help Is Here, was released in 2022. Max's books regularly appear on bestseller lists, including The New York Times. His writing has also been featured in Bible studies, Bible commentaries, songs, greeting cards, and even plush toys. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry. Max's love for everyday people began during his childhood in the small town of Andrews, Texas. His father was an oilfield mechanic, his mother was a nurse, and Max spent a lot of his time either running from or running after his brother, Dee. Max grew rebellious in his teenage years, and after one specific drunken night, he began to wonder if there was more to life than parties and chasing girls. He now believes that if Jesus hadn't found him and changed his heart, alcoholism would have been in his future. After high school, Max attended Abilene Christian University and left with two degrees and a heart for following Jesus and helping others learn about him, too. He moved to Miami, Florida, and took a position as an associate pastor at a small church. This is where Max started writing about Jesus for the first time in the church's monthly newsletter, and it's where he developed his passion for people and ministry. Florida was also where Max met his wife, Denalyn. Together, they lived first in Miami and then spent several years in Rio de Janeiro, helping plant churches. The newsletters Max wrote to family and friends while in Rio, along with the newsletters he wrote at his church in Miami, eventually formed the manuscript of his first book, On the Anvil. Max and Denalyn now live in San Antonio, Texas. They have three grown daughters, three sons-in-law, and two grandchildren. Find more at https://maxlucado.com/   DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) YOU ARE INVITED to follow in the footsteps of Jesus this fall! Stephanie invites you to join her for this virtual tour of first-century Israel to experience Jesus' teachings like never before. This original online Bible Study by Gospel Spice will be taught exclusively from October 5 to November 16, 2023. Go to gospelspice.com/footsteps to register, and all the details! YOU ARE INVITED to follow in the footsteps of Jesus this fall! Stephanie invites you to join her for this virtual tour of first-century Israel to experience Jesus' teachings like never before. This original online Bible Study by Gospel Spice will be taught exclusively from October 5 to November 16, 2023. Go to gospelspice.com/footsteps to register, and all the details! Support us on PayPal!

As Stephanie invites you to continue your exploration of reading and interpreting the Scriptures correctly, we delve into the importance of seeking Jesus in the Bible and warn against misinterpreting the Scriptures. We are continuing our exploration of Jesus' question, “Have you not read the Scriptures” with a focus on personal application. Come and learn about the dangers of seeking to find ourselves in the Bible rather than seeking Jesus. Together, we also highlight how the Holy Spirit guides us to see Jesus in the Old Testament. For example, Stephanie suggests that you randomly flip open the Bible and let the Holy Spirit guide you to a passage where you will sit until the Holy Spirit shows you Jesus through the words on the page. We invite you to glorify the Father through the Son! So, today, pursue the beauty of finding Jesus in the Old Testament! As always, the Gospel Spice podcast infuses deep biblical teachings with a dash of French culture to help listeners grow in their relationship with God and taste the different spices the Gospel has to offer. TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE 1. The importance of discipline in reading and interpreting the Scriptures - Three levels of misinterpreting the Scriptures: ignorance, unbelief, and rebellion - Rebellion as the worst sin because it is a conscious decision to reject God - Role of the Holy Spirit in interpreting Scripture and convicting us of our sin 2. Seeking Jesus in the Bible rather than just ourselves - If we approach the Scriptures to find ourselves, we will miss Jesus - If we seek Jesus, we will find ourselves in the process - Pursuing the beauty of finding Jesus in the Old Testament - Recommending randomly flipping open the Bible and asking the Holy Spirit to guide to a passage where they can see Jesus - The goal of glorifying the Father through the Son by allowing the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see the goodness of the Lord in our lives through the pages of Scripture NEW BONUS | QUESTIONS TO GO DEEPER ON YOUR OWN OR WITH A FRIEND 1. Why is it important to approach the Scriptures from a perspective of seeking Jesus instead of just finding ourselves? 2. What role does the Holy Spirit play in understanding and interpreting Scripture? 3. How can we avoid the sin of rebellion in our interpretation of the Scriptures? 4. What are some practical ways to seek and find Jesus in the Old Testament? 5. How can we cultivate discipline in our daily reading and study of the Bible? 6. Have you ever randomly opened the Bible and the pages led you to a specific passage that spoke to your current situation? Share your experience. 7. Do you agree with Stephanie's assertion that rebellion is worse than ignorance or unbelief? Why or why not? 8. What can we do to ensure that we are not using the Scriptures to justify our own desires or agendas? 9. How can we balance knowledge and faith when studying Scripture? 10. Can you share a Bible passage that has recently impacted your life? How did it affect you? This series is an invitation to immerse yourself in the various ways God communicates to us, and us to Him. So pay attention, He is here and willing to whisper in your ear. A word of caution: don't come to Scripture with the agenda of finding yourself there. Right now we are going to take Scripture in. Like breathing, like eating, like smelling a flower. Don't come to Scripture with the agenda of finding yourself there. Come with the firm intention of discovering God instead. And then Scripture will never disappoint. God promises to be found in the places where He dwells – His Word especially. And in the process, you will undoubtedly find yourself as you find Him. So as we enter the hallowed pages of Scripture together, through a humble doorway and a very simple story, ask yourself: what is this telling me about Jesus? DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us on PayPal!

Amanda Jenkins shares about the 25th wedding anniversary she and Dallas are celebrating TODAY, JUNE 13, 2023! Happy anniversary to one of our favorite couples out there. Twenty-five years is a beautiful milestone and a testament to God's faithfulness through and in you! We love you and honor the Lord alongside you. Amanda and Stephanie talk about the crucible of suffering as the unavoidable process which our gentle Lord uses to refine us and keep us closely tied to His side, for our protection and growth. She explains how recent intense pain has led her to write the Bible Study that will soon release alongside season 4 of the show. She explains how she has discovered how God's goodness truly can eclipse our suffering - not in a pollyanna way at all, but through the pain and the daily releasing to Him who is more than able to bear it. We can only endure suffering when we are deeply rooted in who God is. As Amanda shares some of the recent personal struggles and sufferings she and her family have endured, she reveals how they have grown in the Lord through it, and what she has learned about herself and, more essentially, about God. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ziOcbz1ny9U In our previous episode with Amanda, she talked with Stephanie about discovering new dimensions of relationship with Jesus, and the importance of experiential knowledge and resting in Him. Amanda told us how her family is faring through seasons of The Chosen, with a focus on discipling older children. She and Dallas have four children, aged 22, 20, 18 and 16. How are they parenting through the show, and towards intimacy with Christ? Amanda shared the power of intentionality and the necessity of embracing mistakes to grow from them. She told Stephanie how she and Dallas have nurtured a family culture for open conversations and for making God the center of their daily lives. She shared what it looks like to surrender your children to God at every age. We also invite you to watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice  DISCOVER THE CHOSEN Best show of the century. Everything is at https://new.thechosen.tv/ We cannot recommend Amanda's Bible Studies enough. Get all of them today at https://new.thechosen.tv/collections/books  NEW BONUS! GO DEEPER WITH OUR REFLECTION QUESTIONS ON THIS EPISODE 1. What does it mean to abide in Christ? How does this look different for each individual? 2. How can we grow our relationships with our children and disciple them as they grow older? 3. How do different families approach nightly devotionals or Bible study time? 4. What can we learn from David's practice of turning his attention to God's character in times of lament? How can we apply this to our own lives? 5. How does suffering impact our relationship with God? Can it draw us closer to Him or drive us away? 6. How can we release control and trust God with our children's emotional development and spiritual growth? 7. What are some natural challenges to reentry after a spouse has been away, and how can intentional conversations help with the transition back to normalcy? 8. In what ways can we seek God when things are going smoothly and not get complacent in our faith? 9. How can we avoid the temptation to seek validation from people instead of God? What are some practical ways to focus on abiding in Christ instead of looking to others for approval? 10. How have our standards and priorities changed as we have matured in our relationship with God? What helps us to recognize what is worth fighting for and what is not?   BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us!

Stephanie invites you to ponder questions Jesus asks, and some statements that believers made throughout Scripture, that are really prayers in disguise, and an invitation for us to ponder the deeper things of the spirit and to invite Him to shape us into who He created us to become. Today we welcome Jesus' question to the invalid at the pool of Bethesda: Would you like to get well? A simple question, begging for a seemingly obvious answer. But let's go deeper. And let's see how we would answer this question for ourselves today. This is about physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological healing. This is about restoring intimacy with the One who made us body, soul and spirit. It is, ultimately, an invitation to worship and trust. How will you answer? This series is an invitation to immerse yourself in the various ways God communicates to us, and us to Him. So pay attention, He is here and willing to whisper in your ear. A word of caution: don't come to Scripture with the agenda of finding yourself there. Right now we are going to take Scripture in. Like breathing, like eating, like smelling a flower. Don't come to Scripture with the agenda of finding yourself there. Come with the firm intention of discovering God instead. And then Scripture will never disappoint. God promises to be found in the places where He dwells – His Word especially. And in the process, you will undoubtedly find yourself as you find Him. So as we enter the hallowed pages of Scripture together, through a humble doorway and a very simple story, ask yourself: what is this telling me about Jesus? DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) The perfect gift for everyone - apparel, drinkware, stickers and more for all the women, men and kids in your life! https://www.gospelspice.com/merch Support us!

God the Father could simply not wait to welcome Jesus back in Heaven after Easter. So much so, that He told us about the welcome party hundreds of years before it happened! It is a foretaste of the party that awaits YOU when you enter heaven. This is the sure hope that is the foundation of our faith.  In our current uncertain times, we can rest assured that if we are in Christ, we will have quite the welcome party in Heaven. Did someone you know and love recently reach the pearly gates? That is their reality today too! We look at the richness of the symbolism of the Ascension, but only because it is the precursor to one of the greatest celebrations for the believers: the gift of the Holy Spirit, the full indwelling of God Himself in the believers, given at Pentecost. We will delve deep into Pentecost in our next episode, but this is a glimpse into glory today! ANNOUNCEMENT | We are switching to 2 episodes a week this season! Love it? Hate it? Please let us know by filling out this one-question survey. YOUR OPINION MATTERS! thank you! BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2023) Support us!

Stephanie welcomes Megan B. Brown, founder and executive director of MilSpo Co (Military Spouse Coalition), a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing Christ with the military communities worldwide. Megan shares her own story, her heart, and passion for building the Kingdom of God in original, powerful ways. This conversation will stretch, inspire, and challenge you! Megan says, "MilSpo Co. is a place where people can meet Jesus,  engage in life-giving community, and everyone is welcome. We believe in creating a space where people can have authentic encounters with Christ, discover their gifts and use them for God's glory." MilSpo Co. began with a commitment to see military spouses gain  access points to the gospel through getting connected, building a faith community, and to develop the skill of walking out their faith as they moved from place to place. Nearly a decade ago, a handful of military spouses began gathering around the Word of God in a military housing neighborhood. Their goal was simple: to know God and learn how to make Him known. The result was immense. These women were learning how to create friendships, building relationships inside of their local church, and starting to see how God would use their lifestyles to serve Him as missionaries. MilSpo Co.'s Founder, Megan Brown, began leading small and intimate Bible studies from her living room. What began with six women at Keesler AFB on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi has now become a ground movement. Women all over the globe are now meeting in homes, serving inside of the church, and using their gifts for the glory of God.  The next step in mission for MilSpo Co. is to continue to raise up leaders in the military spouse space. By raising up indigenous leaders in the military spouse community who are directly connected to the local church, women in this space can lead others into meaningful connections, biblical community in the family of God, and facilitate their discipleship toward the task of fulfilling the Great Commission.  ABOUT MILSPOCO Megan is a seasoned military spouse, mother of four, and military missionary. Graduating from Moody Bible Institute with a Bachelor's of Science in Ministry Leadership with a focus in Ministry to Women, she is passionate about leading women to pursue fulfilling The Great Commission.  MilSpo Co. exists to intentionally disciple the U.S. Armed Forces through recruiting, raising up, and releasing an army of military spouses as paid and prepared vocational missionaries. These women are sent in partnership with the local church, collaborate with civilian communities for evangelism, and are ready to serve God at operational military installations worldwide.   Find Megan at http://milspoco.com/ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Or, of course, you can start at the beginning with episode 1.  Season 1: the gospel of Matthew like you've never experienced it https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3280/link/ Season 2: Experience Jesus through the Psalms https://www.podcastics.com/episode/33755/link/ Season 3: the gospel of Luke, faith in action https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/ Season 4: Proverbs spiced with wisdom https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/ Season 5: Identity in the battle | Ephesians https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/ Season 6: Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/ Season 7: Shades of Red | Against human oppression https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/ Season 8: God's glory, our delight |  https://www.podcastics.com/episode/126051/link/   ABOUT THE GOSPEL SPICE LEADERSHIP TRAINING Stephanie mentioned the Winter 2023 Gospel Spice leadership training program in this episode. This free, in-depth resource equips leaders who want to take their leadership skill to the next level. It is free, and has a very small number of available seats. Find more at gospelspice.com/leadership.  Support us!

Stephanie sits down with Dr. Richard Blackaby, who co-authored Experiencing God with his father Henry Blackaby. Richard and Stephanie talk about their common passion for Scripture, for The Lord of the Rings, and much more! They connect on the power of the spice of the gospel, and a common passion for delight in the glory of God as the ultimately most satisfying definition of a successful spiritual life in the Messiah. If you have experienced staleness in your relationship with God... this is the episode for you! The key topic of this conversation is the power of a godly legacy through several generations. Richard and Stephanie start off by discussing some key elements of parenting through Richard's own growing-up years in the Blackaby family. Richard shares precious family memories, and experiences of faith from his parents. He highlights the essential presence of joy and laughter in their household. These are precious insights for today's parents of young and teen children! Richard says, “I can't think of a better compliment than when your grown children say they want to carry your own family traditions into their own new families.” Richard and Stephanie talk about Experiencing God, and the power of legacy through several generations being moved by this ground-breaking Bible Study, published in the early 1990's. Through this conversation, you are invited to experience the power of God's faithfulness, and the challenges of being in full-time ministry. Richard tells us the story of his father, and the process of writing Experiencing God. Finally, they also talk about the brand new CSB Experiencing God Bible, its unique features, and what Richard hopes it will provide for a new generation of Christ-followers. Might the CSB Experiencing God Bible be the perfect Christmas gift for yourself and/or your loved ones?   MORE ABOUT BLACKABY MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL Blackaby Ministries International (BMI) was founded in 2004 to encourage Christians worldwide to know and experience God through spiritual leadership, coaching, renewal and revitalization of churches, online classes, church-wide weekend retreats, and cultural engagement. Born in British Columbia, Henry Blackaby studied English and History at the University of British Columbia and earned his Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) and Th.M from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (now called Gateway Seminary) in Phoenix, Arizona. Henry and Marilynn Blackaby served in several churches in California before relocating to Saskatchewan, Canada, to lead a struggling congregation that had dwindled to only 10 members in 1970. During their 18 years in Canada, they saw God work in miraculous ways, helped plant numerous churches, and reared their five children. Through those experiences, God taught the Blackabys truths about Himself that became the basis for the best-selling book, Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, publishing in 1990 and selling more than seven million copies. Over the last 30+ years, more than eight million people participated in the Experiencing God Study. Both the book and workbook have been publishing in over 75 languages and used by almost every denomination. Blackaby also won the Gold Medallion Award for the devotionals, Experiencing God Together and Experiencing God Day by Day. Blackaby went on to serve in a variety of leadership positions at ministries such as the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, the International Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources. He also served as President of Canadian Baptist Theological College for seven years. After growing up in a spiritually rich environment, all five of Henry and Marilynn's children sensed God calling them into full-time ministry. Their oldest son, Dr. Richard Blackaby, is the president of the Atlanta-based Blackaby Ministries International and is the General Editor of the CSB Experiencing God Bible. Dr. Thomas Blackaby is the lead pastor of Brookswood Baptist Church in Langley, BC, Canada. Dr. Melvin Blackaby is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Jonesboro, GA. Dr. Norman Blackaby is a professor at Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, TX. Carrie Blackaby Webb served as a career missionary to Germany and lives in Jonesboro, GA. Now a third generation of Blackabys are called to ministry including grandchildren Dr. Daniel Blackaby and Carrie Blackaby Camp. Find them at https://blackaby.org/ Socials: Facebook @blackabyministries, Twitter @ExperiencingGod   MORE ABOUT THE CSB EXPERIENCING GOD BIBLE This completely revised study Bible combines content from Henry Blackaby's multi-million selling Experiencing God book and Bible study with a full Bible text, specifically the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) translation. Originally published in the late 90s in both the New International Version and the New King James Version as the Experiencing God Study Bible, the CSB Experiencing God Bible features updated and revised Experiencing God study and devotional tools with the accurate and readable CSB translation for a new generation wanting to hear from God. www.csbexperiencinggodbible.com The original Experiencing God book and Bible study was authored by Dr. Henry Blackaby almost 30 years ago and quickly became an international phenomenon. The study promotes a God-centered way of life that helps people know God intimately, recognize God's voice and understand God's will. The family of Experiencing God resources now number more than 50, with eight million units sold across all formats and over 75 languages. Richard Blackaby, president of Blackaby Ministries International, presents the best of Experiencing God content alongside the full Biblical text in the CSB Experiencing God Bible. This fall, the Experiencing God study is being re-released with new video content that includes Richard and Mike Blackaby, the son and grandson of Henry Blackaby. “An entire generation has been spiritually formed by Dr. Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God,” says Andy McLean, Publisher, Holman Bible and Reference. “Now Henry's son, Richard Blackaby, has masterfully updated this life-changing classic for the CSB Experiencing God Bible. A new generation is invited to discover how hearing from God is both simple and deeply formative.” The CSB Experiencing God features unique design elements, study helps and devotional tools including: • 66 Book introductions including key theme and setting • In each of the book of the Bible, the reader is encouraged to consider many aspects of “Encountering God,” “Decisions Awaiting You,” and “Crisis of Belief” • “God Focus” themes highlight important recurring ideas throughout the Bible • “Prepare to Meet God” questions highlight important Experiencing God elements • “Did You Notice?” questions at the end of each chapter review actions, plans, and purposes God has carried as well as potential life adjustments for today's Christians • Designed icons throughout identify the seven realities of Experiencing God and two steps of Fresh Encounter found throughout God's Word • Brief articles throughout the text explore concepts related to Experiencing God • Biographies depict how a Bible character experiences God, discovering his purposes and plans for his people • Book conclusions provide space for recording strategic Spiritual markers in life The CSB Experiencing God Bible is released in the Christian Standard Bible® (CSB) translation, a translation heralded for its clarity and accuracy. It will also be released in multiple formats including hardcover, LeatherTouch, and genuine leather. Find this wonderful new resource at www.csbexperiencinggodbible.com GOD'S GLORY, OUR DELIGHT | THE GOSPEL SPICE SERIES Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO PARTNER WITH GOSPEL SPICE TODAY! First, PAY Gospel Spice Forward: Give a tax-deductible gift so others can experience our ministry for free, just like you! You can pay it forward with any debit, credit card, or via PayPal. See below for more details about your impact. Also, PLAY Gospel Spice Forward: SHARE the podcast and the studies with your friends and family. FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW on your favorite podcast app (leave a comment + a star rating on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Pandora, IHeart, Google Podcast, etc…) And, last but not least, PRAY Gospel Spice Forward: We pray for you weekly. We covet your prayers for our ministry, the thousands we reach, and our team! Contact us to let us know you are praying for us!   MORE ABOUT PARTNERING WITH US FINANCIALLY: Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Our goal is to provide in-depth, high-quality, free Bible resources for all. They are free, but expensive to create! We need your financial support to keep producing and distributing them. Please pay Gospel Spice forward today! We want the money to go to those who really need it. No one at Gospel Spice is taking a salary. We are all donating our time. For example, a Podcast episode takes at least 10 hours of work each week. A complete Bible Study requires 500 man-hours. A Bible reading plan takes 100 man-hours. Once our operating costs are paid, 100% of your donation is redistributed to our partners who fight human trafficking. Your pay-it-forward donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Thank you! Support us!

Stephanie enjoins us to embrace exotic faith with the goal of developing the perspective of heaven in our hearts - namely, in order to start perceiving our life and circumstances and relationships the way God does. God sees us as He created us to be—not as we are today, right now, with all our imperfections. He sees the finished product. One of Stephanie's favorite descriptions of ourselves?  "We are half-baked masterpieces." Masterpieces? That's how God calls us: Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Psalm139:14 -  I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Genesis1:27 - So God created mankind in his own image,     in the image of God he created them;     male and female he created them. But half-baked, because we are a work under construction. Philippians 2:12-13 - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Ephesians 4:24 - put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Half baked masterpieces. That's you and me today. Stephanie shares, "The more I see myself as God sees me, the easier I will find it to delight in His glory." So in this context, how do we approach suffering, and how does humility give us the proper perspective when trials and pain hit home? Humility is both the soil that allows faith to grow, and the fruit that grows from that tree of faith. And it all points to delight in the glory of God as our ultimate goal and purpose. Paul tells us of his amazing revelations. He says he was caught up in the third heaven (2Cor 12:2). He literally got the perspective of Heaven. And it was so glorious, that he was actually at risk of developing pride. At risk of thinking he was better than others for having been granted such a perspective. So God, in His wise goodness, afflicted Paul with a thorn. Paul asks for the affliction to be taken away. That's the context for a few famous verses from the pen of Paul, when God tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2Corinthians 12:9) and Paul's conclusion, verse 10: For when I am weak, then I am strong. This is a lesson we all must learn if we truly seek to delight in the glory of God. Pride has no place in this quest. So Paul went from pride of place to delight in God. He didn't regret it for a minute: the moment he understood why this affliction was not taken away, but that it was given as a grace, then he stopped asking for it to be removed. He actually started thanking God for it. Not because he was masochistic or loved being in pain, or wanted to be pitied, or wanted to tell us how amazing he is for handling such pain. But Because he wanted to live in God's strength, not his own. Listen to the full episode now! We warmly encourage you to find the listening guide and personal questions at gospelspice.com/delight - they are completely free and will assist you in embracing the full experience of this lesson.   GOD'S GLORY, OUR DELIGHT | THE GOSPEL SPICE SERIES Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) This month we are celebrating the anniversary of Gospel Spice! We launched our first episode in 2019, we we faithfully and haltingly followed God's pretty clear directions! Would you please take a moment to celebrate with us? There is a very simple way to do that, and it would truly mean the world to us. Would you please invest 3 to 5 minutes of your time, maybe even right now!, to leave a COMMENT on a very instrumental ranking website for podcasts? It would truly be so helpful, and such a lovely birthday gift for us! 3 simple steps to do it: 1- go to listennotes.com and create a user profile, using the top right corner LOGIN. There are 4 easy ways to do that: you can use either your facebook, twitter or google account, or otherwise provide a valid email. It will then send you a verification email so it needs to be a valid email. That is the most time consuming part! You are almost there already. 2- Once you have created your profile, then please find Gospel Spice (using the search bar at the top - or click here directly); 3- Please LEAVE A COMMENT in the COMMENTS section. It will truly be instrumental in making Gospel Spice more discoverable among the more than 2.5 million podcasts out there.  If this seems too complicated... please try clicking HERE (which should take you straight to the COMMENTS section for the Gospel Spice Podcast) and create your user profile from there. Once you are done, feel free to UNSUBSCRIBE from the website Listennotes, and you will never hear from them again, while having given us a free birthday present! MERCI!   Support us!

Do you ever think of God as stingy? Do you focus on the things that He hasn't given you? The opening scene of Genesis shows us a different view of God. As we see the waters teaming with life and the birds filling the sky and plants popping up everywhere from the ground, we see that God is a generous God and fills the world with ample abundance.Joining me for a short segment is Kelly Needham (who was with us last time). Kelly is an author, Bible teacher and new podcast host! Please check out the podcast she and her husband Jimmy are just launching a podcast called "Clearly". For the remainder of the episode, I'm talking with Stephanie Rouselle is the founder of Gospel Spice Ministries. Stephanie was born and raised in France. She is a wife, mom, podcaster, and Bible teacher. And she is 100% French.Guest: Stephanie RousselleAlso Kelly Needham (our guest from last time), will join us for a short segment.Bible Passage: Genesis 1Get your Freebie: The Live Like It's True WorkbookMentioned Resources: Male and Female - with Kelly Needham (previous episode)Gospel Spice PodcastWhat Should I Believe About Evolution VideoRecommended Resources:  Go to the extended shownotes for my recommended books, podcast episodes and more, which correlate with our conversations about Genesis 1-3 here in season 4.Music: Cade Popkin Music Producer: Maria Lyons What is a "Day" in Genesis 1?I know there are a lot of conversations going on about Genesis 1, and what the word "day" means. Is it twenty-four hours? Is there a different meaning? Here's the deal. Even if you and I had different opinions on how to answer that question, I'm guessing it wouldn't make much difference in how we live like the story is true.Do you believe—as I do, that God created the world? If not, let's chat! I'd love to hear your thoughts. But if so, let's focus on living like it's true that we serve the God who both creates and fills.Find StephanieWebsitePodcastInstagramFacebookFor the full set of shownotes, including recommended resources on Genesis 1-3, and more, go here.  

Happy Wednesday! We are happy to welcome Stephanie Rousselle back to the podcast! She is joined by two young women who are special to Janell— Leonie and Zoe! Stephanie shares about her upbringing in France, her pursuit of academic excellence, how she went from an atheist to someone who surrendered to a God she wasn't sure she could fully trust. She talks about how she wrestled with fully surrendering to God and how getting to know God's character helped her with her decision to trust Him. They also have a great discussion of prayer, what changes practically when she surrendered to God, and how she found such a peace and joy in surrendering to God. They also have a discussion about the place of rules or guidelines in the Christian faith. Lastly, Stephanie has one challenges Zoe and Leonie (and any young person who is questioning whether or not God exists). We hope you enjoy this episode! About Stephanie RousselleStephanie Rousselle is the founder of Gospel Spice Ministries. Her motto is, “God's glory, our delight!” She thrives on Bible-centered inspirational writing and speaking, and dark chocolate. She knows herself too well to take herself seriously... Born and raised in France, she has lived for her One over the last two decades on three continents, four countries and five cities through six professional roles. She is a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, former women's ministry director and strategy consultant. And she is 100% French. She loves sharing nuances taken from the French and English languages and cultures to experience the New Testament from the inside out. She has quoted her favorite words more times than she can count, first to herself and her children, and then also in settings as diverse as Bible studies, conferences, podcasts and more: “There is nothing you can do for God to love you more; and there is nothing you can do for God to love you less.”___________________We would love to thank our Patrons for all their amazing support! To learn more about supporting Finding Something REAL via Patreon, click here!FSR s5e26 with LeonieFSR s5e17 Totti's Intro EpisodeFSR March 2021 with Stephanie RouselleFSR March 2021 with LuGospel Spice websiteGospel Spice episode with Dallas JenkinsGospel Spice episode with Jonathan EvansJonathan Evan's eulogy for his momThe ChosenSt. AugustineThe Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, C. S. Lewis ”It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”God's Revelation to Elijah - 1 Kings 19:11-18

Our Summer series invite you to ponder important topics for daily living. Stephanie and her occasional guests tell us about the importance of our definition of success, the key elements of leadership roles, the traps of comparison, the importance of theology, and much more! These stand-along episodes are meant to encourage you and challenge you to experience deeper fruitfulness in your various roles and ministries, in all the relationships and areas of your life. Today's theme is leadership. We are all leaders, in one capacity or another. If you don't think you are ever in a position of leadership, think again! Leadership does not necessarily mean a large oragnization. You lead as a parent, as a student, as a peer, and in many areas that might not feel like leadership as the world defines it! For example, a mother who is potty-training her child has to exhibit a certain and real set of leadership skills. A teacher in the classroom, or a small group leader at church, all have to learn how to improve their leadership skills. So... What is a good leader--and how can you spot a bad leader a mile away? What are the various traits of leadership, and how do they differ from styles of leadership? How can you learn from good and bad leaders? How do you identity bad leadership? How do you handle the various responsibilities that comes with your leadership? Stephanie gave this presentation to a group of Gospel Spice leadership trainees. You will get to hear their questions in the Q&A session at the end of this episode. If you are interested to participate in the next GospelSpice leadership training, email us at contact@gospelspice.com. We hope to hold the next sessions in early 2023. If you wish to access the video that contains the deck of slides that Stephanie used, become a member at gospelspice.com (it's free) and you will find it on our member community board in "Stephanie's library." DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) We invite you to enjoy a Christ-centered summer by experiencing Jesus through the lens of the body of Christ. We bring you a diversity of viewpoints on several issues, and invite you to discover Jesus through their own journey with Him. Our Summer series invite you to ponder important topics for daily living. Stephanie and her occasional guests tell us about the importance of our definition of success, the key elements of leadership roles, the traps of comparison, the importance of theology, and much more! These stand-along episodes are meant to encourage you and challenge you to experience deeper fruitfulness in your various roles and ministries, in all the relationships and areas of your life. The topics we discuss are eternal and apply to both genders, across time and space and culture and age. So, join us for deep conversations with inspiring Christ-followers, conversations that will flavor your summer with the Gospel. Conversations about culture, leadership, success, dating, gender, and struggles with comparison, pride, and more: that is your Gospel Spice summer! Support us!

What is success? The world would have you embrace a particular definition. Even some teachings within Christendom might fall seriously short of the mark. What is the Biblical standard of success? Today's theme is success, its definition and application. Through her personal story and testimony, Stephanie invites you to embrace the most satisfying definition of success, and to apply it daily: You will measure success by the delight you take in God's glory! And when that becomes your quest, you are poised for a delightful, wildly successful life for the Kingdom. “God's glory, our delight” is Stephanie's motto and the beating heart of Gospel Spice Ministries, rooted in her personal encounter with God as a French teenage atheist. As believers, we face the daily challenge to ascribe glory where it belongs, and to delight in the process. What can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? How do we spice up our words to present them as a daily offering of delight to the glory of God? God sprinkles our stories with a dash of spice—and inimitable flair. Through her personal testimony and ever-growing devotion to Christ, Stephanie humbly invites you to delight in God's glory today and every day. We invite you to enjoy a Christ-centered summer by experiencing Jesus through the lens of the body of Christ. We bring you a diversity of viewpoints on several issues, and invite you to discover Jesus through their own journey with Him. Our Summer series invite you to ponder important topics for daily living. Stephanie and her occasional guests tell us about the importance of our definition of success, the key elements of leadership roles, the traps of comparison, the importance of theology, and much more! These stand-along episodes are meant to encourage you and challenge you to experience deeper fruitfulness in your various roles and ministries, in all the relationships and areas of your life. The topics we discuss are eternal and apply to both genders, across time and space and culture and age. So, join us for deep conversations with inspiring Christ-followers, conversations that will flavor your summer with the Gospel. Conversations about culture, leadership, success, dating, gender, and struggles with comparison, pride, and more: that is your Gospel Spice summer! Support us!

Stephanie welcomes spiritual director, university professor and author James Bryan Smith to ponder the weight of God's love for us as His chosen creation. In his latest book, "The good and beautiful you" Jim invites us to peel back the layers of many lies we have commonly been fed in the church--about our worthlessness and predicament when our identity is primarily defined as "sinner." Jim likes to remind everyone - inlcuding himself - that Genesis 1 and 2 precede Genesis 3, and that grace and love precede sin and the fall! They discuss the difference between soul and self, and why the soul has such demanding needs. James tells us now the needs of our soul can be met in Christ alone. Jim describes ten things our soul cannot endure, and ten God-created longings. He says, "the soul is made to soar in trasncendance." Yet this is the furthest thing from self-help and narcissism! He invites us to "put to death our need ot establish our worth through what we accomplish." Who does not need to hear this in our generation of ever-hurried people?  He talks of the sacredness of our God-bestowed body: "we cannot engage in a relationship with God apart from our bodies." Jim also talks about our deep-seated need to be wanted and desired. He says, "our identity is given by God - and it will find us! We don't have to search for significance; in Christ significance has found us." He prays and invites us to join him in asking the Lord, "O God help me believe the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful." Again, this is the furthest thing from narcissisim because it invites us to then consider every one around us in the same light - considering others as more important than ourselves, imitating Christ Jesus as Paul challenges us in Philippians 2. Jim says, "I am my own worst critic. I live under the tyranny of the ideal self." Anyone else can use a dose of truth against self-criticism? If God does not spend His days thinking negative thoughts about us, then why should we think those thoughts about ourselves - or others? Join Stephanie and James Bryan Smith for a profound and uplifting conversation about WHO YOU ARE IN GOD'S EYES. GOSPELSPICE AND IVPRESS GIFT TO YOU: GET 30% OFF AND FREE SHIPPING FOR "THE GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL YOU" at ivpress.com by using the discount code SPICE22. This code is valid until July 4, 2022 - 2 weeks after the initial release of this episode. Enjoy this special gift!  You can also watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/gospelspice CONNECT WITH JAMES BRYAN SMITH website: https://jamesbryansmith.com/ the book, The Good and Beautiful You: https://www.ivpress.com/the-good-and-beautiful-you James Bryan Smith is the author of the Good and Beautiful Series which includes The Good and Beautiful God, The Good and Beautiful You, The Good and Beautiful Life, and The Good and Beautiful Community. He earned his MDiv at Yale and his DMin at Fuller and is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, where he also serves as the director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation. A founding member of Richard J. Foster's spiritual renewal ministry, Renovaré, Smith is an ordained United Methodist Church minister and has served in various capacities in local churches. He is the editor of A Spiritual Formation Workbook and Devotional Classics (with Richard Foster), and the author of Embracing the Love of God, Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven, Room of Marvels, The Magnificent Story, and The Magnificent Journey. Follow him on Twitter: @jamesbryansmith MORE ABOUT THE BOOK: GOSPELSPICE AND IVPRESS GIFT TO YOU: GET 30% OFF AND FREE SHIPPING FOR "THE GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL YOU" at ivpress.com by using the discount code SPICE22. This code is valid until July 4, 2022 - 2 weeks after the initial release of this episode. Enjoy this special gift!  The Christian faith is not only about belief and practices, it is also about the kind of people that we become. Yet some of the biggest barriers to our transformation come from our toxic self-narratives. These narratives shape the way we see ourselves and the way we interact in the world. God designed us with a deep longing in our souls to be wanted, loved, alive, and connected to God. Healing our souls requires more than knowing what God thinks about us. Our healing comes not through reason alone, but through revelation. "The best practice I have seen in Christian spiritual formation" was Dallas Willard's endorsement of the Good and Beautiful series a decade ago. Now this fourth book in the series, The Good and Beautiful You, addresses the self-narratives that hinder spiritual growth and the desires of the soul that only God can satisfy. James Bryan Smith reminds us how Scripture reveals the beauty and goodness of our own souls and how we long for healing that only God can provide. Complete with spiritual practices that help us live into that reality, The Good and Beautiful You will serve as a welcome companion on your journey to discover who you truly are in Christ. The Good and Beautiful Series includes four essential discipleship books from James Bryan Smith. Work through these proven Bible study resources individually or with a group to learn who God is, what it means to be a Christian, how to live in community, and how to address toxic self-narratives that hinder spiritual growth. GOSPELSPICE AND IVPRESS GIFT TO YOU: GET 30% OFF AND FREE SHIPPING FOR "THE GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL YOU" at ivpress.com by using the discount code SPICE22. This code is valid until July 4, 2022 - 2 weeks after the initial release of this episode. Enjoy this special gift!  GOD'S GLORY, OUR DELIGHT | THE GOSPEL SPICE SERIES Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Or, of course, you can start at the beginning with episode 1.  Season 1: the gospel of Matthew like you've never experienced it Season 2: Experience Jesus through the Psalms Season 3: the gospel of Luke, faith in action Season 4: Proverbs spiced with wisdom Season 5: Identity in the battle | Ephesians Season 6: Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience Season 7: Shades of Red | Against human oppression Season 8: God's glory, our delight |    Support us!

How can we actively develop humility in our spiritual life, the kind of genuine, precious humility that will put a smile on our Father's face?  Genuine, relentless humility is a life-long commitment. Stephanie takes us on a journey to experience what has been called the "spiritual disciplines" in light of our quest to delight more in God. She quotes John Piper: “Now, THAT would be the greatest salvation imaginable—if God should offer us the greatest reality in the universe to enjoy, and then move in us to see to it that we could enjoy it with the greatest freedom and the greatest pleasure possible.” Truly, that's all we need. Let this mindset seep deeply into your being, and it will bear fruit. Be relentlessly humble. Cultivate relentless humility. It's the secret. It's actually super easy, but it requires a lifetime of practice. Paul said, “by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” `1cor 15:10 That's the balance: God does ALL the work—THROUGH us. We're not in charge. We're the car, He's the driver. Yet He chooses to use this car. So, today we're going to look at the other side of this "delight-in-God" coin: our participation. God invites us to participate even as He teaches us HOW to delight in Him. Join us to relentlessly develop genuine humility today. IMPORTANT NOTE - WE WILL SWITCH TO FRIDAYS AS OUR EPISODE RELEASE DAY, STARTING ON JULY 1 WITH EPISODE 156. Stay tuned every FRIDAY!!   GOD'S GLORY, OUR DELIGHT | THE GOSPEL SPICE SERIES Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 151 - Jesus' humility is the roadmap to glory. Stephanie humbly invites us to dive into the meaning and expression of humility in Jesus's life. It started even before His incarnation - when He left the beauty and perfection of heaven to come dwell on planet earth, with a human body, and for the express intent to die a horrific death, not only physically but mostly a spiritual death of separation from His heavenly Father. What love is this... and it is demonstrated in meekness and humility. So, since humility was so essential to Jesus, so must it be with us too! Except... it does not come to us naturally. So we look at delighting in God in the context of humility today. This is an in-depth look at the meaning of the cross, and how we are called to the ultimate beauty of surrendering our self-will to delight in glories unimaginable. Today is an invitation to see, maybe for the first time or at a deeper level, that a quest to delight in God is truly the most reasonable, and the most enthralling adventure that we are called upon. We look at what it means to "be in Christ," an expression that can be so overused, it is devoid of meaning. Yet, the key to delight in God in found in its meaning. What does it mean, truly, to "be in Christ"? We talk about the delight of surrender, and the surrender of delight. We invite you to insert Jesus in every practical aspect of your life, only to find He is already there. That is true delight. Join us! GOD'S GLORY, OUR DELIGHT | THE GOSPEL SPICE SERIES Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 150 - Why does it matter to delight in God? Why does God command us to delight in Him and enjoy Him forever? Doesn't that sound like the whinings of an egotistic tyrant, an insecure bully in search of affirmation, or a boastful narcissist? Stephanie invites us to discover the deeper meaning of delighting in God, and why it actually is the most logical, reasonable, and yes, delightful thing in the world. God is not human--it means He is the ultimate standard in all things beautiful and perfect and lovely and, yes, delightful. So, when He enjoins us to delight in Him, He is really inviting us to enjoy the ultimate best in all things. Doesn't sound so egotistic after all, does it? Jesus provides the perfect example for us--to absolutely no one's surprise! He role-models a life of perfect humility and delight in God. So we're taking a good look at delight in God as revealed in the light of the knowledge of the glory of God ... in the Face of Christ Jesus! That's one of the most foundational verses that Paul ever wrote, and it is one of our guides this week. "God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ." - 2 Corinthians 4:6, NIV.   Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 149 – Curt Thompson joins Stephanie to share in the experience of delighting in the glory of God through our eponymous series. They discuss the role of beauty in our identity—its creation and our awareness of it. They discuss the importance of crushing in our lives—how beauty often needs to be pulverized in order to attain its purpose, and how spice often delivers its best flavors and fragrance when heated and crushed. They ponder the importance to taste and see that the Lord is good—how sensing precedes our making sense of what we are sensing, and the importance of the five senses in our relationship with God and with one another. They dive into the cultural nuances of our brain formation and our mind transformation. They talk about shame, and desire, and delight, and beauty Curt invites us to experience Psalm 27:4 through the lens of delight in the glory of God: One thing I ask from the Lord,     this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord     all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord     and to seek him in his temple. (NIV, Biblica) Finally, Curt invites us to “practice for heaven” and to discover what it means and how to train our hearts and minds to become ready for the indescribable beauty of delight in the glory of God for all of eternity. MEET CURT THOMPSON Curt Thompson (MD, Wright State University) is a board-certified psychiatrist and the founder of Being Known, an organization that develops resources for hope and healing at the intersection of neuroscience and Christian spiritual formation. He is also the author of The Soul of Shame, The Soul of Desire, and Anatomy of the Soul. Inspired by deep compassion for others and informed from a Christian perspective, psychiatrist Curt Thompson shares fresh insights and practical applications for developing more authentic relationships and fully experiencing our deepest longing: to be known. With a considerable dose of warmth (and surprising measure of humor), Curt weaves together an understanding of interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) and a Christian view of what it means to be human — to educate and encourage others as they seek to fulfill their intrinsic desire to feel known, valued and connected. He understands that deep, authentic relationships are essential to experiencing a healthier, more purposeful life — but the only way to realize this is to begin telling our stories more truly. Curt's unique insights about how the brain affects and processes relationships help people discover a fresh perspective and practical applications to foster healthy and vibrant lives, allowing them to get unstuck and move toward the next beautiful thing they're being called to make. Through his workshops, speaking engagements, books, organizational consulting, private clinical practice and other platforms, he helps people process their longings, grief, identity, purpose, perspective of God and perspective of humanity, inviting them to engage more authentically with their own stories and their relationships. Only then can they can feel truly known and connected and live into the meaningful reality they desire to create. Thompson is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and his main focus of clinical and research interest has been the integration of psychiatry, its associated disciplines, and Christian spiritual formation. He is actively engaged in learning and teaching as he supervises clinical employees and facilitates ongoing education groups for patients and colleagues. He also speaks frequently on the topic at workshops, conferences, and retreats. Serving as an elder at Washington Community Fellowship in Washington, DC, his duties have included preaching, teaching, and participation in the fellowship's healing prayer ministry. He and his wife, Phyllis, a licensed clinical social worker, are the parents of two children and reside in Arlington, Virginia. Website            CurtThompsonMD Podcast.          Being Known Podcast InstaGram     CurtThompsonMD Facebook      @CurtThompsonMD Twitter          @Curt_ThompsonMD BOOK: The Soul of Desire Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Or, of course, you can start at the beginning with episode 1.  Season 1: the gospel of Matthew like you've never experienced it Season 2: Experience Jesus through the Psalms Season 3: the gospel of Luke, faith in action Season 4: Proverbs spiced with wisdom Season 5: Identity in the battle | Ephesians Season 6: Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience Season 7: Shades of Red | Against human oppression Season 8: God's glory, our delight |    Support us!

Translating between languages can be tricky. Sometimes one word just can't encompass all of the nuances of meaning or one words contains the concepts of two words from another language. When translated into French from English, delight is one of these complicated words. In the French language and culture, you can't separate the idea of delight from deliciousness. This means that God is both delightful and delicious! Stephanie Rousselle joins me in this episode to talk about how to taste the spice of the Gospel and so much more.   About Stephanie Rousselle Stephanie Rousselle is the founder of Gospel Spice Ministries. Her motto is, “God's glory, our delight!” Born and raised in France, she has lived for her One over the last two decades on three continents, four countries, and five cities through six professional roles. She is a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, former women's ministry director, and strategy consultant. And she is 100% French. Stephanie thrives on Bible-centered inspirational writing and speaking, and dark chocolate. She loves sharing nuances taken from the French and English languages and cultures to experience the New Testament from the inside out. She has quoted her favorite words more times than she can count, first to herself and her children, and then also in settings as diverse as Bible studies, conferences, podcasts, and more: “There is nothing you can do for God to love you more; and there is nothing you can do for God to love you less." Her favorite verse and passion is Philippians 3:10, “For my determined purpose is to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship in His suffering.”   Read the full show notes with links here:  https://conniealbers.com/taste-the-spice-of-the-gospel-with-stephanie-rousselle/     Love this episode? Please leave us a rating/review and share this episode with a friend!   Have a question? Interested in having Connie speak? Send an email to Connie here: https://conniealbers.com/contact/ 

Episode 147 - Are you concerned your children might be addicted to digital media? How can you know proper boundaries, and how can you weather a total digital detox without losing your mind in the process? How can you restore your children to the fullness of childhood--games and puzzles and twigs and fireflies and hide-and-seek--without losing sanity in the process? Molly DeFrank joins Stephanie for this special Mother's Day episode to talk about just that. And it's for dads, and grandparents, and aunts and uncles too!  Molly is currently a stay-at-home mom of six beautiful little ones, aged 2 to 11. She has experienced the stress and fatigue and mood swings and temper tantrums that inevitably accompanied the words "screen time is up!" And she has crafted, through personal experience and through coaching many families, the solution that every modern parent has been desperately wishign for: the complete guide to digital detox in two weeks. It's not easy, she says, but it is simple. And efficient. It will reclaim your family life, and will poise you to become a steward of the beautiful children the Lord has entrusted into your care.  Molly says, "As if parenthood didn't bring enough stress on its own, moms and dads in 2022 are drowning in digital distractions up to our eyeballs. And if we don't take a moment to clarify the role we want tech to play in our homes, it will continue to seep in and monopolize. It will steal the moments, days and years meant for connecting with, training and forming our kids' hearts and worldviews.  The quiet lulls, connective meals, and mellow drive times that filled our own childhoods are long gone. They've been displaced by digital entertainment. Parents are having fewer conversations with their kids, whose beautiful saucer-eyes now staring at tablets instead of their loving caregiver." She says, "I know because I shrugged off the nudges for years before I finally said “no more.” And as soon as we detoxed our own kids, everything changed. Since then, I've coached several families through their own digital detox journeys. Every single one witnessed transformation. Every single family's results exceeded their expectations." With her trademark sense of humor, this California mom adds, "A LOT of people call me mom. I spaced my kids so close together that the hospital's labor and delivery department gave me a punch card for a free sandwich.  Then we also added several darlings via foster care—some for a day, some forever. We've parented lots of kids from all backgrounds. We've navigated kids through therapy, broken limbs, recovering from abuse. We've housed kids between juvenile hall stays. We've overseen autism therapy and high-honors students...." So, join Molly and Stephanie this week on the show--we promise you will leave with fresh hope and a renewed sense that you can take charge of your children's screen time with simplicity. MEET MOLLY DEFRANK: "In early parenthood, I was certain about many things. Like how I would never homeschool, listen to Kids Bop, or drive a minivan. A decade-plus later, I have blasted Kids Bop while driving my children to the homeschool coop—in my minivan. God lovingly used motherhood to show me the end of my rope, and how deeply I need strength outside of myself. Parenting is life's best lesson in humility. And for especially thick heads like mine, God gives you many children in quick succession, then a few bonus kids for good measure.  I enjoy black coffee strong enough to power a small jet, reading instead of cleaning, time spent across a table with friends, and eating any food that's prepared impeccably. I'm also a recovering vegetarian. Send help, send tofu, drop me a line here on Facebook or Instagram. "  https://mollydefrank.com/ Facebook: Molly DeFrank Instagram: @mollydefrank BUY DIGITAL DETOX: Book: Digital Detox: The Two-Week Tech Reset for Kids DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Or, of course, you can start at the beginning with episode 1.  Season 1: the gospel of Matthew like you've never experienced it Season 2: Experience Jesus through the Psalms Season 3: the gospel of Luke, faith in action Season 4: Proverbs spiced with wisdom Season 5: Identity in the battle | Ephesians Season 6: Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience Season 7: Shades of Red | Against human oppression Season 8: God's glory, our delight |    Support us!

Episode 146 - We are so excited to welcome you to our new series, God's Glory, Our Delight. Taking delight in God: Nothing could be more important, and nothing could be more practical today. Can we be totally honest here? This is Stephanie's favorite series to date, because it is her own personal life motto! We kick off the series with an episode that transitions us from Easter into this new season of deeper intimacy with God. You are invited to experience the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus today! Today Stephanie has invited a long-time friend who shaped her own theology of glory and of the cross of Jesus Christ when she was a young believer. Pastor John Lambert tells us about the places where he has encountered the glory of God in Scripture, and humbly invites us on a journey to do the same. What is human glory? What is divine glory? Who is Jesus Christ when it comes to God's glory? Most importantly, how does Easter and the crucifixion manifest the glory of God in most unexpected and most moving ways? Jesus's Passion (His suffering) and His death are seen as the supreme showcase of His glory. How can this be?  How can glory come from such horror and excruciating suffering? Jesus closed the gap between our sin and God's righteousness. Because of this, Jesus's complete innocence was given to us. John invites us to ponder glory emanating from creation is illusive, momentary, diluted and falls short of the glory of God. What times in your life have you experienced this momentary, fleeting glory? How long did it satisfy you? Did it make you want to keep seeking it??  If this type of glory never brings complete satisfaction why do we keep seeking it? Delighting in the glory of God. Does this concept strike you as reserved for spiritual contemplatives? What if, instead, it proved the highly practical, deeply foundational perspective you need right now? Why does God's glory even matter in our day and age? How can we learn from Jesus to make His glory our true North and lifelong quest? What keeps us from fully stepping into this God-ordained purpose for our life? How do we kindle delight for God on a daily basis? And, once we have embraced God's glory as our heart's true delight, how can we then come alongside others? Join us to cultivate a sincere delight for God's glory, rooted in an honest, hard look at the depth of our need, and in the much deeper Reality of His grace. Trace the glory of God through Scripture and in your own life. Behold the exact radiance of God's glory, revealed in Jesus. Learn to see yourself as Christ does—through the lens of the Father's love at the cross. Jesus offers to overwhelm our deadly self-centeredness with His resurrection power. He carries us every step of the way, even as He calls us to true humility on the path to glory. Who has time to cultivate the delight that comes from pondering the glory of God? And yet, nothing could be more urgent today. Marthas and Marys, Peters and Johns—we are all invited to dare to dream of a lifestyle of God-centered delight. Nothing could be more practical. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Os Guinness is back for this special Easter 2022 episode on the meaning of life. We discuss our role in seeking God, and His role in finding us! Os says, "Without God, we cannot know God; and we know God only when we meet Him." This Easter, we invite you to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the season, and to ask yourself if you are living the fullness of the life God has for you. We also invite you to invite others to ask themselves this essential question! Os tells us that questions can have "a subversive, even revolutionary potential." He talks about the power of personal experience in our journey to find God. In a nutshell, he invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good! As Os says, "coming to know God is coming home." Os shares his latest book, The Great Quest, a most useful little jewel of a book to share the meaning of life with those who are seeking to live a life worth living: What is life all about? What are we here for? Is there any meaning or purpose to our existence? Thinkers throughout the centuries have pondered these questions. While the distractions of the modern world prevent many from grappling seriously with such matters, the truth is that humans cannot live without meaning any more than we can live without breathing or eating. The Great Quest is also perfect for Christians who seek to take their relationship with God to the next level (that would be all of us!) through reason and experience both. Os says, "faith in God is a step taken in the light of reason, and it may certainly be a step taken with deep emotions." Os tells us what keeps people from thinking about the examined life. What questions do we need to be asking? Where do we find answers? How do we go about exploring the answers that seem potentially legitimate? How does the Christian faith illuminate our quest in ways that no other worldview does? What does Easter mean in all of it? How does it provide the most --the only--adequate answer to our deepest longings? Why is truth more relevant than ever, in our postmodern, post-truth culture? ABOUT "THE GREAT QUEST" "The unexamined life is not worth living." —Socrates Os Guinness invites us to examine our lives and join the great quest for meaning and a life well lived. For those who are up to Socrates' challenge, it is a search that is indispensable to making the most of life. Guinness charts the course of the thinking person's journey toward faith and meaning, calling for a firm grasp of reason, an honest awareness of conscience, and a living sense of wonder. He affirms that there is a time for questions, and that following those questions can indeed lead us to answers, evidence, and commitment. When life becomes a question, the search is on for an answer. Come find yourself on a sure path to meaning. ABOUT OS GUINNESS Os Guinness (DPhil, Oxford) is the author or editor of more than thirty-five books, including The Dust of Death, The Call, Fool's Talk, Carpe Diem Redeemed, The Magna Carta of Humanity, Last Call for Liberty, Impossible People, Unspeakable, and Time for Truth. He is the founder of the Trinity Forum, a prominent social critic, and a frequent speaker who has addressed audiences worldwide. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 143 – Jasmine Holmes joins us for an inspiring conversation about 10 seemingly unknown Black women who changed their communities when they were alive in the 18th and 19th centuries, and whose legacy can still be felt today. Regardless of our gender, our color, our age, our culture or even where we live in the world, we can all learn much from each of these 10 heroes. Jasmine says: “Black women are made in the image of God carved in ebony. This book is an unapologetic rejoicing in the fact that God chose to make each woman profiled in this book both Black and female for His glory. And it was good.” These heroes of the faith might have been largely forgotten until today, but Jasmine underwent thorough research to bring them back into the limelight to inspire us. In her book “Carved in Ebony” Jasmine invites us on a journey of discovery to transform us spiritually and challenge us to be forces for good and for change in our communities. Through the research and reflections of author Jasmine Holmes, you will be inspired by what each of these exceptional women can teach us about the intersections of faith and education, birth, privilege, opportunity, and so much more. Carved in Ebony will take you past the predominantly white, male contributions that seemingly dominate history books and church history to discover how Black women have been some of the main figures in defining the landscape of American history and faith. LEARN ABOUT BLACK WOMEN WHO SERVED GOD IN EXTRAORDINARY WAYS: ELIZABETH FREEMAN - NANNIE HELEN BURROUGHS - MARIA FEARING- CHARLOTTE FORTEN GRIMKÉ - SARAH MAPPS DOUGLASS - SARA GRIFFITH STANLEY - AMANDA BERRY SMITH - LUCY CRAFT LANEY - MARIA STEWART - FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER. These names may not be familiar, but each one of these women was a shining beacon of devotion in a world that did not value their lives. MEET JASMINE HOLMES Jasmine says of herself, I'm a pastor's kid. In the parable of the prodigal son, I'm definitely the do-good “older brother” who used to think she had everything under control. Throughout my twenty-year walk with the Lord, I've been reminded time and again of my need for Christ — through miscarriage, through post-partum depression, through two cross-country moves in two years. The focus of my writing and speaking is identity. I understand what it is like to endure an identity crisis. For most of my life, I've wrestled with pretending to have a neat and tidy checklist of how I'm supposed to present myself to the world. I'm beginning to understand that my security can't come from the external checklist or the opinions of others; it has to be found in the finished work of Jesus Christ, who is equipped to handle the messiness I tried to hide. https://jasminelholmes.com/ https://carvedinebonybook.com/#bonuses https://www.facebook.com/jasmine.baucham https://www.instagram.com/jasminelholmes/ Jasmine L. Holmes is the author of Mother to Son: Letters to a Black Boy on Identity and Hope. She is also a contributing author for Identity Theft: Reclaiming the Truth of Our Identity in Christ and His Testimonies and My Heritage: Women of Color on the Word of God. She and her husband, Phillip, are parenting three young sons. They attend Redeemer Church, PCA in Jackson, Mississippi. SHADES OF RED is a new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 141 - Stephanie is joined by 3 friends to explore a cross-cultural conversation around racial dialogue. Around a cup of virtual coffee, Angel, Beth and Lindsay answer some key questions and invite YOU to step up to initiate your own conversations towards racial reconciliation: - What has been your personal experience, or a meaningful encounter, with the idea of racial difference? - What does it take for conversations about differences to even be possible or be considered? - What is your reaction to how you are seeing the church in general handle this conversation? How about the idea of hoping the system can change? - If the church and the system are not stepping up to the task, then it is even more obvious that it is our role, on a personal level, to role-model these conversations. So, how do we develop trust and safety to create the context for them to happen? We hope this conversation will invite church-going believers to engage meaningfully with others who are different from them. We want to communicate that creating an atmosphere and foundation of trust is necessary for any meaningful conversation to start happening, and then for ever-deeper conversations to keep happening. This episode is a joint gift by the Gospel Spice team as a whole. It is an integral element of our Shades of Red series because we hope this conversation is an example of mature conversation between deep friends. We hope to stress that it is not the starting point of a relationship, nor the listener's goal as a starting point. It is more like an end goal to keep in sight: the goal to get to a place where you too can have those conversations, and feel ok if they still feel awkward. Because they will! Communication is a dance that helps us find out how far you can take the conversation. Some key tips from this episode: -        A commitment to racial dialogue is a series of small steps, a long obedience in the same direction. -        Gauge the relationship at every step to decide if it is time to take it deeper, or best to let it cruise a bit. -      As with dancing, we want to be ok to say you stepped on my toes, be ok to acknowledge and apologize, be ok to keep dancing and creating beauty together, even of not perfectly. -        The importance of the music when you dance: being in tune together Jesus role-models hard conversations and sets the tone for us: He is singing reconciliation over us, and invites us to dance to His music. How will YOU respond to His calling today? SHADES OF RED is a new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 140 - Today we get practical. Stephanie gives us 4 clear steps that we can all take, and that we can trust will make a difference. They are the four I's: - Information - Intercession - Involvement - Influence. This is not just a cute mnemonic decvice; it is deeply rooted in Scripture and practical application. How can you keep on being INFORMED? How can you then move to heartfelt INTERCESSION? This will lead you to want to get INVOLVED, and we look at what it can look like. Finally, all this will necessarily lead you to want to INFLUENCE others and lead them to become informed, intercessors, and involved as influencers. There is so much packed into those four little I's. And the best part? We get to co-partner with God who is our Lord, Guide, Source, and Inspiration. His glory, our delight! (By the way... "God's Glory, Our Delight" is such a key concept, that it is the title and content of our NEXT GospelSpice series, starting soon! It's a huge deal here for us at GospelSpice because "God's Glory, our Delight" is the personal motto of our founder Stephanie Rousselle. Stay tuned for more info and to signup for free for this new in-depth God-soaked study!) SHADES OF RED is a new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 138 - in Shades of Red, our series on the consequences of sin on human relationships, Stephanie now takes a moment to ponder Paul's words to his dear friend Philemon. In this short letter, tucked towards the end of your Bible, many have found discomfort and controversy because Paul does not seem to openly reject the then-common institution of slavery. Does it mean that Paul condoned slavery? What does the Bible teach about this infamous practice? How can we reconcile what we think we read there, with our modern sensibilities?  Could it be that Paul actually commanded Philemon to free his slave? Might we just need cultural eyes to read what Philemon read between the lines? Can we conclude with confidence that Paul rejected slavery in all its forms, even as he called himself a slave to Jesus Christ? This is the case we are making with this episode. Stephanie and GospelSpice team members are convinced that Paul utterly ordered Philemon to free Onesimus--albeit in culturally sensitive terms that our own 21st century Western culture does not have eyes to see. Slavery is an extreme form of human trafficking, clearly condemned by Scripture. You've probably heard that slavery back then was different from what we moderns think of--1619 and African slave ships. But even so, does it mean that Paul condoned THAT ancient form of slavery? how can that be right? what does the Bible teach about slavery, both in ancient times, and today? Slavery is an extreme form of oppression and trafficking, and a sin against God because we are all created in His image, male and female, Shades of Red, Adama-humans. We believe God rejects all forms of oppression, including slavery in all its forms. He calls us to surrender to Him alone, and to encourage one another to live in freedom under His perfect Lordship. This is an uncomfortable topic for many. Stephanie did much research, and sought the approval of several friends, on her team and outside her team here at GospelSpice before publishing this content. But it does not make this topic an easy one. So, take a listen. And then let us know what you think! We would love to hear from you.   SHADES OF RED is a new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 137 - Stephanie invites us to ponder the upside-down Kingdom of God that Jesus heralded. We talk about hell, about the enemy opf our soul and his strategies to take us down with him. We mostly focus on the supremacy of our Lord, King and Savior. No wonder Jesus talks about heaven and hell more than anyone else in Scripture. He is cupping our face in His hands and gently redirecting our gaze to our heavenly Father, who awaits to restore us to fellowship with Him and with one another—male ‘kai' female. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil and to unravel the threads of lies he has woven in our relationships and identity. Jesus restores our relationship to God, to one another, and to ourselves by losing His relationship to the Father, by dying alone, and by becoming sin in our stead so that we might become the righteousness of God as the very core of our identity (2Corinthians 5:21). When death became inevitable, He embraced the most despicable torture ever invented, so shameful it made His followers run away. Though He remained sinless after a lifetime of adama-dwelling, He agreed to swap places with us, adama for adama, and, in agreement with His Father since before the foundation of time, endured the ultimate torture: he became so intimately experientially knowledgeable about evil, that He experienced the separation from the Father that should have been ours at the base of our own tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the upside-down Kingdom of God, the first will be last, and the last will be first. Weakness is strength, and pride comes before a fall. The poor in spirit will inherit the Kingdom of God. Blessed are the persecuted. These are the new laws of gravity in the Kingdom of God—so different from the ones in the fallen spiritual realm. Jesus gave us the spiritual laws of His Kingdom in what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. His Kingdom is not about equality and rights, or authority and leadership. It is about unity and love as God uses each one of us to build the Kingdom of God on adama-ground today—the adama-ground of our hearts, both personally and as the body of believers, as well as the adama-ground of all humanity, believers and unbelievers alike. We are all shades of red, and Christ died for all who call on Him to be saved. We are called to serve a world in dire need because we share with Christ our adama-flesh. The poor around us are many. Many are the worthy causes in our day. For more on this topic, join our guest teacher for a thorough look at the upside-down Kingdom Jesus invites us to join, with our special Gospel Spice teacher, Roslyn. Become a member today for free to access her teaching, along with all the other, member-exclusive lessons that take you deeper into the Gospel Spice experience of Shades of Red.   SHADES OF RED is a new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 136 - Pastor Jamal Johnson of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago joins Stephanie for a candid, heartfelt conversation about building a legacy under the great I AM. They discuss the current issues facing the American church in terms of conflict, division, and all things that work against the unity of the Body of Christ. So, when Pastor Jamal interprets Psalm 88 in light of the Negro Spirituals, it a beautiful immersion into the deep theology and vibrant faith that carried his ancestors through the dark days of American history, all the way to today. They also discuss the beauty and challenges of raising the next generation to delight in God, as well as the scars and pitfalls of parenting. Pastor Jamal challenges us with the timely question of what we will do with what has been entrusted to us, both from the past and towards the future.  From heartache to hope, Stephanie was brought to tears a couple of times, and you just might be, too. Pastor Jamal has a huge heart for his family, his community, all his brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the world. His passion to "brag about his Lord" as he says, is beautifully contagious. As they discuss the various dimensions of pandemic, you will discover that the best one is the one we are called to - to love one another so the world will know that we are Christ's disciples.  Pastor Jamal Johnson holds a Bachelor's of Science in Legal Studies and a Masters of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.  He serves as the Assistant  Pastor at the iconic & historic Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago's Bronzeville community. In 2020 he joined the North American Advocate team for Biblica's Reach4Life Discipleship ministry along with Matt & Danielle Forte. Pastor Jamal currently resides on the southside of Chicago with his beautiful wife Rheanna and their four fantastic children (Nasir, Na'ilah, Na'imah, Nuriyah).    SHADES OF RED is a brand new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Episode 134 - Stephanie invites us to ponder what she calls "the spiritual law of gravity. It is quite simple, really. We all know not to break the physical law of gravity. It has its commandments. A smattering: -          Do not jump off a high building. -          Do not go into the deep if you don't know how to swim. -          Do not drop heavy rocks on your head. Laws of gravity. We know any one of these would be enough to kill us; it does not take all of these together. Breaking one is enough to kill our body. Moreover, none of us has ever challenged the laws of gravity. We don't vote on them. We don't approve or reject them. We don't see them as optional preferences. We don't think they have to do with personal choice. We accept them as facts of life. So much so, that we lovingly teach them to our children. Not to do so, would be parental neglect. And so it is with the spiritual law of gravity. You don't need to break all of its ten commandments to kill yourself spiritually. Only one is enough. A smattering? -          Do not murder. -          Do not commit adultery. -          Do not steal. -          Do not lie. -          Do not envy. When Jesus says that anger is murder, He is essentially saying that it does not take a 100-ton murder-boulder on your head to kill you; a one-pound rock of anger is plenty. It won't take jumping off a 100-story building; a 2-story can be enough. And we all know that we can drown in less than a foot of water. It doesn't take murder. Anger is enough. Murder as anger is one of the laws of spiritual gravity. Just ask Cain and Abel. For more on this topic, join our guest teacher for a thorough look at what the spiritual law of gravity means for us humans, with our special Gospel Spice teacher, Lindsay. Become a member today for free to access her teaching, along with all the other, member-exclusive lessons that take you deeper into the Gospel Spice experience of Shades of Red. SHADES OF RED is a brand new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family. PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our minimal operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. (*ListenNotes ranking, 2022) Support us!

Christian communicators should strive for God's glory in their writing. Stephanie Rousselle talks about success, competition, and spiritual habits writers need to hear. Stéphanie is the founder of Gospel Spice Ministries and the host of the Gospel Spice Podcast. Her personal motto is, “God's glory, our delight!” Born and raised in France, she has lived, for her One Lord over the last two decades-- on three continents, four countries, and five cities through six professional roles. This 100% French native is a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, former women's ministry director, and strategy consultant. Stephanie loves sharing nuances taken from the French and English languages and cultures to experience Scripture from the inside out. Linda Goldfarb and Stephanie discuss the power writers have when they experience God's glory in their lives and in their profession.  Stephanie compares experiencing delight in the glory of  God to a French croissant, it's fabulous. They talk about true success, how we are a collective not competitors, how writers are not to hustle but to be actively still, while developing habits of grace .LINKSStephanie Rousselle  Stephanie's Free Resources   Inspire Christian Writers Conference        Enjoy our content? Support this podcast Visit Your Best Writing Life website Your Best Writing Life PodcastJoin fellow writers in our Facebook group, Your Best Writing LifeVisit the website of our host, Linda GoldfarbAbout your host - Linda GoldfarbBesides hosting Your Best Writing Life, Linda Goldfarb is a multi-published award-winning author, audiobook narrator, international speaker, board-certified Christian life coach, and the co-owner, co-founder of the LINKED® Personality System, and co-author of the LINKED® Quick Guide to Personality series. Linda and her hubby, Sam are empty nesters leading full lives. With four adult children and grandbaby #15 on the way– life is a new adventure every day. She loves sipping frothed coffee with friends, traveling the countryside with Sam, and sharing transparent truth to help others take their next best step-- personally and professionally.          

Episode 131 - Stephanie welcomes you in our brand new series, Shades of Red. What does it mean to be human? We go back to the garden of Eden to uncover God's purpose in creating Adam and Eve, and you and me.  SHADES OF RED is a brand new original series by GospelSpice Ministries. We ponder humanity as loved, created, fallen and, in Christ, redeemed. SHADES OF RED brings you a simple theological perspective to understand the consequences of the curse of sin on humanity, followed by a practical approach to step up against the evils of our day, rooted in unity between man and woman. Weaving real-life Bible stories, this series will help you get informed, keep interceding, get involved, and keep influencing our generation. We will also occasionally welcome special guests who share our passion to fight against oppression in all its forms, for example through the fight against human trafficking, or through racial reconciliation, and more. BECOME A GOSPELSPICE MEMBER TODAY! Have you noticed our brand new website? It offers FREE MEMBERSHIP that gives you access to ALL -- we do mean ALL -- the GospelSpice content we have created for you since our inception in 2019! FULL studies, including - our most in-depth, CENTERING ON CHRIST: THE TABERNACLE - our most popular to date, IDENTITY IN THE BATTLE - daily wisdom through PROVERBS - and more! Membership gives you access to all sorts of members-only bonus content, such as workbooks, listening guides, questions to go deeper in your GospelSpice experience, quiet time and group study, as well as Bible references and more. We are also committed to keep on adding new content, so there will always be fresh spices here to experience the fullness of life with Christ! Signup for free at gospelspice.com to become a member for FREE and enjoy all these resources. BONUS BLOG GIFT! Our very own GospelSpice team member, Beth, wrote a beautiful poem which you will best enjoy AFTER listening to this week's podcast episode: We are Shades of Red. ---- Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!  DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. Support us!

Episode 126 - Stephanie wrote this episode to invite you one last time to experience God in your wilderness, by centering on Christ through the Tabernacle. She invites you to walk with her in the wilderness campsite and make your way into the presence of God. It came to her after she started the series, so it is an unexpected Christmas gift! We hope it will be as special to you as it is to us! This special episode is a great way to introduce Gospel Spice and our Centering on Christ study to newcomers. It is also our final conclusion on the series. We hope you have been enjoying our special Christmas guests, and we promise we have exciting new ones coming this week! SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU!!  "A Gospel Spice Christmas" is a five-day devotional and reading plan available exclusively on YouVersion / the Bible App. Do you long for fresh spices to flavor your spiritual experience of the Incarnation of Christ? Are you tired of stale clichés that taste like microwaved Christmas dinner leftovers? Are you hungry for an explosion of fresh flavors in your Christmas devotions? Experience a Gospel Spice Christmas alongside the shepherds, and discover how to make your life a daily nativity scene where Christ can be born in ever-deepening ways. Click here or go to your YouVersion Bible App on your phone, and search "Gospel Spice." It is our gift to you! Enjoy! PAY GOSPEL SPICE FORWARD THIS CHRISTMAS. Did you know that this show is completely free because of listeners just like you who pay the show forward, so that it is free for you? We do not want to add paid advertisements because we believe that your time is precious. So, would you consider joining the Gospel Spice family by paying Gospel Spice forward? Because we are a registered non-profit organization, your donation is 100% tax-deductible (in the USA). Contact us for monthly payments, or donate by Credit Card or via PayPal. We invite you to join us to reach even more than the 125 countries we currently serve, and the thousands upon thousands who enjoy the Gospel Spice podcast. The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools brought to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. The Gospel Spice Ministries exist to inspire Christ-followers in our generation to delight in the glory of God by knowing and experiencing Jesus more intimately. We provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Donate by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal.   Support us!

Episode 125 – Today is another Special Christmas Gospel Spice gift for you! Stephanie welcomes three dear friends, each with their own message right in time for Christmas. Join us for three short conversations to make this season unique among all. From a calling to leave everything to serve God overseas and even through death, to a special Christmas experience, to a passion to honor Jesus among the least of these—allow these conversations to inspire you, and take your Christmas experience to new levels with our guests. Cindy DeBoer shares her family's story away from the typical American dream and towards embracing radical obedience. Moving overseas (twice!) and dealing with uncurable illness has shaped Cindy's faith and taught her to delight in God through the highs and lows of life. This is one story you do not want to miss—personal promise from Stephanie! Marci Renee too has moved overseas several times, and lived cross-culturally most of her life. She now lives in Spain with her family, and has unexpectedly found herself in the trenches of the fight against human trafficking as she now works with a local halfway house, restoring women whose lives have been shattered beyond description. And yes, this is a Christmas story—about redemption for the least of these. We can relate. You will not be the same after you hear Marci—another promise from Stephanie. Finally, Christine Trimpe joins us to tell us about her discovery of the deeper meaning of Christmas—joy! Embrace her quest to seek and find joy in the gospel of Luke, the perfect Advent gift this season. Stephanie loves Christine's contagious joy and her desire to share her passion with all those she encounters. Scroll below for all the ways to connect with these precious ambassadors of Jesus, this Christmas season and beyond! SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU!!  "A Gospel Spice Christmas" is a five-day devotional and reading plan available exclusively on YouVersion / the Bible App. Do you long for fresh spices to flavor your spiritual experience of the Incarnation of Christ? Are you tired of stale clichés that taste like microwaved Christmas dinner leftovers? Are you hungry for an explosion of fresh flavors in your Christmas devotions? Experience a Gospel Spice Christmas alongside the shepherds, and discover how to make your life a daily nativity scene where Christ can be born in ever-deepening ways. Click here or go to your YouVersion Bible App on your phone, and search "Gospel Spice." It is our gift to you! Enjoy! CONNECT WITH OUR GUESTS Cindy DeBoer Website: https://cindydeboer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.deboer.79 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cindydeboerwrites/ Marci Renee Website : https://culturalstoryweaver.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/culturalstoryweaver Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/culturalstoryweaver/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/culturalstory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-cultural-story-weaver/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/culturalstoryweaver/ Christine Trimpe To order Christine's book: Seeking Joy through the Gospel of Luke (https://christinetrimpe.com/joy) Bonus Chapters of Seeking Joy––an early Christmas gift for you: Seeking Joy BONUS Chapters--an early Christmas gift! (https://christinetrimpe.com/seeking-joy-bonus-chapters) Contact email: Christine@christinetrimpe.com   Website: www.christinetrimpe.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristineTrimpeLLC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachchristinetrimpe/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KetoChristineMI YouTube: @ChristineTrimpe https://youtube.com/christinetrimpe Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/joyfulketolife/ PAY GOSPEL SPICE FORWARD THIS CHRISTMAS. Did you know that this show is completely free because of listeners just like you who pay the show forward, so that it is free for you? We do not want to add paid advertisements because we believe that your time is precious. So, would you consider joining the Gospel Spice family by paying Gospel Spice forward? Because we are a registered non-profit organization, your donation is 100% tax-deductible (in the USA). Contact us for monthly payments, or donate by Credit Card or via PayPal. We invite you to join us to reach even more than the 125 countries we currently serve, and the thousands upon thousands who enjoy the Gospel Spice podcast. The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools brought to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. The Gospel Spice Ministries exist to inspire Christ-followers in our generation to delight in the glory of God by knowing and experiencing Jesus more intimately. We provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Donate by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal. Support us!

Episode 124 – Gospel Spice welcomes Mercy House Global and its founder, Kristen Welch. Stephanie has been a fan of Mercy House Global for some time, because of its unique purpose to provide dignified jobs to women out of sex trafficking in Kenya, and to survivors of human trafficking all over the world—locally, in Houston, and globally, in over 40 locations. As Christmas approaches, we Western consumers have the choice to buy responsibly, and to honor God with how we purchase our gifts this season. Think about where your purchases come from; could they come from a sweat shop, where children or women labor for unsustainable wages? Did you know that some children are forced to harvest the cocoa beans that will be used to fill our stockings this season? Did you know that some women are physically chained to their sowing machines to create the cheap stockings that we will purchase to put that chocolate in? How can you be sure that your purchase does not condone modern slavery, but God-honoring practices? Buying fair-trade from reputable Christian organizations is an easy way to spend our money wisely. It is more expensive, for sure. But buying smaller items made with ethical, Christ-centered purpose is preferable to buying bigger, labor-trafficked goods. How about being good stewards of what God has entrusted to us? We want to be able to say, at the end of a phase of our lives, that we have been faithful. What does it look like, and how can we take steps to ensure we will be able to say this, when God brings a phase of our lives to a close, and ushers us into a new phase of life? This is the conversation today on the Gospel Spice podcast with Kristen Welch. It's not easy to hear; but what about being purposeful towards doing the most good this Christmas? Now is our chance to honor the birth of our Savior through our purchases. Join us this season to experience a labor trafficking-free Christmas, and to support organizations who help women out of sex trafficking too. Go to https://mercyhouseglobal.org/ for more info, and specifically to https://shop.mercyhouseglobal.org/ for shopping ideas. If you want to find out more about sex trafficking, we recommend our Gospel Spice interview with Rebecca Bender, available here (Episode 111, dated September 20, 2021): https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/episode/what-can-i-do-today-to-fight-human-trafficking-a-practical-conversation-with-rebecca-bender-89449/ SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU!!  "A Gospel Spice Christmas" is a five-day devotional and reading plan available exclusively on YouVersion / the Bible App. Do you long for fresh spices to flavor your spiritual experience of the Incarnation of Christ? Are you tired of stale clichés that taste like microwaved Christmas dinner leftovers? Are you hungry for an explosion of fresh flavors in your Christmas devotions? Experience a Gospel Spice Christmas alongside the shepherds, and discover how to make your life a daily nativity scene where Christ can be born in ever-deepening ways. Click here or go to your YouVersion Bible App on your phone, and search "Gospel Spice." It is our gift to you! Enjoy! PAY GOSPEL SPICE FORWARD THIS CHRISTMAS. Did you know that this show is completely free because of listeners just like you who pay the show forward, so that it is free for you? We do not want to add paid advertisements because we believe that your time is precious. So, would you consider joining the Gospel Spice family by paying Gospel Spice forward? Because we are a registered non-profit organization, your donation is 100% tax-deductible (in the USA). Contact us for monthly payments, or donate by Credit Card or via PayPal. We invite you to join us to reach even more than the 125 countries we currently serve, and the thousands upon thousands who enjoy the Gospel Spice podcast. The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools brought to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. The Gospel Spice Ministries exist to inspire Christ-followers in our generation to delight in the glory of God by knowing and experiencing Jesus more intimately. We provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Donate by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal. Support us!

In today's episode, I interviewed Stephanie Rousselle who is a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, and founder of Gospel Spice Ministries. This interview is emotional, beautiful, poignant, and relevant. Listen in and ask God what he desires to show you today.

In today's episode, I interviewed Stephanie Rousselle who is a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, and founder of Gospel Spice Ministries. This interview is emotional, beautiful, poignant, and relevant. Listen in and ask God what he desires to show you today.

Episode 124 - Today is our last day in our Tabernacle series, as we get ready to celebrate Christmas in our upcoming season. What better way to prepare for the Incarnate Christ, than to behold one last time the symbolism of the Tabernacle for the incarnation? So we retrace our steps all the way back from Eden, shedding yet another perspective on the essential nature of our understanding of God's tabernacle for us today as believers. We also take time to tie in loose ends, which point to our Lord gloriously: where is the Ark of the covenant today? What will happen in the future, according to Bible prophecy? Stephanie takes us on a highly experiential episode by highlighting key texts from the Book of Hebrews, and their significance for the Tabernacle today. In a nutshell? The essence of being “IN Christ” and Christ being “IN” us. More details about this final episode in our series: It began as a garden, that became a forbidden place. It was a dwelling place, not a tent. The tent began as just a tent, the dwelling-place of Abraham … It was our first lesson, 8 weeks ago. First came the Tabernacle, a tent whose architect was God, but whose builder was Moses; it was a copy of the future, heavenly tabernacle that would come down from heaven to be the true dwelling place of God with Man, and Man with God. His Name would be Jesus. That first tabernacle, it was a tent within a tent, separated by a veil, a veil which protected God's people from the nuclear-blast strength of His glory. The Tabernacle traveled and traveled, leading Israel into the promised Land. It finally settled in Jerusalem, and became the Temple. Then, “the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us”; God, in the person of Jesus, dwelt with his people, and died for them. The true Tabernacle had revealed His glory. God now dwells among his people through his Holy Spirit. We, individually and corporately as the universal church, are the Tabernacle and the Temple. Jesus was our forerunner, the “firstborn from the dead” (Col 1.18). We are the next ones after the FIRST born. The human body is a tent, the Tabernacle, or Temple, of the Holy Spirit during life, but soon to be taken down, and replaced, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” (2 Cor 5.1). That's where we are today. So, what's next? Revelation takes us up to heaven, God's people dwelling with him in glory. There is no veil, no separation. Revelation does not end with man going up to heaven to live forever with God. It ends with God coming down from heaven to live with man – in a tent which is now a great city. From the garden to the city that contains a garden – that's Revelation 21. That glorious heavenly Jerusalem, united with the New heaven and the New Earth, is glorious for many reasons; the most astounding is that God Himself dwells there—and therefore, this is the very definition of heaven. One thing is conspicuously absent from the new Jerusalem. There is no temple, no tabernacle. John did not see a temple in the city, “for the Lord God almighty is its temple, and the Lamb” (Rev 21.22). This city is not a building, and the church is not a building. The new Jerusalem is not, essentially, a city but the church, the people of God with whom he has always wanted to dwell. The Bible ends with the glorious promise that God will come again to dwell with His people forever—at a much more glorious level than anything we have ever experienced even in our most intense moments of intimacy through the Holy Spirit. Can you imagine what awaits you, because you are IN Christ and He is IN you? ---- About this study: Through the Tabernacle, taste and see that the Lord is good! This might be the most in-depth series yet to release on the Gospel Spice podcast. Yet, its mix of storytelling and insightful illustrations makes it easy-to-understand, approachable, and relatable. As with everything Gospel Spice, it is completely Christ-soaked. ---- If you want to dig deeper, we offer a FREE resource: a 50+ page guidebook available only for those who register for free at gospelspice.com/tabernacle. It will guide you through the podcast series by providing daily readings and activities around your personal time with God this season. Get yours today! ---- Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! ------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------ The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Support us!

In my Thanksgiving Episode, I interview special guest, Stephanie Rousselle. Stephanie is the Founder of Gospel Spice Ministries and the talented host of the Gospel Spice Podcast.  She was born and raised in France and has served the Lord over the last 2 decades on 3 continent's, 4 countries and 5 cities through professional roles.  In our authentic conversation, Stephanie shares her “From Atheism to Biblical Christianity” God Story!  As Stephanie grew up fiercely atheist, she is passionate to inspire other Christians to delight in God and she shares that passion in our conversation, too.   I also share words of gratitude to others who have supported this podcast and Altered Stories Ministry.   Enjoy listening to this inspiring and Gospel focused Episode!

Episode 120 -  Last week we reverently stepped into the Holy Place. Today—today is the most hallowed day in the Jewish calendar, symbolically for us. This is the day we clothe ourselves fully in the righteousness of our Great Hight Priest, Jesus our Messiah, so we can enter with Him, through Him and In Him into the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was the single most sanctified spot on planet earth—the very place where God established His residence among men. So we take out time today to experience the fullness of the import of this moment. We ponder the meaning of holiness, and of glory. We behold our insignificance, yet our utmost significance in Christ. We bow down, we worship, and we adore. The Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy seat reveal their symbolism to us today in Christ Jesus our eternal Great High Priest. He is today interceding for you from the very Throne Room of heaven. Enter boldly under His Name. Experience the power of intimacy and fellowship. About this study: Through the Tabernacle, taste and see that the Lord is good! This might be the most in-depth series yet to release on the Gospel Spice podcast. Yet, its mix of storytelling and insightful illustrations makes it easy-to-understand, approachable, and relatable. As with everything Gospel Spice, it is completely Christ-soaked. ---- If you want to dig deeper, we offer a FREE resource: a 50+ page guidebook available only for those who register for free at gospelspice.com/tabernacle. It will guide you through the podcast series by providing daily readings and activities around your personal time with God this season. Get yours today! ---- Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! ------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------ The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Support us!

Episode 119 -  Today. Today! Today, we are going in. This is the day we have been building up to, ever since we entered our Centering on Christ: The Tabernacle podcast series here at Gospel Spice. Literally thousands have joined us from all over the world. And today--today, we are entering the Holy Place. In the first half of our series so far, we've entered the outer court of the Tabernacle, separated from the people, set apart for an encounter with God. We have sacrificed at the bronze altar, experiencing the cleansing of the Cross at salvation, where Christ died for us. We have washed at the washbasin through baptism and a life of sanctification, because we have embraced our identity as fully set apart for Him, His royal priesthood. We took time so that we would grasp the weight of the privilege that is ours. And now, it all comes down to this moment: we are faced with the invitation to proceed into the presence of God and enter the holy place. We have learned that only the priesthood was allowed into that hallowed space. In Christ, we are His royal priesthood, acquired at the great cost of His very life. And today—now—is the time we reverently step in. Holy hush. Reverent awe. Behold your God. ---- Through the Tabernacle, taste and see that the Lord is good! This might be the most in-depth series yet to release on the Gospel Spice podcast. Yet, its mix of storytelling and insightful illustrations makes it easy-to-understand, approachable, and relatable. As with everything Gospel Spice, it is completely Christ-soaked. If you want to dig deeper, we offer a FREE resource: a 50+ page guidebook available only for those who register for free at gospelspice.com/tabernacle. It will guide you through the podcast series by providing daily readings and activities around your personal time with God this season. Get yours today! ---- Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! ------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------ The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Support us!

Episode 118 – How do we hold on when we want to let go? How do we persevere with God when we are about to give up? How do we answer our WHY questions? How does our trauma inform and shape our faith? How can we know that God is trustworthy in the midst of trauma, crisis and disaster? Stephanie welcomes international speaker, bestselling author and fellow Bible geek Sheila Walsh. From Scotland, Sheila is an author, Bible teacher and television host. She has spoken around the world to over 6 million people and reaches a potential 100 million daily as co-host of the Life Today television program. Sheila loves to make the Bible practical, sharing how God met her at her lowest point and helped her to rise up again. Her message? God is faithful and He is holding you! Sheila's books have sold over 5.5 million copies including multiple bestsellers “It's Okay Not To Be Okay” and her new book “Holding On When You Want To Let Go.” This latest book is the focus of our episode today. Sheila vulnerably shares the traumatic events of her childhood, the loneliness, anxiety, and depression that still creep into her life, how the coronavirus pandemic magnified and exacerbated her struggles, and the source of the hope that keeps her holding on each and every day. “I am still learning how to be healed and whole,” says Sheila Walsh. “God is still writing my story. He is writing yours too. The pieces are not lost. You are not forgotten, overlooked, pushed aside. Your story is simply not finished yet. We all wish that we were able to be the perfect parents, partners, friends, to never bruise another soul, but we are flawed and that's why each one of us needs a Father.” In an effort to connect with the millions worldwide who are hurting struggling with mental health and pain from their past, Sheila honestly shares the issues that plague her, the promises and miracles she clings to, and the practical strategies and steps and that have helped sustain her on her journey to keep holding on. For those having a hard time hanging on, Sheila offers a lifeline of hope. With great compassion born of experience and hardship, she comes alongside the hurting, fearful, and exhausted to remind them that no matter how insurmountable their struggles may feel, hope and love are freely available from the God who writes their story. Sharing from her own pain and digging deep into biblical stories of rescue, hope, and miracles, she gives readers the strength to keep going, to keep holding on to God in a world turned upside down. “I don't know what the missing pieces in your story are. I don't know the circumstances you find yourself in right now or why you might feel as if you are just clinging to hope by a thin thread. But I do know this. You are not alone. You are not abandoned. You are seen. You are loved. You are believed. You are forgiven. You are free. Hold on to God with everything that's in you and on the days when you feel yourself slipping, remember you are being held.” CONNECT WITH SHEILA Buy “Holding on when you want to let go”: https://sheilawalsh.com/holdingon/ https://sheilawalsh.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sheilawalshconnects https://www.instagram.com/sheilawalsh1/ https://twitter.com/SheilaWalsh IF YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, YOU WILL LOVE OUR GOSPEL SPICE SERIES!  Click to check out the first episode of each season: We are currently in the middle of our series titled "Centering on Christ: the Tabernacle" which is such a fitting context for today's interview! Check out the first episode in this current series on gospelspice.com or wherever you are listening to this one from! "Identity in the Battle": https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/   The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/ The Psalms:    The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/ The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that: PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/ PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year.  Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us! Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you. Support us!

Today, P40 Ministries is doing something a little different as we bring on special guest Stephanie Roussell with Gospel Spice Ministries to bring you a beautiful, story-telling experience of the Tabernacle.  Go to Gospel Spice Ministries and listen to Stephanie's podcast - https://gospelspice.com/podcast/

Episode 117 - In this special episode celebrating our mid-way point in our current podcast series titled “Centering on Christ: the Tabernacle” we invite you to join Stephanie and special host Chera for a live Q&A session recorded when this series was initially taught as a live Bible study in 2020. The live audience asked the questions we are answering for you today: What does Sephora have to do with the Tabernacle???? What was it like to travel with the Tabernacle through the wilderness? How does the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in the Old Testament, in comparison to the New? What is the role of the Holy Spirit in heaven (compared to earth in the believers today)? How is the garden of Eden the first tabernacle? What does it mean that “the glory departed” in Ezekiel? How do you understand God's treatment of Moses at the end of his life? We hope you will enjoy this lively conversation, recorded live between Stephanie and Chera! Next week, we will resume our series with the second half –entering deeper into the Tabernacle, all the way into the famed Holy of Holies. Through the Tabernacle, taste and see that the Lord is good! This might be the most in-depth series yet to release on the Gospel Spice podcast. Yet, its mix of storytelling and insightful illustrations makes it easy-to-understand, approachable, and relatable. As with everything Gospel Spice, it is completely Christ-soaked. If you want to dig deeper, we offer a FREE resource: a 50+ page guidebook available only for those who register for free at gospelspice.com/tabernacle. It will guide you through the podcast series by providing daily readings and activities around your personal time with God this season. Get yours today! ---- Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! ------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------ The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Support us!

Episode 116 - After two episodes of setting the eternal, sweeping stage for the Tabernacle (episodes 112 + 13, a must-listen if you are new to the show), today we actually enter its outer court and start making our way towards our destination—the Holy of holies (episode 120). We are beckoned to enter, cautiously and reverently. We enter into the sounds, smells and sights of the Tabernacle and its constant activity. We grapple with the symbolism of the objects we touch, the acts we perform, and the people surrounding us. Stephanie deciphers for us what it was like to be a common Israelite coming to offer their sacrifice, as commanded by the Lord. Then, she opens for us the unique experience of the priests within the Tabernacle. We are God's royal priesthood, invited to taste and see His goodness. Join us today for a spiritual sacrifice of praise, an offering of worship to our God and King! Through the Tabernacle, taste and see that the Lord is good! This might be the most in-depth series yet to release on the Gospel Spice podcast. Yet, its mix of storytelling and insightful illustrations makes it easy-to-understand, approachable, and relatable. As with everything Gospel Spice, it is completely Christ-soaked. If you want to dig deeper, we offer a FREE resource: a 50+ page guidebook available only for those who register for free at gospelspice.com/tabernacle. It will guide you through the podcast series by providing daily readings and activities around your personal time with God this season. Get yours today! ---- Every week, Stephanie shares truth from Scripture and invites you to dig deeper in your faith to delight in the glory of God. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! ------------ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES ------------ The Gospel Spice Podcast is part of a larger range of tools given to you by Gospel Spice Ministries. In a nutshell, we exist to inspire Christ-followers to delight in God. In more details: we provide resources to empower Christian leaders across generational, social, ethnic and geographical boundaries towards more intimacy with Jesus Christ and discipleship effectiveness through a Biblical Christocentric foundation. The Gospel-Spice Ministries provide a safe environment for spiritual and community growth empowering people to know Christ more intimately, serve one another more powerfully, and reach the world for Jesus. PAY IT FORWARD!! Would you consider supporting this show today to help others enjoy it for free? It comes to you completely free, but is labor-intensive to produce, and we want to keep putting it in the ears of people! For the price of a cup of coffee, PAY IT FORWARD with $5 or $10 to make a huge difference! Contact us to pay it forward by Credit Card, or donate via PayPal. Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status. Your donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170. We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. All donations above our operating costs go to Christian organizations fighting human trafficking. We do not take a salary, but only seek to cover our operating costs. PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the link with friends and family PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Support us!

Episode 115 - Stephanie is deeply passionate about the message of Os Guinness. In Part 2 of this interview, Os and Stephanie take things personally: how will our true knowing of God shape our calling and tranform us into the force for transformation God is calling us to be? Os takes us to the Old Testament truths of justice, community and covenant as radically important ideas that show the world the way forward for each of us personally. “There are two revolutionary faiths bidding to take the world forward,” Guinness writes. “There is no choice facing America and the West that is more urgent and consequential than the choice between Sinai and Paris. Will the coming generation return to faith in God and to humility, or continue to trust in the all sufficiency of Enlightenment reason, punditry, and technocracy? Will its politics be led by principles or by power?” While Guinness cannot predict our ultimate fate, he warns that we must recognize the crisis of our time and debate the issues openly. As individuals and as a people, we must choose between the revolutions, between faith in God and faith in Reason alone, between freedom and despotism, and between life and death. GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY We are giving away copies of the Magna Carta of Humanity, the phenomenal book that we are discussing today on the show. To enter for a chance to win, go to gospelspice.com/giveaway. Winners will be drawn at random among the entries and contacted directly. MEET OS GUINNESS Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People's Suicide, The Global Public Square, Last Call for Liberty, and Carpe Diem Redeemed. His latest book, The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai's Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom, was published in 2018. Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012. Os has spoken at many of the world's major universities, and spoken widely to political and business conferences across the world. He lives with his wife Jenny in the Washington DC area. You will find him at http://www.osguinness.com/ IF YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, YOU WILL LOVE OUR GOSPEL SPICE SERIES!  Click to check out the first episode of each season: We are currently in the middle of our series titled "Centering on Christ: the Tabernacle" which is such a fitting context for today's interview! Check out the first episode in this current series on gospelspice.com or wherever you are listening to this one from! "Identity in the Battle": https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/   The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/ The Psalms:    The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/ The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that: PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/ PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year.  Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us! Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.   Support us!

Episode 114 - Stephanie is deeply passionate about the message of Os Guinness. How are we to understand the times we are living in? How are we to live as Christians and agents of both reconciliation and truth in a culture that seems to seek neither? How are we to fulfill our calling, individually and corporately? The stakes could not be higher--and the answers are found in Scripture. Join us for a fascinating conversation, a deep dive into the human heart, and an ambitious call to live for such a time as this. In these stormy times, loud voices from all fronts call for revolution and change. But what kind of revolution brings true freedom to both society and the human soul? In his latest book and on Gospel Spice today, cultural observer Os Guinness explores the nature of revolutionary faith, contrasting between secular revolutions such as the French Revolution and the faith-led revolution of ancient Israel. He argues that the story of Exodus is the highest, richest, and deepest vision for freedom in human history. It serves as the master story of human freedom and provides the greatest sustained critique of the abuse of power. His contrast between “Paris” and “Sinai” offers a framework for discerning between two kinds of revolution and their different views of human nature, equality, and liberty. Drawing on the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Guinness develops Exodus as the Magna Carta of humanity, with a constructive vision of a morally responsible society of independent free people who are covenanted to each other and to justice, peace, stability, and the common good of the community. This is the model from the past that charts our path to the future. “There are two revolutionary faiths bidding to take the world forward,” Guinness writes. “There is no choice facing America and the West that is more urgent and consequential than the choice between Sinai and Paris. Will the coming generation return to faith in God and to humility, or continue to trust in the all sufficiency of Enlightenment reason, punditry, and technocracy? Will its politics be led by principles or by power?” While Guinness cannot predict our ultimate fate, he warns that we must recognize the crisis of our time and debate the issues openly. As individuals and as a people, we must choose between the revolutions, between faith in God and faith in Reason alone, between freedom and despotism, and between life and death. Part 2 of this conversation will release as a bonus episode later this week. Stay tuned! MEET OS GUINNESS Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People's Suicide, The Global Public Square, Last Call for Liberty, and Carpe Diem Redeemed. His latest book, The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai's Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom, was published in 2018. Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012. Os has spoken at many of the world's major universities, and spoken widely to political and business conferences across the world. He lives with his wife Jenny in the Washington DC area. You will find him at http://www.osguinness.com/ GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY We are giving away copies of the Magna Carta of Humanity, the phenomenal book that we are discussing today on the show. To enter for a chance to win, go to gospelspice.com/giveaway. Winners will be drawn at random among the entries and contacted directly.   IF YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW, YOU WILL LOVE OUR GOSPEL SPICE SERIES!  Click to check out the first episode of each season: We are currently in the middle of our series titled "Centering on Christ: the Tabernacle" which is such a fitting context for today's interview! Check out the first episode in this current series on gospelspice.com or wherever you are listening to this one from! "Identity in the Battle": https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/   The Gospel of Matthew: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/3281/link/ The Psalms:    The Gospel of Luke: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/40838/link/ The Book of Proverbs: https://www.podcastics.com/episode/68112/link/ DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that: PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/ PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with! Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year.  Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us! Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.   Support us!