Today’s podcast is profound and not for little ears.

When it’s an issue outside of your personal life it may seem very clear to you what you “ought to do.” But when the issue enters your dearest relationships it is much more complex.

Dr. Jeremy Grinnell earned his PhD in Systematic Theology from Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI, and taught theology at the graduate level for nearly 15 years. He’s the author of The Bellowing of Cain.

With the education of a scholar and the heart of Jesus he takes on your bible questions.

This is what Jeremy helps us understand:

“Our daughter is 25 and transgender. How do you deal with people thinking you are not being Christian for not just accepting her and calling her, her new name?”

“Suffering is presented as an inevitability in life and an intimate connection with Christ. Choosing to walk in intimacy through suffering is so hard. Resentment and surprise/shock seem to be natural responses. My natural response leads to death in so many ways. Why is it so difficult to choose life, intimacy, wisdom, while walking in suffering?”

And Steve, a Perry and Shawna listener asks, “Will heaven stay the same or will it change over time. Will we grow, learn, change, build, create, discover, travel, will it be boring??”

And last, “Does God use the accusations of our conscience and of the enemy to purify us of pride and cause us to more deeply treasure Jesus.” Or are there some things in your life God can’t use to change us for the good?

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With a great big to-do list this Christmas it’s possible to miss the moments and the people that matter most.

Emilie DeYoung is the clinical director of Counseling Services at Winning at Home.

She helps us to see the importance of being present with ourselves, with others and with God this holiday season.

By paying attention to yourself (being kind to yourself), and to God (receiving his love) you can learn to give those you love the most the most precious gift you have to give, your presence!

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Perry admits, “I can’t remember the last time I wept about how much Jesus loves me and how much he loves the world. Like the Grinch, my heart needs to be enlarged.”

Shawna has a high value on being prepared. Before public speaking she spends hours studying, researching, and constructing her message. Over the weekend the person scheduled to speak on Sunday morning fell ill. Shawna, with less than 12 hours of prep, had to stand in and share the message. It was a sacrifice to serve without all the “necessary” preparation. When was the last time you sacrificed for God?

Gospel literally means, “Good news.” The word was stolen by Paul from the Roman Empire. Paul was saying to Rome and to every other ideology up to the present day, “If you think you’ve got good news, yours is not even close to the gospel of Jesus Christ!”

Each of us must come to the place in life where we decide to follow Jesus. And every day thereafter we choose again and again, in a hundred small ways each day, to walk with Jesus.

Though his body and mind were failing in his final days Shawna’s dad was able to recite scripture without hesitation. In one of their last moments together he confidently told Shawna, “The Lord is my shepherd. I have everything I need…” and continued to recite all of Psalm 23.

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Does the idea of a “quiet time” or “devotions” bring up feelings of guilt or shame? Or does it simply sound boring to you?

What if you could meet with Jesus in a way that literally brings you joy? What if instead of guilt and shame you were filled with anticipation at the very thought of being with God?

That is what God invites us into. And Asherita Ciu Ciu shows us how.

In her new book, Delighting in Jesus, Asherita Ciu Ciu shows us that joy originates from God, pulses at the heart of the gospel, and is promised to us as fruit from God’s Spirit.

From a foundation of how we uniquely connect with God we can establish Rhythms of Delight that allow us to connect with God from where we are and find in Him the desires of our heart.

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Shawna lost her cool. Usually, she is hyper focused on connecting with others in a meaningful way, but when her emotions got really BIG the person who triggered her anger became the enemy.

CHRIS COURSEY is an ordained minister, pastoral counselor, published author, and international speaker. He and his wife, Jen, lead and design the THRIVE Training Program that uses brain-based exercises to train leaders, families, and communities in the 19 relational skills and the Immanuel Lifestyle. They are passionate about helping people acquire the skills to make relationships work.

Chris shares that our emotions are not bad. They are meant to help us connect with others. When our brain can’t manage what we feel our brain slips into enemy mode rather than joy-fueled relational mode. Relational mode is where we live from the heart Jesus gave us.

Chris gives us practical steps we can take when we feel stuck in enemy mode to return to engaging with others in a relational way. Ultimately, being our true self.

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It’s so easy to take ourselves too seriously. It’s okay to laugh at ourselves!

Babylon Bee is helping us to do that while causing us to think about real issues with their laugh-out-loud fake news stories.

Joel Barry is one of the comedic geniuses behind the world-famous satirical news website – Babylon Bee – and coauthor of The Babylon Bee Guide to the Apocalypse.

While other books just tell you that we’re doomed and the collapse of western civilization is imminent, only The Babylon Bee Guide to the Apocalypse gives you the tools you need to survive it. If you don’t buy a copy, it’s not like it’s the end of the world. Oh, wait – it is. 😁

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Each of us, regardless of our upbringing, must make a decision to follow Jesus. For Shawna it was the moment she prayed, “Even if my family turns away, I will keep following you Jesus.”

Perry shares, “The only reason I love Jesus and want to share him with others is because he loved me at my worst. I need to come back to the simplicity of that.”

Perry says, “the feelings of shame once told me, ‘what you’ve done wrong is who you are and who you’ll always be.’ I now know for certain that’s a lie; and that’s a gamechanger when I still feel shame.”

When we’re going through hard times, we often question God’s goodness. We stand at a crossroads and are forced to choose what we believe about God. Why do some people come through the hardships stronger?

There are times when we are so weak, so afraid, that we struggle to even pray. In those times you can pray a powerful one word prayer that Shawna learned when she was afraid.

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E.Z. has endured his own spiritual battles in life. By 15 years old, he had been expelled from two schools, joined the Crips gang, was a rap artist who struggled with substance abuse. He later attempted suicide in front of his family.

In 1991, he underwent a profound transformation after hearing the gospel and turned his life over to Christ. By twenty-one, E.Z. was an ordained pastor attending a Christian university, married, and had started a family.

Emeal “E.Z.” Zwayne is the president of Living Waters (with Ray Comfort), and author of Fight Like a Man: A Bold, Biblical Battle Plan for Personal Purity that presents biblical truths and strategies to combat the enemies of purity.

Whether the battle is with lust, pornography, sex outside marriage, or adultery and despite how many times we’ve failed to overcome sexual sin, E.Z. assures us that hope is available through the love, forgiveness, and grace of God, which were demonstrated through the death and resurrection of Christ.

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