Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives. This month, Dr. Bacote invites us to think about the following questions:

How do we respond to changing political winds? On the other side of the most recent presidential inauguration, how do we walk the line between highs of optimism and lows of pessimism? The first lines of the Nicene and Apostles creed provide a reminder of God's greatness and human limitations; can this help us be realistic and hopeful?

From the Apostles Creed: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth"

From the Nicene Creed: "I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth..."

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives. This month's podcast is very brief, offering a word of encouragement from Titus 2:11-14. As we enter the New Year, our great hope gives us reason to pause and make a resolution some us may have made many times: to eagerly seek to do good in the world, no matter the circumstances around us.

Titus 2:11-14 (NIV): "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives. This month, Dr. Bacote invites us to learn from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Luke 1:32-33, 38 provides the specific focus on the truth about the everlasting kingdom of the Messiah and Mary's response to God's plan for her. As we consider Mary, we can see a way to consider our response to the recent election and seek a path of faithful engagement in the world.

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives. This month, Dr. Bacote reflects on how elections present opportunities for us to think about why we have our political priorities and how our beliefs truly operate. The Nicene Creed includes a line that ought to always be at the forefront of our minds when we think about ultimate political priorities and loyalties: "...his kingdom will have no end". How does Christ's kingdom inform your political choices?

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives. This month, Dr. Bacote continues his reflections on his summer travels. A story he heard about planting trees in the mountains of South Korea serves as an example of how we can have greater curiosity about others; becoming better at curiosity is one of the best ways we can learn to live well with those different from us. This is one way to practice love of neighbor (Matt. 22:39)

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives. This month, Dr. Bacote reflects on travel to South Korea and Guatemala and begins considering how it expands perspective on faith and expectations for our life. God's promise to Abram in Genesis 12:3 helps remind us that His people come from "all the peoples."

How have you learned to have a bigger view of God's people? Leave a comment.

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives. This month, the podcast is brief, but Dr. Bacote considers how the sufferings of Jesus provide a surprising path of growth for us as we contend with uncertainties and distress in the face of our next presidential election in the United States.

The Catechism of the Anglican Church in North America gives us this language that helps us to see a path towards perseverance, hope, and greater knowledge of Jesus:
61. How do Jesus’ sufferings help you?
Jesus has experienced our sufferings, understands our sorrows, and is able to sympathize with our weakness. Therefore, I should bear my sufferings with perseverance and hope, for my Savior is with me in them, and through them I will come to know him more fully. ( Job 9:32–35; Psalm 22:22–26; Isaiah 53:4–7; Luke 4:1–13; Hebrews 4:14–5:10)

How have you thought about being helped by Christ's sufferings? Leave a comment.

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to THE LINK - Bridging Faith and Life with Dr. Vincent Bacote! Every month, Dr. Bacote will introduce listeners to ways they can build connections between faith and life in their ministries and personal lives.

This month, Dr. Bacote offers a few reflections on Christians and deconstruction through the lens of these words from the New City Catechism: "Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us." Maybe there are better names for what many call deconstruction; one could be "sanctification." Here's where you can find this part of The New City Catechism: https://newcitycatechism.com/new-city-catechism/#32

Dr. Bacote is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Bacote, click on the link below! ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.vincentbacote.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠