Thanks for listening! If you’ve been helped by this podcast, we’d be grateful if you’d consider subscribing, sharing, and leaving us a comment and 5-star rating! Visit the Living Waters website to learn more and to access helpful resources!You can find helpful counseling resources at biblicalcounseling.com.Check out The Evidence Study Bible and the Basic Training Course.You can connect with us at [email protected] We're thankful for your input!Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.Ray ComfortEmeal (“E.Z.”) ZwayneMark SpenceOscar Navarro

In today's episode, the guys talk about the story of Jonah, one of the stories of the Bible which is most mocked by atheists because it is seen as impossible. However, as Christians we know that with God nothing is impossible. Listeners are reminded that God created heaven and the earth out of nothing, therefore anything is possible. As students of God, we need to allow His Word to say what it says and be what it is. Jonah’s story is presented as history, not fiction. God is a miraculous, extravagant God who holds the whole world in His hands. When we begin to explain God’s Word away to make it more acceptable to the present culture, we are denouncing God’s truth.  The most fascinating thing about Jonah’s story is just how short the book of Jonah could have been. If he had obeyed God’s order to cry out against the wickedness of the city, he never would have endured the belly of the whale. Jonah’s sin was not disobeying God, but that he was angry with God for loving his own enemies. However, God loves everyone, enemy or not. As Christians, we must also go out to spread God’s Word with love in our hearts for our own enemies. Jonah’s story goes to show how blinding hatred can be that it dims our view of Christs’ love and compassion.  When talking about these figures from the Bible, we should remember that we have something they don’t: the cross, which serves as evidence of God’s love for us. Thus, we should be forgiving of our enemies and love them just as God does. While Jonah spent three days in the belly of a whale, Jesus spent three days in the tomb. It is the very same power of God which caused the whale to spit Jonah out which also resurrected Jesus from the dead. Jonah’s sin was what put him in his predicament, but it was our sin which sent Jesus to the cross. In this way, Jesus is the better Jonah. We should all aim to be men who God may use at all costs. Thanks for listening! If you’ve been helped by this podcast, we’d be grateful if you’d consider subscribing, sharing, and leaving us a comment and 5-star rating! Visit the Living Waters website to learn more and to access helpful resources!You can find helpful counseling resources at biblicalcounseling.com.Check out The Evidence Study Bible and the Basic Training Course.You can connect with us at [email protected] We're thankful for your input!Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.Ray ComfortEmeal (“E.Z.”) ZwayneMark SpenceOscar Navarro

In today's episode, the guys discuss how to leave a legacy by learning to lovingly lead. When leadership is not exerted in the right way or with the right heart, major tragedies can ensue. Today, the church is in big trouble as we live in this “celebrity Christian pastor” era. Being a pastor, however, means to be a shepherd of a local flock. Preaching to your people alone should be the highest priority. When we act as leaders ourselves or gravitate towards other leaders, we should be looking for Christ-like leadership. The overall disposition of Jesus as a leader was that of a servant.  A largely deceptive element is not realizing the impact of our leadership we have as friends, acquaintances, and parents. There are definitive things parents often do when raising their children which may create the kind of atmosphere in which bitterness and brokenness grow, and vice versa. Leaving a legacy for your family begins with recognizing the legacy of sin in yourself. Genesis alludes to the idea of generational sin. You do not need to be a perfect parent, but you do need to be a parent who is willing to put sanctification on display for your wife and children. When thinking about leadership and legacy, the most important question we should ask ourselves is where our hearts are. When love is not infused in leadership, authoritarianism results. The love we should have for our spouse will be limited by our understanding of God loving the church as sinful people.  Finally, hear about the marks which would leave a legacy of love. These include lifting others up, putting your own needs behind the needs of others and abandoning self-defense mode. We should always strive to leave a legacy that will magnify the Lord over ourselves. Thanks for listening! If you’ve been helped by this podcast, we’d be grateful if you’d consider subscribing, sharing, and leaving us a comment and 5-star rating! Visit the Living Waters website to learn more and to access helpful resources!You can find helpful counseling resources at biblicalcounseling.com.Check out The Evidence Study Bible and the Basic Training Course.You can connect with us at [email protected] We're thankful for your input!Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.Ray ComfortEmeal (“E.Z.”) ZwayneMark SpenceOscar Navarro

In today's episode, the guys discuss the importance of time. To begin, listeners are reminded that time is the most precious resource of all, and wasting time has ramifications. This is why waking up early and being intentional with your time is very important. The New Testament speaks volumes to this idea. The early church has been accused of spending too much time together, as they would gather in the morning and stay together all night long. This is a prime example of not being bound by time. Although punctuality is part of being courtesy, it doesn’t hurt to remove some of the parameters surrounding time in an organized way.  We all have a problem with how we organize our time. For example, where young people spend more time sleeping in, older people tend to waste time on media cycles or sitting around the house after retirement. We are only redeeming our time when our minds and hearts are focused on the glory of God. This could be done in the process of education, in fellowship or through restfulness. God gave us restfulness as a gift and something intrinsic in what it means to be human. Where we put our attention is ultimately how we redeem our time and what we become in the long run. As Christians, we should integrate the Lord in every area of our lives. Jesus did meet every need. He left one town to preach to another, left people in line waiting to be healed, hid away to pray and got tired. He spent 30 years in training and just 3 years in ministry. He did not try to do it all and yet he did everything God asked Him to do. Grind culture is not meeting the glory of God as God wants us to also be creatures of rest and thoughtfulness. The way we should redeem our time is not by being as efficient as possible, but by glorifying God. Listeners are reminded that everything we do in this life that is not chasing the Lord is transient. We should also walk in wisdom towards non-believers and share the gospel to reach the lost. Discipleship requires a great deal of time and investment. Thanks for listening! If you’ve been helped by this podcast, we’d be grateful if you’d consider subscribing, sharing, and leaving us a comment and 5-star rating! Visit the Living Waters website to learn more and to access helpful resources!You can find helpful counseling resources at biblicalcounseling.com.Check out The Evidence Study Bible and the Basic Training Course.You can connect with us at [email protected] We're thankful for your input!Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.Ray ComfortEmeal (“E.Z.”) ZwayneMark SpenceOscar Navarro

In today's episode the guys discuss anxiety, an unfortunate mark of our modern lives. Everything about the modern age is intended to make us feel most comfortable, yet this is clearly not working. This is because we are not meant to be the center of our own universes. For example, God created us to till the ground and have a relationship with the food we eat and the environment around us. As humans, we were intended to spend uninterrupted time in Creation.  The guys define anxiety as a feeling of worrying or unease, typically about some outcome. By looking for distractions from our anxiety, we are actually diving deeper into our anxiousness in the long run. It is rest that our body needs to defeat anxiety, not busyness. When Peter saw a resurrected Jesus with his own eyes, his anxiety disappeared. To overcome anxiety, we should orient our lives in such a way that points us to Christ through prayer and meditation and take extended time to disconnect from music and technology to truly converse with God and spend time in His creation. When we are disconnected from the earth, we are missing out on God and His gift to us.  We so easily forget that we are promised an eternity with the Lord. God gives us sacred moments to remember this truth, but we must make our eyes available to notice them. The more we really see these instances, the more anxiety dissipates. Then, they make the distinction between genuine concern and anxious worrying. Issues are not issues at all, but rather the steppingstones to get us to where we are meant to be. The great antidote to anxiety is to speak with God. When we go before God in prayer, we go before our father who knows and loves us unconditionally for who we are and has a plan for our lives.  Thanks for listening! If you’ve been helped by this podcast, we’d be grateful if you’d consider subscribing, sharing, and leaving us a comment and 5-star rating! Visit the Living Waters website to learn more and to access helpful resources!You can find helpful counseling resources at biblicalcounseling.com.Check out The Evidence Study Bible and the Basic Training Course.You can connect with us at [email protected] We're thankful for your input!Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.Ray ComfortEmeal (“E.Z.”) ZwayneMark SpenceOscar Navarro