Hello saints! In this final “in house” podcast episode I reflect on my time working in Utah as an evangelist. There’s some sentimental thoughts snuck in there too but mostly I try to constructively evaluate where we can improve locally as a church in Kaysville and even more broadly in our nation as a whole. I’ll also examine my own role with Kaysville as to what did or did not work. All of this will be done as I share five things that I’ve learned or noticed and then try to paint a hopeful future based on the New Testament pattern of the first century church. Let me know if you have further thoughts! Until we meet again my brothers & sisters…
24 Apr 2024
“Provoked” - My Tour of the Layton Temple
The Mormon Temple in Layton, Utah is finally open for tours and I got to go check it out with my wife and some fellow Christians. It was truly fascinating but altogether sobering that Mormons literally think this is where they can get as close to God on earth as possible. Maybe this is sort of what Paul felt like in Acts 17:16 as he saw the idols of Athens and was “provoked within him”. So I felt like I had to say something to our Latter Day Saint friends.
Hopefully this episode helps you better understand the beliefs and doctrines of the LDS religion and gives you concrete talking points with their members who are tragically deceived in their pseudo-church of a different Christ.
So please listen and go share the gospel!
8 Mar 2024
A “Far Greater” Jesus: Brenda’s Story
Brenda grew up right next door to Kaysville in Fruit Heights in an LDS household. Between family trials and her own choices, she was in and out of the Mormon church all her life. Years later, a Christian coworker befriended her and simply asked her questions about her life which led her to a Jesus that she had never heard of. Now being a Christian for about a decade, Brenda has insights on how to better reach people with the gospel and how we can know the Bible even better. So please listen to Brenda’s story and glean from her unique perspective on how we can reach out to anyone.
5 Jan 2024
NYR: Study the Bible!
What’s your New Year’s resolution? Maybe you do or don’t have one but I hope you’re in the Scriptures daily. Even if you’re not, now is the time to jump in to taste and see that the Lord is indeed good. It can be daunting to tackle this ancient book and confusing as to where to begin. I grew up in the church and even I felt that way! So please let me share with you some helpful tips and tools that I learned in college and from older Christian mentors on how to study, interpret, and apply the Bible. Our Father has been true to His promises, Jesus the Christ has conquered death, the Spirit has testified to these truths in Scripture, and God invites us to read and even participate in the greatest story ever told. Blessed is the one who delights in His word.
5 Dec 2023
Comforted by Christ: Bridget Shafer
Do we love God for God’s own self? Or do we only take from God and ignore the relationship we were made for? Do we trust God’s plan through our trials and “count it all joy” (Jam. 1:2) “that the tested genuineness of (our) faith… is tested by fire” (1 Pet. 1:7)? That’s easier said in a Sunday sermon than experienced throughout a lifetime.
So please listen to Bridget, because her trials are a lifetime and probably look unthinkable to most of us and yet she truly trusts God and is thankful. In this episode, Bridget shares her story of clinging to faith in Jesus amidst suffering because she ultimately doesn’t desire to see physical blessings; she desires to see God her Savior.
26 Oct 2023
Satanology, Demonology, & Halloween
The spiritual realm is fascinating while simultaneously terrifying. There’s a lot in our Bibles that are strange, creepy, and altogether mystifying when it comes to ghosts, angels, demons, and the devil. In this episode, we’ll take a look at the Bible’s worldview of the unseen realm with a special focus on a serpent and his demons. With Halloween only a few days away, we’ll also consider if evil spirits and the like actually have anything to do with it. Then to conclude, I won’t pull any punches with some potential “hot takes” on Christians and Halloween while trying to remain balanced. Confer everything with your Bible and try to have an open mind to what God’s Word is saying about evil spiritual beings because it’s going to be really weird and unnerving.
29 Sept 2023
Compelled to Christ: Brittany Clifton
Brittany grew up in a Mormon home in Utah. She was baptized into the LDS church at eight, publicly testified that its prophets were true, and fully believed that her church had the restored gospel that Joseph Smith ushered in. Then she began to date a Christian guy in college named Mark Clifton and their spiritual studies took her to where she is now: baptized into Christ Jesus. In this episode, Brittany, along with her husband, Mark, share her story on how she truly found Jesus while coming out of the LDS church. They also share some tips from their experiences on how to meet Mormons where they are in order to point them to the freedom found in Christ.
15 Aug 2023
When Tradition Becomes Law
It’s really easy to create good intentioned traditions that end up being treated as the actual commands of God. It’s also easy to create an interpretational system with the Bible where God just so happens to always agree with me. Traditions can be good or bad and everything in between but they can also lead to legalism. These are some of the pitfalls that we see in the Pharisees but how can we avoid them? In this episode we listen to Jesus share an example that shows us what happens when traditions become law. Truly the entirety of Scripture actually lays out rather plainly what’s necessary. The question is will we submit to the Word or will our own traditions interfere and play god?
4 Jul 2023
How to Live as Exiles
We sing songs that claim “this world is not my home” while we hear from the Bible that Christians are “exiles” and “aliens” but that often doesn’t make sense to us as Americans. Sometimes we mistake America for the Kingdom of God and end up pledging our allegiance to worldly powers but the apostles say that our allegiance is to Christ alone because our citizenship is in heaven. How do we avoid the idolatry of loving the world? What even does it mean to love the world? And how can we live as sojourners that submit to the government while simultaneously remaining faithful to God? In this episode we’ll see how to live as exiles with some advice from Jeremiah, along with the example of Daniel, and finally we’ll look to the love of Jesus.
24 May 2023
LGBT+ Talk
How American culture views sexuality has already spiraled out of control. The LGBT’s views on sex and marriage are here to stay and will only progress even further. What are Christians to do if they adhere to Jesus’ definition of marriage and the Bible’s ethics for sexuality? Christ doesn’t call His followers to political action nor does Jesus say to grab a sword and fight. Instead, our Lord commands us to love our neighbors, to pray for our enemies, to go find the lost and make disciples.
How can we do that and practically engage in conversations as touchy as sexuality with those who may think we hate them? In this episode, you will be equipped with specific talking points, questions, definitions, and arguments from reason and Scripture to better reach those in the LGBT+ community.
11 Apr 2023
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus
How would you defend or share the resurrection of Christ? If the person asking you about the resurrection doesn’t believe the Bible is the word of God, now what? As followers of Jesus, we cannot halfway believe in the resurrection for the apostles teach us that it is at the core of the gospel! The apostles also tell us that if Jesus has not been raised, then Christians are wasting their lives and the future of humanity is death. So, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ a reasonable event to believe in?
Editor’s note: beginning at 24:51 I said that Genesis 1 calls creation “good” 10x when in reality it says that 7x. Which makes way more sense!
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