#032: Kiss The Rain

How do we integrate God's Word into every area of our lives? In this week's podcast we talk about 6 ways to live a life of Biblical integrity using our 6 memory verses from the 40 Days In The Word.  I also talk about the recent decline in Apple's fortunes, about the Lord's Prayer, and question #4 - "What Is God?" - from the Westminster catechism.

Here's what I have lined up for you this week:

[9:00] Has Apple Gone Rotten? - Apple Company has been a winner both in terms of its products and its corporate and stock performance. But the last couple weeks have not gone so well.  I talk about the iPad mini and the expectations and disappointment of the recent quarter. I talk about the Saturday Night Life sketch a few week's ago.  Here's the YouTube link to the "Tech Talk" video. Here's an encouraging opinion from The Motley Fool about Apple stock price.

[22:35] The Lord's Prayer, People and Protection - We wrap up our 6-part model prayer discussion. This week - how we use the Lord's Prayer as the basis to pray for other people and for spiritual protection.

[31:17] Question 4b - "What Is God?" - We continue our theological discussion from the Westminster Confession and Catechism. Here's a link to G. I. Williamson's helpful book, "Westminster Shorter Catechism: For Study Classes."

[43:46] CR Sermon: "How To Integrate God's Word Into My Life" - This is the audio talk from Sunday night at Church Requel.  This sermon, written by Rick Warren earlier this year, wraps up our 40 Days In The Word series.

Music for this week's podcast is "Kiss The Rain" by Yiruma from his The Best Reminiscent 10th Anniversary album.

#031: Back From The Storm

How should we interpret the text of the Bible?  Pastor Steve offers some practical advice for how to study the Bible. Also Mark talks about the topic of forgiveness in prayer and the 4th question in the Westminster Confession: "What is God?"

This week's podcast is published a couple days later than normal. I'm just returning from vacation.  Here's what I have lined up for you in this week's podcast:

[0:00]  Intro. I talk about my trip to Myrtle Beach and the stormy weather on the way back.

[13:45] Forgiveness and Prayer. We continue to consider the Lord's Prayer as our model for our daily prayers. In this week's podcast we discuss the issue of forgiveness - forgiving others and forgiving ourselves.

[25:25] Question 4. What is God? That's an uncomfortable question.  We're much more comfortable talking about Who is God? We'll take 3 podcast sessions to get started on this question. This theological study comes from G.I. Williamson's book on the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

[39:55] CR Sermon: "How To Interpret A Text." Steve does an excellent job teaching for me this week.  Here are some highlights. A verse of the Bible means what it means.  There may be many applications but only one meaning. There are no secrets in the Bible.  We should look for the most obvious meaning. Steve also shares some great advice about prayer. You can't fall when you're on your knees! If God does not give you what you're asking for, he will give you something better. We're not always good at asking for what is best for us. Prayer is the passwoord to all God wants to do in our life. Prayer is not a spare tire to be taken out when things go wrong.  Prayer is the steerin wheel that guides us! Finally this valuable tidbit: Prayerlessness is practical atheism! This is a great talk! Don't miss it! Thanks so much Pastor Steve!

Music for this week's podcast is The Storm from Ray Boltz's album, Allegiance.

#030: Godly Training

The secret to great Bible study is asking great questions. In this week's podcast we talk about the 4 key questions we should ask each time we study God's Word. Our podcast is really godly training because we also talk about meditation on Scripture, prayer, and theology.

I'm publishing the podcast a day earlier than normal so that Mary Kay and I can get away a little sooner tonight after the CR worship service for a week's R&R. Here's what I have lined up for you in this week's podcast:

[05:19]  Meditation and S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S. I talk about the reason we should meditate on Scripture. Then we use an acrostic to remember the application questions we should ask when we meditate.

[17:25] 6-Part Model Prayer. We continue to consider the Lord's Prayer as our model for our daily prayers.

[28:19] Question 3. What's God's Word for anyway? This two-part answer transitions us into the rest of our theological study from G.I. Williamson's book on the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

[37:26] CR Sermon: "How To Study The Bible." I've prerecorded this week's 40 Days In The Word sermon for the podcast. We consider 4 questions in every Bible study. In this podcast we use Philippians 2:19-30 as an example of a Bible passage we will study together. At first glance it doesn't appear that there is much here. However, using the 4 questions, we discover 5 marks of a godly man or woman. Many thanks to Rick Warren for writing this sermon and making it available for us to use!

Music for this week's podcast is "Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky)."

#028: Back From The Beach

The Bible is unlike any other book. There is a good reason it is called the HOLY Bible. It has the ability to change us in remarkable ways. Also Pastor Mark is back from his beach vacation.

Here's what I have lined up for you this week:

[0:00] Opening - I'm back from vacation and I promise not to talk about it too much!

[08:40] 10 Things God Can't Do.   I know this sounds wrong, but you'll be so encouraged when you hear this.  Thanks to Shannon O'Dell for his article in Pastors.com.

[24:00] Right Attitude of Prayer. We continue the series on prayer we began last week on the podcast. This week we consider what Jesus teaches about the attitude of prayer right before he teaches us the Lord's Prayer.

[39:39] 3 Characteristics of God's Word. This week in the doctrine segment we continue to look at question #2 of the Westminster Confession of Faith. We are using G.I. Williamson's instructional book: "The Westminster Shorter Catechism."

[53:36] CR Sermon: "How The Bible Changes Us." This sermon was written by Rick Warren and is the 3rd sermon in the 40 Days In The Word series. This is also the first sermon ever delivered by Pastor Steve Thoman at Church Requel. He did a great job!

[1:35:12] Wrap Up. I wrap up the podcast with some final thoughts.

Music for this week's podcast is "[Sittin' On] The Dock Of The Bay" by Otis Redding.

#027: Trust The Bible!

The Bible is the most read book in history.  It’s the bestselling book in history.  And it is the most translated book in history.  Why is it the Word of God?  How do we know it is the Word of God?  In this week's podcast, we’re going to consider the question: "Why can I trust the Bible?"

Here's what I have lined up for you in this week's edition of the podcast:

[0:00] Intro - I talk about getting ready for the next two weeks of the 40 Days Campaign and getting prepped for vacation in Myrtle Beach with my dad.I mentioned our Facebook page with all the pictures and videos. Also we'd love to have you join us with the 40 Days In The Word Daily Devotionals.

[12:45] Prayer In God's Presence - This past week in one of the 40 Days In The Word devotionals, John Ortberg talked about abiding in God's Presence. It was a profound moment for me and sparked a multi-podcast conversation we'll be having about prayer.

[25:10] Have You Read Your Bible Today? - Pastors.com reviewed a study by Lifeway Research that only 19% of church attenders read their Bibles every day.  This is one of the big reasons we have chosen the 40 Days In The Word campaign.  We want every person connected with Church Requel to read their Bibles every day!

[34:38] Three Views of "Contained In" - We continue our doctrine study of the Westminster Confession of Faith. We are on question #2. Here is the book we are using: The Westminster Shorter Catechism by G. I. Williamson.

[44:29] CR Sermon: "Why Can I Trust The Bible?" - This week I have pre-recorded Sunday evening's sermon, written by Rick Warren, because of my vacation schedule. This does have an upside! We won't have time Sunday evening to talk about everything I would have liked to have discussed about why we can trust the Bible. You will hear more details in this recording that we actually could talk about during the sermon at Church Requel! Here are the YouVersion Sermon Notes for those who would like to follow.

[1:44:13] Wrap Up - Join me for our concluding prayer together. And be reminded that next week we will delay the publication of the podcast by a couple days.  Expect next week's edition to come out on Wednesday, October 10th.

Music for this week's podcast is "Your Words Are Life" from the I Believe album available from Amber Sky Records.

#026: Rainy Picnic

When the wind blows the rain sideways and people still remain faithful to the picnic, something special is going on.  When is the pastor as much a cheerleader and encourager as he is a shepherd? Or maybe these all fit the job description! Join me in this 26th episode as we talk about soggy picnics and high spirits.  Also we kick off our 40 Days In The Word campaign this week!

Here's what I have lined up for you in this week's edition of the podcast:

[0:00] Intro - I talk about this past week getting prepped for the 40 Days in the Word campaign and the Fall Fun Picnic.

[16:17] Rainy Picnic Highlights - I describe the soggy day and sunny spirits.  I interview many of the folks there. When is a pastor more of a cheerleader?

[36:46] Faith Like A Child - Speaking of having so many children at Church Requel, what do we learn about the faith of kids? Jesus told us that we must have the faith of a child or we'd never see Heaven.  What did he mean? Thanks to Joe Farnello at SermonCentral.com.

[50:15] The Rule of Life - Last week we finished question #1 of the Westminster Confession of  Faith. The chief end of man is the give glory to God and enjoy Him forever. But how do we do that? Is there a rule of life... a guidebook?  Based on Westminster Shorter Catechism by G. I. Williamson.

[1:01:55] CR Sermon: "How To Build My Life On The Bible" - This is the kick-off sermon for the 40 Days in the Word campaign, orginally written and delivered by Rick Warren to Saddleback Community Church in January 2012. We learn 5 ways to build our life on the solid foundation of God's Word.

Music for this week's podcast is "Bring The Rain" by Mercy Me.

#024: The New Kindles

The new Kindles are here! The new Kindles are here! Do I sound like a kid at Christmas? I have to admit that the Kindle device has captured this pastor's reading heart over the past few years.  Not only me, but my entire family enjoys reading and sharing books with one another. So this podcast is a homage to the announcement this past week about the new devices coming out this fall.  Here's what we have lined up for you on the podcast this week.

[06:40] 40 Days In The Word - You'll hear the behind the scenes discussion this past week as our leadership team chose the theme of "40 Days In The Word" as our new sermon series beginning Sunday, September 23rd.  Here is a link for you to signup for your own daily devotional during the 40 Days sermon series.

[20:46] The New Kindles - Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, revealed the new devices this past Thursday.  You can watch his entire presentation on YouTube.  Listen to Len Edgerly's Kindle Chronicles podcast.  Len went to the event. You'll hear his immediate review along with many interviews.

[33:43] Bringing God Glory - What does it mean to bring God glory? Doesn't He already have glory without us?  Join me for this second part of the first question from the Westminster Catechism. What is the chief end of man? ... to bring God glory and to enjoy Him forever!

[43:05] CR Sermon: Bending Without Breaking - This is part 14 of our Summer Singles series... our next to the last one!  We learn 4 ways to keep my faith flexible in tough times from the life of Elijah in 1 Kings 19.  Follow along with the YouVersion Sermon Notes.

[1:23:40] Wrap Up - Join me for my final thoughts from this weekend's Church Requel worship service.  I'm tired and hungry... and frustrated! Where was everyone tonight?  We had a huge number of visitors and guests, but many of our regulars weren't there. You'll hear the gut reaction of this pastor.

Music for this week's podcast is "Fly Me Away" by Annie Little from the Stole My Heart album. Also, you can watch the original very cool Amazon 2009 commercial here.