Christ 2r Culture Podcast

Each of us have people in our life that hurt us deeply. Whenever their name comes to mind, our pulse quickens as we remember the pain. How can we move beyond the hurt? How can we learn to let go our desire for revenge? Join us as we discover how Joseph was able to let the pain of his past go.

Nobody likes tests. They are stressful and keep us awake late into the night. While tests aren't fun, they are important. Nobody wants to fly in a plane with a pilot that didn't take a test at flight school. Nobody wants to be operated on by a doctor that never took a test in his medical training. As we continue our study of the life of Joseph, we will see why Joseph spent so much time testing his brothers and what we need to know about the ways God tests us.

Louie Zamperini was a famous Olympian that served in World War II as a bombardier on a B-24 Liberator. When his plan crashed he found himself a POW. He was constantly abused by his captors. After the war, while he came home to a hero's welcome, he couldn't leave behind the pain of his past and it nearly ruined his life. Join us in learning how to leave the pain of your past behind before it ruins your future.

Guilt is an awkward feeling. People do some strange things to make it go away. As we continue the story of Joseph, we see guilt is a tool God uses in our lives to lead us to repentance in our sin against God and others.

Howard Schultz grew up destitute in Brooklyn New York. A football scholarship gave him a college education and his college degree landed him a job at Xerox. it was soon a small coffee chain caught his eye. He was eventually able to convince the chain to hire him as their CEO. In the next few years he turned the 60 small stores into a business worth over a billion dollars. That is the Starbucks story. We all love a rags-to-riches story. Even more than reading one, all us would like to be one. As we continue our study of Joseph, we find him at his rags-to-riches moment. As we study is life, we will learn what qualities God is looking for in our life that may open the door to an unexpected rags-to-riches story of our own.

God sometimes allows us in times of suffering that carry on for a long time. Why doesn't he release us? What good can possibly come from long-term trials? In this message, we learn how God uses long-term suffering as a tool in our life to mature our character and to shape us for the work he calls us to do.

Life doesn't always go as planned. What do we do when our world falls apart? Join us as we follow the story of Joseph and learn how he faced some of the most unexpected situations in his life.

Sometimes we fail God miserably. It isn't long until we are caught in a web of our own sin where it feels impossible to break free. Sometimes we are far from God for years. Will God ever take us back after our miserable failings? As we study the life of Judah—the brother of Joseph, we see how far away from God a person can walk and still be restored by God's grace.

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Why is suicide so common? People lose hope. It doesn't take long for a financial nightmare to snowball. Life is hard and we will have times when we see no hope for the future. As we begin our study in the life of Joseph, we find why Christians always have hope, no matter the darkness of their future.

When the Titanic hit an iceberg, there were 2,224 on board. 712 were in the lifeboats, most of whom were women and children. Why did so many men willingly go to their icy death? They knew it was their role to protect and serve women and children. In this second message of on biblical masculinity and femininity, we learn how our gender roles impact our daily life in marriage, church and the rest of life.

When we sin in a big way or fail Jesus again and again, how does he fail about us? While others condemn, berate and humiliate us, what does Jesus do? Join myself and Pastor Jordan Gowing at the 2016 CrossWinds family reunion in Arnold's Park as we look at the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8.

Sometimes we do things that are a waste of time. When all our hard work is finished, there is not much to say for all our effort. Discover what is one of the most worthwhile investments you can make with your life.

Some choices in life are critical. As we study the genealogy of Esau, we learn two critical choices in his life that set his descendants up for disaster. This chapter wants us to learn from Esau so we can avoid the same mistakes he made.

On the back side of great moments in our walk with God, we are susceptible to sluggishness and spiritual lows. It is easy to become complacent and drift into a life that doesn't worship God. This happened to Jacob and it can easily happen to us. In those times, God allows us to experience the fruits of our sin to snap us out of our spiritual stupor. Those hard times are the tools he uses to call us to renewal in him.

Isn't partial obedience better then no obedience when it comes to obeying God? Isn't close enough good enough? In this chapter we see the consequences of Jacob's partial obedience and how his family suffered when he didn't pay attention to obeying God's Word. In a similar way, giving casual attention to obeying God can lead to unintended disaster in our lives as well.

What do you do when a marriage breaks up? What can we do to try and put a broken relationship back together? In this message we look at the restoration of some of the most bitter enemies—Jacob and Esau, and see what we can learn from their restored relationship that we can apply to our broken relationships.

This past week Mohammed Ali died. He was known as the greatest fighters in history. His most famous fight was known as "The Fight Of The Century" against Joe Frazier in Madison Square Garden. Frazier won in 15 rounds via unanimous decision. In life we face some fights that change us. In this chapter, Jacob faced one of them as he wrestled with Jesus until morning. Amazingly, Jacob won by losing. Join us in discovering how losing some of the greatest fights in our life is the key to winning.

Warren Buffett is considered one of the most successful men in business. Many people turn to him to learn business success. While Warren has helpful advice, what does the Bible say is behind a successful business. Join us as we learn the answer.

After the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize gay marriage, Nathan Collier of Montana applied for a marriage license for his second wife. He noted Chief Justice John Roberts dissenting vote on the legalization of gay marriage which pointed out polygamous relationships can make the same argument for their legalization as homosexual relationships. Are polygamous marriages a man's dream? Do they result in more happiness or greater frustration? In this study we follow the marriage of Jacob to four women and see God's grace to one of the Bible's most dysfunctional families.

General Hospital is the longest running American soap opera. It first aired in 1963. Its remained incredibly popular because it kept viewers on the edge of their seats with risqué dating relationships,marital infidelities and love triangles. Women looking for intrigue or relational mystery tuned in to follow the over-the-top relationships of the Quartermaines and the Spencers. This kind of salivating drama is not just found on daytime television. It happened in the Bible. As an amazing demonstration of God's sovereignty, Genesis shows us how God uses our relational messes as part of his master plan to shape us into the image of Christ.