The Clear & Present Faith Podcast

People living their faith in the every day

recent posts

  • God’s Plan

    Satan attempts to drag us down via deception. He is, after all, the father of lies (John 8:44). He will lie about many things. But I think one of the more impactful lies he tells is that our plans are better than God’s plan for our lives.

    Our society (particularly American culture) places a strong emphasis on planning:

    • Meal prep/fitness routines/healthcare
    • An educational/career path
    • Retirement (sneak preview: this will be the topic of an upcoming discussion on the podcast)
    • Your estate

    Most of us use some kind of planner whether you leverage a paper planner, a digital tool, or some combination thereof. And there are some who have a very difficult time if plans don’t go…welll…according to plan. 

    God’s plan for us may not be evident in the moment. Consider what He told the children of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah:

    For this is what the LORD says: “When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the LORD’S declaration — “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you” — this is the LORD’S declaration — “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you” — this is the LORD’S declaration. “I will restore you to the place I deported you from.” (Jeremiah 29:10-14)

    The Hebrews were probably not excited about this plan. I doubt that many of them had 70 years under the control of Babylon on their to do list. How disruptive this message must have been. But, God tells them that in the end, He will restore them.

    There will be times that God’s way will not make sense to us because His thoughts and ways are so far beyond what we are able to comprehend (Isaiah 55:8-9). We won’t understand why certain people come and go in our lives. We won’t understand why we lost that job. We won’t understand why that loved one died.

    But here’s the thing I think we need to remember – we won’t understand in the moment…we will understand in eternity.

    A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12)

  • Building the Muscle

    What is involved in the process of building muscle? And I don’t mean “what do you have to do to build muscle?” We know that requires weight training and discipline. What I mean is what is involved in the biological process of building muscle at the cellular level?

    I’m not a biology professor (though one of my previous guests on the podcast is), nor am I medical professional (though I have talked with one). So, I did what most of us do and turned to “Dr. Google” to better explain:

    • Lifting heavying things strains muscle fibers and creates “micro-damage” in muscle structure.
    • This stress activates “satellite cells” – helper cells that send chemical messages saying “we need to get stronger.”
    • As a result, the body builds new muscle proteins. When the rate of new protein creation exceeds the rate of breakdown, muscle fibers grow larger and thicker.

    In short, building physical muscle requires doing hard things that will be painful at first, then will produce a new, better state of being.

    Growing in our relationship with God, living as one of His children, is no different. It’s not as if we come a Christian and God uploads a new operating system that directs how are are to live our lives. We have to put in the effort:

    His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    And as we put in that effort, we are going to encounter circumstances designed to push us, to challenge our faith. We just have to remember the outcome of those challenges: maturity and wholeness. I leave you today with a prayer for our growth and the words of James 1:2-4:

    Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

  • Speak with Boldness

    In last week’s blog post, we talked about how the Pharisees targeted Jesus regarding various things He and His disciples were doing on the Sabbath, things they viewed as a violation of Jewish law. They did this repeatedly in an attempt to find a way to charge Jesus with a crime and to silence Him.

    They weren’t successful…

    In Luke 12:1, we read: “Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to His disciples first, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

    A couple of things to pull out of this passage:

    1. There were a lot of people coming to see Jesus. This speaks to people’s curiosity and/or desire to hear what He had to say.
    2. They were enthusiastic to hear this message. When I picture this idea of “trampling on one another,” I see a group of people who are pressing harder and harder into one another to get close enough to listen. It reminds me of images of people flooding into retails stores on Black Friday (before you could do it easily on Amazon from the comfort of your couch while you ate Thanksgiving leftovers) to get the best deals on things they thought would improve their lives or make them happier.
    3. With these two things happening, it seems to me one thing is clear: there were a lot of people and they were trying to get close enough to hear Jesus. This combination of desire and intent are the key elements of a captivated audience who are ready to hear your message.

    And with all of this happening, what did Jesus do? He spoke the truth. A warning about their leaders. He did this knowing full well the hearts of the Pharisees and their desire to find a charge against Him (Luke 6:7-8). And yet, Jesus said the thing that needed to be said.

    Consider also Peter and John in Acts 4. They were arrested for proclaiming Jesus (v. 1-4) and are brought before the Jewish leaders (v. 5-21). After hearing the boldness of their speech and with no legitimate charge to lay against them, they resorted to threatening them to remain silent. We’re talking about people with a lot of power. Power enough to have had Jesus crucified at the hands of the Romans. And yet, Peter and John not only spoke boldly, but they prayed for further courage and resolve to speak the truth:

    “And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that Your servants may speak Your word with all boldness…When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:29, 31)

    There are times where speaking the truth will be frightening. Satan is going to try to tell us that succumbing to that fear, taking the easy path, is the preferred option. May we instead find the courage to speak God’s truth and know that any earthly discomfort we may feel as a result will be far outweighed by His eternal reward for us.

  • A Change of Heart

    The Pharisees of Jesus’s time were quite hard-headed. There are many examples of why this was the case. Here is a series of four on a central them:

    • In Luke 6:1-5, the Pharisees criticize Jesus’s disciples as they plucked heads of grain and rubbed them between their hands to eat them on the Sabbath.
    • In Luke 6:6-11, they watched in earnest to see whether or not Jesus would heal a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath so they could find something to charge Him with.
    • In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus heals a woman “disabled by a spirit” on the Sabbath and the leader of the synagogue becomes indignant, talking to the people about how there are six other days of the week to do work.
    • In Luke 14:1-6, the Pharisees (once again) watched Him closely to see if He would heal a man “swollen with fluid” on the Sabbath.

    The Pharisees repeatedly tried to argue with Jesus, lay charge against Him over things He did on the Sabbath, their holy day of rest. In all of these cases, Jesus responded to them to illustrate their hypocrisy (Luke 6:3-4, 9; 13:15-16; Luke 14:5) and His own deity (Luke 6:5). He actually declared His deity after the first confrontation. Yet, the Pharisees came back to the topic again, and again, and again as if they had not learned the lesson the first time.

    It can be very easy for us to look at these situations from a 30,000-foot view and identify how obstinate the Pharisees were. Yet, how often is that us? How often do we have to “learn our lesson” multiple times before it finally sinks in? Proverbs 26:11 warns us of this: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so also a fool repeats his foolishness. The writer uses some pretty graphic (and, well…gross) imagery to illustrate what it looks like when we continually return to our sin; when we make those same mistakes over and over. Change is hard; change of heart can be even harder.

    There are a lot of things we have to do in order to effect that change. 2 Peter 1:5-8 helps to give us a road map of what that path to change requires: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Pursuit of these things will help us to grow our hearts and mature in our service to Him.

  • Healing in Honduras (and Thailand)

    This episode continues my conversation with Micah Richeson where he tells us about the chiropractic missions he’s done in Honduras and Thailand. His work serves as a reminder that we can use our talents in many ways to serve God, plus sometimes evangelism is as simple as asking someone if they have any questions about Jesus.

    I hope you enjoy the second half of my conversation with Micah Richeson.

    You can find a list of the platforms on which we’re live on The Podcast webpage. Thanks for tuning in!

  • Light is Meant to be Seen

    Living our faith every day can be challenging. This world, at times, tries to tell us that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves, that we should “go along in order to get along.” Society tells us that hard truths should not be shared out of respect for another person’s safety.

    Here’s the thing: we are instructed to be light…

    You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

    …and light was not meant to be hidden. Light is meant to reveal, energize, and cleanse. What are some of the consequences of hiding our light?

    1. Putting our light under a basket will eventually burn it out – I remember learning about the importance of oxygen for combustion in middle school science. To illustrate this, the teacher lit a candle and put a glass beaker over it. Eventually, the flame exhausted the available oxygen and burned out. If we hide our lights, we eventually unlearn how to shine. This impacts us spiritually and, as a result….
    2. God will not be glorified – In some cases, you may be the best (or only) influence on another person for the good of God’s kingdom. When people see our good works, it might give them pause to say “Something is different about him. I wonder what it is. Maybe I should ask?” And it is up to us to be prepared to give an answer (1 Peter 3:15).

    We are instructed to be light, and light was not meant to be hidden. I pray you will have many opportunities to shine your light this week.

  • Bringing Balance to Healing (S1E10)

    Episode 10 is live! 10 episodes! Thank you to everyone who has tuned in. And, especially thank you for your patience as this episode was delayed by a week. We’ll be resuming our biweekly release schedule now (next episode is already edited, assembled, and scheduled to publish on 7/28!).

    Medicine and healing take on many different forms. And while some approaches focus on managing the current state – the symptoms, the reactions, etc. – other focus on bringing balance to help the body maintain health naturally. Chiropractic care certainly falls into the latter category.

    Micah Richeson is a chiropractor who runs a successful practice in Wesley Chapel, FL. In the first half of this discussion, Micah talks about what its like to be in the “family business,” the benefits of chiropractic care, and lessons learned as an entrepreneur managing his own business. I hope you’re having a great day and here’s the first part of my discussion with Micah Richeson.

    You can find a list of the platforms on which we’re live on The Podcast webpage. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Micah Richeson.

  • Love Your Enemy

    It seems to be the goal of some people to get even. “You did wrong to me, so I’ll do wrong to you.” Perhaps it even goes a step further and the goal is no longer to get even but to one up the other person. “You made me look bad in front of a peer, so I’ll make you look bad in front of our boss.” Enemies are to be demeaned and defeated.

    Now, let’s contrast that notion with what we see in John 13…

    Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Him. Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. So He got up from supper, laid aside His outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him. (v. 2-5)

    When I write these blog posts, I try not to spend a lot of time talking about what the Bible does not say as I find what it does say to be much more powerful. However, in this instance, I think it is worth noting what this passage does not say. Verse 5 does not read that Jesus “…began to wash His disciples’ feet…except for Judas for Judas was about to betray Him.” We can see from the rest of the context in John 13 that Jesus knew Judas would betray Him (see v. 21-28). Judas would be the one to lead a band of soldiers to arrest Jesus (John 18:2-3). And, yet, He washed Judas’ feet just as He did all of the other disciples present. He didn’t differentiate Judas as His enemy.

    Is this the approach we take? Do we follow the instructions we see in the Bible…

    • You have heard it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven… (Matthew 5:43-45a)
    • But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28)
    • If you enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)

    This isn’t easy. When someone wrongs us or those we love, it can be difficult to behave as Jesus did with Judas. Yet, it is part of our role to be peacemakers so that the world will see we are children of God (Matthew 5:9).

  • Freedom

    This past weekend there were big celebrations all over the United States as we celebrated the 250th anniversary (or the semiquincentennial for those of you who really like the details) of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers sought freedom from a number of things that we won’t go into here since this is not a history blog. Suffice it to say, they recognized both the importance and necessity of freedom in their lives.

    We still struggle to find freedom today. Jesus tells us in John 8:34, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” It doesn’t matter where you live, Satan is constantly trying to defeat us, and “…people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.” (2 Peter 2:19). In the last 30 days, the blog has seen readers in the United States, China, Canada, South Africa, The Philippines, The Netherlands, and The United Kingdom. Wherever you are, sin will trap you and entangle you (Proverbs 5:22).

    There is, however, hope. And that hope is the grace of God and the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In John 8:31-32, speaking to the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Following Christ leads to a freedom from sin and death:

    Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

    So, as we focus on the idea of freedom, let’s remember what true freedom actually is and where it will lead us in eternity. Praying you all have a great week, walking in freedom.

    A brief note about the next episode of the podcast:

    To everyone who’s been listening to the podcast, I greatly appreciate your support. The next episode will drop on Tuesday, July 14 with Dr. Micah Richeson as he talks about his work as a chiropractor and entrepreneur, God’s amazing design of the human body, and his overseas chiropractic missions. The regular, biweekly release schedule will resume at that point. We’ll “talk” soon!

  • The Pursuit of Happiness

    In just a few days, the United States will celebrate our Independence Day. That day 250 years ago, delegates from the colonies gathered in Philadelphia in what is now known as Independence Hall, drafted, and signed a document designed to separate us from the rule of England. Among other things, they wrote:

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…

    It’s the pursuit of happiness that I want to talk about a little today. It seems to me that this turn of phrase in our Declaration of Independence is one of the catalysts (if not the catalyst) for the creation of “The American Dream.” People in this country want it. People from outside of this country come here for it. They search for it often in possessions (houses, cars) and position. And when they can’t achieve it, they are discontent, discouraged, and disheartened. 

    Happiness does not come from such things. There is only one true, lasting source of happiness:

    Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

    Our joy comes from God. It will naturally be part of the fruit we bear as His children (Galatians 5:22-23). It provides us with strength and security (Nehemiah 8:10). We can feel better physically and mentally because of it (Proverbs 17:22). And it will be accompanied by peace and hope (Romans 15:13).

    So, certainly pursue happiness – the happiness that comes from serving God. I leave you today with the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

    Rejoice always. Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.