Commonfolk

Episode 32: The Process

We all go through periods of life that seem to be a slow trudge. We grow impatient, disheartened, and frustrated with an inability to see the vision - where this is all going. We forget that God is working in the background. It's all going somewhere. Seeing it all come to fruition is a process. Whether we see it or not, the process is a blessing. 

Episode 31: Perspective and Alignment

Just like a car that becomes out of alignment, we do not function properly when our spiritual lives become out of alignment. When our personal lives, family lives and work lives are not in alignment with our spiritual lives, an already complex life becomes even more complicated. How can we keep things in alignment? It all begins with perspective.  

Episode 30: Keep It Simple - Less Is More

Busyness is one of the greatest obstacles to living out our faith in Christ. We've all heard the wise life principle "keep it simple." That applies to faith as well. When we allow our lives to become too jam-packed with busyness, even good activities can be detrimental. This does not mean that we will not have busy moments of life. This does mean that we have to be intentional about leaving space to nurture our relationship with God. Much like house-cleaning, we must occasionally take stock of what occupies our time and decide what to "keep or toss," with the understanding that often less is more. 

Episode 29: Perfect Imperfection

Many of us are pursuing perfection in life. While it may be a noble effort, the pursuit of perfection eventually becomes a trap. That is because perfection is rarely attainable, and is almost always unrealistic. In fact, it is clear in God's Word that we are not expected to be perfect. Jesus died for our imperfections. If perfection is our primary goal, we are certain to fail and likely to give up. By embracing imperfection, we are certain to encounter opportunities to learn and grow.

Episode 28: Freedom from People-Pleasing

People pleasers unite! The holiday season is prime time for the struggle of people-pleasing to resurface in our lives. But people-pleasing is not God's plan for us. It's impossible to seek God in our lives while also aiming to make everyone around us happy. It is God's heart for us to be free from the crippling pressures and expectations of pleasing people. There is no better time to declare freedom from people-pleasing than now!  

Episode 27: What’s Your Name?

Names are important. They set us apart from others, can carry historical significance, and can even describe characteristics about us. Some of us are known by multiple names; different names to different people. Some of us love our names while others despise them. But when someone calls us by a particular name, we can choose whether to answer to it or not. We can embrace the name or reject it. God has a name for each of us and it's our choice whether we accept it or not, and the world has a name for us as well and it's our choice whether we reject it or not.   

Episode 26: Who’s To Blame Here?

Episode 25: Review the Rules

It has been instilled upon us since childhood: their are rules associated with almost everything in life. So we tend to think about rules more than we realize, and while they may be restrictive we desire them because they give us some sense of structure and security. This human desire carries into faith as well. We tend to apply rules to faith (and call it religion) - some biblical, some not - for ourselves and others to follow. But Jesus spent much of his time addressing such rules, and despite what He said, many folks are still bound by religious rules today. Today we're going to talk about freedom from such rules. 

Episode 24: Into the Storm

Often our human nature causes us to default to a victim mindset as soon as we face storms in life. We then live a life in bondage to that mindset. The Israelites fought this victim mindset and lived in bondage to it constantly. But when they chose to face it head on by crossing the Red Sea, the bondage was put to death. Just like a buffalo, when we choose to head "into the storm" we become free of the victim mindset and get to experience what God has for us on the other side. 

Episode 23: The Body is Better With You in It

We're all different. While society may be getting better at embracing differences, we still tend to become like those around us - often masking our true selves. We do this to avoid the "tension" that results from being different. But that's not how the Body of Christ was designed. The church needs people to embrace their differences to function correctly. Do we create our character, or does God? Who are we being called to be? The Body of Christ is different, and better, when we're in it as our true selves.