Forgivin' Livin' Daily Podcast
Our podcasts are 5-8 minutes in length. We create these messages using one or two brief verses from the Bible that come from a devotional book. Our purpose is to help you hear the grace of Jesus in these verses so that your life may find its grounding in Christ alone. It is this grounding in grace that makes forgivin’ livin’ your way of freedom.
11/03/2024
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00(Sundaycast) Saints Live Differently Because We “Have It Made” (Ps 62:10; 1 Tim 6:18)
Jesus begins “The Sermon on the Mount” with these words of blessing which have been called “the Beatitudes.” It comes from the Latin word, “beatituda” meaning “blessedness.” These words of blessing are often used on the Sunday near “All Saints Day” (November 1) as a reminder that God’s saints live lives with a different purpose or power. In our podcast today, we explore how as God’s saints, we gain the power from our Lord to live with an eternal world view because we have already received the blessing which each of the “Beatitudes” promises. Jesus uses the Greek word “makarios” which described the aristocracy and it means we “have it made.” However we sometimes fail to experience the joy of these blessings, which mean we “have it made” with God. One of the reasons we miss out is we do not renounce those things which come between us and the blessing our Lord is giving us. You will hear us talk about some of these renunciations today. As you meditate on these blessings you will discover what you need to renounce to live with the claims that Christ is making for you instead of those the enemy is tempting you to trust. You may notice the color chosen for the “Beatitudes” is the color that combines the colors used for the two political parties in America, red and blue. As you pray today and through the elections this week and beyond, consider how these blessings from Jesus, free you to be purple in a country divided by red and blue.
11/02/2024
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00(Mission Cast) Our Commendation Is From The Lord (1 Samuel 26:23; 1 Corinthians 4:5)
The natural law is that we reap from we sow. If you sow apple seeds you will reap apples, not olives. Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruit.” What kind of fruit do we produce? We are sinners, our lives produce the fruit of sin and the wage for that is death. What kind of fruit does God, in Christ, produce? He is righteous. His seed, the work of the cross, sown into our lives, produces faith and receives his righteousness and forgiveness. Our commendation is not ourselves but Christ alone and what he has done for us. Mim is traveling in Utah and Idaho. She shares the “Daily Texts” with her hosts, Ryan and Anique. Jeff is in Utah but is dialoguing with an old friend from his past, as he quotes T.S. Eliot’s “Choruses from ‘The Rock’, 1934.” Enjoy!
11/01/2024
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00God’s Love Creates Saints Out Of Sinners (Hosea 14:4; Matt 6:13)
“All Saints Day” sometimes makes us think of people whose behavior has made them so special we can’t imagine ever being like them. You may know people like this. We think about people like this in the history of Christianity. The problem with our thought process is that we are making them into something they could never have made themselves. They were made saints by God. They are evidence of God‘s good work transforming sinners into saints. You are also a part of that process of being made a saint by God. it may not be evident to you, but it certainly is evident to people who knew how awful you used to be and how much kinder you are now. So give thanks to your Father for any person you know whom He is changing. And know that the Spirit is also changing you. As it says in 2nd Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
10/31/2024
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00Theta Proud (Psalm 20
On this door in 1517, October 31, Martin Luther began the Reformation by posting 95 Theses which challenged the sale of indulgences. He wanted to debate this issue. But his document got printed many times and within a month most of Christendom had read or heard of this document. 4 OF THE 95 THESES Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. 1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. 2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy. 3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh. 4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self (that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
10/30/2024
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00Outcomes That Are God Blessed(Deut 28:12; 1 Cor 15:58)
These four cabins at Mount Carmel are all full tonight, at the end of October. God has filled these cabins with seven of us who are on a retreat here and with 8 students who are at the Tech School in Alexandria. It is our Lord who blesses our undertakings. When we, Sonja and Johan, were working here, we tried to fill these year round cabins and others like them as often as possible when the summer was over. But our effort felt like it was in vain. We had four students here in 2012 staying here for the winter. It just did not work. But now, 12 years later, there are 39 people who are here as overnight midweek guests (some for a few days and some for 8 months). And in the morning a bus arrives with students who are part of a Christian day school. 40 youth from 3rd to 7th grade will show up to study all day in our chapel basement while six students in the year long Awaken Project study the Bible upstairs in the chapel( along with us older folks who leave today). The lodge is full of ladies here who love to quilt. It is wonderful to see this place fully being used. God is doing it! And God will do the same for you since your labor will not be in vain!
10/29/2024
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10/28/2024
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00Trip Into The Challenge Of Jesus (Psalm 16:10; John 11:25 26)
“Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving?” These lines begin the poem by GM Hopkins, “Spring and Fall.” It’s one of my favorite poems. It describes in wonderful language the curse under which all of us are born. And the poem ends by facing us with this reality that we cannot hold on to the beauty of our lives in the manner for which we long much like we cannot hold onto the beauty of the fall leaves. Our podcast system of writing does not adequately give you the words of this poem in the manner it deserves. So you need to read it somewhere else but its message points us to the Daily Texts today where the threat of life’s end is always upon us. Jesus confronts our own anguish about the end of life by asking us one of the hardest questions about life and death. He forces us to face his question because until we do, we do not have life.
10/27/2024
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00(Sundaycast) Reforming Our Image Of God (Deut 6:4; 1 Cor 12:6)
Reformation Sunday gives us the opportunity to consider how Martin Luther came to a living faith in the God who today says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord Alone.” Our podcast gives you some creative ways to grasp the challenges that Luther faced and that all humans face in trusting in this word alone about our God. We also remind you that our retreat begins at “Mount Carmel today.” This is a time for prayer, praise and pondering together. Our time will give us opportunity for hearing God’s word spoken in Bible study of the four gospels. We will reflect each evening on one of the “solas” (alone) of the Reformation. We will begin tonight with Word Alone, Monday will be Grace Alone and Tuesday, Faith Alone. We ask your prayers for us as we gather for this time together. “Wittenberg tomorrow” will be shared tomorrow, in the Monday podcast.
10/26/2024
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00(Mission Cast) “The Lord Is Our Shepherd” (Ps 23:1; John 10:11)
Jeff and Mim talk about shepherds, sheep and sheep dogs and how they relate to God being our Shepherd as in Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34 and John 10. Here is a picture of our son Jonthan’s new dog! Her name is Stevie (Nicks). She is a Blue Heeler and Australian Shepherd mix. This dog is only 5 weeks old, yet knows she is connected to sheep. And, the sheep know it, too. The dog is bred to tend sheep. We are like sheep and we were designed to have a shepherd. We know it intuitively. The Lord is our Shepherd and we can rest securely in his protection and love.
10/25/2024
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00Your Godly Instruction Leads To A Saving Faith (Proverbs 4:13; 2 Tim 3:14 15)
Reading aloud to your children and grandchildren is a gift that the Holy Spirit will use to help them all through life. Take time every opportunity to read or to tell stories to these precious people in your life. You can even create a reading time for your neighbors’ children. We all love to be read to. God uses these times to bless all of you. Consider where this may be a gift you can give.