The Daily Growth Discipleship Podcast

The Bible is filled with things that are sometimes hard to understand. The earliest portions of the Bible were written over three thousand years ago, and the latest portions were written almost two thousand years ago. There's a lot that's changed in the world since then, and that leads to a lot of difficult questions at times, even for experienced Christians. So today Chris and Josh are joined by Chris' brother Joe who asks some of those difficult questions.

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We each have an inner story about who we think we are. This self-narrative guides our lives and the decisions we make. Are we the kind of person who goes skydiving? Or are we the kind of person who buys a boat, or goes camping, or lives in an apartment and not a house? The answers to these questions really have to do with our identity; who we are. As Seth Godin describes, “People like us do things like this." But what happens when the narrative we’ve created for ourselves can no longer support us? What happens when our life falls apart and we are forced to re-evaluate who we are. This experience can shake us to our core and send us spiraling into the depths of depression. This is the experience Juanita describes in her book, Learning to Be, as the identity she has built for herself had to be torn down so that God could reveal to her who He had created her to be.

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Even though 2020 is over, 2021 doesn’t promise to be any better. We can hope, of course. But we must be ready for the challenges that will come our way this year. And that means our work to create a lifestyle of discipleship is more important than ever. So this year, we are excited to continue our work of bringing you incredible guests on the podcast. We are also looking forward to expanding our YouTube channel as a place where we can share our journeys with you as we work to create a lifestyle of discipleship. So this week on the podcast, Josh and Chris discuss their hopes and plans for the Daily Growth Discipleship in 2021.

Advent is here! Whether you observe it or not, 2020 has probably left you hoping for something better than what you've experienced so far this year. The good news is that God is with you, just as he was with his people throughout all of history and will continue to be with his people forever. Advent is a chance to set aside time to remember this truth. In this episode Josh and Chris unpack the value of celebrating Advent and setting aside time to remember God is with us and the hope we have as we look forward to his final coming.

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Every decision we make is motivated by some desire we have. And for most of us in the US, that means a desire for more. We want more money, a larger house, more safety, more happiness, and... well, just more. But when we look at Scripture, this pursuit of more may not be the way Jesus intended us to live a lifestyle of discipleship. It's difficult to read Philippians 4 where Paul tells about his secret of contentment and at the same time think American capitalism and consumerism are what Paul's lifestyle would look like. In this episode, Chris Nye talks about what he's finding to be valuable for living a lifestyle of discipleship while at the same time living in a culture where there's always a pressure to consume more. It could be that Less of More is a better way to be more like Jesus.

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As followers of Christ, one of our primary tools for knowing Him and His will is the Bible. In fact, we often proclaim that it is THE primary way for us to know who God is. But have you ever asked yourself "why"? Why do Christians believe in the Bible is authoritative in our lives?

Asking this question isn't a sign that you have weak faith. On the contrary! It shows that you are maturing. Mature disciples ask these kinds of questions because we have a desire to go deeper in our relationship with God. We don't want to rest on the legacy or word of our parents. We want to grow our faith so that it is able to stand on its own two feet. We believe that if God is really behind Scripture and is working in our lives to reveal Himself to us, then there are no questions we could ask that could ever dismiss the truth of who He is or what He's done.

So in this episode, Josh and Chris explore why the Bible is one of Christianity's most valuable tools for seeking to know God.

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The United States has a very important election coming up in less than a week. The nation is more polarized than ever before, and this polarization is even reflected in the Church. But this is unfortunate considering where our allegiance as Christians should lie: with Christ and His Kingdom. So the question we wanted to talk with Dr. Snavely about is how should we as Christians understand our role in politics, and especially how should we respond on November 4th when the election is over. Ultimately, our hope isn't in who wins or who loses the election. Our hope and trust is in God who sits on the thrown.

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Life is a journey. It sounds cliche, but there's a truth in that statement, especially for Christians as they strive to live a lifestyle of discipleship. When it comes to spiritual formation, we often think that process is meant to form only one part of our journey, the spiritual part. But this misses out on the beautiful whole of our life God wants to shape and form. He doesn't just want to shape our spirit, but our heart, mind, behaviors, and relationships as well. He wants to shape everything in us to be like him. But this process is a journey that takes time. It takes time because we don't naturally want to let him make these changes. In this episode, Gary Moon, unpacks a few of the ways God wants to shape us. His experience in psychology and spiritual formation, along with his wit and humor are a refreshing perspective on what it means to live a lifestyle of discipleship.

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The enneagram has become a popular tool and topic of discussion over the last few years. Everyone seems to be taking online tests to discover their type and comparing their results with friends, family, and co-workers. But the enneagram is more than just a personality test that shows us our quirks and preferences. It is a tool that can help us, as disciples, draw closer to God. As AJ Sherrill talks about in this episode, the enneagram isn’t a Christian tool. But it is a human tool that can be used to help us discover our true identities by revealing to us the masks we’ve used to hide from the world. It can also help us create practices that help us grow more deeply in our walk with Christ. The enneagram is not a mystical or all-powerful tool. But it can, if we use it well, help us gain a deeper awareness of our motivations and insecurities that keep us from seeing who God is calling us to be. In the end, the enneagram is a tool that can help us create a lifestyle of discipleship.

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In John 17, Jesus prayed that we, his people, would be one as he and the father are one. If we've learned anything from the year 2020, it's that we still have a long way to go before we see Jesus' prayer become a full reality in the American church. Whether it's factions within a church fighting over carpet colors, or people fighting over wearing masks or not wearing masks, or working out how to respond to issues of racism, we are far from united. In this episode, Irwyn joins us to talk about the beautiful community of God's people and the reasons unity is a struggle for so many of us. Learning to walk with others in unity as Irwyn describes is a big part of what it takes to create a lifestyle of discipleship.

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Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. But what if we don’t act lovingly towards ourselves? We are all guilty of negative self-talk. We say things to ourselves that we would never say to another human being. But we feel justified because no one else knows about it. But if we can’t love and take care of ourselves, we won’t do the same for others. If God’s love is to truly be the driving force in our lives, then we must and stop tearing ourselves down with negative self-talk and destructive habits. As Cindy teaches us in this episode, we need to learn to be kind to ourselves so that God's love can fill our lives and bring us joy. If we are not able to love ourselves, then we won’t be able to effectively love those around us.

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God is present with you in every moment of your life. Think about the reality of that statement. Whether it's the most mundane tasks you do or the once-in-a-lifetime experiences, God, your father, is with you wanting to enjoy life with you. And he does this with both his grace and his truth. Learning to live the Jesus Way in grace and truth is challenging at times, but as we practice the way of Jesus with the truth of Jesus, we find we're living the Jesus life. In this episode, Alan Fadling joins us again and helps us understand the value of Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life in a way that will help anyone striving to live a lifestyle of discipleship.

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