297. Pray, Read Bible, Witness - Legalism or Life?

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Continuing on with our theme that we began last week, this week we take a look at a few more things that may be considered "good news" by some but really amount to nothing more that "bad news." Or sometimes they may really be good news from a certain perspective, but have often been turned into bad news in the church today.

What about the "spiritual disciplines" (as they're often called in the church) of prayer, Bible reading and witnessing? These are some of the first activities or "disciplines" that people are introduced to when they come into a church or "discipleship" setting. All too often they are perhaps looked at with great joy at first, and people make great attempts to follow through on these activities frequently and faithfully... only to have them become heavy and burdensome activities over time. These things end up becoming lifeless laws and rules in the lives of sincere people.

So what would we say to give a "good news" perspective on these things? Listen in as we talk about these things as expressions of Christ's life in us rather than legalistic rules and rituals to follow.

Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

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296. Repent: To Think Differently

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As most people know, the word "gospel" means "good news." So if someone is sharing the gospel, then it ought to be good news for the person who's hearing it! But yet much of what passes as "gospel" or "good news" in the church today really amounts to nothing more than bad news. For the next few weeks, we're going to be taking a look at some of the things that are known as gospel or good news these days, and contrast them with what the Bible really says is good news.

This week we'll start with the word "repent." It's often said that in order to be saved a person needs to repent. Quite often when people use that word, they mean "turn from sin" or "stop sinning." But if it's up to a person to stop sinning in order to be saved, doesn't that mean that they are saved by their own works/behavior? Is that really good news? Is that really the gospel?

We'll take a look at what the word "repent" really means and we'll also look at just what a person is repenting from and repenting to. The word itself really has nothing to do with changing your behavior, but really with changing what you believe.

Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

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295. What Does It Mean To Believe?

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We're taking a little bit of a different direction this week, talking about "belief." What is belief? What does it mean to believe? Is there any given specific way through which people believe? Perhaps this week we present more questions than answers, but we thought it would be a neat subject to explore.

Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

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294. Growing in Grace

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Obviously with the title of this podcast being called "Growing in Grace," that's the gist of what we hope to encourage listeners in week after week. So what does it mean to "grow in grace"? Does it have anything to do with progressively becoming a "better" Christian? Does it have to do with striving to become better in our performance of living the Christian life?

We don't think so. Rather than trying to become "better" and rather than focusing on self-improvement, we believe that God has already given us all things and has already made us to be all that we are meant to be, and "growing in grace" means to grow in the expression of who we already are. It means to learn more and more about who God is and who we are in Him (our true identity) and to trust in Him to express His life through us.

Take the pressure off of yourself to perform for God or to improve your performance for Him and instead dig your roots deep down into the fertile soil of His love and grace!

Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

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