Life Over Coffee

Shows Main Idea – Small group life can be an amazing experience, or it could be the most frustrating part of your week. Knowing how to lead a group well while envisioning the members as active participants does not happen without a game plan that includes understanding, intentionality, and equipping. Here are eight essentials that every small leader needs to know to make the most of their small group experience. After you have read the essential and provided a brief explanation, will you answer the question for each essential? Perhaps sharing your conclusions and solutions with a friend would further instill these truths into your life and small group experience. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-93-eight-essentials-for-an-exceptional-small-group-experience/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Lust does not mysteriously appear in the heart of a teenager as though it came from nowhere. Teens are like the rest of us. Lust is part of their Adamic wiring, a sobering call for every parent to cooperate with God in shaping a child’s heart and life to a purer desire that is in Christ alone. This call is more than academic; the parent must model their message, giving their child a living illustration of God’s love to another person. Let me illustrate this point by sharing the fictional account of Biffina that shines a light on a real-world problem that is not fictional in too many of our young people’s lives. Read More: https://lifeovercoffee.com/how-can-i-get-guys-to-lust-after-me/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Most of the counseling that I do is marriage counseling because it is in the context of marriage, where two sinful people have to live within proximity to each other for an extended period. Most other relationships have an exit strategy. Kids can leave the home—eventually. Friends can unfriend each other on social media. Like good wood, church folks can split, too. However, in marriage, it’s death or divorce, making the degree of difficulty for leaving more complex. What if a couple had a biblical strategy, creating a restorative pathway to bring hope and help to their covenant while staving off the worst possible scenario? Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/powerful-and-practical-questions-to-change-your-marriage/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Strangers marry each other, and whoever you marry, you marry all of them, including their mind. Though you trust God with your future marriage partner and hope for the best, you know there is an element of mystery about how things will go because you will never be 100% aware of who your marriage partner is. Though it sounds pessimistic, it is a recognition of your finitude and your responsibility to ensure that your dating relationship is a sober opportunity for clear-headed decision-making and courageous choices. For the girl, she must understand sexual temptation, specifically how it has affected her boyfriend. As my friend, Mable, was thinking about these things, she wrote me the following letter. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/i-need-advice-about-my-boyfriends-sexual-temptation/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Sex is a beautiful thing. A sinful sexual temptation is not, but giving into sexual temptation is worse. As fallen creatures, though redeemed by God, these temptations will always be part of our human experience. After the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, every person has struggled with distorted views of sex and sexual temptation. These problems are some of the universal assumptions you can make about anyone. We assume such things because of fallenness, but not out of condemnation. We have a mutual understanding of our human condition and need for transformative grace. In this chapter, I will be addressing every man’s battle with sex. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/why-men-struggle-with-sexual-temptation/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

A pastor shares his journey in counseling addiction, emphasizing collaboration and hope in overcoming struggles. The podcast delves into personal growth, cultural relevance, and the power of language in addressing addiction issues. It highlights the role of faith and community support in transforming lives.

Most of us understand the traditional definition of porn addiction. Typically, it’s in the context of a guy lusting after a girl. Active lust toward another person is the primary way porn is acted out in our culture, but it is no longer the exclusive twisted domain of men who won’t control their eyes and actions. There is another kind of porn addiction that is unique to women. It’s a backward porn addiction, as one lady told me during a counseling session. This porn addiction carries a similar idea of lusting, but directionally it’s different—the woman wants men to look at her. She attempts to capture the eyes of a man. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/backward-porn-addiction-when-women-draw-attention-to-themselves/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

While summer is an appreciated and welcomed relief from the blistering cold of winter—for those of us who have winters, it does bring a different difficulty to our lives. The summer months draw attention to our universal struggle with sex, sexuality, and temptation, with the modesty debates taking a prominent role in our conversations. The knee-jerk reaction is to blame our fallen counterparts without careful consideration of what the Bible says regarding universal depravity and every human’s temptation to turn what God intended for good into something that will tantalizes our lust-filled desires. The sober-mindedness of the mature believer considers personal responsibility and communal input. These careful Christians understand the sin’s complexities and their common blindspots that do not discriminate. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/too-much-skin-girl-too-much-skin-a-talk-on-modesty/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Shows Main Idea – Does the Great Commission apply to you? I'm assuming you are a Christian, and if so, how are you imitating the gospel and exporting the gospel to your sphere of influence? The question sounds elementary at first glance, but upon a deeper analysis, is there an argument for not obeying the Great Commission? If there is no argument, then how are you doing it? What does discipleship look like in your life? In this presentation, Rick helps us learn how to equip each other practically within their local churches. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-499-practical-soul-care-a-biblical-response-to-the-great-commission/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Newsflash: I have always known that something was wrong with me, but for the longest time, I did not know what it was. As I became older, I realized that it was an internal awkwardness, a sense of shame. To compensate for my soul dysfunction, crave acceptance or approval from others. I fell prey to self-generated value, even manipulating others to like me. I connected my value as a human to the opinions of others. It would have been a good day if they had given me the proverbial thumbs up. If they gave me the thumbs down, the clouds rolled in as I slithered away in search of significance another way. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/the-most-effective-way-to-feel-better-about-yourself/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.