Grow On The Go

How observant are you? There’s a difference between vision and sight -- when we focus on what’s important to us, we often miss what’s important to Jesus. Sometimes we might see an inconvenience, when Jesus sees a human in distress. This week on Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann talk about how easy it is to dismiss what we see, and how hard it is to make a decision to act. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Great Commission is the natural outflow of the Great Command. But to share one's faith without love as the motive may do more harm than good. This week, Donna and Kevann talk about the people who represent Jesus well, and how we can allow them to influence us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this weeks Share Show, Donna and Kevann explore the reasons they are attracted to and repelled by the cross. Grace and truth are two elements of the cross that make it possible for imperfect people to have a relationship with our perfect God. They explore Jesus’ interaction with a woman, who experienced Jesus’ gracious acceptance in the most humiliating exposure. The richest relationship we can experience is found at the intersection of grace and truth of the cross. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Followers of Jesus were given their job description in the form of a commission and a command. The command feels pretty overwhelming -- it’s to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Who is our neighbor? Literally everyone! The only thing more important to Jesus than loving everyone we encounter practically and unconditionally, is loving God with all we’ve got. Our love is supposed to be practical and excruciatingly inclusive and the only way we can do it is by depending on the Holy Spirit. This week, Donna and Kevann share about the people they struggle to love, and why. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shame can be a visceral experience -- it's an integral part of human emotion. This week on Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann discuss how shame is triggered, and how men / women experience shame differently. They share psychologically recommended strategies to rid the feeling, and explain the similar outlook between mental health professionals and the Bible. Jesus never heaps shame on us; Jesus knew how to shed shame, and when we know him, we can learn how. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us are only three questions away from tears. This week on Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann discuss the universal need to share our own personal stories with an empathetic listener. Sometimes representing Jesus means getting over ones own awkwardness and getting nosy enough to ask sensitive questions. Doing this often can access a vulnerable place in peoples' hearts, and introduce them to the Healer of Hearts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jesus was completely counter-culture when it came to the treatment of children. In ancient Middle Eastern cultures, children were often considered unimportant because they had no ability to contribute economically. Jesus raised their profile and value by embracing them, blessing them and making an example of them. He went as far as to say that offering a small kindness like a cup of cold water to a child was an act of love displayed to Him. We can love Jesus by loving on children and this episode looks at practical ways we can do that. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donna and Kevann talk about another weird event in Jesus life when he appeared to completely lose it in the temple. Was Jesus out of control or was there something else going on? Jesus was employing a technique his audience would recognize from the ancient Hebrew prophets to demonstrate how he hated that vulnerable people were being exploited. Jesus didn’t mind his own business and neither should we. What can we do to prevent the exploitation of others and what can we learn from what happened after Jesus chased the opportunists out of the temple? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Was Jesus' cursing of the fig tree just a side effect of being "hangry"? This week on Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann discuss why this living parable would have grabbed the attention of people who were there, and why Jesus suddenly pivoted to teaching about prayer in the shade of this withering tree. This leads into a greater conversation about what fruitfulness looks like, and the harm that we do when we're all leaf and no fruit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Donna tells a great story of re-gifting and very inventive gift-wrapping. The most original gift wrapping ever though, was wrapping God in the womb of a virgin. Donna and Kevann discuss the second-most famous Christmas gifts; the gifts of the Magi. Why were their specific gifts mentioned in the Bible and what was their significance? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who were the wise men? Where did they come from? Why did they visit the baby Jesus? This week on Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann dig into what the Bible (and other historical sources) tell us about the wise men. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's far too easy to make a distinction between "everyday" language, and the words we should be using / avoiding as Christians. This week on Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann talk about speech, and the kinds of speech that are acceptable. The Bible tells us our words are important -- God may not be shocked by profanity, but He's not necessarily a fan of it. "We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out." ~ Winston Churchill See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many people struggle to establish a regular time with God that feels life-giving. God has made each of us unique, and He wants us to relate to Him in a way that makes sense to how He wired us. Once you begin to embrace the practices that fill you with life and joy, you’ll never dread “doing devotions” again! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's often difficult to comprehend things that don't yield immediate, observable results. God gave us dominion over the planet-- we were instructed to take care of it, and to protect it. This week on Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann discuss the special type of leadership required to lovingly manage His creation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this weeks Share Show, Donna and Kevann apply the design concept of "negative space" to five areas of life. It's important to monitor how we're doing emotionally, financially, physically, spiritually, and punctually -- it can make a huge difference in the quality of our lives! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people like to be in control. But when storms roll into our lives, we quickly realize that we’re not. This week, Donna and Kevann discuss the three choices available to us when things get rocky, and the one question you need to ask before walking away from faith. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann discuss what makes us unique. Kevann is offended when someone calls her "bubbly", but appreciated when someone told her she loves "like an avalanche." This leads into a discussion about how early identity wounds can cause us to lose a part of ourselves, because we believed a lie that caused shame. Managing our memories in a productive way can free us to love ourselves and love others authentically! Our destiny is to become like Jesus but also to become like nobody else who has ever lived. Each of us worships God in a way no one else can. Our uniqueness isn’t just God’s gift to us-- it’s also our gift to Him! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do people outside the faith like Jesus but reject his church? It has to do with the way we’ve represented Jesus to the world. To represent him well we have to learn to love the way Jesus loved. This week, Donna and Kevann talk about the need to experience Jesus’ love personally before we can give it away effectively, sharing practical and proactive ways to do so. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this month’s Share Show, Donna and Kevann discuss the consequences of broken relationships, and how to resolve them. We can’t always restore a broken relationship -- sometimes we have to release it. When we are hurt, we often feel the need to punish the person who wounded us. The problem with this strategy is that it tethers us to the perpetrator. It's important to understand what forgiveness is, and what it is not. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's easy to assume that our western filters give us the intended meaning of scripture. This week welcomes Rose Hennig to the show for a discussion about what the Bible can teach us about ethnicity. When we view everyone as "the same," we miss the richness that other cultures can bring to the body of Christ. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.