Life Over Coffee With Rick Thomas

It's easier to trust God when you're in control of things than when you're out of control and you're unsure what will happen next. Being in control provides you with a sense of security, confidence, and comfort, albeit it's man-made. The downside to this human-centered worldview is that it's misplaced faith. God calls us to trust Him, not our circumstances. He is the object of our faith, not preferred outcomes. Because of our loyalty to self-reliance, He may push us beyond our preferences and predictions to teach us to rely on Him. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/its-easier-to-trust-god-when-youre-in-control/ 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 – In this fifth lesson, Rick walks through how Scriptures teach us words that build up and forbid words that tear down. Knowing and practicing these words foster godly relationships. This seven-part series builds one upon the other, so watching them in order is best. We also recommend you watch the video to read the content, see all the animations, and download all the supplemental graphics. Afterward, you can listen to the audio while driving, walking, and going about your day. The audio will bring back the visuals, cementing this content into your mind, a process that will transform your mind and relationships. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-473-friendship-series-words-that-build-relationships-5/ 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/.

Dying to ourselves is the hardest thing we will ever do, and it’s not a one-time appointment with God. Death to self is a repeated act of submitting ourselves to the Lord. The good news is that He helps us in this life-long process by incrementally, systematically, and purposely putting us to death. Did you know God is working behind the scenes to undermine any remaining self-reliance in us so we can trust Him more effectively? Sometimes He must sabotage our self-sufficiency to teach us to rely on Him who raises the dead. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/god-is-incrementally-systematically-and-purposely-putting-you-to-death/ 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 – In this fourth lesson, Rick talks about how we have all been hurt and have hurt others. Therefore true repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation are needed. This seven-part series builds one upon the other, so watching them in order is best. We also recommend you watch the video to read the content, see all the animations, and download all the supplemental graphics. Afterward, you can listen to the audio while driving, walking, and going about your day. The audio will bring back the visuals, cementing this content into your mind, a process that will transform your mind and relationships. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-472-friendship-series-overcoming-mistrust-and-hurt-4/ 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/.

Striving for self-generated perfection is as futile as attempting to save ourselves because it perpetuates internal turmoil and frustrates our closest friends. Though God does not want us to live sloppy, haphazard lives, He does want us to know that perfection comes through our weaknesses—our inability to be perfect, not our strengths. The appeal of God’s Word is clear; if we’re going to boast, make it in our weaknesses, accompanied by His miraculous strength that operates in us. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/eight-reasons-perfection-does-not-glorify-god/ 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/.

If our aim is perfection, we have two options. We can strive to be perfect through our strengths or accept someone else’s perfection as ours. The first option is not tenable because we cannot live mistake-free, unless we lowered the high standard of perfection to meet its requirements, leaving us with the second option as a breath of fresh air. To have someone vouch for us by providing their perfection is grace unmerited and the privilege of every Christian. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/cheap-law-lowering-gods-standard-in-order-to-be-perfect/ 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 – In this third lesson, Rick makes a case that as described and demonstrated in Scripture, strong godly relationships provide the plan and pathway to build well with others. This seven-part series builds one upon the other, so watching them in order is best. We also recommend you watch the video to read the content, see all the animations, and download all the supplemental graphics. Afterward, you can listen to the audio while driving, walking, and going about your day. The audio will bring back the visuals, cementing this content into your mind, a process that will transform your mind and relationships. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-471-friendship-series-defining-godly-relationships-3/ 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/.

An unguarded strength is a double weakness because we rarely guard our strengths because we think of them as good, not realizing that our abilities can entrap us, keeping us from relying on God. Let me illustrate my point with a counseling session with a mother and daughter. The child's strength was her intellect, propelling her to do well in school. The unguardedness of her skills created a darkness in the child's life that brought them to counseling. If we are not wise in stewarding our strengths, we can become blind, too. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/when-education-becomes-deadly-to-a-childs-soul/ 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/.

Boasting in your weakness is a strange juxtaposition of words. Typically, you don't connect boasting with weakness unless you mock someone about their inability to accomplish a feat. We call it bullying. But in God's economy, boasting is something every Christian should do as they think about being weak, vulnerable, and fragile because mature believers know that God will not compete with them. It can't be strength and strength but weakness and strength. We see this concept in the death of Christ, causing the disciples to struggle to wrap their minds around the counterintuitive gospel message. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/what-does-it-mean-to-boast-in-your-weaknesses/ 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 – In this second lesson, Rick discusses that the sufficiency of Scripture means we can trust God's commands regarding relationships, whether others treat us right or not. This seven-part series builds one upon the other, so watching them in order is best. We also recommend you watch the video to read the content, see all the animations, and download all the supplemental graphics. Afterward, you can listen to the audio while driving, walking, and going about your day. The audio will bring back the visuals, cementing this content into your mind, a process that will transform your mind and relationships. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-470-friendship-series-trusting-gods-word-2/ 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/.

The situational difficulties we face are the contexts that reveal our hearts, which is how God purifies our faith and obedience. These personal, relational, and situational challenges are our opportunities to follow Jesus in the Christian’s call to suffer. Paul discussed it as boasting in his weakness, but what does that mean? I want to take you on a journey through the New Testament, laying out how God chooses life’s foolish and weak things to confound the wise. Every dinged and dented jar of clay that God uses understands this “boasting in weakness worldview,” but for many of our brothers and sisters, it continues to be a mental challenge to shift from their former manner of life (Ephesians 4:22). Read More: https://lifeovercoffee.com/god-calls-you-to-suffer/ 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 cracked jar of clay does not have to be a bad thing: if you know the potter. God prefers His creation to be fragile jars of clay, so He can display His miraculous, surpassing power to our friends and the culture. Of course, there is a problem with this perspective. Adamic clay pots are not content being fragile, vulnerable, or weak. We envy strength, power, might, and other self-reliant strategies for self-protection and, sometimes, self-promotion. This counterintuitive message about the gospel cuts against the grain of proud hearts. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/the-reason-god-wants-you-a-fragile-jar-of-clay/ 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 – In this first lesson, Rick discusses how the Triune God is the foundation of all godly relationships. Loving and glorifying God necessarily leads to loving others. This seven-part series builds one upon the other, so watching them in order is best. We also recommend you watch the video to read the content, see all the animations, and download all the supplemental graphics. Afterward, you can listen to the audio while driving, walking, and going about your day. The audio will bring back the visuals, cementing this content into your mind, a process that will transform your mind and relationships. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-469-friendship-series-knowing-and-loving-god-1/ 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/.

One of the most critical questions a wife could ask herself is how she compares herself to her husband. Is she better, worse, or similar to her husband? How she thinks about her role in her marriage and relationship with her husband will determine the trajectory of the union, for good or bad. I’m assuming—for this discussion—that both spouses are maturing, humble, and willing to communicate on the level this worldview requires. If one or both partners are pulling against each other, what I have to say here will not apply. So, how do you compare yourself to your husband? Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/essential-qualities-of-an-effective-wife/ 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 – There are five universal reactions to our mistakes. Four of them are wrong, and one is correct. As you think about what you do wrong, what is your most common response after making a mistake? Let’s say you sin against someone, and they confront you about what you did. Which one of these common responses do you typically use? Understanding our tendencies is the first step in changing. If your most common response is one of the four, I trust the next few minutes will be life-changing for you. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-46-four-mistakes-people-make-feel-better/ 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/.

When discussing submission problems in a marriage, we should equally scrutinize the submission and leadership constructs. It’s not an either/or proposition. For example, a half analysis focuses solely on the man’s leadership or the wife’s submission, leaving holes in the reconciliation process. We must examine both sides of the one-flesh coin. Typically, I start with the man’s leadership since he’s the functional leader of the home. I’m not suggesting I neglect the wife’s role to submit, but the correct starting point is vital if the goal is to help a couple work through their problems. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/submission-is-never-the-main-problem-in-a-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/.

It is common for someone to confuse their various roles within a hierarchal structure and their coequality with everyone within those structures. For example, a wife can be a sister, mother, employer, employee, church member, and citizen. She fits within all those structures and she's equal to every person within those contexts. This perspective does not negate each other but expand the possibilities for how she can love God and others most effectively. One of the misguided roles that some women accept (or resign to) is that they are lesser than their husbands, with no responsibility to speak into their lives. This perspective can be tragic, especially if the husband walks away from God and His Word. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/going-over-your-husbands-head-to-help-him/ 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 – Nancy Pearcey is the author of The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, as well as Love Thy Body, The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and Total Truth. She is a professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. She has been quoted in The New Yorker and Newsweek, highlighted as one of the five top women apologists by Christianity Today, and hailed in The Economist as “America’s pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual.” Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-467-nancy-pearcey-the-toxic-war-on-masculinity/ 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/.

Every wife is equal to her husband, even though there is a call on her life to submit to him. These are not opposing truths but a biblically common sense perspective on marriage. Hierarchy and equality do not compete but expand the possibilities for how a couple can meet their extraordinary potential, releasing the wife to practically come alongside her husband in a disciple-making capacity so he can be the best possible leader in their union. Read More: https://lifeovercoffee.com/practical-thoughts-on-leading-your-husband-from-behind/ 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 wife can be a husband’s most significant asset or a complicating liability. Most of us know this about our complementary roles in our marriages, but I wonder how many wives have thought through how to be an asset to their husbands by humbly leading them while submitting to them. Though a wife’s calling is to a particular role of submission in the marriage, it does not mean she can’t step into a Christlike leadership example to her husband, as a coequal image-bearer. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/how-a-wife-can-lead-her-husband/ 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/.