Life Over Coffee With Rick Thomas

Shows Main Idea: If you want a persevering relationship with someone, having the proper aim is vital. As you think about your most significant relationship, what is the singular secret to making it last with joy and fulfillment? In this episode, I want to share with you the secret to having a great marriage that lasts. You may apply this essential tip to any vital relationship you want to endure. Learn the secret and the process of building a relationship that lasts. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/secret-great-marriage-lasts/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/

Have you ever been alone? I’m speaking of the worst kind of loneliness, not your run-of-the-mill loneliness. It’s a sting that penetrates the depths of a person’s soul. This peculiar kind of isolation is different from being by yourself, as though hanging with someone will solve this problem. I’m talking about a type of loneliness that isolates you even in a crowd. You know you’re in a bad spot when living in community with others cannot satisfy the pain of loneliness; it has penetrated to the point of feeling it. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/when-god-is-not-with-me-3/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/

“He was nothing like this when we were dating. He would send me little notes, hold the car door open, and be thoughtful about almost everything. I’m not sure I exist in his world, except when he wants sex. I seem not to matter anymore. He is not the man I married. Are you saying that dating and marriage are different realities? What I thought I was getting, but what I got are two different people. What’s the point of dating? How can we fix our marriage?” Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/dating-the-artificial-season-that-doesnt-count/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/

Shows Main Idea – A supporter asked how best to describe our journey with Christ. He wanted to know the best label to describe the Christian experience? He added, “Some folks hold to a more rule-based lifestyle, called legalism. Others like to call themselves grace-centered. Where does gospel-centered fit with these terms?” If these are only three terms we have to choose, I would call myself a gospel-centered person. Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-431-why-gospel-centered-is-better-than-grace-centered-and-legalism/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/

The litmus test for a mature Christian leader is their ability to replicate themselves into someone else. If a leader does not copy himself into another person, the Christian mission stops—at least in that Christian’s immediate sphere of influence. A Christian leader is always thinking about how to export his Christ-life to another individual so that person can be Christlike to others. Though we are different in how we accomplish these things, we have the same call: go and make disciples. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/what-is-the-litmus-test-for-a-leader-and-are-you-one/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/

What does your pastor think about when he thinks about you? Does that question sound strange to you? Perhaps you belong to a larger church where your pastor does not know you. Okay. But there is a leader at your church who does know you. What does that person think about when he thinks about you? My question is similar to what goes through your mind when you think about a special person in your life, perhaps a child. What I want to know is whether you are a joy to your pastor, a great, soul-searching query. Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/dear-pastor-do-you-groan-when-you-think-of-me/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Shows Main Idea – Someone asked about separating from sinners. His concern was about the tension and confusion that comes with associating with those who reject Christ, attending their events, or what other Christians think about some of his worldly associations. Because the culture is becoming darker and darker, it is harder and harder to see where to draw the lines of separation today. Thus, the question is should we separate from sinners? What do you think? Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-430-should-christians-separate-from-sinners/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Paul told us husbands to nourish and cherish our wives. It's stunning when you realize how much unfolds from these two words. Did you know if we understand and practice them correctly in our marriages, the benefit for us and our wives is invaluable, including the impact the marriage would have on our children? So, what does it mean to nourish and cherish your wife? How about if you buckle up and let's go for a ride as we discover the practical responsibility and opportunity in this aspect of the art of husbandry? Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/what-does-it-mean-to-nourish-and-cherish-your-wife/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

This prayer is the primary one that teaches me how to walk in the Spirit. The Lord has used this prayer more than any other to keep me focused and directed. I pray some version of this prayer several times throughout my day, though not in a rote fashion, sometimes extracting parts of it depending on the situation. I hope it encourages you. I’ve listed more than sixty scriptures if you want to do a more in-depth study. Also, I placed numbers beside each section to assist you as you discuss parts of it with friends. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/a-short-prayer-to-help-you-walk-in-the-spirit/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Shows Main Idea – I would love for you to do a video on how we, as Christian adults, can deal with our aging parents when they let us down and commit egregious sins. My husband and I have a parent who just left another wife for no reason other than he was tired of being married to her. We're having a hard time, primarily because we have lost all respect for his dad. We have always thought he was a believer, but he quit going to church and shows no remorse for abandoning his wife. Show Notes: https://rickthomas.net/podcast/ep-429-when-aging-parents-no-longer-walk-with-god/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

God gave everyone an internal moral thermostat, the conscience. The word means "con-science" in the Latin or "co-knowledge. It is one of the means of grace that teaches us how to change. Along with the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and the people of God, our consciences assist us in the transformation process. Of course, a miscalibrated conscience will not do this, choosing instead to be our worst enemy. So I want to discuss this essential responsibility of training the conscience. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/do-you-know-how-to-train-your-inner-voice/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

The preaching of God’s Word is essential for life transformation but preaching alone is not enough to change lives and families. A transformational church is both a preaching center and a discipleship community. A preaching center and discipleship community work in tandem from the pulpit to the living room. With sound, theological wisdom flowing from the pulpit, the church is in position to disseminate and distill the preached word in applicable and practical ways throughout the week so the church member can experience transformation. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/is-your-church-a-preaching-center-or-a-discipleship-community/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Shows Main Idea – There are times when our behaviors do not align with God’s Word. There are several reasons for this. James suggested a person could be double-minded. Jesus talked about hypocrisy in Matthew 23. Truthfully, all of us have sinned as Christians. For some, it’s an intentional habit, which makes one wonder if they are a Christian. For others, it’s a life-long struggle with patterns that they fight fiercely. Thus, answering the question, how can a Christian sin like that has a complexity worth our time exploring. Show Notes: https://rickthomas.net/podcast/can-person-sin-like-still-christian-2/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

When you think about the characteristics of a good leader, what comes to your mind? I suspect many of us would think about a pastor of a church or a boss in the workplace or perhaps a husband or father. Those roles would be worth your consideration since they are all impactful leadership roles where a person’s demeanor, attitudes, words, and actions can shape those under them for the rest of their lives. But what about other leaders who don’t immediately come to mind? What about you? You’re a leader, too. What three leadership characteristics describe you? Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/three-characteristics-wonderful-leader/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

One of the most challenging situations with any counselor or counseling ministry is placing counselees in a long-term “sanctification context” in their local churches where they may receive ongoing, life-long care from competent disciple-makers. At best, formalized biblical counseling is a fleeting season in a struggling person’s life, whether it happens outside or inside the church. To maximize the fullest potential of soul care possibilities, all Christians must embed themselves in local church disciple-making communities to receive lifelong help. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/a-proactive-plan-for-pastors-to-help-people-to-care-for-people/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Shows Main Idea – The process of a hard heart begins when we want something so much that the desire for that thing starts to manage our minds. It’s not that the desire is evil, but it controls us so much that we lose sight of the God-centered, God-managed life. Even good desires can send us down the wrong path. If we don’t change our thoughts about the things we want, the end of this process leads to a hard heart, as Rick explains. Show Notes: https://rickthomas.net/podcast/ep-427-the-ten-step-process-to-a-hard-heart/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

One of the kindest things we can do is introduce a biblical sin plan to our families so they can enjoy the full benefits of the gospel. If we do this, we will begin to release an entire generation of people who will sin but quickly remove it, eliminating the lingering effects of sin which so many of us had experienced from those who had gone before us as they tried to hide the obvious in plain sight while effecting us generationally. We will sin before our families and friends, so let’s demonstrate what we are supposed to do about it. Let them see how we may be ashamed of our sins, but we are not ashamed of the gospel. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/the-wisdom-of-introducing-sin-to-our-families/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

When I was a single man during the 90s, I worked a third shift, dead-end job at a glue factory. There were about thirty employees, three of whom were practicing lesbians. I was grateful to have the job, but it was a difficult place to work for many reasons. Two of them had no interest in me, but one did, so I asked her out on several dates. She accepted. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/i-dated-a-lesbian-2/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Shows Main Idea – In the last three episodes, I talked about the danger of the biblical counseling movement passing its prime. I also brought a few practical solutions that could help change current course positively. (Those podcasts stirred a lot of conversation in the biblical counseling world.) One of the reasons I mentioned this possibility is that there has been a lack of innovation in the movement over the past two decades. In this episode, I will share with you one way we can innovate by maturing in our understanding and practice of listening in counseling contexts. Show Notes: https://rickthomas.net/podcast/ep-426-the-four-types-of-transformative-listening/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

A lesbian walked into my counseling office looking for help. She had grown weary of her lifestyle, had a remote association with God, and thought maybe He was in her problems somehow, some way, and she needed help sorting things out. It’s a great story, and I trust my retelling of it will be an encouragement to anyone with children or friends who have walked away from the Lord. There is hope. There is no life or any sin that is outside God’s grace to redeem. Here’s what happened. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/a-lesbian-walked-into-my-office-ready-for-help/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/