Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between Friends

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

In our fifteen years of working together, Gary and I realize that God has put a few key messages on our hearts: Calling, Hearing God, Friendship, Humility …

… and the incredible spiritual value of Living an Examined Life.

Christian self-examination is not narcissistic self-preoccupation, nor is it is morbid self-flagellation. Christian self-examination is the learned sk...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

At the very beginning of the book of Job, Satan asks God, "Does Job serve God for nothing?" And, honestly, we should all ask ourselves the same question. Do we serve God for God Himself, or do we USE Him to get crowns and gold stars?

It is ever-so-easy to serve God for honor-roll children and Facebook likes. It is ever-so-easy to use God's glor...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

A chance conversation on the way home from an airport led us to re-think what God is calling us to do?

What season are you in? What is God calling you to add to your life, to subtract, or to multiply? He is always talking, always refining, always inviting. And giving us room to respond or not.

What are YOU going to do with the little time remaining i...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Oswald Chambers wrote, 

• "God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. 
• His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s."

How often in our lives does God's deepest purposes seem His b...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Ancient societies taught their children "courage," both as a skill and as a virtue. But we've lost that art, except as ways of hiding our heads in the sand or putting our trust in ourselves.

How are we to face the terrors and torments of life: death of loved ones, disgrace, discovery, or the need to speak an uncomfortable truth?

Join us as we re...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

God has a clear and beautiful purpose for your life, a life He has designed, birthed, nurtured, and shaped since before we were born.

His plan it to bring life to others through our lives; to bring hope, and joy, and peace, and encouragement, and purpose, and Life with a capital "L." Through each of us to others, His life in us bring His life to all...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Even non-believers highly value an honest self-appraisal. Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living," and Mark Twain said, "Making good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from evaluating our bad decisions.” 

Why are so many people today so scared to admit their faults? To humbly say, "I need help"? Why are ...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam was lonely. He wasn't lonely because there was something wrong with him. He was lonely because he was perfect, he was made in the image of God. And God wants for his people, friendship.

Yet Christians today never talk about spiritual friendship. We talk about servanthood, brotherhood, and sisterhood, but Jesus says, "I no...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

The second most repeated command is Scripture is to "remember the Sabbath." While Scripture also forbids us to conform to a moralistic approach to the Sabbath, Jesus also says it was made for our good. 

What is the value of taking "time away" with God? What are its treasures? And what are best practices? 

For more information abou...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

We long to see a community of believers committed to helping each other grow into their calling, into becoming the men and women God designed us to be.

Too many organizations recruit and train people for IT'S purpose; but Jesus leaves the 99 to find the lost sheep, to make it His. How we use our community's strengths to help believers find their God...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

We undervalue the importance God places on friendship. Oh we say we treasure brotherhood, sisterhood, and community. But God works hugely through friendship. And we haven't learned how it can save us.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary ...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Transitions are those times in our life when deep changes come, usually un-asked for and often unwelcome, and those changes can be brutally painful. How can we recognize them? And how can we find spiritual hope?

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

It seems like everyone we meet is just a tad bit discouraged. Not really depressed, but kind of melancholy, feeling the blues, just experiencing the doldrums. At least we are. What about you?


For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary or S...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

None of us have seen such an acceleration of cultural change. And much is abhorrible, as if we've given ourselves over to the world. How should Christians act in the face of such radical changes?


For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary ...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

There is a rich, spiritual virtue that most Christians ignore; it is the virtue of persistent curiosity, to live a life of fascination with God and what He is up to.

To take on online course on hearing God, visit Sam's site: https://beliefsoftheheart.com/hearing-god-online-course/

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: http...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

We all measure, all the time, all things we meet; especially our own lives. What are the best measurements for your life? 

To take on online course on hearing God, visit Sam's site: https://beliefsoftheheart.com/hearing-god-online-course/

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefso...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

We all want our children to grow into healthy adults, but there is a kind of safety-ISM that breeds a state of fear we call fear-ISM. And God wants something else for our lives.

To take on online course on hearing God, visit Sam's site: https://beliefsoftheheart.com/hearing-god-online-course/

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their we...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

We want to share with you a life giving practice Gary and I created (by accident) in December 2011. It's an exciting, intentional, motivating way to begin each New Year. We've been doing it for years. In the show, we promised to write down our process, which follows:

How To Develop a Transcendent Pursuit:

First, find a friend or two (or more) who would like pu...

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Why does fatigue take so much out out us? It's not just being tired: we snap and snarl at others, and indulge in self-pity. How do we handle the inner effects of fatigue on us and our family?

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

And very special thanks to Keit...