Strengthened Hands Podcast

There are many burdens in life. There are financial burdens, burdens of sickness, relationship burdens. Another kind of burden is the guilt for wrongdoing. With other burdens, there are things you can do to bring relief to yourself. You can go out and get an extra job, you can take vitamins or see a doctor, you can have conversations and make intentional connections, but what can you do to relieve your conscience when you have done...

You are powerful. You are strong. You are an overcomer. These are not just nice thoughts to post on your bathroom mirror, they are promises from God himself.

"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power..." - 2 Timothy 1:7

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong, and very courageous..." - Joshua 1:9

"[...] in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." - Romans 8:37

In this episode we are looking at Go...

It's the subject of a million songs, the plot of a thousand movies, the drama of every high school relationship. Everyone wants it, craves it, needs it. People look high and low for it. A crazy little thing called love.

We have been told that God loves us. Do you know what that means? In this episode we explore the scriptural basis of God's love for us.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that...

Juggling. Speed reading. Underwater basket weaving. What do all these have in common? They're all talents, of course! Well, I'm not sure about the last one, but you get the idea.

God has given each person incredible talents, and He wants us to use them. The talents I just mentioned are trivial compared to the spiritual gifts that God has promised to us, but every talent we have is supposed to be used to give glory to God and to bui...

There is an idea that is growing very popular, the idea of self-talk. Speak positive affirmations over yourself, don't let any negativity into your space, find your worth within yourself. These things sound very good on the surface, but they have a shaky foundation. Without a solid basis of truth from which to say these things, you are at the mercy of your emotions, the words of others, and the wicked lies that come from the enemy....

Peer pressure is something we all know from experience, but we do not often talk about the ways that it affects our lives. In this episode, we are going to look at both sides of peer pressure, the negative influence that it can have on us, as well as the positive.

Peer pressure is a social pressure we feel that tells us to become something we are not. That pressure can come from a friend or friends, spouse, coworker, classmate, or s...

In this episode, I answer the question of how we should treat those in the LGBTQ community. This was inspired by a comment from a listener who wanted to know how they should love their gay friend.

It is not a question that the Bible calls homosexuality a sin. Those who wish to deny it will have to jump through many hoops and contort many scriptures in order to come to the conclusion that it is anything but. If the Bible is not usefu...

Sabbath was instituted by God on the Seventh day of creation when he rested from all of his works. God later gave it as a command to the Israelites that they also should rest on the Sabbath day in honor of God and his ability to provide for them. This is the Fourth Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six day shall you labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. " (Exodus ...

Let's set the scene: the faltering University of Michigan football team is up against their powerhouse nemesis Ohio St. in their annual rivalry game. Ohio State comes into the game favored to win by a landslide, both by sports analysts and football fans everywhere.

When the game is over, one team stands victorious, but it is not Ohio State.

Michigan wins the game 13-10 and celebrates in the middle of the field. As if the shame was ...

In this episode, we are exploring the idea that God wants to speak to you, and that he can speak to you in very real ways.

Through these questions that I cover, I hope and pray that it will become clear to you that talking to God is not only possible, but simple and necessary.

The questions are:

Does God want to speak to you?

How does God speak?

When does God speak?

How do we speak to God?

The simple answer to the first question is y...

What is a woman? An excellent question for an increasingly confused culture. A woman is a beautiful being, created in God's image, designed to be the perfect helpmate of man. The woman is strong where man is weak. She reflects man as man reflects God.

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.'” - Genesis 2:18

"Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones
and f...

Who taught you how to read? Who taught you how to add and subtract? Who introduced you to your favorite show, or gave you advice that shaped your life? Your life and mine is more influenced by other people than we sometimes care to admit. We all want to take the credit for everything we know and everything we've achieved.

But "[w]hat do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not r...

What would you say if I told you the sky were green? Would you believe me? It would be silly if you did, because the sky always is and always has been blue. There are some things in life that are just fact. It does not matter how we think or how we feel about them. Today, we are going to cover some hard issues that, according to God's Word, no matter how you feel about them, are simply fact.

Fact: Salvation is received by faith, no...

"This is your life: are you who you want to be? This is your life: is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose?"

More than just an amazing lyric from a Switchfoot song, this is the thought provoking, beating heart of this installment of the Strengthened Hands Podcast!

I don't know about you, but I find that I am ever in such a rush to do grand works for the Lo...

If dogs are a man's best friend, passivity is man's greatest enemy. It takes courage and strength for a man to step up and lead his wife and be the master of his home. It is not as easy as it seems, as any married man can attest. Today, we are going to look at three key traits every husband should exhibit as he looks to lead in his marriage.

1. Authority: The man is supposed to be the authority in the home, as indicated by Ephesian...

"Why don't I care about other people? Why does my brain work this way? Am I broken? What is wrong with me?"

If you find yourself asking these questions, this podcast is for you. This is one of the most horrifying thoughts a person can have because it undercuts and calls into question the sincerity and goodness of every action that you do. "Am I doing this selfishly, or am I truly thinking of others?"

Relationships are messy. They ar...

There are a lot of people in the world, and no two are the same. Some people love to sing, some are deathly afraid of singing. Some people love ice cream, some would prefer cake. Others are die hard sports fans while others couldn't care less. But one thing that every person has in common is that all people love to be respected. It's in our human nature to feel like we are important and recognized. When we don't feel important or r...