Life Abundant

Do you consider yourself a people pleaser? Is your default answer "yes?" This episode is for you. As someone who struggles with people pleasing, I understand how difficult it can be to make wise decisions with your time, especially if you are a Christian. Thankfully, God has given us some tools and ways to think about how we decide what to do with our resources, including His word and wise counsel from others. In this episode, we discuss what people pleasing is, why it can be harmful, and what the alternative is. Jesus offers us a life of abundance and wants us to make health decisions with our time and energy. If you like this podcast, please leave a rating and a review. It helps others find it. Thanks for listening!

Have you ever felt unsettled in life? Have you ever wondered if you were doing what God meant you to do? Sometimes, we must accept and be grateful for our place in this world. Other times, we must seek the Lord to figure out if He wants us to do something else. If we let Him, God will lead us and direct our paths. But it can take more time than we like as humans. In this episode, I discuss my own ten year journey of discontent and how God used it to prepare me for what He had in store for my life. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review so that others can find it. Thanks for listening!

Parenting is hard. Really hard. Our kids have so many things to navigate in our society that we don't have any experience in. It can be scary. How do we raise our children so that when they become adults, they are well-adjusted and ready for adulthood? How do we lead them to Jesus? How do we keep them from all of the evil that is in the world? We can't be perfect parents. That isn't possible. But we can be active and engaged and lean on the wisdom that God gives us in His word. In this episode, we'll talk a little about how we can approach parenting so that we aren't consumed with fear, and so that we can help our children grow up to be thriving adults.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Chad Blackman. Chad has a gift when it comes to digging into scripture and teaching others what God has to say in His word. He is a gifted speaker, pastor, and leader. What's interesting about Chad's story, however, is that he used to be a full-time pastor...and he isn't anymore. In our conversation, we talk about the decision Chad made to leave full-time vocational ministry to pursue another career.  How do you go about making such a difficult decision? How do you make decisions in life when you are seeking to follow God's will? We also talk about several other theological questions that I've had in my own journey with Jesus. We pray you find this conversation encouraging and uplifting as you learn what it looks like to life the abundant life Jesus offers us in John 10:10. Be sure to checkout Chad's podcast, "The Chad Blackman Podcast." I've found it very helpful and I know you will too.  Lastly, if you enjoy this podcast, feel free to leave a review, rate it, and share it with others.

I'm excited to have my first guest on the podcast and it is none other than my amazing wife Cara! Cara and I recently celebrated 15 years of marriage. Those 15 years have been full of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. In this discussion, we talk about how we almost didn't make it and how God restored us and led us into a thriving marriage that we never knew was possible. We discuss what led us to our lowest point and what God did and what He has us do that led to our restoration. We pray that God will use this discussion to encourage you and bring you hope in whatever season you are in, whether you are married or not. If you like this show, please leave a review and share it with someone so that others may find the abundance that Jesus offeres us in John 10:10.

You survived the holiday season and now the new year is approaching. You might feel the pressure to set goals and create New Year's resolutions. Both can be positive and beneficial for living an abundant life, but both can also be detrimental to you as a human. But what alternatives do we have and how do we know if we should set goals or not? In this episode, we discuss how to determine what is best for you. Does God say anything about goals? Does He care? We'll dig into all this and more in Episode 10 of the Life Abundant Podcast. If you like this podcast, please rate it below and leave a review. It helps it get to more people who might want or need to hear it. Thanks for your support!

The holiday season can be overwhelming for many people. It often feels like we are running from event to event, running on fumes and exhausted in more ways than one. In the middle of being stressed, overwhelmed, and fatigued, we know that we need more space to celebrate the true meaning of the season. But how do we create that space when so much is being asked of us? In this episode, we'll discuss how we can fight against the cultural move towards "more" and create opportunities for us to experience the season of fullness and life that Jesus wants for us.

I've struggled with anxiety in various degrees since I was a kid. After experiencing the worst 6 months of debilitating anxiety and sickness that I've ever gone through, I finally found the path to recovery. I hope my story and this podcast will give you hope and help you realize that you aren't alone, you aren't broken, and you can get better.  * I am not a therapist and this isn't meant to be therapy

We are a society engulfed in business, running from one engagement to the next, with little to no time for the things that God has offered to bring us rest, joy, purpose, peace, and fulfillment. No time for abundance. We skip church because we are tired. We have many acquaintences but few close friends. We are tired, weary, and empty because we have bought into the lie that we have to "hustle" and "grind" our way through life. That isn't the life that Jesus modeled for us and it isn't what He wants for us. So how do we fight against the prevailing culture that says we need to speed through life at a frenetic, unsustainable pace? We turn to the Word and see what Jesus lays out for us. 

This is part 2 of this series where I discuss the deepest valley I've walked through in my life, and how God used it to restore my relationship with him and others. I'll talk about why my identity was in the things I did in life rather that in who Jesus says I am, and how this led me down a dark and destructive path. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review and ranking so that others who need it might find it. Thanks!

In this episode, I share part 1 of my story of going from being on top of the world to being in the depths of a deep depression. This story about my experience with going to, and then leaving West Point, lays the groundwork for the direction the rest of my life would take. As you listen to this story, which talks about difficult subjects such as depression, I hope you will keep the words of Jeremiah 29:11 in your mind. For I know the plans I have says the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review. It helps others find it. Thanks!

Why does God allow us to go through storms in life? Why does it sometimes feel like everything is going wrong? Why doesn't he make it stop?! God allows us to go through storms in life for several different reasons. In this episode, we'll talk about the purpose of storms in our life, and how we can run to God when we are in the middle of them.

Why do we work so hard at being kind to others, but then are terrible unkind and hard on ourselves? If we want to live the abundant life that God offers us, wouldn't that mean embracing the identity that HE gives us, rather than assuming a negative identity that we've created for ourselves? In this epidsode, I'll discuss my own experience with negative self-talk and thoughts, why I think many of us treat ourselves this way, and how we can start to change the way we think about speak about ourselves so we can embrace the identity God has given us. Verse of the day: Ephesians 4:29

Who were you built to be? We are all born with a unique set of gifts, talents, and passions, but sometimes, we are led to believe we need to be something other than who God made us to be. This leads to a life of scarcity, fear, tension, anxiety, and a lack of abundance. In this episode, we'll talk about what it means to lean into who God made you to be, and how we often get off course at an early age.

Welcome to the Life Abundant podcast! In this episode, I'll tell you a little bit about why I started this podcast, who I am, who I am NOT, and what to expect going forward. My prayer is that some of the stories I share will help you move towards the life of fullness and abundance that Jesus offers us in John 10:10.