The Visiting Table

What do you want God to do for you? You probably have an answer. But what happens when you turn that question around? Ken and Julie open Mark 10, where Jesus asks that question right back — to ambition, to human need, to us. It's a challenge to how we use influence, what we expect from others, and how we approach God. Along the way, a story from Thailand puts the cost — and the joy — of serving others into sharp focus.Chapters:00:00 The Question Above All Questions00:36 Welcome to the Table01:33 The Childhood Story That Stuck03:21 James and John Want the Best Seats04:44 The Question Jesus Asked09:39 Jesus Redefines Greatness11:32 Helping Other People Grow14:03 Jesus Asks Bartimaeus the Same Question16:28 Did the Disciples Learn the Lesson?19:04 What This Reveals About Prayer23:19 Serving in Everyday Life25:00 Willing to Spend and Be Spent27:43 Tears, Sacrifice, and Joy in Thailand30:20 The Leaders We Remember33:02 Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet36:24 Ask, Seek, Knock—and What Comes Next39:20 What Can I Do for You, God?40:51 When Our Children Started Giving Back43:18 Asking God to Change Our Hearts44:03 Always Remember: He Is Able=========== Pull up a chair!*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  https://www.vop.com/biblestudies💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  https://www.vop.com/give

What do you see when you look at yourself—a masterpiece or a mess still waiting to be fixed? God does not wait until His work is finished to call you valuable.Ken and Julie explore what Scripture says about your identity, your worth, and the patient work God is doing in you. Through the picture of an unfinished painting and a field growing through different stages, they show why being unfinished does not make you a failure.They also share the moving story of a scarred young woman who asked, “Does God love me?” Hear how the answer in 1 John transformed her understanding of who she was.The conversation then turns outward. If we believe God sees every person as valuable, how should that change our words, our mercy, our patience, and the way we treat unfinished people?Chapters:00:00 What Does God Think of You?01:59 Trust the Process: The Unfinished Painting06:41 You Are God’s Masterpiece10:35 Wonderfully Made at Every Stage12:31 Growth Happens in Stages17:37 Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes19:57 Written on the Palms of His Hands21:50 Finding Who You Are in Christ24:54 Replacing Other Voices with God’s Truth29:09 The Woman Who Asked, “Does God Love Me?”31:13 Hearing God’s Answer34:16 A Face Transformed by Love36:31 See Others the Way God Sees You38:05 No One Is Finished Yet41:02 How God Calls Us to Treat One Another44:00 Are Your Words Like Honey?46:24 Love Mercy and Walk Humbly48:42 A Prayer to See Through God’s Eyes50:20 Be the Change=========== Pull up a chair!*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  https://www.vop.com/biblestudies💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  https://www.vop.com/give

God may be speaking—but how do you know it’s really Him?Ken and Julie use an unexpected comparison from metal detecting to explore how we learn to recognize God’s voice. Every detector has a language. Some signals lead to treasure. Others lead to trash that sounds almost exactly the same. Our spiritual lives can feel just as uncertain.Ken shares the childhood discovery that brought Singapore’s bomb squad to his neighborhood and the Guam beach search that recovered a stranger’s lost wedding ring. Then Ken and Julie turn to the healing of the man born blind in John 9. He had never seen Jesus. At first, all he knew was the sound of His voice—and he chose to follow it.How do we tell God’s voice from our own desires, fear, skepticism, or deception? This conversation offers four practical safeguards: be willing to listen, spend time in God’s Word, expect Him to speak, and respond when He does.Chapters:00:40 Hearing God’s Voice01:43 A Bucket-List Conversation03:13 Metal Detecting at the Beach04:16 Learning a Detector’s Language08:11 Trash or Treasure?09:40 Why the Search Is Worth It13:47 The Find That Called the Bomb Squad22:41 Can Hearing God Feel This Real?25:58 The Blind Man Who Heard Jesus30:12 “Do You Want to Be His Disciple Too?”32:06 Recognizing Jesus by His Voice33:46 Who Is Really Blind?35:22 My Sheep Know My Voice37:23 Jesus at the Door39:10 When Other Voices Drown Him Out42:20 How Sheep Know Their Shepherd46:02 Four Ways to Hear God46:13 Be Willing to Listen50:12 Spend Time in His Word52:46 Expect God to Speak54:35 Respond When He Speaks58:18 The Search for a Lost Wedding Ring64:19 A Prayer to Hear God Clearly=========== Pull up a chair!*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  https://www.vop.com/biblestudies💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  https://www.vop.com/give

What are you really worshiping—even without realizing it?In this episode of The Visiting Table, Ken and Julie explore Paul’s encounter with the altar to the “unknown God” in Acts 17 and what it reveals about the things people seek for meaning, peace, identity, and fulfillment.They look at the way Paul connected with people before asking them to believe: spending time with them, learning what they valued, understanding their culture, and showing them how their deepest desires pointed toward the God who created them.Ken and Julie also share stories from Thailand, Guam, and the United States about learning to connect faith with the real questions people are asking.Then the conversation becomes personal. Where do our time, money, conversations, and affections point? What are we depending on for identity, value, happiness, or peace? Even good things can quietly become substitutes for a real relationship with Christ.Chapters:00:00 Hidden Idols and Two Masters00:49 The Hole in Our Heart01:27 A Fresh Look at Acts 1702:55 Paul and the Unknown God06:08 What the Altar Revealed09:49 How Paul Connected With People13:19 Learning What People Value17:26 Relationship Before the Message19:02 “Where Is Thailand in the Statue?”20:57 Why Reaching People Takes Time21:54 A Young Man Finds a New Identity27:49 Paul’s Method of Connection31:05 In the World, Not of It33:33 What About Our Own Hearts?33:56 What Are We Really Serving?35:18 Where Do Your Affections Go?36:31 When Good Things Become Altars38:07 Paul’s Message Turns to Jesus39:03 Was Paul’s Sermon a Failure?40:28 Delight Yourself in the Lord=========== Pull up a chair!*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  https://www.vop.com/biblestudies💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  https://www.vop.com/give

Have you ever prayed with faith and still heard “no”—or nothing at all? What do you do when the answer you hoped for never comes?In this episode of *The Visiting Table*, Ken and Julie explore answered prayer, unanswered prayer, and trusting God’s timing. Beginning with Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, they uncover a simple four-part pattern: approach God as Father, believe He is able, make your request directly, and submit to His will.They also share personal stories about a long-awaited answer, a remarkable birthday prayer that led a friend to baptism, and the peace God provided at exactly the right time. Discover why prayer is not a blank check, how it changes us, and why Jesus invites us to keep asking, seeking, and knocking.Chapters:00:00 A Conversation About Prayer  00:53 An Answer That Took Years  04:13 Why Prayer Can Be Hard to Understand  06:09 How Abiding and Prayer Work Together  08:42 The Prayer Jesus Prayed When God Said No  14:18 Four Parts of Jesus’ Prayer  17:56 Why Prayer Is a Daily Battle  19:44 Is Prayer Really a Blank Check?  21:29 The Birthday Prayer That Led to Baptism  30:03 When God Says “Wait” or “No”  31:48 Praying According to God’s Will  33:33 Can Prayer Bring Peace in Anxiety?  39:47 Keep Asking, Seeking, and Knocking  43:41 Why You Should Never Stop Praying for Someone  46:27 “Call to Me, and I Will Answer You”=========== Pull up a chair!*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  https://www.vop.com/biblestudies💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  https://www.vop.com/give

Why do you feel stuck in the same old habits? You love God, go to church, and try to change—so what’s the problem?In this episode of The Visiting Table, Ken and Julie explore Jesus’ teaching in John 15 about abiding in Christ. Discover why lasting spiritual growth comes from staying connected to Jesus through His Word and prayer, rather than relying on personal effort alone.They also discuss spiritual pruning, the transforming power of Scripture, full joy in Christ, and a timeless insight from Steps to Christ.=========== Pull up a chair!*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  https://www.vop.com/biblestudies💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  https://www.vop.com/give

A death threat in Thailand forces Ken to face what he truly believes, while Julie discovers that life without God has left her empty. Their separate turning points begin a journey that leads them to Christ—and eventually to each other.Show NotesKen and Julie Norton begin The Visiting Table by sharing how they met Christ—and each other.As a university freshman, Julie decided she no longer needed God directing her life. But after following her own path, she found herself alone in her dorm room admitting, “God, I’m empty.”At nearly the same time, Ken was serving as a student missionary in Thailand. After men from a local village warned that someone would be killed if the group sang and preached again, Ken faced the possibility of death—and the truth that he knew about God without truly knowing Him. What happened next changed the direction of his life.Their two stories eventually converge in friendship, Bible study, marriage and a shared desire to help others know God personally through His Word.Scriptures: Psalm 16:11John 15:1–8Ephesians 3:20=========== Pull up a chair!*The Visiting Table* is a place for honest conversations about faith, relationships, and discovering the God who meets us right where we are. *The Visiting Table* is a production of the Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist media ministry.🌐 Watch Full Episodes of The Visiting Table:  https://www.vop.com/thevisitingtable📖 Receive free Bible studies and resources from Voice of Prophecy:  https://www.vop.com/biblestudies💛 Support the Voice of Prophecy and help share Christ-centered media worldwide:  https://www.vop.com/give