The Online Pastor: Recent Episodes
Amanda
A place to discover faith, experience God, and navigate life through bible study, practical tips, and interactive communciation.
In our final episode for this series, we cover some questions on dating, break-ups and how singles might be offered some language for understanding physical attraction, chemistry, and sexual desire.
As we wind down our series, I share some personal insights about the way I navigate certain seasons, including being "open" or "closed" to dating, reframing dating as part of spiritual growth, and the great joy of intimacy with Jesus.
We get into the nitty-gritty of how churches can shift some assumptions, language, and inclusion of singles in the church. Along the way we give some very practical ways to parents, pastors, congregations and friends on how to journey with people in this season of life.
"Why are you still single?" and other unhelpful (though often well-meaning) comments by people in our community. My most requested topic (by both marrieds and singles) so...hopefully I do some justice to this and create some understanding that well-intentioned doesn't always mean well-received.
Now it's time to get real about some of the struggles of being on your own. (We also get into some practical ways to support your single friends!) Not an exhaustive list, but a good conversation starter... if it has been hard for you share some of the ways in which being on your own can be difficult.
We talk about how being single allows you to focus on building healthy friendships and relationships. I also hypothesize that maybe dating today is such a hard experience because we haven't learned to develop healthy friendships before we date, and maybe if we focussed on good friendships, dating (and marriage) might be easier and healthier. The book of Proverbs provides some challenging insight as to the uniqueness of friendship and the gift we are too each other as friends.
One little verse shifted my entire perspective on singleness...today we talk about Adam, naming the animals, and how your season of alone-ness usually contains a specific invitation from the LORD.
Today we spend some time explicitly naming the benefits of singleness - something we don't do often enough!
Ever had someone ask you if you are "called to be single?" While the intention may be good, the question isn't very helpful... I start off this series by addressing one of my biggest pet peeves with framing the conversation around singleness in the church.
Ever gotten frustrated or felt unseen in your spiritual community as a single person? Or maybe you know singles in your church and don't know how to engage with them. Ever felt like one sermon on the topic didn't even come close to covering all the types of singles, different life phases, struggles, and joys of being on your own? Today we launch an entire series dedicated to singleness, following Jesus, spiritual formation, and the church! Oh and when we say "single" we mean everyone who ain't married: never been married, divorced, single parents, widowed... we are coming for you!
In this episode I share some personal (not prescriptive) ways I intentionally pursue growth in both my a) natural skills & spiritual gifts & b) renewing my love for who God is and what He can do)
How do we take care of our hearts when we have the entire world accessible on our phones? In an age where we have more information than ever before, it is even more important to think about not just what we know, but why we choose to know (or not know) something.
Ever had a moment (or moments) when God didn't show up like you thought He would? Or you said "yes" and things became more difficult? How we turn towards Him when we might be angry or upset with Him and why these moments are some of the most crucial in our spiritual growth.
Why is being in community with other Christian's sometimes so difficult? Let's consider the implications of the story of Judas as we talk about the reality of doing life with a group of people who are in need of saving by Jesus.
Ever feel like the spiritual transformation journey is like watching paint dry? You don't know when things changed...but at some point...they did. Today we talk about some practical tools to help you (and your spiritual community) talk about change and reflect on what God is inviting you into in your journey with Him.
Were you ever caught off guard by discovering you were less certain about something than you thought? Did that make the uncertainty more difficult? Doubt is actually a very normal part of faith, and was even was part of one of Jesus' closest relatives story.
How does your background impact your new life with Jesus? How do we grow in awareness that some of our ethnic stories might get spiritualized if we aren't aware of them? I get really personal in this episode - to provoke some questions about Kingdom of God culture and our own...and how God is using and transforming my past for His best future.
In the top three things I wish someone had told me earlier (!!) in my journey with Jesus: how our relationship with our earthly father affects and impacts our relationship with our heavenly one.
Maybe not an obvious discipleship discussion, but...we just talked about sin and I think it is worth thinking about how living out of the full Gospel now, means we have to reframe our understanding of the 10 Commandments in a whole new way!
One of these topics that isn't always comfortable to talk about, but must to be part of our conversion and conversation as we follow Jesus! What is sin? How do we live a life in Christ in a broken world?
When you think of the"good news" or "gospel" what comes to mind? Tune in as we explore how when we don't understand the good news fully we have a hard time living it out NOW!
Finishing off our introduction to resilient disciples, we are asked to honestly consider if we are people of fear or people of courage. Jesus' invitation to be bold challenges us to trust the Spirit as we step out in faith...and make ourselves uncomfortable and experience trouble...but see the Spirit move in ways we can't even imagine!
How can we grow in our resiliency by learning to expect pain as we follow Jesus? Is it possible that there is a different perspective on the trouble we can expect to experience as Christ-followers? Jump in with us we consider how to develop and become resilient disciples of Jesus!
Jump in with us we consider how to develop and become resilient disciples of Jesus! What historical practices do we need to implement? What new practices might be helpful? What obstacles get in the way? And in this episode: how does comfort get in the way of spiritual growth?
Mary's experience of carrying Jesus inside her was not an easy one. We will take some time to reflect that broken relationships were also likely part of Mary's story before Christ was born...and how we can find the presence of God in the mess.
Christmas often comes with lots of pain; it is not just this magical holiday. When we look closer at the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth we find that they could identify with grief and disappointment. Including some practical tips on managing emotions during the holidays.
If we are going to do a season of my favourites, we've gotta include some of the Christmas story! This week we take a deeper look at one of the women in Jesus' family tree, who was an unexpected choice - but who just might be telling us, that the most unexpected are invited into the family of God.
If we are going to do a season of my favourites, we've gotta include some of the Christmas story! This week we look at one of the women in Jesus' family tree, who was an unexpected choice - but who just might be telling us, that the most unexpected are invited into the family of God.
Are you struggling with the desire to go "back" to church? What might be the deeper desire be underlying this question? I wish the answer was simple, but there are many layers to unpack...as it turned into a 20-minute segment!
Today you get to hear some of how God speaks through life's circumstances, including a stolen car and a skirt - and how this taught me about my inheritance in Christ.
Ever feel like things can't get worse?!? And then they do? Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better so we can learn about God's power. A more personal message for this season from Paul's last journey to Rome.
Stepping out of the series, Amanda answers some questions about the story of "The Online Pastor" and how while she wanted to use digital platforms to inspire faith, in the process, God is growing hers!
How do we find contentment with God Himself, and not just the things He gives us? Psalm 131 has a few secrets to share!
What is an essential practice of someone who is able to see the Kingdom of God?
A regular change of mind and heart - a u-turn from our perspective to God's.
A tale of two trials and the search for truth. Discover how Pilate's question of "what is truth" might be the wrong question...
BONUS POINTS if you noticed the play on words!!