Here To Help: Recent Episodes
Kevin Spencer
Having seen and been asked about a local tragedy, Mika and I revive a discussion that we had a year ago about what actually helps during those initial days after tragedy.
This is our first episode back as we start dealing with the real part of life of darkness and lights in our lives. Mika and I chat for a bit about what darknesses are, what they mean in our lives, and what they really aren't.
After last week's episode of Mika sharing the importance of spiritual needs, this episode we start dealing with some physical needs. Let's see what we can do.
This is the first part of a series that Mika and I are going to be going through about things that have helped us as we navigated the hardships of life.
I know what you're going through...or...whatever could be said that actually doesn't help. Every had someone give you helpful tidbits of stuff that were meant to help you when you were struggling, but in the end, really didn't. Mika and I have a short chat about how to actually help someone.
If you haven't noticed, we have been offline for a couple of weeks. Boy do we have a story and an encouragement for you.
How important are the events in our lives? If we aren't careful, we will miss important things happening that at the surface are little things, and yet are the things that make life grand. Let's have a chat...Baby girl J joins Mika and me.
Have you ever feared failing so badly that you don't do it, give up and run, quit something good. Mika and I chat for a bit about it. Let's talk.
Mika and I sat down and chatted about forgiveness. What it means, the difficulties of giving it and asking for it. Even tackle forgiving God...that is an interesting twist. This is a great and needful thing for our lives. Hope it is a help. Reach out to us if you need us. heretohelpministry@gmail.com
Sat down with our soon to be daughter in law and wanted to have her tell her story about her faith journey to Jesus with some background about her and her becoming part of our family. I hope you enjoy.
After last week of talking about father wounds, we thought it would be good to have a good discussion about thankfulness. Being thankful for people. Mika and I do something new and chat about folks who have been good for us and how thankful we are for them in our lives.
Parental wounds can be devastating. Familial wounds can last for generations and be carried down for a long time. Today I had the privilege of sitting down with my copastor Michael as we discuss father wound and what that really looks like, what it means, and how to move on and let God bring about goodness from it. I hope you enjoy.
We made mention of his and our friend Mark's podcasts. Here is the link to those if you are interested. They are good and much better than what I can bring to you. So please, check them out.
Mark's: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qf7PjLtTbsxSGaRpTvZql?si=16ce2d9f7f93467d
Michael's: https://open.spotify.com/show/3gAu6pGB43zS6JtxxpsAym?si=33e68a5e55b24c57
Got together with the family to chat about goals, resolutions, accountability, failures, success. That sort of thing. I hope it is a help to you.
Chatted with my friend Mark about some of the do's and don't's of getting off of the beaten path of traditions and set ways. If you find yourself desiring to make a move, then this may be a help to you.
For more contact with Mark and his ministry, he is an active life coach. You can find him at markfostercoaching.com.
Had a great chat with wifey about her experiences with living in chronic pain for many years.
This is the first episode of our fourth season. We have changed things up a bit and are making this more of a conversation between friends that you get to listen to. This is the first episode where my wife joins the podcast and we give a brief who we are and transition into my favorite topic: Journaling. Let's see where this takes us.
Look at that selfie...of course a touch up here, background change there, filter inserted. How's that working for you? It's time we stop trying to cover up and allow God into actually heal some stuff.
I have a great idea. Let's do something uncomfortable. How's that for helpful and comforting? Let's talk about it for a few.
Crossing the Red Sea, not going to happen. Turning off the path toward a bush that is on fire...I can probably do that.
According to the law of Moses she should be stoned...and yet He said, "Neither do I condemn you, go thou and sin no more." What does that mean? How do I view folks in my heart?
Living life forwards. What a concept, and yet hard to accomplish. Let's talk about it for a little bit.
Why do we automatically label hard things as unattainable? Why do we go through life afraid to pursue that which we are called to do? Let's talk about that for a bit.
Don't you love it when someone asks a hard question? Something that really digs deep and makes you a bit uncomfortable? Let's talk about that for a bit.
Just a little different episode. Just an encouragement on getting unstuck and trying to do better to do better.
Have you ever been to your breaking point? Let's start with this one statement: you are not alone. Let's talk about that.
So you can't sleep. A big decision is at your doorstep. What do you do? I think I might be able to give you some help.
Most folks don't want to be faced with trouble, struggle, or adversity, but that isn't real life. We need folks to learn to face it, grow, be strong.
The Powerbroker, the Trophy Hunter, the Hugger, and the Edifier. Four kinds of leaders. What kind of leader are you?
Truth. Belief. Faith. Hope. Sight. That's how it works. Let's talk about some hope we have as we just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus this week.
Have you ever met someone so loyal that truth about what they were loyal to didn't matter? Let's talk about that for a few minutes.
I would like to tell you about all the mistakes I have made when dealing with hardships and then a few of the victories that I have had that have actually helped.
One of the biggest hardships of life that I had to learn is that I cannot control the results and outcomes of life. I can only control what I put into life. Let's talk about that for a few minutes.
Is there something in your heart that God is working for you to drive for? Is there a desire in your heart that you need to be chasing after but fear, blindness, wounds or confusion are keeping you from chasing? Let's talk about that.
Have you ever thought about why we quit, give up, don't follow through, lose hope? Let's chat about it.
You cannot do this on your own. If you truly want to learn some mastery, you are going to need help. I'm going to help you find the help that you need.
How do we handle being not great and still striving for a mastery in our lives? Let's talk about it.
Have you ever thought about what mastering something actually looks like? Today I'm going to give you a few pointers about what it really looks like to master something in our lives.
What does it mean to really strive to be a master of or at something. This is a new series about how we as Christians, humans, people can get the mindset to strive for a level of mastery in one's life.
Sometimes in life we get so focused on where we are going, the final destination, that we miss the journey that God has for us while we work on getting there. Just a few little helps as we go through this thing we call life.
Trapped in a small house, 10 people, 1 bathroom...trying to be thankful for Thanksgiving. Let's look for the good. This may actually put a small smile on your face as you see your family in this kind of situation. Have a listen.
Have you ever sought for help that really didn't help? Let's talk about that for a bit.
I'm just barely hanging on by a thread. Been there? How about a little different point of view?
We live in a society that focuses on the great, awesome, talented, and stupendous. We ignore the mediocre, the okay, the just normal ones.
Have you ever gotten to the point in life that you just ask yourself the question, "What now?" I may have some helps that you can use.
One great attribute missing from our culture and society is consistency. In what we believe, how we act, what we do. We need to relearn what it means to be consistent in who we are and how we live.
Have you ever been there when you are empty physically, spiritually, or emotionally? What are we supposed to do? Let me give you some help.
Do you have it all figured out? I thought I did, like 473 times in my life. Life happens and the best laid plans can be blown away very quickly. So what do we do? Let's chat about it.
What are you doing for those coming behind you? Just asking some simple questions, and giving some help on what to do.
Sometimes we just need to do the things that may not be our favorite. It's okay. Just eat your meatloaf and you will be alright.
In our conclusion to this miniseries on fear we tackle what it means to fear God. This is a very important and necessary part in our lives.
Now that we have covered some basics about fear, let's get to some practicalities of life about fear.
This world is filled with fear. Let's talk about what happens when we put our fear into the wrong thing or allow it to control us.
How do you handle fear? Do you face it well? Over the next few episodes, we are going to talk a bit about fear, how to handle it as a Christians, how to balance it with faith. So let's talk about fear.
They are everywhere. Everyone is talking about them. Many folks are arguing about them. What do we do?
If you were stopped on the street, or asked by a loved one who was hurting, about who God is, what would you say? If you were to be put through a hard time, is your belief and relationship in God strong enough to withstand the struggle? Today we talk about that for a few.
What have you built your life upon? What we secure our lives upon will determine how we handle the harder times of life. Let's talk about it for a few.
This is the first of many episodes on the grief journey that my family is going through. Facing the pain. One of the hardest things we have had to do during this journey through grief. Please take time to listen to this and our Facebook update also on our channel. They go hand in hand.
In this interview with my wife talking about her ordeal of living life these last 15 years with chronic pain. I do apologize...when reviewing the recording, I noticed my microphone dropped in volume considerably. I would try to rerecord this, but it is so raw and real with her that I didn't want to try to reproduce her heart. So forgive the technical difficulty, and listen to her heart and testimony during this hard time of her life. Very good. Please share.
Remember Doug from the movie 'Up'? "Squirrel!!!" ADHD It is something that I deal with daily. I want to give you some basic easy things that I do to help me function with a mind that loves to switch tracks faster than a auctioneer at the cattle sale barn. Squirrel
So you have some emotional, mental or physical struggles. Let's not let them become an excuse to not live for God and others.
This is the first of a series on dealing with real issues of the life. Depression, anxiety, ADHD, grief, chronic pain are all issues that we are going to chat about over the next few episodes.
This special episode is my first interview for the podcast. I am talking with my pastor, Michael about the dreaded subject of change. When, why, the good, the bad, the ugly. Just a raw discussion between friends.
Just some thoughts about learning to listen to God's voice in our lives. Hope this helps.
Have you ever been in a dark hole of wanting to give up, feeling that God and people in your life that should care don't? What do you do? How do you get through it? Part one of two on how I got through a rough time this week. It may help you.
Have you ever had a life changing event that made you lose focus on that which is good or important in your life? I want to give you a few details on what has helped us as we have gone through this grief journey that has caused both my wife and me to lose focus on things.
Have you tried to be something that you are not? Have you ever tried to become like someone else? How did that work out for you? Just a story and some thoughts today.
Have you ever gotten hurt from simply trying to be a help and now you don't want to be a helper anymore? Been there...Done that. Can I help you with some words of help and encouragement?
How do you balance the love for people and the like and dislike of people. How should that effect the way we treat one another? Just some helps from our house to yours.
Who are you? We live in a world of fakery and pretendery...are those real words? They should be. If we are truly going to help folks, we have got to stop putting on the air that we are something that we really aren't and just be real. Let God take control and make you into something that you can be for Him and others.
Who is that guy in the back that looks like he's just talking on the phone and never does anything that I can really see? Is he really important to the story line?
What do you do when you get knocked down by a wave of life and before you can recover, another knocks you down again?
Far too often we want just the good and best without any hardship. Maybe some things here may help us through those rough and hard times.
Why do we work so hard to get something, and then don't make the effort necessary to keep it, maintain it, and make it better? Just a few thoughts for you this week.
We have got to stop as Christians attacking one another and get back to what Jesus commanded us to...love God, help others.
Who in your life has been a great influence? What have they taught you? Today I'm sharing about one of those folks in my life and what we can learn from it.
Why are you listening if you are changing, doing, absorbing, applying? Just a thought to help you face the week.
Have you ever run out of grace? Become grumpy, harsh, mean spirited, critical? Let's see if we can help with that.
Do you really enjoy just sitting there? When was the last time you really pushed yourself to to more, be more, do better?
What do you do when the golden shields are taken away and all you have left is brass? This should help.
Do you actually believe what you are teaching, preaching, and sharing on social media?
I promised a link to my pastor's podcast on balance which is a good seed planter for thought: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/equipoise/id1536987818
I hope this helps.
We know of the highs and lows of our Christian life, but what do we do when we hit the middle stuff, the mediocre, just ok times of life?
When people meet you and start to get to know you, who do they see? What is it that you show in your character, speech, attitude, Facebook account?
How are you at making excuse or pointing the finger of blame on someone else? This one should help.
"Go ahead dear, you do whatever you want." Dangerous words for the marriage relationship if we don't understand there are limits to our use of liberty.
I am continuing helps concerning marriage. What do we do when both spouses are hurting at the same time? This should give you some helps.
We too often want to make our spouse carbon copies of ourselves. Not helpful. Just a few helps on walking with God together yet differently
We teach, preach, and practice living for others in our church, community, and work, but fail to serve one another in the home. Let's talk about that.
Starting a miniseries on relationships. Let's start by talking about our marriages and conflict in the home.
Why do you believe, stand on, or practice the things that you do? It's time we get back to study, thinking, and learning the why's and not just the what's of our beliefs.
Nobody likes to be uncomfortable...but sometimes we need to if we are going to grow to our potential.
The philosophy that you can do anything that you put your mind to is a dangerous idea that gives false hope and unrealistic ideas to those that can be hurt greatly if they aren't careful. Just a few principles that might help you.
You don't have to have all the answers...yet. Just a few thoughts on why it's okay to say, "I don't know" and where to go from there.
Just a little plug toward a little miniseries we are going to cover over the next few weeks. So if you are struggling to hit a certain bar of performance, knowledge, or experience, These next few episodes may be a great help to you.
While the ability to pick and choose is a wonderful benefit to living in this country, it comes with a danger. We only want those things that are comfortable, flavorful, and exactly what we want. Here's some basic helps for you.
What are you working towards right now? Dreams, goals, plans, ministry? Just a few helps on getting you moving again and keeping moving.
Just a few thoughts on what to do if you find yourself a little worn out and wanting to just quit, climb back in bed and shut out the world for 15 hours.
How do you handle it when your adult kids go through times of failure, struggle or sin?
Finding a new church is a huge decision...life altering. Just a few thoughts and helps on choosing a new church.
How do we know when it is time to find a different church to attend, join, and serve in? Let me give you a few of my thoughts to help.
Can Christians have hobbies and interests outside of church, reading the Bible, and ministry? Here's just a few helps that might settle that question.
What happens when you have too high of expectations of people. Sometimes it leads to struggle and frustration.
Let's get back to biblical forgiveness. Something even the best of Christians easily get away from if they aren't careful.
Where's this plane going? Why did I get on it in the first place? Just a few little helps when you find yourself stuck in a rut, on a plane headed for some place that you don't remember why you are going there.
We have got to be so careful about what we advertise as what we really believe. Just a little help on how we interpret scripture and how we build our faith foundation.
Are you somebody that can be reached for help. An ear to speak to, heart to care, a shoulder to cry upon?
How do we handle frailties, faults and failures of our leaders. Just some practical helps.
What do I need to do before I get to the doing of those big R's of our relationships, lives and dreams?