Health Check // God Wants to Heal Your Heart, Part 3
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
Release Date: 07/30/2025
Distractions // Building a Godly Family, Part 11
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
With all the entertainment options and gizmos available to us these days, there are so many distractions. Things that stop us from interacting and doing the things that we need to do to build a godly family. I remember with great delight the days that I used to come home from school in my younger years. I was allowed to watch an hour, maybe an hour-and-a-half of TV. It was a great big hulking black and white model that sat in the corner of our lounge room. I used to watch Gilligan's Island and Mighty Mouse, and later on Batman. Our time in front of this tube was strictly limited by our...
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Children and Honour // Building a Godly Family, Part 10
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
Honour is not something that gets talked about a lot these days. But Commandment number 5 out of the top ten is to honour your father and mother. And it turns out that there’s a very good reason why it’s right up there at number 5. It's funny how the way we think; the things that we think are important. They change over time. If you got a 15 year old down with a 45 year old and a 60 year old and a 90 year old and got them together and asked them what things are really important my hunch is we'd get quite different responses from each of them – the values of my parents generation, people...
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When Two Becomes One // Building a Godly Family, Part 9
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
They say that what marriage is all about is two becoming one. It’s a great theory but, well, as I heard someone say once, it’s the “becoming” that’s the problem. That’s where the hard work really is. Well, over this last week-and-a-half, on the program, we've been talking about building a Godly family and this week in particular, about realising the enormous blessing that comes from having a peaceful home. Its great stuff isn't it? And yet, for many, it seems so impossible, this notion that our family, our dysfunctional family, with all its bumps and wrinkles and imperfect family...
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Wife and Mother // Building a Godly Family, Part 8
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
We think of men being the stronger sex and the Bible even talks about women as being the weaker sex. But some of the strongest people I know are women – and you women, your particular brand of strength can be such an amazing blessing to your families. You know, so often we look at men and there's something about their physical size and brute strength, their ability to go out and crash through problems. It's easy to make the mistake and think that it's the man who's the strongest force in marriage and in a family. Well maybe that's true. But you know something, there's another 'tour de force'...
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Husband and Father // Building a Godly Family, Part 7
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
We men are a funny breed – we have the whole provider and protector thing going on inside us. And you know something, if we know how to live that out in a godly way, we can be such a blessing to our families. We men are a funny breed. There's something deep inside us that makes us the protectors and providers for our families. Most men, not all but most men are programmed, hard wired, to provide and protect. Yet these days, women so often work and bring an income into the house and that's great but it tends to be the man, the husband, the father who carries the burden of protection and...
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The Blessing of a Peaceful Home // Building a Godly Family, Part 6
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
Peace is one of those things – well, who doesn’t want peace in their lives. Freedom from conflict. But imagine, imagine what a blessing it must be, to have peace at home. A family that thrives on peace instead of being lost in conflict. If God offered you anything you wanted in this world, anything at all, what would you ask for? Tough question. It takes a bit of thinking about: a new car, a bigger house, health, a long life. There are so many things to choose from. What would you choose? Can I tell you something? After the basic provisions of enough air to breath and water to drink and...
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Setting the Course // Building a Godly Family, Part 5
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
This week on A Different Perspective, we’ve been chatting about building a godly family. Well, at some point – the talk has to turn into action, otherwise nothing’s ever going to happen. The question is – are you ready? Well, are you? This week we've been talking about building a godly family on the program. The whole gist of it has been this – it doesn't matter how dysfunctional a family ours is at the moment, all it takes is one member of that family to turn back to God. To honour God and God can and will make some awesome and mighty changes. It will probably take time. Maybe...
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Breaking with the Past // Building a Godly Family, Part 4
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
The first thing a doctor tends to ask us when we visit is about our family history. And just the way that physical things get handed down to us genetically, so do emotional, behavioural and spiritual things. Question is, what can we do about them? One of the things that brings so much dysfunction into families is, well … things from the past; things that have been handed down genetically, emotionally and spiritually. It seems such an incredible paradox to me that the people who are most likely to sexually abuse a child are those who were themselves, abused when they were young. Doesn't that...
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The Ideal Family // Building a Godly Family, Part 3
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
Let me ask you something – if you could set about building a Godly Family – what would that look like? I mean how would you know when you’d arrived? A Godly family. Man – wouldn’t that be amazing. I'm excited because this week we're kicking off a few weeks looking at what it means to build a Godly family. That's why I'm so excited. Because I've been praying, praying that of the millions of people that will listen to these programs this week, God will transform countless families. Think about it, the family is God’s smallest, fighting formation. In the battle of life, He uses the...
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The Dysfunctional Family // Building a Godly Family, Part 2
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
It’s easy to look around at other people’s families and think “Boy – how come I didn’t get a normal family like them.” Truth is though, that no family’s perfect. And no matter how dysfunctional your family might be, God has a plan. We don't have to look very far to see that, in society today, families are becoming more and more dysfunctional. It doesn't matter where we live, how wealthy, how poor. In the wealthy west, you know, teenagers have less and less contact with their parents. They use the internet and cable TV and their friends to tell them who they are and how they...
info_outlineSin is like heart disease – it robs us of life. Anger, resentment, pride, dishonesty, lust – all those things rob us of life. But we, well, we want to sweep them under the carpet. Problem is, when you do that – all you get, is a lump under the carpet.
They say men are the worst at going to the doctors. So many men drop dead in the prime of life from bowel cancer and heart disease. Because we just didn’t want to go to the doctors. There’s this foolish male pride thing going on. “Well, I’m a man. I’m strong. I’m okay.” And that’s the very same man who can wake up dead tomorrow because he didn’t go for a regular check up to the doctor.
In part it’s pride but in part it’s that we don’t want to hear the bad news. I mean how many men know that they’re overweight but they don’t want to hear it. They just ignore it and suppress it and behave like there’s nothing wrong. Until one day they have a stroke or a heart attack that could have been avoided with a bit of exercise, losing just a few pounds, getting the blood pressure under control. Hello!
We don’t want to hear the bad news and so, at best, we end up living a sub optimal unhealthy life where we’re tired and short of breath. And at worst we keel over dead before our time. Now, none of us likes bad news.
Problem is that our aversion to bad news can end up robbing us of life. We want to sweep it under the carpet but all you get when you sweep it under the carpet is a lump under the carpet. You actually don’t solve anything.
And so what we’re looking at this week and next week on the program is getting a grip and dealing with some issues. The things in our hearts that are robbing us of life.
And today, today if you’ll join me I’d like to have a bit of a health check with you. Just a bit of time where we look through the things going on in our hearts. A little probe, a little prod around in there. Because it’s not until we acknowledge those things that we can join hands with God and start doing something about them.
Now, we only have a few minutes so we’re going to talk about just a few diseases in our hearts today. The main ones. The ones that are ruining the lives of probably 80% of the people listening today, including you and me. Come on, let’s get real here. Let’s take some responsibility for the things that we’re hiding in our hearts.
Proverbs chapter 27, verse 19 says this:
As water reflects a face, so a mans heart reflects the man.
What’s going on on the inside is going to have an impact on the outside. You can’t help it. And so today we just want to look at a handful of these different diseases of the heart that are hurting our lives. And that’s why I’m asking you to spend these few minutes with me and have the courage, when you hear one or two that you know are alive in your heart, to look God directly in the eye and say, “God, you know something, that’s me! I have to take responsibility for that and even though I don’t have the strength or the ability to do something about it, I know that You have and You can and that You want to.”
This is about opening up our hearts to God and His Spirit and His Word to let Him to make some changes to heal our hearts. So that we can have the life that He always planned for us. Amen.
Okay, here’s the first one. Psalm 10, verse 3 says:
He boasts of the cravings of his heart. He blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
The first one. The first disease of the heart is greed. So many people in this world want more and more and more and more and more and we’re taught that that’s okay. Even our governments encourage us to spend more to help the economy. But when the cravings of our heart take over. When greed drives us. Let me tell you something, you and I will turn our hearts away from God. We will revile Him because we can’t serve Him and greed. We can’t serve Him and money and wealth and position and status.
And that one, this greed, leads to another disease. The disease of deception and dishonesty. Psalm 62, verse 10 says:
Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods. Though your riches increase do not set your heart on them.
Many, many people are caught up in deceit and dishonesty. In theft and lying. In fact there are certain personality types for whom this is their main weakness. And the problem with this is that you can’t lie straight in bed. You can’t be dishonest and deceitful and lie and cheat and then have a good nights sleep. Now you might be deceiving the rest of the world but none of us is stupid enough to think that we can deceive God.
And so, this particular disease of the heart robs us of our relationship and fellowship and intimacy with God. It’s a rotten disease and I know that there is someone who needs to look God in the eye and confess this sin right now and ask for forgiveness and ask for God to help heal their heart right now.
The third one, the third one’s a biggy. Many of us get caught up in this one and this is probably the main disease that God’s had to heal me of. Have a listen. Psalm 101, verse 5:
Whoever slanders his neighbour in secret, him will I put to silence. Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him I will not endure.
Interesting how slander and pride go together here. See the root’s in his pride. When I’m proud it’s all about me. I’m important. I’m more important than you and I’m more important than God and I’m right and it’s my way or the highway.
Now you see I can rattle those things off the tongue so quickly because I have more than a passing familiarity with those. And the thing that pride breeds in us is that we can’t stand it when someone else succeeds. We can’t stand it when someone else gets the limelight. And so the proud person will slander other people. They’ll stab them in the back. Undermine them.
And with pride and slander comes envy. Have a listen to this one. Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 30:
A heart of peace gives life to the body but envy rots the bones.
We looked at that one yesterday. You can’t have peace when you’re proud because life is about having one big competition. So pride, envy and slander are all part of the same disease and these next two follow close along. Have a listen to these from Daniel chapter 5, verse 20:
But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.
This is written about King Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son. He became arrogant and hard of heart. And that’s what happens through pride. And let me tell you something, God always opposes the proud. You can read that in James chapter 4 in verse 6.
And so this piece of wisdom from Solomon holds true. Proverbs 16, verse 18:
Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Now this last one we have time for, it’s a disease in the heart for many, both men and women. We’re reading about it in Proverbs chapter 6, verses 25 and 26. It says this:
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. For the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
Lust, sexual lust brings many a man down. Tears many a marriage apart. It’s a real disease of the heart and this one, more than any other perhaps, is one that so many men and women quietly live with not realising the destruction that it brings upon them.
Now we’ve only spoken about a handful of most common diseases of the heart. Things that rob us. Greed. Dishonesty. Slander. Pride. Arrogance. Lust. These things harden our hearts to God. They rob us of life and that’s what we’re going to be looking at over these next few days and weeks. About the fact that God wants to come and heal us of these diseases.