Episode 16 - Preparing for Camp with Dave Temple
Release Date: 12/19/2025
Episode 31 - Prosperity and Success with Gonz Herrera
Conversations with Pastors
What does true success look like through God's eyes? This week, Gonz Herrera shows us that Joshua 1:8 challenges everything we've been taught about achievement and prosperity. We discover that God's definition of success isn't found in our bank accounts, our children's salvation, or our perfectly structured lives—it's found in our obedience to His Word. The passage reveals three transformative practices: keeping God's Word on our lips, treasuring it in our hearts through memorization, and meditating on it day and night. This isn't about adding another item to our spiritual to-do list; it's...
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Episode 30 - Biblical Counseling: Emotions with Todd Murray
Conversations with Pastors
In our hyper-emotionalized culture, we face this challenge: learning to distinguish between emotions as gifts and emotions as authorities. This conversation unpacks a critical truth that many of us struggle with daily—our feelings, while real and God-given, were never meant to serve as the ultimate guide for our lives. Scripture alone holds that authority. We discover that emotions aren't neutral or flawless; they're shaped by what we believe, often revealing deep-seated thoughts we've held so long they've become white noise in our souls. The transformative insight here is that if we want to...
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Episode 29 - Growing in Submission
Conversations with Pastors
What if the very limitations we're fighting against are actually God's loving design for our spiritual growth? This week Dave Temple challenges us to examine this distinction: the difference between being resigned to our circumstances and being submitted to God's sovereignty. Drawing from Jeremiah 29 and the story of Israel's exile in Babylon, we discover four essential 'handholds' for climbing the wall of submission. First, we must genuinely believe that our present situation—no matter how difficult—is from God's hand, not a cosmic mistake. Second, we're called to thrive within our...
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Episode 28 - Prizing Public Worship with Dan Kreider
Conversations with Pastors
This week Dan Kreider challenges us to reconsider the supremacy of corporate worship over our private devotional lives. Drawing from David Clarkson's Puritan classic 'Prizing Public Worship,' we're confronted with a radical premise: God is more glorified, more present, and more powerfully at work when His people gather together. This isn't to diminish private prayer or personal Bible reading, but to elevate our understanding of what happens when the body of Christ assembles. The angels and saints in heaven worship corporately for eternity, and our Sunday gatherings are rehearsals for that...
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Episode 27 - Biblical Counseling: Self-Esteem with Lance Quinn
Conversations with Pastors
The biblical concept of total depravity isn't meant to leave us hopeless; rather, it's the starting point for understanding the magnificence of grace. When we acknowledge our sinfulness without the corresponding truth of Christ's redemptive love, we remain locked in despair. Conversely, when we deny our sinfulness and focus only on self-affirmation, we miss our desperate need for a Savior. The gospel provides the only balanced perspective: we are deeply flawed sinners whom Christ loved enough to die for. This isn't about finding middle ground between self-hatred and self-love—it's about...
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Episode 26 - Fighting Complacency with James Jeong
Conversations with Pastors
We often find ourselves walking a tightrope between comfortable familiarity and dangerous complacency. This week, James Jeong takes us to Titus 2:6 and challenges us to examine whether our Christian walk has become merely routine rather than revolutionary. The call for young men to be 'sensible' or 'sober-minded' extends far beyond a single demographic—it speaks to all of us who risk losing our spiritual urgency in the midst of prosperous, comfortable lives. We're reminded that familiarity with church rhythms and biblical truths becomes harmful when it's not matched with active faith. The...
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Episode 25 - Abiding in Christ and Bearing Fruit with Kempiz Hernandez
Conversations with Pastors
This week, Kempiz Hernandez takes us to John 15 to teach us about spiritual fruitfulness and authentic discipleship. We discover that abiding isn't passive—it's an active, ongoing pursuit of remaining connected to Jesus, our true vine. The scary language of branches being cut off and thrown into the fire isn't meant to terrify us, but to clarify what genuine faith looks like. Real believers may struggle with seasons of weakness, but they won't be completely fruitless. As we abide, something miraculous happens: our relationship with the world changes, our hatred for sin grows, and our love...
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Episode 24 - Error and Heresy - Jerry Wragg
Conversations with Pastors
It's inevitable that we'll encounter believers who hold different convictions than we do. This week, Jerry Wragg challenges us to think carefully about the crucial distinction between error and heresy, and how we should respond with both truth and love. We discover that not every disagreement is a gospel-threatening issue—some matters are essential to salvation itself, touching on the nature of Christ, the character of God, the authority of Scripture, and the doctrine of salvation. These are the immovable foundations we cannot compromise. Yet there exists a broader category of secondary...
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Episode 23 - Unity in the Church with Brian Arnold
Conversations with Pastors
This week Brian Arnold confronts a reality many of us face: the temptation to distance ourselves from the church. Perhaps we've witnessed hypocrisy, experienced hurt from fellow believers, or become confused by conflicting teachings. Yet this discussion reveals a profound truth—our participation in the body of Christ isn't optional, it's essential to living worthy of the gospel. Drawing from Hebrews 10's clear command to not forsake gathering together and Ephesians 4's vision of the church as our place of equipping, protection, and growth, we're reminded that isolation robs us of God's...
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Episode 22 - Glorification with Don Mitchell
Conversations with Pastors
What if everything we experience in life—every trial, every joy, every challenge—is part of a seamless divine plan that stretches from before time began into eternity? This week Don Mitchell takes us to Romans 8:28-30, often called the 'golden chain of redemption,' revealing that when Scripture says 'all things work together for good,' it's not promising us comfortable lives or material prosperity. Instead, it's describing God's magnificent redemptive plan that begins with His foreknowledge before creation and culminates in our glorification. We discover that salvation isn't just a moment...
info_outlineThis week Dave Temple invites us to spiritual preparation that extends far beyond the context of summer camp. At its heart lies a fundamental question we all face daily: who or what are we worshiping? The discussion centers on cultivating the fear of the Lord as the foundation for every decision we make, from the moment we wake up to how we navigate relationships and disappointments. We're challenged to examine our expectations—those often unspoken hopes and desires that can either set us up for bitterness or position us to receive what God truly wants to accomplish in our lives. Drawing from James 4's diagnosis of human conflict and James 1's promise that trials mature our faith, we're reminded that unmet expectations aren't obstacles to God's work but often the very means by which He refines us. The call to keep short accounts, pursue reconciliation, and avoid the slavery of self-protection resonates deeply for anyone who has found themselves avoiding eye contact with someone at church or withdrawing from difficult relationships. This isn't just about behavioral modification—it's about recognizing that when we worship ourselves, we cut ourselves off from the vine, isolating ourselves from the body life dynamics God designed for our growth. The invitation is clear: approach every season with prayerful expectation, knowing that God is forward-driving in His work to glorify Christ and conform us to His image.