Solid Foundations: Building a Love that Lasts
Breaking Bread Podcast
A lot goes into a thriving marriage. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer uses the research of Dr. John Gottman to place his finger on the components of a marriage that not only lasts, but flourishes.
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What Do We Crave? - Understanding Supernormal Stimuli
Breaking Bread Podcast
What is normal? In a world of air brushing and curated content, it can be illusive. Yet, having a good compass toward knowing normal goes a long way toward good mental health. Studies have shown that supernormal stimuli can have a damaging effect on our brains. In this episode of Breaking Bread, addiction specialist, Jacob Feucht, teaches us what supernormal stimuli are, how to spot them and unwind their influence. Show Notes: Definition: Supernormal Stimulus – Exaggerated characteristics in normal stimuli. ...
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Bullying
Breaking Bread Podcast
Bullying is as old as the hills. Yet it has gained more thoughtful attention in recent days. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Craig Stickling, a middle school counselor, provides much needed insights into this broken relational posturing between people.
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Four Negative Behaviors that Spell Trouble for Marriages
Breaking Bread Podcast
Conflict does not spell doom in the marriage relationship. However, how we do conflict might. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer shares four behaviors that need to be avoided when “working things out” with your spouse. Kaleb explains what they are and how they can be avoided. Show notes: Four negative behaviors that spell trouble for marriages and how they can be avoided. Criticism Criticism often starts with “You.” “You always...” or “You never...” These statements are personal, labeling and strike at the identity...
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Mindfulness & Meditation
Breaking Bread Podcast
Both the secular and the religious tout mindfulness and meditation. It’s no wonder, because they promise a great deal of health to the one who practices them. Does mindfulness and mediation, however, look the same across the secular and religious worldviews? To answer this question, Kaleb Beyer and Isaac Funk speak to both the therapeutic and Christian uses of these practices. Show Notes: Mindfulness – attentive to the present moment. Meditation – focused attention. Therapeutically these practices help a person have cognitive flexibility....
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Sadness
Breaking Bread Podcast
Sadness is a universal emotion that touches every life. Life's challenges often bring moments of deep sorrow. As Christians, how can we navigate these feelings while staying anchored in God's promises? Whether you're in the midst of sadness or supporting a loved one through their struggles, this episode offers encouragement as you seek to find God's light in the midst of dark days. Sadness is an uncomfortable emotion that alerts us of a loss. Sadness is an important emotion that prompts us to grieve. Grief is the process we walk through to make peace with our...
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Spiritual Growth Mindset
Breaking Bread Podcast
Children love to grow. They know it is slow. They know it is for the better. Adults sometimes lose the growth mindset that children have. We forget that growth is for us too. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Isaac Funk and Arlan Miller reinvigorate the growth mindset for the spiritual life. Spiritual Growth – Becoming more like Jesus. Growth Mindset – Understanding our responsibility and capability to improve. Spiritual Growth Mindset – Understanding our responsibility and capability to improve into more Christlikeness.
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Bridling the Tongue: The Sin of Gossip
Breaking Bread Podcast
Words said, cannot be unsaid. They remain. When these words come from a place of goodness, this has beautiful consequences. However, when they come from a place of malintent, they can have devastating consequences. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Craig and Jacki Stickling take up the topic of gossip and give us timely warning and instruction. Show notes: Bridling the tongue is a learned skill. It is a matter of deep transformation in our hearts. The mature believer learns how to THINK before they speak: T – speaking Truth. H – using words that are...
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Honoring Grace
Breaking Bread Podcast
The truth was too shameful, and the feelings were too painful. So, Mark and Marti locked up their teenage secret in a box never to be opened. But as Christ so lovingly does, he has been gently opening the box and letting his light in. The effect has been beauty and healing in the most unlikely place. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Mark and Marti Teubel share their post-abortion story. Show notes: Post-abortive care includes caring for the living victims of abortion – Mom and Dad. Many moms and dads carry the wounds of loss, regret and shame for decades...
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Looking up to Children
Breaking Bread Podcast
When Jesus stooped to embrace the children, it was quite shocking to his disciples. That Jesus would give his precious time to this subgroup was quite remarkable. And then he said the unthinkable... “you must become as these.” By this statement, Jesus was saying that we should not only stop and acknowledge the children, but moreover, look up to them! Esteem them as God image-bearers that have a lot to teach us adults. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Amy Mammadov and Brian Sutter teach us what these little ones can teach us. Show notes: Children have a lot to...
info_outlineSpiritual disciplines are ancient. Yet they are growing in popularity with our contemporary Christian culture. What are common cautions that should accompany our wise application of spiritual disciplines? In this episode of Breaking Bread, Isaac Funk helps us understand four cautions: legalism, agency, syncretism and mysticism.
Show Notes:
Spiritual disciplines are those practices we habitually do in the body that form us into Christlikeness. Reading the Word, silence, solitude, fasting, tithing, fellowship are just a few of many. Many spiritual disciplines are classic. Practices employed by Christ and faithful believers for thousands of years.
Understanding the “shadow” of a thing is important for wise and healthy use. We want to have this circumspect understanding of spiritual disciplines. Without it, we can fall into ditches that are unhelpful. Consider four trappings to be thoughtful about.
- Legalism: Legalism is an unhealthy relationship with performance. At its worst, dependence on performance erroneously replaces faith in Christ.
- We need to remember the following…
- Spiritual disciplines are not our morality.
- Spiritual disciplines are not our performance.
- Spiritual disciplines are not our forgiveness.
- Spiritual disciplines do not secure merit with God.
- We need to remember the following…
- Agency: When employing spiritual disciplines, we can become confused with who is at the source of the effort. Is it us? Is it God?
- We need to remember the following:
- We do not control our spiritual growth; rather we make ourselves available to God through the practices to be formed by him.
- God is the first source behind any practice.
- We need to remember the following:
- Syncretism: Syncretism is the blending or merging of different religious beliefs and practices. Many different religious faiths, as well as atheism, share bodily practices that on the outside look the same.
- We need to remember the following:
- Many bodily disciplines will benefit human beings regardless of walk of life or religious beliefs. However, these are not uniquely Christian unless we are employing them to grow in Christ likeness.
- We need to remember the following:
- Mysticism: By mysticism, we mean experiencing God in ways that transcend ordinary sensory perception and intellectual understanding. If applied unhealthily, the believer can develop errant ideas about God that are steeped in individual experience.
- We need to remember the following:
- Our discipleship experience with God should never contradict the Bible.
- Be accountable to the larger Christian community. Include other people in your discipleship journey with Christ.
- We need to remember the following: