The Power of Thanksgiving
Breaking Bread Podcast
The Thanksgiving holiday affords us the opportunity to engage in one of the healthiest human behaviors – the giving of thanks. Research suggests that thankful people are in some ways mentally, emotionally, and relationally healthier than their unthankful counterparts. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Arlan Miller and Matt Kaufmann look beneath the hood of thanksgiving to discover the deeper matters that not only make thanksgiving possible but likely. Show notes: Giving thanks is an action. Thanksgiving is the outward fruit of deeper gratitude. By it, our gratefulness...
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Tech & Kids: Understanding AI
Breaking Bread Podcast
It has always been hard to stay on top of technology. It seems artificial intelligence (AI) has just raised the ante. In this Breaking Bread podcast episode, David Virkler helps demystify AI. In so doing, some down-to-earth advice is given on how to parent our kids in this world of AI. Show Notes: A few things to understand about AI. Artificial Intelligence is an expansive field with many applications. It includes everything from machine learning to neural network AI engines and large language models like ChatGPT. Large language models respond to inquiries by generating...
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Hidden Rules of a Great Conversation
Breaking Bread Podcast
It’s not uncommon for communication between two individuals in a relationship to go sideways. And when the pattern is sideways for many years, it becomes even more challenging to set right the cart. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer and Brian Sutter explain how to do just that. Show notes: The speaker/listener model is a structured approach for communication that enhances understanding between two individuals or parties. When do you use it? When communication is not working and understanding is not being reached. How does it work? Roles are...
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Celebrating 10 Years of Breaking Bread
Breaking Bread Podcast
Join us in the studio as we celebrate 10 years of Breaking Bread! In this celebratory episode, Arlan Miller, Katie Miller and Brian Sutter turn the tables and interview Breaking Bread host Matt Kaufmann. They go behind the scenes of the show, telling stories and reminiscing. Most importantly, they pay tribute to the devoted listenership of Breaking Bread.
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Celebrating 10 Years of Breaking Bread
Breaking Bread Podcast
Join us in the studio as we celebrate 10 years of Breaking Bread! In this celebratory episode, Arlan Miller, Katie Miller and Brian Sutter turn the tables and interview Breaking Bread host Matt Kaufmann. They go behind the scenes of the show, telling stories and reminiscing. Most importantly, they pay tribute to the devoted listenership of Breaking Bread.
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Beyond Symptom Reduction
Breaking Bread Podcast
Nothing motivates treatment quite like pain. We want it to stop. Too often, when the pain has past, we are not motivated to continue the important work of personal growth that lies beneath the pain. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Ted Witzig Jr explains the hope that lies beyond symptom reduction. Show notes: Symptom reduction is only half of the journey to health. There are four questions that point to the important second half of the journey...a journey worth finishing. Is my predominant outlook on life joy? Are my relationships healthy and...
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The Life Curve
Breaking Bread Podcast
We enter life with no ability to control. As we grow, we acquire more and more faculty to control. If our life takes its natural course and we age into the sunset years of life, we gradually lose our ability to control. Finally, we will leave this life having the same capacity to control as when we entered, little to none. Join us as Matt Kaufmann discusses this life curve with his father, Denny Kaufmann. Control, the ability to rule, make choices, make determination in our surroundings and direct people, transitions over the span of life. The transition is a function of...
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Navigating Marriage Through Busy Seasons
Breaking Bread Podcast
In seasons of busyness, it can be easy for marriages to drift towards disconnection. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Kaleb Beyer encourages simple ways to maintain connection as well as a framework for thinking about marriage amid the busy. Show notes: Demands on our time and attention can ebb and flow over the calendar year. When marriage is involved, these seasons of busyness impact the marriage. If we are not vigilant, disconnection can result. Communication becomes challenging. Irritations can set in, and spouses can drift apart. Couples who wish to weather these...
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Mental Health and the Church: The AC Story
Breaking Bread Podcast
ACCFS is a mental health service that supports the Apostolic Christian Church. This unique connection between church and mental health agency has a storied history. To tell it, Ron Messner and Ted Witzig Jr are interviewed by Matt Kaufmann on this episode of Breaking Bread. Show notes: Caring for people spiritually has given way to the need to care for them mentally. This led to the following statement of belief and consequently, the carrying out of counseling services at ACCFS. Based on scripture and extensive experience, we are complex beings with three...
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The Crisis of Connection
Breaking Bread Podcast
In an era that boasts the most human connectiveness in the history of the world, we struggle with isolation and depression in epidemic proportions. Evidently not all human connections are equal. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Katie Miller and Isaac Funk take on this crisis for connection directly. Not only do they identify the problem but also provide a vision for hope. Show notes: What do we mean by human connection? Human connection at a minimum is intersecting with another human being in physical or thought space. Human connection at a...
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: