Hosted by Rick Thomas · EN

The path to a small god begins in childhood. It winds down a dangerous path until it finds self-reliant living, which is always destructive to the individual and their relationships. The way out of this nightmare of this soul is possible with a little help from a few competent friends and the grace of God. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/mind-mapping-a-lady-with-a-small-god/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

You don’t want to be a dull Christian. You don’t want to harden your conscience until it no longer feels or responds the way God designed it. Every believer faces a choice: you can walk in the truth—especially about yourself—or you can hide. But know this: if you choose concealment, your conscience will not stay silent. It will eventually take its revenge on you. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/be-honest-or-your-conscience-will-take-revenge-on-you/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Many Christians mistakenly assume that as they learn to trust and obey God, a perfect marriage will naturally follow. The thinking often sounds like, “Isn’t a happy marriage one of the blessings of following Christ?” While the desire reflects a positive ideal, the assumption overlooks the realities of living in a fallen world. In nearly every case, the ideal isn’t the starting point; it’s a destination that requires a broader, more realistic understanding of what it truly takes to build a strong, Christ-centered marriage. Only when a couple widens their lens can they begin to grasp the effort and grace required for a genuinely fabulous marriage. Read, Watch, Listen: lifeovercoffee.com/mind-mapping-th…oull-ever-find/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

If you practiced fornication while dating, don’t be surprised when other sins surface in marriage—including adultery. Sin tolerated in seed form does not disappear when you say “I do.” A ceremony doesn’t sanctify prior rebellion; it often cements it. What begins as “small compromises” before marriage typically grows into larger sins within marriage. Unless God radically reorients both hearts, marriage won’t repair what was broken beforehand—it will magnify it. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/yes-we-fornicated-while-dating-but-why-did-he-commit-adultery-in-marriage/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

This chapter is a response to a friend who is working on his thesis requirement for his MA in Biblical Counseling. He asked my opinion on the necessity of a biblical counseling strategy for a local church. As I was thinking about how to respond, I thought it would be instructive to build out a mind map to show him visually what I wanted to say in written form, hoping to make a solid case for biblical counseling and the local church. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/episode-19-should-you-have-a-biblical-counseling-strategy-for-your-church/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

When the gospel is no longer your practical, everyday center—when it ceases to be the functional anchor of your life, and you replace it with lesser things, even admirable or biblical pursuits like serving the Lord, you will begin to drift toward dissatisfaction and unrest. And where discontentment grows, so does the enticement to meet God-given longings through man-centered means. This subtle exchange—replacing Christ with works—leads to a life increasingly marked by striving, performing, and attempting to secure worth and identity apart from God. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/in-search-of-significance-careys-story/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/

What is an “emotional affair”? That phrase sounds common enough in our culture, but it does not belong inside a Bible-shaped framework. It is a term imported from secular psychology, self-help literature, and popular media. It arises out of a worldview that denies Christ and refuses to acknowledge God’s clear revelation of human hearts, sin, and relationships. When the culture refuses the categories of Scripture, it must create new ones. The result is a flood of terms like self-esteem, affair, emotional abuse, disorder, mental illness, addiction, identity crisis, toxic relationship, or gay. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/when-marriage-breaks-chapter-1-an-emotional-affair/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

Imagine living unchained from the ever-shifting opinions of others. Picture a life where your thoughts are no longer shaped by the imagined or actual evaluations of those around you. Visualize walking through your day with such a firm, unshakable connection to your Creator that the overarching tone of your life is the enjoyment of His unwavering pleasure and delight in you. Now imagine this becoming your normal. How incredible would it be to walk through a week—or even stretch that into a month or a year—unburdened by the exhausting compulsion to manage what others might think of you? Read, Watch, Listen: lifeovercoffee.com/you-have-the-ri…-your-own-skin/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here lifeovercoffee.com/donate/

The fight against porn is likely to be a daily battle for the rest of your life, but that isn’t bad news. Not if you’re equipped, ready, and willing to engage. This final chapter examines how to resist pornography on a daily basis, what sanctification entails in everyday life, and how genuine gospel transformation is sustained over time. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/mind-mapping-resist-porn-daily-basis-pt-3/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/.

God will fully receive anyone who accepts what Christ has done on their behalf. It’s an incredible, transformational exchange: Jesus takes all your sins and gives you His righteousness. But though the gospel is powerfully sufficient, not every Christian walks in its practical, daily freedom. Some still live under the soul-enslaving grip of others’ opinions, tethered to man’s approval while claiming to rest in God’s. Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/breaking-the-bondage-of-people-pleasing/ Will you help us to continue providing free content for everyone? You can become a supporting member here https://lifeovercoffee.com/join/, or you can make a one-time or recurring donation here https://lifeovercoffee.com/donate/