PROCLAIM x BIBLEin365 – Episode Summary

Episode Title: 4.10.2026 BIBLEin365 Live Q&A (March & April)
Date: April 10, 2026
Host: Erika Kirk
Guests: Pastor James Cadiz (Pastoral Advisor), Pastor Greg Denham (Rise Church, San Marcos)

Episode Overview

This extended live Q&A episode of BIBLEin365 brings Erika Kirk together with Pastors James Cadiz and Greg Denham to answer heartfelt and challenging questions from listeners. Themes revolve around faith in hardship, spiritual growth, relationships, pain, forgiveness, and practical Christian living. The discussion is rich with biblical insight, pastoral empathy, and personal experience, particularly in the wake of personal and communal loss.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Finding Hope When Loved Ones Aren’t Saved

• [13:58] Becca (listener) shares her grief over family members who aren’t believers and her fear of eternal separation.
• Pastor James: Your sorrow is a sign of love, not a lack of faith. Points to Paul’s continual sorrow for Israel (Romans 9). We don’t grieve like the world (1 Thessalonians 4), but we still do grieve. With God, as long as there’s life, there is hope. Our role is to pray, live godly, and speak truth as God opens the door. Our hope rests in God’s character, not in controlling outcomes.
  • Memorable quote: “Your hope will never be in outcomes. It can never be in an outcome. It has to be in God's character.” (Pastor James, [18:05])
• Pastor Greg: God loves your loved ones more than you ever could. Salvation can come in an instant—even at life’s last breath (e.g., thief on the cross). Stay faithful in prayer and life.

2. Hearing God’s Voice and Discerning His Will

• [21:50] Susan, disabled and homebound, asks how to know when God is speaking to her.
• Pastor James: Don’t overcomplicate the search for God’s will. Start with what God has clearly revealed: grow in your relationship with Him, love others, do justly, love mercy, walk humbly (Micah 6:8). Practice Bible reading and honest, conversational prayer. God is present even in your isolation.
  • “God even says it, I will never leave you or forsake you.” ([24:47])
• Pastor Greg: God gives enough light for each next step—love Him, love your neighbor, trust Him.

3. Marriage Roles, Transformation, and Spiritual Disparity

• [27:45] William wants to encourage his wife to embrace biblical marriage roles but feels spiritually ahead.
• Erica, Pastors James & Greg: Lead by example; transformation in your life will draw your wife. Husbands are called to love sacrificially—love begets love. “You lead your wife. And I promise you, your wife will begin to say the things that you hear Erica saying about Charlie…” (Pastor James, [35:06])
• Practical tip: Focus on your own spiritual progress (1 Timothy 4:12-16).

4. Difficult Marriages and Attending Church with an Unbelieving Spouse

• [39:03] Journey’s husband is hostile to church.
• Pastor James: Prioritize honoring your husband—watching church online can be a wise, faith-driven choice to de-escalate tension and model Christlike submission (1 Peter 3:1-2). Maintain spiritual growth, but don’t force church.
• Pastor Greg: Keep connected to the church even if not in person; ask the pastor to pray for your family.

5. Suffering, Birth Defects, & Spiritual Warfare

• [49:18] Lori asks if her birth defects were caused by Satan entering her mother’s womb.
• Pastor Greg: That is not biblical. We live in a fallen world. Satan is a destroyer but not a creator.
• Pastor James: Psalm 139—God knits us together in the womb. No scriptural basis for Satan directly forming a child or causing birth defects. Jesus teaches in John 9 that suffering is for God’s glory, not necessarily a result of sin or Satan’s direct action.

6. Generational Curses & Spiritual Strongholds

• [58:57] Kandra asks about breaking family patterns and strongholds.
• Pastors: Spiritual warfare is real, but in Christ, you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ezekiel 18:20). Patterns can be broken—submit to God, resist the devil.
  • “What looks like a stronghold is often a pattern that can be broken through just simple truth and obedience.” (Pastor James, [63:40])

7. Open Marriages & Adultery

• [65:44] Tracy asks whether a mutually agreed open marriage is adultery.
• Pastors: Sexual relations outside of marriage are adultery, regardless of mutual consent. God’s standard does not change based on agreement (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Conviction is a sign the Holy Spirit is working—repent and pursue the marriage God designed.
  • “Even consent in any situation doesn't remove sin. People agreeing to something does not make it righteous.” (Pastor James, [69:31])

8. Church Hurt, Abuse, and Trust Issues with God

• [72:41] Caitlin is traumatized by past church experiences; another listener struggles to see God as loving after abuse.
• Pastor James: Abuse is not minimized. God is not like abusers—His love is sacrificial and healing. Don’t project human pain onto God—He does not abuse, and His discipline is for our good. There is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:1).
• Pastor Greg: Find a Bible-teaching church, ask for prayer, keep persevering.
  • “Just keep pedaling…sometimes you’re moving at a fast pace. Other times, just pressing inch by inch.” (Pastor Greg, [81:49])

9. Suicide and Salvation

• [84:29] Terry asks if those who die by suicide, like Judas, can be saved.
• Pastor James: Salvation is based on Christ’s work, not our final act. Suicide is a sin but not an unforgivable one. Only God knows the heart. We can entrust loved ones to God’s justice and mercy.
• Pastor Greg: If you are suffering, don’t harm yourself—God’s love remains, and hope is ahead.

10. Purpose in Profound Loss

• [94:40] How does God prove purpose to someone who’s lost everything?
• Pastor Greg: Look to Jesus—He lost all, but through Him came resurrection and hope. God can be trusted even in darkness.
• Pastor James: God often doesn’t give explanations but reveals Himself—like with Job. The story is not finished; sometimes purpose is only seen later.

11. Grace for Evil-Doers & Enemies

• [102:41] How do I pray for abusers, even a pedophile?
• Pastor Greg: Hate evil, abhor what is evil (Romans 12:9), and overcome evil with good. Pray for justice and their salvation, not because you agree but because only God can redeem and judge justly.
• Pastor James: Praying for enemies doesn’t mean excusing them, but giving them to God’s justice. Vengeance belongs to Him. “Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
• Erica: It is freeing not to let bitterness run your life. Your focus should be on kingdom business—not rage, nor bitterness.

12. How to Pray, and to Whom?

• [120:55] Questions from Laura, Patty, and Richard on structuring prayer, and whether to pray to the Father, Son, or Spirit.
• James & Greg: The Bible’s model is to pray to the Father, through Jesus, by the leading of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 6:9). Vain repetition is to be avoided, but repetition with sincerity is good. Bring your burdens to God as Jesus did in Gethsemane. Be transparent in prayer; God wants your real heart.

Notable Quotes

• "Your hope will never be in outcomes. It can never be in an outcome. It has to be in God's character."
  — Pastor James Cadiz ([18:05])
• "We don't overcome evil with evil. We overcome evil with good."
  — Pastor Greg Denham ([103:40])
• "Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting that poison to hurt the person that you're bitter at."
  — Pastor James Cadiz ([108:52])
• "God doesn't always prove purpose the way we expect. Sometimes He reveals Himself."
  — Pastor James Cadiz ([97:58])
• "Love is not a sentiment...it's an action."
  — Pastor Greg Denham ([111:41])
• "We don't live off explanations. We live off promises."
  — Pastor Greg Denham ([102:33])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [13:58] - Hope for loved ones not saved
• [21:50] - Hearing God's voice and will
• [27:45] - Biblical marriage and spiritual leadership
• [39:03] - Handling marriage and church tension with unbelieving spouse
• [49:18] - Birth defects, spiritual warfare, and God’s role in suffering
• [58:57] - Breaking generational curses and strongholds
• [65:44] - Open marriage and adultery
• [72:41] - Church hurt and abuse; relating to God after trauma
• [84:29] - Judas, suicide, and eternal destiny
• [94:40] - Finding purpose after great loss
• [102:41] - Praying for those who commit evil
• [120:55] - How to pray; Father, Son, or Spirit?

Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is pastorally gentle but firm, biblically rigorous, honest about pain and grief, and forthrightly hopeful in Jesus. Erika, James, and Greg model both empathy and the courage to speak hard truth in love, pointing listeners always to Scripture and to a God who is both just and merciful.

Best practical takeaway: Stay faithful; trust God’s character; lead by example; pray transparently; do not let bitterness take root. God is at work in every story—even, and especially, in suffering and uncertainty.

“God wants your family to be free from all of this stuff more than you do. Yes, there is real spiritual warfare. But believers are never trapped by generational curses... In Christ, you've been made free.”
— Pastor James Cadiz ([62:57])

For more in-depth scriptural help, listeners are encouraged to use the resources and sermon catalogues mentioned at James Cadiz’s website.