Langdon Palmer

How is your relationship with money -really ? It turns out that the bible has a lot to say about the impact our finances have on our spiritual life. The very practical self-evaluation you can do with this podcast will help you treat money the way that God intended, and that leads to both freedom and generosity.

When asked why they waited too long before they went to see a doctor, most people replied “Because I didn’t want to hear bad news.” We can’t get better if we are not willing to face reality, to look at what our vital signs tell us versus what we want to believe is true. Today we take a hard honest look at our relational health, and measure ourselves against scripture.

The Fall Season is stretching out in front of us, waiting to see what we will do. Do you have a sense that it is time to make some changes in the way you do life ? Are there some habits that you would like to change ? Who are you supposed to be and what is God calling you to ? Could you use a spiritual re-boot ? Join us for a fascinating and challenging podcast on an exercise which has been misunderstood and abused, but which when used correctly can help you open yourself up to all that God is calling you to this Fall. See http://levpres.org/jabez-a-fierce-daily-prayer/ for more resources

Ever look out at life, and everywhere you look you see problems? It is fair to ask in such moments – “Where is God in the midst of all this ?” Today we look at fascinating verse in John chapter 10 that is often overlooked and yet yeilds a clue and a promise for a way to see life that is honest, true, but also incredibility empowering and assuring. Join us for this podcast as Pastor Langdon gives us an empowering way to see and act in this unpredictable, problem-strewn thing we call life. Meditate on the image for this podcast before listening. All scriptures referenced are included in the notes. You can buy Sam Phillip's song "A River of Love" at https://music.apple.com/us/artist/leslie-phillips/1165898071

We have been brought up to be very suspicious of words like Dogma, Doctrine, and Orthodoxy. Many of us have an emotional reaction to those words - they sound rigid, unthinking, prejudice, old fashioned, the kinds of words that people with closed minds hold on to. And when these words are abused they can function that way. But it turns out that real orthodoxy can serve as a map that leads me out of the cramped universe I constructed for myself into the wide open spaces with Jesus where living water is found. Today we take an intense dive into the philosophical waters of our day in order to discover that what we need now more than ever is the Spring House of Orthodoxy.

Do you ever struggle with depression or doubt ? Rollo May defined depression as the inability to construct a future. Our pastor recently had an encounter with the Lord where God used the psalms to paint a picture of the true future given to all those who love God. These scriptures (Psalm 128:1-2 and Psalm 37:3-4) reveal afresh Jesus as the fount of every blessing, and give us some very practical guidelines for how to walk with him. We have developed a spiritual discipline from this sermon that you can use in your personal devotions and worship. It is found at www.levpres.org/fount.

Are the sexual morals of the bible outdated ? Or are they the very foundation that modern people can use to build a beautiful life ? Did Jesus really talk about sex ? What are we to make of it all? Join us as we jump into the deep waters of the seventh of the Ten Commandments: You shall not commit Adultery. NOTE: This sermon was highly visual, so an audio-only version loses a lot. Here are two resources that were used in this sermon: The sermon begins with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QASREBVDsLk The song by Casting Crowns can be bought here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/slow-fade/id262038605?i=262038748 Near the end Pastor Langdon talks about a video of wolves in Yellow Stone Park. You can watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/newsnercom/videos/810945719072741/

Did you ever look at some aspect of your life and think “This is a mess – how did it ever come to this ?” Did you ever wish you could start all over, clean everything off the table and begin again? But if you did wipe the table clean, if you did get a fresh start, what would be the first thing to put on that empty table ? Today we look at the first of the Ten Commandments and it turns out it is number one for a reason.

The New Testament basically says "Because the resurrection actually happened..., you should live this way..." Well, how should we live ? Where is the good life found ? Where can we find human flourishing ? What if the science of psychology is just now catching up with the revelation of God's word spoken 2000 years ago ? What if the supernatural miracle of Easter claimed by Christians actually creates a practical, real world solution for our lives here today?

The writer of the letter of Hebrews has no small goal – he wants to help us understand the architecture of reality! He want to help us take a look under the hood of what we can sense to show us how things that happen in the physical world are connected to what happens in the heavenly realms. It is deep stuff, but to the degree that we can glimpse the image he is painting, we will understand why people drop to their knees in worship and awe at how amazing God is. There is a wild connection between what happens in Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday and the theological claims of Hebrews Chapter 9. Join us on this wild adventure to understand what he meant when he said “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation…”

Chapters 10 & 11 of the Book of Hebrews are filled with so many wonderful verses and insights that it is hard to know where to begin. This morning we focused on one main question from these two chapters : what exactly, does the word “Faith” really mean ? It is used to mean so many different things in our culture that we can miss out on what the bible is actually telling us if we have a faulty understanding of this simple word. What does it mean to have biblical faith, and how do you know if you have it yourself ? Join us as we take a strange journey across America and discover faith in the process.

Hebrews Chapter 8 uses some difficult language comparing the old covenant of the law with the new covenant Jesus brings. We look at a crazy home improvement project to understand the difference. Each of us has a default contract with life. Jesus stands at our door offering a totally different contract, a totally different way to see and justify ourselves. Join us as we hear his challenge.

In Hebrews Chapter 7 we encounter the mysterious priest Melchizedek who appears out of nowhere. The story, history, and geography are fascinating, but wilder still is how this ancient priest helps us understand who and what Jesus is. Our nerd quota is complete as Pastor Palmer uses old school tractor feed printer paper to help us understand how we who are bound within time experience the One who was, and is, and shall be.

Chapter 6 of Hebrews gives us an incredible insight into the very architecture of reality. Today we look the experiences of rock climbing and sailing as a ways to understand the profound truths this chapter reveals, and why we can have hope in a broken world full of broken dreams.

What is the bible really ? Is it something supernatural, or did a bunch of guys just make it up? Why try to apply something so old to today's culture ? Can hurried, scattered people like us actually experience true peace and rest in a hurried, scattered culture like ours ? I let people see my "presentable self", the part I want them to see. But how do I deal with my "dreaded self" - those parts of me that make me feel like a defective loser ? Chapter 4 of Hebrews helps us with all these questions as it reveals to us "The Sabbath, The Sword, and The Savior."

We are constantly tempted to turn away from the very two people that the scriptures constantly urge us to turn towards - Jesus and our needy neighbors. It can get weary following Jesus when most of your culture looks at the effort as a sign of foolishness. Back in the 1800's Nietzsche said "What is now decisive against Christianity is our taste, no longer our reason." Like a great coach, the author of Hebrews takes us on a race away from Nietzsche and towards the Author of salvation.

What if you had a spiritual coach who wasn't afraid to get in your face if he knew that was what was best for you ? The writer of Hebrews is such a coach and today he gives us his first warning - there is real danger in drifting away from the gospel. A clear sign of human sinfulness is the fact that for all us us, familiarity breeds contempt. We can be so familiar with the Good News that we begin to take it for granted, and then we become passive, and then we become ungrateful, and then we drift with the currents of life away from our Savior. Today we look at the sound teaching of Chapter Two which ends with great hope as we are giving a picture of how intensely Jesus desires to be with us.

#JourneyThroughTheBookOfHebrews What if we discovered an ancient manuscript that showed not only what the first Christians really thought Jesus was all about, but also gave us a glimpse into Heaven. We have. It is called the Book of Hebrews. Join us on this journey as we go chapter by chapter ending on Easter Sunday.

Our last FRED Talk deals with the hardest question of all: If God is all powerful and all loving, how could God possibly allow the horrible things that happen in this world ? Why doesn’t God stop them ? This talk looks at the various ways people have tried to understand this dilemma and comes to a conclusion that is brutally honest and realistic yet still full of real hope that comes from the Maker of Heaven and Earth. NOTE: The video we watched can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/world/kim-phuc-where-is-she-now/