Breaking Bread Podcast

Am I addicted?  A question not a few people have asked. In this episode ACCFS clinician Roger Gasser begins to sort through the finer points of addiction.  What it is.  How it works.  What it means.

God is about setting the solitary into families.  Psalms 68:6.  It’s a brilliant plan.  As sons and daughters of His we have the opportunity to embrace each member of the family as He does – without being a respecter of persons.  In this episode Arlan and Katie Miller provide welcome description on what this looks like.

God is not a respecter of persons.  Amazing.  In this episode Arlan and Katie Miller explain just how easy it is to be partial.  Even in church.  Yet the community of believers is called to reflect this attribute of God.  And it’s so good that she has.

While the process for sending missionaries to the field swirls with preparatory support systems, the process for re-entry can go seemingly without even a footnote.  Kirk Plattner and Amber Miller address this vacuum for caring for our missionaries as they return home.  And as you would expect, the local church has a large role to play.

The apostle Paul required care from the church.  Specifically, he requested spiritual, relational and physical aid.  In episode 1, Kirk Plattner and Amber Miller unpacked the relational care the local church can provide a missionary on the field.  In this episode, they highlight in detail, ways the church can provide spiritual and physical care. 

Out of sight, out of mind is true in many contexts. But it is painfully true when missionaries and local churches are those that grow dim.  This episode is the first of a 3 part series on the church’s responsibility and opportunity in missionary care. Guests on the show are HarvestCall’s Kirk Plattner and ACCFS’s Amber Miller. Wonderfully, tangible and meaningful connections can be made that will bless the missionary, the local church and as a result – “be a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.” 

We want to honor our parents. After all, it is on God’s top ten.  Beautifully, honor takes on different hues depending on the life stage we are in. However, some situations make honor especially challenging. In this episode, Brian Sutter and Amber Miller address some of those challenging circumstances.

Honoring your father and mother is a big deal [Ten Commandments #5].  Yet working that out in real time can be challenging.  Especially when we disagree.  Obedience has an important voice at the table of honor, but its not the only voice.

Leave and then cleave. This is the pattern for marriage set early in the Scriptures. This is also the pattern for the gospel set throughout the Scriptures. Christ calls us to leave our previous lives, cleave to Him and become a new creation. In a divine reflection of the gospel, marriage calls us to leave our previous lives, cleave to our spouses and be a new family. In this episode, Kaleb Beyer walks through the nuts and bolts of this “marriage long” process.

God says to His children, “Come unto me.” In like manner, I should say to my children, “Come unto me.” But what does that look like? Craig Stickling and Brian Sutter offer practical encouragement for parents to engage their children in “family time.”

One of the hard realities of relationships is that love and hurt are bundled together. The vulnerability that relationship requires makes disappointment possible, even likely. Getting back up after disappointment and repairing trust is required for relationship maintenance. In this episode Kaleb Beyer and Arlan Miller provide a helpful template for restoring trust. 

God had a controversy with His chosen people in Hosea’s day; they didn’t know God (Hosea 4:1). Christ had a quarrel with the people of His day; they didn’t know God (John 7:28,29). Paul had a burden for the people of his day; that they would know God (Ephesians 1:17). In this episode Matt Kaufmann interviews Brian Sutter about how we can know God better and the delightful and sometimes surprising end that comes as a result.

Every parent wants his or her child to excel at something; to possess a gift, a talent, a strength. Because they have been fearfully and wonderfully made, they do. As parents, how do we steward them in these strengths? In this episode, Brian Sutter and Craig Stickling help shed light on this responsibility.

Men and women are equal. Yes. But equality is far too narrow a term to say all that needs to be said concerning gender. In this episode, Amber Miller and Matt Kaufmann discuss the limitations of these terms and introduce a few more helpful ones.

God created man in His own image.  Male and female created He them.  And God blessed them.  Genesis 1.  In this episode Matt Kaufmann leads Amber Miller in a conversation that highlights the blessing of gender.  In particular, the female gender.  God has placed unique characteristics of Himself in women.  In so doing, God has placed His likeness in the genders in such a way that each is necessary to illustrate Himself the Composite One. 

Bringing the sun back out in our overcast marriages is not the result of extravagant acts. In this episode, Kaleb Beyer explains the power for good that accumulating small moments of connection have in warming up the climate of our marriages. The currency of affection is simple, basic, local and accessible.

Friendship is a critical component of marital love. Unfortunately, too often its maintenance is neglected and our “like” for our spouse suffers. Wonderfully, our friendship can be revived. In this episode, Kaleb Beyer gives us the first of three hints on helping our friendship flourish.

The New Year naturally engenders reflection and anticipation. With gusto, we make plans for improvement. In this episode, Ted Witzig Jr. explains that the best way to make plans for success – is to make plans for failure. Getting back on track is the discipline required to get to the end of the rail.

These are the darkest days on our calendar. For many, the darkness that overshadows is not only physical. The wintertime blues touch the psyche. In this episode, Ted Witzig Jr. speaks to the issue of Seasonal Affective Disorder and points us to the solution – The Light.

Discipline is much more than behavior change. In fact, it must be. In this episode, Craig Stickling and Brian Sutter elevate this parental role to a more noble end than that of producing good kids. Listen for the hope that naughty kids afford.