Pope-style advice: persistent sin and unchanging grace
- When struggling with persistent sin, is it better or worse to surround yourself with scripture and prayer, or does that bring more guilt?
- Why do we have to understand everything?
Framed as 'Pope Mike' advice after online commenters mistook a host for the pope, the host addressed on-air as Mike recounts counseling a young believer battling persistent sin: the devil let in the front door who 'farts in the chair' and acts like he owns the place, and Jesus as the renovator building walls in the house. His counsel: God's opinion of you did not change; borrow someone else's walls (community) while Jesus builds yours. Discussion follows -- Trevor's father's line about prayer and sin, why we must understand everything, science and faith in sync, Paul's Ephesians prayer to comprehend God's love, Ephesians 3:9-12 read aloud, a David Platt book on God not needing us -- closing on being faithful in the means.
More on Community
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Do accountability partners actually work?
- Do accountability partners actually do anything?
Mike raises his accountability-partners question: the standard dude-circle advice to get a buddy to hold you accountable for Bible reading, porn, church attendance, and drinking.
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers
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Dear LFTP 2: the neighbors' piling newspapers
- Dear LFTP: at what point can we pick up our out-of-town neighbors' piling newspapers and recycle them?
Mike reads the second letter: new neighbors have been out of town for weeks and their newspapers are piling up — at what point may the writer recycle them?
From No. 595 · Trust But Verify
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Local pastors, mutual refinement, and the 'pods' joke
- What word comes after "community"?
The best pastor for you is the person in your life who can look you in the eyeballs; walk into every room expecting the other person might refine you — that only works locally.
From No. 590 · Theodore Franco
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Dear LFTP: Martha, John, and Jerry
- How should a woman in love with her ex's brother tell friends, family, and his parents?
A host reads the first Dear LFTP letter: Martha dated John for two years, then he kept living with her six months after the breakup; John is an emotionally and verbally abusive alcoholic who burned every bridge.
From No. 584 · When Vanek Was Here | Cambodia Testimony, Church Mission, Josiah Queen