Connexus Church Audio Podcast

We live in a culture where we've never had more options to choose from, but in many ways, we also feel chained down by those same choices. We can feel the pressure that comes from being tied to our job, to a broken relationship, to our past, to our financial situation, to inner battles, etc. No matter how hard we try, why is it so hard to feel free in our daily lives? We'll be talking about what it means to experience real freedom in our souls and lives. What if it really is possible to live free?

To wrap up this series, we’ll look at how you can talk with God. From ancient times, people have called this practice prayer. We’ll look at how prayer is different from meditation, what prayer changes, and how prayer can become part of your daily life.

This week Carey gives a BONUS interview with author John Ortberg on spritual formation and hearing from God and his book on connecting with God called "Soul Keeping".

So how do you exactly hear from this invisible God? Do you hear voices, or is that just for crazy people? Do you listen to your emotions? Is God...silent? We’ll look at 7 ways God speaks to people today. They might surprise you.

When learning how to have a relationship with God, one of the top questions is "How can I know I’ve heard from God” closely followed by “How can I know God’s will for my life?“ Author Mark Batterson has studied the subject in-depth and shares 7 key ways people hear from God, and how hearing his voice can help you find his purpose for your life.

So many people are getting into spirituality, self-discovery, meditation, mindfulness and finding themselves. But is that all there is? Jesus gave us a powerful illustration of what happens when a person moves beyond themselves and connects with Him. It might be exactly what you’re missing.

Love sees who you really are and sticks around anyway. And that’s exactly what Jesus did. In the days after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus surprised his disciples by making them breakfast on the beach. To their utter shock, it was the beginning of a whole new relationship. Jesus wasn’t finished with them (or with you). He was just getting started.

On the night before He died, Jesus sat down for dinner around a table with his closest friends and followers. All of them would desert him. He refused to desert them. Jesus showed us an extraordinarily rare love that sees you for who you really are, and sticks around anyway.

Sometimes you think you can’t make a dent in the problems the world is facing. And besides, you feel like you barely have enough to live on yourself. As a result, many of us often feel indifferent toward the situation others face, and our response is usually a response of inaction. Is there another way? Can something make a difference?

Happy couples decide they owe each other everything but are owed nothing in return. But that requires effort. Every married person makes a choice every day. That choice feels more like a reaction, so most people don’t think they have a choice at all. But they do. Happy couples make the happy choice.

As long as you think your spouse owes you, your marriage will be all about keeping score. That destroys intimacy. It destroys love. But what are we supposed to do about our hopes, dreams, and desires?

We all enter into marriage with hopes, dreams, and desires. They create expectations. But when you put those expectations onto your spouse, it turns your marriage into a debt/debtor relationship. Your relationship becomes marked by the belief that your spouse owes you something. So, how do you keep your hopes, dreams, and desires from becoming expectations?

A great marriage doesn’t happen by accident. It requires care and regular maintenance. But sometimes we don’t want to make the effort. As long as it’s not broken, do we really need to talk about it?

The culture says there are many paths to truth and to God. Christianity claims that Jesus alone is the way to God. Aren’t Christians just narrow-minded bigots when it comes to other religions? How can Jesus be the only way? Problem of God author Mark Clark joins us this week to conclude the Problem of God series, and addresses this issue head on.

Maybe you think the Bible is unreliable or that, even as a historical book, it’s riddled with errors and mistakes. This week, Carey will be joined by world-renowned New Testament scholar Dr. Craig Evans, who has been interviewed on Dateline NBC, by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and lectured at Yale, Princeton, Harvard and Oxford Universities. Together, they’ll discuss why many of the world’s brightest thinkers have come to trust the scriptures.

"Jesus is just a made-up person. A myth modeled on a number of other mythological ancient gods whose stories  predate Jesus by thousands of years." The popular belief of the Christ-Myth has gained ground in recent years, with manybelieving that Jesus never existed and is a work of fiction. In this bonus episode, we look at what the evidence has to say about that claim.

Almost everyone is comfortable with the idea of heaven. But few people—including Christians—are comfortable with the idea of hell. Why, after all, would a loving God send people to hell? We’ll explore that subject and what it says about the character and heart of God...and what it says about you.

Many near death experiences seems to be positive experiences, but what about judgment and hell? Are both simply outdated concepts? Surprisingly, not all near death experiences are positive experiences. In fact, 23% are hellish. What both the scripture and near death experiences reveal about judgment may shock you but ultimately save you.

From the Christian down the road who never practices what he preaches, to witch hunts, to the crusades, what is the deal with Christians who look nothing like Jesus? You told us that the hypocrisy of Christians is one of the top problems you have with God. So let’s go there.