Dying to Live Podcast

Are all doctrinal truths equal and for that matter essential? What is the mark of the beast? What Greek and commentary resources should we be using? Can I curse my unfair manager like David did in the Psalms? What is a healthy discipleship relationship? What about tribes who have never heard the gospel...will they go to hell? Mike d'Offay and Luke Hulley answer some of these questions posed by our listeners. This Q and A podcast will be a regular feature and we encourage listeners to send in their questions.

Is worship just singing? Are we comanded to worship? Is there a place for emotions in worship? What role should worship take in our personal devotions? The Word of God is filled with references to worship and how we should worship. In this episode Maurice Ras and Michael Joubert share their personal journeys in worship and answer some of these questions.

Jesus taught a fair amount about kingdom finances and Acts 2:42 to 47 speaks about selling possessions to give to those in need. How do we become God's money managers? How much should we give and how do we know when to give? Where does generosity start and what happens if we give when we aren't sure we've heard from God? These and other questions around stewarding God's resources are given practical answers by Phillip and Marli van der Westhuizen together with Mike Davies.

Does the the Bible prohibit couples from living together before marriage? Is it possible to live together without sinning and are there circumstances where it is permitted? Dave and Keena James together with Luke Hulley and Mike Davies answer these and other important questions giving a clear understanding as to what God's Word says about living together before marriage.

We live in a woke generation where dating is for sex, everything goes and nothing is off limits. The question we ask is whether God has a plan for dating? Unfortunately God's Word says nothing about dating...you're either married or not. So, how do young men and women who are believers negotiate the minefield of dating and relationships. Leonard Strydom leads a congregation of mainly young men and women in JoshGen Stellenbosch and regularly deals with these questions as an elder. In this episode he brings in Hannah and Josh who are dating with the intention of pursuing marriage in the future. Together they share wisdom from experience, trials and errors as they reflect on their dating journeys.

Whether you have been a follower of Jesus for 6 months or 60 years, the challenge of having a quiet time or daily devotions is a very real challenge for many of us. In this episode Lee Serafin, Karen and Demetri Nikiforus together with Michael D'Offay share personal experiences, spiritual truths and biblical foundations around personal devotions, couples devotions and family devotions. There is not one way, a formula or pattern for daily devotions. As with all relationships our quiet times are diverse as we connect with Jesus daily and it's this connection that is the fundamental common thread we need to experience in our daily devotions.

How do we exercise our faith in God is an age old question we all face. With the extremes from both sides in the contemporary church, finding a balance is key to our walk with God. In this episode Luke Hulley and Michael D'Offay answer some of the big questions around exercising our faith.

In this episode, with a live studio audience, we look at a word that impacts charismatic churches following the model of New Testament church and that is, cults. Why are churches often labelled as cults? What are we doing differently that attracts a label like this? So, the main question answered in part one of this episode by our guests Mike Davies and Dr Cornelia van Deventer together with Michael d'Offay is...how do we as New Testament believers recognise a cult and understand biblically why we aren't part of one? In part two our guests answer questions posed by the live studio audience.

James says in chapter 1 of his epistle that we should..."Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds". He doesn't say if but when. In this episode, Wayne Turner and Michael d'Offay chat with Pamela Marais and Juliet van der Westhuizen as they share their remarkable God journey of trials, grief and suffering. They tell a story of how Jesus carried them through trials that no family should endure with the joy James commands of us. Losing a father, grandfather and husband was a messy, difficult and painful experience but God was in the midst of it carrying them as He has promised.

Eschatology or the doctrine of the last things has raised more questions than answers over generations. Many of us avoid apocalyptic books in the Bible because of the lack of understanding while others study it in such detail in order to attempt to gain all knowledge. But how should we approach the book of Revelation and what benefit is there from reading the book? In this podcast Luke Hulley, Dylan Jones and Mike D'Offay give us some insight into how we should read end times literature in the Bible.

In Philippians 1 v 9 Paul says that "it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment". It's God's desire that we should grow in discernment as believers. But what about the gift of discernment? How does this differ from natural discernment? Luke Hulley and Dylan Jones together with Mike D'Offay drill down deeper into what the differences are and how we should exercise discernment and the gift of discernment.

Is the role of preaching and teaching the function of just the elders? Should ordinary saints be able to exercise these giftings in the local church? In today's episode Mike, Dan and Carel answer these questions and others while giving us perspective on the place of regular saints within these two ministries.

In this episode we bring Mike and Lolly back into studio to look at how we should be reading and studying God's in context and not twisting texts to suit our theology and Biblical understanding. How we read God's Word with understanding is vital for growth and as Paul says to Timothy we need to accurately handle God's Word. Lolly shares with us some amazing resources for reading, listening and studying God's Word. www.logos.com www.scribd.com

How do we as Christians navigate our places of work and find our place in this environment without compromise. We spend the majority of our time at work with the average person spending over 90 000 hours in a lifetime. The Bible says that work is fundemental to all of our lives and that we are required to honour God through it. Dylan Jones and Lindsay Fiamingo share their experiences of honouring God in sometimes very difficult workplaces and trying situations. Link to article mentioned by Mike - https://four12global.com/articles/thank-god-its-monday/

Marriage as the institution we know as New Testament believers is under attack like never before. Building a marriage that last needs building blocks to create a stable foundation on which we can build for long term success. Mac and Naudine Adami share some fundamental principles such as love, respect, accountabilty, repentance and forgiveness which are important in building marriages that last.

Longevity in leadership is simply staying the course and reaching the goal that God has placed ahead of us through fulfilling His plans and purposes. But simple is not always easy and the challenges of staying the course make it very difficult. Jeff Kidwell shares how he has stayed the course over 40 years of ministry while facing hurdles and challenges and gives us keys to achieving longevity.

The world of the arts and social media can be a minefield for Christians in the industry yet this is brought even closer to home as Christians as the entry level to the arts is becoming easier for all. Through social media we can become media influencers and content creators and walk a similar minefield to those in the media and arts industry. How we navigate this and what boundaries we can push without compromising our faith and bibllical foundations is a question we should be asking. Howard Fyvie, media man, filmmaker and regular saint chats with us about some of these big questions and provides solutions through his personal experiences in the industry.

TMT or Timothy Ministry Training could be considered one of JoshGen's best kept secrets. In this episode we have five guests in studio, leaders, staff and students who share their personal experiences of how God has in worked their lives throught the ministry of TMT. Mike, who is the dean of TMT, takes the role of guest as well and gives us an overview of what TMT is all about and who can participate in the programme. If you need a gap year, preparation for a variety of ministries or a springboard into university or a career then TMT is a possible option that God may be leading you into.

It’s that time of the year again with the festive season fast approaching! Christmas is spiritually sacred for many people while for others Christmas is viewed as a pagan festival that believers should avoid since we are called to not copy or love the world. In this episode Carel Albertyn and Clarence Rule, elders in JoshGen, look at the origins of the festival and how Christians should approach Christmas and celebrating the birth of Jesus.

As Christians, we carry in a sense dual citizenship. We are citizens of heaven but also are citizens here in South Africa. We submit to the Lord God but Scripture is also clear that we need to submit to earthly authorities. Romans 13:1 says “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” But how does this work out for us today in democratic societies in the 21st Century, especially as our governments are increasingly become anti-Christian. How do we learn to obey God but also honour the government? We have with us Nadene Badenhorst who is an advocate and worked for FORSA and now serving as a full-time deacon in JoshGen. She shares her wide experience and knowledge as to how we should respond to government in various situations.