Breaking Bread Podcast

You don’t need to be an intellectual to make a defense for the faith. A visible hope, a genuine love, an honest humility and a listening ear will go a long way in this regard. In this final episode of the Apologetics series Brian Sutter and Matt Kaufmann peal back the onion of faith to reveal the beauty of God and give some tips on how we can engage the skeptic.

The Christian faith is not a house of cards, tenuous and in need of protection. Thus, questions and challenges are welcome. Within the church especially. Within our families absolutely. In this episode, Brian Sutter helps us understand four main lenses through which we can understand apologetics and make a defense for the faith.

Christian apologetics is the discipline of making a defense for the Christian faith. Apologetics, therefore, has an important place in the life of a believer. But what place does it have? Does our faith rest on the sum total of a bunch of rational arguments? Or, do the arguments rest on our faith in God and thereby give rise to worship? In this episode, Brian Sutter, interviewed by Matt Kaufmann, cites the importance for both but advocates for worship. Apologetics offers a great deal of health and hope to the believer.

The tools for shedding hurt should be viewed as items in a tool belt to be used upon demand as opposed to items stored away in a box if per chance the need for use arises. In this final episode of the “Shedding Hurt” series, Ted Witzig Jr. explains both the importance and the skills for not allowing hurt to pile up.  Having a lifestyle of shedding hurt will allow us to weather life’s many disappointments.

At the root of forgiveness there are two gifts to be given. The vindication we want to give to the offender we give to Jesus.  The grace we want to keep for ourselves we give to the offender.  In this episode, Ted Witzig Jr. walks through the steps of forgiveness and helps us give these gifts to the right recipient.

Are you hurting? Have you sustained an emotional wound? Suppose you could shed that hurt. Suppose that hurt could fall away. Ted Witzig Jr. suggests it can.  In this podcast series, Matt Kaufmann leads Ted in unpacking the disciplines of shedding hurt, anger, and bitterness.

Settling your identity on Christ will be a journey. A journey worth taking. In this episode, Amber Miller identifies the road markings for this journey and provides some practical helps along the way.    

Who am I? Some of us ask this question out right. Others of us ask this question beneath our awareness. To be sure, all of us ask this question. The degree to which we are settled, content, satisfied and secure partially rests in this answer of identity. In this episode, Amber Miller helps us understand the health that is ours when we place our identity in Christ.

To misquote William Shakespeare, “All the world is the audience.” The stage is our technology.  With ever widening audiences our lives are broadcasted in circles we never intended. Users of technology need to understand this principle as well as others to navigate technology in the twenty-first century.  This episode speaks to three final principles in technology use: time usage, Christ likeness and social appropriateness.

The Bible makes no mention of the internet, apps or virtual reality.  Yet it speaks to them.  In this episode, Arlan Miller and Matt Kaufmann provide a few helpful principles to use when discerning our technology use.

The intimacy between a husband and a wife holds immense promise, for it springs from immense holiness – The Holy Trinity. Christian marriage is a living testimony of God’s Oneness. In this episode, Kaleb Beyer helps us understand sex as God designed it.

Marriage is meant to be a reflection of Christ and the church. When husbands and wives take their cue from Christ, they become a living testimony of this most holy relationship.  To be sure, Satan wants to upset this metaphor.  In this episode, Kaleb Beyer explains where he does and how we can, through Christ, be re-centered.

From Genesis to Revelation, marriage is a major narrative of the Bible. This divine institution is a visible testimony of the relationship nature of God. In this episode, Matt Kaufmann will lead Kaleb Beyer in a discussion that will attempt to peer into marriage and discover the gospel elements contained therein.

Life is hard. Part of being human is working through tough stuff. In times like these people tend toward isolation. However, God bundles the answer in relationship. Counseling, lay or professional, is this relationship that exposes  our hurts to Christ’s healing light. In this episode, Ted Witzig Jr introduces the discipline of Christian counseling and gives you a window into the heart of Apostolic Christian Counseling and Family Services.

Boundaries define what is and is not the United States. Furthermore, the existence of those boundaries and the respect we have for the boundaries of other nations sets the footings for national relationships. In like manner, personal boundaries go a long way in framing up our relationships with other people. Proper respect, discernment and action in accordance to our boundaries free us up to live out the law of love.  

Our lives bump up against the lives of others at our boundaries. The proper care of those boundaries is incumbent on us to avoid hurt, exhaustion, and frustration. In this podcast series, Arlan Miller and Matt Kaufmann walk through five principles for living with healthy boundaries.

Having the conversation about the “Birds and the Bees” can be intimidating. In this episode, Craig Stickling and Brian Sutter motivate and equip parents to train up our children on the topic of sex.

We live in a sexually confused culture. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that we engage our children and shape their sexual character. Brian Sutter and Craig Stickling frame up this task by giving parents five areas of focus: beliefs, values, needs, skills, and supports.

From a pillow of stones to a pillar for worship, Jacob’s transition was redeemed. In like manner, God would like our transition to be a springboard for worship.  Episode 3 concludes the Redeeming Transitions series by introducing two more redeemable qualities of transitions – transitions elicit worship and transitions teach us about ourselves.

Jacob had just made hash of his family relationships. Bethel was his place of transition, a backdrop that was undesired and unfamiliar to Jacob. While he was there, God spoke to him and said that “all the families of the earth will be blessed” through him. God uses Jacob’s transitional spot as a redemptive moment in Jacob’s life. In this episode Ted Witzig Jr. and Matt Kaufmann explain two redemptive lessons out of the story of Jacob. First, God intends our transitions to be a launching pad for the blessing of others and second, we are not the product of the backdrop of our circumstances.