Dallas Willard once said that one of the most difficult tasks you can ever undertake is the work of examining your teachers and examining the impact they had on you and your view of God. This task difficult because it makes us acknowledge that our teachers are not perfect. It is an important task because it forces us to separate and clarify our all…

One of the most difficult things we run in to when people around is are hurting is that we don't know how to respond. Maybe its our insecurity. Maybe its our individualism. But as God's people, one of the essential qualities of the community of God's people is that we learn to love people in their pain.…

How do we become people who are truly generous? One principle that has been at work in our lives is the observation that we will never be truly generous unless we perceive ourselves to be truly wealthy. If we see ourselves as those who are always lacking and in need, we will have a very difficult time being liberal in our giving. The message of the…

Uprooting Bitterness From Your Heart by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Our Summer Recommends by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Deconstruction has definitely been a buzzword this past year. With the scandals in and around christian circles, comes another wave of disillusionment and doubt. How do we process this as christians? Too often, when we as christians come across a friend or loved one who is going through a challenging season in their faith, whether its doubt or ques…

Embracing the Discomfort of True Belonging by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Every generation has its temptations and challenges. One of the great blessings of our time is affluence. We have so much stuff. Many of us were raised not knowing any true needs. And in the midst of that, we are formed by technology to think that the greatest things in our life can come to us through the swipe of a screen or a click of a button. S…

Good Love Takes Deep Work by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Learning to express our joy in Jesus by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Processing the Fall of Christian Leaders by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

God's Love & Your Restless Heart by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Changes Takes Practice by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Loving People Through Difficult Seasons by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Discovering & Following God's Calling For Your Life by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Giving Negative Feedback To Those We Love by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

This week on the podcast we take a moment to think a little more deeply through the process of uprooting our fears. As I mentioned in the previous post, the challenge with fear is that it can masquerade itself so well in the under layers of our hearts. Fear can become a deep mover of our worldview and our goals that we take it as a normal way to li…

How do we make sense of the craziness in the world around us today? And how do we protect our own hearts and minds in the process? This a talk that I did at one of our True North Worship Nights. I hope you find it helpful!Par The Well Said Podcast

What's it like being a police officer today? This week on the podcast, we get a chance to hear an answer to that question. With all the political upheaval of the last few months, some of us have to deal with the results more than others. Most of us see the mischaracterization and inaccuracies from a distance. And then we go back to our regular live…

We all know that relationships are one of the most important aspect of our lives, but what does it actually take to build richer relationships? The challenge with this question is the fact that over our lives we get into certain relational habits the prevent us from cultivating richer and deeper connections. Often times, we are not even aware of th…

I think one of the single most important threats to our physical, social and spiritual health comes at us through the influence that technology is having on our hearts and minds. I know that sounds extreme and perhaps cliche. I know that I am saying this on social media. But for those of you who know me, you know that I don’t use such sweeping stat…

What is the first rule of marriage? “Its always the guy’s fault”. You may have seen that on a meme or a tee shirt. It's become a common phrase today, and it's meant as a sarcastic statement for the fact that women won’t ever give in in an argument until the guy admits his fault in the situation. Ironically, the statement can be surprisingly true wh…

One of the great dilemmas of our age is the “Peter Pan Syndrome”. Our younger generations are having a tougher and tougher time growing up into adulthood. We are “launching” later and later in life, and even with that, many are failing that launch miserably. One of the underlying issues causing this is an assumption that adulthood is where all our …

Dealing with your emotional and spiritual skeletons by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Race in American With Andrey Gorban by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

How do we build deeper community? by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Racism and the Church by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

What is a woman? Interestingly, this has become one of the most controversial subjects today. The beauty of God’s creation order arises in the variety and distinctiveness of his purposes for his creatures, not their sameness. As christians living in a culture that continually presses down on us with a philosophy that flattens out manhood and womanh…

Cultivating Spiritual Discipline by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Making Sense of Violence in the Bible by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

The last couple of weeks have transformed the world as we know it. It is now impossible to go back. Two weeks ago seemed so peaceful and innocent. But here we are. Washington State has the most cases of the coronavirus or COVID-19. This is a challenging time for us, as we are scrambling to readjust to the new information that we face every day. How…

Is all power inherently evil and corrupting? Does that fact that I possess certain gifts or opportunities in life automatically rob someone else of having those gifts? How do we react to the reality of inequality in our world? One of the key assumptions that powers your answers to these questions is how you see the world. Either the world is create…

Jake Locker Pt. 2 by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Jake's story of faith has many twists, turns and detours in the road. It includes playing football for the UW and then going on to play in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans. Today Jake is retired from the NFL and focuses his life on leading his business, Locker Room Fitness, being an active part of his church community and leading his wife and kids …

This week’s episode is a recording of a talk I did on the subject of faith in the face of doubts. For more information, check out @truenorthbellingham on Facebook or Instagram. Enjoy the show!Have you ever had the experience of seeing someone you know what away from the faith? Many of us have been there. It's a challenging experience. One that kind…

We got married 7 years ago. It was the middle of December and everyone was in the middle of the holiday hustle and bustle. I was in the middle of a nursing program in college. We had no money. I sold my car to pay wedding and honeymoon expenses. And yet, despite the challenges and hurdles, these past 7 years have been a journey of joy and growing l…

This week on the podcast we tackle the question of pain and suffering. Why does a good God allow bad things to happen? How do we think through this as followers of Jesus? The interesting thing is that often times this issue is framed as a problem that christians have to answer, because we say we believe in a God who is both good and powerful. The r…

2010-2019: The Decade in Review by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Hey y’all, I am so excited to share this episode with y’all. A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Sergey to hear about his journey of serving God, following the call of the gospel and how it eventually landed him in the coffee industry. Our deepest beliefs and convictions will always bleed out from the heart and mind out to our fingertips. This st…

The holiday season can be a complicated time. On the one hand, we are surrounded by the warm lights, sounds and smells of celebration. We’ve got our Christmas vibes goin. And we love it. But on the other hand, it can be a depressing reminder of the fact that these warm and wonderful emotions sometimes vanish and we realize we can’t just squeeze out…

Why Do Christians Disagree So Much? by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

Kanye West and Real Repentence and Faith by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

To be human is to worship. Or put another way, to be human is to be a creature of ultimate desire. We worship the things that we desire and seek after most, because we look to these for satisfaction, peace and completeness. Though we are created to know and love the One who made us, our sin leads us to believe the lie that our ultimate satisfaction…

Why You Should Read More Fiction by The Well Said PodcastPar The Well Said Podcast

One of the most complex seasons of our lives is the season of dating and transition into marriage. No two stories are exactly alike. And there really is no perfect formula one can prescribe that will guarantee safe passage to these rough and challenging waters. Quite unfortunately, christians have often done harm by adding unhelpful or even harmful…

Alright guys so this past month we have officially moved into the mini-van world. This was once again a reminder for my wife and I that life is moving along quickly and we are not the 23 year olds we used to be. We are growing up. We are moving though the 20’s, with the 30’s coming in fast. So this week we pause and think out loud about what it mea…

Following Jesus today means so much more than just reading your Bible and going to church. If God is real, and if he desires to dwell in our hearts and lives through the gospel message, then it is a life that must be full of life. It's supposed to peel back the curtains on reality. It's supposed to show us the world in brighter color. Teach us to f…

These last few months have been quite the rollercoaster for our family. It's been almost a year now since we started the initial process of getting licensed as foster parents. As you might guess, this was kind of a crazy step for us. A time full of uncertainty, questions and even a bit of fear. The process took a bit longer than we anticipated, but…

Where has the magic gone? Why does it often feel like faith in today’s world is like trying to run with weights on your feet? Why do we sense a continual tug of doubt even though we’ve been following Jesus for a long time now? These are just some of the questions that we often ask as we try to make sense of our hearts as followers of Jesus today. T…

What is fatherlessness and why is it one of the biggest factors that lead to increased crime rates, mental illness and even medical problems? In an individualistic culture, we are very good at prizing the rights of the individual. And yet we are very bad at understanding the importance of the family and the role of men. And yet the cliche that we a…