Episodes

  • 3 Navigational Points: Story-Journey-Desire Part 2

    3 Navigational Points: Story-Journey-Desire Part 2
    Sep 3 2024
    Continuing with the nature of Seasons as a useful category for the Navigational point of Journey the 2nd point, it is very important to understand the nature of seasons let alone knowing what Season God has us in.

    Obviously if we don't know what Season God has us in, then our Journey will feel rather Disoriented..Where am I going? What am I supposed to be doing with my life? What vision do I have for my life?

    The danger here is that we settle for the status quo and settle for living in a story of 'Just getting by'. But God has created and redeemed us to live in His Bigger Story of Redemption. In this 2nd Podcast, I go through a Pruning Season, a Wilderness Season, a Harvest Season before I move on to the 3rd Navigational point of Desires.
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    30 mins
  • 3 Navigational points: Story-Journey-Desire

    3 Navigational points: Story-Journey-Desire
    Sep 3 2024
    The world has become rather crazy in the last 2-3 years has'nt it? We can easily lose or way in life and lose a sense of direction and our lives can be marked by a sense of Disorientation. When you're Disoriented, you don't know where you are and are confused and need to get your bearings. It is the same with the Story we are living in. These 3 Navigational points then are exactly that-that can facilitate us to Navigate and listen to our Story well. We need to have eyes to see and ears to hear as well as to be good listeners to our own hearts and to be able to listen to what God is doing IN us to get clarity about what He wants to do THROUGH us. I hope these 3 Navigational points prove to be helpful to you as you seek to live in God's Bigger Story.
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    23 mins
  • When it won't go away: A Biblical Response to Chronic Pain: Part 2

    When it won't go away: A Biblical Response to Chronic Pain: Part 2
    Aug 6 2023
    A Framework of Redeeming Chronic Pain
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    40 mins
  • When it won't go away: A Biblical Response to Chronic Pain- Part 1

    When it won't go away: A Biblical Response to Chronic Pain- Part 1
    Aug 6 2023
    The experience of Chronic Pain from several different perspectives and a Framework of Redeeming Chronic Pain.
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    23 mins
  • Themes and Underlying issues in 'Jesus Revolution' and our own times

    Themes and Underlying issues in 'Jesus Revolution' and our own times
    Jun 24 2023
    How can we utilize the watching of this film 'Jesus Revolution' to develop the discussion of the relevant themes and issues between the 1960s Jesus People who the traditional church struggled to accept with the issues of our own day?
    Many of the hippies of Southern California in the 1960s were
    becoming followers of Jesus. But the traditional churches did not accept them and there was a lot difficulty experienced by all people involved. Songwriters like Keith Green and Don Francisco came out of the Jesus Movement and many contemporary worship songs were influenced by these songwriters.

    There are several relevant factors that can be applied with the film and our own times in 2023. What are they? How can we develop this into creating something for marginalised subcultures in our own day?
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    32 mins
  • Vulnerability- the route to authentic connection and the Fig leaves of Churchianity

    Vulnerability- the route to authentic connection and the Fig leaves of Churchianity
    Mar 15 2023
    In Acts 4v34 it says that there was 'no one in need'. This is because they sold their possessions and even sold their houses. The neediness in the early Ecclesia in Acts 4 was based on how vulnerable they were. This vulnerability created authentic community that in turn became a powerful witness to those who did not know Jesus.

    The unselfish sacrificial lifestyle and willingness to be vulnerable was powerful therefore. The way that the vast majority of the Western Church tends to be somewhat superficial. How are you we ask in our churches. 'I'm fine' we respond. This is all pervasive and creates a superficiality. The tragedy is that people are doing 'fine' mostly because so many have affluent materialistic lives in most Western churches. Yet, even when people are not doing 'fine' because they are in a season of suffering, we still tend to settle and hide behind the mask of 'I'm doing fine'.

    To genuinely love each other we have to take a risk to be vulnerable. The things we long for like connection, love, belonging, purpose and meaning are all connected to the necessity to be vulnerable in some capacity. The reason is that so many people in the West are isolated, lonely, marginalised and lack a sense of belonging.

    In this podcast I discuss Brene Brown's research findings on vulnerability and compare the deep principles of vulnerability with the roots of all human psychology in Eden and how the fig leaves are still very much in place in modern Western Christianity because there is such a lack of willingness to be vulnerability in order to cultivate authentic connection, community and love that shows the world who Jesus really is.
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    27 mins
  • Categories provide clarity to Intepret our Story

    Categories provide clarity to Intepret our Story
    Jan 17 2023
    How do we Interpret our story? Well most of us do not Interpret our story. We can all admit that we don't normally interpret our lives well. But Interpretation of our story can help to crystallise the essence of who we are or who we are becoming.

    The Category of Warfare is crucial because the whole backdrop of the Bible which is about God's bigger story from Creation to New Creation will characterize some aspects of our lives. Of course balance is needed but it is not wise to completely ignore this category. For example there are seasons of the Fog of war when we lose direction, drop the ball and feel like we have lost our way. Knowing how to break agreements with mental strongholds is important in these seasons.

    The category of Desires is also crucial. I have talked much about Desires in his podcast series on Interpretation as well as this LifeQuest podcast.

    We tend to believe that we live in a small story and so we miss the Bigger Story. But the Bigger Story is always going on. Brother Lawrence washed dishes in a remote monastery in a previous century, so it would be easy to assume that he lived in a small insignificant story. But kings came to him for advice, because he practiced the presence of God, he lived in God's bigger story. So the Bigger Story is always going on, but we need spiritual eyes to see, so we ask God...'What is the expression of the essence of who I am' or who I am becoming by your Grace'?
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    26 mins
  • Interpretation of our lives, our calling, our hearts. How do we interpret?

    Interpretation of our lives, our calling, our hearts. How do we interpret?
    Dec 7 2022
    One of the concepts that can help keep us awake, alive, diligent and as whole hearted as we can be in a fallen world is the idea of Interpretation. How many of us regularly Interpret our lives, our story, our hearts, our calling, our vocation?

    It is not something if we are honest that we engage with much. It is not really our default disposition is it? I wonder why not? Maybe the society we live in, the relentless onslaught of busyness that consumes our lives.

    Unforeseen circumstances, social fragmentation, all the 'lsm's aka the ideologies that have shaped our culture like Individualism and Consumerism, just those two 'Isms' will direct us into living in a much smaller story than God's Bigger Story of His Kingdom.

    So how do we Interpret our lives? This is what this podcast is about. 'Above ALL ELSE guard your heart, for out of it spring the issues of life' says Proverbs 4v23

    This will take about 3 podcasts on this topic.....If you would like to explore this idea of how you interpret your own life story, and would like to go on a journey of getting your heart back if you are able to be honest enough to admit, that crucial aspects of your true heart are buried....then email me at...thebiggerstory1@gmail.com
    My name is Nigel Mohammed of Life-Quest ministry. I teach, facilitate, mentor, and write. We can do this 4 week course on our Calling in the context of our whole life story on Zoom if you live in a different area or even different country.

    Or we can do it in person one to one or in a group. I run this course at a local Community Hub where I live on the South Coast of England.
    Again...thebiggerstory1@gmail.com
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    25 mins