The 180 Church Podcast with Dr. Sammy and Friends

The Sovereignty of God and the Imperishable Seed.

Beneath the surface of our sincere and well-intended ideals also lies expectations. In the human experience, mismanaged expectations can often lead to disappointment, especially in the case of the church, where many of us hold unrealistic ideals of how the Christian community should be built. However, the church is not built by our ideals, but by the work of a sovereign God and the love of his son Jesus Christ. The Christian community, and the work done in us by the Father, deals with us as is - surrendered to grace and transformed by love.

Learning

The discipline of the book is essentially the discipline of learning. The Word of God, in all its forms, is not a relic of time long past but a living expression of the gospel and the enduring wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Following Christ means being formed in our new identity in Him and donning a new way of life, and therefore it's crucial that we learn and re-learn to wholly digest the gospel for our own lives. Furthermore, the transformation that results from developing habits of learning becomes a witness of itself to the true promise of the gospel.

Resisting the Insidious Attacks on our Identity

Often in life we make mistakes, and when we do it's easy to fall prey to thinking that we are fundamentally inadequate and incapable of growth. However, we should not let our mistakes define us. Instead, we should rip down the harassing thoughts telling us that we cannot improve, work our thoughts back to Christ, and thus replace the harrassing thoughts with God's truths, because in truth, God has given us agency over our mistakes. By following this mnemonic (rip, work, replace), we will find that no matter how many mistakes we make, the peace of God will be with us and will enable us to become better than we could ever imagine ourselves to be.

Day in the Sun (How to cling on to the promises of God when you feel like settling)

When we’re trying to realize a God-given goal in our lives, we inevitably face resistance in the process of what we believe is God’s dream for us. Indeed, it’s difficult to cling on the promises of God when we feel like we’re suffering in vain. But when we look at the story of Joseph and his dream of becoming ruler of Egypt, we learn the journey isn’t only about the final outcome of realizing our dreams but how the journey shapes who we become through suffering and pain. If we care more about the sense of satisfaction at the end of a long journey towards our goals, then our goals tend to be more about ourselves. But the true value of the journey is how God can shape us to become deeper people who care more about the greater good of others.

Forgiveness (Part 2)

In part two of the Forgiveness series, the late Dr. Tim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, drives home the point that forgiveness is granted before it’s felt and is a commitment to refrain from acting on vengeance. True forgiveness is expressed between one another and oneself through a commitment to extend reconciliation, in accountability to God and to each other. Dr. Keller offers us actionable insight and perspective to live a life that reflects the fruit of forgiveness paid in advance by the blood of Christ.

Forgiveness (Part 1)

The late Dr. Tim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, distinguishes between a watered-down version of forgiveness and biblical forgiveness. True forgiveness is not simply ridding ourselves of our hurt to make ourselves feel better, nor is it a tool we wield to make someone grovel in repentance. Moreover, as Dr. Keller says, forgiveness is the fruit of the Spirit, and we see its significance when we look towards God: we forgive because the Father forgave us.

Moving From Goals to Godly Goals

We may have many desires in life. We will realize some of them, but as desires depend on circumstances outside of our control, we will inevitably fail others. That is why we cannot form our identiy in our desires. Instead, we should form our identity through chasing Godly goals, which, unlike chasing desires, is completely within our control. Then, after having built a Godly foundation internally, we can, and indeed should, live out God's goals externally. Through doing so, we will find that even at times when our desires in life are torn apart and crushed, we will still be on track in God's plan, which in turn will lead to changes that are far better than any desire we can ever imagine.

Why Faith is Long and Winding (Day in the Sun!)

Faith is a series of ongoing conversations, like a long and winding road where there may be detours, delays, and most importantly, doubt. Our relationship with faith is also a nonlinear process; there are moments when we talk ourselves out of believing in God. Like Nicodemus and his admiration of Jesus, we may never know if our neighbors and friends are close to believing in God, but He may be drawing them to Him. Though so many have shelved their faith, in today’s Day in the Sun service, we are reminded that God can use us to bring others back to belief.

Taming the Chaos of Uncertainty Through Discipline.

There are multiple factors that are hugely important for the health of our spiritual life. One is the discipline of the heart, which is paramount for keeping our human propensity to wander in check. When we are experiencing the highest highs or the deepest sufferings, the danger of our expectations and internal wiring can lead us wayward in our expressions of ministry and what we assume is permissible in the Christian life. After all, while the human heart errs towards stupidity, pride, and greed, we are also often unaware of our faulty expectations of the Father in this journey of faith. In order to mitigate the deceit of the heart and avoid undue damage to our communities, Dr. Sammy encourages us to establish mechanisms for curbing the deceit in our hearts, build a habit of introspection, and consider whether our lives reflect the ministry set by Jesus.

Discipline of the Heart: Hevel

The Book of Ecclesiastes grapples with the notion that life under the sun is hevel - or put another way - meaningless. Like hevel, which means vapor or smoke in Hebrew, our lives on Earth are fleeting and ultimately outside our grasp. However, while our choices and actions may seem like fruitless toil in our limited understanding, they reveal where our heart truly is in relation to God. The discipline of the heart is looking to God, instead of everything else, for meaning and hope. It's a discipline because it requires sacrifice; we let go of the other ways we try to instill meaning in our lives, and in exchange, make room for God, who gives our lives eternal significance.