The 180 Church Podcast with Dr. Sammy and Friends

Holy Ghost: The Gift of the Resurrection

We are back after Good Friday and Easter Sunday with a message about what really happens after the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us. For many of us, it can seem that faith erases all doubt from our minds and hearts and that everything becomes picture perfect with Jesus's victory over death, but we are left still with some doubts, uncertainty and the feeling that it could just be too good to be true. The reality is, faith is not opposed to doubt, and whether we are seeking, believe, or somewhere in the middle, the gift of the resurrection is meant to be received so that we can become something new.

Also, if anyone has any questions about faith, doubt or the process, feel free to send them at 180churchpodcast@gmail.com so that we can answer them!

Easter Sunday: Redefined Reality

Those who are remembered in the annals of history have conclusively always been on the winning side - and so the saying “to the victor go the spoils.” On Easter Sunday, two millennia ago, perhaps the greatest victory of all time took place and is still talked about to this present moment. Easter is a celebration, not because Christianity is founded on piety and morality, but because the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the victory over death, ultimately redefined the fabric of reality and eternity as we know it forever.

Lent: Fasting Subplots

In a culture that emphasizes customization and instant gratification of the individual, many of us tend to live as if our lives are the main plot. However, when our lives are ambiguous and uncertain, how do we find greater purpose, meaning, and joy when we feel unsatisfied by the subplots that make up our lives? Although we generally find it difficult to surrender ourselves and fast our own subplots, we need to remember to depend on God with ruthless trust in order to remember Jesus who came to surrender himself so that we can have a choice to participate in the main story of God's will.

Lent: Lifelong Friendship

In a culture of blame, envy, and transiency, how do we build life-long friendships that are both shared and celebrated? As our community is learning to fast our defaults, we discuss how we are fasting self-interest in the interest of being intentional with our relationships and learning to champion one another in friendships that truly are treasures. Through the model lived by the life of Jesus and his friends, we glean wisdom on how our flourishing can be shared, fruitful, and rich in our lives.

Lent: Fasting Self-Reliance

In today's podcast, the crew has a real open conversation about fasting self-reliance and the illusion of being self-made. We all culturally bought into a belief that the self-made, independent person is a mark of success though the reality is, no one built their success on their own. Far from it actually. The truth is, it takes a village for us to thrive and to find that the richness of life is found in the fruitfulness of our relationships and dependency on one another.

Lent: Fasting and Prayer

Today's podcast is about the reason why we fast during Lent. Often times fasting becomes the goal and end-all, but it is really a means to an end, to unleash and experience the power of God that changes lives. That is why Jesus fasted. He fasted to pray, to feed on fellowship and communion with God which led him to overcome the temptations of the devil. In the same way, we fast to pray and to draw near to God and when we draw near to God through fasting, we will experience the power of God. Tune in to find out how you can experience the power of God in your life and for your destiny.

Lent: Fast to Feast

For many Christians, when Lent season comes around, we partake in a period of fasting where we give something up to observe and remember the life of Jesus. However, we can get confused in thinking that Lent is for personal development when the real reason why we fast is to develop an awareness of our deep-seated dependence on God. The season of Lent captures the essence of the three-act drama leading up to Easter Sunday: we look within ourselves to identify our default operations of living, we look upwards to the Father and tune into what he is doing, and we look outwards to share the celebration that is Easter Sunday.

Real-Talk: Subjugation Schema

Many of us have experienced a need to serve others in order to avoid anger or abandonment by suppressing our own preferences and desires. Though we may do so to gain approval, this schema afflicts us by either breeding passive-aggression or worse: we manifest our anger to those closest to us because we only serve others out of fear or guilt. We become a shell of who we can be since we’re only doing things that someone tells us to. If constantly subjugating ourselves feels as if we’re being robbed of what God created us to be, the gospel truth teaches us to not only act on what we care about but also to die for the correct things because we have an example in Jesus, who lived a life surrendered to others for the sake of love.

Spiritual Emptiness

We live in an incredible time that is collectively wealthier, more technologically advanced, and materialistically provided for than ever. And yet, many of us can acknowledge an unmet, deep longing—one that makes us wonder whether if there is more than just this. This inconsolable longing of the human heart can lead us to seek transcendence in nature, the beauty of a sunrise, or travels to new places, but we find ourselves crippled by angst, anxiety, depression, and an unfulfilled emptiness. This thirst describes the symptoms of spiritual emptiness, a longing set deep within our hearts since the beginning of time that the voice of God echoing in eternity seeks to satisfy in all of us.

Real-Talk: Entitlement Schema

Today’s message and podcast is about the Entitlement Schema also referred to as “spoiled child,” schema. It is a schema that is easy to identify in others but very difficult to become aware of and acknowledge within self because it has everything to do with one’s feeling of entitlement from this world and others. In this message and podcast, we discover how we can get our needs met the healthier way by others and most importantly by God, the perfect Father. God cares so much about our needs and will love us as we are meant to be loved! Tune in and find out how this schema affects us and the people around us, and how Abba meets us in this messy place!