046: Year In Review: Building Faith, Culture, and Community

046: Year In Review: Building Faith, Culture, and Community

In this end-of-school-year conversation, Pastor Jared and Mr.Blessing reflect on the past year. They share key highlights, starting with special baptism chapel as a meaningful community celebration that builds relationships with students and families, and they recall moments like Good Friday chapel where students powerfully sang “Reckless Love.” They also note strong academic outcomes through MAP Growth testing, describing it as a national standardized measure used to track student progress and affirm teaching practices, with results above national levels. Finally, they discuss a healthier, more unified staff culture marked by shared decision-making, openness in prayer requests,and ongoing systems work that supports the school’s ministry, closing with appreciation for students, staff, and families and how quickly the busy, fun year passed. 01:33 Secret Staff Spirit Days 06:18 School’s Out Recap 07:29 Baptism Chapel Highlights 11:54 Chapel Leading and Worship 13:58 Good Friday Reckless Love 18:17 MAP Testing Wins 20:06 Teacher Joy Moments 21:17 Goals And MAP Growth 22:43 Proving Academic Standards 23:38 Staff Culture Shift 25:35 Unity And Shared Ownership 31:29 Systems And Change Management 35:40 Student Relationships And Lunch 38:18 Why The Year Flew By 41:06 Community Partnership Wrap Up Thank you for joining us around the well that is Jesus! Be sure to tune in every Friday to hear the latest from us here at 'Desert Well'! You can also watch this week's episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/hvRGhCSMHi8! You can listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/desert-well/id1823028492!

045: Faith, Parenting & Leadership with Special Guest Tonya Tomlin

In this episode, we interview Tonya Tomlin, newly appointed preschool director at Lamb of God. Today we will hear about Miss Tonya’s background and passion for early childhood education and what lead her here to Lamb of God, where she has been with us the last three years. Tonya shares her journey from growing up in North Dakota to living in Texas for 24 years, working two decades in church preschool ministry, and moving to Las Vegas during the height of COVID. She explains how she began teaching Sunday school at 16, transitioned from volunteering in her son’s school to full-time preschool work, and why she loves the rapid growth and “aha moments” of three-year-olds. Tonya discusses joys and challenges in the classroom, how faith is woven throughout the school day, changes she’s seen in kids due to electronics, and her hopes to expand programs like the new 18-month-old class. 02:29 Meet Tonya Tomlin 03:26 From Texas to Vegas 06:07 New Preschool Director Role 06:33 How Tonya Became Teacher 10:18 Why Preschool Years Matter 15:26 Bucket Filling Moments 18:02 Hardest Parts of Preschool 22:21 Building Trust and Compassion 27:01 Teaching Faith in Class 28:11 Faith Woven In 29:11 Taught Versus Caught 30:47 Screens And Attention 32:09 Grandparents And Generations 34:25 Teachers Guide Parents 37:46 Trust Your Gut 39:24 Kids Say The Darndest 43:56 New Director Role 46:00 Future Of The Preschool 47:38 Starting Faith At Home 49:09 Family Worship Basics 51:41 Relationships And Leadership Thank you for joining us around the well that is Jesus! Be sure to tune in every Friday to hear the latest from us here at 'Desert Well'! You can also watch today's episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/fbIDLr-UBPE. You can listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/desert-well/id1823028492!

044: Ordinary Men, Uncommon Calling: Discussing John MacArthur’s Book on the 12 Disciples

This week on 'Desert Well' we discuss the book "Twelve Ordinary Men" by John MacArthur. We highlight the book’s main value: portraying the 12 disciples as ordinary, varied men empowered by Jesus, making them relatable and helping readers see themselves in Scripture. We also note distinctions between “apostle” and “disciple,” Jesus’ circles of influence, and the claim that the disciples’ main training with Jesus may have been about a year and a half. We touch on chapters about Peter, John, Andrew, and Judas, concluding the book encourages everyday believers to share the gospel and grow in sanctification. We have included the link to the book here https://a.co/d/0eeLtO3j. 02:25 Why This Book Now 04:13 How Derek Got the Book 05:45 Fiction Reading Detour 10:00 Why Recommend This Book 11:10 Disciples as Ordinary Men 14:32 Intro Insights and Circles 16:03 Apostles vs Disciples 16:44 How Long They Trained 20:25 Apostles as Sent Ones 22:11 Using Original Languages 23:43 Book Chapter Roadmap 25:39 Peter and Leadership 31:38 John Learns Love 36:09 Andrew and Small Things 38:50 Limits of the Sources 39:53 Judas and Divine Mystery 42:45 Living It Out 44:52 Wrap Up and Exit Thank you for joining us around the well that is Jesus! We will see you next week! You can also catch this week's episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/vPgNRdrCJMM. You can listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/desert-well/id1823028492.

043: What Should Christians Do With Anger and Desire? Direct, Lull, or Kill the Passions

Today we discuss a five-part article series by seminary professor David Maxwell on how Christians should understand anger and desire, contrasting Plato’s chariot image (directing the passions) with the Stoic goal of eliminating them. We trace how early church fathers split between Gregory of Nyssa, who argues passions entered through the fall but should be redirected for good, and Cyril of Alexandria, who views the Christian life as lulling passions to sleep toward an invincible, passionless state. We evaluate how Lutheran law/gospel language can imply a stoic “kill the passions” spirituality, while Luther’s writings, hymns, and the Formula of Concord’s distinction between human nature and sin suggest passions are corrupted but not identical with sin and can be constructively directed with confidence in Christ. We have included today's article here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dSclESwyHAwdlsXGPVx3n_JnMty-oCLsIN6kP4FqqfA/edit?usp=share_link. 00:52 Anger Desire Question 02:12 Derek On Anger 03:57 Reading Plan Greek 05:41 Righteous Anger Myth 06:51 Jet Engines Plato 09:19 Stoics Four Passions 11:28 Early Church Split 15:06 Gregory Direct Passions 19:57 Anger Desire In Scripture 21:20 Garden Passions Debate 27:31 Cyril Lull Passions 30:30 Apatheia Modern Apathy 32:04 Jesus Wept Interpretation 34:15 Jesus Wept and Grief 35:02 Impervious Word Debate 35:54 Early Church on Passions 37:00 Lutheran Kill Passions 39:36 Law Gospel and Stoicism 46:23 Full Stop Grammar Tangent 49:22 Directing Passions with Luther 54:49 Original Sin Accident 57:58 Redirecting Anger and Desire 01:04:48 Final Reflections and Wrap Up Thank you for joining us around the well that is Jesus! Be sure to join in every Friday to hear the latest from 'Desert Well'! You can also watch today's episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/ewWYaox4UaM. You can listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/.../desert-well/id1823028492 [https://podcasts.apple.com/.../desert-well/id1823028492]. We'll see you next week!

042: What Is Church For? Worship as Receiving God’s Gifts

Today we open with talking about our new running-water feature in our in office studio then dive into why people go to church after a congregational survey asked “What is church for?” We contrast common views of church as a place to worship, a family routine, a social club, a moral/learning center, a service or political action hub, or a source of good feelings, noting pros and limitations of each (including how COVID disrupted habitual attendance). Using the Book of Concord and the Augsburg Confession, we define the church as the assembly of believers where the Gospel is purely preached and the sacraments are rightly administered, emphasizing worship primarily as receiving God’s gifts (forgiveness, Word, Sacrament) and secondarily responding with thanks and praise.01:31 Why Talk Church04:49 Kids Ask Why Church07:26 What Is Church Really10:58 Why Worship Habit15:44 Church As Social Club25:00 Church As Life Coaching29:37 Sermon Feedback 35:22 Knowledge Limits Brains36:37 Service And Politics38:09 Church vs State Lanes39:18 Two Realms Explained42:23 Therapeutic Deism Trap44:14 Emotions Without Manipulation51:44 Book of Concord Basics55:34 Augsburg Confession on Church01:01:43 Worship as Receiving Gifts01:10:18 Why Gather Every Sunday01:12:08 Wrapping Up and Next TopicThank you for gathering around the well that is Jesus with us here at "Desert Well'! Be sure to check back every Friday for our latest episode! You can also watch this week's episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/6OG4zWl-dvU [https://youtu.be/6OG4zWl-dvU?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExM1lpQllqeEF1TnVMYTRGU3NydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7QoDHxmHqbaUjfWa0FSTbw8KuQQCNSYiP2XIjv2rYyYiLutxsUaKtwMJLonA_aem_Kainm6eee5ArWpG6WStylQ] . You can listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/.../desert-well/id1823028492 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/desert-well/id1823028492].