Off Duty Pastor with Brian Bowman

Foster Care

Brooke joins for this episode about our experience with the foster care system over the last year. James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Relaxing for God

I am not yet good at rest and relaxation. But I have learned what it feels like to rest and relax, and I'm all for it. Exodus 20:8–11 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,  10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.  11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Bulletproof Confidence Like Jesus

Jesus was the perfect man. It's right that we look to the way he lived is life to see not just "What Would Jesus Do" theoretically, but what did he actually say, do, and feel literally. And what gave him the bulletproof confidence to say, do, and feel the way he did. It's too easy to dismiss this question by saying, "He is God. Of course he's confident." His life is perfect human life. He experienced irritation, anger, joy, temptation, gladness, confusion just like we do. But he never lived his life in the flesh, always in the power of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 4:1, 14) -We have access to the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus to live an emotionally holy life even around emotionally unholy people. -We can expect that by submitting to the Holy Spirit and not walking in the flesh we will be empowered to experience self-control and not unholy emotions. -As we grow in Christlikeness in our emotions, we may see our godly life spur on the people we love towards the same godliness empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Healing Your Anxious Home

I use the wallpaper on my phone to remind me of 2 anxious statements that happen in my heart quite often. 1. How dare you put me in this situation! 2. Oh no, what are they gonna do when I tell them the truth. When I feel one of those statements giving me anxiety and stealing my courage I know I need to be more like Jesus. Jesus seemed to ride the waves of other people's anxiety with such skill. To be like more Jesus you’ll need to develop a high threshold for the emotional pain of people you love. Consider the story of Jesus being interrupted by Peter and the disciples who demand that he come back to town because everyone is looking for him. 1. People need to be healed 2. Peter says they’re all looking for Jesus 3. So… Jesus has a problem. He wants to go to the next town, but it’ll disappoint Peter and the disciples as well as a whole town of sick people. He doesn’t get caught in this trap. 3. I will preach in the next town because that’s my objective 2. Peter says they are all looking for me 1. So everyone will have do accept that I'm not going to be there to heal them Mark 1:35–39 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

When Your Spouse is Unpleasant

It only takes 5 minutes to learn tips and tricks to a better marriage. The problem is, it takes less time than that to forget them if you haven’t really changed.  When the pressure is really on, you can’t just quote your pastor.