Deeper Friendship CRC

Snakes are commonly used symbols in the Old Testament, but often in conflicting ways. They can be Good - like Aaron's staff or the Bronze Serpent from Numbers 21 - or Bad, like the Serpent in the Garden from Genesis. What do we do with these conflicting symbols? 

We spend so much time trying to determine who is "in" when it comes to faith matters that we often end up driving people away. Today, Dan and Austin talk about our tendency to divide instead of unifying and ask questions about what it means to care well for people who might not be fully on board with "All that Jesus stuff". 

Armed with a slew of gardening and gym metaphors, Dan and Austin explore more about prayer. How can we actually, genuinely pray for our enemies without our natural ulterior motives? They take a stab at that while also addressing habits, challenges and practical steps for improving our prayer lives. 

Crowns display a person's importance, role in cociety, job, and family lineage. Though we might not have actual crowns, we all have roles in society and in our families that are worth celebrating. How do we balance those crowns with our "crown" of salvation? What takes precedence? 

For quite a while, it was very "in" fashion to wear punny t-shirts identifying us as believers. Is that a good practice, or do we run the risk of being performative? Dan and Austin ask that question as well as others about encouraging others with our faith, ways we can get more battle-ready when the enemy finds a crack in our faith, and how to tell if we are using our faith as a bartering tool with God. 

After debuting a new, "fun" segment of the podcast, Austin and Dan dive again into the concept of Shalom peace- a mindset and goal as opposed to our common understanding. They then discuss the prevalance of modern day idols and ways we can be more intentional with our self-reflections.