Write this Down! with Dot Bowen

Dot Bowen
  • 5.0 (30)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Bible teacher, author and founder of Cup of Joy Ministries, Dot Bowen, teaches listeners what it truly looks like to know, love and follow Jesus. Each week, Dot invites you to sit down with her and her daughter, Cara, to have an authentic conversation about Biblical Scripture and God’s Truth. Their honest and thought provoking conversations are full of wit and wisdom which will have you diving deeper into God’s Word. Whether Dot is teaching, speaking or simply grabbing coffee with a dear friend, she can often be heard saying with excitement, “Write this Down!” Her heart for the listener is to take the things she asks you to write down before the Lord and ask Him to open your eyes to His Truth and love. John 8:32 says, “and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” By the end of each episode, you’ll find yourself grabbing a pencil so that you can Write this Down! with Dot Bowen.

  1. 6D AGO

    Episode 262: The Name that Changes Everything - Part 2

    When life feels uncertain or overwhelming, where do you run? This week, Dot and Cara explore the names of God and what they reveal about His character. He is our Shepherd, our Righteousness, our Protector, and our ever-present Emmanuel. This conversation moves beyond simply knowing God’s names to truly believing in them and the refuge they offer us. If you’ve ever struggled to trust who God says He is, this episode will encourage you to call on His name!  Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap: Intro (00:00)Write down Proverbs 18:10, then go back and listen to last week’s episode! (0:18)Calling God “Father” is incredibly intimate (3:38)Dot uses different names of God when she is feeling different needs in her life (4:56)Memorizing these names is not important, knowing the character of God is (9:15)Calling on the name of God reminds us of our neediness (13:40)If you ever want to feel loved, reflect on the name “Emmanuel” (God with us) (18:58)Why call on God’s name if you’re not going to believe in it? (24:56)  Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Scripture Verse: Proverbs 18:10 (ESV) “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”

    30 min

  2. MAR 18

    Episode 261: The Name that Changes Everything - Part 1

    What’s in a name? In Scripture, names carry deep meaning, so when God reveals His name as “I AM,” He is telling us something powerful about his character. In this episode, Dot and Cara begin a new conversation about the names of God by looking at Exodus 3, where God introduces himself to Moses. Together they explore why knowing the names of God helps us draw closer to Him and recognize that He is everything we truly need. Stay tuned for next week, when they’ll dive deeper into specific names of God and share the ones that have meant the most in their own walk with Him. Until then, pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and join the conversation!  Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap: Intro (00:00)First, write down Exodus 3:13-15 (0:18)In biblical times, your name was synonymous with your character (3:54)“I Am” is the name God calls himself (7:00)Why is it helpful to know the names of God? (8:44)Every need we have as humans, God is saying, “I am all of that” (12:05)Calling God by name makes it personal (17:14)Get a book on the names of God to use in your prayer time this week (20:30) Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Grab this (or any!) book on the Names of God: https://amzn.to/4saTXthScripture Verse: Exodus 3:13-15 (ESV) “Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever,the name you shall call mefrom generation to generation.”

    23 min

  3. MAR 11

    Episode 260: Feelings Make Terrible Leaders

    Feelings are powerful, but they aren't always trustworthy. In this conversation, Dot and Cara talk about the connection between our thoughts, our emotions, and the choices we make. It's easy to let our emotions define our identity, but instead of ignoring those emotions or being ruled by them, we can hold them up against Truth and let God shape how we see ourselves. Grab your Bible, a pencil, and maybe a cup of coffee, and join us for a conversation. Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap: Intro (00:00)First, write down Romans 7:15-20 (0:18)Feelings make good indicators, but bad dictators (2:51)Feelings aren’t always true (8:27)Every feeling begins with a thought, which may or may not be true (8:48)The Holy Spirit allows you to better understand your emotions (13:01)We often pour out how we feel on others (16:29)Facing our emotions is uncomfortable because we don’t expect grace (20:03)God can heal our hurts and handle our negative emotions (23:07)Learn to pause and take your feelings to God before you act  (29:04) Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Scripture Verse: Romans 7:15-20 (ESV) “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

    31 min

  4. MAR 4

    Episode 259: What If You Don’t Need to Know?

    We’re talking about a sneaky idol that can feel “spiritual” on the surface: knowledge. Using Genesis 3, Dot and Cara unpack how the desire to know can quietly become the desire to control, and how that pulls us away from faith and dependence on God. If you’ve ever felt that internal panic of “I have to figure this out,” this conversation will help you put knowledge in its right place so you can let God be God. Pull up a chair and join us. Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap: Intro (00:00)Write this Down: Genesis 3:3-7 (0:18)Many times knowledge replaces God for us (3:37)We think knowledge equals control (8:48)Knowledge is for transformation, not just information (9:42)The desire for knowledge can get out of balance (13:36)The older Dot gets, the more she realizes she doesn’t know (16:29)Nothing is more irritating than a child who thinks they know everything (19:53)Job’s friends illustrate that we don’t know what God is up to all the time (23:00)We have to stop and acknowledge we can’t be God (29:04) Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Scripture Verse: Genesis 3:3-7 (ESV)But God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”

    31 min

  5. FEB 25

    Episode 258: I Wanted Direction, He Gave Me Presence

    Fasting isn’t a diet or a formula, and it definitely isn’t a way to get God to do what you want. In this personal episode, Cara opens up about her recent experience with prayer and fasting and shares how what began as a search for answers led to something deeper- intimacy with God. If you’re hungry for more of Him, pull up a chair and lean in with us. Grab your Bible, a pencil, and maybe even a cup of coffee as we write this down. Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap: Intro (00:00)Start by writing down Isaiah 58:3-9 (0:18)Cara’s church did a 21 day fast together (2:45)Fasting became a consecrated (set apart) time (6:38)Cara was expectant she would hear from the Lord (10:26)Hunger is a frequent spiritual metaphor in Scripture (14:50)Fasting and prayer creates intimacy through proximity (22:15)In this season, God showed Cara He will come through for her (24:00)Fast from the things that you think give you life and let God step into that (29:10) Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Scripture Verse: Isaiah 58:3-9 (ESV) ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?    Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,    and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight    and to hit with a wicked fist.Fasting like yours this day    will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose,    a day for a person to humble himself?Is it to bow down his head like a reed,    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?Will you call this a fast,    and a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the fast that I choose:    to loose the bonds of wickedness,    to undo the straps of the yoke,to let the oppressed go free,    and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry    and bring the homeless poor into your house;when you see the naked, to cover him,    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,    and your healing shall spring up speedily;your righteousness shall go before you;    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’If you take away the yoke from your midst,    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,”

    33 min

  6. FEB 18

    Episode 257: God, I Can’t Do This

    What if real strength starts with admitting we’re weak? This week, Dot and Cara unpack Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” and ask what true surrender looks like. Through their own stories of grief, forgiveness, and everyday situations, they discuss what it actually looks like to rely on God’s strength instead of striving in their own. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible and your coffee, and learn with us what it means to let Him be our strength. Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap: Intro (00:00)Start by writing down 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (0:18)What does it look like to rely on the Lord’s strength? (3:41)God gives you more than you can handle, so you rely on Him (11:26)You don’t have to love what God’s doing to trust him  (15:22) We have to take time to pause and re-center our minds on truth (20:41)“God, help me.” is always a great prayer to pray  (23:31)It all comes back to remembering who God is and letting Him do it (27:38) Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Scripture Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (ESV) “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

    28 min

  7. FEB 11

    Episode 256: Releasing What You Can’t Control

    Today Dot and Cara dig into the subtle and sneaky ways control fuels fear, overthinking, and exhaustion. Using Jesus’ words from Matthew 6, they talk through what it looks like to take responsibility where we should, release outcomes, and learn to trust God with it all. If you’ve ever struggled to let go, this conversation is for you. Grab your Bible, a pencil, and a cup of coffee and join us. Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap: Intro (00:00)One of the things that causes our anxiety is fear of the “what if” (2:16)Cara used to think she didn’t have a problem with control (4:25)There are areas of our lives we need to have control of  (8:15) We have to leave outcomes up to God (9:39)Practically speaking, how do we “let it go”? (12:15)The bottom line is, am I trusting? (15:41)Trying to constantly control steals your enjoyment of life and people (19:01)Do what God tells you to and let Him own the outcome (24:00) Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Scripture Verse: Matthew 6:25-30 (ESV) “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Listen to episode 158: Is Fear Unbelief?

    25 min

  8. FEB 4

    Episode 255: The Destructive Nature of Gossip

    Gossip often feels small, subtle, or maybe even spiritual, but Scripture paints a very different picture of it. Today, Dot and Cara take a hard look at gossip through the lens of Romans 1 and unpack why God names it among the most destructive of sins. Together they explore what gossip really is, how it harms us, and how learning to take it seriously can bring great freedom. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us. Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know!  Episode recap:Intro (00:00)Start by writing down Romans 1:28-32 (0:13)We tend to categorize and rank sins (2:26)Gossip is speech about someone else that harms people (3:55) Gossip is specifically listed as a sin that God hates (8:00)If you need to “get it out,” Jesus is the only person you can tell everything to (12:42)Is sharing something that’s public knowledge the same as gossip? (17:21)When you get in tune with the Holy Spirit, it’s easier to recognize gossip (19:01)We need to be very careful with the lives of people God loves (23:55) Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  Scripture Verse: Romans 1:28-32 (ESV) “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

    25 min
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5
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30 Ratings

About

Bible teacher, author and founder of Cup of Joy Ministries, Dot Bowen, teaches listeners what it truly looks like to know, love and follow Jesus. Each week, Dot invites you to sit down with her and her daughter, Cara, to have an authentic conversation about Biblical Scripture and God’s Truth. Their honest and thought provoking conversations are full of wit and wisdom which will have you diving deeper into God’s Word. Whether Dot is teaching, speaking or simply grabbing coffee with a dear friend, she can often be heard saying with excitement, “Write this Down!” Her heart for the listener is to take the things she asks you to write down before the Lord and ask Him to open your eyes to His Truth and love. John 8:32 says, “and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” By the end of each episode, you’ll find yourself grabbing a pencil so that you can Write this Down! with Dot Bowen.

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