Episodes

Bread and a cup – it sounds like very simple fare. But the depth and richness of the supper the Lord provides for us has no comparison. Unlike life under the Old Covenant, our New Covenant faith is not full of visible, tangible symbols, but the symbols we do have are precious. We see the gospel visibly portrayed in the Lord’s Supper. We get to taste forgiveness. It is a gift from the Lord, full of profound meaning, and a special opportunity to enjoy the Lord’s grace to us with the church. Scrip...

Looking for community? Trying to find your people? We long for community because God made us that way. Unfortunately, sin and our culture’s devotion to personal autonomy keep us from enjoying the life-in-community God intended. But there’s a solution. Through the gospel, God has created a new community, the church. And, through the gospel, we can break free from our addiction to personal autonomy and start enjoying the greater freedom of living life together. In this episode we dive into the bea...

A cup of tea, a warm fire, a comfy chair, a quiet time, and my Bible. Beautiful. We treasure those times. But let’s also be mindful of treasuring the times the church gathers to hear the Word preached. It is also a precious privilege and another vital reason that God’s path for the Christian includes the fellowship of the local church. Scriptures Referenced: 1Tim 4:13-16; 2Tim 4:1-2; Revelation 1-2 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Podcast on Twitter at h...

What if the biggest obstacle keeping you from church is actually the biggest opportunity? We shy away from the local church because we love our freedom. But if freedom is what you’re after, then the church is the place to be. To see why people’s number one strike against the church is one of the greatest things going for it, you need to (1) hear a story, (2) run a science experiment, and (3) see a picture. This is the first of a six-episode series on the local church. Scriptures Referenced: Exo...

Our sixth edition of Cloak, Books, and Parchments gives you ample time to purchase wisely this Christmas. In this episode we discuss the following books. Please update your wish list accordingly. – The February 2025 reading challenge book: Screwtape Letters. C. S. Lewis – Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. Cal Newport (Portfolio) – Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling. William Boekestein (Reformed Free Publishing) – Strangely Bright: Can...

It’s easy for us to pick up the wrong messaging about sex. That’s why we need Scripture to fix our mistaken thinking about sex and wash our defiled views. Building on episode 177, Helen and Mike bring our sexual detox series to a close, tackling commonplace distortions in the culture (“It doesn’t matter who I sleep with”) and in the church (“Sexual sin is the worst; there’s no hope for you if you’ve fallen”). Is sex just a base animal instinct, or is it a sacred mystery about the meaning of the ...

The LGBT2Q+ movement has been successful in convincing a lot of people that God may bless same-sex unions, and that Scripture doesn’t really speak to modern gay and lesbian relationships. Mike and Matthew address this from a Biblical perspective and also provide some helpful guidance on the issue of Christians who experience same-sex attraction. Scriptures Referenced: Lev 20:13; Mat 19:12; Rom 1:24-27; 1Cor 6:9-11 CORRECTION: Mike mentioned the name of Richard Bauckham on this episode, when he...

In this episode, Mike is joined by his wife, Helen, for a conversation on the topic of “sexual detox.” They explore the concept of purging wrong ideas about sex that society, culture, and even the church can instill. The couple emphasizes how distorted views on sex—gathered from media, jokes, music, and even certain religious teachings—need to be realigned with biblical truth. This detox involves a renewed understanding of sex according to Scripture, which is good and pure. Scriptures Reference...

When we are struggling, the Lord doesn’t break us – he heals us. He has no pile of discarded disciples with whom he wants nothing more to do. In today’s episode, we see the Lord Jesus as the fulfiller of prophecy and the restorer of our souls. Scriptures Referenced: Isaiah 42: 1-4; Matthew 12:15-21 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Podcast on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MandMsPodcast

To many people, marriage is just a piece of paper. Who needs a license to love? In this follow-up episode to PP173, we discuss why such thinking is wrong. Wedding vows and the marriage covenant are not obstacles to passionate love, but the fertile ground in which it can survive and thrive. And even if we’ve strayed from God’s design for romantic relationship, there’s still hope, because the ultimate source of enduring love is none other than Jesus Christ. Scriptures Referenced: Song of Songs 8:...

Once we hit our teens, and certainly in our twenties, we like to think we’ve left childhood far behind. But what if there were important lessons from our childhood that we should revisit? What if children can teach us about receiving the grace of the gospel? Scriptures Referenced: Isaiah 55:8-9; Matthew 18:2-4 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Podcast on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MandMsPodcast

The Song of Songs depicts love in marriage as an unquenchable fire. But where can we find such love? Today’s relationship advice often leads to short-lived flames. We need an older wisdom to guide us. We need the ancient wisdom of Scripture. Already married and wanting to keep the fire blazing? Unmarried, but hoping to enjoy such lasting love some day? Our Bible passage gives us four surprising directions where to find the fire. Scriptures Referenced: Song 8:5-7 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com f...

No doubt you’re doing cartwheels and backflips over your excitement to be back in the classroom… or is that just your stomach flip flopping out of anxiety for the changes that this new school year will bring? We don’t know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future, and as the Lord taught Joshua, so we can take courage from God’s presence and his promises in his word. Scriptures Referenced: Joshua 1:5-9 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Po...

Can produce from the grocery store really make you holy? Well… no. But Romans 6 does teach us about fruit that leads to holiness. Mike & Matthew wrap up their Romans 6 study by reminding us how much better it is to serve God rather than sin. Scriptures Referenced: Rom 6:20-23 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Podcast on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MandMsPodcast

Which is better at making people holy, grace or law? For Paul it’s no contest—grace wins every time. And in Romans 6:15-19, the apostle gives us 4 grace-based reasons to say no to sin and yes to righteousness: (1) you become a slave of the one you obey; (2) there are only two masters (and one of them is evil); (3) your conversion was a powerful rescue operation in your heart; and (4) don’t you want to put in as much energy serving your new master as you did your old one? Scriptures Referenced: ...

As Christians we are dead to our old master (Sin) and alive to our new master (God). So why do we still show up at our old workplace? It’s not enough for us to understand the truth of Romans 6:1-10; we also need to count on it. Only as we bank on the truth that we are dead with Christ and alive to God will we consistently offer our skills and capacities to the cause of Christ. Holiness is a project for the whole of us—body, soul, and mind. (We apologize for a few moments of poor sound quality in...

Just like in an escape room, where you sometimes have to collect several keys in order to unlock the final one, Romans 6 requires you to figure out several puzzling clues before it yields its meaning. But when the meaning of Romans 6 does open up to us, it provides us the key to living the Christian life. Join Mike and Matthew in this escape room episode as they try to figure out four keys to understanding Romans 6 before the 60 minute time limit runs… Scriptures Referenced: Rom 6:1-10 Visit P...

A common misunderstanding with the gospel of grace is that people may as well continue to sin once they are saved, since our abundance of sin showcases God’s abundance of grace. Of course this isn’t true, and one reason we know it’s not true is our baptism. But what does baptism have to do with not continuing to sin? And what does baptism really mean? Tune in for a concise explanation of baptism in the first episode of this year’s Romans 6 summer challenge. Scriptures Referenced: Rom 6:1-5 Vis...

Announcing our fourth August Summer Challenge! Mike and Matthew talk everything you need to know for this year’s memorization challenge, and announce a brief summer break in July for the podcast. Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Podcast on Twitter and Facebook

As a quick follow up to PP164 on addictions, Josh Smith joins us again to give us 10 wise and very practical life hacks to help us decrease the amount of time we spend stuck to our phones. Excellent ideas in this episode! Scriptures Referenced: Jam 1:26; Jam 3:2-10 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Podcast on Twitter and Facebook

A longer episode, but an important one! Many of us struggle with addictive behaviour. The addiction may be simple and not seem to harmful at the moment, but it can quickly become complex and lead us into deeper sin. Guest host, Josh Smith (M.A. in Counseling, LPC in the State of Michigan), helps us to understand what addictions are, why we struggle with them, and most importantly, how we can overcome them by the grace of God. The discussion near the end on the four tools of the enemy (Access, Ap...

What does it mean that we are made in God’s image? Christians over the centuries have arrived at different answers. Mike surveys four views — resemblance, representation, relational, and reflection — and then, much to Matthew’s delight, declares all of them right! This doctrine serves as a reminder of the sanctity of human life and calls us to treat one another with the utmost respect and dignity, knowing that how we treat others reflects our treatment of God himself. Scriptures Referenced: Gen...

Just in time for summer holidays comes our fifth edition of Cloak, Books, and Parchments. In this episode we discuss the following eight books. Which will you take with you on the trip or to the beach? – Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West, by Andrew Wilson (Crossway) – The Insanity of God, by Nik Ripken (B&H) – Safely Home, by Randy Alcorn (Tyndale Fiction) – Pride: Identity and the Worship of Self, by Matthew Roberts (Christian Focus) – Love the Ones Who Drive You Craz...

“There is no rock like our God,” says Hannah in 1Sam 2:2. What a statement… and what a God! But what is meant by this frequent metaphor of God in the Bible? And how does it point us to Christ? Be encouraged as Mike & Matthew teach us about God our Rock. Scriptures Referenced: Deut 32:4; 1Sam 2:2; Psa 18:2; Psa 62:6-7; Psa 71:3; Isa 26:4; 1Cor 10:4; Heb 13:8 Visit PracticologyPodcast.com for more episodes. Follow the Practicology Podcast on Twitter and Facebook