The picture used for this episode's publicity image or cover, depending on where you're seeing it, comes from an attempt to use AI to generate an image for me.

Using a photograph of a matapalo, or strangler fig in English, known for its distinctive characteristic of enveloping and ultimately overpowering its host, as a metaphorical foundation, I asked DALL-E 3 to craft an image with the following prompt:

Create an image of a strangler fig where the main tree is depicted by or symbolic of the church, being constricted by representations of entertainment, stardom, money, and fame chocking it out.

The result is compelling visual metaphor—a tree at once vibrant yet ensnared by the very elements meant to augment its growth. Incidentally, that's also the main theme of today's episode, but let's back up.

Does entertainment even belong in the church?

In this episode of the podcast, I share some of the deep sense of disillusionment that arises when respected spiritual leaders fall from grace, citing examples a couple of high profile example figures who've irreparably ruined their earthly legacies. Listen to find out, who, besides Mark Driscoll, I'm referring to.

Driscoll's recent controversies serve as a reminder of the ongoing challenges within the Christian community about leadership, integrity, and accountability as well as… what role, if any does entertainment even have in the church? Does it belong, or is the fact we're even debating this indicate other graver issues?

We also discuss the dangers of distractions and idolatry, and how "killing sticks," can hinder our spiritual growth and relationship with God. I hope to challenge listeners to reflect on any aspects of their lives that may be taking precedence over their faith.

Amid reflections on personal and collective failures, this episode's overarching message remains one of hope, redemption, and the transformative power of returning to the core of our faith in Jesus and an organic approach to Christianity free from the matapalo of the American Gospel Enterprise.

Books and Links Mentioned in the Podcast

The Imperishable Seed of Christ: Understanding the Believer's Spiritual D.N.A. by Steve Bremner

Screwtape Proposes a Toast by C.S. Lewis

Gospel Houses by Art Thomas

The Beast of Revelation by J.D. King

Mesmerize by David W. Edwards

Opinion: The Irony! Mark Driscoll Gets ‘Matthew 18ed’ for Slamming ‘Strip’ Act at Men’s Conference

This week's episode is a preamble to and a chapter of my latest narration project, Ever-Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth, specifically the chapter What It Means to Be Full of the Spirit, 

You can order the whole audiobook almost anywhere you get audiobooks, such as Audible, Kobo, Google Play, Spotify, etc... 

BUT for a limited time depending on when you listen to this episode, you can ONLY get the bonuses I mentioned if you head over to this link: https://tinyurl.com/SW-faith.

Check out my audiobooks playlist on Soundcloud and IF you're on there, make sure to follow me if you want to be notified of new samples and when new audiobooks I've narrated have been released as I always put clips there.

Reach out to me at https://www.stevebremner.com/write-your-book/ if you're ready to start your self-publishing journey or what to discuss having me narrate your non-fiction book.

Enjoy!

This week's episode is my appearance on the Coffee and Conversations podcast, where Michael Clark and Christian Hardin discuss how relationships, faith, and leadership intersect in our everyday lives throughout our communities.

Check out my audiobooks playlist on Soundcloud and IF you're on there, make sure to follow me if you want to be notified of new samples and when new audiobooks I've narrated have been released as I always put clips there.

Also, make sure to get your copy of the new audiobook, Living Waters Guidebook: Restoring Relational Integrity through the Broken Body of Christ.

Reach out to me at https://www.stevebremner.com/write-your-book/ if you're ready to start your self-publishing journey

 

 

Does the Bible teach there will be a final end-time revival right before the return of Christ?

Are college campus revivals a sign we're living in the last of the last days before the Lord's return?

What is the Mark of the Beast?

Should we cancel dentists?

This week I talk with J.D. King, author of The Beast of Revelation: Unraveling the Mystery (and audiobook narrated by yours truly -- get it on Audible here), Leo De Siquiera, founder of Hopeful Eschatolgy, and rounded out with our third guest who is the author of The Power of His Reign: An Easy Introduction to Amillennialism. 

We tackle quite a few things related to the end times, including where the different view points place Israel in the scheme of things, and the importance of one's worldview and outlook and what responsibility we have in implementing the Gospel in the earth, whether we're going to be here a while, or His return is nigh.

Join us for a great discussion. 

This week I got to talk to a long time friend I've kept in touch with over the years since we both attended Bible School, albeit having both gone on way different albeit similar journeys.

Kris Bennett was the one who answered the phone when I called FIRE School of Ministry in the summer of 2001 regarding the status of my application to the school. 

After all these years we're finally having a recorded conversation and discussing things he doesn't talk much about on his own podcast, The Storage Investor Show.

In this episode we discuss:

• Imposter Syndrome and the various ways we've both faced it in our lives, education and businesses.
• What barrier to entry one might have in fulfilling their call; for one person that might be higher education, for another specific vocational skills
• The challenges of fund raising vs tentmaking and freelancing
• Wealth and a good reputation as outlined in the book of Proverbs
• The rewards of diligence in both ministry and in businesss.
• If you can solve someone's "bleeding neck problem", you can get paid well and never need to worry ever gain about providing for your family if you possess such skills.

...among quite a few other things.

You can subscribe to Kris's podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts, as well as check out our discussion on the same app.

Follow Kris on LinkedIn.

Reach out to me at https://www.stevebremner.com/write-your-book/ if you're ready to start your self-publishing journey.

This week I got to sit down over Zoom and talk to my first French Canadian guest, Sebastien Richard. 

He's the author of several books, including I Did It All For You: An Intimate Letter from Jesus and the founder of The Thriving on Purpose Academy, which includes discipleship courses but also Kingdom Writing courses. 

We talked about our similar experiences growing up in Canada before the turn of the Millennium, as well as

• The influence teachers had on us in our writing and public speaking gifts at a young age and the power of words and encouragement in our kids' lives
• What is the Scribe anointing?
• And other tweetable quotes that Sebastien is loaded with.

Listeners of the podcast can get a 10% discount specifically on the course How to Write a Nonfiction Christian Book. Just use the coupon code STEVESAVE10 at check out. 

Find Sebastien's books on Amazon.

Reach out to me if you want to discuss one-on-one coaching or other DFY help launching your book. 

We finally have a new interview on the podcast, and it's with someone I would have had on the show earlier had I actually been podcasting in the last three years. 

Welcome J.D. King. 

This show is still called 'fire on your head', and we're all about spreading the fire of the Gospel to as many as we can with our sphere of influence and with our resources and to teach and train disciples to do the same.

So how come so many Christians who would claim to have the same type of goal, trip up on the idea of doing anything to make sure people even know about the message God has birthed in them?

Links or Books mentioned:

J.D.'s site: https://theresurgencestore.com/ 

The Power of His Reign: An Easy Introduction to Amillennialism by Jonathan Ammon

Reach out to me at https://www.stevebremner.com/write-your-book/ if you're ready to start your self-publishing journey.

The first full episode of the podcast in the 2020s.

Not much of a description for this one, you'll have to listen to hear what I update about.

Links I mentioned:

World Outreach Center - The Bremners

Our family/ministry newsletter sign up.

This week I was a guest on a podcast geared toward pastors and the tech people who work with churches and ministries. Talk about a niche audience.  Again, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE ;) 

I was invited to talk about book writing and whether it would behoove pastors to create a book since most of them are already crafting weekly messages for a local audience, so why not a broader one through their writing? We also discussed,

• Who should write a book (and why)?
• What about audio books, should they be included?
• What are the benefits of having your own book?
• Can you actually make a living from your book?

You can check out my episode of The Church Solutions Podcast with Phil Thompson and Steve Lacy wherever you get your podcasts.

The books I mentioned and said I'd link to in the show notes:

• Restoring You: Becoming The Masterpiece God Created You To Be by Kathryn Hughey
• Weight... That's Not All!: Give Up Dieting & Food Behavior Gimmicks and Buy Into Your Healing & Freedom in Christ Instead by Lesli Bryan

And of course, reach out to me if you've got a message burning inside you to release to the world but need my help putting it into a book.

Write Your Book!

Recently I was interviewed by Eric Nevins on his show Halfway There, thanks to another mutual friend connecting us.

Here's the description from Eric's show:

Today, Steve shares his journey from a conservative denomination to a charismatic one. You’ll hear his heart to see God and be inspired by his following the next right step even as it led him around the world. Steve currently has an online business while he serves in Peru – that’s modern tentmaking!

Listen to Steve’s story now!

Stories Steve shared:

• Working as a tentmaker in Peru helping authors publish their books
• Growing up in Ontario, Canada
• Giving his life to Christ around age 15
• Devouring tapes of teaching
• Connecting to the Brownsville revival
• Speaking in tongues for the first time
• Praying for people in the line
• Going to Holland as a missionary and feeling frustrated
• Realizing that Peru was the next place he would live
• Writing a blog and his books

Resources we mentioned:

• Playing With Holy Fire: A Wake-Up Call to the Pentecostal-Charismatic Church by Michael L. Brown
• From Holy Laughter to Holy Fire: America on the Edge of Revival by Michael L. Brown
• Jonathan Edwards: On Revival by Jonathan Edwards
• Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith by Richard Foster

Thanks to Eric Nevins for having me on his show!

I tackle a couple of world events. I say a “couple”, though it’s true, but I spend more time disproportionately focused on the situation of John Allen Chau, the missionary who was killed by The Sentinelese tribe on the North Sentinel Island off the coast of India.    I felt like I needed to say something and offer my perspective, hoping that my slant is unique not just because I’m also a missionary — plenty of missionaries are chiming in on social media. Not just because I have a platform to do so, and not just because I have any opinions.    But I feel like this is one of those gray areas and the rightness or foolishness of his actions which led to him being killed are not as black and white as people taking sides about this would insist it is.   I respect and agree with my brothers and sisters in Christ who feel Chau counted the cost and will receive a martyr’s reward, while I ALSO have reservations and feelings that the perspective he went about this the way he did was also a bit misguided.   But after that I have difficult with the oversimplifying of this that people on both sides are doing.    Since the topic is multi-faceted, I decided to turn on the mic and share my thoughts verbally, for those of you who would want them, so there’s less confusion about what I’m saying if you can hear me out instead of just reading me out. And hopefully not adding to the noise.    I’ve also thought of many other things I could have said and thoughts I could have included in this recording that I didn’t, but there are a lot of misconceptions about what a missionary is as it is that perhaps I’ll explore in another episode or find a suitable guest to have a discussion with about these things. But suffice it to say, I hope you get some value out of these thoughts today.    Blessings to you! My Relevant Blog Links:  Missionary or Glorified Tourist? When Mission Isn't Sexy Do You Know What Your Missionaries Are Actually Doing? Things Your Missionary Will Never Tell You External Links: John Chau, Missions, and Fools - Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today John Allen Chau: Do missionaries help or harm? - By Toby Luckhurst BBC News