When trials and hard times come into our lives, we can find ourselves questioning God and becoming bitter. On today’s episode of The Christian Habits Podcast (links below), I talk with Daniel Fusco about how developing resilience during trials can actually be a path to fruitfulness and growth in our lives, and also about his new book, You’re Gonna Make It. What We Discussed on the Podcast * What is resilience? * How hope and grit factor into the resilience equation * How to submit to...

Do you find yourself looking to other people or things to satisfy you? Are you tempted to doubt that Jesus alone really does offer a life of joy, peace and contentment? On today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast (links below), I visit with Jennifer Slattery about nine common idols we are tempted to worship and how to resist them. What We Discussed on the Podcast * What is an idol? * Nine common things we are tempted to worship instead of God * How idols can hurt our...

I don’t know about you, but when life is hard, I’m often tempted to do things that aren’t good for me. Eat, for example. Or waste time on my phone. Or sit like a lump on the couch and think of all the things that could possibly go wrong and how my life will be even worse in the future. What I don’t normally do is run to God for refuge and strength and perspective. At least not first thing. When I do get around to that, I feel about a million times better. My problems don’t seem as huge...

Do you feel overwhelmed by the task of getting organized? Does a simple glance around your home or office tell you that clutter is taking over your life? If so, my podcast interview with Dana K. White from A Slob Comes Clean (links below) will offer helpful advice about how to tackle these projects without stress. What We Discussed on the Podcast * Coming to terms with our own unique clutter threshold * The Container Concept * Accepting the reality of the limited space we have * How...

In this interview with Asheritah CiuCiu, we discuss how to grow a prayer habit using the REST method from her new book, Prayers of Rest: 365 Prompts to Hear God’s Voice. If you find yourself struggling to make prayer a daily habit, Asheritah offers many helpful ways to cultivate this powerful discipline in this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast (links below). What We Discussed on the Podcast * How to make a prayer habit stick by learning, fostering and practicing it * Praying...

In Joshua Becker’s new book, Things that Matter, he talks about eight common distractions that keep us from living a meaningful life. Joshua Becker is a former pastor and the founder of the influential Becoming Minimalist blog, where he has been helping millions find more by owning less for the last 15 years. On today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast (links below), I visit with Joshua about two of those distractions—the pursuit of leisure and the pursuit of happiness. Things We...

Do you ever have a hard time making yourself read your Bible? Or do you start out reading, only to find yourself reading the same passage over and over again because you can’t make yourself concentrate? I spent twenty years of my Christian life struggling to have a daily quiet time. I’d do fine when I was in a church Bible study but when I was on my own, I just didn’t have the discipline to read my Bible. And even with church studies, you’d often find me rushing through all the lessons one...

Are you in the middle of a big life change? Or still adjusting to an old life change? Change can be difficult, even when it’s positive. Yet so many life changes don’t feel one bit positive. Here are  just a few of the life changes we go through: * A move * Change of occupation: new job, loss of old job, career change, beginning college, etc. * Engagement or marriage * Divorce or separation * Natural disasters and pandemics such as Covid * Death of a loved one * Serious illness,...

If you’ve been married a long time, chances are good you’ve been attracted to someone at some time or another. In today’s podcast, I’ll be visiting with my friend Trish about how to keep that initial attraction from morphing into something that could potentially hurt your marriage, your family, your community, and yourself! We’ll be discussing how to avoid (or end) an emotional affair. What We Discussed on the Podcast * What exactly is an emotional affair? * How an innocent friendship...

Do you ever set goals and fail to reach them? I used to do that all the time. The only goals I completed each year were my recreation goals! Over the years, though, I’ve learned some tips to help me be more successful with reaching goals. On today’s podcast, we’ll discuss ten tips about how to achieve your goals this year. I’ve asked my friend and fellow podcaster and writer, Dr. Melanie Wilson, to help me with this podcast as she is the master at completing goals! Following are the tips...

To give advice or not to give advice? That is the question. In the past I used to answer that with, Of course I should give advice! Why wouldn’t I give advice?! Well, I have since learned a few reasons why I shouldn’t! Why You Should Think Twice Before Giving Unsolicited Advice For starters, too much advice can hurt relationships. On our end, we think we’re giving wise advice to help people be safe and happy. But on their end, they often feel like we’re trying to fix them. This makes them...

Do you struggle with productivity? Do you find that you often have trouble getting through your to-do list? At the end of each day, do you feel discouraged that you didn’t achieve more? If so, you’ll want to listen to today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, where I interview Polly Payne, the CEO of Horacio Printing and the creator of the Dream Planner. Polly shares many helpful tips so that we can productively focus our energy on what matters most each day and finally conquer that...

Most all of us have the desire to grow in God, but we often don’t know how to begin. My guest on the Christian Habits Podcast today, Darryl Dash, has written a great new book on this topic called 8 Habits for Growth: A Simple Guide to Becoming More Like Christ. Darryl discusses the habits in his book and gives helpful advice for the Christian desiring to go deeper in their faith walk. Things We Discussed on the Episode * What Christian growth is * Strategies for growth both for the...

Do you ever get irritated with friends who believe differently than you do about politics or Covid? Do you get annoyed with the faults of a spouse or family member? Do you get frustrated with people who drive at a different speed than you drive? If so, today’s post and podcast will help. We’ll be discussing how to stop being angry. Before we do that, though, let’s look at what anger is. What is anger? When I first started helping people let go of anger, I discovered people have different...

If someone told you to have a quiet time, you’d know what to do: read your Bible and pray. But what if they told you to renew your mind? Would you know how to renew your mind? Maybe not. The renewing of the mind doesn’t have a clear protocol like a quiet time has. Maybe that’s because it’s so messy. How is the renewing of the mind different than a quiet time? With a quiet time, you know you’ve done it when you’ve “read your Bible and prayed.” With the renewing of the mind, you know you’ve...

In this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I talk with Ginny Owens, an award-winning singer, songwriter, author and speaker. Ginny candidly shares biblical wisdom for finding hope when life is hard which can also be found in her new book: Singing in the Dark, set to release on May 1st, 2021. Some Things Ginny and I Discussed on the Podcast * The “habit” of praising through the story of Leah in the Bible * Practicing praise * Singing God’s hope * Replacing the negative “songs”...

Often before a trip, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with my mind buzzing. I remember all I have to do and have a hard time getting back to sleep. That happened last night, so I got up and had my quiet time. I was having a hard time focusing so I decided to do some Scripture meditation. It wasn’t long before God’s peace washed over me and I felt better about the day. On today’s podcast and blog post, I’d like to talk about how to meditate on Scripture. What is Scripture...

When I was in my forties, I didn’t even consider “no” an option. Instead, I did everything everyone asked me to do without even thinking about it. This led to stress, resentment, and sometimes doing things God didn’t want me to do. Not bad things, but things that weren’t right for that time in my life. In this post and podcast, I want to talk about people pleasing: how to know when you’re doing it and how to stop people pleasing. People Pleasing vs. Self-Pleasing vs. Pleasing God Before we...

Do you ever struggle to read the Bible? Maybe you wake up in the morning, turn off the alarm, roll over, and think to yourself, Just five more minutes. Then you wake up again 30 minutes later and your Bible reading window has disappeared. You would love to create a Bible routine, but you can’t make it happen. Or maybe you’re like I used to be twenty-five years ago. You feel like you should read the Bible, but you’re kind of bored with it. Or maybe you’re so busy you feel like you don’t...

How do you feel when you hear the phrase, New Year’s resolutions? Excited? Defeated? Skeptical? In recent years, New Year’s resolutions have gone out of style in favor of goals. The idea is that New Year’s resolutions are vague, so they don’t work—but goals are more defined with action steps, so they work. I disagree with this philosophy. What I’ve found in my own life is that neither one will work unless I go about it the right way. Before we get into that, though, let’s look at the...

If I were to ask the question, “Have you been depressed at all during the pandemic?” my guess is that every single one of you would answer that question with a yes. I know I have. Many days are great, but there are also those days when I feel like I’m going go stark raving mad crazy if this doesn’t end soon! That’s why I thought I’d do a blog post and podcast on how to stop being depressed during the pandemic. If you’re reading this after the pandemic, the tips will help for regular life...

Do you ever find yourself putting off a dreaded task for weeks or even months or years? I have been known to procrastinate a 10-minute job for ten years. Thankfully, God is slowly changing me in this area. Here are ten tips I’ve been using to help me stop procrastinating. Hope they help you as well! 10 Tips to Help You Stop Procrastinating * Find out why you’re procrastinating. When you feel like procrastinating, ask, “Why am I procrastinating?” Sometimes just hearing the answer to that...

Do you wonder if there really are secrets to self-control? Do you feel like you’re stuck and just need to live with it? In today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, Secrets to Self-Control with Drew Dyck, I visit with Drew about his book, Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science.  Drew gives us some great tips on how to preserve willpower and strengthen self-control even after failing at it over and over again. You’ll find hope for...

Are you struggling in one of your relationships? It could be a friend, an adult child, a sibling or parent, or even a spouse. In today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I visit with Blythe Daniel and Dr. Helen McIntosh about how to mend a broken relationship. Helen and Blythe are a mother-daughter team who coauthored the book, Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters. Although the book is directed toward mother and daughter relationships, they offer all kinds of tips...

When I first started writing, I noticed that I’d often get attacked at different stages of the process–especially when I was beginning something new. I’ve since studied spiritual attack and discovered there are many things we can do to be successful in spiritual warfare. We’ll discuss those things on today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, but I’ll also include the information below in case you don’t have time to listen to the podcast. Examples of Spiritual Attack in the...