Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In both the Bible verses of the Old and New Testaments, redemption is personal and familial. In the Old Testament Law, family members were obligated to rescue a family member in trouble or avenge a family member who was killed. A person could only be rescued or redeemed by his closest family member (Lev. 25:48-49). If he became financially destitute, the family member paid off the bills and delivered him from poverty. If he was enslaved, the family member bought him out of slavery (Lev. 27:13-31). If he or she were killed, the family member avenged the death. The whole system of family relationships acting to rescue a relative was called redemption. The theological name for this system is called the kinsman- redeemer model. The kinsman-redeemer was the closest relative who was under the obligation to rescue. God is using that model of redemption to explain our salvation and our spirituality transformation that redeems us and helps us become who we are in Christ (Job 19:25; Isa. 41:14; 43:14). Money is not the motive, nor debit or credit. The heart of it all is family. Because we are his family members, God rescues us and is willing to satisfy His sense of justice concerning our sins.

This clip coincides with Chapter 4, Reading 2, of the Becoming What God Intended Workbook. It was originally broadcasted as a radio clip as a part of the weekly talk show of The Adventures of Amy & Larry, which aired on 100.7 The Bridge during the year 2003.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

There are three different words for mercy in what the New Testament teaches about healthy relationships. One means, “I’ll have mercy on you.” Another means, “I’m going to graciously forgive you.” But the word in the Bible verses of II Corinthians 1:3 means “to be tenderly merciful.” It means the grace of God manifests itself in this God who is God the Father’s actions: He not only forgives, but He puts His arms around you and says, “It is all right. I tenderly forgive you. Don’t feel the weight of a guilty conscience anymore. My Son died for you. Don’t despair, and don’t be afraid.” God is happy to forgive us and happy to pull us out of despair, depression, and a guilty conscience.

This clip coincides with Chapter 1, Reading 2, of the Becoming What God Intended Workbook. It was originally broadcasted as a radio clip as a part of the weekly talk show of The Adventures of Amy & Larry, which aired on 100.7 The Bridge during the year 2003.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In the ancient world, people did not usually adopt babies.  Instead, they adopted adults, and it was called huithesia, the placement of a mature son–adult son placement. In adult son placement a childless couple entering into their old age found a fine young man and placed him as their son with the family name and authority over the family property to participate fully in the family business. Such was adult son placement. Great trust was demanded, because the older couple was putting their future in that son’s hands. That son would determine their destiny. That son would determine what would happen to the family business, and that son was given a mature responsibility and a mature relationship of trust. Notice what Paul says here about this responsibility and God’s acceptance in the Bible verses of Galatians 4:

. . . in order that the ones under the law should be purchased out, that we should receive adult son placement, and because you are mature sons, God is not viewing you as toddlers or slaves, God sent forth the Spirit of His mature Son into your hearts shouting, ‘Daddy-Father.’

What’s the epitome of maturity? Maturity is a deeply emotional relationship filled with character and acceptance. Maturity is a learning how to have a personal relationship with God the Abba-Father, where the son or the daughter of God feels warmly about God and is a person of integrity entrusted with the family business.

The Spirit of God is eager for us to respond as mature sons; since we’re worthwhile, we’re treated responsibly, we are given true freedom, we’re treated gently, and we’re trusted. Thirdly, we are affectionately regarded. We have been given not only God’s acceptance, but we are trusted to work in the Kingdom of God, doing our Father’s work to the glory of God.

This clip coincides with Chapter 5, Reading 4, of the Becoming What God Intended Workbook. It was originally broadcasted as a radio clip as a part of the weekly talk show of The Adventures of Amy & Larry, which aired on 100.7 The Bridge during the year 2003.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The subjective love of God is unforgettable. The book of Romans objectively illustrates the love of God in Chapter Five, verses six through eight:

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We can always look at the cross to remind ourselves of the kind of love of God we are invited to enjoy. By imagining God catching us at our most sinful moment, we get a glimpse of the profound consequences of the grace of God as well.

God defined His love for us at our weakest point, and He paid a precious price so that we would understand the grace of God that wants us to understand how to have a personal relationship with God. Even though God paid this extravagant price for us, we are strangers to our own selves. The person that Christ died for is unknown even to ourselves because we’re blinded by our guilty conscience, shame, and weakness. From God’s perspective we are worth a Son to Him, just as we are. As we believe in God and embrace our identity found in Christ, we will not only discover who is God, but who we are in Christ as well.

This clip coincides with Chapter 2, Reading 2, of the Becoming What God Intended Workbook. It was originally broadcasted as a radio clip as a part of the weekly talk show of The Adventures of Amy & Larry, which aired on 100.7 The Bridge during the year 2003.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Just like a little boy will imitate his dad by putting on his dad’s shoes and walking around the house, so we are called to imitate our Heavenly Father’s love. However, it is impossible to mimic God’s love until we have experienced it. Christianity is not supposed to be a stoic religion, but is all about God, the love of God, and who we are in Christ. It is about God and how to have a personal relationship with God, in which you get to know your Father better and better.

This clip coincides with Chapter 1, Reading 2, of the Becoming What God Intended Workbook. It was originally broadcasted as a radio clip as a part of the weekly talk show of The Adventures of Amy & Larry, which aired on 100.7 The Bridge during the year 2003.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Some silly Christians actually teach believers that they should not confess their sins. Saying that, they contradict the mere 2,000 years of Christianity doctrine and the plain statement of many Bible verses. They assume that since Christ has already died for that sin, how could confessing a sin lead to it being forgiven? True, God is infinitely satisfied concerning our sins because of Christ, but it is God the Father’s loving child-training or discipline that is being stopped.

As one of many Bible verses on the subject reads, “And if we should examine ourselves, we are not being judged, and when we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined as children in order that we should not be condemned with the world.” God is true to His word, and spanks His own, and he stops when we confess our sins. We confess to restore a healthy relationship with God and stop the spiritual spanking.

This clip coincides with Chapter 11, Reading 5, of the Becoming What God Intended Workbook. It was originally broadcasted as a radio clip as a part of the weekly talk show of The Adventures of Amy & Larry, which aired on 100.7 The Bridge during the year 2003.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Faith is that profound psychological shift that opens up a vast, unseen world which leads you to a spirituality transformation where we believe what the world finds unbelievable. Hebrews 11:1 says, “And faith is the essence of things continually hoped for, and it is the certain conviction of things continually unseen.”

When we study Christ and understand that we can know the real Jesus who died for us, suddenly certainty occurs concerning our future hope of Heaven. Suddenly we recognize that we live under the umbrella of the grace of God, love of God, and His care and concern.

Biblical faith has purpose, content, and results. When we study Christ—the real Jesus— and His Word, and then exercise faith, the Spirit opens our eyes to the realities of the Trinity, the love of God and grace of God, and the truths of bible verses and Biblical analysis. Our responsibility is to make sure we know how to study the bible, are believing biblical analysis and content, and that our faith wants results from God. Such true faith will spark a spirituality transformation, changing our lives and opening our eyes. Faith is more than knowledge; faith changes lives.

This clip coincides with Chapter 6, Reading 5, of the Becoming What God Intended Workbook. It was originally broadcasted as a radio clip as a part of the weekly talk show of The Adventures of Amy & Larry, which aired on 100.7 The Bridge during the year 2003.