No matter your season of life, wherever God has placed you is your platform for glorifying Him. But sometimes, it’s really, really hard to see the rutted, muddy pathways of life as an opportunity to reflect Jesus, isn’t it? If you are in such a place, this special edition of the Help & Hope podcast is for you. Over the summer we held Beyond the Book, Ask the Author as a free virtual live event where guests could submit questions read more…
Read MoreAre you tired of all the parenting books full of strategic checklists, how-to advice and quick tips? While some of the books are actually really helpful, Christina Fox, Sharon Betters and young mom Melissa Weisenfels talk through what it means to parent through the grid of how our heavenly father parents us, His children. They touch on questions like: How can a better understanding of God’s character, i.e. His consistency, discipline, read more…
Read MoreIs singleness a gift or a curse? If you’re single because you never married, divorced or widowed - are you just in a waiting room, marking time until you meet the right person, or is singleness a place filled with opportunities you would not have if married? Is it wrong to pray for a spouse? How do you respond when well-meaning friends say hurtful things like, “I don’t understand why some guy hasn’t snatched
Read MoreIn this candid and fun interview, Jani Ortlund and Sharon Betters talk about what it’s like to be married to their pastor. Jani and Sharon have been married to their pastors for over fifty years – that’s 100 years of experience between them! Using Jani’s book, Help! I’m Married to My Pastor as a springboard, they cover such topics as how to help pastor husbands deal with depression, create a home where the “PKs” feel safe and unaffected by congregational expectations, cultivate romance in their marriages, deal with gossip and prioritizing personal intimacy with Jesus.
Read More“Who am I? What is my purpose? I thought I could have it all and I do. But I am restless, I feel like I’m missing something.” Statistics show many American women are weary, struggle with depression, and self-medicate with alcohol, flattery, and more. Suicide rates for women are on the rise. What’s happening? More
Read More1 in 8 couples have trouble getting pregnant. That's about 6.7 million people each year who have trouble conceiving. - 10—15% of women who know they are pregnant will experience a miscarriage. Some studies say it’s higher. - About 1 pregnancy in 100 at 20 weeks of pregnancy and later is affected by stillbirth, and each year about 24,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.1 - This doesn’t take into account the number of babies diagnosed in the womb with a terminal condition – meaning if they survive their birth, they will not live very long. Kathe Wunnenberg knows the sorrow of such losses. In this transparent conversation with Sharon Betters Kathe shares her own journey of grieving infertility, miscarriages and the loss of her
Read MoreIn Part 2 of this Help & Hope podcast Nick Thompson, co-author with Joel R. Beeke of Pastors and Their Critics continues his conversation with Chuck Betters about the difference between betrayal and criticism and how to handle criticism from church members. Part 2 focuses on how to create a church climate where it is safe to share concerns with your pastor and elders along with the reality that sometimes no amount of reconciliation efforts will reap sweet fruit.
Read MoreIn Part 1 of this conversation Nick Thompson, co-author with Joel R. Beeke of Pastors and Their Critics talks with Chuck Betters about the difference between betrayal and criticism and how to handle criticism from church members. Pastors quickly learn that criticism comes with the territory of shepherding. This conversation took place in the middle of the 2020 pandemic and pastors are weary from the constant criticism they are getting in response to their handling of the pandemic. Rather than resolve their differences, critics choose to leave without any attempt to preserve the relationship. Most pastors give their lives to their congregation but over time
Read MoreFor too long women, rather than feel safe, women often feel shame in their local churches, so much so that they will not ask the leadership for help. The idea of speaking about her personal needs and hurts to any man, let alone being in a room alone with a group of men fills her with fear. This conversation with Ann Maree Goudzwaard, Sharon Betters and Jane Anne Wilson fills us with great hope as we learn about a Shepherdess ministry designed to not only create a safe place for women in crisis but also act as a
Read MoreChuck and Bernie discuss how many churches are ill-prepared to come alongside of women in crisis but how the scriptures outline the way to meet these needs. Bernie speaks from the experience of helping oversee such a ministry in his local church. He shares how the leadership recognized the need to make the church a safe place for women and then enlisted women to help develop a strategy for meeting this dire
Read MoreMention “fear of the Lord” and most people don’t know what it means. Is it terror in God’s presence? Is it fear He is watching and waiting to condemn us or tell us what a good person we are? Or maybe the Lord will demand we give up what is most precious to us to prove we fear Him. Or perhaps fear of the Lord grows when we think He is punishing us for past sins. In this
Read MoreWe’re all waiting for something. It might be a spouse or a baby. It might be healing or a home. Regardless of what we're waiting for, it’s easy to feel discontent when things aren’t going as planned and our dreams are delayed—especially when questions of 'Why?' and 'How long?' remain unanswered. God uses seasons of waiting not only to teach us patience and make us more like Himself, but He also uses unmet longings to paint a powerful picture of the bride of Christ waiting for the day when He returns and God’s kingdom reigns.
Read MoreWhether you are in a waiting room right now because of cancer, stroke, traumatic injury, a child struggling to hold on to life, a health crisis of any kind, you know the emotions of waiting – fear of the unknown, sadness over knowing life will never be the same, anger – you name it. Yet in the midst of it all, Elizabeth reminds us of the certain hope and peace of the gospel.
Read MoreBob Petterson was abandoned by his mother, shifted from one abusive foster home to another, bullied not only by kids but by some of his foster parents, beaten and sexually assaulted by numerous people tasked with being his protectors. Is there any hope for such a child? Bob shares how he grew into a hope-filled man who learned to trust God.
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