Shows / Life Over Coffee
Life Over Coffee
Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating. In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in…
Episodes
Life Over CoffeeHow Do You Leave Your Church?
Sometimes, you can't stay at your local church. It's sad, but it happens all the time. You have to leave; when it happens, it's one of the more gut-wrenching…
- Life Over Coffee
The Mystery and Misunderstanding about Being Worthless
If you isolate a portion of Scripture from the narrative of the Bible’s story, you can misunderstand its meaning, complicating your life and triggering our…
- Life Over Coffee
When the Local Church Won't Help You
“I have a question about church discipline or how you handle a lack of church discipline or involvement from the church when trying to help someone. Though I…
- Life Over Coffee
Are You Committed to the Dearest Place on Earth
The local church is the dearest place on earth, outside of our unique families. It is the one place where the body of Christ can gather to celebrate their King…
- Life Over Coffee
The Fallacy and Futility of Self-esteem
Self-esteem teaching has been around for a long time. It’s one of the central planks of the culture’s gospel, which is their attempt to feel better about…
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Do You Fight Fires or Change Lives?
The best discipleship soul care happens in a community, not isolated, artificial settings where there is a disconnection between the person and the community…
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You Need More Than Preaching If You Want to Change
The preaching event on Sunday morning and the working out of the preached Word during the week are not either/or activities. They both work together to help…
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Ep. 498 A Deep-dive Analysis of Schizophrenia with Dr. Daniel Berger
Shows Main Idea – What is the schizophrenia unicorn? Understanding the truth behind the fictitious animal has more relevance than you might imagine. In Dr…
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Loving Me: The Hidden Agenda of Self-esteem
Thinking more about yourself is not the path to freedom. The self-esteem agenda demands that we turn our thoughts onto ourselves, spending even more time…
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Eight Signs of Spiritual Abuse in the Church
"Can you give some clear examples of signs of how a pastor or church leader is crossing the line from being a shepherd to a spiritual abuser? It would be…
- Life Over Coffee
The Cure for Low Self-esteem
Mable walked into the woods one day, doused herself with gasoline, and set herself on fire. The newspapers said she suffered from low self-esteem. They were…
- Life Over Coffee
Three Characteristics of a Fantastic Local Church
The best local churches have values distinct from the culture, while transforming the church’s community to reach the culture with the gospel to export those…
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The Second Most Important Question When Looking for a Church
The most important question when looking for a local church concerns the gospel—the main thing forever and ever. Amen. Nothing is more essential in any local…
- Life Over Coffee
Ep. 497 Help for the Angry and Those in the Line of Fire
Shows Main Idea – Sinful anger comes from the heart of a weak person who has not learned how to submit his desires to the obedience of Christ. The angry person…
- Life Over Coffee
The Main Thing to Look for When Looking for a Church
The local church is our most crucial sanctification context outside our homes, making finding the right kind of church a critical matter for all serious-minded…
- Life Over Coffee
Ep. 496 Is It Okay for Christians to Use Online Dating Apps
Shows Main Idea – A friend on the Supporting Member side of our website asked about dating apps because of their growing ubiquitous use in the church. The…
- Life Over Coffee
What You Can Do about the Migration Cyber Effect, 8.0
The global effect of all these issues on the body of Christ is what it’s doing to our local churches. The family is the core of all civil societies, and within…
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What You Can Do about the Accountability Cyber Effect, 7.0
These adverse cyber effects always beg the question of the best time to give your child a phone. Part of the discussion centers on the type of phone you want…
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Ep. 495 Here Is Practical Help for Anyone Stuck in a Bad Habit
Show Notes: A person with a bad habit needs a clear path to freedom, though it’s not always clear which pathway to take. As he thinks about freeing himself…
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What You Can Do about the Blue Light Cyber Effect, 6.0
Our lives operate on a 24-hour cycle. You have observed how you become tired or drowsy at certain times of the day. Hopefully, that is in the evening, when…
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What to Do about Sanctification Cyber Effects, 5.0
After you meet the stranger on the train, and both of you throw inhibition to the wind, you may convince yourself that you’re building a whole relationship…
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Ep. 494 Help Me Help My Difficult Relative
Shows Main Idea – Do you have a problematic relative or friend you may need to confront? Many of us do have challenging friends and relatives because our…
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What You Can Do about the Disinhibition Effect, 4.0
The concept of sharing freely and without fear is called the disinhibition effect. There is little inhibition about vulnerability with a stranger on the train…
- Life Over Coffee
What You Can Do about the Stranger Effect, 3.0
The teen is not the only struggling soul looking for a community. Sometimes, I will hear a person talk about how they met a stranger, and within minutes, they…
- Life Over Coffee
Ep. 493 Practical Advice on Growing Older and Finishing Well
Shows Main Idea – Growing old will happen to all of us if we live long enough, and for some of our friends, it can be a dreadful experience, especially if it’s…
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What You Can Do about the Identity Cyber Effect 2.0
One of the most potent effects of the second fiddle phenomenon happens in a child's life when he grows into an adult. The young teen is transitioning from kid…
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What You Can Do about the Real World Cyber Effect 1.0
There is a discussion about whether cyberspace is real or not. We know what a real, tactile place is, but what is cyberspace? You can't touch or feel it. Is it…
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Ep. 494 Ten Vital Keys for Small Group Leaders
Shows Main Idea – Small groups have been widely implemented in a local church for multiple decades. When rightly understood and implemented, these groups…
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What Is the Cyber Effect? What You Can Do about It
Technology, social media, and the Internet can be redemptive instruments in the hands of individuals who want to do good and know how to accomplish those…
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How to Change: Chapter 6: Five Things to Know
The question of this book is, “How can I change?” It’s one of the most honest and necessary questions a Christian can ask, and one of the most mishandled. We…
- Life Over Coffee
Ep. 491 Daniel Berger, What Is a Woman, Biblically Speaking
Shows Main Idea – Rick interviews Dr. Daniel Berger about the Matt Walsh documentary What Is a Woman? He also responds to Dr. Miriam Grossman’s interview with…
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What Kind of Church Do You Attend? Here Are Six Models.
Each local church has a unique personality that reflects its leadership. In context, the word church refers to those who have been attending for a while and…
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Why Do You Attend Your Church?
One of the most important questions you’ll ever ask yourself is why you attend your local church. Outside the family unit, the local church is the primary…
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Ep. 490 Sophie Ottaway: Engineered at Birth to Be a Girl
Shows Main Idea – Rick Thomas interviews Sophie Ottaway, born as a boy but engineered to be a girl when he was two. Sophie had a physical abnormality but did…
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The Benefit of Being Intentionally Intrusive in Our Relationships
Living in a relationship with anyone means you will be disappointed and hurt by them. It is unavoidable. Since Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, we have been…
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Ep. 489 Dr. Miriam Grossman, Lost in Trans Nation
Shows Main Idea – In this interview, Rick talks to Miriam Grossman, MD, a board-certified in psychiatry and the sub-specialty of child and adolescent…
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How to Care for the Clueles
Let us go ahead and level the playing field: we are all clueless to some degree. We all need help. We all need grace. It does not matter your demographic; we…
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The Problem with God's Kindness When You Want to Be Angry
Everybody loves to experience God’s mercy when we behave poorly. The alternative is the Lord’s corrective displeasure. When there is a crime, our impulse is to…
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Our Competing Psychologies
Shows Main Idea – There are two competing authorities in our culture today that present the pathway to transformation. The secular psychological community put…
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The One Thing We Must Do: Step Down from Our Thrones
A throne addiction is when a person refuses to allow God to be the King of their life; they will not relinquish their throne to the only rightful authority to…
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Admitting Failure Gives You a Second Chance from God
God is a God of second chances. Have you ever heard that expression? It is one of those things we like to say about God. It is a Christian cliché that we…
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Ep. 487 Daniel Berger Discusses Disorders and Medication, Pt. 2
Shows Main Idea – Rick interviewed Dr. Daniel R. Berger II, the founder and director of Alethia International Ministries (AIM), where he continues to write and…
- Life Over Coffee
Do You Understand the Point of Your Trouble?
How do you think about the trouble in your life? I counsel a lot of Christians who have a lot of adverse things happening to them. In a way, they are…
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When God Hurls a Storm at You
What do you think about when a storm comes into your life? When things are dreadful, how do you wrestle through what’s happening to you? Where does your mind…
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Ep. 486 Daniel Berger Discusses Disorders and Medication, Pt. 1
Shows Main Idea – Rick interviewed Dr. Daniel R. Berger II, the founder and director of Alethia International Ministries (AIM), where he continues to write and…
- Life Over Coffee
A Profound Reason to Love That Difficult Person in Your Life
The heart of the gospel is about loving difficult people. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. His death on the cross for undeserving people is the primary…
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Ep. 485 Lucas Miles, Author of Woke Jesus
Shows Main Idea – Rick interviewed Lucas Miles, a trusted voice in the American church who has consistently addressed some of the most challenging topics in…
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What Is Forgiveness and How to Do It
Forgiveness is the exclusive domain and the divinely given privilege of the redeemed. Non-Christians cannot be free from sin because they are children of the…
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Chapter Nine Homework for a Cold Marriage
During the six months, I worked with Mable, I began reorienting her life toward a God-centered way of thinking and living. The process was not easy, and there…
- Life Over Coffee
Webinar: Parenting Our Children from Zero to Adulthood
Shows Main Idea – This practical webinar about parenting our children will help any parent, empty nester, or soon-to-be parents learn how to release their…
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Chapter Eight God Is Already There
I have a friend who lived in open adultery for eighteen years. He was not a Christian and was not shy about his lifestyle. His wife, like Mable, knew most of…
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Chapter Seven Working on Marriage Alone
When a marriage grows cold, and only one spouse is willing to work on it, that spouse must juxtapose two Biblical responsibilities: being free in Christ while…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 483 Interview with Kevin Sorbo, Hollywood Actor
Shows Main Idea – Rick interviewed Hollywood actor Kevin Sorbo, known for his roles in Hercules, Left Behind, and God's Not Dead. His latest movie is Miracle…
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Chapter Six Our Common Faith-killers
When a person does not trust God, there are three primary reasons. I call these our faith-killers. We cannot trust God if we are angry with Him. We cannot…
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Chapter Five The Self-sufficient Soul
Once Mable understood the gospel, I began to walk her through how she should respond to Christ. The gospel is God’s most extravagant outpouring of His love to…
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Ep. 482 Judd T. Saul with Equipping the Persecuted
Shows Main Idea – Judd T. Saul started Equipping the Persecuted Ministry in 2011 after God led him to Nigeria to see the devastation happening on the ground to…
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Chapter Four Start with the Gospel
A common rebuttal to the need theory concept is that we need love. I understand the perspective, but the truth is that we need a relationship with God; if we…
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Chapter Three The Snare of Perceived Needs
The most significant trap that tripped up Mable was that her desire for marriage and companionship had morphed into something God never intended. She had…
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The Reason What You Believe and What You Do Are Different
Have you ever wondered how it is possible to believe the right things yet do the wrong things? It happens regularly—at least to me. I am in situations where I…
- Life Over Coffee
Ep. 481 Rick and Lucia Answering Your Questions
Shows Main Idea – Rick and Lucia Thomas answer a stack of questions from our Life Over Coffee community. They address marriage conflict, communication, anger…