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 CoffeeDid You Know There Is a Better Way to Do Counseling?
Sometimes, when people hear the term biblical counseling, they think about a two-tier system within Christianity: those who can counsel and those who cannot…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 459 Twelve Things to Know About Parental Discipline
Shows Main Idea – How are we to think about parental discipline? Should we spank our children? What if we had a bad experience with our parents; how are we to…
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A Problem with Expecting Someone to Change
In any discipleship situation, the discipler’s theology must inform their discipleship process. Theology and application act as guardrails to keep the…
Life Over CoffeeSeven Reasons a Person Will Not Change
Every person who comes to you does not always fully invest themselves in being free from their problems. I’m not suggesting they are insincere. I’m speaking to…
- Life Over Coffee
Ep. 458 Mark Grant Shares His Mastermind Training Experience
Shows Main Idea – I sat down with Mark Grant to discuss his experience as he went through our Mastermind training program. Mark was our first student and…
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Mind Mapping Confidentiality and Secret Sins
Your friend comes to you with a secret sin. You are his accountability partner, and he asks you to keep his sin secret. How would you respond to him? Is it…
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Ep. 457 An Effective Equipping Model for the Church
Shows Main Idea – Each local church has visitors, regular attendees, non-engaged members, and engaged members. In many of these churches, the visitors…
Life Over CoffeeDiagnosing the Four Steps to a Hard Heart
Most Christians assume the greatest danger in life is something “out there”—a cultural trend, a new ideology, a relational crisis, or a personal trial that…
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When I Kept Silent About My Sin
Are you more concerned about what God thinks about your sin or what others think about your sin? How you answer this question will determine the quality of…
Life Over CoffeeSeven Considerations for Challenging Friends
God did not create all friends equally. You have some friends you want in your inner circle because they are biblically mature and reciprocating. Perhaps there…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 456 The Particulars of the Sex Talk I Had With Our Son
Shows Main Idea – I had the sex talk with our son when he was 12. I took him to the beach for a few days to discuss the most intimate relational dynamic…
Life Over CoffeeYou Know Your Faith Is Real When
Job’s wild ride through the crucible of suffering was coming to an end. The devil was nearing defeat, the Lord was receiving glory, and Job was changing. I…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 455 Don't Make a Big Deal Out of Biblical Counseling
Shows Main Idea – A friend approached me, asking how to help his church because they have a weak view of biblical counseling. He is a lone voice with an…
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How Can I Trust God When He Does Not Act the Way I Think?
When things do not go according to our plans, and the losses keep mounting, it’s only a short step from walking away from God and the caring friends who are…
- Life Over Coffee
Three Keys to Help You Look Beyond Your Suffering
Does anyone love God because of who He is, or do we love Him for what we can receive from Him? I’m not implying it’s wrong to want things from the Lord because…
- Life Over Coffee
Ep. 454 The Risky Business of Looking for Change in Someone
Shows Main Idea – A friend asked on our private forums whether you can tell if someone has changed. Of course, you cannot know in the ultimate sense—not at the…
Life Over CoffeeWhen God Whittles You Down to Size
We have two possible responses to our problems. We can be problem-centered or God-centered. That’s it. The first reaction leads to anxious complaining and…
Life Over CoffeeDo You Really Want to Know What God Is Thinking?
Sometimes, God can seem distant and possibly disinterested in what is happening in our lives. The silence of God is deafening as we seek answers when life…
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Ep. 453 Speaking to the Injusticies in Our Culture
Shows Main Idea – Since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, there have been injustices. It’s vital to recognize we live in a fallen world, not a utopian…
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Have You Ever Tried Manipulative Praying?
What the world, flesh, and the devil mean for evil, the Lord God Almighty intends for our good, creating a unique place where good and evil intersect to do…
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The Uncomfortable Benefit of God Being Silent
Silence does not have to be a bad thing, even the silence of God. Quick to listen and slow to speak is biblical, according to James. The gifts of reflection…
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Ep. 451 Five Reasons to Curb or Get Off Social Media
Shows Main Idea – Spending time on social media does much harm to our lives and relationships. You can easily find 1000 studies to support this claim, and it…
Life Over CoffeeSeven-Step Template for Change When Trouble Comes
Let’s Start Here: Are you problem-centered or God-centered? A quick way to analyze my question is by assessing your most common responses to the problems the…
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Bringing God Down to My Level So I Can Argue with Him
Letting God be God is one of our greatest fears. When the circumstances are the most adverse, the temptation will be the strongest to bring God down to our…
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The Unparalleled Benefit of Living in an Unchangeable Situation
What would you rather have if you only had one choice: a change of circumstances or a change of mind about your circumstances? My question is critical and ties…
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Ep. 449 How to Motivate Christians to Stop Caring So Much
Shows Main Idea – It sounds odd to title this podcast episode with a plea to stop caring so much, so let me explain. One of the side effects of chronic…
Life Over CoffeeJust When You Thought Things Were Going Well
God operates with unexpected purposes that come in unsuspecting moments. He does this because He can observe our lives from an eternal perspective as he stands…
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When God Does Not Come Through for You
Everyone knows God comes through for us when we get what we want. Did you know He comes through for us when He gives things we do not want or appreciate? What…
Life Over CoffeeHow to Respond When Blindsided While Doing Good
The crucible of suffering reveals our most authentic thoughts about God and others. Sometimes the Lord puts us in that crucible, even while we are doing good…
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Ep. 448 The Insufficient Method of Giving Verses to Counselees
Shows Main Idea – There have been many liabilities of the biblical counseling movement because of the proliferation of training and naming average…
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Three Things to Know When Life Does Not Make Sense
The pressures of life expose our strengths and weaknesses. It happens when things outside our control go awry; we either rally our souls under the Spirit's…
Life Over CoffeeFour Things You Must Know about Your Suffering
The suffering God took me through was my most significant disappointment after becoming a Christian. My “prior to becoming a Christian thought” was that this…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 447 How to Have a Dynamic Small Group Experience
Shows Main Idea – What are some of the core elements that help to have a vibrant small group life? Is it best to have mixed small groups or gender-specific…
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How to Steward God's Most Feared Blessing
We can agree that personal suffering is the one thing we fear the most. Who wants to suffer? Think with me for a minute. Certain things come to mind that…
Life Over CoffeeThe Preface to My Book, Suffering Well
On April 8, 1988, it all went wrong. I would later call that day the “beginning of woes.” I walked into our home shortly past 5 o’clock, and after a full day…
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Ep. 446 My Church Doesn't Do Community Well, and I'm Struggling
Shows Main Idea – A church member sent me an email because they are struggling with what she called a “lack of community” in her local church. She is one in a…
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How to Think about a God Who Permits Sin in Your Life
How many ways does the Lord have available for Himself to help us mature into Christlikeness? Most folks would say the Bible, prayer, church, and close…
Life Over CoffeeWhen Suffering Reaches the Limits of Your Endurance
Grumbling is a minor sin, but like tiny breadcrumbs leading you somewhere, the complaining person shows you the practical condition of their heart. The…
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Ep. 445 Interview with Anton Krecic with Seven Weeks Coffee
Shows Main Idea – Anton Krecic started Seven Weeks Coffee Company because he saw a need that nobody was fulfilling. He merged his love for coffee with a…
Life Over CoffeeThe First and Unique Step to Solving Your Problems
Working through pain is part of the human experience. Problems come and go as sparks fly upward. Trouble and trials began with the fall of humanity, and they…
Life Over CoffeeA Practical Plan to Break Free from Being Controlled by Others
True freedom is only found when the singular opinion that governs your mind and conscience is the Lord’s. When His evaluation is the only one that holds sway…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 444 Five Reasons to "Why Did God Let My Baby Die?"
Shows Main Idea – “How do you answer a friend who is not a Christian but searching when she asks why God let my baby die? The grief is seemingly…
Life Over CoffeeI Want More Than God; I Want Someone to Love
To say that God is all you need reduces your life to a “you and God in a silo,” which might sound nice if you’re prone to spiritualize everything while not…
Life Over CoffeeHow to Build and Enjoy Dynamic Community Life
The most crucial relationship in your life is God. The most practical way to experience Him is in a community of like-minded believers who are intentional…
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Ep. 443 How Do You Respond to an Unkind Christian?
Shows Main Idea – A reader asked, "How do you deal with people who claim to be Christians, yet they are brutally invasive with their tactics by forcing…
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Leading Your Spouse in Intimate Conversations
To fully release your vulnerable and intimate soul to another person, you must know the individual is trustworthy and will lovingly steward all of your inner…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 442 Eight Response to the Spouse Whose Spouse Left
A lady wrote, asking me how to help her and her husband. He recently left for another woman, and she's in desperate straits, not knowing what to do about it or…
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The Most Perfect Relationship You Will Ever Have
We are relational beings because God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26). God, who has always belonged to a Trinitarian community, made us in such a way…
Life Over CoffeeFive Helpful Marks to See If Someone Has Changed
Transformation is one of the most frequently claimed yet most difficult to discern realities in the Christian life. Everyone says they have changed, want to…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 441 How to Respond to a Fallen Christian Leader
Shows Main Idea – A reader asked, "When a leader falls, the church bags him up and throws him out. Can you comment on how to respond to a fallen Christian…
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When You Give More Than Money, You're More Like Christ
When most folks think about giving, they automatically default to money. It makes sense because money is vital to living well in God’s world. But if money is…
Life Over CoffeeThe Terrible Lengths God Will Go to for Your Good
God’s salvation is a gift that we must steward, though managing His salvation does not imply we can lose it, an impossible feat. But we must share it with…
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Ep. 440 When She's Ashamed to Share Her Story with You
Shows Main Idea – Sometimes, a person does not want to receive counseling because they are afraid to share their story. The complexity of shame, guilt, and…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 439 How to Help a Teen with a Porn Problem
How do you help a teen with a porn problem? This podcast discusses the issue with porn and how to help anyone struggling with addiction. One of our members…
Life Over CoffeeWe Are Less Than Four Feet from 6.64 Billion Hearts
Merry Christmas, everyone. The holiday season is the best time of the year, especially when our focus is Christ as we celebrate His birth and what it means to…
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Ep. 438 Am I a Sinner or a Saint, or Both?
On the radio today, a well-known pastor says that Christians should not describe themselves as "sinners saved by grace" but "saints who occasionally sin." If…
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Ep. 437 A Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness and Suicide?
Shows Main Idea – What is the relationship between mental illness and suicide? Is that the best way to ask my question? If not, how would you frame the problem…
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Assessing My Heart the Morning after an American Election
There are two large groups of people in America today. They are the winners and the losers. The happy and the sad. The glad and the mad. The hopeful and the…
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Ep. 436 Should I Separate from Sinners in My Church?
Shows Main Idea – If a person in your church lives a sinful lifestyle and is a leader, how should I respond to that person? Should I sit under their teaching…
Life Over CoffeeEp. 435 How Do You Counsel a Self-righteous Person?
Shows Main Idea – “I’m thinking of a person who is not concerned with the kingdom of God and is more concerned with a kingdom of self, especially a person who…