Some of the people who love creation the most have no idea they're worshipping it.

One morning on a beach in Florida, I found dozens of dead fish with every eye missing. Something built into those seabirds had done the work, and it sent my eyes looking up. We walk the same line when we stand on a summit or watch the northern lights dance. The wonder is real. The question is where it lands.

In Romans 1:25, Paul says people "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:25 ESV) https://www.bible.com/bible/59/ROM.1.25.ESV

In this message from our IDOLS series, we look at the idol of creation. We walk through 8 ways people offer praise and thanks to created things today, from manifesting to the universe to calling the planet Mother Earth. Then we ask the harder question. How does a Christian slip into it? It tends to show up in the same three places every idol does: identity, security, and belonging. A trophy hunt that tells us who we are. A week at the cabin that becomes our spiritual reset. A trail we call our church. A love for the planet that outweighs our love for people. None of those things are bad on their own. They become a problem when a good gift starts doing a job that only God can do.

And at the centre of it all stands Jesus. Colossians 1:15 to 20 tells us the One who made every mountain, forest, and river stepped into creation and gave His life to bring us back. If you've never trusted Him, this message closes with a simple invitation and a prayer you can pray right where you are.

Marvel at the mountains, and worship the Maker.

If this message spoke to you, watch it all the way through and share it with someone who loves the outdoors. Subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the series. I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Where do you feel closest to God, and who do you thank when you're there?

You can find more teaching and resources for everyday Christians and church leaders at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The red tide beach in Florida
2:27 Idols, Uncovering Misplaced Worship (Week 5)
3:12 What creation tells us about God
4:50 The great exchange in Romans 1
5:47 8 ways we worship creation today
8:12 Can Christians slip into this?
8:44 Identity
9:39 Security
11:12 Belonging
13:06 How to respond to creation
15:05 The Creator who stepped into creation
17:17 Invitation and prayer
18:30 Discussion and prayer focus

#IDOLS #Creation #Idolatry #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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How many people need to notice you before you feel like you matter? What title or credential would finally feel like enough? Most of us would never say out loud that we're chasing status, but we check the numbers, we notice who noticed, and we feel it when nobody does. Underneath all of it sits one question we'd rather not ask ourselves.

This is part 4 of our Idols series at Mountainview Church, and today we're looking at the idol of platform, the pull to let our identity, our security, and our sense of belonging ride on how many people are watching, following, or approving of us. Galatians 1:10 puts the question straight to us. "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Paul wrote that as a man who used to have real status himself, a Pharisee on the rise, and he traded it for something the crowd could never take back.

We'll walk through how this idol quietly creeps in, in our mood when the numbers are up or down, in the convictions we soften to protect our reputation, in the loneliness that can hide behind a full following. And we'll see why believers like Moses, David, and Paul, along with men and women across church history like George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham, William Wilberforce, and Florence Nightingale, carried real influence without losing themselves to it. God gave them a platform for his purposes, and they stayed faithful to the work right in front of them. Even Jesus was offered every kingdom on earth in the wilderness and turned it down, because he already had what a platform only pretends to offer, and he gave up the greatest platform there ever was so ours could be made new.

The crowd will never give you what Christ can guarantee. Watch the full message and let it work on your own heart this week. Subscribe for the rest of the Idols series, drop a comment and tell us which idol you needed to hear about most, and find more for your walk and your leadership at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The question behind every platform
1:15 Week 4 of the Idols series
2:20 Scripture reading, Galatians 1:6 to 10
3:43 Paul's warning to the Galatians
6:32 The crowd will never offer what Christ can guarantee
7:18 Platforms aren't the problem
8:20 Whitefield, Spurgeon, and Billy Graham
9:24 Wilberforce, Nightingale, and everyday influence
10:24 When leaders fall from a God-given platform
11:10 How the idol of platform creeps in
13:08 You are the light of the world
15:03 Three questions to ask about your platform
16:39 Even Jesus was tempted with a platform
17:47 A prayer to trade approval for Christ
18:43 This week's discussion question

#IdolOfPlatform #ChasingApproval #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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Nine times out of ten, when I ask someone how they're doing, I get the same word back. Busy. Sometimes it comes out with a sigh, like they're worn down and can't catch a break. Other times it comes out almost like a badge of honour, like being busy proves they matter. Either way, work and busyness have quietly become the way most of us measure our own lives. How much we've accomplished. How needed we are. Whether we're keeping up. If you've ever felt like stopping for even one day would let everyone down, or like your whole identity is wrapped up in your job, this message is for you. We're going to name what's really going on underneath all that busyness, and it might surprise you.

This is part three of our IDOLS series, where we're naming the things that quietly compete with God for the center of our lives. In Psalm 127:1, Solomon uses the word vain three times to describe work that's built apart from God, and it points to something deeper than just being tired. Work can turn into an idol, showing up in how we chase identity, security, and belonging instead of finding those things in Him. I walk through what that looks like in real life, from feeling empty when you're not producing to refusing a day off because rest feels risky. Then we look at Sabbath as God's gift, not a rule. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around, in Mark 2:27, and He invites every tired, overworked heart to come find true rest in Him in Matthew 11:28. Work is vanity unless God is the builder, but when He is, work becomes worship instead of a burden you're carrying alone.

Watch the full message and let it settle in this week. If you've been chasing rest through your job instead of through Jesus, drop a comment and tell us what that's looked like for you. Subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the IDOLS series, and find more resources for faith and leadership at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Why We Wear "Busy" Like a Badge
1:07 Week 3: The Idol of Work
2:01 Psalm 127 and Working in Vain
3:27 Work Is Vanity Unless God Is the Builder
4:52 What "Vanity" Really Means
6:04 How Idols Hide Behind Diligence
7:18 Three Signs You've Made Work an Idol
9:57 The Gift of Sabbath
11:42 Jesus and the Purpose of Sabbath
13:17 Sabbath as a Weekly Act of Trust
15:20 When Rest Feels Terrifying
17:19 Trading Work for Devotion to Jesus
18:35 Work Can Be Worship
19:10 Closing Prayer
19:51 Discussion Question and Prayer Focus
20:39 Next Week: The Idol of Platform

#IdolOfWork #Sabbath #Rest #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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Somewhere between the dance studio and the hockey rink, most parents feel it. That flash of pride when your kid scores the goal, nails the routine, or brings home the A, and that gut punch when they strike out, mess up, or fall short. It's natural; we're built by God to love our kids and want them to succeed. But somewhere along the way, some of us start grading our own life by how our kids perform. Their wins become our trophies. Their struggles become a verdict on who we are as parents. And in the worst case, everything meaningful in life starts to revolve around that child. Then one day they grow up and move out, and it isn't just an empty bedroom. For some of us, it's an empty identity.

In this message from our Idols series, we look at Psalm 127:3, where Scripture calls children a heritage from the Lord and the fruit of the womb a reward. The Hebrew word for heritage means an inheritance assigned by someone else, something you steward but never fully own. Our kids belong to God first. He's entrusted them to us for a season, to train them up in the way they should go, as Proverbs 22:6 puts it, not to build our own identity, security, or belonging on them. When we forget that, love for our children can quietly slide into worship of our children, and it's usually the last place we think to look for an idol.

I also share a personal story from driving my oldest son to college this year, and what a 26-hour drive home alone forced me to face about my own heart as a father. If your peace or your sense of worth tends to rise and fall with how your kids are doing, this message is for you. We'll talk about why this idol is so easy to miss, what it costs us and our kids when we don't catch it, and how the gospel gives us a way back. Watch the full message, and if it hits home, I'd love to hear your reflection in the comments below. Find more teaching like this and connect with our church community at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The trap of grading our life by our kids
1:20 Introducing the Idols series
1:44 Children as a heritage from God, Psalm 127:3
4:22 How this idolatry sneaks up on us
7:00 Train up a child, Proverbs 22:6
9:54 Why this happens, the sin underneath every idol
11:58 My story, driving my son to college
15:31 A prayer to put things back in their rightful place
17:28 This week's discussion question

#IdolOfChildren #ChristianParenting #ParentingAndFaith #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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You'd never say it out loud, but be honest: have you ever needed your spouse to make you feel okay? To remind you that you're safe, that you're loved, that you matter? Maybe it shows up as checking in one too many times, or feeling shaken when they're distracted, tired, or short with you. It's such a natural thing to want from the person closest to you, but there's a line where wanting it turns into needing it, in a way only God was ever meant to fill.

This is the first message in our new series, IDOLS: Uncovering Misplaced Worship, and we're starting with the idol of relationship. Genesis 2:24 gives us God's actual design for marriage: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." That's a beautiful gift, meant to be lived out through leaving, holding fast, and becoming one. But somewhere along the way, a lot of us quietly ask our spouse to be the answer to our identity, our security, and our belonging, things only Jesus was ever meant to provide. We'll look at what Jesus says about loving Him above every human relationship in Luke 14:26, how Paul ties marriage back to the gospel itself in Ephesians 5:31-32, and what theologian Timothy Keller says about marriage in his book The Meaning of Marriage. The truth we keep coming back to: a spouse can bring you connection, but only Christ can bring you completion.

I also share the week my wife Nicole was diagnosed with cancer, and the moment I found out whether Christ was actually first in my marriage or just something I said He was. If you're married or engaged, this message gives you two honest questions to ask yourself now, before your own day of testing comes. Watch the full message, then come back and tell me in the comments: where have you leaned on your spouse for something only Jesus should carry? Subscribe for the rest of the IDOLS series as we uncover the idols competing for our worship week by week, and find more resources and teaching at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Every Person Worships Something
1:24 Kicking Off the Idols Series
2:08 God's Design for Marriage (Genesis 2)
3:45 The Bottom Line: Connection vs Completion
3:58 Why This Happens to "Normal" Couples
4:54 When Idolatry Starts in Dating
5:23 3 Signs You've Made Your Spouse an Idol
6:35 Jesus' Hard Words on Loving Him First
8:16 How Marriage Points to the Gospel
9:25 Timothy Keller on Marriage and the Gospel
10:25 My Story: The Week of Nicole's Diagnosis
13:25 Don't Wait for Your Day of Testing
14:35 Two Signs You're Leaning on Your Spouse Too Much
16:12 Two Questions to Ask Yourself
16:50 The Freedom of Leaning on Jesus Instead
18:06 The Gospel: A Restored Connection With God
19:39 Closing Prayer
20:15 Next Week: The Idol of Children

#ChristianMarriage #Idols #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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Maybe you've sat at a hospital bed and wondered if easing someone's pain sooner would actually be the kind thing to do. Maybe it's you facing a hard diagnosis, wondering how much suffering you're supposed to carry before it's okay to ask for it to end. These aren't hypothetical questions anymore. Assisted dying laws are expanding fast, and most of us have never really worked out what we believe when the moment actually arrives.

In this message, I walk through the only three accounts in Scripture where someone was asked to help another person die: Abimelech, Saul, and Samson. Each one is different, and none of them hand the authority to end a life over to another human being, even when the person was already suffering or facing certain death. The New Testament and the first few centuries of church history are silent too. No tradition ever developed for helping someone else die, even in seasons when suffering and fear were just as real as they are now.

So if Scripture never gives us permission to help someone die, what's left for us to do? I believe the answer is comfort. Paul tells the church in Corinth that God is "the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). We're not called to end suffering by ending a life. We're called to carry the weight of comfort for as long as it takes, the same way Christ carried it for us on the cross.

That calling costs something. Real comfort takes time, presence, and resources that are often in short supply, and I share some research in this message on how the desire to end one's life often fades once real comfort and care actually show up. It's a hard, hopeful case for why the church can't just talk about comfort; we have to become people who practice it.

If this teaching challenges or encourages you, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Subscribe for more teaching like this every week, and find more resources for faith and leadership at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Introduction: the MAiD landscape in Canada
1:50 Series recap and today's question: who has authority over life and death
2:47 Two caveats before we dig in
4:41 What Scripture does not give us permission for
5:34 Three biblical accounts of someone asking for help to die
6:20 Abimelech: no lesson in obedience alone
7:26 Saul: authority that never transfers, even by request
9:56 Samson: the only account where God is asked directly
11:57 What the New Testament and church history never developed
13:37 Fast forward to our modern era
14:32 Comfort: the answer Scripture actually gives us
15:49 Paul's instruction in three letters
18:56 Living this out practically
20:42 The research on suicidal desire
23:26 The cost of comfort: the Saskatchewan example
27:48 Full circle: the wound only Jesus heals
30:22 Invitation and sinner's prayer
32:45 Communion: bread and cup
36:01 Discussion and prayer focus

#AssistedDying #Suffering #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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You know the feeling. Someone brings up politics at the dinner table, or a headline hits your phone before you've even had your coffee, and something in your chest tightens before anyone's said a word you disagree with. Every election season starts to feel like a fight for the soul of the country, and if you've ever felt torn between showing up for your nation and staying anchored in Christ, this message is for you.

In Matthew 22:15 to 22, religious and political leaders try to trap Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Rome. Pay the tax, and He looks like a Roman collaborator. Refuse, and it's treason. Instead of taking the bait, Jesus asks for a coin and turns their trap into the clearest teaching on faith and politics anyone's ever given. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21, ESV). That coin carried Caesar's image, so it belonged to Caesar. You carry God's image, so you belong to Him first, and that changes everything about how you hold your politics.

We also walk through Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, where Paul and Peter tell believers to honour governing authorities even under a hostile emperor, and Acts 5, where the apostles remind us we obey God rather than men when the two ever come into conflict. Then we get practical. What does it actually look like to guard your heart when a political conversation starts to rise, instead of letting your feed decide who the enemy is? And what does it look like to act with honour when your side loses an election, instead of writing off half the people around you? The bottom line for the Christian: spiritual identity has to come before political loyalty. Not instead of it. Before it.

If your hope has quietly been resting on an election, a leader, or a headline, this message is an invitation to put it back where it belongs. Watch the full teaching, and let me know in the comments where you've felt this tension the most in your own life. If this helps you, subscribe for more teaching like it, and find more resources, books, and the podcast at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The tension of faith and politics
2:34 Matthew 22: Jesus and the political trap
4:01 The coin: render to Caesar, render to God
9:57 Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2: honouring authority
15:22 Why this still matters: the data on political division
21:44 Guarding your heart
24:05 Acting with honour when your party loses
28:22 Back to the temple courts: the gospel
33:07 Closing prayer
35:20 Thanks, updates, and next week

#FaithAndPolitics #ChristianCitizenship #BiblicalLeadership #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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I gave this message to a room full of teenagers at Fusion Alaska, our statewide youth conference, but honestly, I'd give it to you too. Your generation, and the generation you're leading, is standing at what I call a hinge moment. AI can write an essay, finish a poem, and even hand out spiritual advice, but it can never generate a soul. Psalm 139:13-14 (ESV) says God formed us, He didn't generate us, and that one distinction changes how we lead the people God has put in our care through a culture flooded with fakes. We walk through what the Human Genome Project actually proves about how you were designed, why counterfeit AI relationships are quietly reshaping a whole generation's ability to connect with real people, why nearly half of practicing Christians say they'd trust AI with their own spiritual growth, and why the Dead Sea Scrolls still matter in an AI age when everything else feels like it can be faked. This isn't a talk about running from technology. It's about remembering who formed you long before any of this existed, and helping the people in your care remember the same thing about themselves.

If this speaks to you, or to a student, a son, a daughter, or a leader you're walking alongside, watch the full message and pass it on to someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more teaching like this one, and drop a comment below telling me where you've felt this tension in your own life or ministry lately. Whether you're a pastor, a parent, or a youth leader, this is a conversation worth having before the next generation has it without you. You can find more resources like this at LeadBiblically.com.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Why This Isn't an Anti-AI Talk
0:33 The Hinge Moment You're Standing In
3:20 What Do You Know About AI? (Audience Q&A)
6:56 Why Your Generation Can Spot a Fake
9:19 A World Where Nobody Trusts the Video Anymore
11:28 The Temptation to Let AI Create for You
13:08 Formed, Not Generated (Psalm 139)
14:18 Your DNA and the Human Genome Project
17:14 Journal 1: The Real You
17:42 Counterfeit Connections and Artificial Spirituality
25:02 Created for Good Works (Ephesians 2:10)
26:02 The Dead Sea Scrolls and a Book That Still Stands
28:21 Journal 3: The Real, Real
29:27 AI Will Never Generate a Soul 30:38 Closing Prayer

#ArtificialIntelligence #DigitalDiscipleship #GenZFaith #Faith #Jesus #ChristianLiving #BibleStudy #ChristianGrowth

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