Unashamed Ministries

Unashamed Ministries is now on WhatsApp.

Hey everyone! In case you haven't noticed, amidst the craziness of life, the podcast was put on the back burner for a while. HOWEVER, Zach Heffner has decided to reboot the podcast and do things a bit differently. If you want to continue following the podcast and see (or hear) new content from us, go follow on Instagram for updates on new episodes and daily bible study posts ☁️

Thanks for all your support and we hope you're all having a great year so far! Much love ❤️

Today’s episode is a candid conversation on the struggle to stay encouraged when life hands you unexpected detours, when the going gets tough or disappointment seeps through the cracks of your crushed hopes. Though our circumstances may look different, we’re all in need of encouragement that helps us to do more than stay above water, but to live in the fullness of life that we find in Christ. This message is for you, join in on the conversation & be strengthened in our only hope in this life. ‘In the world you'll have trouble, but be courageous—I've overcome the world!’ - John 16:33

I'm on a mission this year to finish my chronological reading of the Bible and right now, I'm in the books of Kings. This morning I read the story of Elijah pitting God against the Baal gods in a "fire-off" so to speak. Of course, God wins and actually shows up as opposed to the Baals who don't answer their prophets, but that's besides the point. I want to focus on what Elijah says as a percursor to this event.

It says in 1 Kings 18:21, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people did not answer him a word."

Elijah's basically saying, "Look, you keep bouncing back and forth between God and Baal, at least choose one! They can't both be Lord, so you're better off choosing one that you believe in than going between the two." And how relevant is that to our lives today? We have so many things vying for our attention, our time, our energy, and we give those things to so many different "gods" so to speak. But do we really stop and think what, or more importantly who, the god is that we are truly serving?

Think about this. Jesus tells us, we cannot serve two masters. You must decide. If the world is Lord, then so be it. But if God is Lord, you may have some spring cleaning to do.

Feeling overwhelmed, disappointed, discouraged or at the end of your strength? You’re not alone, sometimes life makes you feel like the picture above. The difficulties of life often come down on us in unexpected blows, but the aim is not quite to live a life without hardship, we know that tough times are a given, but how can we live through them and be better for it? This week’s podcast is just that, an encouragement for those who are weary and who feel alone in their struggle, the way we suffer matters and Christ shows us how our suffering can be transformative. As always, message us if you would like to talk, need prayer or guidance in a situation that you are in. Have a lovely weekend!

Today's episode is all about the devil and his half-truths. How does the deceiver tempt us with lies? How can we combat these lies in our daily walk with Christ? Check out our new episode as we talk about all this and more!

In this last week I’ve learned something that completely brought my heart to a place of humility. We as Christians are far from perfect, in fact our lives are meant to be a perpetual process of repentance, because we need it, we need forgiveness because we sin without end. One area of our lives may improve, but we continue to fall short in other areas because our flesh continues to seek its own fulfillment, and though we are not of this world, we are in it, and that means that we are not immune to temptations, to backsliding, to falling into new sins - as John Calvin once said, ‘the human heart is an idol factory’, he couldn’t have been more spot on. Our hearts are frequently captured by lesser things, and drawn away from our King and gracious, glorious, righteous, loving, holy, far greater than anything on earth - God. The humbling thing is that those who have stayed in the path, are not those whose eyes have always been kept on Christ, we have and do wander, we fail, and we forget, we lose sight and cling to idols - and God, He keeps us, He draws us back to Himself, He offers forgiveness when we come to Him in sincere repentance, there is no boast for us in ourselves, if it were not for God keeping us. He keeps His Word. When we are born-again into new life in Christ, God gives us eternal life, and it is irrevocable, because He purposed it, so that those who are truly His cannot be lost. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can sn**ch them out of my Father's hand." - John 10:29

What does your life reflect? Does it reflect Jesus or something else? 🤔

This is a concept that has been heavy on my heart recently. Jesus doesn't ask us for 1-99% of our hearts, He asks for 100%. And He DESERVES 100%. But how many of us actually give it to Him? How many of our lives and hearts truly reflect Jesus?

I know it's uncomfortable to think about this, but it's the most important thing we can think about. What are we reflecting in our lives and hearts? Think about these things.

It's Thursday y'all! 🥳
Today's episode showcases a showdown of epic proportions..

🎟 The Bible vs. The World! 🎟

Today we're talking about worldview and beliefs. What does the world have to say about your identity, how you decide right from wrong, and what your purpose is on earth? What does the Bible have to say about it? 🤔 Today's episode talks about all that and more!

Tune in at the link in our bio to find out where your personal worldview lies and how we can adopt a biblical worldview to glorify God in our daily lives. See you there!

Commitment.

It’s a funny word. It’s one of those words that gets thrown around so lightly yet carries more weight than we often want to bear.

What are you committed to? Is it school, work, video games, friends? We are all committed to something, even if that something is just ourselves. Yet the Bible calls us to be committed to something much bigger than ourselves.

The Bible calls us to be committed to Christ and His kingdom. Are you committed to that? You may answer yes, but I challenge you.. are you really committed to it? Are you committed to Him every day of the week or just on Sunday morning for about an hour? Are you committed to Him all the time or just when certain people can see you?

This is a question that we all must answer because in life, where your commitment lies, your end lies. If you’re committed to your friends more than Christ, then your end will lie with your friends. Nothing can save us from ourselves but Christ Himself. Commit to Christ with all that you are and He will renew your soul.

Healing is a process, and the sooner we address it the better. It’s easy to find comfort in suppressed emotions, in putting up a brave invincible face, supposing that the past has no place in your present or even future life, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The past has a way of catching up in the most unexpected times, and we can’t run away from something that is inside of us - hurt, regret, bitterness, isolation, hatred. But your past doesn’t have to remain your enemy, in our podcast this past week we spoke about ways to identify the hurt in your life, how God works in our broken parts and the commitment it will take from us to live once again, abundantly as God has intended for His people. If you haven’t listened yet, you can find the episode in the link in our bio.

Warmly, the Unashamed Team.

We all have a past.. but what we have chosen to do with our past - here in the present, makes all the difference. This week we’ve taken on the topic of past hurts, dealing with the reality of scars and putting the idea that ‘time heals all wounds’ in the spotlight. Does time heal all wounds? And what further harm are we causing to ourselves and those we love by not putting our past in its place? Listen to this week’s episode as we dive into what the healing journey might look like for you, no matter your past circumstances.

What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law, and that He did not destroy it? Whenever we read Matt 5:17, it can be easy to suppose that Jesus’ fulfillment of the law means that it no longer applies to us - in a way it does, and in a different way it doesn’t. One thing that is essential to understanding the law (specifically speaking: the 10 commandments) is that more than anything, it is a witness to us, and was back then to Israel, of their weakness, sin and deep need for a Saviour. But more than that, the law was given to Israel by their covenant God, who did not give it to them as a measure for them to become justified before God. The grace we often miss in God’s giving of the ten commandments is this, He had already chosen Israel as His people, these commands were not only what was meant to separate them from other nations, as His holy nation, but were meant to serve as a gracious guide for how His faithful people were to live daily. But there is of course one problem, the law condemned - because it revealed their sin. This is where understanding Christ’s fulfillment of the law is necessary. Christ fulfilled the law in that He was the only person (the Son of God) to keep the law perfectly. He did not destroy the law, but rather the failure of keeping the law that had been done by man. It’s in this truth that the law does not condemn those who are in Christ anymore, because we are under grace, not the law. This does not take away the law’s value and God’s intended purpose for us to live with it inscribed in our hearts, as with the rest of His Word. God reveals His will to us through the law, what is good and what is evil and it serves as a guide for our worldview. It is out of love and gratefulness to God, not obligation, that we can view the law as a gift that we can live out to the honour of our God and Father each day, knowing that we will never live aside from repentance in our walk with Him, and understanding of His Word.

Have you listened to this week's episode yet? 🤔
What did you think?
Let us know in the comments what you got out of it and if you have any questions!

If you disagree with the conclusion we came to, let us know! We'd love to chat with you about it 😄

Is the COVID-19 Vaccine the Mark of the Beast? | 030

We're back guys!! And we're starting with a juicy episode 👀
This week, we talk about the mark of the beast in Revelation and the conspiracies surrounding it concerning the new COVID vaccine. Is the vaccine the mark of the beast? Should we as Christians be avoiding the vaccine? 🤷🏼‍♂️
All that and more on today's episode!
Click the link in our bio to check it out!

Hey guys! We are excited to be back with you on Thursday with a new episode! 🥳
We also want to take this opportunity to ask how you are all doing and to encourage you to check in on each other!

Proverbs 27:17 likens Christians to iron to show how we can sharpen one another effectively. Ask yourself this: how can you build up one of your Christian brothers or sisters today? Who should you reach out to today to see how they’re doing or to ask how you can be praying for them?

Now more than ever, we need to be in community. Now is the time to use the technology we have at our disposal to check in on each other and to keep the love of Christ alive and well in our community! 🫀

See you guys Thursday! Much love ♥️

Next week we get the ball rolling again! We’re really excited to challenge ourselves and have you join us as we dig deep into God’s Word and human life experiences. This brings me to the single most taught topic in the New Testament besides God’s plan for salvation - warning against false teachers. Imagine that, out of all the topics we often focus on, God’s love, prosperity, and so forth - warning against false teaching is where our attention is drawn to. Now more than ever false teaching has been widely accepted, and deception has spread throughout the church, where man is raised high and God’s Word is compromised.It is so crucial for us to realise that Christ’s church is not built on a charismatic pastor, a well-tuned worship band, or the appeal of wearing our best fits on Sundays - God’s church is built on His Word, and it is this very Word that often gets twisted, as long as we are entertained. This is wrong, and we as Christians are called to defend the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word. That is what the Bible is, sufficient, above dreams, visions, healings, appearances - the Bible provides us with all our moral and spiritual needs. Our clearest guidance from God is in His Word, which needs a commitment on our side to study it, to get to know our God,to wrestle with questions and passages, that we might keep ourselves from this grave pit of false teaching and discern for ourselves, as John instructs: “beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). And this we must be weary of. The bible is meant for you and I to read and understand, do not think that a degree is required to know it and to live it out well. Be encouraged, and ask questions, as many as you need to! We’ll see you next week for episode 1, our dm’s are always open!

Ya'll! We have revamped The Unashamed Podcast cover!! We're excited for 2021, and in anticipation for our first podcast of the year that comes out next Thursday, we wanted to give you a sneak peek of the new things we have in the works. We hope you like it! 😁

People live well when they feel as though they have a purpose for living. The reason I felt it was necessary to kick off our start of the year with this is because this last year has caused many of us to weigh what life really is about. In all honesty, before the mess of covid became a huge reality, I had been in a very dark place, I felt hopeless because I didn’t feel as if my life made a difference. I was out of work, out of school, and just came out of a difficult period community wise. It was safe to say, I hadn’t felt like I had much reason to live. Why am I sharing this with you right now? Because I know that as a young person you may have, perhaps do right now, or will face a season similar to this one day. I am in a much better place today, but without perspective and the benefit of looking back now, to see that it really wasn’t ‘the end of the world’, it did feel like there was no point in going on. I want to encourage you in the same hope that was given to me in those times of unbearable sorrow, loneliness and purposelessness. You can have your dream job, be in a secure relationship, and be well liked and still feel absolutely lost, trust me. The pursuit of a career, relationship and *insert really anything we think are achievements* are not inherently bad. It’s good to work, to have friendships and to set goals for yourself. The issue is this: those things make terrible gods. What I have noticed not only within myself, and those around me, but from God’s Word, is that the physical world becomes our main focus. We depend on it for all our satisfaction, purpose and joy in life, but we’re told that ‘the world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever’ (1 John 2:17). God’s Word speaks repeatedly of this idea of fixing your thoughts on the unseen, but how does that work, right? Right now, this pain feels real, this disappointment, and it is, but it is not the thing that gets the final word, it can either become what crushes us or what grows our joy and anticipation for when we get to be with our true treasure, apart from tears, fears, and as many of us have experienced this year - sickness & death. This is what brought hope back into my bones - knowing that ‘our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).The hope of the world is a wavering one, but the hope we find not only in eternal life, but in an eternal relationship with our gracious Creator give us the strength for this life, in all its hardship and brokenness, joys and sorrows. This is how we win at life, we get on the winning team - the team of Christ, our Victor.

New podcasts coming soon. Any feedback on what topic you would like us to cover?