Life in the Valley Podcast

What is spiritual warfare? How do you battle through it?

Episode 40. In this episode, we answer a listener question: “What is spiritual warfare? How do you battle through it?”
 
Resources:
The Whole Armor of God by Iain Duguid
Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem – See chapter “Satan and Demons”
Blog articles on the book of Ephesians by Zach Vaughn
Grace Driven Effort by Matt Chandler
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor, MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications at MVBC.

Theology Talk: The Discipline of Rest/Sabbath

Episode 39. In this episode, we continue our Theology Talk series on spiritual disciplines with the discipline of rest/Sabbath.
What is the biblical basis for rest?
How is rest a spiritual discipline? How does the Lord use it to grow us in godliness?
What does this practice look like?
Recommended Resources:
The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitmel Earley
 
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer
 
The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World by Brett McCracken
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor, MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications at MVBC.
 
 

Will Jesus not return until every tribe and tongue has heard the gospel?

Episode 38. In this episode, we answer a listener question: “Will Jesus not return until every tribe and tongue has heard the gospel? Is this literal? If so, why do so many think we are in the end times with so many unreached people groups?”
 
Resources:
The Joshua Project
The chapter entitled “Missions” in John Piper’s book Desiring God
The chapter about the Return of Christ in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology
 The Gospel of the Kingdom by George Eldon Ladd
Sermon entitled “Come Together for the Sake of Those Without the Gospel” by David Platt
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor, MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications at MVBC.
 

Eschatology and the Local Church with Dr. Greg Beale

Episode 37.  We welcome Dr. Greg Beale to talk about eschatology and the local church.  Dr. Beale is a professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Pastor Zach and Dr. Beale discuss:
What is eschatology?
Why is it important for Christians to understand eschatology?
What are the various views within eschatology?
What views of eschatology do you think are most damaging to the church today?
How does understanding eschatology grow our love for and trust in Christ?
Recommended Resources:
The Bible and the Future by Anthony Hoekema
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor of MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications of MVBC
Submit your questions at https://www.machiasvalley.org/questions.

Theology Talk: The Discipline of Serving

Episode 36. In this episode, we continue our Theology Talk series on spiritual disciplines with the discipline of serving.
What is the biblical basis for serving?
How is serving a spiritual discipline? How does the Lord use it to grow us in godliness?
What does this practice look like?
Scripture References:  John 13, Mark 10:43-45, Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 4:10-11
 
Article: “Make Love Your Aim” by Carolyn McCulley
 
Also, we talk about what our favorite podcasts right now:
 
Pastor Zach’s (a.k.a., “PZ”) Favorite Podcast:
The Crossway Podcast
Gospel in Life – Timothy Keller Sermons
 
Andrea’s Favorite Podcasts:
Mere Christians Podcast with Jordan Raynor
Tim Hawkins Podcast
 
Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor, MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications at MVBC.
 
 

Any advice on parenting through these challenging times, especially with LGBTQ, gender identity issues, etc.? How do we guide our kids as they start to notice these things?

Episode 35. In this episode, we answer a listener question: “Do you have any advice on parenting through these challenging times, especially with LGBTQ, gender identity issues, etc.? How do we guide our kids as they start to notice these things?”
Resources:
The New City Catechism for Kids
 
The New City Catechism: 52 Questions & Answers for Our Hearts & Minds
 
https://newcitycatechism.com/
 
Search for the app “New City Catechism”
 
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/seven-things-to-pray-for-your-children
 
1 Peter 3:15
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor, MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications at MVBC.

Theology Talk: The Discipline of Giving

Episode 34. In this episode, we continue our Theology Talk series on spiritual disciplines with the discipline of giving. 
What is the biblical basis for giving?
How is giving a spiritual discipline? How does the Lord use it to grow us in godliness?
What does this practice look like?
Scripture References:
Deuteronomy 15:9-11
Deuteronomy 8
Proverbs 3:9-10
Luke 6:30
1 John 3:16-18
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
1 Corinthians 16
Malachi 3:10
 
Also, we talk about what songs we are loving these days.
On Zach’s playlist:  Yes Song by KB
On Andrea’s playlist:  All Sufficient Merit by Shane & Shane
 
Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.
 
*We apologize for the quality of this audio as we had some technical difficulties recording.
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor, MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications at MVBC.
 
 
 
 

Sermon Follow Up: A Barren Temple & A Withered Tree

Episode 33. This is a sermon follow up from the sermon Pastor Zach preached on June 30, 2024 on Mark 11:11-21, "A Barren Temple and a Withered Tree."  We also talk about book recommendations for summer reading for your family.
 
Book Recommendations for Summer Reading
 
For the kids:
 
The Big Red Tractor and the Little Village by Francis Chan
 
The Red Rock Mysteries by Jerry Jenkins and Chris Fabry
 
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
 
The Magic Treehouse Series by Mary Pope Osborne
 
That’s Nat Series by Dandi Daley Mackall
 
 
For adults:
 
The Gospel by Ray Ortlund
 
Love Comes Softly Series by Janette Oke
 
Also check out our Recommended Reading on our website.
 
Graphic of the temple in the time of Jesus.
 
Do you have questions? You can submit them on our website at www.machiasvalley.org/questions.
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor, MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications at MVBC
 
 
 
 

Bible Translations with Guest Micah Perkins - Part 2

Episode 32.  This is part 2 of our discussion on Bible translations with guest Micah Perkins.  Micah is an elder at MVBC, and in this episode, we talk about the KJV (King James Version) only controversy.   
Recommended Reading:
https://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/how-did-we-get-the-bible-in-english/ 
http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com
https://www.thetextofthegospels.com
https://youngtextlessreformed.com
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor of MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications of MVBC
Submit your questions at https://www.machiasvalley.org/questions.

Bible Translations with Guest Micah Perkins - Part 1

Episode 31.  We continue our discussion on Bible translations with guest Micah Perkins.  Micah is an elder at MVBC and we dive deeper into the history of how we got our Bible translations.
 
Recommended Reading:
https://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/how-did-we-get-the-bible-in-english/ 
http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com
https://www.thetextofthegospels.com
https://youngtextlessreformed.com
 
Hosts:  Zach Vaughn, Senior Pastor of MVBC and Andrea Lyford, Director of Education & Communications of MVBC
Submit your questions at https://www.machiasvalley.org/questions.