Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

12 - Deliverance from Demons

America is now a nation of religious and cultural pluralism, witti a Christian minority. As a society, we are rapidly discarding the Judeo-Christian worldview and ethics that were the agreed upon norm of past generations. Biology, geology, astronomy, and psychology in particular have been used to sever us from our theological roots. Also, nearly uncontrolled immigration has accelerated us toward pluralism by introducing foreign religions with growing populations of adherents. At the same time, historic denominations have turned to human reasonings rather than the Bible for at least the past seventy-five years, producing leaders who no longer believe in the Christianity of the apostles. Evangelism and regeneration of the individual has declined. Rootless, independent churches have filled this vacuum, often collapsing or perverting the faith, leaving a legacy that strips believers of their zeal and reduces Christianity's credibility with unbelievers. The spiritual effect of all of this is to open the door to varieties of non-biblical behavior and spirituality. As a result, open demonization will no longer be a foreign phenomenon.

 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

11 - Discipleship

If you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that God existed, that the Bible was true, that there was a heaven and a hell, that Jesus Christ is the savior, would you be His disciple? How would that change your life? What would it do to you? Jesus has just done a miracle by bringing a load of fish into Peter's net, and Peter now knows God is real. In this episode we look closely at the process of Jesus doing a miracle and the effects on Peter seeing and receiving it. 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

10 - A Prophet at Home

For most of the past 30 years Jesus has been a normal young man in Nazareth, except, of course, for the fact that He has done nothing to disobey God. He had become the village carpenter, working alongside Joseph His stepfather, and He was regularly found studying in the synagogue and known to be a godly man by the whole village (Lk. 2:52). But over the last few months God has done some profound things in His life. He has been baptized in the Holy Spirit, fasted for forty days, was tempted by the devil himself and has ministered healing & deliverance to many people on numerous occasions. He has even risen up as a prophet and has driven the commercial activities off the temple grounds in a stormy confrontation during Passover. In other words, He is not the same person He was before leaving Nazareth. He is returning as the Messiah of Israel and the Holy Spirit is proving His claims in powerful ways.

What we see in this passage is an illustration of the principle that "a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household" (Mt. 13:57). Rather than rejoicing at what God is doing through someone raised in their own village, Nazareth exhibits more hostility toward the Lord than any other town in Galilee. Unfortunately, Jesus is modeling a pattern of rejection experienced by all who try to minister to the people closest to them.

 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

 

 

 

9 - The Temptations of a Minister Pt 2

To understand these temptations of Jesus and to recognize how they might apply in our own lives, we must see that these are temptations designed to assault a particular kind of person: they are the temptations the devil brings against someone whose heart is set to serve the Lord. They are the temptations of a minister. Each temptation strikes at a different aspect of our Lord's commitment to serve God. Last week we saw Him tempted to break away from ministering only at the leading of the Holy Spirit. Was God going to let Him starve in the wilderness? Should He do a miracle that the Spirit hadn't led Him to do to save His life? His answer from Scripture meant that He would trust God's care for Him and God's power to speak what He needed into existence. On this episode we see the second and third temptations intended to undermine the Lord's ministry. In the second temptation the devil shows his success in corrupting the hearts of the human race. He tries to convince Jesus that it is impossible for Him to fulfill His calling without compromising with the sinful ways of the world. God's method of ministering in humility and suffering would never work. And trying to turn the world around using only the simple people who would follow Him was an impossibility even for God. Satan was trying to get Him to be more "realistic" and turn away from the path of suffering and rejection.

 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

 

8 - Temptations of a Minister Pt 1

Jesus' three temptations in Luke chapter 4 are not just run of the mill temptations. They are the temptations of someone who is set on serving God and has an anointing and call on their life. So this is true of an earnest believer, a minister full of the Spirit. The devil also has temptations for that person. And the Lord will actually allow it; in fact, it is part of the process. And that's what we are seeing in Jesus' life here. We see the devil going after a person who is following after the Lord. 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

 

7 - John the Baptist's Temptation

When people are touched by God through you, they often don't know the difference between you or the Holy Spirit in you. That is a dangerous moment when spiritual pride can come in.

John the Baptist had a powerful ministry. He was out calling Israel to repentance, and people by the thousands were coming out to him. This was a move of God. The Romans sent soldiers out to the Jordan River since there were so many people coming out to the river. And as they listened, even those soldiers were repenting under the conviction of the Spirit. With that much anointing, it would be really difficult not to take some of the credit. John the Baptist had to make the decision not to think of himself that way. 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

6 - The Fruit of Repentance

The time has arrived for God to work His great salvation. And He has anointed and prepared a young man to be a prophet in Israel. As we look at John the Baptist's ministry, we see John challenging Israel with a call to repentance to prepare Israel for the Messiah. In this message we will define repentance and look at how God goes about bringing us to a place of doing it. 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

5 - The Holy Spirit

For some reason when we think of the Holy Spirit we tend to think of Him as an emanation from God, some sort of impersonal power He uses to make things happen. But this thinking is wrong. He is not a power. He is not even a power with a personality. He is a Person whose presence is powerful. There is a great difference between an Impersonal force (such as gravity, electricity, magnetism, light, heat, wind or plant life) and a spirit. A spirit is the non-physical part of a person, and a person is the existence of a distinct personality which is made up of consciousness, will, emotion, reason, attitude toward God, recognition, unique potential and expression. So it is impossible for there to be such a thing as an impersonal spirit. A spirit is a person, or it is not a spirit at all.

The Holy Spirit is one of the three Persons who make up our God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These Three minister in complete harmony and unity. The Father has made us and chosen to save us. The Son has come to save us and intercedes constantly for us, and the Holy Spirit abides with and in us, making possible every change in attitude and every obedient action we do (Phil. 2:13).

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

 

4 - God's Hidden Kingdom

Why does God seem to hide His kingdom? Why does He do things in such subtle ways? You would think if God really wanted to save people, He would be dramatic and do things no one could question. 

As we look at the birth of John the Baptist and later Jesus' ministry, we see how Jesus conducted Himself and the way He organized things, and it left John the Baptist frustrated and questioning whether Jesus was the Messiah. All of this is to bring us to the place to ask ourselves: am I disappointed in Jesus? Because He is a clear person with clear values. And He does things completely different than we would expect.

 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

3 - Christ in You

Last time we saw Mary receive the miracle of a supernatural conception. She became pregnant with the Son of God. Suddenly Jesus was living inside her, and the effect that His presence had on her and the circumstances surrounding her is a dramatic illustration of what all Christians can expect. After all, when a person believes in Jesus Christ, He also comes to live inside of him/her (Jn. 14:20, 23; Gal. 4:19; Col. 1:27). We carry Christ inside us in a different way, but like Mary our lives will be deeply impacted by this reality.

Unfortunately, there is an unbalanced teaching prevalent today that once a person becomes a Christian everything in life should go smoothly. Along with that is the teaching that when a person is truly in the will of God everything should proceed without hardship. Though this teaching has no real Biblical support it creates false expectations in people which, when unmet, leave them disappointed and alienated from God. There is no event in history which is more surely in the will of God than the incarnation and birth of His Son. It is the essential first step toward the salvation of believing humans. So, one would expect that God would arrange circumstances for Mary so that she faced little suffering as she fulfilled her appointed service. But that was not the case. In actuality, Mary faced an appalling list of heart-breaking events. It seemed that the presence of Christ in her ignited opposition everywhere she went. And yet God was always faithful to guide and provide for her as she needed it.

 

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!