Today’s episode is different.

In June of 2025, Dave was diagnosed with stage IV esophageal cancer. And so, after five years of weekly teaching, this will be the final new episode of The Word for Everyday Disciples.

Rather than a sermon, what you’ll hear today is a conversation—an honest and thoughtful interview Dave recently recorded with a longtime friend and former colleague, Clinton Faupel. Clinton is the co-founder of Remedy Live, a ministry devoted to mental health advocacy and providing real-time, online crisis support to anyone who reaches out.

This conversation is not a farewell as much as it is a reflection—on faith, on suffering, and on hope. It’s a reminder that discipleship doesn’t stop when life gets hard, and that God often meets us most powerfully in honest conversation.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for walking with us through these years. And thank you for being part of this community of everyday disciples.

Watch the full video of this interview on YouTube.

Recorded in the Remedy Live studios in Fort Wayne, IN, on November 18, 2025.

There is a popular holiday movie based on an award-winning children’s book called “The Polar Express.” In the story, a young boy is unable to hear the bells at Christmas. The reason? The disappointment of life had dimmed his belief and wonder. It was only after a magical encounter that he was able to believe again.

Now, I know that story is about Santa Claus, but there are some striking parallels to our walk of faith. Life in this cold, dark world has a way of dimming our belief, too.

Maybe this Christmas, the bells in your heart have gone silent. You once believed in a good, loving, powerful God – back when you were a kid. But then life got in the way. The doubts began to creep in.

To you who struggle to believe that there is a God who’s in control, who cares, and who understands, Christmas holds the answers to your questions.

Is God in control? God literally moved heaven and earth to fulfill His purposes for mankind. He moved the heart of a king so His Son would be born in Bethlehem. He can handle whatever you’re facing.

Does God understand? Jesus didn’t come as a conquering king or as some sort of superhero. He came as a baby to dirt-poor parents among a marginalized people. But even more, He was born in a barn and slept in a feeding trough, wrapped in rags. Why? So that we would never wonder if He knows what it’s like to really live in this cold, dark world under the worst of circumstances.

In “The Polar Express,” there’s a great line offered by the train’s conductor in his attempt to get Billy to at least investigate the possibility of another reality. He says to him, “Sometimes the most real things in this world are the things we can’t see.”

The Apostle Peter thought the same thing. He wrote, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” (1 Pet. 1:8)

God came to our world and faced all of its ugliness firsthand. He understands exactly what you and I face – because He faced it too. God came to earth in human form, seeking us.

And if you will go on an honest pursuit of Him, God promises that you will find Him (Jer. 29:13). And you, too, will be changed for the better.

Text: Is. 9:2, 6-7; 1 Pet. 1:8; Jer. 29:13

Originally recorded on December 24, 2007, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN

In our last episode, we talked about the mystery of unanswered prayer. There are times when God, in His sovereignty and love, chooses to say “No” to our requests.

However, the Bible also tells us that our Father loves to say “Yes” to His children. So, why is it that so often we pray and pray, and nothing seems to happen? Where’s the problem?

All too often, the problem is with us. We’re the ones who torpedo the process.

In this episode, we’re going to look at eight “prayer busters” the Bible warns us about.

1. Failure to pray -“You do not have because you do not ask God.” James 4:2
2. Unconfessed sin - “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. ” Psalm 66:18
3. Unresolved conflict - "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there…go and be reconciled to your brother…” Matthew 5:23-24
4. Uncaring attitudes -“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13
5. Improper motives - “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:3
6. Improper timing - "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1
7. Inadequate faith - “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like the wave of the sea… that man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.” James 1:6-7
8. Inappropriate requests - “…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us…” I John 5:14

If the request is wrong, God says, “No.”

If the timing is wrong, God says, “Slow.”

If you are wrong, God says, “Grow.”

If the request is right, the timing is right, and you are right, God says, “Go.”

Text: various

Originally recorded on September 26, 2004, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN