Bumper Sticker Wisdom

In this episode, we continue the conversation from Episode 147 about faith, doubt, and what it means to follow Christ when we don't have everything figured out. We're joined by special guest Kevin for an honest, small-group conversation about the struggles we face in our walk with Jesus.

Using Peter's story as a starting point, we explore his denial of Jesus, his failure, and the restoration that followed. We discuss how easily we can allow our mistakes, doubts, and spiritual struggles to define how we see ourselves.

But failure doesn't have to be the end of...

Can we genuinely believe in Jesus and still wrestle with doubt?

In this episode of Bumper Sticker Wisdom, John and Terri explore the tension between faith and unbelief through the words of Mark 9:24: “I believe; help my unbelief.”

Together, they discuss honest questions, the desire to move beyond simply knowing about faith to actually living it, and how doubt can become an opportunity for growth rather than a reason to give up. They also consider the difference between spiritual uncertainty and spiritual failure, including the distinction between conviction and condemnation.

Following Jesus doesn't mean...

What if Jesus could see the full weight of what He would endure—and still decide it was worth it?

John and Terri explore the sacrifice of Christ, the hope beyond the cross, and the people Jesus came to save. Along the way, they talk about grace, shame, failure, and how God continues to work through imperfect people. From the example of Peter to the encouragement found in Hebrews 12:2, this conversation is a reminder that our failures don't have to define our story.

At the heart of it all is a powerful thought: when Jesus lo...

It's often easier to believe God is working in someone else's life than it is to trust Him with our own. But what happens when our insecurities, comparisons, and struggles make it difficult to believe His promises apply to us, too?

In Episode 145 of Bumper Sticker Wisdom, John and Terri discuss the way we see ourselves, the danger of comparing our spiritual journeys to others, and the importance of renewing our minds through our relationship with God.

We explore what it means to trust God's promises personally, grow through our struggles, and remember that our...

Have you ever asked God to show you that He's moving—and then realized His answer might not look anything like what you expected?

In Episode 144 of Bumper Sticker Wisdom, John and Terri talk about worship, prayer, the Holy Spirit, serving others, and what happens when we simply show up—even when we don't feel like it.

John shares his experience at a tent revival and the unexpected ways he saw God moving. They talk about worship as more than something we do at church, the importance of the empty tomb and what Jesus' resurrection mean...

Sometimes we don't know what God is doing. We don't know why a door opened—or why it didn't. We don't know why we're walking through a difficult season or what God is doing behind the scenes.

In this episode, John and Terri talk about the Holy Spirit, trusting God when we can't see the whole picture, and what happens when other people's opinions cause us to question a decision we once had peace about.

The conversation moves into giving our burdens to God, the power of our words, why struggle can be part of th...

What happens when God's plan doesn't look anything like the plan we had for ourselves?

In this episode of Bumper Sticker Wisdom, John and Terri have an honest conversation about trusting God when we don't understand what He's doing. They talk about saying yes to God, recognizing opportunities to be His hands and feet, and remembering that we don't have to be perfect to be used by Him.

The conversation moves into some very real territory—relationships, community, marriage, past struggles, questioning God's plan, and the temptation to compare our lives with what we think ev...

In Episode 141 of Bumper Sticker Wisdom, John and Terri talk about growth, forgiveness, and learning to see ourselves through the eyes of Christ.

They discuss how far God has brought us, the changes Christ continues to make in our lives, and the importance of learning to forgive ourselves. The conversation also explores what we allow into our minds each day, why we should not let others discourage our dreams, and what it means to rely on Jesus rather than placing our hope in imperfect people.

They talk about grace, the price Christ paid for us...

In Episode 140 of Bumper Sticker Wisdom, John and Terri explore what it means to recognize that the enemy is not people.

Beginning with Ephesians 6, the conversation looks at spiritual warfare, the battles we cannot always see, and the importance of directing our focus toward the real enemy rather than lashing out at the people around us.

They also talk about grace, the price Christ paid for us, and the responsibility we often feel for protecting the people we love. What happens when we realize that we cannot fix everything or carry every burden—but Christ ha...

How do you see yourself?

When we look at ourselves, we often focus on our failures, mistakes, flaws, and all the places where we feel like we haven't measured up. We can recognize how far we've come and still focus on how far we have left to go.

But what if we're looking at ourselves through the wrong eyes?

In this episode of Bumper Sticker Wisdom, we talk about grace, salvation, God's love, the Bible, and the way we judge ourselves and others. Along the way, the conversation leads to a powerful question:<...

What happens when we ask God for something—and His answer doesn't look anything like what we expected?

In Episode 138, John and Terri talk about the reality that following Jesus doesn't mean life will be easy. Sometimes God answers our prayers differently than we imagined. Sometimes the storms remain, and we're given the strength to stand in them instead.

The conversation explores the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who genuinely want to see us grow, recognizing when relationships may no longer be healthy for us, and understanding that even difficult experiences can shape who we...

What does surrender actually look like?

In this episode, John and Terry have an honest conversation about learning to let go without giving up.

They talk about the pressure of feeling responsible for everyone around you, the desire to make yourself valuable and needed, and how difficult it can be to surrender control when you've spent years learning to depend on yourself.

They also explore how our past shapes us without having to define us, and how two people can experience similar circumstances and still choose very different paths.

One of...

Life has a way of wearing us down. Sometimes this world will truly grind you into dust, and there are moments when you simply don't have the strength to keep your arms up.

So who holds them up?

In this episode of the Bumper Sticker Wisdom Podcast, we talk about the importance of community, friendship, church, and having people in our lives who are willing to stand beside us when we're struggling.

We look at the story of Moses, Aaron, and Hur in Exodus 17 and what it teaches us about supporting one another...

"To know that even on life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place." -Lao Tzu

"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal." - Albert Camus

"The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in the depths it has its pearls." - Vincent VanGough

"Reality is nwvwe frustrating, reality is always fulfilling. Frustrations come because we impose our illusions on reality." - Osho

"Whoever shows you your faults, keep him close, for he is a true friend!" - Ali Iba Abi Talib

"Let them be wrong about you. There's nothing to prove." - Unknown

"Everything is beautiful depending on the situation. A school bell sounds irritating at 9am, but the same bell sounds melodious at 4pm." - Unknown

"And God said love your enemy. I obeyed him and loved myself." - Kahlil Gibson

"To be happy you must eliminate two things: the fear of a bad future and thememory of a bad past." - Seneca

"We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe adn sane future." - John F. Kennedy

"The true weight of a man is the gap between who he is and who he knows he should be." - Marcus Arelius

"It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to has power over you, if you allow it." - Leon Brown

"What is poison?

Anything beyond what we need is poison. It can be your, food, ego, ambition, vanity, fear, anger, or whatever." - unknown

"3Courage is being scared and saddling up and doing it any way." John Wayne

How stubborn are we that we must continue to repat the same old things so we can say, "I did it on my own." How stuck in our ways must we be that we continue to know that we can't do it on our own but never turn to the who will never leave us? - Bumper Sticker Wisdom

"Life's tragedy is that we grow old too soon and wise too late." - Benjamin Franklin

"The only thing worse than being blind is having vision and no sight." - Helle Keller

"You can't save everyone. Some people ar going to destroy themselves no matter how much you try to help them." - Bryant McGill

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."-Socrates

"Befor the sin, Satan assures us that it is of no consequence; after the sin, he persuades us that it is unforgivable."-Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

"No man knows how truly bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good." C.S. Lewis

"I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear." - Martin Luther King Jr.

"It was pride that turned angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels." - St. Augustine

"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

"Everything hangs on ones thinking... A man is as happy as he has convinced himself he is." Seneca

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God forgave the inexcusable in you." - C.S. Lewis