The Heidi St. John Podcast

We’re studying the concept of putting on the armor of God at momstronginternational.com , and this week in particular we’re talking about the breastplate of righteousness. Join us!

I say often that there is a blessing in obedience, and a podcast listener has asked me to explain that concept.   We are taught at a very early age to obey our parents, and the Bible says blessed are those who hear God’s way and obey it. God’s blessings are never found outside of his boundaries, even if it might look like it on the outside of a situation.  We’re also talking about homeschool burnout, which kind of speaks for itself. Don’t miss this Mailbox Monday as we hash these out today! Scriptures John 14:15 Matthew 7:13-14 Matthew 7:24-27 Proverbs 13:13 Luke 11:28 1 John 5:2-3

My friend Jenna shares her story of learning how to live without panic after witnessing a shooting, and choosing to believe that God is bigger than the trials that come in this world in which we find ourselves. Don’t miss this interview with one of my MomStrong International leaders as she shares how she’ is learning to live victoriously, even with PTSD. Jenna has been married to her husband, Ben, since 2013. Their son, Ethan, is 2 and a half years old and loves all sports – basketball, soccer, football, and especially golf. Jenna was on the “Becoming MomStrong” Launch Team and most recently led a Becoming MomStrong Book Study in the same Panera Bread she’d once run from in fear. Jenna longs to see women experience the true freedom that is found only in Jesus Christ. There is no story that He cannot redeem and restore. Jenna can often be found lost in a good book and she believes chocolate was created especially with women in mind. She has an affinity for all things pink, navy blue, and nautical.  Read more of Jenna’s story here!

We are in a battle, and I want to encourage you not to be deceived.  It’s time to gird up.  Time to prepare yourself and your children for the battle of your lives! Join us as we begin a study on the strategy of spiritual warfare at MomStrong International.  Let’s get off the bench and on to the battlefield! Scriptures Ephesians 6:10-12 1 Peter 5:8 Join us at MomStrongInternational.com for weekly Bible studies, teaching videos and free scripture writing!

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with our schedules, and we’d probably all be lying if we didn’t admit to being there at least once ourselves! In fact, I wrote a book about that! But there are some things you can do to keep from being beat!  Let’s talk about some practical and spiritual strategies today, busy mom! Scriptures Matthew 11:28-30 Resources Crazy Busy: A Mercifully Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung – I’M TOO BUSY!” We’ve all heard it. We’ve all said it. All too often, busyness gets the best of us.  Just one look at our jam-packed schedules tells us how hard it can be to strike a well-reasoned balance between doing nothing and doing it all.  That’s why award-winning author and pastor Kevin DeYoung addresses the busyness problem head on in his newest book, Crazy Busy — and not with the typical arsenal of time management tips, but rather with the biblical tools we need to get to the source of the issue and pull the problem out by the roots.  Highly practical and super short, Crazy Busy will help you put an end to “busyness as usual.” More Like This From The Busy Mom How Busy is Too Busy? -Life is busy and often there is no end in sight. Join Heidi and Durenda as they help sort out how busy really is just too busy. Busy Seasons and Weary Souls – God doesn’t clearly tell us in his Word what is too much or too little when it comes to busyness. That’s something we each have to walk out with him. What He does tell us though, is that He wants us to be about HIS business…His agenda. In other words, to be led by the Holy Spirit. Being too busy is only okay if it’s what He wants us to do. Balance for Busy Moms – So what does this have to do with balance?  First, we need to work to please God, not others.  Second, and it may not seem obvious at first, but if you read from verse 17  back down to that parallel verse, verse 23, you will see something that stood out to me:  I noticed that all of the verses in between 17 and 23 talk about the importance of relationships. Those verses are all about healthy family relationships: wives and husbands are supposed to be in loving relationships with each other; we read that fathers are not to exasperate their children.  God’s Word is telling us that good works situations and healthy family situations go hand in hand.  This takes prioritizing and balancing.  Sometimes, good things rob us of the best things.

Do you enjoy being hospitable or is it more effort than it’s worth?  Do you struggle with insecurity over an undecorated house or lack of confidence in your cooking skills? You are not alone, sister! But it’s important to move past those roadblocks #sothat you can experience and share the blessing of being hospitable.  Let’s Just Open the Door together, women!   { Read the Companion Blog Post Here } For the last decade, Jen Schmidt has been encouraging, challenging, and cheering on women to embrace both the beauty and bedlam of their everyday lives on her popular lifestyle blog, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. With a variety of topics—from easy dinner ideas and personal finance to leaving a legacy—Jen equips others to live life to its fullest, reminding them it’s the little things that really are the big things in life. A popular speaker, worship leader and founder/host of the annual Becoming Conference, Jen shares with humor and authenticity as she invites others to join her on this bumpy, beautiful life journey. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, five children, a few too many animals, and an available sofa for anyone who needs it. Just Open the Door , by Jen Schmidt For many of us, inviting people into our lives and homes feels more like inviting judgment on our entertaining skills and stress on our already maxed-out schedules. But what if you knew that opening your front door had the power to radically change the world? To make an impact and leave a legacy with everyday invitations? Jen Schmidt has set out to reframe how we think about hospitality and to equip us to walk a road of welcome in our daily lives. Jen knows that every time we choose open-door living—whether in our homes or by taking hospitality on the road just like Jesus—those we invite in get to experience the lived-out Gospel, our kids grow up in a life-lab of generosity, and we trade insecurity for connection. a Rafflecopter giveaway  

The Pharisees and Sadducees put religion before relationship.  They put pride before anything else and elevated tradition to the level of God’s written word.  This is becoming rampant today in the church, and today we’re talking about the litmus test for measuring our “Christian” teachers to decide if they are following God’s word.

At 45 years old, my friend Kristen Welch talks about failing most of her parenting tests. But the Lord stirred the hearts of Kristen and her husband, and they started changing the way they handled “blessings” in their lives. Don’t miss the way Kristen describes the changes they’ve made in their family as they make a great effort to Raise World Changers by being World Changers themselves. A Bit About my Guest Kristen Welch is a native Texan, a wife and mom. She began blogging about her life on wearethatfamily.com nearly a decade ago. Over the years, Kristen has grown a vast following of moms who identify with her real, often funny, and always inspiring writing. In 2010, she traveled with Compassion International to Kenya on a blogging trip to write about poverty in a huge slum. That experience turned her world upside down, and as a result, she and her family founded a non-profit called Mercy House. The organization funds maternity centers for pregnant teens living in extreme poverty and manages Fair Trade Friday, a monthly subscription club that allows thousands of women in America to support impoverished women around the globe by purchasing the fairly traded product they create. Kristen is the author of multiple books, including Rhinestone Jesus: Saying Yes to God when Sparkly Safe Faith is No Longer Enough and Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World: How One Family Learned That Saying No Can Lead to Life’s Biggest Yes. Kristen’s new book, Raising World Changers, has just released! Kristen’s blog following continues to grow, and many of the readers financially support the work of Mercy House. When she and her family aren’t traveling to Kenya, Kristen and her husband and their three children live in Magnolia, Texas, where they enjoy going to football games, flea markets, trying new restaurants and working with displaced refugees in Houston.

It it’s important to Paul, it should be important to us. Sound doctrine is important, because Christianity is based on the Gospel, and the teaching of the church should be defined by Scripture. We are urged to contend for our faith – that means we need to get off the bench and get on the battlefield. Sound doctrine is worth fighting for!  We need to teach our kids sound doctrine so that they can discern what’s false. Scriptures Titus 2:1 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Jude 1:3 2 Timothy 1:13 1 John 4:1 1 Timothy 4:16 More Like this From The Busy Mom Discerning False Teachers

President Trump is about to rule on an opportunity to protect healthcare workers who object to certain responsibilities based on their conscience, and hopefully free people who don’t want to perform abortions based on their personal convictions. Why does this matter? Let’s talk about it.