Formed by Jesus Podcast

How to Make Peace at Work When You Can’t Change Jobs (Ephesians 6)

In August 2020 amid pandemic fallout, church disruption, and personal panic attacks, the speaker recalls a mentor asking pastors how to keep going when work they once loved becomes what they hate, introducing a chart of responsibility, control, and reward that explains boredom and burnout and how frustration in work is normal in a fallen world. Turning to Ephesians 6:5–9, he addresses the slavery text with historical context, clarifying Paul isn’t endorsing slavery but guiding Christians within a broken system and planting gospel seeds that undermine it. He then applies workplace principles: spirit-filled employees work respectfully, sincerely, willingly, and expectantly, avoiding “eye service” and people-pleasing by remembering they work for Christ, their true reward. For leaders, Paul warns against power-wielding and threatening, reminding bosses they are under God’s authority. The episode closes with group and growth practices to pursue redemptive (not exploitative) work that serves others for God’s approval.

00:00 August 2020 Memories
00:44 A Pastor’s Breaking Point
01:43 The Work Health Chart
02:37 Boredom vs Burnout
05:31 Peace Without Quitting
05:57 Ephesians 6 Setup
06:43 Slavery Context Explained
12:22 Workplace Principles Today
13:44 Four Marks of Employees
19:02 Eye Service Trap
22:55 Working for Jesus
25:27 Bosses and Control
29:18 Pastor Story Application
35:36 Responsibility Practice
38:24 Redemptive Work Challenge
39:07 Final Response

Parenting Wisdom with My Mom (Principal Lisa Vancamp): Kids as Arrows, Seasons of Parenting, and Priorities

On the Formed by Jesus podcast, the host interviews his mother, Lisa Vancamp, about parenting, peacemaking with children, and viewing kids as “arrows” to launch into the world. Lisa shares how she embraced each stage of childhood, prayed through fears about the teen years, and tried to present upcoming phases as something to celebrate. They discuss avoiding fear-based or scarcity language with children, protecting kids from adult burdens, and modeling faith through consistent church involvement, Bible reading, and avoiding gossip. Lisa outlines overlapping parenting “seasons” (caregiver, cop, coach/cheerleader, and consultant), emphasizing clear expectations, formation through discipline, and giving advice mainly when asked. She also highlights not comparing siblings and concludes that children don’t inherit convictions as much as they inherit priorities.

00:00 Meet the Guest Mom
00:26 Kids as Arrows
02:48 Celebrating Teen Years
07:43 Money Talk and Scarcity
12:13 Millennial Parenting Shifts
18:09 Church Expectations and Discipline
23:44 Family Stories and Quirks
27:55 Parenting Seasons 0 to 4
30:22 Cop Not Dictator
32:46 No Victim Mentality
34:04 Priorities By Example
36:19 Gentle Correction Shift
39:30 Coach And Cheerleader
41:25 Sports Benefits And Idols
43:50 Grades Excellence Mindset
45:49 Consultant After High School
47:52 Boundaries And Freedom
53:24 Protect Each Child
55:15 Priorities Become Theology
55:48 Leaves On Trees Finale

For those with children, parenting can often become a battleground for peacemaking. We can ignore conflict, lash out in anger, or hold impossibly high expectations over our kids while they grow up. In Ephesians 6, Paul shows parents how to avoid these pitfalls. He tells them not to stir up anger in their children, but to “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” To bring them up means to nurture them so they’re prepared for the world when they leave the home. Training them means instilling discipline in them towards holiness, and to instruct them means to give them counsel, to listen, and to speak encouragement over them. Peacemaking in parenting then is more than avoiding conflict. It’s bringing peace to the household, or what the Bible describes as wholeness, flourishing, and living in the fullness of what God intended. Every parent is forming their child. The question is whether we are doing it intentionally.

Why We Go Slow: Peacemaking, Discipleship, and Honoring Your Parents | Formed by Jesus Podcast

In a new studio format, the hosts explain why their church focuses on one spiritual practice for months rather than covering many topics quickly, arguing that transformation and discipleship require slow, repeated formation and that practices like peacemaking need longer than a few weeks. They discuss how the Sermon on the Mount may be a condensed synthesis of Jesus’ teachings and why sermon-based group guides help people process teachings beyond Sunday. They outline a revised group rhythm influenced by Practicing the Way—learning, practicing, and reflecting/processing—emphasizing deliberate practice and debriefing to avoid ingraining unhealthy habits. The conversation applies this to honoring parents, clarifying honor versus affection or control, exploring thresholds in relationships, and distinguishing lament from contempt, including how to respond when parents have caused deep harm without slipping into gossip or bitterness.

00:00 New Studio Banter
01:26 Why Long Practice Series
03:03 Sermon on Mount Strategy
05:50 Discipleship Over Content
07:50 Rethinking Group Guides
11:14 Learn Practice Process
13:36 Deliberate Practice Debriefs
16:27 Honor Parents Nuance
17:07 Life Relationship Thresholds
20:33 Culture Contempt Authority
23:52 Honor Not Friendship
24:49 Honor Across Cultures
26:26 When Parents Are Abusive
29:45 Gratitude For Survival
31:54 Lament Versus Contempt
34:58 Gossip And Control Traps
38:39 When To Confront
40:49 Biblical Parenting Limits
43:30 Hebrew Greek Banter
44:32 Closing Blessing