Relish: a Christian podcast

How do you discern whether something is truly from God—or something internal?

In this episode, Rowan Miller sits down with Pastor Don Patterson to examine that question through lived experience. Don shares specific moments that shaped his faith: his early baptism, a growing sense of calling, and the deep loss of his son.

They also address more debated areas—speaking in tongues, impressions, and everyday moments where people claim God is speaking. Along the way, they connect these experiences to Scripture (James, Job, Paul, Peter) and ask what biblical discernment actually looks like.

This is a grounded conversation about grief, calling, and the challenge of interpreting spiritual experiences honestly.

 

Do you have questions for Pastor Don? send them to tmadask@gmail.com #bible , #christianity , #jesuschrist , #christiantheology , #faith , #god , #bibleverse , #apologetics , #relish

00:00:05 What Does It Mean for God to “Speak”?

00:02:00 Personal Experiences: Hearing God or Interpreting Feelings?

00:05:50 Life-Changing Moments and How We Interpret Them

00:08:30 Sensing a Call: How Do You Know It’s Real?

00:10:28 Where Faith Begins: Experience vs. Truth

00:14:08 Ongoing Change: Is God Still Speaking Today?

00:15:09 Job, Paul, Peter: Do Our Experiences Match Scripture?

00:16:31 Final Thoughts: Discernment, Gratitude, and Caution

How should a Christian decide who to trust?

In this episode, we work through Jesus’ warning to “know them by their fruit” and apply it to real-life decisions about counsel, teaching, and influence. What do you do when someone claims faith but lacks consistency, humility, or biblical clarity?

We also explore how spiritual habits—Scripture, prayer, Sabbath, and reflection—form the kind of discernment that isn’t reactive but grounded. Finally, we discuss the idea of God’s relationship to time and how that perspective reshapes urgency, anxiety, and spiritual growth.

This is a practical conversation about discernment, formation, and truth.

This episode tackles a difficult but necessary question: what is Satan actually allowed to do?

Using the book of Job as a foundation, we examine God’s sovereignty, the role of Satan, and what Scripture does—and does not—say about spiritual warfare. We discuss common misconceptions around oppression, possession, and personal responsibility, and why clarity here matters for how Christians interpret suffering.

We also bring the conversation into modern life, exploring how technology, attention, and daily habits can function as points of influence. Along the way, we reflect on real experiences of conflict, hardship, and how God uses those seasons to refine both individuals and churches.

This is a conversation about limits, responsibility, and learning to think clearly about suffering and spiritual reality.

Students asked direct questions about spiritual warfare, demonic influence, and everyday faith—and we took them seriously.

In this episode, we examine:

• Whether Christians can be possessed or only oppressed
• How objects like charms or Ouija boards fit into a biblical worldview
• What “strongholds” actually mean in Romans 6–8
• How healing prayer works in practice
• Whether Satan has any control over the natural world
• How to understand suffering without losing clarity about God’s character

The goal is simple: replace confusion with clear biblical categories.

In this episode, Don Patterson and Rowan Miller respond to unfiltered questions from middle and high school students.

They address four major areas of confusion:

1. Whether the Bible speaks meaningfully to climate and environmental concerns

2. How Christians should think about evolution and human origins

3. Which Old Testament laws still apply—and why

4. What Scripture actually reveals about heaven and eternal life

The goal is not speculation or tradition, but clarity from the biblical text itself. This episode is designed for listeners who want direct answers to questions many Christians struggle to explain.

Immigration is one of the most emotionally charged political issues in the modern world—but Christians often appeal to the Bible without asking what those passages actually meant in their original context.

In this episode, Rowan Miller and Pastor Don Patterson examine what Scripture really teaches about the “foreigner” or “stranger.” Looking closely at passages like Leviticus 24, they discuss how ancient Israel functioned as a covenant nation and what expectations were placed on outsiders who lived among God’s people.

The discussion pushes past common political talking points and asks a harder question: Does biblical compassion remove the importance of law—or does the Bible assume both?

The conversation also turns toward agriculture, exploring biblical land practices like fallow years and Jubilee rhythms, and why those patterns are difficult to sustain in modern economic systems. Pastor Don also highlights the risks farmers face today and why Christians should have deeper appreciation for those who produce food.

Topics include:

• The meaning of “the stranger” in Old Testament law
• Why many Christians misread immigration passages
• Compassion, law, and Christian responsibility
• A practical way churches can help immigrants pursue legal status
• Biblical farming practices vs. modern agriculture

00:00:09 – Relish Podcast Introduction
00:01:45 – The Biggest Modern Time Wasters (Phones, YouTube, Social Media)
00:02:38 – Why Christians Are Confused About Immigration
00:05:56 – What the Bible Actually Says About the “Foreigner” (Leviticus 24)
00:15:25 – Farming in the Bible: Land, Sabbath, and Stewardship
00:18:04 – Why Modern Farming Makes Biblical Practices Difficult

This episode addresses a central theological tension:

If God is sovereign over history, are human beings still responsible for their actions?

We answer that question through two difficult biblical texts:

1. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus — Did he have genuine freedom, or was he fulfilling an unavoidable script?

2. The execution in Book of Numbers 15 — Why was gathering sticks treated as a capital offense?

We explore:

• Scriptural motives attributed to Judas

• The relationship between prophecy and free choice

• Covenant law in ancient Israel

• Communal justice and the function of stoning

• The shift seen in Gospel of John 8

• How sovereignty and responsibility operate together

This episode aims for clarity, not sentiment — especially for those who struggle with difficult passages.

This episode tackles a difficult but timely question:
Does the Bible speak meaningfully about climate change and large-scale earth changes, or is that a modern projection onto ancient text?

We explore:

1. Humor and sharp imagery in Jesus’ teaching

2. The testing of faith in Job and James

3. The Flood account in Genesis 6–9

4. “The springs of the deep” and Peleg’s divided earth

5. Apocalyptic environmental shifts in Revelation

We examine whether Scripture presents environmental upheaval as metaphor, judgment, cyclical pattern, or historical reality—and how believers should think about suffering and global instability today.

This episode is for listeners who want clarity, not slogans.

In this episode, Rowan Miller and Pastor Don Patterson examine one central tension: how Christians are meant to hold truth and grace together in the face of real suffering and difficult Scripture.

They discuss:

• Whether it’s biblically acceptable to be angry at God
• How perspective reshapes personal loss
• Jesus’ teaching on divorce and remarriage in Matthew 5
• The meaning of confession and forgiveness in 1 John 1:8–9
• The ongoing debate between Calvinism and Arminianism
• Whether the Bible leaves room for pets in heaven

Rather than avoiding hard passages or softening biblical standards, this conversation models how clarity, humility, and theological precision can coexist with compassion.

The goal is not inspiration—but understanding.

Why does God work through weakness instead of strength—and why does the world feel hostile if God created it good?

In this episode of Relish, Roan Miller and Pastor Don Patterson explore two biblical tensions many believers quietly struggle with. First, they walk through Judges 6–7 and God’s decision to reduce Gideon’s army to just 300 men, examining why God removes human advantage and what genuine faith looks like when outcomes aren’t guaranteed.

Next, they turn to Genesis 2–3 and the question of dangerous and frustrating aspects of creation. From thorns to wasps, the hosts explain how the Fall disrupted the created order—and why hardship is not evidence that God abandoned His world.

Along the way, they also discuss Genesis 9, God’s covenant with Noah, and what the post-Flood world reveals about God’s continued care and authority.

This episode offers biblical clarity for listeners wrestling with weakness, suffering, and the goodness of God in a broken world.

09:33-Gideon’s Army and God’s Plan

15:58-The Critters of Creation