Adventist Review Podcasts

Selfless Love: How to Infuse Your Marriage With Divinity

Most of us enter marriage hoping to be loved well. But what if the real question isn't what can I get — it's what can I give?

In this thought-provoking article, Keala Thompson explores why so many marriages drift toward selfishness or cold transaction, and what it looks like when a relationship is anchored in something deeper. Drawing on Scripture, he makes a compelling case that the way we understand God's love directly shapes the way we love our spouse.

If your marriage feels more like a negotiation than a gift, this is worth your time.

Sit quietly with grace, and let it work its slow, substantial change.

Nothing is more common for those whose hearts have been divinely warmed than to pledge themselves to new, exacting duties. We’ll read our Bibles for an hour each day; pray for all our friends and even for some enemies; tell “unconverted” colleagues, neighbors—even strangers—of their task to do as we have done. We move at hyper-speed as if to make up for the months—the years—when we ourselves were unresponsive to the gospel.

But what we need—and what our friends and enemies much need—is that we answer the first call of grace: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10). Our rush to vow new righteous duties, work new holy deeds, and tell what we have only started to experience is often just another act of foolish self-atonement.

Heaven wisely urges us to quiet. “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength’” (Isa 30:15-16).

Grace received always grows into grace well-lived. But beware of pledging your good deeds until you’ve more fully learned all that the Lord has kindly done for you.

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

“This is not your own doing” (Eph. 2:8).

One author calls it “the most contrary line in human history”—six words that run against our culture, schooling, and experience.

We push ourselves from bed to answer the alarm we set just hours before. We wash and eat and ready clothes for work, conscious that one slip in our performance may unravel all the day. We move ourselves to work to push through hours built on grit and weary bodies. Then we cycle back again, preparing for the round that starts with that insistent first alarm. What, in all of this, is not of our own doing?

And yet the Scripture is insistent: none of this, for all its stress and sometime glory, can make us right with God—even if our work is feeding homeless people or lighting candles in a church.

But the phrase that cuts against the grain begins with something only God can do: “By grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). In undeserved mercy, each of us is offered hope and light and daily joy if we will trust Christ’s hand to make us whole. Even the alarm sounds kinder; the labor of the day becomes our gift of gratitude.

“Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Ps. 3:8). Only He can turn grit into grace, our work dirge to a song, our inability into witness.

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

What if a church leader you trusted made a serious mistake—how would you respond without causing division or gossip? In this timely, practical guide, veteran pastor Shane Anderson shares hard-won wisdom from decades of denominational service: the three common pitfalls to avoid (assumptions, social media, withholding tithe) and four Christlike steps that actually bring resolution. Learn how prayer, genuine love, private clarity-seeking, and Matthew 18 principles can turn conflict into redemption—without splitting churches or derailing mission. Whether you’re frustrated, confused, or simply want to respond like Jesus, this article offers courage and clarity for every thoughtful member. A must-hear roadmap for healthier leadership accountability. Listen now.

What makes your eyes light up with glee, or stirs you to an unforced smile?

Is it the 4-year old who stomps through puddles—without boots? Is it the lily blooming on some sun-drenched bank, so hidden no one else can find it? Is it the ballad from your youth that fills your thoughts with gentle love? 

So grace delights us when we learn that it is God’s first way of seeing us—that He is glad to see us dancing in the rain, and loving every growing thing, and finding hope in much-loved songs. It is His joy to know our joy: He made us for receiving love and sharing it with others. 

And when we chide the gleeful child, or calculate the price of flowers, or brush away the tenderness we knew, we turn our backs on His warm grace to find cold comfort in self-righteousness.

Only God is always right, and only God is always gracious. Jesus said of His Father, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:45). 

Receive His gift. Enjoy His grace.

And stay in it. -Bill Knott

What if two ordinary fishermen in a tiny boat appeared out of nowhere during a deadly Mozambique flood—only to vanish without a trace? Young pastor Simoque was drowning in the raging Limpopo River, praying desperately for his family, when strong hands pulled him to safety and carried him home through the storm. But when he rushed back with money to thank them… no boat, no footprints, no sign they had ever existed. Just two angels, fishing for a desperate servant of God. This gripping true story of divine rescue will strengthen your faith and remind you that God still sends heavenly help exactly when we need it most. Listen now.

Frustrated with your church? Thinking about leaving?

You're not alone. Many Christians — especially in the Seventh-day Adventist community — are wrestling with that very question as their churches shift in directions they never expected.

But what if leaving is exactly the wrong move?

In Protesting the Church, the case is made that true Protestants don't walk out — they stay, speak up, and work for renewal from within. From Martin Luther to the apostle Paul, history's greatest reformers chose presence over protest.

Your voice matters. Your vote matters. Your influence matters.

Before you go — listen to this first.

What if the most heartbreaking grief in the book of Job wasn’t just Job’s—but his wife’s silent agony beside him? She lost everything too: ten children, security, and now watched her husband suffer in ashes. In one raw moment she cried out, “Curse God and die!”—words born not of rebellion, but overwhelming pain. Yet God never rebuked her. No condemnation, only merciful silence and later restoration. This powerful reflection reveals how divine compassion makes room for imperfect, grief-stricken honesty. Discover fresh hope for anyone crushed by loss: God hears angry prayers, understands broken faith, and writes a better ending. A must-listen for every hurting heart. Listen now.

What if true victory over evil comes not through raw power, but through the suffering of a Lamb? Jesus faced every temptation to “win” the easy way—by force, presumption, or compromise—yet chose the costly path of unselfish love instead. In Gethsemane He refused the sword; on the cross He conquered by dying. This powerful article reveals the stark contrast between the dragon’s way of domination and the Lamb’s way of sacrificial love. Discover why the methods we use are inseparable from the message we proclaim—and why following Christ means rejecting every shortcut of coercion, even when it promises quick results. A timely call to faithful witness. Listen now.

If you can’t recall the day or the hour you came to faith, you’re in good company.

Millions of believers candidly describe both deep faith in Jesus as their Saviour and an inability to recall just when it happened—a “sunrise experience” as one author calls it.

This is the way that grace unfolds, for “Damascus Road” conversions are far fewer than we claim. That road, it should be noted, was 150 miles long, requiring six days of travel. Grace had been working every mile to soften the heart of the angry man who would become its chief apostle.

So grace also walks with the prodigal as he leaves home; in his disturbing revelries; when he finally “comes to himself”; and when he ultimately is encircled by the father’s arms, and once again wears ring and robe. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Grace is the long arc of the Father’s kind intentions—and it may take months or years before that seeking love brings us to clarity and gratitude.

You have always been loved. You have always been sought. And your faith is an equally long arc of learning just how deeply Jesus values you.

Now stay in grace. -Bill Knott