God Conversations With Tania Harris

What is God saying to us in the midst of our pain? On the show today, we’re talking about the questions we ask when life goes wrong. Some people say you shouldn’t even ask God the why question, but that’s what we’re going to do in this episode. We’re talking about how asking God questions is an act of intimacy, what God’s heart is in the midst of our pain and suffering and what to do when there seems to be no answers at all. There was a song that hit the top of the charts in the early 1980s - first in Australia and then in the US. It was re-released in Australia in 2004 and spent a long time at the top of the charts again, this time hitting the charts in Ireland as well. The song was called what about me? What About Me? It isn’t fair, I’ve had enough, now I want my share… It’s a song that asks a lot of questions from a position of pain. Somehow, the lines of this song resonated with thousands of people around the world - perhaps because when we find ourselves going through hard times, we end up asking th

Money, sex and power are some of the most powerful agents in the world. Any one of them can take down presidents and pastors, politicians and kings. History is littered with stories of people who have been able to conquer nations but not their own lives. So how does God call us to handle them? I'm going to be honest with you. Travelling the world, I have the opportunity to hear a lot of stories - and tragically, they're not all good. Many of them involve abuse and hurt at the hands of leaders who haven't been able to handle one or more of three areas of life: money, sex and power. Of course it's not just leaders who are susceptible - we are all subject to their misuse. But when money, sex and power are not handled well by those in authority, there are far-reaching consequences. In this episode of the show, we look at: How money, sex and power are morally neutral. They are tools that can be used for both good or evil. The key lies in how we use them and what place they take in our hearts. When it comes

If you have a God-dream in the African church, no-one thinks you're unusual. Hearing God’s voice in dreams is common in this part of the world. Some churches even have a resident dream interpreter who offers counsel to congregation members! What can we learn from the African church where Christianity is growing at a rapid rate and where hearing the voice of the Spirit in dreams is a regular occurrence? On the show this week, we're talking to a friend of mine and a fellow PhD student, Anna Droll. Anna is an ordained minister with the American Assemblies of God and founder of Kairos Global Missions. Her ministry is focused in Africa and she is an adjunct professor at Southeastern University and Northwest University. She is also a woman who is passionate about prayer and healing, has a heart of compassion for everyone she meets and offers some profound insights into this interesting and important area of spirituality. In this podcast, we talk about: Anna’s spiritual journey and how she ended up studying dr

You don’t need to be a Christian to live a good life. Plenty of my friends live a great life without God. They are well educated, hold successful jobs and live in beautiful homes. For the most part they enjoy happy, contented lives - even with a few bumps along the way.  In our Western world, it’s not difficult to live a good life. There are common sense decisions we can make, self-help books to read and plenty of resources at our disposal. In the Western parts of the world, we are blessed with opportunity and prosperity. Even with a bad start, you can turn things around if you make good choices and work hard.   But God has a very different life for those who choose to follow him. It’s a good life, but it’s more than good. The ‘God life’ is not an ordinary life because it involves walking with a supernatural God. This week on the show, we’re talking about the God Life - and how to live it. The God life involves walking with a supernatural God. It involves living with an expectation of the supernatural inter

How could God have created the world in 6 days when geological data shows the earth is over four billion years old? How does the Bible’s description of human creation align with scientific evidence supporting evolution? If Adam and Eve were the first couple, where did their son Cain's wife come from? These are the kinds of questions that come up today when Bible-believing Christians read the story of creation in the opening chapters of Genesis. The various answers are often fuel for furious and acrimonious debate that has led to an artificial division between faith and science. While these questions may be important in our progressive world, our pre-occupation with them has meant we’ve actually missed the main point of the story. The problem lies in the questions themselves. Genesis was written at a time when people were not asking the same kind of questions we’re asking today. Theirs was a world where science hadn’t even been invented - when there was no such thing as the “scientific method”. Understan

Magnums are one of my all-time favourite ice-creams. I love the smooth Belgian chocolate and the rich ice-cream inside. But some years ago, Magnum launched a new marketing campaign, labelling each of their ice-creams with one of the seven deadly sins. There were names like “sloth” (caramel swirl ice cream and chocolate),“revenge” (raspberry ripple ice cream and dark chocolate) and “greed” (tiramisu, amaretti and chocolate). My favourite (champagne ice-cream and white chocolate) was ‘vanity’. It never felt as good after that. Why is it that something as good as a Magnum ice-cream is associated with sin? Why is it that pleasure is often associated with evil? This is the topic of this week’s podcast: The Theology of Chocolate - how our twisted ideas turned God into a killjoy. (NB. Some of you are thinking this is an overzealous rant designed to justify a chocolate binge at Easter, and you may be right). Magnum’s marketing campaign reinforces the idea that eating something enjoyable is sinful and therefore eati

Can anyone hear God’s voice? What about those who don’t know him? Can non-Christians or those who’ve never been to church hear him speak? And what about those from other religions? On this episode, we’re privileged to have the esteemed Dr Amos Yong on the show to talk about some of these questions. Amos is an eminent theologian, a prolific author and researcher with over 20 titles based around the work of the Holy Spirit. They include a theology of disability, interfaith relationships, global theology - even a theology of Down syndrome. The title on this topic is called: Beyond the Impasse: Toward a Pneumatological Theology of Religions. Amos shares his story of knowing God, and how his most common way of hearing God’s voice is through the Scriptures. We talk about the different ways people use "God-talking" language. His Mum for example, regularly says God speaks to her, but his Dad is more conservative in his use of this language and a lot less likely to attribute his experiences to God. We discuss how

Have you noticed that God does a lot of talking at Christmas time? The first God-conversation with Mary was the one that started it all (Luke 1:26-33). But then God spoke a second time - to Joseph (Matthew 1:18-21), then a third time to the wise men (Matthew 2:12) and a fourth (Matthew 2:19-21) and fifth time to Joseph (Matthew 2:22). He also spoke to Elizabeth, Anna and Simeon. God speaks repeatedly throughout the Christmas story. But what if the people hadn't listened? What if they hadn’t followed? What if Joseph had merely written his dream off as the spicy pizza (or lentils), if the wise men dismissed their dream as a paranoid nightmare or if Mary had rejected the words of the angel? Because people heard God speak and because they did what he said, our Christmas cards show Jesus alive in Mary’s arms and we sing songs heralding his birth. Christmas pans out the way it was supposed to. In this podcast, we talk about the five conversations of Christmas and how they shaped the event we celebrate every Dece

Stories of God talking to his people abound throughout the Bible, but we usually only get the highlights. We read; “God said; ‘Go to Egypt’”, and then; “Mary and Joseph left for Egypt.” We’re not told how God spoke, how they knew it was him or how they decided to act on what they’d heard. This is how the blurb of my new book God Conversations reads. When I first read Bible stories about God speaking I thought, it sounds so easy for them - when the reality felt so different. That’s why I set out to write my book. I wanted to show more than the highlights. I wanted to show what really happens behind the scenes when we hear God’s voice. In this podcast, we talk about how my book on hearing God's voice is different from others: It's all about the stories For one, it's all about the stories. The goal is to show you how God speaks rather than tell you. You'll notice there's no list of things for you to do; there's no five steps for you to follow. This was a deliberate style choice. Have you noticed most of the B

A few years ago on an Australian reality talent show, a young man expressed his dream to be a famous singer. The emcee told of his dedication in preparing for this moment. His mother spoke of his deep passion and commitment. When the man took to the stage, the audience applauded in great anticipation. In spite of the lead up, the performance was awful. This young man had plenty of zeal, but absolutely no talent. One judge known for his honest feedback didn’t hold back: “Your dream will never happen. No amount of hard work will make you a good singer. You will never be on the stage.” It was a brutal moment, but it was also an act of grace. This man’s dream was completely misplaced. It wasn't based on who he was or how God designed him to be. He was believing a fantasy and without the reality check provided by the judges, was headed towards even greater disappointment. When We Grow Up? What are we going to be when we grow up? It’s a question we usually ask children, but it’s a question we all need to ask ours

What would Jesus say to a terrorist? Just this week we've received news here in Australia of another terrorist plot. Our nation remains on high alert after police uncovered plans to allegedly bring down a commercial airline with a bomb or toxic gas. It's difficult not to feel helpless every time we hear those kinds of reports. Most of us are not politicians, international diplomats or war strategists. How are we to respond to the constant threat of terrorism we receive across the world today? Today's podcast looks at the 'Jesus way' to approach terrorism. What would Jesus say to a terrorist? In order to answer that question, we're going to take a look at what he's already said. This is not the first time the world has been threatened by terrorism. History has been here before - with the early church facing similar questions to what we do today. In their case the enemy wasn't ISIS, but the Roman empire - a force that was actually far stronger and just as brutal. Some people in the church had already been mar

How do we get better at hearing God’s voice? The answer doesn’t lie in a formula or a set of rules: "Follow these 3 steps, take time out or spend 15 minutes with God each day." Hearing God's voice happens in the context of relationship, so if we want to get better at it, it’s the state of our relationship that becomes the focus. This week on God Conversations with Tania Harris we’re talking about how to get better at hearing God’s voice. It’s one of the most important questions to ask because it lies at the heart of knowing God. We’ll get better at hearing God's voice by applying the same principles that we use to grow communication in our human relationships. In the podcast, we look at three different principles that apply: 1. Make a commitment to improve your communication Learning to hear God's voice is a process that develops with time and practise. We learn to recognise his voice. The prophet Samuel was a man who knew how to hear God’s voice. He was the expert. The Bible says of him that not one of hi

Back in the first century, it wasn’t normal for men and women to be friends. They didn’t meet for coffee in morning tea breaks or discuss current affairs over the water-cooler. They didn’t sit next to each other in the synagogues and swap ideas about their theology. They certainly didn’t discuss their spiritual lives by the village well. That’s why the actions and behaviours of Jesus with the Samaritan woman were so radical. Even his disciples couldn’t fathom his socialising with a woman, let alone one with such a scandalous reputation (John 4:27). Somehow Jesus managed to interact with the opposite sex in a healthy way, even being alone with them in a public setting. Jesus shows us that it is possible to engage meaningfully with our female and male counterparts. In the radically new equality of the kingdom he inaugurated, it’s not surprising. It’s when men and women relate together that they are seen to fully represent the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28). The question is how. Subscribe to God Conversations

What does prophecy look like in the contemporary church? How do we handle the fact that we can get it wrong when we try to hear from God? And what could God possibly be saying to someone when he gives her a vision of a yellow peacock? In this episode of God Conversations with Tania Harris, I’m excited to be talking to Professor Mark Cartledge, a British scholar who pioneered in the field of practical theology by looking at how contemporary prophecy functions in the Church of England. What I love about Mark is not only is he a very smart man, but he is also a practitioner who has been involved in local church life for over 25 years. He’s a worship leader and preacher as well as a theologian and a lecturer. It’s a winning combination! In this podcast we talk about: How God knows our passwords - God speaks through the preached Scriptures but he also speaks specifically into the details of our lives. What Mark discovered in his pioneering research and how common it was for followers of Jesus to just “kno

How do we know the will of God for our lives? It’s a question that is often hotly debated with one side emphasising the need for God’s direct guidance for our decisions and the other emphasising human free will (Listen to: Is God’s will a Narrow Path or a 6-Lane Freeway?). In this podcast, John Peachey from the Mornings show at Rhema New Zealand and I take a different tack. We explore this commonly asked question by drawing on the story told in Jessica Kelley’s book Lord Willing. Against the backdrop of her dying 4 year old son’s battle with brain cancer, Jessica challenges the popular idea that God has some sort of master plan where he ordains and controls every decision. In this view, God's plan did not include her son Henry’s cancer, nor did he even “allow” it. As Jessica so vividly communicates, Jesus came to give abundant life, not to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10), so he could never be to blame for her son’s tragic death. God's sovereignty does not mean he is a controlling micro-manager (Read: Wh

One of the most difficult times to hear God’s voice is when we're in the throes of making a big decision. Shall I take this job, will I marry this person, or will we have children? Each of these decisions have life-changing consequences; they tug at our heartstrings and our emotions are deeply invested in the outcomes. That makes hearing God in these areas particularly fraught with difficulty - to the point where some say you shouldn’t even try to hear from God for them. We’ve already looked at hearing God’s voice for marriage in episode 29 when we discussed some wisdom for hearing God’s voice for Mr and Mrs Right. But today we’re talking with someone who has heard God speak about two other highly sensitive areas: career and children. Ps. Lisa Woods is the Senior pastor of Wheatland District Church in north West Victoria, along with her husband Dion. She has worked as a youth pastor, school chaplain in the local secondary school and local member of Yarriambiack Shire council, the youngest councillor to be e

Does God still speak today? I grew up in a church that didn’t believe he does. We were taught that as soon as the last pages of the Bible were written, God stopped talking (known as Cessationist theology). That may sound illogical for some - after all the Bible is full of God-conversations - surely if he spoke then, he would continue to speak now. But there was a good reason for it. People thought that if I claimed to hear God speak today, that would diminish the authority of what he had already said. The Scriptures gave us everything we need, so why would we need to hear anything else? But then I heard God speak. He spoke prophetically, miraculously and in ways that resembled the way he spoke in the Bible. That left me with a whole lot of questions. How did my experience compare to the experience of the Bible writers? What authority did it have in my life? Is it okay to say ‘God told me’ as they did in the Scriptures? And what about those times when people claim to hear God’s voice, but then it doesn't happe

In the Western world, one of the biggest challenges we find in hearing God’s voice is the ability to take time out to listen to him. The ever-pressing demands of a fast-paced life mean that prioritising time to pray often finds itself at the bottom of our endless to-do lists. Then when we do find the time, it’s difficult to quieten our minds long enough to focus on what God is saying. This was the subject of a question asked at the website. Karen asked; “Can you give us some tips on how to just be still & listen to God...how to stop the chatter in your mind?” There is good news for those who find themselves wanting to hear God’s voice in a busy season. In this podcast, which is an encore episode from the show, we share the good news that finding time alone is not the most important prerequisite to hearing God’s voice. God can still speak to us even when it’s impossible to take five hours out to sit cross-legged on a mountaintop… Subscribe to God Conversations with Tania Harris and never miss an episode!

Last week, a new reality show called Married at First Sight was launched on Australian TV. I have to confess, I’ve been glued to it from the first night and the early episodes have not failed to disappoint. In the series, a man and a woman meet for the first time on their wedding day after being paired together by a group of three experts. There’s a neuropsychotherapist who considers pheromones and ‘chemistry’, as well as a psychologist and relationship expert who draw on personality profiles and extensive interviews to make their best scientific match. Once having participated in a (non-legal) wedding ceremony, the newly married couples spend their first night in a hotel, then leave for the honeymoon. After returning and living together for a month, they make the decision whether or not to continue their relationship. Last year the whole process worked out beautifully for one of the four couples, Alex and Zoe, who are now happily on their way down the non-reality TV wedding aisle. It’s all gripping viewing.

Since I started my ministry eight years ago I’ve heard plenty of God-conversation stories, some life-transforming and God-glorifying, and some to be honest, I’d much rather forget. During that time, I’ve also been asked lots of questions about hearing God’s voice, questions that tend to be repeated wherever I go. Most of them are identical to the questions I’ve asked myself over the years. So today’s podcast includes some answers to three most commonly asked questions. It’s some plain talking wisdom about hearing God for the personal issues of our lives in 2016 - much like a coffee and a chat at the start of the year! Perhaps they are questions you've asked too: 1. What is God saying in this area? Whether it’s a question about a new job, or a place to live or wisdom for a new relationship, we don’t always get a clear answer from God. Why is that? It’s not that he doesn’t want to speak to us about these deeply personal areas - the Scriptures are full of instances where he speaks into the specifics of people’s