Our new private podcast is coming

Starting soon, Freedom Matters Today will begin our new private podcast, titled, Jesus for Busy People,’ a five-minute private podcast reflection on the person, the power, and the presence of Jesus. It will be available for a small fee, either paid monthly or yearly.

If you are a current subscriber, you will receive an email in early August telling you how you can subscribe to JFBP. The focus will be on four themes that I think resonate with the world today: freedom, authenticity, identity, and spirituality. The focus for 2025-6 will be the freedom of Jesus.

Earlier versions of daily Bible reflections

I was inspired as a younger person by the short daily Bible reflections of Selwyn Hughes who wrote ‘Every Day with Jesus.’ He passed away in 2006, and while there are others, nothing comes close to ‘Every Day with Jesus.’ It was closely attuned to the faith, theology, and practical focus of this great Welsh minister of the good news.

Western Protestants can also enjoy ‘Daily Bread,’ another popular daily publication that is handed out free around the world and has its origins in the Detroit Bible Class radio program hosted by Dr. M.R. DeHaan.

Today, there are many others today, almost too many. Some are free, and others, like Jesus for Busy People, are not. A few people have asked me why ‘Jesus for Busy People’ is not free, and my answer is simple. The worker is worthy of his wages, says the Bible (1 timothy 5: 8). There will be a modest fee, about the same cost for a cup of coffee, or nice hamburger, per month. There will also be a pastor’s price for people involved in Christian ministry.

Jesus for Busy People is God-focused

The methodology for Jesus for Busy People is different from ‘Every Day with Jesus, ‘Daily Bread,’ and many other Christian daily reflection programs. They tend to be ‘human focused,’ rather than God-focused, which reflects our narcissistic culture and belief that we are the center of the universe.

Most of our faith is shaped by the epoch we live in, and we live in the epoch of capitalism and possibly a post-capitalist world, and in this world, God is here for me, to make my life better, to answer my questions, to do what I want him to do, and to be my God. This is all well and good, but this is not the God of the Bible and certainly not the God of the New Testament. Don’t get me wrong.

These earlier daily Bible series have possibly made the conscious decision to adapt the message of the good news to the culture, and the focus that they have has merit and often says some good things, but they have, overall, presented an unbalanced view of God.

The focus for these Bible Studies is: ‘pray more,’ ‘read the Bible more,’ ‘fight the Devil more,’ ‘get more of the Spirit,’ ‘enjoy that victorious living,’ ‘claim those promises,’ and so on. None of this is wrong, but everyone is assuming that we know God, we know who he is, and we know what he has done, and this is no longer the case.

Christians today have forgotten about God

Most Christians today have no idea who God is, they have no idea who Jesus is, and they have no idea who the Spirit is. Our modern, Western Christianity is unbalanced, it is off target, it is out of touch with the testimony of God, the Bible.

The Bible nowhere jumps into ‘application’ first and leaves out the ‘theology’ or the understanding of God. Look at Romans, Paul’s most famous letter. Chapters 1 to 8 are not simply a preface, but the first half of the letter where he explains the identity, the character, the purpose, and the person of God found in Jesus, and then only when this is established, does he go into the application.

Likewise, the first 450 years of Christianity had to do with establishing the West’s understanding of the person of Jesus and his relationship with the Father, and the role of the Holy Spirit. Like the loyalty tests of Covid, Israel and Ukraine, the church from the 450s to the present day, instituted their own loyalty tests based on their interpretation of the Bible, and many died simply for asking questions, or questioning the official line. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going back to the New Testament, to the original texts, and ‘working it out’ for us, since we are dealing with the New Testament.

We are all busy today

Jesus for Busy People considers the nature of our lives as we are all very busy. I don’t believe we have enough time to listen to too many podcasts going forward.

This private podcast will be only a few minutes a day, and this micro-podcasting helps us to focus on one aspect of spirituality, identity, freedom, or authenticity per day as we seek to follow Jesus. Jesus for Busy People is God-focused and not ‘human-focused.’ Following Jesus is not about self-effort but deeper awareness of Jesus. Jesus for Busy People is, therefore, a different model to ‘Every Day with Jesus,’ and ‘Daily Bread,’ because the focus is Jesus, the presence, the power, and the person of God.

Remember, freedom matters today, because you matter to God

Michael J. Sutton