The Hope For Life Podcast

This is the podcast of Hope For Life Calgary. This platform is for telling our stories, God's story, and teaching resources that will help us mature in Christ.

Last refreshed: August 14th, 2025 at 10:23 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

Smarter Than Tim #11 - Is the Bible a Good Book, is it God's Book, and how do we Know What it Means?

Today I interview Professor Rikk Watts. You can access his bio from the link below. Here's an outline of the episode: 4:58 - What is the Bible? 9:12 - Why are there so many translations of the Bible? Which is best? 12:30 - How confident are we that the Bible we have is the Bible that was originally written? 16:10 - Is it God’s book and is it a good book? 25:40 - How do we know what the Bible means? 27:09 - How should an average person read the bible? 30:00 - Can the average person really underst...

Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 18 min

Smarter Than Tim #10 - Calling

Today I interview Doug Pippus and Mark Buchanan about calling. It's an episode that left me praising the faithfulness and goodness of Jesus! 1:25 - Intro to calling 3:56 - Where does the idea of “calling” come from? 8:20 - Abuses and misunderstandings of “calling” 16:40 - What gives God the right to call me? Cultural pushback to God as master and Lord 20:40 - Mark and Doug’s stories of discovering goodness and wonder of Jesus - The Caller is good! 34:37 - Three levels of calling - general, speci...

Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 29 min

Smarter Than Tim #9 - Cultivating Mental Wellness with Geri Fitch

1:00 - Who is Geri Fitch and why are we talking about mental health? 2:45 - Steps anyone can take to pursue mental wellness 4:25 - The messages we hear 8:40 - Mental wellness is linked to what you think and what you do 11:20 - People who do well aren’t just gifted, and learning to win arguments with yourself 18:40 - The tricks and lies of anxiety and depression 21:55 - More on self-talk and arguing with yourself 24:15 - Discerning the truth 29:00 - What helps a person with complex, multi-layered...

Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 1 min

Smarter Than Tim #8 - A Different Take on Retirement

Most retirees travel from Calgary to places like Phoenix, but Gary and Peter raised money to purchase critical food and medical supplies for Ukrainian refugees and then repeatedly drove into the war zone to deliver them with a European pastor. 1:30 - The origin story 3:45 - Rethinking retirement 5:25 - A quick summary of the trip 10:20 - The local churches they worked with 13:20 - Describing the places they saw 18:15 - Describing life in a war zone 28:40 - Why were you in a war zone? How did bei...

Jun 20, 2024•1 hr 17 min

Smarter Than Tim #7 with Phil Reinders - Rule of Life #2

1:45 - Introducing Phil Reinders 3:40 - Phil’s comments on the rising interest in Rule of Life amongst Western Christians 8:00 - Which spiritual disciplines do people dabble in where they should dive in? 14:50 - Further thoughts on dabbling versus diving in 17:35 - What are some of the most common renunciations people have to engage in to make space for new rhythms? 26:22 - What’s your favourite spiritual practice in this season and why? 28:54 - Honest discussion of Phil’s personal prayer life 3...

May 31, 2024•1 hr 8 min

Smarter Than Tim #6 - Fasting For Abundant Life

Four people at Hope For Life Church decided to participate in a radical lenten fast in 2024. This podcast captures some of their insights and will spur you to consider the impacts fasting would have on your life with God. You'll laugh a time or two along the way too. 1:00 - What was the lenten fast and why did you do it? 4:00 - How hard was this to do? 6:37 - What did you learn about the things that control you and more generally about yourselves through this fast? 13:30 - What did you observe a...

May 19, 2024•1 hr 7 min

Smarter Than Tim #5 with Fred Waters - Learning from a Salvation Army Officer

Join us as Tim interviews Fred Waters, former COO of the Salvation Army and all around fantastic human being! Introducing Fred (1:00) Fred’s faith formation - let’s talk revival! (5:36) The story of the Salvation Army and discussion of addictions (9:15) More talk about addictions and hope (21:17) Lessons learned working for the Salvation Army (26:50) What role does the average Christian and church play in affordable housing, addictions, and other social ailments? (30:00) More talk of ways forwar...

Oct 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min

Growing Parents - Values Based Parenting With Geri Fitch

Geri Fitch recently spoke to a few Calgarian churches on values based parenting. The audio quality is poor, but the content is worth your time!

Mar 16, 2023•23 min

Smarter than Tim #4 with Matt Pamplin - Spiritual Family and the Story of St. Claire

In this episode, we cover lots of ground... and Matt's accent doesn't hurt. 0:00 - Introduction - Introducing Matt Pamplin from Hamilton 3:45 - The Story of St. Claire Part 1 “people were longing for an authentic community that wasn’t just based on a meeting or an event… how do we do this life together?" 10:10 - Story of St. Claire Part 2 - “Are you starting a Sunday gathering or a church?” 15:00 - Experts Versus Ordinary Saints 18:15 - What is a Missional Family and the Early Years of St. Clair...

Mar 09, 2023•57 min

Smarter Than Tim #3 with Phil Reinders - Rule of Life, Spiritual Practices, and Participating in the Life of Jesus

This topic may not draw you, but I think this is one of the best conversations I've had on one of the most important topics that there is. Here is an outline of the episode with links to articles and books mentioned below: 1. Intro 2. Why anyone should listen to a long-form discussion on spiritual practices (Boring right!?) 2:51 3. A fully human life and integrating faith with normal life 6:42 4. The petty forms of sin in daily life, the beauty of a life of love with Christ in God, and the mirro...

Dec 12, 2022•1 hr 26 min

How Much Is Enough

In this episode Tim dives into a question that's come up several times lately - how much (time/money/service/etc.) is enough? How do I know what God requires of me?

Nov 29, 2022•10 min

HFL Storytime #3 - Spurred on by a Child

Today we talk magazines, binging the gospel of Mark, and what it means to spur one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24) and be a community full of good deeds (Titus 2:11-15).

Jul 26, 2022•8 min

HFL Storytime #2 - Grace and Works

Here is the link to the podcast Tim references in his episode: https://www.68culture.org/episode-4-brian-mcconaghy-ratanak-international-part-1/ You can also find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts - look for 68culture and "Ratanak International" If you have any comments, we'd love to hear them!

May 26, 2022•15 min

Smarter Than Tim #2 With Nick Mitchell - Tough Conversations About the Opioid Epidemic and Harm Reduction

Nick Mitchell is currently the Provincial Medical Director for Addictions and Mental Health, and we're grateful he was willing to do this interview. Below is a table of contents for the interview. If you have any feedback or there are questions you wish Tim had asked, email Tim (Tim@hflchurch.ca) and let him know. 3:06 Who is Nick and why he’s well positioned to speak into the opioid crisis and about harm reduction in Alberta. 3:55 Introducing the opioid crisis and how it’s similar/dissimilar to...

Mar 17, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Smarter Than Tim With Nick Mitchell - A Conversation About Mental Health

Nick is one of the smartest, most engaging, and most interesting people Tim's ever met. He's also a practicing psychiatrist and senior administrator in the addiction and mental health department of AHS (Alberta Health Services). Today they discuss mental health. If there is a question you wish Tim had asked, let him know! We'll have round #2 with Nick sometime soon. Section 1 - Mental Health and Me 1) What are mental health and resilience? (2:20) 2) Let's talk personality (Enneagram, Myers Brigg...

Jan 28, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 3

HFL Storytime #1 - No Ordinary People

Today Tim kicks off HFL Storytime with a story of his failure, the leading of the Holy Spirit, and a great quote from C.S. Lewis.

Jan 14, 2022•6 min•Season 1Ep. 2

HFL's Origin Story - A Different Kind of Church

In this podcast, Tim interviews Doug about the formation of HFL. Doug presents his perspective on how the church came to be, what God may have been doing, and the vision for a different kind of church that drove HFL in the early years.

Dec 23, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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