The PursueGOD Truth Podcast

In this episode, Bryan and Layne show why the Holy Spirit isn’t a reward you earn or a feeling you chase—but God’s personal presence given to everyone who trusts in the real Jesus.
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The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday.
Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.
Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.
Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.
Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at [email protected].
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How the Holy Spirit Works Personally (and Why Mormonism Leaves People Unsure)
In the last episode, we talked about how a biblical church doesn’t need one “capital P” Prophet to speak for God. Jesus didn’t set up His church to be led by a single man with exclusive access to heaven’s messages. Instead, the book of Acts shows something radically different: God gives His Holy Spirit to every believer, revealing truth through Scripture and confirming it through the people of God.
But here’s the question that hits closer to home: How does the Holy Spirit work on a personal level?
That’s where this conversation gets especially helpful—because Layne lived for 40 years inside Mormonism, where the Holy Spirit is often treated like something you earn, maintain, or even lose. And if you grew up LDS, you know the anxiety: Do I have the Holy Ghost? Did I lose it? Am I worthy enough today?
The “Holy Ghost” in Mormonism: A Gift You’re Never Quite Sure You Have
In Mormon teaching, people are told about the “gift of the Holy Ghost,” along with ideas like “confirmations,” “warm feelings,” and the famous “burning in the bosom.” It’s often described as something that comes after baptism, through priesthood hands, and after ongoing obedience and ordinances.
But here’s the problem: many Latter-day Saints live with what Layne calls Holy Spirit insecurity.
You might feel something during prayer or a testimony meeting—then you mess up later and wonder if God is gone. The whole cycle can become spiritually exhausting, emotionally draining, and mentally confusing. Instead of a steady relationship with God, you’re chasing a spiritual signal that feels like it comes and goes.
The Holy Spirit Is a “He,” Not an “It”
One of the practical moments in this episode is when the guys stop and talk about pronouns—because it reveals something deeper.
In biblical Christianity, the Holy Spirit isn’t an impersonal force. He is a person. Not a “thing” or “energy” or “vibe.” He has personhood. That’s why Christians speak of Him as “He,” not because the Spirit has a gender, but because He’s personal—God Himself dwelling in believers.
Mormonism may technically describe the Holy Ghost as a person, but it’s within a very different framework: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as separate beings (and functionally separate gods). That changes everything. Instead of God’s direct presence, the Holy Ghost becomes more like a messenger—someone sent—while leaving people unsure what God the Father is doing, and unsure whether they can really trust what they’re experiencing.
Feelings vs. Fruit: What Are You Actually Chasing?
A big “aha” in this conversation is how Mormon “spiritual feelings” often function differently...

A Brutally Honest Take on Work and Wealth
We spend an enormous amount of our lives thinking about work and worrying about money. How much should we save? How hard should we hustle? Will we ever have enough?
The book of Ecclesiastes meets those questions head-on—with refreshing honesty.
Written by “the Teacher” (Qoheleth), Ecclesiastes doesn’t offer clichés or easy answers. Instead, it introduces us to a key idea that shapes everything else: hevel—a Hebrew word meaning vapor, smoke, or breath. Something real, but fleeting. Visible, but impossible to grasp.
Think of smoke. You can see it. It looks solid. But the moment you try to grab it, it slips right through your fingers. That, the Teacher says, is what money is like. It’s real and useful—but if you try to build your life on it, you’ll eventually discover you’re standing on nothing.
The Big Idea: Money is a helpful tool, but a horrible god.
Below are five timeless insights from Ecclesiastes that help us hold work and wealth with wisdom and humility.
1. Work and Wealth Are Good Gifts from God
Ecclesiastes is clear: work itself is not the problem. In fact, the Teacher calls it a gift.
Ecclesiastes 5:19 (NLT)
“And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it… this is indeed a gift from God.”
Notice where wealth comes from—from God. That means we are not the source of our wealth; we are stewards of it. The Bible never commands us to be poor, unemployed, or lazy. Instead, it consistently warns against idleness.
Work is good. Earning is good. Enjoying the fruit of your labor is good—when it’s received as a gift, not treated as a god.
2. Don’t Sacrifice Your Peace for a Paycheck
While work is good, toil is not.
Ecclesiastes 4:6 (NLT)
“Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”
There’s hevel again. Hustle culture promises fulfillment but often delivers exhaustion. When success steals your sleep, your joy, and your sanity, something is off.
The Teacher observes that those who work hard tend to sleep well—but the wealthy often lie awake at night, anxious and restless. More money doesn’t always mean more peace.
3. Money Can’t Buy True Happiness
If money could satisfy the human heart, then having more would finally be enough. But Ecclesiastes says otherwise.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NLT)
“Those who love money will never have enough.”
The problem isn’t having money—it’s loving it. Wealth constantly promises happiness just one step ahead: a little more, a little better, a little bigger. But that finish line never arrives.
The New Testament echoes this wisdom, warning that the love of money leads to sorrow, spiritual drift, and deep regret. Money makes a terrible savior.
4. Enjoy What You Have Right Now
Here’s one of the most practical lessons in Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 6:9 (NLT)
“Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have.”
Wealth can’t buy happiness—but what you already have can be enjoyed. Contentment isn’t getting everything you want; it’s learning to appreciate what God has already given.
Gratitude replaces coveting. Presence replaces comparison. Jesus reinforced this truth when he warned that life is not measured by how much we own.
5. You Can’t Take Any of It With You
Ecclesiastes repeatedly reminds us of a simple reality: we arrive with nothing, and we leave with nothing.
Ecclesiastes 5:15 (NLT)
“We can’t take our riches with us.”
This truth isn’t meant to depress us—it’s meant to free us. There are no hearses pulling U-Hauls. One second after you die, your net worth is...

In this episode, Tracy confronts the reality that culture is already discipling our teens about identity and sexuality and challenges parents and mentors to step in with honest, ongoing conversations rooted in biblical truth and grace.
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The PursueGOD Family podcast helps you think biblically about marriage and parenting. Join Bryan and Tracy Dwyer on Wednesday mornings for new topics every week or two.
Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/family.
Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.
Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.
Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at [email protected].
Donate Now
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Talking with Teens About Sexuality: Discipling Kids in a Confusing World
Teens today are growing up in a world flooded with messages about identity, intimacy, and sexuality. From social media feeds and streaming shows to school hallways and group chats, culture is constantly catechizing them—often long before parents or mentors realize it. That leaves adults with a choice: avoid the conversation out of fear or discomfort, or step into it with honesty, compassion, and biblical truth.
In Talking with Teens about Sexuality, counselor Beth Robinson and Latayne C. Scott offer a much-needed roadmap for navigating one of the most intimidating areas of discipleship. Rather than promoting fear-based rules or one-time lectures, the authors equip parents and mentors to engage in thoughtful, ongoing conversations about sex, identity, relationships, boundaries, pornography, dating, gender, and online influences.
A key insight of the book is this: teens aren’t just battling hormones—they’re battling an entire culture that is shaping their beliefs every single day. Algorithms are discipling them. Influencers are normalizing behaviors. Entertainment is redefining identity and intimacy. If Christian adults remain silent or reactive, they shouldn’t be surprised when culture becomes the loudest voice in a teen’s life.
Robinson and Scott insist that intentionality is essential. Parents don’t need to have all the answers, but they do need to be present, informed, and emotionally available. Teens are far more likely to listen when they feel understood rather than lectured. That’s why the book repeatedly emphasizes listening before teaching, empathy before correction, and relationship before instruction.
Another strength of the book is how it reframes God’s design for sexuality. Instead of presenting biblical boundaries as arbitrary rules meant to limit freedom, Robinson and Scott show how Scripture presents them as gifts meant to protect dignity, foster trust, and lead to wholeness. Teens are desperate for a vision of sexuality that offers hope rather than shame—and the Bible provides exactly that.
The authors are also realistic. They acknowledge that parents cannot control everything their teens encounter. Pornography, sexualized content, and identity-driven messaging are nearly unavoidable in today’s digital world. But while parents can’t control the culture, they can guide their teens through it. They can create homes where hard questions are welcomed, mistakes are met with grace, and truth is spoken clearly and lovingly.
Ultimately, Talking with Teens about Sexuality is not just a parenting manual—it’s a discipleship guide. It reminds us that shaping a teen’s view of sexuality is inseparable from shaping...

In this episode, Bryan and Layne show from Acts and the Old Testament that Jesus didn’t set up His church to be led by “one guy,” but by the Holy Spirit—giving every believer direct access to God with Jesus as the Head.
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The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday.
Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.
Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.
Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.
Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at [email protected].
Donate Now
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How Does God Lead His Church Today?
Many people assume that if God is real, and if the church matters, then God must lead His people through one central human authority—one prophet, one president, one pope, one voice you can always trust. That’s a natural assumption, especially if you grew up in a system where spiritual certainty came from the top down.
In Mormonism, that “one guy” model is baked into the culture. You’re taught to trust the prophet’s voice. You stand when he enters. You sing songs about him. You learn, subtly, to confuse the voice of the Spirit with the voice of a leader. And over time, it can become so normal that you don’t even notice what’s happening: you start substituting God’s voice for the voice of man.
But here’s the key question: Is that how Jesus set up His church to work?
When we open the Bible, the answer is clear—no. Jesus did not design His church to depend on one human “main character” who can’t be questioned. Instead, Jesus promised something far more personal, more powerful, and more stable: He would lead His church by the Holy Spirit, with Jesus as the Head.
Jesus’ Blueprint Starts in Acts
If you want to understand how God leads the church, you have to start in Acts 1:8. Right before Jesus ascends to heaven, He gives His disciples their mission: they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, and they will be His witnesses—starting in Jerusalem and spreading outward to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8
Notice what’s missing: Jesus doesn’t single out Peter and say, “I’ll speak through him now.” He doesn’t announce an ongoing chain of centralized authority. Instead, He points them to the Spirit’s power and the global mission ahead.
Then comes Acts 2, and it’s one of the most important moments in church history. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes—not on one leader—but on all believers gathered together. That’s the point. The Spirit is not reserved for one office or one “elite” class. God’s presence is now available to every follower of Jesus. Acts 2:1-4
That alone challenges the entire “one guy” model.
The Apostles Were a Foundation, Not a Forever Office
Mormons and Catholics both appeal to the idea of apostolic succession. But the New Testament treats the original apostles as something unique: a foundation.
Paul says the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” Ephesians 2:20
A foundation is laid once. You don’t rebuild it every generation.
Acts itself supports this. After Judas dies (after betraying Jesus), the apostles replace him to restore the Twelve. Acts 1:15-26 But later, when James is martyred, the church...

A Brutally Honest Take on Pleasure
Ecclesiastes has a way of cutting through our assumptions and exposing reality. Where Proverbs often presents life in clean cause-and-effect terms—do this and you’ll get that—Ecclesiastes responds with a sobering reminder: life isn’t that simple. This book gives us a clear-eyed look at life “under the sun,” meaning life as it exists in a fallen, broken world.
Last week, we were introduced to two key ideas that shape the entire book. The first is Qoheleth, the “Teacher,” whose reflections form Ecclesiastes. The second is hevel, a word translated “meaningless,” but more accurately understood as vapor or smoke—something fleeting, elusive, and impossible to grasp. The Teacher’s message is not that life has no value, but that life under the sun cannot bear the weight of our ultimate expectations. We were made for more than this world alone.
This week, the Teacher turns his attention to pleasure.
The Promise of Pleasure
In the ancient world, pleasure was often elevated as the highest good. Today, we use words like hedonic to describe short-term, sensory enjoyment, and hedonism to describe the belief that pleasure should be the primary goal of life. The logic is simple: if it feels good, do it; if it hurts, avoid it.
That mindset feels especially familiar in modern culture. We chase experiences, comfort, entertainment, success, and romance with the hope that the next thing will finally satisfy us. Yet experience tells us something isn’t working. The more we pursue pleasure directly, the more restless we become.
Thousands of years before neuroscientists studied dopamine or psychologists described the “hedonic treadmill,” King Solomon ran a real-world experiment to see if pleasure could satisfy the human soul.
Solomon’s Great Experiment
In Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 (NLT), Solomon describes his pursuit of pleasure in sweeping, exhaustive terms. He explored laughter and entertainment, concluding that constant amusement ultimately rang hollow. He turned to alcohol, attempting to numb the weight of life while still clinging to wisdom. He invested in massive building projects, vineyards, gardens, and infrastructure—accomplishments that would rival any modern empire.
He accumulated wealth, assets, and power beyond any king before him. He surrounded himself with music, beauty, and sexual pleasure, withholding nothing his heart desired. By every standard—ancient or modern—Solomon lived the dream. “Anything I wanted, I would take,” he writes. Ecclesiastes 2:10.
And yet, after surveying it all, his conclusion is devastating: “But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.” Ecclesiastes 2:11.
Once again, the word hevel appears. Vapor. Smoke. Nothing solid enough to build a life on.
Why Pleasure Can’t Deliver
Solomon’s conclusion mirrors what many experience today. Pleasure produces a genuine emotional spike, but it doesn’t last. Over time, what once felt exciting becomes ordinary. To feel the same rush again, we need more—more success, more stimulation, more affirmation. This cycle leaves us constantly chasing, but never arriving.
The problem isn’t pleasure itself. The problem is asking pleasure to do what it was never designed to do. Pleasure can enhance life, but it cannot anchor it. When we treat pleasure as ultimate, disappointment is inevitable.
The Other Extreme
When pleasure fails, some people swing in the opposite...