XN: Shadowed

"Under the conviction of thy Spirit I learn that the more I do, the worse I am, the more I know, the less I know, the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am, the more I love, the more there is to love...." Let's talk about what it's like to be a faithful Christian with a heart that keeps pulling us away from God.

Everyone is busy and everyone has responsibilities - but sometimes the list gets so long, the time so short, and the opposition so large, that life feels absolutely impossible. What can we do then? How do we keep from giving up?  Philippians 1:6 might help.

We, as friends, partners, workers, content creators, and ministry leaders, want to do things in service to God and others, right? We want to be God's hands and feet in the world so that we can be used to "bear fruit". But, did you know that a productivity-focused mindset, even one focused on loving God and others, can actually be detrimental to your spiritual health?

Everyone who creates has times when they struggle with motivation and confidence - sometimes so debilitating that it causes them to stop creating altogether! Whether you are a Twitch Streamer, YouTuber, Digital Artist, Musician, Cook, or any other type of creative, here are 9 practical ways to boost your confidence so you can get out there and make the world a better place!

In this very personal video, Al (XtianNinja) Descheneau shares his heart, story, and reason for working so hard to bring the gospel to people who can only be reached through online ministry. You will learn why he has such a special concern for the lost, lonely, and disenfranchised on Twitch and what you can do to help him reach them.

There is a huge difference in approach between your personal devotional time and doing a personal Bible study, and knowing that difference is going to change everything about how you connect with God. XtianNinja explains the difference and then gives an example of what it looks like.

What does it mean that we are "Free in Christ"? How free? Does that mean we can do whatever we want? Is there anything we can do to lose that freedom?

What's the secret to living for God - for REAL? What steps do we need to take in order to discover God's plan for our lives and how to live it out in an effective and fruitful way? This message might help.

Each day on stream we take time to go through a Verse of the Day, explain its meaning, and find an application. This verse is a very encouraging one on the surface, but what does it mean, really?

Sometimes God has the reputation of being angry all the time - and a lot of people who grew up in the church were told that when they do something wrong God is disappointed and will come down on them hard if they don't behave. Is that true?

Sometimes life throws stuff at us that we just can't handle. Illness, relationship issues, responsibilities, big needs, cause all of us to shrink back and ask ourselves, "Why would God bring this into my life?". There are a lot of people who have faced the same situation. What are we to do?

If you've ever asked, "Do good people go to heaven?", give this a listen. XtianNinja talks through the thought process we see in Romans 1-3 and explains why understanding it is critical to understanding what Christians call "salvation".

Everyone in the world wants "peace" - but when we try to make it ourselves it doesn't seem to work very well or last very long. How does the peace that Jesus promises us in the Bible differ from the peace we keep trying to make for ourselves?

Most of the time we believe the thoughts that bounce around our heads, thinking that our beliefs, opinions, perspectives, and ideas are right and best. Mature people know that's not true and have realized that we really can't trust our own hearts and minds.

We've been thinking and talking about this for months now, but it seems to be time to start making this idea become a reality. If you're tired of dead discords and pointless partnerships, give this a watch and then come chat about it with us. You can help us build the greatest Christian Creator Network on the internet!

Jesus said that if you've met poor, sick, imprisoned, or hungry people, then "as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." (Matt 25:40)  And how you reacted to those people shows a lot about your heart and your faith.

Jo Luehmann tweeted out a pretty intense message declaring her love of Christians, but hatred for the Christian gospel. It just so happened that Logos' Verse of the Day hit this topic perfectly. So, let's talk about that through the lens of 1 Corinthians 15:19-20.

Christians often quote Romans 8:28 ("And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." to each other as a way to bring encouragement to someone going through a tough time. So, why then does it come as such cold comfort at times? What does it really mean?

The leading men of Jerusalem took turns attacking, arguing, and trying to discredit Jesus, in hopes He would fall for their trap so they could accuse and kill Him. It didn't work.

What do a dead fig tree and overturned tables have to do with worship? And what does it mean for us today?

There is a certain kind of "religious person" that thinks that they are God's favourite - but are actually the kind of person He despises most! And, there are people serving the most difficult parts of society, who think God doesn't notice them at all, that are some of His favourites!  Which are you?

What do you have in your life right now, that if someone broke it, took it, insulted or devalued it, you would cut off that relationship? What habit, tradition, or affiliation do you have that actually causes you to pull away from or even harm people?

Sometimes talking to God feels like a shopping list, complaint form, or even a 911 call - but does prayer mean something more?

JaidenAnimation's "Being Not Straight" video lends itself to a lot of topics for discussion and XtianNinja takes on all of them in this 2-hour video. He talks about his own "asexual/aromantic" experiences, human sexuality, LGBTQ+ and the church, and more

This week, I celebrated my very first "Streamiversary" and reading the parable of the two debtors had me thinking about why God called me away from church work into full-time online missions.

We often hear that "God has better things to do" than help unimportant people like us - that He might be at work in the world, but only on the really big stuff. Is that true? Are you a priority to God or not?

God is so good and perfect, why would He care for messed up, violent, sinful people like us? What motivates Him to talk to us or to care for us? The answer might surprise you!

Wondering if you should stop streaming? Unsure if you have the skills and talents necessary? Not growing enough? Scared you might fail? You're not alone! Give this video a watch before you give up!

How do you replenish and protect your soul when you are struggling to grow spiritually? What can you do to get out of a spiritual "dry season", where God feels distant, the Enemy is winning battles, and/or you are struggling to grow in faith and hope?

You, as you sit there right now are a ball of potential energy - but where should you release that energy? How do you know what to do? Should you trust your instincts? Go with your gut? Follow your feelings? Or is there another way?

I know it’s been a while since I released an episode, and there’s good reason for that – I think that the podcast season of my ministry needs to be put on hold. I want to start with a huge thank you to everyone who has been listening to the podcast for the past, like, 7 years or so. So many of you have been with me the whole time and have been such an encouragement to me throughout the years.

In this week’s episode, I finally get around to continuing our Pilgrims Progress study and then share a clip from a recent stream where I explain a new Christian Content Creator Mentorship Program that I’m going to be moving into the next phase of very soon.

In this week’s episode, I’m excited to share some amazing things happening with XtianNinja Online Missions and then something a little different – a talk-show interview I did when I was a guest on the Not the Bee Unofficial Podcast, where I share about – well – a little of everything (including my hatred for celery)! It’s a 2-hour conversation and I had a lot of fun, so I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

Last week I shared the number one most downloaded message on my website, this week is number two, entitled, “If God speaks today, why don’t we hear him?”. Plus, a HUGE update on some of the amazing things happening in my life right now. 

This week, I need a little time to concentrate on building up my 3D Printing Business so it can be a bit more successful and provide more for my family – and, after seeing such rapid and encouraging growth on my channel lately, I felt it was time I updated and improved the biography and vision pages on my website, “About Me” on Twitch, and contact churches, ministries, and individuals – inside and outside my circle – and introduce myself and explain Christian Ninja Online Missions.

I believe with all my heart that God has called me to stop seeking a traditional pastoral position (as I’ve had for the past 16 years) and serve the online gaming and streaming community full-time. I’ve had my vision, calling, and gifting affirmed by many Christian elders and have raised some support already. So, my current task (and biggest need) is to find people who share my excitement for what God is doing on this new frontier of global missions and want to enable me to pour my whole heart into this work through their financial support.

It’s not something I’ve ever done before, so please keep me in prayer.

But, I didn’t want to skip putting out a podcast episode today – because that’s a bad habit that I don’t want to start – so I went through my website analytics and decided to share what is probably, my most popular message, all about Jesus’ relationship with children and what that means to us today.

Thank you for listening and I hope this connects with you in some helpful way..

In this week’s episode, I’m going to share an interesting idea about why my Twitch channel is going PG-13 an interesting article about the difference between strong language and foul language, and continue our interesting study of Pilgrim’s Progress by exploring more of the sixth chapter where Christian is stopped at the gates of the Beautiful Palace.