Disciples' Quest, Winnipeg, MB (2025)

01/01/2024

It's a new year and we are still on hiatus. In September we had our honeymoon and thought we would work on Disciples Quest afterward but haven't yet. Things have been busy. This month we are planning to start looking for a house. If we do return to podcasting all updates will be on social media.

Picture: in Nova Scotia

08/27/2023

Season 3 ends with the conclusion of Romans 5. Listen now on & Podcasts

We will be back with new content in November.

08/20/2023

Romans 5 part one is out now! Listen on

07/28/2023

As mentioned at the end of our episode on Romans chapter 4, Justyn is leaving the podcast! He will be missed. With this change, William and Emily will be releasing episodes together going forward and seeking God for answers as to where to go with the podcast.

07/24/2023

Faith in Jesus Christ is what saves us, not the work that we do for Him! Listen to this episode on &

07/16/2023

The final part of our discussion on speaking in tongues focuses on our own lived experiences with this gifting. Listen on and

07/11/2023

Our latest episode is part two of three on speaking in tongues. We hope listening helps you think more about The Holy Spirit and the gifts He imparts.

07/02/2023

The start of a new series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to speak in tongues and is it still a gift God gives us today?

06/29/2023

Dwelling in You

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” These were the last words of Jesus before He ascended back to Heaven as recorded by Luke in Acts 1:8. This promise showed the importance of Jesus leaving them with the third person of the Trinity. Jesus had to go back to the Father, now it was The Holy Spirit’s time to dwell on Earth. This dwelling did not come in the form of a man, but as the name implies, a spirit who dwells within believers of the Gospel.

The disciples did receive the Holy Spirit at the time of Pentecost which is recorded in Acts chapter two: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (verse 8). This started the fulfilment of the promises that the Holy Spirit came to dwell in them and that they could witness to the ends of the earth. The barrier of language was no longer an issue, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit gifting them the ability to speak in the tongues of other cultures. After this, the Holy Spirit never left them and continued to work miracles through them. This can be seen all throughout the book of Acts.

So, what does this mean for us today? The main thing I want to focus on is that the Holy Spirit is HERE and he is ALWAYS with you. He NEVER LEAVES you. You don’t have to ask Him to come when you need help, He is already present.

While the Holy Spirit gives power… He isn’t some force that surrounds you that you can do cool tricks with. It is only by God’s will that you receive the Holy Spirit and while He isn’t going to leave you, you can’t force Him to give you the gift of healing, prophecy, tongues etc. He gives certain gifts to certain people, which shows how we are to work together as a community and as Christ’s body here on Earth (1 Corinthians 12). You are a part of the body and you are being led by the Holy Spirit. Listen to Him and follow his leading. You are a part of his plans and He loves you!

This week, we are starting a series on the gifts of the Spirit. Listen to part one of our discussion on speaking in tongues this Saturday!

06/24/2023

There will be no episode this weekend due to celebrating Father's Day last weekend. Next will be an episode about the gift of speaking in tongues! Have a great weekend!

06/21/2023

What Our Gifts Are For

By William and Emily Cook

The Bible says that believers are given different gifts and not all the same ones. But what are they for? And why do we receive them? To cover every purpose of why the gifts of the Spirit are given would extend this blog too long, so we will talk about one broad reason. Before we get into the reasoning, let us first see what these gifts are.

In First Corinthians 12, Paul lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are the 9 gifts:

The ability to give wise advice.
A message of special knowledge.
Great faith.
The gift of healing.
The power to perform miracles.
The ability to prophesy.
The ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.
The ability to speak in unknown languages.
The ability to interpret what is being said.
Taken from 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; New Living Translation.

Before giving this list, Paul says in verse 7 that, “a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” The gifts of the Spirit are to edify and help the church, they are tools to aid us in our life on earth. Now, when we say church, that isn’t restricted to a church building but rather refers to believers in Christ as a whole. We are all God’s church and the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us.

Just like with our unique, God-given talents and purpose, the gifts of the Spirit cannot be given by man and we can not choose the way that God will work through us. These gifts come from The Holy Spirit alone and only He can determine which one(s) we have (1 Corinthians 12:11). If we were all the same and had the exact same gifts, the church could not function as a whole, and would be sided in one direction. We cannot all be prophets, we cannot all be healers, and so on. God knows which gift would best serve the church through us.

The gifts of the spirit are not to be revered and worshiped themselves, you should not go to church for the purpose of enjoying the feeling of the gifts of the Spirits, we should not worship tools, no matter how good it feels to use them. A close friend of ours said, “The gifts are a means to an end for our short lives on earth. What is more, important is love. People sometimes miss the meaning of an important part of the love passage.”

Ah, yes, the love passage, found in 1 Corinthians 13. Here are a few key verses in that passage that emphasize the point of our giftings.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:8 “but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with.”

1 Corinthians 13:13 “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

In the end, it is all about love. What gift you have doesn’t matter as much as the love that you put into it. God created you to be in a relationship with Him and we are all a part of His body. Be His hands and His feet here on Earth. You were put here for this very moment, use the giftings He has given you and always do so with love!

06/19/2023

New episode on Romans chapter 3. If salvation isn't achieved through good behaviour, then why practice good behaviour at all?

06/15/2023

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Bible clearly shows that God is three beings in one being. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been here since the beginning and can be seen all over the Bible through Old and New Testament texts. An example of a verse that shows that the Holy Spirit is God is 2 Corinthians 3:17 which says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” As the Holy Spirit is God, He has some amazing traits such as giving freedom, being an advocate, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, and being our counsellor (John 14:26 and Isaiah 11:2).

A passage that clearly shows the relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit is Matthew 3:16-17 where Jesus was baptized: “At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” The Father is in Heaven, Jesus was on Earth, and the Spirit travelled from Heaven to Earth.

When Jesus left to go be with his Father in Heaven, the Spirit came to dwell within us. In Acts 1:8, Jesus was preparing to leave and the last words that He said to his followers were: “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to Earth in a new way which is documented in the 2nd chapter of Acts in which the disciples started to speak in new languages that were those of other cultures, thus witnessing to those people. The Apostle Peter explained by quoting Isaiah that, “In the last days it shall be, says God that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Isaiah 44:3). Peter said later in this chapter to “repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

The power of the Holy Spirit lives in us and He communicates with us on a personal level. We don’t have to go to church to experience God’s presence as His presence is with us always thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit. He hears us and listens. He speaks to us; we just need to listen. It is a beautiful relationship with our creator that we have the privilege to carry. We don’t have to ask the Holy Spirit to come as He already came on the day that you were saved by God’s grace.

I’d like to end this blog with a blessing that Paul gives in Romans: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (15:13). There is hope, joy, peace and so much more that comes when we have faith in God. I pray for you, dear reader, that you are blessed and truly experience the Spirit’s presence all the days of your life.

In an upcoming episode, we will be starting a topical series on the gifts of the Spirit. Stay tuned for more information!

06/11/2023

God is righteous, not people. Find out more on our new episode on &

06/08/2023

This past week, I attended Siloam Mission’s first-ever Reconciliation gathering. It was a two-day event with two keynote speakers, four sessions, times of prayer, and a time of worship. I could see how God worked throughout the event and learned much about the history of colonization in North America and what we can do about its impacts today as Christians.

Something that really stood out to me was that truth must come before reconciliation. If you do not know what needs to be reconciled, you must seek the truth first. Education is a big part of this. Listen to people’s stories, they will tell you much about their lived experiences and you will learn much if you listen to understand. John 16:13 says that “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” Truth is an important spiritual aspect that is found throughout The Bible and in the Seven Sacred Teachings.

One resource that participants brought home was: 30 days of Reconciliation and Learning (link below) which was put together by Jenny Foidart & Christine Vanagas. It is written for the Canadian context. You can view it online and follow through with the thirty days, I plan to. Reconciliation is not about racing to a finish line, it is a process of healing and heart work that will take time. By working on your own understanding of reconciliation, you can be an ally and put in action to show the love of Jesus Christ.

Christine is the Director of Indigenous Relations at Siloam and she did the first two sessions of the gathering. She is an Indigenous Christian who shared her story and what God led her to understand through her journey navigating life from this perspective. There are some similarities between Christian and Indigenous beliefs about creation and other areas of life. As Romans 1:20 states: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Indigenous people in North America likely witnessed God, the Creator, and passed this on throughout their communities.

What happened in the past to our Indigenous brothers and sisters is horrendous. The traumas that were created continue to impact our world today. We need to find truth and work towards healing for those here and for generations to come. A final verse: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5). This is for all areas of life, seek God first and you will be guided in the right direction and to the right people.

Blessings,

Emily Cook

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:10292192-3ec3-3a1f-bd02-61bf32cdd49d

06/04/2023

How do The Ten Commandments and other laws from the Old Test impact us as Christians today? Find this out and more in the latest episode of on &

06/03/2023

Soundbite! We have all broken the laws from the Old Testament. Moral standards are important to living life well.

Full Episode releasing midnight CST

06/01/2023

Emily’s Changing Role

I have been considering for some time what my role in the Disciples’ Quest ministry should be. Recording an episode every week had begun to seem more like a chore to me than something I was inspired to do. In content creation, this is something that you do not want to occur as it makes the content not as good as it once was. I have given over a year to be consistent in my involvement with our podcast episodes, my increase in lack of passion showed in all areas of my work for the ministry.

This is something that I have been praying about a lot and I believe that the following is where God is leading for my role in Disciples’ Quest… I still want to be involved but in a different capacity. I will no longer be on the podcast every week and I don’t know how often or when I will return to co-host. I will continue to lead our social media by managing and creating posts. By not spending time prepping for and recording the podcast, I will have more time for social media and the blog, thus being able to create more and release both more frequently. Topics for the blog will not be restricted to the chapters we are discussing on the podcast but rather will be on topics that I feel God is leading me to write about.

When making discussions, you should ask God to lead you down the right paths as he is where your help comes from (Psalm 121:2). Creating this ministry was something that William, Justyn, and I prayed about a lot and it continues to be important to us. It is our way of ministering to people through digital content creation. We are also involved in church ministries and Bible studies. We are committed to following The Holy Spirit wherever He takes us. Our mission has been and continues to be to make and equip disciples as we have been called to for Jesus (Mathew 28:19-20).

Disciples' Quest