Bard & Bible

For those of you who have been around the Bard & Bible long enough, you've seen me process some of the hardest times of my life by thinning the lines between the real world and my fictional world to have a conversation between myself and my fictional, well, self from… Continue reading

This tale is the last of the current batch of Wandering Bards Guild posts. My voice has healed completely from strep and I'm ready to provide ludicrous voices for intros and talk through scriptures at long stretches again. We're going to take a break from our study of Genesis for… Continue reading

We continue this run of Wandering Bards with a gentleman I first asked to join the guild quite a while ago. He had a lot going on back then, and much like times I've shared where recording delays have only helped bring greater understanding of the text as I brought… Continue reading

I want to thank Derek for putting together this devotion on Genesis 18 for me while I am recovering from strep throat. He stepped in at zero hour to help me keep our recording schedule on time and delivered something that both sounds entirely different than my voice on the… Continue reading

Name changes are a big deal. Name changes for the parents of God's chosen people are an even bigger deal. In this episode we take a look at what the name changes mean, why they're important, and how they will impact the undercurrent of all stories involving these two in… Continue reading

Genesis 15 is a big chapter in the overall narrative of Genesis and the Bible as a whole. It is the home of the Abrahamic Covenant – where God formalizes his promises to the patriarch and lets him know He can be trusted to follow through on them. But it's… Continue reading

We're back! Back to the Bard & Bible, back to the Nine Realms, and back to the book of Genesis. In chapter 14 we get to see Melchizedek, but we're not gonna go into anything about Mel, who he is, how he is this mysterious priest king, or whether or… Continue reading

The Keeper has finally made it to Eldrinar to confront some old ghosts. In the previous tales in the trilogy, we've seen our boy go through themes present throughout the texts of the Bible and the lives we live as followers of Christ. Forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, new life. Now, though,… Continue reading

Continuing on my brief hiatus from the stories of Genesis, our friend the Keeper is off to the Palladium to visit his friend Lysander and talk about old times over tea. It was Lysander's doing that lead to the keeper leaving the choir of warsingers to join the ranks of… Continue reading

The Keeper finds himself traveling in the Sea of Grass – a portion of the realm of Austwaine marked by rolling hills and high grasslands. Sitting beside his campfire one night, he is joined by someone who started out an enemy but would leave as something else. Forgiveness is something… Continue reading

After having to deal with COVID coming to visit our family (everyone is fine now, but it was pretty much ever present for some time), I'm getting back on the podcasting horse with a bit of a journey. My keeper is going to do some of his own wandering for… Continue reading

When she's not composing ballads behind the bar with Benny, Shaneen is the driving force behind The Hoot & Howl – a blog for all things nerdy across a variety of subjects. She can also be found chatting and streaming with the folks at 1 Geek 4:11. In this third… Continue reading

Continuing our partnership with our friends at Mythos & Ink to celebrate the release of their new volume of Thy Geekdom Come, I sat down to talk to James Felix from the Geek At Arms podcast about his contribution to volume 2 — engaging with the radical, life changing forgiveness… Continue reading

Between a planned trip out to New Jersey to see my family over the holiday weekend and an assortment of work and health (both mental and physical) issues, I had another instance of spending more time in a text than my original scheduling offered me. As usual, God has used… Continue reading

We’re still celebrating the release of Thy Geekdom Come 2 from our friends at Mythos and Ink. What better way to celebrate our friend’s new release than with a discussion with our OTHER friends about their contributions to the book? First up is Ashley Mowers who talks about the two… Continue reading

Over the years I’ve been doing Bard & Bible I’ve noticed some hermeneutical “lenses” I use to help me refresh my mind and challenge me to not simply drop back into the ruts of study and application that I know and have in my toolbelt like some sort of dollar… Continue reading

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what it must have been like for Jesus as he prayed for the metaphorical cup to pass from him? Have you wondered why the same God who knew the road would always lead to cross would ask three more times there in the… Continue reading

The Tower of Babel is a story of pride. Mankind’s pride and dismissal of all that God had given them, in their own ability, and their own authority. We’ve heard about God judging these people in a way that lead them to get over themselves and listen to God –… Continue reading

When first the nations were born that would become the Nine Realms – eight leaders came to parley and define their boundaries. There was one who had stayed at home among the trees and dared any would-be-ruler to try and claim them. Thus were the Free Peoples of the Greatwood… Continue reading

To celebrate our 50th tale and three years of the Bard & Bible – we get to have another moment where the Mike Perna of the real world gets to talk to our resident dwarf bard. This time we talk about how the B&B started, the trip it’s been, and… Continue reading

It is easy to get lost in the weeds of Leviticus. It’s easy to get caught up in, let’s call it detailed, recountings of issues and practices that are no longer a part of daily life. But even the wandering bards know that we at the Bard & Bible are… Continue reading

There are moments where decisive action is necessary. The challenge is that these decisions can be made in a moment but have long lasting ramifications, and how do you navigate that? If you’ve ever been a part of a Dungeons and Dragons adventuring party, you know the terrifying feeling when… Continue reading

It is so easy to hide who we are when we want to. Some times that hiding looks like the image of quiet isolation often conjured up by the concept, but others it is loud, raucous, and smiling. We hide for safety, for security, and the fear of the loss… Continue reading

It’s the holiday season, so I knew I wanted to do a B.A.R.D. Project – which stands for Biblical Articulation Read Deliberately – about the holidays. There are a large number of well trod holiday texts I could have pulled from, but the Bard & Bible is often a place… Continue reading

The story of Noah has been a part of my life since before I can remember. It is my father’s favorite story in the Bible, and therefore is also the reason my son bears the same name as its primary character. I was excited to put this well-known and widely… Continue reading

We continue on a journey through the stories in the book of Genesis with a reflection on the story of Cain and Abel. What happens when the child of promise brings about the rise of evil in the world? Why does God, who is all-knowing, ask what happened to his… Continue reading

The United States – and even the World – is processing so much hurt, frustration, sadness, pain, and more. It is in this world of broken systems, painful conversations, deflections, distractions, and hostilities that we wrestle with the idea of who God is and how He loves us. So let’s… Continue reading

As we start down this road together through the stories of the book of Genesis – it only makes sense that we need to start at Creation. The beginning. The titular genesis. Even folks I know who have tangentially experienced church through their lifetime know the story of God birthing… Continue reading

Triptych is a three-part series depicting scenes from the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as seen from the perspective of a person involved in it. Naturally, some creative liberties have been taken, but everything is based out of a study of the text. Part 3 takes… Continue reading

Triptych is a three-part series depicting scenes from the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as seen from the perspective of a person involved in it. Naturally, some creative liberties have been taken, but everything is based out of a study of the text. Part two takes… Continue reading

Triptych is a three-part series depicting scenes from the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as seen from the perspective of a person involved in it. Naturally, some creative liberties have been taken, but everything is based out of a study of the text. Part one takes… Continue reading

There are times that an episode gets delayed due entirely to logistical reasons. Then there are times when God Himself seems to hold it back – whether for my own benefit or the benefit of the audience. As the world reels in the midst of a global pandemic, I think… Continue reading

The scene is dark and tired. Everyone involved has reached the proverbial end of their ropes. A haggard Phil Cooper, played by Danny DeVito, is left alone with the young researcher Bob Walker, played by Peter Facinelli, after Bob spent the evening talking to the man they were sent to… Continue reading

This is something different in the Bard-&-Bible-verse. In it, we meet Benny Longfellow – the Innkeeper’s gnomish steward. I’ll give you a tease for the next full episode – as this is just a quick reflection on a timely event – that will be my “thank you” for keeping Bard… Continue reading

I learned the art of creative paraphrase in college – taking the end of Habakkuk and turning it into a comedic monologue. The story was mostly the same, but different in ways that made it unique and special. That’s the goal of the Parables of the Nine Realms. If you’re… Continue reading

Doubt is a word you don’t often hear a devotional podcast use in a positive light. Then again – when have we ever been your usual devotional podcast? Looking at the way we tell stories of people in the midst of doubt in the Bible, I’m here to say that… Continue reading

I want folks to spend more time listening to the stories that birth this tale rather than keying off certain phrases without hearing. As such, I’m going to leave this description vague by telling you that the title will speak for itself. That said – yes. Fans of villain songs… Continue reading

The B.A.R.D. Project was born from a past episode of Bard & Bible where I simply read the text of the book of Lamentations. B.A.R.D. stands for biblical articulation read deliberately. It may be a biblical text, it may be a work of literature, or it may just be something… Continue reading

In February of 2019, the United Methodist Church called for a special general conference. Among the things they talked about was the place of LGBTQ individuals within clergy and the life of the church. A lot of people had a lot of opinions, and after days of discussion, the vote… Continue reading

Call it a comeback. Call it a new season after a hiatus. Call it whatever you want to call it, but the doors are opening again at the Bard & Bible. Technically this could be considered a “bonus” episode – as it strays markedly from the usual B&B format to… Continue reading

It’s been a while. When the world crashes down – you just have to find a way to move forward. Sometimes that means getting creative. It’s time to look at Joel – but not like we’ve looked at anything before here at the B&B.  Continue reading

At PAX Unplugged I dressed as a dwarf bard and listened to stories. I wandered the exhibitor hall and the free play area with a sign and reveled in hundreds of stories from the mundane to the profound. As we continue in the Unread Tales series, I’m gonna be doing… Continue reading

We continue the Unread Tales series with an episode I wrote, recorded, recruited folks for, rewrote, and rerecorded. I think it was a God thing and not just a frazzled brain thing – or at least not just – but only time will tell. We’re looking at 3 John today… Continue reading

Have you ever been reading through your Bible, come up against a genealogy or other such list of stuff you either don’t care enough about or don’t have the mental capacity to parse through it at the moment so you just skip it? I think we all have. We find… Continue reading

Our Unread Tales series continues on — with the book of Lamentations. No — SERIOUSLY. It’s the book of Lamentations. Gear up, kids. It’s time to enter into the hurt of an entire nation. Continue reading

With this tale, I open up another series at the Bard & Bible. I have a list of books oft left unread in your Bible. Minor prophets like Joel and Haggai, books mistakenly judged to be dull and meaningless like Numbers. I want to look at them and crack into… Continue reading

Wind is a funny thing. It can destroy fleets or push them home to port. No wonder the Bible says that those who study and strengthen themselves against having their faith caught at the mercy of “every wind of doctrine.” However, in this episode of the Bard & Bible, I… Continue reading

I’m back at the helm of the Bard & Bible, and I have to say it’s bittersweet. I love doing this, and I’m happy to be back, but I was so pleased with the amazing work of those who I got to mind the shop for me while I was… Continue reading

                  We have come to the end of our experiment, and I have to say that I hope you have been as blessed as I have been with all of those who have found their way tot he Bard & Bible in… Continue reading

            So you might be asking yourself, “Is everyone in the Wandering Bards Guild actually a bard?” Well, not exactly. In this newest tale – the penultimate of this year’s Wandering Bards tales – the bar is being tended by not one host, but two.… Continue reading

                  Welcome to our second venture into the Wandering Bards Guild – wherein I let some of my friends and fellows in the ways of theological geekery take over the Bard & Bible for a time as I’m off doing other –… Continue reading