Digging In

We are putting a pause on releasing new episodes for the time being. However, if you are interested in other podcasts, here are some good ones we like: The Bible Project Shema Discipleship with Terry Evans Practicing the Way Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

In this week's episode, Simon, Tyler, and special guest AJ Graffanino discuss the well-known parable of the lost son. They talk about the important cultural relevance at the time and how this unveils the love of the Father, the role of repentance, and receiving sonship.

In this week's episode, Terry walks us through Luke 14. Jesus has been invited to a Sabbath meal at a Pharisee's house and takes this opportunity to teach everyone there about the kingdom way of doing things.

In this week's episode, Mickey teaches on the importance of consistent and persistent prayer. He shares potential hindrances, helpful resources, and different ways our staff approaches prayer.

In this week's episode, we converse about what is at the heart of our ministry - discipleship. Working through the outline developed by John Mark Comer, we navigate these chapters in Luke discussing what it means to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus, and to do what Jesus would do if He were me.

In this week's episode, Tyler shares thoughts about what it means to be hearers and doers of God's word. He shares how it brings unity and intimacy with God and each other.

In this week's episode, Brian teaches about Jesus' approach to changing the course of history. Jesus intentionally handpicked each disciple to be with Him, to walk with Him and to work with Him. In doing so, he created in them the ability and charge to go and do the same. May we go and do the same.

In this week's episode, you get a sneak peak into an organic conversation that we have on our Digging In calls. We usually talk and record afterwards. However, Simon recorded without anyone knowing. So, here is a raw, real look at our conversations. Enjoy listening in as we discuss God's gift of repentance.

In this week's episode, our staff has a conversation surrounding the births of Jesus, John the Baptist and the church. The common denominator of them all was the Holy Spirit. Who is He? What is His role? What does that mean for us?

In this week's episode, Mickey teaches on the powerful story in which Jesus restores Peter. The scene transforms all of Peter's senses, to redeeming his betrayal and identity while calling him to something far greater.

In this episode, we let you in on our weekly conversation as we discuss the resurrection of Jesus and his immediate interaction with Mary Magdalene at the tomb. These weekly conversations are what informs and shapes the weekly messages that we put out on this podcast, and so we thought it might be cool to keep letting you in on those meetings.

In this week's episode, Tony leads a special conversation with a group of former players and beloved friends. They discuss Jesus' words on glory, unity and knowing the Father in this intimate prayer before Jesus' death. They share how this prayer can have and has had direct impact in our immediate world around us.

In this episode Tyler and David discuss one of Jesus' last encouraging words to his disciples. They consider what it means to remain connected to Jesus, to bear fruit and how to cultivate habits of abiding during the season.

In this episode, we try something new and let you in on our weekly conversation about what we are reading together in Scripture. These weekly conversations are what informs and shapes the weekly messages that we put out on this podcast, and so we thought it might be cool to just let you in on one of those meetings. This week we are in John 13-14 and Brian Hommel leads the rest of the team in a conversation about what it would have been like to have your feet washed by Jesus in the middle of your last meal with him. Hope you find this helpful and thanks for listening!

In this week's episode, Simon Guehring talks about how Jesus' triumphal entry in John 12 ought to inform our expectations about Jesus. Simon reflects on this story and shares insights on what we can learn about the definition of success from Jesus' triumphal entry.

In this week's episode, Luke shares insight to hearing and following the voice of the Shepherd. He teaches two different ways to do this: through Scripture and God's people.

In this week's episode, Mickey shares a reflection on what is truth. He highlights how Jesus came as truth to give us truth, His Spirit and Word, to set us free from the lies of the enemy and to live in the reality of that truth.

In this week's episode, Terry highlights Jesus' words in John 5 where he declares that he only does what the Father is doing. Terry explores what Jesus is saying here and asks what it would look like for us to wake up and live each day with the same mindset that Jesus had — focused on what our Father in heaven is doing?

In this week's episode Brian shares a deep reflection from one of the most popular verses in Bible. He emphasizes that we are all prone to love conditionally and we all have some biases within us when it comes to loving others. How do we overcome that? He shares that with man this is impossible... but not with God!

In this week's episode Tony is up, and we are beginning the Gospel of John. Tony challenges us to read the Gospel of John differently this time. To look for symbolism or allusions to the Old Testament and to ask, "Why is he writing it this way?" or "What is happening here?" or "What is John trying to show me?" And then for us to go back to the Old Testament and look to see what is happening so we can fully understand what John is saying. John wants us to see how the story of God has been fully realized in the life and death of Jesus.

In this week's episode Tyler teaches on how Mark invites his readers to a journey of perception. To encounter how Jesus seeks to reconfigure our reality of who He is and the mission He accomplished. This all culminates at the cross and the empty tomb giving each reader of Mark the chance of embarking on the journey to be given eyes to see and ears to hear.

In this week's episode Simon is up and we are in Mark 13-14. Simon takes us through a traditional Passover meal and the five cups associated with that meal. This helps us better understand the significance of the Lord's Supper and Jesus' prayer in the garden to have the "cup" removed from him. We hope you find this conversation helpful and thanks for listening!

In this week's episode Luke Hochevar is up and we are in Mark 11-12. Luke talks about Jesus' teaching on prayer and the visual aid of a withered fig tree. We hope you find this conversation helpful and thanks for listening!

In this episode, Mickey Weston reveals how things in our culture have a way of grabbing our attention like a shiny lure to a fish. Those attractions can have sharp hooks that take our focus away from kingdom of God. Mickey highlights how Jesus reminds each of us to become like a child or a servant in order to resist our desire for greatness and power over others.

In this episode, Brian Hommel sits down with former MLB catcher Nick Hundley and they talk about the feeding of the four-thousand and the naked man who may have played a huge role in that story. Brian and Nick talk about God's compassion and generosity, and Nick share some lessons that he has learned on remembering the goodness of God. Hope you guys find this helpful. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Terry Evans walks us through the story of Jairus. Terry highlights how the challenge that confronted Jairus is the same challenge for all of us. For many of us, as long as God plays according to our rules and expectations then we can trust him. But the moment he begins to act contrary to what we're comfortable with, we're tempted to question him. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Tony Graffanino talks about the fact that Jesus focused his teaching on those who genuinely wanted to know and understand what he was teaching. Tony also points out how Jesus' teachings reveal things about ourselves and force us to respond one way or the other. We must come to grips with who Jesus is. If he is truly our Rabbi and Lord then that will dictate how we respond.

In this week's episode Tyler Keele sits down and has a conversation with San Fransisco Giants' pitcher, Tyler Beede, on what we can learn from the Father's words of affirmation during Jesus' baptism. Tyler and Tyler share their own experiences with personal struggles and insecurities, and how we must learn to see ourselves the way the Father sees us. We hope you find this conversation helpful and thanks for listening! ------- Song: Mirror by KV https://www.youtube.com/c/KVmusicprod

In this week's episode, Simon invites us to consider what went wrong with Judas and how important it is that we have the right perspective of who Jesus is and what he's actually seeking to accomplish in this world. Simon challenges us to consider how we will follow Jesus today and how we will carry out his great commission in our own circles of influence.

In this week's episode, Luke piggy-backs off Mickey's message from last week and talks about what faithfulness looks like in a time of waiting. This week we read through the parable of the Ten Virgins, the parable of the Talents and Jesus' teaching about the Final Judgement. Luke does a good job of pointing out how these teachings show us what it looks like to live a life of faithfulness while we wait for King Jesus to return.

In this week's episode, Mickey addresses the big question that disciples of Jesus have been asking for 2,000 years — “What will be the sign of the end of the age?” Mickey encourages us to think about what we want to be doing when Jesus returns. Jesus teaches us to live ready and stay alert like a faithful servant because we don't know when the Master might return home.

In this week's episode, Graff describes the controversial nature of Jesus' triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem and contrasts that with the way a Roman ruler would have entered into the city. Graff does a great job of demonstrating the clash of kingdoms that is taking place through Jesus' life and ministry and what that means for us who swear allegiance to Jesus and the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches us that we need to learn how to render to Caesar what is Caesar's without compromising our allegiance to God.

In this week's episode, I sit down and have a conversation with Paul Goldschmidt from the St. Louis Cardinals. Paul and I talk about his approach to reading the Bible, how that approach has evolved over the years and how him a few teammates have committed to reading through the Bible together throughout the year. We also hit a little bit on Jesus' definition of greatness and what that looks like in the professional baseball world.

In this week's episode, Brian sits down and has a conversation with Shan from Consider the Lily, a home created to rescue and redeem girls in the Philippines, from exploitation. Brian and Shan take some time to share her story of how Jesus has rescued her and given her the power to forgive those who have hurt her. Shan has a beautiful story and I am so thankful that she was willing to share her story with us. She has blessed me and encouraged me to be someone who forgives like Jesus too. Shan has set an incredible example for all of us.

In this week's episode, Tyler sits down and has a conversation with Josh Lindblom, a pitcher with the Milwaukee Brewers who also just happens to have a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies. Tyler and Josh take some time to talk about Jesus' invitation to his disciples to take up your cross. What does it mean to pick up your cross? How does death ultimately lead to life? And what is the life that we are all longing to live?

In this week's episode, Simon challenges us with two questions that are pivotal in our discipleship to Jesus. Simon breaks down the story of Jesus walking on water and points out the reason why Peter got out of the boat and walked on water too (even though it was for just a moment). This story should encourage us. The fact that Jesus has called us to be his disciples ought to fill us with the courage that we need to “get out of the boat” and to be just like Jesus.

In this week's episode, Luke describes how our expectations (especially our unmet expectations) can grab hold of us and take us captive. Luke points out that we often without even realizing it put more trust in our expectations than we do in God himself. This was a struggle that even the great Israelite prophet, John the Baptist, experienced, and Luke does a great job of connecting John's struggle to our own personal struggles with unmet expectations.

In this episode, Mickey demonstrates for us how the authority of Jesus gives us everything that we need to change the lives of others through compassionate actions. Mickey points out how following Jesus ought to lead us to live our lives for the sake of others. I thought Mickey did a great job of communicating how Jesus' instructions to his first disciples are instructions that are still relevant to us today as 21st century disciples of Jesus.

In this episode, Tony takes a look at all the so-called "outcasts" that were included in Jesus lineage, and the outcasts that made up Jesus' disciples. Tony also elaborates on what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus, and he helps us see discipleship as this process where these outcasts became kingdom builders who helped bring more outsiders into the family of God.

In this episode, Terry looks at what is perhaps the most shocking and profound sentence that any teacher, philosopher, sage or rabbi has ever uttered. This teaching of Jesus is so counterintuitive and so challenging that we are tempted to water it down because it just seems too inconvenient and not practical. We are tempted to make this teaching a little more “doable” because a straightforward commitment to it just seems too reckless and dangerous.

This episode is a message given by our friend Jay Stringer on anger and lust. Jay is a therapist, author and speaker who specializes in helping men and women discover how their story is shaping their patterns of unwanted sexual behavior. Jay's book, Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing is based on Jay's research on over 3,800 men and women addressing the key drivers of unwanted sexual behavior.

In this episode, Terry shares a teaching on what is commonly referred to as the Beatitudes. This introductory announcement that opens Jesus' famous teaching known as the Sermon on the Mount paints a beautiful picture of how the kingdom of God turns our typical value systems and our perceptions about who and what are significant completely upside down. The Beatitudes introduce us to the kingdom way of life, and to the types of people through whom Jesus intends to transform the whole world.

In this week's episode, Brian invites us into a conversation with his friend Jason Wahler. Jason appeared on MTV's hit shows Laguna Beach and The Hills. And after years of publicly battling with addiction, Jason has an amazing story of redemption and restoration and now dedicates his life to raising awareness about addiction.

In this week's episode, Tyler Keele kicks things off for 2022 and gets us going in our journey through the Gospel of Matthew. Tyler focuses in on two forgotten characters in the Christmas story, Joseph and King Herod, and unpacks how the rule of God confronts the reign of man. Music: "Life" by KV

In this episode, Terry Evans introduces us to the new Bible Reading Plan that we have put together for 2022! We would like to invite you to join us. This year our plan is focused simply on the 4 Gospels. We will read short subsections each week that will take us through the Gospels at a slow pace of only 2 chapters per week. You can follow along on the UPI App, our Bible Reading Group and by listening to the Digging In Podcast. Join us and invite some friends. Music: "Life" by KV

In this week's episode, Terry Evans finishes out this year's Bible Reading Plan by recapping the one big story that the Bible is telling. Terry takes us cover to cover from Genesis to Revelation to share the story of how God is partnering with humanity to rule over this incredible world that he has created.

In this week's episode, Simon Guehring connects the season of Advent with John's vision in Revelation of the Lamb who was slain. Simon shares the Roman perspective behind the word advent, the significance of a lamb from Bethlehem and how all of these things are combined to declare that Jesus is the one true King and the only one worthy of our total allegiance.

Tony shares a reflection from this past week's reading. He gives an introduction and overview to the book of Revelation. In doing so, he prepares and gives tools on how to read this long misunderstood letter.

Mickey shares a reflection from this past week's reading. He teaches on how intimate fellowship with God and others is an intentional pursuit that requires community, hard work, vulnerability, and sacrifice. It's costly, but beautiful when done right.

Terry Evans shares a reflection from this week's reading from the book of Daniel. Terry highlights how the story of Daniel and his three friends reveals a way to resist compromising with the dominant culture around us.

Tyler shares a reflection from this past week's readings. He speaks on how being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger can radically transform us into seeing people through the eyes of our King.