Spoken Gospel

The Pharisees created extra laws around God's commands to bring the Messiah and restore Israel as a blessing to the world. But when Jesus comes, he shows that he is the fulfillment, authority, and purpose of the law. In this podcast episode, David walks through three stories in Mark where Jesus demonstrates His lordship over the Sabbath and reveals Himself as the long-awaited bridegroom, King, and God of the new creation.

In this podcast episode, David Bowden delves into Mark 1:2-15 on John the Baptist.

In this episode of the Spoken Gospel Podcast, David and Seth explore one of the most challenging passages in 1 Corinthians - chapter 14. They examine Paul's teachings on spiritual gifts, particularly tongues and prophecy, as well as his instructions for orderly worship. Given Corinth's pagan context, Paul is determined to teach these new Christians that the purpose of their God-given gifts is to benefit and build up one another rather than competitively trying to outdo one another.

In this episode of the Spoken Gospel Podcast, David and Seth explore the controversial passage on head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11. They examine the cultural context of ancient Corinth, unpack Paul's arguments, and reveal how this challenging text ultimately points to the beauty of Jesus and the Gospel.

In this episode of the Spoken Gospel podcast, David and Seth explore the complex issue of food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8-10. They unpack the historical context of Corinth as a pagan Greek city and how new Christian converts struggled with questions about eating meat offered to idols.

In this episode of the Spoken Gospel Podcast, host David Bowden sits down with Daniel Day from Our Daily Bread Ministries to discuss Bible engagement and the Reclaim Today initiative.

In this podcast episode, David Bowden delves into Mark 11:12-25, exploring the interconnected stories of Jesus cursing the fig tree, cleansing the temple, and teaching about faith and prayer. David unpacks the rich symbolism and theological significance behind these events, demonstrating how they relate to God's larger plan for redemption and the role of the temple throughout biblical history.

In this podcast episode, David Bowden explores Jesus' teaching on divorce from Mark 10:1-12. David examines the passage within the broader narrative of Mark's gospel and the overarching story of Scripture. He unpacks how Jesus' response to the Pharisees reveals profound truths about God's design for marriage and His relationship with His people.

In this podcast episode, we dive deep into Mark 7:24-30, exploring the challenging story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. This passage has often confused and even offended readers, but when understood in its proper context, it reveals a beautiful picture of Jesus' ministry to outcasts and foreigners.

In this episode, David and Seth explore the cast of characters that fill the book of Proverbs, from the Fool and the Wicked to the Wise and the Righteous. Through the journey of "Pete the Simple" - the malleable youth open to instruction - they show how these characters serve as warnings and examples on the path to wisdom, ultimately pointing to Jesus as the perfect model to follow.

In this podcast episode, Seth and David explore what it means to "fear the Lord" in the quest for wisdom. Starting in Genesis, they track the theme of wisdom and folly throughout the biblical story - from Adam and Eve's fateful choice in Eden to Jesus' perfect example of godly wisdom. Though the world saw the cross as foolishness, Jesus' humble obedience revealed God's true wisdom and opened the way back to paradise.

God made the world to reflect his wisdom. As people observe God's wise ordering of the universe they compile proverbs, short sayings meant to be contemplated and applied to everyday life. Every culture has proverbs, so it's no surpise we should find a book full of them in our Bibles. But what is wisdom as the Bible sees it? How do we live well in the world God made? David and Seth explore the genre of Proverbs and how we encounter God's wisdom perfectly reflected in Jesus.

Seth and David ask why a song about the honeymoon night is in our Bibles and try to tell the story of the Hebrew people and Jesus as the story of a marriage.

Seth and David go deep into the five main poetic movements in the Song of Songs. 

Get ready to hear about the greatest of all songs, the Song of Songs, or as it's also known, the Song of Solomon. Seth and David talk about the interconnected poems of the Song and the unique contribution it makes to the Bible's story. 

Seth and David do a deep dive into one of their favorite verses in the Bible.

A group of "super-apostles" have invaded the church in Corinth. In this episode, Seth and David talk about what exactly an apostle is and why Paul spends so much of this letter defending his ministry. 

In this podcast episode, Spoken Gospel Executive Director David Bowden shares about his latest book, Learning to Be Loved. This episode also includes a free audio version of Chapter 9: Bible, where you'll learn how the Bible is a place to encounter Jesus and be transformed.

There are four songs in Isaiah attributed to God's Servant. Seth and David walk though each one and show how they anticipate the coming of Jesus and restoration of God's people.

Every Christmas, Christians worldwide hear Isaiah's prophecies about a child called "Immanuel." Seth and David talk about one of the best-known prophecies in Scripture and how it prepares us for the birth of Jesus. 

One of Isaiah's most famous prophecies talks about a "suffering servant." But that idea is found all the way back in the book of Genesis. Seth and David trace the theme of servants throughout the Bible and talk about servants in the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah is one of the most important books for both the Old and New Testaments. In this intro episode, Seth and David talk about what prophecy is and why Isaiah is so important to the Biblical story. 

Underneath almost every command Paul gives the Corinthian church is a summons to remember that Jesus is coming back soon. Jesus' second coming and the resurrection of all people are the motivation for almost everything he calls his church to do. Seth and David talk about bodies, Jesus' resurrection, and why resurrection bodies were so important to Paul.

The church in Corinth had a lot of problems and most of them had something to do with Corinthian's posture towards their culture and their understanding of the resurrection. Seth and David introduce the book of Corinthians, talk about the strange way the ancient philosophy of Dualism pops up in modern culture, and how Corinthians is really good news for really broken churches.

The final section of Romans opens with a question. If non-Jews have been included in God's promises to Israel because of faith in Jesus, what about Jews who do not believe in Jesus? Seth and David talk about the faithfulness of God and how he is still faithful to God's people. 

Paul tells us everything we "get" because of our faith in Jesus' death and resurrection. Seth and David talk about what it means to be God's heirs, to have the Spirit, to be adopted, and to be free.

The opening chapters of Romans tell us that when humans stand before God, everyone is equal. We are all under the thumb of Sin and Death. Humanity's only hope to be rescued is faith in Jesus. Seth and David talk about what it means to be "saved" and how Jesus rescues us from both the power of Death and God's perfect justice. 

Romans is one of the most unique and important books of the Bible. It's a letter that says over and over that ALL people are included in the promises God made to Israel. Seth and David talk through who Paul was and what was going on in Rome that led to the letter we call "Romans." 

The Book of Lamentations is a series of five anonymous, acrostic poems that record and weep over the devastation of Jerusalem at the hands of Babylon. Seth and David walk through the story weaved throughout Lamentations' five poems and talk about the surprising good news of God's silence in the middle of suffering.

The Book of Lamentations is a series of five anonymous, acrostic poems that record and weep over the devastation of Jerusalem at the hands of Babylon. Seth and David talk about the artistic genius of Lamentations, the theological and therapeutic value of laments, and why we shouldn't sanitize our prayers.

Even more shocking than Ezekiel's oracles of judgment is his insistence that God has not rejected the very same people who have abandoned him. Seth and David talk about the shocking mercy of God, architectural Sabbaths, and why a vision of God's temple shows up at the end of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel's prophecies are meant to shock his audience out of their spiritual apathy and idolatry and Ezekiel uses some of the most graphic language in the Bible to do it. Ezekiel uses images of blood, insects, prostitution, and even donkey sex to make his point. Seth and David walk through some of Ezekiel's most shocking prophecies and talk about how even passages of judgment prove the goodness of God.

The opening chapters of Ezekiel start with a bang. Ezekiel sees a vision of God and it's... overwhelming. Wheels full of eyes, four-headed angels, and a massive storm rush over Ezekiel and he's left comatose for 7 days. Seth and David walk through one of the most intense depictions of God in the Old Testament and show how it all connects to Jesus getting baptized. 

Ezekiel and his prophecies are some of the most vivid, intense, and disturbing in all the Bible. But Ezekiel isn't primarily a prophet of doom but of new creation. Seth and David talk about Ezekiel's prophecies and the good news that in Jesus Ezekiel's prophecies begin to come true.

When we think of the word "gospel" we normally think of something religious but when Jesus' first followers would have heard it, they would have heard something closer to Roman propaganda. Seth and David talk about the origins of the term "Gospel" and how Jesus brings good news into a world full of bad news. 

There are just SO MANY parallels between Jesus and Jeremiah. Seth and David walk through dozens of examples where Jesus completes the narrative arc begun in Jeremiah and brings the hopes of Jeremiah's ministry to completion.

One of Jeremiah's most used metaphors to describe Judah is as an adulterous bride. Seth and David unpack this sometimes unsettling image and discuss how Jesus is the Groom who stops at nothing to rescue and marry his bride.

Ever since God led his people out of Egypt he promised that Israel would always have a prophetic leader like Moses to help guide the nation. While Moses was God's prophet at Israel's founding, Jeremiah was God's prophet as Israel died. Seth and David discuss Jeremiah as Moses' prophetic successor and how Jesus walks on the scene as the prophet of Israel's re-creation.

Jeremiah is a tortured prophet tasked to preach a message of inescapable death and decline. In this episode, Seth and David unpack Jeremiah's unique prophetic ministry and how a prophet of such gloomy news helps us encounter Jesus. 

The book of Thessalonians has some of the most specific and yet some of the most vague passages about when Jesus comes again. In this experimental episode Seth and David wade through one option for understanding the Day of the Lord and who the Man of Lawlessness might be.

Under intense persecution, the Thessalonian church slowly began to believe that Jesus had already returned, and perhaps, left them behind. Seth and David talk about misconceptions about Jesus' return and why our suffering can be both good news and proof that we haven't been left behind.

What does it mean when Paul says we are "caught up in the air"? Seth and David walk through the back half of the book of Thessalonians and talk about the good news that Jesus is coming back soon. 

After only spending about three weeks with a brand new group of believers in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul and Silas are kicked out of the city by a mob and are unable to return. But despite the intense persecution and their immature faith, the Thessalonians became model Christians throughout the Mediterranean. In this episode, Seth and David talk about this fledgling church and the good news that knowing Jesus equips us to handle whatever is thrown at us. 

2 Chronicles opens by describing Solomon as an ideal leader. He is who all Israelite kings should try to live up to. But the rest of 2 Chronicles charts how none of Israel's kings ever reach his glory. Seth and David talk through the Chroniclers' "perfect" description of Solomon and why it's good news that priesthoods determine the course of nations.

1 Chronicles centers around David's rise to power, his skill as a nation-builder, and his preparation to construct God's temple. Seth and David talk about the eternal dynasty promised to David and the surprising good news of priestly bureaucracy.

Chronicles records the history of God's people from Adam all the way to their return from exile. It's also a book full of music, instruments, singing, and songs. Seth and David compare Chronicles to Hamilton and talk about how the story of Israel's founding father, David, gives a new generation of leaders a rubric to rebuild their nation.

The book of Revelation is a unified story of hope for Christians who are suffering and being persecuted. David and Seth unpack the story of Revelation and how all its complex images tell a beautiful story that ends in a wedding.

At the beginning of Revelation, there is a king seated on a throne, and throughout Revelation, a bride prepares herself to marry this king, and at the very end, there is a wedding. Seth and David talk about the themes of "King" and "Bride" in the book of Revelation and how Jesus can't wait to marry his people.

Like Jesus, humanity is meant to rule the world and to spill their blood for the good of others. Seth and David talk about one of the most counter-intuitive teachings in Revelation–that Christians conquer when they suffer and die.

The book of Revelation is full of complex symbols, strange beasts, and mysterious numbers. In this episode, Seth and David talk about how to approach all the complexities of Revelation and how to read it as a story of hope for persecuted and suffering Christians.

Hebrews includes some of the scariest warnings in all of Scripture right next to dozens of examples of the most impressive people in the Bible. Many of us have read these passages and wondered how we'll ever measure up, and if God might just decide to be done with us. Seth and David talk about what the warning passages of Hebrews mean and what it means to have faith.