In an age when people take themselves too seriously, and the Bible not seriously enough, we aim to bridge the gap between sober and silly with a little bit of sacred as we journey through the text of Scripture learning about God, His revelation to us in t
Pastor Eric Brown / Thomas Lemke
“Thou art a God of mercy — now kill me!” Pastor Eric Brown and Thomas Lemke read about Jonah's frustrations at the fate of the Ninevites — not to mention his shade! Then, we begin our next book. In the Inquisition, Pastor Brown discloses his favorite of the Gospel accounts, and why. Thomas answers a […]
The tongue has great power — but that gag reflex, though! Pastor Eric Brown and Thomas Lemke read about Jonah's return to dry land, and his successful preaching gig in Nineveh. Too successful, for the prophet's taste. Speaking of taste (in a sense Ezekiel would have been familiar with), in this episode we debut a […]
Man overboard! Jonah finds God again as he face hits the water, and he prays what is (in Tom's estimation) some of the most beautiful verse in the whole Bible. Come along with your hosts, Pastor Eric Brown and Thomas Lemke, as we crack wise about the second — and somewhat more smelly — leg […]
Count It All Joy is back, and we're diving right in to… well, the belly of the whale, as it were. Come along with your hosts, Pastor Eric Brown and Thomas Lemke, as we read about God graciously sending His word to an unrighteous people. Much to Jonah's chagrin. In the third segment, the Inquisition, […]
In this, our last Count It All Joy Show episode (at least for now), we tackled all of Mark chapter 10, including such goodies as Jesus' thoughts on divorce, the disappointment of a good Jewish boy, the disciples jockeying for the awesome positions in Jesus' earthly kingdom, and the healing of yet another blind man! […]
In this episode we got to the story of the healing of the boy with the unclean spirit. Pastor commented on his love for the boy's father's confession, “I believe, help my unbelief”, and on the interesting nature of the disciples' failure to cast out the spirit. Then Jesus gets down to some more teaching […]
Peter gets too big for his britches and tells Jesus that the cross is folly, and Jesus sets him straight. Then, they take a trip up a mountain where Jesus, like Moses and Elijah before him, has a mountaintop experience – with Moses and Elijah! The disciples are dumbfounded by this transfiguration, and admit to […]
Jesus returns to the area where he had cast out the Legion, and heals a deaf man with considerably less spectacle. Then he tests the disciples' memories with another multi-thousand feeding, and fun with numbers ensues. The disciples still don't get it, and we have another healing – one of a blind man who curiously […]
After once again mingling with the people and healing various afflictions, Jesus gets to go to another dinner party with the Pharisees, who use the opportunity to criticize the disciples' personal hygiene (and then some). After putting them in their place, Jesus heads up North and meets a woman with a demon-afflicted daughter, and shows […]
Things start off nice with Jesus sending out the disciples to heal and teach in various and sundry towns. Then Mark throws in a little flashback to bring us up to speed on our Lord's cousin John, and wouldn't you know it if we don't feel a little sympathy for Herod in the mix. Then […]
In this episode we wrap up things with Legion, and discuss how the healed man and the townspeople react differently to the events of chapter 5 so far. Then we move back across the sea to where Jairus' daughter is in a pickle – but before Jesus can help her he has to help another […]
After some more parables, things kick up a notch in Mark. We get Jesus on the sea in one heck of a storm, from the disciples' perspective, but a mere annoyance to the guy who tells the wind and waves when to shut up. Then we launched into the story of “Legion”, taking special care […]
In this episode of our journey through Mark, we discuss the notion of “demons casting out demons”, and look at how the family of Christ is (to this point) embarrassed by his escapades and discussions with the Pharisees. We also discuss parables, and dig into the parable of the sower. In the Inquisition, we talked […]
Continuing on with our study of Mark, Pastor and I were amused at how fast the ante is upped. Jesus keeps doing good, teaching and making awesome theological points, but it's enough to ruffle feathers and get sworn enemies to form alliances in order to take him down. In the Inquisition, we talked about the shaky, […]
We're back into Mark, and boy, things are heating up fast for the ministry of Jesus. He's heal-i-nating the countryside, making friends and influencing people – but's it's not all tulips and rosebuds. For every person he helps, the troubles of Christ are multiplied – whether it's a leper who lets slip what Jesus did […]
The band is back together! In our first recorded episode in almost a year, Pastor and I jumped into the Gospel according to Mark. Right off the bat, we learned how Mark is a Gospel written for the oppressed gentile Christians population of Rome – and where Mark gets his facts! (Peter and Paul) Mark […]
We moved into the next section of Ezekiel. In the Inquisition we talked about why many in the West are blind to the connection between the religion of Islam and the atrocities we are seeing in the Middle East.
The Sermon* for the 12 Sunday after Trinity at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
We continued with Ezekiel's lament for Egypt and Pharaoh. For the Inquisition, Pastor talked about the Scofield reference Bible and its impact upon eschatology in America. Then, Thomas discussed his 2 favorite readings from the lectionaries.
The Sermon* for the 12th Sunday after Trinity at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
More Ezekiel was discussed, focusing on the judgement of Egypt – for which Pastor got to draw on his experience visiting Egypt years ago. In the Inquisition, Thomas asked Pastor to talk about the Coptic Christians in Egypt, and Pastor asked Thomas what makes a sermon… well: meh.
Pastor and Thomas continued through Ezekiel and talked at length about the ancient city of Tyre. In the Inquisition, Thomas asked Pastor to expound on the idea of “sabbath rest”. Then, Pastor asked Thomas for his opinion on how church attendance gets prioritized these days.
Pastor took a vacation, so Thomas is all alone for this installment, which was on the 5 stages of successful deception. If you're interested in learning about the initiation and progression of deception, and what that looks like, this is for you. If not, listen anyway – you just might get something out of it […]
Pastor and Thomas went through Ezekiel chapters 25 and 26, dealing with the judgements God through Ezekiel proclaimed against the nations surrounding Judah. In the Inquisition, Pastor was tasked with talking about the history of the falling of nations and what we should take away from such events. Thomas was asked to discuss the difference […]
After an (unannounced) two week hiatus, we knocked out chapter 24 of Ezekiel. In the Inquisition, Thomas asked Pastor about why there is to be solemnity for the death of Ezekiel's wife and the “death” of Jerusalem when Christ weeps for Lazarus. Pastor asked Thomas about Christian approaches to the “border crisis” and a follow-up discussion on […]
We tackled chapter 23 of Ezekiel. In the Inquisition, Thomas was asked about the Sudanese woman (Meriam Ibrahim Ishag) and if she should verbally deny the faith to save her life. Pastor was asked a listener question about the relationship of fear and love.
In this edition we got through chapter 22 of Ezekiel. In the Inquisition, Pastor talked about several hypothetical marriage counseling situations, such as a couple from different denominational or religious backgrounds. Thomas was asked questions about the subject of free will.
We are back in the saddle, continuing forward with the book of Ezekiel. It was kind of a grab bag of observations on chapter 21, and in the Inquisition Pastor asked Thomas about what category of statements made by Christians online annoys him most, and Thomas asked Pastor about the value of fiction and fantasy.
In what is hopefully our last episode before getting back to “normal”, Pastor goes through the different seasons of the Church year in a solo program.
This was going to be a bonus episode, but things ended up getting in the way of recording, so we decided it would take the place of a regular episode. In it, we sit down in Pastor's office and talk about whether or not the religious (and political, and pretty much you name it) conversations […]
In this 1/2 length episode (done in this way so that Thomas can enjoy his month post-marriage with little or no Count Joy obligations) we talked about the unhealthy ways theological (and non-theological) discourse can often be approached.
In this 1/2 length episode (done in this way so that Thomas can enjoy his month post-marriage with little or no Count Joy obligations) we talked about the topic of marriage. The entire episode is spent on the positive teaching of the Bible with regard to marriage, causing Pastor to remark later that he's surprised […]
In this 1/2 length episode (done in this way so that Thomas can enjoy his month post-marriage with little or no Count Joy obligations) we talked about the topic of preaching. We discussed how it's done, how it should be done, and why it's important. This has already become one of our favorite episodes!
In this 1/2 length episode (done in this way so that Thomas can enjoy his month post-marriage with little or no Count Joy obligations) we talked about the topic of the “culture war:” what it is, and why we are… er… less than enthused about it.
The Sermon* for the second Sunday of Easter at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
In the first half of class we learn what Pastor's favorite Sunday of the Church year is, and discuss the concept of forgiveness as it related to the office of the ministry. Then it's back into Daniel where Nebuchadnezzar has another dream.
In this Easter episode, Pastor and Thomas look at the Resurrection account in the four Gospels.
The Sermon* for Easter at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
The Sermon* for Good Friday at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
In this episode we go through the account of the Passion of our Lord as recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew.
The Sermon* for Palm Sunday of Lent at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
This class begins with a discussion on Communion, Confirmation, and Baptism. After that, Pastor talks about the relationships in the ancient world between Christians, Jews, and Romans. Then it's back into the text of Daniel. The class finishes off with a conversation about Luther's views on the Jews.
Sorry for the delay – I (Thomas) am running behind with podcasts due to getting ready for my upcoming wedding. Anyway, in this episode we did more Ezekiel in the first half. In the second half we did an extended inquisition and talked about the latest iteration of the intolerant tolerance brigade and associated issues, […]
The Sermon* for the third Sunday of Lent at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
In this class the song of the three young men as found in the Septuagint was under discussion. Other topics include the Noah movie, the book of Revelation, and the canon of the books of Scripture.
Pastor and Thomas sat down for a discussion about the movie Pulp Fiction, and how it ends up being a good reflection on the Gospel according to John.
After talking about funerals, we got back into Ezekiel. For the Inquisition, Thomas asked Pastor what me means when he says “all of Scripture is about the Exodus” – or something like that. Pastor asked Thomas why he prefers “secular” movies to this season's “Christian” offerings.
The Sermon* for the fourth Sunday of Lent at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
This class is focused on the events surrounding the fiery furnace incident. In the last 7 minutes, the discussion turns to “gay marriage.”
We started off the show with a reading from Pastor's new Hawaiian Pidgin Bible translation. Then we talked about what Pastor learned at the Church workers conference he's been attending for the past 2 days, including a fascinating bit about the archeology site that might correspond to one mentioned in the David and Goliath account. Then it […]
The Sermon* for the third Sunday of Lent at Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. _____________ *Text versions available at Pastor's blog.
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