Unfinished Business

Jonah's story closes with an artfully crafted scene focused on a conversation between the prophet and his God and a poignant object lesson that Yahweh designs for him. In this conclusion, all of the threads that have been weaving through this book come together and yet we are left with an unresolved plot. The open ending leaves us with some questions to face and work to do.

Jonah is given a "Groundhog Day" opportunity to get it right this time and go to Nineveh, which he does. The question is, "Why?"

This is perhaps the most famous scene in the story and yet the prayer that dominates it in the text is largely ignored most of the time. We explore what is really going on from inside the fish in this episode.

In this episode we ask the question "Why did Jonah ask to be thrown overboard?"

After a year-long hiatus, I am back and will be spending this season of Lent walking us through the little book of Jonah. Something new this season is that I am recording these episodes with a live virtual audience and then providing opportunity for unrecorded discussion afterwards. If you'd like to take part in that, it will be on Sunday evenings at 7:30 Eastern Time and the link is https://meet.google.com/ikp-mdut-evn.

This is the final episode of my series in Chronicles, the final book of the Scriptures of Israel. Like so many biblical stories, the ending is open-ended and gives an invitation to its audience and to us. I also include some bonus material about my shifting views of the Bible in response to some questions I have gotten over the past year or two. This will also be my last episode for a while, at least until Easter as I observe a social media fast for the season of Lent. I give some more details about future plans in the episode. I'll still respond to direct messages and emails, so feel free to hit me up with thoughts, questions and dialogue!

Hezekiah is upheld by the Chronicler as a "second Solomon", an ideal king that comes closer than any other to fulfilling God's design and desire for God's people. There's lots for us to take away from the survey of his life in 2 Chronicles 29-32.

The way the Chronicler treats the "bad" kings is complex and nuanced and in this episode we dive into those narratives, focusing on the worst of them all, Manasseh.

In this episode, I survey five monarchs of Judah that get favorable reviews in the book of Kings, but are treated a little differently by the Chronicler. As always, there is a purpose to the variation that is significant and relevant for us today.

As we begin to look at the kings of Judah that rule after Solomon's death and the division of the kingdom, we take a look at the accounts of their battles that are prominent in Chronicles and what they are meant to teach (and not teach) us about God's work in the world.

I begin the exploration of the second half of Chronicles by looking at how it serves as a kind of propaganda for the kings of Judah, beginning with Solomon. Since we are often tempted to use Scripture to justify our own agendas, this way of looking at it is instructive. I take a particularly close look at one such verse from Solomon's rule that has often been used by American Christians in the last half century to illustrate why reading carefully for the original meaning is always important, but not always easy.

I share a brief update of where I've been and where I'm planning on going with this podcast. Then I share the sermon I gave two years ago next week in response to the scandalous events of January 6, 2021. Still a needed and timely word.

This "episode" is a compilation of two messages I preached in September of 2021 to introduce a series on 1 Chronicles. Since 1&2 Chronicles are actually one book, they felt like relevant places to start this next series in 2 Chronicles. The complete series, if you are interested, can be found at https://www.bereangr.org/sermons.html (the series is called "Redemption Reboot" and is the last series on that web page). I also mention in the introduction a recent podcast by Pete Enns on "The Bible For Normal People". It can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bible-for-normal-people/id1215420422?i=1000577625542.

As we conclude our exploration of Lamentations, we seek to understand how the Israelites came to terms with their suffering and loss in the hope that we too can learn to bear our griefs without giving into despair. This episode focuses on Lamentations 4 and 5. In it I mention a book I recently came across but have not had time to read that will inform my continuing interest in Lamentations. It is called "Prophetic Lament" bu Soong-Chan Rah.

In this (admittedly long) episode, I look at Lamentations 2 and 3 and explore what they reveal about how we engage with deep pain and loss and what role God has to play in all of it.

In this rather long episode, I give an overview of Lamentations as a whole and its place in the canon of Scripture to help understand its contribution to our spiritual heritage. I then introduce us to the first of the five poems that make up the book and its "conversation" between the observer of Jerusalem's destruction and the woman whose voice represents the city's. I have been helped in particular by two resources in my approach to this challenging book and I mention them in the episode. The first is Robert Alter's translation of the scriptures of Israel from which I read (and will continue to read for this series) in this episode. The second is the volume on Lamentations in the "Wisdom Commentary" series by Gina Henz-Piazza.

I look at how Paul applies the example of Jesus' model of love to the particular Philippian believers to whom he writes his letter. NOTE: I translate a Greek term from Philippians 3 with its most literal English equivalent in this episode and it is not polite language. If you listen with your kids around, be advised.

The first of two episodes looking at what Paul's letter to the Philippians might tell us about seeking unity in our day.

In this episode I set the stage for an upcoming series on Lamentations by talking through some of the hangups we have regarding the biblical reality and practice of lament.

Just a brief update in which I preview my upcoming IG Live event (Thursday, July 7th at 8 PM Eastern time @marc_littl) as well as the next series we will explore: Lamentations.

Paul's description of the armor of God and spiritual warfare have captured the imaginations of believers for decades in America, and in this episode I attempt to get at what prompted Paul to develop this imagery in the service of his letter to the churches of the Locus Valley.

I take us on a deep dive into Ephesians 5:22-33 and a selection of other Scriptures that speak to the "mystery" of marriage that Paul reflects on in these verses.

This is a sermon from the series "Declarations of Dependence" on Philemon/Colossians that dealt with Colossians 3:12-4:1 and builds on my thinking regarding the household codes from the previous sermon from the series on family that posted a couple of days ago. In this sermon I reference and share from a series of blog articles regarding these codes from Rachel Held Evans. They can be found at https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/four-interpretive-pitfalls-around-the-new-testament-household-codes.

This is a sermon from a series on the NT vision for family, primarily the spiritual family of the church, but also how our natural families interact with that spiritual community. It is the first time I specifically addressed the "household codes" in my preaching and was given on January 27, 2019 at Berean Baptist Church in Grand Rapids.

This is a bonus episode to provide some further context for how I approach the household codes in Ephesians, which I covered as part of a broad treatment of Ephesians 4:17-6:24 in the last episode and will do a deep dive into in the next episode. This sermon on Philemon was given as the introduction to a series on Colossians on July 4, 2021 at Berean Baptist Church in Grand Rapids. I'll be dropping two additional sermons I gave on the Colossian "household codes" in the next couple of days ahead of the next episode dropping on June 13th.

I take a survey of the "application" portion of this letter, from 4:17-6:24, previewing the next two episodes and then taking a deeper dive into a couple of the specific exhortations from the end of chapter 4.

I bridge the gap between the "doctrinal" and "practical" portions of this letter by examining how chapter 3 connects explicitly to the first 16 verses of chapter 4. This gets us closer to the reason Paul wrote this letter and hints at some implications for us.

Ephesians 2 holds a special place in the hearts and minds of many Protestants because of verses 8 and 9. In this episode I try to broaden our gaze to see even greater riches (and some challenges) that have been perhaps hiding in plain sight behind our admiration of those two verses.

This is the first episode in my endeavor to complete what I started 8 years ago. As you listen you'll hear more about the project and why I am starting this podcast with Ephesians. I hope you enjoy it!