Podcasts about exploring my strange bible

Truth, Wisdom, Instruction & UnderstandingProverbs 23:23 “Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.”Well, this is an interesting verse.  I wonder how we would sell truth?  I wonder why God needs to tell us to buy truth and do not sell it?  Then He also says to buy wisdom, instruction and understanding.  I was stumped on what this verse meant or what God was trying to tell us with this verse.  However, when it is put into context of our prayer group it makes a little more sense to me.  During prayer group the leader talked about how sometimes we think about all that we are lacking and we may even ask God what it is that we lack.  This is because we are looking to ourselves to gain eternal life.  We are looking to see what it is that we can do to get ourselves into heaven.  The leader talked about how we need to trade our self reliance in for reliance on God.  There isn't anything we can do to get ourselves into heaven.  We will get into heaven only through God's grace.  After the beginning part of our meeting we also had several words of prophecy that talked about how we are looking for God in all the wrong places.  We are looking for Him in places that He does not dwell.  He dwells deep within our hearts.  He also said that He is there for us, but we are not looking to Him to solve our problems, we are looking to ourselves to solve our problems.  He is asking us to turn our problems over to Him instead of trying to solve them on our own.  In this context I can see how God would want us to buy truth, wisdom, instruction and understanding.  We need to see the truth that we can't do anything on our own and yet we can “do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13.  We need to not sell this truth for all the things the world tells us.  We need to not sell this truth in order to believe that we can do things on our own.  We need to not believe that God is too busy to help us.  We need to not believe that God helps others but not us.  We need to buy the truth and not sell it for any of these other false truths that the world is trying to sell us.Next, we need to ask God for Wisdom to know the difference.  Wisdom is a gift from the Holy Spirit and according to the Catholic Church wisdom is the first and highest gift of the Holy Spirit.  We believe that wisdom leads to an intimate understanding of God's Word and His commandments.  When we develop an intimate understanding of God's Word and His commandments then we can better live out our faith.  I believe this is why the verse above mentions truth and then puts wisdom, instruction and understanding in the same line.  I believe wisdom leads to instruction and understanding.  God has given us a lot of instruction in the Bible on how He wants us to live.  There is no question as to what He says in the Bible.  I think the question comes in when we try to interpret what He says in the Bible.  The Bible was written almost 2,000 years ago.  Well, the old testament was written long before that I believe.  So, reading the bible is not like reading something that was written 10 years ago.  Times have changed a lot.  Although as I write that I wonder, have they?  I mean yes technology has changed a lot, circumstances may have also changed a lot, but have we as people changed a lot?  That I am not sure of.  I think we tend to struggle with the same basic things as people struggled with back then.  The same underlying sins are there, we just have a different spin on them.  That is just my opinion.So, when it comes to reading the Bible, sometimes we can get caught up in the actual words of the Bible or the situation that they are talking about.  We can read something and think that it doesn't pertain to us because our situation is so different than that of the person of the Bible.  We can't really see any connection between how they are living and how we are living.  This is why we need wisdom, instruction and understanding.  We need wisdom to see how the situations in the Bible relate to our own situation.  We need instructions on how we are to live our life right now in this century.  We need understanding to know what is meant for us to read literally and what is meant as a story to teach us a lesson.There are different writing styles in the Bible.  There are things that are a historical recount of what happened during that time.  However, Jesus also teaches a lot of lessons through parables.  There are also stories meant to teach us a lesson.  If we have a deeper understanding of God's work we would know the difference.  Wisdom can come in many different ways I think.  For instance, we don't have to gain this understanding all on our own.  There are many people who have studied the Bible for years and are happily sharing all they know about it.  You can learn from them.I don't think anyone gains the wisdom to understand everything all at once.  For instance, I don't think you will go to bed one day and then wake up the next day with all the wisdom you have ever wanted.  I think the Holy Spirit opens your mind up to wisdom and then guides you to this wisdom.  You may be praying for wisdom and understanding and then you get an email or notice an advertisement for a Bible study in your area.  That is the Holy Spirit prompting you to gain the wisdom you are asking for.  Or, maybe you hear about a podcast that you hadn't heard of before.  There are several podcasts that have really helped me gain understanding about God's Word and about the Catholic Religion in general.  If you are looking for additional podcasts some of the ones I have tried are Father Mike Schmitz Bible In A Year Podcast, he also has another one that talks about all things Catholic.  The Jeff Cavins Show is a good one.  The Big Life Devotional with Pamela Crim is also good.  All Things Catholic with Edward Sri, I haven't listened to this one a lot, but I have heard him talk and he is really good.  The Elevation Church with Steven Furtick is good.  He is a minister that posts his sermons on this podcast.  I have never heard one that I didn't like.  Abiding Together is one that talks about three woman's journey in their faith.  That is also informational.  Your Catholic Life Podcast with Jon Leonetti is also a good one.  He is someone that loves his Catholic Faith so much and you can just hear it in his voice.  And last but not least Exploring My Strange Bible.  This one is so good.  Each episode is like a mini Bible study.  He takes all the stories and goes into a lot more detail so that you understand the Bible stories in a whole new way.  You get such a deeper understanding.  I didn't mean to deviate there, but I do think that understanding the Lord's Word is an essential part of Wisdom.  Not just His word but His instruction as well.  This is why I listed all those podcasts.  They will definitely help with understanding and wisdom.   I know it was a long list.  I don't intend for you to listen to them all, or any of them right now if you plate is full.  I have listened to different ones at different times.  This is why I am saying the Holy Spirit leads you to the wisdom you need.  If you are feeling you need more wisdom or understanding say a quick prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to the wisdom your seeking.  This list of podcasts is listed in the show notes so you can come back at any time and look through it.  Remember, rely not on yourselves and what you can do, but what God can do through you.  Dear Heavenly Father I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. I ask that you help us to buy truth and not sell it and buy wisdom and instruction and understanding. Lord we ask that you lead us to your wisdom and not the ways of the world.  Lord we ask you for instruction and understanding in how to live life the way you want us to. Lord we ask for a supernatural wisdom, a gift from the Holy Spirit, that will help move your word and instruction from our brain to our heart. We're asking for an intimate knowledge of your word and instruction so that we can live it with our actions. We thank you so much for all you do for us Lord you are amazing.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name amen. www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE FOR RETREAT INFOCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Stay Close To Christ, He Is The Living Water! Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought, it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”I really like this imagery. I can see this tree being planted by the water and can envision it sending its roots out to get the water. It doesn't have to fear when it gets hot because it has ready access to water. It is not worried when water is scarce as it has its very own supply. I think this is a great metaphor for our trust in the Lord. When we trust in the Lord and trust the Lord, we have access to the Living Water that Jesus talks about to the woman at the well. Jesus is all the spiritual nourishment we will ever need for our souls to thrive. Yet, we need access to it; we need to be close to Him. The tree in this water was planted near the water. However, it still needed to send out its roots to get the water. We need to do the same if we want the nourishment that God is happily willing to provide for us. We live in a time where access to Jesus is easily accessible, at least in the United States where I live. We are free to worship as we like. Bibles are not that expensive, and if you have a smartphone with apps, you can get the Bible App for free. This will not only give you the Bible, but it has almost all, if not all, the various translations. It also has the bible in 130 or so different languages. On this You Version Bible app, there are also countless Bible studies for free. Then you also have rosary apps to help you say the rosary. There is a Divine Mercy app that helps you say the Divine Mercy Chaplet. There are numerous apps to have prayers, meditations, talks, etc. There is no shortage of ways that you can connect with God through His Word and through prayer. There are also daily masses where you can go and receive the body and blood of Christ every day. You can also go to Eucharistic Adoration when it is offered at your church. There are also more and more Perpetual Adoration chapels opening. Perpetual Adoration means that you can go and love on Jesus any time of the day. These chapels are open 24 hours a day. However, some have a policy only to let scheduled adorers go throughout the late night hours, so call ahead and let them know if you want to drop in during the middle of the night. Then there are also YouTube and Podcasts. You can find someone talking about pretty much any subject you want to hear about on these two platforms. You can find podcasts where priests and ministers put their Sunday sermons for all to here. You can find podcasts that talk about Scripture, almost like a Bible Study. Exploring My Strange Bible is a great one for that! YouTube, you can just put the topic into the search bar, and you will find several videos to watch on each topic you type in the search bar. As you can see, we have access to many ways to connect with God. It is not difficult, and yet we still need to reach out, just as the tree above needed to send out its roots. If the tree had just stood tall right where it was and hoped that the water would reach out to it, then it would have died. We can have all this free access to information and yet do nothing with it. The information is there but we need to read it, watch it, go to it, whatever it may be. It doesn't matter how often they offer masses if I am not going to them or how many translations of the Bible I can get if I am not even looking. We need to actively search for ways to connect to the Lord. He is our nourishment, our peace. He will provide us with what we need to get through the storms, but we need to be prepared. We need to have our roots set down deep, right next to Him. We need to be in God's Word, whether it is a printed Bible you hold in your hands or if it is in the Bible app. Or you could do the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike. He reads a bit of the Bible to you each day and then describes what he just read. He explains in a way that is easy to understand. I listened to that podcast for the first two years it was out, and then I switched to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. That is also a great one to help you learn more about the Catholic Faith. We need to be connected to the Word of God. We need to read it, study it, and memorize some of it. The Word of God helps us learn more about God; it helps us understand Him better. We can't trust His promises if we don't even know what He promises us. One easy way to connect with God is to just talk with Him. Bring Him all your cares and worries. When you are trying to make a decision about something, bring it to the Lord and ask Him what you should do. Then listen for what he says you should do. If you ask God, He will answer; we just have to be ready to listen. You can talk with the Lord anywhere. You don't have to talk out loud, although you can do that too. You can have a silent conversation with the Lord while you are in the grocery store waiting to check out or just while walking through the aisles. You can talk with God while you are driving to and/or from work or when you are stuck in traffic. I like to start my mornings talking with God. I don't do it every morning, unfortunately, but I would like to. However it is that you want to reach out and search for the Lord is great. Your way of reaching out can be different than my way. I just thought I would list a few ways in case you weren't sure how you could do it. I know we are all busy, and it seems we don't have enough time in the day to reach out to God. Trust me when I say everything gets easier when you take the time to reach out to God, kind of like the tree in the verse above. Its life was easier because it was planted close to the water, and it could just send out its roots to collect the water. What if it had been further away? What if it wasn't anywhere near water? How hard would it be for this tree to get the nourishment it needed? This is true with us too. What if we aren't anywhere near the Lord? What if we aren't sending out our roots to gather that Living Water to nourish us? Where would we be then? How hard would it be for us to get the nourishment we need? Stay close to the Lord! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who listen to this episode. Lord, we ask you to help us stay close to you. If we are struggling to fit this into our schedule, I ask you to give us clarity. I ask you to send the Holy Spirit to help us make this a priority in our lives. We need you, Lord; we know this. Help us to spend more time with you. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus's holy name, Amen. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you are wondering how you can increase the time you spend with the Lord without adding anything else to your already busy schedule, CLICK HERE to get my free audio training on how to invite Jesus into the everyday things you are already doing. I look forward to seeing you on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2023 from someone in my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or the Words received, please email CatholicCharistmaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is “When you think you have nothing left, there is more. When you think you are at the end of it all, there is more. You are my warriors. You are my children. You are my love, and I honor you because you honor me, and with that, I give you more.”

The Great CommissionMark 16:15 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”I wish I knew what just went through your mind when I read that verse to you.  This verse is Jesus talking to his disciples and He is sending them into the world to proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. I wonder what went through their mind when He told them to go out to the world and proclaim the gospel.  When Jesus told his disciples to go out and proclaim the gospel it was after he had just risen from the dead.  He had just been crucified on a cross for saying He was the son of God and now He wanted His disciples to go out and tell the world all about it.  I wonder how that made them feel?  I am sure they were excited to see Jesus.  I am sure they were probably in shock as they saw Him crucified on a cross just days before this.  Actually it says in Mark 16:14 that Jesus rebuked them for not believing the others when they said they had seen Him.  However, in the very next line Jesus send them out to share the Gospel with the world.  I can imagine this was a crazy time for them.  I feel like if I had been there I wouldn't have wanted to leave Jesus' side.  I would have wanted to hold on to Him and never let go.  I would have been afraid of losing Him again.  I wonder if they felt this way too?  I never really thought too much about the disciples and their feelings until I started watch The Chosen.  This show gave life and personality to each one of the disciples.  It gave me a face to think of when I hear their names mentioned in the Bible.  It made them more personable and more human.  It showed us how they might have felt the first time they were send out.  There were a bit nervous as they didn't know what to do or what to say.  They had been walking with Jesus and they had watched what He did and heard what He said, but they had never done it themselves before.  This might be you too!  You have heard the Bible stories at mass and yet you have never really shared them with others.   Maybe you have read the Bible from cover to cover and yet you still don't think you know enough.  Maybe you are just new to the faith and you aren't sure you know much of anything at all.  Wherever you are on the spectrum of not really knowing much at all about the Gospel and knowing it like the back of your hand, Jesus was still talking to you when he gave this command.  Each and every one of us is part of the great commission.  Each and every one of us has been tasked with spreading the Gospel to the whole world.  Well, the Church as a whole has been tasked with spreading the Gospel to the whole world, you could just start with you circle of influence.  You can start with those around you.  I heard a cool story the other day when I was listening to a book by Mark Batterson called, “Chase the Lion.”  Mark was talking about how he had gotten a word from God that said something about him reaching the nations. He didn't understand what this meant.  His church hand not started going on mission trips yet. He wasn't someone who spoke all around the world.  He had no idea how he was going to reach the nations.  He kept this in the back of his mind and went about doing the work that he knew God wanted him to do.  One day about 10 years later his friend gave him a call.  His friend was traveling for work and was in a book store and saw Mark Batterson's book on the bookshelf.  His friend said, “Wow, I guess you are reaching the nations.” It finally hit Mark.  He had no idea when he was given this word over 10 years ago that his books would be translated into many different languages.  He was reaching the nations with his books and he didn't even realize it.  I wonder how many of us are fulfilling this great commission without even realizing it?  I wonder how many of you are thinking that you are just being kind and holding that door for a stranger and yet what you are really doing is being the face of Jesus to them.  I wonder how many of you just think you are telling your grandchildren a bed time story and yet you are telling them about the hero's in the Bible.  How many of you think you are just calling to check in on a friend and yet you are showing them a kindness they have not seen before.  When Jesus came He did not talk about all the laws, He did not talk about religion.  He came and demonstrated love first and foremost.  He also did signs and wonders, which definitely helped spread the word faster.  However, I believe he won them over first with love.  What if we could offer that to all we meet?  What if we could greet those around us with love?  Not just our neighbor and our loved ones, but those we meet that aren't easy to love. Jesus loved the sinners.  He loved the tax collectors and the prostitutes.  He showed love to all He met.  What if we could do that?  Would we be answering this call?  I believe we would be because we would be showing the face of Christ to all those we meet.Another way to spread the Gospel is to read scripture.  You can't spread the word if you don't know the word.  I don't think you have to memorize scripture to be able to share it with others, just read it often and be familiar with it.  I heard someone say that when we have good news, we can't wait to share it.  This is so true.  When you get a new job or a new car, you can't wait to tell people.  When you find out you are having a baby you are so excited you want to tell everyone.  The same is true about the good news in the Bible.  Once you become familiar with the stories, once you learn what the stories mean and how amazing God is, you want to tell everyone.  It is as if you have information that is so important you want everyone to know it.  This is how I feel.  I used to dread hearing things like we are all called to share the Gospel.  However, now I can't help myself from talking about God or Jesus.  I know when the change happened too.  It happened when I started to read scripture more.  I did a “Read the Bible in 90 Days” Study with a friend of mine and her husband about 10 years ago.  Then in 2021 & 2022 I did the Bible in a year podcast with Father Mike Schmitz.  I have also done several Bible Studies and listened to a podcast called “Exploring My Strange Bible,” where the pastor goes through several sections of the Bible and essentially does a Bible Study about each one.  Once I really learned what God has done for us throughout the Bible I couldn't help but want to share it.  Once I learned what the Bible says about all the various topics such as love, forgiveness, repentance and so on, I wanted to share it with everyone.  This information was life changing for me and I wanted it to be able to change other's lives as well.  Suddenly when people would be talking about something, it would remind me of a Bible story and I would share it. When people talked about how hard it was to forgive I could tell them the things I learned and it helped them.  Sharing the Bible doesn't have to be daunting.  It doesn't have to be scary.  It can be as simple as mentioning a story you heard, or repeating one of the parables you read that applies to the current situation.  It could also be as simple as being the face of Jesus to all those you meet.  I almost wrote as easy as being the face of Jesus, however, that is not easy.  Jesus showed love and kindness to all He met. He also showed mercy and forgiveness.  These are not always things that are easy to do.  Sometimes things can be simple and yet not very easy.  I know that Jesus wants us to love and pray for our enemies and yet, what if our enemies really hurt us?  He wants us to forgive, and yet, what if we can't?  What if what they did was so bad we can't forgive?  What if we feel called to love someone that doesn't want our love and is very unkind to us?  What then?  This is why I say being the face of Jesus is a simple way to answer the call to the great commission and yet it is not an easy one.  When Jesus sends us out, He is not sending us out alone.  He is sending us out with the authority and power of the Holy Spirit.  This means all we need to do is rely on that power and that strength and we can do all things, even those that feel impossible.  What is one way you can answer this call to, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation?”Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation, please show us how.  Please give us the strength and courage to start with our families and friends.  Give us a holy boldness to speak up to others when we feel your promptings.  Please put on our hearts a deep desire to be in your Word and to learn what scripture says.  We love you Lord, you are amazing and we ask all of this in accordance with your will an in Jesus' holy name, Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to Walk Boldly With Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will have another witness for you.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

The Prodigal SonLuke 15:20-24 “So he set out for his father's house. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the finest robe we have and put it on him. Place a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast. For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost, and now he has been found.' And they began to celebrate.”I really like hearing other people talk about the various aspects of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  It seems like such a straight forward story to me, at least at first glance.  For those who are not aware of the story, let me read it to you.Luke 15:11-32 “The Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son.  Then he said: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that I will inherit.' And so the father divided the property between them.“A few days later the younger son gathered together everything he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissolute living.  When he had spent it all, a severe famine afflicted that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who sent him to his farm to feed the pigs. He would have willingly filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “Then he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father's hired workers have more food than they can consume, while here I am, dying of hunger.  I will depart from this place and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me like one of your hired workers.” '“So he set out for his father's house. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.  Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the finest robe we have and put it on him. Place a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast. For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost, and now he has been found.' And they began to celebrate.“Now the elder son had been out in the fields, and as he returned and drew near the house, he could hear the sounds of music and dancing.  He summoned one of the servants and inquired what all this meant.  The servant replied, ‘Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has him back safe and sound.'  The elder son then became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him,  but he said to his father in reply, ‘All these years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never once disobeyed your orders. Even so, you have never even given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours returns after wasting his inheritance from you on prostitutes, you kill the fatted calf for him.' “Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are with me always, and everything I have is yours.  But it was only right that we should celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and now he has been found.' ”I have heard many people talk about this one parable.  Some have focused on the younger son who took his father's money and left.  Some focus on the father and his willingness and eagerness to forgive.  Other's focus on the older son who stayed and work his father's land.  Every time I listen to someone explain this story I always learn something new.  No matter how many times this story is explained there is a whole new level I didn't know about.  It truly amazes me.  Today I want to explain one small part of it that Father Mike explained on day #318 (Click Here to Listen) on the Bible in A Year podcast.  I thought it was so great and I think everyone should hear how he explains the interaction between the younger son and his father when he comes home.  Father Mike explains that when the younger son is leaving he is saying he doesn't want anything to do with his father.  He takes the inheritance and leaves.  Then he comes home because he is starving.  Father Mike and Stephanie Parks, who works for focus created this retreat called the Prodigal son retreat and it focuses on the four things the father said when the son came home.First, What does it mean that the father gives him the best robe?  In the ancient world you only have a couple robes and only one best robe.  This son just took half his father's money and squandered it away.  He is not a good son, he is a failure and yet the father says give him the best robe.  This represents giving him the glory of the father. Next the father says, put a ring on his finger.  On that ring would be a signet of the father, a sign of the father's authority.  So not only is his clothing him in the father's glory but he is putting on his hand the father's authority.  He is fully restoring him to sonship.  Thirdly he is saying put shoes on his feet.  Why?  Because the son is free.  He is free to leave again if he wants to.  Lastly the father says, “kill the fatted calf.”  There are not a lot of fatted calves lying around.  You get one.  Not only does he get the best robe so he is clothed in the father's glory, then he gets the ring to show the father's authority, he is restored, not only does he gets shoes and is free to leave if he wants to again but then they kill the fatted calf because he is relentlessly pursued, he is ridiculously celebrated.  I haven't head anyone explain the four things the father gives to the son before.  I knew that the father was accepting the son back as is but I didn't realize the significance of those four things.  I love to do Bible studies and to listen to people who have studied the Bible so much more than I have explain the various things to me.  There is so much depth to everything in the Bible and if we are just reading it on our own we can sometimes miss a lot.  We might read something as is without reading into too much.  However, a lot of times there is so much more to what is being said in just the words.  This is why I loved listening to the Bible in a Year podcast these past two years.  Father Mike & Jeff Cavins, when he in on the show, give so much insight into what we are hearing when we listen to the Bible.  There is another podcast called Exploring My Strange Bible by Tim Mackie.  Each episode of this podcast is like a mini Bible lesson.  It is so good.  I really enjoy listening to it.  I hope you enjoyed this brief insight into the parable today.  In the episode #319 Father Mike also talks about the older brother in this parable.  If you have time I would check out the complete episode.  It's really interesting.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, you are amazing.  I love that you teach us in parables.  I love that you reveal the truth to us slowly so we don't get overwhelmed.  Thank you for showing us your love for us by demonstrating it in the Father of this parable.  You are so forgiving and you welcome up with open arms.  You don't even wait for us to get up to the door.  You see us from far off and you run out to greet us.  We are so lucky you love us so much.  We love you Father and we are so grateful you forgive us for our sins.  We are grateful you welcome up back in and restore us to sonship and daughter ship.  You are amazing and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen.  Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Guest Info/Bio: This week we give you part 2 of our two-part series on The Bible! We bring back one of our favorite guests of all time Dr. Timothy Mackie! Check out Dr. Mackie's work on his podcasts The Bible Project and Exploring My Strange Bible. Dr. Mackie is the creative writer and director for The Bible Project and an adjunct professor of Old Testament at Western Seminary, both in Portland, Oregon. He discovered the wonderful world of biblical studies and languages at Multnomah University and Western Seminary and had the privilege of dong a PhD in Hebrew and Jewish studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Guest Social Media:www.timmackie.comwww.thebibleproject.comTwitter: @timmackieThis Water I am Treading & You Must Go” found on the brand new EP, Recover.You can find Forrest Clay's music on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere good music is found!This episode of the Deconstructionists Podcast was edited, mixed, and produced by John Williamson Stay on top of all of the latest at www.thedeconstructionists.com Go there to check out our blog, snag a t-shirt, or follow us on social mediaJoin our Patreon family here: www.patreon.com/deconstructionists Website by Ryan BattlesAll photos by Jared HevronLogos designed by Joseph Ernst & Stephen PfluigT-shirt designs by Joseph Ernst, Chad Flannigan, Colin Rigsby, and Jason Turner. This episode is brought to you by Dwell. Dwell lets you listen to scripture the way that fits you. It's an app that reads the bible for you! Go to www.dwellapp.io/deconstruct for 10% off your annual subscription or 30% dwell for life!Starting your own podcast? Try Riverside! https://riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_1&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=john-williamsonOur Sponsors:* Check out Factor 75 and use my code deconstruct50 for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-deconstructionists/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tim Mackie is the Co-founder/ Chief Education Officer of the Bible Project who has a deep passion for helping people to understand how the overall biblical story works together and leads us to Jesus. With a degree in theology, and a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies, Tim has the unique ability to explain scripture and make the stories come alive (along with the artistry of dear friend and colleague Jonathan Collins). https://bibleproject.com Tim also hosts a podcast called "Exploring My Strange Bible" - https://bibleproject.com/tim-mackie/

Truth, Wisdom, Instruction & UnderstandingProverbs 23:23 “Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.”Well, this is an interesting verse.  I wonder how we would sell truth?  I wonder why God needs to tell us to buy truth and do not sell it?  Then He also says to buy wisdom, instruction and understanding.  I was stumped on what this verse meant or what God was trying to tell us with this verse.  However, when it is put into context of our prayer group it makes a little more sense to me.  During prayer group the leader talked about how sometimes we think about all that we are lacking and we may even ask God what it is that we lack.  This is because we are looking to ourselves to gain eternal life.  We are looking to see what it is that we can do to get ourselves into heaven.  The leader talked about how we need to trade our self reliance in for reliance on God.  There isn't anything we can do to get ourselves into heaven.  We will get into heaven only through God's grace.  After the beginning part of our meeting we also had several words of prophecy that talked about how we are looking for God in all the wrong places.  We are looking for Him in places that He does not dwell.  He dwells deep within our hearts.  He also said that He is there for us, but we are not looking to Him to solve our problems, we are looking to ourselves to solve our problems.  He is asking us to turn our problems over to Him instead of trying to solve them on our own.  In this context I can see how God would want us to buy truth, wisdom, instruction and understanding.  We need to see the truth that we can't do anything on our own and yet we can “do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13.  We need to not sell this truth for all the things the world tells us.  We need to not sell this truth in order to believe that we can do things on our own.  We need to not believe that God is too busy to help us.  We need to not believe that God helps others but not us.  We need to buy the truth and not sell it for any of these other false truths that the world is trying to sell us.Next, we need to ask God for Wisdom to know the difference.  Wisdom is a gift from the Holy Spirit and according to the Catholic Church wisdom is the first and highest gift of the Holy Spirit.  We believe that wisdom leads to an intimate understanding of God's Word and His commandments.  When we develop an intimate understanding of God's Word and His commandments then we can better live out our faith.  I believe this is why the verse above mentions truth and then puts wisdom, instruction and understanding in the same line.  I believe wisdom leads to instruction and understanding.  God has given us a lot of instruction in the Bible on how He wants us to live.  There is no question as to what He says in the Bible.  I think the question comes in when we try to interpret what He says in the Bible.  The Bible was written almost 2,000 years ago.  Well, the old testament was written long before that I believe.  So, reading the bible is not like reading something that was written 10 years ago.  Times have changed a lot.  Although as I write that I wonder, have they?  I mean yes technology has changed a lot, circumstances may have also changed a lot, but have we as people changed a lot?  That I am not sure of.  I think we tend to struggle with the same basic things as people struggled with back then.  The same underlying sins are there, we just have a different spin on them.  That is just my opinion.So, when it comes to reading the Bible, sometimes we can get caught up in the actual words of the Bible or the situation that they are talking about.  We can read something and think that it doesn't pertain to us because our situation is so different than that of the person of the Bible.  We can't really see any connection between how they are living and how we are living.  This is why we need wisdom, instruction and understanding.  We need wisdom to see how the situations in the Bible relate to our own situation.  We need instructions on how we are to live our life right now in this century.  We need understanding to know what is meant for us to read literally and what is meant as a story to teach us a lesson.There are different writing styles in the Bible.  There are things that are a historical recount of what happened during that time.  However, Jesus also teaches a lot of lessons through parables.  There are also stories meant to teach us a lesson.  If we have a deeper understanding of God's work we would know the difference.  Wisdom can come in many different ways I think.  For instance, we don't have to gain this understanding all on our own.  There are many people who have studied the Bible for years and are happily sharing all they know about it.  You can learn from them.I don't think anyone gains the wisdom to understand everything all at once.  For instance, I don't think you will go to bed one day and then wake up the next day with all the wisdom you have ever wanted.  I think the Holy Spirit opens your mind up to wisdom and then guides you to this wisdom.  You may be praying for wisdom and understanding and then you get an email or notice an advertisement for a Bible study in your area.  That is the Holy Spirit prompting you to gain the wisdom you are asking for.  Or, maybe you hear about a podcast that you hadn't heard of before.  There are several podcasts that have really helped me gain understanding about God's Word and about the Catholic Religion in general.  If you are looking for additional podcasts some of the ones I have tried are Father Mike Schmitz Bible In A Year Podcast, he also has another one that talks about all things Catholic.  The Jeff Cavins Show is a good one.  The Big Life Devotional with Pamela Crim is also good.  All Things Catholic with Edward Sri, I haven't listened to this one a lot, but I have heard him talk and he is really good.  The Elevation Church with Steven Furtick is good.  He is a minister that posts his sermons on this podcast.  I have never heard one that I didn't like.  Abiding Together is one that talks about three woman's journey in their faith.  That is also informational.  Your Catholic Life Podcast with Jon Leonetti is also a good one.  He is someone that loves his Catholic Faith so much and you can just hear it in his voice.  And last but not least Exploring My Strange Bible.  This one is so good.  Each episode is like a mini Bible study.  He takes all the stories and goes into a lot more detail so that you understand the Bible stories in a whole new way.  You get such a deeper understanding.  I didn't mean to deviate there, but I do think that understanding the Lord's Word is an essential part of Wisdom.  Not just His word but His instruction as well.  This is why I listed all those podcasts.  They will definitely help with understanding and wisdom.   I know it was a long list.  I don't intend for you to listen to them all, or any of them right now if you plate is full.  I have listened to different ones at different times.  This is why I am saying the Holy Spirit leads you to the wisdom you need.  If you are feeling you need more wisdom or understanding say a quick prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to the wisdom your seeking.  This list of podcasts is listed in the show notes so you can come back at any time and look through it.  Remember, rely not on yourselves and what you can do, but what God can do through you.  Dear Heavenly Father I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. I ask that you help us to buy truth and not sell it and buy wisdom and instruction and understanding. Lord we ask that you lead us to your wisdom and not the ways of the world.  Lord we ask you for instruction and understanding in how to live life the way you want us to. Lord we ask for a supernatural wisdom, a gift from the Holy Spirit, that will help move your word and instruction from our brain to our heart. We're asking for an intimate knowledge of your word and instruction so that we can live it with our actions. We thank you so much for all you do for us Lord you are amazing.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name amen.

Bethany Beal and I discuss womanhood on this episode of WWL. In this age-- when sexuality is the currency and gender roles can be thwarted-- Bethany encourages us to look to our Creator and his design rather than ourselves and our desires. She reminds us of our purpose and urges us to walk the path of being a girl defined by God. A little bit about the guest: Bethany Beal is head-over-heels in love with her best friend and husband, David, and is the super proud mommy of Davey Jr. She is the cofounder of Girl Defined Ministries and is passionate about spreading the truth of biblical womanhood through writing, speaking, and mentoring young women. To her family and close friends, she is simply a tall blonde girl who is obsessed with iced lattes and can’t get enough of her sweet baby Davey Jr. Support the podcast through Patreon Join our mailing list Check out our website Resources: Shine Bright: 60 Days to Become a Girl Defined by God by Kristen Clark and Bethany Beal Girl Defined Sex, Purity, and the Longings of a Girl’s Heart Bethany is reading The Well Watered Woman by Gretchen Saffles, and listening to Exploring My Strange Bible, and The Briefing. She is being refreshed by taking baths and drinking iced coffee. Noteworthy quotes: “The essence, truly, of Biblical femininity-- of Biblical womanhood-- [...] it truly is about becoming less about me and more about Christ.” - 14:28 “Bringing our sins into the light was the most freeing thing that ever happened to us.” - 30:39 Questions for consideration: In what ways are you seeking to make your name great, rather than Christ? Sponsors for this episode: #TWENTYSOMETHINGSBOOK by Cimber Cummings GO GET TWENTY SOMETHINGS RIGHT NOW! Through these words, you'll feel the familiarity of a close friend as Cimber encourages us through stories with how to: - Create more fun, freedom, and purpose than you've imagined. - Work through expectations and dreams and a few disappointments. - And getting to know how God's character and goodness transform and inform every area of our lives! I personally enjoyed every second of this book and laughed so hard. Cimber is REAL and every gal can relate to what she writes about. So grab "Twenty Something" by Cimber Cummings on Amazon today. Dwell Differently: This next sponsor is one of my new personal favorite products. Dwell Differently creates scripture designs to help you memorize one Bible verse every month. Each letter in the design represents the first letter of each word in the verse. You see it, recall it, and repeat it! Their monthly memberships come with temporary tattoos, a key tag, a print, and access to digital kits from the current and past months. They have memberships for individuals, families, and larger groups! They also provide a weekly email, devo, and podcast to help you dig further into learning about the verse of the month. I get asked all the time about my tattoos and it becomes a great conversation and a quiz for me to remember my verse of the month! Dwell has offered us a 10% discount on their membership using the code LEMON10. Go check them out, ladies! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/waterwithlemon/support

In the story of the Bible, all the main players are prophets, priests, or kings. While it might seem foreign to us today, those three roles are intimately connected to what it means to be people created in the image of God. Join Tim and Jon for the first episode of a new series on the royal priesthood!View full show notes from this episode →Timestamps Part one (0:00–19:00)Part two (19:00–29:00)Part three (29:00–34:30)Part four (34:30–50:00)Part five (50:00–end)Mentioned ResourcesS. Dean McBride, “Divine Protocol: Genesis 1:1-2:3 as Prologue to the Pentateuch.”John H. Walton, The Lost World of Adam and Eve.Tim Mackie, "Jesus is Your Priest," Exploring My Strange Bible podcast.Show Music “Defender Instrumental” by Tents“Directions” by Blue Wednesday and Shopan“Prophet Priest King” by Smalltown PoetsDiscover LP by CYGNShow produced by Dan Gummel. Show notes by Lindsey Ponder.Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Continuing our walk through the Minor Prophets with the Book of Jonah.  This episode goes through the book, provides background, an overview, reviews the themes, and provides application.Some of the resources:ESV Text Edition® (2016). (ESV Bible Translation via Biblehub.com) J.D. Greear, Summit Church; Castaway: the Book of Jonah (4 part sermon series)  (via summitrdu.com)(https://www.summitrdu.com/series/castaway-the-book-of-jonah/) English Standard Version  Study Bible: “Taken from the ESV® Study Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright ©2008 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”  (via The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/jonah/#author-date)Jonah in Hebrew, by Dr. Mark Futato, Daily Dose of Hebrew (via TGC courses) https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/jonah-hebrew/#course-introduction John Blanchard: Major Points from the Minor Prophets (via The Gospel Coalition resources; http://resources.thegospelcoalition.org/library/major-points-from-jonah )C.H. Spurgeon sermon collectionsThe Minor Prophets vol. II edited by Thomas McComiskeyAndy Stanley: White Flag (Jonah) (via Right Now Media resources) (rightnowmedia.org) Study Jonah: Discover the Riches of the Book of Jonah; Garrett Kell, Del Ray Baptist Church (via The Gospel Coalition courses) (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/study-jonah/#course-introduction )Tim Mackie, Exploring My Strange BIble podcast: The Amazing Jonah (via The Bible Project) (https://thebibleproject.com/podcasts/exploring-my-strange-bible/ )Tim Mackie: Book of the 12 Notes. Western Seminary BLS 502 (via timmackie.com)  (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4duw4ytuu38oks4/AAB4i5ahEdTuHIw7YwnFkxFsa/01%20Prophets%20Handouts/07%20Book%20of%20the%2012?dl=0&subfolder_nav_tracking=1 )Eric Mason: The Book of Jonah Series (via Right Now Media resources) (rightnowmedia.org) The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. (via biblehub.com)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® (via biblehub.com)Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. (via biblehub.com)World English Bible: public domainAlbert Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Part 2: From Tiglath-pileser I to Ashur-nasir-apli II (Wiesbaden, Germ.: Otto Harrassowitz, 1976) via https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f4af/bb82f1b7920fa9444e29eb128bd13832cd46.pdf C.T. Studd: Chocolate Soldier, back cover(?)

Episode 6 of Bible Unbound's Preseason lineup will prepare us to read the new testament for all it is worth! Going over some typical hangups we have over the validity of the canon, and genres within the scriptures, we will be so much more prepared to tackle any verse in or out of context! Sources:Exploring my Strange Bible:Making of the Bible 1 - OT 1https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-bible-part-1-making-old-testament-books/id1271147429?i=1000391369609Making of the Bible 2 - OT 2https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-bible-part-2-old-testament-manuscripts-making/id1271147429?i=1000391369608Making of the Bible 3 - NThttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-bible-part-3-history-new-testament-manuscripts/id1271147429?i=1000391369607Manuscript Evidence for New Testament:https://carm.org/manuscript-evidenceGenre Sources:How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordan D. FeeRead the Bible for a Change by Ray LubeckWeblink: http://www.intothyword.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=31435

During this chat, we start with how I relaxed this week. The Bears won! Manchester United won! And I'm enjoying “The Positronic Man” by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg. Next, I share a devotional thought that came to me, connecting C.S. Lewis's “The Great Divorce” with a thought Tim Mackie shared in his podcast “Exploring My Strange Bible.” Finally, I share a couple illustrations of how one bad choice can lead us to others.

Tim Mackie is the theological brain behind BibleProject, an animation studio focused on creating videos to explain the context, themes, and overarching story of the Bible. Tim is an enigma; he holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but prior to entering that track was an academic failure in high school; he reads dead languages and dry commentaries as part of his work for a slick digital creative firm. I loved talking with him.   Tim's got an incredible reading list on his bio page, and spent some time convincing me of the greatness of Abraham Joshua Heschel. He's also got multiple podcasts, including Exploring My Strange Bible and the BibleProject podcast. We ended our long discussion on the Bible, reading, and his own journey by talking about what a young person interested in following in his skater-punk-Bible-nerd footsteps should be focusing on early in their career. Exploring My Strange Bible - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exploring-my-strange-bible/id1271147429 BibleProject Pod - https://bibleproject.com/podcasts/the-bible-project-podcast/ Tim's bio and reading list - https://bibleproject.com/tim-mackie/

Watch the Chosen on VidAngel. Why do we say the Bible is inspired, and should it be held with as much reverence as we give it? Okay, for real this time, we need your comments. Leave us questions, topics or random wonderings in the comments below! Finding God in the Waves: https://www.amazon.com/Finding-God-Waves-Through-Science/dp/1101906065/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=finding+god+in+the+waves&qid=1593717742&sr=8-2 The Bible Tells Me So: https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Tells-Me-Defending-Scripture/dp/0062272039/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XBSG77Z4SXWO&dchild=1&keywords=the+bible+tells+me+so+by+peter+enns&qid=1593717790&sprefix=The+Bible+Telsl%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1 Exploring My Strange Bible: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-bible-part-1-making-old-testament-books/id1271147429?i=1000391369609 The Chosen App - iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-chosen/id1473663873 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vidangel.thechosen

We are taking a break to chat about what we are listening to, watching, reading, what is on our hearts, and what we are learning. Here is a list of the things discussed in the podcast: Erica is reading Sarah Dessen's Saint Anything and Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. She is still reading The Enneagram book by Richard Rohr and the Unseen Realm by Dr. Michael Heiser. Chris is reading Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology by John Walton, Launching Missional Communities by Mike Breen and the new Dynamic Church Planting Handbook by Becker, Carpenter and Williams. Chris and Erica are watching The Last Dance. Erica is also watching Survivor, The Willoughby's on Netflix and the Upload on Amazon Prime. Erica is listening to her usual podcasts by Annie F. Downs, Popcast and Bible Binge. She is loving Sarah Reeve's Album Easy Never Needed You. Chris is still loving Andy Mineo and the podcast Exploring My Strange Bible. Since his family loves  Brett Eldredge and Abby Anderson he is growing to like them too.    Co-hosts - Erica and Chris Engineer/Producer - James Music - Bribri!

Greg's recommendations of the best Bible-related podcasts you should be listening to in 2019. They are The Daily Audio Bible, The Bible Project, Exploring My Strange Bible and the Naked Bible Podcast. "Every episode of every podcast is gold -- not a dud among them," he says. Hear to the episode for why he thinks they all are must-listen. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/syncopator-familias/support

Guest Info/Bio: This week we give you part 2 of our two-part series on The Bible! We bring back one of our favorite guests of all time Dr. Timothy Mackie! Check out Dr. Mackie’s work on his podcasts The Bible Project and Exploring My Strange Bible. Dr. Mackie is the creative writer and director for The Bible Project and an adjunct professor of Old Testament at Western Seminary, both in Portland, Oregon. He discovered the wonderful world of biblical studies and languages at Multnomah University and Western Seminary and had the privilege of dong a PhD in Hebrew and Jewish studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Guest Social Media: www.timmackie.com www.thebibleproject.com Twitter: @timmackie Special Music By: The Gray Havens www.thegrayhavensmusic.com Twitter: @grayhavensmusic Facebook: @thegrayhavens Instagram: @grayhavensmusic Enjoy the music? Songs heard on this episode were: “At Last, the King; This My Soul; & Ghost of a King” from the album, Ghost of a King. “Storehouse” and “Forever” from the new album, She Waits. You can find The Gray Haven’s music on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, or anywhere good music is found. The Deconstructionist’s Podcast is mixed and edited by Nicholas Rowe at National Audio Preservation Society: A full service recording studio and creative habitat, located in Heath, Ohio. Find them on Facebook and Twitter or visit their website for more information. www.nationalaudiopreservationsociety.weebly.com www.facebook.com/nationalaudiopreservationsociety Twitter: @napsrecording Stay on top of all the latest at www.thedeconstructionists.com! Go there to read our blog, snag a t-shirt, follow us on social media, or join our Patreon family! We also have brand new coffee mugs in the webstore! Website by Ryan Battles All photos by Jared Hevron Logos designed by Joseph Ernst & Stephen Pflug. T-Shirt designs by Joseph Ernst, Chad Flannigan, Colin Rigsby, and Jason Turner. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-deconstructionists/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode we talk about what it looks like to have a relationship with God. In every relationship there is conversation and conversation consists of talking in listening. God speaks to us the most through the Bible. We talk about how important it is to listen to God and some helpful ways to do it best.Links:The Bible Project - https://thebibleproject.com/Exploring My Strange Bible - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/exploring-my-strange-bible/id1271147429?mt=2

Today’s particular teaching is about one of the few times that Jesus addresses the topic of sex and sexual desire. He uses a lot of intense language that has really stuck with Jesus’ followers for many thousands of years. The goal is to get inside Jesus’ heart and mind about his vision of what sexuality is and what it is for.

Probably Jesus's relationship to the Torah isn't something that you woke up thinking about this morning, but it was actually a major major issue. The Torah represents not just the Bible, but the whole story and terms of the covenant that Israel used to relate to God. Jesus came saying that the Kingdom of God had arrived through him and the work he was doing, but it was confusing to a lot of people so he addressed how he related to the story and the covenant that God made leading up to him. This is super important to learn about how Jesus talked about himself and what he was here to do.

In this section, we’re exploring Jesus’s most famous collection of teachings in Matthew chapters 5-7. Jesus is announcing to the Kingdom of God that way of life that he’s inviting his followers to join only makes sense WITHIN the announcement that God’s Kingdom has arrived through Jesus. This teaching focuses on those famous little poetic sayings at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount called “The Beatitudes”. It makes reference to the types of people who are blessed, but what does that even mean? What would it mean for a Jewish prophet or rabbi to go around and announce that certain people are blessed? These are familiar words that can lose their power and sharpness from over-use, but we’ll explore more about these questions in this episode.

This teaching is about the second half of Matthew Chapter 4. Jesus is an adult in this segment, and he says his first words to the public (the people of Israel). He talks about the Kingdom or the reign of God. To me, this was a foundational idea and a big part of my own rediscovery of Jesus’ own life, mission, and values. This is ground zero for understanding Jesus and why you should follow him.

This is specifically a teaching that I did about Matthew Chapter 4 and the well-known story of Jesus being tested by the evil one in the wilderness. One of my biggest goals was to debunk a bunch ideas about Satan and the devil that aren’t actually in the Bible. I think debunking these ideas is a really important part of following Jesus because we should recognize the reality of “evil” and what that means.

We are going to explore probably the most famous story from the Gospel of Matthew in today’s show. It is the Christmas story, or the story of Jesus’s birth (you know, all the iconic images of Joseph and Mary riding on the donkey). So for this sermon, I tried to shake off all that familiarity and read this text from Mary’s perspective. Because interestingly, the story focuses in on her personal narrative. In today’s episode, We also look at how Matthew keeps connecting these events in the early story of Jesus into large events happening in the Old Testament scriptures. I learned a lot from this, and I hope you do too.

These sermons originally took almost two years to get through, and it was a remarkable experience for our whole church community. Stories of Jesus can become so over-familiarized that they begin to lack the power and passion and brilliance that they actually possess. Going through this book was an amazing religious and life-transforming experience for me and I hope it is for you too.

These are famous love poems where Paul talks about nature and love in a Christian vocabulary. A lot of love poems from weddings begin right here in this teaching. Paul didn’t write for people getting married, but he actually wrote it to bring local community members together who were riddled with moral compromise. He wanted to give us an idea of what human existence and love was all about, and it manifested into this poem.

This was part of an Advent series that was kind of a stand-alone message the week before Christmas, and it is a reflection on the meaning of hope in the Old Testament. Hope is such an important virtue that God’s people have to actively cultivate throughout their lives. The hope for the Messiah in the Old Testament was a kind of hope that followers of Jesus actually still need to be anticipating… there is still a lot that needs to be fulfilled in the promise of the return of the Messiah. In this episode, we focus on how what we hope for shapes what we live for.

You find these words only in the crucifixion account in the Gospel of John. And these words bring into culmination a whole theme throughout the entire story of John’s Gospel. This sermon was from some of my very early days as a pastor at Door of Hope Church. I hope you enjoy this episode.

This episode is a reflection on Daniel Chapter 12 (the last chapter of Daniel) and how it culminates the dreams and visions that Daniel had in the chapters previous to that. Ultimately, this chapter is really a meditation on the hope of the resurrection and new creation. We even explore the roots of the resurrection and new life throughout the Old Testament.

The book of Daniel is about of a group of Israelites who are essentially kidnapped and exiled from their homeland. Daniel and his friends struggle to remain faithful to God in a place that is pressuring them to disobey. This book explores the challenge of being “in the world but not of the world.” It offers valuable lessons to us today, as we try to follow Jesus in the modern world. Listen in to learn more...

The book of Daniel is a story about a group of Israelites who have been exiled from Babylon, and the whole point is to explore what it means to be God’s people when you’re a minority. This book is about the struggle to maintain faithfulness and the struggle to maintain hope. What does it mean to be people who maintain hope and a way of life that says that Jesus is the king of the world? Welcome to Daniel Chapter 7. This whole story is portraying the four characters as models or examples of resistance to the empire. One night Daniel has a dream that gives us a new perspective on things… Listen in to learn more..

I did this teaching a couple of years ago about Daniel Chapter 3. It is a famous story in the Old Testament about the three guys who get thrown into this Babylonian furnace because they won’t worship an idol of the kingdom of Babylon as if it is God. Because most people are introduced to this story as a children’s story, they miss out on the extremely adult themes in this chapter. This is not a children’s story. It is an example of how nations exult their power, national security, and the economy as if they were God. Let’s dive in and learn together.

This first message explores chapter 2 of Daniel. Daniel is a weird book that has a misconception that it is only about ends of timelines. In fact, there is a lot of hope in Daniel too. This episode addresses a story that develops themes from page 1 of Genesis. Get ready for surprises! Let’s dive in…

In today’s teaching we explore the second to last chapter in Hebrews Chapter 12. It brings to a close the theological and pastoral challenge that the pastor has been offering the early Christian. He compares and contracts an experience that the Israelites had as they all camped out at the foot of Mount Sinai after escaping out of slavery in Egypt. He wants to show that our experience of approaching Jesus is both similar and different. Learn more in this episode.

In this teaching we camp out in chapter 11, which is a re-telling of the first 3/4 of the Bible. It highlights all of the characters who had moment of bold and courageous fate. It is one of the few chapters that specifically has the issue of fate and trust at it’s main theme. We let the pastor of this letter define what biblical faith is, and what it means to have that kind of trust and faith in Jesus. Tune in to learn more…

The second half of Hebrews Chapter 10 is one of the stiffest and most challenging warnings that the pastor who wrote the letter gave to this early Christian community. Why doe the author get so intense? Why does this pastor really want the people in this early church community to examine their very motives for following Jesus? What’s up with these challenges? Why is there risk involved in the adventure of following Jesus? More in this episode…

This section is about showing that Jesus is the human embodiment of the priesthood from the Old Testament. Why should we care about Jesus of Nazareth now in the 21st century? The pastor who wrote this letter is convinced that that matters a lot. In fact, the very meaning of Jesus’ life and the resurrection affects your ability to see that he is your priest. Learn more in this episode.

This section is based off of Chapter 6 of the Letters to the Hebrews. It's the pastor's meditation on the nature of God’s covenant promises. What does it mean for people to live as if God really meant what he said when he made his covenant promises to bless all of the nations through Abraham? Why is this such a big deal? Why do promises that God made to somebody thousands of years ago matter to us? We explore these questions in this episode.

In this episode, we dive into Hebrews Chapter 4. In the chapter, the pastor urges these followers of Jesus to remember a whole bunch of themes and stories from all over the Old Testament. He is going to recall the stories of Israel’s wilderness wanderings. They were on the way to the promised land, and he links the life that God wanted to give his people with the theme of Sabbath rest. The pastor then links this story to faith. Faith, by his definition, doesn’t mean you do nothing, but rather it means a sort of active or loyal trust.

This teaching comes from Hebrews chapter 2 and it is exploring the portrait of Jesus as God becomes human that the anonymous pastor goes into. What is it that human story of Jesus reveals about the glory and power of God? We explore this on today’s episode.

This is a letter that doesn’t actually behave like a letter. There is no proper introduction. So what this first letter does is orient us towards the question “what is the letter to the Hebrews?”. It is kind of like an early Christian sermon, but kind of like a letter too. We talk about what we know (and don’t know) about this letter in this lecture. We also talk about what it means to be the divine identity of Jesus and what that means to be disciples of Jesus.

In this last episode, we are going to look at a phrase that appears in one of the four gospel accounts about Jesus. It’s a phrase that Jesus uses called “being born again” or “born of the spirit”. The phrase comes from Jesus and a conversation that he had with Nicodemus (John Chapter 3), and what Jesus means and what Nicodemus means by this phrase are two different things. We’ll learn more about what they each mean in this episode.

In this episode we explore the story of the baptism of Jesus. This story is very powerful and there are many many biblical themes colliding here. This story communicates the love of the father as a gift to the son before the son has done anything at all. This wasn’t just something that Jesus experienced, it was something that he invited his followers to experience as well.

In this episode we are going to look at the way that the spirit’s presence in the Bible story is often connected to a physical building… the temple or the sacred space of God. It’s a major theme uniting the hebrew scriptures and a theme that New Testament authors use to talk about who Jesus is. Then, the theme continues on into the Book of Axe and the letters to the apostles in the New Testament.

In this message we are going to look at something very personal, very serious... it is the motif of how God’s spirit is particularly present in moments of human pain and suffering. There is something about suffering and pain that brings the whole human experience to this really acute pinpoint type of moment where we are participating in something very deep and very spiritual. We are going to look at a chapter in Roman chapter 8. It is one of the most beautiful depictions of the trinity at work participating in suffering in this work.

If someone didn’t really grow up in a tradition that emphasized the spirit of God, then these are kind of abstract and difficult things for people to incorporate into their thinking and life experience. This is going to explore different facets of the biblical portrayal of the person in work of the spirit. This first teaching is mostly hanging out on page one of the bible and then following the thread of the spirit as creator and giver of life throughout the Old and New Testaments.

The longest part of the series is about God’s spirit… what does that even mean? In this teaching called the spirit and the fruit, we are looking at God’s personal creative presence as the one who creates and generates growth and life. What does it mean for the spirit to be at work? We’ll address this in this episode.

This teaching is more like story time rather than a lecture. I wanted to try to capture the story that is driving the fist three quarters of the Bible. I begin on page one of the Old Testament and narrate the story as different people contribute with scriptures. The goal of this was to help us rebuild our portrait of God by grounding it in the actual biblical story.

In this episode we’re exploring the story of Jesus. We’re going to explore the version from the Gospel of Mark. Jesus fundamentally redefines his understanding of God by his acts of forgiveness and healing. How does forgiveness reveal something fundamental about God’s heartbeat? We address this question and more in this episode.

This teaching is about character and the role of God as a judge of human behavior (specifically human’s moral behavior). What does it mean to say that “God brings to bear his justice on our behavior and evaluates it according to justice”? Is that bad news or good news? We explore Exodus 34 to learn what it means for God to be a judge.