Podcasts about gospels are

Speaking of the first generation of Christians, 2 Peter 1:16 says, “we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Though written nearly two millennia ago, Peter’s statement still describes the choice before readers of the Gospels: Are the Gospels made-up stories or truthful biographies? That’s the question I ask Craig Keener in Episode 203 of the Influence Podcast—the final podcast episode for 2019. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Craig Keener is F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. His most recent book is Christobiography: Memory, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels, published by Eerdmans. It is also the winner of Christianity Today’s 2020 Book Award for “Biblical Studies.” That magazine praises Christobiography with these words: “This is a groundbreaking work by a prolific scholar. It strengthens our confidence that the Gospels provide accurate information about Jesus.” ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Balanced Budget, Balanced Life: People don’t plan on having money troubles, which is exactly the problem: they don’t plan! Rollie Dimos shows you how to make a biblically sound financial plan and stick to it. Get back the time and resources you need to stop stressing out about money, and start enjoying the balance of a truly abundant life. For more information visit BalancedBudgetBalancedLife.com. 

Where are we in the Gospels? Are we the rich? The poor? The disciples? The crowds? Are we like the Pharisees in some ways? Today we will read the story of the Widow’s Mite from the Gospel of Mark 12:38-44. In that story Jesus observes a poor widow putting two worthless coins into the public treasury, and then he says that she had given more than the rich people who had given large sums of money.  We will address some of the common lessons drawn from this story, talk about the meaning of the story, and suggest some questions for further discussion. My name is Rich Procida. I write about progressive Christianity, spirituality, and politics at ModernLectionaries.blogspot.com. I hope you enjoy this group study episode of Bible Study for Progressives.

The rise of social media has given way to a brand new way of engaging and embracing ideas. While this is often a helpful thing, it can also have some really negative effects. In particular, when it comes to the formation of our theological ideas, our understanding of who God is and what he's up to, and our perspective on the local church and her mission in the world, twitter and other social media platforms have created some harmful caricatures. In this second episode of Twitterology, Jay and Isaac chat with Liz Ditty and Chris Nye about the very tweetable idea that when the Bible becomes difficult or confusing, we should simply "Just Read Jesus." Is this true? Is it enough to just read the direct words of Jesus in the Gospels? Are the "red letter words" of the Bible the only words that truly matter? What are we to make of the over sixty other books of the Bible that do not include the direct words of Jesus?

In this blast from the past, J. Warner Wallace interviews Steven Kingsley, author of “The Easter Answer”. As a layperson, Kingsley provides a response to atheist Dan Barker’s “Easter Challenge”. Are there inherent internal contradictions in the Easter accounts found in the Gospels? Are these contradictions a proof that the Christian claims related to the Resurrection are false? We’ll examine the “Easter Challenge” and Steven Kinsley’s “Easter Answer” in this edition of the show. For more information about the case for the Resurrection of Jesus from the perspective of a detective, see J. Warner’s Easter tract, ALIVE.

Every one of us is involved in a battle. Our sinful desires are at war with our souls. Romans 7:14-25 describes this fight in greater detail. In our text the Apostle Peter is concerned that our souls win. By "souls" he is probably referring to our whole selves and not just some part of us. Hebrew people perceived of themselves as a whole unit while Greeks tended to refer to various parts (Mind, Soul, and Spirit). Peter's point is that sinful desires, while tempting, only manage to destroy us. The kinds of sinful desires he is referring to are spelled out in 2:1. They are the result of pride or ego issues. In fact, pride is the first and perhaps foremost sin of humankind. Think in terms of the Garden temptation: (Gen. 3:5) "you will be like God." These desires surface whenever we perceive we are "hard done by" or treated unfairly. This certainly was the case for Peter's readers who were suffering for their faith. The most natural temptation would be to lash out or retaliate against the oppression. Peter gives us some advice on how to win the battle over our evil desires. In the end not only is it good for our souls that we overcome these things, it is good for the Kingdom. Neighbours are watching, unbelieving husbands are wondering. Our behavior can overcome the world's prejudice and result in glory to God. Questions for Discussion: 1. Slide 2-3. Read Romans 7:14-25. Can you identify with Paul's dilemma? Is it true that all sins result from pride? Is pride the original and besetting sin of humankind? 2. Slide 5. Why does Peter use these terms of endearment at this point of the letter? 3. Slide 6. Why is it so important that followers of Jesus know their citizenship is in the Kingdom of God? What dangers do we face when we forget that we are aliens and strangers here? 4. Slide 7. What do you make of this statement: "Desires are not wrong but what we do with them can be." See James 1:13-15. 5. Slide 8-9. Discuss general accusations brought against followers of Jesus today. Are they because of wrongdoing or are they misperceptions? How can we prevent the misperceptions? 6. Slide 10-11. Discuss the tension between God's holiness and Jesus' submission. How do we live as both holy people and at the same time follow Jesus into a dark world? 7. Slide 12-13. Discuss the disciples' submission to authority in the book of Acts. At what point did they respectfully push back against worldly authority? What about Jesus in the Gospels? Are there some lessons here for us?

Every one of us is involved in a battle. Our sinful desires are at war with our souls. Romans 7:14-25 describes this fight in greater detail. In our text the Apostle Peter is concerned that our souls win. By "souls" he is probably referring to our whole selves and not just some part of us. Hebrew people perceived of themselves as a whole unit while Greeks tended to refer to various parts (Mind, Soul, and Spirit). Peter's point is that sinful desires, while tempting, only manage to destroy us. The kinds of sinful desires he is referring to are spelled out in 2:1. They are the result of pride or ego issues. In fact, pride is the first and perhaps foremost sin of humankind. Think in terms of the Garden temptation: (Gen. 3:5) "you will be like God." These desires surface whenever we perceive we are "hard done by" or treated unfairly. This certainly was the case for Peter's readers who were suffering for their faith. The most natural temptation would be to lash out or retaliate against the oppression. Peter gives us some advice on how to win the battle over our evil desires. In the end not only is it good for our souls that we overcome these things, it is good for the Kingdom. Neighbours are watching, unbelieving husbands are wondering. Our behavior can overcome the world's prejudice and result in glory to God. Questions for Discussion: 1. Slide 2-3. Read Romans 7:14-25. Can you identify with Paul's dilemma? Is it true that all sins result from pride? Is pride the original and besetting sin of humankind? 2. Slide 5. Why does Peter use these terms of endearment at this point of the letter? 3. Slide 6. Why is it so important that followers of Jesus know their citizenship is in the Kingdom of God? What dangers do we face when we forget that we are aliens and strangers here? 4. Slide 7. What do you make of this statement: "Desires are not wrong but what we do with them can be." See James 1:13-15. 5. Slide 8-9. Discuss general accusations brought against followers of Jesus today. Are they because of wrongdoing or are they misperceptions? How can we prevent the misperceptions? 6. Slide 10-11. Discuss the tension between God's holiness and Jesus' submission. How do we live as both holy people and at the same time follow Jesus into a dark world? 7. Slide 12-13. Discuss the disciples' submission to authority in the book of Acts. At what point did they respectfully push back against worldly authority? What about Jesus in the Gospels? Are there some lessons here for us?