Find Strength and Hope in Hymns It’s Acapeldridge week at the Bible Geeks! We’re excited to welcome our dear friend, Michael Eldridge, to this conversation all about spiritual songs and how they impact us. If you’re not familiar with Michael’s singing and hymn writing (@acapeldridge on YouTube) you’re missing out on some beautiful and edifying music. So we enlisted his help building an A-Team of beloved hymns. And along the way we talk about our secret un-favorite songs of the church and some st...
Jun 23, 2023•41 min•Ep. 180
Build Community Around Jesus What traditions help you build connection with others? What did people mean when they said Jesus was a “friend of sinners”? It’s our second week in a row of the Bible Geeks AV Club, as we work our way into episode two of The Chosen. We kick things off with a conversation about which of these Sabbath meals we would probably find ourselves in, then we dive into a Like the Teacher discussion based on Matthew 11:19. At the heart of this episode is the statement of Mary, ...
Jun 16, 2023•37 min•Ep. 179
Talk About Jesus The next two weeks, we’re kicking off the Bible Geeks A.V. Club — our chance to watch films and shows and talk about them — with a conversation about the first two episodes of The Chosen. If (somehow) you haven’t heard of it, The Chosen is a historical drama about Jesus’ life that has caught people’s attention in a big way, with reportedly over 100 million viewers generating lots of conversations about — our favorite subject — Jesus. So this week we go Finding Jesus in a passage...
Jun 09, 2023•40 min•Ep. 178
Let God's Word Interrupt Your Thoughts How can God’s word interrupt our internal dialogue and focus us on what matters? And what’s better than a “360 degree turnaround”? This week we complete the Talking to Yourself guided study. First we discuss what Jesus Said in his six “But I say to you” statements in Matthew 5. Then we dive into the parable of the Rich Fool in a Here’s the Story that leads us to reexamine our lives in light of eternity. From Swifties to monkeys, basketball blocks to the Emp...
May 18, 2023•36 min•Ep. 177
Point Yourself Toward God What’s the problem with advice that starts with, “All you have to do is just ...”? How are our struggles like epic beetle battles? And how do we find our special hiding place in God? In this week’s Jesus Said, we draw encouragement from the Lord’s words to Peter as he sank into the sea. And we set Poetry in Motion with two psalms that repeat the refrain, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (Ps. 42 & 43). Then in our Reach Out se...
May 11, 2023•40 min•Ep. 176
Tell Yourself the Truth This week we're starting a new 3-session Guided Study called "Talking to Yourself," where we probe the depths of our thoughts. Caution: things get "really real" as we start to tell ourselves the truth! What do we learn from Jesus' teaching style about eyes and ears that don't work correctly? How does this simple phrase, "Do not be deceived," pop up throughout the Scriptures? And what are we not seeing clearly in our own lives? And as a bonus, don't miss Ryan's true feelin...
May 04, 2023•38 min•Ep. 175
Pay Attention to Your Thoughts How are our thoughts like looping commercials? And how is your heart like a fish tank? We’re thinking about thinking again this week as we kick off a new guided study called Talking to Yourself, all about what we say in our hearts. We kick it off with what Jesus Said about the source of evil. Then we share some Deep Thoughts about what people in Scripture say to themselves. Look for five short videos in this series to break next week on our YouTube channel, Faceboo...
Apr 27, 2023•40 min•Ep. 174
Appreciate Biblical People of Faith And we have a winner! This week we wrap up our 2023 Bible Bracket, surveying the life and writings of Paul the Apostle, who voters identified as a Favorite Figure of Faith ( biblegeeks.fm/bracket ). We’re also excited to have Jeff O’Rear join us on this week’s episode. Jeff is an evangelist with the Judson Road church of Christ in Longview, Texas, and seemed like the perfect guest co-host for a review of the Bible Bracket. Together, we talk about our biggest u...
Apr 13, 2023•42 min•Ep. 173
Practice Spiritual Disciplines Why’s it so hard to simplify our lives? How could unanswered prayers instruct us? Did the early church practice fasting? And what’s wrong with needing to see results in our service? Last week we kicked off our Bible Geeks Book Club by Flying Through a book called Celebration of Discipline, by Richard J. Foster. Here in part 2 of that discussion, we each identify our Favorite Things from the book and where we need to grow, bringing some of these disciplines into our...
Apr 06, 2023•35 min•Ep. 172
Understand Spiritual Disciplines Introducing the Bible Geeks book club! This week we reflect on spiritual disciplines like Bible meditation, prayer, fasting, confession, and service, as we discuss Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. We start by anchoring the discussion in our imitation of Christ, as his disciples. Then we go Flyin’ Through the Book, touching briefly on all twelve disciplines Foster encourages. It’s a conversation that raises topics from simplifying our possessions to ...
Mar 31, 2023•41 min•Ep. 171
Appreciate Biblical People of Faith Who’s your favorite figure of faith? This week we build an A-Team of Biblical royals and prophets, priests and disciples, all for an event we call the Bible Bracket. Don’t worry if your March Madness bracket’s busted, we have something better than basketball (at least for a Bible geek)! And after listening to us build the bracket, you can vote for the first round of match-ups at biblegeeks.fm/bracket or on our Facebook page. We hope the bracket leads to some f...
Mar 23, 2023•31 min•Ep. 170
Search the Scriptures for Answers We ended last week’s Ask the Geeks episode with a “to be continued,” and this week we pick it right back up with our final two listener questions. We start with a big one … what does Jesus say about divorce and remarriage? Then we consider what it means to “visit orphans and widows” today. They’re heavy issues worthy of serious thought and prayer. We’re grateful for the listener questions and we hope the discussion contributes to your understanding of these topi...
Mar 16, 2023•34 min•Ep. 169
Search the Scriptures for Answers Is it insincere to pray without action? What’s the key to preaching without notes? And most importantly, is a hot dog a kind of taco? In our first ever “Ask the Geeks” episode, we discuss listener questions. In these episodes we’ll discuss questions about prayer, preaching, divorce, and how we “visit” orphans and widows today. As usual, we kick things off with an icebreaker and then go Finding Jesus in a classic text about Biblical inspiration. If you have a que...
Mar 09, 2023•34 min•Ep. 168
Draw Closer in Your Relationship to Jesus It’s been four years since we started the podcast, so this week we decided to press pause on the upcoming guided studies to step back and take a look at where we are, where we’ve come from, and where we want to go next. We start with what Jesus Said about how we’re drawn to him, and end with a Reach Out question about areas of the show we hope draw listeners closer to The Lord. We also invite you to help us shape the future of the show — what would you l...
Mar 02, 2023•39 min•Ep. 167
Fill Your Heart With All the Best Things Well, we’ve come to the end of the What’s Good study, and we hope it’s highlighted some of the many reasons we have to praise and thank our God. He has filled our world and our lives with his excellence. May we notice and appreciate it every day! This week’s conversation focuses on “whatever is pure” (Phil. 4:8). We start with what Jesus Said about the pure in heart (Matt. 5:8) then dive into a classic example of purity, in a segment we call, “Hello, My N...
Feb 16, 2023•39 min•Ep. 166
Lower Yourself to Lift Up Others Is it possible to be proud of something … in a good way? And what does it mean to be “a servant of all”? This week we meditate on the praiseworthy virtue of humility. We go Finding Jesus in the Servant Song in Isaiah 42, making sense of the “broken reed” he won’t break and the challenge of wielding power justly. And in a Psalm 34 edition of Poetry in Motion, we consider David’s invitation to “taste and see” the Lord’s goodness for ourselves. As we prepare to conc...
Feb 09, 2023•46 min•Ep. 165
Feel the Freedom of Truthfulness What are your roadblocks to truthfulness, sincerity, and integrity? How do we hold onto both love and truth when talking to each other about important issues? And what does honesty have to do with Chris Paul, gas lines, and life guards? This week’s Scripture du Jour is Ephesians 4, a power-packed passage full of guidance in how to “speak the truth in love.” Taking a cue from Paul there, Bryan compares us to kids in a riptide, as we recognize both the dangers of d...
Feb 02, 2023•42 min•Ep. 164
Fill Your Heart With God's Love This week we encourage everyone to “be nice!” Actually, we aim to show how the Biblical virtue of “kindness” is much more than politeness and niceties. Our discussion quickly moves from our favorite unkind fictional characters to several Biblical figures who showed kindness — David with Mephibosheth and Abigail with David. We go Finding Jesus in that example of David with Jonathan’s son. And then — in a fun but challenging Here’s the Story segment — we go back to ...
Jan 26, 2023•45 min•Ep. 163
Push Forward to Be More Christlike What advice might “Younger You” have for you today? What’s the difference between a typical January resolution and an effective goal? And how can sharing a commitment with a brother or sister give you a rocket boost toward success? Here, in session 9 of the What’s Good guided study, we take a hard look at the difference between satisfaction and striving. Or to put it another way, between plateauing and pursuing excellence. Something Jesus Said shows us how the ...
Jan 20, 2023•40 min•Ep. 162
Strengthen the Bonds of Friendship What’s the difference between valuing someone and having a friendship with them? How does humor lighten our load? And what does the old metaphor of “investing” in someone like a bank account teach us about the “brother born for adversity”? We go Finding Jesus in third John and also find how much that short book tells us about good friends. And from communicating without a word to late night conversations, we count down some of our Favorite Things about friendsh...
Jan 12, 2023•41 min•Ep. 161
Feel the Fulfillment of a Fruitful Family How does God provide for us through our loved ones? What does Ruth teach us about prayer? And how do our familial roles change as we get older? This week, in session 7 of our What’s Good study, we appreciate God’s gift of family, from blessings like our moms and kids to our brothers and sisters in Christ. What Jesus Said about honoring parents in Matthew 15:3-6 leaves us thinking about the false dichotomies and how serving God leads us to serve our famil...
Jan 05, 2023•45 min•Ep. 160
Acknowledge Life's Good Things With Joy Is “dill pickle” Christianity God’s way? Does he want us permanently somber and stoic, embracing asceticism and austerity? Or is there a place in God’s will for enjoying his blessings? This week, we challenge these ideas with a look at celebration in Scripture. We start with what Jesus Said about the joy in heaven over the return of a sinner, learning to smile at what makes God happy, and to be there for each other in happy times. Then it’s time for some D...
Dec 22, 2022•43 min•Ep. 159
Open Your Heart to Sing Praises How have hymns shaped your thinking? What songs have gotten you through tough times? This week’s conversation is a celebration of singing! First, we look to an example of Jesus singing a hymn before his betrayal, imagining what it was like in that upper room. Then we bring back one of our favorite segments, as each of us drafts an A-Team of praise songs in Scripture. What an amazing gift God gave us in music! And what a difference spiritual songs make in the life ...
Dec 15, 2022•36 min•Ep. 158
Appreciate Your Unique Abilities Have you ever thought about how many blessings you enjoy because of the God-given talents of others? Or about the strange and wonderful mix of different abilities and interests people have? This week we continue our What’s Good guided study with a discussion of God’s gifts of talents. We go finding Jesus in the Bible’s “body” passages, noticing how often we fail to appreciate other people’s gifts — and our own! Then we dive into a character study of two inspired ...
Dec 08, 2022•40 min•Ep. 157
Stop and Enjoy Rest We know biblical rest means more than taking a break, but what’s it really about? What would a weekly Sabbath communicate to a bunch of former Egyptian slaves? And What’s The Deal with God resting on the seventh day of creation? This week we continue the What’s Good guided study, pausing to appreciate God’s gift of rest. We learn to get away from it all Like the Teacher, Jesus, did in Mark 6:30-32. And we share what keeps us from relaxing, realizing we’re still learning how t...
Dec 01, 2022•36 min•Ep. 156
Embrace the Opportunity to Do Good Work Who’s the boss in your life? Who really signs your paychecks? And is work a curse or a gift? This week, we take on session 2 of the What’s Good guided study, celebrating God’s gift of work - both ours, and the work of others. We count down our Top 4 Proverbs on work and discover a surprising “destroyer.” And after Finding Jesus in a commandment to slaves, our Reach Out question looks at the source of our work ethic. From the tasks you secretly love to thos...
Nov 24, 2022•37 min•Ep. 155
Wonder at God's Work in Nature What do creepy bugs, bubbling paint pots, and acorn woodpeckers have in common? They’re all part of God’s created world, and all part of this week’s episode. Here in session one of our new “What’s Good” series, we start exploring God’s good gifts with a discussion of the natural world He’s made for us to enjoy. What Jesus Said in Matthew 6:28-30 gets us thinking about bird watching and all that we can learn by looking around. Then we set Poetry in Motion, moving th...
Nov 17, 2022•39 min•Ep. 154
Dwell on God's Praiseworthy Gifts and Virtues It’s been awhile, but we’re excited to be back to our normal recording schedule, starting this week. And we’re introducing our next big, thirteen-session Guided Study, called “What’s Good.” Our goal with the series is to direct our attention to some of the “pure ... lovely ... commendable” things we should “think on” (Phil. 4:8). Because in the midst of “this present darkness” (Eph. 6:12), can’t we all use some help focusing on the light? So on Monda...
Nov 10, 2022•40 min•Ep. 153
Rejoice When Your Children Follow the Lord Completing our parenting series the week of Mother's Day, it seems appropriate to acknowledge all of the work godly moms devote to training their kids! And isn't it fitting to spend this episode talking about the honor kids give to parents — and the honor parents give to kids? So this week, we close Training Wheels by looking forward to the "one shining moment" when our Lord becomes our child's Lord. Like Paul, we want to say, "what is our hope or joy o...
Apr 28, 2022•45 min•Ep. 152
Prepare Your Child for a Life of Service to God How do we teach our kids to ask, "How do I want to serve when I grow up?" This week we look at two different parents that Scripture places side-by-side as a "Do This" and "Don't Do That" contrast. We notice Jesus in two songs of mothers-to-be, reflecting on how God turns the tables on the lowly and the proud. Then, in a segment we call "Hello, My Name Is," we dive into a character study of Hannah. What change does Hannah undergo when she believes t...
Apr 21, 2022•46 min•Ep. 151
