When I was getting my Ph.D. in Computer Science, I had to take an oral exam where I was told to prove a mathematical theorem. It was not the most natural task for me. We look at the story of David and Goliath - and how a determined, faithful man was able to do something that must have surprised many of those around him. We consider how putting full trust in God can enable us to do things we might otherwise not be able to do - and how it can empower us to find the life that God truly wants us to ...
Dec 22, 2024•24 min•Ep. 199
We begin by looking at the somewhat scary birth of my wife Wendy's and mine first child. Then, this advent, we look at the birth of Jesus. In this podcast message, we consider Mary's song, from the Gospel of Luke, which praises God for the birth of Jesus and prophesies the important role that Jesus will play in humanity.
Dec 15, 2024•9 min•Ep. 202
We look at the story of Ruth and how a young woman gives up any chance of a better life by moving back with her Jewish mother-in-law to Israel, a land that will hold her, Ruth, as a pagan and as inferior. God rewards Ruth, however, for her love and courage. We also look at my father's love of dogs, and a story about an apricot poodle that was left wandering after its owner died by herself in her house.
Dec 08, 2024•22 min•Ep. 198
We look at Nazareth, both modern and ancient. We consider why it was almost certainly a holy place. We consider Jesus growing up in this tiny, backwater town - and how it must have influenced him. We consider the prophesy of the Messiah from Nazareth, the savior who would help us listen to that "still, small voice" of God, as described to us in Hebrew Scripture.
Dec 01, 2024•23 min•Ep. 197
When I was a boy, I picked citrus with Mexican migrant workers. The men always looked after the boys. I tell a few stories of their unearned protection, their unearned grace. We look at the transition from the Old to the New Covenants, the suzerain contracts that God has made with his people. We look at the movement from having a sense of debt to God to earning God's acceptance only through faith. We also look at what this means in our everyday lives.
Nov 24, 2024•23 min•Ep. 196
We look at the city and history of Jerusalem, from its ancient beginnings, several millennia ago, to the time of Christ, to now. We consider the people who pilgrimaged there from all over the Roman Empire, so that they could visit God's city, and visit the home of God, the Temple. We consider what this means to us today and to the nature and to future of our faith.
Nov 17, 2024•24 min•Ep. 195
I was quite the kid gardener as a boy. Once, I planted pumpkin seeds - a lot of them - in my parents' front yard. It did not turn out well. We look at the story of the withered fig tree, the money changers at the Temple, and the power of prayer. We see what it has in common with the pumpkin seeds. We see that Mark and Matthew tell different versions of the fig tree/money changers/prayer story - and we consider what this means.
Nov 10, 2024•22 min•Ep. 194
I was once at the hospital, with an elderly man who was holding the hand of his dying wife. He had been the founder of an electronics firm that made advanced computer components. He said that computers were the most dangerous invention ever. He expressed, in a more aggressive fashion, that our modern addiction to digital information, in the form of videos, web pages, social media, texts, etc., and our belief that Google can truly enlighten us, is leading us to a new age of Gnosticism. We conside...
Nov 03, 2024•22 min•Ep. 193
When I was a boy, someone stole a shotgun from a police car - and the only witnesses were kids who all described the thief very differently. We use this as a sort of "negative" analogy and consider the four Gospels of Jesus and what we should think of their differing stories about Jesus, the way they differ in the order of events, and their somewhat different foci. Is this a problem - or is this actually a good thing?
Oct 27, 2024•25 min•Ep. 192
We look at two ancient prayers that are very similar - both are called "Creeds". We consider why they were written, what they mean, and how they differ. We look at the broader issue of differentiating mechanical beliefs from a deep seated, personal, holistic notion of faith and what it means to emulate Jesus. We also consider a very large rat that was living in my garage.
Oct 20, 2024•22 min•Ep. 191
My father's father served in the trenches in World War I - and came home very mentally ill. He proceeded to abandon his family and live on the street (in Quebec) - and commit violent crimes. We look at the millstone metaphor of Jesus'. He told us that it was better to put a millstone around our necks and jump into the sea than draw someone away from a life of faith. We'll look at this story, at Capernaum (where ancient Israel made massive millstones and where Jesus was speaking from), and at why...
Oct 13, 2024•23 min•Ep. 190
We consider a passage from Isaiah - from three different translations. We focus on one word from Hebrew that is translated alternately as "wait", "trust", and "hope". Which translation is correct? We decide which is the best translation, and from this, we determine that there is a huge lesson in this passage about how Christians should live their daily lives. It tells us what to do when nothing seems to be happening, when God does not seem to be active in our lives. It gives us an opportunity to...
Oct 06, 2024•20 min•Ep. 189
We look at the Gospel of John, the thoughtful, literary Gospel, from which we derive much of what we believe. We see that Scripture can be very subtle and can be filled with double entendres. Looking at the foot washing scene in John as a primary example, we consider the depth and the nuances that are often missed by modern readers of English translations of the Bible. We see just how magnificent of a gift is Scripture.
Sep 29, 2024•22 min•Ep. 188
We look at a book that most Christians are not that familiar with - Malachi. He is "the Messenger" from God who tells us that God will refine us like gold and silver. We look how God works to refine us, largely by building our confidence that we can indeed live as godly, good people. We consider what we as Christians look to as our leader through life. We don't have a prophet like Malachi as our Messenger. Who do we have?
Sep 22, 2024•23 min•Ep. 187
We look at the word "logos" ("λόγος") in the Bible. We look at its true, deep meaning, a meaning that is very difficult for a non-Greek speaker to appreciate. We discover that translating this word correctly and looking at the magnificent, poetic intro to the Gospel of John, we learn about our role as the faithful, the reason Jesus came to us, and what we can find in the face of God.
Sep 15, 2024•22 min•Ep. 186
We look at rendering of 3D wireframe images inside a computer into 2D, simulated 3D full color video. We draw an analogy of God rendering us from empty wireframes devoid of color and life into full color living human beings who have been forgiven. We consider Psalm 116, which notes God has rescued the Psalmist from Sheol or Hades, and which asks how the psalmist can render an appropriate act of thankfulness to God. Finally, ask what we can do today to render our thanks to God....
Sep 08, 2024•20 min•Ep. 185
The title of this podcast comes from something my boy, who is 32, said when he was 3. We're going to look at the derivation of the name "Jesus", and learn some intriguing things about it. This will help us understand a parallel between the story of the conquest of Canaan with the story of Jesus. It will teach us something about language. It will also teach us something about what really matters on this Earth.
Sep 01, 2024•22 min•Ep. 184
For a millennia and a half, the Silk Road provided a vast avenue of exchange for trading commercial products, carrying on philosophical discussion and for the transmission of faith. We look at how this might have impacted the development of Christianity. We also look at the new Silk Road - the Internet, and we consider its positive and negative impacts on Christian faith.
Aug 25, 2024•22 min•Ep. 183
We look at the Book of Acts of the Apostles - which is very inappropriately named - and how it tells us of the incredible missionary journey of the Holy Spirit. We learn of the immensely deeper and inspiring sense that the earliest believers had of the Holy Spirit, compared to our modern notion. We see that we do not have to wait for Jesus to return, as the Holy Spirit is already alive, within us. We see just what the Holy Spirit can do to our lives.
Aug 18, 2024•20 min•Ep. 182
We look at the apocryphal book, the Book of Tobit. It is a wild tale in which a man marries a woman who has had seven previous bridegrooms die before the marriage was consumated, a man is blinded by bird crap, and an angel disguises himself as a man. It is also a tale that tells us just what it means to be a Christian. We will also look at how the Grateful Dead apparently named their band...
Aug 11, 2024•22 min•Ep. 181
We look at the Genesis story of creation: many call it a useless myth, and say that we need to focus on the real, scientific way in which we came into existence. We see that there is tremendous truth in the Creation Story, and that in it we see the most critical facts about why we exist and what we are meant to do on this planet. We discover that the myth is truth. (THIS IS A REPOST. THE ORIGINAL SOUND FILE BECAME CORRUPTED.)
Aug 04, 2024•20 min•Ep. 180
I once had a student in one of my university courses come to my office after not having done any work all semester. Without asking if anything was wrong, I launched into a professorial lecture about how he should have been doing what I told him to do if he wanted a decent grade, and no, I would not give him an incomplete. He would fail. He broke down sobbing - and I learned that something very bad was indeed wrong in his life. We look at the parable of the man who insists on sitting at the seat ...
Jul 28, 2024•21 min•Ep. 178
I once drove to Mexico with my half-Brazilian father. When we drove back over the border, he discovered that he had forgotten to take an ID with him - and of course, he looked like a Mexican. In this podcast, we look at the task of building our church today. We realize that we are judged in very superficial ways - as I was afraid my father would be. We are seen as ignorant and hurtful. They see our church as coming to an end, with no revival possible. But God has a much longer and deeper view of...
Jul 21, 2024•21 min•Ep. 177
When I was in kindergarten I decided one day to hitchhike to school. I stood on the sidewalk with my thumb out. Quickly, someone did indeed pick me up. We look at God's grace and how it can protect us, both spiritually and physically. We consider the issue of what our role is in God being able to use his grace to keep us from harm and to limit evil in this world.
Jul 13, 2024•20 min•Ep. 176
I once spoke with a woman who was dying from heavily metastasized cancer. She was worried that she would miss her daughter's wedding. I talked to her about the wedding that really matters, the one that both she and her daughter would be at - the wedding from the parable Jesus told. In this parable, the wedding stands for the final judgement. We look at the way Christians need to be confident that they will get an invitation to this wedding and that they will be honored guests.
Jul 07, 2024•22 min•Ep. 175
I had an aunt who owned a pet ocelot. One night, a man with a gun tried to rob her. That ocelot loved my aunt beyond anything in the world. The ocelot bit off the robber's forearm. God is that kind of protector for us. We do not have to earn that protection with good works. Our faith is enough to ensure that God will always be with us. We look at a couple of the letters of Paul to see just what God's grace - that unearned grace, given through faith alone - can do to transform us....
Jun 30, 2024•23 min•Ep. 174
We look at one of the biggest complaints about the Bible: the brutal massacre of the Canaan people, ordered by God. We take a historical perspective on the Bible, when, by whom, and how it was written. We consider the Canaan story in this historical context. We also look at a buddy of mine who got shot by a farmer with a shotgun. Our goal is to figure out not just the reason for this violent story, but also who we, as Christians are today.
Jun 23, 2024•22 min•Ep. 173
We look at a major issue in our society today: the insistence that people are either our allies, that they completely buy into our priorities and stand side by side with us as soldiers - or they must be considered enemies. We consider a man whom I knew as a boy, a man who married a woman with 7 young children. This man did not live that way. He looked for the good in people. He looked to improve himself. He was a man of faith who walked in the Kingdom of God, and was not trapped in the Kingdom o...
Jun 16, 2024•20 min•Ep. 172
We look at a story that was apparently inserted after the fact in the Gospel of John: the story of the adulterous woman. We discover that it is a very complex, multi-faceted story that requires great study. The Pharisees want to stone the woman to death. Jesus writes in the dirt and mysteriously, the Pharisees slither away. Why did they do this? What are the various explanations for this passage? Why should we be glad the story did make its way into the Gospel? And where did the story originate,...
Jun 09, 2024•20 min•Ep. 171
When I was a young man working as a computer programmer in a subbasement office, I met a man who had been badly maimed by a grenade thrown in his tank in World War II. He gave me a perspective of God and our dependence on God that is reflected in a very unusual Psalm - number 37. This Psalm is very much in the Wisdom literature category. It tells us just how God deals with those who do good and those who do evil - and therefore how we should live each day.
Jun 02, 2024•20 min•Ep. 170
