Philippians 2:5-11 is one of the most Christ-glorifying passages in the NT. It is also one of the most debated. Some have interpreted it to mean that the Son of God stopped being God when He became a man. In today's study, we will interact with that view and then turn to the main point of the text - how Jesus became a slave to save us.
I remember the first time I pulled up to a drive-through window to pay for my coffee and learned, much to my delight, that the person in front of me had already taken care of it. It was a small gesture, but kind nonetheless. The gospel calls Christians to display a similar "pay it forward" attitude as we receive encouragement and affection in our trials. We talk about that in today's study.
The gospel starts with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, but it doesn't end there. It's also the "gospel of the kingdom." We have a King who calls us to walk worthy of Him, and to do it joyfully. When we do, our enemies feel the certainty of their coming defeat, which only makes them angrier at us and provokes them to harm us more. All of this is a gift from God. That's what Paul teaches in our study today.
The Bible says that the greatest love you can show someone is to lay down your life for him or her. Yet most of us will never be put in the position to take a bullet or something like that for the rescue of someone else. The Apostle Paul shows us another way we can demonstrate this kind of love. It's challenging and encouraging at the same time. We talk about that in today's study.
"Gospel-centered" has become a prominent modifier for Christians. We claim gospel-centered churches, gospel-centered parenting, gospel-centered books, marriages, missions, businesses, and more. If we are going to use that label, we should probably compare our commitment to the gospel with the Apostle Paul's commitment. If anyone deserved the right to use the term, it was him. Today, we will see just how devoted to the gospel this amazing follower of Christ was.
Here's a thought experiment: if you had come to the Lord through the preaching of the Apostle Paul, and later learned that he was praying for you, what would you hope that he was praying? In other words, what is your greatest concern? What do you hope others are asking the Lord for on your behalf? One more question: looking back over the things you've prayed for in the last week, what were at the top of your prayer lists? In today's study, we will see what topped Paul's prayer list for the Phili...
Humans are communal people. We enjoy being with others to eat together, play games together, root for our favorite team together. When Christians do these things, we call it fellowship. But that is not what the Bible means when it speaks of Christian fellowship. Today, we talk about how to have true partnership in the gospel, which forms the basis for everything in our relationships.
I'm sure you've had the experience of finding a new church, whether due to relocation or fallout, etc. What were you looking for as you researched? What were the key things you hoped to find on their website or when you visited? We want many things: friendly community, good music, and so on. But there is one thing that must be at the top of our priority list. We talk about that today. I mentioned the Ecclesiastes study. You may find it to be an encouragement to you. You can watch the entire seri...
As we conclude our study of Ecclesiastes, we are challenged by how much effort he applied toward becoming wise. And, to our great benefit, he didn't keep that wisdom to himself. Christians need to imitate both aspects of this: learn more and teach others. We talk about that in today's study. Here is the online resource I mentioned. It has a massive virtual library of old Christian books: https://ccel.org
Ecclesiastes begins with the declaration, "All is vanity!" It ends with the same words. At least, that is how the most popular translations have it. (Some even render it, "All is meaningless.") This can be misleading. As we have seen, Solomon does not find life to be without purpose, quite the opposite. He simply stares reality in the face and admits that our days are unpredictable and fleeting. In the end, he says, what we do today has everlasting significance. We talk about that in today's stu...
Yesterday, as I was enjoying a long walk, I noticed the unmistakable sounds of elementary school recess activity. Young children were shouting, laughing, arguing, and playing as kids do when turned loose in the outdoors. While they were still in view, an elderly man, supported by a walker and the steadying hand of (presumably) his wife, moved slowly down the trail toward me. I couldn't miss the juxtaposition of this young group at the dawn of life and this man nearing the end. I wondered what ad...
Today we are talking about investing. It may surprise you to learn that the Bible speaks about it. We sometimes have such a fear of greed and the evils of money, that we think the only godly perspective of wealth is to not have it. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Wealth in the hands of good people can be a tremendous blessing to others and to the kingdom of God. So you should build wealth. But, like everything else in life, whether your investments go up or down is in God's hands.
When my children were young, we took a family trip to the east coast for a homeschooling project, a sort of "revolutionary war" tour. One of the stops was Williamsburg, VA, where we encountered reenactments of the major events that took place there. I struck up a conversation about politics, and the founding fathers' plan for the U.S. government, with "Patrick Henry." The final thing he said to me was, "God help us if we ever pay our politicians." Well here we are. In this study, we talk about S...
Your words say a lot more about you than the information conveyed. They reveal what is in your heart and mind. A fool babbles on, reaching hysterical levels, which can lead to great wickedness. If you've seen the Lord of the Rings movies, Denethor, Boromir's father, is a great example. A wise man gains favor with others by his words. We talk about that in today's study. Ironically, I kept saying "Good Friday" in this video rather than "Black Friday." My mind was distracted (as you will see) as m...
When we compare what God appointed governments to do with what many are doing today, it's clear that there is great corruption and wickedness among national leaders. But as Solomon has already taught us, there is nothing new under the sun. So what do we do? How do we handle this situation? That's what we will talk about today.
As a culture, especially in the West, we place high value on expertise, education, and celebrity, but we don't place a high value on wisdom. We don't tend to search out guidance from the sages. We are more inclined to seek input from "accredited" people. Is that best? Is it...wise? We talk about it in today's study.
King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, wants you and me to be wise. It starts with "fear of the Lord." And somewhere along the way, we have to come to terms with the fact that we are on the Titanic. The ship is sinking. You are going to die, whether you are a good person or a bad person. So what does a wise person do in that reality? We talk about that in this study.
The world is in chaos. Right is wrong, up is down, boys are girls. Evil men seem to be "getting away with it." Why would God let everything get into such a mess? And what are we supposed to do in the midst of it? Wise King Solomon has the answer. We talk about it in today's study. For those who asked (on the YT LIVE), the song at the beginning is my son's (Gabe Goodin) latest release, "Joy." You can find it on any music platform or here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Up2anK2ZuYc Here is the podcas...
We were asked to help parents think through school choices. It's a difficult task in the current cultural setting. The worldview of government schools is hostile to Christianity, but other choices are expensive and daunting. Yet it's a decision parents must weigh heavily. This episode may help you choose wisely. Also, we interact briefly with a response to last week's podcast on Romans 7: https://youtu.be/ixzzz_uArDw
Lockdowns, mandates, health departments...not only have these things divided families, friends, and fellow citizens, they have divided Christians. We know that God tells us to submit to governing authorities, but what does that mean for us in a democracy? We talk about that today. I mentioned the next online course at New Covenant School of Theology . Here is a link, if you would like to apply: https://www.newcovenantschooloftheology.org/application-forms/...
You know those lists, "the most popular girls names of 2021"? There is at least one name that will never make that list: Jezebel. And we don't find many parents naming their sons "Judas." Why is that? Well, in the Bible, Jezebel is representative of the worst kind of woman. Judas, of course, betrayed the Son of God. When it comes to evil, neither men nor women have the corner on that market, as wise King Solomon, who had vast experience with both, learned firsthand. We talk about women (and men)...
Solomon paid attention to the way things are (as opposed to how he wishes they were.) One observation he made was that sometimes good people die "prematurely," and bad people live long, prosperous lives. But we should be careful in the conclusions we draw from this fact. We talk about that in today's study. NOTE: The internet connection failed near the conclusion of this stream, so there is an abrupt ending. Thankfully, we made it through most of the study.
Skeptics have a favorite gotcha question for Christians: If there is a good God, why does He allow evil, suffering, disease, etc.? We've all had to answer it in some form or another. As we do, we must be careful not to go beyond what the Scripture teaches in our attempts to defend God's integrity. The question is hard and not satisfactorily answered. But Solomon gives us the answer from at least one perspective. We talk about it in this study. I said I would link to the New Covenant School of Th...
Obviously we can't actually live in the past, but that doesn't stop many of us from wanting to. What is it about former times that causes us to remember them with such fondness? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? God's Word gives us the answer, which we talk about in today's study. During today's lesson, Doug strongly recommended an (unrelated) podcast on Romans 7. Here is a link: https://youtu.be/ixzzz_uArDw
Christians debate the "man of Romans 7" - Is he a believer? Is he an unbeliever? Most of the disagreement comes from the theological presuppositions brought to the text. The most popular view today is that Paul is describing a Christian's battle against his flesh, which resonates because we all know what it's like to "do what we don't want to do." But if we look at the actual context and flow of Paul's argument, this can't be what he's describing. Josh and Doug explain why in this episode. Here ...
Two words that we all hate to hear - "Please hold!" Most of us are not good at waiting, especially when things don't go as planned. We get angry, frustrated, and sometimes act in ways we will regret later. Why? And how can we learn to be better at waiting? We talk about it in today's study. Here's the link to New Covenant School of Theology that I mentioned: https://www.newcovenantschooloftheology.org.
My son Gabe is a skilled guitar player. How has he become so adept at the young age of 16? Many factors - lots of practice and good genes - but especially because he is willing to receive critique. We all need to be willing to receive correction if we are going to withstand the pressure from a world that wants us to conform to their preferences. We talk about that today. And (proud dad moment) if you would like to hear my son's music, you can find it wherever you listen to music. Here's his late...
I remember first reading Covey's "Seven Habits" and getting pulled into the opening of the chapter entitled, "Begin with the End in Mind." He did a masterful job of forcing me to contemplate my own funeral, which led to a long contemplation of my entire life. Solomon did much the same thing centuries earlier. It's an exercise that will transform the mindset of a wise person. We talk about that, and how it brings joy, in this study.
It happens on most Mondays: someone asks, "How was your weekend?" Or in the evening, "How was your day?" How often do you answer with something that sounds rather grumbly? "It was fine," with an implied, "But it could have been better." Today we're going to let God's Word show us the path to joyful answers to those questions.
So far, Solomon has taught us that wisdom is knowing what time it is: Is it time to search or time to give up as lost? Is it time to build or time to tear down. And so on. The same is true of money. If you love to buy things, you may bring serious troubles to your life; if you hoard and never spend, you may miss out on many blessings for you and others. With money, you need to decide whether it's time to save or time to spend (and give generously). We discuss the teaching of Solomon, Paul, and J...
