In this end of year episode, Anthony and Blaine unpack three invitations to a deeper life in God in 2025: communion with the Holy Spirit, unceasing prayer, and simplicity. Mentioned in this episode: Norman Grubb Rees Howells, Intercessor Leonard Allen Poured Out Jeffrey Greenman Life in the Spirit Richard J Foster Prayer Richard J Foster The Freedom of Simplicity Mark Scandrette Free Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their respec...
Dec 30, 2024•51 min•Ep. 37
The Acts of the Apostles is not a complete history of the Church in the first century. But it is a genre-blending masterpiece. It is a historical treasure trove, a catechetical resource, a theological revelation, and a user guide to life in the Church. In this episode Anthony and Blaine discuss St. Luke's origins, temple theology, Jewish diasporas, and generosity. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their respective blogs: Anthony ...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 36
To follow Jesus is to engage a political project: It is to submit to Jesus as he establishes his upside-down Kingdom by his Spirit through the Church. Anthony and Blaine lay out a few core convictions for a style of political engagement that is anchored in the teachings of Jesus. Allegiance. Enemy love. Prayer. There is no more challenging, satisfying, and liberating way to minister to the life of the community than by embracing the foundational commandments of Jesus. Where to Connect Mount Vigi...
Oct 28, 2024•54 min•Ep. 35
What happened to the northern tribes after the Assyrian deportation? Were they ever gathered back from the nations? How does that relate to the diversity of church expressions today? Is that evidence of schism and disunity, or something else? In this episode Anthony and Blaine discuss Israel's narrative arc in the scriptures as well as an often-overlooked theme: over and over again, God uses the rending consequences of sin as a way to extend His grace to the ends of the earth. Where to Connect M...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 34
Anthony and Blaine (and friends) interrupt their discussion of Church history with a brief, timely encouragement. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their respective blogs: Anthony - Sun Tongue Blaine - The Paradise King
Sep 30, 2024•20 min•Ep. 33
Anthony and Blaine continue their conversation on the Church by examining the canonical relationship between God and His covenant partners. As Joseph Ratzinger put it, "The history of the relationship between Israel and Christendom is drenched with blood and tears." That's true but it need not be that way. The history of the relationship between Israel and Christendom is fundamentally a history of God's faithfulness, self-revelation, and ultimate redemption. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come...
Aug 27, 2024•57 min•Ep. 32
The Trinity is the fountainhead of reality and the mystery at the center of all things. And so it should go without saying (but it often doesn't) that the Church only makes sense when it's explored in terms of the triune God. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony start with the Trinity and survey salvation history to put the life of the Church in context. From the love of the Father to Covenant Theology, Dionysius the Areopagite's vision of creation to Russian Monastaries founded on perichoresis, ...
Jul 16, 2024•56 min•Ep. 31
We're back. In this episode, Anthony and Blaine map out the territory ahead and offer their thoughts on constructive engagement with Church history. In brief: be ecumenical, read like it's your job (wasn't it Aquinas who said "Beware the man of one book?") don't treat anyone (ancient or modern) as stupid, and plan to live differently. Division in the Church is a matter of sin; unity and love in the Church reflects God's own desire. So buckle up: this series is going to be a ride. Where to Connec...
Jul 02, 2024•55 min•Ep. 30
Mount Vigil is going on hiatus; we've wrapped up our two year long Story of God series and we'll be taking the next few months to pray into the future. We're living through the end of an age, as we've said before. That means we're facing unique pressures, and so we need to seek the face of the Lord as ask for His wisdom. We're not quite sure what will come out of this discernment process, but we'll be back next year. In the meantime, the Lord bless you and keep you. Warm regards from MV. Where t...
Dec 12, 2023•15 min•Ep. 29
In this conversation, Blaine and Anthony share a few thoughts on responding to current events in terms of allegiance to Jesus. The crisis involving Israel and Palestine is a divisive issue, if you hadn't noticed. The good news for us is that the Gospel of Jesus applies to situations exactly like this one and the Church is empowered by the Spirit to respond in an utterly unique way. We hope some of the thoughts here help you to love God, love your neighbor, and see and operate by the Spirit while...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 28
Blaine's written a book, folks! It's an epic introduction to Jesus in terms of the story of God. If you've been following MV, this book is for you. From night raids and necromancers to witch kings and dragons, Blaine and Anthony talk through the presentation of Jesus in our time. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their respective blogs: Anthony - Sun Tongue Blaine - The Paradise King...
Oct 17, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 27
We've spent hours contemplating Revelation. Now it's time to hear the text itself. This will be our acid test: Can our long-term engagement with theology, Church history, and culture transform our experience of the scriptures? Can we see Jesus in the Apocalypse? We hope so. But you'll have to listen and see for yourself. Enjoy this dramatic reading of Revelation: we hope you will directly experience Jesus, slain and risen king of the universe, as you hear the voice of God in scripture. Where to ...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 26
This is it: the finale of the 5-part series on Revelation, as well as the finale of the 19-part series on the Story of God in the Bible. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony draw together the main threads of the podcast so far: God’s design for the cosmos as revealed in Scripture, the nature of evil, and the restoration of all things through Jesus of Nazareth. “For I consider,” said Paul, “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 25
In this series, Blaine and Anthony have argued that Revelation is the theological capstone of the Bible. Nevertheless, because its method of doing theology draws upon the Jewish (rather than the Greco-Roman) tradition, many of its claims go right over the head of modern readers. In this show, Blaine and Anthony drill down on some of the most notorious elements in Revelation: the 144,000, the Whore, the Beast, the Mark, and more. The actions of Revelation are not a disturbing fever dream. They ar...
Aug 21, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 24
“While each church receives a message reflecting its own situation, there is one overarching issue: whether or not to compromise. Specifically, will these churches be faithful witnesses both to Jesus and like Jesus (and John!) by refraining from participation in the cultural norm of pagan religion, including the imperial cult, even if it entails serious consequences: social, economic, and political?” Gorman In this third part of the series on Revelation, Blaine and Anthony continue their discuss...
Jul 26, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 23
In this episode, Anthony and Blaine continue their Story of God series by returning to the book of Revelation. Questions discussed in this conversation: How does John use the Old Testament? What is the structure of John’s Apocalypse? Who is/are the seven spirits in 1:4? What is going in in John’s prologue? We hope you enjoy. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their respective blogs: Anthony - Sun Tongue Blaine - The Paradise King ...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 22
“Revelation is not only one of the finest literary works in the New Testament, but also one of the greatest theological achievements of early Christianity.” So says New Testament Scholar Richard Bauckham, and yet few of us experience it that way. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony begin a conversation on the literary and theological marvel that is Revelation, drawing on diverse scholarship to frame its historical and prophetic situation. The thesis of this episode is simple: Revelation is a dis...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 21
When it comes to anticipating the return of Jesus, two New Testament texts loom especially large: The Olivet Discourse and the Revelation of John. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss the first: The Olivet Discourse from Matthew 24 and 25. On the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask two questions: when will the temple be razed to the ground, and when will the final marriage of heaven and earth take place? Jesus answers both questions. He places the destruction of Jerusalem in its cosmic con...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 20
In this episode, Blaine and Anthony begin a conversation on the culmination of the Story of God: the bodily return of Jesus and the final marriage of heaven and earth. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their respective blogs: Anthony - Sun Tongue Blaine - The Paradise King
May 22, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 19
In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss the everyday life of the people of God. The Church is a glorious reality; on the ground, it is also a gritty reality. The practice of dying to self is not abstract. It looks like loving real people. It looks like owning our sin. It looks like repenting. It looks like leaving church gatherings and then learning to hang in there. The local gathering is an eternal reality embodied by people in process. In this conversation, Blaine and Anthony share their ...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 18
The Church is the Bride of Christ, and that, more than any other dimension of Church life, is an eschatalogical reality. It is a fact that anchors the purpose of the Church in the bodily return of Jesus and the final union of Heaven and Earth. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss Bridal Theology, sexual ethics, covenant, and the culmination of God’s design for His free creatures. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their res...
Apr 24, 2023•48 min•Ep. 17
“If the Church is really supposed to be yours, you’ll have to make that much more obvious than it is at present.” Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict XVI, paraphrasing the temptations of Christ The Church is a vital step in the Story of God. It hearkens back to Eden; it picks up the role of Israel. It is military, and it is political. It recalls themes from King David’s time. It prophesies the Return of Jesus. In this episode, Blaine and Anthony begin a conversation on God’s people, discussing i...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 16
In this episode, Anthony and Blaine discuss the Ascension and Pentecost, linking those events as two sides of the same coin in the story of God. In the Ascension, Jesus has anchored our humanity in the heavens. At Pentecost, the Sermon on the Mount and the Old Testament promises of covenant renewal have been fulfilled. Also in this episode: ancient representations of the creator God, dating Biblical events, Jewish calendars, the unfulfilled Sermon on the Mount, and events from the Second Jewish ...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 15
In this episode, Anthony and Blaine discuss suffering, surrender, and incarnate spirituality as Jesus’s solution to the World and the Flesh. This is the third installment in a three-part series on Jesus as the crescendo of the Story of God. Also in this conversation: dying to become human, the devil’s counterfeit power, the spiritual life lived in the body, and eros and agape fusing together in the form of the human being. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 14
In this episode, Blaine and Anthony continue their conversation on the work of Jesus: How, exactly, does Jesus deal with the problem of spiritual oppression? Why does it matter that Jesus reigns supreme over the council? Where is the gate of hades, and what would it mean for Jesus to build a church there? The life and work of Jesus specifically overthrows the spiritual powers of this world. Join the Mount Vigil team for a conversation on the faithfulness of Jesus, the recapitulation of the story...
Feb 20, 2023•56 min•Ep. 13
In this episode, Blaine and Anthony continue their series on the Story of God by arriving, at last, at Jesus. In particular, this show addresses the way in which Jesus deals with sin and death so that the story of Israel, with its law and sacrificial system to manage sin and its prophetic promises to manage death, is brought to its climax. This show is the first installment in a 3-part conversation on the work of Jesus. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect wi...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 12
Why did God choose to create the nation of Israel? How was God’s decision to create a people where there was no people part of his plan to deal with sin, death, and spiritual oppression? How does the story of YHWH and Israel prepare humanity for the ultimate revelation of Jesus the Anointed? These are the questions we go after in this next installment in our Story of God series. Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Anthony and Blaine at their respective ...
Jan 25, 2023•2 hr 7 min•Ep. 11
In this special episode, Blaine and Anthony discuss self-examination. Self-examination, or Examen, is a practice that followers of Jesus have used for centuries to see their lives as God sees them, and, therefore, as they really are. The 5 steps of Examen Center yourself Place yourself in God’s presence. Give thanks for the gift of this day and the gift of God’s love for you. Ask for light Pray for the grace to understand how God is acting in your life. Ask for the ability to hear clearly and fo...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 10
In this episode we continue our Story of God series by talking about the Fall, or more accurately the Falls. We explore the origins of evil in the world, including the first human sin, the role of depraved spiritual powers, and the descent into darkness that forms the backdrop for Jesus’ salvation project. Some of what we cover: How the “Fall” is better described as the “Falls” We take a survey of the three big problems: Sin, Death, and Spiritual Rebellion We look at the three big sources of cor...
May 18, 2022•3 hr 1 min•Ep. 9
In this episode we pick up where we left off in telling the Story of God. We ask the big questions like: What is the meaning of life? Why did God create is? What are we here for? Some of the things we cover in this episode: How babies are like rainbow trout How regenerative agriculture reflects God’s design for people Edens within Edens The trees at both ends of the scriptures Why people are idols Fractal geometry Where to Connect Mount Vigil has come to an end but you can still connect with Ant...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 8
