In our fourth annual Christmas special, we look at the shepherds -- the working stiffs of the Nativity narrative. Although often relegated the the background, their role is indispensable to the Christmas story. We look at the significance of God's choice of shepherds to be the first recipients of the news of the Messiah's birth and what it can teach Christian men today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 19, 2023•47 min
Advent is supposed to be a time for joyous anticipation of our Savior and King. Yet for most men, it's four weeks of stress and pressure as they try to meet year-end work responsibilities, family demands and church and community needs. Our panelist Mike says it feels like "forcing a size 14 foot into a size 10 shoe." We won't deny frustrations and obstacles increase in the Christmas season, but we do talk about our ways of dealing with them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...
Dec 12, 2023•52 min
Drop your nets! Lock up your tax booths! Follow us as we journey into Season 1 of The Chosen. We talk about the elements that make this series different both from past attempts at Biblical dramas and more recent independent faith-based programming. Daring choices abound, starting with its adoption of world-building and multi-thread storytelling techniques used in secular shows such as The Wire, Friday Night Lights and Game of Thrones. Then there's its street-level depiction of 1st Century Capern...
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr 37 min
With Thanksgiving coming up, the fellows talk about how grace and gratitude are connected. Granting grace--excusing a transgression or forgiving a debt--may be the ultimate act of kindness. Gratitude understands the opportunity for renewal and change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 21, 2023•47 min
Walk into a church service and it's guaranteed you will hear the word "faith" within five minutes. Yet, even long-time Christians can find themselves tongue-tied when asked to define or explain it. We attack the question from a variety of perspectives. Can faith be measured? Can one have too little faith? Is faith only truly expressed in action? Can faith exist alongside doubt? And what about the "sola fide" doctrine?. Is faith the only requirement for salvation? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...
Nov 14, 2023•55 min
We're back with three hypothetical scenarios that would force committed Christians to consider whether a course of action suits the Lord's way or merely indulges selfish desires. Never afraid to make gray areas even grayer or take scripture out of context, we debate everyday ethical choices when it comes to responding to queries from insurance companies, problematic directives in final wills and re-selling highly sought-after Lego sets on eBay at twice the retail price. Hosted on Acast. See acas...
Nov 07, 2023•59 min
We debate whether it's appropriate for Christians to participate in traditional Halloween festivities of dress-up, trick-or-treating, parties and games. Is it a harmless secular holiday, or something darker? The fellows talk about the Halloween memories and family traditions, church programs such as Harvest Festivals and Trunk-or-Treats, and, yes, some of the pagan origins that the Church supplanted. Listen and comment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 31, 2023•44 min
“Jesus rules the world?” a skeptic might ask. “Have you looked out the window lately?” In our final podcast on N.T. Wright's Simply Jesus, we examine his assertion that God, through Christ, has established his kingdom on Earth. Wright does not deny that evil still thrives. But his position is that Christians should be doing something about it because Christians, as kingdom people, have been called to participate in the plan. Jesus came to save the world, not trash it. If the Son of God, to the p...
Oct 24, 2023•57 min
The Bible tells us Jesus ascended into heaven and promised to return. Jesus may be in heaven, but his disciples have been commissioned and are at work. According to N.T. Wright, “The whole book [Acts] is the story of how Jesus, exercising his power as the CEO of earth as it is in heaven, sends out his followers as ambassadors to make his kingdom a reality, climaxing with the strange paradox of Paul in chains announcing that the Roman world has a new emperor.” In our penultimate podcast on Wright...
Oct 17, 2023•45 min
In order to defeat sin and death, the Messiah had to battle sin and death, a battle played out on the Cross. In Simply Jesus, even N.T. Wright admits that in human terms, this was "the craziest vocation one could imagine." But these were cosmic terms, not mere human. Calling back to last week's podcast, this was the great Battle and this was how the Temple was cleansed and restored. Join us as we move past the simple church answer of "It was all God's plan" and discuss the divine purpose and mir...
Oct 10, 2023•59 min
We talk about Jesus re-aligned sacred space, special time and the nature of our physical world. In Jesus, according to N.T. Wright, the concepts of Temple and Sabbath are simultaneusly transformed and fulfilled. We also talk about the significance of Jesus' miracles and the danger when Christians try to explain them away as either exaggerations or pre-Enlightenment misunderstandings. Wright asks provocatively, if Jesus is, as he claimed, the incarnate God breaking into this world, why wouldn't y...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Jesus of Nazareth was just one of many personalities in the ancient Middle East who claimed to the prophesized Jewish Messiah. So why do we, as Christians, testify that he alone is the genuine Savior? Author N.T. Wright says the critical difference is in how Jesus redefined historical, scriptural and cultural expectations as to the enemy the Messiah would battle and consequently, how he would cleanse the Temple. Join us as we continue our study of Wright's Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Wa...
Sep 26, 2023•1 hr
Dare we say it, but the message of many of Jesus' parables has been dulled by repetition. With N.T. Wright as our guide, we revisit several parables aiming to rediscover how provocative and subversive they were to original listeners. Jesus was using the parables to illustrate the nature and order of the Kingdom he was proclaiming and, pointedly, who would be in and who would be out. Repeatedly, we see a picture of a generous dispensation of grace and forgiveness--except to those who don't think ...
Sep 19, 2023•52 min
It's been six-and-a-half years since we dropped our first podcast March 29, 2017. Now, 300 podcasts later, we look back on how far we've come, rarely missing a week despite meeting challenges of hurricanes, floods, a pandemic, accidents, surgeries and job changes. Along the way we've produced a TV show, hosted live events and tackled all sorts of Biblical questions, rejecting simple "church answers" in favor of a more complete Christian understanding. Join us as play some clips and add some pers...
Sep 12, 2023•1 hr 17 min
How does a new ruler announce he's in charge? In this fallen world, it's usually through a show of force and intimidation -- as in let the purges begin. How did Jesus announced his kingship? Wright points to healing, forgiveness and celebration. All three were omnipresent in Jesus' ministry and, according to Wright, are primary characteristics of the Kingdom of God. We discuss all three and how they fit into our lives as Christians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 05, 2023•55 min
No Church Answers! host Bill Cox talks to Peary Perry, a retired Houston police officer who in 2012 launched a prison ministry where inmates repair and refit kids' bicycles for donation. Taking inspiration from Joshua 13:1, Peary speaks to answering the Lord's call later in life and the transformative power that seeing pictures of kids receiving repaired bikes has on convicts. More information about the No Name Bicycle ministry can be found here. Check out Peary's web site here. Hosted on Acast....
Aug 31, 2023•17 min
We begin a study of N.T. Wright's Simply Jesus: Who He Was, What He Did and Why He Matters. We start by introducing Wright's central point, Jesus is God, the ruler of all creation and his overall mission inaugurated that kingdom--on earth as in heaven, and is much more than a distant figure in some ethereal dimension but active in this world today. We begin by looking at the how Christ was the center of a "perfect storm" in 1st Century Judea and Galilee, colliding with the political authority of...
Aug 29, 2023•43 min
One can be humiliating, the other humbling. Either way, they can tear at a man's sense of self-worth. Bill Cox, host of the No Church Answers! podcast, has been through both in the past 12 months and talks about the differences in how he felt, how each played out and the role his faith played in seeing matters through. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 08, 2023•26 min
Panelist Steve Titch is on a mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya, where he interviews Ezekiel Kayeli, senior pastor of Kahawa Sukari Baptist Church. Pastor Ezekiel talks about planting churches both in rural Kenya and densely urban Nairobi, confronting political and cultural divisiveness among believers, the wide-scale Christian revival occurring in Africa and the geographical South, and the influence this revival will have on the Church in America and Europe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...
Jul 25, 2023•21 min
Robert Cocheu ("The Professor") interviews Steve Titch ("The Gambler") on his thoughts and takeaways from a recent four-day deep-dive into Acts by leading Christian theologian and author N.T. Wright. Steve talks about Wright's themes of the radical counterculture the early church introduced to the Roman world and how the first Christians understood the significance of the resurrection and how it demonstrated Christ's dominion and authority over the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...
Jul 11, 2023•30 min
We conclude our study of Chad Bird's Limping with God with a discussion of Jacob's last years in Egypt and the final blessings he gives Joseph's sons and then his own sons. We look at the blessing of Judah in particular, which doubles as a Messianic prophesy and discuss what Jacob might be thinking as he looks back on the events of his life and if he could glimpse how they would fit into God's long-range plan for human salvation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 27, 2023•54 min
Twenty years after his son Joseph is believed to have been killed by a wild beast, Jacob discovers his lost son not only is alive but is the top-ranking official Egypt second only to the Pharoah, Amidst a devastating famine, Joseph offers welcomes his family with forgiveness and deliverance. Author Chad Bird calls this a "eucatastrophe" (Google it!). We continue our study of "Limping with God," revisiting the story of Joseph's reunion with his father and brothers from Jacob's perspective. Hosted...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr
Like all men, Jacob must deal will inevitable transitions that come with middle age, although for this patriarch, the pain will run deep. His beloved Rachel dies in childbirth, bearing him his 12th son. His father Isaac dies soon after. What follows is the devastating loss of his favorite son, Joseph, whom his brothers, out of jealousy and hatred, sold into slavery yet told Jacob he had been killed by a wild beast. We look at this well-known story from Jacob's perspective, and discuss the traged...
Jun 13, 2023•54 min
We come to a story of bloody vengeance. Shechem, son of Hamor, kidnaps and rapes Dinah, Jacob’s daughter by Leah. Three days later, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi slaughter all the men of the city and take Dinah back. The other sons follow and loot what's left. We’ve all heard the criticism from non-Christians: “What sort of God allows wholesale slaughter?” And Christians would rather look past some of the more violent episodes in the Old Testament. We don't. What went wrong here? What are the tak...
May 30, 2023•1 hr
We unpack one of the strangest yet most colorful episodes in the Bible—Jacob’s all-night wrestling match with God, who takes on a proto-incarnate form. The encounter will permanently change Jacob, who emerges with a new name—Israel—and a limp to serve as a reminder of the contest. We look at both the literal narrative as well as how it symbolically reflects our own lifelong wrestling with the Lord. Follow along with our study source: “Limping with God: Jacob and the Old Testament Guide to Messy ...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 1 min
If you thought Jacob was a piece of work, wait ‘til you meet his Uncle Laban. We look at the 20 years Jacob spends working for his mother’s brother, who cheats and exploits him every chance he gets. Over time, however, Jacob gains both family and wealth, as well as knowledge through hardship. All men deal with career and family struggles at points in their lives. We talk about both the good and bad ways Jacob reacted to his. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 09, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Jacob's dream-vision has inspired artists and songwriters for centuries. We examine the symbolism of the dream and what it tells--and foretells--us about God. In the context of Jacob's story, we discuss how it marks the beginning of a gradual change in the patriarch's relationship with God, who will make new demands of him. When stealing Esau's birthright and blessing, should Jacob have been more careful about what he was asking for? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 02, 2023•56 min
Jacob steals his brother Esau's birthright and later, his father's blessing. Yet how complicit is Esau in this? How gullible was Isaac? We examine the dysfunction in Isaac's household, where resentments fester, favorites are chosen and used against each other, and to what degree, if any, this was part of a greater divine plan. Do scholars try too hard to justify Jacob's duplicity? Are they too rough on Esau? We also debate whether the long life spans of the patriarchs are literally true, or myth...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr
We begin a study of Jacob, scoundrel, cheat, con-man and ultimately God's choice to be founder of the Nation of Israel. We start with his dubious birth and immediate rivalry with his older twin and apparent pre-natal wrestling foe. Sunday school lessons like to focus on the morally virtuous figures of the Old Testament. While some men walk with God, others can only limp. In this series we'll look at one of the most morally compromised Biblical "heroes," and the flaws that make him that much more...
Apr 18, 2023•52 min
Picking up on the Men Matter podcast series "Leave With Your Bags Packed," the panel talks about plans, spiritual goals and transitions they are making as they enter or approach retirement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 11, 2023•1 hr 4 min
