God is vast and powerful and beyond human comprehension on so many levels, but He does desire to be known. In fact, He has gone through some incredible lengths to teach us about Himself and His work. One way we can learn so much about God is by considering His creation. What better way to learn about the Creator than to look at what He has made? Scripture shows us we can learn about God as a shepherd, a father, a farmer, a king and, now, a fashionista. In this episode, we track a pattern outline...
Jun 21, 2024•38 min•Ep. 102
"YHWH Is Our Righteousness" is one of the compound names of God that describes Him as, not only righteous but, righteousness on our behalf. How are we supposed to understand that Someone can be righteousness for us when that doesn't seem to work in our human relationships? When many see the fulfillment of this in the person of Jesus Christ, they assume it means we have no obligation to behave righteously anymore since He did it for us. Commandments? Laws? Good works? None of these are meant to S...
Jun 14, 2024•19 min•Ep. 101
Last week's episode outlined 4 practical steps to cultivate a natural curiosity of Scripture: 1. Generally know the stories, truths, and virtues of Scripture 2. Train yourself to find Biblical patterns 3. Find those patterns that reflect universal truths, themes, and types EVERYWHERE (including outside of the Bible) 4. Reverse the order (find the themes, truths, and types you love and connect with from other stories/examples and find them IN scripture). This week, I wanted to go through these st...
Jun 07, 2024•21 min•Ep. 100
So many Christians struggle to maintain proper motivation for prayer and bible study. Sometimes, the thought of studying the Bible can even feel downright boring and this can lead to a tremendous amount of debilitating guilt. Wouldn't it be amazing if we were more genuinely curious about the Scriptures so that it didn't feel like a chore to look into them more frequently? Wouldn't it be great if we could confidently dive deep into the word of God without the fear of feeling guilty over how much ...
May 31, 2024•21 min•Ep. 99
When we consider what a mediator does in a modern context, we might immediately have some modern conflicts come to mind. It's only natural for these modern conflicts to shape our view of the role itself. When we consider Jesus as our Mediator before the Father, do we allow some of the horrible conflicts that modern Mediators deal in to shape our understanding of what He is doing for us? If so, we might be in danger of, not only, misunderstanding the role of Jesus Christ, but also misunderstandin...
May 24, 2024•12 min•Ep. 98
In Exodus 4, the staff of Moses is, in one way, transformed into something wholly unique and different from what it had ever been before. This change doesn't come with grandiose celebration or any sort of fanfare. In fact, most readers would probably gloss right over the change that takes place without paying it much attention. However, when the staff of Moses becomes the staff of God, amazing symbolism takes place that correlates to Moses' own life which, in turn, should give us many things to ...
May 17, 2024•13 min•Ep. 97
I thoroughly enjoyed talking with my good friend Clint Porter about doubt (and faith and certainty and trust and knowledge and church cultures and the Dunning-Kruger effect and and and and and..). Every Christian has moments of doubting and we can start to feel guilty for that, but it's highly likely that we're thinking of those moments all wrong. In this episode we'll shed light on questions like - What do we mean when we say the word: doubt? What is faith? Can doubt ever be a good thing? How s...
May 10, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 96
Compared to Old Testament and First Century Israel, celebration of God's Holy Days have diminished significantly. Even those who keep the Holy Days often have a hard time genuinely celebrating them. With this decrease in outward festivity and joy has come a complete dissolving of some of the lesser biblical observances and traditions that occurred during the Holy Days themselves in antiquity. One of these observances that probably wasn't taken too much notice of even in biblical times that has a...
May 03, 2024•35 min•Ep. 95
The things that run rampant in the culture of the world inevitably filter into the Church though, hopefully, to a lesser degree. One of these unfortunate things is the seeming desire to make division out of differences. Even in local church congregations where people, generally, have a lot in common, we find ways to divide ourselves contrary to Christ's prayer for us at the end of His physical life. One of the biggest differences turned division in the Christian church is that of age. Younger pe...
Apr 26, 2024•12 min•Ep. 94
The argument between science and God is finally put to rest here! The idea that we need to take an either or approach to these two topics is a false dichotomy often leveled at Christians, so that antagonistic skeptics, atheists, and extreme naturalists can pretend like God isn't real just because He isn't hemmed in by their isolated field of study. A biblical approach to things allows for God, science, philosophy, history, morality, etc. to be unified under the banner of reality. Christians - re...
Apr 19, 2024•11 min•Ep. 93
*NOTE: throughout this episode I refer to Moses as a "murderer." I'd like it to be clear that I, personally, view Moses' action of killing the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave as a justified act not worthy of the title of murder. Modern Torah readers, and even first century Christians (see Stephen's statement on this event) seem to view Moses' actions as appropriate, heroic social justice, and I agree that this is an appropriate interpretation. This being said, my use of the term "murdere...
Apr 12, 2024•46 min•Ep. 92
Discussing our faith opens us up for criticism, critique, and antagonism from some and might alienate us from others. Talking about our beliefs is fine in some circles but uncomfortable in most others. This can put a Christian who believes they're supposed to be unashamed about their relationship with God at odds with themselves and create a lot of unease. Don't worry - you're not the only one! How do we balance the understanding that Christians should be ready, willing, and able to share their ...
Apr 05, 2024•24 min•Ep. 91
With the topic of foot-washing entering the public eye with the "He Gets Us" campaign Super Bowl commercial, it felt appropriate to look into the topic to clear away some of the wrong ideas surrounding the practice. Who did it? To who? For What? Often, the people that actively perform foot-washing as a Christian practice either think that it's a generic act to be done for anyone in order to show yourself a servant to all OR see it as some sort of rededication or recommitment to God. This second ...
Mar 29, 2024•25 min•Ep. 90
Those who worship Jesus Christ have been called all kinds of derogatory things since biblical times. We're told this is expected to continue as we get closer and closer to the time of Jesus' return. In this episode we look at 4 names leveled against people of the faith during the time of the New Testament and the responses of the ones facing the criticism. Modern aggression towards Christianity hasn't changed all that much and some of the names are still in use today! By looking at what early be...
Mar 22, 2024•38 min•Ep. 89
Russ Ramsey is a pastor and author from Tennessee with a vested interest in art and how it communicates to us on a fundamental level. In this interview we use his fantastic book, "Rembrandt Is In The Wind," as a jumping off point to discussing the broad topic of beauty. In a world that is obsessed with image, are we overvaluing beauty or are we just using an improper definition? What is the balance a Christian might want to aim for when considering beauty versus aesthetic obsession? We also disc...
Mar 15, 2024•53 min•Ep. 88
The phrase, "God works in mysterious ways," is so commonplace in Christian circles that it often gets mistaken for a Bible verse. Any time we perceive that God has worked in a way we don't expect, we might shrug our shoulders and say this. However, should His workings be mysterious to us? Of course, God is all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent, etc. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. We're SUPPOSED to look at the work that God does and marvel at it, but this doesn'...
Mar 08, 2024•52 min•Ep. 87
The Bible is a complex series of books. It bears the marks of God in its cohesiveness across time, cultures, and personalities foretelling the end from the beginning and it bears the marks of humanity in its reflection of circumstances, periods in history, and perspectives. It wasn't perfectly understood at the times it was written and it isn't perfectly understood now because it is a book meant to gain clarity as times and seasons come into fulfillment. As we continue to search the Scriptures t...
Mar 01, 2024•37 min•Ep. 86
The Stoic philosopher, Seneca, offered a lot of wisdom on the topic of death - how to die well, how not to fear death, and how to live more fully in light of the knowledge that death is inevitable. Some, however, accused Seneca of being "obsessed with death," to which he might say, "No! You are obsessed with life!" Which team should the Christian be on? Though so many want to paint the Old Testament as a collection of harsh, judgement books with no mercy in view and the New Testament as one of c...
Feb 23, 2024•26 min•Ep. 85
There is a constant debate going on regarding the Church's messaging to the world. Should we "cry aloud and spare not" reflecting the sins of the world back at them, hoping to convict the world of its evil, and drawing hard lines in the sand about moral rightness? Or, should we recognize the broken state of the world and try to share the hope that surrounds what Jesus Christ has done, is doing, and will do in the future in an effort to toss a life raft to those who appear to be drowning? Doom or...
Feb 16, 2024•22 min•Ep. 84
THE FINAL EPISODE! This episode clips along at a pretty good pace - a lot to see and hear about, but this recounting of events matches the feeling of trekking across Israel, barely making it into the country of Jordan, and seeing all there is to see before getting out of the country. It all blurred together and happened so quickly that, despite having 3 days in Jordan, it felt more like wandering in the wilderness trying to make our way home, just like the Israelites did thousands of years befor...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 83
OUR FINAL DAYS IN ISRAEL! I am feeling almost as sad about this as I was at the time of actually leaving Israel. However, all good things must come to an end and this is no exception. Of course, this series won't be over with this episode because we still traveled into Jordan and there's a lot to talk about there that I'd be remiss not to mention. On Day 13 in Israel we visited the two primary proposed sites of Jesus' crucifixion, burial, and resurrection: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and th...
Feb 02, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 82
The temple mount was a surreal experience. To have stood closer to the proposed spot of the Holy of Holies than most of my biblical heroes could have in their time was humbling. Being there while it was almost deserted was ethereal. Picturing the layout of the first century scenery was enlightening. Standing at the Dome of the Rock, facing the Mt. of Olives, and looking up at the sky where Jesus says He'll return from was amazing. We continued this slower-paced, contemplative day by walking to t...
Jan 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 81
Masada is one of the most sobering stories in Jewish history. The final stand of the first Jewish Revolt following the destruction of the temple by Rome saw 960 inhabitants kill themselves rather than be captured or defeated by their enemies. To this day, the swearing in ceremony of the Israeli military swears that what happened at Masada will never be repeated. Qumran isn't much to look at, though the rock formations are beautiful, but what this location means for the trust we can have in the a...
Jan 19, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 80
**LINK TO PICTURES DOWN BELOW** Day 10 was, by far, our busiest day in Israel. For one, the buses couldn't follow us into the narrow streets of Old Jerusalem so, basically, we were a walking tour for most of the day. Looking back, I'm surprised by how familiarized I was with the layout of the city by the end of this day. Even though it just felt like endless stairs and turns down outdoor corridors opening up into various sites and quarters, and a lot of the sides of the retaining walls to the Te...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 79
Prior to leaving the region of Galilee we stopped at Beit She'an, the historical location where Saul and his son's bodies were hung by the Philistines after they died at Mt. Gilboa. I took a bit of detour from the main group to climb to the top which made me feel anxious but turned out alright. We, then, drove south to Jerusalem, passing Jericho on the way. Finally seeing the city itself was definitely worth having its own section in the episode, and our first stop in the city itself was the Isr...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 78
Day 8 was our last full day in the region of Galilee before heading down/up to Jerusalem for the remainder of the Feast of Tabernacles. In this episode we'll walk through the proclamation by Peter when he stated at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. We'll also talk about how the landscape of this area plays a big part in interpreting this conversation between Jesus and His disciples. At Tel Dan, we walk through an ancient city viewing the ruins of an altar set up by Jer...
Dec 29, 2023•56 min•Ep. 77
On this day in Israel we balanced resting on the Sabbath day (seeing what that looked like on a national scale) and still seeing some incredible sites. Specifically, we visited the town of Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene, where we strolled through the ruins and learned about the first century synagogue uncovered there. It's likely that Jesus Himself would have taught at this synagogue at some point. The most important biblical/historical/archeological find here is known as the Magdala Stone whic...
Dec 21, 2023•43 min•Ep. 76
Friday, just prior to the Sabbath, we had a full day of touring in Israel. The biblical site of Hazor was first on the agenda. This is one of the largest archeological sites in all of Israel and is also one of the earliest, in-tact sites. The Mt. of Beatitudes, though less certain that Jesus would have actually spoken at exactly this location, is home to a beautiful church overlooking the sea of Galilee. It's a nice place to reflect on Jesus' words and, if it isn't the place Jesus spoke His famo...
Dec 15, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 75
The rest of our group joined us on this day for our touring and trip up to the Galilee region. First, we stopped at Caesarea Maritime to see another of Herod's constructions. Paul was on trial in this area and was, presumably, sent to Rome from here. This was also the site of Rabbi Akiva's death in the 130s A.D. On Mt. Carmel we got a panoramic view of the various mountains in Israel and a lesson in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Ba'al. Our last stop of the day was Megiddo where many be...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 74
We are currently caught up at the rate of 1 episode per day (we'll see how long it lasts)! On Day 4 of touring we ventured into the West Bank for the first time to see one of Herod the Great's most impressive architectural structures: Herodium. This constructed mountain became one of his primary places of rulership within sight of Jerusalem where he would host dignitaries and important people. This also became his Mausoleum after his death until his tomb was raided in later years, most likely by...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 73
