24 Minute Bible - A Simple Journey to Understand the Bible

Armageddon! The mark of the Beast! War in Heaven! 666! Great white throne of Judgment! Terms from the book of Revelation impacts our  culture in many ways. They remind us of ‘the end’.  And there is an ‘end’! An end to life, to history, to this planet... and to our chances to respond to God’s plan of redemption. This episode (1 of 3) focuses in on John’s visit to the Throne room of Heaven. An exciting book— the book of Revelation!

Just 25 verses in this small book but each one super packed with truth, insight, meaning, intrigue and Holy Spirit wonder. Jude was the half brother of Jesus and the full brother of James— the author of the New Testament book of James. He writes to warn the early Christians that ‘ungodly people have secretly slipped in among them’— with the intention of perverting the pure gospel of Jesus. Hope you enjoy this episode about the 26th book of the New Testament— Jude!

The Church was under attack. Not just from the persecution of Rome, but from false prophets and their insidious teachings. The Epistles or letters of John were written to warn the Church to reject these philosophies and ideas. John was a Disciple of Jesus and an eyewitness of the Cross and Empty Tomb.  His message: test every spirit. His heart: love our Savior and each other.  Enjoy these letters written by  the last living eyewitness of the Crucifixion— 1st, 2nd and 3rd John.

The church was still young— barely 30 years had passed since Jesus left Planet Earth. Persecutions, seductions, false messiahs and misguided teachings were doing great harm to the Believers. Peter, the disciple of Jesus and the one whom Jesus challenged to ‘feed my sheep’ was concerned.  His Pastor’s heart wrote about the issues confronting his ‘sheep’. First and Second Peter offer encouragement to all Believers— those of his day and ours!

The Bible can sometimes be confusing when it comes to names— especially common names— like James. In this episode we examine the book written by James, the half brother of Jesus. James, late to the faith, writes to a ‘Jewish mindset’ and like the author of Hebrews, seeks to explain this new way of Life, the new Covenant based on ‘faith’.   Check out on the Facebook page some charts to help you understand Jesus’ biological family. And I hope you enjoy this week’s podcast about the book written by a family member of Jesus— the book of James.

The book of Hebrews is really a ‘blueprint’ and ‘instruction manual’ of how the plan of Redemption was accomplished. This very ‘Jewish book’ in the New Testament was written to convince readers that Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of our faith— as High Priest, the Final Sacrifice and the author of new and ‘better covenant’.

The Apostle Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament.  The recipients of those letters were 7 churches and 3 individuals. In this episode we’re get see that almost half of the New Testament was written to help churches and individuals wrestle with the problems and struggles of being a ‘Follower of Christ’ in a very broken culture. Sound familiar? Nothing has changed for us today, has it— which is why these 13 New Testament books are as important for us today as they were when written.

The Roman Empire was far reaching, powerful, efficient — and incredible perverse. Brutality, wicked sensuality, corruption and sorcery characterized every day life in the Roman World. And yet it was ‘this world’ that tremendously  responded to the Gospel of Jesus and the ministry of the Apostle Paul. This week we examine ‘The World Paul Knew’.  I think it will help you  understand the New Testament better— and give you renewed hope for our world today.

If ask ‘who is the most influential person of the last 2000 years?’  (apart from Jesus), who would you chose? I would choose the Apostle Paul!  For the next two weeks we will examine the many, many reasons why the life and ministry of Paul shapes the entire world— to this very moment.  Today we look at ‘The Man Named Paul’ and next week’s episode we will examine ‘The World Paul Knew’. Together these two podcast will help us understand why God said of Paul ‘He is my chosen instrument’.

The book of Acts represents a fundamental milestone and turning point in the Bible. Since Genesis, Chapter 12, the Biblical focus has been on one man— Abraham! God calls Abraham... and for the next 2000 years the Bible follow the lives and exploits of Abraham’s ‘kids’. ‘Kids’ whose names are familiar: Isaac, Moses, Joshua, David, Esther and Daniel— and finally, the Ultimate Sacrifice Jesus! But in Acts 2, everything changes. Now the focus of the Bible is the World— Taking the good news of Jesus to all peoples. Learn about the world shaking changes in this episode of Acts: A New Beginning for the World.