“We Three Kings” is my favorite Christmas carol. However, there weren’t three of them, and they weren’t kings!

But yes, this caravan did come from the east and the Greek calls them magoi, or magicians or wizards.

But these wizards were not actually wise men, and they aren’t the heroes in the Christmas story but rather a band of ambitious bunglers, who professing to be wise men make a series of foolish mistakes that bring about bloodshed and disaster. Only afterwards do they stumble onto the truth, and are shown great grace after they fumble their mission, but are allowed to escape Herod’s wrath.

I’m very grateful to poet Rosa Lía Gilbert for her two amazing poems that she shares with us at the end of this episode! Find her brand new book of poetry, Under the Samán Tree, here.

This episode digs deeper into “magoi” (μάγοι meaning ‘magicians’) in Matthew 2:1.

Matthew 2:1 - “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Rosa Lía Gilbert - Poet

“We Three Kings of Orient Are” written by John Henry Hopkins Jr.

Suetonius (Roman Historian)

Tacitus (Roman Historian)

Josephus (Hellenized Jewish Historian)

Antigonius the Hasmonean

Herod the Great

Parthian Empire and Phraates IV

Daniel’s “Prophecy of Weeks”

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

“You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.” (Ps. 31:8 - NIV)

The phrase “in a spacious place” is the Hebrew word: bammerhab.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

A conversation with portraitist and comic artist Noah Snoke about how to pray from Philippians 4:6-7.

Paul tells us to pray with supplication, but supplication is a phrase we don’t use all that often. Supplication sounds pretty elevated.

However, in Greek the root word behind supplication means to beg. That’s remarkably un-elevated. We all know what begging is. But Paul doesn’t just tell us to beg when we pray. He says to beg… with gratitude.

So Paul is advising us that we ought to beg God, but to beg with good grace. Beg like begging toddlers, but with the gratitude of a beggar satisfied, and yet still begging intensely.

It’s an odd image, and one that I think Paul fully intends…

That’s where I start my conversation with Noah Snoke, but first a little bit about Noah:

Noah Snoke has been drawing since he was a kid, but only took it seriously during the senior year of high school. In the past few years he’s done portraits in various styles, from styles that range from fine art to cartoons and everything in between. He’s worked on multiple book covers and illustrations for apps and web pages. He has also released two full children’s book “Sterling’s Gift” and “My Buddy’s a Bear” which can be found on Amazon. When he’s not making art he’s probably off playing Volleyball.

This episode digs deeper into “deēsei meta eucharistia” (δεήσει μετὰ εὐχαριστίας meaning ‘begging with thanking’) in Philippians 4:6-7.

Philippians 4:6-7 - “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication (“begging”) with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (KJV)

Mentioned:

Noah Snoke’s Website

Sterling’s Gift - Noah Snoke

My Buddy’s a Bear - Noah Snoke

Calvin & Hobbes - Bill Watterson

“Out of Scale” (1951 Donald Duck Cartoon)

Bandersnatch - Diana Glyer

Jake Parker

John Singer Sargent

J.C. Leyendecker

N.C. Wyeth

Marco Bucci

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

“You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.” (Ps. 31:8 - NIV)

The phrase “in a spacious place” is the Hebrew word: bammerhab.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

Vengeance is arguably the number one trait of our times. It lives on all sides of the aisle, among old, young and rich and poor.

And it is antithetical to Christianity. But why?

This episode digs deeper into “ekdikesis” (ἐκδίκησις meaning ‘vengeance’) in Romans 12:19.

Romans 12:19 - “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” (NIV)

I’m very grateful to poet Olivia Oster for her two amazing poems that she shares with us at the end of this episode! Find more of her poetry here, and here.

Mentioned:

Olivia Oster - Poet

Francis Frangipane

Bait of Satan - John Bevere

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

“You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.” (Ps. 31:8 - NIV)

The phrase “in a spacious place” is the Hebrew word: bammerhab.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

[Continuing last week’s conversation with Chase Replogle about how pride is connected to offense.]

When Jesus said that the last shall be first and the first shall be last, the concept of ga’on is certainly implied. The “first” would be the proud, those characterized by ga’on. Ga’on is for those who are exalted, those who grow, those who are lifted up, those who rise up.

But isn’t that a goal we all have? We aim to prosper at what we do. So why is ga’on a danger? Why does it make us so susceptible to fall?

Well, pride is a major issue of mine. I’ve been convicted of it before by the Spirit and convicted of it recently by C.S. Lewis’ amazing chapter on it in Mere Christianity. In it, Lewis says that most everyone thinks of pride as a virtue for themselves. However, they are disgusted by pride in others!

But the truth is that pride is the only sin that can hit anyone, anywhere at any time.

And I’m grateful to Chase Replogle for his conversation about this topic from his excellent book 5 Masculine Instincts.

This episode digs deeper into “ga’ōn” (גָּא֑וֹן meaning ‘pride’) in Proverbs 16:18.

Proverbs 16:18 - “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Chase Replogle - www.chasereplogle.com

The 5 Masculine Instincts - Chase Replogle

A Sharp Compassion - Chase Replogle

“Pastor Writer” Podcast - Chase Replogle

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

Dead Sea Scrolls at Museum of the Bible (Nov. 22, 2025 - Sept. 7, 2026)

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

A conversation with Chase Replogle about how Jesus handled offense.

There’s no way to not get offended. It will happen. We can’t control that part. All we can control is how we respond to that inevitable offense.

Satan has ensured there will be a trap of offense out there with our name on it.

Offense is one of the fews thing that Jesus guarantees. He doesn’t say if, but when you are offended.

And offense can either conceal or reveal depending on our response to it.

Jesus frequently took the risk of offense, not because he liked strife, but because he knew of the potential for offense to reveal. His goal was to cut open to a true problem underneath. But the cutting hurts, the offense is wounding. A surgeon and an assailant both use a knife, but one carefully uses it to heal, the other to wound.

And I’m grateful to Chase Replogle for his conversation about this topic from his excellent book A Sharp Compassion.

Here’s a little bit about Chase:

CHASE REPLOGLE is the pastor of Bent Oak Church in Springfield, Missouri. He’s the author of The 5 Masculine Instincts and A Sharp Compassion. He holds a degree in Biblical Studies and an M.A. in New Testament from The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. A native of the Ozark woods, he enjoys being outdoors with his wife and two kids, sailing, playing the mandolin (badly), and quail hunting with his bird dog Millie.

This episode digs deeper into “skandala” (σκάνδαλα meaning ‘offenses’) in Luke 17:1.

Luke 17:1 - “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.’” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Chase Replogle - www.chasereplogle.com

A Sharp Compassion - Chase Replogle

The 5 Masculine Instincts - Chase Replogle

Pastor Writer Podcast - Chase Replogle

Ep. 211 - Randall Wallace

Ep. 79 - Andrew Peterson

Ep. 47 - Jonathan Rogers

“The Four Quartets” - T.S. Eliot

“The wounded surgeon plies the steelThat questions the distempered part;

Beneath the bleeding hands we feelThe sharp compassion of the healer’s artResolving the enigma of the fever chart.”

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

Norman Centuries Podcast - Lars Brownworth

The Scandal of the Gospel - David McCracken

Gettysburg (1993)

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

You plant the seed. You let it grow. Then you take the fruit.

That’s the normal way of things. It was just common sense.

In fact, Jesus quotes an old Greek saying: “There’s still four months to the harvest!”

The implication is just plant, then wait. Things don’t happen immediately. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

But wait, Jesus says not so fast.

The natural rules don’t always apply. Not in certain seasons!

No, sometimes something strange can happen…

And I’m grateful for Megan Huwa sharing her recently published poem about harvest: “Mirrored and Magnified” from her recently published collection Still Life.

This episode digs deeper into “therismos” (θερισμός, meaning ‘harvest’) in John 4:35.

John 4:35 - “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Megan Huwa - www.meganhuwa.com

STILL LIFE (2025, Poetry collection published by Wipf & Stock)

www.meganhuwa.com/still-life

Enduring Word - Free Online Bible Commentary - enduringword.com

David Guzik - enduringword.com/about/david-guzik/

Philip Ulrich - thegrowlybooks.com/about

Philip Ulrich Bammerhab Interview - Episode 33

Amos 9:13

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.” (NIV)

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

So much of the ancient world was explicitly built to avoid shame. So much of the modern world is all about people pleasing to avoid shame or rejection. That makes sense as shame is one of the most damaging things a person can endure. Psychologically, shame warps the mind. We hide our shame constantly.

Jesus was shamed in his death, shamed in his birth, but he scorned the shame. Why?

And how do we scorn the shame that so many want to press on us?

Hebrews 12:2 says the answer to both is Joy. So the writer of Hebrews (I think it’s Paul by the way) is intentionally connecting these two opposites.

Scorning by others instinctively creates shame in us, but Jesus inverts that.

That’s where I start my conversation with columnist, blogger and author Anne Kennedy.

But first a little bit about Anne:

She grew up in French-speaking West Africa and subsequently traveled all over the world, but now she is based in Upstate New York. She started as a blogger on Blogspot, then moved over to Patheos. Anne now blogs at Demotivations with Anne on Substack. She has a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary.

Her devotional Nailed It is published by Square Halo Press.

This episode digs deeper into “aischynēs kataphronēsas” (αἰσχύνης καταφρονήσας meaning ‘scorning the shame’) in Hebrews 12:2.

Hebrews 12:2 - “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Demotivations with Anne - annekennedy.substack.com

Stand Firm Podcast with Matt Kennedy

Matt Kennedy

Bart Gingerich

Third Culture Kid

Ish-Bosheth

Mephibosheth

Baobab Tree

SNL “Italian Tourism Sketch”

Enchanted April (1991)

Towers of Trebizond

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

Yom Kippur begins on October 1st in 2025, but what is it all about?

Covering. God’s covering for us.

At the beginning of history, Adam hid, which was silly if you think about it.

Adam knew that God created the world, and God created his heart and his mind and none of that could be hidden behind a tree trunk. The first and worst betrayal in human history could not be covered by a fig leaf.

Still Adam attempted it, which shows that the great wisdom and insight he’d been gifted had already dimmed.

Adam hid, and it failed. But God covered, and covering is very, very different from hiding.

This episode digs deeper into “yom kippurim” (י֤וֹם כִּפֻּרִים֙ meaning ‘day of atonement’) in Leviticus 23:28.

Leviticus 23:28 - “Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.” (NIV)

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

We all want to be new. We all want the world to be new. But we take many radically different paths toward that renewal.

Yet, Paul says Jesus is the only path for real personal renewal. But when Paul speaks of renewal, he’s not saying to revert back to what your mind was like as a kid when it was young and new. He’s saying you’re gonna get a whole new different kind of thinking, a peace that’s new, a worldview that is new. A relationship with God that is new. An imagination that is new, and different.

Another word for this is transformation, which Paul employs just before renewal (anakainōsei). Often transformation comes only through “chaos, chrysalises and caves” so to speak.

But transformation is the main theme of Chris Barras’ ministry. He’s taught dozens of classes precisely on this theme. I attended one as he’s my pastor here in Richmond.

To dig deeper, I interview writer pastor Chris Barras who has made transformation the focus of his ministry work. He’s taught dozens of classes precisely on this theme. I have attended several as he’s my pastor here in Richmond.

Chris Barras - www.secondstorypartnership.com

Area 10 Faith Community - www.area10church.com

This episode digs deeper into “anakainōsei” (ἀνακαινώσει meaning ‘renewing’) in Romans 12:2.

Romans 12:2 - “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

The Byrd Theatre - Richmond, VA - byrdtheatre.org

Kevin Queen - “Cave for a King” - youtube.com/watch?v=R78ePdqwSSs

Ben Palpant - www.benpalpant.com

Dallas Willard - “The Divine Conspiracy” - dwillard.org/resources/books/divine-conspiracy

GK Chesterton - “Ball and Cross” - www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ball_and_the_Cross

GK Chesterton - “Orthodoxy” - www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodoxy_(book)

CS Lewis - “Learning in Wartime”

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com

Ancient Israelites used alarms for the same reason you set an alarm on your cell phone, to wake up, or to remember something or to be alerted to a danger.

So the Feast of Trumpets was all about blowing shofars to wake the people up for the fall feasts, to remember, to reflect and to be ready.

But beyond that, the Feast of Trumpets is also connected to ancient Jewish wedding customs and also all the symbology that Jesus, Paul and John used about Jesus’ Second Coming.

The Feast of Trumpets, Yom Teru’ah, is still celebrated but it has been somewhat subsumed by Rosh Hashannah, which is now the modern Jewish New Year.

This episode digs deeper into “teru'ah” (תְּרוּעָה meaning ‘shofar, trumpet’) in Lev. 23:24.

Leviticus 23:24 - “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 - “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command [a loud shout], with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (NIV)

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 - “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (NIV)

Revelations 4:1 - “After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here!” (NIV)

Leviticus 23:23 - “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’” (NIV)

My Links:

Bammerhab Site: www.bammerhab.com

Bammerhab Substack: bammerhab.substack.com

SDG Morgan’s Substack: sdgmorgan.substack.com

Thanks to:

• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design

• Dave Allam of Allam House for advanced audio techniques: sound.allamhouse.com

• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew hypertext links

• Pixabay for sound effects (h/t jimena contreras & playsound)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bammerhab.substack.com