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

Paul was an ambassador for Christ.

Now we are ambassadors for Christ, and there are lots and lots of ways to be an ambassador.

To dig deeper, I interview writer Philip Ulrich who over his life has been a kid’s author (The Growly Books ), a missionary to Eastern Europe, the lead singer of a band called 5:20, a filmmaker and a graphic designer, and in all of those roles he was an ambassador for Christ.

Philip & Erin Ulrich - thegrowlybooks.com/about

The Growly Books - thegrowlybooks.com/books

This episode digs deeper into “presbeuomen” (πρεσβεύομεν meaning ‘ambassador’) in 2 Corinthians 5:20.

2 Corinthians 5:20 - “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Erin Ulrich Creative - erinulrichcreative.com

Katy Bowser Hutson - www.katyhutson.com

Katy Bowser Hutson’s Substack - katyplays.substack.com

Lake Bled, Slovenia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bled

Coonabarabran - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coonabarabran

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

Jesus could have easily healed the holes in his hands. Why did he let them remain?

After all, in his resurrection, all of him was healed, and not only healed but he became the prototype human for all of us to follow in his footsteps one day.

So why leave a scar?

Well, honestly I don’t know. But I wonder if part of the reason Jesus’ hands didn’t heal is the same reason he cried at the tomb of Lazarus, moments before resurrecting him.

Jesus wants us to know our grief is real to him, and not just a momentary bump in the road, or the montage of a movie.

Grief is a hole in the heart, much like the holes in Jesus’ hands and feet.

The Bible doesn’t shy away from grief, because grief is the hole where God’s comfort can enter and heal.

But often the healing doesn’t fully remove the hole. No, sometimes the scar and the mark remains.

This episode digs deeper into “typon” (τύπον meaning ‘mark, scar’) in John 20:25.

John 20:25 - “So the other disciples told [Thomas], “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

Renee Emerson - reneeemerson.substack.com

(Renee is the author of the poetry collections Keeping Me Still (Winter Goose Publishing 2014), Threshing Floor (Jacar Press 2016), and Church Ladies (Fernwood Press, forthcoming). She is also the author of the middle grade novel “Why Silas Miller Must Learn to Ride a Bike.”

Habit Podcast, Ben Palpant: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ben-palpant-talks-to-poets

Banderpod, Ben Palpant: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-banderpod-s3-e9-ben-palpant/id1726742632?i=1000701703363

Tyler Staton: www.tylerstaton.com

Li-Young Lee: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li-Young_Lee

Robert Cording: rabbitroompoetry.substack.com/p/a-conversation-with-robert-cordingben

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

Surprise! We’ve got an extra bonus episode of Summer Bammerhab! (Summerhab?)

This episode is a wide-ranging interview with pastor, podcaster and church historian Lance Ralston, however we’re still gonna start out focusing on a specific word, this time it is echaritōsen from Ephesians 1:6, and it means “He has made acceptable.”

It comes from the root Greek word charis which is among the most difficult words to translate into English simply because the concept it describes is just so complex, nuanced and vast. So translators have used so many English words to try to capture all of the meanings of this one Greek word: acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, grace, gracious, joy, liberality, pleasure, thanksworthy, thankful, credit, or gracious work.

But before I explain too much, I want to turn to the conversation I had with Pastor Lance Ralston about this word, and much more. Pastor Lance’s amazing podcast on church history was one of my main inspirations for creating Bammerhab, and if you haven’t heard that podcast then you absolutely have to add it to your list!

Anyway, I had a really great time talking with Lance and if you get even a fraction of the joy I got from this conversation, then you all are gonna love it!

This episode digs deeper into “echaritōsen” (ἐχαρίτωσεν meaning ‘He has made us accepted’) in Ephesians 1:6.

Eph. 1:6 - “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (KJV)

Mentioned:

Pastor Lance Ralston: www.sanctorum.us/lances-bio/

Pastor David Guzik: calvarychapel.com/posts/author/david_guzik/

Enduring Word Free Online Commentaries: enduringword.com

Pastor Chuck Smith: calvarychapel.com/chuck-smith

History of the Christian Church podcast: www.sanctorum.us

History of Rome Podcast by Mike Duncan: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-rome/id261654474

12 Byzantine Rulers by Lars Brownworth: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/12-byzantine-rulers-the-history-of-the-byzantine-empire/id73802687

Jan Žižka: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_%C5%BDi%C5%BEka

Jan Hus - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hus

Nestorius - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorius

Church of the East - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_East

Church History - Lance Ralston (YouTube Channel): youtube.com/watch?v=M2i53ZgcnPk

Into His Image (Lance Ralston’s Personal You Tube channel): youtu.be/3G0s05G7XPE

Books Mentioned:

Marriage As It Was Meant To Be by Lance Ralston

The Lost History of Christianity by Phillip Jenkins

Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the First Journey from China to the West by Morris Rossabi

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

In Jesus’ day Shavuot (Pentecost) was the best-attended of the great traveling feasts because traveling conditions were at their best. That meant that there was never a more international, diverse gathering in Jerusalem than on this day.

Jews from nearly every known nation were there. And that’s when the Holy Spirit chose to birth the church, but you probably already knew that!

But what you might not know is that there something in the Levitical instructions that strongly hinted at the future church instructions way back in Moses’ time.

What was the hint?

Great question! Let’s explore!

This episode digs deeper into “Pentekostes” (Πεντηκοστῆς meaning ‘Fiftieth’) in Acts 2:1.

Acts 2:1 - “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.” (NIV)

Mentioned:

John & Addison Bevere - “The Holy Spirit”

Map of Mentioned Nations in Pentecost

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

When you understand Jesus’ Old Testament references, you see that he spoke of end times more than anyone else in the Bible. But Jesus not only spoke of end times, he spoke of rapture, and he not only spoke of rapture, he demonstrated it.

Ascension Day is May 29th this year; it could just as easily be called Rapture Day. The two concepts are synonymous.

Just as Jesus modeled baptism for his church, and just as he was the first to have the spirit fall on him, just like Pentecost, and just like Jesus was the first to model how a Christian should live and how he expected his church to conduct herself, and just like Jesus was the first of his church to be resurrected, so too, Jesus was the first to be raptured. Only we miss it because of the language.

We call it Ascension. Luke called it anapharo. Paul called it harpazo which means to grab, and the Romans called it rapture, which means pretty much the same thing.

It’s a biblical theme. God can “grab” people and God does grab people.

The only difference between ascension and rapture being of course that Jesus left, he wasn’t grabbed. But that’s his prerogative and it doesn’t minimize the picture he meant to leave us with.

But maybe you are thinking that this is false because rapture theology is a recent invention? Well, that’s actually demonstrably false.

Don’t believe me? Let’s explore!

This episode digs deeper into “anephereto” (ἀνεφέρετο meaning ‘carried up’) in Luke 24:51.

Luke 24:51 - “And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” (KJV)

Mentioned:

Lance Ralston’s Church history podcast: www.sanctorum.us

Lance Ralston’s Rapture teaching: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rha4V9PkHbE&t=183s

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