Bible Curious

DAY 3 (Matt 5-6): Jesus takes advantage of his enormous crowds to teach them, delivering the most famous sermon ever given. Jesus introduced us to his upside-down kingdom, where humility, love, and infinite generosity become the way to conquer your enemies. This is also the first time Jesus mentions Hell, or "Gehenna", as a place of divine punishment.

DAY 3: (Matt 5-6) Jesus takes advantage of his enormous crowds to teach them, delivering the most famous sermon ever given. Jesus introduced us to his upside-down kingdom, where humility, love, and infinite generosity become the way to conquer your enemies. This is also the first time Jesus mentions Hell, or "Gehenna", as a place of divine punishment.

DAY 2 (Matt 3-4): After Jesus spends his childhood moving around the ancient world to avoid detection by King Herod of Judea, his stepfather Joseph finally settles down in Nazareth, and we hear nothing more about Jesus' life until he reappears as an adult at the river Jordan, where his cousin John the Baptist greets him, sparking a chain-reaction of miraculous events. After Jesus receives baptism from John the Baptist, he fasts forty days in the wilderness in preparation to begin his earthly ministry. It is here that Jesus encounters the devil, an enigmatic figure mentioned only sparsely in the Old Testament. Who is this Satan, and why did he confront Jesus in the wilderness? You won't believe the answer to this question.

DAY 1 (Matthew 1-2): The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament, and tells the story of Jesus Christ, whose ministry began around 30 AD. We're beginning "in the middle", so to speak, because from a Christian perspective the entire Bible points toward the life, death and resurrection of this man. Matthew's Gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus, containing many historical names which would have been familiar to Jewish readers. Now to us it might sound a little bit boring, but there's actually an important mystery hidden in this list of forty-one names.

EPISODE 25 (Guests: Nate J, Tom F, Dong Y) - It's been over three and a half years since the beginning of Bible Curious, since I started documenting my journey into the Holy Bible and into God's word. Those of you who have been listening, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming along with me and bearing witness as the Holy Spirit reveals secrets buried in plain sight for thousands of years. However, this process is slow. It's time to shift gears, so that we can cover more ground, faster. What we need is to gain a "whole picture" view of the Bible, so that we can understand who is God, what is His agenda, and what does He expect from us in this lifetime.

EPISODE 24 (Guest: Matt Y) - In Genesis chapter 15, God makes a covenant with Abraham, even going so far as "signing the dotted line" in ancient terms. In this episode, we examine the terms and context of this contract, including reading some of the fine print concealed behind numeric gematria encodings.

EPISODE 23 (Guests: Nate J, Tom F) - The fourteenth chapter of Genesis gives a historical account of a conflict known as the War of the Nine Kings, in which four kings from Mesopotamia to the east march into the promised land with their armies to punish the Canaanites for not paying their taxes. Abraham's nephew Lot is taken captive during this exchange, prompting Abraham to muster soldiers of his own to rescue his wayward nephew. Afterwards, Abraham is greeted by Melchizidek, a mysterious priest who commemorates Abraham's victory with a feast of bread and wine.

EPISODE 22 (Guest: Christine G) - As Abram and Lot's fortunes grow, they find themselves in competition over the best grazing land. To ease this tension, Abram makes the surprising decision to surrender the best available land over to his nephew, while keeping the remainder for himself. In doing so, Abram begins to exercise his new-found faith. What exactly does it mean to be the recipient of God's promise? And how far into the future does the fulfillment of such a promise extend?

EPISODE 21 (Guest: Christine G) - Yahweh's calling of Abraham is a pivotal moment in the narrative of Genesis. Modern people know Abraham best for the harrowing account where God asks him to sacrifice his own son Isaac as a burnt offering, and Abraham actually obeys, only to be stopped by an angel at the last moment and told to sacrifice a wild ram instead.

EPISODE 20 (Guests: Nate J, Dong Y) - In this episode, Nathan, Dong and I finish the conversation we started previously. We talk about the moral implications of being human. Are we indeed beings of free will, or are we simply biological machines, acting upon impulses buried too deep in our subconscious for us to ever fully understand? What about Church? Does organized religion help us to achieve our moral obligation? Who are you, really? Who am I? Is it possible to make real contact with a personal God, or is all of this just delusional wishful thinking?