We believe Jesus was and is the true Messiah. However, hundreds of years before and after Jesus, many Jews had a very different idea of what it meant to be the Messiah and it was all about picking up a sword. In this lesson, we are going to compare Jesus' Messiah movement with other revolutionary movements. With every revolutionary movement, the death of the leader essentially ended the hopes that their leader was the Messiah. Why were the disciples so different? 

Beliefs take time to change. Have you changed your beliefs regarding some theological idea in the last twenty years? I know my ideas have changed but I also know changes in our beliefs are not easy. We perceive them as threats. So why did the disciples drastically change their beliefs in the afterlife? Did it come from the Greco-Roman and Jewish cultures? Nope. In this lesson, I will explain why.  

Many people today say there is no evidence for Jesus' resurrection. I would beg to differ. In this lesson, I would like to provide some historical and literary evidence regarding the bold claims people made regarding Jesus that function as evidence to consider. As we will see, evidence may not be the issue but rather the philosophical bias towards miracles. 

For many years, the differences in the gospels have been an issue for readers. Why do the Gospels present different details? Could an understanding of the Gospels as ancient biographies help? Are we modern readers guilty of bringing modern ideas of history writing to an ancient text? So I want to give a few ideas on how to read the Gospels as ancient biographies. I also want to explore the Gospel of Mark and apply some of those principles and then make a quick reflection on how the gospel stories fit into the larger context of the whole biblical story. There is a lot I cram in this episode!

What is the 'good news' in the Bible? Do you think you would have given the same answer as the Gospel writers? Do you know what Mark thinks about when he presents his idea of good news? It may surprise you a bit. Could the good news be what we think it is but also much more? In this lesson, I look forward to challenging you to think about the ideas you bring to your study of the Gospels and what ideas the authors and first-century audience brought. 

Have there been errors in the inspiration, preservation, or translation of the Bible? You may be surprised to hear me say yes to some of these. Can you guess which one I would say no to? What is up with the note after Mark 16:8 in our Bibles? What does it mean to believe the Bible is 'inspired'? Hope this lesson helps answer a few questions you may have. 

Believe it or not but there are people who doubt there was a historical Jesus of Nazareth. In this episode, I am going to provide evidence that shows Jesus did in fact exist. I will also tackle the negative bias people have with the Gospel accounts and argue they are the most important historical documents for proving Jesus did indeed exist. 

Could there be a few things about heaven and hell we need to rethink? Is it possible that heaven and hell are not just future realities? Is going to heaven the goal of our faith and why Jesus died? I would like to challenge some commonly held ideas in this lesson. 

This is a tough one. I have had many intense conversations with students regarding hell over the years. Could it be that people don't understand what hell is and who made it? Could it be that God doesn't send anyone to hell? Hold on, I am not a universalist. I think our choices matter in this life. So much so that maybe we are the ones who choose hell because of the nature of what sin does in us. Interested to hear what you guys think of this one...

Who do you think you are? No, really. Who are you? What is your identity rooted in and who gets to answer that question? Could our inability to properly define who we are be the root cause of what is wrong in the world? Could that be a way to define sin? What can put it all right?