Bible Geeks Podcast

Programming Note: This week, we're replaying one of our favorite episodes from the past. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.

Living dangerously ... but with discernment? This week we start with Jesus’ consuming zeal, as he cleanses the temple, guns blazing, so to speak. What if we acted with that kind of force and passion? That leads into a Shema Edition of Heavy Words, as we seek to live the Greatest Commandment. Finally, we take on (maybe) our toughest set of challenges yet, working on giving our whole hearts to the Lord.

The Big Idea: Wholehearted service to God requires honesty before him.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - “Squish Like Grape” (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 10
• Like the Teacher: John 2:13-17 (VERSE)
• Heavy Words: Shema Edition (VERSE)
• Quote by William Hutchinson Murray (WEBSITE)
• Episode 21 - “That’s Bad Advertising” (EPISODE)
• Weeble’s Commercial (VIDEO)
• Bible Geeks Patreon (WEBSITE)
• Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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Why isn't it enough just to "come to Jesus"? What's the real issue behind burying your talent? And how can we care for others without getting too tangled up in their emotions and difficulties? This week we kick off four weeks on fruitfulness, beginning with a hard look at our accountability to God for our choices. We ask each other tough questions about judgment and fruitfulness in a "Do You Understand?" segment that lets us talk about things like "Markan sandwiches" and "sheep bleating." And our five Through the Week challenges invite you to be a secret agent of good and watch out for "sour grapes."

The Big Idea: We aim to influence and care for others, but our responsibility lies 100% with our own choices.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "The Buck Stops Here" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 37
• Like the Teacher: Matthew 12:33-37 (VERSE)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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Are you a skillful craftsman at building relationships? This week we learn to use questions to engage with hostile people like Jesus the "verbal Aikido" blackbelt. The book of Proverbs — Scripture's "Wisdom Central" — teaches us to build our lives like a house, filled with treasures rather than regrets. We learn from 4 Proverbs on Wisdom that planning for the future is good, but fixing our eyes "out there" on the horizon can keep us from accomplishing and enjoying our real lives right here and now. And in some Through the Week challenges for growing in wisdom, we find a "keystone" prayer and realize that looking for friction can show us where we need to work and grow.

The Big Idea: Wisdom is fundamental to every area of life, so pray for it, pursue it, and practice it.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "Play How You Practice" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 36
• Like the Teacher: Mark 11:27-33 (VERSE)
• Tactics by Gregory Koukl (BOOK)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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Why does Satan want us to think we’re alone? How is overcoming temptation like dealing with mosquitoes, or like a hard-to-open jar lid? This week’s Cross Training focuses on resisting the devil. So in a new segment, we do a fantasy-style draft for our A-Team of “Resistance All-Stars” — Bible figures who stood firm against the devil. We learn about Satan’s strategies from his temptation of Christ and his conversation with Eve. And we share some personal experiences and insights from our fight against the Evil One.

The Big Idea: We CAN overcome temptations, but we have to stop trying to do it by ourselves.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "Resistance Is Futile" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 35
• Like the Teacher: Matthew 4:1-11 (VERSE)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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Sometimes life feels like a game of dodgeball as we’re constantly on guard for Satan’s attack. This week we’re continuing our discussion about watchfulness with Jesus’ warnings to servants waiting at their master’s door. We go deep on defensive and offensive watchfulness, stopping along the way to think about preppers and sleepers. How can we keep routines from causing us to sleepwalk through life? How can we cut through the noise of life and focus on what matters? And why do our kids struggle to pay attention when given even the smallest tasks? Let’s get ready together in another Cross Training conversation.

The Big Idea: We can get lulled into a dangerous lack of awareness if we don’t keep our eyes open — both for blessings and for threats.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "Head on a Swivel" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 34
• Like the Teacher: Luke 12:35-48 (VERSE)
• Wake Up Grateful by Kristi Nelson (BOOK)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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This week we start with a game of “guess the spiritual superpower” as we focus on living with spiritual awareness. The otherworldly kingdom of Jesus challenges us to “think different,” while Pilate gets stuck in his assumptions. Then we set Poetry in Motion with a quick journey through psalm 20, affirming that while some trust in chariots, we trust in our God. And we try to find some perspective on our lives as time passes and we — perhaps — see more of the story.

The Big Idea: We make different choices when we stay awake and aware of the spiritual realm we can’t see.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "The Rest of the Story" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 32
• Like the Teacher: John 18:33-40 (VERSE)
• Poetry in Motion: Psalm 20 (VERSE)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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Ever replay something you said - and regret - in your mind? Or struggled with how to tell someone a challenging truth you know they don't want to hear? An aptly spoken word can impact lives in surprising ways. This week we continue our conversation about integrity with Four Proverbs about Courageous Speaking and discuss Christ's challenge to proclaim his words "from the housetops." We see how God can make us an "iron pillar" and how we can better each other as "iron sharpens iron."

The Big Idea: We need to add discernment and love to our boldness if we want our words to make a difference.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "Battle Cat Courage" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 32
• Like the Teacher: Matt. 10:26-39 (VERSE)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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From the Tokyo Olympics to the "wise man" who "built his house on the rock," this week we set our sights on character growth. When trials test our mettle, how do we respond? And how does hope fuel our perseverance? We answer those questions in a "character" edition of our recurring word-study segment, Heavy Words. Then we close the episode by looking in the mirror and discovering how God has pruned us, purified us, and pointed us toward greater patience.

The Big Idea: If we never faced difficulties, we would miss the opportunity to show love, faith, courage, and perseverance.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "Pass the Test" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 31
• Like the Teacher: Matt. 7:24-27 (VERSE)
• Song: “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord” (VIDEO)
• Technology readiness level (WIKI)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

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Programming Note: This week, we're replaying one of our favorite episodes from the past. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.

This week we look at what it means to be a change maker in the world and the people around you, from a Biblical perspective. In our Finding Jesus segment, we deal with the cynicism that says, “what’s the use, it won’t make a difference” and the suffering that comes from the Lord. Then in today’s Scripture du Jour (1 Corinthians 16), we consider what it means to “act like a man” and Bryan makes some observations about the weekly collection. And then we go from a Bryan Wilson song to the cross to the “man in the mirror” — as we look for ways to be a positive influence.

The Big Idea: We can’t influence the world if we shut ourselves off from it.

Weekly Challenge: Listen and find empathy for others around you this week.

Show Notes

• Into the Book - Week 24
• Into the Book Preview - “1 Corinthians 13-16, 2 Corinthians 1” (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Brian Wilson’s “Love and Mercy” (SONG)
• Walter Breuggeman’s “From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms”

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Someone once said, “Never leave a goose behind.” But what happens when we treat some of God’s commands with little to no value? This week we’re continuing our Cross Training series, kicking off a conversation about integrity — starting with the whole truth. Since Jesus wasn’t hyperbolic when he used the word “all” with his disciples, do we give him full authority over our lives today? We’re also looking back to the sad story of a young prophet whose firm convictions faltered when he believed a lie. Plus, we’re talking about dog sitting, the Statue of Liberty, financial advice, and running from burning buildings. We hope you’re challenged — as we are — to take everything God says seriously!

The Big Idea: When God speaks, it’s not a suggestion. And no amount of rationalization on our part will excuse our willful or unknowing disobedience.

Weekly Challenges: Find this week’s Through the Week challenges here.

Show Notes

• Cross Training - "Selective Hearing" (DAILY DOWNLOAD)
• Cross Training - Through the Week Challenges - Week 29
• Like the Teacher: Matthew 28:16-20 (VERSE)
• Here’s the Story: 1 Kings 13 (VERSE)
• The Bible Geeks Facebook Group (FACEBOOK)

Support the Show