Watching the fulfillment of prophecy throughout history is one thing, but understanding its content, repeated messages that describe God’s character, will change your life.     Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25, 2:14-15, 22:37-40, 27:46 28:18-20; Revelation 21:1-4; James 1:27; Galatians 5:22-23 Books: Letters from the Earth, Mark Twain  

Barry begins the episode by pointing out that evil is more normal than we like to think. In honor of Sanctity of Life Day, he teases this out in our culture with issues like abortion and women’s rights and the ways in which the structures in our culture will continue to haunt us until we […]

It is easy only to listen to voices that agree with our own. Barry suggests that fear and a desire for comfort keep us content with our current opinions, and yet growth requires the interjection of something new, something different. Let’s remove our earplugs and evaluate information on its own merit, while simultaneously valuing those […]

Who knew we could mix culture and religion in so many ways! Barry describes extraordinary religion in this episode and challenges us to begin exploring what may be silly hills on which to die.     Book: America: Religions and Religion, Catherine Albanese    

Barry starts a conversation about how we mix culture and religion. All groups and nations do it but being aware of it is important for us to live our Christianity.     Book: America: Religions and Religion, Catherine Albanese Poem: “The Gift Outright”, Robert Frost Article: Senate Democrats support conservative-backed Texas bill requiring pro-sports teams […]

The good news of Christmas Day sweeps through the countryside and temple, past and present, and brings with it a promise as old as our wildest dreams—Emmanuel.     Scriptures: Genesis 12:1-3 Ruth 1-2 2 Chronicles 3:10-17 Luke 1:76-79, 2:4-14, 23:44-49

Barry talks about why sometimes we front-load the good news with bad news instead, and he offers a new way of thinking about our part in sharing the gospel.     Scriptures: Acts 14:8-17, 17:22-31, 3:13-15 Ephesians 4:15 Matthew 23 Ezekiel 34: 1-6 Luke 12:13-21, 16:1-9, 16:19-31, 9:51-5, 18:9-14 Romans 1:18-20 Matthew 7:1-5 1 Peter […]

The sentiment, “If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself” doesn’t work when it comes to faith. Barry talks through James 5:12-20 and discusses the somewhat uncomfortable truth that our faith depends on others as much as theirs depends on us.     Scriptures: James 5:12-20, 1:26, 2:14, 1:16-18 Matthew 9:2-7 […]

In the last episode of our Disagreeing to Agree Series, Barry returns to the issues of economics, race, sexuality and gender, and abortion, and points out the common ground from which we can begin to build our bridges.     Scriptures: Joshua 7 Joshua 8:30-35  

In the second part of our Disagreeing to Agree Series, Barry walks us through a prayer of Daniel to remind us that historically, biblically, and theologically there is space for us to know our moral condition both as individuals and bound up in a community. One doesn’t have to rule out the other and we […]