Darrell Six

A few weeks ago the Manthanos//Kairos (XICF student ministry) led the singing at XICF's Sunday morning gathering  (xicf.org).  We had a great time!

In this episode I share some of my exhortation to those young song-leaders.  I hope it will encourage you, regardless of your involvement (or lack of involvement) in singing at church meetings!  ;)

There is no price too high to pay to have a moment of giving God all of our attention and basking in His goodness.  "Serve the Lord with gladness!  Come into his presence with singing!" (Ps. 100:2)  Music is supremely useful for this purpose: it can help focus our souls on the majesty of God.  Music can make us aware of God's nearness, His majesty, His gloriousness.  It is one of the finest gifts of God to humanity. 

Leading others in times of singing to God is an incredible honor.  Though I am still learning how to steward those moments, I know that an easy mistake is to miss enjoying God in the moment myself.  Learning how to facilitate those moments and be in the moment ourselves is "the heart and the art" of leading music in the church.

The atom bomb had its genesis in someone's imagination- as did every other invention.  The ability to see something that doesn't exist yet (to imagine it) is so powerful it can hardly be overstated. 

Much human suffering has been wrought at the hands of people with corrupt imaginations, but with a God-informed imagination (vision) we have hope!  We can picture things the way He would like them to be and we can be part of seeing His will be done on earth!

In this episode I encourage you to let the Word of God inform your imagination.  Let your eyes of faith be opened as you surrender your ability to fantasize to the Holy Spirit!

Is. 26:3; Gen. 6:5; Ps. 139:16; Eph. 2:10; Mk. 6:41; Ez. 13:3; 2 Cor. 10:5; Heb. 11:1

In this episode I comment on Jordan Peterson’s mischaracterization of the story of Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler as well as the idea “Who dares say he believes in God?” (s02e15 of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast).

There’s too much information (and misinformation) out there to waste time responding to everything we disagree with.  However, because I enjoy listening to JP and because I think many people might potentially identify with what he is saying here, I thought it would be worthwhile to offer a response.

Are we willing to call Jesus “good”?  That is, are we willing to call Jesus God?  This was the issue for the rich young ruler.  It is still the issue; both for JP and for all of us.

At the end of the podcast we look at some other passages of Scripture: Jn. 1:1; Jn. 1:14; 1 Tim 3:16; Mt. 1:23; Is. 9:6; Acts 20:28; Col. 2:9; Ro. 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hb. 1:8: Jn. 17:3; Mt. 4:10; Mt. 14:33; Jn. 20:28; Jn. 10:30; Jn 10:33; Jn. 8.58; Mk. 2:5-12; Mt. 26:64; Ro. 3:23; Ps. 51:5; Ro. 5:12; Ga. 1:6-7; 2 Cor. 5:21; Acts 4:12.

In this episode we lean hard on Eugene Peterson to help us understand Paul’s epistle (letter) to the Galatians!

The letters in the New Testament are much easier to understand when read as a whole rather than bit by bit.  These were real letters written to real people: people with no Bibles, podcasts or Christian bookstores.  If we can put ourselves in their shoes we can better understand these letters and we can also learn the lessons that they were being exhorted to learn!

I hope this episode will not only help you understand the book of Galatians, but also equip you to defend the joy of your salvation from those who would try and pervert the Gospel with a performance-based relationship with God.

In this episode I read poems from the collection The Christian Book of Mystical Verse: A Collection of Poems, Hymns and Prayers (edited by A.W. Tozer).

"Eternal Power" Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

"Lord of All Being" Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

"Majesty Divine" Frederick William Faber (1814-1863)

"Would Jesus Have the Sinner Die?" by Charles Wesley (1707-1767)

"Song of Assurance" by Johann Andreas Rothe (1688-1758), tr. John Wesley (1703-1791)

Jesus doesn't rebuke His disciples for wanting to be great; instead He gives them a roadmap for how to achieve greatness.

The recipe for greatness in God’s kingdom:

Find someone to serve and don’t worry about getting any credit for it. 

To transcend one's own desires and willingly suffer for the sake of others is the example of our Lord and the path to true greatness.

Mk. 9:33-37

Phil. 2:3...

1 Cor 2:16

Ro. 12:10

Eph. 4:13

1 Cor. 12:28....

Col. 1:24

Jn. 13

This world wants us to conform to its standards- including its standard of beauty.  How we perceive ourselves physically (our body image) is a direct result of how we think!  Should we accept the world’s guidelines of what’s beautiful, handsome and attractive or should we question the criteria thrust upon us?

Ro. 12:1-2

Eph. 4:17

1 Pe. 3:3-34

Pr. 31:30

1 Sam. 16:6-7

Lk. 16:15

1 Tim. 4:8

Ps. 139:14

Gen. 1:26-27

1 Thes. 1:4

Eph. 2:10

Ph. 3:3

Ps. 147:10-11

2 Cor. 5:16

Ro. 8:5, 12-13

Biblical sexuality 101.  Sex is awesome!

In this episode we finish up our series from the End of the World and Sex Conference by talking about Biblical sexuality.

1 Cor 6

Song of Songs 3:5

Proverbs 5-7

1 Thes. 4:3-8

After that final exhale- then what?  Are we conscious?  Do we sleep?  Does Saint Peter meet us at the Pearly Gates?  Do bad people really end up in hell and good people in heaven?  What about people in the Old Testament?

What happens when you die?  Let's dive into this metaphysical question that has wildly practical implications!  

Heb. 2:14-15

Jm. 2:26

Lk. 8:53-55

2 Pe. 1:14

Heb. 5:7

2 Cor. 5:6-8

Ph. 1:21-24

Rev. 6:10

I Thes. 4:14, 15

1 Cor. 15:6

Daniel 12:2

1 Thes. 4:16-17

1 Cor. 15:21-24

1 Cor 15: 35-58

Ph. 3:20-21

Rev. 21:1-4

2 Tim. 2:12

Rev. 1:6

Rev. 2:26

Rev. 3:21

2 Peter 2:9

Lk. 16:22-23

Rev. 20:11-15

1 Tim 2:4

2 Pe. 3:9

Ecc. 12:7

Heb 10:29; 12:25

Lk. 16:19-31

1 Pe. 3:18-19

Eph. 4:8-10

Mt. 27:51-53

So if Revelation tells a story relevant to its original readers, what's left for us today?  If the Kingdom of God is already on the earth, what do we have to look forward to?

In this episode we continue our overview of Biblical eschatology by asking "What's left?"  

Taken from the Manthanos//Kairos "End of the World and Sex Conference"- where we discussed issues regarding Biblical eschatology and sexuality.

Acts 1:9

Jn. 5:28-29

Acts 24:15

2 Cor. 5:10

1 Cor. 3:11-15

Eph. 2:10

1 Cor. 13:3