Deeper

Anxiety is everywhere - so what do we do about it? Austin and Dan talk about the many people in the bible with anxiety, how we can recognize if our lives are anxiety-driven rather than anxiety-informed, and how we can interact with "threats" to our historic way of doing things. 

Listen to the Amplify episode with Michele Phoenix here: https://bit.ly/48HCCOy

When we try and steal the divinity of Jesus and live as though we have His authority, we get into trouble very quickly. Is that what's happening with people who claim that living according to the sermon on the mount is "ineffective"? Dan and Austin look at the Humanity of Jesus, our appropriation of His divinity and our false assumptions about people who come from Columbus. 

To many of us, our ancestry is a fascinating bit of history. We often search to see when and where we immigrated, what notable feats and what notable names show up in our history. Sometimes, though, we uncover troubling facts, things that do not reflect well on our family name. How do we study our spiritual ancestry? What do we do when we uncover troubling faith-family history? 

When we talk about the apocalypse we often think of the literal end of days. However, the biblical genre of apocalyptic literature is very different, offering encouragement to oppressed and marganilized believers more than offering a game plan for the end times. What is apocalyptic literature, why (and when) is it useful, and does context matter? Spoiler alert: it super does. 

Much like Pastor Tim's old pickup truck, the old covenant needed to be remade into something that actually worked. Austin, Dan and Tim talk about what we can scavenge from the old covenant, the role of ordained pastors under the new covenant and what to do about christians who don't live up to their name. 

When we hear the word Idol, we often think either of ancient statues or celebrity singers. What role did idols play in the daily life of people in the Ancient Near East? Austin and Dan talk about the importance of recognizing our intangible idols today, how we can guard against them, and how to balance things that are "good" with our God that is Great.

What can we do when we are in the middle of chaos and cannot see yet how God is providing for us? This question keeps being more and more significant as tragedies seem to abound. Dan and Austin talk about the importance of praying for wisdom and for the impossible, discuss the frequency of immediate callings, and the continued significance of women in scripture as examples to follow. Also, Austin and Dan take a moment away from the traditional content to wrestle with the conflict in Palestine and Israel, and what our response as normal people and as Christ followers should be. 

There are many, many examples of leaders in scripture "passing on the torch" to someone better equipped to finish their ministry. Today we look at David and Solomon, and the ways that David's warlike personality disqualified him from temple building. We examine the ways that we might need to re-evaluate how we look at people in need around us; and glance again at prophecies we misappropriate. 

In so many cultures, people have given arbatrary value to people based on their gender, family, race or age. That's super clear to see in the Hebrew inheritance system and culture. Firstborn men were given all the inheritance, social benefit, and status- so why does God so often pick leaders who were NOT firstborn? How can we learn from the people God puts in front of us as leaders? And how can we tell if a leader is actually "annointed" or if we are simply following someone because we like what they look like or say?

On the 26th episode of Deeper we dive deeper into the local gods of the Ancient Near East. What is the significance of the god Dagon, and what is the connection he has to Sampson's punishments? How does Sampson's story give us hope for deconstructed friends and family? And will Austin ever correctly remember what episode we are on? (Spoiler: he will not)