Does the Bible say THAT?!?

Returning guest Mike Mason and I talk about Abram, Sarai, Lot and their caravan coming back up out of Egypt to the promised land. There is a dispute between Abram and Lot which leads an amicable separation. Go to the right! Go to the left! Or vice versa!

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*The New International Commentary: The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*Come Out My People: God's Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond by Wes Howard-Brook

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Host Dave Lester shares a Christmas reflection for the season of 2024 while quoting from the final book by Rachel Held Evans called "Wholehearted Faith".

Sources used for this episode:

*Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans (with Jeff Chu)

Opening Music: "The Gift of St. Cecilia" Jars of Clay from their album "Christmas Songs"

In this episode, Dave Lester shares a sermon he preached out of Acts 26 at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church on November 17, 2024. The message highlighted the Apostle Paul preaching an inclusive gospel of transformation that is foolishness to the Gentiles.

Sources used for this message:

*The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Book of Acts by F.F. Bruce

*New Testament Commentary: Acts by Simon J. Kistemaker

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Children's Director at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church, Mary Hoard, joins the podcast to talk about Abram and Sarai fleeing to Egypt because of a severe famine. We dive into the bizarre and disturbing plan of Abram's to pretend that Sarai was his sister so he would not be killed in Egypt. What is going on with this account? We cannot promise concrete answers.

Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church information: https://www.ckpc.org/

Sources used for this episode:

*Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda Gafney

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*The New International Commentary: The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*Come Out My People: God's Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond by Wes Howard-Brook

*"Footsteps of Abraham" by Malachi Martin. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/13/travel/footsteps-of-abraham-by-malachi-martin.html

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Pastor Ryan Egli of City Line Church in Philadelphia joins the podcast to talk about the call of Abram. We discuss Abram, Sarai, Lot and their caravan leaving comfortable surroundings for the unknown land of Canaan. We also dive deep into the Abrahamic covenant and how this seismic theological idea has had ripple effects throughout history that continue to this day. Finally, Pastor Ryan challenges me on the grammatical/historical/cultural interpretation lens for this podcast while powerfully advocating for a Christocentric interpretative lens.

Check out the website for City Line Church: https://citylinechurch.net/

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*Come Out My People: God's Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond by Wes Howard-Brook

*Peoples of the Old Testament World edited by Alfred J Hoerth, Gerald L Mattingly and Edwin M Yamauchi

*The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones

*This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, About Living a Compassionate Life By David Foster Wallace. https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

This episode chronicles the origin story of Abram (who will become Abraham), a major religious figure in history. We observe Abram's beginnings via his father Terah. The family was from Ur of the Chaldeans (not quite sure where that is), leave for Canaan (don't know why), and settle in Harran instead (no reason given). In short, there is a lot we don't know about this passage which is sparse.

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson

*Come Out My People: God's Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond by Wes Howard-Brook

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

In this special episode, Dave Lester shares a sermon he preached at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church on July 28, 2024. The passage was Acts 9:32-43 which has Peter healing Aeneas and Dorcas and an early church community pushing back against death.

Visit CK Pres' website right here: https://www.ckpc.org/

Sources for this episode:

*New Testament Commentary: Acts by Simon J. Kistemaker

*"Stifled Grief: How the West Has it Wrong". by Michelle Steinke-Baumgard. Huffington Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stifled-grief-how-the-wes_b_10243026

*Film: About Schmidt. Directed by Alexander Payne. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257360/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_About%2520Schm

*Song: "Further On Up the Road" Performed by Johnny Cash. Written by Bruce Springsteen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKpqRbxk4Yk

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

More Genealogy! One cannot read through Genesis without stumbling upon ancient genealogies recording Israelite history as people who lived a long time ago recorded names that meant a lot to their culture and faith. This episode focuses on Shem's genealogy recorded after the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Noah's son leads us to a major religious figure in history: Abram.

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*"The Sumerian King List" Britannica.com (https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Sumerian-King-List)

*"Chaldean: Meaning, Empire & Culture" by Reed Hepler and Flint Johnson. Study.com (https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-chaldeans-definition-history-culture.html)

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Host Dave Lester spoke at "The Word and the World: Science and the Christian Life" conference in Kitsap County on Saturday, June 8th, 2024. He did a breakout session talking about "Interpreting the Genesis Creation Account" and also discussed the interpretative lenses we have been handed from a cultural war brewing before we were born.

Visit "The Word and the World" Conference web page: https://www.ckpc.org/media/series/pnqdry6/the-word-and-the-world-conference

Listen to Ezra Klein interview Marilynn Robinson (author of "Reading Genesis") right here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marilynne-robinson-on-biblical-beauty-human-evil-and/id1548604447?i=1000648054080

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliott Friedman

*The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*Reading Genesis by Marilynn Robinson

*Reading Genesis 1-2: An Evangelical Conversation edited by J. Daryl Charles

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Guest Mike Mason joins Dave Lester to discuss the epic but sparse account of the Tower of Babel. They talk about how surprisingly subversive the story is to, perhaps, Babylonian gods of the ancient near east in favor of the true God- Yahweh.

Special guests Josh Tyra and Munir William Fahmy read the Genesis 11:1-9 passage in various languages.

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*Come Out My People: God's Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond by Wes Howard-Brook

*"The Gospel and Babel: A Christocentric Reading of Genesis 11:1-9" by David Hionides

*The Double Etymology of Babel in Genesis 11 by Jonathan Grossman

*The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John McWhorter

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong