Douglas Jacoby Podcast

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

So far:

• We have dissected 4 God-directed commandments and 4 others-directed commandments.
• Today we look at the fourth of a series of 4 short commandments, bedrock principles in all stable societies.
  • Of course we're not trying to recreate human culture at the level of a lowest common denominator.
  • God's people are called to go far beyond the minimum: we are to be holy (Exodus 19:6; Deuteronomy 7:6).

Text

• The 9th commandment
• Exodus 20:16: You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Comments

• Forensic setting (Exodus 23:1-3; see also the bogus suit against Naboth in 1 Kings 21).
• This is not a mere demand for technical truthfulness
  • The Lord calls us to live with character (Psalm 15:1-3).
  • He calls us to mirror his own holiness (Leviticus 11:44, 19:1).

Extension of the principle

• Original context
  • Going along with the jury (Exodus 23), whether on account of peer pressure, apathy, revenge, or prejudice
  • We can only be certain our broader applications of biblical principles are fair when we have established the meaning of the passage through studying its original context.
• Other ways we hurt others through our words
  • Generating, spreading, or in any way further rumors
  • Much popular-level political discourse is deeply flawed and prejudiced. Do we take part in bearing such "witness" against our fellow man?
  • Gossip -- even if it's not incorrect or slanderous, this may harm our neighbor (Romans 13:9-11).
  • Misrepresentation
  • Failing to checking sources
• Broadening the principle even further:
  • Lying
  • Transparency in business ethics
  • Shading the truth
  • Excuse-making (when it's invalid or a cover-up for sin)

Conclusion

• The commandments are not a list of minimum behaviors expected.
• Rather, each commandment calls us to live lives of character, reflecting God's own holiness.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Thus far:
 

• We have analyzed the first seven commandments.
• The 6th - 9th commandments correspond to the teaching of most religions and cultures. Commandments 1-5 and 10 are peculiar to Judaism.
• Today we tackle the 8th.

Text

• The 8th commandment
• Exodus 20:15: You shall not steal.

Comments

• Code of Hammurabi (Babylonian)
  • The majority of crimes pertained to property.
  • Draconian penalties.
  • This code merely mirrored the unjust structures of the society in which is was produced. It was not divine in origin.
  • In the Bible, theft requires restitution. The thief must make it up to his victim financially, whatever it takes (Exodus 22:2).
     
• About the common misunderstanding of the lex talionis ("eye for eye"): the Torah dictated that the punishment must be appropriate to the crime (not out of proportion to it).
  • And yet even then the Jews preferred to settle things in court.
  • Note: the Jews did not execute for property crimes. The penalty for all crimes (except first degree murder) was commutable to monetary settlement.
• In the Bible, there is no double-standard.
  • Everyone from commoner to king were under the same holy standard.
  • The king is not a god, nor does he reign with immunity or impunity.

Application

• Some listeners have been involved in actual stealing -- shoplifting, intellectual piracy, burglary, corporate espionage, etc. Repent!
• If I am tasked with a financial responsibility, am I conducting myself 100% aboveboard? Judas helped himself to the moneybag (John 12:6). Has lack of integrity taken hold in my life?
• Other ways we may violate the 8th commandment:
  • Long lunch break?
  • Routinely late to work?
  • Calling in "sick" when I'm not that sick?
  • Underpaying certain employees? supporting a prejudicial system?
  • Accepting bribes? conniving at an unethical system?
  • False advertising?
  • Stealing credit?
• Theft in all its forms is forbidden for Christ-followers (Ephesians 4:28).
• We are to be not takers, but givers (Acts 20:35).

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

So far

• We have studied four commandments related to God and 2 related to our fellow human beings. Here we find ourselves in the middle of the ethical commandments.
• Sexual ethics is an area considered to be highly personal and "private," yet through most of human history sexual mores were never a matter of personal preference.
• Of all the commandments, this one may generate the greatest push-back. Western culture seems obsessed with breaking the 7th and 10th commandments.

Text

• The 7th commandment
• Exodus 20:14: You shall not commit adultery.

Comments

• "The Adulterous Bible" of 1631 accidentally omitted the not (oops!). Watching movies and popular TV sitcoms, one would think God's will for us did include extramarital affairs!
• Like the prohibitions on murder, theft, and lying, this prohibition is universal. All religions condemn it. Only oversexed and irreligious (modern western) culture celebrates adultery.
• Whereas in the ancient world men often had wives (for procreation) and mistresses (for recreation), in God's word we are to be one-woman men, or one-man women (to use Paul's phrasing in 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1). Such dedication outside God's people is as rare today as it was back then.
• Adultery was originally a property crime, a sin against the husband. Of course it is more. In Psalm 51, we read that David's sin (2 Samuel 11) was fundamentally against God, even though he's sinned against the woman he lusted for, the husband he displaced, and the accomplices to his adultery (his servants and Joab). Like all sin, sexual sin is an offense against God. In fact, failure to obey the 5th - 10th commandments is always a sin against God.
• Jesus ups the stakes, doesn't he (Matthew 5)?
• Not just heterosexual sin; homosexual too. If homosexuals were truly married, then they would be forbidden to cheat, yet this is hardly the norm. It is not unfair to state that they are unfaithful to God, to God's plan for sexual fulfillment, and to each other.
• Yet the most widespread sexual sin isn't homosexual, but heterosexual. And you don't have to be married, or be romantically involved with a married person, to commit sexual sin.

Application

• Adultery is a discrete action, though like murder it may also take place in the heart. With this is mind, do I allow my eyes or thoughts to wander? Do I avoid places in the city or on the web where I am likely to be tempted?
• Do I have a sufficiently intense spiritual life -- am I busy? -- that I don't wander into sexual sin (2 Samuel 11)?
• Do I take steps to keep my heart pure by spending time daily in God's word and prayer?
• In the ancient world, one could expand his sexual options without technically sinning (take another wife). In the modern world, there are many ways to sin sexually without technically violating another individual. Do I rationalize such behaviors?
• If I'm married, do I have eyes only for my husband or wife (Proverbs 5, Job 31)?
• Have I bought into the devil's lie that our private life has little effect on our public competence? (E.g., how can we trust politicians who are unfaithful to their own wives not just to follow self-interest instead of honoring their office?)
• In the Bible, spiritual unfaithfulness is frequently compared to adultery (e.g. in Hosea and in James 4). Is there any way in which I am "two-timing" on God?
• Can we pray Psalm 19:12-14 with sincerity?
• God's holiness is for our well-being, health, and happiness (Psalm 119:32).

Further study

• Take a look at some of the Koine Greek words for various sins here.
• Learn about the destructive effects of cohabitation.
• For more on homosexuality, learn from Guy Hammond's book Caring Beyond the Margins (2012) as well as his CD series Helping Christians Understand Homosexuality (2010).

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

So far

• We have already examined four God-directed commandments, then begun to explore the others-directed commandments.
• This is the second in that category.
• In the last podcast I urged you to memorize the commandments, at least being able to paraphrase them in order. What do you think -- is this worthwhile for you?

Text

• The 6th commandment
• Exodus 20:13: You shall not murder.

Comments

• Flexible order among the 6th - 8th commandments. Similar flexibility appears in Romans 13:9.
• Murder isn't the equivalent of killing, since there were O.T. death penalties and obvious exceptions -- even in Exodus 19 and 21.
• Moreover, the Hebrew word for kill is different from the word for murder.
• The N.T., where Christ calls us to a higher standard, forbids killing one's enemy (Matthew 5). We are even told to feed him (Romans 12)!
• Yet even in the O.T., killing was not glorified. It was Solomon, not his father ("a man of blood" - 1 Chronicles 22:8), who was permitted to building the temple. Or consider 2 Kings 6:18-23!

Application

• Don't murder. While this sin can be forgiven (I have known several murderers who later came to Christ), the violence it does to the perpetrator's heart may make repentance difficult, or even impossible.
• Don't even hate, which is in some way tantamount to carrying out the murder of your enemy. The O.T. forbids hating one's neighbor in one's heart (Leviticus 19:17-18); Christ extends this principle to all people, enemies included.
• Pray. Often a nasty edge to our thinking and comments can build up when we are not close to the Lord.
• When you're reading the Bible, keep in mind that the scriptures often relate atrocities, without necessarily approving of them.
• Think theologically about your employer. Are lives ruined through your company's enterprises (pumping carcinogens into the environment, keeping the poor in a sort of bondage, destroying the homeland of those who lived there first, and so forth)?

Conclusion

• Stop saying, "If I had been in this or that situation, I would never have killed..." (Matthew 23:29-32) Only God knows the darkness in the human heart, and the atrocities of which any of us is potentially capable.
• Don't murder - whether in action or in thought.

Further study

• Learn the two different Hebrew words for kill and murder, respectively. Click here.
• If you're one of those conservative Christians who has a conviction about abortion as murder, you may appreciate to the podcast on Abortion.
• Listen to the podcast on Capital punishment. If you are like most people, you may be in for a surprise!

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

The Decalogue so far

• Today we begin the second section of the Decalogue, the man-directed commandments. These six amplify Leviticus 19:18, which Jesus called the second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-40).
• Unlike no. 4, which is not repeated in the N.T., no. 5, like all the others, is explicitly restated in the pages of the N.T.

Text

• The 5th commandment -- learn them by number!
• Exodus 20:12: Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Comments

• Faithfully married couples form the backbone of society! Yet our culture is slowly self-destructing:
  • Media: honoring adulterer, mock the faithful as a "loser."
  • Bias in favor of gay couples -- not "honor your father and your father," but "honor your father and your mother."
  • Honoring self: in our society, the managed pursuit of pleasure has totally eclipsed the pursuit of holiness.
• Does it mean honor him/her only if he/she is worthy of honor? Honor even if not "worthy" - emperor (1 Peter 2:17).
• And mother
  • In the ancient world, which was highly patriarchal and misogynist, the mother was frequently overlooked, or denigrated. Yet in the Bible, both are deserving of honor.
  • Genesis 1:27, image. Neither to domineer the other (Ephesians 5:21). Proverbs 31 mother, Proverbs 31 father.
  • Leviticus 19:3 - reverse order.
• No gay "marriage." This is an extremely late, modern view, foisted on the 98% of the non-gay world by a vociferous minority blackmailing the rest of us by threats of labeling ("bigot, intolerant") and even legal action ("hate crimes").
• Live long in the land: Several centuries after Mt. Sinai, the Jewish people were expelled from the land, landing in Babylon. The explicit threat (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28; see also the words about being vomited out of the land in (Leviticus 18:25,28, 20:22) is implied in the 5th commandment.

Putting the command into practice

• Obey them.
• Serve them.
• Remember key days in their lives.
• Don't tolerate or condone any slander directed against them.
• Care for them when they are aged (Matthew 15:1-9).
• Honor their memories - not pretending they were Christians if they weren't, but focusing on the positive, realizing that God used them to advance you to where you are today, and remaining grateful too for gift of life.
• Honor those who function in a parental role in your life. Show true respect to mother- and father-figures in my life: grandfather(s), grandmother(s), coaches, police and other authorities, scoutmasters, church leaders, teachers and professors...

Conclusion

• Just imagine how different society would be if spiritual children obeyed godly fathers and mothers! Where would there be any place for such societal evils as drugs, gangs, rape, indolence, alcoholism, robbery, slander, pornography, murder, deceit?
• The ability to honor one's parents directly relates to our ability to honor God as God, and so this is a deeply spiritual issue.
• This is not a suggestion, but a commandment!
• You may want to listen to my sermon "The Fifth Commandment" (17 June 2012).

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Last time
 

• The fourth commandment is the last of the ten amplifying what it means to love the Lord with all our heart (Deuteronomy 6:5).
• Along with circumcision and keeping kosher, Sabbath observance was a unique marker identifying the Jews as God's holy people.
• The fourth is the only commandment not to reappear in the New Testament. See The 10 Commandments in the N.T. below. This constitutes an anomaly in scripture.
• While some groups hold that we are still bound by the Sabbath, most attempt to honor the principle even though the commandment is obsolete.
• You will notice that the text is relatively longer than that in the other commandments. I suspect that this reflects the greater difficulty of observing this commandment.

Text

• Fourth commandment
• Exodus 20:8-11: "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

Comments

• Natural rhythm.
• Most of the world works a six-day week.
• "Remember God" -- the commandment is relational.
• Applied to family, servants, resident aliens , and even animals.
• For the Jews, this is a day of study, not indolence.
• Technically, Sunday never was nor ever could be a sabbath, though several centuries after the time of Christ the government mandated Sunday as "Sabbath."
• As it was a workday, Sunday was inconvenient! Early 2nd century: believers assembling before sunrise and after work in the evening.
• The Sabbath is reflected in the semi-poetic six-day creation week of Genesis 1.

The 10 Commandments in the N.T.

1. No other gods - Mark 10:39; Eph 4:6; 1 Tim 2:5
2. No Idolatry - Gal 5:20; 1 John 5:21; Rev 21:8
3. No taking God's name in vain - Matt 5:34-35; James 5:12
4. Remember the Sabbath -  [Col 2:16!]
5. Honor parents - Rom 1:30, Eph 6:1-3; Col 3:20
6. No murder - Mark 7:21; 1 Pet 4:15; Rev 21:8
7. No adultery - Mark 7:22; Heb 13:4
8. No theft - Mark 7:21
9. No false witness - Mark 7:22; 1 Tim 1:10
10. No coveting - Gal 5:21; Col 3:5; James 4:1-3

Thought questions
 

• How Jewish do Christians need to be? Acts 15 sheds some light on this matter, as does Colossians 2 and the letter to the Galatians.
• Am I a working machine? How would my life change if I took the Sabbath principle seriously?
• Am I beholden to a vision of leisurely retirement? Do I know, or even care, about the work experience of most humans on the planet?
• Am I setting aside "sabbath" time to deepen my relationship the Lord? weekly? daily?
• Does my view of the Sabbath cause me to look down on those who disagree with me (Romans 14:6)?
• Further study:
  • Notice how Nehemiah enforced Sabbath observance.
  • Reflect on the issue of special days in Romans 14-15.
  • Please listen to the podcast on The Sabbath.

Next time: the fifth commandment.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Last time
 

• The first four commandments amplify the "greatest commandment": to love the Lord our God with all our heart (Deuteronomy 6:5).
• As we learned, the first commandment is to worship God only, allowing no false god to capture our heart. The second forbids  concretely disobeying the first -- creating an idol. The third also follows from God's nature as holy and absolute: reverence for his name.

Text

• Third commandment
• Exodus 20:7: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Comments

• Taking the Lord's name in vain does not directly refer to "swearing" -- unless actual oaths are in view.
• God's name is misused when we appeal to it in an oath we do not intend to keep.
  • Under the new covenant, we do not need oaths.
  • Jesus' teaching (Matthew 5:33-37; see James 5:12) is susceptible of two understandings.
    • We are forbidden to make or take oaths.
    • We should be so trustworthy that we don't need oaths (or contracts, etc).
• God's name is also misused when it becomes a handle by which we aim to manipulate him:
  • To assure good luck
  • To receive "yes" answers to our prayers
  • To wring concessions from the Lord

Thought questions
 

• Do I have a mechanical approach to faith?
• How do I react with others dishonor God's name?
• Am I a man/woman of my word?
• Further study: listen to the podcast on The Name of God, in which I reason that
  • It is unnecessary to sign off prayers "in Jesus' name," as though failing to do so is like failing to put a stamp on your letter.
  • Baptisms are de facto in the name of Jesus Christ when performed to submit the one being baptized to the Lordship of Christ, regardless of which baptismal "formula" is used -- or any at all.
  • God's name represents his authority, presence, and nature.
     

Next time: the fourth commandment.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Last time
 

• The first commandment is to worship God only, allowing no false god to capture our heart.
• The rest of the Decalogue, and in fact the entire Torah, depend on this spiritual principle.
• The second commandment, in a sense, concerns concretely disobeying the first -- that is, creating an idol, which naturally competes with God for our attention, energy, loyalty, and worship.

Text

• Second commandment
• Exodus 20:4-6: You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Comments

• No physical images of God were permitted.
  • Amazingly, among the religions of the ancient Near East, only Judaism is aniconic; all others represent their deities through statues and other imagery.
  • The Jews did, however, portray him in numerous literary images (as in the poetry of the prophets and Psalms).
• Nature worship is a serious error.
  • In the ancient world, people worshiped the sun, moon, and stars; forces of nature; animals; persons (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was a "god"); various spirits; and so forth.
  • Creator and creation are separate (see Romans 1). If the creation were divine, or everything was God, there would be pantheism. Yet biblically they are separate.
  • Although the creation reflects the glory of the creator (Psalm 8, 19), this reflection must not be taken as ultimate.
• The Holy of Holies was empty. There is no image for two reasons:
  • God may not be seen; he is wholly transcendcent and holy.
  • We are the image of God (Genesis 1)! We represent him on this planet.
• Sin has consequences, and may affect several generations. God's goodness would extend to 1000 generations (such an imbalance!).
• Jealousy occurs in two varieties: one healthy (the rightful jealousy of a spouse; the jealousy of God), the other unhealthy (the self-directed jealousy, which is related to envy).
• As in 1 John 1-2, love without obedience is not love at all.
• Notice God's benevolence: punishing for a few generations, blessing for a thousand.
• If idolatry is present in our lives, we will not be able to honor God's name as holy -- and thus the connection to the third commandment.

Thought questions

• Is there anything more important to me than God, any idol -- whether material or immaterial -- coming between the Lord and me? We often speak of priorities; the Bible speaks of idolatries.
  • Are we drawn to literal idols - as in Hinduism, Buddhism, and several other religions?
  • Possible idols: money, government, power, lifestyle, spouse, child, friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, technology, education, sport, popularity, reputation, health..
     
  • Bible (bibliolatry), church, a spiritual leader, etc. can also be idols.
  • In 1 John 5:21, the idol is a warped concept of Jesus (in that case, a God not truly incarnate).
     
• Men, are you putting career ahead of your family? ahead of the Lord?
• Women, are you putting any relationships ahead of the Lord? your family? anything else?
• Do I understand that idolatry dogged ancient Israel, and is a major reason why God's people wandered in the desert as long as they did?
• Have I been wandering? (Could the reason be some form of idolatry?)

Next time: the third commandment.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction and definitions

• Decalogue: The ten words
• Torah: Law or Instruction (from the Hebrew yarah, meaning to guide). This may refer to the first five books of the Bible, or the law(s) found in them.
• Pentateuch: The five rolls. The term refers to the first five books of the O.T., Genesis-Deuteronomy.
• Two greatest commandments: Love God with all your heart (Deuteronomy 6:5) and Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). Neither is in the 10 commandments, and yet it has been noted that the first four commandments pertain to love for God, the last six to love for neighbor.
• The two tablets (Exodus 31:18, 32:15) are two identical copies of the commandments. This is known from covenant customs in this part of the world (2nd millennium BC)
• The 10 commandments were delivered the first time at Sinai (Horeb) near the beginning of the desert wanderings. It comes out in a new version near the end of this period (see Deuteronomy 5). Moreover, another "ten commandments" may be found in Exodus 34.

Text

• First commandment
• Exodus 20:1-3: And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."

Comments:

• LORD = YHWH (Yahweh). YHWH is the Tetragrammaton (Greek for four-letter [thing]). For more on this, refer to the podcast on The Name of God. YHWH appears about 6800 times in the O.T.
• Lord = Adonai
• Our Christian lives are rooted in who God is.
• We obey God not in order to be saved, but because we have already been redeemed.
• Obedience is not slavery (although it is a kind of yoke -- Matthew 11:28-30; see 1 John 5:3 and Deuteronomy 30:11-20); slavery is being in the world (and of it).

Thought questions

• Through listening to this lesson, is there anything I learned that was completely new?
• Do I obey out of fear or duty, or out of appreciation for my salvation?
• Is there anything more important to me than God?
• Do others know this to be true of me (family, friends, neighbors...)?

Next time: the second  commandment.

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:28-29).

Power

• Jesus’ teaching is not only true, but it is powerful…..
• And compact!
  • As one commentator has pointed out, "The Golden Rule [is] just eleven words; by contrast, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the U.S. government's attempt to oblige ethical character into the financial statements of American corporations, has eleven titles (major sections). It is one of the most complicated pieces of legislation in the history of the American republic and, in the economies of scale, places a disproportionate burden on small companies which were not the cause of the adoption" (Richard David Ramsey, "Business Ethics in the Sermon on the Mount," Leaven: A Journal of Christian Ministry [Pepperdine University: vol.16, no.4, 2008], 180).
  • How convoluted are human attempts to exact honesty and fairness! How simple is the command Jesus gave us!

Authority

• Matthew says what astonished the people was that Jesus “taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” What does that mean?
• When the scribes taught, they spoke from the authority of others, usually Moses (Matt 23:2).
• Or they taught and followed the “tradition of the elders” (Matt 15:2).
• Mishnah (c.200 AD)—disagreements rife. Inconsistencies.
• Many times the rabbis disagreed with one another about what was permissible under the Law.
• They did not dare to speak in their own name—by their own authority. In contrast, Jesus spoke from his own authority—fulfilling, expanding, and modifying the teaching of even Moses himself. (Obviously, though we can speak from experience and out of conviction, we have no authority like his!)
• Chrysostom: “Everywhere in this teaching, he indicated that he himself was the person who had the power of deciding matters. When setting forth his laws, he kept adding, ‘But I say unto you.’ And in reminding them of that Day, he declared himself to be the Judge, both as to the punishments and the rewards.” Homilies on Matthew 25.1
• The people would have been even more astonished had they realized these laws applied not only to the Jews, but to the whole world.
• Eusebius: “Moses was the leader of but one nation. And his legislation has proved to be applicable only to that one nation. …Whereas, Jesus gave his new law of holiness not only to the Jews, but to the whole human race. In summoning all nations, he set before them a legislation that they could obey and that was suitable for them. Then by a power more divine than that of Moses, he ordained his holy laws throughout all the world by his evangelists.” Demonstration of the Gospel 9.11

Astonished
Will we go further in our study of the powerful words of Matthew 5-7?

Recommended books on the Sermon on the Mount:
* Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship. Hard hitting and thought-provoking. A classic.
* John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount. Stott is a careful student and a clear writer.
* Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy. Many fresh ideas. You may not agree with everything, but it is worth taking a look at.
* A. M. Hunter’s Design for Life: the Sermon on the Mount. Do we continue to be astonished at our Lord’s teaching?

Recommended audio on the Sermon on the Mount:
* Kinnard and Jacoby in New York (teaching jubilee)
* Malcom Cox
* David Bercot's Early Christian Commentary on Matthew (a commentary series is replacing the original plan for an Early Christian Study Bible). Click HERE.
* Jim Long (coming soon)

Further devotional series:
* 2008:  New Testament Chapter Studies ­— 400 devotional readings and studies taking us through every verse of the New Testament
* 2013: Drawing Near to God — 40 days of quiet times, on Psalms, the 10 Commandments, spiritual life, and key biblical characters
* 2014:  Christ Through the Ages ­— This series explores what it means that Jesus Christ is Lord of history. 30 podcasts plus 10 more on Worship.
* 2015:­  Romans A-Z — Be inspired through this careful, verse-by-verse study of Paul’s magisterial epistle to the Romans.
* 2016:  Proverbs—A Disciplined Life — Get your life in order. Learn from the wisest men and women of ages past.
* 2017:  Clean: Purity, Cleansing, Leprosy, Exorcism, & Reanimation — build biblical conviction about holiness and purity
* 2018:  A Tour Through John — 50 lessons taking us through the Gospel of John, his letters, and Revelation
* 2019:  The Imitation of Christ — 31 devotions for the heart from the classic work by Thomas à Kempis
* 2021: Isaiah: Justice & Injustice – 40 devotions through all 66 chapters of Isaiah

Also available:
* N.T. Character Podcasts — nearly 70 lessons on interesting, inspiring, informative biblical characters (men and women)
* O.T. Character Podcasts — 60 lessons on major and minor O.T. characters (men and women)