In this teaching we'll explore chapter 10 of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, specifically the challenge that Jesus' followers need to gather on a regular basis. Specifically, we'll look at the really cool images in this passage that illustrate the importance of gathering together alongside other habits that foster a life of faith. This message challenged me and my expectation about church. I hope it is helpful for you too.

In this teaching we'll explore Paul's vision of Jesus-style generosity in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. In Paul's mind, the good news about Jesus becomes most persuasive when his followers are living with incredible generosity. Giving away resources when it makes no sense is a powerful way of showing people that Jesus is truly the risen Lord of the world.

This episode explores what the word “witness” means in the New Testament. The way this word is used in the apostles' writing is a bit different than how modern Christians have come to use it. We'll explore what it means for a group of people to bear witness to Jesus together. We'll also explore Paul's farewell speech in Acts Chapter 20 and discover how important it is to protect the witness of a church community so that it's representation of Jesus is faithful and not distorted.

This teaching explores Jesus' call to a radical way of life in following him. It's based on Luke Chapter 14, which includes some very challenging sayings of Jesus about counting the cost of following him. We will consider the balance between Jesus’s generous grace as he invites everyone into his community, as well as his stiff challenge about the great cost and sacrifice that is going to be required.

Many of us have a difficult time balancing Jesus' generosity with his intense call to follow . How do they go together? We explore that in this episode…

In this teaching we explore the Gospel of Mark's introduction to Jesus and his basic message and mission. We discover that announcing the arrival of God's kingdom was Jesus' greatest priority. For the most part modern Western people have not truly heard what Jesus was trying to get across, and so the concept of God's kingdom is not familiar to most people. Instead of importing our ideas about what Christianity is, we need to recover the apostles' presentation of Jesus in the New Testament.

So this is all about Jesus’s announcement of the Kingdom of God. What did that mean? Why was that important to him? Take a listen…

Should the fact that I am a follower of Jesus mean that I think differently about my work and career? If so, how? In this teaching, I explore how our hopes about the ultimate outcome of history have a significant impact on how we think about our day to day jobs and career goals. Many Christians adopt the view that the world will ultimate be destroyed when Jesus returns, and that our day to day lives don't matter very much. But this is the opposite of what we find in the teaching of the Apostle Paul. We'll look at 1 Corinthians 15 and Colossians 3 to see how Paul believed that the eternal, redeemed nature of the new creation made our day to day work more meaningful, not less.

In this teaching, I compare what constitute work in the story line of the bible vs. how modern American culture defines work. We will look at Genesis chapters 1-3 and see how work is not a curse but actually one of the greatest gifts that God has given to humans.

In this message, I explore the concept of work and labor in the book of Ecclesiastes. The teacher wants to show us that it's impossible to create meaning in your life from one's vocation or career. But, this doesn’t mean that we should quit working. Rather, we must learn how to see our life's work in a larger context, helping us navigate through both success and failure. The teacher offers practical wisdom and guidance about having a job, and how to enjoy both the mundane and the beautiful parts of having a job.

In this episode, we explore how how acknowledging that all of life is "vapor" (Hebrew "hevel") can lead to the enjoyment of the small and simple delights we encounter in day to day life.

In this first episode we unpack the introduction to the book of Ecclesiastes and touch upon the issues of authorship. Mostly we'll camp out on the core the metaphor the teachers uses to talk about all of life. It's the Hebrew word “hevel” which means vapor or smoke. You won't be able to see my hand-carved Danish tobacco pipe, but you'll hear all about it. It's a powerful image to talk about the fleeting nature and unpredictability of all of life.