A true Israelite in which there is no guile! Jesus sums up Nathanael within a hundred feet of meeting him. Let's look at John's fig tree imagery, Jacob references, and strange choice of detail in this exchange. We also share some mushy stories of times we've been affirmed and challenged out of nowhere by the voice of Christ through someone else. Tune in.

We begin with the shocking story of an accidental millionaire who made his gains by way of an old rug he found on the porch. Then we discuss the value of the perfume used to wash Jesus' feet, and how he turned that value toward the forgotten woman with her dripping hair. That and Rick lists his surprising collection of Civil War antiques while Josh discusses his near-worthless trove of baseball cards. Tune in. Do it.

After a brief leave of absence, we are back and starting at the beginning. Old Scratch himself slithers up to our first parents and immediately starts twisting the language. From conflating God's words to using a different name for God himself, the snake puts a slippery wedge between humanity and reality. It worked, btw. That and Josh has a youth group flashback while Rick gets misunderstood.

They dropped everything and followed Him...

We look at the calling of two of the disciples – sudden, strange, life-altering. Jesus seeks them out and they leave everything – livelihood, culture, relationships – and follow Him. In that culture, the rabbi never came for you – you chased him down and begged to be his disciple. For Jesus to tap these nobodies on the shoulder and ask them to join his ragtag school was a dream they thought they'd never reach.

In my Father's house are many rooms. We've probably all heard this phrase, and it brings to mind to streets of gold and perhaps great-grandma in a gossamer gown. In this passage, Jesus is giving some hint at that mysterious chunk of time between our death and the final resurrection. What happens in the "beyond the blue?" Not sure exactly, but at least we can look at the clues we have. This, and an interesting talk about Rick's worst hotel experience, which was perhaps some kind of crime scene. Tune in!

"I will make you fishers of men" – from the cinderblock church basement wall to the minivan bumper, this metaphor has been beaten lifeless in Christendom. The puns are painful, the jokes are dead in the water. But looking more closely, we find the phrase has Greco-Roman roots from way back, and possibly an Old Testament reference as well. Jesus, once again, is picking up the parlance of his times (Lebowski reference!) and refreshing our understanding of old ideas. This, and Rick talks about winning a fishing contest at camp in the 70s.

We look at Jesus' many miracles, and how he incorporated people in the process. He didn't need the earthen jars filled with water to make wine, he didn't need Peter to throw the net into the water. He could have made these things just automatically happen, but – for some reason – he wanted us involved. He invites us into participation in his work now, and he even in his "wondrous works" when he walked with us in the gospels. He seemed happy to have "some assembly required" in most of his miracles, and in the ones he's still doing today. 

Paul was writing from prison...again. During this time, he was chained to a succession of Roman special forces guards in full armor. As he scribed away in the dark corner, he simply looked around and came up with his most famous metaphor. We talk ancient prisons, Roman correctional practices, and the fact that the armor of God included no pants.

Let's look at one of the childhood classics: Daniel looking a little nervous, circled by hungry lions showing off their teeth and rib cages. This story, and many like it, are often dismissed early on as ahistorical – the narrative resonates, but there's no history behind it. But let's look closer. Let's look at Ancient Near Eastern history and the lion hunts staged by rulers, just like King Darius. Again, the history is waiting for us, and plays an important role in our faith. This and an informative discussion about flannel-graph.