In the Fire

This week we spend an episode looking at the book of Ruth - yes, the whole thing! One of the most fascinating books of the Bible, and certainly one of the most overlooked and important ones, the story told here gives us plenty to look to as believers (and non-believers, too!). It gives us several examples of people that we can follow in our daily lives, and connects in some very interesting and significant ways to the remainder of the Bible. This includes ties to Jesus, both direct and indirect. Learn all about the book of Ruth by listening in!

The Book of Psalms teaches us a lot. It includes the heights and depths of human emotions and the incredible characteristics of God (among many other things). Notably, each Psalm has a different theme. Some are Psalms of praise, some of lament or sorrow, and some of prophecy or royalty - just to name a few. In episode 25 of 'In the Fire' we take a look at various examples of each of these themes, read through them, and talk about our takeaways. Listen in and be prepared to flip through your Bible as we talk about some of our favorite Psalms!

At the beginning of Jesus's great Sermon on the Mount, he outlines a list of ways that Christians are to live our lives (The Beatitudes). According to him, these driving characteristics of believers are important in a couple of key ways. First, they are encouraging to us as followers of God as they allow us to receive heavenly rewards in the day of judgement. Second, they allow others to see these values in our lives as a testament to our faith. Clearly, it becomes important for believers to stay as true to these principles as we can. For this episode, we read Scripture from Matthew 5, Matthew 28, and 2 Peter 3:8-10. 

Shortly after Jesus rises from the grave, he disguises himself for a fun little conversation with two guys on the road out of Jerusalem after witnessing the Crucifixion. It's the content of this conversation that we are most interested in here, though. These two followers of Jesus are experiencing doubts in their faith - and rightfully so, as they just watched as their savior was killed. So, how does Jesus approach these believers who find themselves struggling with doubt, and what can we take away from this conversation for our own lives? That's the question we try and answer as we read a passage out of Luke 24.

In this episode, we journey into the book of Philippians (specifically, Philippians chapter 4) to learn some life lessons from Paul. In this chapter, Paul writes about the idea of being content with what we have – or do not have – in our lives. As we dig into how Paul describes a true life spent following Christ, we find that it all comes back to the idea of perspective. Find out what that means by listening to our discussion on Philippians 4!

It's a simple fact of life: our words can be used to build others up, tear others down, stir up trouble, or calm down a situation. Believe it or not, the Bible spends a lot of time focusing on the power of speech and how we should carefully watch the words that come out of our mouths. The ability to control one's speech is often equated with wisdom in Scripture, so it's no mistake that some of the wisest and sharpest minds in the Bible take time to write about this important topic. Come along as we discuss the power of speech by looking primarily in the books of James and Ephesians (with some Proverbs thrown in there, too, among other books). Enjoy!

Welcome to the 19th installment of 'In the Fire' with Justin, Peter, and Thomas! This week, we revisit our friends David and Paul and address the topic of worship. Take a trip with us into 1 Chronicles 16 and Romans 12 as we see how David and Paul give us Biblical examples and lessons on what it truly means to worship God in spirit and in truth. We find out that worship is a lot more than a Sunday morning service; instead, it is a lifelong mission that we have as believers to glorify God in all that we do.

If you've listened to this podcast so far, you've heard that humility is a concept that comes up quite often throughout Scripture. Since we've discussed it so frequently to this point, we figured we'd spend a full episode on the subject. Listen and read along as we take a journey into the fourth chapter of the book of James before seeing what Jesus teaches us about having a 'childlike' humility in our faith. We find out that not only is humility an important quality to strive after, but an essential one for our salvation.

The second part of a two-part series, this episode takes a look at the many names used for Jesus throughout the Bible. These include actual names (Immanuel, for example) as well as various things Jesus is called (like 'Son of Man'), and like we saw last week, each name carries its own special significance. As we find out, these names point to messianic themes throughout the Old and New Testament in prophecy, history, and quality. Take some time and listen in as we jump around Scripture and discuss some of these amazing names.