Kingdom Come with Dan Latta. Making the World Look More Like Heaven

Some people dedicate their lives to being single.  For most of us, the single life is a season either before, in between, or after marriage.  Maybe you are single by choice.  Maybe you are single due to circumstances outside of your control.  Either way, how can you take advantage of this season of your life and use it to pursue God in ways a married person simply cannot.  In this episode I share about the 3-1/2 year period where I very intentionally pursued God during the season of singleness and how it helped me grow more then I ever could have imagined.  

In this episode we will look at how we are members of a Kingdom that exists in hostile territory.  We explore how this impacts us and how we can move past the discouragement this sometimes bring and see how we can continue to make a positive impact in the world around us.  

The Passover holiday is a special holiday set aside by God so that his people will never forget that from which they came.  It's a holiday that Jewish people have been celebrating for thousands of years.  There is so much rich symbolism in this holiday and there are a lot of things that can benefit gentile followers of Jesus as well. 

In this podcast we will take a closer look at Passover, how it began, how it is celebrated today, and how it relates to Jesus and the last supper.  My goal with this episode it to show followers of Jesus the benefits of celebrating this very special holiday and to empower them to do just that by providing the Passover Celebration Guide and the Family Haggadah free of charge. 

Free Downloadable Resources
Celebration guide (Click to Download)
Family Haggadah  (Click to Download)

If for some reason, you can't download from these links you can email me at [email protected] and I will email you these two pdf documents. 

Want to join the ongoing discussion?  Look us up on facebook.  Just search, "Kingdom Come With Dan Latta" on facebook and request to join.  

Intro and Outro Music by Wild Harbors.

Sources Used:
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre
Sitting a the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Anne Spangler and Lois Tverberg
The Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern

In this episode, which is being uploaded during the season of Lent, we will take a closer look at the events of Palm Sunday and time time frame leading up to Jesus' crucifixion. 

One of the things that baffled me for years was how can a group of people shout "Hosanna" one day and then less than a week later turn on Jesus and chant "Crucify Him"?   Several years ago I found that by better understanding 1st century Jewish customs and the Passover festival there was an explanation that made a whole lot of sense.   I hope you will take the time to listen to this episode as we unlock what really happened.  

Like what you hear?  Come join the ongoing discussion in our Facebook group.  Just search up Kingdom Come with Dan Latta on Facebook.

Sources Used:
Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg

Jewish New Testament Commentary by David H. Stern

In this episode we will take a look at the two different accounts of the miraculous catch of fish, Luke 5 and John 21.  We will explore the similarities and differences between these two stories and we will also focus on how these stories can inspire us to step out of our comfort zone so that we can help make the world look more like heaven.

Sources Used:
For information on 1st century fishing practices:
New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin
Daily Life at the time of Jesus by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh

Commentaries used during my studies of these passages:
Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern
The Bible Knowledge Commentary edited by John Walvoord and Roy Zuck
New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition edited by GJ Wenham, JA Motyer, DA Carson & RT France

In this episode we take a closer look at first century Jewish education, the life of a rabbi, and the life of a disciple.  By learning more about these things we can better understand why Jesus' disciples were willing to leave everything to follow him and we can better understand how to become fully committed followers of Jesus.

Join our community.  Search "Kingdom Come with Dan Latta" on Facebook and be a part of the ongoing discussions on how we can make the world look more like heaven.  I'll be sharing additional insights that aren't always able to make it into the podcasts and we'll also be able to learn in a community discussion format.

Sources used for this teaching:
New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus- David Bivin
Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus- Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg
Daily Life at the time of Jesus- Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
Holman Bible Dictionary (both online version and print version)

In this episode we look at the feeding of the 5,000.   We will examine some of the Messianic expectations from the time of Jesus and it will help shed new light on this familiar passage.  We will also see how this new found understanding of the New Exodus can help us make the world look more like heaven.

Works sited:
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brad Pitre Copyright 2011

Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern Copyright 1992

Intro and Outro music by Wild Harbors  https://www.wildharbors.com/home-intro

This new season will focus on learning more about the Jewish Roots of the Christian faith and how that newfound knowledge can help us better make this world look more like heaven.
We will be taking familiar passages and sharing new insights that will blow your mind and help you better understand what Jesus is saying and doing.

Sources used for this podcast:
New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus- Insights from His Jewish Context- David Bivin
Restoration- Returning the Torah of God to the Disciples of Jesus- D. Thomas Lancaster

Recommended readings:
Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus- Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg

This well-written, easy to read book introduces Christians to the importance of studying Jewish roots and provides a number of interesting insights into the realities of daily life for first century Jews living at the time of Jesus. It sheds new light on previously confusing or misinterpreted passages of Scripture and provides questions and practical applications at the end of each chapter. It will challenge your understanding of what it meant in that time as well as what it means today to be a disciple of Christ.  You can also download the first chapter for free on Lois’ blog http://ourrabbijesus.com/books/sitting-at-the-feet-of-rabbi-jesus/.  I’ve read lots of books on the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and this is by far and away, the best starting point.

Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus- Lois Tverberg

This sequel to Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus provides additional information about the daily life, culture, and mindset of Jesus’ contemporaries in first century Israel. You will learn more about some of the Jewish feasts and festivals, as well as being challenged by what it means to really live our Jesus’ teachings regarding things like your words and honesty. It’s an easy read and will change the way you view various passages of Scripture, when seen in the light of Jewish roots.

God’s Appointed Times- Barney Kasdan

If you’re interested in learning more about and celebrating some of the Jewish feasts, festivals, and holidays, this book is a must-have resource. It briefly explains each holiday’s significance, what the Bible says about it, how Jews today celebrate, and how you can celebrate it as a follower of Christ. There are also recipes, craft ideas, and songs provided as extra resources to use in your family’s celebrations.

New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus- David Bivin

Bivin writes in a scholarly style, so this text is not as easy a read as some of the other resources, but it also sheds light on first century Judaism and unpacks several passages of Scripture in new ways based on the cultural context. It’s a rather short book, and some of the insights will change the way you understand things you think you’ve known about Jesus.

Restoration, Restoring the Torah of God to the Disciples of Jesus- D. Thomas Lancaster

Also a little more scholarly side.  Lancaster focuses on how Christians should live out the teaching of the Torah (first five books of the Bible) in light on Jesus death on the cross.

The Jewish New Testament Commentary- David Stern

 A bible commentary that sheds a lot of light on first century Jewish practices and idioms that, when understood, help explain difficult passages of scripture.

In this episode we take a closer look at the game we all seem to play where we compare ourselves to the people around us.  This game diminishes our self worth and it causes us to focus on the wrong things.  Instead of focusing on make the world look more like heaven, we focus on what we want but don't have.  We constantly find our happiness dependent on how we "stack up" against others.  For the past 7 years now I have worked hard to live a life free of the comparison game.  I'm not perfect at it but I've come a long way.  I hope that the insights I share will help you on your journey to live a life free of the comparison game.