Hebrew Scripture is filled with stories of God stooping down to reveal himself within the darkened understanding of Man, progressively moving us towards the fullest revelation unveiled in the face of Jesus. God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. These are the people God dispersed over the face of the earth at Babel. He would use Abraham's obedience to bless all the nations of the earth, entering into their darkness, and meeting them where they were. God would enter into the darkness of ancient civilizations centered around the ritual sacrifice of animals and even children, leading his children on a trajectory that will eventually end the sacrificial system altogether. Jesus, the visible image of the invisible God, who can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing, came to earth forgiving sin without any need of sacrifice or blood.

Prior to the shedding of blood, prior to his death and resurrection, Jesus says that if we are to reflect Gods nature as his sons in the earth we must be full of mercy like our Father in heaven who is merciful even to the ungrateful and evil. The Father can relate to mankind mercifully because mercy is intrinsic to his nature. He, therefore, has no authority higher than himself requiring that he displace his wrath before he can offer mercy. This is not a Father who is holding back his wrath. Quite the opposite, his very nature is to bless even those who curse him.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2018/04/20/was-the-life-of-jesus-false-advertisement-for-the-father/

On the cross Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The only time the Son doesn’t refer to God as Father... He identifies with our fallen humanity, subjectively entering into the depths of our brokenness. Where Adam was in the garden, overwhelmed, with anxiety, guilt, fear, and shame, but not without returning with one final breath unraveling the lie that we’ve believed about the Father since the beginning. The last words on the cross were not “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The last words on the cross were “Father, into your hands I set before you My spirit.”

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2018/04/07/forsaken-by-god/

How does God respond to Adam who is distancing himself from his creator in fear? God provides a solution in the form of animal skins. Again, who needed the covering? Did God need Adam to be covered before He could approach him? No, it was Adam who was the beneficiary of the covering, as a way to restore a sense of confidence once again, to come out of hiding and approach the living God.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2018/03/30/god-cant-look-upon-sin/

The mystery of the cross of Jesus Christ and atonement has been a major discussion within church history for nearly 2000 years. These discussions have all been merely attempts at explaining the nature of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In theology, these attempts are often labeled as theories and there have been many throughout church history. It’s important here to note we are not saved by theories, rather by Jesus. Yet our understanding of Christ’s death has implications on how we view the relationship between God and Man, and more importantly, the character and nature of the Father.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2018/03/21/atonement-theories-and-development/

Why is biblical interpretation important? All one needs to do is sift through the pages of Church history. Filled with illustrious examples of service unto all humanity, it also contains atrocities upon mankind, all committed in the name of Christ, using the Bible as a weapon of justification. Embedded within the margins of the past we are confronted with a dark side of Church history, that is indisputable and one that needs to be confronted for what it is.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2019/01/22/the-bible-pt-5/

There are many streams of biblical interpretation where we are asked to believe things that if we are honest, are hard to believe. This, as far as I can tell, is a form of deception. We are told to disregard one’s rational thought and critical thinking in order to accept as truth someone else’s preconceived conclusion. If we start our pursuit of truth with indifference for personal experience, reason, or reflection, how are we expected to relate to the stories provided by the writers? Disengagement of the mind seems to be contrary to the New Testament's understanding of repentance, which itself requires us to change the way we are thinking in order to renew our minds.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2019/01/12/the-bible-pt-4/

Jesus seems to be clear, that eternal life is found in the relationship with the Son, not in the pages of a book. The book is immensely valuable in the fact that it points us to the Living Word, the resurrected Jesus. The words of a book are simply a dead letter, incapable of dwelling within humanity to produce life. Only the living, inerrant, infallible Word of God, the person, Jesus, is capable of abiding within his creation.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to www.jpshafer.com/the-bible-series/.

Scripture itself emerges from God’s relationship with Man. Therefore the Bible is the product of that relationship, not the foundation. God was communicating with Man before there were trees to make paper to put pen to. The Church Fathers and the Reformers all held a very high view of Scripture, yet as you will see, they did not ignore or excuse the humanity within the writings.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2018/12/31/the-bible-part-2/

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the Bible didn’t fall out of the sky complete with a table of contents and God’s handwritten signature in the back. The Bible is better understood as a library, containing 66 books with over 40 authors, and written over a span of nearly 1500 years by people who lived in very different periods of history, with different perceptions of God and his purpose for Israel.

For a transcription of this podcast and a list of all sources quoted in this episode go to...http://jpshafer.com/2018/12/10/the-bible-pt-1/