Forgiveness. We've got a problem with it. Is it because we overcomplicate it or because we oversimplify it? It gets kind of funky when you start to throw in some considerations in power dynamics, repentance, and the like.

Mixtape tracks brought to you by Jewel and The Postal Service

We're back you cool babies!

And what a doozie to come back to. Jesus lays out the blueprint for excommunication! Fun! We're spending some time talking about the tough decisions when a "toxic" person in your life/your church refuses to make things right and the pain of having to cut them out. How do we draw lines when we have to and keep our selves and our communities safe?

Mixtape tracks brought to you by Rio Diamond and FKA Twigs.

This is the one where the disciples are suddenly guests on Scooby Doo.

What does God's voice sound like?

How near is God?

How to tell the difference between your Savior and a spooky spooky ghost.

Mixtape tracks brought to you by Adam Lambert and Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong.

People all over the world, join hands! It's God's big blowout sale! Everything must go! 

God has too much blessing, so it's all being given out without price... and there are leftovers too!

Plus we've got a little bit of an antisemitism lesson.

Children's sermon ideas inspired by Office Space and an imaginary dinner party.

Mixtape tracks brought to you by The O Jays and Michael Jackson.

We've got (another) new format! Thank you for your patience. I think this one is here stay.

Solomon's impostor syndrome!

All the small things that God loves, values, and makes wonderful!

Mixtape tracks brought to you by Gogol Bordello and Blink 182.

Hey! We are landing on a new format! Thanks for your patience while Ben and Daniel were working out what this show would look like. So here it is!

Jazz Odyssey: We look at the texts as a whole. Talk about themes, textual notes, etc.

Kidz Bop: Children's sermon ideas!

Turn it to 11: Ben and Daniel share their strongest focus for the preaching moment. 

Mixtape: Same as it ever was. We make a musical offering related to the themes of the text.

Creation in birthing pangs! Weeds all mixed up in our nice wheat! God is God!

What does it look like to possess a spirit of fear versus possessing a spirit of faith? 

Are you the wheat or the weeds? And why is that the wrong question to ask? 

Also, you just need to let some folks go sometime. We can all change, but sometimes it isn't our fight. 

Mixtape tracks brought to you by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and The Anabaptist Bestiary Project

Rain is pretty great huh? It makes things grow, which we can make into food, which keeps us alive. Isaiah reminds us that God's Word isn't something that we can control, but is a gift that does some pretty great life-making things.

When faced with the tough decision of living in the "Spirit" or living in the "flesh" it is actually pretty easy. The decision was already made for us.

You love it. I love it. The Parable of the Sower. God just throws around seed with a care in the world. God isn't stingy with who gets to experience the grace of God... that is as refreshing as a rainstorm on a hot day.

Mixtape tracks brought to you by Pearl Jam and Emily Wells.

Ben and Dan are trying out a different format for the show this week. Rather than go through the texts one-by-one, we are talking about them together and more thematically. Let us know what you think of the format. Thank you for your patience. We're going to try a couple of different things to see what works best.

This week we are exploring what being a "prisoner of hope" looks like and hope changes our lives and the world. 

We've got a double-dose of farm wisdom.

And how dare Jesus! He spends a month of Gospel lections telling us how horrible being a disciple will be (family conflict, beatings, imprisonment, death, etc.) and now he has the audacity to say, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light." What's his deal?

Mixtape tracks brought to you by Katy Perry and Prince.

Jeremiah's prophesy says that things are going to be difficult and frankly, not great. Hananiah says everything is going to be peachy keen in two shakes of a lamb's tail. How does this story relate to today's struggle for racial justice?

Matthew tells us that God blesses acts of kindness as small as offering a cup of water. This is the starting point, not the ending point of discipleship.

Mixtape tracks are full of misters. Mixtape tracks brought to you by Electric Light Orchestra and Matt Costa.