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Joined by a new sound man, and a live, canned studio audience, we have some fun to punch up the audio by having Chris interject sound affects for us. Who knew we were so funny, until we get our own laugh track? Even saying the most lame things.

Meet the Hosts

Cris gives us an update on how his surgery went. So far so good, but he’ll be hanging around the Church House studio for about another month before returning to his man cave.

Everybody else has been leading the typical, boring life, except for a broken down air conditioner here in Church House studio. Looks like a long, hot Summer, unless folks want to contribute funds to help get it fixed. Feel free to fund the project at PayPal, Goal: $1500 Just be sure to change the amount to whatever you might afford. Of course I’m joking… unless you’re really gonna do it.

Shout out to The Gospel Coalition (@TGC)

Your identity is in Christ. Discipleship hard. God’s Word good. The church vital. The future glorious.

#Pride2017

From the Random Department, we discuss: Is technology the new tower of Babel?

Trust me, we’re all for technology. It’s how we do the things we do. But it has some similar properties behind the purpose of the tower, mentioned in Genesis. A project instituted by humanity, to unify humanity, and ending by scattering people because God wasn’t in it. Technology has the power to unify and empower humanity, but it also carries a dark side to it that empowers people with malicious intent to do harm. Technology can augment our lives, but how far will people take it before it becomes opposite of what God wants for us?

Main Topic

Mark 4:1-20

The Parable of the Sower

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Why Parables?

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Soils Explained

14 The sower sows the word.

15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for ot...

Back in the chat room, we get caught up and talk about some hot topics in the news of late. Independence Day in the United States is right around the corner, and a matter of removing certain monuments is in the news. Namely monuments to honor the former Confederate States.

In our Meet the Hosts segment, we discuss the feelings many have on the dark chapter in our nation, regarding slavery, and Confederate monuments. Is it right to tear down tributes to the ugly past? Should the monuments remain to serve as a reminder of where we should never return? Is there an appropriate compromise tht can be worked out? Listen, but realize our opinions are just that. Feel free to contact us to share your take on the matter.

It’s the season for Vacation Bible School (VBS), and we tell how it has gone for us. Successes, failures, and stories from the trenches, although the Retrobots seem to have been taking liberties in the control room again.

To spark a litle added conversation, we do some roll playing to answer a question on rebelling against authority. Can it be? Have your hosts actually had run ins with the long arm of the law? Were we ever in trouble for anything in high school? Or just the convenient victim to thee pranks of others?

For the sake of the random topic department, we chase a bunny or two down the trail. Learn about hot button, buzz topics that we’re just tired of hearing about, and discussing.

Main Topic

Bible Survey 12. An Eternal King Promised

Scriptures

Jeremiah 23:1-6; Isaiah 9:6-7; Zechariah 9:9-10

Summary

* Jeremiah prophesies a restoration of the scattered flock.

* Isaiah: What joy shall be in the midst of afflictions, by the birth and kingdom of Christ

* Zechariah: Zion is exhorted to rejoice for the coming of Christ, and his peaceable kingdom.

We comment on these passages, and the context the promises were made to the nation of Israel. Despite the downfall, restoration would come, and even have long reaching hope and peace for all humanity. Read, and enjoy the promises that have been fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:1-6 (ESV)

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem

to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem.3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said:

4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV)

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Zechariah 9:9-10 (ESV)

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt,

A solo episode that gets a little help from the Retrobots.

In the Meet the Host segment, the Retrobots prove how funny they are… or think they are… as we talk about exercising. I’ll just say that they have better writers than I do. There isn’t much else to say, other than to explain where the topic for the day came from, A sermon from about a year ago where the audio got munched. Fortunately, , being heavy on scripture, and light on commentary, Keith gives it a read through from his original notes. But first, the Retrobots want to share a song from the days of old time radio. Phil Harris wasn’t known for being a Christian performer, but like many did in the early 20th century, he recorded spiritual songs. Not that this one is particularly spiritual, but oddly enough, it seems to fit the topic.

Main Topic

Grab your bibles and read along to these passages. If you find yourself in the same kind of need, say the prayers right along.

Psalm 51. Repentance, Confession, and Forgiveness. David had a horrible sin in his life. We may not have the same ones, but examining sin in our life should. Cause us to see it how God does. When we do we should have the same shame, and desire to get rid of it, and be restored as he did.

Acts 4:27-31. Encouragement. Knowing the immediate context of the events leading to this moment will intensify the courage it took for Peter to pray this short prayer. He. Had just seen the Messiah be cruelly and unjustly killed. He denied him, then was restored with the command to, “Feed my lambs.” Despite witnessing the spirit move, and healing taking place, Peter now faced the same accusers and powers that killed Jesus.

1 Kings 3:5-15. Wisdom. Imagine that you received a clear word from God, and he would grant your one wish, the deepest thing you might ask for to guide your life, Solomon faced that decision. He was young, inexperienced, had a tough act to follow and live up to after his father David’s righteous reputation. He was humble, understood the weight of his office, and asked only for wisdom. Always a good default thing to ask for, God will give it, and include things we never asked for.

2 Chronicles 20:5-12. Deliverance. Jehoshaphat was one of the good kings. He faced a time where enemies threatened to over run and destroy Judah. He called on the historical promises of God. That the land was theirs, that the nations who threatened them had no right to do so, and that all oppressed who call on God will be heard. Bottom line, Jehoshaphat didn’t know how he could survive the armies that outnumbered him. All he could do was trust God to move in a big way.

Matthew 6:9-13. Lord’s Prayer. A model prayer that’s easy to remember, and say anytime, or plug in your personalization in praise and worship. We close the show with a musical version of this well known prayer.

Music in the show include

* Phil Harris – Deck of Cards

* Dylan Langan – Lord’s Prayer (as found on Internet Archive)

It’s another show that almost wasn’t. We knew going into it that Nathan would be missing, so it was up to the remaining hosts to pick up the slack. A discussion was started, in hopes that our prodigal host might at least phone in for a couple minutes. Nothing.

Since we were already under full steam into the topics for the day, we decided to hit the record button, and jump right in. There was just one little problem. The record button never got hit. After an hour or so of the most amazing podcast ever… the kind of thing to knock your socks off, and skyrocket us into the attention of national notoriety and fame as prize winning podcasters… well, OK… maybe not that great, but nobody will ever know for sure except for those in the room.

Instead, what the listener is stuck with today is Keith re-creating the general flow of conversation. To break things up are a few tracks from an episode of the Old Fashioned Revival Hour from April 6, 1952. Stand by though… there is something of a surprise when a phone call actually gets through.

The topics covered include:

A response to a bunny trail comment made in the last episode where we mentioned Adam West, and how he was still out there, actively doing voiceover work. Then he died within the week. We weigh in on the loss, and want to assure listeners that it was in no way our fault. We promise that if we ever mention your name in the podcast, you won’t die before the week is up… We think… Or, at least we hope you don’t… Hey! Is anybody up for some experimentation to prove that theory?

Another topic involved a definition of what a fundamentalist is. As heard from another podcast, the lengthy definition was that, words to this affect, that it is a belief of black and white principles that are used to suppress, or brush under the rug, the complex issues of life. Opening the door to repressed emotions, or bad characteristics to come boiling out in a dangerous way. This doesn’t even resemble the dictionary definition, or reality of fundamentals in real practice.

From Miriam Webster:

fundamentalism

noun

Definition of fundamentalism

1 a: often capitalized : a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching

b: : the beliefs of this movement

c: : adherence to such beliefs a minister noted for his strict fundamentalism

2 : a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles

Even the definition on Urban Dictionary closely reflects this same definition.

The problem is that even someone who practices fundamentalism, is often painted by the kind of black and white brush that the critic is so offended by. Doesn’t that make that critic also fundamental in their belief against a fundamentalist person?

In the original, now non-existent recording, Chris and Keith discuss how real fundamentalism is practiced. It has nothing to do with suppressing complexity. Rather using fundamental building blocks and skill is the foundation to grow into complex environments. Here’s a sample of what we mean. Think of learning the fundamentals of arithmetic. Remember 1st grade? Simple addition and subtraction. You need to learn it, practice it. Master it. Fast forward to college, and advanced algebra or calculous. To survive the complex world of the formula in front of you, you use the same fundamental concepts you learned long ago to crunch the numbers, and apply to the strategy in the formula’s complex function. Fundamentals are ingrained in the core of what you know, not layered over the complex problem to suppress it.

Finally, a presentation of an open source book by CI

Schofield, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth. Keith reads from the table of contents, and the introduction.

Or… Pollutionin the Church.

Or… Turning Away from Authority

After a few weeks of pre-recorded content, we’re back in the chat room, and live. Except for Chris, due to sometechnical difficulties. With a lot on the table to talk about, we get right to our segment of…

Meet the Hosts. We review some things that transpiredsince our last live chat, and a Mother’s day moment. The cat bible gets some attention. Yes, there is such a thing. No, it isn’t a weird religious cult, just a handbook on understanding your furry feline pet better. As a random Internet tidbit, we compare a quote from an atheist observation, to a well known Christian doctrine. Proving that even a self proclaimed atheist can arrive at godly wisdom, which they reject, and can actually understand the benefit of that wisdom

We also present the definition of discernment anwisdom. Two much neeeded traits for existing worldviews today that seem lacking most of the time. .

* Discernment: Knowing the difference between good and bad, the genuine and the fake.

,li>Wisdom: desiring the good and genuine.

In a slow progression to the main topic, we talk about politics. Not in taking sides , but in examining what “Classic Liberalism” is, and how we ended up with the extremes we have in our modern climate between modern liberals and modern conservatives. It’s just a brief outline to illustrate how ideas have shifted, and have strayed due to movements that have polluted and compromised the original idea of democracy in America.

Why is that important? If core teachings are strayed from, it doesn’t matter if it’s a political ideal, a worldview, or the bible itself. The original truth is lost at the whim and at the mercy of a declining humanity.

Main Topic

Ezekiel 2:3-7 (ESV)

Ezekiel 2

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.

4 The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, `Thus says the Lord GOD.´

5 And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.

6 And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Over generations, the truth of worship to the true God had been lost. In a short phrase, to love the Lord God, had been forgotten, distorted, and compromised by outside worldviews. One small compromise had been made, then another, and still others. I’m sure the reasons made sense. They probably suited personal convenience, or brought in a practice from outside religious, or pagan practices. Truth had ben lost, and the time to return to God was coming.

How bad was it? Keep in mind, this wasn’t the world at large. These were God’s special people who should have known better.

The people were:

* Rebellious

* Transgressing – To break away from authority.

* Impudent – Severe, cruel.

* Stiff-Hearted – stropng, or bold, but in a bad way. Hard, violent.

Ezekiel had a mission to speak truth:

* Sent

* Say

* Word of Lord God (‘Adonay Yahweh)

* Fearless (fear not).

* Not of briars (stings), or thorns prickles()

* Not Dismayed (layed down)

by their looks, or rebellion (bitterness)

The people may, or may not listen. – Listen and under stand.

They may,

A pre-recorded episode, where we visit Nathan Caldwell as he delivers a sermon titled: Unseen Events. (Matthew 10:34-40)

After Keith introduces the topic of the movement of Christians away from holding a basic biblical outlook on life, we pop into Missionary Baptist church. It’s not the lack of belief that the bible is God’s authoritative word that opens up the doors to slide further away, but because Christians have begun to get their ideas about God from the media and secular sources, a falling away from a bible based worldview has resulted. Do you have doubts about what you believe? Do you feel torn between what society claims is right, compared with what the bible teaches as absolute truth? Doubts are good when they cause you to think, and search for what’s true.

Featured in the show is a track from Country Gospel Music Association artist, Kathy Adkins: I Give You Jesus. . Her songs are used by permission. Find out more about her online. at the Country Gospel Music Association

The Old Time Revival Hour is a show from the world of old time radio, that first aired on March 10, 1940

Rather than playing the full hour, which consisted of a half hour of music, prayer requests, and reading letters from listeners, with the second half featuring the sermon, Keith comments on some of Charles Fuller’s biography, and the struggles he faced. He felt that Christianity was becoming to liberal in it’s political stance, and it was straying from foundational teaching, namely the truth of the gospel.

Though he was on the air off and on in the 1920’s, he wasn’t on regularly until the early 1930’s. In those days religious programming wasn’t allowed to have a commercial sponsor, or a foundation to support it. All funding had to come from listeners, and money could only go to the radio ministry. No outside missions work could be supported with those contributions. An area that was important to Charles Fuller.

Though he supported himself with his 20 acre orange ranch, weather caused crops to fail as he tried launching his radio ministry. Sickness struck his wife, and young son, to the point of near death. The ordeals caused him to rely on God for money as the needs arose. At times it seemed the answer would be to phone in to cancel his radio time slot, or to declare bankruptcy.

Tracks from this episode are inserted between comments by Keith, but the entire show can be downloaded for free on the Internet. By and large, shows from old time radio are considered in the public domain, however most of the hundreds of Old Fashioned Revival Hour shows are held by the Fuller Theological Seminary. You will need to visit their library, or purchase them online.

Details shared about Charles Fuller, his family, and life are taken from his biography, written by his son, Daniel Fuller. Read the biography online for free.

Tracks included are:

* Opening theme song, and announcement

* Hymn: He Included Me Too

* Charles Fuller: Mentions how churches play the show before service, and prepare men for salvation of souls.

* Plus a hymn: Jesus Calls Us.

* Hymn: Trusting Jesus

* Followed by Charles Fuller: Making appeal for prayer to keep broadcast going with free will gifts.

* Hymn: I Must Tell Jesus

* Grace Fuller: Reads letters from listeners, begging to stay on the air, and sending nickels, dimes and quarters. Others reporting salvation, help through sickness. From people of all ages including young people.

* Hymn: When Your Heart is Aching.

* Charles Fuller: Saving Sinners, based on 1 Timothy 1:15 and surrounding passage.

* Benediction Hymn: Just as I Am.

As the program signs off, be aware that the contact information given for the radio ministry is out of date, and no longer applies. However, to contact us, feel free to use the comment form on these show notes. Send email, or through our HPNCast Community Facebook group.

Doing a solo episode, Keith is joined by the Retrobots. They want to hear Nathan’s sermon he gave the day before for Mother’s Day, so they tell how they plan to use an old time machine to do it. It’s one that used to be used in Keith’s other podcast, in the early years to visit the old time radio days. They somehow manage to sabotage Keith, and get themselves lost, as they travel to Western Arkansas. Who knew it would be so difficult to travel back just one day in time?

After taking a peek in at Pine Ridge, Arkansas to see what people are doing, and that Mousey Gray gent who thinks people are like a mother to him… well, except for his actual mother. She’s more like a father to him. Huh? We all finally manage to arrive in one piece, more or less, at the doors of the Missionary Baptist Church.

Services are already in session so… sshh… be quiet, and have a seat.

Nathan preaches on Proverbs 31, and shares about the important women in his life, and all the ways they care for, and nurture those in their lives. He attributes all the respect a family or household may have to the industriousness of mothers. Moms do so much for us that there isn’t enough words to do them honor.

Enjoy this tribute to mothers, even if it’s a day or so late when we put it together, and a little more than that by the time it gets posted. Let us know what you thought about the presentation, or if you would like to have us discuss a particular topic. Leave a comment on the web site, send us email, or even use the voice mail number. (401)753-4844. Feedback is always nice.

The first thing you’ll notice is the opening, pre-show comment sounds so much better than the audio Keith is stuck with in the show. Unbelievable, but it’s the exact same microphone. Thanks Skype. Audio troubles aside, which make a tiny glitch or two as the show progresses, we are glad to have a special guest. We skip all the usual segments to interview Chase A Thompson about his recently published book. Easter: Fact or Fiction.

The book is more than the logical arguments behind the historic and philosophical reasons to have every confidence the resurrection account is true, Chase also offers his own story of having doubts, and what it took for him to begin his journey to understand why the New Testament accounts are trustworthy. His personal testimony and background are told in the same honest look as what he gives to common challenges to the risen Jesus.

We talk a little about The Gospel Friends podcast, which Chase has been a co-host, we talk about what you’ll find in the book, including: The empty tomb, Hysterical women, and The Crucifixion stigma. The opening chapters contain probably the single most compelling reasons to trust that a dead person really came to life, and the account is a historical one.

Do you still need more? There are 20 chapters to cover several logical arguments, the reliability of some unlikely eye witnesses, conspiracy theories, and why they don’t make sense. In the interview, we pick apart some of the challenges that the whole thing is a myth, and the handwritten books of the New Testament are somehow in error. The embarrassment factor, and sometimes mundane accounts don’t seem the kind of things someone would make up, if the idea was to create a hoax, or conspiracy, or make Jesus out as a legendary hero.

Grab your copy of Easter: Fact or Fiction: 20 Reasons to Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead. Kindle Edition by Chase Thompson (Author). It’s a fairly short book, easy to read and understand, and for the price of $0.99, you can’t go wrong. It’s a good read for anyone who may be having doubts to what they believe, or those just curious about events that have shaped our history.

Everybody is back in the chat room for today’s show. We get right into the Meet the Hosts segment to learn about boring days in the Man Cave, and secret messages from Harry Potter in Critter Castle. Either that,ornature is just being rude at Church House studio.

Main Topic

There’s a lot to cover, so we get right into how this topic came to our attention. On a comment on another podcast that Keith does, someone claimed a character in an audio drama is misogynistic. What does that mean exactly? A can of worms was uncovered with the simple search for information on the web: “What does the bible say about misogyny or sexism?”

Results came back from sources both friendly to, and hostile to the bible. The choice was put to Nathan, and up for a challenge, he led the confrontation of common claims not only claiming the bible is sexist against women, but in trying to prove god is imaginary.

First, some definitions of what the word misogynistic means from dictionaries, as well as some of the emotional baggage placed on the term, as found on Urban Dictionary. Finally an article from Psychology Today, that offers 12 signs that someone is misogynistic. To give voice to the opposition to bible teaching, Keith reads from an article: Proof #30 – Examine God’s sexism – God is Imaginary – 50 simple proofs

On the surface, the article seems to have sound logic in challenges to the bible as a sexist book. However, simple rules of logical argument soon fall apart in the one sided article, that is itself presented through a sexist lens. Scriptures are freely used to prove the discrimination against women, but largely at the expense of taking sound bites out of context, and not presenting the full conversation the bible narrative is addressing. Mostly focusing in on passages that define roles of organization and authority of church leadership. Though roles are clearly different, with various degrees of responsibility, none are of less importance than another.

There is also a tendency to key in on phrases that say one sex is weaker, but ignoring the beauty and purpose of the full statement. It focuses on commands to submit, but ignore the larger command of love, respect, and mutual responsibilities in a marriage relationship. The command to submit also is not a blanket command. Women should never submit to any man, only the one who they are committed to in a marriage relationship.

Matters of considering the punishment of Eve, and pain in child birth are made, totally ignoring the punishment that Adam faced, and the importance role in salvation that a woman would play. A claim is made that there were no women disciples, or no woman wrote a single book in the bible. It totally ignores that most books were written anonymously, but two books in scriptures have women as the main focus, Ruth and Esther. Both playing vital roles in the future of the nation of God’s chosen people, and the salvation of the world, by being in the lineage of Jesus.

A total lack of mention of other important roles of women, even women in roles of authority. Deborah was a prophet, women won the final blows in battle, women were first to see the risen Jesus, the first to carry the gospel message to restore Samaria to the kingdom was the woman at the well, the first convert to Christianity outside Israel was a woman. Women taught even the apostles to set them straight on the correct teaching of the gospel. One thing that we didn’t cover is that compared to the secular treatment of women, that of the humannistic society of the world at the time, Christianity and bible teachings put woman in more position of power and authority than was common.

The author of the article goes on to claim that humanity clearly understands that God is wrong, the bible is wrong, and it’s obvious in the way humanity rejects those teachings to put women in power.