More Than a Song - Discovering the Truth of Scripture Hidden in Today's Popular Christian Music

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"What is my calling?" It might be the most-asked question in Christian circles. But what if it's the wrong question?

Joe L. Barnes and Seph Schlueter's "Road Less Traveled" sent me to the two times Jesus told Peter, "Follow me" — once at the nets, and once by that same sea after the resurrection. Same Lord, same two words, a very different man answering them.

In this episode:

• Why Jesus' verbs lead in Mark 1:16–20, and the disciples respond with just two: left and followed
• Jesus does the making, the disciples do the following, and the becoming happens on the way
• What following a teacher meant in the first century, and why being with Jesus comes before being sent by Him
• Why following Jesus didn't look the same for everyone, including the man Jesus sent home
• How Peter's assignment changed in John 21, but his calling never did
• What the New Testament really says about being "called"
• Your calling isn't a destination or a job title. It's a Person.
  
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Somebody asks you what grace means. You know the answer. And then you open your mouth… and nothing comes out.

Cochren & Co.'s "What Grace Can Do" sent me on a journey to define grace biblically — and I came away convinced the danger isn't just that we've lost our wonder over grace. It's that we may never have understood it in the first place.

In this episode:

• The definition worth memorizing: grace is the unmerited favor of God
• Why a "grace period" isn't really grace at all — the debt still comes due
• Four crucial truths from J.I. Packer's Knowing God that have to be in place before grace makes sense: we're not as good as we think, God is perfectly just, we can't fix this ourselves, and God owes us nothing
• Why your best day can't earn grace and your worst day can't cancel it
• Ephesians 2 — good works are the fruit, not the root
• Psalm 86 — a working pattern for relying on God's grace, responding to it, and appealing to it
  
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Where does your help come from? And maybe the more honest question — where do you actually go for it?

Jon Reddick's "Holding On (Praise God)" declares, "I know where my help comes from," and that line sent me straight to Psalm 121. But the Psalm raised a harder question than the one it answers. Not just where help comes from, but where I actually turn first when I need it.

For me, the honest list starts with myself, then my husband, then a handful of trusted mentors and friends. None of those are bad. But there's a drift that happens, and it has a name: the slide from trusting someone to trusting IN them.

In this episode, we draw that line carefully, then head to John 6, where Jesus corrects a crowd that had quietly given Moses the credit for the manna. "It wasn't Moses who gave you the bread from heaven," He says. "My Father did." We follow the cross-references back to Exodus 16 and Psalm 78, and we find the mirror image waiting there — the people aimed their grumbling at Moses, and God said that grumbling was aimed at Him.

Moses was the conduit in both directions, and the destination in neither.

Your pastor, your mentor, your spouse — help really can come through them. But may you acknowledge the true SOURCE...the Lord who made heaven and earth.

BITEs in this episode: review the section titles, read in context, follow the cross-reference, read the entire psalm, compare and contrast, consult an outside resource.

Scriptures: Psalm 121:1–2, Psalm 78:18–24, Psalm 78:68–69, Ezekiel 34:4, John 6:28–32, Exodus 16:3–4, Exodus 16:8

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What does surrender actually look like when life falls apart?

This week we let Katy Nichole's "Have Your Way" lead us into Acts 16, where two very different people end up praying the same prayer: "Lord, have Your way in me." From Lydia—a successful businesswoman whose heart the Lord opened—to a jailer at the edge of despair, we watch God move first and hearts respond.

In this episode, you'll:

• Read Acts 16 in context (Acts 15–17) and follow Luke's timeline
• Step into the world of first-century Philippi—a Roman colony with a riverside place of prayer
• See worship become a witness as Paul and Silas sing hymns with untended wounds
• Learn to turn your observations into prayer over the people you love

Whether your story looks like Lydia's or the jailer's, the same gospel saves—and the Lord is still opening hearts.

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"Who am I to question the pen in the hands of The Author?" Brandon Lake and Nick Jonas' song "The Author" pictures God as the writer of our lives — and that's our doorway into one of the most comforting truths in all of Scripture: the doctrine of divine providence.

In this episode, we'll:

• Unpack the difference between God's sovereignty (who He is) and His providence (what He does)
• Trace providence back to its very first appearance in Genesis 22 — "The Lord will provide"
• Follow it forward to the ultimate provision: Jesus
• Wrestle with free will and God's sovereignty (and why God says "both/and" where we see "either/or")
• Discover why providence often only makes sense when you "read it backward"
• Land on the truth that changes everything: God is for you

Because if the Father holds the Author's pen over your life, there's one thing you need to know above all else — He is for you.

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Josiah Queen's "demons" says darkness has to leave and fear doesn't get a home in your mind. But what happens if we don't tell those demons to run and hide?

In this episode, we take the BITE of considering the opposite and let King Saul's story in 1 Samuel show us what it looks like to refuse to resist:

• Why reading in context (all the way back to 1 Samuel 8) reveals why the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul
• How Saul treated his calling as if it outranked his obedience—and why that's a warning for us
• Why disobedience is still rebellion, even when we call it worship
• How the New Covenant doesn't soften the warning—but gives us what Saul never had

Come discover that resisting the devil isn't white-knuckled willpower. It's obedience—done in the power of everything Christ has already accomplished for you.

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One line from We The Kingdom's "Rescue Me" — "I've been climbing the branches, but I still can't see" — sends us straight to Luke 19 and the story of Zacchaeus. But this isn't the children's song version. In this episode, we dig into Zacchaeus's story the way an author would dig into a short story: character, setting, conflict, and arc. And we ask the question every "rescue me" prayer eventually has to answer — rescued from what, and rescued to what?

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why the real conflict in Luke 19 isn't bloodline vs. faith, but a question of who holds the authority to grant or revoke sonship
• What Zacchaeus's offer in verse 8 reveals about the internal battle he was really fighting
• Why his pursuit of Jesus was vertical, not horizontal — and why that distinction matters
• How rescue is never just "from" something — it's always from something to something
• Practical Bible Interaction Tool Exercises (BITEs) you can use to study this story for yourself, including storying, word study, and imagination

Scriptures referenced: Luke 19:1–10, Luke 18:35–43, Galatians 3:7–9

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What do you do when it isn't well with your soul — and you don't know if it ever will be?

MercyMe's "Make It Well" leads us to one of the most honest, desperate prayers in all of Scripture — Hannah's cry to God in 1 Samuel 1 and 2. Year after year of distinct suffering. Year after year of silence. And somewhere in the middle of it all, a woman who kept returning to God with her whole, honest heart.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The Hebrew word for Hannah's suffering that appears nowhere else in Scripture — and why God gave it to us (and what it means for yours)
• Why Peninnah wasn't just being mean — and what that changes about the story
• The surprising connection between Hannah's suffering and her worship in 1 Samuel 2

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Free Episode Guide — https://michellenezat.com/539download
• Our Jerusalem by Bertha Spafford Vester — https://amzn.to/4vwBqtb
• Episode 530 — https://michellenezat.com/530
• Free list of 15 BITEs — https://michellenezat.com/453download
• Logos Bible Software — https://logos.sjv.io/Wqx6JG

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Where would you be if you didn't have Jesus? Peter Burton's chart-topping song asks a question that Paul's letter to Titus answers in vivid detail. In this episode, we explore what life looks like without Jesus, what it looks like with Him, and how to study Scripture through the lens of created, fallen, and redeemed.

📥 Download your free Episode Guide at michellenezat.com/538download (Pairs with the Episode 537 guide — use them together for a complete walk-through of Titus!)

This episode introduces a powerful new Bible Interaction Tool Exercise — learning about people the way the Bible does: created, fallen, and redeemed. We also practice starting with God, considering the opposite, and making a list as we work through Titus 1 together.

If this is who God is, and in Christ we are to reflect Him — consider the opposite. That's exactly what we do in this episode, and it just might change the way you read your Bible.

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What is your testimony?

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If someone asked you to share your “Jesus story,” would you know where to begin? In this episode of More Than a Song, we explore what it really means to be a living, breathing, walking testimony—inspired by the song “Testimony” by Terrian.

Together, we’ll dive into Titus 3:3–7 and uncover a simple but powerful framework for understanding our shared story in Christ:
I once was… But God… I am now… and my hope for the future is…

Whether you have a dramatic story or a quiet, steady faith journey, your testimony matters—because it’s ultimately the story of what Jesus has done.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What Scripture says a true testimony is
• Why every believer shares the same core “Jesus story”
• How God’s mercy, grace, and renewal shape your identity
• Practical ways to build a routine of engaging with God’s Word
• How your testimony leads to a life of purpose and good works

You’ll also be encouraged to start (or restart!) a simple rhythm of Bible reading—with grace for the days when life gets in the way.

So press play, reflect on your own story, and discover how God is still writing it.

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