In this second episode of the series, John and Ron explore how the ancient Hebrews understood the heavenly court. They also examine encounters with the presence of God by Moses, Ezekiel,  and Daniel. 

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John and Ron introduce their new series, Before the Throne. It starts with the awe-inspiring and terror-inducing pyrotechnics of Isaiah 6! Join them as they look into the prophet Isaiah’s encounter with the presence of God.

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John and Ron conclude their series on the pivotal character of Samuel. In this episode, Saul falls and David rises, but Samuel’s story ends with a strange scene: a medium conjures his spirit for Saul at Endor.

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The nation of Israel demanded a king, and it fell to Israel’s prophet-judge and acting priest Samuel to fulfill their demand. In this episode John and Ron address the quandary Samuel faced and the way this pivotal character led the nation through a fundamental leadership change.

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John and Ron move deeper into the story of Samuel. Now it becomes the story of two families, Samuel and his parents on one side, Eli and his sons on the other. In one of the most moving scenes of the entire cycle, the boy prophet Samuel hears directly from God and reluctantly confronts the high priest Eli with the stern rebuke God had delivered.

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Samuel’s story in the Old Testament begins with a birth narrative that highlights his importance in God’s redemptive work. In fact, he is a key figure in Israel’s transition to the monarchy that begins with Saul and David. His early story bears similarities to other stories from Israel’s history. It is a model that even gets repeated in the gospels. In this episode, Ron and John open a four-part series on Samuel that looks at his critical role in how God moves Israel toward kingship and ultimately in the direction of Messiah.

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In this episode John and Ron conclude their series on grace and free will. Can modern Christians maintain original sin but stop short of predestination? Who has done this in the past, and how did they do it? How do modern Christian philosophers approach this problem?

Join them as they conclude this search for a “middle way” between Pelagius and Augustine.

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We as humans are completely dependent on God’s grace to restore the relationship God always intended for us. At the same time, though, it’s clear humanity is called to make a decision to side with God and participate in the restored relationship.

The tension between God’s grace and our own free will flamed into an explosive debate between Augustine and Pelagius in the fifth century, shortly after the sack of Rome. In this episode, John and Ron take a look at the outline of that debate.

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This is the second episode where Ron and John explore the interplay between grace—what God does for us—and free will—what we decide for ourselves.

In this episode, they delve into numerous excerpts from scripture that inform this topic, but it includes passages that also raise as many questions as they answer. As always, though, they look to all of scripture, the Old and New Testaments alike, and they discover a key in the Old Testament perspective that clearly illuminates New Testament language about predestination.

Join John and Ron as they take this next step exploring a question that subsequently consumed the ancient world: If we are utterly dependent on God’s grace to restore our relationship, what do our own decisions have to do with it?

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Ron and John begin discussing a longstanding tension in Christian theology in this first episode of the series, “Grace and Free Will.” They set the stage to examine the theological question of human choice. How do free will and what many call “predestination” interact? What are the extremes in this discussion, and are these ideas meant to be pitted against each other?

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