Ponder Anew Podcast

As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we turn to 1 Chronicles and ... (wait for it) ... ancient Israelite genealogies!

This particular one is from 1 Chronicles 4:1-10.  (If you do fast forward, pay attention to the last twenty or so seconds of it!)

Yet in these genealogies, I suggest, we discover a surprising answer to the question:  What is the meaning of life?

The answer is not only compelling, but rather different than the one our culture offers.

Flaming chariots, blinded armies and a meal of mercy.  What is going on here!

As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we turn to 2 Kings and the work of the prophet Elisha.  As a whole, 2 Kings is a "sad" part of Scripture in which things generally go from bad to worse.  However, there are good and even miraculous things along the way, including the stories of Elisha.  We will look at one particular story (chapter 6), but move to the broader question of how the God revealed in the Old Testament relates to God revealed in the New Testament.

This story is a bit like the red pill in the movie the Matrix.  Reading it challenges our conceptions of free will and how God works in our world.

Get ready for some fun!

As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we turn to 1 Kings and the less well known prophet Micaiah (1 Kings 22).  The guy, as it turns out, has the tough job of telling the king what the king doesn't want to hear.  Or maybe.  It gets complicated.  A challenging look at how God may or may not control the rise and fall of empires...and what the church can and should do about bad leaders.

This story is a bit like the red pill in the movie the Matrix.  Reading it challenges our conceptions of free will and how God works in our world.

Get ready for some fun!

As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we turn to 1 Kings and the less well known prophet Micaiah (1 Kings 22).  The guy, as it turns out, has the tough job of telling the king what the king doesn't want to hear.  Or maybe.  It gets complicated.  A challenging look at how God may or may not control the rise and fall of empires...and what the church can and should do about bad leaders.

This week, we look at another R rated part of scripture: King David's affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband.  

As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we focus on David's moral collapse, as recorded in 2nd Samuel (chapter 11-12).  My sense is that most of us, even if we attended Sunday School, didn't study this passage.  Most preachers avoid it on Sunday mornings because the topic is so racy.  We need to reflect on it though, because its a humbling reminder of sin's power in our lives.  And if sin is THAT powerful, what does grace look like?  This story of sin and grace becomes not just David's story, but the story of Scripture and the story of our lives too.

Did you have a sense of wonder about life and about God as a child?

Many humans do...but this doesn't always endure.

The book of 1 Samuel allows us to follow a number of people from their childhood until their death.  Like us, they go through life's ups and downs, both inspired and dejected at different points.  These stories -- character arcs -- offer us the chance to reflect on how faith changes over our lives.  As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we focus on the "call" of Samuel, when God gives him a mighty word to speak, even though Samuel is only a child.  Will Samuel's sense of awe continue over his life?  We ponder this together.

Do conservatives care about the poor?  Do liberals care about family values at all? 

The book of Ruth provides us a glimpse at how God calls us to love BOTH our family and the stranger in need.   As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we look at the moving story of Ruth.  Although it is a short book, it is rich with meaning and especially relevance for today.  It turns out that 3,000 years ago, humans also struggled, perhaps not so much with conservative/progressive divides over government social programs, but difficult questions about whom we owe the obligation of care.

(Note:  The podcast is slightly longer than normal because the reading from Ruth is closer to 2:30, but it couldn't be broken up easily)

Welcome to the book of Judges.  R-rated at best, this is an intense book of violence, societal breakdown and strong women.  The book, which slows the moral collapse of a people, ironically ends up also highlighting the importance of leadership.  As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we focus on Deborah and the book of the Judges.

The heroine of this story is

Not a jew

Willing to lie to authorities

A prostitute

All of the above

Welcome to the book of Joshua, the book in which the ancient Israelites get their act together, and with a little help from their "friends", take over the promised land...

As we continue reading through #TheBibleInAYear, we focus on the story of Rehab and its place in the book of Joshua.

Love is patient and love is kind.

Yet the people want to throw Jesus off a cliff (Luke 4:18-30)!  Where is the love?  Pastor Rob offers that the people in Jesus' hometown do have love, it is just misguided and blinding. 

We struggle with this today as well as our love can be misguided and blinding.  Our love of one person or one group can block our loving another person or another group.   As humans, we have a strong inclination to love "us" and not "them."

A reflection on Jesus' patience and kindness toward our misguided love that finally breaks down the "us" and "them."