Episode 2.63

This episode explores the biblical theme of naming—from Adam in Genesis to Jesus in Revelation—and shows how naming reveals authority, identity, mission, and destiny. Michael and Zach trace how Scripture uses naming to communicate dominion (Adam naming the animals), responsibility (parents naming their children), divine revelation (God naming Himself in Exodus 3), and testimony (Hagar calling God El Roi). The episode highlights how Jesus wields unmatched authority over the spiritual realm, silencing demons who attempt to name Him, and how He renames His followers—Peter the Rock, the Sons of Thunder—to define their calling.

The hosts show how naming attempts in the ancient world were often tied to power, control, or manipulation, yet Jesus resists every attempt to be defined by others. From Philippians 2’s “name above every name” to Revelation’s mysterious “name no one knows but Himself,” the Bible presents Christ as both revealed and inexhaustible.

The episode concludes by connecting naming to adoption: God places His own name on His children, granting belonging, identity, and security. The God who cannot be claimed or controlled chooses to claim us—writing His name on His people and inviting them into His family forever.

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Episode 2.62

Week 4 turns to the Holy Spirit and shows how He makes our adoption real, experiential, and secure. Building on the Father’s eternal plan (Ephesians 1) and the Son’s costly redemption (Galatians 4), Michael and Zach walk through Romans 8:14–17 to show that believers are not spiritual orphans or fearful slaves, but Spirit-led sons and daughters. The Spirit empowers the fight against sin, replaces fear with the “Spirit of adoption,” and bears witness that we truly belong to God—teaching us to cry “Abba, Father” with both tenderness and desperation, just as Jesus did in Gethsemane. Tied to November’s Pure Religion Sunday (James 1:27), the episode connects doctrine to practice: real religion moves toward the vulnerable, because God moved toward us. The hosts also unpack what it means to be heirs with Christ—a status that includes both suffering and future glory—and return to the theme of names and identity: adoption gives us a new family, a new name, and a new way to live that honors the God whose name we bear.

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Episode 2.61

You’ve probably heard that all the apostles were martyred—except John.

But how much of that is actually true?

Capping off their series on Paul, Michael and Zach take a historical look at the final days of the apostles and those “apostle-adjacent” figures—asking what we know for sure, what we strongly suspect, and what we can only propose.

Starting with Paul’s well-attested martyrdom in Rome, the conversation moves through the most certain cases—like James the son of Zebedee and James the brother of Jesus—before exploring the middle tier (Peter, John, Thomas, Andrew, Jude, and others) and ending with the most uncertain, legendary, or entirely lost traditions.

Drawing on New Testament data, early church writers, and historical analysis (including Sean McDowell’s research), this episode separates sober evidence from later legend—showing that some stories stand on rock-solid ground while others rest on centuries-later imagination.

Takeaway:

The diversity of evidence—clear for some apostles, foggy for others—doesn’t weaken the faith story; it strengthens it. The earliest witnesses lived and died with conviction, and history still echoes their testimony.

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Episode 2.60

Psalm 92 stands alone in the Psalter — “A Song for the Sabbath.”

It’s a perfectly balanced, chiastic psalm that blends praise, wisdom, and victory, with a single line shining at its center:

“The LORD is on high forever.”

In this episode, Zach and Michael unpack the psalm’s structure and theology, showing how the King’s deliverance foreshadows Christ’s triumph and how worship reorients our lives around God’s eternal rule.

Listeners will explore:

– The seven-fold symmetry that reveals divine perfection in the psalm’s design

– How the “flourishing of the wicked” is temporary, while the righteous thrive in God’s presence

– Why verse 8 (“You on high forever, LORD”) is the hinge that holds the entire psalm together

– How Sabbath worship reorders perspective and renews hope

– The connection between Psalm 92 and true thanksgiving — gratitude expressed in liturgical life

Takeaway:

Psalm 92 teaches that flourishing begins where worship takes root.

The wicked may bloom briefly, but only those planted in the Lord’s courts bear fruit forever.

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Episode 2.59

Almost everyone feels grateful—but not everyone practices thanksgiving.

In this episode, Zach and Michael unpack a distinction Scripture makes far more clearly than we often realize: gratitude is an inward posture; thanksgiving is an outward expression.

Drawing from both definitions and biblical insight, the discussion traces how gratitude acknowledges grace privately, while thanksgiving proclaims it publicly.

Hebrew thanksgiving, as Waltke notes, is not just saying “thank you”—it’s telling everyone what God has done (Psalm 100).

Listeners will explore:

– Why gratitude focuses on the gift, but thanksgiving exalts the Giver

– How gratitude fuels worship and thanksgiving completes it

– Why one without the other leads to either silence or showmanship

– How both together dismantle pride, calm anxiety, and deepen spiritual maturity

Through passages like Colossians 3, 1 Thessalonians 5, and Psalm 100, the episode reminds us that true worship is both felt and expressed — heart and mouth, reflection and declaration.

Takeaway:

Gratitude transforms perspective; thanksgiving transforms people.

When we learn to do both, we don’t just feel blessed — we become a blessing.

Thanksgiving is wearing your gratitude on the outside.

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Episode 2.58

Adoption is not sentimental — it’s sacrificial.

In this week’s episode, Zach and Michael turn from the Father’s loving plan to the Son’s redeeming work, showing that our adoption came at a staggering cost: the blood of Christ.

Drawing from Galatians 4:1–7, they trace the journey from slavery to sonship. Humanity once stood as heirs-in-waiting, bound under the law. But “in the fullness of time,” God sent His Son — born of woman, born under the law — to redeem us so that we might receive adoption as sons. The Son bore the curse we deserved (Gal. 3:13), freeing us to share in His own inheritance.

Paul’s phrase “adoption as sons” carries Roman legal weight: all believers — male and female — share in the same full rights before the Father because they are united to Christ, the true Son.

Our adoption was not cheap. It required the cross.

Romans 5 reminds us: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t adopt the neutral — He adopted the hostile. Every believer’s redemption is a declaration of victory in a cosmic war.

Applications:

– Adoption is Warfare — every redeemed life is proof that Christ has conquered.

– Adoption is Costly — our family status required the Son’s death.

– Adoption Invites Worship — Jesus was forsaken so we could be welcomed.

– Adoption Shapes Gratitude — understanding the cost leads to humility and joy.

Big Idea:

Spiritual adoption is possible only because the Son paid the full price of redemption, securing our right to call His Father our Father.

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Episode 2.57

The letters are shorter now. The tone is quieter. The man who once turned the world upside down writes from a cell, preparing to hand the mission to others.

In this final chapter of Paul’s story, Zach and Michael explore the Pastoral Epistles — 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus — tracing the voice of a man who has nothing left to prove and everything left to give.

Paul’s words reveal a mentor, not a martyr; a father in the faith, not a fading apostle. He remembers mercy (“Christ Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am foremost”), sets things in order (“Appoint elders in every town”), and finishes with peace (“I have fought the good fight…”). The “Old Soldier” models what it means to end well — not by strength, but by steadfastness.

Covered in this episode:

– How grace defines identity even after decades of ministry (1 Tim. 1:12–17)

– Why Paul’s legacy is measured in disciples, not monuments (2 Tim. 2:2; 4:6–8)

– What “guarding the good deposit” means for the next generation (2 Tim. 1:14)

– Why aging in faith should deepen gratitude, not cynicism

– How the gospel teaches us not just how to live, but how to finish

Takeaway:

The mark of maturity is not how loudly we start, but how faithfully we end.

Paul finishes his race not defeated, but fulfilled — a man at peace with both his failures and his finish.

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Episode 2.56

Before the world began, the Father had already decided to make us His own.

In this week’s episode, Zach and Michael trace the doctrine of adoption back to its eternal source—God’s loving plan “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:3–6). Adoption is not a divine backup plan but the very heartbeat of redemption.

The discussion unpacks how the Father chose, predestined, and purposed our adoption in love through Christ—joyfully, not reluctantly. His design was always to create a family of sons and daughters who reflect His holiness and live “to the praise of His glorious grace.”

Listeners are invited to:

– Rest in the Father’s plan — chosen before creation.

– Rejoice in His love — wanted, not pitied.

– Rely on His faithfulness — secure in His will.

– Respond in worship — praising the grace that made us His.

The episode closes by contrasting earthly adoption—beautiful but uncertain—with divine adoption—undeserved yet guaranteed. “The fix is in,” the hosts say: before time began, the Father had already written the ending. Through Christ, we are not merely accepted—we are wanted, chosen, and eternally loved.

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Episode 2.55

From a rented house in Rome, chained yet unbroken, Paul writes letters that overflow with gratitude and joy.

In this episode, Zach and Michael explore how the apostle’s identity has shifted—from fiery defender to faithful servant. No longer striving for approval, Paul sees his confinement not as defeat but as divine assignment.

Drawing from Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, this conversation uncovers how the gospel reframes hardship as opportunity and how maturity turns suffering into stewardship. Paul’s chains become a metaphor for freedom: he’s not Rome’s prisoner, but Christ’s ambassador.

Covered in this episode:

– What it means to be an “ambassador in chains”

– The secret of contentment in Philippians 4

– How suffering in Colossians becomes service for others

– Why Philemon shows theology’s true test: reconciliation

– How limitation becomes God’s classroom for joy and faith

Takeaway:

Freedom isn’t the absence of chains—it’s the presence of Christ.

Paul’s joy behind bars proves that the gospel’s power isn’t hindered by circumstances; it shines brightest through them.

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Episode 2.54

Adoption isn’t a side note to salvation—it’s the summit of it.

In this opening week, Zach and Michael explore what Scripture means when it calls believers “sons of God.” Drawing from Ephesians 1, Romans 8, and Galatians 4, they unpack how adoption is both legal—a new standing before God—and transformational—a new likeness to Christ.

The discussion follows the ordo salutis to show why J. I. Packer called adoption “the highest privilege of the gospel.” A look at first-century Roman adoption sheds light on Paul’s language: adopted children received full rights, name, and inheritance, not as second-class heirs but as true sons.

Takeaway:

Adoption reveals the Father’s heart. Through Christ, we’re not just forgiven servants—we’re beloved sons invited to live like heirs of the King.

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