Mark and Cameron comment on ways to observe the season of Easter … after Easter Sunday is done. They also discuss how the world, in John Calvin’s phrase, is “the theater of God’s glory,” and why there is no square inch of creation over which Jesus doesn’t say: “This is mine.”

Mark and Cameron are joined once again by Dan Reed to unpack an unusual topic: mountains. Mountains are a recurring image throughout Scripture, and in this episode we try to understand what these geographical high points have to do with spiritual reality.

The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross begins at the 1:22:40 mark here:

https://www.facebook.com/SDSymphony/videos/923279091767716/

To listen to Mark’s podcast with SDSO’s Maestro Delta David Gier about Bach’s St John Passion, visit:

https://www.hearingthemusic.org

The conversation references a series of questions and answers from the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q. 23-26). You can find the catechism online in PDF form here:

https://www.pcaac.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ShorterCatechismwithScriptureProofs.pdf

To listen to Dan’s sermon “The Serpent and the Savior,” follow this link:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-serpent-and-the-savior/id601540290?i=1000512938357

In this episode, Cameron asks Mark about how the sacrament of baptism in the Reformed faith works as a means of grace. They unpack how this differs from both the stereotypical Roman Catholic and Evangelical/Baptist perspectives. This leads to some commentary on the Lord’s Supper, too — particularly how to think about Christ’s “real, but spiritual” presence at the Table.

In this episode, Cameron and Mark comment on the way that fasting physical fasting can make room in your life for spiritual feasting. They also discuss why Christians need to recover an understanding of ourselves as sojourners and exiles. And, if you’re looking for some extra reading between now and Easter, they make a challenging suggestion: Dostoevsky.

Mentioned in this episode …

Stop Reading the News: A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life, by Rolf Dobelli

Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan: With Texts

“The Grand Inquisitor,” from The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

In this episode, Cameron and Mark comment on what “the day of small things” in Zechariah’s prophecy should teach us about our own humble circumstances, about how liturgy in worship and the church calendar can shape us for discipleship, and what the transfiguration revealed about who Jesus really is.