The Narrow Door

This may seem like a random cluster of parables but trust that there is a method to the madness! Not only were some of the OG disciples literal fishermen but in Matthew 4:19, Jesus told them to follow him and he will make them fishers of men. In Matthew 13, we see the Parable of the Net where the kingdom of heaven is likened to fishermen who catch all kinds of fish with a net that is let down into the sea - the good fish are put into the basket and the bad fish are thrown back into the sea. And then in Revelation 18, there is mention of sea captains, those who travel by ship, sailors and all who earn their living from the sea that weep and mourn. Is this a coincidental web (net? 😛) of figurative language or is there a logic here that extends to the prophecy? Also on this episode, a side discussion on just the book of Revelation itself. What can we say. Prophecy is hard 😂

Hey Door-itos, please flow on in for today's parables 💦 We are diving into the fascinating language of water and its many forms that appear often in the Bible. Water is essential to life and when we see a verse like Deuteronomy 32:2 where God refers to His word as dew, showers and rain that fall on grass (what is grass? 1 Peter 1:24 😱) we can definitely get the hint that our spirits cannot live without the word of God. Jesus also wanted to give us living water that would make us never thirst again, which would become a spring of water welling up to eternal life. And then there's Revelation 8 where a burning star falls into rivers and springs of water and the waters turn bitter. We're breaking it all down on today's episode so water you waiting for? For us to stop with the water puns? Well, you can run but you can't tide 😛

We welcome December with a 🕺🏻dance💃🏻 and by pondering on what is true richness in the eyes of God. As you do. In Rv 3:17-18, Jesus rebukes one of the churches by saying that they think they are rich but are actually wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked and that they should buy gold from him. In Rv 17, there is a prostitute who is dressed in gold, precious stones and pearls (wait til you hear the interpretation on this prostitute! 😱). And in Rv 21, we see that the Holy City New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven is built with different jewels, precious stones, gold and pearls. First of all, wow that's a lot of bling in the book of Revelation. And second, could they all be referring to physical treasure? What is the true treasure that God wants to give us that would in turn make us true treasures in His eyes? Because we'd love for God to sing to us, "Treasure! That is what you are!" 🤩

Our friend RikiFlo is the mother of three children and three podcasts, she's a very busy bee! So we are delighted that she made time for us to talk about the parables of blind, deaf and clothes that appear in the book of Revelation (Rv 3:17-18). You know who else was a busy bee? Jesus. On top of preaching the gospel, he performed many miracles of feeding thousands, healing the sick and raising the dead. In John 9, Jesus heals a man born blind but the story takes a turn for the spiritual when Jesus says, "For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." And in Matthew 13, Jesus said of the people who rejected his testimony that if they would just open their eyes and ears and turn, he would heal them. And so while these physical conditions were real concerns at the time, it seems like Jesus used them and their healing to convey something infinitely more important - the spiritual arrogance that shuts our eyes and ears to the truth. This truth is also what washes our clothes which seems to be the condition in order for us to enter the kingdom of Heaven (Rv 22:14) so open-open and gising-gising, gaiz! 🕺🏻  

We love our RikiFlo. You can check out what she's up to here: 

The Week Sauce https://open.spotify.com/show/7r4rpfgkyDKJVyA1VnQIUz Saved https://open.spotify.com/show/38Djv25rwvzvdEo1jSp4Qa Mother of Fact https://open.spotify.com/show/1leh0fDKqAZwccoXMetJH8

It’s YouTube phenom Mikey Bustos in the haaauz! Shortly before the pandemic, Mikey had a funny feeling that something was about to go down in the world and he is adding a bunker into the dream farmhouse that he is currently building. Another thing you might have not known about our good friend - he grew up in the Catholic educational system and has read the entire Bible. The whole thing. Summarized every book. So what does he think about the parables of light and darkness? Because Jesus said that as long as he is in the world he is the light of the world but that darkness will come when he leaves. And what of this concept of the Bible being sealed at a certain time (Is 29:9-13) and then opened at an appointed time (Ez 1-3) which we also see in the Book of Revelation (Rv 5, Rv 10)? 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 says that Jesus will come like a thief in the night for those in the darkness but if we are sons of the light and sons of the day, this day will not surprise us like a thief. We just wanna be Team Light as in enlightened, illuminated, be in the know! You know?! ✨

Today's episode is 🔥FIRE🔥 Come to think of it, there are some odd and puzzling ways the word 'fire' is used in the Bible - God's word is made into a fire in Jeremiah's mouth, Jesus said he brought fire and he is also said to baptize with fire. You guessed it - this isn't literal fire but a parable for the word of God. Not our first parable that pertains to the Word but interestingly, as fire has positive and negative effects, this version which is God's word of judgment will either purify and cleanse us or consume and judge us depending on how we receive it. Also making an appearance today - censer and pot which are both a kind of vessel which we know now to mean a person's heart or church on a bigger scale. Look at us Door-itos, we're learning! 😍 

📧 [email protected] for your burning questions. Fire away!

Welcome to Parable City. Population: Door-itos 💙 A bowl, or any vessel for that matter, refers to a person's heart when used figuratively in the Bible. The scale is the word of God that weighs our heart and deeds. The rod is also the word or the person who has the word that can comfort, judge, gather the peeps and symbolize authority. How very kewl. For once, that famous line in Psalm 23 makes sense - "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me." It's God's word that gives us comfort, duh! And would you look at us making love life references while talking about the Bible when Bro JPaul is not around?? He must be overjoyed.

As early as now, we can already tell you that the key to understanding the parables is knowing their physical characteristics. Food is what sustains us. It's seasonal and there's good and bad food. Yeast is a living thing that changes the structure of the dough that it is added to. Given these characteristics, what is their spiritual meaning? The parable of food is extra fascinating because it seems to show up through all the eras of the Bible to this day. Also on today's episode - our comfort foods! And here's a little something to keep in theme and chase away the Monday blues - What's the difference between pizza and Jesus? Jesus can't be topped MUHAHAHAHA luvyew 💕

Are you ready for them para-para-parables?! (High five if you sang that line) To the shock of no full-fledged Door-ito, we are starting with the seed and with good reason - in Mark 4, Jesus was adamant that we realize its meaning saying, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?" And sure enough, it seems to be the key to unlocking everything else in Matthew 13:31-32 where the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a tree where a bird comes to perch. And while it's cool that we are able to grasp the meaning of these elements in an academic manner, the more important question seems to be - how do these things all come together and what is God telling us about the Kingdom of Heaven that He will establish here on earth? You know. The usual Thursday morning questions one mulls over ☕️

So there's the moral-lesson parables (shouts, Good Samaritan 👋🏼) and then there's the figurative language-parables. The latter is a language that God uses in the Bible where He will take something physical and its characteristics to convey something that is spiritual and this kind of parable is used particularly for prophecies (about the Kingdom of Heaven in this case). Why is it important for us to understand them? Because if the book of Revelation is a book of prophecy for the second coming, then it is written in parables. And unless we know what the parables mean, we can't understand what the prophecies are and we would be lost on this Road to Revelation. This episode is going to kick off an avalanche of parables that will be like the building blocks for us to better understand the Bible so hunker down and get comfy! 🍕🍿🧋(we gotta have milk tea, gaiz)