The Restoration Project Podcast

This week, we're back in the book of John, and we are taking our cues from Daniel Kirk, who argues we must spend time wrestling with Jesus' antagonists (and how we are like them).

the restoration project. Joshua James. 1 September 2019

David and Goliath. It's a classic underdog story. Little kid David defeats a Philistine giant. Or ... is it? When we read it in context, we find out there's a bit more to this classic matchup. And then ... if we keep reading the Bible, we find something even more concerning!

the restoration project. Joshua James. 25 August 2019

A little review to get us back on track and a little motivation for the week ahead. You are known. You are loved. You are protected.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 18 August 2019

Ok, alright, ok, alright ... stick with me here. So Joshua and the battle of Jericho. It's a really familiar story. We usually read it at face value, without any awareness of ancient historiography (fancy! it means how people record history) or archaeology (like Indiana Jones, but way more boring; archaeologists mainly just dig, really strategically and carefully, in the dirt to recover artifacts of the ancient past). In this talk, Josh pulls back the curtain on what this story is doing in its ancient context.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 4 August 2019

Jonah and the big fish. You've heard that one. But what about Jonah *in Nineveh, and how they respond to his message? What about the animals fasting and wearing sackcloth? What about a crazy worm that eats an entire man-sized plant in a day? There's a lot of stuff happening here. And we're going to address it.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 28 July 2019

For this week's talk, we took to Facebook to see what part of the Abraham story the fine people of TRP wanted to discuss. They did a terrible job (read: they picked a tough story). So here's our take on Abraham and Isaac. It'll push you a bit!

the restoration project. Joshua James. 21 July 2019

In this teaching, we tackle the Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11. Unlike the Flood story, there are no ancient Near Eastern parallels of the Tower, but an understanding of what the story is communicating demands engagement with the past. So...that's what we do.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 7 July 2019

In this series, we are looking at some familiar stories in a new way. This week, we examine the Flood story in Genesis 6–9.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 30 June 2019

We are getting nerdy this week at TRP. In this teaching, we revisit the healing of the blind man in John 9, but we take our cues from JL Martyn's theory of a "two-level drama" (one which reveals the time of Jesus and one which reveals the time of the author writing the book). We think it has some payoff for our context today...

the restoration project. Joshua James. 23 June 2019

This talk really takes two tracks. First, we explore who (if anyone) *caused the man to be born blind. (Spoiler: it was no one.) In this conversation, we address how God is often placed on the hook for our suffering. (Spoiler: God shouldn't be.)In the second part, we begin a conversation on disability in the Church and healing. I say we "begin" because these are difficult topics, often neglected in the Church.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 9 June 2019