The Uncensored Unprofessor

Jesus' coming, contrary to so much bumper-stickery blather out there, was anything but peaceful. He came to do battle. Significantly, that battle was against "e"lohim who rule the nations. Jesus rejoiced as the 70 he sent out in his name drove out demons. And he enjoins our service in the Marine Corps of the Spirit to continue that battle. But for me? I get exhausted by the spirituality of warfare. So what do I do?

Christians say, "we want to do it the way the New Testament shows us to do it." Or more earnestly, "we want to do it the way Jesus said to govern." So just what do history and the New Testament show us? I work through three standard churchly models—episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational—to think with nuance about Christian governance. Also, what about the Big Quit? What's going on? How did a corporate culture play into my own decision?

Jesus, "you nailed that one, Peter! And on this rock I will build my Church." There is a long-standing Roman Catholic interpretation of that as well as an established Protestant interpretation of that seminal verse. In light of the Paleo-Hebrew worldview is it possible that Jesus' assertion meant something still different? Let's think through this together. I also reflect on the recent SCOTUS leak concerning Roe v. Wade.

Jesus, freshly baptized in the Spirit of God, was driven out into enemy territory: unholy Bashan. In a state of hungry privation he battled the Nachash who offered Jesus something that would've belonged to him as God's messiah: the nations. Jesus won those battles by quoting the Bible; we all know that. But what part of the Bible did he quote and why? I also discuss why I refer to the devil as ha Satan, using the article "the." Let's think with nuance on these matters.

From an anthropological angle all religions have their contact points: totems, idols, altars, temples, and meeting places. I work through a significant Old Testament example and then show how (audaciously) Jesus declared himself to be the new (and eternal) meeting place with God. Applying that background I work through the logic of rejecting things just because they have been abused. Let's reason from a Christ-centered, biblically informed worldview.

What happens when we don't flatten the biblical portrayal into a metaphor? What if the Bible is as particular and vivid as it comes to us? What does reducing it to a metaphor say about us? What does leaving it as a vivid-mind-blowing story imply about God? We explore still more detail about the angel of the Lord and what Jesus has to say about him centuries later. I also reflect on guns and Ukraine.

My series thus far has focused on corrupted members of God's divine council. In this episode we begin to unearth ancient portrayals and information about another divine being: the angel of the Lord. Was he just a guardian angel? Did he ever go on the war-offensive? Is he just the general of the angels? Or something more? If so, how? I also reflect on economic inflation and product-packaging shrinkflation. Come laugh and think with me!

Beginning with the ziggurat of Babel—the first Empire state building— in Genesis 11 the Bible shows us repeatedly that different spiritual entities (1 Enoch called them archons) rule(d) over different geographic areas. God abandoned those areas, those nations, to the little "g" gods when he established the nations at Babel. Jesus Christ took captive those "g"ods and brings reconciliation to the nations. So how can we discern the presence and influence of these beings?

Inside and outside of Christian faith, many ask, "why did God command the Hebrews to utterly destroy the nations?" "Doesn't that indiscriminate slaughter make God an evil being?" Fair questions, indeed. We work through the context for that kherem/destruction and how the land came into play for the ancients in this episode. I also reveal the most unreported story in all of American Evangelicalism. Come laugh and think with me!

The common Christian expectation is that final judgment awaits the end of history. That's not bad, but the Bible sees judgment at work now in life. Even corrupted "sons of God", immoral angels, have already been judged and taken somewhere. This episode explores what 1 Enoch, Jesus, Peter, and Jude all say about the matter. I also offer reflections on the movie "Idiocracy" and the war in Ukraine. Come laugh and think with me!