In this episode, I explore the question, Is the system of institutional church a help or a hindrance to the body of Christ and the exercising of spiritual gifts? This episode is also available in video format on the UnSunday Show YouTube Channel.

• The UnSunday Show YouTube Channel
• The UnSunday Show Website

-Mike

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

Welcome to another edition of Morning Coffee on The UnSunday Show. Today, let's talk about some important distinctions between the system we call church and Christ's ekklesia. Jesus never said the system we call church would never be overcome or ultimately defeated. But he did say that about the ekklesia. That difference is monumental. Let's talk about the implications of that difference in this episode.

This episode of The UnSunday Show is also available in video format. The video version is available on my YouTube channel.

-Enjoy!

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

Welcome to our second Morning Coffee together. Let's start a discussion about pastors and ask the question, what is a pastor? This is going to ultimately open up a plethora of related subjects on the topic which can serve as future editions of Morning Coffee. But this episode will serve to start us down that path as we talk about how we've institutionalized the pastor and made him or her the central figure in most of our institutional settings.

If this episode tweaks you, you might like my article, Rethinking Religion, Part 1: What is a Pastor? on the Grace Cafe Journal.

This episode of Morning Coffee is available in video as well and can be viewed on:

• The UnSunday Show YouTube Channel
• The UnSunday Website

-Enjoy

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

This episode marks the beginning of what I'm calling Morning Coffee. Morning Coffee is an informal conversation with yours truly over coffee about different subjects pertinent to The UnSunday Show. In addition to the normal audio podcast format, this and future episodes of Morning Coffee are and will be available in video format on YouTube, Facebook, and the UnSunday Show website. The video links to this episode of Morning Coffee are below.

• YouTube Video Version

-Enjoy!

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

This episode is a continuation of the topic of church discipline that I started in the last episode. I continue my look at Matthew 18:15-20, which is used as a proof text by church leaders for the practice of modern church discipline. I wrap up a couple of loose ends in this episode that I think need to be added to this discussion because I believe we've brought an Old Covenant practice into the New Covenant assembly. 

- Mike

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

The topic of what we call church discipline has been on my mind the last couple of years. I've tried writing down my thoughts about it but writing just isn't my thing any more. At least not right now. It's easier to talk about it than to write about it. Here are some of my initial thoughts on church discipline in light of my understanding of the New Covenant.

Matthew 18:15-20 is the go to passage most often used as a proof text for the validity of church discipline. It's the one that I was trained to use and that I used. But what if this passage, like so many others in the first four books of the New Testament, belongs in the Old Covenant, not the New Covenant? What if we've incorrectly inserted ourselves into it?

I cover four main ideas in this episode concerning church discipline that have brought me to the conclusion that Matthew 18:15-20 belongs in the Old Covenant. 

1. The word 'church' isn't in this passage.
2. The passage is laced with Old Covenant language spoken to Old Covenant Jews.
3. Israel was under Roman rule and subject to Roman laws and control.
4. The process explained in this passage is not repeated in the New Covenant scriptures even though there were times it could have been.

I'm sure I'll be talking more about this in the future as I'm only scraping the surface of where my thoughts have taken me the last couple of years with this topic.

-Mike

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These words of Jesus on the cross have led many to the conclusion that God left Jesus while he was dying on the cross. That because Jesus had become sin for us, the Father turned away from him because he can't look on sin. But is that what was happening? Let's talk about it.

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

Let's tease out the idea of the tithe in the New Covenant. Does God require a tithe? Am I in disobedience if I'm not tithing? We're quick to take isolated passages out of context to attempt impose a tithe on people but under the Old Covenant there were many tithes and the tithes were never money. Under the New Covenant, the tithe has disappeared. Let's talk...

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

Let's talk about the Good Samaritan. In response to Jesus' reminder that he was obligated to love God with all his being and to love his neighbor as himself, a lawyer, in an attempt to justify himself, asked Jesus who his neighbor was. This conversation took place in Luke chapter 10. Because the lawyer was living at the time of the Old Covenant, he was under obligation to obey these commands perfectly. But he couldn't.

Jesus' answer revealed the failure of the Law to empower anyone to obey it while at the same time, showing that what the Law couldn't do, God did by sending his Son. Let's talk...

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com

Welcome to episode 34 of The UnSunday Show with Mike & Mac. This episode is a continuation in many ways of last week's episode. We recorded this one immediately after last week's with the intention of making it its own episode, and here it is! 

Jesus is better. That's one of the themes of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews. Jesus is better. He's better than the angels, he's better than Moses, he's better than the Levitical priests of the Old Covenant, he's better than the Old Covenant. All of these things in the Old Testament were types and shadows that pictured Jesus, but Jesus is better. He's a better priest with a better sacrifice, a better mediator with a better covenant. Let's talk about it...

--------------

Other Places You’ll Find Me:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unsundayshow
The Grace Cafe Podcast: https://www.gracecafepodcast.com