Unbinding the Bible

In this episode, we'll look at Revelation 18:1-8 - the fall of Babylon and the exhortation John gives to Christians to "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues" (18:4). Christians in all times and places need John's exhortation, particularly at times when we join ourselves with ideologies, systems, or structures that will, in the end, be judged by God as unworthy of his kingdom. In the second half of the episode, we'll talk about the events at our nation's Capitol from January 6 and what the response of the Church ought to be going forward. 

Unbinding the Bible Video - https://vimeo.com/381235030/868320d094.

Email comments/questions to: [email protected].

The following is a sermon I preached Christmas Eve 2019. Drawing on Isaiah's language regarding the Messiah's government resting on his shoulders, this sermon explores why and how that promise should not be made to mean that "America's" government will rest on his shoulders. 

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! See you in 2021. 

Unbinding the Bible Video: https://vimeo.com/381235030/868320d094. 

Email comments/questions to: [email protected].

This week's episode is a By the Book Conversation w/Lee Camp, author of the book, Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians. Looking at the Christian faith as a "politic" and not merely as "religious," Scandalous Witness tackles head-on how the Christian faith interacts with the political world, particularly in American partisan politics. This is a conversation you don't want to miss! 

https://www.amazon.com/Scandalous-Witness-Political-Manifesto-Christians/dp/0802877354/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=scandalous+witness&qid=1603908637&sr=8-1

www.TokensShow.com/podcast

www.LeeCCamp.com for the online course on Lee's book.

In this episode, I will be reading Timothy Dalrymple's Christianity Today article, Why Evangelicals Disagree on the President (published November 2, 2020). I'm inserting it here on the podcast for its helpfulness in understanding what the title of the article suggests: why there can be so much polarization and division between Christians in their responses toward our current president. Identifying the primary issue in how one defines the kingdom of God, Dalrymple defines two helpful categories most Christians find themselves in and then exhorts us to be engage one another in love, aware of these differences. 

Unbinding the Bible Video - https://vimeo.com/381235030/868320d094.

Email comments/questions to: [email protected].

The following is a sermon I preached October 4, 2020 from Matthew 21:33-44 - Jesus' parable of the tenants. I'm inserting it here on the podcast as a follow-up to last week's By the Book episode with Christopher Wright. I preached this sermon the week I finished Wright's book on idolatry and his insights shape how I understand Jesus' parable. 

Unbinding the Bible Video - https://vimeo.com/381235030/868320d094.

Email comments/questions to: [email protected].

This week's episode is a By the Book Conversation w/Christopher Wright about his book, Here Are Your Gods: Faithful Discipleship in Idolatrous Times. Chris and I talk about idolatry throughout the Old Testament: what it was, why it was so tempting for Israel, and how even Christians today find themselves caught up in many of the same realities. Chris is such a gift to the church and I'm thankful to have him on the show! 

www.langham.org

Here's the link to Chris' book: https://www.amazon.com/Here-Are-Your-Gods-Discipleship/dp/0830853359/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=here+are+your+gods&qid=1605030639&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTzZXWlpKSlZXWDAmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwOTYyNjcxQTdZSkI0TkE5RTFGJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA4MTM2NjIzQ1A3VlFLNE81NDQ0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Email comments/questions to: [email protected].

In this episode, we'll look at Revelation 17:1-8, John's description of judgment depicted as a woman riding on a red beast. We'll compare John's language here with how he describes the bride of the Lamb in Revelation 21. And we'll see the importance both of what this image represents as well as how the economic exploitation being depicted is often driving much of society's broken sexuality, particularly in sex trafficking and prostitution. 

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (documentary): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFaDHgXPbUg&t=5257s.

In this episode, we'll finish Revelation 16, the final three bowls of God's wrath. We'll see how corrupt systems of darkness and corruption will themselves be thrown into darkness. And we'll pay close attention to John's exhortation for the Christians to whom he is writing not to imagine they stand "above" such critiques, but that any of their own loyalties or beliefs, if found to be in line with the ways of darkness, will also be plunged into darkness. We'll spend the second half of the episode talking about the darkness and corruption that finds its way into "Christian" organizations and churches and how, as followers of Jesus, we are meant to shine light into those dark places. 

Unbinding the Bible Video: https://vimeo.com/381235030/868320d094.

Email comments/questions to: [email protected].

In this episode, I have a conversation with David Swanson about his book, Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity. As a pastor in Chicago, David regularly navigates racial concerns and is a true gift to the white church, helping us reorient our discipleship practices in such a way that they help better prepare us to face racial brokenness in our world. This is a conversation you don't want to miss! 

Rediscipling the White Church 

Unbinding the Bible Video -  https://vimeo.com/381235030/868320d094 

Email comments/questions to: [email protected]