Unbinding the Bible

In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' words to the church in Thyatira from Revelation 2:18-29. Jesus continues clarifying for all of his followers what faithfully witnessing to him truly looks like as well as new difficulties each church will face in their situation. 

Following this week's Unbound Truth, that the influence of Baal can be present even in communities that are faithfully loving, serving, and enduring hardship, we'll see that faithful witness to Jesus demands love AND right teaching. We'll end our time exploring just what it might mean for believers to join Jesus in ruling over the nations with a rod of iron.

In this episode, we'll look at Revelation 2:12-17 - Jesus' words to the Christians in Pergamum, a church mixed with faithful followers and unfaithful ones. We'll see how Jesus addresses both and what that means for our own lives as his followers. 

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This episode is a sermon I preached June 17, 2018 while preaching through the gospel of Mark. I'm inserting it here in the podcast because what we know of Israel's temptations toward trusting in other kingdoms can help shape our awareness of the same things. Jesus' explanation of the kingdom of God is formed in large part from the Old Testament. And understanding that world better helps us understand our own.

In this episode, we'll take a look at just what Christians are up against in the various Empires in which they live. We'll pay particular attention to the idea of America as a "Christian nation," just what that means, and why it is an unhelpful (not to mention untrue) label in terms of the kingdom of God. We'll end our time talking about why the religious community may end up opposing a true Christian expression of the kingdom of God more than any other group of people. 

This week's Unbound Truth: The kingdom of God is altogether different from a religious version of the kingdom of the world. 

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In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' address to the church in Smyrna, what it was like living in that city at the time Revelation was written, and why it was that they faced persecution. We'll end the podcast discussing a bit about what our attitude toward persecution ought to be, according to Jesus.

In this episode, we'll look at Revelation 2:1-7 - Jesus' words to the church in Ephesus. Drawing on Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we'll see the importance that love plays in the life of the church, if we wish to be effective lampstands.

In this episode, we'll focus in on the OT origins of Jesus' repeated refrain, "He who has an ear, let him hear." This episode will center exclusively on idolatry, and the subtle ways that our views of God affect the way that we live and the way that we hear. For Jesus to show us the way, he must expose the false ways we've been living. And this applies to his followers even more than to the world. 

Scriptures used in this episode: Exodus 32; Exodus 34:6-7; 1 Kings 12:26-30; Psalm 135:15-18; Isaiah 6:9-10; Jeremiah 2:5; Ezekiel 14:1-5; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 24; 2 Corinthians 3:18.

In this episode, we'll look at a few of the patterns in Jesus' addresses to each of the seven churches. We'll see just how vital it is that believers have a clear picture of Jesus because their witness of him depends entirely on it. We'll also look at how our witness to Jesus - the faithful witness (Rev. 1:5) - may very well embody the "pattern of the Christ" - faithful witness leading to suffering/death leading to vindication/resurrection. 

Follow me on Instagram: @theunbindingthebiblepodcast

Email me any questions/comments you have: [email protected]

In this episode, we'll finish Revelation 1, looking closely at the first words Jesus speaks and their significance. His message for John and for his church: "Fear not." The hope we have in him not to fear: "I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." Jesus has freed us from every conceivable fear we can come up with, but we'll have to face our fears directly if we want to be free from them.

In this episode, we'll finish our look at Revelation 1:12-16 - the description of the "one like a son of man." In the second half of the episode, we'll dive in specifically to what the sharp two-edged sword protruding from Jesus' mouth represents and how it challenges the way many people think about God's judgment.