Unbinding the Bible

In this episode, we'll talk about Jesus' famous prayer from Matthew 6:5-15, including his rather strange-sounding teaching about (conditional?) forgiveness in verses 14-15.

In this episode, we'll look at Matthew 6:1-4 and Jesus' words about the motivations behind acts of righteousness.

In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' words from Matthew 5:43-48. We'll see how his idea of righteousness tends to be much different from the average Christian in today's church and what we should do about it.

In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' words from Matthew 5:38-41, his famous "turn the other cheek" teaching. This passage remains one of the most ignored teachings in the entire New Testament and yet provides us with the most opportunity to actually be salt and light in this world, as we'll see.

In other news, this episode marks the 200th episode of Unbinding the Bible! If you have an episode or two that have meant a lot to you, I'd love to hear about it. Please email me at [email protected].

This week's episode is a conversation I had with Jason Porterfield about his book, Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Waged Peace Throughout Holy Week. This is a book every Christian needs to read! 

You can find Jason on Instagram and Facebook, or on his website @ www.jasonporterfield.com/

In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' words from Matthew 5:33-37. We'll discover why simple "Yes" or "No" statements reflect the heart of God more than appeals to higher authorities and we'll see just how subtly this same practice is still wreaking havoc in the church today.

On this episode, we'll look at Jesus' teaching from Matthew 5:31-32. In order to understand what Jesus is talking about, we'll look at several other passages - Matthew 19:3-10, Deuteronomy 24:1-4, Exodus 21:10-11, and Genesis 1-2. This week's topic is one that for many has been full of confusion, questions, and pain, and I hope to offer some encouragement and hope through exploring it.

This week on the podcast I'm re-releasing the conversation I had with Joshua Ryan Butler on his outstanding book, The Skeletons in God's Closet. Our conversation in August 2020 focused on just the first third of his book, The Mercy of Hell. I decided to re-release this episode here on the podcast because of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:21-30 on hell and how important it is to think rightly about what Jesus means when he uses that word. 

I know you'll appreciate Joshua's insights, and I encourage you to read his book if you haven't already.

In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' words about looking at a woman with lustful intent from Matthew 5:27-30. We'll talk about what Jesus means, what Purity Culture has done (or not done) with Jesus' teaching over the years, and how Jesus intends his kingdom to be a safe place for women. 

At the close of the episode, I recommended a great book by Jay Stringer called Unwanted. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Unwanted-Sexual-Brokenness-Reveals-Healing/dp/1631466720/ref=sr_1_1?crid=18LN5TYGE7AXE&keywords=unwanted&qid=1677165166&sprefix=unwanted%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1

The following is the sermon I preached at our church Sunday February 12, 2023 on Matthew 5:21-26. My sermon for the week fell once again on the exact passage we're on in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, so this week's episode is that sermon.