Unbinding the Bible

In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' understanding of his own mission from Luke 4:18-19. In these words we'll see his multi-dimensional purpose and how it is that the rulers, authorities, powers, and dominions enslave humanity. Then we'll turn to two passages of Paul's (2 Timothy 2 and Colossians 2) to begin seeing how Paul fleshes out these realities for his churches.

In this Throwback Thursday episode, we're going to go back to the beginning of our Revelation series to episode 046 and take a close look at what it actually means to worship the LORD. The themes discussed in this episode will set us up perfectly to dive into the New Testament over the next several weeks to understand more clearly the calling for the church to embody the characteristics of the LORD in the midst of a fallen world.

In this episode, we'll look at three OT passages: Psalm 82, Daniel 4, and Daniel 7. In these passages, we'll notice the connection between the divine council being rebuked for their injustices and how the nations of the earth participate in those same injustices. What takes place in the heavens (among the sons of God) mirrors what takes place on the earth (among the earth's inhabitants).

In this episode, we'll look at 2 Kings 5:1-19, the healing of Naaman the Syrian. This narrative will help us understand a theme we discussed last week: that after the Tower of Babel, the LORD allotted the sons of God jurisdiction over the nations of the earth, but that He chose Israel to be the nation over which He would rule (Deuteronomy 32:8-9). Divine "space" is a significant theme throughout the OT, and this particular narrative highlights it directly.

In this episode, we're going to look at God's divine council - a topic that, sadly, is foreign in many evangelical circles. And we'll look at Genesis 6:1-4, a strange narrative involving the sons of God and the daughters of man, and how the corruption that takes places there mirrors the fall of man from Genesis 3. This is an episode you don't want to miss!

This episode is a sermon I preached on June 7, 2020 from Matthew 9:9-13, where Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners and it draws the attention of the Pharisees. I'm inserting it here on the podcast because the "sickness" displayed by the Pharisees stems directly from the fall in Genesis 3. And sadly, what Jesus defines as "sickness" many religious people define as "righteousness."

In this THROWBACK THURSDAY episode, we're still looking at Genesis 3:1-7, only this time focusing in on shame and what it has done (and continues doing) to the human race. This episode was originally published January 10, 2019 as episode 017 - What Went Wrong?

On this Throwback Thursday, we're going back to episode 016 - published January 3, 2019 - where we discussed the fall of man from Genesis 3:1-7. Man's fall into sin is still one narrative that has tremendous explanatory power to help us understand why our world looks the way it does. And while there are always new lenses through which to view the fall of man, this episode forms a good foundation upon which to continue building.

This week on the podcast I have a conversation with Randall Balmer on his book, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right. We'll look at the real reason Christians rallied around the Republican party in the early 80's; and (spoiler) it wasn't over abortion, as is often the circulated narrative. We'll talk about this history and why it matters for the church today.

The following is a sermon I preached on Christ the King Sunday, November 21, 2021. Taken from John 18, we focused in on Jesus' repeated phrase to Pilate, "my kingdom is not of this world." My aim throughout the message was on getting Christians to rightly understanding what Jesus' DID NOT mean by these words as well as what he DID mean. The message concluded with an attempt to apply these insights to how Christians ought to relate to political and social realities in our world today, particularly in America.