In our second episode on the "boring" parts of the Bible, Jeremy, Matt, and Andrew try to convince you that the Tabernacle instructions and construction in the book of Exodus are not boring.

We're back with a short series on the "boring" parts of the Bible! What portions of Scripture do you find boring? Why are they boring? What can you do about it? In this episode, we give our introductory thoughts. In the upcoming few episodes, we'll look at a few "boring" passages!

A quick drop of a short episode on why we are thankful to live in the United States of America as we celebrate her 249th anniversary.

One last episode on the Crusades. This time we look at Luther's view of the Crusades...which was less than favorable. In fact, he warned Christians that participation in a holy war amounted to blasphemy. 

We read through an excellent article from 1945 by LCMS professor George W. Forell: Luther and the War Against the Turks. Throughout the article, we intersperse our reactions and comments.

This is our final episode on the numbered crusades. The Fifth Crusade was, as is the norm, a debacle. We bring to your attention Innocent III's Quia Maior, a few canons from the Fourth Lateran Council, and St. Francis of Assisi's courageous work during the Fifth Crusade.

Intro and Outro music: Urban Roamer by ikoliks. Licensed by Premium Beats (LICENSE #4630751).

In 1212, about ten years after the inglorious Fourth Crusade, a grass-roots movement led by a couple of young men—Stephen of Cloyes and Nicholas of Cologne—gave crusading a go. Inspired by visions of Jesus, Stephen and Nicholas attempted to convince kingdoms, adults, and children to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The results were, once again, terrible and tragic.

Intro and Outro music: Urban Roamer by ikoliks. Licensed by Premium Beats (LICENSE #4630751).

Our series on the Crusades continues. This time, we focus on "The Great Betrayal"—the Crusaders, led by the ambitious Doge Dandolo, sack Constantinople. It's a debacle on many levels.

We spend much too little time on the history of the third crusade, then discuss penitential warfare.

Jeremy, Matt, and Andrew continue their exploration of the Crusades. This episode, we focus on the Second Crusade and the influence of Eugene III (pope) and Bernard of Clairvaux (abbot and founder of the Knights Templar) upon it. Then, as with the last episode, we let our thoughts run out as we contemplate the rush by Reformed men to re-make the Crusades into a positive example for today's Christians and Church. 

Everybody's talking about the Crusades (our take is contrary to much of the positive takes we're hearing), so we thought we'd do a few episodes. One crusade at a time. Each episode will be a little history, focusing on the Papacy's edicts and stupendous promises, and some application to modern men and modern times.