The Jesus Society: Recent Episodes

Ron Longwell

A conversation about relationships, renewal & purpose in the Kingdom of God

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This is Episode 92 of the Jesus Society Podcast, and today, I want to talk about how God views us when we screw up. My sense, after talking to lots and lots of people, is that many, many people still imagine — even in this age where we all supposedly understand grace — that God is still peering down at us over the bridge of his spectacles, largely disappointed with how we’re living up to his standards, and wishing we’d all just try a little harder and do a bit better.

So I have some things to say about all that. Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The scope of the problem - mired in guilt, fear, and shame.

  2. The sources of our guilt, fear, and shame.

  3. How God really sees us.

  4. Learning to see God as he really is (and not who we think he is). HINT - It's all about Jesus.

  5. Two stories illustrating how Jesus dealt with people who screwed up.

  6. How God describes himself.

  7. Understanding the complicated issue of sin.

  8. Sinner or Slave? It makes a huge difference!

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

View Details

This is Episode 92 of the Jesus Society Podcast, and today, I want to talk about how God views us when we screw up. My sense, after talking to lots and lots of people, is that many, many people still imagine — even in this age where we all supposedly understand grace — that God is still peering down at us over the bridge of his spectacles, largely disappointed with how we’re living up to his standards, and wishing we’d all just try a little harder and do a bit better.

So I have some things to say about all that. Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The scope of the problem - mired in guilt, fear, and shame.

  2. The sources of our guilt, fear, and shame.

  3. How God really sees us.

  4. Learning to see God as he really is (and not who we think he is). HINT - It's all about Jesus.

  5. Two stories illustrating how Jesus dealt with people who screwed up.

  6. How God describes himself.

  7. Understanding the complicated issue of sin.

  8. Sinner or Slave? It makes a huge difference!

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

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Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell.

And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this.

  2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from.

  3. Homer and Hades

  4. Hell & the place called Gehenna

  5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna.

  6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?

  7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment.

  8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil.

  9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God.

  10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems.

  11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever?

  12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates.

  13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
None

View Details

Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell.

And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this.

  2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from.

  3. Homer and Hades

  4. Hell & the place called Gehenna

  5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna.

  6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?

  7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment.

  8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil.

  9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God.

  10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems.

  11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever?

  12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates.

  13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
None

View Details

Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell.

And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this.

  2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from.

  3. Homer and Hades

  4. Hell & the place called Gehenna

  5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna.

  6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?

  7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment.

  8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil.

  9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God.

  10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems.

  11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever?

  12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates.

  13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
None

View Details

Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell.

And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this.

  2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from.

  3. Homer and Hades

  4. Hell & the place called Gehenna

  5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna.

  6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?

  7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment.

  8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil.

  9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God.

  10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems.

  11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever?

  12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates.

  13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
None

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This is Episode 90 of the Jesus Society Podcast. Only ten more till we hit 100!!

Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We talked last week about the concept of purgatory, which I definitely don’t believe in, and I laid out why last week. Today I want to talk about a word we don’t talk nearly enough about — paradise.

As I said last week, and which I’ll probably say again next week, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. Restful happiness in the presence of Jesus.

  2. Paradise or heaven???

  3. The three passages in the New Testament where paradise is spoken of.

  4. Wait . . . THREE heavens???

  5. How the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses the word paradise.

  6. But aren't we "citizens of heaven?"

  7. And what about the "many mansions" Jesus says are in his Father's house?

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
None

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This is Episode 89 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today I’m going to start a brief series talking about what happens when we die. Because I find that life after death tends to occupy an inordinately large place in our thinking. In fact, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most Christian mission tends to be largely focused on making sure someone goes to heaven when they die.

Frankly, I think a Christianity focused on what happens after death is a misguided focus. But nonetheless, there are things we can say (and should say) about what happens after death, and so we’re going to spend the next few weeks sorting through some of those ideas.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. When did the idea of purgatory develop?

  2. What's the basic idea of purgatory?

  3. Why purgatory has become somewhat popular among universalists.

  4. How some notable and influential Roman Catholic theologians have significantly walked-back their stance on purgatory.

  5. Is there any biblical support for the idea of different categories of Christians after death?

  6. How Paul's picture of redemption leaves no room for the idea of purgatory.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
None

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This is Episode 88 of the Jesus Society Podcast. Today, we’re going to conclude our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, looking at the importance and practice of love, particularly as we think about extending that love outward to the watching world.

I hope you'll join me today as we discuss:

  1. Following Jesus in Love

  2. Does love compel or invite?

  3. Chasing a rabbit -- repentance

  4. How love advances the kingdom

  5. How the early church lived out Jesus' victory of love, and how that advanced the kingdom

  6. Caring for those who need care.

  7. Love means meeting urgent needs.

  8. You are God's masterpiece.

  9. And much, much more . . . .

______________________________

And with that, I want to thank you for joining us today. I hope you’ll join us again next week.

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. My Song is Love Unknown #202 (https://youtu.be/UCTb1id2GnI)

  2. Bruce W. Longenecker, “Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco-Roman World” (Eerdmans, 2010) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802863736/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_2C0BNJN0Z8RMREYCQZSB?

Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco-Roman World

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This is Episode 87 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today, we’re going to continue our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, looking at the importance and practice of love.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. First Corinthians 13 — the love passage to end all love passages.
  2. How the list of love qualities in 1 Cor. 13:4-8 must be taken together; it’s a package deal.
  3. Understanding how agape came to be THE word to define Christian love.
  4. Love just isn't easy to cultivate.
  5. Is love a rule, a principle, a calculated tactic, or a virtue?
  6. Love as the language of God's future world, the music they make in God's courts.
  7. John 13:35 and one of the greatest challenges we Christians face in living the love of God in our world, and how utterly important that we get this fixed.
  8. A urgent plea to loving Christian unity.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

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This is Episode 86 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And with coffee firmly and lovingly embraced in my hands, we’re going to continue our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, our look at the importance and practice of love.

  1. Last week we talked about the importance of learning to live both in, and from, the love of God.

  2. We simply cannot give what we do not have, and loving others always grows out of and is fueled and energized by the experience and reality of God’s own love for us.

Today I want to talk a bit about how we actually learn to love. How we grow and cultivate the habits of heart and mind that allow us to generously and freely love others.

And what I mean by loving “generously and freely” is learning to love in a way that is not governed by a need for that love to be reciprocated. Because a lot of our love is selfish in that way; in other words, we love so that we will be loved. And of course, that's worlds apart from the New Testament’s assertion that “we love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

So, how do we cultivate the capacity for generous, self-giving love in our lives? That's what we're going to try and sort out today.

Join us as we discuss:

  1. How temple imagery forms the backdrop for our understanding of both God's self-giving love, and his call for us to extend that love to the rest of creation.

  2. The problem with the word "love."

  3. The challenge and difficulty of learning to love.

  4. The place of authenticity and spontaneity in loving.

  5. The concept of practicing loving.

  6. Inheriting the family business of God our Father, and our apprenticeship in that business.

  7. How the books of Colossians and especially Ephesians are really helpful in showing us how to develop the habits of heart and mind from which love can flow naturally.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, 2009 (https://www.amazon.com/Lost-World-Genesis-One-Cosmology/dp/0830837043/ref=sr_1_1?)

  2. Following Jesus in the 21st Century — Part 3: The Victory of the Cross (The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 82, available at https://thejesussociety.com/2022/03/14/following-jesus-in-the-21st-century-part-3/)

The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (The Lost World Series, Volume 2)

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This is Episode 85 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And continuing our conversation about following Jesus in the 21st century, I want to shift gears and start talking about loving like Jesus. And we’re gonna be camped out on this theme of love over the next 3-4 episodes.

What does it mean to love like Jesus? Well, at one level, it’s pretty obvious — Jesus himself said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: that you lay down your life for your friends.”

Delightfully, most of us aren’t asked to do that — at least not literally. Although we are, I think, asked to do that in principle. Because that’s what Jesus says love is all about.

And so what I want to do over the next 3-4 episodes is help us think a little bit about the love we see in Jesus, and the way in which that gets worked out in two specific areas:

  1. In our love for one another in the Christian community of believers.

  2. And in the way we show God’s love to the wider world.

Those are not the same thing, and yet both of those are difficult and challenging. But my goal is to try and offer you a picture of what that kind of love looks like. And that, I think, at least makes me want to press into doing that with more resolve and purpose.

So today we're going to introduce some foundational concepts that we'll build on over the next few weeks, primarily from the Gospel of John. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

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This is Episode 84 of The Jesus Society Podcast.

For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, this is a significant time of year because at this time of year, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. And because this coming Sunday is Resurrection Sunday — Easter — I want to talk again about the resurrection of Jesus.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Putting yourself in the story of Jesus' resurrection.

  2. Between Friday and Sunday: The disappointment, uncertainty, fear, despair, and hopelessness of the earliest Christians.

  3. How the resurrection is THE sign that God is doing something new in the world.

  4. How Jesus' resurrection restores and fuels hope.

  5. Becoming Resurrection People.

  6. Living new-creation lives in an old world.

  7. Some signposts of the New Creation.

The resurrection is more than just a doctrine. It's an event and a person. With the resurrection of Jesus, a new day had dawned in the world.

Karl Rahner, in his book Everyday Faith, says that “Easter is not the celebration of a past event. The alleluia is not for what was; Easter proclaims a beginning that has already decided the remotest future. The Resurrection means that the beginning of glory has already started.”

And that means that God’s good world, including human beings, spoiled by hostile and destructive forces, is now going to be remade. And it started when Jesus walked out of that tomb.

Evil and darkness and despair do not have the last word. The last word is resurrection!!

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Justice in the Kingdom of God (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/06/20/justice-in-the-kingdom-of-god/)

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This is Episode 83 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we come now to the most important event in Christianity — the resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead stands as the central, defining feature of the Christian hope. Paul says that very clearly in 1 Corinthians 15, which is the most thorough explanation of the resurrection in the Bible. He says:

  1. If Christ has not been raised, then our message is in vain, and so is our faith (v. 14).

  2. If Christ has not been raised, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Jesus (v. 15).

  3. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is worthless; and we are still in our sins (v. 17).

  4. If Christ has not been raised, those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished (v. 18). In other words, there’s no future hope for them.

But the point is that there’s a lot hanging on the resurrection. It’s been said that if you take away the stories of Jesus’ birth from the Bible, you lose a few chapters, but really nothing else. But if you strip away the resurrection, you lose most of the New Testament, which hangs on it, and Christianity itself crumbles. It’s that important.

What I want to try and sketch out today is how the resurrection of Jesus became the central, defining feature of Christianity. What did the earliest Christians believe happened at the resurrection? What did it mean to them? Because whatever it meant fueled and drove the earliest Christian communities to transform their world.

It made them confident and fearless in the face of hostile and powerful opposition. And it made them unyielding carriers of love and healing and redemption into the world around them. They cared for the sick, provided for the poor, and took care of the weak. It inspired them to live lives of holiness in a way that was utterly unknown to the world around them. And they created a unity among themselves that was without parallel.

And all of that was fueled by what they believed happened in that tomb on that first Easter morning.

So what on earth did they believe happened at the resurrection? What did it mean to them? To understand that, we need to go back to the Bible and lay some groundwork.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The hope of God's great new world.

  2. Total destruction or the renewal of everything?

  3. How Jesus' resurrection was God's first act of new creation.

  4. How Jesus' resurrection gives us both hope and a new vocation.

  5. How only the bodily resurrection of Jesus explains the rise and resolve and hope and mission of the early church.

The resurrection of Jesus signaled that a new day had dawned. God was at last beginning to heal and renew the world with wise, generous, redemptive love. And as Christians, Jesus expects us to carry on with that vocation.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (HarperOne, 2008) — https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission-Hardcover/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=monarch_sidesheet.

  2. John Eldredge, All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You Love (Thomas Nelson, 2018) — https://www.amazon.com/All-Things-New-Restoration-Everything/dp/1400207525/ref=sr_1_1?

All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You Love

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This is Episode 82 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we’re gonna continue talking about following Jesus in the 21st century. And specifically we're going to unpack the cross. And I’ve done some of this before. But I’m going to approach it a bit differently today. There are four big, overlapping Old Testament themes that converge in the cross of Jesus, and they’re all hugely important. And we have to talk about all four of those today.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. The compelling story of the cross.

  2. What kind of victory was won by Jesus on the cross?

  3. How western Christianity has sold ourselves short when it comes to the cross.

  4. How the cross makes possible our priestly vocation in the world.

  5. How the gospels have more to teach us about the meaning of the cross than we sometimes think.

  6. How Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven through defeating the powers of evil.

  7. How the cross redefines power.

  8. The importance of the temple in understanding the cross.

  9. Why Jesus chose the Passover as the time to die for the world.

  10. Why the cross is about far more than just dealing with our moral failures.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 7 (April 20, 2020) — The Story of the Bible - Part 7: What REALLY Happened on the Cross? (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/04/20/tjs-podcast-episode-7-the-story-of-the-bible-part-7-what-really-happened-on-the-cross/)

  2. William D. Edwards, Wesley J. Gabel, and Floyd E. Hosmer, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 255, No. 11, March 21, 1986), available at https://thejesussociety.com/2022/03/14/the-medical-side-of-the-crucifixion/

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This is Episode 81 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we’re continuing our talk about what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st century.

The first piece of this, which we got into last week, had to do with some of the biblical background to the kingdom of God, and Jesus’ statement in Mark 1 that “the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.” Because if we’re going to follow Jesus, we’ve got to understand something about what he’s up to.

And the point that we tried to make last week is that in Jesus, God is at last coming to fulfill his age-old purposes. His purposes for Israel, his purposes for the human race, his purposes through Israel for the human race, and through the human race for the world.

Join us today as we discuss:

  1. Saved from creation or saved for creation?

  2. How the story of Israel and the story of God both intersect in Jesus.

  3. The gritty call to discipleship

  4. God's Kingdom agenda and the part he wants us to play.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 7 (April 6, 2020) — The Story of the Bible - Part 5: Did God Give Up on Israel? (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/04/06/tjs-podcast-the-story-of-the-bible-part-5-did-god-give-up-on-israel/)

  2. The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 7 (April 20, 2020) — The Story of the Bible - Part 7: What REALLY Happened on the Cross? (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/04/20/tjs-podcast-episode-7-the-story-of-the-bible-part-7-what-really-happened-on-the-cross/)

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This is Episode 80 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we’re going to begin a series that I think I’m gonna call Following Jesus in the 21st Century. And the first piece of that, which is today's episode, has to do with the call of Jesus to discipleship — what that means, what’s the biblical background to that, and what on earth Jesus intends both for us and what he intends to do through us.

And this, of course, touches on all sorts of things — purpose, hope, meaning — all things I think we’d all say we’d like some clarity on.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. The purpose of God as background to our calling (what on earth is God up to?)

  2. What does Jesus mean in Mark 1:14 when he says, "The time is fulfilled . . . .?" What “time” is Jesus talking about? In what sense is it fulfilled?

  3. The Old Testament background leading up to "the time."

  4. How the exile fits into all of this.

  5. What it means for God to become King? After all, isn’t God always King? — judge doesn’t mean to condemn or destroy — it means to make everything right at last.

  6. Understanding the concept of judgment (because that's important, too).

  7. Wrestling with how the kingdom and the cross fit together.

  8. Two very different kinds of churches today.

  9. How the call of Abraham, and Aaron, and Elijah, and David serve as models to our call to discipleship.

  10. God's singular purpose from Genesis 1 to day.

______________________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, by N. T. Wright (https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Hope-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission/dp/0061551821/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?)

  2. Justice in the Kingdom of God (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/06/20/justice-in-the-kingdom-of-god/)

  3. What it means to Reign in Life (https://thejesussociety.com/2021/05/24/tjs-podcast-what-it-means-to-reign-in-life-in-rom-517-episode-63/)

Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

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This is Episode 79 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And on today’s episode, we're going to talk about how to find answers in the Bible to our questions.

Well, when he first asked me to do this, I thought it would be simple, but the more I've ruminated on it, the less simple it’s become. And that's true in part because there is a dizzying array of misinformation about the Bible out there. And that leave a lot of Christians terribly confused about what the Bible does, and doesn’t say.

So how do we sort through all that and get to the truth? That’s the question. So I’m going to jump in today to where angels fear to tread and have a go at sorting some of that out. So buckle in and hold on.\

So join me as we discuss:

  1. Three challenges in understanding the Bible.

  2. What kind of book is the Bible?

  3. Who was the Bible written to?

  4. The challenge of going back in time.

  5. How we create our own problems in reading the Bible.

  6. Three helpful suggestions for finding answers.

  7. The two MOST helpful suggestions in all this.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. The Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, NRSV (https://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Backgrounds-Study-Hardcover-Comfort/dp/0310452686/ref=sr_1_5?) 2. The NIV Study Bible (https://www.amazon.com/Study-Revised-Hardcover-Letter-Comfort/dp/0310448948/ref=sr_1_4?) 3. Christian Standard Version Bible (https://www.amazon.com/Study-Bible-Hardcover-Bibles-Holman/dp/1433648091/ref=sr_1_4?) 3. The Bible for Everyone, by John Goldingay and N. T. Wright (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0281074011/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_7?). 4. An Exhaustive Concordance matching your favorite translation. 5. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (https://www.christianbook.com/eerdmans-dictionary-of-the-bible/9780802877437/pd/877438?) 6. The Old Testament for Everyone Commentary Set, by John Goldingay — 17 Volumes, but also available one at a time (https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Everyone-Set-Seventeen/dp/0664261760/ref=sr_1_1?) 7. New Testament for Everyone Commentary Set, by N. T. Wright — 18 Volumes, but also available one at a time (https://www.amazon.com/New-Testament-Everyone-Set-Eighteen/dp/0664238262/ref=sr_1_3?)

New Testament for Everyone: Complete Eighteen-Volume Set (The New Testament for Everyone)
The Old Testament for Everyone Set: Complete Seventeen-Volume Set
CSB Study Bible, Hardcover, Red Letter, Study Notes and Commentary, Illustrations, Ribbon Marker, Sewn Binding, Easy-to-Read Bible Serif Type
NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Hardcover, Comfort Print: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture
NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition, Hardcover, Red Letter, Comfort Print

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This is Episode 78 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and today’s podcast is something I’ve been thinking about and working on for a very long time.

Now, before you listen to today’s episode, I highly encourage you to go back and listen to last week’s episode, which is an episode I did early in 2020, but which I re-released last week because it provides some important background for what I’m going to be talking about today. I think this episode will have more impact if you listen to last week’s episode first.

So with that out of the way, the crux of the issue is this: For most of us, when we talk about “the church,” lots of things come to mind. After two thousand years, we’ve all got a lot of history and hangups and baggage wrapped around that word, some of it good, some of it not so good, and some of it that rightfully makes us cringe. A lot of you, like me, have been hurt by church. And that itself creates a fog that’s hard to see through and see past.

And all those things come flooding to the forefront whenever we hear the word “church,” and that prevents us, I think, from understanding the church and seeing the church as intended to be seen.

And yet, the church, as I resolutely maintain, is God’s idea. It’s a good thing. The Bible refers to the church as the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-27).

And so the challenge is, how do we understand and talk about the church without all of that other stuff getting in the way? What is the church supposed to be in the world? That’s what I want to try and provide some clarity to today.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The challenge of talking about the church.

  2. The church and the Jesus Society.

  3. The struggle to articulate a vision of the church that is true to the biblical picture without the grime and grit that often clouds that picture.

  4. Guess who else has been working on this?

  5. What kind of communities was the Apostle Paul trying to establish and build in the first century in his Kingdom work throughout the Roman Empire?

  6. Descriptor #1 - Jesus-Honoring

  7. Descriptor #2 - Edifying

  8. Descriptor #3 - Egalitarian

  9. Descriptor #4 - Philanthropic

  10. Descriptor #5 - Fictive Kinship Groups

  11. So what do we do with this in the 21st century?

  12. The challenge of holding together the two critical virtues of holiness and unity in the church.

The kinds of Christian communities Paul was creating changed the world.

I think they still can.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Jesus Society Podcast: “TJS Rewind - Attractive Christianity (Episode 77, November 1, 2021).”

  2. “Who Was the Apostle Paul and Why Does He Still Matter?” The Ask N. T. Wright Anything Podcast, Episode 87 (October 14, 2021).

  3. N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography (HarperOne, 2018).

  4. Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (Princeton University Press, 1996).

Paul: A Biography
The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History

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Today's episode is a TJS Rewind episode, originally recorded last year. I'm republishing it today because it provides some important background material for the episode I'm planning to release next week.

Today I want to delve into early church history a bit. I think studying church history is important. And here’s why: If you don’t understand where you’ve come from, you have no ability to critique where you are. So I want us to spend some time looking at what Christianity looked like and how it functioned within the broader society in the roughly 300 years after Jesus.

AND how all that informs our faith and our lives with Jesus today. Join me today as we discuss: 1. Christianity by the numbers - how much the early church grew and how fast. 2. How and why the early church grew. 3. What was the attraction in early Christianity. 4. Jesus, Origen, and being lights in the world. 5. The importance of virtue and friendship 6. What is supposed to happen when the church gathers vs. what we think is supposed to happen. 7. Why people became Christians in the first century 8. The importance of individual charity in the early church. 9. Is Christianity still attractive today? 10. Disaffiliated Christians today and what might be attractive to them. It's not what you think. 11. Attractive Christians vs. attractive church services. They're not the same thing. 12. The first time I went to church after giving my life to the Lord, and what it teaches us. __________________

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

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This is Episode 76 of The Jesus Society Podcast, today I want to revisit a subject most Christians have fussed about since the Reformation. And that is the idea of faith and works. This is not an unimportant topic, but I believe it has been polarized by the issues of the Reformation, and that polarization has caused us to lose sight of some things and to see both of these things with the clarity that Scripture demands. Those things are what I hope to try and sort out today.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The briefest history of the Protestant Reformation.

  2. The Protestant evolution and how these issues have played out over the last 500 years.

  3. Understanding the "faith only" camp.

  4. Understanding the "other" camp.

  5. Two definitions of "faith."

  6. The biblical perspective on faith.

  7. The biblical perspective of works.

  8. The book of James to the rescue.

  9. How the Enlightenment has caused us to obsess about the wrong things in this issue.

  10. Faith and works - two sides of the same coin?

  11. Some wise words from N. T. Wright.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Matthew W. Bates, Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King (Baker Academic, 2017).

  2. Matthew W. Bates, Gospel Allegiance: What Faith in Jesus Misses for Salvation in Christ (Brazos Press, 2019).

Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King
Gospel Allegiance

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This is Episode 75 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and today I want to talk about dealing with difficult people. And the reason I want to talk about this today is that I’ve been dealing with some difficult people over the last few weeks.

If you don't ever have any problems dealing with difficult people, then perhaps you can just skip this episode, but if, like many of us, you struggle to know how to deal with difficult people, then you might just find a few things in this episode that'll help.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Some of the types of difficult people we encounter.

  2. Some biblical guardrails to help govern our interactions with difficult people and at least keep us from getting off into the ditches.

  3. The tricky business of dealing with fools.

  4. How the book of Nehemiah can really help us when it comes to difficult people.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Paperback (2017)
Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life

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This is Episode 74 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And I’m still not ready to pick up our discussion of the Lord’s Prayer again. I apologize for that — I don’t like to start stuff and not complete it — but I’m not getting traction there, and until the Lord and I find a way to get some traction, I’m just going to lay it aside for a while.

But what I do want to talk about today is discovering God’s plan for your life. And to do that, I want to start by looking at possibly the most famous of all Bible passages, at least for modern Western Christians, and that is Jeremiah 29:11, which says this:

"For I know the plans I have for you”— this is the Lord’s declaration— “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

So with that as our starting point, join me today as we discuss:

  1. Understanding Jeremiah 29:11 in context

  2. The message for us from Jeremiah 29:11.

  3. Do you need to know God's plan for your life in order for it to come to pass?

  4. Four absolute, beautiful, freeing truths about God's plan for your life.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Wayne Jacobsen, He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection. Newbury Park, CA: Windblown Media, 2007. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0964729253/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_0KME1TA9SN35481CH5EW)
He Loves Me! Learning to Live in the Father's Affection

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This is Episode 73 of the Jesus Society Podcast (NOT Episode 3 as I say in the recording). And we are NOT continuing our discussion today of the Lord’s Prayer. Frankly, I've been a little overwhelmed by life lately. So that's what we're going to talk about today -- WHY I've been feeling overwhelmed, and what to do to maintain sanity, connection, and peace during the all-too common times life this.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. What's going on in my life and why I'm feeling overwhelmed.

  2. Some steps to take to help manage life and retain your sanity and stability when you're feeling overwhelmed.

  3. The importance of rest, disengaging, and finding perspective.

  4. Setting healthy boundaries for yourself and others as a strategy to manage the overwhelmedness.

  5. Learning to triage your life.

  6. Why you absolutely MUST  maintain healthy connections with the people in your tribe during overwhelmedness.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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This is Episode 72 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And we’re continuing our discussion today of the Lord’s Prayer, focusing today in on the first phrase — “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.”

As I’ve said, the Lord’s Prayer is much more than just a quaint little, easy-to-memorize do-all prayer that’s useful to teach children. It’s deeply connected to the story of Israel and Jesus’ mission to rescue God’s people from evil for the sake of the world.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The Jewish roots of understanding God as Father (Exodus 4:22-23)

  2. Jesus and the New Exodus.

  3. Intimacy and revolution.

  4. The Lord's Prayer as a package deal of Kingdom blessings.

  5. The Fatherhood of God and the apprenticeship of his Son.

  6. The bold audacity of calling God "Father" and what we're signing on for.

  7. Prayer as bringing together the pain of the world and the presence of the loving Creator.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, and just about everywhere else.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our NEW website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (thejesussociety.com).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, The Lord and His Prayer. Williamm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802871771/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_RHXQX5APEF2GBDQ8J00M)
The Lord and His Prayer

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Last week I introduced a new series on the Lord’s Prayer. For several reasons, I’ve decided to do a rewind episode this week because it fits what we’re going to be talking about in the first part of the Lord’s Prayer. So what you’re about to hear originally aired as Episode 28, which was part of a Freedom series I did last year, this episode titled “The Father-Heart of God.”

As we address God as Father in the Lord’s prayer, we’re addressing him as a father. It’s important that we understand what that means (and what it doesn’t mean). And I think this rewind episode will set the stage for that pretty well.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. The root of spiritual freedom.

  2. Who Is God . . . Really?

  3. What a good Father looks like.

  4. How to really please God.

  5. Moving From Doubt to Faith

  6. The difference between living as orphans and living like sons and daughters.

  7. The difference between discipline and condemnation.

Each of us has a choice. You can see and determine God’s character in light of and through your own experiences. OR, you can see and determine your own experiences in light of and through God’s character. One choice leads to misery and bondage, the other to freedom and hope and joy and peace.

Choose wisely.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our NEW website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (thejesussociety.com).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. The Heart of an Orphan vs. The Heart of a Son (Downloadable PDF) 2. Growing in Intimacy with God - Does God Talk to Us? (May 4, 2020) 3. Growing in Intimacy with God - Prayer as Dialogue (May 11, 2020) 4. Growing in Intimacy with God - Learning to Live Loved (May 18, 2020) 5. Growing in Intimacy with God - Where is God When I Hurt? (May 25, 2020)

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This is Episode 70 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we’re going to begin a short series on the Lord’s Prayer.

I was told years ago by one of my early Bible instructors that the last great discipline a Christian masters is the discipline of prayer. I don’t think that’s a helpful statement, and here’s why: Because it portrays prayer as a task to be mastered, and by implication, that it’s not as effective as it’s supposed to be until we master it; or until we do it right.

We’ve got to get past thinking of prayer as some kind of incantation that we’ve got to say right in order for it to do its work.

Prayer is really very simply, communication — communication between two entities who love each other. And as I said in another podcast (link in show notes), we must think of prayer as dialogue, not just as monologue.

Join me today as we discuss:

1) Understanding the context of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4)

2) How we tend to pray the Lord's Prayer backwards.

3) Some helpful guidelines to communicating with God in prayer.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our NEW website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (thejesussociety.com).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Looney Tunes: Abracadabra, I'm an Umpire! (https://youtu.be/NoSVnc-7eTk)

  2. Growing in Intimacy with God: Does God Talk to Us? (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/05/04/growing-in-intimacy-with-god-does-god-talk-to-us-episode-11/)

  3. Growing in Intimacy with God: Prayer as Dialogue (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/05/11/tjs-podcast-growing-in-intimacy-with-god-prayer-as-dialogue-episode-12/)

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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  • Today, one in five children has mental health problems.
  • Within the last 15 years, there has been a 43% increase in ADHD in kids.
  • Within the last 15 years, there has been a 37% increase in teen depression.
  • Within the last 15 years, there has been a 100% increase in the suicide rate in kids 10-14 years old.

This is the world we live in.

Today in Episode 69 of the Jesus Society Podcast, I want to follow-up on our Men of God series and talk about parenting in general, not just as it pertains to men and boys, but parenting in general.

I want to start by talking about the biblical philosophy of parenting, and then with that in front of us, I want to give some specific, and I think timely, and hopefully helpful advice for parents.

Join me today as we discuss:

I. A Biblical Philosophy of Parenting, based on Deut. 6:4-7; Prov. 22:6; and Eph. 6:4. The bottom line? You’re much more than a life support system for your children. So, following Steven Covey's first two habits in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you need to “Be Proactive,” and “Begin with the End in Mind.”

II. Specific Advice for Parenting:

  1. Realize that love covers a multitude of sins.
  2. Find some people who have successfully raised good, godly kids, who have done it well, and look to them as your mentors and examples.
  3. Cultivate an atmosphere of vulnerability with your kids.
  4. Cultivate an atmosphere of truth and trust.
  5. Be present with your kids and make your kids be present with you. Be engaged with your kids.
  6. Make sure your kids have lots of good (emphasis on good) adults in their lives; don’t let them spend all their time being influenced by their peers.
  7. Don’t be afraid to discipline. Discipline is not cruel. Done right, it is a blessing.
  8. Don’t shelter your kids from the world they’ll have to live in. Instead, teach them healthy ways to process and relate to the world as it exists.
  9. And finally, once again, realize that love covers a multitude of sins.

God has entrusted you with the nurturing and care of another life. That should humble you, but it should also inspire you. God thinks you’re up to the challenge.

If you have children, the most important kingdom activity you have is to raise them well, to extend the blessing and love and care and instruction of God to them. Help them become adults who can bear the image of God to their world with wisdom and love. You can do that. And the proof you can do that is that God has given you children.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our NEW website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (thejesussociety.com).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Victoria Prooday, “The Silent Tragedy Affecting Today’s Children (and what to do with it)” (https://yourot.com/parenting-club/2017/5/24/what-are-we-doing-to-our-children)

  2. Steven Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982137274/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_28EQFTD4JVJPWK766JPT)

  3. James Dobson, The New Dare to Discipline (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0842305076/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_P4SBKNGJT127CFCBAZ0K)

  4. James Dobson, The New Strong-Willed Child: Birth Through Adolescence (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0842336222/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_YK96JTCTW03FJ89WWB7Z)

  5. James Dobson, Bringing Up Boys: Practical Advice and Encouragement for those Shaping the Next Generation of Men (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1414391331/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_364S569CNCCA5YNEFYGZ)

  6. James Dobson, Bringing Up Girls: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1414391323/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_JGBVVANR7K0WJNADBRDP)

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary Edition
Bringing Up Boys: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Men
The New Strong-Willed Child
The New Dare to Discipline
Bringing Up Girls: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women

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This is Episode 68 of the Jesus Society Podcast, and we’re continuing our Men of God series here, and today I want to talk about what boys need from their fathers, what happens to the heart of a boy when he doesn’t get it, and how God will step in to heal and restore the heart of the boy — or man, as it were — if we’ll just let him.

So many of us men need to experience God as a loving Father, to know that we’re valued and loved and treasured. And to rediscover — maybe for the first time in our lives — that we’re not alone.

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. The four critical needs of a boy and how those things prepare the boy for manhood.

  2. What happens when those needs are not met by the boy's father.

  3. How a boy's heart becomes wounded.

  4. How God will redeem the heart of a man.

  5. What the Bible says about God as a father.

  6. How to step into God's embrace as a father.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our NEW website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. John Eldredge, Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009).
Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You

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Today, we're continuing our conversation with Brenden Taylor from last week. This week, part of our conversation includes a discussion of part of John Eldredge's Book "Fathered by God."

We'll also be hearing part of Brenden's story about making peace with his father (who's now passed on).

I think you're going to enjoy this!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or whoever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. John Eldredge, Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You (Thomas Nelson, 2009)
Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You

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Today we're continuing our conversation about men and fathers, and the issues that conspire to keep us from being the men that God wants us to be in the world and for our families. And we're having a conversation today with my friend Brenden Taylor.

The truth is that almost every man I know will admit privately that they've got a complicated relationship with their father, and that because that's true, they've had a difficult time adjusting to adulthood, family life, fatherhood, work life, and the world in general. My friend is one of the few men I know who's courageous enough to speak in a public format (like this podcast) about his own journey in that regard. And that's why he's joining us today.

I pray you find this conversation helpful.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you go to get your podcast.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Building on last week's episode, I'm going to spend some time today telling you a little about how God himself stepped into the void of my life and has fathered me over the years. And if you’re a man listening to this who didn’t have the father you wish you’d had, I think — I pray — that maybe my own story here might be helpful to you.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The power of surrogate fathers.

  2. Being fathered by God himself.

  3. The hard lessons of independence.

  4. Important advice for young men who didn’t arrive at adulthood with the fathers they might have wished they had.

  5. Important advice for older men who have come through their own fathering experience, either because you had a good father, or because God himself fathered you.

We as God’s people must do a better job of giving children strong, supportive, loving families. We just must.

"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.” - Mother Teresa

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Men of God - Part 1: Growing up Without a (Good) Father (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000523638870)

  2. John Eldredge, Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You (2009) (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400280273/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_AZ3EA0H5EXS4CKFPCHYZ)

Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You

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This is Episode 64 of The Jesus Society Podcast. Today I want to start a conversation about Men and Fathers and Families. This is something that’s been on my heart for a long time, and it’s probably something we’re going to talk about for the next few weeks. And as I look back on my life, most of my ministry has been men’s ministry. And in part, that’s because of my own journey as a man. And there’s a lot involved in that statement “my journey as a man.” I’m talking about becoming a grown-up, adult male in 21st century America. I’m talking about becoming a man of God. I’m talking about becoming and growing as a husband. And I’m talking about becoming and growing as a father.

That’s been a journey for me (as it is for most men). And that journey is not an easy one in modern-day America. And that’s true for a whole host of reasons.

So over the next few weeks, I want to unpack a lot of that. And we’re going to hopefully have some guests in to talk about that with.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The crisis of men.

  2. My own father, his issues, and my issues related to him and his issues.

  3. Redemption and healing for me and my father.

  4. What can be done about some of this?

  5. Some new research about how faith is passed on in families and the crucial role fathers play in that.

  6. Some real things parents can do for their kids

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-12/families-faith, and https://roybal.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/VBengtson-book-Press-Release-USC.pdf

  2. Vern Bengtson, Norella M. Putney, and Susan Harris, Families and Faith: How Religion is Passed Down across Generations (Oxford University Press, 2017 — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0190675152/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_45RXDSF2XAZMM0BN92QK)

Families and Faith: How Religion is Passed Down across Generations

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Today I want to try, in as succinct a way as I can, to explain a phrase Paul uses in Romans 5:17 that I think has caused a lot of confusion for folks.

Paul talks there about how Christians will “reign in life.” Now, if we just pull that phrase up off the page, and out of the context of Romans, not to mention out of the context of the whole rest of the Bible, and start thinking about what that phrase might mean (which is the way I think most of us usually try to understand unusual phrases in the Bible), we’re liable to come up with all sorts of wild ideas.

But we can do better than that, and that’s what I want to try and do today. And I’ve talked about this before, as astute listeners may remember, back in Episode 50, and in part, last year in Episode 2 and 3 (links below). But I want to try and tackle it again — because this has been an unfolding truth for me over the last year or so. And I continue to grow in my understanding of this. And it’s been life-changing for me.

I think this is a really big deal. And I think you’re really gonna like this.

Join me today as we try and understand how what Paul says in Romans 5:17-21 has deep ties back to creation and to God's purpose for us in this world.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Episode 50 — Back to the Garden (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000508181129)

  2. Episode 2 — The Story of the Bible - Part 1: Why God Created Us (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000467230098)

  3. Episode 3 — The Story of the Bible - Part 2: Creation and Chaos (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000467848431)

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Today, we're gonna talk about what it means to live like Jesus in 2021. Because remember — we are his body. He lives in us, and so we are his hands, his feet, his lips in this world. That’s what Paul says in 1 Cor. 12:12-27 - "you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

That means that the way the Lord wants to bless and redeem and heal the world will largely be through us.

So, since that’s true, what sort of people ought we to be in the midst of God’s good world? What kind of people does it take to change the world? What made Jesus so compelling? And how can we be like him? What does it take? What does that look like?

Join me today as we talk about some specific suggestions about how to live like Jesus redemptively in the world of 2021.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Today, we’re going to try and tackle a big old hairy tough subject — the idea of violence at the hand of God, particularly in some of the Old Testament passages.

This is a stumbling block for a lot of people. And there are all sorts of thorny points around this issue. But the crux of it  involves a number of Old Testament passages that give us pause. We read, for example, about the total annihilation of Sodom and Gommorah (Genesis 19:23-29). We read about God’s command to Saul to destroy Amalek including “both man and woman, child and infant” (1 Samuel 15:3). And we read the book of Deuteronomy where in several places, God commands the people to utterly destroy the people in the lands they would be invading (Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6; 20:16-18).

And that bothers us (and of course, it should). But then we tend to either do one of two things — we either reject God because we find those kinds of things repulsive, or we come to the conclusion that there was a different God operating in the Old Testament than we find in the New Testament.

So what do we do with all of that? Well, that's what we're going to try and sort out in today's episode.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Our tagline for the show is “exploring relationship, renewal, and purpose in the Kingdom of God.” So today we’re gonna focus on the “relationship” piece of that. My conviction is that the Kingdom of God is God’s society on earth. God’s family. And the big question is what kind of family is God's family? How do we relate to one another, and to the world?

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Abraham and the start of the earthly family of God

  2. The important idea of koinonia in the New Testament

  3. How we've missed the point of "fellowship."

  4. Radical relationships in the earliest Christian community

  5. Learning from the "one another" passages in the New Testament

  6. Ten important "one another" passages (Rom. 12:10, Rom. 12:16; Rom. 13:8; Rom. 14:13; Rom. 14:19; Rom. 15:7; Gal. 5:13; Eph. 4:2; Eph. 4:25; Eph. 4:32)

If you put all those passages together, and you’ve got a group of people living together in that way, would you like to be part of a group of people like that? What would you give to be a part of a family like that? Do you think a family like that could show the world anything useful? Do you think a family like that could change the world? Or at least their little part of it?

I do. And so does God. In fact, that’s sort of the whole point. A family of God on earth who will bless the world and love the world and heal the world, empowered by the Spirit of the God who created it.

The point, folks, is that transformation happens in loving, nurturing, blessing community. It just does. If other Christians are not significantly involved in your life, your development as a Christian will be stunted. And sadly, this is where many Christian are – having attended Bible classes and heard sermons for years, but who have not developed significantly beyond where they were when they were baptized. Perhaps the missing ingredient is the kind of close, authentic, interdependent relationships depicted in Scripture and intended by the Father.

God so very much wants to give us a family — his family. He wants us all to be a part of it and to share his love and truth with others so that they can experience what only he can give, and what alone has the power to change the world.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Blessed to be a Blessing episode (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000468518961)

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I had coffee with a dear friend yesterday, and we both said that throughout most of our lives, we've felt inadequate. Different from other people. Inferior. I no longer feel that way, and I’ll get to that part of the story in a bit. But as it turns out, I’m not alone. In fact, many of the people I talk with week in and week out live in that same space.

Join me today as we discuss why that is and why, instead of being square pegs in a round world, each of us is exactly who God made us to be, and are, in fact, a gift to the world.

In the work God is doing to recreate the world, you - in all your uniqueness - have an important role to play. The world needs people exactly like you!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CNZG896/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_WPQ07A5MD0MFYEP4R7QD)

  2. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Products-and-Services/Myers-Briggs)

  3. Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307352153/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_BRBSTCT2ENDH227QFSJ5)

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

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On Monday (March 29, 2021), Gallup published an article titled “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time” (link below). The article reports on the 2020 religious survey that Gallup has conducted every year, I think since 1937. According to Gallup, “U.S. church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70% for the next six decades, before beginning a steady decline around the turn of the 21st century.”

The gist of the article is that for the first time in American history, church membership has fallen below 50%.

And the three big takeaways from the article, according to Gallup, are these:

  1. In 2020, 47% of U.S. adults belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque.

  2. That number is down more than 20 points from turn of the century.

  3. And according to Gallup, that change is primarily due to the rise in the number of Americans with no religious preference.

But here’s the thing about all this — numbers never tell the whole story, particularly when it comes to societal change. And that’s especially so when we’re talking about church affiliation as the single barometer of faith.

So what’s really going on here? That is what we’re gonna talk about today.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Two kinds of religiously unaffiliated people

  2. How to make sense of this trend

  3. Why people are leaving the church, according to the people who leave the church.

  4. What churches can do about this.

  5. What you can do if you feel the need to leave your church.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Jeffrey Jones, “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time.”March 29, 2021 (https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx)

  2. Pew Research Forum, “America's Changing Religious Landscape.” May 12, 2015 (https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/).

  3. Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope, Church Refugees (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1470725924/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_ZY2W77T0EVWGRQK38T1E)

  4. Wayne Jacobsen, “The Phenomenon of the Dones,” December 8, 2015 (https://www.lifestream.org/the-phenomenon-of-the-dones/).

  5. Wayne Jacobsen, Beyond Sundays (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0983949190/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_E7EJQYVRWTQGR8MHHBD6)

Beyond Sundays
Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

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This is Episode 57 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and because this coming Sunday is Resurrection Sunday (Easter), I thought we should talk a bit about the resurrection of Jesus.

This coming Sunday, throughout the world, Christians will celebrate what we’ve come to know as Easter, and event that centers around the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. But most of us really don’t understand the significance of that event. But the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead stands as Christianity’s most remarkable and most important event. In one act, Christianity is transformed from a nice idea to a powerful, life-giving, world-changing revolution. The resurrection is what gives Christianity its power, AND its hope.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The resurrection as THE sign of the new creation.

  2. Why the resurrection is NOT about going to heaven when we die.

  3. What is heaven, really?

  4. How the resurrection demonstrates the intersection of heaven and earth.

  5. Why the resurrection is the START of something awesome!

  6. What it means to be resurrection people.

  7. The fruit of the resurrection - unity and holiness

  8. The fruit of the resurrection - justice and peace

  9. The fruit of the resurrection - wise stewardship of creation

  10. Already . . . but not yet.

God’s good world, spoiled by hostile and destructive forces, is now going to be remade. And it started when Jesus walked out of that tomb. And that’s why Christianity is the best thing on the market. Evil and darkness and despair do not have the last word. The last word is resurrection!!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Today's episode is a rewind episode that I originally recorded early in 2020 as Episode 9. Because we're getting close to Easter, I thought it'd be useful to revisit the crucifixion of Jesus before we talk (as we will) about the Resurrection. The truth is that Jesus' death accomplished everything we probably think it did, but it also accomplished a whole lot more than we usually imagine. So join us today as we talk about all of it.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. N. T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion (HarperOne, 2016) – https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062334387/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_Q6E16KBSZ6KJGV9K5F5V
The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion

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Today I want to address the subject of perfectionism in Christianity and the idea of being blameless before God.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The flawed paradigm of perfectionism through which we imagine God views us.

  2. When we started thinking the way we do about perfectionism.

  3. Is our imperfection really the problem God's trying to fix?

  4. Some examples of people in the Bible who are said to be "blameless."

  5. Is blameless the same as sinless?

  6. How John and David help us understand what it means to be blameless.

  7. What does God really expect of us, and how does he deal with us when we fail?

  8. How God deals with us with understanding and sympathy, and how we should respond in turn.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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This is Episode 54 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and today I want to delve into Israel’s identity and assigned vocation in the world — who they were and who they were to be.

This is important. Most of us Christians have been led to believe that Israel is a people group the Lord has washed his hands of. And that belief has allowed us to kind of wash our hands of Israel’s Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. And that is terribly unfortunate, because Israel’s story is our story, because Israel’s God is our God.

Paul says in 1 Cor. 15 that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection are “according to the Scriptures” (meaning Israel’s scriptures — the Old Testament). So the Jewish Scriptures are at the center and soul of the mission of Jesus. So we simply must pay attention to them.

Now, there are two images given to Israel shortly after the Exodus (and later to us as Christians as well!) that carry the heart of their identity and vocation. And those two images are wrapped up in the phrase "royal priesthood."

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. What it means to be "God's chosen people" (and what it DOESN'T mean)

  2. What it means to be a priest in Scripture (HINT: it's more than just the guy who offers the sacrifices)

  3. Priests in the garden of Eden???

  4. Who are the "kingdom of priests" today?

  5. Living as priests of YHWH in the 21st century

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added  a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. What's the Big Deal with Israel (Episode 4) - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000469208230
  2. Did God Give Up on Israel (Episode 7) - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000470621245
  3. Justice in the Kingdom of God (Episode 16) - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000477167165
  4. A People of Peace (Episode 17) - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000478009533

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Today, on this first episode of our second year (YAY!), I want to think a little bit more about the Exodus, and what God revealed to his people Israel about himself and his nature immediately following their departure from Egypt. AND, how those things carried on through the New Testament, Jesus, and the church.

Join us today as we discuss:

  1. The three symbols which conveyed to Israel who God is.

  2. The central idea in the tabernacle (it's much more than just a place to offer sacrifices).

  3. The relation of the temple to the garden.

  4. The importance of the Ark of the Covenant.

  5. The difference between a house and a house in 2 Samuel 7:11-14.

  6. The ultimate "place" where God will live among his people.

  7. The difference between God living with us and us living with God.

  8. Why God always thought bigger and broader than the temple

  9. Why Jesus was so upset about the moneychangers in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:17; John 2:16)

  10. Jesus -- the new temple.

  11. How "we are the temple of the living God" in the New Testament.

  12. The ultimate temple in the new creation.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Story of the Bible - Part 4: What's the Big Deal With Israel?

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Today, on the one-year anniversary of the start of The Jesus Society Podcast, I want us to think a bit about the Exodus, and in particular, what it revealed to Israel, and what it continues to reveal to us today about God.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Some background to the Exodus

  2. What it means for Israel to be the firstborn of God

  3. Seeing God as a parent

  4. The focus of the ten plagues

  5. The centrality of the Passover to Israel's identity

  6. What the blood on the doorposts is intended to convey

  7. The Lord's Supper and its connection to the Passover

  8. The combined events of Exodus and Exile in shaping the New Testament understanding of Jesus' death.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

If you're interested in supporting the podcast and our related ministry, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Continuing our conversation from last week, we're taking a deep-dive into the biblical idea of sin. My contention is that most of us in the west have a truncated view of sin, and we need to sort that out, not least because a diminished view of sin leads to a diminished view of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Join us today as we discuss the related concepts of sin, death, and exile throughout the Bible. 

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and 1grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety), if you'd care to support us and the work we're doing.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Story of the Bible - Part 2: Creation & Chaos (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000467848431)

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This is Episode 50 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and as we approach the start of our second year of the podcast, I want to start something a bit new. I want to lay out a crystal clear view of the God of the Bible — who he is, what he’s been up to, and what his ultimate goal of the world is. I did a little of this early on last year in the “Story of the Bible” episodes we did. But I also know that in trying to give an overview, I sketched things out so thinly in some areas as to be a bit ambiguous. I want to try and fix that.

So today we're going back to the garden to look at the two people God created, the role he assigned to them, and how they abdicated that role. And we'll look ahead to what God intended to do about that, and how Jesus ultimately finished that job. I think we need to get clear-headed about the biblical picture of God’s goal for the world. AND we have to diagnose the human problem of Genesis 3 correctly. Those two things are what we're gonna tackle today.

It might be helpful to go back and listen to the first few "Story of the Bible" episodes that we did last year (we'll put links to those episodes below).

So join me today as we discuss:

  1. Creation & Disruption: God’s good world & The battle for control (Genesis 1-3)

  2. What it means to be image-bearers of the divine.

  3. The idea of rulership in God's good world.

  4. The battle for control in God's good world (it's not what you think)

  5. What sin really is and how we sometimes fail to see the whole story.

  6. Abdication and the power of idolatry

  7. How God has worked and is working to restore things to what he intended all along.

  8. How the cross fits into all of this.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). We’ve also got a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Story of the Bible - Part 1: Why God Created Us (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000467230098)
  2. The Story of the Bible - Part 2: Creation and Chaos (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000467848431)

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Today is the final episode of our discussion about worship, the Christian assembly, and music.

Join myself, Nathan, and Ashley today as we discuss:

1. Pros & Cons of "Traditional" Worship Music

  1. Pros & Cons of "Modern" Worship Music

  2. Keeping the main thing the main thing -- God must be at the center, not us. That said, whatever we do in the assembly should foster unity, not self-centeredness; Giving, not receiving.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on Facebook.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Skillet Lead Singer: "Stop Making Worship Leaders, Thought Leaders the Most Influential People in Christendom (https://www.charismanews.com/culture/77596-skillet-lead-singer-stop-making-worship-leaders-thought-leaders-the-most-influential-people-in-christendom)

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We're back again today with Part 3 of our discussion with Nathan and Ashley about worship, the assembly, and music. And by the way, for the purposes of this discussion, I want to make it clear that when we talk about “music,” we’re not talking here about contemporary Christian “radio” (or for the non-geriatric folks like me, “streaming”) music. We're talking exclusively about church assembly music.

Join us today as we tackle the following questions/issues:

1. Is worship about us or God?

2. How does music function among humans? What does it do to us? Is it important, and if so, why?

  1. Some interesting quotes about music from luminaries such as Martin Luther.

  2. Is music edification or is it worship?

  3. What's the purpose of music in the Christian church?

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on FB.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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This is our second episode in what is shaping up to be a four-part discussion about worship, the assembly, and music.

I’d invite you, if you haven’t listened to last week’s episode (Part I), to go back and listen to that before you listen to today’s conversation, because these episodes build on each other, and I think you’ll follow our conversation today a bit better if you’ve heard last week’s episode first.

Many of us have strong feelings about what goes on in the assembly music-wise and how that all works. But in talking about all this in this series, we want the overall thrust of this conversation to promote unity, hope, and reverence for God.

So join me, my son Nathan, and our friend Ashley Perham today as we share our different backgrounds and experiences as they relate to worship, the assembly, and music. What we love, what we don't love as much, what has worked and what hasn't - again, from our own perspectives and experiences. I think you're going to really enjoy this conversation, because we sure did!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on FB.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page, which is a one-stop shop for all our Jesus Society content (audio and writing). And should you wish to support us and the work we do, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Rick Atchley: Chairs of the Restoration Movement (https://youtu.be/dWfAAYuNqCs)
  2. Gordon Mote, The Isaacs -- When I Lift Up My Head (https://youtu.be/UoshZzpl6gQ)

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Today, I'm joined by my son Nathan, and we’re gonna kick-off a two or three-part little series here today. And we're going to be talking about over the next few weeks is the subject of worship, music, and the Christian assembly.

Nathan and I cooked up the idea of this series together, and a lot of it has grown out of a whole host of conversations we’ve had over the last five or six years about this issue.

But today, I really want to lay some theological groundwork for this discussion, because theological groundwork is always the way to begin an important discussion.

So join us today as we discuss:

  1. Worship wars and how worship has evolved over the past 40 years or so.

  2. The New Testament words variously translated as worship, and what they mean.

  3. Why  worship should not just be relegated to the assembly.

  4. What often prompts worship in the Bible.

  5. The primary purpose of the Christian assembly.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on FB.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Justin Martyr (Apology), Chapters 65-67 (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm)
  2. The Attraction of Christianity (The Jesus Society Podcast, July 6, 2020) — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesus-society/id1500065616?i=1000482858092

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Last week we talked about some spiritual habits to work on developing in 2021. Today I want to talk about some relationship habits to work on developing.

Let’s face it — we all want better relationships. And I am of the conviction that as followers of Jesus, we ought to have the best relationships on earth. AND, because of the way I view the Kingdom of God, one of the big draws to God’s way of living is the way we relate to one another. Christians should be the most attractive people on earth, and a big part of that attractiveness is in the way we relate to one another. God’s family is supposed to be characterized by love and grace and kindness and support and encouragement. And I think if people saw us relating to one another the way we should in the Kingdom, I think everybody would want some of that.

Too often, though, Christians are angry and judgmental and harsh. We’ve got that reputation in the non-Christian world, and if you don’t see that, you’ve been living under a rock. Now anger, judgmentalism, and harshness are certainly reflective of an internal reality that needs redemption, but they’re also relationship characteristics. So most of us — myself included — have some work to do.

So join me today as we talk about some habits we can begin to cultivate in 2021 — with the ever-present help of the Holy Spirit, of course — to improve the quality of our relationships.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on FB.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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We’re a nation of goal setters, and at this time of year, just about everyone starts thinking about setting goals or making resolutions for the new year. So in today's episode, the last episode of 2020, I want to talk about getting the most out of 2021 spiritually. In particular, I want to talk about how we can improve our relationship with God in 2021. Because really, the relationship you have with God fuels every other part of your life.

But before you listen to this podcast, I highly recommend you head on over to our Patreon site and read the post titled “God’s Spiritual Roadmap.” There's a link below also. It lays out my conceptual framework of what I think are God’s goals for us, and how he works in our lives to accomplish it. And I mention that because everything we’re gonna be talking about today flows out of that conceptual framework. So I encourage you to read that before you dive too deeply into today’s episode.

So with that little introduction out of the way, I invite you to join me today as we discuss:

  1. Why developing habits is better than setting goals or making resolutions.

  2. A couple of big picture concepts.

  3. Four habits to cultivate in 2021 that will absolutely open your life to God in new ways.

  4. How the way we think about God predetermines the kind of relationship we can have with him.

  5. Three biblical statements about the nature of God.

  6. Five important promises of God in the Bible.

  7. How to have a meaningful discipleship group that will bless everyone in it.

All relationships require effort, and your relationship with God is no different. But I promise you that if you draw near to God in 2021, he will draw near to you. And it will change your life.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — www.thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on FB.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: God’s Spiritual Roadmap (Dec. 21, 2020) — https://www.patreon.com/posts/gods-spiritual-45297989 Reading the Bible like Jesus and Paul (Sept. 14, 2020) — https://www.thejesussociety.com/e/reading-the-bible-like-jesus-and-paul/ Growing in Intimacy with God - Does God Talk To Us? (May 4, 2020) — https://www.thejesussociety.com/e/growing-in-intimacy-with-god-does-god-talk-to-us/ Prayer as Dialogue Episode (May 11, 2020) — https://www.thejesussociety.com/e/growing-in-intimacy-with-god-prayer-as-dialogue/

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In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of shopping and cooking and traveling associated with Christmas, all of which I participate in fully, I wanted to talk in this episode about the birth of Jesus, and what it represents to me.

Join me today as we discuss the importance of an ordinary Jesus. When God chose the name his son would carry, he chose a common human name. He chose a name so typical that it would appear two or three times on any class roll. That’s what John meant when he told us in John 1:14 that in Jesus, “the word became flesh.” Jesus was touchable. He was approachable. He was reachable.

It's important to appreciate that when God chose to reveal himself to mankind, he did so through a human body. The tongue that called forth the dead was a human one. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. The feet upon which the woman wept were calloused and dusty. And his tears – at the tomb of Lazarus, or as he wept over Jerusalem, or even in the Garden of Gethsemane – came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been.

That’s what the angel means when he tells Joseph in Matt. 1:23 that people will call Jesus Immanuel, which is a fascinating Hebrew word that means “God with us!”

And that’s also what the Hebrew writer is getting at in Hebrews 4:15-16 when he says, “We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That’s why we must hold on to what we have said about him. Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.”

The truth is that we serve a God who wants to live among us. And because of that, people came to him. And they came to him because he refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated balcony. He chose instead to be Jesus.

There is not a hint, anywhere in the gospels, of a person who was afraid to draw near to him. There were those who mocked him. There were those who were envious of him. There were those who misunderstood him. There were those who revered him.

But there was not one person who considered him too holy, too divine, or too celestial to touch. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected!

Don’t forget that. That’s important. Tattoo that on you brain to be viewed the next time you find yourself wallowing in your own failures.  When you feel so overwhelmed by the pressures of this world. Or the unyielding demands of being perfect. Remember it when you find yourself in a cold church listening to a dead sermon about God.

Tragically, for some people, Jesus seems distant. And nothing saddens me more than that. Because through this baby - through this Immanuel - he became human. And now he is approachable and touchable and accessible. And he loves you so very much.

If only we would see that and open ourselves up to him.

So as you celebrate Christmas this week, don’t lose sight of the fact that God himself has entered our world. And He entered our world to offer us hope and peace and joy and love and redemption through a relationship with him. A relationship that will change our lives for our good.

God sent Jesus, as John tells us in John 1:18, to show the world what he is really like. And we just cannot be casual about such an event.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on FB.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Be sure, if you haven't already seen it, to watch The Chosen Christmas Special (https://youtu.be/T5ftnTK9-3w) sometime during the Christmas season. It's fantastic, with some great music, and a great message.

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Today’s a “Just Ron” episode, and I want to talk to you briefly about a subject that makes most Christians I know (me included) roll their eyes just a bit. The subject is money. And the impetus for this, which I’ll tell you about up-front in case you want to just skip this episode is that I started a Patreon page this week.

So join me today as we discuss ministry, money, why I don't think those two things mix very well, and why I really am the worst fundraiser in the world.

I want to tell you why I started a Patreon page, what I expect, and even more importantly, what I DO NOT expect, and how you can support what we’re doing IF AND ONY IF the Lord puts it on your heart to do it AND you can do so cheerfully and with peace.

So if you do feel led to contribute to us, I invite you to check out our Patreon site (www.patreon.com/thejesussociety) and look around.

The Patreon site will also be kind of a one-stop shop for all my content, which will include the Jesus Society Podcast episodes as well as blog posts and other things I think you might find useful. And if, while you’re there, the Lord prompts you to give, we will be grateful beyond words. But if he doesn’t, we are still grateful beyond words for you.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com. We’ve also added a page on FB.

And as we mentioned, we’ve added a Patron page (https://www.patreon.com/thejesussociety).

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Today on TJSP, Brenden and I are concluding our discussion of the miniseries "The Chosen" with a conversation about Episode 8, titled "I Am He." The big scene that this episode is building towards is Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, which you can read about in John chapter 4.

I LOVE the way they tell this woman's story in this episode, and I think you will to! Join us and find out why.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. We’ve now got a group AND a page on FB. Don’t know why, but we do.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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On today's episode, Brenden and I are discussing Episode 7 of The Chosen, titled "Invitations." This is the centerpiece episode of Season 1 of The Chosen and features Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus as recorded in John chapter 3. This is a powerful scene, and I think you'll enjoy our take on it!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast, and our new Facebook page. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. And if there are things you’d like us to talk about regarding The Chosen, you can ask them there.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Chosen Global Livestream: Episode Seven (https://youtu.be/K09a7l48VD0)
  2. Bringing John 3:16 to Screen (https://youtu.be/M_UQ6o1Gfjw)
  3. Still Face Experiment: Dr. Edward Tronick (https://youtu.be/apzXGEbZht0)

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Join drama guru Brenden Taylor and myself as we discuss Episode 6 of The Chosen. This epsode is titled "Indescribable Compassion, and gives us an up-close-and-personal look at the compassion of Jesus. This is a key episode in season one, as Jesus is growing in popularity and notoriety. Crowds are beginning to gather around him, which of course attracts the attention of both the Jewish religious leaders and the Romans. As in Scripture, not everyone receives Jesus in the same way, but "those who have eyes to see and ears to hear" see Jesus as the winsome, loving, and authoritative Son of God. Jesus is SO relatable in this episode, and among other things, Brenden and I discuss the ways we have traditionally perceived Jesus in our churches -- often as kind of a critical judge. We don't always have an easy time perceiving Jesus and the Father as entities who delight in us and who really do want to bless us and draw us deeper into loving fellowship.

Those are just a few of the things we discuss this week as we dive into this episode of The Chosen. Enjoy!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. And if there are things you’d like us to talk about regarding The Chosen, you can ask them there.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Miracle of the Paralytic: The Chosen scene with director introduction

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Today, myself and my friend and ace drama dude Brenden Taylor are discussing Episode 5 of the miniseries The Chosen. This episode centers around Jesus' first miracle, the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-12).

According to Dallas Jenkins, the show's creator, this episode is his second favorite episode.

There is so much to discuss in this episode, I can't possibly list it all. Shame, embarrassment, feelings of not being good enough, and how Jesus accomplishes more in a miracle than just the miracle. You'll enjoy this one!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. And if there are things you’d like us to talk about regarding The Chosen, you can ask them there.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Water to Wine: The Chosen’s Wedding at Cana (YouTube video)

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Today, Brenden Taylor and I are discussing Episode 4 of The Chosen, titled "The Rock On Which It Is Built." It's a fantastic episode and tells an extremely important story - the story of Peter's "conversion," if you will. The miraculous catch of fish is what does it for Peter, as told in Luke 5:1-11.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Dealing with life on your own

  2. Unity among the people of God

  3. Accusing God of not doing his job

  4. What it must be like for Jesus to watch us struggle to comprehend his gifts

  5. The power of the words "Follow me."

  6. What changed Simon's heart

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Thank you for joining us today. As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. And if there are things you’d like us to talk about regarding The Chosen, you can ask them there.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Miracle of the Miracle of the Fish (https://youtu.be/gxV9BK_LQgw)

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Today, Brenden Taylor and I continue our conversation about the miniseries The Chosen. Episode 3, which we will discuss today, is titled "Jesus Loves the Little Children, and it's a great episode. Join us today as we discuss:

  1. Jesus the Carpenter-Outdoorsman

  2. The human side of Jesus and being a fun guy to be around

  3. The insightful questions of children and Jesus' revealing answers

  4. Praying the Shema

  5. The idea of Christian vocation

  6. Justice for children and living differently than others

  7. Seeing God and his heart and not letting our own traditions and biases get in the way

  8. Why Jesus loves children so much, and why he wants us to be like children.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Apple Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. And if there are things you’d like us to talk about regarding The Chosen, you can ask them there.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Jesus and Children: Behind the Chosen Scene (https://youtu.be/EunmPtUp9Eo)

  2. Fun with Kids, Jesus, and Fire (https://youtu.be/OiwQ6Gc80nY)

  3. Finding Your Calling - A Primer (https://www.thejesussociety.com/e/finding-your-calling-a-primer/)

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We're talking about the miniseries "The Chosen" for the third week now. Today we're talking about Episode 2. And so much of Episode 2 revolves around the idea of Shabbat (what we call the Sabbath). There's so much in this episode to talk about, so I hope you enjoy it. In part, Brenden Taylor and myself will be talking about:

  1. How we've typically understood "Sabbath" in Christian circles.

  2. What Shabbat really means and why it's such an important event in Jewish and Christian circles.

  3. What a Shabbat meal looked like.

  4. The three (really 4) Shabbat meals of Episode 2 and how they all work together to show us what Shabbat should be and what it most definitely should NOT be.

  5. How all of this speaks to our context today.

  6. And much, much more!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Apple Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Lilith vs. Mary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtHFGDmANnQ)

  2. The Immense Weight of Playing Jesus — Jonathan Roumie (https://youtu.be/CZdB7H8ty8g)

  3. Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation, by Ruth Haley Barton (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830833331/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_zd0FFbC81YBG0)

  4. Letters to the Church, by Francis Chan (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830776583/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_af0FFb7EJXVA9)

Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation (Transforming Resources)
Letters to the Church

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On today's episode, myself and Brenden Taylor will be discussing Episode 1 of the miniseries "The Chosen." The Chosen is an 8-part dramatic representation of the life of Jesus. According to the show’s creator, Dallas Jenkins, the goal is “to show Jesus through the eyes of those who met him.”

Last week we started talking about the series with kind of a series overview. If you haven't already listened to last week's episode (Episode 33), I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it before you listen to today's episode.

If you have any questions about The Chosen that you'd like us to discuss, please head on over to our Facebook group and let us know.

I hope you enjoy this conversation, because we sure did!

Be sure and check out the resources for today's show below.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Apple Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Chosen Season 1 Official Trailer

  2. Interview with Paras Patel (Matthew’s Character)

  3. Erick Avari as Nicodemus 

  4. Quintus - The Chosen's Bad Guy

  5. The Redemption of Mary Magdalene

  6. Could Matthew have been Simon Peter's Tax Collector?

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Today we're beginning a series in which myself and my friend and drama professor Brenden Taylor will be discussing the miniseries "The Chosen."

According to their website, "The Chosen is the first-ever-multi-season TV show about the life of Jesus. Created outside of the Hollywood system, The Chosen allows us to see Him through the eyes of those who knew him. No matter where you are at in your journey with Jesus Christ, this TV show is for you."

If you haven't seen it yet, I highly encourage you to watch it. You can watch it for free by downloading the Chosen app for iTunes or Android from the Apple App Store or from their website. They will ask you to make a donation to help support future seasons/episodes, which I also highly encourage you to do, but you do not need to donate to watch the first season. Once you watch the first episode, you'll be hooked.

Season 1 is already available, but they are working on Season 2 as we speak.

I hope you'll join Brenden and myself for what I think will be a fun and informative conversation about the series as a whole (today) and about each episode in the weeks to come.

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe,  rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Apple Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Imagine you’re one of the Christian families in Acts chapter 8 who are forced to flee Jerusalem because of persecution. You end up in a new town. You’re now the only Christians in that town. If a church is going to be formed there, you’re gonna have to do it. What do you do? What would that look like?

Also, imagine — and this will be much easier for most of you — that a pandemic has just hit and churches have closed their doors for two months. What are you going to?

And while you're imagining that, think about this question — What’s the smallest number of Christians you need to have a legitimate church?

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The smallest number of people you need to have a healthy and legitimate church.

  2. The difficulty most of us face in 2020 trying to imagine a different kind of church than we're used to.

  3. What we think we need to have a legitimate church vs. what we really need.

  4. The four primary functions of a healthy church.

  5. What church has looked like for about 12 of us during the pandemic and why it just might work for you.

  6. The important ingredients in our new "model" of church.

  7. How this new experience of church has changed us all.

  8. How and why you might try this approach to church.

What I want you to see, and why I wanted to talk about this today is to help you see that any of you can do this. There’s simply no reason to have been alone in front of the TV every week wishing for the churches to open their doors again.

The Kingdom of God doesn’t collapse just because buildings are closed. It’s my contention that the Kingdom can thrive, as it always has, when difficulties arise. God is still God, and his people can still meet and grow and serve and love.

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And with that, I want to thank you for joining us today. I hope you’ll join us again next week.

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Apple Music.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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We all have our fears, don’t we? Maybe you’re afraid of being alone. Maybe you’re afraid of being rejected. Perhaps your greatest fear is the fear of the unknown; of the future; of dying. The point is, we all have our fears. We all have those things that make us afraid.

But for some of us, fear can become crippling. Debilitating. Paralyzing. Some common fears I've encountered in myself and others are:

Fear of embarrassment

Fear of never getting married/being alone

Fear of being worthless/useless/hopeless

Fear of not being loved

Fear of failure

Fear of conflict/confrontation

Fear of rejection

Fear of being vulnerable

Fear of financial problems/poverty

Fear of the future

Fear of death

So we’re going to try and unravel some things related to fear today and hopefully get us moving in a healthy direction.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The two different kinds of fear

  2. Can we really live without ever being afraid?

  3. How to live in the midst of fear

  4. THE key to overcoming fear

  5. The one thing God always says in Scripture regarding to fear

  6. How overcoming fear ties back into love and trust

  7. The antidote to fear

  8. The management strategy for fear

  9. Three stories from Scripture that illustrate all of this.

  10. What about those times when God is with us and yet we still suffer?

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND NOW ALSO ON AMAZON MUSIC!

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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If you read the Bible the way Jesus read the Bible, or you read the Bible the way Paul read the Bible, or if you read the Bible the way the writer of Hebrews or Peter or any of the apostles read the Bible, you will fail seminary classes.

That’s your Paul Harvey teaser. Join me today to get the rest of the story.

I want to talk briefly today about how we read the Bible and how we should read the Bible.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The difference between exegesis and hermeneutics, and why each are important in biblical interpretation.

  2. What the heck is historical-critical exegesis?

  3. The problem with critical biblical interpretation

  4. Why you have to be a Christian to REALLY understand the Bible.

  5. Two important guidelines for Bible reading (but not the only guidelines)

  6. The Rest of the Story - why Jesus and Paul would fail seminary classes

  7. Reading the story through the lens of its conclusion

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth (4th edition, 2014), by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition

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Today we're talking about another part of freedom, and that’s the idea of identity. And this ties in closely with last week’s episode. You have two choices in life: You can see yourself as a son or daughter of God. Or you can see yourself as an orphan. And it matters greatly how you see yourself. Because if the enemy or the world can convince us that we’re something other than what God says we are, we will never make it.

And Satan will try and attack us either by casting doubt on the nature of God or by dismantling our sense of our own identity.

Join me today as we discuss . . . .

  1. Who are you . . . really?

  2. How the Lord helped me sort this out for myself

  3. Several important truths about how God created you from Psalm 139

  4. The hope of re-creation in Christ.

  5. The contrast between seeing ourselves as slaves and seeing ourselves as sons/daughters.

  6. Important insights from the story of the Prodigal Son.

  7. Four important truths about your new identity as an adopted son or daughter of God.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Heart of an Orphan vs. The Heart of a Son (PDF)

  2. Neil Cole, Cultivating a Life for God

Cultivating A Life For God: Multiplying Disciples Through Life Transformation Groups

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The big thing we have to understand about spiritual freedom is that it’s rooted, not in an event or a process, but in a person — Jesus Christ. And we see this in two passages in the gospel of John (John 15:4-5, and John 8:31-36)

Jesus couldn't be clearer. It’s only by clinging to him — abiding in him — that we become free and remain free.

And because that's so, one of the first things we’ve got to get settled in all this is our belief in who God is. Not our belief in God, but our belief in who he is. Because we will never abide in him — cling to him — if we don’t see him as he is.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Who God says he is.

  2. Wrestling with God as a Father

  3. God is better than your earthly father - maybe by a lot!

  4. What a good father looks like.

  5. How a loving God deals with imperfect people.

  6. How to really please God.

  7. How the Adversary tries to get us to believe things about God that are not true.

  8. How to begin moving from doubt to faith

  9. Do you have the heart of an orphan or the heart of a son/daughter? And why it matters so much.

  10. Three concrete ways you can begin to experience God’s heart for you.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Heart of an Orphan vs. The Heart of a Son (PDF) Note -- This PDF is available on the Jesus Society Facebook group page. The link should take you there. I couldn't figure out how to add a PDF directly to the show notes for the podcast. Hope you find it helpful.

  2. Growing in Intimacy with God - Does God Talk to Us? (Episode 11 - May 4, 2020)

  3. Growing in Intimacy with God - Prayer as Dialogue (Episode 12 - May 11, 2020)

  4. Growing in Intimacy with God - Learning to Live Loved (Episode 13 - May 18, 2020)

  5. Growing in Intimacy with God - Where is God When I Hurt? (Episode 14 - May 25, 2020)

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So we’re gonna be talking over the next few weeks about the idea of freedom — what it is, why we need it, and how to get it. In John 8:31-32, Jesus says, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth will set you free. Well . . . free from what? The easiest answer here is free from sin. But I think Jesus’ concept of freedom is bigger than that. I think he’s envisioning a freedom from anything that holds you back from becoming Christlike, and thus living the full and abundant life he wants you to live. Free to love and to be loved. Free to succeed, and free to fail. Free to hurt and free to heal.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Brokenness vs. Bondage

  2. The nature of bondage

  3. What exactly is "the abundant life?"

  4. The two categories of lies the enemy tells us

  5. What freedom looks like

  6. How to cooperate with Jesus in moving toward

  7. How freedom happens

  8. The two critical tools that God gives us that we tend to run away from

  9. The big rocks of freedom that we're going to be addressing in the coming weeks.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. American Gospel: Christ Alone (available on Amazon Prime and Netflix)
None

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Today I’m going to introduce what we’re going to be talking about for the next few weeks. There’s a story in the New Testament that I think introduces our subject beautifully. And that is the story of the woman at the well in John 4. So today, we’re going to walk through that story and notice some things about this interaction with this woman. And we’re going to pay particular attention to who this woman is, what her life has been like up to this point, the baggage she has been carrying around, and the ways she has been coping with that baggage so that she could survive and function in her society. AND, how Jesus sets her free from all of that.

And THAT is the subject we’re going to be exploring in the weeks ahead — freedom.

Jesus wants to transform all of us into agents of Kingdom blessing in God’s good world. And the key word there is the word “transform.” Because on the front end of our journey with God, none of us are very Christlike. We’ve lived too long in this world and the world has had its way with us. And so we're battered and bruised, and we’ve picked up a lot of junk along the way. And those things affect the way we think about ourselves and about others, and the way we treat ourselves and others. And our heart has figured out ways to hide from the truth. And in a very real way, we are in bondage to those things.

And part of the transformation Jesus wants to bless us with involves setting us free from those broken ways of thinking and behaving that keep us bound up. So in the weeks ahead, we’re going to talk about some ways in which we can begin to face the truth about who we are and who God is and allow him to begin to help us get that stuff out into the light where it can be named and dealt with.

And I think the story of the woman at the well is the perfect place to begin that journey.

You can find the story in John 4:1-42. Join me today as we discuss it!

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. The Complete Chronicles of Narnia (Boxed Set - 7 Books), by C. S. Lewis (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0583331378/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_lKdkFbKMK2Y0K)
COMPLETE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

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Today I’m going try and tackle, in an introductory way, the subject of calling, what it means to find your calling, and some suggestions on how to do that. And the reason I say this is introductory is that calling is something that unfolds over time in the context of a relationship with God. And neither I nor anyone else can help you sort out your calling in a 30-60 minute podcast where it’s just me talking to you.

So this is us dipping our toes into the water, hopefully getting ourselves sorted out and moving in the right direction, and learning to avoid some of the common ways we get tripped up in our search for our calling in the modern world.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Some o the reasons why calling is so difficult to sort out.

  2. Five common misconceptions about calling.

  3. Two important precursors to finding your calling.

  4. Ten questions to aid you in sorting out your own calling.

  5. Why you just can't find your calling by yourself.

  6. The thing that is far more important than having a calling.

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. David G. Benner, The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery (2015).

  2. Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation (2006).

  3. Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabille, The Road Back to You (2016).

  4. Gordon Marino, “A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love’”, May 17, 2014 (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/a-life-beyond-do-what-you-love/)

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation (Transforming Resources)
The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery (The Spiritual Journey)

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NOTE: If you haven't listened to last week's episode, you should listen to it before you listen to this episode. There is some useful background material there, and you will understand this episode better if you listen to last week's episode first.

Last week we started talking about series of shifts that took place beginning in the early 300s AD that changed the nature of the way churches functioned in the world pretty much from then on, and not necessarily for the better. Church historians call this the Christendom Shift. It's a shift that took place from the period of pre-Christiandom (the first three centuries AD), to Christendom (everything after the early AD 300s).

And like most societal changes, this didn’t happen overnight; it actually took about 100 years, but if we were going to try to put a starting point on it, it’d probably be when Constantine became emperor. Before Constantine, Christianity was subversive and counter-cultural, and in many ways, it was hard to be a Christian. And within a century of Constantine, it’s punishable by death to NOT be a Christian. After Constantine’s time, Christianity has a huge impact on mainstream culture. And that in turn changed Christianity. And we talked at length about Constantine in last week’s epiosode.

So there are about eight ways in which Christianity changed after Constantine. And we talked about four of those last week, and we’re going to talk about the other four this week.

I am deeply indebted for much of my understanding of all this to the work of Alan Kreider, who was an Anabaptist Menonite scholar. He passed away just a few years ago, but he wrote a number of books and articles about early Christianity and the Christendom shift that have been really helpful to me. There is a link below to a book he wrote in 2007 that sums up most of this pretty well. It’s called The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. How the church moved from seeing themselves as resident aliens to seeing themselves as residents after Constantine.

  2. How the church viewed Jesus differently in Christendom than they did in pre-Christendom.

  3. How Christian assemblies changed both in form and in function after Christendom, and how that affected the transformation of Christians.

  4. How mission changed after Christendom.

  5. Why all of this matters, and how much of these issues continue to influence Christianity even today.

God’s church — as he designed it — is wonderful! His Kingdom is the most heavenly thing you can experience on earth. Living in relationship with God’s redeemed and transformed people is simple, it’s safe, it’s energizing, and it’s so very attractive to people. God’s power in us to be his arms and his feet and his hands and using us to bless the world is the greatest adventure you will ever live. God’s ways are perfect, and they lead to all of his blessings` — for us, and for the world. Don’t cheapen that or diminish it by settling for less in any of the ways the church of the fourth century did. Don’t do it. Please.

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Alan Kreider, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom (2007).
The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom

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Today and next week, we’re going to talk about a seismic shift that took place in early Christianity, beginning in the early fourth century AD (300s) that changed the way churches functioned from then on, and not necessarily for the better. Scholars call this the Christendom Shift.

It is a shift that took place from the period of pre-Christiandom (the early church of the first three centuries), to Christendom (everything after the early AD 300s). And like most societal changes, this didn’t happen overnight; it actually took about 100 years, but if we were going to try to put a pivot point on it, it’d probably be when Constantine became emperor.

Before Constantine, Christianity was subversive and counter-cultural and so much outside of the mainstream culture that it was, at times, regarded as a threat punishable by death. And within a century of Constantine, it’s punishable by death to NOT be a Christian.

Most of my understanding of all this rests on the work of Alan Kreider, who was an Anabaptist Menonite scholar. He passed away just a few years ago, but he wrote a number of books and articles about early Christianity and the Christendom shift. And I did a fair amount of work in graduate school interacting with his work (see resources below).

This stuff is really important, I think, and there are a lot of implications in all this for today's church. This is Part 1 of a two-part look at the Christendom Shift.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. The role of Constantine the Great in starting the Christendom Shift

  2. The first four of eight ways in which Christianity was changed as a result of the Christendom Shift, many of which remain to this day: Vantage Point, Attraction, Power, and Sanctions.

  3. How laws, monks, and landowners worked together to make Christianity compulsory.

  4. Why these things are so important to us today.

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Alan Kreider, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom (2007).

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Today, I want to try and give you a picture of what going to church in the first century was like — what it looked and felt like, and how it embodied everything we’ve been talking about. But we have to start with a word or two about the phrase “going to church” and a few of the other phrases we use to talk about gathering together with other Christians — like “attending church” or referring to our gatherings as “services.” I find those terms inadequate and unhelpful, BECAUSE those terms fail to capture the intent of Christian assemblies AND what I think the earliest Christians experienced when they met.

Ideas of attendance, ceremony, and even assembly just don’t capture the spirit or purpose of early Christian gatherings. Early Christian gatherings were humble gatherings that edified Christians. They were small in scale, domestic in setting, rhetorically unpolished, ritually unimpressive, and mostly restricted to Christians. Their aim was not to impress the masses but rather to equip the Christians as individuals and communities to live their faith attractively. To this end, their gatherings fed them with spiritual food from the Word and reminded them of their Lord and King in the Lord’s Supper. Those were things necessary to sustain them as they followed Jesus in a dangerous world.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. House churches and households in the first century

  2. What a typical household looked like in early Christianity and how the household functioned in society

  3. The importance of hospitality in the world of the early church

  4. How church structures encourage or discourage community and intimacy

  5. The five kinds of gatherings in the ministry of Jesus

  6. The five church models we see in 21st Century America

  7. Why I am a fan of house churches

  8. Practical reasons why I think house churches will become more common in the United States

  9. How discipleship and ideology transfer happens best

10.The best book I've ever found that describes what it felt like to be part of a first century church

11.My three non-negotiables for what church has to look like to embody everything we’ve been talking about in this podcast

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved.

_______________________

Resources for Today’s Show:

  1. Christine Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (1999).
  2. Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World (2018).
  3. Robert Banks, Going to Church in the First Century (1990).
  4. Robert J. Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community: Spirit and Culture in Early House Churches (3rd ed., 2020).
The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World
Paul's Idea of Community: Spirit and Culture in Early House Churches
Going to Church in the First Century
Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition

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Today I want to delve into early church history a bit. I think studying church history is important. And here’s why: If you don’t understand where you’ve come from, you have no ability to critique where you are. So I want us to spend some time looking at what Christianity looked like and how it functioned within the broader society in the roughly 300 years after Jesus. AND how all that informs our faith and our lives with Jesus today.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Christianity by the numbers - how much the early church grew and how fast.

  2. How and why the early church grew.

  3. What was the attraction in early Christianity.

  4. Jesus, Origen, and being lights in the world.

  5. The importance of virtue and friendship

  6. What is supposed to happen when the church gathers vs. what we think is supposed to happen.

  7. Why people became Christians in the first century

  8. The importance of individual charity in the early church.

  9. Is Christianity still attractive today?

  10. Disaffiliated Christians today and what might be attractive to them. It's not what you think.

  11. Attractive Christians vs. attractive church services. They're not the same thing.

  12. The first time I went to church after giving my life to the Lord, and what it teaches us.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

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Discernment and decision-making are things that always challenge us as we try to live our lives before God. Discerning his will, discerning our own roles in God's world, making decisions, keeping our own motivations in check -- all these things challenge us. Sometimes we do it well, and sometimes we don't. Today I want us to think a bit about engaging God more deeply in discernment & decision-making. It's a big subject, but I think you'll find some things here helpful.

Join me today as we discuss . . .

  1. The two paradigms to discernment and decision-making (one is unhelpful very common, and the other is helpful but less common).

  2. Why we get paralyzed in decision-making.

  3. A healthy view of discernment that treats it more as a lifestyle than as an event.

  4. The three ways God directs us according to St. Ignatius (1491-1556)

  5. A fourth way God directs us according to me.

  6. A deep dive into the practice of Examen (and yes, I spelled that right).

  7. How to best involve others in the discernment process.

  8. A helpful way to understand God's silence.

  9. Keeping "no" answers in the proper perspective (learning to see beyond the "no").

At the end of the day, discernment is a practiced skill, less of an event than something lived out in relationship with a Father who loves you deeply. Don't forget that.

Resources for Today's Show:

  • R. M. Dougherty, Discernment: A Path to Spiritual Awakening. Washington, DC: Shalem (2009).
  • Ernest Larkin, Silent Presence: Discernment as Process and Problem. Dimension (1998).
  • Ruth Haley Barton, “Discernment: Finding God in All Things."

Thanks for joining us today. I hope you’ll join us again next week.

As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask questions, and share your own story of how the Father is loving you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved.

Discernment: A Path to Spiritual Awakening
Silent Presence: Discernment As Process and Problem

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Part of the journey God has called us all on is to invite others into the journey and to help them learn to live lives of increasing surrender to and intimacy with God. We have some Bible words for those kinds of “inviting” activities: evangelism and discipleship. And there are more modern church-words that try to get at the same thing: conversion, proselytization, soul-winning, etc.

The problem is that most of those words have become a bit tainted for a lot of us. We’ve seen people engaged in those activities who are manipulative, aggressive, forceful, relentless. And we’ve seen those things done in ways that have been damaging and abusive and self-serving. And that has given us a bad taste in our mouths for those kinds of things.

I have no problem with the Bible words, provided we understand them correctly (which we don’t always). But I’d like to talk today about the need to help others along in a way that fits within the kingdom values we’ve been discussing for the last 17 episodes. And for me, the word that I use the most is the word nurture.

Join me today as we discuss . . .

  1. The idea of spiritual nurture.

  2. How our idea of what church is shapes our idea of what leadership looks like.

  3. The four components of spiritual health.

  4. The limits of theological education.

  5. The importance of emotional intelligence and its four components.

  6. The necessity of spiritual mothers and fathers.

  7. What it means to be a shepherd.

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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes, ask any questions you have, and share your own story of how the Father is leading you and transforming you.

Also, check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Resources For Today’s Show:

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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After talking last week about justice in the Kingdom of God, and continuing to think about all the rancor and hostility and aggression we’ve been seeing in our country, I thought it’d be useful to talk about another word that is important in the Kingdom of God, and that's peace.

Join me today as we discuss . . .

  1. The biblical concept of peace.

  2. The fact that peace is not a goal but a result.

  3. What peace looks like.

  4. The problem of peace in our world.

  5. Some suggestions on how we as God's people can help create a culture of peace.

Jesus dreamed of a kingdom society, a society where God’s good will is done on earth as it is done in heaven. He dreamed of a society that in its soul was shaped by loving God and loving others, by justice for all and by peace that passes understanding. Peace flows from those who love sincerely and act justly. I believe if peace is going to get a chance today, it’s going to have to begin with those who claim to be followers of Jesus.

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We’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes and ask any questions you have. And please, tell us about your own walk with God - how you're learning to rest in his love and how he's changing you. And check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ll be back. And remember, you are greatly loved.

Resources For Today’s Show:

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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On today's episode, I wanted to because I want to talk about all the stuff going on in our country right now, particularly involving the death of George Floyd and its aftermath, all of it on the heels of the coronavirus, and the two-month lockdown and widespread unemployment that has caused. I think most of you will agree that things are an absolute mess right now, mostly concentrated in the big cities. So for those of us who are Christians, how do we come to terms with all of that, and how do we respond to it?

This is the most difficult episode I’ve had to prepare for thus far. I’ve rewritten my notes at least a half a dozen times and had several other people read them and provide feedback, which led to more editing. There are serious issues going on in our country right now, as you all know. And, this is the Jesus Society Podcast, not the current events podcast, or the political activism podcast. So I’m not going to talk about politics, and I’m not going to really talk about George Floyd’s death very much. I’m just not going to wade into that fray.

The last thing you all need is yet another voice telling you their perspective. The world will not be changed simply because I tell you all that I'm not a racist and that I don't support racism.

But the piece of all this that I want to talk about — because it fits with the theme of this podcast — is what the Kingdom of God has to say about this and things like this? In view of all that’s going on around George Floyd’s death, and the reaction to it nationwide, I decided this would be a good time to talk about justice.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. My own baggage surrounding the idea of justice.

  2. The biblical concept of justice in God's world: Justice = Rightness

  3. Why God gets so upset at injustice among his people.

  4. The anatomy of injustice.

  5. Where injustice comes from.

  6. Injustice and public opinion.

  7. A Jesus Society response to injustice (i.e., what, tangibly, can we do in the midst of our current situation).

Christianity has always been the great equalizer. There simply IS no prejudice in the Kingdom of God. Because is the Kingdom of God, and God is not prejudiced. He created every single one of us in his image, and adores us all. As Christians, we are against anyone who does violence to others, who abuses or hurts others. The Kingdom of God is founded on justice and righteousness and love, and carries an invitation to all to come and enjoy it.

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Thank you for joining us today. I hope you’ll join us again next week. We’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us on our Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes and ask any questions you have. And check out our website — thejesussociety.com.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ll be back. And remember, you are greatly loved.

_______________________

Resources for Today's Show:

  1. The prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

  1. https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-racists-repent-after-reading-statement-on-equality-from-hidden-valley-ranch

  2. Check out the song, Brighten the Corner Where You Are

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

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What is the church? Have you ever thought about that? Really thought about it?

Maybe you'd say it's the collection of saved people? And you'd be right.

Maybe you'd say it's the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-27)? Right again.

Or maybe you'd use Paul's language in 1 Tim. 3:15 and say the church is the pillar and support of the truth. Well who's gonna argue with Paul. Of course.

All those things are true, but I’d like to suggest there’s something even more basic. AND, I’m gonna suggest that if we don’t get this right, the church is never gonna be any of those other things we read about. And if you’ve been listening to this podcast from about Episode 2 on, you might know where I’m going here. But to flesh this out, let’s start on Day 1 of the church, which we read about Acts chapter 2.

Join me today as we discuss:

  1. Being adopted by God

  2. Acts 2 and the first Christians.

  3. The relational ways the New Testament describes coming to Christ.

  4. What relationships are supposed to look like in the family of God.

  5. The idea of fellowship in the New Testament - it means more than potlucks.

  6. Independence vs. Interdependence.

  7. The characteristics of Jesus Society Relationships

  8. The virtue of being non-manipulative

  9. Living love without agenda

Resources For Today’s Show:

I’ve just created a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast, and I’d invite you to visit us there. Just search Jesus Society Podcast, and I’m sure you’ll find it. It’s a private group, so you’ll have to ask to join, and there is a code of conduct you need to agree to. Feel free to ask questions or suggest topics for episodes of the podcast.

Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life, by Henry Cloud and John Townsend (2017)

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life

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We’ve been talking for the last few weeks about learning to live in intimacy with the Father and learning to live in the reality of his love. I think it's the most important part of our transformation. And our transformation is essential if we’re to be salt and light to the world around us, and bear the image of God to the world. But the thing that will derail all that quicker than anything, in my opinion and experience, is pain and suffering.

In Psalms 10:1, the Palmist asks a familiar question: “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” If you’ve lived very long in this world as an adult, you understand that question. Because it certainly feels, at times, that God does hide himself in times of trouble. The hard, cold reality of life with God is that he doesn’t often do what we think he should . . . or in the way we think he should . . . or when we think he should. He doesn’t often seem to prevent disaster, or heartache, or pain, or abuse, or death. People – even good people, even God’s people – suffer in this world at the hands of others, and sometimes they just seem to suffer at the hands of life itself. And the fact that God doesn’t often prevent the pain has caused every generation to question his power or his love or even his very existence. Including me.

“Why? Where are you, God? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” These are hard questions, and we often ask them in the darkest moments of our lives, in the midst of crushing pain or desperate fear.

I don’t have any easy answers. But I have been wrestling with these questions for a long, long time. And my wrestling has not been an abstract academic exercise. It has been because I’ve spent a good deal of time in the midst of miseries of my own – the kinds of things that would prompt questions as the psalmist asks. So I understand the questions because I understand where they come from.

God’s answers have been slow in coming, and maybe don’t even qualify as answers as much as insights. And I suspect that the slowness has had more to do with my capacity to absorb new perspectives than with reluctance on the part of God. But he has taught me some things that have caused me to love him even more now than before.

Join me in today's episode as we discuss:

  1. Life in a fallen world.

  2. The choice to embrace God in the midst of pain.

  3. The futility of trying to understand the hurt.

  4. Paul's motivation to rejoice in affliction and how it can work for us.

  5. The absolute necessity of NOT suffering in silence.

  6. A couple of quotes and a song recommendation you absolutely don't want to miss!

Resources For Today’s Show:

He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father's Affection, by Wayne Jacobsen (2008).

PLEASE listen to the song Gratitude, by Nicole Nordeman

Thank you for joining us today. As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please visit us at our website — thejesussociety.com — which we’ve also just launched, and which we’ll be updating as we go along. Also, please join us and be part of the conversation on our new Jesus Society Facebook group.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ll be back. And remember, you are unbelievably loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

He Loves Me! Learning to Live in the Father's Affection

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We live at the mercy of our ideas. And that is never more true than when it comes to our ideas about God. If we think of him one way, it will color all of our expectations of him, and taint all of our reactions to what we perceive him to be doing — or not doing — in our world.

The thing that has changed the trajectory of my life the most — moving me from trying to appease God by my efforts and by trying to have everything figured out and being “right,” to learning how I could live inside the affection the Father already has for me and to let that be enough — has been learning what it means to live loved.

God loves you. It’s what we believe and what we tell others. It really is the most important thing, and it’s why I end every podcast with the reminder that “you are greatly loved.” Paul will say it this way: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Unfortunately, many of us have never learned to live as if he really did love us. And so we live captive to fear, and shame, and frustration, hiding from God much as Adam and Eve did in the garden. And there’s a huge difference between the knowledge of God’s love and actually living in that love. There is a huge difference between the intellectual acknowledgment that God loves us and the lived reality of moving through your life as if you actually believed it to be true.

All that has changed for me in the last dozen years or so, and what my family and I have experienced since has been much, much closer to fulfilling every hope and desire we had for what life in Christ was meant to be and how we could live alongside others in that same joy. And no, life has not been easy since then. We’ve known some very dark and painful times, but we’ve never been alone in them. We’ve been able to find our way into the reality of his love and follow him — very imperfectly — through those things in a way that has transformed us in the process. It is a much, much better way to live our lives individually and together.

Join me today as we talk about:

  1. How we get from here to there.
  2. What Ephesians 3:14-21 has to teach us about both God's power and his love.
  3. What difference all this makes . . . really.
  4. How to begin to view our circumstances in light of the goodness of God, as opposed to the other way around.

You will never obey one whom you do not trust. And you will never trust one whom you aren’t convinced loves you absolutely. And the Father loves you absolutely! Trusting God is not about outcomes, folks. This life was never meant to be one of ease and convenience. “In this life you will have trouble,” Jesus said. Rather, life is about an engaged relationship with a Father who loves you deeply, and who will walk with you, nurture you, and care for you through whatever life dishes out. The Father wants to provide for you a “peace that passes understanding” in the midst of the pain, uncertainty, and discomfort of life, because he's in it with you.

THAT is the journey God has called us to be on with him.

Resources for Today's Show:

I’ve just created a Facebook group for the Jesus Society Podcast, and I’d invite you to visit us there. Just search “Jesus Society Podcast,” and I’m sure you’ll find it. It’s private group, so you’ll have to ask to join, and there is a code of conduct you need to agree to. This is not a debate group, because I just don’t have the appetite for doctrinal battles. Feel free to suggest topics for episodes and ask any questions you

He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection, by Wayne Jacobsen (2008)

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music

He Loves Me! Learning to Live in the Father's Affection

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Today we're going to talk about reimagining prayer as dialogue as opposed to monologue. Prayer is communion with God, which is relationship-building. Prayer is where intimacy with God is forged. And as such, prayer is meant to be a two way communication with God. And that’s really different from what I had always thought and from what I’d always been taught. And what I’m gonna describe here is what’s called contemplative prayer. And Christians have been practicing contemplative prayer for well over a thousand years. But you hardly ever hear about it in evangelical circles.

The truth is that our prayer lives tend to evolve over time, and go through a few predictable stages:

  1. The first way we often approach God can be thought of as saying your prayers. In other words, talking at God.
  2. The second stage in the evolution of prayer is talking to God. As we mature in our relationship with God, we become more comfortable finding our own words to speak to him rather than using the ready-made prayers of our childhood. And so we quit talking at God and we start talking to God, speaking to him from our hearts and telling him all about the things that are going on in our lives right now.
  3. So that brings us to the next stage in the evolution of our prayer life, which is listening to God. Instead of a monologue, prayer becomes a dialogue. We’re still talking to God, but we’re also learning to listen.

Learning to listen in relationships is important. One of the first things marriage counselors often have to spend time on when a couple comes to see them is communication. And a big part of that is helping them develop some active listening skills. Because too often, couples just don’t listen to each other. When one starts speaking, the other immediately starts formulating their response (or rebuttal). But the mark of a mature person, at least when it comes to communication, is the ability to really listen. And that’s true also with my relationship with God.

And just like in any healthy relationship, learning to listen involves shutting down my own inner monologue and learning to be attentive to the other person. So to do that with God, we’ve got to learn to embrace quiet.

I don’t think it’s news to an of us here that we live in an insanely busy society. Or at least we did until the pandemic hit. And I use the word insanely on purpose. The frantic and overly scheduled way some of us have been living our lives is just not sane. There are countless studies and articles demonstrating that. Richard Foster, in his wonderful book A Celebration of Discipline, wrote, “In contemporary society, our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in “muchness” and “manyness,” he will rest satisfied . . . Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil.” Foster wrote those words in 1978! That’s 42 years ago! And I think we’d all agree that things have only gotten worse. We’re too busy and hectic and distracted and overwhelmed. And we feel it, but most of us don’t have any idea how to live differently.

But decluttering our lives isn’t what we’re discussing today. Today, let’s start with learning to declutter our minds a bit when we spend time with the Father. Let’s start with learning to embrace the quiet there. In the quiet, we engage the deepest parts of our soul and invite God into the midst of it. And that is where intimacy happens. And it’s where transformation happens.

In the podcast, I describe what this usually looks like for me.

So, what does God sound like? What should I expect? So rather than being an inner, audible voice, I and a good many others have discovered that God’s voice in our heads and hearts sounds more like a flow of spontaneous thoughts. In fact, I think this is the normal way God speaks to us. The Lord will speak to us in other ways, if necessary, but I think he’d rather we learn to discern Him speaking in spontaneous thoughts through His Spirit from within our own hearts.

Now what do I mean by spontaneous? Well, the voice of God is Spirit-to-spirit communication, the Holy Spirit speaking directly to my spirit. We sense it most often as a spontaneous thought, idea, or word. Thoughts from my own mind, on the other hand, tend to be analytical and cognitive. I reason them out; one thought logically follows the next. The best way I can describe it is that occasionally when I’m in prayer or reading Scripture, I’ll have a spontaneous thought that I know didn’t come from me. It’s not the direction my mind was going; it’s nothing I’ve thought before, and often, because of my own biases or predispositions, it’s not really something I would think of on my own. It’s a bit of an unexpected surprise.

Characteristics of these spontaneous thoughts that help me recognize and have confidence that they come from God:

  1. First, they’re like my own thoughts, except that they come from a deeper place. In other words, they’re qualitatively different from my normal thoughts. But because they come from within me, they’re similar to my own thoughts. Deeper, richer, but similar.
  2. God’s voice is often soft and gentle and easily cut off by any exertion of self. If I interrupt the spontaneous, intuitive flow with my own analysis, God usually does not try to shout above the noise to regain my attention.
  3. God’s voice often has a deeper, richer content, meaning it is better and somewhat different than my own thoughts. God’s voice is wiser, more merciful, more discerning, and much more aware of motives. Sometimes, like Jesus often did with his disciples, God will ignore the question you ask and address the real heart of the issue.
  4. God’s voice often causes a special reaction within me. These spontaneous thoughts often produce a deeply emotional response. And see, my own thoughts don’t. I don’t know that I’ve ever moved myself to tears. But God has. There’s sometimes a sense of excitement, conviction, humility, awe, or peace that results from hearing God’s voice.
  5. God tends to speak with love in a way that leads us to freedom.

So, when you think you’ve heard something from God, what do you do with it? People often get tripped up by the uncertainty of knowing how to sort out whether what I’m “hearing” is God or myself or even Satan? Those are good questions to ask. And just like learning any new language, this takes patience, discernment, and attentiveness. But let me give you some suggestions.

  1. First of all, compare what you think you’re hearing with the Word. Paul says that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The greatest protection we have on our spiritual journey is the Word of God. Scripture is our plumb-line. God will never contradict Scripture. But if you don’t know Scripture, how will you know if you’re being led astray by the voice in your head? A good knowledge of the Scriptures can save us from a host of errors and heartaches. You’ve got to have a knowledge of the Word of God.
  2. Secondly, check out what you’re hearing with others. Find a few trusted and spiritually mature brothers or sisters in Christ who know you well, who love God deeply, and who love you. Tell them what you think God is saying to you and ask them to pray about that and help you discern whether it’s God’s voice or not. Because listen, I am so self-absorbed that there is virtually nothing I can’t talk myself into and turn it into the will of God. And the only protection I have against that willfulness is the Word of God and the wisdom of the spiritual community around me.
  3. Thirdly, does it line up with the character of God? Is this something God would say? We know God is holy. We know God is loving. We know God is righteous. We know he is redemptive in nature. Does what we think we’re hearing mesh with what we know about his character? Or does it seem slightly out of character? If so, there are two options: 1) Maybe you don’t understand God’s character as well as you think you do. Or 2) maybe you’re hearing your own heart and your own will. Again, most of us are highly skilled at taking our own self-serving thoughts and baptizing them with righteousness.
  4. Number four — and this mostly pertains to those times when I sense God directing me to do something (which honestly isn’t often for me)— does what I’m hearing pertain top an area for which I am responsible? As a general rule, God tends to give revelation only for the areas in which He has given authority and responsibility. Stay away from ego trips that looks for revelation for areas in which you don’t have authority. Don’t look for a “word from the Lord” for someone else, unless God has placed you in a position of responsibility for that person (like your children, for instance). If you think you hear something for someone else, be extremely cautious about sharing that, especially without running it past your spiritual community first.
  5. Number five — Will this produce good fruit and lead to freedom? God will never instruct you to do things that don’t bear good fruit, and he will never lead you into bondage. He will speak life and peace and love into your life. He will instruct you toward things that bear good fruit. “The fruit of the Spirit,” we’re told, “is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23). God will lead you in those directions — always!
  6. Number six — Will this lead me to humility, and does it inspire greater trust of God? I have found that God is constantly calling me to greater levels of trust and humility. He will always lead you toward greater dependence on him. God has vested us with a measure of self-determination and free will, but that is best enjoyed within the context of a dependence on God. If what you think you hear leads you away from that, it’s most certainly not of God.

Now, what about the devil? This is a little tricky, and I’m not going to say a lot about it except to say that I do not believe the devil lives inside our heads. If you’re a Christian, the Spirit of God lives inside you, and I do not believe the devil is allowed a place there. I believe that’s scriptural, but it’d take more time than we have to flesh that out. But I will give you one passage that suggests that: 1 John 4:4, which is kinda our theme verse in the Jesus Society. It says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Some Final Thoughts:

  1. Don’t expect to hear his voice every time you pray. I have not found God to work that way. In my experience, God is not “chatty.” He doesn’t say a lot, but he can say more with a few words than anyone I’ve ever met. And those words will carry you for days, weeks, months, and years.
  2. Most of you have already heard from God; you just may not have recognized it as God. And not everyone hears God the same. My wife tends to hear him in songs. He often brings songs to mind as she’s in prayer that speak to her deeply. But . . . she has the entirety of Christian hymnody memorized, so of course God would use that to speak to her. The point is, God speaks to us as individuals.
  3. And another thing — there are some things that in my experience God is just not interested in talking about. If you go to God with questions about the future or “what’s going to happen,” (which is what most of our questions involve), God tends to go quiet. And I think I know why. In my experience, anytime you ask God to give you information that undermines trust, God tends to be silent.
  4. Remember that God’s goal for you is your transformation. He wants to lead you to greater holiness and to untwist all of those little twisted places within you and to demolish all those hidden alliances you carry.

I’ve got some more book recommendations for you if you want to go further into all this stuff. I can vouch for every one of them. They’re all books I’ve read and they’ve all proven tremendously helpful to me in building intimacy with God. You'll find them below under Resources.

In the end, you can only learn to encounter God by encountering God. Again, the quote from Arthur Miller that I gave you last week is helpful: “How does [God] so communicate with you? How will you know? Because God has designed your frame and understands how you are put together, and how you function, what you notice and what you ignore, what you read, what you hear, and what gets your attention. Because the Spirit of God is resident within you and has a job to do as you do yours — leading, nudging, instructing, guiding, opening new doors, reminding, questioning, affirming, prodding, sometimes engineering circumstances — strange, extraordinary things happen. If you need a knock on the side of your head, or a sense of God’s love that will take your breath away — that will happen in God’s time and in a way only you will understand.” - Arthur F. Miller, Jr.

Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ll be back. And remember, you are greatly loved.

Resources for today’s show:

  1. Armchair Mystic: How Contemplative Prayer Can Lead You Closer to God, by Mark E. Thibodeaux SJ (2001, updated 2019)

  2. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God, by Dallas Willard (2012)

  3. Walking with God: How to Hear His Voice, by John Eldredge (2016)

  4. Soul Work: Confessions of a Part-Time Monk, by Randy Harris (2011)

  5. Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence, by Ruth Haley Barton (2010)

  6. Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation, by Ruth Haley Barton (2006)

  7. The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence, by Henri J. M. Nouwen

  8. He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection, by Wayne Jacobsen (2008)

  9. The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery, by David G. Benner (expanded ed. 2015)

Music and Sound by Nathan Longwell Music

He Loves Me! Learning to Live in the Father's Affection
The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence
Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation (Transforming Resources)
The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery (The Spiritual Journey)
Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence (Transforming Resources)
Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God
Walking With God: Talk to Him, Hear From Him, Really
Armchair Mystic: How Contemplative Prayer Can Lead You Closer to God
Soul Work: Confessions of a Part Time Monk

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How do we learn to lean into God, to experience him more fully, and to come to rest in his love for us? To relate to God not just as a distant King who we’ve read a book about, but as a real, present, loving Father who “walks with us and talks with us and tells us we are his own.” Because for me, everything God wants to do in us and through us hinges on an unfolding relationship and growing intimacy with God. That's the subject of today's show, and in particular, we're going to talk about what communication looks like in the relationship between us and the Father.

If we’re going to develop real intimacy with God, there has to be communication, and that communication has to be both ways. And that’s often where we as Christians stumble. Because we understand talking to God. But it doesn’t always seem like God talks to us. Or maybe some of us don’t believe God talks to us. I’ve spent much of my adult life as part of a denomination that largely denies that God speaks to us. He spoke to us in creating the Bible, and that’s the only way he speaks.

So, what about this idea that God talks to us? Should we expect it? Does Scripture affirm it? Yes. There are loads of examples of God talking to individuals, and there just seems to be the overwhelming expectation on the part of the biblical writers that God speaks to his people. For example:

  1. Ps. 4:1 — “Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”
  2. Ps. 16:7-8 — “I will praise the Lord who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand.” This is parallelism. The Lord counsels me; my heart instructs me.
  3. Ps. 17:6 — “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.” Again, there’s the expectation of an answer.
  4. Ps. 28:1 — “To you I call, O Lord my rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone to the pit.”
  5. Matt. 4:4 — “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
  6. John 10:1-18 — The sheep follow him because they know his voice. Hearing God is about relationship with him. Calling his sheep by name = personal. He created us to encounter him.
  7. John 14:15-18 — The Spirit (Counselor) - “you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” You can’t know him if he’s silent and invisible.
  8. John 16:12-13 — The Spirit will speak and guide you.

Okay, so Scripture affirms both God’s willingness to speak to us and the expectation of his people throughout history that he will. Speaking words is one form of communication, but God can speak to us without words, too, just like we do.

So take a few minutes and think: How many different ways in can you think of in Scripture that God has communicated with people? Here are a few:

  1. Audibly (Paul on the Damascus Road — Acts 9:1-9)
  2. Through a donkey (Balaam’s donkey — Num. 22:21-39)
  3. Through a burning bush (Moses — Ex. 3)
  4. Writing on the wall (Daniel 5)
  5. Through other people
  6. Through prophets (Agabus re. Paul’s imprisonment)
  7. Through his Word (which is the plumb line for hearing God in other ways)
  8. Dreams/visions (Paul/Man from Macedonia — Acts 16:6-10)
  9. Through creation (Psalm 19:1; Rom. 1:18-20)
  10. Through confirmation from two or more sources saying the same thing

How about some more modern ways? What other ways have you experienced in your own life where you felt like God was speaking to you? Where he got your attention in a way that felt like time stopped for a minute and revealed something brand new to you that changed the way you saw yourself or the world around you.

  1. Music (God used the song Desperado to get my attention one time)
  2. Books
  3. Movies
  4. The Bible (the first time I ever "heard" God speak to me I was reading Ps. 139)

The point is that God is endlessly creative. He has every means of communication at his disposal to communicate with you. So we shouldn’t expect that it’s only gonna happen in just one way.

So what are some of the barriers to hearing from God?

  1. The first one is disbelief. If you don’t believe God speaks to you, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t or won’t. He’s not limited by your disbelief. But it does mean you won’t recognize it as God.
  2. Another barrier is simply the lack of training & examples. If no one guides us, how can we learn? Only once in my life have I ever seen a church that put forth any real effort to help its people learn how to discern the Lord’s voice for themselves. And that leaves people uncertain, unsteady in their faith, feeling like they should be able to hear from the Lord, but because they can’t, it must be because they lack faith, or they’re not good enough in some way. And it can really end up undermining people’s faith.
  3. "The UFO Syndrome” -- If you saw a UFO, would you tell anyone about it? Maybe not because of the fear of ridicule). Why is it that when we speak to God we are said to be praying, but when God speaks to us we are said to be schizophrenic? Why does it seem like such a bizarre thing to admit to people that we might actually hear from the Lord who created us?
  4. Some people get derailed by the fear that maybe it’s just all in our head. But why on earth should we expect the voice of God to arise from outside us when he has placed his own Spirit within us??!! Paul talks in both Gal. 5:25 and Rom. 8:16-17 about the Spirit living inside us and that we’re to “walk by the Spirit” and be “led by the Spirit.” How do you think that works? We should expect God to speak to us from within. We should expect that God’s “voice” is going to probably come from within and is probably gonna sound a lot like our voice.
  5. But that leads to the fear of being unable to distinguish our voice (or the enemy’s voice) from God’s voice. Well, discernment is something we struggle with sometimes, isn’t it? And it’s definitely healthy to want to make sure we’re discerning things correctly. “Do not believe every spirit,” we’re told in 1 John 4:1, “but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Discernment is a skill we’re supposed to grow in. But just because something requires spiritual discernment doesn’t mean we should avoid it, or disbelieve in it. It means we need to be careful, yes, and mature in our thinking, but we don’t reject it simply because it’s not easy.

Here are a few book recommendations that have helped me tremendously in learning to discern God's voice in my own life:

  1. Armchair Mystic: How Contemplative Prayer Can Lead You Closer to God, by Mark E. Thibodeaux SJ (2001, updated 2019)
  2. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God, by Dallas Willard (2012)
  3. Walking with God: How to Hear His Voice, by John Eldredge (2016)

Dallas Willard says, “Today, there is a desperate need for large numbers of people throughout our various social groupings who are competent and confident in their own practice of life in Christ and in hearing his voice. Such people would have the effect of concretely redefining Christian spirituality for our times. They would show us an individual and corporate human existence freely and intelligently lived from a hand-in-hand, conversational walk with God. That is the biblical ideal for human life.”

Arthur F. Miller says something that has helped me tremendously. He says, “How does [God] so communicate with you? How will you know? Because God has designed your frame and understands how you are put together, and how you function, what you notice and what you ignore, what you read, what you hear, and what gets your attention. Because the Spirit of God is resident within you and has a job to do as you do yours — leading, nudging, instructing, guiding, opening new doors, reminding, questioning, affirming, prodding, sometimes engineering circumstances — strange, extraordinary things happen. If you need a knock on the side of your head, or a sense of God’s love that will take your breath away — that will happen in God’s time and in a way only you will understand.” - Arthur F. Miller, Jr.

Thanks for spending time with us today. Please like and subscribe, and tell others about the podcast, if it's been helpful to you.

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music Provided by Nathan Longwell Music

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God
Walking With God: Talk to Him, Hear From Him, Really
Armchair Mystic: How Contemplative Prayer Can Lead You Closer to God

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We;'ve been talking about how in the Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurates in the New Testament, God is restoring Israel (and that includes all those who align themselves with and follow Israel’s new King Jesus). And she is now to be God’s representatives on earth, mediating God’s love and peace to the world around us, being a light to the nations and inviting people to taste and see that the Lord is good, and to live in fellowship with God and his people.

So this week, we start with a question, and that is: “What gives God any hope at all that his Kingdom people, who are called the church, will do any better job of living his kingdom vision and being a light to the nations than Israel did?”

One really good answer is that we have something Israel didn’t have — we have the Holy Spirit within us. So what does the Holy Spirit actually do within us that helps us become who God wants us to be in the world? If we’re going to be the agents of blessing and redemption in the world that God wants us to be — a kingdom of priests — the King’s ambassadors — we have to be different people than we are. Because we’ve all been twisted and broken, to greater or lesser degrees by the corruption and decay in the world around us. We’re all products of that.

And so first and foremost, we need to be transformed. And this isn’t really a secret in the Bible. For example, in Eph. 4:20-24, Paul says, “Now that you have come to know Christ . . . take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.”

He also says in Rom. 12:1-2 — “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

So, how does the Spirit help us with all that? So back in Ezekiel 36:25-27, there’s an interesting passage. It’s one of those “restoration of Israel” passages that we’ve talked about. And it’s one of the earliest references to God placing his Spirit inside man. And it says this: “I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances."

So, according to God, the giving of his Spirit to us will causes us to keep the law. And the law, as we’ve come to understand, is summarized by Jesus as what? Loving God and loving neighbor. So the Spirit will help us to keep God’s law by helping us love God and love our neighbor more and better.

In the New Testament, Paul will say in Rom. 8:12-14, “So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.”

So the point of all this is that the Spirit Changes our Chooser. He changes our will. That’s what he wants to do within us — to move our hearts and wills into alignment with God’s. But here’s the thing — he doesn’t force that on us. We can resist the Spirit. 1 Thess. 5:19 will say, “Do not quench the Spirit.” In Acts 7:51, Stephen will say that the Jews “are always resisting the Holy Spirit . . . .” So if the Spirit is trying to change us from within, we need to orient our lives so as to cooperate with him. So how do we do that?

We do that by becoming abiders and cleavers. In one of my favorite passages in the gospel of John (John 15:1-11), Jesus uses the word “abide” 9 times. Some translations translate that by the word “remain.” I like “abide,” simply because I’m old and the word resonates with me. The point of the passage is the same — Jesus is telling us all to stay close to him. Dwell in him. Live in him. He is the source of life, and for his life to flow through us, we must remain connected. There is a very intimate life-connection being discussed in this passage. Kingdom living is first and foremost relational.

Also in that passage, Jesus talks about bearing fruit (the word “fruit” is used 6 times). Now, Jesus doesn’t define what kind of “fruit” he’s talking about here, but it MUST be related to his kingdom vision. So what could he be talking about in terms of fruit? He could be talking about the fruit of a changed life — “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things” (Gal. 5:22-23).

He could also be talking about the fruit of replication — inviting others into God’s kingdom as participants in his Kingdom vision. “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” he'll say in Matt. 28:18-20). So which one is it? I think both.

Also, I want us to see that this fruit is not produced by an act of will. See v. 4 (“Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.”). In Scripture, God Himself produces fruit in us/through us. Paul makes that quite clear in 1 Cor. 3:6-7, where he says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” And notice — Jesus pictures fruit-bearing as a natural outgrowth of abiding in him (Jn. 15:5 — “The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit . . . “). So, our job is simply to abide. To stay connected to him. To lean in closer and closer to him. His job is to bear fruit through us. God will empower it. Said another way, our focus is intimacy. Because intimacy empowers ministry. We have one job, folks!

So if we’re going to create a culture of Christlikeness, we need to learn to abide. Said another way, we need to learn to “cleave to the Lord.” The word “cleave” is from the Hebrew word dabaq, and it’s found in lots of places in the Old Testament. It’s found, for instance, in the familiar passage in Genesis 2:24, where it says that “a man leaves his father and mother and is joined with (or “bonds with” or “clings to” or “cleaves to”) his wife, and they become one flesh.”

But one of the more interesting dimensions to this idea of “cleaving” is that it describes how underwear fits to the body. Betcha didn’t see that coming? But I kid you not. In Jeremiah 13:11, the Lord says, “Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to me.” The point there is THAT is how closely the people are to cleave to the Lord, Jeremiah says. We are to cleave to the Lord, to be affixed to the Lord, to adhere to the Lord. To get connected to him, to learn from him, to rest in his love for us, to see how he operates.

So we will only be formed into Christlikeness to the extent that we cleave to the Lord. Because again, our job is intimacy. Cleaving. His job is to transform us. And again, transformation is not our work. It’s his work, that he does in us, as we cling to him. He transforms us as we develop greater connectedness to him. Again, we have one job!

And because you cannot give what you do not have, we can only encourage others to be formed into Christlikeness as we cleave to the Lord ourselves — as we listen to his words, as we commune with him in prayer, as we become focused on the Lord, and as we learn to follow the living God.

And to me, this highlights the importance of being discipled ourselves by spiritual fathers and mothers in the church. The foundation of all education is emulation, not information. The foundational ingredient in our spiritual development is to be connected to God so that we can know God, so that we can emulate God. The goal of education is emulation.

So everything from here on out in the Kingdom is about becoming better abiders. Better cleavers. Communing with Jesus at a deeper level so that he, through the Holy Spirit within us, can change us. Growing in both our understanding and our experience of his love for us. And letting our experience of his love transform the way we interact with him AND with the world around us.

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So we’ve been talking about the story of the Bible, and we started with the premise that God’s goal in creation and everything that follows is to draw people into fellowship with himself so that they could experience his love in the fullest possible way. And we traced the contours of the Old Testament to see how the big pieces of the story fit within that overarching goal.

We’ve now arrived in the New Testament where Jesus announces that the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. We talked last week about what the Kingdom is — a new society in the world — a Jesus Society — in which God’s redeemed people will function as agents of blessing in the world, demonstrating what life with God looks like and how it impacts the way we treat one another, and serving as what Paul calls “ministers of reconciliation,” inviting others into that.

But there’s a piece of all this that we haven’t talked about. And we’ve arrived at the point where we need to talk about it, and that is the subject of sin and atonement, and Jesus’ death on the cross.

The Gospel is that Jesus’ death on the cross is the culmination of Israel’s story, and we just can’t treat it as something unconnected from the story of Israel in the Old Testament.

We first have to set the discussion, because for many Christians, when they think about the death of Jesus, they think about their own personal story: “I’m a sinner, and Jesus died for me so that when I die, I can go to heaven.” It's okay to start there, but we have to move well beyond that point, because in the New Testament, the death of Jesus is the moment when history changed.

Part of the difficulty with all this is that in many churches, the idea of atonement is hooked into the idea that we need to go to heaven when we die and that’s the end of it. But the New Testament idea is that God intends to make a new creation — the new heavens and the new earth — with us as renewed human beings. THAT is a subject we'll explore further in a later episode.

But one of the great statements about the meaning of the cross is in Revelation chapter 5:9-10, which says that the lamb was “slain, and he purchased people for God by his blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. And He made them a kingdom and priests to our God . . . .” In other words, we are redeemed not just to hang around being saved and waiting to go to heaven when we die, but to be renewed human beings with renewed human vocations and a renewed agenda.

But the New Testament also makes it clear that the death of Jesus really did win the victory of God over the dark forces of sin, corruption, and death. But the way that was achieved was through Jesus dying on behalf of and in the place of sinners.

And we have to talk about this idea of Jesus taking the punishment that we deserved. And we have to be very careful about how we talk about that. Because we can talk about that in ways that are pretty damaging. I’ll just tell you that a lot of young people hear us talking about Jesus taking the punishment that we deserve, and what they hear is that there is this big angry God who is very upset with us all, and he’s got a big stick and he’s about to lash out. But thankfully, his own son stands in-between us and God, and takes the beating for us, and somehow that makes it all right, and whew! — we all get off. And sadly, they think that’s what the gospel is, and they’re struggling to know whether to believe it or not.

And I want to say that if that is what people are hearing, then we’ve got some serious work to do, because we’ve taken John 3:16, which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son . . . ,” and what some people have heard is, “For God so hated the world that he killed his only son . . . .” And in a world with the realities of child abuse and domestic violence and things like that, some people think all this sounds too much the bully in their own lives. So we’ve got to be really careful about how we talk about all this. Because that is not the message of the Bible, and it’s certainly not the message we want to present.

The truth of all this is that what happens on the cross is the sovereign act of love on behalf of the Father himself. The death of Jesus reveals the love of God. Paul says in Romans 5:8 that “God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Jesus the Messiah died for us.”

And we have to see that Father and Son are on the same page here. This beautiful community of love that we started all this off with back in Episode 2 — Father, Son, and Spirit — cooked up this plan together to redeem man.

And we also have to understand sin in all this. Sin is a failure, rather than the breaking of rules. It’s a failure to be who God made us to be and to reflect his image. And whenever we’re tempted to sin, what’s actually happening is that there’s something that we’re supposed to be doing and being that will honor God in the world, and in our family, and in our own lives. And sin draws us away from that, and presents us with a cheap alternative, which we can rightly call an idol. And when we worship those idols, which we all do to a greater or lesser extent, whether it’s money, power, sex, whatever — and of course repentance is always a turning away from those idols — but when we give in to those idols, we give them power over us, just like Adam and Eve gave power to the serpent in the garden.

And that power causes us to sin. And every time we sin, we are increasing the grip of those powers on us and on our lives. And we call that bondage.

So the way to break the power of those dark forces that we have invoked by worshipping those idols, is for sin to be punished and to be dealt with decisively. And Jesus dying for our sin releases the grip of the powers. And that is the central thing of the crucifixion.

So what do we actually mean when we say that “Jesus died for our sins, or on our behalf?” Interestingly, the very first night I ever sat down with a minister when I was trying to sort out what it meant to be a Christian, that was my burning question. I’d been hearing that phrase all my life: “Jesus died to save us from our sins.” But no one had ever explained what that meant. It was something Christians just said, but I’d never really heard it explained. And it seemed to me that if I was going to be a Christian, I ought to at least understand THAT. And so that was my first question to a minister named Sperry Hogue in the fall of 1990 in western Pennsylvania. And that discussion started me down the road I’m still on today.

So the clearest passage in Paul about all this is Romans 8:1-4. Paul says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death, because God has done what the law couldn’t do, since it was weakened by the flesh.” And “by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as a sin offering, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

So what this says is that there is no condemnation on us because God passed the sentence of condemnation ON SIN. And notice — it’s interesting that Paul doesn’t say that God condemned Jesus. He says God condemned sin in the flesh of Jesus. And that’s an important distinction, I think.

And in the context of Romans 7-8, if we're careful in our reading of a very difficult passage, we see that God gave the law in order to draw sin onto the one place where it could be condemned. And that one place where it could be condemned is to Israel’s representative (Jesus, the Messiah), who is therefore the world’s representative. So Jesus dies as the representative substitute, taking the condemnation of sin on himself. But it’s sin that’s condemned, not Jesus.

And the result of that is that we don’t have to be in bondage anymore. Which is why, at the end of Romans 8, Paul says that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” And he says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And so when Jesus goes to the cross, it is definitely substitutionary atonement, but it is in the service of God’s larger agenda of defeating the powers of sin and darkness and death.

And I think I can use a movie illustration to help just a bit here, although I’ll admit it’s far from a perfect illustration. No illustrations are. But it's a scene from the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Harry Potter represents Jesus, and Voldmort represents Sin and maybe Satan. And in the scene in question, late into the movie, Harry goes off into the Forbidden Forest to face Voldemort, and he knows he’s going to have to let Voldemort kill him. And when he walks into that clearing, Voldemort sees him, and a wry smile forms across his face, because this is exactly what he wanted. He’s about to kill Harry, something he’s long dreamt of doing. “Neither can live while the other survives,” the prophecy said. And as he raises his wand to launch the killing curse, Harry doesn’t move; he makes no attempt to defend himself. Voldemort speaks the words, launching the killing curse toward Harry, convinced that his enemy is once and for all, about to be destroyed.

But there’s something Voldemort doesn’t know. And that is, that a piece of himself — a part of Voldemort’s own twisted soul — lies within Harry. Well, the explosive curse knocks Harry and Voldemort both to the ground. And when the dust clears, and all is revealed (which takes a while in the movie), Voldemort hasn’t, in fact, killed Harry. Harry is sort of “resurrected.” And the only thing Voldemort has killed is a part of himself. And from that moment on, while Voldemort is still alive and able to wreak havoc, he is weakened, he is vulnerable, and his end is certain.

I’m sure that illustration falls down at one point or another. But I think the main points are in tact. At the crucifixion, what ultimately has been condemned is sin. Jesus is resurrected, the enthroned King of Israel and of the world. Sin and Satan are still at work in the world, but they just don’t have the power they did — at least not for Christians. And their time is short and their end is certain. And now that sin is condemned, new creation can begin. And the energy of the Spirit can now take hold. And we’ll talk about the Spirit’s work next week.

Far too often, the gospel has only been presented as a judicial verdict. You were guilty and now you’ve been pardoned. And there is certainly some truth to that. But that fails to tell the whole story. Because, there’s much more that has been changed. Jesus takes our sin and shame in himself. He lets the light of God, which we call wrath, consume sin in the likeness of sinful flesh so that it’s forever dealt with.

And now, when I live in him, I am reconnected to God through what the cross accomplished. So it’s not just that I got a get out of hell free card and I get to go to heaven when I die. Because the gospel is relational, not just judicial. What the cross was meant to do was reassert the relationship between you and God. Which is exactly what God wants.

_____________

Resources for today’s show:

N. T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062334395/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_cagMEbVQRY647)

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The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion

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Last week we talked about the restoration of Israel. And that's a concept that we find in a lot of Old Testament passages. For instance, Amos 9:11-15, where God talks about a day when he “will restore the fallen tent of David.” He says, “I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” And again, language like this is all through the prophets. And I want to suggest that the restoration of Israel is linked to Jesus’ announcement that the Kingdom of God has come.

On today's episode, we're going to look at Luke 4:16ff, when Jesus comes to his hometown (Nazareth) and begins his public ministry. And I want us to look at this passage, because this is a passage that is often held up as a classic passage announcing Jesus’ Kingdom vision. So Jesus goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, they give him a scroll of Isaiah, and he unrolls it to the place he wants to read from, which as it turns out is Isa. 61:1-2, and he begins to read. And when he finishes reading from Isa. 61, we’re told that “He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” And the people respond, we're told, by speaking well of him "and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?”

Now, Isaiah is writing in his day about the future return from Babylon and a rebuilding of the ancient ruins of the cities that had been destroyed. And from Israel’s perspective, they were being held as prisoners in a foreign land by people the psalmist refers to as “captors” and “tormenters” (Ps. 137:3). So Isaiah speaks in Isaiah 61 to these downcast, captive people, and he says everything we just heard Jesus quote in Luke 4. Now here’s the important part here: In the context of Isa. 61 that Jesus quotes, who are the captives? The captives are the Israelites, and the promise is that they’re gonna return from Babylon and the Lord’s gonna rebuild.

The Lord is once again going to show favor on Israel. He’ll “give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify him. They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the former devastations; they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations” (Isa. 61:3).

Now, in Luke 4, as Jesus stands in the synagogue and reads this passage, the message that anyone present that day would have heard Jesus saying is that God’s finally gonna restore Israel and things are gonna be good again. Okay? And part of what they’d be thinking — probably — is that Rome will be overthrown. So when Jesus says, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled,” they’re pretty excited about this. And they’re saying good things about him and about “the gracious words that are falling from his lips.”

But Jesus isn’t done talking. And what he’s about to say isn’t going to be nearly as well received. In vv. 23-27 of Luke 4, Jesus is going to shift focus and talk about God’s interest in the Gentiles (which hearkens back to Genesis 12). But this is not new stuff. This is in the Bible, according to Jesus. And he reminds them of two stories from the Old Testament that show God’s interest in outsiders: The story of Elijah & the widow of Zerephath (1 Kings 17:8-24); and the story of Elisha & Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:1-19).

So the point Jesus is making in Luke 4 is that God has always been interested in non-Jews. BUT in making that point, Jesus implies that when God was helping the non-elect, He was ignoring the elect. And that is what they can’t tolerate. When you’re in the elect (and this is sadly sometimes true of Christians also), one of the strange ideas that pop into your head sometimes is that God is only involved with you. But see, election is not about you having a claim on God, which is what we sometimes think, but about God having a claim on you! Anyway, in Luke 4, Jesus says, “The restoration of Israel is here, but it’s going to include the Gentiles. And at this, they want to kill Him.

We cannot forget what God’s doing here. So in the restoration of Israel, God is re-creating Israel as she was always supposed to be — a kingdom that is all-inclusive. Those already in Israel who want to stay with God’s program and accept Jesus as their King are welcome, but he’s inviting Gentiles in as well. And they will all collectively be called Israel. The restored Israel. The new Israel. Think of it this way: Israel is being given a new King. Now, some Jews will accept and follow this new King Jesus. But some Jews will not accept the new King. And those Israelites who do not accept Israel’s new King don’t get to be part of Israel anymore. 

And of course, that makes sense, right? This new King is chosen by God himself. And in fact, this new King IS GOD HIMSELF! And if you’re unwilling to submit to the rule of Israel’s King, you don’t get be part of Israel anymore. Because again, God is trying to build this beautiful, loving, holy community through which he can share his love with people. But in order for that to work, everyone’s got to be on the same page. You can’t build a community of peace and love when the folks in the community don’t accept the one in charge.

And so going forward, all those who call themselves Israel are the ones who agree with and align themselves with what God is doing in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the new King of Israel. It’s no longer based on DNA. And in fact, it never was, as we talked about last time. And Paul will say in Rom. 9:6 that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” And Jesus will call this people The Kingdom of God.

So to bring all this together, when Jesus arrives, the Jews are expecting a messiah and a messianic kingdom that would restore Israel to what she was supposed to be. Now, to some extent, they had lost sight of what Israel was supposed to be, which is in part why they didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

In the person of Jesus, God will reveal himself to earth. The Law instructed Israel about God, and about what loving God and loving neighbor was. Jesus demonstrated God to Israel, and he showed them how to love God and love others. And here’s the thing — God had never given up on the idea of blessing the nations and bringing all mankind into his fold. Because remember, that’s why he created us all in the first place! AND, he had never given up on Israel. Israel was always part of God’s plan. They were always going to be “the apple of his eye” (Zech. 2:8). They were always going to be “a people for his own possession” (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; Ex. 19:5). They were always going to be a “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6).

But in the New Testament Kingdom of Jesus, some of those people would be ethnic Jews who accept and swear allegiance to Jesus as Israel’s Messiah, but some would also be Gentiles, who also accept and swear allegiance to Israel’s Messiah. And together they comprise the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). And that's you, and that’s me. The children of Jesus, the Messiah King are the continuation, the fulfillment of Israel — God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, a people for God’s own possession (1 Pet. 2:9).

Okay, so, what is this Kingdom of God as envisioned by Jesus. What’s it supposed to look like? Why is this declaration such good news? Because it affects people in the here and now.

See — and we really need to come to grips with this — Jesus didn’t just come so we could all go to heaven when we die. He cares very much about what’s going on in the world today! Jesus’ prayer in Matt. 6 that we call “The Lord’s Prayer” is significant in that it grounds his hopes on the earth — “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Jesus really sees the Kingdom as a new society in the land. A Jesus Society!! And this new kingdom society will be marked by the way its citizens are to live and interact with one another and with the world.

And see, this is what God has always wanted — a people for his own possession that will finally function as agents of blessing and compassion and redemption in the world. So the Kingdom of God is God’s dream for this world come true! So in Luke chapter 7, John the Baptist is in prison; Jesus is free. And John sends two disciples basically to ask Jesus if he really is the One they were all expecting. Was he really the Messiah? Jesus doesn’t answer his question directly, but what he says is revealing, particularly the last line. Jesus says to John’s disciples in Luke 7:22-23, “(22) Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, (23) and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.”

So again, the things he points out that he wants John to see as proof that he is the one he claimed to be are the very things he announced in Luke 4: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf here, and the poor hear the good news.

So when Jesus said “kingdom” he envisioned a society characterized by a people who would live with God and with others in a way that embodied the will of God in a new kind of society. And one of the places where the rubber met the road was in how we treat one another and how we care for one another, especially the most vulnerable among us. And that’s why, in Matt. 25:31-46, when Jesus talks about his return, he’ll talk about separating the sheep from the goats. He’ll put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. And Jesus’ litmus test in this passage for who will inherit the Kingdom and who won’t are things like feeding the hungry, quenching the thirst of the thirsty, taking care of strangers, clothing the naked, tending the sick, and visiting those in prison.

So what is the Kingdom of God? Kingdom, in Jesus’ view, is a society empowered by love. It is a society that cares for others. It is a society shaped by justice. It is a society dwelling in peace. It is a society flowing with wisdom. And it is a society that follows its King (Jesus).

In the Kingdom, we build relationships that create family — God’s family. We teach virtues that prevent poverty and heartache. We provide care and relief for the world. We rescue those in trouble. We provide soul care — healing and hope for fractured souls and fractured relationships.

Everywhere God’s people go, things are supposed to get better. More peace. More hope. More love. More freedom. THAT is the Jesus Society!

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Today, we’re back looking at the Story of the Bible and the Kingdom of God. And the piece we need to give some attention to next is the idea known as the Restoration of Israel. We’ve seen what Israel was supposed to be in the world — a people that would function in the world as a kingdom of priests, mediating God’s blessings to the world and showing them what life as a community of people under the reign of God looked like. Sadly, Israel didn’t always do that as well as they could have. They repeatedly became self-focused, unfaithful to their God, oppressive to the most vulnerable among them, and didn’t always cast a great reflection of God to the world. But God hadn’t given up on Israel. He was about to renew and transform Israel, restoring them not to what they were, but to what they were always supposed to be, so that they would fulfill their destiny.

And the Jews of Jesus’ day were expecting it. They were expecting a restoration of Israel that the Messiah would inaugurate. There were some key pieces to what the Jews in Jesus' day were expecting, things found over and over again in the Old Testament, particularly in the prophets. When God restores Israel:

  1. The Holy Spirit would be present

  2. There would be a Davidic King

  3. All twelve tribes of Israel will be represented

  4. It will involve a gathering together of Jews from all parts of the world; a kind of a reunification of Israel.

  5. There’s would be a strong connection with Zion or Jerusalem.

  6. And then finally, you’ll have a testimony to Gentiles.

These things show up in a lot of messianic passages throughout the prophets, for instance in Isaiah 11:1-13. You can also see these themes very well in Ezek. 37 (the valley of dry bones) and other places. Peter and Paul in the New Testament will quote a number of other Old Testament texts that bring some of these things to light. And you see these things in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost when Peter will quote from Joel chapter 2:28-32.

What’s happened a lot throughout church history, is that many people have looked at Pentecost and seen it as the end of Judaism and the beginning of Christianity. But that implies a discontinuity between Judaism and Christianity. But the restoration of Israel suggests not discontinuity, but continuity.

Christianity is not the end of Judaism; it is the fulfillment of Judaism. Christianity — those who trust and follow and give their allegiance to Jesus, the new King of Israel — IS the renewed, restored Israel. And as Paul will remind us all in great detail in Romans 9-11, who comprised Israel was NEVER based on blood and DNA. Being Israel was always based on faith and covenant and not heredity.

Paul will say in Romans 11 that Christianity is a cultivated olive tree. And the root of that olive tree is a Jewish root, and Gentiles are grafted in and sustained by that Jewish root. So there is now one olive tree — Jewish and Gentile — tended by Israel’s King Jesus.

So there’s great continuity between what God was doing in Israel in the Old Testament and what he’s about to do in the New. And this idea of the restoration of Israel is a very big deal in understanding that. So, when we come to the gospels, and read passages like Luke 2:25-32, we need to read them with all of that background in mind.

The restoration of Israel is a huge part of God's ultimate goal to bring people into his holy community of love so they could experience the fullness of life with him, and through that, change the world.

I hope you'll all stay safe this week. By all accounts, the next two weeks are likely to be pretty rough. Practice good social distancing, but pray. Invite the Father into your frustrations and fears. And take care of people who may not be doing as well as you are. Check on the elderly and the poor.

Thanks for listening, and remember, you are greatly loved.

Music by Nathan Longwell Music

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On today's episode, I wanted to take a break from our look at the Story of the Bible to talk about what I suspect some of you are feeling today. Word just came out that there are over three million Americans unemployed due to Covid-19. Several people I know are either among them or have family members who are struggling with coming to grips with this new reality and the financial uncertainty it brings on their families. And as is true during any period of fear and uncertainty, we usually find our ourselves with questions about God. Where is he? Will he be there for me? Am I to blame for my own circumstances? Those are all common questions.

In response to that fear and uncertainty, I want to tell you about a time in our own lives, on the heels of the real estate collapse in 2008, when we went through a very similar situation, with the same anxiety, fear, doubt, and frankly, terror. It was an absolute white knuckle ride for our family. But what we learned during that time and the way the Lord carried us and provided for us and changed us is something that none of us would trade for anything in the world. The Lord gave us an absolute gift during the struggle - not by sparing us from the struggle or the fallout from it - but from carrying us through it and revealing himself to us in completely new ways.

We've had some hard times since then, including some way more difficult than that. But because of that journey and the things we learned about God, we have never faced difficulty with that kind of anxiety and fear again. The Lord is a rock that we can lean on, and the secret sauce of living with a "peace that passes understanding" is trust.

I hope that what we talk about in this episode will be a blessing to you, especially if you find yourself on shifting sands due to the Coronavirus and face an uncertain future. Lean into God. Look for him in the midst of the difficulty you're facing, and he really will show up and carry you through . . .

Because you are GREATLY loved!

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On today's show, we're talking about Israel: Who they are, why they are, and what their role is in the world. And we'll also talk a bit about the purpose of the Law of Moses in Israel's history. It's probably not what you think. And in so doing, I'm going to give you some thoughts that should help you read the Law more profitably.

We'll be talking about Israel's role as a light to the nations and as a kingdom of priests. All of this is preparing us for Jesus' Kingdom announcement in the gospels.

On another note, please stay safe during the pandemic. I talk briefly at the beginning of the show about the situation we're all facing, and while you certainly don't need another talking head giving advice (in fact, you probably need fewer people doing that), I do offer a few simple suggestions, mostly pertaining to how we need to continue to be Christ's body during all this mess while praying it ends soon.

Please stay safe. I'm praying for all of you!

Shalom!

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On today's episode, we’re going to begin to trace the story of Israel. Understanding Israel's role in God's purposes in this world is foundational for understanding Jesus and the Kingdom of God. We can’t just jump from Genesis 3 to the Gospels and think that once we understand the sin problem we can move straight away to the solution, which is Jesus. There is a story going on, and in God’s plan, it was always his intent that a transformed Israel would transform the world. And what we're trying to do here over these first few weeks is sketch the big pieces of that story. And we’re going to start today with the story of God calling Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.

Resources for Today's Episode:

Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative. This is one of my favorite books. Wright is an Old Testament scholar, but mercifully, doesn't write like many scholars. In other words, it's a relatively easy read, and well worth your time.

The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative

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On today's episode, we’re going to continue unpacking my understanding of the Story of the Bible and the Kingdom of God. Last week, we talked about how God created you you and me that he could love us. That is his purpose in creation. And as we said last week, as the story of the Bible unfolds throughout the Old Testament and into the New, that journey will take a lot of twists and turns. But that is always the direction God is moving.

Today, we're going to talk through the first three chapters of Genesis - Creation, Garden, and Turmoil. And in the process, we'll learn some things about God, and some things about ourselves.

Music provided by Nathan Longwell Music (nathanlongwell.com)

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Today, we're going start unpacking my understanding of the Story of the Bible and the Kingdom of God. Everything we’re going to talk about in this podcast flows out of an understanding of who God is and what he’s trying to do in the world, so we’ve got to start there. We'll be looking at Jesus' prayer in John 17:20-26. At the end of his life, what were his hopes and dreams for his followers & how does that grow out of the Father's own hopes and dreams for the world?

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The inaugural episode of The Jesus Society podcast - an ongoing conversation about relationship, renewal, and purpose in the Kingdom of God. On this first episode, we are discussing my intent for the podcast, why I'm doing it, and a bit about what you can expect in future episodes, with some specific teasers for some of the early episodes I've got planned. I hope you enjoy the podcast. If you do, please subscribe and tell others about us. Remember . . . you are greatly loved!