Dr. Kevin Miller (D. Min) teaches Biblical Studies, Christian Theology, and Spiritual Formation. This podcast is meant to seriously study the Christian Scriptures for truth about God, life, and our Christian testimony about Jesus Christ. "And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…" Revelation 12:11
Looking at concepts for Hebrews and biblical interpretation that shed light on how we understand the Bible and see Jesus and the fulfillment.
Do we believe for more reasons or perhaps more mature reasons than just avoiding judgment for our sins?
One of my students, Ella, asked why I’m a religious person and why I’m committed to my Christian faith.
Why did God give us the ability to sin? Why does God keep making people who will not believe in him and surrender their lives to him?
Looking at why we live lives of Christian character. What motivates us to live like Jesus.
Reconciled to God in Christ Jesus, we are called to reconcile others to God through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Quick chat about how we can build on the momentum and movement of God we experienced last week.
Being in his image begins with acknowledging him as our creator and that what and who we are takes its cues from that truth.
Q&A with Sydney and Dan about baptism and Christian understanding of government, submission, and power.
Looking at Esther as the example and epitome of wise humanity made in the Image of God.
Jesus Christ is the King of the Kingdom of God, and his identity and reign changes everything.
“As he is so also are we in this world”… how we can move toward a life that reflects Jesus Christ.
Colossians 3:1-4 tells us of the reign of Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father.
Looking at how we live in new covenant with God through Jesus Christ from Colossians and Romans.
Question from my small group at church about women in the church. Looking at 1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians, and Ephesians for answers.
Colossians and Ephesians both unpack this idea of the mystery of God in Christ Jesus. We look at it today.
Colossians 1:19-23 presents Jesus Christ as our reconciler, bringing us back into tight relationship with God in the glory of God kingdom of light.
Colossians 1:15-19 unpack the idea of Jesus Christ as firstborn, and it means so much in the run of the biblical story.
Looking at and to Jesus as God’s self-disclosure to see the image into which we are called and created.
Looking at how the New Testament tackles the First Testament law and ways that we can think about the laws of the First Testament like Jesus.
Taking a look at God’s sovereignty and what it means for how God acts and our choices in our lives. Pharaoh I’m Exodus is our root and Paul’s comments in Romans to New Testament ground.
Looking at the First Testament “concept” or “logic” for the New Testament’s explanation of being justified by faith and faith without works is dead.
Looking at the Garden images in John’s Gospel and the connections back to Genesis and the Garden in Eden.
Looking at how John 18-19 builds on the imagery and material of the Passover through allusion.
Taking a look at Matthew 21:33-46 and John 15 in light of Isaiah 5 and the imagery of the Vineyard. This one got a little longer than I originally thought, but I hope it’s still worth the time and the listen.
As we encounter the Bible, it is important to remember that it forms a cohesive whole across and through both testaments. There is a unity of theology and continuity of God’s story. Let’s explore how the New Testament picks up what the First Testament has laid. See Daniel Geisen’s podcast here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/books-that-shall-not-be-named-private-feed-for-dangeisen90/id1690076659
Jacob and Esau give us some framework for understanding how submission, humility, and blessing work.
Thinking about how we think about and read Revelation. This is a response to one of my students’ requests
Thinking about submitting to the Lord, how God crafted and created us in his image and likeness, and looking at the example of Jesus.
We continue our study in typology by looking into the New Testament texts (mainly John’s Gospel) at how the Passover materials are redeployed around Jesus Christ.
Lent is a journey toward Jesus that takes seriously his sacrifice and the joy of Easter.
Looking at how we read the Bible in a balanced and helpful approach as we consider the whole of the Bible and the specific stories of it as well.
How can we continue to read our Bible with good listening skills, paying attention to the voice of the Holy Spirit
Often we read with our culture and concerns forefront in our minds. Reading the Bible well requires us to read the Bible on terms of its culture and concerns.
Lectio Divina is a helpful way to build a habit of meditating on the Bible and slowing down our devotional rhythms in order to be more aware and attentive to Scripture.
Context for biblical literature is incredibly important as we read and understand the Bible.
The history and culture of the Bible shapes the writing and the worldview of the Bible.
Looking at Revelation 12 and trying to understand the use of the symbols at work in it as a way to understand the process of analyzing biblical imagery.
Typological studies in the Scripture tend to focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ, his connection to previous characters or roles, and how Jesus Christ and the previous character link together through specific imagery or repeated contexts. Much has been made of typological readings of the Scripture. The Church Fathers were often concerned with these connections as a way to argue for the legitimacy of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah.
Judah gets little attention in “the story of Joseph” in Genesis 37-50. However, his story and themes are so important in understanding what is happening and God’s role in the biblical story.
We spend time in Genesis 37-50, the story of Joseph, to highlight way we read and follow biblical narratives.
God’s story in the Bible is one of covenant and keeping covenant. What is covenant and how do we walk with God… this is our start toward answers for those questions.
Exploring the ideas of being a priesthood and living in covenant relationship with God in and through Jesus Christ (the great High Priest).
Christian conviction about the Bible admits that it is inspired. As we explore that idea, we run into ideas about inerrancy and infallibility that matter for us as we read the Bible.
The Bible is a religious set of texts, composed of at least 66 texts. Central to the Bible is a narrative about God and his work, creation, and redemption that has Jesus Christ at the center of its focus.
What is the Bible, how do we read it? What does it mean to meditate on Holy Scripture? Scripture is unique and powerful; but, we have to read it and do so consistently and with intentionality to mine the depths of the Bible.
Looking at 1 John 4:7-21 and considering what love is in the sense of agape love from the Bible.
Taking a look at the story of Genesis 3 for what is happening deeper than just the surface story we are used to hearing.
The connection of Genesis 1-2 help us see and understand the creation and the God who created.
Lessons from the life of Joseph about following Jesus and being a good father. Was intended to be an abbreviated version of my Father’s Day sermon at Faith Community Church, but ended up about the same length.
Just thinking about how Christians look at the Bible and what that means for how we read the Bible.
The matter of the days of Genesis 1 can be a tense issue today. We explore the understandings of those days in this episode.
The days of Genesis 1:3-31 find a deeply rhythmic pattern and repetition. What that means for how we understand the days and the order of creation is a matter of interpretation and plenty of thought.
Deep dive in Genesis 1:1-2. We consider if these two verses are part of the sequence of days in Genesis 1:3-2:3, how they fit into the overall narrative of Genesis’ 7 days account of creation.
Taking a look at starting our full series in Genesis with some basics and building blocks for what we will encounter.
My girls have been asking profound questions about God and it has sparked some really cool conversations around God and faith in our home.
Christ has won, but we walk awaiting that culminated reality. So, Paul instructs us about how we do that as Christians committed to the body and the Lord.
We are called to submit to Christ and one another. In Ephesians 5:22-6:9, Paul explains how that looks with specific case studies and examples.
The content of our character should be like Christ as individuals who belong to a community of believers. My life needs to be lived like light and wisdom because I am submitted to my Lord Jesus Christ and my family of faith. When one of us is not walking in the light the shadow is cast on all of us.
Called to walk in a manner worthy of our calling in Christ Jesus means walking in the conduct of our character and the community of faith in a way that looks, lives, and loves like Christ Jesus our Lord.
There seem to be two competing rhythms in the Bible about retreat and rest and engagement in the ministry to which God calls us. Which one should we listen to more?
Here we explore how Paul links his metaphors of walking and what he means as he builds them together to create a full picture of the life to which we are called as Christians.
God wants his Church to be one family of faith, one body of Christ in the world, one Church through whom the world sees Christ our Lord.
Talking through how we live as one family of faith in light of the current injustice in Ukraine.
Paul’s emphasis on unity and being the one family of faith takes on a participatory shift in Ephesians 4:1-6.
Paul’s emphasis on unity in the Church has me thinking about how I live in the family of faith.
Does God change his mind or is Moses in authority over God? What about partnering with God and God’s willingness to be merciful and gracious instead of bring the fullness of his justice?
Answering my sister-in-law’s questions about the 10 Commandments and the relevance for us as Christians today.
God has made us his workmanship in Christ Jesus and prepared good works for us in advance. First among those works is being the unified body of Christ.
The Bible is a story, one that runs from Genesis through Revelation. It puts context to everything we encounter and shapes how we should look at the truth it provides us.
I discuss an introduction to how we look for and hold onto key themes and ideas in Paul’s letters.
A look at Ephesians 1 and how the idea of Christ’s reign as the head of the Church shapes us and the rest of the letter.
Scripture tells us a story of creation and recreation. How will we participate in God’s work of recreation?
How do we respond to our calling? God calls us all to follow Christ Jesus, to live like Christ Jesus, and lead like Christ Jesus.
God bring us a community as we seek refuge with him. That community becomes refuge for itself as it begins to rise to the occasion of the call of the Gospel. David and Bonhoeffer highlight that for us.
This abbreviated version of my message with a group of young men is about David’s refuge in the cave of Adullam. While hiding from Saul, David becomes a hiding place for others.
Jesus Christ lived obedient to the Father and as an offering for our benefit. As we come to Christmas, can we follow him in living obedient to the Father and giving ourselves sacrificially in a life committed to Christ Jesus our Lord?
Looking at the accomplishment of the Law and how it deals with sin in Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
What was the task of the Mosaic Law, how was it supposed to change us? How did Jesus understand his own teaching and how it relates to the Law God gave through Moses?
Taking a look at the gift of frankincense given to Jesus and why it matters for us at Christmas.
Looking at the Lord’s Prayer, grateful for his deliverance. He draws us to himself away from the provocation of evil.
Our 4th week in the exercises considers Christ’s resurrection and appearances to his disciples as the first step in our own sending to the world for the Gospel.
Revisiting some old Wordpress articles for this walking commentary/guide to 1 Peter. This episode looks at the first segments of the letter in 1 Peter 1:1-25
God has already prepared for us. Our calling is to join him. Let’s look at the Last Supper to see an example.
Week 2 of our exercises is about following Jesus as he calls us to walk with him. It is a call to a holy life following a holy God.
God’s call to follow him requires a penitent/repentant life. How do we respond when he calls to us?
Sorry for the class bell ringing at the end, working at a school presents some challenges.
Time, transparency, location, and trajectory. Posture, perspective, presence, power, and petition.
Conversation about developing a spiritual life, knowing God, loving God, and being know and loved by God
Read more about Esther, Wisdom Literature, and the Bible at https://mylogostestimony.wordpress.com