Better Than Zero: Recent Episodes
Jesse Campbell
Better Than Zero is a podcast dedicated to celebrating each step people take in their apprenticeship to Jesus. Each day, we’ll read a short passage from the Bible and explore another spiritual discipline such as prayer or silence. The goal is to create a springboard that makes apprenticeship to Jesus simple and accessible to everyone, whether they’re just starting a walk with Jesus or have been doing so for a while.
Scripture: John 14:15-24
Discipline: Obedience
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "If I Were You" - Alsever Lake; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: John 14:1-4
Discipline: Songs
Resources: Hymn - How Can I Keep From Singing?
Quote - "I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them." - Isaac Watts
Quote - "Life is Short, Eternity is Long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in light of eternity." - Charles Spurgeon
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Psalm 88
Discipline: Lament
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Psalm 51
Discipline: Confession to God
Resources: The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Excerpt taken from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis. Harper-Collins Publishers. pp. 115-116
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: John 13:31-38
Discipline: Giving & Receiving Love
Resources: A Faith Undefeated (A Corrie Ten Boom Story) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHjiGwG4cFY&t=2645s
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "If I Were You" - Alsever Lake; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: John 13:18-30
Discipline: Considering the Divinity of Jesus
Resources: A Bible Study on "I AM" - https://a.co/d/10Mpr1E (Amazon Link)
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: John 13:1-17
Discipline: Bible Study - Reading it again
Resources:
- For viewing multiple translations and reading the Bible to you - YouVersion Bible App
- For viewing multiple translations - Biblegateway.com
- I believe I may do an episode on good translations to use in Bible Study, but in the meantime, here are some thoughts:
- I use NIV (New International Version) for my day-to-day study and teaching. It lands in the middle of the road between "readability" and "literal translation".
- I use NASB (New American Standard Bible) for academic study. It is one of the most "Literal" translations available.
- I use CSV (Christian Standard Bible) or ESV (English Standard Version) for a fresh perspective. CSV is similar to NIV and ESB is similar to NASB.
- The NLT (New Living Translation) is very helpful to those new to the Bible.
- Summary: If you don't have a Bible and aren't sure where to start, all of these would be just fine. The NLT is the easiest to read and the NASB is the hardest.
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts; "Love & Truth" - Cast of Characters
Scripture: John 13:1-17
Discipline: Service & Humility
Resources:
- The Bible Project (Short, overview video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUfh_wOsauk
- Mark Driscoll (Sermon) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viBb_I8p2vo
- Mike Winger (Bible Study Video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coNf5_Tz7Fs
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Proverbs 1:1-10
Discipline: Proverbs
Resources:
- The Bible Project explaining the themes in Proverbs (watch this one first) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gab04dPs_uA
- The Bible Project explaining the structure in Proverbs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzmYV8GNAIM
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Sorry I missed a few days! Bad planning on my part. :)
Scripture: Matthew 7:24-29
Discipline: Reflective Prayer
Resources:
- John Maxwell on Reflection (only 2 minutes long!) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siQwuDe07co
- Dallas Willard on The Sermon on the Mount - "The Divine Conspiracy" (Book)
- Tyler Staten on Prayer - "Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools" (Book)
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Matthew 7:15-23
Discipline: Showing Up
- Galatians 6: 7-9 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Resources: Interview with James Clear - https://careynieuwhof.com/episode543/
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14
Discipline: Reading
Resources:
- The Imitation of Christ - Thomas Aquinas
- Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
- The Divine Conspiracy - Dallas Willard
- My Utmost for His Highest - Oswald Chambers
- Crazy Love - Francis Chan
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Whenever I talk about Bible Study, I tend to go long. My bad!
Scripture: Matthew 7:7-12 & Luke 11:1-13
Discipline: Cross-referencing
Resources:
- The Bible Project - https://bibleproject.com/
- A Study Bible. There are a lot, so make sure you do your research before buying one. Here are some to look into. I have not studied each of these personally, but have had them recommended by other pastors. As with anything, still do your research
- Life Application Bible (NIV)
- Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (NIV)
- The Case for Christ (Movie or Book) - Lee Strobel
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts; "Only You" - Abel
Scripture: Matthew 7:1-6
Discipline: Apologetics
Resources (In order of accessibility; the first is the easiest to start with and so on):
- Red Pen Logic (Facebook Page) - https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic
- The Case For Christ (Movie)
- The Case For Christ - Lee Strobel (Book)
- Stand to Reason (Video Classes on Apologetics) - https://training.str.org/
- On Guard - William Lane Craig (Book)
- Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis (Book)
These are by NO means every apologetics resource. They may not even be the best, but they are great introductions to this kind of thinking.
Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1s4sePOw3h5kHqrADj4JjS?si=d9debf1815ab42fd
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "If I Were You" - Alsever Lake; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Psalm 1
Discipline: Music
Resource: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1s4sePOw3h5kHqrADj4JjS?si=d9debf1815ab42fd
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Love & Truth" - Cast of Characters; "Inhale Infinity" - PALA
Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34
Discipline: Prayer Revisited - Worry
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Inhale Infinity" - PALA; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts;
I forgot my mic at work and my throat's all sick. So sorry that you have to listen to that!
Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24
Discipline: Where is your focus?
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Matthew 6:16-18
Supplemental Scriptures:
- Ezra 8:23 – Seeking God’s Will
- 1 Samuel 7:6; Jonah 3 – Repentance, mourning a sin.
- Nehemiah 1:3-4 – Mourning a loss.
- 1 Kings 21:27-29 – Humility
- Isaiah 58:3-7 – Fasting is not a means unto itself; it should lead to a holy life.
- Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13 – The Temptation of Jesus
Discipline: Fasting
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts; "Inhale Infinity" - PALA
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15
Discipline: Solitude
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4
Discipline: Generosity
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Love & Truth" - Cast of Characters
Scripture: Hebrews 10:19-25; Galatians 5:13
Discipline: Church
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Psalm 23
Discipline: Poetry
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Love & Truth" - Cast of Characters
I apologize in advance for the lengthy episode!
Scripture: Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-34, 38-39, 43-44 (I jumped around to emphasize a particular point)
Discipline: Bible Study
Resources:
- The Bible Project - https://bibleproject.com/
- A Study Bible. There are a lot, so make sure you do your research before buying one. Here are some to look into. I have not studied each of these personally, but have had them recommended by other pastors. As with anything, still do your research
- Life Application Bible (NIV)
- Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (NIV)
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts; "Only You" - Abel
Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20
Discipline: Confession
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts; "Only You" - Abel
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
Discipline: Sabbath
Recommended Resources: (1) "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry" and (2) https://www.practicingtheway.org/ by Pastor John Mark Comer
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12
Discipline: Prayer
Recommended Resource: "Pause" (App) by John Eldridge
Songs Used: "Patterns" - SOLO; "Murmur" - Lost Ghosts
Tyler Staten quote from "Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools."Song: "Patterns" - SOLO