Brooklyn's Dad Talks About EVERYTHING: Recent Episodes
Michael Scotto
You can take an online quiz which purports to tell you which Bible character you are. Spoiler: none of them. Now, you are in the same hope as a few, but very few. The Bible has one way to resurrection life, but it also has different hopes, different callings, and a different race for each of us. Along the way, we talk a little about my Poseidon Adventure theology lesson and point out (again) the evil of the clergy/laity system. I wonder how many men get Bathsheba or Tamar as their Bible twin!
We examine the Psalm of David wherein he starts noting the Lord searches his heart and knows him intimately. The King finishes with him imploring the Lord to not only search him, but then lead him in the way of the age. A beautiful and comforting song of love.
Satan has several strategies and one of his most effective within the walls of Christendom in 2026 is shaming true believers into staying quiet about clearly defined biblical sins. However, the same people that are quick to self-flagellate and condemn the exposing of sin somehow have no problem loudly pointing out what they deem as sin.
First Timothy teaches us about the last days and Second Corinthians give us some insight into one of Satan's most effective strategies; religion, good works, and self-righteousness. Some things Christians do in the name of the faith, while not bad on their own, become evil when Christ, his finished work, and the message of rescue from death is subjugated to somehow trying to "make the world a better place" and performing rituals in an attempt to put God in our debt. Adding rituals makes us feel even more special.
More rambling about the neglect of the resurrection (the Lord's and ours) as we just came through Pentecost which, in most places, is celebrated far more than the third day. Putting aside that I don't believe that Pentecost is "the birthday of the Church," on its own it shouldn't be celebrated even at 1/10,000 of how we should celebrate the resurrection. Man's "Lent" and the crucifixion occupy most of Christendom as the greater undoing of the curse and the only hope of redemption, the rising up of the Lord Jesus Christ by his own power, is relegated to one day... and most believers can't tell you the significance. If mom is already dancing in heaven, who needs a resurrection? Sad.
General commentary on the ecclesiastical direction of the conservative movement in America as Catholics Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, Megyn Kelly, and others take the headlines. If you think those extremists won't last, they're not the only ones in the movement. More conventional conservatives Like J.D. Vance and Jack Posobiec present an even greater threat as they move on organizations like TPUSA. Recorded April 17, 2026.
From the time God instructed Abraham to walk the length and breadth of the land God promised him and his offspring, through the prophets' vision of a future kingdom, to the declaration of John the Baptist, to the Lord's teaching on the topic, to the offer of the Kingdom to Israel by the Apostles, to the realization of real kingdom on earth in the Revelation... the Lord's promises stand firm. To Israel belong the promises, the fathers, the covenants, the priesthood, and the Kingdom. That is God's plan for the earth. We should be concerned with the greater blessing and the hope in heavenly places.
Despite the almost universal adoption of the creature known in Christendom as Lent, it is the resurrection that we need to exalt. If not for the resurrection of Christ, two things would be true: we'd still be in our sins, and once we die we'd be dead forever.
While we praise the Lord Jesus for suffering and dying on our behalf, without the resurrection we'd have no hope. God has no interest in us giving up chocolate for forty days and God knows no such creature as a "bodiless soul" running around heaven. Men have turned the resurrection into an asterisk by adopting Plato's idea of the "immortal soul" after Augustine inflicted it on the faith.
We don't judge the sincere believer in the pew. We cannot read hearts. We acknowledge our own limitations and failings. But can some of the egregious scandals that have rocked the Charismatic-Pentecostal movement since its inception be simply an expected byproduct of the theology itself?
We pull back the lens on the recent scandals (theological and moral) at Bethel Church and other places like The International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) and examine what makes these teachers and congregations so seemingly vulnerable to scandal and disappointment and error.
We look again at Calvin's Commentary, this time his harsh words for the enlightened and chosen apostles of Christ in Acts 1. Calvin's refusal to see that the God who promised a land and a kingdom to his earthly people will keep those promises.
In Acts 1 when the risen Lord teaches his apostles (to whom he promised would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel in Matthew 19:28) about the kingdom, they ask him one question. The Lord does not chastise them for asking the question nor does he accused them of misunderstanding his teachings on the kingdom. So John Calvin took it upon himself to scorch the Lord's chosen.
Just as his failure and refusal to see the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and the nation of Israel all through the Lord's ministry as we saw in our studies on Calvin and the Sermon on the Mount, so here does Calvin refuse to see God as a God who keeps his word.
The Lord's disciples believed the prophets and the Lord. The apostles believed the promise of the "new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" replacing the covenant he "made with THEIR fathers in the day that I took THEM by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt." John Calvin and his disciples somehow want to make God a liar and greedily claim the kingdom for themselves.
The irony here is that in doing so, they ignore the greater hope of blessings in the heavenly places revealed through Paul for the current age.
Teachers and Preachers often take us to Romans 13 when speaking of the believer's duty to "obey" the government. But did Paul give those instructions for all men of all ages? Obviously I don't think so or I wouldn't have posed the question as such! We will compare Romans 13 with the Post-Acts instructions in 1 Timothy (as we did with Paul's instructions for marriage and child-rearing in the two ages).
We speak briefly again concerning the convergence of a false Christendom and its outward revival. As we have noted, the only way for any semblance of what is called "Christian Nationalism" to emerge is for the true faith to compromise every single foundational truth.
If we are looking for a revival of a Christ alone, Faith alone, Grace alone, Scripture alone we are not going to find it. And in the eagerness to obtain some fantasy of cultural and political control, all of that will be jettisoned for the sake of "unity" to achieve an unachievable goal.
Christians have historically been persecuted by those who opposed the gospel of grace (grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, Bible alone). What we may be on the cusp of is a movement of those claiming to be Evangelical Christians rising against other Evangelical Christians.
Some Christians who have the ability to discern false Christianity and a willingness to stand against it will be attacked by those who refuse to make a difference. We may see what the believers who so desperately want a political windfall put aside the very basics of the faith in order to achieve temporal goals.
The Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) world has long fallen prey to that temptation. And what makes it worse is the desire to be lauded as "loving" by openly refusing to defend the true faith.
We briefly review Vice President Vance's prayer in the aftermath of the horrible tragedy at Annunciation Catholic Church and School. As someone who attended and RC elementary school for 8 years, I can try, as best I can, to enter into the pain felt by that tight-knit community. But that does not exempt the VP from scrutiny over his words to the nation in light of God's message to mankind.
We briefly look at even more "real" Catholics telling me nobody needs to listen to the pope.
Finally, we examine other scriptures ripped from their contexts and revisit the basics of Bible interpretation and the essential of Right Division (2 Tim 2:15).
Another oft-quoted verse by Christians is Micah 6:8 ("what does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God..."). But what about the verses around it? Why aren't churches claiming those? Well, for the same reason they ignore a lot of verses around a lot of popular "claimed" verses.
On our journey, we look for positive things from the Hebrew scriptures that we CAN take comfort in. All scripture is profitable and we learn about the character of God in many places, even if we can't directly claim what is contained therein.
We look at Psalm 113, Micah 6, and then wander over into this age and look at some things in the Book of Philippians.
We finish our trip through the topic of Marriage and Divorce in scripture. We do a bit of review and then move through Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 7. We discuss God's practical solution for the problem of lust and the natural desires of the flesh.
God wants to provide both security and affection in a bond meant to last a lifetime. Paul also has to deal with the influx of grafted in Gentiles who may have entered the faith with an unbelieving spouse. What can we learn from this unique situation?
In Israel and in the Law, no such provision is discussed. In hie mercy and grace, the Lord understands we are fallen creatures and he provides various instructions to help us walk as closely to his will as possible.
We will revisit the woman at the well in John 4 and the woman taken in an act of adultery in John 8 and observe how the Lord deals with these woman and how that differs from both how the Law and Paul approach the issue.
We continues our path through the sometimes complex issue of Marriage and Divorce in a Christian context. W start, as we always should, with the original design, them progress through God's dealings with a mixed church in the Acts as they anticipated terrible days ahead.
We compare a few of Paul's instructions during the Acts age against his Post Acts instructions. We get a little into the marriages themselves and Paul's warnings about giving Satan a foothold in our homes.
Paul addresses, in a very practical way, God's remedy for the sinful tendencies of the flesh. Marriage is offered as a remedy for lust, and the coming together as one as a remedy for rampant fornication, adultery, and other perversions of the original design.
This is an enormous topic that is very simple in some ways and very complex in other ways. It started off simply in the Garden: one man, one woman, one flesh, without end. Sin and death was introduced into the world by our father, Adam, and God had to start dealing with men and women and our frailties.
We will look at marriage under the Law and how God had to make exceptions to his design for a fallen world and a fallen people. As he made his covenant with Israel and gave her the Law for the land, our Lord included concessions to the weakness of mankind. The Lord Jesus had to deal with this issue in his ministry to both Israel and to Gentiles.
Just a quick cleanser on issues we have to constantly revisit as they continue to appear everywhere on popular social media platforms.
1. Pope Leo's Christless Word
2. What are "the Gates of Hell"?
3. What is "the Lord's Day"?
4. Absent from the Body Verse Misquotes
5. Who is Weeping and/or Gnashing in Matthew?
Also serves as an invitation to look for podcasts with a deeper look at each of these issues. What the Popes, catechisms, and Councils taught, teach, and change as well as covering common and ubiquitous misuses of popular concepts and verses in scripture.
We talk about hoe the clergy/laity distinction/separation has kept so many from studying to show themselves approved unto Go alone (2 Tim 2:15). This has plagued believers and the outward church (Christendom) almost since its inception.
We also explore consistency. We recently talked about how some Christians pick and choose verses and passages from the Law and Prophets that fit their agenda, beliefs, denomination, or lifestyle with no regard to context or the principles of a right division of the Word of Truth. An this plagues every corner of Christendom (left, right, center, sacramentalist, Evangelical, Calvinist, Arminian, etc.).
We revisit 2 Chronicles 7:14 and look to a commentary to try and find the justification for applying that promise to any nation in any age anywhere. Well, we found one that looked at a couple of verses in 2 Chronicles 6. But it's a stretch! And as is our manner, we take any reasoning and try to apply it consistently across our interpretation, and the commentary falls flat.
And we barely touch the surface. If we were to try and take 2 Chronicles 6 regarding nations coming to Israel to worship and interpret that to mean that every nation can claim promises to Israel in chapter 7, we will find ourselves on shifting sand and we've essentially made Israel's place in God's plan meaningless.
On an internet news site, in the comments section, and atheist posted three scriptures (two from the "Old Testament" and one from the gospel of John) and asked why Christians aren't obeying or claiming them. Several Christians tried to answer, but the hole just seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. I stayed out of the fray.
I knew if I tried to help by pointing to the practice of right division of the Word of truth (2 Tim 2:15) in such a limited format, I'd be buying myself a two-pronged attack. Dispensationalism is anathema at almost all seminaries these days, but the only answer to the charge.
The problem is not just that atheists and agnostics and people of other religions could be confused by the vast numbers of scripture commands and promises that we do not practice or see today, a greater problem is causing doubt and fear in young believers that the Bible is a fraud.
David Hocking has a decades old ministry (Hope for Today). And while I would never say that David hasn't been faithful to the gospel, I believe he carelessly handles the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 by trying to apply it to the United States.
"if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
We also look again at the word "forever" in scripture. In a later episode, I will go to Hocking's commentary on the verse and discuss his reasoning and apply the principles of right division and context.
Season 5 brings us a new opening song and new clips.
The modern church defines "joy" quite differently than does the Lord. We look to the Acts age book of Hebrews to see the greatest example of the values of the Christian life. The Lord endured injustice and death, not caring about the shame that came with it, because the greater joy was found in pleasing the Father and bringing redemption to mankind. #theology
We look at another very popular verse from from Psalm 37, verse 4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Is God obligated to all men and women in all ages to fulfill this spiritual transaction? Well, we once again turn to the context of the promise and seek also to rightly divide (2 Tim 2:15) the promise. It surely is a "Bible promise," but what is its purpose and to whom was it given? We also note that the history of Christianity is a history of being persecuted and slaughtered for the faith. #theologytalk
We visit another oft-quoted verse (often when preachers are calling missionaries or guilting parishioners into evangelistic duty), Isaiah 6:8.
Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, “Here am I. Send me.”
But what message was Isaiah sent with? And to whom was he sent and why?
Short commentary on the papal conclave, we then move back to Israel God's plans for the earth, the land, and the Kingdom. We step back into the Book of Matthew and note the Lord's message and mission in that book and we agree with the Lord's assessment: he was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel and the Gospel of the Kingdom is for Israel alone. Yes, he is Lord of the Gentiles, but he is Son of David to Israel alone. #theologytalk
Part 2 of 2. A look at the return of the Lord through Paul's epistles. We again focus on the spheres of blessing and remind ourselves to rightly divide the differences. #theology
Part 1 of 2. A look at the return of the Lord through the Acts age and the apostles to the circumcision. We again focus on the spheres of blessing and remind ourselves to rightly divide the differences. #theology
We never want to diminish the experience of the birthing of the new nature in the believer when he or she comes to acknowledge the finished work of the Lord Jesus as his or her only hope, but we also never want to lose sight of the primary hope of the new birth. Deaths reigns from Adam until this very hour. It is our "enemy." The Lord conquered it in his resurrection and one day, because of what he accomplished on our behalf, the believer will experience it as well. No matter the plan of God before any group of believers, no matter the sphere of blessing, the great gift of immortal life through resurrection must shine through. #theology #christian
We take a look at the Lord's response to a question he received from his disciples on the Mount of Olives concerning the end of the age ("world" in some translations). We're centered on Matthew 24 in part.
We use this backdrop concerning the plan for the Kingdom (the gospel of the kingdom being for Israel and involving the earthly plan) to set us up for a look at the hope of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, and its place in the plan of God.
We never want to take away from what God is able to do. We never want to discourage believers from seeking God's intervention in our lives. But when we visit passages for other callings, we have to be careful. We must discern those things which speak of God's abilities and God's attributes. But that is quit a different matter than claiming things for ourselves that are neither directly given to us nor are they for our calling and age.
We have previously looked at passages in the the Psalms and in the Prophets, today we turn to Isaiah 61. #theology #christan #biblestudy
Living in the Parenthesis
The Age of the Silence of God
Walking According to Our Calling in the Current Age
We revisit the Democratic presidential candidates' policy positions from the 1984 campaign, compare that to McGovern's 1972 platform and modify previous statements about the Democrats and tariffs. Suffice to say it's a mixed bag.
Then we move to our seemingly never-ending parade of "real" Catholics telling me that popes can be wrong and we don't really need to listen to them on matters of faith or morals, we can made those distinctions ourselves. My response: Welcome to the Reformation!
Pope Francis has been great. He has been able to get the most conservative, hardcore, militant Catholics to suddenly adopt the position that Catholics are free to contradict the Pope. One odd argument, we don't have to listen to Urban VIII on salvation because "that was, like 800 years ago!" but somehow the current pope (who would presumably be the most accurate teacher of the faith using that reasoning) is the worst of the all? Hmm... #catholic #catholicism
We look over Ephesians 5 and Paul's warning that we walk in the Light of the new nature lest we risk losing the inheritance. We distinguish between the sealed free gift by grace alone of resurrection life, secured by the perfect, finished, and pure sacrifice of Christ on our behalf versus the inheritance of rewards, crowns, and the prize based on our walk and service as believers.
We start by stopping in on Paul's time before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest and note Paul's submission to the Law in that age. Never to either gain or maintain the free gift of salvation by grace, but in light of the promised Kingdom to be restored one day in Israel.
We chat about denominational systems and the pastor/priest system seriously clouds our responsibility as individual believers to "study to show [ourselves] approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of Truth" (2 Tim 2:15). The system also creates an enormous entryway for error and heresy and even a denial of the foundational truths of the faith (including a denial of the finished work of Christ). Surrendering our individual responsibility before God has destroyed many believers and has destroyed the truths of the revelation of our Apostle for this age, Paul.
"A booklet by Charles Hummel that explores the problem of living in a world of constant urgency and distraction. Learn how to prioritize the important tasks and avoid the tyranny of the urgent."
-C.S. Lewis Institute
We ponder the implications of the "urgent" things in our lives that rob us of peace. We examine, in brief, the booklet cited and I offer my opinion as to its conclusions and directions (the good and the questionable). We briefly comment on the activities of the new administration and remind all of us to question ANYBODY with power. No blank checks here and neither do we approve of blanket condemnations.
Exposing waste and exposing corruption must be seen as a good thing if the information is proven to be accurate. We need to judge each action on its own. In the end, we're all on the same team despite the powers that be wanting us to choose sides.
I used to have a list of doctrinal beliefs that I thought were biblical... then I started to compare scripture with scripture and interpretation with what I saw around me. So, I set out to compare what I said I believed and applied to all the Bible and to my own life. For example, if you think the red letters are for you, have you sold all you have? If you think you attend an "Acts Church," do you live communally? Do you separate Jewish believers from Gentile believers? This is called "comparing the things that differ" and studying to see why they differ. Finally, if we do discover discrepancies between what you say you believe and what you experience, we must be willing to change our interpretations. #theology #christian #christianity
You've got a sick child in the hospital, you're about to have your house foreclosed, your son just got drafted for World War III... you are going to be anxious. So, when Paul teaches us to be anxious for nothing (Phil 4:6) does he mean we're never to be worried or concerned? Absolutely not! Even our Lord expressed hos concerns to the Father in the Garden. But our Lord showed us the way. He put us ahead of his own interests and put his faith in the Father's plan for him. We show concern for others, but we need to learn to show less and less concern for ourselves. Contentment is our calling. After all, our blessings are indescribable and await us in the far above the heavens.
Along the way we comment briefly on Pope Francis' appointment of a new Cardinal in Washington DC. Catholics Against Catholicism are hopping mad!
We briefly review the bad Christmas takes from both the pro-Christmas and anti-Christmas Evangelical world, we wander momentarily back into Catholics attacking Catholicism, we breeze by the Church Fathers on social media, and finish with Jimmy Carter lovers embracing Reaganomics to stick it to conservatives somehow. But it all makes sense if you would just ignore the obvious and embrace the nuance!
Israel, Palestine, Antisemitism, Jews, Catholicism, Jimmy Carter, economy, economics, free market
I revisit the Ukraine-Russia war with some thoughts. We also ponder the sudden shift of Leftists and other Democrats to the side of opposing tariffs. Welcome to free trade, supply-side economics! We also visit Leftist hero Cesar Chavez's favorite subject: beating up illegal immigrants. Unions have historically loved tariffs (protectionism) and hates mass immigration (increased competition in the labor markets). Next thing you know Democrats will be opposing the minimum wage! Nah... but we can hope!
Christmas is for Israel:
https://youtu.be/qvCj-Zw7KwU
I talk a little about my music projects and then move on the significance (or lack of significance) to the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Once again we have to remind people of their stated beliefs (on all sides). #theology
Video Version contains all the references and notes if needed:
https://youtu.be/If6MlszavvM
We look at Catholic Popes and Councils and their utterly clear statements on the necessity of Catholic baptism, weekly mass attendance, and good standing in the bosom of the Catholic Church at the time of death. No ifs, ands or buts. No nuancing. Utterly clear! We then look at other Popes and the current catechism which completely contradict them.
And the super serious Catholics who reject all popes since Pius XII have the additional problem of arguing that the College of Cardinals infallibly appointed by Pius XI and Pius XII somehow were not infallible when they chose John XXIII. Quite the poser! But at least they see the contradictions mentioned above. So, in a weird way, the super duper Catholics agree with me!
A recent survey revealed that 77% of professing Catholics do not attend weekly mass (almost certainly fewer attend all the Holy Days of Obligation). Well, since we're pretty sure they don't all have great excuses every single week, according to codified RC doctrine, they're on their way to eternal fiery torment upon death. We look at those related RCC doctrines. We ask again, if you don't fear their warnings of eternal fiery torment, why do you believe their promises of heaven?
Hey, I don't hates 'em, I just quotes 'em!
What we chat about today are doctrines held bay various people and groups that take the name "Christian." Any individual is free to take any name he wants and claim any beliefs he wants. But when he does so, we ask that he remain consistent. We briefly discuss beliefs such as "Holy Days of Obligation," Purgatory," "Salvation" on the one had and the "claiming" of verses from anywhere in any context in another.
Social media has again provided us with a couple or example of the latter.
Along the way, we note the sad passing of HotAir.com contributor Jazz Shaw and ask Ed Morrissey if he did his duty.
We talk a little more about death and then look at David’s Song of Deliverance in 2 Samuel 22. What can we learn about prayer from comparing our experiences to David's? Right away we should understand that we do not have David's calling nor his promises, yet we are justified by grace as he was. When we look at the life of David we can see areas that do directly teach us, but we most definitely see things that have nothing to do with the current calling and cannot be equated with our promises in the current dispensation. We most assuredly are called on to pray in our day, but what should be expect from the Lord and how do our expectations differ from other families of God? What is the nature of answered prayer in the dispensation of the grace of God with a heavenly hope before us?
I recently experienced a medical scare and the real possibility of death. Thankfully all worked out and through a series of events I was able to undergo the treatment I needed. Could I claim Romans 8:28 ("all things work together for good" etc.) as some would suggest? As I recovered I saw a social media post claiming Romans 8:31 ("if God be for us, who can be against us?") on behalf of Donald Trump and his followers. Well, that didn't seem to work in 2020 (or in almost any national election around the globe now and for centuries. So we look at these and surrounded verses in context again and remind ourselves of the ultimate hope and victory: resurrection.
We explore another verse regularly ripped from its context and continue to apply a right division of the Word (2 Tim 2:15). There are likely countless people who become discouraged and many more who may even mock the faith when believers rip promises for Israel from their contexts and try to wiggle themselves into them in the current age. #theology #gospel #christiandoctrine
As believers all over the West and on Social Media quote verse after verse claiming God's protection and even His vengeance against their enemies, we look around us (and at the history of believers for two centuries) and what we see is suffering, persecution, and death. What are we to do with these realities. As usual, a right division of scripture and an understanding of God in this age (separating the different hopes in the Bible) helps us see the truth. #theology #christianity #israel #heaven
You must be born again? Passed from death unto life? In Christ are all made alive? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish? Wonderful truths, but have we must the true focus and hope because of tradition and mythology? We exalt the finished work of Christ and we exalt the victory that was the lack of decay in the tomb and the glorious resurrection. #theology #christianity #salvation
We look at a popular verse in Jeremiah chapter 17 and do what we always do: look at the context! All of scripture is profitable. We can learn about the nature of God without having to apply every verse to ourselves directly!
Jeremiah 17:7 ("Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord") is quoted often, and for good reason. There is much to gleaned from this verse. But unless we rightly divide the chapter, we might actually miss the blessings God has in store for those of us called in this age to the current calling of God. #theology ology #prophecy #israel #christiandoctrine #christianity
A professed Christian school in Oregon thought that we're still in the Book of Acts and that every epistle is for us today. We cover one story from the school which tells the story of child (Ava Worthington) who died because of that bad interpretation (wrong division) of scripture. A simple administering of an antibiotic would have saved the child, but the school thought they would try to claim healing promises in Matthew 10 and James 5. Sadly, they did not realize those promises are not for us today. This school would continue in its belief and more children would die.
Matthew 7:1 ("judge not lest ye be judged") is probably the most quoted verse by believers and unbelievers alike in modern theological discourse. If we allow ourselves to think about it for over 4 milliseconds we'll realize there is no way the Lord is commanding his followers to never judge anything or anybody. To be sure, we must be very careful when we make judgments and we must always be aware of our own frailty and of our sin nature, but surely we must make judgments. We try to put a little meat on the bones by walking through the passage. And judgment is not limited to actions in scripture. We must judge doctrine, interpretations, and applications as well. And in judging these things, we must "rightly divide the Word of Truth." #theology #gospel
The overwhelming majority of what is Christendom believes it is functioning under the New Covenant and that it is somehow a New Israel or a replacement for Israel. This belief will destroy (and has destroyed) many a Bible commentary. Further, it has stifled the growth of millions upon millions of believers. Finally, it has deluded well over a billion into believing that can attain resurrection life by their own efforts.
On the right side of the web we find almost all the robbing from Israel. Not only does this lead to gross antisemitism, but it sadly leaves so many ignorant of the blessings of the far above the heavens. Believers trade the unsearchable riches of Paul's revelation in Ephesians for some ethereal heavenly hope based on earthly promises. Sad. But we don't have to stay where we are. God is ready to enlighten unto Paul's revelation those who seek it. #theology #zionism #israel
We take a look at some quotes from philosopher Bertrand Russell. We note the wisdom that we can glean from the atheist thinker and then ponder why he was an atheist. Each of needs to be open to further enlightenment from God and we heed Russell's admonition against prideful certainty (ignoring the fact that he was pretty sure about evolution for some reason). #theology #creation
We look at God's prophetic plans for the earth, the promised land, and for his earthly kingdom. We discuss the Lord's death, lack of decay, and resurrection and the importance these have in cleansing the multiple spheres in God's kingdom. We note that the overcomers of the Revelation, a cleansed Israel, is the Lord's Bride and will inhabit the blessing of the heavenly New Jerusalem which comes down to earth. #theology #israel #dispensationalism #prophecy
We walk through Ezekiel 36 and look at God's plan for the earth and the land in that book. A very popular verse for evangelists to preach and for believers to claim is Ezekiel 36:26. We note how it badly manipulated by so many today and, further, how it distorts and clouds an understanding of God's plans for the future of Israel. God is a promise-keeping God. Israel is his Bride and he will cleanse Virgin Israel one day and fulfill his promises to a cleansed and believing Israel. #theology #gospel #salvation
I also share a bit of my testimony and my journey in the faith. If we truly want to try to rightly divide the word of truth (interpret scripture correctly), we must keep testing our beliefs against the whole counsel of God and be willing to move as God reveals more and more.
NOT for us today:
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." -Ezek 36:26
If one correctly sees Israel in the texts of the Psalms and the Prophets yet the same one goes on to teach that the "church" is somehow a "new" Israel or a different version of the same Israel, he has many problems on his hands. Conversely, the believer who believes either that he is Israel and is entitled to Israel's promises as laid out in the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets... this one then has to deal with the curses and punishments connected with eventual blessings. We can only start to get a clear understanding of scripture when we seek to rightly divide the plan, the people, and the promises in view.
On the surface, we may be tempted to take some simple lessons from the Lord's parables. But in doing so, we will probably be doing great violence to the text and not only miss the message, we may completely destroy it. Scripture must be rightly divided and the especially goes for the parables. The Lord started to speak in parables as a judgment against the nation, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want his true disciples to understand them.
We walk through another of-quoted Psalm in light of its context. We look at popular verses and where biblical wisdom truly starts. When we fear and reverence God, we look to our command in God's final inspired revelation, 2 Timothy, and we seek to honor him by studying to show ourselves approved and by rightly dividing (drawing straight lines) the Word of Truth. Once again we encounter the idea of "forever."
Psalm 46 is a very popular chapter in scripture and understandably so. There is much about the character and attributes of our God in the Psalm, but we must be careful when applying it in this age to ourselves. What we are dealing with nations in this section and God's plan and promise concerning the land are the backdrop. #theology
God is OUR refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore WE will not fear
-Psalm 46:1
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The Lord of hosts is with US;
The God of JACOB is OUR refuge. Selah
-Psalm 46:10-11
We continue to show the importance of applying "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" (2 Tim 2:15) to scripture and to everything that comes our way. Just as we noted that an unbelievable number of Christians carelessly have adopted John Lennon's utopian and godless song "Imagine" for some reason, we take the principles of "filtering" and apply them to George Harrison's hit song "Give Me Love." A song I happen to love despite its original intent.
We recognize that songs in themselves are not all inherently deceptive. But they can be deceptive if we don't apply sound, biblical, right division principles to them. #theology
We take a look at former Beatle John Lennon's Utopian fantasy song and ask why would any Christian would embrace this? We also examine Lennon's own life and views and how they evolved over the years. Imagine no possessions, but that doesn't mean you can't make a fortune on cattle futures or sue the government to get out of paying taxes on your investments!
All the Beatles moved at least part of their personal fortunes to the USA to avoid the UK's Socialist taxes. That would the USA. You know, the most capitalistic, most militaristic, and richest nation in the history of the world. You can sing about India and Bangladesh and collectivist societies, just don't actually move there!
We begin with apologies to John Calvin... for our tone, not our point. When we fail to let scripture speak for itself or fail to recognize when our system doesn't fit, we wander into areas of great error. We drop in on Leviticus and the Feast of Weeks as well as Haggai chapter 1 and the rebuilding of the temple. Along the way, we prove that every Christian is a dispensationalist!
We finish our look at a few of the commentaries featuring big names like Calvin, Spurgeon, Henry, and Sproul as they pontificate on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. We notice that, when we fail to rightly divide the word of truth, no amount of seminary training or voluminous writing will help. God has a plan for the earth and when we miss that and try to cram everything into a saved/lost split, we lose so much truth.
In fact, whether they realized it or not, these big names crossed into denying Christ territory. Our interpretations must match the context of the passage in light of God's plan and purpose and it should match what we see around us. When those extolling the virtues of poverty are themselves comfortable and without a financial care in the world, we must step back and ask where they went wrong.
As promised (I need to stop promising things), I read a few excerpts from commentaries from the some of the big names in historic Evangelicalism / Protestantism regarding the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. We can quickly see that despite some degree of wordiness, they still base their interpretations on the heaven/hell and saved/lost paradigm and don't say much IMO. Having to cram every verse in your Bible into one of those two dichotomies will seriously damage our ability to see and discern God's different plans, different hopes, and different ages. #theology
We will see that The Gospel of the kingdom is not what we either preach or believe today. Nor should we.
I hesitated to disagree with Calvin after what he did to another Michael!
We head back to the Sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matthew. We walk through the Beatitudes and step away from tradition and the restrictions of the "heaven/hell" and "saved/lost" paradigm and try to understand what the Lord is really saying and to whom and for when. Most of scripture concerns God's plans for the earth and for his earthly people. Matthew is especially focused on the gospel of the kingdom and the plan for Israel. #theology
We come along side Peter as he addresses "Ye Men of Israel" in Acts 3 and offers them the promises made to them by the prophets. We challenge pastors to try and preach this chapter as it is written, in its context, to its audience, with the plan of God clearly displayed. Israel and Jews remain Israel and Jews all through the Acts age.
For those keeping score at home, Acts 3 comes after Acts 2 (the Jewish feast of Pentecost)
One of the things that really grinds my gears is being told what I believe, being stuck in a category of someone else's choosing. We explore modern thinking in light of Satan's strategy and man's reasoning. A colossal error many believers make is thinking someone (pastor, etc.) or something (denomination, local church, etc.) will stand with them (or in their place) at their judgment of service. Nope. We need t seek enlightenment from God as individuals. #theology
We take a look at how Satan is able to infiltrate the marriage of believers. In the Acts Age, believers wrote to Paul asking for his guidance. Paul's advice for that age was to not get married (if you could handle that). The Lord added in Matthew 24 that in the coming Tribulation in Israel it was better if you did not have children. But if you must marry, don't give Satan a foothold in the name of piety. Paul's instructions after the end of the Acts Age differ quite a bit from what he wrote to Corinth.
For all those preachers who claim First Corinthians for themselves in our day, how many are unmarried? How many of their wives hope to not have children? Precious few (if any), yet they boldly teach that both 1 Cor 7 and 1 Timothy are both for them. We must "rightly divide the Word of Truth."
We seek to rightly divide the of-quoted promise in Philippians 4:19 by putting it in context of the chapter, the book, and the age in which it was given to our Apostle Paul. #theology
"In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency." -Tom Seaver... In theology, we must also strive for consistency. We never want to get far from our Apostle's final words to us, we must strive to "rightly divide the Word of Truth." And when rightly divide, it applies to ALL of scripture! Context, Comparison, and Consistency is what we strive for. Not to please men, not to fit a system, but to "show ourselves approved unto God [alone]." 2 Tim 2:15.
Then we walk through the topics from Season 1 in case anyone has an interest in any of those topics. From music, to the Parables, to my personal testimony, to the politics of the day (2020-2021), it's all there (plus references to MAS*H!).
We seek to break down 2 Corinthians 11 and Satan's ministers who are "the ministers of righteousness." Scripture doesn't teach us that Satan is in the brothel business, it teaches he's in the righteousness business. But what kind of righteousness? What's wrong with those who preach righteousness? Plenty if the don't rightly divide the true source of righteousness.
Note: We had a few audio glitches, but mostly the sound is fine.
We look at the beatitude in Matthew 5:6 in context. We then move on from the "all things" of Romans 8:28 and look at the supposed promise of protection for believers today in Jeremiah and then compare the threats of no protection and ask how Christians can just pick one and not the other. Finally we review yet another false (unbiblical) concept of Satan's methods.
Romans 8:28 is yet another verse too often ripped from its context and willy-nilly applied to every believer in every age for any purpose. The great doctrine of the undoing of the curse in resurrection is once again missed.
A dangerous result of the false hope derived from this verse wrongly divided trumpeted from the pulpits of Christendom is the loss of faith of countless seekers. Just as believers are thrust into doubting either their own salvation or the faithfulness of God when they don't see God providing them the "future and hope" robbed from Israel in Jeremiah 29, so too is it with the misapplication of Romans 8:28.
The good, my brothers and sisters, is the hope of the resurrection. And there is nothing that can stop the redemption of the body of the believer or the redemption of the very heavens and earth. All things are marching towards that end.
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”
We explore the fact that I'm a loud-mouthed schnook and contemplate the ramifications at my future assessment of works. We then realize that no matter what anyone thinks about my doctrines or my biblical interpretations, each will still answer for his own faith. We must not be content to simply oppose, we must be able to defend. We must all examine ourselves to see where we are in the faith. We must test our doctrines regularly against the whole counsel of God.
More Olympics talks! Go USA! We turn to the topic of faux outrage and its growing popularity in religion, politics, and culture. People just LOVE to be outraged! Gives a sense of self-righteous indignation when there is really nothing at stake. We can lash out at shadows with no downside.
We revisit Christians still demanding the pagans in Paris pretend they're not pagans and then continue to rip Galatians 6:7 from its context.
We revisit the importance of reading scripture in context (lest we end up in confusion). We note and review how the vast majority of warnings in Paul's epistles are warnings for believers. Those warnings take one of two tacks, both rooted in the flesh: acts of selfish carnality and acts of self-deluded ritual and religion.
Somewhere along the line I list my rooting preferences for the Olympics.
USA! USA! USA!
Unbelievers mock God at their own risk, but God does not warn believers about drag queens. Nobody is confused as to whether drag queens posing as DaVinci's "Last Supper" is truth from God. If that's Satan's plan to deceive, it's pretty stupid. What Paul warned believers about that which is Satan's tactic. Satan presents himself as an Angel of Light and his ministers are the ministers of righteousness. Paul warns Satan's ministers "disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness." The drag queens at the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris weren't disguised at all.
We also take another look at all those Bible promises Christians have been ripping from their contexts and claiming for themselves and for Donald Trump. This time we look at them in light of the tragic plane crash and death of three members of the Nelons Family Gospel Group.
It's no wonder so many Christians are confused or even disillusioned about the faith. We must stop ripping verses from their contexts and start seeking to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
We jump off our look at Mark and over to a parallel passage Matthew 16. We compare and contrast the calls to go on to maturity in the Gospels wherein "disciples" are called to "lose [their] souls." We cannot understand this command to believers if we adopt the tradition view of the soul, when we become immortal, or the very idea of "losing" one's "soul" (which we are called to do).
We take a look at an of-quoted verse of scripture involving gaining the world and losing one's "soul." We look at verse 36 in light of the context of the Lord telling his disciples he will soon be put to death. Mark uses the same word translated "life" and "soul" four times. In context of the Lord laying down his life, he is asking his followers at that time to be prepared to lay down theirs.
If you plug in "soul" for "life" in verse 35, applying how many generally use the idea of a "lost soul," it should jar us from theological complacency and make us reexamine our assumptions.
The horrifying events from Saturday have churned up the worst in Christendom. Donald Trump is being called "the Chosen One" (the Messiah, the Christ). His followers are claiming some sort of divine protection (including protection from his deceased wide, Ivanka). Professed believers are pulling verses from anywhere in the Bible without regard to context to claim some eternal calling on Donald Trump. It's as heretical as it is frightening.
We continue to look at commonly "claimed" hopes and promises from scripture (eight total) that your pastor probably spoke on today but which no direct place in the current age.
* You will be blessed like Abraham
* You will be wealthy if you follow the biblical pattern
* You no longer have a heart of stone
* God has a wonderful plan for your life (here and now)
* All things work together for good (with good assumed)
* You can do what Jesus and the Apostles did
* Jesus was always talking to you
* There is no difference in anyone's eternal fate
There are two reasons I believe that there is no great spiritual awakening coming, nor will one come before the next events on the prophetic time clock. The professing church right now is so confused and contradictory all it can offer are false promises and the trappings or holiness. We'll take a closer look at the state of faith in these last days.
A quick final word (for now) on Real Catholic Inc. Then we examine the faith-destroying and dangerous practice of failing to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
The practice in Christendom of grabbing any verse from anywhere in scripture and trying to claim it for ourselves will led to great disappointment and disillusionment.
And hilarity ensued! Now that Archbishop Vigano, conservative hero of Real Catholic Inc. (RCI), has been formally called a schismatic and excommunicated, RCI finds itself denying the Seat of Peter's "right" to bind and loose! The House of Cards again collapses. But then again, the Catholic Church is never quite sure exactly what the Pope's authority is. Nevertheless, the Catechism declares the faithful MUST bow both mind (intellect) and will to the Pope, in a special way, on all matters of fath ore morals, EVEN WHEN HE IS NOT SPEAKING EX CATHEDRA.
RCI further attacks the foundation of Catholicism itself declaring The College of Cardinals appointed by Popes Benedict and "Saint" John Paul II apparently made an impossible error in their choice thus throwing the entire history of the papacy into doubt... and it's glorious to watch!
If you're a Catholic who accepts the sentence placed upon Vigano, you can move on. This podcast addresses those "conservative" Catholics who believe Francis is not to be obeyed. So, RCI attacks the very idea of succession. RCI has spent 30 years browbeating me with the words of the Lord (ripped from their context in Matthew) stating that Peter could bind and loose only to find themselves denying Popes, Councils, and Catechisms just to defend an archbishop against a Pope! Pope (greater than) Archbishop, RCI.
We pause very briefly from theology to address the greater condition of humankind. There is a reason that politicians lie. They lie because it works. It works because people want to be lied to. Most people have convinced themselves that they have one set of values, but when push comes to shove, they really don't.
Political junkies live and die by poll numbers, but they never bother to wonder why poll numbers don't move much no matter what "bombshell" story breaks. We explore why this happens.
We will end up where we end up on issues of theology: "The majority of people think that they think; they acquiesce, and suppose that they argue; they flatter themselves that they are holding their own, when they have actually grown up to manhood with scarcely a conviction they can call their own. So it was, so it shall ever be." -E.W. Bullinger
We talk about those who may not ever hear the gospel of the free grace of God. Are they without hope? Is God so dependent on us that he has no other way to reach them? Scripture teaches that God is never without a witness. This is a foundational part of Paul's argument in the Book of Romans.
We continue also chat about the point of the the Law (Ten Commandments, etc.) and how we can (must) apply rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15) to all of our Bible Study. We touch in the parable of the Sheep and Goats again in Matthew 25.
Finally, I explain why I'm opposed to the Kansas proposal of putting a chaplain in every school. Talk about putting a fox in the henhouse!
The demise of the West is not because we took the Bible out of the schools, we took the Bible out of the schools because of the demise of the West... and professed Christendom's dependence on tradition over God's truth made that all possible.
PalTalk message taught to the Musterion Paltalk Group on June 25, 2024. We examine God's witness in his creation from the beginning of the ages. That witness continues into the current age. God is not dependent upon weak and sinful men to carry out the message of reconciliation to all the world. Scripture teaches us that God does not leave himself without a witness and that witness is in the ceration and in the conscience of men.
We examine Paul's account in Acts 13 of Israel's history to his brethren, the Jews, and look to Israel's future. We note that God has periods in Israel's history from the time of the Exodus to the building of the Temple that he doesn't count. These are the time when Israel was temporarily "Lo-Ammi" or Not My People. We then note how things changed after the Acts Age with Paul's revelation of the Mystery of Ephesians 3. We are once again living in one of God's parenthesis. This time, however, the parenthesis will close with the bright appearing of the Lord (not the Second Coming and not with the so-called Rapture).
We briefly examine Pentecost and the New Covenant against tradition. We find again that these are part of the prophecies, promises, and covenants that are part of an earthly hope for Israel. The hope of the current age is heavenly.
We ponder a video by a YouTuber who believes the King James translators left out a whole lotta books and purposely altered Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood..." etc. so as to obscure his own ruling power. This leads us to address the principalities and powers "in the heavenly places" (Young's Literal)
PS: Go Pack!
After we walk through some (hopefully) upcoming publications, we talk briefly about the basis for fellowship. Sure, I hold to a theological and exegetical system held by few professing believers, but I can gather around Christ... but only Christ alone. No sacraments or hope in anything else is welcome. We shortened up the opening.
Season 4 pilot intro!
I heard a radio preacher this morning teach an entire message on half of 1 Samuel 17:29. This sort of thing plagues the pulpit as men try to find heaven/hell and direct application in every verse and believe everything is for us today.
We visit the Book of Ecclesiastes and ponder the idea of aging and the wisdom that comes with age as we look at own pasts.
We cover Michael's imaginary friend, the Libertarians crippling themselves again, Christian bands that aren't Christian, the Resurrection to come, and what's left of the kitchen sink!
We drop in on Paul in Acts 17. We talk briefly about his witnessing pattern. We look at a recent podcast comment and reference the Catholic Church preparing to make a statement on apparitions... again. We note that many pagan beliefs are distortions of true doctrine and biblical history. Because of this, ironically, some professed Christians who attack certain pagan beliefs fail to see their own pagan beliefs and fail to distinguish biblical truth that may be present, although distorted (as Paul does in Acts 17).
We revisit the Sermon on the Mount again and the call to give to whomever asks of you. Oddly, I've been asking Red Letter Christians to help with my medical bills for years! But like many other red letters, they don't seem to feel compelled by those.
We also look at a chart created by Replacement Theology adherents to try and prove that the "church" is some sort of "New Israel." But the chart is great jumping off point to help us see that the gospels and and the Acts age are based on the earthly hope of the earthly people, Israel!
Something heard in the corridors of many a church (of almost any stripe) is "the Sermon on the Mount is my religion" or similar. Obviously, I think that's nonsense (just as the Red Letter Christians don't actually follow the Red Letters). But whatever position we take on any theological issue, it must be CONSISTENT. If you think your church is an "Acts Church," do you follow the patterns of Acts 2, Acts 4, Acts 15, Acts 21, Acts 26, etc.? If not, why not?
If you believe the Sermon on the Mount and the "Lord's Prayer" are for you, do you (or your church) teach every jot and tittle of that address? Do you follow its directions? If not, why not? We must try, recognizing our limited intellects and corrupting flesh, to be as consistent as we can while being willing to change when study leads us to change.
When we think about the many warnings and judgments in scripture, we tend to think of unbelievers. Well, the only warning we have for them is that the wages of sin is death and if they are not reconciled to God through Christ (who is already reconciled to them through Christ), they will not see life (resurrection). We again must consider the differences in hopes and callings. New Jerusalem, etc.
Hus, Tyndale, Wycliffe, Luther, and countless thousands of others are rolling over in their graves seeing what the world calls "Evangelicals" and "Protestant" Christianity today swooning over right wing commentators and personalities entering into the Catholic Church. The doctrine of Christ's fully accomplished and completed work for which thousands have paid with their lives to defend has been cast aside for the Christian virtue signaling of embracing all things Catholic and Orthodox (as they still condemn you in their doctrines).
While that falling away is occurring, much of Evangelical Christianity has tossed aside any semblance of values or consistency to embrace Donald Trump.
I've been mocked, scorned, and even banned on right wing sites for merely quoting (QUOTING, mind you) the doctrines of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches or statements by Donald Trump.
We could be seeing the end times apostacy (or apostasy, your choice) forming. Evil on the Left. Evil on the Right. And the work of Christ and his preeminence thrust aside as men seek power and glory and honor.
Caitlin Clark is going to cash in on endorsements. More power to her! Love to see any semblance of capitalism left. But her WNBA contract, much to the chagrin of feminists, will not be anywhere near an NBA top pick salary. Love to see any semblance of capitalism left. Yet I don't see feminists filling WNBA arenas, paying NBA prices, or watching the WNBA in any significant numbers to make a difference. America is an empire in decline and one of the major reason is economic ignorance. This one has the opening intro sound!
Caitlin Clark is going to cash in on endorsements. More power to her! Love to see any semblance of capitalism left. But her WNBA contract, much to the chagrin of feminists, will not be anywhere near an NBA top pick salary. Love to see any semblance of capitalism left. Yet I don't see feminists filling WNBA arenas, paying NBA prices, or watching the WNBA in any significant numbers to make a difference. America is an empire in decline and one of the major reason is economic ignorance.
We wander around the call to Godliness in this age and apply it, not only to our lives, but to our doctrines as well. We also look at the political landscape and lament the dearth of Godliness in our leaders. Not only do we have leaders devoid of Godliness, we are led by many vile people. And, sadly, despite their vile attributes, they have managed to gain the undying loyalty of many professed believers.
The Amherst-Pelham Regional District recently ran into its own bullhorn when a trans middle school child was cruelly harassed by fellow students and then approached by staff members with Bible verses. The problem? The harassers and the proselytizers were from another superior group, blacks and Hispanics. What's a good Progressive to do? Can't punish anybody because "restorative justice" and "it's their culture." I'm gonna assume this is somehow my fault. Sorry!
We also tackle what I think is the responsibility of the Christian in the workplace.
We clarify and exalt the finished work of the Savior. Not only did the Lord die in our place, He went to the grave and did not decay! He then rose gloriously to show us what lies ahead for those resting in that perfect work. But that perfect work is under assault, and most often and most directly, by those claiming to be Christians. Along the way, I discuss briefly why I don't do "church calendars." Where do we find guidelines for the current age?
In Adam We All Die (Audio) https://www.spreaker.com/episode/in-adam-we-die-in-christ-we-are-made-alive--52452666
How Are We Deceived? (Audio) https://www.spreaker.com/episode/we-begin-again-how-are-we-deceived--52336521
We start our look at the great falling away that permeates Christendom. The vast majority of Christendom condemns the gospel of grace itself while most of the rest dilute it or mix it with manmade standards. Many of those who say Sola Scriptura with their lips, yield to tradition and academia.
The title "Early Church Fathers" is one of Satan's most clever ruses (not necessarily the men, but the title). Christians will sacrifice studying the word of truth before God alone and defer to some doctrine because it is old or commonly held or is spewed from the mouth of men they revere above the apostle Paul himself.
We jump off from charlatan and Charismania teacher, John Avanzini's torturing of God's promises to Israel. This grave error in interpretation isn't limited to false prophets. Unfortunately the false teaching that every verse in the Bible is to all us is prevalent in many ministries today. And even those who recognize the misuse of the verses often fail themselves to understand the uniqueness of the current age and our focus on unsearchable riches in the far above the heavens (not on the earth; Ephesians 3)
We clarify the concepts of descriptive passages and prescriptive passages as we continue to seek to be consistent in our interpretation of scripture. I recommend a few video channels and a few ministry sites while reminding is us that we are all responsible for our won theology. We summarize our approach to scripture by asking three questions when we find a change in practice or command.
What changed?
Why did it change?
When did it change?
The Messed Up Church
Magical Mystery Church
Brother John Elving
Antichrist 45 - Bible Prophecy with Brother Paul
We continue reading verses in context such as Jeremiah 29:11 ("For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope") as well a few passages in the red letters that get ignored by supposed Red Letter Christians. We see the Lord telling his disciples to not go to Gentiles, to raise the dead, and to sell everything they have (among other things). We briefly look at the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25) in context. And as we have been doing, we call again on all of us to BE CONSISTENT!
We discuss the value of a seminary education (or the lack of value). We look at a couple of the most oft quoted verses in modern American Evangelicalism in their respective contexts (2 Chronicles 7:14 and Ezekiel 36:26). We carefully note how these passages can't possibly be referring to believers of the current age or the current gospel. Then we note that believers still have an old nature and we encourage all of us to "walk according to the calling to which we have been called" (Ephesians 4:1), and not the calling of other companies.
I will clarify in the next podcast, but I quipped "Southern Baptist" after I mentioned Dallas Theological Seminary. DTS was founded by the Chafer brothers (most notable Lewis Sperry Chafer) and is probably the premiere Classic (Acts 2) Dispensationalist Seminary in the USA. The Southern Baptist Convention surely has dispensational pastors, but they take no formal position on the matter.
More on saving ourselves from Charismania and other errors. Whatever theology you claim (hopefully it's yours and you didn't just adopt some system), make sure it remains consistent in your interpretations. It was a desire for a consistent theology that brought me to where I am (and still drives me as I seek more light).
If you think the "red letters" are for you, do you really keep the red letters? I mean ALL the red letters? Are you in an "Acts" church? Do you really practice what's laid out in the Book of Acts? I mean ALL the Book of Acts? If you claim all 21 epistles as the foundation of your faith, do you obey ALL 21 epistles?
Christendom has suffered, from its inception, the curse of religion and superstition. It seems as though so many professed Christians are dissatisfied with blessings in the far above the heavens that they fall for earthly promises and superstition. No matter the theological school one adopts, compromises and contradictions will rule the day if we fail to cut straight lines in scripture. There is a way out of the madness. We must turn to our Apostle, Paul, and seek to understand the message and hope he has revealed to us in the current age.
The Key to the Parables is Israel
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-key-to-the-parables-and-the-bible-is-israel--41046329
Introduction to the Parables of the Kingdom (Matthew 13)
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/introduction-to-the-parables-of-the-kingdom-matthew-13--40514017
Noting the Judgments in the Parables
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/noting-the-judgments-for-believers-in-the-parables-and-elsewhere--40906111
The second and final part of a very short series I recorded in 2007 about the basics of self Bible Study. We turn to the parables and look at what the Lord had to say about them. They're not nice little stories which make an obvious point. Quite the opposite, The Lord said they are meant to be deep and meant to lead the truth seeker to study. Lastly, we look at a "disharmony" of the gospels. That is, we shouldn't try to harmonize the four gospels to make then fit together, we need to take each on its and discover why the Holy Spirit left us four accounts of the Lord's earthly ministry.
"Study to show yourself approved unto God..."
2 Timothy 2:15
The first part of a very short series I recorded in 2007 about the basics of self Bible Study. We emphasize the individual responsibility and nature or Bible study and encourage every believer to start to read, study, and compare scripture for himself or herself. Not every command in scripture is for every person. That might sound good and religious, but it's palpable and demonstrable nonsense.
"Study to show yourself approved unto God..."
2 Timothy 2:15
As believers who see the rise of the globalists as at least a possible sign that the biblical end times are near, we cannot go on ignoring the biggest globalist on the block. The richest, most powerful, outwardly spiritual globalist player on the world scene, the Roman Catholic Church. As I engage Catholics disgruntled by the current Pope, I challenge them to read what their own church teaches them about the pope (spoiler: they are commanded to bow their minds and wills to the Pope in all matters of faith and morals). None of this is to win points or to just be smug, it's an attempt to get their eyes off the Pope, off the issues, off the outward glory and turn to Christ alone. It's a call to find rest in Christ alone.
My short testimony coming out of Catholicism:
https://bereanbeacon.org/do-you-read-the-scriptures-michael-f-scotto/
After I pay a short tribute to an old high school classmate who recently passed, we move on to several statements I heard in a recent message from the pulpit. Why don't we see a lot of miracles today? Why is Abraham so prominent in most of the Bible (while being conspicuously absent from Paul's last seven epistles)? Are all believers the children of Abraham?
We pithily, with a dash of sarcasm, comment on Stephen Strang's strange defense of Mike Bickle. Apart from covering up Mike's alleged pedophilia, Strang has called the "advocates" (read: victims of Bickle's grooming and sexual abuse of multiple girls - allegedly) the "tools of Satan." From the theological side, we apply the practice of "right division" (2 Tim 2:15) to the mania and suggest that a proper biblical understanding of the age we live in could help many avert these sorts of abuses of power. We put the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement in the spotlight.
After I mockingly used the idea of a $50/hour minimum wage to make a greater point in a recent podcast, some politician running for the US Senate seat from California proposes a $50/hour minimum wage. And not just for CA. She wants the whole nation to adopt the policy! Guarantee some of the same people who would tell me my example is ridiculous, would turn around and try and defend the economic suicidal policy once their party proposes it. Happens with a lot of issues. Jen Psaki told us we're crazy for suggesting some on the Left want killing babies in the birth canal to be legalized. After she was quickly corrected by her friends on the Left that many of them actually do support that idea (they have to, it's the necessary conclusion when you devalue life in the womb) she caves and now it's a "good" thing. Finally, we talk a little bit more about supposed modern day prophets and the corrupt clergy system.
We stop off in Kansas City to speak broadly about the scandals (plural) at The International House of Prayer (IHOP). Mike Bickel, Bob Harley, and others caught up in extramarital affairs and the sexual abuse of minors. We pull back the lens a bit and look at how these sorts of wicked acts can arise from pastor/prophet/charismatic systems. We are all capable of falling into sin, but for sin on this scale, arising from multiple leaders, in one of the largest religious movements in the USA must be examined, condemned, and removed. When you reject the Apostle Paul as the last Apostle sent to God's people, the one given the final revelation for this age, you open yourself up to all sorts of deception. We finish with another short trip to fantasy MinimuM Wage Land.
We have discussed previously the idea that most people are deceived in to thinkin that they actually think, but they are really just acquiescing to some system or group. In many areas, there are laws that guide outcomes and reactions and ramifications no matter what we feel about the topic or what we want to be true. We have to guard against these biases. In Theology, we see the most dangerous result of submission of mind and will (required, example, in Catholic doctrine and dogma) for we will all answer for our beliefs and actions before our Lord. This problem is certainly not limited to the Catholic Church as almost all of professing Christendom is sliced into sects, each connected to a personality or system.
Men love religion. Men crave ritual. Over the course of Bible history, God has revealed the inability of man to keep laws and the inability of man to pay for his own sins. An eternal debt required an eternal payment. Very few in Christendom fully embrace the revelation of the full grace of God found in the heavenly hope and heavenly blessings given to our Apostle, Paul. Men insist upon doing things the hard way and insist God bless them for their efforts. To often, men, in the name of Christianity, mock the cross, reject the finished work of Christ, and deem the unsearchable riches of God's grace as beneath them.
Ephesians 5 starts off with more warnings for the believer. We focus in on the warning against "coarse jesting." In every language there are words deemed "off-color" or "dirty" or "swear words." The words themselves make the list through some societal agreement, often not through any clear standard. There are two slang words, for example, for human excrement. One is acceptable and the other ist verboten. Can context play a role here? Should we be more lenient with those who come out of background where regular use of "unacceptable" words are acceptable? We've already noted context, and I believe context and intent are at the heart of this and many other matters of the faith.
Too many Christians are caught up in Group-Think. There are so many assumptions made about the faith and about the Christian Life based on the modern structures in Christendom. That is, so many look to a pastor or to a denomination when it comes to how to interpret the Bible or how to live the Chrostian Life. There is also a surrendering of discipleship when it comes to hope before us. We must break free from this way of thinking. We shall all stand before God and give account for our service. The Lord knows we are limited creatures with limited intellects and failing minds, but that does not give us the right to forfeit our responsibilities before our Master to study in a manner to show ourselves approved. We do not have to forsake fellowship or corporate worship to do this, but we must forsake systems, catechisms, creeds, and confessions.
To get a better glimpse of tremendous depth of God's grace (for all we ever get in this life is but a glimpse), we must see ourselves as creatures desperately in need of that grace. While the world (and Christendom) preach a message of self-love, the great saints of the faith in scripture teach us that the way to experience God is through lowliness of heart. It is in taking our place as beggars and sinners in need of a grace beyond our comprehension. If you want to experience more of God's grace, take your place among the ashes.
We take a quick look at the verse in Daniel wherein the Angel describes the Antichrist as one who will not regard the desire of women (Dan 11:37). We look at this description in its context and compare it with 2 Thessalonians. We take a look at the "queen of heaven" spoken of in scripture and offer a possibility in light of the description given us by the Angel in Daniel. Does this verse teach that the Antichrist will be a homosexual or is it something very different altogether?
Tammuz, Semiramus, and other ancient gods and goddesses are briefly discussed and we follow them into Christendom to this day.
More details:
www.contextorconfusion.com
When the Bible speaks of doing things "forever," does God mean what we mean when we say "forever?" Well, no. What God means is that the person or group to whom He is speaking is bound to something as long as God sees fit. Those today who claim that they embrace ALL of scripture fr themselves fail to do many things God said were statutes FOREVER.
There is a theological word for making distinctions in scripture based on God's instructions for one age that completely change (and may even be sin and a denial of Christ!) in another. That word is "dispensationalism."
Even the most committed and hardcore Reformed Preterist isn't obeying the commands in the Law that God declared "forever." That makes him a dispensationalist whether he likes it or not. We need to apply this understanding across scripture. We don't live based on the Sermon on the Mount, we don't live like the believers in the Acts, and we shouldn't even be practicing the Lord's Supper in this current age.
Thinking about a few theories I've heard from believers in light of the government teasing people with talk of aliens. Will a rapture-type event be explained away as an alien abduction? Will they use the alien fear angle for some other reason? Are other religions waiting for Christians to be taken out of the way before they make a move? Will there even be a rapture?
In addition to rapture and alternatives, we wander around things brewing in the stew that is the fall of Western Civilization.
The Bible from 30,000 Feet Series
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXDja44ii5o2h3bgS-J74SirKshfRpEr_
Blog:
www.contextorconfusion.com
We take a moment to consider the complexity of a life. When we have our Celebration of Life for a loved one, we often (because of time constraints) melt the individual down to a few outward factors. He loved to go fishing. He was a big Mel Tormé fan. You know, the stuff everybody could see. But we all live day by day, minute by minute and our lives covers decades of experiences. Loves won and loves lost. Successes and failures.
We hold a spot in our families. I am a father, a husband, a son, a brother, a cousin, etc. We have friends, acquaintances, and coworkers. The Christian struggles daily with the flesh (the old nature).
In all this complexity, there is one who knows us intimately. There is one who knows our fears, our pain, our loss, our sins, our victories, our strengths and weaknesses. God understands each us better than we understand ourselves and surely better than we understand each other.
Western societies today are being suffocated and rotted by millions who believe they are virtuous. They hold, what they believe, are foundational truths and virtues, yet far too often when those truths or virtues do not fit their unspoken motives, they abandon them without hesitation (but often with excuse). Recently, former Press Secretary (now TV news host) scoffed at the idea that any Democrat would support abortion in the ninth month or in the birth canal... until she was barraged by Democrats reminding her that abortion up to birth (and even beyond) is now the NEW virtuous truth. She immediately abandoned her "obvious" virtue and adopted the opposite.
Plagiarism and genocidal hate are two of the worst crimes an academic can commit, yet when the guilty academic is on the right "team," all seemingly rock solid virtues are tossed like yesterday's newspaper. Academia is built in the shifting sands of man's selfish opinion as is almost all of what's left of western civilization.
In the book Animal Farm, the pigs would amend "truths" to fit their changing value system, which was no value system at all. They merely wanted power and they used the rest of the animals to achieve it my changing "truth" and making them believe they always believed that way.
This sad disease is not only evident in politics, it is evident all through theology. We again remind ourselves that no pastor, no denomination, no local church will stand with us before the Lord at the judgment of our service, Your theology is yours. "Study to show yourselves approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly handling [cutting] the Word of truth.' God is also not interested in manmade virtues or polls.
We must be careful of self-justification using the shifting values of mankind or for a desire to be thought well of or approved my our fellow man. We must establish a core set of values, based on God's words, and be determined not to move from them, come what may.
Short podcast pointing folks to available original music at BandCamp, Spotify, and other music services. Pop, Rock, Prog, Live, and Christian projects from the band and members of North Carolina's Nothing But Sky
Reminder: the Brooklyn's Dad Talks About EVERTHING video versionis available on Rumble or Bitchute. Just FYI
Music:
https://nothingbutsky.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XEiO4DdQiPKtED0skYl44
Videos (Podcast and Music):
https://rumble.com/brooklynsdad
Too often when the accounts of the Lord's birth are read from Matthew and Luke the centrality of Israel and God's prophetic promises to that people are overlooked. It's even worse than that, Not only are the promises to Israel overlooked, the tremendous truths connected to God's plan for the Earth and the Land and the Nation are explained away, spiritualized, or usurped. Christmas is wholly Jewish. Christmas is built on God's prophecies from the foundation of the ages.
The Lord Jesus is the hope of the Gentiles, but when it comes to the plan for the Earth and the Kingdom, the blessings for Gentiles will come through a redeemed and cleansed and forgiven Israel. These truths are all over Matthew's and Luke's accounts. In the current age, we do not look for earthly blessings or an earthly kingdom (we look to God's plan for the "far above the heavens," Ephesians), but God's prophecies seen in the nativity accounts will come to pass. What Israel failed to see in 4 B.C., the Virgin of Israel (Jeremiah 31) will see in an age to come.
We draw on a line in the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and discuss the vast implications. We focus again on God's plans for the Earth as we pull the camera back and look at the universal truth of all mankind: you're going to die. Death is the curse. Death is the last enemy. The only way death could be conquered is if God himself came to take that punishment and conquer it in resurrection. "He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Whenever I hear the word "equity" bandied about, my mind races in two directions. The first is the idea that elites have such low opinions of certain groups of people that they are convinced they cannot compete without their help. The second is another form of racism, that is, the assumption that people of European (oe even Asian) descent are inherently evil. Their language may try to couch it, but it is clear enough in word and deed. I saw overt racist policies in my time in college admissions. I also saw the racist elites openly lie, shift blame, and attempt to shut up those who believe in at least the idea of a colorblind society. I was an eyewitness to this open racism in the 1990s. And certain applicants weren't just given a slight advantage, it was very large and bigoted advantage on the assumption that they couldn't succeed without rigging the playing field.
We briefly discuss more more Catholics who want to tell us that Catholicism means never having to listen to the Pope. We wander into Jeremiah 10 and the misuse and out-of-context application of Israel's prophets to today's Christmas trees. We lament YouTube's decision to give me a strike for misinformation about the CV vaxx... because I posted a movie clip from 2014.
We run amok! Colleges backing Jew-Haters, expensive Happy Meals, open borders, Russia winning the war we were told they already lost, etc. we briefly revisit the minimum wage reality as we ponder more contradictions and hypocrisy from the usual suspects.
We cap it off with a visit to Columbia University which is quick to crack down on dangerous terrorists who want to keep porn out of Kindergarten libraries, while assuring genocidal maniacs that their Jew-Hate is protected.
The world is upside down and headed straight down the drain. America is in steep decline and there doesn't seem a way to reverse the financial, cultural, and societal collapse coming.
Rick Wiles of TruNews has said that America is (ironically) like Nazi Germany in that you're not allowed to criticize Israel just like you were not allowed to criticize Hitler (ironically). He also likes to use the old "Christ Killers!" trope. We look at Israel today with a big lens filtered through scripture. When we rightly divide the Word of Truth, we start to see God's plan for the earth. Israel is not at the center of God's plan today, but they soon will be again. So, no Israel today is no longer "God's people," BUT a believing Israel will be "God's people" when God turns back to the earthly plan. In a practical way, if you side with those who want to wipe Israel off the map, you have adopted the "eat me last" plan. But, then again, these people just hate Jews, so there's that.
Thoughts on Modern Israel:
https://youtu.be/AaZr_tvACR8
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/56687727
The Church Is Not Israel and Israel Is Not the Church, Day Trip To Romans 9
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/44092809
https://youtu.be/1QJqxTsRloY
The Key to the Parables, and the Bible, is Israel
https://youtu.be/HDYT-KsywNA
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/41046329
We send a little love to the Roman Empire and British Empire as we call on all the universities and companies who do "land acknowledgments" to DECOLONIZE and give back the land! We take another look at the Israel-Palestinian conflict from a global view.
Apologists for atrocities fail to listen to those they seek to support. The call of the terrorists isn't just to decolonize Palestine, it's to decolonize everywhere, and that means killing Jews AND Christian EVERYWHERE.
Short-sighted thinking abound because it is clouded by self-righteousness, virtue signaling, and hate. The tolerant and loving forces in the West are seething and teeming with hate. And in their hatred, they strike blows on their own heads.
Failed musician, Michael Scotto, looks at a couple of current shticks (gimmicks) used in the production of far too many contemporary Christian songs. He then blabbers on with his useless opinion of the CCM scene as a whole and takes cheap shots at successful musicians. Those who can't do, criticize. I think that's right.
We clarify a couple of issues from recent podcasts and then move on to the war in Israel. We discuss, further, Israel's place in the current age and the place the current war might have in God's future plans for Israel. Israel is surely in the land today in unbelief. God has a plan for the earth (most of scripture concerns God's dealings with the earth), but God is currently out a company whose destiny is in the far above the heavens (Ephesians).
Regardless of prophecy, we must always defend the helpless. We must resist the world's desire to draw a moral equivalency where this is none and, worse, its attempts at excusing barbarism. There is a lot of hatred aimed at Israel from among confessed believers. We know the gospel is opposed in Israel, we know some Orthodox spit on evangelists, but that is far cry from rape, torture, murder, and terrorism.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2023/10/10/unbridled-barbarism-hamas-wiped-out-this-entire-town-n2629613
With Francis grinding the gears of traditionalist Catholics lately by chastising them for replacing faith with ideology (as he sees it) and his dancing with the concept of what to do with homosexual "civil unions," we explore exactly how traditional such Catholics truly are.
Pope Francis calls them "Reactionary," I call them super double extra radicals! Do they believe in their church or not? Do they believe their own councils and decrees and dogmas? I don't think they should (but I left years ago) especially when it comes to Scripture and the finished work of Christ.
I've discovered quoting codified Catholic doctrine and reminding them of their Sacred Tradition and infallible rules of succession turns these conservative Catholics into revolutionary, Council-rejecting heretics. It's quite a sight to behold. But that's what a religion built on men will do. It will eventually implode upon itself.
Inspired by a post on Social media about "letters from heaven." And since it's Great Pumpkin Season, we look again at Christian superstitions (which aren't really Christian). We take another look at Th Great Pumpkin's compadre, Santa, in the context of dealing with our kids. We take the middle ground (again) and talk about how the truth is an important pillar of the faith. Santa is fun, Satan isn't Satan, Santa isn't real, mark these down.
The Lord said HE is the Truth. And while Santa is not that terribly important in the grand scheme, truths surrounding the Person and Work of the Lord are vitally important, eternally important. We're all fallible humans. We're going to get things wrong. But in the end, we will be judged by how diligently we studied and how we handled the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15).
PS: if you find books or videos in my possession when I die, it does NOT mean I agree with everything in them! I might agree with nothing in them. My Blog and Podcast, that's what I believe!
Heaven Hell / Saved Lost will ruin your theology
https://youtu.be/b0_hoxsf4Wc
Christmas Ain’t no humbug
https://youtu.be/4x51UnYuO6Y
Sheol and Sheep
https://youtu.be/vvJhDZmEx5c
The monstrosity which calls itself Christendom
https://youtu.be/iTX22TwGUZA
We’re all going to hell and there's nothing you can do about it
https://youtu.be/YlqrwktsmFA
We revisit a couple of topics from the PowerPoint presentation in our last episode: the responsibilities in marriage and how covetousness can lead to other sins like malice towards other people. We finish with a couple of more politicians being politicians and, finally, a plea for peace in Ukraine.
Podcast on the Old and New Covenants: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/52833157
As promised, a shorter version of my bible study PowerPoint presentation concerning Paul's instructions and warnings to us in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3. We are always mindful to never diminish the glory and mercy and love the Lord displayed for us on Calvary and in his glorious conquering of the curse of death in his resurrection. We can never lose that free gift as it is complete and fully paid for! What we can lose are rewards and crowns. Our service is under review.
This just happens to be episode 33 of season 3. The Masons have a thing for the number 33. The baseball player shown is Ron Hunt. He is known for getting hit by a lot of pitches and is one of my brother Joe's favorite players! My brother wore number 33 when he played street hockey.
We try to put some context on upcoming episodes. Yes, Chuck Schumer is a lying, power-hungry shallow excuse for a human being, but he's just the tip of the political iceberg. The vast majority of Washington DC is infected with these greedy manipulators (along with their willing accomplices in the media). They squabble and jockey for position as the police state expands and the middle class drowns.
Brief note on upcoming episodes, two of which have already been recorded. A third will be created from a recent Bible Study PowerPoint on the topic of Paul's warning for believers in this age. Plus, two more examples of lying, demonic legislators. The only thing they care about is power and money and they'll manipulate our emotions to get them.
We step back and look at the tales of space as told by TV and NASA. Shame we can't go back to the moon because we lost that sweet sweet 1969 computer data. While pondering the reality of what the government shows us, we briefly examine why I don't care what unbelievers do to Bibles or what they say about God. It's their funeral. I don't approve, of course, but I don't expect much from people who think they accidently evolved from inorganic material for no reason. After all, every thought they have is just a chemical reaction to accidental and random stimuli, right? If you believe, you'll believe anything NASA tells you. And it will only cost you $65 million a day.
Some external audio/video content excerpted from:
https://rumble.com/v1dvbqn-the-moon-landings-hoax-by-taboo-conspiracy.html
We take a very broad brush look at the catechisms, creeds, and confessions of the Reformed. Admittedly, as with all shades of believers, there is a difference of degree and opinion among our Reformed brethren, but we focus here on the reliance of the New Magisterium many look to. We come back, as we always do, to the responsibility of the individual believer to "study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."
(2 Tim 2:15)
We continue to take a look at "team" thinking. Partisanship in many respects. We'll discuss a few more issues about which we must give our assent lest we be called names and assigned a scarlet name with an ism or phobe. These are essentially matters of the world, but when our beliefs come in conflict with the world, there will be a price to pay. Yesterday, saying certain things was deemed crazy, tomorrow, you had better agree lest you be ostracized and cancelled.
When we see that Israel has its own relationship with God, and that that relationship is currently in hiatus, do the blessings and cursings connected to the earthly hope apply in this age? We cruise on by the Catholic doctrine of grave (mortal) sins for a moment. And what we should be anxious to obey in this age.
Who is Israel?
: https://www.spreaker.com/user/michaelscotto/israel-according-to-the-flesh
My blog:
https://www.contextorconfusion.com/
We expand on the key verses upon which the Reformation was built (despite the Reformed of today not paying much attention to them in any concrete way anymore). We note that they reflect two truths. First, the gift of life has always by faith, since Adam. And Secondly, that the context of Abraham's faith was directed to his line through Isaac and Jacob (Israel) and to the Gentiles blessed through Israel (as God designed it). Just as with Abraham, when we believe God's word we are accounted as righteous in His eyes (by grace alone through faith alone), but unlike Abraham the hope before us is neither the land from the Nile to the Euphrates nor the New Jerusalem which comes to earth from above. Our hope in this age is in the far above the heavens where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father!
We take a day trip to Psalm 32 and 33. While we are adamant that ALL scripture is FOR us, not all of it is TO us. Surely, there are wonderful truths on every page of scripture, but when we rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15) we are able to rejoice with all believers of all ages in the mercy and grace of God as we look forward to different hopes and blessings in the coming resurrection.
The Blog:
https://www.contextorconfusion.com/
The Gap Theory, Proper Dispensationalism:
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/26882977
Message presented to the Musterion PalTalk Group associated with the Carolina Bible Group (https://carolinabiblegroup.com) and Truth For Today (https://www.tftmin.org) ministries. General presentation on the underlying theological assumptions which lead to contradictions and a failure to rightly divide the Word of Truth. We examine the power of tradition and how a movement which once championed th Scripture as suffcient, with no reliance on tradition, has succumbed to the dangerous practice of interpreting scripture through the lens of history, time, and tradition instead of the other way around. The Musterion PalTalk group meets Tuesdays, 8:30PM EDT/EST all year long.
The former Press Secretary came out and said that nobdy supports abortion up to birth. Of course, this is a complete lie. Currently, seven states have no restrictions on abortion. At least two state legislatures have proposed even allowing mothers to let their newborns die. Former Virginia Governor, Ralph Northam, proposed making the newborn baby comfortable, and then deciding if you want to starve her to death. Monstrous. But they will lie and play word games to cover their evil. The world has rarely seen this level of wickedness and cruelty.
We dip back into Ephesians 5 and think about Paul's reminder that the days we live in are evil. God calls us to walk in the light despite this fact. But how can we do that and what does that mean we should be doing? Well, for starters, we need to know the things God has given to us in this age. We must rightly divide the Word of Truth. It's one thing to try and obey whatever verse we come across amd another to obey the verses given to us. Because obeying some commands in scripture amounts to disobedience if they're not meant for us.
We pause to comment on the state of the nation. Recent events have further exposed the rot within America. I announce my doomed campaign for president and in the unlikely event my candidacy does not catch on, I endorse nobody. Crime, debt, attacks on the Republic, it's all here in abbreviated form. We finish by referring back to a recent message on the fall of the empire, and have no good news to add apart from a reminder that God has a plan and is ultimately in control. If you're politically squeamish, you might want to wait until we get back to Ephesians 6 next time! Edited down from the original 50+ minutes... you're welcome.
When we look at the three iterations of the commandment for children to obey their parents in the Lord, we notice there is a difference (apart from the punishment attached) to the instructions given to Israel and the instruction given to the Body. We finish with a short discussion of the effects of minimum wage and taxes on an economy. There's a reason McDonald's has order kiosks.
We've recently looked at several warning passages to believers to avoid sexual immorality (fornication, adultery, lusts of the flesh, etc.). Sexual immorality cannot only destroy a testimony, it can destroy a society. But God never leaves us without hope. There is always a path back to God. Our gracious Lord is eager to forgive and restore. That does not mean there are no consequences to our sin, but it does mean we are never alone if we know the great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Series Note: The video "Episode 19" is a truncated version of episode 17.5 here. Hence, the "missing" episode.
We move into Ephesians chapter 5 and continue with Paul's admonition to walk in the light. Christ secured for us the free gift of resurrection life with his perfect sacrifice and resurrection, but that doesn't mean the servant faces no other judgments. We are warned repeatedly in the epistles of the pitfalls in the old nature that can lead to loss. Loss of reward. Loss of crown. Loss of position. Loss of the Prize of the High Calling. Faith is the first step. Remember, ALL were redeemed out of Egypt. ALL were identified with Moses in the Red Sea. ALL were provided for in the wilderness. But not all entered into the fullness of the promise.
[Audio only available] We follow comments I received on social media for merely trying to put Jeremiah 29:11 in its context. Hey, I'm just asking questions. If you wanna claim Jeremiah 29, why not Luke 12 or Mark 16? We then apply the faulty "every verse I like is for me, to hell with the context" to the blessings and cursings in Israel's Covenant with the Lord in Deuteronomy 28. Consistency is our goal.
As we've been over Jeremiah 29:11 a few times, and our look at Deuteronomy is applying the same principles of bible interpretation and right division, we have limited this to a bonus episode. Of course, it does have the super extra special bonus of me singing part of Paul McCartney's "The Pound is Sinking" from his 1982 classic LP, "Tug of War." So there's that (plus consequent lawsuit from MPL Communications, MacLen Music, Apple Corp., Denny Laine's Estate, Pattie Boyd, and Ringo).
We address yet another invocation of Jeremiah 29:11 online. This is very popular verse, claimed by believers far and wide. But apparently, the plans God has to prosper us is only working for people like Leonardo DiCaprio and a lot of phenomenally wealthy people in power. We again look to context and God's differing plans for israel and the Earth. Then we broaden our scope to talk about contrarians, idealists, and "experts." Michael gets to chat about economics (which excites probably only Michael).
We once again explore the application of reason to our thinking and to scripture. When confronted with theological, political, or economic ideas, we need to step back and think through them logically and settle where reason leads us. Unfortunately, we had some video issues. So, while we had to employ a static picture from campus, scripture references, pictures, and other visual references still work. We need to free ourselves from systems. We have tried to do this by challenging many commonly held theological "systems" in considering context and how the Bible divides itself. Bit such a thing is a healthy practice in many areas of thought. Free ourselves from systemic thinking and continue to challenge our own beliefs and assumption through both observation and reason.
We take a look at 1 Cor 6 from another angle, noting the clear context of 1 Cor 5. Yes, believers are capable of falling into all kinds of wickedness if they follow the carnal nature (the flesh). This leads to Paul's instructions for marriage in 1 Cor 7 which we then contrast with his Post-Acts instructions in 1 Timothy. We get our Acts and Post-Acts doctrines lined up and rightly divided. Are you settling for a lesser hope?
We dig deeper into Paul's dealings with believers who hindered his teaching of the blessings in the far above the heavens. Most of our doctrinal enemies (who may rob of us "unsearchable riches, rewards, crowns, or the Prize) come in the form of Christians. They appeal to our carnal, religious nature. We wander from there and continue to look at the demise of the USA. How did we get from Andy Griffith to Three's Company to everybody jumping in an out of bed together on every show in just my lifetime?
We chat about the dangers that come to the Christian from within the walls of Christendom that can hinder us, deceive us, and rob us from our calling. We then freeform talk about the fall of the American Empire. The signs all are around us: moral decay, the destruction of the nuclear family, political chaos, massive debt, high taxes, etc. These conditions have not been conducive to a healthy society. And if the USA falls, Liberty falls, and the world enters a possible season of great darkness and terror. Cheery stuff like that.
The practical arises from the doctrinal. Paul, in Ephesians, lays out the new revelation of the Mystery (Secret) God had hidden from before the foundation of the ages and which God had hidden from Moses and the Prophets. The Middle Wall between Jew and Gentile came down after the Acts age and the focus of blessings is no longer the earthly Kingdom, the land, or the New Jerusalem. The blessings we look forward to now are "in heavenly places." We not only enter into that calling by faith, by faith we exanine our lives by that calling. Ephesians chapter 4 is our guide.
While milling about Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 (the Olivet Discourse), we stop in on some of those red letters in chapter 25 and break down the parable of the Ten Virgins who are attending a wedding (they're not part of it). We compare some of the imagery and metaphor there with common statements and beliefs in Christendom and see if they fit. We visit the covenants that apply and the hope in view. Once again, we note the very Jewish, Israeli context of the passage (and remind ourselves of the Lord's words in Matthew 15, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." God has a plan for a remnant of Israel, true Israel, believing Israel, O Virgin of Israel.
We pause to talk a little bit about my Christian allegorical book, "Devon Dibley and His Golden Key." One reviewer on Amazon accused me of being a "Christofascist." So that's a pretty good endorsement! I expand the topic I neglected in our pizza talk, Philadelphia's own Tomato Pie. We also wander around Israel's future and we set up a discussion of the Bride, the Lamb's wife, as scripture teaches (not as men today commonly teach).
The book:
https://www.amazon.com/Devon-Dibley-His-Golden-Key/dp/1484181557/
My brother's Christian novel:
https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Apple-Tree-Joe-Scotto/dp/1463734263/
Start here if you want to get tomato pie shipped to you:
https://www.corropolesebakery.com/
https://www.goldbelly.com/corropolese-italian-bakery-and-deli
We look briefly at the use of "synagogue" in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the biblical Hebrew texts). We finally discuss the pressing theological issue of our day: what's the deal with fast food pizza? And before we go, we confirm what should be common in Christendom, but which is sadly lacking... an acknowledgement that we don't know everything and that we all probably have some things wrong. But we can still be friends!
We take a quick look at Matthew 24, the questions posed to the Lord and his response. We consider a possible context for the "rumors of war" and the fighting "kingdom against kingdom" the Lord references. There have been many such rumors and plenty of wars over the centuries, perhaps the prophetic Word of God can help us narrow down the field. Finally, we look at the Gospel of Kingdom spoken of by the Lord in the Book of Matthew. Is that the gospel we preach today? I hope you know by now, no way!
We compare the ideas of filtering and trying to find good in evil. Is there a distinction? I believe there is. After breaking down those concepts, we take a little walk through Psalm 27.
We jump to the Hebrews where Paul is shockingly writing to Hebrews (none of whom graduated from a Reformed Seminary). Even in this Acts Age epistle we can see that the law of the tithe was created to provide for the tribe of Levi and for the physical Temple. We'll see that Levi was in Abraham's loins when the latter tithed to Melchizedek, thus making his priesthood (Christ's) greater than the priesthood of the Law. Finally, we spend some time filtering the 1979 movie, "Hair." No, I'm not recommending it for you today, but I happened to see it when I was 13 and so I go back and filter some of the music.
And we briefly explain why Mary is not, Theotokos, or "the Mother of God."
We wander in and around three more cases of picking and choosing what we want from scripture. We finally visit Malachi 3 and the question of tithing; the Lord's words to his disciples in regard to love and your eternal fate; finally, we wander over to the Olivet Discourse (as it is called) in Matthew 24-25. As your pastor threatens you with Malachi if you don't put cash in his storehouse, you might want go through and bullet-point everything else in that chapter for him.
Today, we talk about some the things and people who surround the film "Sound of Freedom." As we continue the practice of filtering with scripture and reasoning from scripture, we step back and ask a few questions about the movie. Do good intentions make one a good Christian? Or even a Christian at all? Nothing wrong with exposing evil. Nothing wrong with trying to save children. We can say "bravo" to all that. But we must never forget the greater truths at hand and we must never put our hope in man.
Why does Christendom tend toward the "it must be true because it's old and popular" within its borders, but savages and rejects the same sentiment in the world? I don't know. What I do know is that we all need to take personal responsibility for our faith while simultaneously allowing others to take personal responsibility for their own faith. Wycliffe, Tyndale, Hus, Luther all stood alone, and all championed by people today... who mock you if you stand alone.
We start in Godspell and look at everything that attaches itself to what we think of as "Christian." Everything must go through the filter of scripture, and that scripture must be rightly divided. Even the "sacred hymns of the faith" need a good filtering. We can never surrender this responsibility to a man, a denomination, a creed, or a catechism.
We start off season three with a new intro and a focus on what is in the ether which presents itself as Christianity. We start off with a tweet concerning why the Lord Jesus was put to death. Because we're sinners? Sure. Because we need redemption? Absolutely! But Let's not lose sight of the witness of scripture and the rejection of the King of Israel. We need to filter everything through the prism of sound doctrine and Right Division and not Tradition.
The man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself as God. Sounds like a charming fellow, but who is he? Trump? Macron? King Charles? Laus Schwab? Obama? Putin? Carrot Top? Squidward? Lots of candidates. Personally, I think he'll come out of Israel and is not yet revealed. But what do I know? Well, I know about as much as anyone else. So, sure, talk about the end times, talk about the Antichrist, talk about the Tribulation... just be sure to keep it all in pencil!
We talk about how rapidly things used to change outwardly in our culture and how today most of the change is in the ether. I take a trip back to my childhood, teens, and young adult days and examine life around me.
We look, again, at the wild world of Bible translations. When we choose a translation, we just need to be aware of possible shortcomings. Too often, men have wittingly or unwittingly imposing their own thoughts or the thoughts of a sect or system upon the text. We talk about Israel's history, the dispersion, and the differering gospels in the Acts age.
We take a look at the recent Pride Night controversy and the Los Angeles Dodogers. We pull the lens back and ask if God realy cares about Major League Baseball. We slide on from there into the topic of the Law, the Passover, and other events in Exodus. We touch on the topic of forever. Is the Law really forever?
We look, again, at the wild world of Bible translations. When we choose a translation, we just need to be aware of possible shortcomings. Too often, men have wittingly or unwittingly imposing their own thoughts or the thoughts of a sect or system upon the text. We talk about Israel's history, the dispersion, and the differering gospels in the Acts age.
We chat about different kinds of bible translations and then briefly discuss manuscripts. We finish with an informal discussion on how the Elizabethan English used in certain translations (like the King James Version) often rob from the reality of the people, places, and events in scripture. Audio from Video.
We continue to take the audio track from our new video studies. We tale a look at a few verses in Genesis that speak to us in any dispensation. Hidden gems in the story of Sodom, in Rebecca's obedience, in Abraham's relationship with Isaac, and much more! It is central to proper bible interpretation that we know the hope that is before us, but every book in scripture is valuable. Not all scripture is TO us, but it's all FOR us!
We've gone video. This is the audio version of the video file.
We take a deeper look at the scripture passage the Lord read in his first public appearance in the synagogue in Nazareth. The Lord cut straight lines, he rightly divided the Word of Truth as Paul teaches us to do in 2 Tim 2:15. We note how the Lord's handling of what we know as Isaiah 61 is perfectly consistent with the Days in scripture that we looked at last time.
The scriptures speak of different "Day" in God's plan. The Day of Man, The Day of the Lord, The Day of Christ, etc. What happens during these days? What does the Bible mean by "day?" what day are we in now? What day is up next on the clock? We look at all these days and what that means for us and what it means in God's greater calendar.
After musing about John Lennon's statement in regard to the relative popularity of the Beatles and Christ, we move back to another post on social media from the Law. While in Leviticus, we wander over to Deuteronomy and Second Chronicles as well. We look at context and ask, "is this written to me?" If I see another Christian posting 2 Chronicles 7:14 for the United States, I'm going to need counseling.
We stop and compare the healing of the blind man in Mark 8 with the healing of the blind man in John 9. The Lord uses a different method and the path to healing differs as well. We need to do as Paul teaches in Philippians and "compare the things that differ." Sometimes when we do this we see how the Lord is teaching us different truths, other times the Lord is showing us differences between his plans for the ages.
We chat about dreams. What place do they have in God's plan? Has God's use of dreams changed as the ages changed? Is God speaking individually to believers today? We segue from that concept into thoughts about our old nature and our new nature, the Holy Spirit and the holy spirit. We ponder whether we really had our stony hearts replaced with soft hearts.
We are back from vacation! After visiting the capital city of Raleigh, Norh Carolina, and Atlantic Beach, we wade back into theological waters with ramblings about teachers, the doctrine of Sola Scripture (the scriptures alone as the arbiter of truth), and our individual responsibility, before God, to study to show ourselves approved workmen. Yes, some oldies, but goodies here, but I'm still recovering from vacation!
We continue our little stroll down musical memory lane. Life in a band, life around other creative types. Along the way we discuss what makes a good musician? Is it simply technical prowess? Surely proficiency is important and valuable, but there's more to that in the musical arts. Let's all learn to express ourselves creatively. We can't all be Rembrandt or Mozart or even Matthew Wilder, but we can all produce something from within ourselves. And it's even better when we allow the Lord to speak his truths through us.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XEiO4DdQiPKtED0skYl44?si=jUjh8tlnTR6aClqj258z0Q
My blog: https://www.contextorconfusion.com/
My Novel: https://www.amazon.com/Devon-Dibley-His-Golden-Key/dp/1484181557
My Testimony: https://bereanbeacon.org/do-you-read-the-scriptures-michael-f-scotto/
Made with Spreaker and available at most podcast services
We continue our little stroll down musical memory lane. Life in a band, life around other creative types. Along the way we discuss what makes a good musician? Is it simply technical prowess? Surely proficiency is important and valuable, but there's more to that in the musical arts. Let's all learn to express ourselves creatively. We can't all be Rembrandt or Mozart or even Matthew Wilder, but we can all produce something from within ourselves. And it's even better when we allow the Lord to speak his truths through us.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XEiO4DdQiPKtED0skYl44?si=jUjh8tlnTR6aClqj258z0Q
My blog: https://www.contextorconfusion.com/
My Novel: https://www.amazon.com/Devon-Dibley-His-Golden-Key/dp/1484181557
My Testimony: https://bereanbeacon.org/do-you-read-the-scriptures-michael-f-scotto/
Made with Spreaker and available at most podcast services
We take a small detour from our studies, a road less traveled, and just chat about being in a local, indie band. In part one, I ramble on about what it was like playing in a Greensboro (North Carolina) band in the 80s and 90s (and into the 2000s). The music, the friendships, the fantasies.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XEiO4DdQiPKtED0skYl44?si=jUjh8tlnTR6aClqj258z0Q
My blog: https://www.contextorconfusion.com/
My Novel: https://www.amazon.com/Devon-Dibley-His-Golden-Key/dp/1484181557
My Testimony: https://bereanbeacon.org/do-you-read-the-scriptures-michael-f-scotto/
Made with Spreaker and available at most podcast services
We continue to apply the principles of Right Division (2 Tim 2:15) to our interpretation of scripture. Even after Peter is sent to Cornelius in Acts 10 (much against his will), he and the rest of the Apostles to the Circumcision (who had the Gospel to the Circumcision) went to Jews only in Acts 11 as confirmed in the epistle to the Galatians. When Peter and James write to the "dispersion" ("the twelve tribes scattered abroad"), they meant it.
My blog: https://www.contextorconfusion.com/
My Novel: https://www.amazon.com/Devon-Dibley-His-Golden-Key/dp/1484181557
My Testimony: https://bereanbeacon.org/do-you-read-the-scriptures-michael-f-scotto/
We get back to Jeremiah 11 and other parts of scripture to show how dangerous it is to our Bible study to try and apply everything to everynody in every age. We look at Noah amd Jonah and Paul and we are careful to read them all in context.
My blog: https://www.contextorconfusion.com/
My Novel: https://www.amazon.com/Devon-Dibley-His-Golden-Key/dp/1484181557
My Testimony: https://bereanbeacon.org/do-you-read-the-scriptures-michael-f-scotto/
One of the most dangerous things in theology today is trying to find everything in the news in prophecy. And part of the error (and honestly more serious) is applying the prophecies (warnings and promises) given to Israel to the United States. We are not "God's people." We are not Judah. We are not the city of Jerusalem. We do not have a covenant with the Lord. This error is most often seen when 2 Chronicles 2:14 is ripped from its context and applied to the USA or even to the "church." Today, we look at this error with a prophecy in Jeremiah.
We look at a couple of pro-trans laws in Seattle: putting rapists into women's prisons and letting boys compete against girls in sports.
We then move on to the Defund the Police movement of 2020. Like I've always said, states and locales can pass all the laws they want, but they need to be able to live with the results. That's how federalism is supposed to work. And as Churchill once said (paraphrased), no matter how beautiful the strategy, sometimes you need to look at the results.
Time is an interesting character. It never seems to stop, yet it was once unknown and it will one day be unknown again. What does that mean? I have no idea. I'm a creature of time. One thing time did was sneak up on me. One day, I'm playing baseball in the mid-summer North Carolina sun without feeling an iota of tired... next thing I know, I wake up with an aching back, a bulging belly, and four adult people in my life that I could swear were just getting on the school bus for the for time. In one way, we feel eternal, and then reality strikes us. That reality is the deception of time. Time tears away at us non-stop. It's important that we understand and appreciate time as best we can in this life and it is important that we understand how God looks at time from outside of time.
Another potpourri! We overcome (hopefully) technical issue as we briefly wander through a few issues. First, we look at those who create enemies that may or may not really exist. Then, we move in to a brief discussion of movies about the Lord. And, finally, from there, we spend the bulk of our time on the issue of time intervals, time gaps, in scripture and why we need to recognize these. We can do it, because our Lord did it in Luke 4!
We dip back into the forgiveness then move on to how the powers that be want us to live in fear. And wonder of wonders, guess who is there to save us from the boogeyman? All they want is our money, our rights, our comforts, our values, our very independence... and for that small price, well, they won't do much apart from move on to the next boogeyman. And then they'll just want more of our money, more of our rights. etc.
We wander through Holy Week, as it's called for a few moments before we broach the topic of forgiveness. We talk a little bit about forgiving others and what that entails, but we want to focus on forgiving the worst person in the room, ourselves.
We remind ourselves that the primary judgment we should be worried about is our own. Not judgment for our sin (Christ has paid that), but judgment as to how we handle the Word of God and how we follow our calling. I'm not your judge and you are not my judge. We can discuss our differences in love, but we must never forget that God is watching. Yes, he is surely a patient God, but He does expect us to study to show ourselves approved unto Him alone.
We pause to examine, from as generic Point-of-view as possible, the state of politics in the good ol' USA. What does it mean to be an American? How can we rise above partisanship? Why don't more people acknowledge the superiority of the Italian people? Important questions like that! We've got a great, if imperfect, country here, people. Let's not allow them to pit us against each other so they can get richer and more powerful as the screw it up. We also briefly chat about John Lennon and Irish desserts. How's that for a change of pace?
We continue to take the prinicipals of interpreting the Bible in context. We look at Paul's instruction to us in 2 Timothy 2:15 to study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing, cutting, separating the Word of Truth. We compare things that differ in scripture. And we look at Paul's worlds of liberty in Colossians chapter 2.
We briefly ramble on about the horrors of war and while sometimes necessary, too often they are fought for the powers that be (politicians, bankers, etc.). As the war in Ukraine drags and the propaganda intensifies, the West seems to be looking for a way to expand the war. We have to ask why.
Just a little side path before we get back to looking at living the Christian life.
We've applied this idea in a number of studies, but today we focus on it alone. That is, the false dichotomy of "Heaven or Hell" and "Saved or Lost." If that is your theology, you will see every verse, every warning, every loss as some comment on going to heaven or hell. We've covered the common mythology of hell previously. Today, we see how that mythology combined with the limited parameters of heaven or hell thinking will lead to many bad doctrines, including a denial of the finished work of Christ.
We take at look at the topic of fellowship in the context of both salvation and interpretation. When it come to interpreting scripture, I hope I'm consistent and I implore anybody in any system to be consistent (or at least try to be consistent unti it doesn't work!). Surely, we can find fellowship with ALL who have found Life in Christ and who are resting in Him alone via the true gospel of the grace of God. But, naturally, we fellowship at different levels. With that said and understood, we are also careful to draw lines regarding those who are without. And a lot of theose people outside of Christ still take the name of Christ. We also get into popes, cardinals, and stuff like that there.
We take a look at the traditions and practices of Lent in light of scripture. We then go back and examine these practices in light of history and scripture. We take a closer look at Peter's epistles and James' epistle to the Hebrew believers in light of the hope of the Kingdom. We focus on the examples of Abraham and Rahab. Is that really what the Lord is calling us to do today? The "good works" the Lord wants consist of human sacrifice and lying? We make sense of these things as we always do, by looking to scripture in context.
In our quick journey through scripture, we've entered in the Book of Exodus. We will meet Moses and take a loot at the law in its place under the Old Covenant with Israel. We're not just going to talk about the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, we're going to actually read them. We're also going to look at the context of the passage in Ezekiel in regard to the heart of stone and the heart of flesh and see if there is anything there for us. Spoiler alert: not much.
We pause to comment on the revivals breaking out in places like Asbury University in Kentucky and Samford University in Alabama. Yes, I know I called Asbury "Azusa" a couple of times. Getting my revivals muddled by my bad-addled brain. While always happy to hear the name of Christ exalted, we want to understand exactly what biblical revival looks like. We are taking no position on the aforementioned movements because we don't know. I'm not there. Hoping and praying for the best, we try to give some biblical guidelines for recognizing a true work of God.
We fisnish our look at Genesis (maybe) with a look at Noah and Abraham and Abraham's offspring. We meander around the patriarchs after a brief look at the silly, Satanic grammy awards show. Scripture tells us how Satan work, and it's not through silly red costumes and bad music. Well, maybe he does use bad music.
We stay with Adam and take a look at the first couple's attempt to cover their own nakedness. As beautiful as nature may be, it's not terribly friendly to us. It kind of hates us, actually. But it wasn't created that way. Adam hoped for a restoration of nature, which will come one day. God is a God of restoration. Although there are different families of God, all hoping for a restoration of one kind or another, they all have this in common: all hopes are built on the single and completed sacrifice of our Great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're back looking at Adam and all the foundational truth of scripture found in Genesis. We see how Adam is juxtaposed with Christ. We see the plan of God already unfolding for the sacrificial death of Christ. We look at the different bodies God sees. We also examine the ideas of body, soul, and spirit. We see Christ in Abraham and Isaac's journey to Mount Moriah. All in all, Christ is exalted. Finally, we see the extent of the Love of Christ for his creation.
We start our whirlwing tour of scripture by taking a look at the origin of it all. Do you believe in the theory of evolution? I used to. I was a huge fan of the Cosmos series of the early 1980s. But by the time I graduated from university, I had already essentially abandoned it. So, when I finally came to faith in Christ, I could begin to investigate God's plan for this old earth. We jump right in to the Book of genesis and briefly look at Adam and Eve in the Graden, their loss, their punishment, their hope. We look at Noah and Abraham. We take a look at a couple of "Bible Commands" that would be stupid for us to try and obey today! God said build an ark! But we don't obey that command for two reasons: God was speaking to us and there is no flood coming. That is, the economy or dispensation has changed. The conditions have changed. That's the groundwork we need to start to understand how to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" as Paul commands us in 2 Timothy 3.
We start our journey through scripture by looking at the Lord's warnings in regard to being deceived. We again the centrality of context to all scripture interpretation.
We take a look at a couple of quotes from John MacArthur as he sets out to correct what he sees as false teaching. We pause to remind ourselves that we are all subject to error. We are all limited in our capacity to grasp all of scripture. So, we must all be prepared to examine, reexamine, and even modify or discard our own doctrines if the scripture moves us to. In the end, we all will answer as indivduals before God for what we believed and taught. It behooves us to keep certain doctrines in pencil and to always remember we are not the judge of another man's servant. We certainly should be checking each other's teachings, but let us be care to distinguish between holding a false doctrine and being a false teacher. When Paul addresses false teachers, there is attached to the teacher a motive. We need to be aware of those motives, but slow to assign motive without evidence.
In our brief time today, we meander through world events and look at this inhospitable home of ours which we call Earth. We ponder the idea of all of us switching our voter registrations to UNAFILIIATED and let the candidates debate the issues and win our votes with arguments, not with slogans.
More holiday season grumbling about taking verses out of context. We look at just a few verses which are often cut in half in order to fit a predetremined theology. We clarify what the "spiritual" kingdom is. We wander, again, into the war in Ukraine. We end on a few thoughts on ecomnomics and freedom!
We pause this Christmas season to remember that Christmas is a very very Israeli holiday. We'll look at prophecy, we'll look at the epistles, we'll tread the sacred ground quoted by Linus in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." O Come O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel! The Lord's birth is about the King coming to take the throne of his father David. We're in a pause at the moment, but that Kingdom will come!
Our Apostle Paul tells Titus that those teaching false doctrines, leading away believers, must have their mouths stopped (Titus 1:11). What does that mean in a practical sense?
A bit more on Nazis (real ones, no dime store phonies), the Spiritual and Physical aspects of the Kingdom in scripture, in the context of time and marriage. A mish-mash of stuff today for this holiday season.
We're looking very broadly at the Kingdom of God in scripture. On the way there, we stop by the Holocaust museum and have a few more words to say about the recent talk of Hitler in the news. God's Kingdom (physical and spiritual) is sure, but in the meantime, let's learn from history. Tolerance does not mean approval, but it does mean we should be listening to each other and banding together against those who would stifle speech or separate people into groups so they can demonize them.
Today, we try to offend everybody! We ask Ye what he was thinking (I mean, honestly, what is he thinking?). We ask Gettr live-streamer, Isabel Brown, "how does a picture of your lighting candles prove you have resurrection life?" We then ask both of them about the Jews (for funsies). And finally, Our Daily Bread managed to upset me this week (not very hard to do, if I'm honest).
We pause to consider what is going on with the children in these last days. The most vulnerable among us used, abused, and even murdered. We note that the world is more concerned with shutting up Kanye than with stopping the exploitation of children. There is great wickedness in this world and it starts with the powerful. It's time we put politics and our teams aside and speak up for the little ones.
We meander a bit in a very general way about Christmas. I'm actually not too keen on the religious end (but I'm not terribly upset about it), but I very much enjoy the season. With the rest of the universe, we start our Christmas chatting early this year. There's also a small bit about the war in Ukraine, but quite small, I promise.
Today, we briefly look at the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, even more briefly look at the recent election, and then we move on to the subject at hand: those who sneak in among us (us being Evangelicals). Hey, I don't mind anyone selling their wares (theological or otherwise), but at least be upfront about it.
We chat about the topic of depression. Seems like so many today suffer with some degree of depression. We ponder the who, what, and why of depression.
When we pray or gather or read the scriptures, we must accept that God knows best. But in addition to that, we have to know what age we're living in so we can pray more accurately and be more sensitive to how God works in this age. If you're praying the prayers meant for others or if you expect God to act the same in all ages, you will be confused and disappointed. Noah may have prayed for a worldwide flood, but it would be useless for us to so. The same can be said of the miraculous and instantaneous events of the synoptics and Acts age.
Looking around for a hero that's not coming (well, not from the current cast of characters). We continue to encourage you to be your won authority, because you're going to answer as your own authority.
We step back from our previous call to stop looking at everyone on the other side of the political divide "evil" and point out where there really is evil. That is, in the seats of power. We take aim at BOTH political parties here and your humble host calls on all of us to become unaffiliated and to stop feeding the beast (donations). They gin up fear and hatred, we write them checks. Kinda stupid when you think about it. Along the way, we dip our toes into the climate change debate.
There are a lot of thinks the Lord says in the synoptic gospels, and consequently there are a lot of things believers today like to explain away. Now, if you think that means that I want believers today to take the Lord's words literally and start obeying them, you'd be quite wrong! We do need to take the Lord literally (when he speaks plainly), but I'm not pretending he's talking to me. If you think he's talking to you, go read the Lord's words and ask yourself if what he says is even possible today. We tackle this issue in today's podcast.
Ever wonder why the politicians never seem to actually solve anything, as we pass 30 trillion dollars in national debt? It's because they don't want to solve anything! Both sides do it. They want to keep issues alive to keep us at each other's throat and so we will given them more money and power based on a promise they'll solve it. But they never do! Later. Rinse. Repeat. Check your email. I bet you've got a scary fundraising email in there!
Babbling on about current events back in April... Bonus material until we can get the show back on the rails.
We're back on the air! Just a short intro to our next trip down Michael lane. We briefly discuss the problems with being a political "team" and look forward to more adventures in theology, politics, music, sports, and all things Brooklyn's Dad.
Now it's time to say goodbye, goodnight, sleep tight. Due to the vagaries of the production parameters, the fragmenting of the audience to cable television, carnivals, water parks, etc. we are ceasing paid podcast production on these services. They will continue on other formats as I move to video enabling things like PowerPoint. What is left on this channel will be limited. See you around the web!
We pause to catch up on the events in the life of my family. Two tragic deaths, but two wonderful reminders of the hope of resurrection. Then we spend a few minutes noting that politicians swear allegiance to party over country. I'm against A if my party is not in power, I support A if my party is in power. We see it all the time and it's sickening. Well, Washington (George, not DC) warned us.
A quick look at the massive inflation in the cost of a college education going back to the 1970s. We comment briefly on the current virus remedy. Some people (BLM) have some good reasons for being hesitant (search Tuskegee Experiment). Finally, we emphasize the need to hold the Bible as the Word of God to be studied and followed, not just as a "sacred" book.
Brief ramblings today about the frustrations of watching people following "experts" (in religion, politics, etc.) instead of taking the hard road of study and self-discovery. Too often we sacrifice liberty for safety because it's just easier. It's easier to just do and believe what a church or politician tells me (or promises me) than to take personal responsibility.
We go back in the past to talk a little about life, love, and the Lord. I open up a little and recount a broken heart which led to a life I could never have imagined. Perhaps my story may bring encouragement to lonely believers. The longer version of this story is contained in a book called "ON THE WINGS OF GRACE ALONE," the testimonies of former lay Catholics (available at Amazon).
Sabbath-Keeping is growing as dispensationalism is being attacked from all sides. Sounds like the end times to me! Today I drone on about dispensationalism being attacked online and then move on to wonderful truths found in an overview of Colossians Chapter 1.
Today, as promised, I post something I recorded this past winter concerning Contemporary Christian Music (the good, the great, and the bad). We also wander along America's road and look around at her decay. In all this, we praise the Lord and we thank the Lord he has left us his Prophetic Word to guide us in this hour.
Over the recent past, I've been trying to be open with my emotions, especially the emotion of love. We've talked about how destructive anger can be, so today we talk about the necessity of loving those around us. During the celebration of life of someone I've known my whole life, it again struck me how important our personal relationships are. Love should hold a prominent place in the life of all believers.
A short message from the holiday weekend using alternate equipment! We briefly step back and remind ourselves that God speaks to us in scripture in terms of time. That is, we cannot comprehend concepts outside of time so we shouldn't try. We need to confine ourselves to the hopes of the believer as revealed in scripture, in time. We are also reminded that there is a physical world and spiritual world, and we must be careful to understand our limits in both.
The "church calendar" likes to usurp the Bible. We've looked recently at what Christians do when they melt their teology down to "heaven/hell" and "saved/lost" or when they become enamored of such creatures as the "early church fathers." All of these things lead to a hunger for the temporal and carnal at the expense of the eternal and the spiritual... especially during holiday seasons. Advent and Lent are more dangerous than Santa Claus and that Bunny.
Not a major issue, but for the holiday weekend, we take a closer look at those crucified with the Lord. There were two malefactors and two thieves. For this podcast we look at the different accounts in Matthew, Luke, and John.
In our ever-present goal of rightly dividing the word of truth and comparing things that differ in scripture, we look at a brief overview of the differences between the gospel of the King and Kingdom on earth and the gospel of Life sent out to the world. We also briefly look at the importance of understanding resurrection (His and ours) in bringing full glory to God.
Nobody really cares about the issues about which they tell us they care passionately. They really don't care about the things on the sign in their yards; they're just BETTER THAN YOU. "Kids in cages," etc. no longer matter. We've never been at war wuth Eastasia, We've always been at war with Eastasia. Just tell them the "correct" opinion and sign on to the delusion. Time to wake up to the real enemies of the believer: the WORLD, the FLESH, and the DEVIL.
We go long today! Hold on to your hats. I went in to hyperdrive today on the topic of Israel, Israel's calling and hope, and how Israel is not the Church. The grafting in of Gentiles in Romans was temporary. You cannot say, "Israel is now the Church" or "the Church is now Israel" and also believe that someday in the future "all Israel shall be saved." Israel is Israel, the Earth is the Earth, The Heavenly Places are the Heavenly Places. This is a continuation of our look at the callings and hopes in the Bible.
We delve into blessings and the plan of God from BEFORE the foundations of the world. This phrase is found three times in what we call the New Testament and it reveals an absolutely glorious truth about the wonders of God's grace and love and his plan for the current age. But so much of Christendom prefers to wallow in the shadows, puffed up as they ignore unsearchable blessings before them if they would only enter in.
We look a little more closely about walking in the spirit and walking according to the calling to which we've been called in this age. To do this properly, we must rightly divide the word of truth, compare thing that differ, an act on the truths we find. What's the deal with angels in this age? Earthly ordinances like baptism and the Lord's Supper? When you have the unsearchable riches of Christ, the things of earth grow strangely dim. Finally, you don't need a building for any of this.
Today, we examine the words translated "hell" in your KJV and who exactly will be weeping and gnashing their teeth. No, God does not run a torture chamber of unspeakable horror for the mass of his creation. To appreciate the resurrection, we must understand the enemy. Our enemy is death and decay. We shall surely die and we shall return to dust. That is what awaits humanity.
We continue our distinction between political ideals and the reality of policy for the Christian. But more importantly, we continue to find our place in scripture. We examine exactly when the current age started and discover the Acts Age was the end of something, not the beginning. We have a much higher calling today.
A brief commentary on the Don Quixote complex sweeping through the culture, then we move in to finding our place in scripture. This will be part one of a study on the present age and how it differs in many ways from all other callings in scripture. Part of our judgment as servants will be obedience to walk in the calling to which we have been called.
We come back to warn Christians in particular to not get hooked on the drug "Utopia." This is a gateway drug to the much harsher, society-destroying drug Collectivism. We pull back the veneer on the Peace and Love movement (with a little help from our friend, George Harrison). And, finally, we encourage Christians to prepare for the ugly days ahead by familiarizing ourselves with prophecy.
We visit, hopefully for the last time, the recent unpleasantness. But out of the ashes, we look again at the future. We re-center ourselves. Remember, nothing can thwart the plan of God for the ages. We just have to stomach some things as we wait. And as we wait, it is good to remember we have work do. A judgment of service awaits us. Let's try to focus on that eventuality as we encourage our Christian brothers and sisters in this time of decay.
To my listening audience of zero, I'll save you some time on this one... if you're voting for Utopia, or for some sort "against hate!" reasoning, you do NOT want to listen to this podcast. DO NOT LISTEN. Save yourself and me some grief and move on to Deepak Chopra's podcast. He's not as snarky. All murderous governments start off with a promise of Utopia as they demonize the opposition (usually via projection and scape goats). Selling Utopia has left earth's landscape scarred with mass graves and ruined civilizations. Elections should be about issues, not misplaced and intoxicating promises of Utopia (if you'll just hand over your lives to them!). We must avoid speaking in absolutes when it comes to government. One cannot argue against absolutes. If you're a brave soul who chooses to live in Realsville, I've tacked on a terrible demo of my anti-Utopia song "Dream a Little Dream." Apologies ahead of time. This is no joke. When they say they want to kill you, believe them.
On today's podcast, for fun and profit, we explore my funeral wishes (among other things). I riff a little here and a little there about the events of the day, my book, and my ultimate demise. Behind all the glib commentary and day-to-day tidal waves, I hope the Lord finds something of value in this earthen vessel.
Well, I've paid for the month, so we return to look at some of the straw men Michael likes to create and smash down with a vengeance. We look at Southern Man and Italian Man (both of them) and Hippie Dude, etc. And in all that, we sneak in some really big picture theological thoughts.
We've arrived at the end. These podcasts will remain available at YouTube, but we will no longer be hosting them with podcast services starting in just a few weeks. If there one thing we have sought to stress in these studies, it is that each of us is responsible for, and will answer for, only one theology: our own. Do not surrender that responsibility to a system, a denomination, a man, or a catechism. Do the work! A patient, forgiving, and loving God rejoices in workmen who see to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
One of the problems which plagues modern Christianity is its insistence on filtering every verse in scripture through the pagan lens of "heaven/hell." If we do not "rightly divide the word of truth" and "compare the things that differ" we miss much of what scripture is teaching us. Today, we look at differences in Matthew's scope and John's scope in regard to God's Plan for the Ages..
Debate is dead. We continue our discussion on the politics of the day. Vandalism, violence, intimidation is commonplace. If you put certain signs in your yard, wear certain hats, or even present an open display of patriotism... you will become a target for abuse and retaliation. And some of the worst perpetrators are self-proclaimed Christians. Educators attacking students. Universities assaulting free speech. Politicians encouraging violence. It's dangerous out there!
Fake outrage is the rule of the day in the political arena. Very few people have core principles. Many will sell their principles as long as their team wins. Underneath it all are hidden agendas. People will deceive themselves into thinking their motives are pure. They want to see themselves as absolute purity. And to accomplish this, one must cast his political rivals as absolute evil.
Is Israel really Israel? Michael comes down hard on the side "maybe!" Well, I'm fairly comfortable saying that even if modern-day Israel is not a direct fulfillment of scripture, it's surely a precursor. God will fulfill his Word to Israel. He'll buy all the land to get his treasure, and he'll rescue his pearl of unimaginable value out of the raging gentile sea. Meanwhile, we need to stop pretending to be Israel. It's not just wrong, it's disobedience to the calling of this age.
We take another small detour in our look at the Kingdom parables. If we do not see Israel's calling, Israel's promises through Abraham and David, we will never rightly divide the parables of the Kingdom. We examine our own lives as servants. Are we faithful to the calling to which we have been called (Eph 4) or are we trying to claim the calling of another age? If you don't draw these lines clearly, you will not be able to truly understand your Bible.
We pause to examine two items in recent news. The current president of the Southern (oh, the horror!) Baptist Convention, J.D. Greear, decides to place the integrity of scripture and the Lord himself below his need to virtue signal. Meanwhile The Blaze has no idea what Rosary Beads are for. And, finally, in its eagerness to be loved via self-flagellating, Princeton confesses to egregiously violating the Civil Right Act.
We note, again, how things like "weeping and gnashing of teeth" and other judgments found in the parables and the gospel accounts are for believers. We must recognize the different callings, different hopes, different blessings, and different expectations for the different families of God. If we fail to do this, we will not correctly handle the Word of Truth. For some, the failure to see the differences has led them to present a monster Savior to the lost or create doubt in the minds of believers.
We have to divide the hope of Israel's realization of the promises to Abraham and David and the hope of blessings in the far above the heavens. Paul was still preaching the earthly Kingdom and the hope of Israel in the Acts Age, just as the Lord had done in his earthly ministry.
"What the blessings of the Land of promise will be to Israel, and what the blessings of New Jerusalem will be to the Overcomer, this is what 'all spiritual blessings' will be to the Church, which is His Body." -Tom Ballinger
The Bible from 30,000 feet. We pull the lens back on the entirety of scripture and universe in which it should be understood. The Bible is supernatural book. That doesn't only mean that is has miracles, but that is part of a multidimensional universe. We must see things from the prospective of humans on this earth, but we must also recognize a spiritual world which is very much in touch with our world. We dispense with the superstitions and traditions of men which permeate the modern church and try to understand how God uses scripture to explain the relationship.
On today's podcast (number 40!) we give even more context to the Lord's earthly ministry and the parables of the kingdom. On the way, I share yet another unpleasant internet exchange.
This time we set the context for the parables of the kingdom (again!), It is vitally important that when it comes to the parables that we do not impose our age or our ideas on them.
We're back in the red letters! And, as always, we will look at the context of the parables of the Kingdom and listen to what Lord says about why he spoke in parables. It ain't what most people think. The context is the gospel of the kingdom, which has no mention of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. The context is Israel alone and the promises made to the patriarchs. Jump on in!
Today we are forced, once again, to wade into the waters of "how not to decide if something is true or not." This time we look at the "Guilty By Association" argument. We are back to the topic of music and the idiotic comparison of a contemporary Christian music and secular rock. I'll see your weak and unbiblical argument and raise you a Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Your Favorite Hymns CD.
We are all over the place today. I comment on an interaction I had on social media about baptism. Imagine, the God of all Creation came to earth, suffered, died, was buried, and rose again from the grave of his own power... but that won't do unless you're dunked? Finally, we look at the 1040 forms of Christian artists. Honestly, I don't know how most Christian musicians support a family. Just curious.
We take a quick BIG PICTURE look at a few topics. We briefly revisit Andy Stanley's quote expressing his disdain for scripture, then we move on to Michael Heiser and the Gates of Hell, and finally, we critique an answer to a caller on K-Wave's (WKVE) "Pastor's Perspective" program. Once again, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats gets mangled. Context, people. Please. For me?
We briefly look at Dr. Michael Heiser's point in regard to the word "Elohim" from hi sbook and series on the Unseen Realm. We discuss some of the problems with denominations. And finally, I look at a doctrine that I don't hold to, but I'd be cool if they're right! We're all fallible!
On today's podcast, we visit the red letter Christians and examine some of the red letters (the words of the Lord Jesus Christ). We read directly from their web site as to their approach and then we apply it to the red letters. I wonder how they feel about the red letters which state that marriage has always been one man and one woman since the beginning? Wait, did Jesus believe in Adam and Eve?
We pause to discuss the individuality of faith. Our faith and our understanding of scripture need continual growth. Hey, I've been wrong about stuff, but that's OK. We're very informal here at BDTAE, but the bottom line is encouraging Christians to make your faith your own. Don't just adopt a "system" or a denomination or a guru. I might get snarky sometimes, but I'm harmless! I'm just a guy, who writes songs, and I hope sometimes I make sense!
We make a few corrections and explanations from recent podcasts and then look at the biblical pattern of stepping into blessings. The gift of resurrection life is free (it is, after all, a gift!) and obtained by faith. Similarly, the special hope of the blessings in the far above the heavens where Christ sits must be entered into by faith as well.
In today's offering, we look the Bible from on high. We traverse from Adam to the New Earth and look a little more closely at the different hopes in different ages and the different gospels which correspond to those hopes. Alone the way, we briefly visit the malefactor on the cross and his hope.
We unpack the Old and New Covenants a little bit by looking at Exodus 19 and Hebrews 8. It's not yet here, folks. Grace is not a Covenant. There is no priesthood of the believer; no man is individually a priest, and grace needs no priests. This truth looks back at the Lord's Supper as well.
On today's podcast we meander through my random thoughts on baseball. Couple of stories from playing the game to my place as a Phillies fan (in the will of the Lord).
I pause on today's podcast to reflect on the blessings of family. After selling the home my family has owned since 1983, I wanted to pause and reflect on just how fortunate and blessed I was to be the youngest member of the Scotto Famiglia (essere di buona famiglia!). We'll be back to kvetching soon.
Still podcasting from the cave after bugging out! Today, we look at nine different commonly used words in Christendom which require us to be a little more careful in our use and application. Baptism, Salvation, Kingdom, Old/New Testament, Hell. Lord's Day, Resurrection, Condemnation, and Justification.
I'm coming to you from a remote location on a cheap microphone! But we must carry on! I start today with a few comments about the show MASH. We then move on and I go a little deeper into why I don't believe water baptism and the Lord's Supper are for the current age. It all hinges on the place of the Book of Acts in scripture. We go from Korea to Jerusalem! Along the way, I grumble about Charles Stanley and our local Episcopal Church.
We all have been given the ministry of reconciliation. That is, we must tell the world that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. He is not holding anyone sins against him because his work was complete! The duty of man is to be reconciled to God, by grace, through faith. We examine how we can be his witnesses by simply allowing the Spirit of God to work through our spirit, our new nature.
I make a small correction from a previous podcast (just a slip of the tongue) and we talk a little more about The Day of the Lord (The Lord's Day). Then we take up the topic of the free gift of Life because of God's Grace and Love. Technically, we are not saved by our faith, we are saved by God's Grace!
"I don't need anything except the Lord! Oh, I need this." Christendom is full of traditions and rules that weigh men down and draw them away from Christ and the Word of Truth. This podcast was recorded a couple of weeks ago, and I decided, despite some things which may not go over well, that the main message is important. This message includes my early experiences with contemporary Christian music as well.
Kind of a catch-all today. I wanted to say a quick word about The Parable of the Sower, a quick comment on the Sabbath, and a less than quick comment on Paul McCartney's Tug of War LP and the Summer of 1982 in light of the Christian's future hope and glorification in resurrection. How's that for a podcast!
We briefly try to pull back from rash emotionalism and discuss current events from a Christian perspective. We then move in to my contention that there are two different periods represented in Daniel 9. The 70 weeks split into 7-62-1 dating from the call to rebuild Jerusalem (454 BC) and the 70 weeks starting with the dedication of the Temple (405BC). The first points us to the Christ's sacrifice and the Tribulation, the latter does as well, but includes the call for Israel to repent in the Book of Acts.
Disease, chaos, violence, immorality all on the loose. The world today (fueled by modern technology) is as wicked as it's ever been and perhaps worse. So, if we are looking at the last days, what does that mean for the Christian?
In Philippians chapter 3, Paul is working towards the Prize of the High Calling. Our Apostle wants to attain a special resurrection. We know resurrection life is a free gift by grace alone through faith alone, so what does Paul hope to attain? Professed Christians who don't know if they even have life spend their time trying to earn the free gift and those who believe they have the gift think the only thing left to do is to worry about things like baptism, ordinances, music styles, and who wears a tie. They are all missing the blessing available to those who understand the Mystery and run the race set before them.
Recent events have some pastors self-flagellating and dragging their congregations along for the ride. They want to make sure the whole world knows how virtuous they are, so they join the chorus of anti-American rhetoric. Instead of appealing to the biblical answer, every person is to be treated as an individual and each is individually responsible before God, pastors put people in groups and cry crocodile tears over their own "privilege" with one eye open waiting for the adulation and pats on the back coming from the world. It's time we stood up and tell them we won't play their game.
This podcast we revisit the sacred keepers of the Sacred Tradition... Reformation Charlotte? Apparently they missed one of the primary points of the Reformation. We then turn our attention to Bible translations and the KJV. On the one hand, we have silly translations like The Message, and on the other, we have the odd position of King James Bible Onlyism. I always seem to end up on an island in the middle of these extremes. It can get lonely, so feel free to suggest this podcast to friends, enemies, strangers, or anyone who just likes Italians.
A stream of consciousness trip dealing with annoying (stupid?) things I have had to deal with in Christendom. From anointed guitars to false prophets to the secret plan Satanists had when they wrote "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and gave it to The Beatles.
In our time together today, we turn the light of interrogation on our humble host. When I say that we all must run our race before the Lord and that will answer for our service, I am speaking out of my own conviction! Yes, we must warn of errors without, but we must also warn of errors and carnality within. Is it time for you to take a personal inventory before the Lord?
A popular verse in Evangelical Christianity is Philippians 2:12, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." On today's podcast, we emphasize the idea that your faith is YOUR OWN. God is not interested in whatever label you want to place on your Christianity. You're in a race, and you will win or lose as an individual. Don't pass on that responsibility to anyone or anything! The road to maturity and sanctification is rocky one, but, oh the joy that awaits those who strive!
The title of this podcast is taken from a quote by AC Gaebelein. It concludes "Christendom has become the enemy of our Lord Jesus Christ." We have noted Paul's warning in Philippians 3 in regard to "the enemies of the cross of Christ" and how the context points to professing Christians. Today, we take a closer look at how Satan works and how there is an enemy within ourselves (our old nature) and among ourselves. What looks like a harmless little bunny rabbit may, in fact, be a vicious killer.
We stop in Liverpool to discuss a few issues raised by the book, The Gospel According to the Beatles. Do any or all of the lads have life in Christ? I dunno. They never returned my calls.
This podcast I try, probably unsuccessfully, to explain the Dispensation of the Mystery doctrine held by those unfortunately called Ultra of Hyper Dispensationalists (such as I). Big topic, so we just touch the hem of the garment. The important thing is to start noticing differences between the gospels, the Acts Age, and the Post Acts Age. Too often the differences are dismissed too easily and without much care as to what such dismissals do to scripture and to our faith. Ooh, sounds a bit more serious this go around! Well, we will return to frivolity soon enough, I'm afraid,
More and more people are using the Hebrew "Yeshua" instead of the English "Jesus." And that's perfectly fine. A problem arises, however, when they either try to put other believers into bondage to fear by exalting the Hebrew name or when they get puffed up because they use the Hebrew name. Hint: Paul and the Holy Spirit seemed to prefer the Greek.
We revisit the hymn Come Thou Fount in light of our discussion on Christian Music. How does it stand up to scriptural scrutiny? We visit a few of the "sacred hymns of the faith" and find out who uses them to proselytize (hint: some pretty big, bad players). We emphasize, again, that the problem isn't in the instruments, the attire, or the backdrop... it's in the receiver.
I fill in a few gaps on dispensationalism and ultra-dispensationalism. We take a quick look at "The Gap Theory" and discuss why some of us do not practice baptism or communion (the Lord's Supper) and related.
I realized I was using the terms dispensationalism and ultradispensationalism as though all listeners would be familiar with these terms. So in this episode we step back and take a very big picture look at the topic. If you're a Christian, and you have no plans to head to the temple to offer a sacrifice... congratulations, you're already some form of dispensationalist!
A brief look at the doctrine of immortality and related traditions such as hell, purgatory, and what exactly are "the gates of hell" and the "fire which is not quenched.". In all these, as with all our understanding, we want to be scripturally consistent! One thing all men agree on, from the atheist to the Imam, we're all going to die. That's the problem. The solution is in resurrection (His and ours), but Christendom isn't satisfied with the answer. We don't fully appreciate the solution because we don't fully appreciate the curse. Christendom, as Tyndale argued, has relegated the resurrection to an afterthought, essentially unnecessary. And what stands in the way of fully appreciating resurrection? The traditions of men.
After yesterday's trip down TV lane, I wanted to comment on the topic of the current COVID crisis. There are a lot of Christians saying a lot of things about the new world around us, and I, of course, have to get in my 2 cents.
In this episode we talk about the Christian's approach to pop culture. We discuss how watching old TV shows may be a better, and safer, way to encourage our new nature. You know who is going to hate that description? Men who want you to surrender your minds to them. Let's just call them "ministers of righteousness" (see 2 Cor 11) wink wink
Most discussions of Christian music deal in peripherals (style, dress, anecdote, and assumption). We take a look at what's truly important when dealing with Christian music. All music calling itself Christian should be examined. We note that the magnifying glass of scripture should be turned, not only on contemporary music, but also on the hymns. Music should edifying be both and doctrinally accurate. One thing common to all: no music or artist should be our source of instruction.
Michael introduces himself, his background, and his idiosyncrasies ... the podcast's goals, intentions, and dreams... upcoming topics and the approach. The Franco-Prussian War of 1871 (or not).