Back Deck Bible Study: Recent Episodes
Steve Davis
Live from my back deck, we investigate the Bible from a fresh perspective. Not content with surface discussion or simply rephrasing what cultural Christianity says, we dig deep. And not to just gather information. We want to understand the Bible so we can better live it and let God use it to transform us.
God in a Minor Key, looking at the shortest book in the Old Testament, one of the oldest feuds in the Bible, and two sisters who just cannot get along.
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A little bit of "normal" prophecy, a little bit of weird, and a fair amount of adultery. Welcome to Hosea.
Welcome to God in a Minor Key, a study in the Minor Prophets. We'll start with the best known--and weirdest--book in the series.
Is it possible Paul/Saul needed a timeout before he was really ready to be God's apostle? That's one of the questions we'll ask in this episode.
Episode 52. From a sermon on Acts 8, we look at how Philip, operating in the peace God gives, was able to accomplish some incredible, life-changing things.
Umm, I've got an idea. Why don't we, like, start actually doing the Great Commission. Yep, it only took eight chapters to get there.
You may not have picked up on it (I didn't for years) but Stephen's sermon in Acts 7 is among the most important in the Bible. In this podcast, we look at why.
A pivotal chapter in the life of the church, Acts 6 is also a great lesson on the importance of organizational change.
As we'll see today, purity plus passion produces power, a lesson from the early church it might be good if we would apply today.
Some generous people--and some genuine phonies in this transition period in the early church.
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It may not be obvious at first, but Chapter 4 probably belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of chapters in Acts. It's that important.
The disciples thought they knew what was going to happen. They were wrong, and Acts 3 is the beginning of this totally different path.
Does the book of Acts give us the blueprint for how we should be doing church, an historical example of how one group did church, or is the answer more subtle?
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost has as much to do with two prophets from the Hebrew Bible as it does with the feast it happened during.
One of the markers of the early church had to be confidence. And honestly if 120 people really believe they are going to remake Judaism and then restore the whole world, confidence is a prerequisite.
Beginning a brand new study in the Book of Acts. We get to watch the early church have great successes, make big mistakes, and almost stumble their way to carrying the Good News into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
A great technique to read the Bible for application and transformation instead of just information or inspiration.
Wrapping up Revelation with one final, amazingly cool touch from the master of Apocalyptic Literature.
We talk a lot about what Heaven is going to be like, but it's rare people actually look at the description of Heaven found at the end of Revelation.
Is there a difference between truth and Truth? I think there is, and I think it will help us greatly as we try to understand the Book of Revelation.
No part of Revelation is more controversial than chapter 20 and the Millennial Reign of Christ. In this podcast we'll be looking at the four primary views and why we need to be humble in our approach to this chapter.
Revelation 19 can be challenging, especially when we see the people rejoicing because others are being judged.
There's a reason people have thought Revelation would be fulfilled soon. It sure seems to be describing today, as we'll see this session in Revelation 18.
With the Unholy Hooker and beasts and all kinds of cool stuff (including reasons Jesus is definitely coming back in the 1980's), this study of Revelation 17 has some great material.
John does something amazing in the last few chapters of Revelation. But to see it, we're going to need to start and the beginning and pull way back.
If I ever get to the valley of Megiddo, Biblical Armageddon, I'm gonna grin! (But I won't say anything.) Find out why, and a lot of even cooler stuff, on today's Back Deck Bible Study.
The shortest chapter in Revelation is setting us up for the home stretch of the book. Grab your popcorn. It's getting good.
Many people are troubled with the idea of a good God sending people to Hell. That's one of the topics we'll discuss as we look at Revelation 14.
Microchips and the Antichrist and prophecies that get fulfilled multiple times and even Nazi Germany. Revelation 13 has it all.
Beasts and dragons and antichrists--and a number that means things may get bad, but we're going to be okay.
We complete this most critical chapter in Revelation with a closer look at those three-and-a-half years, some more discussions of dragons, and finish our discussion on the beaches of Normandy.
As we continue in chapter 12, we'll meet what may well be an amazing confluence of the eternal and the natural timelines. And there are cicadas. And a few dog yaps. And a rant about whiny Christians. In other words, just another day on the back deck.
Taking a one-week break from Revelation on the last week of the year to dig into the process God uses to help us grow spiritually. While some think it's a mystery, Jesus explained it three times in John 14.
Revelation 12 is the central and pivotal chapter in the book, so it's going to take us a few sessions to work our way through it. But it is so worth the effort.
There are four primary ways people interpret the Book of Revelation. Today we look at all four and why humility should be the order of the day when it comes to how we interpret the book.
Revelation 11 is considered by many to be the most difficult chapter to interpret in the entire book of Revelation. But I believe if we follow the clues John lays out for us, we can find the meaning he intends for us to get.
Revelation 6 ended with the question, "Who then can stand?" If things are going to be this bad, who is going to be able to survive it. Chapter 7 is the answer to that question--and you're going to like it.
The Book of Revelation is the climax of God's Big Story,. Things really get moving as the Lamb begins to open the seals. Meet the original Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and learn how they mirror God's passive judgment on all eras, not just the end days.
During uncertain times--like, I don't know, November of 2020--it's a great idea to remind ourselves that God is in control. And there may not be a better chapter in the whole Bible to reinforce that concept than Revelation 5.
I love it when someone in the Bible encounters God in full-on God mode. No way to adequately describe it, but that doesn't stop them from trying.
We open a new season in the Back Deck Bible Study of Revelation, starting to look at the book proper and being transported with John into the heavenly realm.
Imagine a city so rich it turned down government assistance to rebuild following an earthquake. Welcome to Laodicea, the last of the Seven Churches of Revelation.
The church at Philadelphia had a big problem, or rather, a small one. They weren't the most powerful church in the world and they didn't live in the most powerful city in the region. But Jesus had a special message for them.
The church at Thyatira should provide a challenge to every person who claims to be a follower of Jesus...and might be the kind of challenge some people need in order to decide to become a follower.
The seduction of power. That would be a good title for the third of John's letters to the Seven Churches, the Church at Pergamum. And that's why this letter can seem so relevant to us today.
John's letter to the Church at Smyrna is one of the most powerful and well-known passages in Revelation. As a bonus, I was really fired up when I taught this one, so there's that.
The Letters to the Seven Churches are one of the best parts of the Book of Revelation. We start our study of those letters with this letter to Ephesus and the warning not to forsake your first love.
What should we try to find as we read the book of Revelation? We'll answer that question among others as we investigate Revelation1:9-20.
Possibly the strangest thing about the Book of Revelation is that the first people who heard it didn't find it all that strange.
How should we approach the book of Revelation? Today we look at how Biblical prophecy is intended to be interpreted and begin to address how the original recipients heard this amazing book.