Discernment Episodes

You know, 10 years ago we would see the stories on the front page of the National Enquirer with headlines like: My Dad is an Alien. Now, the people who were once on the fringes of the News headlines are testifying to the US Congress. Americans are bracing themselves for disclosure. So far, there’s a lot of testimony, some pretty interesting videos, and random smartphone videos pepper the web. Whether real or not, it's common. I don’t think it will be long before we are presented real actual unde...

I think, as a rule, we tend to dismiss people who express profound interest in the spiritual, ghostly realm. Worse, we think those who claim to have had actual experiences with ghosts and spirits as “crazy”. It all gets swept under the table. I think as Christians we are missing a profound opportunity if we do that. The Bible is no stranger to the spiritual world. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this ...

I think we are on the cusp of a buzzword becoming reality. Ray Kurzweil predicted the singularity to happen around 2030. I think he was right about the substance; he was wrong about the when (but not by much). The (technological) singularity is a hypothetical point when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, triggering rapid, self‑accelerating technological change that fundamentally transforms society and human life. The inspiration for this discussion came from a video by Wes R...

Yesterday we talked about: “The serpent we built.” This is the other side of the coin, now looking at the shepherd we follow. It derives from the exact same conversation we had with the Berean Teacher application about the Serpent We Built. We’ve entered an era in which we’re getting our guidance from AI - WAY BEYOND what to buy and what website we're looking for. You've heard people say this, I'm sure: “I absolutely know this is true! I saw it on the internet". Some say it tongue-in-cheek but m...

The Serpent We Built is an article developed for our Berean Teacher series. As you may have learned from recent episodes in this series: We used our Berean Teacher application and uploaded discussions and videos from a number of sources to get the Berean Teacher (an application confined to the scriptures) to weigh in on the recent news and topics submitted by our audience. The idea was to cover as much from all sides of the discussion as possible and then let the Berean Teacher respond with a co...

We used our Berean Teacher application and uploaded discussions and videos from various sources to have the Berean Teacher weigh in on the recent news. The idea was to cover as much from all sides of the discussion as possible and then let the Berean Teacher respond with a comprehensive biblical perspective. The Berean application evaluates modern ideas, spiritual claims, cultural narratives, and emerging technologies through the authority of Scripture alone. Its purpose is to separate evidence ...

If you’re watching some of the biggest YouTube channels, or at least the biggest ones I watch - Chase Hughes, Steven Bartlett, Tom Bilyeu, the Why Files, and more, across the board, you are going to run into almost a universal consensus that we are living in a simulation. We decided to pit this theory against scripture using our Berean software. The Berean application was written to avoid the affirming nature of AI chats. The explicit instruction is that if I say something contrary to scripture...

I don't know about you, but if the four Gospels were identical copies of each other, what would be the point? If four people walk into a courtroom as key eyewitnesses and they deliver exactly the same testimony, what would you think? Why should you expect the eyewitness accounts in the gospels to be any different? As a Christian, I always read knowing that I'm seeing the gospels from different perspectives. If you want to view the Gospels from a single narrative, look up the Gospel harmonies th...

There is a lot of rhetoric online about Israel and Iran. The US is clearly approaching a war with Iran if not already in one. So, things against that automatically get one marginalized by those who support the effort in Iran. And of course, relative to the Middle East, you're going to get people calling out "Zionists," people who support Israel, people who take a more discerning approach toward support for Israel, and everything in between. People that I’ve followed for quite some time now seem...

The first time I read the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown I was fascinated by it. It was a work of fiction, but it felt absolutely true. At the beginning of the book, it even says this: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” I happened to be on a flight to Paris when I was reading that book, years ago. One stop among many was the Louvre’, which, as you know if you’ve read the book, is the setting at the beginning of the book. In The Da Vi...

We take a break from the Red-Letter journey today to just discuss the elephant in the room. And to be sure, your elephant might look different. You could be looking at the tail or a foot. Or at the trunk. You're just a speck on this huge planet, and your perspective will drive your agenda... or perhaps your agenda will drive your perspective. I'm not sure in which direction we travel. As I was looking at this, I recognized that I, too, have an agenda. So does President Trump. So does Netanyahu. ...

We are on the other side of the crucifixion. Easter has passed, and on our Red-Letter journey, we come up to what I can only describe as jarring! When you have invested as much time as we have and focused on the harmony of all four gospels, there is something in Mark's last chapter that I've simply highlighted and marked as OPTIONAL. Let's explain. We have added Mike Winger's research and transcript to this Podcast. Mike has done an in-depth study of Mark 16. We summarize his video transcript i...

As usual, Google will put things in my path that it thinks I want to see. This was no different. 3.4 million views in three weeks. The good news is that people are very interested in this. The bad news is that people will use this as their resource for knowledge. We want to address this. The name of the YouTube video is Father Chad Ripperger - Signs of the Mark of the Beast & Rise of the Antichrist We are not criticizing Father Chad Ripperger per say. We are issuing a caution regarding how yo...

We are living in a simulator ! ?? I'm hearing this a lot so I wanted to address it. I don't know if this is just a meme type phenomenon or if these guys really know what they are suggesting. Let me name some of the bigger influencers on YouTube (at least the ones that cross my path). They include Tom Bilyeu, Steve Bartlett, Chase Hughes and many others including many of those whom they've interviews. It fascinates me how many of these guys default to the position of "We are living in a simulati...

Stephen Bartlett interviews two people, among many others, who have a similar landing. I chose these out of the many because they come from completely different backgrounds and arrive at similar conclusions. One is a psychologist and one is a neuroscientist. Collectively, these have gotten over 10 million views. After watching these and some others, I noticed something that feels – well – “off”. Then it hit me. Both of these people are trying to construct their spiritual world view that puts the...

Often when you listen to a debate between a Christian and an Atheist you get lost in emotional tension. Feedback from the Unabashedly Apologetic podcast we ran recently prompted this follow-up. Fortunately, my YouTube feed seems to know what I'm looking for. I stumbled across this video between Wesley Huff and Steven Bartlett. These are raw, honest questions from someone who is seeking answers about Christianity. The notes for this YouTube discussion include a full transcript for the discu...

Just so you know, we are not going to stop doing our Red-Letter Journey. However, we are adding a 2nd series today comparing current world events with biblical prophecy. What will become extremely useful in this endeavor is applying our Berean Filter application to current events and how they can be interpreted with respect to Biblical prophecy. We are completely open to suggestions regarding who you think provides good, sound biblical interpretation. Today, we focus on Jack Hibbs' recent dis...

Ok, if you want to know why we call this Podcast Rabbit Holes, you're about to follow how my brain works! I started today covering the last three woes and that ends in another lament by Jesus over Jerusalem. That got me wondering about the judgement that fell in AD 70. Then I thought, well, I don't really know what happened to the Jews after that. I know somehow, they survived, but how? So I followed that track all the way to 1948 where the Israel becomes a nation state. Then I think, ok, so why...

We find ourselves in somewhat familiar territory. As we continue along with the Red-Letter journey, Jesus has just been tested by all of the religious elite. He then turns His attention to the crowd and certainly within earshot of those who just tested him and basically says - Don't Be Like Them! Listen to them but don't act like them. Honestly, because the message was so familiar, I found some diversions within the text that we had not address. Some personal, like is it OK to wear religious sa...

One of the most memorable and recited scriptures is Jesus' response to the religious leaders when they ask Him whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Well, we didn't gloss over it today just because it was familiar. We took on the whole concept of money. We get a masterclass in discernment and debate. We even use "My Cousin Vinny", one of my favorite movies, to help explain what is going on. (There's a clip at the end). Notes for The Tax Trap Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmedi...

Jesus is on the temple court speaking to the pharisees and he tells the Parable of the two sons. Jesus is pretty explicit about the different between professing belief and walking in faith. There's a famous expression that says that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Thousands of preachers preach the sinners prayer as if that moment in a person's life is all that is needed for salvation. Many people do exactly as asked. They stand or even approach the altar; they pray the sinner'...

The Puzzle You are on an island where every inhabitant is either a Knight (who always tells the truth) or a Knave (who always lies). You meet two people, Red and Blue. Blue says: "We are both knaves." Question: What are the identities of Red and Blue? The Solution Blue is a Knave. Red is a Knight. The Logic Could Blue be a Knight? No. If Blue were a knight, his statement ("We are both knaves") would have to be true. But if he is a knight, he cannot be a knave. This is a contradiction. T...

I think we all remember the curse of the fig tree. It's a passage that sticks with you. Often though, we tend to skip right over the meat and jump straight into the dessert. As I reflect back to my own Bible studies with seasoned disciples, even they got this wrong! This is how almost all Christians hear Jesus' explanation: "...whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." Or the short version is "You can move mountains". We want that to be true! That puts the very powe...

We don't remove our podcasts if we think we said something wrong. We want you, the listener to stay engaged in the process of learning. We don't profess to be all-knowing by any stretch. During our discussion about the raising of Lazarus, I think we overstated our position and interpretation of Daniel 9:27. We have had many discussions about this and are still trying to consider the best interpretation of the scripture. I'm not so sure ruffled feathers here are a bad thing. It means people ar...