Discipleship Episodes

We had some fun with this chapter and I think you'll find the written narrative worth the download. If you consider the nature of teaching and learning in the 1st century, they weren't all sitting around reading scrolls. They couldn't just grab their phone, load up their favorite Bible app (we like BlueLetterBible.org). The were telling and recounting stories. So we took the Chapter of Matthew 18 and created a telling of a story as if the narrator was sitting near a 21st century campfire with h...

So I started today like it was going to be another Parable podcast. But it was a single line and didn't feel too difficult to grasp. I had in my notes that we were going to cover Matthew 13-51-52 as a Parable podcast but it was short and honestly didn’t need a lot of teaching. I still hold to the idea that it is not worthy of a separate parable study. But I couldn't walk past the scripture that is pointing straight back at me. And so today is a bit more of a personal deep dive into the journey ...

If you haven't heard Ray Comfort's sermon called "Hell's Best Kept Secret", it is worth listening to. It is a fair indictment of the use of the altar call and the sinner's prayer. Revealed by his own analysis, "80 to 90% of those making decisions for Christ were falling away from the faith that is modern evangelism with its methods was creating something like 80 to 90 backsliders with every hundred decisions for Christ." He goes on to cite this statistic: "in 294,000 decisions for Christ in just...

You've heard it, usually from the person who is suggesting that you may be right in principle, but you have no right to point the finger. Well... it's more complicated than that. Notes for To Judge or Not to Judge Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/to-judge-or-not-to-judge/

A genuinely good person can be one of the hardest people to approach. We tackle this subject straight on with the person (either an non-practicing believer or even an atheist) who says: "I'm a good person. If God is a Loving God, and I believe He is, then I'll see you in heaven." I'm A Good Person Article Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/im-a-good-person/

You have heard this one preached as encouragement. Be salty. Shine bright. Make a difference. That is not what is happening on that hillside. Look at who is standing there. Matthew tells us exactly who came. The sick. The tormented. The demon-possessed. The lunatic. The palsied. They came from Galilee and Decapolis and Judaea and from beyond Jordan. Matthew names their afflictions and he names where they came from. He names no rulers. No elders. No men of standing. And two verses earlier He h...

Today we go for the Christian jugular. We asked the Berean search app some of the toughest questions about Christianity. Today’s podcast is Straight Up Challenges and Straight Up Answers to Christianity. The challenges. The New Testament is loaded with contradictions. Challenging the necessity of Baptism And the validity of infant Baptism Challenging Christian Exclusivity Science Disproves the Bible Challenge to the Deity of Christ Why is there Evil and suffering in the world Challenging...

We scoured the web for some of the top objections a Muslim person would raise against Christianity. Then we fed those questions into the Berean Teacher Search App to get a direct scriptural response. This was part of our plan to test the abilities of the Berean Teacher to respond to some of the toughest objections a Christian might face. When the question of lineage comes up, there is something the Berean app initially failed to bring up that completely reframes why Mary's genealogy is so imp...

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...

Take the hardest, smartest, most devout Jewish theologian who has taken it upon himself to end the Christian movement before it even starts, and confront him with the Lord, and things change in an instant. Saul has some things going for him if only we could get him on our team! He’s passionate, persistent, smart and convincing. There’s just one thing getting in the way. He hates you with every fiber of his being. And that’s the guy chosen by the lord to bring Christianity to the Gentiles. Notes...

Jesus doesn't hop on a plane, he leaves in style! This is the first scene in Acts. The disciples are still stuck on "when you coming back to take out the Romans? Instead, He hands them an incredible amount of work to accomplish and plans to send a helper. Notes for Hey Gotta Run Episode Link:

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...

How many times have you blown over the passage. Yeah, you marveled that Peter heard the rooster crow, which recalls what Jesus told Peter would happen when they were in the upper room. But let's really dig into this. There is so much we can learn from Peter in this moment and the subsequent restoration. Notes for Lovest Thou Me Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/lovest-thou-me-the-restoration-of-peter/

I think today's podcast is a helpful example of how we study. I spend a good part of my day in a variety of different resources. This is daily and habitual. In between all of that, I actually retreat to work, which has nothing to do with my biblical studies. My commercial breaks during the day usually return me to my Christian studies. I usually open with a section of the Bible I want to read in the morning. But my brain is saying, " Hey, that's cool - remember this from yesterday or a few days...

If you have been traveling with us and followed the words of Jesus chronologically through the Gospels, then you have been the proverbial fly on the wall. Do not lose the immediate context when you read this - it is so easy to do because the theology is so rich. We are in the upper room for pages of scripture, and Judas has left the room. What Jesus has to say is not for Judas. But it is for you! Without stating exactly what will happen in the next few hours, Jesus addresses the tension in the ...

It takes some harmonization of the four gospels to see this picture just before the Last Supper; but when you see it playing out, you can't unsee it. The disciples have all filtered into the room for the last supper and the seating has been established by a subtle acknowledgement of who gets to sit closest to the host. They all settle in and then realize, there is no servant. That starts the banter. Someone has to be the person to wash the feet of the others. That's part of Jewish custom. That ...

On our Red-Letter journey, we just stepped onto the ground of Matthew 24. This is where many modern wannabe prophets will hang their hat and create grandiose predictions about raptures and end times and date setting and all that. Spoiler alert, we are not trying to figure out when the end of the world will come. I think about this when people ask me why I don't want to go there. First, I can't deny that I have gone that. I have. But I think about this as a reason why I don't. I used to work in ...

I don't know how I would have felt as a Jew in the audience on the temple court when Jesus was giving those scathing indictments to the Pharisees that we've been covering. But it got me to thinking about our Christian - Jewish relationships today. Israel and the United States have been solid political allies for sure. But that's politics! Typically, even our own church leaders don't go much beyond the political support and as long as you can proudly say "I stand with Israel", you are on solid gr...

It was early last night. I thought, I'm not getting anything productive done, I'll just turn in. So I did what I always do. I open my Bible - just where we left off on our Red-Letter journey. We are on the Temple court still early in Passion Week (most likely still Monday). A couple of Greeks ask a question that would keep me up for the next three hours. Not because of what they asked, but because of how Jesus responded...and how God responded. Notes for The Glory of Jesus is the Glory of God E...

We are with Jesus leaving Jericho on the way to the cross. There is this expectation within the disciples that when Jesus gets to Jerusalem that the Kingdom will just magically appear. Jesus answers this concern with Luke: the Parable of the Tin Minas and a parallel passage in Matthew. We study this out and come away with a very clear understanding of judgement and expectations. This is about the believers, the unbelievers and the fruitless inbetweeners. These parables offer truth on so many ...

Jesus is just outside Jericho on the road to Jerusalem. He encounters two blind men, and He stops cold in His tracks. Jesus always goes against the crowd! He hears the cries of these two blind men and uses the moment. Everything Jesus has taught up to this point about faith, about who He is, about discipleship even is captured in this moment. Notes for Two Blind Men Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/two-blind-men-open-the-eyes-of-a-crowd-of-people/

I wrestled with what to title this podcast. Just after Jesus is confronted by James and John (and their mother) to sit at his right and left hand in the kingdom, a new play is sent out from the sidelines. Jesus huddles up with his disciples with a play that, let's be honest, neither they nor we are familiar with. And that is why it can feel awkward when Jesus says that the greatest among you is your slave. This idea is impossible to capture in a short podcast. Where Jesus is going is quite radi...

So, yesterday started like every other day. It was early, and I was deep into my studies. Digging into more, reaching out for more and engaged. Then, my phone beeped. I was interrupted by a fellow disciple who was having an issue with her email. (My work involves website development, hosting and email). I was annoyed that on a Sunday, in the middle of my quiet time, I had to drop what I was doing and help her resolve the issue. I didn't completely dismiss it, but I didn't give it my full atte...