Red Letter Episodes

Healing the leper is Messianic. Leprosy was incurable. Jesus demonstrates his power over sin and death and his ultimate command of the law in this compassionate encounter between the leper and Jesus. We explore the biblical accounts of Jesus healing a leper, primarily drawing from Matthew, Mark, and Luke's Gospels. It illuminates the severe social, physical, and spiritual implications of leprosy in ancient Israel, emphasizing the leper's isolation and the theological significance of ceremonial u...

Your problems exist inside a moment in the context of eternity. The tipping point in your faith will be when your faith exceeds your needs. Your needs don't even show up on the radar. You look up in awe and reverence, and a deep gratitude for what Jesus did for you on the cross and you forget every other reason you raised your arms up and looked up. This was part of a longer podcast. The message was so important, that I broke it out here as a separate message... notes will be included in the nex...

We follow along with Jesus after he has cast out the demon in the synagogue. While we don't have any direct words from Jesus, his next stop is at Peter's house where he heals Peter's mother-in-law which has some interesting details. After that, the healing and the casting out of demons seems like "the thing". But it won't be long before Jesus makes a corrective turn in his mission. His next spoken words will highlight his priorities very clearly. Notes for The Priority is the Message https://www...

Our Red-Letter Bible Study has me going down rabbit holes I had not considered. This one stems from my own testimony. Early in the Gospels, Jesus just parachutes into the land of Israel - an essential unknown and like the cleansing of the temple, he completely upsets the status quo of religion all through the Galilean landscape. Fast forward two thousand years and you're now a believer and you just parachuted into a room full of atheists. No, you're not the savior. Your mission, should you wish ...

Today, we jump off the Red-Letter Bible study because we started to wrestle with the tension we are seeing in Christ's journey. When Jesus goes to Nazareth, he refrains from showing signs because of their unbelief and that took as down a Rabbit Hole. You see, in the next part of Jesus' journey, he heals Peter's mother-in-law and then everyone who comes to him for healing. So why did Jesus hold back his ability to do this in Nazareth? Well, people used to look at me and say: "You Hoo... come back...

Consider this the extended cut of the previous Podcast about the Samaritan Woman. We did not want to leave any details on the table. This story is one of the most profound in all of the New Testament. We witness the progression of a true disciple from spiritual need and confession to one who recognized Jesus as Lord and Savior. Notes for Jacob's Well https://www.rabbitholes.faith/e/jacobs-well/

In Luke 4:31-37 we confront the first of many demons in the Gospels. Luke considers this such an important topic that in his Gospel, this is the first Miracle mentioned. By this time, in Jesus' journey, he has turned water into Wine in Cana, He has healed the sick, he has revealed supernatural knowledge of hearts and minds and He has just left a mob with the intent to kill him in His hometown without a scratch. Luke, however, is focused on binding the strong man. (Mark 3:27) Almost like an old f...

We continue following Jesus in is early ministry and we get to be the fly on the wall in a truly pivotal scene. When we went down this rabbit hole. It is here where we discover why the Jews are having a difficult time getting on board Jesus' message. While his reputation by now precedes Him, Jesus confronts the hardened hearts in His hometown and leaves with the only miracle worth their attention. This article is called the Only Miracle in Nazareth. Let's find out why. Notes for The Only Miracle...

We're picking up where we left of in our Red-Letter Bible study. We're leaving the well and going back to Cana where we saw Jesus' first sign. And interestingly, the theme picks back up right where He left them. People believed because of the signs. People were following Jesus. By this time, they knew Jesus by his signs. Jesus is teaching people to wrestle with the concept of faith. Still, most are still stuck in the physical. They want to see signs. Even Nicodemus didn't understand the spiritua...

Jesus provides a masterclass in discipleship with one lone woman in Samaria. This is probably one of the most memorable encounters with Jesus in all of the Bible. We spend quite some time unpacking the theologically rich detail. Every line is packed with meaning. You can teach the entire gospel with this single encounter. Notes for The Samaritan Woman at the Well

Jesus has a very tumultuous start to his ministry. Now all eyes are on him. His rampage through the temple did more than raise eyebrows. During that week at Passover, Jesus did many signs and miracles (we're not given the details). Through it all, a lot of people come to believe that Jesus is who he says he is but there was no repentance or transformation of the heart and Jesus saw right through that. One might be led to believe that this is the character of Nicodemus but I'm not so sure. Nicode...

Continuing our Red-Letter Bible Study... Jesus leaves the wedding after a dramatic by quiet miracle. He and His family and disciples form a small entourage as they travel to Jerusalem. Jesus doesn't just enter this Passover festival as a quiet observer. He barges onto the scene. It is clear from this entrance into His ministry that we aren't in Kansas anymore! We want you to grasp this scene, so we go into detail on what it's like there. Then we follow Jesus' words as they resonate throughout th...

We step into Jesus early ministry. Up to now, we found Jesus in the Temple as a young boy. Jesus walks out of that scene straight into the Jordan to be baptized. After that, Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness, fasting and praying... and being tested (if not tempted). He leaves the wilderness and starts gathering disciples (Andrew, John, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael. Along this journey, we walk straight into a wedding feast. That very sequence is symbolic itself but the entire Wedding at...

We're still early into our Red Letter Bible Study. Jesus has just revealed to Nathanael his divinity - His first reference to Himself as the Son of Man. As we approach Jesus through the eyes of the early apostles, it's useful to understand how they might have understood "Son of Man". At this point, they are not even accustomed to the concept of the Trinity. Let's flush this out a little bit. Notes for "The Son of man" https://www.rabbitholes.faith/e/the-son-of-man/

Whenever you see: "Verily, Verily" (or Truly, Truly) you need to sit up and pay attention. We follow Jesus on his early journey. Andrew, Simon and John are the first apostles. Here we see Jesus renaming Simon and then we see Philip, who was a follower of John the Baptist. He brings Nathanael to the party. Jesus has some interesting things to say to Nathanael. And, at the climax of this exchange, Nathanael becomes an instant believer, and Jesus reveals the very nature of the person Nathanael beli...

If you think Peter and John and the rest of the apostles saw Jesus walking by and dropped everything when he said, "Follow Me", perhaps you need to dig a little deeper. That's what we did and it led me right back to my own testimony. It led me to this thought: He didn't fill my boat with fish. I didn't see Him cast out demons, feed thousands or raise the dead. The call to "follow me" is always there. It's not always with a boat full of fish! But it meets you where you are. It comes out of the bl...

You can imagine a cinematic sequence that starts with Moses and the Exodus, then fades to Joshua crossing the Jordon. Joshua encounters the giants in the promised land and they have to deal with them. David and his brothers finish off the Giants but the spiritual remnant remains. We fade into a scene where Jesus enters the same water as Joshua had. He is baptized. Then tested by Satan. Jesus heads back to his home and is driven out, rejected by his own people. We hear the echos of the words of I...

We are three days into our red-letter bible study, and it is already become more profound than I had ever imagined. As most on this podcast know, we develop a lot of this content with A.I. but what you may not know is how we treat A.I. We have set it up so get solid, biblical answers back. Before A.I., we had access to things like the Strong's reference, the Thompson Chain reference and a myriad of other cross referencing and hyperlinked systems. A.I. has just made (for me) the Bible more access...

The Bible is interactive like no other book. How many times have readers just breezed past Matthew 3:13–17? I certainly did. When you sit on these five verses and start asking questions and following the leads, the entire Bible opens up in front of you. At the very least, one should be asking why did Jesus need to be baptized, or want to be baptized? And then you begin to go down the rabbit hole. What was John the Baptist doing. What is his relationship to Jesus? What does baptism even mean? We ...

Today is Day 1 of the Red-Letter Bible Study. We encounter the young Jesus and even at age 12 discover some profound truths. As usual, we take some cues from the study and go down some rabbit holes. Notes for The Boy Jesus https://www.rabbitholes.faith/e/the-boy-jesus/

Sometimes it can feel like you're lost in the weeds. We've been studying end times for quite some time on this podcast. We know it's important but at times, amidst all the dates and times and cryptic interpretations that go back and forth, we began to feel a little disconnected. Two things surface from our end times studies. One, there are a myriad of interpretations that can all look like sound biblical study. Only one interpretation is correct, and we'll know it after it happens. Two, it is po...