Red Letter Episodes

Did you miss it? How many times have you wandered through the gospels and noticed all the healings and through about Jesus saving all these people. It is worth going back and reviewing those healings. You'll see the distincti...

We approach one of the clearest passages in the gospels regarding Jesus and his mission. As they seek shelter in a Samaritan village on the way to Jerusalem, they are denied. The overzealous James and John want to rain down h...

Let’s face it, we don’t want to be called unworthy. We don’t like the word servant. We take an honest look at this tension as we explore Luke 17: 7-10. I actually came away from this feeling good about being the unworthy serv...

I think we can all relate to this on worldly terms. You get hired by the owner of a business and agree to $100 for the day. Then you put in a full 12-hour day. A new hire has just come on an hour ago. The guy who is paying yo...

After the rich young ruler walks away sadly, you can imagine that the disciples have some pretty pointed questions. And if you want to summarize, it's basically "ok, what about us?". Jesus answers Peter, who is asking this qu...

I always harken back to that famous wrestling match that Jacob had with God. For me, it is a healthy connection to approaching scripture. I wasn't comfortable leaving the Rich Young Ruler where I left it. I felt like I should...

I think we can approach the rich young ruler as something that doesn't apply to me. That would be a mistake. The issue isn't wealth. The issue is dependence. What are you dependent on? Those things, by definition are idols. S...

I think we've all heard the story of the Rich Young Ruler. But very often the entire story gets flattened to be about money and wealth. As we got into this, the entire theology of grace emerges. Once we came to the root of th...

Sorry for the vague reference - if you have not seen the movie "Benjamin Button". Benjamin Button, a character played by Brad Pitt, is living life in reverse. He is reverting to his childhood. On our Red-Letter journey, Peopl...

While we are walking through the Red Letters in the New Testament, I just wanted to take a step back and show how that red thread weaves its way through ancient biblical text. We got the idea from a video on YouTube: The SECR...

Ok, we're back on the Red-Letter Trail. We are late into Jesus' ministry. We've left the resurrection of Lazarus. At this point, Jesus is a wanted man however it appears that Jesus is not deterred. We catch up with him across...

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 i...

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 raisin...

Today we close the chapter on the resurrection of Lazarus. This chapter leaves no room for ambiguity with respect to who Jesus is. In all of scripture there is only one the commands death. We've seen resurrection elsewhere in...

The resurrection of Lazarus itself is almost anticlimactic in the scope of what's presented. So we slow down dramatically and focus here on the interaction of Jesus with Martha and Mary. Within this context we see one of the ...

During the Red-letter journey, we encountered the Thomas. It occurred to me that we didn't know much about Thomas except this one phrase that has lingered through history - "Doubting Thomas". When Jesus is ready to turn back ...

We've back on the Red Letter trail today. Jesus and his disciples are on the outskirts of Jerusalem, having just been pursued by a band of Jewish zealots wanting to stone Him. Jesus gets the word that Lazarus, his beloved fri...

We're on the last leg of Jesus' journey to the cross. One shift that I'm noticing is a focus on logic and argument derived from Scripture. Earlier in Jesus ministry, it was more about actions. Lately, Jesus is showing a comma...

As we continue along on our red-letter journey, we encounter Jews asking Jesus who will be saved. Will it be many or just a few? The beauty of following along chronologically is that we just heard Jesus discussing the narrow ...

We drop into a conversation between some Galileans and Jesus in Luke 13:1-9. This is a fascinating discussion that is enriched with some historical backdrop. This is the first time we have encountered Pilate in the Red-Letter...

Did it ever occur to you to ask why Jesus arrived at this point in history? Why did Jesus show up when he did? What would have happened if he had waited. When we arrive on the scene in the New Testament, John the Baptist is a...

In our last podcast, we hit an interesting passage: John 9.4. And we admittedly, took the most expedient root to the interpretation and we're not the only ones. It's a fairly common interpretation. Jesus is there with his dis...

John chapter 9 continues where 8 left off. An ordinary man would be long gone. Remember, they were resolved to stone Jesus at the end of John 8. Instead, Jesus reverts back to what He is sent to do. Even the water of Siloam s...

Imagine you have been watching the dialog in John 8 unfold in a courtroom. The Bible loves courtroom metaphors by the way. Jesus is defending himself. He is facing the jury, giving his closing testimony. God is in the Judges ...