Red Letter Episodes

I think we live in a culture of judges... doing so without considering their own inward issues first. Jesus isn't telling you not to judge... which is how Matthew 7:1 is used: Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (ESV) I'll issue a challenging corollary that is often used: Judge the sin, not the sinner” is not biblical. Scripture commands us to judge both—actions and people—yet with mercy, humility, and the aim of restoration. God alone is final Judge, but we must exercise righteous ...

We live in a stress filled world. The two keywords in that sentence are "stress" and "world". Imagine your life if you could stop worrying so much about what tomorrow brings? In today's culture that sounds like a tall order. To chill out doesn't mean you have to slow down. It really comes down to the why behind your actions? If you're doing it because you're fearful about what would happen to you if you didn't, you need to consider your misplaced fear. Anxiety can be a trigger to understanding y...

This is convicting for a lot of Americans... but it doesn't have to be. God doesn't deny you your wealth. The question isn't about your money but what is it that you're relying on? Notes to Heavenly Retirement https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/heavenly-retirement/

We're still following Jesus in our Red-Letter journey and Jesus is telling a crowd of followers: warning about hypocrisy, fearing God, confessing Christ and relying on the Holy Spirit and this guy speaks up and suggests to Jesus that He should tell his brother to share his money and inheritance with him. It's almost comical that he doesn't comprehend what Jesus has been saying. Sometimes we read this stuff that is just so obvious... until you start to look at your own heart. Then your smile fade...

I've listened to testimony after testimony. Many seem to start the same way. Some sort of abuse, trauma, evil in one's past. And often that is where the focus is. Is that to justify the sin? Very often it appears that way. We take a deep dive into this and uncover some profound truths about how we approach our past.

In our modern culture, it seems that we are rediscovering the physical benefits of fasting. Unfortunately, how we look in the mirror can take more precedence in our daily lives than how we look spiritually. Yes, there are physical benefits to fasting and even if you focus on the spiritual, you will see the physical benefits. But remember where Jesus words about fasting are in the bible? Matthew 6:16-18 is in the Sermon on the Mount. Fasting spiritually puts you deeper in prayer and provides a de...

We've seen this in every church - mumbling through the Lord's Prayer. Recited, forgetting it's reverence. Today, we hear from that persistent kid in the room - pestering the teacher (interesting that they referred to Jesus as teacher), looking for answers. Sometimes you want to tell that kid to be quiet... but Jesus want's that very kid in the room. That is when you start following your curiosity and your questions. You forget the adult side of you that wants to act like he knows everything. You...

When you give a large sum of money to someone or some charity, how does that make you feel? Good right? But ask yourself why? Do you want some credit for giving generously? Do you want to be recognized? Are you doing it so that you'll feel good about yourself? You might want to check your motivations for giving. We jump into Matthew 6:1-4 to see what Jesus says about giving. It may be more convicting than you think it is on the surface. Notes to Quiet Giving https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations...

We are outside the sequence of the Red-Letter Bible Study here, but I wanted to address this. If you get some of your religious content from social media (especially YouTube), then I'm sure you've caught the rapture buzz. The latest, among many is the feast of trumps and September 23rd 2025. I'm going to go out on a limb (with Bible in hand) and tell you that this prediction is false. Let me go one further. There is not going to be a pre-tribulation rapture! People are not going to suddenly disa...

You just bought a big red truck. You loved it. It was new, it was different and nobody else had one! You hop in, drive down the road and all of a sudden, there are big red trucks everywhere! Same model even! Ever had that happen? That's how the eye works. It illuminates what you're thinking about. The eye illuminates what's on the brain; what's in your heart. Let's talk about what Christ means when he says the eye is the lamp of the body. Notes to The Big Red Truck https://www.rabbitholesandmedi...

The Sermon on the Mount was a rollercoaster ride for me. Taken in isolation, Jesus sets an incredibly high standard. I can't possibly achieve what Jesus is suggesting here! It's convicting. I had to sit with the idea that "I'm doomed". I can't possibly live up to this. I need help. And then you realize: "Blessed are the poor in spirit". "Blessed are those who mourn." "Blessed are the meek." "Blessed are those who cry out for righteousness". Jesus is setting the stage for your new heart. You're c...

I know! I made that word up!!! But it fits! We are on the tail end of the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes in our Red-Letter Bible Study. It occurred to me how foreign the message in Matthew 5:38-42 was and that led me down the Rabbit Hole of "why?". Why don't I connect to this. It feels historical but not relevant. For me, at least, that's a red flag. I'm missing something mightily important. As I dug into this rabbit-hole I thought of a word not in the dictionary: Exemptionalism. This de...

Today, we landed on Matthew 5:33-37. Have you ever lied? Have you ever not done something you said you were going to do? Have you ever sworn to God only not to fulfill the promise you were making. I'm guessing you can't even count the times. Yet this is the standard to which Jesus is calling us. If the Law didn't expose your own sinful nature, Jesus makes it abundantly clear. The whole purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to raise the standard and expose the problem. We can't take our sins back...

We have walked quite a way into the Sermon on the Mount. If it feels convicting, that is good! I think that is the very reason for the sermon. Jesus is basically verbalizing what the law was meant to expose. The legalism that surrounded the law often hid the meaning behind it. People and especially the religious elite were so caught up in the ritual, they lost the meaning. The Torah, the Law, became a book of rules to follow. The WHY behind the rules was lost in translation. Addressing Matthew 5...

You hear it all the time, John 3:16... whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. But John did not end there. John 3:16 could be the summation at the end of a courtroom scene. John closes with 3:21 "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." Abiding in Christ is to understand The Cost. Belief is an ongoing action, not something you did at the altar by raising your hand and s...

We never know where the rabbit hole is, but there always is one! Today, quite by accident, we discovered the phrase in Matthew 5:22 - "whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause". "Without a cause" stood out, but why? It just rubbed me the wrong way and made me question the passage in the context of "love your enemy". So, we took the detour until we flushed out the real meaning of the passage. The notes get quite long for such a short section of scripture, but it was definitely worth th...

If you ever wondered why we call our podcast, Rabbit Holes and Meditations, today will make it abundantly clear. We are well into our Red-letter Bible study. Jesus has just made the bold statement: "I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill [the Law]"... and then he says "until heaven and earth pass away". On the surface, "Until Heaven and Earth Pass Away" seems like a forever statement. But no! This is the rabbit hole of this passage and we go down it. We discover some really cool nuances to Je...

If it feels like I'm preaching in this, I'M NOT! Producing this podcast was as convicting to me as it might be to you. Part of the reason I do this is the personal journey it sets me on. We all are bound to our sin if we don't focus our sight on God. In a world of distractions, in an infinite number of directions to look, there is only one direction that truly matters. I'm sitting at this computer 6-7 hours a day. It's the nature of my job. This huge 50 inch monitor I have in front of me opens u...

It's early in Jesus' 2nd year of His ministry. He is speaking to His disciples and tells them: "You are the light of the world!". You might think that's just a nice thing to say. But to the disciples who hear this, the tax collectors, the sinners, the fisherman, the reprobates by world standards, this carries some heavy artillery. Jesus! The creator of light itself just told his followers that they were the "Light of the World!". Notes to You Are the Light of the World https://rabbitholes.faith/...

Sometimes we get caught up in the topical interpretation of "Salt of the Earth". We dig deeper. Jesus saying this to his disciples carried tremendous weight, and conviction. Salt is not just a flavoring. Jesus, in one simple statement, just redefined the covenant associated with the Old Testament! Notes for Salt - The Weight of the New Covenant https://rabbitholes.faith/e/salt-the-weight-of-the-new-covenant/

The path of Christian discipleship, as illuminated by the Beatitudes and the witness of the apostles and Revelation, is one marked by expected persecution. However, this persecution is not a curse but a profound blessing, an affirmation of belonging to the kingdom of heaven. Whether facing overt violence in hostile nations or subtle pressures in freer societies, the call is to steadfastness, to "lose life" in daily surrender and, if necessary, in martyrdom, in the certainty of finding eternal li...

Two words always bother me. Compromise and Tolerance. I tackled the concept of both of those within the context of this podcast. Peace never comes through brokering an agreement between good and evil (compromise) or simply turning a blind eye to the existence of evil (tolerance). If you thinking, OK... who defines good and evil? Well, that would be Christ. So, to even get to this point within the beatitudes, make sure you have a solid foundation. That's why peacemaking comes 8th in the list of t...

Adam walked with God in the Garden. Then, the fall. Since, nobody has been able to see the Holy Father in his full, radiant glory; with the exception of Jesus. Our entire journey is to recover what was lost by focusing on the One and Only who can bring you back. Notes to The Key to Seeing God https://rabbitholes.faith/e/the-key-to-seeing-god/

Think mercy is just about giving to the poor? Writing a check? This podcast might have you rethinking where mercy comes from and to whom it should be directed. Notes for Mercy Triumphs Over Judgement https://rabbitholes.faith/e/mercy-triumphs-over-judgement/