Episodes

We posted a debate on "Once Saved Always Saved" (OSAS for short) a while back and I'm not sure it resolved the tension. Today, we put on our Berean hats and jumped back into the scriptures to determine the validity of this popular doctrine. We decided to be more direct in this podcast, flush out the appropriate and debated scriptures, put on our Berean hats and dissect the issue with scriptural clarity. We also had to determine where this doctrine comes from. Knowing the history, and the "why...

I think we fall into this trap more than we're willing to admit. Factions within the church is one thing but we all want to believe that we are in the "right" church. As we jump back on the Red-Letter journey today, we see the disciples worrying about someone who is not in their group casting out demons in Jesus' name. They are put off by this. That same bias creeps into our own churches. Paul had to confront it directly. So, while the topical subject of these passages is casting out demons, the...

Connecting Pre-Flood Theology to Transhumanism. Ok, I think the cat's out of the bag. People know that we can apply our Berean Filter technology to just about anything coming up in today's biblical discussions. Frankly, we love doing it! This question arises from a video discussion out there between Glenn Beck and Dan Alberino. So I watched this discussion. I'm familiar with both people. Dan Alberino wrote a book called "Birthright" and if you like theories that take on things like the pre...

We step off our Red-Letter journey for a second. We may do more of this depending on feedback. In today's world, we learn through a variety of different media. Some think watching the Chosen is akin to reading the Bible! It is not but I won't begrudge anyone watching that series. There are far worse places you can go and hear what sounds like Biblical knowledge. But the media-scape pays attention to what you pay attention to. So it is not hard for other disinformation to cross your path. YouT...

As we continue following the Red Letters chronologically, we arrive at Peter asking Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother. How Jesus responds is profound and as we dig into this, we start to see real evidence of how the Gospel and Jesus replaces the Law. It seems everything associated with the Law was a shadow, provisional even. In Jesus answer to this question, we see the transition of what was understood by the law to the permenance that Jesus covers. Notes for The Forgiven Episo...

Just when all appears lost, Jesus opens the door. Jesus has just sunk the person who leads another to stumble, quite literally with a millstone around his neck. But then he turns to the one who stumbles and that picture doesn't look much better! Sin is pervasive and all have sinned. But Jesus fixes that! To understand how one must respond to another person who has sinned is to understand how Jesus responds to you. We're in Matthew 18:14-20 and Luke 17:3-4. Notes for Restoring the Wanderer ...

Jesus has just issued woes against the person who causes one of his children (one of the believers) to stumble. That doesn't mean the person that stumbles get a pass! Notes on the Stumbler

After Jesus has held a child up as an example of who is the greatest in the kingdom, he expands the meaning of "child" to cover all believers. You are indeed a child of God. We're reading Matthew 18:6, Matthew 18:10, Matthew 18:14, Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:1-2. There's an interesting mention of angels in Matthew 18:10 and we dig a little bit into the role of angels in our lives. The passages focus on those that would cause one of His children to stumble. That got us to ask the questions. Who makes...

The Bible warns of deceptions. I'm not so sure a lot of Christians are ready for it. Today, we jump off the Red-Letters and jump into a rabbit-hole over 4 million people have ventured! We take a YouTube video and apply our Berean Filter to its claims. Look: just because something is cloaked in "science" or even used and documented by the government entities does make it any more real, though many people believe it. Here's the video we're launching this podcast discussion from. Video Title:...

If you want to destroy a kids soccer game, load the benches with their parents! If you can picture the concept I'm reaching for, you'll also be able to picture what Jesus was teaching his disciples about being Child-Like. Jesus is aware of the conversations among the disciples; about who will be the greatest in the kingdom. Imagining the construct of that conversation will lead you to understand why Jesus uses a child as an example of greatness. None of the disciples would have considered the ch...

Yesterday, in Church, we covered 1 Corinthians 9. In our Red-Letter journey, we encounter Peter being asked if Jesus pays the temple tax. It turns out that these two scriptures dovetail really well! So today, we launch off that question to Peter and dig deep into Jesus' response. Let's Go Fishing! Notes to Yes We Have No Drachmas Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/yes-we-have-no-drachmas/

What we heard in parables is now fully out in the open. Coming off the transfiguration, in the disclosure of His death and resurrection, Jesus now spells it out in plain English. What is fascinating is not the revelation itself, but how the disciples take it. They are clearly disturbed by the revelation and don't know how to process it. I think sometimes when we read the Gospels, we leave our empathy on the table and look at scripture from a purely intellectual vantage point. And of course we ha...

How does your discipleship look? Are you seeing comfort in your relationship? Are you holding back until such a time when you'll have enough time to be fully committed. Are you straddling your commitments to the world and your commitment to Christ. Three seeming very reasonable requests to follow Jesus are rejected by Him. How would you fare? Notes to Commitment Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/commitment-vs-seeking-comfort-putting-things-off-holding-on-to-your-world/

Just off the mountain. Jesus has just revealed the whole plan to Peter, John and James. That trip down the mountain was fruitful, inspirational and rewarding. Then at the foot of the hill, Jesus and the three walk right back into reality. A father is begging for his son to be healed, and Jesus' disciples are unable to exercise the demon. We see Jesus express frustration and a healthy amount of grief. This is not just a watershed moment for these disciples; it is a wakeup call to us! Notes to I ...

We have just witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, and the pieces should be falling into place both for us and those that witnessed the event. Sometimes the best way to read the Bible is to put yourself in the sandals of one of the disciples. We did that and we started asking exactly the same questions. The clarity that comes from approaching the Bible with humble curiosity is awesome. Definitely check the notes on this for a deeper bible study: Notes to Descending the Mo...

We've followed the disciples on this chronological red-letter journey so far covering a period of a little over a two year of Jesus' ministry. Through all of that, we have the benefit of the Bible, the New Testament and 2000 year's worth of commentary and still we find it hard to fathom what happens next! Some of us want to take Peter aside and say: "Dude, don't you get it!" Sometimes, we want to help Jesus turn the tables over in the temple! We want to wag our fingers at the Pharisees! Are w...

There's a subtle lesson I'm slowly beginning to learn. Start your day in scripture and the rest of your day will follow you. Start your day in the world, in your email inbox, on your phone or social media and you're the follower! Today, we started in a very well-known passage. Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Messiah but his understanding of what that means led to one of Jesus' sharpest rebukes in the Bible: "Get behind me Satan". Even the reader, and certainly Petere, might stagger in b...

We just left Caesarea Phillipi where Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah. Shortly after this, Jesus has a discussion to let His disciples know what MUST now happen. It is news the disciples are not quite ready for... though I can't imagine there ever being a good time to bring this up! We walk through this short passage in Matthew 16:21-23, Mark 8:31-33 and Luke 9:22 and then try to empathize with how the disciples would have received the news. We piece together what they had been taught from ...

I loved resting on this passage and digging into it. The full weight of what is happening comes to life when we understand the context and the setting of Caesarea Philippi. We spent some time tracing who they really thought Jesus was and importantly, how they got to their conclusions. From the context and the history, we can also discern how much Peter's confession reveals and what he still has yet to learn. We also took the same question beyond scripture and asked the same thing about religion...

Sometimes the fly on the wall gets the best perspective! We're in a synagogue on a Sunday, of course, and a woman has been coming to this place for 18 years. Everything we see here smacks of cliche'. Jesus healing on the Sabbath. The religious leader of course not having it - though there's not much he can do about it. So, as we went through this passage, we started asking some pretty serious questions. What I love about the Bible, is for every question, there's an answer! Notes for Sickne...

We took the opportunity today to step back and look at how we read scripture. Jesus has just come from the Decapolis. He's healed a woman's daughter, a deaf mute, fed 10,000 people on the mountain without only 7 loaves of bread. He warns his disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and then we come into Bethsaida. A small group of people bring a blind man to Jesus. My first thought, is OK... haven't we seen Jesus heal the blind before? But I persisted, and read through the passage, and...

I had to read this a few times. I'm convinced that this is what's going on. Jesus is in the Decapolis. He has just left a woman who accepts the Jewish perspective of gentiles as dogs. Even the dog eats the crumbs from his master. That segways into this scene. We're in the Decapolis, deep gentile territory. A sea of "dogs" by Jewish standards. Here, you don't get the sense of the disciples actively, enthusiastically participating. Something is off. The focus is on Jesus, his miracles, the heal...

I don't get emotional much when I'm reading something. Today, for some reason, I did. And I had to stop, back up and zoom in on a scene that would have been so easy to blow past. Jesus is leaving the region of Tyre and Sidon. It was there where he met the woman who famously said even the dog feeds off the crumbs of the master. That was amazing in and of itself. So I picked up here and followed Jesus into the Decapolis. This is still gentile territory, and Jesus goes up on a mountain and sits. ...

We just saw Jesus proclaim to the Jews in Capernaum: "I am the Bread of Life". That caused quite a ruckus. From here, Jesus retreats into gentile territory for the first time in his ministry and encounters a gentile mother. It's only fitting that from the Bread of Life we see the crumbs of mercy. Notes for Crumbs of Mercy Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmeditations.com/crumbs-of-mercy/