JTalkin'

Final podcast of the hard sayings of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse.  Is this tribulation something worldwide in the future, or just localized to a time of judgement long ago?  What did Jesus mean by "inasmuch as you did it to the least of these my brethren"?  Is the judgement He refers to at the end of the sermon a judgement that is of eternal conscious punishment, or something that will...

Was Jesus talking about just some military invasion by the Romans in AD 70, or was His prophecy on the Mount of Olives about some worldwide cataclysmic series of events?  Tune in and found out!  

Jesus said a bunch of things in Matthew 24 that are controversial.  What did He mean by "He that endureth to the end shall be saved"? And what did He mean about the "kingdom rising against kingdom" being the beginnings of "birth pangs"?  What does all this have to do with Israel and the Church and the future?  Dr J takes on some of the more cryptic sayings of Jesus in...

Jesus speaks of a sin that He says will never be forgiven:  blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  What is this, and is it being done today?  Is it something a Christian can do?  Why is it that this warning is never repeated again in the New Testament?  It can be a very confusing and disturbing passage, so listen in to Dr. J's take on what this saying means... and doesn't mean. Hopefully Dr...

Was Jesus mean or rude to the Gentile woman who came to Him because her daughter was demon possessed?  Why did He refuse her at first?  What did He mean by the things He was saying?  

This is the first in several episodes dealing with some of the hard sayings of Jesus.  In John 6 Jesus makes several statements about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  What in the world is He talking about?  Is this a reference to the Lord's Supper?  Or is Jesus trying to convey something else?  

These are stories you will never find in history books, but I thought it would be good to record them.  I don't think it's right that they would be lost to the ages.  Most of them are nothing spectacular, but these were my encounters with people who sacrificed in a titanic world battle of good versus evil.  

Since we are now celebrating our nation's 250th birthday, I thought it appropriate to preserve my recollections of conversations with World War 2 vets over the past many decades.  Some of these are stories I heard in my childhood, others from as a middle-aged adult talking to people I interviewed.  I don't know if their stories were ever recorded.  So, I thought I'd give you my rend...

The Bible tells us about a New Covenant that God will make (and has made) with His redeemed.  What does that Covenant look like for the future of Israel, and how is the Church a part of it today?  

If the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament and the Four Gospels was primarily about a physical, literal kingdom upon the earth with a restored Israel at its center, and the earth restored to its Eden-like beginnings, then how does the Apostle Paul tell us in his epistles that we the Church are a part of this Kingdom?  Something doesn't "compute".... or does it?  

John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostles all told people to get ready for something called "the Kingdom of God."  But what was it?  Some new thing starting with John the Baptist's preaching?  No.  It was predicted in the Old Testament for centuries.  Come with me for a brief journey through the Old Testament to see what God predicted for Israel and the nations, and how this fits wi...

As Christians we either go back to Peter and Pentecost and a program that is not for us today (and wind up in frustration and failure), or we go on to the later revelation from Paul for the Church today.  Please listen to why we need to listen to what God revealed to the Apostle Paul to the other apostles in Ephesians 3.  This revelation from Jesus Christ, contained in Paul's epistles, is our...

Why Paul?  God couldn't get it done with the 12 apostles?  Why is he the author of half the New Testament?  How is he the "missing piece of the puzzle" that explains what happened to Israel in the New Testament?  Once we see that Paul is raised up as a new apostle with a new message for a new assembly with a new destiny, a lot of the confusion in the Bible will clear up.  Listen in...

I have heard a lot about the so-called "New Apostolic Reformation" and self-proclaimed apostles walking around and giving out new revelation and performing miracles.  But do they measure up to what the Bible says?  Stick around and find out from Dr. J today!

Some people think of themselves as victims, as prisoners, as hopeless waifs.  Change the metaphor in your life.  Instead of thinking of yourself as a slave or peasant or tyrant, think of yourself as a freeman.  Dr. J breaks down for us what it means to be a freeman in today's culture.  

Remember the true story of Jim Jones and how his 900 followers drank cyanide-laced grape Kool-aid?  If his followers had only seen in the Bible how to spot false prophets, they may have escaped.  The Bible gives us clear direction on how to detect these hucksters...by what they say...and by what they do.  Tune in so you can see through these counterfeits!

On the way to ballet, my ten year old wanted me to tell her a story.  Of course I only told her true stories of great courage and determination.  The Battle of Midway is one of those stories to remind us all that it is always too soon to give up, and to never doubt that there is a God.  

Have you ever been betrayed?  I have.  Several times in fact!  How do you deal with the pain of betrayal?  There is a way forward.  I hope you are encouraged by my story today.  

I grew up in a household of screaming and yelling, chaos and addictions.  It was not "Leave It to Beaver" or "Father Knows Best."  But God used two things to motivate me to change my life at a young age:  pain and hatred.  (Later he added two other emotions:  love and gratitude, but we'll talk about that later.)  He can take the pain and the hatred you feel today to make a...

I was talking to a young man (he's in the fourth grade) and he asked me what I thought about George Washington.  Here are five things I think he could learn from the Father of Our Country:  courage, ambition, seriousness, self-control, and integrity.  In our self-made "crisis of masculinity" these days, George Washington is still a wonderful real man for boys to imitate!

"Stand your ground, don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."  The immortal words of American patriot, Captain John Parker as he stood on Lexington green that morning that heard "the shot heard 'round the world."  What lessons do we learn from this clash between the might of the British Crown, and American farmers?  Plenty!  Tun...

I encountered a young mom with a snarling four year old hellion who was running around a McDonalds and refusing to put on his jacket.  She was exhausted, clueless as to what to do, and pleading with her little child to cooperate.  Raising children doesn't have to end up with out of control brats running your life.  She asked me what to do, and I offered her the following advice...

If you or your family member or any innocent person is being physically assaulted, what is the righteous, godly thing to do?  Does God want us to be totally pacifistic?  Or can we use violence to stop the attack?  How should we handle "thou shalt not kill" and "turn the other cheek" in a deadly and evil fallen world?  

What do you do when you are in your late 50s, lost your home, lost your income, lost the fight you've been in for the last four years, and you still have to take care of your arthritic wife who is wheel-chair bound?  Listen to this true and encouraging story of courage, compassion, mercy, reconciliation, and wisdom from American history.  

I've gone to several evangelical Protestant churches in the past year, mostly because I am searching for one to attend regularly.  Here are a few observations about what I've found recently.