Bard & Bible

We have now entered into the space of the Sermon on the Mount that I refer to as the “you have heard it saids.” This is, well, due to the fact that each item listed therein starts with “you have heard it said” or some derivation thereof. I do so love it when the authors give us verbal queues for structure. I’ve heard countless sermons taking these verses (Matthew 5:13...

When He sat on the mount in Matthew 5, there were probably some folks who thought it was time to oust Rome and bring in a new kingdom free from their oppressors — but that’s not what the kingdom was about. Today, while we have those who would tell you that Christianity is under attack and that we cannot rely on mercy, forgiveness, and empathy to demonstrate the love that Christ has for...

Y’all had the chance to go somewhere else. I took to social media and asked if folks wanted me to move on from this journey through Genesis story by story. I thought maybe we’d have lost the plot while I was away. But the call rang out that we are still here … so let’s talk about Sodom and Gomorrah. There is a LOT to talk about here — and that’s just talking abo...

Once again we find ourselves in an episode traveling between the worlds — but the Keeper stayed home this time. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Montgomery Chanticleer — “Uncle Monty” to his constituents. Purveyor of the Shadow Market. They can offer you miraculous things, but they do not trade in currency. They take time, memories, and existential joys innumerable. Th...

Four years ago the world was going through a pandemic that would have long lasting effects that went far beyond the physical tragedies. During that time, we explored the reactions of three characters that played major roles in the Easter story beyond Jesus and outside of the glorious story of Resurre4ction Sunday. The story of a Mary, a mother dealing with the loss of her child that she loved and...

For those of you who have been around the Bard & Bible long enough, you’ve seen me process some of the hardest times of my life by thinning the lines between the real world and my fictional world to have a conversation between myself and my fictional, well, self from the world of Ecclesia. Well, currently being in the middle of another period with my wife in the hospital for mental healt...

This tale is the last of the current batch of Wandering Bards Guild posts. My voice has healed completely from strep and I’m ready to provide ludicrous voices for intros and talk through scriptures at long stretches again. We’re going to take a break from our study of Genesis for this one, as Ryan Felton from City on a Hill Gaming steps back behind the bar to share about something he i...

We continue this run of Wandering Bards with a gentleman I first asked to join the guild quite a while ago. He had a lot going on back then, and much like times I’ve shared where recording delays have only helped bring greater understanding of the text as I brought it to you folks — Joe Monzo has taken that experience that kept him from the mics before and has used it to bring his uniq...

I want to thank Derek for putting together this devotion on Genesis 18 for me while I am recovering from strep throat. He stepped in at zero hour to help me keep our recording schedule on time and delivered something that both sounds entirely different than my voice on the subject (literally and figuratively in this case), and yet is so in line with the themes of God moving in the stories of peopl...

Name changes are a big deal. Name changes for the parents of God’s chosen people are an even bigger deal. In this episode we take a look at what the name changes mean, why they’re important, and how they will impact the undercurrent of all stories involving these two in the future. We also look at a certain sign of the covenant and how choosing that to be the sign of the covenant has a...

Genesis 15 is a big chapter in the overall narrative of Genesis and the Bible as a whole. It is the home of the Abrahamic Covenant – where God formalizes his promises to the patriarch and lets him know He can be trusted to follow through on them. But it’s also a chapter wherein we see that no matter how many times God repeats that He has promised these things to Abram and that there is...

We’re back! Back to the Bard & Bible, back to the Nine Realms, and back to the book of Genesis. In chapter 14 we get to see Melchizedek, but we’re not gonna go into anything about Mel, who he is, how he is this mysterious priest king, or whether or not he is a type or preincarnate appearance of Christ — this is a story about Abram, God, and how that relationship grows and imp...

The Keeper has finally made it to Eldrinar to confront some old ghosts. In the previous tales in the trilogy, we’ve seen our boy go through themes present throughout the texts of the Bible and the lives we live as followers of Christ. Forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, new life. Now, though, we have to deal with what it looks like to grieve. Grief is a hard thing, but a necessary one t...

Continuing on my brief hiatus from the stories of Genesis, our friend the Keeper is off to the Palladium to visit his friend Lysander and talk about old times over tea. It was Lysander’s doing that lead to the keeper leaving the choir of warsingers to join the ranks of the keepers under a new name. But the keeper’s friend had more to share, and thus he closes a dormant chapter of the k...

The Keeper finds himself traveling in the Sea of Grass – a portion of the realm of Austwaine marked by rolling hills and high grasslands. Sitting beside his campfire one night, he is joined by someone who started out an enemy but would leave as something else. Forgiveness is something that only requires one party to give it to another. Reconciliation? Restitution? These are words that both p...

After having to deal with COVID coming to visit our family (everyone is fine now, but it was pretty much ever present for some time), I’m getting back on the podcasting horse with a bit of a journey. My keeper is going to do some of his own wandering for a while. Rather than calling on the Wandering Bards Guild for guest keepers, the B&B now has a freshly minted keeper in residence. Whil...

When she’s not composing ballads behind the bar with Benny, Shaneen is the driving force behind The Hoot & Howl – a blog for all things nerdy across a variety of subjects. She can also be found chatting and streaming with the folks at 1 Geek 4:11. In this third and final special edition of Bard & Bible to commemorate the new edition of Thy Geekdom Come from our friends at Mytho...

Continuing our partnership with our friends at Mythos & Ink to celebrate the release of their new volume of Thy Geekdom Come, I sat down to talk to James Felix from the Geek At Arms podcast about his contribution to volume 2 — engaging with the radical, life changing forgiveness of God as seen in the main character of the Star Wars Battlefront 2 campaign and Saul of Tarsus. We also talk...

Between a planned trip out to New Jersey to see my family over the holiday weekend and an assortment of work and health (both mental and physical) issues, I had another instance of spending more time in a text than my original scheduling offered me. As usual, God has used that time to help me understand something about the text that I didn’t see the first time around. Genesis 13 was original...

We’re still celebrating the release of Thy Geekdom Come 2 from our friends at Mythos and Ink. What better way to celebrate our friend’s new release than with a discussion with our OTHER friends about their contributions to the book? First up is Ashley Mowers who talks about the two devotions she contributed to the new volume. We talk The Mandalorian and She-Ra among conversations about...

Over the years I’ve been doing Bard & Bible I’ve noticed some hermeneutical “lenses” I use to help me refresh my mind and challenge me to not simply drop back into the ruts of study and application that I know and have in my toolbelt like some sort of dollar store Bible Man. The one that has gotten the most use in this study of Genesis is “Remember this is a story...

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what it must have been like for Jesus as he prayed for the metaphorical cup to pass from him? Have you wondered why the same God who knew the road would always lead to cross would ask three more times there in the garden if there was absolutely no other way for this to happen? Have you felt the crushing agony to realize that there has only been one time that C...

The Tower of Babel is a story of pride. Mankind’s pride and dismissal of all that God had given them, in their own ability, and their own authority. We’ve heard about God judging these people in a way that lead them to get over themselves and listen to God – but that is just one level of their pride, God’s response, and how easy it is to turn inward because it’s just...

When first the nations were born that would become the Nine Realms – eight leaders came to parley and define their boundaries. There was one who had stayed at home among the trees and dared any would-be-ruler to try and claim them. Thus were the Free Peoples of the Greatwood established as the ninth realm. While there are those who think them strange and primitive, the Greatwood is home to s...

To celebrate our 50th tale and three years of the Bard & Bible – we get to have another moment where the Mike Perna of the real world gets to talk to our resident dwarf bard. This time we talk about how the B&B started, the trip it’s been, and how drenching myself in the stories of Scripture has done more to draw me closer to God than any sermon or study.