The Echo Collective

Why did Jesus choose twelve disciples/apostles? In this episode of the series WDJD…T?, Chris and I trace the significance of the number twelve from Mount Sinai to Joshua's crossing of the Jordan River, exploring how Jesus' choice of twelve followers connects to Israel's covenant, God's faithfulness, and the long-awaited hope of restoration. Episode Artwork : The Synaxis of the Twel...

We are at the next part of our journey through a series entitled: WDJD...T? Why did Jesus walk into the Temple, overturn tables, and cause a massive scene at the very place where people came to worship God? In this episode of WDJD…T?, Dr. Chris Whyte explores Jesus' cleansing of the Temple, what provoked such a dramatic confrontation, and what this moment reveals about the kind of worship and...

Part 2: What happens when we bring our problems to Jesus, even when we have no idea what He might do? In Part 2 of our conversation on the wedding at Cana, Pastor Rob Chifikoyo reflects on Mary's response, the demanding work of the servants, and the God who can bring what Rob calls “a burst of new life” into an unexpected moment. Show Notes In Part 1, we explored why Jesus chose a wedding at C...

Part 1: Why would Jesus choose a wedding running out of wine as the setting for His first sign? Dr. Chris Whyte, Pastor Rob Chifikoyo, and I explore the wedding at Cana, the significance of six stone purification jars, and what an extravagant amount of wine reveals about the glory of Jesus and the Kingdom He's bringing. SHOW NOTES Water Into Wine: Why Was This Jesus' First Sign? (Part 1) W...

Immediately after His baptism, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where He fasts for forty days and faces three temptations that echo Israel's own failures. In this episode of WDJD…T?, we explore why Jesus enters the wilderness, what His faithfulness reveals about the kind of Messiah He will be, and what our own wilderness experiences might reveal about us. Episode Artwork: The Te...

Why did Jesus get baptized? Maybe not for the reason we usually think. Jesus gets into the Jordan not just to give Christians an example to follow, but to step directly into Israel's story and begin (ful)filling it with new meaning. His baptism is an announcement that God's saving tzedakah (righteousness) is arriving, the King has come near, and he isn't standing separately on the shor...

Aaron Jayne grew up in a shattered home in North Texas and then headed to Phoenix before taking a massive leap of faith and moving to inner-city Los Angeles to help plant a church that eventually became the Dream Center. 16 years later, he moved to North County San Diego and discovered something he didn't expect: no matter where you go, people really aren't that different. In this conversa...

Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is like a giant net that sweeps through the water, gathers everything, and eventually reaches the shore. In this episode, we look at the Parable of the Dragnet (from Matthew 13), its connection to the Wheat and the Weeds, and a deeply theological word: eschatology . Where is this slow, sometimes almost invisible Kingdom actually going, and what do we do with Jesus&...

Jesus tells a story about a fig tree that has been given everything it needs to grow and still isn't producing any fruit. In the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, we wrestle with repentance, judgment, patience, and a grace that doesn't simply give us more time, but refuses to leave us as we are. Episode Artwork: Abel Grimmer, Landscape with the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree , c. 1600. Oil o...

Jesus begins the Parable of the Sower with one word: Listen. This episode suggests that hearing Jesus is different from simply knowing what He said...and what if one of the things keeping us from hearing Him is assuming that we already do? Episode Artwork: Vincent van Gogh, The Sower , 1888. Oil on canvas. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands. Show Notes If you grew up around church, you pr...

What if one of the things keeping us from understanding the Bible is the assumption that we already see it clearly? Dr. Chris Whyte joins me for a conversation about holiness, repentance, the danger of reading ourselves as the good guys in Jesus’ stories, and why Scripture might be best understood when we learn to read it together. SHOW NOTES What if the problem isn't that we aren't readin...

Jesus tells a tiny parable about a farmer who plants a seed, goes about his life, and somehow the seed grows without him making it happen. The Parable of the Growing Seed invites us to consider the difference between the work that belongs to us and the work that belongs to God and to trust that just because we can't see something happening doesn't mean nothing is happening. Episode Artwork...

Jesus is eating at the home of a Pharisee named Simon when a woman with a negative public reputation walks in and does something weird but extravagant. Through the Parable of the Two Debtors, Jesus exposes the danger of measuring our need for grace against someone else's, and asks a question that we still need to answer: “Do you see this woman?” Episode Artwork: The Feast in the House of Simon by...

What did Jesus mean when He told us to ask, seek, and knock? In the strange parable of the Friend at Midnight, Jesus isn't teaching us how to wear down a reluctant God—He's inviting us to trust the character of a good Father who gives us something far greater than bread: Himself. Show Notes What kind of God do you imagine is on the other side of the door when you pray? In Luke 11, immediat...

When Jesus tells the servants to leave the weeds alone, is He ignoring evil, or is He revealing something beautifully mysterious about what God is really like? In this episode, we discover that the most surprising character in the parable isn't the wheat or the weeds; it's the Master whose patience flows from His compassion, wisdom, and covenant love ( hesed) . Show Notes What if we've...

What did Jesus mean when He said to "count the cost"? Why did He tell people that they have to "hate" their father and mother to follow Him? In this episode, we explore Luke 14 and discover that Jesus wasn't trying to make discipleship harder, He was forcing people to be honest about it.. Show Notes When Jesus tells the crowds to "count the cost," is He trying to...

We often read the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats as a story about the final judgment. And it is that, but it's also more than that. In this episode, we explore one of Jesus' more challenging parables and discover that the closer we grow in our relationship to Christ, the more we will find Him in and among the people the world forgets about. Artwork: 6th-century Byzantine Mosaic called...

What if the greatest obstacle to spiritual transformation isn't a lack of effort, but the belief that we can change ourselves if we just try harder and harder? In this bonus Narnia episode, we revisit Cousin Eustace's outrageous encounter with Aslan and discover why the deepest work of grace is the work only the Lion can do...and sometimes it hurts.

In this special episode, I share the unexpected story of how a conversation in a tattoo shop became the inspiration for the new Echo Collective logo. Along the way, we explore why a rooster standing over a skull has become a powerful reminder that the Christian story is not about perfect people, but bent and broken humans who have been redeemed, and that because of Christ, grace has the final word...

Jane Register has spent her life saying "yes" to the places and people that many people avoid. From working in the inner city to relationships with ex-convicts, refugees, and Christians who have been persecuted, her life is a reminder that following Jesus has always meant moving toward others. This conversation is about discovering that some of the deepest work God does in us happens as...

What if Sabbath is about far more than taking a day off? In this second conversation with Benji Horning, we explore the ancient practice of Sabbath as a way of resisting hurry, rediscovering trust, and creating space to hear the voice of God even in the midst of the noise of modern life. Along the way, we discuss the wisdom of the Desert Fathers, the radical vision of Jubilee, and why spiritual fo...

Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb (and let's not forget Puddleglum the Marshwiggle) are cold, hungry, and exhausted. But their real danger begins when they hear about a place called Harfang. Drawing from The Silver Chair and Philippians 4, this reflection explores what happens when the promise of something better makes our present circumstances harder to endure, and why true contentment is found no...

In this Father's Day episode, Pastor Morgan "Moe" Smith reflects on growing up in Oildale, California (not Bakersfield), being raised by a praying single mom, and a rock climbing experience that left him crazy thirsty. Together, we look at Jesus' words, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," and why that blessing may take place when we hunger and t...

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is one of Jesus' weirdest stories, and it leaves us with a bunch of questions: Why is the groom delayed? Why don't the wise women share their oil? And what do we do with the unsettling words, “I don't know you”? In this episode, we explore the cultural world behind the parable and consider the possibility that Jesus is less interested in end-times specula...

Most of us have been taught that the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast are about small things becoming big things. That's true but that isn't the whole story. In this episode, we explore why Jesus doesn't compare God's Kingdom to a glorious cedar or a mighty oak tree, but to a plant that spreads like it has never heard of boundaries and yeast that quietly and almost sneakily transforms ev...