Does the Bible say THAT?!?

In this episode, Dave Lester shares a sermon he preached out of Acts 26 at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church on November 17, 2024. The message highlighted the Apostle Paul preaching an inclusive gospel of transformation that is foolishness to the Gentiles. Sources used for this message: *The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Book of Acts by F.F. Bruce *New Testament Commentar...

Children's Director at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church, Mary Hoard, joins the podcast to talk about Abram and Sarai fleeing to Egypt because of a severe famine. We dive into the bizarre and disturbing plan of Abram's to pretend that Sarai was his sister so he would not be killed in Egypt. What is going on with this account? We cannot promise concrete answers. Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church...

Pastor Ryan Egli of City Line Church in Philadelphia joins the podcast to talk about the call of Abram. We discuss Abram, Sarai, Lot and their caravan leaving comfortable surroundings for the unknown land of Canaan. We also dive deep into the Abrahamic covenant and how this seismic theological idea has had ripple effects throughout history that continue to this day. Finally, Pastor Ryan challenges...

This episode chronicles the origin story of Abram (who will become Abraham), a major religious figure in history. We observe Abram's beginnings via his father Terah. The family was from Ur of the Chaldeans (not quite sure where that is), leave for Canaan (don't know why), and settle in Harran instead (no reason given). In short, there is a lot we don't know about this passage which is...

In this special episode, Dave Lester shares a sermon he preached at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church on July 28, 2024. The passage was Acts 9:32-43 which has Peter healing Aeneas and Dorcas and an early church community pushing back against death. Visit CK Pres' website right here: https://www.ckpc.org/ Sources for this episode: *New Testament Commentary: Acts by Simon J. Kistemaker *"S...

More Genealogy! One cannot read through Genesis without stumbling upon ancient genealogies recording Israelite history as people who lived a long time ago recorded names that meant a lot to their culture and faith. This episode focuses on Shem's genealogy recorded after the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Noah's son leads us to a major religious figure in history: Abram. Sources used for thi...

Host Dave Lester spoke at "The Word and the World: Science and the Christian Life" conference in Kitsap County on Saturday, June 8th, 2024. He did a breakout session talking about "Interpreting the Genesis Creation Account" and also discussed the interpretative lenses we have been handed from a cultural war brewing before we were born. Visit "The Word and the World" C...

Guest Mike Mason joins Dave Lester to discuss the epic but sparse account of the Tower of Babel. They talk about how surprisingly subversive the story is to, perhaps, Babylonian gods of the ancient near east in favor of the true God- Yahweh. Special guests Josh Tyra and Munir William Fahmy read the Genesis 11:1-9 passage in various languages. Sources used for this episode: *The NIV Application Com...

More names. More genealogy. A lot of geography. Dave tackles the Table of Nations chronicling people groups from Shem, Ham and Japheth spreading out from the ancient near east. Dave spends a fair amount of time discussing the outlier of Nimrod being included in this genealogy. Plus, a very special guest right around the 1 hour mark of the show. Sources for this episode: *The NIV Application Commen...

The gnarly and wild chapter of Genesis chapter 9 is tackled with help from the wonderful Billie Hoard. Dave and Billie talk about the rainbow sign included in the Noahic covenant, capital punishment, drunk and naked Noah, the curse of Ham, and how the Bible can be weaponized to harm people when theology is imposed on the Bible and is not supported by the text. Listen to Billie and Dr. Paul Hoard t...

Continuing on with the flood account, Dave walks listeners through God's judgment winding down. The waters begin to recede. A world is re-created. Noah sends out birds. God smells the pleasing aroma of a burnt sacrifice. Sources used for this episode: *The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Genesis 1-17 by Victor P Hamilton *The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis b...

In this special episode which is complimentary to going through the account of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood located in Genesis 6-9, host Dave Lester discusses how churches teach about Noah's Ark, talks about varying views on the scope of the great deluge and goes into detail about the truly wild accounts of people trying to search for Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey. Buc...

On this special episode, Eli Price joins Dave Lester to chat about Darren Aronofsky's Noah movie which came out in 2014. Listen to Eli Price's podcast right here: https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Watch the preview for the Noah movie right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdu10cX3pWA Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

The Genesis Flood account part two! Eli Price (from The Establishing Shot podcast) joins me to talk about this main section of one of the most famous disaster stories of all time. We talk about the scope of the flood, clean and unclean animals and more. Plus, Eli talks about his podcast "The Establishing Shot" and Louisiana food cuisine. Listen to Eli Price's podcast right here: http...

In this special episode, host Dave Lester shares a sermon on Luke 7:36-50 that he preached at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church on January 28, 2024. Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church website: http://www.ckpc.org/ Sources for this episode (Sermon): *The New Testament In Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature and Theology of the First Christians by NT Wright and Michael F. Bird *Wor...

After the weird start to Genesis 6, Dave Lester and Pastor Tyler Kirkpatrick wrestle with part 1 of the Genesis Flood in the Scriptures. They discuss the character of Noah, the problem of evil (including the question of why God would want to wipe out a creation that God had previously called "very good"), they discuss universal flood vs local flood and how to read/interpret the first 11...

In the prelude to the Great Flood story, we encounter the "sons of God" marrying the daughters of men as well as the Nephilim. Plus God repents of making humanity and declares God is going to send a great flood? Who are the sons of God? Who are the Nephilim? What does it mean that God repented? Dave Lester tackles one of the most difficult passages in the Bible to interpret with assistan...

Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for listening to this podcast! In this special episode, Dave Lester gives a Christmas reflection while drawing back to the account of the first Christmas and what that can mean for us today. Sources used for this episode: *The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey *"God’s power or human violence: The meaning of the virgin birth" by Dr. Esau McCaulley. In...

On this special episode, host Dave Lester discusses the problem of evil called the nastiest question that theists have to deal with. He talks about how the problem of evil is philosophically formulated, how people of faith respond to the challenge of theodicy and ends talking with Terrence Malick's all-encompassing spiritual vision of life in his film, "The Tree of Life." Sources for...

On this episode, Dave tackles a big, long genealogy in Genesis chapter 5. Lots of names. Lots of begetting. From Adam to Noah, Dave unpacks the passage and dives into two major questions: how did people in the Bible live so long (900+ years in most cases in this chapter)? Also, are there gaps or holes in the genealogy? Sources: *The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton *Word Bibl...

The start of genealogies in Genesis. Cain gets a wife, has a son and builds a city. His lineage adds culture to the city with more expansive shepherding (perhaps animal domestication), music and arts and metalworking. Finally, there are dueling genealogies between Cain's offspring and the children of Seth (Adam and Eve's third recorded son). Plus what is up with polygamy? Sources: *Womanis...

The first murder in the Bible! The tragic account of Cain and Abel and the unfolding drama east of Eden. Plus, where did Cain get his wife? All of this and more on this episode of Does the Bible Say THAT?!? with David Lester. Sources for this episode: *"The Mark of Cain: Marked for Death. Marked for Life" Womanists Wading in the Word by Dr. Wil Gafney. https://www.wilgafney.com/2021/04/2...

Dave unpacks the curse delivered to Adam and Eve and the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Trouble in paradise. And what does it mean for God to be walking in the cool of the day? Sources for this episode: *Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda C. Gafney *Come Out My People! God's Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond by Wes Howard-Brook *Man an...

The Fall of Humanity, the serpent's deception of Adam and Eve and an analysis of if Adam and Eve were historical people on this episode of "Does the Bible Say THAT?!?" Sources for this episode: *Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliott Friedman *The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton *Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham *The New Interprete...

in this special episode, Dave Lester offers a community prayer that he prayed on 10/08/2023 at his Presbyterian Church USA congregation that his family attends. Pray for peace.