Geocaching Scripture

What good has Christianity ever done?! We live in a time that asks that question often – with all the sins of the church, how can we believe what it claims? We talk through some of the great contributions of the church throughout history – from education to prison reform. We look at how God's people did, despite ourselves, sometimes perform "greater works than these" as promised.

I believe but help my unbelief! I think most of us would describe this exclamation as our "life verse" at least once. We look at Mark 9, the story of the possessed by and the dedicated father who begs Jesus for help. We look at how this story fits into its immediate context, and what theme is worked through these narratives. After the immense clarity of the transfiguration, we're con...

Did ya miss us? We're back and we're talking about the greatest commandment of all the law. We look at this well-known verse which would have been front and center of every Israelite mind in Jesus' day. We also discuss the fact that only Jesus himself could keep this commandment perfectly. Rick almost chokes trying to pronounce Hebrew and Josh reminisces on the Halloween snowfalls of W...

For some reason, the whale/shark/leviathan that swallowed Jonah seemed to change from a boy to a girl in the narrative. Of course, this is done without comment and just keeps moving, not showing up in our English translations. So...what gives? We take a minute to poke around in the belly of the whale and see what we can see.

Jesus asks us to take his "yoke" upon us in a world that prides itself on being "woke." He calls us to the transforming paradox of working so that we can rest in Him, and resting in Him so that we can join him in his work. We talk about ancient farm technology, "lakes" in Nebraska, and what it means to that Jesus is always right next to us sharing the load.

There were eight levels of slave in the ancient world, from the slave who was a therapist to the aristocracy to the galley slave whose life was short and brutal. It was this slave – the "below decks" – slave that Paul chose to label himself as for the cause of Christ. We aren't slaves, we are the lowest of slaves, but that doesn't matter because we know our true identity. We dig...

"They know not what they do..." A passage that has been quoted and misquoted since Jesus said it. Yet, so much of the grace of the gospel is held within this sentence – forgive the sin, even as it's occurring, and even as God is using to fulfill his purposes. Rick quotes a psychologist friend: "We don't know what we don't know, and we don't know that we don't know it." In this instance, and so man...

Elisha was apparently very sensitive about his receding hairline. In this passage, he appears to call a battalion of she-bears to do some mauling when some errant youths call him "baldy." Josh discusses his own emotional baggage as a hairless American, and we discover there may be a little bit more to this she-bear mauling story than we thought. Isn't that always the case?

When the world was young, Moses made a bronze serpent that the people looked on to be healed. Centuries later, the image appears again, only this time the poison is more pervasive and the healing is eternal. Tune in to our latest episode where we talk about snakes and the fear thereof, briefly about polar bears, and a whole lot about motifs in the Old Testament. Mazel tov.

A woman kneading a lump of dough as big as a steamer trunk. A shifty fraud re-burying a treasure and then buying the field he found it in. Jesus’ parables weren’t just theological constructs or teaching tools, they were jokes in which the punchline was grace. The joy of a son come home, the joy of finding money you thought was lost – Jesus knows how outsized these feelings are, and so conveys them...

After a week off, the geocachers return to put a Sunday School myth under scrutiny. You may have grown up with the story of the “needle gate” – a small gate in Jerusalem that camels had to get on their knees to enter. The homiletic fall out from this story is a lot of metaphors about wealth, putting off worldly baggage, etc. The issue being – there’s no such thing as a needle gate and never was. W...

That's not a threat, that's a promise—a line from every action movie since ever. In this episode, we look at a popular “threat” or “judgment” passage and find out instead that it's a promise. "If my people, who are called by my name" – it all happened on a very strange afternoon in 957 BC.

Jesus gets up to read at synagogue and reads the passage of his choice, then interprets it radically, to say the least. Just when everybody’s admiring Him, he ticks off the whole room and sends the crowd into a riot. All in a day’s work. Meanwhile, Josh tries to buy fish bait at a bar and Rick crashes a party at a private club in Bangladesh. Turn your phasers to listen .

We look in detail at the well-worn story of the woman with the issue of blood. The hem of His robe she touched was probably the tzittzit , a religious ornament worn on the bottom of a garment. The ornamentation was deeply tied to identity and has Old Testament precedent in a story of Samuel and then of Saul. The unnamed woman, then, didn't just tug on His sleeve, she touched on His identity. W...

We look at the ancient, culturally-binding role of the patriarch. This kinsman redeemer role helps us understand the OT narrative and was a foreshadow of the great Redeemer. From paying debts to settling disputes, the patriarch was much more than a landowner or grandfather figure. He funded, employed, defended and avenged his family—he loved them fiercely against the chaos of the ancient world. Al...

Jesus talks about the smallest thing having power over the greatest thing—the mountain—in the geometry of faith. But the understanding of mountain had richer symbolism in the ancient world. This, and we talk about Josh's time on the beauty pageant circuit.

They throw the woman caught in adultery at his feet. He draws in the sand next to her. Instead of jumping into the rage of righteous fury, Jesus stops everything to converse with a voiceless person. He stops the clock to look her in the eye and restore her. Does God hate sin? Sure. But His reasons are different than ours.

The consistent, sticky refrain of a “land flowing with milk and honey” shows up several times in the Old Testament. These two items – like all sweet things – were not necessary for living, but made life livable. They were precious commodities in the ancient world, especially in Israel where bees were considered “unclean” animals. We consider all this, and what Jim Carey has to say about it, in thi...

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world…These aren’t the droids you’re looking for…Houston, we have a problem – we all know that one line from a classic film that brings the whole experience to mind. The story, the actors’ faces, the tension or humor in the moment, these all come back in a few words. Jesus was doing the same with his famous quote from Psalm 22 as we died – He drew...

Welcome to Season 4! Let’s get caching! We are proud to present a new cohost—pastor, writer, grandfather, cigar enthusiast, former cult member—Rick Shallenberger! We’ll get to know this remarkable man and talk about the “stones” Jesus refers to in Luke 19, how they might break out in song (but we will not, you’re welcome).

The Pharisees didn't eat gnats because they weren't kosher, but camels aren't either, so what's going on? Jesus delivers one of his famous one-liners to his critics, mixing absurd images and fantastical situations. We also learn why it's better to show up on time than show up with flowers. Tune in. 

Jesus talks about the mini-apocalypse in Matthew 24, primarily describing the fall of Jerusalem under Rome. This highly symbolic and brutal military maneuver changed the world, and redemptive history, for good. Why does Jesus talk about vultures gathering? It's an ugly death leading to resurrection, once again. 

Woe is me, for I am undone. This is how the King James renders Isaiah's reaction to the direct presence of God. The temple shakes, the world is undone, and we don't see this happen again until one important afternoon centuries later. What does it mean to be "undone" by God's presence and work and wonders in the world? In a world short on amazement, may we always celebrate God's surprises. Also the...

Jesus calls Herod a fox. Why? What does that mean anyway? Let's look at this ancient insult and why the Lord would refer to someone this way.  The local "king" being addressed by the True King. 

I have a deep, abiding hatred of snakes. I've never been bitten by one or anything, just a pre-programmed genetic revulsion maybe? Paul gets bit by a viper in Acts 28, but walks away unharmed, continuing to build a campfire (which seems really casual!). What was going on with this weird story? What does it mean to be unaffected by the "gods" of the world and, like Paul, shake them off and keep mov...