Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

We want a just God.  However, we don't like what justice means.  We don't like that God, because of our rebellion, must sometimes go to DEFCON 4 in just punishment. Jesus looks 'em in the eye today and reminds everybody that this is not new news.  Psalm 118 and Isaiah 8 talk about it.  It is not a surprise.  Don't pretend that you did not know this.   One of the great and wonde...

Welcome to a WAR OF DISRESPECT.  The people in this parable choose to go to war with God.  Then they ratchet it up to DEFCON 1 with more disrespect.  Then they ratchet it up to DEFCON 2 of disrespect.  Then they ratchet it up to DEFCON 3 of disrespect. Finally, it is the LORD who ratchets it up to DEFCON 4 and destroys the bad guys. When the people of the day heard this, they said of God, "SU...

Two things charmed me about this passage.  The first was wondering about Jesus "preaching the gospe l" to those hanging on His words in the temple.  I wonder what that was like.  I wonder what passages He used from the Old Testament.  I wonder what quotes He recalled from Himself and the years of His earthly ministry.  This is going to be one of my conversation questions in heaven:  What...

The Lord introduces the possibility that we could do impossible stuff with our prayer life.  Or, should I say, our prayer RELATIONSHIP, because for me today, that was the key. I'm picturing the relationship of the little Kid and the Iron Giant.  The point isn't can the KID lift a car.  The point is can the IRON GIANT lift a car, and what is the RELATIONSHIP of the Kid and the Iron Giant?...

Unfortunately, man is not "basically good".  If so Christianity would be unneeded.  The fact is we are all fallen.  We are all already and in the future under judgment and are on a "Highway to Hell."  We love the darkness.  We gotta get off this road! Fortunately, you have come to the right place.  We have beautiful exit ramps today.  Jesus says it seven-ways-to-Sunday.  Receiv...

the glory of man > the glory of God You gotta just love a Bible passage with a math equation in it.  (It is not the only one) This is an uncomfortable reality for a group of people that we often 'give a pass' to:  BELIEVERS.  Right off the bat, we are told that the group that concerns us most today is BELIEVERS.  They believe.  Then they do some wrong things.  Then they THINK some wro...

Jesus is doing all kinds of fancy things.  Miracles.  The New Testament calls them SIGNS.  The Old Testament refers to the ARM OF THE LORD.  The point is that people are called to account for what they HEAR; for what they SEE; for what has been REVEALED to them. So the account today is a group of people who wallowed in unbelief despite seeing the ARM OF THE LORD being in action.  They saw the powe...

Cam Jansen is a delightful early-reader series.  She is a young sleuth that has a photographic memory.  Early in each story, she "CLICKS" her photographic memory to remember details that will become important later in the story.  That is exactly what happens in today's account about Jesus.  ⅔ of the way through the passage the crowd asks, "Who is this Son of Man"?  Ironica...

Today's Bible event reminds me of a kooky book THE RELATIVES CAME by Cynthia Rylant and with fantastic illustrations by Stephen Gammell .  It is a "Children's" book that adults will laugh out loud reading.  Distant crazy relatives come to visit and are warmly welcomed.  You are part of the family!  Welcome home ! (The sleepover page is just visually HILARIOUS) In the Bible, dis...

Jesus cleanses the temple early in his ministry and then again during the last week of His earthly life.  This visit is one of judgment ...and insight . Jesus claims to be God today by referring to the praise being given to God in Psalm 8 as being given to Him.  In fact he opens our imaginations a bit by saying INFANTS and under three year olds praise me .  Well, I happen to know a 2 year old and...

At the end of this podcast we will ask, " What GROWTH in me might PLEASE GOD the most? " We are going to give God the job of being an inspector and also being the judge.  Perhaps by the end of this podcast you will have something that is " on your heart " in conviction.  This is the fun part of being a Christian, for the Lord tells us HE HIMSELF is involved in that process.  Le...

Jesus weeps over a "city" today.  It is Jerusalem and likely represents the heart of Israel and the hearts of the people in Israel. He weeps with noise.  So sayeth the greek word.  So this is big.  He weeps over the city and over the inhabitants.  There are a couple of sticklers in the passage.  Presumably it is a prophesy about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70ad that took place at the...

Thank you for joining me on the hit parade today. All four gospels carry the start of the Great Week.  It is the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. There is much to appreciate.  A few things particularly charmed me. From Matthew: One of the best questions of scripture.  What this whole podcast is about, "Who is this."  I bless you as you wrestle with this question. From John: that they were...

Join me today on the official start of THE GREAT WEEK of Jesus' life.  The final week that contains great teaching, the suffering, death and resurrection.  It has it all and it starts here on the Triumphal ENTRY into Jerusalem.  It is a trip that He never exits in a "conventional" way.  The disciples eventually walk back to Galilee and then on to their life-long ministries of tellin...

the Bible says that what happens in this account is A BEAUTIFUL THING.   Perhaps the most beautiful thing?  It also predicts that what happens in this story will be proclaimed wherever the gospel is going to go...which is everywhere and for all time.  So...it is a REALLY beautiful thing. Jesus is six long long long days from the Cross.  He's reached His final destination which is Jerusalem an...

One of the best things about not cherry-picking passages of the Bible is that you eventually come across stuff you don't understand or worse: you DO understand it, but you just don't like it.  Today is one of those such days.  In the millions of Podcasts out there, I guarantee that this is the only one on SLAUGHTER. So this is a parable in Luke 19.  Good Bible scholarship means to read i...

There is SLAUGHTER at the end of our parable today.  That isn't very nice.  Right? There is the financial stripping of a bad servant and a further rewarding of a good servant.  That isn't very nice.  Right? In fact the bystanders even say so. Basically they complain it is not just. So I was thinking about heaven and the final judgments.  My question is, "Is anybody going to get what...

Ten servants get $15,000 and the charge to "engage in business" while their boss is away.  Two do a pretty good job and are then given greater responsibilities upon his return.  Now they are in charge of CITIES.  I suppose that means transportation, taxes, budgets, policing, festivals and commerce.  Quite a promotion.   Similarly, we are charged while our Master is away.  We are supposed...

There are worse things than being lost .  If you are lost you are the star of the show today.  You are exactly what Jesus came to SEEK and SAVE. Imagine being valued enough by Jesus Himself to be called .  And probably, in your failure to answer Him (because you are lost), He then PURSUES you .  He specifically, diligently, PURSUES you.  He seeks you, in the language of the this verse.  No surpris...

99% of the time, Scripture does not mention the HEIGHT that a person stands off of the earth.  Today, it does.  Weird.  Must be foundationally important to this character of Zacchaeus, or at least important to the story.  That's where the tree climbing comes in.  Our little hero not only runs, but he wants to "see who Jesus was" and so climbs a tree; a sycamore tree.  Gotta love the...

There is God's mercy. Then there is OUR VIEW of God's mercy. Though it sounds crazy, a story is told today of a group of people who look at God's mercy with a STINK-EYE .  That is they look at God's GOODNESS with an EVIL EYE.  Basically, they say, "I don't like it", or at least, "I think I could do better," "I know best." Jonah had the same pr...

This word should be THUMPING in your head:  " RANSOM" It is the English translation of the Greek word for the price paid for the release of slaves. Even the definition is offensive. Wait til we apply it:  that is that YOU (me too) are the slave in need of release .  That is offensive too.  In fact that is really offensive to me.  So we have a problem as we get up this morning.  We still...

Do you want to be great?  Do you want to go from mediocrity to wonderfulness?  Good!  That is definitely encouraged in the Scriptures. So exactly how is that done?  Here is where is gets tricky.  Whoever would be great must be servant.  Whoever would be first must be servant.  Bondservant. Real authority looks like service.  Voluntary, long-term, sacrificial service.   Then let's consider who...

What if my future will be difficult? What if the Cup that the Lord has before me doesn't taste very good ? What if I'll be "drinking the TOUGH CUP?" Do I trust You Lord? Will You be enough ? Will I make it all the way? Will I make it to the end? Will I be able to stay faithful ? What if there is pain for me? What there is pain for those around me ? You must agree:  these are re...

There is much to admire in today's podcast.  Actually, not the podcast itself, some real life stuff was going on there.  The admiration is of Bartimaeus. He's  Poor, blind but he is our hero today. We know exactly where this happens.  It is in Jericho.  Jesus' spiritual iWatch can tell Him how many steps He has left before Jerusalem. We find out that in the end Bartimaeus has saving...