BeachCast.TV: Bible Exploration, Apologetics and Church History with Dr. Chase A. Thompson:

Paul the apostle writes the letter to the Philippians from jail, where he has been unjustly imprisoned. In that letter, he discusses how his imprisonment has not limited the good news of Jesus, but caused it to expand by raising up other messengers. Bad things that happen to us can have wonderful long term results!

Is the armor of God something we put on in our imagination so that we might be protected from invisible attacks that we would never notice? Actually not - the Armor of God is a Bible metaphor for a series of practices and habits that we develop around God's Word to protect us from very real spiritual attacks.

A most controversial passage today - in Ephesians 5:22, Paul calls wives to submit to husbands. Is Paul being sexist? As it turns out, Paul also calls husbands to sacrifice for their wives - both partners in marriage are given difficult commands to obey in Ephesians 5. How do we live this out?

We tend to think little of anger, especially if we control our anger pretty well and don't release it in shouting, or swearing, or violence. The Bible has a different view on anger, seeing it as dangerous and completely ineffective. What can the Bible teach us about the danger of anger?

Today we see Jonah the prophet angry because God is filled with mercy and compassion. What Jonah doesn't notice, and we do is that Jonah himself is spared multiple times by the same patience and mercy of God that he is so angry about. #irony

In the belly of a great fish - on the verge of blacking out, and maybe dying - Jonah cries out to God in deep distress, and God answers and rescues him. What can we learn from Jonah's prayer about praying when we are in trouble?

I love a good mystery, don't you? Today we learn about the ultimate mystery from Ephesians 3: The mystery of Christ - what could the mystery of Christ possibly be?

Today we rejoice in one of the great truths of the Reformation - that salvation is NOT earned by epic deeds or works of righteousness, but is a gracious GIFT from God that we partake of through faith.

Today we look at several prayers in the Bible - some apostolic prayers and a prayer that Jesus prayed - and learn how to pray more faithfully and fruitfully.

Does Paul in Romans 16 say that Phoebe was a deacon? Should Women serve as deacons/deaconesses in a church? The biblical evidence seems to suggest that they should, according to John Piper, Thomas Schreiner and David Platt.

Many who have been raised up in church have been taught NOT to be people-pleasers, but Romans 15 contains a command to do just that - to please people. Is this a contradiction? Are Christians indeed called to be people pleasers?

Why would God call His prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute? Today we seek to answer this question, and find in the book of Hosea a call to return to God for all who are now distant from Him.

Daniel was cast into the lion's den by jealous government officials who expected him to be quickly devoured. Amazingly, Daniel was spared and at peace, while the king couldn't sleep a wink that night, even though the king was safe in his palace. How could Daniel have so much peace when faced with scary lions?

Jesus prayed for Christians to be in absolute unity, and yet there are thousands of denominations and even more horror stories about church fights. Why do Christians fight so much, and what does the Bible call us to instead?

Paul commands Christians to put on Christ so that we don't gratify our sinful nature. How does one follow such a command - how can we "put on" Jesus. John Piper gives us some wisdom today to understand what Paul meant.

The Bible calls us away from conforming to the ways of the world, and into the transformed life - where our thoughts, actions, habits and words are different than what we see around us. How can a Christian live the transformed life?

In Romans 11, Paul encourages us to consider and think about God's kindness AND His severity. How can a person be both kind and severe?

Jesus says that faith is powerful - it can even move mountains! How can faith grow - how can we increase our faith - is there a way that the Bible teaches us that we can grow in faith? As it turns out...there is!

Great topic today, and one of the top mysteries of the Bible: WHO was the fourth man that was seen in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Was it Jesus or an angel, or somebody else?

Daniel and his friends refused the finest food of the king of Babylon. Why did they do this, and what can we learn from them about how to live in a society that might be hostile to Christianity?

Today we pose a controversial and important question: Must Christians always support the nation of Israel? What sort of attitude should Christians have about Israel and conflicts involving Israel? The Bible's answer might surprise you!

Romans 8 contains so many wonderful promises and hope-filled passages of Scripture, that it might be the single most hopeful chapter in the entire Bible. Today we look at some of the most wondrous truths in the Bible and revel in the hope of this majestic chapter!

Paul opens up in Romans 7, and gives us a brutally honest assessment of his struggle against sin, concluding that he (and we!) are slaves to sin, even though we delight in God's law and want to do God. How can we escape this slavery - who can rescue us? John "Amazing Grace" Newton chimes in to point us to our source of rescue.

Today we discuss the centuries long disagreement over the mode of baptism - sprinkling or dunking. How clear is the Bible on that question? We also discuss death...but not in a dark way. Romans 6 shows us that our being baptized into the death of Christ is the Jesus way that leads to abundant life and eternal life.

Romans 5 is a wonderful source of verses that condense the gospel into beautiful chunks of goodness, but it also has a mysterious and difficult to follow truth - that Christians should rejoice in suffering. How could such a thing be possible - how (and why!) should we rejoice in difficult times?