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

Today's Bible reading for January 12 is Genesis 13, Nehemiah 2, Matthew 12 and Acts 12. Our focus passage will be Matthew 12, and we are asking a big Bible question today: What is the Blasphemy of the Spirit, the unforgivable sin? SHOUT OUT TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE COMMENTED AND LEFT REVIEWS!!! On Apple Podcasts: Monte O, Kerri P, Cortney and Angel. And also people who have commented on the blog tha...

Let's celebrate! We've made it through 10 episodes, and have FINISHED OUR FIRST BOOK TOGETHER. Great! Today we are reading Genesis 12, Nehemiah 1, Matthew 11, and Acts 11 together. We will start with Matthew 11, because something very significant and almost unsettling happens in that passage. The focus is on John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus who has risen to incredible prominence in Israel as a...

Today's big Bible question comes from a biblical situation that our British friends might call a 'sticky wicket,' which means a difficult situation. The scribe and priest Ezra has discovered that some of the Israelite men have disobeyed God's command and intermarried with Canaanite women, and he is very disappointed, ultimately calling on those men to send their foreign wives away. Which brings up...

  If you've grown up in church - and maybe even if you haven't - you've probably heard of the conversion of Paul the apostle. Initially, as the story goes, Saul was an enemy of Christians and had them arrested. He was even at the murder/martyrdom of the deacon Stephen, and was apparently the government official there that signed off on his impromptu (and likely illegal) execution. So far, so good...

Today's reading is fairly meaty - big, important and theologically rich passages in Genesis 8, Ezra 8, Matthew 8 and Acts 8. However, because the last two episodes of the Bible Reading podcast went long, today's big Bible question is an important one that will be fairly short. Does God care about animals? I suppose a subset to that question - one that we will cover in depth at a later date - is a...

When I was a kid growing up, the most well known Bible verse was probably John 3:16. Even people who didn't go to church knew about that verse, and would probably see it quoted on TV, or held up on a sign at some point every year. I think that has changed in the last few years - the most well known Bible verse today, at least to people that would not identify as Christian, is likely Matthew 7:1, "...

Today's reading is Genesis 6, Ezra 6, Matthew 6, and Acts 6. It may be that our focus reading for the day should continue in Matthew 6, because Jesus' teaching there is so majestic and beautiful that no passage should really overshadow it. If you will indulge me a bit, we will return to Matthew tomorrow for our focus, but today - we are going to discuss the Genesis passage. Genesis 6 has long been...

Today our Bible readings in the Robert Murray M'Cheyne plan are Genesis 5, Ezra 5, Matthew 5 and Acts 5. Our focus passage is Matthew 5, and how could it not be? In this passage, we see the beginning of the most famous and well known sermon ever taught by anybody, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus here lays down His ethic, His commands, His way of life and His motivations. When we think about the Gre...

A most curious incident happens in Genesis, chapter 4. Adam and Eve have been banished from the Garden of Eden, and they begin a family. Cain is the firstborn, and he grows up to become a farmer. Abel is the second child, and he becomes a shepherd. Here is the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4: The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have...

Today's Bible Readings in the RMM Bible Reading Plan are from Genesis 3, Ezra 3, Matthew 3 and Acts 3. Our focus passage is Genesis 3, which is all about the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Encouraging Quote of the Day from Tim Keller, " In the beginning of history, it was a disaster. Adam and Eve, garden of Eden … What happens? Sin, Serpent … you know the story. Everything is horrible. Death,...

Today's Bible reading for January 2 is in Genesis 2, Ezra 2, Matthew 2 and Acts 2. These include some incredibly significant passages! Matthew 2 details the visit of the Wise Men/Magi with Jesus when He was extremely young, as well as Herod's attempts to snuff out His life by killing all male Bethlehem children who were 2 years of age and younger. In response to the threats against them, Joseph le...

JANUARY 1 readings in Robert Murray M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan: Today's Scriptures are Genesis 1, Ezra 1, Matthew 1 and Acts 1. Here is how the show is going to go, at least at first. Each day, we will start out reading a chapter from one of the day's selections. Then we will ask and answer a question about that passage, and throw in some biblical encouragement also. After that - you can be done...

A note on the new direction of the Bible Mystery Podcast. For 2020, we are now the Bible Reading Podcast - focused on daily encouragement from God's Word with devotional thoughts from spiritual giants, question and answer + more!

Episode 4: Busting Shroud Myths, Part 2:  In one statement, John Walsh (His book The Shroud) observed: "The Shroud of Turin is either the most awesome and instructive relic of Jesus Christ in existence ... or it is one of the most ingenious, most unbelievably clever, products of the human mind and hand on record. It is one or the other; there is no middle ground."  I did a recent - July, 2019 - su...

Jessica Spitz, writing recently for NBCNews.com, basically asserts that science has proven - again and again - that The Shroud of Turin is conclusively a fake. The centerpiece of her argument is the carbon dating of The Shroud. She writes:  Forensic scientists have once again concluded that the Shroud of Turin, supposedly the burial cloth Jesus was wrapped in after his crucifixion, was artificiall...

Today,  I think it would be helpful to have an episode that takes a broad and wide view of The Shroud - that covers all of the basics, so that we're all on the same page. That's the focus of this episode - let's call it an overview of The Shroud of Turin, but the material we cover won't all be introductory level.  As I mentioned in the first episode, I first heard about The Shroud way back in the...

  Today's episode is a beginning. It does not YET represent rigorous research, but only a skimming. My opinion at the beginning of this journey is a middle opinion. Call me a Shroud agnostic, at least for now. There are Shroud atheists out there that quickly and completely dismiss the Shroud. They may be right, but I'm not sure they've thoroughly researched their conclusions. Likewise, many faithf...

Today's Question: What does John 3:16 REALLY MEAN? Are we wrong about the most famous verse in the Bible?.  John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - for most of my life it has been the most famous verse in the Bible.   It's only rival today is 'Judge not that ye not be judged'. More...

Shownotes below are unrefined, unedited and unattributed. I'll eventually fix that. Today we're talking about the Bible itself - the longest verses, books, chapters, etc. Chapters and verses are NOT found in the original autographs, or writings of the Books of the Bible. These books were written like letters and books, and did not have chapter divisions or verses, or even punctuation like modern b...

The church has been talking about gossip for a very, very long time! Clement of Rome, who likely knew Peter and John (and died in 99AD) Wrote this about gossip: Since, then, we are a holy portion, we should do everything that makes for holiness. We should flee from slandering, vile and impure embraces, drunkenness, rioting, filthy lusts, detestable adultery and disgusting arrogance. "For God," say...

Note: The Shownotes and Transcript below are a bit of a trainwork editing wise. I'll polish them up soon! C.S. Lewis from His essay The Seeing Eye, found in Christian Reflections: 1963, 6 years before the Moon Landing.  (Discussing Space travel) a more practical issue will arise when, if ever, we discover rational creatures on other planets. I think myself, this is a very remote contingency. The b...

Episode 4: What is the Unforgivable sin??  It's a terrifying reality: Jesus warned His disciples and the Pharisees that there was a sin that could be committed that was unpardonable - unforgivable for all eternity. People have speculated and worried about this teaching of Jesus for hundreds of years. What precisely is the unpardonable sin? How can we know whether or not we've done it? Let's dive i...

Interested in this topic? You might enjoy my book: Monsters in the Bible Our focus on this show is on the Bible, and how interesting it is. Sometimes the show will be straight up Bible Q and A - down to earth topics with answers solidly grounded in the biblical text. Sometimes the show topics will be a little more - out there, shall we say. Like today. Today's topic is Unicorns, and it is dedicate...

The notes for this episode aren't exactly show notes. For more reasons to believe, please check out my book Easter: Fact or Fiction, 20 Reasons to Believe that Jesus Rose from the Dead (click here) OR: Check this post out on my writing blog: Top Ten Reasons to Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead. Recap: 1 Corinthians 15:  12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say...

Welcome to episode ZERO of the Bible Mystery Podcast - this is the trailer. In this episode, pastor, author and professor Chase A. Thompson discusses the motivations for the Bible Mystery Podcast and future topics for the show, including:  How can we know that Jesus FACTUALLY rose from the dead?  What are demons - are they fallen angels?  What happens when we die?  Did Angels actually mate with hu...