Cocktails with Beers

Merry and I chat about a recent twitter debate over the role of children in church.  Do they even belong there?  We also chat about a recent vacation Bible school we participated in.  We then share memories of our childhood VBS experiences, and we recognize the advanced level crafts Merry did in the days of yore.

Diana Butler Bass recently gave a sermon about Mary Magdalene.  She raises the research of a student at Duke who recently discovered that the story from the Bible of Jesus raising Lazarus had been edited in an early transmission.  Did Lazarus have two sisters?  Or was the second woman watching Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead Mary Magdalene?  And if so, what does this mean?  We read the sermon, a...

We chat about the possibility of a strategic and friendly competition between the U.S. and China. We also talk about a new BBQ joint that opened down the street, and the merits of putting slaw on a pulled pork sandwich.

In the last year, a movememt called the Reawaken America Tour has doubled down on the idea that the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God. One prominent person is even calling on pastors to preach on the U.S. constitution just as much as they do the Bible.  We chat about this, and compare this movement to some of the early Jesus movements. 

We've tested positive for Covid, and share some of our experience with you.  We also go back into the archives to present our take on Jesus' parable commonly known as The Good Sarmaritan.  

Matt and Merry chat about conflicts in the early years of the Jesus movement, and how they worked through them.  We also chat about tv shows, predictable plots, jumping the shark, and avoiding social media.   

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently overturned the 1973 ruling on Roe V. Wade.  Now laws regarding abortions have been returned to the state and local governments.  Matt and Merry crack open that big ol' can of worms and chat about what a Christian reponse to this may look like.  

Billy Graham had a rule about never being alone in a room with a woman that wasn't his wife.  We chat about how this rule has been adopted, revised, and distorted by some spiritual leaders today.  We also chat about what it takes to be a college professor.  And we also ponder how many times Jesus said, "Baby!"  

Matt and Merry chat about the oral tradition of Jesus of Nazareth before people started writing things down about him and his movement. How were the early stories of Jesus spread throughout Galilee and beyond? How were they passed down from one generation to the next?  Why were they written down?  We also chat about the January 6th hearings, our political leanings, and cheesy jokes about Matt's la...

Matt and Merry chat about a new book called The Flag and the Cross.  It is written by two sociologist, Philip Gorski & Samuel Perry, who look at the recent surge of "white Christian nationalism."  We also chat about the making lapel pins, a game called "Pin the Flame Game," and discuss yet another church scandal.    

Matt and Merry talk about mass shootings and gun control.  We look at how some callous Christians are responding to recent events, how gun culture in rural areas has changed, and commas in the second amendment make it very difficult to interpret and apply to our current day (and few people ever mention the "well regulated" clause of the amendment).

Matt and Merry review the recent report released by the Southern Baptist Convention on their investigation into abuse. What they found surprised even them, but none of us.  Also, a popular Sunday newspaper appears to be participating in plagarism and intellectual theft.  We also chat about a new bourbon Matt tried recently, and what made it taste so weird.

Matt and Merry spent part of their week at the beach. But it was a bummer. It rained the whole time.  Nevertheless, we lived our best life, and our daughter had the time of her life.  We also got to see folks called Bronies who were attending a My Little Pony convention. Matt also went to church meetings for an annual assembly, and experienced how political divisions are affecting churches in your...

We used to be known as Life on the Water, but now we're Cocktails with Beers.  This newly named show is all about a husband and a wife carving out time in a busy week to catch up over a cocktail and chat with one another about both lighthearted and important issues.  And for some reason we decided the first step of our newly named show should be right on the land mine that is the abortion issue.  ...

Matt and Merry chat about a critical debate happening on social media over what women can wear to the grocery store.  We also talk about the carnal feelings that arise when watching a Tom Cruise movie.  How can we protect ourselves from this relentless assault on our freedom and moral virtues?  And, Matt tries out his new sound board, which proves rather annoying to Merry.    

What if archaeologists discovered a box full of bones, and they could prove conclusively that they were the bones of Jesus? How would that change your faith? Would it change the way you lived? Matt and Merry wrestle with this questions, and chat about how we are so focused on Jesus living again that we lose sight of the good news of what Jesus' living had for us to begin with. If the empty tomb do...

Matt and Merry talk about the season of Lent.  Both of us grew up in a tradition that didn't practice this season, so we didn't go to a Lent serice at a church until we were well into adulthood.  We chat about what we, two folk who grew up evangelical, think about Lent today.

Matt and Merry chat about Hillsong, their recent scandals, and whether or not they should be considered a church.

Matt and Merry chat about folks called TheoBros, their social media presence, and their counterparts, The Exvangelicals.   

In our final installment to our Joseph series, Joe reconciles with his family.   We also weigh in on the determinism vs. free will debate, and chat a little about gas prices, globalism, and the war in Ukraine.

We talk about the war in Ukraine and what Christians should think about it all.   We chat about chaos and creation, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, and how much God hates violence and war.   We ask where God is when humanity insists on perpetuating violence, and ask what we should be doing when evil seizes the day. 

Jospeh overcame so much, but he couldn't overcome the world.   This week, Matt and Merry explain what they mean about that.   Along the way, we talk about getting old, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's arms, and what the world would look like if we paid our taxes in ducks.      

Matt and Merry chat about Joseph's rise to power in Egypt. We also discover the Egyptian book of dreams, an old text kept by one of Pharaoh's priests in the temple of the sun. And we use it to interpret some of our own dreams. You'd be surprised how hard it is to do that, butalso how coherent an interpretation could be.

Matt and Merry begin a four part series on the story of Joseph.  Not the Christmas Joseph, but the guy who wore the Technicolor dream coat.  In part one, we chat about how Joseph's inflated ego and sense of entitlement got him into trouble with his brothers.  Along the way, we chat about the best actors to hire for an audio edition of the Bible, as well as the importance of sibling position in det...

Matt and Merry try some fruity and tart beers from two of their favorite brewers.  We're not big fans of sour beers.  So, we're trying these to see if our favorite brewers can make a sour beer that we can actually like.