Coffee With Hales

Hermeneutics: Cultural & Historical Context (Water to Wine, Deuteronomy 21, Good Samaritan)  In this episode of Coffee with Hales, I continue the hermeneutics series by explaining why audience relevancy, context, and cultural/historical background matter when interpreting Scripture, and I contrast exegesis (letting the text lead) with eisegesis (reading assumptions into the text). I walk throu...

 In this episode of Coffee With Hales, I sit down with my friend Rachel to talk about living intentionally through every season. We share how she went from a strict faith upbringing and teaching through COVID to becoming a mom, walking through grief, and building The Mingo Coffee and Play as a space for community. Rachel also opens up about leading worship, finding freedom in her faith, and the “g...

Hermeneutics Part 3: Exegesis vs Eisegesis, Biblical Meditation, and Cultural Context In this episode of Coffee with Hales (Hermeneutics Part 3), I review key terms like Torah/Pentateuch, Tanakh, and the Septuagint, then explain hermeneutics as both a science and an art. I break down eisegesis (reading my assumptions into the text) versus exegesis (letting the text speak from its original context)...

Why do sincere Christians read the same Bible and come to different theological conclusions? In Part 2 of this series, we're exploring **hermeneutics**—the science and art of interpreting Scripture—and why it serves as the foundation for our theology. We'll walk through the history of biblical interpretation, discuss how different hermeneutical approaches shape doctrines like Covenant Theology and...

How the Bible Challenged Everything I Thought I Knew (Hermeneutics 101) In this episode of Coffee with Hales, I’m kicking off a new series on how the Bible challenged everything I thought I knew by introducing biblical hermeneutics—how we interpret and apply Scripture. I talk about why the Bible isn’t about us but about Yahweh, and why remembering original audience, context, and literary genre mat...

Today we dive into Exodus 34:29–35, where Moses comes down Mount Sinai with his face shining from being with Yahweh and has to wear a veil, and then connect that story to Paul’s use of the veil in 2 Corinthians 3. We look at how the old covenant—written on stone and marked by condemnation and death—still carried real glory, but was temporary and fading, while the new covenant is written on human h...

Responding to Jonathan Cahn: Blessing Israel, Prosperity Gospel, and Genesis 12. In this casual voice-recorded episode of Coffee with Hales, I respond off the cuff to a Jonathan Cahn sermon about Israel, replacement theology, and end-times claims. I critique what I see as a manipulative “prosperity Israel promise,” where financial support for Israel is presented as a way to receive financial bless...

Old Testament Law, the New Covenant, and Why We’re Not Required to Keep the Sabbath In this episode of Coffee With Hales, I walk through what the Old Testament law (Torah) is, why the Sinai covenant was conditional for Israel, and why reading these laws requires audience relevancy and cultural context. I explain how the laws set Israel apart, often protected vulnerable people, and ultimately point...

The full video is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coffeewithhales Meat Chickens vs Laying Hens: Chicken Tractor, Feeding, and Processing Cattle panel Chicken tractor plans with time-lapse video: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1312813583/cattle-panel-chicken-tractor-plans-with?ref=share_ios_native_control In this Coffee With Hales episode, I talk with my friend Ashley about raising mea...

Manna, Trials, and Resting in Faith (Exodus 16) | Coffee With Hales In this episode of Coffee With Hales, I walk through Exodus 16 and the story of manna—God “raining bread from heaven” after freeing Israel from slavery—showing how their daily gathering was a test of trust and dependence. I highlight the contrast between earlier “rains” of judgment and this rain of provision, and how disobedience...

In this episode of Coffee with Hales, I continue my series on how institutional Christianity has been pulled into left-right political control, and I respond to a clip from Understanding the Times with Jan Markell about “Laodicean” churches and Israel. I argue they frame churches as apostate for not addressing October 7, equate non–pro-Israel positions with antisemitism or even Nazi Germany, and d...

Has Government Hijacked Evangelicalism? Politics, Propaganda, and the Church   In this Coffee with Hales commentary, I argue that large Protestant evangelical movements have been hijacked to keep Christians invested in a right-left political illusion and pressured to see voting—often for a specific party—as biblically mandated. I use Sheridan Church in Oklahoma and Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer’s “Pasto...

Is Voting a Biblical Mandate? Why I’m Opting Out of the Left/Right Illusion. In this laid-back Coffee with Hales episode, I build on my last video about institutional Christianity being captured by government power and the left/right narrative. I respond to common Protestant and evangelical talking points that claim Christians are biblically mandated to vote, using clips from Pastor Billy Crone, a...

In this episode of Coffee with Hales, I take a springtime spiritual inventory and share four points on growing in spiritual maturity: be intentional about time in Scripture, understand who Yahweh is, grow through applying God’s Word (not just learning it), and remember that growth produces visible fruit in its proper season. I walk through Psalm 1 and Psalm 119 to show how Scripture roots us like...

Why I Started Gardening (Exit & Build + Backyard Chickens)   In this Coffee with Hales episode, I share how my husband and I started gardening and raising backyard chickens after a 2020 “reality check” about grocery-store food, government overreach, and the doom-and-gloom alternative media cycle. We began with two garden beds as a small, positive way to channel frustration, build self-sufficie...

Coffee with Hales: How Politics Captured Institutional Christianity (White House Faith Office, Easter, Propaganda) In this commentary episode, I argue that institutional Christianity—especially political evangelicalism/Protestantism—has been captured to manipulate believers into supporting a corrupt system and keeping the powerful in control. Triggered by the White House Easter event, I critique t...

In this light “Coffee with Hales” episode, I walk through practical lessons from Proverbs aimed especially at women: a gracious/kindhearted woman attains honor (Prov. 11:16–17), beauty without discretion is worthless (Prov. 11:22), and a wise woman builds her house while a foolish one tears it down (Prov. 14:1). I also unpack how an excellent wife strengthens her husband while shaming words rot re...

In this Coffee with Hales episode, I chat with my friend Lilie Grace Strickland about her new book, Break Me, Lord, and the story behind writing it during her freshman year at Liberty University. Lily shares how journaling turned into a book, how her dad’s stroke and other trauma led her into both unhealthy and healthy lament, and how naming emotions helped her process pain and pray honestly. We t...

I’m closing out the Preparing a Heart for Easter series on Good Friday by walking through Isaiah 53 and how it prophesies Jesus as the Suffering Servant—written 700–750 years before the gospels. I cover the Messiah’s unlikely beginnings, his rejection and suffering, and how his punishment was substitutionary: pierced for our transgressions so we can have peace, healing, and redemption. I connect I...

John 17: Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer (Holy Week) — Glory, Sanctification, and Unity In this Holy Week episode of Coffee with Hales, I continue the Easter series by walking through John 17—the High Priestly Prayer—set just before Jesus goes to Gethsemane and the crucifixion. I unpack how Jesus prays for mutual glorification with the Father, explaining “glory” as revealing what was hidden—God’s plan...

Old Testament Prophecies of Jesus’ Death & Resurrection (Preparing Our Hearts for Easter) Today on Coffee with Hales, I continue the “Preparing Our Hearts for Easter” series by looking at Old Testament prophecies and themes that point to Jesus’ death and resurrection. I explain how prophecy shows Yahweh is a promise keeper and that Scripture has one divine author, then connect Exodus 12 (Passo...

Finding Jesus in the Old Testament: Biblical Typology (Types & Antitypes) | Preparing for Easter In this Coffee with Hales episode, the host continues a “Preparing Our Hearts for Easter” series by explaining biblical typology—real Old Testament events divinely ordained as prophetic pictures fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. Using a clip from pastor David Curtis, she defines type vs. ant...

Preparing for Resurrection Sunday: John the Baptist, Repentance & Baptism In this Coffee with Hales episode, I kick off a short series to prepare our hearts for Resurrection Sunday by reflecting on John the Baptist and his role in setting the stage for Jesus’ ministry. I connect John’s humble witness to Jesus with Old Testament prophecy (Malachi) and Jesus’ own words identifying John as the El...

Be Fruitful and Multiply: A Biblical Perspective for Infertility & Singleness In this Coffee With Ha episode, I wrestle with the phrase “be fruitful and multiply” and why it can feel haunting in church culture—especially for those facing infertility or singleness. Using Genesis 1:27–28, I explain that this command was given specifically to Adam and Eve to fill the earth and exercise dominion,...

Inspiration from Berean Bible Church:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Ml6mrlEeoUXwY1fSIMkKG?si=2e9da57b618548e6   Trading Anxiety for Praise: Pride, God’s Sovereignty, and Living One Day at a Time I’m getting back to the basics of Coffee with Hales—starting the day with a biblical perspective—by talking about anxiety and the idea that its root can be pride. I reflect on how constant notificatio...