Context Counts

This isn’t a call to nostalgia, it is God’s final invitation to a nation on the edge of judgment. “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” — Jeremiah 6:16 (KJV) Jeremiah 6:16 is one of those verses that seems to appear everywhere. You’ll f...

Most people know Joel for one famous passage: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” Peter quotes it at Pentecost. It’s celebrated, memorized, preached. But here’s the question: Do we understand what Joel was actually saying? Do we know the world he lived in, the crisis he was addressing, or the terrifying reality that led to that promise? Today, we’re going to restore the context. And when w...

The Most Uncomfortable Calling in Scripture Imagine God telling you that your marriage is going to be the sermon. Not a sermon illustration. Not a brief anecdote. Your actual marriage — your home, your vows, your heartbreak — laid open as a living, breathing picture of something far bigger than yourself. That is exactly what happened to a prophet named Hosea. God told him to marry a woman who woul...

One of the dangers of familiar Bible verses is that we can learn to quote them without really hearing them. Micah 6:8 is one of those verses.“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”It is short, memorable, and powerful. It sounds simple enough to put on a sign, a journal cover, or a soci...

You start the year with a plan. You’re reading straight through the Bible. Psalms lift your heart. Proverbs offers clear, memorable wisdom. Then you turn the page into Ecclesiastes . “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” It feels like the Bible suddenly turned pessimistic. You might even think, “I thought reading Scripture was supposed to strengthen my faith—...

The Fast God Chose What if the thing God rejected was not their lack of religion, but their religion itself? They were fasting. They were praying. They were seeking God daily. And yet the LORD said, in effect, “This is not the fast that I have chosen.” That is where Isaiah 58 gets uncomfortable. Because this chapter is not aimed first at people who never talk about God. It is aimed at people who k...

The shortest book in the Bible might be the one our moment needs most. Tucked between Amos and Jonah, twenty-one verses long, the Book of Obadiah doesn’t get much airtime. No burning bush. No parted seas. No famous name you’d recognize from a children’s Bible. Just a prophet, a nation, and a word from God that still cuts like a blade: you are not as untouchable as you think. If that doesn’t land w...

We sing it, shout it, raise our hands to it, decorate church banners with it, and hear it in nearly every worship set around Easter. But do we understand it? What does Hosanna actually mean? Where does it come from? And—most urgently—what does it demand of us today? To answer that, we need more than a definition. We need context. Welcome to Context Counts —where we slow down, open our Bibles, and...

Most people quote Hagar’s phrase, “Thou God seest me,” without understanding the world she lived in or the theological shock of her encounter. Genesis 16 is not simply a story about a woman in trouble—it is a story of divine pursuit, grace to the marginalized, and a God who breaks cultural expectations. Today, we slow down and look at Hagar’s story through what matters most for this podcast: conte...

We live in a time where truth is often shaped by preference rather than Scripture. That’s exactly why context matters. The heart behind Context Counts is simple: to approach the Word of God without forcing our own ideas into it—to ask, What is the Scripture actually teaching? Not what we want it to say, not what tradition assumes, but what God has revealed within the proper context. Because only t...

There’s a simple truth about life that we all know too well: things get dirty. Fast. You clean your house, and within hours, dust settles back on the furniture. You wash your car, and by the next morning, pollen coats the windshield. You take a shower, and by bedtime, you need another one. It’s the endless cycle of living in a world where dirt, grime, and mess are constant companions. But have you...

There’s something remarkable about seeds. A tiny acorn contains everything necessary to become a mighty oak tree. A single seed, when planted in good soil, can produce fruit that feeds generations. But have you ever considered that your spiritual life began the same way—with a seed? Not just any seed, though. An incorruptible one. Redeemed by Something Precious We live in a world obsessed with val...

In a world where truth seems to shift like sand beneath our feet, where cultural norms change with each passing season, and where even religious teachings can become diluted or distorted, we desperately need something solid to stand on. That anchor, that unshakeable foundation, is the Word of God. A Book Unlike Any Other Consider for a moment what makes Scripture truly unique. When the Apostle Pau...