Dewey Bertolini's podcast

Welcome to a Jewish Wedding!  Not just any Jewish wedding. But THE Jewish wedding! The Jewish wedding where Jesus -- for the VERY. FIRST. TIME. -- chooses to reveal Himself as to the person He truly is: Almighty God in a fully human body. What we call the Incarnation. Deity who took on humanity. Now that is quite a statement. But it is an accurate statement. You can hear all about it by clicking H...

Welcome to our presentation of a Passover Seder, a celebration observed by-our-many Jewish friends, a festival that has been taking place every year for more than 3000 years.  They have done so ever since that defining moment in the book of Exodus when God commanded His chosen people to commemorate their miraculous deliverance from their 400 years of bondage in Egypt. Tonight we are going to conne...

OK, be honest. Does your faith ever falter? Would it help if I admitted that at times, mine has?  The good news, the GREAT news, is that if or when our faith falters, we are not alone. You can hear all about this by clicking HERE . In this podcast, you will meet three remarkable individuals, two of whom battled with their own faltering faith. But here’s the thing: While their faith in Jesus may ha...

“I’m not good enough.”  Ever hear those words echoing in your mind? I do. More often than you might think. Certainly more often than I would like to admit. I can tell you from personal experience that those four words are paralyzing. Paralyzing to our Christian walks. Paralyzing to our service to Christ. Paralyzing to our ministry to others. Paralyzing to any expression of joy in our lives. “I’m n...

Welcome to Junior High/Middle School Camp!  I am in Atlanta for training to become a Walk Thru the Bible instructor. So while I am away from my beloved Safe Haven family, I offer to you this bonus podcast, recorded last summer at Hartland Christian Camp.  My goal in this message was to paint a portrait for these precious students of just how much God loves them... AND YOU! To do so, I chose one of...

If He had been a president, they would have called it Jesus’ Inauguration Day. If He was an earthly king, His Coronation Day. If Jesus was a student, it would be remembered as His Graduation Day or Commencement. Commencement: as in the beginning of something strategically significant. It was all of that, and so much more. One day in the life of Jesus. But oh, what a day. A day after which nothing...

It was epic in the extreme. I have no doubt that nature held its breath. Every angel in Heaven craned their necks to get a better view. Every demon cheered their hero on, hoping against hope that finally Jesus would be destroyed, once and for all, even before His earthly ministry began. How did the devil do it? How could he possibly think that he could win? What strategy did he employ in his effor...

This is a bonus podcast. Normally, each week I upload the latest in our Jesus in High Definition podcast series. But this past weekend, I took a break from my beloved little flock at The Safe Haven, where the Jesus in HD podcast is recorded, in order to speak at a High School Winter Camp in CA. Hartland Christian Camp, to be exact. One of my all-time absolute favorite places on this planet. So in...

You know what amazes me about the Bible?  Well, lots of things amaze me about the Bible. But this may well be the top of my list: “It is today as it was then.” “It is today as it was then.” I never cease to be amazed at how little has changed in the intervening 2000 years since the Bible was completed. Human nature is as human nature does, and human nature hasn’t changed all that much. Which is wh...

The lovely little land of Israel. There is on this planet nothing that rivals Israel for its beauty, mystery, and meaning. Think of Israel as the “stage” on which the biblical drama is lived. We cannot begin to understand that drama until we know something of that stage. That’s what this podcast is all about. We are about to turn a corner in our study of Jesus in HD , and discover in some detail t...

Be honest with me now... Have you, or anyone you know, ever been besieged by doubts? Have you ever silently wondered to yourself something like this: Is this Christian thing for real? Can I really truly trust the Bible? Is Jesus the real deal?  If so, I have good news for you. You are not alone. Wait until you see who went through his own crisis of faith. You may be in for a huge and shocking surp...

...is another man’s treasure. Or should I say, One man’s trash is Almighty God’s Treasure? Or is it both? You’ve certainly heard of him: Mark, the author of the 2 nd Gospel commonly referred to as The Gospel According to Mark. Would you believe me if I told you that Mark’s personal story goes right to the heart of the heart of God? That Mark’s story reveals to us the one attribute of God’s charact...

Thirty years in about 30 minutes or so. That was the goal. We didn’t quite hit it. But we did cover thirty years in about 45 minutes. Which is to say, we know very, very little about Jesus’ childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. All of which spans a grand total of thirty years. Which makes what we do know that much more significant. There are basically two, and only two, incidents in the fir...

Mothers, think back to what it was like when you gave birth to your firstborn child – the fears, the insecurities, the feelings of inadequacy. Now imagine that when you did give birth, it was not in the clinical cleanliness of a hospital room or birthing center. Imagine you were in a cave, dark and alone, unsanitary to the extreme, no nurse, doctor, or midwife to help you, and you are all of 13 or...

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35). The virgin birth. A dual miracle. An unprecedented, never-seen-before-or-since, one-time, life-altering, history-changing event.  How did...

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified” (Luke 2:8-9). Do you see what is so singularly significant about that statement? You will after you hear this podcast. Trust me, you may never hear nor read the Christmas story i...

How much thought do you put into the gifts that you give at Christmas? I have no doubt that the Wise Men put a considerable amount of thought into theirs. The three gifts that these mysterious visitors from the East presented to Jesus -- Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh -- tell a remarkably riveting story. Indeed, the single most compelling story that has ever been told. That story, so beautifully symbol...

His eyes blazed with the fire of conviction. His voice thundered as he peered out from behind his uncut hair and unkempt beard. He wore a camel’s-hair garment bound with a leather belt. He ate a strangely strict diet of honey and grasshoppers, of all things. Yet when he spoke, the people trembled. Why? Who was this strange specter that haunted the barren sands of the Judean desert? Where did he co...

“Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers” (Matthew 1:2). This seemingly boring and benign statement shockingly reveals in stunning detail the sizable heart of Jesus, and what should be the heart of every one of His followers -- including you and me. How can that be true? Over the years, I have discovered -- much to my delight -- that many of the Bible’s most...

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).   Believe it or not, those 17 simple words comprise one of the landmark, foundational verses upon which our faith, and therefore our lives, rests. Yet, when I read them aloud, there are no bugles blaring, no angelic choirs singing, no lightning flashing, nor thunder pealing. My reading of these words never...

While on its surface, Luke 1:1-4 may not seem like a remarkable introduction to this "greatest story ever told," I can assure you that Luke's little lead-in contains several nuggets of pure gold. You are in for some surprises as we formally kick-off our chronological study of the life of Jesus. PLEASE NOTE: With some browsers, it may take up to 60 seconds before the podcast will begin to play.

Welcome to this introductory lesson that launches this brand new series: Jesus in High Definition. By harmonizing the four Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John -- we will study the life of Christ in chronological order, from the first utterances of the angels heralding His birth, to His crucifixion and resurrection. It is our sincere hope and expectation that as we immerse ourselves in Jesus'...