In the Fire

In the 51st episode of "In the Fire," we start a series looking at the many miracles performed by Jesus during his lifetime. To kick off this series, we take a look at the second chapter of John's gospel, which details Jesus's first miracle (turning water into wine) and the first public declaration of his ministry, where he overturned the tables in the temple at Jerusalem. With these events, Jesus...

Merry Christmas! This week, we have a special Christmas episode that focuses on the glorious signs and wonders that led to the birth of Christ. Most notably, we discuss the visits of angels to Mary, Joseph, and the Wise Men and the significance that God's use of angels carries in this important moment in history. Next, we talk about the star that led the Wise Men to Jesus, what that star signifies...

For the third episode in this year's Christmas series, we read through Jesus's genealogy from Matthew 1. We discuss why Matthew would even include this genealogy in his account of the Gospel and how it relates to Christmas and Christianity as a whole. We also spend a lot of time talking about what we can learn about Jesus and about our faith through Christ's family tree. Listen along with us and l...

The second week of our Christmas series aligns with the third week of Advent, so this week we take a look at an important topic and value in Christianity: Joy. What is it? Where does it come from? We answer those questions and more in this action-packed Christmas episode as we read a passage from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2). This chapter tells the story of Jesus's birth and the surrounding events...

As we enter the Advent season, we begin a Christmas series this week with an episode on Christmas prophecy in the Bible. Specifically, we read Isaiah 9:1-7, which (among other things) foretells the birth of Christ. We discuss why this specific prophecy is so important, as well as why prophecy in general is a critical aspect of Scripture. We also look at a few other portions of the Bible in this ep...

We turn the clock way back for the 46th episode of "In the Fire" - all the way back to the beginning of the universe! In this episode, we read through Genesis 1, which tells the story of creation. We take some time to discuss God's creation of the world and the heavens, and talk about some highlights from this amazing part of the Bible. We also discuss what this means for us today. In other words,...

In this episode, we tackle an interesting topic by asking ourselves one question: what is gluttony? One of the "seven deadly sins," gluttony is an interesting combination of greed, selfishness, over-consumption, and so much more. In our discussion, we focus in on not only what gluttony is, but also where it can be found, how it affects us in our daily lives, and ultimately what can be done to re-f...

On the 1-year anniversary of the "In the Fire" podcast, we examine an important, yet overlooked topic that the Bible teaches: Rest. What does rest mean in the context of Christianity, and how can we, as believers, use our faith to enter into the rest freely offered to us? Moreover, we take an in-depth look at how the gift of rest given to us gives us a glimpse of our ultimate Heavenly home. It's b...

King David is one of the more significant figures in the Bible for several reasons. He unites and builds up the nation of Israel, he works as a precursor to Jesus, and he teaches us plenty of important lessons through his own story. But despite his Christ-like qualities and admirable faithfulness, David is still fully human. This week, we take a look at one of Scripture's most well-known instances...

For this episode, we are joined by Stephen Cartwright of the "Tesserae" podcast, who enters the fire with us as we take an in-depth look at the last section in the book of Jude (verses 17-25). Among other things, these verses focus on maintaining our lives with God by persevering and remaining steadfast in God's love and mercy. We also look at the prophet Jeremiah as an example of the lessons that...

For this episode, we pick up where we left off a few weeks ago by taking a look at Exodus 3 and 4. Most notably, these chapters include the story of Moses and the burning bush, where God calls Moses to return to Egypt and free the nation of Israel from bondage. As God and Moses speak to each other, Moses expresses hesitancy, fear, and doubt regarding God's plan to use Moses to free His people. As...

The "End Times" is a topic of much discussion, intrigue, and even controversy among the Christian community...which is understandable. It's a confusing topic that comes up in several places throughout the Bible, and the prophecies relating to the end times are often ambiguous and difficult to understand. In this episode, we take a look at Matthew 24, where Jesus speaks to his disciples concerning...

The Bible prepares Christians for living on earth by telling us that we will encounter trials in our lives. Peter discusses this issue in a letter (the book of 1 Peter) to Christians dispersed throughout Asia Minor. As we discuss, Peter writes this book of the Bible during a time when Christians were starting to be heavily persecuted in Rome. So, how does Peter tell us we are to live our lives whi...

Exodus chapters 1 and 2 tell us the story of a crucial period in the history of Israel, as well a tragic one. These chapters mark the beginning of Israel's slavery in Egypt - a time of oppression, punishment, and death. But throughout the incredible evil that the nation of Israel faces, it also finds itself fully within God's grasp. In this episode, we discuss some of the details in these chapters...

In this episode, we take a look at a passage out of 1 Peter 2, where Peter writes about how Christians are called to live as foreigners and sojourners in a foreign land (or, strangers in a strange land). What does this mean? That's what we discuss this week as we touch on some important topics, including faith, hope, and how believers are to act in our current world and society while still keeping...

Welcome back to the fire! It's been a little bit since we've all been able to record an episode, but after a quick break, we are back and ready to go! This time around, we discuss the book of Galatians, giving an overview of the context of the book and the layout of Paul's epistle. We take a chapter-by-chapter look at Galatians and hit the highlights to tell you all that this wonderful book has to...

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you are waiting on God to act? Or where you are waiting on something to happen? In this episode, we take a look at two people in the Bible who found themselves in the same spot. We compare the patient, persevering, and faithful actions of Noah as he awaits the Great Flood in Genesis to the proud, selfish, and impulsive actions of Saul in 1 Samuel, whe...

In this episode, we take on a difficult topic as we discuss who Satan is. Where did Satan come from? What is he up to now? What is going to become of him in the future? And most importantly, what does his presence in the world mean for us in our lives today and moving forward? Join us as we scratch the surface in answering these questions by reading some Scripture from Ezekiel 28, Ephesians 6, and...

We're back with another new episode of 'In the Fire,' where we take a look at a very cool topic: Commissions from God. The Bible is full of people who are called by God for very specific purposes, and each of them is commissioned and set forth on a path to accomplish great things to give glory to the Lord. Today, we take a look at some specific commissions in Scripture to see how God calls His peo...

After a vacation the last couple weeks, the guys are back to discuss one of the Bible's more well-known stories: Jonah and the Big Fish! We take a look at this common Sunday School lesson and break down the book of Jonah from start to finish, talking about the biggest takeaways and lessons, and even relating it back to Jesus and the Gospel. You might think you know all about the story of Jonah, bu...

What does it mean to be a friend? What is the true value of friendship? Those are the questions up for discussion today as we look at some of the Bible's best examples of friendship. For this episode, we examine the relationships of various people in the Bible, including David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, Jesus and Simon Peter, the Good Samaritan, and Paul and Philemon (and several others). We'll...

For episode 30 of 'In the Fire,' we take a look at a really cool, interesting, and somewhat confusing passage out of the third chapter of the Gospel of John. In this piece of Scripture, Jesus has a one-on-one conversation with a fellow named Nicodemus about being 'born again' as a Christian. As we find out, this concept is even confusing to Nicodemus, a religious scholar and teacher in the days of...

This week, we read through one of the Bible's most overlooked - yet most important - books. The book of Jude may just be 25 verses long, but those verses contain valuable insight, wisdom, and information that should prepare us to live out our lives in faith. Come join us as we read through the second-to-last book in the Bible and discuss what Jude means when he calls on us to contend for the faith...

Though he only appears for about three verses in the book of Genesis, Melchizedek's appearance to Abraham (or Abram as he is then) is one of the more fascinating pieces of the Bible. Why, you ask? Well, Melchizedek is the king of Salem (Jerusalem before it was called Jerusalem) and is also a high priest of God Most High. Only one other person in the Bible ever fully holds both titles of king and h...

One of the more wisdom-filled books of the Bible, the book of Job offers us a glimpse at human suffering. Job is a wealthy, righteous, and well-respected man whose life is thrown into complete turmoil after he loses all of his worldly wealth and possessions. The rest of the book is a discourse on suffering, trial, and pain. We see the thoughts of Job and his friends and also get to see God's point...