Ohio Yearly Meeting's Podcast

Bible #23 Mark 13:1-31]  What might be the most cataclysmic event be for you to experience? How would it change you?  How would you prepare yourself? What actions would you take? In Mark, Chapter 13, Jesus predicts the Jewish Wars with Rome and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. along with the potential fate and temptations for Christians at that time.  Would we follow Jesus’ co...

Fundamentals #20             Friends’ attitudes concerning Truth, Deceit, pride, plainness in language, dress, and related topics are addressed.            Early Friends concern for “Truth" was central. We would capitalize the word “Truth” when they used it, i.e., the Truth that was the divine entity and living Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth.  John 14:6-7 was very important for Friends: I...

Mark 12:28-34 A statement frequently recited (and foundational to Jewish teaching) is “Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, is one”, and is frequently called the “Shema” because the first words in Hebrew in that statement are “Shema Yisrael Adonai . . . . “. It is notable that the Jews’ worship was monotheistic (worshipping only one God), and was an immense departure from all the other polytheistic...

The rites and ceremonies of other denominations usually use bread and wine (or grape juice). However, communion to Friends is an inward, spiritual experience of God and His Messiah that does not require any outward rites or ceremonies. Reading from A Brief Synopsis, we find, “It is discovered that since Friends’ worship desires to be an inward, spiritual experience, in like manner, so is the Frien...

Ohio Yearly Meeting Sessions Contact Sharon Helms to register at philandsharon04.01@sbcglobal.net .  Click here for agenda . Mark 11:27-33 The Jews already had a rite of baptism, but what was different about John’s baptism was that John’s was a baptism of repentance, indicating a necessary complete transformation of the person.  A discussion ensues pertaining to an attempt of the Jewish leaders to...

Using quotes from the Holy Scriptures and “A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends”,  Henry explores the Friends’ understanding of prophetic ministry. In “A Brief Synopsis . . . “, “the ministry of the gospel is a gift of God, freely bestowed by Him to whomsoever He may call. . . .” The minister must be wholly dependent on the immediate inspiration of...

This podcast focuses on some individual reflections on waiting worship as practiced by Conservative Friends. We are reminded that the best source on waiting worship is Barclay’s Apology .             The English word “worship” is a combination of two words: “worth” and “ship”: giving back something to God in understanding of what He is worth. True worship recognizes Who He is, and gives respect an...

Mark 10:40-45 When Jesus refers to the Gentile rulers and the way they liked to lord it over the people, He was likely referring to the insensitivity and brutality of the Romans. Our responsibility as followers of Jesus is not to act like the Romans.  Mark 10:46-52 The Aramaic prefix, "Bar-", meant “son of”. Thus, Bartimeus meant “son of Timeus.” In like manner, the Hebrew, use of Ben- a...

Henry continues his examination of the document  “A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends ”.  This document was created in 1912 and was adopted by the seven then-existing Conservative Yearly Meetings of Friends: Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, New England, Canada, Kansas, Western.  It was printed in 1913, and was created in order to communicate in the rap...

Henry begins with a very quick comment about Mark 10 and the rich young ruler, and then moves on to Mark 10:22-27. Henry notes that for the Jews of this time, having wealth was seen as an indication of God’s favor. The content of 1 Tim. 6:17 is also examined as a verse containing information that also deals with riches and the kingdom of God.    The discussion then moves on to verses 28-31 with th...

The focus of this podcast is a brief examination of the approximately first half of the document: “A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends”.  The document was created in 1912 and also shows the minutes of adoption from the seven then-existing Conservative Yearly Meetings Friends: Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, New England, Canada, Kansas, Western. It was...

Henry initiates this podcast (which is a continuation of the previous podcast (#13) on the Friends’ peace testimony) by telling the attenders about “Quaker cannon”: In the 1600s & 1700s, piracy was a common practice.  One deterrent that Quaker sea captains often used was to have devices that looked like real cannon (but were fake) mounted on their decks in an effort to deter pirates from takin...

Session 18 Mark 10:1-22 Henry begins Session 18 by going back to Session 17 for a brief discussion of the meaning and use of salt in Mark 9:49, 50. Mark 10:1-12: Divorce Divorce was a major problem among the Jews in the time of Jesus. It was very easy: All a man had to do was to write a few sentences that said that he was divorcing her to be a valid divorce. Roman law also gave women the right to...

 Henry begins the session by going back to Mark 9:35, to help the class understand a Jewish custom that would not be easily understood today: the act of Jesus sitting down to talk to His disciples. When a teacher in Jewish culture sat down to say something, those of the Jewish culture would have understood that their teacher had something very important to say, and that they should listen even mor...

Henry’s broad focus for this session is the peace testimony of Friends (Quakers) and early Christians. The peace testimony was generally held during the first two to three centuries by early Christians. He begins by reading an excerpt on the Friends peace testimony from a document called, “A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends” adopted by 1913 by al...

Henry begins with a quick reminder from his previous podcast (Session 11) that there are several different versions of the Lord’s Prayer. Henry then focuses on a section at the end of the 1683 book Meditations and Experiences by an early Friend, William Shewen (1631-1695). The section is entitled “A Few Words Added to the Sensible Reader”. For his text, Henry uses an 1826 reprint (copied from an 1...

                Henry begins with a quick discussion of the very important concepts from the beginning of Quakerism of how the world can be viewed through seemingly opposite but in reality, connected poles: the Inward vis-à-vis Outward domains, dimensions  or aspects of reality, i.e.: interior vis-à-vis exterior; internal vis-à-vis external; spiritual vis-à-vis material; mental vis-à-vis physical;...

Henry starts the discussion with a reminder that footnotes in a Bible translation can be from any commentator and are not usually derived from the original translators of the Bible. In verse 13, the “Elijah” Jesus mentions is referring to John the Baptist. In carrying over the discussion from Mark 9:1-8, Henry continues to focus on the significance in Friends’ theology that Friends have always foc...

In this episode, Henry introduces Mark 9:1-8 by reviewing the importance to early Friends of Mark 8:34 that if one wishes to become a true follower of Christ, the Messiah, one “must deny himself (i.e., renounce one's ego) and take up one's (inward) cross and (then come) follow Christ.” Early Friends believed that a continual inward crucifixion/execution/putting to death of all thoughts,...

Henry starts out by rereading two quotes introduced at the last session.  In response to a question, he discusses how different languages express time. He goes on to explain the challenges posed by Biblical commentaries.  Responding to another question He recommends the Quaker Bible Index from Earlham School of Religion. Religious terminology and symbology of the Bible is discussed.  Examples of ...

In this episode, Henry dives into the traditional relationship between Quakers and the Bible.  He begins by reading three quotes.  These are from Isaac Pennington (1616–1679), Origen Adamantius, a/k/a Origen of Alexandria (c. 184 – c. 253) and Robert Barclay (1648 –  1690). He then goes on to point out the difficulty in translations due to the differences in languages.    An explanation is given f...

Henry starts out with a general review of the previous 8 sessions.  He then reads from Robert Barclay’s fifteenth proposition in his Apology for the True Christian Divinity .  But for most of this session Henry reads and comments on a tract called. A Concise Account of the Religious Society of Friends, Commonly Called Quakers. To find out more about Ohio Yearly Meeting, visit our website at ohioye...

This podcast contains sections D & E of chapter 7 in the book Traditional Quaker Christianity  Section D: The Peace Testimony: Common Misunderstandings. Readings from this section include Terry H.S. Wallace, “Stand and Live in that Which Takes away the Occasion for wars: A critical Examination of the Quaker  Peace Testimony: Present and Past”;  Martin Luther King, “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,”...

In this short episode, we announce our Facebook group in support of this podcast. To join:  In Facebook, search for Ohio Yearly Meeting Podcast Forum, or   Use this link https://www.facebook.com/groups/980508459485393 or  Use the QR code in the image for this episode. Other ways to engage can be found at our website: ohioyearlymeeting.org Hope to see thee in the forum. A complete list of our podca...

This podcast episode starts out with a reading of Ohio Yearly Meeting’s sixth query. It contains the first three sections of chapter 7 in the book Traditional Quaker Christianity  Section A: Our lives as Our Testimony .  Readings from this section include Mathew 5-7, 1 Corinthians 13, Ephesians 4:17-31; Colossians 3; the Book of James; 1 John 3:11-24. Section B: The Lamb’s War : Readings from this...