Rabbit Holes & Meditations - Christian Bible Study

One of the temptations of reading ancient biblical text is to dismiss it as, well, ancient. Like it doesn’t apply to us. We are much more sophisticated, more cultured, wiser, smarter, more civilized. At least that is probably the thought running through a passive reading… until you pull back the curtain on today. Note for the Ancient War in Modern Dress Episode Link: https://www.rabbitholesandmedi...

What is it about the word “No”? I don’t know about you, but for most people, the minute they are told they can’t have something, they want it. Or at the very least, they are curious. A friend of mine has a two-year-old, and up until now, he’s gotten everything he’s asked for. Now, he’s learning the word “no”. There is a reason we call this age the “terrible twos”! Inevitably, when the boundary is...

You might have thought that winning the ground was the grand finale. That should have been it. But the battle we fight is far deeper and far more pervasive. The battle you and I face as Christians is in the spiritual realm. Paul stated it plainly:  “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spir...

I think by this point, many of our listeners might be scratching their heads. I thought this season was about the end times! The inspiration for this season was that we think, and I believe the scriptures will get us there, is that most present-day biblical scholars on the end times are following the same dispensational track that is not supported by scripture. We’re not inventing or, rather, re-i...

You can read the Bible as a historical text, but if you do that, you’ll be hard-pressed to explain several passages that God-fearing people are often pressed with. One such question that often goes unanswered is how a loving God can command the utter destruction of entire races. One such example: Deuteronomy 20:16-18 - However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inh...

We begin a new series today in Season Five. We are going to walk with God through the bible. It’s a huge endeavor, but the goal is simple. To understand what God wants for mankind and how He actually accomplishes it. We’re not presenting systems or charts. We’re not inventing theology and secret returns to fit a narrative. We are listening and interpreting with the only thing we need, God’s word....

I happened to catch Pope Leo and the Catholic Church discussing concerns about AI. I thought this might be a good opportunity to weigh in as well. We’ve been very open about our use of AI on this podcast. Included in the source material is a recent Vatican discussion on AI and our response to it. I was particularly triggered by the idea that an institution heavily using AI is telling its members n...

When you engage with the Bible and the Holy Spirit, you never know where it is going to lead you. This morning, in my quiet time, I sought to understand the relationship between the old temple and the new temple. That led me to seek a deeper understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit. As you dig into these questions, you can't avoid the garden metaphors that are everywhere, so we chased those me...

In our last study, we addressed the question of the rapture head-on. This taught me a lesson that I sometimes forget. Read the text! Understand the context. It seems that no matter what denomination and no matter how well-versed the pastor is, the theory of the rapture changes like changing the channel on the television. The pastor is the news anchor. If you don’t like CNN’s version, flip over to...

Probably nothing is debated more among Christians than the Rapture. I was just watching a sermon by Pastor David Jeremiah, and I think even he is caught up in the systems developed to predict and explain the rapture of the church. Frankly, while I love this pastor and, like so many others, I think he gets it wrong on this issue. Full disclosure. If you follow me through this podcast, from the begi...

You know, 10 years ago we would see the stories on the front page of the National Enquirer with headlines like: My Dad is an Alien. Now, the people who were once on the fringes of the News headlines are testifying to the US Congress. Americans are bracing themselves for disclosure. So far, there’s a lot of testimony, some pretty interesting videos, and random smartphone videos pepper the web. Whet...

I think sometimes we think, like, I've crossed the bridge. I've professed my belief. I'm baptized. I'm a Christian! That's cool, but you're not finished. I think we've all been taught the Parable of the Sower, but Mark takes us to the next phase, the growth. And that is not of your doing. You didn't cause yourself to grow in your mother's womb, and you don't cause your spiritual growth. That's not...

M6kzbqcfKDkn1Yl9Ubo8I think, as a rule, we tend to dismiss people who express profound interest in the spiritual, ghostly realm. Worse, we think those who claim to have had actual experiences with ghosts and spirits as “crazy”. It all gets swept under the table. I think as Christians we are missing a profound opportunity if we do that. The Bible is no stranger to the spiritual world. “For we wrest...

This podcast is responding a listener request about reincarnation. During the discussion, we learned a number of things. While addressing the issue of reincarnation, we also found out the following, and I have a feeling this is more common among professed Christians than you might think. These statements are telling. I find it really difficult to read the Bible; it’s just too hard to understand. I...

If you’ve ever gone through the interview process of some of the bigger companies, you were probably given some sort of a personality test… even if you didn’t realize it. The tech company I worked for liked Myers-Briggs. We all knew our MTBI, and most of us could ascertain the MTBI of our coworkers in a matter of minutes. As a salesperson, I was trained to ascertain my client's MTBI as quickly as...

I think we are on the cusp of a buzzword becoming reality. Ray Kurzweil predicted the singularity to happen around 2030. I think he was right about the substance; he was wrong about the when (but not by much).  The (technological) singularity is a hypothetical point when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, triggering rapid, self‑accelerating technological change that fundamentall...

Yesterday we talked about: “The serpent we built.” This is the other side of the coin, now looking at the shepherd we follow. It derives from the exact same conversation we had with the Berean Teacher application about the Serpent We Built. We’ve entered an era in which we’re getting our guidance from AI - WAY BEYOND what to buy and what website we're looking for. You've heard people say this, I'm...

The Serpent We Built is an article developed for our Berean Teacher series. As you may have learned from recent episodes in this series: We used our Berean Teacher application and uploaded discussions and videos from a number of sources to get the Berean Teacher (an application confined to the scriptures) to weigh in on the recent news and topics submitted by our audience. The idea was to cover as...

We used our Berean Teacher application and uploaded discussions and videos from various sources to have the Berean Teacher weigh in on the recent news. The idea was to cover as much from all sides of the discussion as possible and then let the Berean Teacher respond with a comprehensive biblical perspective. The Berean application evaluates modern ideas, spiritual claims, cultural narratives, and...

This is a repeat but worth re-hearing. Originally played in the Red-letter Journey.  Most Christians are already quite familiar with the Parable of the Sower. What often goes unnoticed, however, are the subtle distinctions in how each Gospel records and emphasizes the parable, offering perspectives that differ slightly yet remain fully complementary. In this discussion, we explore those nuances an...

I spent two hours contemplating three verses in Luke. The best way, I think, to read The Two Debtors in Luke 7:41-43, is to insert yourself into the story. If you dare, play the part of Simon the Pharisee. If your first inclination is to say, I couldn’t do that, that’s not me- well, then, you’re already doing it. And that’s the point of the parable. Notes for the Two Debtors Episode Link: https://...

If you’re watching some of the biggest YouTube channels, or at least the biggest ones I watch - Chase Hughes, Steven Bartlett, Tom Bilyeu, the Why Files, and more, across the board, you are going to run into almost a universal consensus that we are living in a simulation. We decided to pit this theory against scripture using our Berean software. The Berean application was written to avoid the affi...

It almost seems like a flippant remark by Jesus. He's asked why He's hanging out with sinners and tax collectors. And why isn't He honoring the traditions of the Jewish culture and religion? Jesus' response to the former question isn't so much of a dismissal but more in tune to - this is where I belong. It's more a matter-of-fact statement than a flippant remark - though a Pharisee might not have...

I don't know about you, but if the four Gospels were identical copies of each other, what would be the point? If four people walk into a courtroom as key eyewitnesses and they deliver exactly the same testimony, what would you think?  Why should you expect the eyewitness accounts in the gospels to be any different? As a Christian, I always read knowing that I'm seeing the gospels from different pe...

Spoiler: contrary to what you may have been taught, or understood, the wise and the foolish builders BOTH believe in Christ! This is one of the most familiar stories Jesus ever told—and one of the most misunderstood. Jesus is not speaking to outsiders. He is speaking to those who already call Him Lord—and He confronts them directly: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I sa...