Redemption's Table with Robert Barge

'Tis the season for familiar stories.  George Bailey returns to the battle of Bedford Falls as Charlie Brown continues his search for the perfect Christmas tree.  And Mary and Joseph journey once again to the little town of Bethlehem.  The true Christmas story of the birth of Jesus is the story bizarre.  It is a mysterious, wonderful gift that invites equal parts ponder and scoff. Jesus came d...

Welcome to the concluding episode of a six-part series from 2021 - "Wrestling with God in the Season of Job." In the final chapters of his arduous journey, Job is down for the count. God shows up in a fury. All of Job's questions dissolve in a storm of generous mercy.  Perhaps the ashes & questions are still fresh in your story. Perhaps it seems God has abandoned you. Wherever yo...

You have a voice.  You have a voice print.  You've been given a voice no one else has, because it flows out of a heart uniquely created in you by Your Creator.     Today's episode encourages us to spend some time curiously pondering, "What is my voice?"  "What are the themes in my life that resonate deep within?"  "How can I use my voice to encourage others?" ...

THE WELL OF THE SOULS   A few October days in Yosemite found me sitting on the edge of a valley full of thought pondering faith, boring Christianity, and a lack of curiosity among the faithful.  I listened to God breathe in the solitude and babble in the waterfall.   Indiana Jones crashed through my reverie on his way to freedom and a hippie prophet popped out of a pit toilet with a word from the...

Welcome to the fifth session of a six-part series from 2021 - "Wrestling with God in the Season of Job." Back then, the world was emerging from a year-long hiatus.  It was one of the harshest seasons many of us had ever known and it brought a lot of pain to the surface of our lives. Today's episode begins towards the end of Job's story.  He is ready to throw in the towel.  His fr...

Welcome to the fourth session of a six-part series from 2021 - "Wrestling with God in the Season of Job." The world was emerging from a year-long hiatus then and many felt as though they were living this story. I am convinced many still are. And that's what makes Job's story relevant for our generation. Today's episode begins halfway through Job's story. We know that. Job...

I met my first sequoia tree a little over a year ago.  If you want to feel young on your birthday, visit a sequoia.  He was over 1600 years older than me.     Today's episode is about trees and autumn - my favorite season of the year.  It's about the mystery of watching God's dream unfold in ways you never could have imagined.  It's about birthdays and sequoia cones and Rich Mullin...

A Conversation with Special Guest:  Lisa Miller   There is a sacred place where heavenly exchanges are made - beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of despair, healing for illness, disease, and heartache, trust for fear, grace for forgiveness, restoration for brokenness.   Today's special guest Lisa Miller knows firsthand the dark side of that exch...

A Conversation with Special Guest:  Andre Moubarak Imagine growing up on the path of the greatest journey ever taken.  Imagine playing in the footsteps of Jesus.  Imagine exploring the winding Way of Suffering with the curiosity of a child.  Today's special guest, Andre Moubarak, describes Jesus' famous Via Dolorosa as "my playground and my battleground."   Get ready to walk, run...

A Conversation With Special Guest:  Gerald Zgabay   Faith journeys seldom zipline from point A to point B.  It's more like a zigzag across spinning terrain.  The distance between who we are on our own and who God created us to become can be dizzying and daunting.  We all look like human tie dyes on the way to discovering Jesus.   Today's Table with husband, father, author, and men's me...

The Old Testament Book of Job is like walking across a brutal desert with someone with a hole in their canteen.  It is a long season's stretch across low terrain.  Job was in a season of loss and his so-called friends circled him like vultures attempting to pick apart his languishing faith.  No one expects a mountain top moment in a valley this deep.  And yet one occurs.  Job breaches out of t...

A Conversation With Special Guest:  Bethany Garth   Every moment worth living comes gift wrapped in challenge.  Every hit and miss adventure is born out of dream.  For today's special guest Bethany Garth and her husband Dave, the possibility of an around the world bicycle trip was first proposed on their third date.  And that's just the beginning of this week's Table.   Today Bethany i...

A Conversation With Singer-Songwriter:  J Lind   He's a poet collecting seashells on the streets of Manhattan.  He's a husband and gifted songwriter in his third year of medical school.  He's a student and observer of subway moments and human interaction.  And sometimes those collections and recollections become lyrics, and sometimes a single day becomes an entire song.   It is a joy a...

All of us have walked through seasons where it seemed God had nothing to say to us.  This can be a little disconcerting, especially when we have well-meaning friends who presume to speak in God's place.    Welcome to this second of a six-part Table series from 2021- Wrestling with God in the Season of Job.  When this was originally shared, participants were encouraged to read 7 chapters from J...

In the spring of 2021 as we were still in the shadows of a worldwide pandemic, I was drawn to explore the Old Testament Book of Job during a midweek worship gathering I founded several years ago.  It was an uncertain time.  Many of us were struggling with our faith.  Many of us were afraid.  Many of us were grieving great loss.  We could all identify with a man who lived in the land of Uz several...

CHASING BUTTERFLIES   A Totally Spontaneous Conversation With Occasional Co-Host:  Steph Cherry   Nothing about today's Table was planned.  It was all inspired by a surreal moment at Disney World when Winnie the Pooh was espied chasing butterflies across a grassy field.  And hardly anybody noticed.  But I did.   I returned from Disney.  A special guest had to cancel.  Steph and I were set up f...

Happy Father's Day - and welcome to this special Bonus Table Episode.  If you are a father of a baby soon to be born - if you are a dad of children anywhere between the ages of 8 seconds to 8 decades - if you are a single mother raising your child - if you are a grandfather, mentor, or anyone fulfilling the role of a father in a child's life - you know who you are - this episode is for you...

A Conversation With Special Guest:  Daniel Johnson About a Husband and Father Who Lived Like Jesus:  Doug Johnson   Sometimes it seems people who love and serve Jesus uncommonly well go home to be with the Lord much too soon.  Sometimes.   This is Doug Johnson.  He lives like Jesus.  He loves the Word of God.  He loves people and while he walked among us, he wanted them to love the Word who became...

Pause and ponder those two words.  What do they whisper to your soul?  Which direction do they sweep across your heart?  What sparks do they fan into flame?   Never underestimate the power of well-placed words.  Today's episode introduces what could easily be described as the 72 most mind-blowing words that have ever been strung together.  The secret to the simplicity we all seek succinctly su...

Did you know the average child laughs over 300 times a day?  And the average adult?  Only 17 times.  Today's episode will encourage some of us to reclaim those 283 laughs we've been missing.   There is wisdom in whimsy.  And there is life.   Proverbs 17:22 declares, "A cheerful heart is good medicine."  And this is just a holy hunch, but we're not sure you can really be liste...

A Conversation With Special Guest:  Wayne Kerr   Braving.  To meet or face courageously.  To pursue what makes you come alive.  To listen to a God whisper on the wind.  To launch into the river, toss the oars, and raise sail.  Braving.   Today's special guest is Wayne Kerr - Artist.  Musician.  Creative.  In 2020, Wayne released an incredible book titled - Braving.  It is a joy to bring Wayne...

Rules.  Everybody has them!  Some of us get caught up in them.  Some of us have a total disdain for them.  But whether you are compliant or whether you rebel, you have to admit - we all have rules.  We all have formulated a system of accumulated guidelines we use to navigate life.   In today's appetizer episode, host Robert Barge will share a few of his personal rules curated through the years...

Life is a mighty fine mosaic.  A Van Gogh canvas exploding with glory and fervency.  Impressions layered on thick by a cacophony of word and thought.    Spinning at a blur.  Always saying something if you but dare to listen.  God's whispers wisp all around. Today's conversation with Christian Life Coach (and occasional Guest Co-Host) Steph Cherry froths with whimsy and wisp.  From country...

It was the Thursday night before Jesus was arrested, tried, and nailed to a cross.  In less than 24 hours, He would be dead.  His last hours of freedom were spent in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Gethsemane means "oil press."   Jesus confesses to His disciples, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow."  The forces of darkness and evil are already descending on Him.  The snak...

For many of our listeners, it is the season of Lent.  Lent is a time when Jesus' followers reflect on His life, death, and resurrection.  It is also a season of identifying with sorrow, brokenness, and sacrifice.  Lent is a desert season.   On any given day, today's episode would be timely.  In the past few days, our hearts have been stunned once again by senseless tragedy in Nashville, Te...