The Blessed Hope Podcast -- with Dr. Kim Riddlebarger

Episode Synopsis: My first exposure to tongue-speaking did not go well.  In an “afterglow” service which followed a mid-week Bible study at an Orange County megachurch, a large number of the faithful remained after the study to “experience” the gifts of the Spirit, including the “gift of tongues.”  A young pastor took over from the Bible teacher and explained how to begin speaking in tongues.  He...

Episode Synopsis: Speaking in tongues was causing chaos in the Corinthian church.  Tongue-speakers were speaking at the same time, and their tongues were not always interpreted as required by Paul.  Some acted as though tongues was the greatest of the gifts of the Spirit and were lording it over others who did not possess the gift.  Paul is also writing to correct the misguided (and pagan notion)...

Episode Synopsis: What the Bible says about love, and the way most Americans think about love, are usually two vastly different things.  Our contemporaries tend to think of love as a powerful emotion, most often associated with romance and intimacy.  Images of hearts and cupids on Valentine’s Day are ingrained in us from an early age.  Love is also tied to a utopian dream when people experience a...

Episode Synopsis: Almost all peoples and cultures seem to have some sort of utopian dream–a world of universal peace, prosperity, and harmony.  John Lennon’s Imagine anyone?  The problem with all utopian visions is that ours is a fallen race.  Because we are a fallen race we all too often find ourselves divided along racial, socioeconomic, political, and theological lines.  Much like the citizens...

Episode Synopsis: One of the most divisive theological controversies of my lifetime was the charismatic movement with its stress upon baptism in the Holy Spirit as evident in speaking in tongues.  Whenever the charismatic renewal spread to a new church, it immediately divided the church into two camps–those who experienced what they claimed was a new work of the Holy Spirit which manifested itself...

Episode Synopsis: One of the saddest indicators of human sinfulness is found in the last half of 1 Corinthians 11.  The sacrament of Christian unity (the Lord’s Supper) had instead become the occasion for further division in the Corinthian church.  Paul laments that in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper the rich were exploiting the poor, the body of Christ was not properly being discerned, and t...

Episode Synopsis: As a cosmopolitan city and home to many varieties of Greco-Roman paganism, Corinth was a cutting edge place for first century fashion and culture.  From what we know regarding the city’s ethos at the time, there was growing tension between traditional gender roles and a desire for women to express themselves in non-traditional ways long associated with polite Greco-Roman society....

Episode Synopsis: We’ve come to 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1, as Paul wraps up his discussion of idolatry.  In the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Christian believers drink the cup of blessing and eat the broken bread–described by Paul as a participation in Christ’s body and blood.  Since so many in Corinth were still hanging on to remnants of their pagan past, from what Paul says here it seems many w...

Episode Synopsis: If you have ever wondered what it would be like for Paul to teach you how to read and understand the Old Testament in light of the coming of Jesus Christ, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 , the apostle does exactly that.  The birth of Israel stems from deliverance from their bondage in Egypt, followed by the Passover, and then the Exodus through the Red Sea before heading into the Sinai...

Episode Synopsis: If we were to find Paul’s notes for an upcoming lecture on “my philosophy of ministry,” we would probably find the words of 1 Corinthians 9:19–23, "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myse...

Episode Synopsis: The church in Corinth was plagued by factions.  One source of division was ethnicity–the church was made up of Jews, Greeks, Romans, and likely a number of other nationalities.  Then there were the factions formed by church members who identified with Paul, Peter, or Apollos, as their favorite teachers.  There were also deep cultural divisions between the wealthy and the poor who...

Episode Synopsis: In 1 Corinthians 7:17-40, Paul teaches what I call the “you can’t unscramble eggs” doctrine.  What should a new Christian do when they come to faith in Jesus Christ?  Do they quit their current “secular” job to devote themselves full-time to Jesus Christ and to the work of ministry?  Should they rush into marriage to avoid the lusts of the flesh?  Or conversely, should they seek...

Episode Synopsis: Paul’s Gentile mission was a huge success.  A number of new churches were established throughout the eastern Mediterranean world–including fast growing churches in important cities such as Corinth, Thessalonica, and Ephesus.  But with the spread of the gospel into a previously unevangelized world dominated by Greco-Roman culture and religion, came a whole set of pastoral problems...

Episode Synopsis: Sex and marriage were pressing issues in Corinth.  Gentiles who came to faith in Jesus Christ during Paul’s Gentile mission were learning the biblical sexual ethic for the first time.  Grounded in the creation order, the Ten Commandments, and the teaching of Jesus, it did not take long for the Corinthians to understand that sex was not merely a pleasurable bodily function, but bi...

Episode Synopsis: It has been said that prostitution is the world’s old profession.  In reality, tending a garden and naming animals is.  But if you lived in first century Corinth you lived in a city well-known for its prostitutes and rampant sexual immorality.  This creates a difficult situation for Christians who live there and who have been taught by Paul that sexual relations are limited to ma...

Episode Synopsis: Corinth was a booming city with lots of new money and great stress upon the power and prestige that goes with it.  One way to enhance your public image was to take advantage of those who had something you wanted or needed, or to shame a rival or get a leg up on someone you didn’t like, was to sue them in civil court.  Corinth was a very litigious place with one citizen complainin...

Episode Synopsis: When passing through Ephesus, where Paul was living at the time, members of Chloe’s family informed Paul of a situation in the Corinthian church of such a serious nature that Paul is taken aback.  A man in the Corinthian church (presumably known to the church but unnamed by Paul) is cohabiting with his father’s wife.  Such conduct was scandalous to the point that even the sexuall...

Episode Synopsis: Paul expressed a fair bit of righteous anger in his letter to the Galatians–calling those taken in by false teachers foolish people who have been all-too easily bewitched by false teachers.  In 1 Corinthians 4, the apostle again expresses his frustration, speaking sarcastically of those who think of themselves as rich (when they are poor), and as kings who act as though they rule...

Episode Synopsis: So what will it be?  Milk or meat?  Are the Corinthians spiritual toddlers?  Or are they mature Christians?  Since they are being drawn to the factions forming within the church (“I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos”) it is clear that no matter how mature they think they are, in reality they are immature.  Their lack of progress in Christian maturity provokes a response from Paul w...

Episode Synopsis: Paul did not come to Corinth as a typical sage, sophist, or philosopher.  He was an unimpressive rabbi and made no attempt to embrace Greco-Roman rhetorical techniques to keep an audience entertained and wanting more.  Paul’s mission to the Gentiles was not about him, it was about the message he preached, Christ and him crucified.   When Paul arrived in Corinth he was weak and fe...

Episode Synopsis: The cross of Jesus Christ is utter foolishness to those who are perishing in their sins.  Yet, Paul tells the Corinthians that through message of the cross God reveals his wisdom and power.  In the closing section of the first chapter of his first Corinthian letter, Paul explains how and why the preaching of Christ crucified confounds all those who seek mere human wisdom from sag...

Episode Synopsis: Paul has gotten some rather bad news.  Members of Chloe’s family (presumably people Paul had known from his time in Corinth) had come to Ephesus (where Paul was currently laboring).  They informed him of serious troubles back in Corinth.  People were quarreling to the point that factions had developed in the church, with various groups identifying as followers of Paul, while othe...

Episode Synopsis: In the opening 9 verses of Paul’s first Corinthian letter, Paul sets the stage for what is to come.  Although he was in Corinth for some eighteen months and knew many of those to whom he is writing quite well, his apostolic authority was being challenged by some in the congregation.  Paul must address this matter by reminding the Corinthians of his apostolic office and calling. A...

Episode Synopsis: Paul’s first Corinthian letter was written to deal with divisions in the Corinthian church.  He’s received a letter from the Corinthians asking him about how to deal with the Greco-Roman pagans around them, as well as how to handle professing Christians who either did not understand, or implement the apostle’s instructions.  In Ephesus, where Paul was residing, someone who had ju...

Episode Synopsis: I’m very excited to kick off season three of the Blessed Hope Podcast because we are taking up one of the most interesting and challenging letters in all the New Testament–Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  This is a letter which is practical in the best sense of the term and we will spend a great deal of time going through it in some detail. One of the first things we will...