The Blue Collar Scholar

The First John series enters the final chapter of the epistle. In this passage, we learn how to love God: (1) love believers, (2) obey God's commands, & (3) have faith in Christ.

This episode gives a brief overview of the Civil Rights Movement in the US since Brown v. Board of Education. We also take a look at the women's rights movement, as well as movements for the rights of immigrants, disabled persons, and the LGBTQ+ community. This episode ends with over 2 weeks of Daily Journal Prompts to tell one's own story.

"Perfect love casts out fear." - 1st John 4:18 ... In this sermon I break down the idea of such perfect love. In 1st John 4:16-21, see see that if God abides in you, then He will perfect (verb) love within you. We also see the following benefits of such perfect love: (1) perfect love will give you confidence on the Day of Judgment, (2) perfect love will make us "like" Christ, (3) perfect love free...

In this, the Fall 2026 semester, we will be trying something new: a class called "History in My Lifetime: Documenting My Place in History to Tell My Grandchildren." Each week we will discuss a different category of major historical events in the last 80 years or so, with emphasis being on the lived experience of the average person who lived through these historical events. The class will also invo...

If you have been reading along with us through the book of First John, you have probably noticed that the Apostle John has told us about a dozen times to love each other. It is an important theme for this epistle. In 1st John 4:7-16, we are told once again to love each other and to love God, for God Himself is love. In this passage we also learn that if God abides in you, then (1) you will live by...

Spiritual warfare is an interesting biblical topic. We see glimpses of spiritual warfare in books like Daniel & Revelation, and it is obvious that there is some kind of conflict between angels and demons, between the spiritual forces of God vs. the spiritual forces of darkness. But the Bible does not actually give us many details about what spiritual warfare is, exactly. But there are glimpses. Th...

"It's not about 'religion,' it's a relationship" is an overused Christian trope. In all honesty, I remember this phrase mostly from my youth in the 1990s, when it seemed like this was everyone's Christian mantra. But Christianity is a religion. It addresses religion themes and the truth taught by Christianity has religious implications. But our faith is also a relationship with God. That is best u...

Litmus tests tell you the pH level of a chemical, and that helps you identify the chemical. The term "litmus test" can be used metaphorically to describe something that is definitely not litmus paper but can similarly help you determine something. In last week's sermon, we learned that sin - particularly unrepentant, continual sin - is a litmus test that shows that a person is not really a Christi...

The freedom to choose is a key aspect of what it means to be an American. This is true of human beings in general, but the citizens of my nation especially value individual liberty to choose this-or-that. These choices are both simple (like what to eat or what to wear) to very complex (like how to conduct a brutal war). In this sermon, we see how the Apostle John taught us not to use our freedom o...

When a person is redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the believer is adopted into the family as Children of God. This week's sermon covers the last few verses of First John chapter 2 and the first few verses of chapter 3. In this passage we learn that (1) Children of God look forward to Christ's return, (2) disobedient children & frauds do not look forward to Christ's return, (3) true right...

Happy 4th of July! The premier liberal democracy to arise out of the Enlightenment is now a quarter a millennium old. But this sermon is not a patriotic holiday sermon. Instead, we continue in our sermon series through the epistle of First John. In 1 John 2:18-27, John warns us against those who oppose the Kingdom of God, seeming to coin the term "antichrist" in the process. End Times enthusiasts...

Today I was honored to be invited to preach at the First Baptist Church of Parsons (KS). This is the audio of that sermon, where I lay out reasons why some Christians think that they don't have any spiritual gifts, and why they are wrong about that.

The Apostle John tells us to not love the world or the things of the world (see 1 John 2:15). But in John 3:16, we see that God so loved the world. Is this a contradiction? And if not, then we must ask: what does it mean for one to not love the world? In this episode, we see that (1) you either love God, or you love the world, (2) the world draws us into sin, & (3) the world's time is running out.

Happy Father's Day! As we continue in our expository series through the book of First John, we come to the beginning verses of chapter 2. In this passage we learn a few things: (1) Our goal should be sinlessness, (2) Jesus fixes it (because we will never achieve sinlessness) and He defends us when we fail, (3) we should love one another, (4) our love should be extraordinary, (5) hatred & lovelessn...

Joyous Juneteenth to fans of liberty & justice for all! I opened worship this weekend with a brief history lesson on Juneteenth. As a history dude (with an actual Bachelor's degree in the subject), I am ashamed to say that I was unaware of Juneteenth until the late 2010s. But I've come to view it as an essential part of "Freedom Fortnight." In a brief 2 week window, Americans can celebrate Flag Da...

There is a tug-of-war between the extremes of hedonism & legalism, with neither side being the righteous choice. Instead, the Apostle John teaches us to "walk in the light, as He is in the light" (1 John 1:7), emulating Jesus rather than chasing an extreme. In today's sermon, we see that the Apostle John teaches us that (1) the Gospel starts with the glory & perfection of God, (2) our aim should b...

The Summer 2026 sermon series kicks off (well, besides the introductory sermon last week) where any expository series should start: chapter 1, verse 1. The book of 1st John opens with a poetic, slightly rambling soliloquy about the "Logos," the Greek word for "word" (which is also the key word at the beginning of John's Gospel). In this lesson, we see that (1) the Word is life, (2) the Word is Chr...

This summer's sermon series is an expository preaching series through the Epistle of First John. This is the introduction, which lays out several overall themes of the book. Join us this summer as we dig into First John.

Memorial Day seems like a nice bookend for this Easter sermon series; beginning and ending on a holiday. In this episode we summarize all that we've discussed the past 2 months regarding the topic of joy.

Congratulations to all our graduates! Life is going to get a lot more rewarding and more difficult. New beginnings fill us with fear because of the fear of the unknown. But there is joy in new beginnings as well, because there is opportunity there. And this is not just a message for young people. As long as you draw break, there are new experiences in store for you: opportunities to find joy, serv...

For the second time, The Blue Collar Scholar completes a course on the Second World War. The first attempt was choppy, and I failed to record every episode. This go round, I feel much more confident that this series is a good, surface-level-yet-deep-dive into the bloodiest conflict in human history. ... In this last episode of the WWII class, we talk about the sequel to World War II. Thankfully, t...

This Spring, we've been going over the religions of the world. This Comparing World Religions class comes to a conclusion with this short lecture. In this episode, I make some concluding remarks, including going over what we should have learned from this class, but also what I hope that we have NOT learned from studying world religions.

Happy Mother's Day! All of people, our mothers are the people in our lives that deserve the most gratitude. But this sermon is not just about the gratitude we should have for the mothers in our lives. Each of us should cultivate and attitude of gratitude that permeates all aspects of our lives, and shines through in good times and in bad. Thankful people are healthier, happier, and more joyful, an...

My grandfather on my father's side was named Billy Reitz. He was drafted shortly after turning 18 on the first day of winter 1944. He entered the service in the US Army in April 1945, so fighting in Europe was never in the cards for Sgt. Reitz. Instead, he trained for the invasion of Japan. His ship was on the way to the Pacific Theatre when the news of Japan's surrender was announced. So instead...

Atheists claim that atheism is not a religion. Rather, it is a lack of religion. I see no reason to not allow atheists to define their religious beliefs thusly. However, since atheism answers all the same questions that religions answers, it would be a gaping hole in this sermon series if atheism is left out. So this episode delves into the definition of atheism, related terms (like agnosticism),...