The Faith of the Father(s) w/ Karl Gessler

Send us Fan Mail Valentine's day can come with a lot of pressure. Will we get the right gift or find the perfect card? Will he or she think I did enough to make our evening special? Will I be expected to perform favors in response to the gifts and gestures of affection? Everyone comes to Valentine's Day with some measure of expectation. But what is this day really all about? Where did it...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Clayman felt called to minister in West Africa among the Wassoulou, a tribe that had never been reached with the message of the Gospel of Jesus. But after several attempts to live among the Wassoulou, Chris was continually evacuated due to severe sickness. Chris did not know how he would fulfill his calling until he found himself, of all places, in New York city among Wassou...

Send us Fan Mail If you have grown up in the Western Protestant Church, you are most likely familiar with the command by Jesus to "Do this in Remembrance of Me" because it was engraved on a table that held grape juice and strange little wafer things that you would eat and drink ever so often. What is this thing that we are doing? And why do Anglicans and Catholics do it differently? Wher...

Send us Fan Mail When you read the Gospels, especially passages that have to do with coming judgments, do you ever wonder why Jesus doesn't say the things that most evangelicals have been taught to say? In Luke 21, Jesus talks about a coming judgment and yet He never asks anyone if they knew where they would go when they died, nor did He teach about the depravity of man or justification by fa...

Send us Fan Mail If we want to share the Gospel, we need to know what it is. Isn't the Gospel found in the Gospels, as in, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Those guys wrote a lot! What part of the Gospel do we share with someone when we just have 5 minutes in a coffee shop? What if we don't know what to say? Can we share the Gospel without having all the answers? Karl Gessler is joined in...

Send us Fan Mail  In this week's podcast, you are going to hear from a girl whose life was a tragedy and a disaster before she met Jesus. This is an epic, heart-wrenching story that the world needs to hear! There is a major difference between getting help and being made new. In this week's podcast, you will taste and see the difference, and it is remarkable! Do you need to really start o...

Send us Fan Mail We learned a lot in 2018, not only about the Gospel and the world, but also about podcasting. We are looking forward to 2019! Look for our first episode of 2019 on January 4th. Show Your Love! Become a Podcast Partner! Patreon.com/karlgesslerLearn more about Jesus be signing up for the blog here:https://www.karlgessler.com/thegospelforplanetearthThe Gospel For Planet Earth Vlog:ht...

Send us Fan Mail What do you know about Santa Claus? You may have heard that on Christmas Eve, he flies through the sky to bring gifts to good little boys and girls, but there are many other legends about this jolly old fellow. Rumor has it that Santa has even punched someone during a theology debate at one time! And there are even more intriguing legends...But what is really true about the old ma...

Send us Fan Mail In Luke's Gospel, angels play an essential role in the opening birth narratives, and this brings up some provocative notions for us in the West. To better understand the Christmas narrative in Luke's gospel, we are asking questions like: Did Zachariah believe in angels before he saw one? What it matter to you if he had? Many people in our Western world deny the existence...

Send us Fan Mail  Margarita Walker grew up without her father. Her desire to be embraced by a man led her to multiple teenage pregnancies, most of which ended with an abortion. Margarita struggled to find her way out of a vicious cycle. In desperation, she reached for the phone book and decided to visit the first church she found there. This podcast is the remarkable story of how one girl found he...

Send us Fan Mail Did Jesus preach that the world will end? That is what many people will assume when they read Luke 21. But when Jesus talks about "the signs of the end", is He talking about the end of the world, or the end of something else? This week, Brackin Kirkland from Sounds Like Reign, joins Karl in the studio to share his testimony and to be a conversation partner with Karl as t...

Send us Fan Mail Does your body or the earth matter to God, or are we trying to live in a de-railed story? That is what we are asking about this week's podcast. Why? Because the Sadducees challenged Jesus on His belief in the coming resurrection of the dead. Resurrection is not the same thing as "going to heaven," as many Western Christians assume. Jesus' answer has a tremendou...

Send us Fan Mail Harvard graduate, John Immel, joins Karl Gessler in the studio to talk about some of the challenges of reading the book of Genesis. Are Genesis and science at odds with one another? Was the world created in a literal seven days? Can someone have genuine Christian faith without being a seven-day creationist? Why was this book written in the first place?  Don't forget to leave ...

Send us Fan Mail Should politics and religion be separated? Many Westerners would quickly shout "Yes!" But if God cannot take part in our politics, what exactly, "belongs to God"? Jamin Hendrix joins Karl in the studio again this week to talk about the meaning behind Jesus' words in Luke 20, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And Give to God what belongs to God.&...

Send us Fan Mail According to Church historian, Dr. David Garrison, tens of thousands of Muslims are coming to Christ today. The amount of Muslims coming to Christ in the last thirty years in comparison to those who have converted in the previous hundreds of years since the founding of Islam is absolutely staggering! What is going on? Has something changed? Do we have anything to do with it? Dr. G...

Send us Fan Mail It is election season again in the United States and so we thought it would be an appropriate time to revisit the topic of the election in the Bible! This week, Karl and Susie are joined in the studio for a live debate with Jason Murguz. Jason study theology at Liberty University and became interested in engaging with us on the topic of election after listening to a podcast that w...

Send us Fan Mail Jared Rotramel joins Karl in the studio this week to share his story of faith, doubt, struggle, and healing. But first, Karl and Susie take a closer look at Luke 20 and Jesus' apparent warning to the Chief Priests that they will be either crushed or smashed by Him. Is either of those a good choice?! Is there a third option? Show Your Love! Become a Podcast Partner! Patreon.co...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wonder what it would be like if you were actually on Noah's Ark? Have you ever wondered if there really was an ark or an actual worldwide flood? And have you ever wondered if, supposing those incidents were not meant to be taken as literal, face-value facts, would that undermine the authority of scripture? And finally, if a man came into your city hall, or your...

Send us Fan Mail Frankness is something that I highly value. I would rather know what someone is thinking, even if I don't agree with it, than to try and guess. In this week's podcast, I am joined by my Uncle Frank who is indeed frank in his thoughts and opinions. This is somewhat of a pioneering episode as we try to infuse a more conversational tone to the podcast. Frank was raised Cath...

Send us Fan Mail Audiobooks area gift from God! I have listened to many, many, hours of books through that medium. But few of the books that I have read have quite as fascinating as Dr. Eli Lizorkin-eyzenburg's book, "The Jewish Gospel of John". That is why I am so excited and honored to have Dr. Eli on the show today! Has John's Gospel ever puzzled you? Did it ever seem anti-s...

Send us Fan Mail "This is a good book, but it is very dangerous." Majid was warned by his father. His Islamic teacher also warned him saying, "If you read this book and you lose your Islamic faith, your blood will be on your own neck!" Yet, Majid's hunger for the truth was too strong to hold him back. He did read it and he did lose his Islamic faith and so much more. But H...

Send us Fan Mail This week we will hear two very different stories from former Muslims who left the faith after finding something they believe to be much better in Jesus. John Immel shares part of his story but this time as a co-host! Plus, we will hear part one of Pastor Majid's story as he shares with us his journey from Iraq and his violent passion for Islam. You can write to Pastor Majid:...

Send us Fan Mail The long-awaited moment has arrived, the moment when God returns to His people in Zion! Not surprisingly, there are fireworks when God doesn't look like what people expected. This week, we are focusing on the meaning of Jesus' ride into Jerusalem on a donkey and His subsequent cleansing of the temple. But first, Karl is joined by a special guest co-host, Josh Saltz as th...

Send us Fan Mail Many people claim to follow Jesus, but which Jesus are we talking about? Jesus didn't always meet the expectations of His contemporaries in the Gospels and He still is full of surprises and challenges for us today. What do we do with Jesus when He isn't what we thought? Will we follow Him if it means losing everything we know? What if it means even replacing our personal...

Send us Fan Mail We are barking up a tree this week and we have found a rich man in it! Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to "go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" and yet, in today's podcast we will meet a rich man who does just that. He enters the kingdom of God! But how does he do it? How was it possible? What did it cost him? We a...