The Jacob's Ladder Podcast

Why do Catholics believe that communion is the literal body of Christ while the Protestants believe its symbolic? Does it really matter for my sanctification what position I take on this? Am I missing the most important point of communion? How did Jesus do communion at the Last Supper? How did the early church take communion? How has the modern church adapted the practice? If you wrestle with the...

Did Paul really ban women from teaching in church? What does Paul mean when he says women are “saved through childbearing” and he doesn’t permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man? Why does Paul contradict this by affirming a woman in ministry as a deacon in Romans? If women can’t be a part of ministry, then what do we do with all the other women in biblical history like Deborah, Mi...

Did baptism start with John the Baptist? If it did, then why did everyone understand his command to get baptized and repent of sin? What about the water purification rituals in the Old Testament? Could this idea of baptism be older than Abraham? What if I was already baptized as a baby? Should I do it again as an adult? Does full immersion really matter? Is baptism required for salvation? If it’s...

God commanded us all to go and make disciples of the nations…how do I do that if I’m just a regular guy? What does evangelism look like for someone who isn’t a pastor? Should I be talking about my testimony and witnessing to everyone all the time? What if say the wrong thing and I push people awayfrom God? Why do I feel guilty if I’m not constantly witnessing? If you ever wondered HOW God wants yo...

What is “church” really and why does God insist I can’t be spiritually healthy without it? Is it better to be fully known in a small church or to have some privacy in a large church? What do I do when I get hurt in church and I want to stop showing up? Should I be a part of a non-Christian community or would I be damaging my faith? What did the “church” community look like around Jesus? Following...

How did “The Bible” as we know it get formed? How did the early church grow so big without it? If most believers throughout history couldn’t read, how was faith passed down? How did the printing press revolutionize the spread of faith? How often should a Christian read their bible? Should we do "word" studies? Should we buy commentaries? What do we do when we run into passages that chall...

DISCLAIMER: This episode discusses fasting as a spiritual discipline. We are not medical professionals, and nothing in this episode should be taken as medical advice. If you are considering fasting — especially if you have health conditions or recent medical procedures — please consult a qualified healthcare professional. Is fasting a lost spiritual discipline that we have neglected as Americans?...

Join us in the FINAL and 13th installment of the "Who is God?" series. What if your understanding of God the Father is wrong? Have Christians unintentionally reduced the Trinity to “Father God” plus “Jesus” and “The Holy Spirit”? Is the Father really a distant judge, or have we missed who He truly is? What if the Father’s desire is to walk with you and love you the way He did with Adam i...

Join us in the 12th installment of the "Who is God?" series. What is God’s name? Should I pray to Jesus, The Holy Spirit, or The Father? Why does Jesus teach us to pray to Father God? Does God really care which member of the Trinity I pray to? Do the others feel left out? Can I really approach Father God like he is my father in Heaven or is Jesus the only one who gets that relationship w...

Why does God allow suffering? Why do innocent people suffer?  If God is all powerful and can stop it, why doesn’t He? Why does God allow Satan to test Job and then never tell Job why? Why does God allow Joseph to suffer for so many years? How can we be sure that some suffering has redemptive purpose? If you ever questioned how God can be good and allow all this suffering, then this episode is for...

Join us in the 11th installment of the "Who is God?" series. Were lost gospels hidden from us? Do they contain secret knowledge, or do they distort the truth about Jesus? Why did the early church decide to leave them out? How did the church decide what was reliable? What about other faiths that have a different story about Jesus? Who is telling the truth? If you have ever wondered if the...

Join us in the 10th installment of the "Who is God?" series. Do aliens need salvation? Would God need to die as each alien species to offer salvation? Some angels commit sin... why aren’t they offered salvation? Why do the animals still die when they don’t need salvation? Why did Jesus glorified have crucifixion scars? What will our glorified bodies be like? What will it be like when Jes...

Join us in the 9th installment of the "Who is God?" series. What made Jesus fully God? Was it his detailed knowledge of the future? Was it his power over nature? Was it his miraculous healing? Was it his authority over demons? What do you mean He gave His disciples authority to do all these things in His name? He even said they would do greater things?! Was it His resurrection? Didn'...

Join us in the 8th installment of the "Who is God?" series. What separates Jesus from every other “god-man” story we’ve heard—from Hercules to Superman? How can He be both fully God and fully human, and why does that matter for our salvation? What does it mean that Jesus was tempted like we are, yet remained sinless? Why would He need to learn obedience through suffering—wasn’t He alread...

Join us in the 7th installment of the "Who is God?" series. Who is the man Abraham bargains with to save Sodom and Gomorrah? Who is the man Jacob wrestles with? Who is the Commander of the Lords armies that Joshua speaks with? Who is the man that Gideon speaks with under the tree? Is this God showing up as a man before He decided to be born as Jesus? Which member of the Trinity is it? If...

Join us in the 6th installment of the "Who is God?" series. How can you hear God's voice? Is it through conviction and conscience? Does the Holy Spirit guide us through a sense of peace? What are the fruits of The Holy Spirit? Will we exhibit those fruits as part of our daily walk with God? If you want to know what daily companionship with the Holy Spirit looks like, then this episod...

Join us in our 5th installment of the "Who is God?" series. What are the gifts of The Holy Spirit? They sound like superpowers — but what do they actually do? Are they rare, reserved for a few, or available to any believer? Is someone lucky to receive just one, or does the Lord use multiple gifts through one believer? Why does God partner with us for healing, prophecy, discernment, and f...

In this conversation, we reflect on what it means to lose Charlie Kirk. Because his life was committed to both faith and politics how should we handle the tension and blurred lines between both? Was Charlie a Christian martyr? What does revival look like in a moment like this? Why do some mourn, and others celebrate? What about loved ones in heaven—can the saints see us? Do they witness our remain...

Join us in the 4th installment of the "Who is God?" series. What exactly is the gift of tongues? Is the day of Pentecost a spectacle of the Holy Spirits power? Or a sacred reversal when He descends and undoes Babel’s confusion by declaring the Gospel for all to understand? Are tongues only for public use? Or are they deeply personal and edifying for the believer? Didn't the Apostle P...

Join us in the 3rd installment of the "Who is God?" series. Where was the Holy Spirit from Genesis to Pentecost? We know he seals us for salvation and indwells inside the believer today but what about everyone in the old testament? Did He just simply empower and come upon them with power? Why does He feel distant to some and unmistakably near to others? What are the differences between H...

Join us in the 2nd installment of the "Who is God?" series. What does it mean to say that God is one being in three persons? We wrestle with modalism, toy with the idea of a duality between Father and Son and ultimately confront the undeniable presence of the Holy Spirit in scripture. This episode lays the foundation for understanding the Trinity, while later episodes will be dedicated t...

Join us in the 1st installment of the "Who is God?" series. What does it mean to say that God is truly good and infinitely powerful? Since we are made in His image, what characteristics of His does he share with humanity? What characteristics does he NOT share with us? What does it mean that God is a Trinity? One God in three persons? Do all three persons equally share the God character...

Part 3 of 3 from the “God Revealed” series. It’s been 2000 years since the biblical canon closed. Is God revealing Himself today or did it end with Jesus? Do I just read my bible and patiently wait until His 2nd coming? How does Jesus’s last instructions to the disciples affect me today? Should I be spreading the gospel, making disciples, baptizing people and teaching them to obey all of Jesus’s c...

Part 2 of 3 from the “God Revealed” series. God’s revelation didn’t stop with the Old Testament. 500 years after the last Old Testament book was written we see God Himself enter creation as a man named Jesus Christ. He was born as the son of a carpenter named Joseph. Why wasn’t he born in a palace? Why didn’t he destroy the roman empire and take a seat on an earthly throne in Jerusalem? Why would...

Part 1 of 3 from the “God Revealed” series. How does God reveal Himself in the Old Testament? He walks with Adam in the Garden. He shows up to Abraham as a Man with two angels outside Sodom and Gomorrah… or is it all members of the Trinity? He shows up to Moses as the Angel of the Lord in the burning bush. He shows up to Joshua as a Man who declares to be the Commander of heavens armies. He shows...