Two Texts

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David marvel at how Paul responds to rejection. the difficulty of navigating rejection is something most of struggle with. Hidden within chapter 13 of Acts is some insight in to how Paul navigates this. Episode 124 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptive Prese...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David discuss how we respond to a teaching like Paul's in Acts 13. As always there's a world beneath the text that gives us pause to think about more than just what's happening in the narrative. Episode 123 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptiv...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David explore the centrality of Jesus to Paul's sermon and thought. How Paul frames and engages with his ideas help us make some sense of what he means in his famous prayer in Ephesians. Episode 122 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptive Presence 66 If y...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David consider  how Paul's "impromptu" sermon comes together. We know there's lots to debate about Paul, but we definitively know he loved the text of Scripture. When asked to speak without warning, guess what leaks out of him...the sacre...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David consider the gathering traditions of Paul and Barnabas. Gathering in the synagogue space is the long tradition of Jesus followers tracing back through the ways of Jesus himself and further still. We consider what that could mean for us today. Episode 1...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David discuss how relationships have always been a point of tension for the church. Paul and Barnabas's missionary group is stretched and reshaped as friends and family move on from the work they are doing. Episode 119 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disrupt...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David observe Paul and Barnabas's encounter with a magician. The new missionary group head out into their gospel work, but they being to encounter some opposition. Episode 119 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptive Presence 62 If you want to get in touch...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David consider how the Spirit guides the church. The language of the Spirit is easily used, but does contemporary usage reflect what we saw happen amongst the early Christians? Continuing in Acts 13, we explore some thoughts about this. Episode 118 of the Tw...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) We arrive at our 60th episode on Acts! True to form in this series we don't get through as much in this episode as we imagined we would! Right at the start of Acts 13, there's this beautiful little sequence about the Holy Spirit in Antioch... ...and we loved it! Epi...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) We're back after our annual summer break and excited to talk to you about Acts. We did think, however, that maybe a brief recap on where we've been might be helpful - we've been in Acts for over a year now, so there's quite a lot of content been laid down...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In our last episode before our August "Technology Sabbatical" John and David note, once again, that the Holy Spirit likes it when everyone isn't the same. The diversity of the Spirit's work is something we've noted already in this series, but look onc...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David consider how easily we are deluded by power. Herod thinks he has power, the people think he has power, but the Holy Spirit knows differently. Continuing a theme in Acts, we see that there are still lessons for us to learn today about what power really...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David wonder if we would respond any differently than the Acts Church. Many of us have prayed for something. but I wonder how many of us really expect our prayers to be answered. How would you react if the person in prison your were praying for suddenly turn...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David enjoy a brilliant escape story. This is one of those stories in Acts that you've likely heard of. If you haven't then expect mystery, humour, and God working in surprising ways. Peter's escape story should probably be one of your favouri...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David talk about another problematic Herod in the NT. There's a reason that you don't think favourably of the name "Herod". So many kings called Herod caused problems in the New Testament period. The Acts text from this episode is no diff...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David are challenged by the church's response to hardship and difficulty. This group of Christians continually surprise us by showing that the impact of the Holy Spirit leaked into the practicalities of everyday life.   Episode 110 of the Two Texts Podc...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David celebrate the return of one of their favourite characters. Everyone needs a Barnabas in their lives. For the Acts church he always pops up right when he was needed. Episode 109 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptive Presence 52   If you want to get in t...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David discuss how the difficult times for the church in Acts don't lead to bad results. Despite the oppression and persecution that is being applied to the church, people were still choosing to follow Jesus. Why? Because the Hand of the Lord was with th...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David consider Peter's testimony about Cornelius and the Holy Spirit. How do we make decisions about difficult and surprising situations? Are we open to being surprised by God in the same way that the Jerusalem church was? Episode 107 of the Two Texts P...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David begin to consider Peter's return to Jerusalem to report on the Cornelius story. In this episode we think about how we hear Scripture and how we listen with the Spirit to what God is doing. Episode 106 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptive Presence...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David consider God's response to Peter's interpretation of his vision. Peter makes an audacious claim as a result of his vision on the roof - that God has no favourites. This is a significant claim for Cornelius. But is Peter correct? As you'l...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David explore Peter's sermon to Cornelius. Peter does some fantastic interpretive work to make sense of how his vision and subsequent encounter with Cornelius lead him to an understanding of God's perspective on humanity that was new for him Episod...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David discuss the next part of Peter's ever changing story. Peter encounters a vision (or nightmare) that challenges his cultural hero stories and ethical sensibilities - but most of all his reading of the Bible. What do you do when it's God challe...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David consider ritual and spontaneity in prayer. Acts 10 gives us an insight into why it might not be always best to choose sides on how to pray. Episode 102 of the Two Texts Podcast | Disruptive Presence 45 If you want to get in touch about something in the...

Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you’d like us to reply) In which John and David explore how God finds and knows Cornelius. There's so much to mine in chapter 10, but to begin with it fascinates us that God continues throughout this book called Acts to always move first. Everything we do is a response to God. Cornelius' v...