Upon This Rock

In this episode we continue talking about the word wrath by looking at the three primary metaphors the Bible uses to talk about God's wrath. In doing so I hope we can come to a clearer idea of what God's wrath is. Want more? Read and subscribe to my Substack feed to get more theological reflections and exclusive content. My email is heymaxthomas@gmail.com and you can send me a voice memo at the li...

This is part one of a longer look at the wrath of God. In this episode we look at how wrath is generally thought about and analyze the first story in the Bible where God is said to get angry and want to pour out His wrath. Part two coming soon.  Want more? Read and subscribe to my Substack feed to get more theological reflections and exclusive content. My email is heymaxthomas@gmail.com and y...

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to....go to hell?" Today we are starting a new series called "The Inigo Montoya's": Words you use that don't mean what I think you think they mean. To kick things off I talk with Brad Jersak about hell, what the biblical words are, what they mean, the images associated with them, and how we weaponize our concept of hell. Brad has writ...

Why do we care so much about the Bible? And why do we try so hard to understand it? In part, because we believe it is the inspired word of God. But what do we mean by inspiration? How does that actually work? I think if we can see how the Bible works we can better understand what it is actually saying. Want more? Read and subscribe to my Substack feed to get more theological reflections and exclus...

To start reading the OT with new eyes you need to remember one word: repetition. This is how the OT works. The authors of Scripture repeat words, ideas, places, names, stories, images, etc. If you can pick up on those repetitions a whole new world opens up. To start reading the OT with new eyes you need to remember one word: repetition......wait did I already say that? Want more? Read and subscrib...

How did the early church read their Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament? And how do we see those reading habits built into their writings the New Testament? In this episode we continue our series on learning to read the Scriptures by looking at how the NT authors employ Scriptural echoes, allusions and "hyperlinks". Part of learning to read the Scriptures well is directly tied to recognizin...

In this special crossover podcast with the Rabbit Trails Podcast I talk with Barrett and Garrick about some of my personal journey, missions, and our call to live as the people of God wherever we are. After you listen make sure you go check out the Rabbit Trails Podcast!  Want more? Read and subscribe to my Substack feed to get more theological reflections and exclusive content. My email is h...

In this Deep Dive episode we look at two famous Old Testament stories which portray God as violent that are quoted by multiple authors in the New Testament in order to learn how to read even the most difficult texts in light of Christ.  Want more? Read and subscribe to my Substack feed to get more theological reflections and exclusive content. My email is heymaxthomas@gmail.com and you can se...

Reading the Bible can be puzzling to say the least, but the metaphor of a puzzle can actually help us tackle the daunting task. In this episode I argue that Jesus, as the image of God, is the picture on the "puzzle box" of Scripture and that He should inform how we read and interpret it. This means that we cannot read the Scriptures and come to see God as something other than the crucified and ris...

One of the greatest tasks given to Christians is learning to read Scripture faithfully. Yet for many this is a point of burdensome frustration. In this series I want to have a series of conversations around becoming faithful readers of Scripture, how we do that, what obstacles do we face, what mistakes are often made, and what strategies we can employ, so that we can read the Bible well.  But...

During my life time there has been no greater political issue than abortion. It is the proverbial political hill most Christians will die on. But I believe that being pro-life, in a truly Christian sense, is much bigger than being against abortion. To be pro-life is to be against anything that brings death, fear, and oppression. I think we need to rethink what it means to be pro-life and all the i...

Welcome my wife, aka the Podmother, to the pod! Are we morally culpable and responsible for who we vote for? And if so to what degree? We disagree and so we thought why not turn the mics on let you all join the conversation.  Want more? Read and subscribe to my Substack feed to get more theological reflections and exclusive content. My email is heymaxthomas@gmail.com and you can send me a voi...

 In this episode I talk about the problems with seeing Trump as a kind of Cyrus, America as a kind of Israel, and God as interesting in making sure America becomes "great again", whatever a person means by that. My hope and prayer is that we can in these times hold fast to the confession of our faith that Jesus is Lord and live in the world according to His politics, ethics, and example.&nbsp...

In this episode and the next I want to explore the dangerous intersection and relationship between partisan politics and religion. In this episode we'll explore how America is just the latest in a long line of empires who baptize their efforts and desires to rule others in religious language so that God simply serves the purposes of the political powers. This is sometimes called civil religion or...

I don't know if you heard, but there is an election coming up soon. In light of the season, we are going to be kicking off a new series all about politics called Crucifying Donkeys and Elephants. My guest today is Kaitlyn Schiess . Kaitlyn has a new book coming out The Liturgy of Politics in which she discusses how politics shapes us as people and how we as Christians need to be properly formed in...

Want more? Read and subscribe to my Substack feed to get more theological reflections and exclusive content. My email is heymaxthomas@gmail.com and you can send me a voice memo at the link below.

6 years ago my theological journey began when I watched the "Monster God Debate" . By the time the debate was finished my imagination had been captured and my heart undone by a newfound beauty in the cross of Christ and the God of the Bible. Most of us, myself included prior to this debate, have heard the gospel presented in a way that makes God out to be angry and distant, like a judge who must p...

In the second to last episode in this series I want to examine the common claim that many regular churchgoers make, that they are not theologians. This claim is too often rooted in a false view of the Spirit and is employed as a kind of spiritual escapism that is rooted in fear, fear of not being smart enough, of not measuring up, or of not getting it right. However, Jesus calls us to love God wit...

I had the immense privilege of speaking to Dr. Chris E.W. Green for our very first Deep Dive episode. Dr. Green holds the title of Public Theologian at Southeastern University and has previously taught at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland Tennesee. He is also the author of numerous books including Surprised by God, which has a chapter on this very subject, Sanctifying Interpretatio...

In episode 2 of our series Things We Should All Stop Saying in Church I want to talk about how we use the word religion. For some reason it has come to be a dirty word. We talk about "dead religion" or not wanting to be "religious" all the time, but I think that is the wrong way to think about religion because religion is not dead or alive it is true or false. We need new and more faithful ways to...

To kick off our series Things We Should All Stop Saying In Church I want to examine the often prayed and exclaimed phrase, "We don't want church as usual". Although this sentiment is often rooted in the sincere desire to encounter God in His nearness it actually does the opposite by setting God off at a distance from us in a way that eventually leads to weariness and disillusionment. I want to arg...

Welcome to Upon This Rock where we have and host theologically rich and reflective conversations around Scripture, church culture, and current events. If you want to contribute your voice to the conversation by requesting a topic, asking a question, or challenging an idea you can go to the link below and leave me a digital voicemail and you may just hear your own voice on the next episode of the p...