Word of Life Church Podcast

In chapter 4 of Daniel we find the story of the king who went crazy -- the emperor who went insane. King Nebuchadnezzar is the personification of empire and this subversive story is a prophetic critique of the insanity of empire. But it's only the exiles who possess a counter-script and thereby can live outside the dominant script who perceive the insanity of empire.

"If I have not love, I am nothing." -The Apostle Paul "Love alone is credible; nothing else can be believed, and nothing else ought to be believed." -Hans Urs von Balthasar Everything minus Love = Zero. With this in mind, Pastor Brian shares his four noble truths... Life is Hard. God is Love. Jesus is Lord. Love Never Fails.

The dreams of the prophets and the nightmares of empires are one in the same. What the people of God hope for the most, is what the empires of man fear the most—that the reign of God will at last be seen on the earth, bringing justice to all people.

Jesus speaks the words “O you of little faith” several times to the disciples, pointing them to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. As we take a fresh look at the Genesis 1 creation account, freeing ourselves from the culture war surrounding this topic, we also are reminded in times of worry and anxiety to take rest in the reality that God is at work.

The Book of Daniel addresses this problem: How do you live as a Jew in a culture that doesn't want you to be Jewish? To understand the stories of Daniel is easy and safe. What is difficult and dangerous is to take the imaginative leap and apply these stories to our own context. American Christians need to ask this question: How do you live a a Christian in a culture that either doesn't want you to...

Peter’s “walking on the water” experience wasn’t about Peter learning a cool trick.  It was to teach him that living life linked up with Jesus was a completely different way of living.  Peri Zahnd shares stories from years of pastoring and watching ordinary people sometimes do extraordinary things, empowered by the Spirit of God.

The book of Daniel was designed to teach ancient Jews how to live as faithful exiles in the midst of a pagan empire. The book of Revelation did much the same for the early Christians living in the Roman Empire. These books are extremely relevant for American Christians, who face the challenge of engaging in a responsible way with American society, while living faithfully under the reign of Christ.

Jesus prayed for the unity of the church. Paul wrote in each of his letters a passionate plea for the church to remain unified, because if the church, the body of Christ, is divided then Christ himself is divided. Today as we survey the landscape of the church it is easy to see how we have become divided into our tribes, but there is hope. Jesus looks at his divided, tribal church and says, "Love...

We never went to church Just get on with work And sometimes things’ll hurt But it’s hit me since you left us And it’s so hard not to search –The Streets Churchless Christianity is an illusion. You might be some kind of Christian without the church, but your children probably won’t be Christians, and your grandchildren definitely won’t be Christians. Christianity doesn’t long survive outside the ma...

Taking its cues from the scientism of a bygone era, Western Christianity has tried for too long to make the gospel a kind of scientific formula—a pseudo-science of Biblical facts, atonement theories, and sinner’s prayers—when it’s more like a song, a symphony, a poem, a painting, a drama, a dance, and, yes, a mystery. The Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century saw the artisan replaced wit...

Finding God On Your iPodJesus, the one who is the Word of God, sums up the Law and Prophets in two commands: Love God with all your heart and soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything depends on love. So when calculating the meaning of life, if it doesn’t add up to love, go back and recalculate. God is love, and to live life right, you have to go with the flow of love; any othe...

"So when I'm walking this prison camp world I long for a glimpse of the new world unfurled The chrysalis cracking and moistened wings uncurl Like in the vision John saw" -Bruce Cockburn Those who confess Jesus is Lord are looking for glimpses of the new world. But we don't just sit back and wait for it -- we work with Jesus to move in the direction of New Jerusalem right now. Christians should hav...

On a train ride from Rome to Assisi, researching the ancient Christian creeds and listening to Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace by the Foo Fighters, Brian says he realized that's what he needed: Echoes. Silence. Patience. Grace. Echoes from the past, silence in the present, patience with the future, and grace to tie it all together.

Ten years ago Brian Zahnd and Word of Life Church embarked upon a daring transition; a radical departure from American pop Christianity into the substantive faith of authentic Christianity. With story, sermon, scripture, and some help from a Tom Petty song, Brian tells this fascinating story.

I believe that one find day all the children of Abraham Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem -Steve Earle Jesus is the fulfillment of all that the prophets foretold and the reign of his peaceable kingdom has begun. This is what we mean we confess Jesus is Lord. This is what the Apostles believed and preached. But as long as we fall for the eschatological trick that peace isn't for now,...

Exodus! Movement of Jah people! We're leaving Babylon We're going to our Father's land -Bob Marley The people of God are called to a perpetual Exodus. We are always on the move -- always moving away from idolatry and injustice. This calls for an ongoing Exodus. Jah people, Jesus people, Christian citizens, are called to subordinate the interests of the Empire (the Economy) to the demands of justic...

The poetic and the prophetic are related. The poets and prophets are first cousins. Poets use artistic speech to say what cannot be said in conventional speech. The poet-prophets give us an alternative imagination -- a way of rethinking the world. Walter Brueggeman says, "Sunday morning is the practice of a counter life through counter speech." Finding God on Your iPod uses songs from contemporary...

A sermon delivered by Word of Life Church Youth Director Jacob Taylor.

The book of Philemon is a little window into the mind of an Apostle who saw the goodness of the Gospel for the whole world. In the Gospel we see God's desire for reconciliation. Human pride, greed, lust, and violence has had a way of tearing things apart. Jesus, in his reign, is bringing things back together. The reconciliation of Philemon the master and Onesimus the slave demonstrates not only Go...

The Gospel is not only for leading us to the doorway into the Kingdom of God. The Gospel is a foundation upon which we stand and it saves and shapes us as we continue to keep it central in our lives. The question is do we understand the gospel? If we misunderstand the Gospel we hear, we will misunderstand the faith we live. The Gospel found in the New Testament confronts the politics of power, the...

The true and strange story of a Scottish oil worker, a Nigerian prostitute, and the Savior who loves and does not condemn.

There are two primary conversion stories in the Book of Acts. Both are related numerous times. The first is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus from a violent persecutor of Christians to an advocate for Christ. The other is the conversion of the Apostle Peter from prejudice toward Gentiles to advocating for their full inclusion in the church. Both stories are conversions from persecution or prejudice...

In Jerusalem Paul got roped into offering sacrifice in the Temple and almost ended up being sacrificed himself! If we think that God wants sacrifice we are never far from violence. If we think God ever needed to be appeased by killing, even by killing an animal, it's not a big leap to start thinking that killing in the name of God is justified.

At the center of Christian theology and practice we find a table. The holy of holies is no longer a veiled chamber reserved for a solitary high priest, now it's a shared table to which all are invited.

Jesus had a knack for taking Old Testament subtexts and turning them into prime texts. These subtexts were always tucked away in the Hebrew scriptures in an attempt to subvert triumphalism and scapegoating. One of these subtexts is the story of Naaman. Naaman was a gentile, a Syrian, the military commander of Israel's enemy. He was also a leper who found hope and healing in the God of Israel.