Wrestling with Theology

O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Original Broadcast: January 2010 Monthly Theme: First Commandment, Graven Images To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with Him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. (Is...

Original Broadcast: January 2010 Monthly Theme: First Commandment, Graven Images So [Jeroboam] took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." (1 Kings 12:28) Jeroboam's Calves King Jeroboam I had a problem. Sure, he was the king of the northern tribes of Israe...

Original Broadcast: January 2010 Monthly Theme: First Commandment, Graven Images Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. (1 Samuel 5:2-3) Dagon Bows Down The Philistines defeated the Israelites in...

In this week's Double Dip! episode, we have a look at current alternatives for wrestling outside the WWE. We take a brief look at NWA, MLW, Innovate, ROH, AEW and Impact. Hear an honest appraisal of each of these organizations. On Common Ground, we look at the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church as mandated by the Catechism and the Pope. How does that structure help or hurt the Roman Church? Ho...

Original Broadcast: January 2010 Monthly Theme: First Commandment, Graven Images Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand." (Judges 16:23) Destruction of Dagon Samson had been captured by the Philistines. His head had been shaved and his strength was gone. The Philistines...

Original Broadcast: January 2010 Monthly Theme: First Commandment, Graven Images Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware let you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves. (Deuteronomy 4:15-16) "You Saw No Form" Moses gives the all important understanding for the prohibition against worshipping graven images. On the top...

Original Broadcast: January 2010 Monthly Theme: First Commandment, Graven Images [Aaron said:] "I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." (Exodus 32:24) The Cow "Moses, I swear to you, this calf just jumped out of the fire! I thought it was a sign from God!" Can't you just hear the conversation between Moses a...

Original Broadcast: January 2010 Monthly Theme: First Commandment, Graven Images You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (Exodus 20:4) Graven Images God's prohibition is clear. No images are allowed to be worshipped. Moses made images--including cherubim and bronze...

Original Broadcast: December 2009 Monthly Theme: First Commandment For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. (Hebrews 3:4) God the Builder Many movies contain a scene of the Manhattan skyline with all the skyscrapers. We look at the magnificent buildings and marvel. What great minds dreamed up some of those massive towers? The writer to the Hebrews speaks about gre...

Original Broadcast: December 2009 Monthly Theme: First Commandment [Jesus said:] "And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3) "Only True God" There is only one God. Only through faith in the one true God can you have eternal life. It's not enough to believe that there is only one God. You also must believe that He sent Jesus Chri...

Can we call the Triune God the Demiurge? How does the resurrection form our lives as individual Christians as well as Christian congregations? How does the phoenix figure into the picture of the resurrection? These questions and more are wrestled with as we look through chapters 20-25 of 1 Clement.

Original Broadcast: December 2009 Monthly Theme: First Commandment [Jesus said:] "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24) Two Masters It's hard for two people to sit in a chair with arms. Sitting on one another's lap helps makes the situation more uncomf...

Original Broadcast: December 2009 Monthly Theme: First Commandment "I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols." (Isaiah 42:8) God Doesn't Share One of the many things we try to teach our children is the ability to share. We try and we try, but sometimes that doesn't happen. They don't want to share. Unfortunately, they have a most wonderful role mod...

Original Broadcast: December 2009 Monthly Theme: First Commandment Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5) "Trust in the LORD" God has made Himself known to us. He has revealed His wisdom to us in His Word. His desire is that we trust His Word. He "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). Coming...

Original Broadcast: December 2009 Monthly Theme: First Commandment The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims His handiwork. (Psalm 19:1) God's Glory God's glory shines through everything He does. We look at the great things He has done throughout history: the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the Crossing of the Red Sea. We should also look at His most glorious creations: each other. Th...

Original Broadcast: December 2009 Monthly Theme: First Commandment Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4) One God The first creed of the Israelites stresses the unity and the oneness of God. Throughout history, man has tried to figure out God. Throughout history, man has placed many labels and limitations on God. Many cannot fathom the idea of one all-powerful being w...

We cover the end of the Exodus event and Israel's expulsion from Egypt. We wrestle with the questions that the Exodus brings up this week: * What is the theological significance of the firstborn? * How many people left Egypt in the Exodus? Were they all Israelites? * How does the Passover and Exodus link to our liturgical worship today? * How does Israel deal with foreigners who seek to belong to...

Original Broadcast: November 2009 Monthly Theme: Judah's Kings [Jehoshaphat] gave [his sons] great gifts of silver, gold and valuable possessions ... but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. When Jehoram had ascended the throne ... he killed all his brothers with the sword. (2 Chronicles 21:3-4) Loving Brother What a loving brother Jehoram was! His allotted inheritance as...

Original Broadcast: November 2009 Monthly Theme: Judah's Kings And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD." (2 Chronicles 18:4) Too Good To Be True Jehoshaphat, Asa's son, allied himself in marriage with King Ahab of Israel. During one of their alliance meetings, Ahab talks Jehoshaphat into battle against Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat, who "walked in the earli...

Original Broadcast: November 2009 Monthly Theme: Judah's Kings [Azariah said to Asa:] "The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." (2 Chronicles 15:2) Seek and Find It's the basic understanding of life. If you seek something, you will find it. If you forsake something, it is forsaken. This is kinda the basic i...

Original Broadcast: November 2009 Monthly Theme: Judah's Kings And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done. (1 Kings 15:11) Asa vs Idols It's the fourth generation of the Davidic kingdom and we FINALLY get to someone who does what is right. Asa put away the idols that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had put up in Jerusalem and the surrounding area...

The second half of the look at the marriage of priests. God created humans as sexual beings, seeking relationship with each other. He ordained marriage to house the proper use of those urges. No one is able to demand that anyone give up this genetic wiring. However, that's exactly what has happened in the Roman Catholic Church. Should priests be allowed to marry? Will that fix the problems in the...

Original Broadcast: November 2009 Monthly Theme: Judah's Kings Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. (1 Kings 15:4-5) A Lamp is Given David was a man after God's own heart. Solomon his son turned his heart away from the LORD. Rehoboam his son d...

Original Broadcast: November 2009 Monthly Theme: Judah's Kings [Shishak] took away everything. (1 Kings 14:26) Shishak Four years after tearing the kingdom apart by taking the bad advice, Rehoboam faces an outside threat. Pharaoh Shishak attacked Jerusalem and took EVERYTHING from the Temple--the Temple Solomon built. Rehoboam replaced the stolen golden shields his father made with bronze shields...