All in Bible

346 Boxing the Holy Spirit

346 Boxing the Holy Spirit

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Spirituality

Most Christians worship a binity: Father and Son, and that's when their binity isn't merely Jesus and the Bible! The Holy Spirit routinely gets boxed up, put away, and ignored. Functionally, He is the Cinderella of the Trinity: only brought out on special occasions, like a baptismal service: "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." But the Scriptures, Old and New, have much to teach us about the third person of the Trinity. I expore how the New Testament builds upon but then expands what the Old Testament revealed about the Spirit. I also work through 5 different ways the Church (and culture) box up the Holy Spirit, keep him on the back shelf. Let's prayerfully welcome the dynamic, creative, and beautiful work of God's Holy Spirit into our lives!

336 Necessary Discriminations (1) Judgment Lo Malo y Lo Bueno

336 Necessary Discriminations (1) Judgment Lo Malo y Lo Bueno

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Current Events, Discernment

Jesus said, "do not judge lest ye be judged." And that settles it: we should never judge, right? Well, actually, no. In the same chapter—Matthew 7—where Jesus starts out by forbidding judgment he positively calls us to make several judgments: bad vs. good fruit, wolves vs. sheep, wide vs. narrow gates, bad vs. good fathers, foundations of rock vs. foundations of sand. So the notion that he banned all judgment is simply silly. In this first-of-a-series episode I unpack Jesus' teaching on good judgment: discernment. We also clarify the bad judgment he was banning. 

329 RfYtB (4) 2am Mozart?, Parsing the word 'Faith'

329 RfYtB (4) 2am Mozart?, Parsing the word 'Faith'

Uncensored Unprofessor
Reasons for Your Belief, Bible, Spirituality

This episode's content in order: a Sawtooth mountain campfire conversation; a from-the-future newscast; recognizing patterns; prayer to wake and shake; how to play it when you're outmatched in a conversation; carefully defining the meaning of faith; faith as Holy Spirit-ual attunement; the Jesus Seminar on Gospel manuscripts; and, the bulk of textual evidence behind the New Testament. Please, come think and laugh with me!

327 RfYtB (2) Normal Doubting? Biblical Authority?

327 RfYtB (2) Normal Doubting? Biblical Authority?

Uncensored Unprofessor
Reasons for Your Belief, Bible

Reasons for You to Believe, #2. Is the version of the Bible we have in English accurate? In ancient history was it, as some scholars assert, ever taken and manipulated? I begin working through the process—the canonization process—of how we came to have our Bible. Also tackled in this episode: a) is it okay to have some doubts about the Christian faith? b) what is the perfect argument that precedes faith in God? c) what was Jesus' own Bible? and, d) a new election season UN-song!

324 Secular vs. Sacred (14) Bodies and Wills

324 Secular vs. Sacred (14) Bodies and Wills

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Human Bodies, Sex, Christian Worldview, Secular vs. Sacred

What does it mean to be human? The orthodox Christian worldview teaches we are embodied souls; not souls trapped in bodies, not spirits doomed to earth, but integrated, each valuable. The Postmodern secular worldview now holds we are consumers; choice is the exercise of willpower and nothing—especially others—should interfere with the exercise of one's own choice. The body, with all its appendages, is thus the both vehicle of consumer-choice and something to be used up, at will. In the first 12 minutes I talk, from Psalms 106, about the continual presence of God. Come think and laugh with me!

321 Secular vs. Sacred (11) Gutting Evangelical Minds

321 Secular vs. Sacred (11) Gutting Evangelical Minds

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Christian Worldview, Current Events, Knowledge, Spirituality, Secular vs. Sacred

If it's hard to look back on one's personal history it's doubly hard to do that concerning group history. But to that end I unpack American Evangelicalism's trio of emphases: conversion as a subjective experience, turning pastors into celebrities, and a hyper-individualistic expression of Christian life. All three are two-edged blades, having both healthy and injurious qualities that help (or not) us navigate turbulent times. I also start the show with a prayer for broken relationships. Come laugh and think with me!

319 Secular vs. Sacred (9) When Darwinism Drowns

319 Secular vs. Sacred (9) When Darwinism Drowns

Uncensored Unprofessor
Sciency-Y Stuff, Why Does Morality Matter?, Jordan Peterson, Bible, Current Events, Secular vs. Sacred

Darwinism asserts there is no there-there. Life's just the product of random chance. And so, life is inherently meaningless and empty. But most Darwinists, even in our crazy PoMo society, cannot live inside such emptiness or meaninglessness. Drowning in emptiness but still hearing the echo of morality in their souls, what do they do? They make leaps of faith, leaps of faith that defy the cold-emptiness of Darwinian philosophy. Even, I'm sad to say, even Jordan Peterson makes such faith-leaps. How so?

317 Secular vs. Sacred (7) Hang Yer Hat On These Two Truths

317 Secular vs. Sacred (7) Hang Yer Hat On These Two Truths

Uncensored Unprofessor
Jesus, Bible, Sciency-Y Stuff, Christian Worldview, Current Events, Secular vs. Sacred

What are the two central truths upon which I hang my own hat of belief? Importantly, both truths are rooted in history, fact, reality. The dogma of Lord Secularism says that the universe, for no discernible purpose, produced complex life; but there is no meaning to life. The Lord of creation sings that the cosmos is sated with beauty, love, and purpose; that life is grounded in meaning. Across these two diverse worldviews I search for answers. (Oh, and I also sing a Beatles song with new lyrics about top-level bribery.) Come laugh and think with me!

313 Secular vs. Sacred (3) Mangling Marriage, Fracturing Family

313 Secular vs. Sacred (3) Mangling Marriage, Fracturing Family

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Christian Worldview, Current Events, The Common Good, Secular vs. Sacred

I enjoy listening to Sirius XM radio. They have a couple comedy stations that crack me up. But when a comedian starts shredding marriage, "that ol' ball and chain!", I flip the channel. They are, like most of society, captured by the secular view of marriage as an impediment, an occlusion, an unnecessary obligation. I explore how philosophers' ideas creep into popular culture, and then how that shapes our views of both marriage and family. We also unpack the biblical view of marriage. The contrast between the secular and the sacred on marriage and family is stark indeed!

312 Secular vs. Sacred (2) Real Jobs in the Real World

312 Secular vs. Sacred (2) Real Jobs in the Real World

Uncensored Unprofessor
Christian Worldview, Bible, Current Events, Secular vs. Sacred

Most Protestants are products of the secular-sacred split. We believe there are realms that belong solely to God (our hearts, church, prayer, bible reading, evangelism) and realms that belong to not-God (our minds, and every single thing else in life!). No wonder then we do life mostly as do secularists. Worse still, we have jobs that we believe are less-than fully Christian. How to rectify this? Bring healing to this bad philosophy? I also talk about how a recent Jordan Peterson speaking engagement impacted me. And I discuss what to do about your non-Christian, even Christ-hating, friends and family.

311 Secular vs. Sacred (1) Pulling Back the Curtain

311 Secular vs. Sacred (1) Pulling Back the Curtain

Uncensored Unprofessor
Christian Worldview, Beauty, Bible, Human Bodies, Secular vs. Sacred

Unaware, most Christians do life through a secular-sacred prism. We believe there are arenas that are isolated to the secular and others given to the sacred. Along similar lines we believe there things reserved for our minds to do and other, more private things, for our hearts to do. None of this is biblical and none of it is helpful. Most Christian colleges fall prey to this same schism and all politicians are chained to the secular-sacred split. In this ground-laying episode I clarify my own presuppositions and define important terms. Come think and laugh with me!

304 Prophets as Ancient Comedians, Masking NYT, Return of Ancient gods

304 Prophets as Ancient Comedians, Masking NYT, Return of Ancient gods

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Christian Worldview, Cult of the Now, The Spiritual World

Shotgunned UU topics: quickest thing in the world, prayer for a young couple, praying with biblical words, the result of the Twitter hearings, pastor Timothy Keller's third way reflection, comedic humor and ancient prophets, our having attended a live Babylon Bee show, uncomfortable truths about EVs, social contagions in history, cell-phone culture, a NYTimes article about masks, tone-splaining, Deacon Calvin Robinson's Oxford speech, the strategy inside the Russian gulag, and secular-Jew Naomi Wolf's reflections on the spirits at work in America. Come think and laugh with me!

303 Shotgun: State Hatred, UFOs, Healing the Racial Divide

303 Shotgun: State Hatred, UFOs, Healing the Racial Divide

Uncensored Unprofessor
Current Events, Bible, Christian Worldview, The Common Good

Under Joseph Stalin there was intense hatred from the State toward the Russian citizenry. Today we are witnessing the same here in America. How did that then, and how does that today, manifest? I also variously work through what I think about UFOs, the Southern Poverty Law Center's having targeted Latin Rite Catholics, the effects of tolerance, and why the Church needs to put critical-cooperation into practice. Come think theologically and laugh heartily with me! 

302 Who Hates the Atonement?, Relaxed Evangelism

302 Who Hates the Atonement?, Relaxed Evangelism

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Christian Worldview, Current Events, Why Does Morality Matter?

My friends grew concerned when their church changed its vocabulary and stopped preaching both forgiveness of sin and Jesus as sacrificial Savior. It made me wonder, who hates the atonement and why? Was it really only St. Paul who emphasized Jesus' atoning death? In this episode I also discuss Adam Curry's presence on Joe Rogan's podcast, whether tolerance is a Christian virtue, recent revelations about January 6, and I share poignant things I've learned reading The Gulag Archipelago. Come think and laugh with me!

301 Me: Hypocrite & Theologian, Why Biblical Influence Endures

301 Me: Hypocrite & Theologian, Why Biblical Influence Endures

Uncensored Unprofessor
Eds Personal, Bible, Current Events

What drove me to becoming a theologian? How did my youth play into that? What is the benefit of being a sinner? I also comment on several contemporary events including the Nordstream 2 pipeline explosion, the acquittal of Mark Houck, La County's deadliest-ever shooting, and local Spudlandia news stations' calls to end misinformation. If this epoch is the devil's punchbowl, what is our calling? Along the way I reflect on why it is that the bible endures, what is different about it compared to other books. Come think and laugh with me!

300 Anti-Sloganeering, Sisyphus You, Theological Amnesia

300 Anti-Sloganeering, Sisyphus You, Theological Amnesia

Uncensored Unprofessor
Christian Worldview, Bible, Jesus

Shotgun: prayer for sore throats (w/a gross story), 300th episode!, why I don't like slogans or live according to pet slogans, my regular and constant prayers, Facebook's "most relevant" listings, Australian heart attack numbers, who Trump blamed for the 2022 election slotch, Dr. Russ Spittler's death, and you carrying the weight of the world. The last half of the show is spent on examining Jesus vis-å-vis Jewish tradition. The gloss goes that Jesus hated religion, stood against Jewish tradition, and offered a free-floating spirituality. More carefully? Well, we take a look.

299 God's Salvation Strategy; Tradition—Democracy of the Dead

299 God's Salvation Strategy; Tradition—Democracy of the Dead

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Christian Worldview, Jesus

Concerning how God worked (works) in history, what is the constant biblical pattern? Will everyone be saved no matter what? Will only the pure in heart be saved? I examine both Genesis and John to discern the biblical template. Along the way I variously pray for children who have spurned the faith, teach about prayer using ancient words, note G.K. Chesterton's definition of tradition, muse aloud about a-historical and rootless believers, and work through some theological humor. Come think and laugh with me.

298 Hypocritical Jesus?, Color and Beauty

298 Hypocritical Jesus?, Color and Beauty

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Beauty, Jesus

In this shotgun podcast I work through Jesus and his take on tradition, whether or how Christianity is a tradition, the strange phenomenon of Christians who don't want to be Christian, a prayer for traumatized folks, how teaching college compared to teaching adult Sunday School, what kinds of things will keep the Statist government from finally overwhelming the citizenry, and beauty. God loves beauty! In a sharing act he gave us beauty to love, too! Come e-hang out with me for a while and enjoy some laughter! 

296 "He Gets Us," Cessationism, God and Distinctions

296 "He Gets Us," Cessationism, God and Distinctions

Uncensored Unprofessor
Christian Worldview, Current Events, Bible, Jesus

In this shotgun episode I discuss the ongoing "He Gets Us" tv ads. What are they about? From whom did they come? What critical elements do they omit? I also work through the Reformed perspective of Cessationism: that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased when the apostles died out. Is that true, accurate, or theologically helpful? Then I work through the whys and whats of the Christian worldview on distinctions. What is the theological root for all those distinctions? What does distinct mean for us today? Along the way I mix in irony and humor. Come think and laugh with me!

291 Shotgun: Catholicity, Wisdom, & Third Way Churches

291 Shotgun: Catholicity, Wisdom, & Third Way Churches

Uncensored Unprofessor
Advent, Bible, Christian Worldview, Current Events, Is God Nice?

Most people today hear "Catholicism" and they think the Pope or veneration of Mary or the Vatican. But what was the original definition of Catholicity? What might that ancient notion suggest for Christian relationships today? Then I share-reflect a reading from an Advent service wherein I participated. And finally I explore the growing movement of Third Way Christianity. I assess the motives and explain the cultural failure of Third Way Churches. Come laugh and think with me!

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