Rabbit Holes & Meditations - Christian Bible Study

It's early in Jesus' 2nd year of His ministry. He is speaking to His disciples and tells them: "You are the light of the world!". You might think that's just a nice thing to say. But to the disciples who hear this, the tax collectors, the sinners, the fisherman, the reprobates by world standards, this carries some heavy artillery. Jesus! The creator of light itself just told his followers that they were the "Light of the World!".

The path of Christian discipleship, as illuminated by the Beatitudes and the witness of the apostles and Revelation, is one marked by expected persecution. However, this persecution is not a curse but a profound blessing, an affirmation of belonging to the kingdom of heaven. Whether facing overt violence in hostile nations or subtle pressures in freer societies, the call is to steadfastness, to "lose life" in daily surrender and, i...

Two words always bother me. Compromise and Tolerance. I tackled the concept of both of those within the context of this podcast. Peace never comes through brokering an agreement between good and evil (compromise) or simply turning a blind eye to the existence of evil (tolerance). 

If you thinking, OK... who defines good and evil? Well, that would be Christ. So, to even get to this point within the beatitudes, make sure you have a s...

I'm a big picture guy. I build a puzzle by looking at the picture on the box. But inevitably, if you look at the picture on the box and you try to build that set shelves that Amazon sent you in a box, inevitably, you get one piece (at least) in backwards! As we walk into the fourth beatitude, we already have the big picture, right? It's Christ! So, we let him give us the instructions, step by step, to walk in righteousness. That's ...

When we hear meek, we often think weak. But in Scripture, meekness is not weakness—it is strength under control, power surrendered to God.

Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5), echoing Psalm 37:11. The meek are not pushovers but those who wait on the Lord instead of grasping for power.

The greatest example is Christ Himself—gentle and lowly (Matt. 11:29), yet mighty enough...

The second beatitude is easy to pass over: "Blessed are those who mourn". We can get tied up in the english translation and blow right past it. The Amplified Bible translation really helps here and it presents a good example of why we should be considering other translations when something doesn't seem to make sense.

Amplified Version: “Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], f...

When you are kingdom focused, the entire prospect of what you own, your money, your wealth, the things you have diminish in comparison. Jesus' 1st beatitude helps us frame our lives around the concept of "Blessed are the poor". This podcast might hit close to home for many... we hope so. Definitely grab the notes - there is some very practical advice worth printing and practicing. 

Notes to Stewardship - Blessed Are the Poor

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In our Red-Letter Bible Study, we almost missed this. Matthew 12:15-21 begins Jesus' 2nd year in ministry. John the Baptist has just been beheaded. Jesus retreats into the wilderness (presumably to mourn and to pray). As Jesus emerges into His 2nd year, He comes with a quiet power that nobody missed... "and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all". 

Verse four then echoes the words of the Father (from Isaiah 42:1-4). ...

We've all seen the example that Jesus gave for how to pray. In our red-letter bible study, we encounter a disciple who asks Jesus to teach them how to pray. Luke 11:1-4. Rather than just go through the prayer itself, we decided to take a different approach. First, why did the Jews see what Jesus was doing to be so noticeable? How did they normally pray? It's helpful to contrast what their prayer routine was so we can see what was s...

Ok, this one got away from me, but for good reason. This podcast is more than an hour long but so worth it! We debated putting the podcast here and decided that for those who endure, you'll remember this, you'll see how the red-letter Bible study unfolds into a rich, progressive narrative and you'll be able to make much more sense of it as you follow along. 

While I think this is beneficial for all believers, I retitled the podcast...

I've often wondered about this: “It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”  Israel was chosen to be a light to the Gentiles.

This is perhaps a good place to pause on our Red-Letter journey and reflect on something that might have puzzled ...

As we continue in our Red-Letter Bible Study, we could be shadowing the Pharisees... they seem to know where Jesus is at every moment! We encounter Jesus and a band of his disciples moving to whatever their next destination is through a corn field and eating some of the grans of corn along the way. The pharisees confront them and accuse them of breaking the Sabbath law. By now, on the Red-Letter journey, we've come to expect that t...

Today's podcast is a little different. The conversation with our A.I. bot went off in a couple of different directions (my fault : ). We started with the very innocent parables of New Wine in Old Wine Skin and patching clothes with new unshrunk cloth. These parables point to the hardened hearts of the Jews and before you think this was only a problem 2000 years ago, it happened that we found in our YouTube Feed (we don't know how),...

Imagine you're out on a date, having dinner, laughing, completely immersed in the moment. Your mom walks in, looks at you and says: "Hey! What are you doing! This isn't a time for fun. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should be fasting!" That's exactly the moment we wander into here. The Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist don't see the reason for the feasting and the celebration. 

Notes for the Courtship Has Begu...