Bible in Life

Everything Your Heart Desires | A Reflective Walk through Ephesians 1:15-22  

Meaning. Purpose. True riches. Power. These are the things that every person longs for. In Ephesians 1:15-22, the apostle Paul prays that we would see that we have these very things in Christ.  

Ephesians 1:15-22

15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and y...

A Blessed Life Now, with More to Come | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 3  

Ephesians 1:3-14 contains Paul's prayer of thanksgiving and praise for all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. By listening to it, we learn what Paul's idea of a blessed life is. We also see that what God has given us in Christ speaks deeply to our human longing for meaning and value and we learn that as blessed as we already are i...

How to Grow in Faith  

A regular listener to The Listener's Commentary asked me this question: do you have any resources to help me grow in faith? Or have you discussed it on the Bible in Life podcast? This is such an important question, so I wanted to offer a few thoughts on this episode. 

Faith is confidence in and loyalty to God. It is based on who God is, what he has said, and what he has promised. 

Faith is...

Living In Christ | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 2

Ephesians 1:3-14

In Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul praises God for all that He has done for us in Christ. He refers to it as "every spiritual blessing." In doing so, he highlights that our life as Christians is lived "in Christ." In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we reflect what it means to live an in Christ life and offer three suggestions for cultivating ongoing un...

Learning Theology Must Lead to Lived Theology | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 1

In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we begin a reflective walk through Ephesians by reflecting on what the structure of Ephesians teaches us about the relationship between theology and practical life. 

Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible: 

https://www.johnwhittaker.net

Following Jesus is Not Complicated 

The Lord has been reminding me again of late that following Jesus isn’t really complicated. It’s not easy... that's true. But it’s also not confusing and complicated. I think part of the reason this has struck me of late is because of all the books and all the podcasts and all the content I encounter that it seems like we’re muddying the waters and making following Je...

Giving People a Chance to Love the Bible, with special guest Matt Whitman 

This episode of the Bible in Life podcast features special guest Matt Whitman of the Ten Minute Bible Hour. In a free wheeling conversation, Matt and I talk about the church and ministry and teaching people the Bible. 

And Matt's new book The Lightning-Fast Field Guide to the Bible (which you can find here). 

All of this deals with taking the ...

What was it like to be a Jew in Jesus' day? | Real World of the Gospels, pt. 

In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we wrap up our series on the real world of the gospels by exploring a few key features of Jewish belief and practice in Jesus' day. Their religious identity gave them a strong social identity. Things like circumcision, clean and unclean foods, and ritual purity marked them out as distinct. 

Not only ...

Money, Finance, and Making a Living in Jesus' Day | Real World of the Gospels, pt. 5

What's a denarius? What's a drachma? What's a talent? How did people people make a living and what was the local economy like in Jesus' day?

In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we look at the world of money, finance, and making a living the gospels. This episode was inspired by a question emailed in from a listener. 

Fr...

Where in the world was Jesus? - Geography | World of the Gospels, pt. 4  

Reading the Bible is like taking a trip to a foreign country in a time machine. And one of the things that means is that, whether we like it or not, we're going to have to learn some geography. 

So in this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we consider the basic geography for the life and ministry of Jesus. 

Free 30 Page e...

Were the Pharisees really the bad guys?  

Who were the Pharisees? Ask that question in a Bible study at pretty much any church and you’re likely to hear answers like:

“Hypocrites.” 

“Legalists” 

“Self-righteous religious leaders who opposed Jesus.” 

In short, the Pharisees are the “bad guys....

The Real World of the Gospels, pt. 2 | Roman Occupation  

The Jewish world Jesus lived in was a world under foreign occupation. The Romans were in charge, and from the Jewish perspective, Roman occupation meant the exile wasn’t completely over. And that brought new realities and new tensions. 

In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we explore both the blessings and curses of the Roman presence in Galilee...

The Real World of the Gospels, pt. 1 | History and Backstory 

When you turn the page from Malachi to Matthew, 400 years have passed. Much has happened to the Jews and life hasn't been easy. Centuries of foreign occupation. Generations have come and gone longing and aching for God to act. Yet the heavens seem silent. When will God fulfill his promise to Abraham and all his glorious promises in the prophets? 

This is the wo...

Spiritual Drift - Doug's Story

Spiritual drift is a real possibility for any one of us. Our faith becomes second nature. Then routine. Then blah. And then ...

Apathy creeps in, slowly but persistently until we find ourselves distant and disconnected from God. 

In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, I share the story of a regular listener who grew up going to church, was saved at 11, and never didn't consider himself a C...

Bonus Episode: Serving Jesus in Yukon Territory, with Jeremy Norton 

In this special episode of the Bible in Life podcast John shares part of his conversation with Jeremy Norton, a pastor in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Jeremy has seen many people come to Christ through his ministry in Whitehorse. 

To learn more about Jeremy, visit https://www.leadbiblically.com/

And to check out his new book titled Meeting Jesus:...

Why does it seem like the Spirit fails to transform some people? 

In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we think through a question sent in by a listener who asked, why does it seem like the Spirit fails to transform some people? We explore:

• the tension of the already-not yet
• our need to partner with the Spirit
• the importance of recognizing that we all start at different places 
• the failure of the Church in t...

Set Your Mind on the Things of the Spirit | Life in the Spirit, pt. 6  

One of the keys to life in the Spirit is what we allow to fill and occupy our minds. The apostle Paul writes, "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spir...

The Lord's Supper and the Last Supper 

Christians of all kinds regularly celebrate the Lord's Supper or Communion or the Eucharist. Jesus instituted this commemorative meal during what has come to be known as the Last Supper, a Passover meal He celebrated with his disciples the night before his crucifixion. In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we look at the original setting and historical background to the Lord's Sup...

Praying in the Spirit | Life in the Spirit, pt. 5 

How does the Holy Spirit help us pray? What does it mean to pray in the Spirit? 

Ephesians 6:18

"With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints"

Romans 8:26-27

 Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray f...