Monthly Archives: October 2014

Welcome to Parable #1.

That’s right! In this PODCAST, we begin in earnest now to understand Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13.

Oh, you’re in for a treat. Because this first parable, just like the eight that will follow it, speak directly to our lives at this time, in this place, in our day, today.

This is as personal as it gets.

Jesus now shifts His focus completely, from talking to the crowds of His day, about the many challenges that they faced, to talking directly to us in our day, about the many challenges that we each face today.

I cannot stress enough the absolute importance of understanding these parables. Neither could Jesus, who begins this first parable with the word, “Listen.” And then ends the parable by referencing those of us who do indeed “listen and understand.”

In this podcast, we will do both — listen and understand.

Please note that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play. God bless you as you listen.

Mothers, think back to what it was like when you gave birth to your firstborn child – the fears, the insecurities, the feelings of inadequacy.

Now imagine that when you did give birth, it was not in the clinical cleanliness of a hospital room or birthing center.

Imagine you were in a cave, dark and alone, unsanitary to the extreme, no nurse, doctor, or midwife to help you, and you are all of 13 or 15 years old, in what was essentially a foreign country, away from your family, with only your fiancé to help you.

Add to all of that the political climate of the world Mary was living in – a world of crushing oppression fueled by a brutal and barbaric military occupation.

Furthermore, if we discover nothing else from the birth narratives in both Matthew and Luke, we at least learn this: There are some people in this world who are without a doubt the very incarnation of evil.

Such was the power of Rome, and so was the person of Herod.

From this point on in all four Gospels, every miracle that Jesus performs, every lesson that Jesus teaches, every person whom Jesus meets, every action that Jesus completes will all be done under the watchful and wary eyes of Rome, the imperial power to whom Herod had sold his soul.

With that in mind, can we even begin to imagine the world into which Mary gave birth to her son?

You will learn so much more about that world as you listen to this podcast.

PLEASE NOTE: With some browsers, it may take up to 60 seconds before the podcast will begin to play.

You’ve perhaps heard his name — a rather strange name at that!

His name is Job. The man who had it all, only to have it all taken away.

As you will hear in this PODCAST, in the blink of his eye, everything changed. And not for the better.

The book of Job poses for us a number of VERY IMPORTANT questions:

Why did such unspeakable things happen to such a godly man?

Why did God let it happen?

Why did God give permission to Satan to torment Job as he did?

What (if any) was God’s purpose behind it all?

What are WE supposed to learn from his story — about our lives, about our circumstances, about our painful challenges, and about our God?

What does the story have to do with our ongoing study of Jesus in HD?

All of these questions, and so many more, will be addressed in this podcast.

Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.

May God bless you richly as you listen, and share this most meaningful message with your loved ones and friends.