Tell you what…

If you want to see up close and oh-so-personal the heart of Jesus, look no further than this PODCAST’S passage here in Mark 9.

You are about to see a side of Jesus that is both breathtaking to behold, and irresistible to consider. A high definition video of Jesus that says so much even though it emerges from one very short story.

Perhaps the best place to begin our discussion is here: I love the disciples. I absolutely love the disciples. More to the point, I love how the Gospel writers consistently give to us a brutally honest, utterly unvarnished series of snapshots of exactly who these guys were. And how these guys thought and acted and reacted to each and every situation in which they found themselves.

I love them because to read their stories, to get into their minds and hearts, to understand struggles of their souls, all of that floods my own soul with copious amounts of hope. The hope that if Jesus could love men such as these (and He did!), He can love me too; He can love you too.

Which is precisely the point of this week’s podcast.

If ever the disciples deserved a stinging rebuke, here it is, in bold font and living color. Yet, amazingly, no rebuke was given. Even though I know that the disciples’ words, spoken behind Jesus’ back, must have hurt Him enormously. Even though their discussion unveiled the darkest sides of their souls, exposing a monster that dwells within each of our hearts. A monster which we must deliberately and regularly hold in check, lest he break free and wreak havoc in our lives, and in the lives of those around us.

The monster to which I refer? Take a listen, and you will find out.

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.

God bless you as you listen.

Get ready to grow some goosebumps as you listen to this PODCAST.

I am away speaking at one of my all-time favorite places on the planet. So yes, this is an Encore Podcast. But don’t let that stop you from listening. This is one of the most INSIGHTFUL and EYE-OPENING studies we have had in our Jesus in HD series.

Consider this your very own personalized tour, with me as your humble tour guide, as together we travel the storied streets of the Via Dolorosa. A short walk riddled with “Ah Ha” moments, too many to count!

Enjoy. And may God bless you richly as you listen.

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.

My goal in this PODCAST? Simple: To keep you out of jail. 

Yes, this story in Matthew 17 is THAT positively practical.

It’s interesting to me that of the four Gospel writers (for reasons that we’ll get into in the podcast), only Matthew records this particular story about (of all things) an obscure Old Testament reference to an otherwise obtuse Moses-mandated responsibility, one that Jesus had apparently overlooked or outright rejected.

It’s not surprising to me that Matthew records this. But given the significance of the story, and its practical implications for our lives today, it is very surprising to me that none of the other Gospel writers makes any reference to this curious little episode.

An ever-so-brief snapshot into the life/heart of Jesus.

There’s quite a lot going on here. So we’ll now pick it apart and see what it all meant to Jesus back then, and what it means to us today.

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.

God bless you as you listen.

Defining moments.

There aren’t many of these throughout the course of someone’s lifetime. But when they occur, as you will hear in this PODCAST, they are utterly unforgettable.

We are talking about game-changing moments; history-altering moments; LIFE-altering moments.

Rare snapshots of seminal events, frozen in time, after which your world will never be the same again.

Welcome to one such defining moment, courtesy of Jesus, after which the disciples — three of them — were never the same again.

And maybe, just maybe, after considering this spectacularly significant sequence of events, with all of its ramifications for our world today… Maybe, just maybe, we too won’t ever be the same. Let’s find out.

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.

God bless you as you listen.

Jesus was a revolutionary on so many, many levels.

I am away at one of my all-time favorite places on earth — Hartland Christian Camp — speaking to the best High School students you’d ever want to meet. But don’t let that stop you from listening.

As you will hear in this PODCAST, Jesus was never afraid to break with convention and go with something that was totally counter-cultural to the times in which He lived, and to the religious tradition to which He belonged.

It is both my sincere hope and confident belief that you will find in this lesson much refreshment for your soul, especially if you are a female.

The time has come for us to — courtesy of Jesus — balance the books that have been so out of balance for so long in so much of our present-day Christian culture.

Please remember that depending upon your connection speed and web browser, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.God bless you as you listen. And PLEASE “Share” this with your family and friends if you do indeed find it to be an encouragement to your soul.

For all of you End Times enthusiasts, this one’s for you!

Welcome to an epic day in the lives of the disciples as a whole, and Peter in particular.

As you are about to hear in the PODCAST, Peter was a guy who in the blink of an eye rose to the dizzying heights of declaring the very words of God, only to plunge into the abyss of speaking the very words of Satan, and from there to receive from Jesus what could arguably be described as one of the most precious promises Peter or we could ever imagine.

All this in the space of just a few hours/minutes.

From all outward appearances, Jesus and the disciples were fighting a losing battle. By this time into Jesus’ ministry (2½ years into it, with only 7 months or so before the crucifixion), He and disciples were but a not-so-merry band of 13 men.

They were reeling from their resounding rejection at the hands it seemed of everyone. Jesus in particular was at this very moment both a political and religious refugee. The Romans under Antipas’ command were hunting Him; the religious leaders led by the Jerusalem rabbis were hounding Him.

All was lost, or so it seemed.

Just like it might seem that all is lost to us today. That our nation’s precipitous plunge into a moral abyss is now irreversible, dishearteningly so.

So to boost His disciples’ sagging spirits (and ours!), Jesus took His men on a most unlikely road-trip to a most unlikely place. A field trip that was carefully choreographed to fortify His disciples with the quiet confidence that when all the dust settles, they win; and so do we. A men’s retreat during which Jesus systematically laid out for His men a remarkable roadmap of His final months here on earth. A glimpse into His plan, one that directly impacted the lives of His 12 men; one that equally impacts our own lives today.

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.

God bless you as you listen!