For reasons that I won’t go into now, not that long ago I suffered a crisis of faith. I don’t say those words lightly. There is absolutely nothing clichéd about them. Not when they come from my heart to yours.

To state it simply: I DESPERATELY need to rediscover who Jesus was, who Jesus is.

So, with a close group of friends surrounding me (lovingly known as my Safe Haven family), I embarked on what has proven to be an incredible journey of discovery of the Jesus of the Bible — beginning with His birth (to last week where, ironically, Jesus tenderly and lovingly restored John the Baptizer’s faith after he suffered a faith-crisis of his own).

What we have been discovering is that the Jesus of the New Testament is nothing like the Jesus that I thought I knew. The portrait painted of Jesus in the Bible is nothing like the depictions of Jesus I had heard for so many years in church or Sunday school.

Most importantly, the Jesus of the Scriptures is nothing like the distortions of Jesus that are too often demonstrated to the world through the lives of so many of His so-called followers.

The fruit of this study? My faith has literally come roaring back. My love for Jesus is sweeter, deeper, richer than it has been in years.

So I humbly invite you to join the journey with us. Every message (to date, 80 of them) is recorded and posted online. You can jump in anywhere (though I’d recommend starting at the beginning). You can travel this trail at your own pace. I simply ask that like me, you come without any preconceived ideas of whom you think Jesus is. Together, we’ll let the Gospel writers paint the portrait for us.

HERE’S THE LINK to the entire (and growing by the week!) archive of every study, free downloads each. 

And if iTunes is your thing, HERE’S THE LINK to that too.

I would LOVE to have you join this incredible journey with us, and maybe — just maybe — fall deeper in love with Him too.

When we last left our old friend, John the Baptizer, his faith was in a free-fall.

He was here last week, sort of, to tell you his scintillating story in his own words. (If you have not heard that PODCAST, may I respectfully request that you listen? A story that I promise you, you will never forget.)

Think of it. John… The man whose coming was predicted by the prophets… Whose birth was foretold by an angel… Who identified and introduced Jesus to the world…

John the Baptizer didn’t believe in Jesus any more.

His situation was dire, languishing as he was in Antipas’ Dead-Sea-Side prison (on Eastern side of Dead Sea), his life literally dangling by a thread. The madman Antipas holding in his bloodstained hands the frayed ends of that thread…

Tormented, no doubt John was, by the unobstructed view he had of his boyhood home, directly across the Dead Sea on its Western shore, adopted and raised as John was by Essenes of Qumran…

John had to have THE answer to his doubt-fueled, double-edged question, and only Jesus was the only one who could provide the answer that he (and sometimes we) sought.

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John the Baptizer is, by his own admission, a walking contradiction.

As you will hear in this PODCAST, he had a remarkable beginning, and yet in the end a dismal crash and burn.

Simply put, if I may so blunt, during the darkest hour of his now-troubled life, John the Baptizer (if you can believe it) didn’t believe in Jesus anymore.

His is quite the story to tell. But as you will hear me say, it is John’s story to tell, not my story to tell. So, if you can employ a little sanctified imagination, I will do my best to be true to John’s story, and respectful of John’s memory, as I sort of try to “become” (if I can put it that way) John the Baptizer, and tell you his story in the first person, as if I am John.

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HAPPY LISTENING.

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God bless you as you listen.

It happened in the no-nothing little town called Nain.

Why there? Why to that woman? What was the point?

And most importantly, as you will learn in the PODCAST, what does this teach us about the nature, character, and heart of God?

His heart towards me. More significantly, His heart towards YOU!

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In so many of our past podcasts in our Jesus in HD study, we have examined many of the things that Jesus did.

In this PODCAST, we will take a good long look at something Jesus NEVER did.

WWJND? What Would Jesus NEVER Do? Certainly not this!!! Jesus NEVER did this. When you discover what He never did, you’ll be so eternally grateful that He never did. And never will. Not to you. Not to anyone.

And because He never did this, we love Him, and admire Him, and aspire to be like Him all the more.

You will find this to be so endearing a study that I cannot wait for you to get into it.

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I cannot begin to tell you how grieved I am. Grieved about a statement recently released by a nationally known and respected pastor who, in response to a question by a parent asking for advice on how to treat an adult child who has just come out as gay…

…told the parent based upon Matthew 18 that the parents should shun their son or daughter.

Yes! Shun them! Shun them even to the point of isolating them, separating themselves from their child, turning the child over to Satan (No, I’m not kidding. Nor am I exaggerating), and refusing even to eat with him or her.

Would someone tell me please who Jesus ever shunned?

Is this REALLY what Jesus taught in Matthew 18?

NO!!!

This is what Jesus taught in Matthew 18:

Jesus was a master-builder, a trained and professional artisan, a teknon, a worker in wood and stone.

As you will hear in this PODCAST, Jesus knew all about soil, sand, rock, and proper foundations on which a house can stand strong and secure against floods and winds.

So the question becomes, on what foundation are you and I building our lives? I urge you — but infinitely more importantly, Jesus urges you — to build on this foundation:

Fact is, storms can be devastating. Especially the storms to which Jesus referred. They hit fast and furious — unexpected, unwanted, unwelcome, unavoidable, and utterly devastating. Whether or not we stand strong and secure in our storms depends on our foundation. Learn all about building a firm foundation here.

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HAPPY LISTENING!!!

They say that confession is good for the soul. So here goes: I confess that I’m feeling terribly conflicted about the passage we discuss in this PODCAST.

On the one hand, this is as sober and serious as it gets, Jesus’ climax to His signature sermon.

Yet on the other hand, I find myself strangely comforted by His words. Comforted because they explain SO MUCH of what we see done today in Jesus’ name.

If you know of anyone who has some mental obstacles to understanding who Jesus is, THIS is the message for them to hear.

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God bless you as you listen.

The Apostle Paul died a very troubled man.

As did Peter. As did John. As did Jude.

Know why? They shared the same concern. The identically same concern that Jesus addressed rather pointedly here in this PODCAST.

Rather than speak for Apostles Paul, Peter, John, and Pastor Jude, I’ll let them speak for themselves. And as you hear them, please know that they are speaking to us.

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