My Only Comfort (Sermon) – Ash Wednesday 2012

FromJesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith

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My Only Comfort (Sermon) – Ash Wednesday 2012

FromJesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith

ratings:

Length:

16 minutes

Released:

Feb 28, 2012

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Why I hate Ash Wednesday, the illegality of death in Irvine, and the comfort of Psalm 23.

Released:

Feb 28, 2012

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

One pastor's attempt at late-night-level honesty about the Bible, church history, theological scholarship, spiritual practice and...God. (AKA how one nearly-de-churched thinker discovered that love is the name of the game.)

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The Resurrection: Why I Actually Believe (Sermon): There is probably no aspect of Christianity more difficult to accept intellectually than the bodily resurrection of Jesus. And one could hardly be blamed for approaching the idea with complete skepticism. It seems so much more plausible that the gosp. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
35 min listen
Understanding the Bible 02: Sin in the Garden of Eden: Central to the biblical story is the conviction that something has gone terribly wrong. The world as we experience it is not the world as God intended. In this episode we turn to the biblical explanation why – how humanity moved from the Garden of Ede by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
31 min listen
My Only Comfort (Sermon) – Ash Wednesday 2012: Why I hate Ash Wednesday, the illegality of death in Irvine, and the comfort of Psalm 23. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
16 min listen
Gospels, Part 4: Satan, Demons, Devils and Exorcisms – Jesus’ Confrontation with Evil: Few elements of the biblical story cause contemporary readers more difficulty than talk of demons and devils. To our (post-?)modern sensibilities, they seem, at best, misdiagnoses of psychiatric conditions, and, at worst, by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
44 min listen
Gospels, Part 1: Introduction to the Gospels: What defines a "gospel"? How and why were they composed? And how does this knowledge help us understand the message and ministry of Jesus? by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
46 min listen
Gospels, Part 2: Understanding Jesus’ World – 1st Century Religion, Politics and the Kingdom of God: We set the historical, political, and religious stage onto which Jesus stepped. Join us as we explore the world of Pharisees, Sadducees, Messianic expectations and Israel's enduring exile. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
47 min listen
Church Hist. (Modern), Part 2: From Europe to the New World: The Reformation gave birth not to a solitary Protestantism, but to a wide variety of Protestantisms. (The Reformers came to quick agreement that the Bible – and not the traditions or authorities of the Catholic Church – was the ultimate arbiter of t by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
48 min listen
Understanding the Bible 09: Interpreting the Psalms: Great poetry generally makes for difficult reading. The words and phrases may be simple enough, even simplistic. But the very nature of poetry is to pick up where language fails – to articulate the ineffable. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
32 min listen
Church Hist. (Modern), Part 5: Darwin, Fundamentalism and the Challenge of New Ideas: As we conclude this series in modern church history, we examine the intellectual challenges that confronted the church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps the most obvious of these was the rapid progress of scientific discovery – things by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
62 min listen
Gospels, Part 3: Miracles – Salvation Enacted: How are we to understand the miracles of Jesus? Simply demonstrations of power? Or a larger enactment of salvation...? by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
39 min listen
Church Hist. (Modern), Part 3: Revivalism and the First Great Awakening: The religious zeal that marked the first Puritan colonies was destined to wane. As new generations were born, and new waves of settlers arrived, new priorities and visions of the good life began to take shape. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
41 min listen
Life Wins or Why the Resurrection Is a Miracle, but Perhaps Not a Surprise (Sermon) – Easter 2012: One pastor’s not-so-creepy look at the God who is in the empty tomb business. The short version: Where there is God, there is life. And the message not merely of Easter, but of the whole biblical story, is that God is everywhere and always about h by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
33 min listen
Gospels, Part 5: Jesus, Prophet of the Kingdom: One of the greatest challenges to understanding the message of Jesus is knowing how to categorize him as a speaker. When those first audiences gathered, who did they think they were going to hear? A teacher? A philosopher? A political leader? by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
57 min listen
Understanding the Bible 18: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots…Oh My!: The Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots are central characters in the New Testament, and there is no understanding Jesus without understanding the larger conversation into which he entered. In this episode we examine each of these four major sec.. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
40 min listen
Understanding the Bible 22: Why It Matters Jesus Can Calm a Storm at Sea: While the biblical story centers on God’s rescue of humanity, Gen. 3 (the Garden of Eden story) makes is clear that the entire cosmos has been affected by the curse of sin. Nature itself is broken, and thus the project of salvation must include the res. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
38 min listen
Church Hist. (Modern), Part 4: The Wesleys and American Pietism: It would be nearly impossible to overestimate the impact of John and Charles Wesley on contemporary American Protestantism. From the hymns we sing, to the small groups we attend, to the empowerment of the laity to teach and preach, by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
56 min listen
Understanding the Bible 10: The Prophets and Their Warnings: What is prophecy in the Bible? And what is a prophet? And why do I feel I want little to do with either? My personal allergy to the word “prophecy” stems from the fact that most contemporary discussion thereof involve a vast departure from the bibli by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
36 min listen
Understanding the Bible 28: How We Misunderstand the Cross: No symbol is more associated with Christianity than the cross. And for good reason. As we will see, the cross is indeed where God’s salvation is accomplished. But too often the cross has been interpreted mainly in terms of Jesus’s physical suffe by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
35 min listen
Understanding the Bible 06: Israel Enters the Promised Land: Understanding the Bible requires a constant return to the covenant with Abraham (see part 3 of this series). It is that promise of salvation that drives the rest of the biblical narrative and which guides our interpretation of scripture. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
36 min listen
Church Hist. (Modern), Part 1: From Protest to ‘ism: When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses outside the door of the campus church in Wittenberg, he had no intention of dividing the Catholic Church. But within a decade of that event, such acts of protest had gained irreversible momentum, by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
46 min listen
Understanding the Bible 01: In the Beginning… (Creation): Understanding the Bible in its various chapters and verses requires that we first understand the story as a whole. (Hard to make sense of the details when you don’t know much about the big picture.) So for the next 40 weeks or so, by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
29 min listen
Understanding the Bible 15: Jesus’s Story Begins: In our modern translations of the Bible, all one has to do to move from the Hebrew scriptures to the story of Jesus is turn a page – a action so simple it suggests the connection between the two “testaments” is obvious. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
1 min listen
Understanding the Bible 17: “Gospel” Explained: What exactly is a gospel? And is there a right way to read them? In this episode, we examine the gospel as a genre of biblical literature and discuss: their content, the events that occasioned their writing, and the manner of their composition. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
32 min listen
Understanding the Bible 20: The Meaning of Jesus’s Miracles: The miracles of Jesus were only slightly less of an intellectual challenge to citizens of the 1st century than they are to us. Raising a dead girl to life, for example, was no more common in ancient Israel than it is now! by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
34 min listen
Understanding the Bible 21: Jesus and the Forgiveness of Sins: An elemental consequence of sin is alienation – alienation between people, between humanity and creation, and, most profoundly, alienation between humanity and God (see part 2 of this series for more detail). by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
41 min listen
Understanding the Bible 07: David & the Monarchy: David is a central protagonist in the biblical story. And though his triumph over Goliath and his moral failings with Bathsheba are the stuff of great art, it is his establishment of the monarchy in Israel that both shapes and foreshadows future event.. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
38 min listen
Understanding the Bible 39: Was Jesus Divine? – The Development of Trinitarian Theology: If confessing the full divinity of Jesus, or God who is simultaneously three Persons in one, strikes you as quite an intellectual stretch, know that you are in excellent company! After all, it is one thing to regard Jesus as a great religious teacher, by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
38 min listen
Understanding the Bible 08: Solomon’s Temple: In the polytheistic culture of the Ancient Near East, deities were worshipped by means of sacrifices made in particular places. Most gods were considered to have what we might consider “regional” power (the Babylonians having a few patron deities vs by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
35 min listen
Understanding the Bible 14.875: Christmas (Christmas Eve 2013): There is no understanding the Bible without recognizing love at the center – or so I have been arguing from the first installment of this series. The whole project of salvation is rooted in the love of God for his people and indeed all creation. by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
23 min listen
Understanding the Bible 04: The Exodus: The promise of salvation is not merely a promise to deliver souls to a blissful afterlife, but rather the rescue of every aspect of creation from the curse of sin. Salvation is about restoring this world (unto eternity). by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
36 min listen

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Jesus and the Revolution, Part 03 - The Enemy and the Allure of Now: The divine rescue - of which the ministry of Jesus is the decisive act - is not merely to be understood as the securing of a heavenly afterlife for the faithful, but the restoration of a fallen creation. To be "saved" is to be set free, to be healed... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Prophet of the Kingdom: Jesus and the Revolution, Part 02 - A Prophet as of Old: God's Revolution to Restore All Creation begins with a cry to all Israel to prepare for war. But not the war Israel expected... For decades tensions with Rome had been growing. Various political and religious sects (think Pharisees, Sadducees, et... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
46 min listen
Prophet of the Kingdom: Jesus and the Revolution, Part 01 - A Call to Revolution!: At the heart of Jesus's ministry is the declaration that "the Kingdom of God has come near!" This is not merely a call for sinners to secure the afterlife, but the announcement that the fulfillment of the covenant of salvation is at hand! The... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Hope in the Time of COVID, Part 19 - Resting for the Kingdom: The one commandment I disregard without a second thought is the one about resting. The irony, of course, is that I often ignore this divine call to honor the sabbath in what feels like the work of the Kingdom. And it has been more clear in the last... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Hope in the Time of COVID, Part 18 - The Loving Road to Justice: No, your eyes do not deceive you...the podcast is back! (It never really left, but was definitely on leave of absence for a while...very sorry about that - some of the details are in the intro.) Then it's on to part 18 of our series: Hope in the... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Hope in the Time of COVID, Part 17 - Origin Stories: Does the 21st century nation state of Peru play an essential role in salvation history? Short answer: Of course not. God loves Peruvians! But Peru the cultural/political body is not critical to the plan redemption. So why do many American Christians... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Hope in the Time of COVID, Part 16 - Admitting the Problem (of Sin): For some very helpful resources, here is a link to How do I, as a white, well-educated, heterosexual, Protestant, cis male, who would never knowingly sanction racism of any sort, reflect on "systemic racism"? For those of us who try hard to so... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Hope in the Time of COVID, Part 15 - On Love, Hope and Change: Hope is the belief that things can change for the better. And it is the question the gospel persistently sets before us: Are we naive in thinking that meaningful transformation is possible? And more naive still to believe that love is the means by... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Hope in the Time of COVID, Part 14 - What God Wants? Justice, Mercy and Humility!: "How does one appease a deity? Gain a favor? Avert a curse?" Such questions stood at the center of Ancient Near Eastern religion (and of many cultures since...). And thus great effort has been dedicated to rituals and ceremonies and strict adherence... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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Hope in the Time of COVID, Part 13 - Jesus and Divine Justice: As those called to share in God's project of restoration, justice is at the heart of our work. But what does the Bible mean by "justice"? The term easily conjures feelings and images not shalom (peace), but punishment - that divine justice is defined... by Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
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My Only Comfort (Sermon) – Ash Wednesday 2012

My Only Comfort (Sermon) – Ash Wednesday 2012

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith