Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Today we pause to consider the implications of a line from Paul, "...of the God to whole I belong." If this is remotely true, the implications are epically comprehensive. 
I belong to God so I need t…

God sends an angel. "Meh".
There is a God to whom I BELONG.  "well, now we are talking!"
I don't mean any disrespect to this particular angel, but in the big scheme of things, I am relatively Unimpress…

Paul is under real orders to get to Rome.  Easier said than done if you ask the soldiers and sailors that are tasked with the job.  The Mediterranean Sea, though known as a vacation paradise, can tur…

This podcast started by accident.  It was originally an internal "family message" to my local, real, spiritual family. It started the first day of the pandemic to keep us on the same spiritual page d…

When I get in front of a KING, I plan to speak BOLDLY.  Paul, I'll bet, thought that 25 years prior to his first chance. How about a grocery store clerk, a family member, or a doctor? How will I spea…

Listeners of this podcast will find themselves living in broken bodies, with broken hearts, in a broken world, with broken churches, and in broken relationships.  Otherwise, you are not human.  Fortu…

We all desperately need "The help that comes from God." You don't know anybody that doesn't need it: World leaders, mothers, bosses at work, children, knuckleheads, husbands or podcasters.  We need i…

You can start your spiritual story with, "I was stupid..." but don't end it there.  That would be like kicking against a big stick with a very sharp metallic end in your sandaled feet. Paul tells Kin…

It is important for Paul, at least in his earlier life, to win the war of IDEAS against the newly believing Christians.  He wants to change their MINDS and their MOUTHS.  That is, Paul wants the pers…

Everybody, whether you are a king of the world, or just the king of yourself, hears about Jesus amidst real life.  There will be friends, enemies, politics, appetites, power, and problems.  Today we …

Speaking spiritually, because all fall short, nobody really wants justice. When you are before political operators who are at the hands of a corrupt justice system, it gets complicated.  Paul finally…

If you come to Jesus, likely your life will be a mess.  You will be overcome by your appetites before you are overcome with yielding, forgiveness, repenting, and grace.  That is the point. That is wh…

Perhaps you have noticed, but to forgive is DIFFICULT. It is painful to change history and make offenses go away. They leave at a great price.

Paul says he has to TAKE PAINS to get to the forgiven pla…

Everybody gets resurrected from the dead. everybody. The just and the unjust. Attila the Hun? resurrected. Abraham Lincoln? Resurrected. Marilyn Monroe? Resurrected. etc.

There is only one problem: fr…

Today we meet FELIX who apparently was mastered BY his appetites rather than master OF his appetites.  Paul gives him a personal audience of preaching, and then another personal audience, and then an…

Who knew? Paul had a sister.  Paul had a nephew.  He was young.  He was young enough that a big scary adult took him by the hand when moving to a private place.  He is the HERO of our story.  The kid…

Paul is charged with a PURPOSE (testify about Jesus)
amidst a PROMISE (that afflictions and trouble are here and ahead)
so use your POWER (your agency, energy, life, money, giftedness, authority)
while …

If you order the flogging of a Roman Citizen you'd probably lose your job and possibly your life.(Claudius Lysias) If you got flogged, you may lose your life, for it was often fatal. (Paul) It was so…

Paul runs into a crowd of ZEALOUS people.  They were so ZEALOUS, they were beating him to death.  A Few hundred Roman Soldiers intervene. Paul then begins to BEND their ZEAL toward the REVEAL of God.…