The Unbroken Ground

Ep. 28: Are You Positive?

Hello Fellow Travelers! Still thinking about uniformity and unity. Looking further at the destruction and division that "You versus Me" and "I am right and you are wrong" culture brings to the Church. How do we live like Jesus and be able to say, "Your sins are forgiven," followed up by the expectation to "go and sin no more"? How do we live out a love that always hopes, trusts, and perseveres in a world that calls us to focus on being experts on who is right and who is wrong?

Ep. 27: Did You Bring Your Sword?

Hello fellow travelers! This week I continue the topic of unity versus uniformity. In the first part of the podcast, I discuss the awful truth that churches often enforce uniformity by denying community. Deep roots of dangerous uniformity can be traced to a lack of discipleship and not trusting the Holy Spirit to convict believers. In the second part of the podcast, I talk about a verse someone quoted on a Facebook post about loving your enemies. The lack of context in the person's comment and reading of the scripture made me meditate on it this week. Does Jesus intend that we should be ready to carry a sword against our enemies? Matthew 10:34-36 specifically references the instructions Jesus gives to His disciples when they are sent out. The reference to a sword and not peace was in light of family relationships. Hopefully, those aren't your enemies, but even if they were, the idea is that God is first, and out of our love for Him, only then can we love people well. 

Ep. 26: Are We Different?

Hello Fellow Travelers!! WHOA - we are halfway there! Living on a prayer! Episode 26 is recorded and released, the halfway point in my podcast journey. One a week for the next 52 weeks. Thanks to everyone who has downloaded it and continued to listen. I haven't released an episode yet with zero downloads, so at least one person or random AI bot is listening. :) This week, I continue to talk about unity and being different. I walk through my upbringing that anyone who wasn't in the same theological camp is likely wrong. And how I have moved on from that. The beautiful unity is found in doctrine and understanding the underpinnings of theology. I think about how the world should see the difference in our lives. 

Ep. 25: Who is the Boss?

Hello Fellow Travelers! How do you create unity? What type of authority best serves ministry and Christians? Is uniformity good enough? This week I am wondering how a church or organization can create unity. Typically, organizations use a culture of authority and tie it to a source of power. But churches, especially Baptist churches like my childhood was spent in, often have equal authority among members. Is there a clear idea of how Jesus created unity? 

Ep 24: What Would You do?

Hello fellow travelers! In light of the subtweeting/posting about truth and sin this month on the "Gram," this week's episode considers sins we don't like discussing. There is some rumination on truth and love and finding a good balance, but mostly my mind wanders into what would happen if Jesus showed up today. And he approached an average American Christian. And then Jesus asked that person to give up everything, sell everything, and follow Him. What if that person was you? What would you do and say?

Ep. 23: Let’s Go Fishing

Hello Fellow Travelers! What difference does Jesus make in how you live? Peter was a fisherman who Jesus called to be a fisher of men. But after Peter abandoned Jesus, Peter seemed to have second thoughts about whether he could still fulfill that calling. What insight can we learn about modern Christianity and how we are called to follow Jesus? 

Ep. 22: What are the Odds?

Hello fellow Travelers! What is it that God is calling you to do or create? How does God work with and through our resources? This week's podcast considers the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. God invites His children to be part of miracles and to change the world. What is He speaking to your heart? Check out the blog - at the link below about the same topic.
Jesus and the 5 Loaves and 2 Fish: An Invitation to Participate | Paul Tanner (patheos.com)
 
Matthew 14
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Ep. 21: Saved the Best For Last

Did Jesus have an agenda? Did he hang out with certain types of people because he was trying to prove how tolerant and cool he was? Or is that question the wrong place to start when thinking about Jesus? Jesus comes to fill the law full and, at the same time, simplifies it for us. I discuss Jesus turning water into wine as a reminder that something greater than the law walked the Earth. Jesus, in the flesh, provided our example. How are you doing at following Him?
John 2
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b]
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
 
Unbroken Ground - Exploration of Christ, Community, and Creativity (patheos.com)