Four years in the making and now this Podcast has reached its 200th episode. In this special edition podcast I talk a little about what makes this podcast unique and why it has gradually gained a steady audience. I’ll read some notes and letters from the audience along with sharing some reflections on the common themes that are discussed. Thank you to all of you who have made this podcast part of your regular feed.
“What does it mean to pray like a hypocrite?”
If we’re honest, how often is prayer something we have to endure? How often do our minds wander? How often does praying make us uncomfortable? We’ve encountered prayers so long and verbose they have sermons within them. We see demonstrative prayers, sometimes standing in circles at restaurants, or bowing on blankets in airports, or threatening with a loud speaker in public venues. To whom are such prayers directed; God or everyone around? Jesus calls it hypocrisy.
In today’s post and podcast we continue Jesus’ deconstruction of religious acts of righteousness and see beyond praying as performance. Join me now as once again we enter our hidden place where God dwells but religion can never come.
“What does it mean to be a church going hypocrite?”
When I was a church going pastor, I worked hard to distinguish myself from those who said one thing and did another. I wanted the world to see that there was a different way to do the faith. There was, but I couldn’t see it until I finally learned how to give without being hypocrite.
In today’s post we explore our charitable giving and expose the dirty secret that institutional religion doesn’t want us to see. Turns out Jesus is no more impressed with our modern churches than he was of the temple. Join me now as we see beyond what motivates us to give and expose why we prefer the lesser reward of recognition to something more hidden.
“What do you think it means to love your enemies? Do you have any enemies?
In today’s podcast and post we reach the passage on loving our enemies. When viewed in the common framework, this passage is extremely difficult to understand, yet a lone apply. The additional command to be perfect just makes things worse.
Join me now as we see beyond our enemy and discover what perfection is really all about. Learn why we can’t do perfect, but we can be authentic and that causes our enemies to disappear.
“What do you think about retaliation? Is there a time and place to get even?
In today’s podcast and post we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount and explore the impulse to retaliate. The ethos to retaliate is a vestigial residue from our pre-rational consciousness, it’s a low-level impulse upon which we have built the world. What would happen if we just let go of retaliation in favor of something more?
Join me now and we see beyond the impulse to retaliate and look closer at a far more powerful alternative.