There are many aspects of life that we cannot change. We gained them either by luck, chance or providence. Examples are our race, gender, home language, social class, country of origin, and more. There are things we can change in life as a result of our choices and hard work. Health, wisdom, who we marry, how many children we have, friends we have, our attitude and more. There are blessings we get that we can be thankful for. But some things we are just fortunate to experienc

While we believe that God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient, (all powerful, everywhere, and all knowing) we may be surprised that we can hold God hostage at all. Yet we have to remember He is also a God that loves His created beings and as a result has had to make several accommodations in His efforts to keep us on the road of recovery. In this episode we discuss six of those issues like divorce, slavery, polygamy and others. Come and join us as we discover all six o

As we continue in our look at Salvation in the Gospel of Luke we focus on Luke and Jesus' Death. Does he attribute it to God as the initiator of this event? In looking at the passages where Jesus tells them He would die there is no hint that it was at the hand of God. Plus Luke's statements about Jesus death in the gospel and the book of Acts all place the responsibility for His death upon the people not God. When asked for a sign authorizing his authority to forgive sins Jes

We are back in the book of Luke in this episode looking at the way Luke emphasizes that Jesus is our Saviour instead of our helper. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Forty nine times Luke mentions that Jesus is our Saviour. Eighteen of those references are only included in the gospel of Luke. Luke also sees this salvation occurring in the present not something we need to patiently look forward to. We will complete this in the next episode. Click the link below f

We continue looking at the story of Korah and his friends who rebelled against Moses and ultimately God. There are many problems that we discover if we subscribe their destruction to God. We look closely at the story and conclude that Moses is not kinder than God. The Israelites attributed their deaths to Moses not God. We also look at the larger context of this rebellion. We conclude by discovering that the devil disguises his work so that God is blamed for it. And still tod

This episode looks at the story in the Old Testament that is one of those "What About" situations where the event is described in a way that attributes to God the instant destruction of Korah and his family as the ground opens up and devours them for challenging the leadership of Moses and Aaron. How do we explain that story in the eyes of Jesus who revealed God as non - violent. He appears to be pretty violent in this story. So we begin to unpack the story in this episode. C

We conclude this series of Luke's intentional inclusion of women in his gospel. There are some 28 incidents and 13 of them are unique to Luke. How reassuring it is to know that Jesus was so inclusive of women and that they participated in such significant ways throughout His ministry. Even to the point of giving them the opportunity to share with everyone that Jesus has risen from the dead and is a live - waiting meet with them in the near future. We are so blessed to have Lu

We continue in this series on the Gospel of Luke and look at several more of the stories Luke includes about women. The woman that anointed Jesus feet is not unique to Luke but he includes it because of it's significance, he is the only one that includes the description of the woman that followed Jesus and supported Him with there money, a sick woman healed by Jesus, raising a young girl from the dead, Martha and Mary are talked about which were unique to Luke. And many more.

We continue on this series to show that Luke was liberated from the racism that still impacts the other gospel writers. He includes many stories and teachings that the other just leave out entirely. For example, The Shrewd Manager, the Grateful Samaritan leper, the Pharisee and Publican that went to pray, Zaccheus, and that Jesus prays for his executioners who would have been Gentiles. Click on the link below for the PDF document. SHOW NOTES 13. 16:1-13 The Shrewd Manager. Lu

We continue with this series of looking in the Gospel of Luke at the stories that he included that were absent from the other three. Today we look at the Prodigal Son and the Rich Man and Lazarus. It is again very enlightening that these two stories were told by Jesus to let them know that the Gentiles are also the children of God and included in the kingdom. We wonder about what the older brother decides because he is still outside the house when the story ends. Does he come

In this episode we continue discovering the addition to the gospel story that Luke includes. He includes the story of the barren fig tree that was given three more years, the invited guests included more than just the jews who had been invited first but had chosen not to come, the lost sheep and coin were both searched for and celebrated when found. It is fascinating that Luke includes these stories when the other gospel writers had left them out. Click on the link below for

In this episode we take a close look at the Gospel of Luke. He is the only writer of the gospels that is a Gentile and as a result he includes many stories that are not included in the other gospel accounts. Evidentially they are still rather racist in their perspective and so it becomes the role of Matthew to include all these other stories that would otherwise have been lost had it not been for the Gospel of Luke. As a Gentile he wants the Gentiles to know that Jesus was in

As we unpack this chapter we note that Jesus references his imminent death seven times in this chapter and three times in the book of Matthew and yet because it went against their narrative they miss this entirely and his death catches them totally by surprise. One wonders what Jesus could have shared with them if they had come to believe what he was wanting them to understand. Then in Bethany Jesus is anointed by a woman while at a meal in Simeon's home. After this event Jud

Come and be reminded once again of the amazing, unconditional grace that God gives to all mankind. It is life changing as we come to see Him more clearly, we are drawn to love Him more dearly, and enabled to follow Him more nearly. Click on the link below for the PDF.

As we conclude this series we consider was Jesus under probation? Did Jesus teach divine probation? The we look and John's focus on grace and truth and the implications for probation. Jesus miracles and the implication for probation. In the end we conclude that God is the one that is on probation and we have put him there. He has never put us on probation. It is necessary to be on probation for a probation to close. So we have no need to fear that probation will ever close. C

This is part one of a two part series looking at the idea of probation. What does it mean to be on probation? If you are not on probation can probation close on you? We look at several examples of people who thought they were on probation and ended up in exile as a result. Not realizing that the resulting exile was the natural result of their behaviour. The way that Moses wrote led people to believe they were on probation. However it becomes clear that all mankind were intend

We conclude this two part series on how Jesus is supreme over all prophets and teachers. In this episode we discover that Jesus is greater than Jacob, Abraham, he is the visible image of the invisible God, He claimed congruence with God, is greater than the church, the temple, and the Sabbath. And yet while being the greatest and master of all He is also our servant and lived his life in service to mankind. Click the link below for the PDF. SHOW NOTES 9. Jesus is greater than

In this episode we explore the statements of Jesus that show his supremacy over all other prophets and teachers. He is greater than Jonah, Solomon, Moses and Elijah, David, John the Baptist, all creation and has all-encompassing authority. Only Jesus revealed God's unfailing love and faithfulness. Click the link below for the pdf. SHOW NOTES The Red-Letter Answers. part 1 Jesus’ Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s). In some bibles Jesus’ words are in red. These are t

In this the second of this two part series on who put the tree in the garden we consider various explanations given for this tree being in the garden. We have concluded that the evil was in the presence of the serpent in a random tree of the thousands of trees possible. The consequences of evil enticement in the garden is also considered. We also consider the connection between the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and reward and punishment. We conclude with a look at th

This is part one of this two part series looking at how the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil came to be in the Garden. Was God trying to trick Adam and Eve or Test them? What is Free Choice and do we actually have the freedom to choose? What are the natural consequences of such choices? Click on the link below for the pdf document. SHOW NOTES The Origin of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. This is a follow up of podcast #245 where the res

In this episode we look at the question Was the Cross God's idea? We unpack a few verses like Isaiah 53:10 that people assume are evidence that the cross was necessary in God's mind to be able to save us. However when understood in its context we discover that is not the case. Jesus is clear he was put on the cross by the Jewish leaders with the help of the Romans. Click on the link below for the pdf. SHOW NOTES The Red-Letter Answers. Jesus’ Answers to Frequently Asked Ques

Does God Ever Tempt Anyone? This is the question that we discover Jesus' answer to in this episode. We discover a new way to understand the Lord's Prayer that really helps in understanding this issue. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. We can rest assured that God is to the one who tempts us but it is the devil. Click the link below for the PDF document. SHOW NOTES The Red-Letter Answers. Jesus’ Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s). In some bibles Jesu

As we continue our series of frequently asked questions we discuss the question of didn't God require Abraham to sacrifice his son? We take a care full look at the times Jesus talked about children and discover the reality that children are very important to him and he will defend them to the end. It is therefore impossible that it was God that gave Abraham that request. Click on the link below for the pdf. SHOW NOTES The Red-Letter Answers. Jesus’ Answers to Frequently Asked

In this episode we look at the question about how did Jesus' teachings relate to the ever-burning destiny portrayed in Revelation 14:10-12? Jesus tells a series of parables that give numerous endings to the wicked that inhabit the earth. It is enlightening to discover that He was not telling these stories to warn us of what happens at the end of the world. He is using the various ending that the people of the time believed as he is telling these parables that have another mai