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'Build your house on rock not sand', we are told. Building your house, your life, your identity and your faith on the principles that Jesus has been speaking about. Then you will be blessed when the storms come. So, don’t be angry. Don’t lust. Don’t get divorced. Don’t hoard money. Don’t pray to be noticed. Forgive like you want God to forgive you. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. This is rock living? Or is it? I am going to try to convince you in this parable that just the opposite is true. That is sand dwelling. What does it look to build upon a rock. Check out the podcast.

These three verses have been used as hammers to leverage good behavior from Christians for millennia. But is that what Jesus is talking about? At the crux of the three verses is the key question, Who enters the kingdom? Answer: The one who does the will of God. Do you want to know what the will of God is? Check it out.

Who are the wolves? Who are the bad fruit? I wonder if we have gotten these confused. In the context of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, he is speaking about a specific heresy that still flourishes in the church today.

Have you been taught that all you need to do to be a good Christian is to do the golden rule? I bet you have been taught that. Well, how’s it going? Do you get a B- grade or a B+? How much is enough? What if I were to tell you that is not exactly what Jesus meant? There is a narrow gate that actually leads to an experience of the favor of God of you. The Golden Rule could just be in your way. Curious? Check it out.

Now Jesus has gone too far. Stop judging? I get the concept, but everyone judges. Everyone has been judged. It has ramped up since COVID, but it was happening long before that. Jesus, read the room. Those people on the hillside? All they have known is being judged. Are you telling them to lay their only weapons down? Our government may not be good at much, but they are sure good at judging. Me too. What is Jesus really saying about judging? You may be surprised.

So just stop being anxious! You are kidding me, right? Did Jesus just tell those hurting anxious people on the hillside to choose to stop being anxious? Is he suggesting that they just need to be reasonable? Wouldn’t that just make them more anxious and ashamed? How does it make you feel? Of course Jesus is not saying just stop being anxious. Good news for anxious people. There is hope. We’ve largely buried the headline. Check it out and get the word to other anxious Christians.

Did you know that no one had more verses about them in the Christmas story than the shamed priest Zechariah. And yet he is never part of the celebration. No Christmas Pageant gives him his due. So what is it about Zechariah that captured the attention of Matthew? What is the Gospel of the Shamed Priest?

Who gave the very first Christmas sermon? Shockingly, it was the shepherds. Humanly speaking, no one would have come to hear them. But they were the ones God picked. He still uses them today. Do you know someone who feels ashamed and rejected. They might really appreciate this podcast. The last of our Advent series will come out on Dec 24th, Christmas Eve, "Zeke, the Shamed Priest." Merry Christmas.

What is Jesus saying? I have a choice either to serve God or Mammon? Am I good? Have I done enough? All Christians spend great deal of time worrying about tithing. We pastors make it even worse by implying guilt through such passages as this one. Honestly, though, like most of the other verses I note Sermon on the Mount, to do so would be to buy the actual headline. If you wonder about God and what He thinks about money, and more to the point your money, you are not alone. You know someone who is struggling. They may be wealthy or poor. Please consider sending them the link to they podcast. They may just thank you.

Hey, it's Christmas again and time for Gospel Rant's annual Christmas podcast series. This year we want to expand our typical children's Christmas pageant stage to bring out some of the lesser known things about the story and characters that should make the story jump off the usual small 12x12 pageant stage. In this podcast we look at the Gospel according to the uncircumcised, non-jewish, pagan, believing Magi. Is there something that we can learn about the Gospel? You might be surprised.

So how are we to pray--really? Have you ever wondered if God is up in Heaven just yawning as you pray to him? In our Gospel Rant skit podcast, young tween Malcolm had learned the Lord's prayer and he was praying the heck out of it, until the monologue became a dialogue. Enjoy. If you want to know more about the "Lord's Prayer" go back to the previous three podcasts in the Sermon on the Mount Series (What Prayer Does GOd Really Want?). It could change your life. Pass it on. We can do this better. For sure.

Hey, it's Christmas again and time for Gospel Rant's annual Christmas podcast series. This year we want to expand our typical children's Christmas pageant stage to bring out some of the lesser known things about the story and characters that should make the story jump off the usual small 12x12 pageant stage. In this podcast we look at the Gospel according to Mary. You know she was likely just a teenager? We now know a lot about what might have been happening in her adolescent brain. It is a gospel presentation for teenage girls. You might be surprised.

In this Podcast we are in a three part series on the so-called Lord’s prayer. Is Jesus giving Christians a new pillar? Jesus is addressing the accepted three pillars of Judaism, almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Is he saying that in order to be a Christian and to get God’s blessing, we should pray this prayer regularly? Often enough? Word for word? Or have we misunderstood his whole point? You ay be surprised. Check it out.

Hey, it's Christmas again and time for Gospel Rant's annual Christmas podcast series. This year we want to expand our typical children's Christmas pageant stage to bring out some of the lesser known things about the story and characters that should make the story jump off the usual small 12x12 pageant stage. In this podcast we look at the typical antagonist of the story, the feared and violent King Herod. We know a great deal about him above and beyond the Christmas story. Is there something that we can learn about the Gospel? You might be surprised. Also a new skit, “Angels We Have Heard On High.” Enjoy. Make this part of your Advent devotional tradition and help us get the word out. Thanks. Merry Christmas from Gospel Rant.

In this Podcast we are in a three-part series on the so-called Lord’s Prayer. Is Jesus giving Christians a new pillar? Remember, Jesus is addressing the accepted three pillars of Judaism, almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Is he saying that in order to be a Christian and to get God’s blessing, we should pray this prayer regularly? Often enough? Word for word? Or have we misunderstood his whole point? You ay be surprised. Check it out.

Hey, it's Christmas again and time for Gospel Rant's annual Christmas podcast series. This year we want to expand our typical children's Christmas pageant stage to bring out some of the lesser known things about the story and characters that should make the story jump off the usual small 12x12 pageant stage. In this podcast we look at the unspoken theme of the nativity—alienation —or better the end of alienation. Also, at the end, there will be a presentation of a new skit, “Anne, A Christmas Carol”. Don’t miss it. Pass it on. Make this part of your Advent devotional tradition and help us get the word out. Thanks. Merry Christmas from Gospel Rant.

Welcome to Gospel Rant. Dr. Bill is continuing on this eye-opening radical journey through the Sermon on the Mount (not a sermon or a mount). It is not a sermon or a lecture, it is a dialogue. Feel free to agree or disagree. It is a rant. In this Podcast we are in a new section of the sermon on the mount. Jesus is addressing the accepted three pillars of Judaism, almsgiving, prayer and fasting. He begins each section, “When you…” What is the accepted godly way to do acts of righteousness (i.e., almsgiving)? Do you mean that it is not enough to give to charity? There is more? Yes and no. Check it out.

Hey, it's Christmas again and time for Gospel Rant's annual Christmas podcast series. This year we want to expand our typical children's Christmas pageant stage to bring out some of the lesser known things about the story and characters that should make the story jump off the usual small 12x12 pageant stage. What do we know about Herod--really? What was going on in that region and time that made it so dark? Have you ever heard a Christmas sermon about the shamed priest Zechariah? What about the unnamed Magi and the unclean shepherds--what important role did they have? All of this will have modern rings to it. Make this part of your Advent devotional tradition and help us get the word out. Thanks. Merry Christmas from Gospel Rant.

Welcome to Gospel Rant. Dr. Bill is continuing on this eye-opening radical journey through the Sermon on the Mount (not a sermon or a mount). It is not a sermon or a lecture, it is a dialogue. Feel free to agree or disagree. It is a rant. In this Podcast we are in a new section of the sermon on the mount. Jesus is addressing the accepted three pillars of Judaism, almsgiving, prayer and fasting. He begins each section, “When you…” What is the accepted godly way to do acts of righteousness (i.e., almsgiving)? Do you mean that it is not enough to give to charity? There is more? Yes and no. Check it out.

In this Gospel Rant podcast we are wrestling with one of the strangest, maddening and troubling verses in all the Sermon on the Mount, or anywhere for that matter. How you understand this will tell you how you understand the rest of the Sermon on the Mount and the rest of Matthew. Don’t miss it. You will be encouraged.