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Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell. And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death. So join me today as we discuss: 1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this. 2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from. 3. Homer and Hades 4. Hell & the place called Gehenna 5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna. 6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? 7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment. 8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil. 9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God. 10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems. 11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever? 12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates. 13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)

Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell. And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death. So join me today as we discuss: 1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this. 2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from. 3. Homer and Hades 4. Hell & the place called Gehenna 5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna. 6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? 7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment. 8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil. 9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God. 10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems. 11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever? 12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates. 13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)

Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell. And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death. So join me today as we discuss: 1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this. 2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from. 3. Homer and Hades 4. Hell & the place called Gehenna 5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna. 6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? 7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment. 8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil. 9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God. 10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems. 11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever? 12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates. 13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)

Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell. And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death. So join me today as we discuss: 1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this. 2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from. 3. Homer and Hades 4. Hell & the place called Gehenna 5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna. 6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? 7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment. 8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil. 9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God. 10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems. 11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever? 12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates. 13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)

This is Episode 90 of the Jesus Society Podcast. Only ten more till we hit 100!! Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We talked last week about the concept of purgatory, which I definitely don’t believe in, and I laid out why last week. Today I want to talk about a word we don’t talk nearly enough about — paradise. As I said last week, and which I’ll probably say again next week, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death. So join me today as we discuss: 1. Restful happiness in the presence of Jesus. 2. Paradise or heaven??? 3. The three passages in the New Testament where paradise is spoken of. 4. Wait . . . THREE heavens??? 5. How the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses the word paradise. 6. But aren't we "citizens of heaven?" 7. And what about the "many mansions" Jesus says are in his Father's house? ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.  You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)

This is Episode 89 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today I’m going to start a brief series talking about what happens when we die. Because I find that life after death tends to occupy an inordinately large place in our thinking. In fact, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most Christian mission tends to be largely focused on making sure someone goes to heaven when they die. Frankly, I think a Christianity focused on what happens after death is a misguided focus. But nonetheless, there are things we can say (and should say) about what happens after death, and so we’re going to spend the next few weeks sorting through some of those ideas. So join me today as we discuss: 1. When did the idea of purgatory develop? 2. What's the basic idea of purgatory? 3. Why purgatory has become somewhat popular among universalists. 4. How some notable and influential Roman Catholic theologians have significantly walked-back their stance on purgatory. 5. Is there any biblical support for the idea of different categories of Christians after death? 6. How Paul's picture of redemption leaves no room for the idea of purgatory. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.  You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)

This is Episode 88 of the Jesus Society Podcast. Today, we’re going to conclude our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, looking at the importance and practice of love, particularly as we think about extending that love outward to the watching world. I hope you'll join me today as we discuss: 1. Following Jesus in Love 2. Does love compel or invite? 3. Chasing a rabbit -- repentance 4. How love advances the kingdom 5. How the early church lived out Jesus' victory of love, and how that advanced the kingdom 6. Caring for those who need care. 7. Love means meeting urgent needs. 8. You are God's masterpiece. 9. And much, much more . . . . ______________________________ And with that, I want to thank you for joining us today. I hope you’ll join us again next week. As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.  You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. My Song is Love Unknown #202 (https://youtu.be/UCTb1id2GnI) 2. Bruce W. Longenecker, “Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco-Roman World” (Eerdmans, 2010) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802863736/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_2C0BNJN0Z8RMREYCQZSB?

This is Episode 87 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today, we’re going to continue our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, looking at the importance and practice of love. So join me today as we discuss: First Corinthians 13 — the love passage to end all love passages. How the list of love qualities in 1 Cor. 13:4-8 must be taken together; it’s a package deal. Understanding how agape came to be THE word to define Christian love. Love just isn't easy to cultivate. Is love a rule, a principle, a calculated tactic, or a virtue? Love as the language of God's future world, the music they make in God's courts. John 13:35 and one of the greatest challenges we Christians face in living the love of God in our world, and how utterly important that we get this fixed. A urgent plea to loving Christian unity. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.  You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________

This is Episode 86 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And with coffee firmly and lovingly embraced in my hands, we’re going to continue our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, our look at the importance and practice of love. 1. Last week we talked about the importance of learning to live both in, and from, the love of God. 2. We simply cannot give what we do not have, and loving others always grows out of and is fueled and energized by the experience and reality of God’s own love for us. Today I want to talk a bit about how we actually learn to love. How we grow and cultivate the habits of heart and mind that allow us to generously and freely love others. And what I mean by loving “generously and freely” is learning to love in a way that is not governed by a need for that love to be reciprocated. Because a lot of our love is selfish in that way; in other words, we love so that we will be loved. And of course, that's worlds apart from the New Testament’s assertion that “we love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). So, how do we cultivate the capacity for generous, self-giving love in our lives? That's what we're going to try and sort out today. Join us as we discuss: 1. How temple imagery forms the backdrop for our understanding of  both God's self-giving love, and his call for us to extend that love to the rest of creation. 2. The problem with the word "love." 3. The challenge and difficulty of learning to love. 4. The place of authenticity and spontaneity in loving. 5. The concept of practicing loving. 6. Inheriting the family business of God our Father, and our apprenticeship in that business. 7. How the books of Colossians and especially Ephesians are really helpful in showing us how to develop the habits of heart and mind from which love can flow naturally. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.  You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, 2009 (https://www.amazon.com/Lost-World-Genesis-One-Cosmology/dp/0830837043/ref=sr_1_1?) 2. Following Jesus in the 21st Century — Part 3: The Victory of the Cross (The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 82, available at https://thejesussociety.com/2022/03/14/following-jesus-in-the-21st-century-part-3/)

This is Episode 85 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And continuing our conversation about following Jesus in the 21st century, I want to shift gears and start talking about loving like Jesus. And we’re gonna be camped out on this theme of love over the next 3-4 episodes. What does it mean to love like Jesus? Well, at one level, it’s pretty obvious — Jesus himself said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: that you lay down your life for your friends.” Delightfully, most of us aren’t asked to do that — at least not literally. Although we are, I think, asked to do that in principle. Because that’s what Jesus says love is all about. And so what I want to do over the next 3-4 episodes is help us think a little bit about the love we see in Jesus, and the way in which that gets worked out in two specific areas: 1. In our love for one another in the Christian community of believers. 2. And in the way we show God’s love to the wider world. Those are not the same thing, and yet both of those are difficult and challenging. But my goal is to try and offer you a picture of what that kind of love looks like. And that, I think, at least makes me want to press into doing that with more resolve and purpose. So today we're going to introduce some foundational concepts that we'll build on over the next few weeks, primarily from the Gospel of John. I hope you enjoy this conversation. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________

This is Episode 84 of The Jesus Society Podcast. For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, this is a significant time of year because at this time of year, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. And because this coming Sunday is Resurrection Sunday — Easter — I want to talk again about the resurrection of Jesus. Join me today as we discuss: 1. Putting yourself in the story of Jesus' resurrection. 2. Between Friday and Sunday: The disappointment, uncertainty, fear, despair, and hopelessness of the earliest Christians. 3. How the resurrection is THE sign that God is doing something new in the world. 4. How Jesus' resurrection restores and fuels hope. 5. Becoming Resurrection People. 6. Living new-creation lives in an old world. 7. Some signposts of the New Creation. The resurrection is more than just a doctrine. It's an event and a person. With the resurrection of Jesus, a new day had dawned in the world. Karl Rahner, in his book Everyday Faith, says that “Easter is not the celebration of a past event. The alleluia is not for what was; Easter proclaims a beginning that has already decided the remotest future. The Resurrection means that the beginning of glory has already started.” And that means that God’s good world, including human beings, spoiled by hostile and destructive forces, is now going to be remade. And it started when Jesus walked out of that tomb. Evil and darkness and despair do not have the last word.  The last word is  resurrection!! ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. Justice in the Kingdom of God (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/06/20/justice-in-the-kingdom-of-god/)

This is Episode 83 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we come now to the most important event in Christianity — the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead stands as the central, defining feature of the Christian hope. Paul says that very clearly in 1 Corinthians 15, which is the most thorough explanation of the resurrection in the Bible. He says: 1. If Christ has not been raised, then our message is in vain, and so is our faith (v. 14). 2. If Christ has not been raised, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Jesus (v. 15). 3. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is worthless; and we are still in our sins (v. 17). 4. If Christ has not been raised, those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished (v. 18). In other words, there’s no future hope for them. But the point is that there’s a lot hanging on the resurrection. It’s been said that if you take away the stories of Jesus’ birth from the Bible, you lose a few chapters, but really nothing else. But if you strip away the resurrection, you lose most of the New Testament, which hangs on it, and Christianity itself crumbles. It’s that important.  What I want to try and sketch out today is how the resurrection of Jesus became the central, defining feature of Christianity. What did the earliest Christians believe happened at the resurrection? What did it mean to them? Because whatever it meant fueled and drove the earliest Christian communities to transform their world. It made them confident and fearless in the face of hostile and powerful opposition. And it made them unyielding carriers of love and healing and redemption into the world around them. They cared for the sick, provided for the poor, and took care of the weak. It inspired them to live lives of holiness in a way that was utterly unknown to the world around them. And they created a unity among themselves that was without parallel. And all of that was fueled by what they believed happened in that tomb on that first Easter morning. So what on earth did they believe happened at the resurrection? What did it mean to them? To understand that, we need to go back to the Bible and lay some groundwork. Join me today as we discuss: 1. The hope of God's great new world. 2. Total destruction or the renewal of everything? 3. How Jesus' resurrection was God's first act of new creation. 4. How Jesus' resurrection gives us both hope and a new vocation. 5. How only the bodily resurrection of Jesus explains the rise and resolve and hope and mission of the early church. The resurrection of Jesus signaled that a new day had dawned. God was at last beginning to heal and renew the world with wise, generous, redemptive love. And as Christians, Jesus expects us to carry on with that vocation. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.  You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (HarperOne, 2008) — https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission-Hardcover/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=monarch_sidesheet. 2. John Eldredge, All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You Love (Thomas Nelson, 2018) — https://www.amazon.com/All-Things-New-Restoration-Everything/dp/1400207525/ref=sr_1_1?

This is Episode 82 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we’re gonna continue talking about following Jesus in the 21st century. And specifically we're going to unpack the cross. And I’ve done some of this before. But I’m going to approach it a bit differently today. There are four big, overlapping Old Testament themes that converge in the cross of Jesus, and they’re all hugely important. And we have to talk about all four of those today. So join me today as we discuss: 1. The compelling story of the cross. 2. What kind of victory was won by Jesus on the cross? 3. How western Christianity has sold ourselves short when it comes to the cross. 4. How the cross makes possible our priestly vocation in the world. 5. How the gospels have more to teach us about the meaning of the cross than we sometimes think. 6. How Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven through defeating the powers of evil. 7. How the cross redefines power. 8. The importance of the temple in understanding the cross. 9. Why Jesus chose the Passover as the time to die for the world. 10. Why the cross is about far more than just dealing with our moral failures. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.  You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 7 (April 20, 2020) — The Story of the Bible - Part 7: What REALLY Happened on the Cross? (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/04/20/tjs-podcast-episode-7-the-story-of-the-bible-part-7-what-really-happened-on-the-cross/) 2. William D. Edwards, Wesley J. Gabel, and Floyd E. Hosmer, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 255, No. 11, March 21, 1986), available at https://thejesussociety.com/2022/03/14/the-medical-side-of-the-crucifixion/

This is Episode 81 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we’re continuing our talk about what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st century. The first piece of this, which we got into last week, had to do with some of the biblical background to the kingdom of God, and Jesus’ statement in Mark 1 that “the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.” Because if we’re going to follow Jesus, we’ve got to understand something about what he’s up to. And the point that we tried to make last week is that in Jesus, God is at last coming to fulfill his age-old purposes. His purposes for Israel, his purposes for the human race, his purposes through Israel for the human race, and through the human race for the world. Join us today as we discuss: 1. Saved from creation or saved for creation? 2. How the story of Israel and the story of God both intersect in Jesus. 3. The gritty call to discipleship 4. God's Kingdom agenda and the part he wants us to play. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 7 (April 6, 2020) — The Story of the Bible - Part 5: Did God Give Up on Israel? (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/04/06/tjs-podcast-the-story-of-the-bible-part-5-did-god-give-up-on-israel/) 2. The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 7 (April 20, 2020) — The Story of the Bible - Part 7: What REALLY Happened on the Cross? (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/04/20/tjs-podcast-episode-7-the-story-of-the-bible-part-7-what-really-happened-on-the-cross/)

This is Episode 80 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we’re going to begin a series that I think I’m gonna call Following Jesus in the 21st Century. And the first piece of that, which is today's episode, has to do with the call of Jesus to discipleship — what that means, what’s the biblical background to that, and what on earth Jesus intends both for us and what he intends to do through us. And this, of course, touches on all sorts of things — purpose, hope, meaning — all things I think we’d all say we’d like some clarity on. So join me today as we discuss: 1. The purpose of God as background to our calling (what on earth is God up to?) 2. What does Jesus mean in Mark 1:14 when he says, "The time is fulfilled . . . .?" What “time” is Jesus talking about? In what sense is it fulfilled? 3. The Old Testament background leading up to "the time." 4. How the exile fits into all of this. 5. What it means for God to become King? After all, isn’t God always King? — judge doesn’t mean to condemn or destroy — it means to make everything right at last. 6. Understanding the concept of judgment (because that's important, too). 7. Wrestling with how the kingdom and the cross fit together. 8. Two very different kinds of churches today. 9. How the call of Abraham, and Aaron, and Elijah, and David serve as models to our call to discipleship. 10. God's singular purpose from Genesis 1 to day. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, by N. T. Wright (https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Hope-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission/dp/0061551821/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?) 2. Justice in the Kingdom of God (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/06/20/justice-in-the-kingdom-of-god/) 3. What it means to Reign in Life (https://thejesussociety.com/2021/05/24/tjs-podcast-what-it-means-to-reign-in-life-in-rom-517-episode-63/)

This is Episode 79 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And on today’s episode, we're going to talk about how to find answers in the Bible to our questions. Well, when he first asked me to do this, I thought it would be simple, but the more I've ruminated on it, the less simple it’s become. And that's true in part because there is a dizzying array of misinformation about the Bible out there. And that leave a lot of Christians terribly confused about what the Bible does, and doesn’t say. So how do we sort through all that and get to the truth? That’s the question. So I’m going to jump in today to where angels fear to tread and have a go at sorting some of that out. So buckle in and hold on.\ So join me as we discuss: 1. Three challenges in understanding the Bible. 2. What kind of book is the Bible? 3. Who was the Bible written to? 4. The challenge of going back in time. 5. How we create our own problems in reading the Bible. 6. Three helpful suggestions for finding answers. 7. The two MOST helpful suggestions in all this. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. The Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, NRSV (https://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Backgrounds-Study-Hardcover-Comfort/dp/0310452686/ref=sr_1_5?) 2. The NIV Study Bible (https://www.amazon.com/Study-Revised-Hardcover-Letter-Comfort/dp/0310448948/ref=sr_1_4?) 3. Christian Standard Version Bible (https://www.amazon.com/Study-Bible-Hardcover-Bibles-Holman/dp/1433648091/ref=sr_1_4?) 3. The Bible for Everyone, by John Goldingay and N. T. Wright (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0281074011/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_7?). 4. An Exhaustive Concordance matching your favorite translation. 5. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (https://www.christianbook.com/eerdmans-dictionary-of-the-bible/9780802877437/pd/877438?) 6. The Old Testament for Everyone Commentary Set, by John Goldingay — 17 Volumes, but also available one at a time (https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Everyone-Set-Seventeen/dp/0664261760/ref=sr_1_1?) 7. New Testament for Everyone Commentary Set, by N. T. Wright — 18 Volumes, but also available one at a time (https://www.amazon.com/New-Testament-Everyone-Set-Eighteen/dp/0664238262/ref=sr_1_3?)

This is Episode 78 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and today’s podcast is something I’ve been thinking about and working on for a very long time. Now, before you listen to today’s episode, I highly encourage you to go back and listen to last week’s episode, which is an episode I did early in 2020, but which I re-released last week because it provides some important background for what I’m going to be talking about today. I think this episode will have more impact if you listen to last week’s episode first. So with that out of the way, the crux of the issue is this: For most of us, when we talk about “the church,” lots of things come to mind. After two thousand years, we’ve all got a lot of history and hangups and baggage wrapped around that word, some of it good, some of it not so good, and some of it that rightfully makes us cringe. A lot of you, like me, have been hurt by church. And that itself creates a fog that’s hard to see through and see past. And all those things come flooding to the forefront whenever we hear the word “church,” and that prevents us, I think, from understanding the church and seeing the church as intended to be seen. And yet, the church, as I resolutely maintain, is God’s idea. It’s a good thing. The Bible refers to the church as the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-27). And so the challenge is, how do we understand and talk about the church without all of that other stuff getting in the way? What is the church supposed to be in the world? That’s what I want to try and provide some clarity to today. Join me today as we discuss: 1. The challenge of talking about the church. 2. The church and the Jesus Society. 3. The struggle to articulate a vision of the church that is true to the biblical picture without the grime and grit that often clouds that picture. 4. Guess who else has been working on this? 5. What kind of communities was the Apostle Paul trying to establish and build in the first century in his Kingdom work throughout the Roman Empire? 6. Descriptor #1 - Jesus-Honoring 7. Descriptor #2 - Edifying 8. Descriptor #3 - Egalitarian 9. Descriptor #4 - Philanthropic 10. Descriptor #5 - Fictive Kinship Groups 11. So what do we do with this in the 21st century? 12. The challenge of holding together the two critical virtues of holiness and unity in the church. The kinds of Christian communities Paul was creating changed the world. I think they still can. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/. And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. The Jesus Society Podcast: “TJS Rewind - Attractive Christianity (Episode 77, November 1, 2021).” 2. “Who Was the Apostle Paul and Why Does He Still Matter?” The Ask N. T. Wright Anything Podcast, Episode 87 (October 14, 2021). 3. N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography (HarperOne, 2018). 4. Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (Princeton University Press, 1996).

Today's episode is a TJS Rewind episode, originally recorded last year. I'm republishing it today because it provides some important background material for the episode I'm planning to release next week. Today I want to delve into early church history a bit. I think studying church history is important. And here’s why: If you don’t understand where you’ve come from, you have no ability to critique where you are. So I want us to spend some time looking at what Christianity looked like and how it functioned within the broader society in the roughly 300 years after Jesus. AND how all that informs our faith and our lives with Jesus today. Join me today as we discuss: 1. Christianity by the numbers - how much the early church grew and how fast. 2. How and why the early church grew. 3. What was the attraction in early Christianity. 4. Jesus, Origen, and being lights in the world. 5. The importance of virtue and friendship 6. What is supposed to happen when the church gathers vs. what we think is supposed to happen. 7. Why people became Christians in the first century 8. The importance of individual charity in the early church. 9. Is Christianity still attractive today? 10. Disaffiliated Christians today and what might be attractive to them. It's not what you think. 11. Attractive Christians vs. attractive church services. They're not the same thing. 12. The first time I went to church after giving my life to the Lord, and what it teaches us. __________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/. And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________  

This is Episode 76 of The Jesus Society Podcast, today I want to revisit a subject most Christians have fussed about since the Reformation. And that is the idea of faith and works. This is not an unimportant topic, but I believe it has been polarized by the issues of the Reformation, and that polarization has caused us to lose sight of some things and to see both of these things with the clarity that Scripture demands. Those things are what I hope to try and sort out today. Join me today as we discuss: 1. The briefest history of the Protestant Reformation. 2. The Protestant evolution and how these issues have played out over the last 500 years. 3. Understanding the "faith only" camp. 4. Understanding the "other" camp. 5. Two definitions of "faith." 6. The biblical perspective on faith. 7. The biblical perspective of works. 8. The book of James to the rescue. 9. How the Enlightenment has caused us to obsess about the wrong things in this issue. 10. Faith and works - two sides of the same coin? 11. Some wise words from N. T. Wright. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/. And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. Matthew W. Bates, Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King (Baker Academic, 2017). 2. Matthew W. Bates, Gospel Allegiance: What Faith in Jesus Misses for Salvation in Christ (Brazos Press, 2019).

This is Episode 75 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and today I want to talk about dealing with difficult people. And the reason I want to talk about this today is that I’ve been dealing with some difficult people over the last few weeks. If you don't ever have any problems dealing with difficult people, then perhaps you can just skip this episode, but if, like many of us, you struggle to know how to deal with difficult people, then you might just find a few things in this episode that'll help. Join me today as we discuss: 1. Some of the types of difficult people we encounter. 2. Some biblical guardrails to help govern our interactions with difficult people and at least keep us from getting off into the ditches. 3. The tricky business of dealing with fools. 4. How the book of Nehemiah can really help us when it comes to difficult people. ______________________________ As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/. And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we’re currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us. And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today’s Show: 1. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Paperback (2017)