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We’re back for 2023. This is the first part of a two-part episode, which explores how today, in our modern, secular society, we wrestle with our belief in God. These two episodes will detail how I’ve thought through the questions and issues years ago when I seriously asked myself, “Maybe there is no God.”  Because of that, these two episodes are a kind of alternative overview of this series so far, because this entire series was borne out of a journey that began with that very question. So, this episode and the next will revisit the key questions and ideas that had been presented throughout this series so far in the past episodes, but describe them from a different angle. They are what I learned by having faced the question, “Maybe there is no God,” and wrestling with my beliefs regarding God. This episode follows how my thinking about the general idea of God has changed, while doing so, and where this eventually led me to. Next episode will follow what questions then confronted me, and why it led me to examine what the Christian Bible testified.         0:00     Wrestling with our belief in God         2:49     What does it mean to ask, "Maybe there is no God"         9:50     What is really meant by “God”         16:37    What is the question to ask, to find if there is no God         21:15    How to begin thinking of reality as “Who”         28:11    Where all these questions led me        ----------------------------------------Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/      Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

I'm back for 2023, and here is an extra episode to update what is being worked on. Next episode, "Risking belief to keep your faith"  will air around mid-February. In the meanwhile, you can listen to this unscripted episode--if are so inclined--as I bemoan my troubles, trying to figure out which publisher would be appropriate for my book, and figure out how to write up a proposal that'd get them interested.  I'll also comment about the next episode, and what is coming up next season, slated Spring of this year. (not very surprising spoiler's alert:  it's titled, "Exodus")The website for the conference I mention is here:   https://mcmasterdivinity.ca/transcendence/I will be giving a talk in its 4th parallel session, which will be titled, "Recovering God: Mapping and Translating the Journey."  ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/      Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

Many people are surprised that the name of the people of God, "Israel," means to "wrestle with God". But, that was the name God gives to Jacob, who is a character full of faults and failures, and that became the name of everyone who are called God's people in the Bible ( Christians are called "new Israel" in the New Testament). So, in this episode, we will explore how Jacob received this name and how we are to understand the relationship between humanity and God. This episode is also a milestone of sort, as it was it was originally meant to cap the second phase of the series (the first phase being the first season). As such, the episode will reference many of the key ideas in the past episodes.P.S. If I sound somewhat different in this episode, it's because I'm currently recovering from Covid; so please stay safe and healthy, everyone!         0:00     The name, “Israel” means to wrestle with God           2:55     Overall recap of what “God speaks” means           10:25     Jacob’s ladder and God’s promise           19:05     Jacob’s life, struggling with family           25:09     Jacob's struggles and God's promise           31:57     Jacob wrestles with his fears and hopes           36:06     To live, is to wrestle with God           ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/       Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

We're back with part 1 of the two-episode exploration of Jacob's life.        What does it mean to be blessed by God? What is it about Jacob and his life that Genesis identifies him as the spiritual ancestor and representative of the people that God personally speaks with--people who journeys with God? After all, Jacob is an unlikely figure for a hero of a story. He lies to his father, tricks his brother, and even his deceptions are not due to his wit, but his mother's. We will find out in the next two episodes.        0:00   From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and Esau       4:35   What does inquire from the LORD mean?         10:22   Jacob and Esau, twins who were very different         16:55   The strangeness of Jacob being the hero of this story         24:35    The real question that the story asks         29:47   Why would God speak through dreams?          ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/      Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

Isaac is the promised child of Abraham and Sarah. Yet, his life as described in Genesis seems, well, uninteresting. But, there is a very interesting idea behind what happens--or rather, what doesn't happen--in Isaac's life, and it has to do with to how humanity's relation to God develops through multiple generations, according to the Bible. Coming to learn the personal character of God is a journey, and journey means each step starts from where the previous step ended. And so, each generation begins their journey from where the previous generation ended. How that works and what that means is presented through Isaac's life.  2:42      Those who watched Abraham's life         12:28     What you learn by watching Abraham's life         20:15      Knowing God through time and generations         26:42      Where Isaac begins and his life         ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/    Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

A bonus, unscripted(!) episode. We'll see how this episode turns out. So, we've been exploring "ideas, insights, and stories in Christianity." But, where am I in all this? Have I ever experienced some of the things I describe in this series, especially in the third season--God speaking personally to people, making promises, and unfolding miracles?Now that I've wrapped up the main life-story of Abraham and Sarah (and I'm in the process of moving), I decided to share a few examples from things I experienced in my life. Just a few, but you'll get to hear a bit more of the person behind this series. ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/     Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

Why did God call Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering? The story of the "Binding of Isaac," is not simply about a story of a man obeying God to the point that he will sacrifice his own son.  It is about a call that everyone who speaks with God eventually hears. And we hear this call because all of humanity has been waging a one-sided Cold War with God, and to offer Isaac was to bet on peace.         2:22     Would you be at peace if God spoke to you?          7:57     Trouble with heirs - Ishmael and Isaac          14:48    Why what God spoke to Abraham is so perplexing          18:38    Humanity is waging a Cold War on God        26:07    Why Abraham needed to offer his son to God        33:05    Peace Child       ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/    Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

What is faith? What is a miracle? And how are the themes of promise, time, and ambiguity related to all of that? Has God truly been speaking with us? Is Reality personal? Christians believe God speaks to them and walks with them, but what we’ve explored so far still remains open to the question on whether this is merely one possible way to relate to reality, a subjective way to perceive what reality unfolds in our lives. It is only with the narratives of God’s promise and its fulfillment repeated throughout the Bible that the belief in the truly personal reality of God is established in Christianity. It is in this context, that miracles have any meaning in Christianity. Thus, the narrative of God making a promise with people and how that promise unfolds is central to Christian account of humanity’s relationship with God. And that is the  life-story of Abraham and Sarah. This leads to the related question of faith. Faith has a dimension those of us today seldom notice, yet is probably the most important: time. Because promise implies waiting, and waiting implies time. 2:03       Ambiguity, not absence, of God that confronts us          9:40      God breaks through the ambiguity with a Promise to Abraham          16:48      What is a miracle? How people today misunderstand           24:28      Faith and personal trust          29:43      Why Time is essential to Miracles and Faith          ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/      Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

Moral teachings in the Bible, especially in the Hebrew portion (the Christian Old Testament) pose a problem. There are rules and regulations that do not seem very important to us, while there are practices, such as slavery, God either seems to ignore, or even condone. And we're not even getting to the laws that God commands that seem too harsh or even barbaric by our standards today.  Then, to make this even more confusing, the New Testament portion of the Bible sometimes seem to present new moral teachings. God commands Abraham that the male members of God's people must be circumcised; apostle Paul writes that Christians who now belong to God do not need to be circumcised.  People in the time of the Old Testament engaged themselves in terrifyingly savage wars; Jesus Christ teaches his disciples to love their enemies, and instead of condemning people for their sins, died for them. Why do moral views change in the Bible? Or, is it perhaps, the Bible is trying to teach something far more important regarding morality than any particular law or precept? 3:09     The problem of outdated morality in the Bible         8:24     Why God accommodates to our moral level          17:20    What the Bible is teaching about morality          23:58    Why Christians shouldn't follow some OT laws          27:15    What the Bible teaches is people          30:49    Where God seems to lead Abraham by conversing with him         ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/     Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

Is God good? And if God is good, why are moral laws and commands in the Bible, sometimes  not so good? And of course, why do bad things happen, if God is good?But, before we can ask those questions, we should've asked this more basic question: Why would you think that God is good?What does it mean to say that God is "good"? We will begin to explore  this question in this episode. Then, we can start asking what the Bible is trying to teach us about morality and goodness.  [ Update: the previous version of this episode has been split into 2 episodes. The new version of this episode expands on the first half, and explores the Genesis account of the city of Sodom and its destruction. The next episode (S3E7) will expand on the second half. ] 1:56     Morality, evolution, and gods        9:55     God, as Being, Truth, Goodness        18:24    Judgment of God, revisited        23:00    The account of Sodom’s destruction        29:19    The meaning of Sodom’s destruction             ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/    Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

For ages, people have ascribed personality to their deities. What was their reasoning? And what would be the personality of God that speaks forth all things? How should we start thinking about this? And what about Abram, Sarai, and their family? What was the personality of God that spoke to them? How did they begin to learn Who God was in their lives, and what did they experience? 2:12     Our cognitive predisposition to belief in gods          8:40     How we ascribe personality to gods          14:39    What would be the personality of “God”?          19:00    The role of Promise in personal relationship with God          25:50   Abram and Sarai try to fulfill God’s promise themselves          30:25    God makes a separate promise to Hagar        ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/   Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

The first extra episode for Season 3; the next main episode (S3E5) will go live early July. (update: there were more delays, so I couldn't complete the new episode by the end of June as I had originally planned. I apologize for the delay!)This episode addresses the more "meta" question about this series that I wanted to go over before releasing the next episode--what this series has been doing, how it has approached the questions and issues it has explored so far, and where this series is now heading. It also drops hints of future plans, and some long overdue thanks at the end.  ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/   Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

To hear God speak to you, is to be presented with truth; they are the same thing. And God speaking to you often begins with uncertainty, because we don't know whether what is being presented to us really is true.Abram and Sarai hears God speak to them in how they are moved, or inspired, to follow an inner call. "Something" guides them, and that "something" unfolds events in their lives that enable them to follow the call. Because of this, they learn that what this Voice speaks, is really true. But, something more happens, and they gradually learn Who is speaking to them. Let's follow their journey (or for this episode, Abram's portion) to explore what happened.  2:02       Why there is uncertainty in hearing God speak   8:25       What Abram learned in Egypt          14:28      Abram's developing inner strength shown in Canaan          23:25      Abram's fateful meeting with Melchizedek           29:14      Abram learns that "God Most High" was speaking to him           ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/  Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

The Genesis account of Abraham, Sarah, and their children, invites its readers to follow in their path, and continue their journey toward God.  There's one, big problem: it doesn't tell us how to start. Their journey begins with God speaking to Abraham (Abram), but Genesis does not describe how God first spoke to Abram, and how Abram heard God for the first time. So, can we get an answer?This episode will explore and consider what it means to say Abraham, Sarah, and their family were real people, and what it was for them to begin their journey with God. 2:04     What can we say about Abraham as a real person?         6:54     What Christians are concerned about regarding the Bible         13:17     The silence on Genesis about how God spoke to Abram           19:10     How God speaks to all people according to Genesis           22:01     The voice that spoke to Abram           27:58     Did Abram know it was God speaking?           ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

 Abraham, Sarah, and their family--are they "historical" figures?The simple answer? No... and Yes. (Ok, so it's not a simple answer)Another answer is the actual title of this episode: "Historical in/significance of Abraham's story"This odd title can refer to four things.1) The "insignificance" of Abraham as a "historical figure" for historians2) The significance of Abraham's story in history3) The historical dimension  "in the significance" of Abraham's story4) The significance of Abraham in how history has unfolded ever since.And all of that leads us back to God's original promise to Abraham in Genesis, to bless him, to make him great, and to make his name significant, so that he will be a blessing to all people.  1:33    Primeval History in Genesis versus…          8:29     … the Ancestral History in Genesis         13:02     Who wrote Genesis and why?          21:12     The question of Abraham as a "historical" figure          27:35     Historical in/significance of Abraham        -----------------------------------------  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/   Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

What does it mean to say, “There’s no God?”  What it means for us today, to say, “there’s no God,” is quite different from what it meant for people living just several centuries ago, to say, “there’s no God.”  That's because people back then did not merely believe that God exists. They perceived God in their world. Then, some time ago, God disappeared from our perception. We forgot what it meant to hear God speak, or see God in our lives, and so, one day, ‘God’ was no longer "there.” * Revised on April 3 for greater clarity and flow in the 2nd half. 3:00       How the ancients perceived their gods          10:10       What it means to perceive God          20:58      A metaphor made God disappear from the cosmos          27:53      A metaphor made God disappear from our lives                -----------------------------------------  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/   Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

A short prologue to the 3rd Season of What do you mean God speaks?  -  "Those who wrestle with God. 1st main episode of Season 3 is scheduled to go live next week.  Music : "True Genesis" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.comSupport the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

 Trailer for the upcoming Season 3 of "What do you mean God speaks?"    Those who wrestle with God.          The trailer : "Monologue of the children of Abraham" Music : "True Genesis" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.comSupport the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

Post-season bonus episode; here I just go over some things I thought of while writing this second season, or other things I could have put into the episodes (or thought was interesting), but didn't. I also talk about new listeners, trouble with writing for people I can't see, and stuff like that. Also: at the end of the episode, I play the full length music pieces I have used for the episodes, in their unedited glory!Season 3, "Those who struggle with God," will begin mid-March!-----------------------------------------   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/   Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!

The finale of Season 2: Genesis. Please join me for the third Season!  We think the story of Babel is about God punishing people for building a tower that reaches the sky; that is why God makes them speak in different languages. But, what if it’s much more than that? What if the Tower is not really God’s primary concern, and the goal of God making people speak different languages, is simply that—that they would speak differently?  (Genesis 9 ~ 11) 2:17     The logical progression of Genesis primeval narratives        9:13     Noah’s descendants and Noah’s curse        15:55     What is strange about the story of Babel        22:45     God wants humanity to speak different languages      -----------------------------------------   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/   Support the show * Please leave a review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms!