All Episodes
Let No One Think Me Foolish
People embrace social norms in much the same way that fundamentalists embrace religious rules: as a means of self-approval. A person feigns modesty either to win accep...
The Great Corinthian Brain Hack
How can a teacher reach someone who is set in their ways or engulfed by ideology? What if the way a person looks at the world -- their unstated assumption about everyt...
A Yo Yo for Your Sake
Unfortunately, Christians often co-opt the Bible to justify philosophical axioms, such as, "it is good to be humble," or, "it is wrong to boast;" “it is good to be nic...
No Thanks to You
Is it possible to do something good without allowing yourself to take credit? I'm not talking about haughty expressions of socially encouraged self-deprication. On the...
The Bus Keeps Moving
People tend to overestimate their own importance while ignoring--or at least underestimating--the value of others. This problem is keenly felt in the church at Roman C...
True Equality is Not Fair
On some level, people recognize the importance of being fair. We know that our laws should treat people equally and we understand that no one should take more than the...
The Story of God's Will
Life coaches love to talk about having confidence in their clients and the importance of building self-worth and self-esteem. Fortunately, for the church in Roman Cori...
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!
Most leaders motivate others by boasting of their accomplishments. They talk about past goals they have achieved, they reflect on how effective they were at leading ot...
Life is Not Gray
People resolve the tension of diversity either by clinging to fundamentalism or by embracing relativism. Unfortunately, both approaches share a desire to be right: to ...
Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It
We human beings love having an excuse; or having the opportunity to blame someone else for our problems; or having the freedom to blame our failures on unforeseen circ...
The Great Divorce
In one of his most popular works, C.S. Lewis talks about the inevitable divorce between good and evil: a comforting philosophical notion that allows adherents to be ri...
Don't Get Comfortable
When Paul talks about being "absent from the body," our Hellenized ears want to believe that he is talking about a dualism with some version of a Platonic soul inhabit...
Which Life is Life?
When someone sets out to do something difficult, they console themselves that their sacrifice is worth the effort because of what they will have achieved or attained. ...
From Glory to Glory
When St. Paul contrasts tablets of stone with the human heart, or the letter inscribed in stone with the Spirit, or the Old Covenant with the New, Christians are quick...
Who is Testing Whom?
It is common for students to judge their teachers. Worse, students today are encouraged to do so, being routinely asked to fill out teacher evaluation forms. Some have...
Wax On Wax Off
According to human standards of leadership, when Paul changes course midstream, it appears to his disciples that he is vascillating between "yes" and "no," like a man ...
The Blessing and the Curse
When Paul talks about comfort in 2 Corinthians, it is easy to receive his words as much needed nurturing, as though we have suffered unjustly and are in need of God's ...
Whistling to the Flock
Without realizing it, when people hear the word “church,” they usually imagine a meta institution with clear organizational or ideological boundaries, akin to a govern...
Baptism for the Dead
Isaiah 22:12 Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. 13 Instead, there is gaiety a...
According to the Scriptures
Psalm 2:1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Agains...
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent
When reading an ancient text in translation—especially one laden with nuance—there is a high risk of misunderstanding. On the one hand, there are expressions, cultural...
Five Words
Better to “speak five words” that give instruction, Paul explains, “than ten thousand words” that mean something to you but are useless for everyone else. Richard and ...
A More Excellent Way
After spending the better part of 12 chapters putting the church’s household in order, in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians, St. Paul crowns the power structure he establish...
Hell Was Created Just for Me
The key to understanding any idea, statement or position is to examine its premise. What underlying assumptions must be made for an idea to make sense? What motivation...
Paul's Kung Fu
According to our friend Google, a contradiction is, “a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.” According to St. ...
A Tribe of One?
What if you know something is OK, but someone else does not? What if you know something is not OK, but others think it is fine? What if someone offers you something th...
First Among Average
What does it mean to be chosen in the Bible? What is the purpose of having a chosen people? How does God honor his chosen? What is expected of those who hope to join t...
Trickle Up Economics
Can you make yourself the least of all by insisting on your title and station? Can you sacrifice everything for the sake of others without them liking it? Are you able...