Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture

We consider a passage from Isaiah - from three different translations.  We focus on one word from Hebrew that is translated alternately as "wait", "trust", and "hope".  Which translation is correct?  We decide which is the best translation, and from this, we determine that there is a huge lesson in this passage about how Christians should live their daily lives.  It tells us what to do when nothing seems to be happening, when God does not seem to be active in our lives.  It gives us an opportunity to use our time in the most fruitful and faithful way possible.

We look at the Gospel of John, the thoughtful, literary Gospel, from which we derive much of what we believe.  We see that Scripture can be very subtle and can be filled with double entendres.  Looking at the foot washing scene in John as a primary example, we consider the depth and the nuances that are often missed by modern readers of English translations of the Bible.  We see just how magnificent of a gift is Scripture.

We look at a book that most Christians are not that familiar with - Malachi.  He is "the Messenger" from God who tells us that God will refine us like gold and silver.  We look how God works to refine us, largely by building our confidence that we can indeed live as godly, good people.  We consider what we as Christians look to as our leader through life.  We don't have a prophet like Malachi as our Messenger.  Who do we have?

We look at the word "logos" ("λόγος") in the Bible.  We look at its true, deep meaning, a meaning that is very difficult for a non-Greek speaker to appreciate.  We discover that translating this word correctly and looking at the magnificent, poetic intro to the Gospel of John, we learn about our role as the faithful, the reason Jesus came to us, and what we can find in the face of God.

We look at rendering of 3D wireframe images inside a computer into 2D, simulated 3D full color video.  We draw an analogy of God rendering us from empty wireframes devoid of color and life into full color living human beings who have been forgiven.  We consider Psalm 116, which notes God has rescued the Psalmist from Sheol or Hades, and which asks how the psalmist can render an appropriate act of thankfulness to God.  Finally, ask what we can do today to render our thanks to God.

The title of this podcast comes from something my boy, who is 32, said when he was 3.  We're going to look at the derivation of the name "Jesus", and learn some intriguing things about it.  This will help us understand a parallel between the story of the conquest of Canaan with the story of Jesus.  It will teach us something about language.  It will also teach us something about what really matters on this Earth.

For a millennia and a half, the Silk Road provided a vast avenue of exchange for trading commercial products, carrying on philosophical discussion and for the transmission of faith.  We look at how this might have impacted the development of Christianity.  We also look at the new Silk Road - the Internet, and we consider its positive and negative impacts on Christian faith.

We look at the Book of Acts of the Apostles - which is very inappropriately named - and how it tells us of the incredible missionary journey of the Holy Spirit.  We learn of the immensely deeper and inspiring sense that the earliest believers had of the Holy Spirit, compared to our modern notion.  We see that we do not have to wait for Jesus to return, as the Holy Spirit is already alive, within us.  We see just what the Holy Spirit can do to our lives.

We look at the apocryphal book, the Book of Tobit.  It is a wild tale in which a man marries a woman who has had seven previous bridegrooms die before the marriage was consumated, a man is blinded by bird crap, and an angel disguises himself as a man.  It is also a tale that tells us just what it means to be a Christian.  We will also look at how the Grateful Dead apparently named their band...

We look at the Genesis story of creation: many call it a useless myth, and say that we need to focus on the real, scientific way in which we came into existence.  We see that there is tremendous truth in the Creation Story, and that in it we see the most critical facts about why we exist and what we are meant to do on this planet.  We discover that the myth is truth.
(THIS IS A REPOST.  THE ORIGINAL SOUND FILE BECAME CORRUPTED.)

I once had a student in one of my university courses come to my office after not having done any work all semester.  Without asking if anything was wrong, I launched into a professorial lecture about how he should have been doing what I told him to do if he wanted a decent grade, and no, I would not give him an incomplete.  He would fail.  He broke down sobbing - and I learned that something very bad was indeed wrong in his life.  We look at the parable of the man who insists on sitting at the seat of honor at a banquet.  We look at what it means to live by one of the core beliefs of being a Christian, and that is to be humble.

I once drove to Mexico with my half-Brazilian father.  When we drove back over the border, he discovered that he had forgotten to take an ID with him - and of course, he looked like a Mexican.  In this podcast, we look at the task of building our church today.  We realize that we are judged in very superficial ways - as I was afraid my father would be.  We are seen as ignorant and hurtful.  They see our church as coming to an end, with no revival possible.  But God has a much longer and deeper view of reality...

When I was in kindergarten I decided one day to hitchhike to school.  I stood on the sidewalk with my thumb out.  Quickly, someone did indeed pick me up.  We look at God's grace and how it can protect us, both spiritually and physically.  We consider the issue of what our role is in God being able to use his grace to keep us from harm and to limit evil in this world.

I once spoke with a woman who was dying from heavily metastasized cancer.  She was worried that she would miss her daughter's wedding.  I talked to her about the wedding that really matters, the one that both she and her daughter would be at - the wedding from the parable Jesus told.  In this parable, the wedding stands for the final judgement.  We look at the way Christians need to be confident that they will get an invitation to this wedding and that they will be honored guests.

I had an aunt who owned a pet ocelot.  One night, a man with a gun tried to rob her.  That ocelot loved my aunt beyond anything in the world.  The ocelot bit off the robber's forearm.  God is that kind of protector for us.  We do not have to earn that protection with good works.  Our faith is enough to ensure that God will always be with us.  We look at a couple of the letters of Paul to see just what God's grace - that unearned grace, given through faith alone - can do to transform us.