The Bible and Its History
Learn about the travels of Paul and the early church led by Peter.
Find about the lives of early Christians and who were Jewish Christians.
The Acts of the Apostles covers 30 years of history from the Post Resurrection Jesus to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome.
Sometime near the end of the first century, a writer skilled in Greek language and philosophy wrote the last Gospel, called the Gospel According to John. In some quarters, the authorship is assigned to the Apostle John, while others declare it was another person, perhaps another person named John. While the authorship is a hotly debated item, what is not debated is this Gospel is very different than the first three.
This Gospel is far more philosophical; and contains longer and deeper theological expressions by Jesus. In the Synoptic Gospels; Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus speaks in quick bursts and uses parables for many of his teachings. Here we have philosophical explanations by Jesus; about the Kingdom of heaven and who he is.
In this episode, discover that the Gospel According to Luke is actually written by the same author as Acts. In fact, It is called Luke/Acts, separated by the early church fathers.
Was the Author the Beloved Physician, that Paul mentions in his letters?
Learn about the great Christmas story in Luke, the largest of all four Gospels.
Find the answer to why Jesus dined and socialized with the despicable tax collectors.
Learn why, in this Gospel, the good news about Jesus is for all the people.
Find out why scholars believe this was the first Gospel written and its impact on Matthew and Luke.
Was the author John Mark? And if so, is this an eyewitness to the Life and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
Learn about the Scribes of the first century and their importance a foil for Jesus’s teachings.
Discover how Jesus proved his divinity and why he called himself the Son of Man.
Great Christians of the Past
Jesus said to Peter the Apostle; And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. True enough, it was Peter that built the church after Christ rose into heaven. Simple enough on Jesus’s part to say this, and for it to happen. But there is more to Peter than just being The Rock.
Find out the person who identified the 27 books of the New Testament and was instrumental in creating the Nicean Creed.
A man from the fourth century who rose to become the “Pillar of the Church” and became a role model for all future church leaders.
Discover his valiant life efforts to defend the Trinity and wrote many landmark books defining Christian Theology.
Learn about a man of great virtue who endured five exiles during his 48 years of being one of the first Christian Bishops.
Discover the first person to spread the Good News about Jesus throughout the Roman empire.
A zealous person who walked 10,000 miles to spread the message of the Gospel. Enduring hardships, jail and even times of great danger to his life.
He was the author of many books in the New Testament, whose writing style engaged and inspired many in the first century. Yet, even today, his words resonant in the 21st century.
Spend a Year with Jesus
Jesus feeds us both spiritually and through the provisions of our lives. When we look to the world for spiritual renewal and our bounty, we are always left looking for more.
How many times in our lives do we stand at a place where all things seem lost? These times of distress are inevitable and will visit all, both the weak and the mighty. Jesus asks us to be calm and have faith. Jesus asks us to stand calmly when the swirling seas of life pound the rocks of our lives. Jesus asks us to stand firmly faithful and turn our eyes toward God. Our life answers are found when we stand calmly and face our foes with an unwavering trust in Jesus. Our trust in Jesus replaces the turbulence of life with a calmed spirit.
Welcome to our podcast series, “Spend A Year With Jesus.” Each Sunday we will broadcast a short message to help you with your relationship with Jesus.
We suggest you create a journal and write down your thoughts about Jesus and how Jesus influences your life. Each week, we will read a verse, a short reflection and ask you three questions.
After listening to the broadcast, we invite you to spend the following week studying your thoughts and how it affected you. Journaling is important, as it will help you see how Jesus is affecting you.
After one year, in fact, every week, we pray that you grow closer to Jesus!
Welcome to our podcast series, “Spend A Year With Jesus.” Each Sunday we will broadcast a short message to help you with your relationship with Jesus.
We suggest you create a journal and write down your thoughts about Jesus and how Jesus influences your life. Each week, we will read a verse, a short reflection and ask you three questions.
After listening to the broadcast, we invite you to spend the following week studying your thoughts and how it affected you. Journaling is important, as it will help you see how Jesus is affecting you.
After one year, in fact, every week, we pray that you grow closer to Jesus!
Inspirational Christian Stories
Zacchaeus come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.
Luke 19:5
Jesus enters the town of Jericho and is met by a throng of people. As he walks into the town, he passes under a sycamore tree. He looks up and sees a man in the tree. To the man he says; Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. To which Zacchaeus agrees and has Jesus stay at his house. After the visit, Zacchaeus a very rich tax collector, states he will give half his wealth to the poor and any that he has defrauded, he will pay back four times.
On the surface, this seems like a simple conversion and change of heart created by Jesus. An interesting story that we pass through when reading the Gospel of Luke. But it isn’t so simple, especially when we consider the historical and deeper theological implications.
Recently we moved to a new part of Asheville. In doing so we had to find a new church to attend. Over a number of Sundays, we attended a few. One church was too stuffy. While in another we felt like a number to be counted. And even in another, the pastor was too political. We finally found one that seemed right. Not because it had a great building and environment. It did, but we have been to those before. Not because the music was great, because it wasn’t. It had a spirit that we didn’t see in the others.
Recently, I was asked by a group of people who wanted to know exactly who the Holy Spirit was, would I write a blog? Thinking to myself, you know that is something I get asked about a lot, and agreed I would do the research and write a blog. But simply stating that the Holy Spirit was part of the Trinity and substance of God wouldn’t be enough.
So, I earnestly set out to read all the verses in the Bible about the Holy Spirit and all the reference material. The more I researched, the more complicated the answers became. In fact, when I read what scholars thought, I couldn’t seem to find concrete agreement from person to person. The search became murkier as I tried to distill the Holy Spirit into a simple explanation.
Some of the readings claimed if you had the Holy Spirit, you could talk in tongues. Some other writings called the Holy Spirit the great counselor. Others claimed the Spirit created miracles. But there was no one simple answer.
Then it dawned me that it wasn’t important what scholars wrote, but how people experienced the Holy Spirit. That in their own personal relationship with the Holy Spirit was the true definition.
Learn how an illiterate man sent the message of God throughout Sydney, Australia for over thirty-five years.
He became known as “Mr. Eternity,” and one of Sydney’s beloved citizens.
From very meager beginnings, he rose up to become a hallmark evangelist in his hometown.
Billy Graham called himself the lobbyist for God. In his lifetime, he held over 400 Bible Crusades and was the pastor to American presidents.
Hear about his life story and those he influenced.
As he said, “Heaven is my home, I am just traveling through this world.”
