Non-Violence: Interview with Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe
August 30, 2017 • John Mark Comer, Josh Porter, & Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe
In our next interview, we talk with Sister Rosemary, a Catholic nun and the Head of Saint Monica Girls’ Tailoring Centre in Gulu, Uganda, about the persecuted church and loving your enemy even in the aftermath of the Lord’s Resistance Army lead by Joseph Kony. Listen along all this week as we interview various theologians and experts on the subject of non-violence and enemy love, in order to work out some of the implications of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5.
Non-Violence: Interview with Dr. Tim Mackie
August 29, 2017 • John Mark Comer, Josh Porter, & Tim Mackie
We talk with professor Dr. Tim Mackie about violence in the book of Revelation and the Old Testament, and how to read the Bible. Listen along all this week as we interview various theologians and experts on the subject of non-violence and enemy love, in order to work out some of the implications of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5.
Non-Violence: Interview with Dr. Preston Sprinkle
August 28, 2017 • John Mark Comer, Josh Porter, & Preston Sprinkle
This week we will be interviewing various theologians and experts on the subject of non-violence and enemy love, in order to work out some of the implications of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5. In this first interview, we speak with author and professor Dr. Preston Sprinkle about church history, Just War Theory, and followers of Jesus in the military.
The Tyranny of Living for the Approval of Others
August 27, 2017 • John Mark Comer
So many of us live under the suffocating weight of the approval (or disapproval) of other people. Draining our already-low energy reserves in an attempt to look good, rather than be good. Jesus tackles this head on, calling his apprentices to a life of self-forgetful service of the needy, simply for the reward of our Father’s pleasure.
Jesus on His Most Radical Idea: Enemy Love
August 20, 2017 • John Mark Comer
We finally come to the last, and most radical, of Jesus’ six examples of his way: enemy love. For Jesus, it’s not enough to reject the flight or fight options, and look for a creative alternative to violence. He’s actually after love for our enemy. If we only love people we like, how are we any different from the world?
Jesus on Breaking the Chain of Violence
August 13, 2017 • John Mark Comer
Few of Jesus’ teachings are more thought-provoking and jarring to our culture than what he has to say on nonviolence and enemy love. To follow Jesus is to reject the either/or option of flight or fight, and to look for a third way, a creative, wise, intelligent, bold, and at times risky way to fight evil in a nonviolent way. The way of Jesus.
Jesus on Truth and Integrity
July 30, 2017 • Bethany Allen
It can be easy to skim the surface of what Jesus has to say about oaths. Our culture doesn’t work the same way anymore. We don’t really take oaths in our day-to-day lives. Jesus is getting at something deeper; living in complete honesty and integrity. If we are people living out the reflection of our creator, we should be a community of truth-tellers, understanding that our lives are predicated on Jesus’ commitment to tell the truth and then fulfill it.
Jesus on Objectification and Oppression
July 23, 2017 • John Mark Comer
When Jesus recounts the Laws from the Torah, he doesn’t simply address the behavior, he gets to the heart of sin. His insight to the human condition and our need for God is monumental. Our weakness in lust creates a wake of objectification and oppression in the lives of others. Jesus is calling us to take drastic measures to eradicate the poison of lust from our lives.
Jesus on Anger
July 16, 2017 • John Mark Comer
We live in a culture that says anger is good, that we should use it as the fuel for fighting injustice; anger can motivate us to finally get past our indifference. But the way of Jesus, as always, is different. Jesus reveals the vicious cycle of anger we all get sucked into, and more importantly, how to break it and live into his vision of the kingdom.
What Does Jesus Think About the Bible?
July 9, 2017 • John Mark Comer
What exactly does Jesus think about the Bible? In a time where the Bible is under assault, from both the right and the left, is there an option C? A new, creative way forward based on Jesus’ teachings on the Bible?
Salt the Earth, Light the World
April 30, 2017 • Gerald Griffin
As we continue in the sermon on the mount Jesus teaches his followers what it means to be salt of the earth and the light of the world. The God of Israel has always had a plan for his people to permeate all of society and bring his light and love.
Who is Actually Blessed?
April 9, 2017 • John Mark Comer
In this teaching, we kick off “The Sermon on the Mount” – the most important teachings of Jesus all in one place. It’s Jesus’ manifesto for a whole new way to be human in the kingdom of God. In the opening lines of the Sermon, Jesus radically redefines who is blessed around the least likely candidates. It’s one of the most important, and most misunderstood, of all Jesus’ teachings.
The Kingdom of God
April 2, 2017 • Tim Mackie
Contrary to popular opinion, the central message of Jesus wasn’t social justice, community, or even love. It was the kingdom of God. But what is the kingdom? And how do we live into its reality? And what will the kingdom do to reshape our life from the ground up?
Into the Wilderness
February 26, 2017 • Gerald Griffin
The scriptures teach us that our high priest, Jesus, is able to empathize with us in our humanity in every way. This also means that, just like us, he needed to hear the Father define his true identity. We are not alone in the search for meaning and purpose but just like Jesus, that identity is only fully realized when we look to our heavenly Father.
Out of the Wilderness
February 19, 2017 • Chris Wienand
Often, the hardest moments in our journey as a Jesus follower is when what He requires of us is contrary to our tradition, our family, our culture and our heritage. We will be called into the wilderness at some point. Will we, like John, embrace our God-given story or will we distract ourselves and focus on the stories and lives of others?
Origin Story
February 12, 2017 • John Mark Comer
Who we are is shaped by where we come from. For this reason, Matthew tells us the story of Jesus’ family of origin. But it turns out, the Christmas story is far more provocative and subversive to the modern world than most of us realize.
A Genealogy, Really?
February 5, 2017 • John Mark Comer
Jesus: radical rabbi – teacher of a new way to be human. But more, Messiah – long awaited king of Israel and the world, come to usher in a new era of human history that he called the kingdom of God. But more, “Immanuel” – God with us.