We Love a Good Rivalry

Listen in on this third episode on AWE - the anticipation of awe at the end of time. Awe comes from a spiritual experience - wrestling with life and death. 
A focus on apocalyptic scenarios misses the essence of the renewal of all things in the future. We may expect to be more impressed with the physicality of end times rather than the inner experience, and in the spirit realm. 
The awe at the end of times  is a future based on the experience of the presence of God making his home among people. God has been introducing that new experience all along the way. This is the basis of experiencing awe in the end of times.
Scriptures discussed include Romans 8:18-23, 1 Corinthians 15:35-55, Philippians 3:20-21, Revelation 21:1-6, and Colossians 1:15-20.

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This Know God episode is our second  on AWE. We demonstrate finding awe in the texts and stories of the Bible. We discussed 8 pathways to awe as presented in the book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, by Dr. Dacher Keltner. 
Scriptures discussed include Psalm 23, Genesis 28:12-18, 1 Kings 3:23-28, Luke 23:46-48, and Hebrews 12:25-29.

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The science of awe took off with the Apollo 8 mission of 1968. This episode explores the intersection of scientific research and biblical narrative as we consider the amazing benefits of the experience of AWE!
You’ve likely seen the iconic photo “Earthrise” taken by the crew of Apollo 8. For the first time humans saw their blue home planet rising above the forbidding lunar horizon. Awe enveloped them as this view of Earth changed their lives. Some say the beginning of the study of awe at the academic level began because of that Apollo 8 mission. Join us as we discuss “What is awe?” gleaning from scientific research and biblical teaching. Passages discussed include Luke 5:20-26 and 7:9-17.

We discuss 8 pathways to awe, from the work of Dr. Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. He and his colleagues identify eight different pathways to experience awe: 1) The moral beauty of people, 2) nature, 3) collective effervescence,4) dance movement, 5) the cultural stuff of visual design, 6) music, 7) spirituality, and 8) big ideas in life and death. 

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Community Context is the third podcast in the CONTEXT series. Community context involves slowing down, reading details, connecting dots, and giving attention to the street signs of our local communities.
Listen to our conversation about, “How can I become a good neighbor?”

Many people don’t know their communities, and their communities don’t know them. Many people are sitting in their house; they don't know their neighbors and are pretty much content with that. We could just be a little more human as we take the initiative to connect with others. Grasping community context will get us on the right track.
I became fascinated to understand the concept of community context while reading the book Contextual Intelligence: Unlocking the Ancient Secret to Mission on the Front Lines by Leonard Sweet and Michael Beck.
Scriptures include Ephesians 4:18-24 and Matthew 6:26–29.

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Relational Context is about finding opportunities to develop stronger connections with others. Sometimes referred to as relational intelligence,  we describe how it takes trust, authentic love, as well as a commitment to a “not ‘on the clock’ kind of time with others. As a God-created facet of humanity, to not possess relational intelligence is to experience something clouding it, blocking it, veiling it, or to simply be afraid of it.
Gain insights and tools for relationships as we discuss passages, including Matthew 7:1-3, John 2:43-51, and John 3:1-12.

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CONTEXT informs translation and core principles of the Bible. In this episode the translation of the Greek word lambano as  “take” or “receive” is covered in detail. Context is shown to be key to determining translation. It even has implications for how we view Jesus Christ. Key passages highlight this significance.
Gain new insight in the significance of “receive versus take” as we discuss passages, including Philippians 2:5-8, John 1:11-14, and Philippians 3:12-14.

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What is the impact of rivalry? Can I feed rivalry and competition outside of my church life and not work counter to the environment of the church? Rivalry impacts behavior not only in athletics and business, but also in recreation, education, church, and politics. We discuss that the opposite of  rivalry is be a teammate. Insights into the impact of rivalry will come from history, and biblical passages, including Galatians 5:16-21, 1 Timothy 6:2-5, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Titus 3:9, Philippians 1:15-18, and Matthew 20:1-16.

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Why is this podcast called, “Know God”? The vision of Jesus was that we can know God. It’s reciprocal. God knows us; we know God. The hope that one can know God, to intimately have an experience in relationship with the Creator of the universe, is an incredibly high goal, but is exactly what we believe each person can have.
We take an approach of giving tools and lenses to people who are searching. Knowing God is so much bigger than mere rationalism. It’s intimacy and wholeness.
Scriptures discussed include John 17:3, John 10, and 1 John 4:7-9.

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How can I recognize when a church may be off track, out of kilter? Here’s a resource outlining characteristics of a church in good shape. This is the 4th and final episode on church as the visible Christian presence in a society or community.
We give our take on 6 biblical metaphors describing a healthy and authentic church. These metaphors are like snapshots of a church. What does it look like? How does it function? When is it the best version of the design Jesus had in mind? These metaphors vary from body, building, assembly, flock, kingdom, and family.
Scriptures include Epheseians 3:2-6,Ephesians 4:3-6, and 1 Peter 5:1-3.

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When someone says I’m going to give church a try the next question is, “Which church?” Here’s a resource to make one aware of the factors that may help make that decision. This is Part 3 of the series on church.

Churches are diverse. Many nuances make individual congregations unique. Here are some musings on the style of churches. How the church feels when I walk in the door. How it plays out in relationships. We discuss the impact that church life of the American frontier during the early 19th Century continues to impact church now. Camp meetings became a template of revivalism and nondenominational Christianity. Church size and organization structure strongly determine the experience of those entering into the life of a congregation. Scripture includes Acts 16:31-34 with a discussion of “household” as a translation of the Greek “oikos”.

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