Focus question

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#1149: Did Jesus ever address homosexuality? | Matthew 19 | Isaiah 6-9:7

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#1149: Did Jesus ever address homosexuality? | Matthew 19 | Isaiah 6-9:7

Our focus question today is “Did Jesus ever address homosexuality?” And I’m going to cut to the chase: One narrative that makes the rounds is that Jesus did not, in fact, address it. And he did. And we’ll address that after we do our NT segment.

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#1148: How is faith in God vindicated? | Matthew 18 | Isaiah 4-5 | Psalm 58

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#1148: How is faith in God vindicated? | Matthew 18 | Isaiah 4-5 | Psalm 58

Today could we just focus on our spirits? And I don’t mean that aspect of our souls, per se. I mean out attitudes, approaches to life and love…and the focus question that we’ll get to in today’s psalm, today’s wisdom segment, when we ask, “How is faith in God vindicated?”

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#1147: Is the God of the OT "mean?" | Matthew 17 | Isaiah 1-3 |

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#1147: Is the God of the OT "mean?" | Matthew 17 | Isaiah 1-3 |

As we kick off Isaiah today (and spend a good bit of time there in the coming days), we’re going to hear plenty more oracles of judgment. Indeed, the OT in general has plenty of war and ugliness and, yes, prophets calling the people out. The NT, of course, is really clear about the gravity and consequence of sin, but if you or someone you know has wondered if the God of the OT is just a mean old dude, you’re not alone. Today’s focus question — Is the God of the OT mean? — is another where we’ll help you answer that question for yourself and others.

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#1144: Hidden lessons in the water-walking story? | Matthew 14 | Hosea 7-10 | Proverbs 12:15

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#1144: Hidden lessons in the water-walking story? | Matthew 14 | Hosea 7-10 | Proverbs 12:15

The story of Jesus walking on water is one of better known miracle stories in the Bible, but this also makes it one of the better stories in which to look for deeper meaning by way of today’s focus question…What are the hidden lessons in the “walking on water” story?

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#1143: Who bears the greatest blame for Israel’s mess? | Matthew 13 | Hosea 4-6 | Proverbs 12:12-14

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#1143: Who bears the greatest blame for Israel’s mess? | Matthew 13 | Hosea 4-6 | Proverbs 12:12-14

NOTE: Today is a day I TOTALLY went off-script. Not that this is a script. But if you read this as a blog post and don’t listen to the podcast, you’re missing out. Or maybe not. And a warning…today gets you a big ol’ belly laugh in the middle.

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#1141: When is doubt okay? | Matthew 11 | Amos 7-9 | Proverbs 12:4-6

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#1141: When is doubt okay? | Matthew 11 | Amos 7-9 | Proverbs 12:4-6

Today, as we’ll see in Matthew 11, doubt is experienced by the most surprising of characters. And even though doubt has not been part of my journey, I actually think that many, if not most, people have doubt from time to time. And that’s today’s focus question — is that doubt ever okay?

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#1140: What is a doxology? | Matthew 10 | Amos 4-6

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#1140: What is a doxology? | Matthew 10 | Amos 4-6

You know that the Bible has many different literary genres — historical narrative and biography and poetry and so on. What it also contains that is less obvious is music. And we might remember that it does when we think about Psalms, but it’s not terribly obvious that we recognize it when we read something like the book of Amos. And that sets up today’s focus question, “What is a doxology?”

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#1139: What happens when Israel points fingers? | Matthew 9 | Amos 1-3 | Psalm 48

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#1139: What happens when Israel points fingers? | Matthew 9 | Amos 1-3 | Psalm 48

The idea of “gettin’ in your bidness” means, “Yo dude, now you’re getting a big personal!” So you might be amused to know that today, in both our OT and NT segments, there’s a bit of God “gettin’ in your bidness.”

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#1137: What are the two possible responses to Jesus? | Matthew 7 | Joel

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#1137: What are the two possible responses to Jesus? | Matthew 7 | Joel

More red words! Today wraps up Jesus’ teaching known as the Sermon on the Mount. Toward the end you’ll hear a story that introduces some contrast, and it’s there I want you to keep an ear out for the answer to today’s question, What are the two possible responses to Jesus?

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#1136: Whose real estate? | Matthew 6 | 2 King 23:31-25 | Proverbs 12:2-3

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#1136: Whose real estate? | Matthew 6 | 2 King 23:31-25 | Proverbs 12:2-3

I heard a financial teacher once say this. “Think about the words ‘real estate.’ Did you know that the word ‘real’ comes from the same place as the word ‘royal’ — and if you don’t think you belong to the king, just try not paying your taxes!”

Now I wouldn’t bet my life on that word study, but it’s a good reminder…and the source of today’s focus question…Whose real estate do you manage?

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#1134: Which categories of human temptation did Jesus experience? | Matthew 4 | 2 King 20-22:13 | Psalm 20

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#1134: Which categories of human temptation did Jesus experience? | Matthew 4 | 2 King 20-22:13 | Psalm 20

Today in Matthew 4 we hear what is perhaps a familiar story of the Devil tempting Jesus. What may not be quite so familiar is how the ways that that temptation happens actually tells a deeper story…and answers today’s focus question, “Which categories of human temptation did Jesus experience?”

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#1132: Is typology lost on the spiritually blind? | Matthew 2 | 2 King 17 | Psalm 129 | Proverbs 11:23-28

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#1132: Is typology lost on the spiritually blind? | Matthew 2 | 2 King 17 | Psalm 129 | Proverbs 11:23-28

“Typology is the perception of recurring patterns of action in salvation-history that are too “coincidental” to be attributed to any cause but God,” and they can involve people, events, or even institutions. But is it lost on the spiritually blind?

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