Jacob finally arrives at his uncle's house, where he discovers that he has a crush--on his cousin. This is a problem, but for all the wrong reasons. Eventually, he gets his uncle's blessing. What follows is family drama that resembles bingeworthy TV. A family member with a disability is repeatedly trashed (TW) and we discuss what it's like to feel invisible, even among friends and family. We learn that those who are forgotten by humans are often given special attention by God. This episode also sets up the final confrontation between Jacob and God that will occur next time in the finale to thi ..read more

We start the saga of the Biblical legendary hero, Jacob, a touted trickster who barely pulls off one deception thanks to incredible incompetence on the part of everyone else. The remainder of the time, he's offering very obviously bad deals and unfortunately people are gullible enough to bite. Nonetheless, he's a shady character, partially of his own volition and partially forced into it by his environment. The deception he does manage to pull off quickly catches up to him, and he finds himself running for his life through the desert, when he comes face to face with God. To be continued. In ou ..read more

We follow Job, who suffers a series of increasingly unfortunate events. When he turns to his religious friends for support, they tell him that he deserves to suffer. In desperation, Job begs God to show up in person and give him answers. A teenager named Elihu shows up and helps explain the problem of suffering--and then God makes an appearance to set everything right. We look for answers to the question of why, if God is so good, there is so much suffering. We also discuss how, as Christians, how seriously God takes using our faith to dismiss people's pain. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 2/5 Cons ..read more

We follow Job, who suffers a series of increasingly unfortunate events. When he turns to his religious friends for support, they tell him that he deserves to suffer. In desperation, Job begs God to show up in person and give him answers. A teenager named Elihu shows up and helps explain the problem of suffering--and then God makes an appearance to set everything right. We look for answers to the question of why, if God is so good, there is so much suffering. We also discuss how, as Christians, how seriously God takes using our faith to dismiss people's pain. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 2/5 Cons ..read more

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: bit.ly/rarc We start the story of why evil exists in the world at its source, Lucifer, an influential angel gone bad. The struggle for power and domination progresses through Lucifer's heart and then moves on to infect others, as he uses deceit to turn even divine beings against God. Sin migrates to our planet, and we set the stage for next week's episode, Job, where we will confront God with the age-old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  We also discuss why Eve being the first to sin does not mean that male headship makes se ..read more

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: bit.ly/rarc We discuss one of Jesus's most famous parables about opposing prejudice, and discuss how even the language used to describe the story misses the point. A self-righteous lawyer attempts to finagle an exception to "love thy neighbor." In response, Jesus tells a story of a Jewish traveler that leads even the lawyer to conclude that "love thy neighbor" is a command without exception. The lawyer is forced to confront the fact that the groups of people that disgust him the most don't quite live up to stereotypes. We discuss what that means for us today ..read more

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc We see Hezekiah's son enter the world with seemingly no objective but to watch the world burn. When he is captured by his enemies, he must face himself and his own actions. When he dies, his grandson Josiah inherits the throne. Like a well-known fictional character, Josiah has to decide whether he'll look to his brutal grandfather as a role model or move beyond that legacy into a new way of living.  CONTENT WARNING: TW: Discussion of self-harm. Violence: 2/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: N/A THEME ..read more

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc High off the victory over Sennacherib, Hezekiah gets a crushing diagnosis from the prophet Isaiah. Yet all is not lost, and God plays with the laws of space and time to show the king that there's still hope for him. But when Hezekiah meets mysterious foreigners, he loses himself in a desperate attempt to impress them, and God is displeased. In a sudden turn of events, the king becomes surprisingly callous, and we discuss what it means to be insensitive to the plight of future generations. We also question whether we're really putting our b ..read more

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc A man wakes up in the Greek underworld and tries to piece together the circumstances of his death. As he talks to the mysterious bartender, he gleefully describes how he ignored his own eyes and ears until the moment of his brutal stabbing. We start to despise him for his stupidity, but maybe we're equally guilty? CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 4/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: N/A THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) licens ..read more

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc Hungry for opportunity, our main character nervously plants himself in the very region he's been warned is a haven for unspeakable evil. Years later, he's so desensitized that he can barely see the cruelty all around him. Two mysterious visitors show up on his doorstep, desperate to make him aware of the danger before it's too late. In our discussion of the story, we talk about why tolerating oppression is a major threat to our spiritual life. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 3/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: 5/5 Discrimination ..read more