In today’s conversation we’ll journey further into the Judges era of the Bible, as the people of Israel begin the cycle which they perpetuate throughout the entirety of the Old Testament—disobedience & idolatry, punishment & oppression, crying out to God, and God’s merciful deliverance. We’ll come alongside one of the widely-known judges God called to deliver his people—Gideon—and we’ll continue to discover God’s tendency to use small things and small people in big ways. We’ll observe Gideon’s progression from fear to faith—likening it to our own—and we’ll find comfort in the thread of ..read more

In today’s conversation we will culminate our study of Joshua and the Conquest era of the Bible as Joshua and the people of Israel divide the land into the boundaries God had set forth for them, and we’ll discuss the necessary—although sometimes frustrating—God-given boundaries in our own lives and why they exist. Then, we’ll go with the Israelites from the era of conquest into the era of the Judges, digging deep into the baffling juxtaposition of the book of Joshua closing with the people committing to serve the Lord and the book of Judges opening with an entire generation who did not know th ..read more

In today’s conversation we’ll be back in the Conquest era of the Bible as Joshua and the Israelites take their first steps into the promised land. We’ll see that there were two giant obstacles—a raging river and an impenetrable wall—between the Israelites and the first place God called them to go; and we’ll wonder at the truth that God often calls us to confront impossible obstacles along the path toward his will. We’ll study the miracles of the river and the wall and see how God calls the Israelites to take faith-filled steps of obedience before he performs the miracle—a pattern we’ll undoubt ..read more

In today’s conversation we’re going to walk head-on into a question which plagues many modern Bible readers—the ethicality of the conquest of Canaan. Yes, we’re going to go there, and we’re going to discuss why God would not only condone, but actually commission the conquest of the land of Canaan. We’ll reason and examine our way through the biblical narrative, while also acknowledging that this relationship we have with our omniscient, sovereign God will always require us to trust His character. We’ll surrender our questions to the pen of the divine Author who is writing His story, and we’ll ..read more

We are so excited to be back for our next season of Change the Conversation after taking a break for the holidays. Today we are picking back up where we left off last year in our Thru the Bible series as we begin our journey into the book of Joshua and, with that, into the next era of the Bible—the Conquest Era. But before we get too far down that road, we’re going to back up a bit and look at the events which positioned and qualified Joshua to become God’s chosen vessel to lead His people into the promised land. We’ll see that with most good leaders, there’s a whole backstory of repeated fait ..read more

In today’s conversation, the LAST of this season until we return in the new year, we’ll conclude our study of the Exodus Era of the Bible with our final look at this generation of Israelites as they stand at the edge of the promised land. We’ll identify the process which took them so off-course of God's best plan for their lives, and then we’ll take that lens of scrutiny and flip it around to take a good look at ourselves. We’ll discover that the choice to advance into what God has for us is just that—a choice—and we’ll face the sobering reality of what we forfeit when we allow fear to direct ..read more

In today’s conversation, we’ll begin wrapping up our study of the Exodus Era of the Bible with the infamous story of the golden calf as we rejoin the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. We’ll continue to discover why biblical authors, for centuries, referred to this generation of Israelites as stubborn, rebellious, and hard-hearted, and why God himself described them as “stiff-necked.” We’ll be inspired by the heart and leadership of Moses in this story, and we’ll be challenged to become the kind of servant-hearted leader God has called us all to be. So, pull up a chair at our table, and le ..read more

Today’s episode is a continuation of our last one, where we are taking a magnifying glass to the Ten Commandments in order to demystify and clarify them for the eyes of our modern understanding. Last time we got through #7, so today we are picking back up with Commandment #8 and wrapping up all ten! We’ll realize that the moral requirements for the people of God did not change between the Testaments and that they are still just as relevant today as they were then. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation ..read more

Today’s episode is a continuation of our last one, where we are taking a magnifying glass to the Ten Commandments in order to demystify and clarify them for the eyes of our modern understanding. Last time we got through #7, so today we are picking back up with Commandment #8 and wrapping up all ten! We’ll realize that the moral requirements for the people of God did not change between the Testaments and that they are still just as relevant today as they were then. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation ..read more

Today’s episode is a continuation of our last one, where we are taking a magnifying glass to the Ten Commandments in order to demystify and clarify them for the eyes of our modern understanding. Last time we got through the first four, so today we are picking back up with Commandment #6. We’ll realize that the moral requirements for the people of God did not change between the Testaments and that they are still just as relevant today as they were then. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation ..read more