Videos

This is the concluding part of what I introduced last week concerning how modern institutional religion requires pastors to be something we don't see in the New Covenant scriptures. Church tradition tells us that Timothy was a pastor, carrying out the duties we see modern institutional church pastors doing. They…

I received a note from David, one of the listeners to this podcast, who asked for my take on Timothy as a pastor and how the function of modern church pastors differs from the function of their New Testament counterparts. I flipped the order of this to talk about the…

Let's talk about institutional church and the ekklesia because one of these is not like the other. Did you know Jesus never used the word church? And yet the word church is all over our New Testaments. How did it get there and what does it imply? This episode is…

Welcome to episode 55 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about obedience. Doesn't that sound fun? I've found it to be true that in almost every institutional church setting, the topic of Christian obedience in one form or another, dominates the landscape. It's peppered throughout sermons to varying degrees (most…

Let's talk about obedience. Doesn't that sound fun? I've found it to be true that in almost every institutional church setting, the topic of Christian obedience in one form or another, dominates the landscape. It's peppered throughout sermons to varying degrees (most of the time, overtly), it's written into our…

Welcome to episode 54 of the UnSunday Show. Let's continue talking about pulpits and institutional religion's obsession with the pulpit and how it's been elevated to such a place of prominence in institutional Christianity. Charles Spurgeon said this concerning pulpits: "The moment the church of God shall despise the pulpit,…

Let's continue talking about pulpits and institutional religion's obsession with the pulpit and how it's been elevated to such a place of prominence in institutional Christianity. Charles Spurgeon said this concerning pulpits: "The moment the church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her." This quote is one…

Welcome to episode 53 of The UnSunday Show. This is part one of two on the subject of pulpits and institutional religion's requirement of keeping the pulpit at the center of its Sunday events. I have a lot to say about this but my laptop battery ran down as I…

This is part one of two on the subject of pulpits and institutional religion's requirement of keeping the pulpit at the center of its Sunday events. I have a lot to say about this but my laptop battery ran down as I was recording this and I wasn't near my…

Welcome to episode 52 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about some of the pitfalls of professionalizing Christianity and relegating our time together to the professionals we've hired in our institutions and relying on them to do what all of us should be doing. The body of Christ suffers in…

Let's talk about some of the pitfalls of professionalizing Christianity and relegating our time together to the professionals we've hired in our institutions and relying on them to do what all of us should be doing. The body of Christ suffers in this scenario because it's impossible for every member…

Welcome to episode 51 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about how institutional religion often uses the small group setting as another way to promote itself by making the group agenda-driven and insisting that the agenda remains at the heart of the group. Whether it's to review Sunday's sermon, have…

Let's talk about how institutional religion often uses the small group setting as another way to promote itself by making the group agenda-driven and insisting that the agenda remains at the heart of the group. Whether it's to review Sunday's sermon, have an institutionally-sanctioned Bible study or book study, or…

Welcome to episode 50 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are a group of activities that vary from group to group or church to church, that we're told we need to be doing to ensure spiritual maturity. It's an activity list of things like reading…

Let's talk about spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are a group of activities that vary from group to group or church to church, that we're told we need to be doing to ensure spiritual maturity. It's an activity list of things like reading your Bible, prayer, giving, sharing your faith, etc.…

Welcome to episode 49 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about faith. In the letter to the Hebrews we're told that without faith it's impossible to please [God]. That sounds a little daunting. Does that mean I'm responsible to fabricate a certain amount of faith every day to make sure…

Let's talk about faith. In the letter to the Hebrews we're told that without faith it's impossible to please [God]. That sounds a little daunting. Does that mean I'm responsible to fabricate a certain amount of faith every day to make sure God is happy with me? What if I…

Welcome to episode 48 of the UnSunday Show. Let's take a few minutes to talk about institutional religion's shady past. This is in response to a comment someone left back in episode 46 (Who Has Bewitched You?) that deserves some attention. The comment was actually in two parts. The first…

Let's take a few minutes to talk about institutional religion's shady past. This is in response to a comment someone left back in episode 46 (Who Has Bewitched You?) that deserves some attention. The comment was actually in two parts. The first part was more of an observation when this…

Welcome to episode 47 of The UnSunday Show. Let's talk about Hebrews 10:25. I don't know about you but in my experience, this verse has been used over and over again as a proof text to convince me that leaving institutional religion was more than just a bad idea. Leaving…

Let's talk about Hebrews 10:25. I don't know about you but in my experience, this verse has been used over and over again as a proof text to convince me that leaving institutional religion was more than just a bad idea. Leaving institutional religion, so the argument goes, is forbidden…

Welcome to episode 46 of The UnSunday Show. In Galatians 3:1 Paul asked the Galatian believers, "Who has bewitched you?" This bewitching was a result of the Galatian's mixing of New Covenant grace with Old Covenant law. Or as Paul put it, "Having begun in the Spirit, are you now…

In Galatians 3:1 Paul asked the Galatian believers, "Who has bewitched you?" This bewitching was a result of the Galatian's mixing of New Covenant grace with Old Covenant law. Or as Paul put it, "Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?" He described this…

Welcome to episode 45 of The UnSunday Show. This is part one of a two-part relaunch of the show. In this episode I talk about religion's failure to deliver and how our systems of religion diminish who we are in Jesus. Add to that, a misunderstanding of how the Old…