Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture
Learning about God’s grace from Scripture & Passing that grace on to others.
Episodes
Saturday Jan 13, 2024
Words of Sages
Saturday Jan 13, 2024
Saturday Jan 13, 2024
We look at the works of the Sages, the wise Israelite scholars who wrote for a very literate audience. But the Apostles were not educated people. At one point, Jesus realizes that since he is about to be gone, and the Apostles will be on their own to spread his Word, it is time to be straightforward and blunt with them. He conveys a message in simple terms that the Apostles must always remember - and that we must always remember.
Saturday Jan 06, 2024
The same God?
Saturday Jan 06, 2024
Saturday Jan 06, 2024
We look at the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, and ask the question: Is this truly the same God? One seems violent and vindictive. The other preaches love and peace and total forgiveness. How do we resolve this seeming conflict? We discover that it is the same God - but God has different missions in the two Testaments.
Saturday Dec 30, 2023
My kidneys also instruct me in the night
Saturday Dec 30, 2023
Saturday Dec 30, 2023
Recently, I spoke with a young woman who had survived kidney cancer and who had felt a strong connection with Psalm 16. We look at this Psalm, verse by verse, seeing what it means. We learn that there are a couple of surprises in this Psalm. We also see that Scripture, when it connects with us - and this happens through continuous reading - transforms us. We feel Christ truly within us.
Saturday Dec 23, 2023
A silly song in the dark
Saturday Dec 23, 2023
Saturday Dec 23, 2023
I met a man whose freshman roommate was from Uganda, and who was a Christian living under the ruthless dictatorship of Idi Amin. It was this student from Uganda who taught my friend how to truly value the freedom to sing a silly song in the dark on Christmas Eve. We also hear a beautiful rendition of Silent Night from Musiques Libre de Droit (https://www.musiqueslibrededroit.fr/) from SoundCloud.com: https://soundcloud.com/boo-moo-shoo/silent-night-2.
Saturday Dec 16, 2023
The demise of Fred
Saturday Dec 16, 2023
Saturday Dec 16, 2023
I had rats as a boy, and one day, my father inadvertantly killed one of them. The next day was Sunday, and my father was sorry that we would have to go to church - and be in front of God - before he could make things right with me. We look at the season of Advent, where we await the arrival of Jesus in our lives. We know that how we treat children, and in fact how we treat all people, gets passed on and on and on. My father showed me love and he always made things right after he had made a mistake. He taught me how to pass on the love and the kindness of Jesus.
Saturday Dec 09, 2023
And these three are one
Saturday Dec 09, 2023
Saturday Dec 09, 2023
The word "Trinity" does not appear anywhere in the Bible. It is a notion that has evolved over time. We look at its history. We look at an addition that was made to the Bible simply to defend the formal definition of "Trinity"! But we also look at the true depth and beauty of this notion as it is revealed in Scripture - and we consider why it is so important to move beyond arguing the semantics of a theological term.
Saturday Dec 02, 2023
Vibrant faith: the Cave Church
Saturday Dec 02, 2023
Saturday Dec 02, 2023
Wendy and I recently visited the "Cave Church" of Cairo, the St. Simon Monastery, where the great recyclers, the so-called "Garbage People" of Cairo practice their faith. We saw a vibrancy there, a joy, and a deep love for God in these incredibly hard-working, welcoming, and devoted believers. The children in particular were truly amazing. It is an intensity that we desperately need in our churches in the United States.
Saturday Nov 25, 2023
Charismata: being spiritual
Saturday Nov 25, 2023
Saturday Nov 25, 2023
In most Bible translations, there are two words that are translated from the Greek to English as the word "gift", dorea and charisma. We see that the second word means much more that simply something given without obligation or payment. We see that when we believe were are given not just gifts from God, but charismata, and these empower us to live deeply spiritual lives and empower others to do the same.
Saturday Nov 18, 2023
Within your gates, O Jerusalem
Saturday Nov 18, 2023
Saturday Nov 18, 2023
We consider the ways in which a believer lives their life guided by God: first, with the training that we receive with Scripture, prayer, and Christian training, and second, with the occasional instruction of the Holy Spirit. We look at just how we can learn to encourage and embrace, and be inspired by, the Holy Spirit when we are at a point in our lives when we must make a decision on how to proceed in life.
Saturday Nov 11, 2023
Signs
Saturday Nov 11, 2023
Saturday Nov 11, 2023
We take a second look at the miracles of Jesus, this time from the perspective of the Gospel of John. We see that he does not call them "deeds of power", as the other Gospel writers do, but rather as "signs". This tells us John's focus on the miracles - as signs that teach us theological truths about the Kingdom of God and the Messiah, Jesus.
Saturday Nov 04, 2023
Deeds of power
Saturday Nov 04, 2023
Saturday Nov 04, 2023
We look at the miracles of Jesus, as they are described in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We see that these "deeds of power", as these three Gospels call them, show that Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament - by carrying on with the miracle tradition of the Old Testament. We also look at the question of the reality of the miracles. Are they true? Were they added after the fact by people born long after the death of Jesus, by people who were attempting to take the biblical story and use it to deify Jesus?
Saturday Oct 28, 2023
The truth about our creation myth
Saturday Oct 28, 2023
Saturday Oct 28, 2023
We look at the Genesis story of creation: many call it a useless myth, and say that we need to focus on the real, scientific way in which we came into existence. We see that there is tremendous truth in the Creation Story, and that in it we see the most critical facts about why we exist and what we are meant to do on this planet. We discover that the myth is truth.
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
The Kingdom of the parables
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
In the previous podcast, we looked at the parables of Jesus - and we look at them again, this time, with a focus on how Jesus preached using parables. Perhaps because he knew that of all oral traditions due to him, the parable stories would be most remembered, Jesus used them to teach us about the Kingdom of God. They are his summary statements, telling us what is most important to remember about his ministry.
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
Grab yourself a parable
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
The miracles of Jesus establish Jesus as the Messiah. They speak to his authority. They also show Jesus being deeply humane. But they have another, more important purpose, and that is to teach us about the Kingdom. We look at the parables and what they mean to us as modern believers.
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
To the end of the age
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
We look at a very practical question: how to strengthen your connection to God, how to make God a tangible presence in your daily life. We look at seven specific suggestions on how to do this. The goal is to introduce easily accomplished, daily practices that will make your faith more real, give you a powerful sense of calm, and lead you to a joyous life on Earth in the Kingdom of God.