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The completeness and wholeness of God is described in the concept of the Trinity. Like the Shema prayer spoken by many Jews daily, it has the sense of mind, body, and spirit. Christians see the mind, body, and spirit of God as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Rather than three beings, it is the wholeness of one being, just as humans are not separate mind, body, and spirit. I think this a very important Christmas message, because it is the incarnation of God that is the fulfillment of this wholeness of God. I mention Richard Rohr's "The Universal Christ" and I read the Shema from Deuteronomy in Hebrew. For you Hebrew readers, I apologize for pronouncing Echad like Echsar. I think I had Psalm 23:1 in mind, sorry, but I didn't want to re-record for that one mistake.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 in Hebrew reads like:
Shema Israel Adonai Elohanu Adonai Echad, Veahavtah et Adonai Elohacha, Bachol Levavcah, oovachol Nafsheecah, oovachol Meohdicah.

JPS translates it as:
Hear, O Israel! The Lord your God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.

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Jesus' interaction with Pilate is fascinating. Jesus was in between the religious powers of the temple and the hard military power of the Romans. The Root of David was also the representation of raw power. The Lion of Judah is the supremacy of Judah over all the other tribes. Ironically, these images of power are not what save us. Jesus is different. He lost. He went to the cross. But in his loss we are redeemed.

#lionofjudah #lambofgod #pilate #jesus #barabbas #edmondspres #pcusa

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Paul uses a lot of military imagery in Ephesians. He uses words of fealty, like soldiers who give their loyalty to their commanders. He uses words of armor, shields, and swords. Why? Because military images conferred status and honor in Roman society. It made sense to fight off evil using these spiritual weapons. This was especially important to the Ephesians who worshipped the warrior goddess Artemis. Artemis was a very positive figure in Ephesus, especially for women. Paul's appeal to the Ephesians used the military imagery of Artemis to show that Jesus was their true protector.

Reference: "Nobody's Mother" by Dr. Sandra Glahn, Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary

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In Isaiah 9:6, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace sounds different in Hebrew. Pehleh yoehtz ehl gaboor avee yod sar shalom also translates like a single indigenous name: Mighty God is planning marvelous things, because the Eternal father rules in peace. In this podcast, I break the phrase down line by line in Hebrew and describe how we came to see it as four separate names for Jesus.

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It's frustrating to us that we don't know more about the biography of Jesus, but in Luke 2 we get to see Jesus as a 12-year-old boy. It's important to know that the Gospels tell us what we need to know. For the ancient writers, the message was more important than the characters. In this episode, I describe how it makes perfect sense that a Galilean Jewish boy like Jesus was talking to rabbis in Jerusalem. He was preparing for manhood, his bar mitzvah. The rabbis were always interested in evaluating the boys coming up. The message was that Jesus was well prepared to be Messiah. In the Gospel of John, we really see this. Jesus appears to have rabbinic standing so he can speak in the synagogues. We also see this in his discourse with Pharisees and Scribes. They wouldn't bother with a nobody. They were intensely interested in engaging with Jesus because he was a real threat.

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Information overload is the defining part of our era. This directly relates to religion and the Bible. What can you trust or not trust? What is belief vs. faith? In this podcast I describe the reliability of information, referencing Yuval Noah Harari's new book "Nexus" and then I describe how it relates to the ordination process and ministry. Faith is more important than belief. A Statement of Faith is more important that subscribing to a list of beliefs and doctrines. Then, I give a short bio about my ministry path and my motivations for starting this podcast.
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