Unbinding the Bible

This episode is a conversation I have with my sister, Marla Taviano. Marla promoted my last episode in her social media circles in exchange for the opportunity to come on my show. The conversation we have is about her own journey of unbinding previous books she's written as well as attempting to come to grips with how a large part of the current church's expression of the Christian faith misses the mark on so much of who Jesus is and what he taught. I am thankful for Marla and I hope you hear this conversation as an encouragement!

The following is an autobiographical episode explaining why the long break from the podcast and what I'm up to now. Thanks for all the support I've received over the years and continue to receive! It means a lot to me.

In this episode, we'll wrap up our mini series on Israel: Yes, God still loves Israel. We'll look at Romans 9-11 and how we can both challenge the state of Israel today and yet still believe God has a place of honor for his people. And then we'll get political and ponder the Christian's relationship to Donald Trump and how our understanding of the kingdom of God ought to impact that relationship. I'm taking a break for the summer and wanted the chance to speak about this election year before things really start to heat up.

This episode is a sermon I preached Sunday May 5, 2024 in our church from John 15:1-17. I'm inserting it here on the podcast because of how well it ties in to our series on Israel and how the Bible speaks about Israel. In John 15:1, Jesus declares himself to be the "true" vine, in contrast to the false vine that Israel had become. Passages referenced in this sermon: Exodus 15:7; Psalm 80:8; Jeremiah 2:21; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Genesis 12:7; Galatians 3:16; Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:27-29; John 8:31-32.

In this episode, starting with 2 Corinthians 1:20 and Galatians 3:16, we'll see that Jesus himself is the fulfillment of all of God's promises, even his promises to his people, Israel. As we saw in episode 190 - Jesus "Fills In" Israel, Jesus serves not only as Israel's representative head, but as Israel itself, thus receiving all of the promises God made to Israel, and then freely offering those blessings to anyone who believes in him - Jew or Gentile. Key passages from today's episode: 2 Corinthians 1:20; Galatians 3:13-14, 16, 27-29; John 10:16; Romans 4:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:2; Ephesians 1:5; Revelation 19:10.

In this episode, we'll look at how Jesus fulfills all that Israel, as a people, was supposed to be. Jesus acts as Israel's representative head and also embodies the nation itself. Everything really does hinge on the person of Jesus! Get this right, and your ability to correctly interpret the New Testament will skyrocket. Passages referenced in this episode: 2 Corinthians 1:20; Luke 24:44-47; John 11:45-53; Isaiah 49:1-6; Matthew 1-5; John 1:47-51; Genesis 28:12-19; John 4; John 15:1-11

In this episode, we'll continue our mini-series on "the land" of Israel-Palestine. We'll focus our attention specifically on how the Bible itself frames our understanding of "the land," particularly as it relates to both the garden of Eden and to the entire world. In this episode, we'll see that the garden of Eden is to the land what the land is to the entire world. In other words: Garden --> Land --> World Thinking about the biblical story in this way is immensely helpful and makes sense of so much of the Bible's story.

In this episode, we'll dive in to what the OT says about the land. Who owns the land? Were there any conditions placed on those living in the land? Do promises of "forever" mean "unending"? And why did God grant the land to Israel in the first place?

In this episode, we're beginning another mini-series, this time to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a biblical perspective. How should Christians think about this? Who are "God's people"? Does Israel have a divine "right" to the land? Was the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 a fulfillment of biblical prophecy? And how did Jesus think of himself in relation to Israel? We'll address these questions and many others throughout our series. And I invite you to send me questions of your own!

In this episode, we'll wrap up our mini-series on heaven by looking at Revelation 21:1-4. In it we'll see the holy city coming down out of heaven from God so that God can forever dwell among his people, like he initially did in the garden of Eden.

In keeping with our mini-series on heaven, I decided to synthesize all my points against the escapist-mindset belief in the Rapture and put them all into one episode. These are my scriptural and philosophical reasons for rejecting this modern imposition on the biblical text, seeing no scriptural reason for interpreting Jesus and Paul as speaking about anything other than Jesus' second coming. The work of redemption, as we've seen, is heaven coming to the earth, not a heavenward trajectory from the earth. But I welcome your feedback! Feel free to email me at UnbindingTheBible@gmail.com

In this episode, I tie together several themes that are intersecting in my own life and ministry and do my best to connect them to our series on heaven. I then set us up for where we're headed on the podcast and encourage Christians to allow their faith to get as close to "real life" as possible, for that is where things will make the most sense.

In this episode, we'll explore the reality that Christians are citizens of heaven and are called to not only root their identities there, but also choose to live out reality as it exists in "the heavens" in their daily interactions with others on "the earth." There's a huge need today for a true Christian identity to grip the hearts of God's people. And this teaching is where all good identity understanding comes from. This is an episode every Christian needs to listen to!

In this episode, we'll look at John 13:31-14:23 and see just what Jesus means by going to "prepare a place for you" (14:2). We'll address several common assumptions about this passage and what Jesus may or may not be saying and then I'll offer what I believe is a more faithful way of reading this text, which puts Jesus, not heaven, at the center.

In this episode, we'll shift our discussion of heaven onto Jesus himself. How do the gospel writers portray Jesus? In what ways does Jesus bring the blessings of the heavens to the earth? We'll consider a few OT passages and compare them with several NT passages to highlight how Jesus himself becomes heaven on the earth.

In this episode, we'll start at the very beginning of the Bible by looking at Genesis 1:1. We'll see that at this very early stage (in the world's first temple, called the garden of Eden), God's space (the heavens) overlapped with man's space (the earth). And the trajectory of redemption is that these two spaces would fully overlap once again.

In this episode, we're starting a new series looking at what the Bible actually teaches about heaven. No, we're not going to do an in-depth examination of what heaven will be like. Rather, I want us to think biblically and with a kingdom perspective as we allow Jesus to define for us what "heaven" means in the first place. And yes, that may lead us to challenge the "Earth now, Heaven and Hell later" narrative that many of us have been taught to believe. Mentioned on this episode were several resources: What if Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? The Skeletons in God's Closet The Temple and the Church's Mission Tim Mackie from The Bible Project - Heaven and Earth (YouTube)

In this episode, we'll wrap up Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. We'll look at Matthew's summary of Jesus' teaching from 7:28-29 and tackle the topic of Jesus' authority - what it means and why it matters.

In this episode, we'll look at Jesus' words from Matthew 7:23-27 - his final thoughts in his masterful sermon. We'll spend some time talking about wise and foolish people and why it's so important to recognize that Jesus is in fact talking about DOING SOMETHING with his words besides just listening to them. And we'll end our time looking at Proverbs 9, which will help us understand Jesus' wisdom teaching even better.

In this episode, I give an update on my life and ministry. If you found my story intriguing, you can follow me on Instagram: @sacredwholeness - "emphasizing the integration of body, mind, and soul to promote healing and wholeness."