At long last, we reach the end of the very early church's first decade. We'll conclude this complex and dense time period by looking at two of Peter's miracles, including a very rare one. Then, we'll answer the seven questions with which we sum

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #220)

Oct 15th, 2022 18m 4s

As we wrap up the very early church's first decade, we continue to explore Saul of Tarsus' history. We'll attempt to disentangle the period after his conversion, which included a mysterious interlude in Arabia, several years in Damascus, and a

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #219)

Sep 16th, 2022 22m 41s

Saul of Tarsus, better known as the Apostle Paul, is an amazingly complex figure who features prominently in the very early church's history. We'll explore his childhood in the city of Tarsus, his education in Jerusalem, and his abrupt encounte

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #218)

Jul 21st, 2022 19m 58s

The martyrdom of Stephen brought about a beneficial change to the very early church by forcing it to begin fulfilling the Great Commission. In this podcast, we look at Philip's mission to Samaria and its consequences. We also explore a crucial

New Year 2022 Special (Studying Church History on Your Own)

Jan 30th, 2022 39m 34s

Want to study church history on your own but don't know where to start? This podcast will get you on the right track.

Christmas 2020 Special (The History of Christmas)

Dec 1st, 2020 25m 12s

We all love our Christmas traditions, but how many of them are biblically and historically accurate? In this special podcast, we'll take a look at the history of Christmas. We'll see how the Church added many traditions that clouded and obscure

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #217)

Sep 10th, 2020 21m 51s

Resuming our survey of AD 32 through AD 40, we see the very early church tackle an administrative problem by appointing the first deacons. Amongst these is Stephen, the Church's first martyr. We'll explore the circumstances that led to his deat

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #216)

Sep 7th, 2020 21m 20s

In this podcast, we wrap up our detour survey of first-century Israel's core leadership. We examine the Pharisees and determine whether or not they were as bad as is commonly believed. Were they all hypocrites, or were there a few good ones? We

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #215)

Sep 6th, 2020 22m 3s

Israel's leadership of the first century was complicated, fragmented, and factional. Understanding it makes the world of the very early church much more intelligible. In this podcast, we'll sort it out by taking a look at the priests, Sadducees

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #214)

Aug 23rd, 2020 19m 20s

The narrative of Ananias and Sapphira seems a bit disturbing and out of place in the Church Age. But as this podcast demonstrates, that incident served to establish several important concepts that were highly necessary for the very early church

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #213)

Aug 15th, 2020 17m 48s

In this podcast, we begin to examine the Church's first decade--AD 32 to AD 40. We'll examine the very early church's practices, leadership, and the people who made it up. Since the Book of Acts is our sole source for this time period, we'll ta

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #212)

Jul 19th, 2020 17m 32s

As we begin our trek through the early church's history, with its parallel Jewish and Gentile paths, we'll lay out our methodology. We're going to work through the remainder of the first century decade by decade. In this podcast, I'll deal with

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #211)

Jul 11th, 2020 20m 5s

Traditionally, the Church began with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost. The reality is a bit more complex. In this podcast, we'll see that God was doing TWO things on Pentecost, inaugurating the Church, and giving Israel a

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #210)

May 9th, 2020 22m 59s

With Jesus' resurrection, we reach a fork in the road. For nearly four decades, Israel and the Church will travel parallel paths through history, with God reaching out to Israel as He simultaneously reveals the Church to the world. We'll explor

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #209)

Feb 22nd, 2020 23m 39s

In this podcast we explore how Israel reached a crucial inflection point in its history. Although many ordinary people were willing to accept Jesus as Israel's Messiah, the religious leaders, the official voice of the nation, rejected Him. We'l

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #208)

Jan 25th, 2020 18m 46s

Jesus' ministry on earth is far too large to cover in just a few podcasts. So we'll restrict ourselves to examining His main purpose for coming to earth: to offer the Kingdom to Israel. We'll see where His miracles and His redeeming mankind fit

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #207)

Jan 1st, 2020 22m 48s

John the Baptist is a puzzling figure who appears at the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. Clearly, he was the prophesied Forerunner whose task it was to announce the coming of the Messiah. But was he also the Elijah, whose coming God promi

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #206)

Nov 23rd, 2019 20m 26s

While Israel at the beginning of the first century was spiritually pretty bleak, there were a number of faithful "watchful waiters" who eagerly desired the coming of the Messiah. In this podcast, we'll take a look at several of them, including

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #205)

Nov 6th, 2019 17m 33s

The path to the Kingdom began right at the start of time. Through various historical events and prophecies, God orchestrated the coming of the Messiah, even going so far as to specify exactly when He would ride into Jerusalem and offer Himself

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #204)

Oct 27th, 2019 19m 15s

Today, we develop the idea that much of the first century was a time of transition between two dispensations (Israel and the Church). We also explore the parallel idea that Israel stood at an inflection point during this same time period. We th

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #203)

Oct 13th, 2019 20m 34s

In this podcast, we spend some time looking at two key presuppositions that underlie this series. First, we examine the literal-historical-grammatical method of Bible interpretation. Then, we develop the key principles of the theological model

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #202)

Oct 5th, 2019 20m 16s

We continue our introduction to this season by looking at time and its role in historical study. We also explore the idea of reading our Bibles chronologically rather than from cover to cover. Finally, we develop an incentive for taking the tim

Inflection Point: The Church of the First Century (podcast #201)

Oct 1st, 2019 15m 59s

Welcome to Season 2! In this new series, we'll take a deep look at the church of the first century (AD 1 to AD 100). We'll examine its history and especially the theology of this crucial time period. More significantly, we'll explore the idea t

Applying History--Lessons Learned

Sep 8th, 2019 18m 28s

In our final podcast of the season, we take a look at the lessons that we've learned through church history. We apply these to guide us in selecting a Bible translation and learning to know the Bible's Author better.

One Translation to Rule Them All?

Sep 2nd, 2019 21m 4s

Is one translation to be preferred above all others? In this podcast, we take a look at the King James Only (KJVO) movement. We examine different positions within the movement, consider its history, and assess it against what the Bible says abo