BeachCast.TV: Bible Exploration, Apologetics and Church History with Dr. Chase A. Thompson:

Big question today - what does it look like to come to Jesus, and are all who actually do come to Him saved? Did Jesus ever turn would be followers away from Himself?

The Psalms are raw, transparent, honest and utterly vulnerable. In Psalm 6, David indicates that he has prayed and prayed for God's deliverance, but God's rescue seems delayed. How do we pray and cling to hope when our prayers aren't quickly answered?

Both Psalm 3 and 4 discuss sleeping - even sleeping when you are in the middle of an army of enemies camping all around you. How can we sleep better- does the Bible offer a miraculous way to get more rest? Well...yes and no. Today we talk about sleep and resting in Gentle Jesus.

Jesus was so meek and mild that children flocked to Him and normally repelled people like prostitutes, tax collectors and lepers all wanted to be with Him. But, Jesus does something in Luke 8 that absolutely terrifies the disciples and causes them to question everything about Him. What does Jesus do?

Jesus was rarely surprised by anything on earth, but when he encounters the great faith of a Roman Centurion, Jesus marvels and comments that He had never seen such great faith in the Jewish people. What made the Centurion's faith great, and how could he be full of faith and also humble?

How can we have an eternally successful life? Jesus gives us the key today. For any human to say what Jesus said - "Live your life doing exactly what I say and you will be eternally successful) would be ridiculous and audacious. But when the King of Kings says it- we should pay attention.

When faced with a man who is in a terrible need of immediate healing, Jesus does an astounding thing: instead of healing the man, Jesus FIRST forgives Him. Why would Jesus do something so unexpected, and what truth does this act shout to us? Also: How Jesus calls the unpopular and the sinful to follow Him.

Did you know that there is an episode in the gospel of Luke where an enraged crowd from Jesus' hometown tries to murder Him in cold blood? Did you further know that the reason this crowd was enraged with Jesus, is because Jesus was basically confronting the racism or xenophobia in His hometown? Today we discuss this amazing episode found in Luke 4.

Psalm 2 reveals what appear at first to be two different sides of God: His anger at sin and His loving and protective nature. How can this be? How are we supposed to joyfully tremble in fear in the presence of God? Is it possible to rejoice and be afraid at the same time?

In today's passage, the prophet Zechariah looks into the future and sees the last days. It will be a great day for Israel and a terrible day. He sees destruction and calamity coming, but also God's deliverance and living water flowing out of the city. Wha

The genealogies or birth records of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are different in some places. Is this evidence of possible errors in the Bible? Also - all about John's proclamation that Jesus separates people with his winnowing fork - what is that all about?!

Luke 2 tells an amazing story - all about Jesus, the Son of God, being born to a virgin and having His birth announced by a choir of angels to a group of cowering shepherds. Could such events actually be real and factual? How can we possibly know whether or not the story of Christmas is genuine?

In Luke 1, a priest is struck unable to speak, because he did not believe the prophecy of the angel Gabriel. Once this priest is enabled to speak again, he gives a powerful prophecy himself about the coming of Jesus, and why He came: To shine light into the darkness. How does Jesus do this?

Some have charged that the Bible encourages racism and even slavery. When reading the Bible, however, one finds a different story: man-stealing is punishable by death, and Paul encourages those in servitude to get free and masters to give up their servants. Today we discuss slavery and the Bible

Today we learn about one of the great unknown and unsung heroes of the Bible - and find out how needed and necessary his ministry of wrestling in prayer is needed in today's church.

Zechariah the prophet has an amazing vision: Joshua, the high priest is standing before God on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, holiest day of the year for the Jewish people, and yet Joshua is covered in poop and filthy clothes! How could this be, and how does God clean Joshua, AND US?

Today we discuss how churches have misused a chapter in the Old Testament to justify the building of expensive church buildings so that God has a good home to dwell in. Also: The blessings of obedience,and how God withholds His blessings to lead us to Himself.

How should Christians react to critics, false teachers, enemies and those who can't drive well? It turns out that the Bible identifies the kind of responses, reactions, attitudes and behaviors that Christians are to have in ALL situations - and what we are called to is quite challenging!

Following rules is good, right? It can be, but when we rely on following rules to make us more spiritual, we find ourselves in the trap of legalism. When we consider ourselves better than others because we follow the rules better than they do, we find ourselves in the trap of judgmentalism. Why are legalism and judgmentalism so dangerous and impotent?

The Bible characterizes people who are sinners as enemies of God, which is quite surprising. How is it possible to move from enemies to become friends with God? (Hint: It's nothing that WE can do!)

Today we will learn from Paul how to avoid being over-worried and over-thoughtful about the circumstances that we are facing in life, and how to walk in God's supernatural peace in all circumstances.

I know, I know - that's a pretty weird title, and almost offensive, right? Would you believe it is almost a word for word quote of what the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3? What could such a sentence mean?!

One of the great truths of the Bible is found in one of its most obscure books, Habakkuk. God tells Habakkuk in this book that "The just shall live by his faith." What does this wonderful truth, repeated in the New Testament, mean?

Today's passage in Micah depicts God coming down to visit Israel, and we will see God in all of His terror and splendor, as the mountains melt like wax at His approach.

In today's chapter, Philippians 2, we find a glorious and ancient hymn to Jesus that focuses us in on His wonderful attitude, and calls us to the same humble and servant-hearted attitude that Jesus had.

Paul the apostle writes the letter to the Philippians from jail, where he has been unjustly imprisoned. In that letter, he discusses how his imprisonment has not limited the good news of Jesus, but caused it to expand by raising up other messengers. Bad things that happen to us can have wonderful long term results!

Is the armor of God something we put on in our imagination so that we might be protected from invisible attacks that we would never notice? Actually not - the Armor of God is a Bible metaphor for a series of practices and habits that we develop around God's Word to protect us from very real spiritual attacks.

A most controversial passage today - in Ephesians 5:22, Paul calls wives to submit to husbands. Is Paul being sexist? As it turns out, Paul also calls husbands to sacrifice for their wives - both partners in marriage are given difficult commands to obey in Ephesians 5. How do we live this out?

We tend to think little of anger, especially if we control our anger pretty well and don't release it in shouting, or swearing, or violence. The Bible has a different view on anger, seeing it as dangerous and completely ineffective. What can the Bible teach us about the danger of anger?

Today we see Jonah the prophet angry because God is filled with mercy and compassion. What Jonah doesn't notice, and we do is that Jonah himself is spared multiple times by the same patience and mercy of God that he is so angry about. #irony

In the belly of a great fish - on the verge of blacking out, and maybe dying - Jonah cries out to God in deep distress, and God answers and rescues him. What can we learn from Jonah's prayer about praying when we are in trouble?

I love a good mystery, don't you? Today we learn about the ultimate mystery from Ephesians 3: The mystery of Christ - what could the mystery of Christ possibly be?

Today we rejoice in one of the great truths of the Reformation - that salvation is NOT earned by epic deeds or works of righteousness, but is a gracious GIFT from God that we partake of through faith.

Today we look at several prayers in the Bible - some apostolic prayers and a prayer that Jesus prayed - and learn how to pray more faithfully and fruitfully.

Does Paul in Romans 16 say that Phoebe was a deacon? Should Women serve as deacons/deaconesses in a church? The biblical evidence seems to suggest that they should, according to John Piper, Thomas Schreiner and David Platt.

Many who have been raised up in church have been taught NOT to be people-pleasers, but Romans 15 contains a command to do just that - to please people. Is this a contradiction? Are Christians indeed called to be people pleasers?

Why would God call His prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute? Today we seek to answer this question, and find in the book of Hosea a call to return to God for all who are now distant from Him.

Daniel was cast into the lion's den by jealous government officials who expected him to be quickly devoured. Amazingly, Daniel was spared and at peace, while the king couldn't sleep a wink that night, even though the king was safe in his palace. How could Daniel have so much peace when faced with scary lions?

Jesus prayed for Christians to be in absolute unity, and yet there are thousands of denominations and even more horror stories about church fights. Why do Christians fight so much, and what does the Bible call us to instead?

Paul commands Christians to put on Christ so that we don't gratify our sinful nature. How does one follow such a command - how can we "put on" Jesus. John Piper gives us some wisdom today to understand what Paul meant.

The Bible calls us away from conforming to the ways of the world, and into the transformed life - where our thoughts, actions, habits and words are different than what we see around us. How can a Christian live the transformed life?

In Romans 11, Paul encourages us to consider and think about God's kindness AND His severity. How can a person be both kind and severe?

Jesus says that faith is powerful - it can even move mountains! How can faith grow - how can we increase our faith - is there a way that the Bible teaches us that we can grow in faith? As it turns out...there is!

Great topic today, and one of the top mysteries of the Bible: WHO was the fourth man that was seen in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Was it Jesus or an angel, or somebody else?

Daniel and his friends refused the finest food of the king of Babylon. Why did they do this, and what can we learn from them about how to live in a society that might be hostile to Christianity?

Today we pose a controversial and important question: Must Christians always support the nation of Israel? What sort of attitude should Christians have about Israel and conflicts involving Israel? The Bible's answer might surprise you!

Romans 8 contains so many wonderful promises and hope-filled passages of Scripture, that it might be the single most hopeful chapter in the entire Bible. Today we look at some of the most wondrous truths in the Bible and revel in the hope of this majestic chapter!

Paul opens up in Romans 7, and gives us a brutally honest assessment of his struggle against sin, concluding that he (and we!) are slaves to sin, even though we delight in God's law and want to do God. How can we escape this slavery - who can rescue us? John "Amazing Grace" Newton chimes in to point us to our source of rescue.

Today we discuss the centuries long disagreement over the mode of baptism - sprinkling or dunking. How clear is the Bible on that question? We also discuss death...but not in a dark way. Romans 6 shows us that our being baptized into the death of Christ is the Jesus way that leads to abundant life and eternal life.

Romans 5 is a wonderful source of verses that condense the gospel into beautiful chunks of goodness, but it also has a mysterious and difficult to follow truth - that Christians should rejoice in suffering. How could such a thing be possible - how (and why!) should we rejoice in difficult times?