Netarts Friends Church Podcast

This one is not a sermon or a talk. It is a guided meditation. More can happen through holy Silence and Centering prayer than may ever happen through words. Enjoy!This one closes with a benediction. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/29/26)

Luke 22:31-62 This episode explores how Jesus looks at us before and on the days that absolutely everything is falling apart.... even though we are doing our best....Trying so hard.Meaning well.Wanting to get it all right.Credits & Sources:Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Stephanie Rigg, Casey Gwinn, Chan Hellman, Justo Gonzalez, Alan Culpepper, Moises Silva, Eugene Peterson, Joel Green, David Garland, Tim Geddert, Jonathan Martin, Craig Keener, Dan Kent, Greg Boyd.Sermon by Aaron Carlson.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/22/26)

Luke 22:20-27; 9:46-48Does this sound familiar?You start thinking about yourself, who you are, your attributes, and your performance.And in almost no time flat you are comparing yourself to someone else. You are using someone else as a measuring stick to evaluate yourself.Does this sound familiar? This episode explores the different way of relating to greatness that Jesus offers in order to free us from the comparison trap.Credits and Sources:Dan Vander Plaats, Rita Halteman Finger, George McClain, Leon Festinger, Kendra Cherry, Don Riso, Russ Hudson, David DeSilva, Ben Witherington, David Garland, Joel Green, Alan Culpepper, Craig Keener.Sermon by Aaron Carlson.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/15/26)

"I thought I could trust you. I was counting on you. Relying on you.....and then....I couldn't. It really hurt." Betrayals come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small. Some are massive. Some are intentional. Some are unintentional. Friend drama, workplace drama, family drama, marriage/romantic partner drama, business drama, and neighborhood drama. This episode explores how Jesus treats betrayers. Credits & Sources:Christian Miller, Brian Zahnd, George MacDonald, Moises Silva, Fred Craddock, David Garland, Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert, Shirley Glass, Joel Green, N.T. Wright, James Alison.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/08/26)

Luke 21:5-38Under stress some of us over-function, some of us under-function. It doesn't work to tell us to, "Stop it." We need something that releases us from the stress and strain. This episode looks at what Jesus does it release us from the inevitability of keeping on over-functioning or under-functioning. Credits and Sources:Murray Bowen, Michael E. Kerr, Roberta M. Gilbert, Edwin H. Friedman, Steve Cuss, Craig Keener, Justo Gonzalez, Alan Culpepper, Joel Green, David Burns, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, David Garland, Tim Geddert. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/01/26)

Luke 19:47-21:4We all know what it is like to face options, categories, and choices that leave us stuck because there is no way to move forward without violating a core part of who we are. None of the options or categories work. It is a stalemate, a double-bind, an impasse, a lose/lose. This episode is about navigating these kinds of situations with Jesus. There is a way through, and Jesus is the way through. Credits:Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, David Garland, Joel Green, Justo Gonzalez, Tim Geddert, Alan Culpepper, Craig Keener, Edwin Friedman, Steve Cuss.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(02/21/26)

Luke 19:28-44"Peace" and "peacemaking" are words that get thrown around a lot. People have very different ideas of HOW we achieve peace. So many people say that they want peace, and yet we live in a world so lacking in peace. This episode extends the conversation from simply saying that we want peace, to ask what does Jesus show us that we can do that makes peace possible and actual?Credits and Sources:Dallas Willard, Scot McKnight, Bill Wilson, Joel Green, Edwin Yamauchi, David Garland, Tim Geddert, Justo Gonzalez, Alan Culpepper, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Preston Sprinkle, Dan White Jr. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(02/01/26)

Luke 19:11-27We are living in a time when the names "God" and "Jesus" are claimed by all different kinds of people who either claim or truly believe that their angle, actions, and agendas truly reflect the kingdom Jesus declared. This is nothing new. It's something Jesus dealt with as well.This episode explores what Jesus had to say to people who presumed that his kingdom would function in the same way as the kingdoms of this world. Credits and Sources:Alan Culpepper, David Garland, Greg Boyd, William Herzog, N.T. Wright. Josephus, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Chris McKinny, Craig Keener, H. Bond, Fred Craddock, Joel Green, Kenneth Bailey, Justo Gonzalez, Tim Geddert, Donald Kraybill. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(01/25/26)

Luke 19:1-10Underneath their hard exterior, how many wish they could find their way to a different life but are uncertain of what it might mean to let go, to take a leap into that new life.If I make this change, am I still just going to end up alone?Will there be enough?Am I enough?Can my web of broken relationships ever be whole? Credits and Sources:Kenneth Bailey, Louis Schotroff, Donald Kraybill, Craig Keener, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, David Garland, Alan Culpepper, Rachel Yehuda, Mark Baker, William Herzog, Justo Gonazlez.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(01/18/26)

Luke 18:35-43None of us like the feeling of living differently than we said we were going to live, and yet we all know this feeling.This one isn't only about New Year's Resolutions. It's about the moments you live through without realizing that this is your moment to shine, to practice what you preach, to have integrity. It's about the importance of being connected to a Jesus who stops and recognizes the opportunities to live a good game.Credits & Sources:Justo Gonzalez, David Garland, Alan Culpepper, Craig Keener, A.D. Riddle, Fred Craddock, Joel Green, Kenneth Bailey.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(01/11/26)

Christmas 2025This episode explores how it changes the Christmas story when we remember that none of the characters knew what was going to happen next.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(12/21/25)

Luke 2:8-18 (Advent)This episode explores your experiences of joy. It helps you stop beating yourself up when you aren't experiencing much joy, while also helping you open yourself up to receive joy. Credits & Sources:Kenneth Bailey, Joel Green, Moises Silva, Tim Geddert, Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, Craig Keener, Raymond Brown, C.S. Lewis. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(12/14/25)

Luke 18:31-34You could say that this one is about death and dying and so nobody wants to listen to it. But it is much more than that. It's about how underneath all culture warring, underneath all worldview defense lies a sheer terror: We are all enslaved to the fear of death. That fear infects everything. What does it mean to follow Jesus and walk towards an inevitable death without being enslaved to this fear? Sources:Ernest Becker, Richard Beck, Ted Pyscynski, Andrew Root, Kara Root, Brian Ross, Kosuke Koyama, Mark Baker, Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, Brian Zahnd, Eric Versluis, Cynthia Vinney, Russell Barkley, Emily Smith, Erika Hayasaki, Plato, David B. Rose, Helmine Bigler, Stephen Covey, Mark Strauss, Craig Keener, N.T. Wright, and Elizaeth Bruenig. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(12/7/25)

Luke 18:15-30So many people see the rich in the powerful in one of two ways. They either see them as the posterchild of success and they secretly envy them. Or they villainize them as corrupt oppressors.Neither view looks through the eyes of compassion. Jesus sees what few others see about what riches and power are doing to them.This one explores the way that Jesus speaks out of compassion for the rich and the powerful. Credits and Sources: Ivan Paz, William Herzog, Gerhard Lenski, Tim Jennings, Dacher Keltner, Sukhvinder Obhi, James Alison, Jerry Useem, Skye Jethani, Justo Gonzalez, David Garland, Bruce Malina, Richard Rorhbaugh, Alan Culpepper, N.T. Wright, Kenneth Bailey, Moises Silva, Tim Geddert, Renee Durbin, Miguel de la Torre. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/23/25)

Luke 18:15-17This episode explores why reconnecting with your younger self is crucial to healthy spirituality. Credits and Sources:Eugene Peterson, Andrew Root, Kara Root, Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Hartmut Rosa, Lacy Finn Borgo, Ken Shigematsu, Justo Gonazalez, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert, David Garland. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/16/25)

Luke 18:9-14Do you know that part of you that dearly wants to be right? Do you know that part that doesn't want to need any fixing, any correction, any help? Do you know that part with a chronic need to impress others.Do you know that part of you that known that you can't fix you? It's the part that knows that you keep trying to make it better and solve things, but somehow you have stuck patterns and things that aren't working? Can you feel that tension? These parts polarize within us and fight against one another. What story does Jesus tell here that might help you find relief? Credits & Sources:Kenneth Bailey, William Herzog II, Brian Zahnd, David Garland, Alan Culpepper, Justo Gonzalez, Bill Wilson, Daniel Taylor, Ian Cron, Gerald May, Steve Cuss, Eugene Peterson, Josiah Haken, Michael Farris. Music by Michael Gungor & Tyler ChesterSermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/9/25)

Luke 18:1-8Life hits us with so many opportunities to just give up. We all know the feeling. "Nothing I do is going to change anything. Why am I trying any more? I'm just banging my head against a wall. This is an unsolvable puzzle, an impossible problem. This is an incompatible relationship. I have no control over this."What difference does it make if prayer is the alterative you choose to giving up? Credits: Tim Geddert, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Alan Culpepper, Marsha Linehan, Craig Keener, Kenneth Bailey, David Garland, Justo Gonzalez, David Wenham, Luise Schottroff, William Herzog II, Robert Capon, St. Francis, St. Patrick, Nijay Gupta, Martin Seligman.Music by Michael Gungor & Tyler ChesterSermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/2/25)

Luke 17:20-37You can see that life you want on the horizon. But the more you chase after it, the more you exert control, plan, strategize, threat manage, self-preserve, rush, cling, and try...The further it retreats. It slips out of your grip. It dissolves. It disappears and leaves you feeling empty and alienated. Jesus says, "Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33)What does this paradox mean for your life?Credits & Sources:Andrew Root, Kara Root, Hartmut Rosa, Justo Gonzalez, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Moises Silva, Craig Keener, N.T. Wright, Tim Geddert, David Garland, Alan Culpepper, Greg Boyd, Luise Schottroff, Eugene Peterson. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(10/18/25)

Luke 17:11-19When life turns upside down sometimes we realize what we were taking for granted. We realize that there were things we treated as important that simply are not important. There are things that are important, but we treated them with little regard. It's strange how a crisis can take controversies, prejudices and polarizations that feel like they matter so intensely...and suddenly they do not matter at all. What if you could live now the way you will wish you could have lived back then? And in the middle of all of this-what is the faith and salvation that Jesus sees happening within you?Credits and Sources:Greg Boyd, Tim Geddert, Joel Green, T. Omiya, David Garland, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Alan Culpepper, Fred Craddock, Justo Gonzalez, Craig Keener. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(10/5/25)

Luke 17:1-10Both Jesus and the Pharisees wanted people to change. They used the same tool to seek change. But they used that tool in opposite ways. That tool was table fellowship. The Pharisees withheld table fellowship as a means of changing people. Jesus extended table fellowship as a means of changing people. What does it mean to participate in the kind of community of change that Jesus created? Credits & Sources:Mark Baker, Moises Silva, Tim Geddert, Lewis Smedes, Brian Ross, Michael Card, Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, Kenneth Bailey, Justo Gonzalez, Stephanie Rigg, Joel Green, Alan Culpepper, Jan Richardson, Fred Craddock. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(09/28/25)

Luke 16:19-31What happens when you get so far inside of your own experience that you cannot see from someone else's perspective. Call it a funk, tunnel vision, an echo chamber. Whatever it is, their experience, their perspective, their needs become invisible to you. All you can see is your pain and what you want. They might as well be a million miles away. And the farther you go into the experience, the deeper and darker it becomes. From time to time, this just happens to us. It does. What does Jesus have to say? How does the Spirit work with us in these experiences? Credits and Sources:Craig Keener, Moises Silva, William Herzog II, Brian Zahnd, Eugene Peterson, Fred Craddock, N.T. Wright, David Garland, Clarence Jordan, Brad Jersak, Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert.  Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(09/21/25)

Luke 16:1-15Figuring out your relationship to money, wealth, stuff, and things can be tricky. It's complicated!!! This episode explores some stories Jesus tells as a way of possibly helping you discern your own heart and desires related to income, money, wealth, stuff, and things. Credits and Sources:Ryan Shellenberg, Ched Meyers, Paul Trudinger, William R. Herzog II, Justo Gonazlez, Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert, David Garland, Craig Keener, Kenneth Bailey, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Donald Kraybill. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(09/13/25)

Luke 14:25-35This episode tells Melvin's story. The story of a man who didn't know himself, who didn't know what he wanted, a man who's like was constantly zigging and zagging to chase approval and avoid threats. Credits and Sources:Roberta M Gilbert, R. Robert Creech, Steve Cuss, Robert Cialdini, Rodney Stark, Tim Geddert, Moises Silva, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, David Garland, Mark Baker, Edwin Friedman, Craig Keener, Alan Culpepper, Justo Gonzalez. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(08/31/25)

Luke 14:12-24What do you do when you've invested yourself in a relationship. They signal that they'll be there for you, that you can count on them, they are on board with your project. And then.....Just when it counts the most, they are a NO SHOW. They give you a lame excuse. They prove that you are not as important to them as they acted like you were.What then???What do you do with your wounded love?Credits & Sources:Simon Carey Holt, Dan White Jr., Tim Chester, Robert J. Karris, Justo Gonzalez, Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert, David Garland, Kenneth Bailey, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Luise Schottroff, N.T. Wright, Craig Keener, Moises Silva. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(08/23/25)

Luke 14:1-6This episode invites you to consider the parts of who you are that don't need quick fixes or simple solutions. They don't need a quick pat on the back. They presence that isn't going away. A knowledge that you aren't alone in this. You need held. There are parts of who you are that have given everything they can give, but you can't overcome it. You need healed. There are parts of who are that feel imprisoned by scripts and narratives that feel impossible to live up to. You need released. Credits & Sources:Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert, David Garland, Brad Harper, Drew Harper, Steve Cuss, Don Riso, Russ Hudson, John DelHousaye. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(08/03/25)

Matthew 7:12-14; Luke 13:22-35This episode explores the ways that the Golden Rule (treat others the way you want to be treated) is quite possibly one of the most difficult things to actually live, even though we talk about it as if it were super basic and easy. It looks at how Jesus speaks into this experience. Credits & Sources: Tim Geddert, David Garland, Brad Jersak, N.T. Wright, Brian Zahnd, Justo Gonzalez.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(07/27/25)

Luke 13:18-21Is there anything more going on in this universe than meaningless particles and atoms just bouncing into once another and colliding, hurtling through space? If the rule and reign of God is actually A THING in this universe, how do you know it? What is the experience like when God becomes REAL to you? To what can we compare it? This episode wrestles with a parable that Jesus told, and how that story connects with our everyday experience. Credits & Sources:Parker Palmer, Brian McLaren, Pliny the Elder, David Garland, Alan Culpepper, Justo Gonzalez, Joel Green, Tim Geddert, Fred Craddock, Carol Newsom, Sharon Ringe, Frederich Dale Bruner, Luise Schottroff, Stephen Wright, David Wenham, Craig Keener, N.T. Wright, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Rich Villodas, Richard Longnecker, Brad Jersak. Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(07/19/25)

Luke 13:10-17The tricky thing about your wounded and protective parts is that sometimes you don't even know which is which, or where the pain is coming from? All you know is that things are not exactly "working". This episode explores the way that Jesus engages your wounded and protective parts.Credits & Sources:Joel Green, Richard Lowery, Benjamin Foreman, Kenneth Bailey, Justo Gonzalez, Greg Boyd, Alan Culpepper, David Garland, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Richard Hays.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(07/13/25)

Luke 12:54-13:9Our brains are incredible at recognizing patterns, reading signs, and interpreting events. Our brains figure out shortcuts. It's what makes us incredible!!! It's how we master skills. And it makes us vulnerable. In between every person and event you encounter, and whatever you say or do next, your brain is interpreting....and none of us interpret everything correctly. What does Jesus have to say about this??? Credits & Sources:Robert B. Cialdini, Tim Geddert, Eugene Peterson, Craig Keener, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Kenneth Bailey, Alred Edersheim, Robert Capon, David Wenham, Richard Longenecker, Allan W. Martens, Luise Schottroff, Stephen Wright, Greg Boyd, R. Alan Culpepper, David Garland, Edmund Burke, Josephus, Marsha Linehan, Josephus, Philo, Tertullian.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(07/05/25)

Luke 12:35-53Experiences of burnout exist along a continuum, from low-grade to severe. Is burnout a "you" problem, or an "us" problem? How do you cope when you feel trapped in a situation that feels like it set you up to fail? Most importantly, what might Jesus say or do in the midst of our experiences of burnout? Credits & Sources:Luise Schottroff, David Garland, Kenneth Bailey, Justo Gonzalez, Steve Cuss, Edwin Friedman, Anne Helen Petersen, Sharon Hodde Miller, Kenneth Tanner, St. Ambrose, Joshua Cohen, Greg Boyd, Alan Hirsh, Carey Nieuwhof, Alan Culpepper.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(06/08/25)

Luke 12:22-34What good does it do to tell a worrier not to worry? Are they now free, or are they now thinking about worrying....or worrying about worrying....or feeling guilty about worrying....or worry about feeling guilty about worrying? If worry is one of the most universal experiences of people across planet earth, did Jesus simply shrug his shoulders and say, "Don't worry." (as if that would solve it?) And if Jesus did have something more to say about worry- what was he getting at? Credits & Sources:Tim Geddert, David Garland, Alan Culpepper, Justo Gonzalez, Marsha Linehan, Tim Jennings, James K. A. Smith, Stephanie Rigg.Sermon by Aaron CarlsonFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(06/01/25)

Luke 12:13-21We experience emotional triangles all the time. Sometimes they complicate our life. Sometimes we think they uncomplicate our life. We involve a third person when the relationship becomes tricky. Sometimes we are the third person being involved. People tried to pull Jesus into triangles too. They tried to get him to tell someone else what to do. They tried to pressure him to TAKE A SIDE on crucial issues of justice. How did Jesus respond?Credits and Sources:Edwin Friedman, Steve Cuss, Roberta Gilbert, Murray Bowen, Vern Hyndman, Gerhard Lenski, Kenneth Bailey, Alan Culpepper, Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, Luise Shcottroff, Steven Wright, Craig Keener, Mary Ann Beavis, William R. Herzog II, Ron Sider, Miguel De La Torre, Richard Lowery, Tim Geddert, Donald Kraybill. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(05/18/25)

Luke 12:1-12Within each of us are hidden thoughts, emotions, patterns, and desires asking to be fed. What would the results be if you really did get all that you are looking for? What would be the inevitable trajectory of those desires? Credits and Sources:Joel Green, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Justo Gonzalez, Heidi Tillotson, Kenneth Tanner, C.S. Lewis, Brian Ross, Tim Geddert, Nathaniel Carlson, Leonard Sweet, Brian Zahnd, Austin Fischer, Brad Jersak.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(05/10/25)

The title says it all.Luke 11:37-54Credits & Sources:Alan Culpepper, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Joel Green, David Garland, Lisa Cron, Steve Cuss, Brian Ross.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(05/04/25)

Luke 11:29-32Our brains are wired to detect patterns, to look for connections, to read relationships, and interpret the meaning of things. We do it all the time. It’s part of being human. You look for signs when you feel uncertain. When you feel lost, stuck, small. When you don’t know who you are. When you feel alone. When you don’t feel seen or known. When you want to be right. When you want to be vindicated. When you feel out of control.Jesus doesn't just try to shut down the sign seeking. He draws our attention to something deeper that's going on within our sign seeking.  For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(04/27/25)

This episode is about the way sin infects and distorts our ability to see. Credits and Sources:Miroslav Volf, Herbert McCabe, Steve Cuss, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Mark Baker, Ian Cron, Daniel Taylor, , Cornelius Plantinga, Brian Ross, Jr. James Bryan Smith, Anchor Bible Dictionary, Eric Miller, Book of Common Prayer.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(04/20/25)

Luke 11:14-27Regression: "the act of going back to a previous place or state; reversion to a chronologically earlier or less adapted pattern of behavior and feeling; reversion to an earlier mental or behavioral level".Whether we are talking about soil, systems, or your soul, the story of regressions can be found. We look for external solutions to internal problems. We try really hard to clear out space, only to find it filled in with something even worse. The nervous system takes people back to what it knows: old patterns, old behaviors, default modes, and old narratives. Credits:Aristotle, Ian Cron, Steve Cuss, Edwin Friedman, Helen Keller, Robert M. Coates, Kenneth Tanner, Fred Craddock, Alan Culpepper, Richard Rohr, Teresa of Avila, Charles Duhigg, Greg Boyd.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(04/13/25)

Luke 11:5-13If you cannot open up your deepest longings, your disappointment, sadness, grief, and hope- it you cannot bring them into the open before God, then how can you pray? Credits & Sources:Tim Geddert, Justo Gonzalez, Craig Keener, Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, Henri Nouwen, Marsha Linehan David Garland, Alan Johnson, Alan Culpepper, Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Kenneth Bailey.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(04/06/25)

When it comes to your spiritual life, do you carry a sense of insecurity, and failure? Do you feel like you aren't doing it right, like you should be doing it better, differently, or that you should be more like someone else? Is it hard to even admit to yourself how much this resonates? This episode explores how much of a natural you already are, and why this is crucial to recognize. Credits & Sources:Lewis Smedes, Greg Boyd, William Barber II, Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, Tim Geddert, Fred Craddock, Alan Culpepper, Joel Green, Justo Gonzalez, Craig Keener, Kenneth Bailey, David Garland.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/16/25)

Luke 10:38-42Have you ever felt like you have lost your smile? Like you are chasing a smile that somebody is never going to give you? This episode is the story of Myra's smile. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/09/25)

Luke 10:25-37This episode explores the massively courageous act of becoming a neighbor, which involves coming to understand what someone else thinks, what they feel, and what they want/need. It involves being moved by this. Caring....enough to do something....And that is terrifying.And to Jesus this is the path to life. Credits & Sources:Tim Geddert, David Garland, Justo Gonzalez, Alan Culpepper, Joel Green, Kenneth Bailey.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(03/02/25)

Luke 9:57-62This episode will help you explore the layers and complexities of your deep desires for a happy life, a secure life, a successful life, a connected life, a life lived to the full, an abundant life, a life that brings the best out of you, a life that truly works in the long run. It won't answer all your questions, but it may help uncover conversations you need to have with yourself, with others, and with the Spirit of God. Credits & Sources:John Walton, Victor Matthews, Mark Chavalas, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Alan Culpepper, Joel Green, Tim Geddert, Fred Craddock, Craig Keener, David Garland, Justo Gonzalez, Brian Ross, D. W. Chapman, Donald Kraybill, Clarence Haynes Jr., Eugene Peterson.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(02/23/25)

Luke 9:51-56We were all born into a set of stories that affect the way we interpret reality. The affect the way you ask and answer the question, "Am I safe, or am I in danger?" Sometimes we get stuck in a cycle of playing and replaying stories that cause us to rehearse and replay negative emotions. The feelings amplify. We double down. Our thinking becomes distorted. Our ability to think creatively falls away. We are only looking for people or evidence that will confirm what we are already saying. This gospel story explores the way Jesus goes about freeing us from these mental loops. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(02/9/25)

Luke 9:37-50You mean well. This world means well. We really do. And yet the good news that Jesus declared for the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, and the oppressed does not always arrive. Desperate people beg for help, and sometimes no help comes. The path of love gets stopped up, much like a twisted hose. What is it that can reopen the path of love? Credits & Sources:Kenneth Tanner, Donald Kraybill, David Garland, Joel Green, Justo Gonzalez, Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Fred Craddock, Stephen Grcevich, Holiday Rondeau, Hans Selye, Don Riso, and Russ Hudson. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(02/2/25)

Luke 9:23-37; 2 Corinthians 3:13-18History is littered with stories where atrocities of every kind were justified with Christian language and even by quoting the Law and the Prophets. We may want to distance ourselves from these stories, but we easily slip into seeing people and events in our life without any thought of the face of Christ. Credits & Sources: Greg Boyd, Brian Zahnd, Jonathan Kirsh, Andrew Holt, Miguel De La Torre, Alan Culpepper, Tim Geddert, Justo Gonzalez, Fred Craddock, N.T. Wright, David Garland, Kenneth Tanner, William Blake, Simone Weil, Marilynne Robinson, Richard Beck.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(01/26/25)