
Harbor, Pepperdine Bible Lectures
Christian scholars and church leaders at Harbor, Pepperdine University’s annual Bible Lectures, inspire listeners with this collection of topics on Christian living, relationships, ministry, and biblical insight.
Latest episodes

May 18, 2023 • 47min
Breaking the Fourth Wall in Preaching
Teacher: Cheryl Russell
Dialogical preaching and the opportunities and advantages it provides for churches in the new missional era.

May 18, 2023 • 43min
Navigating Romantic Relationships in a Broken World
Teacher: Dori Lansbach
Romantic relationships are in the forefront of every person’s mind at some point in their life. So much of our lives including our identity, our past, and our future are impacted by the partners that we choose to become involved with romantically, but how do we navigate these relationships in a broken world? How do we prepare our individual emotional and spiritual health to be ready to be in a relationship? How do we date in a way that brings glory to God? How do we navigate the dynamics of marriage to reflect God’s vision for a holy partnership? How do we
discern the unhealthy dynamics of relationships? Whether you’re single and preparing yourself to date, actively dating, or are married, this session will help you consider different aspects of relationships that are so often overlooked or misconstrued in today’s world.

May 18, 2023 • 52min
Love, Truth, and Forever
Teacher: Jeanette Duval
A straightforward look at these three vital aspects of God and how our understanding of them impacts every level of our spiritual health. Especially relevant for our younger adults, teens, and children!

May 18, 2023 • 41min
Yes, Jesus Loves Me and So Should I: Cultivating Well-being Through Self-care and Self-compassion
Teacher: La Shonda Coleman
At times it can be challenging to love and show compassion for self in the many ways that we so readily do for others. We may have bought into the myth that self care is selfish. Yes, I named it a myth and if this is something you have bought into, extend yourself grace--while leaning into an opportunity to believe differently. An opportunity to experience love starting with Jesus and YOU. In the scriptures, Jesus models for us the practice of self-care and compassion. The truth is, Jesus loves you and gives us permission to love ourselves as well (Leviticus 19:17-18). This love can be expressed through self-care practices and through the practice of self-compassion. The question now is, how does it look to love and show compassion for ourselves? This class will prepare participants to create a self-care plan and to experience a variety of sensations that flow from self compassion. Through education, embodied practices, guided reflections, prayer, meditation and dialogue, participants in this class can expect to have a wholehearted experience!

May 17, 2023 • 44min
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
Teacher: Karl Ihfe
The table is significant. It’s where Christians have broken bread, found fellowship, and extended compassion for centuries. It’s the place we still gather weekly to be reminded of our shared life in Christ. It’s also been the source of much controversy and contention, springing from the question, "Who gets a seat at the table?"
That question almost split the church at the very beginning, and in a culture as fractured and divided as ours, threatens to split the church again. It’s time to look again at the example of Jesus, who shared a table with all kinds of people, and it got him into all kinds of trouble. Let’s consider how God might be challenging us to stretch and grow beyond our comfort zone as he asks us once again that famous question: Guess who’s coming to dinner?

May 17, 2023 • 47min
Planning with the Spirit: His Impact on Our Lives and the Church
Teacher: Danny Quintero
Unlimited knowledge, unlimited power, unlimited love. Billions of followers, billions of lives impacted. People talk about Him, but do they walk with Him? If you are interested in knowing the importance of planning with the Spirit and the change that you can experience in your life and even in your church, I invite you to join us in this class.

May 17, 2023 • 47min
The House that Built Me: The Women of Faith That Have Shaped My Life
Teacher: Sara Young Jackson
I have always loved the song sung by Miranda Lambert, “The House That Built Me,” because it so poignantly reminds me of the people in my life who have influenced who I have become today. In this class, I will reflect on the women, both in Scripture and in my personal history, whose lives of faith have “shaped” me.

May 17, 2023 • 45min
The Low Lying Fruit of Proactive Congregational Care: Reclaiming the Power of Kindness and Goodness in Our Church Communities and Beyond
Teacher: Kent Jobe
This class will look at the underlying spirit that defined the early church and how intentional congregational care can transform the local church from the inside out.

May 17, 2023 • 55min
Lamenting Date-Onomics*
Teacher: Kelly Haer
60:40. Why are there so often more women than men on college campuses and in your young adult ministry? How does this "man deficit" impact both men and women? What does faithful living look like amidst the current economics of dating? Demographics, statistics, game theory, and ambiguous loss will be used to make sense of--and provide a guide to navigate--the dating climate at school and life after college!
*Date-Onomics coined by Jon Birger

May 17, 2023 • 50min
Trueish: Church Leadership Principles That Sound Right, but Aren’t Anymore. Mostly.
Teacher: Tim Spivey
Even prior to the pandemic, the church was changing in dramatic ways. This class discusses, humorously, the expiration of several popular leadership principles, and offers a look at the prevailing church of the rest of the 21st century.