We need hope. Our world needs hope. But ... Why hope? Is it just blind optimism? Isn't pessimism more in touch with reality?  This episode begins a new series on hope in the Bible.  Resources and ways to connect with John: 1. Parenting book: http://www.preparethemtoflourish.com 2. Online Bible Courses: https://www.johnwhittaker.net/courses 3. Two ways you can support the show: -Become a patron for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. -Donate through World Family Mission at http://worldfamilymissions.org/missionaries/john-whittaker/ … all gifts are tax deductible.   4. YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnWhittaker 5. Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.   

The religious leaders of Jesus' day didn't think God would welcome and eat with immoral people. Jesus disagreed. And in the parable of the prodigal son, found in Luke 15, Jesus paints a beautiful portrayal of God that should encourage immoral and moral people alike to receive the Father's compassion and generosity.  Check out John's new parenting book Prepare Them to Flourish at preparethemtoflourish.com Other ways to connect with John and support the show: Two ways you can support the show: Become a patron for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. Give through World Family Mission at http://worldfamilymissions.org/missionaries/john-whittaker/ … all gifts are tax deductible.   YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnWhittaker Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email. 

You should get _____ because you deserve it! Fill in that blank with whatever - promotion, scholarship, etc. We're used to getting what you deserve. And every cultural - which means everyone of us - has a measuring stick to determine who should be first and who shouldn't be.  But God doesn't calculate worthiness. He deals with us differently.  That's the point of the parable of the laborers in the vineyard found in Matthew 20:1-16.  Here's the link to the Bible Study Skills course mentioned in this episode - https://learn.johnwhittaker.net/courses/bible-study-skills. The Bible in Life is a listener supported show ... Here are two ways you can support the show: Become a patron for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. Give through World Family Mission at http://worldfamilymissions.org/missionaries/john-whittaker/ … all gifts are tax deductible.   Other resources and ways to connect with me:  YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnWhittaker Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email. 

In this episode I explore the parable of the 10 Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. It's a bit of a sobering parable, calling us to seriousness and focus and preparation in our relationship with Jesus. There's a party coming ... a whole new day coming, in fact. And we don't want to miss out by being half-hearted or cavalier in our walk with God.  Also, this is the result of a suggestion/question by a listener. If you have a question or passage to study, message me.  A huge thanks to all of you who make this show possible through your financial support! It means the world to me (plus it helps pay the bills and enables me to keep making more content like this!) Thank you! If you want to help, here's two options for supporting the show: Become a patron for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. Give through World Family Mission at http://worldfamilymissions.org/missionaries/john-whittaker/ … all gifts are tax deductible.     Other resources and ways to connect with me:  YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnWhittaker Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net. - Be sure to check out the courses page for more teaching.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email. 

The greatest impact of the Bible I have ever experienced was at Boise Bible College. I attended there and was powerfully shaped by Scripture during my student days. Then I taught there for 19 years. And the transformative power of the being immersed in God's word day in and day out is truly evident for man or woman who humbly submits to God's work in his or her life. In this episode, Interview Derek Voorhees about Boise Bible College and power of immersing people into the Bible. To learn more about Boise Bible College go to http://www.boisebible.edu. For information about monthly subscriptions to my courses go to https://www.johnwhittaker.net/church-subscriptions. YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnWhittaker As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.  Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram Patreon: You can support John's podcast for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. You'll get access to bonus material and help me create an audio commentary on the New Testament.    

One of the dominant assumptions of Christians and non-Christians is that good people are in good with God. And good people can mean religious people - people who pray, read the Bible, serve at church, etc. Or good people can simply mean decent people - people who have a good job, work hard, have a nice family, etc.  Jesus has a different opinion about who's in good with God ... not good people but humble people. This is in fact, the repeated refrain of the Bible: God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.  So in the episode we explore Jesus' parable in Luke 18:9-14 where Jesus answers the question, Who's in good with God? The Basics of Spiritual Growth course: https://learn.johnwhittaker.net/courses/the-basics-of-spiritual-growth YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnWhittaker Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram Patreon: You can support John's podcast for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. You'll get access to bonus material and help me create an audio commentary on the New Testament. As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email. 

In Luke 14:15-25, Jesus offers a sharp warning to people who you'd think be the most likely to be a part of God's eternal kingdom ... to the very people you'd think were certainly gonna be there... to the people who were self-assured that they'd be there. A warning that ought to get our attention if we are "church people": you're not gonna miss the party, are you? It's also a parable that illustrates our need to read the Bible in its context so we can hear what it's actually saying. So in this episode I mention my my study skills course that's available online. You can find that here - https://learn.johnwhittaker.net/courses/bible-study-skills. Pastors, church subscriptions are available here - https://www.johnwhittaker.net/church-subscriptions. I'd love to chat with you about how they can be a part of your discipleship process.  YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnWhittaker As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.  Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram (plus pictures of my grand daughters!) Patreon: You can support John's podcast for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. You'll get access to bonus material and help me create an audio commentary on the New Testament.    

What is one thing in life you'd give up everything to get? Jesus' answer is the "Kingdom of Heaven." What is the "Kingdom of Heaven"? And what is the Kingdom of Heaven like? We're in a series on the parables of Jesus and in this episode Jesus shows us how valuable the Kingdom of Heaven is. Here's a link to the Basics of Spiritual Growth course that I mentioned in the podcast: https://learn.johnwhittaker.net/courses/the-basics-of-spiritual-growth  _____ YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvGar3gboVHXDIplJW6TWQ As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.  Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram Patreon: You can support John's podcast for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. You'll get access to bonus material and help me create an audio commentary on the New Testament.    

Did you know that it's possible to listen to the Bible's teaching and be worse off because of it? That you can be immune to the power of God's word? That hearing the Bible can be dangerous for your soul? Jesus believed this was true, and that has a lot to do with why He taught in parables.   In this episodes we begin a series of studies on the parables of Jesus by exploring Luke 8 and what Jesus expected his parables to do.    Bible Reading Plan: Here's the link the bible reading plan I mention in the episode - https://www.johnwhittaker.net/readingplan.  __________ YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel ... subscribe to those here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvGar3gboVHXDIplJW6TWQ As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.  Website - If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram Patreon: You can support John's podcast for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. You'll get access to bonus material and help me create an audio commentary on the New Testament.    

There is one Bible story I want everyone to experience. I don't just mean read ... I mean experience. I want you to experience it. To imagine yourself being there. To feel what the townsfolk felt ... and what the Pharisee felt ... and what Jesus felt ... and what the woman felt. To put yourself in the place of various characters in the story and experience what it was to be there. To see the look on people's faces. To see the look on Jesus' face as he looks at this woman. If you've every felt like there's no way Jesus could ever love me! This story is for you. Sit with it. Soak it in. Savor it.  May this story draw you further into the love of Christ.  ______ YouTube - I release short Bible studies every Thursday on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvGar3gboVHXDIplJW6TWQ As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.  If you want to stay in the loop and get updates and offers from me, subscribe at johnwhittaker.net.  Free Resources: You can deepen your walk with God by reading the Bible and praying consistently. Get a free reading plan here or take a free 15 minute mini-course here to help you get started.  Social Media-I would love to connect with you on facebook and instagram Patreon: You can support John's podcast for as little as $5 per month on his Patreon page by clicking here. You'll get access to bonus material and help me create an audio commentary on the New Testament.