Episodes
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God is a person
How can we know God? This is a pretty basic question and an important one. And people approach this question in many ways. With our modern fascination with science, technology, and philosophy, we often approach this question as a question of logic and evidence. As if God were a hypothesis or a...
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Seeking Happiness
We have all been raised with stories about brave knights, handsome princes, and beautiful princesses. And we have thrilled along with all their struggles until, at last, they find each other and live happily ever after. We all know this is nonsense, and yet it is a beautiful lie and one we like...
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The Seduction of Knowledge
When I was just a kid, I was always amazed at how stupid the various Bible characters appeared to be. And Adam and Eve seemed like the silliest of them all. I used to think, “These people were literally walking with God in the garden of Eden. God had given them the whole world, and their first...
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Walking in Love
Imagine a world where everything happens just as it must. No choices, nothing but the necessity of existence. Each piece playing its part no more, no less. Complete harmony of motion, nothing out of place. John Lennon wrote the song Imagine about a world like this(though I doubt he realized what…
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On Knowing and Being Known
Last week, we discussed the difficulties of navigating all the so-called expert voices in the world today. Today I want to think a bit more about why these voices are so appealing and one of the best ways to avoid the dangers of this media-driven world. Get full access to On walking the Way at...
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Teachers, Teachers, everywhere
We are all drowning in information every day thanks to the internet. And Christians have the voices of a thousand teachers clamoring for our attention non-stop, each with their particular spin on whatever topic you might imagine. What are we to do? Get full access to On walking the Way at...
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The Faith of a Child
What is it about children that Jesus loved so much? I often read this passage without stopping, thinking it’s obvious; they’re cute, they’re innocent, and they’re trusting. Well, they are all of that, but is that all? What was he trying to teach his disciples, and what did he want them to hear?...
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Why bother?
This Substack is about walking the path of Jesus. But since the lion’s share of my audience is already trying to walk this path, I have not spent much time discussing why this path is better than all the other paths on offer. Today I want to go back to first principles and look at why the path of...
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FedEx Christianity
Our life is not a gift that was delivered to our door in a box for us to use as we will. It is a gift we only find and have in Jesus. Our life is in Jesus like a fish’s life is in water. There is no life apart from Jesus. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
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Fear Not
There are two phrases that are repeated often in the Bible, and when taken together, they seem a bit puzzling. * Fear God * Fear Not Today I would like to give each of these statements a little thought. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
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There are Two Paths
Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink...
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Wearing a Jesus Shirt
Christians not only have Christian t-shirts and merch; we carry the name in a deeper way as well. Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
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Pentecost
Pentecost is like the Christian Sinai. God appears in fire, and we see the people of God redefined and empowered. God was expanding His people by adding the faithful from every nation to the faithful believers of Israel. Now, God’s people are forever defined by faith, rather than ethnicity. At...
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While We're Waiting (part 2)
Last time, we talked about the context and structure of the seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor found in Revelation. I would like to continue that study as we work to answer the question, “How are we to live while we wait for Jesus?” Get full access to On walking the Way at...
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While we're Waiting
In this series I want to focus primarily on the 7 mini-epistles found in chapters two and three. When properly understood, these short letters to seven suffering churches offer us real help and encouragement in the chaos of today’s world. . Get full access to On walking the Way at...
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The End of the World?
If you have been watching the news lately, or even if you haven’t, you have no doubt heard. The news is not good. War is never good news, and the more people and nations that get involved, the worse it gets. If you are interested in the topic of the last things and the coming age I have written a...
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Chasing Approval
There is a theme that can be traced in the Gospel of John that is very sobering. Today I want to supply a little food for thought as we approach Good Friday and Easter. We will be tracking the theme of seeking human approval instead of God’s approval. I will read selected passages from John that...
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Expectation, Disappointment, and Shocking Sin
John 19:1--16 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them,...
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When your only tool is a hammer...
We’ve been talking about reading the Bible, and today I would like to continue that conversation. Many of us were taught that the Bible just needs to be read simply and interpreted literally. But the problem is, many things in the Bible were not written to be understood literally. And many things...
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Reading the Bible
Some time ago I posted an article titled Breath In, Breath Out. In this post I discussed how walking the way is a two-part process, much like breathing. Breathing is not inhaling or exhaling; a breath is to inhale and exhale. We need to breathe in God’s Spirit and grace and breathe out God’s love...
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A life that speaks
Jesus is our king, and his kingdom is our team. We are here as his representatives. I don’t think partisanship has any place in the kingdom of God. Our loyalty is to our king and our king alone. Anything else is idolatry. As we try to live worthy lives in this fallen world, finding the right…
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Learning the path of God
It has been said many times and in many ways that we don’t really learn by hearing; we learn by doing. In my classes I have reduced this idea to a motto: “I will know the truth, as I do the truth.” Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
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Laws only describe sin
When young people ask me why such and such a policy exists on our campus, I tell them, “Every rule has a name.” By that, I mean rules are made because someone did something that caused someone else to make a rule. Over time you get countless rules that way, but somehow people keep doing bad…
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Starting over
The new year always brings with it a sort of implicit hope, a hope that this year might be better than the last. A hope for relief—a hope for change. I think this is a good thing, even though it may in reality be nothing more than a conditioned cultural response. After all, without a calendar…
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Think like grownups, love like children
Christmas is a time of joy, wonder, and hope in a world filled with hate, cynicism, loneliness, and pain. This season is a mirror on the world and on our own attitudes. As Christians, we need to respond to reality while maintaining our innocence and wonder. This may seem impossible, but this...
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Thanksgiving, Advent, and Hope
This is the sermon I will be giving on Sunday, Nov. 30. I was given the passages below as the lectionary passages for the week. It was a challenging assignment, but I think I found a way to talk about Thanksgiving, Advent, and these passages—eventually. Daniel 3 John 18:36-38 Advent…
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Dominos
We often consider ourselves to be the first link in the domino chain. But other times we consider ourselves to be the last in the chain. But the truth is more complicated than that because we are all part of a very long chain we did not create. So you’re probably wondering what brought this…
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What do we cheer for?
There is an internet meme that goes something like, Your boos mean nothing; I’ve seen what makes you cheer. At the end of Paul’s description of the downfall of humanity in Romans 1, his final summary describes the tragic mess the world has become in this way: And since they did not see fit to...
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Creation, Sabbath, and Sunday
Today I want to take some time to think about the significance of meeting on Sunday and why, from the very beginning of Christian worship, Sunday has always been the day Christians gather to worship and remember. And why most Christians refer to Sunday as the Christian “Sabbath.” But today I…
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We have not arrived
We have not arrived—and that is a good thing. It is easy to take so many things for granted. As Christians, we’re taught that we are saved by grace through faith, and since we have faith, all is well. And we are well in Christ; we are forgiven; it’s all true! But today I want to think about what...
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Inside-Outside
Self-evaluation can be extremely difficult. When I am very honest with myself, I begin to see how often I am more concerned about what people think of me than what kind of man I truly am. The Bible tells us that life and death flow from the inside out. This is a recurring message, and it was…
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Jesus and change
There was a time when bracelets with WWJD on them were popular. The idea was that before anyone did anything, they should ask, What Would Jesus Do? This is still a fine question, long after the trend is gone. Today, we want to pursue that question a bit by asking, “What Did Jesus Preach?” We need...
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How I feel is what I am
When I look out into the world today, it’s hard to understand how so many things that were never even a question in the past are now the only things people talk about. Events like mass shootings didn’t exist, and assassinations were extremely rare. Since guns have not changed and we have more…
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Two Kinds of Change
I am the father of four boys. They are all men now, but before they were men, they were teenagers. Anyone who has raised teenagers knows it is hard to raise teenagers without raising your voice. I’m sure people have done it, but I will freely confess I was not one of them. Along the way, I said...
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Life along the "other" way
This podcast was born during the COVID-19 lockdown. I wanted to find a way to serve and encourage people while I was locked in my house and unable to minister in the way I usually do as a missionary teacher. It was an ugly time for missionaries since travel was nearly impossible and our schools...
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Contentment
We have all heard the beatitudes, or at least some of them, at various times in our lives. Some of them, like “Blessed are the meek” or “Blessed are the peacemakers,” have become so well known that they are enshrined in our culture and used as cliches. But let’s reread them today and examine…
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Breathe in - Breathe out
The spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day once asked him which commandment was the most important, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your...
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Psalm 130
I love the psalms; I think I have always loved them. Some of my earliest memories are sitting on the end of a pipe organ bench as my mom practiced or wandering through the choir during rehearsals. My mom was the organist and choir director for our church, so we practically lived in the choir…
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The School of Love
When I was young, there were a few years when I was just the right age to be a fishing partner with my Grandpa. I was old enough to help him and keep him company, but not old enough to be absorbed by jobs and girls—and whatever else a boy might be distracted by. Those years contain some of my…
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Christianity is Directional
The Pharisees tried to build a wall around the law to ensure they never broke it, and created lawyers. Jesus said I am the way, follow me,and created disciples. Imagine you’re a fisherman in 27AD. You’re working with your brother and your father, much like he worked with his father before him.…
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Inside Out-Outside In
Christianity grows like a seed from the inside, bearing fruit on the outside. Other religions and worldviews believe that the solution can be found by changing outward behaviors, thereby gradually changing the inside. This, in a nutshell, is what makes Christianity unique. Both systems produce...
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Naked Silence
The noise and demands of this world grind our souls and saturate our minds until life begins to feel like an endless stream of pointless events. We crave peace and quiet, but when we try to quiet ourselves, the noise inside is as loud as the noise outside. So we find a way to ease our minds and...
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Life in the Margins
Last week, we discussed a life focused on the kingdom of God and how a life so focused is a life free of anxiety. This week, I would like to dive back into that theme and talk about the busyness of our modern lives. Why do we feel like we are running every day instead of living every day? Why is…
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The Main Thing
On Sunday, when church is over and I am finally home, sitting in my chair, I find myself wondering, “What just happened? Where did the last week go? What, if anything, did I accomplish?” Over the years, I have bemoaned this experience with a variety of different folks. From what I can tell, it...
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God is Good
There is a story of an old man and a traveler. According to ChatGPT, this is an ancient story, and some version of it can be found in many cultures around the world. I don’t remember when I first heard this story, but it has stuck with me ever since. I'd like to begin today with my version of…
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Joy is more than Happy
I have heard it said that evil is not a thing; it is the lack of a thing. Like dark is a lack of light, and cold is a lack of heat, evil is a lack of goodness — a lack of God. Joy, on the other hand, is a thing, and its source is a person. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence...
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A Storybook God
For many centuries, we have all been educated and entertained via media, primarily through books and print, until the 20th century. Ask any avid reader, and they will be quick to tell you about the magic of the printed word and how books guide you into worlds you have never known. But, there is…
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The way of resurrection
Easter is a time to reflect on the significance of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is not a philosophical or theological point to be argued, nor is it a simply a symbol. But rather, it stands as the single fact on which all Christian belief depends. And when I say fact I do not mean a...
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Do I Know Jesus?
Many of us have believed in Jesus for many years. Some of us were raised in the faith. But if we are honest with ourselves, it is easy to understand how we can spend years as Christians without really thinking about who we are with. Philip found himself in just such a place in this story. He was…
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Made for Worship
We were made to worship. It is in us, and it is always looking for an outlet of expression. When we worship our creator with a pure heart, everything in us springs to life like a bird suddenly released from a cage. In true worship, we find the joy of being what we were created to be, images and...
About this show
Thoughts on living as followers of the way of Jesus in a desperately needy world.
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