The Berean Project Podcast

In this message, we take a fresh look at the table in Luke 22—not as a ritual, but as a moment that shapes identity. Why did Jesus choose a meal? What was the table meant to do? And what might we be missing when we reduce it to something smaller? This is the beginning of a conversation about communion, belonging, and the kind of story that changes us.

Most people can tell you what they’ve done. Very few can tell you who they’re becoming. In this episode of The Berean Project, we ask a deeper question: What does success actually look like? Is success about doing the right things, following the right patterns, and maintaining what we’ve been taught? Or is it something else entirely? This conversation challenges the idea that success is measured by activity, performance, or outward results—and instead explores a different lens: Success as becoming. Success as trust in motion. Success as a story being formed over time. If you’ve ever felt like your faith has been reduced to checklists, patterns, or expectations, this episode will invite you to step back and ask a better question: Was there a story? This is not about having the right answers. It’s about learning to see differently.

The Context Checklist is a simple, practical tool designed to help you slow down and see Scripture more clearly. Instead of relying on quick interpretations or isolated verses, it guides you to ask better questions—about the story, the audience, the culture, and the literary setting—so you can understand what’s actually being communicated before jumping to application. Built from years of study, reflection, and wrestling with difficult passages, this checklist helps you move from confusion to clarity—without needing hours of research. It doesn’t tell you what to think. It helps you learn how to see.

This final conversation isn’t a conclusion as much as it is a pause. Throughout this series, we’ve talked about culture not as something you install, enforce, or fix—but something you inhabit. We explored posture before instruction, trust before compliance, process before outcomes, and context before conclusions. Each episode pulled at a different thread, but all of them pointed to the same quiet truth: culture is formed over time by how we show up with one another. In this capstone episode, we step back and look at the whole tapestry. What happens when faith communities stop trying to control behavior and instead create space for trust to grow? What changes when obedience is no longer the starting point, but a byproduct of relationship? What if the work of forming culture was never meant to be carried by a single leader—but held collectively as an ekklesia? This episode doesn’t offer a blueprint or a checklist. It offers reflection. It invites you to notice what you’ve experienced, what you’ve inherited, and what you may be unintentionally perpetuating. Most of all, it leaves room for discernment—because how this unfolds next will look different in every community. Consider this a moment to breathe. To observe. To listen. And to ask a better question than “What should we do next?” What kind of people are we becoming together?

Most churches don’t choose their culture. They inherit it. Over time, that inherited culture can feel spiritual—even when no one ever named it, questioned it, or chose it on purpose. In this episode, we slow down and talk about what it means to notice the culture that is already forming us. Rather than offering a new framework or a set of steps, this conversation invites listeners to spend time observing—listening carefully to what is protected, repeated, and defended within their own communities. The goal is not to fix or correct, but to see clearly. From there, the work doesn’t belong to a single leader or a prescribed process. Culture is not implemented from the top down. It is discerned together, as an ekklesia—the gathered people—wrestling honestly with what they see and what it is shaping them into. What comes next will look different for every church. Different histories. Different trust levels. Different stories. And that diversity is not a problem to solve—it’s the very reason culture must be discerned in community. This episode doesn’t close the conversation. It releases it. An invitation to gather, to listen, and to ask a better question together: “Here’s what I noticed. What did you notice?”

The modern church is incredibly good at keeping itself running. Week after week, the gears turn. Services happen. Scriptures are listed. Programs are maintained. Everything works—efficiently, faithfully, predictably. But what if that efficiency is the problem? In this episode, we explore how the church can slowly drift into becoming a machine—one that only needs power to keep spinning—while missing the deeper invitation of the story God is telling in the world. We talk about how Scripture is often reduced to instructions to follow rather than a narrative to trust, and how obedience—while good—can quietly replace participation. When faith becomes about keeping the system going, we may find ourselves running hard on a wheel that never actually moves us forward. This conversation isn’t about rebellion or abandoning the church. It’s about posture. About trust. About stepping off the wheel long enough to ask whether we’re maintaining something God never asked us to preserve, while overlooking the work He’s actively doing to put the world back together. Because a machine only needs power. A story needs trust.

The Story of Culture, Do you Trust the Story? Another episode in building the understanding of how to create culture in a church.  This is a two campfire conversation episode that starts off with the question of the year that asks: "Are you excited about your place in the churches future?" This generates a deep discussion about unpacking what it really means to trust the story verses the obedience value that most people assign to the Bible.  

Most people say they’re waiting on God. But what if God is actually waiting on us? In this episode of The Culture Series, we dive into Preparation—not as a checklist, but as a posture. Drawing inspiration from the story of Nehemiah’s watchmen, we explore what it means to live with spiritual readiness in a church culture that often drifts toward comfort and sameness. Preparation is more than planning—it’s becoming the kind of person who’s ready when God moves. We’re not called to sit passively, waiting for signs. We’re called to sharpen our spears on the wall, to lean into transformation, and to resist the slow fade of spiritual survival. If you’ve ever felt stuck in the same rhythms, or sensed your community was waiting for someone else to go first, this episode is for you. Let’s stop surviving Sundays and start preparing for something sacred.

Culture, Part Three, Posture and Process Today we continue with storytelling our way through some sample values that you might want to add to your church culture discussion.  Stories are a great vehicle to make a point and to reflect on.  No sermons here, just another short journey on the road to understanding and building culture in your church.

Have you ever met someone that works for a company or a corporation that loves where they work because of the companies culture?  We have all heard of some of those companies and the way they set themselves apart.  The real question is, why are churches not doing the same thing?  The answers may surprise you as we unwrap several stories and incorporate them into figuring out how to choose values. If you choose integrity or authenticity as a value, how are YOU going to contribute to those values being carried out.  This is the vital part of the discussion and there are numerous stories to help us understand what posture looks like.  Posture has many looks, so it's important to be thorough.  If you want to make history and develop culture then its important to have backstories.

Beliefs and mission statements matter—but they’re not what makes a church thrive. In this kickoff to our Culture Series, discover why a formal culture statement is the “secret sauce” most churches are missing, and how it can transform everything you do.

We’ve all been there — circling the same questions, holding back from deciding, hoping clarity will magically appear. But what if staying undecided is the very thing holding you back from growth, truth, and being part of something bigger than yourself? In this episode, we explore why conclusions are so hard to reach, how they shape our future, and why this moment might be your historic opportunity to step out of the status quo.

What If the Bible Isn’t an Instruction Manual at All? "Bible = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. It’s catchy. It’s popular. But it may be shaping our faith in ways we never intended. What if the Bible was never meant to be a universal rulebook? Join us as we explore the historical and cultural context of Scripture and discover why reducing it to ‘instructions’ could be missing the point entirely."

Is the Bible Written To You or For You?  A Deep Look Want to understand the deepest question of modern day Christianity?  Ask someone if the Bible is written to you or for you and you will be shocked at the look of confusion on most people.  Which is it?  And before you say "both", have a listen to this compelling content.

Being Part of Something Bigger Than Yourself, Episode 10 Part two of the three part series of being a part of something bigger than yourself.    

Supplemental Information on Prooftexting, a Fresh Approach, Episode 9 We had the opportunity to release a supplemental episode to help with the prooftexting problem in our churches today.  This is getting a lot of feedback and will most likely rise to the top of the pile of issues that need to be addressed in the future.  Instead of giving you a typical podcast with information, we have tried a new angle that I am very excited about.  You may notice an article we posted on the website with this information.  Instead of just letting that sit and resonate we decided to use a little bit of advanced technology and have a discussion with......drumroll please.....AI.   Why? Because AI or artificial intelligence has no emotion.  Let's face the facts, when you have a conversation with someone about the Sunday service, and inform them it was full of prooftexting, emotions tend to run high.  I was skeptical myself, since I have often said that I am a student of this podcast as much as any listener.  But when you start to listen to stone cold logic, it adds a new dimension to the discussion.  Go ahead and give it a try, I would love to hear your feedback.

The capstone episode of our ”The Way Forward ” Series

An Introduction to Context, A Two Campfire Conversation So what is context?  In this episode we will begin to explore the basics of using context in the Bible.  As usual we are not using any scriptures to explain anything but taking a step back approach to understanding our shortcomings of scriptures through the way we were taught (myself included)  Be sure to start with episode 1 since each of those shorter episodes build on one another to get to this point. Overview The airplane story, and with the punchline of context Silly questions people ask, a dive into how we get distracted from context The five W's of context.  Who, what, where, when and why The "And Then Some.." explanation which adds in the the concepts of: mountain top experiences, cultural references, hyperbolic overstatements, crew formation, genealogy, journey experiences, implicit verses explicit problems, literary structure, oppression teachings, symbolic narrative, imagery, reputations, The boot of empire, things that feel neutral to you, parables, spice trade and number sequences. Additional Questions to Ask Yourself and Discuss with Friends: Parallel the airplane story questions Am I being "Told" something different? Does what I am being told "sound right" because I did not investigate? Is this disruptive thinking?  If yes, then what are you going to do about it? Have you had these thoughts before? Is the church (which is you) afraid to change it? What would happen if you did change it? Is it time to do something hard?  (my favorite) Why am I just learning this? How does this change the sunday worship service? How does this change communion? How does this change relationships? How does this dismantle narratives? What is happening here? You will notice that this is a spiritual conversation that slowly takes apart faith, lays it on the table and allows you to consider what is important in a healthy way.  We are not using scripture to confuse anyone in this episode.  The whole point is to look objectively at the way we have been taught and then rebuild on top of that in a way that guides you to discover the right answers for yourselves

Manipulation, A Campfire Discussion This one is a campfire discussion about how we can accidently manipulate the church.  Its not for the faint of heart and to be honest, not a very fun thing to think about.  However if you have listened to the first four episodes you will see a theme start to develop that makes you dismantle some narratives.  To be honest hard discussions are essentially good for you at the end of the day.  Find a friend and work through this one.

The Berean Project Episode 4 This is where the first three episodes come together and start to formulate how we can view our spiritual journey even if we are not sure we are on one.  Again, we are emphasizing on the fact that we are not using scripture here to muddy the waters of interpretations.  

Tools   Episode #3 Before you study one word in your Bible, before you listen to another sermon on sunday, you should have these two tools in your toolbox so they are ready to be used.  Why?  Because when you start listening or reading with a couple of really good questions or tools in your mind, a whole new world opens up, and this is even before the Word of God is explored.. Curious?  Start with Episode one and work your way through these short episodes. The Told Principle The Sounds Right Principle

What is the Goal?   Episode #2 Asking questions should be a part of any spiritual journey, yet questions are rarely encouraged.  Just sit there and listen to what someone tells you is mostly the theme of today's faith gatherings.  Lets start off with good questions. The first one has to be, what's the goal, or more importantly what is your goal?  Everyone has a different goal, why should we be all jammed into a cookie cutter diagram of what a faith community really is?  Take the challenge and ask the people around you, what are you looking for here and then formulate a goal to accomplish that. Remember, no religious answers please, we have all had enough of someone trying to give us an answer that is trying to make them either look good or sound spiritual.  The best of us is a mess.

What are you looking for?  Episode #1 Ever walk into a church trying to figure out what they are all about?  You don't get much with most churches "about us" sections since they just rattle off a bunch of beliefs.  Have you wondered, am I going to get fed something that I need or something that someone else thinks I need?  Asking questions is the key and this episode has zero scriptures in it so that you can get to the bottom of figuring out if spiritual communities are worth your time. This episode is the foundation episode that builds layer upon layer.  It is light and fun to think through questions that maybe you never thought through before.