In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia continue to celebrate Christmas by chatting about the nativity stories, the meaning of the incarnation, and their favorite Christmas carols. Chad: When Christmas comes around, it’s such a great time to think about just the wonder of what it means for the Word of God to take...
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia take a look back at the most downloaded episodes of 2022 and recommend a few host favorites. The top five episodes of 2022 were: 1. What is Love? 2. Will There Be Animals in Heaven? 3. The Older, Responsible Son 4. Concerning That Richard Rohr Meme 5....
Charlotte Elia offers a reflection on Luke 1:38-56. “We don’t know Mary’s song because we largely have no revolution in us. And having no revolution in us only speaks of a more distressing underlying condition of having no real hope within us, no real conviction that things can or even should be better, no strength...
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia chat about Matthew 1:18-25, the Gospel lesson for the fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A. This telling of the nativity story centers Joseph, his righteousness, and his dreams. Here we have a couple beset with obstacles and facing grave danger before they even begin their lives together,...
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia chat about Matthew 11:2-11, the Gospel lesson for the third Sunday of Advent, Year A. John the Baptist is in prison, and he asks if Jesus is the one. Jesus affirms his identity as Messiah and commends John’s mission as forerunner, but a particular omission points to...
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia chat about Matthew 3:1-12, the Gospel lesson for the second Sunday of Advent, Year A. This text has it all: baptism, repentance, locusts, and wild honey. Listen as your hosts discuss John the Baptist as a type of Christ, the ecological and eschatological implications of the text,...
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia chat about Matthew 24:36-44, the gospel lesson for the first Sunday of Advent, Year A. The season opens by inviting us to look at Jesus’ words about his return and by demanding that we prepare ourselves for that encounter. How should we respond? What can we do...
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia talk through the acronym TULIP, an encapsulation of five points of Calvinism: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. Your hosts discuss each point, how it functions within Augustinian Calvinism, and what they find either beneficial or lacking. Charlotte: “There’s no...
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia discuss both their favorite and least favorite books of the Bible. The scriptures are the authoritative, written witness to Jesus Christ and the rule of faith and practice. The scriptures are also incredibly diverse, containing both beautiful, instructive content as well as questionable, hardly helpful content. Charlotte...
Charlotte Elia offers a reflection on Romans 8:31-39 for All Souls’ Day. “Love can reach across any obstacle, real or imagined, present or future, anything in life and even the chasm of death. You know ‘Till death do us part?’ That’s a legal boundary, not a Christian one. We love each other beyond death, through...