Bridgetown Audio Podcast

The Bible Put to Memory

Part 5 of the series "Scripture", as part of Practicing the Way. There’s no doubt the scripture played a central and essential role in both Jesus’ life and ministry. For Jesus, scripture was not as much tool, instrument, or weapon as it was part of how he viewed and interacted with both God and the world. As apprentices of Jesus, if we want to live into the fullness of the Kingdom and what God is doing in and around us – we too must be people who know and have the scriptures in us.

The Bible as Spiritual Authority

Part 4 of the series "Scripture", as part of Practicing the Way. We finally come to the tricky subject of biblical authority. What is authority? Where did the Western fear of authority come from? What does it mean to say the Bible is authoritative when most of it is a story? And it has contradictory commands? We explore all this and more as we pursue reading the Bible as an act of trust in Jesus and his mental maps to reality. 

The Bible as Meditation Literature

Part 3 of the series "Scripture", as part of Practicing the Way. We get frustrated with the Bible when we approach it as an encyclopedia—an entirely literal, linear one-size-fits-all manual for life in the modern world, but the Bible wasn't designed as a convenient reference manual or a textbook. The Bible describes itself as a library designed for a lifetime of ongoing meditation. For this, the way of Jesus proposes the ancient spiritual discipline of Lectio Divina. 

 

Taught by Josh Porter of Van City Church

The Bible as an Alternative Story

Part 2 of the series "Scripture", as part of Practicing the Way. All humans beings live by a story, a narrative by which we make sense of the big questions of life – who are we? Why are we here? What’s wrong? How do we fix it? The story we live in, is the story we live out. It comes as no surprise that most of the Bible is narrative, and that together it tells a unified story that leads us to Jesus. Scripture functions as an alternative story to the many narratives of our soul and society, and calls us to live in alignment with the real, true story of God’s world.

Can We Trust the Bible?

Part 1 of the series "Scripture", as part of Practicing the Way. In our intro teaching to the scripture practice, we approach the Bible not as critics and defenders, but as apprentices of Jesus. We explore the idea that posture is more important than technique in reading the Bible. It’s less about information and more about our spiritual formation. When read with the right heart posture, that of openness and yieldedness to God, scripture becomes one of the primary means by which the Spirit of Jesus forms us into the people we were always meant to be.

A Long Form Interview with Pete Scazzero

Listen to an interview with Pete Scazzero, founder of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York, and founder of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, a groundbreaking ministry that transform churches through multiplying deeply changed disciples and leaders. He is also the author of a number of bestselling books, including The Emotionally Healthy Leader and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Along with his wife, Geri, he is also the author of The Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course that is being used by churches around the world.

Canaanites & Bread Crumbs

In this passage, Jesus encounters a Canaanite woman looking for mercy. Instead of compassion and help, she’s met with silence and a cold shoulder. Yet, she persists and in a bizarre turn of events, Jesus changes his mind and heals her daughter.

The Heart is a Sewer

Jesus constantly frustrated the religious leaders of his day by challenging their legalistic adherence to the Scriptures. Today Jesus frustrates his modern-day disciples by challenging any hesitation to take the Scriptures seriously. 

Taught by Josh Porter of Van City Church

Hope at Christmas

At Christmas, apprentices of Jesus celebrate his first coming. We tell the story of the manger; a story we know well. But often it is that reality that keeps us from truly experiencing its message. The story of the manger is about much more than a baby being born; it is a story of promises fulfilled, darkness being overcome, and peace having the final word.

Joy: Part 2

Part 8 of the series "Unhurrying with a Rule of Life", as part of Practicing the Way. This week we continue our two-part teaching on joy as we explore the question, How do we become more joyful? We have far more agency than we realize when it comes to living a happy life. With that agency comes responsibility before God to “rejoice.” We do this through the spiritual discipline of celebration.