PODCAST

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture

BuzzKing

Learning about God’s grace from Scripture & Passing that grace on to others.

religion & spirituality christianity

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24:02

1st Enoch: The corruption of being Godlike

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/09/28

We look at a (very) non-canonical book called 1st Enoch, which tells us the story of the Prophet Enoch, who lived before Noah. (But this was not written until just before the life of Jesus). It tells us about the Watchers, evil angels who create a race of giants on Earth. We see that there was apparently some influence of this book on the New Testament. We consider what this means for us today - especially with respect to how we should live with humility and love. We also look at professor I

24:46

Hating Your Neighbor: the upside of Obediah

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/09/21

I once had a neighbor who kept me up all night with loud rock and roll. Then one day, there was a massive car accident in front of our two buildings. I discovered that just as we see in Obediah, my neighbor apparently had learned a lesson. In Obediah, we see a people called the Edomites who assist the Babylonians in conquering the people of Israel - the neighbors and linguistic cousins of the Israelites. We look at the typical, simplistic theory of Obediah, one that has to do with God's

24:02

Classic Cars and Expensive Guitars: Idolatry Today

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/09/14

We consider the progression of idol worship from the Old Testament to the time of Jesus - to today. We also consider a man I met who collected restored classic cars and another man who owned a wall of expensive guitars, but who could no longer play them because he had developed a disability. We consider that question of how we end up like our idols: blind, deaf, and spiritually lifeless.

26:12

If you want to know why, read John

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/09/07

My mother believed in miracles - and when I was born very sick, she baptized me herself, because at the time, the Catholic Church taught that unbaptized babies that died went to Limbo. We look at the miracles of Jesus, and how the Synoptic Gospels refer to them as "deeds of power", while John refers to them as "signs". We see that there is a very deep reason why John does this - and we consider how this reveals the very theological nature of the Gospel of John.

24:05

I Commit My Spirit: What is biblical truth?

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/08/30

I once spend four hours in the middle of the night with a man who was dying from COPD. A nurse had called me so that he would not die alone. I heard his last words. We look at the final words of Jesus as he was dying, which vary from Gospel to Gospel - significantly. We consider this: Were some of the Gospel authors wrong about Jesus' last words on the cross? Or were their goals something other than the obvious? Were they trying to communicate some greater truth? We consider the bigger issue:

24:09

Politics and Religion: Bringing the Kingdom of God to...

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/08/24

When I was an academic, I was exposed to a lot of anti-Christian diatribe. Christians, I was told, are corrupt, selfish, and use their faith as a political weapon. We look at the story of King Josiah in the Bible and how some think that he manipulated parts of Scripture, of our Old Testament, to suit his political purposes. We then consider what would happen, what our planet would be like if all political leaders everywhere truly lived like Christ. We also consider what our obligation is as

22:56

Only a Child Is Innocent: What is Heaven?

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/08/17

I once spent time with a couple who had just lost their only, very young child, their daughter. Like many other people who have lost loved ones, they asked about Heaven. We take a survey of Heaven, looking at the current Evangelical interpretation, and then stepping back and walking through time, from the 100's A.D. to the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, and to the emergence of the "Social Gospel". Our goal is to see what Scripture tells us about the nature of Heaven, and to consider the highly

25:00

A Dead Man's Address Book: Go to Hell?

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/08/09

Our conventional notion of Hell is not necessarily what we would derive from reading the New Testament. We look at three somewhat different theories about the nature of Hell - all of them reasonably backed up by the Bible. We also look at my father's father, who ran off when my father was a tiny boy. My father never found his father, although he sought him out his entire life. We see how this relates to the third of the three theories of Hell: Annihilationism, Eternal Punishment, and

22:43

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: The boy who kills

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/08/02

The apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas gives us stories about the boy Jesus from the age of 5 to 12 - and it portrays him as precocious at best, and perhaps even evil-minded at worst, as Jesus struggles to understand his powers and his identity. These stories have been widely read since the second century, and ancient manuscripts have been found in many languages. We look at what these stories are, and what they tell us about what ancient Christians thought of the child Jesus. We see what this

22:07

The Garbage People: People of deep faith

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/07/26

There is a Christian community on the outskirts of Cairo, up in the mountains, that is built into a huge cave. The people are called the "Garbage People" by the general population of Cairo because they scratch out a living collecting garbage by hand and sorting it into recyclables. We consider the Gospel of Mark - written by the man who founded the church that became the Coptic Christian Church in Egypt. We consider persecution - faced by the Garbage People - and we consider the need to be

24:01

The Contortions of the Literalist Believer

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/07/20

I once spoke to a young woman whose father had just died in a bike vs. car accident. She told me that while her father had deep faith, she could not believe the "myths" in the Bible. She read to me from Matthew, about the faithful being able to move mountains. In this episode, we look at some of the Bible stories that are difficult to interpret literally, like the Creation story. We consider why the literalist view is actually harmful and not simply misguided. We consider the depth of the Bible

22:45

An Angel to Shut the Mouths of Lions

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/07/13

I once spoke to a woman who was struggling to show true empathy for her mother, who was an alcoholic and had given this woman many terrible childhood memories. She felt that there was no way she could care for her now very sick mother - and she wished God could send an angel to come from Heaven and care for her mother for her. We look at angels in the Bible, in particular, in the Book of Daniel. We see God send these heavenly beings to rescue people. We also consider how this woman with the sick

23:30

A Schizophrenic's Flipflop: Luke's parable

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/07/06

I once spoke to a young schizophrenic man who talked to me outside, after it had rained. I was about to sit down on a very wet bench when he did something very kind. We look at the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel that has a number of unique parables in it, including the Good Samaritan. We look at the traditional interpretation, and we look at a more theological interpretation. Then we look at the impact that this schizophrenic man had on me.

24:07

Accused of Xenophobia: Be warmed and filled

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/06/29

When I was a professor, I once had a French student accuse me of Xenophobia, of giving her a bad grade simply because she was French. I was quite worried that this could explode into a serious problem, as universities want students to be happy and do not want claims like this making their way into the press. I ended up putting my mother on the phone and letting her talk to this student. The interesting part is that my mother was French. We look at the Book of James. We examine whether it was

23:01

Off a Small Cliff: To understand and to know God

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/06/22

When I was a young guy, I bought my first car with a steering column lock. It locked up on me - with a key in the ignition - as I was taking a freeway curve at 75 miles an hour. I went off a small cliff. Yes, I said a quick prayer to God. We look at Jeremiah, Isaiah, and a Psalm to learn just what we should be doing with our lives BEFORE we turn to God for help.

20:27

One Last Act in the Name of God

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/06/15

I once spoke with a man who had been undergoing treatment for cancer, but who was at the end of effective treatments. It was time to let go, and as he put it, welcome the Kingdom of God. But he had an adult daughter who was going through an extremely difficult time - and he wanted to be there for her. So he had decided to continue treatments so that he could live a bit longer - even though he would suffer. We look at the issue of "theology", what it is, and what it means to truly understand

22:26

Your father who sees in secret: Madeleines for dessert

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/06/08

I picked citrus with migrant workers when I was a boy. They were paid partly by being given food in the field, which they insisted on sharing with me - who wasn't supposed to get any of that food. They also picked the tops of my trees, to keep me safe. We look at the Book of Lamentations, and a passage that focuses on the harsh impact on children as a result of the Babylonian invasion and slaughter. We consider just what it means to be giving, especially to children, and who are most likely to

20:56

We shall see God

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/05/31

I once visited a recently retired reverend whose wife had just left him and who was terminally ill with heart disease. We talked about Paul's thorn in his side, and how this reverend was unable to handle the huge thorn in his side. We consider the way that God created us: imperfectly, with imperfect lives. We see that humility is the product of suffering, and that it has a number of major benefits, ones that greatly outweigh the benefit of having our thorn removed.

21:02

Speak Up: An OD

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/05/25

I once got to know a young woman who was an addict and who required a series of high risk surgeries. Because someone slipped her drugs the night before one particular surgery, the outcome was horrific. We look at the Book of the Covenant in Exodus and some words of advice to a new king in Proverbs - and then we consider the issue of how our society does or does not protect vulnerable people.

21:06

A Gift Not of this World: An ancient doll stuffed...

Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture ·

2025/05/17

My father's father was a burglar in World War I and served in the trenches for two years. He came back home very mentally ill and lived on the street in Quebec for the rest of his life. My dad's mother raised my father alone. When she was close to death, she gave me the only thing she had from her childhood, a cherished possession. In doing so, she taught me a lesson that we see in Paul's writings and in the words of Jesus.

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Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture

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