So We Speak

Judges is one of the darkest periods in Israel's history. As the last line says, "everyone did what was right in their own eyes." But that didn't stop God from working. All the while, God was keeping his promise to send a Messiah and save his people. 

It's been 7 years since we started So We Speak, and all the way God has been faithful. We reflect on our mission, share our favorite memories, and discuss the future of the ministry in this special birthday episode. 

The book of Joshua serves as a hinge point in the Old Testament. It is the end of the long journey out of Egypt and the beginning of life in the land. Even the name points to Jesus, which is the Greek way to say Joshua. The whole book points to the ministry of Jesus - and may even contain an appearance of Jesus in the opening chapters. 

Despite the name, Numbers is one of the most intriguing books in the Old Testament. The Israelites get right up to the edge of the Promised Land before they tragically doubt God's promises and return to the desert for 40 years. In the desert, God teaches them to walk with him and trust him. Along the way, we get some important glimpses of Jesus that resurface across the New Testament. 

Leviticus gets a bad rap. The sacrifices and priestly rules don't always make for lively reading. But don't take that as a sign that it's not important. When you see Jesus through the lens of Leviticus, his life, death, and resurrection take on new meaning and significance. 

The Exodus is the ultimate pattern of salvation in the Bible. God tells Exodus stories over and over again. But that's not all in this book. God also shows us the importance of a sacrifice in the Passover and the power of his presence in the Tabernacle. Exodus is full of themes that point to Jesus. 

It doesn't take long to see a glimpse of Jesus in the opening of the Bible. When sin entered the world, God didn't go to his backup plan; he promised to send his Son to bring his people back. All through Genesis, God is setting the stage for the coming of Christ far in the future. 

After his resurrection, Jesus walked with two other from Jerusalem to Emmaus and "starting with Moses and the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke 24:27). What did he say to them that day? How can we see those same things?

In this new series, Cole and Terry will discuss finding Jesus in each book of the Old Testament. Look for the first episode this Friday. 

We saved the best for last. The book of Revelation says it is written by John. But the question is: which John? Cole and Terry discuss the background and authorship of Revelation to conclude this series on the authors of the New Testament. 

Paul's letters are disputed, but so are the other letters in the New Testament, called the general epistles. These letters, written from leaders in the Jerusalem church, Peter, John, James, and Jude, have varying backgrounds and histories. Some of them have never been doubted. One is the most controversial of all the letters in the New Testament. 

The authorship of Hebrews is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Bible. While many in the early church believed it was a letter from Paul, the evidence seems to be that it was written by someone else. If so, should it be in the New Testament? Dive into these discussions and see who Cole and Terry think might have written Hebrews in this Friday bonus episode. 

Were all of Paul's letters really written by Paul? It's common among scholars to divide up the thirteen letters of Paul into disputed and non-disputed, with many claiming Paul did not write 6 of the books in the NT. Cole and Terry work through these arguments and show that we can have confidence in Pauline authorship and the inspiration and authority of the epistles. 

How do we know that we really have the words of Jesus in the Bible? Differences in the gospels are often held up as proof that we can't know much about Jesus's earthly life. But is that what the evidence shows? Cole and Terry talk about what the Gospels are, how they were written, and what we should expect as we read them. 

The resurrection is the center of the Christian faith. Everything depends on the claim that Jesus rose from the dead. So, how do we know that it really happened? Cole and Terry discuss the best arguments for the resurrection and the mountain of evidence that Jesus did exactly what he said he would on Easter morning. 

Apologetics is back... kind of. There are great opportunities for the gospel in today's world, but they're different than they were even 10 years ago. In this episode, Cole and Terry discuss apologetics, evangelism, religious "nones," and ways to reach people with the gospel today.