Radical Christian Radio

The Beatitudes begin with classes of people that few of us would consider blessed: the poor, the mourning, and the meek. Listen to this podcast to understand why Jesus lifts these people up.

The Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount are defining honor for the Jesus community. Jesus explains what behavior should we celebrate within the Christian community.

This is an example of how a Social Interpretation can be applied to Matthew 20:1-16. The context for this podcast is after hearing a tradition sermon on the same passage, so this provided an opportunity to contrast the different approaches. I will use a similar approach to the rest of the study on the Sermon on the Mount.

To interpret the Sermon on the Mount requires that we understand the context from which it arose. Pastor Jim explores this context and then reads the Sermon on the Mount in it's entirety.

This introduction starts at the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Matthew up to the Sermon on the Mount.

What are the marks of the Kingdom of God? In this podcast and interview Pastor Jim explores themes from the Bible to help us understand the scope and nature of God's coming Kingdom. This concludes our series on the introduction to the Gospel of Mark. And, sad to say, this is the last episode we have with Joy and her insightful interviews. A new addition to our podcast is we now have transcriptions so you can read as well as listen to each episode going forward.

In this 3 part podcast Joy and Jim explore the context for Jesus' temptation after his baptism, and have an extended discussion on the nature of Satan in the Old Testament.

In this 3 part podcast Joy and Jim explore the context for Jesus' temptation after his baptism, and have an extended discussion on the nature of Satan in the Old Testament.

In this 3 part podcast Joy and Jim explore the context for Jesus' temptation after his baptism, and have an extended discussion on the nature of Satan in the Old Testament.

If Jesus was without sin, why was Jesus baptized? Did he just go through the motions in order to set an example for his followers, or is there a way that repentance could apply to what Jesus did at the start of his ministry? And what does it mean that the spirit descended on Jesus?

John the Baptist launched a prophetic resistance movement against those that exercised abusive power in his day. This prophetic ministry paved the way for Jesus' own ministry proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Be sure to listen to Joy's insightful questions at the end!

John the Baptist comes and prepares the way for Jesus who gives us the way of discipleship and the way of the cross. This is the way out of empire and into a community of covenant. The new exodus. But with exodus comes fear. Are we ready to leave what we know for the promises of God? Click the play button below to listen to this weeks sermon on Mark 1:2-3, followed by questions and answers with Joy and Jim.

The opening of the Gospel of Mark sets the stage for the politics of the Son of God and the inevitable clash with the politics of Rome that has it's own son of god. This is the second sermon as we explore the radical call to discipleship in the Gospel of Mark. After the sermon there is a question and answer time with Pastor Jim and Joy.

The Gospel of Mark is in the middle of an ideological battle over how to understand the faith of Israel. The implications leave no part of life unaffected, in their time or ours. The way of Jesus is not just a belief but invades the political, economic, and social dimensions of our world. Because many Christians are not used to thinking of their faith in these terms we need to spend some time understanding the context in which Mark was writing.

In this interview with Pastor Jim Jones, Joy asks challenging questions about the nature of the Bible and its role in the Christian's life.

A particular challenge for Christians is how to account for human suffering in a world that is created and sustained by an all powerful God. If God is all powerful, then why does he allow or cause suffering?

Perhaps the most offensive doctrine of Christianity is hell. In this podcast we explore an alternative to the traditional view of eternal conscious torment. I invite you to listen to this discussion with an open mind and then research the topic for yourself.

What is Jesus' answer to the question of how we can enter into eternal life? I explore this question along with the famous quote that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God in a sermon I gave at Fallbrook United Methodist Church, March 30th, 2014.

In this podcast we introduce a new series called Offensive Christianity in which well explore topics that non-Christians find offensive. Our hope is that after we cut through all of the misunderstandings that are presented as Christian beliefs, the non-believer will find what remains worthy of further consideration. Our first topic is the first topic: creationism.

Christmas has been co-opted by consumerism and secularism. It has lost its true meaning for most people. Therefore it has fallen to us, the followers of Jesus, to remember truthfully and correctly. It has fallen to us to save Christmas.

The Biblical account of creation is one of the most controversial issues for Christianity. The opening chapters of Genesis have caused some to proclaim, that the earth is only 6 to 10 thousand years old, and that humans shared the earth with dinosaurs. For people outside of the church, surely this is one of the most ridiculous claims they have ever heard. The debates over creationism and science seem to be endless. But what if this whole debate is over a mistaken interpretation of Genesis?

In this breif sermon, I explore what the role of the church in the world should be, and how we might relate to the government.

What are we to do with the contradictions we find in the Old Testament? In this first episode of the Context series, Pastor Jim Jones of Community of Faith Church, gives us a view of the OT that embraces the different perspectives found there, and demonstrates just how powerful the OT is for us today!

This is a sermon by Jim Jones on September 1st, 2013 at San Diego Mennonite Church. It addresses the role of the church and the Christian in political engagement.

In this podcast I explore why it is important to understand how you are reading the Bible and give an outline of how I view it.

In this podcast I explore why there is a crisis of believability for Christianity, and how we might address it. This is also an introduction to the tools of Social Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology, and why they are necessary to biblical interpretation.