Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! To celebrate(?), here is the trailer for Season 4 of "What do you mean, God speaks?"God awaits in the desertThe prologue,  "They were born in the desert"Music : "Exodus" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.com ----------------------------------------   Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

The fourth Season opens to explore the question of the people of Israel described in Exodus. Who were they? What is the significance of their story, regarding their oppression and slavery? What remnants or echoes, if any, remain of their story in the records and memory of ancient history, and what are their significance?And where are we headed from here? 2:21     Biblical stories as "Myth that has become History"              14:43    Opening of Exodus and the oppression of Israel                19:45     Egypt and the Hyksos, the Shasu, and Israel                27:46     Who were the Hebrews, 'Apiru, and why this matters                35:03     The Slave Bible and Exodus story as timeless truth               ---------------------------------------- Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

It is an iconic scene in the Bible: God calls Moses from the burning bush. But, why the burning bush? After all, God can speak through an immeasurable number of things. It is because the bush that does not burn up, and the flame that blazes, yet will not burn itself out, means something to Moses--and to us--which connects us to how God, speaking all of reality, can speak to human individuals in a powerful and personal way. We'll explore what that is in this episode. (edit: Jan 30, added ~1 minute of content from 26:26, and revised sentences that were too long the final 5 minutes )             2:21     Moses is “born” twice – his birth narrative               8:28     Moses as a failed “Zorro / Batman”               16:51    Moses’s life before the Burning Bush               24:43    What was the fire, and "The Angel of the LORD"               32:33    What did the burning bush mean?              ---------------------------------------------------Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

Consider what it means for things to have names. Names point to things, and at least to some extent, tells us what they are. But, what could possibly be the name of God? After all, it would need to "point to" all of reality as a whole. According to the Bible, the name of God spoken to Moses is "I am that I am," which in turn is presented as the meaning of the Hebrew name of God, "Yahweh." This passage has fascinated theologians and philosophers, because of the concept of "Being" and "existence" that it presents. However, this meaning presents something more immediate to our lives; it points to our experience of reality that unfolds around us, and invites us to a journey to find out what will unfold in our lives.              3:59     What it means for God to speak from the burning bush               9:47     How Moses can know whether God really spoke to him               16:51     Why "miracles" God shows Moses is only the first step               23:07     What does it even mean to name God?               32:16     It / He Just IS, and what that means               37:30     Name of God calls us to see what reality unfolds        ----------------------------------------                   Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

God that spoke to Moses is "Yahweh," unfolding everything around him. But, the question was: will reality unfold what this voice spoke to him? What if things go wrong? What if Moses was deluded, or mistaken, or deceived?How Moses, and people who hear God speak to them, find out whether what they hear is true--whether God really is speaking with them--is actually a step-by-step process. Rarely do we make some heroic leap of faith, at least at the start. We embark on that journey, one step at a time. And sometimes, the first step can be very, very small.But, the question that reality confronts us with--question that God asks--is "What will it take for you to take that step? And will you when that path opens before you? Whether we do or not separates people like Moses and those who aren't.            3:03     God's name points to reality unfolding around us             11:38     Wavering between following or ignoring God’s voice             17:47     What it means for anger of God to burn against you             24:00     The question is, what it make you take the next step?             31:48     Taking the next step when stakes go up             ---------------------------------------- Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

One of the more perplexing and disturbing part of the Exodus account is when God hardens Pharaoh's heart so that he does not  listen to Moses and let the people of Israel go. But then, God punishes him it by unfolding disasters--the plagues--upon Egypt. But, this seems profoundly unjust! What is the idea that the Bible is presenting about God? That nothing we do matters?However, it turns out that the message is in fact the exact opposite. There is something far more that is going on in this account. How Pharaoh's heart is hardened describes how we relate to reality, or fail to, what leads to that failure, and then locks us in.             3:12     Channels of truth available to the Pharaoh             14:18     What it means for the heart to be "hard" to truth             23:50     What actively "hardening one's heart" does to you             32:00     When God actually hardened Pharaoh's heart             34:20      What is really happening when God hardens the heart            ----------------------------------------  Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

Trailer for the upcoming Season 3 of "What do you mean God speaks?"    Those who wrestle with God.          The trailer : "Monologue of the children of Abraham" Music : "True Genesis" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.com ----------------------------------------  Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

A short prologue to the 3rd Season of What do you mean God speaks?  -  "Those who wrestle with God. 1st main episode of Season 3 is scheduled to go live next week.  Music : "True Genesis" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.com ----------------------------------------  Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

What does it mean to say, “There’s no God?” What it means for us today, to say, “there’s no God,” is quite different from what it meant for people living just several centuries ago, to say, “there’s no God.” That's because people back then did not merely believe that God exists. They perceived God in their world. Then, some time ago, God disappeared from our perception. We forgot what it meant to hear God speak, or see God in our lives, and so, one day, ‘God’ was no longer "there.” * Revised on April 3 for greater clarity and flow in the 2nd half. 3:00       How the ancients perceived their gods         10:10       What it means to perceive God         20:58      A metaphor made God disappear from the cosmos         27:53      A metaphor made God disappear from our lives                ----------------------------------------  Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

Abraham, Sarah, and their family--are they "historical" figures?The simple answer? No... and Yes. (Ok, so it's not a simple answer)Another answer is the actual title of this episode: "Historical in/significance of Abraham's story"This odd title can refer to four things.1) The "insignificance" of Abraham as a "historical figure" for historians2) The significance of Abraham's story in history3) The historical dimension  "in the significance" of Abraham's story4) The significance of Abraham in how history has unfolded ever since.And all of that leads us back to God's original promise to Abraham in Genesis, to bless him, to make him great, and to make his name significant, so that he will be a blessing to all people.  1:33    Primeval History in Genesis versus…         8:29     … the Ancestral History in Genesis        13:02     Who wrote Genesis and why?         21:12     The question of Abraham as a "historical" figure         27:35     Historical in/significance of Abraham         ----------------------------------------  Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

The Genesis account of Abraham, Sarah, and their children, invites its readers to follow in their path, and continue their journey toward God.  There's one, big problem: it doesn't tell us how to start. Their journey begins with God speaking to Abraham (Abram), but Genesis does not describe how God first spoke to Abram, and how Abram heard God for the first time. So, can we get an answer?This episode will explore and consider what it means to say Abraham, Sarah, and their family were real people, and what it was for them to begin their journey with God. 2:04     What can we say about Abraham as a real person?        6:54     What Christians are concerned about regarding the Bible        13:17     The silence on Genesis about how God spoke to Abram          19:10     How God speaks to all people according to Genesis          22:01     The voice that spoke to Abram          27:58     Did Abram know it was God speaking?                        ----------------------------------------  Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

To hear God speak to you, is to be presented with truth; they are the same thing. And God speaking to you often begins with uncertainty, because we don't know whether what is being presented to us really is true.Abram and Sarai hears God speak to them in how they are moved, or inspired, to follow an inner call. "Something" guides them, and that "something" unfolds events in their lives that enable them to follow the call. Because of this, they learn that what this Voice speaks, is really true. But, something more happens, and they gradually learn Who is speaking to them. Let's follow their journey (or for this episode, Abram's portion) to explore what happened.  2:02       Why there is uncertainty in hearing God speak  8:25       What Abram learned in Egypt         14:28      Abram's developing inner strength shown in Canaan         23:25      Abram's fateful meeting with Melchizedek          29:14      Abram learns that "God Most High" was speaking to him          ----------------------------------------             Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

The first extra episode for Season 3; the next main episode (S3E5) will go live early July. (update: there were more delays, so I couldn't complete the new episode by the end of June as I had originally planned. I apologize for the delay!)This episode addresses the more "meta" question about this series that I wanted to go over before releasing the next episode--what this series has been doing, how it has approached the questions and issues it has explored so far, and where this series is now heading. It also drops hints of future plans, and some long overdue thanks at the end.  ----------------------------------------    Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

For ages, people have ascribed personality to their deities. What was their reasoning? And what would be the personality of God that speaks forth all things? How should we start thinking about this? And what about Abram, Sarai, and their family? What was the personality of God that spoke to them? How did they begin to learn Who God was in their lives, and what did they experience? 2:12     Our cognitive predisposition to belief in gods         8:40     How we ascribe personality to gods         14:39    What would be the personality of “God”?         19:00    The role of Promise in personal relationship with God         25:50   Abram and Sarai try to fulfill God’s promise themselves         30:25    God makes a separate promise to Hagar        ----------------------------------------             Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

Is God good? And if God is good, why are moral laws and commands in the Bible, sometimes  not so good? And of course, why do bad things happen, if God is good?But, before we can ask those questions, we should've asked this more basic question: Why would you think that God is good?What does it mean to say that God is "good"? We will begin to explore  this question in this episode. Then, we can start asking what the Bible is trying to teach us about morality and goodness.  [ Update: the previous version of this episode has been split into 2 episodes. The new version of this episode expands on the first half, and explores the Genesis account of the city of Sodom and its destruction. The next episode (S3E7) will expand on the second half. ] 1:56     Morality, evolution, and gods       9:55     God, as Being, Truth, Goodness       18:24    Judgment of God, revisited       23:00    The account of Sodom’s destruction       29:19    The meaning of Sodom’s destruction             ----------------------------------------             Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

Moral teachings in the Bible, especially in the Hebrew portion (the Christian Old Testament) pose a problem. There are rules and regulations that do not seem very important to us, while there are practices, such as slavery, God either seems to ignore, or even condone. And we're not even getting to the laws that God commands that seem too harsh or even barbaric by our standards today.  Then, to make this even more confusing, the New Testament portion of the Bible sometimes seem to present new moral teachings. God commands Abraham that the male members of God's people must be circumcised; apostle Paul writes that Christians who now belong to God do not need to be circumcised.  People in the time of the Old Testament engaged themselves in terrifyingly savage wars; Jesus Christ teaches his disciples to love their enemies, and instead of condemning people for their sins, died for them. Why do moral views change in the Bible? Or, is it perhaps, the Bible is trying to teach something far more important regarding morality than any particular law or precept? 3:09     The problem of outdated morality in the Bible        8:24     Why God accommodates to our moral level         17:20    What the Bible is teaching about morality         23:58    Why Christians shouldn't follow some OT laws         27:15    What the Bible teaches is people         30:49    Where God seems to lead Abraham by conversing with him         ----------------------------------------             Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

What is faith? What is a miracle? And how are the themes of promise, time, and ambiguity related to all of that?Has God truly been speaking with us? Is Reality personal? Christians believe God speaks to them and walks with them, but what we’ve explored so far still remains open to the question on whether this is merely one possible way to relate to reality, a subjective way to perceive what reality unfolds in our lives. It is only with the narratives of God’s promise and its fulfillment repeated throughout the Bible that the belief in the truly personal reality of God is established in Christianity. It is in this context, that miracles have any meaning in Christianity.Thus, the narrative of God making a promise with people and how that promise unfolds is central to Christian account of humanity’s relationship with God. And that is the  life-story of Abraham and Sarah.This leads to the related question of faith. Faith has a dimension those of us today seldom notice, yet is probably the most important: time. Because promise implies waiting, and waiting implies time. 2:03       Ambiguity, not absence, of God that confronts us         9:40      God breaks through the ambiguity with a Promise to Abraham         16:48      What is a miracle? How people today misunderstand          24:28      Faith and personal trust         29:43      Why Time is essential to Miracles and Faith         ----------------------------------------              Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

Why did God call Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering?The story of the "Binding of Isaac," is not simply about a story of a man obeying God to the point that he will sacrifice his own son.  It is about a call that everyone who speaks with God eventually hears. And we hear this call because all of humanity has been waging a one-sided Cold War with God, and to offer Isaac was to bet on peace.        2:22     Would you be at peace if God spoke to you?         7:57     Trouble with heirs - Ishmael and Isaac         14:48    Why what God spoke to Abraham is so perplexing         18:38    Humanity is waging a Cold War on God       26:07    Why Abraham needed to offer his son to God       33:05    Peace Child       ----------------------------------------              Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

A bonus, unscripted(!) episode. We'll see how this episode turns out. So, we've been exploring "ideas, insights, and stories in Christianity." But, where am I in all this? Have I ever experienced some of the things I describe in this series, especially in the third season--God speaking personally to people, making promises, and unfolding miracles?Now that I've wrapped up the main life-story of Abraham and Sarah (and I'm in the process of moving), I decided to share a few examples from things I experienced in my life. Just a few, but you'll get to hear a bit more of the person behind this series. ----------------------------------------   Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.

Isaac is the promised child of Abraham and Sarah. Yet, his life as described in Genesis seems, well, uninteresting. But, there is a very interesting idea behind what happens--or rather, what doesn't happen--in Isaac's life, and it has to do with to how humanity's relation to God develops through multiple generations, according to the Bible. Coming to learn the personal character of God is a journey, and journey means each step starts from where the previous step ended. And so, each generation begins their journey from where the previous generation ended. How that works and what that means is presented through Isaac's life.  2:42      Those who watched Abraham's life         12:28     What you learn by watching Abraham's life         20:15      Knowing God through time and generations         26:42      Where Isaac begins and his life         ----------------------------------------              Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paul_Seungoh website: https://whatdoyoumeangodspeaks.buzzsprout.com/ * Please review or rate this series on Apple Podcast and other platforms! * You can financially support this show by clicking the "Support the Show" line above.