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Jonah 1:3 –Slapping God in the Face

By Jeremy Myers
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Jonah 1:3 –Slapping God in the Face
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/309124943-redeeminggod-66-jonah-13-slapping-god-in-the-face.mp3

I published a post this week on the blog about how a true understanding of grace allows you to just go sin all you want. If that is really what you want.

I am going to write more about that in the coming weeks, but I received several emails from readers who wanted to know if I meant intentional sin as well.

If a person intentionally and knowingly sins, will God still love them, forgive them, accept them, and keep them in His family?

The answer is yes. There is no sin, intentional or unintentional, which will cause God to stop loving you and forgiving you. This is a big theme in a lot of my writings and teachings. I teach a lot more about this in my course, The Gospel According to Scripture, but I’m bringing it up now because in the verse we are looking at today from Jonah, we see Jonah commit a pretty big sin. And he does it intentionally.

Jonah 1:3

Jonah pretty much slaps God in the face. He spits in God’s face. To put it more crudely, Jonah gives God the finger. You can’t get much worse or much more intentional than that. And we will see in future episodes how God responds. If you feel like you have sinned pretty badly, then make sure you keep listening to the podcast because you will be both challenged and encouraged.

Speaking of which, are you enjoying this podcast? If so, do me a favor. Can you invite someone else to listen to it? Send them an email. Tweet about it. Put a post on Facebook. If you have a blog, write a blog post about it. You can use the sharing buttons above to help with this.

If you want to know what link to share with others, here is the link for iTunes.

I very often wonder if publishing these podcasts is worth it. They take a lot of time to prepare, record, edit, and publish, and since I have a full time job, a wife, three kids, and am trying to write books, prepare courses, and run my blog in there as well, I sometimes wonder if this Podcast is worth the effort. So if you think it is, help me increase the number of people who listen to it by inviting others to listen to it as well. So if you enjoy this podcast and want me to keep them coming, invite other people through email, Twitter, Facebook, your blog, or just word of mouth to subscribe as well. Thanks!

The Text of Jonah 1:3

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

In this discussion of Jonah 1:3 we look at:

  • What it means for Jonah to flee to Tarshish instead of go to Nineveh
  • The significance of the term “the presence of the Lord”
  • What the story is telling us by the repeated use of the word “down”

Resources:

  • Redeeming God Discipleship Area
  • Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

Jonah 1:3

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

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Do you like learning about Scripture and theology through my podcast? If so, then you will also love my online courses. They all have MP3 audio downloads, PDF transcripts, quizzes, and a comment section for questions and interaction with other students.

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

God is Redeeming God Bible & Theology Topics: forgiveness, grace, honor, Jonah 1:3, One Verse Podcast, shame, sin

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Jonah 1:2 – God Calls Jonah

By Jeremy Myers
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Jonah 1:2 – God Calls Jonah
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/307991145-redeeminggod-65-jonah-12-god-calls-jonah.mp3

Jonah 1 2Do you have an enemy? Maybe it was President Obama. Maybe now it is President Trump. Or maybe it’s the Islamic terrorists in Iran. Or the religious nut jobs here in the United States.

Maybe it is someone you don’t necessarily think of as an enemy, but you just can’t stand to be around them. Maybe a family member, a coworker, or a neighbor?

Anyway, imagine what you would do if God showed up in your living room later today, and said, “Hey! You know that person you just can’t stand? Well, I can’t stand them either, and I have a message of judgment I want you to tell them.”

If that happened to you, what would you do?

Well, that is exactly what happened to Jonah.

In Jonah 1:2, God calls Jonah to go preach against Nineveh. This podcast episode looks at why God said this, and concludes with a brief look at Jonah’s Jonah’s surprising response.

Jonah 1:3

The Text of Jonah 1:1-3

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish …

In this discussion of Jonah 1:2 we look at:

  • A reminder that Jonah was a popular prophet
  • A bit about how evil Nineveh was
  • Why God wanted Jonah to preach against Nineveh
  • Jonah’s surprising response to God’s instructions

Resources:

  • Redeeming God Discipleship Area
  • Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member


Do you like learning about the Bible online?

Do you like learning about Scripture and theology through my podcast? If so, then you will also love my online courses. They all have MP3 audio downloads, PDF transcripts, quizzes, and a comment section for questions and interaction with other students.

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture Bible & Theology Topics: enemies, honor, Jonah, Jonah 1:2, judgment, One Verse Podcast, shame

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My Sin

By Jeremy Myers
13 Comments

My Sin

I remember as a child asking God to forgive me and accept me into His family, but afterward, every time I sinned, I would worry that maybe God had kicked me out of His family or that He didn’t love me anymore.

child praying for forgivenessI made it an almost daily habit to ask God back into my heart. I never really knew for sure where I stood with God, and so prayed daily to thank Him for loving me if He still did, but if He did not, then would He please forgive me and start loving me again.

I didn’t really have too many major sins to be worried about. It was just the normal kid stuff, such as talking back to my parents, getting mad at one of my sisters, or stealing a piece of penny candy from the glass bowl on the pastor’s desk at church.

Asking the Devil into My Heart

One time, though, I heard that a true Christian could never be possessed by the devil, so I decided to test whether or not I was a true Christian by praying to the devil and inviting him into my heart.

I remember feeling relieved afterward that I could still name the name of Jesus and pray to God, but for many years after that, I wondered if I had in fact been possessed by the devil and he was just deceiving me into thinking I had not.

So I prayed and begged for God’s forgiveness and that He would keep me in His family.

Getting Addicted to Porn

In Junior High and High School, I fell into a sin which I could never seem to beat. This was a sin which most males struggle with most of their lives, but which few Christians talk about. It was pornography. This cycle of sin led me into a cycle of shame, guilt, and fear, which then led to tearful confessions, repentance, and promises to never do it again, only to fall right back into it a few days or weeks later.

sin guilt and shameSimilar sorts of sins, problems, and fears followed me into college, adulthood, marriage, and even into my first years as a pastor.

Finding Freedom in God’s Love and Grace

It was during college that I first began to see some of the central truths of the gospel, and it was because of these truths that I first began to find the freedom, liberty, and joy in my relationship with God that I had often heard about but had rarely experienced.

These gospel truths liberated me from the fear of God’s rejection and the shame of my sin.

Later, during my years as a pastor, I came to understand the limitless freedom of God’s grace, and how to invite people into a relationship with God centered on grace instead of on our own performance.

In more recent years, these truths have continued to blossom, flourish, and grow into a certainty about the centrality of God’s unconditional love for everything in the life of the Christian. The fact that God’s love is unconditional means that there is nothing we need to do (or stop doing) to earn it, keep it, or prove it.

In my course, The Gospel According to Scripture, I share some of the truths with you that I have learned over the past couple decades which have helped and encouraged me.

freedom from sin and guiltI share with you what I have learned about God’s infinite love, grace, and forgiveness. I want you to begin to experience these truths in your own life, so that you not only come to a fuller understanding of the gospel, but so that you can actually begin to experience the promises and freedoms of the gospel in a real and tangible way.

If you take the course, you will see that God is pure love, that God’s love for you is unconditional and unadulterated. Once you see this, your fear and shame will fade away, because there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). You will come to recognize that since God loves you completely and unconditionally, there is nothing you need to do to earn or keep God’s love for you.

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

grace gives freedom

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: forgiveness, gospel, gospel according to Scripture, grace, guilt, love, shame, sin

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[#35] Genesis 2:25 – Naked and Unafraid

By Jeremy Myers
3 Comments

[#35] Genesis 2:25 – Naked and Unafraid
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/261038627-redeeminggod-35-genesis-225-naked-and-unafraid.mp3

Today’s One Verse Podcast is rated PG-13. Well, maybe PG. But either way, when you hear what I am talking about in this episode, you might be encouraged to gather your children around anyway and have them listen to this episode as well.

If you have been struggling about how to have “that talk” with your son or daughter, this episode might just provide the encouragement to stop being ashamed and afraid, but instead to revel and rejoice in one of God’s greatest gifts to humankind.

Let’s stop hiding in the shadows and living in fear, and instead go boldly forth, naked and unafraid.

Genesis 2:25Well, maybe not literally. But you’ll see what I mean.

The Text of Genesis 2:25

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

In this discussion of Genesis 2:25 we look at:

  • Six ways I could have explained Genesis 2:25
  • What is really going on in Genesis 2:25
  • How the Gilgamesh Epic shows us that sex is in view.
  • Why we Christians should not be afraid or ashamed of sex.

Resources:

  • Theology.fm – Helping you and your Theology Look Like Jesus
  • Gilgamesh Epic
  • Sex, Food, and Animals
  • Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member


Do you like learning about the Bible online?

Do you like learning about Scripture and theology through my podcast? If so, then you will also love my online courses. They all have MP3 audio downloads, PDF transcripts, quizzes, and a comment section for questions and interaction with other students.

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture Bible & Theology Topics: fear, Genesis 2:25, One Verse Podcast, relationships, sex, shame

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She Would Not Have Had An Abortion If She Had Not Been A Christian

By Jeremy Myers
12 Comments

She Would Not Have Had An Abortion If She Had Not Been A Christian

Michael ThompsonThis is a guest post by Michael Thompson. Michael currently works at Denso Manufacturing TN as Expatriate Support. He is married to his wife Rachel, and they have two children (two and four-year-old). Michael also plays keyboard for Hope Church in Knoxville TN.

Feel free to connect with Michael on Facebook.

If you would like to write a Guest Post, begin by reading the Guest Blogger Guidelines.

abortion shame in churchWhen my wife started attending college her father served as an elder in their church. Even though she was very involved with her youth group and loved her church, she didn’t feel comfortable talking about sexual struggles with anyone at church or her family. These subjects were considered inappropriate for discussion.

At some point Rachel started dating the wrong person. To make a long story short, they had sex and she got pregnant.

Her family was prominent at church so her father’s reputation was at stake. Since she didn’t know how anyone would take it, she told no one. The only person who knew was her boyfriend, so he became the only influence over her. Should she have the baby, give it up for adoption, or have an abortion? She had never faced a decision of this magnitude and she was doing it alone and terrified.

If she had the baby her dad would be disgraced and be forced to step down as an elder. In her panic, she felt certain that her church would be ashamed of her and her father would reject her, whether it was true or not. When you’re faced with a big decision and you’re alone you become very susceptible to suggestion, and her boyfriend was telling her an abortion would fix everything.

She waited outside the abortion clinic, in tears, still not sure if she wanted to go inside. Her boyfriend pressed further and Rachel went inside, alone, while he waited outside in the car. When Rachel got inside she saw other girls also in tears. All the other girls had a mother, father, or friend to hold their hand. Rachel sat alone in tears, waiting for a doctor to kill the baby growing inside of her so her friends, family, and church would not learn of this and reject her.

There was another teenage girl at her church who also got pregnant before all this happened. Rachel saw how people talked about her when she wasn’t there and how people started treating her differently when she started to show. Rachel didn’t want that shame for herself or her father. That thought, mixed with her boyfriend’s venom, convinced her to have the abortion.

Rachel always said: “If I wasn’t a Christian I never would have had an abortion.”

It’s a tragedy that any girl should feel this way, and that a child was not given the chance to live because of it.

christian abortion shame

Rachel and I want all Christians to treat pregnant girls with nothing but the love of Christ.

The truth of Scripture that sex is reserved for marriage should be upheld, but if the only time this comes up in church is in the form of shaming the girl who made the mistake, we could be paving the way for the next Rachel to have an abortion.

It is time to bring to light that which has remained in the darkness. It is time to love those who live in shame and fear.

If you learn that a girl in your church got pregnant, love that person like you’ve never loved anyone before. They need it now more than ever. You’re not approving of the sin by loving them. The incredibly difficult life change and loss of social life and personal time will be punishment enough for them. They don’t need your rejection on top of it.

We also want girls to understand that the world will not end if people know about your mistake. Finding out that you’re pregnant is terrifying, but it’s incredibly unlikely that you’ll be met with an angry mob if people find out. You need someone to support you through this. You made the decision to have sex, you got pregnant, and your life is going to change. You will not look back several years from now and regret having your child. That child is going to be the joy of your life. You will, however, forever regret an abortion. The pain from the decision to abort is so much greater than the work and inconvenience of becoming a mother. It’s going to be very difficult for you, but you are stronger than you think. Reach out for strength from your church family and your immediate family and get through this.

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: abortion, church, guest post, shame

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