For some years I have always wanted to start a podcast as an avenue for sharing insights and teachings on the Scripture, but it never fully materialized. Mainly, because I seem to lose the ability to properly speak (or breathe, or think, or basically function) when I am put in front of a microphone or camera. But, taking Moses as my inspiration, I am powering on through and praying that my hyper-mic-anxiety leaves me. For the time being, I am happy to announce the release of my new podcast, The Shema Podcast. The goal is to provide the Messianic, Messianic Jewish, and larger universal church with teachings and insights that are hopefully sound, perhaps entertaining, and ultimately blessings. We have a really cool first season planned, which is really focused on “reorienting” ourselves to the first testament (OT) and drawing out these primary and fundamental principles into the second (NT), mainly on Jesus, the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles (and briefly touching into Paul and Hebrews). For what future seasons hold, we’ll have to see!
In the first episode, the pilot, we begin the first part of a two part episode on the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. In the first episode we navigate through the difficult and various translation options for Deut. 6:4, and work towards a conceptual and textual understanding of what “The Lord is One” means, not just what it says. And we do so by tracing the theme of “one-ness” language throughout the Hebrew Bible, STP literature, and briefly in the second testament (NT). It may be a boring way to introduce a podcast that is probably supposed to start off captivating, but it’s an important first step to take and allows us, in the second part, to get into the rest of the Shema and what it is that God is commanding and expecting the Israelites to reciprocate to Him.
The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube, and will run on a bi-weekly schedule, with season one ending on 03/22 (the upcoming one, that is). In the future we may switch to weekly episodes, but probably not. School, research, ministry, four kids. Yeah, bi-weekly seems perfect. I pray it is a blessing to all, and I really pray that it picks up some steam and is useful for the Body.
Shalom!