The Zeitcast with Jonathan Martin

Latest Episodes:

love not the world. May 12, 2023

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“The world is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” “For God so loved the world…” “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” So…which is it? A sermon on interpretation, that could open up how you see “the world” differently. #theology #spirituality #christianity #jesus #theworld #bible #scripture #interpretationShow less

eating and drinking damnation May 10, 2023

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What communion is, why it matters, who it is for...who is qualified for it. This is everything I most deeply believe about the mystery of the table, and why I still believe this is the invitation that changes everything.

my sheep know my voice. May 01, 2023

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How do we know the voice of God, apart from all the other voices? Artificial intelligence can duplicate our speech patterns where those even who know us the best wouldn’t be able to distinguish the sound. Yet Jesus says, “my sheep know my voice.”

God is in the tender places. Apr 27, 2023

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seven miles Apr 27, 2023

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What in your life has ever worked out exactly the way that you've planned it? On this seven mile journey, maybe a seven day journey, or maybe it feels like you start this road all over again every seven minutes...we explore the pattern of the mystery that sustains us.

"They have taken my Jesus away." Apr 09, 2023

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An Easter sermon for people who feel like they have carried your Jesus off. Like Eli with Hannah in the First Testament, "the priests" may have seen your grief as disruption, intoxication, disorderliness. But Jesus sees your weeping for what it is.

Preaching to the Dead in a Graveyard on Good Friday Night Apr 07, 2023

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Y’all know how it is…sometimes you just get so wound up you have to go to preach at a graveyard after midnight! Perfectly normal behavior. My soul was seriously so agitated and electrified by the witness of Justin Jones & Justin Pearson last night, I got dressed and preached a Good Friday sermon to a captive audience at Brick Chapel Cemetery. If y’all don’t amen me, the owls and wild dogs already did.
I’m not trying to do something gimmicky or clever. Where I come from when you hear good preaching, you stand up and let the preacher know they are blessing you. Yesterday we all got to bear witness. I don’t claim to be a great preacher, but I know it when I hear it.
Bonus: on the road to Emmaus, the not yet revealed resurrected One explained how his death fit into “what the prophets had spoken.” I know we have a crisis of authority, where many of you don’t know who to believe/what voices to trust. My philosophy here is simple: I listen to the what the prophets have spoken. I’m not listening to the pundits. I’m not listening to the commentators. I’m listening to the prophets.
Hear me out: America has one primary prophetic tradition that has consistently provided a counter witness capable of transforming culture. I’m not saying it’s the only one. It’s the primary one-one that continues to speak a word that can wake the dead. It starts with “black” and ends with “church.” I’m not interested in philosophy lectures from Jordan Peterson when the strategist who shaped MLK Rev. Jim Lawson is still alive. I’m not interested in following that rabbit hole of videos out of morbid curiosity so long as there’s a Cornel West talk or @otismossiii sermon I haven’t heard. I wish 60 Minutes spent more time on Fannie Lou Hamer than Marjorie Taylor Greene.
I know the sound of God when I hear it, and I listen when I hear that sound. I’ve heard your guy, and they didn’t speak a word that made dry bones dance. The difference between these prophets and the others is that when they all show up on Mt. Carmel and they cry out—fire falls.

Maundy Thursday: on nonviolent atonement and the meaning of the cross Apr 06, 2023

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On this Maundy Thursday Zeitcast, we talk about why it matters to believe that the character of the God who washed the feet of the disciples is the same as the God who died on the cross--and how what we believe about the death of Jesus matters for how we live.

On Ramadan, with Mimi Edou Mar 30, 2023

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Special guest Mimi Edou joins us to talk about Ramadan, fasting, plus reflections from Jonathan on interfaith work, and Shusaku Endo's Silence!

The story God tells about you, with Joel Everson Mar 23, 2023

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I don’t know quite what to tell you about this, since we had not felt anything or said anything quite like what we felt and said before. What I can say, is that the story God is telling about you, may be very different from the story they tell about you. And if they can’t tell the truth about the woman in John 4, WELL…also: hear us freak out at our real-time encouragement from John P. Kee :)