Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 8 of Season 9 - “The Deep-Fake Jesus” - a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Here Rick and Becky explore themes drawn from his just-released book titled Editing Jesus. In this episode they explore something that didn’t exist in our vocabulary 10 years ago—with the burgeoning advances made in AI…

Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 8 of Season 8 - “Losing Our Chaff” - a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Here Rick and Becky explore themes drawn from his just-released book titled Editing Jesus. In this episode they continue their deep dive into the “core” of Jesus’s mission—it’s not to plant a new religious movement, or to…

Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 7 of Season 8 - “Peculiar People” - a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Rick and Becky will be exploring themes drawn from his just-released book titled Editing Jesus. In this episode we explore why Peter calls the followers of Jesus “peculiar people”—of course, we translate that as… odd peopl…

Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 6 of Season 8 - “If It’s So ‘Easy,’ Why Am I So Worried?” - a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Rick and Becky will be exploring themes drawn from his just-released book titled Editing Jesus. In this episode we explore a conundrum—we know that Jesus told us that His “yoke is easy” and His “bur…

Join Rick and the Becky-nator for Episode 5 of Season 8 - “The Relational Generosity of Jesus” - a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Rick and Becky will be exploring themes drawn from his upcoming book (releasing June 4) titled Editing Jesus. In this episode we explore one facet of the diamond-like beauty of Jesus—the way He longs to …

Big news! We’ve re-launched Paying Ridiculous Attention to Jesus after a year-long sabbatical. Even bigger and better news—the Becky-nator is joining Rick again to co-host. So check out Episode 4 of Season 8 - “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” - a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Rick and Becky will be exploring themes drawn from his upcoming bo…

Big news! We’ve re-launched Paying Ridiculous Attention to Jesus after a year-long sabbatical. Even bigger and better news—the Becky-nator is joining Rick again to co-host. So check out Episode 3 of Season 8 - “The Exclusionary Jesus” - a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Rick and Becky will be exploring themes drawn from his upcoming…

Big news! Rick is re-launching his podcast Paying Ridiculous Attention to Jesus after a year-long sabbatical. Even bigger and better news—the Becky-nator will be joining him again to co-host. So check out the Episode 6 of Season 8 “Sitting at the Wrong End of the Table”—a continuation of the series “THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Rick and Becky will be explor…

Join Rick for the first episode of Season 8, continuing the series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Our understanding of death, and our fear of it, colors our life. It plays in the background, like a haunting film score to our life narrative. But if we understand the way of Jesus, relative to death, we will have a much deeper understanding of what it means to …

Join Rick for the fourth episode of the new series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” We all have rutted narratives that emerge from our painful experiences. But Jesus tells us, over and over, that our un-rescued pain is beauty disguised as ugly. We see weakness as the unwelcome byproduct of pain. But in the Kingdom of God, real weakness is exposed as arrogance.…

After a two-month “impromptu sabbatical,” join Rick for the third episode of the new series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” The influence of our self-narratives. The story we tell ourselves, about ourselves, can lead us into captivity—the captivity Jesus came to set us free from. Jesus wants to “de-bug” our narrative. In Matthew 5 we have Jesus delivering the…

Join Rick for the second episode of the new series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Researchers say a strong factor feeding resilience is “the degree of control that the person has over the stressor.” When we can’t exert any control over the trauma we’ve experienced, the “agency” that fuels our hope is obliterated. Put another way, painful experiences that are…

Join Rick for the first episode of the series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” There was a miraculous birth that preceded the miraculous birth of Jesus—John the Baptist. He was born of an elderly couple, chosen to “prepare the way” for Jesus by calling the Jews to repentance. John targeted their complacency and entitlement—challenging them to turn from followi…

Join Rick for the eighth and final episode of the series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” By mapping our responses to moral decision-making situations we can create a “moral map” for how human beings make right/wrong choices. But what about Jesus’ moral map? We discover that map in His “Sermon on the Mount.” This is Jesus’ epic proclamation of the Kingdo…

Join Rick for the seventh episode in the ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” In a curious encounter with His disciples and a gathered crowd, Jesus suggests that weather forecasting is a good metaphor for moral decision-making. Then He asks a question that seems self-evident: “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?” Of course, we c…

Join Rick for the 7th episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” In January our focus shifts to resolutions—making commitments to improve. But are resolutions consistent with the way of Jesus? We all have a deep longing to move toward wholeness. Jesus says: “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Seems…

Join Rick for the sixth episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” The “messaging” around Christmas is deeply embedded in us—at no other time during the year is gift-giving such a major focus of our life. And there’s a lot on the line for us. People get into fights at the mall in the name of gift-giving. Every year we vow to “make t…

Join Rick for the fifth episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” Jesus said: “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!” But what happens when our life experience with God makes us think God has often given us snakes a…

Join Rick for the fourth episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” An ideology is “a system of ideas that aspires both to explain the world and to change it.” Another way to describe an ideology is the story we live inside. Or the self-narrative we’ve embraced. What is the greatest challenge in the church today? It’s our propensity…

Join Rick for the third episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” We live in an age of enemies… Never has it been easier, or more likely, that we will create enemies just by living our life… Case In Point: Choose any random post on the social media site Nextdoor and you’ll see enemy-making up close—guaranteed. But in Matthew 5 Jesu…

Join Rick for the second episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” We’ll be pursuing the heart of Jesus through the lens of what’s going on in the world right now… In our culture today, we are the most connected/disconnected generation in history. Never have we had more tools of connection, and habits of connection, but the researc…

Join Rick for the first episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” We’ll pursue the heart of Jesus through the lens of what’s going on in the world right now… Our goal is to connect what’s happening around us to the presence, priorities, and practices of Jesus. In this episode we’ll take a deep dive into “over-functioning”—what is i…

Join Rick for the 8th and final episode in the series—“THE HARVEST.” In his commentary on the Gospel of John, the great contemporary theologian N.T. Wright says: “The urgent question, then, is this: How do we ‘remain' in him?” And Vaughan Roberts, rector of St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford, says: “Jesus us not a decorative shrub, useful for giving an aes…

Join Rick for the seventh episode in the series—“THE HARVEST.” We are all intimately attached to sources of life—a flower planted in soil, for instance, has more life flowing into it than cut flowers in a vase of water. Our attachments make all the difference… So let’s explore what wholeness looks like in Jesus, and in us—through the lens of how we…

Join Rick for the sixth episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” We know that Jesus is a storyteller who’s trying to tell a story of beauty in our soul—the story He’s telling in your life is a Romance. In the last episode we explored what the “Farmer” is doing about the “weeds” growing up in our field of “wheat”—our soul. Let’s uncover what Jesus is …

Join Rick for the fifth episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” We’re hard-wired for story, because we’re created by a storyteller. Our life is about our story. Story works to construct, give meaning to, and set boundaries around our experience of reality. It’s the “narrative code” that unlocks the meaning behind our experiences in life. The story w…

Join Rick for the fourth episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” We know that Jesus defines goodness, and that boldness is one of His primary characteristics. So however Jesus lives out boldness is good. So let’s explore the many different ways Jesus lives and acts boldly, and discover how that might challenge or fuel the way we live…Rick’s new dail…

Join Rick for the third episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” Delight is central to the personality and relational norms of Jesus. We think we understand delight as a simple concept, but it’s really the portal into a deeper life with Him… So here we explore an encounter Jesus has with a woman as He travels through the region of Tyre and Sidon—paga…

Join Rick for the second episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” Jesus has invited us to attach to Him, like a branch in a Tree. And when we do, we produce fruit “after its kind.” Service is one of His tastiest fruits. So, is serving others a natural thing for us to do, or is it unnatural? Is service to others necessary for the survival of the speci…

Join Rick for the first episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” Fruit, we know, comes from a tree. Without the tree, no fruit. And each tree produces a certain kind of fruit. Jesus has invited us to attach to Him, like a branch in a Tree. And when we do, we produce fruit “after its kind.” But Jesus is no ordinary fruit tree—out of one Tree many vari…

Join Rick for the ninth and final episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” Jesus had 11 encounters with the demonic in the New Testament—and those are the encounters we know about. It’s clear that dealing with demonic entities was a common part of Jesus’ everyday life. And, as we’ll see in the story we’re about to explore, Jesus didn’t just, well, wha…

Join Rick for the eighth episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” Even though Jesus makes the heart and essence of children a major theme of His teaching and His everyday life, His relationship with children has largely been ignored. The heart of children and the questions of children and the dependence of children and the habit patterns of children a…

Join Rick for the seventh episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” Let’s ask a big question: WHAT did Jesus come to do? We say, and it’s true, that Jesus came to redeem us. To offer His life in exchange for ours. To give us abundant life and a place in the Kingdom of God that He’s “gone ahead to prepare for us.” All of this is true—and yet, from His o…

Join Rick for the sixth episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” We’ll explore the heart of Jesus through the lens of a woman who never actually meets Jesus, but plays a significant role in history because of Him. Noticing what Jesus notices is vital in our relationship with Him. It changes everything. So, what does Jesus find beautiful, and why? Perh…

Join Rick for the fifth episode in a new series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” We’ll explore the heart of Jesus through the lens of two otherwise obscure men who happened to experience an extraordinary encounter with Jesus on their way home to Emmaus, a small village seven miles from Jerusalem. We know the name of one of these two (Cleopas), but not the other. We…

Join Rick for the fourth episode in a new series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” In this episode we’ll explore the heart of Jesus through the lens of a broken and traumatized woman who became one of those in Jesus’ inner circle. She’s important to focus on during Holy Week, because she was there at every step—along the Via Dolorosa, on Golgotha, at the tomb when H…

Join Rick for the third episode in a new series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” In this episode we’ll explore the heart of Jesus through the lens of the man who calls himself “The Disciple Jesus Loved.” His name is John, brother of James and son of Zebedee and Salome. In the time of Jesus it’s a common humility to refer to yourself in the third person, but John co…

Join Rick for the second episode in a new series “JESUS-PEOPLE.” We’ll be exploring the heart of Jesus through the lens of his friends and enemies. In this episode we encounter Nicodemus, who is an old man when he first meets Jesus. He’s a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the ancient equivalent to our Supreme Court. He is mentioned just thre…

Join Rick for the first episode in a new series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” We’ll be exploring the heart of Jesus through the lens of his friends and enemies. You can learn a lot about a person by paying attention to the people that love him and the people that hate him. Dr. Peter Kreeft, a Boston University professor and C.S. Lewis scholar, says: “The Greek w…

Join Rick and Becky for this “re-podcast” BEST-OF episode from two years ago—“What Is the Meaning of Life?” In the past three years, this episode had the most listeners. Next week, Rick will begin a new series called “Jesus People”—exploring the heart of Jesus through the lens of his friends and enemies. Meanwhile, in this BEST-OF episode Rick and …

Join Rick for the 10th episode of the series KINGDOM COME. We’re coming out of a very active hurricane season, and weather experts warn we’re entering into another in 2021. Hurricanes are frightening because they’re dangerous and destructive. But it turns out that hurricanes keep our planet alive by roiling the waters of our oceans so deeply that t…

Join Rick for the 9th episode of the series KINGDOM COME. Miracles are startling, because they're supposed to be impossible, right? And in this episode I tell a personal story that certainly qualifies as a miracle on every level. But the foundation of this miracle is not in the physical impossibility of what happened, but a revelation during my cha…

Join Rick for the 8th episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. We are magnetically drawn to stories of hope and perseverance. That’s because perseverance is both heart-breaking and inspiring. It’s almost impossible to ignore. So, what are the common threads in all our stories of perseverance? Desperation. Vulnerability. Dependence. But especially “H…

Join Rick for the 7th episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. Rick often uses a favorite phrase to describe the mission of Jesus: He came to make beauty out of ugly. Not “pretty”… Beauty. In a very real, practical, visceral way, beauty-making and beauty-revealing is exactly what Jesus is doing in the world, and in your life, right now… We need “bea…

Join Rick for the 6th episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose life we celebrate this week, led during a time of great division and racial tension and disillusionment in the country—like our time today. He’d experienced pain and brutality from others, over and over. But he was much more than a civil rights lead…

Join Rick for the 5th episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus launches His ministry by doing something He’ll never do again—simply “talking at” a large crowd of people for a long time. Why does He do this? There’s a clue at the end of Matthew 6, when He says: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righte…

Join Rick for the 4th episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. When we live inside the culture of the Kingdom of God—the way of living that Jesus came to plant, like a seed, in our broken reality—we are very aware of the influence of evil all around us, but we are not impressed by it. The goal of evil is to “kill, steal, and destroy,” and it is impe…

Join Rick for the 3rd episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. In the Kingdom of God, storytelling is not only the highest form of art, it defines the mission and passion of Jesus. Jesus came to tell a new story in our life, and to invite us to do the same with others. But to understand what’s He’s doing, we have to explore the story’s setup, the pl…

Join Rick for the 2nd episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. What are some obvious differences between a democracy, like the one we live in, and living under the rule of a king? Most of us have no idea what it means to actually live in a kingdom, and we’ve never actually been in a close relationship with a king. So, even though Jesus tells us that…

Join Rick for the 1st episode of the new series KINGDOM COME. What did Jesus really come to do—what was His “mission”? We’ve been told that it’s basically a rescue mission. But our “rescue” is simply the epic fruit of a restored relationship, which is the passion of God. The mission of God, however, has to do with planting the culture of the Trinit…