VOX Podcast with Mike Erre

We open up the VOX Mail bag this week! Mike is still in transit to his new home in Ohio. If you're in Ohio, drop him a line at mike@voxoc.com or sign up on our email list to support our Ohio effort at www.voxpodcast.com. We answer some email about the Gospel of Paul comments, how to go about stating a church like VOX, and some chat around Genesis.

This week Mike makes a special announcement regarding his relocation to Ohio. If you follow VOX Community you may already be aware of the recent news. If not, then this will be new and we invite you to hear what's been going on over at the VOX world headquarters, soon to be relocated to Columbus, Ohio. Want to support and participate with VOX in Ohio? Sign up for the email list at http://www.voxpodcast.com. Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

LIVE Questions - Monogamy, God's Will And Trump - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

We continue our mini-series exploring violence of the Old Testament with creator of The Bible Project, Tim Mackie. The Bible Project has taken the internet by storm with easy and short explanations of the Bible's most fascinating stories.  In this mini series, we have tried to offer challenging and insightful views from multiple personalities. Tim is no exception, bringing attention to the Hebrew texts that Jesus himself most likely referenced during his time.  We appreciate Tim's grace, finesse, and creativity in how he chooses to present the beauty of Jesus. Tim Mackie Website: http://www.timmackie.com The Bible Project: http://www.thebibleproject.com - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

This week we welcome special guest Matt Carter of the Bad Christian Podcast. There have been a number of podcast episodes where Matt, Toby, and Joey discuss the overwhelming shortcomings of the modern church. While we agree with many of the opinions expressed from Matt, we wanted to hear more from his opinions about what could make it better and really try to understand the future potential for the "Mega Church". Matt also hosts the Break it Down Podcast and acts as Director and oversees Business development across Bad Christian's multiple divisions. Break it Down Podcast: http://www.breakitdownpodcast.net/ Matt & Toby Music: https://www.mattandtobyband.com/ Bad Christian Media: http://badchristianmedia.com/ - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

This week, Andy catches up and fwd's email long overdue containing your questions and comments. We take the time to answer and comment back on your feedback and thoughts! - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

VOX Questions - Scripture, Sinners, Women in Leadership, and is the Bible just an epic tale? 1. Thank you so much for recording this! I am understanding the importance of reading Scripture "in context" at a deeper level--with less of the blinders from my church experience. For example, this morning I read Matt 18:15-17 and realized we cannot take this as a step by step process for how to deal with sin in the church/excommunicate someone (as the church often does in my experience) without understanding the social context in which the passage was written--e.g., what were the standards for such issues at the time, and how did Jesus' instructions differ? My point in saying all that is this: What do I listen to/read along with my Bible to get that kind of crucial info? 2. Recently I saw a video clip of a well known pastor talk about the two lies that scare him the most. He says the first lie is that, "You are a good person." He references Romans 3:9-12 (which I believe comes from Ps. 14:3)as well as Ro. 3:23. Essentially he points out that the Bible teaches that no human is good, our hearts are evil. He even goes as far to say that when we speak of someone as "good" at a funeral, we're lying, because the Bible teaches that no one is good. He also used the flood as an example of God's wrath towards his creation that had turned evil. Most of my life, even after becoming a Christian I have struggled with depression and guilt. I guess my question is, even after Jesus, am I still a bad person? Didn't God call his creation good? While these verses that this pastor pointed out are clearly in the Bible, what about other verses that speak of God's great love for us? Is it a matter of seeing God's love for us despite our sin? Do we have an "old sin nature" that stays win us even after giving our lives to Jesus? I'm finding it burdensome to give myself over to Jesus and still be considered "bad" or even that when I sin, I'm constantly disappointing him. Maybe I watched the video with too much of my own insecurities in mind. Anyway, I hope this makes sense. Thanks for reading! 3. My background - As a believer for most of my life- I have grown up in churches, Hume Lake, Biola, and other great spots where the traditional role of women is to submit, not be pastors or teachers (except to children) and not be on elder boards. I have been relatively ok with this (it's tradition) but have really had my eyes opened with your teachings. The biggest issue I now see is that the gospel is becoming ugly to those on the "outside" of church and I know of friends who would never darken the door of my church simply because of how women are viewed. It now only seems to me to be discrimination. I can see that Jesus took a very different role with women- one for which has made me feel loved and respected, and I am so thankful - My question - what do I do in my current church to encourage any kind of light to be shed on this topic in a respectful way- when in essence I'm not even sure my concerns and perspective will be valued simply because I'm a woman? Any advice? I want to lovingly share my concerns- but honestly my foot is out the door of this church (for many reasons- women in leadership being only one.) 4. Love the podcast keep up the good work! Wondering if you have ever responded to the argument that goes: "since the Bible reads like an epic story, than that's all it is - an epic, fictional story." The example I've heard given to explain this is: "why would Emperor Augustus call for a census, especially one where you had go back to your ancestral home? It only makes sense because, like all good fiction, it makes Jesus' birth more dramatic." This feels very Jesus Seminar-ish to me, but it also works to turn the normal genre-based understanding of the books of the Bible against us. Thoughts on this? Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast

In the episode we take a look at moments on how and why God seems to hide. Mike takes some time to focus on some details related to his health over the past few month and how others have helped along the way to bring attention to God's mercy and guidance. - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

VOX Questions - Prayer, LGBTQ, suffering, personal change, religious differences. - June 22, 2017 1. Why do you pray to Jesus when He clearly instructs us to pray to God his father? 2. Will LGBT ever receive the same grace & full inclusion in the church as people that have been divorced? It's very confusing & irritating that while divorce is very clearly against God's, Jesus' & other biblical leader's teachings; we allow them grace & fully include them in church,(which is awesome!) leadership & even allow remarriage (also a biblical no no) All the while LGBT people deeply desire to be a part of the church community yet barely are allowed to come inside & if they are, they are told they cannot be full members, share their stories publicly, married or serve in leadership. 3. If we are going to suffer our whole lives, why should we put time and energy into following God? Why not just be kind to others and distract ourselves from the pain? It's disheartening to "follow"'someone who doesn't help with the pain. 4. How do we go about changing our hearts to want for something better, like wanting broccoli over ice cream? Is that change something we should strive towards ourselves, is that only done through prayer, or is it a combination of the two? 5. I was excited to learn more of Christ's fulfillment of the law from Jesus' teachings, especially as it is the final week of Ramadan. This past Fri-Sat, I had the honor of staying with a Muslim family and fasting with them. In becoming closer these past few months, each time I leave their home in awe of how there is no dichotomy with faith & life, yet at the same time a complete brokenness for their life without Jesus Christ. I have received mixed responses from "Christians" saying that i should be more bold with our differences, or not respond so openly. Is that right? Should I be more moved in anger by their misinterpretation of God? Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

Author and Pastor of Woodland Hills Church joins us this week to share about his view and on the Old Testament and the significance of Jesus' act on the cross. In our time together, Greg goes into great detail about how we can understand a God the presumably commands genocide and consider how a people carried it out. His extensive research and authorship makes way for many challenging ideas about the Bible for us to wrestle with and test. This episode is 2 of 3 conversations we have prepared with some folks who carry an educated and challenging view of the Old Testament Our hope is to hear the best of their research, ask more about it, and offer it to you an extended conversation in your faith circles for growth and process. - Mike Erre Learn more about Greg Boyd at http://www.reknew.org Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

VOX LIVE Questions - Hell, Water to Wine, What is faith? - June 15th, 2017 1. So often I have found church after church and pastor after pastor who teach and claim their own anxiety based insecurities. I understand that the Church is an imperfect system run by imperfect people to serve a perfect God and will never be complete until the second coming. However, I do not understand why there is rampant denying of the core message of Jesus; hope, love, and grace offered to all. I struggle with trusting pastors and churches because of this. How can such love be offered yet continuously erroneously conditional? How can a pastor/church claim such power in Jesus yet directly go against said power? Sorry for the rambling. 2. What are your feelings on hell? Some believe it's a place of eternal torment, but others believe it's a place of annihilation where evil ceases to exist. Some also believe it's a state of purgatory, and eventually everyone becomes reconciled with God. Do you believe in the possibility of universal reconciliation? 3. Why was the first miracle water being turned into wine when people were probably already pretty drunk? 4. I know we idealize many OT prophets' faith in God, but I hardly think stories like Abraham show any extraordinary faith. An honest critique is he jacked it all up trying to figure out and do for God what God said He was going to do for him. I mean the collateral damage from Abraham sleeping with Hagar is disgusting, yet the Bible says he has great faith. If anything I think this story shows us the reality of God doing for us what we can't fathom or begin to do for ourselves. So what is belief/faith then? Can God take the disjointed, obscured and jacked up faiths of those who have some idea of a God and what He's like, yet don't get it all quite right including how they practice or even knowing about Jesus? Can He take our pathetic efforts and also count us as righteous because of Christ doing for us what we can't do for ourselves? - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

Author, speaker, and former Pastor Rob Bell joins us to answer some questions we have about the Bible. While Rob has been a controversial character among certain circles of Christianity, our hope was to capture some of his best thoughts and antidotes that best convey the conviction of his work. This episode leaves a lot to consider and wrestle with. Spoiler alert: Andy cries and Mike runs out of jokes. Learn more about Rob Bell: http://www.robbell.com Get the book " What is the Bible?": https://robbell.com/portfolio/whatisthebible/ - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

LIVE Questions - Soulmates, Who does God Answer?, and Masturbation. 1 I'm am a Christian woman and in my mid thirties and have been single for a long time and the fact that I'm not married is really hard to deal with sometimes. I want to be married more than anything to take away the sting of loneliness I unfortunately have become addicted to masturbating. I'm scared to death that because of this God won't bless me with a husband. Can and will god still bless me with a godly man even if I'm struggling in this area 2. I have a boyfriend that is so self-less and has demonstrated the kind of things that you mentioned in your podcast about being the head sacrificer (?) and not giving into the stereotypical roles of the man and woman. However, he thinks that soul mates exist. He thinks that we are really good for each other and that we have helped each other become a better person, but he wants the "feeling" in his soul that we are soul mates. I don't believe in soul mates. I think that God puts people together and love is what you make of it with work. There are feelings between both of us, but he says not "that" feeling. I can't believe in soul mates because what happens if you miss them? We have both been divorced and the thought of soul mates to me just says I wasn't good enough to be given that soul mate and if I was married when I met my soul mate, did I miss that and now just have no one? What are your thoughts biblically about soul mates and marriage and even relationships and what are relationships for if not to help each other be the best possible version of themselves they can be? 3. I'm struggling with how to resolve things during times when tragedy strikes. For example, many kids were killed during the Columbine tragedy. Parents lost kids and other parents' kids were spared. For the ones that were spared, the parents thanked God for watching over their kids and protecting them. For the parents whose kids were killed...does this mean God wasn't watching over their kids and didn't protect them? On the surface it seems like it is easy to give God credit for the good things, but what about the bad things? How can one give God credit for the good and yet not blame him or hold God responsible for the bad? I'm working to resolve this, but it seems to take a lot of mental gymnastics to get there. Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

Micah Bournes takes the time to share about his experience as a black male attending Bible school, the nature of prejudice, and his art of spoken word. Micah was gracious enough to elaborate extensively on race issues in addition to real life stories and occurrences of injustice. Check out and support Micah's work at http://www.micahbournes.com - Mike Erre Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity

LIVE Questions - God's Plan, Depression, And Waiting On God 1. Does God have a plan for our lives? It seems pretty hopeless to think that we're the victims of other people's free will, or that everything is just up to us. Some people say God has plans and purposes, while others say we have the freedom to choose. Which one is accurate? 2. How do you deal with depression and anxiety? 3. Why does God so often make us wait for things that are really important to us? - Mike Erre Watch LIVE on Facebook, Thursday mornings between 11am-12pm. Learn more about the VOX Podcast: www.voxpodcast.com Subscribe on iTunes - http://apple.co/1Lla1Nj Music provided by Izzi Ray - http://www.soundcloud.com/izziray Music available on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzi-ray/id386256769 Support the VOX Podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/voxpodcast Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/thevoxpodcast Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/voxpodcast Follow Mike on Twitter www.twitter.com/mikeerre Follow Andy on Twitter www.twitter.com/Andy_lara Mike Erre participates as VOX Team Leader at VOX Community, a church expression of the VOX Podcast. Learn more about VOX Community at www.voxoc.com. Listen to our Sunday teaching from VOX Community: www.soundcloud.com/voxcommunity