The Blue Collar Scholar

For our *** 400th EPISODE *** we have the next installment of our "History in My Lifetime" class lectures. In this episode we briefly go over the major geopolitical shifts that have occurred since the close of World War II.

The Summer 2026 Sermon Series officially comes to an end with this sermon. The First John series became a 1st through 3rd John series because 2nd & 3rd John are so short, and it felt right to cover them, too, so as to be thorough. From the tiny letter of Third John, we learn that to be the Body of Christ, we must: (1) pray for & rejoice with our brothers & sisters in Christ, (2) support missionaries, (3) not be selfish & destructive to the church family, (4) not imitate evil, but imitate good, & (5) develop personal relationships.

Each of the four Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ tell a slightly different story. Each tells a coherent narrative that is compatible with the other Gospels, but each author has chosen certain events and details while leaving out others. The "Synoptic Gospels" (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) share a very similar chronology with many of the same details in mostly the same order. By analyzing the differences between the Gospels, it becomes clear that each author is trying to tell a different story about Jesus. In Mark, Jesus is "the Suffering Servant," while in Matthew, Jesus is "the Messiah" and the King...

Second John is the shortest book in the Bible. This sermon breaks down the entire book into the following points: (1) God is the Source of grace, mercy, peace, truth, & love. (2) We should love our brothers & sisters, and rejoice in their success. (3) We exhibit love by obeying God's commands. (4) Do not give in to lies. (5) Do not support false teachers in any way.

History in My Lifetime is a discussion class. It has become clear to me that much of what drives our discussion is driven by the decades in which we grew up. A person who was a teenager in the early '60s is going to be a very different person from someone who was a teenager in the late '90s. So in this episode we take a look at each decade from the 1950s to the 2020s. Our knowledge, recollection, and experience of each decade is contingent on whether a person is from the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation...

Romans is, perhaps, the most important book in the Bible, and the greatest piece of theology writing ever. In this episode we dig into the soteriology (the study of salvation) in Romans. That makes this the most sermon-like of my academic lectures.

There have been several major historical events regarding human exploration of space in living memory. In fact, just about the entire history of humanity in space has happened in lifetimes of people still alive today. In this episode we reminisce about the triumphant events and the tragedies directly related to space, space exploration, and commercial use of space.

Our summer sermon series has been going on since the end of May. We have been going through the book of First John, listening to the Apostle John's message to the followers of Jesus Christ in his day. Those messages still very much apply to Jesus' followers today, especially John constant refrain that fellow believers should love one another. Though the series will continue for 2 more weeks — 2nd & 3rd John are so short that we will cover each over the next two weeks — we complete our journey through First John with this concluding message.

The New Testament series continues as we begin to examine the texts themselves. The format of this class is to read the texts in the order that they were most likely written. Therefore, before we get to the Gospels, we will look at James, Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and 1 & 2 Corinthians.

For most of us, 9/11 is the biggest single-day historical event we have ever witnessed. So much changed after that terrible day. But 9/11 was hardly the only act of terrorism that has happened in our time. In this episode we survey the major terrorist attacks from Munich to October 7th.

The episode 5 lecture in the New Testament class will examine the actual text of the New Testament. Before we do that, let us back up and see an overview of the life of the New Testament's central figure: Jesus of Nazareth. This episode examines Jesus as a religious figure, but also as an actual person in history who lived in a particular place and at a particular time.

All of First John comes to a head in chapter 5, verse 13, when the Apostle tells us that he wrote all of the book so that we can KNOW that we have eternal life. It was not God's intention for us to be on pins & needles, never quite sure whether we've done enough to earn His favor. Rather, once we are adopted into His family, then we are part of His family, period.

The 5th chapter of John has a couple of passages that are a challenge for Bible translators. In one passage, the Greek text seems clear, but a short clause seems to have been added by a Medieval commentator (the "Johannine Comma" of 1 John 5:7-8) and translators have to decide whether to keep in a passage that is very likely not written by John, but if they translators leave the passage out, it will be controversial. Leaving out the Johannine will lead to accusations of deleting the Trinity, but in this sermon, I have demonstrated that all reputable English translations have...

This episode is designed to jog your memory and trigger discussions regarding all of the American wars of the last 70 years. Special emphasis is given to the Vietnam War. It was such a drawn-out, bloody, and exhausting conflict. It was sold as part of a great struggle of the democratic West against communism. However, from the very beginning, the War in Vietnam felt like an anti-colonial struggle by the Vietnamese people against their colonizers, especially when they were facing the French in the earliest part of the war. By the time it was over, it was an exhausting war that...

The final lecture on the context of the New Testament starts with a review of the major Near East empires leading up to Alexander the Great. We then look at Alexander's conquests to understand how Greek culture & the Greek language became so ubiquitous during the times of the New Testament. We see some of the collision of Greek & Jewish culture in the books of Maccabees in the Apocrypha (a.k.a. the Deuterocanonical books). Finally, we briefly examine the history of Rome.

In the introductory episode of this series, we discussed the context of the New Testament within the history of recorded history and written language. In this episode we keep building upon our understanding of the context of the New Testament by taking a long look at the Old Testament. The Old Testament is the primary and most important context for the New Testament. By looking at the Old Testament, we see the Jewish character of the New Testament, as Jesus and His Apostles were, in fact, Jewish.

What is the New Testament? It is a deeply Jewish book that serves as a sequel -- of sorts -- to the Old Testament. It is a small library of 27 books. It is a biography (or, rather, 4 biographies) of the greatest Man who ever lived, as well as a sequel (Acts) and 22 books that add to Jesus' legacy. It is a series of documents originally written in Koine Greek, and the beautiful collision of Jewish and Greek (and Roman) culture permeate the New Testament. It is also, at its heart, sacred writing. The Apostle John called it "the Logos" or...

The First John series enters the final chapter of the epistle. In this passage, we learn how to love God: (1) love believers, (2) obey God's commands, & (3) have faith in Christ.

This episode gives a brief overview of the Civil Rights Movement in the US since Brown v. Board of Education. We also take a look at the women's rights movement, as well as movements for the rights of immigrants, disabled persons, and the LGBTQ+ community. This episode ends with over 2 weeks of Daily Journal Prompts to tell one's own story.

"Perfect love casts out fear." - 1st John 4:18 ... In this sermon I break down the idea of such perfect love. In 1st John 4:16-21, see see that if God abides in you, then He will perfect (verb) love within you. We also see the following benefits of such perfect love: (1) perfect love will give you confidence on the Day of Judgment, (2) perfect love will make us "like" Christ, (3) perfect love frees us from fear, & (4) we can love because He loved us first.

In this, the Fall 2026 semester, we will be trying something new: a class called "History in My Lifetime: Documenting My Place in History to Tell My Grandchildren." Each week we will discuss a different category of major historical events in the last 80 years or so, with emphasis being on the lived experience of the average person who lived through these historical events. The class will also involve daily journal prompts which will focus more on a person's personal history: marriage, parenthood, careers, etc. ... In this first episode we discuss major political assassinations (like JFK), attempted political assassinations (like Reagan), the...

If you have been reading along with us through the book of First John, you have probably noticed that the Apostle John has told us about a dozen times to love each other. It is an important theme for this epistle. In 1st John 4:7-16, we are told once again to love each other and to love God, for God Himself is love. In this passage we also learn that if God abides in you, then (1) you will live by the love of God, who is Christ, (2) you will love each other & you will know God, (3) you will have the...

Spiritual warfare is an interesting biblical topic. We see glimpses of spiritual warfare in books like Daniel & Revelation, and it is obvious that there is some kind of conflict between angels and demons, between the spiritual forces of God vs. the spiritual forces of darkness. But the Bible does not actually give us many details about what spiritual warfare is, exactly. But there are glimpses. The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 4 to "test the spirits," particularly in regard to testing the spiritual messages brought by false teachers and false prophets. In this sermon, I examine the "test the spirits"...

"It's not about 'religion,' it's a relationship" is an overused Christian trope. In all honesty, I remember this phrase mostly from my youth in the 1990s, when it seemed like this was everyone's Christian mantra. But Christianity is a religion. It addresses religion themes and the truth taught by Christianity has religious implications. But our faith is also a relationship with God. That is best understood when the Christian realizes that the specific relationship is as Lord and follower. God is not our buddy or our peer. Nevertheless, a relationship with God is important.

Litmus tests tell you the pH level of a chemical, and that helps you identify the chemical. The term "litmus test" can be used metaphorically to describe something that is definitely not litmus paper but can similarly help you determine something. In last week's sermon, we learned that sin - particularly unrepentant, continual sin - is a litmus test that shows that a person is not really a Christian. In this week's sermon, we see that the Apostle John also gives us another litmus test: love. We can tell if a person truly belongs to Christ by their love. If...

The freedom to choose is a key aspect of what it means to be an American. This is true of human beings in general, but the citizens of my nation especially value individual liberty to choose this-or-that. These choices are both simple (like what to eat or what to wear) to very complex (like how to conduct a brutal war). In this sermon, we see how the Apostle John taught us not to use our freedom of choice to choose sin.

When a person is redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the believer is adopted into the family as Children of God. This week's sermon covers the last few verses of First John chapter 2 and the first few verses of chapter 3. In this passage we learn that (1) Children of God look forward to Christ's return, (2) disobedient children & frauds do not look forward to Christ's return, (3) true righteousness is only available through redemption/adoption in Christ's family, (4) the world cannot truly know or understand God or His Children, (5) our futures are not known in detail, but as Children of God, we...

Happy 4th of July! The premier liberal democracy to arise out of the Enlightenment is now a quarter a millennium old. But this sermon is not a patriotic holiday sermon. Instead, we continue in our sermon series through the epistle of First John. In 1 John 2:18-27, John warns us against those who oppose the Kingdom of God, seeming to coin the term "antichrist" in the process. End Times enthusiasts have used the term "the Antichrist" to refer to the figure that the Book of Revelation calls "the Beast." Therefore, this sermon addresses that issue, but expands the term to include...

Today I was honored to be invited to preach at the First Baptist Church of Parsons (KS). This is the audio of that sermon, where I lay out reasons why some Christians think that they don't have any spiritual gifts, and why they are wrong about that.

The Apostle John tells us to not love the world or the things of the world (see 1 John 2:15). But in John 3:16, we see that God so loved the world. Is this a contradiction? And if not, then we must ask: what does it mean for one to not love the world? In this episode, we see that (1) you either love God, or you love the world, (2) the world draws us into sin, & (3) the world's time is running out.

Happy Father's Day! As we continue in our expository series through the book of First John, we come to the beginning verses of chapter 2. In this passage we learn a few things: (1) Our goal should be sinlessness, (2) Jesus fixes it (because we will never achieve sinlessness) and He defends us when we fail, (3) we should love one another, (4) our love should be extraordinary, (5) hatred & lovelessness flow from (and result in) sin, and finally, we should mature in Christ, together. This passage concludes with a poem where John explains why he wrote this book to little children, to young men, and...

Joyous Juneteenth to fans of liberty & justice for all! I opened worship this weekend with a brief history lesson on Juneteenth. As a history dude (with an actual Bachelor's degree in the subject), I am ashamed to say that I was unaware of Juneteenth until the late 2010s. But I've come to view it as an essential part of "Freedom Fortnight." In a brief 2 week window, Americans can celebrate Flag Day (June 14, 1777), Father's Day (3rd Sunday of June), Juneteenth (June 19th, 1865), The ratification of the U.S. Constitution (June 21, 1788), & of course Independence Day (July 4, 1776). Note: I mention that there will...

There is a tug-of-war between the extremes of hedonism & legalism, with neither side being the righteous choice. Instead, the Apostle John teaches us to "walk in the light, as He is in the light" (1 John 1:7), emulating Jesus rather than chasing an extreme. In today's sermon, we see that the Apostle John teaches us that (1) the Gospel starts with the glory & perfection of God, (2) our aim should be to emulate Him, (3) neither indulging in sin nor ignoring sin is acceptable, (4) only confession and repentance work, & Christ does all the heavy lifting and He fixes our mistakes.

The Summer 2026 sermon series kicks off (well, besides the introductory sermon last week) where any expository series should start: chapter 1, verse 1. The book of 1st John opens with a poetic, slightly rambling soliloquy about the "Logos," the Greek word for "word" (which is also the key word at the beginning of John's Gospel). In this lesson, we see that (1) the Word is life, (2) the Word is Christ, (3) the Word is real, (4) the Word brings fellowship, (5) the Word brings joy, & that since (6) the Word is light, then we should walk in the light.

This summer's sermon series is an expository preaching series through the Epistle of First John. This is the introduction, which lays out several overall themes of the book. Join us this summer as we dig into First John.

Memorial Day seems like a nice bookend for this Easter sermon series; beginning and ending on a holiday. In this episode we summarize all that we've discussed the past 2 months regarding the topic of joy.

Congratulations to all our graduates! Life is going to get a lot more rewarding and more difficult. New beginnings fill us with fear because of the fear of the unknown. But there is joy in new beginnings as well, because there is opportunity there. And this is not just a message for young people. As long as you draw break, there are new experiences in store for you: opportunities to find joy, serve others, and worship God.

For the second time, The Blue Collar Scholar completes a course on the Second World War. The first attempt was choppy, and I failed to record every episode. This go round, I feel much more confident that this series is a good, surface-level-yet-deep-dive into the bloodiest conflict in human history. ... In this last episode of the WWII class, we talk about the sequel to World War II. Thankfully, that has not been World War III. Instead, the United States and the Soviet Union spent nearly a half century in an intense, will-they-won't-they "Cold War." But even though the Cold War...

This Spring, we've been going over the religions of the world. This Comparing World Religions class comes to a conclusion with this short lecture. In this episode, I make some concluding remarks, including going over what we should have learned from this class, but also what I hope that we have NOT learned from studying world religions.

Happy Mother's Day! All of people, our mothers are the people in our lives that deserve the most gratitude. But this sermon is not just about the gratitude we should have for the mothers in our lives. Each of us should cultivate and attitude of gratitude that permeates all aspects of our lives, and shines through in good times and in bad. Thankful people are healthier, happier, and more joyful, and they have better relationships and more abundant lives.