Ezekiel has not been the easiest book of the Bible to study. Up until today’s lesson, most of it has been dark, depressing, gloomy and full of judgment and wrath.

But regardless of the past, I have some news about the future: the best is yet to come.

Because the book is making a major turning point in this section we’re in. So far, we’ve just encountered the bad news. But now we’re in a part called the Gospel According to Ezekiel. That’s what some commentaries call it.

And the word “Gospel” means good news.

So we have some good news for you today, and this good news will be in the form of future prophecy. This book is turning it’s attention toward the future for the material we’re going to talk about in today’s verses.

We’re covering the back half of Ezekiel 34 on this episode, and we’ll answer these questions…

• Why does God bring trials into our lives that cripple and hobble us?
• Who is the David spoken of in verse 23?
• Is it possible that we’re in the Millennium right now?

You’ll find out today on the Cross References podcast.

0:00 - Introduction

1:20 - v11-16, The Best Shepherd

12:45 - v17-24, Judgment Within the Church

19:45 - v25-31, The Millennial Sheep Pen

24:30 - Closing Thoughts

Special thanks to the Two Witnesses Live podcast for inviting me on their show recently! Here is a link if you’d like to see/hear it: https://www.youtube.com/live/Mh0bTZhUKwk?si=vqVdx6KZx9tQIZSo

If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com

A pastor must be a good public speaker, able to draw large crowds with his authority and charisma.

A pastor must be like a CEO, an expert in management and leadership.

A pastor must be a skilled fundraiser, and know how to execute a building program.

A pastor must be on-call 24/7, even on holidays and vacations.

A pastor must be an expert psychologist and counselor, able to diagnose and treat every mental illness.

A pastor must have a picture-perfect family, a wife who leads the women’s ministry and teaches children’s church and does it all with a smile- and their kids must never misbehave or embarrass their parents.

And by the way, the pastor is supposed to be one of the poorest members of the church, driving an old used vehicle, living in a 1000 square foot house, taking now more of a salary from the church than the absolute minimum needed to survive, as a way to show his true devotion to God.

These are some of the modern expectations of a pastor or ministry leader. This is what many in the modern American church want- or think they want- from their pastors.

But are these expectations biblical? Are these the priorities that God said He expected from a pastor when He gave us the New Testament? Or are some of these things that we’ve added over the years? And if we’re adding human standards to God’s Word for what qualifies a pastor, is it wrong of us to do that?

We’re going to explore that question today by looking at a text from Ezekiel 34 where he shares God’s heart on the qualifications of a spiritual leader. All of that today on the Cross References podcast.

0:00 - Introduction

3:50 - The Pastor as Shepherd

15:20 - A Pastor’s Job Description- I Timothy 3

21:20 - Ezekiel 34, verses 1-10

33:00 - Closing Thoughts- The Good Shepherd

Special thanks to the Two Witnesses Live podcast for inviting me on their show recently! Here is a link if you’d like to see/hear it: https://www.youtube.com/live/Mh0bTZhUKwk?si=vqVdx6KZx9tQIZSo

If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com

I have heard all my life about declaring God’s promises. The idea was that certain things in scripture became true in reality as long as you declared them to be so.

Sounds a little bit magical. But is it biblical?

We’re going to talk about that today. We’ll also wrap up Ezekiel 33, and for the first time in 30 chapters, Ezekiel is going to be allowed to speak freely. You may have forgotten, but Ezekiel’s mouth was shut for a large chunk of his time in ministry. God supernaturally prevented him from speaking.

We’ll talk about that. And nobody wants to be unpopular, but if you listen to the end today, you’ll also learn about the dangers that come with being too popular.

So are God’s promises something you just have to declare? Are they activated by faith? Or are there conditions that have to be met for God’s promises to be fulfilled?

You’ll find out today on the Cross References podcast.

0:00 - Introduction

3:30 - v21-22, No Longer Mute

7:00 - v23-29, Standing on the Promises of God?

18:30 - v30-33, The Dangers of Popularity

25:15 - Mailbag

26:35 - He Opened Not His Mouth

If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com

Entire books have been written about the thorny theological issue I want to talk about today.

James chapter 2. At face value, James 2 seems hard to reconcile with the rest of the New Testament.

That’s because the rest of the New Testament pretty clearly teaches this doctrine of salvation by grace through faith not of works. That’s a direct quote, actually.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 4:2-3

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Galatians 2:16

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,

So it’s like, every page of the New Testament makes this clear: salvation is only by grace through faith. There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation. Works play no part in it.

And then James comes along and says this in his second chapter,

Verse 14

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

Wait a second here. Let me read that again. (Re-read it)

Is James going against Paul? I can’t emphasize enough how much this seems to be saying the exact opposite of so many other verses in the Bible.

Is James contradicting Paul? Is James contradicting the Bible? Is James contradicting God Himself?

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to James 2, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

3:00 - James 2

6:15 - The Context of James

11:30 - Going Back to the Greek

17:00 - Next Time

20:00 - Closing Thoughts

If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com

Hosted by Luke Taylor

So we’re in this chapter called Ezekiel’s Greatest Hits. That’s my name for it. Ezekiel 33 recaps some of Ezekiel’s earlier lessons; in fact, some of my favorite lessons from earlier in the book. And today we’ll be looking at verses 10 through 20, which recap my favorite chapter of Ezekiel: chapter 18.

This is the chapter on personal responsibility. It was one of my most popular podcast episodes before, and it’s still getting a lot of play even today. If you heard the lesson on Ezekiel 18 before, don’t tune out, because even though this is recapping something we’ve already studied, I’m going to expand on it today.

A lot of people question how Ezekiel 18 fits in with the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, not of works. We’re going to talk about dispensationalism. We’re going to talk about Calvinism and God’s sovereignty. And if you listen until the end, we’re even going to talk about the difference in worldly sorrow and true repentance that Paul discusses in the New Testament.

So you’re gonna get a lot of good theology if you stick around today on the Cross References podcast.

0:00 - Introduction

2:30 - Javascript Bible

5:20 - v10-12, The Limits of Calvinism

13:35 - v12-13, The Limits of Dispensationlism

20:30 - Faith and Works

30:50 - Next Time

34:10 - v17-20, Worldly Sorrow vs Godly Sorrow (II Corinthians 7)

If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com

I am looking at changing this podcast's name to "The Book of Ezekiel: A Cross References Bible Study."

I hope you will agree that I have a good reason to make this change.

You are probably going to regret listening to today’s episode. I’m just gonna put that out there now.

Why do I say that? Do you ever learn something and you just kind of wish you didn’t know?

Like, I wish I didn’t know about germs. Sometimes I just really wish I didn’t know that there are these tiny little microscopic bacteria all over virtually everything and if you get too many of them you’ll get sick and feel yucky.

That sounds like pretty helpful information to know, except for the fact that I have this awareness at all times that I’m constantly surrounded by germs. I’m a bit of a germaphobe. I keep hand sanitizer in my car, on my desk at work, and sitting over here by me as I say these words at my desk at home.

Yes, it makes me feel better to have it. But I kinda wish sometimes I didn’t worry about germs as much as I do.

Well, there are things about spiritual reality that we don’t know and that we are perfectly happy not to know and yet that we should know. For example, whose responsibility is it when someone goes to hell? Is it just that person’s fault? Can another person be responsible for it? Can YOU be responsible for it?

The answer might make you a little uncomfortable. But, it’s something you need to know, and you’ll learn that answer today on the Cross References podcast.

0:00 - Introduction

4:50 - v1-9, The Burden of the Watchman

19:50 - A Note about the Future

23:50 - Closing Thoughts

If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com

Today, I'm just asking for prayer for the family of a friend of mine. Though my heart is heavy right now, I hope you all have a Happy Memorial Day :)