Author: Bob Beltz

Greetings to all you prodigals out there.  You know who you are.  In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders criticized Jesus for being a friend to the renegades, sinners, and prodigals.  Of course, the truth is, we are all prodigals.  The Pharisees, Scribes, and Priests did get it.  They also didn’t get that God loves prodigals.  Their image of who God is… Continue reading The Loving Father

Some of you probably remember the line from a Paul Simon song, “Yesterday it was my birthday. I hung one more year on the line.”  Well…yesterday it was my birthday. I hung one more year on the line.  I’m getting really old!  I also spent the morning filming Session #22 of The Story of Jesus .  In this session we follow… Continue reading Life After Death

In Session #21 of The Story of Jesus we will look at one of my favorite encounters in the life of Jesus.  He has traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  While there he is teaching in the Temple courts very early one morning.  While teaching, a group of Scribes and Pharisees drag a woman before him who has… Continue reading Caught in the Act

Welcome back to The Story of Jesus.  We are at the point in Jesus’s ministry where he heads back to Capernaum after teaching The Sermon on the Mount.  Upon approaching the outskirts of the town he is approached by a group of elders from Capernaum who ask Jesus to heal the servant of a Roman Centurion.  I will use… Continue reading Jesus the Healer

When you imagine Jesus, what does he look like to you?  Do you see him as a first century Jewish man of modest means dressed in first century workman’s clothing?  This is how Jesus appeared during the time of his incarnation.  But that is not what Jesus is like now.  Other than John’s vision in Revelation, (which… Continue reading The Real Jesus

Guess who’s coming to dinner?  In Session 19 of The Story of Jesus, Jesus is invited to dinner by a Pharisee.  When the meal is over the Pharisee probably wonders what just happened.  After being scrutinized for not ceremonially washing his hands, Jesus unloads on both the Pharisees and Scribes.  Using the prophetic “Woe!” formula he confronts six issues where… Continue reading Jesus Blasts the Pharisees

Jesus performed miracles.  In Session 18, I am going to take a classic miracle and help you understand a bit about miracles and what purpose Jesus had in mind when he performed one.  In the flow of the narrative, John the Baptist gets beheaded by Herod Antipas.  Jesus responds by taking his twelve disciples for a time of… Continue reading Miracles

Greetings to all!  I wanted to send a quick update as we move into September and get ready to get back to our study of The Story of Jesus.  My hope is to teach Session #16 the week of September 12.  I will tape the study that Monday and it will be available on YouTube by Tuesday (unless something… Continue reading The Story of Jesus

The Sermon on the Mount, pt. 2 First, let me say Jesus is going to take a vacation.  Actually, I am going to take a break after this week in our study till the Fall.  So many of you are traveling and engaged in other summer activities that the number of those watching the videos has dropped… Continue reading The Sermon on the Mount, pt. 2

The Sermon on the Mount Just a reminder that if you missed this week’s session of The Story of Jesus here is the link to the video.  I taught through the first four beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.  Next week we are going to look at how Jesus taught the disciples to pray.   Link: https://youtu.be/6mTKcf7RoTA