Episodes
Monday Sep 19, 2022
How Does God Feel About Me When I Screw Up?
Monday Sep 19, 2022
Monday Sep 19, 2022
This is Episode 92 of the Jesus Society Podcast, and today, I want to talk about how God views us when we screw up. My sense, after talking to lots and lots of people, is that many, many people still imagine — even in this age where we all supposedly understand grace — that God is still peering down at us over the bridge of his spectacles, largely disappointed with how we’re living up to his standards, and wishing we’d all just try a little harder and do a bit better.
So I have some things to say about all that. Join me today as we discuss:
1. The scope of the problem - mired in guilt, fear, and shame.
2. The sources of our guilt, fear, and shame.
3. How God really sees us.
4. Learning to see God as he really is (and not who we think he is). HINT - It's all about Jesus.
5. Two stories illustrating how Jesus dealt with people who screwed up.
6. How God describes himself.
7. Understanding the complicated issue of sin.
8. Sinner or Slave? It makes a huge difference!
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
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Monday Aug 08, 2022
What Happens When We Die -- Part 3: Hell and Final Judgment
Monday Aug 08, 2022
Monday Aug 08, 2022
Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We’ve talked about purgatory, and we’ve talked about paradise. Today I want to address the most difficult piece of this — hell.
And as I've said in each of the previous episodes in this series, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death.
So join me today as we discuss:
1. Why the way we've been taught to read the Bible isn't always helpful in topics such as this.
2. Where our modern idea of "hell" comes from.
3. Homer and Hades
4. Hell & the place called Gehenna
5. What Jesus was actually talking about (and that his hearers understood) when he talked about Gehenna.
6. What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?
7. How the evils of the 20th century have impacted our ideas of final judgment.
8. Three important New Testament affirmations about evil.
9. The long-term, dehumanizing results of a life spent in opposition to God.
10. The three traditional views of what final judgment might actually look like, and why each of them has significant problems.
11. Could a loving God actually torture people forever?
12. Another intriguing theory, that takes seriously all the biblical passages, and solves more problems than it creates.
13. A final reminder that the gospel message is one of absolute hope, rescue, and restoration.
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
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Resources for Today’s Show:
1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
What Happens When We Die -- Part 2: Paradise
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
This is Episode 90 of the Jesus Society Podcast. Only ten more till we hit 100!!
Today we’re going to continue talking about what happens when we die. We talked last week about the concept of purgatory, which I definitely don’t believe in, and I laid out why last week. Today I want to talk about a word we don’t talk nearly enough about — paradise.
As I said last week, and which I’ll probably say again next week, it’s important that we get our thinking straight on all this, at least so we can quit worrying about what happens after death start paying a little more attention to what we do before death.
So join me today as we discuss:
1. Restful happiness in the presence of Jesus.
2. Paradise or heaven???
3. The three passages in the New Testament where paradise is spoken of.
4. Wait . . . THREE heavens???
5. How the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses the word paradise.
6. But aren't we "citizens of heaven?"
7. And what about the "many mansions" Jesus says are in his Father's house?
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
_______________________
Resources for Today’s Show:
1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
Monday Jul 18, 2022
What Happens When We Die -- Part 1: The Problem With Purgatory
Monday Jul 18, 2022
Monday Jul 18, 2022
This is Episode 89 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today I’m going to start a brief series talking about what happens when we die. Because I find that life after death tends to occupy an inordinately large place in our thinking. In fact, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most Christian mission tends to be largely focused on making sure someone goes to heaven when they die.
Frankly, I think a Christianity focused on what happens after death is a misguided focus. But nonetheless, there are things we can say (and should say) about what happens after death, and so we’re going to spend the next few weeks sorting through some of those ideas.
So join me today as we discuss:
1. When did the idea of purgatory develop?
2. What's the basic idea of purgatory?
3. Why purgatory has become somewhat popular among universalists.
4. How some notable and influential Roman Catholic theologians have significantly walked-back their stance on purgatory.
5. Is there any biblical support for the idea of different categories of Christians after death?
6. How Paul's picture of redemption leaves no room for the idea of purgatory.
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
_______________________
Resources for Today’s Show:
1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_4DQ4CKBNJ3YRG44TN6NT)
Monday Jul 11, 2022
Following Jesus in the 21st Century -- Part 9: Self-Giving Love
Monday Jul 11, 2022
Monday Jul 11, 2022
This is Episode 88 of the Jesus Society Podcast. Today, we’re going to conclude our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, looking at the importance and practice of love, particularly as we think about extending that love outward to the watching world.
I hope you'll join me today as we discuss:
1. Following Jesus in Love
2. Does love compel or invite?
3. Chasing a rabbit -- repentance
4. How love advances the kingdom
5. How the early church lived out Jesus' victory of love, and how that advanced the kingdom
6. Caring for those who need care.
7. Love means meeting urgent needs.
8. You are God's masterpiece.
9. And much, much more . . . .
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And with that, I want to thank you for joining us today. I hope you’ll join us again next week.
As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
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Resources for Today’s Show:
1. My Song is Love Unknown #202 (https://youtu.be/UCTb1id2GnI)
2. Bruce W. Longenecker, “Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco-Roman World” (Eerdmans, 2010) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802863736/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_2C0BNJN0Z8RMREYCQZSB?
Monday Jul 04, 2022
Following Jesus in the 21st Century -- Part 8: By This Everyone Will Know
Monday Jul 04, 2022
Monday Jul 04, 2022
This is Episode 87 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today, we’re going to continue our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, looking at the importance and practice of love.
So join me today as we discuss:
- First Corinthians 13 — the love passage to end all love passages.
- How the list of love qualities in 1 Cor. 13:4-8 must be taken together; it’s a package deal.
- Understanding how agape came to be THE word to define Christian love.
- Love just isn't easy to cultivate.
- Is love a rule, a principle, a calculated tactic, or a virtue?
- Love as the language of God's future world, the music they make in God's courts.
- John 13:35 and one of the greatest challenges we Christians face in living the love of God in our world, and how utterly important that we get this fixed.
- A urgent plea to loving Christian unity.
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
_______________________
Monday Jun 27, 2022
Following Jesus in the 21st Century -- Part 7: Learning to Love
Monday Jun 27, 2022
Monday Jun 27, 2022
This is Episode 86 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And with coffee firmly and lovingly embraced in my hands, we’re going to continue our series on Following Jesus in the 21st century, and in particular, our look at the importance and practice of love.
1. Last week we talked about the importance of learning to live both in, and from, the love of God.
2. We simply cannot give what we do not have, and loving others always grows out of and is fueled and energized by the experience and reality of God’s own love for us.
Today I want to talk a bit about how we actually learn to love. How we grow and cultivate the habits of heart and mind that allow us to generously and freely love others.
And what I mean by loving “generously and freely” is learning to love in a way that is not governed by a need for that love to be reciprocated. Because a lot of our love is selfish in that way; in other words, we love so that we will be loved. And of course, that's worlds apart from the New Testament’s assertion that “we love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
So, how do we cultivate the capacity for generous, self-giving love in our lives? That's what we're going to try and sort out today.
Join us as we discuss:
1. How temple imagery forms the backdrop for our understanding of both God's self-giving love, and his call for us to extend that love to the rest of creation.
2. The problem with the word "love."
3. The challenge and difficulty of learning to love.
4. The place of authenticity and spontaneity in loving.
5. The concept of practicing loving.
6. Inheriting the family business of God our Father, and our apprenticeship in that business.
7. How the books of Colossians and especially Ephesians are really helpful in showing us how to develop the habits of heart and mind from which love can flow naturally.
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
_______________________
Resources for Today’s Show:
1. John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, 2009 (https://www.amazon.com/Lost-World-Genesis-One-Cosmology/dp/0830837043/ref=sr_1_1?)
2. Following Jesus in the 21st Century — Part 3: The Victory of the Cross (The Jesus Society Podcast, Episode 82, available at https://thejesussociety.com/2022/03/14/following-jesus-in-the-21st-century-part-3/)
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Following Jesus in the 21st Century -- Part 6: Living Loved
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Monday Jun 20, 2022
This is Episode 85 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And continuing our conversation about following Jesus in the 21st century, I want to shift gears and start talking about loving like Jesus. And we’re gonna be camped out on this theme of love over the next 3-4 episodes.
What does it mean to love like Jesus? Well, at one level, it’s pretty obvious — Jesus himself said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: that you lay down your life for your friends.”
Delightfully, most of us aren’t asked to do that — at least not literally. Although we are, I think, asked to do that in principle. Because that’s what Jesus says love is all about.
And so what I want to do over the next 3-4 episodes is help us think a little bit about the love we see in Jesus, and the way in which that gets worked out in two specific areas:
1. In our love for one another in the Christian community of believers.
2. And in the way we show God’s love to the wider world.
Those are not the same thing, and yet both of those are difficult and challenging. But my goal is to try and offer you a picture of what that kind of love looks like. And that, I think, at least makes me want to press into doing that with more resolve and purpose.
So today we're going to introduce some foundational concepts that we'll build on over the next few weeks, primarily from the Gospel of John. I hope you enjoy this conversation.
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
_______________________
Monday Apr 11, 2022
Following Jesus in the 21st Century -- Part 5: Resurrection, Hope, & Purpose
Monday Apr 11, 2022
Monday Apr 11, 2022
This is Episode 84 of The Jesus Society Podcast.
For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, this is a significant time of year because at this time of year, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. And because this coming Sunday is Resurrection Sunday — Easter — I want to talk again about the resurrection of Jesus.
Join me today as we discuss:
1. Putting yourself in the story of Jesus' resurrection.
2. Between Friday and Sunday: The disappointment, uncertainty, fear, despair, and hopelessness of the earliest Christians.
3. How the resurrection is THE sign that God is doing something new in the world.
4. How Jesus' resurrection restores and fuels hope.
5. Becoming Resurrection People.
6. Living new-creation lives in an old world.
7. Some signposts of the New Creation.
The resurrection is more than just a doctrine. It's an event and a person. With the resurrection of Jesus, a new day had dawned in the world.
Karl Rahner, in his book Everyday Faith, says that “Easter is not the celebration of a past event. The alleluia is not for what was; Easter proclaims a beginning that has already decided the remotest future. The Resurrection means that the beginning of glory has already started.”
And that means that God’s good world, including human beings, spoiled by hostile and destructive forces, is now going to be remade. And it started when Jesus walked out of that tomb.
Evil and darkness and despair do not have the last word. The last word is resurrection!!
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
_______________________
Resources for Today’s Show:
1. Justice in the Kingdom of God (https://thejesussociety.com/2020/06/20/justice-in-the-kingdom-of-god/)
Monday Apr 04, 2022
Monday Apr 04, 2022
This is Episode 83 of the Jesus Society Podcast. And today we come now to the most important event in Christianity — the resurrection of Jesus.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead stands as the central, defining feature of the Christian hope. Paul says that very clearly in 1 Corinthians 15, which is the most thorough explanation of the resurrection in the Bible. He says:
1. If Christ has not been raised, then our message is in vain, and so is our faith (v. 14).
2. If Christ has not been raised, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Jesus (v. 15).
3. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is worthless; and we are still in our sins (v. 17).
4. If Christ has not been raised, those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished (v. 18). In other words, there’s no future hope for them.
But the point is that there’s a lot hanging on the resurrection. It’s been said that if you take away the stories of Jesus’ birth from the Bible, you lose a few chapters, but really nothing else. But if you strip away the resurrection, you lose most of the New Testament, which hangs on it, and Christianity itself crumbles. It’s that important.
What I want to try and sketch out today is how the resurrection of Jesus became the central, defining feature of Christianity. What did the earliest Christians believe happened at the resurrection? What did it mean to them? Because whatever it meant fueled and drove the earliest Christian communities to transform their world.
It made them confident and fearless in the face of hostile and powerful opposition. And it made them unyielding carriers of love and healing and redemption into the world around them. They cared for the sick, provided for the poor, and took care of the weak. It inspired them to live lives of holiness in a way that was utterly unknown to the world around them. And they created a unity among themselves that was without parallel.
And all of that was fueled by what they believed happened in that tomb on that first Easter morning.
So what on earth did they believe happened at the resurrection? What did it mean to them? To understand that, we need to go back to the Bible and lay some groundwork.
Join me today as we discuss:
1. The hope of God's great new world.
2. Total destruction or the renewal of everything?
3. How Jesus' resurrection was God's first act of new creation.
4. How Jesus' resurrection gives us both hope and a new vocation.
5. How only the bodily resurrection of Jesus explains the rise and resolve and hope and mission of the early church.
The resurrection of Jesus signaled that a new day had dawned. God was at last beginning to heal and renew the world with wise, generous, redemptive love. And as Christians, Jesus expects us to carry on with that vocation.
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As always, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our website — https://thejesussociety.com/.
You can also find episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you’ll find us.
And, if you’d like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/).
Thanks for listening!
And remember, you are greatly loved.
Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music
_______________________
Resources for Today’s Show:
1. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (HarperOne, 2008) — https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission-Hardcover/dp/B00DWWBL24/ref=monarch_sidesheet.
2. John Eldredge, All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You Love (Thomas Nelson, 2018) — https://www.amazon.com/All-Things-New-Restoration-Everything/dp/1400207525/ref=sr_1_1?