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Following Jesus by Learning and Living the Bible
Episodes
2 hours ago
2 hours ago
17 min
A Blessed Life Now, with More to Come | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 3
Ephesians 1:3-14 contains Paul's prayer of thanksgiving and praise for all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. By listening to it, we learn what Paul's idea of a blessed life is. We also see that what God has given us in Christ speaks deeply to our human longing for meaning and value and we learn that as blessed as we already are in Christ, there's still more to come. Praise God for all he has done for us and will do for us in the world to come.
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
Jul 9, 2026
Jul 9, 2026
23 min
How to Grow in Faith
A regular listener to The Listener's Commentary asked me this question: do you have any resources to help me grow in faith? Or have you discussed it on the Bible in Life podcast? This is such an important question, so I wanted to offer a few thoughts on this episode.
Faith is confidence in and loyalty to God. It is based on who God is, what he has said, and what he has promised.
Faith is also developmental. That is, growing in faith goes through stages just like physical growth does: from infancy, to childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. We need to recognize this. And in this episode I share a few general things we can do in order to grow in faith through these seasons.
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
Jul 2, 2026
Jul 2, 2026
18 min
Living In Christ | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 2
Ephesians 1:3-14
In Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul praises God for all that He has done for us in Christ. He refers to it as "every spiritual blessing." In doing so, he highlights that our life as Christians is lived "in Christ." In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we reflect what it means to live an in Christ life and offer three suggestions for cultivating ongoing union with Jesus.
Book Recommendation: How to Live an 'In Christ' Life: 100 Devotional Readings on Union with Christ, by Kenneth Berding.
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
*Book links are affiliate links which means I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Jun 25, 2026
Jun 25, 2026
13 min
Learning Theology Must Lead to Lived Theology | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 1
In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we begin a reflective walk through Ephesians by reflecting on what the structure of Ephesians teaches us about the relationship between theology and practical life.
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
Jun 18, 2026
Jun 18, 2026
15 min
Following Jesus is Not Complicated
The Lord has been reminding me again of late that following Jesus isn’t really complicated. It’s not easy... that's true. But it’s also not confusing and complicated. I think part of the reason this has struck me of late is because of all the books and all the podcasts and all the content I encounter that it seems like we’re muddying the waters and making following Jesus seem really complicated and confusing.
But it’s ultimately not.
So sometimes I think it's helpful to step back and boil things down to the essence of the thing. So in this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, I offer a simple summary of what following Jesus actually entails. It comes down to devotion and obedience. Cultivate devotion. Practice obedience.
Jesus brings these two together in John 14 and 15.
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
Jun 11, 2026
Jun 11, 2026
49 min
Giving People a Chance to Love the Bible, with special guest Matt Whitman
This episode of the Bible in Life podcast features special guest Matt Whitman of the Ten Minute Bible Hour. In a free wheeling conversation, Matt and I talk about the church and ministry and teaching people the Bible.
And Matt's new book The Lightning-Fast Field Guide to the Bible (which you can find here).
All of this deals with taking the time and making the effort to teach the Bible in such that helps people love the Bible.
You can find Matt on YouTube at youtube.com/@MattWhitmanTMBH and youtube.com/@TenMinuteBibleHour
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
Jun 4, 2026
Jun 4, 2026
22 min
What was it like to be a Jew in Jesus' day? | Real World of the Gospels, pt.
In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we wrap up our series on the real world of the gospels by exploring a few key features of Jewish belief and practice in Jesus' day. Their religious identity gave them a strong social identity. Things like circumcision, clean and unclean foods, and ritual purity marked them out as distinct.
Not only that, but Jews in the first century knew their story was incomplete. They were longing and waiting for God to act and restore the fortunes of Israel.
And in that context, along comes a young, upstart rabbi saying, "Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
May 28, 2026
May 28, 2026
22 min
Money, Finance, and Making a Living in Jesus' Day | Real World of the Gospels, pt. 5
What's a denarius? What's a drachma? What's a talent? How did people people make a living and what was the local economy like in Jesus' day?
In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we look at the world of money, finance, and making a living the gospels. This episode was inspired by a question emailed in from a listener.
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
May 21, 2026
May 21, 2026
22 min
Where in the world was Jesus? - Geography | World of the Gospels, pt. 4
Reading the Bible is like taking a trip to a foreign country in a time machine. And one of the things that means is that, whether we like it or not, we're going to have to learn some geography.
So in this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we consider the basic geography for the life and ministry of Jesus.
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.
May 14, 2026
May 14, 2026
27 min
Were the Pharisees really the bad guys?
Who were the Pharisees? Ask that question in a Bible study at pretty much any church and you’re likely to hear answers like:
“Hypocrites.”
“Legalists”
“Self-righteous religious leaders who opposed Jesus.”
In short, the Pharisees are the “bad guys.”
In Christian circles to describe someone as a “pharisee” is no compliment. It’s usually a way of criticizing them for being self-righteous and legalistic.
But all of this paints a caricature of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. So, who were the Pharisees, really?
Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:
Support this ministry:
Set up a recurring monthly or a one-time donation at the link below.
http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/
The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:
https://www.listenerscommentary.com
Connect with John:
Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram
Email - john@johnwhittaker.net
If you've been helped by this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, X, via email.