The revchristruelsen’s Podcast

The LORD is Salvation

Text for discussion: Matthew 1.  

In this season of Advent we look at the Gospel narratives surrounding the birth of Jesus.  

Hymn: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus (public domain) 

The painting: The Dream of Joseph by Rembrandt, 1645. (public domain)

Engraved on You

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 10.  

Just as God engraved his testimony on the tablets of stone, He writes his name on our hearts.  

 

Image: personal photo.  A slice of geode with John 3:16 written on it, by Chris Truelsen, 2025. 

Hymns: (all public domain) 

Amazing Grace. Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven. The Day Thou Gavest. When Peace, Like a River. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. We Praise You, O God. Savior, Again, to Thy Dear Name We Raise.  

Delivered from the Domain of Darkness

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 9.  

 

Egypt was a domain of slavery, darkness, false gods, and death.  God brought Israel into the Promised Land, driving out the people there in the Land of Canaan.  This was not by the peoples' own righteousness, but for the sake of His promises to Abraham, and His own faithfulness.  He gives us a better life as we put aside sin and selfishness and live a new life in Him.  

The engraving by Dore is of Moses and the Ten Commandments.  (public domain)

The hymn: Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me (public domain).  

God Stands in the Way, Revisited

Text for discussion: Numbers 22.  

We may seek to do well, but there are times when we stray from the will and ways of God, seeking our own way, not His.  

Sometimes God shows us something different, pulls us in a different direction.  But in some instances God keeps us from being our own worst enemy when we go astray, and God stands in the way.  (This is a replay from March 28 of this year).  

Hymn of the day: I Bind Unto Myself Today 

 the painting: Balaam's Ass, 1626.  Rembrandt.  Public domain.  

 

Heaven on Earth?

Deuteronomy 8.  

Since Eden, humanity has always sought to regain paradise lost.  What sinful humanity most often seems to want is paradise without God.  Moses reminds the Israelites that their entering into the Promised Land will not be by their own virtue, but because God keeps his promises, even ones made to their fathers, long dead.  

Yet, God is indeed the God of the living, and those who believe in Christ will have salvation and life in Him.  

Hymn of the day: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing 

Engraving: (subject is Moses with the Ten Commandments and the Israelites).  

The Ghosts of Sin

Text for Discussion: Deuteronomy 7.

 

The children of Israel were to drive the Canaanites and many other nations out of the Promised Land.  Their time was over.  Today, we have the choice between a virtuous society, or a wicked society, hell-bent.  Here I go into why it was necessary for Jesus to drive out demons in his own time.  Some of these things also tie into the phenomenon of "ghosts" today.  Many have claimed to have experienced strange things in various places.  What is the Christian (or anyone) to make of them?  

The hymns (all are public domain): A Mighty Fortress, My Soul Now Praise Your Maker, For All the Saints.

The engraving: Dore's image of Moses and the Ten Commandments.  

One Nation, Under God

Text for Discussion: Deuteronomy 6. 

 

To live under the true God both in Israel long ago, and today, is to live free, and to enjoy not only His guidance, but His provision.  He is the one who sustains the Creation, and in Him is life and salvation.  

 

Hymn: We Praise You, O God (Public domain).  

The photo: "The American Flag in the Sun" by Jay Cubby, Nov 2024.  [used with permission under the Creative Commons license of Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_flag_in_the_sun.jpg]

The Strong Name of God, Written on You, Revisited

 

Text of Discussion: Exodus 15

The defeat of Pharaoh is a "type" of things to come, where God shows us the mighty acts He will bring about.  Our sins are drowned, crucified with Christ, so that we live as God's victorious people.  

 

The hymn: I Bind Unto Myself Today

A public domain hymn.  

 

(This podcast was originally published for January 7, 2022)

Reupping the Covenant

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 5.  

As the Israelites prepared to move into the Promised Land Moses reiterated the Covenant of the Law given to them.  We call them the 10 Commandments, and they are foundational to society, yet at one point or another, everyone has broken them-sometimes carelessly and lightly.  Transgressing them was breaking the contract . . . .  What did that mean?  What did that entail?  

The hymn: Savior Again, To Thy Dear Name We Raise (public domain) 

The engraving: The engraving: by Gustave Dore - of Moses and the tablets of the Ten Commandments.  

Do Not Be Drawn Away

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 4.

Moses warns Israel not to be drawn away to following other gods, nor any creatures on the earth, nor the stars or celestial objects.  False worship goes back to Adam and Eve; it is rooted in the ego of Adam and Eve (the first version of humanism) or in a following after the old evil foe (the serpent).  

All the roads of false worship lead back there-Moses commends us to follow the true God; in Him is all that is good, life, and salvation! 

The hymn: I Bind Unto Myself Today.  (public domain).  

The engraving: by Gustave Dore - of Moses and the tablets of the Ten Commandments.