In this special episode, host Dave Lester preaches a sermon on Revelation 3:7-13 (the church of Philadelphia) walking through the passage and reminding listeners that Jesus holds the key of David and is the exclusive One that can open and close the door.

Church website: https://ckpres.org/

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Author Liz Charlotte Grant joins the podcast to discuss the account of Hagar in Genesis 16. We dive deep into Hagar's abuse at the hands of Abram and Sarai, her fleeing into the desert and her encounter with the Angel of the Lord. Liz Charlotte Grant also talks about her debut book "Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis After Losing Faith in the Bible".

Get a copy of Liz Charlotte Grant's book "Knock at the Sky" right here: https://www.amazon.com/Knock-Sky-Seeking-Genesis-Losing/dp/0802883753

Read the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy right here: https://reformation.net/uploads/1/1/7/6/117618790/the_chicago_statement_on_biblical_inerrancy.pdf

Read Liz Charlotte Grant's perspective on the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy right here: https://www.christiancentury.org/features/certainty-summit

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*The New International Commentary: The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis After Losing Faith in the Bible" by Liz Charlotte Grant

*Reading Genesis by Marilynn Robinson

*Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda Gafney

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Reuben Lester returns! Host Dave Lester and his son talk about Christmas memories, their favorites Christmas songs and movies and the birth of Jesus. They read from the Gospel of Matthew and Luke.

Sources used for this Episode:

*The NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers. Published by ZonderKidz

Opening Music: Holly Jolly Christmas by Burt Ives

Other Music Used: He Shall Reign Forevermore by Matt Maher (from the album: The Advent of Christmas)

This is a sermon host Dave Lester preached at Central Valley Presbyterian Church on November 23rd, 2025. He speaks on the closing credits of Philippians 4:10-20 including the Apostle Paul's contentment in all circumstances and his statement about how believers can do all things through Him who strengthens us- a profound verse that has been abused.

Website for the church: https://ckpres.org/

Sources used for this message:

*The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Paul's Letter to the Philippians By Gordon D. Fee

*St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians by JB Lightfoot

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament By Craig S Keener

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Host Dave Lester and his friend Mike Mason are joined by Laura Pugh- a wife, a mother, a teacher and an advocate for the least of these- to talk about Genesis 15:12-21. The first half of Genesis 15 involved a beautiful vision of Abram's descendants being as numerous as the night time sky. Now comes a disturbing prophetic dream of Abram's descendants being enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. On this episode, we talk slavery, the problem of suffering, views of the afterlife, ancestors and more.

Sources for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The JPS Torah Commentary by Dr. Nahum Sarna

*Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife by Bart Ehrman

*"Who Were the Kenites in the Bible?" Biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/q/who_were_the_kenites_in_the_bible.htm

*"Kenizzites" Biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/topical/k/kenizzites.htm

*"Kadmonites" Biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/topical/k/kadmonites.htm

*Hittites" Biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/topical/naves/h/hittites--the_descendants_of_heth.htm

*"Who Were the Rephaites?" Gotquestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/Rephaim.html

*"Amorites" wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorites

*"Who Were the Canaanites and Why Did God Order Their Destruction?" by Mike Leake. biblestudytools.com. https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/who-were-the-canaanites-and-why-did-god-order-their-destruction.html

*"Who Were the Girgashites in the Bible?" biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/q/who_were_the_girgashites_in_the_bible.htm

*"Who Were the Jebusites in the Bible?" biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/q/who_were_the_jebusites_in_the_bible.htm

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Dave Lester is joined by authors Billie Hoard (a previous guest on the "Drunk and Naked Noah" episode) and Dr. Paul Hoard (his literal neighbor down the street) to chat about their new book: "Eucontamination: Digust Theology and the Christian Life". The book is an intersection between theological and psychological ideas and is super fascinating, contains many CS Lewis quotes and contains relevant challenges for the church in our present age. We also relate a recent news story involving Rev David Black being shot in the face with a pepper ball while protesting the government's treatment of immigrants to disgust theology and eucontamination.

**Buy the book "Eucontamination: Disgust Theology and the Christian Life" right here: https://wipfandstock.com/9798385213726/eucontamination/

References for this episode:

*Read Dr. Paul Hoard's Substack: https://paulhoard.substack.com/

*Read Billie Hoard's Substack: https://substack.com/@billieiswriting

*"Freud's Last Session: Finding the Other in the Question of God" by Dr. Paul R. Hoard and Billie Hoard. The Other Journal. https://theotherjournal.com/2024/04/freuds-last-session/

**The Integrative Mindset by Brad D. Strawn and Earl D. Bland. https://www.amazon.com/Integrative-Mindset-Practicing-Association-Psychological/dp/1514002205

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong

Host Dave Lester talks about the horrific murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. He also plays Charlie Kirk's ugly comments regarding race, DEI, affirmative action and more that have been called out by many people including the black community and black pastors. Analysis is offered regarding those comments. Furthermore, Dave discusses Kirk's comments about Taylor Swift's engagement and Kirk's surprising comments on the Tucker Carlson Show about Gen Z and economics.

Sources Used For This Episode:

**"Is Hate Speech Free Speech? What to Know After Charlie Kirk's Death?" by Angele Latham. msn.com. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/is-hate-speech-free-speech-what-to-know-after-charlie-kirks-death/ar-AA1MPeOx?ocid=BingNewsSerp

**"Eric Metaxes Answers Hard Questions About the Murder of Charlie Kirk" Real Talk with Marissa Streit. https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=eric+metaxes+answers+hard+questions+the+murder+of+charlie+kirk&mid=243CFC256AC15541970F243CFC256AC15541970F&FORM=VIRE&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

**"Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Finds Its Lost Cause" by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/charlie-kirk-ezra-klein-tanehisi-coates

**"Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps Vs Drawing Lines". The Ezra Klein Show. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-ta-nehisi-coates.html

**"Charlie Kirk: Black Crime is a Major Issue in Our Country" Media Matters. https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-black-crime-major-issue-our-country

**"Charlie Kirk: Affirmative Action Does Not Address the 'Real Problem' of 'Black Crime' and Black Fathers abandoning Their Children". Media Matters. https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-affirmative-action-does-not-address-real-problem-black-crime-and-black

**Charlie Kirk goes on Unhinged Racist Rant: 'Prowling Blacks Go Around For Fun to Go Target White People- That's a Fact." Media Matters. https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-goes-unhinged-racist-rant-prowling-blacks-go-around-fun-go-target-white

**"Charlie Kirk: 'If I See a Black Pilot, I'm going to be Like, 'Boy, I Hope he's Qualifed'" Meidas News. https://meidasnews.com/news/charlie-kirk-if-i-see-a-black-pilot-im-going-to-be-like-boy-i-hope-hes-qualified

**"Right Wing Pundit Charlie Kirk Claims Taylor Swift's engagement Travis Kelce is a sign she'll Become Conservative". The Independent-UK. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/charlie-kirk-taylor-swift-travis-kelce-engagement-b2814724.html

**"Charlie Kirk : How Debt Has Radicalized Young Americans" The Tucker Carlson Show. https://tuckercarlson.com/tucker-show-charlie-kirk-2025

**"I Forgive Him- Erika Kirk on Alleged Shooter of her Husband Charlie Kirk." https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=erika+kirk+I+forgive+him&mid=EE8F196A2DD5C821EEE6EE8F196A2DD5C821EEE6&FORM=VIRE&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

**"Black Clergy and Christians Grapple with Charlie Kirk’s Legacy" by Haleluya Hadero Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/black-clergy-and-christians-grapple-with-charlie-kirks-legacy/

**"If You Are Elevating Charlie Kirk, Consider Who You Are Crushing Underfoot" by Nijay K Gupta. https://nijaykgupta.substack.com/p/if-you-are-elevating-charlie-kirk?fbclid=IwY2xjawM_6_xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHsbgWctGNDZw8jKmHsK4RSaVTLT98Nbn0zy7b1DV8g6wv4L8Bga_iiinCL40_aem_wMsCyjml22syZZN7ud3vSQ

**"Proof Charlie Kirk Is Not a Racist" The Official Tatum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlv7YljaUPE

**"The Myth of Low Income Black Father's Absence From the Lives of Adolescents". By Jay Fagan. Future of Families & Child Well-Being Study

Host Dave Lester is joined again by long time friend, Mike Mason, to discuss Genesis chapter 15:1-11. We chat about Abram challenging God over his childless status. Then God makes a huge promise to Abram while ushering him outside on a clear night. The promise: Abram's descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Also talked about his acts of faith producing declarations of righteousness and the strange ritual of cutting animals in half and birds of prey being chased off.

Sources used for this episode:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis by Dr. John Walton

*Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 by Gordon J. Wenham

*The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas

*The New International Commentary: The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton

*The JPS Torah Commentary by Dr. Nahum Sarna

*Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda C. Gafney

Opening Music: Struttin With Some Barbeque by Louis Armstrong