Dewey Bertolini's Podcast

Sometimes things really are as simple as they seem. This will certainly be true in this PODCAST, as we discuss together one of Jesus’ most remarkable statements.   We could use a whole series of words to describe what Jesus said, all of which begin with the letter “S.”   His message was surprising, as Jesus will say something that sounds totally out of character for Him.   His message was sobering, as His words contain a warning that, as you will hear, went completely unnoticed.   His message was simple; in fact, you could boil down all that He said in this powerful passage to one simple word. One word that truly is the Gospel in miniature.   Leave it to Jesus to take what we make so complicated and turn it into something so simple.   Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     From my heart to yours, HAPPY LISTENING!!!

When we last left our old friend, John the Baptizer, his faith was in a free-fall.   He was here last week, sort of, to tell you his scintillating story in his own words. (If you have not heard that PODCAST, may I respectfully request that you listen? A story that I promise you, you will never forget.)   Think of it. John… The man whose coming was predicted by the prophets… Whose birth was foretold by an angel… Who identified and introduced Jesus to the world…   John the Baptizer didn’t believe in Jesus any more.   His situation was dire, languishing as he was in Antipas’ Dead-Sea-Side prison (on Eastern side of Dead Sea), his life literally dangling by a thread. The madman Antipas holding in his bloodstained hands the frayed ends of that thread...   Tormented, no doubt John was, by the unobstructed view he had of his boyhood home. directly across the Dead Sea on its Western shore, adopted and raised as John was by Essenes of Qumran…    John had to have THE answer to his doubt-fueled, double-edged question, a

John the Baptizer is, by his own admission, a walking contradiction. As you will hear in this PODCAST, he had a remarkable beginning, and yet a dismal crash and burn.   In a word, his faith in Jesus COLLAPSED, completely.   His is quite the story to tell. But as you will hear me say, it is John’s story to tell, not mine.   So, if you can employ a little sanctified imagination, I will do my best to be true to John’s story, and respectful of John’s memory, as I sort of try to “become” (if I can put it that way) John the Baptizer.   Please remember that depending upon your connection speed and web browser, it may take up to 60 seconds for the podcast to begin to play.     HAPPY LISTENING.

It happened in the no-nothing little town called Nain.   Why there? Why to that woman? What was the point?   And most importantly, as you will learn in the PODCAST, what does this teach us about the nature, character, and heart of God? His heart towards me. More significantly, His heart towards YOU!   Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     HAPPY LISTENING!

In so many of our past podcasts in our Jesus in HD study, we have examined many of the things that Jesus did.    In this PODCAST, we will take a good long look at something Jesus NEVER did.   WWJND? What Would Jesus NEVER Do? Certainly not this!!! Jesus NEVER did this. When you discover what He never did, you’ll be so eternally grateful that He never did. And never will. Not to you. Not to anyone.   And because He never did this, we love Him, and admire Him, and aspire to be like Him all the more.   You will find this to be so endearing a study that I cannot wait for you to get into it.   Please remember that depending upon your connection speed and web browser, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     HAPPY LISTENING!

Jesus was a master-builder, a trained and professional artisan, a teknon, a worker in wood and stone. As you will hear in this PODCAST, Jesus knew all about soil, sand, rock, and proper foundations on which a house can stand strong and secure against floods and winds. So the question becomes, on what foundation are you and I building our lives? Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it might take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play. HAPPY LISTENING!!!

They say that confession is good for the soul. So here goes: I confess that I'm feeling terribly conflicted about the passage we discuss in this PODCAST. On the one hand, this is as sober and serious as it gets, Jesus' climax to His signature sermon. Yet on the other hand, I find myself strangely comforted by His words. Comforted because they explain SO MUCH of what we see done today in Jesus' name. If you know of anyone who has some mental obstacles to understanding who Jesus is, THIS is the message for them to hear. Please remember that depending upon your connection speed and web browser, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play. God bless you as you listen.

The Apostle Paul died a very troubled man. As did Peter. As did John. As did Jude. Know why? They shared the same concern.   The identically same concern that Jesus addressed rather pointedly here in this PODCAST.   Rather than speak for Apostles Paul, Peter, John, and Pastor Jude, I’ll let them speak for themselves. And as you hear them, please know that they are speaking to us.   Please note that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.   If it is a blessing, PLEASE “Share” with all of your friends.     God bless you as you listen.

Sometimes things really are as simple as they sound.    As you will hear in this PODCAST, this little truism was never more true than it is of Jesus’ words here at the tail end of the Sermon on the Mount.   And believe it or not, Jesus swerved right into the middle of what has become a tragic distortion of our beliefs, especially among a younger generation of pastors and the churches that they lead.   It’s time for us to recalibrate our theology, in order for our beliefs to fall in line with what Jesus taught.   Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it might take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     HAPPY LISTENING!

My friends, get ready to grow some goosebumps as you listen to this PODCAST.   Consider this your very own personalized tour, with me as your humble tour guide, as together we travel the storied streets of the Via Dolorosa. A short walk riddled with “Ah Ha” moments, too many to count!   Enjoy.   Please note that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     Thank you for listening. God bless you as you do!

I am away from my beloved Safe Haven family, helping to lead another Study Tour in Israel.   While I am away, please enjoy this Encore PODCAST.   The cards were unfairly stacked against her. By anyone’s definition, she was a total loser. This woman was by anyone’s standard the quintessential poster-child of the societal outcast.   She lived on the fringes, neglected, or even worse, forgotten by everyone.   Forgotten by everyone, that is, but Jesus.   This one encounter, between Jesus and this notorious woman, changed her life forever.   It might just change yours.   Please note that with some web browsers, it might take up to 60 seconds for the podcast to begin to play.

It is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite spot in all of Israel. Which, given my love for the land and its people, is quite a remarkable statement.   In this PODCAST, you will hear where it is, and why it is.   Here’s a clue: It’s the Apostle Peter’s favorite spot too.   Please remember that depending upon your connection speed and web browser, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     HAPPY LISTENING, and please “Share” this podcast with your family and friends.

Welcome to a Passover Seder. In this PODCAST, we will give you an overview of this blessed event, celebrated by our Jewish friends all around the world.   In this presentation, we will place a particular emphasis on the many pictures of Jesus painted through the symbols, blessings, foods, and other traditions included in a Passover Seder.   Nothing could be more appropriate for our consideration, especially during this time of year.   This presentation was recorded on Good Friday night. You will be amazed at the clarity, the high definition, in which these images of Jesus emerge throughout this celebration.   Please note that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     God bless you as you listen. Please “Share” the link to this podcast with your family and friends.

Let me begin this PODCAST with a little bit of Bible trivia. Fun little factoids to tickle your fancy:   You may know that there are 66 books in the Bible.   But did you know that there are 1189 chapters and a grand total of 31,102 verses (KJV)?    Well, on the surface, these #’s might make it seem like a daunting task to even begin to understand Bible.   I mean, where do you start?   Well, my friends. That’s why I am here. Think of me as the lubricant that makes the machinery of your life run smooth.   Lest you find those #’s to be somewhat dispiriting, what if I told you that we could summarize the entire Bible in only 3 verses? 3 verses that tell the tale?   Want to know what they are?    Please note that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it might take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.     HAPPY LISTENING!

Welcome in this PODCAST to one of the most ignored and blatantly disobeyed passages in all of Bible to the needless/unspeakable hurt of so many of us.   May I tonight bare my soul as Jesus bared His?   Believe it or not, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed what was then, what is today, an all-too-common spiritual practice of unconscionable spiritual abuses. Abuses that were taking place in so many of the synagogues of Jesus’ day, and in so many churches today.   For the sake of our souls, we MUST understand what Spiritual is, why it happens, whether or not it is or has happened to us, and how to guard against it.   Honestly, if people would simply take Jesus’ words to heart, that in and of itself would absolutely transform our Christian experiences #For.The.Better. And frankly, it’s not that hard to do.   Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed it may take up to 60 seconds for the podcast to begin to play.   If it is a blessing, PLEASE “Share” this podcast link with a

You talk about a passage that hits us right where we live. This is it. You’re about to hear one explained in this PODCAST!    The operative word in this passage? Jesus said it three times: “Worry!” As in, “Do not worry!”   I can even summarize Jesus’ message even more concisely than that. How about just one word? “Relax.”   Jesus assured the precious people on that hillside that day (and us!) that when it comes to the pressures and problems of life, they and we CAN Relax! As if to say, “I’ve got your back. I’ve got it covered. I can handle it. I will handle it.”   His message, as explained in this podcast, reverberates with a blazing bright message of hope and encouragement.   Allow Jesus to dispel your dark clouds of worry, and to replace them with His matchless peace.   Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it might take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.   Happy listening. And PLEASE “Share” the link to this podcast with all of your friends.     God ble

OK! You may well be wondering, “Are we really going take an entire message to talk about fasting?”   As you will hear in this PODCAST, Yes! We are indeed! And for some very good reasons.    Just the mention of the word sounds like something out of an ancient Byzantine Orthodox liturgy. Certainly not something relevant to our fast-paced 21st century get-up-and-go, hectic, frenetic lifestyles. Which is precisely the point!   The fact that our lives have indeed become so deliriously fast-paced (Get it? Fast-paced? When talking about fasting? A little pun there.) demands that we build this discipline into our lives.   And just to give you one tantalizing clue as to where we are going with this: Fasting has much more to do with our time than it does with our food. As you will hear me propose in this message, fasting is much more of a time-management issue than it is a food-management issue.   It’s not at all surprising, really, that Jesus followed up His presentation of The Lord’s Prayer with this invitation to fa

It’s one of the most beautiful verses in all of Scripture… which, ironically, may not actually be in the Bible.   But as you will learn in this PODCAST, it really doesn’t matter. Because what Matthew quite possibly did not write, Paul most certainly did.   Paul ascribed glorious praise and power to His sovereign God who quite possibly broke Paul’s heart. His heart broken by a shattered dream, an unfulfilled longing.   Yet through Paul’s resilience, we can and WILL derive much comfort in the face of our own shattered dreams, broken hearts, and unfulfilled longings.   This podcast is for you!   Please remember that depending upon your connection speed and web browser, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to play.     HAPPY LISTENING, and may God richly bless you as you do.

Does your faith ever flicker or falter? Are you ever besieged by doubts, pesky thoughts that call into question God’s love, God’s goodness, God’s presence in your life?   You are not alone, as you are about to hear in this PODCAST.    There is a battle being waged right before our eyes, a battle of good versus evil, a battle of the forces of light against the forces of darkness, a spiritual battle centered squarely upon you… and me.   Which explains the reason why Jesus taught us to pray as He did.   Please note that depending upon your connection speed and web browser, it may take up to 60 seconds for the podcast to begin to play.     HAPPY LISTENING, and please “Share” the link to this podcast with your friends.

As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, it is my sense that far too often in the Christian community at large, we display a woefully naive and underdeveloped understanding of person-to-person forgiveness.   Too many times I get the sense that our default position is to demand of the one who is wronged his or her need to forgive the one who wronged him. While at the same time almost giving a pass to the one who committed the wrong in the first place. As if to say, “Yes, it’s too bad that someone hurt you. But you are obligated to forgive that person, whether they acknowledge the hurt they caused or not.”   I mean, is it not one of the most basic of Christian ethics to say to someone who has been deeply wounded, “You need to forgive the person who wronged you, love the person who wronged you, and be reconciled with the person who wronged you. No matter what”? Whether or not they make any attempt to right the wrong that they committed? Whether or not they repent of the wrong, or even admit their wrong?    A wo