Agape Life From the Back Porch copertina

Agape Life From the Back Porch

Agape Life From the Back Porch

Di: Bob Young
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On the back porch of our home set in the beauty of the Texas countryside, I can listen in the morning to the birds awakening and then enjoy the croaking of what must be ten thousand frogs and crickets in the evening. It is in those moments that I can “be still and know that He is God.” I teach a Bible study class each week to an extremely eclectic group of adults of all ages from all walks of life. That’s where this podcast originates – in the Sunday morning class sessions of the Agape Life Bible Study Group where we study God’s word to live the Agape Life. It’s wonderful to relax here on the back porch enjoying the view and it’s invigorating to go to church on Sunday morning to see what God can teach us as we view His holy word. It’s beautiful no matter which way you look. For more information, including videos of the Sunday morning sessions, you can go to fromthebackporch.org . Catechesi ed evangelismo Cristianesimo Spiritualità
Episodi
  • An Incontrovertible Truth for a Nation of Pretty Little Liars – Compete Session Podcast Episode

    An Incontrovertible Truth for a Nation of Pretty Little Liars – Compete Session Podcast Episode
    Oct 7 2026
    In Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus continues His expansion of Jewish law by addressing the issue of vows and oaths as seen in Numbers 30 and Deuteronomy 23. He reminds His listeners that it was said to the ancients that they were not to swear falsely and to always fulfill their oaths to the Lord. Then, in keeping with His previous discourses, He proceeded to expand what was said in the Law, by saying to not make any oath at all. In the legal discussions that became the Midrash, Mishnah, and eventually the Talmud, the issue shifted from the vow itself to the manner in which it was presented and the guarantees of fulfillment offered up by the person making the vow. Swearing by heaven (instead of G_D) or swearing by earth (instead of G_D) or even swearing by your own life (instead of G_D) became accepted practices, or loopholes if you will, in making the oath more binding without actually naming the name of G_D. Jesus pointed out the foolishness in their efforts and told them to simply let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” Anything more was unnecessary, and actually evil, because hedging your bets with some form of oath sullied the purity of truth demanded by the One Who is truth Himself. We do the same thing today when we say things like, “I swear on a stack of Bibles” or “I swear on my Mother’s grave” or “As God is my witness” or “Cross my heart and hope to die.” We often say these things in jest, but that attitude in itself is more of an affront to God. At least the 1st Century Jews were trying to honor G_D in their statements. We just are flippant in our cute little oaths – nothing more than pretty little liars. The solution? If you can’t speak the truth in love, don’t speak. In other words, if you can’t speak the truth – keep your mouth shut. “If you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you.” (Deuteronomy 23:22 – NKJ) You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free if you abide in My word, because then you are truly My disciples. (John 8:31b-32) Transcript Boys and girls, today not an inconvenient truth, an incontrovertible truth. Okay, do you know what incontrovertible means? It’s absolutely true. But not only that, it is undeniably you cannot refute it. You cannot dispute it. You cannot prove it false. What’s going on here? Being sworn in as president. Lyndon Baines Johnson being sworn in as president. Where is he? He’s on Air Force One in Dallas, Texas. Okay. Um, do you know who any of the other people are that are around him? Jackie Onasses Kennedy or Jackie Kennedy Onasis. Oops. Jackie Kennedy is to his left. Ladybird Johnson is to his right looking over his shoulder wondering why Jackie’s up there so close. Did I say that out? I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but it was the first thought that popped into my mind when I looked at this picture here. Anybody else? You know any of these other people? Okay. You don’t know who the uh the judge is? No, it’s not. It was a district judge. It wasn’t a a Supreme Court justice. Okay. It was a a district court judge, I think. Uh Sarah Hughes. Sarah Hughes was her name. Okay. How about the lurch back there on the left? No. No. Wonderful guess. Good guess, but incorrect. Okay. You probably won’t remember him. I had to actually look it up and make sure that I I knew I knew who he was in the sense of what he did, but I couldn’t remember his name. Uh that’s Thomas, Albert Thomas, US representative here in Texas. I mean he was a from Texas representative from Texas and the guy over there the other one is another representative. Um the reason Thomas I knew who or I knew the connection there. It’s a little piece of history. We have the space center in Houston because of him. Okay. And no doubt the connection that he had uh he he made that happen. I thought that was kind of cool. Interesting. So uh he’s he’s taking the oath, the oath of office, right? Does he close the oath of office with so help me God? Do what? You think so? Is that phrase in the Constitution as part of the oath that the president must swear to? No. No, it is not. says, “I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully execute the office president of the United States and will do the best of my ability to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Full stop. However, presidents for decades have always said at the end, “So help me God.” They’ve been asked to say it. I mean the whoever was administering the oath has said it. Hughes the lady who is giving the oath, she was of course handed a piece of paper, right? She was handed a piece of paper said here’s what you’re supposed to get him to say. Here’s the oath. And so she got to the end and she had the oath as it is in the Constitution. But she got to the end the Constitution of the United States. Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. He said it. She volunteered it. She just ...
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    33 min
  • The Covenant of Marriage: God’s View of Adultery and Divorce – Complete Session Episode

    The Covenant of Marriage: God’s View of Adultery and Divorce – Complete Session Episode
    Sep 29 2026

    Continuing His “Sermon on the Mount” exploration of the Jewish law and its implication in Kingdom living. Jesus looks at two external aspects of marital infidelity. He tells the crowd that they have heard it said “you shall not commit adultery” and that “anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.” He goes on to not only explain the implications of these legalities but also provide advice on how to properly handle these difficult issues.

    From Genesis to Revelation marriage is a central theme – from the first husband and wife to the marriage feast of the Lamb. The marriage of Jacob establishes the nation of Israel. Jesus performs His first miracle at a wedding feast. And when God expresses His frustration over the infidelity of Israel He likens their relationship to that of a husband and wife. (Hosea 1-3 & Jeremiah 3)

    It is no surprise that our infidelity has been pointed out in passages such as James 4:4 where we read, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” But the good news is that God is rich in mercy as we see in Ephesians 2:4-5 – “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

    In our fidelity to God, much of what Jesus said concerning the avoidance of adultery with a spouse applies to our Kingdom living in light of God’s love. We should avoid even looking at temptations and certainly not touching and playing with them. As always, Jesus speaks and the depth of His teaching just goes deeper and deeper.
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    36 min
  • An Incontrovertible Truth for a Nation of Pretty Little Liars – Session Overview Episode

    An Incontrovertible Truth for a Nation of Pretty Little Liars – Session Overview Episode
    Oct 7 2026
    In Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus continues His expansion of Jewish law by addressing the issue of vows and oaths as seen in Numbers 30 and Deuteronomy 23. He reminds His listeners that it was said to the ancients that they were not to swear falsely and to always fulfill their oaths to the Lord. Then, in keeping with His previous discourses, He proceeded to expand what was said in the Law, by saying to not make any oath at all. In the legal discussions that became the Midrash, Mishnah, and eventually the Talmud, the issue shifted from the vow itself to the manner in which it was presented and the guarantees of fulfillment offered up by the person making the vow. Swearing by heaven (instead of G_D) or swearing by earth (instead of G_D) or even swearing by your own life (instead of G_D) became accepted practices, or loopholes if you will, in making the oath more binding without actually naming the name of G_D. Jesus pointed out the foolishness in their efforts and told them to simply let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” Anything more was unnecessary, and actually evil, because hedging your bets with some form of oath sullied the purity of truth demanded by the One Who is truth Himself. We do the same thing today when we say things like, “I swear on a stack of Bibles” or “I swear on my Mother’s grave” or “As God is my witness” or “Cross my heart and hope to die.” We often say these things in jest, but that attitude in itself is more of an affront to God. At least the 1st Century Jews were trying to honor G_D in their statements. We just are flippant in our cute little oaths – nothing more than pretty little liars. The solution? If you can’t speak the truth in love, don’t speak. In other words, if you can’t speak the truth – keep your mouth shut. “If you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you.” (Deuteronomy 23:22 – NKJ) You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free if you abide in My word, because then you are truly My disciples. (John 8:31b-32) Transcript Pip: From The Back Porch, where the porch light is on and the truth is apparently non-negotiable — which, as Bob points out, is a higher standard than most of us are meeting. Mara: This episode follows a Bible study on oaths, vows, and why Jesus told his listeners to drop the elaborate swearing rituals and just say what they mean. Pip: Simple instruction. Apparently not simple enough. Mara: Let’s start with what Matthew 5 actually says about all of it. When Yes Means Yes and No Means No Pip: The setup here is Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, picking up where Jewish law left on vows — and then pushing past it entirely. The question the post is really asking is why we keep reaching for bigger, louder oaths when a plain yes or no should be enough. Mara: The post frames it this way: “Swearing by heaven or swearing by earth or even swearing by your own life became accepted practices, or loopholes if you will, in making the oath more binding without actually naming the name of G_D. Jesus pointed out the foolishness in their efforts and told them to simply let your yes be yes and your no be no.” Pip: So the rabbinical tradition had essentially built an elaborate escape hatch system — swear by the throne, not the one sitting on it — and Jesus called the whole architecture unnecessary. Mara: Right. And the post connects that ancient workaround directly to modern habit. “I swear on a stack of Bibles,” “cross my heart and hope to die,” “as God is my witness” — the post names these as the same impulse dressed in contemporary clothing. Pip: We’ve upgraded the loopholes, kept the dishonesty. Mara: The post cites survey data on this. Most people rate themselves as lying less often than other people — which is a statistical impossibility, and the post notes the irony plainly. Pip: Everyone is below average at lying, apparently. Mara: The post also makes a careful distinction about a verse that often gets quoted in isolation. The full passage from John 8:31b-32 reads: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free if you abide in my word, because then you are truly my disciples.” Pip: The point being that “the truth will set you free” is everywhere — bumper stickers, courtrooms, graduation speeches — but the conditional clause usually gets left in the parking lot. Mara: Exactly. The post argues the truth Jesus is referencing is not factual accuracy in general but Jesus himself — and that stripping the verse of its subject changes its meaning entirely. Pip: And the practical conclusion is almost blunt in its simplicity: if you cannot speak the truth, the post says, keep your mouth shut. Deuteronomy 23:22 is cited directly — “If you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you.” Mara: Which the post frames as the law itself offering the cleaner path. Don’t make the vow at all rather than make one you’ll hedge or break. Pip: Less ...
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    4 min
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