We have more Christian content available to us than perhaps any generation in history. Sermons, podcasts, Bible apps, videos, worship music, books and social media are constantly at our fingertips. But with so many voices claiming to represent Christianity, Bob and Pastor Brian Firle ask an important question: How do we know which voices to trust?

In this companion episode of Built for Durango, Bob and Brian dig deeper into Brian’s “Anonymous Theologians” sermon and the role Scripture should play in forming our understanding of God. Brian argues that whatever we consistently consume will inevitably help shape our worldview — and simply labeling something “Christian” doesn't make it a reliable substitute for engaging Scripture ourselves.

That leads the conversation into the difficult territory of biblical interpretation. Christians can read the same passages, sincerely believe they're grounded in Scripture and still reach dramatically different conclusions. Brian offers a grounding principle for navigating those disagreements: know Jesus. Study what He taught, how He lived, whom He comforted, whom He challenged, what barriers He broke down and what He revealed about the character of God. Jesus isn't merely another part of the biblical story; He becomes the interpretive lens through which Christians understand the rest of it.

Bob and Brian also acknowledge that this requires more than remembering what we learned about the Bible decades ago. Scripture is something we're invited to return to continually — reading, questioning, wrestling, praying and allowing it to reshape us. And that doesn't require becoming a biblical scholar overnight. Ten or fifteen intentional minutes can be a meaningful place to begin.

The conversation runs a little longer than usual, but perhaps appropriately so. There aren't always quick answers when we're talking about Scripture, discernment and knowing God. The invitation is simpler: open the Bible, know Jesus, ask questions and keep digging.

In this sermon from Durango Vineyard Church, Pastor Brian Firle argues that theology isn't reserved for pastors, professors or Bible scholars. Every time we wrestle with questions about purpose, hope, love, suffering, meaning and God, we're doing theology. The more important question is this: What is shaping what we believe about God? And specifically, what role does Scripture play in that understanding?

Continuing through Acts 18, Brian introduces Apollos — an intelligent, passionate and gifted teacher who knew the Scriptures well and taught about Jesus with enthusiasm and accuracy. But Apollos didn't know everything. Priscilla and Aquila recognized what was missing, took him aside and helped him understand the way of God more fully. Rather than diminishing Apollos, that willingness to keep learning equipped him to become an even more effective disciple and teacher.

That raises some challenging questions for every follower of Jesus: Could we explain who Jesus is with both enthusiasm and accuracy? Do we understand His life, death and resurrection well enough to communicate them to someone else? And are we humble enough to have our own “Priscilla and Aquila” — people who can challenge us, teach us and show us what we may be missing?

Brian's challenge isn't about earning a grade for biblical knowledge. It's about becoming equipped disciples who can help make other disciples. That requires community, mentors, thoughtful content and intentional practices — but the foundation can remain remarkably simple: put yourself among people who are pursuing Jesus, read your Bible and pray. There is always more to discover, because none of us ever graduates from being a student of God.

What keeps us moving when life feels like a slot canyon — when the walls are closing in and every practical reason for hope seems to be disappearing?

In this companion episode of Built for Durango, Bob and Pastor DJ Jergensen continue the conversation from DJ’s “Cracked Pots” sermon and Paul’s declaration that we can be “hard-pressed, but not crushed.” But they make an important distinction: the Christian response to suffering isn't simply to toughen up, try harder or summon enough willpower to keep moving. Before we can persevere, we need a reason to believe there is somewhere worth going.

Bob and DJ explore the distinctly Christian source of that hope. The Kingdom of God is both “now and not yet.” Following Jesus doesn't guarantee that everything will go well or that faith will protect us from pain, loss and disappointment. Instead, faith gives us a supernatural source of strength in the middle of life as it really is. God is present even when the canyon walls haven't moved.

Bob shares how that truth has become deeply practical during a difficult season of his own life. Sometimes faith doesn't keep us out of the canyon; it prepares us to walk through it. And when logic can't provide an explanation for why we should still have peace, contentment or hope, trusting an all-powerful God allows us to keep taking the next step.

DJ brings the conversation back to Paul's example: belief comes before perseverance. When our hearts begin to believe again, we stop seeing only the walls closing around us and begin looking toward the hope ahead. And when we can't find that hope ourselves, we need one another. Sometimes someone else's story of how God brought them through the darkness is exactly what helps us believe again.

And when we've made it through our own darkness? That's our opportunity to become that light for someone else.

What keeps us going when life feels like a slot canyon — the walls closing in, the path narrowing and no obvious way out?

In this sermon from Durango Vineyard Church, Pastor DJ continues through Acts 18 and asks a question that surfaces again and again in the life of Paul: How did he keep going? Paul worked while trying to build a ministry, faced rejection and abuse, feared for his safety and watched people he loved suffer. His circumstances swung between success and disappointment, hope and frustration — much like our own lives.

To understand Paul's resilience, DJ turns to Paul's own words in 2 Corinthians: “We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Paul doesn't pretend life isn't difficult. Instead, he insists that our circumstances don't get the final word about who we are or who we can become.

That's the paradox of being a “cracked pot.” God places the extraordinary treasure of the gospel inside ordinary, fragile and imperfect people. We can be pressed without being crushed, confused without surrendering to despair, hunted without being abandoned and knocked down without being destroyed. Our weakness doesn't disqualify us; it's often precisely where God's power becomes most visible.

DJ closes with a truth worth carrying into every narrow passage: You are not a product of your environment. You are a masterpiece of God. Your past doesn't define you. Your present circumstances don't determine your future. God is still creating, shaping and transforming you. The question is whether you're willing to keep showing up and let Him finish the masterpiece.

What happens when the good things in our lives become the things we expect to give us life?

In this companion episode of Built for Durango, Bob and Pastor Tommy Perry continue the conversation from Acts 17 and Tommy’s sermon on idolatry. Their discussion moves beyond the obvious idols of money and possessions into more uncomfortable territory: work, marriage, family, relationships, routines and even the pursuit of a particular lifestyle. None of those things are inherently bad. The problem begins when we ask them to become something they were never designed to be — our source of identity, security and life.

Bob and Tommy return to Paul’s encounter with the truth-seekers of Athens, a city filled with people searching for the next idea that might finally provide the answers they wanted. Paul’s message was radically different: stop trying to manufacture meaning for yourself and discover the God who already made you. In Him, our relentless striving for relevance, identity and satisfaction can finally give way to something more enduring.

That makes ancient Athens surprisingly relevant to modern Durango. People come here seeking something too — adventure, natural beauty, fresh air, relationships, freedom and a different kind of life. But even living in one of the most beautiful places imaginable can't satisfy every need. When the adventure becomes routine and the realities of life intrude, we're confronted with the same question the Athenians faced: Where are we actually looking for life?

The invitation remains the same: Stop making, and be made. Stop asking your work, relationships, routines, recreation — or even Durango itself — to give you what only God can provide. Let Jesus make you new, and then enjoy those good things as gifts rather than asking them to become gods.

We are needy people. We want to be seen, loved, valued and fulfilled — and because those needs are real, we have a habit of looking for something or someone to satisfy them.

In this sermon from Durango Vineyard Church, Pastor Tommy Perry continues through Acts 17 as Paul arrives in Athens and finds a city filled with idols. The Athenians are intelligent, curious and relentlessly searching for truth, yet Paul sees people trying to manufacture sources of life for themselves. Tommy argues that our modern idols may look different, but the underlying problem hasn't changed: idolatry begins whenever we ask anyone or anything other than God to become our source of life.

The next hobby, money, career, achievement, relationships, religion and even our carefully constructed image can all become idols. Each may give us something good for a while, but none can satisfy us fully or forever. And Scripture offers an even more sobering warning: we become what we worship. What we depend upon for life eventually begins shaping the people we become.

Paul offers the Athenians something radically different: the God who doesn't need anything from us because He is the source of everything we need. In Him we live, move and breathe. Rather than endlessly creating new things to satisfy ourselves, we're invited to surrender to the God who can make us new.

Tommy distills that invitation into a simple challenge: Stop making, and be made. Christianity isn't ultimately about rearranging our priorities so God occupies the top position or working harder to improve ourselves. It's about allowing Jesus to transform who we are. Stop manufacturing idols to give you life. Come to the One who offers life fully and forever — and let Him make you new.

What if God is already at work all around us — and we're simply not awake enough to see it?

In this sermon from Durango Vineyard Church, Pastor DJ continues through Acts 16 and the remarkable story of Paul and Silas in Philippi. After freeing an enslaved woman from a spirit that had been exploited for profit, they're beaten and thrown into prison. Yet instead of allowing their circumstances to determine their faith, they spend the night praying and singing. Then the earth shakes, the prison doors open and their chains fall away.

But the greatest miracle may not be the earthquake. When the jailer assumes everything is lost, Paul stops him from taking his own life. The jailer looks more closely at what's happening, asks what he must do to be saved, hears about Jesus and chooses to believe. Within hours, belief moves from something he's invited to do into something that begins defining who he is — and his despair is replaced by joy.

DJ uses the story to ask whether we're truly awake to what God is doing. Our circumstances, desire for control, pursuit of money and even our assumptions about how life is supposed to work can keep us from recognizing God's activity. Like someone sleeping through the sunrise, we can miss something extraordinary simply because we aren't paying attention.

Faith invites us to turn on the lights. It means choosing to believe even before we can see everything clearly, living that faith openly enough for others to see, and trusting God to do what we cannot: illuminate the darkness and awaken people to His presence. We can't flip that switch for someone else. But we can live as people of light and ask God to help all of us see what He's already doing.

What do we do when we're pursuing something good, something that seems completely consistent with God's will — and the door still closes?

In this sermon from Durango Vineyard Church, Pastor Brian continues through Acts 16 as Paul and his companions set out to do exactly what Jesus had called them to do: preach the gospel and build the church. Yet twice, Scripture says the Holy Spirit prevents them from going where they intended to go. Only after those closed doors does Paul receive a vision calling them toward Macedonia instead.

Brian explores the uncomfortable reality that following Jesus will sometimes challenge our logic and rationale. What looks like failure from our limited perspective may actually be God's redirection. Drawing from his family's years-long struggle with infertility and Isaiah's reminder that God's ways are higher than ours, Brian suggests that God isn't irrational when His plans don't make sense to us. He simply sees from a perspective we don't possess.

So how should we respond when the door won't open? Brian offers four questions for discerning God's direction: Is it the right thing? Is it the right time? Is it with the right people? Is it being pursued in the right way? Sometimes God's "no" may actually be protection, preparation or simply "not yet."

And Acts 16 provides a remarkable example of what might be waiting on the other side of that redirection. Paul eventually reaches Philippi, where he meets Lydia, whose heart is opened to the gospel and whose home becomes part of the foundation of the church there. The roadblock wasn't necessarily the end of the mission. It may have been the way God led Paul toward the mission He had prepared.