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    <title>Pleading the Case - Episodes Tagged with “Jerusalem”</title>
    <link>https://www.pleadingthecase.org/tags/jerusalem</link>
    <pubDate>Mon, 06 Aug 2018 15:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
    <description>If a tune-up can’t fix a car engine because what it really needs is for the entire engine to be rebuilt, then why would we, in the Christian faith, perform tune-ups on the form and function of our churches when what they may really need is to be completely overhauled? Join the host of Pleading The Case, Andy Mendonsa, where in each episode, he will peal back the culture and traditions that have come to define much of the Church in America today in order to accurately assess whether all that is needed is just a good tune-up, or as he has become convinced, a compete overhaul. 
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    <itunes:subtitle>"Stand Before The Mountains, Let The Hills Hear What You Have To Say"</itunes:subtitle>
    <itunes:author>Andy Mendonsa</itunes:author>
    <itunes:summary>If a tune-up can’t fix a car engine because what it really needs is for the entire engine to be rebuilt, then why would we, in the Christian faith, perform tune-ups on the form and function of our churches when what they may really need is to be completely overhauled? Join the host of Pleading The Case, Andy Mendonsa, where in each episode, he will peal back the culture and traditions that have come to define much of the Church in America today in order to accurately assess whether all that is needed is just a good tune-up, or as he has become convinced, a compete overhaul. 
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      <itunes:name>Andy Mendonsa</itunes:name>
      <itunes:email>andy@widows.org</itunes:email>
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  <title>Episode 12: Law Vs Grace</title>
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  <pubDate>Mon, 06 Aug 2018 15:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
  <author>Andy Mendonsa</author>
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  <itunes:author>Andy Mendonsa</itunes:author>
  <itunes:subtitle>In Matthew 5:13 Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. The lines between the law and grace, not unlike 2000 years ago when Paul addressed this in his letter to the Galatians, may be equally as blurred, if not more so, for much of the church today, thus creating a hybrid Christian faith, if you will, that has become dangerously close to losing its saltiness.  </itunes:subtitle>
  <itunes:duration>1:39:01</itunes:duration>
  <itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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  <description>&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason to pursue a deeper understanding of the law vs grace?  There is if we truly believe that Jesus was the promised messiah, and that he came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  Yes, we need to know what that means for us, now, in our daily lives in him.  Otherwise, we will blend the law and grace creating a hybrid Christian faith that blurs the lines between the 2; Thus, blurring our understanding of Jesus and what it means to follow him as well as to look like him.  Perhaps the confusion comes, on one level, because we claim salvation through Jesus, but at the same time we have lost sight of what it looks like to live out our lives based on his own life's example. And for Gentile followers of Jesus, this is particularly concerning since gentiles were never under the first covenant (under the law) to begin with.  It was only after Jesus fulfilled the law, thus rendering the first covenant null and void, that the second covenant, under grace, was extended to include gentiles as well. In that the new covenant was established on better promises, though, why would anyone ever choose to be subject again to such a yoke of slavery (under the law)? &lt;/p&gt;
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  <itunes:keywords>Christian, Salvation, Works, Deeds, Sacrifices, Pharisee, Galatians, Romans, Matthew 5, Ephesians, Flesh, Grace, Law, Unequally Yoked, Israel, Judah, The Promise, Righteousness, Gentiles, Jerusalem, Old Covenant, New Covenant, Abraham, Enmity, Seed, Offspring, High Priest, Shadow and Copy, Superior Ministry, Sanctuary, Tabernacle, Holy of Holies, Sacrifice, Worship, Spiritual Israel, Jews, Middle East, End Times, Obsolete, </itunes:keywords>
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    <![CDATA[<p>Is there any reason to pursue a deeper understanding of the law vs grace?  There is if we truly believe that Jesus was the promised messiah, and that he came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  Yes, we need to know what that means for us, now, in our daily lives in him.  Otherwise, we will blend the law and grace creating a hybrid Christian faith that blurs the lines between the 2; Thus, blurring our understanding of Jesus and what it means to follow him as well as to look like him.  Perhaps the confusion comes, on one level, because we claim salvation through Jesus, but at the same time we have lost sight of what it looks like to live out our lives based on his own life&#39;s example. And for Gentile followers of Jesus, this is particularly concerning since gentiles were never under the first covenant (under the law) to begin with.  It was only after Jesus fulfilled the law, thus rendering the first covenant null and void, that the second covenant, under grace, was extended to include gentiles as well. In that the new covenant was established on better promises, though, why would anyone ever choose to be subject again to such a yoke of slavery (under the law)? </p>]]>
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  <itunes:summary>
    <![CDATA[<p>Is there any reason to pursue a deeper understanding of the law vs grace?  There is if we truly believe that Jesus was the promised messiah, and that he came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  Yes, we need to know what that means for us, now, in our daily lives in him.  Otherwise, we will blend the law and grace creating a hybrid Christian faith that blurs the lines between the 2; Thus, blurring our understanding of Jesus and what it means to follow him as well as to look like him.  Perhaps the confusion comes, on one level, because we claim salvation through Jesus, but at the same time we have lost sight of what it looks like to live out our lives based on his own life&#39;s example. And for Gentile followers of Jesus, this is particularly concerning since gentiles were never under the first covenant (under the law) to begin with.  It was only after Jesus fulfilled the law, thus rendering the first covenant null and void, that the second covenant, under grace, was extended to include gentiles as well. In that the new covenant was established on better promises, though, why would anyone ever choose to be subject again to such a yoke of slavery (under the law)? </p>]]>
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  <title>Episode 10: A Samaritan You Say?</title>
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  <pubDate>Wed, 04 Jul 2018 13:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
  <author>Andy Mendonsa</author>
  <enclosure url="https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/dc393591-8538-457d-9994-a5d0ecd86258/7148ff22-cb9d-4c56-9c77-62d9b02163ef.mp3" length="88865281" type="audio/mp3"/>
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  <itunes:author>Andy Mendonsa</itunes:author>
  <itunes:subtitle>Based on the parable of "The Good Samaritan" this is a companion episode to "Racism, Faith and Worship, Oh My!" If Jesus were giving this parable today who would he have passing by on the other side of the road?  Who would he have representing himself, instead of the Samaritan? According to this parable much of who we think of, today, as being the "evangelical church and her leadership, is really not all that different than Israel's leadership was when Jesus first recited this parable to the "expert in the law."</itunes:subtitle>
  <itunes:duration>1:30:42</itunes:duration>
  <itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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  <description>&lt;p&gt;Romans 12:1 "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."  Even though this passage comes across as being somewhat abstract, what Paul is essentially telling us is to "love God with our heart mind and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves."  And if we want to know what that looks like two of the best examples in the gospel accounts are in John 4, when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman by the well and the Parable of the Good Samaritan beginning with Luke 10:25 when "an expert in the law asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life."  This is a companion episode to the previous one, "Racism, Faith and Worship, Oh My!" that has as it's basis Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman . Central to both is worship. &lt;/p&gt;
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  <itunes:keywords>civil rights, racism, faith, worship, good samaritan, levite, priest, Jericho road, Parable of the Good Samaritan, compassion, mercy, serve, Inn, Inn Keeper, donkey, do unto others, golden rule, Jerusalem, robbers, thieves, apostasy, salvation, redemption, restoration, deliverance, 2 greatest commandments, love your neighbor, serve and not be served, church, worship service, pastors, deacons, elders, covenant of grace, bride, marriage, gospel, </itunes:keywords>
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    <![CDATA[<p>Romans 12:1 &quot;Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.&quot;  Even though this passage comes across as being somewhat abstract, what Paul is essentially telling us is to &quot;love God with our heart mind and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves.&quot;  And if we want to know what that looks like two of the best examples in the gospel accounts are in John 4, when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman by the well and the Parable of the Good Samaritan beginning with Luke 10:25 when &quot;an expert in the law asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.&quot;  This is a companion episode to the previous one, &quot;Racism, Faith and Worship, Oh My!&quot; that has as it&#39;s basis Jesus&#39; encounter with the Samaritan woman . Central to both is worship.</p>]]>
  </content:encoded>
  <itunes:summary>
    <![CDATA[<p>Romans 12:1 &quot;Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.&quot;  Even though this passage comes across as being somewhat abstract, what Paul is essentially telling us is to &quot;love God with our heart mind and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves.&quot;  And if we want to know what that looks like two of the best examples in the gospel accounts are in John 4, when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman by the well and the Parable of the Good Samaritan beginning with Luke 10:25 when &quot;an expert in the law asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.&quot;  This is a companion episode to the previous one, &quot;Racism, Faith and Worship, Oh My!&quot; that has as it&#39;s basis Jesus&#39; encounter with the Samaritan woman . Central to both is worship.</p>]]>
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