2 Minute Disciple

Despair

Article  |  March 31st, 2022
By Nick Oyler

This is me sharing my emotion with the world. This is not the pretty, curated, on brand me that I want you all to see, but the raw emotion that I feel in my bones.
Be gentle!

Matthew Chapter 1

Article  |  March 31st, 2022
By Nick Oyler

Hey everybody welcome to season 2 of the 2 Minute Disciple Podcast, I’m Nick and it is amazing to be here with you today. We are going to change things up a little in this new season, instead of changing translations every week, we are going to stick with the Message for the whole season. I am also going to read the introduction to the book of Matthew from the Message before I read the first chapter of the book. I will do the same for the other books too. I am also going to be adding more bonus episodes, more guest readers and guest conversations about following Jesus. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me. We are back at Matthew chapter 1, so lets dive in…

There are three things that strike me in this first chapter of Matthew, first is the fulfillment of God’s promises. This is seen through the genealogy of Jesus. God made promises to these men and women that are fulfilled in Jesus. The second thing is obedience. I mean it oozes out of the genealogy with people like Abraham, Ruth and David to name a few. Then Joseph obeys God and takes Mary to be his wife. The third is that there are five women mentioned in this genealogy. As a dad of two daughters and a girl dog, I find this inclusive nature of the Gospel fascinating, that it is for everyone, even the foreigner and the prostitute. God’s kingdom is now and it is for everybody. Let’s pray.

Acts Chapter 28

Article  |  March 30th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, self care, spiritual journey, spirituality

I love the last 2 sentences of the book of Acts, “He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open” (Acts 28:31 The Message). I want that to be said of me. What about you?
Tomorrow begins a new season for the 2 Minute Disciple Podcast. We will start back at Matthew Chapter 1 and journey through the Gospels again to discover who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow him. See you tomorrow.

Acts Chapter 27

Article  |  March 29th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, personal development., spiritual growth, spiritual journey, spirituality

All through Acts, we have seen God move his people to spread the message of Jesus and his new life from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. He is now taking Paul to Rome as a prisoner on a ship through a storm. Paul is assured that he will survive to get to Rome, but not without a shipwreck disaster to go through. We find that God did what he said and continued to give Paul an audience for his message.
This makes me think about my calling to this podcast, it kind of feels like I have been through a shipwreck to get here. However, we are almost to 2000 downloads and quit a bit of encouragement to keep going. Once we finish Acts tomorrow, we will begin again in Matthew Chapter 1 for season 2.

Acts Chapter 26

Article  |  March 28th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, spiritual formation, spirituality

I love this chapter, because we get to hear Paul’s turnaround story again and my favorite part is the two different responses. The first response is from Festus, and it’s the "You’re crazy" response that many of us who follow Jesus have heard before. The second response is from King Agrippa, and it’s the "if you keep this up, you’ll make a Christian out of me response". This is the response that we really want to hear. What strikes me here is that Paul was ready for both responses and expected both. I think that sometimes we just want the second response but when we get the first, we give up and stop sharing. Not Paul, he kept going and I love what he said to Agrippa in verse 29 (The Message): Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”
His response is a challenge to me, because I tend to pray more selfish prayers and I need to be praying for this when I talk about the Gospel with people. What do your prayers look like? Are you willing to pray for others the way that Paul did?

Acts Chapter 25

Article  |  March 27th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, personal growth, spiritual growth, spirituality

In this chapter, we find Paul appealing his case to Caesar. The Jews wanted him brought back to Jerusalem so that they could kill him and Paul knew that God wanted him to get to Rome so that he could proclaim the Gospel to Caesar and others in Rome. In the meantime, Paul gets to share the Gospel with another leader named King Agrippa. God just kept putting the audience before Paul and all that Paul had to do was speak. That got me to think about the audience that God has put before me through this podcast. My job is to stay faithful and keep reading the Gospels and Acts and sharing it with anyone who will listen. Who is your audience?

Acts Chapter 24

Article  |  March 25th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, jesus, spiritual journey, spirituality

In this chapter, we find Paul given access to the Roman Governor, Felix. Paul is able to speak with him many times about being a Christ follower. I find it interesting that Felix was looking for a bribe from Paul but instead kept hearing more about Jesus and his way. Paul stayed in jail and kept sharing the message of Jesus. I am struck by the way that Paul continued to share the message of Jesus even when his circumstances are not good. I can’t help but think that if I was in jail like Paul, for no reason, that I would not be as positive and faithful to sharing the message. What about you?