Cecil Taylor monthly podcasts

The Himalayas of the New Testament: Sermon on the Mount, Part 1

Jesus' teachings collide with the world's view in three peak chapters of New Testament thought, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, collectively called The Sermon on the Mount.

In a three-part series, Cecil starts by exploring the highlight of Matthew 5: the Beatitudes, the opening of the Sermon on the Mount. As in many sermons of the day, Jesus starts with a sequence of paradoxical statements, saying you are blessed when you are at the bottom and blessed when you seem weak compared to what the world prizes as strength.

Cecil starts with some background on the Sermon on the Mount before covering the Beatitudes.

IMAGE: Lhotse, the Himalayan mountain with three peaks next door to Everest, reminds me of the Sermon on the Mount's three chapters. Less than two miles away from Mt. Everest, Lhotse's highest peak is the fourth highest in the world.

The Himalayas of the New Testament: Philippians, Part 2

This podcast covers what is, for me personally, one of the most meaningful sections of the Bible. The Apostle Paul shares with his dear friends at Philippi some of the key lessons he has learned in his faith walk with Jesus.

There are three parts to cover in this section of Philippians 4: 4-13:

1. How to deal with anxiety, uncertainty, and negative events.
2. How to focus your mind in the midst of chaos and temptation.
3. How to deal with the live that we are given, whether it is a life of prosperity or a life of poverty – and by that, I do not necessarily mean the measure of our wealth.

IMAGE: Cho Oyu. Since Philippians is an easy letter to understand because it is so relatable to us today, it reminds me of the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu. Just 12 miles west of Mt. Everest in the Himalayas, Cho Oyu is known as one of the easier mountains to climb, despite its peak of nearly 27,000 feet.

If you have your Bible handy, please follow along with the text at Philippians 4: 4-13.

The Himalayas of the New Testament: Philippians, Part 1

There are rare times when high theology and practical faith intersect perfectly in a passage of scripture. That is the case with the passage in this month's Season 2, Episode 6 podcast episode of "The Himalayas of the New Testament."

 

IMAGE: Cho Oyu. Since Philippians is an easy letter to understand because it is so relatable to us today, it reminds me of the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu. Just 12 miles west of Mt. Everest in the Himalayas, Cho Oyu is known as one of the easier mountains to climb, despite its peak of nearly 27,000 feet.

 

In this episode, I look at Paul's quotation of an early church hymn that has highlighted some of the most argued principles of the early Christian faith. Surrounding that quote are two very practical pieces of advice to the church at Philippi in the midst of its squabbling.

 

It might be useful to follow along in your Bible as I examine Philippians 2: 1-18.

 

The Himalayas of the New Testament: Ephesians (part 2)

Cecil Taylor continues his review of Ephesians by looking primarily at the last three chapters. Some of Paul's most famous, most important, and most controversial passages occur in these sections. Cecil picks out and discusses the following themes: 

• The Body of Christ
• Addressing Evil
• Mutual Submissive Relationship Model

If you haven't listened to the first Ephesians podcast, it's recommended, at minimum, to listen to the first ten minutes of it to learn the overview and history of Ephesians.

IMAGE: Ama Dablam, which means "Mother's Necklace." This beautiful Himalayan mountain near Mount Everest is used because Ephesians has been called "The Queen of the Epistles."

The Himalayas of the New Testament: Ephesians (part 1)

Ephesians stands out from Paul's other letters as the most impersonal toward its recipients and the most theological. If there is one overall theme to Ephesians, it is on the unity that is achieved through Christ - certainly a message we need to hear today! Paul extrapolates from that unity how we are supposed to extend that unity into the church, into our homes and into our relationships.

 

Cecil covers three themes in the October podcast, which is focused on the first half (three of six chapters) of Ephesians:

• The work of the Holy Trinity
• Unified by Christ
• God's wisdom

IMAGE: Ama Dablam, which means "Mother's Necklace." This beautiful Himalayan mountain near Mount Everest is used because Ephesians has been called "The Queen of the Epistles."

The Himalayas of the New Testament: Romans 12

IMAGE: K2

As Romans 8 is the Mount Everest of the New Testament, Romans 12 stands as K2. Just as we think of the world's two tallest mountains together, though they are separated by distance, so Romans 8 and 12 go together although they are separated by three chapters. Romans 12 serves as the response to the revelation in Romans 8 of how the Holy Trinity reaches out to us, offering love, mercy and salvation.

Cecil identifies and walks through six main thoughts in Romans 12:

1. Worship is what you do every day.
2. Don’t shape yourself on the outside to fit into the world, but shape yourself on the inside to become brand new in Christ’s ways
3. We are joined together as the body of Christ
4. Be who you were made to be
5. Love, hope, pray, honor, give, do good, suffer patiently and serve the Lord
6. Live in relationship with everyone so you can turn them to good

The Himalayas of the New Testament: Romans 8

Arguably the greatest chapter written by the Apostle Paul, Romans 8 contains some of the highest thoughts of the New Testament.

IMAGE: Mt. Everest.

Labeling Romans 8 as the Mt. Everest of the New Testament, Cecil takes a novel, cross-denominational approach to this controversial chapter: He "zooms out" to look at the chapter in light of Paul's lament in Romans 7 that he is unable to obey the law of Moses and is therefore subject to sin and death. According to Cecil, the Romans 8 response describes the Holy Trinity striving to bring us closer to God, providing us love, instruction and saving power that overcomes sin and death.

Along the way, Cecil builds the following table showing the action of each person of the Trinity:

V1-4:

Father - Sent Son as a sin offering.

Son - Sacrificed himself for us so we can follow the law's true intentions.

Spirit - Sets us free from sin and death.

V5-8:

Spirit - Directs and empowers us to live according to God's ways. Grants life and peace through a Spirit-controlled mind.

V9-11:

Father -  Gives life to your mortal bodies (through his Spirit). A new life now, a resurrected life later.

Son - Grants a living spirit because of righteousness.

Spirit - Lives in you, so that you belong to Christ.

V12-17:

Father - Adopts us as children. Makes us co-heirs with Christ.

Spirit - Leads us so we can be sons of God. Grants a spirit of Sonship. Testifies to us that we are God's children.

V18-21:

Father - Will liberate creation from destruction and lead it to renewal

V22-25:

Father - Will redeem our bodies so we can live with him.

Spirit - Gives us a first installment of living with God.

V26-27:

Father - Listens to the Spirit praying for us.

Spirit - Helps us in our human weakness. Helps us in prayer by translating our innermost feelings for God.

V28-30:

Father - Works for good in all things and all circumstances. Planned for our salvation and glorification from the beginning.

V31-39:

Father - Offered Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. Justifies us with his grace.

Son - Refuses to judge or condemn, but intercedes for us instead. Loves us with an inescapable, ever-present love.

 

The Himalayas of the New Testament: John 1

In this podcast series, Cecil examines the highest thoughts (the Himalayas) of the New Testament. John 1 contains what Cecil calls the Executive Summary, which lays out many of the concepts and terms you read throughout the Gospel of John. These include the following terms:

Word, Life, Light, Darkness, Witness, Testify, Believe, True, Truth, Grace, Glory, Flesh, Fullness

Cecil analyzes the reasons the Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John, as he not only shared an intimate disciple's view of Jesus, but also addressed heresies going on in the church at the time of his writing.

IMAGE: Annapurna, 10th tallest mountain in the world. Its south face, pictured here, is considered the most difficult and dangerous mountain to climb, as nearly 40% of climbers perish in the attempt. For this podcast, it symbolizes how difficult it is to read the Gospel of John without insight, such as is gained from the Executive Summary of John.

Image by Akhil Stha. Shared under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 International license.