The Jesus Mind Podcast

Bryant K. Owens

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Christianity

This podcast will be a place of reflection upon wisdom and events in our world through the Mind of Christ. Listeners will benefit from ideas on the Christian worldview, culture, the Church, theology, and philosophy. The occasional sermon or public speaking event from Dr. Bryant K. Owens will also be shared here. jesusmind.substack.com

May 25

Cleansed and Renewed: The Divine Renovation

This sermon was preached on Sunday, May 24, 2026 at Concord Baptist Church of Chattanooga, TN concord-baptist.org Leviticus 14:33-57 | Matthew 8:1-4 I have been reading the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses, recently as an exercise in looking at the Bible's overview rather than focusing on its details. In this exercise, I have come to realize that the gospel of salvation is present in repeated ways that I honestly did not notice before, especially in the third book of the Law, the book of Leviticus … Λευιτικόν … “pertaining to the Levites … The Greek term was adopted into Latin as Liber Leviticus (The Book of Leviticus). I read the book of Leviticus in a day on purpose. I wanted to avoid the pitfall of losing the big picture for stumbling over the finer details of God’s covenant with Israel. It is organized in our modern Bibles with only 27 chapters, about 43 pages total, and a repeated idea stood out to me: “The priest will make atonement, and he, she, or it shall be made clean.” I find this theme of purification and atonement fascinatingly beautiful. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

42 min
08/10/2023

Missions & Evangelism: No distinction

The Church is called by GOD to share the love of grace and forgiveness to our local community AND we are called by GOD to share the love of grace and forgiveness to the outer reaches of the nations. Therefore, a Church who establishes a Missions AND Evangelism Team should cast a vision to engage the Church body in BOTH local evangelism AND international missions efforts … together. Both local evangelism, sharing the gospel, serving physical needs of the poor, along with international missions efforts to preach the gospel where no local church is thriving, are important yet equal missions. Proclaiming the gospel is evangelism. Evangelism is what missions efforts do. So the call from the Apostle Peter is to preach the gospel. Others will be saved just as we are saved by ONE Lord, ONE Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no division of where and to whom it is preached. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

6 min
05/10/2023

05/07/2023 "Divine Authority: Woe #3 You Blind Guides" [Matthew 23:16-22]

This third WOE in Jesus's Sermon of Seven Woes now shifts from the charge of closing the kingdom of heaven to the lost and for leading false converts into their religious legalism; to the charge of being blind guides, fools, and men who worship the created rather than the creator. They are the blind leading the blind to the gates of hell. The importance of the Jerusalem temple cannot be overstated when studying Matthew's gospel. The Jerusalem temple was the center of God's holy presence with HIS people. Jesus called it, 'The House of Prayer' (Matt 21:13) when he aggressively kicked out the corruption that had overtaken it the first day of the week when he entered Jerusalem; his final week of life and ministry. Because the Temple is the symbolic center of worship and is God's holy dwelling with his creation, the sin of worshiping the creation rather than the creator must also be remembered as nothing new. The religious leaders who faced Jesus’ judgment misinterpreted God’s meaning and purpose for the Temple by emphasizing the objects of sacrifice and the modes of offering rather than the one to whom the sacrifice and offering were intended. It was the worship of the created that condemned the first man and the first woman into the fallen state that corrupts us even now. Likewise, it was the worship of the created that condemned the Pharisees and scribes. The Apostle Paul rightly warns and condemns the fallenness of man for worshiping the created instead of the creator. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

53 min
04/30/2023

4/30/2023 "Divine Authority: Woe #2" [The Sermon of Seven Woes - Matthew 23:15]

Jesus’ second Woe should guard the church against mistaking missionary and evangelism zeal with divine truth. This WOE is valuable to us to hear because we the Evangelical Church are tempted to look at missionary outreach and church growth as signs of God’s blessing. We mistakenly embrace large movements of evangelism and missions as validation that God loves us because of our dedication to spreading HIS gospel message. This was the mistake of these scribes and Pharisees. But what Jesus speaks to those false teachers is that truth and lies often share a remarkable missionary zeal. Guilt is as strong a motivator as gratitude. False teachers use guilt to motivate obedience [to their teaching … the burden of extrabiblical traditions]. Genuine teachers know that gratitude is the genuine motivator of the sinner toward Christ the only savior that we have. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

46 min
04/24/2023

04/23/2023 "Divine Authority: Woe #1" [The Sermon of Seven Woes - Matthew 23:13-14]

Blessings and Woes are opposites that are regularly present in the scriptures. From the Old Testament historical books to the wisdom literature and prophets, we see God speaking directly to the patriarchs and kings and peoples of either blessings or woes. Blessing indicates a state of happiness or human flourishing and is often associated with a new beginning. Woes express sorrow or pity, usually from God toward his failed people, often as a judgment of an individual or community. A woe, like a blessing, can also have connections to a new beginning or an end. Blessings and Woes in the Scriptures all point to either the welcomed entry into or the refusal from the Kingdom of Heaven. Following his charge in Matthew 23:3 concerning the scribes and Pharisees; “practice and observe whatever they tell you – but not what they do. For they preach but do not practice” Jesus begins in verse thirteen to lay out a series of judgments and woes that showcase the guilty actions of these Pharisees. Many newer English translations do not include the woe against the mistreatment of widows in favor of public honor found in verse fourteen. The ESV and NIV do not have verse fourteen. The KJV and NASB do include another woe in verse fourteen. As such, let us read the NASB version of Matthew 23:13 & 14. A copy of these verses is included in your bulletin today for your reference. This is the beginning of Jesus's ‘Sermon of Seven Woes’ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

58 min
04/23/2023

04/19/2023 | Book of Jonah: Introduction

Jonah: A Prophet This minor prophetic book is unique among all the books of God’s Prophets in that the theme of the book is more about the Prophet, the man than it is about the message that God gives to that man. Because this small book tells of a man being swallowed by a great fish, many scholars have dismissed the book of Jonah as a myth … as fiction. Unfortunately, one traditional way to study this book of prophecy is as an allegory or even a parable. The Book of Job has been studied this way as a piece of great ancient literature. But I think the best way to study the book of Jonah is: First from history. We must acknowledge that Jonah was a historical biblical figure, not a mythical character. This story is set in real cities with real names and it is set at a specific time in history. The second is from the Christological & Soteriological message. Intellectual honesty demands that we view Jesus’ treatment of this story of Jonah as historical [Matthew 12:40-41 & Luke 11:30-32] If Jesus took this small book of prophecy seriously, should we not do the same? He mentioned the ‘sign of Jonah’ as the key truth of HIS salvation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

58 min
04/16/2023

04/16/2023 "Divine Authority: Not What They Do" [Matthew 23:1-12]

Whether it be too many responsibilities at work or at home, we can easily become overwhelmed and burdened to the point where we cannot handle what is expected of us. Sometimes others place too much burden upon us. Sometimes we are too blind to see what burdens we place upon others. We begin Matthew twenty-three by seeing the overwhelming burden of works-righteousness that the Jerusalem Temple leaders imposed upon the people they were called to serve. These men sat on ‘Moses’ seat’ as Jesus points out in verse two. They held a divinely called authority that came from the Mosaic Law, God’s Law. Rightly so, the scribes and priests, the Pharisees and Sadducees, were responsible for guiding God’s people under the authority of God’s Law. HIS Word was to live out in these people. But we will see in Matthew twenty-three that Jesus exercises and boldly proclaims what TRUE authority is and where it originates. This was Jesus’ last public sermon. Matthew 24 & 25 contain the Olivet Discourse, a final and private teaching with his disciples. By declaring the seven ‘woes’ upon the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, Jesus reveals the light of truth in contrast to the darkness of deception. He contrasts right teaching with false living. The first twelve verses are an introduction to Jesus’ warnings to the people and to these religious leaders. The first twelve verses will reflect Jesus’ warning to all of us about what to listen to with humility and reverence and what practices to avoid. The first twelve verses introduce the right and the true authority to listen to and to follow. And it is not what the Scribes and Pharisees ‘do’ that we model. Truth always reveals itself and Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the light. This is his lesson: learn from THE GREAT master teacher and do not get distracted by the false teachers who claim to be great but are truly weak. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

1h 11m
04/12/2023

04/12/2023 Obadiah 15-21

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church is located in Cookeville, TN. Our desire is to honor Christ by loving the fallen world as Christ loved us. We learn how to love the world from God's Word by studying, growing, and applying God's Word in our lives and in our worship. We firmly believe that hearing God's Word is the path to understanding and experiencing salvation in Christ alone. Sovereign Grace Baptist Church 2523 Hwy 111 North Cookeville, TN 38506 sovereigngracebaptist.org This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jesusmind.substack.com

59 min

This podcast will be a place of reflection upon wisdom and events in our world through the Mind of Christ. Listeners will benefit from ideas on the Christian worldview, culture, the Church, theology, and philosophy. The occasional sermon or public speaking event from Dr. Bryant K. Owens will also be shared here. jesusmind.substack.com

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Bryant K. Owens
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2K
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252
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© Bryant K. Owens
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The Jesus Mind Podcast