A Stranger in the House of God
A Stranger in the House of God is the Podcast of award winning author John Koessler. Growing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outsider wondered about the God they worshiped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. John's podcast addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers.
Episodes
96 episodes
Insatiable Desire and World Weariness: Signs We Were Made for Eternity
I have heard more than one Christian express reservations about what we can look forward to in the age to come. What is it about Heaven that makes some of us nervous?
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12:06
Slow Faith: Lessons About Belief From the Disciples
When Jesus called the two disciples on the Emmaus Road "slow to believe," he was describing many of us as well. The disciples' struggle to believe provides insight into our own slow faith.
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16:20
The Rediscovered Country: Heaven is More Familiar Than We Think
Shakespeare called death “the undiscovered country.” But its environs may be more familiar than we think. The landscape of the undiscovered country is not as alien as we thought. Nor do we have to wait until we pass through the gate...
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11:34
Full of Days: The Five Blessings of Old Age
Scripture says that Job died "old and full of days." Unlike our culture, which tends to view old age through the lens of loss and debilitation, the Bible's perspective on aging is generally positive. What are the five "blessings" that come with...
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14:13
Eternity Shut in a Span: The Nativity of Christ as the Ultimate Epiphany
Christmas is the day that holds pride of place for most Christians. Of all the holidays, it is the one that garners the lion's share of our attention and generates the most excitement. But this has not always been the case. In terms of church h...
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15:12
Entertaining the Strange: Conversation as an Act of Hospitality
During this past presidential election, Joe Rogan attempted to sit down with Kamala Harris for an interview. When they were unable to come to terms, he expressed disappointment. "I hope she does," Rogan said. "I will talk to her like a human be...
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17:30
Job and the Divine Game: Faith Amidst Suffering
In a letter discussing the infant theory of quantum mechanics, Albert Einstein famously observed that God “does not play dice.” Perhaps, but sometimes, it feels as if God does play games with us. What is the nature of what Martin Luthe...
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13:46
Technological Servant or Tool of Technopoly? LOGOS Takes a Leap
John offers a review of Logos Bible Software's new subscription model, designed to enhance accessibility and maintain revenue. Mixed user feedback highlights concerns about costs versus value and the introduction of AI features into the softwar...
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14:08
Playing God: The Unexpected Attribute
Playfulness is not typically attributed to the divine. Common descriptors include holy, sovereign, just, and merciful. Attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence, and self-sufficiency are well-acknowledged. However, playfulness seldom makes i...
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9:23
Spitting Away From the Angels: Faith, Imagination, & the Reality of the Church
The church is a caravan. It travels in company. In one of his sermons on the nature of Christ, Saint Augustine pictures the church as being a community of faith that stretches across the globe but across time. Or as he put it, “from Abel the ju...
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12:47
When God is Silent-Faith, Hope, & Prayer
Faith and hope are essential in prayer. But how much faith is enough before God will answer?
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15:33
When God is Silent-Prayers Without Words
Some years ago, a friend admitted to me that she couldn’t pray. She is not alone. Some of the godliest people have found themselves at a loss for words in the presence of God. How do we pray when we have no words?
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13:07
When God is Silent-Jesus on Prayer
Everyone learns to talk by imitation. Most people learn to pray the same way. They hear the prayers of others and copy them. Jesus’s disciples learned how to pray from Jesus. His model prayer, usually referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, is a pray...
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13:51
The Christmas Story
It is not a hyperbole to describe the Christmas story as fantastic. That is to say, it has all the characteristics of a fantasy. C. S. Lewis observed, ""The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact."
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10:38
When God is Silent-How to Stay Focused During Prayer
Many things can get in the way of praying. But one of the most common obstacles is boredom. Prayer can sometimes seem tedious. How do we stay focused when praying?
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14:49
When God is Silent-Praying in the Words of Another
Which kind of praying is better, memorized prayers, written prayers, or extemporaneous prayers that we make up in the moment?
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11:48
When God is Silent-Managing Our Angry Prayers
Sometimes when we pray, we are angry with other people. On other occasions, we pray because we are angry with God. How do we manage our angry prayers?
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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14:06
When God is Silent-The Art of Praying for Others
Do a search on books about intercessory prayer on the Internet, and the overall impression you get is that our concerns in this area are primarily concerns of focus and method. Intercession isn't exactly rocket science but that doesn't mean tha...
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13:34
When God is Silent-Praying and Getting What You Want . . . or Not
Prayer is an act of communion with God. But for most of us, it’s also about getting something from God. Most prayers include an “ask” of some kind. We aren’t praying just to hear ourselves talk. We do not struggle with prayer because it is hard...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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13:10
When God is Silent-Awkward Conversation
Whatever prayer may be, it is not an ordinary conversation. Believers in every generation have understood prayer as one of the means by which God communicates to his people. Yet it is a conversation where we do the majority of the talking. In p...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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12:19
Do We Really Need Another Book on Prayer?
Most books about prayer either assume that I don’t want to pray or that I don’t know how. Neither is really the case. My problem lies elsewhere. I don’t like the way God treats me when I pray.
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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2:43
Other Words: Four More Cries from the Cross
Jesus' last words were those of a victor, not a victim. They are the words of one who knows he is death's master.
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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2:43
Three Prayers from the Cross
Some have called Jesus' seven statements from the cross his last words. Among these seven sayings are three prayers. Jesus' three prayers from the cross help us to place the suffering of Christ in a larger context.
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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13:11
Pass Me Not
Several years ago, at the Bible college where I taught, news reached the campus that a revival had broken out among the students of another school. It was much like the recent event at Asbury University, though on a smaller scale. The stories we h...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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15:08
A Season of Ghosts: Christmas, Nostalgia, & “The Weight of Glory”
In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the first spirit to visit Ebenezer Scrooge is the ghost of Christmas past. Scrooge notes the spirit’s small stature and asks, “Long Past?” “No. Your past,” the ghost replies. Dickens is on to something here b...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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13:03
