Ask the pastor: the queen of heaven in Jeremiah 7:18
- What is the 'queen of heaven' in Jeremiah 7:18?
Boova's ask-the-pastor comes from his Jeremiah read-through: the 'queen of heaven' in Jeremiah 7:18 (cakes baked, drink offerings poured 'to provoke me to anger'). The room confirms it is a deity, not a person — likely a fertility goddess such as Ishtar — and riff on ancient divine name-etymology (Beelzebub as 'lord of the heights' versus the Jewish insult-twist 'lord of the dung heap'), which prompts a modern-idolatry turn (porn addiction as today's unacknowledged worship) and the comedy line 'queen of the earth.' Boova closes by marveling at the Bible's interconnectivity now that he reads Matthew and the Old Testament in parallel — 'a beautiful and incredibly interconnected story.'
More on Idolatry
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Evaluating the event: Elijah, Josiah, the sign of Jonah, the donuts test
- How do we tell whether a church element has become the thing itself rather than pointing to Jesus?
The hosts work through evaluation tools for curated experiences: Elijah didn't ask God to repeat the fire, and Jesus refused to repeat signs for the Pharisees ('you get the sign…
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Does God affirm our struggles or call us to repent of them?
- Does God affirm our struggles or call us to repent of them?
Mike frames two camps: one that says God affirms our struggles as-is, another that says He calls us to repent of what is in our control.
From No. 534 · The Antagonistic Bison
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Is it wrong to keep a potty mouth and chew tobacco?
- Is it wrong to love and follow Jesus while keeping a slight potty mouth and continuing to chew tobacco?
- Does the Bible call gambling a sin?
Third 'is this wrong?' case: can a host love and follow Jesus all his days while keeping a slight potty mouth and chewing tobacco?
From No. 524 · Handshakes and Wrongness
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Pick your own pharaoh: America, free thought, and the persecuted church
- Is restricted freedom the reason Jesus is flourishing in countries like China?
Chris is invited to speak and asks whether restricted freedom in places like China is why Jesus is flourishing there.