The Shield ONLINE
Teachings, messages, vital life learning, irrelevances, and other musings about the Bible from The Salvation Army's Captain Roger McCort. Life has few guarantees, but here's one: You will find something new or interesting in every message or you can reach out to me and I will provide you with additional new and interesting facts, free of charge. Guaranteed.
Episodes
346 episodes
Enough
"I'm grateful - don't do it again!"Paul wraps his letter to the Philippians up with this awkward-sounding (to us) "Thank you - No thank you" thing which is intended to help share the joy of the gospel with them and with others. How? And...
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Season 9
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Episode 7
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22:56
How You Can Fix (Almost) Everything
Conflict abounds! I suspect most of us are involved in multiple conflicts, varying from minor annoyances and open disagreements to national and international disputes. And we each add to or subtract from those conflicts, don't we? What if there...
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Season 9
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Episode 6
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19:35
Walk a New Path in a New Way
You know who really sucks? THOSE people. THOSE people over there. The ones not like us. How dare they refuse to conform to all of OUR expectations? Why won't they just do the things we wad to do? How can they ever be like us if they don't live ...
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Season 9
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Episode 5
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25:52
The Bloodthirsty Hate the Blameless
Can violence be redemptive? Scripture (and history) says no.And yet, we keep trying.Today we revisit the story of Cain and his brother Abel to see if we can understand the root of violence and how God responds to those who perpe...
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25:55
Am I a Soldier of Christ?
Paul had said that we need to have the same attitude and make the same choices and take the same actions as Jesus. Which he knew a lot of folks would think might be too hard! So he gave us two examples of ordinary folks who lived that out so th...
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Season 9
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Episode 4
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25:55
Citizens of JOY!
Look, I'm sure that your national pride, like that you might have for a favorite sports team, can be a fun component of your approach to life. However, Followers of the Way of Jesus need to make sure that Jesus is Lord!In his letter to ...
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Season 9
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Episode 3
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27:52
With Neck Thrust Forward
Does it seem that there is more reason for sorrow than for joy? There's not.Am I ignoring the pain and suffering which is so prevalent in life?I'm not. It sucks. We should rely on our JOY as we combat those things.H...
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Season 9
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Episode 2
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31:55
Just Say No to Sloppy Agape!
Know what we need a little more of in our lives? JOY! What if I told you that I have a gift for you which can fill you with joy to the point that you NEED to share it because there's too much for you to hold onto yourself? Paul wrote a letter t...
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Season 9
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Episode 1
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29:47
Dead or Alive
DEAD OR ALIVEJesus was dead. There is no question about that. So what happened to make someone who had spent their life wishing that was true come to believe that Jesus is alive?It's Resurrection Sunday! Maybe there's more to it...
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30:08
SSL: Palm Sunday (With Fronds Like These...)
LIES ABOUT PALM SUNDAYPalm Sunday is the most mistold tale since the Christmas story, making it the perfect cap to top off our series about the lies our Sunday School teachers taught us. Although I probably would lay the blame for this ...
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Season 8
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Episode 18
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23:47
Lies About the Gates of Hell
Good news! You have the keys to Hell. The owner has given you the right to come and go as you please. And the right to share Hell with others by sending them in or setting them free. Will you take up residence, or insist that others must, or wi...
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Season 8
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Episode 17
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22:55
Lies About Going to Heaven
TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN... WHERE, EXACTLY?We are working through some of the lies that we are taught in Sunday School! As in all walks of life, we need to be careful to separate the fantasy and superstition from our religious walk, ...
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Season 8
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Episode 16
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29:03
What's Up With the Bible?
Have you ever wondered if God might get so mad that he flings poo at someone like an angry chimpanzee? If so, this is the week for you to check in here!We're taking a break from our LIES series to talk about one of my favorite subjects:...
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24:57
The Truth Behind the Lies We Tell About Esther
If there is a Disney Princess story in the Bible...The story of Esther is NOT it.In Sunday school, we tell it as if it is, but this (like the story of Samson) isn't a story meant to be told to children. It's a very adult story, fille...
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Season 8
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Episode 15
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31:48
Your Cheatin' Heart
We're taking a short break from our Sunday School Lies series, but will resume it next week! This week, we need to talk about something else...Aren't we all basically good people? That's the central question of our Bible exploration tod...
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29:01
SSL: Lies About Zacchaeus
The children's story of Zacchaeus the tax collector teaches kids that short people are inferior, rich people are evil, and that if you have enough money to spread around, both of those can be overlooked.This isn't even close to what the...
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Season 8
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Episode 14
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29:23
SSL: Lies About Rahab (and Jericho)
As a child, I was taught again and again that the glory of God was somehow shined up by the genocidal destruction of Jericho when Israel entered the Promised Land. As an adult, I've heard and been taught and had it explained that this is true a...
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Season 8
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Episode 13
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31:41
SSL: Lies About Jesus' Healing
Why did Jesus heal people? Was it because they came to him, repentant and ready to work for him, so he fixed them? Was it because he couldn't be around people who weren't perfect? Was it a way of buying their loyalty? Or was something else goin...
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Season 8
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Episode 12
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26:47
SSL: Samson, a Love Story
He's been called the Superman of the Bible, but that's not at all who or what Samson was. The example of this strong man is found in how weak he really was...Today we share the REAL story of Samson, one that should never be in a childre...
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Season 8
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Episode 11
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29:50
Lies About Sacrificing Isaac
There comes a moment in every boy's life when his father takes him up on a mountain to kill him... No, wait. That's not right, is it? And yet, somehow, we have got the idea in our head that God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac is a great story...
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Season 8
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Episode 10
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25:00
Sunday School Lies: The Disciples
There was this group of people called disciples who followed Jesus.How many were there and who were they and what did they do and was it the right thing or not?You probably think the answers to those questions are simple, because th...
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Season 8
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Episode 9
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29:15
Sunday School Lies: Jonah (revisited)
I don't think Sunday School Teachers set out to lie to their charges - it usually happens because they are passing on wrong things they have been taught. They just don't take the time to research something that they think they already know. Or ...
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Season 8
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Episode 8
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28:10
Sunday School Lies: David & Goliath
It's not unusual for people to simplify things for children. But when we do that with scripture, we can lose the original intent or even change the reason the story was included. This is BAD. Why? Because when you tell the story wrong, you alwa...
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30:31
Unshakable Love
Christmas is over. What was the point of it all anyway? Why do we always seem to leave the holiday season with the feeling that something was or is missing? And is that something that can be fixed, or is it just the way things are?Today...
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Season 8
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Episode 6
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20:42
Unexpected Gifts (Advent Week Four)
Dear Magi,Thank you for bringing gifts to help with the raising of our child. They sure came in handy! It wasn't more than an hour after you left that we needed to pack up and move to another country, and we never would have been able to...
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Season 8
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Episode 5
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28:49