Plainfield Ponderings - Scripture Meditations
Hello! I'm Allen Greeley and I love thinking and meditating on Scripture. Another word for it, which we don't use very often, is pondering. When the mother of Jesus heard the shepherds retell the vision of the angels celebratory singing; the Scripture says, "Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). That alone is my goal with this podcast. I want us to treasure in our hearts what we hear from God and ponder it. It would be an honor to have you listen in and ponder with me. To God be the glory!
Episodes
199 episodes
You Have to See the Movie: The Minor Prophets Come Alive
Ponder with me about how the Minor Prophets are quoted and repackaged in the New Testament. I am beginning a new Bible class here at the Plainfield church - everyone is invited! Wednesday's at 7pm. The address is below. We're go...
The Gift Shop Gospel (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about how difficult it is to be content. Shockingly, Paul will say that false doctrine and false religion are stemming from conceit and the desire to get rich. There is real spiritual fallout if we cannot attain contentment. Even...
Come Home: The Insult Jesus Never Denied (Part 2)
Ponder with me a little more about why sinful outcasts wanted to be around Jesus. Sinners were drawn to Jesus' search for them, and His joy that came with finding them, wanting them to be a part of His family. However, the next parable in the s...
How Long Will Your Sin Keep 'You' a Secret? (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about how we all have secret sins that most don't know about, even our closest friends and perhaps even our spouses. Sin has a way of finding us out. Certainly, that is true in the judgment, but it's also true in earthly ways tha...
The Insult Jesus Never Denied: An Uncomfortable Christlike Attribute
Ponder with me about an aspect of Christlikeness we may not feel very comfortable with - befriending sinners. His enemies used this as an insult, but when Jesus acknowledged this insult, He never denied it. He leaned into it. It is only the sic...
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Don't Be Hasty: What the Laying on of Hands Really Means (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder the laying on of hands with me! This is not something we speak about very often in the church. It is not something physically that I have seen practiced either. However, the principle behind much of the laying on of hands IS practiced. W...
It's All Him: How Every Portrait of Glory Leads to Jesus
Ponder with me about how all the different aspects and perspectives of God's glory lead us to Jesus. We have been speaking about God's glory on the first Sunday of the month, but I want us to consider how all these different scenes that we have...
Fresh Starts and Forever Limps (Wrestling with God #2)
Ponder with me once more about Jacob's wrestling match with God. The Lord blesses Jacob and yet he limps away from it and remains that way forever. Is that what it means to be blessed by God? Sometimes, yes. We'll also ponder how Hosea uses thi...
Honoring the Men Who Watch Our Souls (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about the leadership of elders. In the New Testament, after the apostles passed away, this is the highest role of leadership you can find in the church. It is so vital! Not all Christians have this leadership and so it's easy to ...
When Wrestling God Turns Into Surrender: Jacob's New Identity
Ponder with me one of the strangest passages in Scripture—Jacob wrestling God! On the eve of meeting Esau again Jacob wrestles God and the Lord put his hip out of socket to humble him. He goes from wrestler to clinger in the moment of suffering...
Unveiled: The Team (feat. Bryan Schiele)
Ponder with Bryan about the need for the team. I love thinking about the church as a team. I've loved playing sports and following sports all of my life, and the need for one another is never more evident than in team sports. Following Jesus me...
Unveiled: The Race (feat. Bryan Schiele)
Ponder with Bryan about the Christian race. Runners do everything in their power to run their races as light as humanly possible. They are not carrying anything excess. The Hebrews writer picks up on this, which Bryan unpacks, that we ought to ...
Unveiled: The Hunger (feat. Bryan Schiele)
Ponder with Bryan Shciele about hungering for God. Keeping our hung and thirst for spiritual things can be difficult. Bible study can become like a side-job almost, or we might even think it's boring. This is certainly not a problem with the Lo...
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Unveiled: The Student (feat. Bryan Schiele)
Ponder with Bryan about remaining teachable. A disciple is a learner, so we should even have to say this, and yet many of us feel like we have arrived when we have a certain level of knowledge. We think we "know enough". This is discipleship po...
Unveiled: The Mirror (feat. Bryan Schiele)
Let's ponder with Bryan Schiele and his sermon series on being "Unveiled". We recorded an episode on February 10th with Bryan, advertising his upcoming sermon series which he preached here in mid-March. I'm going to release all the lessons over...
Gates, Greatness, and Godly Women: A Talk Your Son Needs to Hear
Ponder with me about how unafraid Scripture is to praise women of great faith and action. These passages where women are praised were written in a time where societies were extremely male dominated. We will roll through many great examples of w...
From Mary's Son to Our Family: What the Cross Created
Ponder with me about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Before we jump into speaking about Mary, we'll first speak about the incredible work that so many mothers and wives do. It goes unnoticed far too often. Then, we'll transition to thinking about Ma...
Worse Than an Unbeliever? Taking Family Responsibility Seriously (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about honoring our widows within the church, and the family first policy Paul lays out in I Timothy. First off, I want us to be impressed with how much God cares for the most vulnerable. This has been a staple of God's character ...
Holy, Holy, Holy: What Happens When God's Glory Hits You
Ponder with me Isaiah's theophany. In the most up close and personal vision of God's glory to this point in Scripture, the lessons are powerful. How did Isaiah walk away a changed man? What did he see about God and himself that prompted his cha...
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Earned Respect: Focusing on Yourself (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me the discipline of focusing solely on yourself. This is a tough discipline to learn when people around you aren't doing the right thing, but it is vital. Paul lends his friend Timothy some Spirit-filled advice along these lines in...
Hard Work, Humble Hearts: A Word on Scripture
Ponder with me about biblical interpretation. It's work! Sometimes it is extremely hard, laborious work. It is possible to understand Scripture correctly though. However, the believers that trust Scripture is understandable the most are oftenti...
Rigorous Discipleship and The Gym of Godliness (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me what it means to hit the gym of godliness. Literally, Paul says it like that in I Timothy. Our last episode on I Timothy (on March 24th) was about the spiritual war over our thoughts. We are to take every thought captive to obey ...
A Story of God's Goodness - A Sinful Life That Ends in Faith
Ponder with me about a man we either hate to love, or we love to hate! This Bible character elicits strong feelings on both sides, because he lived so carnally! However, he ended up on our "team" ... or perhaps I should say we are on his team -...
Why the Miracles in John are Uniquely Designed as Evidence for Jesus
Ponder with me about why the miracles in the gospel of John are uniquely designed as evidence for Jesus as the Christ the Son of God. John says they are - John 20:30-31. However, why are they? Many people performed miracles in the Scripture but...
What Does Glory on Christ's Church Look Like?
Ponder with me some more about the glory of God! We have been tracing this theme throughout the year of 2026, at the beginning of each month. We start with the glory of God descending on the Temple, but that is now God's church. So, what does t...
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