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
183 episodes
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...
.jpg)
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...
.jpg)
The Demons in Our Head and Protecting Our Thoughts (I Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about how we let lies slip into our thinking and ultimately how lies end up dethroning Christ. Paul says in I Timothy 4 that people were going to leave the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of de...
When Disciples Need to be Baptized Again
Ponder this question with me - is there ever a time when someone should be re-baptized? I realize this term "re-baptism" is somewhat controversial, because if the first baptism was not legit, then some think we should not call it a baptism at a...
Groundhog Day - Avoiding Spiritual Monotony (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about how to stay spiritually motivated. If you have been around the church very long, things can feel like they are "same ole, same ole". Worship is the same, life is the same - it can even feel like the movie Groundhog Day. Thi...
Struggling With Spiritual Confidence? Growing to be Like Mordecai (Esther 3)
Ponder with me about how to be spiritually confident. I'm sure you have met people who are oozing with confidence about the Lord and their walk with Him. It makes you want that for yourself! Where does that boldness come from though? We already...
Exalting Preachers Over Elders - Do We Have This Backwards? 1 Timothy Series
Ponder with me the simplicity of how the church was structured in the New Testament. I Timothy 3 contains the qualifications of elders and deacons. In this lesson, we will not go line by line in studying the qualifications. Instead, I want to c...
.jpg)
Don't Come Too Close to God's Glory! How the Limits are Removed
Ponder with me about how God wants us to be near His glory! We will think about this in terms of God's glory filling the Tabernacle when it was first erected. This is such a heart-touching truth. God wants to be near us, and we need this desper...
No-Kings Protests and a Demand for a King - Sin's Lunacy
Ponder with the stark contrast between the no-kings protests here in the U.S. vs. Israel's demand for a king in I Samuel 8. The greatest irony is that we all have a king, then and now - King Jesus. Let's think through I Samuel 8 and the lunacy ...
Saved Through Childbearing - Strange Reference to Christ (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me what it means when Paul said, "Yet she will be saved through childbearing..." (I Timothy 2:15a). This has historically been hard for believers to unpack. We get into it pretty heavily in the last part of the episode. The first pa...
Let a Woman Learn - Thinking Across Cultures (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about Paul's seemingly controversial subject about women teaching or exercising authority over a man from I Timothy 2:12. How are people getting around this statement from Paul when it seems so clear? But more importantly, what i...
"Unveiled" Sermon Series Coming - Conversation with Bryan Schiele
Ponder with me a new sermon series coming to Plainfield, Indiana! The Plainfield church of Christ is having Bryan Schiele come to teach a series called "Unveiled" - it's about removing the veils of distraction, pride, and noise, so we can refle...
ICE Protests and the Exclusive Way of Jesus (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me about some of the ICE protesting and how it might relate to the singular path of salvation - Jesus. I know it sounds weird! It's less about ICE and more about how Christians ought to see the government, interact and pray for the ...
Haman’s Holocaust Threat That Should Have Never Happened (Esther #2)
Ponder with me about the providence of God from the book of Esther again. God works through the horrors of life just as much as the things we think are positive. We need that perspective to help reframe our hardships. Also, we'll think about th...
Squandering the Glory We Were Made to Image and Seeing His Glory Better
Ponder with me how God has exalted humankind and bestowed on us glory. This glory was made to image His glory but unfortunately has been squandered. How can we get back to the glory God wants us to image? Lastly - is seeing God's glory about se...
.jpg)
The Security of Believers vs. Handing Over to Satan (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me a little deeper about handing someone over to Satan and its connection to church discipline. We ended last episode with a question - WHY? Why is handing someone over to Satan a good way to speak about discipline? What does that s...
Shipwrecked Faith and Handing Over People to Satan (1 Timothy Series)
Ponder with me what it means to hand someone over to Satan. That is not a phrase you'll hear used very often in churches (if ever), but Paul uses that phrase twice in the New Testament. However, before we think through that phrase, we really ne...
.webp)
Convincing Esther - Being Open to God’s Providence
Ponder with me the possibility that God has pre-determined some things in your life. Most that listen to the podcast, me included, believe in human free will and that God has not pre-determined everything. However, it would be a grave mistake t...
