Well This Is Akward...

It's Sunday, January 19th. I'm sitting at my laptop while the baby naps trying desperately to figure out just how to tell you this. I've started and stopped typing several times, the wheels turning as I begin, rewind, begin again. I think the best thing to do is just come out and say it.

I don't have an episode to release on the podcast this week.

WHEW! Lord that's a relief. I know you all are shaking your heads in disappointment, renting your garments in two with rage, gnashing your teeth and all that.

I know. I'm so sorry.

The thing is, with Notes From The Other Side I have made a certain kind of commitment not only to myself but to all of you. I've decided that when it comes to the Holy Bible, it's interpretation and application into our everyday lives, there's no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. Or rather, no such thing as too many chefs. Too many cooks can be problematic.

Especially if some of those cooks suck.

One of my absolute favorite Tik Tok accounts (RIP, I know) was this guy named Christopher Mills. His schtick was to stitch cooking videos where the content creators did something really gross - use their mouth instead of a knife to cut butter and drop it into a pan, let the dog lick their hands then get back to cooking before washing said hands, dump their noodles right into the kitchen sink to drain instead of a colander, ya'll get the point. It would quick cut to Mills singing, "you can't eat at everybody's house" in a Black Gospel style and it SENT ME everytime. Love that guy.

The same can be said for biblical exegesis. You can't eat at everybody house, nor should you, frankly. Cherry picking of scripture, poor translation of the original Greek and/or Hebrew, lack of socio/historical context (or even give a shit in some cases) are as abhorrent to me as licking the frosting off the metal whisks of an electric mixer then popping them right back in the bowl.

Yeah. Gross.

It is for this reason that when I am conducting a deep dive on such topics as the one I'm in the middle of now, I do not rely on my own understanding. I read, I pray, and I reach out to people who are experts in their fields, have more years of study under their belts, or who actually speak Hebrew or Greek. Because I don't want to bring you burgers from the greasy spoon down the street with the C+ food safety grade in the window, no. I wanna bring you REAL food, GOOD food, food that you can trust.

It is in this vein that I am choosing a slower than usual start to our 2025 podcast season. I am working behind the scenes here on some really (really ) exciting interviews that will bring a perspective and a level of expertise to this study that I could not bring to you myself. So yes, I am going to skip a podcast release cycle and that just sucks. There's no other way to say it.

But you guys, trust me. when this food comes out of the kitchen, it'll be worth the wait.

Love ya'll, stay warm and take it easy.