Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Gospel Coalition
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Read the Bible for Yourself
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![Overcoming Fear and Perfectionism in Bible Reading (with Tara-Leigh Cobble) [The Deep Dish - Ep. 44]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rPH2bFzBzr0/mqdefault.jpg "Overcoming Fear and Perfectionism in Bible Reading (with Tara-Leigh Cobble) [The Deep Dish - Ep. 44]
Courtney and Melissa talk to Tara-Leigh Cobble about how she got over her lack of desire to read the Bible, and how, over time, reading the Bible made her fall in love with its author. They talk about the transformative impact that can come from giving just 20 minutes to Bible reading each day, and they recommend free tools to help readers understand difficult parts of the Bible.
📝ON THIS VIDEO:
0:00 Experience Ultimate Comfort With Cozy Earths Bamboo Sheets
1:57 Overcoming Perfectionism to Foster Spiritual Intimacy
3:28 The Transformative Power of Consistent Bible Reading
11:09 Finding Joyful Guides for Spiritual and Scriptural Growth
15:49 Free Online Tools for Bible Study and Research
18:26 Overcoming Perfectionism and Finding Joy in Bible Reading
25:23 Embracing the Complexity and Depth of Biblical Understanding
29:34 Understanding Gods Revelation Through Language and Scripture
31:47 The Journey of Rediscovering God Through the Bible Recap
40:27 The Grueling Journey of Creating a Podcast and Book
44:57 Balancing Personal and Group Bible Study for Spiritual Growth
47:49 Finding Assurance and Joy Through Knowing God
51:22 Exploring the Joy of Playing Fishbowl with Friends
Resources Mentioned:
The Bible Recap (Podcast) - https://www.thebiblerecap.com/podcast
The Bible Recap (Book) - https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Recap-One-Year-Reading-Understanding/dp/0764237039/?tag=thegospcoal-20
ESV Study Bible - https://www.amazon.com/ESV-Study-Bible-Bibles-Crossway/dp/1433502410/?tag=thegospcoal-20
Free Tools for Studying the Bible:
Faithlife Study Bible - https://faithlife.com/store/product/36338/faithlife-study-bible
The Bible Project - https://bibleproject.com/
Blue Letter Bible - https://www.blueletterbible.org/
TGC Bible Commentary - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/
Desiring God Sermon Archive - https://www.desiringgod.org/messages
Look at the Book - https://www.desiringgod.org/labs
Related Resources:
Read the Bible - https://readthebible.tgc.org/
My Favorite Bible in a Year Reading Plan - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/melissa-kruger/my-favorite-bible-in-a-year-reading-plan-2/
Easy Schedule for Bible-in-a-Year Rookies - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/schedule-bible-year-rookies/
For more resources, visit our website.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/deep-dish/
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![Self-Care vs. Self-Sacrifice [The Deep Dish - Ep. 41]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rd5XG7vtgR8/mqdefault.jpg "Self-Care vs. Self-Sacrifice [The Deep Dish - Ep. 41]
Courtney and Melissa discuss how to apply biblical discernment to the question of when to prioritize wise self-care and when to put aside your needs for the sake of others. They emphasize the need to know yourself and whether you naturally tend to protect yourself or to allow your own needs to go unmet. They discuss how to set wise boundaries while showing Christlike love, and they emphasize that our goal should be to move beyond thinking so much about ourselves to turning our eyes to Jesus.
📝ON THIS VIDEO:
0:00 Balancing Self-Care and Self-Sacrifice in Spiritual Growth
7:59 Finding True Rest in Jesus for Body and Soul
9:40 Balancing Self-Care and Self-Sacrifice in Christian Life
17:37 Balancing Self-Care and Self-Sacrifice with Humility
25:25 Finding Joy and Humility in Everyday Acts of Service
30:43 Balancing Self-Care and Self-Sacrifice Through Spiritual Discernment
34:15 Personal Sacrifices and Spiritual Discernment in Christian Life
40:25 Balancing Boundaries, Self-Care, and Difficult Relationships
44:27 Balancing Family Dynamics and Self-Denial in Christian Life
48:10 Balancing Self-Care and Wisdom in Everyday Life
Resources Mentioned:
The Future Tenses of the Blessed Life by F. B. Meyer - https://www.amazon.com/Future-Tenses-Blessed-Life/dp/3337600654/?tag=thegospcoal-20
Related Resources:
Self-Care or Soul-Care? Yes - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/self-care-soul-care/
Sabbath Is More than Self-Care - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/sabbath-more-self-care/?queryID=9e363b886f11ec0452df25b810e4fcf1
Does ‘Turn the Other Cheek’ Mean ‘Get Walked All Over’? - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/turn-cheek-mean-well-get-walked/
Think Biblically About Relational Boundaries - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/think-biblically-boundaries/
For more resources, visit our website.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/deep-dish/
———
🎁 Help The Gospel Coalition build up a renewed church for tomorrow. Lets Build Together: Donate Today at tgc.org/together
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🎧 Don’t miss an episode of “The Deep Dish” with Courtney Doctor and Melissa Kruger!
▫ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-deep-dish/id1794426491
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![Why Pascal’s Wager Still Pays Off (with Graham Tomlin) [Gospelbound Ep. 190]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rvAhQgcyCeU/mqdefault.jpg "Why Pascal’s Wager Still Pays Off (with Graham Tomlin) [Gospelbound Ep. 190]
The patron saint of cultural apologetics is Augustine of Hippo, author most famously of City of God and Confessions. Second place is up for debate. But you’ll get a lot of votes for a 17th-century disciple of Augustine, the Frenchman Blaise Pascal.
Graham Tomlin describes Pascal as the “man who made the modern world” in a new biography (https://www.amazon.com/Blaise-Pascal-Made-Modern-World/dp/139980765X/?tag=thegospcoal-20). Tomlin is the director of the Centre for Cultural Witness in Oxford, England. He writes of Pascal that “it is hard to think of anyone who has impacted so many fields of human endeavour in such a short time.”
Here’s a taste from Tomlin about Pascal’s accomplishments: he basically invented probability theory; proved the existence of the vacuum; laid the foundations of integral calculus; conducted the first modern scientific experiment; developed theory that made possible the hydraulic press; demonstrated that air has weight; designed and built the first mechanical calculating machine, which led to what we know as the computer; set the trend of wearing wrist watches; and built the first public urban transportation system in Europe.
And did I already mention he was one of the most effective and enduring cultural apologists of all time, perhaps second only to Augustine? Tomlin writes, “His was a Christianity founded in a profound experience of God, an intense devotional life and a form of faith that offered a radical alternative to the comfortable assimilation to culture that the Church of his day often seemed to promote.”
Let’s talk to Graham Tomlin about this remarkable man, who lamented man’s inability to sit quietly by himself, who observed, “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.”
*In This Episode*
00:00 – Pascal’s wager and living as if Christianity is true
00:49 – Introducing Blaise Pascal, the cultural apologist who helped make the modern world
02:36 – Pascal’s remarkable inventions, including public transportation and the Pascaline
05:42 – Augustine’s influence on Pascal’s theology of desire, fallenness, and grace
08:11 – Why Pascal trusted reason in science but not as the starting point for faith
10:46 – Pascal’s “Night of Fire” and encounter with the living God
16:43 – Why Pascal went to war with the Jesuits
20:20 – Jansenism, Calvinism, and Pascal’s understanding of grace
25:51 – The hiddenness of God as an argument for faith
32:38 – How human misery points toward human greatness
39:46 – What Pascal’s Wager actually means
48:45 – Pascal, Jonathan Haidt, and the psychology of belief
49:05 – “Make it attractive”: Pascal’s enduring strategy for cultural apologetics
51:59 – How Pascal anticipated both the modern and postmodern worlds
59:22 – What Pascal would say about modern science and scientism
1:01:43 – Why Pascal’s faith speaks to people who have looked into the abyss
1:03:21 – Outro
*Resources Mentioned*
_Blaise Pascal_ by Graham Tomlin - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1399807641?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Pensées_ by Blaise Pascal - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140446451?tag=thegospcoal-20
_The Provincial Letters_ by Blaise Pascal - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1478324880?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Confessions_ by Augustine - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451527801?tag=thegospcoal-20
_City of God_ by Augustine - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385029101?tag=thegospcoal-20
_The Righteous Mind_ by Jonathan Haidt - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307455777?tag=thegospcoal-20
_The Happiness Hypothesis_ by Jonathan Haidt - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465028020?tag=thegospcoal-20
_The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics_ - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/thekellercenter/
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