Intertwined - faith • community • ecology

Save the whales or save the seeds?

Who did Jesus heal? How do we decide who to help? When do we need to reach out?"Save the whales or save the seeds?" is based on Matthew 8:1-17When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will take their places at the banquet with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour.When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”Works ReferencedCase-Winters, Anna. Matthew: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Belief: a Theological Commentary on the Bible). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. Kindle edition.Layne, Tawnya. “Healing & Restoration.” Daily Ripple. February 12, 2026. https://dailyripple.substack.com/p/healing-and-restorationMcConaghy, Charlotte. Wild Dark Shore. New York City: Flatiron Books, 2025. Kindle editionPowell, Mark Allen. Matthew (Interpretation Bible Commentary). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2025. Kindle edition.Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at intertwinedfc@gmail.com.

Being humbled vs being humble

What does it mean to be humbled? What's good about being humble? Why is humility sometimes elusive?"Being humbled or being humble?" is based on Numbers 12While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman), and they said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth. Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words:When there are prophets among you,I the LORD make myself known to them in visions;I speak to them in dreams.Not so with my servant Moses;he is faithful in all my house.With him I speak face to face—clearly, not in riddles,and he beholds the form of the LORD.“Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed.When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam’s skin had become diseased, as white as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam and saw that she was diseased. Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us for a sin that we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like one stillborn, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb.” And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, “O God, please heal her.” But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp for seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam had been brought in again. After that the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.Works ReferencedAlter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2019, Kindle edition. Dor, Yonina. “From the Well in Midian to the Ba‘al of Peor.” In Leviticus and Numbers (Texts @ Contexts), edited by Athalya Brenner and Nicole Wilkinson Duran. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2013.Dozeman, Thomas B. “The Book of Numbers.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume I. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.Fox, Nili S. “Numbers.” In The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition, edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at intertwinedfc@gmail.com.

Did Jesus sound like Jerry Seinfeld?

Did Jesus sometimes talk like a comedian? What happens when we judge? What is the "Golden Rule?""Did Jesus sound like Jerry Seinfeld?" is based on Matthew 7:1-14Works ReferencedAtkin, Emily. "Air pollution denial is now EPA policy." Heated. January 13, 2026. https://heated.world/p/air-pollution-denial-is-now-epa-policyBoring, M. Eugene. “The Gospel of Matthew.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.Case-Winters, Anna. Matthew: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Belief: a Theological Commentary on the Bible). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. Kindle edition.Castle, Cerise. "Off-Duty ICE Agent Killed a Black Man in Los Angeles. Why No Arrest?" Word in Black. January 9, 2026. https://wordinblack.com/2026/01/ice-agent-killed-black-man-los-angeles-why-no-arrest/“Conservatives Say Renée Good Was Brainwashed By Bible Into Loving Thy Neighbor.” The Onion. January 15, 2026. https://theonion.com/conservatives-say-renee-good-was-brainwashed-by-bible-into-loving-thy-neighbor/Dorgan, Michael. "Renee Good was shot 4 times, including in the head, fire report shows." Fox News. January 16, 2026. https://www.foxnews.com/us/renee-good-shot-four-times-including-head-fire-report-showsKaur, Harmeet. “Word of the Week: Who gets called an ‘agitator’?” CNN. January 14, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/us/word-of-week-agitator-cecOlmsted, Edith. “ICE Attacks Car Full of Kids, Leaving 6-Month-Old Baby Unconscious.” The New Republic. January 16, 2026. https://newrepublic.com/post/205376/ice-attack-car-kids-six-month-old-unconsciousPowell, Mark Allen. Matthew (Interpretation Bible Commentary). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2025. Kindle edition.Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at intertwinedfc@gmail.com.

Will 2026 offer you a reset?

Is our society fair? What would make it fair? What is a jubilee year? "Will 2026 offer you a reset?" is based on Leviticus 25:1-12The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a Sabbath for the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in their yield, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for the LORD: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. You may eat what the land yields during its Sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you, for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food.“You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years. Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month—on the Day of Atonement—you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you: you shall not sow or reap the aftergrowth or harvest the unpruned vines. For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.Works ReferencedGustine, Adam L. and José Humphreys. Ecosystems of Jubilee: economic ethics for the neighborhood. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2023. Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. “The Book of Leviticus.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume I. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.Schwartz, Baruch J. “Leviticus.” In The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition, edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at intertwinedfc@gmail.com.

No manger? No problem.

Why talk about the teachings of Jesus at Christmastime? How do his teachings create stories? What stories are Jesus-followers writing in our community?"No manger? No problem." is based on Matthew 6:14-24“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.“And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.“The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.Works ReferencedBoring, M. Eugene. “The Gospel of Matthew.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.Case-Winters, Anna. Matthew: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Belief: a Theological Commentary on the Bible). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. Kindle edition.Cooper, Elissa. "Better than Santa: what do we know about the real St. Nicholas?" Christianity Today, Vol. 56, No. 11 (December 2012): 69.Powell, Mark Allen. Matthew (Interpretation Bible Commentary). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2025. Kindle edition.Smedes, Louis B. Quoted on BrainyQuote.com. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/lewis-b-smedes-quotesStrong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (n.d). 3126 mamonás: Mammon, wealth, riches. In Bible Hub.com. Retrieved December 19, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3126.htm Zoba, Wendy Murray. "Reclaiming Santa." Christianity Today, Vol 44, No. 14 (December 4, 2000): 42-46.Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at intertwinedfc@gmail.com.