Bible study with dust, doubt, and resurrection.
The gist
The Semi-Seminarian treats scripture as lived drama, not classroom trivia. Its sermons and Wednesday night studies linger over Thomas, Ehud, Naaman, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, and other figures whose stories press faith into grief, fear, power, and cost.
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About The Semi-Seminarian
The Semi-Seminarian carries the texture of a church room more than a studio. Coffee is nearby. Plates have been cleared. The teaching begins with a story, then keeps turning until the familiar passage starts to feel less familiar. Its center is Christian Bible study, but its method is dramatic, pastoral, and unusually attentive to the emotional pressure inside the text. Thomas is reconsidered as someone who refuses borrowed hope. Mary Magdalene is followed into the dark before resurrection has a name. Lazarus is not only raised; the crowd around him is tested by what they do with what they saw. The show also reaches into stranger corners: Ehud's left hand, Eglon, the Ark among the Philistines, Naaman at the river, and the unnamed girl whose quiet sentence begins a chain of healing. Short lines land hard. Longer passages build like preaching, with dust, roads, cloaks, locked rooms, tombs, and tables doing real work. The show is not interested in polishing Bible stories into easy morals. It keeps asking what people risk when faith becomes costly. It notices grief without rushing to decorate it. It treats doubt as something that may belong in the room rather than outside it. Humor appears, often plain and a little sideways, especially in the Wednesday night studies. The tone remains reverent, but not delicate. Scripture is allowed to be odd, sharp, painful, and consoling in the same sitting. That combination gives the show its pull: a sense that the Bible still has corners the lesson plan skipped. For listeners carrying old church vocabulary, quiet disappointment, or a need for readings with more muscle, it offers a steady place to listen again.
Made for: For Christian listeners who want narrative Bible teaching with pastoral warmth, emotional honesty, and attention to overlooked details. It especially fits those revisiting familiar passages after shallow or simplified readings.
What sets it apart: The show blends church intimacy with vivid close reading, turning shorthand into textured scenes of grief, risk, power, and hope. Its strength is the way it notices sidelined figures and uncomfortable questions without losing reverence.
In their own words
Welcome to The Semi-Seminarian—where we talk about the Bible like grown-ups. Maybe you were taught the Bible as a child… or by folks who never really moved past children’s church themselves. That might’ve left you with a Vacation Bible School version of scripture in a world that demands something deeper. This podcast is for the ones asking honest questions, carrying quiet wounds, and still hoping there’s more. Around here, we wrestle with the text, laugh when we can, and tell the truth even when it stings. Because the gospel is better than you were told—and you’re not alone in wanting to believe that again.
Why you'd press play
A donkey, a discarded cloak, and one inconvenient question: what will belief cost you?
Press play if you want
- historical texture that turns a Palm Sunday cloak from decoration into a real sacrifice
- a Bible reading that asks why witnesses report a miracle instead of worshipping
Talks about
Podcasts like The Semi-Seminarian
Word MattersBrandon Smith and Trevin WaxTwo Bible translators unpack Scripture's hardest passages, from Revelation's 666 to the Witch of Endor.
The HeartScripture, surrender and faith put into practice.
Episodes
- 1
Do You Have Ears To Hear?
·21m - 2
Sandals On! | Easter Sunday Resurrection Story (John 20) | Mary Magdalene, The Empty Tomb, and the First Witness of the Risen Christ
·23m - 3
Good Friday: The Sealed Tomb of Jesus | Joseph of Arimathea & the Silence Before Easter
·18m - 4
Sandals Off One More Time | Maundy Thursday Foot Washing, The Upper Room, and the Grace That Kneels First
·19m - 5
The Road You Came In On | Palm Sunday Bible Study (Mark 11:1–11) | Cloaks, Crowds, and the Cost of Following Jesus
·25m - 6
What They Did With What They Saw | The Dividing Line After Lazarus | John 11:45–57 Bible Study
·28m - 7
What We Saw at Bethany | Jesus Raises Lazarus (John 11)
·25m - 8
He Set His Face | Luke 9:51–56 Explained | When Love Chooses the Hard Road
·19m - 9
He Set His Face | Luke 9:51–56 Explained | When Love Chooses the Hard Road
·20m - 10
Look Up and Live | The Bronze Serpent, False Stories, and the Cross (Laetare Sunday Sermon)
·23m - 11
He Didn’t Get To Cross | Moses, the Wilderness, and the Bread You Can’t Store
·21m - 12
The Interruption | Why the Rich Young Ruler’s Story Isn’t Finished (Luke 18 Explained)
·22m - 13
Matters Established | Two or Three Witnesses: Deuteronomy 19 & the Hidden Pattern in Jesus’ Ministry
·23m - 14
Up the Hill: The Transfiguration, Exodus, and the Glory That Walks Toward the Cross | Luke 9
·23m - 15
Beloved in the Wilderness: The Baptism Before the Desert | Matthew 4:1–11
·23m - 16
The Ashes Already Knew An Ash Wednesday Homily on Dust, Mortality, and the Table
·19m - 17
Why Is Jesus Asking Me That? | The Questions of Christ That Change Everything
·26m - 18
The Well at Noon: Living Water, Hard Truth, and the Grace That Waits in the Heat
·27m - 19
Who’s Really in the Lion’s Den? | Daniel, the Law That Can’t Repent, and Faithfulness That Outlasts Empires
·30m - 20
Crossing The River
·19m - 21
Still on the Wheel
·31m - 22
Limp Into the Light | Jacob Wrestles God at the River (Genesis 32 Bible Study)
·35m - 23
Almost, But Not Yet: Paul, Agrippa, and the “Maybe Later” Faith (Acts 26:24–32)
·32m - 24
When the Walls Could Talk (Daniel 5) | Mene Mene, Sacred Things, and Borrowed Confidence
·31m - 25
Back to Normal…
·28m - 26
Built to Float, Not to Steer: Noah, the Ark, and the Architecture of Grace
·24m - 27
The Gift That Reveals the World
·33m - 28
The Ones Who Knew the Answer
·31m - 29
The Sky Broke Open
·16m - 30
When Love Refuses to Stay Abstract Advent Week Four: The Word Moved In
·31m - 31
No Room, Still God
·24m - 32
Joy Enters the Room | Advent Week 3
·29m - 33
The Strength to Stay: Faithfulness in the Shadows
·31m - 34
Is Your Peace in Pieces? — Advent Week Two
·36m - 35
When Gabriel Knocked on a Nowhere Door | Advent Bible Study on Luke 1:26–38
·30m - 36
“The Light You Didn’t Make” — Advent Week One: Hope
·33m - 37
Lowing All the Way | The Ark Returns (1 Samuel 5–6) — Obedience, Heartbreak & the God Who Won’t Stay Captured | The Semi-Seminarian Podcast
·22m - 38
The Day The Fire Walked In
·30m - 39
Forgive Before It Chokes You
·37m - 40
When Memory Makes You Miserable: Haggai’s Word for Comparers
·30m - 41
What If You Walked Right Past Jesus?
·29m - 42
After the Wreckage: The Word Returns
·38m - 43
Your Father Always Told You to Check the Oil
·26m - 44
East of Eden: The Rain Starts to Fall
·39m - 45
The Gulf Between Wealth and Mercy: The Rich Man and Lazarus
·31m - 46
East of Eden, the Altar Still Smokes
·35m - 47
Tonight Your Soul Is Required: A Poetic and Urgent Look at the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13–21)
·23m - 48
Blood in the Dirt: Grace Still Speaks East of Eden
·35m - 49
The Gospel Beneath the Soil: Parable of the Weeds
·26m - 50
Love May Quit, But God Won’t: What Jesus Really Said About Divorce
·26m - 51
The Parable of the Guests: When Grace Makes the Guest List
·22m - 52
When the Taste Still Lingers: Finding God in the Aftertaste of Communion
·19m - 53
Grace Is a Weed in Your Backyard | Mustard Seed & Leaven Explained
·33m - 54
Lazarus! Come Out: Is Jesus Really Who He Says He Is?
·33m - 55
Jesus Walks on Water, John 6: Storms Don’t Quit, But Neither Does Grace
·27m - 56
GOD LOVES TO PARTY OVER ONE LOSER COMING HOME | The Semi-Seminarian Podcast
·31m - 57
“The Feeding of the 5,000 Was Never About Food”
·29m - 58
Missing the Point: The Parable of the Prodigal Son Isn’t About the Sons
·30m - 59
Mud and Mercy: How Jesus Turns Our Need for Answers Into the Gift of Sight
·25m - 60
Crossing the Road: The Scandal of the Good Samaritan
·30m - 61
Get Up and Walk: A Sabbath Showdown at the Sheep Gate
·26m - 62
The Parable We’ve Been Getting Wrong: You Don’t Know What Talent Is
·26m - 63
Water Into Wine: The First Miracle of Jesus (Wedding at Cana Explained)
·24m - 64
The Parable of the Sower and The Scandal of Grace
·24m - 65
When The Tables Turn: Is Your 'Amen' Just Noise?
·24m - 66
The Last Will Be First: Realizing That Grace Does Not Require Your Consent
·35m - 67
Jack of Diamonds: Halfway Home on a Road You Can’t Survive
·21m - 68
Write This Down: A Gospel About a God Who Kneels
·21m - 69
It Can Be Easy: A Red Dirt Gospel for the Bone-Tired
·14m - 70
After the Bread: Why Some Walked Away from Jesus
·21m - 71
The Yellow Sno-Cone: A Story in Syrup, Not Words
·14m - 72
Easter Zombies (And Other True Stories The Church Don't Talk About)
·27m - 73
Dings: Grace for the Dinged-Up Soul
·12m - 74
The Man Buried with Elisha: Resurrection in a Graveyard
·23m - 75
Put Him in the Hole: A Gospel of Absurdity and the Lie We Tell Ourselves
·13m - 76
That Ain't In The Bible: Disarming Self-Help Theology
·25m - 77
Tom Ames’ Prayer: When Even Cussin’ Counts
·12m - 78
The Sky Didn’t Split, But Something Broke Open
·20m - 79
Nothing New in The Rolling Stone: A Red Dirt Tale of Cosmic Proportions
·11m - 80
Misquoted: The Verses We Think We Know
·26m - 81
Gallo del Cielo – A Warrior’s Gospel
·15m - 82
Parting the Sea: When God Opens Impossible Doors
·28m - 83
"When the Sky Breaks Open: The Theology of Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’"
·15m - 84
The Jonah You Never Knew, The VBS Story and the Gospel Truth
·24m - 85
“Crossroads & Commandments: Dylan’s Highway of Obedience”
·16m - 86
The Day God Moved In
·22m - 87
Pilgrims in Blue Suede: A Gospel Journey to Graceland
·20m - 88
40 Days That Shook The World: What Jesus Did After the Resurrection
·24m - 89
We're All Family, Here On Trial: The Theology of Dark and Dirty Mile by Jason Boland
·13m - 90
Holy Breakouts: Bible’s Greatest Jailbreaks and Escapes
·23m - 91
When God Ghosts You: The Silence of God and What to Do About It
·15m - 92
Accident Forgivness
·16m - 93
When We Don’t Know How It Will Turn Out
·25m - 94
Standing Up and Standing Out
·41m - 95
Fake It Till You Make It??
·28m - 96
What Happens When We Sin?
·30m - 97
The Star Didn’t Wait
A Bible study session exploring the journey between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, focusing on obedience before clarity and the cost of worship.
·31m - 98
Now What? After the Angels and Shepherds Went Home
A reflection on the quiet aftermath of the Christmas story, focusing on the holy family's journey and the ordinary life that follows the miraculous.
·27m - 99
When Healing Costs Too Much | Mark 5:1–20 | The Gerasene Demoniac, Legion, and the Price of Mercy
A Bible study exploring the story of the Gerasene Demoniac in Mark 5, focusing on the cost of healing and the town's fearful response.
·21m - 100
Withered Leaves, Murdered Son: When the Tenants Tried to Steal from God
A sermon exploring the parable of the tenants and the cursed fig tree, connecting them to themes of judgment and mercy during Jesus' final week.
·30m - 101
The One Not in the Room | Doubting Thomas Reconsidered | John 20:24–29 Bible Study | Faith, Doubt & Resurrection Truth
A Bible study on John 20:24-29 reexamining Doubting Thomas as the one who refused to fake belief and whom Christ specifically returned for.
Apr 19, 2026·20m·1 clip - 102
The Other Hand | Ehud, Eglon, and the Left-Handed Deliverer | Judges 3 Bible Study
A Bible study exploring the story of Ehud, the left-handed deliverer who freed Israel from Moabite oppression in Judges 3.
Apr 16, 2026·26m - 103
What’s in a Name? | Naaman, the Unnamed Girl, and the River That Didn’t Rank (2 Kings 5 Explained) | Eastertide Sermon on Hidden Faithfulness
A sermon exploring the story of Naaman and the unnamed slave girl from 2 Kings 5, highlighting hidden faithfulness and God's use of overlooked people.
Apr 12, 2026·29m - 104
Lowing All the Way | The Ark Returns (1 Samuel 5–6) — Obedience, Heartbreak & the God Who Won’t Stay Captured | The Semi-Seminarian Podcast
A Bible study exploring the story of the Ark of the Covenant being captured by the Philistines and how God's power is revealed through unexpected events.
Apr 9, 2026·22m - 105
Sandals On! | Easter Sunday Resurrection Story (John 20) | Mary Magdalene, The Empty Tomb, and the First Witness of the Risen Christ
A sermon reflecting on Mary Magdalene's encounter at the empty tomb on Easter morning, emphasizing the transition from grief to hope.
Apr 5, 2026·23m - 106
Sandals Off One More Time | Maundy Thursday Foot Washing, The Upper Room, and the Grace That Kneels First
Apr 3, 2026·19m - 107
Good Friday: The Sealed Tomb of Jesus | Joseph of Arimathea & the Silence Before Easter
Apr 3, 2026·18m - 108
The Road You Came In On | Palm Sunday Bible Study (Mark 11:1–11) | Cloaks, Crowds, and the Cost of Following Jesus
Hidden gemThe Semi-Seminarian’s Palm Sunday study follows Galilean pilgrims walking 80 miles from Galilee to Jerusalem behind Jesus after Lazarus’s reported raising.
Mar 29, 2026·25m·1 clip - 109
What They Did With What They Saw | The Dividing Line After Lazarus | John 11:45–57 Bible Study
Hidden gemA Bible study examining John 11:45–57, focusing on the reactions to Lazarus's resurrection and the religious leaders' plot to kill Jesus.
Mar 26, 2026·28m·1 clip - 110
What We Saw at Bethany | Jesus Raises Lazarus (John 11)
The Semi-Seminarian follows John 11 from the road to Bethany, where Lazarus has been dead four days and Jesus arrives after the sisters ask, "If you had been here." The unnamed host places the story within Lent, Holy Week, and the road toward Jerusalem and Passover.
Mar 22, 2026·25m·1 clip - 111
He Set His Face | Luke 9:51–56 Explained | When Love Chooses the Hard Road
Mar 19, 2026·19m - 112
He Set His Face | Luke 9:51–56 Explained | When Love Chooses the Hard Road
Mar 19, 2026·20m - 113
Look Up and Live | The Bronze Serpent, False Stories, and the Cross (Laetare Sunday Sermon)
Hidden gemThe Semi-Seminarian's Laetare Sunday sermon links Numbers 21's bronze serpent with John 3's cross and the command to “look and live.” Israel's rejection of manna after 40 years of provision becomes a warning about calling grace poison and rewriting the Exodus as a death march.
Mar 15, 2026·23m·1 clip - 114
He Didn’t Get To Cross | Moses, the Wilderness, and the Bread You Can’t Store
Mar 12, 2026·21m - 115
The Interruption | Why the Rich Young Ruler’s Story Isn’t Finished (Luke 18 Explained)
Mar 8, 2026·22m - 116
Matters Established | Two or Three Witnesses: Deuteronomy 19 & the Hidden Pattern in Jesus’ Ministry
Mar 5, 2026·23m - 117
Up the Hill: The Transfiguration, Exodus, and the Glory That Walks Toward the Cross | Luke 9
Mar 1, 2026·23m - 118
When Healing Costs Too Much | Mark 5:1–20 | The Gerasene Demoniac, Legion, and the Price of Mercy
Feb 26, 2026·21m - 119
Beloved in the Wilderness: The Baptism Before the Desert | Matthew 4:1–11
Feb 22, 2026·23m - 120
The Ashes Already Knew An Ash Wednesday Homily on Dust, Mortality, and the Table
Feb 19, 2026·19m - 121
Why Is Jesus Asking Me That? | The Questions of Christ That Change Everything
Feb 15, 2026·26m - 122
The Well at Noon: Living Water, Hard Truth, and the Grace That Waits in the Heat
Feb 12, 2026·27m - 123
Who’s Really in the Lion’s Den? | Daniel, the Law That Can’t Repent, and Faithfulness That Outlasts Empires
Feb 8, 2026·30m - 124
Crossing The River
Feb 5, 2026·19m - 125
Still on the Wheel
Feb 1, 2026·31m - 126
Limp Into the Light | Jacob Wrestles God at the River (Genesis 32 Bible Study)
Jan 29, 2026·35m - 127
Almost, But Not Yet: Paul, Agrippa, and the “Maybe Later” Faith (Acts 26:24–32)
Jan 25, 2026·32m - 128
When the Walls Could Talk (Daniel 5) | Mene Mene, Sacred Things, and Borrowed Confidence
Jan 22, 2026·31m - 129
Back to Normal…
Jan 18, 2026·28m - 130
Built to Float, Not to Steer: Noah, the Ark, and the Architecture of Grace
Jan 15, 2026·24m - 131
The Gift That Reveals the World
Jan 11, 2026·33m - 132
The Star Didn’t Wait
Jan 8, 2026·31m - 133
The Ones Who Knew the Answer
Jan 4, 2026·31m - 134
Now What? After the Angels and Shepherds Went Home
Dec 28, 2025·27m - 135
The Sky Broke Open
Dec 25, 2025·16m - 136
When Love Refuses to Stay Abstract Advent Week Four: The Word Moved In
Dec 21, 2025·31m - 137
No Room, Still God
Dec 18, 2025·24m - 138
Joy Enters the Room | Advent Week 3
Dec 14, 2025·29m - 139
The Strength to Stay: Faithfulness in the Shadows
Dec 11, 2025·31m - 140
Is Your Peace in Pieces? — Advent Week Two
Dec 8, 2025·36m - 141
When Gabriel Knocked on a Nowhere Door | Advent Bible Study on Luke 1:26–38
Dec 4, 2025·30m - 142
“The Light You Didn’t Make” — Advent Week One: Hope
Nov 30, 2025·33m - 143
Do You Have Ears To Hear?
Nov 27, 2025·21m - 144
The Day The Fire Walked In
Nov 23, 2025·30m - 145
Forgive Before It Chokes You
Nov 20, 2025·37m - 146
When Memory Makes You Miserable: Haggai’s Word for Comparers
Nov 16, 2025·30m - 147
What If You Walked Right Past Jesus?
Nov 13, 2025·29m - 148
After the Wreckage: The Word Returns
Nov 9, 2025·38m - 149
Your Father Always Told You to Check the Oil
Nov 6, 2025·26m - 150
East of Eden: The Rain Starts to Fall
Nov 2, 2025·39m