Podcasts about 3if

Devin, Sydnie, and Blake are joined this week by Alliance aficionado Dave Cordeiro to pitch Alliance to both you dear listener, as well as new players and existing players alike! Why is Alliance perfect at the local level? When should you start a new player on Alliance?Also tune in to hear everyone's takes on the hottest news in the Crucible - deck ascension!If you're seeing this you have the new and improved correct audio!

I think this one is pretty self explanatory folks - especially in light of everything going on. In this episode of The Neurodivergent Polyamorist Podcast, Becca and I take a minute to open up about how we're feeling about events in our lives and the world in general, what we're doing to self care, and how important it is to look after ourselves. After all - any horrendous event (or series of events) in life is a marathon, not a sprint, and sometimes the most powerful act possible for any of us is simply to survive and build community with each other. We here at The Neurodivergent Polyamorist have said it before, and we'll say it again - it's okay to not be okay. And this community we've built will always be a safe space. We promise.

Have you ever noticed how many Christians become fascinated with strange teachings? Why is this? The Bible warns us to beware of "strange doctrines."Join me for today's Daily Word & Prayer to learn more so you can guard yourself from this trapScripture Used in Today's Message1 Timothy 1:3If you've not read my book, Takin' it to Their Turf. request a copy on my website, www.CampusAmerica.com.You'll be inspired, encouraged, and learn plenty about evangelism and spiritual warfare through the 70+ stories I share of my campus evangelism expereinces.We send a copy to anyone who donates to our ministry, but if you can't do so, simply request a copy by sending us an email. Who do you know that needs to hear today's message? Go ahead and forward this to them, along with a prayer that God will use it in their life.To find Tom on Instagram, Facebook, TiKTok, and elsewhere, go to linktr.ee/tomthepreacher To support Tom Short Campus Ministries, click herehttps://www.tomthepreacher.com/support************ Do you want to have all your sins forgiven and know God personally? *********Check out my video "The Bridge Diagram" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Kjwrlind8&t=1sCheck out my website, www.TomthePreacher.com, to learn more about my ministry and sign up for my daily email. And make sure to request a copy of my book, Takin' it to Their Turf, when you visit my website.Check out my videos on this channel to learn how to answer tough questions challenging our faith.

In this episode ofPeak Humans, Naeem Mahmood dives into the power of emotional mastery and its critical role in achieving peak performance. Emotions can either propel us toward success or hold us back — but the good news is, we can learn to manage them. Naeem shares practical tools, like breathwork, mindfulness, and reframing negative emotions, that you can use to take control of your emotional state in any situation.Through real-life examples of top performers like Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey, you'll learn how mastering your emotions can give you the focus and clarity needed to excel in both business and life. Whether you're looking to handle stress better or make quicker, more confident decisions, this episode will equip you with the skills to perform at your best, no matter the challenge.Ready to unlock your full potential? Join the Peak Humans Telegram community for more resources, support, and inspiration to keep growing and achieving.Join the Peak Humans Telegram group and level up:https://t.me/c/2327925409/3If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave a review. Your feedback helps us reach more peak performers and continue bringing valuable content to help you thrive!

We're back with our first non-educational episode of the year, and it's a good one! After months of keeping things strictly informative, we decided it was time for a catch-up chat—because let's be honest, sometimes we all just need a bit of lighthearted chaos.So, what have we been up to over the summer holidays? Well, Luka went camping (cue the inevitable camping curse

Recorded live at Beatitudes Church in Phoenix, AZ on 1.5.25Preaching: Dr. Richard A. WingScripture: Psalm 1:1-3If you like what you hear, consider donating at:  https://beatitudeschurch.org/donate/To watch the full service, click here: Service of Worship | January 5, 2025

Hi everyone, thanks for listening. Drop a line or two about the episode! Mithun is among the actors who have become an integral part of Indian pop culture. Author Avijit Ghosh joins me as we look back on Mithun's career in the 80s, when he broke through as a star, not just in India but across the globe, including countries as far as Russia and Egypt.  Amazon link for all the books authored by Avijit: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B09HSKZH5X/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=35a473f4-6be9-44d9-a050-40c485f30ffc&ref_=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3If you enjoy the podcast, do consider supporting the show: https://www.buzzsprout.com/257788/supportFeedback/comments/questions: loveofcinemasf@gmail.comCredits:Produced and hosted by: Himanshu Joglekar (@loveofcinemasf8)Editor: Devika JoglekarMusic: Nakul AbhyankarCopyrights © Love of Cinema 2024Support the showIf you liked the episode and found value, please considering supporting the show. Your support will help me continue making good content for fans of Indian cinema everywhere across the world: https://www.buzzsprout.com/257788/support

Ecclesiastes 9:13-11:8 13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, Wisdom is better than strength. But the poor mans wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. 17The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10:1 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.3Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.4If a rulers anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest. 5There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler:6Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones.7I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves. 8Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.9Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. 10If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened,more strength is needed, but skill will bring success. 11If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee. 12Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.13At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness14 and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming who can tell someone else what will happen after them? 15The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town. 16Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning.17Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time for strength and not for drunkenness. 18Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks. 19A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything. 20Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom,because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.Invest in Many Ventures 11:1 Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.2Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. 3If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth.Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.4Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. 5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mothers womb,so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 6Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle,for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.Remember Your Creator While Young 7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.8However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all.But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.

On this week's episode Jax talks about the double standards between women's toy's for self pleasure versus men's. Why are vibes socially accepted but fleshlights seen as seedy and gross? And our second question is all about HPV. We go naughty and factual this week. I hope you enjoy it! Enjoy the show. As always: For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Trigger warning - SAOn this week's show Jax is talking to the amazing Jimanekia Eborn about life after sexual assault.  The conversation touches on reclaiming your body after assault. How to be an ally, or as Jimanekia calls it, an accomplice when helping someone through their trauma. And we hear about Jimanekia's experience at a silent retreat. Enjoy the show. Find Jimanekia's work here https://traumaqueen.love/you can find out more about tending the garden, or donate, herehttps://www.tendingthegarden.love/Vipassana  Meditation Silent retreats https://www.dhamma.org/en/indexAs always: For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Today we're sharing an interview with novelist, short story writer and award winning audio drama script writer, Emily Inkpen.   You can back our kickstarter to make season 3 of The  Dex Legacy Season here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emilyinkpen/the-dex-legacy-science-fiction-audio-drama-season-3If you'd like to see a video version of this interview you can find it on the Alternative Stories YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@alternativestoriesandfaker6885You can find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/Find out more about The Dex Legacy here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-homeFind out more about the Fantasy and Sci Fi Spotlight event which will be held on 29th September at the Nerdy Cafe in Shrewsbury here https://www.fantasyandscifispotlight.co.uk/And find out about and book onto Alternative Stories workshops with Emily and Chris here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175Find out more about Alternative Stories and book us to record your audio drama, book promotional materials or interviews here https://alternativestories.com/for which we'll share a link in our show notes.  If you'd like to back our season 3 kickstarter you'll also find a link in our show notes or you can go to kickstarter .com and search “The Dex Legacy  To find out more about Emily and her world of writing , directing and teaching you can visit her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/about To follow Emily on social media please kick the links below https://twitter.com/emilyinkpenhttps://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/https://www.threads.net/@emilyinkpenSupport the show

Today's Sunday morning message with Pastor Robert and Donna Schuller is taught from 1 Peter 1:13-2:3If we conform to the spirit of Jesus we find life is easier.  We find more peace, happiness and success.  We need to obey and follow truth to be transformed and redeemed as the children of God.  The Lord is good and he wants what's best for us always.  We have to be willing to do the work and follow him. Join Robert and Donna Schuller live each Sunday morning at 8am PT on DrSchuller.org 

Creationtide III Liturgy of the Word Old Testament: Book of Wisdom 7:26-8:1 26 For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.  27 Although she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets;  28 for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.  29 She is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior,  30 for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail. 1She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.   Psalm: Psalm 19 1 The heavens declare the glory of God, *        and the firmament shows his handiwork. 2 One day tells its tale to another, *        and one night imparts knowledge to another. 3 Although they have no words or language, *        and their voices are not heard, 4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, *        and their message to the ends of the world. 5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; *        it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;        it rejoices like a champion to run its course. 6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens    and runs about to the end of it again; *        nothing is hidden from its burning heat. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect                               and revives the soul; *        the testimony of the Lord is sure                               and gives wisdom to the innocent. 8 The statutes of the Lord are just                               and rejoice the heart; *        the commandment of the Lord is clear                               and gives light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean                               and endures for ever; *        the judgments of the Lord are true                               and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold,                               more than much fine gold, *        sweeter far than honey,                               than honey in the comb. 11 By them also is your servant enlightened, *        and in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can tell how often he offends? *        cleanse me from my secret faults. 13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;    let them not get dominion over me; *        then shall I be whole and sound,        and innocent of a great offense. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my                               heart be acceptable in your sight, *        O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.   Epistle: James 3:1-12 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. Gospel: Mark 8:27-38 27Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. 31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

On this week's episode Jax answers a question about the dreaded “situationship” as well as a listeners question on online only relationship and the etiquette around them. Enjoy the show. As always: For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

The theme of this week is talking to your partner! We have a married woman ask if it's ok she is having fantasies about other people whilst having sex with her partner of 13 years. And the second question touches on the difference between masturbation and partnered sex, and how there can and should be room for both. Jax also asks in the intro - how to do you stay creative around intimacy when you have houseguests and your schedule has to change. Enjoy the show. As always: For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

We kick off season 2 with a questions about exploring into being tied up and spanked. Jax worked through different tools you can use and ways to make sure you and your partner both feel safe, comfortable and sexy. Plus in the intro - Jax talks about how turning 40 has helped her plan her sexual future. Who knows what it entails but the plans are in place! For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

The second season of Thorny Issues will be back August 22nd. In this teaser Jax let's you know a little what she has been up to and how excited she is for the second season. For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Your time as a teacher business owner is precious AND limited. It's important to decide if blogging and pinning are worth the space that they take up on your already-packed to-do list. Let's talk about the return that you can expect from investing time and effort into creating blog posts and promoting them on Pinterest.Episode Highlights:-> Increase Product Sales-> Save Time on Other Organic Marketing Tasks-> Additional Income SourcesResources Mentioned:You might also enjoy listening to episodes 2 and 3If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can help as many teacher business owners as possible:Looking for more organic traffic resources?Dive into my signature course: Bring Your Own Traffic!Check out my favorite places to look for fresh blog post ideas!Or if you're ready to hire support for blogging and Pinterest, check out my services.(affiliate link) My favorite place to keep my blogging and Pinterest assets organized.Let's connect on InstagramMentioned in this episode:My 37 Favorite Places to Find Blog IdeasSave yourself the decision fatigue of figuring out what to write about each week. Grab this FREE time-saving guide that will help you blog more confidently and consistently: https://stephanieroyer.podia.com/blog-post-ideasReady to BRING YOUR OWN TRAFFIC?I know your time is valuable and your marketing dollars are precious. That's why I decided to launch my course, Bring Your Own Traffic. You don't need to buy expensive courses for SEO, blogging, and Pinterest individually, and then try to piece them together into one cohesive strategy. I can save you some time and money! I've compiled the most important best practices for search-optimized blogging and pinning into one streamlined strategy…all at a reasonable price. BYOT is a course designed with YOU and your teacher business in mind. All of the content is ready to apply to your business, so there's no guesswork about whether or not it will work for you. The strategies I teach in the course are exactly how I've been getting teacher business owners to the top of Google and Pinterest search results for years. I can't wait to see YOUR content on page one of Google the next time I sit down at the computer. So grab the course, dive in, and start getting your incredible resources in front of the right people without running a single ad. https://stephanieroyer.podia.com/bring-your-own-traffic

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/ultraviolet-light-reveals-scientists-hidden-bible-passage-1500-years-later (for Luke) Unique passages: https://www.julianspriggs.co.uk/pages/UniquePassages  Bibleref.com commentary on Mark 6:5: https://www.bibleref.com/Mark/6/Mark-6-5.html  Thanks Biblehub.com's parallel chapters tool.   Words of Jesus ("All the Red Letter Scriptures") https://www.jesusbelieverjd.com/all-the-red-letter-scriptures-of-jesus-in-the-bible-kjv/    Parallel Passages in the Gospels https://www.bible-researcher.com/parallels.html#sect1     The Eye of the Needle (crossword/sudoku feedback): https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-25583,00.html#:~:text=The%20%22Eye%20of%20the%20Needle,in%20order%20to%20enter%20heaven   Camel needle w/Aquinas citation (of Anselm of Canterbury)-- Anselm of Canterbury as cited in Catena Aurea, Thomas Aquinas, CCEL Edition. https://classictheology.org/2021/10/12/through-the-eye-of-an-actual-needle-the-fake-gate-theory/    The Widow's Mite: https://numismatics.org/pocketchange/the-poor-widows-mite/    Miracles of Jesus reference list: https://sunnyhillschurch.com/3301/the-37-miracles-of-jesus-in-chronological-order/ LINK BIBLEREF.COM MENTIONED IN CHAPTER 8 SECTION (“Can't” do miracles in hometown- keyword absolute for lookup)   Welcome to the Popeular History Podcast: History through Pope Colored Glasses. My name is Gregg and this is episode 0.21f: Sayings of the Savior Part VI: Messages from Mark.   All of these aught episodes are made to let us build our Pope-colored glasses so we can use the same lenses when we look at history together. If you're lost, start at the beginning!   In previous worldbuilding episodes, we looked at quite a few of Jesus' words: the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain, plus all the Parables and miracles on our list, and his sayings closely tied to all those.   All that made for a good start, but if we're going to look at the sayings of the Savior, we should be comprehensive to avoid cherry-picking. So we spent the last of these worldbuilding episodes going chapter by chapter through the first gospel in order of appearance, the Gospel of Matthew, up until things caught up with where our rosary themed tour of the New Testament will carry on when we get to the next mystery. I am aware that what was once upon a time supposed to be a couple quick background episodes introducing my listeners to, well, all of Catholicism has ballooned wildly into wheels within wheels, but hey, I wouldn't have it any other way.   Anyways, next up in the traditional ordering is the Gospel of Mark, so that's our mission today. We'll go chapter by chapter, glossing over what we've already discussed and focusing on the Sayings of the Savior, since, you know, that's the deal here.   MARK 1 opens with a description of Jesus' cousin John the Baptist, and you'll never guess what John does to Jesus when He shows up. Actually you probably will because I was trying to set you up with a fake out where John refuses to baptize Jesus but it turns out that initial refusal is in Matthew but is absent from Mark's generally sparse account. Anyways, we get Jesus' first words in Mark only after he's baptized and had an express version of the temptation in the desert. Sometime after John was arrested, we're told Jesus preached a message that sounded a lot like what John had been saying,   MARK 1:15 “The time has come,” … “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”   GREGG Of course we just got a bit meta, since “Good news” is where the word Gospel comes from. A very “Begun, the Clone Wars have” moment. This urgent call to repentance has been a consistent refrain throughout Christian history, with the good news bring that repentance really can lead to reconciliation with God. Shoutout 0.1 if you need a refresher on why such a reconciliation is needed in the Catholic perspective.   Having begun to declare the Good News, Jesus the Christ soon picks out folks to help him, starting, like all good missions, with a pun. Talking to two fishermen, the brothers Simon and Andrew, Jesus says   MARK 1:   Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men   GREGG When I covered this section in Matthew- we're deep in parallels here- I stuck with my usual NIV translation. Not because I'm an NIV snob, but because the New International Version is the one that shows up first on biblegateway.com and it's good enough, especially when I'm doing a LOT of scripture quoting like I have been with this series.   But because the NIV went for inclusivity, they translated the line as “make you fish for people”, which simply isn't as smooth a pun. I did check with my toddler-level skills and it looks to me like the pun is present in the Greek, so it's worth calling out. Jesus' humor is often downplayed, which is a shame.   If you're wondering why I'm going on about this, well, honestly, Mark is short and we've already covered most of what's there in Matthew. So we might as well take our time. There's plenty there, to be clear, I don't want angry letters from scholars whose primary focus is Mark saying I'm dismissing it offhand.   Alright, enough dilly dallying, what's next? Jesus calls more fishermen–the sons of Zebedee, James and John–but His actual words and possible new pun are not recorded. The next time he speaks he's talking to a demon in one of the healing miracles we discussed in 0.20, followed by another miracle–the healing of Simon's mother in law–later in the same chapter. Then, after assorted other miracles, Jesus goes out to pray by Himself in what's described as a quote unquote “desolate place”. When His disciples track Him down and tell Him everyone is looking for Him, He says   MARK 1:38 Let us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.   GREGG Though Jesus' disciples did in fact say no to Him on a downright alarming number of occasions, they went along with His plan this time, and another montage of undescribed healings and exorcisms finishes off with the healing of a grateful leper who ignores Jesus' command to tell no one. Mark 1 concludes with Jesus getting mobbed with requests for miracles as a result.   Chapter 2 opens with the healing of the paralytic who had been let in via the roof–a great bit of drama, but something we already covered under our review of miracles. After that, He called His tax collector disciple, who we got to know as Matthew in the Gospel of, well, Matthew, but who's listed as Levi here and in Luke. Using different names in different contexts was absolutely a thing,  but both Matthew and Levi are Hebrew names so the usual Greek vs Hebrew divide doesn't seem to be the culprit here, and what's more neither Mark nor Luke explicitly identify Levi with the apostle Matthew, though the inference isn't a terrible reach over all.   In the end, our main hook in this particular series is the actual sayings of the Savior, and this calling is carried out with a simple “follow me”, so perhaps we shouldn't dive into it too much.   After taking out a section of parables we covered in 0.21c as part of a SYNOPTIC ROUNDUP, we arrive at Mark 2:23, notably without leaving the SYNOPTIC ROUNDUP room because you can also follow along in Matthew 12 and Luke 6. As a reminder if you're rusty on Jewish customs, the Sabbath rest begins Friday at sundown and continues through the day on Saturday. Picking grain as we're going to see here would be considered working on the day of rest and therefore a violation.   MARK (2:23-2:28, NIV)) 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.   24 The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”   25 He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?   26 in the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."   27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.   28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”   GREGG this section is one of the earlier signals of what would become a core piece of Christianity: its distancing from the Law of Moses. There are still aspects of continuity, for example most Christians including Catholics actually do still maintain *a* day of rest, just Sunday rather than Saturday and they'll generally skip the night before business though some of that has carried over in the form of vigil practices, as we'll see when we get there.   Anyways, I've always thought those last couple lines were pretty baller, and it turns out they're one of the few bits unique to Mark, so let's go ahead and hear them again:   QUOTE The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. END QUOTE   This bold claim lies at the heart of what will in time lead to the followers of Christ being seen as a religion separate from Judaism, which is fair enough but also don't sleep on just how much that takes, given there's such a thing as secular Jews and Jewish atheists. There have been other messiah movements in Jewish history; though they fizzled out it's not much of a stretch to imagine a world where Christianity is still seen as part of a wide tent Judaism, indeed there is still a common heritage. But there are absolutely differences as well, principally, of course, centered around Jesus, the Son of Man, Lord of the Sabbath.   That other part   “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”   is the context for the start of the next chapter, serving as a good reminder that, while convenient for finding your place, chapter and verse divisions are not part of the original texts of the Bible, so it's important to not treat them as fences where you have to stop. You see, in Mark 3 we have the healing of the man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath:   MARK 3 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.   GREGG I mean, it's a bit of a false dichotomy perhaps, are those really the only two options? But obviously I'm siding with Jesus here, mark me down as pro-healing when one can heal. And yeah, we actually already covered that exchange when we talked about the miracle in our miracles roundup, but the words are important there and Mark is short so forgive me for fitting it in here too.   Mark 3 continues with Jesus dealing with crowds now that word is getting around due to His miracles, and simultaneously He's ordering demons not to share the apparent secret that He is quote “the holy one of God”. We don't have his exact words in commanding the demons here so there's more room for interpretation than usual but the general take on these sort of passages is that it's tied to His time not having yet come to be revealed as the Messiah. Of course, unless I missed something, the specific instances where Jesus talks about His time having not yet come are in the Gospel of John, so reading that into Mark is something most modern scholars wouldn't go for- especially since the general consensus is Mark came first by a fair stretch- but that sort of quibble wasn't much of a barrier for most of the history of Christians reflecting on Scripture, so the traditional interpretation is what it is and I don't think it's too much of a reach.   After telling assorted demons to hush up, Jesus appoints the Twelve Apostles starting in verse 13, no direct quotes there so no need to tarry though interested folks are always welcome to check out the naming differences between the Gospels.   Starting in verse 20 we have the house divided parable, covered in our parables series a few episodes back, then in verse 28 we hit “the unpardonable sin” section, and believe it or not it's not being a weeb, it turns out it's, well, let's let Jesus explain:   MARK 3 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."   GREGG When we covered the parallel text of this in Matthew 12–seriously, over 90% of Mark is parallelled in Matthew–I focused on the idea of the sin against the Spirit as being despair. But Mark's telling has a bit of context that has lead to another popular interpretation, especially among–Catholics cover your ears– *whispers* Protestants.   MARK 3 30He said this because they were saying, "He has an impure spirit.”   GREGG Using that verse, which at a glance is simply explaining why Jesus said what He said, the passage is taken to mean that rejecting Jesus as the Son of God slash Savior slash Messiah is the sin against the Spirit being referred to here. And though I called out Protestants specifically a minute ago, it's not like that interpretation is unheard of within Catholicism, typically it's a both/and sort of thing, accepting the despair angle and the “ya'll need Jesus” angle. Nor are the two interpretations unrelated, as someone wholly given to despair will have a hard time accepting Jesus' offer of salvation.   Of course, when I speak of accepting Jesus' offer of salvation, now I really AM getting into the fundamental faith vs works discussion. That's faith and works in the context of salvation from sin. We'll be getting into it in more detail in future episodes, but as an overview all major forms of Christianity agree that faith in the saving power of Jesus Christ is fundamentally necessary for salvation. The disagreement comes in whether anything else plays any role- “anything else” being summed up under the umbrella term of “works”, or it might help to rephrase the question as whether our actions have any meaning when it comes to our salvation.   For Catholics, the answer is yes, while for most Protestants, the answer is no. Generally speaking when there are fights about it, Protestants will take the position that your works having meaning, as Catholics argue is the case, means that you can save yourself through your works. Some people do think that, of course, but not Catholics, at least not Catholics who know their onions, as the Catholic Church condemned that position as a heresy over thousand years before Protestantism became a thing. However, the Church is far from perfect, and in the time of Martin Luther, whose teachings are typically seen as the spark that ignited the Protestant Reformation, it's clear that some within the Church were comfortable blurring the lines for financial gain.   I've got more on faith vs works and Catholicism vs Protestantism planned for future episodes, and I don't want to bury that conversation where no one will look for it, so let's leave that there for now and get back to Mark, with chapter 3 verse 31 to 35   MARK   31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.”   GREGG Thanks to the Marian doctrine of Our Lady's perpetual virginity we discussed back in episode 0.14, the surprising fact that Jesus doesn't immediately attend to his family members isn't the most discussed aspect of this passage when it comes to Catholicism. No, that would be the fact that Jesus' brothers, the Greek term is Adelphoi, show up. Generally these are understood as Jesus' half brothers, via his earthly father Saint Joseph from a previous marriage.   As for the question of whether Jesus just kind of blew off his family here, half brothers or cousins or full brothers or whoever was there with Mary, while I can see how you might get that impression, it's not like His every action is recorded. It's entirely possible that He checked in with them after making a quick positive observation- one that I don't want to lose in the rest of this analysis so I'll repeat it:   MARK 3 “35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.”   GREGG   Anyways, as is the custom with Mark, we're on to the next scene in a hurry, launching into Mark 4 with the next verse as a classic transition:   MARK 4 1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.   GREGG I'm not going to go into detail about what He taught by the lake here, because Chapter 4 is made up entirely of miracles and parables we've already covered in 0.20 and earlier in 0.21, respectively. We've got the Parable of the Sower, then the Lamp on a Stand, then the Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed, capped off by Mark's account of Jesus calming the storm at sea.   Similarly, Mark 5 is a string of by-now familiar miracles- and if any don't seem familiar you know by now Miracles are in one of the 0.20 episodes, right? The Gerasene Demoniac, the Bleeding Woman, Jairus' Daughter, they're all there, and in Mark 5 too.   Mark 6 give us a bit more food for thought on Jesus' local life and family dynamic. A sign of how things hit differently at home, it's worth a long quote:   MARK 6:1-6 6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.   “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What's this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.   4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.   GREGG Many of Jesus' sayings have become proverbial, and while it's not in the level of turning the other cheek, “a prophet is not without honor except in his own town” has some popularity. It does seem to speak to a common truth of celebrities.   I do like the touch that He was unable to do any miracles there except for the miracles which He did do, which evidently still failed to impress. Of course, the idea of Jesus being *unable* to do miracles is theologically interesting, since He's, you know, God. Of course, God does seem to have had some trouble dealing with iron chariots back in Judges 1:19, so maybe there is some precedent.   But we've got our Pope-colored glasses on, so not only is Jesus God but God is omnipotent, so it's fair to ask: what gives? It could be that old favorite, the translation issue, but I admit my personal Greek skills are basically at the naming barnyard animals level, so I decided to bring in an expert to verify. An expert by the name of bibleref.com, linked in the show notes. Their commentary on the passage notes that in the parallel passage in Matthew, it simply says Jesus “did not” perform many miracles in his hometown, which isn't as controversial though of course it's always fair to ask why God doesn't just fix everything for everyone since he's all good and all knowing and all powerful. But that popular question isn't where we're at today because apparently it's not a translation issue, Mark 6:5 does specifically say Jesus *could not* perform the miracles in the Greek according to the commentary. But it goes on to note that there can be multiple senses of inability, like how you can't touch the ball when playing soccer, or football for my non-US listeners, and yeah, I'm not counting goalies. Anyways, obviously you can physically touch the ball, but you cannot in the sense that it's against the established rules of the game. If that's the sense, it makes some sense that Jesus quote unquote “can't” perform miracles in His hometown because His miracles are supposed to draw people to Him and they aren't having that effect at home. At least not much, keep in mind he did do some miracles there according to Mark, so in any event the whole “can't” thing definitely isn't absolute.   Of course, I personally find it awful to think that God would play games with our salvation- hence my quasi-universalism. I get respecting our free will, but I also know He's omnipotent and isn't going to give up on us, no matter how much we try to give up on ourselves if there's another chance we can get He's going to give that to us. But we have to accept at some point, so don't think I'm downplaying the urgency there.   Anyways, let's get back to Mark 6, now in Verse 8 where He's sending the disciples out in pairs with the following instructions:   MARK 6:8-11   8 Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.   9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.   10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.   11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”   GREGG As you should by now have come to expect, these instructions do have a parallel in Matthew that we covered in the last worldbuilding episode. But it's not as close a parallel as you might think. Often, as we've talked about before, parallels in the synoptic gospels are so close that you'd get dinged for plagiarism, with maybe a word being changed here or there. But here, it basically reads like two different people were told to write down a speech shortly after they finished hearing it. Which, I mean, matches tradition, for what it's worth. The most obvious difference is that Mark's telling skips Matthew's bit about only going to Jewish households, forbidding visits to Gentiles or Samaritans. Though as we've seen Mark's Jesus was already laying the groundwork for some serious reframing of Mosaic Law by taking on the title of Lord of the Sabbath, I think on the whole it's more likely that in Mark's account that's simply taken as a given and perhaps left off for brevity rather than this being a separate incident or its absence being a sign that the disciples were to ignore those cultural barriers at this stage.   The rest of Mark 6 is taken up by his narrative of the death of John the Baptist, where, unusually for the Gospels, Jesus is offstage, and then there's two banner miracles, the Feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on water.   Which brings us to Mark 7, which has Jesus… let's see… excoriating the Jewish authorities… then calling a woman a dog… and let's not forget giving someone a wet willy.   Don't believe me? Let's go.   MARK 7   1The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) 5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” 6He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.' 8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9And he continued, "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.' 11But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)-- 12then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”   GREGG Note that while there's a close parallel between these passages and Matthew 15, Mark is apparently much more concerned with explaining Jewish custom to his audience, suggesting the intended audience is not Jews themselves.   The rest of the chapter we've covered before, from the Parable of the Heart of Man to the two miracles that give the tibits I teased earlier. Jesus calls the syrophoenician woman a dog in the runup to healing her servant, and he totally heals a deaf guy via wet willy at the end of the chapter. But I already covered both of those in 0.20c, so check them out there for more.   So that means we're on to Chapter 8, which opens with… another miracle! Turns out Jesus did a lot of those! Who knew?   That's the feeding of the four thousand, but you know the drill, we're skipping that and on ahead to verse 12, where Jesus is responding to a group of Pharisees asking for a sign.   MARK 8:12 He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it."   GREGG Ok. Remembering that by a sign here they mean a miracle, we've got the guy known for working miracles getting annoyed at requests for miracles. Why? You'd think He'd be all about that. Is it another sort of hometown situation, where folk's lack of faith is an impediment?   Well, kind of sort of. But not quite.   In the parallel passage from Matthew 16, which I admit I kind of glossed over last time because I was excited to get to the Papally significant Matthew 16:18, Jesus calls those asking for a sign “a wicked and adulterous generation”, which can help explain why Jesus is refusing the request–after all even in Mark's shorter version their motives are implicitly questioned, with Jesus asking why they're asking for a sign.   The typical interpretation goes that Jesus is refusing the request for a sign because the Pharisees have the wrong *motives* in asking. Unlike those in His hometown, they seem to believe Jesus can work miracles, but they just want to see a show, they aren't interested in Jesus' message beyond that. And Jesus for His part, is interested in signs *for the sake of* His message, He isn't there to entertain.   These various passages that show Jesus specifically not working miracles could be taken to suggest some embarrassment by the authors about Jesus' miracles not being as renowned as they would like, forcing them to give explanations for why that's the case. I can definitely picture some neckbeard arguing if God wanted to make everyone believe he'd make miracles known to all and be undeniable. Which is a reasonable enough thought except unless God removes free will, there's never going to be such a thing as undeniable anyways.   In the next few verses, Jesus warns against the teachings of the Pharisees and Herod. Though technically the “teachings” part isn't spelled out in Mark, so it could be He's actually meaning to go in another direction with things than He does in Matthew's version, though I think their teaching or at least their general influence is His most likely target. Let's hear it and regroup after.   MARK 8 14-15 14The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.   15"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”   GREGG Certainly He isn't talking about literal bread, as is evidenced from His reaction. Also, it's interesting that Mark warns against Herod's yeast specifically, while Matthew leaves Herod off in favor of tossing in the Sadducees to accompany the Pharisees. If Mark is the rougher, earlier version as most scholars currently argue–and as I'm inclined to believe looking at the two side by side these last few months–then it seems like one can argue Matthew's account has been modified to perhaps be a little more authority-friendly in this case, keeping in mind the Herodians were the client-kings in charge of the area in Jesus' day. Check out 0.13 on the Hasmoneans for more on that.   After a miracle interlude–healing the blind man in a two-step process where the miracle is evidently incomplete at first–a fairly intriguing Mark-only one that is arguably sanitized out of other accounts, but one we already covered so I'm not getting back into it today– anyways after that we hit Mark's account of Peter's testament, you know, with the binding and loosing and the keys and all that. Except actually *without* all that in Mark's version.   Here's the whole exchange as Mark tells it:   MARK 8:27-30 27Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?” 28They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah.” 30Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.   GREGG Like I said, not a key in sight. Peter does give the critical answer, but none of what would become the principal text for the Papacy is presented here. And again, if you consider Mark as the older account, as most scholars do, it's fair to raise an eyebrow at that. Yet in the end, one way or another, we have a Pope, and I do think there's something to be said for the unifying force of the role. After all, if no one is Pope, then everyone is Pope. But I digress.   Of course, poor Peter can only wish he were simply downplayed in Mark 8. The reality is he does pop up again later in the chapter, in a familiar but unflattering way:   MARK 8:31- 31He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”   GREGG So there you go. If you want to make a case for the Pope not always being right, there's an easy one. Not everyone gets called Satan by, well, God. Of course, there's a surprising amount of room where you can accept Papal Infallibility *and* the idea that the Pope isn't always right, but we'll get to that in time.   The chapter finishes with Jesus reflecting on what his stated fate means for his followers, and it's, uh, not the cheeriest image. It bleeds into chapter 9 so don't put your Bible down too quickly If you're following along.   MARK 8:34-9:1   34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels. CHAPTER 9 1And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.   GREGG Goodness, Jesus, it's hard for me to keep my running joke of treating the Crucifixion as a spoiler when you're literally telling your disciples to take up their crosses before it actually happens. Oh well.   Mark 9 continues with The Transfiguration, but like I mentioned in our Matthew discussion, that's it's own mystery of the rosary that we haven't gotten to yet, so pardon me and I'll skip that here too.   After that, we have a miracle- the boy with an unclean spirit that can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. So on to verse 30, where we have more talk of the upcoming Passion:   MARK 9:30-32 “30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.   GREGG Jesus was speaking pretty plainly here, so it's not immediately clear why the disciples didn't understand what Jesus meant, but it's probably related to the way Jesus keeps telling folks either to talk or not to talk about things. There's definitely a focus on pacing the spread of the Good News throughout the Gospels, especially in Mark, and it seems like a supernatural barrier to the Apostles' understanding here would fit in with that.   The fear of asking is more easily explained: if someone you know is really good at making predictions and you're pretty sure they just predicted something awful, you may well be hesitant to confirm that with them.   Being hesitant to talk about stuff with Jesus carries us into the next few verses, where Jesus apparently puts His omniscience to good use in a wonderfully passive-aggressive way:   MARK 9: 33-35 33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”   GREGG The first will be last is one of Jesus' recurring themes, and the whole “I'm-pretty-sure-I-heard-you-but-since-you-won't-confirm-I'm-just-going-to-respond-indirectly approach reminds me of dealing with the drama of children, though I suppose a lot of things remind me of interacting with children these days given my current life situation, and that approach is not necessarily one that exclusively applies to children. Either way, Jesus does bring children into the conversation as His next move.   MARK 9:36-37 36He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”   GREGG That passage is one of the more often-remembered portions of the Gospels, in part because it's in all three synoptics [air horn], but also in part because it's a handy pastoral lesson to push back on folks who might complain about the presence of children in worship services. As they say, if no one in your church is cryin', it's dyin'.   Next up we have some verses you might wish had been left off if you've ever gotten tired of hearing “in Jesus' name” a lot:   MARK 9:38-41 38"Teacher," said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” 39"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40for whoever is not against us is for us. 41Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.   GREGG Personally I'm thankful for that passage, because I'm a big supporter of ecumenism and cooperation, and “whoever is not against us is for us” is an immensely helpful sentiment in that context.   For the next section, where Jesus gets pretty intense, there are several verses that simply aren't present in my go-to NIV version, presumably for bible nerd manuscript reasons. Now, the point of the Sayings of the Savior series is to make sure we cover *everything* Jesus said in the canonical scriptures, and those verses are speaking lines for Jesus, so that won't do. Thankfully the King James version has us covered, so I'm going to switch to that for those verses.   So you can tell the difference easily, I'll be switching to a guest narrator as well. Lebron James hasn't responded to my calls, so the King James Version of the King James Version will have to wait, but my brother has come in clutch for podcast purposes. PJHERE MARK 9:42-48 42"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [NIV leaves off verse 44 “44Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”-KJV] 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [NIV leaves off verse 46 “46Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”-KJV] 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, NIV leaves off verse 48 “48Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”-KJV]   GREGG So yeah, by “verses” I kind of meant “one verse used as a refrain”, but it's officially verses 44, 46, and 48, so I am technically correct, which I'm told is the best kind of correct.   Thanks to the reference to “leading little ones astray”, the great millstone imagery has had some use in response to the sexual abuse crisis, though the most commonly cited of these evocative instructions is plucking out the eye, thanks in no small part to the frequency of admonitions against pornography in the online era. Cutting off the hand is also referenced, while I think most folks if they're being honest won't even necessarily recall cutting off the foot is among the scenarios mentioned.   Anyways, Jesus finishes this section with a few salty verses that initially bear a strong resemblance to Matthew 5:13- the salt of the earth bit from the Sermon on the Mount. I'm thinking I might have actually pointed these verses out when I was going over that due to the similarity, but just in case, here they are:   MARK 9:49-50 49Everyone will be salted with fire 50"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”   GREGG “Have salt among yourselves” is an unusual turn of phrase, the typical interpretation of this Mark-only phrase is that Christians are supposed to bring out the best in one another, the way salt brings out the best in food.   We're now entering Mark 10, which- surprise surprise, has close parallels to Matthew 19 and 20. I'm not going to give the Matthew sections as a side by side, partly because we've already covered them independently, partly because this episode is already going to be one of my longest despite Mark being the shortest Gospel. But it's worth giving it a thorough treatment since scholars tend to think it's the oldest and also because if I'm going to go all-out it might as well be with the shortest of the bunch. You know, for efficiency.   Anyways…   MARK 10:1-12 1Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3"What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” 5"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6"But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 10When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”   GREGG This version of Jesus' teaching on marriage and divorce notably does not include the exception for adultery we saw in Matthew's account. Additionally where Matthew focused on Eunuchs for the kingdom–and other kinds of Eunuchs–Mark concluded with that extra condemnation of divorce, with remarriage as adultery.   In the next passage, the conversation changes direction:   MARK 10:13-16 13People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.   GREGG We'll meet the Church Father who was allegedly one of the children in this scene as we go about our big timeline, once we get through this worldbuilding and go into that. But for now, it's time for one of the most inconvenient passages in the Gospels, at least if you're rich.    MARK 10:17-31 17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.'” 20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 28Then Peter spoke up, "We have left everything to follow you!” 29"Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--along with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”   GREGG There is a surprisingly thorough and ranging discussion of the whole “eye of the needle” bit in the digital edition of the British newspaper The Guardian, in the Nooks and Crannies section of their Notes and Queries page. Which I think makes it the most random thing I've cited here, but hey, it's got it all so let's get a sampling going:   First, the original query: The Guardian.com “I recently read that one of the gates into Jerusalem was named "The Eye of the Needle," and was quite tricky to negotiate, since it was quite small. Does this mean that when Jesus said "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven," He meant that, far from being impossible, it was merely tricky?” Dara O'Reilly, London, UK   GREGG The first reply is a fairly representative take on the gate theory:   GUARDIAN The interpretation that seems to make sense is this. The "Eye of the Needle" was indeed a narrow gateway into Jerusalem. Since camels were heavily loaded with goods and riders, they would need to be un-loaded in order to pass through. Therefore, the analogy is that a rich man would have to similarly unload his material possessions in order to enter heaven. Rick, Brighton Uk   GREGG But then the plot thickens, as William Elsom of the UK is having none of it:   GUARDIAN No. The failure is in the translation. The original word that should have been translated was "camella" which means rope. (presumably Greek, but I am open to this being corrected.) "It is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven" makes more sense as a comparison. William Elsom, UK   GREGG There's something of a scholarly telephone game going on in the background, as basically every “mistranslation” take offers a variation on the root word and apparent correct meaning. Which is fairly normal for translations especially when there are different alphabets involved, but still, I chuckled.   GUARDIAN I am currently studying the Aramaic language and indeed the word "gamla" (transliterated) does mean both "camel" and "thick rope." Assuming the original manuscript with that teaching of Jesus was recorded in Aramaic and later translated to Greek, the translator may have been familiar with only the "camel" definition of the word. I have not been able to find any reliable information on a city gate called "The Eye of the Needle." -Xakk, FL USA   GREGG As much as I hate agreeing with someone who spells Zach Xakk–though presumably that's a choice his parents made– anyways as much as I hate to admit it, this overall take seems the most likely to this non-Aramaic specialist. The general meaning is still the same, it's not something you're going to get done.   It's also worth noting that at least as of the return from the Exile, if the Book of Nehemiah is to be believed, there was no “Eye of the Needle” gate in Jerusalem. And I can state that with confidence because as longtime listeners will recall, I had a whole special episode devoted to the topic from July 2020 entitled “Literally A Detailed Description of the Gates of Jerusalem and Who Fixed Them in the Time of Nehemiah”, which, despite being exactly what it says it is, has been a pretty popular episode. In any event, it *could* be that an Eye of the Needle gate was established at a later point, though really the whole gate thing feels like wishful thinking on the part of the rich or the would-be rich to me.   Of course, as you might expect, there are also literalists who agree it's wishful thinking and would rather cut to the chase. Plus people like my man David:   GUARDIAN The translation is irrelevant. We all know in our hearts we cannot love money above God.   David Porter, Orangevale, US   GREGG Let's conclude with my favorite take:   GUARDIAN “Blessed are the cheesemakers?” Mike Conn, San Francisco,    GREGG After the second Gate-Gate scandal we've come across in this show (shoutout Samson if you've forgotten), we arrive at Jesus' third prediction of His own death in Mark   MARK 10:32-34 32They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33"We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”   GREGG Mark gives no record of the Apostles' reaction to this third prediction, unless the next verse is the actual reaction, which is a hilarious thought because it would be shockingly tone deaf. But yeah, it's the very next verse without any transition except the word “then”, so you can certainly read it that way:   MARK 10:35-45 35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. 37They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39"We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” 41When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.   GREGG It turns out James and John, the Sons of Zebedee, have massive… cojones. But in the end their reward is understood to be martyrdom–perhaps not what they had in mind, they certainly seem to have had more of an earthly kingdom in mind.   In any event, here we have more of the “first will be last” motif popping up, and Scriptural background for why the Pope is considered, at least in theory, the “Servant of the Servants of God”.   Mark 10 finishes up with the healing of the blind Bartimaeus, so it's on to Mark 11, with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem:   MARK 11:1-11 1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'” 4They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 11Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.   GREGG We'll talk more about Palm Sunday in the future, for now just know that this scene is the basis for that. It's also a sign that Jesus is approaching the end of His earthly ministry, though we've still got another couple chapters for today after we finish this one.   We'll skip verses 12-14 as that's the cursing of the fig tree we covered under miracles--and that's right, it's a non-healing miracle. At least His target is a tree and not a human as happens in some of the apocrypha.   Which brings us to Mark's version of the scene with the moneychangers in the Temple:   MARK 11:15-18 15On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'” 18The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. 19When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.   GREGG Mark's somewhat abbreviated account leaves off Him making a whip, which is a loss, but hey, the core is there. As a reminder, and yes, I'll say this every time, just remember when someone asks “what would Jesus do” that flipping tables is absolutely a valid option.   Then, we're back to the fig tree, seeing the result of the curse on the way out, and this is extra special because this is actually an extended Mark only reflection. Including another King James specific verse that the NIV leaves off. Let's hear it!   MARK 11:20-26 20In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." [NIV omits but KJV has] 26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.]   GREGG Of course, when I said “Mark exclusive”, that may have been a bit of an oversell, because while the now-proverbial “faith to move mountains” doesn't appear in Matthew's fig tree discourse, it does line up closely to another section, Matthew 17:20, several chapters before Matthew's fig tree. As for the rest, the sentiment is overall familiar, but worth repeating so I'll say it again:   MARK 11:25-26 if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." [NIV omits but KJV has] 26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.]   GREGG Next up we've got an attempted trap that Jesus turns around, Bugs Bunny style.   MARK 11:27-33 27They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28"By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you authority to do this?” 29Jesus replied, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30John's baptism--was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!” 31They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' 32But if we say, 'Of human origin' . . . " (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) 33So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."   GREGG Mark 12 opens with the Parable of the Tenant Farmers, which I personally prefer to call the Parable of the Bad Tenants since I think just calling them farmers ignores the amount of murdering they do in the parable. But anyways, we're not covering it here, ‘cause parable. So on to Verse 13:   MARK 12:13-17 13Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15Should we pay or shouldn't we?" But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose image is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. 17Then Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him.   GREGG This tax exchange, which we saw in Matthew and we'll see again in Luke (SYNOPTIC ROUNDUP AIRHORN?) is intended to be a sort of sting operation, with the expected result being Jesus objecting to the tax and therefore being guilty of rebellion against the Roman government. But I don't think Jesus even needed to tap into His omniscience here, they were acting pretty suspicious with the leading flattery and line of questioning. Plus, what does God ultimately need money for?   In the end, of course, everything we have ultimately comes from God, so while I mentioned it with Matthew it's worth mentioning again now- when we give Caesar what is Caesar's and God what is God's, God gets everything.   Next up we've got Jesus fielding yet another insincere question from religious authorities, this time from the Sadducees:   MARK 12:18-27 18Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” 24Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”   GREGG That last bit– “You are badly mistaken!” is a Marcan flourish that helps emphasize Mark's generally less Pharisee-slash-Sadducee–friendly stance, underlining the intensity of Jesus' disagreement with them.   The next section is the part about The Greatest Commandment which we used to open the Sayings of the Savior, so check out 0.21a for that. Then we have a theological question apparently designed to further undermine the Credibility of the Teachers of the Law. This time around, it's Jesus who picks the fight,   MARK 12:35-40 35While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, "Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."' 37David himself calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?" The large crowd listened to him with delight. 38As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”   GREGG “The large crowd listened to him with delight”, we're told, as Jesus excoriated the religious establishment of His day. Sounds like a political rally almost. No wonder He was condemned as a revolutionary.   The last scene in Mark 12 is one we haven't seen before- it's one of the few passages in Mark not paralleled in Matthew- and it's one of my favorites:   MARK12:41-44 41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on.”   GREGG This scene is generally called the Widow's Mite, not because “mite” was the term for small copper coins in ancient Judea–though they would retroactively be called mites–and not because the mite was the term for small copper coins in 17th century England where the King James Bible was produced, though they would pick up that name, but rather because the King James translation used a Dutch term for some small denomination coins that had originally been picked up for Biblical use by William Tyndale.   For once, I'll spare you a deeper rabbit hole, and move on from the names of coins to the lesson of the coins.   I mentioned before this passage is one of my favorites. While I appreciate the challenge behind Jesus' admonition to be perfect that we saw in Matthew, here we see that if all you have isn't much, God still sees the effort and meaningful sacrifice. There's something comforting in that for extremely inadequate folks like myself.   On the other hand, there's the lesson that giving out of your abundance may be mathematically and physically helpful but it's not spiritually significant. It's the right thing to do, of course, but an even better thing than giving your excess is to give beyond just your excess.   “But I need the rest”, you might argue. And it's certainly true, you may well have just reasons for keeping some aside. It would be irresponsible of me to sell all my worldly possessions and go live in a cave, as even if my wife signed onto it we've got kids too young to voluntarily renounce the world, it's our responsibility to care for them.   So, where's the line? When do we go from taking care of our responsibilities at home to hoarding?   Well, if you have any money, you should be giving. It doesn't have to be all you have, especially if you've got responsibilities to those in your household, but it should absolutely be more than nothing, and everything is best.   Ultimately Christians are not to see money as theirs to use how they see fit, as something they've earned. That simply isn't a Christian mentality. Money is a means by which you can help others–those you have primary responsibility for first, like your children, and those in need should be prioritized urgently as well. The Church speaks of the “preferential option for the poor”.   I'm not saying you need to become a shell of a human, doing nothing for yourself and allowing your own mental and physical health to collapse- though certainly some saints lives point in that direction. But putting yourself first is something that needs to be balanced against your ability to be a blessing to those around you.   This isn't the last time I'll bring up this sort of thing by any means, and it looks like I avoided one tangent only to go into another, so let's get back to Mark, now in Chapter 13, which opens with a prophesy of the destruction of the Temple, then flows into a description of the End Times– keep in mind from the Christian perspective time has not only a beginning but an end–that parallels Matthew.   It's understandable to want to read this as being written after the actual historical destruction of the Temple in 70AD, but as I argued in my chat with Garry Stevens last June, it's not like it was hard to see such a calamity coming during Jesus' life, Rome was already in control of a rebellious Judea with the Temple as a potential center of nationalist resistance. And that's of course if you discount the possibility of actual prophecy, which, remember, we're making our Pope-colored glasses, so Jesus actually prophesying Is the most straightforward explanation. Either way, a post 70AD dating for Mark is really pushing the outward edge of scholarly dating for the work, keeping in mind scholars tend to argue it's the oldest of the Gospels.   Without further ado, here's a long quote, going from Mark 13:1 to 27.   MARK 13 1As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” 2"Do you see a

This is the final episode of the first season of the show. Jax shares her thoughts on "are we dating the same guy" facebook groups (hint - she hates them) and also about what she has learnt since starting the show last July.We will be back in July 2024. I cannot wait to launch season 2. Have fun, be kind and stay curious xx For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

hey LGG gang! this week's episode is a no script no notes, real talk chat on all things life and faith and relationships. As amri chats, she ends up landing on the topic of staying consistent to goals, so tune in if you want to hear some motivation on how to stay consistent and achieve your dreams, as well as 5 goals that amri has for her month

On this week's show we are talking about Calling him Daddy. What is the Daddy Kink? Why do people enjoy it? Jax is joined by Dusty Rhodes to help tackle this topic. Dusty is a sex educator, kink professional, pole dancer, and certified good boy. He's been working in the sex industry for the past 7 years, and has over a decade of experience as a toy collector and BDSM life-styler. Passionate about sexual pleasure, personal agency, communication and discovery, he's dedicated to helping folks explore their sexualities in a genuine way and find out more about what gets them excited.If you want more Dusty in your life you can find him on instagram here:https://www.instagram.com/dustyerodes/And details of his latest seminar are here:https://www.artofloving.ca/discovering-daddy-kink.htmlFor the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Jax kicks off this week's show with a chat about casual sex.  Is it possible to do in a healthy way? What are the different types of casual relationships and how to they serve us.  When we get to the questions, a husband asks if he and his wife will ever have sex again now she is going through menopause. And Jax gets an email asking if you should tell your best friend you have heard rumours her terrible bf is cheating on her. For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Do you feel like you need to be perfect at everything you do? Do you struggle with debilitating perfectionism that leaves you disappointed in your roller derby performance? At Krash Course, we promote healthy and attainable goals and teach you to accept your imperfections in order to see and FEEL personal and athletic growth!Join me for this podcast to for an exclusive Interview with the wonderful Kat Albrecht: "The Secret to Roller Derby Perfection"In this session, we will be chatting about Kat's journey through trying to obtain perfection and learning to love herself and roller derby through healthy and attainable methods! Join us for this exclusive live to level up your mental and physical game on and off the track! Don't miss out on this epic opportunity to learn the secret to being perfectly imperfect

On this week's show Jax looks into STI safety around Bukakke play, answers a question about setting boundaries regarding casual sex and sleepovers, and addresses how to keep the passion alive and the boredom out of a long term relationship. For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

The question on this week's show is focused around learning to love your body even if it is bigger than you are used to. How can you still feel sexy? Will you partner still want you? Jax called in an expert to help answer this one. And my gosh it's a juicy episode! Vinny Welsby (they/them) is a fat activist and diversity, equity and inclusion leader. They are a world-leading expert on dismantling anti-fat bias and diet culture, a TEDx speaker, podcast host and best-selling author. Vinny is trans-non-binary and is dedicated to shifting how society views fat and queer bodies through education and compassion.This episode is a must listen for anyone wanting to feel more comfortable in their skin. Everybody is beautiful and sexy. Now it the time to learn how to harness that confidence! To find Vinny on the internet you can visit the website below, or check out all social media @fierce.fattyWebsite: www.fiercefatty.comFor the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

On this week's show we have a 2 questions about dating and the early stages of relationships. One listener was broken up with when the guy she was seeing said he needed some space and alone time.  Now she has seen him on a dating app. How can she get over the hurt he maybe lied about the reason for the breakup? And our second question comes from a listener who keeps getting to the 6 month mark and then realizes his partners are putting up some red flags. Is he being too picky? Should he just work through it and ignore the flags he thinks he sees? listen to Jax's reply on this week's episode now. For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Hello Angels!!! In today's episode I talk about unequally yoked relationships. This is yet again another timely episode for me because WOW... JUST WOW. If Im honest I actually recently had to let go of someone who is truly amazing, because I knew in my heart we were simply not meant to be and unqually yoked. So, I hope that this encourages you and nourshes your spirit! God bless you

On this week's show, Jax is joined by Danielle Bezalel (AKA DB) to help tackle a question about masturbation and toy use when in a relationship. This is a fantastic conversation covering so many topics. DB conducted a masturbation experiment with her trusty magic wand and we talk through her observations from that. You can check out the experiment here https://www.sexedwithdb.com/magicwandexperiment And you can follow DB on instagram https://www.instagram.com/sexedwithdbpodcastFor the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Coming up on the show this week:A question about age gaps in relationships - when, if at all, is it too big of a gap?After a bad first experience in her teens when giving her first hand job, this listener has lost confidence in her abilities. Jax talks about learning new skills and communicating in the bedroom. And finally, a listener to her time in having her first sexual experience and now is on a super fun sexual journey. But her friends are slut shaming her. Is she doing something wrong? (hint - NO) For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

We continue our series exploring Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, engaging with the first of Jesus nine invitations into the flourishing life - "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:3If you have less, you are not less, if you have more, you are not more. All have worth, value and dignity in the kingdom of God. The Spirit is inviting all of us into a lifestyle of flourishing,  joyfully dependent and expectant on the love of God!

Weirdos! Get cozy and get ready to listen to our 83rd batch of Listener Tales! They're brought to you BY you, FOR you, FROM you, and ALL ABOUT YOU! In this episode we have a family of witchy women, get visits from spirits of four-legged family who passed over the rainbow bridge, abandon a morally tainted valentine birthday cake, and get AGGRESSIVELY RSVP'd by an entity from another realm!

On this week's show we have a question about Lube. Why are there so many options? How do I know what to buy? Do certain lubes do certain jobs? To help me answer this I have invited Cat Meyer on the show. Cat is a queer Filipina-American and founder of Head South - a sexual wellbeing brand offering sustainable, refillable intimacy serums and a podcast dedicated to removing the stigma of conversations about sex. Cat embraced a minimalist philosophy in developing the Head South formulas, meticulously crafted to diminish friction in both solo and partnered play. Formulated with only essential and effective ingredients, each batch is carefully produced in small quantities in Los Angeles, California. The use of refillable packaging underscores their commitment to minimizing waste, embodying a conscientious approach to pleasure. If you would like to know about about Cat and Headsouth, check out the instagram links and the website below: https://headsouth.world/https://www.instagram.com/headsouth.world/https://www.instagram.com/kittycatmeyer/For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Loads of questions this week Thorny Fam. We have a wife who would love her husband to get a vasectomy but he is worried how it will change his body and affect kids he might have if they ever split up. there are 2 questions around oral sex. One about how to give head without using your teeth and another with a listener wishing she loved receiving oral. will she ever be able to sit on her partners face and enjoy it? (hint - yes) The final question is from a guy who's girlfriend has always dated older guys. Is she likely to leave him as he is younger than her. For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionIf you would like to submit a mortifying moment for the show you can do that here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

On this week's show we have a concerned parent wondering how to talk to their young teenager about sex and porn in a shame free positive manner. Sex Educator Alysha  joins me on the show to help tackle this question. I also want to hear from you. At the beginning of this week's show I ask for your mortifying, cringe inducing sexy shame stories. We all know shame dies when it is told in safe spaces and this is a safe place i promise. For more information on this new feature check out the website  https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you enjoyed listening to Alysha on this week's show you can check out her instagram https://www.instagram.com/sexeducatoralysha/ or her website https://www.sexeducatoralysha.ca/For the most recent updates to this show and extra content check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/thornyissues/If you have a question for the show you can submit it here https://www.thornyissues.ca/submit-your-questionSend me your shame! You can submit those mortifying moments here https://www.thornyissues.ca/about-3If you'd like to buy Jax a coffee you can do so https://ko-fi.com/thornyissues

Following the exam season, Amri knows how easy it is to get burnt out. Going through burn out herself, she shares her favourite tips to feeling refreshed and like herself once more for the new semester! Tune in to the Lucky Girl Guide every Sunday to hang out

Text me, bestie!Welcome  to the Power of You!I am a mom of three, an Army Veteran, Army wife, mindset/self-love/fitness coach, and my goal with this podcast channel is to share my real life experiences through my own journey (I've publicly shared over the last 10 years on instagram), teach women how to deepen their own self-love, discover their own self-worth and truly harness the power of YOU!

Divorce is hard. And the aftermath of healing is a space of strength. Hosts, Mick Smith and Kindra Riber, want to make sure you are not alone during divorce, parental alienation, and custody battles. They bring real people and real stories to you so you can be equipped to heal yourself, your children and recover from the aftermath of family trauma and drama.Did you know that divorce lawyers have a similar nature of work as that of family lawyers? During divorce proceedings, close communication and clear communication is key. Communication cuts both ways. Your lawyer must also be a good listener, able to hear and fully comprehend your wishes, goals, and priorities.Having a certified divorce financial analyst on your team during a divorce can reduce stress and save money on legal fees. Many of the decisions made in divorce are financial in nature. High net worth divorces can be more complicated financially. than other divorces involve asset valuation, hidden assets, and complex tax issues.Hiring experienced representation is non negotiable in high net worth divorces. During this episode, we'll discuss all these issues to understand how they work and how they may be the correct option for you. By the end of this episode, you will be better equipped to know what to do, And we will encourage you to contact our guest matrimonial attorney, certified divorce and financial analyst and high net worth representative Lisa Zeiderman.Lisa Zeiderman is Managing Partner at Miller Zeiderman LLP. A Matrimonial Attorney, CFL and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, she regularlyhandles complex financial and custody divorce matters for high net worth individuals.Named to the Crain's New York list of Notable Women Attorneys for 2022, a Hudson Valley Best Lawyer in 2022, a 2021 Best Family Law Attorney for Client Satisfaction by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys, among other awards, Ms. Zeiderman is also a founding member of the American Academy of Certified Financial Litigators and a member of the panel for Attorneys for Children.In addition to authoring a well-read blog on Psychology Today, “Legal Matters: Understanding Mental Health Issues as They Apply to Divorce and Child Custody,” Ms. Zeiderman is regularly published in Financial Advisor Magazine, the New York Law Journal and various other publications and quoted on issues ranging from financial empowerment to tax issues to child custody.Ms. Zeiderman, a Fordham University of Law graduate, also serves as the Vice President of the Board of Savvy Ladies, Inc., and on the board of LIFT, Legal Information for Families Today.Email: Mollie Fullington mollconkfull@gmail.com (Lisa's Agent)Website: https://lisazeiderman.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-zeiderman-esq-a2a041a/recent-activity/Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisazeidermanFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.zeiderman.3If you find yourself entangled in a high-conflict divorce or experiencing the heart-wrenching alienation from your children, we encourage you to share your story with us. Reach out to us at theaftermathhealing@gmail.com and let your voice be heard.This has been a Mediacasters Production.

This episode was recorded back in September of this year, but I found it in my audio-files and as I listened to it, I couldn't help but know that it was never published for a reason.It felt as though I spoke directly to myself in my current situation — in the space between this September & this December, I have found myself amid quite a bit of career confusion, not having any answers or knowing what to do, and how to move forward with the unknowing.And it's a reminder that sometimes - we have to remember how far we've come, how much we know, and how much we've forgotten as we get lost in the throws of life. You'll never solve a problem in crisis mode — and taking a step back will always let you see a much bigger picture that you didn't have before.So, as we get into the finality of this year, it is time for reflection, for rest, and to allow ourselves to evolve. To sit with what we really want, balance it with what makes sense for us, and allow the path to be carved for when we know how to walk upon it.On this episode, I give you the run-down on my experience through my educational studies and choices, college, and moving to New York City to figure the rest out. I had a very non-traditional experience through this part of my adolescence, and as hard as it was — it taught me more than I know to be grateful for. I'm still along the journey of Figuring Sh!t Out, as we all will be for the rest of our lives — and this topic is to likely be revisited when I find more answers I didn't have before. But in the mean-time, I will have fun finding them — because in the end, If you spend your whole life trying to get your act together, you don't have a life. You have an act. xxSo much news coming in the new year! Figuring Sh!t Out Season 2 & so much goodness to share very soon TikTok: butterflyfountainYoutube: Vanessa Fontana - Posted a new Video last week!! More like this to come

Mal and Lara help Makena navigate who to sleep with by creating a Bechdel Test, but for sex. Lara describes her first few days working at Trader Joe's. Fitz pees all over Mallory's floor mid-pod. It's a chaotic time. ENJOY!

No better time for "ramming speed."Catch up with the episode here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwP0alduujQ&list=PLUA9kG1DciUwY2VSvIGk3WZI_TqJMynxG&index=3If you dig our dive into "Space: 1999," please support us at Patreon, where you get episodes early with all the unedited banter, as well as live chats from time to time:https://www.patreon.com/podcastiopodcastiusWe also get into both "good" and "bad" films at Films & Filth:https://filmsandfilth.transistor.fm/The Twilight Zone:https://timeenoughpodcast.transistor.fm/And Disney:https://occultdisney.transistor.fm/And Matt makes music:https://rovingsagemedia.bandcamp.com/Coming Soon:December 13: Death's Other DominionDecember 20: The Full CircleDecember 22: End of Eternity

We all have a sense of timeless urgency. Are we running out of time? Should we be somewhere else at this stage of our lives? What's left to do? What's next to accomplish?An urgency that we humanly attempt to fill with more material things, and more material dreams of material things.The importance of integrating gratitude into our daily routines is something that's been talked about time & time again. Having a gratitude journal, finding more to be grateful for, we hear it all the time -But this isn't about ticking off an item on your daily to-do list, it's about feeling and embodying gratitude.Gratitude — true, sincere gratitude, expands your focus and retrains your neural networks to expand the scope of goodness in your life. It has profound impacts on our physical and psychological well-being. We often get tangled in the web of wants, the web of material possession & achievement, forgetting that life is transitory, fleeting, and our tendency to clutter our lives with material possessions and achievements keeps us from the feelings of true wholeness and abundance. It seems in every book or guide or how-to that complicates the simplicity of life - there is an underlying basis of shifting our mindset to the survival-state of lack and suffering, to that of abundance and light. But the shift will not happen by following steps or writing lists, attempting to emulate a wheel that has been created and recreated, time and time again. The shift happens in deep presence, where you realize - all that you have now, is all that you need, and somewhere in time – was all that you wanted. On this episode, we venture into a conceptual analysis of gratitude, and why it's so hard to integrate fully into our lives, delving into the realms of our mindset, and evaluating our perceptions of abundance and scarcity. Uncovering how gratitude, from a psychological perspective, can forge stronger connections with others, with ourselves, reshape our narratives, and break us out of limiting beliefs. xxYoutube: Vanessa Fontana - Find the Full length Read of my Piece "The Fallacy of Immaterial Fulfillment - here.)xxPLS RATE THE SHOW ON YOUR PREFERRED STREAMING PLATFORM, & LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS EPISODE

September 3rd, 2023Acts 20:1-3If you'd like to get in touch with us, email us at: kerkefree@gmail.comDon't miss an episode by subscribing or following.

Hey there, it's Matthew Adams. Throughout scripture, we see this pulsating theme: God's relentless and zealous love for His people. When we draw close to Him, we start to resonate with His passions and desires. But how does this translate into our daily walk with Him? How does one hear that silent yet fervent heartbeat of God?Scripture:"My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed — cut off from Christ! — if that would save them." — ROMANS 9:2-3If you've ever encountered a person deeply in love, you've probably noticed that their words barely scratch the surface of the emotions bubbling beneath. The Apostle Paul expressed this intense, gut-wrenching love for his Jewish brothers and sisters—a love echoing God's own heart. It's the type of fervor that the student, burning with passion for her people, demonstrated. It's God's voice—profound and resounding—yet without words.The Power Of God's Whisper is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Point 1: The Resonance of God's JealousyGod identifies Himself as Jealous, emphasizing the depth and intensity of His love for us. His jealousy is not of the negative sort we humans often display, but a protective, fervent love longing for our undivided attention. When we align our hearts with His, we too start to burn with a zealous love for others, mirroring the same fierce love He has for us.Point 2: Beyond Words - The Pulse of PassionGod's love is often beyond verbal articulation. It's a powerful force that drives us from the inside out. When God imparts His desires to us, it's akin to a rhythmic pulse—a heartbeat, propelling us forward. This "voice" is an emotion, a drive, a deep-seated passion that aligns with His purposes. And it's this voice, the voice without words, that often speaks the loudest.Point 3: Driven by His HeartbeatWhen God's passions become our own, we're driven by an inner voice that refuses to be silenced. It's not the audible voice we long for, but the fire in our bones, the stirring in our spirits, and the deep-seated desires that align with His will. As Jeremiah was driven by the fire within him, so too are those who synchronize their heartbeats with God's.Conclusion:The closer we draw to God, the more His heartbeat becomes our rhythm. Paul's heart mirrored the very passions of God for his people. When we surrender, lean in, and listen intently, we'll find that God has been speaking all along, not always through words but through the fervent desires He plants within us.Call to Action:For every listener out there, take a moment to reflect on the deep desires of your heart. Do they align with God's? Are you feeling a pulse, a drive that seems bigger than yourself? It might just be God's heartbeat resonating within you. Embrace it, follow it, and let it lead you to places and people you'd never imagined.Prayer:Heavenly Father, tune our hearts to Yours. Ignite within us a fiery passion that mirrors Your love for Your people. Let us not just hear You, but feel You—through every desire, every drive, and every heartbeat. Make us vessels of Your relentless love, driven by the rhythm of Your heart. Amen.This is Matthew Adams, reminding you that God's voice is ever-present, echoing within our very souls. It's a love song, a battle cry, a heartbeat. Listen to it, feel it, and let it drive you forward in passionate pursuit of His purposes. Until next time, stay blessed and keep listening for that heartbeat.Thank you for reading The Power Of God's Whisper. This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to My Reasons To Believe at myr2b.substack.com/subscribe

Lesson 10: The Way is Easy and Without EffortSection 1Paragraphs: 1-3If you're interested in the Living The Way of Mastery Year-Long Program, click here.If you'd like to support the podcast and join our membership for $5 per month or $50 for the year, you can donate here:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thewayofmasteryIf you would like to experience Revelation Breathwork, you can get our FREE 3-part Breathwork for Beginners series here.Purchase The Way of Mastery here. (This is a link to the Shanti Christo website, not Amazon. I want to support the organization. I don't receive any commission from this.)You can purchase access to the Lesson 5 Guided Meditation Prayer that Jason recorded here for $4.44To learn more about Living The Way of Mastery Coaching Program, click here.To learn more about Living The Way of Mastery Coaching Program, click here.

Lesson 9: All Events Are NeutralSection 5: Planting the Seed that Produces the Desired ResultParagraphs: 1-3If you're interested in the Living The Way of Mastery Year-Long Program, click here.If you'd like to support the podcast and join our membership for $5 per month or $50 for the year, you can donate here:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thewayofmasteryIf you would like to experience Revelation Breathwork, you can get our FREE 3-part Breathwork for Beginners series here.Purchase The Way of Mastery here. (This is a link to the Shanti Christo website, not Amazon. I want to support the organization. I don't receive any commission from this.)You can purchase access to the Lesson 5 Guided Meditation Prayer that Jason recorded here for $4.44To learn more about Living The Way of Mastery Coaching Program, click here.

Lesson 9: All Events Are NeutralSection 4: Five Minutes a Day - The Foundation of MasteryParagraphs: 1-3If you're interested in the Living The Way of Mastery Year-Long Program, click here.If you'd like to support the podcast and join our membership for $5 per month or $50 for the year, you can donate here:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thewayofmasteryIf you would like to experience Revelation Breathwork, you can get our FREE 3-part Breathwork for Beginners series here.Purchase The Way of Mastery here. (This is a link to the Shanti Christo website, not Amazon. I want to support the organization. I don't receive any commission from this.)You can purchase access to the Lesson 5 Guided Meditation Prayer that Jason recorded here for $4.44To learn more about Living The Way of Mastery Coaching Program, click here.

Lesson 9: All Events Are NeutralSection 3: The Power of your ThoughtsParagraphs: 1-3If you're interested in the Living The Way of Mastery Year-Long Program, please click here.If you'd like to support the podcast and join our membership for $5 per month or $50 for the year, you can donate here:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thewayofmasteryIf you would like to experience Revelation Breathwork, you can get our FREE 3-part Breathwork for Beginners series here.Purchase The Way of Mastery here. (This is a link to the Shanti Christo website, not Amazon. I want to support the organization. I don't receive any commission from this.)You can purchase access to the Lesson 5 Guided Meditation Prayer that Jason recorded here for $4.44

Today's podcast is a solo episode where I (Emma) get personal and very vulnerable about my own experience with binge eating and how I completely recovered from this and found balance with my eating. I delve into everything from:what binge eating actually isshocking statistics on the eating disorderthe vicious restrict & binge cyclemy own experience with binge eatingI answer YOUR questions on the topicProvide tangible tips and strategies to help you truly break free from binge eatingAnd talk through how you can lose weight in a healthy + sustainable way *if fat loss is your goal*Also, I have been working hard on an ebook "Binge To Balance" which is a 37 page book about binge eating and how to stop for good. It also has lots of Empower "fakeaway" style recipes too which you can download FOR FREE here: https://empoweronlinecoaching.com/binge-to-balance/ I know not everyone can afford online coaching and I would hate for financial reasons to be the barrier between you remaining stuck in this cycle and finding balance and happiness. Please let me know if you download it and if it helps you!

In honor of May's #MentalHealthMonth, we open the month with a dear episode of mine where I cover all sides of depression and my own battle with it.On today's episode, I share one of the darkest times of my life. As I choke up and cry, I share my painful story of shame, battling clinical depression 6 years ago, and how I almost didn't think I'd survive. I also discuss the difference between being sad, feeling depressed, and having actual clinical depression.PERSONAL MESSAGE TO MY BESTIES OUT THERE:Please know that you are not alone, you are loved, and I'm so proud of you for getting out of bed today! The pain you are feeling won't last forever... I promise. The sun will rise tomorrow and we will try again.