Podcasts about butgod

Imaginesitting at a Pharisee's table with Jesus when one of the guests exclaims, “Blessedis he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus responds with aparable: A man prepares a great supper and invites many guests. When the timecomes, he sends his servant to say, “Come, for all things are now ready.”But the invited guests make excuses. One bought land and needs to see it,another bought oxen and must test them, another just got married and can'tcome. Angered, the host tells his servant to go into the streets and lanes,bringing in the poor, maimed, lame, and blind. Still, there's room, so he sendsthe servant to the highways and hedges to compel others to come, declaring thatnone of the original invitees will taste his supper. Thisparable is a vivid picture of God's invitation to His kingdom, a feast ofgrace, salvation, and eternal joy. The host represents God, the supper is thegospel, and the servant is like Jesus or His messengers, calling us to come.The first invitees, likely representing the religious leaders of Jesus' day,had every reason to attend. They'd already accepted the invitation, yet whenthe time came, they prioritized worldly concerns, their property, work, andfamily over the feast. Their excuses weren't just polite refusals; they wereinsults to the host, revealing hearts more devoted to temporary things than toGod's eternal offer. ButGod's grace doesn't stop with rejection. The host opens his table to theoutcasts, the poor, the broken, those society overlooks. When there's stillroom, he extends the invitation further, to the highways and hedges,symbolizing the Gentiles and all who seem far from God. This shows theboundless reach of the gospel: no one is too lowly, too distant, or toounworthy to be invited. Notice the host's urgency, “go out quickly,” “compelthem to come”. It reflects God's heart to fill His house with people who willaccept His gift of salvation, freely offered through Jesus' sacrifice. Yet,the parable ends with a sobering warning: those who made excuses were shut out.God's invitation is open, but it's not indefinite. Saying “later” to Jesusrisks missing out entirely. The excuses in the story, land, oxen, marriage, weren'tbad things, but they became idols when they took precedence over God. Today, wemight make similar excuses: “I'm too busy with work,” “I'll follow Jesus whenlife slows down,” or “I have other priorities.” This parable should challengeus to examine our hearts. What's keeping us from fully embracing God's call?Are we settling for good things at the cost of the best, God's eternal kingdom? Thebeauty of this story is the feast itself. God's kingdom isn't a duty; it's acelebration! Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross, so all things are nowready. On the cross, Jesus declared, “It is finished”. Salvation is complete! Thetable is set, and there's room for you. The question is: Will you come? Andwill you, like the servant, invite others to this feast, sharing the gospelwith urgency and love? Today'sChallenge for us:Identify one “excuse” or distraction that is keeping you from fully respondingto God's call. Maybe a busy schedule, a worldly priority, or fear ofcommitment. Pray for strength to put Jesus first and take one step towarddeeper devotion, like setting aside time for prayer or studying His Word. Alsobe willing to invite someone in your life who seems far from God, maybe acoworker, neighbor, or friend. Pray for them, then find a way to share God'sinvitation, whether through a kind word, an act of service, or a conversationabout Jesus. Be the servant who compels others to come to the feast knowing thereis still room.PrayerLord Jesus, thank You for inviting us to Your kingdom's feast. Forgive us forthe excuses we make. Fill us with Your Spirit to prioritize You above all andto share Your invitation with others. May Your house be filled, and may werejoice at Your table forever. Amen.

This week, we'll hear another poem from Paul celebrating the radical ways God intervenes to rescue us from sin and darkness. Join us for a weekly narration of Paul Tripp's popular devotional. You can subscribe to our email list to receive this devotional straight to your inbox each week, or read online at PaulTripp.com/Wednesday or on Facebook, Instagram, and the Paul Tripp App.If you've been enjoying the Wednesday's Word podcast, please leave us a review! Each review helps us reach more people with the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

2 Samuel 6 & Luke 23:34David was excited—jumping and dancing excitedly for the arrival of the ark of God. Free in his worship, lost in the joy of the Lord, he expressed his love for God without reservation. The presence of the Lord had returned to the heart of Israel, and David could not contain his gratitude.But while David rejoiced, Michal, his wife, watched from a window. She saw his unrestrained worship, and instead of joining in the celebration, she filled her heart with scorn. She despised him, judged him, and accused him of acting shamefully before others. Her thoughts toward David were not shaped by love, understanding, or reverence for God. They were shaped by pride, comparison, and possibly even bitterness from her past.David's response was clear: “It was before the Lord.” His worship was never about impressing people—it was about honoring the One who had chosen him, the One who had been faithful. David understood something Michal missed: worship is an act of the heart, and when it is genuine, it will not always look dignified to others.Michal's story serves as a warning—when we allow our thoughts about others to be filled with negativity, judgment, or resentment, we close our hearts to the blessings of God. The Bible records that she remained childless for the rest of her life. Whether this was a physical consequence or a spiritual one, the truth remains: a critical heart bears no fruit.So today, ask yourself: What are you filling your thoughts with when you see others worship, succeed, or express their love for God? Are you rejoicing with them, or are you secretly judging them? The enemy wants to turn our hearts toward criticism, but God calls us to celebrate His presence and His work in others.Let's choose to fill our hearts with love, gratitude, and worship—just like David. Also just like Jesus did saying - Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Because when we keep our focus on the Lord, there's no room for resentment butGod's love.

Today, we dive into 2 Kings 3 and explore a powerful story of kings and prophets and how God's plan often looks nothing like what we expect. King Jehoram sets out on a mission to prove his strength, but things quickly go wrong—forcing him to rely on something much bigger than himself.

The Law of God is a good gift that protects us from our flesh & provides for us an intimate invitation into Kingdom Living & ‘right relationship' with Him.  When we reject this offer of relationship, the law reveals to us our deep need for reconciliation. It is horrifying & humbling to sit & stare in the mirror; #ButGod in Christ makes a way as he fulfills the law & returns us to relationship in His Kingdom.

On December 19th, 2017, Jeremy Freeman got the call, “Sir, your sons have been in a car accident. How quickly can you get here?” The phone call no parent wants would lead to a miracle only God could give. When Jeremy and Emily Freeman’s teenage son Caleb was in a devastating car accident, doctors gave him no chance to live the night of the accident, and a 10 percent chance to live after he made it through that night. In #butGod Jeremy shares the incredible story of Caleb’s recovery, the darkness that nearly swallowed his family as they waited to see if Caleb would live, and the #butGod movement that captured the prayers of Jesus followers around the world. Jeremy’s the lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Newcastle, Oklahoma. He and his miracle son Caleb travel the country sharing their story. Everything you might want to know about their journey is on FB at Pray for Caleb Freeman.Support the show: https://give.moodyradio.org/fall-share?v=def&appeal=MRWM&_gl=1%2a142i9we%2a_ga%2aNTE4MTE5MmUtY2U1Yy00YmQ3LWU4MmUtNjEwYTQ5YzAyODRj%2a_ga_4WH1937046%2aMTY5NTExODEwMS4yOTkuMC4xNjk1MTE4MTAxLjYwLjAuMA..&_ga=2.197426156.215784306.1695059984-1182841406.166859587See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"...But God "In this empowering episode of "Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast," we are honored to host Rachel Worthy, a fervent advocate for social justice and a beacon of resilience. With a rich background in social work and a deeply rooted commitment to serving others, Rachel shares her poignant life story, underscoring the crucial moments of resilience that not only shaped her into the transformative figure she is today but also how she thrives and uplifts others in her community.Join us as Rachel delves into the intimate details of her journey, from her challenging upbringing in foster care to overcoming personal battles against domestic violence and injustices within the criminal justice system. Her educational journey has equipped her with a Master's degree in Social Work from Wayne State University, a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and Sociology, and an Associate degree in Human Services, complemented by a Certificate in Alcohol and Substance Use Studies. Beyond her professional titles, Rachel cherishes her role as an aunt, which she regards as her favorite.Currently, Rachel serves as a Peer Navigator at Nation Outside, where she is dedicated to empowering justice-impacted individuals and advocating for systemic change. Through her work and personal experiences, Rachel embodies empathy, compassion, and an unyielding determination to foster environments where individuals are seen, heard, and valued.Don't miss this episode if you're interested in stories of profound personal growth and societal impact. Connect with Rachel Worthy to follow her continuing journey and advocacy work through her LinkedIn at Rachel Worthy or on Instagram at @rachelripmom.Tune in and be inspired by a story of survival, resilience, and transformation that reminds us all of the power of faith and perseverance.

We are back with episode 121. This is new because I have never felt the need to do a part 2 #ButGod. Today, I am sharing part 2 of my conversation with Kelly Ramsey, CEO of Develop People. Kelly and I talk about setting intentions in our lives. Connect with Kelly Ramsey on FaceBook or Instagram and her website.

Caleb & Jeremy Freeman of #butGod join Steve Teel for part 2 of their interview on this edition of Very Bold Radio! Be inspired every Saturday by difference-makers on Very Bold Radio and Podcast!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Caleb & Jeremy Freeman of #butGod join Steve Teel for part 1 of their interview on this edition of Very Bold Radio! Be inspired every Saturday by difference-makers on Very Bold Radio and Podcast!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On December 19th, 2017, Jeremy Freeman got the call, “Sir, your sons have been in a car accident. How quickly can you get here?” The phone call no parent wants would lead to a miracle only God could give. When Jeremy and Emily Freeman’s teenage son Caleb was in a devastating car accident, doctors gave him no chance to live the night of the accident, and a 10 percent chance to live after he made it through that night. In #butGod Jeremy shares the incredible story of Caleb’s recovery, the darkness that nearly swallowed his family as they waited to see if Caleb would live, and the #butGod movement that captured the prayers of Jesus followers around the world. Jeremy’s the lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Newcastle, Oklahoma. He and his miracle son Caleb travel the country sharing their story. Everything you might want to know about their journey is on FB at Pray for Caleb Freeman.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is about 2 stories. One story is about how an employer who made a poor decision when he decided to pay his employee in pennies! The other story is about a woman who had passed away and wakes up at her wake! Can you imagine? It's true!

New episode of THE REAL HOPECAST with Isaiah House Treatment Center Data Research Specialist Bob Caster . Listen in to this episode to find out how Bob weathered the destructive and devastating storms of trauma and loss. He survived the elements of the perfect storm, but God intervened bringing peace and hope in the midst of destruction. AVAILABLE NOW ON ALL PODCAST PLATFORMS. Please follow us on all social media outlets @RealHopeCast

Today on the podcast we sit down with, Jeremy Freeman, to hear the story of hope when catastrophe strikes. In his book #butGod,  Jeremy shares the incredible story of his son Caleb's recovery, the loss of son Trey, and the darkness that nearly overtook their family. This led to the  #butGod movement that captured the prayers of Christians around the world.Learn more at www.hashtagbutgod.comFind the book HERE

This week Will & Jake discuss Romans 5:6-15 and what it looks like to delight in the Trinity. They talk about how we all were once enemies of God, #butGod restores us into right relationship with Him which makes us rejoice! They dive into how justification leads us to reconciliation, which makes us ministers of reconciliation!How would both Jews and Gentiles have understood the term "ungodly"?Paul tells us we have been justified by Jesus' blood. What does he mean that we will be saved by Him from the wrath of God?What do you do when you are finding it difficult to celebrate God? What emotions do you feel in those moments?

The Freeman family is no stranger to suffering. Their faith has been tested, and their God has proven trustworthy. Listen to Jeremy share about the loss of their son Trey, their son Caleb's brain injury, the power of prayer, and how God is working it all for their good and his glory! Check out their book #butGod at www.butgodthebook.com. Or find it on Amazon or wherever books are sold. Want to help this podcast continue, visit https://www.christlifeart.com/support for details. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/madeforglory/support

Hear Jeremy Freeman and Caleb Freeman talk about the powerful new book, ‘#ButGod: The Power of Hope When Catastrophe Crashes In.'

Welcome to the Love Where You Are podcast!  In today's episode, Somer is joined with Jeremy Freeman and his son, Caleb. Jeremy Freeman is lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Newcastle, Oklahoma, and served as first vice president for the Oklahoma Baptist convention. Jeremy is a sought-after speaker for inspirational events hosted by churches, conventions, conferences, businesses, and schools.  I'm just going to go ahead and give you fair warning: this week's episode is going to change you. It did me. Pastor Jeremy Freeman and his family have endured seasons of tremendous loss and tragedy. After losing their son, Trey, to a rare illness they nearly lost their son Caleb to a traumatic brain injury after a serious car crash. The doctors gave Caleb 10% chance of living, and he was unlikely to talk or walk again. The Freemans navigated remaining in ministry while grieving and walking with God in dark places. They witnessed God's hand at work as Caleb not only survived but speaks alongside his father today to share hope in Christ even in the gravest of circumstances. In this episode, Somer, Jeremy, and Caleb talk about their new book "#butGod," their ministry, and how those simple words "but God" transformed the way they look at life altering circumstances. Thank you for being here today. Now, let's dive into the conversation!  Connect with the Freemans: Buy their book "#butGod" to read their story in more depth!  Join their Facebook group, Pray for Caleb Freeman  Instagram Twitter   FAVORITE TAKE-AWAYS: “I'm pretty much the biggest nobody on this earth today but for some reason God has chosen to write this amazing story using my life. God has put me on this earth to tell that greater story and I live to tell that story to anyone who will listen.” - Caleb Freeman "The church that suffers well together grows well together" - Jeremy Freeman "God, use our story for your glory" - Jeremy "As believers we have to get to a place where our faith becomes so real to us that suffering doesn't destroy your faith, but it refines it" - Caleb   "Faith that can't be tested, can't be trusted" - Caleb   "God paves the way even in tragedy" - Somer   "When you say 'thy will be done' that is when the cloud of darkness starts to lift" - Jeremy   "If you don't take your grief to the Lord, it can control and consume you" - Jeremy   "Suffering has been my greatest theologian" - Martin Luther   "God always knows what He is doing and most of the time He is up to something bigger" - Caleb   "Preach these Truths to yourself until you believe them" - John Piper   "We believe suffering can be used to draw people to God's heart" - Jeremy   "You can impress people with your strengths but you connect with people through your weaknesses" - Caleb   Connect with Somer!  Stay connected to Somer and the Love Where You Are podcast through her Facebook & Instagram! Now, go love where you are and live on mission for Jesus today. 

Welcome to the Love Where You Are podcast!  In today's episode, Somer is joined with Jeremy Freeman and his son, Caleb. Jeremy Freeman is lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Newcastle, Oklahoma, and served as first vice president for the Oklahoma Baptist convention. Jeremy is a sought-after speaker for inspirational events hosted by churches, conventions, conferences, businesses, and schools.  I'm just going to go ahead and give you fair warning: this week's episode is going to change you. It did me. Pastor Jeremy Freeman and his family have endured seasons of tremendous loss and tragedy. After losing their son, Trey, to a rare illness they nearly lost their son Caleb to a traumatic brain injury after a serious car crash. The doctors gave Caleb 10% chance of living, and he was unlikely to talk or walk again. The Freemans navigated remaining in ministry while grieving and walking with God in dark places. They witnessed God's hand at work as Caleb not only survived but speaks alongside his father today to share hope in Christ even in the gravest of circumstances. In this episode, Somer, Jeremy, and Caleb talk about their new book "#butGod," their ministry, and how those simple words "but God" transformed the way they look at life altering circumstances. Thank you for being here today. Now, let's dive into the conversation!  Connect with the Freemans: Buy their book "#butGod" to read their story in more depth!  Join their Facebook group, Pray for Caleb Freeman  Instagram Twitter   FAVORITE TAKE-AWAYS: “I'm pretty much the biggest nobody on this earth today but for some reason God has chosen to write this amazing story using my life. God has put me on this earth to tell that greater story and I live to tell that story to anyone who will listen.” - Caleb Freeman "The church that suffers well together grows well together" - Jeremy Freeman "God, use our story for your glory" - Jeremy "As believers we have to get to a place where our faith becomes so real to us that suffering doesn't destroy your faith, but it refines it" - Caleb   "Faith that can't be tested, can't be trusted" - Caleb   "God paves the way even in tragedy" - Somer   "When you say 'thy will be done' that is when the cloud of darkness starts to lift" - Jeremy   "If you don't take your grief to the Lord, it can control and consume you" - Jeremy   "Suffering has been my greatest theologian" - Martin Luther   "God always knows what He is doing and most of the time He is up to something bigger" - Caleb   "Preach these Truths to yourself until you believe them" - John Piper   "We believe suffering can be used to draw people to God's heart" - Jeremy   "You can impress people with your strengths but you connect with people through your weaknesses" - Caleb   Connect with Somer!  Stay connected to Somer and the Love Where You Are podcast through her Facebook & Instagram! Now, go love where you are and live on mission for Jesus today. 

We had the pleasure to sit down with Pastor and new author Jeremy Freeman to discuss his book "#butGod: The Power of Hope When Catastrophe Crashes In," out October 18, 2022. In the book, Jeremy details he and his family's experience following his son Caleb's devastating car accident, and God's faithfulness through Caleb's miraculous recovery. Jeremy also shares about the darkness that nearly overtook their family in the waiting, and the #butGod movement that captured the prayers of Christians around the world. #butGod includes heartfelt excerpts from Emily's prayer journal and encouragement from Jeremy that goes beyond platitudes to a hard-won trust in God's goodness. Whatever sorrow you are walking through, #butGod leads you to the sweetness found in trusting God with suffering…and the deeper faith that comes from seeing His purpose in the pain. Book can be found here: https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/butgod/ Pray For Caleb Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayforcalebfreeman/ Jeremy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyfreeman_/?hl=en  

On today's episode of the Thriving in Ministry podcast, we interview Pastor Jeremy Freeman, and his son Caleb, on finding hope during catastrophe. Jeremy Freeman is the Pastor of First Baptist Church Newcastle. Jeremy and his wife Emily have 7 children, including Trey who went home to be with the Lord as a 7 year old in September 2013. Jeremy completed his undergraduate at the Oklahoma Baptist University and received his Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2008. Outside of pastoring and spending time with his family, Jeremy enjoys reading, watching sports, and studying God's Word. Jeremy Freeman is the author of the new book which releases on October 18th, entitled #butGod: The Power of Hope When Catastrophe Crashes In. Websites and Other LinksOrder #butGod Book by Jeremy FreemanFBC NewcastleDaily Pastor Online ContentTalanton Church Services

These two words, "But God", appear 42 times in the Bible. Ephesians 2:4: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.” Let's talk about it today on Morning Manna.

Remember, things are not as they seem & yes, things have been, are & will be really bad at times. #ButGod has already won! The bloodshed of Armageddon is seen on the robe of the Victor-it is the blood of the Lamb himself who came to take away the sins of the world. Those of us who follow Him now get to live from the Victory He has already won. We are free to enjoy His Kingdom & our place in it, while missing out on the wrath that we all deserve & the Beast & his people will receive in their eternal quarantine.

Big things really do come in small packages. This is so true when it comes to words. Some of the most important, powerful, life-changing words are some of the smallest words in the English language. One of those words is the tiny word, “but.” Think about how that one word can change an entire life and an entire perspective in a moment.

Luke 16:1-15 (ESV) He also said to the disciples,There was a rich man who hada manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.2And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of yourmanagement, for you can no longer be manager.3And the manager said to himself, What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.4I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.5So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe my master?6He said, A hundred measures[a]of oil. He said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.7Then he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures[b]of wheat. He said to him, Take your bill, and write eighty.8The master commended the dishonest manager for hisshrewdness. Forthe sons of this world[c]aremore shrewd in dealing with their own generation thanthe sons of light.9And I tell you,make friends for yourselves by means ofunrighteous wealth,[d]so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10One who isfaithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?12And if you have not been faithful inthat which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?13No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The Law and the Kingdom of God 14The Pharisees, who werelovers of money, heard all these things, and theyridiculed him.15And he said to them,You are those whojustify yourselves before men, butGod knows your hearts. For what is exalted among menis an abomination in the sight of God.

Caleb and Jeremy Freeman • John 11

Caleb and Jeremy Freeman • John 11

Join us as we recap over the years, including a break down of our car history

Do you pray safely?  Bless me.  Forgive me.  Give me.  Heal me. Thank you.These kinds of prayers keep us in the shallows, butGod is calling His children into a deeper, more dangerous level of prayer.In this episode, we ask God to "search me."  Now, open your Bible, and let's dig deeper.

Remembering your very own resurrection moment. With Dr John Neufeld.

Speaker: Graham Mabury Series: But God -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-145759.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

Speaker: Graham Mabury Series: But God -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-145759.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

Speaker: Dan Rodgers Series: But God -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-145397.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

Speaker: Nick Scott Series: But God -- [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

How do we negotiate the tension between what is in front of us, the reality of what is going on around us, and we are waiting, hoping, praying for? Tune in and please send feedback. Photo by Sydney Rae on Unsplash --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/grace-touch/support

Emily Freeman knows heartbreak. She's seen it up close and very personal. She and her husband, Jeremy, have 7 children and live in Newcastle, Oklahoma, whereJeremy is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Newcastle. Her father-in-law is the famous evangelist, Ken Freeman. Emily shares her moving story of faith through many trials. She tells about how two of her sons were born with a genetic disorder that ended up taking the life of one of them. After going through that, and losing her mom to cancer, another two sons were in a horrific car accident that took them down another trying path. Both lives were spared, but Caleb had to go through extensive rehabilitation. Their faith has sustained them. They live by the saying, “but God….” Acts 27 Experiencing God #afrayedknotpodcast #immunesystem #caraccident #craighospital #butGod

Speaker: Michael Yoo Series: But God -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-144622.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

Speaker: Jonathan Anthony Series: But God -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-144227.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

We are finally home! Pastor Chase talks about the journey toward purchasing our church building. #ButGod

Speaker: Sue Ford Series: But God... -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-143747.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

Speaker: Nick Scott Series: But God -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-143368.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

Speaker: Simon Ford Series: But God... -- [Sermon Notes: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/39758/note-142995.html] [Series Image: https://mounties.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ButGod-podcast-1.jpg]

Our God is the God of the impossible even in the valley. Just as he helped King David in the old days, he is a very present help now because he is the same yesterday, today and forever. This episode is my personal testimony of our on time God.

But God. I would argue that these are the two sweetest words in all of Scripture. There's something especially sweet about the words “But God”. They sum up the glory of salvation in an incredibly powerful way. Let's talk about it on today's Morning Manna.

This one is a tear jerker.  You all are going to love hearing from Ricki Lea Moore.  She and her husband live in Lexington, Oklahoma, where Doug is the Youth Minister at First Baptist Church, Lexington.  Doug and Ricki Lea have five beautiful children, and Ricki Lea shares with us the story of one of those precious children going to heaven. This story begins with their son, Xander, being diagnosed with cancer at age 2 1/2.  This was a nine-year-long, excruciating battle of hills and valleys.  One of the things Ricki Lea shares with us is that she learned God's greatest purpose is not always for our immediate comfort.  She reminds us that God will carry us through our darkest hours.  He is there in your midst and wants to "dazzle you" with His plan, as Xander would say. Isaiah 43:1-3 #afrayedknotpodcast#ButGod#dazzle#cancer

Nothing is to hard for God and with God, nothing is impossible. This episode is about the miracles that God had performed in the days of Noah and in the 21st century. No respecter of persons means he is here for all those that believe. Social status, fame, job just doesn't matter.

“But God” – two of the sweetest words ever spoken.  Today Pastor Nat looks at the fact that our lives would be without hope, BUT GOD intervened even though we were dead in our sins and gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. Good news in the sweetest of words. Download the Transcript of Today's PodcastJanuary is a fresh start of a new year that we have so many hopes for! We are leaving behind all the turmoils of 2020. Uncertainty. Insecurity. Unrest. Doubt. Despair…Our hearts and minds desperately want to be confident that 2021 is going to be better.Back to the Bible is committed to helping people find that hope and that confidence, and draw nearer to the One who offers abundant life. No matter where people stand spiritually today, we want to help bring them one step closer to Jesus in 2021! Will you help us in that mission?When you give a donation to the work God is doing through Back to the Bible, we would like to invest in YOUR confidence as well. In thanks for your gift of any amount, we will send you a resource to encourage and inspire you in the new year called 40 Days to Complete God Confidence, with liberating words of assurance through 40 engaging stories by author Susie Shellenberger.Don’t forget – when you give $75 or more today, you can also experience Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s lifetime of powerful Bible teaching in one place by getting his Study Bible as a complimentary offer.

I know you've felt overlooked in your life. You've tried to gain acceptance by worldly achievements... from degrees and relationships to material items. You've tried to make people see you!BUTGod has always seen you!God has always cherished you!God has always wanted you!It's time to lay the burden of working for acceptance down. Here is a letter from your Heavenly Father straight to your heart!It's time for you to finally find rest in his arms!Scripture Reference- Matthew 11:28-29Music by Yvette RaautenbachEnjoy!ronicacormier.com- Learn Morebit.ly/mtsisterhood- FB Mama Trauma Sisterhood Grouphttps://www.instagram.com/ronicacormier97/-Connect On Instagraminfo@ ronicacormier.com- CONNECT/COACHING/COLLABShttps://www.tiktok.com/@ronicacormier- Connect On Tik Tok 

No matter what you are going through, you got some but God moments

The Amazing Grace of GodTitus 2:11-15 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus%202%3A11-15&version=NIV11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” toungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this presentage, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, JesusChrist, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a peoplethat are his very own, eager to do what is good.15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not letanyone despise you.”Bottom Line for this message” Grace has a Face”Verse 1111 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.1. First, the use of the word “for” connects this verse to the previous verses. Because we are therecipients of God's grace and salvation, we should reflect the values and engage the behaviorsthat Paul promoted in verses 2-10.Paul previously discussed preaching, leadership and teaching, all of which is important to the Christianlifestyle (making disciples who make disciples), but what God does in verse 11 can be summed up in onework: GRACE2. What is grace?1. Many say “unmerited favor” or “God's favorable attitude towards us”, but these definitionsare too abstract relative to this verse. Websters has several definitions, but Websters doesn'tdefine Grace for us, God does.The grace of God is an ACTION, not an ABSTRACTION. It's a PERSON, not a CONCEPT.1. Grace is an actual event in space and time. Grace has a face – Jesus ChristScarred, bloody and in agonyA face of the person that suffered and died on the cross for your sins and mineA face of grace- bringing salvation to all people3. Grace isn't cheap…it comes at such a great cost, but our modern theology sometimesattempts to cheapen it by offering people what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”:Cheap grace is: the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentanceBaptism without church disciplineCommunion without repentanceAbsolution without personal confessionOne thing that I believe has made Grace appear cheaper is the modern American church.- Modern American church grace says: “all are welcome. Come as you are. The coffee's on us, sitback and relax…and don't worry about changing. We couldn't ask you to do that. We don't wantto offend you.”- Grace says: “all are welcome. Come as you are and be prepared and willing for God to changeyou. Because when you recognize the true cost of grace, you recognize that it is a debt that youcannot pay, and you are compelled to change…out of gratitude. You will have to die to yourself.Be prepared to sacrifice parts of your sinful lifelstyle that the world accepts, and says it's OK, butGod doesn't.”Galatians 5:24 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A24&version=NIV24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.Grace says “I created man and woman”. Modern American grace says “it's all good…whatever you wantto be. God probably made a mistake” in an effort to avoid looking intolerant.God says “I created marriage between a man and a woman”. Modern American grace says “it's allgood…marry who you want. Who are we to judge? Besides, our numbers are low”.God says “I knit babies together in their mother's wombs”. Modern American grace says “It's a woman'sbody and she has right to choose”. Who are we to judge?Bonnhoeffer went on to say:“Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. Itis the pearl of great price to buy for which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule ofChrist, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of JesusChrist at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.”“Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It iscostly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because itcost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheapfor us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, butdelivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of DiscipleshipIt's not popular to say that Jesus is the only way to God. Modern culture and theologies…even some inthe Christian Church…see this as too narrow and restrictive, intolerant and unloving. But to say there aremany ways, makes no sense, and stands in the face of the sacrifice of true Grace.God would not have sent His only Son to die on a cross if He could have saved us by any other means.No Grace would mean no salvation. If there were a bunch of ways to get to heaven, then why did Christdie?When Jesus was praying in Luke 22:42https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22%3A42&version=NIV"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."Basically asking…if there's any other way. God didn't say, “well, actually there are a thousand ways, butI'm going to make you go through this anyway”. Just No.Grace has a Face. The face of JesusGalatians 2:21 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+2%3A21&version=NIV21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died fornothing!”Back to Verse 1111 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all peopleWhat is salvation?While sometimes in the Bible, salvation is being saved from one's enemies, in the New Testament, itrefers more to end of time events…God's judgement. Salvation, in this sense, is being saved from God'sperfect judgement…through His perfect GRACE- Grace makes all people savable – every sin of every person has it's answer in Jesus.- “Every person who ends up in hell steps over a blood-stained cross with their name on it to getthere”Grace has a Face…the face of Jesus. The face of salvation.1. Grace TRAINS us. (verse 12)12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright andgodly lives in this present age,1. Grace doesn't flatter us…it teaches us…it trains us-It doesn't tell us all is well, but speaks bluntly, directly and lovingly-for our own good.Titus 2:12 puts an end, once and for all to any theology that separates salvation from the demands ofobedience to Jesus Christ.-Grace teaches us that our lifestyle is suicidal…not in a worldly way, but in an eternalway.-Grace teaches us what we need to do, and what not to do in order to change.-Grace educates us, trains us and to reform and transform. God expects us to go in anew direction when we experience His Grace…His Son…His salvation.If you have you accepted His Grace…His son, and have not been changed,maybe you didn't.-Grace trains us to live better lives according to God's standards and priorities and notour own.-Our works become the natural response to HIS works- Grace teaches us to live a certain kind of life, to live in a particular way, and defined byparticular character qualities.1. Develop self-control2. Live uprightly3. Live Godly lives…for NOW, not for some other place and time, but for here and now.What does that training look like?1. Sometimes it looks like Divine discipline – sometimes it's difficult circumstances.Hebrews 12:7-11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12%3A7-11&version=NIV7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplinedby their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are notlegitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers whodisciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father ofspirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for ourgood, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained byit.- If you feel that the circumstances of life are stretching you beyond what you think you canbear, or beyond what you want to bear, it may well be the Grace of God training you.Like a serious workout at the gym…it hurts, and isn't pleasant at the time. But if werecognize it as Grace and embrace it for what it is, then it will have that amazingstrengthening, fruit-producing effect.Embrace it…embrace the training of GraceHOW?1. Training requires some degree of cooperation or response on our part.Anyone who has been to the gym or worked with a trainer understands that you can't just showup for training and watch the trainer do all the work and somehow benefit from it. You have toactively engage and actively participate if you expect to be changed by it.2. We have to deny ourselvesThe first step is self-denial.You can't train for a marathon without first denying various habits and behaviors in your lifethat would get in the way of you preparing for the race….like diet and lots and lots of running.Training in grace is like training for a marathon- you have to say NO to several things as a firststep, in this case: 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passionsUnGodliness – Whatever actions or attitudes undermine God's centrality in your life (Ifit makes God marginal, it is ungodly)…like cheap American Christian Church Grace.Godliness is having a regard for God's glory and God's will in every aspect of our lives,doing everything out of reverence and love for Him.Worldly Passions – The result of a hungry soul that doesn't have God at the center.Anything that steals your focus away from God…like maybe politics?Saying NO is not a one-time thing. It's an ongoing part of training.We're called to take up our cross, the cross of self-denial every day.Count the cost of what training will require.Luke 14:28 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+14%3A28&version=NIV28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see ifyou have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it,everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'2. Grace is POWERFUL-Just as God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage, so too the Son of God redeems, withgreat power, a new covenant people from bondage to lawlessness and sin. Only the Grace of God,through the death of His Son can redeem from lawlessness, can liberate from sin and can set the captivesoul free. Nothing else will…nothing else can.Jesus described the reason for His coming in this way:Mark 10:45 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+10%3A45&version=NIV45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom formany.”Paul described it this way…2 Corinthians 5:21 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A21&version=NIV21 God made him who had no sin to be sin [a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness ofGodGrace has the power to conform us into the righteousness of God2. Grace teaches us to WAIT for what we hope for…to wait expectantly for His coming13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, JesusChrist,-Waiting sometimes seems passive, like we are not doing anything, but Biblically speaking, waiting is notpassive…it's ACTIVE- Waiting in this sense draws us forward into action, rather than causing us to relax- Like a bridegroom waiting for his bride, there's nothing passive about waiting if the focus ofyour wait is your primary desire.It's important to realize that there is a profound difference between passive waiting and active waiting.Passive waiting can take the form of cynicism, complaining, or simply doing nothing.Active waiting, however, is a posture that seeks to cultivate habits that are focused on intentionalpreparation.It is a blessed hope because unlike every other hope we might have, it cannot be disappointed….Jesus iscoming back.We are waiting for “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”.Are you waiting on the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior? If you are excitedly waitingfor Jesus to come, your waiting looks like preparation. Your preparation looks like fruit. If you're notprepared, and not bearing fruit, then what are you waiting for??(Grace is Powerful) (Grace teaches us to actively wait)2. Grace is PURIFYING14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that arehis very own, eager to do what is good.-It cleanses, washes and renews: The death of Christ cleanses us-It purifies our hearts by faith and our lives by the Holy Spirit.Proverbs 25:4 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+25%3A4&version=NIVRemove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel;The Refiner's fire is purifying: When precious metals are refined the impurities (dross) must first beremoved. These pollutants are burned away as the metals are subjected to intense heat. As a result ofthe refining process the craftsman is given pure silver to work with as he crafts the metal into a beautifulmasterpiece. Without first removing the dross, the precious metal would be unworkable. Thesilversmith knows when the silver is pure because he can see his reflection in it.Have we allowed God to purify us through His grace? Can He see His reflection in our lives?3. Grace is POSSESIVEVerse 14 …to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.-Kind of paradoxical – even though grace is incredibly generous, it is also tremendouslypossessive…even jealous.He PURCHASED us. To PURIFY us to POSSESS us…literally for Himself.…a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.1 Peter 2:9-10 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A9-10&version=NIV9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you maydeclare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were nota people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you havereceived mercy.-When Grace comes into your life, it takes over…it buys you and makes you its own. That's avery good thing…that's SALVATION.-When you encounter the Grace of God…the cross of Christ, you are no longer your own, but Hisown possession. Grace is possessive because it is costly. It cost God the life of His only Son.1 Corinthians 6:19-20https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A19-20&version=NIV19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you havereceived from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with yourbodies.Grace appeared at the climax of history through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, but Grace isalways there for us in the continual self-giving of the Son, like a steady, never-ending stream.-Have you embraced Grace, and all He provides and requires?-Am I now living a life defined by Grace? - You will know by the fruit.- God's Grace appears in verse 11, and God's glory appears in verse 13. The grace that has appearedspeaks of His first coming, and the Glory that will appear speaks of His second coming.4. God's Grace teaches us who is LordGod's Grace teaches us what we should learn15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not letanyone despise you.”1. Learn doctrine…these are the things you should teach – refers to the entire letter-a letter filled withsound teaching2. Learn duty…encourage with authority. Go alongside and challenge in the way we should all live as welook for “the blessed hope”.3. Learn discernment: if “encourage” speaks to us about the way we should go, “rebuke” admonishes usconcerning the way we should NOT go. When we confront or correct, we do so with all authority. Wedon't compromise…Grace cost too much to compromise.4. Learn dedication: Speaking the truth will not always be popular, but it will always be necessary. It willrequire courage, conviction, the confidence of Christ – and will always require love as it's foundation.This will enable you to humbly stand tall, refusing to be intimidated by Christ's opponents. In this, youwill not let anyone disregard or despise you.Don't worry about the nay-sayers. Be above reproach and love them. (Like Paul and Timothy)Recap1. Grace isn't cheap. Don't treat it cheaply and don't represent it as cheap. That's false teaching.Grace Christian Fellowship –the sign says: “Love God, Love People”. We love God, and we lovepeople because we so strongly desire to show people the true Grace of God through Jesus Christ.That tells peoplethe message is more important than the brand…that love is more important than a logo…that the objective is more important than opticsthat it's better to be a hospital for the lost, than a country club for the savedthat Grace itself is precious…that time here is short, but eternity isn't…that conviction is more important than comfortwe can't say “we're good”, when we know we're all badGrace is costly. Grace is Honest. And Grace is redemptivebut at the same time, any of this done without love is worthless2. Let Grace train you…like a marathon. Training can hurt, but understanding what you're training forputs everything in perspective.3. Put away anything in your life that doesn't bear fruit for God's kingdom, and keep Him as your mainfocus.4. Know His word and teach it with authority.5. Stand tall, confidently and passionately love God and love people.Our hearts should well up with praise in response to the Grace of God.Grace has a Face and He truly is amazing.

Today we talk about infertility. Our special guest, Manouche, shares her story. Beware it gets REAL!! *Trigger Warning*

Ken Freeman has the ability to connect to people of any age group, culture, or background. He lives with a passion to bring people to know Christ and to make a deeper, more intimate, commitment to Jesus. The son of an alcoholic mother and an absentee father, Ken’s life was filled with abuse and neglect. Despite a horrifying childhood, Ken defied all odds with one choice that would change his life forever, his decision to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. With that one choice Ken’s years of mental and physical abuse turned from a useless mess, to a powerful message. God has blessed Ken as he has traveled throughout the United States and Canada with his message for over 30 years, serving as a youth leader for about 12 years, and an evangelist for well over 25 years. He has seen over 200,000 decisions for Christ, one of which was his own father, been in over 3000 churches, written two books, and built a ministry around this one choice to accept Christ. One thing is certain; God has given Ken a passion for the lost and the brokenhearted that is evident within his ministry and his everyday life. We will discuss – #butGod – “A Mess to a Message!” – Those who have been wounded deeply, God will use Greatly! You definitely do not want to miss this program… YouTube: KenFreemanOnTheRoad www.kenfreeman.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

But Jesus Has Something So Much Greater For Us! – Live Sermon – This is the last sermon in our #ButGod series. Pastor Jamie shows us that Jesus has something so much greater for us than we could ever imagine. Check it out!

But Jesus Has Something So Much Greater For Us! – Digging Deeper – Want to dig deeper into todays sermon? Then watch this episode of Digging Deeper. Each week Pastor Jamie will do Digging Deeper as a continuation from the live sermon. Check it out! #ButGod

But Jesus Loves The Marginalized – Pastor Jamie continues our #ButGod series with another But Jesus passage. This week he shows us how Jesus loves the marginalized. Check it out!

When Mom Didn’t Know Best! – Pastor Jamie continues our #ButGod series this week with a sermon on Matthew 20:20-28. He shows us that we are called to live a cross shaped life. Check it out!

Do Not Fear…Only Believe – Pastor Jamie continues our #ButGod series this week. He preaches on the account of Jairus daughter and the unclean woman. We see that no matter the circumstance we should not fear…only believe. Check it out!

I believe that I am what the word of God says I am. I truly believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I believe it, I decree it and command it not by my power because I have none but in Jesus' name.

But God’s…Unfathomable Love – Pastor Jamie continues our #ButGod series this week. He shows us the unfathomable love of God. Check it out!

Chaos All Around…But God – Here is the next sermon in our #ButGod series. Pastor Jamie shows us that we can rejoice always no matter the chaos going on all around us. Check it out!

A Glorious View – This is the first sermon in our #ButGod series. Pastor Jamie shows us that it is God who changes our view. Check it out!

God’s Design In Your Hardships – Pastor Bob continues our #ButGod series this week. He shows us that God is working in our hardships. He uses them to grow us in Him. Check it out!

I went to my first taping of a t.v. show as a studio audience member. It was Sid Roth's It's Supernatural. That experience was my inspiration to share my own supernatural experience. I went to the hospital for a severe headache from high blood pressure. When all of the medical staff in that part of the hospital came in to see the woman who should have had a stroke talking coherently,walking and smiling. To God be the glory!

We all have thisamazing ability to take simple things and make themextremely difficult, don't we? Simple things. ButGod takes the most complex of things and He makes them so simple. As simple as a baby in a manger.

Jeremy, Caleb and Clayton Freeman share about the miraculous road God has led them on throughout their family's life, but specifically since a car wreck in December of 2017 where Caleb should have died by all odds. Listen as the share. #butGod

Tell the Phoenix Fox, Tell the Tortoise Fruit by Cynthia So   On the day Sunae turned nine years old, there was no joyful feast. A monster burst from the sea that night and ate five people. The Mirayans gathered upon the shore to watch this, as they did every Appeasement. Sunae’s mother covered Sunae’s eyes, but Sunae still heard the screams. The crunch of brittle bone between teeth. The wet gulp of gluttonous throats. Sunae prayed to the Goddess that the warrior Yomue might rise from the dead and defeat the monster yet again. No warrior came, but a hand grasped Sunae’s and squeezed. A hand as small as her own. When it was over, Sunae’s mother murmured, “Now we will be safe for another ten years.” She removed her hands from Sunae’s eyes, and Sunae flinched from the gore before her. The older children always said that this was why Miraya’s beaches were pink, but she hadn’t been convinced until she saw the sands now drenched with fresh blood. Dark red on dusk pink. Full transcript after the cut:     Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip episode 66 for March 5, 2019. This is your host Keffy, and I'm super excited to share this story with you. Today we have a GlitterShip original, "Tell the Phoenix Fox, Tell the Tortoise Fruit" by Cynthia So and a poem by Chanter, "The Lamentations of Old Money." This episode is part of the newest GlitterShip issue, which was just released and... is very late. The "Summer 2018" issue of GlitterShip is available for purchase at glittership.com/buy and on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and now Gumroad! If you're one of our Patreon supporters, you should have access to the new issue waiting for you when you log in. For everyone else, it's $2.99, and all of our back issues are $1.49. GlitterShip is also a part of the Audible Trial Program. This means that just by listening to GlitterShip, you are eligible for a free 30 day membership on Audible and a free audiobook to keep. If you'er looking for an excellent book of short queer stories to listen to, you should check out Bitter Waters by Chaz Brenchley. This book is full of speculative fiction featuring gay men and was awarded the Lambda Award for best LGBT speculative fiction. To download Bitter Waters for free today, go to www.audibletrial.com/glittership -- or choose another book if you're in the mood for something else. Up first, our poem:   Chanter is a proud Wisconsinite who took flight (alas, not literally) from her originating small town, headed for the big city’s more accepting climes and never looked back.  She’s proudly asexual, demisensual, and some flavor of bi- or panromantic that’s as yet proving difficult to define.  She’s also brand squeaky new (emphasis, occasionally, on squeaky) to official publication.  Besides holding down a day job, she’s an active shortwave radio DXer and ham operator, as well as a crowdfunded author currently based mainly on Dreamwidth.       The Lamentations of Old Money by Chanter   Jennifer doesn’t want a white dress. She doesn’t want a church,an altar, a tangle of coast-grown flowers,sisters in matching silk, trained doves, stained glass,twenty overlaid colognes and splintering sunlight,rehearsed organ music andrecorded pop shorthand warbling through weak speakers,biting April breezes, overthought hair and makeup,snow in hardwood aisles. Jennifer doesn’t want a wild time. She doesn’t want hips around shoulders, tools and toys,filthy supplications and hot breath ideas,hours between bedsheets, sticky aftermaths,bruises as tawdry mementos in hard to reach places,hands and mouths, teeth and tongues and fluids,too many entrances,the junctions of legs and legs and legs. Jennifer doesn’t want hard edges. Not for her, leashes, spike heels and bad girl pretense.not for her, the bite of too-demanding fingertipsgrinding at her biceps,cold and bruising at her cheeks,clamped into the flesh of her wrists.Not for her, orders with teeth both behind and in them,whipcracks in voice and deed.Not for her, daddy’s little anything, mommy’s little anything,a schoolgirl’s life, a paddle’s life,princess, flower, whore.Not for her, latex and custom-made chains,iron protocol and a child’s tear-stung punishments,revoked names and Halloween’s expected trappings. Not for her, anonymity.Not for her, all of the spiceand none of the wine to mull with it. What Jennifer wants? Fits on a two-sided coin. One side: Jennifer wants nights asleep in a hayloft, clothes on,with siblings in arms—and black coffee,and cotton-coarse humor, and blood—to her left and right. Jennifer wants a uniform,wants honest lamplight with a wick beneath it,wants a hundred songs and a hand-tuned fiddle,a guitar played at a campfire,laces and burlap, branches and homespun wool,antique language, tactile camaraderie,respected rank and unresented ceremony,world-spanning care so personal it can’t be feigned,so simultaneously subtle and frank that it confuses,so elegant it’s genuine,so casual it’s ancient.“To be fair, that one does drive me utterly mad of an afternoon butGod be good, dear fellow, why wouldn’t I?” Jennifer wants a certain amount of ignored anachronism,wants a world where ‘dear fellow’as affectionate genderless address is just fine,where ‘she’s a good man to have beside you in a fight’is perfectly acceptable wording,but where the phrase ‘man up’ is both soundly off limitsand considered decades or centuries distant, depending;a world where, at the end of the day,it’s quietly acknowledged and otherwise near-forgottenthat oh yes, that one there, she’s a girl.As in woman.As in, see also, dame. Noun.Example I: To go to work for the war efforton the road under cover of darkness,on the air for the BBC,or on the battlefield firing decisive cannon blast volleyslike a real dame. Example II:I’m a girl, and mostly,I prefer other dames to fellas. Mostly.But when I don’t, I kinda have a type? Ahem!” Somewhere, a coin is balancing on its edge. And the flip side: Jennifer wants to write a hundred stories and bind them in hard covers,wants modern skirts to her ankles,comfortable jeans and blue corduroy coat sleeves,wants city streets, steel toes and long hair,near-distant clocktower bells,silver jewelry bought by her own hand, in her own name,a rocking chair made to last for decades,a damn fine radio setup,the solid strength of a wooden door at her backafter she and she - he and she - they and sheafter they’ve crashed through itand, fully clothed, battered it closed behind them. Both sides: Jennifer wants her wrists pressed flat against that wooden door,all benevolent force, all warmth,all welcome gravity, all burgeoning life in orbit,all the steady strength of a starin symbiosis with a planet.Jennifer wants voices and voices and voices,innocent details and muscle-melting,breath-stealing turns of phrase,sound serving as light serving aslodestone to the iron in every millimeter of herexcept, except, for a bare and unbared few. One side: Jennifer wants the wind at her back,a message, a mission, a reason and a warning,miles and miles and miles rolled outunder a sky filled with leaden stars,a purpose and a signal, a gesture,an anticipation of commandthat tenses her like a bowstringbefore—wait, wait, wait for it—rush for it— “Fire!” Both sides: Jennifer wants to be eager,to be teeming under her skin with silver,wants a reason and a cause and a leader who’sfallible by self-description, near-matchless by others’ accounts,wants to thrill to rank, surname, simple designation,wants to know at exactly what she’s aimed,near-precisely what will happen when she hitsand that yes, the trusted, entirely human handsof gravity to a planetare the only hands pulling or perhaps, perhaps,the only hands directing those pulling her string,wants to be entirely, mindfully, consensually willingto be fired like a longbow. And the flip side: Jennifer wants to bringa girlfriend home to her parents,wants to curl into accented wordslike they’re warm compresses and quilts,wants to make promises and keep them,find each others’ keys,play each others’ record collections,brush cat hair off each others’ sweaters,adore and be adored forever,not live together.Jennifer wants to never grow tired of hearing herself say“This is Elaine.” Or “This is Kim.” Or “This is...”“This is my better half.” Both sides: Jennifer wants orders that both delight herand fill her with clean purpose,stoking a fire that consumes every inch of herexcept, except, for the space between her thighs.Jennifer wants the intersectionwhere bravery meets well-placed loyalty.Jennifer wants to know exactly what she’s doing,wants to be utterly sure of her cause,to make up her entire mind, on her own,and then raise her voiceand throw herself into the thing with abandonbecause yes, this is right, this is reason, this is exuberanceand happiness and righteous fury blazing, this isbright history, this is justice, this is-- One coin. With two sides. Jennifer wantsthe rarity that is liking of, love for,acceptance and welcome ofboth the existence and the admissionof her two sides. Even when she’s difficult.Even when she’s horrible.Even when she’s irrational.Even when she’s just, so most people would say,plain off baseline weird. Especially when she’s weird. All of the wine to mull withall of the spiceground by capable hands.Hands ringed in silver. Hands at the ends of corduroy sleeves. The sleeves of a coat that may have,once or twice,been a makeshift pillow in a hayloft. After a night’s ride. After a night’s mission.       Cynthia So is a queer Chinese writer from Hong Kong, living in London. She spent her undergrad crying over poets that have been dead for 2,000 years, give or take. (She’s graduated now, but still crying.) Her short fiction has appeared in Anathema, Arsenika, and Cast of Wonders. She can be found on Twitter @cynaesthete. Zora Mai Quỳnh is a genderqueer Vietnamese writer whose short stories, poems, and essays can be found in The SEA Is Ours, Genius Loci: The Spirit of Place, POC Destroy Science Fiction, Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia Butler, Strange Horizons, and Terraform. Visit her: zmquynh.com. Rivia is a Black and Vietnamese Pansexual Teen who has a passion for reading, video games and music. She says “I’m gender questioning but also questioning whether or not I’m questioning...Isn’t gender just a concept?” You can hear her vocals on Strange Horizon’s podcast for “When she sings…”   Tell the Phoenix Fox, Tell the Tortoise Fruit by Cynthia So       On the day Sunae turned nine years old, there was no joyful feast. A monster burst from the sea that night and ate five people. The Mirayans gathered upon the shore to watch this, as they did every Appeasement. Sunae’s mother covered Sunae’s eyes, but Sunae still heard the screams. The crunch of brittle bone between teeth. The wet gulp of gluttonous throats. Sunae prayed to the Goddess that the warrior Yomue might rise from the dead and defeat the monster yet again. No warrior came, but a hand grasped Sunae’s and squeezed. A hand as small as her own. When it was over, Sunae’s mother murmured, “Now we will be safe for another ten years.” She removed her hands from Sunae’s eyes, and Sunae flinched from the gore before her. The older children always said that this was why Miraya’s beaches were pink, but she hadn’t been convinced until she saw the sands now drenched with fresh blood. Dark red on dusk pink. She looked at the girl next to her, the girl who was holding her hand, and she saw a determination in those eyes as bright as the moon, as bright as her own. A determination to make sure that this would never happen again. “I’m Oaru,” the girl said. “What’s your name?” Sunae looked down at their clasped hands and told Oaru her name.   The Temple of the Moon Goddess is the most beautiful place on the island. There are no straight lines and sharp angles within, but everything is curved and gentle and swooping. Shades of blue deepen as one enters through the front, the colors of twilight intensifying into midnight, accented by silver and broken up by patches of brilliant white that gleam through the dark. A pool of water from the Moon Lake shimmers in the atrium. Frosty glass cut into lunar shapes hang from the ceiling in long, glittering threads. All of it is flawless craftsmanship, except for the wall of the prayer hall. The hall is perfectly circular. Spanning a semicircle on the wall is a painting of Yomue, splendid in lustrous armor, wielding a sword as black as her hair and an expression as fierce as the sea. The sand of the Mirayan beach is pink beneath her feet, and she glares at the monster that towers over her. Its writhing, many-headed form is etched into the blackness of the night. The moon hangs above them, solemn and full. The other half of the wall is blank, its contents effaced and forgotten. Warrior confronts monster. What’s the rest of the story? Monster leaves island alone for a hundred years. Warrior dies, and monster comes back. It is starved and salivating, with too many teeth. Every ten years, it must be fed. Is that what was on the other half of the wall? Sunae’s mother buys her Carrucean books to read, because Carrucean is an important language to learn well. In Carrucean tales, monsters are always slain. Heroes sometimes journey into foreign lands and kill other people’s monsters for them, and they are rewarded with riches and brides and thrones. Sunae is ten years old, but she knows this: there are Carruceans living in Miraya. Miraya was owned by Carrucea for hundreds of years, and then there was a treaty of some sort not long before Sunae was born, and now Miraya belongs to the Mirayans again. The Carruceans came here to their island. They governed the island and lived here for centuries, but no Carrucean ever killed the monster for them. Yet here they are on the island still, with their wealth, their power. Their Mirayan wives. “Mother, have any Carruceans ever been fed to the monster?” Sunae asks. Her mother frowns. “Can’t we talk about something more cheerful?” Sunae just wants to know how to defeat the monster. If no Carruceans will come to their aid, then who will?   The old Library of Miraya is a burnt husk with a blackened facade, secluded from the town and set into the side of a hill, a little way from the Moon Lake. Sunae doesn’t understand why it hasn’t been torn down to make way for something new when fire ravaged it long ago, but perhaps its remote location preserved it. Evidently the Mirayans of yore prized a peaceful reading environment. Sunae can hear nothing of the bustling town here, only a chorus of birds. She also doesn’t understand why she is letting Oaru drag her into the grim ruins. Inside, the half-collapsed roof lets in some lemony sunlight, but there is an unpleasant smell like overripe tortoise fruit, and rows of charred shelves loom and menace. “It went this way,” Oaru says, and drops to her hands and knees to crawl through a tiny hole in the wall. Sunae sighs and follows. She gets stuck, her shoulders being broader than Oaru’s, but Oaru wrenches her free with a painful yank. She emerges into a cramped and airless space, illuminated only by the glow of the phoenix fox, which is swishing its enormous tail back and forth, sweeping away layers of ash and dust from the wall behind it. Sunae coughs, but Oaru grabs her arm excitedly. “There’s something on the wall!” Oaru leans over the fox and scrubs at the wall with her sleeve, gradually revealing the faded colors of a painting: a woman in an ethereal blue gown, sitting with a brush in her hand. A long scroll of paper unfurls before her, inked in an illegible, swirling script. “Doesn’t that look a bit like Yomue?” Oaru asks. It seems impossible that this serene woman should resemble the powerful warrior in the temple, but she does. It’s in the proud tilt of her jaw, maybe. Sunae reaches out and traces the woman’s chin. She has never been permitted to touch the temple mural, though she has longed to. “What is she doing?” Oaru wonders. “Writing poetry?” Sunae ventures. The phoenix fox smirks at her and stretches lazily before slipping out through the hole in the wall, leaving them in absolute darkness. Oaru yelps, “I’ve got to catch that fox!” She tugs at Sunae’s elbow and Sunae reluctantly goes with her. It’s as much a struggle to get out as it was to get in, and the fox is nowhere to be seen by the time Sunae has wriggled through.   The new Library of Miraya is a clean and functional building, centrally located, right next to the Town Hall. Most of the space is dedicated to Carrucean books, with the Mirayan literature section tucked into a dismal corner. Sunae asks a librarian to help her find Yomue’s poems. “Yomue wasn’t a poet,” the librarian says, puzzled. “But I can recommend poetry from the same time period. Not much of it survived, what with the old Library burning down... But there is some, and it’s very beautiful. Do you know how to read Classical Mirayan, though?” In the end, Sunae walks away from the Library with a few books and a leaflet for free Classical Mirayan lessons. By the time she turns twelve, she has read all the Classical Mirayan poetry that the Library has to offer—and all the modern Mirayan poetry, too. She tries her hand at writing her own poem. She writes about Yomue and the monster. Yomue’s husband, wrongfully convicted of murdering a man, chained to a pillar on the shore, awaiting his execution. Yomue weeping at his feet. The moon trembling in the sky, the Goddess watching. Yomue dressing herself in armor, carefully lacing her breastplate, looping her belt through the buckle. Whetting her sword and sheathing it. Her hair, tied back with a ribbon given to her by her husband. Her boots hitting the ground, her armor jangling. The monster howling, crashing back into the sea where it nurses its wounds for a hundred years. Sunae wins a competition at school with this poem, and gets a shiny badge that she pins to her satchel. She is fourteen, and she writes about nature: trees touching, sands blushing. The ocean embracing the coast. Leaves tender for one another. Mountains asleep next to each other. The moon observing everything. She is sixteen, and Oaru bets a boy she can beat him in a swordfight. Sunae has watched Oaru practise in her garden every week for five years, first with a toy sword, then with a real one; Oaru is graceful and deft with it where Sunae has always fumbled and flailed. Oaru and the boy are wearing white clothes and using wooden swords dipped in red paint; the boy soon looks like a bloody mess and yields, while Oaru is still pristine. “You were amazing,” Sunae says afterwards, as Oaru is cutting into a celebratory tortoise fruit. Oaru waves a slice of it in her face, and Sunae grimaces at its distinct mustiness. “Ew, no thank you.” “How can you not like tortoise fruit?” Oaru says, shaking her head. “Are you even Mirayan?” Sunae sticks her tongue out. “It smells like a sweaty armpit and it tastes even worse.” Oaru eagerly bites into the purple flesh of the fruit. “You should know though, you kind of looked like a tortoise fruit just then, when I wafted it under your nose.” Sunae blinks at the wrinkled skin of the tortoise fruit in horror. “I looked like that? Don’t be so mean!” Oaru laughs and nudges her side. “All right, I’m sorry—but hey, do you think I’ll be good enough to defeat the monster someday?” No. Don’t you dare try. Sunae swallows. Oaru must be the best fighter Miraya has seen in generations. Surely if anyone has a chance to ward off the monster and stop more Appeasements from happening, it’s her. How can Sunae be so selfish as to hold Oaru back for fear of losing her? She says, “You look so much like Yomue in the temple mural when you’re moving with that sword.” Oaru’s breath catches, and Sunae suddenly understands what it is she has really been trying to write poetry about all this time. They are alone in Sunae’s bedroom, and Sunae kisses Oaru. There is tortoise fruit on Oaru’s tongue, cloying and bitter, but Sunae doesn’t scrunch up her nose. She doesn’t mind at all. “That has to be the boldest thing you’ve ever done,” Oaru whispers, her lips soft and purpled, her hair mussed by Sunae’s hands. “I guess you inspired me,” Sunae says, and Oaru grins and grips Sunae’s arms. “Remember that time I tried to catch the phoenix fox?” Sunae nods. Every day she thinks of the painted woman lit by the phoenix-fox fire. The nameless poet buried in the rubble, her face so strangely like Yomue’s. Sunae returned to the shadowy wreckage of the old Library once, but she has grown and can no longer contort herself to fit through that hole in the wall. “I wanted to give the fox to you,” Oaru says. Oh. It is a Mirayan custom for young men to present phoenix foxes to girls they wish to marry. This fact had utterly escaped ten-year-old Sunae, who merely assumed that Oaru wanted the fox as a pretty pet. Sunae raises her eyebrows, stroking Oaru’s cheek with her thumb. “You already wanted to marry me when you were ten?” Oaru shrugs. “I didn’t know then, what it meant. I only knew I wanted to be your friend forever. But now I know what it actually means, for me to want to marry you.” Her eyes are serious, like a cloud veiling the moon. It means we could both be a part of the next Appeasement if anyone finds out. Sunae closes her eyes against the thought and kisses Oaru again. Sunae is eighteen and she is awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Wimmore, one of Carrucea’s world-famous institutions. If she takes the scholarship, she will be absent from Miraya for a year. She will be absent from Miraya on the day of the next Appeasement. Tell me what else there is, she pleads with the impassive image of Yomue on the wall, as everyone else in the prayer hall lifts their cupped hands repeatedly to their faces in the traditional gesture of worship. Tell me. Because if there is more to the story than a swordfight, then maybe she can convince Oaru not to risk her life. And if she has to go to Carrucea to find the answers, she will. At the end of the prayer session, when people are either shuffling off or lingering to socialize, Sunae tells Oaru about the scholarship. “It’s stupid that you have to go to Carrucea to learn more about this island, our island that we’ve been living on our whole lives.” Oaru spits the words, and her frustration echoes in the chambers of Sunae’s heart. “I know.” Sunae wants to run her hands through Oaru’s hair to comfort her, but it would be foolish to show such affection in public. She wants to hold Oaru’s hand, but they are not children anymore. They will not get away with it, not here where everyone can see. “Just promise me that you won’t try and take on the monster when the Appeasement comes. Please. You’re not ready.” I’m not ready. “I promise.” Oaru’s voice sounds fervent with honesty. Sunae hopes she has known Oaru for long enough to tell when she is lying.   The Moon Lake is luminous as a heart that brims full with emotion, and Sunae stands at the edge and dips her toes in. Oaru is naked in the water, moonlight dripping from her hair. Oaru wears a smile like a phoenix fox’s, sly and burning through Sunae. Oaru’s arms are muscled and impatient and open wide. “Come on, Sunae.” Sunae’s fingers hover over the knot that ties the sash around her waist. “You’re breaking the law,” she whispers. Oaru wades closer to Sunae. She lifts the hem of Sunae’s gown and kisses Sunae’s ankles. “We’ve been breaking the law for a long time, tortoise fruit,” she says, her dark eyes looking up into Sunae’s. “When has that ever stopped you?” She leaves wet handprints on the skirt of Sunae’s gown, droplets trickling down the backs of Sunae’s calves. “Who knows when we’ll get to do this again?” I’ll only be away for a year, Sunae thinks, but Oaru’s eyes are darker than fire-scorched walls, and Sunae knows it will be the longest year of their lives. She loosens the knot. Her gown joins Oaru’s in a careless heap on the sandy bank, and soon her body twines with Oaru’s in the water. Mist forms around them, as though the Goddess herself wishes to hide them away from the world.   Let’s skip ahead for a moment. It is Sunae’s nineteenth birthday, and she is chained to a pillar on the pink shore of Miraya. Her lover Oaru is shackled to a different pillar. They cannot touch or kiss each other. The monster is about to rear its ugly heads from the sea, and Sunae is crying, but she is speaking. She is reciting a poem she wrote, and I am watching, as I always have. I am listening. So how did they get here?   Sunae sits on the steps of a lofty sandstone building, shivering in the wind and eating a whole tortoise fruit by herself. She has been studying in Wimmore for four months, and she hasn’t made a single friend. The light in Wimmore is muted and cold, the streets narrow and grey, the houses foreboding and tall. People laugh at her accent. The dresses fashionable here are too tight, and she can never get enough air into her lungs. The air tastes nothing of salt, anyway. She misses the sea. She runs her fingers over the tough, knobbly green rind of the fruit. Her professor had bought it for the class to try—an expensive import from Miraya, not easily purchased. The others in her class had squealed over how disgusting the fruit looked and smelled as Dr. Janner was dissecting it like a corpse, and Sunae thought of Oaru’s teeth tearing into a wedge of tortoise fruit. Oaru’s tongue stained purple by its juice. Sunae had stood up, gathered the massive fruit in her arms as though it were a baby and marched out of the classroom. And now she is sitting on rain-wet stone and chewing miserably. How Oaru would tease her, if Oaru were here. A girl sits down next to her. Talia from her class, with wheat-colored curls flattened in the drizzle. “You really like tortoise fruit, huh?” Talia says. “I hate it,” Sunae says. “Let me try a bit, will you?” Sunae gives her a small slice and she takes a tentative bite. “Hmm, it tastes a lot better than it smells. Definitely not the texture I was expecting, though. It’s... squidgy?” She finishes the slice, throws the rind over her shoulder, and grabs another immediately. Sunae smiles. She thinks it must be the first time she has smiled since she set foot in Wimmore. “You like it more than I do, then.” “So what are you doing out here eating something you hate and crying?” Talia asks, squinting. “Don’t tell me that’s just the rain.” “It’s not just the rain,” Sunae says, rubbing a hand over her face. “It’s just... It’s what a friend calls me. Tortoise fruit.” “An affectionate nickname?” Talia turns the piece of wrinkly rind over in her hand. “Is it a cute boy who’s waiting for you at home?” Sunae hesitates. “Um. Not a boy.” And then, to distract Talia from fixating on that, she launches into an account of everything that’s been overwhelming her. She explains that the next Appeasement is happening soon, and that she has been trying to conduct research into the history and literature of Miraya to see if she can find any clues as to how Yomue defeated the monster last time and why the monster came back, but she still hasn’t found anything useful. “I just want to find another way,” Sunae says. “I don’t want my friend to do anything rash. I don’t want to lose her.” Talia presses her shoulder gently against Sunae’s. “One of my ancestors was part of the first expedition to Miraya. We have an attic full of things left behind by various family members. We’ve never managed to go through all of it properly, but you’re welcome to come and have a look.” This is how Sunae finds herself cross-legged on the dusty floor of Talia’s ridiculously big attic, cross-eyed after three continuous days of rifling through boxes of miscellanea in dim light, unable to believe what she’s looking at. It’s a roughly colored sketch of Yomue the warrior, copied from the temple wall. Sword and monster and moon. And beneath that, a sketch of Yomue again—a woman dressed in the same armor, holding not a sword but a scroll open in her hands. Next to her is something a little like a mirror, or a full moon: a vast circle, shaded in silver. Within it coils a spiral shadow. Sunae isn’t sure how to interpret this, but she knows that this Yomue and the painted poet in the old Library are one and the same. She rummages through the rest of the box which contained the sketches, and her hand touches worn leather. She pulls it out of the box and it falls open on her lap, yellowed pages crammed with neat handwriting. It’s a diary.   “Why do all you rich Carruceans have stuff just lying around in your attic that I’ve only been searching for my entire life?” Sunae mutters under her breath to Talia, who is sitting next to her at this dinner. She clenches her fist around her fork. “Well, at least now you can read Yomue’s poetry!” Talia whispers back. Dr. Sotkin, a dear friend of Dr. Janner, carries on explaining to everyone how he recovered the lost manuscript of Yomue’s poems when he was cleaning out his grandfather’s house after his grandfather recently passed away. Sunae saws away at her chunk of boiled beef. “I’ll be publishing a translation later this year,” Dr. Sotkin announces. Sunae takes a sip of water and a deep breath. “What kind of poetry is it?” she asks, proud of how calm and polite she sounds. “Sadly, it only survives in fragments, but I’ve brought a copy of some of them to share with all of you as a preview.” Dr. Sotkin digs in his bag and retrieves a sheaf of papers. “I believe Dr. Janner told me you can all read Classical Mirayan?” “Some of us better than others,” Talia murmurs to Sunae, and Sunae hides a smile behind her napkin. Some of the boys in their class seem to be getting by with barely any knowledge of Mirayan. Sunae assumes it must be their wealth that passes their exams for them. She takes the sheet that Dr. Sotkin offers to her and scans it quickly. Her mind whirls dizzily and she pushes away her plate and reads the fragment again, more slowly this time. And again. She closes her eyes and envisions the inscrutable moon in the night sky to steady herself. Dr. Sotkin is saying something about a man that Yomue is drinking with. “She compares her love for this man to the Moon Lake—a blessing that glimmers on and on.” Sunae hands the sheet to Talia and holds onto the edge of the table. “Dr. Sotkin,” she says, and she isn’t able to sound calm anymore. Her voice quavers. “I don’t believe Yomue is talking about a man. I know it’s only a fragment, but it’s clear from the grammar that she’s writing about a woman.” Dr. Sotkin frowns. “Did you not hear when I said that this is a love poem?” “Yes, I know, and I believe that Yomue’s beloved is a woman.” “That’s preposterous. It’s simply impossible.” “You think it’s impossible that Yomue loved another woman?” “What you are speaking of is highly illegal and punishable by death, young lady,” Dr. Sotkin sniffs. In both Miraya and Carrucea, yes—Sunae is extremely aware. “Are we to believe that Yomue shared these poems with the public and was not executed for her sins?” “Well, she warded off the monster, so there were no Appeasements—” Dr. Sotkin tugs haughtily at his cravat. “You do realize that it is possible to execute people without feeding them to a monster as you barbarians love to do?” “Love?” Sunae’s voice is shrill to her own ears; drums thunder in her ribcage. “You think we love having to feed people to a monster every ten years to keep it from destroying our whole island?” Dr. Sotkin’s face is pink as the sand on Miraya’s beaches. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” “Yes,” Dr. Janner joins in. “Sunae, your behavior of late has been extremely rude and disruptive and I’m afraid we cannot tolerate this. Dr. Sotkin is the foremost expert on Classical Mirayan and he will not be insulted by your bumbling reading of this poem.” “But she’s right!” Talia protests, jabbing at the sheet of paper. “Dr. Janner, Sunae’s right. Look at this line here.” “It’s all right,” Sunae says, putting her hand on Talia’s arm. “I’m leaving.”   Sunae’s head is still spinning from the fragment of Yomue’s poetry. It was so much like the poems that she has been writing about Oaru, folded into envelopes and sent across the ocean to her lover. One was about the glow of sweat and moon-water on Oaru’s skin, the night they drifted together in the Moon Lake, the last night they spent together. And now, this letter from her mother. She sinks to the floor of the post room and clutches her knees. She is going to be sick. The door creaks open. She looks up and Talia is there. “I’m so sorry,” Talia says. “You were such a fearsome warrior back there, speaking up to Sotkin like that. He’s utterly dreadful. Janner, too. I want to lock them both up in my attic and never let them out. Janner revoked your scholarship but he hasn’t even tried to suspend me.” Sunae stares at Talia and cannot speak. Talia doesn’t know about the letter yet. She thinks Sunae is just upset about what happened at the dinner, but the world is crumbling at Sunae’s feet and Talia has no idea. A smile stretches across Talia’s face. “Can you believe your legendary Yomue’s one of us?” Sunae’s shoulders loosen a little. “One of us?” “One of us,” Talia repeats and holds her hand out to Sunae, and Sunae understands. Instead of taking Talia’s hand, she lifts up the letter and gives it to Talia. Talia reads it and is speechless, too. She sits down next to Sunae and together they watch the flickering light bulb. It is no moon, but it soothes, somehow. Eventually, Talia asks, “When is the next Appeasement? Will you make it back in time?” “If I leave at dawn, I might,” Sunae says, hoarsely. “You’ll be arrested too if you go back, won’t you?” Sunae nods. “But you’re definitely going.” Sunae nods again. “Good luck,” Talia whispers. “If you don’t die, write me a poem. You have my address.” She kisses Sunae’s forehead.   Sunae crosses the ocean home. She prays to the Goddess. She prays to Yomue. She writes.   Which is what brings us here, to Sunae’s nineteenth birthday, and Sunae and Oaru on the beach where they first met ten years ago. “I love you,” Sunae says to Oaru. There is white sea-spray in Oaru’s windblown hair, and if Sunae’s plan doesn’t succeed, she wants this to be the last thing she ever sees. She closes her eyes. The waves lap the shore. Her lungs are full of salt air. The moon caresses her face with its white light. She opens her mouth. The truth comes out. Sunae wrote that silly poem when she was twelve, where I saved my husband from the monster. I laughed when I heard her read it to her classmates. Now she is a much better poet, and she has learnt so much—from sketches and diaries and mistranslated fragments—and this is what she tells the Mirayans. Four hundred years ago, Yomue loved another woman, and they had flowers and wine and stars; they chased phoenix foxes together in the valleys. They ate tortoise fruit and kissed each other’s mouths purple. They wrapped themselves in moonlight. Yomue was skilled with the sword, but even more skilled with words, and she was the Goddess’ favorite. She could not stand by and watch a monster kill more people in her town. She wove a spell out of poetry and enchanted the monster, led it to the Moon Lake where it slumbered for as long as she lived, and longer, because she taught others the poem. But the Carruceans came; they brought their laws with them, and they knew how powerful fear was. How to control a people with it. Fire bloomed in the Library; in the temple, fresh paint dried on the wall. Yomue the poet was erased from history. The monster was awoken, and anyone who caused trouble could be thrown into its devouring jaws. “Now you tell me I cannot love Oaru.   We chase a phoenix fox that Yomue tamed once, Reborn from the ashes of the Library. It hides poems in its fur. Tell the phoenix fox I cannot love Oaru.   We eat tortoise fruit grown from centuries-old trees, Roots as deep as our island. It hides poems in its rind. Tell the tortoise fruit I cannot love Oaru.   We bathe in the Moon Lake Yomue drank from, Water sacred to the Goddess. It hides poems in its bed. Tell the Moon Lake I cannot love Oaru.   Tell the Goddess I cannot love Oaru. Tell Yomue. Tell her and the woman she loved. Go back in time and bind her to this pillar and Tell her she was wrong.”   The monster rises out of the sea, torrents of water cascading from its back. Oaru was arrested because of Sunae’s poetry. Because Oaru’s father found the incriminating poems, because Sunae had sent so many and they overflowed, spilled, flooded Oaru’s room. Poems alight with the memories of all that Oaru and Sunae did together, all the times they were wide-eyed travelers in the landscape of each other’s bodies, all the smoldering hearths they built in the secret corners of each other’s hearts. The monster bellows and the earth quakes and Sunae is not afraid. She knows she is not the first who has been here. She is not the first who has done this.   “Let her tell you she is me. Let her open her mouth and Sing the monster to sleep Again.”   Sunae’s pores still have the magic blessing of moon-water in them, and I am with her. Through her, I sing. I was here, like her. I loved, like her. I fought the monster and won, and she will, too.   If you visit the Temple of Moon Goddess today, you will see this scene painted alongside my mural in the prayer hall: The monster walks spellbound across the island, and the Mirayans walk with it, every one of their faces slack with awe. Sunae leads them, freed from her shackles. She holds Oaru’s hand.   END   “The Lamentations of Old Money" is copyright Chanter 2019. “Tell the Phoenix Fox, Tell the Tortoise Fruit” is copyright Cynthia So 2019. This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library. You can support GlitterShip by checking out our Patreon at patreon.com/keffy, subscribing to our feed, or by leaving reviews on iTunes. You can also pick up a free audio book by going to www.audibletrial.com/glittership or buying your own copy of the Summer 2018 issue at www.glittership.com/buy Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back soon with a reprint of “Instar" by Carrow Narby.

Darien and Jeff discuss with Shannon Fields the actress who played Brooke Taylor in the movie Facing the Giants the cultural impact of the film. #FacingtheGiants #ShannonFields #ChristianMovies #SouthernGospelNewsPodcast #SingingNews #SolidGospel #SherwoodPictures #ButGod #MarkRicht #SherwoodBaptisitChurch #AlexKendrick #ProvidentFilms #StevenKendrick 

In this episode I discuss a conversation between me and my sisters on Easter. Being exposed to sexual abuse is not something you tell everybody about, but while discussing the story of our lives the topic came up. I am not what the world says I should have been and I can only thank God for that.

How do you respond to trouble? When it surfaces in your life, what’s your perspective? We all have trouble. We’re either going into trouble, we’re in the midst of it, or we’re coming out of it. It’s the place where your heart aches with hurt or loss. It’s the time when you long for something and you pray for it with persistence, butGod doesn’t answer. Sometimes trouble gets triggered by an event, like a broken relationship, a mistake that you The post Trouble appeared first on Blue Oaks Church.

How do you respond to trouble? When it surfaces in your life, what's your perspective? We all have trouble. We're either going into trouble, we're in the midst of it, or we're coming out of it. It's the place where your heart aches with hurt or loss. It's the time when you long for something and you pray for it with persistence, butGod doesn't answer. Sometimes trouble gets triggered by an event, like a broken relationship, a mistake that you The post Trouble appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

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