Podcasts about caesar

In this week's episode, Donald Trump asks for a little of that rendering unto Caesar he's heard so much about, Girl Scouts of America gets some blowback about their islamic "badges for hajjes" program, and we'll read about JD Vance's fucking Mamaw for you.---To make a per episode donation at Patreon.com, click here: http://www.patreon.com/ScathingAtheistTo buy our book, click here: https://www.amazon.com/Outbreak-Crisis-Religion-Ruined-Pandemic/dp/B08L2HSVS8/If you see a news story you think we might be interested in, you can send it here: scathingnews@gmail.comTo check out our sister show, The Skepticrat, click here: https://audioboom.com/channel/the-skepticratTo check out our sister show's hot friend, God Awful Movies, click here: https://audioboom.com/channel/god-awful-moviesTo check out our half-sister show, Citation Needed, click here: http://citationpod.com/To check out our sister show's sister show, D and D minus, click here: https://danddminus.libsyn.com/Report instances of harassment or abuse connected to this show to the Creator Accountability Network here: https://creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org/---Headlines:New Orleans Catholic abuse settlement is a farce: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/28/new-orleans-catholic-church-sex-abuse-settlementTrump Implies Bible Endorses Donating to Him As an Act of Faith:https://meidasnews.com/news/trump-implies-bible-endorses-donating-to-him-as-an-act-of-faithNew Jersey didn't ban prayer outside abortion clinics, but Christians are lying about it anyway: https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/new-jersey-didnt-ban-prayer-outsideRight-wing influencers invented a Girl Scouts “Islamization” scandal: https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/right-wing-influencers-invented-a---This Week in Misogyny:Ex-Deputy convicted of SA is now a cop chaplain: https://apnews.com/article/convicted-san-diego-exdeputy-police-chaplain-54eab67555be35d0f67532fe24f48e02

We've got the full crew here featuring our special guest host Annabelle from the Variant Vendetta Podcast. Bege's plan is coming to a head with the help of Brook. Big Mom's screams incapacitate the entire room with the exception of the Straw Hats and Fire Tank Pirates. We finally get a chance to learn about Mamma's dark past and upbringing under the WONDERFUL Mother Carmel. Back in the present day, Caesar's rockets fail (of course), but even worse news is that Mamma's screams shatter their escape mirror.Next Week: Episodes 839-843https://linktr.ee/goingmerrypodBreak This Week for the Variant Vendetta Podcast!https://linktr.ee/VariantVendetta

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You don't need a bad man to destroy a republic. You need a competent one with a practical problem and a solution that works a little too well.Gaius Marius should never have mattered. He was a nobody from a hill town southeast of Rome. He clawed his way into the Senate through military competence because his family had no name and no network. And then he faced a genuine crisis — Rome literally could not fill its legions. He fixed it. He removed the property qualification that had kept the landless poor out of military service, saved Rome from Jugurtha in North Africa, and then saved Rome again from the Germanic tribes that nearly annihilated it in 105 BC.He did what nobody else could do. And the same reform that saved Rome killed the Republic 60 years later.This is the mechanism. Not the myth. The specific chain of cause and effect that turned a manpower reform into personal military armies loyal to individual generals rather than to the state — the mechanism Sulla would use in 88 BC to march on Rome, and Caesar would use in 49 BC to finish the Republic.This is Episode 119 of The Fall of the Republic series on The Roman Pattern.Chapters:00:00 How republics actually die01:36 Where we are in the series02:28 Marius: the new man from Arpinum04:34 Rome's manpower crisis — the property qualification problem06:35 The Jugurtha War — "a city for sale"08:07 107 BC — Marius opens the ranks11:05 Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae — Rome saved from annihilation15:07 The mechanism — how soldier loyalty shifted from Rome to the general17:46 Saturninus and the first veteran land grants (103, 100 BC)18:33 Breaking the Lex Genucia — five consecutive consulships21:11 Sulla learns the trick22:17 88 BC — Sulla marches on Rome24:18 Marius flees — two ruins looking at each other25:06 Return, purges, and 17 days26:29 Money, Borders, Power — the three fault lines28:17 The pattern — load-bearing constraints30:36 Next week: SullaSources referenced in this episode:— Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum— Plutarch, Life of Marius— Appian, The Civil Wars, Book 1— Livy, Periochae 65-80— Orosius, Histories Against the Pagans— Mary Beard, SPQR— Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (1939)— H.H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to NeroThe Fall of the Republic series continues Monday with Sulla — the first man in Roman history to march his legions on Rome itself.Subscribe for The Roman Pattern every Monday.#Rome #MarianReforms #RomanRepublic

Episode 230:Shakespeare probably did not realise it, but his next offering would be his last tragedy and his last Roman play, but for this one he reached back into a much earlier Rome than the world of Caesar, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra that he had previously mined. ‘Coriolanus', the choice of the story of the legendary Caius Martius, a 5th century BC Roman general who was both fated and vilified during his political career and who was also known for his antipathy towards a hungry Roman population, might have been inspired by recent events in England. We can't be certain of that, but whatever the case there it is quite clearly one of Shakespeare's most political tragedies which has become a play that perhaps more than any other in the cannon has been used to make political points, particularly when we consider productions in the last century.The dating of the playThe play at the Blackfriars Theatre and in the First FolioThe sources for the playA summary of the plotCoriolanus as a political play, but not representative of his own viewsThe question of how power should be granted The character of CoriolanusThe use of language as an expression of characterThe character and speech of MeneniusThe character and speech of VoluminaThe pivotal moment of silence in the playThe performance history of the playA final word on the play from Willian HazlittSupport the podcast at:www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.comwww.patreon.com/thoetpwww.ko-fi.com/thoetpYou can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that's for just £1 per month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Monday, 31 August 2026   When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way. Matthew 22:22   “And having heard, they wondered, and having left Him, they departed.” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus told those He was talking to that, based on the image and inscription of their own coin, they needed to render unto Caesar what was to Caesar, and to God what was to God. With that stated, it next says, “And having heard, they wondered.”   Once the thought-process of such a statement is known, people can easily slip into the thinking that Jesus' words would have been easily presented and that anyone could come to the same conclusion. “Surely I would have figured that out!” But this is not true.   The dismissal of what Jesus said in this manner will usually come from those who already have a bias against the Christian message. In other words, a rabbi may be shown this account, and his answer might be, “Sure, sure. We already know this. We've been living it out for two thousand years. There is nothing new in this.”   But such words dismiss the clear and confident intent of the plan brought forth by the Pharisees and the Herodians. They were positive Jesus would trip up over their question. It takes a very well contemplated response, something not usually forthcoming when asked on the spot about such a matter, to be able to think this through quickly and clearly.   Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and we as humans are quick to think that we would have been just as quick at giving such a response. As for those who proposed the question to Jesus, they knew the truth of the matter.   The Pharisees could not hint at Jesus' words being inappropriate within a religious context. The Herodians were completely shut down in their attempt to accuse Jesus of sedition. Therefore, Matthew records, “and having left Him, they departed.”   What else could they do? They were embarrassed into silence. If any of their own disciples were present, they had embarrassed themselves in front of them. With tails between legs, they turned and scampered.   Life application: Throughout the years, there have been great thinkers who can easily think through difficult issues on the spot. If a technical challenge is needed to overcome a situation, someone may be right on the spot to suggest something that will save the day.   In a military setting, there may be a seemingly impossible situation. And yet, the skill of a single man in understanding the layout of the land may change the course of the battle. Sgt Alvin York was able to do this in WWI.   When facing the onslaught of moral depravity within a society, there may be a handful of voices from people who can quickly and reasonably speak against the tide of perverse thinking of people who come forward with arguments as to why what they are doing is acceptable.   In America today, there are a few such voices, mostly Christians or Jews, who will engage the masses in open discussions about moral issues. In such cases, their logic is irrefutable, and it quickly destroys the arguments of those with opposing views.   Unfortunately, such moral thinkers are often targeted by those who disagree with them. Their websites are attacked, their video platforms are demonetized or scrubbed entirely, their lives are threatened, and the forums where they debate are often shouted down or shut down entirely, even before they get a chance to speak.   In the case of clear biblical thinking, there are those who know what the Bible says, in its proper context, and without irrational thinking being included in their presentations. When this is the case, those who base their theology and doctrine on emotions, presuppositions, or biases (such as what is the state of Israel, whether a single version of the Bible is the only true word, or the timing of when the rapture will occur), will openly attack those holding to the proper view, calling them false teachers or heretics.   Jesus was eventually crucified for His proper stance on what was occurring in His society and in regard to the Law of Moses. Over the years, this has been the case with many of His true followers. Hence, the term martyr is well known to those who remember Christian history.   As believers in Jesus Christ, we should hold fast to the word of God, be firm in our moral convictions, and be ready to defend what we believe. We may not be as quick or clear-thinking as some people, but that is why they are in the public spotlight, and we are not. If their words are in accord with what is biblically sound, we should applaud them.   Matters such as creation versus evolution, support for Israel or standing against it, homosexuality within the church, and so forth, are all things we should have a firm stand on, even if we are not quick enough to publicly enter into a debate about them.   Lord God, thank You for those who rightly interpret and divide Your word, including those who can do so in open forums where others are watching. Help us to consider such arguments and mold our thinking to what is pure, right, moral, and just. To Your glory, we pray. Amen.  

* You can get the sermon note sheet at: https://family-bible-church.org/2026Messages/26Aug30.pdf * Last week we considered Paul's prayerful desires for the church of Philippi. He sought to bless them with the grace and peace of God, he revealed his thankfulness to God for them, and shared that he asked God for their love to be ever-increasing and to be discerning. * As Paul was incredibly thankful for the Fellowship of the Gospel that he had with the Philippian church, so we will see today that he was excited about the Furtherance of the Gospel that had been wrought through his false trial and imprisonment. In Acts 21-28 we read of Paul's arrest in the Temple, subsequent trials in Caesarea, appeal unto Caesar, journey with shipwreck, and arrival in Rome. There in Rome, Paul was placed under house arrest. Acts 28:30-31 states, "Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him." * Today, we consider Paul's testimony regarding how God had been using this "trial." Paul had been able to look beyond his own circumstances to see how God could use this situation to grow His Kingdom. * This message was presented by Bob Corbin on August 30, 2026 at Family Bible Church in Martinez, Georgia.

Sunday, 30 August 2026   They said to Him, “Caesar's.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” Matthew 22:21   “They say to Him, ‘Caesar's.' Then He says to them, ‘You render, therefore, those Caesar's to Caesar, and those the ‘God's' to God.'” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus asked the Pharisees and Herodians whose image and inscription were on the coin. In response to that, “They say to Him, ‘Caesar's.'”   Rather than holding up the coin and saying, “Look, this is Caesar's image and inscription,” Jesus had them respond to His question. By doing so, they have, with their own mouths, affirmed that the coin they used belonged not to the Jewish nation, but to their overlords, the Romans.   Therefore, their thought of trapping Jesus in His words will fail. Their question to Him in Verse 17 was not an either/or response after all. Instead, the correct response, when thought through, is seen in the continued exchange, “Then He says to them, ‘You render, therefore, those Caesar's to Caesar.'”   The nation was subject to Rome. They used its currency, they lived by whatever laws were imposed on them, and they could be elevated in the Roman society or cast into Roman prisons. The coin in Jesus' hand confirmed this. To say otherwise would be an act of rebellion against those who ruled over them. Along with that thought, Jesus says, “and those the ‘God's' to God.”   To the Jews, whether they believed in God or not, they knew that the culture of the nation was established on the premise that there is a God and that He had given His law through Moses to the nation. Nobody would deny that. Anyone who spoke against it could be punished up to death, even if the death penalty had been reserved for Rome to mete out.   As this is so, their laws mandated many things that the people were expected to do. This included the sacrificial system, the tithes and offerings, observing particular days like the Sabbath and the Day of Atonement, etc. Even the garments they wore had aspects mandated in the Law of Moses.   The crops they could grow in a field and the types of food they could eat were also governed by the law. Obedience to the law was considered rendering to God because their law came from Him. These points were undeniable, and these leaders' attempts to trap Jesus in His words had failed, epically.   Life application: If these men had taken .00156 seconds to think through what their own Scriptures said, they would have seen the error in their thinking concerning an either/or answer to the question they asked of Jesus. In Jeremiah 29, it says –   “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:4-9   The fate of the people, be it living in freedom, in captivity, or under the rule of their enemies in their own land, was solely at the will of the Lord. This is recorded throughout Judges and onward. The word of the Lord through Jeremiah explicitly notes this.   It is the Lord who sent them into exile. He did it by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and their exile was to Babylon. This wasn't an aberration. Rather, it was prophesied in advance, and even the number of years the exile would continue was told to them by Jeremiah in his words to them.   During the time of that exile, at the Lord's direction, they were expected to render unto Babylon the things that belonged to Babylon. Babylon was God's chosen instrument to chastise Israel for its aberrant ways. If they rebelled against the authority placed over them, there would be consequences.   The Lord instructed them to live in peace in their new land. To disobey that would be to incur the Lord's wrath. Likewise, they would incur the wrath of those who held them captive. That truth has not changed to this day. Whether they accept their state in the world or not, and whether they believe in the Lord or not, they are to render unto whatever nation they live in what belongs to that nation, and they are to render unto God what belongs to Him.   The same is true for believers. Paul says in Romans 13 –   “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” Romans 13:1, 2   Stand on the word when such things arise. God has ordained your time, place, and station in life. Live within the framework of those things in a manner that will honor Him.   Lord God, in so many ways, You have taken the pressure off us. When Your word tells us to do something, all we need to do is be obedient to what You have said. Help us to remember this, complying with such things according to Your will for each of us. Amen.

Biblically, a tithe means “ a tenth,” but it was never merely mathematical but was intended as relational. In Leviticus, the tithe belongs to the Lord; it is holy because it represents trust. In Matthew Jesus speaks in to this reality when He is confronted about paying taxes to Ceasar. Jesus says, “Give to Ceasar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's”. On the coin was the image of Ceasar, give that to him, but the human bears the image of God. God doesn't just want our money, He wants our hearts, and so the giving of our money represents a trust in the one who holds our hearts.  

Biblically, a tithe means “ a tenth,” but it was never merely mathematical but was intended as relational. In Leviticus, the tithe belongs to the Lord; it is holy because it represents trust. In Matthew Jesus speaks in to this reality when He is confronted about paying taxes to Ceasar. Jesus says, “Give to Ceasar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's”. On the coin had the image of Ceasar, give that to him, but the human bears the image of God. God doesn't just want our money, He wants our hearts, and so the giving of our money represents a trust in the one who holds our hearts.  

Saturday, 29 August 2026   And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” Matthew 22:20   “And He says to them, ‘Whose, the ‘likeness, this'? And whose inscription?'” (CG)   In the previous verse, Jesus asked for the coin of the census. Complying with His request, they offered Him a denarius. With that now in His hand, Matthew next records, “And He says to them, ‘Whose, the ‘likeness, this'?'”   This is a new word, eikon, which signifies a likeness. HELPS Word Studies says “properly, ‘mirror-like representation,' referring to what is very close in resemblance (like a ‘high-definition' projection, as defined by the context).”   In 2 Corinthians 4:4, it is used of Christ, “who is the image of God.” That thought is expressed again in Colossians 3:14. In this word, one can see the etymological ancestor of our modern word icon. That passed into English through the Late Latin icon during the 1500s. Jesus' question specifically asks of a person who is stamped onto the coin. From there, He adds, “And whose inscription?”   Another new word is seen, epigraphé, an inscription. The word is derived from epi, upon, and graphó, to grave, particularly to write. Thus, a literal translation would be to upon-write. However, this is what an inscription is: something written upon an object, paper, etc. This word is found only in the synoptic gospels.   Some older translations say “superscription,” but that is technically off. A superscription is written on the top, outside, or above something else, while an inscription is carved, engraved, or written directly onto a surface or into the main body of an object. One can see the etymological granddaddy of our modern word, epigraph.   Of this coin, Vincent's Word Studies says –   “Images on coins were not approved by the Jews. Out of respect to this prejudice none of the earlier Herods had his own image impressed on them. Herod Agrippa I., who murdered James and imprisoned Peter, introduced the practice. The coin shown to Christ must either have been struck in Rome, or else was one of the Tetrarch Philip, who was the first to introduce the image of Caesar on strictly Jewish coins.”   Life application: This is undoubtedly a Roman coin. Jewish coins were not minted with human figures due to prohibitions found in the Law of Moses. In Deuteronomy 5:8, it says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”   The reason for this goes back to Deuteronomy 4:12, “And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.”   Israel was to learn to reverence the unseen Lord, never attempting to replicate what they thought He might look like, something that would otherwise lead them directly into idolatry. That, however, didn't work. Their history, from their very inception at Sinai, was filled with making images and bowing down to them.   This is because we as humans desire something tangible and visible to help us process our thoughts or direct our attention to. God knows this, but the lesson had to be lived out. In the coming of Christ Jesus, God has revealed Himself in a way that removes this lack.   We now have the image of God in the Person of Jesus. Although the Jews call this blasphemy and many Christians condemn portraying Jesus in photos, as if that is idolatry, it is exactly what God has allowed.   The same people who get bent out of shape over a painting of Jesus' face will never have a problem with a painting of Jesus riding on a donkey, as if the scenery changes the intent.   Jesus is represented in plays and movies as an evangelism tool. This is applauded by the same people, but for some reason, having a portrait of Jesus sends them into a conniption. This is illogical. God has given His Son to the world as a means of understanding Him. The humanity of Jesus allows us to understand God in a way we can appreciate.   Hold fast to the notion that what God has done is good. It is what keeps us from the sin of idolatry when we follow the admonition of Scripture, “...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).   Lord God, thank You for Jesus. In Him, we can contemplate Your goodness in a way that would never have been otherwise possible. We praise You for Your glory, displayed in His Person. How great You are, O God. Amen.  

This is the first live Q&A for the new class, and Joerg Rieger came ready. Christ and Empire came out during my last year of div school, and that's why I was so excited to try to study with him, until Joerg promptly went on sabbatical. So this whole class is, in a sense, twenty years of making that up. The argument is not that empire won. It's that across two thousand years, empire could never take over. There was always resistance, always alternatives, always a surplus that couldn't be contained. This hour ran through what "empire" lets us see that "Christian nationalism" alone misses, why the German translation of one word cracked open the whole project, why Paul is neither conservative nor liberal, what happens to the middle when the right keeps moving right, and what a confessing moment would actually look like here and now. Next week we go to Nicaea. Those of you who are creedally allergic have been warned — and Joerg says there's a surplus in Constantine's creed next week too. The Christ Empire Couldn't Keep is running now. Sign up at homebrewedclasses.com — you don't have to donate anything. You'll get access to all the lectures, you can send in questions by replying to any class email (that's where every question in this Q&A came from), and you'll be connected to the online community working through the material together.  You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Dr. Joerg Rieger is the Distinguished Professor of Theology and the Cal Turner Chancellor's Chair of Wesleyan Studies at Vanderbilt University and founding director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice. For three decades, he has worked to bring together theology and the struggles for justice and liberation that mark our age. His work addresses relations of theology and public life, reflecting on the misuse of power in religion, politics, and economics. His interest is in movements that bring about change and in the positive contributions of religion and theology. His constructive work in theology draws on a wide range of historical and contemporary traditions, with a concern for manifestations of the divine in the pressures of everyday life. Several of his 24 authored and edited books address the topics of this course, including No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics, and the Future; Unified We Are a Force: How Faith and Labor Can Overcome America's Inequalities (with Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger); and Faith, Class, and Labor: Intersectional Approaches in a Global Context (with Jin Young Choi). www.joergrieger.com Previous Episodes w/ Joerg Why Religion Matters Now Theology in the Capitalocene Divine Justice & our Ultimate Concern  the End of Religion & Business as Usual Joerg Rieger: Jesus vs Caesar  Different Gods, Different Religions? Wild Goose Theology Happy Hour with Joerg Rieger and Emilie Townes The Economy, Election, Ayn Rand-Ryan-Romney, Occupy, & More Occupy the Church! Rita Nakashima Brock, Joerg Rieger, & Christophe Ringer Economics, Theology, and Discipleship ⁠⁠⁠JOIN OUR OPEN ONLINE CLASS: The Empire Christ Couldn't Keep⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ever notice how Christian nationalism gets talked about like it's some bizarre new glitch in the faith? It isn't — it's a 2,000-year-old arrangement wearing new clothes, and once you see how the pattern works, you can also spot the Christ who keeps slipping free of it. Join theologian Joerg Rieger and Tripp Fuller for The Christ Empire Couldn't Keep, a free six-week online class tracing the holy alliances, imperial creeds, and stubborn resistance that have shaped Christianity from Paul to the present. You'll get six lectures from Joerg, six live Q&As, weekly readings from his book Christ and Empire, and a community of fellow troublemakers thinking it through together. It's free to join, every session is recorded, and it kicks off Thursday, August 27. Grab your spot at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HomebrewedClasses.com.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. 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Thursday, 27 August 2026   But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?” Matthew 22:18    “Having known, also, the ‘Jesus', the ‘depravity, theirs', He said, ‘Why, Me, you test, hypocrites?'” (CG)   In the previous verse, Jesus was questioned whether it was right to give a census to Caesar, or not. In response, it says, “Having known, also, the ‘Jesus', the ‘depravity, theirs'.”   A new word is seen here, ponéria, depravity. It is derived from ponos, toil, and by implication anguish or pain. HELPS Word Studies defines it as pain-ridden evil. These men were working out evil like a criminal would. Spending their effort on what would benefit them at the expense of others.   In Mark, it says that Jesus knew their hypocrisy. Luke uses a word signifying craftiness. Jesus was able to know, without a moment's hesitation, that they were trying to trap Him. As such, “He said, ‘Why, Me, you test, hypocrites?'”   They were presenting one face while getting ready to put on another, as the term hypocrite implies. As soon as they heard Him give an incorrect answer, which they thought would come from any answer He gave, they would pounce on Him like rabid animals.   But that seems less likely now that He has demonstrated that He is aware of their wicked intentions.   Life application: How often does it happen that you have something occur in your life and you're not sure what to do about it, but then a few days later, the pastor preaches on exactly what you needed to know? Or maybe, you read the Bible a couple days later, and there is the answer that you could have used to resolve your difficulty.   Likewise, how often does something happen which would otherwise be difficult for you to handle, but just the day before, or maybe that very morning, you had read something in the Bible that mirrors the situation in which you find yourself?   When this happens, what does that tell you? In the first instance, you might say to yourself, “I need to read the Bible more often. If I had just spent my time there, this wouldn't have been a problem.” In the second instance, you might say, “I sure am glad I spend each day reading the Bible. If I had skipped this morning's reading, I may not have had a clue about what to do!”   The Bible is a book of many types of instruction, one of which is life in general. As you go through your life, you are bound to have instances like these come up because God created mankind. His word is a blueprint for the proper operation of human beings.   Marriage, work ethic, saving money, raising children, etc., are a part of what we engage in during our lives. The Bible gives sound advice, whether implicit or explicit, on such matters. Therefore, it is natural that we will find the answer to difficulties in such matters there.   Jesus' example provides us with the knowledge that we should consider what people are up to when they ask various questions. Some people may seem like they are asking about one thing, when their ulterior motives are kept hidden away for a later time. The people Jesus interacted with are real people, not characters in a book.   As such, when we see how they interact with Jesus, we can learn from that. Consider this as you read the Bible. We can learn so much as we consider the words before us, one aspect of which is human behavior. Great stuff from the Creator to those willing to engage with His word, our blueprint for a properly run life.   Lord God, it is always a joy to read Your word and then find that what we read fits into the next things we are doing in our daily lives. It is like a wink from You that You have ordained our days and are directing us according to Your wisdom. Thank You for Your wonderful word. Amen.

Wednesday, 26 August 2026   Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Matthew 22:17   “You tell, therefore, us what You, it seems? It permits to give census to Caesar or not?” (CG)   In the previous verse, it was noted that the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians went to Jesus, buttering Him up with platitudes. Now that they feel He is primed for a fall into the trap they have set, they say, “You tell, therefore, us what to You, it seems.”   Here it goes. In the previous verse, they said to Jesus, “Teacher, we have known that true, You are, and the ‘way, the God' in truth You teach, and not it concerns You about anyone. Not, also, You look to ‘appearance, men'.”   Now, instead of asking what Scripture (the ‘way, the God') says, they ask for an opinion that is surely intended to trap Him in a moral, religious, or cultural dilemma. One can see them salivating over the answer He will give, knowing that they have Him in a box. And so, with this in mind, they ask their question, “It permits to give census to Caesar or not?”   The kensos, census, was introduced in Matthew 17:25. It is a poll tax that was not paid in their Jewish currency but in Roman coin. This is a problem and a dilemma that the people faced. Should they obediently submit to those who ruled them, or should they rebel against their authority?   This is where they feel that they have trapped Him. If He says to not pay it, the Herodians are standing there, ready to report Him to the Roman authorities for being a rebel against their duly set authority.   On the other hand, if He says that they were to pay the poll tax, the Pharisees, as the religious authorities over the people, would be able to tell the masses that Jesus was a traitor to the nation, placing the authority of the Romans above supposed allegiance to God, who established them as a people.   The idea of “supposed” is not that the people could be disobedient to God, but that there may be a contingency not suggested in the presentation of their false dilemma that had nothing to do with disobedience to God.   Life application: As noted in a previous commentary, fallacies are mistakes in reasoning that render an argument weak, unsound, or invalid. The content of the fallacy is based on an already broken structure of argumentation.   The problem is that people quite often do not know what fallacies are or when they are presented. Instead, they hear what is being presented and, without thinking the matter through, assume that what is stated is valid.   And there are a seemingly endless number of fallacies to contend with. Some, like the false dilemma, are often so seemingly innocuous that they are hard to pin down, especially when one is under pressure to give a response.   A few common fallacies are: Ad Hominem – Attacking the person making an argument instead of the argument itself. Straw Man – Changing or exaggerating an opponent's argument to make it easier to knock down. False Dilemma – Pretending there are only two choices when there are more options. Appeal to Authority – Claiming something is true just because an expert or famous person says so, without real evidence. Bandwagon (Ad Populum) – Saying an idea is right because lots of people believe in it. Circular Reasoning – Repeating the claim inside the proof itself instead of giving a real reason. Slippery Slope – Claiming that a small first step will lead to a giant, bad disaster without proof. Hasty Generalization – Making a giant rule based on just a small example.   We hear these errors in thinking all the time, but don't consider them because we have not taken the time to understand what is being presented or who is presenting the information.   Take time to go to a website that specifically lists fallacies and look them over. Consider each one in your mind before moving on. This will help you immensely when you hear people refer to all types of matters.   One from a religious perspective was given by John Hagee when he was selling a book about Jesus. He said, “Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah.” Obviously, he had never read the Bible through because Jesus explicitly claimed to be the Messiah in John 4:26, John 17:3 (which uses the word “Christ”, and which means “Messiah”), etc.   Further, the terms Messiah and Christ, when referring to Jesus, are stated well over 250 times. But what John Hagee did was to build a Straw Man fallacy by redefining what “Messiah” means for his own purposes. He then essentially said, “See, Jesus never claimed this.”   But how many people went out and bought the book? And how many continued to sit under his teaching after such an enormous, purposeful attack against the position and authority of Jesus? The fact that they accepted his word reflects another fallacy mentioned above, the Appeal to Authority. “Oh, the preacher is a specialist on this or that. Therefore, what he says must be true.”   Be careful to know when you are being sold a bill of goods. Jesus was prepared, as we will see.   Lord God, keep us from false teachers who present misleading, bogus, and even heretical doctrines that will blind us to the truth of Your word. Give us wisdom to understand how what they present is false so that we will not be duped by their words. Yes, help us in this, O God. Amen.  

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 25th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the New Testament, Romans 13:1: ”Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.”Then we go back to Matthew 22:20-21: ”And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?'” They said to Him, “Caesar's.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” We have to obey the authorities. I can hear somebody right now getting very hassled, ”How can I obey a corrupt situation?” Well, when the Pharisees confronted Jesus about this very thing, the Romans were oppressing the Jews at that very time and yet Jesus said we must obey the law.I remember many years ago, I was down in the Eastern Cape. I had been invited to speak on a panel to farmers. There were a number of us. I don't like panels, by the way, because you get put on the spot in front of everybody, and often you don't even have time to think about it. There were five or six of us on this panel, and there was a group of farmers, and one farmer got up, he was quite upset. He said, ”How can I pay taxes to a corrupt governing authority?” And he aimed the question straight at me. For a moment, I didn't know what to say because it is a very difficult question, and God is speaking to somebody right now. You are trying to justify why you are not paying your income tax. My friend, don't do that because Jesus said, ”You must give to Caesar what is Caesar's.” Anyway, I said to that upset farmer who stood up in front of everybody, I said, ”Do you have a ten rand note in your pocket?” He said, ”Yes.” I said, ”Can you bring it to me, please?” And I took the ten rand note and I said, ”Whose name is on that note?” He said, ”It's the name of the government.” I said, ”Well, give to the government what is due to the government and give to God what is due to God.” And that was the end of the story.I want to say to you, there are a lot of things in this world that are not fair, but I want to tell you that if you start doing your own thing, there will be chaos when everybody does their own thing. We have to obey the authorities, and we have to pray that God will convict them if there is dishonesty and unfair governance.Let us concentrate today on what God has told us to do, and He will see to it that we, in the end, are justified.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.Goodbye.

You don't need a tyrant to kill a republic. You just need permission.133 BC. The Capitol. Broken benches, snapped legs, senators pouring out of a meeting to attack an election already underway. For more than three and a half centuries — since the tribune of the plebs was created around 494 BC — no sitting tribune had been touched by his own government, let alone killed. Tribunes were sacrosanct, physically untouchable under Roman law. If you laid a hand on one, any Roman citizen could legally kill you for it. That protection was written into the Constitution specifically to shield ordinary Romans from the Senate.On the day Tiberius Gracchus stood for reelection, that protection dissolved in about ten minutes. Scipio Nasica — Rome's Pontifex Maximus, its own chief priest — led a group of senators out of the meeting where they'd just failed to persuade the consul to act. They snapped the legs off their own benches. They walked to where the assembly was gathering. They beat Tiberius Gracchus and about 300 of his supporters to death, and threw his body into the Tiber like a criminal.The moment the first bench leg came down on his skull, the Roman Republic entered a phase it would never leave. Every Roman strongman who came after — Marius, Sulla, Caesar — could look back at this one afternoon and say the same thing: it's already been done.But here's what most treatments miss: Tiberius Gracchus was RIGHT about the problem. The land crisis was real. The recruiting collapse was real. The illegally-held ager publicus was real. What killed the Republic wasn't the reform itself. It was the specific way he pushed it through, and the specific way the Senate chose to answer.This is Episode 3 of the "Fall of the Roman Republic" series and the first specific case episode after Ep 113 (the system explained) and Ep 115 (the 100-year framework primer). Every subsequent episode traces one more layer breaking off the same structure that cracks right here in 133 BC.CHAPTERS:00:00 The Day the Roman Senate Killed One of Its Own04:25 The First Stone Falls Out of the Arch05:36 Who Tiberius Gracchus Actually Was (Cornelia's Son, Scipio's Grandson)07:00 The Empty Countryside That Radicalized Him09:22 The Land Reform That Wasn't Even Radical12:03 The Octavius Veto: The Senate Breaks the First Norm14:32 Deposing Octavius: Tiberius Answers by Breaking Another15:46 The Re-election Bid That Sealed His Fate16:33 Scipio Nasica Leads the Killing on the Capitol17:45 Why Every Roman Warlord After This Cites 133 BC19:05 Money, Borders, Power: The Framework Applied22:34 Next: Gaius Gracchus and the EscalationSources & further reading:Plutarch, Life of Tiberius Gracchus — the specific killing details (bench legs, 300 supporters, body in Tiber), Octavius as a large ager publicus holderAppian, The Civil Wars, Book 1 — the "first internal Roman quarrel settled by murder inside the city" framingMary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome — the argument that Tiberius's actual program was conservative, and the ferocity of reaction was what was radicalDavid Stockton, The Gracchi — the specialist monograph on the brothersErich Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman Republic — the definitive scholarly account of the Republic's declineAndrew Lintott, Violence in Republican Rome — for the specific pattern of political violence becoming normalTom Holland, Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic — accessible narrative of the fallLivy, Periochae — the surviving summary for this period

Paul did not call himself the prisoner of Rome, the prisoner of Caesar or the victim of an unjust legal system; he called himself “the prisoner of Jesus Christ” and an “ambassador in bonds.” Rome may have forged the chain, but God determined what the chain would accomplish. Paul's imprisonment carried the gospel into palaces, courtrooms, military barracks and prison cells that might otherwise have remained closed to him. He did not ask the Church merely to pray that his chains would fall off; he asked for utterance and boldness so that he could continue preaching while wearing them. That is the testimony believers desperately need in 2026—a faith that does not collapse when it becomes uncomfortable, unpopular or costly. We do not seek persecution, but neither do we soften the gospel, conceal our convictions or surrender our testimony merely to escape the consequences of standing for Jesus Christ.“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,” Ephesians 3:1 (KJB)Every born-again believer is an ambassador stationed inside a foreign and increasingly hostile world, and an ambassador has no authority to rewrite the message of his King. The pressure may presently come through ridicule, censorship, lost opportunities, broken relationships or accusations of hatred and extremism, but Paul's example teaches us that the commission remains in force even when the ambassador is bound. Governments can imprison the preacher, corporations can remove the platform, and men can confiscate the Bible, but “the word of God is not bound.” The defining question for the Church in these last days is not whether we can preserve our comfort, popularity and safety; it is whether we will remain faithful when those things are threatened. We do not seek the chains, but neither will we abandon the testimony to avoid them, the ambassador may be bound, but the word of God remains forever free. On this Sunday Service, come meet Paul the prisoner, the ambassador in bonds. 

If you've ever wondered what you'd do if following Jesus actually cost you something, the church in Smyrna forces the question into the open. We walk through Revelation 2:8–11, where Jesus speaks to believers living under pressure, poverty, and public hostility, and He doesn't offer denial or hype. He offers Himself: “the first and the last,” the One who died and came to life, the only King whose resurrection changes what suffering means. We also zoom in on the real-world backdrop of early Christian persecution through Pliny the Younger's correspondence with Emperor Trajan. When the state asks, “Are you a Christian?”, the choices are brutal and simple: deny Christ and go free, or confess Christ and face prison. That context makes Jesus' words land with weight: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer… be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Along the way, we talk about economic consequences of convictions, the trade guild pressure to treat Caesar as lord, and how Jesus can call a poor church “rich” in ways the world can't measure. Then we widen the lens to the body of Christ today. If believers in places like North Korea, Somalia, and Yemen suffer for the name of Jesus, we are not detached spectators. We're family, called to pray, to give, to hold the rope, and to stand firm where we are. We close with the story of Polycarp of Smyrna, a living example of what it looks like to take Jesus at His word when the fire is real. If this strengthened you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find hope that doesn't break under pressure.

A Corporate Time with Tom and Dan — Episode Notes Episode: "Best Of the Week — August 17–21" Hosts: Tom and Dan | Guest: Ross McCoy, John Graham, Billy (Claremont Knights), Marlon Wayans (via Zoom) Sponsors / Ad Reads Central Homes Roofing — Family-owned Orlando roofer of 30+ years, voted #1 roofer three years running by Orlando Weekly. Free inspections/estimates, hurricane warranties, in-house (non-1099) crews, will handle small repairs other roofers skip, 4.8-star Google rating, same-day estimates, and $500 off a re-roof for Tom and Dan listeners (centralhomesroofing.com). Core Flooring — Sponsor of the Weird Job Wednesday segment; contact Corey at Core Flooring in Winter Park for flooring work. Segment Rundown Cold open: Snack Scout naming bit — Tom and Dan welcome in-studio comedian Ross McCoy and John Graham (thatguyontv.com) for the monthly food segment, riffing on rebranding John's recurring "garbage food" bit (Snack Scout, Commissioner of Junk Food, Garbage Man) before diving into product tastings. 7 Up's secret reformulation — John reveals 7 Up is quietly changing its formula (not just adding a flavor) and flipping "lemon lime" to "lime lemon" on cans, sparking nostalgia about the "7 Up Yours" campaign, the Spot mascot's Sega Genesis game, and childhood freebies like McDonald's records and Domino's Noid toys. Protein Pop-Tarts and cup noodle taste test — Dan trashes protein Pop-Tarts his wife bought; the group samples Texas Barbecue and Kansas City Barbecue cup noodles, arguing Texas vs. Carolina-style barbecue, sodium/fat content, and confusing FDA daily-value percentage labeling. Pork brains and gas station oddities — Tangent on canned pork brains in milk gravy sold at Kentucky/Indiana convenience stores, its sky-high cholesterol content, and old 7-Eleven chili-cheese cup-noodle toppings. Tombstone gluten-free potato-crust pizza — The crew tries a Tombstone loaded bacon cheddar pizza with a potato-starch gluten-free crust, spinning into a debate about how many people falsely claim gluten intolerance versus real conditions like Crohn's, plus stories of self-diagnosed sensitivities that turned out to be lifestyle-related (alcohol, shellfish). Papa John's "garlic flavored sauce" gotcha — Ross spots the fine print on a grocery-store Papa John's garlic dipping sauce revealing it's "garlic flavored," not real garlic, printed nearly invisibly on the label; leads into margarine vs. butter and the "ultra-processed food" trend, including Dan's story of overdoing it on Slim Jims as a kid. Coors Light Cheez-Its taste test — A Target-exclusive Coors Light beer-cheese Cheez-It is sampled; talk turns to favorite Cheez-It varieties (white cheddar, with burned/"extra toasty" as the house favorite) versus Goldfish, and kids outgrowing "baby food" snacks like Goldfish and Uncrustables. Homemade Caesar salad lunches — Ross describes his daughter's daily self-made Cardini's Caesar salad lunch ritual and her brand loyalty, which detours into a chat about Worcestershire sauce containing anchovies. Chips Ahoy mystery-flavor contest — The group tastes a soft-baked "mystery flavor" Chips Ahoy tied to a $25,000 guessing contest, guessing vanilla/maple/birthday cake, and debates soft-baked vs. crispy cookies and whether the campaign will flop. Peach Moon Pies and "location foods" — Peach mini Moon Pies are taste-tested, leading to a debate about foods that only belong in specific settings (s'mores only while camping, hot dogs only at cookouts, peanuts/sunflower seeds only at ballgames or while driving). Ultra-processed rebranding and vegan pranks — Talk of brands (Kellogg's dropping dyes, Utz's "three ingredients" marketing) trying to seem less processed, plus a story about a vegan family member's protein powder that turns out to just be ground peanuts. Tootsie Pop flavor-swap taste test — The crew tries new fruit-filled Tootsie Pops (blue raspberry/cherry, strawberry/lemon, green apple/watermelon), jokes about why they weren't renamed "Gordon Pops" after the family that owns them (versus the Reese family drama), and a tangent on the trucking-industry origin of the word "Gaylord" for pallet boxes. Hard candy nostalgia — Discussion of why older generations favor hard candy (fading taste buds craving sweet/salty extremes), fond memories of the "crunchy center" moment on Tootsie Pops and Blow Pops, and whether candy left out ever truly spoils. Segment wrap and plugs — John plugs thatguyontv.com and workshops a new nickname (Snack Hunter); a riff on graham crackers' inventor Sylvester Graham believing they cured alcoholism and "chronic masturbation"; plug for the Moe Comedy Jam at Orlando Funny Bone. Weird Job Wednesday: meet Billy — Segment sponsored by Core Flooring; Tom and Dan welcome Billy, a former Marine and commissioner/coach for the Claremont Knights Youth Football League, discussing his crushing handshake and his family's move from Staten Island to Clermont, Florida. Coaching rules then vs. now — Billy explains Pop Warner's shift from weight classes to an age cutoff (July 15), banned drills like the "nutcracker" and Oklahoma drill, and new safety gear like guardian caps, contrasted with the no-water, no-sympathy coaching Tom and Ross remember from their own 1980s youth football days. Finding the "dog" in young players — Billy discusses helping kids get past the fear of contact, spotting natural talent early (including a 12-year-old opponent who stood 6'8"), and the competitive instinct every kid has but must learn to control. Work ethic and parent commitment — Talk of the grueling practice schedule (up to five days a week), year-round training across football, baseball, and conditioning, Billy's daily 100-pushup rule for his son, and how he handles parent complaints about playing time (tabling them until "Monday," never game day). Fundraising for stadium lights — Billy details the Claremont Knights' $120,000 campaign to install lights at Eastridge Middle School so teams can practice later into the fall, plus the league's quiet scholarship program for kids who can't afford to play, directing listeners to claremontknights.com to donate. Refs, replay, and closing thoughts — Discussion of how paid, tested Pop Warner referees are held to a higher standard than assumed, Billy's own concussion-era playing memories versus modern protocols, and a closing reflection on coaching as a volunteer's "return on investment" through watching his kids succeed. Marlon Wayans on Scary Movie's return — Marlon Wayans joins via Zoom to discuss the new Scary Movie's $230+ million global box office and its September 5 Paramount+ streaming release, explaining why he and his siblings sat out installments 3–5 before reclaiming the franchise. Football training for the role — Marlon describes training for football scenes opposite Tyreek Hill, getting pulled off actual throwing duties by the director in favor of a body double, and getting private quarterback coaching from "Jordan Palmer's brother." Funny Bone marathon and work philosophy — Talk of Marlon's seven-show Funny Bone run (two Friday, three Saturday, two Sunday), his philosophy of constant stagecraft and studying audience reactions, and his upcoming stand-up special and touring set. Liga Tridente cigars — Marlon discusses his Honduran-made cigar brand, expanding from five to roughly 100 (soon possibly 1,000) retail locations, and how he got into the business through his ex-girlfriend's now-business-partner Victor. Family life and the Wayans clan — Marlon talks about his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, turning 54, hosting family gatherings at his house, and why the family has always turned down reality-show offers. Post-interview reflections on hustle — After the call, Tom and Dan compare Marlon's estimated net worth to his other ventures (likening him to Shaquille O'Neal's diversified business empire), debate what "trying your hardest" really means, and recall the "collard greens" bit with their producer Butler that cemented their relationship with Marlon. Key Dates / Plugs Mentioned This Friday — A BDM member is visiting the show/community from England. This weekend (Fri–Sun) — Marlon Wayans' Orlando Funny Bone run: two shows Friday, three Saturday, two Sunday. September 5 — The new Scary Movie begins streaming on Paramount+. Tickets on sale in September; event October 17 — The Moe Comedy Jam at the Orlando Funny Bone. Ongoing — Sign up for BDM membership at tomanddan.com registration for extra shows, private events, and the Facebook group. Ongoing — Donate to the Claremont Knights' stadium-lights fundraiser at claremontknights.com. Notable Guests/Callers Ross McCoy — In-studio comedian, part of the food segment and Weird Job Wednesday discussions. John Graham (thatguyontv.com) — Monthly food-segment guest bringing in unusual snack products. Billy — Weird Job Wednesday guest; commissioner and coach for the Claremont Knights Youth Football League, former U.S. Marine. Marlon Wayans — Actor/comedian, joined via Zoom to discuss Scary Movie and his Orlando Funny Bone stand-up run. ### Website: https://tomanddan.com/ App: https://tomanddan.com/app Become a BDM: https://tomanddan.com/registration Merch: https://tomanddan.myshopify.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomandDanLive Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tomanddanlive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMediocreTime Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomanddanlive/ X: https://x.com/TomAndDanLive TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@tomanddanshow Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/tomanddan ACT RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/61976/rss AMT RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/18904/rss

Welcome to the Christmas series! Caesar's decree for a nationwide census couldn't come at a worse time for Mary and Joseph. But perhaps this journey to Bethlehem is exactly what God planned all along. Sign up for special devotionals at ⁠StoriesoftheMessiah.com⁠.As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel.They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history.For more Bible stories download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app. To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit ⁠https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. Civilization VI, released in 2016, was a further evolution of the franchise that added interesting new features. We introduce it in this episode. Civilization VI Released in 2016, Civ VI is probably still the most played version of the game. Although there has been a general gap of 5-6 years between versions, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down many things. Since early 2025 we have had Civilization VII come out, but in my opinion it is still being tweaked and refined. In the meantime, Civilization VI is the game I play now when I play Civ. I've played all of them from the first, and put in many hours here. Since I now play Civ on Steam mostly, I have statistics! I played Civ V for a total of 769 hours, and so far I have played Civ VI for 689 hours, but since this is what I play for now I will probably exceed my Civ V hours pretty soon. BTW, I probably have well over 1000 hours on Civ II, which I think I have played the most, and certainly more than 3000 hours total over all all versions. I'm going to cover this without worrying too much about whether it is the base game or an expansion. Fact is, Firaxis have started moving to something more akin to a subscription model when they introduced the New Frontier Pass, which works very well when you are on Steam. The idea was that you bought this pass, and very few months got new content, and on Steam it would automatically be downloaded to your account. That is not to say that there weren't actual expansions, but since the last thing they released was this “pass”, i'm kind of wondering what they will do with Civ VII. In any case, let's take a look at this. Gameplay Again, you start with a tribe in 4000BC which founds your first city, and you immediately begin building units, exploring, researching, and developing your city. this is a time-tested mechanic that never changes. but there are some interesting changes that make this game fascinating. First, in the earlier versions of Civ you thought of yourself as playing a particular civ, which came with a particular leader. In different versions of Civ the name of the leader might change, like for France you might have Napoleon on some versions, or Joan of Arc in another, but in each case one civ gets one leader, so you tended to think of yourself as playing the nation. Rome might be Caesar in one version, Augustus in another, or Trajan in yet another. (Fun fact: Sid Meier says he always plays as Rome because it just feels right to him). In Civ VI this linkage is broken. One leader, Eleanor of Aquitaine, can be played as the Queen of England, or she can be played as the Queen of France. And each version has different abilities and strengths. If you want a fairly easy Culture victory, play her as Queen of France, and watch as other players' cities rebel and join your Empire because they admire you so much. Teddy Roosevelt also has two different manifestations, Rough Rider Teddy, and Big Stick Teddy, when you have all the expansions. China has two possible leaders, with different strengths: Qin Shi Huang, and Kublai Khan. And Kublai Khan can be either Chinese or Mongolian, with different strengths. So in Civ VI you don't think of what Civ you want to play, you think of which leader you want to play. Every leader comes with a Civilization Ability, a Unique Unit, and a Unique Infrastructure. These matter a lot. For example, take John Curtin, the leader of the Australian civilization. His Civilization Ability is called Land Down Under, and it gives him +3 Housing in coastalcities. Building a Pasture triggers a Culture Bomb, claiming surrounding tiles. Campus, Commercial Hub, Holy Site, and Theater Squaredistricts gain +1 to their yields in tiles with Charming Appeal, and +3 in tiles with Breathtaking Appeal. Then his Unique Unit is the Digger, a melee military unit that replaces the Infantry unit. And his Unique Infrastructure is tile improvement called the Outback Station. This gives you increased food, production, and housing, some of which varies according to what is on surrounding tiles. The point is that each leader gives you very specific advantages that you should play to. In Civ VI it is even more important to tailor your strategy to the particular leader. Leaders like Frederic Barbarossa or Simon Bolivar are very good for Domination, while Peter the Great and Saladin are very good for Religious victories. If you take a random leader be ready to adapt your play style and strategy to fit, or alternatively decide what kind of victory you want to achieve and pick a leader who is good at it. Or if you want a real challenge, pick a leader who is not suited to the victory condition you are aiming at. But keep in mind that the game may take you in places you didn't expect. One game I picked Wilfrid Laurier of Canada, who is ideal for Diplomatic and Cultural victories, and I thought I would be going for a Cultural victory. But Wilfrid's strengths come from his advantages on Tundra land tiles, and I somehow managed to spawn in the middle of the map with no Tundra tiles at all in my empire. I had work hard to manage a Science victory in that case. Districts This is a major change in Civ. In earlier versions you built buildings inside of cities, and you tended to build the same buildings in most or all cities. You were only limited by your ability to generate Production to get them done. Civ VI is different. You have to place Districts on specific tiles, and and you can then develop the district with added buildings. If you want to develop your industry, you can place an Industrial Zone, and then add a Workshop, then a Factory, then a Power plant, and so on, each one increasing your Production. For Science you place down a Campus District, then a Library, then a University, then a Research Lab. And the game mechanic means you cannot built everything in every city. You can place one district at the start, then one more when your city reaches a population of 4, then a third one when you reach 7, and so on with each added population of three allowing one more district. The point is to force you to make choices. Districts get adjacency bonuses which increase their output. The Campus (generates Science) and the Holy Site (generates Faith) both benefit from adjacent Mountains, and the effect is additive. So if you find a tile with three mountains around it, you will want to place one of these districts there. Districts also get adjacency bonuses from other districts, so the planning the layout of your cities is really important to maximize these bonuses. And they can get bonuses even with adjacent Districts that belong to a different city! Another key district is the Encampment, which let you build better, more veteran military units. Since building units requires Production, you should build build an Encampment in a city which has a lot of Production, and that probably means one with an Industrial Zone. A Harbor District would go in a city with coastal tiles, of course. All of this requires planning. Expert players will usually start out by exploring to see what the map looks like around them, what terrain features they have to work with, what resources are available, and so on. Then, around turn ten they will plan out their next cities, and figure out where they want to place districts and so on. There is a built-in “map pin” system for this, and it can be improved by installing the right mod. While you don't have to do this, it does help you to be successful. Maps and Terrain Terrain features matter a lot in this game. We already mentioned adjacency bonuses of Mountains for Holy Sites and Campuses, but there is much more. The map is divided into Continents, and it is quite normal for a contiguous land mass to contain two or more continents if it is large enough. Think of how Europe and Asia are really just one large land mass to see what I mean. This matters because certain units may defend differently depending on which continent they are on, or some civilizations may be affected from having cities on a different continent. Terrain features like Rivers are extremely important for the placement of cities because they provide fresh water. You can sometimes get around that by building an Aqueduct to bring water from a Lake or a Mountain, but that means using up one of your city tiles, and spending production to build it. If you can place your city on a river you can avoid that problem and get off to a fast start. But the downside is that rivers can flood, and that can wreck your improvements. A big idea for terrain is Appeal. Each tile has an Appeal level ranging from Disgusting to Breathtaking, and it is determined by a combination of the tile's features themselves and by adjacencies. The modifiers are added together to determine the Appeal level of the tile, and there is a lens you use to view your Appeal levels on all tiles, which are color coded. This matters particularly if you are trying for a Culture victory. Culture victories are own by generating Tourism, and while some that can come from things like Museums and Wonders, you will really want to maximize your Tourism to win this game, and two good ways to do that are building National Parks and Seaside Resorts. You can only do that if the appeal is at least Charming (or even better, Breathtaking). If you find you cannot build them in what seems like a good spot, chances are Appeal is the problem. So check that out. You can, for instance, remove marshes (which give negative appeal), and plant forests (which add appeal), and that might be all it takes to get these going. The underlying issue in managing your cities is that you only have so many tiles, and a tile that might be great for a farm might also be great for a District. You need food to grow, and you need to grow to put down Districts, so you are always making choices about this, and that is what makes this a great strategy game. Other Resources Civilization 6 Tutorial: In Game Settings Links https://www.pcgamesn.com/civilization-vii/narrative-lead-job-posting https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Kublai_Khan_(Chinese)_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Housing_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Coastal_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Pasture_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Tile_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Campus_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Commercial_Hub_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Holy_Site_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Theater_Square_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/District_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Appeal_(Civ6) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Continent_(Civ6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkas_uiq_fk https://www.palain.com/gaming/civilization-vi/ Provide feedback on this episode.

Welcome to the Christmas series! Caesar's decree for a nationwide census couldn't come at a worse time for Mary and Joseph. But perhaps this journey to Bethlehem is exactly what God planned all along. Sign up for special devotionals at ⁠StoriesoftheMessiah.com⁠.As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel.They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history.For more Bible stories download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app. To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit ⁠https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of “Half Hour,” we take a deeper dive into The Hunger Games: On Stage, now playing at Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London. We break down the plot, the concept behind the production's arena-style staging, and how this first theatrical adaptation of Suzanne Collins' story brings the audience into the world of Panem. We discuss Matthew Dunster's direction, Conor McPherson's adaptation, the in-the-round design, choreography, illusions, aerial work, and the production choices that shape the experience. We also talk about Mia Carragher as Katniss Everdeen, Tamsin Carroll as Effie Trinket, Stavros Demetraki as Caesar Flickerman, and why the show gives characters including Haymitch, Effie, and Caesar new space onstage. Follow and connect with all things @HalfHourPodcast on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, and ⁠YouTube⁠. Share your thoughts on this production in the Spotify comments, and let us know what you would like us to cover next. If you enjoy these post-show discussions, follow Half Hour and leave a rating and review so more theater lovers can find the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The decade after Caesar's murder is make or break for Octavian. He is very young and inexperienced, he is often between Mark Antony and the senate, and he needs to avenge Caesar and become his acknowledged heir. Despite these challenges he is slowly setting the stage for breaking the Roman republic. Support Emperors of Rome on Patreon: patreon.com/romepodcast Episode CCLVIII (259) Guest: Dr Rhiannon Evans

Welcome to the Christmas series! Caesar's decree for a nationwide census couldn't come at a worse time for Mary and Joseph. But perhaps this journey to Bethlehem is exactly what God planned all along. Sign up for special devotionals at ⁠StoriesoftheMessiah.com⁠.As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel.They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history.For more Bible stories download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app. To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit ⁠https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does trusting God mean waiting on a clear sign before every decision? In this solo episode, part of the Acts Revisited series, Dallas walks through Acts 25 — why the same opposition to Paul keeps resurfacing under new leadership, discernment about what's actually worth reacting to in culture, how Paul's appeal to Caesar reflects wisdom rather than a lack of trust in God, and what his years of unresolved waiting teach about faithfulness. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro & Recap of Acts 24 1:27 - Festus Takes Over & the Plot Resurfaces 2:21 - Discernment: What's Worth Reacting To in Culture 4:08 - Paul's Appeal to Caesar 4:56 - Making Decisions Without Overthinking Them 7:37 - The Long Wait: Faithfulness With No Resolution 9:20 - Closing & How to Visit The Healing Place

We're all together for the final weekend of Kelly Clarkson's Studio Sessions Las Vegas Residency at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace! You'll hear our thoughts on the show, some thoughts about what's next, and the difficulties we faced just getting to Vegas! Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/MissIndepodcastBuy merch from our new merch storeFollow us!Facebook | Twitter/X | InstagramFind more at missindepodcast.com

Welcome to the Christmas series! Caesar's decree for a nationwide census couldn't come at a worse time for Mary and Joseph. But perhaps this journey to Bethlehem is exactly what God planned all along. Sign up for special devotionals at ⁠StoriesoftheMessiah.com⁠.As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel.They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history.For more Bible stories download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app. To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit ⁠https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!” Shakespeare had a gift for turning a phrase! “It was Greek to me” and “mischief thou art afoot” are a few more colorful quips from his iconic play, Julius Caesar. This tragedy was written in 1599, however the actual assassination of the powerful general took place about 40 years before Jesus was born. Betrayal is shockingly portrayed as Caesar is stabbed by a crowd of cunning conspirators, the last stab belonged to Brutus, a ‘trusted' friend.It is amazing how Shakespeare takes a well-known event in history and weaves it into an unforgettable story. Political problems are prevalent today as well, but we do not have an orator with Antony's ability to turn the crowd! “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” Click the link for an amazing delivery of his speech! Damian Lewis as Antony in Julius Caesar: 'Friends, Romans, countrymen' | Shakespeare SolosWhat a great time to wrestle with this text, during the dog days of summer! Thank you for joining us in our jaunt with the Bard! Let's connect to reflect! Blessings dear listeners!

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.”So they brought Him a denarius.20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”21 They said to Him, “Caesar's.”And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

Rome didn't fall to conquest. It killed itself over 100 years, one broken norm at a time.The Roman Republic held together for nearly 500 years through a system of layered checks and balances (that's the previous episode). This video is the framework for how that system came apart — from 133 BC, when Tiberius Gracchus was beaten to death by his own Senate, to 27 BC, when Augustus quietly renamed himself and became the first emperor.Ronald Syme's "The Roman Revolution" (1939) is the intellectual scaffolding for this whole Republic series. Syme's argument, in essence: the last 100 years of the Roman Republic weren't a class war or a foreign invasion — they were a slow-motion suicide. A sequence of political-military strongmen each breaking more laws than the man before them, until there was no Republic left to defend.This episode is a primer, not a deep-dive. It walks quickly through every major figure in the arc — Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Augustus — to give you the shape of what's coming in the rest of the Republic series. Every subsequent episode will take one of these figures and go deep on how they specifically broke the layer of the system they broke.Understand these 100 years and you won't be watching history anymore. You'll be looking in a mirror.CHAPTERS:00:00 Empires Don't Die of Murder — They Die of Suicide02:47 Why We're Going Back to the Republic03:21 The Ronald Syme Framework (The Roman Revolution)05:46 133 BC: Tiberius Gracchus and the First Political Killing11:20 Gaius Marius: 7 Consulships and the Broken Rules13:09 Sulla: Dictator, Proscriptions, and the Reformed Senate17:36 Pompey the Great Rises19:24 Julius Caesar: Broke Patrician to First Triumvir22:12 The Consulship of Julius and Caesar (59 BC)23:48 The Gallic Wars and Crossing the Rubicon (49 BC)29:02 The Second Triumvirate and Actium31:05 The Word Salad That Created the PrincipateSOURCES & FURTHER READING:Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (1939) — the central framework the whole series is built onMary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome — for Roman institutional context and the mos maiorum frameworkTom Holland, Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic — the accessible narrative of the fallErich Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman Republic — the definitive modern scholarly account of the declinePlutarch, Lives — the biographical primary source for Tiberius Gracchus, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, CaesarSuetonius, The Twelve Caesars — for Caesar and Augustus specificallyCassius Dio, Roman History — for the late Republic and Augustan periodAppian, The Civil Wars — Book 1 explicitly frames the Gracchi as the beginning of the civil wars#RomanRepublic #FallOfTheRomanRepublic #JuliusCaesar #Augustus #RomanRevolution #RonaldSyme #TheRomanPattern

Welcome to the Christmas series! Caesar's decree for a nationwide census couldn't come at a worse time for Mary and Joseph. But perhaps this journey to Bethlehem is exactly what God planned all along. Sign up for special devotionals at ⁠StoriesoftheMessiah.com⁠.As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel.They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history.For more Bible stories download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app. To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit ⁠https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Featured playlist: The Church (That Meets in My Home) — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Yobt1jZDd9Zzn8Ufa-BNciyYv04Cl6mMy books:Exalted: Putting Jesus in His Place — https://www.amazon.com/Exalted-Putting-Jesus-His-Place/dp/0985118709/ref=tmm_pap_title_0God's Design for Marriage (Married Edition) — https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Design-Marriage-Married-Amazing/dp/0998786306/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493422125&sr=1-4&keywords=god%27s+design+for+marriageGod's Design for Marriage (Pre-married Edition) — https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Design-Marriage-What-Before/dp/0985118725/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_topSupport us - become a CTC Partner: https://crosstocrown.org/partners/crosstocrown.org@DougGoodin

This is the climax of the summer's Matthew arc. Everything since Trinity has been building toward Peter's answer to the question Jesus finally asks him directly: “Who do you say that I am?” Today Peter answers, and the answer shapes everything that follows.* Track One begins Exodus — the birth of Moses, protected by an unlikely coalition of women who defy Pharaoh's murderous order. Psalm 124 sings the deliverance from the other side. * Track Two brings us Isaiah's call to remember the rock from which we were hewn, paired with Psalm 138's personal thanksgiving. * The Epistle turns an important corner: after eleven chapters of theological argument, Paul opens Romans 12 with “therefore” — the practical application begins. Present your bodies. One body, many members. Different gifts, all needed.For preachers continuing a series: this is the destination. The confession is what the summer has been building toward. Next week the Gospel will turn — Peter will be corrected, the way of the cross will be named — but this week we stop and let the confession stand.The ReadingsExodus 1:8–2:10First Reading (Track One) — The Midwives and the Birth of MosesSummaryA new king arises in Egypt who does not know Joseph. Threatened by the growing number of Hebrews, he enslaves them and orders the Hebrew midwives to kill every male child at birth. But the midwives — Shiphrah and Puah, named by the text against Pharaoh's namelessness — refuse. When Pharaoh escalates and orders all male children thrown into the Nile, three more women defy him: Moses's mother, who hides him and then places him in a basket on the river; his sister, who watches from the reeds; and Pharaoh's own daughter, who finds the baby and takes him as her own. Deliverance begins through the courage of women.Key Ideas for Preaching* The story of Israel's deliverance begins with women whose defiance no one wrote down until much later. An unlikely coalition forms across ethnic and class lines. Where in your congregation might God's deliverance be already beginning through people whose work no one has yet noticed?* Shiphrah and Puah are named by the text. Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the story, is not. The narrator has decided who matters. What might it mean for your congregation to notice whose names Scripture chooses to lift up?* The midwives lie — or, dissemble at the very least — to Pharaoh, and the text approves — God deals well with them. Where in your congregation has an obedience to institutional authority been quietly mistaken for faithfulness, when a deeper faithfulness would have refused?Significant Cautions* Do not idealize any of the characters. The midwives are ordinary working women doing what they can. Pharaoh's daughter defies her father but does not free the Hebrews. Their courage is real and it is also partial.* The civil disobedience reading of this text is available, but should not be pressed into any particular contemporary political program.* Say the names — Shiphrah and Puah — from the pulpit when you can. Pharaoh's namelessness is part of the text's judgment on him.Psalm 124The Psalm (Track One) — If It Had Not Been the LordSummaryA psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance, sung from the safe side. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side when enemies rose against us, when the waters would have swept us away, we would have been overwhelmed. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm is written in retrospect — thanksgiving from safety, not desperate pleading in the moment. What might it look like for your congregation to make a practice of naming past deliverances honestly, so that hope in future ones is grounded in something remembered?* Paired with today's Exodus reading, the psalm reads like a song sung generations after the midwives did their quiet work in a birthing room. What began as unnoticed courage becomes a whole people singing.Significant Cautions* Be careful not to preach this in a way that identifies contemporary political opponents as the “enemies” God delivers us from. The psalm is looking back at Egypt, not writing policy for today.Isaiah 51:1–6First Reading (Track Two) — Look to the RockSummaryA word of comfort to God's people in exile. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, the quarry from which you were dug — remember Abraham and Sarah, from whom your whole people came. God is bringing comfort to Zion, making her wilderness like Eden. Instruction will go out; justice will be a light to the peoples. The heavens will vanish like smoke and the earth wear out like a garment, but God's salvation will endure forever.Key Ideas for Preaching* The prophet asks the people to remember. Look to the rock. Remember Abraham and Sarah. Where in your congregation has the loss of memory made the current moment feel more precarious than it should?* The pairing of “the heavens will vanish like smoke” with “my salvation will be forever” is a striking piece of realism about what lasts. Where has your congregation been placing lasting trust in what will not last?* Paired with the Gospel, this text sets up the wordplay Jesus will use with Peter — “on this rock.” Isaiah's rock is Abraham and Sarah; Matthew's rock is Peter's confession. Both texts are asking about the ground beneath our feet.Significant Cautions* The imagery of Zion's restoration is specific to Israel's exile. Do not press it into a program for any modern nation.* “Look to the rock from which you were hewn” is an invitation to remember, not a mandate to romanticize the past.Psalm 138The Psalm (Track Two) — Do Not Forsake the Work of Your HandsSummaryA psalm of personal thanksgiving that expands to a global vision. The psalmist gives thanks with his whole heart and praises God's steadfast love. All the kings of the earth will one day praise God. The closing line is a prayer that God will not forsake the work of God's hands.Key Ideas for Preaching* “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me… do not forsake the work of your hands.” That is one of the most reassuring sentences in the Psalter — a prayer that trusts God is not done. Where in your congregation are people who need to hear that they are still the work of God's hands?* The psalm begins with a personal thanksgiving and ends with all the kings of the earth. What might your sermon do with a psalm whose horizon widens that quickly?Significant Cautions* “All the kings of the earth” praising God should not be read as a program for religious empire. It is a prayer for a widening praise, not a mandate.Romans 12:1–8The Epistle — A Living Sacrifice; One Body, Many MembersSummaryAfter eleven chapters of theological argument, Paul turns a corner. “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Paul then turns to community life: think of yourselves with sober judgment. We are one body with many members, and no member is complete without the others. Different gifts have been given — prophecy, ministry, teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, showing mercy — and each should be exercised in the measure of faith God has given.Key Ideas for Preaching* “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice” is one of the strangest images in Paul. Sacrifices in the ancient world were dead. Living sacrifices are not a category. Paul is describing a whole life, offered without being consumed. What does it look like to preach whole-life offering in a culture that keeps splitting body from soul, work from worship?* Paul opens the practical section with an appeal for humility — think of yourself with sober judgment, not more highly than you ought. This is his first instruction for community life. Where in your congregation might humble self-assessment be the missing precondition for everything else Paul goes on to ask?* The list of gifts is illustrative, not comprehensive. Some are visible (prophecy, teaching, leading). Others are quieter (ministry, showing mercy, giving with generosity). Where in your congregation have visible gifts been overvalued and quieter gifts overlooked?Significant Cautions* “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice” has been misused to justify Christians accepting abuse or unhealthy suffering. That is not what Paul is describing. Handle the language carefully in pastoral contexts where suffering is not chosen.* The gifts list has sometimes been made into a personality test. Paul is describing what happens in a healthy community, not offering a diagnostic for individuals.Matthew 16:13–20The Gospel — Peter's Confession at Caesarea PhilippiSummaryJesus takes his disciples to Caesarea Philippi — a city built by Herod's son at the base of Mount Hermon, next to a massive rock cave that was a shrine to the Greek god Pan, and named after Caesar. In this heavily symbolic place, Jesus asks two questions. First: who do people say that the Son of Man is? The disciples report the various answers — John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. Then the sharper question: who do you say that I am? Peter answers: you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus blesses him — this insight, he says, has come from God, not from human reasoning. Then comes the famous wordplay: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.* (see excursus below) Peter is given the keys of the kingdom. And the disciples are charged to tell no one that Jesus is the Messiah.Photo by Emile Guillemot on UnsplashKey Ideas for Preaching* The setting is not accidental. Caesarea Philippi was named after Caesar and built next to a shrine to Pan. When Jesus asks “who do you say that I am?” he is asking in the shadow of empire and of another religion's holy place. What does it mean for your congregation to make Peter's confession in the shadows of the powers of our own moment?* The other answers the disciples report — John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah — are good answers. Great prophets. Faithful witnesses. But they are not enough. Where might your congregation be settling for a good answer to who Jesus is when a deeper one is being offered?* Jesus tells Peter the confession did not come from “flesh and blood” — it was given to him by God. The confession is not a reward for Peter's cleverness; it is a gift from the Father. Where in your congregation has faith been imagined as something we work out, when the text describes it as something we receive?* Whatever your tradition makes of the Petros/petra wordplay, the fundamental picture is worth preaching: the church is built on a confession. Not on our cleverness, not on our numbers, not on our building, not on our institutional strength. On a confession. What would change if your congregation actually believed that?Significant Cautions* The Petros/petra wordplay has been the site of long controversy between Catholic and Protestant traditions. Both readings have real defenders; do not preach one as the only faithful option.* “The gates of Hades will not prevail” has been used triumphally in ways Jesus's own life will complicate — he is about to head to Jerusalem and be crucified. The victory the passage promises is not the kind that avoids the cross.* The command to tell no one has puzzled readers for centuries. This is the “messianic secret” that runs through Matthew and Mark, and scholars have not settled its meaning. Do not preach a confident theory as if it were obvious.An exursus on the text: I found the following brief commentary from You.com to be helpful in my deliberation of how much to make of the difference between Petros and petra:* The Petros/Πέτρος vs. Petra/πέτρα Contrast (Matthew 16:18)Lexical and Grammatical Background* Πέτρος (Petros): Masculine, used as Simon's new name, means “rock” or “stone.” In Koine Greek, it is not used generically for “small stone”—that would be λίθος (lithos)* πέτρα (petra): Feminine, means “bedrock,” “massive rock,” or “rock formation.” Used metaphorically for a strong foundation* Gender Accommodation: The distinction is primarily grammatical—πέτρα is feminine and unsuitable as a male name, so the masculine Πέτρος is used for SimonAramaic Background* Kepha (כֵּיפָא): In Aramaic, the same word is used for both Peter's name and “rock,” with no gender distinctionJesus likely spoke Aramaic, so the Greek distinction is a translation artifact, not a theological oneMatthew 16:13–20 is a foundational passage for Christian theology and ecclesiology. The Petros/petra wordplay, rooted in Aramaic and preserved in Greek, affirms Peter's foundational role without excluding the importance of his confession or the broader apostolic witness. The passage's other key terms—ἐκκλησία, πύλαι ᾅδου, κλεῖδες τῆς βασιλείας, δήσῃς/λύσῃς, Υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος—draw deeply from Jewish, Old Testament, and Greco-Roman backgrounds, establishing the church as a new, Christ-centered community with authority, resilience, and a confession rooted in divine revelation.Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the climax of the summer's Matthew arc. Since Trinity we have been reading with Peter and the disciples — call, sending, warning, welcome, feeding, walking on water, encounter with the Canaanite woman — and today the question that has been building finally gets asked directly. Peter answers, and the answer shapes everything that follows.On Track One, the Exodus reading pairs with the Gospel in a specific way. Israel's deliverance begins with midwives whose courage no one recorded until later; the church, in the Gospel, is built on a confession made by a fisherman in the shadow of a pagan shrine. Both texts insist that the beginnings of God's great works often happen in unnoticed places, through unexpected people.On Track Two, Isaiah's “look to the rock from which you were hewn” and the Gospel's “on this rock” are worth reading side by side. Isaiah asks the people to remember Abraham and Sarah as their foundation. Jesus builds the church on the foundation of Peter's confession. Both texts are asking the same question in different tenses: what is the ground beneath your feet?Romans 12 sits inside the day as the “so what.” If Peter's confession is true, something has to change about how we live. Present your bodies. Think of yourselves with sober judgment. Use your gifts for the good of the whole body. Paul is describing what a community looks like when it takes Peter's confession seriously.For preachers finishing the summer series: this is the destination. Next week the Gospel will turn — Peter will be corrected, the way of the cross will be named — but this week we stop and let the confession stand. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

Send us Fan MailOn this episode of A Novel Console, Chris and Karradyne talk about how long they've been away and try a new format to force them to record, Coffee & Handhelds! They both sit down for an uninterrupted hour of reading a few books and playing a new game while enjoying a cup of coffee. Afterwards, they head to McDonald's to try the new Caesar menu and complain about apple flavored stuff!ANC is part of the SuperPod Network: https://superpodnetwork.com/You can contact us at:anovelconsole@gmail.comFacebook.com/anovelconsoleTwitter.com/anovelconsoleInstagram: @anovelconsolePatreon.com/anovelconsoleOther Streaming Platforms:anovelconsole.carrd.coSupport the show

Episode 199 Ch. 25 of Little Town on the Prairie "Unexpected in December". Join us this week as we discuss Louis Bouchie (Mr. Brewster), $40 in today's money, Marc Antony's oration on the death of Caesar, "to wheel", date of 12/24/1883, and the different levels of teaching certificates.

Josiah Osgood — Multi-Part, Part Two: Professor Josiah Osgood continues with 58 BCE, when the rivals took separate paths; Cato went to Cyprus to model honest administration while Caesar sought military glory in Gaul. The death of Julia, Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife, eventually severed the alliance between the two generals, allowing Cato to convince the Senate to appoint Pompey as sole consul to restore order. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BCE, sparking civil war, Cato reluctantly followed Pompey's retreat. Following Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus, Cato fled to Utica, where he chose suicide over Caesar's clemency, stabbing himself and tearing open his own wounds to mar Caesar's victory. His death transformed him into a saint of the Republic, inspiring generations of poets and dissidents under the later Roman Empire. (2)

Josiah Osgood — Multi-Part, Part One: Professor Josiah Osgood, author of Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato's Deadly Rivalry Destroyed the Roman Republic, begins in 64 BCE, when Cato and Caesar briefly cooperated in the murder courts to penalize those rewarded during Sulla's brutal purges. Their rivalry ignited permanently during the Catiline conspiracy in 63 BCE. While Caesar proposed life imprisonment for the conspirators, Cato's debut Senate speech demanded their execution and successfully implicated Caesar in the plot. This established their core conflict: Cato's Stoic rectitude and fear of strongmen against Caesar's pursuit of dignitas and popular reform. The period also saw the rise of the triumvirate, an alliance between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, which Cato tirelessly opposed as a threat to republican freedom. (1)

Paul preaches the same message in two cities forty five miles apart. Thessalonica riots. Berea starts a Bible study. Same message, same messenger. The only thing that changes is how the word gets received.We look at why people can miss the truth when it's sitting right in front of them, and why the obstacle is usually not the evidence but the story we've already built our lives around. In Thessalonica the offense was a king who took his throne through a cross instead of a sword, and the claim that if Jesus reigns, Caesar doesn't. Jesus isn't asking for our vote. He's asking for our allegiance. In Berea, people received the word eagerly and put the scriptures on the witness stand every day, and the examining produced faith instead of doubt.We also talk about what hunger and discipline look like now: asking God for an appetite, starving the ones that crowd it out, and making time in the word a custom rather than an intention.

Welcome to the Christmas series! Caesar's decree for a nationwide census couldn't come at a worse time for Mary and Joseph. But perhaps this journey to Bethlehem is exactly what God planned all along. Sign up for special devotionals at ⁠StoriesoftheMessiah.com⁠.As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel.They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history.For more Bible stories download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app. To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit ⁠https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Weekly sermon from Trinity Church Denver

When Paul arrived in Rome, he didn't just stand before Caesar; he stood before his own people to defend the 'hope of Israel.' David Antwi explores the deep theological roots of Paul's chains, tracing the promise of the Messiah from Abraham to the resurrection. Discover how a singular hope sustained the apostle through house arrest and why that same hope remains the foundation of the Christian faith today.

Whose image are you carrying? Jesus tells us to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God—but if we bear the image of God, then what belongs to Him is us. In this message from our Mammon collection, we explore how money competes for our identity and devotion, and how practices like generosity and Sabbath become acts of remembrance and resistance. What would it look like to reject Mammon's empty promises and recover what it means to be fully human, fully alive, and formed in the image of God?

Welcome to the Christmas series! Caesar's decree for a nationwide census couldn't come at a worse time for Mary and Joseph. But perhaps this journey to Bethlehem is exactly what God planned all along. Sign up for special devotionals at ⁠StoriesoftheMessiah.com⁠.As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel.They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history.For more Bible stories download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app. To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit ⁠https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chapter 5 of Heroes in the Bible: Paul with Michael Chandler is inspired by the book of Acts. Paul vs. Caesar - Story inspired by Acts 29 & Historical Events Paul stands before the crazed and bloodthirsty Emperor Nero. He's unhinged and unpredictable. Will Paul survive in the halls of Nero, or is this the end for our faithful hero? In this final episode, inspired by Acts 29 and historical events, Paul faces one final challenge. And if he's able to win the heart of Rome, he'll win the heart of the world. Listen to some of the greatest Bible stories ever told and make prayer a priority in your life by downloading the Pray.com app. Sign up for Heroes in the Bible devotionals at https://www.heroesinthebible.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The gang is back together so you know what that means: caesar dressing and lots of it. The boys taste test McDonald's Caesar-centric menu, and the results are middling AT BEST. Fortunately, Yack has enough beach tales to cleanse all of our palates. He regales us with a recap of his trip to the DIRTY SOUF, complete with the obligatory (and contentious) trip to Buc-ees and an unexpectedly pleasant Paula Deen-tinged experience. He also belatedly shares his review of Spider-Man Brand New Day, which leads the boys to ponder just how many rounds of Tom Holland's crossfit workout they can pull off without puking. Also of note: The Bills' building sucks, the Lakers are a private equity front, and there really is only one Ace-J. Tune in before this turns into a full time "Blood In Blood out" podcast.

Chris and Jake Yap were two weeks from shutting down. A billion-dollar retailer had copied every product they launched and sold them for one tenth the price, then put it in the news - buy this coffee table from us for $499, or from them for $49. They'd burned their business savings, their personal savings, and taken out personal guarantee loans chasing speed. Jake was telling his wife he wasn't sure he could make rent. Then in those two weeks they made one switch that changed everything: instead of testing designs, they started testing problems. Little Lively launched last October, grew 30% compounding month on month, went worldwide in the same month it launched, and now spends around $600,000 a month on Meta. In this interview, Chris and Jake break down the exact testing framework that found their winning product, why they killed 700 SKUs to bet everything on one, and how they built an internal AI agent that runs across their entire company. What you'll learn in this interview: • The switch from testing designs to testing problems - and why it saved the business in two weeks • How they turned $10 wireless chargers off Alibaba into $300K cash in their first year • The Abundance Framework: testing up to 1,000 designs a week before ever committing to production • Why fast-fashion-style furniture drops became a vicious discount cycle that nearly killed them • How suppliers with 60-day payment terms effectively became their investors - and the relationship approach behind it • The 60 ROAS launch: what happens when you actually solve a real problem • Why they now welcome copycats - and how being 4-5 years ahead on the roadmap makes competitors into free marketing • Why they launched worldwide in the same month instead of proving one market first • "Australia is small and hard, the US is big and easy" - the contrarian take on market selection • Caesar: the company-wide AI agent living in their Slack that their team used to build an entire ERP system from scratch If you're running a DTC brand, drowning in SKUs and discounts, or trying to figure out how to find the one product worth betting everything on, this conversation will fundamentally change how you think about focus, product testing, and what it takes to come back from the brink. WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/operators⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH LIFELY Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/lifelyhome/ LinkedIn →https://www.linkedin.com/company/lifelyhome/ Website → https://lifely.com.au/ CONNECT WITH JAKE YAP LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-yap/ CONNECT WITH CHRIS YAP LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-yap-185964198/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast⁠

Was the identification of Nero Caesar with 666 built on a convenient modern theory—or does first-century archaeology confirm the calculation?In this episode, Jay Rogers examines the Murabba'at papyrus, an ancient Aramaic commercial document that preserves the spelling Neron Kaisar, the exact form of Nero's name that produces 666 when calculated through Hebrew gematria.Rather than relying on speculation, this evidence comes directly from the world in which Revelation was written.Jay explores the archaeological discoveries from the Judean Desert, the significance of the 666 and 616 manuscript traditions, and why the spelling of Nero's imperial title matters for understanding the Beast of Revelation. He also addresses common objections and demonstrates how historical evidence strengthens the case that John's original audience would have immediately recognized the reference.If Revelation was written in the first century, the number 666 may not point to a distant future ruler at all—but to a persecuting emperor already known throughout the Roman world.

We're back with some more Gilmore Girls! Join us in this journey on social media - @gilmorethemerrierpod. ABOUT: GILMORE GIRLS (SEASON 2 EPISODE 15) A suspicious Lorelai catches Jess in Rory's room and accuses him of stealing a bracelet and Luke impulsively decides to buy the building where he lives. AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR: GILMORE GIRLS (SEASON 2 EPISODE 15) February 26, 2002 | The WB CAST & CREW OF: GILMORE GIRLS (SEASON 2 EPISODE 15) Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore BRAN'S GILMORE GIRLS (SEASON 2 EPISODE 15) SYNOPSIS Lorelai was cleaning her gutters when she hurt her hand. She slapped a Band-Aid on it and refuses to go to the doctor. They get to Luke's, but Luke is nowhere to be found. To make matters worse, Caesar is cooking. So Lorelai heads upstairs to check on Luke and encourage him to come down and make them pancakes. The place is a mess because Jess's mom finally sent the rest of his stuff, and now Luke can't find his supply ledger. Lorelai finds it and holds it hostage until he comes downstairs to make the pancakes. That night, Lorelai and Rory are walking to get supplies for movie night. They pass Luke's and see him sitting there alone, sadly drinking a beer and watching TV on his tiny television. He just needs some space from Jess. Lorelai encourages him to get a bigger apartment, but Luke isn't having it. Instead, he asks if Jess could clean Lorelai's gutters for her. Lorelai doesn't say yes right away, but on the walk home Rory says, "I thought you were going to give Jess a chance. You should hire him." After a little more guilt-tripping, Lorelai finally agrees. Then she asks Rory why it's so important that she like Jess. Rory comes up with an excuse, but Lorelai is wise to her. Luke heads upstairs and freaks out on Jess over the mess. He shouts, "WE'RE MOVING TOMORROW!" After looking at apartments, Jess goes to Rory's to get started on the gutters. Cool-guy Jess flips her a book when she opens the door and comments that her hair is different. Lorelai tries to make small talk with him, but he's not having it. When he goes outside, Rory follows him and asks him to try to get along with her mom. He's like, "Why?" She says, "If you care about me at all, you'll try." He replies, "Who says I care about you?" Classic Jess. Rory leaves to hang out with Dean at a book fundraiser. Dean is bored out of his mind. He says he wants to go see The Lord of the Rings again, which annoys Rory. Then he notices she isn't wearing the bracelet he gave her. She lies and says she took it off because of a rash and will put it back on later. In reality, she lost it... and Jess is holding it hostage. Lorelai invites Jess downstairs for lunch. At first he says no, but then he remembers what Rory asked him and decides to make an effort. Just then, Rory comes bursting through the door, freaking out because she's lost the bracelet. Luke calls Lorelai to complain about the injustices of renting. He says he needs a second opinion and asks her to come look at an apartment with him. She immediately leaves work. The apartment is really nice. Lorelai tells him, "Even if Jess goes home someday, you're still going to want this place. What if you meet someone?" She finally talks him into it... but then they discover the worst possible news: Taylor owns the building. Luke is immediately out. Taylor runs after him and says he's thinking about buying the flower shop next to the diner, but he needs Luke to take down the old hardware store sign because it confuses people. Luke says, "It was my dad's. I'm not taking it down," and storms off. Rory gets home, still upset about losing the bracelet. She talks to Jess about it, and he casually suggests she look in her room one more time. She walks in and immediately finds it under her bed. There it is. Lorelai goes outside to pay Jess for the job, but instead accuses him of stealing the bracelet because she caught him leaving Rory's room about 30 minutes before it mysteriously reappeared. Jess denies it. She says, "Don't 'whatever' me, you little jerk!"—like the uncle in Home Alone. She lectures him, saying that taking the bracelet only hurt Rory because it's the most precious thing she owns. Jess fires back, "If it's the most precious thing she owns, why did it take her two weeks to notice it was gone?" Yeah... I wouldn't start calling him "son" just yet. He storms off. Luke comes banging on the door, still fuming about Taylor. He reveals that, in a fit of blind rage, he bought the building that houses the diner. Lorelai tells him that honestly, owning the building isn't such a bad thing, and she talks him off the ledge. Before he leaves, she asks Luke if Jess ever talks to him about Rory. Luke says, "I don't know... but that would be great. She'd be such a good influence on him." Luke heads home, grabs a sledgehammer, knocks a giant hole through the apartment wall, and tells Jess... "That's your room." Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.