Podcasts about Caesarea

He was a nobleman, related to the imperial houses of Persia and Armenia. When these two houses went to war with one another, Gregory withdrew to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he heard the Gospel proclaimed and came to faith in Christ. There he also married and had two sons. After his wife's death he returned to his homeland and served in the court of Tiridates, king of Armenia. When the king discovered that Gregory was a Christian, he subjected the Saint to many tortures, finally having him cast into a pit full of mire and poisonous reptiles. But Gregory was miraculously kept alive in the pit for fourteen years, during which a widow secretyly provided for his needs. King Tiridates, still cruelly persecuting the Christians in his land, eventually went mad and became like a wild animal. In a dream, the king's sister was told that her brother would only be restored to sanity when Gregory was freed from the pit. This was done, and Gregory healed and baptised his persecutor. At the king's request, Gregory was made bishop of Armenia. As bishop he brought countless thousands to faith in Christ and is counted as the Enlightener of Armenia. In old age he retired into ascetical life, and reposed in peace.

Paul is now in the hands of the Governor Felix in Caesarea. Here again we get to see how Paul worked within the political system rather than fighting against it for the sake of the gospel. Corruption was evident from top to bottom but all that mattered for Paul was the opportunity to give testimony about his conversion and the glory and greatness of his Lord, Jesus Christ.

(This podcast was previously published on, November 4, 2021)   Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...   After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, HE gave to the New Testament church the ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher.   From heaven Jesus called and ordained HIS ministers for the New Testament church, and this continues to this present day in the New Testament church, and it will continue to be such until Jesus returns to gather the church at the end of this world.   Ephesians 4   11 And HE (Jesus) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;   12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:   13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:   14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;   15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into HIM in all things, which is the head, even Christ:   16 From WHOM the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.  

“If It Is God's Will” Should Always Have More Authority Than Our Plan Acts 18:19-22 18Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God's will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

This week, Paul finally gets his day in court — several of them, actually, and he spends nearly all of them in custody. We're going chapter and verse through Acts 23 to 26, where Paul lobs the word "resurrection" into a room full of Pharisees and Sadducees like a rhetorical grenade, forty-plus men swear off food and drink until they can kill him, and one well-timed nephew sets off a midnight cavalry escort to Caesarea. Then it's artifacts and fiction, where Dan tells Dan about the Tel Dan Stele — a ninth-century BCE Aramaic brag-in-stone that gives us our earliest extrabiblical mention of the "House of David," and also names a killer for two kings that neither Kings nor Chronicles agrees with. Support Data Over Dogma and get every episode early and ad-free, plus exclusive bonus content — become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/DataOverDogma Get your Data Over Dogma merch at our online store: https://data-over-dogma-shop.fourthwall.com/ Watch every episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dataoverdogma Follow us: Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/dataoverdogmapod TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@data.over.dogma.pod Threads — https://www.threads.com/@dataoverdogmapod X — https://x.com/data_over_dogma Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod Get Dan McClellan's New York Times bestselling book, The Bible Says So: https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acts 23:12-35 English Standard VersionA Plot to Kill Paul12 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”16 Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” 19 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. 21 But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” 22 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”Paul Sent to Felix the Governor23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” 25 And he wrote a letter to this effect:26 “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 29 I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. 33 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 34 On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's praetorium.English Standard Version (ESV)The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.

(This podcast was previously published on, October 28, 2021)   Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...    I Corinthians 14  (The apostle Paul said)   34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.   35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.  

No Favouritism Acts 10:23-48 by William Klock Last Sunday we looked at the first half of the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10.  Peter had gone down to the coast to visit the little Christian communities that were popping up there, and while he was there he had a vision.  He was hungry and waiting for his lunch and he fell asleep.  And he saw this great linen cloth, like a sail, coming down from heaven full of every animal he could imagine.  “What this?” he thought.  And the Lord spoke and told him, “Kill and eat.”  “But Lord, some of these animals are unclean.  They're animals you forbade us from eating.  I've never deliberately broken your law.  I can't start now!”  And the Lord responded, “Don't be prejudiced, Peter.  Don't call something unclean that I have made clean.”  Three times this was repeated.  And Peter, confused, was just trying to figure out what it meant when there was knock at the door.  There were three Romans there.  And they explained that their master, A Roman centurion named Cornelius, had been visited by the God of Israel in a vision and was told to send his people to go down to Joppa to fetch Peter and bring him back to Caesarea to talk with him. So it starts to click for Peter.  It wasn't really about food.  It was about people.  Jews didn't mix with gentiles.  They were unclean.  They didn't live according to God's law.  They worshipped idols.  You didn't go into their houses.  You didn't eat with them.  But Peter understood the vision now—or at least got the gist of it: It was God's way of telling him to go with these Romans to meet Cornelius. And Luke explained: Cornelius was a God-fearer.  He was one of those gentiles, one of those people from the pagan world, who had seen something in the people of Israel.  He'd heard the stories about their God.  And he was drawn to them.  In the world of brutality and moral filth he'd come from, he saw purity and holiness in Israel.  In contrast to the distant, fickle, and immoral gods he'd know, the God of Israel stood out as radically different.  Cornelius couldn't actually become a Jew and live by torah.  He'd lose his job and probably everyone he knew, but he drew near—as close as he could.  He had his face pressed against the glass, longing for the people, the community, the family, and the God he saw inside.  Even if he couldn't get in there, he somehow found hope just in being as close as he could get—again, think of him pressing his face against the glass, longing to get inside. So Peter did the unthinkable: he invited these three Romans in, shared his lunch with them, and put then up for the night.  Now, continuing with 10:23 [page 1092 in the pew Bibles], Luke goes on and tells us. “The next day he got up and went with them.  Some of the brothers from Joppa went with him.  They reached Caesarea the following day.  Cornelius had summoned his relatives and close friends and was waiting for him.  When Peter came in, Cornelius went to meet him.  He fell down at his feet and worshipped him.  “Get up!” said Peter, lifting him up. “I'm just a man, too.” So they talked together, and Peter came in and found lots of people assembled. The temple came to Cornelius.  The thing he'd been longing for.  The place he wanted to go, to be in the presence of God, not any of his Roman gods, but the real God, the God of Israel who had made his glory known in history, it came new to Cornelius.  Brothers and Sisters, do you realise what we are.  What we are when we go out into the world.  What we are when we meet people out there?  We're God's temple.  A people purified by Jesus and made fit to be God's dwelling place.  A people filled with his presence because he's poured his Spirit into us.  Brothers and Sisters, when Peter met Cornelius, Cornelius recognised the presence of God somehow—in him, with him—he recognised it the way people who went to the temple recognised God's presence there.  Cornelius recognised or sensed or saw that in Peter.  And you and I, we should be the same.  Maybe it helped that Cornelius was in tune with this.  It was his desire to meet the one, true, living God.  He'd had his face pressed against the glass for so long, was so wanting to be in that presence, that he was especially ready to know it.  But there should be something in us that the people we encounter see or sense or know the way Cornelius recognised the presence of the living God in Peter.  He was meeting the living temple of God and that is what the world should see in the church, in us.  This would be good to reflect on.  Ask yourself what people recognise in you.  Is it God's presence or is it maybe worry or pride or anger.  Do they find the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of the works of the flesh?  Do they see the glory of God in you? And so Cornelius did what came naturally.  He bowed down and started worshipping.  Cornelius' response raises the question: Does a pagan see enough of the Holy Spirit in us that he might just bow down and try to worship?  I can imagine how shocked Peter would be.  Jews knew better, but it was the natural response to encountering God's presence.  So Peter pulled him up and set him straight and he got them up to speed on what had happened to him:  Verse 29: “You must know,” he said to them, “that it is unseemly for a Jewish man to mix with or visit a foreigner.  But God showed me that I should call nobody ‘common' or ‘unclean.'  So I came when I was asked, and raised no objections.  Do tell me, then, the reason why you sent for me.” And now it's Cornelius's turn to get Peter up to speed on what this is all about.  Luke writes, “Cornelius gave him the answer. “Four days ago,” he said, “I was praying in my house at around this time, about three o'clock, and suddenly a man stood beside me in shining clothes.  ‘Cornelius,' he said, ‘your prayer has been heard, and your almsgiving has been remembered by God.  So send someone to Joppa and call Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the house of Simon the tanner, beside the sea.'  So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come.  So now we are all here, in God's presence, to listen to everything which the Lord has told you to say.” I would think that Peter and Cornelius' men would talk on the journey and Peter would figure out that this is no ordinary Roman centurion.  But Cornelius makes it clear here: he's someone who respects the God of Israel and it's the God of Israel who has spoken to him.  Luke then says in verse 34 that Peter opened his mouth and began to speak. I think it might better to translate that as, “Peter took a deep breath and began.”  Because things are starting to get clearer for him, but this isn't easy.  He's starting to wrap his head around what God is doing here, and he's realising that it's a total game changer.  He's about to say something that he probably never thought he'd ever say.  “It's become clear to me,” he said, “that God really does show no favouritism.  No, in every nation, people who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him.” Now, we need to pause here, because as modern people—I talked about this last week when we read about God telling Peter not to be prejudiced—as modern people what we're prone to hearing Peter saying here that there are all sorts of paths to God.  Like Peter used to think that the Jewish people were God's favourites and that only they had an in with him, a way to him, and everyone else in the world was doomed and lost forever, but now, somehow in light of Jesus, he's realised that the ways that the gentiles—or at least some of them—go seeking after God, well, those ways are just as good and that Israel had nothing special.  And we think that, because this is the dominant view in our postmodern pluralistic culture.  Justification is by death—unless you're one of those really obviously bad people like Hitler—so all paths lead to God and how dare anyone remind the world that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” So, no, what Peter is saying is that when he—along with most of his fellow Jews—thought that they were God's favourites and that everyone else in the world was simply doomed to one day know the wrath and judgement of God.  They were wrong.  They were wrong for thinking that when God came to visit his people as he promised, he would set them on top and rain down fire and brimstone on the nations.  There's a sense in which that story is true, but they had the timing wrong.  God will come to establish the faithful and to judge the wicked—at the end, after the gospel and the Spirit and the Church have done their work and his glory fills the earth—but God had something else to do first.  He had a great act of amazing grace to make first in order to redeem both Israel and the nations.  This was the massive revelation that was now beginning to settle on Peter.  You can almost sense how Peter is thinking this through and working it out as he talked to Cornelius.  I think he's explaining it to himself as much to these Romans. It's important to understand: the gospel is still exclusive.  I think this was why it wasn't easy for Peter to work this through.  Jesus changes everything.  Jesus opens the way to God for all.  And yet unclean, unholy, idolatrous gentiles are still on the outside.  What Jesus has done is to reconstitute the people of God around himself.  Faith in him, not torah, has become the defining characteristic, the mark of membership in this new family.  His blood purifies us, Jew and gentile alike and makes us new.  This is why Paul, writing to the gentile Corinthians, can describe them as having once been pagans, led astray by dumb idols, but now they're part of Abraham's family.  Jesus has brought them into Israel's story.  He's seen their faces pressed against the glass and opened the door.  If they'll come through his door, they can finally know the living God.  And, of course, Peter's also realising that since God shows no favouritism, his own people now need to come through that same Jesus door too. So Peter says, yes, there was something special about Israel.  Verse 36: “[God] sent his word to the sons of Israel, announcing peace through Jesus the Messiah—he is Lord of all!”  This was how it had to work.  God had chosen Abraham to be the one through whom he would make himself known to a world that had rebelled against him and forgotten him.  The intent all along was to work through Abraham and then his family to restore the whole human race.  By Peter's day the Jews had taken that to mean that they were God's favourites and he hated everyone else, but what it really meant, well, Jesus said in John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him should not die, but have eternal life”—the life of the age to come, life in God's creation set to right and, most important, life in his presence. So Jesus was born one of those people called to steward God's word to the world and he brought God's announcement of peace—of restoration.  He was the promised Messiah, the King, the one in whom God would return to his people and set everything right. So Peter goes on in verse 37: “You know all about this, and how the word spread through all Judaea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed.  God anointed this man, Jesus of Nazareth, with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, since God was with him.  We are witnesses of everything he did in the land of Judaea and in Jerusalem.  They killed him by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day, and allowed him to be seen, not indeed by all the people, but by those of us whom God had appointed beforehand. We ate and drank with him after he had been raised from the dead.  And he commanded us to announce to the people, and to bear testimony, that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.  All the prophets give their witness: he is the one! Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Being so close to the people of Israel, I expect Cornelius knew about Jesus.  And I also suspect that wanting to have a relationship with the people of Israel while being an outsider and a Roman, would have made him very hesitant to think of or affirm Jesus as the Messiah.  All of the Jews he knew denounced Jesus as a fraud and laughed at these men and women going around claiming he'd been raised from the dead.  But God broke through that.  He spoke and he brought Cornelius and Peter together.  It's really a stunning story of God's providence working to fulfil his promises.  Jesus had told his friends that they would carry the good news of his death and resurrection from Jerusalem to Judaea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.  In the First Century there was no better way of doing that then for the gospel to get hold of a Roman.  And so God prepared a Roman to hear it.  He brought this man to Caesarea where he saw something beautiful, something holy, something of the glory of God and was drawn to it.  And when the time was right, he brought an eyewitness to the gospel story to him and he brought him, he brought Peter in a way that Cornelius couldn't dismiss. And the story here is interesting.  Luke doesn't say anything about Cornelius asking, like others do in other places, something like, “What must I do to be saved?”  Cornelius was so close.  He just needed to hear about Jesus.  And Luke writes in verse 44: “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone who was listening to the word.  The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles too.  They heard them speaking with tongues and praising God.” These Romans heard and they just believed.  The Spirit filled them up and as evidence—evidence that these Jewish Christians like Peter and his friends desperately need to see—the Spirit started speaking through these Romans in tongues.  I can imagine those Romans, they spoke Latin, they spoke Greek, they stumbled over Aramaic.  They didn't know Hebrew at all.  And I picture the Spirit suddenly speaking through them to Peter, maybe singing Psalm 110 in fluent Hebrew, because that seems to have been the purpose of tongues in the New Testament.  The Spirit proclaiming the good news and God's glory.  But the main point of this demonstration was to say to Peter and the other Jewish believers that God had seen fit to bring these uncircumcised gentiles into his temple.  Jesus' sacrifice was so powerful, his blood so powerful that it can purify even the gentiles and make them fit to be the dwelling place of God's Spirit.  Cornelius didn't have to get circumcised or change his diet or start observing the Sabbath to fit for the Holy Spirit or to be part of God's new creation.  Because that's going to be the big debate coming up soon in the story.  What happened that day at Caesarea sent a clear message: this new Israel, this new people of God is not defined or marked out by torah, by the law of Moses, but by faith in Jesus and Jesus alone. And Peter gets this.  And so Luke writes, “Then Peter spoke up. “Nobody can deny these people water to be baptized, can they?” he said. “They have received the Holy Spirit, just like we did!”  So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah.  Then they asked him to stay for a few days.” Usually it was the other way around: believe, be baptise, be filled with the Spirit and incorporated into God's new temple.  But in these early days God was sometimes mixing up the process to communicate important messages to the early church.  In Samaria it was the opposite.  The Samaritan had believed, but the Spirit didn't fill them until the apostles paid them a visit.  Here the Spirit fills these new believers before they're even baptised.  And so Peter makes it clear: Let's baptise these people. Not, let's circumcise them to bring them into the people of God, but let's mark them out by baptism.  You don't have to be a Jew to be part of this people.  Just the opposite in a way.  Be baptised, be united with Jesus the Messiah, you become a part of this new people of God, and the Spirit circumcises your heart—he does for you really, and deeply what circumcision and the law had always been external symbols of. As I've been reflecting on this story over the last weeks, I've been moved by how it reveals God's faithfulness and his glory.  This is God taking the first steps to fulfil his promise that through Israel he would bring the nations to himself.  And when you think about the context of this story: the Romans and Judaism in the First Century, it's amazing to reflect on God at work, not just setting his own people to rights here and bringing them to a point where they're accomplishing the mission he'd given them two millennia before when he called Abraham, but he's set things up so that it's just the right representative of the gentile nations who meets Peter.  A man already pressing his face against the glass, a man already valuing the very thing that God had given to his people and that so many of them took for granted.  And now he's brought into the family—not through circumcision—and oddly enough not even through baptism, but directly: hearing the gospel and being filled with the Spirit.  Peter has to rush to catch up with the baptism part—because that's essential too.  And giving the gospel to a Roman centurion.  It's like putting the gospel on a high-speed train to the rest of the empire and from there to the world.  This and what comes next are the setup for the rest of Acts and for Paul's story. But here—I'll just say this in conclusion—here we're reminded what the gospel is and what it's about and how we become part of its story ourselves.  Brothers and Sisters, it's not through what we do.  It's not through who we are.  It's through Jesus.  Through faith in him as the Messiah, as the King, as creation's true Lord who has come to set the world to rights, to drive away the darkness, to defeat sin and death, to bring light and life—and most of all God's presence back to men and women.  His blood is what purifies us from the stain of sin and death.  And when he's washed us clean, he fills us with God's Spirit—with new life and a new way of life.  The Spirit in us is God's glorious future in the present.  And it's Jesus who brings us into that life and into the presence of God. Someone recently asked me why we drink wine in the Lord's Supper and whether it was really necessary.  Why can't we just drink grape juice?  Brothers and Sisters, it's because Jesus' blood is powerful.  And because, like alcohol, Jesus' blood is purifying.  Like the wine that hits your tongue with a bit of a shock, the power of Jesus' blood ought to get our attention—the way it did for Peter that day in Caesarea.  Brothers and Sisters, Jesus' blood is powerful enough to wash away the greatest stain—of sin, of idolatry, of death—to make us sons and daughters of Abraham, sons and daughters of the living God.  Come to the Table this morning.  Eat the bread.  Drink the wine.  And give glory to God. Let's pray: Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy; and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall, keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

In The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought (Cambridge UP, 2026), Gabrielle Thomas questions the popular assumption that the devil served as the primary explanation for evil, sin, and suffering as early Christians grappled with all that is wrong in the world. Interrogating the status of the devil in the teachings of the Cappadocians – Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Macrina the Younger – she identifies their points of agreement, that the devil is a fallen angel, and disagreement, notably how Christ defeated him, his continued existence, and his ultimate end. In her investigation, Thomas engages fourth-century Christian thought in conversation with ancient philosophy, ancient history, classics, and biblical studies. She demonstrates how the Cappadocians negotiated myriad philosophical, theological, and spiritual problems with the devil. Thomas argues that the devil is not simply a strategy for explaining the problem of evil. Rather, the devil himself is the problem. New Books in Late Antiquity is Presented by Ancient Jew Review Gabrielle Thomas, an Anglican priest, is Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Early Christian, Anglican, and Theological Studies at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of The Image of God in the Theology of Gregory of Nazianzus and For the Good of the Church: Unity, Theology, and Women and co-editor of Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at Umass Boston Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Saturday Night Service (8/29/26) // *Acts 21:8* (ESV) // 8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.Acts 8:4-40* (ESV) // *Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria* // 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.*Simon the Magician Believes*9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles[b] performed, he was amazed.14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall[c] of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.*Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch*26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[d] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation?For his life is taken away from the earth.”34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told ...

Rosh Hashana | How Did We Get To 30 Blasts? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom Why do we blow 30 shofar blasts from one vague word in the Torah? The answer involves doubt, unity, and Caesarea. This shiur explores the halakhic development of the shofar blowing on Rosh Hashana, tracing the transition from the Torah's vague command of 'Yom Terua' to the established practice of 30 sounds. Rabbi Etshalom analyzes the Sifra's hermeneutic process to identify the shofar as the required instrument and the structure of the blasts. Finally, the lecture examines the Gemara's account of Rabbi Abbahu's takkana, which unified diverse regional customs into the comprehensive sequence of sounds performed today. Source sheet >>

In The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought (Cambridge UP, 2026), Gabrielle Thomas questions the popular assumption that the devil served as the primary explanation for evil, sin, and suffering as early Christians grappled with all that is wrong in the world. Interrogating the status of the devil in the teachings of the Cappadocians – Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Macrina the Younger – she identifies their points of agreement, that the devil is a fallen angel, and disagreement, notably how Christ defeated him, his continued existence, and his ultimate end. In her investigation, Thomas engages fourth-century Christian thought in conversation with ancient philosophy, ancient history, classics, and biblical studies. She demonstrates how the Cappadocians negotiated myriad philosophical, theological, and spiritual problems with the devil. Thomas argues that the devil is not simply a strategy for explaining the problem of evil. Rather, the devil himself is the problem. New Books in Late Antiquity is Presented by Ancient Jew Review Gabrielle Thomas, an Anglican priest, is Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Early Christian, Anglican, and Theological Studies at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of The Image of God in the Theology of Gregory of Nazianzus and For the Good of the Church: Unity, Theology, and Women and co-editor of Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at Umass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought (Cambridge UP, 2026), Gabrielle Thomas questions the popular assumption that the devil served as the primary explanation for evil, sin, and suffering as early Christians grappled with all that is wrong in the world. Interrogating the status of the devil in the teachings of the Cappadocians – Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Macrina the Younger – she identifies their points of agreement, that the devil is a fallen angel, and disagreement, notably how Christ defeated him, his continued existence, and his ultimate end. In her investigation, Thomas engages fourth-century Christian thought in conversation with ancient philosophy, ancient history, classics, and biblical studies. She demonstrates how the Cappadocians negotiated myriad philosophical, theological, and spiritual problems with the devil. Thomas argues that the devil is not simply a strategy for explaining the problem of evil. Rather, the devil himself is the problem. New Books in Late Antiquity is Presented by Ancient Jew Review Gabrielle Thomas, an Anglican priest, is Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Early Christian, Anglican, and Theological Studies at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of The Image of God in the Theology of Gregory of Nazianzus and For the Good of the Church: Unity, Theology, and Women and co-editor of Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at Umass BostonSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought (Cambridge UP, 2026), Gabrielle Thomas questions the popular assumption that the devil served as the primary explanation for evil, sin, and suffering as early Christians grappled with all that is wrong in the world. Interrogating the status of the devil in the teachings of the Cappadocians – Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Macrina the Younger – she identifies their points of agreement, that the devil is a fallen angel, and disagreement, notably how Christ defeated him, his continued existence, and his ultimate end. In her investigation, Thomas engages fourth-century Christian thought in conversation with ancient philosophy, ancient history, classics, and biblical studies. She demonstrates how the Cappadocians negotiated myriad philosophical, theological, and spiritual problems with the devil. Thomas argues that the devil is not simply a strategy for explaining the problem of evil. Rather, the devil himself is the problem. New Books in Late Antiquity is Presented by Ancient Jew Review Gabrielle Thomas, an Anglican priest, is Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Early Christian, Anglican, and Theological Studies at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of The Image of God in the Theology of Gregory of Nazianzus and For the Good of the Church: Unity, Theology, and Women and co-editor of Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at Umass BostonSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What God has Made Clean Acts 9:32-10:23 by William Klock Back in 2012 Barack Obama, in what became something of an infamous campaign speech, told business owners, “You didn't build that.”  His point was that private business relies on public infrastructure, but most people just heard him dismissing their hard work as irrelevant to the businesses they had built.  It wasn't a good campaign move.  But that line keeps coming back to my mind as I read the closing verses of Act 9.  Amazing things were happening in the church.  The apostles were doing amazing things.  The church was growing by leaps and bounds.  And in the middle of it all, Luke says, “You didn't build that.  Jesus did.” You might remember back to when we first started out look at Acts and I said that even though we call the book “the Acts of the Apostles,” what Luke really makes clear throughout is that this is really about the acts of Jesus—picking up where the Gospel left off.  It's just that now Jesus is working indirectly through his people.  We—and I can say that especially pastors—need this reminder.  When we look at the church, when we're tempted to take credit for the things we see happening, Luke reminds us: “You didn't build that.  Jesus did.”  Brothers and Sisters, the glory—all of it—belongs to God and this long story of God and his people, of Israel and the church that continues today has one purpose and one purpose alone: to reveal God's glory. Now,most of Chapter 9 was about Saul of Tarsus and his encounter with Jesus.  That's going to be important.  But first Luke brings us back to Peter.  We'll pick up with 9:32 [page 1091 in the pew Bibles]: “As Peter was going through various places among all the believers, he went down to God's people who lived in Lydda.  There he found a paralyzed man named Aeneas who had been confined to bed for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus the Messiah heals you!  Stand up and fold up your bed!”  And at once he stood up.  Everyone who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw it, and they turned to the Lord. In Joppa [today it's Jaffa not too far from Tel Aviv] there was a disciple named Tabitha, whose name translates as Dorcas.  She was full of good works and generous deeds.  Around that time she fell ill and died.  They washed her and laid her in an upper room.  Lydda is near Joppa, and the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the urgent request that he shouldn't delay, but come to them at once.  So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the upper room, where all the widows were weeping. They showed him the tunics and the other clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.  Peter requested them all to leave.  Then he knelt down and prayed, and turned to the body.  “Tabitha,” he said, “get up!”  She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.  He gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then he called God's people, including the widows, and presented her alive.  This became known throughout the whole of Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.  Peter stayed on in Joppa for some days, at the house of Simon the tanner.” I don't want to spend too much time on this interlude.  Surely there were other wonderful things happening, but Luke focuses us on Peter and the healing of Aeneas and the raising of Dorcas and in them he gives a sense of the church's growth through Judaea.  Dorcas is interesting, because she seems to have lived in a community of widows—and we know that was one group, one demographic where the gospel spread early on—to a group of women living with poverty and grief.  Jesus was good news.  But I think Luke's key point in these verses is in the words of Peter when he told Aeneas to get up: “Jesus the Messiah heals you!”  Not just, “Get up.”  Not, “I've healed you.”  “Jesus the Messiah heals you.”  Peter knew who was at work.  Jesus—and the Spirit—are behind everything we do as the church.  And we need to be reminded of this sometimes.  Sometimes when we're tempted to take the credit for things.  Sometimes when we get frustrated with a lack of things happening or with what seems like too slow a pace and we wish bigger things would happen faster in the church.  Brothers and Sisters, it's Jesus' church, not ours.  He's the one who makes things happen.  If Saul's conversion isn't proof of that, then nothing is.  Trust Jesus.  Wait on Jesus.  Give Jesus the credit. And then there's one other detail here.  Peter's staying at the home of Simon the Tanner.  This says something about who the first Christians were.  Tanning was dirty, smelly work.  It didn't necessarily make you unclean as people used to think, but it was nasty work and it put tanners on the social fringe of society.  But Peter doesn't shrink from Simon's hospitality.  He stays at his house, even though it probably stinks to high heaven.  Most people would think he was crazy, but Brothers and Sisters, this is what the gospel does.  It makes people of unlikely—and even unsavoury backgrounds—family. Now, Luke goes on in 10:1.  “In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion with the cohort called the Italian.”  He was devout, and he and all his household revered God. He gave alms generously to the people, and constantly prayed to God.” As Twenty-first century Christians we might miss how significant these two verses are.  Luke says that there's a centurion named Cornelius at Caesara.  Caesarea was the main Roman base in Judaea.  It was a port city built by Herod the Great to funnel all the shipping into one place to make it easier for him to tax.  But it was also the home of the Roman governor.  It wasn't a backwater.  It was a significant outpost of the Roman Empire and a centurion stationed there—a centurion was the commander of a unit of one hundred soldiers—he had some status.  Cornelius had the respect of his Roman superiors.  But then Luke says that he was “devout”—eusebes.  He was godly, pious, and reverent, not in a vague religious sense, but towards the God of Israel.  He was generous with his money so far as the local Jewish community was concerned, and he was constant in his prayer, again, to the God of Israel. That wasn't unheard of, but it was unusual.  I've said before, there was this group of people, gentiles, pagan in their background, whom the Jews called “God-fearers”.  They were attracted to the God of Israel, to the purity of Jewish life, and to the community they saw there.  Remember, pagan life in the pre-Christian world was mean and brutal and merciless.  The gods were mean and brutal and merciless too—along with being unknowable and fickle.  Sexual immorality was everywhere.  Women and slaves existed to satisfy the desires of men.  In the upper classes, boys were initiated into adulthood through sex with older men.  Marriage was pragmatic and divorce was common.  So were abortion and infanticide.  When you look around the world today and you see the darkness and the brokenness around you and know in your bones that this is not how God meant for things to be, the pre-Christian pagan world was much, much worse.  And for all of Israel's failings, she still stood out as a light in the darkness.  And a lot of the pagans, seeing that, mocked Israel.  But some were drawn to it.  They didn't go all the way.  They had their reasons.  A centurion like Cornelius, for example, would probably have to give up his career—or would be forced out of it—if he was circumcised and chose to live by torah.   So it's interesting—because the progression of the story in Acts will eventually lead us with Paul to Rome.  And it sort of starts here, although it starts with Peter.  And the first Roman we meet breaks all the stereotypes.  He wasn't one of those soldiers who took pleasure in abusing the local Jewish people.  He wasn't one of those Romans doing unspeakable things at the bathhouse.  Caesarea had a huge temple—built by Herod!—a huge temple to the goddess Roma and to Caesar Augustus.  And I can imagine Cornelius going there and going through the motions for his job, but he wasn't the sort to otherwise frequent the pagan temples.  He's a little like Jesus' good Samaritan.  He's supposed to be the enemy.  Everyone wants him to be the enemy.  Everyone wants to hate him.  But he's actually a good guy and even the Jews in his community grow to respect him. So, Luke goes on in verse 3: Cornelius ‘had a vision.  Around three o'clock in the afternoon he saw, quite clearly, one of God's angels coming to him. “Cornelius!” said the angel.  He looked hard at him, terrified.  “What is it, Lord?” he said.  “Your prayers and your alms have come to God's notice,” said the angel.  “What you must do is this.  Send men to Joppa, and ask for someone called Simon, surnamed Peter.  He is staying with a man called Simon, a tanner, whose house is beside the sea.”  When the angel who had spoken with him went away, he called two of his household and a devout soldier from among his retinue.  He explained everything to them, and sent them off to Joppa.” So God's obviously been working in Cornelius for a while now and he's been doing it through his people and their witness.  This why God created a special people.  And Cornelius has been hearing the scriptures—probably in the local synagogue.  But that's not enough.  I mean, even as far at the old covenant went, that wasn't enough.  He wasn't circumcised.  He didn't live according to torah—except maybe in a few ways easy for a gentile to do.  He'd never taken part in Passover.  He couldn't enter the temple.  He was drawn to God, but he was still far away.  He could see the hope that Israel embodied, but it wasn't his hope.  But even life on the fringe of Israel, even life looking towards a God he couldn't actually approach, was better than pagan life.  And this sets things up for where the gospel is going to go and how it's going to challenge the church.  Because up until this point, the gospel, Jesus were still very much a Jewish thing.  To be a Christians was to continue to be a Jew, but to be a Jew living in the fulfilment of the covenant and of God's promises to you and to your people.  But—this is key to the book of Acts—for those promises to be fulfilled also meant that Israel's calling to be a light to the nations, to make God known amongst them, to set them to rights had to be fulfilled.  And bringing gentiles to fringes of the people of God, to make them attracted to the family, but to leave them still outside—that wasn't fulfilment of God's promises.  It anticipated the fulfilment, but somehow the new people of God and the Spirit had to fully incorporate the nations. But up to this point, it seems like those first Christians—pretty much all Jews except for the Samaritans—who were like quasi-Jews—and the Ethiopian eunuch, whom at this point they may not have even known about yet—the idea of Jesus bringing the nations under his rule through the gospel, it doesn't really seem to have been on the radar.  That was the part of the promises that Israel had kind of forgotten—and when they did remember it, they thought of it mostly in terms of God coming on the gentiles and their kings in judgement to rain down his wrath—not his mercy and grace.  And, well, those first Jewish Christians also had plenty on their plate already just proclaiming the gospel in Jerusalem and Judaea.  So, again, it's God who moves things forward—just as he'd done with the Samaritans. And angel appears to Cornelius.  Send for Peter in Joffa.  And so Cornelius chooses two of his servants and one of his soldiers who is also a God-fearer to fetch Peter.  I had to pause there for a bit, because it sounds like Cornelius is devout enough that he's been sort of an evangelist for Judaism even though he isn't even a Jew.  That's pretty remarkable. Now, verse 9, Luke takes us about fifty kilometres down the coast, to Joppa and to Peter: “The next day, as they were on their journey and getting near the town, Peter went up onto the roof of the house to pray.  It was around midday; he was hungry, and asked for something to eat.  While they were preparing it, he fell into a trance.  He saw heaven opened, and a vessel like a great sail coming down toward the earth, suspended by its four corners.  In the sail there was every kind of four-footed creature, reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.' So it starts out pretty ordinary: Peter's hungry and while he's waiting for his lunch he falls asleep and dreams about a banquet coming down from heaven.  But then he looks at what's on this great linen picnic cloth and there's everything.  Clean animals good for food, but also forbidden unclean animals.  He's perplexed.  Why would he dream about eating unclean things.  That's gross.  ‘Then he heard a voice: “Get up, Peter!” said the voice. “Kill and eat!” “Certainly not, Lord!” said Peter. “I've never eaten anything common or unclean!”  Peter was a good Jew.  He lived by torah.  Diet—along with circumcision and keeping the sabbath—were the big things that marked out the Jews from everyone else.  God had chosen Israel, he'd rescued them from Egypt, he'd set them apart, he'd come to live in their midst, and he'd given them his law to set them apart from the nations—to be a holy people.  And out of gratitude for the Lord's grace—not to earn anything, but out of gratitude—they did their best to be obedient.  It was their way of being faithful in response to the Lord's faithfulness.  For the Lord to tell Peter to eat, say, a pig, well, he might just as well have told him to break the Sabbath or to go worship at a pagan temple.  To break the law was to break faith with the God of Israel.  Peter was shocked.  He was confused.  Was this really the Lord speaking?  Verse 15: “What God has made clean,” said the voice, coming now for a second time, “you must not regard as common.”  And just to make a point, verse 16: ‘This all happened three times, and then suddenly the sail was whisked back up to heaven.' Luke writes, ‘When Peter came to himself, he was puzzled as to what the vision he had seen was all about.'  No kidding.  I bet he was confused.  Why would the Lord tell him that something clearly unclean isn't actually unclean.  Had God changed his mind?  I don't think Peter would go in that direction.  He knew as well as anyone that God doesn't change his mind like that.  We'll get back to that in a bit.  I expect Peter started thinking about all those times he was with Jesus and Jesus did something that seemed like it was against torah, but then showed how God was doing something new, how God was fulfilling what torah had always been pointing toward.  But before he had time to work it all through, Luke says, ‘Suddenly, the men sent by Cornelius appeared, standing by the gate. They had been asking for Simon's house, inquiring if someone by the name of Simon called Peter was staying there.  Peter was still pondering the vision when the Spirit spoke to him. “Look,” said the spirit. “There are three men searching for you.  It's all right; get up, go down, and go with them. Don't be prejudiced; I have sent them.”  So Peter went down to the men. “Here I am,” he said. “I'm the one you're looking for.  Why have you come?” “There is a man called Cornelius,” they replied. “He is a centurion, and he's a righteous and God-fearing man. The whole people of the Jews will testify to him.  A holy angel told him in a vision to send for you to come to his house, so that he can hear any words you may have to say.”  So he invited them in and put them up for the night.” When he met the soldiers at the door everything started to make sense.  It wasn't about the food.  The Lord didn't care what Peter ate.  Peter could never eat a nice bacon-wrapped shrimp—and the Lord would be sad for him missing out on the wonder of a bacon-wrapped shrimp—but it was no moral failure on Peter's part.  It wasn't about food; it was about people.  If we put ourselves in Peter's shoes, a first century Jewish fisherman, it makes sense.  Because for someone like him, it wasn't just what you ate, it was just as much who you ate with.  Jews didn't eat with gentiles.  They didn't even go into their houses.  Because even if a gentile wasn't serving you obviously unclean food, like a shrimp or a porkchop, you never knew where that food might have come from.  It might be meat that was offered to an idol and bought from the butcher shop behind the temple.  In the Jewish mind, gentile homes always ran the risk of corpse defilement.  The gentiles didn't take the same care with their dead that the Jews did, plus they aborted their infants and threw them in the privy.  Who knows how you might find yourself defiled if you consorted with gentiles or ate their food.  And to let yourself be defiled that way, well, it was to dishonour God.  Even a God-fearer like Cornelius.  A soldier? He was probably regularly defiled by corpses.  He ate bacon.  Even if he didn't really worship them, he spent time around idols.  If you were a Roman soldier there was no escaping it. And I can easily picture Peter, meeting Cornelius' God-fearing men at the door and, even though he hasn't had a chance to work it all through, something clicks.  Again, it wasn't actually about the food.  It was about people.  In the Jewish mind, these men were pigs: unclean, idolaters.  But God had told him: “Don't be prejudiced against these men.  I've sent them.”  And so he let them into the house.  I expect there was more to it than Luke tells us.  Peter hadn't had a chance to tell any of this to his hosts.  It's not hard to image their, “But…um…Peter…uh…what are you doing…not in my house.”  And in those days, to welcome someone into your house was to offer them hospitality.  His host had just made Peter lunch and now Peter's going to invite these unclean Romans to sit and share it with him.  This went against everything.  But the Lord had been clear: “Don't be prejudiced against them.  Do not call common what I have made clean.”  It'll take a bit for Peter to work the implications of this all the way through, but he knew what to do and I'm sure he was already starting to wrap his head around what the Lord was doing. You see, our problem is this.  Because of the secular thinking that's been ingrained into us, when we hear the Lord say not to be prejudiced and not to call common what he has made clean, our first thought is something like “God changed his mind”  or maybe we're thinking something like, “Good, it was about time God set those prejudiced Jews straight”—as if their keeping apart from gentiles was wrong.  In our culture, the default view is that all religion are the same.  We rankle at the idea that a person's religious views might be wrong.  I've pointed out before that, first, this modern idea of “religion” didn't exist in the First Century.  But the bigger mistake we make is to think that there was something wrong with the law, with torah, with the way Jews kept themselves apart.  And that's not it at all.  If that's what we're thinking, then we're the ones with a prejudice that needs to be removed. Brothers and Sisters, the law was good.  The law was God's gift to his people—and through them to the nations.  When God tells Peter not to call common what he has made clean, it's really important that we hear this properly, because I think we're prone to misreading this as God saying, “You've mistakenly called common what I've called clean”—as if Leviticus and the rest of torah were a mistake.  No.  Cornelius, Romans, gentiles, pagan idolaters were unclean.  They are still unclean today.  The law hasn't changed.  What's changed is that Jesus has shed his blood to purify, to wash clean—not just his own people, Israel, but every last one of us, Jew and gentiles alike.  If we will hear the good news that he has died, that he has risen, and that he is Lord; if we have heard the good news that his blood washes away our sin and our idolatry and the stain of death; if we have heard the good news that he is setting this broken world to rights; if we have heard the good news that in his Spirit, God is fulfilling his promise to build a new temple and to dwell with is people; if we have heard this good news and believed, we are no longer unclean.  Jesus washes away our sin, he washes away our idolatry, he fills us with God's Spirit.  Jew and gentile alike, and he makes us holy. God didn't change his mind.  He didn't retract his previous word.  I can remember once as a young kid in a parking lot, getting distracted, dawdling, and getting left behind when my mom crossed a busy thoroughfare.  Being a kid, blind to traffic, I was just going to run across to catch up with my mom.  But she noticed what had happened and she yelled at me to stay put.  It sticks in my mind, because a complete stranger, seeing what was happening, grabbed my shoulder and held me there when I was about to run.  A moment later Mom told me to come to her, to run across that busy thoroughfare.  And it wasn't that she changed her mind.  Something else changed.  She told me to stay put the first time, because there was a car coming and she didn't want me to run into its path.  But then the car was gone.  It was safe to run to her.  And just so with the law and the gospel.  The law kept Isreal holy so that she could live in God's presence.  The law kept gentiles away, because it's not safe for what is impure, what is sinful, what is unclean to be in the presence of holiness.  Brothers and Sisters, that hasn't changed.  Not one bit.  What has changed is that Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has made a way for us to be washed from the stain of sin and death, to be purified from our idolatry, and to be made holy.  So holy, in fact, that God fills us with his own Spirit and makes us his temple. And that's what God was communicating to Peter that day.  Peter already understood all of that.  He knew that the church, that Jesus' people, filled with the Spirit were the fulfilment of God's promise to return to his people, to rebuild his temple, and to live with them.  But this was the day that God started to show his people: the blood of Jesus and the life of the Spirit weren't just for Jews.  In fact, to fulfil his promises, this new life was also for the gentiles.  Jesus' blood can wash them—can wash us—just as clean.  And in that God reveals his faithfulness and his glory.  And it is his glory, above all, that draws men and women to him in faith.  Just like Cornelius. This is only half the story here in Acts.  I'm already going long.  We'll finish it next week.  But this is the takeaway.  Not so much something you can do, but something you need to know, to understand, so that you can see the glory of God better.  He doesn't change his mind.  In the law, he didn't give Israel something bad that he later had to revoke.  It's all part of the story of God and his people and his redemption of humanity and all of creation.  It's a progressive revelation of himself through promise and fulfilment and at each step of the way, as we see God's goodness, his love, his faithfulness, his glory is ever more revealed.  That's is, I think, how we should think of “law and gospel”.  There's been a lot in the history of the church that has mucked that up, but think on Peter and Cornelius this week—maybe go home and at some point read the rest of the story in preparation for next week—and see the goodness and faithfulness of God—and give him glory.  And as you do, do so in joyful anticipation, knowing that one day, through our witness, through our proclamation of Jesus, the knowledge of that glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Let's pray: Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

NOTE: When you sign up for Patreon, PLEASE do it through a web browser (Safari, Chrome, etc.) and NOT an app on your iPhone. The Apple app charges 30% !!! If you just click on the link above, it should be fine. In today's episode, Becket Cook interviews Dr. Paul Weaver about his book Faith Affirming Findings: 50 Archaeological Discoveries That Validate the Historicity and Reliability of Scripture. They cover finds that silenced Bible skeptics: the Tel Dan House of David stele confirming King David’s dynasty, the Nabonidus Cylinder and Chronicle proving Belshazzar and explaining Daniel 5’s third-in-power offer, the first-century Magdala synagogue showing synagogues existed before AD 70, Yehohanan’s crucified heel bone with iron nail verifying Gospel nailing and burial accounts, the Thessalonica politarch inscription confirming Luke’s accuracy in Acts 17, the ornate Caiaphas ossuary of the high priest who condemned Jesus, and the Pontius Pilate inscription from Caesarea Maritima. These biblical archaeology discoveries from Tel Dan, Babylon, Galilee, Jerusalem, and Caesarea affirm real people, places, and events in Scripture, strengthening confidence in the Bible’s historicity for pastors, teachers, and students. Paul Weaver's Book: https://a.co/d/0dNqTFAk The Becket Cook Show Ep. 252 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

He began his life in the cruelest of circumstances: both of his parents were imprisoned for their faith in Christ. First his father, Theodotus, died in prison, then his mother, Rufina, died shortly after his birth, so the infant was left alone in prison beside the bodies of his parents. But an angel appeared to the widow Ammia, telling her to go to the prison and rescue the child. Ammia obtained the city governor's permission to bury the parents and bring the child home. He was called Mamas because he was mute until the age of five and his first word was `Mama'. Despite his late beginning, he showed unusual intelligence and, having been brought up in piety, soon openly proclaimed his Christian faith. When he was only fifteen years old he was arrested and brought before the Emperor Aurelian. The Emperor, perhaps seeking to spare the boy, told him to deny Christ only with his lips, and the State would not concern itself with his heart. Mamas replied `I shall not deny my God and King Jesus Christ either in my heart or with my lips.' He was sent to be tortured, but miraculously escaped and lived in the mountains near Caesarea. There he lived in solitude and prayer and befriended many wild beasts. In time, he was discovered by the persecutors and stabbed to death with a trident by a pagan priest.

Key Verse: Acts 27:22 “22 But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.” “Take Courage because it will work out, but we must go through this first!”

Key Verse: Acts 27:22 “22 But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.” “Take Courage because it will work out, but we must go through this first!”

Pastor Jordan Boyce is preaching on Divine Orchestration: When God Answers Prayer Through People.

* 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.

On the Road to Damascus Acts 9:1-31 by William Klock When I was a sophomore in University I took the first of several art history courses, where I discovered—I should say it was more like I was confronted by—Caravaggio's famous painting of the conversion of St. Paul: Paul fallen from his horse, hands covering his face, his servants scrambling to figure out what's going on and to help him, everything in darkness—except Paul, bathed in heavenly light.  I'd read Act 9 who knows how many times before then.  But seeing Caravaggio's interpretation of that scene suddenly piqued my curiosity—made me wonder what really happened to Paul that day, what did he actually see, and why did it make such a powerful change in him.  Paul, that day, became for me—I suppose after Jesus—the most intriguing character in the Bible and I wanted to figure him out, to understand him—I think, because I wanted a faith of my own like Paul's, because I wanted to know the same kind of transformation, the same kind of passion, that Paul had after meeting the risen Messiah. And one of the things I came to realise is that Paul's passion, his zeal didn't start when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Actually, let's call him “Saul” for now, because that's where he's at in Acts 9.  Saul's zeal was already there: for the God of Israel, for righteousness and justice, for the world to be set to rights.  He truly hoped in the God of Israel, whom he knew to be good, and just, and faithful to the promises he'd made to his people.  That was what it meant to be a Pharisee.  Paul knew that his people had sinned, they had been unfaithful, they had engaged in idolatry.  They had ceased to be a holy people, so the Lord departed from them.  His presence—the cloud of glory—departed from the temple and then the people were conquered and exiled to Babylon.  “You want to worship pagan gods,” the Lord was basically saying, “Fine, you can spend a few decades in Babylon living with the pagans and their gods and see how it works out for you.”  And the people of Judah learned the lesson.  They set aside their idols, they embraced the torah, and they longed for an end to their exile—they longed for the return of God's presence.  And they became a people of hopeful longing.  It's funny how experiencing God's discipline so often gives us more hope, because it just underscores all the more his faithfulness—to do what he said, even if it's making good on his promise of judgement.  They knew his promises of restoration if they repented were just as true. And in the meantime, with no temple and with no visible manifestation of the presence of God, they did the best they could.  They devoted themselves—the Pharisees more than others—but they devoted themselves to torah, to holiness.  If they couldn't go to the temple, they would become like the temple themselves—a holy people waiting for God to return to them.  And when they returned to Judaea and rebuilt the temple and the Lord still did not return, the empty temple—all the more—became the symbol for their longing.  And missing his presence, they would meditate on the very idea of the Lord's presence.  If they dared—and at least the later rabbis urged caution, based on the Lord's warning to Moses that “no one may see my face and live”—but if they dared, some would meditate on Ezekiel's weird and mysterious vision of the Lord in his heavenly chariot—not looking for some personal mystical experience, but out of a hope and a longing for the day when the Lord would return, when heaven earth, so long sundered by our sin, would be brought back together, for the day when the Lord's people would once again live in his glorious presence.  It was a longing borne of the absence of the temple and of God's presence there. It was this passionate longing for the Lord's return that fuelled the zeal of men like Saul of Tarsus.  This zealous young Pharisee, steeped in Israel's scriptures and Israel's story, with a passion for the Lord and a longing to see his return.  And in his mind, if anything was going to hinder the Lord's return to his people, it was the new Jesus movement, these people who blasphemously believed in a crucified Messiah.  It had to be stamped out.  And so Saul supervised the stoning of Stephen.  And now, as we get into Acts 9 [page 1090 in the pew Bibles) we find that he's one of the chief orchestrators of the persecution of the early church.  Luke writes: “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out threats and murder on the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and requested from him letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he could find people who belonged to the Way, men and women alike, tie them up, and bring them back to Jerusalem.” And along the way, I think that Paul was probably meditating.  Luke doesn't fill in these kinds of details, but between his telling of the story here and Paul's telling it later in his epistles, there are parallels with the accounts we have of Jews engaging in this practise of meditating on Ezekiel's vision.  Paul was a man of faith, a man of hope, a man who knew that the Lord is faithful to his promises.  And so he knew the Lord would return to his people and I think Paul lived out that hope in the present by just this sort of meditation on scripture.  Up and down with the rhythmic movement of what was probably a donkey—there are some stunning parallels here with Balaam even if this donkey never says a word—the hot sun beating down on him.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Recall Ezekiel.  Eyes closed, Paul pictures as best he could the four bizarre living creates, all wings and eyes, and the chariot wheels, somehow wheels within wheel all going different directions.  He concentrated and mentally looked upward from the wheels to the crystal chariot itself, and then to the throne where Ezekial wrote that he had seen a figure not unlike a human, but gleaming with holy fire.  I expect Paul had meditated like this before.  Maybe it had never come to much.  Just try it yourself.  Try to visualise what Ezekiel describes.  Good luck making sense of it.  Or maybe Paul had done this many times before and had really been met by the Lord, the God of Israel through this kind of meditation.  But this time was different.  Luke goes on: “While he was on the journey, and was getting near to Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.  He fell on the ground and heard a voice speaking to him.  “Saul, Saul!” said the voice.  “Why are you persecuting me?”  “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.  “I am Jesus,” he said, “and you are persecuting me.  But get up and go into the city, and it will be told you what you have to do.” Saul, in his mind's eye looks up: angels, wheels, chariot, throne—and then the figure on the throne—to his shock—is Jesus, the crucified Messiah, now risen from the dead and here.  And Paul tries to tear himself away.  No!  He tries to open his eyes to escape the vision and realises that his eyes are already open.  This isn't a vision.  It's not in his head.  It's real.  It's really Jesus.  And the sight is too much to bear—in so many ways.  He throws up his hands as Caravaggio imagined him doing, as—stunned—he loses his balance and topples off his donkey.  And the vision of glory is still there.  Where Paul expected to see the God of Israel, there was Jesus and Jesus was asking, “Why are you persecuting me?”  And Paul's thinking that this just can't be.  “Who are you?” he asks, even though he already knows.  And the figure of glory confirms it, “I'm Jesus.”  And he might as well have said at the same time, “I'm the God of Israel, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”  And again, “Why are you persecuting me?”  And Paul, stunned, his whole world being rearranged and reinterpreted faster than he can take it in, he says nothing as Jesus tells him simply to go to Damascus and to wait. Luke says in verse 7: “The men who were traveling with Saul stood speechless.  They heard the voice but couldn't see anybody.  And Saul, he been struck absolutely blind by the vision.  So they led him by the hand and took him to Damascus.  He went for three days, being unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.” I expect the gears in Saul's mind were spinning away like never before during those three days.  This man of prayer was suddenly praying like never before.  If Jesus was alive, it meant he really was Israel's Messiah.  It meant that the Lord, in him, had fulfilled already the very promises that Saul so longed to see fulfilled.  It meant that the Lord, in Jesus, had returned to his people.  It meant that God's new world had already begun.  Paul, intelligent and deeply steeped in Israel's scriptures, began the long, slow process of rethinking everything he knew in light of Jesus.  Paul knew—really knew the story, the scriptures.  I try to steep myself in those same scriptures and I'm like a watered down Americano compared to Saul.  Saul was a dark, black, espresso—the kind your spoon will stand up in.  That's how steeped he was in God's word.  It wasn't so much a “conversion” he experienced as it was a reorientation.  The temple, the presence of the Lord, the place where heaven and earth meet, had finally come to Saul.  And, too, those words of Jesus: “You're persecuting me.”  It meant that these people he'd been dragging off to prison, they were Jesus' people, his covenant family, even in some way an extension of himself.  God's promises to Abraham and to Moses and to David, the words of the Prophets, it all spent three days spinning through Saul's mind as he reevaluated everything in light of Jesus. Now, verse 10: “In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision.  “Ananias!” he said.  “Here I am, Lord,” he replied.  “Get up,” said the Lord to him, “and go to the street called Straight.  Inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.  Look, he's praying!  And he has seen, in a vision, a man named Ananias coming and laying his hands on him so that he can see again.” You can go to Straight Street today—even on Google Earth.  It runs from the last remaining Roman gate, through the Christian Quarter of the old city.  Imagine the shock of Ananias.  He may have been in Damascus having fled from Saul already.  And now he has a vision and the Lord tells him he needs to go to Saul.  You can almost hear his “Ummmm…”  Was this vision for real?  Had he heard right?  “Lord,” replied Ananias, “I've heard about this man from several people…all about how he's done wicked things to your holy people in Jerusalem…and now he's come here with authority from the chief priests to tie up everybody who calls on your name!”  Ananias is worried. “Just go,” replied the Lord. “He is a chosen vessel for me, to carry my name before nations and kings—and the children of Israel, too.  I am going to show him how many things he is going to have to suffer for the sake of my name.”  So Ananias set off, went into the house, and laid his hands on him.  “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord has sent me—yes, Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—so that you may be able to see again, and receive the holy spirit.” Worried, hesitant at first, Ananias' faith got the better of him.  Maybe on the way.  Maybe when he met Saul and there was so clearly something different about him.  “Brother Saul,” he called him.  As Jews, yes, they were brothers, but Ananias somehow recognised in Saul the same faith, the same Jesus, the same Spirit.  I don't think Ananias ever expected to be in a situation like this.  What do you do?  Jesus said that Saul had already had vision of Ananias laying hands on him, so that's what Ananias does.  He lays his hands on Saul and he prays, and Luke writes (verse 18): “At once something like scales fell off his eyes, and he was able to see.  He got up and was baptized.  He had something to eat and regained his strength.  Ananias and Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus for a few days.” I wonder what happened when Ananias took Saul back to meet the other Christians in Damascus.  I expect there were some skeptics.  Was this just a fake-out by Saul to get in amongst them.  And I bet, when Ananias showed up to say, “You'll never guess what's happened!” there was someone else there, older, wise, steeped in the scriptures who wasn't surprised at all.  “Brother Ananias, why would you have expected otherwise?  This is how our God does things.”  God dealt with the persecution of his people by making their persecutor one of them.  And Saul?  Well, he's as zealous for God as ever; Jesus has just given him new direction.  While the rest of the saints in Damascus were hiding, now that he can see again, Saul marches straight to the local synagogue to proclaim Jesus, risen and Lord.  Luke goes on: “At once he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This really is the son of God!”  Everyone was astonished, and said, “Isn't this the man who caused havoc to those in Jerusalem who call on this name?  And here he is, coming to tie them up and take them off to the high priests!”  But Saul grew all the stronger, and threw the Jews in Damascus into confusion by demonstrating that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.” I bet.  Saul was one of the best of them.  He knew the scriptures and the promises of God inside out and upside down.  He was brilliant.  And he was passionately zealous for God.  And I expect—you know how when you figure something out that you've been wrestling with for a long time and it lights a fire under you and you get really excited to tell other people?—well, meeting Jesus lit that kind of fire under Saul.  It would take him a long time to really work it all through—he would go off to Arabia by himself to work it all through—but already he's been rethinking what meeting Jesus means about the God of Israel and about what it means to be Israel.  Even what it means that Jesus is the God of Israel.  And so he went to his fellow Jews to proclaim this good news.  To tell them that Jesus is the son of God.  This is, by the way, the first time in Acts we hear Jesus called “son of God”.  It was a big deal.  And then Luke says that the other thing Saul was eager to do was to explain to his fellow Jews that Jesus was the Messiah—or maybe it would better to say that the Messiah was Jesus.  Because given the context here in Acts and what we know of Paul later from his epistles and how he roots everything so deeply and richly in the Old Testament, I expect he was in the synagogue in Damascus reminding the people there of the scriptures and especially of these two ideas, these two characters: the son of God and the Messiah.  “Son of God” isn't used much in the Old Testament, but when it is, it refers to Israel.  God said to Pharaoh, “Israel is my firstborn son”.  But Jesus is also the son of David, the Messiah.  And God had promised that David would have a son who would build the temple.  God would raise him up and he would sit on David's throne.  “I will be a father to him,” God had declared in 2 Samuel 7, “and he will be my son.”  All this is swirling madly in Saul's mind and starting to take shape, to make sense.  And then there was Psalm 2, invoked by the first Christians as they faced persecution.  God confronts the wicked rulers of the world and declares that he has set up his King in Zion and that the nations will tremble before him.  He's the one to whom the Lord has made his firm decree, “You are my son, this day I have begotten you.”  Luke doesn't tell us exactly what Paul preached or even if he preached.  Maybe he just hung out at the synagogue and proclaimed the good news to whomever would listen.  But knowing Paul, I have to think he did some preaching.  And he reminded his people of God and of his promises and he appealed to their hope: God's promise to return to his people.  God's promise to set the world to rights.  God's promise to bring the nations under his sovereign rule.  And how all this is now coming true, how it's being fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.  Through him God will reach out to the gentiles and bring them under his sovereign rule and make them his inheritance.  How the Messiah will rule them with wisdom and justice just as God promised.  This would be the heart of Paul's preaching: The risen Messiah is God's anointed King.  He's God's son, he shed his blood to purify us from our sins that he might bring us back from our long exile.  He's God's son who has built a new temple, a house for his Holy Spirit.  In him God's promises are being fulfilled.  2 Samuel 7, Psalm 2, Psalms 72 and 89 and 26 and 27.  God's promises.  Psalm about Israel's hope.  Psalms about the Messiah.  We know from the scrolls we've found at Qumran that how Paul was handling these scriptures was exactly the way other Jewish groups in his day were handling these scriptures and asking the same questions.  And struggling to find an answer.  Because no one ever dreamed that a man who was crucified could be the Messiah.  But Paul had met him, risen from the dead.  And the dots began to connect.  The royal psalms began to connect with the psalms of lament.  The great king who would rule Israel and the nations began to connect with the suffering servant who represented Israel.  And then it gelled: The king represents his people so that he can stand in for them.  So that what happens to him, happens to them—and what happens to them, happens to him.  And so the king died.  And then the king rose from the dead.  And in that great act, God had declared: “See!  This really is my son.  And with him I am well-pleased!”  Pleased with his beloved son—and through him, pleased with his beloved sons and daughters. And surely some believed.  But others were angry.  Verse 23: “After some days, the Jews made a plot to kill him, but Saul got wind of their plan.  They were watching the city gates day and night so that they could do away with him.  But the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket. When he got back to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.  But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and explained to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.  He was with them in Jerusalem, coming and going and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.  He spoke, as well, to the Hellenists, who tried to kill him.  But the brothers heard of it and took him down to Caesarea. There they sent him off to Tarsus.  So the church in all Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria found itself at peace.  It was built up and gained in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.” And Paul knew, this too is how God works.  He saved the brothers and sisters in Damascus from their persecutor.  But Saul, well, God humbles him.  He has to be lowered over the wall in a basket so he can run.  Sometimes that's also how God works.  He was preparing Saul for his missionary task and the struggles and dangers and humiliations that would come with it.  Even returning to Jerusalem, he is initially rejected by the apostles.  God bless Barnabas—the “son of comfort”—he vouched for Saul and told him that he really had met Jesus on the road to Damascus and that all the rest was, in fact, true, no matter how impossible it seemed.  And Saul then proved himself in Jerusalem, preaching to the Hellenists who promptly set about to kill him. And so Peter and the others packed him off.  Luke doesn't say exactly why.  Maybe the trouble his zeal for Jesus stirred up in Jerusalem was just too much right then.  Maybe they knew that Saul needed to go home to Tarsus, to begin his preaching with the people who knew him.  So—and not for the last time—Saul boarded a ship and set sail.  This would be the pattern for the rest of his life. Brothers and Sisters, Saul of Tarsus—Paul—knew better than anyone that Jesus changes everything.  That Jesus is the embodiment of God's goodness, his mercy, his love, and maybe most importantly his faithfulness.  Remember that last week we looked at that bit of Paul's writing in 2 Corinthians where he talks about the glory of God that was on display in the Exodus: at the burning bush, in the plagues, at the Red Sea, at Mount Sinai, in the cloud of glory that descended on the tabernacle.  And he wrote that Jesus upstaged it all.  The Messiah he met on the road to Damascus revealed the glory of God in a way Paul had never imagined possible.  Brothers and Sisters, may we encounter that same glory ourselves. I think for most—probably all of us—our experience of God's glory is far more hum-drum and ordinary and unsensational.  Maybe that's because, as far as being steeped in scripture and knowing the glory of God revealed there, we're a watered down Americano.  We're like those can of LaCroix that say they're orange flavoured, but the flavour is so weak—well—you wonder if it's just carbonated water that was bottled in a plant where there was a solitary orange sitting in the corner to imparts the tiniest hint of its essence.  Paul was the opposite.  And we need to aspire to be like him.  Pray that God will give us a hunger for his word and a desire to know him and to know the story.  My observation has always been that the better people know the story, the more saintly and the more passionate they are, the more zealous they are for the Lord and for his good news.  Steep yourselves in the scripture.  And meditate on your baptism and how Jesus has brought you through the water into life with him.  How he's plunged us into God's Spirit and given us new life.  And come to his Table.  Eat the bread, drink the wine, and recall what God has done for us in Jesus, in his incarnation, in his death, and in his resurrection.  Experience here the fulfilment of all God's promises that you might see his glory.  Then be the people who—like Saul who just couldn't stay quiet—make that glory known in the world.   Let's pray: Almighty and merciful God, by whose gift alone your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; that we might truly see and know your glory along the way; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Key Verse: Acts 27:22 “22 But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.” “Take Courage because it will work out, but we must go through this first!”

Key Verse: Acts 27:22 “22 But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.” “Take Courage because it will work out, but we must go through this first!”

Join us as we dig deeper into last Sunday's sermon from Pastor Nicholas González "The Gospel Rescued" and hear from Amy Duncan and Nya Martinez on "Promises".   Digging Deeper Questions: When have you experienced God working in a way you did not expect? How did that experience shape your faith?   Where do you see opportunities for the Gospel to keep moving forward through ordinary conversations, relationships, or moments in your life?    What helps you remember that your identity and hope are secure in Jesus, even when circumstances around you feel uncertain?   How might knowing that Jesus has rescued you change the way you approach someone who is struggling, afraid, or in need of hope?   Scripture Reading: Acts 12:1-19 1 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.   6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, "Dress yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." 9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."   12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, "You are out of your mind." But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, "It is his angel!" 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Tell these things to James and to the brothers." Then he departed and went to another place.   18 Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.    Intro/Outro Song: "Only One" Nate Zuellig ULC Artist In Residence    "Promises" Maverick City Music CCLI Song # 7149439   CCLI License # 11254293

Acts 21:12–14 gives us a remarkable picture of Paul's determination. He says, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” This is a phenomenal statement. Paul had already been warned by prophets in Tyre, and now again in Caesarea, that if he went to Jerusalem, he would be attacked, bound, and imprisoned. Yet his response was not to turn back. He was ready to go – even if it meant suffering and death – for the name of the Lord Jesus. There is something here that reminds us of Jesus Himself. Jesus knew that going to Jerusalem meant suffering and death, yet He set His face toward Jerusalem and went. Now Paul is facing the same reality. He knows what may await him, but he is determined to obey God. Verse 14 says that Paul could not be dissuaded, so the people finally stopped trying to persuade him and simply said, “The Lord's will be done.” What a statement of surrender: whatever the cost, whatever the consequences, the Lord's will be done.

Jim Seilsopour, the most consistent guest of the pod, and resident fox hunter, just got back from three weeks in Israel, so this one starts on the beach at Caesarea and wanders everywhere from there.. We use all of that as a runway into thoroughbreds, off-track aftercare, the new racing league picking a fight with the Triple Crown, and what we want to build with Horse People next year.Five things we get into:The new team-based racing league, started by the former Liberty Media exec behind F1's resurgence, and why splitting the sport away from the Triple Crown could hurt everyone. Jim's Israel riding: Arabians that stayed sound over rock and road, four-hour beach rides in and out of the Mediterranean, Druze horsemen who could flat-out ride, and a 12-year-old phenom who reminded Jim of himself at that age.Off-track thoroughbreds getting second lives in the hunt field, and why we both think the thoroughbred is still the most capable horse alive even as modern eventing leans warmblood and dressage-heavy.Keeping horses at home versus boarding them, and the connection Jim says he never appreciated until he was feeding twice a day and catching the small things before they became big ones.Bloodlines, live and unscripted, as we pull up Subic Boy, a new thoroughbred of the Santa Fe hunt on Equibase and trace him back through Bernardini and Seattle Slew to SecretariatIf you have ever wondered what happens to a racehorse after the track, whether a Silicon Valley playbook can be dropped onto a 150-year-old sport, or just what it feels like to gallop an Arabian along the coast where Herod built his city, this is the conversation. Two horse people talking the way horse people actually talk, following the thread wherever it goes, from a Maryland statehouse to a monastery on Mount Carmel to a cattle ranch where a horse that was running at Santa Anita three months ago is now chasing hounds.Follow the show: @horsepeoplepodcastSubscribe and follow Horse People for more cross-discipline content and stories.

Herod Agrippa I Ruled 41-44 A.D. Grandson of King Herod the Great Imprisoned Peter during Passover in 42 or 43 A.D. He died before Passover of 44 A.D.   Herod went from Judea to Caesarea following Peter's angelic escape from prison. Herod was quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They joined together asking for an appointment with Herod requesting for peace as they depended on Herod for their food supply.    From writings from Flavius Josephus "Antiquities of the Jews, Book 19" (Translator: Paul L. Maier) Josephus tells us that Herod met with the representatives of Tyre and Sidon in the theater at Caesarea. (Pastor shares pictures of the restored theater today.)     Josephus goes on to share that as Herod entered the theater, "dressed in a garment of woven silver, … his flatterers at once started addressing him as a god." This is just what the Luke (author of Acts) tells us in verses 21-22. "… Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne …. They shouted, 'This is the voice of a god, not of a man.'" Josephus also adds the following: "The king did not censure them nor reject their flattery as impious." (Josephus, Antiquities 19:343)   Continuing with Luke's narrative in Acts 12:23-24 we read, "Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God continued to spread and flourish."   Josephus tells us that Herod, "died after five days of unremitting pain. He was 54 years old."   What do we learn? The word of God endures forever His word is faithful and true Even when His people suffer greatly, in the end God wins and so will we. This account gives a vivid reminder of the power of the Gospel of Jesus, the power of the Living God to comfort and strengthen His own, and the power of God to bring a new and just creation, a new heaven and a new earth. And that is what we await as we continue to walk with Him.     Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.   View live or on demand: https://www.awakeusnow.com/tuesday-bible-class   For the full list of videos in this series, Dig Deeper, https://www.awakeusnow.com/dig-deeper   For more check out our Sunday series, God ACTS! https://www.awakeusnow.com/god-acts-then-now   Join us Sundays  https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service   Or watch from our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AwakeUsNow/videos   Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

An Inheritance in Jesus Acts 8:26-40 by William Klock Have you ever had one of those occasions when you had an overwhelming sense that God was telling you to go to this or that place, to go talk to this or that person?  On a few occasions I thought I was in the middle of one of those moments.  One Sunday evening in Portland I was alone and on my way home from church and, driving down the street had this overwhelming sense—again, like God was telling me—go into that Burgerville restaurant.  So I did.  And except for the people working there—none of whom had any interest in talking to me beyond taking my order—the place was completely empty.  I wasn't hungry, but I thought, “Well, if God wants me here, maybe I need to wait.”  So I ordered dinner.  And I sat there for an hour and a half, eating my dinner v…e…r…y slowly with my Prayer Book and Bible in front of me.  And the place stayed as empty as it had been when I walked in.  That, in itself, is pretty odd for a Burgerville in Northeast Portland.  Was that overwhelming sense God?  I don't know.  I thought maybe there was someone there who needed a minister.  But there was no one there at all. I hear people tell stories of their overwhelming senses that God was telling them to do something and then something really amazing happened.  But I've never had that happen.  Not like that anyway.  When those moments have come, I've never had an overwhelming sense of anything; they just happen. But Philip.  Last week, in the first half of Acts 8, we saw Philip driven to Samaria because men like Saul were rounding up the Christians in Jerusalem and putting them in prison.  And while he was there he told the Samaritans about Jesus.  And God did something amazing.  The church, God's new temple, this people purified by Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, it grew, it jumped the border, it crossed the divide of animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans, it healed and restored.  Jews and Samaritans went on hating each other—but not in the church.  What the fall had divided, the gospel reunited.  It was the first step toward God's renewed humanity, back on track with their vocation to steward his presence, filling the earth with the knowledge of God's glory as the church lived out God's future in the present. And it's as if God is saying to Philip: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  Philip has proved his faithfulness and now, Luke writes in Acts 8:26, “An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: ‘Get up and go south,” he said. “Go to the desert road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” That's quite a hike.  Fifty to sixty kilometres back to Jerusalem—and hope Saul of Tarsus doesn't catch you on your way through—and then Gaza was another fifty to sixty kilometres.  That's two bike rides for me, but it's a long way to walk.  And Luke kind of stresses that this isn't an easy journey.  It's not just the road down to Gaza, it's the desert road down to Gaza.  It's hot, it's dusty, it's barren and ugly—it's lifeless.  It's a stark contrast with the new gospel life suddenly flourishing in Samaria.  But that's what Jesus calls his people to do: To take the gospel, to take the life of the kingdom into the desert of the world.  It's tempting to sit in the church, to enjoy gospel life with our brothers and sisters, and to forget about the desert outside and the people perishing out there.  Brothers and Sisters, get up and go to the desert.  You and I are the streams of living waters that take the life of God to the world.  Don't dam it up here.  Luke goes on in verse 27: “So he got up and went.”  Luke uses very biblical way of stressing obedience.  God said, “Get up and go” and Philip “Got up and went”.  And it's not for nought.  “Lo and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Kandake (queen of Ethiopia), who was in charge of her whole treasury.  He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was on his way back home.  He was sitting in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.” So who is this guy in the chariot?  Luke says he's Ethiopian and an official—the head of the treasury—for the Kandake—sometimes in English we say “Candace”—the Queen of Ethiopia.  For people like Luke (or Philip) in the Roman Empire, “Ethiopia” was a catch-all for everything south of Egypt, “Black Africa”.  “Kandake” was part name and part title, incorporated into the names of many of the Ethiopia's Queen.  But this wasn't the modern nation of Ethiopia.  It was what's now the northern part of Sudan.  It was a trade centre between Egypt and the rest of Africa further south along the Nile and it was very wealthy because of that.  And a eunuch in charge of the Queen's treasury made perfect sense.  That's the sort of thing eunuchs did in the ancient world.  No one had to worry about a eunuch trying to build a dynasty for his children using someone else's wealth.  The reward was that this man, himself, would have been fabulously wealthy too. So when Luke says he was riding in a chariot and reading an Isaiah scroll, don't picture so much a small war chariot.  This would have probably been more like a small carriage.  And don't picture him with some little scroll unrolled in his lap the way you might sit with your Bible.  Scrolls like this were big.  And an Isaiah scroll was really big.  One of the longest books in the Bible.  So there's a good chance this man has at least a servant or two to help him.  Maybe one as driver.  Maybe another as a personal assistant, helping him with that big Isaiah scroll.  That he—a foreigner—even has an Isaiah scroll says that he's very wealthy.  Normally you'd only find something like this in a synagogue for public reading. But the bigger question is: Why would an Ethiopian eunuch, the Queen's treasurer be reading Isaiah?  There's a near-zero chance that this man was actually Jewish.  Not absolutely zero, but it was highly unlikely.  Neither is he a proselyte—a convert—to Judaism.  Because he's a eunuch.  It was right there in Deuteronomy 23:1, “No one who's testicles are crushed or male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.”  There was a way for gentiles to be circumcised, submit to torah, go through the rites of purification, and to enter the Jewish covenant community.  It was rare, but it was possible and not unheard of.  But not for eunuchs.  They were explicitly excluded.  Not a chance.  And yet this man was drawn to Israel and to Israel's God.  That was not such an odd thing in those days.  Pagan society was mean and ugly, it was merciless and perverted and brutal.  And the pagan gods were no better.  For all her failures, Israel, her way of life, and her God really did stand out and people took note.  The Israelites looked after each other—however imperfectly.  The Israelites cared about purity.  They didn't practise infanticide or homosexuality.  They took marriage seriously.  They believed in the dignity of human life.  Pagans, tired of their own brutal and morally filthy world, were drawn to it.  There was a whole category of people that the Jews called “God fearers”.  They weren't circumcised, they weren't actually part of the covenant, they couldn't observe Passover or go to the temple, but they clung to Israel.  They came to the synagogue and listened to the teaching.  They read the Bible.  And this man may have been one of those sorts of people—or, at least, something like that.  And maybe that's why he's got the Isaiah scroll.  He'd come to Jerusalem to worship.  And he was leaving disappointed.  As gentile he was barred from the temple.  As a eunuch he has no hope of that changing.  Luke says he was reading Isaiah 53 when Philip caught up with him, but just a few chapters later, in Isaiah 56, the Lord says through the Prophet, “Let not the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.” For thus says the LORD: ‘To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.'” (Isaiah 56:3-5) This man longs to be part of this people.  This man longs for the presence of the God of Israel.  And he's been there.  Maybe he sat in a synagogue and he heard this passage read and his heart skipped a beat.  There's hope.  But when he asked, how can I join you, they quoted Moses at him and sent him away.  That's not to disparage Moses.  There was a reason God wanted things this way.  Remember, God is working through a story that slowly unfolds to reveal him.  But in response, somehow this man bought an Isaiah scroll for himself.  He wants to read more.  He wants to know how to get from Moses' “No” to Isaiah's “Yes”.  And now he's reading the part, just a few chapter before as Philip, out of nowhere, is suddenly jogging along next to his little carriage. And the Lord now speaks to Philip again as he sees this chariot on the road.  Verse 29: “‘Go up and join his chariot,' said the Spirit to Philip.  So Philip ran up, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. ‘Do you understand what you're reading?' he asked. ‘How can I,' he replied, ‘unless someone gives me some help?' So he invited Philip to get up and sit beside him. The scripture passage he was reading was this one: ‘He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb is silent before its shearers, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation, judgment was taken away from him. Who can explain his generation? For his life was taken away from the earth.'” This is Isaiah 53:7-8, again just before that passage giving hope to eunuchs. Luke has already made some hints about the importance of Isaiah 53 and we get the sense that the Spirt isn't just at work to bring Philip to this man.  The Spirit has been at work getting this man into Isaiah—showing him hope—and getting him ready to hear the source, the reason for that hope. This is precisely how a lot of people meet Jesus.  Maybe this is how you met Jesus.  We live in a word full of hurt and tears, full of sin and sickness and death.  We may not know a bit of theology or philosophy, but we know it in our bones that this not the way the world is supposed to be.  Maybe we meet some Christians, maybe we have an encounter with the church, maybe we just pick up a Bible and we start to read—and we encounter a different world.  We encounter a different kind of people.  Like the people drawn to Israel for its people's passion for purity and for mercy and their hope for a world set to rights, we're drawn to Jesus and his people.  There we see holiness, love, grace, unity—however imperfectly displayed, but so different from so much of the world.  Maybe we realise that Western Civilisation is not the gross, brutal, and filthy world of the Greeks and Romans anymore, we realise that it was the gospel that made this change, and we want to know more.  And so we come.  And we hear things said, but we don't really understand.  We open the Bible and we start to read, but we don't know the context of what we're reading.  That's where this Ethiopian man was at.  He sees goodness.  He see holiness.  He sees hope.  He so desperately wants to be part of it, but how?  How does it work?  This servant in Isaiah 53's got something to do with it all, but  who is the Prophet talking about?  So verse 34: “‘Tell me,' said the eunuch to Philip, ‘who is the prophet talking about?  Himself or someone else?' Then Philip took a deep breath and, starting from this scripture passage, told him the good news about Jesus.”  Philip literally “gospelled” this man.  He told him the story.  How much of it?  Luke doesn't say.  But he told this man the story—the same one that Stephen had told to the Sanhedrin.  This was how the first Christians read the Jewish scripture, including the Prophets.  They didn't just go looking for prooftexts that they thought might line up with Jesus.  They read the scriptures as a great narrative, a big story with Jesus at its centre.  It ran all the way back to the creation itself and to the story of human rebellion against God—to the introduction of sin and death and all the pain and tears, and through Abraham and his family, through Moses and David and the Prophets, leading right to Jesus, but not ending there, but carrying on to the day when the whole project of redemption is done, creation and humanity are set to rights, and sin and death, pain and tears are no more. Isaiah knew this story.  At his point in it, Israel was in exile, separated from the land God had promised, separated from the temple where he'd dwelt with them, seemingly—as far as many could tell—cut off from the hope they had.  And so Isaiah, inspired by the Spirit no doubt, but also absolutely and utterly steeped in this story of Israel and Israel's God, knowing his character, knowing his promises, Isaiah meditated on that story: on the exile of his people, on the promises of God, one God himself, whom he knew to be faithful even if Israel hadn't been.  And as Isaiah meditated and prayed and reflected the Spirit gave him the image of a servant: a servant who would come to where Israel was at, who would come to finish the failed task that Israel had been given, who would come to do for Israel—and for the world—what they could not do for themselves.  He would, in his own body, bear the shame and reproach that the nations had shown to Israel for her failures and faithlessness, and he would die.  He would die, not a death he deserved, but the death his people deserved.  Isaiah knew: This was the only way.  Israel couldn't do it on her own.  She'd failed over and over.  And now she stood, guilty before the Lord, having broken his covenant, cut off, hopeless.  Or so it seemed hopeless—dead to the covenant—but Isaiah knew God's faithfulness and so he knew the Lord would not abandon his people or his promise to them.  The Lord would send this servant who would suffer the punishment the people deserved, who would take up the task Israel had failed and complete it himself, who would bring God's life and light and glory to the world. It's almost as though Isaiah, working through the story, made a list of everything this servant would need to be or to do and—in poetic form—he wrote a job description—a job description that pointed straight to Jesus, although no one would realise that until Jesus himself arrived—practically with resume in hand to show that he's the one Isaiah was writing about.  And Isaiah saw how this suffering servant—precisely through his rejection, through his suffering, even through his death—would bring an end to Israel's long exile.  And Isaiah knew that through this, God would finally set the world to rights.  He would establish a new covenant to replace the one Israel had broken (Isaiah 54), and new creation would be born (Isaiah 55), and as this new covenant made Israel what she was supposed to be all along and as this new world was born, it would finally draw in the foreigners, the nations, the pagans—even the eunuchs. And so Philip explained to this to the man.  He told him about Jesus and how he'd done and fulfilled what the Prophet had seen.  And—like a good evangelist—Philip had obviously told this man how to be part of it.  Give your love, your loyalty, your allegiance to Jesus the Messiah.  And repent.  Let go of everything else, every loyalty, every other hope, and like Israel passing through the Red Sea to enter a life with God, pass through the waters of baptism to enter life with Jesus and the Spirit—so that Israel's story, Isaiah's story, Jesus' story becomes your story.  And Luke continues in verse 36: “As they were going along the road, they came to some water. ‘Look!' said the eunuch. ‘Here is some water! What's to stop me being baptized?'” I want to be part of this! “So he gave orders for the chariot to stop, and both of them went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch together, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch didn't see him anymore, but went on his way rejoicing.  Philip, however, turned up at Azotus. He went through all the towns, announcing the good news, until he came to Caesarea.” This is the part where I want to know more.  I want to say, “But…but…but…you can't just cut him loose at this point.  He needs a good church, he needs solid teaching.  When you cut people loose right after you baptise them, that's when they get into cults and obsessed with weird eschatology!”  But it seems that the Spirit was powerfully with this man—the same way he was with the apostles and Stephen and Philip.  The Spirit has other important work for Philip.  And so this man went on his way back to “Ethiopia” with his Isaiah scroll, with the scriptures, God's word, with the story now his story, and full of the Spirit.  It wouldn't be long before the church was thriving in Africa and tradition says that this man was the one who took it there.  The gospel is already on its way to the world. And I think that's why Luke plants Isaiah 53 and Jesus as the suffering servant where he does here.  It's why, as we tell the story, we ought to be doing the same thing.  Because over and over what we see in Acts and down through history is that the people of the nations look around themselves, and they—we—know nothing of Abraham or Moses or David or the Prophets or Israel or even Israel's God, but we know that the world is not as it should be.  The pain, the tears, the sin and the filth, sickness and death.  We see how the strong abuse the weak.  We know the fickleness and failure of our gods.  And when we're honest, we know that we've all had a part to play in the brokenness of the world.  One way or another we hear, we feel, we sense the “no”, but we long for a “yes”.  We need rescue.  We need hope of the world set to right.  And then we hear the story.  We meet Jesus, the suffering servant.  We meet the lamb of God who gave himself up for our sins and to wash us clean from their stain.  We meet the King who gave himself for his people.  We meet the Messiah in whom all of God's promises find their “yes”.  We meet the one who has conquered sin and death and in him we find the conciliation, the life, and the hope we've longed for. Brothers and Sisters, this the story we need to learn, this is this is the story we need to inhabit, this is the story we need to tell—until the whole world has heard, until the whole world knows this life and hope, until the knowledge of God's glory fills the whole world. Let's pray our Collect again: Lord God, you declare your almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity: mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace, that we, running the way of your commandments, may receive your gracious promises, and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Cash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsPrimary sourcesIrenaeus. Against Heresies 1.28. Best early witness for the Encratites' rejection of marriage and animal food. Accessible English text online.Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History 4.28–29. Key source for Tatian, Musanus, and the Severians. Accessible English text online.Clement of Alexandria. Stromata 3. Essential for anti-Encratite argument, marriage/continence debates, Cassianus, and use of the Gospel according to the Egyptians. Accessible English text online.Hippolytus. Refutation of All Heresies 8. Useful for Tatian's reputation, abstinence, and sectarian framing. Accessible English text online.Basil of Caesarea. Letter 188. Important later witness showing Encratites still mattered canonically in the fourth century. Accessible English text online.Synod of Gangra (especially Canons 1–2). Important for the later church's rejection of condemning marriage and condemning meat-eating Christians. Accessible English text online.Tatian. Address to the Greeks. Useful for Tatian's tone, worldview, and severity, even if it is not itself the main Encratite text. Modern Cambridge edition available.Acts of Thomas. Important for the wider encratite ascetic imagination and later patristic memory of the text's Encratite character.Gospel according to the Egyptians (fragments preserved in Clement, Stromata 3). Important for Salome sayings, celibacy discourse, and the wider anti-marriage textual world.Modern scholarshipGuffey, Andrew R. “Motivations for Encratite Practices in Early Christian Literature.” Journal of Theological Studies 65, no. 2 (2014): 515–549. Probably the single best focused article for your episode. It is especially useful on motives, mixed origins, and why Encratite practice cannot be reduced to one simple cause.Litwa, M. David. Early Christianity in Alexandria: From its Beginnings to the Late Second Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023. Use especially Chapter 8, “Julius Cassianus and Alexandrian Ascetic Culture.” Very useful for Cassianus and Alexandrian radical continence.Crawford, Matthew R. “The Diatessaron, Canonical or Non-canonical? Rereading the Dura Fragment.” New Testament Studies (2016). Strong on Tatian's Gospel harmony, its reception, and the Syriac afterlife of the Diatessaron.McCarthy, Carmel, trans. Saint Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron: An English Translation of Chester Beatty Syriac MS 709. Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Useful if you want to lean harder into the Syriac legacy of Tatian.Petersen, William L. Tatian's Diatessaron: Its Creation, Dissemination, Significance, and History in Scholarship. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 25. Leiden: Brill, 1994. Still an important specialist study for Tatian and the Diatessaron.“The Syriac Versions.” In an Oxford Academic volume on the Syriac New Testament tradition. Useful for concise background on Tatian's Diatessaron in Syriac Christianity.“The Earliest Syriac Literature.” In The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature. Helpful for placing Tatian inside the broader Syriac literary and ascetic world.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. 

Summer Reprise - 5 August Sermons on Acts, from 2021, Recorded at Templepatrick Reformed Church and reproduced here with their kind permission.The WayActs 24v10-22 Caesarea, the Governor's Court. Felix beckons him to speak, and Paul, knowing that now he is under the protection of the court addresses his defence directly to his accusers, the Temple rulers of the Jews. Let's look at Paul's defence.Read the NOTES HERE. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When You Pray Be Thankful God Hears Your Prayers; Just May Not Be Answered The Way You Want Acts 12:11-19 11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” 12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” 15“You're out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” 16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place. 18In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

August 5, 2026Today's Reading: Acts 28:1-15Daily Lectionary: Acts 28:1-15“After we were brought safely through…” (Acts 28:1a)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.It had been three long years since Paul had been arrested by a Jewish mob in Jerusalem and thrown before the High Priest Ananias. The Jews had made a plot to kill him, but that plot had been foiled, and he was skirted away to Caesarea to be put under the authority of Felix, the governor. During the next 36 months, Paul would appeal to be heard by Caesar, speak in front of rulers and authorities, sail for Rome, be caught at sea by a storm, and be shipwrecked on the island of Malta.Luke begins our Reading for today with the words, “After we were brought safely through…” It was the providential will of God that Paul would not find his end at the hands of a Jewish mob in Jerusalem, but instead that he would go on proclaiming the Gospel all the way to the steps of Rome. Christ crucified would be made known throughout the world despite his imprisonment. (Dare I say even because of it?)Is it any wonder that Paul would be able to pen in Romans that, “God works all things for good for those who are called according to his purpose,” and, in 2 Corinthians, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”The Christian gives thanks to the Lord above for the faithful witness of His apostles. It's no mere accident that these men suffered imprisonment, torture, persecution, and martyrdom; for as Christ said, “A servant is not above his master.” But these things took place so that you and I might know what Christ is and who He is for us 2000 years after the Apostle Paul met his blessed end.God had seen Paul through all of these hardships with you in mind, so that you might “have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” (Ephesians 3:18-19a)The doctrine handed down by the Apostles is the very doctrine that is preached and proclaimed in your congregations. It is the foolishness of the cross, the stumbling block of a crucified Savior risen from the dead for the forgiveness of your sins. We confess these truths in the Creeds, and we receive these truths in the Divine Service. We profess these promises to the lost and fallen world around us. And we live in the grace and mercy of the Gospel until Christ comes again in glory.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.I trust, O Lord, Your holy name; O let me not be put to shame Nor let me be confounded. My faith, O Lord, Be in Your Word Forever firmly grounded. (LSB 734:1)Rev. Eli Lietzau, pastor of Wheat Ridge Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheat Ridge, CO.

The worst place to be caught in a storm is the open sea — and that is exactly where Paul ends up, a prisoner on a grain ship the experts insisted was safe to sail. Continuing the study of Acts at Quentin Road Baptist Church, Pastor Jim Scudder walks through Acts 27 and the fourteen days of hurricane-force wind that stripped a ship of everything but the promise of God. You'll follow Luke's remarkably detailed account from Caesarea to Malta, see why the centurion trusted the sailors over the apostle, and watch a prisoner in chains become the calmest man on board — breaking bread and giving thanks while 276 souls brace for the end. Four lessons come out of the wreckage: storms sometimes come when we disobey the will of God, storms have a way of revealing character, even the worst storms cannot prevent the purposes of God, and storms can give us opportunities to serve others and witness for Jesus Christ. Whatever you are sailing through, there is an anchor for your soul. Scripture referenced: Acts 27:1-3; Philippians 4:3; Acts 27:5-44

Acts 21:1-16 English Standard Version Paul Goes to Jerusalem 21 And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. 7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day.8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'”12 When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” 15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge. English Standard Version (ESV) The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.

Day 1 of our story Today's story takes place in Caesarea - Acts 10:1-8. Cornelius, a Roman soldier, a Centurion, lives there. (Pastor shares pictures of this city, still visible today!) Cornelius was one who worshiped the God of Israel but was not a full convert. He and his family were devout and God-fearing.  Then he receives a vision of an angel. The angel tells him to bring a man from Joppa named Simon known as Peter. We see Cornelius respond immediately to what the angel told him to do.    Day 2  Story moves location to Joppa where Cornelius' servant and one of his soldiers are headed - Acts 10:9-23a. Meanwhile, Peter goes up on the roof of the house he is at and goes into a trance and sees the heavens open and a sheet with all kinds of 4-footed animals, reptiles and birds. (Unclean animals according to the Torah) Then a voice tells him to eat them, but Peter says, I've never eaten anything impure or unclean.  I've obeyed the Torah!  The response from heaven, three times was, "Do not call anything pure that God has made clean." And the sheet was taken back into heaven. While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men Cornelius sent found him. The Spirit tells Peter to go downstairs to the men that were sent.  They tell Peter about the vision Cornelius had seen and Peter invites them in.   Day 3 Now our story goes on the road- Act 10:23b.  Peter and some witness head, with Cornelius' servant and soldier, to Caesarea.   Day 4 They arrive in Caesarea - Acts 10:24-48. (Pastor shares more pics of the area) Cornelius has a crowd of people gathered at his home to hear Peter when he arrives. Peter knows he's on God's mission: "You are aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me I should not call anyone impure or unclean." Cornelius retells his vision and says now they are in the presence of God to hear everything Peter has to tell them. Peter responds that he now realizes how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation those who know the Good News of Jesus Christ, Lord of ALL. He recounts the Gospel story of Jesus, He tells of the Savior's Good News and all that believe in Him receive forgiveness of sins through His name. Then suddenly the Holy Spirit fell on all of them, including the Gentiles. They were baptized in Jesus' name and ask Peter to say for a few more days.   What do we learn from this story?   Then + Now God's Agenda - God sets the agenda for His people, for individuals and for human history. God is fulfilling the New Covenant - That the day would come when the NATIONS would come to God. These are new covenant times! God Shows No Partiality - it is easy to be in our own groups and only see people like us and avoid people who don't fit our mold. But Jesus died for ALL. We are called to reach the world - therefore no partiality - God wants them all. Jesus is LORD - He is the New Covenant. Will we acknowledge His Lordship? He is the judge of the living and the dead. He is the Messiah, the Savior of the Nations, the Anointed Son of God who gave His life for all, rose, ascended and is coming back. Spirit Guided Life - God is not in a box, He sets the agenda, not us. Everything needs to be the way He deems it!   Pastor closes with the questions: Are you listening to God's Agenda for your life? Do Jesus and the Scriptures inform your daily living and actions? Do you sense and heed the Holy Spirit's promptings?   This week's READING ASSIGNMENT: Acts chapter 10 - 11.    Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.   Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/god-acts-then-now   Or watch from our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AwakeUsNow/videos   Join us Sundays live or on demand from our website  https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Summer Reprise - 5 August Sermons on Acts, from 2021, Recorded at Templepatrick Reformed Church and reproduced here with their kind permission.Moral ConfusionText: Acts 24:1-9Five days after Paul's night time flit, we find the fanatical Jews at Caesarea, and they are in the court of Felix, and they've even engaged the services of a barrister! let's see how he presents his case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us as we dig deeper into last Sunday's sermon from Pastor Marcus Lane "The Gospel for the Ethiopian Eunuch" and hear from Amy Duncan and Nate Zuellig on "Give Me Jesus".   Digging Deeper Questions: Have you ever experienced a sense that God was telling you to go to a place or person to whom you didn't want to go? How did you handle it?   In what ways have you seen Jesus fulfill not only the words of Scripture but every ache of the human experience?   Is there someone in your life right now that you want to share the gift of Jesus with? Begin praying for that person now!   Scripture Reading: Acts 8:26-40 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:   "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter     and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,     so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.     Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."   34 And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.    Intro/Outro Song: "Only One" Nate Zuellig ULC Artist In Residence    "Give Me Jesus" Jeremy Camp CCLI Song # 4874344   CCLI License # 11254293

Always Point People To Jesus Giving Him The Glory And Not Yourself Acts 10:23-29 23Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” 27While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/03-0722db.mp3 Listen to Bible reading Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 22 Acts 25:13-27 Acts 25 Paul's Hearing Before Agrippa 13 Some days later, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. 14 Since they were going to stay there a number of days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. He said, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix. 15 When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16 “I answered them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over any man [1] before the accused has met the accusers face to face and has had an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation. 17 “Therefore, after they came back here with me, I did not delay. On the next day I took my place on the judicial bench and ordered the man to be brought in. 18 When the accusers stood up, they charged him with none of the crimes I was expecting. 19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who was dead, but who Paul claimed is alive. 20 Since I was at a loss how to investigate these issues, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there concerning these charges. 21 But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody until his majesty the emperor would decide his case, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” 22 Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he said, “you will hear him.” 23 So the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the courtroom together with the commanders and the most prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the order, Paul was brought in. 24 Festus said, “King Agrippa and all the men who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish crowd petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I found that he has done nothing that deserves death. Yet, since he appealed to his majesty the emperor, I decided to send him. 26 But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this preliminary hearing I may have something to write. 27 Indeed, it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating what the charges are against him.” Footnotes Acts 25:16 Some witnesses to the text add to die. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

#top .av-special-heading.av-gs9o3p-65100a747722969df085d1220a240bc2{ padding-bottom:10px; } body .av-special-heading.av-gs9o3p-65100a747722969df085d1220a240bc2 .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{ font-size:25px; } .av-special-heading.av-gs9o3p-65100a747722969df085d1220a240bc2 .av-subheading{ font-size:15px; } Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 21Acts 24:22 – 25:12 LISTEN HERE Through My Bible – July 21 Acts 24:22 – 25:12 (EHV) https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/03-0721db.mp3 See series: Through My Bible Acts 24 22 Then Felix, [1] because he was rather well informed about the Way, adjourned the proceedings. He said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 He ordered the centurion to guard Paul, but to let him have some freedom and not to prevent any of his friends from taking care of his needs. 24 Several days later, Felix appeared in public with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 While Paul instructed him about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and replied, “Leave me for now, but when it is convenient, I will send for you.” 26 At the same time, he was also hoping that Paul would give him money, [2] and for this reason he sent for him as often as possible and talked with him. 27 After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus. But because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. Paul on Trial Before Festus Acts 25 1 Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2 Then the high priests and the leaders of the Jews brought formal charges against Paul 3 and asked Festus for the favor of transferring Paul's case to Jerusalem. Their plan was to ambush and kill Paul along the way. 4 However, Festus replied that Paul was being held in custody at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there soon. 5 “Therefore,” he said, “let some of your leaders go down with me and press charges against him, if there is anything evil about the man.” 6 After spending no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea. The next day, he sat on the judicial bench and ordered Paul to be brought in. 7 When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges that they could not prove. 8 Paul said in his defense, “I have not committed any offense against the Jewish law, against the temple, or against Caesar.” 9 But since Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor, he said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” 10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's judicial bench, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as also you yourself know very well. 11 If I am guilty and have done something worthy of death, I am not trying to escape death. But if there is nothing to the charges they are making against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” 12 After Festus conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” Footnotes Acts 24:22 Some witnesses to the text add when he heard these things. Acts 24:26 A few witnesses to the text add in order that he might release him. #top .hr.hr-invisible.av-aocsdx-89cb4ca21532423cf697fc393b6fcee0{ height:10px; } The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved. #top .hr.hr-invisible.av-4vzadh-3f04b370105df1fd314a2a9d83e55b26{ height:50px; } Share this entryShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare by MailLink to FlickrLink to InstagramLink to Vimeo

The First Step of Faith God is still speaking, and His people are already hearing His voice more often than they realize. The challenge is rarely whether God is speaking, but whether His people are listening and responding. Holy Spirit leads through Scripture, wise counsel, providential circumstances, spiritual gifts, and the inner witness that gently directs believers toward obedience. “God is still speaking and you are hearing him,” yet His guidance usually comes as a quiet nudge rather than a dramatic interruption. Learning to recognize that gentle leading is part of growing in spiritual maturity and walking closely with Christ. Faith often begins with incomplete instructions rather than complete explanations. Philip was called away from a thriving revival in Samaria and told only to travel to a lonely desert road. He received no detailed plan, no promise of results, and no explanation. He simply obeyed. “Incomplete directions require complete obedience.” As Philip responded to each step, God revealed the next one. Divine guidance unfolded progressively, reminding believers that “we don’t hear the next direction until we follow the first.” God prepares opportunities long before His servants recognize them. Philip did not create a divine appointment with the Ethiopian official. He arrived because he had faithfully followed Holy Spirit’s leading. Instead of announcing his own credentials, Philip approached with humility, asked questions, opened the Scriptures, and proclaimed Jesus. Holy Spirit continues to lead people to Scripture because Scripture leads people to Christ. Obedience to God’s voice shapes far more than a single moment. Philip’s willingness to surrender comfort led him into a lifetime of fruitful ministry and eventually established him in Caesarea, where his family became known for faithfully serving God. The journey rarely follows the path people would choose for themselves, but Holy Spirit faithfully leads those who trust Him one step at a time. Simple daily practices of seeking God, obeying His promptings, and reflecting each evening on where His voice was followed cultivate hearts that become increasingly sensitive to His leading. The post The First Step of Faith appeared first on Revival Life Church Boca Raton, FL.

Acts 8 begins with the day of Stephen's death:    Then  +   Now - What we learn All things - work together for good (God used the persecution for His purpose in spreading the Gospel) We read in Acts 8:1 that starting that day (of Stephen's death) a massive persecution broke out against the believers in Jerusalem and especially against those like Stephen, Greek speakers, who were not native to Jerusalem. And the believers (except the apostles) fled throughout Judea and Samaria and still they talked about Jesus everywhere they went. Gospel Peace - that the message of Jesus changes people and brings divine peace between us and God. Philip and the Samaritans Acts 8:5-8. Philip proclaimed the Messiah in Samaria and when people heard him and saw the signs he performed, that paid close attention to what he said as he proclaimed the risen Savior to them. Spirit Guided - As followers of Jesus we cannot believe in Him without the Holy Spirit. And we are called to listen to the Holy Spirit, go where the Holy Spirit leads, and to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Philip and the Ethiopian Acts 8:26-27a. Philip is told by the Holy Spirit to take the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. He simply obeys God. So from Samaria he heads to that road. Prophetic Word has power.  When we share with others, Jesus story,  that story has power! To change people, to change lives! Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch along the road. Acts 27a - 34.  This man worked for the Queen of the Ethiopians. The man was reading the Book of Isaiah while riding in his carriage on the way back to Ethiopia. Then the Holy Spirit told Philip to go to the carriage and stay near it.  He could hear the Ethiopian reading Isaiah.  Philip asks if the man understood what he was reading and is invited into the carriage to explain the verses. The verses were, verses 32-35: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth."  These are verses all about Jesus' trial, crucifixion and death. And the man pleads with Philip to tell him who is being talked about. And Philip tells him all about Jesus the Messiah. Christ's witnesses - we are to be God's witnesses to the world as we fallow Him using the gifts He has given us.   Philip baptizes the Ethiopian Acts 8:36 -  40 we read that they came to some water and the Ethiopian says that nothing is standing in the way of him being baptized, because after hearing of Jesus, his life was changed. They stop the carriage and he is baptized. As they came up out of the water the Spirit suddenly took Philip away while the Ethiopian continued rejoicing in Jesus. Verse 40 tells us that Philip continued to preach the gospel in all the town along the way to Caesarea.    FLASHBACK to Acts 1:8 Jesus says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." We see Jesus' words being fulfilled in Philip's story.   We to can be part of that story! Our testimonies can have a ripple effect in spreading the Good News of Jesus.    Set aside excuses and recommit to the Lord Jesus and the Father. Listen to the Holy Spirit and allow God to do amazing things with our lives for His kingdom. Using us is just what He desires to do in winning the world to Himself!   This week's READING ASSIGNMENT:   Acts chapter 8-9 (read and reflect on these two chapters together).     Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.   Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/god-acts-then-now   Or watch from our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AwakeUsNow/videos   Join us Sundays live or on demand from our website  https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Can A Person Change, Reinvent Themselves; Can A Leopard Change Its Spots? Through Christ...YES! Acts 9:26-30 New International Version Par ▾ Saul's Conversion 1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. 10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 11The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” 15But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” 17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 23After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. 26When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, a but they tried to kill him. 30When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Jewish world and real estate correspondent Zev Stub joins host Gabriella Jacobs for today’s episode. We begin our conversation by diving into the Maccabiah Games, which are being held at venues across Israel through July 13. Zev Stub explains how, after last year's Maccabiah was postponed because of Israel's June 2025 war with Iran, the opening of the two-week competition carried an added sense of symbolism and significance. We then examine Stub's reporting on the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's apparent decision on Thursday to authorize the liberal Tzohar Rabbinical Organization to issue kashrut certifications under Israeli law for the first time, following a High Court of Justice ruling last month requiring it to withdraw its refusal to recognize the group. Within hours, however, the decision was thrown into doubt, with senior officials saying the approval had not been properly authorized and therefore had no legal standing. Stub walks us through the competing claims and the possible outcomes. In the second half of our discussion, Stub delivers a real estate snapshot of current trends in Israel's housing market. We analyze how the strong shekel, fluctuating interest rates and rising antisemitism worldwide are shaping buyer behavior. To close, Stub takes us inside "Bat Sheba's Palace," a Caesarea property listed for an asking price of $210 million. With gold-plated fountains, imported stone and nearly 74,000 square feet (6,900 square meters) of interior space, the Versailles-inspired estate embodies a level of luxury once unimaginable in the Jewish state.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Walk Where Jesus Walked: The Holy Land Tour That Will Transform Your Faith Have you ever wanted to walk where Jesus walked? In this episode, Rob sits down with longtime minister and Bible teacher Mike Fontenau from Perth, Australia, to discuss an unforgettable opportunity—a guided Holy Land tour planned for October 2027. With more than twenty years of experience leading biblical tours through Israel, Mike shares how visiting the places you've only read about can completely transform your understanding of Scripture. From the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum to Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, Jericho, Bethlehem, Caesarea, Mount Carmel, and beyond, every stop includes a Bible lesson that connects the location with God's story. Mike also explains how the tour is organized, what is included, safety considerations, and why this may be his final Holy Land tour. In this episode you'll discover: • Why visiting Israel brings the Bible to life • The major biblical sites included on the tour • Lessons taught where biblical events actually happened • Why Galilee and Jerusalem offer two very different experiences • What makes this tour different from a typical vacation • The current plans for the October 2027 trip • Tour costs and what is included • Thoughts on safety and travel in Israel • Why this may be Mike Fontenau's final Holy Land tour Whether you've dreamed of visiting Israel for years or simply want to deepen your understanding of Scripture, this conversation will inspire your faith and help you picture the Bible in an entirely new way. To learn more about future opportunities, stay connected through RobSkinner.com. My goal is to inspire you to live a no-regrets life, make this life count, and multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.

Trinity Anglican Seminary is built on the same daily prayer rhythms you practice every time you hit play. Morning Prayer. Evening Prayer. Weekly Eucharist. It's a place where chapel and classroom aren't two separate worlds, they're one. Whether you're pursuing a degree or exploring a certificate in Anglican studies, come experience being formed in community around study and prayer at Trinity. Registration is now open for their fall classes at tas.edu/dailyoffice.Evening Prayer for Sunday, June 14, 2026 (Proper 5; Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea and Teacher of the Faith, 379).Psalm and Scripture readings (60-day Psalter):Psalm 107:23-43Ezekiel 33:1-23, 30-33Acts 15:1-21Click here to support The Daily Office Podcast with a one-time gift or a recurring donation.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to access the text for the Daily Office at DailyOffice2019.com.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Trinity Anglican Seminary is built on the same daily prayer rhythms you practice every time you hit play. Morning Prayer. Evening Prayer. Weekly Eucharist. It's a place where chapel and classroom aren't two separate worlds, they're one. Whether you're pursuing a degree or exploring a certificate in Anglican studies, come experience being formed in community around study and prayer at Trinity. Registration is now open for their fall classes at tas.edu/dailyoffice.Morning Prayer for Sunday, June 14, 2026 (Proper 5; Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea and Teacher of the Faith, 379).Psalm and Scripture readings (60-day Psalter):Psalm 107:1-22Joshua 14:5-15Luke 23:50-24:12Click here to support The Daily Office Podcast with a one-time gift or a recurring donation.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to access the text for the Daily Office at DailyOffice2019.com.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Important Links:Dad Tired Annual RetreatHost A Dad Tired Conference at your churchJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gearWhen your soul feels anxious, restless, angry, or worn down, what do you do?In this episode of Dad Tired, Pastor Kaleb points men back to one of the most overlooked gifts God has given us for caring for our souls: the Psalms. The Psalms give language to the deepest parts of us — our fear, sorrow, repentance, betrayal, joy, gratitude, and hope.If you've ever thought, “I don't even know what's going on inside of me,” this episode will help you see the Psalms as God's invitation to pray when you don't know how to pray.Kaleb walks through how Jesus, the apostles, and the early church leaned on the Psalms in moments of suffering, anxiety, worship, and spiritual battle. You'll be encouraged to stop treating the Psalms as ancient poetry only, and start using them as daily prayers for your soul.In this episode, you'll learn:How the Psalms help diagnose and shepherd your soulWhy Jesus prayed the Psalms in His sufferingHow the early church used the Psalms in moments of fear and persecutionWhy the Psalms give language to anxiety, repentance, grief, and worshipA simple practice for praying through the Psalms each weekWhether you're anxious, tired, tempted, grateful, or grieving, the Psalms give you words to bring your whole heart before God.Mentioned in this episode:Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 42, Psalm 51, Psalm 63, Psalm 88, Psalm 91, Psalm 103, Psalm 116, Matthew 26, Acts 4, John Calvin, Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea. Important Links:Dad Tired Annual RetreatHost A Dad Tired Conference at your churchJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear