Podcasts about Cains

Unearth the Past: A family history & genealogy podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2024 33:00

Episode 118 picks up in September 2007 where we discuss a David Allan Coe show at The Cain's Ballroom with Otis Watkins opening. After that we continue to talk about a country casino show w/ The Bellamy Brothers, We also discuss a Sum 41 show at The Diamond Ballroom that did less than 400 tickets sold. 2007 & 2008 were filled with lots of shows, including The Misfits at Cains & Diamond, The Cult, Modest Mouse, & more... We finish this episode talking about the massive Hannah Montanna show at the Ford Center w/ the Jonas Bros opening... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

oklahoma cult diamond misfits live music sum jonas brothers ballroom gwar modest mouse avenged sevenfold drive by truckers ryan bingham clarence carter david allan coe cains bellamy brothers jonas bros ford center max baker cain's ballroom diamond ballroom

S3 Ep1: Comedy, Cranes and Cains: Unearthing the past with comedian Paul Smith

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2024 47:57 Transcription Available

Join Dr Michala Hulme on "Unearth the Past" as she unravels the incredible family history of Paul Smith, one of Britain's most loved comedians who is selling out arenas up and down the country with his hilarious Pablo tour. As Paul shares his journey, we explore his Irish heritage, which was discovered through an Ancestry DNA test.We also uncover Paul's Liverpool ancestors, with stories of resilience, hard work and a will to succeed. We also reveal the heart-wrenching loss of young Bernard Cain and the harrowing experiences of Philip Cain during WWI. We also unearth the intriguing narrative of John Stenson, who made headlines in the 1880s for aiding the police during an assault.Shifting our focus, we dive into Paul's maternal heritage, unveiling tales of heroism and tragedy that have shaped his ancestry. Discover the lineage of his great-grandfather Thomas Highton and the sombre story of Mary Ann Highton, who perished during the 1940 Blitz in Liverpool. This episode is a blend of humour, history, and heartfelt moments that you won't want to miss. Be sure to catch our engaging conversation with Paul Smith, and stay tuned for more incredible family stories in future episodes.LinksTo contact MichalaPaul Smith 'Pablo' Tour Tickets Power of OneFor Family History ResearchAncestry DNA Tests (Amazon affiliate link)Support the Show.

amazon discover comedy irish comedians britain shifting liverpool blitz wwi unearthing unearth paul smith cranes ancestry dna cains

The Importance of Relationship

Willetton Christian Church

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2024 26:42

How important are relationships? Are we really so dependent on other people in our lives? The story of Cain and Abel is one of different views on this point. In this week's service, we will unpack the theme of relationship as it pertains to everything that we read in the Bible. Specifically, we will look at: 1) how sin rots our relationships with God and others; 2) God's deep-rooted desire for walking-talking relationships; and 3) how God restored our relationship through the blood of Christ. At the end of the day, we all need to decide whether we want to live as Cains or Abels!

god jesus christ relationships bible abels cains

Cains and Abels (1 John 3:11-24)

Reformation Presbyterian Church – Sermons

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2024

God calls you to follow Abel's model of living sacrifice rather than Cain's model of bitter envy. Cain or Abel (v. 11-12; Genesis 4:1-11)Glory or the CrossHate or Love (vv. 13-24)Discussion StartersMonday—In what way is 1 John a book of antitheses? What are some of them? Why does John press these?Tuesday—Did Abel do anything wrong to Cain? Why did Cain hate Abel?Wednesday—What is a theologian of glory? What is a theologian of the cross? Which are you called to be? Why?Thursday—What does it mean that you are called to lay down your life for your brothers? What is the model that you follow? Is this hard or easy?Friday—What hope do you have when your heart condemns you? (v. 20) How can you pray when that happens?

god love 1 john 3 abels cains

Here's The Deal Podcast - The Max Baker Jr. Story - Episode 102 - "The Lost Episode" (2006)

learning guide ministry moments stephens biggest mistakes dances jarrett glass houses chip heath resilient life lynley cains

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2024 39:49

Our fact checker Jeff Brownen discovered a "Lost Episode" (as you're reading this, say it with 1950's fading echo, lost episode... lost episode... lost episode....)... This episode begins on March 17th, 2006 at the Cains Ballroom with Opeth & DevilDriver.... Followed by the Shirts For A Cure Tour w/ Thursday & Minus The Bear & The Number 12 Looks Like You at the Cains Ballroom! Nine Inch Nails at the Ford Center with Saul, Max reminisces about seeing NIN live at Kinetics in Bricktown on the Pretty Hate Machine Tour. Max once again did a two stage local metal show at the Cains that had Horse Called War on the bill. We also discuss the very first Bullet For My Valentine show in Oklahoma at Curly's with Forte, which was legendary... A brand new metal band, with young kids, with all the hype behind them on the same bill with Metal / Thrash legends Forte.... If you were asked to guess who would have the best grass, Willie, Merle, or Ray Price? Most would have no idea that it would be Ray Price.... If you know, you know! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

lost ministry oklahoma tulsa oklahoma city forte nine inch nails curly nin lost episodes shinedown opeth halestorm kinetics bullet for my valentine devildriver ray price cains minus the bear bricktown ford center max baker cain's ballroom diamond ballroom

GOSPELS 6 KINGDOM WORDS OF BLESSING

Spiritcode

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2024 21:15

GOSPELS 6 KINGDOM WORDS OF BLESSING When we spoke about the wisdom of the words of Jesus in Gospels 5 we saw Jesus being confronted with criticism and antagonism by religious people who were threatened by his undeniable aura of authority. Even his own disciples weren't quite sure why Jesus was doing the things that he did until they heard Jesus answering his religious critics, so Jesus was teaching them as well as the others – and as well as us, in those moments of enlightenment because of his words of wisdom - revolutionary words of a New Covenant reality that would supersede the Old Covenant religious tradition. This new kind of faith and freedom would be lived by people one day because of his risen life within them. But now we are going to read the next in line topic of revolutionary wisdom words from Jesus. These are words of the inner spiritual blessings of the Kingdom of God, and these words were spoken to the poor and needy, people who, because they had physical afflictions and infectious diseases or deformities could not enter the temple – the outcasts. And they greeted the words of Jesus with humble incredulous wonder and not harsh antagonism or criticism. These words seemed too good to be true or too impossible to ever experience. They are called The Beatitudes and are found in Matthew 5:1 and also in a shorter form in Luke 6:20. They are often whimsically titled the ‘Be - Attitudes.' Because they teach us how to ‘be' so that we might know what to ‘do'. These words have eternal wisdom relevant for any age and any culture to aspire to, but again only able to be fully realized in the New Covenant reality. Human nature cannot do this, we need to be partakers of the Divine nature (2Peter 1:4) which became our treasure when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. Matthew 5:1 Jesus saw the multitudes, so he went up into a mountain: and when he was settled, he gathered his disciples around him: And he taught them all, everybody, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Poor in spirit is an attitude. Being poor means to have no resources left – so that means having nothing at all or not having something particular at the time. ‘In spirit ‘means in our very being – it means our whole life – what we have and who we are. Money and material things and outward appearances may appear to make us well off in our being but if we are addicted to that we end up having nothing of value on the inside. The greater blessing is the spiritual blessing of having God as our fulfillment and provision (Ephesians 1:3). The unfulfilled rich young Ruler wanted to attain the Kingdom of God couldn't receive that blessing. He wanted the inner blessing of the Kingdom but he valued the material blessing more. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. There is a blessing hidden in the grief of the loss of something dear to you for that is when you can receive the comfort of the One who is most dear to you - because of how dear you are to him. He never wants to lose you and he never will, so stay close and be blessed and comforted by that. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. You are blessed when you don't use power over others to get want you want. People who use power over others think they get what they want but they end up with a thankless life full of nothing. The greatest inner blessing is having the power and love of God within you. And you end up with a grateful life that has everything you could want or needed – content. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. The world wants you lining up to satisfy your appetites on what it has to offer, and those things leave you feeling empty. God wants you to be in alignment with what he has to offer - and having a hunger for that that fills you with an overflowing fulfillment and satisfaction with your life. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. If you make room for other people's mistakes when they fall short of their good intentions, God will have an ocean of mercy for you that creates the most beautiful space for belonging within the boundless forgiveness and mercy and acceptance of God. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. When your heart's desire is to see God being pleased with what you think and do for his sake, then he will let you see with your own eyes the wonderful things he is doing in in your world for your sake, and for the sake of those you love. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Children who work together and play together as peacemakers have a heart to see agreement and mutual thoughtfulness and kindness and being there for others in the family. These peacemakers will feel cherished and included in the same way by the Father Son and Holy Spirit who cherish one another and who are dedicated to being there for one another. All these blessings make us ready to hear the next of the most impossible of all blessings – the one of persecution. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Be joyful and glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for that is how they persecuted the prophets which were before you. The previous blessings provide you with a bullet-proof suit of armor that protects you emotionally and spiritually and even in the physical stress of being attacked by the aggressive or hidden malevolence of people who hate your devotion to God. They are like the Cains that killed the Abel. But you are an Abel that is Able – able to stand in faith and resilience and let the bullets bounce off. We can even laugh it off because that verse tells us to be joyful and glad. That is one of the most beautiful of the impossible possibilities of all of these boundless Beatitude Blessings. You can actually just be yourself – who you really are and not what the persecutors want you to be like with their fake identity virtues. They are simply resentful and covetous and jealous of your true virtue and behaviour. That is why Cain murdered Abel. 1John 3:12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. And that blessing gets you ready to live in the next exhortation of Jesus to hang in there and persevere confidently and be the true self of who you are and do the true things of what you do that he has creatively designed you for you in your spirit – and in your whole inner and outward being for all to see. You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, it is useless and needs to be thrown out, and trodden underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a candle, and puts it under a bush, but on a candlestick; and it lights up the house for everyone. Let your light shine for people and let them see your goodness of who you are and what you do but only let your Father in heaven get the glory. We need to know who we are in God and with God. We don't need to know everything that the world knows or thinks it does, or to have to know the future that some internet prophet that you don't know puts out there in the prophecy market. We need to know God and his ways, so that we know how to be and what to do in God and with God no matter what anybody else thinks you are and what you should be and do. Because you will be making everybody's life in your world all the better off anyway by knowing God in a real way. And that is what God wants for you.

Cains' Mark

Becoming Lutheran

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2024 8:34

Cains' Mark

cains

Battle4Freedom - 20240206 - Year of the Dragon - Depravity, Desolations and Delusions

Battle4Freedom

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2024 56:01

Year of the Dragon - Depravity, Desolations and DelusionsWebsite: http://www.battle4freedom.comNetwork: https://www.mojo50.comStreaming: https://www.rumble.com/Battle4Freedomhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13046671/chinese-new-year-2024-animal.htmlWhat is the 2024 Chinese New Year animal and what does it represent?Chinese New Year 2024 is on February 10, the Year of the Dragonhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13048361/indianapolis-serial-killer-women-stabbed-death.htmlFears of Indianapolis serial killer as the bodies of two women in their fifties including a deaf mother of one are found stabbed to death just a few hundred yards apart in the same weekShannon Lessere, 58, was found on Saturday, January 27, on an Indianapolis roadJust five days later, and 150 yards away, Marianne Weis, 52, was also discoveredCops say the two deaths are not officially connected - but noted the similaritieshttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13047075/NYC-Martin-Van-Buren-high-school-teens-assault-stabbing.htmlShocking moment two 17-year-olds beat and stomp on teen's head in violent brawl at NYC high school - before BOTH attackers are stabbedhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13045531/Washington-neighborhood-1million-church-converted-affordable-housing.htmlNeighbors outraged over plan to convert $1million church property to affordable housing in Washington communityAmici House, run by Andrew and Julie Cain, bought The Rock Revival Center in Tacoma's North End neighborhood in April 2021 for $1million The church, built in 1908, is now going to be converted by the Cains into what they hope will be 11 shared rooms that house 40 to 50 people, aged 18 to 26 People in the neighborhood are concerned with how the new project would impact the areahttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13047601/san-francisco-mayor-london-breed-welfare-assistance-screening.htmlSan Francisco's Democratic mayor London Breed pushes for adults to be screened for drug addiction before they can get $700-a-month welfare payments amid city's spiraling fentanyl crisisMayor Breed is backing an 'aggressive' measure which would require drug addicts to enroll in treatment before receiving their welfare benefits There are roughly 9,000 single adults in the scheme who can receive up to $700 a monthShe is also backing a measure to increase police powers to combat the crime spree in the cityhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13040187/bader-ginsburg-sotomayor-cnn-josh-barrow.htmlProgressives are trying to pester liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 69, into RETIRING over fears she could die on the job like Ruth Bader-Ginsburg while conservative president is in officeCNN commentator Josh Barrow adds to clamor of voices on the left demanding the early retirement of the pioneering Hispanic justiceThey fear the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority could be further entrenched if the 69-year-old dies in office under a Republican presidencyComes after they helped force the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer in 2022 and his replacement by Ketanji Brown Jacksonhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13037505/inside-metaverse-mark-zuckerbergs-horizon-worlds.htmlDaily Mail witnesses sexual assault in Mark Zuckerberg's Horizon Worlds - as gang rapes, child grooming and sexual harassment flood the metaverseChildren harassed and even 'gang raped' in online worldsVideos of Roblox 'condo' sex shared on porn siteshttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13047845/umbrella-size-argentina-fight-earth-global-warming.htmlScientists propose launching 'umbrella' the size of Argentina nine million miles from Earth to block our planet from the sun's rays - and promise it would reduce warming by 2.7F in two yearsScientists are seeking up to $20 million to fund the prototype that is 100sq feetHowever, the final project would seen a massive one-million-square-mile shadehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13028137/Going-underground-Four-places-safe-theres-World-War-Three-attack.htmlGoing underground! Four places which are safe if there's a World War Three attackSwitzerland previously promised all of its residents access to a shelterIn 2015, the Pentagon decided to re-staff their Cheyenne Mountain Complex https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13045605/Minnesota-couple-Hinge-reunite-kindergarten-wedding.htmlMinnesota couple born on the same day in the same hospital lose touch after kindergarten...only to find a spark when they match on dating app 35 YEARS laterJoshua and Elizabeth Colbert matched on the dating app Hinge in April 2023They realized they were in the same kindergarten class and they were both born on September 13, 1988, in the same Minnesota hospitalFive months after getting reacquainted the couple got married on their 35th birthday, with their kindergarten teacher in attendance

83. Our Biggest Mistakes with the Stephens, Cains and Dances

The Glass House

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2023 31:18

Ministry is complex and making mistakes is inevitable. On today's show Ben and Lynley sit down with three ministry couples who are transparent about their biggest mistakes they've made and learned from over the years. Jarrett and Debbie Stephens, Corey and Melody Caine, and Mark and Janet Dance share with us how they have navigated the challenges of ministries and what they have learned on the other side of some of their biggest mistakes! Learning from leaders who have gone before us is a gift! We will forever be grateful for the ministry couples who enter the glass house with us and share their stories! Mentions: - The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath - Start to Finish: The Pastor's Guide to Leading a Resilient Life and Ministry by Mark Dance Connect with the Glass House on Instagram HERE Please email us your questions and feedback to president@lifeway.com

Emergency prayers 'for peace of Jerusalem' from @Prophet bear weight to history: 'God bless Israel'

Motivational Quotes for true Happiness words of love to Empower you with positive Vibe

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2023 23:58

Subscribe, Register https://ivacademy.net/en/free-sign-up Donate https://ivacademy.net/en/donate Daily join us & ENJOY most Powerful United Global efforts in #GlobalPrayersChain for #Peace2027 at 19.00 your local time and #PrayWithNick for: - Ultimate Global Peace by 2027 - All countries to be restored to God by 2027 - For Immediate Peace in Holy Land, Ukraine, Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Yemen, Syria, Israel, Myanmar, Palestine, Sudan, Algeria and all hot spots globally - True Parents, True children, True Family and True Mother's health - Healing Oceans and all Environment by 2027 - Humankind to plant and raise 1 billion+ trees globally by 2027 - South and North Korea peaceful reunification this year - Global economy that benefits all nations and people to be set up worldwide by 2027 - All countries to stop weapons production and distribution and begin to invest in peace and in the well-being of humanity by 2027 - All families globally to receive God's Marriage Blessing by 2027 - All religions by 2027 to start to work together in unity to illuminate humankind about God our all humans Heavenly Parent and His tireless work of humans salvation behind the history, receive marriage blessing from Messiah 2nd coming and pass to all humanity - Peace Road to be built globally by 2027 - till 2027 humankind to finish all wars and sanctions globally forever - Reform health care systems for good, globally, by 2027 - Total Liberation of Our Heavenly Parent and ancestors in spiritual world - Science and religion unity by 2027 - Join now new 40 days prayer, devotions and blessing condition 6.10-14.11.2023 for success of vital marriage blessing events in Europe, Africa, Asia, Americas and all True Parents peacebuilding activities globally; With today's effort for peace & Business, IT, investments, Agriculture, Ocean, Inventions, Aero and Cosmos Networking for #Peace2027 @Biz #GPBNet Amen – Aju Quotes: Let us fulfill our responsibilities as Cains and as Abels. With God above us and below us, in front of us and behind us, and to our right and left, let us live with absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, which is the standard that brought forth the creation. If we can unite and fulfill the way of embracing, forgiving and loving, then the Era after the Coming of Heaven will be the literal peace kingdom, where all attend the True Parents and peace and prosperity reign. SEND YOUR PRAYERS REQUESTS and Happy Join milenium in Your Favorite Networks: https://instagram.com/HAPPY_TV_NEWS https://Twitter.com/cirpalanicolae https://FACEBOOK.com/nicolaecirpala https://Youtube.com/c/HAPPYTVNEWS https://t.me/GPBNet or https://Linkedin.com/in/nicolaecirpala -& In the bright memory of my son Daniil, year around Famous drawing Contest for #Peace2027 is held, as Daniil has been drawing #PeacePictures in last days, we invite you to Happily donate today to the Daniil Foundation to support his cause helping children https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-thousands-of-orphaned-and-homeless-children https://ivacademy.net/en/donate Enjoy Sharing today this foundation with friends and wide in social networks to Empower you and all 8B+ people to participate and complete ultimate Global peace building by 2027 in every country ok? Call me Yours @Prophet Nicolae Cirpala +79811308385 Tel WhatsApp For Cooperation, Consultation or Presentations and more partnerships --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nicolae-cirpala/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nicolae-cirpala/support

"RAISING CAINS" Billy Lile, Congregational Pastor

Pearlside Church | Main Campus

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2023 45:32

Just as parents are called to lay the foundation of faith in their kids and teach them to follow God, we are all called to help cultivate faith in others (our friends, family, etc.). Parents can do this by tending to the hearts of their children and by being present in their lives, allowing them to lovingly extend truth and grace when their children struggle with sin. We help others by listening to their hearts and pointing them to Jesus with truth and grace. Adam and Eve failed to tend to Cain's heart, allowing envy, jealousy, and resentment to fester, resulting in murder. Their lack of presence and guidance led to catastrophe and severe consequences for both of their sons. Similar things will happen if we fail to be present and tend to people's hearts.Our families and friendships do not exist primarily for our happiness but for our holiness and spiritual growth. This biblical truth applies to all of us in our relationships, whether we are parents or not.

god jesus christ parents raising similar congregational l'ile cains

You Must Rule - Genesis 4:6-7

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2023 9:05

If you appreciate this work, consider supporting it - https://www.patreon.com/seekgodtogether Today we will read Genesis 4:6-7. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'” The brothers, Cain and Able, had just made their sacrificial offerings. God “regarded” Able's, but not Cains. Able got an A while Cain failed. Now Cain is upset. Yet even in this moment God is pursuing relationship with Cain. He asks “Why are you furious?” And then God answers His own question. “If you ‘Do' what is right won't you be accepted?” It seems the offering itself wasn't the issue but rather the conduct of the worshipper. Whatever Cain's conduct was, it kept him from being acceptable. Then comes the sinister line, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” And of course this is foreshadowing the next verse where Cain kills his own brother. But notice, sin is given a sense of agency and desire. It desires Cain. What is God's remedy against this corrosive force? Cain must rule over it. God doesn't take it away. He doesn't magically change Cain's heart. The onus is on Cain to do what's right in the face of sin's desire. And he tragically fails. This is heartbreaking. But we would be wise to learn from it as millions have for thousands of years. First, sin is also crouching at your door and mine. It desires you and me. Do you feel guilty for the temptation? The dark thoughts? The attitude? The destructive desires? Don't feel guilty. Don't be surprised. And do not feel alone because you're not. There is an active agent at work in you that is distinct from you. And second, know that sin does not have the upper hand. You have all the resources in God to rule, to dominate it. You are the master, not it. And you are empowered to rule. It is a choice you and I will have to make every day every moment of our lives. And it is this moment to moment surrender to God, and resistance to sin that will ultimately make us into the humans God desires all along. Don't curse the process. Recognize it for what it is and keep going. God I can feel sin at my door. But I'm not surprised. I want to experience You in the resistance. Give me more of You.

Here's The Deal Podcast - The Max Baker Jr. Story - Episode 64

Meadowbrooke Church Sermon Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2023 32:47

We start off Episode 64 reminiscing about the Episode we recorded with Max's sister Deana Baker & a weekend with John Pardi & John Fogerty. Then we return to 2005 where we discuss shows with Alter Bridge, Crossfade, & Submersed at the Cains Ballroom as well as a Meshuggah & Disjointed show in OKC at Bricktown Live. The All American Rejects are coming to the Zoo Amp in OKC in October, in this episode we talk about a pair of AAR shows in Tulsa & OKC as well as the history of AAR in the early days. Every year CANCER SUCKS puts on an annual concert at the Cains to raise money for cancer research. We discuss the early days of the cancer sucks concerts that were 10 Local Bands for $10, giving many bands an opportunity to play the Cains, who normally would not be able to grace that stage. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

music podcasts concerts tulsa okc live music aar john fogerty meshuggah disjointed alter bridge roadies all american rejects cancer sucks local bands concert promoter cains crossfade max baker cain's ballroom

Reading the Bible through the lens of: Protein Folding

Why Did Peter Sink?

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2023 21:03

For science-minded people, I think a good way to think of salvation history in the Bible is to consider it in the light of protein folding, where the same protein in “primary structure” is very different than that of “quaternary structure.” The same protein becomes something completely different in each stage, and until the “fullness of time” arrives for the Incarnation through Mary, the protein has not reached its highest state. Until a protein folds into a certain shape, it cannot perform its full function. This is a marvelous thing to study in science, and I have a hard time believing that people don't recognize the genius of God in this amazingly simple yet incredibly complex topic of protein folding. But then I can look at a blade of grass and see the wonder and awe of God in it, so maybe I'm strange. But it is truly mind blowing that the same peptide chains can configure into different shapes that have wildly different purposes and usages. This same unfolding and folding happens in individual lives. If you ever have the joy of watching someone in addiction come to believe and receive new life, this can happen before your eyes instead of over thousands of years. I realize this is quite a leap from reading the Bible in the light of professional wrestling, but protein folding may help us see that the world of Adam and Cain is different from that of Noah, and that of Abraham, and that of Moses, and that of Jesus. Each covenant is a “fold” toward the “fullness of time” that Jesus speaks of when he arrives. I once heard a person describe his awakening from addiction this way: throughout his life he felt as if he was holding a piece of construction paper in front of his face, and was never able to see much. Somewhere on this sheet of construction paper were two eye-holes, and now and then, he would shift the paper so that the eye-holes lined up with his eyes for a bit. And he could see. Once he began to pray and work toward a relationship with God, he could see more often, and now he can see, because he is in the right position. But really, he says that his sight was positioned for him. Something higher shifted him and the paper to allow the light. This is similar to how this protein folding metaphor works. The same chemical compound is present, but in order to become useful in a new way, a shift must happen. Although it is the exact same protein, it is not the same shape after the folding, and can suddenly do new things. It's the equivalent of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Once we are turned into the right shape we unlock the next phase, or level-up, as gamers would say. We can see this folding and changing in the sacred texts. If Adam is the primary structure of a protein, Moses seems to be quaternary structure in this metaphor. He unlocks new meaning in salvation history. Both are men, but they reach new heights as salvation history unfolds. And Jesus is infinitely beyond Moses, because it is he, God incarnate, who took on our human shape, but also made the atoms that form all proteins in the first place. He's the second person of the three-in-one, the Trinity, who holds the gravitational constant in perfect position to allow such miracles of physics to happen repeatedly. Occasionally he even pokes his finger into the laws of nature to, say, walk on water or just walk with us in our trials, and we call these moments miracles. In God's plan, somehow the descendants of Cain helped lead to this fourth folding, and now we await the final folding when the marriage of heaven and earth happen. Of course we don't understand it fully because we are not God, we are like dogs looking at humans and pondering their behavior, or like me observing the goose on the exit ramp and wondering why there are cars. Goose, dog, me - none are God, but the two animals in that list are living more in alignment with God's will than I am. Somehow, someway, cities and weapons and family breakdown is all allowed in God's plan. Geese getting hit on the exit ramp is part of the plan. Our history from Cain onward of scarring and ripping God's plentiful earth is part of the plan. The Chosen people, the Israelites attacked and killed the giant clans as part of the plan. Then they themselves were slaughtered by the Assyrians and Babylonians as part of the plan. Caesar killed a few million people in the Gallic wars as part of God's plan that preceded the fullness of time when Jesus arrived. Since the Resurrection we've had ever larger wars and plagues and famines. Personally, I can't understand it all without the ideas of free will and redemptive suffering. I wish you luck if you are going to spend a life trying to reconcile suicide, addiction, murder, poverty, starvation, and rampant sexual sin without free will and a living God that allows us to sin out of love but yearns for us to return and repent like Prodigal Sons. It is quite clear that sin is the cause of all suffering. Yet a little voice is calling to us all, if we will pause to listen for it, and only when we do can we “fold” into the next phase, as a more spiritually mature structure, when we allow God to take control, and his will to be done for our lives. It is always the Cains of this world that create a living hell in trying to create heaven through power and increasing technology. It seems obvious at this point that the next serious famine will come when our machines stop working, or electricity fails, or we poison the water. Yet we look back at those who lived sustainably in the middle ages and “dark ages” as ignorant fools, even though they lived in harmony with nature and in small communities, like the goose family on the exit ramp (from the prior post). We rush in our cars on massive highways and if we happen to run over the goose, we don't even stop. As William Blake said in the Proverbs of Hell, “The cut worm forgives the plow,” and also, “The busy bee has no time for sorrow.” These are not compliments, but highways to hell, and we willingly choose those paths. We assume the march of progress will save us but like Lamech and Cain, the wise of this age will be made fools. St. Paul was aware of this, as his own wisdom revealed itself as foolish. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (1 Cor 1:18-21)Cain never folded past his primary structure, but in the Saints you see the change, the shift, the turning, the folding - from primary to secondary to tertiary to quaternary. This is how and why people change once they fully see Christ as God himself. What seemed wise before becomes foolish once the light of faith alters the meaning of every moment and interaction, because the base fear of death is removed completely, and when that happens the kingdom of God is already among us. It's suddenly visible even amid the suffering. This protein folding metaphor can work on a social level or personal, because it seems that if we are stuck in sin, we have not leveled-up from primary structure. Or, if we have folded into an advanced structure, but then fall back we have gone through some “denaturing” process and need to surrender to God once again to level-up. (And of course, in the spiritual life we level-up by going down, like Dante going down into hell - by kneeling, we let go and let God fold us into the shape he wants, and prayer is the catalyst.) As for the mark of Cain, which protects him, it's disturbing to many that he is not killed. But the death penalty comes about when Noah's covenant is announced, and again in the Mosaic law. The world is still in primary structure when Cain commits sin and allows it into the world. (Worth noting here is that in the book of Numbers, the Israelite law requires “cities of refuge” for accidental death (manslaughter) and wandering exiles, so God's law shows mercy to those who haven't committed murder in malice.)But Cain then wanders as an exile, lost, in psychological torture apparently, turned away from God, it seems. Or perhaps he is saved? We cannot know, just as we cannot know who is saved or not, as the particular judgement of any person, besides the canonized saints, is known but to God alone. So Cain's descendants accomplish much, and seize power and wealth and pleasure. But there's a problem with those pursuits. Power lives in perpetual fear of losing power. Wealth lives in perpetual fear of losing wealth. Pleasure lives in…ok you get the point. We have a role to play in a much larger plan, and to play it properly our highest loyalty must be to Christ, not to a nation, not to a president, and not to an ideology. If you need a key to understanding the Old Testament, it is this: people sin, and things go badly, but it calls them to change, to fold into the next structure that leads them to their ultimate purpose. This is the password to unlocking the mysteries. Everyone sins. Everyone falls. But that is where the “folding” happens to allow us to fit into the puzzle of higher purpose. Abraham sins by taking two wives, and he even gives his wife Sarah to save his skin when he is fearful. He suffers for it. Moses sins, multiple times. He suffers for it. David sins so badly that even small children understand that his move to kill Uriah is an incredibly dirty mafia hit. For goodness sakes, Samson…we'll get to Samson later, in some other series. When the folding happens to us, where life and experience and time and age re-shape us, we can either become static in a unending prideful pity-party…or we can seek faith, hope, and charity. Even a protein like hemoglobin knows that when change happens, it works toward the purpose for which God created it, which is to carry oxygen to our cells. When it is disordered, you have sickle cell anemia and other maladies. And some proteins malfunction, just as some acorns never become oak trees. Such is God's will. God's way is beyond our pay grade of knowing, and even what we can know, we cannot fully understand. However, even a protein that malfunctions or an acorn that never germinates still is ready to attempt to live out its purpose. Even if deformed or broken, these “mindless” proteins and seeds know that to carry oxygen or to sprout a sapling is what they must do if the conditions are right. We are no different. Our primary structure is the joining of two cells, and then we fold into a process of mitosis in our mothers' wombs, then we fold into the light, then we fold into childhood, fold into adolescence, fold into adulthood, parenthood, and old age. From the first cell all the way to the grave, we have the same soul. The protein in its folding does not change, but becomes capable in different ways. We are made to be human, with a body and soul, and we are made by God and for God, thus our ultimate purpose is not to make money or win honor, it is to return to eternal life with God, who is the only being that can satisfy our souls. The hunger we have for meaning is the same as our cells for oxygen. Our bellies cry out for food, and we know food exists, so we eat. Our tongue notifies us that water is needed, and water exists. And our heart yearns to have a relationship with God, with a holy family, and it too exists. When all of these other hungers, thirsts, and yearnings have corresponding solutions, so does the greatest desire of all, which is to be loved and to seek supreme happiness, which can be had, in this life and the next. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whydidpetersink.substack.com

Walking with the One who Keeps, Secures, and Sustains

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2023

Who are you Christian? With a specific appeal to Christians threatened by the danger of an enemy who sought to use people in their lives to introduce what the Bible calls: doctrines of demons, intended to move those in the Church off course from the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (v. 3). The devil and his demons are not threatened by those who claim to be Christian with their lips but deny Jesus as Master and Lord with their lives; the devil and his demons are threatened by those who are so convinced of who Jesus is that they can live no other way but to follow Him. Jude is not the only place where we are warned of the dangers that threaten the Christian: Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12) You therefore, beloved take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (2 Peter 3:17) Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19) In his parable of the four different ways people respond to the word of God as it relates to Jesus, only one type of person truly receives Jesus as Savior and Lord. Some will hear about Jesus, but the devil, comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved (Luke 8:12). Others hear about Jesus, but the cares and riches and pleasures of life choke out any faith they had in Jesus (Luke 8:14). The third group Jesus described in his parable is what I believe motivated Jude to write his epistle; these people hear the truth about Jesus and receive it with joy, but because the roots of their faith do not go deep enough, they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away (Luke 8:13). According to Jude, those who have crept into the Church unnoticed are false Christians who say they know Jesus but deny Him as Master and Lord. Jude describes these people as ungodly people who have the appearance of religion but are rotten to the core. They walk the way of Cain, abandon themselves for the sake of gain, and stand condemned before God. On the outside, false teachers seem harmless, but under the surface they are deadly. They present themselves as spiritual guides, but they are guided by their own greed. They present themselves as alive in Jesus, but they are twice dead. They posture themselves as holy, but they are stained by their own shame. They say they know where they are going, but their moral and spiritual compass is broken. Jude describes these people as grumblers, malcontents, loud-mouthed boasters who follow their own desires (v. 16). To add to this, the Church is surrounded by a culture that is anti-Christian because it is anti-Christ. Judes epistle is filled with examples of how the culture of a fallen world is antagonistic towards God and His people. To walk in such a world can be scary and intimidating, and we see this in the example Jude uses of the Hebrew people who were so intimidated by those who lived in the land God promised them, that they refused believe God and enter into the land because they bought into the lie that the threats that lived in Canaan were greater than the faithfulness of the God who promised that land to them. Leading up to the flood, Jude reminds us of the decline of human civilization into moral bankruptcy and unhinged violence from Cains murder of Abel to Lamechs polygamy and disregard of the sanctity of life, to the harems of powerful men and their link to demonic possession and sexual deviancy. Sometime before Noah and the catastrophic flood, we learn that Enoch walked with God. Sometime after Enoch, Noah was born and grew up in a world and culture described in Genesis 6 as follows: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Yet we are told that Noah was a, a herald of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5). Gods people have been surrounded by cultures characterized by gross sexual immorality, violence, idolatry in the worst forms that often-involved child sacrifice, and the ridicule and mocking of anyone who stood apart from such evil since the days of Noah. Today, the world we find ourselves in is not all that dissimilar; the only difference is the dress being unique to the day, but underneath is the same evil. Today, in America, the Church finds Herself surrounded by a culture where sex is the primary god. According to the website SexualDiversity.org, there are now 107 gender identities as of 2023. In our world an estimated 27.6 million people are trafficked worldwide and the United States of America ranks the worst, with over half of the criminal trafficking cases in our country involving children, of whom many are sold as sex-slaves. One of the main aggravators for child trafficking is the 97 billion-dollar Porn industry. It is estimated that over 300,000 of Americas young population is considered at risk for sexual exploitation.[1]On top of the exploitation of Americas children is Planned Parenthoods 2-billion-dollar abortion industry, whose main mission serves the termination of unborn babies in the United States alone. People may not be placing their children in the red-hot arms of Molech over a fire to be sacrificed, but they are doing it in other ways! As we have been warned by Jude, the evils of the world have a way of creeping into the community of Gods people. Although statistically there is a difference between those who claim to be Christian and those who do not, more Christians divorce today than ever before, more approve of abortion, and more make life choices based on sexual preference then the prescription assigned by God Himself. The dangers that faced the church in Judes day are the same dangers we face today, just under a different dress. The message of Jude to the Christian is that although the dangers are real and great, the God who is greater: called us, loves us, keeps us, and protects us. God loves us because He is our Father, God keeps us because Jesus is our Redeemer, and God protects us because the Holy Spirit seals and secures us. God is Keeping You God is keeping you from something in your life, and that something is from stumbling after the false teachers. According to the first verse in this amazing epistle, we are both beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. There are many dangers around us, but God is infinitely bigger than those dangers. However, if you are honest with yourself, Judes warning to the Christians for whom his letter is addressed is frightening. I can still see the faces of those who have been a part of my life who have fallen from the faith because they have bought into the lies of the enemy. To think that you are immune is to demonstrate an ignorance of the examples provided to us in scripture, a foolishness that is blind to the reality of your own life. I read a story this week about the circus acrobat, Philippe Petit, who believed himself to be immune to failure and renowned for his walk on a tight rope between the two Word Trade Towers on August 7, 1974. Five months later, while rehearsing for his act in St. Petersburg, Florida, he fell about thirty feet. One witness who saw Petit fall, said that he rolled onto his stomach and began to bound the floor with his fists as he cried, I cant believe it! I cant believe it! I dont ever fall.[2] Petit suffered multiple broken bones and internal injuries that day. Petits story reminds me of the hymn, Come Thou Fount, penned by Robert Robinson: Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;Prone to leave the God I love:Take my heart, oh, take and seal itWith Thy Spirit from above.Rescued thus from sin and danger,Purchased by the Saviors blood,May I walk on earth a stranger,As a son and heir of God. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all prone to fall, but there is one who will not allow us to fall to the point we are destroyed indefinitely. This is what Jesus prayed for: And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (John 17:1115, ESV) God Will Finish His Work in You God is doing something in you Christian. He intends to present you blameless on that Day when you stand before Him. Think about the significance of what Jude is saying here! Job heard the voice of the Lord in response to all that he suffered, not understanding why he suffered so, we learn of his response in the final chapter of his story: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:2-3, 5-6). In response to the holiness of God, Habakkuk wrote: I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. (Hab. 3:16). On the day of judgement, we are given just a glimpse of the One who sits upon the throne recorded for us by the apostle John: Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them (Rev. 20:11). According to Jude, there will be one type of creature besides the heavenly hosts that will not need to recoil at His presence, and that creature will be men, women, and children redeemed by the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Not only will we stand before the Holy One as blameless, but we will be presented before the One of whom the angels cry: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory (Isa. 6:3)! Timothy Keller said, God invites us to come as we are, not to stay as we are. On that day we will stand before Him fully aware that it was not by any power of our own that resulted in our presentation as blameless, but of One outside of ourselves who kept us for and by Jesus. God is Delighting in You Christian, as you stand before the One before whom all of heaven and earth flee, not only will you stand before Him blameless, but you will do so knowing that He delights in you! The word that Jude chose to use to describe the joy that will be celebrated by the Almighty over every Christian literally means gladness, great joy, and exultation. Quite literally, what Jude is saying that we will experience on that great Day that will be terrible for many, but not for us, is that God will exult over the redeemed! The kind of rejoicing we will experience from Yahweh is what is described by the prophet Zephaniah: The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Christian, when you stand before God, he will not look upon you with disgust or disappointment! He will look upon you as a Father and will exult over you with loud singing! Do not miss the irony in these verses in light of all that we have learned from Jude so far! What is it that God will keep us from? He will keep the true Christian from stumbling and falling in the manner that the false Christian and false teachers have fallen. You will not fall because for you, Jesus is Master and Lord (v. 4). You are kept, and the evidence that you are kept by God is because you are standing and building your life upon the Word of God, you are dependent upon the Holy Spirit, and you are eagerly waiting, for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life (v. 21). However, the one who rejects Jesus as Master and Lord, they have stumbled, and their fall has resulted in a condemnation that the prophet Daniel describes will stand before God on the day of judgment in, shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2). The true Christian will not only stand before God blameless, but God, will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. God is Doing All Things Through Jesus So, as an appropriate bookend to Judes epistle, he closes with verse 25. Notice how he does this in light of the first two verses of his epistle. Let me show what he does in these verses by contrasting Jude 2 with verse 24 and Jude 1 with verses 25: Jude 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy Here is what we glean from Jude 2 and 25: God is keeping you because of His mercy. God will present you blameless because you have been reconciled to Him and now have His shalom (peace). God exults over because he loves you. Now notice what he does in verse 1 and 25, Jude 1 To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ Jude 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. God called you, and because He called you, you are beloved in God the Father, and you are kept for and by Jesus Christ. God has saved you through Jesus Christ our Lord, and what that means is simply this: God is keeping you through Jesus, and for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ. God will finish His work in you through Jesus, for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ. God delights in you through Jesus, for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ This final verse is the equivalent to Jude performing a mic drop. He then closes with virtues that can only be true of Yahweh and applies them also to the Son: glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. The apostle John does the same thing in Revelation 5. If you ever question what it means to be beloved in God the Father you need not look any further than Revelation 5:9-13, And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! (Revelation 5:913) Jude ends with the only word that feels and seems appropriate to conclude his glorious doxology and sunning epistle with, and that word is simply: Amen. [1] Andrew Keiper, Perry Chiaramonte; Human trafficking in America among worst in world. The Shelter for Abused Women Children. [2] Helm, D. R. (2008). 1 2 Peter and Jude: sharing christs sufferings (p. 355). Crossway Books.

Walking with the One who Keeps, Secures, and Sustains

Meadowbrooke Church Sermon Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2023

Who are you Christian? With a specific appeal to Christians threatened by the danger of an enemy who sought to use people in their lives to introduce what the Bible calls: doctrines of demons, intended to move those in the Church off course from the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (v. 3). The devil and his demons are not threatened by those who claim to be Christian with their lips but deny Jesus as Master and Lord with their lives; the devil and his demons are threatened by those who are so convinced of who Jesus is that they can live no other way but to follow Him. Jude is not the only place where we are warned of the dangers that threaten the Christian: Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12) You therefore, beloved take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (2 Peter 3:17) Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19) In his parable of the four different ways people respond to the word of God as it relates to Jesus, only one type of person truly receives Jesus as Savior and Lord. Some will hear about Jesus, but the devil, comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved (Luke 8:12). Others hear about Jesus, but the cares and riches and pleasures of life choke out any faith they had in Jesus (Luke 8:14). The third group Jesus described in his parable is what I believe motivated Jude to write his epistle; these people hear the truth about Jesus and receive it with joy, but because the roots of their faith do not go deep enough, they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away (Luke 8:13). According to Jude, those who have crept into the Church unnoticed are false Christians who say they know Jesus but deny Him as Master and Lord. Jude describes these people as ungodly people who have the appearance of religion but are rotten to the core. They walk the way of Cain, abandon themselves for the sake of gain, and stand condemned before God. On the outside, false teachers seem harmless, but under the surface they are deadly. They present themselves as spiritual guides, but they are guided by their own greed. They present themselves as alive in Jesus, but they are twice dead. They posture themselves as holy, but they are stained by their own shame. They say they know where they are going, but their moral and spiritual compass is broken. Jude describes these people as grumblers, malcontents, loud-mouthed boasters who follow their own desires (v. 16). To add to this, the Church is surrounded by a culture that is anti-Christian because it is anti-Christ. Judes epistle is filled with examples of how the culture of a fallen world is antagonistic towards God and His people. To walk in such a world can be scary and intimidating, and we see this in the example Jude uses of the Hebrew people who were so intimidated by those who lived in the land God promised them, that they refused believe God and enter into the land because they bought into the lie that the threats that lived in Canaan were greater than the faithfulness of the God who promised that land to them. Leading up to the flood, Jude reminds us of the decline of human civilization into moral bankruptcy and unhinged violence from Cains murder of Abel to Lamechs polygamy and disregard of the sanctity of life, to the harems of powerful men and their link to demonic possession and sexual deviancy. Sometime before Noah and the catastrophic flood, we learn that Enoch walked with God. Sometime after Enoch, Noah was born and grew up in a world and culture described in Genesis 6 as follows: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Yet we are told that Noah was a, a herald of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5). Gods people have been surrounded by cultures characterized by gross sexual immorality, violence, idolatry in the worst forms that often-involved child sacrifice, and the ridicule and mocking of anyone who stood apart from such evil since the days of Noah. Today, the world we find ourselves in is not all that dissimilar; the only difference is the dress being unique to the day, but underneath is the same evil. Today, in America, the Church finds Herself surrounded by a culture where sex is the primary god. According to the website SexualDiversity.org, there are now 107 gender identities as of 2023. In our world an estimated 27.6 million people are trafficked worldwide and the United States of America ranks the worst, with over half of the criminal trafficking cases in our country involving children, of whom many are sold as sex-slaves. One of the main aggravators for child trafficking is the 97 billion-dollar Porn industry. It is estimated that over 300,000 of Americas young population is considered at risk for sexual exploitation.[1]On top of the exploitation of Americas children is Planned Parenthoods 2-billion-dollar abortion industry, whose main mission serves the termination of unborn babies in the United States alone. People may not be placing their children in the red-hot arms of Molech over a fire to be sacrificed, but they are doing it in other ways! As we have been warned by Jude, the evils of the world have a way of creeping into the community of Gods people. Although statistically there is a difference between those who claim to be Christian and those who do not, more Christians divorce today than ever before, more approve of abortion, and more make life choices based on sexual preference then the prescription assigned by God Himself. The dangers that faced the church in Judes day are the same dangers we face today, just under a different dress. The message of Jude to the Christian is that although the dangers are real and great, the God who is greater: called us, loves us, keeps us, and protects us. God loves us because He is our Father, God keeps us because Jesus is our Redeemer, and God protects us because the Holy Spirit seals and secures us. God is Keeping You God is keeping you from something in your life, and that something is from stumbling after the false teachers. According to the first verse in this amazing epistle, we are both beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. There are many dangers around us, but God is infinitely bigger than those dangers. However, if you are honest with yourself, Judes warning to the Christians for whom his letter is addressed is frightening. I can still see the faces of those who have been a part of my life who have fallen from the faith because they have bought into the lies of the enemy. To think that you are immune is to demonstrate an ignorance of the examples provided to us in scripture, a foolishness that is blind to the reality of your own life. I read a story this week about the circus acrobat, Philippe Petit, who believed himself to be immune to failure and renowned for his walk on a tight rope between the two Word Trade Towers on August 7, 1974. Five months later, while rehearsing for his act in St. Petersburg, Florida, he fell about thirty feet. One witness who saw Petit fall, said that he rolled onto his stomach and began to bound the floor with his fists as he cried, I cant believe it! I cant believe it! I dont ever fall.[2] Petit suffered multiple broken bones and internal injuries that day. Petits story reminds me of the hymn, Come Thou Fount, penned by Robert Robinson: Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;Prone to leave the God I love:Take my heart, oh, take and seal itWith Thy Spirit from above.Rescued thus from sin and danger,Purchased by the Saviors blood,May I walk on earth a stranger,As a son and heir of God. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all prone to fall, but there is one who will not allow us to fall to the point we are destroyed indefinitely. This is what Jesus prayed for: And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (John 17:1115, ESV) God Will Finish His Work in You God is doing something in you Christian. He intends to present you blameless on that Day when you stand before Him. Think about the significance of what Jude is saying here! Job heard the voice of the Lord in response to all that he suffered, not understanding why he suffered so, we learn of his response in the final chapter of his story: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:2-3, 5-6). In response to the holiness of God, Habakkuk wrote: I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. (Hab. 3:16). On the day of judgement, we are given just a glimpse of the One who sits upon the throne recorded for us by the apostle John: Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them (Rev. 20:11). According to Jude, there will be one type of creature besides the heavenly hosts that will not need to recoil at His presence, and that creature will be men, women, and children redeemed by the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Not only will we stand before the Holy One as blameless, but we will be presented before the One of whom the angels cry: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory (Isa. 6:3)! Timothy Keller said, God invites us to come as we are, not to stay as we are. On that day we will stand before Him fully aware that it was not by any power of our own that resulted in our presentation as blameless, but of One outside of ourselves who kept us for and by Jesus. God is Delighting in You Christian, as you stand before the One before whom all of heaven and earth flee, not only will you stand before Him blameless, but you will do so knowing that He delights in you! The word that Jude chose to use to describe the joy that will be celebrated by the Almighty over every Christian literally means gladness, great joy, and exultation. Quite literally, what Jude is saying that we will experience on that great Day that will be terrible for many, but not for us, is that God will exult over the redeemed! The kind of rejoicing we will experience from Yahweh is what is described by the prophet Zephaniah: The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Christian, when you stand before God, he will not look upon you with disgust or disappointment! He will look upon you as a Father and will exult over you with loud singing! Do not miss the irony in these verses in light of all that we have learned from Jude so far! What is it that God will keep us from? He will keep the true Christian from stumbling and falling in the manner that the false Christian and false teachers have fallen. You will not fall because for you, Jesus is Master and Lord (v. 4). You are kept, and the evidence that you are kept by God is because you are standing and building your life upon the Word of God, you are dependent upon the Holy Spirit, and you are eagerly waiting, for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life (v. 21). However, the one who rejects Jesus as Master and Lord, they have stumbled, and their fall has resulted in a condemnation that the prophet Daniel describes will stand before God on the day of judgment in, shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2). The true Christian will not only stand before God blameless, but God, will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. God is Doing All Things Through Jesus So, as an appropriate bookend to Judes epistle, he closes with verse 25. Notice how he does this in light of the first two verses of his epistle. Let me show what he does in these verses by contrasting Jude 2 with verse 24 and Jude 1 with verses 25: Jude 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy Here is what we glean from Jude 2 and 25: God is keeping you because of His mercy. God will present you blameless because you have been reconciled to Him and now have His shalom (peace). God exults over because he loves you. Now notice what he does in verse 1 and 25, Jude 1 To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ Jude 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. God called you, and because He called you, you are beloved in God the Father, and you are kept for and by Jesus Christ. God has saved you through Jesus Christ our Lord, and what that means is simply this: God is keeping you through Jesus, and for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ. God will finish His work in you through Jesus, for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ. God delights in you through Jesus, for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ This final verse is the equivalent to Jude performing a mic drop. He then closes with virtues that can only be true of Yahweh and applies them also to the Son: glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. The apostle John does the same thing in Revelation 5. If you ever question what it means to be beloved in God the Father you need not look any further than Revelation 5:9-13, And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! (Revelation 5:913) Jude ends with the only word that feels and seems appropriate to conclude his glorious doxology and sunning epistle with, and that word is simply: Amen. [1] Andrew Keiper, Perry Chiaramonte; Human trafficking in America among worst in world. The Shelter for Abused Women Children. [2] Helm, D. R. (2008). 1 2 Peter and Jude: sharing christs sufferings (p. 355). Crossway Books.

Idolatry_Part_11_Lessons_From_Cains_Demise_-_Rabbi_Zvi_Aviner

Netiv.net - Weekly Torah Class

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2023 52:29

Idolatry_Part_11_Lessons_From_Cains_Demise_-_Rabbi_Zvi_Aviner

lessons rabbi idolatry demise cains

Episode 192: MOLCAJETE'S! On Location! (w/ The Whips)

Taco the Town

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2023 85:07

T3 once again hits the nearby tasty taco town of Lawrence, KS to check out MOLCAJETE'S Tacos & Tequila on Mass Street with the KC/Lawrence area's Funk/Pop/Soul Quartet THE WHIPS! The boys (Max, Coop, Quinn & Miles) tell us about their new single 'I'M BEGGIN' (which we play on the episode) and their upcoming concert at The Granada on May 12th and at the Uptown in KC on the 21st! They also fill us in on their summer tour! What wacky hijinx can one expect at a Whips show? Lets just say a MACHO MAN MAGICIAN might be in the mix! The band also give us their Hot Taco Takes, their favorite LFK Taco Spots and tell us how they celebrated Star Wars Day and Cinco De Mayo this year! In the TACO TICKER, we learn about the Raisin' Cains chicken spot in Utah that was re-designed by Post Malone himself! (Would you stop there on a road trip?) The Whips tell us about their own signature Latte and perhaps their own Hot Sauce! Coming Soon! We also Taco 'bout Dunkin' Donuts now serving breakfast tacos! Who do you think would win in the battle for breakfast Taco spokespersons? Ben Affleck or Pete Davidson? In TOWN OF THE TACO we Create a New KC Jingle/Slogan or Catchphrase! Our favorite KC Street Name/Place! And what is the Most Underrated/Hidden KC Gem! ALSO: The Whips introduce us to THE SANDWICH PUNCH GAME! SOON TO SWEEP THE NATION! ALL THIS AND: Wild Animal Stories! (Where we talk about the times wild animals we have encountered in nature have looked us in the eyes and stolen our souls!) Then in RANDOM TACO QUESTION OF THE WEEK: We discuss Dream Taco Creations, If ghosts get mad when you eat tacos in front of them, Would you get your engagement photos taken at a Taco Bell and W.W.Y.P.I.Y.P? (What would you put in your Pinata?) TACO THE TOWN WITH THE MIDWEST'S # 1 COLLEGE PARTY BAND! EATIN' TACOS AND STEALING SOULS WITH AN INFECTIOUS PARTY GROOVE! ONE WILD PARKING LOT FOX AT A TIME! Editor: Matt Allen. Music: SUNEATERS courtesy of Lotuspool Records. SPONSORS: KCK Taco Trail. DIPP IT SALSA. HEATH INJURY LAW.

Cains Consequences (pt. 4)

Yellow Balloons Devotionals

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2023 3:29

consequences cains

Tetracast - Episode 281: Cains vs Abels

RPG Site - Tetracast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2023 181:21

We preview Fire Emblem Engage, review Chained Echoes & Harvestella, discuss the announcement for Fate/Samurai Remnant, the announcement of Ys X Nordics, a release date for Final Fantasy XVI, and more.

final fantasy xvi fire emblem engage chained echoes abels harvestella cains

You Must Rule - Genesis 4:6-7

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2022 8:54

If you appreciate this work, consider supporting it - https://www.patreon.com/seekgodtogether Today we will read Genesis 4:6-7. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'” The brothers, Cain and Able, had just made their sacrificial offerings. God “regarded” Able's, but not Cains. Able got an A while Cain failed. Now Cain is upset. Yet even in this moment God is pursuing relationship with Cain. He asks “Why are you furious?” And then God answers His own question. “If you ‘Do' what is right won't you be accepted?” It seems the offering itself wasn't the issue but rather the conduct of the worshipper. Whatever Cain's conduct was, it kept him from being acceptable. Then comes the sinister line, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” And of course this is foreshadowing the next verse where Cain kills his own brother. But notice, sin is given a sense of agency and desire. It desires Cain. What is God's remedy against this corrosive force? Cain must rule over it. God doesn't take it away. He doesn't magically change Cain's heart. The onus is on Cain to do what's right in the face of sin's desire. And he tragically fails. This is heartbreaking. But we would be wise to learn from it as millions have for thousands of years. First, sin is also crouching at your door and mine. It desires you and me. Do you feel guilty for the temptation? The dark thoughts? The attitude? The destructive desires? Don't feel guilty. Don't be surprised. And do not feel alone because you're not. There is an active agent at work in you that is distinct from you. And second, know that sin does not have the upper hand. You have all the resources in God to rule, to dominate it. You are the master, not it. And you are empowered to rule. It is a choice you and I will have to make every day every moment of our lives. And it is this moment to moment surrender to God, and resistance to sin that will ultimately make us into the humans God desires all along. Don't curse the process. Recognize it for what it is and keep going. God I can feel sin at my door. But I'm not surprised. I want to experience You in the resistance. Give me more of You.

Here's The Deal Podcast - The Max Baker Jr. Story - Episode 21 - Cain's Ballroom Special Episode

jesus christ attitude cains

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2022 28:55

SPECIAL EDITION/BONUS EPISODE - CAIN'S BALLROOM - www.cainsballroom.com In this episode, the Here's The Deal Podcast crew, Jay, Josh, Jeff & Max all travel to the historic Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma and set up shop, backstage in the green room at this legendary venue. We all take turns talking about legendary shows we've seen in this venue. We are also joined by Big Dad Ritch of The Texas Hippie Coalition who was mere moments away from taking the stage, headlining the Annual Cancer Sucks Benefit Concert thats held at the Cains the day after Thanksgiving every year. www.cancersucks.com is an incredible, Tulsa based charity ran by Rick & Patti Horton. It is completely volunteer ran & every penny they raise is donated to help fund Cancer research projects or to Cancer facilities in the State of Oklahoma. Big Dad Ritch of THC shares his story of playing the Cains Ballroom for the very first time, opening for Cross Canadian Ragweed & smoking with Cody Canada underneath the stage. Max, Jeff & Jay talk about seeing Robert Plant as a spectator, watching the Kings of Leon at the Cains & tell their experience of that day from 3 different perspectives. We also talk about the numerous multiband local metal shows Max was apart of at the Cains, including one billed as "Emcee'd by The Midget & The Tall Guy" with Jay Ramone & the Tripod Man himself, Mini Mike Cook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cains Attitude

Shofar Joburg Sermons

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2022 33:25

Handre Verreynne

Manny Navarro 9.13.22

SicEm365 Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2022 10:32

#Miami insider @Manny_Navarro joins the show to preview the Cains upcoming game against Texas A&M in College Station & more.

miami college station cains manny navarro

Jim Rodgers

Voices of Oklahoma

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2022 98:32

Dr. James A. Rodgers, a neurosurgery specialist in Tulsa, Oklahoma, completed his medical school prerequisites at the University of Tulsa in 1972. He then graduated with honors from the University of Oklahoma medical school in 1976. After completing his internship and residency in neurosurgery in 1981, he opened a solo practice in Muskogee, Oklahoma, returning to Tulsa in 1989. In his solo practice, he focused on cervical and lumbar spine problems.One of the founders of Tulsa Spine and Specialty Hospital, a physician-owned hospital, Dr. Rodgers has nearly 50 years of diverse experience in neurosurgery.Beyond his medical career, he developed a strong interest in music in his youth that eventually led to owning and rehabilitating the internationally known music venue, Cain's Ballroom. This Tulsa landmark, inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2005, is remembered for its role in the history of western swing music, and rock'n'roll.Dr. Rodgers's advice to young people when considering a career: “Choosing a lifestyle is very important, think about how it would affect your family.”https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/rodgers-jim/

music university history doctors oklahoma surgery tulsa rodgers ballroom muskogee cains

Matera à la scène jouissive de Cuba, en passant par l'attaque des labos du MI6 aux décors enchanteurs jamaïcains, ça débutait bien.

WAKA JOWO 44

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2022 2:01

cuba aux jama mi6 matera de cuba passant cors en passant cains labos

How Cains Children Survived The Flood and Made it To Egypt

Who’s On The Lords Side

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2022 45:24

In this episode we discuss how Cains children survived the flood and made it to Egypt as the first gods and goddesses. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/whosonthelordsside/support

children flood survived cains

Here's The Deal Podcast - The Max Baker Jr. Story - Episode 4

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2022 25:37

In this episode Max discusses being sober & DJ'ng sober dance parties, & the begining of Knockout Productions. A glimpse into former Oklahoma City venues, Doc Severinsen's off of North Meridian & a sold out show with Warrant. We also discuss the venue Rome 90 in Norman, Oklahoma with LA Guns, The Black Crowes, & Flotsam & Jetsam and the challenges that come along with doing shows in that venue. In the concert business, not every show is a success. Sometimes you hit a homerun, & sometimes you lose it all. There were 2 Pantera shows in Oklahoma in 1990, one in OKC at The Diamond Ballroom & one in Tulsa at the Cains & we talk about them both. During this time period, Bricktown OKC was dark & dangerous at night and the canal didn't exist but a club called Kinetics did and held shows by NIN, Pantera, LA Guns, & more. Lots of legendary shows through the end of 1991. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You Must Rule - Genesis 4:6-7

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2022 9:05

If you appreciate this work, consider supporting it - https://www.patreon.com/seekgodtogether Today we will read Genesis 4:6-7. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'” The brothers, Cain and Able, had just made their sacrificial offerings. God “regarded” Able's, but not Cains. Able got an A while Cain failed. Now Cain is upset. Yet even in this moment God is pursuing relationship with Cain. He asks “Why are you furious?” And then God answers His own question. “If you ‘Do' what is right won't you be accepted?” It seems the offering itself wasn't the issue but rather the conduct of the worshipper. Whatever Cain's conduct was, it kept him from being acceptable. Then comes the sinister line, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” And of course this is foreshadowing the next verse where Cain kills his own brother. But notice, sin is given a sense of agency and desire. It desires Cain. What is God's remedy against this corrosive force? Cain must rule over it. God doesn't take it away. He doesn't magically change Cain's heart. The onus is on Cain to do what's right in the face of sin's desire. And he tragically fails. This is heartbreaking. But we would be wise to learn from it as millions have for thousands of years. First, sin is also crouching at your door and mine. It desires you and me. Do you feel guilty for the temptation? The dark thoughts? The attitude? The destructive desires? Don't feel guilty. Don't be surprised. And do not feel alone because you're not. There is an active agent at work in you that is distinct from you. And second, know that sin does not have the upper hand. You have all the resources in God to rule, to dominate it. You are the master, not it. And you are empowered to rule. It is a choice you and I will have to make every day every moment of our lives. And it is this moment to moment surrender to God, and resistance to sin that will ultimately make us into the humans God desires all along. Don't curse the process. Recognize it for what it is and keep going. God I can feel sin at my door. But I'm not surprised. I want to experience You in the resistance. Give me more of You.

Liberti Church River Wards Sermons

A Nation of Cains Looking to the Greater Abel

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2022

Listen to Larry Walker preach from Genesis 4:1–16 on "A Nation of Cains Looking to the Greater Abel." Larry delivered this sermon for our July 10, 2022, Sunday worship service continuing our series on Genesis.

larry walker cains

Baltic Triangle Podcast EP37: Beer Brewing and Glass Blowing

Baltic Triangle Liverpool

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2022 39:36

Beer, bees and glass..............in this episode we visit 2 businessmen who are reviving some ancient skills and traditions right in the heart of the Baltic Triangle. The first one is a much-missed Liverpool beer and the other the art of glass-blowing. We all love beer right...? If there's one thing that's been missing from Cains' Brewery Village - its freshly brewed Cain's Beer. However, the wait is over with a brand new venue and brewery (inside the old brewery} ready to serve up some of the old classics - including the infamous Raisin Beer! Our next guest is John Fenn who has been creating sublime art from glass and honey - something you would expect from the Baltic! John keeps his own Bee's that produce the honey and runs is workshop and Glass blowing courses in Northern Lights, an artist led studio in the Baltic Triangle. Find out more about the Cains Brewery here Find out more about John Fell who is a Baltic Creative tenant at Northern Lights Join Mick Ord and Mark Reeson for the monthly Baltic Triangle podcast, brought to you by our new sponsors, Baltic Creative CIC.

beer glass liverpool northern lights baltic glassblowing beer brewing cains john fell john fenn baltic triangle

Oracle Park Goes Blue, Remembering Cains Perfecto

Garlic Fries and Baseball Guys

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2022 17:03

Willard and Shasky discuss whether or not Giants fans should take issue with the Dodgers fans invading their park, and remembering Matt Cain's perfect game 10 years later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

giants los angeles dodgers perfecto willard oracle park matt cain cains shasky

You Must Rule - Genesis 4:6-7

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2022 9:32

If you appreciate this work, consider supporting it - https://www.patreon.com/seekgodtogether Today we will read Genesis 4:6-7. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'” The brothers, Cain and Able, had just made their sacrificial offerings. God “regarded” Able's, but not Cains. Able got an A while Cain failed. Now Cain is upset. Yet even in this moment God is pursuing relationship with Cain. He asks “Why are you furious?” And then God answers His own question. “If you ‘Do' what is right won't you be accepted?” It seems the offering itself wasn't the issue but rather the conduct of the worshipper. Whatever Cain's conduct was, it kept him from being acceptable. Then comes the sinister line, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” And of course this is foreshadowing the next verse where Cain kills his own brother. But notice, sin is given a sense of agency and desire. It desires Cain. What is God's remedy against this corrosive force? Cain must rule over it. God doesn't take it away. He doesn't magically change Cain's heart. The onus is on Cain to do what's right in the face of sin's desire. And he tragically fails. This is heartbreaking. But we would be wise to learn from it as millions have for thousands of years. First, sin is also crouching at your door and mine. It desires you and me. Do you feel guilty for the temptation? The dark thoughts? The attitude? The destructive desires? Don't feel guilty. Don't be surprised. And do not feel alone because you're not. There is an active agent at work in you that is distinct from you. And second, know that sin does not have the upper hand. You have all the resources in God to rule, to dominate it. You are the master, not it. And you are empowered to rule. It is a choice you and I will have to make every day every moment of our lives. And it is this moment to moment surrender to God, and resistance to sin that will ultimately make us into the humans God desires all along. Don't curse the process. Recognize it for what it is and keep going. God I can feel sin at my door. But I'm not surprised. I want to experience You in the resistance. Give me more of You. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app