Podcasts about Chi Rho

Christian College Sex Comedy: Part 20 Zane s Assembly In 30 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the podcast at Explicit Novels.             Running into a wall is bad, having it fall on you is worse but not being missed is the worst         Since I had mastered the moment so successfully with conversation I shut the hell up and took the crowd toward my room. Halfway up the stairs I expected Jill to call out but it didn't happen. I counted myself lucky, handed out fresh t-shirts to Paris and Leigh, only to have Paige regale them for fifteen minutes about all the female swag I had in my dorm room, from female silk robes in a variety of lengths and colors to thongs and dog collars. Girls should not look at me and lick their lips; it is scary because I thought that men went to college to chase women, not the other way around. Back at the start of the year, I knew that I was such a Man-Stud that I'd pick up more than my fair share too. I now have multiple women in my life and one day soon I hope to chase one down and call her my own, provided the other women let me. "We will see you later," Leigh gave me a sexy nudge with her hip. I nodded and promptly made sure my windows were locked. They had the annoying habit of being unlocked with glowing neon signs outside that said "Kappa Sigmas enter here". This time I was ready for them. I was also on the ball enough to know that when none of the Kappa Sigmas were upset by my action, that indicated there was something going on that I was clueless about. I was hardly convinced to let my guard down by the limited conversation the three sorority sisters and I had as I escorted them out of the house and kissed them goodnight. I diverged to the dryer to warm up Paris and Leigh's shirts. I kissed Aunt Jill goodnight as well. She gave me a bemused, maternal look as I headed back to my room before my 'bed time'. I must have looked like I felt, pretty exhausted. I joined Iona and Paige in the bathroom where we went through the nightly routine before heading for bed. They stripped slowly; I crawled into bed fully clothed and was feeling rather clever with myself. "No, you don't," Paige insisted. "Zane," Iona gave an angelic smile, "you have to do what you feel comfortable with but this is a matter of trust between us." Was Iona beating me up with a variation on the argument I'd used on Vivian a few hours ago? I was definitely undecided so Iona brushed my lips with hers. "It's okay." The only thing worse than being manipulated is being manipulated with sincerity. I shucked my clothes and shot them to the foot of the bed. I took in the view of Paige and Iona stripped out of their bras, then panties. Paige even made a little game of it, shooting her panties at my head. She missed so I snatched them as they sailed past. Paige flashed me a wicked grin as I did so. "Hey, Zane," she purred. Paige put her knee on the bed, followed by the other, so that she was standing on her knees. "Hey," Iona mimicked from the other side. Together, they sensually flowed toward me and each other. When they were settled against my hip they looked down and smiled. "You both look lovely," I sighed dreamily at my slightly-built beauties. They graced me with a smile once more before looking into one another's eyes. Then they kissed, and after that they really kissed, and several steamy seconds later the girls extended their right hands to their opposite's breast. They rolled their tits beneath their palms. I would have wept at this point but it would have been unmanly. When their left hands joined in the fun I nearly lost it. Did I mention they hadn't stopped kissing yet? It was hard enough that I was intimately familiar with their bodies, head to toe. I was the first man either of them had put lips to lust with (discarding Paige's grade school fiascoes). I had licked, teased, and plucked those nipples they were now so readily fondling. I had placed them naked in bed with other women and beheld their first steps into a far more sexually dynamic life than a strict fundamental Christian life would have deposited them in. I would have continued to wax poetic on the vision above me but the horror of my decision to sleep with both their naked bodies without sex was grinding my happiness into despair. "Oh, wow," Paige giggled, "it's throbbing on his stomach." She was referring to my cock. If it had something larger than a series of nerve clusters, my cock would have been screaming at me, questioning my sanity and demanding a passionate reason I wasn't mounting them both, drilling them hard, and going back for seconds, and thirds. They both leaned down onto one arm before reclining to their sides. "Good night, Zane," Iona whispered. She kissed me on the lips, rather chastely, then rolled over so that her back was to me. She wiggled her ass tight against my thigh because, you know, I have a thing for asses. "Sweet dreams of me," Paige gave a sultry roll of the voice. She rested her head on my shoulder and languidly placed her right arm on my chest and her right leg on my groin. Her hand came to rest on the top of my sternum while her knee covered my balls and the base of my cock. My sexual organ gave her limb a sympathetic throb. Paige sighed pleasurably, enjoying the torture she was putting me through. My right arm cradled Paige and drew her tighter. She kissed my chest with a feather-light touch. My left arm draped around Iona with my wrist being poked by her left nipple (it was still aroused by Paige's attentions) while my fingers coasted along her stomach. I drummed my hand on her abdomen; Iona snuggled in deeper and gave me a delightful little murmuring noise. That was enough to send me off to sleep and I was grateful. If I hadn't been asleep I knew I was going to stick my cock into something, even if it was an electric outlet. I couldn't screw Iona and wouldn't sex up Paige because she would never let me get over having broken down and nailed her in defiance of my own word. What woman doesn't want to think her body can drive a man to forgo his honor? Again, she would never, ever let me forget it. I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep when I heard my bedroom door open. I wasn't sure what Jill would want this late but that wasn't a problem. The first one through the door was Leigh but Paris and Ricky Frasier snuck in right behind her. I need to invest in some home defense apparatus, things like pit-traps, trip-wires, and nests of feral Chihuahuas. "Don't worry, Zane," Leigh whispered. "We are here for Paige." "Ah," I grunted. Paige stirred next to me, rolled onto her back, and smiled at the newcomers. "We won't need you tonight," Paige assured me. "This is all-girl." "I see; I need to go back to campus and spank Barbie Lynn, Opal, and Brandi's bottoms until they glow red," I growled. They had turned Paige onto the whole lesbian orgy theme. "Hold on," I begged the girls as they began stripping. I rapidly moved to the closet, pulled down two comforters and two pillows for Iona and I to use as a bed. I set things out and Iona gave me one of those sleepy, sweet, innocent smiles and joined me on the floor, a comforter as a mattress and the other as a cover. I quickly became obvious to me that the object of Leigh, Paris, Ricky's and Paige's fun wasn't to have intercourse with one another but to drive me nuts. It wasn't ego talking here; statistically, an ass, calf, or grinning head pops over the same side of bed you are on only so many times before it becomes enemy action. It was working too; I was rock hard and sleep was escaping me. Sadly, fate intervened, to my detriment. In movies you often see couples roll out of bed, say 'ow,' then go back to passionate love-making. Paris came off the bed with a squeak; me, I felt a stomach-churning pain and a soundless scream escaped my lips. Paris' knee had come straight down on my nuts and impacted them into the hardwood floor with only a thin quilt providing any absorption. Paris' playful grin and giggle turned into fear as she saw my face. "Zane?" she whispered, "Sorry?" "Zane, are you okay?" Iona inquired at my side. Paris backed off me, allowing me to wheeze and roll over in a ball facing Iona. Iona cradled me in her arms. "Zane, what's wrong?" she worried. I wasn't articulate at the moment but Paris was. "Oh, God," she gasped. "I landed on his nuts." Paige and Leigh immediately poked their heads over the bed, appearing in my peripheral vision. I heard Ricky padding around from the other side of the bed. "Damn it," Leigh moaned. "Now what are we going to do?" "How about show a little sympathy?" Iona grumped at the others. I know her heart was in the right place but pulling me tight to her bosom with a nipple resting on my upper lip didn't do my damaged genitalia any good. There was a light, coastal breeze off Madagascar calling for my cock to get hard once again and damn me if it wasn't answering. The resulting pain was describable, similar to having my testicles used by an 800 pound gorilla to sink the cue ball on a Carom billiards table. And damn if that bastard wasn't determined to get it done no matter how many attempts it took. Next time some psychopath stares me dead in the eyes and asks if I've ever prayed for death, I can match his gaze and say 'Hell yes.' "Leigh, get some ice," Paige whispered. "Paris, go to the bathroom down the hall and get some ibuprofen and salve. Iona, help me get him back on the bed." The girls hurried off quietly, for which I was thankful. I was equally thankful that Iona and Paige were so gentle in moving me off the floor and onto the bed, and yes, I hammed it up a bit. Once the rush of taking charge of events passed, Paige began to flash me guilty looks. This was definitely her plan and she'd miscalculated the body motion dynamics of three women playing sex games on a queen-sized bed. "I, I apologize," Paige admitted. "This was my fault." I was somewhat more than stunned. "Okay," I gasped. "Flesh heals but memories are forever." "That means you are going to get me for this," Paige realized. "I'd buy a seat cushion if I were you, Ms. Spanky-bottoms," I tried to joke, but the pain got in the way of my laughter. Paris padded back in with a pill bottle, a foil tube, and a glass of water. She handed the pill bottle to Paige and the water to Iona. When Paris started unscrewing the top to the salve, things became difficult. "Paris," Iona grumbled, "why do you get to put the cream on his balls? It was your knee that caused his pain." "I know," Paris whimpered, "and I want to make it up to him." Paige popped the pill cap and handed me two ibuprofen; Iona propped me up. I took the pills and she put the water to my lips. "I'll take care of it," Iona insisted. "My plan, my fault, I'll take care of it," Paige countered. "Take care of what?" Leigh panted as she slipped into my bedroom with a bowl of ice. "Massaging Zane's poor crushed nuts," Ricky murmured. "If I've hurt him permanently, I'll never forgive myself," Paris moaned piteously. Was she more afraid of my promise to get her back or the other ladies' retaliation for the maiming I'd gone through? "I said I would take care of it," Paige insisted. "No, I think I will take care of it, if no one minds," I ground out. The implication was that if they didn't let me medicate my massive melons of masculine might, I'd come after them all, in thirty or so minutes when I could freely move once again. It took me a second to realize that no one was arguing with me. "Ricky, could you please get a damp hand-towel from the bathroom," Iona requested. Ricky looked confused so Iona added, "We can't put the ice cubes directly on his scrotum unless we really do want to take him to the emergency room." "Oops, sorry," Ricky sounded embarrassed. "That makes sense. I'll be right back." When Ricky left, Paige and Iona reclined on either side of me. "Hold on," I requested. "I'd like to give Paris a hug." Iona scooted first, letting Paris crawl on all fours over my body. I gave her a kiss with as much strength as I could exert. "I," she mumbled. "We were playing a game and it was an accident. I already feel somewhat better," I assured her. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I have yet to fuck you to orgasm and that's not a challenge my cock takes lightly." Paris wept and collapsed onto my chest. I lay back, head on a pillow, so I could stroke Paris' hair. When Ricky returned I struggled around Paris to kiss her and Leigh as well. I also took the opportunity to coat my scrotum with the salve, which instantly cooled my pain, then started heating damaged parts up. Leigh applied the towel holding the ice gently to balance out the sensations. We hugged, confirmed our date for Saturday night, and parted ways. Iona, Paige, and I returned to the bed and tried to get back to sleep. This time we kept our limbs to ourselves, though we remained close. I waited a while before surrendering to my dreams. A decision was reached internally that the next time I took Iona out for a quiet weekend, I would have to make it somewhere off the beaten path, somewhere in Appalachia no doubt. Iona gave me a precious, sleepy smile as I climbed out of bed in the morning. I looked at her heavy eyes, questioning her intent, when she pulled my pillow into her chest and drifted off into slumber once more. Paige was dead to the world, undoubtedly wrapped up in the remorseless rest of the Damned. I was able to dress uninterrupted and glide downstairs to find Jill already up and puttering around. I was about to find out what she had heard last night. "Good morning, Zane. Are you feeling better?" Jill asked. "Feeling better?" I questioned. "Your, you know, down there, are you feeling better?" she clarified somewhat. I imagine my jaw dropped because she looked at me with an obvious amusement. "How did you know?" I finally responded. "Oh, Iona came to my room last night and explained the situation as well as apologizing for the disruption," Aunt Jill explained. "She's a very forthright and honest young lady, and she doesn't currently have a fianc either." "What, whoa, wait a second, Jill," I stammered. Things were going way too fast for me. "How is it you are okay with two girls sleeping in my bedroom and three more coming over when three months ago we couldn't even discuss sex at all and its only place was in the marriage bed? What happened that I missed?" "Zane," Jill sighed patiently, "when God closes one door he opens another. I had to accept that my life with Tim was over and I had to move forward with my life with you. That means I am going to get more mileage out of counseling you as opposed to dictating abstinence." "And you have this epiphany after you burn all the stuff I brought back from Thailand," I groaned. "We both did things we probably regret," she reasoned. "You've been talking to Iona, or more likely, Iona's been calling you," I began piecing it together. "After you told me about what those girls were making you do, like crawl around on your knees, I tried to get some of your classmates to tell me what was really going on," Jill related. "Iona was the only one who would talk to me and she and I have communicated pretty regularly since then," Jill finished. "She's a truly sweet girl and I think you two make a cute couple." In case you are wondering, there is no good response to that statement. "She tells me you are interested in that 'Christina' girl. She's, elegant," which was Jill's way of saying Christina wasn't a 'humble Christian girl' like Iona. Something in that train of thought made me put a few other faces to the descriptor 'elegant'. "Is that why you didn't like Mom, Dad, and, well, was Uncle Tim snobby as well, elegant?" I mused. Jill stopped looking in the fridge were she was figuring out what we'd be having for breakfast. "Yes," Jill said quietly. Tim hadn't wanted to marry Jill; he'd wanted to marry Jill's older sister, Kathryn. Jill matched herself against Mom, the free spirit, and Dad, the joker, who were both sophisticated Devil-May-Care people born of wealth and privilege. In a way, Tim was from the same background, except that he ended up arrogant and emotionally distant. Of course, Tim had to grow up with Granddad, who was a real peach, and my Dad, who was always larger than life, always doing whatever task their father put before him and always going one step beyond. Worse, Dad always had the courage to be himself. Dad was the brilliant rebel, the Prodigal Son who was always welcomed back home; Tim was the plodding workhorse. The best example of this was the first time each of them ran away from home. Tim ran away to the tree house in the backyard at the house in Wyoming. The first time Dad ran away, he ended up in Hawaii. When the FBI caught him, he was working in a Japanese restaurant, stock-piling Australian dollars, and had a map of the Great Barrier Reef. Now that I think of it, I must get my nuttiness from Dad. "Jill, I'm sorry Tim wasn't the husband you deserved," I told her softly. I rested a hand on her shoulder and she backed into me. I wrapped my arms around her from behind. "Thank you, Zane," she told me in a soft voice. She looked out of the window over the sink for a few seconds. "Do you think we should get a pool?" Jill broke the silence. Huh? "Who are you and what have you done with my Aunt Jill?" I teased her. It took a second for Jill to get it but when she did, she laughed. "Wait," she teased back, "would I be a clone, an alien, or, what were those things I heard about, oh, pod-people?" "I think you are the Pink Power Ranger," Paige snickered from my elbow where she had materialized mysteriously from the ether. Jill squeaked and spun around while I was busy putting my heart back in my chest. Jill struggled out of my arms, blushed, and went back to the fridge. "Did I interrupt something?" "Yes; my desire to live a longer life," I coughed. "Now that we have the useless pleasantries out of the way, what I really want to know is if all the equipment is in working order," Paige smirked. I thought of a smarmy reply, an angry reply, and even ignoring her, but another idea won out. "Hey, Babe," I whispered in a husky voice to Paige as I stepped into body contact with her, "it hurts a little right now but thanks for asking. I'm glad you are watching out for me." I drew a line with right hand along her collarbone and shoulder to her neck and finally circling her ear. "Oh," Paige gulped. Her eyes grew wide. "Of course, Zane. I want to watch out for you, I care." I let my arms drape around her and linked them up at the small of her back, pulling her tight to me. Paige slipped her arms beneath me and did likewise, with the added gesture of placing her ear to my chest. Iona slipped into the kitchen as she did so. She gave me a cute wave, side-stepped us, and went to help Jill. I figured from Iona's actions that she was going to keep Jill busy getting the four of us breakfast, so I took Paige's right hand in my left and led her out into the hall. As I headed for the porch in the back, someone came through the front door, attempting to be stealthy. It was Leigh; I'd clearly caught her doing something wrong. "Yes?" I questioned. She looked to Paige then back to me. "I forgot to return your keys," Leigh evaded. "What are you doing with my keys?" I sounded a bit cross. Paige squeezed my hand tightly, expressing her own tension. "Paige gave them to me to use last night," Leigh gulped. "You are hopeless as a conspirator," Paige growled at Leigh. I took a deep breath instead. I was going to have as little stress in my morning as possible. "Please give them to Iona in the kitchen, Leigh," I sighed. A quick look to Paige showed her that I wasn't angry so she didn't resist as I resumed our journey. Out on the porch I took a large, cushioned, low-swung wooden chair and sat down. "It's cold out here," Paige shivered. I responded by pulling her into my lap. It took her a moment to figure out what to do with herself. She settled on sitting sideways with her left arm over my shoulder and her head laying on top of it. It took twenty-five minutes for Iona to come out and get us. "Breakfast," Iona said. I looked at her curiously, trying to judge how she was taking the loss of the time promised to her this weekend. She winked and went back inside so I guessed everything was okay and our weekend postponed. "Do you want to go inside?" I gently inquired of Paige. "Two more minutes," she whispered. I kissed her on the head and listened to the breeze in the leaves, the birds chatting in the trees, and her breath on my neck. Slowly her head rose after the two minutes had passed and she was staring at me, or rather at the side of my head. "Yes?" I asked, as I turned and looked into her eyes. "You are so dumb," she whispered. Paige kissed me with a tenderness that bespoke a depth of passion that I had not fully realized. "I wouldn't trade this moment for anything in the world," I breathed back. "I would have been better off if I had turned away that very first day I saw you," she got around to responding. I knew she was saying that she could come up with no quick strategy for getting Christina out of the way and that perplexed her. I had to do something. "Don't forget to get that seat cushion," I joked. She seemed a bit cross, then grinned. "If I let you do something else to my bottom will you forgive me?" she teased me with a sensual ass wiggle. "Really?" I perked up. Paige wouldn't consider anal sex before now, though I was all for it. "No!" she giggled. Paige leapt off my lap and raced inside. I made a grab for Paige with no intent of ensnaring her, she was having too much fun being pursued, and pursue I did. "Help me!" Paige squealed. "Help me; he's trying to get my bottom!" So much for any sense of decorum, I sighed. Paige made it to the dining room and quickly was using Leigh as a shield. Jill looked at me quizzically while Iona gave a weary sigh and looked heavenward for guidance. "So, Leigh, are you joining us for breakfast?" I obfuscated the crisis. "Yes," Leigh hesitated. "Your Aunt Jill is thanking me for finding your keys." "If that is okay with you, Zane?" Jill demurred. Huh, and by that I mean, since when has my opinion in this household been sought or even obeyed? "If it pleases you, Jill, I wouldn't mind eating Leigh", I had a slip of the tongue, "I mean eating with Leigh." Leigh's eyes sparkled and Jill totally missed the implication (I assumed because 'eat' a girl made no sense to her sexually repressed mind.) Iona gave my arm a light slap. "Have a seat, Leigh," Jill smiled in a way I wasn't familiar with; it was almost like she was content. The resulting meal of country ham, grits, and cantaloupe was simple but satisfying. We were all hot, sweaty, and laboring for breath. Had we been in bed and undressed, the situation would have been perfect. Instead, we were in my workout room, working out. I had allowed an hour to digest our meal but now we were finishing my daily physical regimen. Paige and Leigh were on their backs, staring at the ceiling and cursing the fact that I was finishing up my final exercise. Iona was on her stomach on the mat next to me, moaning softly. I seriously considered insisting that Paige and Iona take up a sport. Leigh was another story, but I'm sure I could get Tawny, her sorority president, to get her to do something strenuous, that didn't involve me and sex. "I have given up any hope of ever fucking you to death, Leigh panted as she looked my way. "Thanks," I grinned back. "Without the help of several sisters," Leigh gasped as Paige lazily smacked her on the stomach, "to wear you down first. I don't know how Barbie Lynn can walk after those marathon sessions with you." "It usually involves screaming out to God multiple times and a long nap afterwards," Iona groaned. "So," Leigh sat up, "have either of you," "Hammered me through the sheets, and I swear I blacked out as I came," Paige boasted wearily. "Umm," Leigh purred, "good memories." Have I left the room? Should I hand out customer satisfaction surveys? "That night was fantastic, wasn't it?" Iona sighed. "Three damn orgasms I'll never forget, and then there was Rio and her devilish fingers," Leigh murmured happily. "Wait! Iona, you and Zane, Rio too?" Paige propped herself up. "He was a very gentle gentleman," Iona declared. "Oh," taunted Leigh to Iona, "I recall you doing quite a savage dance on the tip of his tongue." Iona blushed and Paige gawked. "So that three-way with you and Barbie Lynn wasn't your first time, well, what do you know?" Paige mused. "All this physical stress has me thirsty," Leigh stated. "Yes, I think a protein drink is in order," Paige agreed, and winked at me. "Oh, hell no!" I defended myself. "Me, no sex weekend, remember?" "But, Zane," Iona rolled over and batted her eyelashes at me, "it was so sweet and salty." "Iona," I nearly wept. "I apologize, Zane," Iona pouted. "I was only teasing." "I can always hope to soak up some of that sexual energy at 12:01 Sunday night," Paige sighed. "Nope, sorry, going out with Heaven Sunday night," I informed them. "Oh, pooh," Iona grumped. "She'll drain him alright." "Is Heaven really that good?" Leigh seemed curious. "Let's not have this discussion," I stood up. I was ignored of course. "Oh, he goes at her five, six, seven times a night," Iona stated. "She walks funny the next day too." "How come there is never any footage of them together?" Leigh persisted. "You would think with that much sexuality and the howling she made from our towel closet at the party that there would be something on his site." "I am not going to be part of this discussion," I repeated as I made for the door. "Now I'm taking a shower." For a group of girls who couldn't stand a minute ago, they clearly were capable of nearly killing me as they stampeded for the shower, women. Before Iona and I got in, I held her back by the arm. "Five, six, seven times, walks funny the next morning, I'm sure Heaven will like that," I whispered. "I thought a little embellishment couldn't hurt," Iona smiled with an earnestly pure face. She knew Heaven's nature and would help conceal it until Heaven decided it was no longer necessary; Iona was that kind of best friend. "Do you ever get tired picking up after my shipwrecks?" I had to ask. "Come on, Zane," Paige called from inside the shower as the water cascaded down on her and Leigh. I decided that keeping them occupied was my best bet to keep the volume down. As I pulled the curtain aside, I caught a glimpse of Iona behind me, shaking her head 'No'. Undercover  Underage Willa was waiting for Valarie and I when we arrived. She had strategically placed her bike at a break between the groups of hotel units so she could quickly duck out of sight. I had no desire to do anything stupid like get in a fight. She rested on the seat of her ride. I was following Val's advice so I pulled up some distance away and kept to the middle of the parking lot because you never knew what could come popping out a door. I approached alone, again, I didn't want to freak Willa out any more than she already was. "I've got a line on those IDs," she greeted me. I'd asked her for some fake IDs so me and some of the girls could get into clubs. "Yeah," I said deadpan, "I'm sure you did." She keyed on my mood but didn't outwardly react. How should I handle this? "Willa, you are an undercover cop," I sighed. "I don't know who you are with and I don't care. I don't want to cause you trouble, I simply want a favor." Willa rocked off her ride and took a few steps toward me. "Asshole," she growled, "that isn't funny. I ought to fucking slap you like the punk-ass bitch you are." "You won't, you are a cop and that's still assault because I'm not threatening you or threatening to blow your cover so that your life would be at risk," I related. Seeing Willa's consternation, I explained. "Valarie has been through this a time or two." "Zane, I'm not a cop and I'm not kicking your ass because you are a cute guy, but stop screwing with me," Willa changed up her defense. "Fine," I shrugged. "I'm going to have a talk with Belle. I'm sure she will believe me. I felt I owed you a chance because you are a law enforcement officer and you are risking your life for me, the general public." "Don't go to Belle," Willa reached out and put an arm on my bicep. "It doesn't matter that your idea is a load of crap; Belle will tell Deacon and then I'm screwed." "Willa, you can walk away from this situation whenever you want," I told her. "Belle can't. This is her life and I'd prefer she not die living it." "Zane, you hadn't even met her before Thursday night." she groused. "That's pretty much what I said," Valarie finally chimed in. "I'm only here because Zane doesn't know anyone else who could be relied on to keep their mouth shut." "You don't believe this crap about me being a Fed, do you?" Willa joked. "Absolutely," Valarie said without hesitation. "Zane is crazy but he's spot-on when dealing with women. Case in point: Zane took that little fluff with him to the bathroom while peeling off Rio's girlfriend, a black belt in Karate, to guard me. He knew he would get you bitches to give Rio up, though he didn't have a plan going in. If he tells me you are a cop, you are a cop." I clearly had Willa flummoxed. After a minute in silence I shook off Willa's hand and turned for my car. I stopped when I had the door open. "I'm going to see Belle at the Fallout Shelter tonight," I said. "If you do something to stop me, I'll make sure Tara knows, and while she and Belle have problems, they are twins and she won't let her sister do serious time." "I'm not confessing to anything but I think there is something you should know. Deacon Baker served with Belle's husband and brother-in-law. Her brother-in-law ran the Warlords chapter but he and his brother got caught up in an ATF sting. They wrapped up Belle's husband but before they could grab the brother, who could tie up the whole criminal enterprise, he vanished. He was last seen with Deacon," Willa explained. "Deacon didn't wait around to see if the guy would stay loyal; he removed the threat," Willa added. "If he thinks I'm a threat, he'll have me removed too." "Cry me a river," Valarie rolled her eyes. "You are sticking your nose where it doesn't belong." "I'm not a damn cop," Willa snarled. "Where are you from?" I asked Willa. I caught her off-guard but she snapped back soon enough. "Tampa Bay, Florida," she shot off. "Nope. I think you are from Wisconsin or Minnesota, it's your skin complexion and the way you roll some of your consonants off your tongue and lips," I said. Willa's eyes narrowed. Now she was pissed. "Are you going to shoot us with the 9mm at your back or help Zane out'?" Valarie sounded bored. "This is totally wrong," Willa persisted. She tried to stare me down but I could see something inside give way. "I'm not saying I am an undercover cop but if I was, what would you want?" "Give Belle as much shelter as you can. Hopefully she ends up with probation," I offered. "What is in it for me?" Willa sighed. "What can I do for you?" I answered. "Do you know who took out Deacon?" Willa inquired. "Yes," I replied. I could feel Valarie's head snap behind me and her eyes bore into the back of my head. "Who was it?" Willa increased her intensity. "I would tell you but I like living without the benefit of life support," I joked. "I'd cry bullshit, damn you, except I saw the beating they took and that scares the crap out of me," Willa grumbled. "Okay, Zane, if you ever get the chance to tell me, do so." "Deal," I agreed. "Great; we are all friends," Valarie stated sarcastically. "Now fuck his face, suck his cock, and we can get going; I have to eat dinner with my sister, Dad, and the cunt he married." "What?" I glared at Valarie. "No way!" Willa declared. "Listen, bitch, you are going to need to describe what it feels like on your tongue from the ball-sack to the tip of his cock," Valarie lectured. "I've seen a video," Willa countered. "And you are such a bang-up storyteller that the 18-year old boy genius ID'd you in two minutes, or have you missed the last ten minutes of your life?" Valarie mocked her. "He seems to be the exception," Willa noted. "The average girl that attracts Zane's attention can do calculus in her head, and the one who can't is his family," Valarie responded. "Now consider his interest in Belle; she's probably a poor girl raised in a college town. That means she could have gone to college but was already soured on the whole establishment idea by a string of college fuck wads. Her sister went on to become a Law-dog that busts UV assholes all day long; Belle became an ass-kicker who flaunts her body at a bar frequented by the very higher education types that screwed with her in high school," Valarie continued. I wasn't sure how much of this Val was fabricating but it didn't matter. "Now she dangles her forbidden fruit in front of them, yet none ever get a taste, am I wrong?" Valarie queried. "You see an outlaw biker and think they are too lazy or stupid to get a real job. I see someone who wants to do their own damn thing, you don't fuck with us and we don't fuck with you." "Belle is smarter than you think she is, Willa, or whoever you are. If you don't think you are fucked yet, consider this: When was the last time Belle gave a college guy the time of day, much less walked one out of a beat-down dictated by her chapter president?" Valarie smirked. "Zane had me fighting side-by-side with him against half of the FFU faculty and students so I can attest to his peculiar form of magic." "Fuck," Willa growled. "Now, get on your knees and blow him so we can all go about our business," Valarie rumbled back. "I'm still in the midst of a no-sex weekend so I'm going to say 'No'," I intervened. "Can't we just shake and part as friends?" Willa tried. "At least kiss him," Valarie suggested. "Val, stop it. We have some level of understanding and that's good enough for now," I told her. I was checking on Valarie's okay so I only saw Willa's closure at the last moment. One look into her eyes told me she was deceiving herself that this was going to be a quick kiss to get it over with. Our lips met and my hands found their way to her hips. I pulled her to me without trapping her. A few seconds later she broke the kiss. I could read the confusion in her eyes. Her plan was to do it and be done but her impulse was to come back again. She kissed me again but his time, her tongue caressed my lips and I let it slip in. After that, I really couldn't stop myself from kissing her back intensely. Soon my lips wandered to her cheeks, chin, and neck before nibbling on an ear until she moaned and thrust up against my body. "Ugh, ah, fuck," Willa moaned. "It has been too damn long." I rotated us around, pressing Willa's back against my car. I lowered my body down Willa's, nibbling and tickling with my tongue as I did so until I was chewing on the top of her low-cut t-shirt. "You are not happily married, are you?" I inquired between a tongue stroke and some suction. "Umm, ah, no." she replied. "Why do you ask?" "I don't want you to do something you'll regret," I answered before working my way back up her throat. Willa lolled her head back, extending her throat for my attention. "Nope," she gulped with sexual tension, "no one at all." That was my cue to work with both hands to pull her shirt out of her jeans. That done, I let my fingers roam under the shirt and caress the flesh of her stomach. "Oh, stop that, no, wait, don't stop, yessss," Willa moaned. When her shirt was high enough, I began working over her tender flesh. She was clearly getting into it but I wanted more from her. I popped the button on her jeans and unzipped them. Willa's underwear was appropriately lacy. I pulled the panties down as I peeled the jeans open until I could make out her finely trimmed landing strip. I kissed along the line from her cunt fur to her hip bringing forth a hearty moan of pleasurable release. My fingers made small circles back to her ass, squeezing both cheeks and rubbing them together. Willa was stroking the top of my head and lightly yanking on my hair. I took that to be a positive endorsement of my efforts so far. When I started back up her body, Willa spread her legs wide apart and coaxed me along. I got to the base of her bra; I could sense her nervousness so I stopped pushing up her shirt there and went back to her shoulder. I had just made it back to Willa's lips when Valarie cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but I do have somewhere else to be," Valarie teased us. Willa had to reorient herself. The look she gave me was somewhat accusatory but happily, it transformed into some level of understanding. "Damn, you are sexy," she purred. She rested her elbows on my shoulders and looked me over with sensuality on her lips. "I mean, you really are sexy and I want to do this again, and we didn't even have sex yet," Willa grinned. "What makes you think we are going to have sex? Don't we have a professional relationship?" I mused. Willa reacted by putting more pressure on my shoulders, then hopping up so she could put her legs around my waist. "I kinda-sorta owe you," she gave me a wicked look. "Besides, you might like it." I had to dissuade her somehow; my life had far too many complications to get this close to the Warlords right now. "I don't know, Willa. I like lots and lots of anal sex," I cautioned her. I figured that would buy me some space. "Oh," she grunted, "I love it. A big cock like yours would feel fantastic in my ass," she added with a deep pant. Wow, that backfired spectacularly. Maybe I should inform her that I've been called needle cock by women who know me well. To add insult to injury, Valarie broke out in uproarious laughter. "There you go, Tiger," Val chuckled. "That will keep her in her place. It just so happens her place is face down and ass up with you riding roundup." Willa took a deep breath, then dismounted me. She patted me on the chest and gave me one final kiss. "We need to be going," she sighed. "I'll make sure to stay in touch." Valarie and I waited behind as Willa got on her ride and drove away. Only then did Valarie give me one last jibe herself. "Dude, I swear your lips are dusted with cocaine because I've never seen women act so nuts around a normal guy," she teased. "Are you saying I'm abnormal?" I shot back. "Ha," she laughed. "I'm calling it like I see it. I'd caution you about a girl and handcuffs but you have six sets that I know of so all I can advise is dodging when they shoot at you and lawyer up the moment they read you your rights, and I'm gone." Her bike roared to life and she peeled out, leaving me to contemplate what further screw-ups I'd added to my life. Girls, all I can say in any of our defenses is that none of us had been to a college block party except Rio, and we were dumb enough to listen to her advice on what to wear and what it would be like. We didn't even know how screwed we were until we arrived at the party destination and by then, it was too late. My only excuse was that Vivian had sworn Rio and Mercy had behaved themselves last night. Of course, first we had to get the clothes we were going to wear. The salesgirls eyed us with a devilish curiosity when we filed into the chic women's boutique, the only one in town. I was getting away with jeans and a red t-shirt from a local band called "Confetti". According to Rio, girls had to dress 'rough and ready', which translated to tight leather pants, shot boots, and either halter tops or sleeveless shirts. In retrospect, I should have known that when the salesgirls began regarding me as a pimp, I'd fucked up royally. "What do you think?" Barbie Lynn came flouncing over to where I was sitting, showing off her bright yellow halter top (that wasn't much into halting anything) and buckskin pants with the prerequisite frills along the outside of each leg. "Don't those things come with a bra?" I gulped. On the grave of my Viking ancestors, I swear those two orbs were just, right there, free and mouth-wateringly delicious. "What?" Barbie pouted. "Don't you like them?" she leaned forward, pressed her boobs together, and wiggled them in front of me. "Best ever," I panted. Barbie Lynn glowed at that declaration, then turned around and presented her ass mere inches from my face. "Better than this?" she taunted. "Ah!" I cried out; my pledge was in immoral danger. I tried to get out of my chair by brushing by her tush but only managed to flip the chair over on its side with me still in it. Eyes tracked me as I struggled to stand. "It has the Zane seal of approval," Barbie Lynn addressed the room. "I'll take it." "Wait! Zane? The Zane?" One of the salesgirls inquired. Multiple girls nodded. "That would make you the girl in the shower," she directed to Barbie Lynn. "Sure thing," Barbie Lynn boasted. "You've got, stamina," the other girl blushed, "both of you." "That's where I've seen all of you before," the first girl said as she put it all together. "Except you," she pointed at Vivian. "Honestly, I was suspicious it was a porn hoax. I mean, what kind of guy scores that many hot babes?" "Umm," Rio patted Mercy's bottom, "we're hot babes." "Are you two really, actually, the second girl stammered to Rio. "You do those things?" "Do you mean is she my bitch toy? Then yes, she is," Rio answered smugly. "Mercy, lift your top." Mercy paled, gulped, but did as requested. Rio put her arms around Mercy's midsection and pulled her close, latching onto a nipple as they came together. "No!" Vivian shouted. "There will be no public displays of pornography." Rio made a lip-smacking noise as her lips released Mercy's breast. Mercy kept her shirt raised as Rio looked back to the salesgirl. "Satisfied?" Rio gloated. The girl nodded in stunned amazement and Vivian coughed as a reminder. "Mercy, you can lower your shirt now," Rio added without even looking at Mercy. "Wow, this is so weird." The first girl shook her head, then that light came on and she looked at me with amazement and amusement. "You are trying for your 'No Sex' weekend? Well, if we can't get you laid before this weekend, we aren't selling you the right clothes." "I'm counting on it," Paige smirked. Her choice was a slick black bustier and leather pants that laced up on the side. In fact, they were more lacing on the sides and less leather. I'm not saying she looked bad; I merely vowed to get a few pictures of her in the outfit for my spank bank collection, not that I have any realistic hope of spanking the monkey anytime soon. Whoa, are women I don't even know now ganging up on me? What the hell? Adelaide and Ginger, our two salesgirls, went all out to get the ladies the skimpiest outfits allowed by law. I didn't mention the occasion because that would make me feel bad about not inviting them. "So, what are you getting all dressed up, or down for?" Ginger asked innocently enough. "Oh, there is a college-student-only bloc party tonight. Zane got an invite and he's sneaking us in with him," Iona responded with the naivet of a girl who had nil knowledge of social networking or class distinction. "Oh," Ginger muttered, and cast a sideways glance to Adelaide before looking at me. "Well, Addie's husband doesn't like doing that kind of stuff," she said lamely, "and Finn, my boyfriend, has to work late anyway." She was giving me an out and I wanted to take it. Somehow this seemed to be one too many times sticking out my neck foolishly. I'd already bent my invitation by inviting my FFU crowd. I then told myself that I'd double back and invite them, on the sly. I recalled the little discussion Valarie had with Willa only a few hours ago. Yes, I could act like your standard college cock and tell the townies it was okay to come in the back door. If I did that, I could only pray Rio punched me in the face. I'd say 'kick me in the nuts' but I clearly didn't have any. "Ginger and Adelaide, we are gathering by the water tower around 9:45 before we head to the spot," I told her. "You and your guys join us there and we'll go in as a group. It is the warehouse on Hammond Street and the word is 'Comet', in case you show up later." "Oh, I'm not sure we can make it," Adelaide responded. What she was also saying was 'are you sure you know what you are doing?' "There is one condition," I added. Now the two salesgirls were suspicious. "You have to dress like the rest of them do," I motioned to my girls. "You sold these ladies these clothes so it is only fair you dress similarly." Now the two exhaled, then smiled and groaned playfully. They could hardly say no after the money they'd taken from me, my credit card, actually. If I carried that much cash and a cop searched me, I'd mistake me for a drug dealer too. "We'll see what we can do," Ginger evaded. "Oh, that won't be a problem," Opal chimed in. "Go around the store and pick out what you want; Zane will pay for it." "For the love of God, would you stop spending my money? You are as bad as Rio," I griped. "Who is trying to be worse to you than I am?" Rio sounded both offended and up to the challenge of making me even more miserable than I was. "Oh, come on, Zane," Brandi complained. "You are a gazillionaire." "You've been listening to Rio," I shot back and glared Rio's way. "It was Mercy who told me that," Brandi corrected me. I shifted my gaze to Mercy, as did Rio. "We'll talk when we get outside," Rio cautioned Mercy, who seemed decidedly uneasy. I had to hand it to Ginger and Adelaide; for ten minutes they showed constraint, and then they went bonkers. I really don't think a woman can wear a pink gossamer scarf wrapped around her chest and call it clothing but Ginger was giving it a shot. Ginger had a small chest - 32A, but her nipples were works of art. I couldn't keep quiet about them. "Ginger, if your boyfriend lets you walk around in your domicile with a top on, he's committing crimes against the male and female, worship of the female form," I blathered. Ginger blinked, and then blushed before grinning at me wickedly. "Yes?" she prodded me. I took that as an invitation to walk up, bend at the waist until I was at eye level with her chest. Her nipples swelled under my scrutiny. "Zane, if you lick or bite them, I will stomp on your foot and break some toes," Vivian warned me. I was, in my estimation, good. I leaned forward a few more inches until I could blow forcefully upon each nipple. Ginger rolled forward on the tip of her toes, thrusting her chest forward, but I retreated just in time. She fell back and I pursued with long, continuous breaths this time. Her nipples didn't come out and say 'Hi', they launched rescue flares and lit bonfires on the beaches of my desire. Ginger was moaning and whimpering as she kept trying to force physical contact while I kept frustrating her. Her thighs were working back and forth as her cunt began burning her up. "Ginger," Adelaide worried, "what about Finn?" "I know," pleaded Ginger, "but you've seen the cock on this guy and he's driving me crazy-horny, and he hasn't even touched me yet." "Friends," Adelaide insistently reminded Ginger. "All his friends are here and watching." "I'll be her friend," Brandi volunteered, though Opal hooked her waist before she could show everyone how much of a friend she wanted to be. "Oh, we don't mind," Rio remarked. "Most nights with Zane are a learning experience for all of us." "I mind," grumbled Paige. "Paige, honey, he always comes home to us," Barbie Lynn reassured Paige. "Besides, we know where he's sleeping tonight and who will be with him," Iona added. "Fine, okay," Paige decided. "Zane," she beckoned me with a 'come hither' finger curl. "Sorry, Paige," I quickly responded between puffs of air on Ginger's nipples, "I'm busy." "Zane," Paige warned me. "Paige, not now," I grumped. "Zane!" Paige became more insistent. I didn't respond so what she said next was inevitable. "Zane, bouncy, bouncy." My groan was fueled by stymied lust; I stood up and walked over to Paige. Once I was in front of her, I used both hands to brush Paige's hair off her shoulder blades. I brought my hands together at the back of her head, wrapping my left hand in her ponytail while dropping my right down her side before snaking it to the small of her back. I pulled the hair back gently, tilting her head up as I pressed my hand on the small of her back until we were rubbing against one another. I leaned in for a slow, intensive kiss which Paige intercepted by standing on her toes. Our kiss was a see-saw affair that saw our tongues roll together and our lips shifting from lingering touch to gentle caress that lasted over a minute. "What are they doing? Or more like it, what is she doing to him to make him do that?" Adelaide quizzed the ladies. "Oh, that's a game they play," Rio explained. "He pretends she's a witch who has put a spell on him and she pretends she's going to be the first Mrs. Zane Braxton." "Say those words and Zane will perform any sexual act on you that you desire," Barbie Lynn teased. "No, it doesn't work like that," Iona got out right before Ginger interrupted. "Zane, bouncy, bouncy," Ginger demanded. That earned a round of chuckles. "Sorry, I tried that too," Brandi admitted. "Apparently each girl has to find her own command phrase." "Are you okay now?" I whispered to Paige. I really had to deal with these girls going wacky around me; we had things to do before the party started. "You are worth every gold doubloon I've spent on you," she smiled back. "Um, I'm the one spending money on you," I corrected her. Paige turned half-way around, bumped me with her hip, and wiggled her ass. "As I said, you are worth every coin," she winked. Hardy-har-har. "Okay, friends and acquaintances, let's finish with our purchases," I commanded. "We've still got some ground to cover before tonight." "What else do we have to do?" groaned Vivian. "I'm getting Mercy tattooed," Rio grinned with a dire mirth. "I want a design right above the ass, both subtle and understated; I don't know if I'm going with '1-800-HoT-SLuT' or 'Nothing Under 6 inches Allowed." "No, you are not!" growled Vivian. "No way, no how. Zane?" "Vivian, Rio is yanking your chain," I calmed my guardian. "You have to understand that Rio wouldn't put anything on Mercy that she wouldn't wear herself. She definitely wouldn't put something on Mercy that Mercy couldn't live with; trust me on that." "That's right, Viv," Rio chortled. "I can't tell you how many times I've regretted having 'Eat at the Clam Shack' tattooed right below the beltway." "You don't have a tattoo there!" Vivian countered. "Someone's been peeking," Rio skewered Vivian with a shark-like grin. Iona shook her head and walked up to Vivian, presenting her phone. "Here is the design they've chosen," Iona explained. It was an intricate weaving of lines and shadows I'd been shown once before. "See, in this end is Songs of Solomon 2:16 and on the other end is a Chi Rho woven into the greater design. It clearly has Christian imagery," Iona explained. "It's" Vivian sounded surprised, "actually rather, nice looking." "What's Songs of Solomon 2:16?" Ginger inquired. "'My lover is mine and I am', it should say 'his' but I think in this case it is 'hers'," I answered. "That's sweet," Adelaide said. "You can bet it was Mercy's choice, then," Opal smirked. "No, it was Rio's idea,&quo

Den romerske kejsaren Konstantin den stores (272–337 e.Kr.) omvändelse till kristendomen är en central händelse i Västerlandets historia. Kristendomen gick från att vara en förföljd minoritet till att bli den dominerande religionen i Romarriket.Konstantins relation till den traditionella romerska religionen var dock pragmatisk. Han tillät fortsatt kult av solguden Sol Invictus och tolererade inledningsvis andra religioner. Trots sitt starka stöd för kyrkan lät han inte döpa sig förrän på sin dödsbädd år 337. Denna balansgång mellan det gamla och det nya var sannolikt avgörande för hans politiska framgång.I detta avsnitt av podden Historia Nu samtalar programledaren Urban Lindstedt med antikvetaren och författaren Allan Klynne, som är aktuell med boken Konstantin den store – Roms förste kristne kejsare.I början av 300-talet e.Kr. befann sig det romerska imperiet i djup kris. Tetrarkin – ett fyrkejsarsystem skapat för att stabilisera styret – hade kollapsat, och inbördeskrig rasade mellan rivaliserande tronpretendenter. I detta kaos steg Konstantin fram, son till kejsaren Constantius Chlorus. Efter faderns död år 306 utropades han av sina trupper till kejsare i väst.År 312 ställdes Konstantin mot sin främsta konkurrent om makten, Maxentius, i slaget vid Milviska bron. Enligt flera källor såg han inför striden ett kors på himlen, tillsammans med orden "I detta tecken skall du segra", eller drömde om en ängel som visade honom symbolen Chi-Rho – de första bokstäverna i det grekiska ordet för Kristus. Han lät måla symbolen på soldaternas sköldar och vann en avgörande seger. Maxentius drunknade i Tibern, och Konstantin tågade in i Rom som härskare över väst.Året därpå, 313, utfärdade Konstantin tillsammans med kejsar Licinius det så kallade Milanoediktet, som garanterade religionsfrihet i hela riket och avslutade de systematiska förföljelserna av kristna. Även om han själv ännu inte var döpt började han aktivt gynna kyrkan: han donerade mark, gav ekonomiskt stöd och påbörjade bygget av kyrkor som Lateranbasilikan och den första Peterskyrkan.Vid denna tid var kristendomen ännu en minoritetsreligion, men snabbt växande. Dess fokus på själens frälsning, individens värde och evigt liv tilltalade många i ett samhälle präglat av oro och kris. Dess välorganiserade församlingar bidrog till en stark infrastruktur, som snart blev ett viktigt verktyg även för staten.Trots kristendomens pacifistiska ursprung valde Konstantin att knyta den till sin militära och politiska makt. Genom att uppträda som Guds utvalde kejsare – en förening av andlig och världslig auktoritet – skapade han ett nytt sätt att härska.Musik: Saturnalia av bzur, Storyblock Audio.Bild: Konstantins staty i Kapitolinska museerna. Del av statyn av Konstantin den store, bevarad i Kapitolinska museerna i Rom. Skulpturen, ursprungligen uppförd i början av 300-talet e.Kr., föreställer kejsaren i idealiserad stil och symboliserar hans makt och gudomliga auktoritet som både romersk härskare och kristendomens beskyddare. Wikipedia. Public Domain.Lyssna också på Pyrrhos – på fel sida i historien i kampen om världsherraväldet.Klippare: Emanuel Lehtonen Vill du stödja podden och samtidigt höra ännu mer av Historia Nu? Gå med i vårt gille genom att klicka här: https://plus.acast.com/s/historianu-med-urban-lindstedt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Table — not the cross — is the symbol Jesus chose to remember him by.In this Easter reflection, we step into the Strange New World of resurrection and explore why the Eucharist, Communion, and the Lord's Supper have always been at the heart of Christian practice. Long before the gospels were written, before theology was fully formed, the first followers of Jesus gathered around a table — and they experienced grace you could taste.In this video, discover:

Legend tells us that Joseph of Arimathea a tin merchant, came to Glastonbury, and put his staff in the ground and it sprouted. This tree blooms twice a year in the spring and on Christmas. And this tree, the Glastonbury Thorn, is the root of Christianity in Britain. And by the way, this tree, genetically linked to the eastern mediterranean, survives through cuttings and still blooms at Christmas.   In the undercroft of the York Minster is a tile from the first century, and that tile is inscribed with the monogram of Christ, the Chi-Rho. So we have two bits of evidence that Christianity has been in Britain for two-thousand years. And it is the tree from which Belonging House springs. Belonging House International is a community of artists and creative people called to build Jesus a throne in the earth.  In other words, we make disciples who will disciple the nations in the world of creativity.   You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com You can support us  at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto You can view Belonging House Books here: https://bookshop.org/shop/belonginghouse   We have a community for those who have made the Belonging House Commitment on Mighty Network. https://belonging-house.mn.co

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1)) Welcome to worship! Scripture Reference: Matthew 2:1-18; Ephesians 3:1-12 Epiphany is the season of the church year extending from January 6 until Ash Wednesday. The word “epiphany” means an appearance or a manifestation, especially of a Deity. The Christian Church uses the word Epiphany to celebrate the appearance of Christ to the Gentiles. When the Christ Child was presented in the temple, the aged Simeon predicted that Jesus would be “a light to lighten the Gentiles.” This prophecy received its first fulfillment in the coming of the Magi. The Chi Rho on the large banner refers to Christ as the “Son of Righteousness”. As the sun is the source of light and life in a physical sense, so Jesus is the light and life of men spiritually. The Chi Rho is a sacred monogram formed from the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ. The banner symbolizes the spread of the Gospel to the four corners of the earth. This is appropriate because during Epiphany the church emphasizes missions and bringing the light of the gospel to those in spiritual darkness. Our Church’s Vision Statement: Fellowship Church is called by God to grow committed disciples into disciplemakers. 1/5/25

usurp https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/usurp categorical https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/categorical (via chatGPT) Constantine's Family Tragedy https://chatgpt.com/share/671f9132-ba7c-8006-9f6b-7654d376efdd (via chatGPT) Aristotles Categories Explained https://chatgpt.com/share/671ce57c-bd34-8006-90bc-3fe22cfe5c7a (via chatGPT) Bernard Shaw sobre a vida: https://chatgpt.com/share/671f9180-0888-8006-846e-0f57079b7966 George Bernard Shaw : A Splendid Torch http://elise.com/q/quotes/shaw.htm Gareth HarneyThe Gemma Constantiniana https://x.com/OptimoPrincipi/status/1379365137862291456 Chi Rho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Rho canal do radinho no whatsapp!https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaDRCiu9xVJl8belu51Z meu perfil no Threads: https://www.threads.net/@renedepaulajr meu perfil no BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/renedepaula.bsky.social ... Read more The post a incrível história de um camafeu, filosofando com ChatGPT, a melhor inspiração EVER appeared first on radinho de pilha.

Full Text of ReadingsFeast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Lectionary: 638The Saint of the day is Exaltation of the Holy CrossThe Story of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ's life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior's tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman. The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.” To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim. Reflection The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewelry. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome's authority—including Christians who refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine's edict of toleration. Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

In this episode we will examine the story of a real life demon who betrayed his brothers in arms, deceived many in a craven lust for power and murdered his own wife and child. With a resume like that, it goes without saying Roman Emperor, Saint Constantine the Great is held up as an iconic Christian hero. Also making special guest star appearances we have Romans, CAESAR, Christians, Eusebius, Lactantius, Christianity, Roman Empire, France, Britain, Italy, Rome, Tetrarch, Maxentius, Tiber river, Milvian Bridge, Jesus Christ, Chi Rho, Greek, Christos, Twitter, X, staurogram, crucifix, Arch of Constantine, Tetrarchy, Licinius, Maximinus, Edict of Milan, RON BURGUNDY, Paganism, Pontifex Maximus, pagan, Pope, council of Nicaea, Nicene Creed, Holy Trinity, Arius, Holy Land, St Helena, Constantinople, Fausta, Crispus, Jupiter, Persians, Armenia, Tiridates III, Persia, river Jordan, Bishop of Nicomedia, Pentecost, Holy Ghost, Mary, Apostles, Heaven, #SketchComedy #Sketch #Comedy #Sketch Comedy #Atheist #Science #History #Atheism #ConspiracyTheory #Conspiracy #Conspiracies #Sceptical #Scepticism #Mythology #Religion #Devil #Satan #Skeptic #Debunk #SatanIsMySuperhero #Podcast #funny #sketch #skit #comedy #comedyshow #comedyskits #HeavyMetal #RomanEmpire #Rome #AncientRome #Romans #RomanEmperor 

AMDG. We cover a trifecta of topics today that homeschooling parents tend to fret about: STEM, state schools, and sibling dynamics. Kolbe alumni Erin and Michael O'Donnell visit with Bonnie and Steven about their experience with Kolbe and how they transitioned to college, the tradeoffs that come with various kinds of college settings, and how the adjustments for a homeschooled college freshman overlap with those for a brick-and-mortar-schooled freshman. They also talk about the shift in workload from Kolbe to college, how they practice and explain their faith in a setting where Catholics are a minority, and what they would say to homeschooling parents.  Erin and Michael make reference to Chi Rho, Raider Catholic's service fraternity.  Kolbecast episodes mentioned & relevant:  189 Fit Mind, Fit Body  85 Vibrant Campus Ministries  92 Protect, Guide, Prepare, Empower with Cathy & Nicolai Lund  170 A Spiraled Art highlighting Kolbe's writing approach  We'd be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey!  The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast!  Have questions or suggestions for future episodes? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey. 

The Angels Were Amazed by Mihai OaraHuman history has had many mysterious episodes for which there is no easy explanation. Why did the magi decide to take a long and dangerous journey, all the way from Persia to Jerusalem, to bring gifts to a supposed future king? What about the Chi-Rho sign in the sky that encouraged Constantine's soldiers to fight the army of Maxentius and win a great victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, which led to the recognition of Christianity in the Roman Empire? Why did Atilla give up on his march to Rome at a time when he had military supremacy in Italy? Why did the Mongols, poised to conquer the whole of Europe, suddenly stop and go back home? Why did the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, decide to stay and die in the city when the fall of Constantinople was imminent?God's hand appears in all these episodes. He is sending His angels, who take on human appearance and make the light and barely noticeable push that changes the direction of history. In dealing with humans, they do not use supernatural powers, only their wisdom and skills. God's grandiose plans for humanity, beyond their immediate comprehension, are gradually revealed to them. They act as God's ministering spirits, in constant contemplation of God's wonderful creation and His love for mankind.While interesting and engaging, the stories in this book follow a common thread and convey deep truths about God and men.https://www.amazon.com/Angels-Were-Amazed-Mihai-Oara/dp/B0CQPKT7H7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4U15EM8S9OGE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6A0Nrv4xW7M7FHZLCnDHAvWz2lgNOjYzVHJDdMYmMPmcQ0XIsuaxHF7j524k_EhpDZeq6hKgnC4mut-OyhU0iAykaar5MXAy4XR0VGy62B7zJRkQkBB4VAlsEZWq5-H6KBjy00qaGl2QPJJJJDp0qQ.7LwTiIBUO1-MZ-gmbPkWbsLwQU46Wy1ut0KJviaCuZU&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Angels+Were+Amazed&qid=1705208134&s=books&sprefix=as+i+walk+in+the+heart+of+god%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C324&sr=1-1https://mihaioara.com/http://www.KingPagesPress.com   http://www.bluefunkbroadcasting.com/root/twia/11824kpp1.mp3   

Epiphany is the season of the church year extending from January 6 until Ash Wednesday. The word “epiphany” means an appearance or a manifestation, especially of a Deity. The Christian Church uses the word Epiphany to celebrate the appearance of Christ to the Gentiles. When the Christ Child was presented in the temple, the aged Simeon predicted that Jesus would be “a light to lighten the Gentiles.” This prophecy received its first fulfillment in the coming of the magi. The Chi Rho on the large banner refers to Christ as the “Son of Righteousness”. As the sun is the source of light and life in a physical sense, so Jesus is the light and life of men spiritually. The Chi Rho is a sacred monogram formed from the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ. The banner symbolizes the spread of the Gospel to the four corners of the earth. This is appropriate because during Epiphany the church emphasizes missions and bringing the light of the gospel to those in spiritual darkness. Scripture References: Luke 13:22-30 1/7/24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_qkrdNst0E

Brother Marty Leeds, teacher & preacher of the Gnostic Academy returns to InnerVerse! We talk about what's new at his online church and his move to Missouri, real Gnosticism vs. troofer victimhood, the value in scripture as allegory, transcendental numbers, the Chi Rho symbol, Pi and the generative powers, being a disciple of math, the septenary cipher on your hands, the riddle to find the middle, the self-evident nature of Truth, and the fractal hand of God. In the Plus+ Extension, you'll learn about how Gödel's incompleteness theorem informs us about our closed-system realm. Next, we speculate about what's at the north pole, discuss Jesus as the demiurge (in a good way), the eternal cycles of destruction and regeneration, ascension cults, individual transcendence, going to heaven, and why God is the ultimate hilarious comedian. Support InnerVerse Rokfin and Patreon for extended episodes!https://rokfin.com/stream/39415https://www.patreon.com/posts/89802794 EPISODE LINKSVideo Episode - https://youtu.be/YYe3SrCUcCshttps://gnosticacademy.org/Featured Music - "The Whistle, the Call and the Cry" by Marty Leedshttps://www.innerversepodcast.com/season-9/marty-leeds-pi TELEGRAM LINKShttps://t.me/innerversepodcasthttps://t.me/innerversepodcastchat GET TUNEDhttps://www.innerversepodcast.com/sound-healing SUPPORT INNERVERSEInnerVerse Merch - https://www.innerversemerch.comTippecanoe Herbs - Use INNERVERSE code at checkout - https://tippecanoeherbs.com/Spirit Whirled: July's End) - https://tinyurl.com/2dhsarasSpirit Whirled: The Holy Sailors - https://tinyurl.com/4wyd5ecsA Godsacre For Winds of the Soul - https://tinyurl.com/2p9xpdn3Buy from Clive de Carle with this link to support InnerVerse with your purchase - https://clivedecarle.ositracker.com/197164/11489The Aquacure AC50 (Use "innerverse" as a coupon code for a 15% discount) - https://eagle-research.com/product/ac50TT InnerVerse intro theme by Conspiracy Music Guru - https://www.conspiracymusicguru.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Full Text of ReadingsFeast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Lectionary: 638The Saint of the day is Exaltation of the Holy CrossThe Story of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ's life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior's tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman. The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.” To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim. Reflection The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewelry. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome's authority—including Christians who refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine's edict of toleration. Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Full Text of ReadingsFeast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Lectionary: 638All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Exaltation of the Holy Crossof the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ's life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior's tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman. The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.” To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim. Reflection The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewelry. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome's authority—including Christians who refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine's edict of toleration. Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 445, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Giants 1: I Samuel says the metal head of his spear weighed 600 shekels, or about 15 pounds. Goliath. 2: Cormoran, a Cornish giant, was felled by this famous giant killer. Jack. 3: In "Jack and the Beanstalk", Jack stole from the giant a little brown hen that laid these. golden eggs. 4: This Ted Hughes kids' book creation loves eating barbed wire and rusty chains. the Iron Giant. 5: After Hermes slew this 100-eyed giant, the 100 eyes were placed on the tail of the peacock. Argus. Round 2. Category: Crosses 1: A crusader's white cross on a field of red, used by a canton in the 13th century, became this country's flag. Switzerland. 2: In England this game is called noughts and crosses. tic-tac-toe. 3: The Chi-Rho cross is formed from the first 2 letters of his title in Greek. Jesus. 4: The St. Andrew's cross resembles this math sign. multiplication. 5: The Crux Ansata, a tau cross with a loop on top, is known as this to Egyptians. ankh. Round 3. Category: A World Of Pirates 1: The costumes for this 1991 Steven Spielberg film included 350 pirate outfits for the extras alone. Hook. 2: Later dictator, this Roman was kidnapped by pirates while on a journey to Rhodes around 75 B.C.. Julius Caesar. 3: In 1815 Washington Irving planned to join Stephen Decatur on an expedition against these north African pirates. Barbary Pirates. 4: Born around 1645, this pirate captain was sent to England for trial and hanged in 1701. Captain Kidd. 5: Kevin Kline won a Tony Award for his role in this swashbuckling Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. The Pirates of Penzance. Round 4. Category: The "End" 1: It means to make a change to something, especially to the Constitution. amend. 2: It's to grasp mentally; understand?. comprehend. 3: This Indiana city is home to the College Football Hall of Fame. South Bend. 4: It's a bonus paid by a company to its stockholders, often on a quarterly basis. dividend. 5: Take a suspect into custody. apprehend. Round 5. Category: Hit Tunes 1: "Where The Streets Have No Name","With Or Without You". U2. 2: "Angel","Building A Mystery". Sarah McLachlan. 3: This Bob Carlisle ballad about watching his daughter grow was a surprise hit in 1997. "Butterfly Kisses". 4: "How's It Going to Be","Semi-Charmed Life". Third Eye Blind. 5: On the sound track of "Nothing to Lose", it's when Coolio will "C U". When U Get There. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!

On today's episode we first discuss our Buzzwords Metanoia and Chi Rho, and then discuss Pastor Schulz's cancellation from his teaching position at Concordia Wisconsin due to his calling out the dangers of Wokeism and Post-Modernism.

The bible isn't the only thing that changed in the 4th century and in this episode we look at the genesis of the cross as a symbol and explore a new way to reconnect with the Pre-Nicene Christians and learn the meaning behind the first Christian symbol, the Chi Rho. Links mentioned during the episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Rho https://symbolsarchive.com/chi-rho-symbol-history-meaning/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egeria_(pilgrim) https://www.theveryfirstbible.org https://www.marcionitechurch.org Help support the show using Lightning. https://tipybit.com/fbn --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/firstbiblenetwork/message

The Film Society of Chi-Rho

Full Text of ReadingsFeast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Lectionary: 638All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Exaltation of the Holy Crossof the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ's life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior's tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman. The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.” To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim. Reflection The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewelry. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome's authority—including Christians who refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine's edict of toleration. Saint of the Day Copyright Franciscan Media

The Film Society of Chi-Rho

Reaction to the recent release, "Free Guy" starring Ryan Reynolds.

There are some names and stories we as believers should know.  Job 8:8-10 “For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out. For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. Will, they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding? So be a little patient with me this morning  …. there is an inspiration in this for you, as every life can teach and inspire, so bear with me.I want to take a few moments to tell you about Constantine the Great who was one of Rome's most powerful and successful emperors and the first to self-identify as a Christian. Constantine was the son of a Roman official and his Christian concubine. This placed him in line to succeed the throne of the Western Roman Empire. At age 31, he prepared to attack his chief rival with an army outnumbered 4-to-1. Before the battle, Constantine claimed to have seen a vision of Jesus, with a specific symbol, telling him, “By this sign, conquer.” Constantine ordered his troops to mark their shields with this symbol, the Chi-Rho, then a symbol commonly representing Christianity. The Chi-Rho combines the first two letters in the Greek word for “Christ” and resembles a capital P with an X drawn through the spine. Constantine's forces routed the enemy, and he became emperor. The Chi-Rho symbol would be part of Constantine's personal signature for the rest of his life.During Constantine's reign, controversy arose over the teachings of Arius, who denied the full divinity of Jesus. Constantine called a meeting of Christian bishops, the Council of Nicea, to settle the dispute. The calling in of the religious council by a political figure was the first act of separation of church and state.  What we don't grasp is the separation of church and state is not to keep the church out of state business but to keep the state out of church business.Contrary to popular myth, this meeting did not discuss the canon of the Bible, nor was Constantine influential in the council's decisions. Emperors saw themselves as responsible for promoting “correct” forms of worship. Constantine's Christian faith has frequently been critiqued and outright questioned. Even though he made great strides in securing political and social rights for Christians and initiating general humanitarian reforms. He poured time and money into building churches and publicly supporting Christianity. Toward the end of his reign, Constantine vocally professed faith in Christ and credited his success to God. He was baptized shortly before his death, according to the common practice of his time.However,  some of Constantine's actions resulted in some negatives because of Constantine's blending of pagan, building-and-priest-centered worship with Christianity he also contributed to the rise of Roman Catholicism.Constantine's legacy is complex and not wholly understood, but he stands as one of the dominant figures in Christian history. Without a doubt, his influence helped transform Christianity from a persecuted minority into the most widespread faith in history.I wanted to share the story of Constantine because many times... we withhold our giftings, our efforts, our ideas, regarding the building of the Kingdom of God, regarding reaching out to the lost for fear of what others may say or sometimes just out of sheer fear of failure.Constantine not a perfect man by any means but what he set his mind on doing for the spreading of the Gospel was impactful....

In this episode, we investigate where the X in Christmas really came from and what it represented. This episode is sponsored by WYSK Spark Radio, https://live365.com/station/Spark-Radio-a82219. To keep this podcast going please feel free to donate at https://paypal.me/yopistudio?locale.x=en_US If you would like to read more on this topic or any other previous topics, you can do so by checking out our blog at https://yopistudio.blogspot.com/ Feel free to see what we are up to by following us at:  https://twitter.com/Dauricee https://www.facebook.com/yopistudio/ https://www.facebook.com/LouisianaEntertainmentAssociation/ To listen to the podcast, watch creative videos and skits go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvn6tns6wKUwz9xZw11_vAQ/videos Interested in projects Daurice has worked on in the movie industry you can check it out at www.IMDb.com under Daurice Cummings. For comments or questions, you can reach us at yopi@post.com To read more about today’s topic check out the references below. References: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people/reference/constantine/ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory/chapter/constantine/ https://www.biography.com/political-figure/constantine-i https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great https://www.businessballs.com/glossaries-and-terminology/greek-alphabet/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Rho

The craziest episode yet! At the end of the Chi Rho virtual party, Chad and Trevor along with the survivors embark on deciding what is the number 1 snack cake. It's wild, loud, and a little mind numbing. Enjoy. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Welcome to our BOCA/BOHSA 2020 special! In this episode we sit down with Chi Rho from Wake Forest University to talk about their BOCA 2020 selection, Bone + Tissue, originally performed by Gallant. Learn more about the group here: https://www.facebook.com/wfuchirho.

In this episode, Chi Rho Scope host the Rev'd Randall Graf takes a Christo-centric lens to some GOOD NEWS stories that you probably haven't heard about in the mainstream media news.

It was the evening of October 27, 312 A.D. Constantine was going into battle the next day against Maxentius. It is called The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, which was an important route over the Tiber, the third-longest river in Italy. The battle would determine whether Constantine or Maxentius would be the Emperor.

Continuing to apply a Christo-centric lens to the news of the world and the issues of the day, in this episode of Chi Rho Scope, host Rev'd Randall Graf discusses the continued shaping of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, the border and welcoming strangers, Area 51 and space aliens, and sex in social media.

So much stuff in the news these days and Chi Rho Scope host Rev'd Graf applies the lens to much of it, including... Independence Day, Iran, Word Cup Soccer, Gender Wage Gap, and more. Plus Rev'd Graf's blueprint for how the Democrats can take back the White House in 2020. Will they listen?

This past weekend Bob spent some time with family and friends in Venice, Florida as they celebrated the life of Bob's son-in-law who passed away after a battle with cancer. From all in Bob's family, we thank you for your prayers and condolences. This weekend Bob welcomes to the Show the Rev. Randall Graf, the pastor of Good Sheppard Church in Metairie, LA. Randall is the host of a new radio podcast entitled "Chi Rho Scope." This Podcast attempts to offer a Christo-centric lens by which to examine the news of the world and the issues of the day. This excellent podcast is available on "Ancient Word Radio," a ministry project that Bob founded. You will probably being hearing Randall in the near future as a guest host as well. On this program Bob and Randall even discuss the future direction of "Your Weekend Show." Exciting things are happening. About your host: Bob has been in and around the radio industry since 1971. Starting out as a Top-40 Disc Jockey, he spent the next 9 years on the air, but gradually set his sights on the engineering side of the industry. By 1980, he was the chief engineer of the most powerful FM radio station in the City of Atlanta, GA. Within a few years he took the position of field service technician, plus new product development for a large manufacturer of Radio Transmitters. Eventually, by the late 1980’s he ended up working for the broadcast ministry of Toccoa Falls College, in Toccoa Falls, Georgia, USA. For the next decade, he worked to improve that radio facility, plus developed a satellite network feeding programming to many radio stations around the United States. The college also acquired a number of radio stations throughout the United States. Over the years he has built numerous radio stations and transmission facilities. Even though he worked mostly in engineering, he still kept time to be on the air. Bob said that “Being on the air, especially for a place like Toccoa Falls College, is more than providing entertainment; you have the opportunity to change lives.” In the early 1990’s, Bob felt a powerful calling on his life, one he had known since childhood. While still working for Toccoa Falls, he started his studies for the ordained ministry. He was ordained in January 1996 to the ministry. By 1998, Bob left Georgia for Sarasota, Florida. There he took over as the pastor of a struggling mission church, but also worked part time in radio, both on-air and in engineering. Bob was the host on a local morning show, plus maintained several transmitter facilities for a radio station group in that market. “YOUR WEEKEND SHOW” is the culmination of a dream Bob had in the mid 1980’s when he first realized the world-wide impact of International Shortwave radio. Over the years he has wanted to launch such a program, but the timing was not just right. As the nature of Shortwave has changed in recent decades, a Magazine type show, such as “YOUR WEEKEND SHOW,” fills a definite programming void now, more than ever. You can contact Bob at bob@yourweekendshow.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/your-weekend-show/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/your-weekend-show/support

In this episode, Rev'd Graf welcomes Dr. Jennifer Miller to the Shepherd's Voice Studios and invites her to apply the Christo-centric lens to understanding the issues of today that surround gender and sex. You can learn more about Dr. Miller by visiting her online at https://www.redeeminggender.com.

In this episode, Rev'd Graf (aka, Padre) seems a little bit grumpy, but the ChiRhoScopic lens must be applied! Issues explored include D-Day, euthanasia, and censorship on campuses. www.ChiRhoScope.com

On this episode of Chi Rho Scope, host Reverend Graf goes about examining why we shouldn't look to politicians and government leaders for our morality;... why Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas are feuding; (Hint: It's about abortion);... And picking on... err... I mean, exploring what's going on with Christianity in current-day America. www.ChiRhoScope.com

In the fourth and final segment of the first episode of Chi Rho Scope, Reverend Graf examines some of the sadly humorous, yet true, approaches passing as stress management on college campuses across the country today.

In this segment, Chi Rho Scope host, The Reverend Randall Graf examines some recent data from Barna Research regarding pornography and Christianity.

Reviewing and recapping Rev'd Graf's discussion of ways that Christians SHOULD use social media and perhaps how we shouldn't. 

Since launching the podcast, we've been very happy with its initial reception. Today, our host, The Rev'd Randall Graf, takes a moment to recap the meaning behind the name and the content on Chi Rho Scope.

Two Brain Marketing Episode 9: Kevin Rundlett of CrossFit Chi-Rho Today we are joined by Kevin Rundlett of CrossFit Chi Rho in Jackson Mississippi. In addition to running his CrossFit gym, Kevin works full time as a lawyer and is even the city prosecutor! Growing up lifting weights and training since he was 15, Kevin fell in love with CrossFit and after learning that the gym they attended was being sold, they jumped right in to keep it going. In August of 2017, Kevin and his wife purchased the gym and have been running it ever since! Join us as we learn how Kevin manages his gym, law practice and how Two-Brain has helped with both! Don’t Forget about the 2019 Two Brain Summit, June 8-9 in Chicago! This year we have some amazing topics and guests for both yourself and your coaches. Click here to register and sign up now! Contact:https://www.crossfitchi-rho.com/ Timeline:2:20 – Introduction to Kevin 6:14 – Advice for others who are considered purchasing their gym12:30 – What it takes to break even and profit as a gym owner13:30 – Staffing a gym that was recently purchased 15:03 – The importance of finding a good general manager18:27 – The key to success when first starting a new gym21:16 – How to contact Kevin

The Rev'd Randall Graf hosts Chi Rho Scope and applies a Christo-centric lens to the news of the world and the issues of the day. In this episode, topics include social media and Christians; pornography in America and the Church; and college campus craziness.

Part of our Chi Rho mini series. John 8:48-59 - Pastor Tom Workman Recorded during our Sunday morning service. For more information including service times please visit riverviewchurch.uk

Unfortunately the first few minutes of this message are missing - we apologise for the inconvenience. Part of our Chi Rho mini series. John 8:48-59 - Pastor Tom Workman Recorded during our Sunday morning service. For more information including service times please visit riverviewchurch.uk

Part of our Chi Rho mini series. John 1:1-5 - Pastor Tom Workman Recorded during our Sunday morning service. For more information including service times please visit riverviewchurch.uk

A children's conversation by Pastor Jeff Lilley -------------------------------------------------------- All the candles on the Advent Wreath are lit, so we know Christmas is coming soon. Over here with have a Christmas tree with Chrismon ornaments--symbols of Christ. There is a butterfly for the resurrection, a candle to symbolize the list of Chris, and the Chi-Rho that forms the first letters of "Christ" in Greek. All together, the tree tells us the story of Jesus.

On today’s episode of Table Talk Radio we first answer listener emails by playing Church Sign Theology and discussing the Liturgy and Praise Songs, Temptation and Concupiscence! Then, you guessed it, we play Praise Song Cruncher and look at This Dust by Kip Fox. Will it pass the Cruncher? Listen and find out!

How I Came to Credo Baptist Convictions Hi, I'm Andy Davis. I'm Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church. I was wondering, with a number of you, if I would remember how to preach, I hope so. Someone likened it to roller skating, which made me a little nervous. I grew up ice skating and I had a mishap the first time I roller skated a few years ago. But yeah, about two months ago, I don't remember the exact number of weeks, I was preaching along in 1 Corinthians 1:1-17 and just making my way through that text and this little thing, this clock was... I thought it was lying to me, but it wasn't, it was like quarter of, and I was about two-thirds of the way through that sermon and I knew I wasn't going to be preaching for about two months, so I said, "Alright, what shall I do?" But I didn't worry about it because I had two months to figure it out. What I feel led to do is to go right back into that text and to try to pick up on Paul's argument. He is dealing with the factions and divisions in the Corinthian church, but he zeroes in on water baptism. And I want to talk, having laid the groundwork, the context of his comments on water baptism, to talk about the significance of water baptism, the limitations of water baptism and just give you an understanding of that ordinance. So that's what we're going to do this morning. Now, I myself was baptized in the Ipswich River in Massachusetts in the early summer of 1984 by Mark Dever. He was pastor of a church that we were planting up there. And I'm telling you right now, in the early summer, Ipswich River flows with water that has recently been snow and ice. So it was a vigorous experience that I had. I mean, it was a spiritual experience. And I have the photo on my phone, I was actually going to bring it, I was going to project that photo on the screen while I preached, but I thought better of it at multiple levels. First of all, I'm just not big on projecting images while I preach. But when I looked again at the photo, it had been a number of years since I've seen it, I was like, "Okay, yeah, we're not putting that up on the screen." First of all, my hair was a lot longer and thicker. It's always tended toward bushiness. Mark Dever was wearing a... If you could call it a graphic tee, you have to understand in 1984 the science of graphic tees hadn't developed much. So Mark was wearing a shirt, a blue shirt that said in very small letters, "Mark." Okay. And I was wearing tennis shorts that were popular back then and if you know anything about what the tennis players wore back then you can picture it. So I'm not showing that picture to you. But what happened was, I'd been a Christian for a very short time, less than two years at that point, and I was led to faith in Christ while a student at MIT by a parachurch group, Campus Crusade for Christ, and I was immediately discipled by a very skillful man, a godly man named Tim Schuman. And he poured into me lots and lots of helpful things in the Christian life, Bible study, evangelism, concern for missions, so many things. But many parachurch groups do not really focus on local church involvement, it's not really a strength. And so, water baptism just really never came up. Until a year into my discipleship with Tim, we started doing evangelism in the college campuses there in the Boston area, MIT, Harvard, BU, Northeastern, and we kept running into a cult there called the Boston Church of Christ. Now, the Boston Church of Christ is a cult, they have a branch here in the Triangle region called the Triangle Church of Christ. As a denomination, all churches of Christ are kind of a schismatic group broken off from the baptistic movement that goes beyond to something known as baptismal regeneration. And baptismal regeneration is the teaching that if you are not water baptized you cannot be saved, or more specifically, it's at the moment of water baptism that you are regenerate, that you are born again, that your sins are forgiven, which I think is not true. But I hadn't really developed many convictions and so as we're trying to refute these Church of Christ disciplers and evangelists on these campuses, Tim Schuman and I were going through the Scriptures and we were walking through the New Testament on water baptism, and I came to some very strong baptistic convictions. I came to believe that water baptism should be administered to people who can give a credible profession of being disciples of Jesus Christ, that they've come to faith in Christ, that's a basic baptistic conviction, but that water baptism was not required for heaven. And there were some verses that we studied and this one today, in which Paul says that, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel," was actually a key to my understanding. And so also some other verses that we're going to talk about today. But in the course of that study, I came to realize that I, having been born and raised as a Roman Catholic, I was baptized as an infant by another church that also teaches baptismal regeneration. Namely, the Roman Catholics. I didn't realize that this was true until as a believer many years into my Christian walk, I think it was already at seminary, I went to the infant baptism of a Roman Catholic family, I was invited to come, and the priest was there and was baptizing the infant and was declaring that at that moment the infant was now born again. And I said, "Wait, what?" I wanted to raise my hand and say, "Excuse me, can I ask a question?" I wanted to do all kinds of things, but it was not the time. But I came to realize years before that, that I had never been baptized really. Whatever it is that my parents did for me, I could not, in good conscience, call it baptism. And so, I needed to be water baptized as a believer. Now, I wasn't connected at that point with a church, but Mark and some others, including me, were starting a Southern Baptist church there, near Gordon-Conwell. So I started talking to Mark about water baptism, and I was baptized in the Ipswich River. Return to 1 Corinthians 1. Now, as we return this morning to 1 Corinthians 1, I want to talk about the issue at hand, what Paul's dealing with here, which is factions and divisions in the Corinthian church. But then I want to go off and talk some about the theology of water baptism. So that's what the sermon is going to be today. Now, in the first number of verses in 1 Corinthians 1, the Apostle Paul greets the church that he helped plant by preaching the Word, and he gives thanks for them, he wishes grace and peace to them, as he always does in his apostolic reading, gives thanks for the sovereign grace of God at work in their lives. He gives them a sense of confidence, that grip of grace by which Christ has seized hold of them, that he will continue and protect them until they are finally saved and in heaven. And so he's confident and he thanks God, he thanks God for their spiritual gifts and speaking and knowledge, but then he rolls up his sleeves, and he begins to address the many problems that we're going to be following in this epistle in 1 Corinthians, and the first is factions and divisions. Now, these divisions were a huge issue in the life of this Corinthian church, this local church. And indeed, it is a huge issue for churches all over the world: Factions, divisions, disputes, dissensions, arguments, conflicts. This is common in local churches around the world and it's grievous to have to say so, and it's a huge issue. Sinners divide from each other, sinners argue with each other, sinners do not get along with each other, sinners are prideful with each other, sinners force their own way with each other and push their own agenda with each other, and churches are made up of sinners. And so this is going on all the time. Now, in Corinth it's articulated in this way, Paul hears that there are factions and divisions. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul." Another says, "I follow Apollos," and another says, "I follow Cephas," and another says, "I follow Christ." And you can imagine how the arguments would go. "I follow Paul, he planted this church to begin with." "Oh, yeah? Well, I follow Apollos, he's far more articulate and a better speaker than Paul." "Well, I follow Cephas, Peter, he's the apostle back in Jerusalem, he's the key apostle, he was an apostle before Paul was." "Oh, yeah? Well, I follow Christ better than all of you." Factions and divisions. And these divisions were a work of Satan in their midst. Now, the Greek mythology back then, there were lots of stories of the Greeks' gods and goddesses. But there's this one story that all of the Greeks would have known, about how the war between Troy and Sparta started. Some of you are aware of this story. The gods and goddesses were together having a big heavenly party, in Elysium or wherever they were. And there was a goddess that wasn't invited, Eris, the goddess of discord. Gee, I wonder why she wasn't invited. Can you imagine that being your job description, to sow discord and division everywhere you go? Well, she was so put out with the gods and goddesses that she decided to get her revenge and she crafted a beautiful golden apple and inscribed on it, "For the fairest, for the most beautiful," and rolls it in amongst the goddesses. Well, they immediately started fighting. Here are the queen goddess, and Aphrodite, and Athena, and they're all fighting. And it led eventually to the war between Troy and Sparta. Now, that's all myth, but there is, I think, a god of discord and his name is Satan, and he loves to roll that golden apple of discord in amongst Christian people, he's been doing it for 20 centuries and, as Paul says, "We're not unaware of his schemes," we need to be willing to stand up and fight. So he's dealing with this issue of factions, "I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ." And he's going to return to this topic, he develops it here and then he's going to return to it and settle it in chapter 3 by really minimizing himself. “What after all is Paul? What is Apollos? Only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord assigned to each one his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.” We are nothing, that's what he's saying. So here he says it this way, I follow Apollos, he says, "Is Christ divided?" Look at verse 13, "Is Christ divided?" Are we really rent apart?" What he's going to end up saying is, "You get it all, all things are yours, you get Paul and Apollos and Cephas and best of all, you get Christ." And anything Paul brings to the table, it's really Christ blessing you through Paul and anything Apollos brings to the table, it's really Christ blessing you through Apollos, and anything that Peter brings to the table, it's really Christ blessing you through him. But we're just vehicles, we are nothing. Christ is everything. And so he says, "Is Christ divided?" And he says, "The focus should be on Christ. Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?" I wonder what Martin Luther would think about people being called Lutherans. I don't have to wonder at all. It would be appalling to him. Was Martin Luther crucified for you? That's what he's saying. Paul's saying, "I didn't die for your sins. I'm not the incarnate Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life and won a perfect righteousness that he's willing to give you as a free gift," this is the gospel. "And not only that, but willing to take all of your sins and rebellions on himself and die in your place at the cross. I didn't do any of that. I just told you about him. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? You were baptized in the Christ's name not into mine." I. Paul Puts Himself and Water Baptism in its Place So then he somewhat, it seems, puts water baptism in its place. And this is really interesting. Look at verse 14-37, "I'm thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius so that none of you can say you were baptized into my name." "Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel." These are amazing statements. He says he's thankful he didn't baptize hardly any of them, Crispus and Gaius. Oh, yeah, also the household of Stephanas. It's a very interesting moment in inerrancy for you. Anyway, any of you that are into this, go ahead and work at that, but at any rate... Oh, yeah, also, but... And he's not saying they all weren't water baptized, they were, but he just delegated that task to others, it wasn't important who did the baptism. That's what he's saying. What matters is what it signified. He somewhat dismisses, "We're just servants." And then he makes his final statement in verse 17, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." Now, he's going to develop that over the next number of verses. We're not getting into that today, but how reliance on human wisdom and human heroes and human leaders would empty the cross of its power. We are nothing. Christ crucified and resurrected is everything. Now, I will say that this statement, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel," is a killer statement for baptismal regeneration. It should end it. Because if water baptism is required to go to heaven, then this statement is actually incredibly confusing. They would say water baptism to some degree is the gospel or an essential part of the gospel. Paul would say, "I disagree." So the bottom line alone is, Christ alone is the Savior and human messengers are merely servants. II. The Origin of Water Baptism Now, what I want to do is talk about water baptism, the significance of it, so I can try to just explain what it means biblically. Water baptism, immersion in water, the spiritual significance, was unknown in the Old Testament. It's not Old Testament ordinance that was brought over. It came up, it seems, during the intertestamental period when the Jews had been expelled out of the promised land because of their sins, northern kingdom under the Assyrians, the southern kingdom of Judah under the Babylonians, they were scattered, the dispersion, and everywhere they went, they continued to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Gentiles were converted to Judaism. And when they were, the men would be circumcised to become Jews, but they added another ritual, the ritual of washings, it seems, to say, "You Gentile dogs are dirty morally and you need to be washed with water so that you can become clean." And so, the Gentile converts would be washed. Suddenly, there came into Jewish history a man, unlike anyone who had ever been except one, Elijah, and this man was John the Baptist, and he was out in the desert, and he was proclaiming a whole new message. He was saying to the descendants of Abraham, to the Jewish people, "You need to be baptized too. You're as much on the outside as these Gentiles because of your sins." It says in Matthew 3:1-6, "In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying, 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' and people went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." Now, we need to stop and talk about the word itself, baptism. The word, the Greek word, baptidzo, from which we just bring the letters over and get baptized or baptist, means to plunge or immerse or sink or dip. Those are the ways that it's used. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, whenever the word baptidzo or baptisms, that kind of thing comes in, there's always a dipping or a plunging into a container of a liquid. So the priest would baptize, would dip his fingers into blood and then sprinkle the people. Two different actions, or a ship would sink or Naaman would wash himself in the Jordan River multiple times to be cleansed of his leprosy. Same word. Or you remember Jonathan dipped his staff into the end, into some honey and lifted it and tasted it, he dipped it in. So, it's a plunging action, it never means sprinkle or pour. There's always an immersion. So John the Baptist was immersing Jews in the Jordan River for their sins, as they were confessing their sins. Now, in the course of time, John's primary ministry, I'll never forget, John MacArthur said, "John the Baptist came to do three things: To prepare the way, proclaim the way, and get out of the way." I never forgot that. I think that's really, really good. So he was there proclaiming and doing all, preparing and then when Jesus came, he proclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." But in the Matthew account, he's there in the midst of the baptism, water baptism and then Jesus comes and he's there. From John's gospel we learned, "I wouldn't have known him except the Holy Spirit descended and remained, and I knew who he was." And this is what John the Baptist said to Jesus, he said, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?" Now before Jesus came, John set the stage for Jesus, and he said, "After me will come one more powerful than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." Why do you say that, John? Why is he so much greater than you? He has, actually, a number of answers to that, but he zeroes in on the baptism. "I know he's greater because his baptism's greater than mine." "I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one more powerful than I, whose sandals I'm not fit to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering up the wheat into his barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Wow, that's how John preached. Powerful. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Or the Baptism of Fire Now, the key with this is... Again, the word baptize means immerse. He will plunge you in the Holy Spirit and fire. How do you understand that? Well, the key is the fire, he's very clear about the fire. He's going to be clearing his threshing floor of wheat and chaff. Chaff always represents the wicked and the chaff, or drawn away, in Psalm 1. They are the wicked, they're like chaff that's blown away. And so the chaff represents the wicked, and Jesus is going to come and he's going to clear his threshing floor. Everybody is going to get dealt with. You're either wheat or chaff, you're either righteous or wicked. And he's going to gather the wheat into the barn. But he's going to, listen to this, "Burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire," as John preached in Matthew 3:12. Now, whenever you hear "unquenchable fire," you must think about Hell, which we learn in Revelation 20, is likened to a lake of fire. So he's going to plunge the wicked into a lake of fire. He's far greater, John is saying. That's the kind of power he has. But he will also immerse you in the Holy Spirit. So, I really sense he was speaking to a mixed group, a mixed assembly, some of them were his bitter enemies, talking about John the Baptist, and some were very repentant sinners. He's talking to a mixed group. I think we can change the "and" to "or. " Jesus will either immerse you in the Holy Spirit or he will immerse you in fire, that's how great he is. And he's going to clear his threshing floor. Jesus will baptize everyone in one or the other. And clearly not both, because I believe that he immerses you in the Holy Spirit leading to eternal life, or actually you could say that is the essence of our experience of eternal life here on Earth. Or he will immerse you in eternal death, condemnation. And so Jesus came at the right time, and John tries to stop him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?" But Jesus said, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." John consented. And Jesus was baptized by John, and as he came up out of the water, Heaven was opened and the Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus and remained on him, and a voice came from Heaven, "This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased." Now, Jesus was baptized not because he had any sin, but to show solidarity with John's ministry and methods, because a lot of that would be similar to what his disciples would do. They would preach repentance for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand and a need to repent from sins and then they would do water baptism, and so that's what happened, Jesus began doing his ministry there in Judea, and people were coming to him, and Jesus is making lots of disciples and was baptizing them. But then you find out this key statement in John 4:2, actually, it wasn't Jesus doing the baptism, but his disciples, Jesus didn't water baptize anyone. And I think the reason why was that would confuse the image. It's the same reason Jesus didn't take a wife, it wouldn't have been ungodly, it would just confuse the image, because the bride of Christ is the church. And so he didn't water baptize because the real baptism of Jesus is the Holy Spirit, but his disciples were baptized. III. The Command to Be Baptized... and to Baptize And then after he died on the cross for our sins, and won for us to salvation, freeing us from all of our sins. If you just believe the gospel message that I've already proclaimed to you this morning, if you just believe that God sent his son, he lived a sinless life, died on the cross for you, rose again from the dead. If you believe that, you have become his disciple, you're forgiven of all your sins. He sent his disciples worldwide with that message in the great commission. He said, "All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely, I am with you always to the end of the age." So therefore, everyone of Jesus' disciples, having been made a disciple by faith, should be water baptized, and water baptism is going to be a part of the spread of the gospel and the advance of the church worldwide. IV. Baptism with the Holy Spirit So, we need to understand then what it signifies. The water baptism signifies baptism of the Holy Spirit. After his resurrection, before his ascension to Heaven, Jesus had 40 days with his disciples to teach them many things. And in Acts 1:4-5, it says, "On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about, for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Well, that few days later was the day of Pentecost. In Acts 2, they were all assembled in one place and the day of Pentecost came, and "suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came and filled the whole house where they were sitting, and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each one of them, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." As the gospel spread more and more through the Book of Acts, more and more disciples trusted in Christ. People became disciples, they trusted in Christ, became disciples, and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, just as Peter said they would. There's Pentecost sermon there, at the end of Acts 2, "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.'" And they did. Those who accepted the message were baptized. You hear that? The believers in the message, in the gospel, those were the ones that were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number, that began the church. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to breaking of bread and prayer, that was the start of the church, and wherever the gospel went after that, water baptism went. Now, what does it signify? Water baptism was one of the two ordinances of the Christian church. The other one, we're going to celebrate at the end of the message, the Lord's Supper. So we have water baptism and the Lord's Supper. We Baptists call them ordinances, because they were ordained or established by Jesus. Water baptism is an outward and visible symbol of an internal, spiritual reality, and I'm telling you, that reality is baptism with the Holy Spirit. You've already been baptized with the Spirit, now you're showing to the outside world that reality, so everyone can see. And we have had some wonderful baptisms right behind me. I have often been moved to tears by the stories of people and what God has done to bring them to faith in Christ, and I've seen baptisms. I myself was baptized, as I mentioned, in a cold river. Ron said it looked like a swamp, I think is because there was a log coming up out of the river, it was not a swamp. I was not baptized in a swamp, Ron. I appreciate it, but it was a river, it was flowing, alright. But I've been involved in baptisms at oceans and ponds, lakes, but mostly here. And it's a sign, it's a symbol to the people watching, so they can see the physical symbol of something that's already happened. V. The Significance of Water Baptism We Baptists would not water baptize somebody that we don't believe has already been baptized in the Spirit, by faith in Christ. And so that linking, I think, is reasonable to make, 'cause later in the same book, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul says, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greek, slave or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." In other words, the moment you came into the Body of Christ, you were baptized into the body by the Spirit. So to be baptized with the Spirit means to be immersed in Christ, think about that. I am immersed in Jesus, I want you to keep that image. I am plunged into Jesus, he is the Spirit of Christ, after all. So by the Spirit, we're immersed in all that Christ is, we're immersed in his cleansing blood, we are immersed in his wisdom, we are immersed in his love, we are immersed in his power. We are immersed in his plan, we are immersed in Christ. I love St. Patrick's prayer, as St. Patrick said, "Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I rise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me." It's an immersed life that we're talking about. Water baptism, also from Romans 6, represents union with Christ. There's not any difference between them, you must see, immersed in Christ, united with Christ, it's the same thing. But in Romans 6, Paul deals with the issue of sin in the Christian life, he says, "Don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death." You are immersed in Jesus' death. "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." So baptism signifies union, spiritual union with Jesus in his death and in his resurrection. Dead to sin, alive to God. That's what it symbolizes. So full immersion in water baptism does symbolize this union. As we lower the individual down in the water and the water covers them, and then we bring them up out of the water as a picture of resurrection. But I have come to believe that that's not the end of the baptism, that's not it. What are you raised up out of the water into? You are into an immersed life in the Holy Spirit, that's what walk in newness of life is all about. So the baptism doesn't actually stop when you're lifted up, it actually really begins at that point. And we are immersed in the Holy Spirit, immersed in Jesus for the rest of our lives, that's what we're talking about. VI. Proper Subjects and Mode of Baptism So what are the proper subjects and mode of baptism? Therefore, as I've said, baptism should be administered only to believers, to people who can give a creditable testimony, profession of faith in Christ, not to infants. There is not a single command that Christian parents should baptize their infants, there is not a single clear example of Christian parents baptizing their infants. There are actually no thematic precepts, if you understand the relationship with the covenants properly, by which you can make that argument. So therefore, we repudiate infant baptism, as I did by being water baptized in the Ipswich River. Now, keep in mind, Jewish fathers were clearly commanded to circumcise their sons in the Old Testament. There's chapter and verse on that, but there's no such commands for Christian parents concerning infant baptism. So we will baptize a person if this has happened. Romans 10, 9-10, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Alright, now, I just want to see if you guys are paying attention. Okay. Alright, what is the proper mode of baptism? Immersion or sprinkling? Immersion. Please tell me you've been listening. What does the Greek word mean? It means to immerse. I actually saw a very intelligent Presbyterian teacher, brilliant guy, argue that the best mode of immersion, he said baptism, but the best mode is sprinkling. It'd be like saying the best mode of immersion is sprinkling. They are two different actions, so we immerse, we immerse. VII. The Limitation of Water Baptism Now, let's limit water baptism, let's limit it. Water baptism doesn't save anyone automatically. There's nothing about water baptism that saves the soul. Neither is water baptism required for salvation. First, we've got this statement here, "Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel." We also have the thief on the cross, who was not water baptized, and yet Jesus said, "Today, you'll be with me in paradise." So water baptism isn't required; neither can we say it's the moment of justification, etcetera. And therefore, much of the so-called spread of the gospel in Europe, let's say, throughout Christendom, for about, I don't know, 15 centuries, in which there was forced mass baptisms. Have you ever heard of these things? Like some prince or king would think Jesus was the way to go, like... Well, I'm going to say specific names, Constantine, I hope he was genuinely converted, but he painted the Chi-Rho on the shields of his Roman soldiers, and that kind of pattern was regularly followed. Like in 988, Prince Vladimir, of the pagan Rus people, from which we get the word Russian or Russia, studied religions, decided his own paganism was wanting, and turned to what we would know as Greek Orthodoxy as the best religion he could find, better than the Muslims, better than paganism, so he became effectively an orthodox. And he decreed that all of his people should assemble at the river tomorrow or face the displeasure of the prince. So if you are one of his subjects, what are you going to do? I'd be at the river. And then, you're all like, "What do we do?" "Go in, go in the river, yes, go in." So we're in the river, alright. And then a priest came and said some words and then that was it. And in the account I read, which is a contemporary account, everyone was celebrating this huge influx of Christians and that Satan had been defeated. These folks didn't know anything about the gospel, they'd not been proclaimed to, nothing, they're not converted, they're still pagans. But then that was a Christian country, that went on in countries all over Europe. This we repudiate, we Baptists would never want governmental force on anybody pressing them toward becoming Christians, that's just anathema. We don't want those kind of human coercions and pressures, we want you to hear and be pressed from the inside to follow Christ and baptism and to obey. True baptism is something done by the Spirit, where as it says in the words of Ezekiel, he reaches down and takes out the heart of stone and puts in the heart of flesh. By the power of the Spirit, he transforms you, and by his spirit, he moves you to obey God's commands and his decrees and ordinances. That's the transformation that we're talking about. VIII. Applications Alright, applications. Well, more than anything, the proclamation of the gospel is central. It is essential to each one of you to believe in Christ, to trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins. That's the key thing. 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. And so that power is here now, by the proclamation of the gospel. Will you trust in him? Have you trusted in Christ as your Lord and Savior? That's the key thing for the forgiveness of your sins. That's why Paul says in the next chapter, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." So if you confess your sins to God, if you believe in your heart that Christ is the Son of God, died on the cross in your place, rose from the dead, then you are forgiven of your sins. Now, the next question I want to ask is, have you testified to that by water baptism? It's one thing for me to stand here and say, "You don't have to be water baptized in order to be saved," but it's a whole different thing to refuse to be water baptized. Now, that's different. The thief on the cross had no opportunity, but I think if he had lived after that, and he had understood, he would have been water baptized. So you can't refuse. I'm just asking, I went a long time, I went a couple of years as a born again believer, who had not been water baptized. That might be the case for some of you. For me, I, as a church, I want to see lots of water baptisms. I want to see water baptisms of many types, those that are raised in good Christian homes, where their parents saturate their kids with the gospel from infancy, and at the right time, they come to faith in Christ and then testify it by water baptism, I love that. I also want to see others, and I've mentioned this, of a different category. I was lost, I met so-and-so, or a group of so-and-sos from your church, I don't mean it that way, but anyway, I met people from your church, they shared the gospel with me and now I'm here today testifying to faith in Christ. Don't you want to see a lot of those? We have to go out and win them. We have to go out and win those baptisms, those people. Now, we're not doing it so we can count the baptisms and send them into the state convention. That's not important. What matters is, each of those represent new lives in Christ. I want to see that. And if you have been baptized, I'm going to say a few things to you, "Don't trust in your water baptism." Don't say, "Well, at least I was baptized." If you're not living a holy life, you should seriously question whether you're born again. You need to know, Romans 6, "If you're baptized spiritually, you are baptized into his death." You should be living out that crucified life. You should count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus, and live a holy life. That's the life that he wants. And just final word here, I want you to think of yourself as a baptized believer, as continually immersed in the Holy Spirit, in Christ. Christ inside you, Christ around you, in front of you, behind you, under you, over you, every moment immersed in Christ. When we were missionaries my wife and I, in Japan, we were in Tokushima, and it's a center of indigo dyeing, had been from the 10th century. Indigo is the color of blue jeans. And they would take white cloth, and they would immerse it, baptize it, they didn't call it baptism, but they would immerse it in a vat of purple dye. And the thing is, the longer they left it in there, the darker the color would become. The more the dye would influence the cloth, put it that way. You know, if any of you ever do Easter egg dyeing, have any of you done that? So you have a color, like let's say blue, and you put an egg in there, if you leave it in there for 10 seconds, and take it out, barely anything. It's like a pastel kind of light robin's egg blue. But if you put it in there and do what I did one time, which is forget about it, and then come back. If it's still an egg at all, you lift it up and it's a deep midnight blue. So I want to just set those analogies, those are just analogies, but I want you to be immersed in Christ. So the way He thinks is the way you think. We have the mind of Christ. And the way he lived, is the way that you will live. That is the baptized life. That's what I want to come in. And if so, you will see it in actual works of holiness, where you're putting sin to death by the Spirit. And works of evangelism were filled with the Spirit like Peter was. You can say, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven, given to men, by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12. That came from being filled with the Spirit. So we're going to be bold in evangelism, and holy in our private lives, as we're immersed, baptized by the Spirit. I'm going to pray now, and then we're going to go to the ordinance of the Lord Supper. And I'm going to pray that this experience will be an immersed experience. Do you know what I'm saying? That we are going to sense the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit in this ordinance. So, let's pray. Father, thank you for the Word of God, thank you for its truth, its power and its reality in our lives. And now, as we turn our attention to the Lord's Supper, Father, I pray that you would send forth the Holy Spirit of God, I pray that we would have a sense of being immersed in Christ in his death and his resurrection. That we would be immersed in the idea that some day we'll sit at table in Heaven with Jesus and with the redeemed. I pray that we'd be immersed in the fact that our sins have been forgiven, and that we're feasting on Christ and he is giving us nourishment. O God, send your Spirit that it would not be an empty ritual, but a powerful experience. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Review and analysis of Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Review and analysis of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Die Schlacht an der Milvischen Brücke veränderte die Geschichte. Verbunden damit ist das Christogramm, das Konstantin zum Symbol seiner neuen Religionspolitik machte. Dieser Podcast zeigt die erste Verwendung des Chi-Rho auf einer Münze.

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge changed our world. The christogram is wedded to this event. Constantine made it the symbol of his victory. This podcast is dedicated to the first use of the Chi-Rho on a coin.

In today's recording, I review/analyze the movies "The Case for Christ" and "I Can Only Imagine". The podcast opens with a recording from Higher Things, the hymn is "Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands." The podcast concludes with "I Can Only Imagine" by Mercy Me.

In today's recording, I review/analyze the movie "The Shack". In the course of the recording, I discuss the Theology of the Cross, the Trinity, and what does the word "Christian" mean.

In this episode, I talk about my experience at Planet Comicon in Kansas City. I react to the success of the Black Panther, and address some important issues such as diversity in film and the tragedy in Florida last week.

Wonder Woman for the Oscars? Is there a villain problem in comic book movies?

Review and analysis of the new Wonder Woman movie and the entire Dark Knight Trilogy.

Review of the film Logan

A snapshot of the speakers, fun, and kids of the Chi Rho Midwinter Retreat held Feb 24-25th at Tall Oaks. Please see TallOaks.org for more camping opportunities! Music by Derek Webb, "And The Glory Forever" from Feedback, used by permission.

In this podcast I review/analyse the movies of Star Trek (2009), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Return of the Jedi

In this podcast I rank the greatest fandoms in pop culture, setting up a later podcast where I review/analyze a single film from the top 3 fandoms.

A review of the 2016 year... Remember some of the celebrities who have died in the year. Top News Stories NFL Review WWE Review of 2016

In this podcast I work through the accounts of Jesus' conception and birth as recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The recording is accompanied by several Christmas hymn recordings.

Well, here we are! Our Advent journey has transitioned to the Christmas season. Tomorrow, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior, the Messiah. Today’s Jesse Tree symbol is the "Chi Rho" which is an ancient symbol combining the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ," which means "anointed one." Christmas itself combines many wonderful aspects of God’s Love: peace, joy, giving, as well as the birthday of His Son. The Liturgical year begins at Advent, and birthdays are a new beginning and great reminder of God’s love for us and our life-long journey with Christ. To celebrate the birth of our Savior, we hope you'll consider joining us at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis for Midnight Mass tonight, or one of three Masses on Christmas Day. In my family, we have an additional reason to celebrate and commemorate Christmas. Some years ago, when I was almost 4 years of age, my sister was born on Christmas Eve. I vividly remember different points from that Christmas-talking with my Mom over the phone to tell her what I received in my stocking to holding my sister in a stocking in the hospital waiting room. I have no doubt Santa and my relatives showered me with a multitude of tangible gifts that year, but the only points which stand out in my memory today are those surrounding my family and the loving gift of a sibling. As we celebrate Christmas and rejoice in God’s gift of a Savior to us, may we be like the shepherds who upon Jesus’ birth shared the good news of his birth with others. May the Christmas season and birthdays throughout the year serve as a continuous reminder of a beginning and God’s love for us; and may this season of joy carry with you through the New Year. Merry Christmas! Musical credit: "O Holy Night" · Christine Westhoff · Timothy Allen Hark ℗ 2014 Christine Westhoff

This week we look at the sort of Christmas, Christmas movies: Lion Witch and the Wardrobe & Silver Linings Playbook.

In this episode I review and analyze 3 John Hughes movies..."Planes, Trains and Automobiles", "Home Alone", and "Home Alone 2".

Using the Hunger Games films, recent episodes of Walking Dead, and the film Captain America: Civil War, I give my reaction to the 2016 election. Opening music is the Walking Dead theme, season 1; Captain America: Civil War theme; & The Hunger Games whistle The closing music is "Praise the Almighty" LSB 797, recorded at the Te Deum Higher Things Conference in Michigan

In this podcast I look at Tom Hanks' career prior to 1999, with a closer look at Forrest Gump.

In this podcast I address the violence of the season premiere, do a character perspective for one who Negan killed, and tie the death into the theology of original sin.

An Examination of the films of Tim Burton

In this episode I review and analyze all three Ghostbusters movies.

Explore the background of the 4th Century in which there was chaos. The Great Persecution happened under Diocletian (284-305 AD) around 297-301 AD. Explore the Tetrarchy with the Eastern Empire ruled by Diocletian and Galerius, and the Western Empire ruled by Maximian Augustus and Constantius. Galerius provoked Diocletian into persecuting the Christians. Diocletian retired in 304 AD and insisted that Maximian retire as well. Galerius took over for Diocletian and Constantius took over for Maximian. Galerius continued the persecution. Constantius did not think Christians should be persecuted so did not pursue Christians. Eventually Galerius concedes defeat since the public was not unifying but actually dividing. Galerius issued the Edict of Toleration. Consider Eusebius’ response. Christianity became a religio licita (a legal religion) once again. Constantine was in Britain when his father died and he claimed to be the rightful successor to the throne. Maxentius also claimed the throne. There was a political and physical battle going on but also a spiritual battle. Constantine had a conversion experience in which the Labarum symbol (Chi-Rho) appeared and so it was used on the shields of his men during the battle at Milvian Bridge where he defeated Maxentius. Constantine was theologically confused from the start. Consider Henry Chadwick’s description of Constantine. Constantine never left this syncretic faith. The Arch of Constantine marks the spot of the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine took control of the Western Empire, formed an alliance with Licinius, and agreed to no more persecution of Christians through the Edict of Milan. Was all well and everyone living in peace? Not exactly. Distant rulers such as Maximinus Daia who ruled the furthest eastern part of the Empire carried on the persecution but was eventually overthrown by Licinius. Constantine and Licinius had a complex friendship or relationship. There was distrust between them and in 324 AD Constantine overthrew Licinius. Constantine became the sole ruler of the entire Empire and desired unity.

Review of Batman: Killing Joke, Review/Analysis of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

This week I briefly review "Warcraft" & "Finding Dory". I also review and discuss both "Independence Day" films.

In today's podcast, I review/analyze both Finding Neverland and X-Men: First Class. I extensively discuss the value of reading comic books and fairy tales.

Due to some technology problems, I recorded this into two parts.

In this podcast I review/analyze all of season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

This is a special episode, no music, no movie/TV show review, just a moment to talk about what happened in Orlando this last week.

On this episode I review/analyse the films Ratatouille and Zootopia. Also, I include a ranking of the top 10 Disney/Pixar films since the Pixar buy out.

In today's episode, I overlook a number of things, including Wizard World: Des Moines, Rifftrax Live, recent Captain America news, X-Men: Apocalypse, Nice Guys, and the film "The Way, Way Back".

This podcast I review and analyse all three Captain America modern movies. Opening music is from the 1979 Captain America film. Closing music is from Captain America: First Avenger. Referenced in this podcast: "Resistance is Futile You will be assimilated into the community." by Chris Rosebrough, Fighting for the Faith (podcast) "Modern Fascism" by Gene Veith (book)

In this episode I give a full introduction and background of myself and more depth into the purpose and aim of this somewhat weekly podcast. The music used in this podcast as well as other music can be found in this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtoZ7igPVIIR4QAGSeQAR4Cu2agyW7yaT

In this episode I review the new Jungle Book movie, look forward to the 2016 summer releases, and review/analyze Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens

This Episode: Ranking of my favorite baseball movies of all-time followed by review/analysis of the movie Field of Dreams. Music Used: "Talkin' Softball" from the Simpsons & "Built on the Rock, the Church Shall Stand" from Te Deum, Higher Things Also included: "Who's on First" by Abbot and Costello Recorded by Pastor Neil Wehmas

This Episode, I discuss Miracles From Heaven, God's Not Dead 2 & God's Not Dead. Music included is a recording of "Sons and Daughters of the King" by Kings College & "Talkin' Softball" from the Simpsons. For more info: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/christian-movies-why-gods-not-dead-and-faith-based-films-hurt-religion http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/

Today's Podcast is dedicated to Superman, including a review of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

In this episode I teach about Holy Week traditions, review The Passion Live with Tyler Perry, rank my top 10 Christian movies, and analyze the Passion of the Christ.

TOPICS: An Irish/St. Patrick's Day inspired episode with some talk of Palm Sunday. The Movie of the week is Martin Scorcese's "The Departed".

In this episode, I briefly talk about liturgical practices during Lent, briefly discuss the movies Risen and 10 Cloverfiedl Lane. The end of the episode focuses upon the film Gattaca starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law.

In this inaugural episode of the Film Society of Chi-Rho, I talk about the purpose of the show, the recently released Zootopia, and go into depth with the 1998 film, The Truman Show.

In this inaugural episode of the Film Society of Chi-Rho, I talk about the purpose of the show, the recently released Zootopia, and go into depth with the 1998 film, The Truman Show.

Die Schlacht an der Milvischen Brücke veränderte die Geschichte. Verbunden damit ist das Christogramm, das Konstantin zum Symbol seiner neuen Religionspolitik machte. Dieser Podcast zeigt die erste Verwendung des Chi-Rho auf einer Münze.

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge changed our world. The christogram is wedded to this event. Constantine made it the symbol of his victory. This podcast is dedicated to the first use of the Chi-Rho on a coin.