Podcasts about christians god

The Rewards of Spiritual Risk-Taking In many areas of life, we choose safer options out of fear of the unknown results. However, true adventure in life comes from the risks we ultimately take. Lee Strobel shares insight on all that we can gain when we take spiritual risks. Whether you are curious about the claims of Christ or you're a committed follower, spiritual risk-taking leads to a life you will never regret. February 1 & 2, 2025  - Pastor Lee Strobel Prayer for spiritual seekers: “God, open my eyes to who you really are, and then I'll open my life to you.” Prayer for Christians: “God, here I am, fully submitted to you; use me as you have never used me before.” Scriptures: Matthew 16:25, 1 John 5:3, Mark 1:15, Psalm 32:3-5, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 11:6, Jeremiah 29:13, 1 Peter 4:10-11 Topics: Faith, Forgiveness, Honesty

There is renewed interest in natural law among Christians as a means of supporting legal and public policy positions in the public square. But why? David suggests that if we understand how the conversation changed from the days of Thomas Aquinas, we might not be so keen on the idea. To properly evaluate the merits of natural law's reasoning process, Sons of Issachar must understand the nature of the conversation taking place among our thought leaders--on the airwaves, in capitols, and in courtrooms.

There is renewed interest in natural law among Christians as a means of supporting legal and public policy positions in the public square. But why? David suggests that if we understand how the conversation changed from the days of Thomas Aquinas, we might not be so keen on the idea. To properly evaluate the merits of natural law's reasoning process, Sons of Issachar must understand the nature of the conversation taking place among our thought leaders--on the airwaves, in capitols, and in courtrooms.

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner      Transcript of "How to Become a Great Communicator" When I got that call and saw who it was, I couldn't pick up the phone.  I had a heavy feeling of fear deep in my gut.  I let it go to voicemail.  When I listened to it later, I didn't call back for a week.  The voicemail message said, “Hey Rob, this is Bruce Williams.  I was calling to see if you and Pam would be interested in planting a new church in Tucson, Arizona.  Call me back when you get a chance.”  The mixture of fear and confusion I felt paralyzed me into inaction.  I was living in Oregon at the time working a full-time job as a Realtor and leading a church full-time as a self-supporting minister.  Pam and I had been talking about returning to the full-time ministry.  The pressure to run a growing church and support a family through the great recession and housing collapse was intense.  I didn't know how long I could keep it up.  However, the thought of change, upheaval and leaving my extended family while my kids were in high school worried me.  So, I just didn't call back.  I didn't know what to do. Fear keeps us shuttered in our homes, afraid of what might happen.  It shows up when we avoid people, avoid contacts, ghost people who text us or call us and ignore emails sent to us.  These behaviors are symptoms of fear.  For some reason, we are afraid of what might happen, what might be said, what might be found out, what might be asked of us and we run from the conversation.  As Solomon wrote in Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”  We can downplay it or rationalize it for as long as we like, but this type of avoidance behavior is grounded in fear.  When we avoid people, we are fleeing from a conversation or a confrontation that often needs to happen.  God often works by sending the right person into our life at just the right time.  That phone call, text, email, WhatsApp or DM (Direct Message) might be a message from God.  If you have ever invited someone to church, followed up with them and then got ghosted you know the frustration and sadness you feel.  Why?  Because your invitation to them was really a ticket to heaven, a pass to eternal life.  Why do people run away from God?  It's been happening since the Garden of Eden.  John explains this behavior in John 3:19-20,   “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”  People ghost Christians because they are afraid of the light.  They are fleeing God because their deeds are evil.  They don't want anyone to know what they've been doing with their lives. Even after we become Christians God sends people into our lives.  That's why it's so important to maintain and preserve connections with people and make ourselves available both to those we know and those we don't know yet.  You never know when God is tapping your shoulder for something new and amazing. God called Jonah to lead one of the most miraculous revivals in the Bible, the repentance of Nineveh.  Jonah refused to answer God's call, he ghosted him in Jonah 1:1-3.  “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.'  3But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.”  God was patient with Jonah and pursued him until he got his man.  Jonah almost missed the greatest opportunity of his life because of fear, racism and prejudice.  God called to him a second time and this time, Jonah was there to take the call.  He responded and went to Nineveh.  The whole city repented from the King down to the lowliest citizen.    When I called Bruce Williams back, I made profuse apologies for my slow reply.  He explained the offer of planting a new church.  A new planting, financial support for several years, a full-time salary, an amazing city and university and anything else I needed to be successful.  I told him no.  I wasn't ready to make that move even though I felt like I was caught in a vise-grip of time and financial pressure.  He was patient.  He had another friend, John Lusk, call me a few weeks later and invited me to come and pray over the city of Tucson, Arizona all expenses paid.  I gradually started to realize that maybe this was God directing me and offering me a new start.  I went and prayed over the city.  I spoke with Bruce and told him then that I still wasn't ready to make a decision.  I came back home, prayed and fasted.  One day after work, I walked into our master bedroom to take off my suit, shirt and tie and put on my casual clothes.  Pam was still in bed.  I asked, “Are you sick?”  She said, “No.”  I asked, “Why were you in bed all day?”  She said, “Because I think we need to move to Tucson.”  That's the moment when I realized God was definitely calling us and I needed to be bold as a lion and stop fleeing from God's call.   I called Bruce and told him that we would go to Tucson.  It turned out to be a great decision.  The church planting blossomed from zero to one hundred members in two years and my kids were able to all graduate from the University of Arizona.  Another church was able to get off the ground and many souls have been saved.  It all started with a phone call and a voicemail. If you want to be a multiplying Christian, take a look at how you handle communications.  Are you easy to reach?  Do you call or text people back quickly.  I think 24 hours is the maximum for voicemail, texts or emails.  I don't think it has to be the same day.  Sometimes you need to sleep on it and consider how you're going to respond.  There are times that I can sense my anger is bubbling up.  That's the worst time to call or text back.  Better to give it a night to lose the heat and regain emotional control than to say, text or type something you'll regret and have to apologize for later. Practicals: ·       Stop making excuses for ignoring, delaying and avoiding people when they are trying to communicate with you.  ·       Ask yourself, what is causing me to practice this behavior?  Is it fear, shame, lack of faith?  Whatever it is, deal with the reason for the avoidance behavior. ·       Decide to be a quick responder.  Set a 24-hour limit on your responses if not sooner.  You can say your not ready to decide, but at least make the connection.  You never know when God is opening a door for you.

One of the great things about the Psalms (and one of the reasons we do a summer series through the psalms) is because you can drop in on pretty much any psalm and find something immediately helpful.Y'all ever done that before? You ever “dropped in” on the Psalms? Maybe you need a word from God, you need some encouragement from the Scriptures but you're not exactly sure where to go to, so you basically close your eyes and pick a random place in the psalms — a “Psalms drop in.”A lot of us have done that before, and the reason we go to the Psalms is because these are prayers and poems and songs, and they're about God. Over thousands of years, the people of God have come to this book for help and perspective. Most of the time, reading a Psalm is like running down hill — But that's “most” of the time, not all the time. Psalm 82 is different. I spent most of last week perplexed by this psalm, and I'm tempted in the sermon to spend too much time telling you why. There are all kinds of questions here that send us in different directions — and if we were doing a Bible study, we'd walk through each question, we'd weigh the different interpretations, we'd wrestle for the right meaning, but this is a sermon, and we are in worship, and so I want our main question to be: What do we learn here about God? Despite some of the interpretive questions, what truths about God and reality can we be sure this psalm is affirming? I have three:God reigns over everything.God will judge all moral unrighteousness.God will get his global glory.Each of these truths are clear in Psalm 82 and they matter for how we live. So we're gonna walk through each one, but first let's pray:Father in heaven, thank you for the Holy Spirit who illumines your word to our hearts. He gives understanding to the simple, and we confess that we need the power of your Spirit in these moments! Send him, we ask, in Jesus's name, amen. 1. God reigns over everything. Look at verse 1:“God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment…”Right away we're asking: What is this “divine council” and who are these “gods”?You don't see this on every page of Scripture, but the reality is always there, and every now and then we see glimpses of it, that in the presence of God, at least at certain times, there is an assembly of supernatural beings who are involved in the affairs of this world. Sometimes these supernatural beings are called little-g gods; sometimes they're called sons of God; categorically, they're angels.They're close to God and privy to his will, and they're active in how his will plays out in the world; but the main thing we should see here is that God is over them. He has a place in their company, and that place is judge. God is judge over all creation, which includes the spiritual realm. And this is where we might need to stretch our imaginations. God Over the Material WorldWe believe, and we say all the time, that God is sovereign. God is in control. “God has decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to a pass” (3.1). We believe that, and most of the time when we think about the arena of God's sovereignty — where God's sovereignty plays out — we think about this world and the stuff that we can see. And we should think that. It is a right and wonderful thing to apply the sovereignty of God to this material world. More of that, please.Earlier this week I was coming back from some church planting meetings in Atlanta, driving to the airport at night, and I'm pretty dependent on Google Maps. I need my phone to tell me where to go. Well you know when you get close to an airport, they have way-finder signs that make it pretty much dummy proof. So I see these signs, I've seen them before, but my phone is telling me to do something different than what the signs are telling me. And here's the deal: I've not left myself a lot of time. I have a very thin margin for error, and now I've got to decide to follow the signs or follow my phone. Well, I went with my phone. Bad choice! I was headed to the wrong place. I must have made a glitch when I plugged things in. And by the time I fix that and loop around, it adds half an hour, and now I'm sweating. Then I started to think about how missing my flight would torpedo the rest of my week. So I go from sweating to spiraling, but then the Holy Spirit ministered to me and I remembered the sovereignty of God.Even if I miss this flight because of my human error, God is looking after that. He's looking after me. He reigns over every detail, even over glitches in our material world. Well I ended up making my flight because it was delayed, because there was another glitch somewhere else. God knew the whole time.And the examples like this are endless. And sometimes it goes well for us, sometimes it stays difficult, but we should remember that God is active and in control over the world as we see it. We should apply the fact of God's sovereignty to the material world in its details. But, it doesn't stop there. God Over the Spiritual WorldReality is material and spiritual. There is the seen world and the unseen world — and the unseen world, although it's unseen to us, it's just as vast and just as active as the seen world, and some of it is set against us. Paul says in Ephesians 6,“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”Now most of the time our senses are aloof to this. It's out of sight, out of mind — and we don't even think about it. But behind everything we see, there are unseen spiritual influences and forces. There's no doubt that as I'm driving to the airport, trying to figure out where to go, the enemy has an agenda to harm me. There was a whole spiritual realm that was doing stuff — and it's like that all the time, and honestly if we could see more of it, I think it'd be too overwhelming for us. We don't have the capacity in our fallen bodies to process it, but look, here's the comfort for us: all of these spiritual beings, good or bad, every supernatural force in existence, reports to God.This is why Yahweh is called the Most High God. He reports to nobody. There is no one above him and no one equal to him. He reigns over everything. Even in the spiritual realm, among all the unseen commotion, God sits in the highest place. Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ — he is the one who ultimately calls all the shots and every created thing answers to him.Psalm 82 tells us this.2. God will judge all moral unrighteousness.We see this in verse 2, and it gets at a major question in the psalm. We know in verse 1 that God is sitting over these spiritual beings and he's holding judgment. God speaks that judgment starting in verse 2, but who is the judgment against? I think this judgment is against Israel, but God is speaking that judgment in the presence of this divine council. And there's a handful of reasons why that's the case. I won't get into them all. But go ahead and look at verse 2 and see what God is saying. Verse 2, God says: How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? SelahGive justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.The Connection to Psalm 80This is all moral behavior that God expects of Israel. We see this in other places in the Bible and we also see that Israel failed here. And the reason these things are brought up in Psalm 82 is because it's meant to be a response to Psalm 80, verses 18–19. (Remember that oftentimes the psalms are put together on purpose. Each of the psalms are connected to the ones around it, and that connection is part of the message.)Back in Psalm 80, verse 18, there's a petition. The psalmist prays, on behalf of Israel: “give us life, and we will call upon your name!” Verse 19, the very last verse of Psalm 80: “Restore us, O Yahweh God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!” And then Psalm 81 and 82 come after Psalm 80 as a reply. In Psalm 81, which we saw last week, we see that God is eager to save, but the problem is the people's disobedience. Look back at Psalm 81, verse 10. God says, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.”Look at verse 13. God says: “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!” That's when God says he would subdue their enemies. That's when God says he would feed them “with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (verse 16). See the problem?The Jelly Roll DilemmaThe reason Israel has experienced the judgment of exile instead of blessing is because they have disobeyed God (see Deuteronomy 28). They've rebelled against God's will. And they would be absolute fools to ask for God's blessing and deliverance but continue to disobey him. That's the point here. It's what we could call the ‘Jelly Roll dilemma.'Y'all know that country song, “Need a Favor?” It goes: I only talk to God when I need a favorAnd I only pray when I ain't got a prayerSo, who the heck am I, who the heck am ITo expect a Savior, ohIf I only talk to God when I need a favor?But God, I need a favorIsrael needed a favor too, but they weren't living right. They were not listening to God. And that's actually the main thing God wants. God wants our obedience. He wants our hearts. This is a consistent theme in Scripture, and I want to show you this.God Desires ObedienceSo heads up: I'm about to read a lot of verses, but try to hang with me. I want us to track a theme here in Scripture:1 Samuel 15:22, “To obey is better than sacrifice.”Psalm 40:6,“In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear.” Jeremiah 7:22–23,For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'Everybody see that theme? God isn't concerned with the stuff that we might ‘give' him — what we could call our sacrifices, the ways we might go through the motions of devotion. Instead, God wants our hearts: “To obey is better than sacrifice.”Obedience Is Showing MercyOkay, but now how does that obedience look? Well get this: there are other places in Scripture that contrast obedience to sacrifice but the word “obedience” is not used, it's just described. Listen to this:Proverbs 21:3,“To do righteousness and justice is more pleasing to Yahweh than sacrifice.”Isaiah 1:11,“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says Yahweh; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.But, verse 16: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.”Do you hear how obedience is being described? Micah 6, verses 6–8 — we call this the ‘micah-drop' passage — the prophet Micah says:With what shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”He's talking about sacrifices. Is it those things that please God?Verse 8:“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Yahweh require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”In short, obedience to God means loving your neighbor. Obedience to God means we show kindness, especially to those in need. Our obedience to God is displayed in moral righteousness.Disobedience DisplayedSo, if that's obedience, then disobedience is the opposite of that.And that's what Psalm 82:2–4 describes. Israel's disobedience to God was displayed in the way they harmed others (or in the ways they simply chose not to help!) — unjust decision-making, favoring the wicked, oppressing endangered children, neglecting the rights of the afflicted and destitute, looking the other way from the weak and needy.Israel had been doing all of this moral unrighteousness in defiance of God's word, and yet they're asking God to bless them! Look, I'll tell you, I would not want to be standing anywhere near Israel in this situation. God does not bless them in response to their unrighteousness, he brings judgment. God's answer to the petition of Psalm 80:19 is to call them to account for their evil with Psalm 82:2.God Bless America?And there's a takeaway here for nation-states. When we read the Old Testament and we connect the dots from ancient Israel to our present day, sometimes the connection is straight to the church, the people of God, to us. And sometimes the connection is to nation-states, to countries. And one lesson here for our country is that before people start praying “God Bless America,” they should get America clean with righteousness and humility. What I'm saying is this: we should never expect God to bless this country as the laws of our land promote slaughtering babies and mutilating children and destroying families. God demands moral righteousness in his created world. And of course God expects this from us as a local church and as Christians — God help us! — but beyond us, God demands moral righteousness from every created thing, from people who together call themselves a nation to every single individual to ever exist. God demands moral righteousness and every morally unrighteous act will be accounted for.Verse 8 says, “Arise, O God, judge the earth.” That means whole earth and every part. No unrighteousness gets swept under the rug. None is ignored. God's judgment is coming. God will judge all moral unrighteousness.Psalm 82 tells us this. 3. God will get his global glory.This is the last half of verse 8. I'm not going to go into verses 6–7. I wrote an article about that on Friday. But look at verse 8. The psalmist concludes:“Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!”Judgment and NationsGod's judgment and inheriting the nations — we should ponder here how these two things are related. We know judgment has been the theme of Psalm 82, but now the psalmist says that God will inherit all the nations! Where's that come from?Well, for one, the nations are a big part of the next psalm, Psalm 83, and in Psalm 83 these nations have set themselves against God and his people. The nations are scheming to destroy God's people and subvert God's plans, and here Psalm 82:8 sets us up for that. We're reminded here that actually all these nations, all people groups everywhere, they belong to God too. God will have them. Psalm 82 says that, but there's even more going on. God's judgment and inheriting the nations is a combo we've heard before. This is how the Book of Psalms begins, way back in Psalm 2. I think Psalm 82:8 is meant to send us back to Psalm 2. It's a reminder.The Psalm 2 KeyIn Psalm 2, verse 6, God speaks and says: “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”This King is God's Messiah, and in verse 7 the Messiah himself speaks and says:I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”So God's Messiah — the King appointed by God who is also God's Son — the nations are his heritage. In other words, the Messiah will inherit the nations (just like we read in Psalm 82). All people groups everywhere are his, and he sits over them as judge.So Psalm 2, verse 10 issues a warning:Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son [or honor the Son], lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.Psalm 2 is the key to all the rest of the psalms, and it's really simple. There are only two outcomes in life: God's judgment or God's blessing. And it all has to do with what you do with God's Messiah, Jesus. If you reject Jesus, then you die in your sins and face God's judgment. If you take refuge in Jesus, then you will be blessed — forgiveness of sin and life with God forever. Invitation and EvidenceAnd the invitation is to take refuge. That's the invitation in the Psalms and in the whole Bible, and it's an invitation to all peoples. All peoples everywhere, take refuge in Jesus. Trust him!And get this: they will. In God's providence, for the glory of his Son, he will be worshiped by those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. God will get his global glory. And we're evidence of that. I felt this in a special way a few weeks ago on vacation. My family was at one of our favorite places in the world — Topsail Island, North Carolina. I grew up going to this beach, and I love it. And one of my favorite things to do is just to look out at the vastness of the ocean. You look out and realize that on the other side of that line is Africa. I'm standing on the edge of the continent, a long ways from Jerusalem. And yet here I am, worshiping Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God says, “The coastlands shall hope for me!” (Isaiah 51:5). And that's me. And I feel it. I am such a Gentile. I'm a Philistine, and the son of Philistines. And I'm saved … because in the sovereignty of God, by his grace, I trust in Jesus Christ. God is getting his global glory through us, and he will get his global glory — worshipers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Psalm 82 tells us this, and that's what brings us to the Table. The TableHow is it that by faith in Jesus we are freed from God's judgment?It's because Jesus has taken that judgment for us. That's what he did when he died on the cross. When Jesus died, he sacrificed himself for our sin. He took all of our moral unrighteousness and in our place he absorbed the judgment that we deserved — and when we put our faith in him, when we take refuge in him, we're forgiven and free. We are blessed forever. You can receive that blessing right now, you can be saved from the judgment of God, if you trust Jesus. Turn from trusting in yourself, put your faith in Jesus Christ.And for those of you who have trusted in Jesus, we who are part of his global glory, let's come to this Table and give him thanks.The bread represents his broken body, the cup represents his shed blood, and when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we're saying that indeed Jesus is our hope. If Jesus is your hope, we invite you to eat and drink with us.

Our lives are a patchwork quilt - we are bound by the consequences of our choices and the choices of others. But as Christians God is always faithfully at work, transforming us and this helps us move forward in faith.Join us as we explore Genesis 35-36 and see how God is always orchestrating a bigger plan for our lives even in the midst of turmoil. 

In our concluding visit with Kirk Legacy, he shares how he and his wife Jane were called to serve God to the nomadic Kurdish people along the war-torn region of the Turkish - Iraqi border, and how the Lord had prepared yet another surprising life-changing event for them!

So let's start this morning with a pop quiz. I've got just a two-question theology quiz … I'm going to say two sentences and I want you to fill in the blanks. You ready?God saves us by grace through faith in _______.Answer: JesusOnce we put our faith in Jesus, God, by his Spirit, begins the work of conforming us into the image of _______.Answer: JesusThe Bible teaches us that in our our lives as Christians God is continuing the good work that he began in us (Philippians 1:6). That means that he is conforming us into the image of Jesus. He is progressively, slowly but surely, making us more and more like Jesus, and we are called to be like Jesus. Every Christian in here agree with that? We're called to be like Jesus.Jesus or Paul?Okay, so what about verses like this:1 Corinthians 4:16 — this is Paul speaking and he says: “… I urge you … be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.” 2 Timothy 1:3 — Paul tells Timothy: “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me …” And later in that letter, as an encouragement to Timothy, Paul says: “You have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions…” (3:10) Paul says later in this letter to the Philippians, 3:17, “Brothers, join in imitating me …” He says in Chapter 4, verse 9: “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me — practice these things …” So, fair question: Are we supposed to be like Jesus or are we supposed to be like Paul?Well, the key here is Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 when he says: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Which means we are called to be like Jesus, and to be like Paul when Paul is like Jesus … and in all the ‘ways of Paul' that we find in the New Testament, he is being like Jesus. Paul models for us Christlikeness. Paul is an example of Christ that we should follow, including what he says here in this introduction, in this personal update.And so what is that? What is Paul's example here — what is Paul's example overall?What Is Paul's Example?We should have clarity on that, right? If we're supposed to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ, we need to know what Paul was like. Several years ago I was at a conference leading a workshop on leadership development, and I was making the case that, before churches can develop leaders, we need to know the kind of leaders we want to develop. Standard precedes system. And I appealed to what Paul says here in Philippians, that Paul's example is one we should follow, he sets a good standard, and so I asked the room: What was the apostle Paul like?It was a workshop, so I had asked the folks to get in small groups and read through the Book of Acts and Paul's letters, and try to summarize, from the Bible: Who was Paul and what was his passion? And I had a big post-it note, and after a few minutes, I was ready to write down some observations from the groups, so I asked everyone, about 50 people, What made Paul tick?And a dear sister raised her hand, and I had my marker ready to go, and I said, “Okay, tell us, what drove Paul?”She said: “Paul fought for women's equality!”And I said, “Okay … yeah, Paul believed that.”Another guy, spoke up: “Paul wanted to make America great again!”Answers were all over the place. This story really happened (most of it) … I think about it twice a week, because it reminds me that although we can make biblical and theological arguments for all kinds of important things, there's a difference between things that are true and a passion that drives you. There's a lot of good, true things, and we thank God for them, but only one thing can be an all-consuming passion — and we will never understand Paul until we know what that passion is. We see it in Philippians 1. It will be most clear in our passage next week, but it comes through in our verses today, 12–18. We need to know how can Paul say what he says here. And so if I had to summarize it, if I had to put Paul's example in one sentence, it's this:Paul cared most about the glory of God magnified through the advance of the gospel. The glory of God magnified through the advance of the gospel. That was Paul's all-consuming passion. More than anything else, Paul was a theologian-pastor-missionary who wanted the glory of God displayed through people hearing and learning and embracing the good news of Jesus Christ. That's what drove him. That's what led him to see the world the way he does here in verses 12–18, and that's what I want to show you.I want to show you three ways that this passion for Paul shaped the way we saw the world, and then I wanna give us some ideas for how we could follow his example.Father in heaven, thank you for your Word and for our brother, the apostle Paul. We ask now that by your Holy Spirit, give us a clear sightline into his example, and more than anything, overcome our hearts with the glory of your grace in the gospel. In Jesus's name, amen. Three Ways Paul's Passion Shaped His OutlookSo three ways that Paul's passion shaped his outlook. We're going to see these in the text, starting with verse 12.Paul's passion for the glory of God magnified through the advance of the gospel shaped …1) The way he interpreted how he's doing. (verse 12)Look at verse 12. Pauls starts, “I want you to know, brothers, ….”And we can just stop right there for a minute. Remember that this is the introduction of a letter between good friends, and as good friends tend to do in communication, they start with an update on how they're doing. Paul wanted to know how this church was doing (which was the job of Timothy and Epaphroditus — they were supposed to bring news of this church back to Paul); and this church wanted to know how Paul was doing (which is what he's telling them here in this letter).Now the church at Philippi already knew what had happened to Paul. They knew that he was in Roman custody, in prison, in Rome.And we know from the New Testament that Paul faced different types of imprisonment with different conditions, including once an imprisonment in Philippi. The beginning of this church can be traced back to Paul and Silas being thrown into prison in Philippi in Acts 16. And in that imprisonment, the conditions were rough: Paul's feet was locked into iron stocks. The best-case scenario of imprisonment was house arrest (which was the condition of Paul's imprisonment in Acts 28), but we're not sure exactly about the condition of his imprisonment when he writes this letter — and in this way, we're like the Philippian church. They knew Paul was in Roman custody, but they didn't know the details — now they did know more than we do, that Roman custody in the first century was never a five-star hotel.Historically (this would have been around the year 60) it's a fact that Roman prisons were absolutely inhumane. They would have been underground with little to no ventilation. It would have been almost completely dark, with a terrible stench, crawling with disease. These prisons were not built to hold prisoners for a long time, but only until they were tried or executed. Maybe Paul is on house arrest right now shackled to a Roman solider — but either way, he's imprisoned in Rome, good grief, how's he doing? That's what this church wanted to know. Paul, how are you?Paul says: “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”We would expect that he wants us to know how bad it smells or how hungry he is or how terribly he's been sleeping.Paul is in prison. Man, how are you? — I gotta tell you about how the gospel's advancing.The Overfilled AmericanoUnderstand that his answer here does not change his circumstances. The conditions were still terrible, and if he had the choice, he wanted to get out (in verse 19 he says that he hopes for that). So although his circumstances were bad and he did not like them, get this: he interpreted how he's doing not through the lens of his comfort but through the lens of his passion. And I'm convinced that we do the same thing, which is why we complain as much as we do. We also interpret our circumstances through the lens of our passion, it's just that for us our passion is our comfort. So if the church at Philippi were to ask us how we're doing, the lens through which we answer that question is: “Have I gotten what I wanted when and how I wanted it?”We tend to look at the world this way. Let's be honest. We live in the land of whiners, and it is so much the air we breathe that a lot of times we don't even know we're doing it. For example, a long time ago, like last year, I would go to a coffee shop at the same time two days a week and order a 16oz Americano with light water — which means I wanted “this much room.” And I would show them “how much room” with my fingers. But consistently the coffee people, who are great people, they would fill my cup to the very top with water (even when I did the fingers) … and I'd try to let it go because I don't wanna be that guy, but then when Melissa would call me to check in and ask me how my day was going, you know what I'd say?“Overfilled my Americano again.”Now part of that was tongue and cheek, but another part of me was really bothered by it, and in reality, subtly, when asked how I was doing, I assessed the question through the lens of my comfort, of me getting what I want when and how I want it. Without meaning to, my passion is my comfort. Because that's our default. And we know it. But what if God has something better for us? What if we followed Paul's example and our passion was the glory of God magnified through the advance of the gospel?Clarifying Our HumanityIt would not mean that hard circumstances are less real, and it also would not mean that we never talk about them. Don't misunderstand me here:We are humans and we have needs and we should be honest about that. Later when Paul was in prison, he did ask Timothy to send him a coat and some books (see 2 Timothy 4:13). Paul told the Corinthians that he despaired of life itself when he was in Asia (see 2 Corinthians 1:8). Later in this letter, Paul talks about his anxiety and his potential sorrow (see Philippians 2:27–28). So look, we're not ignoring our emotions. We're not burying our heads in the sand. We are not talking about being super-humans, we're talking about being consumed by a passion greater than our comfort so much so that the question of how we're doing is interpreted, ultimately, through that passion. It's not about knowing the right words to say. We should have no interest in shallow jargon. What I'm talking about here is seeing the world from a heart that is truly consumed with God.Ultimate Non-FoolishnessThe missionary Jim Elliot, who gave his life for the gospel, said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” And we could also say: He is no fool who interprets how he's doing by what is destined for triumph rather than what is certain to wane. “How we doing?” — there's a lot of details we could get into, and I hope we can — we should — but what if we could be more like Paul and the question of how we're doing takes us to:Is God being glorified? Is his gospel being advanced? Are people hearing about Jesus?Okay, here's the second thing to see about Paul's passion for the glory of God through the advance of the gospel.2) Paul's passion shaped how he understood the impact of his witness. (verses 13–14)So Paul said that his imprisonment, as inconvenient and uncomfortable as it was, really served to advance the gospel, and now we want to know in what way. How did the gospel advance?And that's what Paul explains for us in verses 13 and 14. He says that there are two different ways — there's one way in how his witness impacted unbelievers (verse 13) and there's another way his witness impacted fellow believers (verse 14).Manifest ChainsLook at verse 13 first. Paul explains that his imprisonment advanced the gospel, verse 13, “so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” What is the “imperial guard”? Those were the Roman soldiers closest to the seat of imperial power. They would have guarded the palace and kept watch over prisoners. “All the rest” in verse 13 most likely refers to other Roman officials who worked in and around the capitol. It had been made known to these Roman unbelievers that Paul was in prison for Jesus. Does that make sense? Everybody see this in verse 13?Well, I think Paul is actually saying something deeper here than it first appears. It helps, I think, to know that the word translated “imprisonment” in verse 13 could also be translated bonds or chains. (If you read the New International Version you'll see the word “chains.”) And if we follow the original word order, a more literal way to translate verse 13 is to say: “so that my chains in Christ have become manifest to the whole imperial guard and to all the rest.” Now what does this matter? Well it means that what's new for Paul is not “his chains in Christ” — that was how Paul understood his whole life. He was a bondservant of Christ. That's how he introduces himself in this letter: “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus.” But what's new here, is that because Paul is imprisoned in Rome, his chains in Christ have become manifest in Rome. I think there's a double-meaning here.Ever since Jesus saved Paul, he's been a new person who is bound to Christ. That's who he is. And now that he's in Rome, literally in bonds, in chains, then what has been true about him is now visible … the literal chains are a symbol of his heart allegiance to Jesus … and this serves the advance of the gospel because Paul understands that his witness to Jesus is not a lamp hidden under a basket, but instead, his witness to Jesus, his testimony to the worthiness of Jesus, is made visible in the epicenter of the world's superpower. The knowledge of Paul's chains, the sound waves of his witness, are bouncing off the walls of the imperial palace. The Roman Empire has been infiltrated … not by a lobbyist, not by a protester, but by the talk of a man willing to give his life so that more and more people can hear about Jesus.Boosted ConfidenceBut not only did Paul's witness impact the unbelieving influencers of Rome, but it also impacted fellow believers, verse 14: “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Paul's imprisonment, his witness, boosted these Christians' confidence in Jesus and that resulted in them being more bold to share the gospel without fear. How did Paul's imprisonment boost their confidence? It was not that Paul made these brothers think: “Oh, prison is not that bad.” It's that they said, “Jesus is that good. Jesus is worth it.”Jesus is worth the risk of what Paul is going through because the worst thing that could happen to me is that I get killed, but then I get to be with Jesus and the gospel keeps advancing … so I don't think there's any way we can lose here. At Your WorkPaul understood that what he was going through, his witness, was having that kind of effect — and one thing this means for us is: Don't underestimate the impact of your witness when Jesus is more important to you than anything else. Think about your work right now. Your jobs.Sometimes there are opportunities at work to tell people straight up who Jesus is and what he did, but a lot more times there's just you in how you react and in how you inhabit your situations, and I want us to learn from Paul's example: Wherever you are, be where you are and love Jesus more than anything else … and see what happens. Your witness will have an impact.3) Paul's passion shaped the way he viewed other ministries. (verses 15–18)This is the final thing to see, in verse 15–18: Paul's all-consuming passion for the glory of God manifested through the advance of the gospel shaped the way he viewed other ministries.Look at verse 15. So Paul says that his imprisonment has emboldened fellow believers to preach the gospel and now he explains the fine print: “15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.” So there are two different kinds of Christ preachers here with different motives. Verse 16: “16 The latter [those who have a good will motive, they preach Christ] out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.” Early Tribalism and TodayNow who is he talking about there? First, we need to be clear that he is not talking about false teachers. We know what Paul has to say about false teachers. Let them be accursed (Galatians 1:8). But these are people who are proclaiming Christ. They're talking about Jesus in truth, it's just that their motive, what drives them, is selfish and competitive. They were trying to one-up Paul and while he was preoccupied with being in prison, while his ministry was “stalled,” they saw it as a chance for their ministry to take off.Isn't it crazy that by the year 60 — we're talking early days of the church — this kind of tribalism is already going on? I don't need to tell you that tribalism is a problem in our day, right?A lot has changed in 2,000 years, and a lot hasn't. Sinful human nature is still the same, and there were gospel preachers in Paul's day too who were driven by having a bigger social media platform than the next guy. They preached Jesus — they spoke the gospel — but they were driven by the clicks and likes and shares … they sought “their own interests” (see 2:21).And right away you could be thinking about different applications in our day, but let me caution you first to never be quick to think that you know somebody else's motive. When it comes to other gospel-preaching churches or ministries or people, our first thought should be what Paul says in Romans 14:4, “Who am I to judge the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.” It's not our job to discern the hearts of every other ministry. But even if, like Paul here, we have a pretty good read that the motive is bad, even if there is personal enmity, is our passion for the gospel bigger than our egos such that we can cut through everything to the main issue of Is Jesus being preached? Is the gospel being told?And if so, verse 18: “18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice.” What Drives Us?Do you see what's happening here? It's not that Paul is being soft — it's not even that Paul is being charitable to those who don't like him — it's that he is so consumed with the glory of God through the advance of the gospel, that's what he cares about. That's what drives him. That's the lens through which he sees the world. Is Christ proclaimed?And we just need more of that. See, I wonder if a lot of the divisions in our day are less about real differences and more about passion. What really drives us?Paul's passion shaped his outlook … and ours will too — the question is: What is our passion?If we follow Paul's example, our passion would be the glory of God magnified through the advance of the gospel — and we say, Okay, we want that? But how do we get it? We don't have an “all-consuming passion for Jesus” switch that we can just flip on, right? So how we do get this kind of passion? The question I'm asking is: How might God answer this prayer that I pray for our church daily? I pray that Jesus would be our all-consuming passion.I can tell you that it will not happen apart from us being completely overcome by the grace of God. That's the game-changer. It's when our own hearts encounter and remember what Jesus has done to save us. Do you know how much he loves you? Do you know how committed he is to your everlasting joy? And he's never going to leave you. He's never going to forsake you. Even if everything else disappears, Jesus will stand by you like he did for Paul.And the more we get that, the more we know Jesus, the greater our passion will be, and that passion will shape our outlook.And that brings us to the Table. The TableWe come to this Table each week, not on the merits of our passion. This is not a table for the zealous. It's a table for the hungry who know that Jesus alone is our hope. In the Father's great love, Jesus has died for us and made us his own.

WOKE OR AWAKE? : ME-OLOGY November 19, 2023 . WOKE DEFINITION It's an authoritarian worldview that seeks to deconstruct the foundations of our Christian faith by overwhelming, overpowering, and overthrowing those who do not adhere to its ideology. Theology is He-ology - The Study of God…who He is, His greatness, His Holiness. Woke-ology is Me-ology - The Study of Me Focus on Me. Me-ologians…My success…Joy… Vindication is the priority of Jesus because He loves me. Things said by Me-ology “Christians:” “God is getting ready to disappoint everybody who expected you to fail.” “If you're weak, you don't say you're weak. Say, ‘I'm strong.'” “The more God-like you become, the more like God you can get things done.” “The process is painful, but the promotion is awesome.” “When you call your Heavenly Father, the answer is always YES.” Me-ology is Inconsistent and Disappointing! Still not…Vindicated…Hurting…Breakthrough…Healed…New Platform…Rich. What about Christians in the world who are suffering…Iran…China?? He-ology…Jesus is the Story…He came to rescue me from sin. His priority isn't my happiness…Holiness! Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. He-ology is consistent and compelling… Jesus Is The Point and I'm A Piece! John 3:28-30 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him. 29He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30He must increase, but I must decrease. My life is about His name being greater not mine… not about me winning….He's the winner. Jesus Is The Owner and I'm The Operator! John 3:34-35 (NLT) 34 “For he is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands.” He is the owner of it all and I get to manage some of it. Jesus Is Worthy and I'm Willing! Matthew 11:4-6 (NLT) 4 “Jesus told them, Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— 5 the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.' 6 And He added, ‘God blesses those who do not fall away because of Me.'” He's good in the good times and in the bad! Faith is Always Tested in Trouble He-ologians find Peace and Joy and Strength Regardless of the circumstances….see His goodness! +++++++ You can find our service times on our website: https://allnationstallahassee.com/ You can find sermon highlights on Twitter here: https://mobile.twitter.com/allnationstally

Embark on a journey with host Billy Hallowell exploring a deep friendship between two academics with wildly opposing views but who both attest to the boundless love of God on this week's podcast. This week's Unbelievable features an insightful discussion featuring two individuals with contrasting LGBTQI+ faith journeys as they delve into the intersection of faith, sexuality, and the Bible. The debate is between two gay Christians who have arrived at distinctly different interpretations of the Bible's teachings on sexual ethics, marriage, and human relationships. As a young man Dr. David Bennett perceived Christianity as an adversary to LGBTQI+ freedom. Shaped by early encounters with prejudice and homophobia, he embraced life as a gay activist. Opposite David is Dr. Taylor Telford, an academic theologian whose journey led her from an evangelical upbringing to a progressive perspective, especially concerning gay marriage. Taylor serves as the Associate Pastor for Imaginative Worship at a PC(USA) congregation in Spokane, WA, and as adjunct faculty at Whitworth University and The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. David Bennett's transformative conversion to Christianity, unfolded in a gay bar in his native Australia, and propelled him on a profound theological quest that ultimately led him to embrace an historically orthodox sexual ethic. Identifying as gay, a Christian, and living a celibate life, David is currently a postdoctoral research fellow and theologian at the University of Oxford, England. As the Anglican's General Synod meets this coming week and it appears gay and lesbian/ same-sex attracted Christians whatever their theological convictions are upset with the way Bishops have suggested implementing the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) in the Church of England, this is an unmissable episode of Premier Unbelievable. Read David's story https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Loves-Bennett-David/dp/0310538106/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1699556413&sr=8-1 • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.frponprayer.com and use the Donations tab. JC Ryle has written in his book, "A Call to Prayer," and we are following his writing to Christians God's people who pray. His thoughts are crucial to our Christian lives. As you've heard many times in this and over the last year when it comes to Ryle Nevertheless. He says: "Oh, let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here is the pith and marrow of our practical Christianity." Most who hear this are unlikely to lose their lives over the gospel. Some are, but not most. Our battles are not against flesh and blood but for the proclamation of the truth. The battles we are called to wage are forgiving and preaching the gospel. Loving those who don't love us. Or persecute us. Praying for the leaders that we have that we disagree with. Those and more are our calling. How do we live bravely as our Savior lived? And we can't do that with contentment and joy. If we don't know. Jesus. If we don't know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So again, from Ryle. Let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here is the pith and the marrow of our practical Christianity. How did David, Daniel, Peter, and John not fall to the temptation of killing Saul, knowing to pray as he daily did even though it was decreed he should perish for doing so, or stand and preach the gospel also under the threat of their leaders? They were men, people of prayer in the presence of God daily. Psalm 3, Daniel 2, and Acts 4. We put on the full armor first of all to pray! "What a man is on his knees before God, that he is and nothing more." Robert Murray M'Cheyne Assistant Editor: Seven Jefferson Gossard www.frponprayer.com freerangeprayer@gmail.com Facebook - Free Range Preacher Ministries Instagram: freerangeministries All our Scripture quotes are drawn from the NASB 1977 edition. For access to the Voice Over services of Richard Durrington, please visit RichardDurrington.com or email him at Durringtonr@gmail.com Our podcast art was designed by @sammmmmmmmm23 Instagram Season 005 Episode 122

As people, we are rarely intentional about what we allow to be the foundation of our lives. For some it is family or work but as Christians God's Word is our foundation. It is life-giving and unchanging but is also living and active and leads us into a relationship with our God. The challenge is for us to input the Word of God into our lives in very practical ways. Our regular service is at 10am on Sundays. We are located at 304 E. Austin Ave in Hutto, TX. Can't make it in person? You are welcome to join us live on Facebook or YouTube. If you need prayer or you just need someone to talk to please reach out to us at prayer@huttocommunitychurch.org.HCC Website - HCC Facebook - HCC YouTube

Being able to communicate with someone is an important aspect for life.   And as Christians God invites us to communicate with Him daily in Prayer.   Over the next 3 Sundays we will explore how important prayer is for us personally and for us as a community of faith, in our series Seasons of Prayer.   This week we explore the Lord's Prayer, discovering how it reveals the character of God and what God desires to help us with, based on Luke 11:1-13. Support the show

To put a cap on someone is to put a Limit on what you think they can have or they can do .But when people put a cap on you they are have made themselves a judge over our lifes and its their opinion of us .when i moved into my house over 20 years now the person who showed me around said this is has good has it gets yes i agree it a lovely Area but that doesn't mean that God doesnot have something esle in store for me .we can't allow people to put a cap on our life because God has said nothing is impossible for him .when we become Christians God takes the Limit of our lifes and he helps us to live our best life in him so we have to take the cap of our lives and live our best life in him holding on to jesus the start and finish in our life .i am giving you the address of the free bible course iam doing which has open my eyes to the power of the Gospel .Bible studies by Mail .PO Box 2077 Las cruces NM 88004 .its free they send you out the paperwork you can email back the finished work and they mark it and send it back with new work you can go on fine them on line they are in the USA .thank you for listening to blessed and free 63 they are called source of light ministries international .

Does your spiritual life feel a bit half-hearted? Though we don't want it, there is often a disconnect between the person you are and the person you want to be. Especially when it comes to our walk with God. In this episode of The Living Room podcast, Kathryn Maack shares from her book, Whole: The Life-Changing Power of Relating to God with All of Yourself.  As we seek the Lord with all that we are, He hleps us heal the disconnect so we no longer live a segmented life but become the kind of whole-hearted Christians God wants us to be. For as we bring Him all that we are, He gives us all that He is! Links from Show Kathryn's Book: Whole: The Life-Changing Power of Relating to God with All of Yourself Joanna's Newest Book: Embracing Trust: The Art of Letting Go and Holding On to a Forever-Faithful God Joanna's Youtube Channel [Disclosure: I make a small commission from affiliate links used in this post.] Connect with Kathryn Maack Website | Facebook | Instagram  

Message from Andrew Aucamp on June 25, 2023

Anchor Passage: Philippians 2:12-30Who grows us as Christians: God or us? Join us as we discover how our character develops through a divine-human synergy—both as God works within us, and as we actively pursue Him!

Let's counter a commonly held belief of many Christians: God is wrathful and vengeful, requiring blood sacrifice, and only through the crucifixion are we forgiven. We unpack this theory and find that God's primary response to our sin is not wrath or anger but forgiveness. The crucifixion is not about sacrifice but rather submitting to the will of God and showing obedience. In this episode, we cover:Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory–the theory of the crucifixion and the resurrection and atonement of Christ on the cross God's views on sacrifice and offerings The old and new covenant Jesus Unforsaken: Substituting Divine Wrath with Unrelenting Love

God is strong and He wants us to be strong as well. Be the super Christians God created us to be and let the power of God come fourth. Revelation 12:7-9 (NIV0 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (KJV) Ephesians 6:10-18 (The Message)

Life Group Leaders' Notes Series: Living God's Way Title: You Shall Have No Other God's Before MeKey Text: Exodus 20:1-3  We begin our new preaching series called ‘Living God's Way' as we learn how to ‘Build on the best foundation'. Over the coming week's we will be focusing on the most famous rules God has given to guard and guide the world. They are known as the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments have shaped history and formed the very basis of western civilisation. They represent the core Biblical principles on ethics and worship in Judaism and Christianity.  The text of the Ten Commandments, given by God on stone tablets and handed to Moses in the Sinai desert, appears twice in the Bible in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. God regarded these laws are so fundamental for his people to grasp, that he personally inscribed them onto stone tablets – signifying their importance as an unchanging truth that will endure forever.  God Sets The Rules (Exodus 20:1) God's Rules Are For Good (Exodus 3; Exodus 2:1-2) God Calls Us To Live By His Rules (Deuteronomy 5:1-7; Matthew 22:37-38)  Apply  The Ten Commandments are very relevant for each and every one of us. They apply to Christians: Just because they appear in the Old Testament doesn't mean that they have been abolished because of the New Testament. To receive the grace of God doesn't mean that we should not follow the moral laws of God. Jesus emphasised the importance of the Ten Commandments (Matthew 5:17). God's law sets the standard for us to live by and shows us how much we need His help when we fail.   They apply to non-Christians: God chose Israel to be ‘a light to the nations.' In other words, they were to be the standard bearers of God's righteous principles showing all peoples how to live in good relationship with God and one another. John Wesley, along with a great many other Bible based Christians, understood that Old Testament ceremonial law was abolished through Christ. But he declared that the moral law, which is contained in the Ten Commandments, still stands for all times. In Wesley's Sermons, Vol. I, Sermon 25 he said: Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind in all ages, as not depending either on time or place, nor on any other circumstances liable to change.'   Today, however, all over the world there is a great spiritual battle being fought over the importance and relevance of the Ten Commandments. This battle, one way or another, will affect every one of us whether young or old and every part of life and society. So, in cultures and nations, where so many now reject all rules and restraints, we should be clear on what the Bible actually teaches about the Ten commandments.  God sets the rules   Exodus 20:1 says ‘…and God spoke all these words.  The Bible teaches that there is a God and He has spoken to human being about how to live. He gave Ten Commandments. He did not make ten suggestions. He set absolute standards that are not to be changed by anyone and for anyone's person interest. He did this because he is far superior in His wisdom, character and power to any man or woman. He called and He calls the shots because He is the ultimate authority overall over the heavens and the earth. He sees the big picture. So do you accept there being a supreme God who has the authority who declares what is right and wrong about morality? Or do you, in effect want to become god and do whatever you want and make up your own laws?   As Charles Colson points out in his book Against the Night/living in the New Dark ages that if there is no God and no absolute standards then ‘ethical judgements become merely expressions of feeling or preference. Murder is wrong must be translated ‘I hate murder or I prefer that you not murder. Thus moral claims are reduced to the level of opinion.'1 One He decided to reject the Commandments, he felt free to do whatever he wanted. He set himself up as god and was worshipped as such for a time.  As Christians we need to see the importance of the teaching of the Ten Commandments for the wellbeing of individuals, families and nations. With them they form a sure foundation for society. Without them trouble, division and collapse will inevitably follow.  Gods rules are for our good  Well who is this God who sets the rules? Is He some mean and nasty tyrant who wants to enslave you? Actually, it is the complete opposite. He is the God who wants you to live in freedom. When human beings set themselves as God and refuse to be accountable to any absolute standards, they become self-interested oppressors and exploiters.  But they the Bible says that God saw the great misery of the Hebrews slaves under the Egyptian tyrant Pharaoh. He told Moses (Exodus 3:7). And that is what God reminds them of as an introduction to the 10 Commandments. Exodus 20:1-2 says: And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  Before he lays out the Ten Commandments God reminds them of His great compassion and faithfulness towards them. When no one else cared for them in Egypt, the Lord did. When no one else could help them, the Lord intervened on their behalf. When they could see no way out of their captivity, He set them free.  The Lord wanted them to remember that all He had done for them. All that He is going to say to them with the commandments is because He, like no one else has their best interests at heart. Particularly for people who have experienced a negative religious background it is so important to understand the context of the rules God sets out for His people and the world. It all flows from a heart of amazing love.  Billy Graham stated: "God didn't give us the Ten Commandments … because He hates us and wants to make our lives miserable, God loves us, and just as a loving parent won't let their child wander into the traffic, so God loves us too much to sit back and watch us destroy ourselves."  God calls us to live by his rules  Deuteronomy 5: 1-7 says: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. Let's just look at what we must do in relation to the Ten Commandments. We must… Know the commandments….hear what God has said.  Learn them….memorise them Put them into practice: obey.   And the first and greatest commandment is this…. ‘You shall have no other gods before me.' Every other commandment flows from this commandment. In Egypt there had been many gods, gods worshipping the sun, the earth, the sky and animals of kinds. But all of them were false gods, empty gods, gods who were powerless against the intervention of the one true God. And the Lord was saying to the Israelites don't have anything to do with any other so called god. Don't put your trust in them. Break totally with the culture of Egypt. Just stay focussed on me. Stay dependant on me. I am your hope. I am your deliverer. I have been faithful to you now be sure to be faithful to me.  Today that challenge still rings out for every Christian. Don't let your lives be ruled by the gods of today: sport, money, fame, sex, work, status, science, education etc. All these are false gods that will fail you. Just come close to me. (Matthew 22:37-38) 

Life Group Leaders' Notes Series: Living God's Way Title: You Shall Have No Other God's Before MeKey Text: Exodus 20:1-3  We begin our new preaching series called ‘Living God's Way' as we learn how to ‘Build on the best foundation'. Over the coming week's we will be focusing on the most famous rules God has given to guard and guide the world. They are known as the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments have shaped history and formed the very basis of western civilisation. They represent the core Biblical principles on ethics and worship in Judaism and Christianity.  The text of the Ten Commandments, given by God on stone tablets and handed to Moses in the Sinai desert, appears twice in the Bible in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. God regarded these laws are so fundamental for his people to grasp, that he personally inscribed them onto stone tablets – signifying their importance as an unchanging truth that will endure forever.  God Sets The Rules (Exodus 20:1) God's Rules Are For Good (Exodus 3; Exodus 2:1-2) God Calls Us To Live By His Rules (Deuteronomy 5:1-7; Matthew 22:37-38)  Apply  The Ten Commandments are very relevant for each and every one of us. They apply to Christians: Just because they appear in the Old Testament doesn't mean that they have been abolished because of the New Testament. To receive the grace of God doesn't mean that we should not follow the moral laws of God. Jesus emphasised the importance of the Ten Commandments (Matthew 5:17). God's law sets the standard for us to live by and shows us how much we need His help when we fail.   They apply to non-Christians: God chose Israel to be ‘a light to the nations.' In other words, they were to be the standard bearers of God's righteous principles showing all peoples how to live in good relationship with God and one another. John Wesley, along with a great many other Bible based Christians, understood that Old Testament ceremonial law was abolished through Christ. But he declared that the moral law, which is contained in the Ten Commandments, still stands for all times. In Wesley's Sermons, Vol. I, Sermon 25 he said: Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind in all ages, as not depending either on time or place, nor on any other circumstances liable to change.'   Today, however, all over the world there is a great spiritual battle being fought over the importance and relevance of the Ten Commandments. This battle, one way or another, will affect every one of us whether young or old and every part of life and society. So, in cultures and nations, where so many now reject all rules and restraints, we should be clear on what the Bible actually teaches about the Ten commandments.  God sets the rules   Exodus 20:1 says ‘…and God spoke all these words.  The Bible teaches that there is a God and He has spoken to human being about how to live. He gave Ten Commandments. He did not make ten suggestions. He set absolute standards that are not to be changed by anyone and for anyone's person interest. He did this because he is far superior in His wisdom, character and power to any man or woman. He called and He calls the shots because He is the ultimate authority overall over the heavens and the earth. He sees the big picture. So do you accept there being a supreme God who has the authority who declares what is right and wrong about morality? Or do you, in effect want to become god and do whatever you want and make up your own laws?   As Charles Colson points out in his book Against the Night/living in the New Dark ages that if there is no God and no absolute standards then ‘ethical judgements become merely expressions of feeling or preference. Murder is wrong must be translated ‘I hate murder or I prefer that you not murder. Thus moral claims are reduced to the level of opinion.'1 One He decided to reject the Commandments, he felt free to do whatever he wanted. He set himself up as god and was worshipped as such for a time.  As Christians we need to see the importance of the teaching of the Ten Commandments for the wellbeing of individuals, families and nations. With them they form a sure foundation for society. Without them trouble, division and collapse will inevitably follow.  Gods rules are for our good  Well who is this God who sets the rules? Is He some mean and nasty tyrant who wants to enslave you? Actually, it is the complete opposite. He is the God who wants you to live in freedom. When human beings set themselves as God and refuse to be accountable to any absolute standards, they become self-interested oppressors and exploiters.  But they the Bible says that God saw the great misery of the Hebrews slaves under the Egyptian tyrant Pharaoh. He told Moses (Exodus 3:7). And that is what God reminds them of as an introduction to the 10 Commandments. Exodus 20:1-2 says: And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  Before he lays out the Ten Commandments God reminds them of His great compassion and faithfulness towards them. When no one else cared for them in Egypt, the Lord did. When no one else could help them, the Lord intervened on their behalf. When they could see no way out of their captivity, He set them free.  The Lord wanted them to remember that all He had done for them. All that He is going to say to them with the commandments is because He, like no one else has their best interests at heart. Particularly for people who have experienced a negative religious background it is so important to understand the context of the rules God sets out for His people and the world. It all flows from a heart of amazing love.  Billy Graham stated: "God didn't give us the Ten Commandments … because He hates us and wants to make our lives miserable, God loves us, and just as a loving parent won't let their child wander into the traffic, so God loves us too much to sit back and watch us destroy ourselves."  God calls us to live by his rules  Deuteronomy 5: 1-7 says: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. Let's just look at what we must do in relation to the Ten Commandments. We must… Know the commandments….hear what God has said.  Learn them….memorise them Put them into practice: obey.   And the first and greatest commandment is this…. ‘You shall have no other gods before me.' Every other commandment flows from this commandment. In Egypt there had been many gods, gods worshipping the sun, the earth, the sky and animals of kinds. But all of them were false gods, empty gods, gods who were powerless against the intervention of the one true God. And the Lord was saying to the Israelites don't have anything to do with any other so called god. Don't put your trust in them. Break totally with the culture of Egypt. Just stay focussed on me. Stay dependant on me. I am your hope. I am your deliverer. I have been faithful to you now be sure to be faithful to me.  Today that challenge still rings out for every Christian. Don't let your lives be ruled by the gods of today: sport, money, fame, sex, work, status, science, education etc. All these are false gods that will fail you. Just come close to me. (Matthew 22:37-38) 

Scripture Reading: John 14:1-14 1 “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 There are many dwelling places in my Father's house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. 3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too. 4 And you know the way where I am going.”5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.” 9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves. 12 I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.Main ThemesMany Dwelling Places in my Father's HouseAddressing the Group—FarewellThe chapter opens with Jesus shifting his attention from Peter individually to all his disciples (evident in the shift to plural pronouns and verbs). He says, “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me.” This is clearly a farewell speech. Jesus is saying goodbye. Keeping that in mind, we need to pay attention to what Jesus chooses to highlight as his final words.Indicative Versus ImperativeThe sentence translated as “you believe in God; believe also in me” includes two identical uses of the word believe. That verb can be translated as indicative or imperative. Therefore, translators have to pick between the translation above (which uses the indicative first and then the imperative), or a translation that uses both verbs consistently, such as “believe in God, believe also in me.” The same sentence can even be translated as a rhetorical question and its corresponding response: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” There is no major change in the passage's meaning. The disciples must believe in God and in Jesus. The fact that Jesus makes himself an object of faith is noteworthy. At the very least Jesus is making himself equal with Moses. Recall Exodus 14:31, “When Israel saw the great power that the Lord had exercised over the Egyptians, they feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.” At most, Jesus is making himself equal with the Father himself since God and only God is the ultimate proper recipient of faith.Homes Now or Homes TomorrowWhat is the Father's House?Jesus then tells the disciples where he is going: to “make ready a place for [the disciples]” in the “Father's house,” which has many “dwelling places.” To understand Jesus' words, let's begin by asking, what is the Father's house? Both in Old Testament and New Testament times, God's temple was referred to as his house. Consider Haggai 1:2, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Or recall Ecclesiastes 5:1, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.” In the New Testament, Jesus himself uses that language. Consider Jesus' words in Matthew 21:13, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are turning it into a den of robbers!” This language was common in nonbiblical sources as well.The second question we should ask is, why is it the Lord's house? Because the Lord's presence is there. Before there was a temple, there was a tabernacle (a tent). As Exodus 35 tells us, “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Once Israel was established as a nation, God chose the temple as his resting place. “[T]he Lord's splendor filled God's temple.” (2 Chronicles 5:14)Many “Dwelling Places”Jesus is going to be in the Father's presence. That much is very clear. The controversy is that the Father's house has many “dwelling places.” To what do these dwelling places refer? Primarily, the discussion is centered on whether John is speaking of a present and realized eschatology or a future eschatology. To put it more plainly, will the disciples go to these dwelling places now or in the distant future?Two InterpretationsMost Christians interpret this passage to mean that Jesus goes to prepare a place for believers for a future time when believers go be with the Lord. Jesus can finally make those preparation because of his death. Jesus would die first, reconciling us with God and therefore allowing us to dwell in his presence. This idea of a future home with God was not foreign to Judaism. Different Jewish writings and funerary inscriptions describe the dead as entering a house (e.g., an “eternal house” or receiving a “house” as a reward).The other view, which although significantly less popular has scholarly support, is that Jesus is speaking of a soon-to-be-present reality: the Holy Spirit indwelling believers. In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes his body as the true temple:“Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for 46 years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. (John 2:19-21)The argument goes that Jesus is speaking of bringing the believer into union with himself, which is very much in keeping with verse 3. Each believer becomes a part of (i.e., a dwelling place in) the temple because the Spirit of God is in them as well. The Apostle Paul expresses this idea. “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)Moreover, John does seem to emphasize a present reality instead of a future eschatology. Recall John 5:24, “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.” Jesus speaks in the present tense.Finally, some argue that this interpretation fits the farewell discourse much better. Jesus is reassuring his disciples. Arguably, saying “I will be right back” (through the Holy Spirit) is better than saying, “in the distant future we will be together again.”Your interpretation of verse 2 will determine your interpretation of verse 3. If you think that verse 2 is speaking of the soon-to-come Holy Spirit, then Jesus' coming in verse 3 is referencing Jesus' return to the disciples immediately after his resurrection. If you think that verse 2 is speaking of a future eschatology, then Jesus' coming is a reference to his second coming at the end times.My Take-Away: We Return to the Lord's PresenceRegardless if which view you take, the key point stands: we return to God's presence. This is nothing short of a grandiose moment in history. This is the final act of the whole story of the Bible. The rescue of humanity is complete. Reconciliation with God is accomplished. Heaven can return. I will quote from Sandra Richter's The Epic of Eden extensively to show that this is the overarching story of the Bible:In the initial paradise—Eden—God dwells with man.We have learned in this chapter that Genesis 1–2 essentially provides a blueprint to God's original intent for humanity: God's people dwelling in God's place with full access to his presence. You will hear this little triplet many times throughout the course of this book. Yahweh planned a perfect world in which the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve would live eternally, stretching their cognitive and creative skills to the uttermost, building their civilization within the protective boundaries of their relationship with him. But treason bred tragedy—a broken covenant, a broken race. The end result was that God's people were driven from God's place and forever separated from his presence. The only hope in this wretched state of affairs was God's redemptive mercy. Indeed, redemptive history starts right here. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 118). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.As man falls, he is separated from God. God's dwelling place and man's dwelling place are separated seemingly forever.When we left Eden, we left a fruit-filled paradise animated by a cosmic river and graced by the Tree of Life. This paradise, which was once the shared dwelling place of God and humanity, is now defended against Adam's race by means of cherubim. The city of man and the kingdom of God are now separated; Adam and Eve now live in exile from their heavenly father. How will this wretched state of affairs be righted? Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 119). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.As God makes a covenant with Israel on Mount Sinai, God establishes a sort of embassy. God resides with his people in a very limited form.Here on Mount Sinai, God instructs Moses to build a habitation for the Holy One among his people. “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them” (Ex 25:8). The text tells us that the reason God wants this sanctuary is “so that I might live among them.” Do you hear the echo of Eden here? This will be the first time since the garden that God has dwelt with ʾAdām. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 120). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.The prophets see the end game: God's dwelling place engulfing the realm of man.Whereas Ezekiel had lived through the period of the exile in which Jerusalem was captured and the temple razed, in these chapters he is seeing with the eyes of vision the restoration of this beloved temple at the end of all things. In his vision, the temple has subsumed all of Jerusalem; the entire city has become the temple. And the temple is now a perfect square (Ezek 48:35). This becomes very significant when we remember that the only part of Solomon's temple that was perfectly square was the Holy of Holies. Thus, in Ezekiel's vision, the Holy of Holies (the place God actually dwelt) has enveloped the city of man. “He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever'” (Ezek 43:7). In sum, Ezekiel's vision of the “rest of the story” is God and humanity dwelling together within a city that has become a temple. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 126). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.Finally, it happens. Restoration. Praise the Lord.This brings us at last to Revelation 21–22, the end of the story.Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev 21:1-5)What John is describing here is what Christians call “heaven.” But unlike the images common to our imaginations—disembodied spirits, clouds and wings, harps and chubby cherubs—the biblical author is describing heaven as a new earth. The garden has been restored, the primordial deep (“chaos”) has been defeated, and Ezekiel's city/temple is being lowered from the heavens to serve as the residence of the redeemed. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 127). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.This is the heart of the story. The end is the beginning. The goal is to return to what was lost: God's presence.So what is God's final intent for humanity? As is obvious from tracing the iconography of Eden through redemptive history, God's original intent is his final intent. Eden was the perfect plan, and God has never had any other. His goal was that the people of God might dwell in the place of God, enjoying the presence of God. This is all our heavenly Father has ever wanted for us. And everything that lies between Eden's gate and the New Jerusalem, the bulk of our Bibles, is in essence a huge rescue plan. In fact, we could summarize the plot line of the Bible into one cosmic question: “How do we get ʾAdām back into the garden?” In Genesis 3 humanity was driven out; in Revelation 21–22 they are welcomed home. Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden (p. 129). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.John 14 speaks of the culmination of the Bible story as if it is imminent. Sure, some events still need to play out, but the final move is finally announced. Jesus will die and he will return us to God's presence. Each and every one of God's people will dwell with him, in his house, like it was in Eden. As we read the rest of the chapter, we learn that God will send the Holy Spirit to be with each of us. This is a better cohabitation arrangement than even the prophets could have ever hoped for. We are not only with God in a physical sense but in a spiritual one too.The Way, the Truth, and the LifeIf there is a single verse that I think about all the time, it is this one: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” I think the entire Bible can be understood as explaining this singular sentence.Jesus Is the WayJesus is the way. He is going to the Father's presence by virtue of his identity and character. Jesus alone is entitled to this. Jesus is the Word, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.” (John 1:1) But Jesus shares himself with whoever will accept him. “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever.” (John 6:48-51a)It is through Christ that we have access to God. Jesus is the High Priest who can enter the Holy of Holies to see God. But unlike the old High Priest, Jesus tears the curtain of the Holy of Holies and shares God's direct presence with everyone.And it is only through Christ that we have access. He is “the” way, not “a” way (and, yes, the Greek uses the definite article). Recall John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture.” Anyone who jumps the hedge to get into the sheepfold, anyone who enters in any other way but through the door is nothing more than a “thief.”It is only in “Jesus name” that we can confidently walk into the kingdom. Indeed, “in Jesus name” we can ask for anything as if we were kings ourselves.Jesus is the TruthThroughout our study of this gospel, I have often mentioned that John draws from the personification of wisdom to explain who Jesus is. As we discussed in session 2, the closest connection to the personified logos is the personified sofia. In short, Jesus is “the wisdom.” As in the case of the way, Jesus is not “a” wisdom but “the” wisdom. Forgive my grammatical unorthodoxy, but I am trying to make clear that Jesus is the truth and all truth. The existence of “the truth” has many implications. There is a right and a wrong. There is a knowledge of what is true and there is deception. There is an understanding that leads to life and a path that leads to destruction.In Christ there is no deception or error. In Christ no knowledge is lacking. In Christ, truth meets purpose and beauty.Remember as well that unlike the Greeks, when Jews spoke of truth or wisdom they emphasized moral knowledge. Jesus audience would have heard, “Do you want to know how to live well before God, I am that knowledge.”Jesus is the LifeRecall the covenant that God made with Israel on Mount Sinai. God ends the covenant with the following exhortation:“Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to possess. However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, I declare to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Today I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! I also call on you to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20, emphasis added)Choose life! That phrase is perpetually in my mind. Jesus offers life and life abundant. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus offers the kind of life full of joy and peace and purpose for which we were created. He offers life in which we give love eternally and receive love eternally. And he is that life. We can access it only through him and by remaining in him.Believe in the Father, Believe in Me, Believe the Miracles, Do Even Greater MiraclesThe Union of The Father and SonBeginning in verse 8, Jesus emphasizes his unity with the Father in the strongest terms possible. This is not a new idea in John's Gospel. This is a recurring theme that has appeared all throughout. That is why Philip's questions is nearly offensive. “Show us the Father,” Philip requests. Jesus responds, “Have I been with you for so long and yet you have not known me, Philip?” Somehow Philip has missed the point for years on end. Recall how the book begins (John 1:18), “No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.”Jesus sets the record straight one more time, “The person who has seen me has seen the Father!” Jesus and the Father are perfectly united. To see one is to see the other. Too hard to believe? “Believe the miracles,” says Jesus. This is, I think, an unexpected claim given the modern understanding of faith. Jesus is not asking Philip for blind faith. Jesus is making an evidentiary argument. Not only those opposed to Christianity but many Christians as well disregard all evidence and ask people simply to believe. I do not think that is the approach Jesus is taking here.A Strange Excursus into Reformed EpistemologyGiven my comment on evidence above, what if we haven't seen a miracle. Is it irrational for us to have faith? I certainly do not think so. I think this is a good opportunity to introduce a concept called “reformed epistemology.” This is a relatively obscure idea outside the circles of philosophy of religion, but it has made a huge impact in my life and I think it is worth sharing. As much as I try to stick to the text, please allow me this one rabbit chase.Let's begin by asking a question: are we warranted in believing a proposition only if we have inferred it from evidence-backed propositions? Your initial reaction may be, “yes!” But hold on a minute. Consider the concept of a “properly basic belief.”The idea basically is that there are beliefs that we hold which I think we are rational in holding, and indeed which we know to be true and which are warranted for us which are not grounded in inference from other beliefs, from arguments and evidence. Examples of such properly basic beliefs, as they are called, would be belief in the reality of the past, belief in the external world around us, memory beliefs, beliefs that spring from testimony of others to us. These are not inferences that we make; these are properly basic beliefs that are grounded in certain experiences. Alvin Plantinga has argued that belief in God is similarly a properly basic belief, which he would say is grounded in certain experiences of the world like feelings that I am a sinner before God, or all of this was designed by God, or in the case of Christian beliefs, that when we read in Scripture that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, the Holy Spirit produces in us a conviction of the truth of that scriptural proposition. So these beliefs are warranted for us, not by way of inference or argument, but in a properly basic way. Reasonable Faith website. Before you accuse me of throwing the baby out with the bathwater and disregarding or even opposing evidentiary arguments, notice that a properly basic belief may be incorrect. It may be “defeated.”You mustn't equate being properly basic with being indefeasible. Memory beliefs (e.g., “I left the car keys in the dresser”) and perceptual beliefs (e.g., “I see a cat in the backyard”) are, like beliefs grounded in testimony, properly basic but are defeasible, that is to say, they can be mistaken. The fact that my properly basic beliefs may sometimes be false does nothing to remove their proper basicality (that is, I am rational and exhibit no cognitive defect in holding such experientially grounded beliefs non-inferentially). If I become aware of some defeater of one of my properly basic beliefs, then I must give it up (or find a defeater of the defeater). Reasonable Faith website.Surely at this point you are thinking: “why in the world are we digressing into this obscure concept?!” Because, like in the case of Jesus and Philip, I think that evidence is a way in which people can come to faith in God. However, I also think that reformed epistemology holds a modest but brilliant insight. If Christianity is true, so is the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is a real person who can really witness to us in a way we can perceive, however that perception works, then we can be warranted in holding our faith without evidence. Why? Because if Christianity is true, it is experiential. We can experience our faith.Again, notice how modest this assertion is. It begins with the assumption that Christianity is true. This is not a argument for Christianity. It is only an argument that works if Christianity is true. If we can experience God, that can be sufficient warrant to believe in him absent any deafeaters.Allow me to give an example to close this section. Imagine I am accused of shooting the deputy. I know I did not do it (I only shot the sheriff but I did not shoot the deputy). However, at trial the prosecutors offer incredible evidence of my guilt. A receipt shows I ate at the same restaurant and at the same time as the deputy; the bullet that killed the deputy matches the caliber used by the gun I was carrying; a witness says they saw me pull the trigger. All evidence points in a certain direction. In fact, the jury would be warranted in finding me guilty. However, if I know I did not do it because I experienced not doing it, I am warranted in my belief as well. Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps I did it and forgot. Perhaps my memory failed me because of a mental condition. Perhaps I was under the influence of drugs. My experience is not infallible, but my belief of my own innocence is in fact warranted until one those defeaters is proved. The point I am trying to make is this: evidence is very important, but so is proper epistemology. You can believe in God because you have experienced God.Back to the Text: Miraculous DeedsIn verse 12, as a follow up to asking Philip to believe the “miraculous deeds,” Jesus adds, “[the person who believes] will perform greater deed than these.” As if that were not scandalous enough, Jesus adds, “I will do whatever you ask in my name.” What?!Honestly, I find these verses difficult to interpret, and it is not for a lack of trying. Let's begin with the idea of miraculous deeds.Maybe the best way to go about understanding these verses is to consider what different people think. The well-known pastor John Piper gives what I think is the majority view among protestants. (As I have pointed out in the past, I do not have some study that shows what is the majority or minority view. I am relying on my own experience. I could be wrong.)Verse 12a: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Now we create problems for ourselves immediately by thinking of Jesus' most amazing miracles. At this point in the Gospel of JohnJesus has turned water into wine (John 2:1–11).He has read the mind of the woman of Samaria (John 4:18).He has healed the official's son (John 4:46–54).He had healed the man crippled for 38 years (John 5:1–9).He had fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1–14).He had walked on water (John 6:19).He had healed a man born blind (John 9:1–7).And he had raised Lazarus from the dead after four days in the grave (John 11:43–44). What did Jesus mean when he said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Did Jesus mean that every Christian would do all these? Or that every Christian would do one or two of these? And if you don't, you don't believe?That's not likely in view of the fact that in the New Testament letters where miracles are mentioned they are a gift that some Christians have and not others. For example, in 1 Corinthians 12 . . . .Well, if Jesus doesn't mean that all believers will do miracles like his, what does he mean . . . ? Let's look closely at the connections here and then at a more distant parallel.First, the connection between verse 11 and 12. Verse 11: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” So the word “believe” and “works” occur together in verse 11 just like they come together in verse 12. Jesus' works are designed to help people believe. …Then verse 12 follows: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Now put verse 11 and 12 together and let the function of the works be the same in both verses. Verse 11: my works function to lead people to faith in me. Verse 12: when you believe in me, I will work in you (like a vine works in a branch, John 15:1–7), and your works, like mine, will lead people to faith.So the connection between verses 11 and 12 goes like this: believe in me on account of my works — let my works lead you to faith (verse 11), because whoever believes in me (verse 12a), will also do works that lead people to believe in me.So whatever the specific works are that Jesus has in mind, what defines them here is that they are pointers to Jesus which help people believe in him. [emphasis added]…So I conclude that, however many Christians God may give gifts of miracles and healing, all of them (and that is what the text is about, “whoever believes in me”) — all of them will do the works of Jesus in the sense that all his works of every kind testified to his truth and deity. And every Christian does these works — that is, lives this life. We are the aroma of Christ. We are the light of the world. [emphasis added]…The second part of this text (John 14:12b) is that, in some wonderful way, we will all do something greater than the works of Jesus. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father.”Again it is every believer, not just the apostles, not just pastors or elders or charismatics or evangelists. “Whoever believes in me . . . greater works than these will he do.” This is the mark of being a Christian, not being an apostle.If you think “greater works” means “more miraculous” you will be hard put to exceed walking on water, feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish, and raising the dead. I don't know of any Christian who has ever lived — inside or outside the New Testament — who has ever done all three of those miracles, let alone something more miraculous. Let alone every Christian having done these miracles or something more miraculous. [emphasis added]…So in John 14:12 Jesus is saying that his disciples will not only continue his works, but will do greater ones because he goes to the Father. And on the way to the Father, he goes to the cross and lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:15; 1:29), rises from the dead and ascends to God, from where he sends the Holy Spirit so the disciples can do the works they are called to do.And in John 20:21–23 he is saying that his disciples are to continue his work by receiving the Holy Spirit and, in that power, imparting the forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus — on the basis of Jesus death and resurrection.…What are the “greater works” that you will do — all of you? You will receive the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ. Before the resurrection of Jesus, nobody in the history of the world had ever done that, not even Jesus. And in the power of that absolutely new experience — the indwelling of the crucified and risen Christ — your works of love and your message of life in union with Christ, will point people to the glory of the risen Son of God, and you will be the instrument of their forgiveness on the basis of the finished work of Christ (John 20:23). [emphasis added] This will be new. This will be greater than Jesus's earthly miracles because this is what he came to accomplish by his death and resurrection. Desiring God website.You can read Piper's whole article by following the link above.What about a more Catholic perspective? Consider the following excerpt from a Catholic blog:In other words, the greater works that the apostles will perform are the sacraments. [emphasis added] Because although for most of us, we are more amazed by the visible, material miracles that Jesus performed in his lifetime, Jesus is more correct to say that the Sacraments are actually greater miracles. Because what Jesus does during his public ministry visibly through his visible miracles, is going to point forward to what God will do in the apostles through the Holy Spirit invisibly in the mysteries of the Sacraments. And you might think, “that is kind of strong Dr. Pitre, how could you say that?” Well let me just give you an example here. St. Thomas Aquinas, when he was writing a commentary on this particular passage, this Gospel today from the Gospel of John, St. Thomas Aquinas says that:“What is remarkable is that he adds, “and greater works than these will he do” (John14:12)… Christ is speaking of this result or work when he says that believers “will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12), for the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth. [emphasis added] For the justification of the wicked, considered in itself, continues forever… But the heavens and the earth will pass away…”That is St. Thomas Aquinas' commentary, and he is actually quoting St. Augustine's commentary on the Gospel of John as well, which is also quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1994. So this is kind of a standard stream of tradition in the Catholic Church, that John 14 is Jesus promising the disciples not only that he would be the road to salvation, but that that road is going to take the particular shape of the Sacraments of the Church. Catholic Productions website.Of course, I could also offer a charismatic perspective that will take the promise to do miraculous deeds very much literally. I have not been able to find a good summary of that view, otherwise I would post it.My personal input can best be presented as a series of questions. Have Christians not fed the masses? Have they not built hospitals and healed the sick? Have they not built schools and universities and educated countless people? Did they not put an end to slavery? Did they not fight for the rights of the downtrodden? Did they not share the good news with the world? It seems to me that Jesus fed the 5,000; we have fed millions. Jesus healed a blind man; we heal blind men daily. Sure, we don't often do it miraculously, but for me that's a distinction without a difference.In Jesus' NameNow let's address the idea of asking “in Jesus' name.” This is a powerful phrase that means to ask in the authority of. Think of the clichés “stop in the name of the King” or “stop in the name of the law.” They invoke and apply the authority of another person or entity. With that in mind, consider the unimaginable delegation of authority that Jesus is making in John 14:13 and 14.Several questions immediately come to mind. The first is obviously about limitations: is this a blanket power given to Christians? I don't think so. The closest scriptural reference I can provide to substantiate my answer is Acts 19:11-17:God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands, so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body were brought to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” (Now seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.) But the evil spirit replied to them, “I know about Jesus and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who was possessed by the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them all into submission. He prevailed against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; fear came over them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.I know that a possible response is that the “Jewish exorcists” were not followers of Jesus. That's why their use of Jesus' name did not work. That is certainly possible. But notice also that specifically Paul was doing all the miracles. It was not every Christian doing so. So not even in New Testament times did Christians behave like they could request anything in the name of Jesus (like a healing or wealth) and immediately obtain it. If there are limits, then why even pray in Jesus' name? I think that there is an interaction between the believer and Jesus. The believer must ask to receive. Jesus will grant if the request is in accordance with his will and character. To quote James 4:2-3, “You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.”Much more importantly, we need to notice the radical change that Jesus is making. We do not notice this because we are not first century Jews. They certainly would have been scandalized by Jesus' words, but for different reasons than us. Consider the following Old Testament passage (2 Chronicles 6:24-35) with emphasis added by me:24 “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help before you in this temple, 25 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.26 “The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, 27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.28 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 29 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their intense pain and spread out their hands toward this temple, 30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) 31 Then they will honor you by obeying you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.32 “Foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will come from a distant land because of your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 33 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.34 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, 35 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them.God listened to prayers given at or at least directed to the temple. But who is or is in (depending on how you interpret the beginning of this chapter) the temple now? Who will be dwelling in the many dwelling places in the Father's house? Believers! Believers no longer need to pray in or towards the temple. They are always there. This is a radical change. Now we can go directly to God through Jesus. This is the main point. Not what things Jesus will grant and which ones he won't. Recall Jesus' words to the woman at the well:But a time is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)Moreover, In Mark 11, Jesus gives a similar “guarantee” that whatever we ask he will grant. In Mark 11, the speech is given within the context of Jesus predicting the destruction of the Temple. Of crucial importance was to explain how the people of God could remain connected to God after the temple's destruction. Still don't believe me? After the destruction of the first temple, some rabbis taught that God would no longer hear Israel's prayer. It's in the Talmud!All I can say is, the time is here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Walking In God's FaithfulnessReader: Angus MacdonaldDate: 20th July 2022Passage: Psalm 26:3-------------------Some of the greatest adventure stories through the centuries have involved people walking over such dangerous terrain as scorching deserts, high mountains, dense and sinister forests. The Bible itself tells of many adventurous journeys, very especially the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan.David, the writer of Psalm 26 pictured himself on a journey, walking with God. He uses interesting words to tell us about his life. As he travels with God, David wants to be like God — God's steadfast committed love to him is the kind of love he aims to have in his own life. He wants his character to reflect the character of God.David is also very aware of God's presence in his life, as if God were directing his footsteps all his journey through. "I walk in your faithfulness" he said. We read the same thing earlier in the Bible when God told Abraham to walk with him. There was to be a definite close relationship between the two of them. David was conscious of this too. God, the faithful God, the loving God walked with him to direct him in the way he should go. By his Holy Spirit in us as Christians God has that guiding help for us as well. PrayerDear Lord, may I rejoice in your steadfast love and faithful guidance each day of my life. Amen.

In week 2 of our "Dear Christians..." series we hear an amazing encouraging Word from Pastor Brandon Marshall from Odessa, Tx! Pastor Brandon Marshalls message is full of wisdom and words of exhortation. This is a beautiful message of how God is truly the source of all that we will ever need in this fallen world. We pray this message empowers you and resonates with you. Join the RPS family by following us on IG @readprayshare for weekly events to fellowship with us. Be encouraged!

Sometimes God has the reputation of being angry all the time - and a lot of people who grew up in the church were told that when they do something wrong God is disappointed and will come down on them hard if they don't behave. Is that true?

Are all Christians God's ministers? How does the Ministerial Association of the Seventh-day Adventist Church support pastors of all denominations?

Sermon from April 3, 2022 || Looking into Acts chapter 15 we learn more about a debate about what it takes to please God and what kind of Christians God likes better. How are we responsible to live God's grace and what trials do we face when it comes to grace and religious standards?

Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...    Genesis 6   5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.   11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. So God said HE would give man a new heart and a new spirit:   Ezekiel 36  God says:   23 And I will sanctify MY great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put MY spirit within you, and cause you to walk in MY statutes, and ye shall keep MY judgments, and do them. When we are chosen by God and set into the body of Christ today, born again by God's Spirit, God gives us that promised "new heart and new spirit", and because of that we hear from the Spirit of God and do the good will of God on this earth.   John 5:30   Jesus said:  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear (from God), I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.   As born again Christians God has given to us that promised new heart and new spirit.  Now we can choose to go in the way of the Spirit doing good rather than doing the evil works of the flesh.   The apostle Paul says:   Romans 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:   But God gives us a new heart and a new spirit so we can know the good way of God and we can choose the way of God as the Holy Spirit of God reminds us of the way of God as the flesh rises up in us in times of temptation.   Therefore Paul explains:   Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.   The flesh would lead us to do the works of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit reminds us of the way of God and we choose to do the way of God as shown us by the Holy Spirit of God who lives in us.   Thus we choose the way of God and rejoice that we now have the Spirit of God to show us the way of God in the temptation that we do not follow our own flesh but follow God's way.   Romans 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.   I don't believe man knows good except as God reveals to man good.  Mostly man just tries to justify his own self in front of other men.   As we do what God shows us to do and to say by HIS Spirit we justify God and godliness.  And because we follow what we are told by the Spirit we walk in God's righteousness and are righteous because we go in God's way.   But of our own self we can do nothing.     We hear from God and therefore know what to do in the problems of this life.  

Let's counter a commonly held belief of many Christians: God is wrathful and vengeful, requiring blood sacrifice, and only through the crucifixion are we forgiven. We unpack this theory and find that God's primary response to our sin is not wrath or anger but forgiveness. The crucifixion is not about sacrifice but rather submitting to the will of God and showing obedience.    In this episode, we cover: Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory–the theory of the crucifixion and the resurrection and atonement of Christ on the cross God's views on sacrifice and offerings The old and new covenant Jesus Unforsaken: Substituting Divine Wrath with Unrelenting Love -   *New episodes release every other Monday *Connect with Keith on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Visit the blog at keithgiles.com

Poor relationship with God: When people try to persecute Christians (God) they only hurt themselves. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vikki-semple/message

I am sharing these two posts from the blog I felt led to create called Types of Christians. You can access 100's of these posts from this blog on https://TypesOfChristians.blogspot.com/ Since these posts are examples of how I apply particular Bible passages to my personal life, they may not reflect the total meaning of the Bible passage. They are shared as examples, so people might realize that the Bible is still relevant in our lives today! Please share this podcast and blog link with those who might benefit. Thanks! Debbie

When the Lord Comes Near, He Humbles His Enemies 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 12, 2021 First Lesson: Zephaniah 3:14-17. The prophet Zephaniah urges us to rejoice that the Lord has taken away our punishment.Psalm 130: Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord…Second Reading and Sermon. Philippians 4:4-7. Rejoice in the Lord always.Gospel. Luke 3:7-18. John the Baptist urges those who came to hear him to repentance and that there is someone else coming who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit.Sermon. Philippians 4:4-7. The Lord Will Come and Humble His Enemies. The Lord's coming brings Christians God's unsurpassable peace. Because of our faith in what Jesus did for us when he came to this world, we have nothing to fear when he comes back to humble his enemies.And because of what he has done for us, we nothing to fear when he comes again. As we wait for that day, we fill our actions and attitudes with joy, gentleness, and thanksgiving. When we face hardships or injustices, we look forward to what the Lord will do when he comes back and we can rejoice, be gentle, and be thankful in our requests to God.AmenPastor Tim Patoka

ISAIAH 7:10-14 Why God Became a Baby Ross Tenneson / General Why God Became a Baby Ross Tenneson / General Intro Today is the first week of the season of “advent.” “Advent” is a Latin word that means “arrival,” It's the time of year we anticipate celebrating Jesus's arrival on Christmas. For these next four weeks of advent, we are going to take a break from our series in Luke and spend some time in Isaiah. Why Isaiah? Because he's a prophet who especially anticipates the arrival of Jesus and talks at length about him hundreds of years before he comes. One of the first famous texts on the messiah from Isaiah is in Isaiah 7. This text will address common emotions we all feel, some of us more acutely as the holidays approach: fear, apprehension, and isolation. I remember a couple years ago my finger ended up getting a deep cut on it. It went do deep it cut the nerve. Just like that, it went dark…couldn't reel with one side of it anymore. I went into the ER and the doctors were like, “oh yeah, the nerve will regrow and you'll be fine.” When I visited the surgeon a few weeks later to talk more, she was pretty blunt, “that's not going to happen.” I remember feeling fear and dread that I would live with this for the rest of my life, and to this day I still do. How do you think God wants me to respond in this situation? How do you think he wants you to respond to the things you fear and dread? Our text will tell us this morning. Before we jump in, we are going to orient ourselves with some context. Revelation We are about seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. The nation of Israel has been in decline for some time now. As a result, God is punishing Israel with various judgments, including the attacks of her enemies. In this instance, the Northern kingdom of Israel has joined forces with the pagan nation of Syria to overthrow Judah. There was overwhelming military power coming down against the little kingdom of Judah, it's a desperate situation. Isa 7:2 says, Isaiah 7:2 ESV 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. Ahaz is the king of Judah and his heart and both he and his people lack faith. The pressure and danger of this moment reveal what's really inside. And God is so amazingly kind to this unworthy king. He sends his prophet Isaiah to him to promise him that he will deliver him from these two kings. Then he urges Ahaz to trust in the Lord because God is going to devastate these kings that are threatening him. But, Ahaz is having trouble believing God's word. So, God sends Isaiah to him again. That's where our passage picks up in verse 10, Isaiah 7:10–11 ESV 10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” The Lord invites Ahaz to ask for any sign, as high as heaven or as deep as Sheol, that is, it could be a supernatural sign like Lord, don't let the sun set for 24 hours or Lord, let the fleece be wet and the ground around it dry in the morning. The purpose of this sign is that Ahaz could finally trust the God he's holding out on. So, how does Ahaz respond to this gracious, over-the-top offer from God? Isaiah 7:12 ESV 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” Wait, what? Does he actually refuse? Almost unbelievably, this man whom God offered a supernatural sign turns it down. Man, at first I just couldn't see myself doing that. Then, Ahaz gives the reason for refusing God's offer: “I will not put the Lord to the test.” So, Ahaz actually quotes Scripture as his reason for turning God down (Deut 6:16). His reasons sound pious: he sounds like he has a religious reason for not asking God for a sign. Friends: nothing could be further from the truth. Putting the Lord to the test does not mean receiving a sign that the Lord freely offers. Putting the Lord to the test would be demanding another sign after he gives you one because it wasn't good enough for you.[1] This was not his way of obeying God's Word, it was his way out of it. Ahaz's heart is far from God. Here is a reminder to ourselves that we can disguise our sin with justifications that sound biblical, but actually are not. I've actually noticed that the colder someone's heart gets to the Lord and the deeper they get in their sin, the more prone they are to twist and misunderstand Scripture. If you are wanting to go down a path you wonder if it is wrong, or others have told you it's wrong, but you've been able to find a Scripture to “make” it right. Don't trust yourself. Instead, go to others in this community and ask if you are seeing the Word rightly. We don't want any of us wandering into the path of sin with the false belief that the Scriptures permit it when they don't. That's one reason we follow Jesus in a community, so others can help us see where our own fallen hearts distort God's Word. But why did Ahaz resist receiving a sign from God? What was it about seeing a sign that repelled him? If he asked for a supernatural sign and God gave it to him, then he would have to surrender to the God didn't want to surrender to. The book of Kings says Ahaz was an evil man who even burned his children as an offering to an idol (2 Kings 16:3). He did not want to serve the God who said, “you must not do that.” He would rather face two kings and their overwhelming military might on his own, without this God who demands repentance. To put it bluntly: he would rather die than depend on God. Friends, we must be aware of this inclination in us if we are going to fight against it, as this passage will show us how to do. Isaiah 7:13 ESV 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? God responds to Ahaz's wicked reply through the prophet Isaiah. He says, “pay attention, O house of David!” That is, he is addressing the king and his court with his rulers and officials.[2] He points out that Ahaz's stubborn unbelief is weary and frustrating to men. And if to men, how much for to God? God is offering to move heaven and earth so that man can finally trust him.[3] And what's his response? Nah. Here we get to see a picture of moments we stubbornly persist in unbelief and disobedience offend the heart of God, even though he's given us so many evidences of his goodness. Yet, at this low point, here's where things get even more marvelous. You would think that an all-powerful God would be inclined to immediately wipe him and his kingdom out. He had his chance after all. You would think the next verse would be, “therefore, I will destroy you.” Yet, that's not the next thing God says: Isaiah 7:14 ESV 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. The Lord, disappointed with the king's unbelief, insists on giving him a sign. The king doesn't believe and the Lord's response is “therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.” The patience of God with stubborn, unbelieving human hearts is remarkable. He gives him a sign he doesn't deserve and doesn't even want so that he could hope in God. Now what's the sign that the Lord gives to him? Isaiah says, “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Let's just take it one piece at a time. (There's different schools of thought on how to interpret this verse, the best I can do is interpret it as best as I can and share that with you). God starts out by saying “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” What does the word that's translated “virgin” mean? It could mean two different things: most frequently, this word means “marriageable girl” or “young woman”.[4] That is, a young woman who is of an age for marriage and child bearing. So, what does this word mean in this context? Since the context doesn't point to this birth being a virgin birth and the Hebrew word tends to mean “young woman,” it would seem the best way to translate this sign is that there is a young woman who has a child in the ordinary way. Likely, this woman is Isaiah's wife as Isaiah 8:18 says, Isaiah 8:18 ESV 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. The children the Lord gives to Isaiah (of which this child seems to be one) are signs. A sign is something that points to something greater than itself.[5] Think of the Lord's Supper as an example.[6] It's ordinary bread and juice, yet it points to the realities of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It's a sign that signifies something greater than itself. What does this sign point to? First, Isaiah mentions the child will be called “Immanuel.” When we translate it, this name means, “God is with us.” The child is a sign that points to the greatest hope God's people have: that they will get to live in intimacy with God again. Yet, that's not all. Later in our chapter, Isaiah says of this child, Isaiah 7:16 ESV 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. Essentially, the child points to the defeat of the life-threatening enemies God's people are facing: there is hope in an otherwise hopeless situation (before he is of the age where he can identify right and wrong, just in a few years, the enemies you face will be no more). Putting these ideas together, the sign of the child points to God's nearness to his people and the defeat of their oppressors, basically our two most basic needs: that we would be with God, and that he would keep us safe from the things that would destroy us. So, how does this sign work that God gave? Why would this child create this assurance for anyone who was willing to trust God? Here is what I suspect is going on here: child-birth is not a neutral concept in the story of the Bible, it's laden with rich symbolism, prophecy, and expectation. In the book of Genesis, after Adam and Eve has sinned and God had banished them from the garden, he makes them a promise Genesis 3:15. Eve will have an offspring, a descendent of hers who will defeat the enemies of his people and restore intimacy with God. Sounds kind of like our passage huh? This promised child to Eve will accomplish the exact same things the child who is a sign to Ahaz points to: his victory will bring humanity back into the presence of God, something they lost with their banishment from the garden (“God is with us” will be a reality again). It seems like rather than doing something entirely out of the blue, God is pointing Ahaz back to the promises he made in the garden and forward to hoping in the arrival of this offspring who will finally bring a full restoral of God being with us. (Which a baby is a great sign!! You can't help but feel hope and joy when you look at a little baby smiling). Now let's ask, how does this relate to Christmas and Advent? To do so, we are going to fast forward to the gospel of Matthew. At this point, Joseph is engaged to Mary. However, he discovers she's pregnant and resolves to break off the engagement from her. That's when the following happens: Matthew 1:20-21 Matthew 1:20–21 ESV 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Joseph, like Ahaz before him, has to confront his fears. He fears to take Mary as his wife because of the apparent immorality she has committed. Also, a messenger of God shows up to him with a Word of the Lord to bring him comfort. This word is that the child Mary had conceived was not a result of immorality, but a work of God. More than that, this child will fulfill the purposes of God: he will be the one who removes sins from the people (which keep us from God), so Immanuel can come to pass (God can truly be with us) Then, Matthew writes the following, Matthew 1:22-23 Matthew 1:22–23 ESV 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Wait a second, what? What does this prophecy from Isaiah have to do with the baby in Mary's belly. Matthew uses the word “fulfill,” which means something like “to bring to completion or fulness.” We tend to think of prophecy mostly as direct predictions such as “the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem” (Micah 5:2), and then Jesus was born in Bethlehem. However, that's not the only way Jesus “fulfills” or “completes” the Old Testament Scriptures. He also lives out and completes the patterns of how God works in the Bible to rescue his people. The pattern Jesus fulfills is that God uses children who were born in miraculous circumstances to save his people, and that points back to the promise in Genesis where a child would come who would defeat the serpent. I take “fulfill” in Matthew 1:22 to mean that the birth of Jesus completes this pattern we see in the Scriptures that there would be a child who would defeat the enemies of God and restore relationship with him. The child in Isaiah's day points to God's plan to rescue his people from these two kings. Yet, that's as far as God's rescue and deliverance goes in Isaiah's day. The people are still in bondage to their sins and soon will be in bondage to another king, the king of Assyria. Jesus, on the other hand, is better and fuller and brings lasting relief. Matthew says, “he will save his people from their sins.” That for which God's people longed for generations and generations, what they received only in part, we have received in full in the birth of Jesus. In Isaiah's day, God defeated temporary enemies who threatened the physical lives of God's people. In Jesus, God defeats our permanent enemies of sin and death. In Isaiah's day, God reminded his people that it was his plan to dwell with them again; in Jesus, God has begun and will soon completely dwell with his people again. In Isaiah's day, a natural birth pointed to God's purposes to defeat his natural enemies; in Jesus, his supernatural birth, pointed to God's plan to defeat our supernatural enemies and give us life with him forever. Church, our main point this morning is that God became a baby so you could have a sure reason to trust him in all of life. Think about it: if God didn't want to truly and fully help his people, he would not have gone through all of the effort from Genesis through the birth of Christ to fulfill this promise. If he wasn't actually going to help us, why spend thousands of years building up to this moment? And if God didn't mean to rescue you from sin and death and also from every other pain and struggle you deal with in his timing, why would he do the miracle of becoming a human baby? I once read that “the most amazing miracle in the entire Bible,”[7] the infinite God somehow taking the form of a limited human child is more profound than anything.[8] And he did that in order to come and rescue us from sin and death (our greatest need) and to help us in the midst of every other failure, weakness, pain, and limitation we face in the meantime. Jesus's birth doesn't mean he will fix every problem we have immediately, but it does mean he will give us the grace we need to endure until he does. Here's my concern for us this morning: that God has given us more than a sufficient sign that he's going to make everything right, and our emotional states of being, day to day, don't reflect that. We can be so full of worry, or disappointment, or fear that someone who was talking with us wouldn't think that God had given us sure hope that he will make all things right. I can get so discouraged by injuries or pain that don't heal fully in my body, or about the whole COVID situation, or about loved ones who aren't responding to the gospel. And it affects my demeanor. And God is like, “Ross, didn't I become a baby, didn't I cross the infinite barrier between heaven and earth, in part, to show you that I have a sufficient solution for everything?” Friends, it is right for a Christian to feel sorrow in this broken world, but our hope should overpower it because our reasons for hope in Jesus are far bigger. We can feel so disappointed with how our relationships are going, or our jobs are going, or how our family of origin is (and those things make sense why they weigh on us, but they should not control our mood!). This child's name is “Immanuel” which means, “God is with us.” Are any of the problems we are facing weightier than the reality that our God is with us? If that's the case, what should have the stronger impact on our mood and emotions? I think a Christian who is hoping in the promise of God to put things right, will rightly feel sadness in this broken world, and it makes sense that we would feel anxious about certain things. Yet, these emotions will not be most prominent in what we express or how others perceive us. Rather, hope-filled confidence should be the emotion that others perceive most in us, if we have a reason as great as this to have hope. You might say, “Ross, this is easier said than done! I can know my emotions are supposed to be different, but that doesn't change how I feel.” And that's the point I'm trying to drive at this morning: God gave us a sign to meditate on, thank him for, draw assurance from, and hope in to help us become the sorrowful yet even more rejoicing Christians God has called us to be: he became a baby. The way we don't become Ahaz's whose hearts are shaking like the trees, but instead be Isaiah's who have bold faith, joy, and peace is we receive this sign of God with joy. If God were not going to be the solution and overcome our problems, he would not have become a baby period. But he did do something as extraordinary as become a human child, and that human child grew up and did something as extraordinary as dying for all our sins. And those things being the case, do you think you can trust him to help you with the weight you are bringing in here this morning? Here's one application I would like for you to walk away from this sermon with: when you are feeling different disappointments, fears, and worries rising up and stifling for faith and joy in Jesus, pray, “God, if you became a human child to rescue the whole world, you can certainly help me with this.” It's not that we have insufficient reasons to hope, it's that our attention is often on something else besides our greatest reason for hope. And if you are here this morning and you are not following Jesus yet, and you don't have a reason to have invincible hope, please talk to me or any of our members before you leave. Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:12 PM November 26, 2021. Admin Oaks2021!!!!! [1] Motyer, J. A. (1999). Isaiah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 20, p. 88). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [2] Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press. [3] Motyer, J. A. (1999). Isaiah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 20, p. 88). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [4] Koehler, L., Baumgartner, W., Richardson, M. E. J., & Stamm, J. J. (1994–2000). The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 836). Leiden: E.J. Brill. [5] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 437). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [6] John Calvin, John Calvin: Commentary on Isaiah - Volume 1 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). [7] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan Academic, 1994), 563. [8] Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

“The Christian saint always has her eyes wide open.” This is G.K. Chesterton's gloss on the primary difference between Christian and Buddhist iconography, or paintings and visual representations of the truths of faith. Self-denial means something different for each. The Buddhist denies their experience in order to clarify their inner identity, he says, but the Christian does the opposite: the Christian denies their inner identity in order to clarify their experience. Self-denial for the Christian is about putting our desires in order so that we can be tenaciously, gently and above all truly present to God and to the world outside ourselves. It's about learning to accept a gift which comes from outside yourself. I don't know enough about Buddhism or Eastern culture to know whether Chesterton's contrast is accurate, but he has heard a true thing about the gift we receive as Christians: God works in, with, through and under us to accomplish the giving of the gift, but fundamentally it comes to us from the outside. So keep your eyes open, and your hands outstretched. You will know it in the breaking of the bread.

"Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing" (Isaiah 40:26) Its good to be back. I'm one of the co-pastors at Immanuel church here in Hamilton, ON. My colleague, Pastor Anthony has been away for some time on Sabbatical. You should begin hearing his melodic tones on these airwaves next week. For those of you reading these words, his will appear here. Thanks again to Mr. Rick Verkerk for filling in for me while I was on vacation and to Jennifer Heidinga who continues to fill in for Pastor Anthony admirably. We often hope that vacation provides time for things like decompression, relaxation, reflection, or recharging, those kinds of things. It was for me. But it came in an odd way. We were not in hiding, we watched some of the Olympics and kept up with the happenings in the world a bit. Reflecting on that, I couldn't help thinking, “the world is an ugly place.” I don't think I need to explain that or elaborate, it seems self-evident. But sitting by the lake, doing a little fishing (don't get excited, you fishing folk, those fish I was after weren't biting), driving through parts of Quebec and Ontario, I couldn't help noticing that the world is also a beautiful place. So, our text for today came to mind, "Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." Others as well, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2). And “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…” (Romans 1:20). This has always been the key for Christians: God's invisible qualities are visible in creation. The things he created and has sustained throughout the millennium reflect his glory. As his glory shines through, we see beauty. It was good to see. I hope many of you will see beauty as God's glory shines through. While perceiving this beauty and recognizing that it is still true that this world is an ugly place, I remembered one of my favourite literary quotes, “There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for” (J.R.R. Tolkien The Two Towers). For you movie buffs, it made it into the movies in arguably one of top scenes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. (Or maybe it was only in the extended version). And so, I return from vacation ready to continue with the ‘good fight' as the Apostle Paul named it. But how does one fight in this complex and ugly world tinged with beauty? Jesus' words to his disciples put it simply, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). It seems that our natural human desire is to do great deeds, things that will make it into the history books. Yet, our Lord, the one we serve, calls us to help the least of the world, and not to display our deeds before others. In the small acts of kindness and love, the glory of the Lord will also shine forth. Maybe nobody will notice. But our Lord does, and that is all that matters.

Walking In God's Faithfulness Reader: Angus Macdonald Date: 20th July 2021 Time: Passage: Psalm 26:3 ------------------- Some of the greatest adventure stories through the centuries have involved people walking over such dangerous terrain as scorching deserts, high mountains, dense and sinister forests. The Bible itself tells of many adventurous journeys, very especially the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. David, the writer of Psalm 26 pictured himself on a journey, walking with God. He uses interesting words to tell us about his life. As he travels with God, David wants to be like God — God's steadfast committed love to him is the kind of love he aims to have in his own life. He wants his character to reflect the character of God. David is also very aware of God's presence in his life, as if God were directing his footsteps all his journey through. "I walk in your faithfulness" he said. We read the same thing earlier in the Bible when God told Abraham to walk with him. There was to be a definite close relationship between the two of them. David was conscious of this too. God, the faithful God, the loving God walked with him to direct him in the way he should go. By his Holy Spirit in us as Christians God has that guiding help for us as well. ## Prayer Dear Lord, may I rejoice in your steadfast love and faithful guidance each day of my life. Amen.

David Eells - 6/13/21  Death in the Leftist Capital / Trumps Return Timothy Dixon - 5/24/21 (David's notes in red) In my dream I was walking along the Potomac River in Washington DC. As I was walking I heard a rattling sound; like a rattlesnake. I was questioning in my spirit, “What is this that I am hearing?” (Nurses describe the terminal respiratory secretions, also known as a “death rattle.” A death rattle is a distinctive sound that a person may make as they are coming to the end of their life and may no longer be able to swallow or cough effectively enough to clear their saliva.) I felt such trouble in my heart as I walked around the area. In my dream the big bridge crossing the river was not there, it was gone…  (The broad way out, mans way out, of this death is not available to most.)    I was walking on the shore and… to my right, which would be South, would have been where the Lincoln Memorial and the mall entrance would be. (They were both gone.) (The forefathers ways and leadership are not remembered) I continued walking and and as I got into the city limits of DC, I crossed the Potomac River and I started walking across the national mall.  There I saw a man sitting and looking up towards the capitol building. He had long, gray hair and he resembled an ancient Native American Indian. (Representing the original owners of this land, which was taken away from them by legalized crime. In parallel, the Lord gave this land to our forefathers who gave us the Constitution and a more moral system of governance, but it was stolen by the DS satanist criminals. Even the Churches were stolen by a corrupt bunch of spiritual criminals who do not pattern themselves after scripture.)   I knew he was a prophet in his time. His back was to me and he asked me, “Can you hear? Can you hear the death rattles?” This question caught me off guard because I didn't know what to think. I didn't understand what was going on. I asked this native prophet, “Excuse me, what are you saying? Is there judgment here in DC; in Washington?”… He said, “You can hear!” (Notice, it changed from, “Can you hear?” to, “You can hear!”) (You can hear the death rattles prophesying the death of a criminal government.) And when he said this, I remember it stuck out to me. He was telling me something that I had already heard before. I had heard the death rattles before. He said, “You can hear the death rattles. The ‘great spirit' has come down!” (The Lord is coming to judge the Edomites who factioned against their own brethren in government and church. Deb Horton just got this word in our morning prayer meeting. Isa 63:1-4  Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.  2  Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat?  3  I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment.  4  For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.) This confused me. I wanted to know if we worshiped the same God. I asked him, “Do you mean the Spirit of God?” and he answered and said, “He's the only Great Spirit.” In my dream I didn't understand why it was a Native American sitting there. He was so focused on the death rattles. I could hear the sound of the death rattles all through the city. I could feel an angelic spirit amidst the judgment that was all around us. I could feel the reverence and power of the hands of God; the angels of death and of judgment. I could hear the sound all through the city and it was all around us. I sensed that this Indian recognized the power that was there because it had been part of his culture. It was as if he had wisdom about our current time because he experienced something similar long ago. He was a very wise-looking man. (Our early wise men have been ignored.) I knew this native prophet, which is the only way I know to describe him, was a man that could sense the strong presence of and had an understanding of what he called, “The Great Spirit" and what I called the Alpha the Omega; the Almighty God.  …The American Indians have an understanding… of faith that is true and spiritual but they don't explain it like we do in our English language and sometimes it can be confusing to the listener. …They do not explain things like the American or English preachers do. …and this prophet was totally out of place standing in my current time but I knew he was something from an ancient time. This man represented the voice of the prophets (which is who our early father were) and his message was that judgment by death has come instantly and run throughout the land. Judgment has come against the wicked but not against God's true people. It's for all the politicians who chose evil in various multiple states. I knew, supernaturally, that this Native American was a messenger of the Lord in my dream… I sensed that the judgment that's been placed on America, especially on Washington DC, is because of what was done to the native prophets on American soil. It began with them being forced to leave their traditions and their faith and their land. Sickness and disease came upon them and many died… (The leadership of the early settlers provided the American Indians with blankets purposely infested with small pox in order to cull the Native population so that they could confiscate their land and kill them off as a people.)  He was speaking to the Great Spirit of God, in my dream, as he was sitting there in a portal of time. He was saying, "They did this to us and now they're doing it to you.” (In other words the DS are spreading plague, especially through the vac/cines to depopulate us but the Lord is using it to depopulate them.) I could see that they had already, once, done this to the American Indian people; to steal the land and that is why he was sitting there at this gateway… this portal of time. He was saying they did this to us and now they're gonna do it to you again! I needed to confirm what he meant so I asked, “So you mean death is on the politicians in DC? He said, “Yes. The Great Spirit has brought death rattles…”  I then saw a darkness that the physical eye could not see. It began to move like a dark cloud. The Native American was sitting on a sidewalk at a gated area just off the street that led to the White House and the Capitol building towards those same steps that have been in many of my dreams. He asked again, “Do you hear the death rattles and it was established in my spirit in the dream that we were talking about the same God. There was no mistake that this man was an ancient American prophet of God from of old. He had come through time, in a vision, through a dream to speak to me. And I had a supernatural revelation that the evil spirit that had motivated the politicians in this Capitol Building to attack our freedom, was the same spirit that took out the tribes who worshipped the Great Spirit… The same evil spirit that stomped them out to take away their freedom and blamed it on something else… was the same spirit. …This same evil spirit is the satanic Baal god that the Lord recently called a Dagon spirit; a god of the Philistines. (The DS are learning that the Christians God is stronger than theirs so they desire to kill all Christians. 1Sa 5:2  And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.  3  And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.  4  And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands lay cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. ... 7  And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.) …It's here… The death rattles are hitting the Capitol… and judgment has been coming for years. It has now hit the city says the Lord of Hosts. As the dream was ending I saw the darkness in the Spirit that you couldn't see with your eyes moving among the death rattles through DC; moving to the political arena. It was not just the Washington DC area, but it also had an authority in Portland Oregon. People started having problems and instantly passed away. Judgment had hit the political arena. it reminded me of the death angel in Exodus that came to claim the firstborn of the Egyptian people. People literally began falling over dead. Some fell over their desks inside the Capitol. I knew, in my spirit, that President Trump is going to come back; just as the children were delivered at the Red Sea. We will be delivered!  Link: https://youtu.be/qXUQ2wMZU6I   The First of Many Deaths are Coming (350 Million) Liberty (Spirit Move Ministry) - 5/17/21 (David's notes in red) (Eve's note about this prophecy: I asked the Lord if we should share this Word and dream with the brethren of UBM and received by faith at random Lam. 2:13. My finger was on the phrase, “I testify unto thee!”. (This text is a lamentation over the fallen leadership of God's people, apostate Jerusalem, which also led the body astray and their destruction at the hands of DS Babylon.) Lam. 2:13 (11-17 in context) Mine eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured upon the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. 12 They say to their mothers, Where is grain and wine? When they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, When their soul is poured out into their mothers bosom. 13 What shall I testify unto thee? what shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee? 14 Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish visions; And they have not uncovered thine iniquity, to bring back thy captivity, But have seen for thee false oracles and causes of banishment. 15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem,'saying , Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? 16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee; They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up; Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. 17 Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; he hath fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old; He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: And he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; he hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries.  We are only sharing this portion from the YouTube video because that is all the Lord wanted for us to hear and understand…) Liberty's Prophetic word from the Lord:  “The first of many deaths are coming. More is on the way; more death and destruction as I prepare to do a mighty work on the earth. Many deaths are coming. (These will be physical deaths and spiritual deaths) There are many deaths coming in all different forms as my manifested glory goes forward. This will be a side effect of the kingdom of God rising and the kingdom of darkness falling. There is a death coming but many more are coming behind it. There's things I will be allowing on the earth to bring my people closer to me and to woo the unsaved into my presence. The unsaved will literally have nowhere to turn but to the light of Christ as I am preparing the earth for the final outpouring, hearts will come in in droves; looking for help, deliverance and hope in the midst of despair. There are times I have to allow despair to woo people in. It is not a terrible thing; it is a beautiful thing. Some people can only be brought up out of the pit this way. They will not receive me without there being many spiritual and physical deaths. The Body of Christ must be ready to receive these souls. They must be ready to manifest the Presence; because the Presence is what's going to woo them in. My Presence is where perfect love is and perfect hope. They will need this perfect love and this perfect hope. (It will be our job to bring it in; to build it; to release it.) This is what I'm preparing the Body of Christ; for a death is coming and many more.”  Then he reminded me and he said, “Remember the dream I gave you last August …The one with the death count?” and I said, “Yes I do.” and the Lord said, “This is what that dream was about.” (…you better pay attention… because He said, “I'm real. The Bible is real. Hell and Heaven are real.” But in the midst of this word there is so much hope because the Lord is saying, “Although these things must take place; It's for My purpose and My kingdom.” So we have to know in our hearts that there's going to be so much fruit from the despair and the destruction.)… I had asked the Lord back in August of 2020, when the death count was reported as rising from CV-19, “What's happening here? How many are gonna die in the midst of this?”… Then the Lord gave me this dream: In the dream there was a rolodex right in front of me and as I was looking at it, the rolodex first read, “2.5 million.” In my heart, in the dream, I knew what He was saying, “2.5 million deaths”.  But then something was happening in the Spirit. Something was changing. I don't know what all was going on in the midst of it but, it flipped and the rolodex flipped to 3.5 million and I was like, “Oh dear God!… Then it flipped one more time and it landed on a final number which read… 350 million people. Boom.  (This could be deaths world wide from the va/cc/ines plague. Or it could include the deaths from the result of war between the DS and the allies.) Dream over. So I got up and I knew what he told me. I knew what he was saying and I sat down with him and I wrote it down and I said, Lord… this can't be real. Is this what you're telling me? Is this an answer to my question and he said, “Yes.” And I said, “God! How is that even plausible? And, at the time, he did not answer me but He let me know there would be 350 million deaths. (This is probably a world wide death count and it could be coming quickly as more and more people are taking the jab and the passing months bring the count up geometrically.) Link to You Tube Video:  https://youtu.be/Vy6q6ggQzpw      The Winged Destroyer Brings Judgment and Death Marianna Payne - 5/29/21 (David's notes in red) In this dream, I was in a car with three other people that I have never met before. The road that we were on continued straight down the center of a city. Big tall buildings were on each side of the road that we were on. (The city represents Babylonish religion which we are commanded to come out of and be separate. The Bride and those with her travel on the straight highway of holiness road. Pro 21:8, (NLT) The guilty walk a crooked path; the innocent travel a straight road.) Then all of the sudden, out in the horizon, high in the left side of sky, we saw a red dot blazing as it was descending. The dot became large like an asteroid or meteorite. It was a big ball of fire that had a large tail and it was falling towards the right side of the city. (Judgment is in the hand of the Lord and He sets the wicked goats on His left. But He uses them to judge those in rebellion on the right. His judgment will fall on the apostate church who think they are in right standing with God because of their religious traditions. God will use the DS Babylon to judge the apostate church first and bring His elect out from among the Harlot religions of Babylon. 1Pe 4:17  For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18  And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? You notice the greater judgment on the wicked will come after they bring the saints to their cross.) It was about to crash onto the earth, but it changed its trajectory and was now aimed straight towards us, aimed to fall right on top of us in the car. The asteroid crashed a couple of miles in front of us. (Bride escapes the destruction)  The crater exploded in fire and a wave of fire bellowed out from it and the earth quaked from the impact. The entire city lost power and the windows in the buildings blew out and the sky darkened as if it was now night time. (Spiritually speaking, the Harlot church in Babylon will lose power when God's judgment falls and spiritual darkness covers the earth. There will be a mass exodus of God's elect fleeing the darkness of apostasy through the great revival and outpouring of the Holy Spirit that God is sending at the same time His judgments begin. They will come out of the darkness to the light of the Man-child and Bride. Isa. 60:1-5, Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. 5 Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.) The smoke settled and the fire subsided. Then out from the crater of the asteroid, crawled a four-legged creature. It was a yellow or tan lion with a large mane. It had two huge wings like an eagle coming out from its belly and had long pointed horns on each side of its face and a snout like a bull. Its entire body was glowing in flames and stood about 10 feet tall. (10 is the number of the Law and of judgment.) The ground was smoldering beneath it. Its eyes were fiery red, and it looked right at us. (This is the Babylonish Beast who hates traditional Christianity and will devour it as in Rev 17.) Then it started to run towards us. As it passed buildings, everything would become consumed in its fires and be destroyed. (Dan. 7:2-10, Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of heaven brake forth upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings (This was Babylon representing at this time DS Babylon): I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to it. 5 And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear (This was the Medo-Persian bear with Cyrus at its head who is a type of President Trump who will conquer DS Babylon.); and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.  The driver of the car drove us off towards the right side of the city. The creature was stopping at each building and devouring everyone it could find. We were able to get some distance between us and the creature. (The Beast will be able to devour everyone that it finds. That is, all those who don't have the Psalm 91 protection of being hidden beneath the shadow of Fathers wings through sanctification and faith in the promises of God.) We arrived at a small older looking house. It was the only house in the entire city that had its lights on. An elderly woman was standing at the door and beckoned for us to come in. (This elderly woman represents Wisdom whose house the Bride lives in and soon those fleeing DS Babylon will seek out. Her house is small and old because she represents the ancient paths that only a small remnant, throughout History, have followed. Pro. 8:1-12, Doth not wisdom cry, And understanding put forth her voice? 2 On the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, she standeth; 3 Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, At the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud: 4 Unto you, O men, I call; And my voice is to the sons of men. 5 O ye simple, understand prudence; And, ye fools, be of an understanding heart. 6 Hear, for I will speak excellent things; And the opening of my lips shall be right things. 7 For my mouth shall utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. 9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, And right to them that find knowledge. 10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold. 11 For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto it. 12  I wisdom have made prudence my dwelling, And find out knowledge and discretion. In times of destruction wisdom is more valuable than silver and gold.)  The three other people and myself walked into the house and it was then that I realized that I was with my youngest son, Isaiah, who is 4 years old. Isaiah means “God is salvation”. (Isaiah was a wise man who brought salvation to those who had ears to hear.  Isa 33:5-6  Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.  6  And there shall be stability in thy times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah is thy treasure.)  Isaiah and I walked around the inside of the house, I thought that I wanted to seek shelter in the innermost part of the house. We walked through the kitchen, past the bathroom, and through the hallway. We entered a bedroom and I sat on the floor just past the doorway and next to the bed. Although the house had power, the lights were off in this room. (Because it is a time for rest in the promises under the shadow of His wings.)  I had my son sit in my lap as I prayed. I started praying in English and then began praying in tongues. Soon my prayer in tongues turned into a more fervent prayer and became louder. (The Bride intercedes for the rest of the people of God just as Queen Esther did before king Ahasuerus.) At this point, I realized that the room was dark because someone was sleeping in the King-sized bed beside where I was sitting on the floor. I hadn't noticed Him laying there but, as I was praying in tongues, He started to pray in tongues also, even though He was still sleeping. (Jesus is the arm of the Lord. Isa. 51:9, Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster?) He prayed in tongues and then he said in English, “The Destroyer.”  Then he prayed something more in tongues and then said in English, “Earth Quake.” Then he prayed once again in tongues and he said something else in English, but I can't remember it now. (When the Lord comes in His Man-child body it will be the time of great earthquakes and a Passover from the Destroyer.  Psa. 7:6-13, Arise, O Jehovah, in thine anger; Lift up thyself against the rage of mine adversaries, And awake for me; thou hast commanded judgment. 7 And let the congregation of the peoples compass thee about; And over them return thou on high. 8 Jehovah ministereth judgment to the peoples: Judge me, O Jehovah, according to my righteousness, and to mine integrity that is in me. 9 O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish thou the righteous: For the righteous God trieth the minds and hearts. 10 My shield is with God, Who saveth the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, Yea, a God that hath indignation every day. 12 If a man turn not, he will whet his sword; He hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; He maketh his arrows fiery shafts.) Then he rolled over and sat up from the bed and looked straight at me; right into my eyes. He was a middle eastern looking man with brown skin and dark hair. He was in his 30s. (I know that this was Jesus!) His eyes were all encompassing and filled me up with peace. Then he laid back down and went to sleep. (Jesus, in the Man-child, is currently at rest, but He will arise soon in anointing to bring new life and revival to His elect and judgment to the wicked.) There were also four children that were also sleeping near the bed and all four children got up to see what was happening outside. I motioned for them to keep quiet as they left the room. When they opened the bedroom door, I could see outside as if through their eyes. The glowing creature was sitting outside the house waiting for anyone to come out in order to devour them. (Anyone is without the Passover protection of the blood of the Lamb if they leave the house on which the blood is. Exo 12:22  And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two sideposts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.) Then I was somehow transported to another location. I was in a tall building that had 14 stories. (The foundation has already been laid which is Christ and then the early Apostles, etc) Inside this building I knew that Dave Nelson and I were looking for other people to bring back with us to Jesus's house. (Dave here represents the David Man-child reformers) (Isaac: I believe the 14th floor represents that we are the last 14th generation after Christ and his spiritual seed mentioned in the Mat. Ch.1 genealogy. Mat.1:17, So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away unto Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations. We are the 42nd generation as David Eells's book explains that it was actually 14, 14, and 13 generations mentioned. The 14th generation is said here to be Christ, and it is the body of Christ in our day. “What Has Been Shall Be: The Man-Child Returns” talks about this on page 22-29. Psa.22:30 A seed shall serve him; It shall be told of the Lord unto the next generation.  Psa. 89:3-4, I have made a covenant with My Chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations. Selah.) While on the 14th floor, I was with two other people that I have never met in real life. We were hiding and waiting in a bathroom. The 2 other people were in the corner behind me and I was praying with them. Dave Nelson rushed into the bathroom and crystal-clear water began to pour out of his mouth. It propelled at least three feet out and was at a high velocity and long duration. When Dave spoke, he said, “The Destroyer cannot be everywhere at once. While it is in the basement, Let's get out!” (Isaac: I think that Dave Nelson represents the Davidic Man-child ministry.) (The Man child ministers will deliver the pure water of the Word to the elect people of God once the anointing has come and they will give guidance that will help the people avoid destruction.) Dave Nelson led me and the other 2 people out of the 14th floor and down towards the road to his vehicle. The floor level of the building was an Outdoor Store; a store that sells camping, hunting, fishing, and sports items. (Representing a wilderness period for the people which is just ahead when people will be in need. We are not far from the tribulation but this may come before that.) The entire store was in disarray. Shelves were pushed over, and items had been looted. There were still some strangers looting as we walked through. One of the people that was talking with us, asked if he needed to grab a sleeping bag or lantern or something. Dave said, “No, God will provide.” (In the wilderness God will provide the needs of His people supernaturally.) We walked out of the store and saw that Dave's vehicle was a salvaged, pieced together car with parts that didn't look like they should go together, much less run. The vehicle had a sedan front and a shopping buggy basket as a trunk. (God can choose the weak things of the world to show His power to save and provide.) I then noticed that a young teenage boy was with us. It was my Isaiah. He had matured into a young man overnight and I only recognized his necklace that he always wears. The outside buildings were frosted over, and I said to Isaiah that he should wrap himself with a blanket for our car ride back to Jesus's house. He said plainly, “I'm covered.” (Isaiah represents the fruit of the Bride that will mature very quickly when the Man child ministry and the end time revival begin.) Then I woke up.   Biden Voters Lose Their Minds Bill Steenland - 11/22/20  (David's notes in red) In my dream a Democrat was telling me about what they have seen at their “parties”. She was very distraught and confused because the people in the Joe Biden “party” were being decapitated by an angel. She was put off that the people were still alive but with no heads. I think it means they have no power to rationalize or think. (As this far left party has factioned against the right wing and Christians and lost their brains so God speaks of the Edomites who factioned against their chosen brother Israel and lost all wisdom. Both David and the Nations conquered them and so it will be. (Jer 49:7-8  Of Edom. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?  8  Flee ye, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him…. 10  But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brethren, and his neighbors; and he is not. … 13  For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 14  I have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.)  I think this also means these people are going to “lose it” or lose “their heads” when the courts rule in favor of President Trump on the vote cheating they have done. I also can't help but think it's a form of reprobation similar to the mark or ultimate judgement. These are the people who have been taking in faction and witchcraft against President Trump, America, and the Christians for four straight years, so I'm not surprised.    It's Almost Trump 'TIME'! Vanessa Weeks - 3/2/21 (David's notes in red) I dreamed a few of us here were sitting in a circle at the Shaw's. Michael (meaning: Who is like God?) was standing and telling us that when the news is released of the De/ep Sta/te's actions, that very soon after that, Time magazine would have Trump on the cover with a story, and it will be very important. (We've heard of the Durham report coming out soon. Much other declassification is coming out now.  This would be a timely declassification before Trump is reinstated as President of the United States and also after the election audit results in the swing states are revealed.) In the dream, I saw that it would be a large magazine like 'Look magazine', which I remember from my childhood. (Barry: The magazine was Time magazine, but it was in a large format like "Look" magazine was, 11"x14". Look magazine stopped publication in 1971, so maybe this hints at a return to how life was in the past.) (Trump's second administration or 'TIME' in office will be much greater than his first term. God is using him to reform governments around the world.) Time magazine now is very left leaning so this would be a miracle. (The DS MSM will be taken down during the 10 days of darkness. Q says, “Dark to Light”. When the lights come back on, we will have a free and independent media, temporarily run by the military, at least for awhile.) I asked why is it so important? I received by faith at random Isa 1:7 (in context 7-9) Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8  And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9  Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Here is another awesome parallel between President Trump and the Man-child ministries, which is Jesus manifested in them by His Word and Spirit.   It's Almost David's 'TIME'! Eve Brast - 6/29/16 (David's notes in red) I knew I had to hurry because Curt was having a going-away party at his house because he and David were going somewhere and I didn't want to be late for the occasion. (The name Curtis means "wise counsel". Through the wise counsel of the Word, the Davids are led to their spiritual death [and resurrection].) When I got to the party, Curt had it all set up in his library. Curt (as Wisdom) had a very expensive, large house and his library had upscale wood paneling with many shelves full of books. (Col 2:2-3  that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, even Christ,  3  in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden. {Pro.9:1} Wisdom hath builded her house; She hath hewn out her seven pillars: {2} She hath killed her beasts; She hath mingled her wine; She hath also furnished her table. {Mat.7:24} Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.)  It wasn't a party with a bunch of food; it was just like our regular weekly Local UBM meetings on Monday and Friday, only it was a special celebration for their departure. When I got there, the praise and worship was just ending and as the last notes were played. I sat down on the floor to the right side of the library in front of Curt. He was seated on a stool with his feet firmly planted on the floor (rooted and grounded on the firm foundation of Christ) and his two hands rested on top of his knees. (Not trusting in the arm of the flesh.) As I turned and looked up at him, his face was red and he was teary-eyed as he watched David step up to the podium to teach us and give his farewell address. (Representing the passing away of the self life of the David Man-child body.).  When he started his farewell speech, he intermittently extolled all of Curt's strengths and his dedication, and how we've all benefited from his service to us. (This is true of Curt and of what he represents: wisdom.) (Wise counsel is a tree of life. Pro.3:18 She [wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.) I looked back at Curt and knew this was hard on him. I then looked at all the books behind him on the shelves and wondered how he was going to pack them all to take with them. (They are in his heart library.) Then I turned back toward David who was still speaking and noticed that Curt had the whole opposite wall of the library dedicated to his TIME Magazine collection. Each magazine was on its own little shelf and was in a clear plastic protector. (The wisdom gained over time is cumulative and valuable bringing us all through the experience of losing our life to gain our higher life in Christ.)  I saw that the latest copy (in the last TIME) in the center of the display had an Andy Warhol-style picture on the cover of David Eells looking upward. (A type of the David Man-child's expectation being Heavenly. After their spiritual death there will be a resurrection to the throne.  Rev 12:5  And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. Col.3:2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. 3 For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. {4} When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory.) It was done in skintones with red, white, and blue mixed in. (Those who truly love their country will lose their old life to gain their Christ life.)  (This reminds me of my dream of our corner of Zion coming down from Heaven on top of the 12 dead panthers with the white paws and a voice telling me (as a type of the Bride) I was now promoted to President of the United States after the order of the tribe of Zebulun.) (The Bride body will rule as the Lord said the overcomers would do. Esther, the Bride, ruled under the direction of Mordecai, as a type of the David Man-child. As David was the head of Jerusalem, which was called "the Bride" in Revelation, so the Man-child Davids rule through the body of the Bride. Here is the portion of that dream Eve speaks of: Suddenly, a loud voice above and behind me said, "You have been promoted to President (presiding over) of the United States, after the order of the tribe of Zebulun!" (Can a David Man-child, head member of the Bride body, as David was, be President of the U.S.? Only in regard to his exercising authority for God. Even Jesus, who had all authority to speak for the Father, said, {Joh.5:30} I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. We received His Word a few days ago: {6:38} For I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. So the Lord is the real President but He has a body of people He speaks through whom He is calling "President" here. The word TIME was above David's head on the cover. (Time is up for the David's crucifixion. Time to go to the throne.) David had been revealed to everyone and was going away with Curt because he had a bigger job to do now. (Promotion/anointing of the David Man-children [to the throne after their spiritual death to self].) This is when I woke up. I remember Missy had a revelation or a word about it being "TIME". I asked Father for a word by faith at random today and it really fits this dream He gave me this morning: {Est.10:2} And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai (a type of the David Man-child company), whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? {3} Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews. (This will be true of the Man-child ministers around the globe.)   Select LanguageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKinyarwandaKoreanKurdish (Kurmanji)KyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianOdia (Oriya)PashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTatarTeluguThaiTurkishTurkmenUkrainianUrduUyghurUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu Powered by Translate Printer-friendly version

Linger means. Stay in a place longer than necessary because of not wanting to move on But has a Christians God has called us to know the time and the seasons because he doesn't want us to Linger where we should have moved on from in the spirit or natural. don't linger move on you never know what God has in store for you in his time and season have a blessed day everyone Jesus is Lord thank you for listening and being a part of my journey may the good lord richly bless you

No salvation without circumcision? It must have seemed very logical to some of the early Christians: God had commanded His people to follow some rules and to carry in their bodies the sign of being in covenant with Him. If Gentiles wanted to join the people of God, they would have to observe the Sabbath, keep a kosher diet, and be circumcised. But there's a flaw in that logic: This covenant isn't like that covenant. We have a record of how the early church resolved their controversy, and we'll look at it today with Pastor Jim. Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS04292021_0.mp3Scripture References: Acts 15:1-21

Do Jews believe in God? And where does Jesus fit in? We're looking at Jewish conceptions of God, how Jews express them today and how Jesus and the Trinity came from ancient Jewish beliefs.

Text: Mark 1:29-39 Description: In the fourth week of our sermon series, “We Hold These Truths” Pastor Krista talks about another one of our core beliefs as Christians: God’s grace- filled nature is revealed through the life of Jesus.  Jesus knocks down barriers to show grace.  Note: This sermon mentions depression and anxiety.  If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety- know that you/ they are not alone.  The pastors are available to listen and/ or refer you to mental health professionals. You can also text “HOPELINE” to 741741 or call 1-800-273-8255 to talk to someone at any time of the day.

In a followup to our most downloaded episode,  What Does the Bible Say About Climate Change?, host, Peterson Toscano speaks with two Christian women about their faith, their commitment to creation care, and why they see Citizens Climate Lobby as a place where they can pursue meaningful solutions. They talk about their values, the Bible, the spiritual charge to do the work of reconciliation, especially in a contentious and politically divided country. They speak with conviction about the need for Christian believers to take creation care seriously.   Kelsey Grant served as a CCL fellow with the Mountain West Higher Education Region. Currently she is a CCL Conservative Fellow and member of the Conservative Caucus Executive Team. At the University of Colorado-Boulder she is a pre-law student, double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy. She discovered Citizens’ Climate Lobby through her church, where she co-founded environmental ministries, taught about environmental stewardship as a Sunday School teacher, and occasionally served as a guest preacher. She has published over a dozen Op-Eds/letters to the editor. Kelsey was named a 2020 Udall Scholar and 2020 Truman Scholar Finalist for her work on conservative outreach in the climate space and empowering individuals to be effective facilitators of bipartisanship. Kelsey Grant’s Instagram.    Andrea Zink is from Tennessee and has spent her professional career working in the non-profit sector for mission-driven organizations such as The Salvation Army, Vanderbilt University, and Nashville Opera. She attends the United Methodist Church and serves on the United Methodist Circle of Grace prison ministry music team and on several UMC Creation Justice work committees.Andrea joined CCL in 2016 when she discovered CCL's bipartisan approach to climate change solutions. Andrea Zink’s Instagram.   The Art House In the Art House you will meet Lindsay Linsky. A Bible-believing Christian in Georgia, she is the author of the book, Keep It Good—Understanding Creation Care through Parables. Through her book she seeks to break through environmental apathy and partisan noise to show Christians God’s simple yet beautiful message of creation stewardship.   As a teacher, Lindsay Linsky understands how challenging it is to correct misinformation, and she recognizes the power of stories to engage people with new ideas. In our show she shares practical insights and a very powerful Bible verse that highlights the call to creation care.   Lindsay Linsky has been featured on panel discussions at theology conferences as well as podcasts and webinars on Creation Care Radio, Yale Climate Connections, and RepublicEN’s The EcoRight Speaks podcast. Special thanks to Price Atkinson for introducing us to Lindsay Linsky.   Lindsay earned her PhD in Science Education with a focus on environmental education and ocean literacy from the University of Georgia, and lives with her husband and children in Suwanee, GA. Lindsay Linsky on Twitter.   You can hear standalone versions of The Art House at Artists and Climate Change   Dig Deeper Lindsay Linsky on Why Christians Need to Keep Creation Good (YouTube) Evangelical Environmental Network Young Evangelicals for Climate Action Christianity Today articles on Creation Care Church and creation care: we need a theology-before-politics approach by Doyle Sager in Baptist News Global Bible Verses on Creation Care   How to Rescue the Earth without Worshiping Nature—A Christian’s Call to Save Nature by Tony Campolo, our guest for Ep 56 which premieres on January 22, 2012.    We always welcome your thoughts, questions, suggestions, and recommendations for the show. Leave a voice mail at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org     In 2021 we will also introduce a new feature to our monthly show. Our Good News Report will give listeners a chance to share those important and often under-reported stories of climate successes. It may be a story of national significance or something happening in your own neighborhood. We want to celebrate your successes. If you have a good news story, email us: radio @ citizensclimate.org.   You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

In a followup to our most downloaded episode, What Does the Bible Say About Climate Change?, host, Peterson Toscano speaks with two Christian women about their faith, their commitment to creation care, and why they see Citizens Climate Lobby as a place where they can pursue meaningful solutions. They talk about their values, the Bible, the spiritual charge to do the work of reconciliation, especially in a contentious and politically divided country. They speak with conviction about the need for Christian believers to take creation care seriously. Kelsey Grant served as a CCL fellow with the Mountain West Higher Education Region. Currently she is a CCL Conservative Fellow and member of the Conservative Caucus Executive Team. At the University of Colorado-Boulder she is a pre-law student, double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy. She discovered Citizens’ Climate Lobby through her church, where she co-founded environmental ministries, taught about environmental stewardship as a Sunday School teacher, and occasionally served as a guest preacher. Andrea Zink is from Tennessee and has spent her professional career working in the non-profit sector for mission-driven organizations such as The Salvation Army, Vanderbilt University, and Nashville Opera. She attends the United Methodist Church and serves on the United Methodist Circle of Grace prison ministry music team and on several UMC Creation Justice work committees. Andrea joined CCL in 2016 when she discovered CCL's bipartisan approach to climate change solutions. The Art House In the Art House you will meet Lindsay Linsky. A Bible-believing Christian in Georgia, she is the author of the book, Keep It Good—Understanding Creation Care through Parables. Through her book she seeks to break through environmental apathy and partisan noise to show Christians God’s simple yet beautiful message of creation stewardship. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32080425-keep-it-good?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=c2hCzNJnRy&rank=1 We always welcome your thoughts, questions, suggestions, and recommendations for the show. Leave a voice mail at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org See our show notes:https://citizensclimatelobby.org/category/citizens-climate-radio/

The soul is the most critical part of you. Soul care maintains a healthy soul and heals wounded ones. Only Christianity offers the right prescription for both. Only Christianity offers the right prescription for both. Join us in this episode to discuss one of the most overlooked dimensions of growing spiritually, caring for our souls. We discuss what the soul is, how to maintain a well-balanced spiritual life. We also dive deep into reasons and solutions for hurting fellow believers. 0:00 - Binmin Intro 0:13 - Welcome and Introduction. 1:13 - What is the soul? 1:59 - Definition of soul care. 2:21 - A healthy soul is saturated with the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Holy Trinity) and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) 4:43 - Cultivating a healthy soul within the church community. 6:40 - Causes of an unhealthy soul. (“Flipping the train”-- the caboose becomes the engine!) 10:58 - Manifestations of an unhealthy soul 14:35 - Helping hurting Christians: God's word is the only reliable resource we have that will help us deal with spiritual problems—look there first. Goal to have a deeper relationship with God. 16:38 - So what? For most situations being a faithful and listening friend pointing hurting friends back to God can be huge. But in dangerous situations, more intensive attention is required. 19:50 - Thank you and wrap-up For further information about Binmin and more resources for your spiritual life, visit Binmin.org CONNECT WITH THE BINMIN TEAM Instagram: Binmin Instagram Linkedin: Binmin Linkedin Twitter: Binmin Twitter Ask Questions: info@binmin.org PODCAST RESOURCES More from Binmin: Binmin.org Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on AnchorFM Subscribe on YouTube PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW If this podcast has helped you find your next steps for making your spiritual life more important to you, you can help share it by leaving an Apple Podcasts review! You can visit Apple Podcasts, go to the "Reviews" section, and leave a star rating or click on "Write a review" to share something you've gotten out of this podcast. Thank you for sharing!

SwordPlay - S3E14 (ep.77) - 1 Peter 2 v.1-12 - Clean-up: What text does Peter quote at the end of ch.1 & how does he apply it to his readers? (24-25) - Why did Peter have to tell them to put aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander? (v.1) - What does it mean to grow up into salvation? (v.2) - What verse does Peter allude to in verse 3? (v.3) - Who/What is the stone the builders rejected that has become the cornerstone & over which people stumble? (v.4, 6-8) - What verses does Peter quote in verses 6-8 & how does he use them in his argument? (v.6-8) - What does Peter mean when he says that people were “destined” to stumble over “the stone of stumbling”? (v.8b) - How are Christians a chosen race? (v.9) - How are Christians a royal priesthood? (v.9) - How are Christians a holy nation? (v.9) - How are Christians God’s possession? (v.9) - What does it mean to proclaim His excellencies? (v.9) - Who does Peter have in mind when quoting Hosea? (v.10) - What are the dangers of fleshly lusts? (v.11) - What does Peter have in mind for the Christian’s good deeds? What is the day of visitation? How would these gentiles glorify God in that day? (v.12) This week’s Featured Creature: Qeteb view our website: swordplay.cast.rocks search "swordplay" in iTunes podcasts, Google Play Music, or your favorite podcast app. Please "Like" us or even write a review. feel free to re-post to social media text questions to 316-24-sword (79673) send questions and comments to: swordplaypodcast@gmail.com

All Christians go through times of heartache and trouble. But we never have to suffer alone. Christians: God will always be with us, and one reason why is because Jesus Christ wants to heal our broken hearts. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/johnny-mays0/support

Have you ever thought about the Christians God has placed in your life, to help you connect with Him and discover more about His amazing love. The New Testament calls such people saints. In fact it calls all Christians saints. That is why this week we are celebrating All Saints Sunday. It is a day to thank God for the Christians He has put in our life, remember how they have helped us connect with Jesus and also what it means for you and me to live as one of God's saints. Support the show (https://donation.lca.org.au/project?id=P35241)

"There is No Longer Jew nor Greek: Dialogue on Christianity and Race" Honest dialogue about Christianity and racial identity informed by Scripture and experience of black Christians “God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:24-27 NIV11 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). In the verse quoted above, Paul attempted to capture the oneness of the people of God. This oneness emerged from the premise that believing in Jesus made believers spiritual descendants of Abraham and members of the worldwide, multi-ethnic family of God. In this family, all notions of domination and hierarchy were dismantled, and people acknowledged only the loving Lordship of the risen Jesus. This oneness, unprecedented in the ancient world, reflected the counter-cultural love of Jesus himself, who called a Zealot and a tax collector – normally sworn enemies – to live as brothers.  As such, in a world whose history is tainted by the effects of domination, imperialism, marginalisation and enforced slavery, Christians and the Christian community ought to be models in reconciliation and healing. However, the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin (to name a few) and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests have resurfaced deep wounds that have not healed, in the hearts of many of our black brothers and sisters. This combined with weaknesses in the Christian understanding of ethno-racial unity within and outside Christian communities has impacted the faith of many.  This session aims to bring the experiences of black Christians into conversation with Christian scripture to help facilitate honest dialogue, promote understanding and navigate the sensitive landscape of Christianity and racial identity. Speakers include Dr Andrew Ezeilo and Sandra Ezeilo, Rachael Corson, Elleen Okotie, Mike Desouza and Dr Andy Boakye.  The format included a mix of sharing, teaching and 30 minutes for discussion in breakout rooms. Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our web site is http://www.watfordchurchofchrist.org.    Join us in our adventure: 10.30 AM on most Sundays at Laurance Haines School, Vicarage Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD18 0DD.   Please add your comments on this week's topic. We learn best when we learn in community.    Do you have a question about the Bible or the Cahristian faith? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send us your questions or suggestions. Here's the email: thewatfordchurch@gmail.com.   Thanks again for listening. Have a super day.   God bless,   Malcolm   Watford, Watford church of Christ, Malcolm Cox, mccx, Croxley Green, Bushey, Leavesden, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, ICOC, ICCM, Chesham, Chorleywood, Aylesbury, Croxley, Laurance Haines School, Vicarage Road, Bible teaching, Sunday School, Youth Ministry, Watford Church, Churches in Watford, Churches in London, Churches in Hertfordshire, Watford UK, Holywell, Watford England, Watford in Hertfordshire, West Watford, Churches of Christ, 

Honest dialogue about Christianity and racial identity informed by Scripture and experience of black Christians   “God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:24-27 NIV11   There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).   In the verse quoted above, Paul attempted to capture the oneness of the people of God. This oneness emerged from the premise that believing in Jesus made believers spiritual descendants of Abraham and members of the worldwide, multi-ethnic family of God. In this family, all notions of domination and hierarchy were dismantled, and people acknowledged only the loving Lordship of the risen Jesus. This oneness, unprecedented in the ancient world, reflected the counter-cultural love of Jesus himself, who called a Zealot and a tax collector – normally sworn enemies – to live as brothers.    As such, in a world whose history is tainted by the effects of domination, imperialism, marginalisation and enforced slavery, Christians and the Christian community ought to be models in reconciliation and healing. However, the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin (to name a few) and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests have resurfaced deep wounds that have not healed, in the hearts of many of our black brothers and sisters. This combined with weaknesses in the Christian understanding of ethno-racial unity within and outside Christian communities has impacted the faith of many.    This session aims to bring the experiences of black Christians into conversation with Christian scripture to help facilitate honest dialogue, promote understanding and navigate the sensitive landscape of Christianity and racial identity.   Speakers include Dr Andrew Ezeilo and Sandra Ezeilo, Rachael Corson, Elleen Okotie, Mike Desouza and Dr Andy Boakye.    The format included a mix of sharing, teaching and 30 minutes for discussion in breakout rooms.   Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our web site is http://www.tvcoc.org.    Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.    Do you have a question about the Bible or the Christian faith? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send us your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: tvcochrist@gmail.com.   Thanks again for listening. Have a super day.   God bless,   Malcolm

Don’t miss this podcast. This is the hallmark of the our discussion. The Bible is not a religious bookJesus is not a religious leaderThe church is not a religious institutionWe are not Christians (God, Jesus or His disciples never called us that)Get ready for your religious world to be rocked

Dynasty Christians - God First Cory Taylor July 12, 2020

Walking In God's Faithfulness Reader: Angus Macdonald Date: 20th July 2020 Time: ------------------- Some of the greatest adventure stories through the centuries have involved people walking over such dangerous terrain as scorching deserts, high mountains, dense and sinister forests. The Bible itself tells of many adventurous journeys, very especially the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. David, the writer of Psalm 26 pictured himself on a journey, walking with God. He uses interesting words to tell us about his life. As he travels with God, David wants to be like God — God's steadfast committed love to him is the kind of love he aims to have in his own life. He wants his character to reflect the character of God. David is also very aware of God's presence in his life, as if God were directing his footsteps all his journey through. "I walk in your faithfulness" he said. We read the same thing earlier in the Bible when God told Abraham to walk with him. There was to be a definite close relationship between the two of them. David was conscious of this too. God, the faithful God, the loving God walked with him to direct him in the way he should go. By his Holy Spirit in us as Christians God has that guiding help for us as well. ## Prayer Dear Lord, may I rejoice in your steadfast love and faithful guidance each day of my life. Amen.

Do you remember the last time you've played a sport & felt completely disrespected by your opponent declaring that they're a mismatch for you? Challenging right?... The enemy often wants to deceive us in a similar way by amplifying the voice that says that he & the challenges we face outmatch us who are in Christ. The catch is this: as Christians God has won the victory and will always outmatch our enemy & circumstances.  Let's talk about it. Commuter's Communion serves devotional appetizers for the Godly on the go! Served by: @RhythmAndRedemption

God is building His church. In this message my Pastor Jeremy we look at the four types of Christians God will use to build his church. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jeremy-cook/support

Life is a series of decisions. Each of us are going to confront decision on a daily basis. But how do we make the right decision? In a world where we are confronted with more choices than every, how do we do what’s right? Join us as we look at to of the most misunderstood words in the life of many Christians…”God’s Will”.

If you are in ministry/leadership and have been out of order, God said come back to him and repent!! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kristen-lory/support

Sermon Direct Link 1/6/19 Rev. Clint Smith Unity with God! – Ephesians 1:1-14 Truth 1: Salvation is God’s divine plan. (v 1-2) The Apostle Paul wanted to share with Christians God’s plan. What great news! ... Read More The post Unity with God (Ephesians 1) appeared first on Town Creek Baptist Church.

Ephesians 5:3-7 Paul's reminds us to act in ways that reflect the moral standards that God has established. In our actions and our words, we are to reflect God. Thankfulness is a key to becoming the mature Christians God desires for us to become. May your presence be refreshing to the people God brings into your life this week.

(NOTE: Allow 30-90 seconds after clicking the START-arrow or Download-button for recording to begin.)The Blessed Man, Part 1 — Lonnie BellSermon Series: GenesisGenesis 14:1-1621 October 2018———————————————————————————————————————————————————FCC Vision Statement: Building on Exposition, Centering on Christ, Dying in Community, Serving on Mission———————————————————————————————————————————————————1. How does the text contrast Abram’s condition with that of Lot, and what does this tell us about Abram?2. What does it mean to say that as Christians God ensures our “safety”? Describe how this plays out in an individual’s life.3. How would you describe Abram’s character as depicted in this passage? What does it mean to say that faith is the powerhouse for service?4. How does Abram prefigure Christ in this narrative?5. How do these verses portray Abram’s “strength”? In what ways are we “strong,” and what does it look like to take advantage of God’s resources?References: Ephesians 1:3-14; Jude 1; Psalm 34:19; Romans 8:35-37; Matthew 5:3-12; Galatians 3:9; Judges 7; Zechariah 4:6; Ephesians 6:10.

Project 938 Small Groups Guide Sermon Based When Love Comes to Town: September 23, 2018 What stood out in the Bible about this week’s sermon? What stood out to you most about the sermon as a whole? What was the application of this week’s sermon for our church? What was the application of this week’s sermon for your personally? Read Eph. 1:15-23 as a group and write down what you observe about the passage. Talk about initial observations/questions of the passage as a group and then transition into these questions. In Eph. 1:17, Paul prays for the Ephesians to know Christ better. As a Christian, how can we have the Holy Spirit but still be disconnected in our relationship with Jesus? Examples: Not gathering together with other Christians; not spending time reading God’s Word; not praying What are you tempted to turn to in your vulnerability? Examples: overworking, sleep,spending all our time on kids’ activities, distancing ourselves from close relationships Can you share a time where you found the relationships in your life more valuable than anything else? What application(s) can we draw from looking closely at Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians? We don’t need to be afraid from our vulnerability as Christians – God will protect us! Go for depth, not breadth in our relationships. Who is a trustworthy friend I can ask to stand and pray in the vulnerability with me?

Why do people do the things they do, even “good Christians”? God gives us the answer in His Word, the answer that leads us to view ourselves and others with greater compassion and Jesus with greater appreciation.

It’s the number-one complaint of Christians: God seems far away. If you want to feel fresh waves of Jesus’ love washing over you and His presence drawing near, start by examining your obedience. As Jesus is about to depart, He explains the provision of the Holy Spirit and the offer of His abiding presence—a presence that is both a resource and reward for every step of obedience. Follow James MacDonald: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJamesMacDo...  Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamesmacdonald  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pastorjames...  Resources:  Our Journey Blog (weekly): http://www.jamesmacdonald.com/teachin...  Vertical Church Blog (for pastors): http://blog.jamesmacdonald.com  James MacDonald Books: http://store.jamesmacdonald.com/s-4-b...  Bible Studies: http://store.jamesmacdonald.com/s-27-...  Mail us stuff to our P.O. Box: http://www.jamesmacdonald.com/contact/  Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible-teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."  

Our verse: Gen 1:28 “...God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.” God tells us humans from the very beginning that humanity is to be fruitful. Just what is He talking about and how do we respond? Let's consider... Fruitfulness involves many things. Primarily it means having a family and increasing the number of people here. Second it means to take care of the earth. To make the earth a beautiful place to raise your family and be with your friends. God made this the rule of life for all people at the very beginning of time. How about a definition from God's perspective? “Fruitiful” means producing more humans and ruling over and using the earth in a way that helps everyone on it. Sadly mankind has messed up these guidelines and forgotten how to do it right. People today seek physical satisfaction as the primary goal and use up the earth for one's own ends without considering affects them or others. Our task is to reverse this trend among people everywhere. We are to be “fruitful”- productive in our lives on earth. This means we use the Golden Rule, treating others just like we want to be treated. Our concern pointed outward, not inward. It means we will raise and protect our families and treat them well. We will take care of the physical earth, not wasting what God made, but instead using and developing it for the benefit of all. This includes the digital world of electrons and machines. We are the next wave of Christians- God followers, following millions of others throughout history from Adam and Eve. We continue to bring good to the world. We are helpers and healers. Education, the arts, the professions, like law science, medicine. While there is degradation in these fields, we have unlimited opportunities to love God and our fellow humans. This is where you come in for 2017. This can be the best year ever for you, your family, the world around you. You have your natural skills and acquired skills to be “fruitful”- a real world, everyday help to make the world better. Take some time here at the new year to do an inventory of your natural and acquired skills. (many resources online) Then pray and ask your Father in Heaven how you might use those skills to bless yourself, your family and others. He will supernaturally energize you to use your gifts for the benefit of others. Our prayer for you- Father, please bless this Mountain listener, He or she is Your child, and gifted to be fruitful in this world, help us make the world better for every single person, In Jesus' name, Amen! Happy 2017!

It's never been more apparent that people need money to make ends meet. We've always had but as the U. S. cautiously comes out of the recession from 2008, and looks forward to a possibly prosperous year in terms of jobs and housing, when it comes to money, we all have to be sure that we're spending and counting our money God's way. Some may say, "What does God have to do with money?" I would say He has everything to do with it. Whether the Lord blesses you with a lot or a little, the way we manage our finances can tell us whether or not we trust God to first of all, provide for our needs. Secondly, the way we manage our money helps with our quality of life. Whether it's a two dimes or two million dollars, we each have a responsibility to the Lord, to our families and those who depend on us, as well as ourselves to manage it wisely. Join me as we talk about finances with my guest co-host and contributor Madlyn Marshall. Madlyn is the Founder of G.R.A.C.E. Financial Ministry Inc. G.R.A C.E is an acronym for “God's Resources Advancing Christian Evangelism” a biblically based financial management and budgeting ministry. Call in at 646-668-8485, press 1 to be live on air. Or download Stitcher on your mobile device. Or, click on the link here. http://tobtr.com/8766869  You don't want to miss it. 

Introduction The Miracle of a Late Conversion Amen. Some time ago, I was reading one of John Piper's most moving books, at least for me, personally. And in that book, he shares a powerful memory from his days traveling with his father, who was, among other things, a traveling Evangelist. And his father went from church to church and they would do revival services in that style, that pattern, and there would be a very, very clear, powerful preaching of the Gospel. And there was one time that stuck out in John Piper's memory, unforgettable, in which there had been a particularly notorious, hard-hearted, elderly man whose family and friends had been praying for years that he would come to faith in Christ. And finally, really, to the amazement of everyone, this man accepted Christ after hearing the Gospel clearly explained by John Piper's father, and with tears and repentance and brokenness, he received forgiveness of sins and came to faith. And it was just an amazingly powerful, moving moment. But then, something crashed in on this elderly gentleman with vivid reality, and he began to realize how many years he'd resisted people coming to him with the Gospel, how many family members he'd turned away, how many times he'd said no, and all of the years that had been wasted, “walking in vanity and pride,” as the hymn puts it. All the years of his life that he had wasted. And he began crying out from the bottom of his heart, "I've wasted it, I've wasted my life." We Will Give An Account for How We Spent Our Time Well, in the spirit of that kind of bitter realization and to remedy that, Piper wrote his book, "Don't Waste Your Life", and I would commend it to you. But it's in the spirit of that that I stand before you today, and I want to preach this text. The deepest desire I have is that you would redeem the time, that you would realize how precious a thing time is. And if I could speak just quite bluntly, that you would stop wasting it. And I'm speaking to myself, to all of us, that we would not waste our lives. The basic concept of that book and of this text today is that there's going to be a day coming in which we will give God a careful account for everything in our lives, everything that we've ever said or done, or everything we didn't say and didn't do. Everything, we're going to give God an account. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad." I just think about that Bible verse every day. Someday, I'm going to give God an account for this day. And this text, Ephesians 5, especially verse 16, this text, with this section, verses 15 through 17, is of incalculable assistance in helping us get ready for Judgment Day. "Be very careful, then, [or look carefully] how you live [how you're walking], not as unwise, but as wise, not as fools, but as wise." I'm going to stick with the more literalistic, "Redeeming the time." Many translations say something like, "Making the most of every opportunity," which I think gets at the spirit of it, but I'm going to stick with these words, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." So, we're looking this morning at the issue of time. I've been thinking much about time this morning. I have my app up, it's 11:11. I have timed this sermon. It started at 27 pages. It went down to 21. Now, it's at 17. So, there's some hope we'll finish it today. And isn't that ironic? I thought, "Alright, I've shortened it, I've shortened it, I've shortened it." Now, I've given you folks the gift of 12 minutes you didn't think you would have. Now, you have no idea what I'm talking about, but trust me. I gave you the gift, and I thought, "How will you spend them?" And that's another message, another day. But what will you do with your extra 12 minutes. But from the very beginning, God has wanted us to be aware of the passing of time. “There was evening, there was morning, the first day. There was evening, there was morning the second day. And He put up in the sky, the sun and the moon and the stars.” It says in Genesis 1:14, "To mark seasons and days and years." Since that time, we, using inventiveness that God gave us, have developed various time-keeping pieces, like this smartphone and like this clock and other time-keeping devices, that let us know where we're at in the day. So, early on, there were sundials, which would trace the movement of a shadow across a face. Certainly thereafter, the Egyptians invented water clocks, the Chinese invented candle clocks. About 100 or 200 years before Christ, someone invented, in Alexandria I think, the hourglass, so dry sand, very fine sand, moving down through a necked in place in the glass and flowing down, so there's a sense of, "How many more grains of sand are left in my life?" Or how much is left in the day? Mechanical clocks really came in when something called an escapement, which is a sprocket, or something like that, which would rock back and forth and it enabled accurate mechanical time-keeping. Wisely Spending Time Calvin and I were in a museum of technology in Dresden, and my favorite part, I don't know what Calvin's favorite part was, but my favorite part was the clock section because right around Dresden, there's some of the most advanced watchmakers in the world. Switzerland's known for it, and well, they should, but also that area of Dresden, Germany, has some incredible watchmakers. And so, I saw one watch about that big, about 100 years old, that kept the day and the month and the year as well. It was over 100 yeas old, but it's all from gears and springs, and I was just amazed at the technology. But as I stood in that part of the museum, I could literally hear just almost deafening “tick-tock, tick-tock.” I was standing near a pendulum clock that was going back and forth, the sense of just the consistent measuring and the passing of time. Now, for businessmen, the adage "time is money" is well known. And I don't think that all of the clock inventors really cared about the themes I'm preaching about today. Their desire was to make the most of the day, so that they wouldn't get behind in business. So that they could run the race, what we have called perhaps the rat race, against competing businessmen, and be able to make the most money. Benjamin Franklin had a lot of proverbs and adages about that, that type of thing, making the most of the day. And so, that's just kind of a worldly wise theme, but if I can say, that kind of hard working non-Christian businessman, who is very aware of the way he's spending his time at every moment and is driven by a desire for material gain is every bit as much a fool as the lazy heir of an oil tycoon who sits around in the Riviera and just get a tan all day long, they're actually equally foolish. To the hard-working, time conscious, non-Christian businessman, Christ would speak these words of wisdom from Mark chapter 8, "What would it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Or on judgment, what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” So this idea of redeeming the time in Ephesians 5:15-17 has not so much to do with the accurate measurement of the seconds and hours and days, etcetera. I think it's there, that's something we're aware of, but it more has to do with a unique opportunity that God has set up every day. That you would cherish that opportunity maximally. Ephesians 2:10 says, "We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them." The same verb of walking, “walk wisely” equals, so in 5:15, "walk wisely" equals 2:10, "walk in a pathway of good works if you've come to faith in Christ." If you haven't come to faith in Christ, this is the work of God, believe in the one that God sent, believe in Christ. That's the work. But having come to Christ, walk wisely equals do all of the good works that God has set up for you to do today. God’s Desire for Our Use of Time So, God created this world with its physical laws, including the rotation of the earth on its axis for 24 hours a day, evening and morning a day, and then the revolution of the earth around the sun. There we have the seasons, and they changed, and the years passed by, 365 days is a year, but he did all of that, I believe, to tell a story, a true story of His own glory, in the redemption, in the salvation of sinners. From Satan's dark kingdom, that's what all of this was for. That's what the history was for. I don't think history has any other purpose apart from that, and so you and I and every person that God has ever created or ever will create are a part of that story, and God has a role for us to play in that story. And sin wants to intervene, and wants to intercept and stop you from playing that role, so if you could picture it like a play, you missed your cue, and you're supposed to come out and say these lines on the stage but you missed it because you were asleep, or drunk, or missed the bus. And that's what sin wants to do at every moment. And it never happened, we missed that good work that God had set up for us to do, and that is a great tragedy. And we will not comprehend how great a tragedy that missed opportunity is until Judgment Day, then it will be clear. My job as a pastor is, by the preaching of the Word, by the ministry of the word, to make invisible things very vivid to you. And like the invisibility of Judgement Day is a hindrance to us when we don't have a strong faith. So my job is to make that Judgement Day very vivid to you today this morning, so that you will be wise and not be a fool, and that you will redeem the time and make the most of your life, to make the most of every opportunity. Wisdom vs. Foolishness A Powerful Warning So, as we go to verse 15, we begin with the issues of wisdom and foolishness. We have this very powerful warning from Paul. "Be very careful then, see." [look is the verb,] how you live, [therefore, how you live, or how you're walking,] not as fools but as wise. So in context, as we've said, this is in the application section of the Gospel, Ephesians 1 through 3, those chapters lay the foundation of God's saving purpose, His eternal saving purpose in Christ. And then Ephesians 4-6 says, "How then shall we live?"So Ephesians 1, “from the very beginning, we celebrate the grace of God the Father, for He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ. And in Christ, we have redemption through his blood. The forgiveness of sins. And how we, when we heard the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation, having believed we were marked in Him with a seal.” And how, in Ephesians 2, there's this vision of a glorious church, a temple, a holy temple rising, little by little, little by little, more and more glorious, larger and larger every day, being built in the heavenly realms, a place where God presently does, and in the future will, live by His Spirit. That's what's going on in the world. And we are told in Ephesians 4:1, “to live according to the calling, or live up to the calling, a life worthy of the calling that we have received.” This is just a part of that whole appeal. It's all part of that section. Live a life worthy of that calling, a calling to be holy, a calling to build the church, etcetera. That's the calling. And then, in Ephesians 5, he talks about, and this is the immediate context, "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, and righteousness and truth, and find out what pleases the Lord." And don't have anything to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness that he's been unfolding from Ephesians 4:17 on. He's been very clear about the way pagans live, the way you used to live, the non-Christian life, a life of lying, a life of stealing, a life of sinful anger and bitter disputes, and unforgiveness, a life of using your mouth to hurt other people, a life of unforgiveness, a life of sexual immorality, a life of laziness. And idolatry. Not that life. Those are the fruitless deeds of darkness. But now, a different kind of life in which righteousness and truth drives out of all of those sin patterns. Truth-telling and hard work, so you can have something to share with those in need. And not sinful anger, but forgiveness and mercy and kindness to people who have sinned against you. And not sexual immorality, but living a life as pure as light. A different kind of life. That's what it means to walk wisely. Walk Circumspectly Now, Paul says in verse 15, in the KJV... I love this. It says, "See then that ye walk circumspectly." That's a great word, isn't it? I guess it's great if you know what it means, so I looked it up. Circumspectly. It's like carefully, accurately, meticulously, that's the idea. There's a sense of accuracy to the walking here. Accurate walking, what does that mean? A precision. Well, imagine that you're a soldier in a war zone, and you wander away somehow from your unit and you get yourself in a place and it’s not familiar, and you sense there's danger. You just stop. And then you look around and you notice, because you know what to look for, that you're in the midst of a minefield. You can see the New Earth and the dirt and all that, and you can see the pattern, but you're in grave danger of having your leg blown off or even your life ended, and you know that. Now, you know you can get out because you have the skill to do it, but you have to be very careful how you walk. So, I want that image in your mind. There's a sense of circumspect walking in this world. There's a precision to the holy walk. The Puritans, the English Puritans, were called by their enemies "Precisionists", and there is a derision to that. It's like, they weren't "live and let live" people. They were very careful. I mean, Jonathan Edwards actually weighed out, and measured his food, and then saw the impact of various foods on his energy level. He was like a scientist of nutrition for the purpose of holiness, the purpose of fruitfulness. "I want to eat in such a way that I'll be maximally energetic for Jesus." And not only that, but physically, but also just, he would analyze how he did every day and how it went in conversations and he was just a very careful man of God. He was walking circumspectly, he's walking precisely in the world. Wisdom and Foolishness: Basic Definitions So, what does it mean? Now, how do we live not as unwise, literally “unwise,” or “fools.” Not as fools, but as wise? Well, I think it has to do with living a life of faith as opposed to a life of the flesh. I think that's what Paul has in mind here. And so, faith, for me, is first and foremost, it's the eyesight of the soul, so we're going to go with "see" or "look", that's the verb in verse 15. Let's see the physical realm, but see it spiritually, and let's see beyond the physical realm into the spiritual realm. And what are we going to see in the spiritual realm? We're going to see Almighty God enthroned, we're going to see Him with eyes of faith. That's wisdom. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” So, fundamentally, lost people are fools because they say there's no God, and they live a practical atheism. But tragically, occasionally, Christians, too, live a practical atheism. We forget the invisible God, God enthroned. And so, for me, to walk as wise means to have a vivid sense of God all the time. A sense of God enthroned, of “God who is light and in Him there is no darkness.” A sense of the reality of God all the time. And not just God, His existence, but that He has spoken through the prophets, and He has given us the Bible, He's given us the Word, He's not left us in the dark. And how Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." I know what to do because you've told me what to do. And so, the life of faith is a life of the reality of God, the invisible spiritual realms being real to you, and then the truth of the Word of God. "I'm going to live according to this." That's what it is. So, it says, "The righteous will live by faith," Romans 1:17. It's the faith walk that leads to Heaven. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "We walk by faith, not by sight." So, that's what I think it means to walk wise, as a wise man or woman. It means a life of faith, not the life of the flesh. Martyn Lloyd-Jones puts it this way, that, "Unbelievers are living an anti-faith life, a life of the flesh, by instincts of mental pride, selfish lusts, sensual pleasures, worldly themes. They seem to have no knowledge of what is going to come upon all of us at the end of this age." No knowledge of it, the terrifying day of God's wrath that will come on the world. So, that's what it means to walk as wise, not as fools. Christ is Wisdom Every One of Us Begins as a Fool Now, here I want to zero in on Christ as wisdom. Christ, for us, is wisdom. Because at one time, Titus 3:3, “we were all fools.” We were all of us foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and lusts. We were living the lives of fools. Just like everyone, we were all foolish. But thanks be to God, Christ appeared, and He has become for us wisdom from God, wisdom from God. First Corinthians 1:30, “That is our righteousness, He is our holiness, He is our redemption. That is Christ.” This is God's wisdom to the human race, and He is the wisdom of God. And the wisest thing any person can ever do is repent of his or her sins and come to faith in Christ. That is the wisest way you can redeem the time. I prayed this morning as I was going over the sermon. I prayed that God would bring lost people to hear this moment of the sermon. So I did, I prayed that, and if they did, that they would hear with ears of faith, while there was still time for them to flee, from the wrath to come, to flee from judgment that is coming, to see it, to believe that it's true, and to flee to find salvation in Christ. There's no wiser thing you can do. And to not do it would be infinite foolishness. He is offering us full forgiveness of all sins, past, present, future. He's offering the gift of adoption into the family of God. He's offering us a bright future in this world of good works, which I mentioned earlier, and I'll talk more about in a moment. And then, eternity in His presence, and a glorious New Heaven, New Earth. Free, just completely free. Not by works, but by faith. It's what He's offering to you. Christ is wisdom. Christ is Our Wisdom And then, for the Christian, Christ continues to be wisdom. Walking as Christ walked in this world. God could have incarnated Jesus and put Him right on the cross as an atoning sacrifice, and in some sense, I suppose, His righteousness would have been met. But in His wisdom, Jesus lived an entire life under the law of physical life and He gave us an example that we should follow in His steps. So Christ has become for me wisdom from God. Live like Jesus did. We'll get back to that toward the end. But now, we come to the centerpiece of my message and what I want to share to you now, redeeming the time. Redeeming the Time Fundamental to Walking in Wisdom: Redeeming the Time Look at verse 16. "redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Fundamental to walking in wisdom is this idea of “redeeming the time.” Now, what does redeeming mean? What does it mean to redeem? It's not a word that we necessarily know or understand fully. I think what it means is to free a captive from captivity by the payment of a price. That's the basic, biblical idea. A captive, someone is kidnapped or someone's enslaved, and a price is paid, and the captive is set free. That's the idea of redemption. That's what Jesus did for us by His blood. He redeemed us from Satan's chains, from Satan's dark kingdom, by His blood. We've been redeemed. But now, we're supposed to redeem the time. So, the idea here is like the time, that word there means the opportunity. It's a different word for, "the days are evil." But the opportunity is enslaved, and you have to get up and go do something to it or it's going to be lost. The Romans said, "Carpe diem", seize the day. Now, Christians would say redeem the day. Let's go redeem it. So, the image I have here is the day is like, I don't know, a snarling beast out there, a wild dog, and I'm a homesteader in the early 1800s. I have a historical imagination, so I'm like Daniel Boone. I'm out there, and every day, these wild dogs go running by my homesteading property. And my job, my mission, is to go out early in the morning and hunt down one of those wild dogs, capture it, and tame it until it's a hunting dog, and it brings in my dinner that night. That's the image of life I have. It's like, "Wow, what a weird image." Hey, look, if that doesn't work for you, think of another one on redeeming the day. But the idea is, get up and go grab the day. If we chill, if we hang out, I've always pictured bats hanging upside down. "What are we doing? We're hanging out. We're just kind of chilling and hanging out." One of the great dangers of this sermon is that you'll think that I'm going to go so far as to say things like that are never appropriate. I'm not saying that they're not. Jesus, however you defined it, chilled and hung out with his disciples. But He was always purposeful. There was a reclining at table, but there was always a purpose to everything He did. But if you're just going to be kicking back, you're on the inflatable tube of life and you're on the wide water, you're going to get swept downstream. That's the image here. You can't live your life that way. And if that's how you're living, you're going to lose. You're going to lose every day and you're going to lose on Judgment Day, so that's what we're talking about. Time is Precious Now, I'm following here as a mentor Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest sermons he ever preached was on this very text, "redeeming the time, because the days are evil". I would suggest it to you. You can read it for free online. It's called The Preciousness of Time, and I just want to follow somewhat his warnings and outline in this section of my sermon. His doctrine of the sermon is this: Time is a thing that is exceedingly precious. That's what he was trying to teach his people. Time is a thing that is exceedingly precious. Reason number one: Time is precious because eternity depends on how you improve the time. It is in these days now, in this present era of time, that we hear and believe the Gospel. And so, your eternity will depend on whether you improve the time wisely. So, time must be a pretty valuable thing if your eternity depends on it. And not only that, but salvation isn't an instant, but it's a life process. There's a whole race of salvation to be run. That initial, justifying faith will be with you for eternity, but then there's a sanctifying race to be run, and we run it in time. And so, the soul is to be saved in time, so time must be a precious thing. That's his first point. The Brevity of Time Second point: Time is precious because it's very short. If I can add a word here, it's shorter than you think it is. It's shorter than I think it is. The more scarce a precious commodity is, the more valuable it is. Basic economics, law of supply and demand. If there's a high supply, low demand, it's valuable. Or, vice versa. If there's a high demand, low supply, it's valuable. Well, I've already established that time is precious, but it's even more so because it's short. The Bible testifies that there's not much of it. So, Job said, in Job 7:6, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle.” So you picture like an old loom like that and the warp and woof etcetera, you got the strings like that and you got the weaver's shuttle with the thread on it and the weaver goes like this, “woosh” and just it's gone. Job said that that's what my life is like. “Swifter than a weaver's shuttle.” Blink of an eye. It's gone. James said, "What is your life? It's a mist that appears for a little while then it vanishes.” It's like the morning mist. I've seen that out where I live. There's one field in particular, it's misty almost every morning and then give it an hour and it burns off it's gone. Our time on earth is like a blink of an eye, compared to eternity. Time is so short for the greatness of the work that's in front of us. And if time is already short, and then we squander a proportion of it, how great is that loss? Louis Zamperini’s Chocolate Bars Some of you may have seen the movie, or I read the book and saw the movie Unbroken about Louis Zamperini. I don't know if you know that story, but Louis Zamperini was a World War II bomber pilot, or was on a bomber and the plane got engine trouble and crashed in the Pacific and only three men survived. And they are in two inflatable rafts, in the middle of Pacific with very scant hope of survival. They had very small supplies of food, and very small supplies of water and among their supplies of food, were some candy bars, three of them I think, and they calculate if they broke off squares each of them having a square a day, could extend their lives, but one of them in the middle of the night freaked out and ate all the candy bars. All of them. Just out of terror and fear and whatever and just ate them all. I was telling that story to somebody I said, "I would have thrown him overboard at that moment" But no, I mean they overcame and it's really quite an amazing story, but that's an image of it was the time was already short and now we wasted some. That's the sense I have here. It was already short, now we wasted some. Reason number three, time is precious because time is actually uncertain. You don't know the amount you have. So it's precious and it's short and it's uncertain. Our lives could end tonight, or they could continue for many years, we actually have no idea. And we have to make the most of what God gives us. How much more would many people prize their lives if they knew they had but a few months to live, or even a few days left in this world. And so it is with multitudes in this world who assume that they have many years left to enjoy. They're in good health, plenty of money, resources, like the rich fool of Luke 12, remember who's land produced a bumper crop? He said, "I don't know what I'm going to do, what I'm going to do with all this harvest, I know what I'll do, I'll tear down my barns and build bigger barns and then I'll say to my soul, "Soul you've got things laid up for many many years, take life easy, eat and drink, and be married". But God said to him, "You fool, this very night, your soul will be required of you". Meditate on the word required, not requested. Death doesn't come and make a request. That’s it. And yet how many will be surprised by the coming of their death, and think to themselves and this is from John Bunyan, "Cries from hell", "I always thought I would have more time. I always thought I would have more time." I wonder if there are Christians saying that. I always thought I have more time. Reason number four: Time is precious because when it is spent, it can never be recovered again. Now, hear the illustration that came to me is of a pawn shop. Imagine you had a precious heirloom maybe you men, you had a watch that your father gave you, that his father gave him. Or maybe you women, you would have a piece of jewelry that the same thing your mother gave you, that her mother gave to her. And you're under such economic extremity that you feel like you have no choice and you go sell it in the pawn shop. Actually, you can get it back, if you have enough money, and if it still exists, somewhere on earth, and you pursue it enough and you're willing to spend, you could get that heirloom back, but you can never get last Wednesday back. Never! Another illustration I have of this is of God as a chef and a table waiter. Let me shift the image here, cooked up in advance that we should eat, think of it that way. And so in effect, God in the kitchen, the divine kitchen, the Heavenly kitchen cooks up a recipe for you, it's a soup maybe or a stew or something, and he sets that dish in front of you, and you know what? He will never make that dish again, never. It's got a combination of spices, it's got an aroma to it. He gives you a spoon, and then he just stands back and just looks. And if you just don't eat it, he'll wordlessly pick it up and bring it back in the kitchen or rake it into the dumpster. And you'll never have that particular dish again, ever. You can't find it, you can't go anywhere on planet earth to find last Wednesday, it's gone. You never get it back. That moment was unique, it was unrepeatable, it was special and precious. Now if we live 50 or 60 or 70 years, and for the most part haven't improved those years it can't be help. There's nothing I can do to help you about that. It's gone. All of it is gone. All that we can do is make the best of whatever time God may graciously give us still. That's the point. So, what do we do with all this? The Four R’s of Valuing Time I'm going to give you four Rs that I think will help you. First, reflection, second rebuke, third repentance, fourth reformation. First, reflection. What have you done with your time? Just think. You don't need to tell anyone, just think about it, you've heard now the preciousness of time, this concerns you, it applies to you. God created you. Gives you a reasonable soul. Reflect. How have you lived up to this point? You've already had a great deal of time that was given to you, what have you done with it? Let your conscience answer for you. Perhaps you may conclude that your lifetime is half gone, it may well be, I don't know. If you're 35 or 40, you may think you've got half of your life still ahead of you, you may be right, you may be wrong, you don't know. But let's say you did. You've spent half your life. What have you done with it? Every day that God has given you, has been unspeakably precious. How have you spent it? Have you spent it wisely or foolishly or have you wasted hours and days and months even years? Now, if you look back and search your memory, do you find that in a large measure, you've wasted your time or used it well? Think of how much can be done in a day in which you gave absolutely everything to Jesus. Think of what that day would look like. You gave yourself fully, energetically, mentally, and physically, everything you had for Christ that day. That's how much you can do in one day. How many of your days have been like that? And what have you done with all the time you spend in spiritual pursuits? How many sermons have you heard? How many teachings, how many books have you read? How many things has God poured into your soul of the word of God, how much has He given you? Now, we're in America today, not in Jonathan Edwards day. We have far more leisure time than those did who listened to Edwards preach this message back in 1734. They were carving their existence out of a recent wilderness maybe 100 years before that, a little over the 100 years they began settling in that part, so they were farmers, they were merchants. It was a rough life, they didn't have a lot of leisure time. We are glutted with ways to waste time. I don't know if you noticed that but we are glutted with opportunities to waste time. They didn't have internet, they didn't have Netflix, they didn't have endless sports. I don't think they had sports in colonial New England maybe they did, but they certainly didn't have 24/7. And they didn't have the resources to eat at restaurants or to do the different things that we do, etcetera. They didn't have that kind of life. This is the life we have. The question we're asking in reflection is how have you spent your time? Number two. The second purpose of this is rebuke. Another way to look at it would be conviction of sin. I really believe in Christ as a Christian the only good thing ever to be gained at looking back at past sins is to repent and be convicted and live differently. So I'm not trying to marinate everyone, so we all go out feeling guilty. That's not it at all. We'll get to that in a moment, but it's all about conviction. To those who waste time, to those who actually are convicted that they have had a habit of squandering it as though it were an endless resource like tap water. Not in a well system, by the way. Just turn it on, it just flows forever. If you've been thinking like that and you've been wasting time, then be convicted. This text kind of stands over you to rebuke that way of thinking. So I want it to speak to those who spend a lot of time in idleness. That may not be any of you, it maybe many of you, I don't know, I'm just putting out the shoes and if they fit, wear them. But if you know that you're spending a lot of time in idleness, doing nothing at all, following no business, not improving yourself, not working on spiritual strength, not working on a skill set, not working on your spiritual health, not praying, interceding, not studying scripture. Not being out leading others to Christ, not being out serving others in the Body of Christ. You're not doing those things, but instead you're just pouring hour after hour down the hole of mindless recreation, I'm just setting out a pair of shoes. If you know they fit you and you can put them on, then the text calls on you to repent. It calls on you to labor and live differently to a different kind of life. I want to take Ephesians 4:28 and apply it to you. "He who has been stealing must steal no longer but must work doing something useful with his own hands, that he may benefit those in need." So just do that. It's like you've been stealing from God. So use your time going forward well for others. Invest in your heart, in your mind, and your soul, so you can bless others. And then, get out and serve. Use your spiritual gifts, use the Gospel. Get out and do things. Even worse are those who spend their time not merely in idleness, but actually violating their consciences. I'm talking about you know you're sinning. It will be better for those people to have done nothing than to do that because what sin ends up doing it puts you further behind. You're like negative 20 now and you have to put all of this effort to get back up to zero and then go on from there. Jonathan Edward says sin is a terrible time waster. I'll just take a little example. Let's say a husband and wife are intending to do something and instead they get in some big conflict or argument. They spend a couple of hours to rectify that, just get back to square one. When, if they had been humble and loving and patient with each other, they wouldn't have to spend any time on those things. Or, you may develop a bad habit, a corrupting habit and you have to now invest a lot of time to get out of that hole. I would say invest the time and get out of the hole but just understand sin has stolen from you. Number three and number four, I'm going to put together, repentance and reformation. Edwards, as I said, makes it clear that the time once spent has gone forever. So Pastor why are you burdening us with this? There's nothing I can do about last Wednesday. No, but you have a memory and you can look at how, if you remember at what you did last Wednesday. And as I already said, "The only reason for looking back in the Christian life is not to have a murky, guilty feeling. But to just do better, repent. Live better. God, in His grace, may give you more time." And so, repent, turn in your mind and thought. The time you've wasted can still serve a useful purpose in your soul's endeavors if a sense of conviction and a kind of holy passion, a zeal, of resolution fills us, then the painful memory of those wasted hours will actually serve us well. God may still be pleased to bless some that up until that moment were in an unconverted state like that man who wasted all those years but still you can gain the victory that overcomes the world, which is faith in Christ, and all of Heaven will rejoice. So there's that. But then, for you Christians God wants you to feel the weight of the preciousness of time and reflect seriously on how much depends on it, to feel the brevity of life, and how short time is and how rapidly it's flowing. And you feel the weight of these truths, then you will buy back each hour of the day, and you'll acknowledge yourself accountable to God for how you're living. As part of it, it's like our time to spend how we want. And actually it says in Romans 14:7-8, "None of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” So, seek to find out what pleases the Lord. What good works he has for you to do. You may feel the sting of time already wasted, you should, if you're alive you should feel that sting. Some of you may feel the sting of conviction, realizing you wasted some of the best years of your life, your youth, the years when you had maximum physical energy, maximum vigor, maximum idealism, but you were deceived into squandering it. Now you're middle aged, you're older and there's nothing you can do about that except resolve to spend your middle age years and older years better. So, do not be discouraged. God is gracious. I remembered a verse this morning, I looked it up. It's Joel 2:25 God is able to "restore the years the locusts have eaten." But I'm going to tell you who he does that for. He does it for people who seriously repent, and feel the weight of what's happened. If you haven't repented, he won't restore the years the locusts have eaten. They'll eat more years is what will happen. So, it is madness at Edwards for you to just sink back in a bed of depression over all this, over what's happened and do nothing. Let me give you an illustration of this. Alright? How to Respond When You Have Wasted Time Imagine you are a wheat farmer in Kansas 100 years ago. Okay. I love these historic illustrations. So, we were Homesteaders with Daniel Boone in Kentucky. Now, we're wheat farmers in Kansas. Alright, so it's middle of the nights harvest time, but there's a fire in the harvest field near the house. And it's already burned a third of your harvest. And it's now caught the corner of the house on fire, and a friend and neighbor sees it and runs in. It's three in the morning, everyone in the house is asleep and he rouses everyone to wake up. "Get up, get up, you're in danger, your crop is burning, your house is burning get up." And imagine they sit up, the farmer looks out, and sees that a third of the harvest is burned and smells a smoke in his own house, and he's just so depressed and just lays back in bed. It's like, "Wrong answer!" You can still save two-thirds of your harvest, get up, put the fire out in your house, save your life, and run out and save your harvest. Don't get depressed, get energetic, be zealous, have a fire in your belly, zeal for the glory of God. Not, "There's nothing I can do." Last Wednesday is gone forever. I don't do that. That's madness. It's not the right answer. So, understand verse 17 what the will of the Lord is. Understand what He wants out of you. "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of God, and finish His work." That's Jesus's wisdom for you every day. What does he want you to do today? And do it. Application Mothers of Young Children I'm going to close with just a couple of specific words of application to you. You may be in a unique place in life. I want to speak directly to you. I want to begin by speaking to mothers of preschoolers. Okay? You have a unique opportunity to pour into your little ones as they're growing. Make the most of it. It's tiring, I've seen it. My wife worked hard with our toddlers. I've seen other moms. I see some of you moms. I see the look of fatigue, I understand. It's hard, make the most of it, it doesn't last long. You turn around three or four times and it's done. So I just want to urge you make the most of it. Parents of Teenagers Are you perhaps the father of a teenage boy? You don't have long to teach him how to be a man, to speak into his life, and get him ready for the warfare he's going to have to fight to be a warrior for Christ, to learn how to put on his spiritual armor. Are you speaking into the life of your son? Like I said, a couple of times you turn around and they're gone. Are you the father of a teenage son or the mother of a teenage girl getting her ready for the things that are going to come? Just make the most of it, that's all. Teenagers What about you, are you a teenager yourself? Maybe you just finished Disciple Now. You're barely struggling to keep awake. Alright, I get that. Alright, two in the morning. Actually, the kids who are with us were phenomenal. Went to bed. You guys were great. You guys right here. I see you guys, you guys were awesome. It didn't cost me any sleep. So thank you very much, I appreciate that. But I mean, you're a teenager, I already mentioned about five minutes ago, you are about to come into the prime years of your life physically, in terms of zeal, idealism, energy. It's incredible what young men and women have done for the cause of Christ, in missions, evangelism, in church building. Incredible. Don't waste your childhood, don't waste your teen years, don't waste your young men and young women years. Get ready for them. Come to Christ, be sure that you're born again. Don't assume because you're in a good Christian home that you're born again. Be sure that you're born again and then make the most. Retirees What about you, are you a retiree? You’re thinking, “Lots and lots of my years are passed.” Yeah, but you might have some freedom, you might have some money and some wisdom and some resources and some things that, boy, the church could use them. Are you squandering your years? John Piper talks about a couple that spent their years on their shell collection. Wandering the beaches, collecting shells. Early retirement, 59,60. You got extra years of shell-collecting. Don't waste it, don't waste your retirement years. You could go on mission, you could go overseas, you could do things to enrich the Church. Many of you are. Praise God. But don't waste your retiree years. How about a specific circumstance? Maybe you're diagnosed with cancer or the closest loved one, a spouse to one who is, don't waste it, you're like, "How in the world? What you mean don't waste it?" What I'm saying is it may put you in a unique position, a platform that other Christians can't use to minister. Single Christians Perhaps you're single, don't waste your singleness. You yearn for a spouse and God may give you one, he may not, but make the most of your years. 1 Corinthians 7 says that Paul had a kind of a freedom as a single man that he wouldn't have if he were married. So, make the most of your years when you're single, and God may well bless you with a spouse, but he may not, but just make the most of it. Friends, I could go on and on. I actually did go on and on, but I cut it down. Alright. So I'm just asking you each of you to redeem the time for the glory of God. Let's live as though every moment were precious and live it maximally for Him. Close with me in prayer. Prayer Father, we thank you for the time you give us. Help us to make the most of every minute. Help us, O Lord, to live for your glory. Help us to be balanced in recreation. Help us to use it only to renew and recharge your battery so we can serve you and others. Help us, O Lord, to run the internal race of holiness, and the external race of evangelism and missions. Oh, God, help us to live for what you have laid before us to do in Jesus' name, Amen.

In week two of the God Never Said That series, Pastor Dione talks about perhaps the most oft used and least true phrase that we use as Christians - God will never give you more than you can handle.

2014-02-23-0830 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning February 23rd,  2014 in the 8:30 service.Scripture: 2nd Samuel 9:1-13; 2nd Samuel 19:24-30Topic: SalvationNotes:- The Greatest thing God did was give us Salvation- We sometimes take salvation for granted- Salvation is redemption for death.- God chose failing people and gives them everlasting life.- The Old Testament was given to us to show we cannot achieve it.- The New Testament shows we are perfect through Jesus.- When we mess up as Christians God does not want us to be afraid of Him.- Run to God. He wants to give you back everything you lost.- God sent the Holy Spirit into our lives.- God says fear not.- Jesus makes everything right even though we don’t deserve it. Even when don’t deserve it.- God is faithful. We are blessed. We don’t want this world, we just want you.  

2014-02-23-1030 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning February 23rd,  2014 in the 10:30 service.Scripture: 2nd Samuel 9:1-13; 2nd Samuel 19:24-30Topic: SalvationNotes:- The Greatest thing God did was give us Salvation- We sometimes take salvation for granted- Salvation is redemption for death.- God chose failing people and gives them everlasting life.- The Old Testament was given to us to show we cannot achieve it.- The New Testament shows we are perfect through Jesus.- When we mess up as Christians God does not want us to be afraid of Him.- Run to God. He wants to give you back everything you lost.- God sent the Holy Spirit into our lives.- God says fear not.- Jesus makes everything right even though we don’t deserve it. Even when don’t deserve it.- God is faithful. We are blessed. We don’t want this world, we just want you.  

UNIVERSITY OF EXCELLENCEWWW.UOFE.ORG Prince HandleyPresident / Regent HOW TO DISCERN THE TIMES WITH ACCURACYTHE FOUR F's OF THE LAST DAYS~ A MIRACLE PODCAST PRODUCTION ~ You can listen to this message NOW. Click on the pod circle at top left. (Allow images to display.) Or, listen here >>> LISTEN NOW Email this message to a friend. Subscribe to this Ezine teaching by Email: princehandley@gmail.com(Type “Subscribe” in the “Subject” line.) 24/7 release of Prince Handley teachings, BLOGS and podcasts > STREAM Text: “follow princehandley” to 40404 (in USA)Or, Twitter: princehandley ________________________HOW TO DISCERN THE TIMES WITH ACCURACYTHE FOUR F's OF THE LAST DAYS~ A MIRACLE PODCAST PRODUCTION ~________________________ INTRODUCTION There are four major sectors of Boolean commonality that have marked overlays dealing with the entry into the Last Days: forerunners of the End Times. Three (3) of these sectors have a highly positive correlation with relation to the President of the United States, Barack Obama. For those of you who are not acquainted with the University of Excellence – UofE – here is the mission statement: The University of Excellence is an online study forum for the end times enabling the serious seeker with advanced instruction, intel, and prophecy for personal growth, cross cultural communications, and international strategies. All sectors of the geopolitical spectrum are analyzed for Boolean logic commonalities in relation to trends and issues. Those with highly positive correlation of linear regression are brought into focus and subject to more critical analysis. The four sectors, which are strictly objective studies, are as follows: Family Fidelity Fallen Spirits False Treaties False Messiah It is the purpose of this teaching to provide you with a skeletal acquaintance of these sectors so that you may know: Where you are at; Where you are going; Know what's happening today; and, Know what's happening in the future. Be like the Bereans and the sons of Issachar: search the scriptures AND have an understanding of the times! ________________________ HOW TO DISCERN THE TIMES WITH ACCURACYTHE FOUR F's OF THE LAST DAYS~ A MIRACLE PODCAST PRODUCTION ~ FAMILY FIDELITY Lots has been written of the unfaithfulness of men as the head of the family unit; however, not much concerning infidelity as associated with the woman (the wife or mother). There can be several reasons for infidelity on the part of the wife: Way of revenge Boredom and curiosity Proving they are still desirable Chasing a dream of ideal romance Cheating to cause a change or breakup However, the man (the husband or father), as a model of God, is to be not only a strong leader … but also a healer thru: Intimacy Discipline Love Value It takes a STRONG person to override the infidelity of the other mate; however, this can be carried out even by a “weak” person who trusts in the “strength” of God. “Let the weak say 'I am strong.'” (Tanakh: Joel 3:10) CAVEAT: Many times the offended mate “rebounds” and commits the same infidelity as “payback.” The key determinants should be: What is BEST for – The Kingdom of God; The family; and, The future. However, under the emotions of hurt, anger, jealousy and the desire for revenge, the wisdom to do the right thing is not often heeded. I knew a minister with a strong anointing of God who was deceived by evil spirits and committed adultery several times with different women. When he realized by the direction of the Holy Spirit that it was for the good of the children to have TWO parents, he tried to make amends and bring the family back together with healing … but by that time the wife had a boyfriend sleeping with her in the house with the children and a couple of “druggies” living in the garage. The mother, who claimed to be a Christian, refused to forgive and allow the family to be back together, and subsequently filed for divorce. This absolutely threw the children into turmoil. There are two key principles here: 1. It's hard to submit to what you don't RESPECT; and, 2. You can't sacrifice what you have LOST. Had the wife in the true life example above simply obeyed the scriptural admonition for Christians – God's believers – in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 (Brit Chadashah) the family unit would have been saved and the children would have SEEN living proof of God's restoration power and love. “Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: a wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.” I don't need to share the statistics with you that today HALF of Christian marriages end in divorce. But let me share something with you that should wake you up! POSTULATE #1: Two (2) of the four (4) sectors of Boolean commonality we are discussing in this teaching are – or will be – directly related in the Last Days (the End Times of Planet Earth) to the first sector discussed here, Family Fidelity. Those two are as follows: Fallen Spirits, and False Messiah. POSTULATE #2: The current President of the USA, Barack Obama, has an “overlay” of a highly positive correlation of linear regression to the following: Disruption of Family Fidelity; and, Patterns of social underpinning attributed to the coming False Messiah (the anti-Christ). ____________________________ EDITOR'S NOTE – Before you judge this strictly objective study or any personal association to me as the writer-reporter, please note TWO things: 1. I am NOT a Republican, Democrat or Libertarian. I have voted for all three of these parties in the past; and 2. I pray for President Obama, his wife Michelle, and their daughters Malia and Sasha every day. How about you? ____________________________ There are patterned socialization characteristics of the above-mentioned two postulates. But for now, let's continue with both analyses and prophecies concerning the “The Four F's of the Last Days.” FAMILY FIDELITY: We have discussed the family fidelity sector in a practical yet spiritual aspect above. But now let me speak prophetically. A great dichotomy of offensives will soon start to happen in the FAMILY structure. At the same time the true family structure of man and woman is being eroded by same sex marriage, there will be a revitalization of holy family structures: a revival … a spiritual bonding … a godly melting together of the REAL family. Many previously divorced couples will re-unite in marriage. Many family and inter-personal relationships will be healed. There will be the ministry of Elijah the prophet that will “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” (Tanakh: Malachi 4:5-6) FALLEN SPIRITS: There will be satanic combinations: “demonic doubles” working increasingly in the end-times. Demonic Double #1 – Islam and politically oriented leftist-socialists. These will work unwittingly with Islam for a while … until which time the Islamic Caliphate starts attacking them, also. Why do leftists work with Islamists? Because they both hate Jews and real Christians, Israel and the USA foundations based upon Judeo-Christian heritage. Demonic Double #2 – Religion and Demons. These will establish strongholds in the European Union and work from within to then attack outwardly against Israel, the Jews and real Christians. Here's a “sleeper” for you to watch: Germany. Just as under Nazi control during World War II, many people did NOT speak up against the political attacks against real Christians and Jews … especially the Jews … this type of attack will increase in Germany. Here is a report from as far back as January, 2012: German anti-Semitism deep rooted in society. You will see that Hungary, Portugal and Poland are also becoming more anti-Semitic. WHY? The same regional strongholds of “religion” and “demons” – when working in combination – become synergistic in their offensives. The same demon spirits that operated in Nazi Germany are still ALIVE today. Demons do NOT die. They are disembodied spirits that seek to inhabit live bodies: human or animal. MY PROPHECY: A dichotomy of spiritual offensives will evolve from Germany. One will be powerful and apostolic prophetic ministries (such as Reinhard Bonnke) who will preach to millions. The other will be end-time works orchestrated for use by anti-Christ to suppress Jews and real Christians in the end-time. Fallen spirits will begin to inter-breed with humans while … at the same time … through use of genome altering implants on “willing” subjects to prepare a “submissive leadership core” for the anti-Christ as he implements his system of political, economic and military control on Planet Earth. These “willing subjects” MAY be from a DOUBLE source: 1. Politically expedient recipients of the “Mark of the Beast: his mark, or his name, or the number of his name.” Those who will take the “mark” so they can buy or sell or carry on commerce; and, those who did not want to be beheaded for not taking the mark. (See Brit Chadashah: Revelation Chapter 13.) 2. Some feel these will be willing subjects of alien abduction who receive genome altering implants. I do NOT believe so (however, it is a possibility). There are other more scripturally based options as to HOW people may receive the genome altering implants or hybridization. Much research is being carried out today in areas of development of a “hybrid” species: i.e., harvesting of human fetuses. Remember, there was gene pool corruption in Noah's day which resulted in God destroying the whole earth by the Great Flood; only 8 righteous souls were left: Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. The “sons of God” took wives of those whom they chose. (Notice: the “sons of God” never refers to “believers” in the Tanakh, the Old Testament.) 1 Peter 3:19-20, 2 Peter 2:4-5 and Jude 6 refer to the fallen angels who procreated with the daughters of man in the Days of Noah (before the Flood). This resulted in the “Nephilim:” “the fallen ones” … or … “ones who cause others to fall.” We know from scripture that the “fallen angels” who took to themselves the “daughters of men” (associated timewise with the Days of Noah and the Great Flood) have been bound in everlasting chains for their just judgment of everlasting fire. However, the offspring of the “fallen angels” – the Nephilim – were drowned in the Great Flood. That is, their bodies drowned; however, their spirits could be the demons we read about in the Brit Chadashah (the New Testament). Demons never die! The development of a hybrid species in the end times – through which the anti-Christ MAY derive his submissive leadership core – could well be the result of fallen spirit forces (demons) facilitating the same, rather than aliens from another planet. These fallen spirit forces (demons) may be from extra-dimensional time-space: not from other planets, but from a megaverse (outside our traditonal concept of space-time continuum). FALSE TREATIES: These are treaties designed by Satan to prepare the way for the reception of his agent: the false messiah (anti-Christ). These are treaties based upon “wind.” They have NO substance … they are or may be easily broken … and have no practical or pragmatic “teeth.” One typical example is the recent agreement between USA, Russia and Syria (Obama and Putin) concerning the destruction of chemical weapons. Just as a side note, I told Israel in August, 2008, NOT be deceived by (then) current peace talks by Olmert and Assad. At that time Obama and US wanted to force Israel into negotiations with Damascus. I warned Israel NOT to do it. Listen to (or read show notes) of my podcast: "Israel, New Forces in Middle East Parlance." False treaties will increasingly be made between sharply contradicting nations, cultures, philosophies and national interest groups. The major mission of the U of E is to utilize Boolean logic to analyze such happenings in current geopolitical processes. The mainstream populace of the world is uneducated as regards geopolitical processes. By the way, read this 1912 Junior High exam from the state of Kentucky, USA. Is it any wonder the Chinese are overtaking the USA economically? FALSE MESSIAH: I believe the “false messiah” (anti-Christ) is alive today. I also believe he is operating in governmental and political circles today. I believe he does NOT yet know exactly his role as governed by Satan. I believe he has NOT yet been incarnated by Satan. However, I believe he willingly deceives the populace over whom he governs, as well as other nations … and has – even at this time – the goal of “world leader.” This goal will finally morph into the goal of “world domination” as his body becomes overtaken and incarnated by Satan. The “false messiah” will claim to solve the world's problems, to heal the Israeli-Arab land dispute and allow the Jews to built their temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. When the coming world leader – appointed by the New World Order – takes over, he will make a treaty (a covenant) with Israel for seven years. Today, in addition to disease and famine issues, the leaders of the dominant nations are concerned with three (3) primary factors: Attaining peace among nations and ethnic groups;Guaranteeing the flow of oil; and,Stopping terrorism and conflict in the Middle East (especially between Israel and the Palestinians). And the chief bargaining factor will be the city of Jerusalem. Remember, the false messiah (the anti-Christ) will make a seven year treaty with Israel, and in the middle of the seven years he will break the treaty, go into the Jewish Temple (which he will allow to be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as part of the stipulations of the treaty) and desecrate it by declaring that he is god. This will begin the worst “Holocaust” the Jewish People and Israel have ever experienced. SUMMARY: The four F's to watch for are ... Family Fidelity Fallen Spirts False Treaties False Messiah Now you know HOW to discern the times with accuracy. Tell your friends! Watch and pray … that you may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of Man (Jesus the Messiah) and to escape the things that are coming upon the earth. Above all, if you do NOT know the Messiah, PRAY and ask Him into your life as your LORD; ask Him to direct you and fill you with His Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh). Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai. Your friend, Prince HandleyPresident / RegentUniversity of Excellence Podcast time: 18 minutes, 55 seconds. Copyright 2014 Prince HandleyAll rights reserved __________ 24/7 Prince Handley BLOGS, teachings, and podcastsClick the Dove above_______________World ServicesBox ADowney, California 90241 USA University of Excellence http://www.uofe.org/Prince Handley Portal http://www.princehandley.comSubscribe to The Healing and Miracle Podcast here: SUBSCRIBESubscribe to The Voice of Israel Podcast here: SUBSCRIBEHealing and Miracle Podcast: http://www.healing.libsyn.comVoice of Israel Podcast: http://www.podcastsatellite.libsyn.com/Rabbinical Studies: http://www.realmiracles.com/rabbinical.htmIsrael News and Prophecy: http://www.podcastsatellite.com/If you need healing, deliverance, or prayer, email to: princehandley@gmail.com

Join along with an elder of the church, Chad Carpenter, as he teaches through Hebrews in Chapter 10. We look at a how some "Christians" God will not know on that day..how do can we ensure He will, what does that look like, and how Jesus made the better covenant for us. Listen along now.

When Green Acres Baptist in Warner Robins contacted me for an interview, I had no desire to accept -- I knew the church's reputation. Although it was a bigger and more famous church, I felt its fame was based on shallow evangelism. Green Acres held the Georgia Baptist record for most baptisms in one year: over 500! Yet members later told me they could not name one person baptized that year who was still in the church five years later. The church led people into a sinner's prayer, dunked them, and dropped them. But the day I was contacted, I had just outlined the next Sunday's sermon: "How to make disciples that last." I felt God tell me, "The sermon I just gave you was not for Loganville Baptist but for Green Acres." To my surprise, the pulpit committee felt the need to deepen their discipleship and disciple new Christians.Most churches fall short in the care of new Christians. The Great Commission does not end with baptizing new Christians. We are also to teach them to obey all things Jesus taught.Let's look and see what happened to Paul as a new Christian. This will provide insights into how we can help the new Christians God gives us in our church.

Romans 13

Romans 8:31-39

Central Kentucky is filled with people who have decided to give up on God and/or the local church. You know some of them. They live next door to you. They work with you. Their kids play on your kids' soccer team. And they're skeptical of Christians...like you. The good news is that there ARE things you can do that will disarm their skepticism. In this message, Max Vanderpool shares the kind of church and the kind of Christians God wants us to be, because God cares deeply about these people.

Central Kentucky is filled with people who have decided to give up on God and/or the local church. You know some of them. They live next door to you. They work with you. Their kids play on your kids' soccer team. And they're skeptical of Christians...like you. The good news is that there ARE things you can do that will disarm their skepticism. In this message, Max Vanderpool shares the kind of church and the kind of Christians God wants us to be, because God cares deeply about these people.

This is a deep dive into the book of Colossians in the Bible. Paul writes this letter to a faith-filled church and there is much wisdom for us to learn.This is Episode #6 where we will unpack how we access the treasures of Christ in this life. There are five things you need to know if you want to experience the fullest life that God has made available to you through His grace.Support This Ministry If You Have Been Impacted! Your Support Allows This Ministry To Create More Content & Resources That Equip Others.Find Everything On My Website RIGHT HEREBecome A Monthly Patron SupporterDonate Through PayPalDonate Through VenmoDonate Through CashappGet Your Church MerchCheckout My Youtube ChannelDM Me On Instagram