Podcasts about contextually

Title: Chosen To Obtain Glory Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 FCF: We often struggle with fear at the thought of falling away from our faith. Prop: Because those whom God has chosen for Himself will obtain the glory of Christ, we must hold fast to the truth with thanksgiving to God. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. In a moment we'll read from the New King James Version starting in verse 13 and reading through verse 15. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. As a reminder to you, I always make sermon notes for each sermon, so if you looking for a way to follow along or if notes typically help you attend better to what is being said, I'd encourage you to grab a set each week. There is also an outline of the book of 2 Thessalonians out there too, which should provide a nice snap shot of where we are, where we've been, and where we are going. Paul has, more or less, finished his discussion about the coming of the Day of the Lord which must be preceded by the apostasy, or the falling away of many professing believers, and then the coming of the Satanic Superman, the man of lawlessness. Certainly, it is comforting to the Thessalonians to know that they have not missed the Day of the Lord because something must happen first that hasn't happened. Most of Christendom understands that this has not yet ultimately come to pass. So, Paul's words are also a comfort to us… the Day of the Lord has not come, we are not living in the eternal state. Jesus has not yet judged the world. And that is good – because the world kinda stinks. But as comforting as it is that we have not missed His coming, it is terrifying to think that a great apostasy is still on the horizon and the man of lawlessness, the beast, the Anti-Christ, is still yet to come and be given power to overcome the saints. What Paul will say next, is designed to give full comfort to the Thessalonian church and by application, will also give all those who are truly God's people, comfort too. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: All powerful, Good, Gracious, and Sovereign King. We are thankful that You are in control of all things, including the redemption of Your people. We recognize that we do not see all that You have planned. Your story has been written, but we as characters in your book do not know what our destiny is or even what our next moments will be. But it is enough to know that You are the author of it all. It is enough to know that You have written all things. It is enough to know that nothing and no one can keep You from accomplishing what You have purposed. Although we wrestle with Your absolute control while we seem to have freedom of will, and that may be something we continue to wrestle with for the rest of our lives, we must believe that You are Sovereign over all if we are to trust You and Your promises. So, Sovereign Lord, we ask that you would be with us today and help us. Give us comfort with Your Word, we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] “We do believe in eternal security, but we do not believe in eternal presumption. Let a man examine himself.” Donald Grey Barnhouse “Glory for the Christian is more certain than the grave.” John Blanchard [Slide 3] “The ultimate answer to the insecurity or security of the believer rests on the question of who does the work of salvation.” Lewis Sperry Chafer “The perseverance of the saints reminds us very forcefully that only those who persevere to the end are truly saints.” John Murray [Slide 4] “Though Christians be not kept altogether from falling, yet they are kept from falling altogether.” William Secker “It is a glorious truth that God will keep His people, but it is an abominable falsehood that sin will do them no harm.” C.H. Spurgeon [Slide 5] “God never repents of His electing love.” Thomas Watson “The question is not one of the retention of salvation based upon a persistence of faith, but of the possession of salvation as evidenced by a continuation of faith.” Kenneth Wuest Let these words prepare our hearts for the exposition of the text this morning. I.) Those whom God has chosen for Himself will obtain the glory of Christ, so we must give thanks to God. (13-14) a. [Slide 6] 13 - But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, i. Greek conjunctions are always somewhat of an interpretational issue. ii. The Greek conjunction here is typically translated either “but” “and” or “now.” iii. As far as coordinating conjunctions go, there isn't much difference in their role for the sentence. But as far as meaning, “and” is simply connecting two thoughts together, “now” progresses the thought, whereas “but” is providing an adversarial or contrasting meaning. iv. What helps us is that in almost every single major translation of this verse favors the adversarial “but” suggesting a contrasting point to that of the previous thought. v. Contextually we can see that quite well since before Paul was discussing the judgment of the perishing who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness, and what follows is clearly in contrast to the fate of the perishing. vi. This signals for us a distinct shift in Paul's intention. vii. While he was being comforting to the Thessalonians before, it was comfort with teeth. viii. While telling them the Day of the Lord had not come, he was also warning of a coming apostasy and the man of lawlessness who will deceive the perishing. ix. Paul shifts his topic to turn to their destiny, their future, which stands in stark contrast to that of the perishing. x. It also, as we will see, shows a distinct contrast in the activity of God. God actively sends a deluding influence to the perishing. God has also been active toward the Thessalonians too, but in an incredibly gracious way. xi. So much so, that Paul is yet again, BOUND or obligated to give thanks to God always for them. xii. And he even calls them, beloved by the Lord by which he certainly means the Lord Jesus. xiii. Paul is obliged to give thanks to God for these folks whom he knows are loved by Jesus Himself. xiv. But why does Paul feel that he must thank God for them? b. [Slide 7] because God from the beginning chose you for salvation i. There is a textual problem here that leaves the modern translations divided. ii. This is expected because the manuscript evidence is divided about evenly over both time and textual family. iii. There are two options, 1. Because God as first fruits chose you for salvation 2. Or 3. Because God from the beginning chose you for salvation 4. The difference between “as first fruits” and “from the beginning” is 1 Greek letter. iv. I won't go into too much detail but those who favor first fruits make a grammatical case and those who favor from the beginning make a contextual and theological case. v. I personally do not find the grammatical case compelling nor do they answer the theological and contextual issues with it. vi. If you want the full breakdown of one over the other, I'll be able to provide that this Thursday at prayer group and bible study. vii. But for me, “from the beginning”, seems like the most likely to be what Paul originally wrote. viii. With the threat of a great apostasy looming on the horizon, Paul comforts the Thessalonians by reminding them that even though the perishing will believe a lie and be judged in the END… they were chosen for salvation from the BEGINNING. ix. The word chosen here is also quite interesting. Paul uses a middle form of the verb meaning that God is doing the choosing as an action to or for Himself. It would be entirely appropriate to translate this “God has chosen you for Himself from the beginning for salvation” x. This highlights God's selection of a people for Himself as His own possession, whereas before we see His rejection of another people. xi. We should also note that this salvation is no doubt referring to their final salvation. Not simply their conversion, but eventually being caught up together with Christ. xii. So once again we note the time association. The perishing will be judged in the end. But they were chosen from the beginning to be saved in the end. xiii. But how? How does God go about getting them from His choosing them from the beginning to saving them in the end? c. [Slide 8] through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, i. Though Paul starts at the beginning with God choosing them, and jumps to the end with their salvation… now he moves backward from their salvation to outline exactly how God does this. ii. First, it is through sanctification by the Spirit. iii. There is a necessary component of salvation that evangelical pastors and churches avoid talking about. It isn't popular and if you don't explain it correctly it makes it sound like works-based salvation. iv. The bible makes it clear that only the righteous inherit the Kingdom of God. Only those who are holy will see God. Now we cannot go too far with this to suggest that somehow, we will be perfected in this life. That is an error other Christians make that the bible simply doesn't teach. v. We also cannot pendulum swing the other way and suggest that we must add to our trust in Christ our own works in order to be saved. vi. But we must understand, as Paul does here, that a NECESSARY component of a faith that leads to our eventual and final salvation, is a setting apart, a holifying of those being saved by the Spirit of God. vii. All those who will be saved on that Day… will continue their whole lives in a process of becoming more and more holy by the power of the Spirit of God. Not as a prerequisite for being declared righteous, but as a result of it. viii. The Holy Spirit is given to those who are declared righteous by faith, and as a necessary result of the Spirit indwelling God's people, they are made more holy. ix. But lest we think we can start that process on our own and simply try to be as good as possible, Paul goes another step back from our final salvation to speak of the belief of the truth. x. We receive the truth with faith. We depend on it. We surrender to it. True faith is rejection of everything else to grab hold of the gospel alone. xi. Notice how this is the opposite of the perishing. They did not receive the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness. xii. Those chosen from the beginning for salvation, become more and more holy by the Spirit's power and have believed the truth. xiii. But how did they come to believe the truth? d. [Slide 9] 14 to which He called you by our gospel, i. God calls His people to this truth through the good news of Jesus Christ preached since the apostles' ministry. ii. The Word of God, the gospel, Christ crucified for sinners, risen, and coming again, is the foundation of the truth we believe. iii. That call is how God gives repentance and faith to those to whom He has chosen for salvation from the beginning. iv. But what is the goal of this salvation? Why would God do all this for us? e. [Slide 10] for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. i. Paul mentioned this earlier in chapter 1. ii. The purpose of God calling us is to bring glory to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and also that we might be glorified in that same name. iii. God's purpose in choosing the Thessalonians and all believers is so that they might obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus. iv. We… We are the reward of His suffering. f. [Slide 11] Summary of the Point: In contrast to the perishing who have not received the love of the truth and upon whom God will send a deluding influence to believe a lie unto their just judgment, God has actively chosen for Himself a people from before the world began for salvation. He will accomplish this by giving them His Spirit to make them more holy. And He will accomplish THIS by sending them truth through the gospel. And He will do all this in order that they might be honored with His Son. So that they might be a people accepted as part of His family by the righteousness of Jesus. In this the Thessalonians must take great comfort to know that if they are chosen by God, their fate has been determined since before the world began. So, what must those who are truly elect of God do according to this passage? Well first, they should give thanks to God for His choosing them. Transition: [Slide 12 (blank)] But unfortunately, many Christians stop here when they speak of their salvation or election. They conclude that since they are chosen by God and declared righteous by God, that they can kick back and wait for Him to save them. Paul absolutely obliterates that idea with verse 15. II.) Those whom God has chosen for Himself will obtain the glory of Christ, so we must hold fast to what we've been taught. (15) a. [Slide 13] 15 Therefore, brethren, i. A good tip that many have often repeated when you are reading or studying the Word of God, is that when you see the word “therefore” you need to stop and find out what it is there for. ii. One of the benefits of studying the bible verse by verse, is that when we come to the word therefore, we don't need to struggle to understand what it is referencing. We simply need to think back to what we just studied. iii. God has chosen the Thessalonians to obtain the glory of Christ. iv. He has done this from the beginning to call them with the gospel so that they might believe the truth and grow in sanctification and be saved to that glory. v. So, since God has done it all… they just sit tight and wait? Right? vi. Uh… NO! b. [Slide 14] stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. i. Here we see that tension that is alive and well in the scriptures. ii. God's absolute control of everything doesn't negate human agency or responsibility. 1. Just because God is in complete control doesn't mean we don't pray. 2. Just because God chooses all those whom He will save, doesn't mean we don't repent and believe the gospel. 3. Just because God elects and predestines those who will be saved, doesn't mean we don't evangelize. 4. Just because God has revealed His will, doesn't mean we don't pray for it. iii. And so here… iv. Just because God has done all to save us, and won't let His own be swept away by the apostasy and believe a lie... doesn't mean we do nothing. v. God has given us responsibility and agency to stand fast and hold on. vi. To stand fast means to hold your ground. It means to maintain a position or remain upright. vii. To hold to means to seize or to arrest or to remain firmly committed to something. viii. But what does Paul mean by traditions? 1. In our context we have somewhat of a bad taste in our mouth when we speak of traditions. 2. Traditions, at least in our mind, are things that are man-made, that are culturally accepted as things we do, but should be discarded if they lose their meaning or purpose. 3. Is Paul telling them to stand their ground and remain committed to man-made traditions? This seems antithetical to things Paul has written before. 4. But the word tradition doesn't necessarily carry that meaning. In fact, in Greek the word typically refers to something that has been passed down from God Himself. 5. So, we should interpret traditions here primarily to refer to what Paul taught them about God, Jesus, the gospel, the End Times, and righteous living. 6. In short, it is the Christian tradition that he and all the apostles preached. ix. And Paul alludes again to the various sources from which they have received this teaching. x. Before Paul suggested that they might have heard by prophesy, by a letter, or by preaching that the Day of the Lord had come. xi. Here he says that they should stand their ground and remain committed to everything they had already received from Paul and his companions. Whether it was something they said in their presence or wrote to them in a letter. xii. Because God has chosen them for glory… they must stand firm and hold fast to what they have believed. c. [Slide 15] Summary of the Point: Paul comforts the Thessalonians further by reminding them that God has chosen them for Himself from the beginning to be saved. He has done this so they might obtain the honor and glory of Christ. He gave them the truth through the gospel. He has given His Spirit to make them progressively more holy. He will keep them from the lie because He has chosen them to receive the truth. Not only should they give thanks to God for this, but as Paul says here, as a response of God's work, they must stand firm and hold fast in what they have been taught. Because it is the truth that God gave to them to save them. They must stand firm and hold fast because that is part of the sanctifying work of the Spirit on them. They cannot be passive agents. They must actively cling to what they have received. For that is part of God's preservation of them to that glory. Conclusion: So, CBC, what have we learned today that refines our beliefs and guides our lifestyles? Basics of Faith and Practice: [Slide 16] Though Paul certainly speaks to the Thessalonians, we know from the rest of the New Testament scriptures that all those who will obtain the glory of Christ are those whom God has chosen for Himself from the beginning. They are those whom the Holy Spirit is progressively making more holy. They are those who have believed the truth which was given to them in the call of the gospel. In this, God's sovereign initiative in salvation is highlighted and set in contrast to His sovereign response in reprobation of those who are perishing. God acts in both, but in salvation He acts to bring truth to His people and in reprobation He acts as a response to the rejection of truth by those who are not His people. Paul gives two responses to this truth of God's sovereign activity, that we must observe. He demonstrates thanksgiving, that God would save His people this way. And He commands perseverance. That BECAUSE God has chosen us from the beginning, we must hold fast to the truth we have received. God's choosing us to receive the truth should prompt our adherence to that truth, since God gave it to us in the gospel so that we might obtain the glory of Christ. But what does this mean for us in our daily walk? What should we do as a result of all this? 1.) [Slide 17] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God has chosen for Himself from the beginning a people for salvation to obtain the glory of Christ. a. This is perhaps one of the most divisive and controversial teachings in the scriptures. b. Although most believers would readily admit that salvation is all of God and none of us, when they discover passages such as these, they cannot help but attempt to put all kinds of caveats and exceptions in to make room for man's free will to have some say in who is saved. c. Entire systems are built to try to soften the contradiction of a belief that affirms that salvation is all of God but must be appropriated by man's choice. d. All that is accomplished is damage to the clear teaching of the scripture. e. This doctrine of election or predestination is not in conflict with the command for and even the need for us to repent and believe the gospel. f. But in order to give man's agency and responsibility their proper place, we must put them where Paul does here. g. As Paul says here, the belief of the person chosen is part of the means by which God carries out the intention of His choosing. h. Thus, God uses the agency and responsibility of man in His process of bringing those He has chosen to salvation to obtain the glory of Christ. i. In this, God remains absolutely sovereign over salvation while man is still responsible to respond. j. In the Old Testament we see a similar idea surrounding the selection of Israel as God's portion from the nations. He says that they were chosen because He chose to choose them. k. We also see this develop later in the Old Testament to God talking about a remnant. There were many Israelites who were ungodly and worshipped other gods. But God continues to keep and preserve a remnant for Himself. l. Meaning of course that what Paul says later was true… Not all Israel was Israel. But the Remnant that God preserved… that was His true people. m. In short, the idea that God selects and preserves His own people, is a universal biblical truth. It was not invented in the classical Geek era but was instead part of God's redemptive process since the beginning. n. And interestingly enough… whenever this doctrine is brought up in the New Testament it is brought up, not to start a debate… but to give God's people comfort. Not pride… but comfort. To know that God called and chose them. o. Therefore, we must confess it to be doctrinally true that God chose for Himself from the beginning, a people for salvation to obtain the glory of Christ. p. God chose, even before the fall of man into sin, a people whom He would rescue from their sin and preserve them to be given honor and reign with His Son in a new Kingdom. q. He has selected a family. A bride for His Son, selected from among the harlots and purified through marriage to the King. Children whom He has adopted out of another family with an abusive father named Satan. r. And God wants us to KNOW, to be assured that He did call us and chose us for His family. s. It is not humility or some added measure of piety to say that you are not sure whether you are chosen or elect of God. t. Peter commands in 2 Peter 1, that people who profess Christ should make their calling and election sure. u. But how do we know if we have been chosen by God? How do we make our calling and election sure? 2.) [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that all who have been chosen will receive the truth of the gospel and grow in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit. a. The truth is that we don't have some physical and sure sign to know who is in God's family and who isn't. b. But He has told us how someone He has chosen is saved to obtain the glory of Christ. c. They believe the truth of the gospel, and they take pleasure in growing in holiness by the power of the Spirit. d. So long as a person believes and continues to believe the truth of the gospel and continues to grow in holiness by the Spirit's power, then they have assurance that they are chosen by God to obtain glory in Christ. e. This is true not just for assuring ourselves that we are elect of God, but also to give us assurance of the election of others who have professed Christ. f. A person who keeps turning from sin, agreeing with God that it is detestable and a person who loves, obeys, worships, and serves God, Father, Son, and Spirit– that is a person who can rest assured that they are His. g. A person who continues to see growth in their life as they become more and more like Jesus and continue to follow His teachings and commands. That is a person who is assured that they have been chosen before the foundation of the world. h. Because God does this, because God is active in literally every part of bringing His choice to its intention, and because every chosen one follows this path, we can rest assured that every person who is chosen of God will believe the truth and grow in holiness. i. So, what must we do with these two truths? 3.) [Slide 19] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must give thanks to God for His sovereign choice in salvation. a. The Jews of the first century had completely misunderstood the nature of God's choosing Israel as His portion. They assumed that since they were children of Abraham, by his blood alone, that they would be accepted by God. b. But they crucified their own Messiah. They hunted down Christians and put them to death. Why? Because the Christian message was that their bloodline to Abraham was not enough to save them from their sin. That God would NOT accept them simply on this basis. They must believe the truth of the gospel and submit to the Lordship of Jesus as their King and Messiah. c. Sadly, some Christians gain a similar arrogance at being chosen of God. They see themselves as superior to unbelievers and wicked people. They are pious and arrogant. d. While God certainly wants us to gain assurance of our calling and election, pride in that calling is well beyond what He means by assurance. e. Now… if we believe that we choose God, and it is our choosing God that saves us – we should be proud. We should be vaulting ourselves over and above the wicked. After all – We chose God. We saw the truth. They were too evil to see it. But we saw it… f. But my friends… if God chose us… then it is absolutely illogical to boast. g. Some say, “well maybe He chose us because He saw we would choose Him? Maybe He saw something special in us.” h. Well, we don't actually have to guess at the reason that God chose His elect. i. Paul, in another letter, relays exactly why God chose us. It is not an answer that satisfies our curiosity but it is an answer. j. God says, I chose you according to the counsel of my will. k. Well, what does that mean? l. I consulted what I willed and chose based on that. Well, what does that mean? m. I chose you because I chose you. That is what it means. n. He didn't choose us because we'd choose Him. He didn't choose us because we were special. He didn't choose us because we were strong. He didn't choose us because we had great potential. o. He chose us… because He chose us. p. There is only one response that should come from God's people when they are assured that God has chosen them… q. Humble praise. r. We should cry out WHY ME! I am NOTHING! Praise You God for choosing me! Me! Of all people?! s. That should be our response. We must, we are obligated to both be assured of our calling and election, but also to humbly give thanks to God for choosing us… t. And if that wasn't comforting enough let me bring a little more… 4.) [Slide 20] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” All who have been chosen by God for salvation will obtain the glory of Christ and will not fall away. a. The flow of this passage and the context leads to an inescapable conclusion that is made even more plain in other passages of scripture. b. Unlike the perishing who God sends a deluding influence upon as a response to their rejection of the truth and their pleasure in wickedness – God's chosen will not be deceived. c. All those whom God has chosen for salvation will obtain the glory of Christ. They won't fall away. Why? d. Because God is IN every single aspect of their preservation. God won't fail… indeed God cannot fail. e. Who is going to slap God's hand away and tell Him no? f. God will preserve those whom He has chosen. They will not fall away. They will not abandon their faith. g. But three things come into this that bring us to our final exhortation. i. Remember first that those who are chosen are not revealed. They must seek assurance of their own calling and election. ii. Secondly, their assurance is bound up in their ongoing belief in the truth and growth in holiness by the power of the Spirit. iii. And finally, we must remember that Paul has told the Thessalonians. They must not let themselves be deceived. h. So even though we know that it is impossible for those truly chosen by God to fall away… that can't lead to passivity or arrogance. i. Instead… 5.) [Slide 21] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must stand firm and hold fast to what we have received from Christ through the apostles. a. This is how God's chosen people will obtain the glory of Christ. b. This is part of the means God uses to preserve His chosen people from falling away and believing lies. c. He gives us His word. He gives us warnings and commands. d. Just like Paul gave to the Thessalonians. He gives them also to us. e. We must stand firm in what we have been taught. We must cling to the Scriptures and the faithful transmission of Christ's words to His church through the apostles and their inspired books. f. We must not put the scriptures secondary and doubt what they have taught about anything – especially what they have taught about God, the gospel, and the sinfulness of humanity. g. We must hold fast to the truth and the godly lifestyles that the scriptures teach. We must not seek ways to reinterpret the text in order to allow for us to break God's clear laws. h. We must pursue holiness – not lustful passions. We must pursue Christ not money. We must keep our eyes fixed on following Jesus and serving and obeying all that He has said. i. That is, in part, how God preserves His chosen people. He has given them a faith… that they cannot walk away from. A faith that continues to work. A faith they love holding on to. j. So, hold fast and stand firm. k. It is a command that those who are truly elect of God desire and will have the power of the Holy Spirit to obey. 6.) [Slide 22] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” All who have been chosen continue to turn from sin and believe the truth of the gospel while growing in holiness. a. With all this talk about being chosen of God, you might think that since it isn't up to you, you might as well just sit and wait for the end and let God sort it out. b. My friend… God is calling you to respond… today. c. His story is written but you, are merely a character in the story. You don't know how it ends. You don't know your destiny. d. But you do know something about those whose destiny it is to obtain the glory of Christ. e. What do you know about them? f. They believe the truth of the gospel. That Christ died to save sinners and that He rose and has been given a name above all names and is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that He will come again one day to judge all men. g. You also know that they believe this so much… that they are continually becoming more and more devoted to God and serving Him and obeying Him and loving Him. h. You also know how those who will believe a lie and be judged live. They don't believe the gospel and they take pleasure in sinful lifestyles. i. What will YOU do with Jesus Christ? j. Will you trust Him or not? k. Will you serve Him or not? l. Will you follow Him or not? m. Your choice today won't CHANGE your destiny… n. But if you choose to turn from sin and follow Christ today, and continue to choose this for the rest of your days… it will CONFIRM your destiny. o. As a preacher of the gospel, as a minister of God's Word, as an instrument playing God's Message – I command you to turn from your sin and believe on and submit to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. [Slide 23] Let me close with a prayer by the reformer Lancelot Andrews O Lord, my Lord, I give you thanks for my being, for my life. Thank you for nurturing, protecting, and guiding me. Thank you for teaching me, for freedom, and for faith. For your gifts of grace, for my redemption and regeneration. For calling me and recalling me—yes, for recalling me again and again. For your patience and longsuffering to me, many times, many years, up to this day. For success you've granted me, and all the good things you've done for me. For things present, for your promise, and for hope of the enjoyment of good things to come. For my family and teachers, and for those who have blessed me. (I will never forget them.) For brothers and sisters in faith, thoughtful listeners, true friends, faithful co-workers. For all who have helped me by what they have written and preached, for conversations, prayers, examples, rebukes, injuries. ... For all these, and all others which I know, which I know not, for things open and hidden, for that which I've remembered and forgotten, or done when I wished-and even when I did not wish, I bless you, Lord. And I will bless. I give thanks to you, Lord. And I will give thanks, all the days of my life. Who am I that you should look on someone like me? How could I ever pay you back, Lord, for all the benefits you have given me? What thanks could I ever give you for sparing me, and bearing with me? Holy, holy, holy! You are worthy, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive glory and honor and power. For you have made all things. And for your pleasure they are-and were-created. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Benediction: May you be blessed whose strength is in the Lord You who have set your hearts in pilgrimage, Who go from strength to strength, Til you appear before God in the heavenly Zion. Until we meet again, Grace and Peace to you.

Gary Rivlin introduces his book AI Valley, highlighting the pivotal 2017 "transformer" paper by Google researchers that allowed computers to understand language contextually. This breakthrough became the foundation for OpenAI'sChatGPT, as the transformer architecture solved previous struggles with natural language processing. Rivlin details Sam Altman's rise through Y Combinator, an influential "startup machine" that provided seed money and intensive training for successful companies like Airbnb. Initially founded in 2015 as an idealistic nonprofit with Elon Musk, OpenAIaimed to develop safe AI for humanity. However, Altman eventually steered the company toward a "capped-profit" model to secure the billions of dollars required for talent and computing power. (1/8)1848 SAN DIEGO

The episode centers on the federal government's evolving approach to AI vendor governance, underscored by the recent directive from President Donald Trump for federal agencies to halt the use of Anthropic's AI technology. This shift follows the Pentagon's termination of its relationship with Anthropic over the company's refusal to relax contract restrictions around citizen data and autonomous weapons, ultimately resulting in Anthropic being designated as a “supply chain risk” by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. For MSPs and IT providers serving federal and SLED clients, this designation functions as an immediate procurement barrier rather than a negotiable label, directly impacting vendor eligibility and contract continuity. Contextually, 70% of federal agencies are reassessing their use of AI tools amid fluid regulations and heightened concerns around transparency and accountability, according to recent reports. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched the AI Agent Standards Initiative, but enforcement is several years away, with only a request for information planned by March 2026. In parallel, a diplomatic initiative led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio opposes international regulations on foreign data handling, though this stance does not supersede foreign law, creating a complex compliance landscape, especially for multinationals. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear an AI copyright case reaffirms the lack of copyright protection for purely AI-generated works. The episode also discusses OpenAI's agreement with the Pentagon, described by CEO Sam Altman as "rushed," and criticized for permitting domestic surveillance under flexible legal interpretations. Public and employee backlash prompted OpenAI to revise contract terms, but critics argue essential permission structures remain. Anthropic's rollout of an AI migration feature during this period is flagged as a compliance event, raising risk when transferring data histories across vendor boundaries without audit or logging. Notably, consumer responses to AI vendor practices—evidenced by surges in Claude signups and ChatGPT uninstalls—are now influencing enterprise technology procurement as values-based purchasing enters the operational conversation for service providers. Operationally, the lack of a stable legislative or regulatory framework means MSPs and their clients face rapidly shifting governance through contract terms and procurement policy rather than law. The episode cautions that vendor selection cannot be guided by assumptions of ethical safeguards in provider policies or by default transitions to alternative vendors such as OpenAI, whose legal standing remains unsettled. Key recommendations include auditing client environments for exposure to designated supply chain risks, refraining from rigid vendor integrations, updating contractual IP language in light of the absence of AI copyright, and maintaining ongoing awareness of governance developments. Multi-vendor strategies and adaptable compliance positions are identified as essential risk mitigation practices in an environment marked by administrative fiat and reactive vendor positions. Three things to know today 00:00 Anthropic Blacklisted After Rejecting Pentagon's Autonomous Weapons Data Demands 04:58 OpenAI Wins Federal AI Contract Anthropic Refused, Then Rewrites It Under Pressure 07:38 Anthropic Outages Hit as Claude Sign-Ups Quadruple, ChatGPT Uninstalls Surge 295% Supported by: ScalePadSmall Biz Thoughts Community  

Today we give you our discussion with Dr. Yana Suchy about executive functioning and everyday living, centering on her work with the Contextually Valid Executive Assessment (or ConVExA) model. Show notes are available at www.NavNeuro.com/186 _________________ If you'd like to support the show, here are a few easy ways: 1) Get CE credits for listening to select episodes: www.NavNeuro.com/INS  2) Tell your friends and colleagues about it 3) Subscribe (free) and leave an Apple Podcasts rating/review: www.NavNeuro.com/itunes 4) Check out our book Becoming a Neuropsychologist, and leave it an Amazon rating   Thanks for listening, and join us next time as we continue to navigate the brain and behavior! [Note: This podcast and all linked content is intended for general educational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of psychology or any other professional healthcare advice and services. No professional relationship is formed between hosts and listeners. All content is to be used at listeners' own risk. Users should always seek appropriate medical and psychological care from their licensed healthcare provider.]

Title: A Pastor's Hope Text: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 FCF: We often struggle trusting the Lord to raise up godly attributes in us. Prop: Because godly pastors hope for what God promises to give His true children, we must have this hope for ourselves. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. In a moment we'll begin reading in verse 11 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. Last week we saw how Paul's pastoral concern was assuaged by the good news that Timothy brought back from his visit with the Thessalonians. Their faith, love, and hope were steadfast. But Paul, having a pastor's heart, and being a disciple maker like every other true believer, desired not only to fellowship with the Thessalonians again, but to minister to them and complete what was lacking in their faith. As we mentioned last week – the following two chapters seek to do just that. Paul isn't going to wait until they are together again before he begins to complete their faith. But today, before he gets to his teaching, and by way of introducing the things he wishes to teach them more about, he closes out this section of the book with what we call a benediction. The word benediction is the combination of two Latin words meaning “to speak well of” or “to speak good words.” Although we are studying an epistle, which is a genre in the bible that combines teaching and instruction in the form of a letter, a benediction is a subgenre used in many letters but not exclusively in letters. Aaron's blessing in Numbers 6:24-26 is an example of a benediction which occurs in the Pentateuch which is a blend of history, teaching, and law genres. So how do we study a benediction? Since it is a subgenre we must look at it in context of the main genre. In this case we will interpret these last three verses based on the context of the letter to the Thessalonians. But generally speaking, benedictions are a series of blessings, hopes, or prayers FOR God's people, expressed BY spiritual leaders, pleading TO God for His blessing, and designed as a comfort FOR God's people. As you can see, benedictions work on multiple levels. And today by God's grace we will see all these levels on display. So, without further ado, Please stand with me to focus on and give honor to the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Great God and Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit and comforter, we come to You today to gather around Your Word. We do so, expecting You to bless us, change us, and refine us. We are but clay in Your hands. Mold us and shape us according to Your will. May we hope and desire the things You promise to give us so that we may hope rightly. Give us what You promise and help us to yearn for it too. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] “Hope is faith in future tense.” Peter Anderson “'Hope is biblical shorthand for unconditional certainty.” John Blanchard “A man full of hope will be full of action.” Thomas Brooks “When you stop hoping you are in the vestibule of hell, for there is no hope there.” A.J. Cronin “The nearer to heaven in hopes, the farther from earth in desires.” William Gurnall Let us ponder these words as we look to the scriptures today. I.) Godly pastors hope for meaningful fellowship among believers, so we must have this hope for ourselves. (11) a. [Slide 3] 11 - Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord i. Notice first who Paul addresses this benediction to. ii. The reason I say benedictions have multiple layers is because Paul is obviously writing this to the Thessalonians. But in the middle of talking to them, he addresses two persons of the Godhead. iii. So, Paul speaks to God but through Him to the Thessalonians as well. iv. There is no doubt that this wish, this prayer, this hope, is designed to comfort them. v. Yet it is certainly a prayer to God. vi. Paul mentions two persons of the Godhead – The Father and the Son. vii. This alone requires some investigation. 1. First, we understand that Jesus is very clearly elevated to a position that is equal to the Father. a. Paul's trinitarian theology shines through as God the Father and Jesus our Lord are both prayed to in this text. b. Other than the order of their mention, there is no indication at all of any hierarchy or subordination here. c. And since Paul sometimes inverts this order, even this is not really an indication of hierarchy at all. d. In Paul's mind they are equal in power and glory. They are both deserving of hearing our prayers. 2. Second, Jesus is clearly understood here to be not only equal with the Father, but also Divine. a. He is not merely a human being elevated to the same status as God the Father, but is also the Lord. b. Specifically, the evangelists' and the Thessalonian church's Lord. c. Although Lord can be used to talk about someone that is a respected man, like a master of a slave, or a noble, it can also be used as a synonym for God. d. In this text, because Jesus is being prayed to, the most natural way to interpret the word Lord, is as if Paul is addressing the God of the Old Testament but applying that title to Jesus of Nazareth. 3. Third, I would very much like to address the conspicuous absence of the third person of the godhead. Unfortunately, it is a time-consuming venture that doesn't lead us to a definitive answer. So, I will save that discussion for Thursday Night prayer group and bible study. Be sure to join us as we discuss why Paul might have omitted the Holy Spirit from this benediction. viii. But what blessing does he seek for them? ix. This nicely divides up this morning's sermon into our three points. The points of Paul's requests. x. First, he requests that God… b. [Slide 4] direct our way to you, i. Paul's first desire, is the same desire he's been expressing since chapter 2. ii. He greatly desires to see them again face to face. iii. He desires fellowship. And He is praying that God's providence might guide him and his companions back to them soon. iv. This is certainly something that should be a good word for all God's people. To pray to God that God would allow us to direct our way to each other… this is a good word. A good wish. A comforting thought. c. [Slide 5] Summary of the Point: Paul hopes that the Lord will providentially direct him and his companions back to the Thessalonian church. In this we see a pastor's heart which hopes for meaningful fellowship to occur among believers. Paul desires to be among them and fellowship with them. He desires that fellowship among believers to be meaningful and frequent. So, Paul looks to the Lord in prayer, that God might direct them back to one another. If Paul desires this for himself among the Thessalonians, it is easy to see the application for ourselves. We too must earnestly desire and hope for this fellowship with other believers as well. Transition: [Slide 6(blank)] But this is not the only hope that Paul expresses in this benediction. Paul has two more requests of the Lord for the Thessalonians. Let's see what else he hopes for in verse 12. II.) Godly pastors hope that all believers will follow their example and abound in love for all, so we must have this hope for ourselves. (12) a. [Slide 7] 12 - and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, i. Paul's second prayer request and hope for them is that the Lord causes them to love more. ii. By Lord Paul could be referring to any person of the godhead or to God the Triune. Contextually and theologically it makes the most sense though that he is referring to the demonstrator of love to us, the Lord Jesus Christ. iii. Paul's specific request is that they increase and abound in love. iv. By this Paul does not desire them merely to love incrementally more than they already do. v. Instead, he desires that they increase to the point of overflowing. That there be an abundance of love flowing from them, caused by God. vi. But what is the object of their abounding love in Paul's prayer? vii. First it is for one another. viii. By this he means the church there in Thessalonica. ix. Jesus Himself said that they will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another. x. By this we can conclude that one key evidence that grants assurance that we are indeed a true believer, is that we love others who are also true believers. xi. Paul then, is simply asking the Lord to cause this fruit of their salvation to manifest itself in abounding ways. xii. Paul will mention this in chapter 4 where he will teach on this topic with greater specificity. xiii. For now, it is a comfort to them to think of the Lord causing them to love each other in an abounding way. xiv. Because of the ostracizing of their unbelieving friends and family – this would certainly be a welcome thought. b. [Slide 8] and for all people, i. But thinking about the lack of love they were receiving from unbelievers may have prompted Paul to also pray that their love is not limited just to the church. ii. Paul prays that their love would abound… even for those who are not part of the church. Even for those who have afflicted them for their faith in Christ. iii. Paul prays for the Lord to increase their love – even for their enemies. iv. While it may gratify our flesh to hate our enemies… the spirit of a true believer would certainly be comforted by the hope that their love would abound, even for those who hate them. v. In this they know that they are following in their Savior's footsteps, as He too came and gave His life for sinners. Sinners who did not know God or seek Him. vi. Sinners like them. vii. This answers the object of their love and the magnitude of their love… but Paul desires to illustrate the love he prays for by using his own example. c. [Slide 9] just as we also do for you, i. When Paul and his companions arrived in Thessalonica, there were no friends for them. ii. They spent 3 weeks preaching in the synagogue with limited success. iii. Most of the Thessalonian church were former pagans, ignorant of the God Paul preached and the Savior He followed. iv. And as a reminder, Paul has just gotten through speaking of the intensity of the evangelists' love for this church and desire to be with them. v. Being imitators is a key theme in this book. vi. The Thessalonians were imitators of Christ and of the evangelists and others were imitating them. vii. Here Paul provides his and his companion's example as the pattern for the love he prays the Lord will cause to abound in them. viii. This would be yet another comforting thought for them. To be in such a place that their love for one another and for all people imitated the love the evangelists had for them. d. [Slide 10] Summary of the Point: Paul, using himself and his companions as an example, hopes that the Lord would cause to grow to an abounding degree the love that the Thessalonians have for one another and for all men. As a godly pastor, his life demonstrates this love and his heart desires it to be the same in every other believer. As such the application for us is easy to locate. All of us, no matter what role we play in the body of Christ, must hope to grow and abound in love for one another. We must hope to be an example to others of what abounding love for all looks like. Transition: [Slide 11(blank)] Paul has one final hope he prays for in this text. It is actually an expected and hoped for result of the love he has prayed for to grow in them. Let's look at verse 13. III.) Godly pastors hope all believers are perfected in holiness at Christ's return, so we must have this hope for ourselves. (13) a. [Slide 12] 13 - so that He may strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, i. What result is Paul praying will happen because God caused their hearts to increase and abound with love for one another and all men? ii. In a word… holiness. iii. The first part of this verse is a little clunky. iv. If we were to read it literally it would be something like, v. “To the to strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness.” vi. The first two words, rather than meaning “to the” should be translated with language that expects a result. vii. In order that, so that, with the result of… viii. The verb strengthen is in its infinitive form. Which eliminates our ability to see who or what is doing the strengthening. ix. Most translations rightly pull the subject from the context which is obviously God Himself. x. Some translations try to leave it ambiguous by inserting a passive “that your hearts may be strengthened” making the subject uncertain. But there is no real reason to do this in the context. xi. It is clear that Paul means that God is doing the strengthening of their hearts. xii. If God is causing their love to abound, it certainly follows that as a result He will strengthen their hearts toward holiness. xiii. But the final expression deserves a closer look too. xiv. Being blameless in holiness seems to be redundant. If someone is holy, they certainly are blameless. And if someone is blameless, most likely they are holy. xv. So, what does this expression mean? xvi. Given what Paul will talk about in chapter 4, we can read between the lines that Paul is praying that their love for all men will strengthen them to forsake sexual immorality and maintain a pure life with one another. xvii. Although blamelessness in holiness certainly means more than merely godly sexual ethics – that is certainly included in it. xviii. Since a love for God and a love for others encapsulates all of the law and the prophets – to be truly set apart for God in a way that no one can find fault with – must flow from both a love for God and a love for all men. xix. But Paul may be indicating not merely a holy life that is practiced now, on earth. He may be also pointing beyond this life… b. [Slide 13] before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. i. We return to the Father and the Lord Jesus as Paul bookends his benediction with His mention a second time. ii. Here we see that Paul prays for blameless holiness for the Thessalonians specifically before God at the second coming of Christ. iii. We know that next the Lord Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead. And so Paul may have his eyes on that final winnowing of genuine believers and pretenders. iv. His prayer then may not simply be that they are holy now – but that they might be strengthened for the time that they are truly perfected. v. Of course, chapters 4-5 include a good deal about the second coming of Christ. So, Paul alludes to that in this benediction as well. vi. One final thing to point out here that is actually somewhat off-topic, is a teaching regarding the end times. vii. Here we see Paul overtly point to the second coming of Christ being done “With all His saints” 1. There is a bit of an interpretational issue here that has commentators divided. 2. Paul seems to be quoting from Zechariah 14, which would tend to favor the idea of the word “saints” or “holy ones” meaning angels rather than people. a. But in the Old Testament the term “holy ones” or “saints” is rather ambiguous. Often it is clearly used to talk about angels and also often it is clearly used to talk about God's people. And of course, many times, it is unclear to which it is referring. b. However, the same is NOT true in the New Testament. Every single use of the term “holy ones” in the New Testament minus two are clearly referring to God's people and NOT to angels. c. Jude 14 could refer to angels, but it could just as easily refer to God's people. d. And here, is the only other unclear reference. e. Furthermore, Paul uses the term “holy ones” 43 times in his letters. In every other instance… he is referring to true believers. 3. Because of this I find the interpretation inescapable. Paul is referring either to God's elect people, or, perhaps, to God's elect people and angels. 4. Since the word saints, or holy ones means Christians we must deal with a spurious way the word is being used today. 5. Saints – is not a special term in the scriptures used to denote some upper class of Christians which have performed miracles or done especially wonderous things for God. Nor is sainthood ever granted or recognized by the church in the scriptures. a. That is literally never how the New Testament uses the word. b. The word itself means the same thing as holy mentioned previously in this verse. Holy means morally pure and set apart. c. Paul wishes that all of them be saints in that they are blameless in holiness. d. And the writer of Hebrews says that without that saintliness… without holiness – no one sees God. e. Saint then, or holy one, is merely another expression of a person who is a genuine believer. f. All believers are saints. And there are no qualifications for sainthood besides being a regenerated believer in Christ. 6. Now, interpreting this as God's people coming with Christ, does pose a bit of a problem interpretationally when it comes to the teaching of chapters 4-5 about the Lord's coming and how believers will meet Him in the air… but that is easily understood when we understand one common practice of the day. 7. When dignitaries or very important people would come to a city, the priests, the rulers, the authorities, the people of note in the city, would leave the city walls and come outside the city to meet the dignitary. Then they would follow him in. 8. Of course we are called a kingdom of priests, heirs to the throne, and the bride of Christ. 9. In this way, God's people can both meet Christ in the air and come with Him. 10. Of course, any Premillennial interpretation of the end times has no problem harmonizing these facts since they would all conclude that we go to meet Jesus and then return with Him when He comes to set up His earthly Millennial Kingdom. 11. We simply disagree on the timing of the return. 12. Postmillennial and Amillennial folks have more difficulty here. And many simply interpret this passage as referring to angels. viii. But coming back to the topic of Paul's wish here… ix. What a comforting thought for the Thessalonians. That the Lord would strengthen them to the level of blameless holiness that the Lord would require of all who might join Him at His return. c. [Slide 14] Summary of the Point: Paul's final hope for the Thessalonians is that the Lord would strengthen their hearts to not only live holy lives today, but that they would be perfected and presented faultless before God when Christ returns with all His people. Every godly pastor hopes for this to be true of their congregation. And as such, the application is clear for us too. We must hope that we will not only be holy now, but perfected in that holiness when the Lord returns. Conclusion: So CBC, what have we learned today that corrects and instructs our faith and shapes and guides our practice? Broad Concepts of Faith and Practice: [Slide 15] Paul expresses these good words for the Thessalonians as he prays to the Lord pleading for these three hopes for the them. He hopes that the Lord would providentially direct them to fellowship together again, that the Lord would cause their love to abound toward all, and that the Lord would strengthen their hearts in perfect holiness when Jesus returns. These amount to what every godly pastor hopes for and prays for, for his flock and all believers. As such these should be our hopes too for ourselves. We should hope that God allows us to fellowship with other believers often and in meaningful ways. We should hope that God causes us to grow and abound in love toward all men and especially those of the household of faith. And we should hope that God strengthens us to grow in holiness today so that when He returns and we return with Him, we should be found faultless and perfectly holy with Him. But how do these applications connect to our life today? Let me take a closer look with you. 1.) [Slide 16] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God providentially directing His children to fellowship with one another often and in meaningful ways, should be a great comfort and hope to true believers. a. But we live in an increasingly individualistic society. b. People don't have to come to church anymore – they can just watch it on the internet. c. I even saw a church advertise that their wi-fi signal was so strong that it reached the parking lot. d. So, if you don't feel comfortable coming in, don't worry, just park in your car and tune in from the parking lot. e. Some have said, “I don't need the church, I have Jesus.” f. My friends, these are lies. g. You can't have Jesus without the church. And you can't have the church without Jesus. h. How can you say that? i. The Apostles taught that WE are the body of Christ. j. My friends, attending via facebook livestream is not attending. It is not fellowshipping. It is not corporate worship. It is not church. k. It'll do in a pinch when you are shut in or sick… but it isn't church. l. Listening to sermons and podcasts isn't the church either. m. Nor is chatting online with other believers or arguing in forums. n. Without the church, you are a rudderless ship. Without God's people ministering to you and you ministering to them, you are tossed around in the waves of the sea. o. True believers delight… hope for… and seek out fellowship with other believers. p. We thrive on it. We need it. q. Do you see fellowship with other believers this way? r. If not, its time to rethink some things. It may even be appropriate to ask yourself, if you are truly a believer. 2.) [Slide 17] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God causing His children to grow and abound in love for one another and other men, should be a great comfort and hope to true believers. a. Along with our more individualistic society, we also have a love problem. b. From definition to object, from magnitude to demonstration, we have a love disease. c. Our definition of love is distorted. So much so that the unconditional undeserved love of God is often so foreign to us when we first hear of it. d. The object of our love is frequently enjoyed toward those who always agree with us or those who return the love we offer. Again, when we see the unconditional aspect of Christ's love for His church, in that while we were yet enemies, He died for us, that is so odd to us. e. The magnitude of our love is a paradox of over-loving things and practices, and under-loving and valuing people. “Save the whales” and “kill the children” are often said by the same lips. f. And if that wasn't bad enough, demonstrating love has been reduced to 5 languages, which is already an extrabiblical interpretation of demonstrating love, but when you give that to a person who is not a believer, it is weaponized for a way to get the kind of love they want, rather than teach them how to love others. g. So yes… we have a love problem. h. But the church… God's people… we should be different. i. We should be looking longingly for the day that God will cause the love we have toward others to abound. Specifically, and especially toward other believers. j. This coupled with the hope for fellowship only intensifies the need for Christians to give the church a much higher priority than they are giving it today. k. Of all the things people prioritize, I fear that gathering with God's people is often an afterthought… if it is a thought at all. l. But growing in and abounding in love for other Christians should be a great hope for those who are genuine believers. m. But our love is not so narrow. n. In fact, our selfless, unconditional love should also be pointed at those who are not believers too. o. We certainly remain guarded with unbelievers. We know they do not understand and will seek to harm us. And we don't need to intentionally leave ourselves open to their abuse. p. But we certainly do not retaliate in thought, word, or deed. q. Overall, growing and abounding in love for all men ought to be one of the greatest wishes of every true believer across the board. r. If you don't desire to love others more… you may need to do some soul searching. You may yet be lost after all. 3.) [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God strengthening our hearts to holiness now and perfect holiness when Christ returns, should be a great comfort and hope to true believers. a. The bane of the accurate teaching of the free grace of God is the overcorrection into license. b. The logic sounds fairly sure. c. Christ died for sin. I am a sinner. Christ died for me. He paid for all my sin. Therefore, when I sin, I know it is already paid for. Therefore, there is nothing that needs payment. Therefore, I am free… I have been given a blank check to do as I please. d. This thought process has been attacking the church since the apostles' time. They all have written extensively on the matter. e. Paul writes in Romans the logic which concludes with – “Shall we sin then that grace may abound?” f. Paul answers his own question with the strongest negative answer that you can make in the Greek language. g. Mh genoito h. May it never be. Or May that idea never have existed or been born in your mind! i. God's grace and mercy do not allow true believers to continue in sin. Instead, His grace and mercy remind us how we are slaves to righteousness and to live according to His Spirit which is in us. j. Hebrews tells us that without holiness no one will see God. k. Holiness, moral purity and being set apart for God's service is part of the fabric of every true believer. l. We love and aspire to holiness. m. And we hope that one day, when the Lord Jesus returns, He will complete that process, purifying us forever, never to fail Him again! n. Certainly, the greatest part of that eternal Kingdom will be the fellowship with Christ. o. But John says that when we see Him, we will be like Him. p. This thought is a great hope of all true believers. One day, we will never sin again. q. But my friends, if there is a tinge of sadness in that for you. That one day you will never lie, cheat, steal, lust, be selfish, lack courage, or never dishonor your parents again… if such a thought produces in you a wistful longing and loss – then you must examine your heart. True believers hope for the day such a thing were true. r. Are you really His child? 4.) [Slide 19] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must find hope in God doing these things in us. a. We must realize that ultimately, true believers hope that the Lord will direct them to fellowship with God's people, to love more, and to grow in holiness. b. Any attitude or feeling that causes us to despise or become annoyed with any of these things, must be rejected as a sinful and fleshly attitude rather than a pure one. c. If we despise or are annoyed with the idea of fellowshipping more with God's people, we must repent of this and put this sin to death. d. If we roll our eyes or gag a bit at the thought of loving others more, we must repent of this and put this sin to death. e. If we are frustrated with or bothered by the thought of becoming more holy, more different and separated from the world, we must repent of this and put this sin to death. f. Because true Christians desire to be with God's people, grow in love, and holiness. g. How do we do all these? h. Well, if we go back to the text, we realize that not only is Paul asking this of God, but God is the agent working in all these things. i. God is providentially directing the fellowship. j. God is causing the love to grow and abound. k. God is strengthening the heart to holiness. l. God is, as always, our source. We run to Him for these things. Ultimately, we hope… in Him. 5.) [Slide 20] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” True believers will see this prayer answered in their lives. a. Although Paul offers this as a hope and a wish, we know from the rest of scripture that God promises to do these things in the lives of true believers. b. God promises to bring His people together. c. God promises to grow us in love. d. God promises to grow us in holiness. e. Of course there is some human responsibility here. We must step out in faith to pursue fellowship, love, and holiness. f. But God promises that for real Christians… this will be done. g. No one will arrive with Christ with these hopes left unfulfilled. h. And that is a great comfort to us. 6.) [Slide 21] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Without the fellowship of the church, love like Christ, and holiness, no one will inherit the Kingdom of God. a. This, then, is nothing more than a logical conclusion. b. If God will do these things that Paul has prayed for in every believer… and the prayer itself is a comfort and a hope to God's true people… c. Then anyone who lacks these things cannot truly be a child of God. d. There is always room for growth of course. e. In fact, the hope of growth is part of this equation. We as true believers hope to have these things. f. But if you lack them completely, or have no hope that you would have them, or both… then you cannot possibly know Christ. And therefore, you are still lost in your sin. g. If that is you today. You don't desire to be with Christians. You don't really want to love people that don't already love you. You don't want to live differently and in a way that follows the commands of Jesus. h. But for the first time you've seen this, and genuinely desire that to change. i. I urge you to cry out to Jesus and repent of your sins and submit to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. j. And if you would like to do that today, please see me or another Elder. We'd love to help you through that process. [Slide 22 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the early church father John Chrysostom Do not let us avoid the reading of the divine Scriptures, Lord. For that would be of Satan's devising, not wanting us to see the treasure, otherwise we would gain the riches. So, he would say that hearing the divine laws means nothing. Otherwise, if we did, we might become doers of the word, as well as hearers. Knowing then his evil plan, Lord, let us fortify ourselves against him on every side. Fenced with this kind of armor, we can live unconquered lives, as well as strike a heavy blow to his head. Then, crowned with glorious wreaths of victory, we can attain the good things to come, by the grace and love toward others of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might for ever and ever, amen. Benediction: Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus Christ our Lord direct our way to each other, And may the Lord cause us to increase and abound in love for one another and for all people, So that He may strengthen our hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His Saints. Until we meet again… go in peace.

Custom Mary I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard someone say, "It's just man's tradition. It's just a custom." At its worst misunderstanding, the tradition or custom is seen adversarial to Torah obedience and as evil. As a simply uninformed understanding, it's a lack of research or direction into how Yeshua taught and lived customs and traditions...of men.   For instance, the letter of the Torah does not say to go to a synagogue every Shabbat. But how should one "hear" the Word, which is a commandment? Synagogues were an answer to that question. The Torah was read every Shabbat, so Scripture tells us that Yeshua went to synagogue every Shabbat:   • And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. (Lk 4:16)   Yeshua wouldn't do something evil, so this was a good custom even if the Torah does not say, "Thou shalt enter the synagogue every Sabbath." How to differentiate among the direct mitzvah (commandment), the custom or tradition that helps one to do the mitzvah, and an outright tare? The answer comes from knowing that the Word is the seed from which we grow fruit and that the heart's intent is a vital indicator of the fruit grown from it. My offer to help with a Biblically sound way to look at customs and traditions for believers was to write the booklet: Truth, Tradition, or Tare: Growing in the Word.   This brings us back to our topic of hospitality over the last several weeks. Hospitality is how we invite the very Presence of Adonai into our homes, towns, and gatherings. In the following account of hospitality, the hostess is a woman named Martha, and she had a sister named Mary (Miriam). Custom dictated that a host or hostess like Abraham and Sarah provide a safe refuge, water for washing, and food and drink for their guests. It was customary. Traditional. Martha busied herself providing these customary things for Yeshua and his disciples, but Mary was more, well, I'm going to say it...not Custom Mary:   • Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Lk 10:38-42)   Martha was missing something in her hospitality, just as we can miss it in any custom or tradition we practice: why do we do it? To strengthen our relationship to the Holy One and His Word? Or to earn righteousness or the esteem of others through our own efforts?   Yeshua gently pointed out to Martha the important aspect of customary hospitality: it is to strengthen the relationship between the ministry of the Word and the recipients of the Word. To make it come alive. In this case, the Word was literally alive in Martha's home!   In fact, Yeshua would have greeted the home with peace when he entered, just as he instructed his disciples to do. Instead of receiving the peace, Martha remained in a state of worry and bother. She did not receive the blessing. Mary, however, was eating and drinking it in, getting to know what the Living Word should be in her life. The custom of hospitality is to enable Kingdom ministry, to provide a temporary little Temple sanctuary for the minister.   Martha was not wrong if she wanted to continue preparing food to serve the disciples, but she was wrong if it became contentious and destroyed the very relationships she should be strengthening with other believers. Yeshua was well able to perform a miracle of bread, oil, wine, fish, or any other meal she was serving. He'd certainly done it for others who offered what little they had, and so had Elijah. And I'm sure he was prepared to wait if her meal took longer. After all, he was there to grace her with his Presence, not to grade or promote her on culinary skills. He wanted her to drink him in!   To Martha, however, the customary, traditional way a woman of the First Century was viewed as valuable was in her domestic skills. To Yeshua, his custom was to invite all to sit and learn at his feet. Male, female, Jew, non-Jew, slave, free...all could learn and grow in the ministry of the Word. It was the better part of hospitality. It didn't negate the need to feed and house the visiting ministers, the other part, but it was the better part of the whole equation. Perhaps, Yeshua is saying, the point of the serving is forging peace with people and Heaven. Hospitality is the designated vehicle for it.   Yeshua didn't pick Martha's home so she could become righteous through serving; he picked her because she believed in him; she already was righteous. She just needed some extra training like he had to correct his other disciples on things like fighting over higher positions, water-walking, and poor demon management.   A righteous guest seeks a righteous home for hospitality, and he/she has the authority to bless that sanctuary home with peace:   • “Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house* is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.” (Mt 10:9-15)      *”The House” is a euphemism for The Temple    Yeshua clarified hospitality: it is receiving by 1) providing refuge, food and drink, and water for washing as well as 2) receiving his Word. Yeshua had to remind Martha to receive the Word, too. The heart of the Temple was in the hidden place of the ark, the Word of the Torah emplaced between the two cheruvim where the Voice would speak. Out loud.   Hospitality is how the average person enters the holy Sanctuary to experience the Voice and Presence of Adonai through His designated ministers of the Word.   • “You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the LORD.” (Le 19:30)   What did First Century Jews understand about this commandment? And why did Yeshua instruct his disciples so specifically about hospitality as they ministered in his name and authority?   Rashi explains it in his comments to Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:30:   • “'And revere my Sanctuary.' He should not enter the grounds of the Temple neither with his staff, nor with shoes on his feet, nor with his moneybelt, nor with the dust that is on his feet, i.e., he should not enter with dirty feet. And although I enjoin you to have reverence with regard to the Beit HaMikdash [Temple], nonetheless, ‘you shall observe my Sabbaths; the construction of the Beit HaMikdash does not override the Sabbath.”    Contextually, Rashi's point is that Sabbath will occur in every place for all time, and so commandments specific to the Temple services will be overridden by commands specific to Shabbat. As Yeshua understood about the magificent Temple, it would not long endure. Instead, the righteous of the earth would have to function as little sanctuaries in the nations where they lived and were sent. He would continue to build the Temple through them and to send the Presence, the Ruach HaKodesh.   In practice, Yeshua sent his disciples to continue his work; in order to do that work, they would need holy homes to provide Temple hospitality. For this, the home would need to be a “worthy” one. The family would need to conduct its daily life toward the preservation of holiness of Shabbat.    Such a family was fit for Kingdom ministers, and those minister-guests were obligated to treat it with the same courtesies as they would enter the Temple itself. Yeshua's requirements were identical to the customary Temple protocols for entry. A home that provided water to wash the feet was a prepared holy temple. As the repentant sinful woman washed Yeshua's feet with her tears, receiving his forgiveness, so a righteous home signaled receiving the guest with physical water as well as receiving the Word of shalom he or she brought to the house...and House.   The reverence of Shabbat is linked to entering the Temple itself, placing that home in a very high spiritual status, worthy of blessing for its hospitality.   The disciples would bless the homes of Custom Marys the same as they would proclaim blessings in the Temple, for the host was standing in to bless them as the priests would bless the tribes coming up to worship, and all, even those "night watcher" servants of exile from among the nations, offered blessings to YHVH.

In this episode of Crazy Wisdom, host Stewart Alsop talks with Jessica Talisman, founder of Contextually and creator of the Ontology Pipeline, about the deep connections between knowledge management, library science, and the emerging world of AI systems. Together they explore how controlled vocabularies, ontologies, and metadata shape meaning for both humans and machines, why librarianship has lessons for modern tech, and how cultural context influences what we call “knowledge.” Jessica also discusses the rise of AI librarians, the problem of “AI slop,” and the need for collaborative, human-centered knowledge ecosystems. You can learn more about her work at Ontology Pipeline and find her writing and talks on LinkedIn.Check out this GPT we trained on the conversationTimestamps00:00 Stewart Alsop welcomes Jessica Talisman to discuss Contextually, ontologies, and how controlled vocabularies ground scalable systems.05:00 They compare philosophy's ontology with information science, linking meaning, categorization, and sense-making for humans and machines.10:00 Jessica explains why SQL and Postgres can't capture knowledge complexity and how neuro-symbolic systems add context and interoperability.15:00 The talk turns to library science's split from big data in the 1990s, metadata schemas, and the FAIR principles of findability and reuse.20:00 They discuss neutrality, bias in corporate vocabularies, and why “touching grass” matters for reconciling internal and external meanings.25:00 Conversation shifts to interpretability, cultural context, and how Western categorical thinking differs from China's contextual knowledge.30:00 Jessica introduces process knowledge, documentation habits, and the danger of outsourcing how-to understanding.35:00 They explore knowledge as habit, the tension between break-things culture and library design thinking, and early AI experiments.40:00 Libraries' strategic use of AI, metadata precision, and the emerging role of AI librarians take focus.45:00 Stewart connects data labeling, Surge AI, and the economics of good data with Jessica's call for better knowledge architectures.50:00 They unpack content lifecycle, provenance, and user context as the backbone of knowledge ecosystems.55:00 The talk closes on automation limits, human-in-the-loop design, and Jessica's vision for collaborative consulting through Contextually.Key InsightsOntology is about meaning, not just data structure. Jessica Talisman reframes ontology from a philosophical abstraction into a practical tool for knowledge management—defining how things relate and what they mean within systems. She explains that without clear categories and shared definitions, organizations can't scale or communicate effectively, either with people or with machines.Controlled vocabularies are the foundation of AI literacy. Jessica emphasizes that building a controlled vocabulary is the simplest and most powerful way to disambiguate meaning for AI. Machines, like people, need context to interpret language, and consistent terminology prevents the “hallucinations” that occur when systems lack semantic grounding.Library science predicted today's knowledge crisis. Stewart and Jessica trace how, in the 1990s, tech went down the path of “big data” while librarians quietly built systems of metadata, ontologies, and standards like schema.org. Today's AI challenges—interoperability, reliability, and information overload—mirror problems library science has been solving for decades.Knowledge is culturally shaped. Drawing from Patrick Lambe's work, Jessica notes that Western knowledge systems are category-driven, while Chinese systems emphasize context. This cultural distinction explains why global AI models often miss nuance or moral voice when trained on limited datasets.Process knowledge is disappearing. The West has outsourced its “how-to” knowledge—what Jessica calls process knowledge—to other countries. Without documentation habits, we risk losing the embodied know-how that underpins manufacturing, engineering, and even creative work.Automation cannot replace critical thinking. Jessica warns against treating AI as “room service.” Automation can support, but not substitute, human judgment. Her own experience with a contract error generated by an AI tool underscores the importance of review, reflection, and accountability in human–machine collaboration.Collaborative consulting builds knowledge resilience. Through her consultancy, Contextually, Jessica advocates for “teaching through doing”—helping teams build their own ontologies and vocabularies rather than outsourcing them. Sustainable knowledge systems, she argues, depend on shared understanding, not just good technology.

Title: “Who Commands the Waves and Wind?” Part 2 Text: Acts 27:13-38 FCF: We often struggle with the paradox of God's grace and man's responsibility Prop: Because God's grace alone through faith alone saves, we must trust the Lord. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 27. In a moment we'll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting from verse 1 and going through verse 38. You can follow along in the pew bible or whatever version you prefer. Our maritime adventure continues today. After leaving Paul, his companions, and an Alexandrian grain ship struggling to make progress to Italy, now they are docked in a place called Fair Havens. Paul attempted to convince the centurion to winter the ship in this port, but the pilot and captain of the ship have convinced him instead to try for Phoenix, a port 40 miles up the coast of Crete. The opposition of the wind and waves will continue to be an issue as we go forward, but in the midst of the tempest God gives grace and expects faith from all those aboard the ship. The rest of this story serves as a potent example of how God saves His people. Please stand with me to focus on and give honor to the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Good and Gracious God. We are humbled that You would transcend to us and commune with us in Your worship. Yet You have promised that You are among us. I pray that You would allow Your Spirit to speak to us today. To illuminate the text of the scriptures and show us Your love. I pray that You might unveil difficult mysteries to our hearts to perceive truth. And I pray that You would open eyes and give new hearts so that if there are those among us who do not truly believe on You, that today would be the day of their salvation. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Transition: We have a LOT of text to cover. So, let's get to it. I.) God's sovereign grace alone saves, so we must trust the Lord. (13-29) a. [Slide 2] 13 - And when a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along the shore of Crete. i. As they waited for the opportune moment to depart for Phoenix, it seemed that the wisdom of the sailors was superior to the words of the apostle. ii. At least at first. iii. A southern wind comes up from Africa allowing them to sail north west along the coast of Crete. iv. All seems to be going their way and Paul proves to be another ignorant religious nut. b. [Slide 3] 14 - But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo; 15 - and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be carried along. 16 - And running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship's boat under control. i. There are several things happening here that are shrouded in maritime understanding. ii. This violent wind called a Euraquilo, is what we might refer to as a Nor'easter. Eura is the Greek word for East wind and Aquilo is the Latin word for North wind. iii. Such winds on the Mediterranean were greatly feared by sailors. They could come up out of nowhere and usually had disastrous impacts leading to loss of cargo and life. iv. Luke tells how the ship was caught in the wind and could not face it. Meaning that though they lowered the sails and attempted to row their way back to shore while keeping the bow of the ship pointed into the wind, they were unable to do so. v. [Slide 4] This being the case, they stopped rowing and allowed the waves and wind to carry them out to sea. vi. They were driven down past a very small island called Clauda or Cauda and were, as Luke says, scarcely able to get the ship's boat under control. vii. But what is the ship's boat? viii. A large ship like this would require a smaller vessel to allow for maintenance to be done on the ship. It also would allow for the large ship to anchor in greater depths while a small complement would sail to the coast for supplies. ix. These boats were usually towed at the back of the boat during the voyage. x. Losing the ship's boat would spell certain doom for the cargo and all those aboard. xi. So, using the shelter of the tiny island of Clauda, they were able to raise the boat to the deck. c. [Slide 5] 17 - After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship. Fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be carried along. i. Upon successfully rescuing the boat and hoisting it up to the deck, they wrapped cables under the ship's hull. These cables would be tightened down to add even more stability to the ship's hull, keeping it from breaking apart. ii. The shallows of Syrtis are a group of sandbars and shoals off the coast of Northern Africa. At this time, it was known as a ship's graveyard having claimed many ships who had run aground. iii. Also, to keep themselves from being blown this far south, they dropped their sea anchor. iv. Unlike other anchors which are designed to hold a ship in place as it is catches on the ground under water… a Sea anchor is used to stabilize a boat's movements adding drag in deep water which allowed them to keep the bow of the ship pointed into the coming waves or winds, effectively preventing the ship from being blown over and capsizing and giving them some control over how far they were pushed by the waves. v. With the sea anchor down, the sails would remain down and as Luke says, they were carried to wherever the waves would take them. d. [Slide 6] 18 - And the next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the cargo; 19 - and on the third day they cast the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 - And since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned. i. This Nor'easter continued for 3 days dragging them along. ii. What is the danger they face? iii. They face two dangers. 1. The first is running aground on some rocks or sandbar with no land in sight. 2. The second is the waves and wind themselves. Which would constantly be blowing the ship around and filling the ship with water. iv. So how do they mitigate both of these dangers? Make the ship lighter. If the ship is lighter it will sit in the water higher. If it sits in the water higher it can travel through shallower waters and go over waves much easier. v. So that is what they do. They jettison the cargo. As we said before, this was a grain ship. By cargo, Luke probably does not mean the grain. At least not yet. vi. Cargo here means anything that is not absolutely essential. They also toss the tackle overboard. The tackle would be anything used to move and lift cargo as well as sailing and mooring equipment. vii. This would be a desperate move to be sure. To spare their lives, they must even risk being without sailing and mooring equipment. If they make it out of the storm alive, they would have to row their way to a port. viii. But their chances of finding their heading were very low. Because they had neither seen sun, nor stars for many days. This is how they navigated on the sea. By the sun and the stars and their positions. ix. Not only were they without sailing capabilities – they were also without navigation. They were blind and set adrift. x. No wonder Luke says that their hope was fading. Yes, even Luke himself is giving up hope that he would make it out alive. Beacuse as far as Luke was concerned, God could rescue Paul without saving him. xi. Once again, the voyage faces great peril and difficulty from “nature.” And once again, Paul has some words of advice for all of those on this voyage. e. [Slide 7] 21 - And when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice to not set sail from Crete and to avoid this damage and loss. 22 - “And now I advise you to be cheerful, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 - “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24 - saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.' 25 - “Therefore, be cheerful, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 - “But we must run aground on some island.” i. No doubt they were not eating because of the inevitable sea sickness that would have overtaken most of the passengers aboard. ii. Nothing kills hunger like nausea. iii. Tired, sick, drenched, and afraid, Paul addresses these men with a message of hope. iv. First, he points out that his advice was to stay in Crete at Fair Havens and that advice being disregarded has led them down this path of destruction and loss. v. I don't think Paul says this as an “I told you so” but rather to motivate them to take his next piece of advice. vi. He advises that they be cheerful because just as he rightly predicted the destruction and loss, he now predicts that although the ship and all its cargo will be lost, not one member of the ship would lose their lives. vii. But how does Paul know this? viii. He explains how God's messenger, an angel, told him not to be afraid because he will surely stand before Caesar and that God has given or granted to Paul all that are sailing with him. ix. Contextually we know that this doesn't mean that all of these men will convert to Christ… but rather that all of their earthly lives will be spared from this storm. x. So, Paul reasserts his advice. They must rejoice because God will do what He has promised… xi. But then he reveals a terrifying prospect. They must abandon the hope of saving the ship and its cargo. Why? xii. He revels exactly how the ship will be lost. It will be run aground on an island. Paul was not told which one specifically. f. [Slide 8] 27 - But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being carried about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that some land was approaching them. 28 - And when they took soundings, they found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. 29 - And fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and were praying for daybreak. i. We don't know exactly how long it was since Paul gave this advice, but on the 14th day of the storm, they were still being carried about by the Adriatic Sea. ii. Today, the Adriatic Sea is what we would call the sea between the Apennine Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula. In the first century this would have been known as the Gulf of Adria and the Adriatic Sea would refer to central portion of the Mediterranean Sea. iii. About midnight the sailors began suspecting that they were approaching land. They no doubt began hearing the crashing of waves against something in the distance. iv. So, they began to take soundings to measure the depths. Their first measurement came in at 120 feet or 20 fathoms. Their next measurement was 90 feet. v. Knowing now that the land below them was rising, they fearfully took measures to anchor the ship in place to prevent it being dashed to pieces on the rocks. vi. They cast four anchors from the back of the ship. And they began to pray – to various gods no doubt – for daybreak to come so they could get their bearings. vii. So once again we see the cycle repeat. viii. Things are going well, things start going bad, Paul gives advice, they do not heed it, and things get worse. ix. They have tried everything in their own power to save the ship and prevent financial ruin. When all has failed, they finally beg the gods, any who might hear them, to bring them through the storm. x. In contrast, Paul told them that a God they did not serve, and never sought, had already informed him that although the ship would be lost by being run aground, not one single life aboard the ship would be lost. xi. This is the contrast of works and grace. This is the contrast of false gods and the only true God. Yahweh alone is full of grace and love. g. [Slide 9] Summary of the Point: Luke's primary point of teaching is found within the second piece of advice given by Paul. I call it advice by Paul, but really it is a Word from the Lord. God has told Paul that he will go before Caesar and that all the people aboard the ship will make it through this storm with their lives. God does this, not because these passengers aboard believe on Him, not because they have sought His face, not because they have prayed to Him, not because they are His faithful people. Indeed, God does not need to save all those on board in order to bring Paul to Caesar. But by the Word of His Sovereign grace, God chooses freely to save and preserve the life of all 276 people aboard the ship. Such a God deserves our exclusive trust and devotion. And that is exactly what Paul does. Paul is convinced that God will do as He has promised. We too must trust what God has said and reorient our lives around everything He says as truth. This is what saving faith is. Transition: [Slide 10 (blank)] Well, the situation is dire. Paul has given two pieces of advice and both have been disregarded by the passengers on board. Things continue to get worse and worse for them. And what usually happens when a group of people are in a desperate situation? Things start to get ugly as people start to get selfish. II.) It is by God's sovereign grace through faith that we are saved, so we must trust the Lord. (30-38) a. [Slide 11] 30 - But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, i. In this Maritime adventure the pattern has remained consistent. 1. Things are going well. 2. Things start NOT going well 3. Paul gives advice. 4. No one heeds his advice. ii. That cycle repeated itself twice. iii. Most recently, they were still trying to save the ship and the cargo along with the lives of the sailors even though Paul clearly said that the ship would be lost. iv. But now we omit step 1. Things don't go well again. In fact, things get worse. v. The sailors, pretending to go to tie anchors to the bow, began to take the boat of the ship for themselves and abandon everyone else and the cargo to the waves and the wind. vi. Again, we see the natural sinful and selfish nature of man. Rather than believing Paul's words and risking being shipwrecked on some island, they intended to leave those untrained at sailing to their fate. vii. But Paul speaks yet again with a warning. b. [Slide 12] 31 - Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” i. But wait a second. God already promised them that not one life would be lost. ii. Does it matter if these sailors leave? iii. Remember, this isn't all God said. He also said the ship must run aground and be lost. iv. This forms the first of two examples demonstrating the paradoxical tension between God's sovereign grace and man's responsibility. 1. Who is going to save these men from dying in this storm? Certainly, God is. That is what the Angel said. “God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.” 2. But God's sovereign grace in that promise is not without men's responsibility to act in ways that pursue that salvation. 3. God's sovereign grace to spare these men included their participation in using their skills to run the ship aground in a controlled way so that they could all abandon the ship together and get to shore safely. 4. So, using their skills becomes an exercise of faith. 5. God ultimately doesn't need their skills to do this – but certainly abandoning the ship is done in disbelief that running aground and all of their lives being spared somehow both will be true like God said. 6. As James endeavors to demonstrate, faith that saves is woven to works. Not that faith and works save. They do not. But there is more than one kind of faith. The faith that saves is a faith that produces action. Belief without pursuit of what is believed in… is not belief at all. 7. Saying you believe zip lines are completely safe, but never going on one… means you have no idea what you are talking about. v. Paul's point is, that ultimately these sailors must act in faith that the ship will run aground and all the lives will be spared. There is no reason to try to save your own life before the ship is run aground. This is not faith in God's word. vi. This is the third time Paul has given advice in this maritime adventure. And the first two times, no one listened to him. And things have only gotten worse. vii. So, what will happen now? Have they learned their lesson? c. [Slide 13] 32 - Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away. i. For the first time, someone is listening to Paul's advice. ii. The Roman soldiers, in a sense, force a response of everyone aboard the ship. They cut away the boat preventing anyone from trying to escape. iii. In doing this, they ensure that the ship runs aground, not on the beach, but in some way that the ship will not survive; just as God said. d. [Slide 14] 33 - Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. 34 - Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your salvation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” 35 - And having said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all. And he broke it and began to eat. i. The first thing we see Paul do after they listen to his latest piece of advice, is to reiterate his previous advice. ii. Now that they are beginning to believe God – yes, they are that desperate that they will believe Paul's God… iii. Paul now reiterates his previous advice. iv. They should be cheerful; they should take food for themselves. v. And this is the second example in this point where the sovereign grace of God is paradoxically linked with the responsibility of men. 1. Once again, we ask, who is going to save these men from dying in this storm? Certainly, God is. 2. But here, Paul encourages them to eat. And he says “for this is for your salvation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” 3. Well, is food saving them or is God saving them? 4. God is the ultimate actor in the salvation of their present lives, but just as the sailors must execute their duties as an act of faith that the ship would be lost but all the lives saved, so also everyone aboard must eat food as an act of faith in the same promise. a. Will they really believe that the ship and all its cargo will be lost, as God has said? b. Will they really believe that their lives will be spared by God? c. How would we know? d. Taking food to sustain their bodies is an act of faith. How so? i. Eating food is a confession of faith that God will save their life. ii. Eating food is an act that comes with the expectation that by taking this, they will live on the energy this food provides for many more days. iii. Eating food is a confession that these supplies will be lost soon anyway, so they might as well use them while they still have them. iv. Eating food is an act of faith in that they believe they must have strength to swim to shore, since they will run aground and they don't have a boat. v. Eating food breaks a fast to recognize that the answer has been given and they need not seek another. e. Is eating some great act of merit? Does eating require great effort on their part? No. f. Is the food they eat something that is theirs or has it been granted to them? It has been given to them, as all things have by God. g. There is deep symbolism here of the work of salvation. Luke intends for us to see the correlation between God saving these men and how God saves us. h. Christ is our spiritual food and drink. He is the bread and the water and the wine. He is the vine. We must eat and drink and live by Him… but doing so is all given to us by God. 5. God has provided their salvation and the means He uses to communicate their salvation to them is their faith in His words. 6. In a similar way, God has provided salvation to us by grace but uses His gift of ongoing faith in Christ to sustain us to the day of our salvation. vi. So, Paul breaks bread and gives thanks to God and gives an example of faith by eating. While the language here is similar to the Lord's Supper, I do not think that is what is happening here. I think Luke would make it more obvious if this was the case. vii. But we do see this at very least as a picture of that picture. This is a meal of faith to be sure. They eat while they still can, preparing to be shipwrecked and so sustain their lives and strengthen their bodies believing God that they will run aground but live through this storm. e. [Slide 15] 36 - And all of them became cheerful and they themselves also took food. 37 - And all of us in the ship were 276 persons. 38 - And when they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea. i. And here we see, after faith, the last vestige of hope in their previous endeavor dies. ii. They finally lighten the ship with throwing out… probably millions of dollars' worth of wheat. iii. Just as the rich young ruler was told to sell all he had to follow Jesus… These people had a choice to make. iv. Will they believe God to the extent that they abandon hope in any other outcome than what God has said? v. Will they stay on the ship until it runs aground? vi. Will they eat enough to give them strength to swim to shore and fight for their life? vii. Will they abandon all hopes of getting their payday? viii. They believe. They eat… and they throw the wheat into the sea. ix. This is akin to crucifying yourself and following Christ. They give the wheat and their hopes at making money, and potentially even their future careers as sailors, to the depths of the earth… so that they can save what is more precious… Their lives. x. This seems a lot like the parable of Jesus. Jesus said that the gospel was like a man who found a treasure in a field and sold all he owned to purchase the field to acquire the treasure knowing that the treasure was more precious than all his riches. xi. All 276 persons aboard the ship trust what Paul's God has said. xii. We'll have to wait until next week to see what happens to them. f. [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: It is interesting to see the correlation between God saving these passenger's lives from the storm and how God saves us from sin. Sin is a raging storm tossing us about. We are all born as slaves of sin and of our father the devil. We are by nature the offspring of the serpent. Children of wrath like the rest. And just as God freely chose to save the lives of the people on board this ship, so God has freely chosen to save the souls of His elect. What God has determined to do by His Sovereign grace, will be done. But that, as we see here, includes men's response. Even though these people were told that God would spare their lives, it is clear that God would communicate that deliverance through their active faith. True and genuine belief that God would destroy the ship but save their lives, meant that they would use their skills, energy, and strength to both abandon hope in anything else and hope in His promise. In a similar way, God saves us by grace through faith. It is all of Him. He gives us new hearts to receive gifts of repentance and faith… but these gifts when received will produce action. Belief that produces action is what saving faith looks like. Conclusion: So CBC, what have we learned today and how does that inform or correct our belief and guide our lifestyles? Basics of Faith and Practice: [Slide 17] Today we have seen that great paradox, that tension of God's sovereign grace and man's responsibility. God told Paul that He would spare the lives of everyone aboard the ship but that the ship would run aground on an island and be lost. If everyone aboard did not believe it would God have still saved them? I think we can answer that question with a yes. Why? Because God doesn't lie. But… Paul makes it clear that without the sailor's skill in navigating the boat safely to run aground, and without the passengers eating to sustain their life and give themselves energy and strength to swim to shore, then they cannot be saved. In this we see that part of God's grace included a means of getting them safely to an island. It included them believing God. And so, we see Ephesians 2:8-9 demonstrated for us. God saved them by His grace. He did not allow them to earn this salvation. But to be saved they must believe His word, to the extent that they live as if it were true. In a similar way God, by grace, gives new hearts to His people. Hearts now capable of receiving and responding with His gifts of repentance and faith. God removes all other responses as desirable. We see Him doing the same in this maritime adventure. All other options are unavailable and undesirable. By the end, the only option any of them had was to trust God and live in such a way that what He said would be. But even if you got completely lost in all the discussion of God's grace and man's responsibility… the good news is that all you really have to understand is that because you can't save yourself, God sent His Son to pay the ransom for many. And if you are hearing this news and wanting it and believing it, it is because one of those people whom He paid that ransom for… was you! So, trust Him! Trust what He has said and trust what He has done. Trust it so much that your entire life will now be lived in its truth. But let me get a little more specific this morning. 1.) [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God acts alone in saving His people. This is what grace is. a. There is one truth stated clearly by Paul and rescued by the reformers coming out of the reformation. b. The capstone of reformation theology is that God saves us by His grace alone. c. Grace is God's favor granted according to His counsel and His purposes and His will. d. It, by definition, cannot be granted based on anything a person is or does. e. God promised to save all 276 people aboard this ship. He did this without asking their permission, without seeking their input, and without considering who they worshipped. f. A great example of this is the twins Jacob and Esau. g. God says, plainly, that despite the fact that neither of them had ever done anything good or evil, having not yet been born, God chose to love Jacob. He chose to love Jacob so much that by comparison He chose to hate Esau. h. God did not look into the future to see who Jacob and Esau would be and then chose to love Jacob. i. Instead, God's love for Jacob formed who Jacob was. God's lack of love for Esau allowed Esau to carve his own wicked path. j. God's favor… changes the trajectory of a person's life. So much so that when God's grace is given, the recipient of that grace will not and indeed cannot fail in the purposes for which God has given them favor. k. And the scriptures teach us that it is by grace that God saves His people. l. Not an ineffectual grace given to every person that may or may not accomplish what He gave it to do. m. But an effectual grace which will produce the result God desires. n. If we conclude otherwise than passages that speak of God's grace being something we all need and hope in, prove to be… in a word… useless. o. If God's grace has a possibility of not working… and the reason it doesn't work is because of me… then there is literally no difference between me doing something with or without God's grace. p. But if God's grace ALWAYS produces the result God gave it for… than we can rest that when the bible says that we are saved by God's grace… that it is not only sure but also… empty of us. It doesn't depend on us at all. q. God's grace alone saves and all who are given God's saving grace will be saved. This is how it must be. There is no other real alternative if we are to give God's grace the definition the New Testament writers do. r. But… 2.) [Slide 19] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that man has a responsibility to act upon God's gifts of repentance and faith. a. God does not merely give favor… to anyone… ever… and expect them to do NOTHING with it. b. In fact, I can't think of a single example where God empowers someone to do… nothing. I can't think of a single example where God favors someone and then ends up doing everything while they do nothing. c. This is what Paul points out on the ship. God has promised to favor these men and spare their lives. But that is not without the expectation that they would believe His word to the extent that they act in such a way to live out everything He has said. Even that they exert themselves using their skills, strength and energy to make it safely to shore. d. In the scriptures we note that repentance and faith, the message that Jesus preached, are both gifts of God. They are given to men after God has communicated saving grace to them. e. Meaning that God's favor, his power, his ability is granted so that men can receive the things He gives them… namely the reception of truth that they are wicked sinners and that Jesus is a marvelous savior. f. Upon truly receiving these gifts, which God's grace enables them to do, this person does what? g. They live as though it is true. h. How might one live if God has convinced you by grace through faith that you are a wicked sinner in need of a Savior and that Jesus is that savior? i. Would you trust the One who saved you? Would you desire to obey the God who rescued you? Would you seek to know more and more about Him? j. Indeed… k. But these responses are baked into God's grace. They are a necessary and sure response every time God gives saving grace to someone. l. That is why the 1689 confession calls faith… a grace. God gives it in His grace as a gift to be received and acted upon. m. So what must we do with the grace of faith if it has been gifted to us? 3.) [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must trust the Lord. a. Very simply… for everyone in this room… whether you are a follower of Christ or not… b. Here is the challenge of this passage. c. Will you believe God? d. Will you trust what God has said… to the fullest degree. So much so that your entire life reorients around His Word being true. e. This is the testimony of one of your Elders. He came to faith in Christ after beginning to assume that everything in the bible was true. It wasn't long before God captured His heart. f. And this is the testimony of every flailing Christian who can't seem to make progress. g. Well Christian… do you really believe that everything God says is true… h. So much so that your entire life is lived as if it is? i. My guess is… probably not. j. Let me illustrate simply by the example of prayer. k. If God is the creator and most high God, ruler of the universe, as He says He is. If God is Holy and awesome and causes instant fear to all who approach, as He says He is and does. If Christ has suffered violent death to provide access to God's throne and purification through His blood to stand before this God as His child… as He says… l. Then why do we rarely pray? m. Ah. n. You see, all our sins… all our failures… they are a faith problem not an obedience problem. Faith and works go hand in hand remember? If we are not obeying – it is because we are not believing. o. So, we must trust the Lord. p. But let me provide some comfort to you… 4.) [Slide 21] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” All the believing ones will be saved. a. My friends, do not cheapen what John 3:16 says. b. Do not turn it into a formula for “getting saved.” c. Jesus does NOT tell Nicodemus this to explain how someone gets saved. d. Let me give you the Chris paraphrase of this verse… Ready? e. God's love for all the people groups of the world is so immense, so great, that He took His unique Son, whom He ordained since the foundation of the world to be THE substitute and Savior, and He gave Him to fulfill that purpose so that all the ones who are believing on Him would not believe in vain and suffer eternal death, but would eventually be saved and granted eternal life. f. John 3:16 is not a formula for how to get saved… it is a promise to those who continue to trust God. g. Your faith… will be counted to you as righteousness. h. It is a promise predicated on God's great love for all the peoples of the world. i. What a comfort to us who are believers. j. But it is a terrifying thought for those who are not believing. k. So, what do you do? 5.) [Slide 22] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Though natural man is unable to understand and receive the gospel, God's grace enables men to see the truth and receive the gifts of repentance and faith. So, repent and believe the gospel. a. My friends. If you are here today… and you have seen clearly now that God is holy and will not allow even 1 sin to go unpunished. b. If you hear my voice and understand what I am saying that your sin has done nothing for you but carve your way to hell and wrath. c. If you have heard today of the grace of God and His gifts of faith and repentance and the assurances He has provided by trusting fully on Jesus as your LORD and your SAVIOR… d. Then it is reasonable for you to assume that God is calling you. e. It is reasonable to assume that God is giving you gifts of repentance and faith. f. So I implore you to use them. Turn from your sin. Trust Him enough to hate what He hates and flee what He says to flee. And believe on His Son who has paid your ransom price. Believe on Him so much that you will, from now on, endeavor to do all that He has commanded. g. Believe on Him so much that your allegiance has shifted from yourself, your will, your ways… to His. h. Become one who believes and keeps on believing on Jesus Christ alone… i. Then and only then can you inherit the promise of John 3:16. Then and only then will you know life and not death. [Slide 23 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the Puritan Richard Alleine Lord, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised goodness to your servants. You have left us nothing to ask from your hands but what you have already freely granted. Establish forever the word which you have spoken concerning your servants. Do as you have said, and let your name be magnified forever, saying, "The Lord of armies, he is the God of Israel." In Jesus' name we pray… Amen. Hallelujah. Benediction: The God who sent His Son to save, From guilt and darkness and the grave, be gracious to you and bless you And cause His face to shine upon you. Until we gather again tonight for the Lord's Supper, go in peace.

Title: “Who Commands the Waves and Wind?” Part 2 Text: Acts 27:13-38 FCF: We often struggle with the paradox of God's grace and man's responsibility Prop: Because God's grace alone through faith alone saves, we must trust the Lord. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 27. In a moment we'll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting from verse 1 and going through verse 38. You can follow along in the pew bible or whatever version you prefer. Our maritime adventure continues today. After leaving Paul, his companions, and an Alexandrian grain ship struggling to make progress to Italy, now they are docked in a place called Fair Havens. Paul attempted to convince the centurion to winter the ship in this port, but the pilot and captain of the ship have convinced him instead to try for Phoenix, a port 40 miles up the coast of Crete. The opposition of the wind and waves will continue to be an issue as we go forward, but in the midst of the tempest God gives grace and expects faith from all those aboard the ship. The rest of this story serves as a potent example of how God saves His people. Please stand with me to focus on and give honor to the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Good and Gracious God. We are humbled that You would transcend to us and commune with us in Your worship. Yet You have promised that You are among us. I pray that You would allow Your Spirit to speak to us today. To illuminate the text of the scriptures and show us Your love. I pray that You might unveil difficult mysteries to our hearts to perceive truth. And I pray that You would open eyes and give new hearts so that if there are those among us who do not truly believe on You, that today would be the day of their salvation. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Transition: We have a LOT of text to cover. So, let's get to it. I.) God's sovereign grace alone saves, so we must trust the Lord. (13-29) a. [Slide 2] 13 - And when a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along the shore of Crete. i. As they waited for the opportune moment to depart for Phoenix, it seemed that the wisdom of the sailors was superior to the words of the apostle. ii. At least at first. iii. A southern wind comes up from Africa allowing them to sail north west along the coast of Crete. iv. All seems to be going their way and Paul proves to be another ignorant religious nut. b. [Slide 3] 14 - But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo; 15 - and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be carried along. 16 - And running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship's boat under control. i. There are several things happening here that are shrouded in maritime understanding. ii. This violent wind called a Euraquilo, is what we might refer to as a Nor'easter. Eura is the Greek word for East wind and Aquilo is the Latin word for North wind. iii. Such winds on the Mediterranean were greatly feared by sailors. They could come up out of nowhere and usually had disastrous impacts leading to loss of cargo and life. iv. Luke tells how the ship was caught in the wind and could not face it. Meaning that though they lowered the sails and attempted to row their way back to shore while keeping the bow of the ship pointed into the wind, they were unable to do so. v. [Slide 4] This being the case, they stopped rowing and allowed the waves and wind to carry them out to sea. vi. They were driven down past a very small island called Clauda or Cauda and were, as Luke says, scarcely able to get the ship's boat under control. vii. But what is the ship's boat? viii. A large ship like this would require a smaller vessel to allow for maintenance to be done on the ship. It also would allow for the large ship to anchor in greater depths while a small complement would sail to the coast for supplies. ix. These boats were usually towed at the back of the boat during the voyage. x. Losing the ship's boat would spell certain doom for the cargo and all those aboard. xi. So, using the shelter of the tiny island of Clauda, they were able to raise the boat to the deck. c. [Slide 5] 17 - After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship. Fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be carried along. i. Upon successfully rescuing the boat and hoisting it up to the deck, they wrapped cables under the ship's hull. These cables would be tightened down to add even more stability to the ship's hull, keeping it from breaking apart. ii. The shallows of Syrtis are a group of sandbars and shoals off the coast of Northern Africa. At this time, it was known as a ship's graveyard having claimed many ships who had run aground. iii. Also, to keep themselves from being blown this far south, they dropped their sea anchor. iv. Unlike other anchors which are designed to hold a ship in place as it is catches on the ground under water… a Sea anchor is used to stabilize a boat's movements adding drag in deep water which allowed them to keep the bow of the ship pointed into the coming waves or winds, effectively preventing the ship from being blown over and capsizing and giving them some control over how far they were pushed by the waves. v. With the sea anchor down, the sails would remain down and as Luke says, they were carried to wherever the waves would take them. d. [Slide 6] 18 - And the next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the cargo; 19 - and on the third day they cast the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 - And since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned. i. This Nor'easter continued for 3 days dragging them along. ii. What is the danger they face? iii. They face two dangers. 1. The first is running aground on some rocks or sandbar with no land in sight. 2. The second is the waves and wind themselves. Which would constantly be blowing the ship around and filling the ship with water. iv. So how do they mitigate both of these dangers? Make the ship lighter. If the ship is lighter it will sit in the water higher. If it sits in the water higher it can travel through shallower waters and go over waves much easier. v. So that is what they do. They jettison the cargo. As we said before, this was a grain ship. By cargo, Luke probably does not mean the grain. At least not yet. vi. Cargo here means anything that is not absolutely essential. They also toss the tackle overboard. The tackle would be anything used to move and lift cargo as well as sailing and mooring equipment. vii. This would be a desperate move to be sure. To spare their lives, they must even risk being without sailing and mooring equipment. If they make it out of the storm alive, they would have to row their way to a port. viii. But their chances of finding their heading were very low. Because they had neither seen sun, nor stars for many days. This is how they navigated on the sea. By the sun and the stars and their positions. ix. Not only were they without sailing capabilities – they were also without navigation. They were blind and set adrift. x. No wonder Luke says that their hope was fading. Yes, even Luke himself is giving up hope that he would make it out alive. Beacuse as far as Luke was concerned, God could rescue Paul without saving him. xi. Once again, the voyage faces great peril and difficulty from “nature.” And once again, Paul has some words of advice for all of those on this voyage. e. [Slide 7] 21 - And when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice to not set sail from Crete and to avoid this damage and loss. 22 - “And now I advise you to be cheerful, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 - “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24 - saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.' 25 - “Therefore, be cheerful, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 - “But we must run aground on some island.” i. No doubt they were not eating because of the inevitable sea sickness that would have overtaken most of the passengers aboard. ii. Nothing kills hunger like nausea. iii. Tired, sick, drenched, and afraid, Paul addresses these men with a message of hope. iv. First, he points out that his advice was to stay in Crete at Fair Havens and that advice being disregarded has led them down this path of destruction and loss. v. I don't think Paul says this as an “I told you so” but rather to motivate them to take his next piece of advice. vi. He advises that they be cheerful because just as he rightly predicted the destruction and loss, he now predicts that although the ship and all its cargo will be lost, not one member of the ship would lose their lives. vii. But how does Paul know this? viii. He explains how God's messenger, an angel, told him not to be afraid because he will surely stand before Caesar and that God has given or granted to Paul all that are sailing with him. ix. Contextually we know that this doesn't mean that all of these men will convert to Christ… but rather that all of their earthly lives will be spared from this storm. x. So, Paul reasserts his advice. They must rejoice because God will do what He has promised… xi. But then he reveals a terrifying prospect. They must abandon the hope of saving the ship and its cargo. Why? xii. He revels exactly how the ship will be lost. It will be run aground on an island. Paul was not told which one specifically. f. [Slide 8] 27 - But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being carried about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that some land was approaching them. 28 - And when they took soundings, they found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. 29 - And fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and were praying for daybreak. i. We don't know exactly how long it was since Paul gave this advice, but on the 14th day of the storm, they were still being carried about by the Adriatic Sea. ii. Today, the Adriatic Sea is what we would call the sea between the Apennine Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula. In the first century this would have been known as the Gulf of Adria and the Adriatic Sea would refer to central portion of the Mediterranean Sea. iii. About midnight the sailors began suspecting that they were approaching land. They no doubt began hearing the crashing of waves against something in the distance. iv. So, they began to take soundings to measure the depths. Their first measurement came in at 120 feet or 20 fathoms. Their next measurement was 90 feet. v. Knowing now that the land below them was rising, they fearfully took measures to anchor the ship in place to prevent it being dashed to pieces on the rocks. vi. They cast four anchors from the back of the ship. And they began to pray – to various gods no doubt – for daybreak to come so they could get their bearings. vii. So once again we see the cycle repeat. viii. Things are going well, things start going bad, Paul gives advice, they do not heed it, and things get worse. ix. They have tried everything in their own power to save the ship and prevent financial ruin. When all has failed, they finally beg the gods, any who might hear them, to bring them through the storm. x. In contrast, Paul told them that a God they did not serve, and never sought, had already informed him that although the ship would be lost by being run aground, not one single life aboard the ship would be lost. xi. This is the contrast of works and grace. This is the contrast of false gods and the only true God. Yahweh alone is full of grace and love. g. [Slide 9] Summary of the Point: Luke's primary point of teaching is found within the second piece of advice given by Paul. I call it advice by Paul, but really it is a Word from the Lord. God has told Paul that he will go before Caesar and that all the people aboard the ship will make it through this storm with their lives. God does this, not because these passengers aboard believe on Him, not because they have sought His face, not because they have prayed to Him, not because they are His faithful people. Indeed, God does not need to save all those on board in order to bring Paul to Caesar. But by the Word of His Sovereign grace, God chooses freely to save and preserve the life of all 276 people aboard the ship. Such a God deserves our exclusive trust and devotion. And that is exactly what Paul does. Paul is convinced that God will do as He has promised. We too must trust what God has said and reorient our lives around everything He says as truth. This is what saving faith is. Transition: [Slide 10 (blank)] Well, the situation is dire. Paul has given two pieces of advice and both have been disregarded by the passengers on board. Things continue to get worse and worse for them. And what usually happens when a group of people are in a desperate situation? Things start to get ugly as people start to get selfish. II.) It is by God's sovereign grace through faith that we are saved, so we must trust the Lord. (30-38) a. [Slide 11] 30 - But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, i. In this Maritime adventure the pattern has remained consistent. 1. Things are going well. 2. Things start NOT going well 3. Paul gives advice. 4. No one heeds his advice. ii. That cycle repeated itself twice. iii. Most recently, they were still trying to save the ship and the cargo along with the lives of the sailors even though Paul clearly said that the ship would be lost. iv. But now we omit step 1. Things don't go well again. In fact, things get worse. v. The sailors, pretending to go to tie anchors to the bow, began to take the boat of the ship for themselves and abandon everyone else and the cargo to the waves and the wind. vi. Again, we see the natural sinful and selfish nature of man. Rather than believing Paul's words and risking being shipwrecked on some island, they intended to leave those untrained at sailing to their fate. vii. But Paul speaks yet again with a warning. b. [Slide 12] 31 - Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” i. But wait a second. God already promised them that not one life would be lost. ii. Does it matter if these sailors leave? iii. Remember, this isn't all God said. He also said the ship must run aground and be lost. iv. This forms the first of two examples demonstrating the paradoxical tension between God's sovereign grace and man's responsibility. 1. Who is going to save these men from dying in this storm? Certainly, God is. That is what the Angel said. “God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.” 2. But God's sovereign grace in that promise is not without men's responsibility to act in ways that pursue that salvation. 3. God's sovereign grace to spare these men included their participation in using their skills to run the ship aground in a controlled way so that they could all abandon the ship together and get to shore safely. 4. So, using their skills becomes an exercise of faith. 5. God ultimately doesn't need their skills to do this – but certainly abandoning the ship is done in disbelief that running aground and all of their lives being spared somehow both will be true like God said. 6. As James endeavors to demonstrate, faith that saves is woven to works. Not that faith and works save. They do not. But there is more than one kind of faith. The faith that saves is a faith that produces action. Belief without pursuit of what is believed in… is not belief at all. 7. Saying you believe zip lines are completely safe, but never going on one… means you have no idea what you are talking about. v. Paul's point is, that ultimately these sailors must act in faith that the ship will run aground and all the lives will be spared. There is no reason to try to save your own life before the ship is run aground. This is not faith in God's word. vi. This is the third time Paul has given advice in this maritime adventure. And the first two times, no one listened to him. And things have only gotten worse. vii. So, what will happen now? Have they learned their lesson? c. [Slide 13] 32 - Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away. i. For the first time, someone is listening to Paul's advice. ii. The Roman soldiers, in a sense, force a response of everyone aboard the ship. They cut away the boat preventing anyone from trying to escape. iii. In doing this, they ensure that the ship runs aground, not on the beach, but in some way that the ship will not survive; just as God said. d. [Slide 14] 33 - Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. 34 - Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your salvation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” 35 - And having said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all. And he broke it and began to eat. i. The first thing we see Paul do after they listen to his latest piece of advice, is to reiterate his previous advice. ii. Now that they are beginning to believe God – yes, they are that desperate that they will believe Paul's God… iii. Paul now reiterates his previous advice. iv. They should be cheerful; they should take food for themselves. v. And this is the second example in this point where the sovereign grace of God is paradoxically linked with the responsibility of men. 1. Once again, we ask, who is going to save these men from dying in this storm? Certainly, God is. 2. But here, Paul encourages them to eat. And he says “for this is for your salvation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” 3. Well, is food saving them or is God saving them? 4. God is the ultimate actor in the salvation of their present lives, but just as the sailors must execute their duties as an act of faith that the ship would be lost but all the lives saved, so also everyone aboard must eat food as an act of faith in the same promise. a. Will they really believe that the ship and all its cargo will be lost, as God has said? b. Will they really believe that their lives will be spared by God? c. How would we know? d. Taking food to sustain their bodies is an act of faith. How so? i. Eating food is a confession of faith that God will save their life. ii. Eating food is an act that comes with the expectation that by taking this, they will live on the energy this food provides for many more days. iii. Eating food is a confession that these supplies will be lost soon anyway, so they might as well use them while they still have them. iv. Eating food is an act of faith in that they believe they must have strength to swim to shore, since they will run aground and they don't have a boat. v. Eating food breaks a fast to recognize that the answer has been given and they need not seek another. e. Is eating some great act of merit? Does eating require great effort on their part? No. f. Is the food they eat something that is theirs or has it been granted to them? It has been given to them, as all things have by God. g. There is deep symbolism here of the work of salvation. Luke intends for us to see the correlation between God saving these men and how God saves us. h. Christ is our spiritual food and drink. He is the bread and the water and the wine. He is the vine. We must eat and drink and live by Him… but doing so is all given to us by God. 5. God has provided their salvation and the means He uses to communicate their salvation to them is their faith in His words. 6. In a similar way, God has provided salvation to us by grace but uses His gift of ongoing faith in Christ to sustain us to the day of our salvation. vi. So, Paul breaks bread and gives thanks to God and gives an example of faith by eating. While the language here is similar to the Lord's Supper, I do not think that is what is happening here. I think Luke would make it more obvious if this was the case. vii. But we do see this at very least as a picture of that picture. This is a meal of faith to be sure. They eat while they still can, preparing to be shipwrecked and so sustain their lives and strengthen their bodies believing God that they will run aground but live through this storm. e. [Slide 15] 36 - And all of them became cheerful and they themselves also took food. 37 - And all of us in the ship were 276 persons. 38 - And when they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea. i. And here we see, after faith, the last vestige of hope in their previous endeavor dies. ii. They finally lighten the ship with throwing out… probably millions of dollars' worth of wheat. iii. Just as the rich young ruler was told to sell all he had to follow Jesus… These people had a choice to make. iv. Will they believe God to the extent that they abandon hope in any other outcome than what God has said? v. Will they stay on the ship until it runs aground? vi. Will they eat enough to give them strength to swim to shore and fight for their life? vii. Will they abandon all hopes of getting their payday? viii. They believe. They eat… and they throw the wheat into the sea. ix. This is akin to crucifying yourself and following Christ. They give the wheat and their hopes at making money, and potentially even their future careers as sailors, to the depths of the earth… so that they can save what is more precious… Their lives. x. This seems a lot like the parable of Jesus. Jesus said that the gospel was like a man who found a treasure in a field and sold all he owned to purchase the field to acquire the treasure knowing that the treasure was more precious than all his riches. xi. All 276 persons aboard the ship trust what Paul's God has said. xii. We'll have to wait until next week to see what happens to them. f. [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: It is interesting to see the correlation between God saving these passenger's lives from the storm and how God saves us from sin. Sin is a raging storm tossing us about. We are all born as slaves of sin and of our father the devil. We are by nature the offspring of the serpent. Children of wrath like the rest. And just as God freely chose to save the lives of the people on board this ship, so God has freely chosen to save the souls of His elect. What God has determined to do by His Sovereign grace, will be done. But that, as we see here, includes men's response. Even though these people were told that God would spare their lives, it is clear that God would communicate that deliverance through their active faith. True and genuine belief that God would destroy the ship but save their lives, meant that they would use their skills, energy, and strength to both abandon hope in anything else and hope in His promise. In a similar way, God saves us by grace through faith. It is all of Him. He gives us new hearts to receive gifts of repentance and faith… but these gifts when received will produce action. Belief that produces action is what saving faith looks like. Conclusion: So CBC, what have we learned today and how does that inform or correct our belief and guide our lifestyles? Basics of Faith and Practice: [Slide 17] Today we have seen that great paradox, that tension of God's sovereign grace and man's responsibility. God told Paul that He would spare the lives of everyone aboard the ship but that the ship would run aground on an island and be lost. If everyone aboard did not believe it would God have still saved them? I think we can answer that question with a yes. Why? Because God doesn't lie. But… Paul makes it clear that without the sailor's skill in navigating the boat safely to run aground, and without the passengers eating to sustain their life and give themselves energy and strength to swim to shore, then they cannot be saved. In this we see that part of God's grace included a means of getting them safely to an island. It included them believing God. And so, we see Ephesians 2:8-9 demonstrated for us. God saved them by His grace. He did not allow them to earn this salvation. But to be saved they must believe His word, to the extent that they live as if it were true. In a similar way God, by grace, gives new hearts to His people. Hearts now capable of receiving and responding with His gifts of repentance and faith. God removes all other responses as desirable. We see Him doing the same in this maritime adventure. All other options are unavailable and undesirable. By the end, the only option any of them had was to trust God and live in such a way that what He said would be. But even if you got completely lost in all the discussion of God's grace and man's responsibility… the good news is that all you really have to understand is that because you can't save yourself, God sent His Son to pay the ransom for many. And if you are hearing this news and wanting it and believing it, it is because one of those people whom He paid that ransom for… was you! So, trust Him! Trust what He has said and trust what He has done. Trust it so much that your entire life will now be lived in its truth. But let me get a little more specific this morning. 1.) [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God acts alone in saving His people. This is what grace is. a. There is one truth stated clearly by Paul and rescued by the reformers coming out of the reformation. b. The capstone of reformation theology is that God saves us by His grace alone. c. Grace is God's favor granted according to His counsel and His purposes and His will. d. It, by definition, cannot be granted based on anything a person is or does. e. God promised to save all 276 people aboard this ship. He did this without asking their permission, without seeking their input, and without considering who they worshipped. f. A great example of this is the twins Jacob and Esau. g. God says, plainly, that despite the fact that neither of them had ever done anything good or evil, having not yet been born, God chose to love Jacob. He chose to love Jacob so much that by comparison He chose to hate Esau. h. God did not look into the future to see who Jacob and Esau would be and then chose to love Jacob. i. Instead, God's love for Jacob formed who Jacob was. God's lack of love for Esau allowed Esau to carve his own wicked path. j. God's favor… changes the trajectory of a person's life. So much so that when God's grace is given, the recipient of that grace will not and indeed cannot fail in the purposes for which God has given them favor. k. And the scriptures teach us that it is by grace that God saves His people. l. Not an ineffectual grace given to every person that may or may not accomplish what He gave it to do. m. But an effectual grace which will produce the result God desires. n. If we conclude otherwise than passages that speak of God's grace being something we all need and hope in, prove to be… in a word… useless. o. If God's grace has a possibility of not working… and the reason it doesn't work is because of me… then there is literally no difference between me doing something with or without God's grace. p. But if God's grace ALWAYS produces the result God gave it for… than we can rest that when the bible says that we are saved by God's grace… that it is not only sure but also… empty of us. It doesn't depend on us at all. q. God's grace alone saves and all who are given God's saving grace will be saved. This is how it must be. There is no other real alternative if we are to give God's grace the definition the New Testament writers do. r. But… 2.) [Slide 19] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that man has a responsibility to act upon God's gifts of repentance and faith. a. God does not merely give favor… to anyone… ever… and expect them to do NOTHING with it. b. In fact, I can't think of a single example where God empowers someone to do… nothing. I can't think of a single example where God favors someone and then ends up doing everything while they do nothing. c. This is what Paul points out on the ship. God has promised to favor these men and spare their lives. But that is not without the expectation that they would believe His word to the extent that they act in such a way to live out everything He has said. Even that they exert themselves using their skills, strength and energy to make it safely to shore. d. In the scriptures we note that repentance and faith, the message that Jesus preached, are both gifts of God. They are given to men after God has communicated saving grace to them. e. Meaning that God's favor, his power, his ability is granted so that men can receive the things He gives them… namely the reception of truth that they are wicked sinners and that Jesus is a marvelous savior. f. Upon truly receiving these gifts, which God's grace enables them to do, this person does what? g. They live as though it is true. h. How might one live if God has convinced you by grace through faith that you are a wicked sinner in need of a Savior and that Jesus is that savior? i. Would you trust the One who saved you? Would you desire to obey the God who rescued you? Would you seek to know more and more about Him? j. Indeed… k. But these responses are baked into God's grace. They are a necessary and sure response every time God gives saving grace to someone. l. That is why the 1689 confession calls faith… a grace. God gives it in His grace as a gift to be received and acted upon. m. So what must we do with the grace of faith if it has been gifted to us? 3.) [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must trust the Lord. a. Very simply… for everyone in this room… whether you are a follower of Christ or not… b. Here is the challenge of this passage. c. Will you believe God? d. Will you trust what God has said… to the fullest degree. So much so that your entire life reorients around His Word being true. e. This is the testimony of one of your Elders. He came to faith in Christ after beginning to assume that everything in the bible was true. It wasn't long before God captured His heart. f. And this is the testimony of every flailing Christian who can't seem to make progress. g. Well Christian… do you really believe that everything God says is true… h. So much so that your entire life is lived as if it is? i. My guess is… probably not. j. Let me illustrate simply by the example of prayer. k. If God is the creator and most high God, ruler of the universe, as He says He is. If God is Holy and awesome and causes instant fear to all who approach, as He says He is and does. If Christ has suffered violent death to provide access to God's throne and purification through His blood to stand before this God as His child… as He says… l. Then why do we rarely pray? m. Ah. n. You see, all our sins… all our failures… they are a faith problem not an obedience problem. Faith and works go hand in hand remember? If we are not obeying – it is because we are not believing. o. So, we must trust the Lord. p. But let me provide some comfort to you… 4.) [Slide 21] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” All the believing ones will be saved. a. My friends, do not cheapen what John 3:16 says. b. Do not turn it into a formula for “getting saved.” c. Jesus does NOT tell Nicodemus this to explain how someone gets saved. d. Let me give you the Chris paraphrase of this verse… Ready? e. God's love for all the people groups of the world is so immense, so great, that He took His unique Son, whom He ordained since the foundation of the world to be THE substitute and Savior, and He gave Him to fulfill that purpose so that all the ones who are believing on Him would not believe in vain and suffer eternal death, but would eventually be saved and granted eternal life. f. John 3:16 is not a formula for how to get saved… it is a promise to those who continue to trust God. g. Your faith… will be counted to you as righteousness. h. It is a promise predicated on God's great love for all the peoples of the world. i. What a comfort to us who are believers. j. But it is a terrifying thought for those who are not believing. k. So, what do you do? 5.) [Slide 22] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Though natural man is unable to understand and receive the gospel, God's grace enables men to see the truth and receive the gifts of repentance and faith. So, repent and believe the gospel. a. My friends. If you are here today… and you have seen clearly now that God is holy and will not allow even 1 sin to go unpunished. b. If you hear my voice and understand what I am saying that your sin has done nothing for you but carve your way to hell and wrath. c. If you have heard today of the grace of God and His gifts of faith and repentance and the assurances He has provided by trusting fully on Jesus as your LORD and your SAVIOR… d. Then it is reasonable for you to assume that God is calling you. e. It is reasonable to assume that God is giving you gifts of repentance and faith. f. So I implore you to use them. Turn from your sin. Trust Him enough to hate what He hates and flee what He says to flee. And believe on His Son who has paid your ransom price. Believe on Him so much that you will, from now on, endeavor to do all that He has commanded. g. Believe on Him so much that your allegiance has shifted from yourself, your will, your ways… to His. h. Become one who believes and keeps on believing on Jesus Christ alone… i. Then and only then can you inherit the promise of John 3:16. Then and only then will you know life and not death. [Slide 23 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the Puritan Richard Alleine Lord, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised goodness to your servants. You have left us nothing to ask from your hands but what you have already freely granted. Establish forever the word which you have spoken concerning your servants. Do as you have said, and let your name be magnified forever, saying, "The Lord of armies, he is the God of Israel." In Jesus' name we pray… Amen. Hallelujah. Benediction: The God who sent His Son to save, From guilt and darkness and the grave, be gracious to you and bless you And cause His face to shine upon you. Until we gather again tonight for the Lord's Supper, go in peace.

The Superhero Show Show #583STAS Season 4 Finale and The Prowler's IntroductionThe Prowler Makes His Animated DebutOn this week's The Superhero Show Show, the hosts turn their spotlight to Season 4, Episode 11 of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which introduces a brand-new character to the series: The Prowler. This episode marks a fresh shift in tone, blending social justice themes, redemption arcs, and classic superhero action. The team dives into how this fan-favorite antihero is adapted for Saturday morning television, and whether the episode successfully balances its heavier themes with the high-energy Spider-Man formula.Who Is The Prowler?The hosts start by breaking down the origin story of The Prowler, a.k.a. Hobie Brown, a young inventor turned reluctant criminal who dons a high-tech suit to seek justice his own way. The episode paints Hobie as a victim of circumstance, manipulated by crime boss Richard Fisk into doing dirty work under the illusion of control and upward mobility.The podcast praises the show for introducing The Prowler as a layered and sympathetic character, rather than just a one-note villain. They compare his debut to other redemption-focused characters in the series, highlighting how his motivations and eventual turn toward heroism help him stand out.Power, Control, and Second ChancesOne of the episode's central themes is the struggle for agency. Hobie, disillusioned by a system that continually fails him, turns to technology and crime as a means of reclaiming power. However, once Spider-Man intervenes, a different path begins to open. The hosts commend the show for portraying Spider-Man as both a physical adversary and a moral compass, guiding The Prowler toward redemption.They also discuss how this mirrors Peter Parker's own journey. Both characters come from difficult backgrounds, but their decisions define who they become. The hosts love that this episode serves as a mirror for Peter—offering a “what-if” scenario of how differently things could have gone.Animation Highlights and Series ContextThe animation team also gets a nod from the hosts this week. They note that The Prowler's suit design and acrobatic fight choreography add a visual freshness to the episode. From high-rise rooftop battles to underground lairs, the episode keeps its energy up without losing emotional weight.Contextually, the episode sits between several personal milestones for Peter—his recent engagement to Mary Jane and the aftermath of revealing his identity. The hosts admire how the show can juggle such significant story beats while still making space to introduce compelling new characters.A Hero in the MakingIn the end, Hobie Brown walks away not as a villain, but as a young man given a second chance. The hosts speculate on what could've been if Spider-Man: The Animated Series had continued into another season—would we have seen The Prowler return as an ally? As a standalone episode, it's one of the rare times the series tells a complete origin and resolution in just 22 minutes, and the team finds that both refreshing and satisfying.Final Thoughts on The ProwlerThis episode of The Superhero Show Show is a celebration of strong character work, stylish animation, and the introduction of The Prowler, a character with surprising depth and long-lasting appeal. Whether you're a longtime fan of Hobie Brown or discovering him for the first time, this installment delivers both superhero spectacle and sincere storytelling. Tune in to hear why The Prowler...

Kalum is a London-based TTRPG designer (Magic of Inventorying, Rosewood Abbey) and podcaster (The Rolistes Podcast, RPG Academy Film Studies). We talked about his experiences in building TTRPG communities, and the creative process of his games!Check out Kalum's work!https://rolistespod.com/https://rolistespod.itch.io/https://bsky.app/profile/rolistespod.itch.iohttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rolistespod/paris-gondoThank you for listening to Weird Games & Weirder People!Please subscribe to the show to keep up with new episodes!If you would like to support the show, leave a review and/or head to our ko-fi page and pay us a coffee! It will help keep the podcast going! It will really help us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/wgnwp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can also support me buy buying one of my games!Kosmosaurs just got released in print, and it is my new RPG inspired by Saturday morning cartoons about Space Dinosaur Rangers defending the galaxy from evildoers!  Get your copy right here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/kosmosaurs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get other games of mine on Exalted Funeral: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/search?q=Diogo+nogueira⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Or buy anything at DriveThruRPG using this link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=338514⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Or buy something from my itch store:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://diogo-old-skull.itch.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!This is super new and I am trying a new thing! I share offers, news, behind the scenes, articles, curiosities, and rants about being me! Fun, right? RIGHT!?Check out our latest post:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://diogonogueira.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Thyatira was a politically and culturally marginalized city, finding its identity economically, with guilds dealing in metals and fabric (Acts 16:14). Guilds celebrated their patron deities in periodic festivities, so Christians may have been tempted toward the message of a “prophetess” who advocated participation in illicit sex and food sacrificed to idols, both staples of the social scene. Excavated coins point to the ongoing NT-era worship of Apollo, who had been assimilated with the Lydian sun-god Tyrimnos. Contextually, Jesus comes to His church here with metallic imagery: “eyes like a flame of fire and feet as burnished bronze.” He commends them for their love, faith, service and patient endurance, yet He challenges them for tolerating Jezebel, a false prophetess and leader of sexual immorality and idolatrous practices. Jesus – the One who “searches heart and mind” – threatens great tribulation upon her followers unless repentance is made. Those who conquer and keep Jesus' words and works until the end will receive authority over the nations, rule with an iron rod, and be given the morning star (Christ Himself - 22:16).

Thyatira was a politically and culturally marginalized city, finding its identity economically, with guilds dealing in metals and fabric (Acts 16:14). Guilds celebrated their patron deities in periodic festivities, so Christians may have been tempted toward the message of a “prophetess” who advocated participation in illicit sex and food sacrificed to idols, both staples of the social scene. Excavated coins point to the ongoing NT-era worship of Apollo, who had been assimilated with the Lydian sun-god Tyrimnos. Contextually, Jesus comes to His church here with metallic imagery: “eyes like a flame of fire and feet as burnished bronze.” He commends them for their love, faith, service and patient endurance, yet He challenges them for tolerating Jezebel, a false prophetess and leader of sexual immorality and idolatrous practices. Jesus – the One who “searches heart and mind” – threatens great tribulation upon her followers unless repentance is made. Those who conquer and keep Jesus' words and works until the end will receive authority over the nations, rule with an iron rod, and be given the morning star (Christ Himself - 22:16).

In this lively conversation, the “Just the Guys” team explores how crucial context can be—whether you're deciphering a strange image, navigating a complex relationship, or fielding unexpected life events. They kick things off by sharing news of the new book *Uniquely Us* and then dive into fascinating parallels between fooling AI systems with “adversarial examples” and how our assumptions can mislead us in everyday life. By using an analogy of seeing a “penguin in the desert” (something bizarre or out of place), they illustrate how missing details can trigger confusion, misunderstandings, or emotional reactions.Throughout the discussion, they highlight the importance of curiosity and humility to uncover the “why” behind surprising information—much like slowing down to determine if that shape in the dark is an intruder or just a coat on a chair. They also introduce practical techniques (like the C.A.L.M. method) to help us pause, gather context, and respond gracefully rather than reacting rashly. It's an honest, lighthearted look at how we can avoid “kicking the penguin” in our personal and professional relationships by learning to seek more information, accept when we've made mistakes, and ultimately prioritize connection over “being right.”Mentioned in This Episode:- Uniquely Us, a new release about neurodiverse Christian marriages- Adversarial examples in AI and what they reveal about our own blind spots- The C.A.L.M. method (Connect, Assess, Lean in, Move forward) for managing emotional triggers- Why “winning the relationship” matters more than winning any single argumentHave a topic you'd like the guys to unpack? Drop them a note via the show's website—feedback and questions are always welcome!

Theological seminaries and Bible institutes find themselves at the crossroads of preserving biblical faithfulness and of maintaining contextual relevance. What does faithful contextual relevance look like? How can theological institutions steer a course that will engage and serve the church through the men and women they equip for ministry and service? In The Fruits of Listening (Wipf and Stock, 2024), Colleen Weaver designed a qualitative research project in the Protestant evangelical community in Madrid, Spain. Intentional listening was conducted on three seminary campuses and in the faith community. Seminary faculty and students and church attenders shared their perspectives, experiences, and hopes for transformative theological education. Congregants envisioned theological education that equips leaders to relationally empower the church to give witness in the society. Faculty and students described the contextual challenges they face as Protestant believers in Spain. They voiced narratives of how they must find ways to persevere amid pervasive scarcity and in a rapidly changing society. Seminaries and churches around the world may recognize details of their own experiences in these stories and, importantly, receive resources for being contextually responsive in their situations. Dave Broucek is a retired cross-cultural missionary/coordinator of continuing education/international ministries director. He interviews authors who provide critical reflection on the theology and practice of Christian mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Theological seminaries and Bible institutes find themselves at the crossroads of preserving biblical faithfulness and of maintaining contextual relevance. What does faithful contextual relevance look like? How can theological institutions steer a course that will engage and serve the church through the men and women they equip for ministry and service? In The Fruits of Listening (Wipf and Stock, 2024), Colleen Weaver designed a qualitative research project in the Protestant evangelical community in Madrid, Spain. Intentional listening was conducted on three seminary campuses and in the faith community. Seminary faculty and students and church attenders shared their perspectives, experiences, and hopes for transformative theological education. Congregants envisioned theological education that equips leaders to relationally empower the church to give witness in the society. Faculty and students described the contextual challenges they face as Protestant believers in Spain. They voiced narratives of how they must find ways to persevere amid pervasive scarcity and in a rapidly changing society. Seminaries and churches around the world may recognize details of their own experiences in these stories and, importantly, receive resources for being contextually responsive in their situations. Dave Broucek is a retired cross-cultural missionary/coordinator of continuing education/international ministries director. He interviews authors who provide critical reflection on the theology and practice of Christian mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Theological seminaries and Bible institutes find themselves at the crossroads of preserving biblical faithfulness and of maintaining contextual relevance. What does faithful contextual relevance look like? How can theological institutions steer a course that will engage and serve the church through the men and women they equip for ministry and service? In The Fruits of Listening (Wipf and Stock, 2024), Colleen Weaver designed a qualitative research project in the Protestant evangelical community in Madrid, Spain. Intentional listening was conducted on three seminary campuses and in the faith community. Seminary faculty and students and church attenders shared their perspectives, experiences, and hopes for transformative theological education. Congregants envisioned theological education that equips leaders to relationally empower the church to give witness in the society. Faculty and students described the contextual challenges they face as Protestant believers in Spain. They voiced narratives of how they must find ways to persevere amid pervasive scarcity and in a rapidly changing society. Seminaries and churches around the world may recognize details of their own experiences in these stories and, importantly, receive resources for being contextually responsive in their situations. Dave Broucek is a retired cross-cultural missionary/coordinator of continuing education/international ministries director. He interviews authors who provide critical reflection on the theology and practice of Christian mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

08.01.24 Pt 1 - Gareth Cliff and guest Jack Motlanthe for a thought-provoking conversation that dives deep into the big questions. Are morals and ethics truly subjective, or do they depend on context? They also discuss the evolving public image of Whoopi Goldberg and analyze the shifting tides of global politics. It's a candid, unfiltered chat that will challenge your perspective. The Real Network

Transforming Perspectives | A misnomer about Christian faith is related to the concept of abundance often interpreted as prosperity.  The historical narrative of Scripture frames the concept of God provisions by events comparable to planting, gathering and receiving relative to the perspective of farming. Contextually, in the era of the Old Testament, a typical livelihood of farming consisting of seasons biblical defined by metaphorical comparisons for abounding in life by the acts of planting seed, time for growing and a time for harvest. Significant, however is the existential root of abundance being centered in the act of giving. The metaphorical comparisons provide clarity of God's intent and purpose, as well as man's interdependence upon one another, being fundamental to the functioning of faith in Jesus Christ having effectual lives by trusting God.Biblical Principles |Faith consists of trusting God, abounding in the all sufficiency of his Providence.Mark 12:41-43 : And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.(The Bible - King James Version)Scripture References |Comprehending God's Abundance : - The Book of Genesis Chapter 13 verses 1-12.Understanding the All Sufficiency of God's Provisions : - The Gospel Account of Matthew Chapter 6 verses 25-34.    __________________LINKS, PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES | AUDIO EPISODES available Podcast, Music and Radio Platforms.WEBPAGE |- You, Life and God Podcast powered by Buzzsprout. Transforming Perspectives. YouTube | Video Media - You, Life and God Podcast Episode's Previews.Live365 | Radio - You, Life and God Podcast Radio - Live365.Live Talk onAir Let's Have a Talk…, - Weekend Mornings, 9am. Bible Resources - TheBible.org, 2024 all rights reserved worldwide. Connect Facebook and LinkedIn

Oh hi there! Hungry for some FM-based podcasting are you? Pod famished? Don't worry, we've got you covered! Join Rich, Dee and Steak as they talk you through what's been going on in their virtual worlds. On this weeks episode, the gang take you all the way back to Episode 166 (remember, where the gang discussed the perfect striker?) and carry on the premise, but this time it's with GOALKEEPERS! The l ads discuss the top 5 attributes we look for in a goalkeeper and the results might shock you. Not because they're controversial, but because we actually sound like we know what we're talking about. Mad. We also discuss our pal Steve Hood's upcoming Match of the Delay that we're delighted to be lending our voices to. And, of course, there's a quiz which is enormously stacked against Rich because it involves knowing things. Enjoy! VIVA LA FMT! Our links: linktr.ee/fmtpod Match of the Delay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxPnnaijCOQ&t=400s

Saturday, 31 August 2024   But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:7   “And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming about his immersion, he said to them, ‘Vipers' offspring! Who disclosed to you to flee from the coming wrath?'” (CG).   In the previous verse, it noted that those who went out to John the Baptist were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. Now Matthew, while speaking of John, says, “And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”   These are the main two groups addressed in the gospel narratives in relation to spiritual matters. However, there are other groups that are mentioned at times in leadership positions, such as the Herodians. As for these two groups, there are many extensive commentaries on them. One of the most detailed is that of Albert Barnes. For brevity, the commentary of Cambridge is provided –   Pharisees] The name signifies “Separatists;” the party dates from the revival of the National life, and observances of the Mosaic Law under the Maccabees. Their ruling principle was a literal obedience to the written law and to an unwritten tradition. Originally they were leaders of a genuine reform. But in the hands of less spiritual successors their system had become little else than a formal observance of carefully prescribed rules. “The real virtues of one age become the spurious ones of the next.” Prof. Mozley, Sermon on Pharisees. The “hypocrisy” of the Pharisees, which stifled conscience and made them “incapable of repentance,” is the special sin of the day rebuked more than any other by the Saviour. Politically they were the popular party, supporters of an isolating policy, who would make no terms with Rome or any other foreign power. The Zealots may be regarded as the extreme section of the Pharisees. The Sadducees were the aristocratic and priestly party, they acquiesced in foreign rule, and foreign civilization. They refused to give the same weight as the Pharisees to unwritten tradition, but adhered strictly to the written law of Moses. Their religious creed excluded belief in a future life, or in angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). The name is probably derived from Zadok the priest in David's time. Others with less probability connect it with Zadok, a disciple of Antigonus of Socho, who lived in the second century b. c. The derivation from tsaddik (righteous) is untenable.   Of these two groups, Matthew notes that they were “coming about his immersion.”   They probably had questions about his authority, purpose, doctrine, intent, and so forth. If so many people were coming to him, was he a threat to their authority and teaching? And if this was the case, how could they trap him in his own words, etc.?   We can assume that the questions these groups will ask of Jesus, as recorded in the gospels, were similar to those they would have asked John about now. Therefore, knowing their lives and form of religion, “he said to them, ‘Vipers' offspring!'”   The word is echidna, a poisonous snake. The identification of this snake should not be pressed too far because the same word is used when referring to a snake on the island of Malta in Acts 28.   The serpent was introduced at the fall of man in Genesis 3. This is probably a reference to that. Serpents continue to be noted in Scripture after that. One instance is especially highlighted in the account of the time during the wilderness wanderings in Numbers 21. There, the people were bit by serpents, and many died. In this, the people acknowledged their sins, and a remedy was given by the Lord to heal the people.   As such, the main thought of John is probably that of these men being the spawn of Satan who cause the people to sin, separating them from God. They were the evil offspring of their evil parent acting in crafty and malevolent ways. After so addressing them, John next says, “Who disclosed to you to flee from the coming wrath?'”   He uses the word hupodeiknumi. It is a compound word signifying “to exhibit under the eyes.” It is only used six times in the New Testament, and it is variously translated. Many translations say something like “warned,” or “forewarned.” Contextually, that may be the idea, but it is more of a paraphrase. For example, the word is used in Acts 20 when speaking about what one should do –   “I have shown [hupodeiknumi] you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” Acts 20:35   For a word that gives the underlying sense of the meaning, disclose is sufficient. John questioned these men, asking who had disclosed to them to flee from the coming wrath. It would be difficult to think that John meant this literally as if they truly were coming to hear his message and reconsider their ways.   Whether John knew their true intent or not, or whether he merely suspected it, Jesus knew exactly what these men were thinking. Their words were often duplicitous toward Him. Two examples of this are found in Matthew 22:15-33 where first the Pharisees and then the Sadducees tried to trip Him up.   Understanding this, John may have been speaking to them in a tongue-in-cheek manner with a sarcastic emphasis in his question to them. In other words, “Wrath is coming, it will come on all offenders, but you don't think you even lie in that category, so what are you doing here inquiring about my immersion for repentance?”   As for the wrath that lay ahead, it had been prophesied in the Scriptures that Israel would be exiled twice. Exile implies war, famine, and death. It implies the destruction of their land. But there is also the final wrath of judgment when all men stand before God. These men probably felt secure that they would escape both.   Paul, however, addresses the issue of coming wrath several times (Ephesians 5:6, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, etc.). One main time, specifically speaking of these particular Jews, he writes –   “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.” 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16   Life application: The wrath of God is something that cannot be dismissed when the Bible is read and accepted at face value. To sin is to miss the mark with God. In this, judgment must come. The very nature of God demands it. To not accept His provision for forgiveness and atonement of sin means that His wrath, by default, remains upon that person.   The religious leaders of Israel were under God's judgment for sin. They were offered forgiveness through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, but most of them never accepted God's offer. They remained under His wrath because of this. We must remember that no person is good enough or can do enough good to be pleasing to God. That belongs to the Lord alone who fully pleased His Father. Therefore, only by coming to God through Jesus can one be saved. Be wise and accept the offer that God has made in the giving of Jesus!   “And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:14-17   Heavenly Father, You have sent Jesus! Thank You, O God, for having done for us what we could never do. You alone are to be praised for Your goodness to us in reconciling us through the precious blood of Jesus our Lord. Hallelujah to You. Amen.

Speaker: Pastor Giles Litzner Paul concludes his letter with a strong word of encouragement in which he synthesizes his main themes in a powerful picture the recipients would be reminded of on a daily basis. The scene painted is one of military presence and warfare. It's a call to arms! Paul leaves his audience with a picture of a Roman soldier – something they would have seen daily. Every time they saw a Roman soldier it would trigger thoughts from this letter. Contextually, this is the final push to live from their position in Christ. You once lived in darkness under a dark lord in a dark realm, but now you are children of light who have been completely transformed by the love, mercy, and grace of God. Soldier up! Stand strong! Stand strong in the power of your position.

Congrats to Eunji on a fabulous run of 'Out of Context!'

Transforming Perspectives|The English definition of the word revelation, is a surprisingly or previously unknown fact presented often dramatically.  Biblically, the meaning of revelation is the unveiling or uncovering of facts and truths.The Book of Revelation is specific in its intent and purpose, primarily the revealing of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  All inhabitants of the earth will behold the sky unfolding and the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Contextually, Apostle John saw over 2500 years ago in visions and physically witnessed these events projecting the EndTimes. Therefore, understanding the imagery depictions  are grasped in its simplicity of the basis of truth and not to be misconstrued by its metaphors.The  Book is trifold in its prophetic messages.  Firstly, the jubilant revealing of the Lord's second coming, his admonition to the churches, and his coronation as King.  The reading of God's Oracles of events which must come to past, the correction and purification of the people and earth, and restoration of righteous governance.  Thirdly, the Lord's triumphant victory over evil, and the final judgement of the unrighteous, resultant in the  establishment of a new heaven and earth, including the celebration of the marriage supper of the lamb, receiving his bride the Church. Biblical Principles| All habitants and the earth with behold and see with their eyes, the Lord Jesus Christ at his second coming.Revelation 1:8 – I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.Scripture References |The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Revelation Chapter 1.Admonition to the Churches – Revelation Chapters 2-3.Reading of the Scroll of Events – Revelation Chapter 4-5. ____________________LINKS, PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES | AUDIO EPISODES available - Podcast, Music and Radio Platforms. WEBPAGE |You, Life and God Podcast powered by buzzsprout.comTransforming Perspectives YouTube | Video Media - You, Life and God Podcast Episode's Previews.Twitter | - You, Life and God Podcast #SideNotes Episode's Conversations of Deeper Insights Bible Resources - TheBible.org, 2024 all rights reserved worldwide. Connect Facebook and LinkedIn

In Memphis, the Lakers couldn't miss. Friday in Indiana? How does 16.7% from three point range sound. They held a Pacers team that hung 145 on them at the Crypt a week or so ago to 109 points, but because they only scored 90 themselves, the game was a runaway. Or ended up that way, at least, because LA had a chance to get things very. very close in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get themselves over the hump. Every the opportunity was there, they'd either turn the ball over or miss a shot, and eventually they ran out of time. Maybe it was tired legs, with the team playing a third game in four nights. Maybe it was just the law of averages getting them because sometimes games like this happen. It's a statistical outlier, but outliers happen. What it really turns out to be is a missed opportunity to gain ground in the West, as both Phoenix and Sacramento lost. Contextually, losing this game is understandable, and overall the Lakers are playing better ball... but at this point in the season the hole they've put themselves in demands near perfection to have a chance to overcome even in small ways (like moving from nine to eight). They had a chance to win Friday, even while playing ugly basketball, offensively. And they didn't.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian KamenetzkySupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Amazon Fire TVFire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTVNissanOur friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV's with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let's ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelNew customers, join today and you'll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Shawn and Bart discuss various topics related to the carnivore diet and its health implications. They cover the debate with vegan advocates, the lean mass hyper-responder study, the role of LDL cholesterol in heart disease, and the inadequacy of calorie counting. They also discuss the potential dangers of consuming excessive organ meats and butter, as well as the variation in protein and fat requirements. Overall, they emphasize the importance of individualized approaches to nutrition and the need for more research in the field. In this conversation, Shawn and Bart discuss various topics related to the carnivore diet and health. They cover protein and fat requirements, internal feedback mechanisms for eating, the controversy around insulin suppression, lab values and diagnosis, functional medicine, and lab testing, the carnivore diet and healthspan, other life hacks for health, promoting the carnivore diet, and the fight for nutritional truth. They emphasize the importance of individualized nutrition and the need to challenge prevailing dietary recommendations. Find Bart: https://bkaynutrition.cerule.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Carnivore diet supports health and longevity. 04:24 People's actions reflect their clinical insanity. 09:41 Focus on other factors beyond LDL levels. 13:33 Discussion of upcoming research on carnivore diet. 14:09 Upcoming study on saturated fat challenges calorie argument. 20:12 Ways to eat without measuring food portions. 21:39 Osterholm discusses vegan diet study with Kees. 26:47 Carnivore diet debate: necessity of certain nutrients. 30:06 Predators aim for animal's internal fatty organs. 32:59 Low carb diet and gut protein breakdown. 35:24 Recommended protein intake varies based on factors. 40:47 Contextually, testosterone levels vary based on activity. 43:07 American's reliance on expensive medical testing normal. 46:46 Necessary shift from large to leaner animals. 48:49 Promoting nutrition, exercise, sleep for better health. 51:34 Fight against ultra-processed foods. See open positions at Revero: https://jobs.lever.co/Revero/ Join Carnivore Diet for a free 30 day trial: https://carnivore.diet/join/ Carnivore Shirts: https://merch.carnivore.diet Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://carnivore.diet/subscribe/ . ‪#revero #shawnbaker #Carnivorediet #MeatHeals #HealthCreation   #humanfood #AnimalBased #ZeroCarb #DietCoach  #FatAdapted #Carnivore #sugarfree  ‪

Just in time to decolonize Thanksgiving, even in "progressive" Pacific Northwest Seattle Suburbs where exclusive and protective...does not always mean...safe...for everyone...Check our Hawaiian Artist and Indigenous Human Rights Activist Malialani Dullanty! Please consider following her work on instragram: https://www.instagram.com/malialani/And supporting her Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/malialanimadeThe podcast primarily involves Josephine Jarvis and Malialani Dullanty discussing their experiences in relation to cultural assimilation, systemic racism and the importance of decolonizing their mindsets and practices.-Both discuss their school experiences, highlighting the lack of accurate and comprehensive historical education regarding marginalized populations.-They delve into the topic of indigenous science, emphasizing its validity and the need to view it through a non-colonial lens.-A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the systemic abuse and sexualization of women, particularly women of mixed-race and native heritage.-The two express their shared experiences of growing up in white supremacist structures and discuss the need for systemic change and healing, rather than solely focusing on healing the victims.-Josephine Jarvis acknowledges the trauma and harm caused by her ancestors and commits to not letting that be her legacy.-The conversation touches upon the importance of acknowledging and understanding the harm caused by their ancestors, and the importance of healing together.-The participants discuss the need for critical thinking and challenging the established norms and systems.-The conversation ends with Josephine expressing her admiration for Malialani's authenticity and bravery.Disorienting Deliemma Toolkit to Help Navigate Challenging Emotions Available in the Onboarding Module of Foundations of Occupational Science 101 Course (free)Supplementary Learning:Occupational Consciousness [Free open access article] (helpful decolonizing lens contributed to OT and OS literature by 2023 Ruth Zemke Lecturship Recipient Dr. Elelwani L. Ramugondo, PhD, MSc, BSc(OT), Associate Professor) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4606822/The Devastating Effects of Colonization on Hawai'ihttps://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/83474c5d6077492d990b961bab0bcd74 What is indigenous science?https://wisn.org/about/what-is-indigenous-science/Resources to help with Decolonizing Whiteness for Settler Descendents:https://www.marybethbonfiglio.com/blood-and-belongingContext on Decolonizing Occupational Science Educationhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14427591.2020.1780937Evolved Living Network Instragram @EvolvedLivingNetworkFree Occupational Science 101 Guidebookhttps://swiy.co/OS101GuidePodcastOS Empowered OT Facebook Grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1569824073462362/Link to Full Podcast Disclaimer https://docs.google.com/document/d/13DI0RVawzWrsY-Gmj7qOLk5A6tH-V9150xETzAdd6MQ/edit

Continue reading The post How do we do evangelism contextually & relationally? first appeared on Building Jerusalem.

In a new series entitled, The Technical Area, Rev Brad shares some specific applications for certain biblical passages that help apply faith to football in simple, practical ways. Today's lesson, is on Luke 13:6-9. Here, Jesus shares a parable with his disciples and thousands of others crowded around. Contextually, he's relating this into repentance and […] The post The Technical Area – Luke 13 – Working on Flourishing first appeared on Soccer Chaplains United.

In this episode, join hosts Pete and Tim along with special guest Dan as they dissect and analyze the Tragically Hip's 2012 record, "Now For Plan A". They dive into the musical journey, reliving their first experiences and evolving impressions over multiple listens. From highlighting the unique elements of each song to the lyrics and influences behind them, no detail is too small. They examine the guest vocals of Sarah Harmer in 'Look Ahead' and the Rolling Stones-esque 'Modern Spirit', exploring the musical and lyrical details. Listen in as they debate the meaning of the lyrics in 'Take Forever' and uncover the mysterious 'About this Map'. A treat for any Tragically Hip fan, this episode is a deep dive into the iconic band's musical journey.TracksAbout this Map - Studio VersionMan Machine Poem - Toronto 2012Streets Ahead - Ottawa 2011Take Forever - Toronto 2012TranscriptTrack 3:[2:51] Hey, it's JD here, and welcome to Getting Hip to the Hip. [2:54] A weekly podcast where I take my friends on a whirlwind tour of the Tragically Hips discography, one record at a time, week over week. And that is the case with this week, as we're discussing 2012's Now for Plan A, the 12th studio record from the Tragically Hip. I'm joined as always by Pete and Tim, and we've also got Dan from London here. How the hell are you guys doing? Oh good, oh good. Excellent. Well, after that, hold on, let me look at my segment guide here. Uh, introduction, rousing response from the gentlemen. Yep. Check. [3:53] Now we'll move on to the next segment, which is, uh, experience with this record. This is a coming off of, we are the same, a record, which was, uh, roundly dismissed by these two gentlemen, uh, a week ago, Dan, um, it was one that It was one that was not well liked. So we're hoping we've got a comeback on our, in the mids tier. It happens. Bye bye. Pete and Tim Burse, talk to me about where you listened to the record the first time, how you experienced it on multiple listens, and overall vibeage off the top. And then we'll fire it over to you, Dan, to get a similar reaction. Well, I listened to it in multiple places. Listened to it first, I think, I think, working, sitting at the computer, listening to it in the home stereo system, listening to it in the car. [5:02] I love the record. I don't want to say too much because I think we're going to get into a lot of it. But only thing I will say, and in all due respect, I don't want to come off harsh here, but fuck you, Dan, right off the bat, Because you've had this record for some time, and we got a weekto soak it in. A week. Let me tell you, a week wasn't even enough. I mean, I could soak this record in for a year. That's all I'm going to say. I'll agree with that. With all due respect, but I can't fuck you down. Like, with all due respect. Thank you. We had a week with it. We had a week with it. I feel like we had a lifetime with We Are The Same. But we only had a week with Now for Plan A. And I felt a little rushed to let it resonate, but every time I turned it on. [6:00] I don't know. I don't want to say it felt like the first time, but it just clicked with me. There are some good tunes on here that we'll get it. We'll get it. We'll get into it. But I listen to it my usual places. Usual places. I listen to it more, I guess, excitedly with my better headphones on around the house, which always makes for, where's dad? Oh, he's right there. but he's not here. So I, you know, because I wanted to hear it in its entirety. And I can only really do that in the car or with the cans on. So yeah, that was kind of my experience. It was quick for a quick album, right? Yeah, the fastest record in their oeuvre at like 39 minutes or so. And only two singles as well. That was shocking to me as well. Which were those? I didn't think they were at transformation was the first single. Of course. And hold on. I've got it right here. [7:09] Streets ahead. Cool. Cool. Any feedback from Spotify? Did any of you guys look at Spotify? Like where the play counts were? Yeah. I mean, I think that's definitely up there. there. So is, so is that transformation and, and I think the title track. Okay, gee, I just want to get transformation. Judy, do you use the term oeuvre a lot? And I pause it to think that you use that term a lot because it rhymes with your last name and the production company that this that is gifting us with this here podcast oeuvre. Yeah, yeah, that's what it Is that why? It's my last name. [8:00] And Ouvra combined without the D. Yeah, and it's because it's all my work, right? It's my collection of work Right is do. Yeah, so so you don't like the D is what you're saying Hey now Pete told me he thought it might be a extra terrestrial Anatomy that he's not aware of Dan, Dan, he actually said this is thisis this somebody part that I didn't learn Dan's regretting joining this podcast. Dan, what are you, like, well I want to hear from Dan, I want to know what, he's had a wild time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well listen with this whole thing I'm just along for the ride, you know. I'll let you guys play out in front of me. Um, no, um, yeah, as you say I was really lucky because it was after the last one I was on that I learned that this was the next one I was going to beon. So I had some considerable amount of time and also time to purchase Jan's album and get it imported from Germany I think. [9:09] So I had a real binge at first because I think it's a pretty easy album to get into. There's a, there's a couple of tracks that sort of, you kind of misplace, you know, in the order along the way for various reasons, but, um, I've, I was just listening to on my way to work. So that was always, you know, whilst traveling on the train, um, and, uh, and I had, I had good times of it and I had it all prepared what I was going to say. Um, because it was many months ago, I then moved on and got busy and did different things, forgot it all. And then spent today binge listening and making notes again. So I'm actually catching up with you guys now, which is typical. What can I say? I mean, that represents our week with this album. [9:57] Oh, that's great. Dan's last visit was Trouble at the Hidden House, right? So he's had a couple of good ones. Which we also have in the collection now. Nice. Awesome. Look at that.All right. Look at that guy. Well, what do you say we start this, Son of a Gun, then? We get in, turn the keys, and see where we end up. All right. Analysis of the first song, "At Transformation"[10:16] The first song, we start in with this cancer metaphor right off the bat with At Transformation. Can I go? Sure. This one, I was so happy hearing the first seconds of this song coming off of our last album's experience. [10:39] This one was so fun for me. I was relieved to hear this song. I played it three times before I went on with the album. Literally, just like, OK, let's do that one again. OK, let's do that one again. It's just so I mean you can feel I don't know the, the bass is on fire in this song. You can feel Gord when he does the you know after that transformation towards the kind of the end. I feltthat coming. You knew the woo was coming, right? I don't know, it just... Context aside, it's a killer song and even the The outro loops back everything about the intro. It just was this circle of a song I felt like just could have been a single, been done. OK. Yeah. Great starter. There's some weird, on this album, there's definitely some playfulness with song endings, with distortion and feedback and keys and synthesizers or something, which this one kind ofgives us that first taste of. So I was happy to hear it. Played 128 times live. 128 times live. So they played this one a bit. How about you, Dan? [12:04] I mean, my second favorite track on the album. Yeah. I mean, as soon as that sort of distorted bass kicks in, you know you're in for a bit of a ride. And again, similar to other tracks that we were looking at when I was last in on the Hen House, this does similar things where you've got that not quite, you've got a really good bridge andthen a not quite a chorus, but then it comes in the second time with the, you know, that transformation bit. Well, the I can see it all at once and that transformation bit, and then that bass takes off and does its thing and it just, man, it just takes off. And as we say, it just dissipates into this weird sort of sonic, mad sort of ending. And similar to the start, it's like after that bass is there, the guitars kind of come in in some kind of informal manner, and then it just, bang, picks up when he starts singing the verse. So it's a banger. Yeah, absolutely. Listen to it again and again and again and again and again. [13:04] Contextually, it's weird. I second-guess myself a lot, not just to this song, Especially with the song though, but with the whole record I say because Tim alluded to it a little bit. Dan doesn't have the context of last week's record So I'm like is this fucking record is amazing as I think it is? Or is it, it's like, hey, I've been living in a, you know. In a faraway prison eating rice and stale bread for three years and now I'm sitting down at fucking Ruth Chris, Steakhouse and you know eating a. [13:59] Filet mignon medium rare with a bottle of uh It just comes in like a beat and a half before. It's fucking cool. I'm just looking at the notes. So long, Bob Rock. A Welcome Back to Tragically Hip[14:21] There's a lot of that in these notes, the bass, guitars, chords, voice throughout this entire record. This is just a welcome back, Tragically Hip. [14:37] One thing that I thought of when I was listening to it was I pictured in my mind the whole band on stage playing this song after maybe being through some shit for a while and likeyou know 45 seconds into this tune everybody just looks over at each other and like they don't say shit they don't have to say shit they just say everything with their eyes and they look ateach other and just smile and are just like yep welcome back Welcome fucking back. I mean, what a return. I mean, yeah, I just feel like we drifted so much from last week, again, that listening to this first song was awesome. Loved it. At the same time, you know, in my research and reading about Gord's wife and her breast cancer and him dealing with that and that kind of being a thread through this album, I believe.It's... BOOM! [15:45] You know, it was exciting, listened for me and I love this first song, but at the same time, it's like, oh, fuck. We all in our own ways, our own stories, our own experiences can relate to cancer and probably even breast cancer. And we have a good friend who just went through it all the way and just a couple of days ago found out she was cancer free. So. Oh, wow. You know, this is Gord's. Yeah. Gord's wife, you know, came out. Yeah. In the end and it didn't take her, which is fucking cool, but you know, to read, I don't know, there's one quote, just to get into it real quick. There's one quote from him, um, from Gordon. He says, many of these songs are me trying to help, you know, through the process, mutely the way a man does around breast cancer. So it's, it's some, some heavy conceptual. Oh my God. Themes here going on. But even straight, even straightforward though, I was unaware that a transformation is the term, the medical term for a cell going from malignant tocancerous. That's called a transformation. So that's what, you know, the title of the song is, right? Yeah. Heavy, heavy stuff. And then we move into man-machine. [17:07] Poem. A Bold Statement: My Favorite Hip Song[20:44] I'll tell you. Yeah, I'm going to say right off the bat, I'm going to make a bold statement. This may be my favorite hip song. Oh, wow. I mean, I didn't I. Tim, I'm telling you the whole thing. I was like mourning sort of Tiger the Lion for a minute in a weird way because I was just. I mean, I don't know what to say about this song. Yeah, Yeah, it's cinematic, JD, but it's just so different. And it's funny, because your whole thing that you just said was it's such a return to form. And while it is, it's still melodically nothing like I've heard from the hit before. That when it gets that minor four, that man, it trickles down. Howard's Strained Voice and Unique Guitar Tone[21:37] It's amazing. Howard's voice is like, I feel like he's straining it on purpose. It just sounds like he's screaming, singing with every fiber of his body. And when he gets to the end of a phrase or a word or a breath, it's like, you know, it's out of gas and he's got to take a breath to recharge and say the next line. One thing I thought of when I heard this, the guitar tone on this song is forged from something not of this earth. I don't know what, and there's a lot of really cool effects on this record, but I just don't know what that is. And I don't know if they remember, if they know how they got it, but it just... The keyboards hit in this song too. Like there were so many keyboards in the last record that I think Tim and I and JD as well felt were squandered, overused. [22:45] Like this was just. Did you gotta, you gotta write, you gotta write to Gavin Brown, the producer. I bet he'll know you should. Oh, I mean, you're, you're talking about effects, settings, everything, all the mix to make that sound the way it did just Jesus dude it was wow what a song what a song. [23:11] So this was played at their last show, right? At Air Canada Center, August 14, 2016. Wasn't that it? K-Rock Center is their last show, which was the 16th, I think. Ah. Or the 18th. Either way, towards the end, this was played, and I can't imagine. I mean, did people know Gord had cancer? They did, right? Sure did. Before the end. Yeah. So I just can't imagine hearing this one live, because it's, you know, originally about his wife. And yes him talking about her having cancer and it turns out, you know I just when I heard this and put it all together I just thought this probably just made people cry towards the endwhen he was singing this song when you sorry That's exactly what I is one other thing I put my if I would have seen this song live it would have crushed me it would have physicallyFucking crushed me Yeah, I Mean the the metaphor of the Abbas it and the Peregrine Falcon. [24:13] I mean you're talking a ballerina of a gentle long skinny legged bird versus a fucking Falcon which will swoop down and you know steal a Chipmunk or a squirrel or chicken oranything? You know, there's just the the position in this song is just just so big and heavy. And the first time I listened to it was in the car, and it was just like, you want to scream along with him, the chorus, but I just couldn't do it. And then at the end, it's like this bomb going off. The end is just as explosive as the middle of the song. So. Yeah. I mean, the song, at the end of that transformation, after you've gone through that weird little sporadic, you know, sonic soundscape thing, you get that little percussive knocking,you know, and it's, it's like a little sort of artificial heartbeat. And then, you know, you track that in and it starts the song and then it's there at the end as well. After the everything, you know, that big chord goes away. It's it comes back into that as well. Um, but also within that as well. Um, I mean, Pete was talking about guitars, but there's, there's, there's so much like weird tambourine stuff going on in it amongst all things as well. So that was good. But I mean, man, yeah, what a huge song. And then. [25:40] Yeah. I mean, I say that the, the, the, the chorus is huge, even though it's just three words, absolutely massive. And, um, you know, God singing, as we were saying, it's just the, the first verse just starts off with this kind of declaration, doesn't it? And it's a kind of desperate declaration and it just sort of, yes, this attacking desperation in his voice sort of carries on from there. It's yeah. It was the same. It's just not like anything I've heard before. That was amazing delivery. Yeah. And those lyrics, crazy. Now, Pete, I want to go back to something that you said about, you know, this being something we've never heard before. I feel like this is a band that even on the records that we didn't necessarily like, they do that every record. They, you feel like they're touching the edge of their capabilities and you know, they're sort of, they're sort of, you know, whoa, they're sort of out there, this record, but you can do, youcan go all the way back to Road Apples and say that about Last of the Unplugged Gems, you know, well, this is sort of, uh, out of, out of left field, it doesn't necessarily fit on this record. And then, you know, uh, we are the same. You could say that about the Depression Suite, right? Like holy shit, who knew they had this opus in them? [27:07] So I'm just curious, you know, if you vibe what I'm saying. Yeah, no, it's a good point, JD. And I think the component here that I feel is different, because I agree with you, especially you on the last record, we are the same. And you could you could tick along to every record since. And there's an element of that on there. But Tim said something in the beginning of the pod. I can't remember exactly how you said it, but what I had the feeling that I got was like this record being about his wife and all thatstuff. It's one thing to be elaborate. [27:55] It's one thing to show up to a party or whatever wearing the coolest outfit or dress or suit or whatever. [28:09] But it's another thing if you wear it well. And what I mean by that in terms of this song is that you can feel that there's a feeling behind It's not just, hey, we're going to go fuckingbig and elaborate because, I, don't know, name a hundred reasons why the hip would go big and elaborate. Probably the most used excuse would be that they want to break through the American market. Whatever. That's not what's going on here. This is like organic as hell. Everything about this song. They're going big and elaborate on this tune because they don't have any other choice. They're like, this is the fucking song that's coming out of all of us right now. [28:54] Yeah, it's elaborate. I'm just, this is the song. Fucking take it or leave it. If that makes sense, JD. It's that difference, I feel. OK, gotcha. Well, in the car with this one cranked, I just thought, imagine being in the recording studio with these guys and everybody's kind of listening to Gord belt this one out. Or Idon't know. This song is just a gigantic one. So for song number two, following that transformation to get into this, if we want to jump ahead to the look ahead. I mean, this gave us just a, we shifted gears a little bit and got a little more lighthearted with the look ahead. [29:41] I thought the song packed a punch under three minutes. It's quick. So the bass and the guitars seem a little more in tandem on this one. If I remember right, there's like left riffs throughout. But for me, the lyrics of you weigh a snowflake, the glamour of the sky descending past perfect eyes and hearts leaped. That's just... Poof. I am the look ahead. I first searched it as the look ahead three words and you know couldn't find shit until I realized look ahead was one word and then learned that that means awesomeyou know like I'll say Dan and JD have fucking look ahead shirts on today we Pete and I didn't get the memo where to wear pavement shirts but that that's that's the phrase The text wasnot sent. The Look Ahead: A Beautiful and Uplifting Tragically Hip Song[30:47] Yeah. I don't know. What about you, Dan? What do you think? I think the Look Ahead is my favorite Tragically Hip song by a long shot. And as we were saying, it's just because of those choruses, those words that just hang over between the lines. It's just beautiful. It's just absolutely beautiful. It just does something so amazing to make you feel fantastic. [31:17] That's it, man. If I'm having a bad day, I could stick that on and that's me. Yeah, because I just quickly mentioned that it felt more light-hearted, but I also thought this one is still fucking full of of juice, you know, it's still, I don't know, this is kind of felt like thisgreat tragically hip rock song, but it's it's loaded. And it's under three minutes. So yeah, it's, yeah, I say it just it comes and goes. But as it comes along, it's just magnificent. You know, you can't say more than that. It's just it's fully formed. And this was one of the ones that I just started listening to it. You know, you'd start at the start and the start is just so different to what it evolves into. And you keep thinking you've got the wrong song, but that start section only lasts about 20 odd seconds before it just everything kicks in. And it just, you know, it's one of those songs that you just can't say that much about. It just is what it is. It does what it does to you. And you just recognize that and it's unstoppable. Yeah, it's cool. Yeah, I would, I tend to agree with you. [32:26] It's a banger for sure. Wouldn't be my favorite Tragically Hip song, but it would make my top 20 list, probably. But boy, oh boy, we haven't really commented on the backing vocals of Sarah Harmer in this one. Pete, what did you think about Ms. Harmer's addition to this song? Well, question, is she on the other tunes on this record as well? Or is it somebody different? Yes. Okay. Well, I want to get up. I'm going to kind of save that if that's okay for some other songs. All I'll say about this is that it's crazy. I love that Dan feels it's his favorite tune, because I feel like this song is like, it is formulaic, tragically hip. Yeah, I agree. It's not just like, there's some songs that you feel like it's, yeah, exactly, exactly. There's some songs you feel like, oh yeah, this is a hip tune. But it's not just that, it's fucking great. [33:35] And you know, generally with their records, they come out with two or three bangers to start and they kind of like, or ones that just jaw drop you. And then song three or song four, they just pull it back a little bit. And I feel like in terms of the, they take off the throttle. It's not as crazy. But melodically, this song is just, I mean, you can't not put this song on and enjoy the shit out of it. Like it's a surefire. You know? Yeah, Dan hit the nail on the head. Nail on the head. He's like, if I'm having a bad day, I put this song on and it, you know, helps turn it around for me. I completely agree. [34:24] I read a critique of this song about it being too simple or less prolific or, you know, there are even some other critiques of the album citing the lyrics to be not as complex or, youknow, less poetic. All these kind of harsh critiques. Yeah, fucked. For real, they're out there. I can't even believe that. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And it just made me like this album more, you know, this. This song in particular, it's like, I couldn't agree with you more, Pete. Under three minutes, it just totally packs a punch. It's sure a hip song, but fuck, it's killing it. This is a top five record for me. I figured. Hands down. [35:13] Yeah, yeah. Hence our special guest. Anybody else, anything else to say about The Lookahead featuring Sarah Harmer. Okay, then we go right into the really heavy We Wanna Be In. I don't have a lot on this one, just because it's fucking huge, you know? Like, the drip, drip, drip stayed in my head for days. [35:38] It's so impactful. This is just a fucking loaded song. It was played towards the end of their career live as well, and it was just another one of of those where it was like, what was this like? I think this one was the same show I mentioned, Air Canada Center. So what was it like to hear this in that state of the career of this band and Gord's life? [36:05] Yeah, and I was there for one of the shows at the Air Canada Center. The first one, I can look up what the set list is, what the setlist was, but so can anybody who's listening to this right now. Yeah. A bunch of these, I think half of these songs on this album were played at those last shows of this album. I think it's like four or five songs off of those last shows. Four songs peralbum. And then I selected, you know, six albums a night to play. So, you know, that's, So even if you went to all three nights at the Arcanda Center, you probably didn't get repeats. Um, cool. Yeah. So, I mean, and this is guys just wait, just wait, just wait for the documentaries. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. It's crazy town. Crazy town USA. Yeah. So... [37:09] We Want To Be It, Giant Song, You're Right, The Drip Drip Drip. Did you get it right away? For me, it took a bunch of listens before I was like, oh, that's fucking, that's fucking chemo. Yeah, I got it. My mind went to morphine first, but I got it. Oh, morphine. Oh, okay. Maybe that's what it is. Something. I was thinking it was probably chemotherapy. [37:36] I mean, for me, I didn't know anything about the context of this album until just before we started recording, which obviously puts a completely different slant on it for me. So I'minterpreting this as we go along as well. I mean, yeah, an amazing song, absolutely huge. But at the bottom of the page, at the bottom of the lyrics in the album, it says for Alan Arkin and Madeline Khan. And, um, they were in a film together, 1980 called Simon. Anybody seen that where, um, yeah, this is, this is what I came across. So, uh, in this film, Alan Arkin plays a guy who, um, the psychology professor, he gets brainwashed and, um, basically by this company and they, uh, they persuade him that he's from adifferent planet and he escapes from them and attempts to reform American culture by overriding TV signals with a high-powered TV transmitter, becoming a national celebrity in theprocess. But also in that film, he's trying to break this record as well for being a sensory deprivation tank for 80 hours. So I don't know how it relates, but that's something that I found out in relation to this. The Mystery in the Song[38:57] Yeah That is totally crazy because again that means Maybe there was one line in that song that is about that or maybe there's a whole theme. It's you know I don't see it or hear it, but Doesn't mean it's not there. There's there's some I don't I don't know what the relationship is there, but that's that's on the page. Yeah, very strange. So we all need to watch that film anyway, yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, when you said that they convince him that he's from another planet, it reminded me of the movie Joe versus the Volcano. I don't know if you ever saw that movie with Tom Hanksand Meg Ryan. It was a bomb at the theaters, but they convinced him that he has something called a brain cloud, like a cancer, but he's going to die. So they get him to jump into this volcano. It's the craziest fucking movie. [39:56] But it reminded me of that. No, I, yeah, this song is, it's huge. There's a bridge part in this song and. You know, my feelings with bridge, it's either good or it's not. Or actually, no, it's either standard, and you're like, OK, that's the bridge. OK. Or it's total shit. And you're just like, man, that just threw the whole fucking tune off. This is a good bridge. I like it. I love it. There's a third layer, you're saying. Yeah, and very few bands are able to pull it off. [40:36] I feel like when you're writing the standard pop song, it's just like there's a formula of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, you know, whatever, and bands fall right into it. It's just like this thing that happens and it didn't happen here. And I love it, man. mean, I, I would say this is maybe my third, I don't know, third or fourth best song on this record, because there's just so many good ones. Don't give away the final segment. [41:16] Well, I kind of already gave my whole segment, but but oops, No, if we're going to move ahead to the next street, we'll see what I did. I'm Ted. Yeah, thank you. Ted's just like, you're a fucking idiot, dude. It's just like, you're a fucking idiot, dude. I know. Introduction to the thread of fuzz in the record[44:41] His head is definitely... So this is the first song where I noticed the thread of fuzz in this record. Because then after this, it's wildly apparent on every song. This fuzz and this distortion, it's like a static that's there on every track after this. Incredible Musicianship: Bass and Drums Shining[45:06] The bass, Gordon Sinclair's bass for this one. I know we talked about it taking off in the look ahead, but I really just, it just off the charts, the licks he's throwing. The drums too, the drums are fucking killing it right there. Absolutely. The drum fills. Thank you, Tim. Yeah, I, this must have been, I actually wrote down, holy macaroni, because it just, it just feels like this song, They're hitting on all cylinders. At this point, it's like the car is going. You've gotten to fifth gear and the car is just brrrrrr. [45:50] It's humming along. You can go faster, you can slow it down a little bit. Still in fifth gear, engine is just humming perfect. The car has just been serviced. Oil's changed. Everything's great. 160 or anything going like 150 and it just feels good Yeah, and it feels the same 100% Thank You Tim That's what I got to say about I'll retrieve my Statement a minuteago about the look-ahead meaning. I totally blew it. It's the streets ahead which means cool or awesome So my bad there. Yeah, Streets Ahead, if you wanna say, you know. Oh, okay. Pete's new do is Streets Ahead, he's there. I did get a haircut, thank you for noticing. Oh, Streets Ahead, okay, okay. Well, Look Ahead then, Look Ahead has significance. Look Ahead is something that was said between Gord's wife and him. And it was like sort of what they would say to each other. [46:57] Yeah, I did as well. God, I'm just hacking this up like a big, it's a perfect piece of meat. I've just hacked it into tartare. You cooked it well done. Which is, you know, tartare's delicious, but not, you know, the way I did it. Yeah, it was like all good kind of thing. It was her look, you know, to him as if everything's going to be okay. Yeah. So streets ahead, different. Means awesome. It means really cool. This one I thought it kind of kicked off. It reminded me of Elvis Costello or the Kinks. Kind of had this loud, like, late, I don't know, mid-70s rock kind of love-slash-anthem sound to it. It felt like it could end around two minutes, but there's a bridge and then it takes another lap, which is great because it's still a short song. But it really felt like it just brought me back to, I don't know, middle school and hearing the kinks and those times. It has this crazy, ominous 20-second ending, over 20 seconds, Like, this one's the best. Yeah. I got to give kudos to Gavin Brown, because he really let the band explore intros, outros. Live Experience: Fans' Regret for Missing Their Live Shows[48:23] They got more creative on this album in general. Yeah, I think it makes it harken back to that live sound that we all crave so much with this band, sorry to say, what you guys havebeen saying the last few weeks about like, oh man, I wish I could have seen them live. That's what a lot of people are saying right now. There are a lot of people in that camp. They were renowned for their live show, absolutely. I wonder how many people listening to right now are late to the fucking, got came to the party really late. It's like, Hey, punch bowls empty. There's fucking no K left. And they're just talking to people. Yeah. You know, I never got to see the fucking family. Please send Pete a mail at Pete at getting hip to the hip.com. Yeah. There, there was a blurb from Gord giving some journalists a quick, ah, it's about, dog sledding. [49:35] And that was that's all I gave so who the fuck knows with that guy? I mean, I would love to have been in Gord shoes during interviews because he was all over the place from things I've read. He was all over the place. He would he would give like heartfelt, you know, meanings to stuff and then he'd be like, ah, That's that's that's what somebody said to me on the train one timeand I misheard them. One of my favorites is somebody asked him about Cordelia. What is Cordelia all about? And he's like, well, it's like a metaphor. Just go read King Lear. [50:18] Well, it's like, I feel like that's like as much as we're joking about it, it's got to be, there's got to be an element to that that's true. It's like, you know, at one point a song means something to you. [50:31] And then as time goes on, you're like, yeah, it's just about some shit I heard on a fucking train one day or whatever it is, you know? That's right. I don't think he's poo poo in the bed. Like he's not pulling a Donald Fagan, as I've said before, from Sealy Den or just like, yeah, they're just words written down on a page. They don'tmean anything. You know, he's not pulling that, but he's, you know, was it. Did you ever hear that interview that or that clip? It's a great clip of Jack White from the White Stripes where he says, and whatever you think about the White Stripes is irrelevant, where he said that when he hears Seven Nation Army,which is arguably one of the most overplayed rock songs in the history of rock and roll, that he doesn't even feel like it's his song. He's like, I just wrote it. We recorded it. It was a cool tune. And now it's out there. And it's like, it's like, that's another band. It's not my bad playing that shit It's really cool. It's really cool the way he comes across Hey, he basically said his I've heard some read some of it from him, too And he basically says once once a song is out Yeah, yeah, and, he openshis wallet and cool and looks at that Yeah, oh my god the songs or his Ford Broncos. Jack White's Perspective on Songs and Fame[51:56] Oh my God. That guy is funny. He's he's got some on him. Sure, man. I just recently learned that my wife has a thing for him, which I had no idea about. And I'm like, I'm like, oh, fuck. [52:14] Definitely, definitely not measuring up to that guy. Oh, you just need to write a couple of hit songs that are like global phenomenons. Yeah. Paint my house red. Anything else on the streets ahead? So this next part of the album is where we take a dip in amount of time songs were played. And I'm not really sure why, but now for plan A was only played 10 times live. [52:45] There's no explanation for me, but that's just a data point. But this one I thought was kind of this level of super heaviness, no turning back. This is like you're facing this song, you know? There's nothing short of everything's enough. You know, there's acoustic guitar in here that feels at one point in the song it... I don't want to say it feels forced but it feels like it could be played softer and nicer but it's not, And which is very distinct with acoustic. And I thought I at this point wasn't sure who was on backups, who was singing backups. You know, I didn't know if it was Kate Fenner who we had before. Oh, right. Right. JD, you mentioned it. Who is this gal? This is Sarah Harmer. So she's a... What's her story? Anybody got any data? She's got a pretty good solo career. Gosh, I'm trying to think of what her big song was. That would have been in around 2002, 2003. I'll take some links for those of you out there. TimbyGettingHitToTheHit.com. Please register him as a Republican. Send me some email. I have notifications turned on. And it's... [54:06] Email Pete at GettingHitToTheHit.com if you want the address and phone number. No, she's gorgeous. She has an amazing matchup with Gort. Her voice is, I thought, incredible. Basement of Parliament was a big song in 2000. Okay. [54:28] For the cadence of the album, for this being Song 6, these are my chapters of the book. The chapters of the book. It's a good Song 6. No issues. It's there's also with one point, this lastly, um, when Gord sings, nothing's short of nothing short of everything's enough at one point when he's seeing that in the song that Iheard Johnny Cash, like there was some kind of Johnny Cash coming through. Definitely more growly and Gord ask, but it's, it's a cool song. Only played 10 times life. Thoughts on the length and build-up of the song[55:07] So special. Yeah. I say, this is the, is this the longest song on the album as well? And it's only like five minutes and four, but, um, the, the buildup is such that it's, uh, one minute 16 when the lyrics actually start. So it's just swirly, swirly buildups. And then, uh, yeah. And then you, you get it. I don't, I don't know what to say about this. I say it's, it's one of those tracks that I. [55:40] I just get through. It's one of these things that's just not really on my attention span. I don't know why, because of the, I don't know. I don't know, it's weird. Because of the aesthetics of the song, I don't know. But listening to it again today, I have grown to like it more. It's a dynamite song on great headphones after a joint. The way it settles in the album, It's almost like you've been through a few things and then you get a snowstorm and everything just really sort of settles down and you're sitting sort ofwatching the snow. But for me, I don't know, it doesn't feel like I want to sit down and be there watching the snow. I want to kind of hop on a bit. So I don't know why, it just feels a little bit misplaced for me. But that's how I am with albums. I always want something more. I always want them to sort of build up. I'm not so good when they change down slightly. For me, I don't know, maybe if it was later on in the album. No, we talk about sequencing all the time here, so this is great to think about that. [56:54] That film I was talking about, the Simon film, when I saw trying to delve into what that was about, there was a few little trailer-y bits and a few little segments of it, And there's onewith Alan Arkin doing one of his psychology lectures, you know, and he's with these kids and he's just saying, yeah, one of the greatest Wittgenstein quotes you'll hear is the, I don't knowwhat I don't know, which is fantastic. Oh, yeah. Yeah, there you go. That's the ultimate wisdom. That is the ultimate wisdom. When you can truly think that out your fingertips, fingertips, you know? [57:38] You've got it. You've got it. Made in the shade. I've tried many times to get there, but just can't get that. Oh, wait a minute. That's another podcast. Dan, what you said about it taking a while to come in. I feel that. And I think JD's right. You need a joint and some good cans for it. but I would say this is probably my second favorite song on this record. Inquiry about the woman singing[58:11] JD, you asked me about the woman singing before. Bands featuring female guest vocalists on certain songs[58:19] I feel like nowadays that's a cool thing to do. I think it started in like 2017, 2018 a lot of bands. I know the National's been doing it a lot with their new records, having like female guest vocalists join in on certain songs. Oh, wow. It's cool. I like it. But I feel like when they did this record in 2012, nobody was doing it. Nobody was doing that. You got a band of five guys. That's the fucking band. I know, you know, it's not like a song featuring so-and-so, like bands very rarely do that. That's totally true. Yeah, absolutely. And this this woman's on at least what, three songs? Two for sure. I've only got two, two, maybe, maybe two, sorry. Yeah, I mean, I, I, I. The song is just amazing the way it starts. I got some, production-wise, I got some Beach Boys vibes from this because there's so much production. [59:39] Like, Abbey Road stock level, like we're in the studio sitting around the board like, what do you think if we do this and we throw this in and everybody's talking like that's the levelof this song because the musicianship is just it's gone when you look at the the EP compared to where we're at now everybody is just you know it's not they're not even on the same planetanymore this band um, i would say that just just if you look at this song from production wise whatever you think about it, you know, the song, you like it, you don't like it. I happen to like it, but it's got to be some of their best, most accomplished work because of how well everything is done in it. Whether or not you like the melody, whether or not you like the minute and 17 or 16 seconds without anything, I get that. I get how sequencing wise I could put you in a weird spot, but like, You can't deny that this song is extremely well done, well recorded, produced, written, everything. Yeah, I completely agree with you and you know, again, there would be a lot of people who would argue that the last two records were really well produced as well. [1:01:07] And maybe they're right, I don't know. But to me, it's just more heavy handed. It's, you know, it's much more heavy handed. This record is much more subtle. Yeah, there are still brushstrokes, but it doesn't feel as like they are put on by like a makeup specialist Right, you know difference between a produced record and a well-produced record. Yeah Yeah, or overproduced maybe overproduced So let's get into the modern spirit and we can think about the modern spirit in a couple of different ways We were talking aboutsequencing earlier, and I'm wondering wondering, would Dan, would this have satisfied your palate if the modern spirit had come after Streets Ahead, or was it something more specificyou were looking for, something more to drive it even higher? No, no, I mean, you can link those two together. You can imagine it coming straight in after Streets Ahead. It would have been a good transition. Yeah. But I say, in terms of this track, I mean all of their Rolling Stones cover versions paid off, didn't they? This is Modern Spirit's pure Rolling Stones. It's just, in every aspect, it's just fantastic. Modern Spirit's Rolling Stones influence[1:02:31] Do you get that vibe? Yeah, I can hear that. Even the drum shuffles are just stones. [1:02:42] Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's some wattage in there for sure, 100% and well said. Yeah, it's it's it's it's very sort of modern, late sort of stones, but it's it's it's spot on, even though it's not supposed to be stones. But yeah, you know, versatility and how to do it so well. And his voice is fantastic on this as well. Banga. Yeah. Yeah, hard agree. The way this song starts, I mean, I mean, I listened to this song in a number of different venues. [1:03:26] I'm 100% the way this song starts and it hits. It's a fucking driving song. I mean, And it's just driving down the fucking highway, windows down. You know, I know last time Tim was with us, what record was it? Or Tim? Last time Dan was with us, what record was it? I'm trolling right now. So I don't know if Tim or I don't know if Dan remembers, but Dan, my car, so my car has what you would call, what the layman would call a premium audio sound system. So the listening experience is not what you'd normally get from, you know, even a decent sound system in a car. It's quite advanced and this. The transcendent vocals of Gord and his evolution as a vocalist[1:04:26] I don't know if Dan remembers that from the last listening, but I think I remember you mentioning it. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's it's it's definitely a cut above. I think the backup vocals on this song to the way they come in. Everything about this song is fucking cooks. If you don't have a smile on your face, jamming along to this song, driving, whatever you're doing, then you need a fucking lobotomy or you need something, I don't know. I don't know how you could not absolutely love this song. [1:05:11] The one note I want to bring up here, I feel like Gord's, when it comes to his vocals and everything. This song, I think that it's thematic throughout the record, but this song really makes me realize he's not he's, he's transcended humanity as a vocalist. And I know this is bold words I'm saying here. But I feel like where he was at from the EP and where we've seen it go. It's like he's an evolved, you know, humans evolved from apes. Like Gord has evolved from humans. So they say. Right, so they say, my apologies for all you creationists out there. No, but I feel like Gord is, he's moved past it vocally, he's just, and as a songwriter and as a front man, he's just like, I don't think I've ever seen, you know, no disrespect to the Stones,because we were talking about the Stones, Dan brought up the Stones. You know, mix mic man, you know what you're getting every time. [1:06:15] He's great, and he's consistent, and he's always great. But I wouldn't say the guy's vocals and style and everything has evolved much since Get Off My Cloud to where it's at today. It's the same dude. Gord, I feel like, is just... He's evolved past the normal human Gord. You know, like Megagord or... Okay, you know. Megagord. Mechagord, you know, like... Yeah. He was five lions, and then he converged into one. [1:06:57] I don't know. I'm gonna use Voltron as a verb. He Voltron'd into one giant robot of a lead singer. Tim, what do you think of this one? I thought the same about the open road with this one. The white and open throat. Night slips back with no noise. I mean, that's... Yeah. It's a great song. All right, next. So this next one about this map was last played in Spokane, Washington, 2012. It was only played twice. Oh, Tim, how about Modern Spirit? Was it played more? Feels like a live song. Ah, sorry. Modern Spirit, only 12. Only 12. So as this album goes by, these songs are played less live, which, yeah, it just made me wonder about the band and what, what, what, or why, or, you know, it, was it, was it thetheme of the album and the life and the times that was kind of too heavy to play live or I'm not sure. Well, they only had one sure after this as well. And that was the last tour. How many stops do you think? And we'll, and we'll get into that. Like, I think it was like, it was strictly Canada. Yeah, it was a pretty big deal. [1:08:22] So about this map. The mysterious and unique start of the song "About This Map"[1:08:26] Pete, talk to me about this map. It's a really weird start. And not in a bad way, just in a... About this map. It's kind of a mysterious song. Yeah, very mysterious. But I love the... [1:08:46] This was the song that made me think on the whole record, because again, like Dan said, I didn't know the history of what was going on in Gord's life during this record. But thisis the song where I kind of was like, okay, what the fuck is going on? This is just, everything's just too different, especially when you look at what the previous record was. But I dug it. The chorus and the pre-chorus is so good in this song. I don't have a ton to say, but the melody and the guitar licks are just top notch. I mean, I feel like it would take me a year to come up with that. Being so cool, making guitars sound that cool, and then afterward, I would just like pat myself on the back for the rest of my life because it's just that fucking cool. And fucking Rob Baker probably just did it in like two takes and then just forgot about it and went home and had, I don't know, fucking rotisserie chicken or whatever you guys eat overthere in Canada. We do eat a lot of rotisserie chicken. [1:10:00] What about blue? What about blue? Oh no, I'm really hungry and thirsty. Fuck. Well, what did you think about this map, Dan? Yeah, it's a good track, but as we were saying, yeah, it's a bit of a weird one. The lyrics, the sort of, the sentiment in the lyrics doesn't sort of, like, build, you know? Of stays on this sort of level. Was the sort of guitars and everything kind of rise around it, which I found was pretty fascinating. And again, it's like, yeah, in terms of sort of lyrics, about this map is said 15 times. So there's a there's a lot of that in there, which I think sort of flattens the lyrics out a bit. But a lot of textures in there that I haven't heard in other stuff as well. [1:11:04] It's a grower. It's an absolute grower. It was for me. Again, it was one of those tracks I'd always get to this stage in the album and then think like, oh God, hang on, is that? And then, uh, yeah, it, it, it had come back to me and, um, I dig. It'sgood. Are any other two fuckers going to recognize the irony of the fact that Dan's discussing the song about this map and directly behind him is a gigantic map? Oh yeah. Am I the only one like seeing the irony here? Sorry. Yeah. For those of you listening... We got a theme. Yeah. Tim's got a map up here. Yeah, got a couple. He's got a couple there too. You got Spain and Italy behind you, right Tim? Staring at it every day. [1:11:56] Good ol' EU over there. Sorry. We'll save the tour for another day. Did anybody get the edge vibes? Like from the guitar? Like, from the guitar? 100%! This song and one coming up, 100% got the edge. Well said, JD. Yeah, we've talked about how the latter part of U2's career has sprinkled some seasoning on this band. I've heard that too. Dave's Weed Shop: The Edge's Redemption?[1:12:36] I think the edge is a bit of a cheat though. So I have a hard time talking about him. I forget his real name. It's probably let's let's let's name him. What was his name? It's probably like, I think it's Dave. It's got to have three syllables. I think he's going to open a weed shop. It's going to be called Dave's not here, man. Now if the edge opened a weed shop, I'd probably, I'd probably like him again. Yeah. David Howell Evans. How? See I call him Dave. We're tight. What's the middle name? Let's move on. Dan? Did you have anything to say about this map, Tim? I didn't realize that about this map was said 15 times. That's a lot. I don't have a lot on this one. I thought that it was a bit of a filler, like we've rounded the bend, and we're getting towards the end of the album. You know, the bass, there's areally nice bass guitar through this. It's a little bit more meandering and I don't know. I didn't have a lot on this one. Yeah, it just kind of kept me going. Again, this part, this chunk of the album just felt just stronger than the past couple albums. Okay, let's move on to... Take Forever? Goddamn son, where we going? Take forever. Forever. Song about astronauts and Calgary[1:17:03] Yeah, this one's eight times live. Last played in 13. I, you know, maybe it was a song about astronauts. I'm not sure. It seems like also some statement about Calgary. Is Calgary the, where the wealth is of the roof? He seems to think everyone should have heart attacks there, According to the songs is what I read Yeah You know, I listened to another podcast and they were from Calgary and they tookgreat offense I don't recall as to why right now, but to me I think about it like, you know that beginning part like When I broke down, I always thought I'd go to Calgary. I think that's a nice sentiment But what do I know? But the yeah, there is a lot about Calgary, right? What about you Dan, how does that? [1:17:58] Totally stumped by this track. For some reason it reminds me of a late Blondie track as well, it's got some kind of vibe like that about it. But yeah, the lyrics and the Calgary thing man, yeah, it's crazy. I mean this is what I'm getting from some of these, I like the tracks, but the lyrics when I'm looking at the lyrics, it's just like, whoa, where are you going with that, Gord? Any insight, JD? [1:18:31] I wish. It's like a time bomb, you know? There's so many wires and things in there that you might pull one wire and it might make some progress, but then there's a whole other pack of wires underneath, you know? Yeah. I mean, again, when you do look at the lyrics for this album, there are a few themes that go through I mean this again this has got the whole kind of man machine reference and it's got thiswhole sort of um you know destroying space thing that we've we've heard um quite a few times as well yeah yeah um I I think this song is textbook hip I mean just the sound that it is I Ihear you on the lyrics, I guess they didn't make enough of an impact on me as the instruments of the song, you know, the instrumentation. Love the fucking thumping bass, just Sinclair's all over this record, you know. It's classic hip. [1:19:46] This is a song, especially in terms of chords, vocals, again, not speaking about the lyrics per se, just his singing. I think this is one of the songs where I'm like, God, why does nobody get this band? Just the song that made me think of it. So yeah, not a ton to say about it, but I dug it. I'm not, um, I feel like compared to last week, you could, you could, you know, serve me a shit sandwich and I'll just be like, you know, Can we, can we get into just a little bit about whydidn't this band, blah, blah, blah, make it in the U S or whatever it is. I had a lot of thoughts about this during this listen, which you just reminded me of. And I was kind of neither here nor there. nor there. But this album, I too, Pete, had thought a bit about. The popularity of this band in Canada versus the U.S. and all those things. And it was concurrently during, while listening to this past week, it was concurrently during Coachella that's 

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston inour neighborhood churches or donate to this ministry, please visitmosaicboston.com.I want to frame up our time with a quote from Martin Luther before we read the text and before we preach or before we pray for the preaching of God's word. And the reason why I want to do this is because this was a quote that I came across while preparing and while studying for preaching. And it really just stuck with me the whole time and it really has resonated with me. And I think it's a clear sort of encompassing statement about what Martin Luther is expounding upon in our text, the concept that we are going to deal with in our text, Martin Luther expounds upon it in this way. And so I think it's going to be helpful for us to think about. So I'll read it and then we can talk about it.But Martin Luther says this, "A Christian is a most free Lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a most dutiful servant of all, subject to all." Now this is a statement that kind of deals with a paradoxical concept that we are going to be wrestling with in our text. The idea is that we as Christians are free. We are free. Scripture teaches that we are co-heirs, that we are rulers with Christ. And so we even have authority, real practical authority in the world around us, and that we are not subject to one another. We'll get to what that means in a little bit, but just hang on to that. But at the same time, scripture is clear that we are to love one another, to serve one another and to put each other before ourselves.And so how do we live in freedom and authority as rulers, as lords, lowercase L, in this world, while still being a dutiful servant and being subject to all? That is the concept that we are going to be wrestling with today. And I'll read the text, I'm going to read the whole thing. It's a long text, but the reason why I'm reading it is because Paul is making one logical argument that I want us to sit on and think about. What is Paul saying here? And I just really want the word to penetrate our hearts and our minds and let us just sit and dwell on that. So I will read it and then we can pray over the preaching of our God's word.So Romans 14, starting in verse one, it says this, "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, and the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.""Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord since he gives thanks to God. While the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God, for it is written, 'As I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God.'""So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men, so then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.""Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." Let's pray over the preaching of God's word.Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You, we praise You that You are Lord of all, that You are in control always and of everything. We thank You and we praise You. Lord, we also thank You and praise You that we have an ability to join You in that freedom, that You have blessed us with that opportunity. We thank You. Help us to live in that freedom. Lord, we thank You that You did not count that freedom as something to be hold onto, that You willingly gave it up to save us, to sacrifice for us, to serve us. Help us to have hearts that desire to do the same. Grow our ability, our willingness to serve and to submit to one another in the freedom that You have blessed us with. Lord, challenge us, grow us. Use Your word, use Your scripture to strengthen Your church now. In Jesus' name. Amen.Alrighty, we will be spending our time in four points today. Normally we like the three-point sermon, I like the three-point sermon, but we're doing four. The last one is really short so it's really like three-and-a-half, but we're going with four. But the points that we will be spending our time in are that you are free to serve the master. You are free to give thanks to the Lord. You are free to be subject to all, and you are free by faith. So we'll start with you are free to serve the master. This is coming in verses one through four. I'll break it up a little bit, but verses one and two say this, "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables."So Paul hates vegetarians of... No, that's not what he is talking about. There's a lot of contextualization going on that we need to understand what is happening here. But the first thing I want to point out is the word opinions. It's not a word that we talk a lot about from the pulpit, but did you know, dear Christian, you are free to have opinions? Wow, what a novel concept. You are allowed to think. You are allowed to have opinions. That's great, but you're not free to quarrel over them. It's interesting. It implies that as Christians we will have opinions that are inherently contradictory to other people in the same body of Christ. If you look around this room, we're going to have different opinions on the same subject matter. The Bible says that's okay.You are allowed to have differences of opinion, but what's not okay is to allow those differences to cause division, as to quarrel over them. We'll get into what the quarreling exactly means in a little bit, but I just wanted to start with that and point out like yeah, we can say it's okay to have opinions. It's okay to disagree, but we still need to live in unity and love with one another. The next thing I want to point out is the context of the eating whatever, and the weaker one only eats vegetables. So this has a lot to do with the history and the context of the day. But specifically, the church in Rome was living in a city where people offered sacrifices to pagan Gods, and that sacrifice was a meat offering that then after the sacrifice they would take the meat and they would just sell it in the market.And so the question that the Christians in this early church were dealing with, is it okay to eat meat that is offered to idols? Is it okay to eat meat if you don't know that it had been offered to idols or not? What should we do? And Paul goes into greater detail in his stance on that in 1 Corinthians. Feel free to check that out, but I'll just summarize it real quickly. What Paul's point is saying is we know there is one true God. Yahweh is the only God. And so any other God, lowercase G, that these sacrifices are made to, they're not real. So really what it is it's a barbecue. So Paul says, "I can eat it." There's nothing sinful, there's nothing unclean about eating it because in faith, Paul knows he's still praising the one true God who provided food. Makes sense, seems good.There was another group of dedicated Christians who loved the Lord that said, "I cannot eat meat dedicated to an idol. Less to anyone dare think I'm possibly worshiping that idol. I don't want to cause any confusion. I don't want to worship an idol I'm not going to eat the meat offer to them." But sometimes it's hard to know what meat at the market is offered to an idol and which is not. So they refrained completely from eating meat. They said, "We will not eat meat at all to make sure that we do not eat meat sacrificed to idols." Wow, what conviction. What strength to and dedication to the Lord to say, "I will not do anything that possibly can go against the Lord." Whoa, faithful Christians are disagreeing. Faithful Christians have a difference of opinion. And that's okay.And Paul is saying, "Welcome each other." And what's really interesting here is we're at church, I'm preaching, so we take this primarily at church, but primarily what he's talking about is at the home. He's talking about, well, let's just thought experiment practically. Let's say there's a group of us here that love meat. No one knows who's in that group. Let's say that there's a group of people here who don't eat just vegetarian, for whatever reasons. And then you come to church and you know who eats meat and who doesn't. What do you think's going to happen? Naturally, most people will probably separate, hang out with their friends, "Oh, I'm not a meat eater. I'll sit with the other people who don't eat meat." "Oh, I'm a meat eater. I'll sit with the people who eat meat." And then what do we do after service? Oh, let's go get lunch. Oh the meat eaters go get barbecue. The vegetarians go, I don't even know, I'm sorry, I'm a meat eater. I don't even know where you go.And the result is division. The result is division in the church over something that doesn't matter, over something that is an opinion. And what Paul is saying, have the people over your house and enjoy a meal together that you disagree with. I'm sticking with the meat and vegetable example because that's what Paul uses, but think about it yourself. Think about what opinions we disagree with one another within the church. Actively invite and welcome into your home people you know that you disagree with, and genuinely welcome them. It says don't quarrel, don't have them over to have a debate about the opinions. That's not helpful. Don't bring them over to try and persuade them or if you don't know, I'm having people over to find out who's on my side of this opinion so we could figure it out. Like that's not helpful, it's not helpful.Paul says to welcome them, and it gets a little bit stronger in language as he goes. In verse three it says, "Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains. And let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand." The word for quarreling, it actually has to do with making a judgment over. And it's like when you are arguing with someone like oh, I'm right, they're wrong. I'm better than them. They're just weaker. They don't understand as much as I do. You're coming from a place that's not loving. And Paul recognizes that and he says, "Don't despise the one who eats. Don't despise the one who abstains. Don't hate them. Don't make a judgment over them."Why? Because you are not their master. And this is an important thing to know that we are given authority and we are given rule in this world, but we are not masters of one another. I am not your master. Praise God. You are not my master. Praise God. I have the freedom to live not concerned about you mastering yourself over me and you have the freedom to live without concern of me mastering over you. Why? Because we have one master and that master is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we still have to serve Him, right? This doesn't mean we have freedom to sin or freedom to do whatever we feel like. It's freedom to live in submission to our master. Freedom to serve our master. That's why it says before his own master, he will either stand or fall. Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes our opinions are wrong and we will fall. And that's okay because we are not the ones who ultimately decide our standing before our master, the master decides that.And the Lord, it says, is able to make us stand. He is the one who upholds us. And so we can trust in Him. We can live in freedom to serve Him knowing He will uphold us. And that's something that we should be joyful about. We should be thankful for, that we are not masters of one another, but we do have a good master who will cause us to stand and we can serve Him. So then we should give thanks to Him. This is point number two. We are free to give thanks to the Lord. This is in verses five through 12. It says in verse five, "One person esteems one day as better than another. While another esteems all day as alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord since he gives thanks to God. While the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God."I'll stop there for now, but the first thing I want to point out is Paul brings in another contextual disagreement that the church was having when he says one esteems one day and one esteems all day is alike. And most often this is used to talk about things like what day do we worship God on. Like we're here on Sunday, we worship on Sundays. That's what we do. But actually it's a lot more nuanced than a lot more specific of what's going on. There's a group of people in the early church that believed God told us specific days are holidays, or specific days are sabbaths to worship Him, to remember Him, to do different things. So those days are inherently more holy than the rest because God had ordained them for the worship of Him at specific times. Okay, all days are holy, but those days are like extra holy. You could see that argument.Other people, and Paul falls into this camp, say the Lord made all days, all days are holy. We can worship God however we want on those days, whatever we are called to remember in those holidays, we can worship every single day. Every day is a holy day to serve the Lord. Praise God. That makes sense, too. People disagree again. But the idea is the esteeming has to do with holiness, and the emphasis is the esteeming of the days and not on the differences. The point is, do we actually think about days as ordained by God to serve Him? To love and serve and worship Him and specifically honor Him, right? It says if you abstain, if you partake, whatever your view on the days are, if you do it in honor of the Lord, then it's good. Then it's good. And this takes intentional, proactive thought, right? This is not just passive like, oh I go to church every Sunday. That's just because that's what I do.It's like, no, today is a day to honor the Lord. Praise God. And then when we go home and wake up tomorrow, still a day to worship and praise God. Praise God. And how do we honor Him in our eating, in our not eating, in our following of certain days or whatever? Says by giving thanks. Says that they honor Him by giving thanks. This is very applicable. We're just coming out of the Thanksgiving season, headed into the Christmas season, thinking a lot about thankfulness and things like that. We, as Christians, are called to proactively thank God for everything always, all the time. And this is the following statement where He gets into a totality statement. This is what He's saying in verse seven, "For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and lived again that He might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living."What's in the realm outside of the dead and of the living? Nothing. That's what there is. Either it is dead or it's alive, physically, spiritually, whatever category you want, alive and dead are the categories. And Paul's point here is everything, the good, the bad, the scary, the hard, the things that bring life, the things that lead to death, all of it is under God's sovereign control. Nothing is out of his hands. And so that gives us the ability to thank Him always, to thank Him when things are hard. To thank Him when things aren't going the way we want them to. He is master of all. He is the one in control. We can praise Him, we can thank Him. That doesn't mean it's easy. There will be seasons when it's hard to do. But as Christians, we are called to do this and we are free to do it, right?That's something that's important to think about. The freedom, the ability to recognize with one another yet may be hard. But even in the difficult seasons, we have the freedom, allow each other to praise God even when things are hard. Allow each other to give thanks to Him even when things are difficult. So we are free to give thanks to God. Whoa, we're free to do whatever we want in submission to the master, our Lord. And we are free to thank Him for it. That doesn't mean there's no accountability, right? And this is where it continues in verse 10, "Why do you pass judgment on your brother. Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to me, to confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God."We have the freedom to not judge one another because not only are we not their masters, we're not their judge. God is their judge. God is my judge. God is your judge. God is everyone's judge. And so we have the freedom when we see things wrong, when we disagree over opinions, we have the freedom to not pass judgment on one another and say, you know what? It's in the Lord's hands. This goes back to Romans 12 at the very end where he says, the Lord says, "Vengeance is mine and it's not for us." And so we have the freedom to not worry and be obsessed with and condemn each other because we know that God is in control and that He is a good and perfect judge. But we ourselves will stand before God and give an account for everything we have said and done. And that should cause us to faithfully serve Him, right? We have the freedom. We have freedom, great. But we do have to give account to God for what we do with that freedom.And then Paul's going to tell us what we should do with that freedom, what we are called to do in that freedom. This picks up in verse 13, "Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and I am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil." We'll pause there for a second, but I like to tell people my favorite verse in text that I preach because I think it's helpful.But my favorite verse is verse 13. That's my favorite verse. Let us not pass judgment on one another any longer. Well, it's saying that we have been passing judgment on one another and we need to stop doing that. And Paul is writing that to the church in Rome, but I know that it's applicable to every church, but it is applicable to our church here. We need to commit to not passing judgment on one another anymore. Then it says rather decide, and this is really why it's my favorite verse. The word decide is the same word that has been used throughout this text for pass judgment. So what does Paul mean by pass judgment? What does he mean by decide here? What is he talking about?Passing judgment is a legal thing. It's a legal term of making a decision of guilty, not guilty or making a sentencing, a final, complete, total statement on what to do or what you are. And so Paul is saying do not make a condemnation, a guilty, not guilty statement on other people. That's not your job. Stop doing that. Do instead make a legal decree over your own life, place a law over yourself that you will never, never, ever put a stumbling block in the way of a brother or sister. How many of us are perfect at that? None of us. We aren't perfect at this and there's grace and there's forgiveness and repentance when we fail at this. But do we even have this mentality? Is this something that we are even thinking about?Because it's not like, oh, remove stumbling blocks when you can. It's, do not put them there. That means is we're putting them there, and we need to proactively stop ourselves from doing it. Do we have the mentality that I love somebody else so much that I will not do anything at all that causes them to stumble? Even eating meat. You see, this is where the gospel makes clear of this balance of the paradox because Jesus is the Lord and ruler are one master. And so he has the most freedom of all. He is free to do whatever He wants. But He knew that we needed help. He knew that we were not all right. And He said rather than just letting them figure it out and I'm free to do whatever I want, I'm not going to let them bother me. He said no.Jesus Christ came down to earth. He gave up His freedom, submitted Himself to us to serve us, to die on the cross, save us from our sins so that way we can join the family of God, when we've put our faith and trust in Him. When we say, Lord Jesus, you are truly Lord of my life. You are in control. You are the one I need to submit everything to. And so do we love each other like Christ love the church? Do we say, "Yes, I may have freedom to have whatever opinions I want"? Sure, true. Do you say, "But I'm not willing to let them become a stumbling block for anyone else"? And it's very strong language. He says never. Don't dare put a stumbling block. And this is really important because it continues and says, "Do not destroy the one for whom Christ died."Christ died for them. They are valuable to our master so they should be valuable to us, so we shouldn't do things that destroy them. And the word destroy isn't about salvation, but it is about physical breaking and hurt and pain and anguish. Do we recognize that's the severity of our actions at times? I think we can all agree experientially the times that we are hurt the most, the times that we feel destroyed are when we're hurt by the people we care about the most. Because it's not painful to be hurt by someone you don't care about. Like whatever, I don't care about you. But when you really truly care for someone, it is painful when they hurt you. And we, as a church, aren't primarily just a group of people that meet on Sundays. We are called the Body of Christ. We are called the family of Christ. We are relationally brothers and sisters.And so when we hurt one another, it hurts. It really has power to hurt. And so we need to proactively fight against that. We need to actively seek love, seek peace, seek the ability to help one another rather than hurting one another even when our opinions are right. This is important. What I find really interesting about this text is that Paul is talking about opinions. Well, making an argument for which opinion is right and which opinion is wrong. If you noticed, he started the first time he talked about it in the beginning, he said this, "One person believes he... The weak person eats only vegetables."So in the decision, should we refrain from eating all meat to serve the Lord or should we eat meat and freedom to serve The Lord? Calls the ones who refrain, weak. He's making a statement about who's right and who's wrong. He continues, "The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord. The one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord." But it's okay. If they eat, they eat. If they don't, they don't. It's okay. Then here he says, "I know and I am persuaded in the Lord that nothing is unclean in itself." Then Paul is saying, Paul's convinced I know that there is nothing unclean about it. We should all eat meat. And then later we'll get to it in a second, he says even more strongly, "Everything is indeed clean."So Paul in this text is trying to show people what is true, what is right. But that's not the point. That's not what he's focusing on. He actually focuses on the unity. Nowhere does he tell the people who are refraining from eating vegetables, you're wrong, stop doing it. Start eating meat. No. And actually he corrects the people who eat meat and challenge them and says, "Let them do it. They're following their conscience, they're following the Lord. They're seeking to serve the Lord and doing it. Let them do it." We live in a city that prizes intelligence, that prizes knowing information and knowing the most and being right and all this stuff.Dear Christians, that's not your goal in life. That's not the purpose. And ultimately it doesn't matter as much as everything else that we are called to. What is the purpose? What is the goal? This is verse 17, and it says it very clearly, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." What is our purpose? We are to pursue righteousness. That does mean there are things that are right and wrong. We should not use freedom to do whatever we want. We submit to the Lord, we follow Him. If you remember, I know it's been a long time since we started Romans, but if you remember way back to week one, Bastion talked about how the purpose of this letter is to encourage the church to faithful obedience to the Lord. It's the idea of encouraging people to faithful. You could say righteousness.So we as Christians, we do pursue righteousness. We do pursue living lives according to God's word and doing what is right. But then we pursue peace, we pursue unity, we pursue that at the cost of our own freedoms. Talking a lot about opinions more than I like to talk about from the pulpit because I think it shouldn't be about opinions, and that's kind of Paul's point. But we have opinions, we disagree. But if I allow my opinion to get in the way of anyone else's faith, it's better that I don't have an opinion at all. It's better that I don't because that's not the point. The point is peace. The point is righteousness. The point is peace are what we're doing, what we're saying bringing about unity within the church. And joy. We can't forget about joy, too. Again, even when things are hard, even when you disagree, we still are called to righteousness, peace, and joy.So this is why I love singing songs of worship to the Lord here on Sundays, because for me music brings joy. I mentioned that the first service when I was a baby, I was a very cute baby, you'll have to take my word for it. But my parents said I was a joyful baby. I was a happy baby. And then from then until I got married, I was never once in my life called joyful. Now that I am married, I have been called joyful, and praise God, and I'm very thankful for my wife. But the point of that is I was actually in sin all those years of my life, because I wasn't following the Lord. I wasn't pursuing joy as I am called to. And joy is important. And sometimes you don't feel like being joyful. I get it. And that's why the church body is so important. That's why we need each other.I love to come to church on days when I don't feel like coming to church. You know what I mean? On days when you feel like it's the hardest, on days where you don't feel the joy and you show up at church and you see other people worshiping and praising God, it's a little bit easier to be joyful. It puts things in perspective, it's helpful to remind ourselves we're here to praise God. I can praise Him no matter what because He again is in control of all things. We are called to do this for the mutual upbuilding of the church. This is how the church strengthens, this is how the church grows. So when we are in seasons where we feel that the church is hurting and needs strengthening, this is the most important time to focus on this. Pursue righteousness, pursue peace, and pursue joy.I don't think I clarified when I switched to 0.3, but I switched to 0.3. We were subject to all. I hope you picked up on that. Going to transition to 0.4 because a lot of this gets confusing, like practically speaking, how do we do this? And 0.4 clarifies a lot of this for us. You are free to live by faith. This is verses 20 to 23. It says, "Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself, for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."Do not let what we do destroy the work of God. Again, we said but do not let it destroy the one for whom God loved. But God is working in those situations, and the people are people that God is building and shaping and growing and so do not let our opinions destroy them. And I have to clarify this in verse... Sorry, I'm trying out of context that didn't go well. In verse 22 it says, "The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God." I want to clarify what this means. This is not talking about saving faith in the gospel, saving faith that Jesus died to save me from my sins. And He is Lord of all. No, nowhere else in scripture doesn't talk about that. Actually everywhere else in scripture it's like please tell everybody. Go tell the nations, proclaim it to everyone, we should not keep our faith and our love of the Lord Jesus Christ between us and God. No. We need to tell people about it. That is a command in scripture.Contextually what this is talking about goes back to verse one. Those who are weak in faith, quarreling over opinions. We can have faith that we are doing, living faithfully even in our opinions, but we need to keep that between ourselves and God sometimes. Now if you have good strong relationships with people and friends and brothers, like it's not saying never talk about it. Like, you can, that's all right. But the point is it for encouragement? Is it a building or is it going to bring about harm? Again, we can have opinions, but if it's going to cause somebody else to stumble, it's better to just keep it between me and God. It's better to just for you to keep it between you and God because the point is unity. And so think about how many things we do a day, how many decisions we make, how do we faithfully follow God in everything while serving Him, while submitting to all?Like what if there's an option to do something that might bring peace, but another one that would bring more joy, what do I do? Paul gives us more freedom. The freedom to live by faith, to trust in the Lord. That's what he's saying at the end here. If you eat when you don't have faith, you are condemned. Why? Because the point is about doing things in faith by trusting God. When we make decisions, do we seek after God's will? Do we pray? Do we read scriptures? Do we consult brothers and sisters in Christ and go from there? And once we make a decision, if we have been faithfully following the Lord, Paul says have the freedom to do it. Don't constantly be second guessing yourself. Don't constantly be having to go, oh, did I do the right thing or not? Live in freedom for the Lord.And if you make a mistake, repent. Because you will make mistakes, because we are all fallible people. But ultimately the motivation for everything we do, the decisions we make needs to come from a position of I have faith that the Lord is in control of all things. I am seeking after Him. I am doing the best I can to follow Him. And so I'm going to proceed in this life from there. I want to close by reading two things that I find helpful, and it's things that you've already heard. I'm going to read again the quote from Martin Luther to summarize what I've been saying. And then I'm going to read the verse that I think Paul used that summarized most what he said, which is verse 17. And I'm just going to read them in conjunction to one another because I think thinking about them together has really helped me understand this idea.So Martin Luther says, "A Christian is a most free Lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is the most dutiful servant of all, subject to all." Verse 17, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank You for all of the freedom that You have blessed us with, that we can be free from judgment from one another, that we can be free from Your wrath because of the work of Your son, Jesus Christ. That we can be free to live in this world following You. We thank you, we praise You for that. Lord, we also thank You for the opportunity You have blessed us with to serve and submit to one another. We thank You that we are able to proclaim the gospel to those who see us by our submission to one another.We thank You that you did not count your freedom as something to be hold onto, but gave it up for us. Lord, You are good. Lord, help grow in our hearts, the ability to view others more significant than ourselves, to view others as primary in us as secondary, to strengthen our faith in You so that we can be better at serving those around us. Bring unity to your church. Help us to pursue righteousness, peace, and joy. In Jesus' name. Amen.

153: Pastor Plek, Catie Sas, Jeff Mitchell, and Robert Sas recap Sunday's sermon and discuss the importance of accountability.Questions Covered:How do we know when someone is holding you accountable because they love you and want to see you succeed vs. someone wanting you to become like them as far as your personality and thinking? Because there are A LOT of people will not accept you or be your friend unless you talk, think, act, believe, and behave exactly like them and will disciple you/training you accordingly.The higher a person's role within an organization hierarchy the less likely they are to be challenged on a decision they are making. We've seen many prominent Pastors fall due to this. How have you seen the leadership or lay leaders at WBCC guard themselves from this pitfall?Contextually, David not going out to fight carry's MASSIVE implications, doesn't it? We just saw in Deuteronomy how Israel is captured and enslaved time and time again all because they ignored God's command to drive out everyone from the promised land, but they didn't. As a result, morality goes out the window and they end up enslaved. Would that have been in peoples mind (contextually) when he sends other people out? Setting the standard for his mighty men that God's command is more important than anything else? *we saw in Deuteronomy that they don't drive out the people like God commanded, and in Judges we see the result of God's people not fighting as they were called to. Would this have been in the peoples mind when they see David not going out to fight?Want to submit a question? Call or text 737-231-0605!Faith, Culture, and all things in between.Support the show: https://wbcc.churchcenter.com/givingSupport the show

Welcome to this week's edition  of Bible Talks here on Coffee with Keith.  This week, we continue our walk through the book of Acts and we reflect on Acts 3:1-10.  Contextually, this comes after the sermon of Peter as he and John are on their way to the temple for prayer.  In it, Peter heals the lame man who is begging by the gate.  In this devotion, I want to share with you 4 thoughts about the GIFT and then I will simply summarize with a general call for us to respond.  Grab your coffee, have a seat at my table, and let's chat on Coffee with Keith.To connect with me on Instagram, visit here.Join my Patreon group and Support the show with just a $5 monthly gift.Free Support Group (LGBTQ+):  Christian Rainbow Group  Free: Interpret and Apply Scripture like a Scholar (Top of Landing Page)To visit my website and learn more or to get all my freebies, visit here.Jumpstart Your Healing 1-on-1 Coaching Coming Out 1-on-1 CoachingBisexual Relationship Coaching (Couple)Visit www.jkeithbrown.com and look at the top of the landing page to grab your FREE copy of this .pdf worksheet. Then, simply go through the steps and you will be better interpreting Scripture immediately. If you need more help, consider joining one of my Rainbow Champions group coaching journey. I think we all suffer stress in the crazy days. I wanted to offer you a FREE copy of my Create Your Calm guided meditation. Just click HERE to grab your copy.

Hebrews 6:1-3 (NKJV) Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. DOCTRINE OF CHRIST 1. Repentance from dead works, 2. Faith towards God, 3. The doctrine of baptisms, 4. The laying on of hands, 5. The resurrection of the dead, 6. And eternal judgment. Contextually the Hebrew writer desired to proceed to the exposition of the doctrine of Christ's priesthood, but he takes a "short detour" explaining to them that Christian maturity is not to be attained by going back to subjects that belong to the ABC's of the Faith. He was doing his utmost to shift the focus and faith of his audience from the rudimentary principles of Judaism. However, what does it look like for us in the 21st century, we didn't practice the Jewish faith before we put our faith in Christ. Many of us came into the house of God as a result of incorrect or incomplete gospels, such as the gospel of salvation. Most of us came into the Christian faith without anyone laying foundations within us concerning Christ, making us vulnerable and susceptible to deception and half-truths. For many of us, foundations have to be laid for the first time, we are living in a house built on shifting sand. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dr-vincent-g-valentyn/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dr-vincent-g-valentyn/support

Si & Veronica are feeling numb for episode 219! Two big breakups with former Bachelorettes this week. First, Michelle and Nayte shared they will be going their separate ways… but will they be able to keep the house money they were gifted or does it go back to ABC like their ring will go back to Neil Lane. Then, Katie Thurston and John Hersey also shared very different IG story statements on them being split. In happier news, Tia and her fiance, Taylor Mock, are expecting a baby! Tayshia's ex, Zac Clark, came to her rescue when some haters were trying to troll her for bikini pics. Let our girl live!! Nick Viall confirmed what some cruise tracking sites already been knew… the Bachelorettes will be spending part of their season on a cruise ship. Will it give luxury or Suite Life: On Deck?  (Bachelor talk ends at time marker 25m:42s) Drake tried his hand at a house music album in honor of Virgil Abloh… but Beyonce might've out done him with the release of her new single featuring Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia. It doesn't help that Drake featured cheating king, Tristan Thompson, in his newest video. HBO wants more Jon Snow and is in development for a spin-off around him. Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen are split on how they view their 18-year-old daughter Sami starting an OnlyFans. Vee went “Yikes!” and got an irreversible ick for Jack Harlow posting a TikTok of him whining a cringy new Drake lyric. Contextually cute no more! Join us for what is always a good time and leave us a rating and review for a shoutout! Follow us @thefuturebachelor on Instagram! Thanks to you all who have subscribed! -- For fun, great music updated weekly, follow FUTURE BACHELOR on Spotify!   ***SLAPPER OF THE WEEK*** "Gotta Move On" by Diddy, Bryson Tiller -- Follow us on Instagram!

An important part of Christian meditation is to use your biblically guided imagination to see the better, unseen realities our lives are in, and to bring our mind and body into an integration with those spiritual realities. Otherwise we become a mind/body that's fragmented and disconnected from spiritual realities, that's hijacked by tension and anxiety, anger, frustration, and fear.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that for this podcast.Psalm 118:24 ESVThis is the day that the LORD has made;let us rejoice and be glad in it.Contextually speaking this verse is prophetic of the day of Jesus's death and resurrection for salvation, as well as the day of his return. Like the entire Psalm, this verse is layered with prophetic imagination.But it's also a true principle all on its own…Psalm 118:24 ESVThis is the day that the LORD has made;let us rejoice and be glad in it.Like Paul writes in…Philippians 4:4 (ESV)Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.And…1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)16 Rejoice always (shortest verse in the original Greek Bible), 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.Say aloud to yourself…“Because this is the day that the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Diego Huaman.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.

An important part of Christian meditation is to use your biblically guided imagination to see the better, unseen realities our lives are in, and to bring our mind and body into an integration with those spiritual realities. Otherwise we become a mind/body that's fragmented and disconnected from spiritual realities, that's hijacked by tension and anxiety, anger, frustration, and fear. If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that for this podcast. Psalm 118:24 ESV This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Contextually speaking this verse is prophetic of the day of Jesus's death and resurrection for salvation, as well as the day of his return. Like the entire Psalm, this verse is layered with prophetic imagination. But it's also a true principle all on its own… Psalm 118:24 ESV This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Like Paul writes in… Philippians 4:4 (ESV) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. And… 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) 16 Rejoice always (shortest verse in the original Greek Bible), 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Say aloud to yourself… “Because this is the day that the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Timestamps: 01:08 - 06:04 Body Meditation 06:15 - 26:51 Bible Meditation: Psalm 118:24 26:54 - 28:07 Prayer Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it. Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecover Follow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePod Our audio engineer is Diego Huaman. This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.

In this episode we're asking important questions about traveling in tabletop roleplaying games. We go in-depth into the handwaving paradigm, why we think that is, and methods you can employ to make it a more meaningful part of your table experience.  We also discuss some of our favorite travel systems from games, how we've hacked them to work for us, and why it can be important to explore this particular pillar of RPGs.Website: https://icastspells.com Twitter: @passive_podcastEmail: passiveaggropod@protonmail.comShow Breakdown:0:00: Intro1:20: TTRPG News10:42: Main Topic11:15: @MicahRRogers "Travel encounters for every city block."14:13: @Eat_Bray_Love "OSR hex/point crawl."16:34: @LikesPierogi "Contextually relevant encounters."19:13: "Why do we choose to handwave TTRPG travel?"23:08: @AbyssalBrews "Campfire travel system." (also mentioned at 29:06)26:58: "The One Ring 1e Journey System."32:30: "Savage Worlds Interludes."33:42: "How Ivan runs TTRPG travel."36:20: "Random encounter tables."37:52: "Travel encounters that evolve into social encounters or combat encounters.)42:45: "How is implementing a TTRPG travel system better than just handwaving?"49:50: Outro

VP of Rev Ops at LeanData, Don Otvos highlights some of the most important tech stacks that inbound marketing teams need to consider investing in. Contextually relevant messaging is an important part of creating a great lead experience, and for pushing potential customers further down the funnel. In today's podcast, Don Otvos details examples of inbound marketing tech stacks that have worked for LeanData and how they could be useful to your team. Show NotesConnect With: Don Otvos: Website // LinkedInThe Rev Gen Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterI Hear Everything: IHearEverything.com // LinkedIn // TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Contextually, in Matthew 6, Jesus is not dealing with fear or anxiety. Instead, He confronts the issue of worry over one's wealth. Hence, Jesus excursus in Matthew 6:25-34, is regarding worry and the Kingdom citizen. Primarily, He sets forth that Kingdom citizens should not worry over their prosperity, property, and possessions because God provides for one's basic necessities.

Questioning relationships & sex education is not taboo. We're covering: Rapid fire facts about relationships & sex education (RSE) curriculum & laws around the world, including over 10 countries The importance of using correct anatomical terms Laws and guidelines around the world regarding RSE Abstinence, abstinence-only-until-marriage, and comprehensive curriculum A comparison of RSE in English and Chinese-speaking countries I want to note, while a lot of the information referenced is true as of 2019, the pandemic has only slowed or stopped any research or implementation of policy changes countries/states/governing bodies may have made in the meantime. Therefore, I felt this information was the most up-to-date, reliable information at this time. The research referenced includes: Boonstra, Heather. (2011). Advancing Sexuality Education in Developing Countries: Evidence and Implications. Guttmacher Institute, 14(3). https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2011/08/advancing-sexuality-education-developing-countries-evidence-and-implications Goldfarb, E., & Lieberman, L. (2021). Three Decades of Research: The Case for Comprehensive Sex Education, Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.036.Leung, H., Shek, D., Leung, E., & Shek, E. (2019). Development of Contextually-relevant Sexuality Education: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review of Adolescent Sexuality Education Across Cultures. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(4), 621. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040621 

I know...dumb question...right?  Of course you want to be great.  In this episode we travel back to the Gospel of Mark9: 33-37 to talk about this very subject.  Contextually, the disciples were arguing over who was the greatest among them.  It's an interesting thought to even ask ourselves.  Do I really want to be great?  Is that okay for me, as a Christian, to want?  What is greatness?  Just a few of the ideas we discuss in this episode.  And perhaps the most important idea of all: What did Jesus have to say?Grab your coffee and join me.Resources:Get your FREE .mp3 of "How to Pick the Right Bible for You."Get your FREE set of "Towardations," by visiting my website. Get your FREE set of "7 Keys to Making Better Choices."To support this show with a small gift, visit Patreon. To Check out my digital course, "How to Handle Conflict and get Resolutions in your Relationships."Visit www.jkeithbrown.com and look at the top of the landing page to grab your FREE copy of this .pdf worksheet. Then, simply go through the steps and you will be better interpreting Scripture immediately. If you need more help, consider joining one of my Rainbow Champions group coaching journey. I think we all suffer stress in the crazy days. I wanted to offer you a FREE copy of my Create Your Calm guided meditation. Just click HERE to grab your copy.

On June 27, Pastor Ken concludes his mini-series on self-examination, focusing on Hebrews 12:1-2. QUESTION #5 - Is Jesus the true orientation of your life, or have you reduced Him to only one expression of your life's commitments? Hebrews 12:2, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Contextually – how do we fix our eyes? - Let's go back one verse for some context. Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” Symbolically - “run with perseverance” – the narrative of an athlete Practically - We keep our eyes fixed on the One who is our goal (no room for competing allegiances) Questions Review: Q1 - Are you seeking God with all your heart? Q2 - Which best defines your life: striving to be like Christ or being in Christ?  Q3 - Are you spiritually hungry and thirsty, or are you easily satisfied with brief moments of religious involvement?   Q4 - Are you as privately committed to Jesus as much as it appears you are publicly. Q5 – Is Jesus the true orientation of your life, or have you reduced Him to only one expression of your life's commitments?   Summary question - Which perspective do you live by most: going to church or being the church?  

Jim Kouzes is a legend in the leadership world. He co-wrote the Global #1 Best Selling Book, The Leadership Challenge, which has been used as a manual and a guide by millions of leaders all over the world. In this intimate conversation you can learn: How every great leader has grown because of enduring challenge, adversity or difficulty Why you can't get extraordinary things done in organizations all by yourself How leadership has remained relatively stable over the years, but the context has changed Why leaders who master listening, and respond with empathy perform more than 40% higher than those who don't! Join our Tribe at https://leadership-hacker.com Music: " Upbeat Party " by Scott Holmes courtesy of the Free Music Archive FMA Transcript: Thanks to Jermaine Pinto at JRP Transcribing for being our Partner. Contact Jermaine via LinkedIn or via his site JRP Transcribing Services Find out more about Jim below: Jim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkouzes/ Leadership Challenge Website: https://www.leadershipchallenge.com Jim on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jim_Kouzes   Full Transcript Below ----more---- Steve Rush: Some call me Steve, dad, husband or friend. Others might call me boss, coach or mentor. Today you can call me The Leadership Hacker. Thanks for listening in. I really appreciate it. My job as the leadership hacker is to hack into the minds, experiences, habits and learning of great leaders, C-Suite executives, authors and development experts so that I can assist you developing your understanding and awareness of leadership. I am Steve Rush and I am your host today. I am the author of Leadership Cake. I am a transformation consultant and leadership coach. I cannot wait to start sharing all things leadership with you Our special guest on today's show is Jim Kouzes. Jim is a legend in the leadership world. He and his partner, Barry Posner wrote The Leadership Challenge, which has been used as a manual and a guide by leaders all over the world. Having sold millions of copies, incredibly excited to get into Jim world. But before we do that, it's The Leadership Hacker News.   The Leadership Hacker News Steve Rush: What is it that makes some teams and some project teams just absolutely rock and roll where others really flounder? Well, the principle of tribe blaze at the heart of it. In the world that we're working in now, even in a remote environment, as often the case may be, your task is to find new ways as a leader to develop that sense of tribe to your team, no matter what they're working on, so that they stay with you and operate at their most effective. And doing this well, will help you keep morale high, productivity at its best and ensuring your team stay with you. So where do people get that sense of tribal belonging? Well, a sense of tribal belonging usually comes from our four key sources. Shared purpose, unique contribution, pride, and gratitude. So, let's dig into them. Everybody understands purpose. And when we're talking about a grand cause, purpose becomes very visible and very obvious. But what if your organization's role is not to eradicate diseases or fight poverty or clean ocean's. Purpose can be found in the smallest of things. It's the why we do what we do every day. It might be to solve a given problem in an industry, whatever the purpose is, it makes teams raise their heads high, see the horizon. So whatever purpose your team might claim, take the opportunity to explore this, link it to your vision and reinforce it every single day. Ownership is key here. Owning purpose usually means that teams consistently keep their purpose at the front of everything they do. If purpose has Y, then a tribal also wants to feel the how they go about achieving it and how they did it for purpose. It's the Mark of that tribe, differentiators from others tribes. Leadership ownership is key here. So, this is how leaders relate to employees, their philosophies, how they engage in communications, the autonomy they give to their team and how they deal with diversity, equity and inclusion as well. And all brings this together in a society that they can call team or tried, no matter what contribution or challenging factors you might face. Every single individual has a unique contribution to play. If they feel it, they become part of the belonging of that tribe. And that sense of ownership. Everyone wants to feel proud of their achievements and the mark that they're leaving on the world. And knowing that they're contributing to something uniquely valuable is an important part of tribal community, but they need to fill it that individual contribution is important as well. So, people genuinely have an intrinsic sense of pride based on their own self-awareness. And allowing them to show that pride goes a long way and demonstrating pride is not necessarily about bragging or self-promotion. You may feel proud even if somebody else is speaking on the achievements of your team, communicating the story, letting others to feel part of the journey that you're on can also build pride with those in your business that are not directly correlated to your team. And as you offer rewards for people's achievements, provide consistent updates and show the real world the influence that directly having. Praising interactions, letting people know their sense of fulfillment. People can feel grateful for what is beyond expectations outside of the normal simply out of the blue. It's the, we have your back feeling, which is to put the proof in the times of need. The past 12 months in particular have given an exceptionally high number of opportunities to test whether we really can count on others. Gratitude is also letting people know that. You may feel grateful for something your leader has done, or your peers have done, or your team have done. Have you really let them know? In my experience, gratitude, doesn't come from a major game changing heroic act. It comes from small unexpected, absolutely sincere acts from one person to another. Behavioral science has shown over and over again that helping others benefits, both the helper and the recipient. If the team members are doing that for each other, and they really feel that they belong to the tribe, if your team are your people, then prove it to them. Today's environment makes it more likely that people will look for that sense of belonging alongside you and your team and your business so that they can feel appreciated and feel a sense of loyalty both ways. And as a leader, you can give them that sense of tribe, that belonging and proactively focusing on purpose, the unique contribution, being proud of the opportunity and demonstrating gratitude. That's been The Leadership Hacker News. If you have any new, insights or stories, please get in touch.   Start of Podcast Steve Rush: The guest on today's show needs no introduction if you've ever read about leadership; Jim Kouzes and his co-author Barry Posner wrote the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, selling millions around the world. Jim's work impacted the way we think or behave as leaders, and he's been named as one of the top leadership guru's globally. The Wall Street Journal cited him as one of the best executive directors in the world, and Jim, it is an absolute pleasure and an honor to have you on The Leadership Hacker Podcast. Jim Kouzes: Steve, it's a pleasure to be with you. Thanks for the opportunity. Steve Rush: My pleasure, delighted to be here. So, when we first met, you told me, you'd been thinking about leadership ever since you were a young kid as an Eagle Scout; when you were selected in John F Kennedy's Honor Guard. And I recall you telling me that it was that call to action from Kennedy of, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” that really inspired you to then think about joining the Peace Corps. Maybe just give us a little bit of the backstory of how that all evolved? Jim Kouzes: Certainly, Steve. Thanks for that reminder of my early past. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC and my father worked for the U.S. Government. He started out as a file clerk and worked his way up to deputy assistant secretary of labor before he retired. And living in that area, we had the opportunity to visit the memorials and the museums and all of the sites that one sees in pictures and as tourists tour around and visit. And I had the great pleasure of living in that community and being in Washington DC at least once a week. And so, I was steeped in the history of the country and the values and the vision of the country, visiting all of those institutions as a young person. And it inspired me to continue that work, particularly when I was selected being John F Kennedy's Honor Guard as an Eagle Scout at 15 years of age. And I can still remember that very cold winter day in January, standing there before the reviewing stand, where then president John F. Kennedy and his family, and some of his cabinet members watched as the parade went by. And his call to action, as you mentioned as not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Stuck with me and stays with me to this day. And there probably isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about that sense of calling for all of us as human beings to look to serve others. So, I aspired initially to be an ambassador. When I went to university, I studied political science, wanted to join the Peace Corps after I got out, which I did. Became a teacher in the peace Corps, and as a teacher, it changed my career expirations. I realized the impact that one individual could have on, on young people, and so I wanted to continue that work. When I came back to the U.S. I looked for a job in education. Because I didn't have any teaching credentials, they wouldn't let me teach kids, but they would let me teach adults. So, I got a job working in training and development in a Human Resources development organization; development with a consulting firm that was working with the war on poverty, another program, the Johnson administration which was for young people wanting to come involved in community activities that would help people in the United States get out of poverty. And so, I worked for this organization, training people who were in those organizations in communication skills, team building skills, leadership skills. And that was the turning point for me, that was back in 1969-70 And 1972, I was offered a job at San Jose State University to direct a grant project. Met with mental health teams, helping to develop their sense of teamwork in mental health agencies in the Nine Bay Area Counties around San Francisco. And in that process met the Dean of the business school at Santa Clara University, which was just down the road from San Jose State. And he asked me if I'd come direct the executive development center at Santa Clara University, which I did. And while I was unpacking boxes at my office at Santa Clara University, I hear this knock on my door and I turned around and this was a very tall gentleman in the doorway. And he said, “you're in my office.” Excuse me, I thought this was my office? The Dean told me this was my office and he laughed. And he said, it is your office! It used to be my office. I've moved to another building, but a welcome to Santa Clara University. And if you want to meet some people, have some lunch at the faculty club, get a tour of the campus, please let me know, and I'd be glad to talk to you and walk you around and introduce you to folks. That was Barry Posner, and I took him up on his offer. And as we wandered around campus and talked about where I came from, my background, his background, our interests, we found that we had some common interests. At that time, it was around managerial values, and that led to a 39 year long collaboration. Steve Rush: Yeah, It's amazing. There're not many relationships that last for 39 years, and therefore something's got to be right about the chemistry. Jim Kouzes: It is. We're very different personalities and very different people. And I think that's part of why it works. We're not trying, you know, he's a very funny guy. He's likes to crack people up almost, you know, every minute there's a laugh when you're with Barry practically, which is great. I'm not that person. I'm more of the serious type, but I do enjoy his company. He enjoys mine. Our families have become close friends. They are our closest friends as a couple. He and his wife Jackie, and my wife and I. So, it's been a wonderful, wonderful relationship. Steve Rush: And you and Barry's rise to leadership greatness came about when you published The Leadership Challenge and you've done plenty of work before then, but this really kind of excelled you and Barry into the spotlight if you like, into the global arena and be really interested, how did that come about? Jim Kouzes: Well Barry and I worked together at Santa Clara University through the executive development center and I organized programs, created the programs, recruited faculty, be part of those programs. And there was one seminar in particular that we did with Tom Peters. Tom Peters, the coauthor of In Search of Excellence with Bob Waterman. This was back in the mid-eighties. Steve Rush: Right. Jim Kouzes: And Tom had just published that book and we invited him to come to Santa Clara University. This would be for his fees, went through the roof and we couldn't afford him, but we invited them to come to the University and do a seminar. He was so popular, we invited him back. And this time we invited him back for a whole day event. And then a second day, Barry and I were going to do. Well, Barry and I had some common interests around managerial values and managerial. We called it managerial excellence at the time. But we didn't have a book at the time and we didn't have a theory necessarily. So, as we were preparing for that, I recall very clearly. It was around the time that countries were preparing for the Olympics, the summer Olympics, which was a couple of years away. I was hearing a program on personal best athletic achievements. So, you know, when athletes have their personal best time or their personal best score, people always talking about that in relation to the Olympics. And it just occurred to us. Why don't we ask the same question about leadership? Tell us about a time when you were at your personal best as a leader. And we started doing that in preparation for that seminar that we're doing with Tom Peters. And we asked people to do that exercise prior to coming to the second day of the seminar. And then we broke them into small groups and they talked about their personal best leadership experiences, and they posted them on newsprint sheets in the halls of Kenna Hall or at Santa Clara University. And as we walked down and reviewed, approximately 80 people attending and they were broken into about 10 groups, we looked at all these flip charts and they had very similar words and phrases on them. And that was the moment we realized, you know, there's some common themes across individual stories of personal best leadership experiences. Steve Rush: Right. Jim Kouzes: And so, Barry and I took those case studies that people wrote about their personal leadership experiences and started to essentially sort all the behaviors into different piles. Literally three by five cards on a big conference room table, Kenna Hall, 107. And we sorted them into piles and eventually came up with a five-factor model called the five practices of exemplary leadership. And then we created a tool to research it, to validate the model, asking people to answer a series of questions, or essentially rate like 360 assessments to rate themselves and have other people rate them on these dimensions. Steve Rush: So, is that the birth of the leadership practices inventory? Jim Kouzes: Yes. The leadership practices inventory was developed as a research tool initially and later after we had validated and done a number of analysis to simplify it, we were able to develop it as a 360 assessment people use it in leadership development. Steve Rush: And what were some of the patterns and the behaviors that you noticed that were reoccurring? Jim Kouzes: Well one of the things that we noticed Steve was that every single case involves some kind of challenge, adversity, difficulty. Imagine people now during the pandemic writing about some of their current experiences, it was that kind of a challenge that people wrote about. Whether it was a turnaround development of a new business. Literally a natural disaster destroying a business, and then reviving, coming back from that experience, so we noticed that. We discovered that, challenge the opportunity for greatness, that people don't do their best when things are calm and steady and, you know, normal times. We yearn for those normal times. It helps us relax a little bit, but interestingly enough, we don't necessarily do our best at leading when things are normal. Steve Rush: Right. Jim Kouzes: People need to challenge the process. So, we came up with a practice called Challenge the Process. Another thing we noticed is that people mentioned how clear they were about their values and beliefs, what they stood for, and also clear about where they wanted to go. The outcomes were very clear to them, what they wanted to achieve. So came we developed two other practices model. The way and inspire a shared vision from those observations. And then number of people I remember, Bill Flanagan, who was one of the people we interviewed. And we said, Bill, tell us about your personal best. And he said, I can't. And I said, what you mean you can't? And he said because it wasn't my personal best. It was our personal best. It wasn't me; it was us. And I was just, it stopped me in my tracks. I said, wow, that's really an important observation. You can't do it alone. You can't get extraordinary things done in organizations all by yourself. That's our practice. Now we call enable us act. And along the way, when you have face difficulty, you face failure. Sometimes you face other challenges than just the initial one, as you try to innovate and improve. And so, people need encouragement in order to continue down that path. Those are a lot of celebration, a lot of recognition of people's achievements, small as well as large which we now call encourage the heart. So, the practices emerged from that kind of an analysis of what people told us about those challenging situations that they were engaged in. Model inspire challenge, enable and encourage. Steve Rush: I love it. It's a really great framework. One, that also stood the test of time because in having read the early leadership challenge, and then the latest version, I just noticed the way that you shift the stories. So, the framework stays the same, but you're able to tap into great other stories to illustrate the change in how we lead as well. Jim Kouzes: That's a very important observation, Steve. One of the things that people always ask us is, what's new? What's different about leadership now than it was 35-40 years ago? When you first wrote the book and started doing the research. And we said, well, the content of leadership has remained relatively stable over all these years. What's changed is the context. And sometimes we confuse context with content. We think that if a new challenge comes along like a pandemic now, as compared to the challenges that people face 40 years ago, somehow leadership practices also have to change. Not necessarily. Why would that be the case? Leaders face challenges, millennium before today's current challenge. What has become evident, however, is the importance of some of those more than others. For example, Steve. Contextually, because we all facing a life and death situation together right now and everyone has been impacted in some very serious ways, many people I know. And perhaps, you know, I've had loved ones who've passed away or friends who have passed away. So, it's a very, very difficult, very difficult time. And consequently, people have told us that they want a lot more caring and support from their leaders and encouragement from their leaders than they did before. Our data shows us that the two characteristics of admired leaders are separate piece of research that we have done that has increased more than the others in terms of it's importance to individuals is caring and support. So contextually, sometimes things become more important, but caring and support has always been there as a part of what good leaders do. Steve Rush: That's right, yeah. People often get confused still to this day between the notion of leadership and management. And I know this is a really cliche subject, but management is a relatively new thing. You know, we invented this a hundred years ago to get some control over stuff. Whereas leadership has been going on for millennia. Jim Kouzes: Leadership has been something we've always yearned for and needed, particularly during difficult and challenging times. And you're right, the notion of a bureaucracy or a hierarchy has emerged, came out of government initially and into business as a result of trying to get better organized if you will, and become more productive and efficient. Steve Rush: One of the things that you mentioned in The Leadership Challenges, this strength out of adversity and learning from adversity, and just wanted to share some research with you and get your perspective on this. So, I've been researching people from ethnic minorities, people who have had to transverse from different locations because of either poverty or war. And what you notice is this massive, massive leadership value, and in fact that people have already got these foundations that they've carried with them, for whatever, having faced into adversity, whatever that may be, whether it be through experiences or challenges that they faced, there are foundations that they have there that some of us just take years to develop that they have an innate resource to tap into. What's your perspective on that Jim? Jim Kouzes: Diversity equity inclusion is one of the major, major social trends that we're currently. It's always been there again. It's not something that's not been there and its brand new right now, but it's increased in its importance with Black Lives Matter here in this country and globally and Asian hate that we've experienced here in the United States and other parts of the world. Steve Rush: Right. Jim Kouzes: Diversity equity inclusion has become a topic we now talk about daily and there are more initiatives to try to do something about this. So, it's is a challenge that leaders are facing more today than they have and addressing it head on it, and so it's an important issue. One of the things that we all need to get comfortable with Steve, however, you're absolutely right. People from diverse backgrounds bring different kinds of experiences in their own lives that they can contribute to the improvement of organizations. Steve Rush: Without doubt. Jim Kouzes: Without a doubt. And diversity improves innovation because of those different perspectives. Steve Rush: Right. Jim Kouzes: They have different ideas about how to do things, different experiences that inform innovation and creativity. However, it's going to be more challenging initially to get to where we can perform at a higher level with more diverse groups. Why? Because people don't know each other that well, we don't always know because we haven't asked and we haven't seen these diverse perspectives. And until we get to a place where we have a better understanding of each other and feel more comfortable with each other, if you do take a look at performance, it tends to decline initially, but then becomes both more a group becomes more innovative and creative and become higher performers in a more diverse setting. Once they have gotten through that period of time of learning more about each other and learning to trust each other. Steve Rush: I should imagine it's part of that bumping into some of those unconscious biases, becoming that they're recognized biases and learning them, and then relearning how the difference can really make a difference. Jim Kouzes: Absolutely, and one of the things that's really important in that process is for leaders to listen. One of the things in our research and others is that the more deeply you listen and listen with empathy, the higher the performance as a leader. One of our colleagues, Rich Reynolds at DDI, Development Dimensions International did some research on this topic. And he reported that leaders who master listening, and responding with empathy perform more than 40% higher than those who don't master, listening, and responding with empathy. Steve Rush: That's a massive shift, isn't it? Jim Kouzes: Massive. Steve Rush: I mean, 40% is really tangible. Jim Kouzes: Absolutely. Steve Rush: One of the other things that comes out in your work and research over the decades is how passionate you are about purpose and linking, not just purpose to people's work, but to people's lives. Tell us a little bit about how that might help me as a leader? Jim Kouzes: Purpose gives us a reason for doing what we're doing. It helps us to answer the question, why? Why are you doing what you're doing? And it also, because we have that sense of purpose increases determination. So, like if we're clear about where we want to go and what we want in our lives and why we are doing what we're doing. We're going to be much more determined, much more dedicated, much more committed. So, organizations, leaders, and organizations that help people both to understand how their purpose fits with the larger organizational purpose and how in this organization, you can live out your personal purpose. We'll find that employees are significantly more committed. They're more likely to work together as teams, they see their work is more meaningful. They have a sense that they're making a contribution. So, it has a lot of positive effects. And in the world of education, interestingly students who have this sense of self-transcendence purpose for learning that is I'm learning this subject matter, not just for me to get a grade and graduate, but for me to make a contribution to others, if they have that sense of self-transcendence purpose for learning, they're more likely to continue learning when the task is tedious and difficult. So, it has a lot of positive effects, whether it's at work or whether it's in the classroom, whether it's in the community. If I could use an analogy to help people understand this. Think about having to put a jigsaw puzzle together. Let's imagine we had a box of a thousand pieces, you know, for a jigsaw puzzle. Steve Rush: Right. Jim Kouzes: And a leader came along and dumped them on the table in front of us and said, okay, put it together, put this puzzle together and walked away. Steve Rush: Yeah, I can imagine. Jim Kouzes: What would be the first thing that you would want to know? Steve Rush: Why? Jim Kouzes: Yeah. So why is this important? Anything else you'd like to know, or see? Steve Rush: What's the reason I'm going to do it? What am I going to see when it's done? Jim Kouzes: What am I going to see when it's done? Show me the cover of the box top so that I can see the finish puzzle. Then I can have a better sense of what I'm trying to put together. What happens in organizations is people are given a piece of a puzzle, it's called a job and they're told, okay, now put this piece in the puzzle without ever being shown the box top, without ever being shown the end result. Consequently, it takes more time, one struggles, has more frustration, often gets into more conflict with other people because they don't know where they fit. If we would just simply show that box top to people. When we give them a job or talk about their work, it would be more likely that they would be more involved, more committed, more dedicated, and also have a sense that they're making a contribution to the finished product, to the end result, to the destination the organization, or the team is trying to go in. So, I think for leaders to understand that it's our natural inclination to want to know where we fit in the overall big picture and what we do fits in that overall big picture. Leaders would be a lot more effective. Unfortunately, only about according to another colleague of ours John Kotter has done research on communicating vision in an organization, did a study and found that only 0.58% of communication market share. If you will, inside an organization is about the vision of the organization. Steve Rush: Wow. Jim Kouzes: That's less than 1%. We figure it needs to be for senior leaders, at least 25% of your time needs to be spent on communicating the larger vision of the organization and where we're headed, why we're doing what we're doing. Steve Rush: What do you think the reason is that organizations or maybe leaders don't give it as much attention Jim? Jim Kouzes: Its very challenging to do, we find in our research. It's very difficult to master this particular practice, which we call inspire a shared vision. And digging into that and trying to figure out why that is, what we discover is that it's more about communicating the vision than it is about having it. So, leaders can be very clear in their own minds about where we want to go and what we want to create, but getting it out of their heads and into the heads and hearts of those on their teams is a more challenging effort. So, it's largely about communication. And so, when thinking about one's own development as a leader, think about how can I communicate where we are wanting to go in the future, whether it's a month from now, five years from now, 15 years from now, where we want to go in the future? How can I communicate that in such a way that other people can see themselves in that picture? Let me use another analogy. I'll pick a city other than London or San Francisco. When I say Paris, France, what first comes to your mind? Steve Rush: The Eiffel Tower. Jim Kouzes: The Eiffel Tower. So that's a physical place, right? Steve Rush: Yep. Jim Kouzes: Did anything else come to mind when you think about Paris? Steve Rush: Relaxing, coffee, streets, ambiance. Jim Kouzes: Yep, exactly. Did you pop into your mind the square kilometers or the population of the city of Paris? Steve Rush: No, not really. Strangely enough. Right? Jim Kouzes: Those are numbers. Those are those are numbers that, you know, leaders often, when they talk about vision, talk about numbers, they talk about financial outcomes. Steve Rush: Yeah, that's right. Jim Kouzes: They talk about quantities of things. They should be talking about the Eiffel Tower and they should be talking about coffee and walking down the streets and enjoying the museums and the sights of the city and the smells in there. That baguette of bread or the croissant you have in the morning over the cappuccino or espresso, that's the kind of things leaders need to get comfortable with talking about. It's not so much about the numbers. Steve Rush: It's about the story that's not been told yet, right? Jim Kouzes: Yeah, exactly. And what it will be like when we have attained our aspirations as an organization or as a team. Steve Rush: That's a really great way of framing it. Thank you for that Jim. I love. Jim Kouzes: You're welcome. Steve Rush: So, you wrote your latest book, Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership. which I love by the way. So, this is how to make a difference, regardless of your title role or authority. And for me, this just absolutely illustrates that leadership is everybody job. Jim Kouzes: Absolutely. When we initially wrote our first edition, we were talking about managerial excellence and that was what was in our heads. But what we quickly realized was that the stories that people were telling us were not just about being managers in organizations, they were often stories about being the first on a team to ascend a particular mountain peak or what they did in their community or what they did as a coach of a team of young people. And it occurred to us that when people are talking about leadership, they often think just about organizational leadership, just about being a manager, but we didn't explore it as deeply as we did with this current book. And we just decided that we would write about people who may be managers in another walk of their life, but the stories that they were telling us about their personal best were only about outside of having a title of manager, director, managing director inside an organization. Steve Rush: Yeah. Jim Kouzes: We also took our data and we have about 5 million people in a database. And we just isolated those individuals who are identified as individual contributors. They didn't have direct reports, but they were project leaders on teams, or they were people who took initiative inside an organization and emerged as leaders. And we asked those people, they worked with to give feedback to that individual contributor on the same five practices of exemplary leadership using the leadership practices inventory. And we found the identical pattern that we see with those who have managerial positions. And that is the more frequently they, as peers engaged other peers, the more frequently they use the five practices of exemplary leadership, more likely it was that they would be viewed as effective leaders. They would have teams which had hired team spirit. People would feel more committed to the organization. Turnover would be lower. A lot of those same measures, which we would use with managers were also true for individual contributors who lead peers. Steve Rush: I love that because I've been talking about fact that for me, and having my experiences in coaching and working with great leaders around the world. Leadership, isn't a job title. It's a behavior, and what you've done is quantify that with some real data. Jim Kouzes: That's right. We feel exactly as you do; leadership is a set of skills and abilities. It's a set of behaviors and actions and people are more likely to follow. If you will, more likely to be engaged with leaders who more frequently demonstrate the kinds of practices that other people, when they demonstrate those behaviors are more likely to want to become engaged with a leader in an organization. One of the things though that we also discovered is peer leaders need to work a little bit harder than managers to get the same kind of engagement. Steve Rush: Interesting, yeah. Jim Kouzes: So, if you were to look at our bar charts and you would see this perfect up into the right, the more frequently leaders engaged in behaviors, but if a manager can get say 51% of people to feel engaged when they do this at a seven or an eight, it takes a peer leader, a nine and a ten level of frequency to get to that same level. So, you have to work a harder. Steve Rush: Is that the assumed responsibility that comes with the manager label? Jim Kouzes: I think, yeah. People assume, well, this person is a manager and they're my manager. And you know, there's sort of the role that I'm in, the role that they're in, I'm supposed to be following this person. Steve Rush: Hmm. Jim Kouzes: So, you have the benefit of the position. Whereas with peers, people kind of look and say, well, you're my peer. Who made you the leader of this project? Who made you the leader of this organization? It's just a little bit more energy, a little bit more effort into it than you might, if you had the benefit of a title. Steve Rush: Hmm. Make load of sense. And of course, the whole principle about leadership and you call this out in chapter seven of your book. Is leadership development starts with self-development and that's where leadership really starts. So, if I was a leader listening to this and I wanted to kind of kickstart that self-discovery of me, if I was a little bit stuck right now, what would be your counsel to me? Jim Kouzes: Well, the first thing I would recommend you do is to believe in yourself. Now that may sound patently obvious. But one of the things we did find in our research is that people who have a growth mindset, that is a belief that I can learn to lead. I can change my behavior, are more likely to be viewed by others as effective leaders than those who have a fixed mindset. Steve Rush: Definitely yeah. Jim Kouzes: So, you need to believe in yourself, you need to believe that you can. And the next thing, if you get over that hurdle and say, yeah, I can grow. I can develop as a leader. What should you do first? I would just suggest that you write a credo memo, that you sit down and clarify for yourself what the values and beliefs are that should guide your actions and decisions. Steve Rush: I love that, yeah. Jim Kouzes: What are those five to seven principles that, I should follow and my team should follow? Leaders who are clear about their, what we call leadership philosophy, which is the combination of values and vision together. Are much more likely to be viewed as effectively to the much more likely to have engaged teams. The second thing I'd say is to do the life exercise, L-I-F-E. L is for lessons, I is for ideals, F is for feelings and E is for evidence. What are the lessons that you would like people to say, they learn from you? What are the ideals that you would like people to recognize you believe in? What are the feelings you would like other people to have when they are around you? And what's the evidence that you have made a difference. I imagine five, ten years from now, you've won the leader of the year award. What would those lessons, ideas, feelings, and evidence be that people would talk about? Do that exercise. Steve Rush: And cognitively of course, having that positive affirmation to start the journey in the right direction, right? Jim Kouzes: Absolutely. It gives you, what's called the often in literature, an ideal self. What is your ideal self around these particular dimensions? And then using that framework for yourself to ask yourself and hopefully get some feedback from others and how am I doing right now on that? And what can I do today to act on that so that I make sure that five years, ten years from now, people say those things about me. Steve Rush: Yeah, love it. Jim Kouzes: People tell those stories. And so, you create this sense of who you want to become, and that helps you to determine what you need to do to grow and develop. Believing in yourself that you can, and having principles that will guide you along the way. And then I would hire a coach. I would engage in some kind of leadership development activity starting at the earliest possible age. Steve Rush: So, thinking about yourself, Jim, what is it that keeps you curious? What is it that keeps you so passionate about what you do? Jim Kouzes: The stories that people tell me. I just enjoy so much hearing when I ask people about, tell me about the time when you were at your best as a leader. What did you do? And people's eyes light up. They get very expressive. I haven't found a person who can't tell me at least one story and each time they say, well I don't know, you know, personal best, they pause for a moment. But once they get going, once they start to talk about that experience, I can remember a time when I was you know, I was coaching my son's tennis team and this, and they begin to just get really, really passionate about that. Or I remember the time when, you know, when I was told, no, I had two years to turn the operation around or we were going to shut it down. And that really energized me. And I began to think about all the different things we could do and they just start to be so expressive about that. That's what keeps me going is the energy I get from other people when they tell those stories. Steve Rush: And by you translating those stories for others, we connect keeps the fuel and the energy going. Doesn't it. So, thank you for that. Jim Kouzes: Yeah. Oh, you're very welcome. It's a delight to do it. Steve Rush: So, I'm going to turn the lens now, a little on you, and this is going to be really challenging for you. Because I suspect of all the guests that we've had on the show so far, you have probably experienced much more leadership experiences and challenges throughout your career than most, but I'm going to try and ask you to distill your leadership thinking, your top tips, ideas, or tools down to your top three leadership hacks Jim. What would they be? Jim Kouzes: Well, I think we already talked about two of them. And I just add would add one more. The credo exercise is a sense of values and beliefs. One of the things that we know is that being clear about personal values leads to higher level of personal commitment. It's more important to know your own values initially than it is to know the organization's values. So do that credo exercise, do some exercise where you clarify values and beliefs in the life exercise, which will L-I-F-E, lessons, ideals, feelings, and evidence. Those two hacks will help you get started on creating an ideal self and understanding of your own values. Steve Rush: Sure. Jim Kouzes: The third thing I would say is that in every interaction with every person, just ask yourself this question. What can I do in this moment to make the other person with whom I'm interacting, feel more powerful, efficacious, and capable, perhaps more than they even thought they could after this interaction is over? Steve Rush: Really pretty powerful thought. Jim Kouzes: If we could all just stop, in particularly as leaders, but just as human beings and say, when I'm interacting with this individual, what can I do to help this person feel better about themselves? To help this person feel more successful, to feel that they're more capable and more powerful? If people walked away from any leader feeling that way, just imagine how much more they would feel engaged than if they walked away feeling well, I just got put down by my boss or reprimanded or not listened to. Steve Rush: Yeah. I love that. And very powerful as well in the process. Jim Kouzes: Absolutely. Steve Rush: So, you come away feeling not only have you helped somebody, but in doing so, that feeling of gratitude is going to be a self-fulfilling energy boost for us All. Jim Kouzes: Absolutely. Steve Rush: The next part of the show plays straight back into ironically, what we talked a little earlier about, which is that learning from adversity, we call it Hack to Attack. So, this is where something in your life or work hasn't perhaps worked out as well. But you've actually used that as a real-life experience that is now a fuel for your work. What would be your Hack to Attack Jim? Jim Kouzes: Early on in my career, this was probably in the first two, three years. The project I was working on. It was a grant project and it was coming to an end. It was in my dream job. I was just getting started. I was really beginning to find my passion for work and contract was coming to an end. So, I knew I was going to be out of work. I was nervous. I was scared. I was newly married. I looked down the road a couple of months and there was no job opportunity. And I had bills to pay and like just uncertain about what was going to happen to me. And then my supervisor came and told me, he said, I've recommended you for a job at San Jose State University. And I didn't even know where San Jose State University was at the time. I was living in Austin, Texas. I had to look at a map and see where San Jose California was. And my wife and I noticed it was about 50 miles South of San Francisco. And we said, we'll take it. I said, I'll take the job. And we packed up and moved. I didn't even have a contract to go, but I had some faith that this commitment that was made to me was going to be there when I arrived, you know, to this day, I look back on that and other similar kinds of events. And I learned a very important lesson. Stuff happens. Steve Rush: Yup. Jim Kouzes: But if you've demonstrated some skill and you have a network of support, good stuff can result. Steve Rush: Definitely, so. Jim Kouzes: You know, knowing that by demonstrating enough of a level of competence that other people have confidence in you and building relationships with other people early on can benefit you for a lifetime. I have learned that lesson over and over and over again throughout my career. Steve Rush: Yeah. I talked to my kids, and I have four kids and two are in work and work, one and two students. And I talked to him about the emotional piggy bank, you know, pay it forward and you know, put deposits in other people's emotional piggybank. Make them feel good because one day you're going to get a return on that investment. Jim Kouzes: Absolutely. And you know, that's always led me to the number one bit of advice I would give anyone about how to become a better leader. Steve Rush: Yeah. And the very last thing we get to do, and one of my favorite parts of the show is we get to take you on a bit of time travel and you get to bump into Jim at 21, toe to toe and give Jim some advice. What would it be? Jim Kouzes: Well just back to that story, because I was a little older than 21, but not by too many years. And that particular situation taught me that you can't do it alone. Steve Rush: Yeah. Jim Kouzes: I give that piece of advice to any young person with whom I speak, about what should I do to help myself in my career? What can I do to make sure that I can be successful? And I say, well, first of all, recognize you can't do it alone. No one who's ever gotten to the top is a self-made person. Steve Rush: Very true. Jim Kouzes: We hear that a lot. This person was a self-made millionaire, but really, you know, all by yourself, nobody else helped you. There was no one else involved. You did it all alone. Steve Rush: It's a really interesting cliche, you hear all the time, but it's completely baloney. Jim Kouzes: It's completely baloney. If you recognize that it takes a mentor, it takes a coach, a parent you know, you think back over your own life and think about anything that you accomplished, that's meaningful to you. And I guarantee you, there were other people involved who committed themselves to you and your success for you to get there. Steve Rush: Yeah, absolutely right. Jim Kouzes: You know, with that recognition then you know, I think, you know, during every period of my life where I grew in advanced, I can, you know, I can appoint individually coach, advice, supported, helped me along the way. And with that knowledge, if I had that knowledge previously, I would have benefited from it. Steve Rush: Yeah. Jim Kouzes: And I think everyone can benefit from just recognizing that, we grow and develop to the extent that we have people who can help us along the way. Steve Rush: Very much so. So, what's next for you then, Jim? Jim Kouzes: Well, Barry and I are meeting on Monday to talk about the seventh edition to The Leadership Challenge and start to outline how it's going to be different. And because of the pandemic, there are a number of new issues we're going to tackle. And where are we going to gather the new stories and start taking a look at the data, particularly over the last year and see what else may have changed other than what we've already talked about, like around caring and support, for example, or diversity equity inclusion that we might want to address. So, it's going to be a year-long project to look at the data and interview some more people, particularly during these last 18 months, what they've experienced and then do the writing. And sometime in 2023, we should have a new book out. Steve Rush: Amazing. Amazing. And I should imagine, I already know the answer. I think to this question from when we last met, is there going to be a time we think, right. That's enough, I'm retiring.   Jim Kouzes: I had 75/25 plan and the pandemic came along and helped me with that. When I turned 75, I was going to cut back to 25% of my time. And I revised that to be 80/20, Steve Rush: At 80 you still anticipate working 80% of the time? Jim Kouzes: Yeah. I keep pushing it out. So, but I am dialing it back a bit to, particularly on the business travel, our global travel is a bit tiring and my family, my son is engaged. He was supposed to get married, the pandemic happened, so he and his fiancé are still waiting for the time when people can gather in larger groups. So, we can have a big wedding and celebrate that. So, a lot of family things coming up and hopefully grandkids soon. Steve Rush: Amazing. Jim Kouzes: And so, other things are going to be happening in our lives. We know where we want to spend our time. Steve Rush: Well, you've been a massive impact on my life, Jim, and you've been a massive impact on millions of people around the world. And now we have an extended family through The Leadership Hacker Podcast. It's just left for me to say, I'm incredibly grateful for you taking some time out to be with us and part of our community. So, thanks for being on the show, Jim Kouzes: Well Steve, thank you very much. You are most gracious and I'm delighted to have this opportunity to chat with you. Steve Rush: Thank you very much, Jim. Closing Steve Rush: I genuinely want to say heartfelt thanks for taking time out of your day to listen in too. We do this in the service of helping others, and spreading the word of leadership. Without you listening in, there would be no show. So please subscribe now if you have not done so already. Share this podcast with your communities, network, and help us develop a community and a tribe of leadership hackers. Finally, if you would like me to work with your senior team, your leadership community, keynote an event, or you would like to sponsor an episode. Please connect with us, by our social media. And you can do that by following and liking our pages on Twitter and Facebook our handler there @leadershiphacker. Instagram you can find us there @the_leadership_hacker and at YouTube, we are just Leadership Hacker, so that is me signing off. I am Steve Rush and I have been the leadership hacker.

I participated in a Facebook press event on Tuesday, March 16th that featuring some Facebook Human-Computer Interaction Research on AR Neural Inputs, Haptics, Contextually-Aware-AI, & Intelligent Clicks. It was an on-the-record event for print quotes, however I was not given permission to use any direct audio quotes and so I try to paraphrase, summarize, and analyze the announcements through a lens of XR technology, ethics, and privacy.

Live or die? Not too long ago our ability to survive directly correlated to our ability to develop relationships with our families and local tribes. In modern times-- and especially in business, our ability to develop relationships can mean the difference between thriving and losing out. We are biologically wired to be social creatures, and so it seems that building networks should come naturally. But, our prehistoric system is able to handle no more than 100 relationships, 50 semi-effectively, and in the last decade the number of accessible people and the ease of connection has increased exponentially. Now you can be in touch with tens of thousands of people. This is a bit more than we are designed to meaningfully manage. To discover the new questions and solutions around business relationship management, Bruce Holoubek, owner of Contracted Leadership, and Host of The Development Exponent Podcast talks to Zvi Band, the Founder of Contactually, a relationship-oriented CRM company. The company grew to eight figures in revenue and to a team of 70 before being acquired. Zvi Band is also the Author of Success is in Your Sphere, a book cataloging his success with Contactually, that also acts as a guide to effectively using the CRM. The primary challenges for maintaining relationships are always, knowing whom to talk to, when to talk to them, and what to say that will show our value, which will allow us to maintain the relationship. But, the fundamental, and often most difficult challenge that we are all faced with is that we are all wired for short term benefits. If we weren't, we would choose to act how “future us” would act; we would eat that salad instead of the burger, we would save that dollar instead of online shop. Likewise, in the business world we are focused on what is immediately in front of us, and on what is going to fill that quota or sale today or tomorrow, not four years from now. It's easy to look backward and say that we received a benefit or job because of someone we knew, but when we have the choice to focus on the immediate or on calling a former client and checking in with them, we choose to deal with urgent matters at hand. This is where technology, such as a CRM system can help set reminders to reach out. When relationships matter to us, it's not just the relationships with our clients. It's the relationships with our teams, employees, partners, and vendors. Companies that successfully execute on relationship management are evident in how their employees and contractors rate them on review sites like Glass Door. Here are some effective ways to win at relationship management with our teams and clients: Part of developing these good relationships among our teams involves humility. If we as leaders allow our ideas and products to be open to review and suggestions from our employees, it will allow our employees to know that they can bring and explore their own ideas without being immediately shut down. Our vulnerability helps foster trust within our organizations. We shouldn't be, “the smartest person in the room.” Boost this by making sure that everyone in the room has a voice, and become a, “yes, and…” culture of people building on each other's ideas. (For reference see the acclaimed book, Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses "No, But" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City ) Finding the right CRM system, like Contextually is imperative, but it is like buying a Chef's knife-- you have to learn how to use it gain from it. Use guides, such as videos, or Zvi Band's book, Success Is in Your Sphere: Leverage the Power of Relationships to Achieve Your Business Goals, on learning the system to have it work best for you. For example, if there is an option to create a drip campaign, have your people think of the most relevant ways to time it and not just go with a standard setting. Set your own strategy. Ultimately, for any connection development we need to start with a strategy. Start with the goal in mind: identify what your goals are for the year. Identify the people who can help you with those goals. Pick up the phone and say, “Hey, I've been thinking about you. Hope all is alright.” Just those words, “hope all is alright,” are all we really want to hear-- to know that somebody cares and we are not alone. Tweet This & LinkedIn That If we as leaders allow our ideas and products to be open to review and suggestions from our employees, it will allow our employees to know that they can bring and explore their own ideas without being immediately shut down. #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders Our vulnerability helps foster trust within our organizations. We shouldn't be, “the smartest person in the room.” #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders Make sure that everyone in the room has a voice by becoming a, “yes, and…” culture of people building on each other's ideas. #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders #yesand Ultimately, for any connection development we need to start with a strategy: Identify what your goals are for the year. Identify the people who can help you with those goals. Pick up the phone and say, “Hey, I've been thinking about you. Hope all is alright.” #levelupyourleadership #leadership #contractleaders

The entertainment industry has long offered us a vision of the perfect personal assistant: one that not only meets our stated needs but anticipates needs we didn't even know we had. But these uber-assistants, from the preternaturally prescient Radar O'Reilly in the TV show M.A.S.H. to Tony Stark's digital know-and-do-it-all Jarvis in Iron Man, have always lived in the realm of fiction or science fiction. That could all change, if Dr. Paul Bennett, Principal Researcher and Research Manager of the Information and Data Sciences group at Microsoft Research, has anything to say about it. He and his team are working to make machines “calendar and email aware,” moving intelligent assistance into the realm of science and onto your workstation. Today, Dr. Bennett brings us up to speed on the science of contextually intelligent assistants, explains how what we think our machines can do actually shapes what we expect them to do, and shares how current research in machine learning and data science is helping machines reason on our behalf in the quest to help us find the right information effortlessly.

The entertainment industry has long offered us a vision of the perfect personal assistant: one that not only meets our stated needs but anticipates needs we didn't even know we had. But these uber-assistants, from the preternaturally prescient Radar O'Reilly in the TV show M.A.S.H. to Tony Stark's digital know-and-do-it-all Jarvis in Iron Man, have always lived in the realm of fiction or science fiction. That could all change, if Dr. Paul Bennett, Principal Researcher and Research Manager of the Information and Data Sciences group at Microsoft Research, has anything to say about it. He and his team are working to make machines “calendar and email aware,” moving intelligent assistance into the realm of science and onto your workstation. Today, Dr. Bennett brings us up to speed on the science of contextually intelligent assistants, explains how what we think our machines can do actually shapes what we expect them to do, and shares how current research in machine learning and data science is helping machines reason on our behalf in the quest to help us find the right information effortlessly.