Podcasts about elect

Todays headlines include: The Greens have announced NSW Senator David Shoebridge as their new leader. Australia’s annual inflation rate rose to 4% in August, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). U.S. forces are in the final stages of leaving Iraq after more than 20 years, in the last phase of a plan put in place by former President Joe Biden. And today’s good news! Australian Paralympian gold medallist Rowan Crothers has set a new world record in the men’s S10 200 metre freestyle. Hosts: Lucy Tassell and Zara SeidlerProducer: Rosa Bowden Want to support The Daily Aus? That's so kind! The best way to do that is to click ‘follow’ on Spotify or Apple and to leave us a five-star review. We would be so grateful. The Daily Aus is a media company focused on delivering accessible and digestible news to young people. We are completely independent. Want more from TDA?Subscribe to The Daily Aus newsletterSubscribe to The Daily Aus’ YouTube Channel Have feedback for us?We’re always looking for new ways to improve what we do. If you’ve got feedback, we’re all ears. Tell us here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who has the greater long-term influence on the health of a church: its pastor or its elders? Jack is joined by David Chambers to discuss why choosing ruling elders may be one of the most consequential decisions a congregation ever makes. They examine the biblical qualifications for elders, the danger of treating the church like a corporation, and why wealth, influence, charisma, or business success should never substitute for godly character. David also explains why a bad pastor often cannot survive a healthy session—and why a faithful pastor may struggle to survive an unhealthy one. Along the way, Jack and David discuss church plants, elder elections, pastoral accountability, rotating versus permanent sessions, congregational responsibility, and the long-term stability faithful elders can provide through decades of pastoral transitions. They close with an important reminder for church members: distinguish biblical principle from personal preference. Elect qualified men, trust them to shepherd faithfully, stand firm when truth is at stake, and don't divide the church over the color of the carpet. Based on David Chambers' article, “The Most Important Decision a Church Makes,” at ChorusInTheChaos.com. Connect Website & Blog: www.chorusinthechaos.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chorusinthec... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chorus_in_the_chaos/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chorusnthechaos Intro/Outro Music (by our good friend Nick Illes): https://open.spotify.com/artist/7tnsQ... Email: chorusinthechaos@email.com Generations Be sure to visit our friends at Generations.org! They've built an incredible library of Christ-centered homeschool curriculum, books, and podcasts — all designed to help your family apply the Bible to every area of life. History, science, worldview, you name it — it all points back to Christ. Use the code CHORUS at checkout for 15% off your order.  

Commissioner-Elect Martin Pyszczymuka joins us in studio!

Il cuore non è solo il motore della nostra vita: è anche il luogo simbolico delle emozioni. Ma cosa succede davvero al nostro cuore quando ci innamoriamo, soffriamo, ci emozioniamo o siamo sotto stress? In questo viaggio tra parole, sentimenti e salute, la psicologa, ricercatrice ed esperta di relazioni Ameya Canovi e il cardiologo Pasquale Perrone Filardi, Direttore del Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche Avanzate dell’Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II e past president della Società Italiana di Cardiologia, ci aiutano a rileggere espressioni come “batticuore”, “crepacuore”, “cuore grande” e “cuore in gola”, mettendo a confronto il linguaggio delle emozioni con quello della medicina.Dalla dimensione emotiva passiamo poi alla prevenzione e alle scelte quotidiane.Con Filippo Crea, Direttore del Centro d’Eccellenza di Scienze Cardiovascolari dell’Ospedale Gemelli-Isola di Roma, Editor-in-Chief dell’European Heart Journal e President-Elect della European Society of Cardiology, parliamo di alimentazione, pressione, colesterolo, stili di vita e nuove frontiere della ricerca cardiovascolare.E siccome il benessere passa anche dalla tavola, con Matteo Tettamanzi, cuoco e ideatore di Progetto FYGo, spazio di Educazione #Buona, trasformiamo i consigli sulla salute in un piatto concreto, semplice e gustoso, partendo proprio dagli ingredienti che fanno bene al cuore.Infine, dalla cucina ci mettiamo in cammino e arriviamo a Limone sul Garda, dove il benessere incontra il territorio, la tradizione e la natura. Con Matteo Segala, Consigliere comunale di Limone sul Garda, scopriamo il legame del borgo con il limone e le iniziative della Caccia ai Tesori Arancioni, organizzata da Touring Club Italiano che raccontiamo su Radio 24: un’occasione per conoscere luoghi, storie e tradizioni che spesso sfuggono al turismo più convenzionale.

Read more from VPM News:  Nearly 235K Virginians should never have been disenfranchised, state says  2nd District Q&A: Matt Baker, Jen Kiggans, Elaine Luria, Geral “Bishop” Staten  Chesterfield food bank expands pantry network to 26 county schools    Other links:  Richmond schools have ‘zero' preventive maintenance, audit says amid mold issues (WRIC)  As Council vets major solar deal, CAO says he's ‘extremely comfortable' with it (The Richmonder)  UPDATED: Former Shoosmith Landfill owners indicted on felony charges (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*  Dinwiddie families fear data center near their homes will upend wildlife, water and way of life (WTVR)  *This outlet uses a paywall.  Our award-winning work is made possible with your donations. Visit vpm.org/donate to support local journalism. 

Tue » Affordability is becoming a midterm promise, but politicians can only shape the conditions behind prices — not simply command them lower. Also: President Trump's Greenland deal builds on decades of U.S. basing rights. Sen. Ron Johnson says an investigation into COVID-shot safety is running into records that may already be gone. A rebuilt cog railway climbs Pike's Peak toward the view that inspired “America the Beautiful.” Plus: orphaned raccoons train for the wild, and Cal Thomas argues that presidents should answer hostile reporting with better facts, not closed doors.EP 3492 · Tue Sep 22, 2026Today's stories> Tuesday morning news> Greenland: A newer old foothold> Sen. Ron Johnson: Missing from the record> Affordability: You can't elect cheap> Raccoons: Born to be mild> Pike's Peak: The way up> Cal Thomas: The friction of freedom★ LIMITED TIME: Order your commemorative sticker celebrating 15 years and 100 million downloads. theworldandeverythinginit.org/sticker (Please place order by Wed Sep 30)Thank you for supporting The World and Everything in It ❤️ wng.org/donate──────────────Additional support comes from St. Dunstan's Academy. Classical education, building arts, and Christian formation. Real Life, No Screens. stdunstansacademy.orgFrom The Voice of the Martyrs, serving persecuted Christians since 1967. More at VOM.org/theworldAnd from Cedarville University located in southwest Ohio, committed to biblical faithfulness and academic excellence, preparing students to serve Christ with conviction in every profession. Every one of its 175+ undergraduate and graduate programs are grounded in a biblical worldview, equipping graduates with the knowledge, skill, and conviction to serve wherever God leads. New online undergraduate degrees through Cedarville Online offer flexible, affordable education rooted in biblical truth and designed for today's learners. Learn more at cedarville.edu, and explore online programs at cedarville.edu/online.

1 Peter Part 3: The Elect Exile's Handbook1 Peter 1:13-21Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: We live with hope and holiness

Members of the Floresville Peanut Festival Association 2026 Court-elect attend the Sept. 3 Floresville Opry at the Wilson County Expo and Community Center, where they receive a gift presented by Opry Producer Viola Henke. Get ready for the 2026 Floresville Peanut Festival, set for Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 8-10! Do you have your ticket for the coronation of this year's “Court of Confectionery Creations” on Thursday, Oct. 8? Tickets, each, are available for purchase at Sisters Boutique & Gifts at the corner of C and Third streets in downtown Floresville. Payment via cash or check only. For more information... Article Link

Jamie Tipton Bederak joins Joel Miller for a conversation about her unconventional approach to commercial real estate. They discuss dealmaking, development, branding, property repositioning, building relationships, and creating experiences that make properties stand out. Jamie shares how thinking differently can create new opportunities and bring a fresh perspective to the industry. Jamie is Director of Commercial Real Estate at The Agency South Florida and the 2027 President-Elect of the Commercial Board of MIAMI REALTORS® + RWorld. Listen to the full conversation on Mornings with Joel CRE Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.

The Spirits Of The Prophets PT4(Elect Angels vs Fallen Angels) by Apostle Joseph Mintah in the series The Ministry System Of The Believer

During the 2026 National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Annual Meeting, members elected Washington State Ag Director Derek Sandison as NASDA's new President, and a federal judge considers a temporary pause on USDA plans to relocate employees across the country.

For more coverage on the issues that matter to you, download the WMAL app, visit WMAL.com or tune in live on WMAL-FM 105.9 from 9:00am-12:00pm Monday-Friday  To join the conversation, check us out on Twitter @WMAL and @ChrisPlanteShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On December 15, 2000, somebody gunned down DeKalb County Sheriff-Elect Derwin Brown. District Attorney J. Tom Morgan threw himself into the investigation. But the deadly conspiracy he and his colleagues would uncover would rattle the whole county. Get a Rainy Night in Georgia by J. Tom Morgan here, or wherever you get your books: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-rainy-night-in-georgia-a-lawman-s-brutal-murder-a-rogue-southern-sheriff-and-a-prosecutor-s-quest-for-justice-j-tom-morgan/236400c81dc38a32?ean=9781493094837&bkshp-astro=tCheck out our upcoming book events and get links to buy tickets here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/eventsPre-order our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheetSupport The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/Check out more inclusive sizing and t-shirt and merchandising options here: https://themurdersheet.dashery.com/Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Auckland's Heart of the City business association will be hoping to put a tumultuous year behind it when it elects a new board at a special general meeting. Luka Forman reports.

This episode was livestreamed on September 13, 2026.Business, the economy, and you—read Dr. Cotto's Digest for the story of your life: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/JosephFordCotto/status/2099179723842875587⁠Full access to Dr. Cotto's Digest is only $3.00/month. Subscribe to this account for the plain truth about business and economic news that shapes your life: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/JosephFordCotto/creator-subscriptions/subscribe⁠

Pr. Matt Anker, President-Elect of Lutheran Mission-Australia Lutheran Mission-AustraliaThe post A New Confessional Lutheran Church Body in Australia – Pr. Matt Anker, 9/11/26 (2543) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

Ephesians Series  Message: 01 Episode: 3 of 3 Broadcast: September 10, 2026 Key Verses: Ephesians 1:1-6 In this episode of Walk in Truth, Pastor Michael Lantz begins a new series in Ephesians with a teaching titled "Elect in the Son," based on Ephesians 1:1–6. Paul opens this letter by reminding believers of the incredible spiritual blessings they have in Christ, including being chosen in Him before the foundation of the world and adopted as God's children through Jesus Christ. This passage points us away from finding our identity in the world and toward the truth of who we are in Christ—chosen, loved, adopted, and blessed according to God's grace and purpose. As Pastor Michael walks through these foundational truths, you'll be encouraged to understand your identity from God's perspective and to rest in what He has accomplished through Christ. This teaching will help equip you to walk through life as a Christian with confidence, gratitude, and a deeper understanding of God's grace, applying the truth of Scripture to the everyday challenges of following Jesus. Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com  

Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by Laura Valestin, an international tax partner in PwC's Washington National Tax Services office, who specializes in the taxation of financial transactions, including foreign currency. Doug and Laura discuss the proposed Section 987 regulations governing the new CFC election, beginning with the rule's scope, history, and common QBU fact patterns. They explain how the election can turn off future Section 987 gain-or-loss computations, while preserving translation and basis-tracking requirements, and examine consistency across commonly controlled CFCs, partnership applications, inbound transactions, and the loss of future Section 987 losses. They also cover the 120-month amortization of pre-election amounts, the $50 million asset threshold, election timing and filing mechanics, reliance on the proposed rules, the November 12 comment deadline, and why detailed modeling is essential before making an effectively irrevocable choice. 

Living Truth Christian Fellowship Podcast

Ephesians Series  Message: 01 Episode: 2 of 3 Broadcast: September 09, 2026 Key Verses: Ephesians 1:1-6 In this episode of Walk in Truth, Pastor Michael Lantz begins a new series in Ephesians with a teaching titled "Elect in the Son," based on Ephesians 1:1–6. Paul opens this letter by reminding believers of the incredible spiritual blessings they have in Christ, including being chosen in Him before the foundation of the world and adopted as God's children through Jesus Christ. This passage points us away from finding our identity in the world and toward the truth of who we are in Christ—chosen, loved, adopted, and blessed according to God's grace and purpose. As Pastor Michael walks through these foundational truths, you'll be encouraged to understand your identity from God's perspective and to rest in what He has accomplished through Christ. This teaching will help equip you to walk through life as a Christian with confidence, gratitude, and a deeper understanding of God's grace, applying the truth of Scripture to the everyday challenges of following Jesus. Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com  

Living Truth Christian Fellowship Podcast

OPINION: To escape the presidency, first elect a president | Sept. 9, 2026Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ephesians Series  Message: 01 Episode: 1 of 3 Broadcast: September 08, 2026 Key Verses: Ephesians 1:1-6 In this episode of Walk in Truth, Pastor Michael Lantz begins a new series in Ephesians with a teaching titled "Elect in the Son," based on Ephesians 1:1–6. Paul opens this letter by reminding believers of the incredible spiritual blessings they have in Christ, including being chosen in Him before the foundation of the world and adopted as God's children through Jesus Christ. This passage points us away from finding our identity in the world and toward the truth of who we are in Christ—chosen, loved, adopted, and blessed according to God's grace and purpose. As Pastor Michael walks through these foundational truths, you'll be encouraged to understand your identity from God's perspective and to rest in what He has accomplished through Christ. This teaching will help equip you to walk through life as a Christian with confidence, gratitude, and a deeper understanding of God's grace, applying the truth of Scripture to the everyday challenges of following Jesus. Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com  

Living Truth Christian Fellowship Podcast

From the Free Grace Broadcaster's quarterly topic of Predestination, 17th century Keach speaks of our election in Christ.

Steve DeWitt Spiritual Exiles - Part B Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:1-2 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Message: Spiritual ExilesAirdate: 9/4 & 9/7/26, Programs 2350 & 2351Studying through books of the Bible has been, has really been the bread and butter of our church over the years. And, today, we begin a new series as you've seen on the screen in the, the book or the letter of First Peter. And you might ask, well, why First Peter? I mean, because from one perspective, we really could open the Bible anywhere and have things that would be profitable to us. That's what, Scripture says about itself, that all Scripture is God breathed, that is profitable. So we really could go. We could go to Leviticus. We could go to Psalms. We could go to Revelation, and there would be a quality word that God would have for us. But why First Peter? Well, I've chosen First Peter because it is so wonderfully relevant to, life as we are living it increasingly here in our culture and our society where we find ourselves as Christians and particularly as evangelical Christians increasingly on the margins of society. More and more it seems that to actually believe in Jesus is a, you know, small s scandalous sort of thing. And by that, I mean, not nominal Christianity. Nominal Christianity will fit in anywhere. Nominal Christians are accepted. But if you actually believe it, like you're one of those crazy people that actually believe the gospel, and you really believe in, the resurrection, and you really believe in that the world was created and things like that, more and more, people are looking down their nose at that and pushing us to the fringe of the culture. And First Peter is written for the church in exile. First Peter is written for a church on the margins. It is written for the persecuted church. It's written, for the ostracized church. It is written for the hated church. I read somebody that basically said, the more irrelevant Christianity becomes, the more relevant First Peter becomes because it's written for that church that is in exile in its culture. The title of the series comes from the first words in, Peter's letter where he addresses it and says, to those who are elect exiles. Exiles where and exiles why we're going to, get into. And I dare say that by the time we're done with this series, I'll bet First Peter might be in the running for your favorite book in all the Bible. Luther himself said about First Peter that it is, quote, “one of the noblest books in the New Testament,” and he put it on par with Romans and the Gospel of John, which is saying something, isn't it? So, it's a wonderful letter, and I think it's gonna be a real blessing to all of us. We're going to work through it in a style of teaching, known as expository preaching. And what that means is that week in and week out, we're going to look at the text as Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote it. We're gonna ask the question, what did Peter and the Holy Spirit mean when they wrote that particular text? And then we are going to draw out of that meaning as it was originally intended and apply it to our lives today. What does that mean for us today? I wanna encourage you to come each week, every week with expository preaching is a fresh text, which means that it is a fresh word from God for us. And I think that it will be, it will be a blessing. So with that, let me just pray and ask God's blessing on this entire teaching series. Father, we ask that you would please, as you have done down through the centuries, that you would take your holy word, that you would enlighten it to our understanding, and that you would powerfully apply it to our lives and to our church and through us to the culture around us. We pray that this series would be just uniquely blessed by you, and all the good that can be done from it has little to do with, me or any of our teachers and pastors, but it depends on your Holy Spirit's blessing, and we seek that and we ask for it. Bless even now in in in in this day as we begin in in our study. We pray that this would be a great launch, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Now as we always do when we begin a a book study, we spend time talking about the background to the letter. Now you might say, well, why is that so important? Can't we just get going in this? Here's why it's important. It's important for the same reason that if you were walking along the street and the wind blew a letter into your to your path and you picked it up and you read it, on one level, you could understand the letter, couldn't you? Because you can read English, you can read the words, etcetera. But to know who wrote it, who they wrote it to, and why they wrote it would fill in all of those things that you can read with all kinds of meaning, wouldn't it? And so that's why we spend time figuring out who wrote this thing and why he wrote it and who he was writing it to. So let's begin by asking that question. Who wrote this letter? And you might say, well, that's simple. The top of my page, it says it says Peter wrote this letter. Right? And indeed, the first verse says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” So you could say, well, it must be it must be Peter. But realize that just because it says that Peter wrote it is not undeniable proof that Peter wrote it. This could have been written by somebody else who claimed to have been Peter. And, there are always scholars that wanna argue against these people actually being the authors of these letters, whether that be Paul or John or or here Peter. And so there are some scholars that try to stir up controversy, but to me, it's really, difficult seeing it not be Peter because later in the letter, he's going to say that he was an eyewitness to the sufferings of Christ. Well, how many Peters are there that were eyewitnesses to the sufferings of Christ? And the early church fathers, and by that, I mean, the leaders of the church in the post apostolic age. So after John and Peter and others had died, you have certain church leaders, and they all attribute this letter to being written by the Peter of the gospels, the disciple, the apostle Peter. So I think that there is little reason to doubt that Peter actually wrote this letter. And this Peter is the Peter of the gospels. This is the Peter who had a brother named Andrew who brought him to Jesus, and Jesus met him and changed his name. Do you remember? His name had been Simon. And he said, from this point on, your name is Peter or which is the Greek word, by the way, for rock, which is like a cruel joke, I think, on Peter if you read the story because perhaps he should have been named Feather because he sees the blows in the wind. But what happens in the story of Peter is that he becomes the rock at the end of the story as he assumes leadership of the disciples after Jesus' resurrection as he is a leader in the early church, and history tells us that he was crucified upside down in Rome and and refused to be crucified upright like his savior Jesus. He didn't feel he was worthy to die the same way that Jesus died. Part of the importance of First Peter and Second Peter is that given the prominence of Peter in the church, we have very little that he wrote, actually, as compared to, like, Luke, John, or Paul. Luke wrote Luke and Acts. John wrote the Gospel of John, First, Second, Third John, and Revelation. And Paul obviously wrote a bunch of letters in the New Testament. So we got lots from those guys. But Peter, in his stature, we have very little. We have First Peter and Second Peter. And so it's like the smallness of what we have actually makes it more valuable as we can see the the teaching and the emphases of this key leader in the early church. Now to who did Paul Peter write this and why did he write? And just look at verse one with me a moment. It says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Now I'll bet that in your private devotional reading, you get to a verse like that and you sort of skip ahead, don't you? You're like, there's gotta be some more applicable thing here than ancient geography. Right? I didn't get up this morning to read my Bible, to read ancient geography. Isn't there something a little bit more helpful to me than that? And so we easily skip over those things and uniquely, I think in First Peter, probably true of all of them, but this is actually one of the keys to understanding the entire letter. Is that verse right there? Who are these people? What is it talking about? Again, those who are elect exiles of the dispersion. Now what is that all about? Alright. Quick history lesson. Hang with me. Some of you hated it your sophomore year. This will be short. Okay? But a very quick history lesson. We go back to the Roman Empire, and most of us probably heard of the Roman Empire, one of the great human empires in in history, ruled the known world for, like, five hundred years. And they were able to pull that off because they were really smart. They had policies and things that they did that allowed them to remain in power for, like, five centuries. And one of the things that they did is actually what Peter is referring to here, and and that is what is called colonization. K? Colonization. Here's the way that it worked. The Romans had the great armies. Maybe you've seen movies that portray the Roman armies and the eagle and all of that. They would go into an area that they wanted to conquer. And largely, they would conquer. They were really good at warfare. And after they had conquered this region, they would move on to go, you know, do battle in other places. But they needed to maintain power in that region that their army had already conquered. So the strategy for them was that they would colonize that area by sending, people from Rome or who at least were Roman into that community where they would establish their lives. They would establish business. They would establish some of the things that Roman culture was known for, like the theater or the auditorium or whatever. And by doing that, essentially, they would integrate into the cult actually, the culture, the indigenous culture, would integrate into the Roman culture. And by doing that, they were able to exert Roman influence and thought and power into those, particular areas. K? So these were known as dispersions. K? Sometimes these were, political friends who wanted if it was a nice area, like if suddenly we conquered Hawaii and said, wants to go live? Well, I think I'd like to so all the friends, you know, the friends of the people in charge, they would go and they would colonize Hawaii. Sometimes these were political enemies that they wanted out of Rome. Alright. Take that family and those people and get them over in Galatia. We don't wanna see them ever again. And so off they would go. And and sometimes it was just people that were like, you know what? We think we can have a better life there. Like, you can think about even the story of The United States and the colonies on the East Coast and how people came across on the boats because they wanted a better life in the new the new world. So Rome would do that. And by doing that, they essentially would, retain a kind of control over that area by repopulating and integrating. It was essentially colonization by deportation for the purpose of domination. And that's how you retain control for five hundred years. So these people that would leave Rome or a Roman, community to go into some of these new areas, they essentially lived as exiles there. They were foreigners there. They were Romans there. And, the people that were from there knew that they were these people that had come. And this was not always a comfortable thing. Realize the Roman armies would come and conquer. They would wipe out, you know, how how many people's husbands and fathers in in, in winning the war. And now you've got representatives from there coming and living amongst us. The people from that land did not look favorably necessarily on them, especially initially. They were always from somewhere else. Right? It's kind of like living up here in the North when we hear somebody with a thick southern accent. What do you do? You look at them and you think to yourself or maybe you even say it, you're not from here are you? Right? And they're like, no I'm not. I'm from Georgia or Mississippi. Right? And you're like, what are you doing up here? Why don't you go home where you belong? Explain some people we have on staff even. But as awkward as that might be for Southerners to live up here amongst the Yankees, It was much more uncomfortable back in this day. And so they lived in a kind of ostracized way, and there was social awkwardness representing the ideology of the conquering army. So Peter here is writing then to colonists who were also Christians, who for political, social, who knows what reason had gone into Asia Minor and are now living there as representatives of the Roman Empire. Now to give you an idea of where we're talking, here's a map. And it's essentially modern day Turkey. And some of you maybe are not up on your you know, Turkey to you is a, November celebration. But it's actually a country as well. And so you see some of you see the Black Sea, and you see these communities that are being referred to, Bithynia, Galatia, Cappadocia, these would have been well known in that time and would have been places of influence, cultural influence. Essentially, what Peter does in the letter is he takes these Christians' social political situation and he draws spiritual meaning from it. He says, yes, you're exiles politically and geographically, but I wanna talk to you about what it means to be a spiritual exile. What does it mean to live in an area where you it's not your homeland. What does it mean to live in an area where people look at you a little cross eyed and they say to themselves, that person isn't they're not really of us. Their values are not our values. Their priorities are not our part. They're like those Christian people. They're those marginalized people. What is it like, and how do we live when we are the ones that are in exile, when we are the weird ones? So Peter writes to these political exiles, but he wants them to see that they are really spiritual exiles and to learn what it means to live amongst people that are very, very different. K? Very different. And so what he's gonna say in this letter is he's gonna encourage them to stand strong, to remain faithful, to live obedient to Jesus in spite of the immoral culture around them, to remain faithful even though people look at them like we look at Amish people. Kinda like, man, what's your problem? What's get with the program here. Right? Why aren't you kind of along with what we're doing? That's how they felt. And here's where I think First Peter is so helpful to us is is and I don't know if you feel this or not. I certainly do. If you talk to some of the old timers around here who remember what it was like to be a Christian, like in the nineteen forties or the nineteen fifties and maybe the early nineteen sixties, it's a much different feel back then to be a Christian in America than it is in 2015. Right? Where even to pronounce Christian faith in public media in some way is to be scorned or to have the plug pulled. Right? Get him off of there immediately. We don't want any of that kind of stuff going across the airwaves. What do we do? How do we live? What are we supposed to be like? And again, I'm talking about real Christians, nominal Christians, fit in just fine. K? I'm talking about the people that actually believe this stuff and try to live it out. How do we do it? These are the exiles that Peter is writing to. Now let's ask why are we exiles, and what is the purpose for all of this? So let's get into the text now and and begin to kind of do our little exposition here. I begin again in verse one. “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bethenia Church.” Do you kinda get what that means now? K. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Now a quick read here, and again, that morning devotional, moment where I'm trying to find something for my day, we could easily miss how important what Peter is saying here is. Because essentially what Peter is doing here is he's tipping his hand to the entire letter. It's kind of like in a symphony or something where in the prelude, you hear a little piece of the of the melody, and you're like, you pick up on it. Or that little Star Wars theme, if you're watching a Star Wars movie, you sort of hear that, it's either Vader or it's Skywalker. You know? And you're like you pick you pick up on it. Even in the in the in the opening scene of the movie, you kinda get a sense of what's coming. That's what this is. He's he's basically it's it's First Peter in microcosm. Peter, what are you gonna say? What is your big point to these people that are living in spiritual exile? And he begins in verse two with a series of purpose statements. The why question.Now my wife Jennifer and I, we have a 19 year old daughter. And what's wonderful at this point is that she has not discovered the word why. It's just not there yet. Did I say something wrong? Did I say year old? Peter's got something to say about that too. 19 month old daughter. Yes. So and see, we're getting that kind of Gary feel going on here. Like that. Keep it up. Keep it up. 19 month old daughter. So she's learning words at an amazing clip right now. We're thankful she's not yet learned the word why. She is unaware at this point that in life, there is all of this sort of philosophical stuff that underlies why we do what we do. So at this point, we just say, don't throw your food. She's never said, well, why is that not allowed? Right? She's unaware of purpose behind things. Peter wants to make sure that we understand that there is purpose behind things, even exile. Even the experience of spiritual exile, there's a purpose behind it. There is a why behind it, and we see that from the get go. Notice what kind of exiles are they? And can I say the question, what kind of exiles are we? What is the descriptive word for exiles? It is what? You have Bibles. Look. What is the word before exiles? We are what exiles? We're elect exiles. Elect exiles. What? I am experiencing what I'm experiencing because there's somebody that chose to put me here, chose to give me this experience? Because that's what the word elect means. It just it means chose, chosen. We are chosen exiles. You know, most exiles don't think that they are chosen exiles. You can think about the Jews in World War two, for example, in in Poland and the ghetto there, if you've seen that or studied that, they were victims of circumstance. They were victims of sociopolitical things that were beyond their control, and they suffered greatly in, in that experience. Or the Syrian refugees in our contemporary world, who there's all these, you know, there's big sort of, sociopolitical things that are at play that are creating the circumstances that they find themselves in. You could go to a Syrian refugee and say, you know, how did this happen? And he would say, well, my the president of this company country and this is going on and all of that. They would never have the thought in their mind that they were chosen to be Syrian refugees. Why? Because it's circumstantial. But here, Peter doesn't say, I'm so sorry that you are having this experience living as Christians in that land. He says, you are having that experience by divine choice. There is a God behind all of this. You are not just exiles randomly. You are exiles divinely. You have been chosen for this experience. And what a difference it makes when I realize that there is a purpose behind the pain. There is an answer to the question of why. And behind all of that is a God who is sovereignly working out everything according to the purpose of his will, Ephesians one eleven. Think about the Israelites as another sort of exile example. If you know the story of Israel, descendants of Abraham. Right? They were all time living in tents, never having a land of their own. God takes them down to Egypt. Four hundred years, they live largely under oppression there in Egypt. They're living as exiles. They're not in their the land that they're not in the promised land. They're not in the land where they're supposed to be. But there they are, and they have horrible, terrible experiences. Well, God leads them out into the hand of Moses, and they go through the Red Sea. It's not that far of a walk from Egypt to the promised land. Right? As the crow flies, where does God take them? Forty years wandering around in the wilderness. Are they like, God, is your GPS messed up? Because we could just it's just right there. We just gotta go right there. Why you guys going all over here and wandering around like this? What is the purpose behind our wanderings? What is the purpose behind our exile? Why are we experiencing all of these difficulties living a million people in a desert? Why are you doing this, God? And from the words of Moses himself, God says, “you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In other words, God was using their physical experience, their geographical experience for spiritual purposes. And all of the difficulties and all of the uncomfortableness and all of the challenges of living in a desert for forty years was not about living in a desert for forty years, but what God wanted that desert to do in them and to teach them. There was a purpose behind it. There was a why behind it. Do you see? So that the sorrows, what Peter is saying here, the sorrows of Christianity on the margins is comforted by the confident knowledge that we have that I am where God wants me to be, and the challenges are from the hand of God as well. I am an elect exile. I am not a political exile. I am I am not a chaotic exile. I am where I am by the sovereign choice of God, which then brings meaning in the midst of the pain and the sorrows and the issues. What do people ask when they're going through a trial? What do we hear even in our church when somebody gets the cancer call? Why? God, why are you doing this? Why am I the one of all the people having to suffer this? And what do you say pastorally to people that hear that kind of news? Wow. That's really chaotic. Maybe there isn't a God. No. We say that there is a God, and that circumstance in your life is not chance. And you can trust him. He is a good God. He loves you. He sent Jesus. Right? And now the Christian begins to derive meaning from even the pain of the exile and to see that God is doing something good in it. Would this not have been wonderfully comforting? I mean, about these Christians. They're living there in Asia Minor. Would this not have been, comforting for a businessman living in Pontus who is suffering financially because he's a Christian? They know he's a Christian. They don't wanna do business with him. He's suffering because of it. Or how about the wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about personally uncomfortable? How about the wife of a Christian wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about issues. How about a husband who's living according to the values of the immoral Greco Roman world around him, and yet you're married to him? How do you derive any kind of hope or comfort in the midst of that? You read chapter three, and you see what Peter has to say to wives who are married to pagan husbands. And you see, whatever pick your category. All of them. The Christian sees through the physical, political, social issue a good God who is providentially behind that and is actually using that for some good in our life that maybe we can't see and maybe you can't see right now. I mean, my wife had trouble finding parking today. We have a lot of people sitting right here in front of me. Is it possible maybe one person here is in a time of trouble or has a circumstance they wish was different? What does the word of God have to say to you? You are an elect exile. There is a God who is sovereignly doing the choosing, and it is painful, and it's awkward, and it's difficult, but there is a God behind it. And we believe that by faith. Amen? Amen. Amen. So I'm not in Cappadocia by accident after all. I'm here because God wants me to be in Cappadocia. Nothing is random. Now the second thing that we have here besides being chosen by God to be in this exile is that Peter wants us to he he lifts our eyes to God himself, and he wants us to see what the triune God is doing here. And you see in the text here a very clear Trinitarian statement. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for the obedience to Jesus Christ who is the Son.” It's one of the clearest Trinitarian statements in all of Scripture. Father, Son, and Spirit, each of them with a slightly different role in, as being described here. The foreknowledge, first of all, of the Father. Okay? Foreknowledge basically means to to know in advance. Right? To know in advance. Their exile was sovereignly known by God. God was not surprised. What are those Christians doing over there in Bithynia? I had no idea that they were gonna end up in Cappadocia. What are they up to in Galatia? God is never surprised by anything, which is itself a incredible thought, isn't it? If you're God, there are no surprise parties for God. He already knows everything. Right? He has known all of it and purposed it in eternity past, which means that when I find myself in Bithynia, God knew in eternity past that this was part of the plan. In fact, that word there is used in later in the chapter to say that Christ himself was foreknown. In eternity past, the Father knew the Son. In eternity past, the Father knew that you would be living and doing what you're doing here today. All of it, a sovereign God. There is no there are no surprises with God. There is nothing that is random with God. There is nothing that is chaotic with God. He is the sovereign God. No surprises. The sanctifying work of the Spirit. K? Sanctification is this word in the New Testament to talk about the process of God working in our lives to shape and mold us into the likeness of Jesus, the holy Son of God. And so sanctification is this kind of progressive growth and development. When I become a Christian, I to use this text, I I enter into the realm of sanctification. I am now in a process that the Holy Spirit is working in my life. Verse one says that they are in Asia, but verse two says they're actually in sanctification. So they may wanna define themselves geographically. Right? We're for the Bithynia bulldogs. Bulldogs. K. I am who I am. Some of you may be cheering sports teams today somehow related to a geography that used to have a Packer fan or I'm a Cowboys fan or whatever. Like, I'm born in Dallas or something. So you wanna define yourself geographically. When your teams aren't doing well, you don't wanna define yourself geographically. So most of us will be cheering for the Big Ten tomorrow. Sad. But Peter wants them to realize that they're not defined by their locale. They are defined their locale geographically, but by their locale spiritually. You're in the Holy Spirit now. You're in a process. You're in a world, not a pagan land. The life changing work of Jesus in us is the last thing “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” And we see in this that that the electing work of God, the choosing work of God is never without its effect. That not only did God sovereignly choose to put them in Bithynia or Galatia, but he chose through that experience to change them, to transform them for the obedience, a life of obedience to Jesus Christ. That's what God is working in all of us. If you're a Christian here today, what's God doing in my life? Well, he's doing a lot of things. But one of the things he's doing is that he is shaping and molding your heart and value mine as well so that I increasingly want to obey the will of God. I wanna be obedient to my savior Jesus. The obedience to Jesus is part of what we're doing here. And for sprinkling with his blood, and I gotta tell you, I don't know what that means. Just being honest. Commentators are all over the place. I'm not sure what that means. I think it refers somehow to the atoning work of Jesus for us, but I'm not exactly sure. Is that okay to say that? Okay. I don't know. But broadly, what this is saying is this, the Father foreknew us, the Spirit sanctifies us, the Son atoned for us and frees us from a life of sin to now this new life in Christ where I am living to the will of God, and I am pleasing God with my life, and all of it is by God and for God. He foreknew it. He purposed it. He's working in it right now. He is the sovereign hand, the loving hand behind all of it. So that these people might have thought to themselves if they were political exiles, they might have thought to themselves, I am in Galatia by the choice of man. And Peter writes this letter and says, you are in Galatia by the choice of God. He is the one that is behind all that is happening here. Alright. With the time remaining, I have one application point. And this is just the salutation of the letter. Okay? But one application point that I'd like to talk with you about, and it's this. When we are in exile, we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. When we are in exile, God wants or we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. If you talk to an exile and you say, hey. What is the solution to your problem? They are generally going to say, the answer to my problem is to change where I am. Like, I'm not in my homeland. I'm not where I'm supposed to be. And if I was to get where I'm supposed to be, in other words, if I was to change my geography, then everything would be great. Like, take a week like this as an example. This week, I feel like a climate exile. I experienced a week like we've had around here, and I think to myself, I do not live where I'm supposed to live. I am supposed to live in a warmer climate than this. Friday night, Jennifer and I were we spent some time with some friends, and we came back to the church here to pick up my car. I forget how cold it was Friday night, but it was like, you know, zero or minus or something. And we get there, and I get in my car. No. So we spent, I don't know, forty five minutes trying to jump my car off of our van. And it was one of those experiences where there's cold and then there's that cold. Right? I was so cold trying to get that thing started. It took us like forty five minutes, and I was just absolutely frozen. This was a terrible week around here. Right? Horrible week. We're all climate exiles. What do we need? We need to change our geography. We need to live somewhere different. We need a different climate than the one that we've been experiencing. They would have amen in Gary on that. So if you talk to the climate exile, they're going to say, I need a change of geography, right? There's some other place that they would rather be. Do we have any marriage exiles? What's a marriage exile? You've come to the conclusion that the person that you're married to is not the person that you're supposed to be married to, and the solution for you would be to be either not married or married to somebody different. Do we have any vocational exiles here? The solution to happiness in your life would be a different job. You feel like you're being persecuted on the job or you feel like you have an unfair boss, you got some other thing going on. So what's the solution? I need a different job. Do we have any health exiles here? You've got some ailment, you've got some problem, you've got the cancer call in your mind, what's the solution? I need a different body, right? If had a different body, then everything would be fine or pick your category. Generally speaking, our solution to our problems is to change where we are. And then we read this verse here. Elect exiles. Elect exiles. Do you mean that the exile that I am experiencing, that trial that I am going through, that experience that I wish was different and in my mind I can think of three different ways to get out of it? That that is something that God has brought into my life by his sovereign hand and good. Yes. And Peter goes on here to say that good is something not about changing where you are, but changing the person that you are. In other words, my heart, my mind, my my my my spiritual depth and quality, God is in the process of changing that. And you know what? He oftentimes puts us in Cappadocia to do it. We wanna get back to Rome. In fact, what's striking here is he doesn't say to exiles of the dispersion, get out of Bithynia now. Get back to Rome. The streets are clean, and the coffee's good, and the sun is shining. Get out of there. He doesn't say that one place in the whole letter. Why not? Because Peter realized something, that they were elect exiles, that their experience of all of this discomfort was something that God wanted in their life. Well, why would God want that in our life? Because he uses Bithynia, Cappadocia, and the people and the experiences of our life to produce change that would never happen in Rome. And so here you are today, and spiritually speaking or, you know, in your life, you feel like you're in exile, and you want change. I wonder if you can hear the word of God today saying to you. Here's the word. The change that I want is within you. And as Christians, for us to embrace trials, and this is not easy. I think about trials that I've gone through in my life, and in the midst of it, you're like, I want out now. But to pray to God, heavenly Father, I'm not sure what you're doing in this, but I sense in my heart that you are breaking me. You're breaking my pride. You're breaking my self dependence. You're helping me to live by faith. And I just want to say that I surrender to your purpose in Cappadocia. Don't you think I have a loving heavenly Father would answer that prayer? Don't you think that he delights? In fact, is it possible that he put you there to get you to that point of surrender in the first place? And now from that point, God's purpose can be lived out because that aspect of me, pride, whatever is taken away in a way now that I can live in obedience to the will of Jesus Christ according to the foreknowledge of the of of the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit as I made more and more into likeness of Christ. Oh, by the way, what does that sound like? That whole, I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I'm not where I'm from. I'm experiencing pain and yet I want your will in my life. Who does that sound? Does that sound familiar to me? Is that not Christ himself who left his Father's throne above, left his experience of heaven, came into this broken world with all of its pain and all of its sin and all of its brokenness. You you wanna talk about somebody who didn't fit in. How about the Son of God on earth with us? Right? How often people looked at him and thought you must not be from here because you are not buying into the way that we do things at all. And for him to go through that entire experience and to suffer. I think of the old song, he could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set him free in a moment. Gone. You can't afford the plane ticket. That was not an issue with Jesus. And yet he remained. And the night before he was crucified, prayed. “Father, if there's any way for this cup to pass from me, I ask that it would be so.” There's an honest prayer. We've all prayed that. Right? Take this cup from me, please. “Yet not my will, but your will be done.” There is the bottom line. When we are in an experience that we deem undesirable, a long term trial, I think we can be honest with God. I don't wanna live in Bithynia. I'm tired of Cappadocia. But my bottom line, God, is that I want what you want in my life. I believe that your plan is better than mine, and I embrace the change that you are working within me. This is the example of Jesus himself. And I hope that his example would help us realize that even if you're about to be crucified, you can know that there is a sovereign God who is doing good through it. And indeed he did, through that crucifixion, a savior for the world. And that's just the prelude. That's First Peter. So much more good stuff to come. I hope God blesses and uses it. Let's stand together for prayer.* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

  A new Pew Research Center study finds that 37% of Americans now say it's not likely the U.S. will elect a woman president in their lifetime — up from 26% just three years ago.  We dig into what's driving that growing skepticism, what the last several election cycles have revealed about gender and the presidency, and whether there's reason for hope. 

Steve DeWitt Spiritual Exiles - Part A Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:1-2 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Message: Spiritual ExilesAirdate: 9/4 & 9/7/26, Programs 2350 & 2351Studying through books of the Bible has been, has really been the bread and butter of our church over the years. And, today, we begin a new series as you've seen on the screen in the, the book or the letter of First Peter. And you might ask, well, why First Peter? I mean, because from one perspective, we really could open the Bible anywhere and have things that would be profitable to us. That's what, Scripture says about itself, that all Scripture is God breathed, that is profitable. So we really could go. We could go to Leviticus. We could go to Psalms. We could go to Revelation, and there would be a quality word that God would have for us. But why First Peter? Well, I've chosen First Peter because it is so wonderfully relevant to, life as we are living it increasingly here in our culture and our society where we find ourselves as Christians and particularly as evangelical Christians increasingly on the margins of society. More and more it seems that to actually believe in Jesus is a, you know, small s scandalous sort of thing. And by that, I mean, not nominal Christianity. Nominal Christianity will fit in anywhere. Nominal Christians are accepted. But if you actually believe it, like you're one of those crazy people that actually believe the gospel, and you really believe in, the resurrection, and you really believe in that the world was created and things like that, more and more, people are looking down their nose at that and pushing us to the fringe of the culture. And First Peter is written for the church in exile. First Peter is written for a church on the margins. It is written for the persecuted church. It's written, for the ostracized church. It is written for the hated church. I read somebody that basically said, the more irrelevant Christianity becomes, the more relevant First Peter becomes because it's written for that church that is in exile in its culture. The title of the series comes from the first words in, Peter's letter where he addresses it and says, to those who are elect exiles. Exiles where and exiles why we're going to, get into. And I dare say that by the time we're done with this series, I'll bet First Peter might be in the running for your favorite book in all the Bible. Luther himself said about First Peter that it is, quote, “one of the noblest books in the New Testament,” and he put it on par with Romans and the Gospel of John, which is saying something, isn't it? So, it's a wonderful letter, and I think it's gonna be a real blessing to all of us. We're going to work through it in a style of teaching, known as expository preaching. And what that means is that week in and week out, we're going to look at the text as Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote it. We're gonna ask the question, what did Peter and the Holy Spirit mean when they wrote that particular text? And then we are going to draw out of that meaning as it was originally intended and apply it to our lives today. What does that mean for us today? I wanna encourage you to come each week, every week with expository preaching is a fresh text, which means that it is a fresh word from God for us. And I think that it will be, it will be a blessing. So with that, let me just pray and ask God's blessing on this entire teaching series. Father, we ask that you would please, as you have done down through the centuries, that you would take your holy word, that you would enlighten it to our understanding, and that you would powerfully apply it to our lives and to our church and through us to the culture around us. We pray that this series would be just uniquely blessed by you, and all the good that can be done from it has little to do with, me or any of our teachers and pastors, but it depends on your Holy Spirit's blessing, and we seek that and we ask for it. Bless even now in in in in this day as we begin in in our study. We pray that this would be a great launch, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Now as we always do when we begin a a book study, we spend time talking about the background to the letter. Now you might say, well, why is that so important? Can't we just get going in this? Here's why it's important. It's important for the same reason that if you were walking along the street and the wind blew a letter into your to your path and you picked it up and you read it, on one level, you could understand the letter, couldn't you? Because you can read English, you can read the words, etcetera. But to know who wrote it, who they wrote it to, and why they wrote it would fill in all of those things that you can read with all kinds of meaning, wouldn't it? And so that's why we spend time figuring out who wrote this thing and why he wrote it and who he was writing it to. So let's begin by asking that question. Who wrote this letter? And you might say, well, that's simple. The top of my page, it says it says Peter wrote this letter. Right? And indeed, the first verse says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” So you could say, well, it must be it must be Peter. But realize that just because it says that Peter wrote it is not undeniable proof that Peter wrote it. This could have been written by somebody else who claimed to have been Peter. And, there are always scholars that wanna argue against these people actually being the authors of these letters, whether that be Paul or John or or here Peter. And so there are some scholars that try to stir up controversy, but to me, it's really, difficult seeing it not be Peter because later in the letter, he's going to say that he was an eyewitness to the sufferings of Christ. Well, how many Peters are there that were eyewitnesses to the sufferings of Christ? And the early church fathers, and by that, I mean, the leaders of the church in the post apostolic age. So after John and Peter and others had died, you have certain church leaders, and they all attribute this letter to being written by the Peter of the gospels, the disciple, the apostle Peter. So I think that there is little reason to doubt that Peter actually wrote this letter. And this Peter is the Peter of the gospels. This is the Peter who had a brother named Andrew who brought him to Jesus, and Jesus met him and changed his name. Do you remember? His name had been Simon. And he said, from this point on, your name is Peter or which is the Greek word, by the way, for rock, which is like a cruel joke, I think, on Peter if you read the story because perhaps he should have been named Feather because he sees the blows in the wind. But what happens in the story of Peter is that he becomes the rock at the end of the story as he assumes leadership of the disciples after Jesus' resurrection as he is a leader in the early church, and history tells us that he was crucified upside down in Rome and and refused to be crucified upright like his savior Jesus. He didn't feel he was worthy to die the same way that Jesus died. Part of the importance of First Peter and Second Peter is that given the prominence of Peter in the church, we have very little that he wrote, actually, as compared to, like, Luke, John, or Paul. Luke wrote Luke and Acts. John wrote the Gospel of John, First, Second, Third John, and Revelation. And Paul obviously wrote a bunch of letters in the New Testament. So we got lots from those guys. But Peter, in his stature, we have very little. We have First Peter and Second Peter. And so it's like the smallness of what we have actually makes it more valuable as we can see the the teaching and the emphases of this key leader in the early church. Now to who did Paul Peter write this and why did he write? And just look at verse one with me a moment. It says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Now I'll bet that in your private devotional reading, you get to a verse like that and you sort of skip ahead, don't you? You're like, there's gotta be some more applicable thing here than ancient geography. Right? I didn't get up this morning to read my Bible, to read ancient geography. Isn't there something a little bit more helpful to me than that? And so we easily skip over those things and uniquely, I think in First Peter, probably true of all of them, but this is actually one of the keys to understanding the entire letter. Is that verse right there? Who are these people? What is it talking about? Again, those who are elect exiles of the dispersion. Now what is that all about? Alright. Quick history lesson. Hang with me. Some of you hated it your sophomore year. This will be short. Okay? But a very quick history lesson. We go back to the Roman Empire, and most of us probably heard of the Roman Empire, one of the great human empires in in history, ruled the known world for, like, five hundred years. And they were able to pull that off because they were really smart. They had policies and things that they did that allowed them to remain in power for, like, five centuries. And one of the things that they did is actually what Peter is referring to here, and and that is what is called colonization. K? Colonization. Here's the way that it worked. The Romans had the great armies. Maybe you've seen movies that portray the Roman armies and the eagle and all of that. They would go into an area that they wanted to conquer. And largely, they would conquer. They were really good at warfare. And after they had conquered this region, they would move on to go, you know, do battle in other places. But they needed to maintain power in that region that their army had already conquered. So the strategy for them was that they would colonize that area by sending, people from Rome or who at least were Roman into that community where they would establish their lives. They would establish business. They would establish some of the things that Roman culture was known for, like the theater or the auditorium or whatever. And by doing that, essentially, they would integrate into the cult actually, the culture, the indigenous culture, would integrate into the Roman culture. And by doing that, they were able to exert Roman influence and thought and power into those, particular areas. K? So these were known as dispersions. K? Sometimes these were, political friends who wanted if it was a nice area, like if suddenly we conquered Hawaii and said, wants to go live? Well, I think I'd like to so all the friends, you know, the friends of the people in charge, they would go and they would colonize Hawaii. Sometimes these were political enemies that they wanted out of Rome. Alright. Take that family and those people and get them over in Galatia. We don't wanna see them ever again. And so off they would go. And and sometimes it was just people that were like, you know what? We think we can have a better life there. Like, you can think about even the story of The United States and the colonies on the East Coast and how people came across on the boats because they wanted a better life in the new the new world. So Rome would do that. And by doing that, they essentially would, retain a kind of control over that area by repopulating and integrating. It was essentially colonization by deportation for the purpose of domination. And that's how you retain control for five hundred years. So these people that would leave Rome or a Roman, community to go into some of these new areas, they essentially lived as exiles there. They were foreigners there. They were Romans there. And, the people that were from there knew that they were these people that had come. And this was not always a comfortable thing. Realize the Roman armies would come and conquer. They would wipe out, you know, how how many people's husbands and fathers in in, in winning the war. And now you've got representatives from there coming and living amongst us. The people from that land did not look favorably necessarily on them, especially initially. They were always from somewhere else. Right? It's kind of like living up here in the North when we hear somebody with a thick southern accent. What do you do? You look at them and you think to yourself or maybe you even say it, you're not from here are you? Right? And they're like, no I'm not. I'm from Georgia or Mississippi. Right? And you're like, what are you doing up here? Why don't you go home where you belong? Explain some people we have on staff even. But as awkward as that might be for Southerners to live up here amongst the Yankees, It was much more uncomfortable back in this day. And so they lived in a kind of ostracized way, and there was social awkwardness representing the ideology of the conquering army. So Peter here is writing then to colonists who were also Christians, who for political, social, who knows what reason had gone into Asia Minor and are now living there as representatives of the Roman Empire. Now to give you an idea of where we're talking, here's a map. And it's essentially modern day Turkey. And some of you maybe are not up on your you know, Turkey to you is a, November celebration. But it's actually a country as well. And so you see some of you see the Black Sea, and you see these communities that are being referred to, Bithynia, Galatia, Cappadocia, these would have been well known in that time and would have been places of influence, cultural influence. Essentially, what Peter does in the letter is he takes these Christians' social political situation and he draws spiritual meaning from it. He says, yes, you're exiles politically and geographically, but I wanna talk to you about what it means to be a spiritual exile. What does it mean to live in an area where you it's not your homeland. What does it mean to live in an area where people look at you a little cross eyed and they say to themselves, that person isn't they're not really of us. Their values are not our values. Their priorities are not our part. They're like those Christian people. They're those marginalized people. What is it like, and how do we live when we are the ones that are in exile, when we are the weird ones? So Peter writes to these political exiles, but he wants them to see that they are really spiritual exiles and to learn what it means to live amongst people that are very, very different. K? Very different. And so what he's gonna say in this letter is he's gonna encourage them to stand strong, to remain faithful, to live obedient to Jesus in spite of the immoral culture around them, to remain faithful even though people look at them like we look at Amish people. Kinda like, man, what's your problem? What's get with the program here. Right? Why aren't you kind of along with what we're doing? That's how they felt. And here's where I think First Peter is so helpful to us is is and I don't know if you feel this or not. I certainly do. If you talk to some of the old timers around here who remember what it was like to be a Christian, like in the nineteen forties or the nineteen fifties and maybe the early nineteen sixties, it's a much different feel back then to be a Christian in America than it is in 2015. Right? Where even to pronounce Christian faith in public media in some way is to be scorned or to have the plug pulled. Right? Get him off of there immediately. We don't want any of that kind of stuff going across the airwaves. What do we do? How do we live? What are we supposed to be like? And again, I'm talking about real Christians, nominal Christians, fit in just fine. K? I'm talking about the people that actually believe this stuff and try to live it out. How do we do it? These are the exiles that Peter is writing to. Now let's ask why are we exiles, and what is the purpose for all of this? So let's get into the text now and and begin to kind of do our little exposition here. I begin again in verse one. “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bethenia Church.” Do you kinda get what that means now? K. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Now a quick read here, and again, that morning devotional, moment where I'm trying to find something for my day, we could easily miss how important what Peter is saying here is. Because essentially what Peter is doing here is he's tipping his hand to the entire letter. It's kind of like in a symphony or something where in the prelude, you hear a little piece of the of the melody, and you're like, you pick up on it. Or that little Star Wars theme, if you're watching a Star Wars movie, you sort of hear that, it's either Vader or it's Skywalker. You know? And you're like you pick you pick up on it. Even in the in the in the opening scene of the movie, you kinda get a sense of what's coming. That's what this is. He's he's basically it's it's First Peter in microcosm. Peter, what are you gonna say? What is your big point to these people that are living in spiritual exile? And he begins in verse two with a series of purpose statements. The why question.Now my wife Jennifer and I, we have a 19 year old daughter. And what's wonderful at this point is that she has not discovered the word why. It's just not there yet. Did I say something wrong? Did I say year old? Peter's got something to say about that too. 19 month old daughter. Yes. So and see, we're getting that kind of Gary feel going on here. Like that. Keep it up. Keep it up. 19 month old daughter. So she's learning words at an amazing clip right now. We're thankful she's not yet learned the word why. She is unaware at this point that in life, there is all of this sort of philosophical stuff that underlies why we do what we do. So at this point, we just say, don't throw your food. She's never said, well, why is that not allowed? Right? She's unaware of purpose behind things. Peter wants to make sure that we understand that there is purpose behind things, even exile. Even the experience of spiritual exile, there's a purpose behind it. There is a why behind it, and we see that from the get go. Notice what kind of exiles are they? And can I say the question, what kind of exiles are we? What is the descriptive word for exiles? It is what? You have Bibles. Look. What is the word before exiles? We are what exiles? We're elect exiles. Elect exiles. What? I am experiencing what I'm experiencing because there's somebody that chose to put me here, chose to give me this experience? Because that's what the word elect means. It just it means chose, chosen. We are chosen exiles. You know, most exiles don't think that they are chosen exiles. You can think about the Jews in World War two, for example, in in Poland and the ghetto there, if you've seen that or studied that, they were victims of circumstance. They were victims of sociopolitical things that were beyond their control, and they suffered greatly in, in that experience. Or the Syrian refugees in our contemporary world, who there's all these, you know, there's big sort of, sociopolitical things that are at play that are creating the circumstances that they find themselves in. You could go to a Syrian refugee and say, you know, how did this happen? And he would say, well, my the president of this company country and this is going on and all of that. They would never have the thought in their mind that they were chosen to be Syrian refugees. Why? Because it's circumstantial. But here, Peter doesn't say, I'm so sorry that you are having this experience living as Christians in that land. He says, you are having that experience by divine choice. There is a God behind all of this. You are not just exiles randomly. You are exiles divinely. You have been chosen for this experience. And what a difference it makes when I realize that there is a purpose behind the pain. There is an answer to the question of why. And behind all of that is a God who is sovereignly working out everything according to the purpose of his will, Ephesians one eleven. Think about the Israelites as another sort of exile example. If you know the story of Israel, descendants of Abraham. Right? They were all time living in tents, never having a land of their own. God takes them down to Egypt. Four hundred years, they live largely under oppression there in Egypt. They're living as exiles. They're not in their the land that they're not in the promised land. They're not in the land where they're supposed to be. But there they are, and they have horrible, terrible experiences. Well, God leads them out into the hand of Moses, and they go through the Red Sea. It's not that far of a walk from Egypt to the promised land. Right? As the crow flies, where does God take them? Forty years wandering around in the wilderness. Are they like, God, is your GPS messed up? Because we could just it's just right there. We just gotta go right there. Why you guys going all over here and wandering around like this? What is the purpose behind our wanderings? What is the purpose behind our exile? Why are we experiencing all of these difficulties living a million people in a desert? Why are you doing this, God? And from the words of Moses himself, God says, “you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In other words, God was using their physical experience, their geographical experience for spiritual purposes. And all of the difficulties and all of the uncomfortableness and all of the challenges of living in a desert for forty years was not about living in a desert for forty years, but what God wanted that desert to do in them and to teach them. There was a purpose behind it. There was a why behind it. Do you see? So that the sorrows, what Peter is saying here, the sorrows of Christianity on the margins is comforted by the confident knowledge that we have that I am where God wants me to be, and the challenges are from the hand of God as well. I am an elect exile. I am not a political exile. I am I am not a chaotic exile. I am where I am by the sovereign choice of God, which then brings meaning in the midst of the pain and the sorrows and the issues. What do people ask when they're going through a trial? What do we hear even in our church when somebody gets the cancer call? Why? God, why are you doing this? Why am I the one of all the people having to suffer this? And what do you say pastorally to people that hear that kind of news? Wow. That's really chaotic. Maybe there isn't a God. No. We say that there is a God, and that circumstance in your life is not chance. And you can trust him. He is a good God. He loves you. He sent Jesus. Right? And now the Christian begins to derive meaning from even the pain of the exile and to see that God is doing something good in it. Would this not have been wonderfully comforting? I mean, about these Christians. They're living there in Asia Minor. Would this not have been, comforting for a businessman living in Pontus who is suffering financially because he's a Christian? They know he's a Christian. They don't wanna do business with him. He's suffering because of it. Or how about the wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about personally uncomfortable? How about the wife of a Christian wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about issues. How about a husband who's living according to the values of the immoral Greco Roman world around him, and yet you're married to him? How do you derive any kind of hope or comfort in the midst of that? You read chapter three, and you see what Peter has to say to wives who are married to pagan husbands. And you see, whatever pick your category. All of them. The Christian sees through the physical, political, social issue a good God who is providentially behind that and is actually using that for some good in our life that maybe we can't see and maybe you can't see right now. I mean, my wife had trouble finding parking today. We have a lot of people sitting right here in front of me. Is it possible maybe one person here is in a time of trouble or has a circumstance they wish was different? What does the word of God have to say to you? You are an elect exile. There is a God who is sovereignly doing the choosing, and it is painful, and it's awkward, and it's difficult, but there is a God behind it. And we believe that by faith. Amen? Amen. Amen. So I'm not in Cappadocia by accident after all. I'm here because God wants me to be in Cappadocia. Nothing is random. Now the second thing that we have here besides being chosen by God to be in this exile is that Peter wants us to he he lifts our eyes to God himself, and he wants us to see what the triune God is doing here. And you see in the text here a very clear Trinitarian statement. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for the obedience to Jesus Christ who is the Son.” It's one of the clearest Trinitarian statements in all of Scripture. Father, Son, and Spirit, each of them with a slightly different role in, as being described here. The foreknowledge, first of all, of the Father. Okay? Foreknowledge basically means to to know in advance. Right? To know in advance. Their exile was sovereignly known by God. God was not surprised. What are those Christians doing over there in Bithynia? I had no idea that they were gonna end up in Cappadocia. What are they up to in Galatia? God is never surprised by anything, which is itself a incredible thought, isn't it? If you're God, there are no surprise parties for God. He already knows everything. Right? He has known all of it and purposed it in eternity past, which means that when I find myself in Bithynia, God knew in eternity past that this was part of the plan. In fact, that word there is used in later in the chapter to say that Christ himself was foreknown. In eternity past, the Father knew the Son. In eternity past, the Father knew that you would be living and doing what you're doing here today. All of it, a sovereign God. There is no there are no surprises with God. There is nothing that is random with God. There is nothing that is chaotic with God. He is the sovereign God. No surprises. The sanctifying work of the Spirit. K? Sanctification is this word in the New Testament to talk about the process of God working in our lives to shape and mold us into the likeness of Jesus, the holy Son of God. And so sanctification is this kind of progressive growth and development. When I become a Christian, I to use this text, I I enter into the realm of sanctification. I am now in a process that the Holy Spirit is working in my life. Verse one says that they are in Asia, but verse two says they're actually in sanctification. So they may wanna define themselves geographically. Right? We're for the Bithynia bulldogs. Bulldogs. K. I am who I am. Some of you may be cheering sports teams today somehow related to a geography that used to have a Packer fan or I'm a Cowboys fan or whatever. Like, I'm born in Dallas or something. So you wanna define yourself geographically. When your teams aren't doing well, you don't wanna define yourself geographically. So most of us will be cheering for the Big Ten tomorrow. Sad. But Peter wants them to realize that they're not defined by their locale. They are defined their locale geographically, but by their locale spiritually. You're in the Holy Spirit now. You're in a process. You're in a world, not a pagan land. The life changing work of Jesus in us is the last thing “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” And we see in this that that the electing work of God, the choosing work of God is never without its effect. That not only did God sovereignly choose to put them in Bithynia or Galatia, but he chose through that experience to change them, to transform them for the obedience, a life of obedience to Jesus Christ. That's what God is working in all of us. If you're a Christian here today, what's God doing in my life? Well, he's doing a lot of things. But one of the things he's doing is that he is shaping and molding your heart and value mine as well so that I increasingly want to obey the will of God. I wanna be obedient to my savior Jesus. The obedience to Jesus is part of what we're doing here. And for sprinkling with his blood, and I gotta tell you, I don't know what that means. Just being honest. Commentators are all over the place. I'm not sure what that means. I think it refers somehow to the atoning work of Jesus for us, but I'm not exactly sure. Is that okay to say that? Okay. I don't know. But broadly, what this is saying is this, the Father foreknew us, the Spirit sanctifies us, the Son atoned for us and frees us from a life of sin to now this new life in Christ where I am living to the will of God, and I am pleasing God with my life, and all of it is by God and for God. He foreknew it. He purposed it. He's working in it right now. He is the sovereign hand, the loving hand behind all of it. So that these people might have thought to themselves if they were political exiles, they might have thought to themselves, I am in Galatia by the choice of man. And Peter writes this letter and says, you are in Galatia by the choice of God. He is the one that is behind all that is happening here. Alright. With the time remaining, I have one application point. And this is just the salutation of the letter. Okay? But one application point that I'd like to talk with you about, and it's this. When we are in exile, we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. When we are in exile, God wants or we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. If you talk to an exile and you say, hey. What is the solution to your problem? They are generally going to say, the answer to my problem is to change where I am. Like, I'm not in my homeland. I'm not where I'm supposed to be. And if I was to get where I'm supposed to be, in other words, if I was to change my geography, then everything would be great. Like, take a week like this as an example. This week, I feel like a climate exile. I experienced a week like we've had around here, and I think to myself, I do not live where I'm supposed to live. I am supposed to live in a warmer climate than this. Friday night, Jennifer and I were we spent some time with some friends, and we came back to the church here to pick up my car. I forget how cold it was Friday night, but it was like, you know, zero or minus or something. And we get there, and I get in my car. No. So we spent, I don't know, forty five minutes trying to jump my car off of our van. And it was one of those experiences where there's cold and then there's that cold. Right? I was so cold trying to get that thing started. It took us like forty five minutes, and I was just absolutely frozen. This was a terrible week around here. Right? Horrible week. We're all climate exiles. What do we need? We need to change our geography. We need to live somewhere different. We need a different climate than the one that we've been experiencing. They would have amen in Gary on that. So if you talk to the climate exile, they're going to say, I need a change of geography, right? There's some other place that they would rather be. Do we have any marriage exiles? What's a marriage exile? You've come to the conclusion that the person that you're married to is not the person that you're supposed to be married to, and the solution for you would be to be either not married or married to somebody different. Do we have any vocational exiles here? The solution to happiness in your life would be a different job. You feel like you're being persecuted on the job or you feel like you have an unfair boss, you got some other thing going on. So what's the solution? I need a different job. Do we have any health exiles here? You've got some ailment, you've got some problem, you've got the cancer call in your mind, what's the solution? I need a different body, right? If had a different body, then everything would be fine or pick your category. Generally speaking, our solution to our problems is to change where we are. And then we read this verse here. Elect exiles. Elect exiles. Do you mean that the exile that I am experiencing, that trial that I am going through, that experience that I wish was different and in my mind I can think of three different ways to get out of it? That that is something that God has brought into my life by his sovereign hand and good. Yes. And Peter goes on here to say that good is something not about changing where you are, but changing the person that you are. In other words, my heart, my mind, my my my my spiritual depth and quality, God is in the process of changing that. And you know what? He oftentimes puts us in Cappadocia to do it. We wanna get back to Rome. In fact, what's striking here is he doesn't say to exiles of the dispersion, get out of Bithynia now. Get back to Rome. The streets are clean, and the coffee's good, and the sun is shining. Get out of there. He doesn't say that one place in the whole letter. Why not? Because Peter realized something, that they were elect exiles, that their experience of all of this discomfort was something that God wanted in their life. Well, why would God want that in our life? Because he uses Bithynia, Cappadocia, and the people and the experiences of our life to produce change that would never happen in Rome. And so here you are today, and spiritually speaking or, you know, in your life, you feel like you're in exile, and you want change. I wonder if you can hear the word of God today saying to you. Here's the word. The change that I want is within you. And as Christians, for us to embrace trials, and this is not easy. I think about trials that I've gone through in my life, and in the midst of it, you're like, I want out now. But to pray to God, heavenly Father, I'm not sure what you're doing in this, but I sense in my heart that you are breaking me. You're breaking my pride. You're breaking my self dependence. You're helping me to live by faith. And I just want to say that I surrender to your purpose in Cappadocia. Don't you think I have a loving heavenly Father would answer that prayer? Don't you think that he delights? In fact, is it possible that he put you there to get you to that point of surrender in the first place? And now from that point, God's purpose can be lived out because that aspect of me, pride, whatever is taken away in a way now that I can live in obedience to the will of Jesus Christ according to the foreknowledge of the of of the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit as I made more and more into likeness of Christ. Oh, by the way, what does that sound like? That whole, I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I'm not where I'm from. I'm experiencing pain and yet I want your will in my life. Who does that sound? Does that sound familiar to me? Is that not Christ himself who left his Father's throne above, left his experience of heaven, came into this broken world with all of its pain and all of its sin and all of its brokenness. You you wanna talk about somebody who didn't fit in. How about the Son of God on earth with us? Right? How often people looked at him and thought you must not be from here because you are not buying into the way that we do things at all. And for him to go through that entire experience and to suffer. I think of the old song, he could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set him free in a moment. Gone. You can't afford the plane ticket. That was not an issue with Jesus. And yet he remained. And the night before he was crucified, prayed. “Father, if there's any way for this cup to pass from me, I ask that it would be so.” There's an honest prayer. We've all prayed that. Right? Take this cup from me, please. “Yet not my will, but your will be done.” There is the bottom line. When we are in an experience that we deem undesirable, a long term trial, I think we can be honest with God. I don't wanna live in Bithynia. I'm tired of Cappadocia. But my bottom line, God, is that I want what you want in my life. I believe that your plan is better than mine, and I embrace the change that you are working within me. This is the example of Jesus himself. And I hope that his example would help us realize that even if you're about to be crucified, you can know that there is a sovereign God who is doing good through it. And indeed he did, through that crucifixion, a savior for the world. And that's just the prelude. That's First Peter. So much more good stuff to come. I hope God blesses and uses it. Let's stand together for prayer.* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

Germany's far-right, anti-immigration AfD party is on course for a major victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, potentially marking the first time a far-right party has led a government in Germany since World War II. With a campaign fronted by TikTok star Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD has surged in popularity, but it's not without controversy. A win would likely send shockwaves through German politics and across Europe, heaping the pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz who is unpopular with voters. In this video, we break down the AfD's rise, look at their policies, and what a breakthrough victory could mean for Germany's future. Featuring an in-depth interview with British-German historian and journalist Katja Hoyer, we look at how Germany here and why the outcome is so important.

What would mental healthcare look like if we focused less on diagnostic categories and more on understanding how an individual's brain is functioning?Jeffrey Schutz, MA, LMFT, BCN, joins Dr. Saul Rosenthal to discuss what he sees as a shift toward brain-based mental healthcare. They explore how neurofeedback and QEEG can change the way clinicians think about assessment, symptoms, and treatment planning, while also considering the limitations of EEG data and the risks of overinterpretation.Jeff and Saul also discuss the importance of clinical judgment in an era of increasingly automated and AI-driven neurofeedback systems, what Jeff has learned from building a large multidisciplinary neurofeedback practice, and the challenges of making neurofeedback affordable and accessible through insurance.Jeffrey Schutz is the founder and executive director of The Neurovation Center in Connecticut, author of Launching Your Career in Neurofeedback: The Definitive Guidebook, and President-Elect of the Northeast Region Biofeedback Society.Jeff will present “Pioneering the Brain-Based Frontier: Innovative Strategies for Integrating Neurofeedback into a Mental Health Setting” at the 2026 NRBS Annual Conference.This interview previews the 2026 Northeast Region Biofeedback Society Annual Conference, held virtually September 26–27. Go to NRBS 2026 Conference before the early-bird deadline and use code NRBS26INVITE for an additional 10% discount.Contact us at healthybrain@nrbs.org.Subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts.Watch the video versions of our podcasts and Subscribe there as well!This podcast is produced by the Northeast Region Biofeedback Society. NRBS is an organization for professionals, students, and everyone interested in neurofeedback, biofeedback, and whole body health.Learn more about Dr. Saul Rosenthal at advancedbehavioral.care.Our theme music is Catch It by Coma-MediaThe Healthy Brain Happy Body logo was designed by Alexandra VanDerlyke. Our heartfelt thanks to her and the rest of the team at Collectively Rooted.#Neurofeedback #Biofeedback #Migraine #MentalHealth #BrainHealth #PIRHEG #HEG #PainManagement #EmotionalPain #Seizures #PrefrontalCortex #PsychologyPodcast #ClinicalPsychology #MindBodyConnection #Neuroscience #Therapists #Counselors #BrainBasedTherapy #NRBS #HealthyBrainHealthyBody

Steve, Todd, and Aaron are joined by BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales for the Deace Group roundtable, where the panel discusses whether Texas, of all places, is poised to elect James Talarico to the U.S. Senate. The group also discusses President Trump's comments this week on Sharia law. Hour Two is Feedback Friday. TODAY'S SPONSORS: WORLD WATCH NEWS: https://worldwatch.news/ JASE MEDICAL: https://jasemedical.com/ and enter code “DEACE” at checkout for a discount on your order REAL ESTATE AGENTS I TRUST: https://realestateagentsitrust.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Public Education Challenges It's the start of school for many districts in the state, but many public schools are facing unprecedented challenges as they work to educate today's young minds. There is greater support on a statewide level for school choice than ever. Ohio projects it will pay private schools $1.26 billion in the 2026-2027 school year in taxpayer-funded vouchers. Public school advocates claim the state underfunds public schools and a coalition of Ohio public schools is suing over the constitutionality of EdChoice vouchers. On a federal level, President Donald Trump established a national school voucher program last year that could soon provide taxpayer dollars for parents to spend on private school tuition. Public districts are also facing lower enrollment rates, staff shortages, and new technology changes, with the growing popularity of artificial intelligence. The National Association of Education president-elect is visiting Ohio as part of a back-to-school tour. On Thursday's "Sound of Ideas," hosted by Stephanie Haney, we'll hear her thoughts about some of these challenges and what she sees as the path forward for public educators. We'll also hear from the Ohio Education Association president. Guests: -Princess Moss, President-Elect, National Education Association -Jeff Wensing, President, Ohio Education Association "Shuffle" Music Podcast The Zerbo Brothers share their West African roots through music. On this week's Shuffle, Ideastream Public Media's Amanda Rabinowitz talked with the trio about their homeland and how they found their voice in Northeast Ohio. Guests: - Amanda Rabinowitz, Host and Producer, "Shuffle" and "All Things Considered" - Emmanuel Zerbo, Zerbo Brothers - Joseph Zerbo, Zerbo Brothers - Darren Hamm, Zerbo Brothers

Could there be a better form of government than the one we have now? As we enter an AI-powered world, when might we choose an AI leader? Will your grandchildren ever vote for a human president, who comes with a political party & the weaknesses of a human, or will they vote for a system that has a jaw-dropping capacity to extract patterns from vast rivers of data, simulate millions of possible futures, & govern with a deeper wisdom than a human could naturally possess? Will we all have personal AI agents that know our strongest political opinions, such that we finally achieve (for the first time at scale) a direct democracy rather than a representative one? Join Eagleman as he explores the future of an AI leader (pros & cons) and where he thinks we’re inevitably heading.

Send us Fan MailKen Corkins and pastor Rocky Ellison record Season 18, Episode 24 of Pondering the Bible from a home studio during a heat wave and begin Romans 11:1–10 (RSV). They discuss Paul's argument that God has not rejected Israel, pointing to Paul's own Jewish lineage and to Elijah's despair and God's preserved 7,000 as evidence of a faithful remnant. The hosts connect this to the mixed Jewish-Gentile Roman church and its conflict, emphasizing that salvation is by grace, not works, and addressing foreknowledge versus forechoice. They explain “the elect” as Jews who accept Jesus and interpret the “hardened” through accurate Old Testament citations from Deuteronomy/Isaiah and Psalm 69, warning against complacent confidence in works. They plan to cover Romans 11:11–27 next. 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:54 Starting Romans 11 01:47 Reading the Passage 03:18 Has God Rejected Israel 03:59 Paul the Benjaminite 05:42 Elijah and the Remnant 11:45 Chosen by Grace 13:47 Grace Not Works 15:56 The Elect and Hardening 17:00 Stupor Quote Explained 20:10 David's Warning Psalm 21:55 Wrap Up and Next Week 23:23 Closing Joke and SignoffNEW!: Rate us at Podchaser  Find us at www.pondergmc.org. Feedback is welcome: PonderMethodist@gmail.com Music performed by the Ponder GMC worship team.Cover Art: Joe WagnerRecorded, edited and mixed by Snikrock 

“Elect exiles” is not a cute phrase, it's a diagnosis. We open 1 Peter with fresh eyes and realize Peter starts his letter to suffering Christians by telling them something most of us resist: you're scattered on purpose. If you've ever looked at your life and thought, why am I here, why is this hard, and did God forget me, Peter's first two verses give a gritty, hope-filled framework that can actually hold the weight of real pain.We unpack 1 Peter 1:1-2 and see the Trinity right on the surface: the Father's foreknowledge, the Spirit's sanctifying work, and obedience to Jesus Christ under the sprinkling of His blood. Then we chase the Bible's “seed” storyline into the word diaspora, not just “people scattered,” but seed spread across the earth for multiplication. That leads straight into identity: Christians as aliens and foreigners, planted in foreign soil to take root, grow, and bear fruit even in hostile environments.We also challenge modern definitions of grace, peace, and blessing. Peace is not just mental serenity; it's strength for obedience when suffering presses in. The Holy Spirit's filling is not meant to stop at spiritual experiences, but to empower mission, evangelism, and costly faithfulness. If you're tired, disoriented, or tempted to build your life around comfort, this conversation will push you and steady you at the same time.Subscribe for more Bible-driven conversations, share this with a friend who feels scattered, and leave a review with the hardest part of obedience you're facing right now.Send us Fan MailSupport the show

Who are the 'Elect' in the bible? Are these individuals that God has chosen for salvation?Mike, Debi, and Nathan Pearl, with Shalom Brand answer this question and others from the Bible.00:54 Witnessing to people that have been hurt by the church07:07 How to deal with criticisms of Christianity20:07 What history books do you recommend for teenagers?55:31 When do you start talking to your kids like they are Christians?44:32 Who are the 'Elect' in the Bible?49:55 Should a pastor make money off of weekend retreats?52:02 Pregnancy center volunteer58:08 How to share the Gospel with someone who is illiterate?1:06:18 when will all of the saints be resurrected?

Elect Democrats to stop MAGA, but don't surrender progressive accountability. Jeffries' rejection of Medicare-for-All raises a serious question about who should lead the House.Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://politicsdoneright.com/newsletterPurchase our Books: As I See It: https://amzn.to/3XpvW5o How To Make AmericaUtopia: https://amzn.to/3VKVFnG It's Worth It: https://amzn.to/3VFByXP Lose Weight And BeFit Now: https://amzn.to/3xiQK3K Tribulations of anAfro-Latino Caribbean man: https://amzn.to/4c09rbE

This past weekend, Rev. Chad Johnson continued our Dear Corinth series with "Our Faith Across Time," drawing from I Corinthians 10 to show us that Christ has always been there in our past, is here in our present, and will help us establish a standard in our future.

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California is one of the most Democratic states in the nation. But former Fox News host and British American Steve Hilton is mounting a long-shot bid to be the state's next Republican governor. He's banking on voters' disaffection with the state's notoriously high cost of living to beat Democrat Xavier Becerra in November.  While Hilton scored President Trump's endorsement ahead of the primary, he'll need to win over a lot of Democrats and Independents who loathe Trump to have any shot at winning. Is that even possible for a Republican in 2026?    Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A handful of radicals can reshape an entire country if everyone else lets them. Abdul El-Sayed represents the next generation of politicians pushing ideas that were once considered politically toxic—and they're gaining ground. Jesse Kelly explains why America's biggest threat isn't how many people embrace these ideas, but how aggressively they're being promoted. Choq: Visit https://choq.com/jessetvfor a 17.76% discount on your CHOQ subscription for life PureTalk: Stop overpaying for big wireless and switch to Pure Talk to get unlimited data when you visit https://PureTalk.com/JESSETVFollow The Jesse Kelly Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJesseKellyShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Thursday, August 6th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark and Adam McManus Algerian, African church going underground The Protestant church in Algeria is going underground.  The Muslim-majority country is located in North Africa. Authorities there have shut down nearly all Evangelical churches over the past decade. Many Christians now meet secretly in homes.  One Algerian pastor told Morning Star News, “The situation is undeniably difficult because we are deprived of fellowship. But God's work must not stop. We desperately lack Bibles and Christian books, as customs officials systematically confiscate them even when friends bring them from the West.” Algeria is ranked 20th on the Open Doors' World Watch List of the worst countries for the persecution of Christians.  British soldiers are asking about Christ Faith is increasing in the British military.  Army chaplains report more recruits are asking about Christianity, attending services, and requesting baptism. Dr. Martin Gliniecki is the executive director of the Soldiers' and Aviators' Scripture Readers Association. He told Christian Today, “We have prayed for revival in our nation for many years now and … revival in our Armed Forces too. Something is happening. While our Armed Forces are the smallest in modern history, the harvest remains plentiful.” In Luke 10:2, Jesus said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” British millionaire stands up for persecuted street preachers A British millionaire is standing up for persecuted street preachers. Businessman Samuel Leeds has pledged to fund the legal representation of Christian street preachers who are targeted by police.  He told Truth Times, “We see Christians being persecuted all over the world, but seeing it happen in Great Britain — seeing the disdain, the hatred, and now the oppression of Christian voices — really bothers me. … Where Christians are being unfairly targeted simply for preaching their faith, I'm prepared to put my money behind defending them.” Amen! Democrat primary voters elect another leftist The left wing of the Democratic Party continues to win election primaries. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, whose parents came to America from Egypt, won the Democrat primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan on Tuesday.  The 41-year-old is an epidemiologist who received his Doctor of Medicine from Columbia University, served as director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services of Wayne County, Michigan, from 2023 to 2025, and was a candidate in the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election. EL-SAYED: “What a race! You know, in the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world!” Endorsed by socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, among other leftists, he narrowly defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens, a pro-Israel moderate Democrat. Remarkably, super PACs, political action committees, spent $60 million on the race, supporting Stevens 9-1. El-Sayed champions the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE, ending most U.S. military aid to Israel, and wants a universal, government-funded health insurance program that covers everyone. If you take the time to watch his 19-minute victory speech, which we have linked in our transcript at www.TheWorldview.com, you will notice he is an articulate spokesman for his cause. EL-SAYED: “So, whether you voted for me or voted for my opponent or didn't vote at all, we're inviting you to that movement to get money out of politics, so we can put money back in pockets, and finally guarantee the promise of health care through Medicare for All.” If elected in November, Abdul El-Sayed would be the first Muslim in the Senate.  Democrats are moving left The views of Democrats are shifting further to the left. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found 71 percent of Democrats label themselves as liberal. That's up from 55 percent in 2012.  Most liberal Democrats identify certain positions as essential to being a liberal. These include increasing taxes on corporations and billionaires, expanding access to abortion, and government provided healthcare coverage.  In Romans 13:4, the Apostle Paul identified different priorities for government: “For [a ruler] is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.” Amazon hits $3 trillion in market value Amazon became the fifth company to reach $3 trillion dollars in market value on Monday.  The tech company saw growth in its cloud-computing services as demand for Artificial Intelligence surges. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Nvidia are the other companies that have reached a market value of $3 trillion dollars in the past.  Doctors successfully operated on baby in the womb And finally, doctors successfully operated on a baby while still in the womb. Baby Theo was diagnosed with a severe intestinal defect in the womb. Indeed, his intestines were completely outside his body.  Such cases can require many surgeries after birth, and babies do not always survive. Parents Maisie Savage and Josh French live in London. They were referred to a clinical trial at Texas Children's Hospital.  At 26 weeks of pregnancy, surgeons conducted the groundbreaking operation. It's the first surgery of its kind in the U.S.  Praise God! Baby Theo was born full-term in February. Josh recently told Good Morning America that Theo is thriving.   Listen. JOSH: “He's doing all the things that a normal, healthy baby should be doing. He's shouting. He's screaming. He blows raspberries. It's just fantastic having him home.” Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him." Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, August 6th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Full Text of Readings Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Lectionary: 614 The Saint of the day is Transfiguration of the Lord The Story of the Transfiguration of the Lord All three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36). With remarkable agreement, all three place the event shortly after Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus' first prediction of his passion and death. Peter's eagerness to erect tents or booths on the spot suggests it occurred during the week-long Jewish Feast of Booths in the fall. According to Scripture scholars, in spite of the texts' agreement it is difficult to reconstruct the disciples' experience, because the Gospels draw heavily on Old Testament descriptions of the Sinai encounter with God, and prophetic visions of the Son of Man. Certainly Peter, James, and John had a glimpse of Jesus' divinity strong enough to strike fear into their hearts. Such an experience defies description, so they drew on familiar religious language to describe it. And certainly Jesus warned them that his glory and his suffering were to be inextricably connected—a theme John highlights throughout his Gospel. Tradition names Mount Tabor as the site of the revelation. A church first raised there in the fourth century was dedicated on August 6. A feast in honor of the Transfiguration was celebrated in the Eastern Church from about that time. Western observance began in some localities about the eighth century. On July 22, 1456, Crusaders defeated the Turks at Belgrade. News of the victory reached Rome on August 6, and Pope Callistus III placed the feast on the Roman calendar the following year. Reflection One of the Transfiguration accounts is read on the second Sunday of Lent each year, proclaiming Christ's divinity to the Elect and baptized alike. The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, by contrast, is the story of the temptation in the desert—affirmation of Jesus' humanity. The two distinct but inseparable natures of the Lord were a subject of much theological argument at the beginning of the Church's history; it remains hard for believers to grasp.Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Does mental health treatment work the same for everyone? The answer is more complicated than many people realize. In this episode, host Gabe Howard is joined by Stephanie Robertson, J.D., Director of Mental Health Equity at NAMI, and Dr. Nicole Washington, psychiatrist and President-Elect of the Black Psychiatrists of America, for an honest conversation about mental health equity, cultural identity, and why representation matters in behavioral health. Rather than focusing on politics, this conversation centers on practical realities: how clinicians can better understand the people they serve, why patients deserve care that reflects their experiences, and how open conversations can reduce stigma while improving access to treatment.  Listeners Will Learn: How implicit bias can affect healthcare decisions even when providers have good intentions Why mental health equity means providing care that meets people's unique needs—not simply providing identical care for everyone Why difficult conversations about mental health, culture, and bias are necessary to improve outcomes Why representation helps people feel understood, respected, and more willing to seek treatment If you've ever wondered why diversity in mental health care matters—or how to achieve it—this episode explores why increasing diversity among mental health professionals isn't just about representation; it's about improving care, expanding access, and creating a mental health system that works better for everyone.  Cold Open Transcript: “Being misdiagnosed happens so often to people of color, to women. It's about understanding what people have experienced throughout their lives, not just because of being a person, but because of being a black person, because of being a woman, because of growing up in a large family, because of growing up in the South. You know, there are just things that are culturally and/or the nuances of how you grew up and what you were exposed to makes such a difference.” ~Stephanie Robertson, Director of Mental Health Equity at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Our guest, Stephanie Robertson, is the Director of Mental Health Equity at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), where she advances access to community-informed and culturally responsive mental health care. She partners with the NAMI Alliance and community-based organizations to address structural barriers to equitable care. Stephanie holds a BA from Duke University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center. Her professional background spans corporate law, higher education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership. Outside of work, she enjoys jogging, crafting handmade jewelry, and spending time with her mini Goldendoodle, Indie. Our guest, Dr. Nicole Washington, is an ABMS board certified psychiatrist and the Chief Medical Officer of Elocin Psychiatric Services, a primarily virtual practice where she focuses on the mental health needs of women and the busy professional. Dr. Washington also serves as President-Elect of the Black Psychiatrists of America, Inc. Dr. Washington has spent most of her career caring and advocating for people who aren't typically consumers of mental health services, namely underserved communities and high-performing professionals. Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. Gabe is also the host of the "Inside Bipolar" podcast with Dr. Nicole Washington. Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can't imagine life without. To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.

Pr. David Haberstock, President-Elect of Lutheran Church Canada The post Confessional Lutheranism in Canada – Pr. David Haberstock, 7/16/26 (1973) first appeared on Issues, Etc..