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This week, as students in North America are returning to campus and settling into the rhythms of the fall semester, some of them are going to open their copies of Homer's epic poems of the Trojan War, the Iliad and Odyssey. They will read of the Trojan commander Hector's poignant farewell to his wife Andromache, of the Greek warrior Achilles' terrible rage, of Odysseus' long journey home, and of his wife in Ithaca, Penelope, who has endured his absence for some twenty years. For many students, these will be powerful stories—windows into an ancient world of honor and virtue and hubris—but for all that, distant stories. When read from the air-conditioned dorm room or plush campus library, the dust and blood and bronze of the Trojan War are abstract. But what happens when these same texts are read by young men and women who do know the weight of putting on armor, who have themselves kissed loved ones goodbye before departing for battle? Who must walk away from their own infant children in order to defend the country? What happens when the students who stand before Homer's text are not just dispassionately analyzing the soul of the warrior but are warriors themselves? Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver speaks in this episode with Ido Hevroni, a professor of literature at Shalem College in Jerusalem. For over a decade, Hevroni has guided Shalem students through Homer's epics, watching them grapple with these eternal questions of personal pride and public duty, private love and public defense, glory and sacrifice. But now, after October 7, his students find themselves in active combat, and he finds that it is Homer who is helping to explain their own experience back to themselves. And it is their experience in the tanks and tunnels of Gaza that is teaching them to read Homer with new eyes. Hevroni recently wrote about teaching the Odyssey in the pages of Mosaic, and that essay was published in honor of Ido's own teacher, Amy Apfel Kass, z”l, whose yortsayt on the fifth of Elul falls on the day that this conversation was originally broadcast. This discussion, too, is dedicated to her memory.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the speeches that became a byword for fierce attacks on political opponents. It was in the 4th century BC, in Athens, that Demosthenes delivered these speeches against the tyrant Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, when Philip appeared a growing threat to Athens and its allies and Demosthenes feared his fellow citizens were set on appeasement. In what became known as The Philippics, Demosthenes tried to persuade Athenians to act against Macedon before it was too late; eventually he succeeded in stirring them, even if the Macedonians later prevailed. For these speeches prompting resistance, Demosthenes became famous as one of the Athenian democracy's greatest freedom fighters. Later, in Rome, Cicero's attacks on Mark Antony were styled on Demosthenes and these too became known as Philippics. With Paul Cartledge A. G. Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge Kathryn Tempest Reader in Latin Literature and Roman History at the University of Roehampton And Jon Hesk Reader in Greek and Classical Studies at the University of St Andrews Producer: Simon TillotsonSpanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the speeches that became a byword for fierce attacks on political opponents. It was in the 4th century BC, in Athens, that Demosthenes delivered these speeches against the tyrant Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, when Philip appeared a growing threat to Athens and its allies and Demosthenes feared his fellow citizens were set on appeasement. In what became known as The Philippics, Demosthenes tried to persuade Athenians to act against Macedon before it was too late; eventually he succeeded in stirring them, even if the Macedonians later prevailed. For these speeches prompting resistance, Demosthenes became famous as one of the Athenian democracy's greatest freedom fighters. Later, in Rome, Cicero's attacks on Mark Antony were styled on Demosthenes and these too became known as Philippics. With Paul Cartledge A. G. Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge Kathryn Tempest Reader in Latin Literature and Roman History at the University of Roehampton And Jon Hesk Reader in Greek and Classical Studies at the University of St Andrews Producer: Simon Tillotson Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/bluemoon Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! ========== After Manchester City's first defeat of the season, David Mooney is joined by Adam Carter from StatCity.co.uk and by Joe Butterfield from The City Ramble podcast to discuss what went wrong against Tottenham. They look at City playing through pressure, controlling the middle of the pitch, finishing chances and the goalkeepers. Since there's been a lot of panic about the first loss, too, we take a look at the times when City have had a successful season despite a set-back in one of their opening two games... and there are some very memorable seasons where that's happened. Ryan Adsett from Talk Seagulls joins the show to discuss Brighton, ahead of City's trip to the Amex on Saturday. What can they expect from their opposition and what would we like to see for City to bounce back? Plus, we've got reaction to the Champions League draw, as BBC analysis suggests City have been given the fourth-hardest set of fixtures out of anyone in the competition. ========== To get more podcasts or to listen without the ads, join our Patreon. It's just £2 per month for all the extra content and you can get a 7-day free trial first: https://www.patreon.com/BlueMoonPodcast And why not gift a Patreon subscription to a friend or family member? More details: https://www.patreon.com/BlueMoonPodcast/gift
Explore the pivotal moment in biblical history as King David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. This episode delves into the significance of Jerusalem as God's chosen city and the importance of the Ark as a symbol of God's presence. Learn about David's initial attempt to transport the Ark, the tragic incident involving Uzzah, and the ultimate successful procession into Jerusalem. Discover how this event highlights the delicate balance between God's love and His holiness, and the importance of obedience in worship. Key topics include: David's reign, conquest of Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant, God's holiness, and ancient Israelite worship practices. Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @biblelitTwitter: @bible_litFacebook: @biblelitEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.org Want to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out ou...
Why do the major Christian homeschool literature books offer 90-97% pagan literature or that written by non-Christians for our kids? Why must we submerge our children in these bad worldviews? What about these arguments urged upon our Christian families, to ascertain that all our youth read the pagans and the post-Christian apostates? "Our children need a well rounded education." "All great classic literature is good literature." "The human mind was not darkened by the fall." "We can borrow everything from the Egyptians!"
A new MP3 sermon from Generations Radio is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Liberal Arts Leads the Apostasy for Our Youth - Arguments for Reading the Greeks Speaker: Kevin Swanson Broadcaster: Generations Radio Event: Radio Broadcast Date: 8/28/2025 Length: 34 min.
“Is Mary pre-saved according to Scripture?” This episode explores the biblical basis for Mary’s unique role, addressing questions like whether the term “Adelphoi” always indicates a biological sibling and why the Blessed Mother doesn’t mention abortion in her apparitions. Tune in for a thoughtful examination of Mary’s Immaculate Conception and her sinlessness. Join The CA Live Club Newsletter: Click Here Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 02:07 – Is thinking of Mary as being “pre-saved” biblical? 08:02 – Is it true that the Greek word Adelphoi always refers to a sibling born of the mother or father unless there is a qualifier? 15:30 – Why doesn’t the Blessed Mother ever talk about abortion in her apparitions since she always appears pregnant? 18:50 – Is there any mention of Mary being baptized? 23:20 – Regarding Lourdes, how does Mary’s declaration of being the Immaculate Conception relate to being protected from original sin? 29:29 – Is it true that if Mary had any sin on her soul she would not be capable of saying yes to the Angel Gabriel due to the pain she would endure during the passion? 34:04 – Can you provide a list of Early Church fathers that supports the view that Mary was purified and sanctified at Jesus’ conception in her womb? 38:03 – Could you expound on the term handmaid and what it means, especially in the context of Mary's response to Gabriel? 44:44 – How could Mary be sinless and perfect? Since only God could be perfect, wouldn’t that be contradictory? 51:20 – Is there any reason to think that Mary lived a consecrated life in the temple?
FOLLOW RICHARD Website: https://www.strangeplanet.ca YouTube: @strangeplanetradio Instagram: @richardsyrettstrangeplanet TikTok: @therealstrangeplanet EP. #1246 Unmasking the Bard: The Shakespeare Authorship Conspiracy What if the greatest playwright in history wasn't the humble glove-maker's son from Stratford, but a nobleman with access to forbidden ancient texts? In this mind-bending episode of Strange Planet, we unravel the Shakespeare authorship mystery with Dr. Earl Showerman. Drawing from his book Shakespeare's Greater Greek, Showerman exposes how the plays echo untranslated Greek epics and tragedies—like Aeschylus' Oresteia in Hamlet—knowledge impossible for the official Bard. Could Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, be the true genius? We dive into clues from medicine, law, and court life that shatter the 400-year myth, challenging everything you learned in English class. Prepare to question the canon! GUEST: Dr. Earl Showerman is a Harvard-educated physician and retired emergency medicine specialist who now applies his diagnostic expertise to literary enigmas. Author of Shakespeare's Greater Greek, he argues that the Bard's works reveal deep knowledge of ancient Greek sources unavailable in English during Shakespeare's time, pointing to Edward de Vere as the likely true author. A leading voice in the Shakespeare authorship debate, Showerman has presented his research at conferences and in scholarly journals, bridging medicine, classics, and Elizabethan history. BOOK: Shakespeare's Greater Greek: An Exploration of Greek Drama, Epic & History in the Works of Shakespeare SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!! FABRIC BY GERBER LIFE Life insurance that's designed to be fast and affordable. You could get instant coverage with no medical exam for qualified applicants. Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family. Apply today in just minutes at meet fabric dot com slash STRANGE TESBROS We're a small business built by Tesla owners, for Tesla owners. Everything we do is about helping our customers customize, protect, and maintain their ride — whether it's through our products or YouTube how-tos and reviews. Go to tesbros.com and use code POD15 for 15% off your first order. That's T-E-S-B-R-O-S dot com and use code P-O-D-1-5 at checkout. BUTCHERBOX ButcherBox delivers better meat and seafood straight to your door – including 100% grass-fed beef,free-range organic chicken, pork raised crate-free, and wild-caught seafood. Right now, ButcherBox is offering our listeners $20 off their first box and free protein for a year. Go to ButcherBox.com/strange to get this limited time offer and free shipping always. Don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. HIMS - Making Healthy and Happy Easy to Achieve Sexual Health, Hair Loss, Mental Health, Weight Management START YOUR FREE ONLINE VISIT TODAY - HIMS dot com slash STRANGE https://www.HIMS.com/strange QUINCE BEDDING Cool, Relaxed Bedding. Woven from 100% European flax linen. Visit QUINCE BEDDING to get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER!!! https://strangeplanet.supportingcast.fm Three monthly subscriptions to choose from. Commercial Free Listening, Bonus Episodes and a Subscription to my monthly newsletter, InnerSanctum. Visit https://strangeplanet.supportingcast.fm Use the discount code "Planet" to receive one month off the first subscription. We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://strangeplanet.supportingcast.fm/
A compendium of rare cross-cultural and historical accounts of extrasensory perception• Provides accounts of ESP ranging from ancient Greek myth, traditional North and South American, African, and Polynesian stories to individuals like Rumi, Charles Dickens, and Carl Jung• Considers unexplained ESP-related happenings, including bilocation, the ability to locate lost items, early knowledge of one's own death, and perceptions regarding the well-being of loved onesWhether a premonition of an impending event, a warning of potential danger, or an unlikely synchronistic experience, such things are surprisingly common, even if they often cannot be clearly explained.Taking readers on a historical and cross-cultural voyage through extrasensory experiences, Daniel Bourke documents, contextualizes, and sheds light on these mysterious phenomena. From the plains of Peru and the haunted highlands of Scotland to the snowy taiga forests of the Far North and the Indigenous cultures of Australia and America, Bourke examines the strange psychic occurrences that seem to appear in all places, at all times. These include instances of bilocation, premonitions about the coming of visitors, intuitions of the location of lost items or treasures, the discovery of cures by telepathic means, and even accurate pre-perceptions about one's own demise or the perilous situation of a loved one. He looks at the renowned Greek seers, including Iamos, who announced the death of Hercules at the moment it occurred; the far-reaching visions of the shaman in a trance who might warn his tribe of danger; and the witches, wizards, and heroes of legend and romance who were privy to secret knowledge through magical means. Bourke's survey incorporates rare accounts from people all around the world and across the ages, including figures like Rumi, Saint Anthony, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Carl Jung.Shedding light on our cultural and mythic past, Bourke shows that wherever you look in the world, whatever culture or time, telepathic tales are unfolding all around us.Daniel Bourke is an author, poet, and songwriter. He has a background in the natural sciences, the arts, and the video game industry. He has previously been published in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, New Dawn Magazine, and the journal Darklore and is the author of Apparitions at the Moment of Death. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.https://shepherd.com/bboy/2024/f/daniel-bourkeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/earth-ancients--2790919/support.
Welcome to Multiverse News, Your source for Information about all your favorite fictional universesTrammell Tillman, the break-out star of Severance who plays Seth Milchick on the Apple+ show, will be part of the Spider-Man: Brand New Day cast. Variety got the scoop on the Emmy-nominated actor joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but no details on who he's playing were announced. Move over Marvel and DC…Archie is here to take us by storm? In an interesting move from filmmakers Phil Lord and Chritopher Miller, Universal is fronting an Archie adaptation for the big screen. Comics legend Tom King is writing the screenplay and former 20th Century Studios President of Production Emma Watts is producing. King made the leap from page to screen recently in the DCU, penning Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow and the Lanterns series, but is well-known for his comics in Marvel, DC, and beyond. The CW show Riverdale adapted the Archie comics in its own unique way and plot details for this film are unknown. Universal also produced a version of the Archie characters in Josie and the Pussycats in 2001. Though we sing the praises for AppleTV+ loudly and frequently on this show, we've also often touted it as being one of the more inexpensive streaming services. Alas, all good things come to an end, as the streamer announced its cost jumped from $9.99 to $12.99 effective August 21. The annual rate of $99.99 has not changed yet. As of now, AppleTV+ stands alone as the only streamer that doesn't have an ad-supported option. Dafne Keen and Saara Chaudry have joined the third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Keen will play Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt. Saara Chaudry will play Zoë Nightshade, an immortal hunter and Artemis' lieutenant.Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumaji star Karen Gillan has joined the cast of the Amazon MGM's Highlander reboot and will play Heather, the love interest of Henry Cavill's character.The first trailer for season 13 of Futurama has been released. All 10 episodes of the new season premiere on Hulu on September 15.Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in season five of HBO's True Detective.NBC has reversed course on the release schedule of the upcoming The Office spin off The Paper - shifting to a binge release. Instead of the previous plan of rolling out over four weeks, the show will now debut all 10 episodes at once on September 4.K-Pop Demon Hunters and Weapons duked it out for the top spot and the estimates on Box Office Mojo show Demon Hunters coming out on top. The Netflix sensation was only released for one weekend and clearly had a draw. Now production company Sony is in talks to create a sequel with Netflix. Variety has learned that despite announcing plans for a season two earlier this year, Paramount has opted not to move forward with another season of the Dexter prequel series Dexter: Original Sin. The studio is planning however on assembling a writer's room to develop a second season of Dexter: Resurrection, the sequel series.Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald, the creators behind Netflix's Cobra Kai are in talks to bring Knight Rider, the 1980s David Hasselhoff-led action drama centered on a computerized talking car, to the big screen.
On this episode of the pod Harriet gets some insight from Hannah and Meg all about life on tour - and secrets will be spilled!Harriet finds out what's good and bad sharing room etiquette; from DJ'ing in the bedroom, having multiple alarms and why Hannah is a bad roommate... snoring might be involved! As we know Hannah is the social animal of the group and she lets us in on some team bonding exercises from dirty bingo, to karaoke and darts (it basically turns into a stag do!)Lock 'ins happen occasionally on tour and when they do chaos ensues! From smashing plates at Greek night, dressing up as Harry Potter characters, to a bit of cat play - nothing is off limits! We also discover why Tatyana Heard is called "Princess Tat", and Meg lets us know why Ellie Kildunne takes ages to get ready - and they reveal how Maud Muir ended up with chocolate custard over her face!And does Ilona Maher finally pick up the phone to Hannah...?
In this week's episode of Bet On It direct from Las Vegas: Kelly Stewart, Marco D'Angelo and Gianni the Greek break down College Football Week 1 from a sports betting perspective, and share their personal college football picks and predictions. Introduction 00:00 - 1:19 Texas vs. Ohio State 1:20 - 4:14LSU vs. Clemson 4:15 - 6:19 Notre Dame vs. Miami 6:20 - 7:46Steam Report 7:47 - 11:46Barking Dogs 11:47 - 20:16Trap Game 20:17 - 22:29Best Bets 22:30 - 30:20Recap 30:21 - 30:59
We delve into the tumultuous period following the death of King Saul, as David ascends to the throne amidst civil war in Israel. We explore David's profound mourning for Saul and Jonathan, illustrating his respect and loyalty despite Saul's hostility. We highlight the power struggle between David and Ishbosheth, Saul's son, leading to a fierce civil war. We witness the political maneuvering of Abner, the commander of Saul's army, and the violent repercussions of Joab's quest for vengeance. David's commitment to peace and justice is emphasized through his reactions to betrayal and murder. Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @biblelitTwitter: @bible_litFacebook: @biblelitEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.org Want to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out ou...
Fantasy religions often feel like reskins either of ancient Greek or Norse pantheons or of the medieval Catholic church. But what more interesting choices can we make when we're building faith within an invented world? Deva Fagan joins us to explore some of the options! How your people envision deities, the afterlife, and the very bones of the universe can illuminate a lot about their overall values and how they self-mythologize their place in the world. It's not all just cosmology, either: religion can touch so many other parts of a world, from government and power structures to idiomatic language and metaphors. Religions are also things that live and change: How can cults, schisms, and syncretism not only help you create a world that feels more diverse and lived-in, but also maybe give you some plot and character hooks? [Transcript for Episode 162 -- Thank you, scribes!] Our Guest: Deva Fagan writes fantasy and science fiction for all ages. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading, doing geometry, playing video games, hiking, and drinking copious amounts of tea. She is the author of several books, including Rival Magic, Nightingale, The Mirrorwood, A Game of Noctis, and The Delta Codex. She lives in Maine with her husband and their dog. You can find her online at DevaFagan.com. Deva's List of Cool Fantasy Religions! Dragon Age Watership Down by Richard Adams Hannah Kaner: Godkiller Lois McMaster Bujold, Curse of Chalion N. K. Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (And Dreamblood duology) Robert Jackson Bennet: City of Stairs Little Thieves (YA) Margaret Owen A Psalm for the Wild-Built Becky Chambers Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (Earthseed, god is change) The Burning Kingdoms by Tasha Suri The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
John Hamer makes the surprising argument that the Auditorium is, in fact, a Community of Christ temple—a claim even many RLDS members have never heard. Why does he say this? It ties back to the unfinished temple project of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), also known as the Hedrickites. For a time, the two churches were essentially constructing rival temples side by side on the historic temple lot. Join us as we dive into this fascinating story! https://youtu.be/Ngfz0UTK5l8 John is the co-author of Scattering of the Saints: Schism Within Mormonism. Don't miss our other episodes with John Hamer! https://gospeltangents.com/people/john-hamer/ Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved The concept and construction of temples have been a central, yet often contentious, aspect of the Restoration movement. While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is well-known for its extensive temple building, other branches of the Restoration tradition have also grappled with their own unique visions and challenges regarding sacred spaces. Historian John Hamer sheds light on the fascinating, and sometimes fraught, history of temple competition and diverse practices among groups like the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS), the Hedrickites, Strangites, and Cutlerites. The Community of Christ's Dual Temple Vision For the Community of Christ, the idea of a "temple" has taken on multiple forms, leading to what some might see as competing sacred spaces. The Auditorium as a Temple: The Community of Christ Auditorium, located on the "greater Temple Lot" in Independence, Missouri, was envisioned by Fred M. Smith as a temple, though he used the modern term "auditorium". Construction began in 1929 during the Great Depression, incurring significant debt. This massive structure, designed for conferences, worship, training, learning, and church headquarters offices, aligned with Joseph Smith III's earlier vision for an Independence temple. Hamer explicitly states that the Auditorium is the temple for the reorganization, a fact often overlooked even within the Community of Christ itself. The Independence Temple: Despite the Auditorium's existence, Fred M. Smith's brother, W. Wallace Smith, who succeeded him as prophet, received revelations about the need to build a temple. This led to the construction of the architecturally magnificent "Spiral Temple," also known as the Community of Christ Temple. Its design incorporates the Fibonacci sequence, symbolizing divine ratios and connecting to ancient Greek civilization, and was a significant draw for Hamer to join the Community of Christ. Hamer suggests that the lack of institutional memory regarding the Auditorium's original purpose might have contributed to the decision to build a second temple. Hedrickites and the Battle for the Temple Lot The Church of Christ (Temple Lot), also know as the Hedrickites the earliest Restoration branch to return to Jackson County, Missouri. They hold a key portion of "the Temple Lot". This property was part of a much larger parcel Edward Partridge originally bought for a total of 24 temples. RLDS Aggression and Backfire: The RLDS Church made aggressive attempts to acquire this land through lawsuits and a "sneaky" plan for "free association". The idea was to absorb the tiny Temple Lot Church, which at the time had minimal active leadership. Otto Fetting/Competing Structures: This plan dramatically backfired when a thousand RLDS members, including Otto Fetting, transferred their membership to the Temple Lot Church. Otto Fetting then began receiving revelations to build a temple, which, strikingly, was designed as an Auditorium-like structure with assembly halls and offices, echoing the former RLDS members' understanding of temples. This created a direct architectural and spiritual competition with the Community of Christ's Auditorium. The Hedrickites believe they found cornerstones for a temple dedicated in th...
Who were the Founding Fathers — and what is the education that shaped them? In this episode of _Classical Et Cetera_ , we explore the rigorous classical education that influenced America's founders and the birth of a nation. From learning Latin and Greek to studying history and literature, the Founders gained the wisdom and discipline to lead with courage and conviction. We discuss what their colonial education looked like, why it mattered, and how modern schools and families can recover the same focus and depth. Join the conversation and discover what classical learning can offer today's America! *What We're Reading* from This Episode: _The Hobbit_—J.R.R. Tolkien (Paul) _The Human Factor_—Graham Greene (Paul) _The Father's Tale_—Michael D. O'Brien (Tanya) _The Iliad_—Homer (Martin) _The Idiot_—Fyodor Dostoevsky (Martin) Vulgate Set - https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/selections-from-the-vulgate-set/?utm_source=PodBean&utm_medium=CETC&utm_campaign=184 Martin's article - https://www.memoriapress.com/articles/classical-education-founding-fathers/?utm_source=PodBean&utm_medium=CETC&utm_campaign=184
Send The Parable Podcast a TextDo you live by the idea that our faith is personal and private? Welcome to the Parable Podcast, I'm your host Danielle Zapchenk. Today, I would like to share one of my recent messages from our home church, a series called Summer School: Relearning What Matters Most. Please enjoy this message wherever you may find yourself today.Sermon NotesMy Faith is Personal AND Private My Faith is Personal NOT PrivateEvery believer was faithfully devoted to following the teachings of the apostles. Their hearts were mutually linked to one another, sharing communion and coming together regularly for prayer. A deep sense of holy awe swept over everyone, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. All the believers were in fellowship as one body, and they shared with one another whatever they had. Out of generosity, they even sold their assets to distribute the proceeds to those who were in need among them. Daily they met together in the temple courts and in one another's homes to celebrate communion. They shared meals together with joyful hearts and tender humility. They were continually filled with praises to God, enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were coming to life. Acts 2:42–47 (TPT) Their hearts were mutually linked to one another They met together in the temple and in each other's homes. Finally, when we live the truth out that My Faith is Personal, NOT Private. Verse 46 says, "They shared meals together with joyful hearts and tender humility." A deep sense of holy awe swept over everyone, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. "And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were coming to life." Acts 2:47 (TPT) Matthew 16:18 The Voice, “for on this rock I will build My church. The church will reign triumphant even at the gates of hell.” When we stop be secretive and tiptoe around faith for ourselves."The Greek word for church – EkklēsiaReflection Questions 1. What are my misunderstandings? In what ways am I keeping my faith Confidential, secret, nobody's business?2. How do I want to gather this Fall, possibly with a friend over coffee once a month, talk about faith, or in a small group setting? Watch the service video hereWant to Enhance Your Conversations?Before you go, could you do me a favor and take my Listener Survey, and then in doing so, I will send you, "10 basic Tips to Enhance Your Conversations." It will be sent straight to your inbox, and you can keep it on your phone and refer to it anytime you need a little help. #faith #spirtitualpractices #theparablepodcast #whatIlearned #community Ways to Support The Parable Podcast #1 Subscribe or Follow the podcast to ensure you catch every episode of The Parable Podcast on your preferred podcast platform (such as iTunes, Spotify). #2 Recommend this podcast to a friend, providing a great chance to begin your own Parable Conversation. #3 Looking for a speaker for your Church, Women's Group, or event? Contact Danielle to learn more.
The Secret History of Gold comes out this week. Here for your viewing pleasure is a fim about gold based on the first chapter.“Gold will be slave or master”HoraceIn 2021, a metal detectorist with the eyebrow-raising name of Ole Ginnerup Schytz dug up a hoard of Viking gold in a field in Denmark. The gold was just as it was when it was buried 1,500 years before, if a little dirtier. The same goes for the jewellery unearthed at the Varna Necropolis in Bulgaria in 1972. The beads, bracelets, rings and necklaces are as good as when they were buried 6,700 years ago.In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, there is a golden tooth bridge — a gold wire used to bind teeth and dental implants — made over 4,000 years ago. It could go in your mouth today.No other substance is as long-lasting as gold — not diamonds, not tungsten carbide, not boron nitride. Gold does not corrode; it does not tarnish or decay; it does not break down over time. This sets it apart from every other substance. Iron rusts, wood rots, silver tarnishes. Gold never changes. Left alone, it stays itself. And it never loses its shine — how about that?Despite its permanence, you can shape this enormously ductile metal into pretty much anything. An ounce of gold can be stretched into a wire 50 miles long or plate a copper wire 1,000 miles long. It can be beaten into a leaf just one atom thick. Yet there is one thing you cannot do and that is destroy it. Life may be temporary, but gold is permanent. It really is forever.This means that all the gold that has ever been mined, estimated to be 216,000 tonnes, still exists somewhere. Put together it would fit into a cube with 22-metre sides. Visualise a square building seven storeys high — and that would be all the gold ever.With some effort, you can dissolve gold in certain chemical solutions, alloy it with other metals, or even vaporise it. But the gold will always be there. It is theoretically possible to destroy gold through nuclear reactions and other such extreme methods, but in practical terms, gold is indestructible. It is the closest thing we have on earth to immortality.Perhaps that is why almost every ancient culture we know of associated gold with the eternal. The Egyptians believed the flesh of gods was made of gold, and that it gave you safe passage into the afterlife. In Greek myth, the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, which Hercules was sent to retrieve, conferred immortality on whoever ate them. The South Americans saw gold as the link between humanity and the cosmos. They were not far wrong.Gold was present in the dust that formed the solar system. It sits in the earth's crust today, just as it did when our planet was formed some 4.6 billion years ago. That little bit of gold you may be wearing on your finger or around your neck is actually older than the earth itself. In fact, it is older than the solar system. To touch gold is as close as you will ever come to touching eternity.And yet the world's most famous investor is not impressed.‘It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or some place,' said Warren Buffett. ‘Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.'He's right. Gold does nothing. It does not even pay a yield. It just sits there inert. We use other metals to construct things, cut things or conduct things, but gold's industrial uses are minimal. It is a good conductor of electricity, but copper and silver are better and cheaper. It has some use in dentistry, medical applications and nanotechnology. It is finding more and more use in outer space — back whence it came — where it is used to coat spacecraft, astronauts' visors and heat shields. But, in the grand scheme of things, these uses are paltry.Gold's only purpose is to store and display prosperity. It is dense and tangible wealth: pure money.Though you may not realise it, we still use gold as money today. Not so much as a medium to exchange value but store it.In 1970, about 27 per cent of all the gold in the world was in the form of gold coinage and central bank or government reserves. Today, even with the gold standard long since dead, the percentage is about the same.The most powerful nation on earth, the United States, keeps 70 per cent of its foreign exchange holdings in gold. Its great rival, China, is both the world's largest producer and the world's largest importer. It has built up reserves that, as we shall discover, are likely as great as the USA's. If you buying gold or silver coins to protect yourself in these “interesting times” - and I urge you to - as always I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.Ordinary people and institutions the world over use gold to store wealth. Across myriad cultures gold is gifted at landmark life events — births and weddings — because of its intrinsic value.In fact, gold's purchasing power has increased over the millennia, as human beings have grown more productive. The same ounce of gold said by economic historians to have bought King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon 350 loaves of bread could buy you more than 1,000 loaves today. The same gold dinar (roughly 1/7 oz) that, in the time of the Koran in the seventh century, bought you a lamb would buy you three lambs today. Those same four or five aurei (1 oz) which bought you a fine linen tunic in ancient Rome would buy you considerably more clothing today.In 1972, 0.07 ounces of gold would buy you a barrel of oil. Here we are in 2024 and a barrel of oil costs 0.02 ounces of gold — it's significantly cheaper than it was fifty years ago.House prices, too, if you measure them in gold, have stayed constant. It is only when they are measured in fiat currency that they have appreciated so relentlessly (and destructively).In other words, an ounce of gold buys you as much, and sometimes more, food, clothing, energy and shelter as it did ten years ago, a hundred years ago or even thousands of years ago. As gold lasts, so does its purchasing power. You cannot say the same about modern national currencies.Rare and expensive to mine, the supply of gold is constrained. This is in stark contrast to modern money — electronic, debt-based fiat money to give it its full name — the supply of which multiplies every year as governments spend and borrowing balloons.As if by Natural Law, gold supply has increased at the same rate as the global population — roughly 2 per cent per annum. The population of the world has slightly more than doubled since 1850. So has gold supply. The correlation has held for centuries, except for one fifty-year period during the gold rushes of the late nineteenth century, when gold supply per capita increased.Gold has the added attraction of being beautiful. It shines and glistens and sparkles. It captivates and allures. The word ‘gold' derives from the Sanskrit ‘jval', meaning ‘to shine'. That's why we use it as jewellery — to show off our wealth and success, as well as to store it. Indeed, in nomadic prehistory, and still in parts of the world today, carrying your wealth on your person as jewellery was the safest way to keep it.The universe has given us this captivatingly beautiful, dense, inert, malleable, scarce, useless and permanent substance whose only use is to be money. To quote historian Peter Bernstein, ‘nothing is as useless and useful all at the same time'.But after thousands of years of gold being official money, in the early twentieth century there was a seismic shift. Neither the British, German nor French government had enough gold to pay for the First World War. They abandoned gold backing to print the money they needed. In the inter-war years, nations briefly attempted a return to gold standards, but they failed. The two prevailing monetary theories clashed: gold-backed versus state-issued currency. Gold standard advocates, such as Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England, considered gold to be one of the key pillars of a free society along with property rights and habeas corpus. ‘We have gold because we cannot trust governments,' said President Herbert Hoover in 1933. This was a sentiment echoed by one of the founders of the London School of Economics, George Bernard Shaw — to whom I am grateful for demonstrating that it is possible to have a career as both a comedian and a financial writer. ‘You have to choose (as a voter),' he said, ‘between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government… I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold.'On the other hand, many, such as economist John Maynard Keynes, advocated the idea of fiat currency to give government greater control over the economy and the ability to manipulate the money supply. Keynes put fixation with gold in the Freudian realms of sex and religion. The gold standard, he famously said after the First World War — and rightly, as it turned out — was ‘already a barbarous relic'. Freud himself related fascination with gold to the erotic fantasies and interests of early childhood.Needless to say, Keynes and fiat money prevailed. By the end of the 1930s, most of Europe had left the gold standard. The US followed, but not completely until 1971, in order to meet the ballooning costs of its welfare system and its war in Vietnam.But compare both gold's universality (everyone everywhere knows gold has value) and its purchasing power to national currencies and you have to wonder why we don't use it officially today. There is a very good reason: power.Sticking to the discipline of the gold standard means governments can't just create money or run deficits to the same extent. Instead, they have to rein in their spending, which they are not prepared to do, especially in the twenty-first century, when they make so many promises to win elections. Balanced books, let alone independent money, have become an impossibility. If you seek an answer as to why the state has grown so large in the West, look no further than our system of money. When one body in a society has the power to create money at no cost to itself, it is inevitable that that body will grow disproportionately large. So it is in the twenty-first century, where state spending in many social democracies is now not far off 50 per cent of GDP, sometimes higher.Many arguments about gold will quickly slide into a political argument about the role of government. It is a deeply political metal. Those who favour gold tend to favour small government, free markets and individual responsibility. I count myself in that camp. Those who dismiss it tend to favour large government and state planning.I have argued many times that money is the blood of a society. It must be healthy. So much starts with money: values, morals, behaviour, ambitions, manners, even family size. Money must be sound and true. At the moment it is neither. Gold, however, is both. ‘Because gold is honest money it is disliked by dishonest men,' said former Republican Congressman Ron Paul. As Dorothy is advised in The Wizard of Oz (which was, as we shall discover, part allegory), maybe the time has come to once again ‘follow the yellow brick road'.On the other hand, maybe the twilight of gold has arrived, as Niall Ferguson argued in his history of debt and money, The Cash Nexus. Gold's future, he said, is ‘mainly as jewellery' or ‘in parts of the world with primitive or unstable monetary and financial systems'. Gold may have been money for 5,000 years, or even 10,000 years, but so was the horse a means of transport, and then along came the motor car.A history of gold is inevitably a history of money, but it is also a history of greed, obsession and ambition. Gold is beautiful. Gold is compelling. It is wealth in its purest, most distilled form. ‘Gold is a child of Zeus,' runs the ancient Greek lyric. ‘Neither moth nor rust devoureth it; but the mind of man is devoured by this supreme possession.' Perhaps that's why Thomas Edison said gold was ‘an invention of Satan'. Wealth, and all the emotions that come with it, can do strange things to people.Gold has led people to do the most brilliant, the most brave, the most inventive, the most innovative and the most terrible things. ‘More men have been knocked off balance by gold than by love,' runs the saying, usually attributed to Benjamin Disraeli. Where gold is concerned, emotion, not logic, prevails. Even in today's markets it is a speculative asset whose price is driven by greed and fear, not by fundamental production numbers.Its gleam has drawn man across oceans, across continents and into the unknown. It lured Jason and the Argonauts, Alexander the Great, numerous Caesars, da Gama, Cortés, Pizarro and Raleigh. Brilliant new civilisations have emerged as a result of the quest for gold, yet so have slavery, war, deceit, death and devastation. Describing the gold mines of ancient Egypt, the historian Diodorus Siculus wrote, ‘there is absolutely no consideration nor relaxation for sick or maimed, for aged man or weak woman. All are forced to labour at their tasks until they die, worn out by misery amid their toil.' His description could apply to many an illegal mine in Africa today.The English critic John Ruskin told a story of a man who boarded a ship with all his money: a bag of gold coins. Several days into the voyage a terrible storm blew up. ‘Abandon ship!' came the cry. The man strapped his bag around his waist and jumped overboard, only to sink to the bottom of the sea. ‘Now,' asked Ruskin, ‘as he was sinking — had he the gold? Or had the gold him?'As the Chinese proverb goes, ‘The miser does not own the gold; the gold owns the miser.'Gold may be a dead metal. Inert, unchanging and lifeless. But its hold over humanity never relents. It has adorned us since before the dawn of civilisation and, as money, underpinned economies ever since. Desire for it has driven mankind forwards, the prime impulse for quest and conquest, for exploration and discovery. From its origins in the hearts of dying stars to its quiet presence today beneath the machinery of modern finance, gold has seen it all. How many secrets does this silent witness keep? This book tells the story of gold. It unveils the schemes, intrigues and forces that have shaped our world in the relentless pursuit of this ancient asset, which, even in this digital age, still wields immense power.That was Chapter One of The Secret History of Gold The Secret History of Gold is available to pre-order at Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops. I hear the audiobook, read by me, is excellent. The book comes out on August 28.Hurry! Amazon is currently offering 20% off.Until next time,Dominic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe
In this clip, Patrick Bet-David presses Prime Minister Netanyahu on why Israel hasn't officially recognized the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides. Netanyahu responds directly, making a statement that resonates with communities worldwide.
Hey HBs! We're back with the 4th and final part of RECEIVER OF MANY by Rachel Alexander! It's time for a road trip to Tartarus and a Titanic confrontation. Bonus Content: those hundred handed boys, ziplining angels and devils, and momentous trips to Claire's! (But really, if you want to get a piercing go to an accredited piercer.) Lady Loves: Sabrina: The podcast Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! Liv and her scholarly, yet approachable style of delving into Greek and Roman myths is such a delight! Hard recommend! Mel: 2nding Sabrina's lady love, but also DISCOUNTED CHERRIES! Do not let anyone get between you and cherries that are on sale. YOU DESERVE THEM! Curious about the ridiculous faces we make? Subscribe and watch us on YOUTUBE! Want more of us? Visit our Patreon! This week we're getting the final available books in the Sea Sand Warrior series! That's books 14 ALIEN HOPE and 15 ALIEN CHAMPION and there's a secret baby in one of them! Want to tell us a story, ask about advertising, or anything else? Email: heavingbosomspodcast (at) gmail Follow our socials: Instagram @heavingbosoms | Tiktok @heaving_bosoms | Bluesky: @heavingbosoms.com | Threads: @heavingbosoms Facebook group: the Heaving Bosoms Geriatric Friendship Cult Credits: Theme Music: Brittany Pfantz Art: Author Kate Prior The above contains affiliate links, which means that when purchasing through them, the podcast gets a small percentage without costing you a penny more.
How does the classical world shape our politics, culture, language and lives today? On today's episode, we're joined by two of the greatest names making classics accessible for the modern day. Dame Mary Beard is a classicist who taught at Cambridge for almost 40 years. She has close to 20 books to her name, including Pompeii, which won the Wolfson History Prize, SPQR and Emperor of Rome, both of which were bestsellers in the UK and US. Charlotte Higgins is the chief culture writer of the Guardian. She studied Classics at university , and has since written many books on this topic, including Greek Myths: A New Retelling. Charlotte and Mary sat down with classicist and author Honor Cargill-Martin to explore taking a ‘post-truth' approach to antiquity, how the idea of the Romans have been used as a political tool throughout history, and what the Greeks got right and wrong about human nature. You can find more of Mary and Charlotte discussing antiquity and the present day on their new podcast, Instant Classics, available to watch or listen weekly from Thursday August 28. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The overlooked Olympian who was the resolutely unmarried goddess of the hearth and home. In fact, Zeus awarded her a glorious gift for remaining unmarried, a tradition Natalie very much feels should be continued. In Hestia's Roman form of Vesta her Vestal Virgins guarded the sacred flame in her temple. Edith Hall thinks she's like Nigella, a domestic goddess, which may explain why references to her are hard to find, but that her importance both to men and women at the time cannot be overestimated. 'Rockstar mythologist' Natalie Haynes is the best-selling author of 'Divine Might', 'Stone Blind', and 'A Thousand Ships' as well as a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greek and Rome.Edith Hall is Professor of Classics at Durham University, specialising in ancient Greek literature. She has written over thirty books and is a Fellow of the British Academy.Producer...Beth O'Dea
Our daughter's got this thing about lighthouses. Thanks to her family indulging that passion at Christmas and birthday time, she's got lighthouses all over her house. She's got lighthouse stationery, lighthouse rugs, and lighthouse books; sad to say, even a lighthouse on the cover of her commode. In many places, real lighthouses are mostly reminders of the maritime past when lives actually depended on seeing the light that marked the shore and the rocks. Sometimes lives still depend on them, as in the case of a Greek ferry called the Express Samina. There were 540 passengers aboard that September evening, sailing from Athens to an Aegean Island. An hour out, the wind came up and the temperature suddenly dropped. Five hours into the voyage, passengers felt the ferry's engines surge, and most of them assumed they were getting close to their destination. They were wrong. The crew was frantically trying to steer clear of this small, rocky island, two miles from their destination. Tragically, the ferry plowed right into those rocks. It took only thirty-eight minutes to sink. Rescue vessels got there quickly, but eighty people died that night, and you know, it didn't have to happen. There was a functioning lighthouse, sitting atop that rock, warning vessels away. It could be seen for several miles around. For some reason, the ferry just kept heading straight for the rocks. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Light Right In Front of You." It's possible to have the light right in front of you and miss it - with tragic results. It's been happening to nice church folks for a long time. If you're a nice church folk, it could happen to you. There are a lot of great things about growing up in a Christian environment, or of being a part of a church where you hear about Jesus a lot. But there are some dangers, too; like missing the light that's right in front of you. Jesus had some sobering things to say to some of the most religious people of His day. They are still sobering words for those of us who are Bible folks - church folks. Here are the words of Jesus from John 5:39-40, our word for today from the Word of God: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, and yet you refuse to come to Me to have life." You can have the light of the Bible, the light of the Gospel in front of you your whole life, and yet you could still miss Jesus. When you miss Jesus, you miss God and you miss heaven. Jesus made clear that many people who have lived for years in sight of the lighthouse will miss heaven's destination and sail right into the rocks of eternal punishment for their sins. The Bible describes eternal life as "the gift of God" (Romans 6:23). You can know all about a gift, you can appreciate a gift, and you can have the gift right in front of you and still miss the gift because you never took it for yourself. Could that be you? Somehow, there's never been a time when you actually reached out and personally took Jesus into your life for yourself. For all you know, you don't know Jesus. For all you've experienced, you've never experienced Him. Don't you want to? God, in His great love for you, has laid this on my heart so you could have this chance to know Him for real. It's probably going to be hard to admit that you've missed Jesus all this time, but it's not nearly as hard as an eternity without Him. Don't let your pride, don't let your self-deception make you miss heaven. Right where you are, tell Him, "Jesus, I've never actually put my trust in You to be my own Savior from my own sin. But today I am. Beginning this day, Jesus, I'm Yours." I want you to be sure beyond any shadow of a doubt that you belong to Jesus for now and for eternity. That's why our website is there. Please go there today. It's ANewStory.com. You've seen the lighthouse, but maybe you've never changed your course. This time, turn to Jesus while there's time.
We explore the tumultuous events surrounding the end of King Saul's reign and the rise of David. As David navigates his complex relationship with the Philistines, he faces the aftermath of an Amalekite raid on Ziklag, leading to a daring rescue mission. Meanwhile, Saul's tragic downfall unfolds as he battles the Philistines, resulting in his death and the fulfillment of Samuel's prophecy. Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @biblelitTwitter: @bible_litFacebook: @biblelitEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.org Want to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out ou...
The fathers speak with one voice concerning the passion of anger: it blinds the eyes of the soul and expels the grace of the Spirit. St. Cassian tells us that even a “just cause” for anger blinds no less than an unjust one; whether gold or lead is pressed over the eyes, sight is equally obstructed. So too when anger burns, whether cloaked in righteousness or openly irrational, the light of the Sun of Righteousness is veiled from us. The words cut to the quick: we are not to excuse or harbor even a trace of anger. For Christ Himself declared that “whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of judgment” (Mt. 5:22). St. John Chrysostom tells us that scribes added the phrase “without a cause” to soften the command, but the Lord's intention was uncompromising: to root out the seed entirely, lest it grow into the frenzy that enslaves the heart. For the hesychast this teaching is clear: isolation is no refuge from anger. Cassian admits to raging at sticks of wood or the stubbornness of flint that would not spark quickly enough. The desert does not strip away anger; rather, it exposes it. If we think that by fleeing from brothers we escape the trial of forbearance, we deceive ourselves. Without the correction of life in common, passions grow unchecked, and even inanimate things can draw forth our wrath. Thus, for both monk and layman, anger must be confronted at its root. What, then, of those living in the world, immersed in the irritations and burdens of ordinary life? The fathers offer no easier path for them. Anger in the household, in work, in traffic, in all the frictions of daily existence—these, too, are occasions for forbearance, the training ground of meekness. The same Christ who commands the desert hermit commands also the parent, the spouse, the worker: “Be angry, and sin not” (Ps. 4:4). Turn anger not against neighbor or circumstance, but against the thoughts that seek to enslave. St. Maximos is clear: fasting and vigils restrain bodily desires, but anger is cured only by kindness, charity, love, and mercy. This is the practical labor of every Christian, monk or lay: to return insult with silence, to meet disturbance with meekness, to smother wrath with prayer. The fathers remind us soberly that chastity, poverty, vigils, and every hardship will avail nothing if anger reigns in the soul on the Day of Judgment. For anger drives out the Spirit; where wrath abides, peace cannot dwell. And he who is without peace is also without joy. Thus the path is narrow. Anger is a pit, and blessed is he who jumps over it, pulling the gentle yoke of Christ to the end with meekness. This is no less true for those in the city than for those in the desert. Whether at the dinner table, in the workplace, or in the monastery, each moment of provocation is an invitation to humility, to accuse oneself rather than another, to seize the opportunity for compunction rather than resentment. If we endure, grace will come. What seems at first an impossible command—to eradicate anger entirely—becomes, by the Spirit, an easy yoke. For the fathers remind us: all things are possible to the one who bends low in humility, entrusting his passions to Christ who alone can heal the soul. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:13:39 Tracey Fredman: I miss seeing Lori. I hope she's doing well. 00:16:52 Adam Paige: It's Greek, he writes in Greek 00:18:54 Adam Paige: Some of his books are available digitally, but not Flying over the Abyss 00:19:41 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 272 St. John Cassian 00:20:30 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 272 E 00:44:26 Jacqulyn: Living on a ranch, I totally understand that feeling! 00:45:02 Erick Chastain: Is the worsening of the logismoi in the wilderness as opposed to when you are out in the world dependent on whether one is an introvert/extrovert? 00:45:13 Jacqulyn: Yes, I do! But the sheep keep me focused! 00:45:37 Bob Čihák, AZ: I get angry at myself, but not for long. 00:52:17 Anthony: Lately I've been encouraged by St Francis, who instead of getting wrathful with himself called his erring self "Brother Ass." 00:56:35 Hey Oh! : Augustine said that anger is like an unwanted guest. Once we let it in we don't know how long it will stay or what it will do in our home (hearts). 00:57:39 Rick Visser: It seems that in contemporary psychology there is a strong tendency not to deny the anger that exists in us. We must allow it, not repress it. 00:58:12 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It seems that in con..." with
The Most Haunted City On Earth | Presented by The Savannah Underground
Become a Parajunkie TODAY for Zero Ads Always, livestreams every week, and early releases! It's the best way to support us and what we do:)With the blood moon coming up in early September, we wanted to make an episode about how the moon relates to the paranormal!The moon has always carried mystery, but does it also fuel the paranormal? In this episode of The Most Haunted City on Earth, Madison and Chris explore the ancient folklore, chilling legends, and modern theories linking lunar cycles to hauntings, madness, and supernatural activity.From Babylonian moon gods and Greek philosophers to werewolf myths, ghost festivals, and modern ghost hunts timed with lunar phases, we unravel how humanity has long believed the moon affects spirits and even our own behavior. Is there real evidence behind the “lunar effect,” or are we seeing the power of belief itself at work?Along the way, we dive into historical accounts, scientific studies, and personal stories—from hospital workers swearing the full moon makes nights chaotic, to investigators reporting more ghostly encounters during certain moon phases.
TISS is a weekly podcast where Varun, Kautuk, Neville & Aadar discuss crazy "facts" they find on the internet. Come learn with them... or something like that.This week, the boys are diving into a hilarious episode of 'betting apps, Mumbai floods and crazy doctors'To support TISS, check out our Instamojo: www.instamojo.com/@TISSOPFollow #TISS Shorts where we put out videos: https://bit.ly/3tUdLTCYou can also check out the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify and Google podcast!https://shorturl.at/hfQZXhttp://apple.co/3neTO62http://spoti.fi/3blYG79http://bit.ly/3oh0BxkCheck out the TISS Sub-Reddit: https://bit.ly/2IEi0QsCheck out the TISS Discord: / discord Buy Varun Thakur's 420 Merch - http://bit.ly/2oDkhRVSubscribe To Our YT Channels:Varun - https://bit.ly/2HgGwqcAadar - https://bit.ly/37m49J2Kautuk - https://bit.ly/3jcpKGaNeville - https://bit.ly/2HfYlWyFollow Us on Instagram:Varun - / varunthakur Aadar - / theaadarguy Kautak - / cowtuk Neville - / nevilleshah. Chapters:0:00 - Cold Open3:55 - Welcome to The Internet Said So4:25 - Mumbai Rains are WILD every year!5:48 - Amitabh Bachchan's Waterlogged House?6:44 - Fresh fish at the Railways7:50 - How Mumbai Rains affect all of us - 'Spirit of Mumbai'12:08 - The dark lessons you learn as a 'Mumbaikar'14:02 - Man on scooty in Mumbai rains14:50 - How Mumbai police sprung into action16:45 - Govt vs Gambling and Betting Apps21:53 - How Betting apps were getting into people's minds25:46 - Indian Cricket Team's 'Curse'?27:20 - Dream 11 is a 'game of skill'?34:30 - The craziest things that people are betting money on! - Betting on Bollywood!37:10 - Betting on Matchfixing?37:58 - Betting on Weddings?44:49 - Betting on Delhi's air quality?45:39 - Varun and Las Vegas casinos50:56 - The unbelievable story of Archie Karas52:44 - The Greek legend of the Sirens54:25 - Crazy Rags to Riches to Rags story56:20 - Kautuk saw an old man gambling online58:14 - Varun gambled in Sydney1:00:19 - Hedging your bets where politians invest money1:00:42 - How Victor Hugo solved procrastination1:01:30 - Incredible 'doctors'?1:01:50 - The Great Impostor Doctor during the Korean War1:05:35 - Can glue help with injuries?1:09:13 - The saline drip doctor1:11:11 - The bad-boy dentists1:17:54 - The Circus Incubator doctor1:22:34 - Thanks for tuning in, folks! 1:22:56 - Post Credit SceneCreative Producer- Antariksh TakkarChannel Artwork by OMLThumbnail - OML
Eric is back again with another edition of the podcast. For this week's news and restaurants of the week, he is joined by Michael Fulmer, a co-founder of the Houston BBQ Festival. In the news, Eric and Michael discuss CASAEMA being named to Bon Appétit's best new breakfast spots list, a 3rd location of Handies Douzo coming to Spring Branch, and the opening of a new Memorial City location of Katz's. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Yiayia's Greek Kitchen is featured. Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Bon Appetit Names Michelin-Recognized Houston Cafe to Best Breakfast List Casual Houston Sushi Restaurant Unrolls Third Location in Spring Branch Houston's 24-Hour New York Deli Sets Opening Date for Memorial Location Aggie-Loved Chicken Fingers Spot Sets Spring-Area Opening Date Houston Bakery Rises with a New Name, Bigger Menu, and Matcha
When you hear the name Bacon, you probably think of Sir Francis Bacon — philosopher, scientist, genius. But behind him stood an equally remarkable woman: his mother, Lady Anne Bacon (née Cooke). Born in the 1520s, Anne was one of the famous Cooke sisters of Gidea Hall, all of them classically educated at a level most Tudor men could only dream of. She mastered Latin, Greek, and even Italian, and grew up immersed in humanist thought. In 1553, Anne married Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. Together they raised Anthony (the Tudor spy) and Francis (the great thinker), but Anne wasn't simply a background figure in their lives. She was a scholar, translator, and moral force in her own right. In this podcast, I explore: - Anne Bacon's extraordinary education and family background - Her marriage and role in one of Tudor England's most influential households - Her translation of John Jewel's Apologie, a landmark defence of Protestantism - Her surviving letters — over 90 — which reveal her piety, intellect, and maternal guidance - Why she deserves to be remembered as more than just “Francis Bacon's mother” Do you think women like Anne Bacon get enough credit in Tudor history? Let me know in the comments. If you enjoy learning about remarkable Tudor women, please like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you don't miss future podcasts. And for even more history — including exclusive talks, printable resources, and a monthly Tudor magazine — consider joining my channel membership on YouTube. #AnneBacon #FrancisBacon #TudorHistory #TudorWomen #CookeSisters #ElizabethanEngland #ProtestantReformation #Humanism #ClaireRidgway #AnneBoleynFiles
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we are joined by Dcn. Garlick, Dr. Frank Grabowski, Thomas Lackey, and Dr. Joey Spencer to discuss the first part of Plato's Euthyphro—a dialogue on piety.Dr. Spencer is the diocesan Archivist for the Diocese of Tulsa, a tutor in Theology, and an expert in the theology of angels and demons.We discuss the context of the dialogue and move into conversations on piety as a political problem, the role of imitating the divine in Greek religion, an introduction to Plato's Ideas and its reception into Christianity, and even a brief aside on how angels understand Plato's Ideas.Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for resources and schedule!Check out our COLLECTION OF WRITTEN GUIDES TO THE GREAT BOOKS.Check out THE ASCENT - a sister publication focusing on Christian spirituality, theosis, and sanctification - how does the soul ascend to God.From the guide:Why should you read the Euthyphro? The Euthyphro is fundamentally “a dialogue about piety,” as Dcn. Harrison Garlick describes it, serving as an exploration of what piety truly means through a conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro. Dr. Frank Grabowski emphasizes its value as “a wonderful introduction to Platonic philosophy, Platonic literature,” highlighting how it features Socrates as the central figure and showcases “the Socratic method” in a clear and engaging way. Moments of “Socratic irony” are also evident, adding depth to understanding Socrates' approach, while the dialogue introduces Plato's search for the Ideas.The dialogue is short and more straightforward, which makes it more ideal for first time readers than say the Republic or the Symposium. Its accessibility lies in its simplicity and a layered narrative, allowing readers to engage at their own intellectual level—focusing initially on key dilemmas but discovering more upon rereading—as Dcn. Harrison Garlick notes that “like most of Plato's narratives, the dialogues... bring layers... you can kind of grow with the text." For many, it's the first Platonic work encountered, often bundled with the Apology, Crito, and Phaedo as depictions of Socrates' last days.What is the historical context for the Euthyphro?The dramatic date of the Euthyphro is right before Socrates' trial and execution in 399 BC. The composition date is estimated at 380 BC, but all composition dates should be accepted lightly. The dialogue takes place outside of the King Archon's court, a remnant of Athens' monarchical past, where a judge adjudicates on religious matters. Plato offers a conversation about piety, within its political context, right before his master is tried and condemned for his impiety. As moderns, we do not see piety as a political virtue, but for the Greeks, piety a virtue of cohesion—it bound together the family, the polis, and the gods into one cosmic whole. It is this three-tiered piety that animated the Iliad, Aeschylus' Oresteia, and Sophocles' Antigone. King Archon's court is significant, because it underscores piety as a “political problem.” Impiety can destabilize the polis. Dr. Spencer suggests that Euthyphro sees Socrates as “being out of place,” which can be read as a euphemism for impiety or religious pollution, i.e., Socrates is the pollution of Athens. The question, however, is what is piety?What is the first...
In this episode of Ryan & Brian's Bible Bistro, Brian flies solo (no co-host required!) and sits down with Dr. Matthew Bates, Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary and award-winning author of Why the Gospel?, Gospel Allegiance, and Beyond the Salvation Wars.Together, they explore:What it really means to say “Jesus is the Christ” — and why it's a royal proclamation, not just a religious label.How the Greek word pistis reshapes our understanding of “faith” as allegiance, loyalty, and faithfulness to King Jesus.Why salvation and discipleship can't be separated — and how this changes the way we practice our faith.The difference between the gospel itself and the benefits of the gospel.How the incarnation, resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Jesus each form essential parts of the good news.Insights from Bates's latest work, Beyond the Salvation Wars, and the push for a unity-centered, truth-rooted vision of the church.You'll also hear stories of how Bates's academic journey (from Notre Dame to teaching at a Catholic university, and now Northern Seminary) shaped his theology, plus a look ahead at his upcoming book, Christ Formed.
In today's episode I want to talk about the curious case of Plotinus. The late ancient Greek philosopher who's views on God and the world had a massive influence on subsequent Western thought. I want to draw out some surprising insights and neglected criticisms that can be gained by considering Plotinus' story of God and the world.CreditsHost: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews; Dr. Habil. University of Helsinki) is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Lucerne, senior research fellow at the Polin Institute, and a docent of dogmatics at the University of Helsinki.Music by Rockandmetal_domination – Raising-questions.rtmullins.comSupport the Show:https://www.patreon.com/user?u=66431474https://ko-fi.com/rtmullins
Audio Download Questions Covered: 02:07 – Is thinking of Mary as being “pre-saved” biblical? 08:02 – Is it true that the Greek word Adelphoi always refers to a sibling born of the mother or father unless there is a qualifier? 15:30 – Why doesn't the Blessed Mother ever talk about abortion in her apparitions since […]
Tuesday, 26 August 2025 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Matthew 12:39 “And having answered, He said to them, ‘Generation – evil and adulteress – it seeks a sign, and not it will be given it, if not the sign of Jonah the prophet'” (CG). In the previous verse, some scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus, saying that they wanted to see a sign from Him. In response, Matthew next records, “And having answered, He said to them, ‘Generation – evil and adulteress – it seeks a sign.'” The noun moichalis, an adulteress, is introduced. Almost all translations say adulterous, the adjective form of the word. This is incorrect. It is a feminine noun referring to a female who is unfaithful. As throughout the Old Testament, Jesus equates the relationship of the Lord with His people as a covenant of marriage. A wife was to be respectful, obedient, and faithful to her husband. But Israel had been none of these things. That had not changed in the generation He came to. As for His words, He sees their asking for a sign as an indication of evil, something that an adulteress would seek. The reason for this is that in seeking a sign, there is no faith behind their request. A person of faith does not need a sign. Instead, he will believe based on the surrounding evidence and the surety of the hope he possesses. That surety should come from past history. They had the Scriptures, which detailed all of Israel's history as well as prophesying of its coming Messiah. All they had to do was go there to find the fulfillment of innumerable signs given in prophecy. From that springboard, they were to accept what their eyes beheld when they looked to Him. Jesus found this lack of faithful understanding highly displeasing, and so He next says, “and not it will be given it.” The response holds the same weight and tone as what He says in John 5 – “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” John 5:39, 40 Without directly saying it, Jesus essentially conveys the same thought now. “If you want a sign, go back and search the Scriptures. Compare My ministry to what you see. After that, have faith.” Because of this, He next says to them, “if not the sign of Jonah the prophet.” Here, Jesus tells them just where to go to find a sign confirming He is the Messiah, meaning Scripture. “Go to Jonah and see the sign He gave. Jonah's words speak of what will come to pass. When they are fulfilled, you will have received your sign.” But what is the sign of Jonah? Spoiler alert: it is not what Jesus will say in the next verse. The coming statement was a confirmation of Jonah's inescapable call upon him as a prophet. It was a surety that his words were to be spoken as the Lord instructed and that they would come to pass. Life application: Jesus says that no sign but that of the prophet Jonah would be given. As noted in the previous commentary, Mark 8 says that no sign will be given, period. But that was based on the people seeking a “sign from heaven.” The thought is not unlike what Paul says in Romans 10 – “But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”' (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, ‘“Who will descend into the abyss?”' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith which we preach).” Romans 10:6-8 The Jews in Mark 8 wanted to bring a sign down from heaven. The Jews in Matthew 12 are looking for something already available. Jesus expects people to use what is available, and which points to Him, to make their decision about Him, meaning Scripture. We do not need a sign from heaven to confirm what we can deduce from the word and accept by faith. What we need to do is evaluate the word, see if it matches what we know about the world around us and our relationship with God, and then accept, by faith, that Jesus is the solution to our dilemma. Don't be a person looking for a sign every time you need direction in life. Be confident that the Lord has you where He wants you, that He has a good plan and a purpose for you, and that by knowing and adhering to His word, He will direct your steps according to His wisdom. “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:21-24 Lord God, forgive us when our faith fails. Help us to be confident that, because of Jesus, we are where we should be as we live out our lives. No matter what our station in life is, You are with us. Someday, we shall be in Your presence and have what we must now only hope for. May this hope be sufficient to carry us through each day. Amen.
What gives meaning to your life when faced with loss and challenge? For Andriana Ubuduki-Kalfa, the answer emerged at her mother's funeral when a Japanese friend approached her about meeting her daughter, saying simply: "she was your mother's ikigai."This profound moment transformed Andriana's understanding of ikigai beyond the familiar Western interpretation of four overlapping circles. As a Japanese-Greek performance coach with over 30 years of experience bridging cultural differences, Andriana discovered that ikigai can be found in the simplest pleasures—a morning coffee, a dog's greeting—or in profound connections to people and places that sustain us through life's darkest moments.Our conversation explores how Andriana blends the Greek love of dialogue (rooted in the Socratic method) with Japanese concepts like mindfulness, kaizen, and kokorozashi (warrior spirit) to help Olympic athletes and executives achieve remarkable results. She shares moving personal stories, including how visualizing a small harbor in the Greek islands became her mental "resting port" during a serious health challenge, carrying her through surgery and recovery with hope and purpose.Most powerfully, Andriana reveals how reconnecting with our inner child leads us back to our authentic selves—"where real clarity lives." By approaching life with shoshin (beginner's mind) and kokishin (curiosity), we create space for deep observation and reconnection with what truly matters.Whether you're seeking better performance, deeper meaning, or simply a fresh perspective on life's challenges, this conversation offers wisdom that bridges Eastern and Western traditions in surprisingly practical ways. The insights shared might just help you discover your own ikigai—that special something that makes your life worth living each day.
Topos is a noun, meaning “place” in Greek and “a space, locality, position” in Latin. The TOPOS festival is taking place this week at EMPAC. It begins on Thursday, August 28, running through Saturday, August–30. EMPAC music curator Amadeus Julian Regucera spoke with Sina Basila Hickey for Hudson Mohawk Magazine. https://empac.rpi.edu/events/2025/topos
Note: "Act 1" was a separate published audio podcast.*Check out EZ's morning radio show "The InZane Asylum Q100 Michigan with Eric Zane" Click here*Get a FREE 7 day trial to Patreon to "try it out."*Watch the show live, daily at 8AM EST on Twitch! Please click here to follow the page.Email the show on the Shoreliners Striping inbox: eric@ericzaneshow.comTopics*Little shit school kid gets body slammed.*David Lee Roth is an embarrassment *John Brown on the St. Brown Podcast is amazing.*Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder not so amazing.*Cracker Barrel facing backlash from MAGA scum*Asshole of the DaySponsors:Catholic Charities West Michigan, Oakland Auto Detail, Adam Casari Realty. Impact Power Sports, Kuiper Tree Care, Frank Fuss / My Policy Shop Insurance, Kings Room Barbershop, Shoreliners Striping, Ervines Auto Repair Grand Rapids Hybrid & EV, Berlin Raceway,Interested in advertising? Email eric@ericzaneshow.com and let me design a marketing plan for you.Contact: Shoreliners Striping inbox eric@ericzaneshow.comDiscord LinkEZSP TikTokSubscribe to my YouTube channelHire me on Cameo!Tshirts available herePlease subscribe, rate & write a review on Apple Podcastspatreon.com/ericzaneInstagram: ericzaneshowSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-eric-zane-show-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
267. Apologetics with Ray Comfort Acts 4:20 NKJV "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” **Transcription Below** Ray Comfort is a best selling author - having written over 100 books, including his most recent one, entitled Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching: Everything I've Learned. He is a cohost of an award-winning television show that airs in 190 countries. Living Waters Website Living Waters YouTube Channel Questions and Topics We Cover: What are some memorable encounters you've had over the years as an open-air preacher? What fears do you notice holding believers back from evangelizing? What's an easy win or next step we can take today so that the inspiration from this conversation turns into action? Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: School Series (Legal) Gospel Sharing During School Hours with Joel Penton Stories Series: Faith Building Miracles with Dave Pridemore Stories Series: Testify to Glorify with Richard Gamble Thank You to Our Sponsor: Sam Leman Eureka Connect with The Savvy Sauce Facebook, Instagram or Our Website Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast! Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“ Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“ Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” *Transcription* Music: (0:00 – 0:09) Laura Dugger: (0:10 - 1:18) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here. Leman Property Management Company has the apartment you will be able to call home, with over 1,700 apartment units available in Central Illinois. Visit them today at lemanproperties.com or connect with them on Facebook. I'm delighted with this opportunity to interview my special guest for today, Mr. Ray Comfort. Ray is a best-selling author of over 100 books, one of which we'll be discussing today, about 50 years of open-air preaching. He's also a co-host of an award-winning television show that airs in over 190 countries around the world. So, I'm pleased to welcome Ray Comfort and get to hear all of his stories and inspiration. Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Ray. Ray Comfort: (1:19 - 1:27) Well, thank you for having me. Can you explain Savvy Sauce to me? Absolutely. That means knowledge, knowledge poured out. Laura Dugger: (1:27 - 1:46) Well, savvy is synonymous with practical or insight. And my husband having a background in Chick-fil-A, people always talk about the Chick-fil-A sauce or the secret sauce. And so, when we were creating this podcast, that just became the favorite question that I wanted to ask every guest. Ray Comfort: (1:47 - 1:50) Oh, that's great. Yeah, it's great to be with you. Thanks for having me on. Laura Dugger: (1:51 - 2:00) It's truly my pleasure. And I just love how everybody has a unique testimony. So, would you be willing to share your salvation story with us? Ray Comfort: (2:01 - 4:47) Yeah, sure. I came from a non-Christian background. My mother was Jewish. My dad was Gentile. And when my mom met my dad, it caused problems in the family. So, they brought me up with no Christian instruction or any instruction whatsoever. Until at the age of 10, an aunt taught me the Lord's Prayer, which I prayed every night for 10 years. I believed in God. And at the age of about 20, 21, I had an epiphany, just a revelation that I was part of the ultimate statistic. 10 out of 10 die. And I thought, this is ridiculous. We're all waiting around to die. And you can have fun while you're dying. You can play sports or save money. And I'd achieved everything I wanted to achieve by the age of 21. I had my own business and my own house, my own wife. I'd made one child by then. Everything material I could want. And I remember one night just going to sleep, or my wife had gone to sleep just before I went to sleep. I looked at my wife, we're newly married, and I just wept at the thought of her dying. And I just cried out, why? Why is this thing called death? It's like there's an elephant in the room stomping on all humanity and nobody talks about it. And so, I cried out, why? I didn't know I was praying. I didn't know God heard. And six months later, I was on a surfing trip, and there was a young Christian guy there, and he had a Bible, and I remember reading parts of it. And my eyes fell upon, you've heard it said, by them of old you shall not commit adultery. And I thought, well, if there is a heaven, I'll make it there because I've never committed adultery. But then I read the words of Jesus, but I say to you, whoever looks upon a woman to lust for her has committed adultery already with her in his heart. And it was like an arrow went into my chest. And I thought, whoa, boy, am I undone. Because like every red-blooded male, I was filled with unlawful sexual desire and eyes full of adultery, as scripture says. And that's when I understood the cross. I realized I had sinned. Jesus bore my sin. And we broke the law, the commandments. Jesus paid the fine. And that meant God could forgive my sins, grant me everlasting life. And I cannot express to you the joy, it was unspeakable, that's why I can't express it, that I had and the knowledge my sins were forgiven. It was like an explosion of gratitude filled my heart. And for the last 50 years, it's been the high-octane fuel that's driven me to live for God's will and honor. So everywhere I go and everything I do is centered around sharing the gospel with unsaved people. And every Christian should be like that. I call myself a normal, biblical Christian. Laura Dugger: (4:48 - 4:59) I love that. Well, and something that you speak about and that you live out is open-air preaching. And I just want to read a piece from the dedication page, if that's okay. Ray Comfort: (5:01 - 5:03) So, make sure you speak in a New Zealand accent. Laura Dugger: (5:03 - 5:28) Oh, goodness. I won't even attempt. But you define open-air preaching saying, going somewhere I don't want to go, to preach a message I don't want to preach, to people who don't want to hear it, but the love of Christ compels me. And so, Ray, what was your journey to becoming an open-air preacher? Ray Comfort: (5:30 - 9:18) Well, I'll go back to when I was 16. I was in high school, and the teacher had the bright idea to have class speeches. And I was horrified at the thought of class speeches. Have to get up and make a speech? Because I was kind of introverted, and the day came when I got caught. I used to stay away when they had class speeches, but my name was left on the roster, and it was last. And the teacher got me up, and I thought I'll speak on the subject of surfing because I just loved surfing. And I dried up in the middle of that speech. My heart just went thump, thump, thump, thump till I could hardly hear. It was like a drum beating, and I couldn't think straight. And I sat down humiliated in front of my peers at the age of 16, which is huge. And I vowed never, ever to speak in public again. But I got born again. I became a new person in Christ. And I had a message that I could not be quiet about. And I remember one day I was on a bus going to the city, and I remember looking at the people that were sitting on the bus, and I thought most of them probably not Christians. They die. They're going to Hell. I've found everlasting life. I should stand up and speak to them. And I thought the bus would stop, and a whole lot of them would throw me off. And I thought, what do I do? And I remember praying, oh, God, if there's just some way where I could speak in public to people knowing there wasn't. And two weeks later, they legalized public speaking in our city through just strange circumstances. And I thought, whoa, what an answer to prayer. Horrors. And I remember avoiding any thought of going into that speaker's corner for the next two weeks until I opened a newspaper. Remember what newspapers were? I opened a newspaper and had a picture of an elderly lady with a Bible in her hand, and underneath it had the Bible lady sharing her Christian testimony in speaker's corner. And I felt so ashamed that here was an elderly lady, and here I was hiding like Jonah. So, I went in, took a deep breath, and preached the gospel to a crowd that was standing or sitting there. And I went back about 3,000 times and commuted to it for about 12 years, almost daily for 12 years. So, I broke the sound barrier, and I've been doing it ever since. And I'll tell you why I do it, because the average church wouldn't reach as many people in a year as a good open-air preacher can reach in 30 minutes. And you just have to learn how to draw a crowd and what to say, and you've got to have the will to say it. And if you're a Christian and you've found everlasting life, you should be saying with the disciples, I cannot but speak that which I've seen and heard. And I'm so glad the disciples didn't stay in the upper room. They found everlasting life. God granted eternal life. They didn't carpet out the room, put in pipe music, with a little notice outside their door, tonight, 7 o'clock, all welcome. They didn't do that, because they knew fish don't jump into the boat. That's not normal. If you're a fisher of men, you've got to go where the fish are. So, they went open-air and preached. And as you read the book of Acts, that's all they did. They preached open air at peril of their lives. And so if we want to walk in the steps of Jesus, in the steps of the disciples, in the steps of Spurgeon, Wesley, Moody, Whitfield, others down through the ages, then we've got to open our mouths and lift up our voice like a trumpet and show these people their transgression. And so, I am thrilled that you want to do an interview on this book, because I've often said the church has as much excitement about evangelism as you and I have about having a root canal. It's not exciting. But we all have fears, and we can learn to overcome them. Laura Dugger: (9:18 - 9:38) Ray, you make already such a compelling argument for why we as Christians are called to evangelize and deliver the good news and specifically calling it as open-air preachers. So, will you still share a few more arguments or reasons to try and help people understand why this is of utmost importance? Ray Comfort: (9:39 - 10:47) Yes, we have a moral obligation. We're like doctors with a cure to cancer. We must speak, as the disciples said. And if you've got fear, let me ask you a question. Could you jump into a pond that had big chunks of ice in it? It was so cold that you would die if you stayed in it for three minutes. And most people say, no, no, you wouldn't get me jumping into that pond for anything. Let's say a four-year-old boy fell into that pond and his feet couldn't reach the bottom, and he began to drown. You wouldn't hesitate. You'd just jump in. You wouldn't worry about how cold it was. Grab that kid and pull him out. And the waters of personal evangelism are freezing. Ice cold. We're not excited about it. Last thing we ever want to do is get involved in something like this. But love cannot but do something. Love couldn't stand there and watch a child drown. And love cannot sit on a pew while sinners sink into Hell. So, if you've got problems with fear, don't pray for less fear. Pray for more love because that's the problem. Laura Dugger: (10:48 - 11:02) Ray, I'm curious. You seem so confident and comfortable with this, but clearly you've been doing it, like you said, for many years. So, was there fear at the beginning for you? And is there still fear when you do this today? Ray Comfort: (11:03 - 18:09) No, there wasn't fear at the beginning. Fear is here. Terror is here. Mortification is here. I was up there somewhere. So, the first time I did it was terrifying. Second time wasn't quite so terrifying. But after all these years, I still battle fear, always. Every person I got a witness to on a one-to-one basis looks like Goliath. It goes from a Zacchaeus to a Goliath in a split second. I think a witness to that guy, he's anti-Christian. I can see it by the look on his jawline. He hates Christians. Can't wait to get his fingers around the neck of any Christian because I've got overripe imagination. I remember once I was driving my car and I saw a dead dog on the road about 100 yards ahead of me and it was such a sad sight. I could see its head was all twisted back and I could see its ears. It was a German shepherd. And as I got up to it, it was someone's jacket that had fallen off his bike. That's all. And I just had an overripe imagination. And that's exactly what it's like when it comes to fear. I have an imagination that some guy's going to kill me if I share the gospel with him. So, I've learned to not listen when fear speaks. I've learned to think about the fate of the person rather than myself. I mean, think of a firefighter. He arrives at a fire, and he looks up and he has to climb a 60-foot ladder. At the top of the ladder is a woman and two children leaning out of a window and the place is on fire. It's the fifth story. And they're screaming because they're going to be burned alive in about three minutes. So, he's got to climb that ladder amidst the screaming, amidst the smoke and the sirens. He could drop one of those kids. He could drop that woman. And so, would he rather be at home with his wife and kids watching an old black-and-white movie? Of course. Is he terrified? Absolutely. But he doesn't listen to his fears because of this one fact. He's not thinking of himself. He's thinking of that woman and her terrible fate and those kids. And that's the key to overcoming fear. When I get my fears, I don't listen because I'm not thinking of myself and my silly little fears, my imagination. I'm thinking of this person and their terrible fate, that they die in their sins. Lake of fire. Damned. If you think death is fearful on this side, wait till the other side. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And the apostle Paul said, Wherefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. So, if you've got a wrong image of God, it's kind of like a Santa Claus sitting in a cloud. You won't have a terror in your heart. You won't fear God enough to obey him. You know, Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord and do not the things that I tell you?” And so, if we are submitted to Christ, if we yield to him, if he's our Lord, when he says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” We go. He didn't say to stay. Think of what he said. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I've actually studied the original Greek words of the word all, every, and go. Go actually means in the original, I think it's passe. The original Greek, it actually means go. Into all the world and all the world. That word all means all in the original Greek. And to every creature means every creature. So, when Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”, in the original Greek, he actually was saying, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” So, we're so fortunate to have Greek lexicons and things that we can go back and see what Jesus was actually saying. And so, it's very simple. We shouldn't stay. We shouldn't want to fill our churches with people when they come in, where to go out and get them. And one of the most effective ways is with open air preaching. And so, we teach people how to get a crowd. Now, when I first started speaking, I would begin open air preaching with an anecdote, something very gripping. And it was always difficult because if I didn't live up to that, I didn't get a crowd. And so, for about four or five or six years, it was very difficult. And then I started asking trivia and giving away money. And I've been doing that for 30, 40 years, where you say to a crowd, I've got some trivia questions, giving away money. And a preacher giving away money is like water running uphill. It's kind of unnatural, so it gets people's attention. So, I'm going to ask trivia questions. I've got money here to give away. When you get it right. What's the capital of France? Anyone know? And someone says, “Paris?” That's right. Here you are. What's the capital of China? Beijing or whatever it is. Give out a dollar. Say, “What's your name?” Fred. That's right. And you give Fred a dollar and people laugh, and they gather around and it's just a great way to get rapport with a crowd. And while you're doing that, you look around to see who's got confidence. This guy over here, or Fred, laughs when I say, “Here's a dollar, and he yells out answers.” I say, “Fred, you want to go for $5?” He says, “Sure.” So, jump up on the box. So, we've got a box for the hecklers. So, you think you're a good person? He says, “Yeah, I'm a really good person.” So, if you are, you get $5. If you're not, give me $5 anyway. Just being a good sport. So, we're going to go through the Ten Commandments to see how you're going to do on Judgment Day and if you are a good person. Let me take him through the commandments as Jesus did with the rich young ruler. How many lies have you told? Ever stole something? Ever used God's name in vain? Ever looked at women with lust? And Fred says, “Yeah, I've done all those.” So, Fred, you've just told me you're a lying thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer at heart. And you have to face God on Judgment Day. You're going to be innocent or guilty? He says, “Guilty.” Heaven or Hell? Hell. Does that concern you? Yeah, sure it does. And the crowd's listening. It's not some sweaty preacher pointing a finger at them. They're just listening to the gospel. And so, it's a great way. And then you go into that Christ died for our sins, took our punishment. And Fred, “Thanks for listening. I really appreciate this. Here's your dollar.” I've got a book for you that I wrote. I hope you enjoy it. Nice to meet you. He shook his hand. He's off. Anyone else, like any atheists here, never be intimidated by an atheist. Atheism is the epitome of stupidity. It's just so dumb. Every time I meet an atheist, I ask him one question, and I've seen so many atheists backslide when they've heard this. I say, “Do you really believe the scientific impossibility that nothing created everything? Puppies and kittens and flowers and seeds and the marvels of the human eye and the miracle of childbirth. All this happened because nothing created it. Do you really believe that?” They say, “Oh, no, I don't believe that. Oh, there was something in the beginning.” I say, “Oh, it just wasn't God. Is that it?” Yeah, that's it. It was something, but it wasn't God. Well, let's see if we can find out why you don't want it to be God. When did you last look at pornography? I say, “Oh, it was last night. What do you think God thinks of that?” And you realize the issue isn't intellectual. It's moral. They're running from God like Adam, hiding behind bushes. And so, you've just got to flush them out and then use the Ten Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin and address the conscience rather than the intellect. Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor. With over 1,700 apartment units available throughout Pekin, Peoria, Peoria Heights, Morton, Washington, and Canton, and with every price range covered, you will have plenty of options when you rent through Leman Property Management Company. Leman Property Management Company They have townhomes, duplexes, studios, and garden-style options located in many areas throughout Pekin. In Peoria, a historic downtown location and apartments adjacent to the OSF Medical Center provide excellent choices. 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Check them out on Facebook today or email their friendly staff at leasing@lemanprops.com. You can also stop by their website at lemanproperties.com. That's L-E-M-A-N-P-R-O-P-E-R-T-Y. Check them out and find your place to call home today. As you've done this, what has been your experience along the way? And would you even share a few stories of times that this has gone miraculously well and times that have been such a struggle? Ray Comfort: (20:19 - 30:16) It's always a struggle. But let me share the two great keys that I use when it comes to evangelism. I don't even like using the word evangelism because it scares Christians. Apologetics. And that is this. I address the conscience, as Jesus did. When you're in apologetics, and I believe in apologetics, we've got what's called the Evidence Study Bible, which is pregnant with apologetics. So, I believe in apologetics, but they have their place. Apologetics are like bait when you're fishing for men. If you stay with bait, you're going to end up with fat, happy fish that get away. You've got to have a hook, and that hook is God's law. So, you bait the hook. And so, it's important if you bait the hook with apologetics and address the intellect to realize this one fact. Romans 8:7 says, “The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” What does that mean? It means the carnal, natural mind of man is in a state of hostility towards God, particularly His law. It's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And you can see this enmity by the fact that human beings lavished with life by God use His name as a cuss word, and the name of Jesus as a cuss word. Nobody in history has had their name used as a cuss word except Jesus, Jesus Christ, and God. And that shows the enmity they have towards their Creator because they're criminals. And as criminals hate the police, so sinners hate God without cause. So, you want to move away from the carnal mind because you're going to get enmity. If you say, “Look, I'm going to show you that Noah did build an ark. I'm going to prove it to you there was a big flood.” And so you go through the whole thing that the ark was really big and the animals were small and it could have happened. Then we've got oceans and that's evidence that the earth was flooded. You get this guy who was a skeptic who'd say, “Okay, I believe there was a big flood and Noah could have built an ark.” Well, great. Now you've got a mountain to climb of Jonah being swallowed by a big fish. Children of Israel shouting and walls coming down when they shout. Balaam's donkey speaking with a man's voice. Samson with strength in his hair. And you've got all these stories, and they're all an intellectual thing, and they're like a mountain you've got to climb to convince them to believe there's an easier way. And the early Christians didn't try and convince anyone the Bible is the word of God because they didn't have a New Testament. There was no printing press. No one could read or hardly anyone could read. Now they just preached the gospel, and you do it not by going for the intellect and trying to intellectually convince someone that God exists or the Bible's the word of God. You do what Jesus did with a rich young ruler. You address the conscience with the commandments. You shall not lie, shall not steal, shall not commit adultery. It's all written on the heart of man. Conscience means knowledge. So that knowledge is there. So, the commandments echo the truth, or the conscience echoes the truth of the commandments. When Paul used the commandments in Romans chapter 2, you who say you shall not steal, do you steal? You say, “You shall not commit adultery; do you commit adultery?” He was addressing the conscience. Romans 2:15, same chapter, would show the work of the law written on their hearts, the conscience bearing witness. So, I have an ally right in the heart of the enemy. I have a judge on the court and in the mind of every sinner that's going to affirm the truth of what I'm saying and point guilt to the sinner or show him that he's guilty. That's the conscience. The second great tool I have or weapon I have is the will to live. Human beings are not dogs, horses, cats, or cows. We're completely different. We're not primates. We're made in the image of God and God has written eternity upon our hearts. He doesn't seem to have done this with my dog. My dog's only concerned with chasing cats and eating. I don't think there's anything else that really interests her, although I love her, but she's not worrying about eternity, but human beings do. So, I know, according to scripture, that everybody has this will to live. So, when I go to the local college, and I go there twice a day, to interview people for our YouTube channel. I often say this, “Would you like to go on YouTube?” They say, “Yeah.” I'm going to ask you, “If you think there's life after death.” I say, “That's okay, and this is my first question. Are you afraid of dying?” And they go, “A little bit.” A little bit? It's huge. It's a tormenting fear of death. It haunts you, and that's what the Bible says, this fear of death that we have. And I can tell by the look in the eyes of this person, they're saying, “How did this guy know?” I haven't told mom or dad. I haven't told my boyfriend or my girlfriend, my brother, my sister, but there's something in me that's terrified of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us. Amplified Bible, so I'll quote it a little louder. It says, “That God has caused the fear of death or the will to live to be haunting,” it uses the word haunting, “within every human being all their lifetime.” Remember when I was a kid, maybe nine or ten, I used to play wars, cowboys and Indians, and someone would shoot me. I'd roll down a hill and lie there for two minutes and then get up. And then one day as I got older, I thought, I'm not going to get up one day. And that's that haunting fear of death. That revelation that comes to us, as light comes to us, as we get older. And so, I address that, and this is what I say, “Ever read the Bible?” “No, never opened it.” “Why not? It's the world's biggest selling book of all time. Did you know in the Old Testament, God promised he would destroy death? And in the New Testament, we're told how he did it. Did you know that?” They say, “No.” “Is he interested?” And even if it's an atheist, he's going to say, “Yeah, I'm interested.” Because he's got that haunting fear of death. And so, then I go through the gospel. This is the verse that I share with so many people, and it's the most illuminating verse, and I can see light coming to them as I say this. I say, “Have you ever heard the Bible verse, the wages of sin is death?” And they say, “Maybe.” It's saying that God is paying you in death for your sins. Like a judge who looks at a criminal who's committed murder, but he thinks he's a good person. The judge says, “I'm going to show you how serious your crime is. I'm giving you the death sentence.” This is your wages. This is what you've earned. And I say, “Fred, sin is so serious to a holy God, he's given you the death sentence.” You're on death row. You're in a holding cell. It's got a nice blue roof, good air conditioning, good lighting, but this life is a holding cell, and your death will be evidence to you that God is deadly serious about sin. That has a sobering effect on people because now they've got a reason why they die. Now they know what's going to happen after they die. It's appointed a man. It's appointment. It's appointed a man who wants to die, and after this, the judgment. And as you go through the commandments, it shows them how they need a Savior. And so many people say, I'm going to really think about this. Thank you for talking to me. I say, “When are you going to repent and put your trust in Jesus?” And so many people lately have been saying, “Today.” So, the pandemic, that plague that no one calls a plague, the pandemic did us a huge favor because it made a whole generation think about their mortality, made them realize they're going to die one day. And so, the harvest fields are white. One other thought regarding the fear of death and the will to live, the same thing. Think of a waitress who has to approach three men, businessmen wearing dark suits and little briefcases sitting at a table. They're obviously wheeling and dealing millions of dollars. Is she intimidated? No. She just walks up and says, “Can I take your order?” Why is she so bold? It's because she knows she has what they want. They're there for food. And so that makes her bold. And you and I have what this world wants. Right at this moment, there are people in torture chambers called gyms, lifting weights that are far too heavy for them, pulling things they shouldn't be pulling. And I believe in physical fitness is great. And at the same time, there are people drinking green slime. They would love a chocolate shake, but they drink because they want to increase their life just that little bit more. We have found everlasting life. So, if the world knew what we had, they would ask us. This is what Jesus said to the woman at the well. If you knew who it was that was speaking to you, you would ask me. And if the world knew what we had, everlasting life, they'd plead with us. So, because we know we have what the world wants, like that waitress, we must be bold. And when they realize that we have the answer to death that Jesus Christ has abolished death. When that revelation comes to them, what causes death. That Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, he destroyed death, bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel. That's when the light goes on and they say, “Thank you so much. Thank you for talking to me.” I've just about worn myself out. Laura Dugger: (30:16 - 30:30) Well, that's incredible to hear, especially the breakdown practically of how you do that. And I would say, “Do you even give people permission to use some of those examples if they want to give this a try?” Ray Comfort: (30:31 - 31:18) I would plead with them to do so. We've got the evidence Bible. It's filled with how to do these things. And that book, Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching: Everything I've Learned is filled with stuff like this. How to get a crowd standing up nice and orderly. There's a picture, I don't know if you can see it, at Berkeley University. They're all standing around nice in a big circle. That's where you get stoned to death, Berkeley. But because we understand these principles, we just drew a circle out of chalk and said, stand behind the circle. If anyone got in front of the circle, approached us, we wouldn't talk to them unless they got to the edge of the circle. And people are like sheep. If you say, “Move back behind the chalk line. Do it now.” Okay. They'll do it, if you've got a little bit of authority. And so, you just learn to do things like that. And it means the gospel can go out. So yeah, please, please use these principles. Laura Dugger: (31:19 - 31:34) And then can you also just paint a picture. If somebody's never seen this before, they've never tried this before, are there any memorable encounters that you've had as you reflect back on these years of open air preaching? Ray Comfort: (31:35 - 33:54) Yes. Oh, I've got beaten up by a woman once. Oh dear. I'll have to tell you. I was in Santa Monica many years ago, and I had a crowd of maybe 40, 50 people. And there's a woman there that was very vocal and kept calling me, using the F word a couple of times. So, I said, “Ma'am, can you watch your language? There are ladies present.” And she said, “I'm a lady.” I said, “Ma'am, you may be a woman, but you are not a lady.” And with that, she ran at me like a bat out of heaven and began beating me up. Now, most women go scratch, and hair pulling, but she was like Mike Tyson's sister. She got in six punches, knocked me to the ground before my team pulled her off. They held her back. And she said, let me go and get my purse. They let her go. And she gave me a kidney punch and took two weeks for the bruising to go, but she doubled my crowd. She can come back anytime she wants. But that was my fault. And that was very memorable. So, I talk nicely to ladies now. One to one, one of the most memorable ones is a guy named Mario. Our YouTube channel's got 1.57 million subscribers, just past 314 million views. And one of the best, most gripping encounters was with a guy named Mario. I went out on my bike. My dog's on my bike. She's on a platform. She wears sunglasses. I wear sunglasses. It gets people's attention. She's the best bait I've ever had when fishing for men. Saw this guy standing by a tree on a pathway, and I said, “You want to come on camera?” He said, “Yeah.” I was surprised because I didn't have to talk him into it. And he was quite arrogant, very handsome young man. And as we went through the commandments, I saw a tear well in his eye and roll down his cheek. And I thought, oh, no, God's doing a work in the heart of this guy, and I don't want to mess it up. And so, I did my best to end up praying with him, and he was just beside himself in sorrow for his sin. And I think that's something like 4 million views on a YouTube channel. If you go to the most popular to see it, you'll see him there. But that was a very memorable encounter. One that I often think when I'm going out on my bike each day. Lord, give me a Mario today, please. Laura Dugger: (33:55 - 34:58) When was the first time you listened to an episode of The Savvy Sauce? How did you hear about our podcast? Did a friend share it with you? Will you be willing to be that friend now and text five other friends or post on your socials anything about The Savvy Sauce that you love? If you share your favorite episodes, that is how we continue to expand our reach and get the good news of Jesus Christ in more ears across the world. So, we need your help. Another way to help us grow is to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Each of these suggestions will cost you less than a minute, but it will be a great benefit to us. Thank you so much for being willing to be generous with your time and share. We appreciate you. It's compelling to hear this and inspiring, but then also if we're going back to talking about the fears. What fears do you see holding people back from giving this a try or from evangelizing in general? Ray Comfort: (34:59 - 37:37) That is a great question, and you provoke something very important. I've traveled on about 2,000 flights, itinerating over the years, and so many times I've prayed, and when there's an empty seat on a plane beside me, I always pray for the person who's going to sit there. This is the prayer I subliminally pray. Lord, please don't let this guy show up. That's what I pray. And then he shows up, and I share the gospel with him. My hardest, my biggest mountain to climb was how do you bring the subject up? Okay, I'm on a plane. This guy's a businessman. He's wearing a three-piece suit. He's very intimidating, and I've got to talk to him about the things of God and sin and righteousness and judgment. How do I bring the subject up with this guy? Oh, see those clouds? Guess who made the clouds? God. No, it's just terrifying. But I learned something many years ago that just dissipated that fear of man and the fear of women, and that's this. I just say to any stranger, “Do you think there's an afterlife?” That's a simple question. Do you think there's life after death? I haven't mentioned God, Jesus, Heaven, Hell, sin, righteousness, judgment, any of those things that make him feel uncomfortable. I just said, do you think there's an afterlife? And this is how I do it, and I've done it many times. I'm at the ministry now in our studio. Many a time I've had workmen come. Let's say there's a plumber working on something. I go up to him and say, “Hey, how are you doing?” He says, “Good.” I'm Ray. What's your name? He says, “Eric.” Nice to meet you, Eric. Eric, what? I've got a question for you, “Do you think there's an afterlife?” Eric stands up and says, “I don't know.” I say, “Do you think about it much?” Yeah, all the time. His all the time just dissipated my fears. He's not antichrist. He hasn't stabbed me to death. He's a normal human being. He thinks about the issues of life and death all the time. And so, I've got confidence. And the thing that got me in there was that question, do you think there's an afterlife? You can ask anyone. Even Uncle Arthur at the Christmas lunch, sitting there and usually he's working. Uncle Arthur, do you think there's an afterlife? Haven't mentioned God, Jesus, Heaven, Hell. Just let him talk. He says, “Oh, I don't know about heaven.” So Rich, “You ever read the Bible?” Oh, let me get you my Bible. Let me lend it to you. It just opens the door and lets them do the talking. So never forget that. You can talk to any stranger about the things of God by just asking that question. Do you think there's an afterlife? And I do it every day. Laura Dugger: (37:38 - 37:57) Wow. And I love it, even before we began recording when we were just getting to know each other for a moment. And then you said, well, before we begin, shall we do this in the flesh, or should we pray? And I love that. I think that's such an approachable first step to this. Ray Comfort: (37:57 - 38:07) Well, you just have to do something in the flesh to know how terrible it is. You need a pulpit, and you think, oh God, I need your help. So, I always pray. Laura Dugger: (38:08 - 38:24) Absolutely. That's very relatable. And so, if we're considering this invitation to evangelize publicly, what do you think this looks like for men and for women? And do you see any difference between the two? Ray Comfort: (38:25 - 39:21) Yes, I do. When I look at my wife, I see different from the local workman that comes to work around our home. But physically, no, I don't. Yeah. When Jesus had gone to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he didn't say, “Oh, that's just for men.” No. Look at the woman at the well. She went off and shared the gospel with the whole village. And so, if a woman's got the courage to stand up and do what men won't do, God bless her. I think that's wonderful. And so, I'm all for women and women stay silent at the church. Well, that's for the church. That's church discipline. But when it comes to sharing the gospel, telling people how they can find everlasting life, women can do just as well with men and a woman can do good with five people or 10 people. Now she can gather a crowd of 200 at a university and share how to find everlasting life. God bless her. And thank you for her, Aud. Laura Dugger: (39:22 - 39:35) Thank you for sharing that. And can you think of just an easy or approachable next step, something that we could do today that takes inspiration from this conversation and turns it into action? Ray Comfort: (39:35 - 39:38) Yes. Get the book. Laura Dugger: (39:40 - 39:41) Absolutely. Ray Comfort: (39:41 - 39:48) And I'll watch our YouTube channel too. I love it. It'll really help you build confidence. Thank you for that. Laura Dugger: (39:49 - 40:01) My pleasure. So, if we do determine that we're going to apply what we've learned today, then there's another side to this as well. What kind of attack can we expect from our enemy? Ray Comfort: (40:02 - 42:34) Oh, full on. You're going to get negative thoughts. You can't do this. You shouldn't do this. What are you going to do if you dry up? The dry up thing is a real big fear. I'm going to get up there and I'll say, “My mind's gone blank.” Well, just have a Gospel of John in your pocket, a little New Testament, maybe a little Gideon in your pocket there. And if you dry up, just say, “Oh, excuse me, I want to read this to you.” You've got John 3:16, corner turned down. Just say, “For God so loved the world and gave his only begotten son who believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Please think about that. Close it and get down. Or you can keep speaking. And so, if you've got an out, that will dissipate your fears if you know you can get out if that happens. I've used it many a time. I mean the fear of every preacher is drying up in a pulpit. I remember I was in a church of 3,000 once and I lost my place. So, you know what I did? I just said, look at that over there. And everyone looked at the wall. I said, I just lost my place. Or I'll say something like this. “Turn to Leviticus 15:3.” And everyone goes, shh, shh, shh. I look for my place. I've got my thoughts back. And they say that was a fake scripture. I don't know what it is. I wanted to do something while I was trying to find my place. And there I've never had problems drying up in the pulpit because I know that's my way out. And it's the same with open air preaching. If you dry up, you're just going to quote John 3:16 or begin reading Genesis chapter 1 to the crowd. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” And just knowing you've got that out will help dissipate your fears. And when you're finished, you'll have such a joy. I say to our team, whenever you go to preach the gospel, you're dragging your feet. When you come back, you'll be clicking your heels. And that's exactly what happens. You'll have such satisfaction that you did what you know you should. You overcame that Goliath. You ran at Goliath and overcame your fears. And so just do it. If you want to learn to swim, you don't study water. You jump in. That's the best way to learn to swim. And, you know, if you're going to drown, it's a pity more people don't know this, but if you just relax, you'll float. If you panic, you'll probably sink. And it's the same with this. Don't panic. Just trust in the Lord. Say, “Lord, you'll fill my mouth. You'll help me out with this.” And he'll float. He'll float you. He'll take you by the hand, and you'll be fine. I've done it thousands of times, and God's never let me down. Laura Dugger: (42:36 - 43:00) Amen. I hope we all are willing to give it a try. I think that you really articulated it well when you narrow it down to that fear of man, fear of woman. And I love also that just do it, and we can do it scared. But you're so full of these practical tips. There's one about hecklers that we haven't covered yet. Can you share your perspective on hecklers? Ray Comfort: (43:01 - 44:02) Hecklers are wonderful. If you fear hecklers, you're fearing the thing that could make what you're doing a great success. A good heckler, if he's handled well, can take a crowd of 15 people to 150 people in about 30, 40 seconds. And all you do is let him vent. There's one, I think we've got, it's called The Angry Atheist. I think it's one of our videos. And this guy was furious, a Christian. So, I just let him vent, and the crowd thickened up, and then we started one by one dealing with his problems. And just always remember a soft answer turns away wrath. If someone's angry, you just speak, what's your name? And they'll say, “Oh, John.” Nice to meet you, John. That's a nice sweater. I remember once a lady came up, this young lady. She was really angry, and I did say the sweater thing to her when she was yelling at me. I said, “That's a nice sweater.” She said, “Really?” I said, “Where'd you get it?” And so, a soft answer turns away wrath. So, you just learn these little things that can really help. Laura Dugger: (44:03 - 44:14) I love that. And just as a model for us, if we want to share the good news of Jesus, you've done this time and time again. Will you share it with all of us now? Ray Comfort: (44:16 - 46:05) What are you trying to do to me? You mean you'd like the gospel? Absolutely. One-minute gospel presentation. Okay, let's do a nutshell. Let me say, I'm meeting a stranger. I'll talk directly to them. You know, God's placed a will to live within you. Something in you says, I don't want to die. Did you know the Bible says, “Jesus Christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel?” And the reason you're going to die is because you've sinned against God. And all you have to do for a few minutes with an honest heart is go through the commandments. The seventh commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery, but Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust, you commit adultery in your heart, lying lips and abomination to the Lord. No thief will inherit God's kingdom.” Ever stolen something? Ever used God's name in vain? And if you've been honest, you'll know you've sinned against God. And if all your sin comes out on Judgment Day as evidence of your guilt, you're going to end up justly in Hell, and that breaks my heart. And God is not willing that any perish. The Bible says, “He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and he's provided a way for you to be forgiven by Christ dying on the cross.” We broke God's law. Jesus paid the fine. It's as simple as that. That means you can leave the courtroom. God can dismiss your case. He can take death off you because of what Jesus did through his death and resurrection. And all you have to do is so simple a child can understand it. You must repent, turn from your sins. You'll never do that while you think you're a good person. And trust in Jesus like you trust a parachute. The minute you do that, you've got God's promise, and he cannot lie. He'll grant you everlasting life as a free gift, not because you're good, but because He's good and kind and rich in mercy. And don't put it off until tomorrow because you may not have tomorrow. Fifty-four million people die every year. Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. Laura Dugger: (46:07 - 46:10) It just never gets old hearing that. Ray Comfort: (46:10 - 46:10) No. Laura Dugger: (46:10 - 46:28) Thank you. And you also bring up even so clearly from scripture but sharing repent and believe. And is there anything else that you would want to make sure that we wouldn't leave out of a conversation if we were evangelizing to someone? Ray Comfort: (46:29 - 48:02) Well, another good question. Yeah, a lot of people are saying all you have to do is believe. Just believe. They say if you repent, that's works. Well, by saying you have to believe, that's works. If you have to do anything, believe. No, the Bible says, “By grace you're saved through faith, through faith, and not of yourselves.” It's God's grace that saves us. But if you read scripture, it comes through repentance and faith. And the reason they want to drop repentance is because they don't see the true nature of sin. And what the commandments do, the Ten Commandments, they open up the law and show sin to be exceedingly sinful, and that necessitates repentance. Like with David, when he realized he'd committed adultery and lied and stolen his neighbor's wife, covered his neighbor's wife, murdered his neighbor, that's when he cried out, “Oh, have mercy upon me, oh God, according to your lovingkindness.” If Nathan hadn't said, “Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, and David hadn't said, I've sinned against heaven, he would have just said, oh, just believe. No, he had to get before God and agonize. Scripture says, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners.” Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Let your laugh to be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.” That's contrition. And the law that shows us the nature of sin produces contrition, sorrow for sin, which works repentance, godly sorrow, works repentance unto life. So, it's most necessary to preach, as Jesus did, repent and believe in that order. Laura Dugger: (48:04 - 48:13) That is so good. Ray, where can we go to continue learning from you and continue to be inspired by the faithful work that you're doing? Ray Comfort: (48:14 - 48:46) Very kind of you to say that. LivingWaters.com, sign up for our newsletter. We've always got interesting stuff. We give away a lot of stuff. Watch the YouTube channel. We have different videos each day. We put one up four days ago that's had 4.6 million views. And so, it's a wonderful way to reach the lost. So, follow us. Just become part of a YouTube channel, subscribe, and that really helps us and helps further our reach. So LivingWaters.com and LivingWaters YouTube. Laura Dugger: (48:47 - 49:05) Wonderful. We'll make sure to add those links in the show notes for today's episode. And as you already know, our podcast is entitled The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for you today, Ray, what is your Savvy Sauce? Ray Comfort: (49:06 - 49:12) My wife. Is that okay to say that? Laura Dugger: (49:12 - 49:17) I love that. Do you want to say anything more specific about her? Ray Comfort: (49:17 - 49:44) Sue and I have been married for 108 years, 54. We love each other. She's my best friend. She works at the ministry and also I love my dog. And one thing I might say just as we close is don't call this anything to do with evangelism. That'll kill. Use the word apologetics or say Ray Comfort says this about his wife. Anything other than evangelism that scares Christians off. Laura Dugger: (49:45 - 49:50) Wow. Interesting. So that's been your experience. That makes sense. Ray Comfort: (49:51 - 50:25) Yeah. That's a principle we use at the ministry. If we have a conference, don't mention evangelism. No one will come. It's like someone saying to me, “Hey, want to go door knocking, tell people about Jesus?” I go; I just wouldn't want to do that. And there's a reason for it. As a new Christian, I knocked on someone's door, fully aware that Jehovah's Witnesses had stolen our thunder, and I said to this lady, “Hello, I'm not a Jehovah's Witness.” She said, “Well, I am.” And so, I've got this aversion to door knocking, and that's what most Christians are like when it comes to evangelism. So, call it something else. Laura Dugger: (50:25 - 50:50) Wow. So practical, again. And Ray, you've just stewarded your many gifts that God has given you. You've stewarded them so well and so wisely. I can just imagine God greeting you someday and having just, well done, good and faithful servant. So, thank you for generously taking the time to share with us today. I'm grateful for you, and I just want to say thank you for being my guest. Ray Comfort: (50:51 - 50:52) Well, thank you for having me. Laura Dugger: (50:53 - 54:35) One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, would you pray with me now? Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him. You get the opportunity to live your life for him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you ready to get started? First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. You can start by reading the book of John. Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process. And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today. And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.
He was a Greek from the island of Crete. Born and raised as a pagan, he came to faith in Christ through the ministry of the Apostle Paul, and labored with the Apostle in preaching the Gospel. St Paul in his epistles calls St Titus both "son" and "brother." He was ordained Bishop of Crete by St Paul, who wrote to him the Epistle that bears his name. He reposed in peace at the age of ninety-four.
We delve into the turmoil of King Saul as he faces a massive Philistine army at his doorstep. Desperate for divine guidance, Saul finds himself in a dark place, seeking help from a medium at Endor, despite having banned such practices. This act of desperation marks a turning point as he attempts to summon the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel. Samuel's spirit delivers a grim prophecy, foretelling the fall of Israel and Saul's demise, alongside his sons, in the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, David navigates his complex relationship with the Philistine king Achish, who believes David to be a loyal ally.Support the showRead along with us in the Bible Brief App! Try the Bible Brief book for an offline experience!Get your free Bible Timeline with the 10 Steps: Timeline LinkSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Want to go deeper?...Download the Bible Brief App!iPhone: App Store LinkAndroid: Play Store LinkWant a physical book? Check out "Bible Brief" by our founder!Amazon: Amazon LinkWebsite: biblebrief.orgInstagram: @biblelitTwitter: @bible_litFacebook: @biblelitEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.org Want to learn the Bible languages (Greek & Hebrew)? Check out ou...
The tender balance between God's work in us and our active response to Him forms the heart of Paul's message in Philippians 2:12-18. Diving deep into this rich passage, we explore what it truly means to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" while recognizing that "it is God who works in you."What does it look like to handle your spiritual calling with reverence? The Greek words Paul uses paint a vivid picture—phobos (fear) describes carrying something precious with extreme care, while tromos (trembling) acknowledges our dependence on divine guidance for tasks beyond our natural abilities. This isn't about being terrified of God, but about approaching our responsibilities with holy awareness.Have you noticed how easily we slip into complaining? Paul, writing from a Roman prison cell, challenges us to do everything "without complaining or disputing." In our contemporary culture, where ranting attracts attention and validation, Christians are called to stand apart through grateful attitudes and loving responses. Early church father John Chrysostom even compared complaining to blasphemy—it implicitly questions God's goodness and provision.Whether you're leading a ministry team, managing household responsibilities, or navigating workplace challenges, this message reminds us to approach every task with reverence and gratitude. The deeper our relationship with God grows, the more naturally our actions align with His purposes—not to gain approval from others, but because His will has genuinely become our own.My hope is that this podcast helps grow your faith and equips you to accomplish your dreams and goals!Follow me on InstagramFollow me on FacebookFollow me on TikTok
Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019) synopsis: “An in-depth voyage into the sci-fi film Alien (1979) with the visionary filmmakers who created it. See how one of the most terrifying movies of all time came to life 40 years ago, inspired by ancient mythology and our universal fears.”Starring: Dan O'Bannon, Diane O'Bannon, Ridley Scott, and Ben MankiewiczDirector: Alexandre O. PhilippeThis week on Podcasting After Dark, Zak and Corey review Memory: The Origins of Alien! A documentary film that focuses less on the technical side of things and more on the philosophical side. Memory dives into Dan O'Bannon's cinematic influences, Greek influences, and artistic influences to examine why Alien made such an impact on the cultural zeitgeist.Leave a comment on our socials and let us know what you thought of the episode!— SUPPORT PODCASTING AFTER DARK —PATREON - Two extra shows a month including Wrap-Up After Dark and The Carpenter Factor, plus other exclusive content!MERCH STORE - We have a fully dedicated merch store at TeePublic with multiple designs and products!INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / LETTERBOXD - Follow us on social media for updates and announcements!This podcast is part of the BFOP Network
Episode 194: In this episode of the Sports Performance Leadership Podcast, hosted by Pete McKnight, we are joined by Mark Adamoulas — a performance leader whose 20-year career has spanned across sport, education, and the corporate world. Mark's track record is both diverse and exceptional: he has worked with Manchester United, the FA, Red Bull, and numerous global corporates, supporting C-suite leaders, Premier League managers, Olympic gold medalists, and VC/PE companies. His mixed heritage and multilingual background allow him to connect authentically with people from varied cultures and contexts, bridging high-performance environments across industries and geographies. As co-founder of coachup, Mark leads on coach development, bringing the latest behavioural science into the world of sports coaching. Where traditional coaching development often focuses on skills, drills, and tactics, Mark and his team shine a spotlight on the most critical driver of sustained success: the team environment. Topics Discussed: Mark's background — Greek heritage, move to the UK, and path into sports psychology Professional experience — Work with Manchester United, the FA, Rugby League, Red Bull, and more CoachUp — Neuroscience-based psychometric tools for team function The Infinity Model — Core pillars for building high-performance environments Practical applications — Lessons from the Crusaders and elite teams worldwide Benefits for leaders — Improving team alignment, collaboration, and performance Barriers — Overcoming skepticism, poor prior assessment experiences, ego and fear of feedback Evidence base — Validation by Oxford and Harvard neuroscientists Leadership ecosystems — Why building systems matters more than hiring experts alone Future trends — Rising pressures on athletes and staff, and the urgent need for better psychological environments Call to action — How leaders can engage with CoachUp in both sport and corporate settings This conversation delivers a rare insight into the science and practice of team performance, blending psychology, neuroscience, and leadership to show how high-performing cultures are built — and sustained — in today's most demanding environments. - Where you can find Mark: LinkedIn CoachUp Research Gate - Sponsors VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training Hytro: The world's leading Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) wearable, designed to accelerate recovery and maximise athletic potential using Hytro BFR for Professional Sport. - Where to Find Us Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on: Instagram Twitter Our Website - Our Team Andy McDonald Ben Ashworth Alistair McKenzie Dylan Carmody Steve Barrett Pete McKnight
The boys return for another week to discuss the latest in Greek football, the gift that keeps on giving.UEFA CompetitionPanathiniakos narrowly win at OAKAPAOK lose on the roadAEK get a credible draw in BelgiumUCL, UEL & UECL draws this FridaySLGRYazici saves Olympiakos with one of the goals of the season, already.Aris comfortbly beat VolosThe new look AEK see off PanserraikosPAOK narrowly beat AELOther newsRenato Sanches joins PanathiniakosZafeiris on the verge of joining PAOKOlympiakos close to making some late movesTsimikas saga continuesDouvikas starts brightly for ComoSotiris Ninis retires from footballGive us a follow on:X: https://twitter.com/HellasfootyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellasfooty/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/@HellasFootyRead our blogs on: https://hellasfooty.blogspot.com/Intro music credit to George Prokopiou (Ermou Street)
Looking for a fresh take on ethics in the business world? In this insightful episode of Count Me In, host Adam Larson sits down with acclaimed professors and Curt Verschoor Feature of the Year authors Douglas Boyle, Daniel Haggerty, and Dana Hermanson. The trio brings their unique expertise—and plenty of real-world wisdom—to a lively conversation about what “virtue” really means in accounting, finance, and leadership. Daniel traces the roots of virtue all the way from Greek philosophy to modern business, showing why courage, strength, and excellence matter just as much today. Doug and Dana share practical examples from their teaching and research, exploring why business education often misses the mark on building character—and how professionals at any stage can start making ethical choices that go beyond simply following rules. Tune in for a thought-provoking, accessible discussion that will have you rethinking what it truly means to lead with integrity. Sponsor:Today's episode is brought to you by U.S. Bank. U.S. Bank is a trusted financial partner for our clients, businesses and communities. We believe in doing the right thing and putting people first. It's an honor to be recognized as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute for the tenth consecutive year. From commercial credit cards and program management tools to innovative payment technologies and transportation offerings, U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems has the right solution to help your organization reduce payment costs, enhance control and streamline your entire payment processing function. We'll partner with you to uncover your challenges and provide smart, clear and honest guidance to help you meet the financial goals for your business. Visit usbank.com/corporatepayments to learn more.
Born of Water and Spirit: What Did Jesus Really Mean? | Word of Mouth PodcastJesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”But what does that really mean? Was Jesus talking about natural birth… or baptism? Was He repeating Himself about spiritual birth, or was He revealing the true plan of salvation?In this episode, we dive deep into:✅ What “water” means in the Greek (hudōr = literal water)✅ Why Jesus wasn't talking about amniotic fluid or natural birth✅ How the book of Acts consistently shows baptism in Jesus' Name + the Holy Ghost✅ Old Testament shadows — Noah's flood, the Red Sea, and how they point to baptism✅ Why tongues is the evidence of the Spirit and not just a “gift”✅ Why Jesus said, “Marvel not… Ye must be born again.”This isn't about tradition. This isn't about denomination. This is about what Jesus said — and how the early church obeyed it.✝️ If you've never been baptized in Jesus' Name or filled with the Holy Ghost, this episode is for you.—
Episode Summary. Often Christians think of evangelism like this: It is having the courage to overcome every piece of emotional intelligence we've learned about relationships, and intruding into the life of a co-worker, neighbor, or stranger to tell someone, who doesn't want to hear it, the gospel message that they are a sinner in need of a savior, and then being willing to suffer rejection if we are accused of being preachy. If that is what sharing our faith looks like, who would want to do it? But this view is NOT BIBLICAL. It has major flaws. This episode identifies these flaws and ends up showing a biblical view of sharing our faith that is winsome and begins where people are instead of where we want them to be.For Further Prayerful Thought:Why is it misleading to understand the Greek word for evangelism(EUANGELIZO) to mean preaching the gospel to others?How does understanding the four-chapter gospel help us realize that Christ's kingdom power is for more than just an eternal life insurance policy?Can you think of biblical examples not mentioned in this episode of Jesus tailoring the good news of the kingdom to the point of brokenness being felt by his listener?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men's issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)
How does the classical world shape our politics, culture, language and lives today? On today's episode, we're joined by two of the greatest names making classics accessible for the modern day. Dame Mary Beard is a classicist who taught at Cambridge for almost 40 years. She has close to 20 books to her name, including Pompeii, which won the Wolfson History Prize, SPQR and Emperor of Rome, both of which were bestsellers in the UK and US. Charlotte Higgins is the chief culture writer of the Guardian. She studied Classics at university , and has since written many books on this topic, including Greek Myths: A New Retelling. Charlotte and Mary sat down with classicist and author Honor Cargill-Martin to explore taking a ‘post-truth' approach to antiquity, how the idea of the Romans have been used as a political tool throughout history, and what the Greeks got right and wrong about human nature. You can find more of Mary and Charlotte discussing antiquity and the present day on their new podcast, Instant Classics, available to watch or listen weekly from Thursday August 28. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices