Podcasts about from peter

Did the teachings of Vatican I—like papal primacy and infallibility—suddenly appear in the 19th century, or do they have roots in the early Church? In this episode, Karlo Broussard explores whether first-century Christianity shows signs of the very authority Vatican I defined. From Peter's leadership to early documents like First Clement, we trace the continuity between apostolic Christianity and conciliar declarations, helping you respond to historical objections with clarity and confidence. Join The CA Live Club Newsletter: Click Here Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 04:59 – How can we avoid begging the question against the Catholic faith when talking to Orthodox? 12:34 – Does sitting in adoration impart grace? 18:46 – If sacrifice is the only actual worship, how is it that the offering of the Eucharist, worship of Jesus if we're offering his own body? 18:46 – If sacrifice is the only actual worship, how is it that the offering of the Eucharist, worship of Jesus if we're offering his own body? 21:26 – Why was Jesus’ death so horrific but the sacrifice of Isaac didn’t seem like it was as brutal? 31:44 – If all the angels were created in a perfect state, what inclined them to their first sin? 36:23 – I believe that being elevated as one of the greatest like Mary and John was because of their humility. What are your thoughts? 42:14 – Are the teachings of Vatican 1 apparent in the first century? 47:35 – I know that communion on the hand was allowed recently but was the intended form palm to mouth? When did picking it up with our fingers and placing it into our mouth specifically allowed? 50:52 – I'm a new convert. How does the Church view the imparting of the Holy Spirit and Pentecost?

What if God wanted to say something to you, but you weren't able to hear it? Or you heard it, but misconstrued it? Last Sunday we celebrated Easter. This Sunday we'll look at something that happened to Simon Peter soon after the resurrection of Jesus that rocked his world. God said something unbelievable to Peter, and he almost refused to obey. From Peter's experience, we'll learn something very important about how to hear the voice of God in our lives.

Send us a textTitle: No More Excuses – Standing for Christ in a Culture of CompromiseWhat keeps us from boldly standing for Jesus? In this urgent and timely episode, we explore how fear, comfort, and the desire for control often become subtle—but powerful—excuses that lead us to compromise or deny our faith. From Peter's denial at the fire bin to modern believers navigating hostile cultural environments, the struggle remains the same.We revisit Peter's moment of weakness—choosing self-preservation when confronted by a servant girl—and draw direct parallels to how many Christians today remain silent about their beliefs in workplaces, classrooms, and even in churches that have strayed from biblical truth. The stakes are real: social ridicule, job risk, and accusations of intolerance. Yet Jesus' warning rings clear: “If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them...” (Luke 9:26).This episode doesn't sugarcoat the cultural battlelines, especially in educational institutions, where biblical values are increasingly replaced by ideologies that distort truth—particularly around gender, sexuality, and identity. Families, students, and educators face a critical question: Will we remain grounded in the truth of Christ, or drift with the currents of cultural approval?As one host soberly notes, “When we took God out of schools, we replaced it with guns.” It's a stark reminder that when we remove God's truth, something else always fills the void—and it's rarely life-giving.But the answer today is the same as it was in Peter's story: genuine transformation through the Holy Spirit. After Pentecost, Peter no longer crumbled under pressure—he stood boldly, proclaiming the Gospel with courage that came from beyond himself. That same Spirit-filled boldness is still available to those willing to surrender fear, resist compromise, and walk in obedience.This episode calls believers to reject spiritual excuses and rise into faithful, fearless discipleship. Start by immersing yourself in the Word. Surround yourself with uncompromising believers. Choose the narrow road—because while it may be unpopular, it leads to life.The time is now. The world doesn't need more quiet Christians. It needs Spirit-empowered believers who know whom they serve and are unafraid to say so.Peter's denial devotional, Christian podcast about cultural compromise, Holy Spirit empowerment today, standing for Christ in public schools, Luke 9:26 explained, rejecting fear in faith, boldness through Pentecost, Christians in hostile environments, faith over fear podcast, Spirit-filled discipleship, biblical response to cultural pressure, how to stand firm in ChristSupport the showhttps://www.pastorbencooper.co.uk/https://www.rbchristianradio.net/

God consistently chooses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things through their willingness to say yes to His call. From Peter, an unschooled fisherman, to Moses, who needed to be humbled from his extraordinary status, these biblical figures demonstrate that God values availability over ability. The key isn't having special talents or perfect qualifications, but rather maintaining a humble heart and staying connected to Jesus. When we acknowledge our limitations and rely on God instead of our own capabilities, He can transform our ordinary lives into extraordinary testimonies of His power.

From Peter to the Exiles | 1 Peter 1:1 by The Journey Southern Illinois

What if true heroism isn't about power, strength, or having all the answers—but simply asking, "How can I help you?" In this video, we uncover the life-changing impact of Elisha's question to the widow in 2 Kings 4 and how real heroes don't just see problems, they see people. From Peter and John's encounter with the lame man in Acts 3 to real-life moments of stepping into someone's brokenness, this message will challenge you to stop assuming, start seeing, and truly help in a way that empowers others. Watch to discover the key to making a lasting impact in someone's life today!

In this episode of Footnotes, we dive into Acts 3-7, examining the four powerful sermons that shape the early church's bold proclamation of the gospel. From Peter's message at Solomon's Portico to Stephen's final defense before the Sanhedrin, each sermon emphasizes key theological themes: the absolute sovereignty of God over history, the exaltation of Christ as Lord, and the fulfillment of God's promises in Jesus as the true Messiah.Listen to Devon's sermonWatch on Youtube

Discover the unique calling and mission Jesus entrusted to these ordinary men and how their extraordinary journey. From Peter to the unwavering faith of Thomas, we'll explore the lives of these apostles. Sermon Notes Mark 3:13 Jesus goes up a mountain and summons who He wants Mark 3:14 & 15 12 appointed to 1. Be with Him; 2 preach & 3 cast out demons Mark 3:16 11 are appointed and named Mark 3:17 The 12th betrays Him

Send us a textIn this sermon, Rev. Paul Lawler dives into Acts 4:1-12 to explore the call to witness boldly for Jesus. Despite misunderstanding and opposition, we see a powerful response of the early church to the Gospel. From Peter's fearless declaration of Jesus as the only Savior to the growing challenge of evangelism today, we reflect on what it means to be a witness in a world that increasingly resists the message of Christ. Drawing from the Great Commission and John Wesley's passion for intentional evangelism, Pastor Paul challenges us to consider how we can boldly share our faith through prayer, actions, and relationships. HOME | PLAN YOUR VISIT | BLOG | DIGITAL BULLETIN

Peter calls believers a “holy nation”, a people that is to be set apart from the world, but this task is easier said than done. In this sermon we look at how we can be holy just as God is holy. From Peter's letter we see the need to believe differently than the world, which results in different behaviour. Believers benefit from holiness in a way that the world cannot attain in that we become more like our Saviour.

Text Rudy Now!Hosts: Peter, Lee, and ShaneEpisode Title: "Green Beards, Mole Maps, and Poolside Positivity"Episode Summary:Join Peter, Lee, and Shane for a wildly entertaining kickoff to 2025 as they dive into the post-Christmas chaos of the pool industry. From Peter's rare quiet Christmas (no last-minute calls for green pool rescues!) to Shane's annual naked mole map at the dermatologist (for UV protection, of course), this episode is packed with humor, practical advice, and a surprising amount of banter about ketchup for green hair.With Australia's brutal summer sun in full swing, the team tackles the importance of protecting yourself and your staff from UV exposure. From sunscreen to long-sleeved shirts, coconut water to polarized sunglasses, they share tips for staying safe and hydrated while working under the relentless sun.Plus, Lee recounts one of the most bizarre water tests she's ever seen—spoiler alert: green hair and copper-filled water are involved. The team emphasizes the importance of identifying the cause of a problem, not just treating the symptoms, and how being knowledgeable earns clients' trust and loyalty for life.Highlights from the Episode:Peter's Christmas Miracle: No frantic Christmas Eve calls to fix green pools this year!Shane's Dermatologist Visit: UV in New Zealand is no joke—naked mole maps save lives (and skin!).Lee's Nightmare Test Results: Zero alkalinity, 6.3 pH, 3.6 copper levels, and the greenest hair you've ever seen.Pro Tips for Employers: How to protect your staff from UV exposure and dehydration during peak summer.Customer Honesty: Why pool owners denying everything doesn't help fix their problems.Key Takeaways:Always test source water when troubleshooting unusual pool chemistry.Protect yourself and your team from UV with sunscreen, hats, and hydration.When in doubt, trust the pros—not the big-box store selling chlorine with surprise ingredients.Positivity is infectious—bring good vibes to your clients and your team!Sponsor: Buffer Zone SystemsStreamline your pool business operations with the most advanced software in the industry. Visit Buffer Zone for a personalized demo today!

In this episode of Marvel Maniac: An MCU Aftershow, we swing into action with a deep dive into Spider-Man: Homecoming!

"From Peter to the Exiles," Exiles, 1 Peter 1:1-5, The Very Rev. Dr. Dan Alger. As Christians, we are citizens of God's eternal kingdom, but we are still living in an earthly kingdom. In Peter's first letter, he addresses it to the "exiles" or "sojourners" that are dispersed throughout the world--in places and cultures that live very differently than how Christ has called them to live. In our modern world, we find that we struggle with the same tension. How should we see life through the lens of being an exile, an yet still properly engage with the earthy kingdom in which we live? What does it mean to live differently, not putting our trust and hope in the ways of this earthy kingdom, but rather live in such a way that we hold out hope to the world that points to a better kingdom?

KIB 449 – How to Avoid Becoming an Agent in Babylon's Matrix Kingdom Intelligence Briefing   There are many that teach that once you are saved, the enemy cannot touch you.  However, the New Testament has warnings that contradict our modern Laodicean theology.  From Peter's warning that we are to be vigilant and sober to Paul's admonishment that the enemy can take us captive to do his will (2 Tim. 2:20-26) are essential in understanding the level of spiritual warfare that believers are experiencing today.  Believers must have a firm foundation in the Word of God and actively engage in sanctification to remain free of the enemy's machinations in the last days.   Notes from Podcast:    1.        1A Film Festival – September 13-15.  www.1afilmfest.com (Livestream for $25.00) 2.        The video edition of KIB begins next week.  Because of the extra work involved in video production, the podcast may not be available until Wednesday of each week. 3.        Biblical Life TV will begin the second week of September.  We will start with Chapter One of the Kingdom Priesthood book.   Dr. Michael K. Lake is the Chancellor and Founder of Biblical Life College and Seminary. He is the scholar-in-residence for the Strategic Remnant Learning Center – Biblical Life Assembly.  Dr. Lake is the author of the best-selling books “The Shinar Directive:  Preparing the Way for the Son of Perdition,” “The Sheeriyth Imperative:  Empowering the Remnant to Overcome the Gates of Hell,” “The Kingdom Priesthood: Preparing and Equipping the Remnant Priesthood for the Last Days,” and “The Kingdom Warrior: Full-Spectrum Spiritual Warfare 1.”  He is a popular speaker at national Christian conferences and is a frequent guest on many Christian TV and radio/podcast programs in North America.    Mary Lou Lake has worked side-by-side with her husband in ministry for over 40 years and is the author of the book “What Witches Don't Want Christians to Know – Expanded Edition.” 

I started by sharing my experience giving after reading Peter's book The Life You Can Save. I confess I only read it after our first conversation, but loved it. I feared reading a book by an academic philosopher arguing a point would be dry and boring. Instead it led me to donate to causes. Then, even though I didn't donate for recognition or personal benefit, the organizations I donated to contacted me with gratitude, connected to me, and one even invited me to its annual dinner.Then we talk more about flying, following up our last conversation. From Peter's perspective, I view flying too black-and-white, not considering someone's reason for flying or what benefit it might provide. I don't challenge that perspective. I'm just looking to learn from my guest. My book treats that perspective.Then I share my new take on his drowning child analogy as it relates to sustainability.Other topics too, but we close with our mutual appreciation for calm conversation and democracy, both lacking these days.Peter's home page Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Tech Sales Insights, Randy Seidl and Peter Bell, General Partner and Chairman of Amity Ventures, dive into the realm of sales and startups. From Peter's extensive experience as both a sales leader and a venture capitalist, they explore best practices, pitfalls, and strategies for achieving success in sales-driven organizations.KEY TAKEAWAYSFounder-Led Sales: Understand the pivotal role founders play in early sales efforts and the importance of authenticity in customer interactions.Product-Market Fit: Delve into the challenges of finding and validating product-market fit, crucial for sustainable growth and investor confidence.Scaling Sales Teams: Navigate the delicate balance between founder-led sales and hiring experienced sales managers to drive team growth and efficiency.Remote Work Dynamics: Explore the evolving landscape of remote work and its impact on sales team dynamics, collaboration, and productivity.Customer-Centricity: Emphasize the significance of customer relationships and the role they play in product development, sales strategy, and business success.QUOTES"If the founder can't sell the product, it's extremely difficult for anyone else to sell it because the founder has the authenticity that really only the founder can have in an early-stage company.""Finding product-market fit is extremely difficult. Sometimes you don't actually know when you've found it. Many companies feel they've found it before they've actually really found it.""It's not just about making quota and delighting customers; it's about enjoying the journey together."Find out more about Peter Bell through the links below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwbell/This episode is sponsored by Phone Ready Leads, the Audience Activation sponsor of the Sales Community. Sales teams using Phone Ready Leads average a 21.3% dial to connect rate with key decision makers (A live conversation every ~5 dials), and average ~10 conversations with key decision makers for every 50 outbound dials they make. Visit their website at: https://phonereadyleads.com/

Our final chapter beautifully encapsulates themes of reunion, gratitude, and change as grandmamma's arrival unfolds into a series of tender moments and heartfelt farewells. As we follow Heidi and her friends, we bear witness to the transformative power of love and kindness upon every character. From Peter's turn of fortune to Clara's significant progress and the touching concern for grandmother's well-being, Johanna Spyri weaves a rich tapestry of a community's love and support.The mountain air is ripe with anticipation and joy as promises are made and future plans crafted. Grandmamma brings not only her presence but also a spirit of generosity that uplifts everyone around her. And though goodbyes are spoken, they are cushioned with the hope of return and the enduring bond between Heidi, her friends, her grandfather, and the cherished alpine landscape.Embrace these emotions as we delve into this poignant conclusion of a timeless classic, and let the alpine breeze carry us through this journey of nostalgia and new beginnings. So, close your eyes, open your heart, and let's step into the story where every goodbye is softened by the promise of another meeting.

Heavenly father, we come to you with hearts of gratefulness thanksgiving and hearts of love. We thank you that you are a glorious God, a great God and a gracious God, and we thank you heavenly Father, that despite our spiritual blindness, the veils over our eyes, the lies of Satan over the eyes of our faith. Lord, you offer us vision, the vision that is gifted to us when we look to the cross of Jesus Christ. Christ, when we look to the cross, we see God, the Son of God and the Son of man bearing the full condemnation that we deserve for our sins, for our blindness, our willful ignorance.And Lord, you offer us by grace through faith, sight of you, you promise us that those who are pure in heart will see God. And Lord, we today ask for the purity of heart. We repent of our sins, of our pride, of anything that gets in the way of seeing you. And Lord, if there are other veils over our hearts, over our minds, over our faith, I pray today, unwrap them, unravel them, and give us a clear sight of who you are, what you've called us to do. Lord, we thank you for the holy scriptures. We thank you that in the scriptures we meet Christ and in the scriptures we hear from Christ. And in the scriptures we learn that Christ calls us to a life of self-denial.Lord, you'd call us to take up our crosses on a daily basis and follow you. That's what it means to be a believer. And I pray, Lord, if there's areas in our life where we deny you instead of self, I pray, you give us grace to switch that and deny self and follow you. And Lord, if there's anyone who is not yet a believer, who has not seen the truth of who you are and the truth that there is a chasm between every sinner and the holy God, and only Jesus Christ is powerful enough to bridge that chasm and he does so with his work on the cross.I pray, Lord, if anyone is still blind to you, that you give them eyes to see today, regenerate their hearts, save them, draw them to yourself and give them the gift of eternal life. Save their soul and save their soul for eternity and make us the people that continue to care about the lost souls around us as we look at them with compassion. I pray, Lord Jesus, pour out the Holy Spirit and save many, send a great awakening and a great revival in this land and beyond. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name. Amen. We're continuing our sermon series through the incredible work, the Gospel of Mark and we've entitled the series Kingdom Come the Gospel of Mark in the Secret of God's Kingdom. And the idea comes from the fact that Jesus Christ has come.He has inaugurated his kingdom with the gospel message. He says, repent and believe for the kingdom of God is here. And then, once we follow him, Jesus calls us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So Lord, already your kingdom is here, but we want your kingdom to expand in our lives, in our hearts with our faith, and the Lord does that. The title of sermon today is What's Blind But Now, I See and that's a lyric from the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace. Anytime anyone gets baptized at Mosaic, we sing this downstairs. "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see."Blindness is one of the most precise metaphors to describe our spiritual condition apart from God's grace. In our natural, sinful, unconverted, unregenerated state, we're blind to the most important dimension of reality. And that's the spiritual realm. We're blind to the truth about the existence of God, the person of God, the will of God, and coming to the realization of the truth, the veracity, the reality of God, who he truly is. What happens is the Lord opens up the eyes of your heart, eyes that you had never even known to exist. The eyes of faith. CS Lewis once presented a paper at the Oxford Socratic Club entitled, Is Theology Poetry?And in that paper he has this one line where he says, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." And when you see Christ for who he truly is, you begin to see reality as it truly is. With that said, would you look at our text today, Mark chapter eight verses 22 through 38, "And they came to Bethsaida and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him and he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly.""And he sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist and others say Elijah and others, one of the prophets. And he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered Him, you are the Christ. And he strictly charged him to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed. And after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him."But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it for what is the prophet of man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul for what can man give in return for his soul, for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels?This is the reading of God's holy and infallible, authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Three points to frame up our time today. First, a blind man healed progressively. Second, a blind disciple sanctified incrementally and finally, follow Christ with eyes wide open to the cost. First, a blind man healed progressively. The scene right before this text is one in which Jesus was continuing to teach his disciples and the scene in which they had a difficulty grasping the truths of who Christ is, of what it means that he is the Messiah. And in chapter eight verse 18, he says to them, "Having eyes do you not see?"And immediately after that text, we get a symbolic healing of a blind man, but it's not instantaneous. He's healed after first passing through an intermediate state of indistinct vision. And there's a deliberate juxtaposition here that the Holy Spirit is giving us in showing us that the disciples don't really see yet because they are approaching the teaching of Jesus with their own manmade categories of teachings they had received from the scribes and the Pharisees. So not only does he have to dismantle their categories and then, fill them in order to give them sight, but he has to give them grace to actually do that. And the juxtaposition is deliberately reinforced by showing us that in the same way that Jesus needs to touch a blind man twice, he needs to touch his disciples over and over to give them clarity of sight.And the theme before us is distortion of vision. Spiritually speaking, that's every single one of us, all of the time. That apart from God's grace, apart from the spiritual eye surgery that the Lord offers us from his word and through his spirit, we don't see as we ought to see things get in the way the world gets in the way, the flesh gets in the way, our own misguided ideas of what God is get in the way. And then also, there are layers of demonic lives that the Lord needs to unravel, not to mention our sin. Jesus Christ and the sermon in the mountain, what did he say? He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God," that there is a purity that is necessitated for us to see God with clarity.Verse 22, we pick up the story. They, the disciples in Jesus came to Bethsaida and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him once again. We see this pattern that we've seen often in the Gospel of Mark, that it's friends who see their friend. Friends whose hearts are filled with compassion for a friend who's ailing and they do everything to bring that person to Jesus. And they beg Jesus, "Please heal our friend." They believe enough. They believe enough that Jesus in his power to bring their friend to Christ and then, they beg him to heal him. The faith of others here besides the inflicted man is involved. And this shows that the importance of intercessory prayer to God on behalf of others, on behalf of the physically and the spiritually blind.In the same way that it's a miracle that Jesus heals the blind man, gives him sight. It's even a greater miracle that God gives spiritual sight to anybody. It's an incredible miracle that he saves anybody. He's almighty. He can save anyone. Yes, we must pray. We must pray for our friends, our neighbors, those people in our lives, in our spheres of influence that do not yet know the Lord, can we give them eyesight to see Christ for who he is, we cannot. We are helpless, but can we bring them to the Lord? Can we beg the Lord? Lord in my prayers, I'm interceding on behalf of my neighbors, of my community, of the people that I see every day rub shoulders with every day who are so far from you.They have souls, eternal souls and their eternity hangs in the balance. Lord save them, and we see this pattern and that's incredible pattern for us. A lot of people like talking about the compassion of Jesus Christ that before he heals anyone, he does feel compassion for them. While the greatest level of compassion that you can feel for anybody is, have a compassion for their souls, for their eternity. Verse 23, "And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit in his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? He takes the blind man by the hand and leads him out of the village. Why? He doesn't want to make a spectacle of this in a village, a small village. There are no secrets.The Lord wants to deal with this man privately and the seclusion away from the crowd. In the same way, that Jesus here takes the man by the hand, God took Israel by the hand, led them out of Egypt to shows his care for the person. The word for eyes here in the Greek is the more poetic term, it's not just physical eyes, but it also has a spiritual dimension. And Jesus is in the business not just of healing physically, he wants to heal the person's soul. The saliva was to draw the man's attention to what Jesus is about to do. The laying on of hands has the same effect. Touch means something incredibly profound to a blind man. In verse 24, he looked up and he said, "I see people but they look like trees, walking." He says, "I see, but it's indistinct. I see, but something is off."And here you pause and you say, despite Christ's touch, there's still an obstacle to the blind man's complete healing. His perception is still fractured. The healing isn't complete. The man is not blind anymore, but neither does he see with fully functional eyes. In contrast to all the other healings in the gospel, this is the only one that comes in a two-step process. It's not instantaneous. And the intermediate state of the man's vision after Jesus' first touch is symbolic. It is symbolic, what happens with the disciples? They see Jesus, but they don't really understand who he is. Not fully, not truly. There is an understanding of seeing but not seeing of already but not yet. There is an understanding that we are to grow in our vision and our spiritual insight.And the Christian walk is compared to life to begin a walk with the Lord Jesus Christ to be regenerated. It's as if you were born again, Jesus uses that language and that metaphor. It's as if you were spiritually dead inside, blind did not see. And the moment you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, you repent of your sin. You believe in him, and you're born. You're born again. And then as a baby needs to grow as we too as believers need to grow in maturity and understanding and in health, First Corinthians 13, a famous passage, but verses nine through 12 here are particularly relevant.St. Paul says, "For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child, I reason like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face. Now I know in part and then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known, will we know God fully in this life? No, but we are to attempt to grow as much as we possibly can. Seek the Lord's illumination from the holy scriptures and from his Holy Spirit. Darkness has begun to give way to light, but there's still demonic resistance in this world.There's still demonic lies that we have been fed that we need unveiled from our faith. Another contact with Christ is necessary and we are to be believers that say, Lord, I want to grow. I want to grow beyond where I am. I want to see you more clearly. I want to know you in a deeper way, in a fresher way. Lord, give me a fresh encounter. Give me a fresh touch, Lord, I see, but not the way I know I'm supposed to see. And when we come to the Lord with that posture of heart, he loves to answer that prayer of Lord, give me another touch from your hand. Mark 8:25, then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. Jesus again lays his hands on the man's eyes and it says His sight was restored.Perhaps this is explaining to us that he had seen at one time had sight at one time, he knew what trees looked like subsequently had lost his sight. We're not sure. Either way, he now sees everything, clearly. There's restoration of physical sight and then also a Lord willing spiritual health. The Lord loves to reveal secrets and mysteries that are profound, that beyond our understanding when we come to him in First Corinthians 13:2 for example. It says, "If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing." And a lot of us we love to put the emphasis on the love part.Don't forget the love part. That's the most important. Yes, don't forget the love part, but here in this text it's showing us that there are mysteries and there is a knowledge that the Lord does reveal and he can reveal to those who continue to seek him and seek him humbly. Gradual growth and vision is a symbol for a progression and spiritual understanding. Verse 26, and Jesus sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. Jesus doesn't want to be known as just a miracle worker. He doesn't want to be known as just the person you go to, to have your physical needs met. He's not a divine pinata or a vending machine. He isn't Santa Claus upgraded.No, he's here to save souls sin six souls and illuminate the eyes of the heart. And that brings us to 0.2, a blind disciple sanctified incrementally. Verse 27, "And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am?" What he's getting at is what's the public opinion? Jesus has been ministering for quite some time. He's done miracles, he's taught many sermons. And Jesus is saying what's the consensus? In verse 28, they told him John the Baptist and others say Elijah and others, one of the prophets.It's not surprising that Jesus would be identified as a great figure of the past, returned from the dead even, given the widespread ancient Jewish belief that saints were alive. All these roles of the prophets of John the Baptist of Elijah, they were roles of preparation, not fulfillment, not consummation. John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus Christ and he did that by saying, repent, believe. The king is here, turn to the king. And now, the king has come and there is a fulfillment of the prophecies. Mark 8:29, "And he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ." Here in the Greek, there's an emphatic you but you.You, who do you say that I am? This is the most important question that every single human being needs to answer while still alive. Who do you say that Jesus is? And Peter correctly says, "You're the Christ." That's the Greek translation of the Aramaic Messiah. You're the Messiah. You're the anointed expected king of Israel. You're the one who's going to come to teach us the righteous ways of God and established God's dominion. And in the Jewish theology, the scribes and the Pharisees had come up with a whole theology of what the Messiah would come to do. In Jewish theology of the time, the Messiah was expected to be entirely human, like King David was a great king and he loved the Lord.He knew the Lord and he established the kingdom of Israel. They thought the son of David would be much greater than David, but he would just be a son of David. He would just be human. And for a human being to establish his kingdom, the human being has to be alive. A human being builds a kingdom through victory, through taking dominion. And here, Jesus Christ, "Yes, Peter, you're correct," but later he is going to continue to restore and heal Peter's wrongheaded spiritual vision and definition of the Messiah. There was no general expectation that the Messiah would suffer or die. What kind of king dies as he's establishing a kingdom? If the king dies, the kingdom dies.If Jesus, you are the Messiah and you die, the movement is over. It's done. Peter gets the title, right, as we see, but he has no understanding of what the Messiah has come to do. And Peter, where did you get this understanding that Jesus is the Messiah. It was given to him through divine revelation. In Matthew 16, the parallel passage verse 16, "Simon Peter replied, You're the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.""I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth shall be loose in heaven. Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ." And that's how our paragraph ends in Mark 8:30. He strictly charged them to tell no one about him, strictly charged. Another translation says vehemently ordered. It's the same word for rebuke, used later in verse 33. He rebukes them. Don't tell anyone that I'm the Messiah, partially because Peter doesn't fully understand what that means. And by teaching people that Jesus is the Messiah would be the blind leading the blind, so to speak.Mark 8:31, "And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed. And after three days rise again." This is the first three of the passion predictions in the Gospel of Mark, and Jesus here continues to teach. He has come to teach. And what is he doing by teaching? He's establishing his kingdom because his kingdom is a kingdom of truth. The way that he dismantles the kingdom of the evil one is by dismantling the lies, supplanting the lies, replacing them with truth. And what is he teaching? He's teaching Peter. He's teaching the crowds. What kind of Messiah he is?He says, "The son of man must suffer." It's necessary. He used the word must. He must suffer. He must be rejected. He must be killed. He must rise again. What's the word must mean? It means there's no other way. This is the only possibility. This is the only potential path for human redemption. There is a divine compulsion. Why? Because this is the will of God. This is the will of God the Father. There's divine necessity. He begins to teach them because they needed to be taught because no human could come up with an idea like this, that God would come and die. How can God die? How can the Son of God die? That Jesus Christ, the incarnate Lord is to be beaten, scorched, mocked, tried, tested, forsake and crucified dead and would be buried.And the necessity of Jesus' death is also ... it is a necessity because he is to fulfill the scriptures. The scriptures prophesied that the suffering servant will come, Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53. Clearly, it's about Jesus Christ. And then, Jesus uses the title Son of Man and part of the background for the son of man is Adam. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cursed with various sufferings by God. So if God is going to redeem humanity, one who is like human, who is the son of man, the son of Adam, who needs to represent the people. He needs to be fully man and fully God and Daniel seven is a great prophecy that this ancient of days, son of man, son of God is coming and he's coming to redeem humanity.He will be rejected by the elders, the Sanhedrin, the priestly court of Israel will scrutinize the claims of Jesus and then deliberately reject him. And he says, "After three days will rise again." The phrase after three days and on the third day, our equivalent phrases is because of how they measured time in that culture. Mark 8:32, "And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him." Now, Peter was the first apostle chosen by Jesus. Peter was in the inner group of the big three of the disciples. It was Peter, James and John. The sons of thunder that Jesus called him. And Peter perhaps, because he thought of that proximity, allowed him to speak into Jesus' life.All of a sudden he feels bold enough to take Jesus' aside, and there is a sense of the fact that, in the language, that he's patronizing Jesus. And then, the word says that he began to rebuke Jesus and as soon as Jesus specifies the kind of Messiah he is, Peter, he can't fit that definition of the Messiah into his mind, and he begins to wonder, "You know what, Jesus, perhaps your mom was right, perhaps your siblings were right. Perhaps you are out of your mind. The Messiah to suffer, that doesn't make any sense." It seemed so nonsensical to Peter that it was almost demonic, what kind of paradoxical Messiah is this? He begins to rebuke Jesus Christ.And the same word for rebuke is what Jesus used when he cast out demons, he rebuked them. It's almost as if Peter here is rebuking a demonic idea. "Jesus, what are you talking about? You're the Messiah. We're here. We follow you. You're supposed to be the king, you're going to establish the kingdom and we're going to have positions in your kingdom. And you're talking about death. What are you talking about?" As soon as Jesus begins to define what kind of Messiah he is, as soon as Jesus begins to specify the kind of Messiah he is, everything changes for Peter. And we live in a day and age where people are fine talking about God in general. They're fine talking about faith in general, fine talking about even Jesus in general.As soon as you begin to specify, as soon as you begin to define terms, that's when people take up arms, and that's what's happening with Peter, a Messiah who will suffer, die and rise again. Peter has the gall to rebuke Jesus and to rebuke Jesus in the strongest of terms. He sees what God's will is. And he's like, "No, no, no, no. Lord, you're doing it wrong." I don't know if you've ever rebuked the Lord. We've all had that temptation where you ask for something and the Lord gives you something diametrically opposed to what you asked for. You're like, "Lord, you're not doing your job right, Lord. Let me help you do your job. Perhaps I'm better being God than you are."That's what's going on here. He is correcting Jesus. He is rebuking Jesus and it doesn't go well. And Mark 8:33, "But turning and seeing his disciples, he Jesus rebuked Peter and said, get behind me Satan, for you're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." Peter rebukes Jesus, Jesus rebukes Peter. Guess who won? Jesus wins. Don't rebuke Jesus, be careful of rebuking the Lord. Apparently, this idea that the Messiah would not suffer, it had taken root even in the other disciple's hearts, so Jesus turns to everyone and makes an example of Peter. Peter wasn't unique in his obtuseness. They had inherited this interpretation of the Messiah, inherited it from people.It's not from the holy scriptures and the holy scriptures is clear. Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, clearly prophetic passages that show that the Messiah will suffer. And here what Jesus is doing is he's nullifying the lie and he's nullifying this lie with the truth. He's telling Peter, so to speak, "Peter, you have come to me with old wineskins of a definition of the Messiah." An old wine skin of the definition of God, of how God works, but if you are to have new wine, new wine means that this is completely new and the new wine needs to come in new wine skins. So it's truth that we want to accept from the Lord, but we can't just accept it into our lives without having the Lord completely change the receptacle of that truth.He says, "Get behind me Satan." Harsh words, but I do want to pause here and show the grace in it that Jesus isn't rejecting Peter. "Peter, you're wrong. You're so wrong and you've actually ... you're trying to rebuke me with a lie of Satan," but he's not rejecting Peter. Peter remains a disciple of Jesus Christ and we see the grace of God there. How often have we been so misguided about the Lord, so misguided about understanding who he is and understanding what it means to follow him and he continues to give us grace. Later on chapter nine, actually Jesus takes Peter, James and John onto the Mount and he transfigure in front of them, reveals who he truly is and reveals that he has given Peter more grace.By saying, "Get behind me, Satan." Jesus isn't saying get away from me. He's not banishing Peter forever with this rebuke. No, what he's saying is, get behind me. I am God. I am the Messiah. You are to follow me. Get behind me. Resume the path of following a path that you have momentarily forsaken. I'm the Lord and you are not. And this is a command to Peter. "Resume the path of discipleship rather than trying to lead Jesus Christ." When Jesus used the word Satan, he means, adversary, adversary of divine purpose. Peter here, at least temporarily is opposing the will of God and he needs to understand that he is on the side of Satan when he opposes God. Jesus reveals truth to Peter and as new truth is revealed, old lies must be rooted out.And who does Peter look like here? Well, Peter is half percipient, half insensible condition is similar to the sufferer that we had just read about in the previous narrative. The person who was half seeing, half blinded. And Jesus reveals to Peter that he needs another touch from Christ. He needs more teaching, more revelation. He says to Peter, "You're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." This is where Peter was demonic and that Peter, you're offering me the same path that Satan offered me. And if you remember Jesus when he was fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and Satan comes to tempt him and Satan takes him to the top of the mountain, he says, "Look at all the cities, look at the kingdoms." I'll give everything to you if you fall down and worship me."And what's Satan tempting him with? Jesus, you've come to get the crown. I'll give you the crown. Just don't go to the cross. He understood that if Jesus goes to the cross, he's going to ultimately defeat Satan's sin and death. He's like, "Jesus, let's not do that. You can have all the kingdoms, but let me reign through sin," and Jesus telling Peter, "Peter, you're on the side of Satan. You're tempting me with the same path." The holy scripture often talks about the blinding power of Satan over unbelievers. That apart from the grace of Jesus Christ, we're all blinded to the truth. St. Paul, when he shares his testimony to King Agrippa in Acts 26.This is what the text says in Acts 26:12, "In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priest. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun that shone around me in those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It's hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I'm Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the gentiles to whom I am sending you."To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Saul, before he becomes Paul, he was so zealous for the Lord, but he was so blind in his zeal. He was on a path to Damascus to go and persecute Christians, to murder Christians, and he thought he was doing this in the name of the Lord. And then Jesus appears to him and says, "Why are you persecuting me?" And at that point, Saul could have been like, "I'm not persecuting you Jesus. I got nothing against you. I'm persecuting your followers." Jesus so closely connects himself with his followers, with his church. He says, "By persecuting the church, you're persecuting me."And then Paul gets saved and God gives him a mission to do what? To proclaim the gospel and to help people begin to see God for who he is. Second Corinthians four, continues this theme, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it has veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord. With ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake, for God who said, let light shine out of the darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."How does Satan blind people? He blinds them with lies. If you don't believe in God, you're believing a lie and all of a sudden you're closed off to even the possibility of who God is. If you don't believe in Christ, if you don't believe in what Christ has come to do, you're blinded to the reality of Christ. If you don't believe in the scriptures, you're blinded to the reality of the truth of God's word. And only divine grace permits us to escape this condition of satanic blindness. And demonic blindness is only countered with divine revelation. There's nothing capable of ending this alienation between us and God and the blindness of humanity to God's will except to look to Christ on the cross. As Messiah, Jesus is not only God's holy warrior, but he's also the teacher.And this is why Jesus came to teach. His primary role in his ministry was to teach in order to combat the lies of the enemy so that when people come to know the truth, they begin to see God for who he is. Isaiah 11:2, "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him and the spirit of wisdom and understanding and the spirit of counsel and might." When we grow closer to Christ, we grow closer to the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit longs to reveal wisdom and understanding and counsel and might. Modern Christians today, we've been cushioned by 2000 years of church teaching to the point where we understand the Messiah is supposed to suffer. That idea is unremarkable. To the Jewish people of that time, the idea of a Messiah was the idea of triumph, not of suffering, not of death.And Peter agrees, "Jesus, you are the Messiah," but the question is, how does the Messiah triumph over his enemies? Well, at this point, Peter, we have to have a conversation. Who are your greatest enemies? Peter and Peter, in that frame of mind, before Jesus corrects him, he would say Caesar Augustus or he would say Pontius Pilate or King Herod, these are our greatest enemies, Lord Jesus. Let's build an army together. You are the king, clearly. You just fed 5,000 men. They're pretty happy about it. Just continue doing that and then, we can take over. We're going to take over Jerusalem and then from there, we're going to build your kingdom, because those are our greatest enemies. It's evil people out there. It's evil people in positions of power.Jesus, that's who we need you to get rid of, put us in positions of power and all of a sudden, we're just going to take over. And Jesus will push back and say, "Peter, those aren't your greatest enemies." Before this Caesar, there was another Caesar and many more before that and there will be Caesars after. No, that's not your greatest enemy. It's not, people in politics. It's not your greatest enemy, your greatest enemies. And unless you know this, then you've already lost, but your greatest enemies are Satan, sin and death. Well, if Satan is your greatest enemy, how do you take Satan out? That's a really important question. Well, you take him out by taking his greatest hit.You take Satan's greatest hit, and that's exactly what happened on the cross. Jesus Christ allowed Satan through his human pawns to crucify him. Satan, that's the greatest weapon. You have to kill me. He takes on Satan, but he wasn't just taking on Satan, he was also taking on sin. Well, Peter, if we take over this Caesar, what happens to sin? What happens to the sin in your own heart, Peter? A lot of people say if there's a good God and all powerful God, why does he allow evil to happen in the world? Well, if Jesus Christ could annihilate evil in one second, he can do that. How many of us would still be alive? We'd all be dead. So for Christ to counter evil, to dismantle evil, to take a sin head on, he had to pay the penalty for sin on the cross.And that's why Jesus Christ on the cross, he quotes Psalm 22, which is one of the most profound texts in all of the scripture. He says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And you say, "How can the first person of the trinity forsake the second person of the trinity? How can the father turn his back on the Son just abandoned him on the cross and this hellacious suffering?" Well because the son had taken our sin upon himself. He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. And then, Jesus Christ dies and through his death, what is he doing? He's giving death itself the death blow By God's grace. He didn't stay dead, he was raised.So on the cross, Jesus takes Satan head on. Takes his fiercest attack, takes on the sin of the elect and its wages and takes on death itself with his death. And praise be to God, he wins. From Peter's limited perspective, all he was thinking about was, "Jesus, I got to preserve you. Jesus, I can't let you die because if I let you die from his limited perspective, everything dies. All my dreams die. All my aspirations die." And from God's perspective, that wasn't the way. God's thoughts are so much greater than our thoughts. Praise be to God. Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways than my thoughts than your thoughts?"Jesus fought Peter's believing of lies. This demonic delusion, and he does it with the truth. He does it by teaching the truth. And now, he challenges Peter and he challenges the other disciples because in their faulty understanding, if we're following an earthly political king, then what does that make us? We are your closest followers, Jesus. We're going to be in your cabinet. We're going to have thrones next to you, but if the Messiah is one who suffers. One who dies and dies a gory death on a cross. Well then what about us? If that's the kind of king that we're following, is he worth following? And Jesus proclaims here in the text, the gains and losses of following him, having prophesied his own suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus now proclaims a similar fate for his followers, and that's 0.3.Follow Christ with eyes wide open to the cost. Mark 8:34, "And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." He calls the crowd, you've been following me. You see my miracles, you see the signs. Now, I'm calling you to become my disciples. I'm calling you to follow me, and if you are to follow me, you need to know what it's going to cost you. First of all, deny yourself. He says there's a sense of existential immediacy. Jesus is confronting the crowd. So you do you want to follow me? Well, you need to deny yourself. You need to turn from your selfish ways, deny yourself and follow me.And just how far is this self-denial expected to go? Jesus brings in the word cross. He says, "Take up your cross," and we're so accustomed to the image and the idea of the cross. There's an aura of sanctity and beauty that surrounds the idea of the cross. And it's hard for us to understand how repugnant the idea of a cross was to the people of the time. The symbol of the hated Roman occupation, a form of death so cruel, so dehumanizing, so shameful that even the most debauched regimes in human history since have not employed crucifixion as a means of executing enemies. It was the preeminent means of Rome's terror apparatus and to liken the following of Christ, the bearing of cross was as powerful way as Jesus could explain, that If you follow me, here's the terms.You must be willing to sacrifice anything and everything. You must be willing to endure anything and everything to be a follower of Jesus Christ. One of the cruel and shameful aspects of crucifixion was the criminal was forced to carry the cross or a part of the instrument to the place of crucifixion, most likely a horizontal cross beam you had to carry, which itself was called a cross, the same thing that Jesus had to carry after he was scorched, his back was torn up from the cat of nine tails, and then, he has to carry the beam across his back on the Via Dolorosa to Calvary. When his strength ended, Simon of Cyrene took over. And Jesus is saying, "Take up your cross and follow me in the same way." It's an exhortation to surrender life and saying, my life is not my own. "And Jesus is upfront about the cost, completely upfront. All of you, for all of me."If you go to the restaurant and they're like, "Yeah, lobster, it's market price, like what's market price? I don't know. Just tell me market price, order of magnitude," or you go to a medical office and you're like, "How much is this procedure?" They're like, "I don't know. We'll bill you." Jesus doesn't do that. The cost is upfront completely. He's saying it's going to take your whole life. Your life is no longer your own, and the idea that you thought your life was your own was actually sinful, and that's how we got here in the first place. And what Jesus here is doing is he's just informing the disciples that I'm Yahweh who has given the 10 commandments, and this right here is just definition of the first commandment. The first commandment is thou shall have no other gods before me.That means you'll not live for anyone more than you love God. It's a matter of reprioritizing. God, you are the greatest treasure of my life. I'm going to live for you completely. Everything in my life is secondary to that. You are God and you alone. He says, "Follow me." And the image of following Jesus is used twice here in the first clause if anyone wants to follow me. And what Jesus is saying is you either denounce self or you denounce Christ. You either denounce self or you denounce God. You can't live for God and yourself in a competing set of priorities. Verse 35, "And whoever would save his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it."It's counterintuitive, but it's true. He's saying that life, eternal life is found, true life, life to the full is found in treading the path of self death, of self-denial. Death is the way to life and the cross, the way of victory. It makes all the sense in the world. If you live for yourself and if you live for pleasure, for comfort, for self-preservation, and then you die. Well, what happens to your soul? Well, for eternity, you are experiencing condemnation. Your soul spends eternity apart from the presence of God. Why would you expect to spend eternity in the presence of God if you rejected his presence in this life? Obviously, if you live for self, you're going to experience ... you're going to lose your life.If you lose your life now and say, "Lord, I don't want to live for myself. That's not going that well. Lord, I want to live for you. I want to follow you. I want eternal life. I want it to begin now." The moment you die, it's just a transition from experiencing eternal life here to eternal life in the presence of God. Counterintuitive as it is the truth of Jesus' words about finding life on the pathway to death has not lacked witness. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was in the Soviet gulags, as a political prisoner. And there in the gulags, he actually met the Lord. The Lord revealed himself to him. And he often wrote about this, of this experience of self death as a means of getting through whatever sacrifice he had to.He writes this in the gulag. He says, "From the moment you go to prison, you must put your cozy past firmly behind you. At the very threshold, you must say to yourself, my life is over, a little early to be sure, but there's nothing to be done about it. I shall never return to freedom. I'm condemned to die, now or a little later. I no longer have any property whatsoever. For me, those I love have died, and for them I have died. From today on, my body is useless and alien to me. Only my spirit and my conscience remain precious and important to me. And confronted by such a prisoner, the interrogator will tremble. Only the man who has renounced everything can win that victory."In verse 36, Jesus continues for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" And Jesus here is saying that all the wealth of all the world, if you could accumulate all of it, all of that would not be more valuable than one human soul. And each person is confronted with the dramatic choice between death and life, between the world and his or her soul. Is anything worth more than the soul? No. The soul is more precious than all. Psalm 49 verse seven, "Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life for the ransom of their life as costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit."Verse 38, "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father and with the holy angels." There is a tendency both outside and within the Christian community to gloss over the crucifixion, to downplay or take offense at Jesus' crucifixion. Isaiah 52 and 53 alludes repeatedly to the onlooker's shame. They see Christ's suffering. There's a humiliation in that ... we're following him. That's our God, and Jesus says, whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation. Yes, some of his words are very difficult to receive, especially upon first hearing. Some of these words that define what sin is.Our culture shirks at it. Bristles, there's a visceral reaction. What? No, we understand that the adulterous generation, those that want nothing to do with the Lord would bristle, but what about believers? What about those who take on the name of Christ, who profess themselves to be followers of Christ? And do people do this today or are people Christians, self profess Christians, are they ashamed of the Lord's words? All too often, way too often. I saw a video clip of a sermon that a pastor has given recently and the pastor got up and said, "I think you noticed we skipped a passage of First Corinthians. We read a little bit and then skipped a passage and then continued."And the pastor said, "The reason why we skipped that passage is because, quote-unquote, yikes. That was the answer. We don't want to read the word of God out loud because yikes, because of how it makes us feel. What are you doing? You're being ashamed of the word of God. You're being ashamed of the words of Christ." And Jesus says, whoever is ashamed of me and my works, I will be ashamed of them. It's as if the son of man will be as second coming called as a witness to answer the question, are these people who profess to be yours, are they truly yours? And the answer, no, indeed, I am ashamed that they should take my name on their lips. In Matthew 7:21, the sermon in the mountain, Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.""On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Jesus says when he comes and he will come in the Second Coming, and he will come in the glory of his father and he will come with the angels. The first time he came to inaugurate his kingdom, to establish his kingdom and offer amnesty, offer forgiveness to anyone who would turn from sin and turn to him. The second time he's coming and he's not coming to offer amnesty, he's coming in judgment. For those who are found to be in Christ, that'll be a tremendous day of rejoicing, a day of glory.For those who are found outside of Christ, that will be the worst day in all of eternity for any one of them, any one of you who are not in Christ. So today, friend, if you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, if you're not sure that he knows you, if you're not sure that you are known by him, today in prayer, as we're singing, as we're praying, respond to the Lord in your heart of hearts and cry out, "Lord Jesus, I'm blind. Help me see. Lord Jesus, I'm lost. Find me. Save me." And he will. He promises to. I'll close with Daniel 7:13 through 14, "I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that all people's nations and languages should serve him.""His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." The Lord Jesus Christ offers each one of us grace today. Another touch, another encounter, another touch of healing so that we can sing amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now, I see. Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you for the holy scriptures. We thank you Jesus that you were so gracious as to reveal yourself to us. I pray, Lord, if there's anyone here who has not been regenerated, has not been justified, I pray, save them today and put them on the path of following you the path of sanctification.And those of us who are believers, Lord I pray, clarify our sight. Give us a clear vision of who you are and a clear vision of what means to follow you. Lord, if there are areas in our life where we have not denied self, I pray, give us grace to deny self. If there are areas in our life where we have not taken up the cross that you have called us to take up, I pray, give us the grace to do that. And I pray, Lord, that as we follow you, that you give us a boldness, the courage to never be ashamed of your word, never be ashamed of you, but just be daily blown away by incredible mercy that you would choose us before the foundation of the world.That you will write our names in the book of life that you would choose to save us and sanctify us by the power of the Holy Spirit, that you would choose to use us to establish your kingdom. And I pray that you do so, evermore here and beyond. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Heavenly father, we come to you with hearts of gratefulness thanksgiving and hearts of love. We thank you that you are a glorious God, a great God and a gracious God, and we thank you heavenly Father, that despite our spiritual blindness, the veils over our eyes, the lies of Satan over the eyes of our faith. Lord, you offer us vision, the vision that is gifted to us when we look to the cross of Jesus Christ. Christ, when we look to the cross, we see God, the Son of God and the Son of man bearing the full condemnation that we deserve for our sins, for our blindness, our willful ignorance.And Lord, you offer us by grace through faith, sight of you, you promise us that those who are pure in heart will see God. And Lord, we today ask for the purity of heart. We repent of our sins, of our pride, of anything that gets in the way of seeing you. And Lord, if there are other veils over our hearts, over our minds, over our faith, I pray today, unwrap them, unravel them, and give us a clear sight of who you are, what you've called us to do. Lord, we thank you for the holy scriptures. We thank you that in the scriptures we meet Christ and in the scriptures we hear from Christ. And in the scriptures we learn that Christ calls us to a life of self-denial.Lord, you'd call us to take up our crosses on a daily basis and follow you. That's what it means to be a believer. And I pray, Lord, if there's areas in our life where we deny you instead of self, I pray, you give us grace to switch that and deny self and follow you. And Lord, if there's anyone who is not yet a believer, who has not seen the truth of who you are and the truth that there is a chasm between every sinner and the holy God, and only Jesus Christ is powerful enough to bridge that chasm and he does so with his work on the cross.I pray, Lord, if anyone is still blind to you, that you give them eyes to see today, regenerate their hearts, save them, draw them to yourself and give them the gift of eternal life. Save their soul and save their soul for eternity and make us the people that continue to care about the lost souls around us as we look at them with compassion. I pray, Lord Jesus, pour out the Holy Spirit and save many, send a great awakening and a great revival in this land and beyond. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name. Amen. We're continuing our sermon series through the incredible work, the Gospel of Mark and we've entitled the series Kingdom Come the Gospel of Mark in the Secret of God's Kingdom. And the idea comes from the fact that Jesus Christ has come.He has inaugurated his kingdom with the gospel message. He says, repent and believe for the kingdom of God is here. And then, once we follow him, Jesus calls us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So Lord, already your kingdom is here, but we want your kingdom to expand in our lives, in our hearts with our faith, and the Lord does that. The title of sermon today is What's Blind But Now, I See and that's a lyric from the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace. Anytime anyone gets baptized at Mosaic, we sing this downstairs. "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see."Blindness is one of the most precise metaphors to describe our spiritual condition apart from God's grace. In our natural, sinful, unconverted, unregenerated state, we're blind to the most important dimension of reality. And that's the spiritual realm. We're blind to the truth about the existence of God, the person of God, the will of God, and coming to the realization of the truth, the veracity, the reality of God, who he truly is. What happens is the Lord opens up the eyes of your heart, eyes that you had never even known to exist. The eyes of faith. CS Lewis once presented a paper at the Oxford Socratic Club entitled, Is Theology Poetry?And in that paper he has this one line where he says, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." And when you see Christ for who he truly is, you begin to see reality as it truly is. With that said, would you look at our text today, Mark chapter eight verses 22 through 38, "And they came to Bethsaida and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him and he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly.""And he sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist and others say Elijah and others, one of the prophets. And he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered Him, you are the Christ. And he strictly charged him to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed. And after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him."But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it for what is the prophet of man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul for what can man give in return for his soul, for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels?This is the reading of God's holy and infallible, authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Three points to frame up our time today. First, a blind man healed progressively. Second, a blind disciple sanctified incrementally and finally, follow Christ with eyes wide open to the cost. First, a blind man healed progressively. The scene right before this text is one in which Jesus was continuing to teach his disciples and the scene in which they had a difficulty grasping the truths of who Christ is, of what it means that he is the Messiah. And in chapter eight verse 18, he says to them, "Having eyes do you not see?"And immediately after that text, we get a symbolic healing of a blind man, but it's not instantaneous. He's healed after first passing through an intermediate state of indistinct vision. And there's a deliberate juxtaposition here that the Holy Spirit is giving us in showing us that the disciples don't really see yet because they are approaching the teaching of Jesus with their own manmade categories of teachings they had received from the scribes and the Pharisees. So not only does he have to dismantle their categories and then, fill them in order to give them sight, but he has to give them grace to actually do that. And the juxtaposition is deliberately reinforced by showing us that in the same way that Jesus needs to touch a blind man twice, he needs to touch his disciples over and over to give them clarity of sight.And the theme before us is distortion of vision. Spiritually speaking, that's every single one of us, all of the time. That apart from God's grace, apart from the spiritual eye surgery that the Lord offers us from his word and through his spirit, we don't see as we ought to see things get in the way the world gets in the way, the flesh gets in the way, our own misguided ideas of what God is get in the way. And then also, there are layers of demonic lives that the Lord needs to unravel, not to mention our sin. Jesus Christ and the sermon in the mountain, what did he say? He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God," that there is a purity that is necessitated for us to see God with clarity.Verse 22, we pick up the story. They, the disciples in Jesus came to Bethsaida and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him once again. We see this pattern that we've seen often in the Gospel of Mark, that it's friends who see their friend. Friends whose hearts are filled with compassion for a friend who's ailing and they do everything to bring that person to Jesus. And they beg Jesus, "Please heal our friend." They believe enough. They believe enough that Jesus in his power to bring their friend to Christ and then, they beg him to heal him. The faith of others here besides the inflicted man is involved. And this shows that the importance of intercessory prayer to God on behalf of others, on behalf of the physically and the spiritually blind.In the same way that it's a miracle that Jesus heals the blind man, gives him sight. It's even a greater miracle that God gives spiritual sight to anybody. It's an incredible miracle that he saves anybody. He's almighty. He can save anyone. Yes, we must pray. We must pray for our friends, our neighbors, those people in our lives, in our spheres of influence that do not yet know the Lord, can we give them eyesight to see Christ for who he is, we cannot. We are helpless, but can we bring them to the Lord? Can we beg the Lord? Lord in my prayers, I'm interceding on behalf of my neighbors, of my community, of the people that I see every day rub shoulders with every day who are so far from you.They have souls, eternal souls and their eternity hangs in the balance. Lord save them, and we see this pattern and that's incredible pattern for us. A lot of people like talking about the compassion of Jesus Christ that before he heals anyone, he does feel compassion for them. While the greatest level of compassion that you can feel for anybody is, have a compassion for their souls, for their eternity. Verse 23, "And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit in his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? He takes the blind man by the hand and leads him out of the village. Why? He doesn't want to make a spectacle of this in a village, a small village. There are no secrets.The Lord wants to deal with this man privately and the seclusion away from the crowd. In the same way, that Jesus here takes the man by the hand, God took Israel by the hand, led them out of Egypt to shows his care for the person. The word for eyes here in the Greek is the more poetic term, it's not just physical eyes, but it also has a spiritual dimension. And Jesus is in the business not just of healing physically, he wants to heal the person's soul. The saliva was to draw the man's attention to what Jesus is about to do. The laying on of hands has the same effect. Touch means something incredibly profound to a blind man. In verse 24, he looked up and he said, "I see people but they look like trees, walking." He says, "I see, but it's indistinct. I see, but something is off."And here you pause and you say, despite Christ's touch, there's still an obstacle to the blind man's complete healing. His perception is still fractured. The healing isn't complete. The man is not blind anymore, but neither does he see with fully functional eyes. In contrast to all the other healings in the gospel, this is the only one that comes in a two-step process. It's not instantaneous. And the intermediate state of the man's vision after Jesus' first touch is symbolic. It is symbolic, what happens with the disciples? They see Jesus, but they don't really understand who he is. Not fully, not truly. There is an understanding of seeing but not seeing of already but not yet. There is an understanding that we are to grow in our vision and our spiritual insight.And the Christian walk is compared to life to begin a walk with the Lord Jesus Christ to be regenerated. It's as if you were born again, Jesus uses that language and that metaphor. It's as if you were spiritually dead inside, blind did not see. And the moment you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, you repent of your sin. You believe in him, and you're born. You're born again. And then as a baby needs to grow as we too as believers need to grow in maturity and understanding and in health, First Corinthians 13, a famous passage, but verses nine through 12 here are particularly relevant.St. Paul says, "For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child, I reason like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face. Now I know in part and then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known, will we know God fully in this life? No, but we are to attempt to grow as much as we possibly can. Seek the Lord's illumination from the holy scriptures and from his Holy Spirit. Darkness has begun to give way to light, but there's still demonic resistance in this world.There's still demonic lies that we have been fed that we need unveiled from our faith. Another contact with Christ is necessary and we are to be believers that say, Lord, I want to grow. I want to grow beyond where I am. I want to see you more clearly. I want to know you in a deeper way, in a fresher way. Lord, give me a fresh encounter. Give me a fresh touch, Lord, I see, but not the way I know I'm supposed to see. And when we come to the Lord with that posture of heart, he loves to answer that prayer of Lord, give me another touch from your hand. Mark 8:25, then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. Jesus again lays his hands on the man's eyes and it says His sight was restored.Perhaps this is explaining to us that he had seen at one time had sight at one time, he knew what trees looked like subsequently had lost his sight. We're not sure. Either way, he now sees everything, clearly. There's restoration of physical sight and then also a Lord willing spiritual health. The Lord loves to reveal secrets and mysteries that are profound, that beyond our understanding when we come to him in First Corinthians 13:2 for example. It says, "If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing." And a lot of us we love to put the emphasis on the love part.Don't forget the love part. That's the most important. Yes, don't forget the love part, but here in this text it's showing us that there are mysteries and there is a knowledge that the Lord does reveal and he can reveal to those who continue to seek him and seek him humbly. Gradual growth and vision is a symbol for a progression and spiritual understanding. Verse 26, and Jesus sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. Jesus doesn't want to be known as just a miracle worker. He doesn't want to be known as just the person you go to, to have your physical needs met. He's not a divine pinata or a vending machine. He isn't Santa Claus upgraded.No, he's here to save souls sin six souls and illuminate the eyes of the heart. And that brings us to 0.2, a blind disciple sanctified incrementally. Verse 27, "And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am?" What he's getting at is what's the public opinion? Jesus has been ministering for quite some time. He's done miracles, he's taught many sermons. And Jesus is saying what's the consensus? In verse 28, they told him John the Baptist and others say Elijah and others, one of the prophets.It's not surprising that Jesus would be identified as a great figure of the past, returned from the dead even, given the widespread ancient Jewish belief that saints were alive. All these roles of the prophets of John the Baptist of Elijah, they were roles of preparation, not fulfillment, not consummation. John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus Christ and he did that by saying, repent, believe. The king is here, turn to the king. And now, the king has come and there is a fulfillment of the prophecies. Mark 8:29, "And he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ." Here in the Greek, there's an emphatic you but you.You, who do you say that I am? This is the most important question that every single human being needs to answer while still alive. Who do you say that Jesus is? And Peter correctly says, "You're the Christ." That's the Greek translation of the Aramaic Messiah. You're the Messiah. You're the anointed expected king of Israel. You're the one who's going to come to teach us the righteous ways of God and established God's dominion. And in the Jewish theology, the scribes and the Pharisees had come up with a whole theology of what the Messiah would come to do. In Jewish theology of the time, the Messiah was expected to be entirely human, like King David was a great king and he loved the Lord.He knew the Lord and he established the kingdom of Israel. They thought the son of David would be much greater than David, but he would just be a son of David. He would just be human. And for a human being to establish his kingdom, the human being has to be alive. A human being builds a kingdom through victory, through taking dominion. And here, Jesus Christ, "Yes, Peter, you're correct," but later he is going to continue to restore and heal Peter's wrongheaded spiritual vision and definition of the Messiah. There was no general expectation that the Messiah would suffer or die. What kind of king dies as he's establishing a kingdom? If the king dies, the kingdom dies.If Jesus, you are the Messiah and you die, the movement is over. It's done. Peter gets the title, right, as we see, but he has no understanding of what the Messiah has come to do. And Peter, where did you get this understanding that Jesus is the Messiah. It was given to him through divine revelation. In Matthew 16, the parallel passage verse 16, "Simon Peter replied, You're the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.""I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth shall be loose in heaven. Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ." And that's how our paragraph ends in Mark 8:30. He strictly charged them to tell no one about him, strictly charged. Another translation says vehemently ordered. It's the same word for rebuke, used later in verse 33. He rebukes them. Don't tell anyone that I'm the Messiah, partially because Peter doesn't fully understand what that means. And by teaching people that Jesus is the Messiah would be the blind leading the blind, so to speak.Mark 8:31, "And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed. And after three days rise again." This is the first three of the passion predictions in the Gospel of Mark, and Jesus here continues to teach. He has come to teach. And what is he doing by teaching? He's establishing his kingdom because his kingdom is a kingdom of truth. The way that he dismantles the kingdom of the evil one is by dismantling the lies, supplanting the lies, replacing them with truth. And what is he teaching? He's teaching Peter. He's teaching the crowds. What kind of Messiah he is?He says, "The son of man must suffer." It's necessary. He used the word must. He must suffer. He must be rejected. He must be killed. He must rise again. What's the word must mean? It means there's no other way. This is the only possibility. This is the only potential path for human redemption. There is a divine compulsion. Why? Because this is the will of God. This is the will of God the Father. There's divine necessity. He begins to teach them because they needed to be taught because no human could come up with an idea like this, that God would come and die. How can God die? How can the Son of God die? That Jesus Christ, the incarnate Lord is to be beaten, scorched, mocked, tried, tested, forsake and crucified dead and would be buried.And the necessity of Jesus' death is also ... it is a necessity because he is to fulfill the scriptures. The scriptures prophesied that the suffering servant will come, Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53. Clearly, it's about Jesus Christ. And then, Jesus uses the title Son of Man and part of the background for the son of man is Adam. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cursed with various sufferings by God. So if God is going to redeem humanity, one who is like human, who is the son of man, the son of Adam, who needs to represent the people. He needs to be fully man and fully God and Daniel seven is a great prophecy that this ancient of days, son of man, son of God is coming and he's coming to redeem humanity.He will be rejected by the elders, the Sanhedrin, the priestly court of Israel will scrutinize the claims of Jesus and then deliberately reject him. And he says, "After three days will rise again." The phrase after three days and on the third day, our equivalent phrases is because of how they measured time in that culture. Mark 8:32, "And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him." Now, Peter was the first apostle chosen by Jesus. Peter was in the inner group of the big three of the disciples. It was Peter, James and John. The sons of thunder that Jesus called him. And Peter perhaps, because he thought of that proximity, allowed him to speak into Jesus' life.All of a sudden he feels bold enough to take Jesus' aside, and there is a sense of the fact that, in the language, that he's patronizing Jesus. And then, the word says that he began to rebuke Jesus and as soon as Jesus specifies the kind of Messiah he is, Peter, he can't fit that definition of the Messiah into his mind, and he begins to wonder, "You know what, Jesus, perhaps your mom was right, perhaps your siblings were right. Perhaps you are out of your mind. The Messiah to suffer, that doesn't make any sense." It seemed so nonsensical to Peter that it was almost demonic, what kind of paradoxical Messiah is this? He begins to rebuke Jesus Christ.And the same word for rebuke is what Jesus used when he cast out demons, he rebuked them. It's almost as if Peter here is rebuking a demonic idea. "Jesus, what are you talking about? You're the Messiah. We're here. We follow you. You're supposed to be the king, you're going to establish the kingdom and we're going to have positions in your kingdom. And you're talking about death. What are you talking about?" As soon as Jesus begins to define what kind of Messiah he is, as soon as Jesus begins to specify the kind of Messiah he is, everything changes for Peter. And we live in a day and age where people are fine talking about God in general. They're fine talking about faith in general, fine talking about even Jesus in general.As soon as you begin to specify, as soon as you begin to define terms, that's when people take up arms, and that's what's happening with Peter, a Messiah who will suffer, die and rise again. Peter has the gall to rebuke Jesus and to rebuke Jesus in the strongest of terms. He sees what God's will is. And he's like, "No, no, no, no. Lord, you're doing it wrong." I don't know if you've ever rebuked the Lord. We've all had that temptation where you ask for something and the Lord gives you something diametrically opposed to what you asked for. You're like, "Lord, you're not doing your job right, Lord. Let me help you do your job. Perhaps I'm better being God than you are."That's what's going on here. He is correcting Jesus. He is rebuking Jesus and it doesn't go well. And Mark 8:33, "But turning and seeing his disciples, he Jesus rebuked Peter and said, get behind me Satan, for you're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." Peter rebukes Jesus, Jesus rebukes Peter. Guess who won? Jesus wins. Don't rebuke Jesus, be careful of rebuking the Lord. Apparently, this idea that the Messiah would not suffer, it had taken root even in the other disciple's hearts, so Jesus turns to everyone and makes an example of Peter. Peter wasn't unique in his obtuseness. They had inherited this interpretation of the Messiah, inherited it from people.It's not from the holy scriptures and the holy scriptures is clear. Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, clearly prophetic passages that show that the Messiah will suffer. And here what Jesus is doing is he's nullifying the lie and he's nullifying this lie with the truth. He's telling Peter, so to speak, "Peter, you have come to me with old wineskins of a definition of the Messiah." An old wine skin of the definition of God, of how God works, but if you are to have new wine, new wine means that this is completely new and the new wine needs to come in new wine skins. So it's truth that we want to accept from the Lord, but we can't just accept it into our lives without having the Lord completely change the receptacle of that truth.He says, "Get behind me Satan." Harsh words, but I do want to pause here and show the grace in it that Jesus isn't rejecting Peter. "Peter, you're wrong. You're so wrong and you've actually ... you're trying to rebuke me with a lie of Satan," but he's not rejecting Peter. Peter remains a disciple of Jesus Christ and we see the grace of God there. How often have we been so misguided about the Lord, so misguided about understanding who he is and understanding what it means to follow him and he continues to give us grace. Later on chapter nine, actually Jesus takes Peter, James and John onto the Mount and he transfigure in front of them, reveals who he truly is and reveals that he has given Peter more grace.By saying, "Get behind me, Satan." Jesus isn't saying get away from me. He's not banishing Peter forever with this rebuke. No, what he's saying is, get behind me. I am God. I am the Messiah. You are to follow me. Get behind me. Resume the path of following a path that you have momentarily forsaken. I'm the Lord and you are not. And this is a command to Peter. "Resume the path of discipleship rather than trying to lead Jesus Christ." When Jesus used the word Satan, he means, adversary, adversary of divine purpose. Peter here, at least temporarily is opposing the will of God and he needs to understand that he is on the side of Satan when he opposes God. Jesus reveals truth to Peter and as new truth is revealed, old lies must be rooted out.And who does Peter look like here? Well, Peter is half percipient, half insensible condition is similar to the sufferer that we had just read about in the previous narrative. The person who was half seeing, half blinded. And Jesus reveals to Peter that he needs another touch from Christ. He needs more teaching, more revelation. He says to Peter, "You're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." This is where Peter was demonic and that Peter, you're offering me the same path that Satan offered me. And if you remember Jesus when he was fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and Satan comes to tempt him and Satan takes him to the top of the mountain, he says, "Look at all the cities, look at the kingdoms." I'll give everything to you if you fall down and worship me."And what's Satan tempting him with? Jesus, you've come to get the crown. I'll give you the crown. Just don't go to the cross. He understood that if Jesus goes to the cross, he's going to ultimately defeat Satan's sin and death. He's like, "Jesus, let's not do that. You can have all the kingdoms, but let me reign through sin," and Jesus telling Peter, "Peter, you're on the side of Satan. You're tempting me with the same path." The holy scripture often talks about the blinding power of Satan over unbelievers. That apart from the grace of Jesus Christ, we're all blinded to the truth. St. Paul, when he shares his testimony to King Agrippa in Acts 26.This is what the text says in Acts 26:12, "In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priest. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun that shone around me in those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It's hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I'm Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the gentiles to whom I am sending you."To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Saul, before he becomes Paul, he was so zealous for the Lord, but he was so blind in his zeal. He was on a path to Damascus to go and persecute Christians, to murder Christians, and he thought he was doing this in the name of the Lord. And then Jesus appears to him and says, "Why are you persecuting me?" And at that point, Saul could have been like, "I'm not persecuting you Jesus. I got nothing against you. I'm persecuting your followers." Jesus so closely connects himself with his followers, with his church. He says, "By persecuting the church, you're persecuting me."And then Paul gets saved and God gives him a mission to do what? To proclaim the gospel and to help people begin to see God for who he is. Second Corinthians four, continues this theme, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it has veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord. With ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake, for God who said, let light shine out of the darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."How does Satan blind people? He blinds them with lies. If you don't believe in God, you're believing a lie and all of a sudden you're closed off to even the possibility of who God is. If you don't believe in Christ, if you don't believe in what Christ has come to do, you're blinded to the reality of Christ. If you don't believe in the scriptures, you're blinded to the reality of the truth of God's word. And only divine grace permits us to escape this condition of satanic blindness. And demonic blindness is only countered with divine revelation. There's nothing capable of ending this alienation between us and God and the blindness of humanity to God's will except to look to Christ on the cross. As Messiah, Jesus is not only God's holy warrior, but he's also the teacher.And this is why Jesus came to teach. His primary role in his ministry was to teach in order to combat the lies of the enemy so that when people come to know the truth, they begin to see God for who he is. Isaiah 11:2, "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him and the spirit of wisdom and understanding and the spirit of counsel and might." When we grow closer to Christ, we grow closer to the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit longs to reveal wisdom and understanding and counsel and might. Modern Christians today, we've been cushioned by 2000 years of church teaching to the point where we understand the Messiah is supposed to suffer. That idea is unremarkable. To the Jewish people of that time, the idea of a Messiah was the idea of triumph, not of suffering, not of death.And Peter agrees, "Jesus, you are the Messiah," but the question is, how does the Messiah triumph over his enemies? Well, at this point, Peter, we have to have a conversation. Who are your greatest enemies? Peter and Peter, in that frame of mind, before Jesus corrects him, he would say Caesar Augustus or he would say Pontius Pilate or King Herod, these are our greatest enemies, Lord Jesus. Let's build an army together. You are the king, clearly. You just fed 5,000 men. They're pretty happy about it. Just continue doing that and then, we can take over. We're going to take over Jerusalem and then from there, we're going to build your kingdom, because those are our greatest enemies. It's evil people out there. It's evil people in positions of power.Jesus, that's who we need you to get rid of, put us in positions of power and all of a sudden, we're just going to take over. And Jesus will push back and say, "Peter, those aren't your greatest enemies." Before this Caesar, there was another Caesar and many more before that and there will be Caesars after. No, that's not your greatest enemy. It's not, people in politics. It's not your greatest enemy, your greatest enemies. And unless you know this, then you've already lost, but your greatest enemies are Satan, sin and death. Well, if Satan is your greatest enemy, how do you take Satan out? That's a really important question. Well, you take him out by taking his greatest hit.You take Satan's greatest hit, and that's exactly what happened on the cross. Jesus Christ allowed Satan through his human pawns to crucify him. Satan, that's the greatest weapon. You have to kill me. He takes on Satan, but he wasn't just taking on Satan, he was also taking on sin. Well, Peter, if we take over this Caesar, what happens to sin? What happens to the sin in your own heart, Peter? A lot of people say if there's a good God and all powerful God, why does he allow evil to happen in the world? Well, if Jesus Christ could annihilate evil in one second, he can do that. How many of us would still be alive? We'd all be dead. So for Christ to counter evil, to dismantle evil, to take a sin head on, he had to pay the penalty for sin on the cross.And that's why Jesus Christ on the cross, he quotes Psalm 22, which is one of the most profound texts in all of the scripture. He says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And you say, "How can the first person of the trinity forsake the second person of the trinity? How can the father turn his back on the Son just abandoned him on the cross and this hellacious suffering?" Well because the son had taken our sin upon himself. He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. And then, Jesus Christ dies and through his death, what is he doing? He's giving death itself the death blow By God's grace. He didn't stay dead, he was raised.So on the cross, Jesus takes Satan head on. Takes his fiercest attack, takes on the sin of the elect and its wages and takes on death itself with his death. And praise be to God, he wins. From Peter's limited perspective, all he was thinking about was, "Jesus, I got to preserve you. Jesus, I can't let you die because if I let you die from his limited perspective, everything dies. All my dreams die. All my aspirations die." And from God's perspective, that wasn't the way. God's thoughts are so much greater than our thoughts. Praise be to God. Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways than my thoughts than your thoughts?"Jesus fought Peter's believing of lies. This demonic delusion, and he does it with the truth. He does it by teaching the truth. And now, he challenges Peter and he challenges the other disciples because in their faulty understanding, if we're following an earthly political king, then what does that make us? We are your closest followers, Jesus. We're going to be in your cabinet. We're going to have thrones next to you, but if the Messiah is one who suffers. One who dies and dies a gory death on a cross. Well then what about us? If that's the kind of king that we're following, is he worth following? And Jesus proclaims here in the text, the gains and losses of following him, having prophesied his own suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus now proclaims a similar fate for his followers, and that's 0.3.Follow Christ with eyes wide open to the cost. Mark 8:34, "And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." He calls the crowd, you've been following me. You see my miracles, you see the signs. Now, I'm calling you to become my disciples. I'm calling you to follow me, and if you are to follow me, you need to know what it's going to cost you. First of all, deny yourself. He says there's a sense of existential immediacy. Jesus is confronting the crowd. So you do you want to follow me? Well, you need to deny yourself. You need to turn from your selfish ways, deny yourself and follow me.And just how far is this self-denial expected to go? Jesus brings in the word cross. He says, "Take up your cross," and we're so accustomed to the image and the idea of the cross. There's an aura of sanctity and beauty that surrounds the idea of the cross. And it's hard for us to understand how repugnant the idea of a cross was to the people of the time. The symbol of the hated Roman occupation, a form of death so cruel, so dehumanizing, so shameful that even the most debauched regimes in human history since have not employed crucifixion as a means of executing enemies. It was the preeminent means of Rome's terror apparatus and to liken the following of Christ, the bearing of cross was as powerful way as Jesus could explain, that If you follow me, here's the terms.You must be willing to sacrifice anything and everything. You must be willing to endure anything and everything to be a follower of Jesus Christ. One of the cruel and shameful aspects of crucifixion was the criminal was forced to carry the cross or a part of the instrument to the place of crucifixion, most likely a horizontal cross beam you had to carry, which itself was called a cross, the same thing that Jesus had to carry after he was scorched, his back was torn up from the cat of nine tails, and then, he has to carry the beam across his back on the Via Dolorosa to Calvary. When his strength ended, Simon of Cyrene took over. And Jesus is saying, "Take up your cross and follow me in the same way." It's an exhortation to surrender life and saying, my life is not my own. "And Jesus is upfront about the cost, completely upfront. All of you, for all of me."If you go to the restaurant and they're like, "Yeah, lobster, it's market price, like what's market price? I don't know. Just tell me market price, order of magnitude," or you go to a medical office and you're like, "How much is this procedure?" They're like, "I don't know. We'll bill you." Jesus doesn't do that. The cost is upfront completely. He's saying it's going to take your whole life. Your life is no longer your own, and the idea that you thought your life was your own was actually sinful, and that's how we got here in the first place. And what Jesus here is doing is he's just informing the disciples that I'm Yahweh who has given the 10 commandments, and this right here is just definition of the first commandment. The first commandment is thou shall have no other gods before me.That means you'll not live for anyone more than you love God. It's a matter of reprioritizing. God, you are the greatest treasure of my life. I'm going to live for you completely. Everything in my life is secondary to that. You are God and you alone. He says, "Follow me." And the image of following Jesus is used twice here in the first clause if anyone wants to follow me. And what Jesus is saying is you either denounce self or you denounce Christ. You either denounce self or you denounce God. You can't live for God and yourself in a competing set of priorities. Verse 35, "And whoever would save his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it."It's counterintuitive, but it's true. He's saying that life, eternal life is found, true life, life to the full is found in treading the path of self death, of self-denial. Death is the way to life and the cross, the way of victory. It makes all the sense in the world. If you live for yourself and if you live for pleasure, for comfort, for self-preservation, and then you die. Well, what happens to your soul? Well, for eternity, you are experiencing condemnation. Your soul spends eternity apart from the presence of God. Why would you expect to spend eternity in the presence of God if you rejected his presence in this life? Obviously, if you live for self, you're going to experience ... you're going to lose your life.If you lose your life now and say, "Lord, I don't want to live for myself. That's not going that well. Lord, I want to live for you. I want to follow you. I want eternal life. I want it to begin now." The moment you die, it's just a transition from experiencing eternal life here to eternal life in the presence of God. Counterintuitive as it is the truth of Jesus' words about finding life on the pathway to death has not lacked witness. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was in the Soviet gulags, as a political prisoner. And there in the gulags, he actually met the Lord. The Lord revealed himself to him. And he often wrote about this, of this experience of self death as a means of getting through whatever sacrifice he had to.He writes this in the gulag. He says, "From the moment you go to prison, you must put your cozy past firmly behind you. At the very threshold, you must say to yourself, my life is over, a little early to be sure, but there's nothing to be done about it. I shall never return to freedom. I'm condemned to die, now or a little later. I no longer have any property whatsoever. For me, those I love have died, and for them I have died. From today on, my body is useless and alien to me. Only my spirit and my conscience remain precious and important to me. And confronted by such a prisoner, the interrogator will tremble. Only the man who has renounced everything can win that victory."In verse 36, Jesus continues for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" And Jesus here is saying that all the wealth of all the world, if you could accumulate all of it, all of that would not be more valuable than one human soul. And each person is confronted with the dramatic choice between death and life, between the world and his or her soul. Is anything worth more than the soul? No. The soul is more precious than all. Psalm 49 verse seven, "Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life for the ransom of their life as costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit."Verse 38, "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father and with the holy angels." There is a tendency both outside and within the Christian community to gloss over the crucifixion, to downplay or take offense at Jesus' crucifixion. Isaiah 52 and 53 alludes repeatedly to the onlooker's shame. They see Christ's suffering. There's a humiliation in that ... we're following him. That's our God, and Jesus says, whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation. Yes, some of his words are very difficult to receive, especially upon first hearing. Some of these words that define what sin is.Our culture shirks at it. Bristles, there's a visceral reaction. What? No, we understand that the adulterous generation, those that want nothing to do with the Lord would bristle, but what about believers? What about those who take on the name of Christ, who profess themselves to be followers of Christ? And do people do this today or are people Christians, self profess Christians, are they ashamed of the Lord's words? All too often, way too often. I saw a video clip of a sermon that a pastor has given recently and the pastor got up and said, "I think you noticed we skipped a passage of First Corinthians. We read a little bit and then skipped a passage and then continued."And the pastor said, "The reason why we skipped that passage is because, quote-unquote, yikes. That was the answer. We don't want to read the word of God out loud because yikes, because of how it makes us feel. What are you doing? You're being ashamed of the word of God. You're being ashamed of the words of Christ." And Jesus says, whoever is ashamed of me and my works, I will be ashamed of them. It's as if the son of man will be as second coming called as a witness to answer the question, are these people who profess to be yours, are they truly yours? And the answer, no, indeed, I am ashamed that they should take my name on their lips. In Matthew 7:21, the sermon in the mountain, Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.""On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Jesus says when he comes and he will come in the Second Coming, and he will come in the glory of his father and he will come with the angels. The first time he came to inaugurate his kingdom, to establish his kingdom and offer amnesty, offer forgiveness to anyone who would turn from sin and turn to him. The second time he's coming and he's not coming to offer amnesty, he's coming in judgment. For those who are found to be in Christ, that'll be a tremendous day of rejoicing, a day of glory.For those who are found outside of Christ, that will be the worst day in all of eternity for any one of them, any one of you who are not in Christ. So today, friend, if you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, if you're not sure that he knows you, if you're not sure that you are known by him, today in prayer, as we're singing, as we're praying, respond to the Lord in your heart of hearts and cry out, "Lord Jesus, I'm blind. Help me see. Lord Jesus, I'm lost. Find me. Save me." And he will. He promises to. I'll close with Daniel 7:13 through 14, "I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that all people's nations and languages should serve him.""His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." The Lord Jesus Christ offers each one of us grace today. Another touch, another encounter, another touch of healing so that we can sing amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now, I see. Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you for the holy scriptures. We thank you Jesus that you were so gracious as to reveal yourself to us. I pray, Lord, if there's anyone here who has not been regenerated, has not been justified, I pray, save them today and put them on the path of following you the path of sanctification.And those of us who are believers, Lord I pray, clarify our sight. Give us a clear vision of who you are and a clear vision of what means to follow you. Lord, if there are areas in our life where we have not denied self, I pray, give us grace to deny self. If there are areas in our life where we have not taken up the cross that you have called us to take up, I pray, give us the grace to do that. And I pray, Lord, that as we follow you, that you give us a boldness, the courage to never be ashamed of your word, never be ashamed of you, but just be daily blown away by incredible mercy that you would choose us before the foundation of the world.That you will write our names in the book of life that you would choose to save us and sanctify us by the power of the Holy Spirit, that you would choose to use us to establish your kingdom. And I pray that you do so, evermore here and beyond. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Welcome to "Family Guy Talk" with your hosts Noah Bollow and Ryan Lewis! In this episode, we dive deep into the seventh episode of the first season of Family Guy titled "Brian: Portrait of a Dog." Join us as we dissect the hilarious and thought-provoking moments that make this episode a fan favorite. Quahog is sweltering under an intense heat wave, and the Griffin family is desperate for relief. Peter seizes an opportunity to win $500 at a dog show, hoping to use the prize money to buy an air conditioner. However, the ever-sophisticated and intellectual Brian initially refuses to participate, considering the dog show beneath him. We'll explore the reasons behind Brian's reluctance and the deeper meanings behind his disdain for conforming to societal expectations. From the portrayal of stereotypes to Brian's struggle to maintain his identity and integrity, we unpack the allegorical elements that reflect the life of a homeless person. As Brian's journey unfolds, we witness his encounters with discrimination, mistreatment, and the challenges faced by those without a stable home. Together, we'll examine how the episode sheds light on societal biases, the dehumanizing effects of homelessness, and the importance of empathy and compassion. But it's not all serious reflection—this episode is packed with hilarious moments and signature Family Guy humor. From Peter's comedic misadventures to Stewie's unexpected display of respect, we'll dissect the comedic elements that keep fans laughing throughout the episode. Join us as we analyze the clever writing, heartfelt moments, and social commentary that make "Brian: Portrait of a Dog" a standout episode in the Family Guy canon. Whether you're a die-hard fan or new to the show, there's something for everyone in this captivating and thought-provoking episode. Tune in to "Family Guy Talk" with Noah Bollow and Ryan Lewis as we break down the seventh episode of the first season, "Brian: Portrait of a Dog." Get ready for an entertaining and insightful discussion that will leave you wanting more of this iconic animated series.

Sunday Sermon by Thomas Yukich, Preaching Ministry Intern at the Washougal Church of Christ, in conjunction with the Northwest School of Discipleship — The direction we're looking in life matters, both when we're driving (Keep your eyes on the road!) and as we walk with God. From Peter's first letter to the church, we examine some directions we need to look in order to live faithfully for God. Text: 1 Peter 5:1-11

What is sin, and why does Jesus make such a big deal about it? How should we respond to our own sin and the sin of others around us? In this episode of The Extraordinary Story, we dive into several teachings of Christ that focus on themes of sin and forgiveness. From Peter's famous question, "How many times should I forgive my brother?" to the "Parable of the Unforgiving Steward," Tom Hoopes illustrates how these stories in Scripture are timely guides for us today as we navigate the maze of sin in the world and in our own lives.

Today, I'm talking about World Water Day in Slovakia. In the Slovak lesson we will continue talking and practicing Genitive case of Slovak nouns in singular and then you'll practice it in short sentences. You will also learn how to ask “I got a letter from my brother.“ in Slovak. At the end of this episode, you can listen to my story about the importance of water in Slovak.Episode notesToday, I'm talking about World Water Day. In the Slovak lesson we will continue talking and practicing Genitive case of Slovak nouns in singular and then you'll practice it in short sentences. You will also learn how to ask “I got a letter from my brother.“ in Slovak. At the end of this episode, you can listen to my story about the importance of water in Slovak.Slovak lessonA: Od koho si dostal list? (From whom did you get the letter?)B: Od brata. Dostal som list od brata. Brat mi poslal list.( From my brother. I got a letter from my brother. My brother sent me a letter.)A: Od koho si dostal balík? (From whom did you get the package?)B: Od mamy. Dostal som balík od mamy. Mama mi poslala balík. (From my mom. I got a package from my mom. My mom sent me a package.)A: Od koho si to počul? (From whom did you hear it?)B: Od Petra. Počul som to od Petra. Peter mi to povedal. (From Peter. I heard it from Peter. Peter told me.)A: Od koho ideš? (From whose house are you coming?)B: Od sestry. Idem od sestry. Práve som odišiel od sestry. (From my sister‘s. I'm coming from my sister's house. I just left my sister's house. I just visited my sister.)A: Bez koho nemôžeš odísť? (Without whom can't you leave?)B: Bez kamaráta. Nemôžem odísť bez kamaráta. (Without a friend. I can't leave without a friend.)A: Bez koho nemôžeš žiť? (Without whom can't you live?)B: Bez môjho dievčaťa. Nemôžem žiť bez môjho dievčaťa. (Without my girlfriend. I cannot live without my girlfriend.)A: To si rozhodol sám, bez šéfa? (Did you decide that yourself, without a boss?)B: Áno, bez šéfa. Šéf nemusí vedieť o všetkom. (Yes, without a boss. The boss does not need to know about everything.)A: Ideš na poľovačku bez psa? (Are you going hunting without a dog?)B: Áno, nemám psa a tak idem na poľovačku bez psa. (Yes, I don't have a dog, so I'm going hunting without a dog.)Timestamps00:29 Introduction to the episode02:31 World Water Day03:01 Fun fact 106:30 Fun fact 208:07 Fun fact 312:40 Slovak lesson25:35 Water Day (in Slovak)28:53 Final thoughtsIf you have any questions, send it to my email hello@bozenasslovak.com. Check my Instagram www.instagram@bozenasslovak/ where I am posting the pictures of what I am talking about on my podcast. Thank you for listening to my podcast© All copywrites reserved to Bozena O Hilko LLC

Jesus had a wide range of reactions from his disciples. From Peter's attempt to build altars to the missed opportunity due to missed prayer when they returned, there really was a lot of variation in how much the apostles picked up what Jesus was teaching. All of us have probably been on both ends if we have been following Jesus for very long. Some days you are on the mountaintop, others you are failing in the valley. At all times, we should still remain disciples.

The Kingdom of God is deeply merciful but with God's mercy comes God's justice. Matthew is showing us here how Jesus is not interested in cheap grace. From Peter's seemingly innocent question following through to the parable of the servant and the debt, we see that forgiveness is to be given freely and abundantly and that resentment harbours deeply scarring wounds. What is the lesson to us here as believers and as a church, how can we usher in the Kingdom of God by walking in the way of mercy and justice?

The Kingdom of God is deeply merciful but with God's mercy comes God's justice. Matthew is showing us here how Jesus is not interested in cheap grace. From Peter's seemingly innocent question following through to the parable of the servant and the debt, we see that forgiveness is to be given freely and abundantly and that resentment harbours deeply scarring wounds. What is the lesson to us here as believers and as a church, how can we usher in the Kingdom of God by walking in the way of mercy and justice?

Peter Evans is an advisor, consultant, and speaker to legacy families, family offices, and multigenerational enterprises all around the world. Peter creates the opportunities where affluent families have the greatest chance of flourishing. Peter is also part of a legacy family himself; he is a 5th generation member of a 7th generation American enterprise established in 1885. Peter married into this family and was astounded by the welcoming and inclusive nature of his wife's large family. The family enterprise is now a holding company with over 500 shareholders, all of whom are family members. Of particular interest are the Family Summits held annually, which are designed to re-engage family members, partake in family traditions and rituals, discuss philanthropy and reset for the year ahead. Peter shares his experience of what it was like to join a well-established legacy family and how he has used this unique experience to pivot his career and help other legacy families flourish. Standout Quotes: * "We can't really plan significantly for longer than 5-10 years, you just learn that along the way, things change; the world changes" - [Peter] * "I'm really interested in making sure that the family's values are aligned with their actions" - [Peter] * "To have some sort of formal way of telling stories, I think, is critical" - [Peter] * "The most important thing you'll do are these rituals" - [Peter] * "If we have the privilege of having wealth and means, we have an obligation to give back" - [Peter] Key Takeaways: * Peter is the 5th generation member of a 7th generation American enterprise established in 1885. He is an adviser, consultant, and speaker to legacy families, family offices, and multigenerational enterprises globally. He became a part of the family when he married his wife and was included. * The company began as a group of lumber companies started by two brothers who liquidated everything after 45 years to invest with their partner, Friedrich Weyerhäuser in 1901. Peter's family had continued to be involved with the business as it expanded, although there were no male heirs in the second generation, till the 3rd generation. The family later started a private trust company in 1964, at which point they became the 3rd largest retailer of building materials in the US. * Today with diversification, they are now a holding company with over 500 shareholders, all of whom are family members. Peter's children are already involved with the family business actively and eagerly look forward to partaking in the annual family meetings. * The Family Summit: This annual family meeting usually runs over 3-5 days, on the same weekend every year, with activities like the coming-of-age ritual and elders' ritual, Olympic games, business meetings, philanthropy group meetings, and talks by guest speakers. The goal is to make it so interesting that people want to come back. * Planning Never Stops; the family forms a long-range planning committee every 5 years to have a clean slate to think through everything. A pattern of liquidating a significant resource once every 20 years was also observed; this 'Generational Harvest' would provide liquidity to each shareholder, giving them the freedom to make their own investments. * The family investments today are largely in Real Estate, like residence halls or low-income housing units, all intentionally inclined towards 'doing well by doing good' which is a value the family holds. * Peter left his role as president of the family enterprise in 2003 and has since then helped other family enterprises manage their multigenerational interests. He believes families with vast amounts of capital can make decisions that affect millions of lives and works to ensure that these families act in accordance with their values. "I can hold a mirror up to you so that you can begin to see yourself, your family system, and your footprint in the world; the other thing I can do is open the window so that you can look out into the world and see how other families made choices during different transitions" * Peter's most satisfying work is sitting with family members and watching the interactions; his work is focused on helping build bridges in communication and relationships. His role is a position between being a business consultant, priest, and therapist all of which require a deep level of trust and respect. At its core, his work is about relationships. * Peter's role as a 'Personne de confiance': This is a confidential advisor based on their trust, respect, and honesty. The way to get into that role is to come into the family that needs help, taking time to build trust and confidence. Very often Peter has to model a way of doing things like chairing a meeting, inclusion, and effective decision-making while keeping in mind that the goal is to pass on the mantle of leadership. Most of the time, the G2 generation is the one that reaches out to him, however, in some cases when the patriarchs are comfortable giving up authority, this spurs the G2 to take up the mantle and learn how to hand over to G3. Sometimes, the G2 has even already made the transition in their lifetime, adapting to the values and culture while the G3 grows up having a completely different experience. * Storytelling is critical in documenting family history. Peter uses this both in his family enterprise and while working with others. His family works with a full-time archivist who helps research the lives of people such that detailed questions can be asked and stories can be told more deeply. It also offers an opportunity to share lessons from the failures, trials, and tribulations of family members. * While still active in his family he was always open to learning from other families and when he left his role, he wanted to be involved in creating the consciousness in families that they can impact the world. Based on Peter's background, he has the experience which gets him into those family spaces after which he starts work. * From Peter's experience, when it comes to cultural mindsets like having female leaders, and diversity, there is a lot more openness in the US than in most other places. Although he tries to encourage such views, some cultures are just not ready for it. However, families of significant or multigenerational wealth are naturally global these days, hence it is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid influence from other cultures. * Family Rituals are the most important way to bring the family together continuously over the years because they help young people feel acknowledged. Peter's family has a children's program packed with several activities that keep them eager to return. After the age of 14, they can start going to business meetings. These activities help the family familiarize themselves with teenagers and create a more welcoming environment in the business meetings. * It is necessary to identify who is family and the kinds of roles available to different members. Each family does this differently, but Peter's family has selected the option of Inclusion. * Building Family Governance starts with having a reliable cadence of meetings quarterly, as well as major annual gatherings; this goes hand and hand with excellent communication. The next step would be to memorialize family values and have a direction and then this can be the foundation of a constitution. The constitution is a living document and should be examined and changed as required. * Peter also uses the concept of the "5 Capitals" within his family and the families he works with. * Philanthropy is another tool Peter has been familiar with. It is fun to watch families come together to figure out ways to give back based on their different interests and drives. * Very often, families look at their business as heirlooms which begs the question "Is the business an heirloom or an investment?" Sometimes it is hard to sell a business because it's been our identity for years; thus, selling is easy if the business is only an investment but if it functions as an heirloom then it may not be advisable. In some situations, the business is on the spectrum in-between, which means only certain objects or aspects may be more valued as an heirloom. Mike's family takes pictures yearly on the same spot on a piece of land which over time has taken up the role of an heirloom too. * From Peter to his children: "This is your life, do what you love and do it often. If you don't like something, change it; if you don't like your job, move on. If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV. If you're looking for the love of your life, stop, they'll be waiting for you when you start doing the things you love. Stop overanalyzing; life is simple. All emotions are beautiful, when you eat, appreciate every last bite. Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people; we are united in our differences. Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them. Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. Some opportunities only come once so seize them. Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating. Life is short, live your dream and share your passion." Episode Timeline: * [00:52] About today's guest, Peter Evans. * [02:44] Peter shares his family history. * [07:10] What makes your annual family meetings appealing to the younger generation? * [12:28] Does a value system guide the investment making decisions? * [14:00] Peter's work helping other family enterprises. * [18:40] Peters role as a 'Personne de confiance'. * [24:22] Family Storytelling as a tool in Peter's work with family enterprises. * [29:08] Was it your experience with your own family that led you to work with other families? * [31:39] What are some of the differences in culture that showed up during your work with different families across the world? * [34:50] How important is it to have traditions that bring the family together? * [38:41] Who is a Family member? * [39:17] Building blocks of Family Governance. * [44:10] Philanthropy in the family enterprise. * [46:16] How shared experiences come into family meetings. * [48:14] What is the role of Heirlooms in the family enterprise? * [50:47] Peter's letter to his kids. For more episodes go to BusinessOfFamily.net (https://www.businessoffamily.net/) Sign up for The Business of Family Newsletter (https://www.businessoffamily.net/newsletter) Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeBoyd (https://twitter.com/MikeBoyd) If you feel it's appropriate, I'd so appreciate you taking 30 seconds to Leave a Review on iTunes (http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1525326745), I receive a notification of each review. Thank you! Special Guest: Peter Evans.

DOCUMENTATION AND ADDITIONAL READING PART 1 (0:0 - 7:37): ────────────────── From Peter the Great to Putin the Bully — A Briefing on the Ukraine Crisis and the Russian Threat: History, Empire, Kiev, Moscow, Religion and Worldview PART 2 (7:38 - 14:47): ────────────────── The Bloodlands of Europe: Ukraine Between the Nazis and the Soviets, and Death from Every Direction PART 3 (14:48 - 25:30): ────────────────── The West Will Merely Protest? Putin's Strategy for Supremacy in Ukraine and the Lessons of History PART 4 (25:31 - 31:19): ────────────────── The Ultimate End of Vladimir Putin: Russian Glory Restored and the End of Western Influence in the World THE ATLANTIC (ANNE APPLEBAUM) The Reason Putin Would Risk War

This is one of the deepest conversations I've ever had on my podcast. We went all-in with all things spirituality. From Peter's awakening to what spirituality is and whatnot. If you're my spiritual badass, you will love this one. Just keep an open heart and mind. Peter Paul Parker is Meditation coach, Ki Gong instructor, sound healer, musician and public speaker. Connect with Peter: YT: https://bit.ly/3zwKth1 FB: https://bit.ly/3gAMbFx Peter's CTA: Free webinar on how to shift your consciousness https://bit.ly/3BMUo2n Bright Beings Academy Ki Gong meditation and spiritual growth membership site https://bit.ly/3Caximx D's call to action: - Share your biggest takeaway over at Instagram www.instagram.com/dijanallugolli - Rate the podcast on Android or Apple: https://reviewthispodcast.com/insider - Check our website for ways to collaborate with D: www.dijanallugolli.com LOVE + GRATITUDE D --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fearlessandsuccessful/message

From Peter's freedom from prison and subsequent journey to Mary's house to meet up with the church, can learn more about how we should respond in the face of adversity and what attitude to adopt when our prayers are answered.

This week on Just Havin a Crack we have a former guest and outstanding cricketer Peter Anderson. From Peter's podcast, you will recall Peter was the National Coach of Afghanistan.With all the developments happening in Afghanistan we thought we would bring Peter back on to talk about life in Afghanistan and the challenges they face.This is a gripping podcast from a person that has lived life in this troubled country.

Sermon: “Building God's House” Impact Church London July 25th 2021 Recap: 1 Peter 1:1 — “From Peter, an apostle of Jesus the Anointed One, to the chosen ones who have been scattered like “seed” into the nations In the midst of a hostile culture that sometimes brought suffering, Peter encourages them to find hope in […]

Sermon: “Building God's House” Impact Church London July 25th 2021 Recap: 1 Peter 1:1 — “From Peter, an apostle of Jesus the Anointed One, to the chosen ones who have been scattered like “seed” into the nations In the midst of a hostile culture that sometimes brought suffering, Peter encourages them to find hope in […]

Bible Study With Jairus – Leviticus 2- Grain Offerings, Leaven, and Legalism Leviticus 2:11-12 says: “No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the Lord. As an offering of first fruits you may bring them to the Lord, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma.” Today's question is, what are the “them” in verse 12? In the part about the grain offerings mentioned earlier, some parts were burned before the Lord. However, it is clearly stated here that no grain offering offered to the Lord is to be made with leaven or honey. They are not to be burned as offerings made by fire. Therefore, to understand this, we naturally assume that God is not pleased with anything related to honey and leaven. The law also stipulates that the Israelites should eat unleavened bread, so it deepens our impression that anything mixed with leaven and honey cannot be offered to the Lord. We recently discussed this in our Bible study group. At first, we did not understand what “them” was referring to. Eventually we realized that it might be “things mixed with leaven and honey” or just “leaven and honey.” Once we figured it out, it seemed more logical, but our minds were hindered by thinking that the Lord does not like honey and leaven in grain offerings. We assumed that God completely dislikes and does not accept honey and leaven. We thought that the “them” in verse 12 was obviously not an offering mixed with leaven and honey. The word of God here, says that an offering mixed with honey or leaven can be offered as a first fruit offering, but not as a grain offering. Some of the grain offerings are to be burned, and things with honey or leaven cannot be burned. But God does not say that they are not accepted at all;  He clearly says that they can be offered as first fruits offerings. Leaven is obviously not good since the Israelites were asked to eat unleavened bread. Although it says here that honey may not be offered as a grain offering, the Bible does not say that honey is completely unacceptable. For example, John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey. Isaiah 7:15 prophesied about Jesus Christ the Lord, “he shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.” Israel is also known as “the land of milk and honey.” Although God said honey is not allowed to be used as part of a grain offering, we know that God allows things with honey to be offered as a first fruits offering. I wonder if there were beekeepers in ancient Israel. If they did exist at that time, what would they have offered to God if honey was all they had?  In other words, if God did not allow honey as an offering of first fruits, it is possible that the bee keepers or honey collectors would have had nothing to offer. Although it is such a small detail, allowing honey in other offerings shows God's care for beekeepers and honey collectors. This has very practical applications to our spiritual experience as well. For example, a certain law may be more applicable to a person with a more mature spiritual life. If he wants to get close to God and offer a grain offering to God, God would not allow him to mix leaven and honey with it. I was taught that leaven often symbolizes worldly ambition or our sins, and honey often represents our fleshly zeal or natural self. For such a believer, God may want to deal with his uncleanness. If he refuses to deal with it, God will not allow him to draw closer to Him. But sometimes, a new believer may not understand all the nuances of the offerings, so his first fruits offering to God may have been mixed with leaven and honey. This could represent some undealt with sin or our natural selves. But God will still accept such an offering. This doesn't mean that God is pleased with leaven and honey or the sins and self they may represent. No, God accepts his offering at this person's level. What God values is his heart. Offerings and Legalism If we don't understand this spiritual principle, we may commit the mistake we made when first reading this passage: thinking that since God does not take pleasure in leaven and honey as a grain offering, God is totally displeased and does not accept anything mixed with leaven or honey. In the same way, we can be too legalistic in our treatment of new believers or friends who have not yet believed in the Lord. We can often hurt new believers  and non-believing friends, for we see at a glance the “leaven and honey” in them. Before God has decided to accept or reject someone's offering, we assume that God is judging these things and we condemn their faults. This is actually our sin. It is how Moses erred when he was angry toward the second generation of the Israelites. God was not angry, so Moses's reaction misrepresented God in that moment. It is how the church hurts new believers if the church has a tendency towards legalism. Many believers testify that they have been hurt by the church's legalism. When God is not angry with us, but is presented as an angry God by the church, it can discourage new believers from drawing closer to God. I have observed this happening in my previous denomination. There was a fervent group of Jesus lovers among the Chinese. They were ready to dedicate their lives to Christ, even at the price of martyrdom. This group held special meetings each summer to encourage new believers to dedicate themselves to the Lord. I experienced this challenge and dedicated myself in 2004. I was greatly transformed. But I have also witnessed some negative sides to these meetings. During some of the messages at these special meetings, people are encouraged to give up their worldly ambitions and even their lives for the sake of the Gospel. However, this sounds harsh to some new believers and to nonbelievers who have not yet been drawn to the beauty of the Lord. It is hard for them to think about giving up their worldly ambitions, their future, etc. Most of us in these meetings are Chinese immigrants who came to the US to fulfill our American dreams. Those new to the meetings did not understand the spiritual reason we did this. They pointed out that we all had good jobs and big houses while their lives were just beginning. To them, it seemed illogical for them to give up everything for the Gospel. While some new believers were greatly transformed by these special meetings, others stumbled and even left the church or never came to faith. New believers or non-believers thinking is, of course, not the same as more mature believers.  Those who advocate surrendering everything to the Lord don't think this way. To them, everything is worthless without the Lord. When they have achieved something in their lives, they find that only the Lord is real and everything else is illusory. But here we may be making the mistake we pointed out before. Even people who are mature enough in their spiritual lives to experience the Lord's dealing with them hesitate to abandon the world. So these words of encouragement are necessary: they need the reminder that they must choose the world or the Lord. Put another way, if they want to offer a grain offering, they cannot mix it with leaven or honey, even a little. The Lord demands our all, not just partial obedience. For some of those new to the faith, God may give them time to learn His expectations. He does not expect perfect obedience the moment someone is saved. But if we as more mature Christians are too radical in dealing with these matters, we will overstep God, and make these new people think that God is just like us. In fact, God is much more gentle in dealing with new ones and seekers of the Gospel than many Christians are. I also made this mistake myself. My nephew came to study in the US from China and had not heard the gospel. On the first day when he came to the United States, I took him to the meeting mentioned earlier, hoping that the Holy Spirit would greatly “kindle” him, or let him be saved. Instead, he “stumbled.” He felt that I was “crazy,” so he started to stay away from it. Of course, his unbelief was not entirely the fault of others; his own hardness of heart was the cause. But if I had a choice again, I would not have done it this way. The same is true for many Christians parents when their children are away from the faith. They are anxious, but what they say and how they treat their children might not necessarily reveal the nature of the Lord at this time; it reveals their own flesh and religion and understanding of the law. Sometimes the more we push them, the more they will stay away from us. For those of you dealing with these situations, I hope the inspiration here comforts you. These prodigal sons are all in God's hands, and God has determined their boundaries and scope, when they are saved and when they repent. Don't worry, don't rush. Trust in God, wait for God, and do not overstep God in your impatience. The repentance of the prodigal son in the wilderness and the appeal of the tax collector in front of the temple may be a more acceptable offering! If we are like Pharisees or the prodigal's older brother, our legalism may prevent others from offering even their imperfect offerings to Christ. Legalism in the Church I just gave an example of legalism in the church. Many believers have different experiences with this. What is the reason behind legalism in the church? It ties to the inspiration we had earlier. Some of us have a heart to help the believers to be pure and without blemish, but may lack the tender heart of God. We may not have enough understanding about the process it takes for a person to grow in the Lord. We may have knowledge about God, but lack the heart of God. Legalism in the church happens when we have a heart for God but we don't have the heart of God. We can use the humanity of Jesus Christ to represent the heart of God. Jesus is not only God but was also human. He was not just a regular human being; He was a perfect human being. I grew up as a country boy in China so sometimes I am rude without realizing it. The divine life I carry in me is certainly genuine. But the expression of God though me sometimes is hindered by my nature. It is imperative for us to participate in the grain offering which points us to experience the perfect humanity of Jesus in our spiritual lives. We need to become more like Jesus in his perfect human nature to express more of God's divine nature! In addition, a new light we see in this reading is that the grain offering is also divided into several categories: burning on the altar (verse 2), roasting on the stove (verse 4), frying in a pan (verse 5), and roasting in a pot (verse 7). These signify the different degrees of experience in the human nature of Jesus. We need to be sanctified in our human nature. The more sanctified people are, the less they fear the fire of God. Therefore, they experience more fire and can pass through it. From the altar to the oven, to frying in a pan and roasting in a pot, each category represents the level of sanctification a believer can experience based on how close they are to the fire. The closer you are to the fire, the more trials you will experience. This is good, because it grows your faith as you are sanctified. The more holy your life is and the closer you are to the Lord, the closer you will be able to approach the fire during the grain offering, because God is the holy fire (Hebrews 12:29). This also shows the gentle side of God and God's provision for people at different levels of life. It echoes to the testimonies of some prophetic people. They testify that the more you are transformed on earth, the closer you may live to God in heaven. There are different realms in heaven as well. If a person is not transformed and filled with the light enough, they may not be able to stand the light in the higher realm. Grain Offerings in Our Lives Through these lenses, let's look at the grain offering as a whole and how to apply it to our spiritual experiences. In our reading of Leviticus chapter 1, we refer to five basic sacrifices as representing the five ways of offering Christ as our sacrifice. He is our sin offering, trespass offering, peace offering, grain offering, burnt offering; His work on the cross covered all the offerings we had to make for all time. When we praise God (a sacrifice of praise, as mentioned in Hebrews 13:15), it is like offering Christ back to God as a type of sacrifice. The sequence of these offerings is burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering. These signify God coming out from the Holy of Holies to meet us. The reverse order of these five sacrifices represents the Israelites going into the tabernacle from the outer courtyard to meet God (Please refer to the study of Leviticus 1 for more details.). Grain offerings are generally interpreted as a typology of the humanity of Jesus Christ. The reason is that the grain offering is generally made with fine flour and oiled with frankincense (Leviticus 2:1). Oil typifies the Spirit of God, frankincense typifies the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and fine flour typifies the humanity of Jesus Christ. It is as if the Lord Jesus had been squeezed in His humanity, experienced pain on the cross, then experienced the resurrection and ascension. Therefore, Jesus Christ is our grain offering. The Lord Jesus also gave this example in John 12:24 “If the wheat does not fall into the ground and die, it remains alone, but if it falls into the earth and dies, it bears much fruit.” The Lord Jesus spoke of His own death and resurrection in using this illustration. He is that one grain of wheat, and we are the many grains of His death and resurrection. The fine flour is from the wheat being milled and crushed. We are these many grains going through the mill press, being milled and blended together, to become fine flour. The "fine" in fine flour refers specifically to the softness of this flour after it is milled. Of course, Jesus is the ultimate fine flour- we are simply being remade in His image and sanctified to become more like Him. Part of the grain offering was to be burned on the altar; the things burned included fine flour, oil and frankincense.  The other part of the grain offering was to be given to Aaron and his descendants as a most holy offering of the LORD's offerings by fire (2:3). If we compare the grain offering and the burnt offering, all parts of the burnt offering are for burning. This typifies Christ in His divinity because He offered Himself to God forever as an unblemished sacrifice, entirely for God's satisfaction. Part of the grain offering was reserved for the priests to eat, which shows that the grain offerings were for God and man to enjoy together. The part left here for the priest is specifically mentioned as being most holy. In other words, we can say that the purpose of the grain offering was to help the priest to be sanctified. In today's spiritual experience, it is sanctification that changes our humanity. We receive in the spirit the life of Christ, which is entirely for God. But the life in our soul is not yet fully filled with the humanity of Jesus, and therefore needs to be sanctified, renewed, and changed to become more sanctified. This is the purpose of the grain offering. In the experience of many Christians, they experience Christ as a burnt offering. When they receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, they experience the burnt offering to a certain extent...He is the burnt offering that God accepts to die in our place.  But many Christians lack the experience of grain offerings. They lack the experience of Christ's transformation in humanity, the experience of the blending of flour, oil, and frankincense. They also lack the experience of offering a grain offering to God, and therefore lack the most holy part of the grain offering for themselves. One characteristic of a grain offering is that it passes through fire. Peter says in 1 Peter 1:6-7, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith --more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” From Peter's words here, our faith goes through trials, as if it were going through fire. In fact, this is actually a picture of a grain offering. The reality of a grain offering is to experience the trials of faith and the lessons of the cross in our lives. The purpose is to break us, so that every part of our humanity and inner being is filled and changed by the life of Christ. Levels of the Grain Offering (Breaking down Leviticus 2) We previously mentioned the different options for the grain offering, which represent the varying degrees of passing through the fire. This is how we go through different degrees of trials, or how far we have gone through the work of the cross. The more we are tested by fire, the more the dross from within us is removed and our pure nature refined. The first level of the grain offering is that fine flour is mixed with oil, with frankincense (verse 1) and burned directly on the altar (verse 2). The grain-offering at this level also mentions a portion remaining for the priest to make the most holy things (verse 3). The second kind of grain offering is to take something baked in the oven and make unleavened bread of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened pancakes greased with oil (verse 4). This second level of the grain offering is roasted in an oven, very close to the fire, but not directly in the fire. The unleavened bread can be mixed with oil or anointed. At the third level of the grain offering, food on the frying pan shall be of fine unleavened flour mixed with oil, divided into pieces, and covered in oil. Although the grain offering at this level has heat, it does not go through the fire because it is separated from the frying pan. The grain offering that is baked in the second oven is a whole pancake, but here in the third grain offering it is not a complete pancake, but divided into pieces. This level typifies our experience of Christ as a grain offering, but is not as complete as the second level. And the fourth level of grain offering shall be made with oil and fine flour in a pot. This level does not have a lot of other details. This pot is probably thicker than a frying pan, so there's less heat going through it. After the second to fourth grain-offerings, it was mentioned again that the offerings should be brought before the Lord, presented to the priest and brought to the altar; at this time, the priest would take out the memorial part and burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, a pleasant aroma for the LORD. It is mentioned here again that the remnant of the offerings went to Aaron and his descendants, which were the most holy of the offerings made to the Lord by fire (9-10). This tells us that although the preparation of the grain offering was different for each case, it ended directly through the burning of the fire on the altar. Our grain offering to God must not be mixed with leaven and honey, since it is an offering made by fire (2:11) We may offer leaven and honey in our first fruits offerings to God (2:12). Every offering offered as a grain offering must be blended with salt (13). Salt also typifies the killing effect of the cross. In addition, the Israelites had another option. They could offer the first fruits as a grain offering, which were the dried kernels of fresh ears, the rolled ear kernels (14). The "drying" and "rolling" here also typify the work of the cross. Such a grain offering was likewise to be supplemented with oil and frankincense (15). The priest burned the memorial part of it, a few crushed ears and some oil, and all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the LORD (16). Concluding Thoughts To sum up, a grain offering typifies experiencing the changing and filling of our lives through the humanity of Jesus Christ on the cross. Each of us experience the degrees of sanctification and the cross of Christ differently. Therefore, for a new believer, there may still be parts of their lives that need to be refined, as leaven and honey have typified. God's mercy permits them to offer their own sacrifices with mixtures as a first fruits offerings to God. But if they want to offer a grain offering, they must experience the work of the cross in Christ to renew and change themselves before they can please God. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” It is specifically mentioned here that the renewal and changing of our minds is God's good will. Similarly, the Bible says that unless a man is holy, he will not see the Lord (Hebrews 12: 14). 1 Peter 1:16 also says: "Since it is written: you shall be holy, for I am holy." These verses show that holiness is what God requires of us. A grain offering is a sacrifice of our lives- getting rid of sin and self that we may be more holy. Once we have not only a heart for God, but also the heart of God, we will have less legalism in the church. This will help us to manifest Christ in our lives to draw sinners closer to God.    

On this episode of “Brains Behind AI”, Ari and Natalie had the opportunity to speak with Peter Ma, the Co-Founder of MixPose, a live streaming yoga platform that uses AI pose detection in real time. By downloading the MixPose app, participants can train with top yoga and fitness instructors from the comfort of their own homes. Peter explains how the Artificial Intelligence pose tracking is used to virtually monitor the posturesof students, which is then sent to the instructors. This system creates a more immersive and interactive experience for all participants.From Peter’s involvement in five startups, from his experience as a software developer for more than 12 years, to winning more than 100 hackathons, tune in to hear how Peter is using Artificial Intelligence to disrupt the Wellness Industry.

From Peter, Paul & Mary, Noel Paul Stookey talks about his latest album “Just Causes” in this Beyond the Mic Short Cut. Beyond the Mic with Sean Dillon is the conversation series where actors, artists, authors, and more go deeper than a traditional interview. They go “Beyond the Mic”.

On this Good Friday, we invite you into the story of Jesus' betrayal, trial and death on the cross. Where do you find yourself in the story? From Peter's denial, to Pilate's questions, from Mary's tears to the disciple's fears the reactions those there on that day span the entire spectrum of human emotion. 

There are cardinal numbers, cardinal compass points, cardinal virtues, and Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church…none of which have anything to do with the bird or the color.Cardinal (cardinalis) is the Latin word for hinge, like a door or gate turns or pivots on.This week’s Gospel describes a cardinal point in the ministry of Jesus.From Peter’s perspective, in one brief moment the whole thing takes a turn. And not for the better.

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen — God is at work in us when we suffer. From Peter's first letter, this lesson draws out three purposes of God behind our suffering and three responses Peter calls us to have to our suffering. Texts: selections from 1 Peter

From Peter’s bones to the Grand Grimoire and time travel goggles to Satan, the Vatican Archives are packed with insane and terrifying artifacts. The boys dive into the historical record to uncover what the Pope is hiding inside the home of the Holy See.   SUBSCRIBE FOR $3 MONTH TO GET ACCESS TO BONUS CONTENT www.patreon.com/crackpotpodcast  

Peter and Andy continue their discussion on Golf in the Kingdom. From Peter the 4th in 1502, to Eisenhower, to Trump, golf seems to have a way of permeating into all aspects of society.

In this weeks episode of the Snatchelor, Margo's joined by her sister Jackie and they discuss all of the latest Bachelor Nation drama. From Peter & Madi's breakup, to Tyler C & Hannah B's reunion and so much more. We also recap Siesta Key and talk a bit about what we've been up during this quarantine. Don't forget to follow "Snatchelor's Songs" on Spotify to hear what we're listening to every week: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5A40GV8gEXy5dNdPrWR4mU?si=43hw167tSg62zftW_ijS9w

Chris, Adam, and Danielle are in studio unpacking the absolute insanity that is the two-part Bachelor finale. Oh my God, is there a lot to unpack. From Peter's awful proposal, to Hannah Ann's phenomenal "I'm getting broken up with" outfit, to Barb reigning terror on everyone, to Peter's decision to be with Madison AFTER PROPOSING TO ANOTHER WOMAN... yeah, we dive into all of this this week.

Have you ever wondered why you still sometimes battle DOUBT even though you love Jesus and want to follow Him? We begin a new series this morning on examining DOUBT from a biblical perspective. It’s amazing to see that those closest to Christ still battled with doubt. From Peter to Thomas, men who swore their allegiance and their lives, yet still faced times of doubt and a lack of faith.

Today's Bible Readings: Genesis 38; Mark 8; Job 4; Romans 8Under questioning, the disciples confess who Jesus is (Mark 8:27-30). Christ is the Greek form of Messiah, which has a Hebrew background. This confession triggers a flood of fresh revelation from the Lord Jesus (8:31-38). Now he teaches that the Son of Man “must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” (8:31). As Mark points out, Jesus “spoke plainly about this” (8:32). Apparently earlier comment on the subject was far more veiled.Living as we do on this side of the cross, it is easy for us to be a bit condescending about Peter’s reaction and rebuke of the Master (8:32). From Peter’s perspective, Jesus simply had to be wrong on this subject. After all, Messiahs don’t get killed: they win. And how could a God-anointed, miracle-working Messiah like Jesus lose? Peter was wrong, of course, profoundly wrong. For even the disciples had not yet grasped that Jesus the Messiah was simultaneously conquering King and Suffering Servant.But there was more to come. Not only did Jesus insist that he himself was going to suffer and die and rise again, but he also insisted that each of his followers “must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (8:34). To a first-century ear, such language was shocking. “To take up your cross” did not mean putting up with a toothache, job loss, or personal disability. Crucifixion was universally viewed as the most barbaric of Roman forms of execution, scarcely to be mentioned in polite company. The condemned criminal “picked up his cross,” i.e., picked up the cross-member and carried it to the place of execution. If it was your lot to pick up your cross, there was no hope for you. There was only an ignominious and excruciating death.Yet that is the language Jesus uses. For what all of his disciples must learn is that to be a follower of Jesus entails a painful renunciation of self-interest and a wholehearted turn to Jesus’ interests. Yet Jesus’ blunt language is not an invitation to spiritual masochism, but to life and bounty. For it is an infallible rule of the kingdom that self-focus issues in death, while “whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). Only for a few will this commitment entail loss of physical life; for all of us it means death to self, discipleship to Jesus. And that includes a glad confession of Jesus, and principled refusal to be ashamed of Jesus and his words in this adulterous and sinful generation (8:38).This podcast is designed to be used alongside TGC's Read The Bible initiative (TGC.org/readthebible). The podcast features devotional commentaries from D.A. Carson’s book For the Love of God (vol. 1) that follow the M’Cheyne Bible reading plan.

‘Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip...’ That’s a powerful way to start a story but if you’re anything like me you may be asking God: “Where’s my angel?”. So often in life it would be great to have clear guidance from God about what he wants us to do. While looking at this verse in isolation may give us the impression that the first disciples had Angelic secretaries guiding their every step, a broader reading of the Bible tells us that followers of Jesus need to work a little harder to discern God’s will.Growing in discernment is a big part of growing as a disciple, and a big first step in discerning God’s will is prayer. From Peter to Paul we see that disciples of Jesus spent time in daily prayer talking to God and asking for guidance. Prayer should be our daily starting point for all our decisions. Sometimes God will speak to us through a sign, vision, or angel, but more often than not we won’t get that sort of guidance in how we should live life. Fortunately prayer helps to orientate the thoughts of our hearts towards God and opens our minds up to the many ways God guides us.As we pray for God to guide us, we’ll often be more open to perceiving the way he wants us to go. God has given us common sense, the Bible to teach us, friends and family to run our ideas and choices past, and our church family to support us and guide us. God may not give us personal angel secretaries but he guides us in all sorts of ways. Let’s keep praying for discernment and God’s guidance each day. DBQuestionsWho in the passage is receiving guidance and how is it being given?How could your prayer life improve in order to help you discern God’s will for your life?Who can you call on to help you make decisions? How can you help people in your life to grow in discernment?PrayerGuiding God, thank you so much for the various ways you guide your people. Help us to be open to your guidance and obedient to your will and ways. Thank you that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen!


Episode. 1                 INTRODUCTION TO DISCIPLE DISCIPLINES.                In this very first episode, I talk about my journey for truth and purpose and how that searching led me to the Lord Jesus Christ.      As I got into the church, I began to grow and gain some experience. It was not to long though that I became frustrated with the church and the lack of fruit     in my life. (5:19)  I saw that the reason for this was because of no discipleship.  Download The Episode Here. How did Jesus make disciples. (6:22) So I began to seek God, spending many hours in prayer and long fast's.    In 2014 the Lord led me to some You Tube videos and I found what I was searching for.  I was in Europe a year later, and my life changed. (7:20)   Stay hungry for God, and He will satisfy. (9:47)   Whilst in Europe for 2 months, I got a revelation on the power of the gospel. THE TRUE GOSPEL.  Many people were healed of sickness and pains, delivered from demons, repenting of sins, getting baptized into Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit.   Many who got born again were then taking out on the streets and taught how to heal the sick etc. We call this kick-starting. (11:09) This is how Jesus made disciples and it's how we make disciples.   Coming back to Australia, the Lord opens doors. (11:54) The Holy Spirit confirms the Word, not our traditions. (17:15)   After seeing the works of the Lord being done in my town, I really felt a burden for the church, I wanted to bring this knowledge to the church.   God reveals His heart. The grief of the Holy Spirit. (19:46) The system that man has built. (22:20) God is bringing the truth back to His body. (24:16)   When I asked the Lord, what do I do about this? He led me to His Word and showed me about the systems that man built in the Old Testament.  He said that the system is coming down and He is raising up a remnant who will be devoted to God and who will teach the truth.    The system that man has built and the remnant. (25:13) God is bringing us back to the book of Acts. (26:08)   Jesus gave us very clear instructions of what it is to be a disciple, we must be willing to forsake all, take up the cross ( which means be willing to die ) and follow (obey, imitate) Him.   What is the remnant (a true disciple). The parables of Jesus. (27:10) Those who do not forsake all, cannot be My disciple. (31:00)   The Lord said in John's gospel that we would do the works that He Himself done and that this is required of us.  When we are not bearing fruit and living a holy life, the Lord is grieved.     The Father is well pleased when we bear fruit. (32:05)    I talk about in this episode about my experience with bearing fruit, then not bearing fruit to bearing fruit again. This relates to what Jesus said in Mark ch. 4 and Luke ch. 8  about the 4 soil types (referring to mans heart).    Ground number 4. (32:34)   Jesus spoke about what it takes to be a disciple, but what did the Apostles say about it.  Paul says that we are to discipline our selves, and to have a fear of God . Peter says that we are to be holy just as God is holy and also the fear of God.   From Paul's epistles. (34:21) From Peter's epistle. (41:33)   We need to have a healthy balance between the grace of God and the fear of God. Any one sided doctrine is dangerous.   What is the grace of God for. (42:20)  It is to strengthen us. (44:15)   So what can you expect to gain from these podcasts. (47:29)   Have a list of disciples you can contact who can disciple you and with whom you can fellowship with.              You can connect with them by going to  https://map.thelastreformation.com/#             How to renew the mind by understanding the laws of the mind. (49:05)          Opportunity to have a coach work with you, so you can achieve excellence in all areas of life.               As a coach I see that coaching is in fact discipleship.              For more information on coaching. http://www.yb12coach.com  If you want me to work with you as a coach             then drop me an email     How to be led by the Holy Spirit. (53:13)   The importance of good health in order to be a strong disciple.              It's because of ignorance and a lack of discipline is why many are sick.  (53:55)   There will be interviews with brothers and sisters who are living as disciples and making disciples. (56:10)        Plus much more...   So enjoy.  Don't forget to subscribe so you can be notified of the new episodes.    p.s. Apologies for the glitches, the following episodes are much better.     God Bless, and love to you. Glenn.                                       

Our Pastor to Students, Luke Barnes, brings the message on Good Friday. Pastor Luke takes us into an intimate snapshot of Jesus' final days on Earth. From Peter's denial, to Judas' kiss, to Jesus' arrest, and ultimately His death on the cross, all hope seemed to be finished for those closest to Him. While we know that is not the end of the story, this day represented hope lost, crushed hearts, and lost faith.

Our Pastor to Students, Luke Barnes, brings the message on Good Friday. Pastor Luke takes us into an intimate snapshot of Jesus' final days on Earth. From Peter's denial, to Judas' kiss, to Jesus' arrest, and ultimately His death on the cross, all hope seemed to be finished for those closest to Him. While we know that is not the end of the story, this day represented hope lost, crushed hearts, and lost faith.

From Peter's great confession to Jesus' rebuke of Peter to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration Becca guides us in our journey with Jesus.

Acts 10-11 tell three separate stories that clue us in to the church's responsibility to the Gospel. From Peter's encounter with Cornelius and the Jerusalem church as well as the early church in Antioch, we can learn how churches should be involved with missions. (Text: Acts 10:34-11:30)

The Sodshow Garden Podcast and radio show airs every Friday live at 3pm on Dublin City FM and is available in iTunes and all good podcast stores just after the same day. Andrew Mangan chats with Peter Donegan to discuss where and how it all began and to what is now 5 years of The Sodshow on air. Our 5th Birthday. From Peter’s vinyl collection and soldering speakers as a child, far too much borrowed equipment and people with such kind hearts who we are so eternally grateful to – to meeting genius that is Brian Greene, winning Ireland’s Best Podcast 2 years running and The Sodshow doing it’s first live show to a packed out Powerscourt Townhouse Centre from their main stage. Not to be missed and a wonderful insight behind the scenes. ————————————————————— Andrew Mangan is the brains behind the castaway media podcasting network, the host of the award winning 738am podcast and (also award winning) Arsenal podcast – Arsecast – which, has sold out live shows in both the UK and Ireland. He is also a professional voice over artist for over 25 years and is represented by The Lisa Richards agency. He and his studio based in South William Street Dublin are both available for hire and come higher than highly recommended – we have used both. More than that I am subscribed to both of his podcasts, see below, we are huge fans of his and to be very fair he is, an absolute gentleman.

The Christian Church rapidly grew on the basis of eyewitness stories of Jesus Christ, and many became believers even under horrendous persecution. Today our stories must be told to be obedient to Jesus’ command to be his witnesses. Jesus tells us, “You will be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8) How do you personally feel about that? Will you tell your story? From Peter’s experience of re-telling his story in Acts 11, we can glean that telling your story is good because: It’s your story. (Acts 11:4-5) The Holy Spirit can be received by others. (Acts 11:15) The community is built up. (Acts 11:18) Application: Tell your story in 90 seconds.

From Peter we learn the secret to courage: God’s purposes are bigger than my failures.

From Peter we learn the secret to courage: God’s purposes are bigger than my failures.