Podcasts about Galilee

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:  Exodus 6-8 ; Luke 23 Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast! In today's episode, Hunter invites us to settle into God's Word as we journey through Exodus 6-8 and Luke 23. This reading takes us from the miraculous signs and growing tension between Moses and Pharaoh, all the way to the profound day of rest that follows Jesus' crucifixion. As Hunter reflects, even in moments of chaos and suffering—like the horrors that unfolded on Good Friday—God draws us into a deeper rest, completed through Christ's work on the cross. We're reminded that, no matter how busy or distracted life might get, God offers us peace, forgiveness, and the invitation to simply receive His rest. Join Hunter as he prays over you, shares encouragement, and reminds us all that the work has been finished and that, in Christ, we are truly loved. Whether you're tuning in for the first time or coming back for daily nourishment, this episode is an invitation to draw near and be transformed by the presence of God. TODAY'S DEVOTION: All hell was breaking loose. And Luke tells us that the people rested. The horrors of this day, the day of Christ's suffering, are culminating in a moment of rest. The women from Galilee who had witnessed Jesus' body being taken down from the cross went home on that horrific day thinking they still had work to do. We're told in verse 56 that they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished, the Sabbath had begun. So they rested from their work. Even after all of these horrors, they thought that there was still work to be done. What they did not know was that Jesus, on this Good Friday, had completed all the work necessary. So now theirs was to rest. Now the Sabbath had really come. Jesus finished the work so that the girls could rest. He finished the work so that you and I could find rest. On that Friday, Jesus went to work for bystanders and mocking soldiers. He went to work for reluctant Pilate and indulged Herod. He went to work for guilty Barabbas and Simon the Cyrene. Jesus went to work for sign makers, cross builders, common criminals, gamblers, good and righteous men like Joseph of Arimathea, and heartbroken women who are forced to watch at a distance. Jesus was finishing his work on that Friday so that we all could find rest. Jesus was giving his everything. He was working hard. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He has done the work—the work of redeeming, rescuing, forgiving the sins of the world. He forgave us because we did not know what we were doing. That's why he came to us. Because we don't know. We're trapped and blinded, unable to save ourselves. We don't know what we're doing. Jesus said so himself on the cross, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." Athanasius says, what then was God to do when he saw humanity spiraling into non-being? What was God to do because they didn't know? He would send his Son. Our Lord Jesus would come to rescue us so that at last our eyes would be opened and we would be awakened to life and rest in him. That rest belongs to you. It belongs to all of humanity. He made it free out of the abundance of his heart of love. He did that work. There's nothing left for me to do other than to step in, to say yes, to receive freely the rest that there is in him. And that's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

What is up, Theology Nerds! This week I'm joined by my buddy Matthew Segall from the Footnotes to Plato Substack to announce something exciting: we're doing a joint reading group on Hartmut Rosa's new book Time and World. Rosa's a German sociologist who does big-picture thinking—like old school "let me tell you about modernity" stuff—and his work resonates deeply with process philosophy. His diagnosis? We're stuck in what he calls a frenetic standstill—exhausted, burnt out, running faster just to stay in place. I gave Matt my above-ground pool whirlpool metaphor: we're all running in circles, and if you stop, you get pulled under. Modernity promises us the good life through control—making everything available, accessible, attainable—but the cost is a mute world and the birth of monsters. Rosa's antidote isn't slowing down; it's resonance—a mode of relationship where we're genuinely touched, we respond, we're transformed, and we accept it's all gloriously uncontrollable. Process folks will eat this up: it's Whitehead's prehension, creativity, and divine persuasion in sociological clothing. The invitation? Stop. Listen. Let the world address you again. If you want to join us for the Zoom sessions this February, become a member of either Process This or Footnotes to Plato—preferably both. See you soon. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! Dr. Segall is a transdisciplinary researcher and teacher who applies process philosophy to various natural and social sciences, including consciousness. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA. Make sure you check out SubStack Footnotes to Plato, his YouTube channel, and his recent book. Previous Podcasts with Matt The Meaning Crisis in Process Processing the Political Cosmology, Consciousness, and Whitehead's God. Science, Religion, Eco-Philosophy, Etheric Imagination, Psychedelic Eucharist, Ecological Crisis and more…⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ UPCOMING ONLINE LENT CLASS: Jesus in Galilee w/ John Dominic Crossan⁠ What can we actually know about Jesus of Nazareth? And, what difference does it make? ⁠This Lenten class ⁠begins where all of Dr. John Dominic Crossan's has work begins: with history. What was actually happening in Galilee in the 20s CE? What did Herod Antipas' transformation of the "Sea of Galilee" into the commercial "Sea of Tiberias" mean for peasant fishing communities? Why did Jesus emerge from John's baptism movement proclaiming God's Rule through parables—and what made that medium so perfectly suited to that message? Only by understanding what Jesus' parables meant then can we wrestle with what they might demand of us now. ⁠The class is donation-based, including 0, so join, get info, and join up here. This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 50 classes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read OnlineJesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. Mark 3:7–8Jesus was amassing quite a following, with people flocking to Him from territories that include modern-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Among them were traditional Hebraic Jews, Greek-speaking Jews, Syro-Phoenician Gentiles, and Edomites. This diverse crowd reveals how Jesus' ministry transcended cultural, religious, and national boundaries, foreshadowing the universal call of the Gospel. While some were drawn to Him through authentic faith, others came out of curiosity, eager to witness His miracles.Just prior to today's Gospel, the Pharisees and Herodians began to plot Jesus' death because they saw Him as a threat. In response, Jesus “withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.” His timing was perfect; the hour of His Passion had not yet come. This withdrawal was not an act of fear but a deliberate step forward in preparing for the next phase of His mission. There was still much to accomplish—gathering followers, performing works of mercy, and preparing the Twelve for their mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God.While Jesus acted in accordance with divine wisdom, those who flocked to Him could only see the immediate. They were captivated by His teachings and miraculous works but often misunderstood the full scope of His mission. As Ecclesiastes reminds us, “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1–3). For Jesus, this “time” in His public ministry was a time to build up His earthly flock, teaching them, inspiring faith, and forming them for their mission.As we consider the many and diverse people who flocked to Jesus at this time in His ministry, it's important to see ourselves in them. Those who came to Him could have never imagined all that would follow. While some might have foreseen the possibility of His death due to the hostility of religious and political leaders, few, if any, could have predicted that Jesus' Passion and Death were something He would freely welcome and embrace. At that time, they could never have understood that Jesus had to suffer and die for the salvation of souls. Moreover, everything that followed His death would have been foreign to them: His Resurrection, establishment of the Church, Ascension, bestowal of the Holy Spirit, and future coming as the Universal King.We all go through countless experiences, some good, some bad. When we encounter something good, we often want to hold onto it, yet those experiences often fade with time. When we encounter something bad, we long for that situation to be removed or resolved, yet it sometimes stays longer than we hoped. Jesus' life clearly teaches us that “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.” As we journey through life, we ought not dismiss the difficult times and try to cling to the good ones. We must enter and live each moment as it comes and goes, seeking to use everything as God intends it, preparing us for the glory that awaits us if we remain faithful until the end.Reflect today on the seasons of your life, both the joys and the trials. How is God calling you to trust in His timing and use each moment to grow in faith and love? Consider whether you view your challenges as obstacles or as opportunities to deepen your trust in God's perfect plan. Embrace the good and the difficult, growing in grace and virtue as you do, and your life will unfold in beautiful ways, giving glory to God. In doing so, you will reflect the trust and fidelity of Jesus Himself, whose perfect obedience to the Father brought about the salvation of the world.Lord of perfect timing and wisdom, Your divine plan unfolded flawlessly throughout Your earthly life. At every moment, You lived in perfect accord with the Father's will, embracing both joy and sorrow for the sake of salvation. Help me to trust in Your providence during every season of my life, the good and the difficult, confident that You bring forth an abundance of good fruit in all things. Strengthen my faith, and teach me to surrender fully to Your will. Jesus, I trust in You.Image via picrylSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Dr. Scott Powell, JD Flynn, and Kate Olivera look ahead at the readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time— including an Advent-y passage from Isaiah, St. Paul's strong message about unity to the church in Corinth, and Jesus' withdrawal to Galilee. This episode is brought to you by the Institute for Liturgical Formation at Christendom College's Graduate School of Theology.This summer, consider spending four weeks at the Institute for Liturgical Formation— immersed in reverent liturgy and rigorous academics.To learn more, visit christendom.edu/liturgyAlready read the readings? Skip ahead to 6:50Reading 1 - Isaiah 8: 23—9:3Psalm 27: 1, 4, 13-14Reading 2 - 1 Corinthians 1: 10-13, 17Gospel - Matthew 4: 12-23 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pillarcatholic.com/subscribe

JOHN 12:14-36 - LET HIM FOLLOW ME - BRIAN SUMNER - 2025JOHN 12:14-36 "Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;Behold, your King is coming,Sitting on a donkey's colt.”16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”The Fruitful Grain of Wheat20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much [a]grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.”Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am [b]lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.34 The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?”35 Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.”To support this channel and partner with Brian in Ministryhttps://www.briansumner.net/support/For more on Brianhttp://www.briansumner.nethttps://www.instagram.com/BRIANSUMNER/https://www.facebook.com/BRIANSUMNEROFFICIALTo listen to Brians Podcast, click below.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Purchase Brians Marriage book at https://www.amazon.com/Never-Fails-Da...Brian is a full time "Urban Missionary" both locally and internationally with a focus on MISSIONS - MARRIAGES - MINISTRY. Since coming to faith in 2004 doors continued opening locally and internationally to do more and more ministry with a focus on Evangelism, Outreach Missions, Marriage, Counsel, Schools, Festivals, Conferences and the like.  Everything about this ministry is made possible because of people personally partnering through the non profit. God Bless and thank you. Support the showSUPPORT THE SHOW

This is an audio essay from my SubStack, Process This. ⁠⁠You can head over here to read or watch the entire essay⁠.⁠ I grew up as a Baptist church planter's kid, and the church gave me everything that matters most to me—my faith, my love of Scripture, my relationship with Jesus. But for over two decades now, I've watched the tradition that formed me transform into something I barely recognize. In this essay, I explore the concept of "sequential complicity"—how small, seemingly reasonable compromises lock communities into escalating patterns of moral accommodation. Using research on how ordinary German Christians became bystanders during the Nazi era, I trace a similar pattern in white American evangelicalism: from the real origins of the Religious Right in the 1970s (hint: it wasn't abortion), through Reagan, through the Iraq War, and into the Trump era. The data is stark—white evangelicals have undergone the most dramatic ethical shift of any religious group in modern polling history. And the most devout churchgoers aren't the exception; they're the most captured. This isn't an outsider's attack. It's a lament from someone who still reads his Bible every night and talks to Jesus before bed. I'm not asking anyone to become a Democrat. I'm asking whether the sequence has carried us somewhere we never intended to go—and whether it's too late to find our way back. I hope you enjoy it and consider supporting my work by joining 75k+ other people on ⁠⁠⁠Process This⁠⁠⁠. If you want to ⁠⁠⁠read or watch the essay, you will find it here⁠⁠ ⁠on SubStack. UPCOMING ONLINE LENT CLASS: Jesus in Galilee w/ John Dominic Crossan What can we actually know about Jesus of Nazareth? And, what difference does it make? For over five decades, Dr. John Dominic Crossan has been one of the world's foremost scholars of the historical Jesus—rigorously reconstructing the life, teachings, and world of a first-century Jewish peasant who proclaimed God's Rule in Roman-occupied Galilee. His work has shaped an entire generation of scholarship and transformed how millions understand the figure at the center of Christian faith. This Lenten class begins where all of Dom's work begins: with history. What was actually happening in Galilee in the 20s CE? What did Herod Antipas' transformation of the "Sea of Galilee" into the commercial "Sea of Tiberias" mean for peasant fishing communities? Why did Jesus emerge from John's baptism movement proclaiming God's Rule through parables—and what made that medium so perfectly suited to that message? Only by understanding what Jesus' parables meant then can we wrestle with what they might demand of us now. The class is donation-based, including 0, so join, get info, and join up here. ⁠⁠⁠Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas⁠ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 50 classes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Notes Matthew 4:12-23 Isaiah 9:1-4 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Summary In this episode of the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, hosts Robb McCoy and Eric Fistler delve into the Gospel reading from Matthew 4:12-23, which recounts the calling of the fishermen. They explore the significance of Jesus' call to Simon Peter and Andrew, as well as James and John, emphasizing the differences in the Gospel narratives. The discussion highlights the socio-political context of Galilee, where Jesus begins his ministry amid Roman oppression, and the implications of being 'fishers of men' as a call to advocate for justice rather than mere evangelism. The hosts also touch on the upcoming readings from Isaiah and 1 Corinthians, drawing connections between the texts and contemporary issues of division within the church and society. Takeaways Jesus's call to the fishermen is immediate and transformative. The Gospels present different perspectives on the same events. The arrest of John the Baptist serves as a catalyst for Jesus's ministry. Church divisions can distract from the core message of unity in Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven challenges existing power structures. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Pulpit Fiction Podcast 02:03 Conferences and Continuing Education in Ministry 04:58 Exploring the Sermon on the Mount 07:43 The Calling of the Fishermen: Matthew 4:12-23 09:00 Comparative Analysis of Gospel Accounts 12:04 The Significance of Jesus' Command to Follow 16:11 The Context of John's Arrest and Its Impact 19:26 The Political Implications of Jesus' Ministry 22:19 Understanding 'Fishers of Men' in a New Light 26:26 The Historical Context of Galilee and Its Importance 30:17 The Struggles of Modern Empires 35:07 The Light in Darkness: A Message of Hope 45:07 Unity in Diversity: The Call for Christian Togetherness  

Jesus calls his first disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Dr. Chris Croghan and Lars Olson explain how Matthew's version is unique compared to Mark's version and Luke's version as well as the importance of realizing when Jesus says, “Repent!” and “Follow me!” they're imperatives, they're not optional. Jesus is not waiting for you to answer the call. He's claiming you as His own. CARE OF SOULS - ADDICTIONIn Care of Souls, a special mini-series podcast from Luther House of Study, Lutheran pastors and theologians come together to explore the deeply personal and pastoral task of preaching to and caring for those struggling with life's challenging situations: addiction, death, family disharmony, and more. With conversations, real-life stories, and reflections from the front lines of ministry, Care of Souls equips listeners to enter the broken places of addiction not with easy answers, but with the crucified and risen Christ.Because in the end, it's not about fixing people—it's about preaching the Gospel.Listen to Care of Souls: Care of Souls - AddictionCOURSES Do you like what you learn in the conversations on Scripture First? Luther House of Study has numerous interactive courses available for free on subjects ranging from the Lutheran Catechism to core Christian beliefs. Visit lutherhouseofstudy.org to see their available courses, create an account to track your progress, and dive deeper into your learning. SING TO THE LORD Martin Luther said, "Next to the word of God, the art of music is the greatest treasure in the world." To understand the importance of hymnody in the Lutheran church, Lars Olson and Mason Van Essen sit down with Zachary Brockhoff to discuss the lectionary's hymns, their meaning and history, and how the music preaches the Gospel. 

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260117dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:13-15 Baptism Connects Here is an interesting question: If Jesus never sinned, why did he need to be baptized? The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus endured temptations but never succumbed to them. He never sinned—not once. Not a stray thought, not a rash word, not a single misdeed. So, why did he need to be baptized? Jesus needed to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” Not his righteousness—ours. Every one of us needs to be baptized into Jesus, and his baptism connects us to him. We are washed just as he was. But the water that washes us is not just water, it is water connected with Jesus’ very words—”the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Martin Luther explained: “It is certainly not the water that does such great things, but God’s Word which is in and with the water and faith which trusts this Word used with the water. For without God’s Word, the water is just plain water, and not baptism. But with this Word it is baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of rebirth by the Holy Spirit.” The little words at the end of today’s Bible passage should tell us something about our life of faith: “Then John consented.” We do nothing to initiate our contact with God, but he invites us to receive faith as a gift. Our humble “consent” is not something we do actively, but something God gives us to do in response to his grace. What a great God we have! He has connected himself to us by becoming human like us. And he has connected us to him through this simple faith-creating act of baptism. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of baptism that connects me to you, my perfect Savior, and makes me a member of God’s family. Guard and protect me, body and soul, that I may experience your love and goodness always. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260117dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:13-15 Baptism Connects Here is an interesting question: If Jesus never sinned, why did he need to be baptized? The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus endured temptations but never succumbed to them. He never sinned—not once. Not a stray thought, not a rash word, not a single misdeed. So, why did he need to be baptized? Jesus needed to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” Not his righteousness—ours. Every one of us needs to be baptized into Jesus, and his baptism connects us to him. We are washed just as he was. But the water that washes us is not just water, it is water connected with Jesus’ very words—”the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Martin Luther explained: “It is certainly not the water that does such great things, but God’s Word which is in and with the water and faith which trusts this Word used with the water. For without God’s Word, the water is just plain water, and not baptism. But with this Word it is baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of rebirth by the Holy Spirit.” The little words at the end of today’s Bible passage should tell us something about our life of faith: “Then John consented.” We do nothing to initiate our contact with God, but he invites us to receive faith as a gift. Our humble “consent” is not something we do actively, but something God gives us to do in response to his grace. What a great God we have! He has connected himself to us by becoming human like us. And he has connected us to him through this simple faith-creating act of baptism. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of baptism that connects me to you, my perfect Savior, and makes me a member of God’s family. Guard and protect me, body and soul, that I may experience your love and goodness always. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Exploring the Connection Between Matthew 15 and Ezra For BibleInTen.com - By DH, 17th January 2026 Welcome back to Bible in Ten!     Today, we have another bonus episode as our daily commentary from the Superior Word closes out Matthew Chapter 15. Matthew's Gospel contains 28 chapters, and remarkably, it mirrors the first 28 books of the Old Testament as arranged in the Christian Bible. So in this episode, having concluded our walk through Matthew 15, we'll now look at its fascinating counterpart: Book 15 of the Old Testament-Ezra. Please do check the last episode to see how Chapter 15 of Matthew gives a picture of what is going on in the world from the time Jesus fulfilled the law until the rapture. The verses, though literally occurring at the time of Jesus, point to truths after the completion of Jesus' ministry. Authority from Jerusalem  Matthew 15 opens with scribes and Pharisees coming from Jerusalem to challenge Jesus. Jerusalem represents authority still bound to Sinai. Ezra came from Babylon to Jerusalem as a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses. That was necessary then. But Matthew 15 shows what happens after the Law has been fulfilled. The authority remains -  but the life is gone. Paul explains this tension in Galatians: “Jerusalem which now is… is in bondage with her children.” The challenge to Jesus does not come from pagans -   but from Law-bound religion. 2. Tradition Replacing God's Word  In verses 2 through 9,  Jesus exposes the condition of Israel. They honor God with lips, but their hearts are far away. Ezra saw the same problem. Israel had returned from exile. The Temple was rebuilt. But the heart problem remained. Ezra tore his garments and confessed: “After all that has come upon us… should we again break Your commandments?” External obedience never cured internal rebellion. Matthew 15 shows that the problem has hardened. 3. Where Defilement Truly Comes From  Jesus says: “What goes into the mouth does not defile a man, but what comes out of it.” This is more than food. It is proclamation. Israel refuses to confess Jesus. Paul later explains: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart… you will be saved.” Defilement is not ritual failure. It is rejecting the Rock. Ezra spoke of a land defiled by peoples and practices. Jesus reveals the deeper truth - defilement flows from the heart outward. 4. Blind Leaders and Separation  Jesus then says something severe: “Let them alone.” Blind leaders. Blind followers. Ezra enforced physical separation. Jesus declares spiritual separation. Same judgment. Different stage of history. The Law has reached its limit. 5. A Turn Toward the Gentiles  Verse 21 is pivotal. Jesus goes out from there to Tyre and Sidon. Ezra's restoration preserved Israel. Jesus now expands the promise. Tyre means Rock. Sidon means Fishery and fish relates to increase. Israel abandoned their Rock. The nations who receive Him will increase. A Canaanite woman approaches - humbled, persistent, faithful. Ezra allowed Gentiles who separated from uncleanness to join Israel. Jesus reveals the heart of that principle. Faith, not bloodline, is the door. 6. Bread, Crumbs, and Faith Jesus speaks of children's bread. The woman doesn't argue. She trusts. “Even the crumbs are enough.” This is not rebellion against Israel. It is trust in Israel's Messiah. Ezra guarded the holy vessels carefully. Jesus shows that grace is not diminished by sharing. Faith gathers what Law could only preserve. 7. The Mountain and the Multitudes  Jesus ascends a mountain near the Sea of Galilee - Liberty. A great gathering forms. Ezra gathered Israel to restore covenant order. Jesus gathers the nations under Himself. Broken people come. They are healed. And Matthew records something unique: “They glorified the God of Israel.” The Gentiles now do what Israel was called to do. Paul later says: “That the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.” 8. Bread, Fulness, and Preservation  The feeding of the four thousand follows. Three days. Divine fullness. Seven loaves. Spiritual completeness. Four thousand - the world number. Ezra preserved what was holy by careful accounting. Jesus preserves what is holy by abundance. Seven large baskets remain. Nothing is lost. The fullness of the Gentiles comes in while Israel remains partially blinded. 9. Toward the Tower of God The chapter ends with a quiet note. Jesus goes to Magdala - Migdal-El, the Tower of God. Not Babel. Not the tower of man. Ezra ended with restored order. Matthew 15 points toward final deliverance. Ezra shows us what faithfulness under the Law looked like. Matthew 15 shows us what happens when grace takes the field. The Rock rejected by Israel becomes the foundation of the nations. CONCLUSION Ezra supports the typological interpretation of Matthew 15 because it provides the historical “control text” that shows Matthew follows an existing biblical pattern.    The reason Ezra confirms the typological reading of Matthew 15 is that Ezra provides the final Old Covenant pattern.   Matthew typologically provides the New Covenant pattern. In Ezra, Israel is restored to the land, the Law is fully reinstated, scribal authority is established, separation is enforced, and a remnant is preserved - yet the heart problem remains unresolved. Matthew 15 follows that same sequence in order: authority from Jerusalem, Law elevated through tradition, defilement exposed, separation declared, a preserved remnant, and then a movement beyond Israel to the Gentiles. The difference is that what Ezra preserves under the Law, Jesus resolves through Himself. Because Matthew follows Ezra's structure rather than inventing a new one, the typology is not imaginative - it is controlled, historical, and intentional. Matthew 15 is not merely a series of confrontations, healings, and feedings, nor is it simply a lesson about religious hypocrisy or personal faith, as it is often reduced to in casual teaching. Rather, it is also a picture of what is going on in the world from the time Jesus fulfilled the law until the rapture. What Ezra records historically - Israel restored under the Law, preserved through separation, yet still bound by the limitations of Sinai - Jesus reveals prophetically. Matthew 15 walks through that same reality step by step: Jerusalem-based authority bound to tradition, a people near in speech but distant in heart, blindness leading blindness, separation declared, and then a decisive movement outward to the nations. Ezra preserves a remnant under the Law. Jesus gathers a people by grace. Ezra safeguards holiness through consolidation and exclusion. Jesus reveals holiness through mercy, healing, and abundance. Seen together, these chapters show that Matthew 15 is not simply about what happened on a particular day in Galilee, but about what God has been doing in redemptive history from the close of the Old Covenant to the fullness of the New. It is the Law reaching its limit and Christ stepping into that space - not to abolish what came before, but to fulfill it. Matthew 15, read through Ezra, becomes a sweeping retelling of Israel's restoration, its partial blindness, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and the preservation of God's people - all centered on the person of Jesus Christ, the true Rock, the Bread of Life, and the Lord of the harvest. Lord God, we thank You for Your word - holy, faithful, and true. We confess that it is easy to handle Scripture carelessly, to bend it toward our own ideas, or to use it as a tool rather than receive it as a gift. Guard our hearts from pride. Guard us from turning truth into tradition and obedience into self-righteousness. Teach us to read Your word with reverence, to see Christ where You have revealed Him, and to submit ourselves to what You have spoken. May Your grace reach deeper than our habits, deeper than our defenses, and deeper than our fears. And may our lives reflect not just knowledge of Your law, but the transforming mercy found in Jesus Christ our Lord. To Your glory alone. Amen.   Before we close this episode, we want to share something very simple and very personal. The following song was made up and sung by our Gracie when she could barely speak. She created the words herself and sang it from her heart. It's hard to understand in places, and it's certainly not theologically precise - but that's actually part of why it feels so fitting here. In Matthew 15, Jesus reminds us that what truly matters is not polished words, tradition, or perfect expression, but the heart. This little song isn't about getting everything right; it's about love, trust, and a heart turned toward Jesus. So we'll let it stand just as it is - imperfect, sincere, and honest - a small reminder that faith begins in the heart even before it can be explained. >>>> Grace sings “I love you Jesus” >>>> 

Saturday, 17 January 2026   And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala. Matthew 15:39   Note: You can listen to today's commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)   You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).   “And having dismissed the crowds, He in-stepped into the boat, and He came to the borders of Magdala” (CG).   In the previous verse, it was noted that there were four thousand men, besides women and children, who comprised the multitudes Jesus fed. With that portion of the narrative complete, and to close out the chapter, Matthew next notes, “And having dismissed the crowds, He in-stepped into the boat.”   They have been on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. With this cycle of attending to a Gentile woman in the allotments of Tyre and Sidon noted, followed by a time in the Gentile-led eastern regions near the Decapolis completed, He got into a boat, “and He came to the borders of Magdala.”   This is a location not named this way anywhere else in Scripture. Some manuscripts note the location as Magadan, meaning Megiddo, but that is incorrect based on Matthew 16:5, which notes they are still in the region of the lake. Rather, the town Magdala in Hebrew is Migdal-el, Tower of God, a city of Naphtali recorded in Joshua 19:38.   This is also known as Al-Majdal (Mejdel) on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias. Mark 8:10 notes that when they got in the boat, they came to the allotments of Dalmanutha. Saying it this way, there is no contradiction to be found. Just as Jesus went to the “allotments” of Tyre and Sidon, meaning the surrounding areas, in Matthew 15:21, so they went to Magdala in the allotments, meaning the surrounding areas, of Dalmanutha.   Life application: Chapter 15 of Matthew gives a picture of what is going on in the world from the time Jesus fulfilled the law until the rapture. The verses, though literally occurring at the time of Jesus, point to truths after the completion of Jesus' ministry. The New Covenant is now what God is doing in the world. Israel as a whole, however, rejected that.   Though they no longer observe the Law of Moses, they remain bound to it. During this dispensation, they are spiritually led by rabbis, both in their writings in the Talmud as well as in their cultural and religious life.   These are reflected by the scribes and Pharisees who came from Jerusalem (verse 1) to challenge Jesus. Paul explains in Galatians 4:21-31 that the earthly Jerusalem reflects them and their teaching. The main point for now says –   “But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Galatians 4:23-26   In verses 2-9, Jesus explains the state of Israel at this time, living by the laws of men rather than by the law of God. After the introduction of the New Covenant, the law of God is not the Law of Moses. Rather, that is fulfilled.   At this time, religious Israel draws near to the Lord with their lips, but their hearts, because of their rejection of Jesus, are far away from Him.   In verse 11, Jesus stated that what goes into the mouth does not defile. Rather, what comes out of it does. Though that was a truth concerning the traditions of these elders, it is a truth that is spiritually seen in Israel to this day. They refuse to proclaim Jesus.   This is their defilement. But what does Paul say concerning this? In Romans 10, he says –   “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:8-13   The only thing that can cleanse a person from sin is Jesus. Anything else, meaning any other proclamation, defiles that person. As such, Jesus says in verse 14 to let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind, and both will fall into a pit.   In verse 15, Jesus reexplained to dull Peter (later, the Apostle to the Jews) the matter of the heart and what it is that causes defilement. While Israel remains in their state of defilement because of their oral proclamations, something else takes place. This is seen in verse 21, where Jesus “went out from there,” meaning from the Jewish people to the allotments of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile area.   Tyre (Hebrew: Tsor) signifies Rock. While Israel abandoned their Rock, the Gentiles received Him. That this is speaking of Christ is seen, for example, in Deuteronomy 32:32, where it says, “For their rock is not like our Rock.” There are those who are confident in their rock (tsur), and yet their rock is not the Lord who is the Rock (tsur).   Sidon (Hebrew: Tsidon) signifies Fishery. It is a place for catching fish. Everyone is like a fish. When Jesus said to Simon and Andrew that they would be fishers of men, He meant that men are like fish to be caught.   While in this area (verse 22), a Canaanite woman came to Jesus and begged for compassion for her demon-possessed daughter. Canaan signifies Humbled, Humiliated, or even Subdued. She pictures those of faith who have humbled themselves before the word of Christ.   The issue is the daughter. In Scripture, a son or a daughter is representative of the state of something. A “son of death,” for example, is a person deserving of death. That is his state. A daughter, in this case, is the state of a group of people, such as “daughter of Jerusalem,” “daughter of Tarshish,” etc. What is the state of the Daughter of the Humbled who are also Gentiles?   Jesus said in verse 24 that He had come “if not to the sheep, the ‘having been lost' – House Israel.” Despite there being a New Covenant, with whom was that covenant made? The answer is found in both Jeremiah and Hebrews –   “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Jeremiah 31:31   The early church did not understand that the word was to go to the Gentiles. That is a major subject found in Acts. It is representative of the disciples' comments found previously in verse 23 when they told Jesus to dismiss her.   It literally took an act of God to get them to see that the New Covenant included Gentiles, first with the Ethiopian eunuch and then the house of Cornelius. Jesus' calling, though, to redeem the House of Judah and Israel, is inclusive of the Gentiles of faith, as seen in this account. It is something prophesied in Isaiah 49:6, but which is revealed in typology here.   The woman was told that it wasn't “good to take the children's bread and cast to the puppies.” In the Bible, dogs represent Gentiles. That is seen in the Caleb series of sermons. Caleb, kalev, is from kelev, dog. It is also seen in the account of Gideon and his men, who lapped like dogs, a typological picture dealing with the Gentiles.   The woman didn't argue Jesus' point. Instead, she noted that “even the puppies – he eats from the crumbs, the ‘falling from their master's table.” Jesus thus remarked concerning her great faith, something evidenced in the Gentile world. At that time, it noted the child was cured. Salvation, in fact, is also directed to the Gentiles. They are brought into the commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:12).   From there, verse 29 said of Jesus that “He went near the Sea of the Galilee, and having ascended to the mountain, He sat there.” The Galilee has previously been explained as “the Liberty.” It is a picture of freedom from sin. As sin stems from a violation of law, it ultimately signifies freedom from law.   A mountain in the Bible represents a lot of something gathered. In typology, it is synonymous with a large but centralized group of people. Though it is only stated in Mark, the last area noted was the Decapolis, a Gentile controlled area.   Thus, this is typologically referring to a large but centralized group (meaning under Jesus) of Gentile people. The Canaanite woman already established that, but this is an extension of the thought, explaining the result of the dispensation of the Gentiles. In other words, “What will happen in the world once it is established that Gentiles are to be included in the New Covenant?”   In verses 30 and 31, multitudes came to Jesus for healing, so many that they were strewn about Him. It is reflective of the broken Gentile world coming to Christ for healing and salvation. As many came, He healed them so that “they glorified the God of Israel.”   As noted at that time, the term is unique in the New Testament. It suggested the presence of Gentiles on the mountain, but it typologically asserts this fact. Paul's ministry literally shouts out the parallel to this thought in Matthew –   “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.” Acts 19:11, 12   Was the God of Israel glorified through this? The answer is found in Romans –   “Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: ‘For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.'” Romans 15:8, 9   And...   “For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient— 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” Romans 15:18, 19   In verses 32-38, the feeding of the four thousand is recorded. Jesus said they had been with Him three days. In Scripture, three “stands for that which is solid, real, substantial, complete, and entire. ... Hence the number three points us to what is real, essential, perfect, substantial, complete, and Divine.” Bullinger   The time these people have been with Jesus speaks of a divine fullness, something reflected in Romans 11:25, “that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” It goes right back to the state of Israel, noted in Matthew 15:14, where the blind are leading the blind.   While Israel is blinded, the blind of the Gentiles (Matthew 15:31) are brought to sight. The miracle of the bread (think of Jesus, the Bread of Life) and fish (a word which signifies “increase” in Hebrew) speaks of the immense harvest. There were seven loaves, the number of spiritual perfection, and a few tiddlers. However, they were enough to feed the multitude of four thousand. The number is a product of four and tens.   Four is the number of material creation, the world number. It speaks of the entirety of the world hearing the gospel, just as Jesus said it would. Ten is the number where nothing is wanting, and the whole cycle is complete. The entire world of the Gentiles will be evangelized before the end comes.   To demonstrate the immense harvest that will be realized in the church age, the baskets of fragments were collected, totaling seven large baskets. Notice the difference from the feeding of the five thousand –   “And they ate all, and they gorged, and they lifted the superabounding pieces – twelve handbaskets full. 21And those eating, they were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”   “And they ate all, and they gorged, and the superabounding of the fragments they lifted – seven hampers full. 38And those eating, they were four thousand men, besides women and children.”   Whereas a remnant of the twelve tribes of Israel represented by the twelve small handbaskets (Greek: kophinos) was collected, there will be an immense harvest of the seven churches (as defined in Revelation 2 & 3), represented by the seven large hampers (Greek: spuris).   The chapter ended with a location only mentioned here in Scripture, saying of Jesus, “And having dismissed the crowds, He in-stepped into the boat, and He came to the borders of Magdala.”   The town Magdala in Hebrew is Migdal-el, Tower of God, a city of Naphtali recorded in Joshua 19:38. Migdal El is contrasted to the tower of man, meaning Babel and all that accompanies her. Thus, this is implicitly a picture of the ending of the church age, where believers are delivered from the Babylon of the end times recorded in Revelation.   To understand why these conclusions have been made, one should refer to the descriptions of these locations found in the Old Testament sermons given by the Superior Word. Each location, number, or other reference has been drawn from the information already recorded there. Thus, the typology is not new. It has already been seen and has been reused without change, confirming that this analysis of Matthew 15 is sound.   Lord God, Your word is beyond amazing. It is a lifeline for the soul caught in despair. It is a treasure for the seeker of riches. It is a guide for the path of our lives. And Lord, it is so much more. It is so glorious to enter into its pages and find rest for our souls in the Person of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Thank You for this precious word. Amen. Matthew 15   15 Then they came to Jesus from Jerusalem, scribes and Pharisees, saying, 2“Through what – Your disciples, they sidestep the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they may eat bread.”   3And answering, He said, to them, “Through what – also you, you sidestep the ‘God's commandment' through your tradition? 4For God, He enjoined, saying, ‘You honor your father and your mother,' and the ‘disparaging father or mother,' death – he expires!' 5And you, you say, ‘Whoever, he should say to father or mother, “Gift – whatever if from me you should benefit.”' 6And no, not he should honor his father or his mother. And you invalidated God's commandment through your tradition. 7Hypocrites! Well, Isaiah, he prophesied concerning you, saying,   8‘He neared Me, this people – the mouth, And the lips – he honors Me, And their heart, it distances far from Me. 9And vainly they revere Me,  Teaching instructions – men's injunctions.'”   10And having summoned the crowd, He said to them, “You hear and comprehend! 11Not the ‘entering into the mouth' it profanes the man, but the ‘proceeding from the mouth,' this, it profanes the man.”   12Then His disciples, having come near, they said to Him, “You have known that the Pharisees, having heard the saying, they stumbled!” 13And having answered, He said, “Every planting that not He planted, My heavenly Father, it will be uprooted. 14You leave them! They are blind, blind-conductors. And blind, if they should conduct, both – they will fall into a pit.”   15And Peter, having answered, he said to Him, “You expound to us this parable.”   16And Jesus, He said, “And yet, you, you are unintelligent! 17Not yet you grasp that all, the ‘entering into the mouth,' into the stomach it contains, and into the john it ejects? 18And those proceeding from the mouth, it comes from the heart, and those, it commonizes the man. 19For from the heart, they come: evil meanderings, murders, adulteries, harlotries, thefts, false-witnessings, blasphemies. 20These, they are, the ‘defiling the man,' but to eat with unwashed hands, not it defiles the man.”   21And having departed thence, Jesus, He withdrew to the allotments – Tyre and Sidon. 22And you behold! A Canaanite woman from those same borders, having come, she cried to Him, saying, “You compassionate me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter, she is demon possessed-badly.”   23And He answered not a word.   And having approached, His disciples, they entreated Him, saying, “You dismiss her! For she cries after us.”   24And answering, He said, “Not, I was sent, if not to the sheep, the ‘having been lost' – House Israel.”   25And having come, she worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, You rush-relieve me!”   26And answering, He said, “It is not good to take the children's bread and cast to the puppies.”   27And she said, “Yes, Lord. And even the puppies – he eats from the crumbs, the ‘falling from their master's table.'”   28Then, Jesus answering, He said to her, “O! Woman, your faith is great! It become to you as you determine.” And she's cured, her daughter, from that hour.   29And having departed thence, Jesus, He went near the Sea of the Galilee, and having ascended to the mountain, He sat there. 30And they came to Him, great crowds, having with them lame, cripples, blind, mutes, and others – many, and they strewed them near Jesus' feet, and He healed them. 31So too, the crowds marveled, seeing mutes speaking, cripples healthy, lame walking, and blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel.   32And Jesus, having summoned His disciples, He said, “I gut-wrench upon the crowd because already three days they bivouac with Me, and naught they have that they may eat. And I wish not to dismiss them unfed, not lest they should collapse in the way.”   33And the disciples, they say to Him, “Whence to us in solitude – loaves so many as to gorge a crowd so vast?”   34And He says to them, Jesus, “How many loaves do you have?”   And they said, “Seven, and a few tiddlers.”   35And He ordered the crowds to sit upon the ground. 36And having taken the seven loaves and the fish, and having thanked, He broke, and He gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the crowd. 37And they ate, all, and they gorged, and the superabounding of the fragments they lifted – seven hampers full. 38And those eating, they were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39And having dismissed the crowds, He in-stepped into the boat, and He came to the borders of Magdala.

Today’s Topics: 1, 2, 3, 4) Father Charles Murr joins Terry Gospel – Mark 1:29-39 – On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told Him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to Him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and He drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew Him. Rising very early before dawn,  He left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued Him and on finding Him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So He went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons  throughout the whole of Galilee. Bishop Sheen quote of the day

“Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.” (Mark 16:7 NLT) Except for Judas Iscariot, no one failed harder during the events of Jesus’ crucifixion than Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ closest companions. His failure likely came as a surprise not just to himself but also to his fellow disciples. Of the twelve, Peter certainly seemed to have the most bravado. In the account of the Last Supper in Matthew 26, Jesus announces to His disciples, “Tonight all of you will desert me” (verse 31 NLT). Peter boldly replies, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you” (verse 33 NLT). And then Jesus breaks the news that must have broken Peter’s mind: “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me” (verse 34 NLT). Sure enough, a few hours later, while Peter was waiting outside the high priest’s residence for news of Jesus’ trial, he was spotted—and called out as one of Jesus’ disciples. Not once, not twice, but three times. And when people turned their attention to him, when he had a chance to make good on his promise and stand boldly with Jesus, Peter lied. He denied being a disciple. He denied even knowing Jesus. Not once, not twice, but three times. And what started with bravado ended with bitter tears of regret, failure, and shame (see Matthew 26:69–75). That’s why the announcement of Jesus’ resurrection in Mark 16 is so notable. Poor Peter was devastated by his own unfaithfulness and by the fact that he never had a chance to tell the Lord that he was sorry. He really needed encouragement. With that in mind, look at the words again: “Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died” (emphasis added, NLT). Isn’t that amazing? Here is the Lord directly responding to the doubts, fears, and regrets of one of His followers. More than the rest of the disciples, Peter needed reassurance. His risen Lord knew that—and knew how to restore his faith. The story of Jesus restoring Peter to service can be found in John 21:15–25. But let’s consider the takeaway from Mark 16. What can we learn from Jesus reassuring Peter? We can learn that failure gets the final word only if we let it. We can learn that what may look like the end of someone’s story is only the end of an early chapter of the person’s life. There’s still much to be written. And we can learn that not only will Jesus forgive us when we fail Him, but He will seek us out to give us a chance to make things right. That’s how much He loves us. Reflection question: How can you keep failure from getting the final word in your life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known." All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gospel Mark 1:29-39 On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn,  he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons  throughout the whole of Galilee. Reflection Nothing is clearer in the Ministry of Jesus that he had this power over the power of evil. His very presence drew it out of people. And at the same time we see this awesome power, we see also a tension in Jesus, knowing that this is a power that he wants them to understand. They one day will possess, but he wants to teach them that. He wants to preach to them. And so he leaves the town that still had many people longing for a healing and said, I need to go and talk to my father about the core of my work. I want to preach. I want them to understand the word, not just the power, but the plan of God for us. Closing Prayer Father, there's so much more than just being empowered to overcome the weaknesses that we have. Give us this wisdom that we ask for. It's the wisdom to know the role that you've given to each of us and to be able to accomplish it, not through mighty signs necessarily, but through a deep and profound wisdom that can only come to us through you. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friends of the Rosary,In today's reading (Mark 1:29-39), we see how people from Galilee brought to Jesus those who were ill or possessed by demons. His physical healing points to his spiritual healing.The Scripture says, "He cured many who were sick with various diseases,and he drove out many demons,not permitting them to speak because they knew him."During His public ministry, Christ the Lord drove out many unclean spirits. Today, through the presence of the Catholic Church and the grace of the sacraments, He continues cleansing our souls.As temples of the Holy Spirit, we must do our best to expel from our hearts any dysfunctionality that separates us from the Lord.The goal is to be Christified with the truth of divine power.As Bishop Barron says, "Much of Jesus's ministry consisted of teaching people how to see (the kingdom of God), how to hear (the voice of the Spirit), how to walk (overcoming the paralysis of the heart), and how to be free of themselves so as to discover God."Ave Maria!Come, Holy Spirit, come!To Jesus through Mary!Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.Please give us the grace to respond with joy!+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New YorkEnhance your faith with the new Holy Rosary University app:Apple iOS | New! Android Google Play• ⁠January 14, 2026, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

In this episode, Diana's special guest Jake Doberenz, founder of Theophany Media and host of the Creatively Christian podcast, shares his expertise on effective Bible study. The discussion covers essential principles of biblical interpretation, the importance of studying scripture in community, and approaches to understanding difficult passages. Listeners are also guided on selecting appropriate Bible translations and utilizing various online resources, ensuring a comprehensive and balanced approach to scripture study. The episode concludes with a prayer for listeners' spiritual journey and their engagement with the scriptures. Bio: Jake Doberenz isn't one thing. He identifies as a polymath, a Renaissance man, or a multipotentialite–one interest or specialty can't contain him. But enough of the third-person. I am a writer, speaker, minister, and creative thinker living in Oklahoma City, OK with my wife Samantha. My most significant role is the founder and president of Theophany Media, a Christian education company dedicated to helping Christians engage with culture through new media. I have earned my Master of Theological Studies at Oklahoma Christian University, the same place I earned my Bachelor's degree in Bible with a minor in Communication Studies. I also worked at my alma mater as a Resident Director and Bible TA. I write fiction and nonfiction in a variety of mediums, including poetry, short stories, books, stage plays, academic essays, and devotionals. I also venture out into other mediums, like podcasts and video. My favorite topics of choice to discuss and write about (though always changing) include: creating Christian art, helping people understand the Bible better, Christian identity, theology of social media, use of humor in faith messages, superheroes and theology, and a Christian response to culture. If you want to see his progress, achievements, and appearances sign up for the newsletter so you'll never miss an update! website: Home – Jake Doberenz 00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message 00:47 Welcome to the Podcast 01:44 Introducing the Guest: Jake Doberenz 02:43 Jake's Background and Interests 05:56 Jake's Teaching Journey 10:46 Bible Study for Abuse Survivors 13:25 Choosing the Right Bible Translation 18:42 Understanding the Bible Without Knowing Greek or Hebrew 21:34 Basic Rules of Bible Interpretation 25:43 Embracing Uncomfortable Bible Stories 26:47 Using Jesus as a Lens for Interpretation 30:54 The Importance of Community in Bible Study 34:14 Red Flags in Spiritual Leadership 37:02 Recommended Bible Study Resources 41:33 Exploring Different Perspectives 44:58 Connecting with the Speaker 46:29 Closing Prayer and Final Thoughts   Website: https://dswministries.org Subscribe to the podcast: https://dswministries.org/subscribe-to-podcast/ Social media links: Join our Private Wounds of the Faithful FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1603903730020136 Twitter: https://twitter.com/DswMinistries YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgIpWVQCmjqog0PMK4khDw/playlists Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dswministries/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DSW-Ministries-230135337033879 Keep in touch with me! Email subscribe to get my handpicked list of the best resources for abuse survivors! https://thoughtful-composer-4268.ck.page #abuse #trauma Affiliate links: Our Sponsor: 753 Academy: https://www.753academy.com/ Can't travel to The Holy Land right now? The next best thing is Walking The Bible Lands! Get a free video sample of the Bible lands here! https://www.walkingthebiblelands.com/a/18410/hN8u6LQP An easy way to help my ministry: https://dswministries.org/product/buy-me-a-cup-of-tea/ A donation link: https://dswministries.org/donate/ Jake Doberenz [00:00:00] Special thanks to 7 5 3 Academy for sponsoring this episode. No matter where you are in your fitness and health journey, they've got you covered. They specialize in helping you exceed your health and fitness goals, whether that is losing body fat, gaining muscle, or nutritional coaching to match your fitness levels. They do it all with a written guarantee for results so you don't waste time and money on a program that doesn't exceed your goals. There are martial arts programs. Specialize in anti-bullying programs for kids to combat proven Filipino martial arts. They take a holistic, fun, and innovative approach that simply works. Sign up for your free class now. It's 7 5 3 academy.com. Find the link in the show notes. Welcome to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast, brought to you by DSW Ministries. Your host is singer songwriter, speaker and domestic violence advocate, [00:01:00] Diana . She is passionate about helping survivors in the church heal from domestic violence and abuse and trauma. This podcast is not a substitute for professional counseling or qualified medical help. Now here is Diana. Hey there, everybody. Come on in, set for a spell. How are you guys doing? I appreciate your support in listening to the podcast, and I hope that you are enjoying some really encouraging words and practical things for you to do your own Bible study and read the word of God for yourself. We have a new guest on the show now I'm very familiar with his podcast, creatively Christian. I've been on his podcast. His show has a few different interviewers. And so [00:02:00] Andrea Sandifer, who you guys know that was on the show, she interviewed me on her show. And our guest today, Jake Doberenz, the man behind that podcast, he is a funny guy. He likes to bring humor from the Bible. And I've been reading his blog and following his newsletters. And his Facebook group. So I thought he would be a great addition to the podcast , and I think you're gonna love him. I'm gonna tell you a little bit about him. He has a lot of interest here, so here we go. Jake, Doberenz isn't one thing. He identifies as a polymath, a renaissance man or a multipotentialite. One interest or specialty, can't contain him. So he [00:03:00] says of himself, but enough of the third person. I'm a writer, speaker, minister, and creative thinker, living in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. My most significant role is the founder and president of Theophany Media. A Christian education company dedicated to helping Christians engage with culture through new media. I have earned my Master of Theological studies at Oklahoma Christian University, the same place I earned my bachelor's degree in Bible with a minor in communication studies. I also worked at my alma matter as a resident director and bible ta. I write fiction and nonfiction in a variety of mediums, including poetry, short stories, books, stage plays, academic essays, and [00:04:00] devotionals. I also venture out into other mediums like podcasts and video, my favorite topics of choice to discuss and write about. Although always changing, include creating Christian art, helping people understand the Bible better. Christian identity, theology of social media, use of humor in faith messages, super heroes and theology, any Christian response to culture. So this is gonna be awesome. So I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Jake Doberenz. Please welcome to the show, Jake Doberenz. Thanks for coming on today. Sure thing, anytime. I'm glad to be here. I really enjoyed being on your [00:05:00] podcast, A creatively Christian, and Andrea interviewed me and then she was on my podcast and I follow your Facebook group and get your. Very humorous email newsletter. And so I thought you were the perfect fit to come on to the podcast. And you're a bible geek like me, and you have a different perspective on life. In the Bible, you find humor in the Bible, which a lot of people don't find the Bible very funny. So welcome to the show. Yeah, I'm glad to be here providing some humor and quite possibly even some wisdom and intelligent comments. We'll see if we get to that part. So you haven't been on the podcast before, so. Tell the folks a little bit about yourself and your family. Okay? Yeah. Always a fun question because where do you [00:06:00] start? Where do you end? But yeah. I am in Oklahoma City right now. I'm an Oregon native and got stuck in Oklahoma. Stuck sounds too negative, but I got planted here. That sounds better. I got my bachelor's degree in biblical studies with a minor in communication studies. I have a Master's of Theological studies and for a while I was kind of going down the Bible professor route. That was gonna be my thing. And it's not like completely off the table right now, but it is not my chief kind of path anymore because there are not a lot of jobs in that area and there's a lot of different things there that make it quite challenging. A lot of schooling, a lot of debt for maybe not so much reward, but we'll see what the future brings. I am still flexing my desires to write and teach. That has always been what I wanted to do, even when the subject changed, even when it [00:07:00] was cat psychology or whatever, I always wanted to write and teach and so I'm still doing that in in different ways. I'm certainly still using my degrees, even though I'll be going into teaching middle school geography this year. Ooh, kind of a new adventure. Add some more skills and weird things on my resume. That's kind of how I do it. So geography. Cool. I think that's me. Yeah. Yeah. That's very brave. Middle school, that particular age, did you pick the age group you were teaching or did they just kind of throw you in there? I applied to high school and middle school. I wasn't going to do anybody under middle school and the high school jobs never called me back. And the, I got some different offerings on the middle school side of thing, so I said, okay, that's what you want me to do. God, I will walk into this wilderness. And then they gave me some kind of choices between, and I chose sixth grade specifically, so I'll be with, with sixth graders. [00:08:00] They, uh, we still have some childlike heart and wonder. They're not so jaded like they get when they're a little older, but they're just mature enough where you can start to get a little more serious. So good age. Hmm. I liked sixth grade. It was a good year. We'll be praying for you either way, because that's a lot of work and mm-hmm. But geography's cool. I like Bible geography. Ever since I went to Israel in 2019. How different reading the Bible is when you've been to those places. Have you been to Israel? I haven't. No, I haven't. Yeah. If you're into geography, you would really love going to Israel for obvious reasons, of course, but geography, it just makes the Bible come alive when you've been to the place where Jesus put legion into the herd of pigs and over the cliff. Sure. And I've been to that cliff, and so you can see it now in your head. It's awesome. Or you've been on the Sea of [00:09:00] Galilee and you can actually imagine Jesus walking on the water and because been in the boat. So, yeah, I'm just getting into being interested in geography right now. There you go. Yeah. Cool. What would you say is your particular specialty as far as Bible goes? Yeah. I did my master's thesis on Paul's view of spiritual formation, specifically from one Corinthians chapter three, verse three. Four, just around there. So that's a very specific kind of thing. Most of my training has actually been more on the New Testament side. Specifically Paul, I've done a lot of more academic work with the use of children as a metaphor in the Bible. I've done work with that in both Paul and the Gospels. Sexuality in the New Testament has been something I've kind of explored. [00:10:00] Nowadays though, I have more of theological interests and I'm asking some different kinds of questions. You don't divorce theology from the Bible, but they're just different kinds of questions and different kinds of, and ways and sources for that. But in terms of Bible, yeah, a lot of studying Paul and a lot of thinking about sort of how he makes arguments and specifically like in that thesis, it was all about how he used this metaphor about. Being an infant in Christ, what does all that mean? And how does that reflect how we grow as people? And so I've gone down those kind of rabbit trails a lot my my day. That's really interesting. A Paul's usually a favorite Bible character. Most people, though you can, you never go wrong with the Apostle Paul now. So today we're talking about Bible study for abuse survivors. And reason why we're doing this is because when we've gone through abuse, usually there's some spiritual [00:11:00] abuse involved and we want to distance ourself from God because we've experienced that spiritual abuse and that affects our relationship with God. And a lot of people once they leave or get out of the abuse. Then they're like, okay, I don't wanna read the Bible, I don't wanna pray, and I don't wanna go to church anymore. I don't trust anybody. But I'm trying to encourage on this podcast to come and if you have questions, let's talk about the questions. So, so I've kind of answered my own question, why should we study the Bible for ourselves? But what would you say to that or add to that? Yeah, I think what I would add to that is that, um, one thing that our teachers or pastors or scholars don't have is that they're not you. You are yourself and you come with your experiences and you come [00:12:00] with your own personality and identity, and you are gonna often pick up things that other people might miss, or you're gonna just sort of focus on things more realize as a thread of a theme or something like that. We, we shouldn't come to the Bible biased necessarily, or with too many preconceived notions. 'cause then the text starts to say what we want it to say. That's not what I'm saying. But we do bring ourselves to the text and we have to admit that like, I'm not reading this in a vacuum. I'm reading this because of who I am and what I've experienced and all these things like that. And I think that's really powerful. And I think the Bible is, it's strong enough to take it. Like it's not about pulling whatever meaning you want from it, like I said, but it is about seeing things that are hidden in this multi-layered onion like text here that has so much stuff in it that we can't expect. Even a really smart [00:13:00] guy to just know everything. So yeah, we gotta study the Bible for ourselves. We gotta do our own digging and our own reading. See what we can find. Yeah, I like that answer. Bringing yourself to the table that's. Different than what somebody else would bring to the table. So let's start with something everybody asks about. When it comes to Bible study, you go to the bookstore and you're trying to pick out a Bible, and there's a gazillion different Bible versions out there, and too many versions, in my opinion. Which one do I pick? Does it matter? At the end of the day, it probably doesn't matter. There are those that are better than others, and I'm the term better here. You can use that in different ways. I'm using the term better as in. More accurate to the text, although, hey, we are translating language here. [00:14:00] Translation is an art, not a science, which makes us a little uncomfortable. We can still get that meaning across. You're a, you're an artist and you're a creative. You can still communicate accurately and faithfully even through a song or something like that. And so in the same way, translation is a little bit of an art form and there are people that have to choose certain words, and I think this means that. So yeah, there are some that are more quote unquote scholarly and others that are more paraphrased, like the message, or it's something like the amplified Bible that is just trying to sort of squeeze some more possible meaning out there by becoming like glorified the Sorut. So you got some different options. Most readings are probably not gonna hurt you, at least. As long as you understand like kind of what's going on here. I know in the past the King James has had the word unicorns in it and that that threw some people off and then later we're like, actually we should have translated that. Like Gazelle was not supposed to be translated unicorn. So [00:15:00] okay, we can get some things here that might throw some people off, but as long as we kind of give some grace to the translators, something like the King James is older and we have some different data. We have some older manuscripts that we're pulling from now. So yeah, it's gonna be a little bit more closer to what the originals were saying kind of thing. So yeah, there are those considerations, but I don't think you're gonna make or break your faith if you read the ESV over the NRSV or something like that. Yeah, well I came from a camp that, uh, they were very definitive in what Bible you should read and which ones you should not read and Sure. And they were very dogmatic in that I've changed my stance since then. Because I've actually dug into that sort of thing that okay, you, so you're saying that most of the mainline translations out there, we will still get the main [00:16:00] point of what Bio was trying to say. Right. Yeah, I don't know any that are too left field and crazy or something like that. There are versions, like, I could be wrong about this, but I think the Jehovah's Witness has versions of the Bible that seem to play a little fast and loose with some things and have cut out some different stuff. So obviously I wouldn't necessarily recommend that for Christians. The only other thing I would say is make sure a bunch of different people were involved. Most translations are. Large groups of people. And then you have things like I mentioned the message that Eugene Peterson did, it was just him, but he wasn't necessarily trying to make a definitive thing. That's more of a paraphrase translation, which is like a devotional rather than something to study. So there are just different uses for all these different things. There are, I could go into the weeds. My dad used to own a Christian bookstore. Oh. And so you have your thought for thought translations and then you have your word for word. And [00:17:00] some people think word for word is better because it's more accurate. But the thing, the problem is the Bible might literally say X, but when we translate that word to today, it makes no sense because language is weird like that. And then so the thought for thought is going to be more of an interpretation, but they're trying to say, okay, but what this is trying to say is this and, and here's a thought that you can digest and that makes sense to you. So it's just kind of what you want, but thanks to the internet. In fact, on another screen here, I have pulled up Bible gateway.com. That's what I use a lot. You can look through all sorts of different translations and compare and contrast. If I really wanted to study with more than one, it's legal in most states, so go for it. It's funny you mentioned the message because that was my first Bible when I got saved. My okay friend that I met in high school, I told her I had gotten saved and I didn't have a Bible, and she gave me the message, which [00:18:00] was her Bible, and I loved it. Oh yeah. I highlighted that thing and Oh yeah. And I just tore it up with underlining and I couldn't wait to read it. And then of course you get to Bible college and they tear it out of your hands, so yeah. But yeah, I like the ESV today. I have. A really nice archeology study Bible I bought and I've, I've read the King James most of my Christian life. And switching to another translation was really eye-opening. All this different stuff that I hadn't seen before just popped out, like I didn't know the Bible said that. Wow. It's pretty neat. So along the same lines, do we have to be a Greek and Hebrew scholar to understand the Bible? I hope not because I struggled through Greek and barely made that alive, and so languages are not my strong [00:19:00] suit. Uh, but I think the answer is of course, no. You don't have to be. It depends on what kind of study you're doing, and I probably should have mentioned that earlier, but there's a way to look at the Bible in an academic, scholarly way, and there are some Christians that. Think that's wrong or bad? I don't think it's bad. It's just one way to look at it. When I am in scholarship, when I'm writing this college paper, I am, I have to kind of slice and dice it and I'm doing a work that an atheist could do. It's that kind of work. But then there's another way to look at the Bible that is much more pastorally or for spiritual formation, the kind of thing that treats the text as sacred that an atheist can't do. So if you're doing the academic work, it really helps to know the words because you're trying to get as precise as possible and getting into there. But luckily for us, other people have done the work for us and we have these English translations, so woo. You don't need to know Hebrew and Coin a Greek and [00:20:00] a little bit of Aramic and like Daniel or whatever. Like we don't have to know that because somebody else has done the work for us. And I mentioned already like. There's a lot of people involved in a Bible translation, not just one guy. It's, a lot of people have done this work and they've argued and yelled at each other and come to some conclusions to say, this is the best we can do right now. This is what we got. So, yeah, we don't have to, we don't have to be language PS so, woo. Lucky. Yes. Yeah. I mean, I'm a language geek. I love languages. Personally, I speak two languages besides English, but I haven't taken any Greek or, or Hebrew, maybe someday, but they didn't cover that in my Bible college. But it's good that we already have the tools online that, hey, this is a translation for that word in. There's really no, no real argument about it is there along mainline denominations. Yeah. Most people probably aren't gonna tell you. You have to know all those languages unless somebody there. There are groups of people that would say [00:21:00] the only inspired text of the Bible is the actual original Greek and Hebrew. And so our English translations are not inspired. But that's a minority view. That's not super common. Yeah. Yeah. The most people can understand. The inspiration still comes through, even when it's translating different languages. The word of gods for the whole world, not just those that can speak actually dead languages that nobody speaks today like Latin. Yeah. So now we're gonna get into the nitty gritty here. Okay. When we are sitting down with our Bible and we're deciding to. Study a passage of scripture or maybe a book. What are some basic rules of interpretation? Now we use the fancy big word hermeneutics, but like the basic ones that you really shouldn't ignore in order to. Do a proper Bible study. This is one that gets definitely drilled [00:22:00] into in Bible school and in other contexts, but it's that actual, it's a word context like context is key. Context is king, and one of the best things we can do is zoom out. So if we're looking at a particular scripture. Like one verse, we zoom out to the chapter. Those headings or whatever aren't like God inspired or whatever, but they're helpful to kind of see what the flow of things are. Then we can zoom out to the book level and sometimes zoom out to the biblical level and things like that. But that is always key. Sometimes we get into trouble thinking that the Bible is just like, the whole thing is like Proverbs, where everything's just disconnected and you got these good one-liners and they're fun and they're good zingers, but most of it is some kind of story or, and Paul, I mentioned that being some of my background, Paul's letters are arguments they build on top of each other, and so you can see if we're trying to look at something wild like. One [00:23:00] Corinthians 14 or something, we can understand it because by just kind of going a little backwards and Oh, okay. So that's always really important. And a lot of times authors in the Bible will also tell us kind of their themes and tell us what they really want us to get across. The gospel of John, for instance, is written so that we may believe Luke talks about writing in a, an orderly account of things. So we have some of these statements that if we zoom out a little bit, oh, okay, we can make sense of this in light of that. And so different things like that. But we could go all day into the hermeneutics and then the other fancy word, X of Jesus and that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, a tool anybody can use is something I learned in elementary school when there was a hard word. It was called rat read around the text. Read around the text. Ooh, that's the acronym there. And that just helps us understand, wait, what is going on? What does Paul mean when he says this? Why is [00:24:00] this guy saying this in judges? Let's take a look. What else is going on here? So it's just a great tool that anybody can use be if they can just zoom out a little bit and read the rest of the Bible and the rest of the passage. Everybody gives a different answer to that question. Now, obviously when we read the Bible, we come upon these passages or some of the stories that are either difficult to understand or it's a topic that we don't wanna deal with. It's really hard to swallow. Like a lot of times it's the genocide passages, of course. Mm-hmm. And or similar things like that. What do we do when we encounter those passages? Yeah. There are also passages that are sometimes called, and the genocide fits into this, but passages called texts of terror. A lot of passages about different abuse situation, and [00:25:00] I won't go into all of those, but I'm sure a lot of us can come up with some things that mm-hmm. Can be triggering in the Bible that seem just really messed up and stuff like that. So I think what's important, first of all is we recognize the, the gut feeling, the awkwardness talk to the beginning about how I see humor in the Bible and I do, I think there are some things in the Bible that we should laugh at. It's actually hilarious. Tell us about what Jonah gets swallowed by a big fish. That's funny. You should be laughing. And it's hilarious that he wants this city destroyed and he's supposed to be a prophet of God and he's not doing his job description and stuff like that. So like. When it's funny, we should laugh and when it's not funny, when it's uncomfortable, we should be okay being uncomfortable. I, I remember when I did college ministry for a time, we talked about the story of, oh man, I can't remember if it's Eli, I think it's Elijah. [00:26:00] And when they make fun of him for being bald and he calls these, she bears to attack these 40 youths, and he, this kid would kid could not get over it. He's like, why is this in the Bible? This is ridiculous. And I just tried to help him. Yeah, let's feel that first. Let's feel that, oh boy, we got some emotions here. So step one, I think it's totally okay to feel those things and then we can do some digging. Again, it's that zooming out. Let's look at the context here. Let's look what's going on there. A lot of times I think some of these texts of terror or uncomfortable texts, um. Sometimes they're not as bad when we look at it through maybe a historical lens or something, but sometimes we can't just justify them really nice and neatly, like some of the stuff about genocide. So ultimately, I have to go back to Jesus because. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God. It is the best [00:27:00] lens into the divine that we've ever seen. It's through this person of Jesus. And so sometimes we got to use our Jesus magnifying glass and look over the scripture and say, that's awkward. I don't like that very much. This makes me, this triggers me. This is, uh, but we put Jesus over and say, but through Christ, we don't have to live like that. We can recognize that there. There are plenty of examples of what not to do in the Bible. Jesus calls us to a different way and Jesus shows us that some things that maybe people thought were really godly and divine at certain points were not. So at the end of the day when things make us uncomfortable, I say feel it. But then ultimately, let's just go back. What does Jesus say? And if Jesus words are kind of. Don't seem to jive with this other crazy stuff going on here. Let's just, let's follow Jesus over some of this, [00:28:00] this other uncomfortable things. Hmm. So it's probably not a satisfying answer, but that's kind of like the point, like we try too hard sometimes to wrap everything in a pretty bow, but sometimes we just can't. With the Bible, the Bible is complicated and that's what makes it powerful. It's not always so neat and tidy and doesn't always make you feel good. It is a like Christ. It is both human, fully human and fully divine. And in that there's some awkward tension. There are some, there are human emotions and human things that that bleed through the divine pages of scripture. I appreciate the honest answer and yeah, I think that was a great answer. It was just reading through the patriarchs and wow, you just wrap your head around how much they messed up. And that's not how God wanted us to live. That's just an example of God just lets [00:29:00] everybody see how these people messed up. But still, God used them in a mighty way. God still gave them grace and forgiveness and love and mercy. I was just on Twitter and that's a dangerous place is Christian Twitter. Oh my goodness. And there was a big thread about some people, they didn't believe that Jesus was the same God as the God of the Old Testament. They cut the line because they thought Jesus over here in the New Testament, his attribute seems so different than. The God of the Old Testament. I don't necessarily agree with that, but that was an interesting concept. That's how they dealt with those horrible stories. I'm just gonna just trust in Jesus and just believe in Jesus and throw everything else away. Yeah. That's a heresy in the second century that, um, yeah. You know, unfortunately haven't quite gotten rid of completely, but is that's what that's called still alive and, [00:30:00] yeah. Oh, that's what you call it. Okay. There's your little fun little historical theology trivia, but yeah, there's probably a word for it. But that goes into my next question is how do you study the Bible and read it and make sure that you're not slipping into some heretical teaching, because I personally know some people that they believe some stuff that's way off base that nobody else. And mainline Christianity believes in, but they're like quoting Bible verses and taking them outta context. How do we avoid going down that path? Yeah, yeah. I had a youth minister who used to joke that if you wanted to, he could justify kicking babies across the room from scripture. Like that was just his wild example because yeah, people can kind of justify the whole gambit of things. So I think now we talked about why it's important to study the Bible for yourself. [00:31:00] At the same time though, I think this living, breathing scripture. Is something that we must read through community. You can do your own work, do your own prep, but ultimately the Bible belongs to all of us. And so we need to read in community. And that can mean your pastors and teachers and your scholars. It can also mean your neighbor and your friend and your kids and your mom and your cousin from a couple states away. But it can also mean dead people, not like seance or whatever, but like, um-ing, you know, read these old preachers and read the church fathers and the church mothers and like, we got 2000 years of Christian history here. There's some wild stuff, but there's some good stuff too. So I say we read scripture in community and you come to your own conclusions. Don't just copy paste whatever Mr. X, Y, Z says, but. What do they [00:32:00] think? And when we start looking at, oh, Christians have kind of seemed to think this for a long time, probably a direction we should lean in. I don't know. I guess people could be wrong, but the way the spirit works I think is a lot of times through community. And it's a way to check, it's a checks and balance for ourselves. So I think that sometimes we can get a little, a little wild with our own interpretations, but we bring in other people. What do you think? Did you see this too? Is this accurate? Is this, does this fit in with historical context of first century Palestine? Or whatever kind of questions you want to ask community. So that's flesh and blood people, but that's also books and podcasts and all sorts of things. I just think we're made to be together. And honestly, when I studied Paul's view of spiritual formation for my thesis, I didn't get to dive into it too much, but what I kept coming across is spiritual formation is not a. You on your own [00:33:00] kind of thing. It is something that happens with people who are this great cloud of witnesses that is cheering you on and it's helping you out. So I think that's a great way to kind of check, check ourselves, and then of course, use your brain. Let's be logical here that scripture probably not actually talking about America because it was written 3000 years ago. I don't know. Thank you. Um, so, so stuff like that, we gotta use our brains. Yeah. I like when you talk about community, because I think, and I've seen this before people go off the rails, is that they're isolating themselves. Mm-hmm. They don't wanna go to church because they don't trust, they don't trust people that they've been hurt. But even if we can't drag ourselves to church just yet in our healing process, yeah. There are other ways to create community and checks and balances. So that's a really good point. We really don't want [00:34:00] to be that guy that started his own denomination on a couple bible verses. Yeah, we got plenty of denominations. I think we're set for a little bit, so let's just chill out for now. Yeah, that's crazy. So like if we're in a community, we're under our Bible teacher or a pastor or Sunday school class, what would be like a red flag that would put your antennas up? Hey, you may wanna check this out for this preacher teacher saying is not a good thing. Are there any like red flags that you would look for? I think arrogance is definitely a big red flag. Ooh, good one. And that is how you get into spiritual, spiritually abusive situations. Definitely. And what I mean by arrogance is people that are not willing to be corrected, not willing to admit the wrong, not willing to learn. I was privileged to have professors where I was getting my Bible degrees. People with [00:35:00] PhDs from the prestigious British universities who would listen to student comments and be like, that's really interesting. Or, heard it like that. Tell me more about that. And one of my Hebrew Bible professors spoke like nine languages. Most of those are dead ones. And still he's curious to know what these 20-year-old college students are thinking. Which is wild because he is way smarter than us. But he is. These guys were adopting this posture of, I can learn from anybody here. I want your perspective. And I could be wrong. We gotta have some things where we have a firm foundation and where we don't sway. We absolutely have to have those. There are some people these days that I think sort of lean too heavily into the wishy-washy. It depends on the day, what I'm feeling, cafeteria style Christianity. We can't do that. But we also can't go over here where it's, I figured it out when I was 30 years old, when I was 40 years old, and now I'm like, [00:36:00] done. I'm done learning. Got it right. I to be the only one to get it right. And that's how denominations start, right? Ooh, everybody else got it wrong all the time. Now I'm right. So that's dangerous. So let's learn from people who are themselves. Learners who are willing to be challenged and to ask questions and wanna know your take on things. I know from being in ministry settings that oftentimes I am the guy with the more Bible degrees than most people in the room. But then there'll be these 70-year-old church ladies who have lived this and they've been in the Bible their whole life. I can learn from them. Mm-hmm. They have something to say, even though they've never read the text in Greek. They have something to add to the conversation. Mm-hmm. So we need to be learners. I love that. That is so awesome and so very true. The Holy Spirit speaks to each of us individually and gives us different [00:37:00] lessons and we can share those lessons. Now, you as a scholarly person, you must have some favorite resources that you use to study the bible. Can you recommend some specific resources that are maybe easy to use? Yeah, there's a couple websites, Bible gateway, I mentioned that already. They have. Some free commentaries and bible encyclopedias and things kind of on the sidebar there. So as you're looking to scripture, you could glorify and study Bible or have access to chunks from different commentaries. And for a while, while I was doing some more preaching, I actually did the paid, there's a kind of a paid version that it was like five bucks a month or something really cheap like that. It just got access to more things so I can have the scripture here and then all my resources next to it. And that was handy. Bible hub.com is also another one. [00:38:00] Um, that one's especially good if you do wanna look at the language stuff, knowing that you're not a scholar, you can say, but what is that Greek word? And you can click on it and it will show you the definitions, show you other places in scripture it's used. You can kind of get a feel for that. So that's a really good one for people who are not, who don't know the languages or. Like me who always needed help with my Greek homework or something like that. So yeah, those come to mind. But man, like we are, we at our fingertips. There's a lot of good stuff out there. A lot of bad stuff, no doubt. But there are podcasts and all sorts of books and there's just, there's a lot of good stuff there. Wouldn't even know where to begin, just sort of thinking broadly. But I think Bible gateway, Bible hub, easy. Anybody can access those for free. And you don't necessarily need a giant library or really expensive commentary sets 'cause they're really expensive. Yeah. That's why my parents get me one commentary for my birthday and [00:39:00] for Christmas each year. And so in 50 years I'll have the full set or whatever. That's not true. That's, it'll actually probably be. I can't do the math however it takes to get 66 books. But anyway. Wow. All I had in bible college that we were allowed to have is Matthew Henry commentary, which is kind of on the dry side. Yeah. Most Bible professors would pass out hearing you say that. It's not bad stuff, but bad, but it's not, it's not easy to read it's thing, let's just say. Yeah. And we were allowed to read Weirs, BE'S books. It's a pretty good series about where I came from. John MacArthur's commentaries were like hearsay. Oh, okay. The Baptist didn't like the, at least the churches that I was in, they didn't like MacArthur's stuff, but, and I had the actual strong concordance. I still own that's, yeah, sure. So sort of a free way to get that, besides if you don't want to get a giant [00:40:00] volume. Yeah. I like to read the physical books too. Sure. Nothing, not knocking the physical. But yeah, if people are on a budget, yeah, people are on a budget and you can't go and buy those big, huge coffee table books. Or if you're near a Christian university, see if you can get a library card that's, they have tons of stuff. I can walk in there and there are a whole shelf of like Genesis commentaries or whatever. It could be information overload. But also I can, I'll pick up a couple different volumes of different perspectives and I'll read what they each have to say about the verse or chapter I'm dealing with and I can kind of synthesize a conclusion. And that's how you do it. Yeah. I'll also mention, I, we were allowed to. Listen on the radio, Jay Vernon McGee and yeah, he was definitely expository. He [00:41:00] would go verse by verse and go through the entire Bible verse by verse, which I thought was really good. And I don't agree with everything he said, but that's the way I learned a lot of stuff was through verse by verse radio program back in the day. Mm. I'm dating myself, aren't I? It's all good here. All good. No, we talked a lot about a bunch of different stuff. Is there anything about Bible study that we didn't talk about that you would like to mention? I know there's so much, uh, yeah, I just touched on it a little bit, but I kind of wanna bring it back. Look at different views than yours. If you are really charismatic, then look at something that's not quite charismatic, or if you are. I won't go. I'll skip all those differences. You know what? You are read some of the stuff that's a little different. Stuff that challenges you. That's how we grow. That's how we grow, [00:42:00] is to hear something a little different. And the thing is, you're not required to believe it. Right. You can just read it and at least know what they're saying. I know in my Christian upbringing, and not necessarily I was intentional, but I only knew my side of the argument. Or if I knew somebody else's argument, it was this straw man version that was just not accurate. And then I, you go to the big wide world and be like, oh wait, there are lots of different views. And those people are actually smart and they have things to say about this, but somebody else is the opposite and they're also a smart person. What's going on? It's just good to expose ourselves to different things. In most cases we could, we, you can choose your own boundaries and things like that. Mm-hmm. It doesn't mean if you're studying something in the Old Testament, you have to read the Jewish and the Muslim and the Mormon view of what. It doesn't mean you have to go there, but just check out some different things. Have your favorite commentaries. Do it, but every once in a while [00:43:00] peek into your, your local heretic and see what they have to say. I dunno, maybe not a heretic, somebody who's a little different. You, you, your istic. Yeah. Our last guest was talking about Calvinism and stuff, but yeah, doesn, excellent suggestion because I definitely was in my own camp for many years until I got out of my abusive situation and started looking into other views and I have since changed nothing major. I didn't change any major views, but I realized that okay, there are other Godly people. Now I see they can use scripture to defend their position too. And there's a little bit of wiggle room in there for sure. Sure. For different viewpoints. I went and did a study and looked at somebody else's view on a tertiary argument. Sure. Tertiary doctrine. It's not a doctrine of the faith, but [00:44:00] something that's very important and it's like, okay, I'm not gonna be judgmental. And that was hard for me to change my viewpoint. Yeah, yeah. But they gave me really great scriptural evidence. So yeah, that's kind of a sideline, but you made excellent point. But anyway, I appreciate you sharing all this valuable information and your view, viewpoint, and it's fascinating. Everybody has different answers for these questions. I've asked everybody the same questions. Right. And they're all giving me different answers, which I think that's very helpful. Oh yeah. Yeah. Very helpful. Yeah, getting people exposed to different things and again, like I am me and you are you, and we're different. And that's the point. Like we all come together with our different focuses and our different backgrounds and knowledge, and together we are the body of Christ. Amen. And that's beautiful. So tell the folks [00:45:00] how people can connect with you and you have resources and maybe if they wanna play stump the Bible teacher, they can email you. Yeah, you can find that all about me@jakedobern.com. D-O-B-E-R-E-N-Z as in zebra. And that's kind of my home base on the interwebs. If you do jake dovers.com/email, you can get on my email list that was mentioned earlier where I talk about. Funny stories from my life that have spiritual points, and I bring out spiritual points from that. And yeah, you can definitely contact me through social media or email, and that's all on my website there. So I'll let you track me down and tell me how wrong I am and all of that kind of stuff. That's fun. It comes with the territory, so totally okay with that. And then lastly, I do a bunch of work with Christian creatives, with Fiani [00:46:00] Media, and as was mentioned, I produce the Creatively Christian podcast. So I would love for you to check that out if that's kind of your thing, if that's your area. Yeah. You guys have a real great variety of guests on that show. It's not just one particular kind of art. You guys represent a lot of different ones, which is fun. Oh yeah. And we're trying to get more variety all the time. Awesome. Now. I don't usually have guests pray on the show, but would you pray for our listeners in their journey in the scriptures? Of course. Let's go ahead and pray. Heavenly God, we come to you in prayer on this podcast episode and we ask that whoever's listening now in the future, in a couple years, where wherever we are, that, that we can be receptive to how you speak to us through scripture and through our [00:47:00] communities that help us see scripture. Let the spirit guide us as we dive into this sacred but sometimes confusing and complicated documents. Lord, I ask that you give us the wisdom to be able to rightly divide your word and to remain faithful even when our own preferences might wanna lean in a different direction. Lord, thank you so much for the ministry of this podcast. We pray that people continue to have healing and continue to find themselves in a better place, both in the world and with you spiritually. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you so much for coming on the show. God bless you. Sure thing. God bless you. Thank you for listening to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast. If this episode has been helpful [00:48:00] to you, please hit the subscribe button and tell a friend. You could connect with us at DSW Ministries dot org where you'll find our blog, along with our Facebook, Twitter, and our YouTube channel links. Hope to see you next week.

Read OnlineRising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. Mark 1:35–39Jesus' prayer was unique. He did not pray because He needed God in His life—He was and is God. Yet, in His human nature, He regularly withdrew to be alone and to pray to His Father. Jesus' prayer teaches us two primary lessons.First, Jesus' prayer reveals Who He is. He is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. As a member of the Trinity, Jesus prayed in solitude, not to become closer to the Father, for He and the Father are eternally one in essence; rather, His prayer expressed and revealed that perfect union to us. Unity with and love of the Father are at the center of Who He is.Though we are not God, we are made for oneness with God. This is not an external invitation but an essential part of who we are and who we must become. In Heaven, our lives will be one ongoing and eternal expression of prayer—a perfect union with God. That union must begin now, and the foundation of its growth is prayer.By going off alone to pray to the Father, Jesus also models for us the way to the Father. His action is prophetic, calling us to set aside moments each day for nothing other than prayer. While we are called to pray continually throughout the day, this habit is nourished by intentional moments of silence in which we immerse ourselves in God's presence. In our fallen nature, daily moments of focused prayer are necessary for clearing the distractions of life, overcoming sin, and allowing God's grace to draw us into deeper union with Him.Jesus' prayer invites us to examine our own daily prayer life. How often do you pray each day? How do you pray? Does your prayer change you, transforming you into who God made you to be? Most people easily find time every day for less important things, such as entertainment, idle conversations, and daily work. Though these things have their place, they must never overshadow that which is most important. We must learn to pray and be faithful to prayer every day.One of the best ways to pray is to participate in the Mass. In the Mass, we most fully share in Christ's human life, sacrifice, and divine presence. The Mass is the summit of prayer and the foundation of our spiritual life. We receive Him into our lives as we consume His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. To participate in the Mass well, daily moments of prayer are essential. At times, we must silence every other thought and actively offer our praise to God. Meditation on the Word of God is also essential. Taking time to read the Gospel, in particular, and meditating on those passages disposes us to hear God's voice. His Word counters the many lies and temptations we face during our daily activities, preparing us to live more fully as God's sons and daughters.Reflect today on your commitment to daily prayer by following Jesus' example. Resolve to find a moment of solitude in which you silence your heart and simply dwell in God's presence. Let this time of prayer become the cornerstone of your day and a foretaste of the union with God in Heaven for which you were created. Prayer is not an option; it is the very path to becoming who we are meant to be—united with God in love, now and for all eternity. My prayerful Lord, Your prayer revealed Your perfect union with the Father and set an example for us to follow. Grant me the wisdom and strength to remain faithful to daily moments of personal prayer—times when I can simply be with You and express my love for You. May these moments transform every part of my day, leading me to greater charity here on earth and preparing me for perfect union with You in eternity. Jesus, I trust in You.Image via rawpixelSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Today’s Topics: 1) Gospel – Mark 1:21-28 – Jesus came to Capernaum with His followers, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are–the Holy One of God!”  Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet!  Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.   Memorial of Saint Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Saint Hilary, pray for us!Bishop Sheen quote of the day2, 3, 4) Steve joins Terry to discuss Baptism as found and taught in Sacred Scripture

Welcome to Day 2774 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2774– The Day Mary Met Gabriel - Luke 1:26-56 Putnam Church Message – 12/07/2025 Luke's Account of the Good News - “The Day Mary Met Gabriel”   Last week, we continued our year-long study of Luke's Narrative of the Good News in a message titled: “A Baby at our Age? Get Serious!” This week is the second Sunday of Advent, which is Peace, as we continue to build anticipation of the coming Messiah. Today's passage is the story of: “The Day Mary Met Gabriel.” – Peace in the Unexpected. Our Core verses for this week will be Luke 1:26-56, found on page 1588 of your Pew Bibles.  The Birth of Jesus Foretold 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Mary Visits Elizabeth 39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Mary's Song 46...

Gospel  Mark 1:21-28 Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,  and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”  Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet!  Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another,  “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee. Reflection Jesus lived in Capernaum and it was not unusual for him to be in the synagogue. But what was interesting about this case is when he spoke, there was something happening to the people who were listening. It was a feeling or a sense that there was something more here than just someone telling us what to do. But somebody who had this authority over that, which is the enemy, a power over evil, over anything that would destroy us. Closing Prayer Father, your fame was difficult because it became an obstacle to your being able to preach and teach. Bless us with an understanding of the mystery of the power you have over evil. Help us to understand the gift that you had. We also have, and we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew 3:13-17Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordanto be baptized by him.John tried to prevent him, saying,“I need to be baptized by you,and yet you are coming to me?”Jesus said to him in reply,“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for usto fulfill all righteousness.”Then he allowed him.After Jesus was baptized,he came up from the water and behold,the heavens were opened for him,and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a doveand coming upon him.And a voice came from the heavens, saying,“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordanto be baptized by him.John tried to prevent him, saying,“I need to be baptized by you,and yet you are coming to me?”Jesus said to him in reply,“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for usto fulfill all righteousness.”Then he allowed him.After Jesus was baptized,he came up from the water and behold,the heavens were opened for him,and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a doveand coming upon him.And a voice came from the heavens, saying,“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordanto be baptized by him.John tried to prevent him, saying,“I need to be baptized by you,and yet you are coming to me?”Jesus said to him in reply,“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for usto fulfill all righteousness.”Then he allowed him.After Jesus was baptized,he came up from the water and behold,the heavens were opened for him,and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a doveand coming upon him.And a voice came from the heavens, saying,“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-1713 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Simon Says: Lessons from Simon Peter In this week's sermon, titled "Simon Says," we continued our exploration of the life and lessons of Simon Peter, the disciple who was both deeply flawed and profoundly faithful. This week, we focused on the event when Simon Peter walked on water, a story that offers profound insights into faith, courage, and obedience. The Story of Walking on Water The sermon draws from Matthew 14:22-33, where Jesus walks on water and invites Peter to join Him. This miraculous event occurs after a long day of ministry, where Jesus had just fed the 5,000. Seeking solitude and prayer, Jesus sends His disciples ahead across the Sea of Galilee. As a storm arises, Jesus walks on the water to meet them, prompting fear among the disciples. Simon Peter's Boldness Peter's response to Jesus walking on the water is a pivotal moment. Unlike the other disciples, who were paralyzed by fear, Peter boldly asks Jesus to invite him onto the water. When Jesus says, "Come," Peter steps out of the boat and walks toward Him. This act of faith is a testament to Peter's desire to follow Jesus, even into the unknown. Lessons on Faith and Fear Pastor Chris emphasized that Peter's initial success in walking on water was due to his faith and focus on Jesus. However, when Peter notices the wind and waves, fear overtakes him, and he begins to sink. This illustrates a powerful lesson: faith requires focus on Jesus, not on the surrounding storms. Fear distorts perspective: Fear can choke out faith, making us lose sight of Jesus' power and presence. Obedience may lead to storms: The disciples were in the storm because they obeyed Jesus, reminding us that obedience does not always lead to smooth sailing. God's presence in the storm: Jesus comes to the disciples in their time of need, showing that God may not calm every storm but will always calm His children with His presence. Practical Applications Pray Bold Prayers Following Peter's example, believers are encouraged to pray big, bold prayers. Like Peter, we should ask for opportunities to join God in His work. This involves stepping out in faith when God calls, trusting that He will provide the strength and means to accomplish His purposes. Get Out of the Boat The "boat" symbolizes safety and comfort. Peter's willingness to leave the boat represents a call to leave our comfort zones to experience the fullness of life with God. It's a reminder that true faith sometimes requires taking risks and stepping into the unknown. Overcoming Fear By focusing on Jesus and His call, believers can overcome fear. The sermon highlights that fear often prevents us from experiencing the adventure of faith. Yet, when we trust in Jesus and step out in faith, we can experience His power and presence in profound ways. Conclusion The message concludes with a challenge to live out our faith boldly, praying for God's guidance and stepping out in obedience when He calls. For those who do not yet follow Jesus, the invitation is open to trust in Him, who left His heavenly comfort to walk on water and ultimately to the cross for our salvation. Let us be inspired by Peter's example to live courageously, trusting in the One who is always with us, even in the storm.

Reading IIsaiah 42:1-4, 6-7Thus says the LORD:Here is my servant whom I uphold,my chosen one with whom I am pleased,upon whom I have put my spirit;he shall bring forth justice to the nations,not crying out, not shouting,not making his voice heard in the street.a bruised reed he shall not break,and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,until he establishes justice on the earth;the coastlands will wait for his teaching.I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,I have grasped you by the hand;I formed you, and set youas a covenant of the people,a light for the nations,to open the eyes of the blind,to bring out prisoners from confinement,and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.Reading IIActs 10:34-38Peter proceeded to speak to those gatheredin the house of Cornelius, saying: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightlyis acceptable to him.You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptismthat John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazarethwith the Holy Spirit and power.He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”GospelMatthew 3:13-17Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordanto be baptized by him.John tried to prevent him, saying,“I need to be baptized by you,and yet you are coming to me?”Jesus said to him in reply,“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for usto fulfill all righteousness.”Then he allowed him.After Jesus was baptized,he came up from the water and behold,the heavens were opened for him,and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a doveand coming upon him.And a voice came from the heavens, saying,“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Today’s Topics: Father Raymond of the Blessed Sacrament joins Terry 1) Gospel – Mark 1:14-20 – After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” As He passed by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they left their nets and followed Him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then He called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed Him. Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2, 3, 4) Terry and Father Raymond discuss the necessity of prayer in one’s life to attain sanctity

In this sermon we explore the encounter between Jesus and Legion not merely as an act of personal deliverance, but as a moment of cosmic warfare and the reclaiming of sacred space. When Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee into the Decapolis, He deliberately steps into unclean, Gentile territory dominated by death, demons, and defilement. Tombs, pigs, and a legion of unclean spirits all signal hostile spiritual ground.   Legion represents organized spiritual occupation. Jesus confronts a stronghold tied to territory, not just an individual. With a word, He strips the powers of their claim, drives them out, and exposes their impotence. The demons beg, the pigs rush into the sea, and chaos collapses under divine authority.   This passage reveals Jesus as the rightful Lord over the unseen realm, fulfilling the promise that God would reclaim the nations from rebellious powers. What was once dominated by darkness becomes ground for testimony and proclamation. The delivered man becomes the first missionary to the Decapolis, showing that when Messiah reclaims dominion, restoration and witness follow.   This is not just about freedom from demons. It is about the Kingdom of God invading enemy territory and restoring sacred space under the rule of the true King.   Hashtags   #CosmicWarfare #ReclaimingDominion #SacredSpace #JesusAuthority #UnseenRealm #KingdomInvasion #SpiritualStrongholds #Decapolis #DeliveranceAndDominion #ChristVictorious

Gospel Mark 1:14-20 After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they left their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him. Reflection This is a moment of transition. Jesus picks up the work of John the Baptist by saying the same thing that John the Baptist said over and over again. Repent and believe in the gospel. The interesting thing about the Kingdom of God is that people are called to be engaged in this work of establishing a kingdom of peace and understanding individually, for very particular reasons. It's so important for us to listen for a call. Everyone is called. Everyone has a role in making the kingdom of God happen. It's difficult at times, but it's also an enormous pleasure to know you are working to save the world. Closing Prayer Father, there's a feeling inside of us. So often we wonder where it comes from that we maybe should not be doing what we're doing. We should be doing something else. Open us to those moments, and let us say yes and leave what is old and enter into what is new. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

January 11, 2026. Fr. Tyler's homily for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Enjoy! Gospel Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

What happened to you at your baptism? Msgr. Esseff reflects on the significance of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist.  He asks us to reflect on how our baptism has impacted our lives and does it touches those around us. Gospel MT 3:13-17 Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized ... Read more The post The Significance of Jesus’ Baptism – Building a Kingdom of Love w/Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Read OnlineJesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:15–17Today, as we enter into Ordinary Time, we hear Jesus' first proclamation of the Gospel as recorded by Mark: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” Those words rang true as Jesus began His public ministry, and they ring true for us today.Imagine the scene. The Eternal Son of God took on flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He grew up in Nazareth with His parents and learned the trade of carpentry from Joseph. At the age of thirty, He was baptized by John in the Jordan River and spent forty days in the desert—fasting, praying, and overcoming the devil's temptations. Afterward, He traveled to the Sea of Galilee and began His public ministry.Though every moment of Jesus' life was sacred, the first words of His public ministry stand out. The long-awaited “time of fulfillment” had arrived, and He began to proclaim, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” All that had been planned from the foundation of the world and all that was revealed in the Old Testament pointed to that moment. All of God's promises were about to be fulfilled.It would be fascinating to go back in time to that moment, knowing everything we know now about Jesus' life and mission, and observe the humble beginnings of the most important activity ever to take place. The ordinary people whom He called and prepared for such an extraordinary task are exceptionally inspiring. The many people who walked by Jesus, not knowing Who He was, magnify Jesus' humility. He hid His glory, relying on the power of His preaching and the workings of grace in the hearts of His disciples—and He continues to do so today.Though we cannot travel back to that historical moment, we should understand that it is a moment that transcends time. Just as Jesus spoke those words long ago at the Sea of Galilee, He speaks them anew today. He says to you, “Today is the time of fulfillment for you!” “Today” is the present moment every day of our lives.We often miss Jesus' proclamation to us because we fail to recognize the extraordinary significance of the Word of God and the immediacy of God's call to repentance. We must respond to that call in the same way that the first Apostles did. Jesus first encounters Peter and Andrew as they are fishing and says, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men,” and they follow. He then calls James and John, who also follow. They do not hesitate. Though Jesus had performed no miracles yet, He had no followers, and was unknown, these men knew they had to follow Jesus. They did so, leaving everything else behind.Reflect today on the very beginning of Jesus' ministry. Like the Apostles, do you make an immediate and complete response to Jesus every time He calls within every moment of your day? What “nets” in your life hold you back from following Him completely? Are there attachments, comforts, or distractions that hinder your response? Do you spend time with the Word of God and in prayer, listening for His proclamation to you to repent and believe in the Gospel? Just as He spoke to Peter, Andrew, James, and John, Jesus speaks to you today: “Come after me.” Do not hesitate to follow where He leads. Do not let this moment pass by—for He is calling you now.My divine Lord, as You began Your public ministry, the full radiance of Your glory was hidden from the eyes of the people of Galilee. Yet as You spoke, Your words resonated in the minds and hearts of those who listened with faith. Draw me now, and in every moment of my life, into this ongoing time of fulfillment. As You call me to repentance and faith, give me the strength to respond fully and without hesitation. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.Image: Image via Adobe StockSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

In this sermon we explore the encounter between Jesus and Legion not merely as an act of personal deliverance, but as a moment of cosmic warfare and the reclaiming of sacred space. When Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee into the Decapolis, He deliberately steps into unclean, Gentile territory dominated by death, demons, and defilement. Tombs, pigs, and a legion of unclean spirits all signal hostile spiritual ground.   Legion represents organized spiritual occupation. Jesus confronts a stronghold tied to territory, not just an individual. With a word, He strips the powers of their claim, drives them out, and exposes their impotence. The demons beg, the pigs rush into the sea, and chaos collapses under divine authority.   This passage reveals Jesus as the rightful Lord over the unseen realm, fulfilling the promise that God would reclaim the nations from rebellious powers. What was once dominated by darkness becomes ground for testimony and proclamation. The delivered man becomes the first missionary to the Decapolis, showing that when Messiah reclaims dominion, restoration and witness follow.   This is not just about freedom from demons. It is about the Kingdom of God invading enemy territory and restoring sacred space under the rule of the true King.   Hashtags   #CosmicWarfare #ReclaimingDominion #SacredSpace #JesusAuthority #UnseenRealm #KingdomInvasion #SpiritualStrongholds #Decapolis #DeliveranceAndDominion #ChristVictorious

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260111dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17 How’s Your Approval Rating? Whether it’s at work, school, or home, we are constantly graded, compared to others, and rated. The boss gives us our annual review. The teacher hands out report cards. The son informs mom that her Mac & Cheese isn't as good as what Dylan’s mom makes. It is strange how these “ratings” can affect our day. If they’re good, we feel good. If they’re lousy, we feel lousy. If they’re nothing special, then we are tempted to feel that we’re nothing special. How's your approval rating with God? How have you been keeping up with those Ten Commandments? Remember, they’re not God’s suggestions; they are his commands. How’s it going between you and your neighbor, all your neighbors? Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we’re going to talk comparisons, why not go all the way and, as God says, compare ourselves to him. “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Yikes! Will I ever meet with God’s approval? Will God ever say of me, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”? This is what makes the Baptism of Jesus, as well as our own baptisms so special. God, in his grace, has connected me to Jesus. God has given me faith in Jesus as my Savior. Jesus has taken away all my sins. Jesus gives me his perfection and holiness. When God looks at me, he sees Jesus and he says, “This is my son, my daughter, whom I love! With him, with her, I am well pleased.” Approval ratings don’t get any higher than this. God be praised! Prayer: Dear Jesus, when doubts of my worth come, drown them in the waters of Baptism and remind me of your love for me in Jesus. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Matthew 3:13-17   Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Luke 4:1-15Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.'”The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7If you worship me, it will all be yours.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'”The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you   to guard you carefully;   they will lift you up in their hands,   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

What happened to you at your baptism? Msgr. Esseff reflects on the significance of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist.  He asks us to reflect on how our baptism has impacted our lives and does it touches those around us. Gospel MT 3:13-17 Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized ... Read more The post The Significance of Jesus’ Baptism – Building a Kingdom of Love w/Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260111dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17 How’s Your Approval Rating? Whether it’s at work, school, or home, we are constantly graded, compared to others, and rated. The boss gives us our annual review. The teacher hands out report cards. The son informs mom that her Mac & Cheese isn't as good as what Dylan’s mom makes. It is strange how these “ratings” can affect our day. If they’re good, we feel good. If they’re lousy, we feel lousy. If they’re nothing special, then we are tempted to feel that we’re nothing special. How's your approval rating with God? How have you been keeping up with those Ten Commandments? Remember, they’re not God’s suggestions; they are his commands. How’s it going between you and your neighbor, all your neighbors? Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we’re going to talk comparisons, why not go all the way and, as God says, compare ourselves to him. “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Yikes! Will I ever meet with God’s approval? Will God ever say of me, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”? This is what makes the Baptism of Jesus, as well as our own baptisms so special. God, in his grace, has connected me to Jesus. God has given me faith in Jesus as my Savior. Jesus has taken away all my sins. Jesus gives me his perfection and holiness. When God looks at me, he sees Jesus and he says, “This is my son, my daughter, whom I love! With him, with her, I am well pleased.” Approval ratings don’t get any higher than this. God be praised! Prayer: Dear Jesus, when doubts of my worth come, drown them in the waters of Baptism and remind me of your love for me in Jesus. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Sunday, 11 January 2026   Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?” Matthew 15:33   “And the disciples, they say to Him, ‘Whence to us in solitude – loaves so many as to gorge a crowd so vast?'” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus told the disciples that He had compassion on the crowd, knowing they had not eaten for three days. He noted that He didn't want them to depart hungry lest they might collapse on the way. Matthew now records, “And the disciples, they say to Him, ‘Whence to us in solitude – loaves.'”   A new word is seen, erémia, solitude. It is derived from erémos, lonesome. Both give the sense of a wilderness or waste area, including a desert. The disciples are concerned about presenting bread to the people, as there was no place near enough to obtain it.   This attitude perplexes scholars who immediately assume they would have remembered the feeding of the five thousand and taken it for granted that this would be expected again. Such an attitude is shallow, and it dismisses the reality of life with Jesus.   They traveled to places, had to feed themselves, such as when walking through the grainfields picking the heads, they ate at people's houses, etc. At these times, Jesus didn't just pop food in front of them. Luke specifically records this thought in his gospel –   “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.” Luke 5:17   The words seem to presuppose that there were times when the power to heal wasn't openly manifest. They may have gone to many towns where He taught, and yet no healings took place. We weren't there and cannot know.   This is true with the disciples and apostles as well. There were times when they could heal and times when they did not. This continued through the apostolic age. Paul specifically mentions a number of people with physical troubles whom he did not heal. There are times when Peter and Paul restored the dead to life. But these were unique, non-repeatable events.   This attitude also dismisses the record of Israel where there were great miracles, such as the crossing of the Red Sea, the bitter water made sweet, manna and quail being provided, etc., and within no time, Moses was saying –   “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.' 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” Numbers 11: 21, 22   There is no reason for the disciples to have been confounded by Jesus' words. One miracle does not presuppose that it can be or will be repeated. Throughout the times in the wilderness, Israel faced hardship and deprivation as a means of testing the people. Jesus is now testing His disciples, who continue with the words concerning their need for bread, saying, “so many as to gorge a crowd so vast?”   The multitude was expansive, and the location was barren. Just like Israel in the wilderness being led by Moses, the answer to their dilemma was and is –   “Has the Lord's arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” Numbers 11:23   Life application: It is easy for us to look back on the narrative in Scripture and say, “Why are they so dull?” John Calvin reflects this superior attitude, “nimis brutum produnt stuporem: They reveal too much brute stupor.” But we can be certain that Calvin's faith ebbed like the tides in the Bay of Fundy at times.   We look at the Bible as events occurring in seconds and without any discomfort or temporal confusion for us as we sit reading and turning page by page. But those with Jesus, as well as the apostles later in their ministries, faced daily life, trials, attacks by foes, splinters, and thorns as they walked, heat in the day, and cold at night.   The disciples' understanding that Jesus is the Messiah is not the same as understanding that Jesus is God. It took until after the resurrection to figure that out. In the meantime, they thought they were dealing with a guy selected by God to do what God instructed Him. When power was available, they saw it and were amazed. When it wasn't, they had to struggle through daily life.   Elijah, through faith, conquered the challenge of the four-hundred prophets of Baal. The next day, he ran away as scared as a kitten at the threat of one woman.   We have the full counsel of God with the knowledge available to us that Jesus is God and He prevailed over death for us, and yet our faith wanes at times. Who is in the weaker position? To avoid such times of consternation, we should ensure we read the word daily, stay in tune with the Lord at all times, and hold fast to our faith without easing up. Life is difficult, messy, and each moment is uncertain. Eyes on Jesus! That will carry us through the rough patches of this earthly walk.   Lord God, help us to remember You as we enter into times of uncertainty, trouble, loss, grief, and so forth. We know You are there, and yet our minds are so easily distracted. May we have the wisdom to keep You and Your promises at the forefront of our minds to help carry us through the days of difficulty. Amen.

His dedication in the Temple “And when eight days were completed so that it was time for His circumcision, He was also named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young doves.” Luke 2:21-24 NASB His escape from Herod “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Matthew 2:13-15 NASB His growth as a human being “And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.” Luke 2:39-40 NASB “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and people.” Luke 2:52 NASB Jesus grew… Mentally (In Wisdom) Physically (In Stature) Spiritually (In Favor with God) Socially (Favor with people) His rejection by His brothers “After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. So His brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers believed in Him.” John 7:1-5 NASB “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are His sisters not here with us?” And they took offense at Him.” Mark 6:3 NASB “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” James 1:1 NASB “But I did not see another one of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother.” Galatians 1:19 NASB “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,” Jude 1:1 NASB

Anointing in Heavenly Places (1) (audio) David Eells 1/11/2026 Shaking Out the Sinners Vision given to Ueli Surbeck I saw the Father standing above me with the world in His hand, and He began shaking it -- violently shaking the world up and down, left to the right and backward and forward, and this is what the Father says: “My church has to be shaken out of the world. I want it out, and I am shaking My church until it comes out of the world! They have become so entwined in the world, it is the only way to get them out”. He continued to shake the world violently (it very much reminds me of the process of harvesting potatoes); as I saw the church being shaken out of the world, I saw 3 things happening in the Church: Preachers were falling out of the pulpits, head first, pulpits started falling out of the Church, I saw the prophets falling, as they fell they lost their mantles, their mantles fell out of the churches and then I saw the reprobates start falling out of the Church; and then the Father said IN THE VOICE OF THE GENERAL, “THEY HAVE MISSED THE HOUR OF THEIR VISITATION”. He said it three times consecutively. “They missed the hour of My visitation.” They think they are somebody, but in fact they are blind and naked. (As it was in the days of Jesus and before every beast kingdom brought them down.) As the prophets fell out and lost their mantles, I saw the Father pick up the mantles and give them to the faithful prophets of the hour that had not missed THE HOUR OF THEIR VISITATION. (Isa.66:15-16) For behold the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword the Lord will judge all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many.   Faith Escapes a Sinking Ship B. A. - 11/04/2011 (David's notes in red) I've been studying and talking to friends lately about faith, and I had the following dream: I was standing on the deck of a large cruise ship when all of a sudden I heard the captain say, “The ship was sinking.” The cry of peril from the captain was so sudden that none of the lustful people below deck had time to prepare at that point, and they began to panic as confusion overtook them. Some were crying out for God to save them, while others were screaming hysterically, and some were cursing God. I saw people running all over the ship, trying to find something that would float (trying to save themselves); everything was in total chaos. I didn't see any of the ship's crew anywhere. (This cruise ship represents the trap of the kingdom of this world and its pleasures. B.A. had all this under her feet represented by standing on the deck, but the rest were trapped by this.) I went up to the bow of the ship and knelt down by the railing to pray. I heard the word “come” in a soft but firm voice. I stood up and looked out over the water into the distant horizon, and I saw a bright light, and there on the water stood an angel of the Lord. I didn't hesitate; I climbed over the railing and dropped down onto the water. It was very interesting; the water felt soft but firm under my feet. My spirit told me not to take my eyes off the angel, to walk forward, and not to look back. (Faith is the only way to escape what comes so naturally to our carnal life. (Mat.14:29) And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus. (30) But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. (31) And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Luk.9:62) But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Gen.19:26) But his [Lot's] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.) I thought it strange that no one on the cruise ship seemed to notice me climbing over the railing. (They cannot see faith nor recognize it as a way of escape without a gift of faith from God. (Eph.2:8) for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of [man's] works, that no man should glory.) As I drew near the angel, the light kept getting brighter and brighter. I noticed that I had no fear, just an overwhelming sense of joy and peace about me. Finally, I reached the angel, and he took my hand, and instantly we were standing on the shore. I asked the angel why there were no lifeboats on the ship, and he told me that no one on that ship could be saved. I then asked the angel why was I on that ship, and he told me it was to test my faith. Then I awoke from the dream. (We need this world and its corruption to test who it is who will prove to be chosen by their faith and its corresponding works to leave this world beast system. (Mat.16:24) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (25) For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. (26) For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?) I couldn't help but think how sad it was that all those thousands of people on that cruise ship died. I thought to myself, what does a cruise ship represent? I believe the Lord was showing me that the cruise ship represented the pleasures of this world and being caught up in fleshly desires. These were all earthly people who were only interested in pleasing the flesh and not getting spiritually prepared. When times get really bad, people who have not prepared spiritually are going to cry out to God to save them, but He will not send them a lifeboat. (Luk.13:24) Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (For lack of faith… Rom 10:17 So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. Spending time in the Word fills one with faith.) (25) When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; (26) then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; (27) and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.   Walking on Water Michael Hare - December 2010 (David's notes in red) I had a dream about walking on water. I was on a lake with other people, and on the lake was one of those platforms that kids get on and then jump from into the water. One man just stepped off the platform and started walking across the water. My thought (in the dream) was that if I imagined that the water was solid that I could walk on it, as well. I then imagined that the water was kind of like fiberglass (with the crisscrossing fiber), and I stepped onto the surface. I sank up to my ankles but didn't sink any further. It was like walking on a very mushy surface. I don't remember anyone else attempting to take a stroll on the lake. As I remember, the other man who stepped onto the water didn't even sink; he was right on top of the water. The natural truth here is that we must believe to do the “greater works” that Jesus said we would do. Imagining that He lives in us to do those works is biblical. We must see, by faith, Jesus living in us, and it will be so. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. The spiritual truth is we must believe to walk above the curse of the Word, which is the water, in order to live above it.   Floating on Top of the Water David Eells Briefly, I had a dream of floating on top of the water while going upstream while my eyes were on the sun/Son. Others were floating with me but when they went under a tent stretched over the water and the sun was obscured, they sank. (With our eyes on the Son of God who is the Word we can go totally against all nature. The tent represented man's religion which has obscured the promises bringing their experience down to a natural level. Many die before their time.)   Taking Refuge in the Heavenlies Anonymous - 03/22/2011 (David's notes in red) Another couple, my wife and I, were getting ready to lift off in this rocket. (Now I know some minds would perceive a rapture here but the rest of the dream will deny this interpretation.) We were going to leave the earth to escape the tribulation. (To leave the earth means to overcome the world. (Rev.3:10) Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that [hour] which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. The bride escapes to the King's house, as in Esther, and the rest are threatened by the beast. What does the scripture mean by “dwell upon the earth” or “dwelling in the heavens?” These terms are not used physically, as in flying to heaven, as the last sentence of this revelation confirms. I will read the revelation below: Dwelling on Earth or in the Heavens?  And you can listen to the audio: Dwelling on Earth or in Heaven? A second, more physical aspect of leaving the world has to do with separating from it, meaning the refuge we'll have here, is about to be separated from it by an earthquake cracking fault lines down both sides of what looks like a ship or a rocket ship. And the base of the rocket ship is, according to dreams, going to stay on the ground, just as the revelation below says. Both Brad's vision and Warren's dream depict this shape of a ship and connected to the ground on the south or bottom end. On top of that, the brother who had this dream is one whom we have suspected was living outside the boundaries of this ship's fault lines and would have to get on board. Putting this all together, it is clear that one must “dwell in the heavenlies” by faith in Christ in order to be on this ship that is to separate from earth. The rest of this dream seems to say that some are not yet ready to separate from the earthly and so are not yet worthy of escaping the hour of trial. We were all together at the rocket ship, looking at it and making provisions, and talking about the plans of leaving. We then split up to go home and gather what we could. (Literally, this identifies what we have been doing. We gather at our local assembly, which is geographically on the ship, and plan our provisions, and then split up to go home.) I went to a church to convince my family to come. I told them that an earthquake is going to happen in May. (Update: A spiritual earthquake did, in fact, happen on May 14, 2011, when God separated our spiritual earth in TN. We had been warned for almost two years that a spiritual attack from demonic forces was coming to try to destroy UBM and me, but in effect would only separate those who were not to be with us in the ship. It happened just as dreamed.) I said that we have been getting dreams about this, and also scientific articles that back up the dreams. (We had been getting dreams about this ship and scientific articles about it separating from the earth through earthquake faults.) At first, my family was listening to me, then my younger brother and older sister arose (although in the dream I saw her as my younger sister), who started to put doubt in their minds, and it persuaded my family. (The immature will be doubtful of the possibility of leaving the earthly for the heavenly.) Even though I was talking to my family directly, I was not being discreet, and no one in the church even stirred about the news either. I left very frustrated, especially with my dad, because he was hung up on the “once-saved-always-saved” doctrine. He could not see that if you did not leave, the judgment of God was going to be on you. (His dad here represents a spiritual father over his spiritual children above, who do not yet have spiritual eyes to see or ears to hear. Their doctrine makes them think it is not necessary to overcome to escape in tribulation, and so they will not be counted worthy to escape all these things (2 Thessalonians 1:5). (Luk.21:34) But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: (35) for [so] shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. (36) But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.) My wife and I started to head back to the rocket ship and called the other couple, telling them the news of my family. I also told them that it was not so bad that they were staying here as much as it was that I had a strong feeling that my dad's salvation was going to be lost. (The leaders of Christianity who teach such things as unconditional eternal security destroy the motivation for their spiritual children to be counted worthy to escape. These people, if they do not quickly repent, will be lost for this.) I then told them we had a trailer with very little in it, so if they needed, we could put some of their stuff in the trailer to bring it to the rocket ship. (They never did answer if they needed it.) (Very little baggage if any will be needed in the ship or ark as dreams have foretold.) At this point, I knew in the dream that the people who were lifting off the earth were not physically leaving it but were a part of the first-fruits of the Man-child ministry. (The Bride is the first fruits of the Man-child's ministry, as Esther was the first fruits of Mordecai's ministry. “Mordecai” means “little man” meaning, “man-child”. Solomon and the Shulamite are the same parable in the Song of Solomon. In our case, the ship of separation from the earth is the place to escape the earthquake and tribulation, so that in this wilderness, we can train up disciples to go forth with the Gospel in a wonderful revival. We are getting closer to the general call for the saints to go to the ship or ark.) So what is it to dwell on the earth or in the heavens? Let me share this revelation with you called:   Dwelling on the Earth or in the Heavens? Valerie Gleaton - 08/23/2009 (David's notes in red) In a dream, my mother and I were flying in the same direction in two lanes down a highway at a very moderate speed. We were not in any type of vehicle, but felt we were covered by some invisible shield (like a spiritual ark). (Those who overcome will fly “in heavenly places in Christ” above the dangers to those who dwell in earthly realms of this world, but will not use any vehicle or help made by man. (Isa.40:31) but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles... (Rev.8:13) And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth... (Rev.12:11) And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.) We came upon what appeared to be an intersection. As we came to a stop, we noticed a cartoon-like, life-sized airplane on the ground next to us. The plane had a lot of people aboard looking straight ahead, as if they were in a daze. (Those who religiously make believe they are overcoming while dwelling upon the earth are out of touch with spiritual reality.) My mother and I looked at one another and wondered what they were doing or where they were going. We didn't say anything; we just knew what the other was thinking. I didn't notice any traffic signals, but I had the sense it was our turn to move ahead. After we had taken off, we noticed the airplane did not move ahead. Instead, it stood still with the people still looking ahead in a daze. (Those who sense the light is green by the Spirit and Word advance, but many are stopped at a green light they never see. We have been given the “GO” by all the very positive promises in the Word.) As we continued to the next intersection, we encountered the same type of airplane sitting still. We then noticed there were quite a few of these types of airplanes sitting still on the road. (Planes can't dwell in heavenly places unless they GO forward. The majority never know about the overcoming life because they are drinking the wine of their Babylonish religion and not the Word.) The road began to get so congested that we had to maneuver our way around the planes to continue. (These are the ones who believed in the false pre-trib rapture doctrine. They are waiting to fly away to escape the tribulation and are in a daze at believing a lie.) We ended up at the house of one of my long-time friends. (She is in an apostate church and is reluctant to come out because of popularity.) She invited us in and immediately told me that she wanted me to talk to one of the women from her church because they were having a revival soon, and she thought I should attend. (She has been trying to get me to visit her church for quite some time.) I ended up in this dark, dreary room, sitting in the middle of a bed, and began conversing with this woman. She spoke as if she had great authority and began to tell me how everyone should be teaching and preaching prosperity because it is what we need in this economy. (The apostates comfort themselves with their popular, false hopes of raptures, eternal security, prosperity, and their false, approving god. Tribulation will be a rude awakening from their stupor.) I responded to her by saying that we are entering a season of judgment and we should worship the Lord in spirit and truth. I told her we all need to turn to Jesus in these times. She immediately became agitated and noticed that I was not supportive of the megachurches and their prosperity preaching. She then said, “I have a Doctorate in Divinity”. (Their trust in religious academia and letters behind their name has deceived them.) I told her that her Doctorate was insignificant because Jesus chose simple, uneducated fishermen as Apostles. (Jas.4:6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore [the scripture] saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. As I moved to get out of bed and stand to face her, I noticed that she was eating something, and the crumbs were falling to the floor. She was clutching the food container close to her bosom and was packing her mouth as if she was starving and hadn't eaten in days. (They are starving because they are “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”, which is their true spiritual food.) As I stood facing her, I saw she was a black form and had no defining features. (They have a dark “form of godliness” but are not transformed by the renewing of their mind or conformed by the Scriptures.) I shared with her what I remember from the UBM bible studies when David shared the revelation the Lord had given him that the Gospels and the Book of Acts will happen again in the latter days. Soon after I had said this to her, she vanished. (We pray this means she lost her form of godliness and became spiritual.) End of dream.   Taking the King's City Back R. S. - 09/28/2008 (David's notes in red) I dreamed I was camped out under an old bridge, and all I had with me were my sleeping bag, chainsaw, and my three dogs. My twin brother, Reuben, was also there, and he had a sleeping bag and a long plastic gun case. (My identical twin brother Reuben has been dead several years now, since age 21, when he drowned in a lake, but in this dream, he was alive. I think he represents my spiritual man, who has already drowned the old man in baptism and is now battling spiritually. When my brother drowned in 2000, it was like losing my other half.) There was a little town a bit down the road. I told my brother that we should go check out the grocery store. He said, “OK”, but before we left, I put my chainsaw and his gun case close to our sleeping bags where the dogs were. I noticed that the chainsaw was almost out of gas. We walked to the town and went to the grocery store. When I walked into the store, it seemed like my twin brother turned into my one-year-old son, who was named after him -- Reuben. (The name “Reuben” means “Behold a son” and in the dream, he changed into my son or my “fruit”.) I picked him up and put him in a shopping cart. As I was pushing him down the aisle of the store, this guy walked up in front of me and began to yell and curse at me. I was kind of shocked at first because I didn't even know him personally, but I knew we had met once before. Almost immediately after he began to yell at me, my son turned back into my twin brother Reuben again. At this point, I just wanted to leave, but the guy just stayed in front of me, blocking the way to the door, and he seemed like he was on drugs and was full of demons. My brother just walked around me and went up to the guy and began to squeeze the guy's hand really hard. The guy tried to squeeze him back, but my brother overpowered him and pushed the guy over to the side of the aisle so we could both get by. We then made a quick exit through the door. We got out of the store and began to walk back to the bridge where we had been camped out. The guy came out of the store with a few other people following him and began to follow us. As we continued walking, people began to come out of other buildings and houses with different kinds of weapons in their hands. Some had axes, pickaxes, machetes, and all kinds of knives. The entire town seemed like they had become possessed, like the guy in the store. They all wanted to kill us. We just kept on walking until we almost made it to the bridge. I told the people following us that I would sic my dogs on them if they kept coming, but they said that my dogs wouldn't do anything because their dogs were with my dogs. I didn't know what they meant by this at first. When I turned the corner, I saw my three dogs sitting by our stuff, and there were about four or five other dogs there with them. Some were a lot bigger than my dogs. All of the dogs were just sitting there, not doing anything. (I believe the dogs represent trusting in the beastly flesh. We are not supposed to fight in the flesh, which is why they did not defend me. They just sat around with the enemy's dogs, which were even bigger; more flesh. They were all comfortable just hanging around together; they were at ease together, just like how our flesh is at ease with the enemy. As long as we are living in our flesh, others are at ease with us, but when we begin to fight our spiritual warfare, it makes the same people become uncomfortable with us and attack us.) I then thought about getting my chainsaw to see if maybe I could scare all the people away with it, even though I knew it only had a little gas left in it. So I went around the dogs, and as I began to pick up my chainsaw, one of the guys ran at me and threw a hatchet and an ice pickaxe (the kind mountain climbers use). I turned and caught the hatchet in mid-air right before it hit me, and the pickaxe landed just to the left of me. I picked it up and then looked over at my brother, and there were a few guys who had attacked him. He seemed like he had been able to take some of their weapons away from one of them, and he was fighting back. At this point, I began to fight back. I went at them with the hatchet in one hand and the pickaxe in the other, swinging and hacking at them. I took a few of them down, and then I turned and saw that my brother was surrounded. So I ran at the guys who were around my brother and began to fight with them. Once we were both together, we were able to push them back toward the town. They seemed to get afraid of us once we were fighting together. (Once the new man, who is Christ in us, fights with the natural man in submission, we are unconquerable.) Some of them began to run away back to their homes. We kept on fighting until there was only one last guy. We chased him into his house. Then I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see who it was. There was a man who had a crown on his head and a long robe with a sword in his hand. (Now it is Christ fighting in the midst of His people.) There were about two or three other guys with him. I then told my brother, “The King has come”. Then the King with the sword said to me, “Let's go!” I asked, “Where are we going?” He said, “It's time for Me to take back My city on the hill. (Zion the Bride) I'm going to make it shine and we are going to conquer the kingdom”. (I got a picture in my mind of a glowing city on a hill and the verses in Matthew 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do [men] light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.) At this time, I remember thinking that the guys we were fighting didn't really matter anymore. We had already beaten them and now we were supposed to go with the King to take back his city. So I asked the King if I could go get some stuff that I had left at the campsite. He said that if I wanted to, I could, but that he was going to take back his city. He then began to leave in the direction where I knew the city to be. I asked, “Are you going to take it back already? Don't you need to raise an army?” He said, “I'm going to take it right now. I will have all I need by the time I get there.” He was very confident that he would take his city back, regardless of how many troops he had. I then felt that if I left him to pick up the things I had left, which weren't much, I probably would not be able to catch up with him before he took his city back. I knew I had to leave with him right then and there. (The main point I felt the Lord showed me was that when the King returned, He was going to take back His city, and if I was not prepared and ready to go, I would be left behind.) We have to forsake all to follow the King. (Mat.19:27) Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee; what then shall we have? (28) And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.   Birth Like a Breaking Dam  Daniel Paul - 06/21/2011 (David's notes in red) I dreamed I was flying above Israel in the Spirit and looking down and viewing the Sea of Galilee below. The Lord then spoke to me and said, “This is a freshwater lake. The water is good to drink”. I knew that this sea represented a holding place of truth. (Jesus was the truth.) Then I began to follow the Jordan River out of the Sea of Galilee. As I followed the river, I understood that this represented truth flowing out of a holding place. It is almost like the Sea of Galilee represented all the truth that man has come to understand by revelation of the Holy Spirit and revelation from the Word of God. (Which is Jesus, the Man-child, Who is the Word made flesh. Jesus was from Nazareth in Galilee. His Word come down to us from Galilee to the Man-child reformers of our day.) The Jordan River was like all of the teachings from pastors, teachers, audio and video tapes, books, radio programs and all sources of available teaching. (More likely this represents the Man-child ministry birthing as it was in Jesus' day to us.) As I followed the Jordan River for quite a while, I came to the Dead Sea. I could smell the Dead Sea before I actually saw it! The smell was putrid and very rank. As I flew over the Dead Sea, I could see salt encrusted on rocks, tree stumps, and other objects that were sticking out of the water. It seemed so dismal and dead. I was very grieved about this sight, and I wanted to know what caused the condition. (Like Ezekiel 47 prophesied, the Dead Sea is having an infusion of fresh water, with it now having even fish swimming in it. This speaks of the beginnings of a revival of reformation truth: https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/commentary-dead-sea-comes-to-life/  (A Reformation of polluted teachings come to life from the original living waters of Jesus.) As soon as the question hit my heart, I knew the answer: this was the church (polluted with false teachings), the salt that was meant to go out into all the world was being held and contained in a confined area with no outlet. It wasn't going anywhere! (This of course results in stagnant poisoning) As sorrow and grief filled my heart, I continued to fly over the Dead Sea (church). I looked, and I could see the end of this Dead Sea. It was stopped or restrained by a large object, which appeared to be a wall. I flew around the right side of the object, and I landed about 30 yards in front of this wall on the dry side of the Dead Sea. I looked up at the wall and realized it wasn't a wall at all but rather a great dam made up of two giant floodgates that were firmly clasped together with a giant black lock. (Like the 3 Gorges Dam) As I looked at these ominous and intimidating floodgates, I was filled with indignation. These gates were massive, probably 200 feet high and approximately 500 feet across. The smell and the feel of the floodgates were very familiar to me. It was the smell and the feel of religion, control and pride. It was the smell and the feel of Jezebel. I felt as if I wanted to tear them down right then and there. The floodgates spoke to me and said, “We are here to prevent a great disaster from happening. If this water were to be let loose without being governed properly, it would create a disaster of monumental proportions”. I was filled with such indignation and frustration. I was confused and could not explain why the floodgates were even there. (The Dead Sea represents everything dead and stagnant about Christianity, which is a curse on those bound in it; on the other hand, it is a blessing in that it has been kept in check by a merciful God and not taken over the earth. It first needs that infusion of fresh water we call revival.) After a while, I realized there was very little that I could do about the floodgates or the black lock. I just turned around and found something to occupy myself. In turning around, I noticed a great dry riverbed leading from the gates. At first, I wasn't sure if it was a riverbed or a lakebed because it was so large. (Representing the masses of lost people waiting for truth to bring them to life.) Then, as I looked at my hands, I noticed that I was carrying two objects. One object was a chisel called “Truth” that actually had the word “Truth” engraved on it. The other was a large hammer called “Spirit”; it also bore the inscription of its name. I wasn't sure what to do with these objects, so I just began using them to carve out large sections in the riverbed. I thought that I would help prepare this river for the work that God would do because I was sure that there was no way that God would put up with those floodgates much longer. (He is now doing something about this. A great storehouse of truth is ready to be unleashed, which will bring healing to the waters and great revival.) After some time of futilely carving large trails across the riverbed, I was startled by a voice behind me. I knew that voice because whenever I heard it, my spirit and soul were both as excited as they had ever been. A great feeling of expectation and a reverent fear filled me. It was the voice of the Lord! I knew He was standing behind me! He asked, “Daniel, what are you doing?” I said, “Lord, I am adding depth and breadth to this dry riverbed with Spirit and Truth”. He put His hand on my shoulder and turned me toward the floodgates. He pointed at the black lock. At this moment, I was aware of what the black lock was and its dark purpose. The black lock was the lies and deception that are used by Jezebel (the religious spirit) to keep them in place. The Lord said to me, “Use Spirit and Truth on the black lock”. (Paul tells us that great delusion will be in these end times, but the good side of the story is that many who have been held in bondage to this Babylonian DS and religious captivity will be released. (2Th.2:9) [even he], whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (10) and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11) And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: (12) that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (13) But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:) So, I flew up to the black lock, grabbing it with my feet, and I began to labor away with Spirit and Truth. It was then that I noticed that there were several other people doing the same thing. I did not see them until I began to work on the black lock. The floodgates were screaming at us, saying, “Who authorized you to do this? You are working against God! (Representing another Spirit, another Jesus, and another gospel and the Pharisees of our day.) You are blaspheming heaven! You are unloving and cruel! You are rebellious and shall be judged!” These lies kept pouring forth, and the floodgates of religion continued to assail us, trying to stop us, but the harder I worked with the hammer of Spirit and the chisel of Truth, the less their words affected me. (This must happen at this time to separate the wheat from the tares and the sheep from the goats.)   Part Two After it had been some time since I had seen the vision of the floodgate, not really knowing how it ended or what happened, I received the second part of the revelation in a different vision. This time, I was flying over an extremely long beach. The beach was covered with hundreds of thousands of large black dots. As I got closer to the beach, I could see that these black dots were actually large circles of men. They were dressed in business suits, but their clothing varied from circle to circle. Each group surrounded a chalkboard, a whiteboard, or a large set of blueprints. They were writing mathematical formulas, studying plans, or writing theories about surfing. That's right, surfing. The kind of surfing that is done in the ocean. Their theories and formulas were very complex, but the funny thing was that none of them appeared to be dressed to surf. In fact, I did not see even one surfboard! (Surfing represents living above the curse, just like Noah's Ark was above the curse of the flood ordained by God's Word. Abiding in Jesus and His Word is our ark. It is dwelling in heavenly places in Christ. The problem is that in many religious “circles” like these, whose formulas do not help them live above the curse. Only those who are dressed up with Christ's Word and works can live above the curse. (Rom.13:12) The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. (13) Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy. (14) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof].) Just then a large wave came onto the beach, rolling over and up the sand. The water came to about the knee height of the men who were the closest to the ocean. The ones farthest from the water were hit at about ankle-level by the water. Yet not one man seemed to even notice the water. Then I saw thousands upon thousands of surfers on the beach, dripping and soaking wet with the Spirit of God. They had just ridden the wave onto the beach. Most of them had long hair, and they were wearing love beads and peace symbols, plus many were wearing sunglasses with funky hats. I knew this to be the Jesus movement of the 1970s. It was a real revival! These surfers immediately began to approach the groups of men standing around with their chalkboards. They began telling the men about the experiences they'd just had. They were telling them all about their ride on the waves, using all kinds of surfing lingo and slang. This went on for a short time. Then suddenly the men in the groups turned to the surfers and began to condemn them, saying, “You don't know anything about surfing! We are the surfing experts! If you want to know something about surfing, learn it from us!” (These new Christians who were born of the Spirit were seduced by the harlot religions.) Many of the surfers went away. Many others conformed and became just like the men around the chalkboards. Others joined existing groups and some created their own groups. Some even created groups that were not committed to Jesus Christ at all. (Some who were saved by grace and the Spirit were brought into bondage to religion, like the denominational sects of Christianity.) Then I heard the Lord say, “The next wave that comes in will be so large and so powerful that everything on the beach will be removed! (A wave of the truth waters from Galilee with the righteous riding it.) Whoever comes riding the wave in will be the ones standing on the beach”. (The first-fruit reformers) Then the Lord explained to me that before this happens, He would direct the men on the beach to take up their surfboards, paddle out into the sea, and wait on Him for the great thing that He would do. (They are now prepared, and outpouring will come upon them). I somehow knew that only a few would respond because some of those who paddled out would feel like they had wasted their time and would return to the beach. Others would paddle out, get tired or disillusioned and stop short of the distance required to ride the wave in. (Many, when God doesn't move in their time, will take destructive steps for their life.) Still, I saw many others who would take up their surfboards, stand at the edge of the water, either peering out into the sea or calling friends to come with them, and still, they would never actually get in the water with their surfboards. (Those who stand on the earthly will be destroyed. The righteous will ride the clear water from the Galilean to wash away the corruption. They are dwelling in heavenly places, abiding in Christ. The dragon/serpent sends forth a flood of deception and corruption to take down the woman in the wilderness, but the earth swallows the deception, and the woman Church is spared. (Rev.12:14) And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle (a gift of overcoming the world through the Man-child ministry), that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time (by the Man-child just as it was with the Man-child Jesus), from the face of the serpent. (15) And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. (16) And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. We have many revelations of the dragon ruling over false religion and faction.) As I continued to consider all these things, I kept looking at the beach. Suddenly, I saw in front of me the floodgates again! It was almost as if I was looking at a split screen. On one side of the screen, I could see the beach covered with men, and on the other side of the screen, I could see the large group of people, including myself, feverishly hammering and chiseling away at the black lock. I noticed, however, something different about the people working on the black lock. There was something different about them than the last time I saw them. All of them, including myself, were clutching surfboards with our feet and somehow being suspended in the air as we continued to work at the lock. (Those who stand in heavenly places in Christ will ride the wave from the Galilean and many who have been held captive will be set free.) Then I knew within myself what was to happen. I was filled with thrilling excitement and so much hope I couldn't stand it. I knew that when the lock broke, the floodgates would fly apart and be dashed to pieces. The water would come through the floodgates with a massive force like a tidal wave. I heard the Lord speak to me again, but this time it was from inside of me instead of outside of me. He said, “All who labored in obedience to what I told them to do will ride the forefront of this wave”. I knew that this wave would go all the way to that beach that I had seen in my other vision, that we would meet up with all those who obeyed the Lord and paddled out into the ocean, and there would be a new day of the church. The church age as we have known it will end, and the True Church will rise up. (Actually, the Bride led by the Man-child reformers will raise up the Church with a true 5-fold ministry. This is just what happened when Jesus the Man-child reformer led the Bride, identified by John as the first-fruits disciples, who followed the Lord and went forth to raise up the 5-fold ministry and the Church.) Later, I heard the Lord say to me, “I, the Father, had My Twelve, the 12 Tribes, and they were cut off. From the stump came a Holy Seed, a new shoot, My beloved Son. And He had His Twelve, the 12 Apostles”. I knew that there were another 12 coming (in these end times) and it would be a work by the Holy Spirit, according to the Word of God, but I do not know what 12 this will be. I do, however, know that though the new thing will come out of the old thing, it will in no way resemble, look like, or operate like the old thing. (Jesus came out of the old thing but didn't look or operate like it. History always repeats, but with larger groups of people. A modern-day 12 Man-child ministry, in whom Jesus lives, will raise up from the 12 spiritual tribes, apostolic forefathers, to go forth and raise up the real five-fold ministries and the Church. [see 12 Man-child revelations ] The greatest revival of true Christianity will cover the earth as persecution burns up the wood, hay and stubble of their lives.) There will be a new Church; through a Holy Bride without blemish, without spot, and without wrinkle. (A holy Bride will come forth from the Church as Esther, Song of Solomon and Psalm 45 teach. Song 6:8-9 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, And virgins without number. 9 My dove, my undefiled, is but one; She is the only one of her mother; She is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; Yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.) It's been a while since I've shared these revelations of the 12 Man-child ministry, so let me share a few of them with you.   12 Man-children Going Forth Anonymous - 10/9/2008 (David's notes in red) I had a dream about David, and I have never dreamed about him before. In this dream, he was in a large room with the other brethren and me. We were talking together, and for some reason, my mother was with me, and I called her over to introduce her to David. About this time, some men came to take David to another place, and they went off to his right. (Many have taken our Word on the Man-child and passed it on.) Everyone started rushing in that direction. I also started running and came up to a railing with an opening in it. I had the impression that this may have been a stadium or an arena, as I believe there were steps to go down and possibly also levels above. I stood there in the opening to see what was happening. (Stadiums are places where the Word is passed on to increasingly larger circles of people.) I stood there for a bit and then moved to another area. However, there were so many people in front of me that I could not see, so I went back to where I was at first. When I got there, someone said, “It is over; it is finished! Only 12 received this gifting, anointing or equipping for the work ahead.” (I believe it could be 12 from the UBM fellowship.) Everyone was very joyful and excited about this. When I awoke, I pondered this dream for a long time and believe that this was the “Man-child anointing”. I distinctly remember that only 12 were given this anointing. I through UBM have been prophesied for years to be a spearhead for the Man-child ministry. The head of the Man-child body is born first; then the body; then the anointing. This could represent 12 people from UBM, and it could also represent a first fruits of 12 spiritual tribes, passed down through the 12 Apostolic forefathers. In all, there will be 12,000 from 12 spiritual forefathers of 12 tribes, making 144,000 that come into the Man-child ministry.   Twelve at the Feast R.V. - 10/13/2009 (Deb Horton's notes in green) I had a dream about a week or two ago, and it's the first dream I've had with David and me both in it. I've sought the Lord for meaning. I know it is spiritual and it's about preparation, but that's it, besides being very short. I dreamed it more than three times. (2Co.13:1) This is the third time I am coming to you. At the mouth of two witnesses or three shall every word be established. Each time I would ask, “What does this mean?” and then the dream would start over: In the dream, there were 11 men, besides David, who made 12. (This is the Man-child company, represented by the 12 loaves of unleavened showbread.) The only one I saw and recognized was David, but I felt we were all very close. We were all mature and wearing white flowing robes with a belt at the waist. There was a long table (representing the Table of Showbread) covered with a white, silk tablecloth (representing the prayer shawl, or tallit) with gold tassel fringe (the tzit-tzit) all the way around. (To the best of my knowledge, the showbread was covered by a tallit.) The plates, forks, knives, spoons, goblets and napkin holders were all of gold and neatly in place. They were very ornate and regal and there was a very pleasing, sweet aroma (frankincense, representing the anointing) wafting through the space. (Lev.24:6) And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. (7) And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. (8) Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually; it is on the behalf of the children of Israel, an everlasting covenant. A voice with love, authority, and power told us to sit down. There was no jockeying for position or placement; we just seemed to know where we were supposed to sit, and we took our places. (2Ch.13:11) And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt-offerings and sweet incense: the showbread also [set they] in order upon the pure table... There was a sense that food was on its way. (The Man-child company is the food, the unleavened bread.) I felt the 12 in the room were getting ready to receive something really wonderful, and a call that would be like the ministry of Jesus and even greater. There were six seats on each side of the table, with a place set at each end, but we 12 were the only ones in the space. I say space because there were no walls -- none that I could see -- nor was there a ceiling that I recall. I didn't pay attention to the flooring. I'd ask the question, “What does this mean?” and the dream would start over, but nothing changed.   12-Pointed Star of the Man-child Lion Jena Neal - 12/17/2008 (David's notes in red) In the dream, Jena was at some public showers. Later, everyone went outside into what appeared to be something like a campground. Everyone started to look up because there was a star approaching in the sky. The star was radiating light and had several colors emanating from it like fireworks or Christmas lights. She felt so much joy in her heart and soul. Daniel, her husband, then said, “Baby, it's the first sign”. She had some papers in her hands, and she somehow knew they represented the 12 points on the star. The star was so beautiful and started to move over them, sparkling and shooting light. Everyone started singing the song that says, Praise God from whom all blessings flow, although she knew some people who sang didn't do it from the heart. Jena then fell on her knees and then on her face on the ground. She was overwhelmed with peace, joy, and love. Then something fell into her hand like a wooden dowel of some kind with knobs at the ends. (An ancient scroll representing the Word) She didn't see it, but only felt it. She wanted to praise God but was speechless and overwhelmed with joy. She then woke up, unable to move from the impression. She couldn't go back to sleep for a long time. When she fell asleep again, she had another dream. She (representing the Bride) was driving in a car with her mom (representing the Church) while it was dark. In the sky, there was the face of a lion, but her mom couldn't see it. End of dream. The star announced the coming of Jesus the Man-child and now history repeats. The 12-pointed star represents the birth of Jesus in the Man-child body today, from whom many blessings will flow. The face of the lion is what the earth and evil will see now. First the Lamb and now the Lion.   12 Man-children Alan Charles Simpson - 08/13/2015 (David's notes in red) At first, I see a vision of a man in chainmail (Covered in Armor, representing invincibility.) kneeling behind a shield “at 12:00,” and then there were 11 others. All 12 were on and around the face of a clock in the 12 hourly positions, facing forward toward those who could view the clock with their heads toward the outside edge of the clock. All had on chainmail. (Which was high tech armor that permitted better movement that the old armor.) This seems like the coming Man-child warriors in a defensive position and invincible. The 12:00 represents the beginning of a new day and new time. We are almost there!   Twelve Baby Boys Sandy Shaw, Dreams given 1/28/19 and 1/29/19 (David's notes in red) The way this dream starts, I don't think it's in a hospital, but I saw twelve newborn baby boys. I was looking around to find the mothers or nurses. Each of the babies had a bottle in their bassinets. All the babies were crying at the same time, and all of them wanted milk all at the same time. (The 12 babies acting together “At the same time” represents that a corporate body of the Man-child, new reformer leadership, will be in one accord.) The first one I changed had cloth diapers with rubber pants. Then I picked him up to feed him and noticed that the milk was at the perfect temperature because I had tried it on my wrist. I burped him and put him down, then went to the next one. I did that twelve times and that's when I really realized that they were all male. (The Man-child administration will be all male as were previous types in the Bible, including Jesus' administration.) There was a recliner chair in the back of the room. So I went to sit down, went to sleep, and it only seemed like a few minutes. Then I heard crying, so I opened my eyes, and now the babies were all one year old. (This maturing happens very quickly as in previous revelations, and we can see it happens as a corporate body). As I went each time to feed them, I sang a worship song. On the other side of the room, I saw a table on which their bottles were sitting. They were crying because they couldn't reach them. They had to be fed. (For they were growing so fast) I grabbed a bottle and diaper set, and then I laid them down on a diaper pallet. It looks like a two-inch pad with a pillow and a blanket. Then they fell asleep. I had been singing to them. I did it twelve times. And then I went to the recliner again and fell asleep. I woke up and because they were “tapping” my legs. They're now two years old. One of them said, “Eat; eat.” Now on that table instead of bottles were sippy cups and a bowl of baby food. I grabbed the bowl and went to the carpet in the right corner of the room. And I sat down and fed them there. When the food was gone, we would go get the sippy cups full of milk. And I kept thinking, “There should be clothes for them now.” (The clothes represent them putting on the works of Jesus.) There was a pile of clothes sitting on the right side of the floor. (They are sheep not goats.) Then I thought, “I've got to wash them.” There was a sink in the back of the room. So I threw them in and reached for the SNOW soap. And as I washed them, I noticed that they were immediately dried. I put them on the boys and then gave them their sippy cups. Then we went back to the carpet and sat down and started singing. The three songs we were singing were “Jesus Loves Me, The B-I-B-L-E,” and then “Walking Hand In Hand.” (That's the song I love to sing in Spanish). The boys sang the words that they knew. We had just finished singing when one little boy stood up and said, “When is he coming?” and I said, “Who?” And they all said in unison, “Jesus!” Then I woke up. (I dreamt this twice on January 28 and 29). (Jesus is coming with the anointing of the Man-child administration. Hos 6:1-3 Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. 3 And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. He is coming as the anointing on the Man-child body of reformers.) A verse I got at random, Mark 7:15. There is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. (Those who speak against the Word will not be in the Man-child body and will be removed from the leadership by Babylon.)

Read OnlineJesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. Matthew 3:13–15John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, entrusted with the mission to immediately prepare the way for the Messiah. Today's feast marks a pivotal transition from the Old Law to the New. Prior to Jesus' baptism, John's mission was in full motion. With Jesus' baptism, the mission of the Old Testament prophets is fulfilled, and the New Law of grace begins.Why did Jesus enter the waters of baptism? He was sinless and had no need of repentance. Yet, in His divine wisdom, Jesus chose to be baptized to sanctify the waters, opening the gateway of grace for all who would follow. By entering the waters of baptism, Jesus set a precedent. Every Christian who enters the waters of baptism meets our Lord there, sharing in His life of grace.As we reflect on Christ's baptism today, we are invited to consider our own. Most of us were baptized as infants and have no memory of the event. Others came to baptism later in life, fully aware of the grace they were receiving. Regardless of when it occurred, baptism's effects are profound and enduring. That singular moment of sanctification forever changed us, and its transformative power remains active within us.Through baptism, Jesus meets us under the waters. When baptism is performed by full immersion, it powerfully symbolizes the reality of this encounter. We enter the waters of repentance, as John offered, but we emerge united with Christ. Just as the Father's voice declared at Jesus' baptism, “You are my beloved Son…,” so too does the Father continually speak to us after our baptism, affirming our identity as His beloved children. The Holy Spirit descends upon us, and we are offered every gift of the Spirit, provided our hearts remain open.Baptism occurs only once in our lives and imprints on our souls an “indelible spiritual mark (character)” (see Catechism of the Catholic Church #1272 and 1274). This mark configures us to Christ and signifies our permanent belonging to Him and His Church. It cannot be lost or removed, even by mortal sin. However, while this character endures forever, the state of sanctifying grace within our souls can be lost through mortal sin. In such cases, the grace of baptism is restored through the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which our souls are once again cleansed and brought back into full communion with God. Marked as members of Christ's Body, we are continually disposed to receive sanctifying grace through the other sacraments, as long as we remain in a state of grace. Baptism accomplishes this disposition, enabling us to participate fully in the life of grace that flows from Christ.As we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, reflect today on your own baptism. You are forever marked as a child of God. You encountered our Lord under the waters of baptism, were cleansed of all sin, and were filled with sanctifying grace. Though sin diminishes or even extinguishes that grace when it is mortal, the Sacrament of Reconciliation restores it, and the Eucharist and other sacraments increase it. Always return to your baptismal grace, seeking to live out your identity as God's son or daughter, as this sacred mark intends. My sanctifying Lord, through the waters of baptism, I encountered You and received the abundant grace You bestowed upon me. Please help me to keep my soul free from sin and to live with the true dignity of a child of God. Thank You for meeting me under those waters. May I remain with You, growing ever closer to You by the ongoing gift of all the Sacraments. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Matthew 3:13-17 - Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Today’s Topics: 1, 2, 3, 4) Gospel – Luke 4:14-22 – Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of Him spread throughout the whole region.  He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where He had grown up, and went according to His custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day.  He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, He handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at Him.  He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  And all spoke highly of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His Mouth. Bishop Sheen quote of the day

“As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.’ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.” (Mark 4:35–37 NLT) In Mark 5, we find an interesting story in which Jesus invites the disciples, some of whom were seasoned fishermen, to join Him on a little boat trip across the Sea of Galilee. On the way across, they encounter a violent storm. Bad timing, some might say. On the contrary, it was perfect timing. The circumstances of the story beg the question: Did Jesus know that a storm was coming when He said, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake” (Mark 4:35 NLT)? The answer is undoubtedly yes. The apostle Paul wrote, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15–16 NLT). The One who is supreme over all creation doesn’t need a forecast to know when a storm is coming. In fact, it’s likely Jesus planned the outing because of the storm. You might even say it was part of His curriculum that day. Jesus was teaching His disciples to believe what they claimed to believe. We don’t want to make light of what the disciples were experiencing, because this was a very severe storm. Several on board had experienced storms on the Sea of Galilee before. The fact that they were gripped by fear says something about the storm’s ferocity. Mark 4:37 says that high waves were breaking into the boat. Sinking seemed to be a very real possibility. The disciples were afraid, but they didn’t have to be. Jesus had made a significant statement—one that apparently the disciples had missed: “Let’s cross to the other side” (NLT). When God says, “Let’s cross to the other side,” it means you’ll get to the other side. He didn’t say it would be smooth sailing. He didn’t say it would be an easy trip. But He did say, “Let’s cross to the other side.” God’s people become gripped by fear and cease to think logically when we forget His promises to us. That’s exactly what happened to the disciples. But Jesus was on board with them. He was there to see them through. And He’s there to see us through, too. The Lord still wants to take His followers to the other side. Outside their comfort zone. Away from those who would hold them back. Beyond their limited perception of who they are and what they’re capable of. The journey involves risk. It will be scary at times. But the Lord is greater than the obstacles and challenges in the way. Reflection question: How has the Lord helped you navigate a storm in your life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known." All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gospel Luke 4:14-22 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.  He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day.  He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:             The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,                         because he has anointed me                                     to bring glad tidings to the poor.             He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives                         and recovery of sight to the blind,                                     to let the oppressed go free,             and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.  He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.  Reflection There was something about Jesus. When people saw him or heard him, there was something that felt right. There was an authority in him that seemed so different than the scribes and Pharisees. And he would describe something that was so beautiful, and they would just in a sense, bask in his gifts until they thought about it. And in this particular case, what happened was as soon as they were pleased with what he was saying, they thought about it, and they said this is absolutely impossible. This man is crazy, and we need to destroy him. Instead of receiving the message, they turned to their fears and their destructive nature. Closing Prayer How easy it is, in a sense, to be moved by so many things that you have said, Jesus, and what you've done. And yet there's some hard issue that we have to face. Do we believe this? Is our inheritance as well as your gifts shown to us in this beautiful time when the Kingdom is being described for the first time? Bless us with an awareness of this gift. Take away fear. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read OnlineJesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. Luke 4:14–15This passage from Luke's Gospel takes place immediately after Jesus was baptized by John and spent forty days in the desert, enduring and overcoming the temptations of the evil one. He returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit.” Although Luke had not yet recorded any of Jesus' miracles, it becomes clear later in the chapter that Jesus had already performed some in Capernaum, and “news of him spread throughout the whole region.”What was it that caught the attention of so many people? In addition to the word spreading about His miracles, it's likely that the aura of sanctity He had begun to manifest also drew people in. Until that time, Jesus had lived a hidden life. Though He was perfect in every way, His divinity remained concealed within His humanity until the appointed time for His manifestation. Now that the time had come, the veil began to lift, and people started to take notice.Similarly, in our lives, there are times when God calls us to keep our faith concealed within the depths of our souls, to deepen our personal conversion. Then there are times when God lifts the veil and manifests His grace and mercy through us to others. This intentional manifestation of God's grace and glory must happen according to the power and timing of the Holy Spirit. It's not for us to decide how God wants to shine through us—it's up to Him.When you examine your life, what do you see as God's will for you right now? Perhaps your conversion is recent, and much is taking place interiorly. Maybe you are facing temptations and need to rest with our Lord in the desert, confronting and overcoming the evil one. Or perhaps this is a time when God wants to begin manifesting His holiness through you more clearly to others.Today's Gospel ends on a high note: “all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” That quickly changed, however, when our Lord chastised the people of Nazareth for being more interested in seeing a miracle than in embracing Him as the Anointed One of God, spoken of in the passage He had just read from Isaiah. Jesus' mission was to convert hearts and reveal His true identity as the Messiah. Because the people in His hometown were more interested in seeing a miracle, as if it were a magic trick, they missed the true purpose of His mission and blamed their hardness of heart on Jesus.Likewise, in our lives, when God chooses to manifest His divine grace through us, we should not expect everyone to be receptive. When we are changed by grace, that change will challenge others. Just as the people in Jesus' hometown were not ready to accept Who He was and is, we should anticipate that some might not accept that God is manifesting His grace and truth through us and reject us as those in Nazareth rejected our Lord. Reflect today on the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. As you do, consider whether God might be calling you to begin a “public ministry” of your own, in the way He wills. Be at peace with whatever reaction you receive. While some will rejoice with you, others might not. Have courage, listen to the Holy Spirit, and allow God's anointing to manifest Himself through you in any way He chooses. My divine Lord, in accord with Your Father's will, You concealed Your divinity during the first thirty years of Your earthly life. When the time was right, You began to lift the veil and reveal Your holiness and power. Please help me discern when to embrace a hidden life of prayer and conversion and when You wish to manifest Your holiness through me. Give me the courage to act always in accord with Your perfect will and perfect timing. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Today’s Topics: 1) Gospel – Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25 – When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew to Galilee.  He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet  might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.  His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to Him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and He cured them.  And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed Him. Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop Saint John, pray for us!Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2, 3, 4) Terry discusses Pope Leo’s 10 New Year Resolutions for 2026

The Letter of Jude E1 — Jude is one of the shortest writings in the New Testament. It comes from one of Jesus' own brothers (or cousins, or stepbrothers, depending on the tradition). Written in the early years of the Jesus movement, the letter addresses a Jewish community in Jerusalem or Galilee, made up of disciples who likely grew up with Jesus and knew his family. Jude (or Judah in Hebrew or Judas in Greek) is deeply rooted in the Hebrew Bible. His writing shows these roots through consistent biblical language and tons of hyperlinks. But who was Jude, and what do we know about his family and ancestors? In this episode, Jon and Tim introduce the background of this short letter and the larger world surrounding its author.FULL SHOW NOTESFor chapter-by-chapter summaries, referenced Scriptures, and reflection questions, check out the full show notes for this episode.CHAPTERSJude's Identity and the Brothers of Jesus (0:00–8:29)Jesus' Brothers in the Gospels and Early Church (8:29–24:01)James, Jude, and Their Descendants (24:01–44:15)OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTView this episode's official transcript.BIBLEPROJECT JUDE TRANSLATIONView our full translation of the Letter of Jude.REFERENCED RESOURCESPanarion by Epiphanius of SalamisThe Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary: Against Helvidius by JeromeProto-Gospel of JamesCommentary on Matthew by OrigenAntiquities of the Jews by Flavius JosephusThe Church History by Eusebius of CaesareaCheck out Tim's extensive collection of recommended books here.SHOW MUSIC“afternoon reads.” by Lofi Sunday, PAINT WITH SOUND.“date night” by Lofi Sunday, Cassidy GodwinBibleProject theme song by TENTS SHOW CREDITSProduction of today's episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who also edited today's episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty writes the show notes. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie. Powered and distributed by Simplecast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.