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Continuing our series on Matthew 22amenpodcast.comWhen Religious Critics AttackIn our ongoing exploration of Matthew 22, we encounter Jesus facing his second challenge of the day. After silencing the Pharisees, Jesus now confronts the Sadducees, who approach Him with skepticism and mockery about the resurrection.The passage (Matthew 22:23-34) reveals how Jesus masterfully responds to those who attempt to trap Him with theological questions. This interaction provides powerful lessons for believers today who face criticism or mockery for their faith.Who Were the Sadducees?Before diving into Jesus' response, it's important to understand who the Sadducees were:* They only accepted the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) as authoritative scripture* They rejected the concept of resurrection because they found no explicit mention of it in the Torah* They were part of the religious establishment that felt threatened by Jesus' growing influenceThe Trick QuestionThe Sadducees approached Jesus with what they believed was a foolproof theological trap:"Teacher, Moses said if a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."Their question referenced Deuteronomy 25:5-6, the law of levirate marriage designed to preserve family lines. By creating this extreme scenario involving seven brothers marrying the same woman, they hoped to mock the very concept of resurrection that Jesus taught.Jesus' Two-Fold ResponseJesus doesn't hesitate or become defensive. Instead, He identifies two critical flaws in their thinking:* "You know neither the Scriptures..." - Despite their supposed expertise in the Torah, they missed its deeper teachings about eternal life* "...nor the power of God" - They limited God's abilities to their own understanding of realityJesus then explains that marriage is an earthly institution, not continued in heaven the same way. More powerfully, He uses their own accepted Scripture against them, quoting Exodus: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." By emphasizing that God "is not the God of the dead, but of the living," Jesus affirms the resurrection from within the very Torah they claimed to revere.Silencing Enemies God's WayThis passage teaches us vital lessons about dealing with those who mock or criticize our faith:* Stay grounded in Scripture - Jesus didn't rely on eloquence or personal attacks but on the truth of God's word* Trust in God's power - When we limit God to our understanding, we miss His greater purposes* Let God silence critics - Rather than seeking personal vengeance, allow God's truth to speakA Personal ExampleI'm reminded of our own journey in ministry. Years ago, my husband and I began creating Christian content online, facing mockery and criticism from many who thought it was "weird" or "cringe." A year before COVID-19, we felt led to start digital church services despite skepticism.When the pandemic hit, what had seemed foolish to critics suddenly became essential. The infrastructure we had built became a lifeline for thousands seeking spiritual nourishment during lockdowns. Without fighting our critics or defending ourselves, God vindicated our efforts through His timing and provision.The Final WordThe crowd's reaction to Jesus' response says it all: "they were astonished at his teaching." The Sadducees, who came to trap Jesus, found themselves silenced instead.This remains true for believers today. When we face opposition, mockery, or attempts to undermine our faith, we don't need to fight back in our "own power, own pride, or own vengeance." Instead, like Jesus, we can rely on God's Word and God's power.God will get the final word. His Word will not return void. Our call is to remain faithful, continue in what He's called us to do, and trust Him with the results."For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12Join us next week as we continue our series through Matthew 22 with Jesus' third response to His critics.Prayer Prompt: Where in your life do you need to trust God to silence critics rather than fighting them yourself? Spend time asking God to help you know His Word more deeply and trust His power more fully.If this post encouraged you, please share it with others and subscribe to receive our weekly devotionals directly to your inbox. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amenpodcast.substack.com

Continuing our series on Matthew 22amenpodcast.comWhen Religious Critics AttackIn our ongoing exploration of Matthew 22, we encounter Jesus facing his second challenge of the day. After silencing the Pharisees, Jesus now confronts the Sadducees, who approach Him with skepticism and mockery about the resurrection.The passage (Matthew 22:23-34) reveals how Jesus masterfully responds to those who attempt to trap Him with theological questions. This interaction provides powerful lessons for believers today who face criticism or mockery for their faith.Who Were the Sadducees?Before diving into Jesus' response, it's important to understand who the Sadducees were:* They only accepted the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) as authoritative scripture* They rejected the concept of resurrection because they found no explicit mention of it in the Torah* They were part of the religious establishment that felt threatened by Jesus' growing influenceThe Trick QuestionThe Sadducees approached Jesus with what they believed was a foolproof theological trap:"Teacher, Moses said if a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."Their question referenced Deuteronomy 25:5-6, the law of levirate marriage designed to preserve family lines. By creating this extreme scenario involving seven brothers marrying the same woman, they hoped to mock the very concept of resurrection that Jesus taught.Jesus' Two-Fold ResponseJesus doesn't hesitate or become defensive. Instead, He identifies two critical flaws in their thinking:* "You know neither the Scriptures..." - Despite their supposed expertise in the Torah, they missed its deeper teachings about eternal life* "...nor the power of God" - They limited God's abilities to their own understanding of realityJesus then explains that marriage is an earthly institution, not continued in heaven the same way. More powerfully, He uses their own accepted Scripture against them, quoting Exodus: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." By emphasizing that God "is not the God of the dead, but of the living," Jesus affirms the resurrection from within the very Torah they claimed to revere.Silencing Enemies God's WayThis passage teaches us vital lessons about dealing with those who mock or criticize our faith:* Stay grounded in Scripture - Jesus didn't rely on eloquence or personal attacks but on the truth of God's word* Trust in God's power - When we limit God to our understanding, we miss His greater purposes* Let God silence critics - Rather than seeking personal vengeance, allow God's truth to speakA Personal ExampleI'm reminded of our own journey in ministry. Years ago, my husband and I began creating Christian content online, facing mockery and criticism from many who thought it was "weird" or "cringe." A year before COVID-19, we felt led to start digital church services despite skepticism.When the pandemic hit, what had seemed foolish to critics suddenly became essential. The infrastructure we had built became a lifeline for thousands seeking spiritual nourishment during lockdowns. Without fighting our critics or defending ourselves, God vindicated our efforts through His timing and provision.The Final WordThe crowd's reaction to Jesus' response says it all: "they were astonished at his teaching." The Sadducees, who came to trap Jesus, found themselves silenced instead.This remains true for believers today. When we face opposition, mockery, or attempts to undermine our faith, we don't need to fight back in our "own power, own pride, or own vengeance." Instead, like Jesus, we can rely on God's Word and God's power.God will get the final word. His Word will not return void. Our call is to remain faithful, continue in what He's called us to do, and trust Him with the results."For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12Join us next week as we continue our series through Matthew 22 with Jesus' third response to His critics.Prayer Prompt: Where in your life do you need to trust God to silence critics rather than fighting them yourself? Spend time asking God to help you know His Word more deeply and trust His power more fully.If this post encouraged you, please share it with others and subscribe to receive our weekly devotionals directly to your inbox. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amenpodcast.substack.com

Hebrews 11 NIV 1-38By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going… For he was LOOKING FORWARD to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… They were longing for a better...

As The United States of America faces a new election cycle, is it possible we are seeing Americans turning back towards family, tradition and God? Chris Widener believes so. Brad Szollose sits down with Chris to discuss his latest book, The Coming American Revival. Chris starts the book with this... "America sits in a precarious place. The once mighty “greatest country in the world,” is broken and fractured. Division is rampant, driven by nefarious forces of evil, seeking to destroy a country that once stood as a “city on the hill,” brightly lighting up the world with the hope of Jesus, freedom, and justice." The Coming American Revival describes why our nation needs revival, what that revival would look like, and what it would take to see it happen. Not just about Christians, but everyone turning inwardly to their faith. Chris reveals the 7 steps it takes for a country to turn back to God: They love God and serve Him He blesses them with all blessings They get fat and happy and turn from God and instead worship their wealth and blessings God strips them of their blessings to draw them back to Himself The people fight and rebel and wallow in their sin Tired, they finally repent and realize they have turned their backs on God God, seeing their heartfelt repentance, brings them new life by sending revival After Trump? This is a positive discussion on what Faith can do for America. ABOUT CHRIS WIDENER: Chris Widener has been named one of the top 50 speakers in the world, one of the top 100 leadership speakers by Inc Magazine and one of the top 10 sales speakers by SUCCESS Magazine. He is a NYT and WSJ best-selling author, having authored 25 books some of which have been translated into 14 languages. Chris has given 2500 speeches all over the world and was personally mentored by both Zig Ziglar, and Jim Rohn. He is also the co-founder with Dinesh D'Sousa of the Red Referral Network giving conservatives the chance to not be cancelled. HOST OF AWAKENED NATION: BRAD SZOLLOSE --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/awakenednation/support

Episode 24:32 Are Negative Emotions Blocking Your Healing? In the past few episodes, we've talked about three Truths that can help you experience a supernatural healing from God: They are: 1) Knowing you ARE healed. 2) Having FAITH to “activate” your healing. 3) Eliminating UNBELIEF. Get these three right and your healing will manifest. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Especially when it comes to eliminating unbelief. It's hard. Really hard. Why?  Because sometimes WE are our greatest source of unbelief. Specifically, our EMOTIONS. Emotions that prevent us from being healed. Emotions that try to convince us that we're not worthy of God's blessings.  On this episode we examine unhealthy emotions and how they can be eliminated from our life. Be sure to give this episode a good listen and then share it with a friend. Thanks! ———————-  Want to learn more? Continue the conversation regarding this episode, and all future episodes, by signing up for our daily emails. Simply visit: GetHealthyAlabama.com  Once there, download the “Symptom Survey” and you will automatically added to our email list. ———————- Also, if you haven't already, we'd appreciate it if you'd subscribe to the podcast, leave a comment and give us a rating. (Thanks!!!) 

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Christ described how He has many things to say to His people, but they were not able to bear them at that time.--His disciples couldn't accept the death of Christ- They wanted a physical kingdom instead of a justifying sacrifice.--They were prejudiced against the non-Jewish people, thinking that Israel was God's only chosen people, and not understanding the Gospel is for all mankind---They didn't believe the resurrection of Christ- They didn't realize that a heavenly country is far better than an earthly country. They didn't understand that Christ's kingdom, at this time, is pursued by spiritual means, rather than by physical strife.--They didn't grasp the adoption of believers as the sons of God- They didn't understand how our bodies would be changed when Christ raises us from the dead.--Christ had surely broached many of these matters to them, but they were not able to bear them then.--Christ's answer to this is to send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, to guide His people into all these truths, and many more---The Holy Ghost will guide us into all truth, because He will not speak of Himself, but He will speak what He hears about God the Father and His Son. --Here Christ emphasizes the complete unity of the persons of the Godhead. There are no different stories told, or falsehoods conveyed, by the Holy Ghost. He is to be trusted explicitly and absolutely, as Christ's representative to His people.--Christ then makes it clear- the Comforter, by doing this work, will glorify the Lord Jesus---Everything true about Christ glorifies Him- The truth about Jesus is His glory- There is nothing true about Him that blemishes or stains His honor and majesty-

Christ described how He has many things to say to His people, but they were not able to bear them at that time.--His disciples couldn't accept the death of Christ- They wanted a physical kingdom instead of a justifying sacrifice.--They were prejudiced against the non-Jewish people, thinking that Israel was God's only chosen people, and not understanding the Gospel is for all mankind---They didn't believe the resurrection of Christ- They didn't realize that a heavenly country is far better than an earthly country. They didn't understand that Christ's kingdom, at this time, is pursued by spiritual means, rather than by physical strife.--They didn't grasp the adoption of believers as the sons of God- They didn't understand how our bodies would be changed when Christ raises us from the dead.--Christ had surely broached many of these matters to them, but they were not able to bear them then.--Christ's answer to this is to send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, to guide His people into all these truths, and many more---The Holy Ghost will guide us into all truth, because He will not speak of Himself, but He will speak what He hears about God the Father and His Son. --Here Christ emphasizes the complete unity of the persons of the Godhead. There are no different stories told, or falsehoods conveyed, by the Holy Ghost. He is to be trusted explicitly and absolutely, as Christ's representative to His people.--Christ then makes it clear- the Comforter, by doing this work, will glorify the Lord Jesus---Everything true about Christ glorifies Him- The truth about Jesus is His glory- There is nothing true about Him that blemishes or stains His honor and majesty-

Idolatry -- the worship of anything other than our Creator -- is humanity's greatest crime.--- The ungodly will do anything to not think about God and righteousness, but they can't get away from it because He has left witness of Himself everywhere.- - Creation itself points to God, His authority, and His nature- - People cannot escape the fact that they have a Creator so they are without excuse-- The ungodly know there is a God, but refuse to honor Him or give Him thanks- - God is Creator God, and we must thank Him for that- - A lack of thankfulness is an expression of idolatry- - We're not happy with our status as image-bearing creatures -- we want more- we covet -Col. 3-5-- - When I am unthankful, I'm saying I'm more important than God-- The four living creatures in Revelation 4, for all their fearsomeness, know better than to look on God -- they're mere creatures- - They give God glory, honor, and THANKS-- The 24 elders cast their crowns before God- - They're acknowledging all authority derives from God, their Creator- - Everything that has life was created by and for God- - The creatures and elders thank God for who He is and their existence-- Thankfulness - worldview and leads to worship- - We've been created by an all-holy Creator who made provision for our salvation and who sustains us- - Thankfulness is wise- idolatry is stupid, useless, and foolish--- What in our life keeps us from being thankful or leads us to doubt God---- Are we thankful He is sovereign, even over the difficult aspects of our life---- Are we thankful that, though we broke the relationship, God sent His Son to make a way to reenter relationship with Him--

Each week we are exploring different trailheads as a part of Basecamp that can lead you to deepen your faith. This week we're exploring what your purpose is, how to get past sin and guilt, and how to have lasting power in your relationship with Jesus. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). ------------------------------ Trail Head 3 - Hitting the Target Setting appropriate expectations and your posture toward God Trail 4: What's my purpose? Trail 5: What Happens if I mess up and Sin? Trail 6: Will This Last? I'm worried I'll go back to my old life OPENING ILLUSTRATION: One of the best shots I've ever made in my life was as a kid, my buddies and I were down at a creek near my house hunting with our bb guns. I was joking around and as we saw this crow flying through the air and I said, “I'll shoot it out of the sky!” I pointed my gun randomly, shot, and the bird fell out of the sky! It was one in a million shot. I went down as a legend with my buddies. They are probably still telling the story to their kids… :) I feel like this is what most Christians are like when it comes to their faith. They are just hoping to hit the mark, hoping they get it right, hoping they make it through. What if you could have security in your faith - knowing what you are doing, what to do when you are missing, and knowing how to make it for the long haul? Today we are going to go through 3 trails at this trailhead called, “Hitting the Target.” By the end of this, my hope is you'll be able to aim and hit your target when it comes to your faith. Trail 4 of the Trailhead: What's my Purpose? Did you know when Jesus left the earth, He left very clear marching orders for His disciples? Matthew 28:18-20 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Bible scholars will tell you the “imperative” of this passage in Greek is “make disciples” b This means your purpose as a follower of Jesus is to make more disciples - followers of Jesus. -not get more people to go to church -not to be a better person But to help more people be a disciple of Jesus' What's a disciple? b A disciple is a person who has learned to be just like their rabbi. b It's why Jesus told us to go after people, to baptize them, and to teach them everything He commanded. b Disciples are supposed to become like the one who is discipling them - Jesus. I like to say this like this: I am Helping people find their way back to God, 1 person at a time This is how we live out the mission of Advancing God's Kingdom by living for God and loving people. ILLUSTRATION: One of the things that gets people off target is when they mess up and sin. Early on as a Christian, this doesn't feel quite as big of a deal, but as you grow in your faith. When you mess up, it feels like you shouldn't be messing up still and you start to question whether you really are a Christian or not. For lots of people it leaves them in a cycle of shame and guilt that keeps them from actually engaging with God. So, what do you do about it? Trail 5: What happens if I mess up and sin? How to set your aim at the target. First and foremost… You ARE going to MESS up. But you don't have to GIVE up, you just have to GET up. b You are not saved because of how good you are, your salvation comes because of how good God is. Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." Jesus has wiped away the consequences of sin in your life and set you free. But it does not mean you don't still have old desires and muscle memory from your life before Jesus. 1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Peter says to abstain from sinful desires that are waging war against your soul. We live in a world that says every single desire that comes into your mind is a good desire - not to be suppressed or repressed. b This is not the message of Christianity. Christianity says there is a part of you - your sinful nature - that has desires that wage war with your soul. What do you do with that? I'll tell you what most people do. Most people try to “stop sinning” ILLUSTRATION: When I was a teen, I cussed like a sailor. When I came to Christ, that didn't go away. I felt SO guilty about it. But I couldn't stop no matter what I did. I can remember sitting on my bed, praying about it and just feeling overwhelmed by the guilt. It was one of the first times I can remember feeling the Holy Spirit speak to me. I felt God saying to me, “Kent, stop trying to not sin, and instead try and follow me. I am the one who will deal with your sin - you're only job is to follow me.” It wasn't till years later that I read this and learned that Jesus had said something pretty similar - people were asking him about what works they needed to do for God and this is what He said: John 6:29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” The target is not to be a good person but to be God's person. The apostle paul describes what this looks like: Galatians 2:19-21 19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” To be God's person means to Crucify your old life - die to your old desires, not fight them. ILLUSTRATION: To die to something, you have to admit that you lived for it - that you loved it. The reason you sin is because you like - even for just the few moments - what it does for you. You have to admit that you your sin did something for you, and die to that desire - whatever it did for you. Paul also says that the life he now lives he lives by faith. Being God's person means learning to live moment by moment in the life God offers - live by faith. -Quick tip: turn your internal dialogue into an internal prayer life. Trail 6 - Will this last ILLUSTRATION: There is a HUGE difference between a marathon runner and a sprinter. One person knows they have to have lasting power, the other person knows they can leave it all on the floor. As a Follower of Jesus, this is a marathon. You HAVE to have lasting power. So, how do you do that? There is a way to have lasting power in your relationships with God. The two things you have to do to have lasting power is to focus on learning God's' love and engaging God with Grit. 1. Being proactive about God's Love Most people are reactive in their relationship with God. They wait till something happens then they seek God. These people ALWAYS struggle to have a faith that impacts their life in any meaningful way. It is the proactive person whose faith grows and impacts their life. They are proactive in learning the heart of Jesus (reading scripture to know God) They are proactive in repenting & dying to their sins (they evaluate their life and intentionally move it closer to Jesus' way of life) They hold the things of this world loosely (nothing is more important to them than knowing Jesus) b Proactive faith is unwilling to be lazy about their faith. 2. Engage God with Grit ILLUSTRATION: Ever worked with someone who was CONSTANTLY making excuses about why they didn't get a project done? It's one of the hardest things to deal with in my opinion, because what it tells me is the person is not willing to take ownership of the problem. When you engage God with Grit, you become the kind of person who takes ownership of your relationship with God. People who engage God with Grit: Kills excuses They create priorities around God for themselves and their family (do the hard things)ILLUSTRATION: What is the way you handle your faith teaching your kids about God. Where does God and His people fall on your priority list? Is it above work? above sports? above entertainment? I'm not here to tell you how to prioritize, I'm telling you, people who engage God with grit DO prioritize. We personally say no to things that we have to explain to our kids, as Christians who prioritize our relationship with God and His body, we are not going to do some things other people do. Don't back down - double down. Pray to Close

? Ready for a wild ride? Imagine trading your busy chaos for a divine encounter that changes everything. Let's dive into Acts 2:42-47 and ask, "What made those early Christians shift their lives so dramatically?" ? Join us at Harmony Christian Church and let's explore together! ? IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). ------------- OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I have a basic principle I live my life by. I learned it teaching my kids to ride their bikes. I've shared this before, but I think it's a good way to set up this sermon. My kids, when they were learning to ride their bikes, would always look down at their feet. They'd inevitably end up in the ditch. It finally hit me, it's because they were looking at where they were instead of where they wanted to go. It's become a principle in my life: Look where you want to go, not where you are. In life, lots of us are stuck and doing all the same things we've done for years. We are being dragged around by the Tyranny of the urgent Some of you don't know how you got so busy, working multiple jobs, taking kids to endless practices, keeping up with the jones'. Buying cars & trucks you don't need, etc. You don't know where you want to go, so you just give your time, attention, and resource to whatever is “loudest” Today, I want us to go on a quick adventure. We are going to look at a group of people who got a glimpse of a place they want to go and completely shifted what they were doing because of their encounter. SCRIPTURE: We are jumping into the first church that ever existed. Jesus has died, risen from the dead and He ascended into Heaven. He is no longer on earth. Listen to what happens after Peter preaches this sermon - thousands come to Christ and this is what these early Christians do. If you've been in church for very long, you've probably heard a sermon on this passage: Acts 2:42-47 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. I want to ask a question I've never heard anyone ask. What was it that caused these people to shift their patterns of behavior so drastically? I know for you, you've grown up in a culture where it's acceptable to worship Jesus - this God/man who they had all seen and experienced but now the story is he flew up into the sky. What made them think they needed to continue on with anything? What made them think that it wasn't all over now that He left? These people have shifted drastically: -They devote themselves to apostles' teaching (they committed to being present and listening to preaching) -They fellowshipped (they hung out around each other in a way that encouraged one another) -They broke bread (they ate together) -They prayed together (they were committed as a group to bringing things before God) -They sold property to take care of those in need (they were shockingly generous) b Something that had never hit me, is each of these behaviors required leaving one thing for another b Time is a static commodity - if you do one thing, you are not doing another. b These people gave up in order to go up in their faith. b Still, the question is, what would cause such a deep shift? b These people were not experiencing a God who had come and left, but a God who had come and left Himself through the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew this day was coming. He knew there would be a period when He wouldn't be around. And this is what He said… John 14:15-21 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” These people had shifted where they were looking. b Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help…” They had decided the aim of their life was to live for Jesus and in the midst of that they encountered the Holy Spirit. ILLUSTRATION: When I first came to Christ, my brother had also come to Christ. He was coming out of a drug life and was on fire and really got pumped about the Holy Spirit. He told me to have the holy spirit, I needed to speak in tongues. He asked me if I wanted to pray for the gift of tongues. I said, I guess… He prayed 3 times for me to receive it and nothing happened. Finally, on the 3rd time, I thought, “he's not gonna stop till I do this…” so after he prayed, I started speaking gibberish. He was like, Praise God! and I was like, ugh… Listen. There is lots of misinformation about what it means to live by the Spirit and have the Spirit in your life. I believe the Holy Spirit does give some people miraculous gifts, but for lots of us, He's just what Jesus said - he's our advocate to help and be with you forever. b The Holy Spirit is literally Jesus' Spirit - it is Him, taking up dwelling in you. b What I want you to get is Christians have always been a people of Encounter. The reason these early Christians were so different was because they encountered God's Spirit. He spoke gently to their spirit and was like, “hey, what if you sold your property and gave it to that person over there…” “Hey, why don't you guys gather and learn what I taught…” These Christians were not worshiping a God who had left them, they were worshiping a God who left Himself CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: I know, personally, it's easy for me to get my eyes on something other than Jesus. I've got pressures, business that has to be taken care of. A million things to do for my kids. Some of you have babies that are keeping you awake all night. Some of you are dealing with end of life issues for parents or a spouse and everything has changed and you are struggling to just make it. Today, I wanted to remind you that you are of a people of Encounter. And the encounter is simple. “if you love me, keep my commands” All Jesus really is asking for is your love. “Will you love me” Will you point your life at me? He's saying. And He offers His Spirit as your advocate. He is your legal defense team, your counselor, your therapist, your heart doctor. Some of you don't know what it is that Jesus even commanded, you want to love, but you don't know how to live for Him. That's why we have created basecamp. We are actually ALL going to go through that over the next several months. Because we want you to have a foundation. Others of you have just let your eyes drift and you need to reengage the God of encounter. Don't miss Him! ------------------

“The Difference Between A Medium/Psychic and A Prophet Of God” Website: www.PastorTodd.org To give or support: www.ToddCoconato.com/give Church website: www.RRCNashville.org New book: www.PastorToddBook.com According to the Bible, there are clear contrasts between a medium or psychic and a genuine prophet of God. These differences can help believers discern between true spiritual guidance and deceptive practices. Let's explore these contrasts and how we can tell the difference as followers of Christ: **1. Source of Authority:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** They often claim to receive information from spirits, the deceased, or supernatural sources outside of God.    - **Prophet of God:** Their authority comes from the one true God. They receive messages directly from Him through His Holy Spirit. **2. Message Alignment with God's Word:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** Their messages will be inconsistent with or contradictory to the teachings of the Bible. Or they will twist scripture.    - **Prophet of God:** Their messages align with the teachings of the Bible and do not contradict God's revealed word. **3. Motive:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** May often seek personal gain or profit from their practices.    - **Prophet of God:** Their primary motive is to honor God, share His messages, and guide people toward His truth. **4. Character and Lifestyle:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** Their practices usually involve occultism and involvement with spirits that are not of God.    - **Prophet of God:** They live in obedience to God's commands, leading a life characterized by holiness and godliness. **5. Miraculous Confirmation:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** The "miracles" they perform are not be truly miraculous, but rather deceptive manifestations.    - **Prophet of God:** Their messages may be accompanied by genuine miracles and signs that confirm the divine origin of their words. **6. Discernment Through the Holy Spirit:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** They lack the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives and teachings.    - **Prophet of God:** Operate under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who empowers them to speak God's truth accurately. **7. Fruit of Their Ministry:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** They lead people away from God's truth and promote confusion.    - **Prophet of God:** Their ministry bears fruit that aligns with God's purposes—such as repentance, reconciliation, and spiritual growth. **8. Recognition by the Community of Believers:**    - **Medium/Psychic:** Their practices should be viewed as dubious or even harmful by the broader Christian community.    - **Prophet of God:** Their authenticity may be recognized and affirmed by fellow believers and spiritual leaders. As believers in Christ, we can discern between a medium/psychic and a true prophet of God by comparing their teachings and practices with the principles outlined in the Bible. Regularly studying Scripture, growing in our relationship with God, and seeking wisdom from godly mentors can equip us to recognize and reject false teachings while embracing genuine messages that draw us closer to Him. According to scriptures, there are several ways believers can hear from God. It's important to approach this with humility, seeking a genuine connection with God rather than relying solely on our own desires or expectations. Here are some ways through which Christians can hear from God, as outlined in the Bible: **1. Prayer:** Regular, sincere prayer is a powerful way to communicate with God and hear His voice. Jesus emphasized the importance of prayer in Matthew 6:6 (NIV): "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." **2. Scripture:** The Bible is God's revealed word and a primary means through which He communicates with His people. Reading, studying, and meditating on Scripture allows us to understand His character, will, and teachings. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) affirms this: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." **3. Holy Spirit:** The Holy Spirit, who dwells within believers, guides, comforts, and speaks to us. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit's guidance in John 14:26 (ESV): "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." **4. Circumstances:** God can use circumstances to communicate His will. Proverbs 16:9 (NIV) states, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." Paying attention to the doors that open or close and seeking God's guidance through circumstances can provide insight. **5. Wise Counsel:** Seeking advice from godly mentors, pastors, and fellow believers can help us discern God's voice. Proverbs 15:22 (NIV) says, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." **6. Still Small Voice:** God can speak to us in subtle, quiet ways—what's often referred to as the "still small voice." 1 Kings 19:12 (NIV) describes how God spoke to Elijah: "And after the fire came a gentle whisper." **7. Dreams and Visions:** While not as common, God has communicated through dreams and visions in the Bible. However, it's important to discern these experiences through prayer, Scripture, and spiritual discernment. **8. Worship and Praise:** Engaging in worship and praise can create an atmosphere where we are more receptive to God's presence and leading. Psalm 22:3 (ESV) says, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel." It's crucial to approach these methods with a heart that is open to God's will, seeking His guidance rather than imposing our desires. While God communicates in various ways, His messages will always align with His character and the principles found in Scripture. Developing a deep relationship with God through prayer, study, and obedience enhances our ability to hear and discern His voice in our lives.

Peter interpreted the events of that Pentecost in the light of his tradition and his experience of following Jesus, but not everyone welcomed the message, and it's not hard to see why. It meant that these devout people would have to significantly revise their ideas about what constituted faithfulness to their God. We're not told what was spoken and heard in all those different languages. Only that it had something to do with God's deeds of power, that God was a powerful God They could accept. But the egalitarian and universal nature of this revelation was a lot to take on board. And what did that Galilean troublemaker Jesus have to do with anything? How do we recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit and become a part of God's work in the world in our own day? Many of us, myself included, picked up our ideas about what it means to be Christian and about the Bible in our early years, explicitly from Sunday school or church school, or perhaps implicitly from the behavior and attitudes of our parents and grandparents. Yet, the day that we realized that we were never going to graduate from the School of Christian Learning was a blessed day indeed. In this lifelong endeavor of discipleship our Christian faith calls us to be ready to open our hearts and minds to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. And from the vantage point of seven decades of life, I can tell you that this can be an uncomfortable experience. We know that society is changing very rapidly, and it can be tiring, even painful to be asked frequently to reexamine our assumptions. It may even feel like a betrayal of our heritage.

God's Word is truly wonderful- That He should love His creatures, made in His image, enough to give us His Word in written form, is astounding.--God condescends to communicate with His creatures using ideas and words and speech and writing. How kind He is to delight to communicate and interact with such lowly creatures.--Paul teaches us that God's written word is -God breathed,- or inspired by the Holy Ghost. He communicated it to faithful men whom He had chosen, strengthened, and raised up to record what He desires to tell us.--All that reminds us of the incident where wicked King Jehoiakim cut up and burned the book of Jeremiah, because God had promised destruction of his kingdom and the Babylonian captivity, because of Israel's great sin.--Here we see just one historical example of how God miraculously preserved His Word down to us today, and how much we profit from it.--The wicked king thought he had a solution- he cut up and burned Jeremiah's book, as it was being read to him---At this point in the event, we should pause to think of all the beautiful Gospel hope and truth that the king destroyed. He destroyed not just the promises of God's judgment for the sin of Israel, but also the glorious promises of salvation and forgiveness that God had revealed to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah had recorded in his book.--Those words spoken to Jeremiah by the Holy Ghost, the king had just obliterated by his rebellious act.--These were words meant for our comfort and rescue by God- They were part of His revelation of how He would save us from our sin---That wicked king destroyed those words.--But praise God, He did not permit His Word to be destroyed forever-

God's Word is truly wonderful- That He should love His creatures, made in His image, enough to give us His Word in written form, is astounding.--God condescends to communicate with His creatures using ideas and words and speech and writing. How kind He is to delight to communicate and interact with such lowly creatures.--Paul teaches us that God's written word is -God breathed,- or inspired by the Holy Ghost. He communicated it to faithful men whom He had chosen, strengthened, and raised up to record what He desires to tell us.--All that reminds us of the incident where wicked King Jehoiakim cut up and burned the book of Jeremiah, because God had promised destruction of his kingdom and the Babylonian captivity, because of Israel's great sin.--Here we see just one historical example of how God miraculously preserved His Word down to us today, and how much we profit from it.--The wicked king thought he had a solution- he cut up and burned Jeremiah's book, as it was being read to him---At this point in the event, we should pause to think of all the beautiful Gospel hope and truth that the king destroyed. He destroyed not just the promises of God's judgment for the sin of Israel, but also the glorious promises of salvation and forgiveness that God had revealed to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah had recorded in his book.--Those words spoken to Jeremiah by the Holy Ghost, the king had just obliterated by his rebellious act.--These were words meant for our comfort and rescue by God- They were part of His revelation of how He would save us from our sin---That wicked king destroyed those words.--But praise God, He did not permit His Word to be destroyed forever-

Democracy is a Lie, When all we can do is Cry There's globalist on both sides right or left it doesn't matter money is king, power is god we on our knees, make it stop ! Democracy is a LIE When all we can do is CRY Banks CONTROL our throats so MARKETS make them float with OUR blood, sweat and tears making profits like its THEIRS Every man and woman should be independent and free free to choose OF THEIR OWN WILL when to screw or be screwed Not RIGHT how they come after us How they divide us and make us HATE Give us nothing but fake promises Give examples of fake successes Fill our heads, with how they see us Caring not, if it makes or breaks us Sell yourself, be rich So they say Sell your body, sell your morals Make money your god And be happy Happy with the waste that You help create But that's not true and you know it Money is a tool and power is God They sit in senates and parliaments BICKERING and FIGHTING over lost ARGUMENTS Moments have gone, time has passed Lets move on From this HUMAN BOT manufacturing plant Old ideas are not the answer Recycled ravings of a failed economist I am not talking about world peace either Hand in hand, singing kumbaya No, I am talking about accountability and regulations To support a free society   Where we take care of our own But don't make them dependent Where we pay our fair share But don't get taken for mugs Keep more of what we earn And share voluntarily Don't get constantly indoctrinated With hits of fake dopamine Don't get made lab rats In someone else's experiments With years upon years of CONSEQUENCES Resulting in our DISARMARMENT. Focus on locals, be less on socials Break free of the chains And learn to use your vocals First and foremost We fix the families Who start fixing the neighbourhoods And the generations to come Who start fixing local communities And then the counties Who start fixing the country And the economy of life Human values Through human eyes Broken homes make broken minds Broken minds produce more crime Crimes break a system Let corruption take hold And break the good people Make them do what they told Focus on locals, be less on socials Break free of the chains And learn to use your vocals Democracy is lie If all we can do is cry - Momus Najmi

It is a false teaching, that God has somehow promised His people divine healing in this life from every illness.--This false teaching causes a disruption in trust in the truthfulness of the Bible, since obviously God does not miraculously heal most of His loved ones today.--Even worse, some of these false teachers claim falsely that Christ died on the cross to purchase our miraculous physical healing in this life.--Thus, the false teaching of the promise of divine healing is propped up with a viciously false doctrine of Calvary.--There is no doubt that God does heal. He -forgives all our iniquities, and heals all our diseases.- Anytime we are healed of a sickness, it's the Lord's ultimate doing, though it is usually not miraculous in nature.--God heals most often through the physical mechanisms He placed in His creatures. Our skin closes up over time when we are cut- our immune system kicks in to overwhelm infections- bones knit by the mechanism God gave our physical bodies.--All of these are healing from God- They are astounding, and we ought never take them for granted- --Sometimes, God directly interposes by miracle to divinely heal His people.--No doubt Jesus miraculously healed a host of people, and raised some of them from the dead, and sometimes He gave to His disciples the power to heal miraculously. After Pentecost, His apostles and others carried out notable healings on their command, by the power of the Holy Ghost.--We should pray for divine healing- No doubt God does miraculously heal some people today---But miraculous healing is not promised by God to all who seek it at this time.

It is a false teaching, that God has somehow promised His people divine healing in this life from every illness.--This false teaching causes a disruption in trust in the truthfulness of the Bible, since obviously God does not miraculously heal most of His loved ones today.--Even worse, some of these false teachers claim falsely that Christ died on the cross to purchase our miraculous physical healing in this life.--Thus, the false teaching of the promise of divine healing is propped up with a viciously false doctrine of Calvary.--There is no doubt that God does heal. He -forgives all our iniquities, and heals all our diseases.- Anytime we are healed of a sickness, it's the Lord's ultimate doing, though it is usually not miraculous in nature.--God heals most often through the physical mechanisms He placed in His creatures. Our skin closes up over time when we are cut- our immune system kicks in to overwhelm infections- bones knit by the mechanism God gave our physical bodies.--All of these are healing from God- They are astounding, and we ought never take them for granted- --Sometimes, God directly interposes by miracle to divinely heal His people.--No doubt Jesus miraculously healed a host of people, and raised some of them from the dead, and sometimes He gave to His disciples the power to heal miraculously. After Pentecost, His apostles and others carried out notable healings on their command, by the power of the Holy Ghost.--We should pray for divine healing- No doubt God does miraculously heal some people today---But miraculous healing is not promised by God to all who seek it at this time.

Amy Sikarskie revisits a channeled message from March of 2018. She shared an explanation and a channeled message about karma, earth life and the starseed. This in-depth episode speaks about Starseeds and how they can get pulled into the heaviness of Earth thus causing karmic ties and more.Highlights Include:The Starseed and their creation/agreement upon Earth• When the Starseeds dropped onto the land/waters---energetically• Physical structures were then made through source consciousness/light energy• When merging with the physical aspects of Earth, the Starseed came• Whether or not a Starseed remains conscious or not of their purpose is dependent on their personal preference as well as energetic atmosphere Starseeds & Karma• Starseeds do not come with Earthly Karma• They have a very fresh slate on Earth• Although they have these newborn baby qualities, they hold higher, advanced frequencies then most upon the EarthCommon qualities & abilities within the Starseed frequency• Moving matter, clairvoyance, telepathy, and sun absorption• Starseeds can become susceptible to the Karmic expressions of Earth, as well as the more heavy aspects of the collective consciousness• Starseeds may also come into an environment, community, country, or familiar experience that already holds ancestral karmic tiesThey begin speaking on coming into an environment etc. that already holds karmic ties and how the Starseed can effectively help clear that away• Helping all parties to come to a resolution• Bringing in the light• Calling in their star councils, archangels, earth angel councils, or any higher frequency beings they resonate or wish to work with “All are Equal under the eyes of God” • They shift to talk about different beings and how they reside in different bands of frequency• There is no hierarchy• Multiple bands of frequencies within the angelic realm• Karmic ties that are tied to heavier bands of vibrations---mass murders, rage, violence• The Starseed may come into the vessel/dna of that which holds ancestral karma• Holding a high vibration can begin to shift the frequency/dna codes of the body thus helping clear away karma in the family tree---ascending far above the karmic ties• Transmuting the energy The astral plane and the beings that reside there• Once a Starseed leaves their body, they may get “stuck” in the astral realm• This is because they got caught up in the heaviness of the karmic pull/ties that are held within the 4d or astral frequency• They urge the importance of a Starseed remembering who they are, and the vitality of their missionThey begin speaking again on the process of the Starseeds arriving on Earth as well as “hybrid starchildren”• Being dropped onto earth, gestation• Starseeds arrive on earth not specific to any body type, shape, form, or size Starseeds and staying true to their nature• A Starseed may get pulled into the experiences of the denser frequencies on Earth• Getting trapped within the karmic cycle• Will have to recycle back into the karmic cycle in order to clear it away and get back into the frequencies of which their star families, council etc. lie• Importance of understanding and being conscious of the karma• Working in the astral realm in order to clear away karmic nature• Transmuting energy into forgiveness, love, light• Once they clear karma, they may ascend back into their soul's origin (family, star family etc.• Consciously choosing to not create their own karma on Earth Clearing the Karma• Identify...

S02 Ep05 by Pastor Jeremias Solomon of Zion Bible Baptist Church - Parañaque (San Jacobo St. San Antonio Valley 2, Parañaque City Philippines) "A Famine of the Word" Amos 8:9-12 Why there is famine? They disregarded the Word of God They disregarded the Work of God v.10 Psa. 81:10-11 They disregarded the Will of God Amos 3:3 To avoid famine: There must be Desire of God's Word There must be Devotion on God's Word You must be Doer of God's Word There must be Delight in God's Word --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Glory be to God! **

Over the centuries the eras of the Church have been defined by essential questions. The early church wrestled with the question, -Who and what is God-- They answered that in the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasius Creeds. The church of the Middle Ages entering the modern world asked, -What is salvation.- and the creeds and confessions of the Reformation framed those answers. Today's church wrestles with the basic question, -By what authority do we do speak-- or -Who or what is our final authority.- Today's text, Psalm 110-1, answers that question telling us who our Overseer, our Bishop, our Elder is and how he governs us.

Over the centuries the eras of the Church have been defined by essential questions. The early church wrestled with the question, -Who and what is God--- They answered that in the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasius Creeds. The church of the Middle Ages entering the modern world asked, -What is salvation.- and the creeds and confessions of the Reformation framed those answers. Today's church wrestles with the basic question, -By what authority do we do speak--- or -Who or what is our final authority.- Today's text, Psalm 110-1, answers that question telling us who our Overseer, our Bishop, our Elder is and how he governs us.

Jacob explains that the Jews will crucify their God—They will be scattered until they begin to believe in Him—America will be a land of liberty where no king will rule—Reconcile yourselves to God and gain salvation through His grace. About 559–545 B.C. The post 2 Nephi 10 appeared first on Sacred Text Daily.

1st John Series • 5. Love Not the World – 1st John 2:15-17  In 1st John Chapter 2, there are two major charges given to the children of God – They are to love the brethren but they are NOT to love the world. In today's message, we find that John is telling us that the life of Jesus Christ, and His standard of holiness, is the measure to which we should compare ourselves. It is only by walking more like Christ that we gain assurance of salvation and find liberty to live our lives in joyfulness. This message was preached on January 31, 2021.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:4-7)When Israel was in exile, God didn't call them to retreat and seclude themselves in their own Jewish subculture. He called them to “settle down” and “seek the peace and prosperity of the city.”Paul issues a similar command to us in Galatians 6:10, saying, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”Simply seeking to “do good to all people” and “seeking the prosperity” of our communities is good and God-honoring in and of itself. We are called to be good citizens, good neighbors, and good workers who seek the prosperity of the companies we lead and work for. This is a form of ministry and service. It may not be as overt as the ministry of your pastor, but it's ministry nonetheless, as good work is an act of obedience to God and service to others.Since Arthur Guinness founded his brewery in 1759, most of his descendants have chosen one of three career paths. There have been the “brewing Guinnesses,” the “banking Guinnesses,” and what some have called the “Guinnesses for God” who have worked as pastors and donor-supported missionaries.To believe this third group is the only one whose work matters to God would be a terrible mistake. As we've seen throughout this series, the work of the Guinnesses who “settled down” in Dublin to seek the prosperity of that and countless other cities have contributed significantly to God's work in the world.It's clear that all three lines of Guinnesses understood this. In the excellent biography from which much of this series was derived, the author says the Guinnesses “understood that brewing could be done as a holy offering, as a craft yielded in the service of God. They did not see themselves as secular, but rather as called. They did not see themselves as apart from Christian ministry, but rather as in the Christian ministry of industry and trade. They did not think of their brewing work as a menial way to pay the bills, hoping that they might compensate for such worldliness by giving occasional service to the church. No, they had absorbed the great Reformation ideal that everything a man did was to be done for God…They understood that this transformed workbenches into altars and the labor of a man's hands into liturgies pleasing to God.”The same can be said of you today, believer. Your workbench is an altar. Your desk is a cathedral. Use it to worship today—to “do good to all people” you come in contact with at work, and in doing so, glorify our great God. In the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Walter Shepherd is Christian Harris's father-in-law and over the past 7 years, has been enduring the mental and physical health decline of his wife of over 50 years, to the disease of Alzheimers. He discusses grief, loss and what it looks like to go to God in your pain, doubts and yet still be faithful and trust in God's goodness and grace. NOTES: This Weeks Whiskey: N/A What is the relationship between suffering, grief and prolonged grieving? Grieving is something we find in scripture and is a natural emotion that God gave us. Christian's have a tendency to move on too fast, not grieve enough... though we are not to grieve as if we don't have hope (in God) They want to move on from the uncomfortableness of grief and act like everything is fine, as if grieving or being sad dishonors God Non-Christian's tend to keep on grieving and never ceasing grieving (never moving forward or beyond) What we don't grieve and deal with successfully, will come back and cause us problems later and we tend to get stuck, unable to move forward. Essentially, how do we acknowledge that we are in a hole, without staying in the hole? The thing that helps keep Walter going if reminding himself that, "it's not about you". As Christian's, we are called to "die to ourselves and live for Christ" He thinks about how can he turn each of these challenging situations toward God, because God can handle it and he can't. Don't compare your suffering to others. Your suffering or lose is just as real as those who have experienced something "worse". Though we may not ever know why we experience specific suffering, while God may allow suffering to happen to us but God will never "waste" the pain you experience in life.  Staying in God's Word, regular prayer and a community of people willing to speak hard but loving truth into your life are all key, not only in life but specifically when life gets hard. Two big indicators to keep watch of during a prolonged period of suffering or trials, are your anxiety and anger/frustraiton levels. People don't change and grow when people are comfortable and things are easy... especially not character or maturity in Christ. We are in very little control of anything in life and God's grace is sufficient for us. To be ok with the hard parts of life and suffering, we need to be fully surrendered to God, trusting that what He has brought us to, He will see us through... remaining teachable and open.   Call To Action:  Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/the_old_fashion_dad_podcast/) & Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/oldfashiondadpodcast/) for more content & DM us to connect! Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/old-fashion-dad-podcast/id1513254208) or your favorite podcast app. 

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2) 23 And they had the Holy Ghost, friends. The Angel… We're… it's not a worship of Angels. It's God sending His ministering Spirit in the Church to minister to the people. There's no flesh can glory before God. If anybody could've gloried, it would've been Jesus. But He said, “It's not Me that doeth the works; it's My Father that dwelleth in Me; He doeth the works.” Is that right? They said, “We believe God.” He said, “If you believe God, believe also in Me.” Now, when the Angel came to your servant here, he said, “If you'll get the people to believe you.” Now, there's the hard thing. “If you'll get the people to believe you…” How many believes God? All of you, don't you? You believe Christ, you believe the Holy Ghost. 24 Now, that's not the question tonight. I'm glad you do that. That makes you a Christian. But that is not what I'm trying to get to you—you now. I get to that when make my altar call. You must believe Them first. If you're not in connection with Them, you'll never know this. But as much as you believe in Them, you still got to believe that I'm telling you the truth, and what I say is the truth. Jesus was the… He was… His hands was bound and tied to any miracle, or anything, any kind of a miracle, because the people did not believe Him. And the very people that believed God killed Him. Is that right? No matter how much they believed in God… They were very religious, orthodox. Very religious. And they believed God. But to believe Him, oh, no. Uh-uh. See? That was too much. Ma… A Man? They couldn't believe no Man. They could believe God. 25 And tonight, so many people can believe God. Sure. You believe Christ, you believe the Holy Ghost, and so forth. But when a man comes to you and tells something, that's hard to believe. “I don't know whether I can believe you or not, friend.” That's where it's at. See there? That's the reason God can't… That's the reason your pastor sometimes, when your pastor comes to you. The reason he can't help you, you've got to have faith in your pastor. You've got to believe that he's a man of God, sent of God to do these things for Him. 50-0110 - "Moses" Rev. William Marrion Branham ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Order your own copy of the Family Altar at http://store.bibleway.org Appreciate what we do? Consider supporting us: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support

If it's true that we learn from our mistakes, then I know a whole heck of a lot. This episode, Part 2 of 2, is about the mistakes I made in church — the three main ways I lit myself on fire, with the encouragement of church leaders. All while trying to escape the inferno of an abusive marriage.Confused? Horrified? Thirsty?Then tune in. Cause it's tea time, and I'm pouring. Check out these fire starters: Never expose yourself to other learning/beliefs/opinions beside church or church leaders (Don't you DARE think for yourself!) Treat church leaders like they are God (They're ALWAYS right) Believe you are trash (Cause that's what a loving Father wants his precious daughter to do. Duh.) Wash, rinse, and repeat for ultimate cleansing (I did for years, and it nearly killed me.) Read or download the transcriptIf you are a Christian woman who thinks you may be in an emotionally destructive marriage, learn more at https://flyingfreenow.comI'll send you (free!) the first chapter of my book, Is It Me? Making Sense of Your Confusing Marriage, which has an assessment to help you figure out if your relationship is abusive or not. All you have to do is hop on my mailing list. You can also find out about our online education and support program for women of faith at https://joinflyingfree.comAnd finally, if you are a divorced Christian woman who wants to take back her life and get healthy, lose weight, have amazing relationships, get things done, build a business or career, and even find a good man (if you want one) - check out Flying Higher.

Series: Romans - Together to the Ends of the Earth. Passage: 14:11-15:13 Preacher: Reg Piper. Date of Talk: 11 July 2021 Christian: Do not quarrel over disputable matters: v1-12 Judgement is God's work v10-11 Consider the relationship of servants v1-4 They answer to their master Their master will uphold for them Consider the motives of servants v5-6 They act to honour & thank God They are convinced in their mind SO: The Christian is accountable only to Christ v12 Welcome one another in Christ Christian: Aim for mutual Edification: v13-23 Consider the nature of the Kingdom v17-19 Not about eating or drinking Is about righteousness, peace and joy Is eternal not temporal SO: What is not of faith is sin v23 Don't cause a believer to stumble v13-15,20-21 Make every effort for peace and mutual edification v19 Christian: Follow the Example of Christ: v1-6 Let's please our neighbours for their good v1-2 Consider how Christ fulfilled scripture v3-4 He took our reproaches on himself v3 We are to fulfil scripture like him v4 May we together glorify our God and Father v5,6

Bible Transcript: "Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord , And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire. He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths. He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?” Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel, Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation. Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind. He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths, The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel. In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works. Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear. When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God. Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue; For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again. Psalms 78:1‭-‬39 NKJV

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (Mark 9:23) Now, when the Angel came to your servant here, he said, “If you’ll get the people to believe you.” Now, there’s the hard thing. “If you’ll get the people to believe you…” How many believes God? All of you, don’t you? You believe Christ, you believe the Holy Ghost. 24 Now, that’s not the question tonight. I’m glad you do that. That makes you a Christian. But that is not what I’m trying to get to you—you now. I get to that when make my altar call. You must believe Them first. If you’re not in connection with Them, you’ll never know this. But as much as you believe in Them, you still got to believe that I’m telling you the truth, and what I say is the truth. Jesus was the… He was… His hands was bound and tied to any miracle, or anything, any kind of a miracle, because the people did not believe Him. And the very people that believed God killed Him. Is that right? No matter how much they believed in God… They were very religious, orthodox. Very religious. And they believed God. But to believe Him, oh, no. Uh-uh. See? That was too much. Ma… A Man? They couldn’t believe no Man. They could believe God. 25 And tonight, so many people can believe God. Sure. You believe Christ, you believe the Holy Ghost, and so forth. But when a man comes to you and tells something, that’s hard to believe. “I don’t know whether I can believe you or not, friend.” That’s where it’s at. See there? That’s the reason God can’t… That’s the reason your pastor sometimes, when your pastor comes to you. The reason he can’t help you, you’ve got to have faith in your pastor. You’ve got to believe that he’s a man of God, sent of God to do these things for Him. 26 Now, Divine healing died out for a while here a few years ago; it just let down, as it happens through the age of the history. It’s let down so often. And during that time, cancer broke out, sickness in the church. Oh, my. Eighty percent of the people are sick now. And the people… Medical science, I salute them. They do great things. They make medicine to sell. And… I said, “to sell.” All right. It’s all right for those who want to take it. It’s all right for them. But look. But in the phase we got today, the best doctors we ever had. Do you believe that? We got the best hospitals we ever had. Have we? We got the best drugs we ever practiced with, haven’t we? And we got more sickness than we ever had, haven’t we? Because we got more unbelief than we ever had, haven’t we? That’s right. Exactly. Only God is the Healer. That’s right. And did you ever notice? Right in the days when we got all these fine drugs, and operation, and surgeons, and so forth; constantly they are building infirmaries for the incurable. Is that right? And there never was nothing that ever come before our Master, Jesus, but what He was more than a match for it. And no incurables to Him. All things are possible. Is that right? And He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. Is that right? Then nothing too incurable for Him. 50-0110 - "Moses" Rev. William Marrion Branham ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Order your own copy of the Family Altar at http://store.bibleway.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appreciate what we do? Consider supporting us: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support

Numbers 1-47-2-9--Orientation in the Wilderness---Edge-bound -ordered by God- - Center-Focused -Oriented on God- --Oriented on God- They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side--All these tents share one grand privilege. 'Around the Tent of Meeting shall they camp.' They all have common focus. As the planets circle the sun, so these surround the sanctuary. God is the center. They form the wide circumference. And from each door one sight--the holy tent--is visible. There is a clear and precious meaning here. God, in Christ Jesus, is the center, the heart, the life, the strength, the shield, the joy of His believing flock. In their midst, He dwells--their glory and delight. When they go forth, their eyes are fixed on Him. When they return, it is to nestle round His presence.-Henry Law---I. For ------------------- - ----------------- -Rev. 21-12-14--------II. For ------------------- - ----------------- -Jn. 4-23-24---------III. For ------------------- - ----------------- -Heb. 12-28-29-

God is speaking to the pretenders, actors, hypocrites of Israel, who would not speak the truth about God. They loved using the names and titles, but their hearts were far from God- They were a stubborn people, but God would choose a Refiner's Furnace to refine them, to make them the people they ought to be. A Furnace not for destruction but to purified.

http://bible.com/events/48118137 Title: It’s Not Worth It!You have no idea what God can do and desires to do with your life when you are completely surrendered to Him. Appetites (and/or feelings) These are things that can ruin our lives and make us miserable, if they are not ultimately surrendered to God They can become gods/idols in our […]

http://bible.com/events/48118137 Title: It’s Not Worth It!You have no idea what God can do and desires to do with your life when you are completely surrendered to Him. Appetites (and/or feelings) These are things that can ruin our lives and make us miserable, if they are not ultimately surrendered to God They can become gods/idols in our […]

Have you ever heard of a guy named Ronald Wayne?  Probably not. On April 1, 1976 he  helped start a little company with a guy named Steve Jobs. You know that name. The company was called Apple. His job was to oversee mechanical engineering and documentation, all in exchange for a 10 percent stake in the business. 12 days later, he became nervous about the debt the new company had taken on and sold his 10% stake in the company for $800.  CNBC estimates that his 10% share today would be worth more than $80 billion dollars.Well, that is a colossal mistake, and while it would be easy to think of Ronald Wayne as a failure, we all know what failure feels like. We fail in different ways, but none of us are strangers to failure. Failure often produces a lot of negative feelings and emotions. Maybe you have battled rejection, guilt, shame, reproach, and fear. Maybe you have heard the lies of Satan telling you that you will never get over this. You will never move forward.Micah 7:8 - “Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.”What does God want you to do after failure? He wants you to get back up.Failure doesn't mean you have blown everything. It means you have some hard lessons to learn.It doesn't mean you are a permanent loser. It means you aren't as smart as you thought you were.It doesn't mean you should give up. It means you need the Lord to show you the next step.It doesn't mean that God has abandoned you. It means that God a better plan.I've noticed there are two limiting beliefs that keep people from being restored to God.1.Pride – Without humility restoration is not possible.  Pride says I'm not going to admit I did anything wrong.  Pride says I don't want anyone to know I did anything wrong.  Pride says it's someone else's fault.  Pride refuses to take responsibility. 2.I will never get over my mistake – You go to bed thinking of your failure.  You wake up in the morning thinking of your failure.  You are trapped in the past and have come to believe you can never move forward.  You truly question whether God could love you and forgive you.  Your limited belief system has robbed you of a better future in God.Somebody listening needs to hear these words: God has a way of bringing things back from failure. As long as you have breath, you have a chance! It may feel like the world is finished with you, but God is not. Maybe you failed, but you're not a failure. You made a mistake, but you are not a mistake.Maybe today you feel paralyzed by your failure. Here's the path forward.Restoration always begins with confession and repentance.Confessing our sin means to see it as God sees it. It means to agree with God that our sin is an act of sinful rebellion. I was asked one time, “Pastor Loren how do I know if I have truly repented?”  This is important because a lot of people misunderstand repentance.  When a person repents they….-Stop making excuses-Understand that all sin is a rebellion against God-They reveal sorrow for the sinful act, not simply a sorrow for the consequence.-Genuinely want to change-They are broken and humbleAsk for forgiveness. Receive forgiveness.The only reason we are able to be forgiven and restored is because Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  His death pays the way.  It offers us hope, restoration, and transformed life, and a relationship with God. Today's Challenge: If you have failed, come to Jesus today and be restored. Your failure doesn't have to be final.

https://youtu.be/ey1UrHR0WMc Why you be attitude? Matt 5:1-12 - attitudeThis is the beginning of the sermon on the mount. Some people elevate this sermon above other teachings of Jesus, but that's not what Jesus did. While this was his longest most expansive treatise, its our elevation of it, not Him who gives it so much importance. Its all important, but its not exhaustive. People want to focus on a small part instead of being responsible for the whole parts. In this sermon, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and those who are following him. In the beatitudes- he's showing his disciples the character of those who are in his kingdom and those who are going to inherit his kingdomIt's a line of delineation for the disciples- if you're going to be my disciples, if you're going to be in my kingdom- this is who you must be. This must be your character.These are people who have been rejected or excluded from the power of Roman life, and the corrupt life of the Sadducees and PhariseesThese attributes, and why they are so timeless, is because they were the antithesis of the world's ethos back then- and the antithesis of the worlds ethos nowTrue Christianity is not like the world, love the world or imitate the world. What is meant by blessed? Blessed in the simplest of terms means prosperous. Doing well. Fortunate. Well off. Doing better than most. Blessed. The kingdom of Heaven- who will receive it? Next week we talk about salt and light. This character precedes the ability to be salt and light to a loss and dying world. These characteristics display what we should be, who we are not, who we could be and who we can be  “Blessed are the poor in spirit,For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who feel an overwhelming sense of spiritual emptiness and insignificance in their life apart From GodA poor in spirit person feels empty. They are not self sufficient and strong- They admit weakIsaiah 66:2  “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My wordThis is in contrast to the pharisaicial spirit of self righteousness, support, and pleasureThe Pharisee has no emptiness because they are their own God- They are actually filled to the point they don't need God and don't desire after them. I admit I need people. I need their help, support, encouragement, affirmation. I do. I also admit I need God- Nothing the world gives satisfies- James 4:6 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”Are you poor in spirit, or do you depend on yourself? Do you long for God and his touch?We, as a society pride ourselves on self-sufficiency- but that's not Godly. Never arrivingNo amount of personal righteousness can satisfy- only the Lord. Luke 18:13 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!'Hebrew for poor- meek- abase self, afflict (-ion, self), answer [by mistake for H6030], chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble  Blessed are those who mourn,For they shall be comforted. attitude This isn't upon all who mourn- its for those who mourn over their sin. They will be blessed, because when they mourn over what they have done, they find comfort with God's pardon. I get no pleasure from listening to people talk about their past sins in a joking, positive lightIf you had killed someone, and got out of Jail and then laughed about it- is that Good/Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as [a]have a contrite spirit.Yes, you're forgiven, you're set free- but that doesn't mean you can't hate your pastIsaiah 57:15 b“I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.And its not this self-loathing I'm not forgiven I am no good spirit- It's the “...

https://youtu.be/ey1UrHR0WMc Why you be attitude? Matt 5:1-12 - attitudeThis is the beginning of the sermon on the mount. Some people elevate this sermon above other teachings of Jesus, but that’s not what Jesus did. While this was his longest most expansive treatise, its our elevation of it, not Him who gives it so much importance. Its all important, but its not exhaustive. People want to focus on a small part instead of being responsible for the whole parts. In this sermon, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and those who are following him. In the beatitudes- he’s showing his disciples the character of those who are in his kingdom and those who are going to inherit his kingdomIt’s a line of delineation for the disciples- if you’re going to be my disciples, if you’re going to be in my kingdom- this is who you must be. This must be your character.These are people who have been rejected or excluded from the power of Roman life, and the corrupt life of the Sadducees and PhariseesThese attributes, and why they are so timeless, is because they were the antithesis of the world’s ethos back then- and the antithesis of the worlds ethos nowTrue Christianity is not like the world, love the world or imitate the world. What is meant by blessed? Blessed in the simplest of terms means prosperous. Doing well. Fortunate. Well off. Doing better than most. Blessed. The kingdom of Heaven- who will receive it? Next week we talk about salt and light. This character precedes the ability to be salt and light to a loss and dying world. These characteristics display what we should be, who we are not, who we could be and who we can be  “Blessed are the poor in spirit,For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who feel an overwhelming sense of spiritual emptiness and insignificance in their life apart From GodA poor in spirit person feels empty. They are not self sufficient and strong- They admit weakIsaiah 66:2  “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My wordThis is in contrast to the pharisaicial spirit of self righteousness, support, and pleasureThe Pharisee has no emptiness because they are their own God- They are actually filled to the point they don’t need God and don’t desire after them. I admit I need people. I need their help, support, encouragement, affirmation. I do. I also admit I need God- Nothing the world gives satisfies- James 4:6 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”Are you poor in spirit, or do you depend on yourself? Do you long for God and his touch?We, as a society pride ourselves on self-sufficiency- but that’s not Godly. Never arrivingNo amount of personal righteousness can satisfy- only the Lord. Luke 18:13 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’Hebrew for poor- meek- abase self, afflict (-ion, self), answer [by mistake for H6030], chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble  Blessed are those who mourn,For they shall be comforted. attitude This isn’t upon all who mourn- its for those who mourn over their sin. They will be blessed, because when they mourn over what they have done, they find comfort with God’s pardon. I get no pleasure from listening to people talk about their past sins in a joking, positive lightIf you had killed someone, and got out of Jail and then laughed about it- is that Good/Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as [a]have a contrite spirit.Yes, you’re forgiven, you’re set free- but that doesn’t mean you can’t hate your pastIsaiah 57:15 b“I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.And its not this self-loathing I’m not forgiven I am no good spirit- It’s the “...

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God They shall still bear fruit in old age They shall be fresh and flourishing

This one, from Matthew 21:28-32, is about how what we do is more important than what we say. It includes this reworked parable: Jesus was controversial in his time - a fact that would lead to his death. Pastor Matt reworked the parable (from today's lectionary readings) to be sharp for us, like it was sharp originally. So, here is a modern version of Matthew 21:28-32 - this is a work of imagination, not intended to BE scriptural… simply imagining how it might speak sharply to us in our day:   Speaking to self-identified seriously religious people, the question is asked: “What do you think? God once told the people, ‘Love each other! Care about life!’”   "Some said, ‘I’m pro choice.’ But later went out and what they did helped bring life to many people.   "Some said, ‘I’m pro life!’ But later went out and what they did destroyed the lives of many people and left many others in danger.   “Which group did the will of God?”   They answered, “The first.”   “I assure you that many people you think are far from God are entering God’s kingdom ahead of you.”

Sermon for the Watford church of Christ, 13 September 2020 1. The Desk of Devotion Devoted to God: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42 NIV11) - modelled after the culture Jesus established.  “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (Colossians 4:2 NIV11) A Christian is professionally curious Not a burdening curiosity, but a liberating one, an exciting one, a stimulating one. What does devotion to God mean to you? But, how does this devotion develop, mature, spread……? 2. The Piano Room of Perseverance Perseverance: Acts 2.42 proskartereo: to persevere in; to be close at hand  Sometimes not fun Devoted to one another - “Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:10 NIV11) philostorgos - devoted, loving, good-natured  Conclusion Is God getting your attention in an area that needs perseverance? Is God getting your attention regarding devotion? Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.  Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org (mailto:malcolm@malcolmcox.org) . If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org (http://www.malcolmcox.org/) . Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) God bless, Malcolm PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool" (https://dqzrr9k4bjpzk.cloudfront.net/images/9167082/379662794.jpg) , a devotional look at the Gospel of John mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Today’s Scripture reading comes from Exodus 17:16, quoting from the NASB: “And he said, ‘The LORD has sworn; the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.’” No one desires a persistent enemy. Anyone would be happy for the removal of an irritating thorn in the flesh or for the total eradication of a systemic office problem. The Amalekites may have been a persistent irritation to the Israelites, but who were they to God? They were not a formidable foe for the Lord. For Israel to be in recurring conflict with the Amalekites was certainly better for them than striving against them without the Lord. God’s Word to Moses was that He would utterly destroy the Amalekites. Literally and figuratively, God would be in the battle with Israel against their enemy. While Israel would have preferred a less belligerent journey toward the promised land, they would be comforted in God’s faithful presence. Do you find yourself in a persistently problematic circumstance? The leader’s challenge usually does not end with conquest over one issue before another arrives. In fact, multiple, simultaneous issues often test a leader’s prowess. Our response amid such circumstances should mark us as faithful followers of Christ. Moses availed himself of the help of Aaron and Hur in battling the Amalekites. Jesus accepted the help of Simon from Cyrene in carrying His cross when He was physically overwhelmed. To whom do you turn for help and encouragement when facing a persistent issue? The Amalekites were not Israel’s only enemy, and with the destruction of the Amalekites, God did not cease to be Israel’s “banner.” The point is this: God does not abandon us in the face of weighty circumstances and pressures. Consider God’s prevailing truth and rely on His presence during your times of need for deliverance from nagging circumstances.   // Points to Ponder Over the next week, here are 3 points to ponder during your personal time of reflection or with a small group or mentor. First, he gives strength for the battle and rewards courage and skill. Second, he brings faithful people alongside us to help shoulder the burden of our circumstances. Will we strip off pride and accept offers of help? Third, winning a battle does not mean the war is over. Are you confident in God’s promise of His abiding presence as you fulfill your leadership responsibilities?   // About the Narrator Tom Schmidt was raised in a family of nine on a dairy farm in Kansas. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, graduating in 1970 with a commission in the Infantry. He served for 25 years in command, staff, and instructor assignments, ranging from platoon to Department of the Army level. Tom and his wife, Jean, also served on OCF staff as Field Representative at Ft. Leavenworth and Director of Field Operations.   // Purchase a Copy Call the OCF Home Office at 800-424-1984 to purchase a paperback copy of the book, or buy a Kindle version at Amazon.

Sermon for the Watford church of Christ, 13 September 2020 1. The Desk of Devotion Devoted to God: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42 NIV11) - modelled after the culture Jesus established.  “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (Colossians 4:2 NIV11) A Christian is professionally curious Not a burdening curiosity, but a liberating one, an exciting one, a stimulating one. What does devotion to God mean to you? But, how does this devotion develop, mature, spread……? 2. The Piano Room of Perseverance Perseverance: Acts 2.42 proskartereo: to persevere in; to be close at hand  Sometimes not fun Devoted to one another - “Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:10 NIV11) philostorgos - devoted, loving, good-natured  Conclusion Is God getting your attention in an area that needs perseverance? Is God getting your attention regarding devotion? Please add your comments on this week's topic. We learn best when we learn in community.    Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here's the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org.   If you'd like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.   Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.   God bless, Malcolm mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm's, cox, 

Intro: Last week, we looked at how Peter and John handled themselves when the pressure was on from the authorities and the religious experts forbidding the preaching the gospel. They were accused wrongly for doing an act of kindness and then they were threatened. The council tried to intimidate them into submission. But, God, through the Holy Spirit, gave Peter and John supernatural courage to stand firm with respect. They made it clear to  the council that when it comes to a choice of obeying them or obeying God, they would obey God no matter what the consequences. In this passage today, Peter and John report to the church what happened when they were arrested on false accusation and severely threatened. How the church responded to this report should be a model for how the church today ought to respond. They Prayed They cried out to God They were united e.g. of one accord They affirmed that the Lord is Sovereign In control Directing history towards His purpose They affirmed Him as Creator All powerful All mighty They affirmed that God speaks By the Holy Spirit In and trough His servants e.g. David Psalm 2:1-2 Jesus is the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ They recapped what happened to Jesus Herod and Pilate in conjunction with the Gentile, the people of Israel, conspired against the Messiah But, this was part of God's greater plan of salvation God was still in control They addressed the threats of the Sadducees, the priests, and the rulers made against Peter, John, and by implication, the church They didn't pray that God would take away the opposition They prayed that God would enable the church to speak His Word with great boldness They prayed for signs and wonders to point people to Jesus Christ and the glory of God They prayed that these miracles would be done in the holy name of Jesus. They waited for God's answer The place of their prayer meeting was shaken They were all filled with the Holy Spirit They spoke the Word of God  boldly They opposition grew even more Illustration: The bar in a small town Closing: How about us church? Do you believe that the church needs this kind of urgent and heartfelt corporate prayer? Do we believe in the power of corporate prayer? We are facing threats today also. Some people in positions of  power in politics, education, economics, and science what to marginalize or do away with God. I believe that we will need corporate prayer to ask God to enable us with holy boldness to speak His word even in the face of growing opposition and criticism.

Some who are of the Christian Faith, may ask an Orthodox Christian "why do you pray and ask for help from the Mary, the Mother of God?" They may not know the history in WHY and HOW the Theotokos was not only favored by God, but is also in a favorable place for all of humankind!

https://youtu.be/yT4ofXH7klA Col 3:1-4 READ Saved-Seek-Set-See Make sure you're saved V 1 If then you were raised with Christ, IF THEN- IF IF IFWere you raised with Christ? Were you saved? This is a constant theme- its not because I want the saved questioning their salvation- its because I want the unsaved- to be saved-2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;These are not the times for going back! They are the times for going forward- we need to know that we know down in our know-know who we are and whose we are-Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;Its not about walking around in fear- its about getting so close to Jesus that when things are rotten all around you- you can rest assured in your salvation-People say that- rest assured- but REST- ASSURED- you stop striving- you stop wondering I know I'm saved- I know I'm going- I know Jesus and he knows me- we love each otherHebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.Some people say that any sort of striving is works based salvation- I don't gather that at all- I just don't want to miss out on the things of God- I don't want to take it for grantedWhat relationship flourishes when you take it for granted? We say we have a relationship with Jesus- but then we want to have a double standard and say it doesn't require what a relationship requires- time, investment, vulnerability, honesty. Relationships are RELATINGFriend MF- Didn't talk since 6th grade- hunted him down- didn't reciprocate- over- Not friendsAre you saved? Have you made your calling and election sure?Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.I'm not sure what the broad gate is- but that's not the one I want- I want the narrow gate!Romans 6:4b says “ we also should walk in newness of life.” Are you walking that way?2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new- Have the old things of your life passed away?Colossians 3:10 0 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, THE NEW MAN DOESN'T DO WHAT THE OLD MAN DOESEphesians 4:22-24 READIF you've been raised with Christ- Do it- Working to get Cintas job- and then not showing up? IF you are saved- THEN Seek the things of GOD V2 seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.What are the things that you seek? What are the things that work for?Are you working for the accolades of the world and their possessions or the things of God?I've been pastoring long enough to see the ones who seek after the things that are aboveCan tell you the story lines of the latest shows, but no stories of the bible. Can tell you the stock price but not the scripture address. Work hard to get money but not work hard to gain righteousness. They aren't seeking after God- They are seeking- but not after GodI don't have hobbies- When church is shut down- I'm lost- because I love the things of the LordNothing against hobbies- unless you know and work on that perfection more than ChristPhil 3:12 12 Not that I have already attained,[c] or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.I'm pressing on! I want to more of Jesus- I want to experience more of his grace and mercyRomans 8:6 For to be [a]carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.Do you have more desire to work for the things of this world than the things of GodSeek after the world. Love the world.

https://youtu.be/yT4ofXH7klA Col 3:1-4 READ Saved-Seek-Set-See Make sure you’re saved V 1 If then you were raised with Christ, IF THEN- IF IF IFWere you raised with Christ? Were you saved? This is a constant theme- its not because I want the saved questioning their salvation- its because I want the unsaved- to be saved-2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;These are not the times for going back! They are the times for going forward- we need to know that we know down in our know-know who we are and whose we are-Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;Its not about walking around in fear- its about getting so close to Jesus that when things are rotten all around you- you can rest assured in your salvation-People say that- rest assured- but REST- ASSURED- you stop striving- you stop wondering I know I’m saved- I know I’m going- I know Jesus and he knows me- we love each otherHebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.Some people say that any sort of striving is works based salvation- I don’t gather that at all- I just don’t want to miss out on the things of God- I don’t want to take it for grantedWhat relationship flourishes when you take it for granted? We say we have a relationship with Jesus- but then we want to have a double standard and say it doesn’t require what a relationship requires- time, investment, vulnerability, honesty. Relationships are RELATINGFriend MF- Didn’t talk since 6th grade- hunted him down- didn’t reciprocate- over- Not friendsAre you saved? Have you made your calling and election sure?Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.I’m not sure what the broad gate is- but that’s not the one I want- I want the narrow gate!Romans 6:4b says “ we also should walk in newness of life.” Are you walking that way?2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new- Have the old things of your life passed away?Colossians 3:10 0 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, THE NEW MAN DOESN’T DO WHAT THE OLD MAN DOESEphesians 4:22-24 READIF you’ve been raised with Christ- Do it- Working to get Cintas job- and then not showing up? IF you are saved- THEN Seek the things of GOD V2 seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.What are the things that you seek? What are the things that work for?Are you working for the accolades of the world and their possessions or the things of God?I’ve been pastoring long enough to see the ones who seek after the things that are aboveCan tell you the story lines of the latest shows, but no stories of the bible. Can tell you the stock price but not the scripture address. Work hard to get money but not work hard to gain righteousness. They aren’t seeking after God- They are seeking- but not after GodI don’t have hobbies- When church is shut down- I’m lost- because I love the things of the LordNothing against hobbies- unless you know and work on that perfection more than ChristPhil 3:12 12 Not that I have already attained,[c] or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.I’m pressing on! I want to more of Jesus- I want to experience more of his grace and mercyRomans 8:6 For to be [a]carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.Do you have more desire to work for the things of this world than the things of GodSeek after the world. Love the world.

Jacob explains that the Jews will crucify their God—They will be scattered until they begin to believe in Him—America will be a land of liberty where no king will rule—Reconcile yourselves to God and gain salvation through His grace. About 559–545 B.C.

Jacob explains that the Jews will crucify their God—They will be scattered until they begin to believe in Him—America will be a land of liberty where no king will rule—Reconcile yourselves to God and gain salvation through His grace. About 559–545 B.C.

Moses exhorts the children of Israel to keep the commandments, to teach them to their children, and to be exemplary before all nations—They are forbidden to make graven images or worship other gods—They are to witness that they have heard the voice of God—They will be scattered among all nations when they worship other gods—They ... The post Deuteronomy 4 appeared first on Sacred Text Daily.

Originally produced July 25, 1997: Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), leads a discussion on overcoming religion. Some were raised strict Catholics, others Baptists, Methodists, and other types of Protestants. One woman grew up in South America where people prayed but didn't take responsibility for themselves; she left the hypocrisy, and became atheist. One man was raised agnostic, but experienced problems without a God when life became difficult. Do most people believe in God? They touch on whether Bill Clinton believes in God. Amazing conversation! Is it more difficult for women to forgive and find God than for men? FROM THE ARCHIVES! PLAYLIST: The Jesse Peterson Show (1990s TV) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpSkvyhrlXrbgTTmU_eCq-5qDL79PHKo- SUPERCHATS https://streamlabs.com/bondactioninc/v2 SILENT PRAYER http://silentprayer.video AUDIO https://soundcloud.com/rebuildingtheman/silent-prayer OTHER CHANNELS: BOND https://youtube.com/bondrebuildingtheman TFS https://youtube.com/thefallenstatetv JESSE HAS 3 SHOWS: The Jesse Lee Peterson Show (M-F 6-9am PT) http://jlptalk.com The Fallen State (in-person interviews) http://thefallenstate.tv Church (Sunday 11am PT) http://rebuildingtheman.com/church Do you want a personal shoutout or advice from Jesse? Check out his CAMEO page and book Jesse: https://www.cameo.com/jesseleepeterson Support: 800-411-BOND (or 800-411-2663) https://rebuildingtheman.com/donate/ https://streamlabs.com/bondactioninc/v2 https://www.patreon.com/jesseleepeterson https://www.subscribestar.com/jesseleepeterson https://www.paypal.me/jesseleepeterson ARTICLES: https://www.wnd.com/author/jlpeterson/ BOOKS: http://www.bondinfostore.org T-SHIRTS: JLP https://teespring.com/stores/jesseleepeterson BOND https://teespring.com/stores/rebuildingtheman TFS https://teespring.com/stores/shopthefallenstate TWITTER/FB: https://twitter.com/jlptalk https://www.facebook.com/jlptalk https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJesseLeePeterson ALT MEDIA: https://dlive.tv/jesseleepeterson https://www.bitchute.com/jesseleepeterson/ https://www.minds.com/jesseleepeterson https://gab.ai/jesseleepeterson https://www.twitch.tv/jlptalk DISCORD (new link) https://discord.gg/6d3ahn3

Title: Convince Your Conscience Text: I John 3:19-24 FCF: We often struggle equating feeling distant from God to actually being distant from God. Prop: Because God is always faithful to His children, we must continue to trust and obey Him. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I John chapter 3. Today John will close out the second wave of teaching designed to test whether or not a person who claims to be in Christ, actually has genuine fellowship with God. So far this entire wave of teaching has been focused on faith in Christ as the Messiah of God, and endurance in the covenant community with other believers. A lifestyle of sin and hate is juxtaposed against a lifestyle of love and righteousness. The first is an evidence of being born of Satan, and the second an evidence of being born of God. But having spoken in such black and white terms, having spoken with reference to the eternal and ultimate condition of all God’s people being sinless and holy and lovers of their fellow Christians, John desires to comfort his readers. Because although they may eventually and ultimately be perfect and like Christ, for now – that may seem distant. So John has some reassuring words to offer. Make no mistake, he doesn’t soften his words – but rather gives a fuller understanding of all that He has said. He finishes this wave of teaching with, what I consider, the pinnacle of his letter. And it isn’t even given its own verse. I’m in chapter 3. I’ll start reading in verse 19. I am reading from the NET and if you are at home you can pause your video, go to biblegateway.com and search for our text with the New English Translation as your bible version. Or you can follow along in the version you prefer. Transition: There is some pretty great stuff in this passage of scripture. I hope we leave with a deep appreciation for God and comfort for our wavering hearts. Let’s look!. I.) Even when our conscience condemns us, God knows His children, so we must continue to trust and obey Him. (19-20) a. This sentence from John is incredibly complex. It is so easy to get absolutely lost in it. So for your benefit, rather than including the text on the screen, I have diagramed the sentence in such a way as to help communicate what John is getting at. b. Every time something is below something else it continues the thought along, but the farther to the right it goes, the more dependent it is on what is to the left. c. [Slide 2] 19 - And by this – It is somewhat difficult to know for sure what John is referencing. It could be what He is about to say, or it could be what he just said. It could even be everything he has already said. However, in the context it seems like the most likely candidate is what He has been saying for this entire wave of teaching. Specifically, that anyone in Christ loves in deed and truth others who are in Christ. But more broadly, those who practice righteousness are of God and those who practice sin are of Satan. So by this, namely our changed life. Now, what does our changed life accomplish? i. We will know - Again, knowledge is a big deal. The proto-Gnostics claim to have some secret knowledge that the rest of them didn’t have. John is saying that they will have a certain spiritual knowledge of something by their changed life. He uses the future tense here, meaning he is predicting what will happen by their (himself included) changed life. And the outcome he predicts is that they all will know something. What is it? 1. that we are of the truth – Identity. John’s readers and himself will be certain of who they are. Namely, that they are of the truth. And they will be certain of this because of their changed lifestyles. They practice righteousness and do not practice sin. They love other Christians while the world hates Christians. But that is not all John predicts will come from their changed lifestyles. ii. And will convince – As you know, the Greek manuscripts did not have any punctuation. There is some debate as to whether this phrase begins a new sentence or is connected with the previous one. If it is a separate sentence than the convincing comes from what is later mentioned. If it is the same sentence, it most likely keeps our lifestyle as the proof that will convince us. I think it makes more sense for the change in our lifestyles to still be the prerequisite of this convincing. This word “convince” means to pacify, persuade, set at ease or rest. Assure. How is it different than knowledge? In a very real way, it isn’t. John is saying that we will know and will convince because of our changed life. So why add convince? Well that is where we need to understand what is being convinced. Our knowledge may be something that we come to at a point in time and it continues from there, but convince implies a wrestling or proving. A continued apologetic. So what needs to be convinced? 1. our conscience – The word here is heart. Now heart can mean our whole person or who we really are. However, it can simply refer to the seat of thought, emotion, or even moral attunement. So the NET’s rendering here of conscience seems to fit very well with all of those. Our conscience is something that God has installed to point us toward to His law. It is not sufficient to lead us to salvation. But it does limit sin. So at what point in our lives would our consciences need to be pacified or set to ease or rest? a. in His presence – This dear friend is the time that our conscience needs to be put at ease. When we are in the presence of God. This is not speaking of proximity so much as it is awareness. We are aware that the righteous judge can see all that we are. Indeed, better than we can. So why is it that our consciences would need to be soothed after being made aware that it is in God’s presence? 2. This next clause does not expand on the idea of being in God’s presence, but rather goes back to the soothing or convincing of our conscience. Our new lifestyles will convince our conscience but to what end? 20 to the effect that if [or perhaps when or whenever] our conscience condemns us – So John is positing a scenario. Our changed lifestyle will convince our conscience to the effect that whenever our conscience condemns us. Well why would our conscience condemn us? Friends, this is the reason God put it in us. It testifies against us when we violate His law, even if we have no knowledge of His law. When we are keenly aware of God’s view into our hearts and that all things lay naked and bare before the eyes of the one who is the righteous judge – our consciences narc on us with reckless abandon. That is the way they were designed to operate – and that is what they do. When we get a sense that God is peering into us – namely through His Word and His Spirit, the alarm of our conscience sounds accusing us of sin before Him. But when our lives have been changed, when our lifestyles have been altered, our conscience will be convinced, even in the presence of God, even If they are accusing us, they will be convinced. But convinced of what? a. That God is greater than – God enters the mix. God is greater. Greater than what? 3. Our conscience and – that even our feelings of condemnation that comes from within us are being silenced because God is greater than our conscience – but not only that but also because God… iii. knows all things – Notice the way that the sentence has broadened back out. Through our lifestyles changing we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence. To the effect that when our conscience condemns us, We believe that God is greater and knows all iv. God who knows all and is greater than our conscience, changes our lifestyles. This provides us with the knowledge that we are of the truth and the convincing that our conscience needs. d. [Slide 3] Passage Truth: John is saying to his readers that God changes who they are. He is greater than our conscience, He knows all things, and in His children, He will give them victory over sin and to righteousness. And in that victory, we can both know we are of the truth and pacify our condemning consciences. e. Passage Application: John hasn’t quite made it to the application yet – but we already are picking up hints of it. Simply put, it is to obey God. Because if we are able to do that, then it means that God has given us the power and passion to do it, which is an astounding assurance to an accusing conscience that although we may not be what God wants us to be yet – He is still moving us toward that end. f. [Slide 4] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the whole of scripture we see this theme come up many times. In the Old Testament we see God say things like – obey and live, obey and I will bless you, and in the New Testament – with the New Covenant in Christ’s blood – it has never been truer. Obedience, lifestyle change, is only possible in Christ. So if you obey – what amazing assurance that you are God’s. g. Broader Biblical Application: Faith over feelings friends. If your life has been altered – and your conscience condemns you – TRUST GOD! He has provided a test for you to know that you are His. What is that test? That your life is changed! So listen to your conscience, repent of sin, and practice righteousness, and thus prove that you are of the truth! Why? Because if you weren’t you wouldn’t listen to your conscience, you wouldn’t repent, and you couldn’t practice righteousness! Transition: [Slide 5(blank)] So already we are comforted to know that when our conscience condemns us, we can convince it of God’s power and knowledge by our changed life. But what if our conscience doesn’t condemn us? Should it? Should we be a people who live in constant judgment by our own feelings? II.) Unfettered communion with God benefits His children, so we must continue to trust and obey Him. (21-22) a. [Slide 6] 21 – Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God, i. Perhaps his readers, having heard the greatness it is to have a God greater than our feelings, wonder if it is wrong to feel as though they are blameless before God? ii. Is it ever ok to feel as though I am accepted of God? iii. John says yes. iv. You don’t have to be perfect to feel accepted as a Son. v. Really all that is required to feel accepted is to trust God and do as He says. vi. In other words, John says, when God has successfully convinced your conscience through changing your lifestyle, that is a good thing. And it has a wonderful byproduct of having confidence before God. vii. [Slide 7] Hebrews 4:14-16 - After all – are we not bid to approach boldly before the throne of God? Where we can receive mercy and find grace. b. [Slide 8] 22 – and whatever we ask we receive from Him i. Ok, so here is a pretty tough phrase to understand. It seems like John is saying that we can ask anything from God and get it. ii. This view is tempered by the rest of scripture and even later John says whatever we ask in the will of God will be heard. So we have to limit this down a little. iii. What is John saying? iv. Well our changed lifestyles convince our conscience in the presence of God. Therefore, when we stand before God and are confident, to the extent that we ask Him for help or aid, we know that we will receive it v. Why? c. [Slide 9] Because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing to Him. i. [Slide 10] On the negative side - Prov 28:9 – we understand that those who do not obey God – have no audience with Him. ii. Meaning that our only path to receiving what God wants for us to have is to approach as an obedient servant. iii. [Slide 11] Or to say it another way: Our obedience does not earn what we have requested, but it enables our asking. iv. And our doing the things that are pleasing to God does not earn what we have requested, but keeps us from asking amiss. d. [Slide 12] Passage Truth: John tells his readers that confidence before God is the happy goal of all His children. And that confidence, that intimacy, that communion has marvelous benefits for His children. Which includes having a God who wants to give us liberally out of the abundance of His mercy and Grace, all that we need to be what He has called us to. He will supply and we will receive more than we could ask or think. e. Passage Application: Again, John hasn’t overtly told us what the application is – but he is getting pretty close. How about that concept of obeying His commands and doing as He pleases? Has that come up before? You better believe it. f. [Slide 13] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out, we see a God who is faithful to His people. When they are obedient and doing as he asks, they are blessed by Him. The New Covenant spin on this is that there is no point that God abandons His children. He continues to form them into what He wants them to be, and in so doing provides them the confidence they need to approach His throne seeking mercy and finding grace. All they come for in His will – He gives to them liberally, because He is rich in mercy and abounding in Grace. g. Broader Biblical Application: And so why wouldn’t we ask if we are people whose lives have been changed by His grace? Why wouldn’t we come boldly to receive mercy for our failure and find grace for future victory? Communion with God always leaves us filled, satisfied and whole. This is the general and normal experience with our God. Occasionally – we remain dry or hungry – but this is typically a trial and won’t last forever. Transition: [Slide 14(blank)] God’s desire is for His children to enter His throne room boldly! To access all that He has for us. That is great! Amazing actually. But how do we know? How do we know that this is gonna work or that it is working? III.) God gives His true children His Spirit, so we must continue to trust and obey Him. (23-24) a. [Slide 15] 23 – Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He gave us the commandment. i. This is God’s command to us. It IS His command. An enduring command. A standing order. ii. It is not a one and done kind of deal. iii. It is to what? iv. We believe. What does this mean? v. Have faith. Receive Faith. Possess faith! This isn’t decision language; it is capture language. The rope of faith is being thrown at you – catch it! vi. And what is that faith in? What is the source? Who is holding the other end? vii. The name of Christ! His authority, His power, His atonement. viii. This is the only measure we have to be in a right standing with God. That we dangle from the rope given to us by Christ and continually held by Christ. ix. But it is not the sum total of the gospel. The sum total of the gospel is not just receiving a faith from Christ, but it is also being changed by Grace to be a people who have altered lifestyles. x. He is not content to let us dangle but will bring us to Himself. xi. And in both of these commands we do not, nor can we see them as producing our salvation but rather as evidences of our salvation. xii. Again, this is a challenging concept to understand, especially if we have always been taught that it is by our act of belief that we are brought to life in Christ. xiii. Rather these are commands that can only be followed by someone who has been brought to life by God in Christ. xiv. And so, this is the enduring command that we have – to believe on Christ and love one another. These are enduring evidences of our new life in Christ. This is how we know that we have been born of God. Which is EXACTLY what John says next. b. [Slide 16] 24 – And the person who keeps his commandments resides in God, and God in Him. i. The one who keeps His commands – specifically these two commands and every other command within them – reveals that His status has been changed from in darkness to in light. ii. We are in God and He is in us. c. [Slide 17] Now by this we know that God resides in us: by the Spirit He has given us. i. This little statement, in my humble opinion, should have been given its own verse. ii. This little statement is the GREAT Summery statement of all that John has taught from chapter 1:1 until now. iii. Everything that John has said. And everything John will say. Every test for genuine fellowship with God. This truth in us, this light in which we walk, this new relationship to sin, this new relationship to the world, this anointing, this new relationship to righteousness, this fathering of God, this seed, this love of fellow Christians – ALL OF IT iv. Is only possible by the grace of God – the Divine Wind – the Spirit of the living God making us alive with Christ and enabling us to walk in His ways. v. It serves as the pivot point, the middle of the letter. He has completed the second test and will now give two more – but the apex – the pinnacle of it all is this statement. vi. You want evidence that you are truly in fellowship with God? vii. Try to obey Him. If you cannot succeed. If you continue to fail. If you can’t hate your sin, if you can’t love God’s law, if you can’t love His people, if you can’t practice righteousness, if you can’t be more like Christ, if you can’t display fruit of the Spirit, if you don’t have a gift from the Spirit – then you lack His Spirit. viii. This statement… is HUGE. It literally changes everything. ix. Does your life show the scars of the Holy Sprit’s amputation of your sin? Does your life show the power and passion of God as He uses His Spirit to press you into the mold of Christ? x. If there is no evidence of God’s Spirit in your life… then you are not in God, and He is not in you. d. [Slide 18] Passage Truth: So John’s point to His readers is that those who are in God now possess His Spirit and with His Spirit they are given desire and ability to be and do what God has commanded them to be and do. e. Passage Application: Therefore, they ought to continue grasp hold of the faith that was given to them that is rooted in Christ, His person and His work. And they ought to continue to love other Christians as a defining expression of God’s grace at work in them. f. [Slide 19] Broader Biblical Truth: God’s Spirit has been at work from creation in various ways. Coming upon and enabling people to do mighty things in God’s will. And now, he lives in each and every child of God. We have a constant supply – a steady stream of God’s desires and God’s power to do what He has purposed for us to do. g. Broader Biblical Application: So have faith and obey. Trust and obey. Be and do. Catch and Climb. This is the core of the Christian life. God, the Triune, has secured His children and will continue to press them into the mold of Christ. So trust and obey. Transition: [Slide 20(blank)] Let’s put all we have learned together to see how we should live. Conclusion: Our conscience, our moral tuning fork, kicks into overdrive when we are brought to life in Christ. His desires become our desires. His ways our ways. We love His law and hate sin. All of a sudden, our moral tuning fork becomes very sensitive. I’m sure at the beginning of your Christian walk, every time you sinned you wondered… am I a believer? John does not deny that our conscience will continue to condemn us, because that is what it is for. But he does remind his readers that God is greater than our conscience and knows and loves His dear children. And if earthly fathers who are evil know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more so will A Holy Father give good gifts to His? God’s good gifts to us are chiefly eternal ones. He gives love to us to love others with. He gives a new heart to us with which we can hate sin more and love His law more. And chiefly, at its pinnacle, He gives us His Spirit. I’m not sure we will ever truly grasp the mystery that it is to have the Spirit of God in us. And friends the primary purpose of our unity with the Spirit of God is to help us to continue to trust Him and continue to practice righteousness and kill sin. That is the primary showing of love from God to His children. That we are pressed into the mold of His dear son through the Guidance of His Spirit in us. God has comfort for your condemning conscience, but it is not separated from His ongoing purifying of your life to look more like Christ. In fact, the way he pacifies your condemning conscience is by transforming you to be and do what He wants you to be and do. Our identity is found in Christ and is evidenced by a life that has been changed. So what does all this mean for us? If you feel guilty before God for sins you have committed. That is a good thing. Guilt is the check engine light that warns you that something is wrong. But true children of God don’t smack the dashboard or gouge out the light to make it go away. Instead true Christians search to rid themselves of the problem that caused the light to come on. We do this by repenting of our sins and enduring in faith and obedience to the Lord. Sometimes we may need to seek help to keep us accountable. But true Christians, ultimately, trust God and obey Him. [Slide 21] But there are two conditions that I need to warn you about. Two conditions that are quite troubling. 1.) The overactive Conscience – People with the overactive conscience are typified by enduring guilt and paralyzing fear that they are not performing adequately for a Holy God to accept. And messages that emphasize holiness and purity are crippling to them as they continue to heap the coals of judgment upon their own heads and feel farther and farther from the love of God. a. What is the solution for such a person? b. We might wrongly think that they need to be assured that God loves them. That Jesus died for their sin. That they are free of condemnation in Christ. Now these are all true – but they are not the solution to their problem. They don’t need to have their sin minimized. Instead they need to be free of their sin. They must repent of the sins that they have committed and ALSO they must be encouraged to believe that God not only wants victory for them over this sin – but is ready to give them all they need for that victory. c. Going back to our illustration of the check engine light – it would be the equivalent of someone seeing the light come on and instantly feeling dread come over them. And each time it comes on it continues to convince them that they are only miles away from certain catastrophic failure. In such cases, it does no good to remind them that they have the money to buy a new car or that their mechanics is more than capable of restoring the car once it finally fails. The only advice that is reasonable is to tell them to take it to their mechanic now and make sure that the car is in top condition. And keep taking it back occasionally for checkups. d. Staying in a constant state of conscience condemnation is not what God’s children are doomed to. Instead, God wants His dear children to confidently approach Him and know that they are of the truth. He does this by actively helping them to change their lifestyles and therefore convince their consciences that they are His. e. Therefore, for those whose conscience is overactive, you have a faith problem. Believe that God not only forgives but will give victory. Go to His throne and receive mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. Live in victory… not defeat. 2.) The seared conscience - People with seared consciences are those who never see their sin. Unfortunately it is difficult to determine if such a person is a Christian or not. But that is why God has given the church. We love one another in deed and in truth. We go to each other and rebuke, exhort, correct, and instruct. We counsel each other and point out blind spots to one another. When this is done, a genuine Christian responds in repentance and humility. But for the one with a seared conscience this is not the case. What do they do instead? a. They dismiss the truth. They quibble over definitions of words. They defend their actions by citing worse actions of others. Rather than appreciating help from someone saying “hey, I smell burning oil in this car” they say “Hey man! Don’t make fun of my car!” b. Overall, the person with a seared conscience is unable to see their own sin. Their check engine light is broken and they know nothing about cars. They have convinced themselves that they are above such matters. They can confess sins to others on their terms. Sins they feel others do also. But when it comes to actual sins that they alone are being confronted of. Sins that do not have a physical manifestation but are of their character – they cannot see these things. c. In fact, they confidently stand before God – They foolishly come to His throne neither truly believing they need mercy nor really understanding why they would want grace. d. So how do we help someone with a seared conscience? They are a different case altogether. Until they are humble enough to repent and receive instruction – they cannot be helped. God must break them down to see the truth. But God has afforded the church a disciplinary procedure to insure the purity of the church as well as shake the seared conscience. e. As more and more people implore them to repent of their sin and come back into step with what the Lord commands, the pressure mounts. And we have a promise from our God that when we gather and agree on the fate of such a one in Church discipline - that it is something that has already been decided in heaven. God blesses when we meet and decide on an outcome. And he blesses in that outcome as well. f. Either someone who has been excommunicated will return and repent or they will never return and thus prove that they were never part of the assembly at all. [Slide 22(end)] So how do we avoid an overactive conscience and a seared conscience? We must continue to depend on Christ for all we are. Not you, not your power, not your wisdom, not your plan, not your goals, not your money – Christ Alone. And obey. Hate sin, love His law, listen to spiritual mentors, follow their guidance, and seek further growth. Be accountable. Because if we continue to trust God, and continue to obey His precepts, this is, of itself, the standard by which we can know we are of the truth. It is how we can convince our consciences of God’s love for us. It is how we gain confidence to approach Him for all our needs. And when we approach Him in this way He will enable us to continue to trust and obey. It is a cycle of blessing that the Father has for all His children.

Our seventh message in Romans focuses on those who really don't trust God. Paul condemns the UNBELIEF of Jews, even though they had an advantaged position and the sign of circumcision... they had even been entrusted with the very oracles of God- They were extraordinary in every way, but as a nation they chose to not trust God. Though they lived in disbelief, this did not nullify the faithfulness of God. May it never be- God is the only one who is proving Himself genuine, real and blameless, otherwise He could never judge the falsehoods of mankind. The UNRIGHTEOUSNESS of men is not required to demonstrate the righteousness of God. He is holy, and His wrath is just, so His judgment will be correct - we are not to do evil they good may come. Our sin does not benefit God by making His truthfulness stand out. Thus, His condemnation of sinners is also just and deserved.

Moses exhorts the children of Israel to keep the commandments, to teach them to their children, and to be exemplary before all nations—They are forbidden to make graven images or worship other gods—They are to witness that they have heard the voice of God—They will be scattered among all nations when they worship other gods—They ... The post Deuteronomy 4 appeared first on Sacred Text Daily.

How can the world know the things of God? They can read about them, but they cannot know them without the Spirit of God; . . . They know nothing about this kingdom; we do not expect them to know. . . . (Brigham Young, JD 11:250)   For 2000 years the definition of the Kingdom of God has been discussed and debated by some of the brightest Christian minds. Not only has this caused confusion and misdirection, but it has even resulted in war, destruction, and death. Thus, it is important for us to understand God’s Kingdom if we ever expect to have a part in it.   The scriptures often mention both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. Some people claim they are the same, while others think there is a difference. In reality, the major distinction is in their location. The Kingdom of God can refer to an earthly or heavenly kingdom; whereas the Kingdom of Heaven refers just to the kingdom in heaven. It is similar to talking about the Church of Christ, or more specifically the Church of Christ in Jerusalem. John Taylor gave one of the most direct and most correct definitions that has ever been presented. It was the first sentence in his book entitled The Government of God: “The Kingdom of God, is the government of God, on the earth or in the heavens.” (p. 1)  

LEVITICUS 1-2:Yesterday at the end of Exodus, the worship in the completed and dedicated tabernacle was started. Leviticus is a continuation of Exodus, in the same way that Exodus is a continuation of Genesis. Leviticus also starts with the word ‘And’.  The title once again comes from Latin Vulgate which was based on the name in the Septuagint. So the name does not come from the Hebrew. Because of the name, many think that this book is a handbook only for the priests. Not so. Wenham (from Constable) states: “It would be wrong, however, to describe Leviticus simply as a manual for priests. It is equally, if not more, concerned with the part the laity should play in worship. Many of the regulations explain what the layman should sacrifice. They tell him when to go to the sanctuary, what to bring, and what he may expect the priest to do when he arrives. Most of the laws apply to all Israel: only a few sections specifically concern the priests alone, e.g., chs. 21—22. The lay orientation of the legislation is particularly noticeable in ch. 23, where the whole emphasis lies on the days that must be observed as days of sabbath rest.” Many New Testament concepts are foreshadowed in this book, such as the seriousness of sin in God’s sight, the necessity of atonement of sin, the holiness of God, and the necessity of a mediator between God and Man. H.C. Mears says, “In Genesis we see humanity ruined, in Exodus, humanity redeemed, and in Leviticus, humanity worshipping.” One can’t read this book without being thankful to Christ Jesus for His sacrifice which fulfills the incredibly detailed laws about sacrifice for us. PSALM 10:E.C. Olsen says this Psalm has “a triple theme: the silence of God, the despair of the humble, and the pride of the wicked.” This Psalm doesn't give us all the answers, but we know God understands how we feel about these things. LUKE 8:At the end of Luke 7 we read about how Jesus was anointed by a sinful woman, and how Jesus answered the silent criticism of Simon, the pharisee. GNT Translation notes:Ps. 10:3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires;[greedy people curse and reject You, Lord.//the greedy curse and reject the Lord.]4 The wicked do not care about [You//the Lord];in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.5 The wicked succeed in everything.They cannot understand [Your//God's] judgments;they sneer at their enemies.6 They say to themselves, “We will never fail;we will never [get//be] in trouble.”9 they wait in their hiding place like lions.They lie in wait for the poor;they catch them in their traps and drag them away. (People like me!)16 [You, O Lord, are//The Lord is] king forever and ever.Those who worship other godswill vanish from [your//his] land.====Luk. 8:2 and so did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases[://.] [Here are their names:] Mary [(the woman from the village of Magdala)//(who was called Magdalene)], from whom seven demons had been driven out; 8 And some seeds fell in good soil; the plants grew and bore grain, one hundred grains each [stalk].” NLT Translation notes:Lev. 1:12 Then [you/0] cut the animal in pieces, and the priests will arrange the pieces of the offering, including the head and fat, on the wood burning on the altar.[Modern readers tend to think that the priests did all the messy bloody work. Not so!]====Ps. 10:2 The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor.[Why not let/Let] them be caught in the evil they plan for others[?!/.]4 The wicked are too proud to seek [You,  O God!// God.]They seem to think that [You are dead!//God is dead.][Compare with CEV on using 2nd person here.]8 They lurk in ambush in the villages,waiting to murder innocent people [(like me)!//.]10 Their helpless victims [(like me)//0] are crushed;they fall beneath the strength of the wicked.12 Arise, O L ORD !Punish the wicked, O God!Do not ignore [us helpless people/the helpless people]!13 Why do the wicked get away with despising [You, O//0] God?They think, “God will never call us to account.”14 But you [really do//0] see the trouble and grief they cause.You take note of it and [will/0] punish them.The helpless put their trust in you.You [really do] defend the orphans[!/.]15 [Oh, break//Break] the arms of these wicked, evil people!Go after them until the last one is destroyed.17 LORD , you [really do//0] know the hopes of the helpless!.Surely you will hear [our/their] cries and comfort [us/them].====Luk. 8:7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up [with the tender young plants and choked them out.//it and choked out the tender plants.] 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, [“You people have ears to hear with, don't you?! Well then, listen and understand!”//Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.][Seed is a collective noun, therefore plural!]9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 Hereplied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets a of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others sothat the Scriptures might be fulfilled [where God said//0]:‘When they look, they won’t really see.When they hear, they won’t understand.’25 Then he asked them, “[Whatever happened to the idea of your believing in Me?!”//Where is your faith?]The disciples were terrified and amazed. “[What kind of man is this?!//Who is this man?]” they asked each other.“When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”30 Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”“[Batalion/Legion],” he replied, for he was filled with many demons.32 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs.[0/So] Jesus gave them permission.[The Greek ‘kai’ (and) is frequently left untranslated on purpose. I definitely don't like the addition of a 'So' logical connector here.]34 When the herdsmen saw [what happened//it], they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.35 People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they [all we overcome with fear//all became afraid//were afraid].48 “[0//Daughter],” he said to her, “[You are now healed because you believe fully in Me.//your faith has made you well.] Go in peace.”[Jesus does call her 'daughter' in Greek. But people can often get the wrong impression from that. One common wrong implication would be that this woman was younger than Jesus. If the translator changes to something like 'woman', then there are other problems with wrong implications. Other options I have thought of sound unnatural. For naturalness sake, it sounds best and most natural to me to just leave the word out.]50 But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. [Just keep believing fully in Me//Just have faith], and she will be healed.”

Peter described how the prophets of old foresaw the sufferings of Christ, but did not grasp their true meaning. They were told of these things by the Spirit of Christ that was in them, that same Spirit that quickens poor dead sinners and causes us to understand what those prophets could not.----In reviewing the Old Testament testimony to Christ's suffering, we noticed that Psalms 40 and 69 both address the unsatisfactory nature of animal offerings, and the Lord Jesus being brought in by God to make the perfect sacrifice in the place of sinners.----Our sins were laid on Jesus and He was treated as guilty in our place. He preached righteousness, and yet He was treated shamefully and full of reproach. He was smitten by God in our place, and wicked men persecuted Him on the cross.----These Psalms also predict that Jesus would be lifted up as God's salvation - both on Calvary's tree, and at the right hand of God-----They also told of how Messiah would be despised for His Gospel preaching, how He would be forsaken by His own brethren.----The zeal of God's house would eat Him up- The disciples connected this prophecy with Jesus' cleansing of the temple, which won Him powerful enemies who ultimately would put Him to death.----The Lord Jesus knew this perfectly well, for when they objected to His temple cleansing, He told them they would try to destroy His body, but He would rise again the third day-----Jesus knew that His zeal for God's house would result in their murdering Him on the cross.----In His thirst on the cross, the Psalmist had predicted they would insult Him with vinegar to drink.----It was the Lord Jesus Who made sure God's Word was fulfilled to the last letter.

We are in Exodus, learning more about the law, and why it was so helpful to the Israelites as God was beginning to "Build a People". How did the law function for these people? How did it define how to continue to live as a people of God? They now have their freedom, and their God, but after years of captivity - no idea how to be God's people. God invites them, and us, to be His covenant community. To further understand the rest of the story, read Exodus 16 - 23.

Luke 15:11-31 Once upon a time there was peace between God and the people. They were happy together. In fact, you could hardly distinguish one from the other, for God walked among the people. She loved them like her children. God took care of the people to the best of her abilities and the people worshiped and thanked God to the measure of their blessedness and gratitude. The latter never quite measured up to the former, of course, but God was ok with that. After all, it is human to fall short of expectations. God and the people had a strong relationship because God was the deliverer who had helped the people in their time of need. And though the people were rather forgetful about their sojourns and hardship and the way God had delivered them, they loved God nonetheless and called on God for their daily provisions. There was peace in the land and hope for tomorrow. God’s Departure But one day God said something that startled everybody. “I want to leave,” God said. “I know I have eternity to do all the stuff I want, but you people don’t. And since there’s more of you where you came from, I want to explore humanity before you all go extinct. I want to experience the world before it is no longer.” It was clear God meant it because she had her coat in her hand, a backpack on her shoulders, and she was wearing a hat against the sun. “But haven’t you given us eternal life,” the people retorted, not knowing what was more baffling, God’s desire to leave or God’s talk about humanity’s extinction.  “Well, I’ve saved you in your time of need. ‘Eternal’ is a big word, don’t you think?” God answered.  “Aren’t you supposed to take care of us and stuff”?, they managed in utter confusion. “Eternal life, I gave you, alright,” God said, “but it’s kinda tiring making this thing eternal given your proclivity at ecological self-destruction. So, please give me my dues and I’ll be off. It’s time to have some fun.” Angry and confused the people gathered the things they owed God, which all of a sudden wasn’t so much anymore. God didn’t seem to care. There’s only so many things you can fit in a backpack. And so God left, leaving the people behind in bewilderment. From one moment to the next, they had lost every sense of meaning to their lives. They had to make the best of it now without divine providence, spiritual guidance, and future hope. And that is a lot to take. As long as everything fits together you don’t quite realize how important meaning and hope are. The people didn’t seem to to bothered too much, though. They went on with their daily business and generally coped well with the new situation. God strode onward and upward to a future where he pursued every aspiration, even the ones that would have been unthinkable under the terms of the relationship with the people he had left behind. In the Far Country And sure, the wonders of the world proved to be intoxicating. God aligned himself with the powerful and that proved a very potent combination. God, being God, was able to to bestow favors on the emperors, kings, and prelates. They wielded power in the Name of the most High and in turn were blessed with power, wealth, harems, slaves, grand palaces, and conquest. Lot’s of conquest, actually. Nobody realized that God also bestowed favors on the kings and moguls on the other side of the battlefield. As a side-business God started getting involved in philosophy. This was not just for the fun of it. In order to maintain the power bestowed on the powerful there was more needed than military might, economic exploitation, and political intrigue. People’s imagination needed to be filled with a grand vision of a divine cosmic Lord who stood behind and backed the claims to power of the powerful. Only then, would people bow down in reverence for their queens and kings. The best king is one descended from the gods. Other than that it was also plain fun to go along with human thinking about divine beings. Moving from polytheism to monotheism was an interesting experiment, but it worked. God felt really proud over the accomplishment. Better even was the integration of the supernatural and the natural, or grace and nature, revelation and world (whatever dualism works, right?). Not only did this help people to see their queens and kings as part of an unalterable divine order, but it also gave them the idea that somehow they had a grip on reality. God chuckled, in this way God was still doing the people a favor. But too much order was rather monotonous and so God always maintained some chaos, armed conflicts, and bacchanals to keep things interesting. However, after seeing all the vices of humanity on display and fully enjoying every one of them to the satisfaction of every lustful desire and debase imagination, God became bored. There’s only so many times you can get drunk, get laid, torture, execute, or enslave someone. God may be infinite, but even infinity cannot handle all the philosophy books written by humanity. God’s patience with humanity had run out before humanity had run its own course. Divine Beggar It may have been a very long time in human terms, but God finally had become tired of the games power, entertainment, philosophy, and wealth. God starting slacking. What is worse, the people that were dependent on God for their power and theories started seeing through the nonsense that God had come up with all these times. Bestowing power on those in power became increasingly hard. This turned out to have severe consequences for God. There came a point where those in power came to the realization that power was more easily to maintain when there was no faith in God, or perhaps a token lip service. It was much easier to give people the illusion that they were free to pursue the very things that were previously only beholden to the powerful. In their pursuit of consumerist freedom people were willing to ignore injustice, power games and even sell their souls to the devil.  The philosophers had led the way in making this possible. They were the first to doubt all the claims that God had come up with to aid the queens and kings in their lust for power and money. Initially a threat to the powerful, the philosophers quickly became their allies once they realized that God was their common enemy. So they took from God the robe they had given him to wear, dragged God off the golden throne God was sitting on, gave him a good flogging, paraded him through the streets as a criminal and then kicked him out of the city. “Away with you,” they said, “Thou art a mere figment of our imagination, the specter of our worst nightmares. Don’t you ever stop us from becoming lords of the universe.” “How dare you,” God stammered, “I’ve given everything I have to you. I have made you immortal kings who reign with me in heaven. I’ve given you everything you desire. In my Name you have ruled and now you tell me to leave?” “You can have your heaven! God there and, please, never return,” they exclaimed and in an attempt to underscore God’s newly gained powerlessness, they taunted him: “Kill us then! Annihilate us with your so-called eternal damnation.” “He ain’t got it in him,” others said. It was true. God knew it. All this talk about omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence… it was all philosophical bullshit. Most people didn’t even know what the terms meant anymore. And so there was nothing left for God but to leave. “But is there nothing that I can do?,” God whimpered, “I need to eat too, you know.” “Well, sure, you can live in the few churches that are not abandoned yet and feed yourself with the leftover host and wine from communion, if there is any. Ha ha ha!” God’s Return As God was sitting in a shaded corner of an old cathedral of a big city in Europe, he watched as only a handful of people filled the sanctuary. “There’s not going to be much bread to eat tonight,” God mused quietly. Suddenly he felt very sad as the full force of his lowly state hit home. And that’s where it happened. God said to himself: “What if I returned to my people? Will they receive me? Over here I’m starving. I’ll just tell them I’m not worthy to be their God and that I’ll just be a servant working the field.” After gathering up the courage, God got up and started on God’s way back to the people God had abandoned earlier. God was wearing rags and truly looked like a beggar. “Will they even recognize me?,” God thought, but such negative prospects couldn’t stop God anymore. After a long and arduous journey God arrived at where his people lived. As was to be expected, there was no one on the lookout. It still hurt though. A few children looked up from their games and moved to the other side of the street and continued to play. A few streets down God noticed a church building where a meeting was about to start. God stepped inside the building and noticed that it was a commemoration service on behalf of God. Happily surprised God stammered with an awkward smile: “Hi, I’m back … I’m … God.” God recognized several of the members from earlier days but the recognition was not mutual. “Please, dude, we have no need for wannabes,” one said. “We’re sad God is gone but would like to think of the good times we had. You can join or shut up.” “Bye bye Jesus,” another member joked. “Or Krishna, Mohammed, or Gautama,” grinned the first one again. Dizzy in his head, God staggered outside. This was not what he had expected, though he knew things would be tough. God went to the house of one of the leaders in the community, with whom he always had had a good relationship. Sure enough, his wife opened the door, but not with a smile. “Hi, Sandra,” God said with a shy smile. “Please go away,” Sandra said, “and never show up at my house again.” “I’m sorry I left,” God muttered, “but I’m back for good. If you’ll have me.” Tears filled Sandra’s eyes. “It was actually good you left because it forced me to take a hard look at my relationship with you and my fellow believers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is that as a woman I was alway subjugated under the power of men who were bent on preserving the leadership for themselves. I’m done with this god-thing. It’s time to feel like a woman! To be honest, your departure was my liberation. I’m sorry, but I can’t and will not have you back in my life.” God didn’t know how to respond and hurried down  the driveway toward the street. Just a few hundred yards from the market square God bumped into a bunch of theologians. “Sure, they will welcome me,” God thought, “After all they need me and faith in me to make an income.” The theologians, however, laughed at God, because already knew that God was dead. In fact their theories were based on God’s death so not only did the introduction of God strike them as nonsensical but they were not exactly waiting for someone to challenge their ideas. “Come join us,” they said, “Let’s celebrate the true freedom that God brought in God’s death. The ultimate sublation of divine love into creation.” One gave God an irreverent but friendly pat on the left cheek: “You look pretty pale for a Divine Other.” They all laughed as they hurried on to their beer church event and left God standing in the cold. The Peasant God ran away, to the outskirts of town, in search of shelter for the night. There, in the margin of society God met the weak, the powerless, the oppressed, and the hungry. “Hey,   I’m one of you,” God whispered by way of introduction with an expression of belonging on God’s face. “I’ve come here to be on your side. But for a brief lapse in judgment, you’ve always been the objects of my preferential option.” But the poor did not welcome God either. They did not mistake God for somebody else or deny God his existence. Instead they had a few simple questions. “Lord, when we were hungry, did you feed us? When we were thirsty, did you give us something to drink? When we were strangers, did you invite us in or give us clothes to wear? When we were in prison, did you visit us?” “Well, when were you hungry, or thirsty, or naked?” God asked.  “How about now, God?” They said with a stern face. “Truly, whatever you did not do for one of the least of us, you did not do for all of us.” With great sadness God left the city and was never seen again. Rumor has it that he went about from town to town as a wandering peasant teaching the masses about love and justice always in search of a home. Music by Looped Exodus and Trevor Gordon Hall ©Written and narrated by Jos (Josh) de Keijzer.This story was taken from the (Dutch) yet to be published manuscript 'The Prodigal God and Other Unalogies'. Only this one story was translated to English but if any publisher feels like they've struck something with this, please use the contact form on this website to get in contact and see what we can make happen.

This week Amera and Mike explore the question "How do we know God?" They look at 8 ways we all encounter the Divine and discuss how to recognize them when you see them.

In this episode, Kyle, JT, and Jen continue their discussion of the Apostles' Creed by asking, "Who is God?" They talk about how the Apostles' Creed helps in our understanding of how to answer that question.

…Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:26-27) The message of the Gospel God’s people, believing sinners, are in Christ “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight” before the Father (Colossians 1:22). The disciples asked this question “who is able to be saved?” Our Lord answered “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:26-27). Only in Christ can sinful men be found holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight. Beloved, look to Christ and be saved; the author and finisher of our faith, indeed of all our salvation (Hebrews 12:2). The minister of the Gospel The minister of the Gospel can say with Paul, I am made a minister. You see, he is not self made, he’s not man made, he’s God made. Well, that begs the question; how can you know that a minister is God made and truly sent of God? They fulfill the word of God: how is that? They preach the word of truth. In a word they preach Christ: what does that mean? Our Lord said “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Beloved, God’s minister does not shun to declare unto you all the counsel of God. A so called minister that says Christ died for the sins of everyone, neither honors the Son nor the Father; and rejects to declare the Gospel of Christ’s own words “this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I SHOULD LOSE NOTHING” (John 6:39). The miracle of the Gospel Friend, let me tell you plainly, God is 100% sovereign and you are 100% responsible for your sins. If you neglect such a great salvation, indeed such a great Saviour, and end up in the lake of fire: The blame will be entirely yours and you’ll perish along with your wicked thoughts; wicked thoughts of being reconciled to God through your person and works and not through the blessed person and the finished saving work of Christ. How fearful it will be for those that neglect such a great salvation! (Hebrews 2:3) Repent sinner and believe Christ. It is the desire of every believer, it is my desire, if God be pleased, according to the good pleasure of His will, that you be made to know you are made perfect by the righteousness of Christ for ever. (Isaiah 32:17) I pray that our sovereign God would be pleased to use the gospel of His dear Son to show you the miracle of the Gospel. Beloved, you are found perfect in Christ Jesus to the honour and praise of His name. AMEN! (Colossians 2:10)

…Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:26-27) The message of the Gospel God’s people, believing sinners, are in Christ “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight” before the Father (Colossians 1:22). The disciples asked this question “who is able to be saved?” Our Lord answered “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:26-27). Only in Christ can sinful men be found holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight. Beloved, look to Christ and be saved; the author and finisher of our faith, indeed of all our salvation (Hebrews 12:2). The minister of the Gospel The minister of the Gospel can say with Paul, I am made a minister. You see, he is not self made, he’s not man made, he’s God made. Well, that begs the question; how can you know that a minister is God made and truly sent of God? They fulfill the word of God: how is that? They preach the word of truth. In a word they preach Christ: what does that mean? Our Lord said “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Beloved, God’s minister does not shun to declare unto you all the counsel of God. A so called minister that says Christ died for the sins of everyone, neither honors the Son nor the Father; and rejects to declare the Gospel of Christ’s own words “this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I SHOULD LOSE NOTHING” (John 6:39). The miracle of the Gospel Friend, let me tell you plainly, God is 100% sovereign and you are 100% responsible for your sins. If you neglect such a great salvation, indeed such a great Saviour, and end up in the lake of fire: The blame will be entirely yours and you’ll perish along with your wicked thoughts; wicked thoughts of being reconciled to God through your person and works and not through the blessed person and the finished saving work of Christ. How fearful it will be for those that neglect such a great salvation! (Hebrews 2:3) Repent sinner and believe Christ. It is the desire of every believer, it is my desire, if God be pleased, according to the good pleasure of His will, that you be made to know you are made perfect by the righteousness of Christ for ever. (Isaiah 32:17) I pray that our sovereign God would be pleased to use the gospel of His dear Son to show you the miracle of the Gospel. Beloved, you are found perfect in Christ Jesus to the honour and praise of His name. AMEN! (Colossians 2:10)

Israel’s Messiah and the Incarnation Introduction Good morning, everyone! Let’s start by praying! Today we’re picking up in the second of our four weeks studying Christology, our understanding of what Scripture teaches about the person and work of Jesus Christ. If you missed last week, it was recorded and all of the notes for it are online as well at forestgate.org/sunday-school. By the end of the day today, notes for today’s class will be up there as well, so don’t worry if you miss something. Last week we looked a bit at the doctrine of the Son in the context of the Trinity. We saw that there is no gospel apart from the doctrine of the Trinity, and the gospel is the place where our Triune God has revealed himself. As part of that, we saw how the Bible teaches us to understand the Son of God as eternally the Son, and we talked a little about what a comfort that is: it’s his sonship we are adopted into, and the Father’s fatherly love that he has given us by his Spirit is real fatherly love, the true fatherly love, which our fathers on earth can only dimly picture. This week, we’re turning to two doctrines that build on all of that and see how God revealed himself to us: that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah, and the Incarnation. And there’s a reason for that order! Part 1: Israel’s Messiah Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. God has acted in history—the history of a specific people, through whom he has brought salvation for all other people. Jesus is not an abstract savior for abstract people; he is Israel’s messiah, and because he is Israel’s messiah, he is our savior. The doctrine The Westminster Confession sums it all up this way: This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the Gospel: under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all foresignifying Christ to come; which were, for that time, sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the Old Testament. Under the Gospel… Christ, the substance, was exhibited… There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same… Scriptural basis One way we could trace this through Scripture is by reading all of Hebrews, whose theme this is. But here I want to follow the author of Hebrews by reading some of what they were reading! I want us to hear the story and see how Christ comes to satisfy the hopes and longings and calling of Israel. This promise is for all from the beginning: from the moment when God speaks to the serpent after his deception in Genesis 3: I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. But throughout the rest of the Old Testament we see the promise getting more and more specific about this salvation. In Genesis 12, God calls Abram out of Haran. In Genesis 15 God promises Abram descendants as uncountable as the stars in the heavens, and a land for them to dwell in. In Genesis 18 God says the purpose of this promise: “all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.” The generations after see this promise narrowing: the hope is through Isaac (not Ishmael), Jacob (not Esau, the firstborn), and Judah (the worst among his brothers!) whose descendant would rule. And then after Israel’s long years in Egypt, God called Moses: a prophet to save his people from their slavery and to show them their God. Through Moses God gave his people the law and a covenant and calling to be priests for all nations—and the promise of another prophet like Moses. Through Joshua he led them into the land, and then almost immediately they broke the covenant and fell away from God’s law. Generation after generation the cycle repeated, and the priests did their duty under the law. Bulls and goats and birds, slaughtered and slaughtered and slaughtered for the sins of a people who were always falling away. There came the day when Israel wanted a king—and they needed a king who was righteous, but they wanted a king who was merely mighty. After Saul and David’s failures—alike in kind, unlike in their response—God promised David something spectacular: I will raise up after you your descendant, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. I will not take away My faithful love from him as I took it from the one who was before you. I will appoint him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever. But Solomon and all the long line of kings through the years after him failed, too—even the best of them. And so that promise kept ringing in Israel’s ears, echoing in new ways through the Prophets. On the one hand, in Isaiah 49:6: I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth. And on the other, in Isaiah 50:6: I gave My back to those who beat Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting. And in Jeremiah 33:14–16: “Look, the days are coming”— this is the LORD’s declaration— “when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a Righteous Branch to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what she will be named: Yahweh Our Righteousness. There are many, many more, but the New Testament claims them all for Jesus. The Gospels show us his descent from from David, from Judah, from Abraham, from Adam; they show us his gentleness not to break bruised weeds or blow out smoldering wicks like Isaiah 42 says; they show us his back beaten and beard torn out and scorn and spitting as he went to the cross; they show us that he was both just and merciful; they show us that he did not sin; they show us his atoning death and his triumphant resurrection. In sum, Jesus fulfills Israel’s hopes. He really is the Messiah they had been hoping for. And wonderfully, it is because he fills up all those promises to Israel—fills them to overflowing—he is our savior. The hope, remember, was for Abraham’s offering to be a blessing to all nations, for Israel’s priesthood to be for all nations, for the servant to be a light to all nations… Israel was the means by which God chose to bring about his promise of hope for humanity from the beginning. In our lives First and foremost: God keeps his promises and accomplishes his plan. Down all those years when Israel went back and forth and back and forth from fidelity to infidelity, he was never for one second thrown off. We are saved because (not in spite of) the specificity of Jesus’ coming to Israel. Because he came to fulfill Israel’s calling: to be a blessing to all nations, to be priests and light for all nations; and to answer Israel’s longing: for— a prophet who reveals God to us and teaches us how to walk with him, a priest who intercedes for us with God, and who has dealt with our sin, and a king who is both just and merciful, that is, who is righteous. And that’s good news in at least two ways: First, we, too, are people who are often unfaithful, tempted to worship false gods, to trust in ourselves and our own might instead of in God—and he saves people like us. And second, he is a God who keeps his promises to real people in real history—in fact he has done so. And so when he promises us that he will return, that he will resurrect us all, that there is a land waiting for us better than this one, we can believe him! We can, as Hebrews 11 reminds us, hold fast to the hope set before us just like those who waited for Christ to come; and we have this sure and steadfast anchor of the soul as we wait: that Christ has come and gone for us into the inner place behind the curtain where only a righteous high priest could go. Questions? Now, what questions do you have? Part 2: Incarnation Last week we established that our Savior is God, had to be the eternal Son for the gospel to hold. But we also just saw that the savior is Jesus, the son of Mary, of the line of David and of Judah and of Abraham and of Adam. He was a human being, just like us. Our second doctrine for the day—the Incarnation—falls out of the first: God has acted in history by coming into history himself. We usually talk about the Incarnation at Christmas—and that’s good, but not good that we tend to talk about it only at Christmas, because the doctrine of the Incarnation is good news all year long, in every part of our lives. I said last week that Hebrews is a book that says “Hold fast because Jesus ____” and then fills in the blank with a great many things. At the root of all of those, though, is the work of Jesus who is not only the Son forever (as we saw last week) but who is also a human being who is “like us in every way, yet without sin,” as we just saw. The doctrine I’m going to open with a summary by Gregory of Nazianzus, who served as a pastor in the 400s A.D.: [That] which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole. Let them not, then, begrudge us our complete salvation, or clothe the Savior only with bones and nerves and the portraiture of humanity.1 In other words, if the Son only united himself to some parts of us when he became incarnate, only those parts are healed. If he didn’t really have a body (that’s the heresy of docetism, where it just looked like he had a body but didn’t really), our bodies don’t get saved. His death and resurrection are shams. If he doesn’t have a human soul, a human intellect, human emotions, how can we say he has any idea what it’s like to be tempted as we are? In what sense did he actually overcome sin? Because temptation is something we experience both bodily and mentally. And Scripture tells us both that God cannot be tempted to sin and that Jesus was tempted as we are. He had to have a human soul for our souls to be redeemed. And of course, he’s not coming up with this as mere speculation. He’s following Hebrews! Scriptural basis Hebrews Chapter 2 has most of this, so I’m just going to read a lot of it and then summarize it. Try, as we hear this again, to really hear it! Starting in chapter 2 and verse 8: As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace He might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because of His suffering in death. For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—all things exist for Him and through Him—should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing hymns to You in the congregation. Again, I will trust in Him. And again, Here I am with the children God gave Me. Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the Devil—and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it is clear that He does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. Therefore, He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested. We hear here a really remarkable list of things he could accomplish only because he was truly man as well as truly God: he was perfected through suffering—and God does not suffer; only man does and can he could, and did, die—to destroy the devil and the fear of death he became like us in every way in order to become a merciful and faithful high priest who could actually make propitiation for our sins he became able to help us when we suffer and are tested—because he has suffered when tempted And the author picks up this theme again later; he sympathizes with us, 4:15 tells us, because he has been tested in every way, just like us—but without sinning. Paul tells us the same thing in 1 Corinthians 15:21–22: For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. And we could cite many other passages—from Genesis, to Isaiah, to Luke, to John… Jesus Christ was really a man, and also really God. What the church has said I’m going to open with a long quote from the Council of Chalcedon. Hang with me; we’re going to tease work through the hard parts together. following the holy Fathers, we all with one voice confess our Lord Jesus Christ one and the same Son, the same perfect in Godhead, the same perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man, the same consisting of a reasonable soul and a body, of one substance with the Father as touching the Godhead, the same of one substance with us as touching the manhood, like us in all things apart from sin; begotten of the Father before the ages as touching the Godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born from the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, as touching the manhood, one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way abolished because of the union, but rather the characteristic property of each nature being preserved, and concurring into one Person and one subsistence, not as if Christ were parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and only-begotten God, Word, Lord, Jesus Christ; even as the Prophets from the beginning spoke concerning him, and our Lord Jesus Christ instructed us, and the Creed of the Fathers has handed down to us. And yes, that’s a single sentence! We’ll pull it apart a bit in just a minute. First, though, a bit of context: this document exists because of a meeting a lot like a Presbyterian general assembly, if GA were a month long. The meeting was focused primarily on a controversy over that word _Theotokos_: was it right or wrong to call Mary the mother of God? They concluded that we must say Mary was the mother of God—because to say otherwise is to say that the one she bore in her womb was not truly God. She did not have two persons in her womb, but one! But we know from everything we saw last week that that one person must be God the Son, and from what we saw in our first section today that that one person must be a human being. Our salvation hangs on the truth that in Mary’s womb, there was one person, with two natures: God-nature, and human-nature. That is “the same perfect in Godhead, the same perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man.” But then the obvious questions: how do those two natures relate? The church answered with four negations: “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation”. Why those four? “without confusion”—because God’s nature and human nature are not mingling in the Incarnation; they don’t turn into some kind of _third thing_ that’s neither exactly God nor exactly human; the divine nature and human nature remain distinct. One person, two natures. “without change”—God’s eternal being is not altered by the incarnation; he is still “the same yesterday, today, and forever”; and human nature did not stop being human and become something else in the incarnation, which is good news for us, because we’re still fully human in nature! “without division”—this was not somehow breaking apart the nature of God or the nature of humanity. For one thing, God’s nature is indivisible; you cannot have the will of God apart from the love of God, or something like that. And on the other hand, the Incarnation is not God’s mind and a human body but no human mind. All human nature is present in the incarnate Son. and finally “without separation”—meaning, these two natures cannot be pulled back apart; this person is forever God the Son, the man Jesus Christ, one person. And that’s how they conclude: “one Person and one subsistence, not as if Christ were parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and only-begotten God, Word, Lord, Jesus Christ.” So that’s the doctrine, and it’s heady, and it’s hard to wrap your head around all of it. Just like we talked about last week, though, getting this right is at the core of the gospel. Now, in all honesty, the first time I read this, I thought “Okay, I think that’s right, and I can see how it’s important to defend those things”… but I didn’t immediately connect it to the gospel. Gregory of Nazianzus’ quote was part of what connected it for me. The other part was reading another church father, Athanasius. His book On The Incarnation is a rich exposition of how in Christ God has taken our corruption, our falling back into the nothingness from which we were created in the beginning and said “NO!” and saved us—renewed us into his image, by becoming, as Colossians puts it, “the image of the invisible God” just as we were meant to be from the beginning. He “turn[s] [us] again from to incorruptibility and give[s] [us] life from death, by making the body his own and by the grace of the resurrection banishing death from [us] as straw from the fire.” (That’s the shortest quote I could manage here; I could just quote pages and pages because it’s so rich and good.) At this point I’d normally also share from a Reformed confession, but I’m going to skip that today because they all just reiterate—often word for word—what the creeds said. The church Fathers did an incredible job hammering out what we must and must not say if we are to hold fast to the gospel we have received. Once again, I’m profoundly grateful for the faithful saints who went before and safeguarded the gospel for us. I will quote the Heidelberg Catechism again, though, because of how beautifully it sums up the necessity of the full divinity and humanity of our savior: 15: What kind of mediator and deliverer should we look for then? One who is a true and righteous human, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God. 16: Why must the mediator be a true and righteous human? God’s justice demands that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for sin;1 but a sinful human could never pay for others. 17: Why must the mediator also be true God? So that the mediator, by the power of his divinity, might bear the weight of God’s wrath in his humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life. Nothing but a human being could pay for human sin; but no mere human could do it—only God is sufficient and able to bear God’s wrath. So our mediator is both. In our lives As we wrap up this section I want to highlight a few things that encourage me in this. The first is the same point we hit last week: we have the same Father our Lord does; he calls us brothers and sisters, and astoundingly his Father has become our Father through his work. The second is the thing I think about most with the Incarnation: in everything we experience in life, we are not alone. God the Son has come down and walked through all of them with us. When we think about what it is to watch our loved ones die, and to know them really dead, even if we stand in hope of resurrection—our Lord has felt that grief! When we are weary and tempted to fall away in the face of trials—our Lord knows that weariness! He prayed for deliverance from death, and God heard his prayers! …and answered them through his death. When we are suffering, tired, lonely, grieving, facing evil—God is with us, he has shared our griefs, he has borne our sorrows, he knows exactly what we endure. And he never sinned! He can be the high priest we need, who made an offering of himself for us that finished the job, and who can and does intercede for us forever. All this is true because in Jesus Christ we see God and man, two natures in one person: his divinity empowering his humanity to bear our sins and heal our brokenness. Questions Now: what questions do you have? I’m sure there are some! Conclusion As we close, I want to read you a bit from Karl Barth, who’s little book Dogmatics in Outline is a really wonderful meditation on the Apostles’ Creed. He has a chapter on “God in the highest,” which includes this wonderful bit: He whose nature and essence consist, whose existence is proved, in His descending into the depths, He the Merciful, who gives Himself up for His creature to the utter depths of the existence of His creature—He is God in the highest. Not in spite of this, not in remarkable paradoxical opposition, but the highness of God consists in His thus descending. This is His exalted nature, this His free love. Anyone who wants to look up to some other height has not understood the utter otherness in God, he would still be in the tracks of the heathen, who look for God in an endlessness. But He is utterly other than we think our gods. It is He who calls Abraham and who led that retched nation through the desert, who never swerves through the centuries-long disloyalty and disobedience of this nation, who causes Himself to be born in the stable at Bethlehem as a little child and who dies on Golgotha. He is the glorious Lord, He is divine.2 I love this word: God’s highness is revealed precisely in Jesus, the man with dusty feet from Bethlehem. Let’s pray! Gregory Nazianzen, To Cledonius The Priest Against Apollinarius (ep. CI)↩︎ Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline, p. 40.↩︎

Can we trust the Holy Scriptures? Is Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Savior that the Holy Scriptures talk about? Is our faith and salvation that of the Holy Scriptures, or that of a different faith recorded in a different set of gospels? Is the church of Jesus Christ the church of the Holy Scriptures, or is it the church of the Sacred Feminine as Gnosticism and modern-day Christianity-rewritten wants us to believe? In today's podcast I take time to answer these questions. How Do We Know The Bible Is God's Word Part 2? We must answer four significant questions Were there really more than 80 gospels written and considered for the Holy Cannon? What are the Gnostic gospels? Are they really older than the Holy Scriptures? Do they contain the true gospel of Jesus Christ? How did we get our current Cannon - the Holy Bible that we have today? Is it reliable? Was the Emperor Constantine behind its selection God commanded men to write His Words "So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which the Lord has said we will do.' And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel." Exodus 24:3-4 (Emphasis mine) Other places where it mentions that God had men write His Words Deuteronomy 31:9-11, 24-26 Joshua 24:26-27 1 Samuel 10:25 Mark 12:35-36 Jeremiah 36:2 1 Corinthians 7:10 1 Corinthians 14:37 2 Peter 3:14-16 1 John 1:1-3 Revelation 1:1-3, 17-20 2 Peter 1:16-18 Men wrote the thoughts and mind of God They didn't write from their own minds They didn't write their own thoughts They were not just writing historical events If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving us a review. This helps the Foundational podcast reach more listeners.  Be sure to tell a friend about the Foundational blog and podcast, and share with them about the free Bible Reading Challenge journal they will receive when they subscribe to receive my newsletter! Listen More Foundational Podcasts about the Bible here:

The Good and Sovereign Rule of God a. God places us in time and space for His good purposes. b. Even when we cannot see him, God works for the good of his people. c. God moves sovereignly to keep his covenant promises. d. God humbles the proud and exalts the humble. e. God works when his people pray. Esther 9:1-3 v. 1. The enemies hoped to gain mastery over the Jews, the reverse occurred. v. 2. The fear of them fell on all peoples This was the Lord fighting for his people. The phrase is used for Jacob as he traveled from Shechem to Bethel. Israel as they entered the Promised Land, as Rahab told the spies that the fear of Israel paralyzed the nations in Canaan that gave Israel the victory. The fear of God is shrinking in our culture – a lack of respect for God. In many places there is little respect for Christian faith, values or even Christians. But we are not called to always be the most influential voice in our culture. What God is doing in the culture at large is beyond our control. In a culture that is increasingly hostile to God I. We are to trust God and faithfully carry on his mission (Mt 5:14-16) We are called to be salt and light in a decaying and dark society. Matthew 5:14-16 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. II. We recognize our enemies are spiritual (Eph 6:12) We tend to think of our enemies as an unfair boss, or an ex-husband or -wife. Or as people who have a different view of the world than we do. The Scriptures are clear: people are not the enemy. Ephesians 6:12 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Our enemy: “rulers, authorities, powers over this present darkness” “spiritual forces of evil” How do we view people who are hostile to Christian faith and hostile to God? They are not the enemy. They are blinded by the enemy. 2 Corinthians 4:4 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. In a culture that is increasingly hostile to God I. We are to trust God and faithfully carry on his mission (Mt 5:14-16) II. We recognize our enemies are spiritual (Eph 6:12) III. We do not fight with the weapons of the world (2 Cor 10:3-5) 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Summary People attacked the Jews, they defended themselves, but took no plunder. The Lord fought on behalf of the Jews, he put fear in the hearts of their enemies. They were victorious against a wicked, murderous enemy. This was how the Feast of Purim began. It is celebrated by feasting and giving gifts of food, especially to the poor. When you trust God and shine his light, there will be some who escape the darkness by the Lord’s goodness shining in you.

When children of God finally see The Sovereignty of God They follow after Him, committing thier lives to Him as a disciple. Those that fear men, love this present world order and close their ears to the truth go on to ruin, the wrath of God falls on them in their disobedience.

Subscribe to the podcast and notes: https://qurantalk.podbean.com/ Quran translation on iOS: https://apple.co/2C1YGXj Additional Resources: http://www.masjidtucson.org Contact: qurantalk (at) gmail (dot) com   Theorem: a general proposition not self-evident but proved by a chain of reasoning; a truth established by means of accepted truths.   In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem, relation of the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The theorem can be written as an equation relating the lengths of the sides a, b and c, where c represents the length of the hypotenuse and a and b the lengths of the triangle's other two sides. a^2+b^2=c^2 There are over 350 proofs to how to prove that this is true for all conditions Fermat's last theorem   Pierre de Fermat, (born August 17, 1601, Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France—died January 12, 1665, Castres), French mathematician who is often called the founder of the modern theory of numbers. Together with René Descartes, Fermat was one of the two leading mathematicians of the first half of the 17th century. Andrew Wiles spent 7 years in secrecy working on the theorem  First heard about the theorem when he was 10 years old In 1986, when he was 33 years old he was a professor at Princeton and spent the next 7 years of his life working in secret trying to prove this theorem In June 1993, he presented his proof to the public for the first time at a conference in Cambridge. He gave a lecture a day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with the title "Modular Forms, Elliptic Curves and Galois Representations". There was no hint in the title that Fermat's last theorem would be discussed, Dr. Ribet said. ... Finally, at the end of his third lecture, Dr. Wiles concluded that he had proved a general case of the Taniyama conjecture. Then, seemingly as an afterthought, he noted that that meant that Fermat's last theorem was true. Q.E.D.[17] In August 1993, it was discovered that the proof contained a flaw in one area. Wiles tried and failed for over a year to repair his proof. According to Wiles, the crucial idea for circumventing, rather than closing, this area came to him on 19 September 1994, when he was on the verge of giving up. Together with his former student Richard Taylor, he published a second paper which circumvented the problem and thus completed the proof. Both papers were published in May 1995 in a dedicated issue of the Annals of Mathematics.[18][19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wiles   [9:109] Is one who establishes his building on the basis of reverencing GOD and to gain His approval better, or one who establishes his building on the brink of a crumbling cliff, that falls down with him into the fire of Hell? GOD does not guide the transgressing people. [59:29] If we revealed this Quran to a mountain, you would see it trembling, crumbling, out of reverence for GOD. We cite these examples for the people, that they may reflect. [4:82] Why do they not study the Quran carefully? If it were from other than GOD, they would have found in it numerous contradictions.   Treat the Quran like a theorem If there is a contradiction then it is our understanding that needs to be redefined Quran is consistent no contradiction  [39:23] GOD has revealed herein the best Hadith; a book that is consistent, and points out both ways (to Heaven and Hell). The skins of those who reverence their Lord cringe therefrom, then their skins and their hearts soften up for GOD's message. Such is GOD's guidance; He bestows it upon whoever wills (to be guided). As for those sent astray by GOD, nothing can guide them. [39:27] We have cited for the people every kind of example in this Quran, that they may take heed. [39:28] An Arabic Quran, without any ambiguity, that they may be righteous. [39:29] GOD cites the example of a man who deals with disputing partners (Hadith), compared to a man who deals with only one consistent source (Quran). Are they the same? Praise be to GOD; most of them do not know. [3:7] He sent down to you this scripture, containing straightforward verses—which constitute the essence of the scripture—as well as multiple-meaning (ambiguous) or allegorical verses. Those who harbor doubts in their hearts will pursue the multiple-meaning verses to create confusion, and to extricate a certain meaning. None knows the true meaning thereof except GOD and those well founded in knowledge. They say, "We believe in this—all of it comes from our Lord." Only those who possess intelligence will take heed. Abrogation indicate that there is a contradiction [2:106] When we abrogate any miracle, or cause it to be forgotten, we produce a better miracle, or at least an equal one. Do you not recognize the fact that GOD is Omnipotent? [10:20] They say, "How come no miracle came down to him from his Lord?" Say, "The future belongs to GOD; so wait, and I am waiting along with you." [6:115] The word of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate (change/substitute) His words. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient. [18:27] You shall recite what is revealed to you of your Lord's scripture. Nothing shall abrogate (change/substitute) His words, and you shall not find any other source beside it. [78:37] Lord of the heavens and the earth, and everything between them. The Most Gracious. No one can abrogate (object) His decisions. [67:3] He created seven universes in layers. You do not see any imperfection in the creation by the Most Gracious. Keep looking; do you see any flaw? [67:4] Look again and again; your eyes will come back stumped and conquered. Intoxicants [4:43] O you who believe, do not observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) while intoxicated, so that you know what you are saying. Nor after sexual orgasm without bathing, unless you are on the road, traveling; if you are ill or traveling, or you had urinary or fecal-related excretion (such as gas), or contacted the women (sexually), and you cannot find water, you shall observe Tayammum (dry ablution) by touching clean dry soil, then wiping your faces and hands therewith. GOD is Pardoner, Forgiver. [5:90] O you who believe, intoxicants, and gambling, and the altars of idols, and the games of chance are abominations of the devil; you shall avoid them, that you may succeed. Violence towards others [33:61] They have incurred condemnation wherever they go; (unless they stop attacking you,) they may be taken and killed. [2:190] You may fight in the cause of GOD against those who attack you, but do not aggress. GOD does not love the aggressors. [2:191] You may kill those who wage war against you, and you may evict them whence they evicted you. Oppression is worse than murder. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque (Masjid), unless they attack you therein. If they attack you, you may kill them. This is the just retribution for those disbelievers. [2:192] If they refrain, then GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful. [2:193] You may also fight them to eliminate oppression, and to worship GOD freely. If they refrain, you shall not aggress; aggression is permitted only against the aggressors. Inheritance laws  One of the worst offenses is to attribute lies to God [29:68] Who is more evil than one who fabricates lies and attributes them to GOD, or rejects the truth when it comes to him? Is Hell not a just retribution for the disbelievers? [39:32] Who is more evil than one who attributes lies to GOD, while disbelieving in the truth that has come to him? Is Hell not a just requital for the disbelievers? [6:144] Regarding the two kinds of camels, and the two kinds of cattle, say, "Is it the two males that He prohibited, or the two females, or the contents of the wombs of the two females? Were you witnesses when GOD decreed such prohibitions for you? Who is more evil than those who invent such lies and attribute them to GOD? They thus mislead the people without knowledge. GOD does not guide such evil people.” [5:101] O you who believe, do not ask about matters which, if revealed to you prematurely, would hurt you. If you ask about them in light of the Quran, they will become obvious to you. GOD has deliberately overlooked them. GOD is Forgiver, Clement. [5:102] Others before you have asked the same questions, then became disbelievers therein. [20:114] Most Exalted is GOD, the only true King. Do not rush into uttering the Quran before it is revealed to you, and say, "My Lord, increase my knowledge."

The latest podcast episode features Ben and David while on the road with No Longer Music. Huddled together in a sweaty Lithuanian lodge, the boys discuss the incredible things God is doing every night. Ben raises the critical question of why is it that we tend to live like an atheist despite believing in God? They share personal struggles in this area and share how they have learned to pray bold, faith-filled prayers amid adversity. This is a critical conversation for any follower of Jesus. Check it out! Don't forget to rate and review the podcast on iTunes: https://apple.co/2Itk3of

With all the regulars finally back together, they tackle the subject of Social Media. It’s clearly a huge part of our culture today, and can have some major benefits in connecting us to people all over the world. However, what kind of negative impacts has it had on society? How is it changing the way our brains work? How is it affecting our families? Most importantly of all, how is it impacting our ability to seek God? They look at these questions and more in this episode of the P&I podcast!

Click here to download this podcast Have you had experiences like I have, where you meet people who think God is just a mean and angry God? They point to stories in the Old Testament like the flood, when God destroyed everything on planet earth except Noah and his family and 2 of every kind of animal. Or they refer to times in the Bible when God commanded the Israelites to capture a city and destroy everyone in it. But there is one story that they miss entirely. Rahab was the city prostitute who helped Israelite spies to spy out Jericho so that they could escape unharmed. In her encounter with them, she chooses to believe in the Living God. God rewarded her faith by sparing her and her family when the Israelites conquered the city of Jericho. Does it seem odd to you that its the city prostitute that's spared? It gets stranger later on in Scripture, because she marries a Jewish man from the tribe of Judah and becomes the great-great grandma of King David and is in the bloodline of Jesus Christ. "Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah." Matthew 1:5-6 Discover how you can walk in total victory in this spiritual war we are in and destroy the powers of darkness in my book Agape. Get Agape 30% off today with the coupon code: Agape "But He [Jesus] needed to go through Samaria." John 4:4  1. Jesus stopped by the well at Sychar because there is a divine encounter coming There is a woman who has been married five times and is living with a man she's not married to She is an outcast But not an outcast to Jesus She received salvation that day "She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'"John 8:11 2. The religious rulers trying to trap Jesus brings an adulterous to him whom they had found meeting with a man They throw her at his feet and are ready to stone her for adultery Jesus kneels down and starts writing things in the sand All of her accusers turn around and walk away Jesus didn't condemn her God picks a prostitute to be in the bloodline of our Lord, Jesus makes a special trip to bring a woman who has lived a broken life, and an openly sinful woman is thrown at his feet He brings justifcation instead of judgement. God wants us to have it clear in our heart and mind that He is a God of righteousness and justice who must punish sin, but He is also a God of love and mercy and grace. Like two sides of same coin. God desires for us to live the blessed life, not under the curse. We live under the curse only because we choose to live in sin rather than righteousness! Discover how you can walk in total victory in this spiritual war we are in and destroy the powers of darkness in my book Agape. Get Agape 30% off today with the coupon code: Agape More Articles Like This:  One Powerful Secret That Will Transform Your Life 8 Transforming Truths About Your Authority in Christ What Does an Anointed Christian Look Like 6 Things Jesus Came to Do 3 Ways Worship Defeats the Enemy 9 Hebrew Words for Worship Do You Really Know Who You Are in Jesus Christ? How to Walk With God Everyday What is the Culture of the Kingdom of Heaven 4 Ways to Walk in Kingdom Authority How to Live as a New Creation How to Live Free From Your Past You Have a New Identity in Christ A New Year a New Identity The Most Important Choice Every Christian Will Make You Have a New Identity in Christ If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving us a review. This helps the Foundational podcast reach more listeners.  Be sure to tell a friend about the Foundational blog and podcast, and share with them about the free Bible Reading Challenge journal they will receive when they subscribe to receive my newsletter!

Ephesians 4:11-16 The Reality of Growth Growth begins with desire Growth is focused on development Growth happens through discipline Growth requires great determination Why do people not experience growth? They stop listening – absorbing and accepting the truth about God They stop learning – understanding the meaning of Truth and it implications They stop obeying…

This week Douglas Wilson talks about What to do with the sons of god marrying the daughters of men in Gen. 6. He then goes on to review Hillbilly Elegy, a book by J. D. Vance. Wrapping it up with a look at the New Testament word “Anaskeuandzo.” Happy plodding!   Show notes:   What to do with the sons of god marrying the daughters of men in Gen. 6 One of the things that “precipitated” the flood In Jude, a certain pronoun links Sodom and Gomorrah to the sons of God They were attempting eternal life without God   Hillbilly Elegy Book by J. D. Vance Published in well time right before the presidency of Trump Largely autobiographical and memoir Vance writes about a dysfunctional family Great book on audible - read by Vance Helps to understand where someone might be coming from if they look at Trump as a deliverer   Harmartiology The sin of subversion. (Anaskeuandzo) Acts 15:24

This week Douglas Wilson talks about What to do with the sons of god marrying the daughters of men in Gen. 6. He then goes on to review Hillbilly Elegy, a book by J. D. Vance. Wrapping it up with a look at the New Testament word “Anaskeuandzo.” Happy plodding!   Show notes:   What to do with the sons of god marrying the daughters of men in Gen. 6 One of the things that “precipitated” the flood In Jude, a certain pronoun links Sodom and Gomorrah to the sons of God They were attempting eternal life without God   Hillbilly Elegy Book by J. D. Vance Published in well time right before the presidency of Trump Largely autobiographical and memoir Vance writes about a dysfunctional family Great book on audible - read by Vance Helps to understand where someone might be coming from if they look at Trump as a deliverer   Harmartiology The sin of subversion. (Anaskeuandzo) Acts 15:24

For a full list of prayers available through this podcast and our website, please follow this link:  https://psalm71.podbean.com/e/full-list-of-available-prayers-1513057365/   NOTE:  This prayer has been recorded TWICE, first for listening and agreeing, then again for repeating.    Psalm 10 serves as the template for this prayer of warfare against the wickedness of our day. To be certain, the original scriptural text is of itself a powerful prayer, describing the aspects and intentions of evil men which do not vary or change from millennium to millennium. The expansion and focus here, of the original psalm language, is intended as a representative example of praying by using the scriptures as a theological and meditative framework.    PSALM 10 IN EXPANDED WARFARE PRAYER FORMAT Heavenly Father, we cry out to you from your Word and in your Spirit. Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? We know that you are near, and we know you are at work, for those who seek you for the sake of your name.  The wicked ones of the earth are proud. They exercise their power against those who have no defense but God. They scheme to find new ways to steal the resources of very life. Their eyes are ever searching for new ways to capture and enslave the poor. Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined, and turn their schemes back upon their heads. The wicked ones of the earth boast of their hearts' desires.  They delight in those who are greedy like them, those whom the Lord abhors.  The wicked will not seek after God : God is not in all their thoughts. They look upon the earth through the pride of their countenance, the pride of their profane religious mysteries, the pride of their flesh and of their perversions, the pride of their wealth and strength, even the pride of their rapacious appetites of lust and death.  Their ways are always grievous, and they cannot cease from sin. As for all their enemies, they gnash their teeth at them and plot vengeance. They have said in their hearts, I cannot be stopped, I will never need to change my ways: for I am a sovereign spiritual being; I have all power and freedom, and so I shall never suffer adversity.  They cannot see the judgments of God. The decrees of the Lord are far above out of their sight.  Their mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under their tongue is mischief and vanity.  They hide themselves in the darkness, in the subterranean places of the land: in secret places they defile and murder the innocent. They lie in wait secretly as a lion in his den: they lie in wait to catch the defenseless: and they do catch them, when they have drawn them into their nets.  They bow and crouch down low, and murmur deceiving words, pretending to be humble and honest, so that when they strike out, when their strong arms pull in their prey, those whom they have deceived are destroyed without warning. Why do the wicked curse and condemn God? They hath said in their hearts, Lord, that you will not require anything from them. The wicked have said in their hearts, God has forgotten his own creation; he sleeps: he hides his face; he will never see what we do, and so it is left to us to take up our rightful place and be gods.  Arise, O Lord ; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not your people; forget not those who hunger for you, who love you, who delight in your appearing.  For you have seen the ways of the wicked ; for you behold with contempt their mischief and spite, to requite it with your own hand.  We commit ourselves unto you, O God, because you are our helper, the helper of the fatherless, the defenseless, and the poor. .  Break the arms of the wicked and the evil man : seek out and answer his wickedness, until no more wickedness can be found.  We your people shout, The Lord is King for ever and ever: the enemies of God are perished out of his land.  We know, O Lord, that you will cause your ear to hear, that you have heard the desire of the humble, that you will prepare our hearts to withstand what men shall do to us.  O God, you will judge all, both the wicked and the oppressed, that the wicked man of the earth may no more escape, and that we may rejoice in our saving King. Amen.  

Please help us keep bible study company free by supporting us: http://bit.ly/2RL9zT You have heard it said: “Obedience is better than sacrifice” What is obedience to God? We were created in Gen 2 for the purpose of serving God. Our worship and ministry are to HIM ALONE. Just like Adam and Eve. He then put them in His garden. This garden contains His rules and His boundaries. He gave us free will. True love always is about choosing to love or not. God considers those who obey His Word…those who love Him. (John 14:15) Look at your own children. When they obey what you say and the boundaries you set for them, we swell with pride and want to do all we can to help them to achieve. But Adam and Eve chose not to obey the Word of God. We are Adam and Eve. We/They decided they would live their own life apart from dependence on God. This caused sin to enter the world and sin creates death and SEPARATION FROM GOD. Their "sin" affected billions of people and the entire Creation. Can we say that the original sin was disobedience to the Word of God? What hope do we have if they died because of their disobedience to the Word of God? They were separated from God...dead spiritually. We have a clue in John 3 that Christ said we must be born again. How? So this is our study and podcast. There are so many nuggets of biblical truth to help us obey. God answered a question we had of whether we as nonprofessionals would He speak to us? YES! Proverbs 1 says He is shouting to the world, yet we won't have the ability to hear Him if we are in the mindset of disobedience to God aka sin. Do we want to take that risk the only life we have to live to turn from the One Who created us? NO! Why study the Bible? We are all called to be disciples of Christ if we are born again and have accepted His sacrifice for our sin then then we are born new in our spirit and now can understand the Word of God. Christ is the Word of God. (John 1). As untrained professionals, how do we approach the Word of God to learn His ways? (Heb 3:10) The disciples were not trained bible teachers. So what was different about them? What can we learn from their lives and why did Christ's focus on them? With the help of the Holy Spirit, they obeyed His Word. (John 14:15) We can too. We need to change our approach from gaining knowledge ABOUT God to OBEDIENCE to God. Join us for Podcast for Pewsitters Bible Study Step 1 Obey God vs Gain Knowledge. Come and join Ric and Mary Joyner for our first weekly series on Bible study of studying the bible to obey God not just gain knowledge about God. Don’t forget to support us. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=meYPTyJOhCF6iBsn-oTofpYXpd60WtDKVLBhUP1cse6wzjlqmIHSuDyw1xZUKHjtbiKIbm&country.x=US&locale.x=US

Grace is unfair. Have you ever been surprised by grace? Have you ever been in a tough spot, where you believed you knew what was coming… Maybe sitting in the principal's office, or opening a letter from the IRS, or answering a phone call from foreboding phone number. You thought you knew what was coming… You were going to get what you deserve. You’re finally caught. You’re anxious, sweaty palms, eyes dilated… And then… Surprise! * The Principal decides to give you another chance. * The IRS is issuing you a refund. * The doctor was just calling to reschedule your appointment because it’s no longer a pressing concern. Ahh… Deep breath. What a relief. And not only that, a fresh lease on life. A new outlook. Wind in your sails. Surprised by grace. I’m not sure exactly how to define “grace.” I’m not looking for a churchy definition. I’m talking us sitting in a coffee shop talking about life and you ask, “What is grace?” How would I answer that…? I might answer it as “receiving what we haven’t earned.” Or “receiving beyond what we deserve.” Grace is above and beyond. Grace not only surprises us; it blesses us. We walk away changed, not only from the gifts we’re holding in our hands, but also shocked by the compassion shown to us. When I was arrested, 14 years ago, for possession of marijuana, [ JOHN ARREST.jpg ] I remember being at the police station. It was a Friday or Saturday, and the police officer said, “Ok, we’ll see you on Monday at such-and-such court house.” And I was like, “Oh, no.. I can’t make that. Sorry, I’ll be at school.” And he was like… “Mr. Emery, you’ve been arrested. This isn’t optional. We’ll see you on Monday.” And that’s honestly when it hit me. “Oooo… This is serious. I could get in serious trouble.” People have served jail time for less than this. The weight of the situation settled onto my shoulders. * The funny thing is that now I’m good friends with one of the Lieutenants, so I messaged him on Facebook and asked him to run this. The most important part of this slide is that END OF APPEARANCES thing. When Monday came around, I walked in alongside this rough-and-tumble kind of guy. He caught my attention, because he looked like he was supposed to be at the court house. I didn’t. He looked like a criminal. I didn’t. But we both had these charges against us. And low and behold, his name was called right before mine. I watched him walk up to the stand, make his case (it was domestic abuse), and the Judge wasn’t having it. He sentenced him to 30 days in prison, they came up to him right then, put him in cuffs and walked him back through a separate door than we walked in through. This, as you can imagine, was not a good sign. I had just walked in off the streets with this guy… he was “free” 15 minutes ago, and now he’s in jail. So then it’s my turn. And I walk up with my rent-a-lawyer, he pleads my case, the Judge rules it a CWOF, “continuance without a finding,” which results in 6 months probation, and I get to walk out with my parents and go home. No guilty plea, no conviction, nothing I have to write onto applications for work... Not only that, but when we went to the Clerk to pay for everything, they let us know that we could pay for my 6-months probation monthly, and have to come back every month for drug testing and meeting with my probation officer, or we could pay the 6 months up front and never see them again. No probation officer, no drug testing, no nothing… If you had the means to pay whatever it was, $500-600, they call it a day and you’re free. So that’s what we did. (Can anyone say ‘privilege'?) Grace is unfair. It started out really bad… So bad that after that guy in front of me I thought I was going to jail. Then I was surprised by the CWOF ruling, then surprised again by paying up-front and essentially walking out scott-free. I can honestly say that I didn’t get what I deserved that day. I deserved less. I deserved punishment. But instead, grace. And, simply because my parents happened to have enough money—this privilege that some don’t have—my slate was wiped clean. Beyond what I deserved… Receiving a gift that I hadn’t earned. Grace is unfair. There are times that you get a gift, but secretly you feel like you deserve it? Any Millennials in here? Grown-ups call it entitlement… Whatever that means. * Weddings, birthdays, Thank You cards… * Gifts might surprise us, but then after we sort of feel like we earned it anyways. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about Ellen Show giveaways type of surprise. There’s a moment in David’s life that I want to look at today… One in which he’s not the recipient of grace as much as he’s the participant in distributing grace. I’m going to share a story 1 Samuel 30 (that I’m pretty sure you’re unfamiliar with), and then draw parallels to a teaching of Jesus, and then we’re going to see where we find ourselves in the middle of these stories… Ok? 1 Samuel 30 NLT 1 Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground. 2 They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone. 3 When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, 4 they wept until they could weep no more. 5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured. The story starts with David and his men returning home… They’ve been sleeping on the cold ground, missing their wives and children, ready to reconnect with everyone, rest, rejuvenate… But instead, they find their wives and children missing and their homes burned to the ground. Scripture is clear to say that they women and children were safe, but there’s no way these men would’ve known that. They just see destruction, and their imaginations run wild with the worst of scenarios… Imagine. That would be devastating. This is FEAR-BASED IMAGINATION, that Kelly taught on last week. I can’t imagine the grief that these men were experiencing. Going off to war is psychologically devastating enough, but home is supposed to be HOME… And you’re supposed to be allowed to RETURN HOME and have it be exactly how you left it… But not for these guys. 6 David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God. And you see what the grief does to these men. Immediately (v. 6) the men place the blame on David, the guy who led them off to battle in the first place. It’s the worst part of our human nature that immediately needs to blame someone for the wickedness and evil in the world… So they blamed David. That was their plan. David’s men made a plan from their place of PAIN. Their grief clouded their judgment and they thought the best thing to do was to kill their leader. (Maybe not a great idea) But David didn’t let his pain get the best of him. He grieved, but in his grief he turned to the Lord. He didn’t make a plan from a place of PAIN, he made a plan from a place of PRAYER. 8 Then David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?” And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!” 9 So David and his 600 men set out, and they came to the brook Besor. He didn’t know how it would all come together, but felt in his spirit that God said to go after them, and that they could recover their families from their enemies. A glimmer of hope. David believed that these women and children were still alive and that it was worth pursuing the Amalekites to get them back… Do you ever have those little moments of prayer that actually shift something around inside of you? God puts some thought on your heart and that spark is slowly fanned into flame and all of a sudden you have this indescribable HOPE in the face of disaster? (((Yeah, me neither… ))) Of course you’ve experienced that! While David’s men are busy listening to grief, David is busy listening to God. So David and his 600 men set out. And they come to Brook Besor, a river/brook that was probably 30-40 miles from Ziklag. 30 miles walking isn’t a short trip, especially when you’ve just returned from battle and you’re grief-stricken, not knowing where your families are, if they’re safe, if they’re even alive. 9 So David and his 600 men set out, and they came to the brook Besor. 10 But 200 of the men were too exhausted to cross the brook, so David continued the pursuit with 400 men. When they get to the brook, a third of the men give up. (1/3 of the worship area) 200 of the 600 men are too exhausted to continue on. And again, at this point, I can’t blame them. They have no idea where these Amalekites are, they’re basically hiking on a whim from David’s time of prayer, hoping they’ll come across a sign. 11 Along the way they found an Egyptian man in a field and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink. 12 They also gave him part of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins, for he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for three days and nights. Before long his strength returned. 13 “To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?” David asked him. “I am an Egyptian—the slave of an Amalekite,” he replied. “My master abandoned me three days ago because I was sick. 14 We were on our way back from raiding the Kerethites in the Negev, the territory of Judah, and the land of Caleb, and we had just burned Ziklag.” 15 “Will you lead me to this band of raiders?” David asked. The young man replied, “If you take an oath in God’s name that you will not kill me or give me back to my master, then I will guide you to them.” And then, like only God does, there’s a sign. Something completely outside of David’s control that changes the rest of the story. A reminder that we can work as hard as we’d like in our power, but sometimes all it takes is for God to put one person in our path and it unlocks everything. So here’s God’s big gift to David: A half-dead Egyptian. And it’s interesting that this guy's an Egyptian, isn’t it? David and his men would’ve been well-acquainted with Egyptians, because their ancestors were slaves to them! And now here’s an Egyptian, and he’s a slave of the Amalekites. There’s so much going on here… These stories are endlessly inspiring. God always seems to choose the least-likely people to be the heroes of the story. Without this Egyptian, it’s very unlikely that David would find these Amalekites. David chooses to rehabilitate the Egyptian, and makes a deal with him that he won’t return him to the Amalekites, or kill him after they get what they want. He agrees, and the Egyptian leads David and his men right to them. 16 So he led David to them, and they found the Amalekites spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of plunder they had taken from the Philistines and the land of Judah. 17 David and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them throughout that night and the entire next day until evening. None of the Amalekites escaped except 400 young men who fled on camels. 18 David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back. 20 He also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock. “This plunder belongs to David!” they said. This next part of the story—honestly—I have mixed feelings about. Part of me loves the vengeance. It’s the epic battle part of the story… If it were depicted in the movies it would be in slow-motion and David’s men would all have 6-pack abs and they’d be spinning and stabbing and getting back their wives and children… It works. Part of it feels good. Justice. All the bad guys die and the good guys win. But… if we believe in a Creator God that loves all of His creation, we have to believe that God didn’t rejoice at this slaughter. These Amalekites, wicked as they were, each held within them a piece of God… They were made in God’s image too… They had wives and children and parents that were proud of them, and hopes and dreams… This is where nuance in how we read our Bibles is important, because God didn’t tell David to kill everyone. He told David to “overtake them” … v.8 “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!” In the ESV translation it says that God said, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” That word “overtake” doesn’t mean slaughter. It doesn’t mean to slaughter them throughout the night, murder, stab, behead, burn to the ground or anything like it. That Hebrew word, “Nuh-sag” means to “reach, obtain, get, hold…” But for David, that meant slaughter… Mass murder. Like if someone said, “Go get them!” And you’ve got all this adrenaline and grief and anger swirling inside you, and you’re like, “Oh, I’ll get them! You better believe it!” And I understand that 3,000 years ago, we were far more barbaric than even today and the likelihood of David and the Amalekite king sitting down and talking things out isn’t likely, but we need to see where God’s promises END and where our own sinfulness and desire for revenge BEGINS… Personally, I think God’s heart broke when David’s men slaughtered the Amalekites, because God can see the dignity and beauty inside all of His Creation. He knew those men (and boys) better than anyone. He knew their hopes and dreams and that some of them didn’t really want to be there but they felt social pressure to be soldiers and that some of them had been abused and corrupted into being soldiers at far too young an age… I’m not trying to be all Hippie about this, but this is important to how we understand some of the violence in the Old Testament. Just because someone DOES something in the Bible doesn’t mean that God’s full blessing is on it. It just means that it actually, historically, happened. And that people wanted to preserve that story for some larger reason. If David had entered that Amalekite camp with a different approach, maybe God would’ve made good on His promise without all the violence, bloodshed, loss of life… We’ll never know. God promised that David would “overtake” the Amalekites, and he did… but the way he went about it doesn’t necessarily reflect God’s heart for humanity. K, back to the story. David and his 400 men, “overtake” the Amalekites, killing everyone, except for a few lucky guys that escaped on camelback. Here’s where to story gets interesting. Up to this point it’s a relatively predictable battle narrative. “You took something of ours, we’ll kill you to get it back.” … not that interesting. This next section is the whole reason we chose this passage to talk about. This is what makes it amazing… 21 Then David returned to the brook Besor and met up with the 200 men who had been left behind because they were too exhausted to go with him. They went out to meet David and his men, and David greeted them joyfully. David returns back to Brook Besor with all of the women and children, as well as a bunch of new riches. The men that were too exhausted to continue on greet them and everyone is celebrating… What was lost is now found. Those that were dead are now alive. All is right in the world. Imagine those reunions… And while the women and children are unharmed, they’ve witnessed terrible things over the last few weeks… You can imagine that these women were not well-respected and all of the terrible things that were done to them. But they’re home. These families are back together. People collapse together on the ground, rejoicing at this reunion. 22 But some evil troublemakers among David’s men said, “They didn’t go with us, so they can’t have any of the plunder we recovered. Give them their wives and children, and tell them to be gone.” But immediately greed enters the picture. An “us vs. them” erupts in the camp. And… guess what… Entitlement shows up on the scene. “THIS IS UNFAIR!” The men that battled don’t want to share any of the riches with the men that stayed behind. They feel like they earned it. It wasn’t grace for them. It was transactional. And they weren’t about to share it with these lazy jerks that stayed back at Brook Besor. 1 SAMUEL 30:23 But David said, “No, my brothers! Don’t be selfish with what the Lord has given us. He has kept us safe and helped us defeat the band of raiders that attacked us. 24 Who will listen when you talk like this? We share and share alike—those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment.” 25 From then on David made this a decree and regulation for Israel, and it is still followed today. David shares everything they received with the brave and the cowards alike; with the strong and the weak; with the powerful and the exhausted; with those on the front lines and those that stayed home. Because… Grace is unfair. This is a story where David’s men are focused on David. They’re whole world revolves around him. He’s their leader. When something goes wrong? Blame David. When things go well! “This plunder belongs to David!” You can see how quickly his men are jerked around by their emotions, and how their earthly focus affects that. If all we’re focusing is ONLY what’s directly in front of us, we’ll be victims of our circumstances. If things directly in front of you are going well, life is good. If it’s not, it’s not. David’s men are focused on David. David is focused on God. And you can see how that affects their decision making. His men wanted what was “fair” … David wanted to be gracious. Which is inherently unfair. Reminds me of one of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 20 NLT Jesus tells this parable of a landowner that’s hiring day laborers to help him work his vineyard. He basically hires folks, telling them he’ll pay a day’s wage, they agree and he puts them to work. He does this throughout the day. At 9am, at noon, at 3pm, at 5pm (right before the end of the day.) Then he lines them up to pay at the end of the day… And, shockingly, he pays them all the same wage. $50, $50, $50, $50… MATTHEW 20:10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’ 13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’ 16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.” v8: “beginning with the last, up to the first” — Jesus could’ve told the story with the first hired being paid first, and it would’ve likely avoided the difficulty of the interaction. But He doesn’t do that. He wants the earlier hires to see the denarius handed to every person up to them. It seems Jesus was interested in teaching a lesson about entitlement as well… Whenever God’s grace is received with an entitled heart, it turns into poison. How many times have we seen God’s gifts perverted, abused, taken advantage of, ignored… But when we receive God’s grace to us with open hands… That’s where the magic is. That’s when we begin to live with gratitude. That’s when WONDER and JOY find us again. That’s when grace is grace… That’s when grace can actually surprise us… When Grace is unfair. All of this, of course, leaning forward towards Jesus being arrested and executed. And in that public execution, Jesus, with all of the power in all of Creation at His disposal, chose instead to break the cycle of sin and death, and instead blessed those that were killing Him. LUKE 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Grace is unfair. You know what “fair” would’ve been when Jesus was being executed? All those Roman soldiers drop dead, Pontius Pilate too, maybe Barabbas, certainly the Apostle Peter after denying even knowing Jesus to save his own tail… I don’t know about you but I’m so grateful that God’s idea of justice is different than ours. Justice is getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. God is unfair with how He works in our lives. Some of us have a transactional view of our relationship with God. “If I do this, then you do this. If I give this, then I get this. A + B = C, every time.” But if you’ve been a follower of Jesus for more than a few years, you know that this isn’t how it works. Sometimes my wife and I will give thousands of dollars to a cause close to God’s heart, and guess what… That money doesn’t show back up. Or maybe it’s “doing the right thing.” And you think doing the right thing will feel good. But it doesn’t. In fact, most often there’s a cost to doing the right thing. God has no interest in keeping a transactional relationship with us. You know why? We’d owe Him a heck of a lot. God, in His grace, dismantled that transactional faith on the Cross. God, in His grace, showed us grace. And that’s how we interact with Him to this very day. Grace is unfair. And it’s not in our best interest to try to mess with it.

Download MP3 The message in the parable of the 10 Virgins that Jesus told in Matthew 25:1-13 can be boiled down to two words: Watch Be ready They didn't know when the bridegroom would come for them, but the five wise virgins had made themselves ready for him. I have a question for you. Are you ready for Jesus when He comes for you? What are you doing to prepare for His second coming? Show Notes For This Foundational Podcast: John 14-15 "'Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.' Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" Jesus was describing a wedding ceremony While we may not fully grasp the picture Jesus was painting, every Jew fully understood. The more romantic the Bridegroom, the closer they will wait until the midnight hour to get the bride Sometime beforehand, the father of the bride and the father of the groom sealed the covenant by drinking a cup of wine together The night that Jesus gave that parable, he had drank the cup and sealed the covenant He had chosen Himself a bride - every person who would receive Him as Savior 3 Ways You Can Prepare for Jesus' Second Coming 2 Peter 3 We are very close to the time when God will tell His Son, "Go get your bride". In the meantime, while He has tarried, there are those in the church who have taken their eye off the prize They have begun to live like the world The church is embrace things of the world that is polluting the house of God They don't realize that in the meantime, we are drawing very near to His coming. They are like the five foolish virgins They are not behaving wisely Learn how you can read the signs of the times through the prism of history in this powerful course Where Are We At On God's Timeclock Get 30% off when you use the coupon code: timeclock 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." If this were to happen now, are you ready? In today's podcast I share with you 3 ways you can be ready for Jesus' second coming. Blog posts mentioned in this podcast: Why the UN Security Council Resolution 2334 is Fundamentally Flawed and Historically Inaccurate What Happens When the Church Chooses Deception When Happens When a Culture Gives In to Distortion The One Thing That Will Destroy This Generation 4 Powerful Ways to Avoid Strong Delusion How to Escape the Delusion In the Church 6 Responses When Your Church Is In Delusion How To Know If You're Deceived If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving us a review. This helps the Foundational podcast reach more listeners.  Be sure to tell a friend about the Foundational blog and podcast, and share with them about the free Bible Reading Challenge journal they will receive when they subscribe to receive my newsletter! Grow in your relationship with Christ with these discipleship manuals: Learn how you can read the signs of the times through the prism of history in this powerful course Where Are We At On God's Timeclock Get 30% off when you use the coupon code: timeclock More Articles Like This: The Most Important Question You'll Ever Answer Will You Be Caught By Surprise God Is Speaking To His Church  

https://youtu.be/9x3CM2qjTzU Mark 14:66-72We’ve all been with Jesus at some point or another. You can’t deny it.How we live once we have decided to follow Jesus will have great ramificationsI was raised in church- Sent to Sunday school, summer camp, etc. But never demanded to follow Jesus with my whole life. Jesus was always a really nice guy to talk to, not a savior to live forThe challenge put before me when I was 15 was to either spend my life crucifying Christians, or being Crucified for Christ. I chose to be crucified, and gave up my life.I found Jesus, or he found me- But the bottom line was- I couldn’t deny Christ any longer.Everyone on this planet knows there is a God- They might not fully understand him- but they know he exists:Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,They are without excuse! There is a God! If you’re here and you don’t know if there is a God, you know there is a God- You might not understand- or want to repent- but YOU KNOWThe psalmist said- Psalm 8:3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,People will argue and say, “ if I had met Jesus- maybe” and I’m sorry you didn’t but Jesus doest give you an outJohn 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Denial of the knowledge of the law isn’t enough to get out of law breaking-Was in VA- mph- up and down- didn’t see it- he didn’t care- got me a ticketHere’s the truth- We must not deny Jesus Christ- WE MUST NOTWe must decide that in every area of our life, that we do not deny himHome, work, school, neighborhood, in the marketplace- how we live says if we deny HIM2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure,We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.And IF you’re not a Christ follower- you are denying him and your end will NOT be wellMatthew 10:33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.You know who Jesus is- You know who God is- You HAVE been with himAs a child you heard from him, you prayed to him, and then you got around people that started filling your head with Doubt and disbelief and now you trust the newscaster more than GodWe will not be a church that denies the name of Jesus. We will not.Jesus is the ONLY way for someone to get to heaven. Not living right. The bible makes ZERO provision for those who willfully deny the salvation of JESUS We want to receive the commendation of the church of Philidelphia in Reve 3Rev 3:7-13 READ- 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, [f]and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.Many blessings await us as a churchYou were also with Jesus! You must not deny! Peter denied 3 times- you do not want to deny him ONCE. If there is an area of your life where you are denying him- STOP ITCome into the love of Jesus and REPENT1. Do not deny your knowledge!This is one of the oldest tricks in the book. We all used it as a kid. It’s the “I didn’t know” defenseIf you ‘don’t know’ we thought- we could get away with anything.Going in basement w neighbor kid killing rats w bb gun. ‘we didn’t cover that’Denial of knowledge 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.Peter knew exactly what she was saying to him. He knew Jesus. He knew exactly what they were saying. HE KNEW HIM. HE SPENT TIME WITH HIM Can’t deny it for one secondPeter had walked on water with Jesus and walked with him for 3 years, but NOGod doesn’t do well with people who willfully choose to deny that they know the truth-Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,

Download MP3 Moses is an example of someone who stood in faith and confidence that God is exactly who He says He is. He wasn't always perfect at it: he had faith crises at times he struggled to believe that God could use him he even disobeyed God. But when you look at his life, he consistently and faithfully, followed Almighty God; and even at his points of failure, he believe God is who He says He is and he followed Him. God took an ordinary guy and used him in an ordinary way. Show Notes For This Foundational Podcast: God can use you in the same way! I hear over and over that this is a Joshua Generation, but the only way it can be a Joshua Generation is if: There are thousands of Moses' who will rise up They need to be mentors They need know how to get face-to-face with God They know how to live in the glory of God They fast and pray and They go to mountain of God They live it out They mentor the next generation Let's believe that God can use this Joshua generation - ordinary young people - to do extraordinary things! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving us a review. This helps the Foundational podcast reach more listeners.  Be sure to tell a friend about the Foundational blog and podcast, and share with them about the free Bible Reading Challenge journal they will receive when they subscribe to receive my newsletter! Grow in your relationship with Christ with these discipleship manuals: Find more content like this on Foundational:   You Win Or Lose, It's Your Choice I Choose Joy! 8 Choices That Will Change Your Life The Exceeding Greatness of God's Love Choose to Live By the Power of the Holy Spirit Choose to Live By Faith 7 Choices to Revolutionize a Graduate's Life

20.5.18 Speaker: Andrew Cowell Duration: 42.33 Bible Reading - His Time My Time Key Verses: Hebrews 11:21 From the life of Jacob we discover 1. Confession: "I MUST develop an awareness of God's presence" (Genesis 28:10-22) - NLT time place 2. Repentance: "I WILL repent from not prioritising God" (Genesis 31:3-5, 10-11) - NLT 3. Faith: "I SHALL meet with God through praying, reading and obeying" (Genesis 32:22-31) - NLT How is a person changed and blessed by God? They must regularly meet with God, coming with the right heart attitude consisting of CONFESSION, REPENTANCE and FAITH.

Colleen Weaver joins Adam and Justin on this weeks episode! They talk about her newest podcast and the hard that went into it. We also find out that Adam may have an ego problem since he thinks he's and alpha male and ... God? They also discuss the difference between bullying and teasing. ENJOY!!! Follow or contact at: Facebook - @taconightaudio Instagram - taconightaudio Twitter - @taconightaudio Email - Go to our contact us page here https://www.taconightaudio.com/contact/

  Have you not known? Have you not heard?    Has it not been told you from the beginning?    Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,    and spreads them like a tent to live in; 23who brings princes to naught,    and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. 24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,    scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither,    and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 25To whom then will you compare me,    or who is my equal? says the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high and see:    Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them,    calling them all by name; because he is great in strength,    mighty in power,    not one is missing. 27Why do you say, O Jacob,    and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord,    and my right is disregarded by my God’? 28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,    the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary;    his understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to the faint,    and strengthens the powerless. 30Even youths will faint and be weary,    and the young will fall exhausted; 31but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,    they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,    they shall walk and not faint.   On Thursday of this week I was spending some time visiting with Ginny Mattox, whom many of you know well, of course. She is, in many ways, a remarkable woman, smart as a whip, and has made quite a life for herself despite being born legally blind. She met her husband at a school for the blind in Iowa, and he became a successful piano tuner. She had children, worked various jobs over the years, and experienced a lot more heartache in this life than is perhaps fair, but she is, as they say, a persistent woman, and fiercely independent. Ginny joined the church a few years before I arrived, perhaps 8 years ago, after her former United Church of Christ congregation closed its doors, and she quickly found a place here amongst the Women’s Guild, and in the hearts of many of us. She is now 96 and can’t make it to church very often because of her health, but her heart is here, having found a new church home in this place. I asked her permission to share with you part of our conversation from this past Thursday, when she sharing a bit of her frustration at the fact that what little sight she always had has grown worse after a small stroke she experienced some months ago. It’s simply harder now to read things anymore, though thankfully she has an electronic enlarger that gives her some help. Nonetheless, it remains a real frustration, and, like many of us, she had grown upset and perhaps a bit depressed that she simply cannot do what she once did. And that certainly makes sense – we will all experience the frustrations that come with age, if we’re not already experiencing them right now in our lives. Together, we shared our mutual frustrations about the state of our bodies, and the state of the world, and then I began thinking of our text today, the one I knew I was preaching on, about Isaiah’s call to the people to remember, to remember who God is, the creator of all, and to remember all the times God has been indeed faithful, those times when God was there for the people of Israel, and was there for me and for her. “Have you not seen? Have you not heard” the prophet says as he points to God as creator, and to the mysterious ways God actually does move in this world, of how we cannot know the fullness of things. And from then on, Ginny and I found our conversation punctuated with each of us saying to each other “have you not heard? Have you not seen?” with laughter filling the room with the way the phrase could be worked into any topic of conversation. But we also laughed with the satisfaction that came with sharing moments when we once saw the hand of God being present in our lives, even as we sometimes have a hard seeing that very same hand in our current circumstances.   Now, I don’t know who ministered to who on Thursday, but it was a good moment, and a deep reminder of how important it is in the life of faith that we remind each other of what the prophet Isaiah puts before us, that when things become dark, when life becomes stripped of hope, we need to remind ourselves, and to remind each other of who God is and how God done wondrous things not so long ago. The words we just heard are from what scholars call Second Isaiah, that is, a section of Isaiah believed to have been written after the disaster of the Babylon invasion of Jerusalem in 589 (BCE), and the eventual carting off of the best and brightest to the city of Babylon itself, something commonly known as the Babylonian Captivity. First Isaiah warns them about the invasion and then another writer who claimed Isaiah’s name, the aforementioned Second Isaiah he is often called, wrote and spoke to console and to give Israel comfort during that time of collective captivity in Babylon, and then a third person claiming Isaiah/ mantle, wrote after the people have returned from the Babylonian exile in 539. Most scholars think that three different writers took on the name of Isaiah, in order to speak to the people during these three distinct times. What we have before us in this text just now is reflective of a time when Israel had lost hope, when they are still in captive in Babylon, yearning to come back home again, and this Second Isaiah wants to remind them of who their God is, and what this God has done for them in the past, and he does this so beautifully by asking them to remember, to dig deep within their collective memory and remember how God has always been faithful to them.   And Second Isaiah does this asking them this pivotal question, said in a different ways: “have you not heard, have you not seen”—do you not remember the creator, the one who has created all of these things, the heavens that have been stretched out, the rulers of this world that have been scattered by the hand of God? They come and go, these cruel and despotic rulers, and God simply blows them away like grass in the palm of God’s hands. Isaiah says that this is a God who is both near and far, both other and beautifully intimate, so much so that God calls us—each of us, and all of creation—by name. God remembers our names, that is how intimate God is with us, even as Isaiah says that this God is one who metaphorically sits above it all, and sees the inhabitants of this world as grasshoppers—both far and near, is Israel’s God. Have you not known this, Isaiah asks, have you not heard, and always known, that God is here and that God remains present in this world? This is a God who is with Israel in their times of deep trouble, deep despair, as they were in Babylon, and this is the same God who is with us, when all seems lost, and there is no way out, no hope left, and no point to going on.   What those in captivity in Babylon forgot and we seem to so often forget, is that faith, that trust, comes with memory, with remembering who God is, and remembering those moments in our lives when we have seen and experienced God’s faithfulness, God’s movements in our lives. We so often forget our own stories, our memories of those times when God arrived “right on time,” as some of the old African-American preachers used to say, and we forget those ways that God spoke to us through family and friends, strangers, and sometimes, sometimes even through enemies of ours. I know that when I get scared, when I get fearful about the future, about my personal future, or the future of something or someone I care about, or even fearful about the future of this country that I love so much, I know that I am experiencing fear because I’ve forgotten to remember the ways that God has always taken care of me, has always taken care of those that I love and even struggle to love, though not in ways that I always expected, or even wanted. I forget about those moments when I thought there was no way out, there was no hope, no nothing for the future, and yet, here came the future, and it was often more than I could have ever wished for. God arrived “right on time.”   But why do we forget about the past when we are in the midst of our present despair, why do we not ask ourselves and others that key question “have you heard, have you not seen” during our difficult times? Why did the people of Israel forget about God’s eternal faithfulness to them, as they were languishing in Babylon? Was it because they chose not to remember or they simply forgot to remember the God of whom this text speaks, the one who reminds them of who this Divine One is, the one who stretches out the heavens above them, and yet who knows them—and us—each by name? Maybe it’s because we get so wrapped up in the moment, the present, that latest flurry of crazy tweets by our President, or whatever, that we somehow forget that the present moment has not been the ONLY moment in our lives, or in the life of this country or of this world—we forget that we have a history, a memory of the ways God has loved us and held us, and done great and wonderful things in our lives. We become so stressed out about the future—our financial futures, the future of our marriages and our relationships, the future of our children, the future of this country—we are so stressed about the future because we have forgotten to remember, to remember our true stories of the past, and thus it is causes us so much unnecessary pain. Don’t get me wrong – these are troubled times, and some of us are in troubled space in our lives, really troubled spaces, and its important never to pretend or push people past the truth that some of us are actually being held captive in Babylon, are suffering real and profound heartache, if not trauma. But the perhaps the key to life is to balance out that reality with another truth, with another reality, the one where we remember who God is, and has been, and will be, and we remember those other moments in our lives when we were back in Babylon, in despair – and somehow, and some way, God found a way out for us when there was no way out.   So, I invite you to ask yourself this week, this Advent season, this season of waiting, to ask yourself this question, when despair settles in, when hopelessness seems to be your constant companion, to ask yourself these two questions – have you not heard? Have you not seen?   Have you not heard that this past Friday was World AIDS Day, a day some of us remember those we have lost to the other side of the veil, and we remember those dark times when the funerals of young, beautiful men and women came upon us so quickly, and how the world seemed as if it would be wiped by this virus, and the gay male community itself would be wiped out as well, by both the virus and hatred, bigotry and fear hurled at it? And yet, have you seen those who at the edge of death be resurrected to life, of how a demonized and hated community would one day be able to witness what seemed impossible to have happened, marriage equality, only years after some spoke of rounding up gay men and putting them into internment camps? Babylon has fallen and will always fall, will always disintegrate before the mighty power of our God. Friends, have you not heard, have you not seen?   And have you not heard how the Christian church is about to collapse under the weight of its abandonment of justice, because of its acceptance and embrace, in some parts of church, of a predator of children, all for the sake of political power, as the church has so often done in the past? And yet have you not seen the Christian ministers this past week in our nation’s capital speaking aloud the 2000 verses in the Bible that give witness to God’s preference for the weak, the lowly, the powerless, God’s preference for those in captivity in Babylon, and have you not seen these brave ministers being carted off to jail for this act of civil disobedience? The Babylonian captivity of the church will one-day end, soon and very soon, because God will not abandon her children to the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar forever. Friends, have you not heard and have you not seen?   And friends, have you not heard the struggle of parents seeking children of their own, who endured pain and suffering for the sake of those whom they do not yet know, those they have longed for? And yet have you not seen God doing the miraculous, of God promising what cannot be, and that promise being made true, and have you not heard of Love being born in a manger, to parents of no seeming worth, in a poor nation held captive to the Babylon of its time, to Rome? Babylon will hold sway, Babylon will murder Love itself on a cross, but Love cannot be killed, Love cannot be vanquished, Love cannot be buried and forgotten – it will rise, it always rise again. Friends, have you not heard, and have you not seen?   Friends I have seen and I have heard. Have you? And when the waiting for the birth of our Lord seems to be too long, too painful, when the waiting for the end of Babylon seems like it will never come, let us gather together in places like this, and ask ourselves, “friends have you not heard, have you not seen?” And let us respond with the truth, with truth we’ve buried away while we were in despair in the dungeons of Babylon, and that truth is this: we have seen, we have heard, and because of that we shall do as the prophets Isaiah says we shall do. We shall wait for the Lord and she shall renew our strength, and we shall shall mount up with wings like eagles, and we shall run and not be weary, and we shall walk and not be faint. Blessed be our God, forever and ever. Friends, have you not heard, and have you not seen?

SPECIAL TO GOD Jesus began to get used to being followed by crowds. Crowds had become the greater part of his life. They followed him and listened to him when he trod the mountainous areas west of the Galilean Lake Region, sitting out in the sun in their thousands. As he looked out over a vast crowd on one of these occasions, he thought of how it must have been when Moses instructed multitudes of Hebrews just as he was doing, when they wandered in the wilderness. He wanted to give these ordinary lives the dignity and meaning that they had been created for. “Your lives have great meaning. You are special to God” They listened in silence as his voice drifted out to them. Then the silence was broken by a voice shouting back from the crowd. “There is nothing in life for us. We don't feel special to God” Jesus delivered to them the following words of life and blessing that would overcome the poverty in their hearts. “You are special to God even when you feel you are worth nothing and have nothing. That is when you can trust your Father in heaven and know that you belong in his kingdom and everything in it belongs to you. You are special to God when you mourn and suffer loss, because when you look to God in your pain and sorrow you will find comfort like you have never found before. You are special to God when you can humbly accept who you are and what you have. God has laid up in store for the humble so much more than they ever would have expected. You are special to God when you get a hunger deep inside of you to know God. This is what fulfils a life. It's your inside world you need to nourish. Then when you look at the outside world you see God in everything. You are special to God when you find mercy in your heart to cover the weaknesses of others. It is then that you will experience the abundant mercies of God for your own weaknesses. You are special to God when your heart is an open book for people to see into. It is then that God lets you see into his own heart. You are special to God when you are at peace with others and help them to be at peace with one another. God will see you as his special child, a true family member. You are special to God when you are mistreated for wanting to please God. It is then that you embody his kingdom.” It struck him at that moment that the people must have been hungry, as they had been sitting and listening to him for a long time. He remembered the miraculous manna bread that fell from the skies every day to feed Israel in the desert. He saw himself as being like that bread, as he was now feeding them the truth about Father and the truth behind the Life Commands, but he realized that they needed bread for their stomachs as well, so he asked the disciples to go and arrange food for the people to eat. “They should have brought their own. It would cost a fortune to buy food for all these people Master,” replied one of the disciples. “Do any of them have any food at all?” he asked the others. “Yes, there's a boy here who has a meal of a few pieces of fish and a couple of loaves of bread,” one of them replied. “Give it to me,” said Jesus. He knew that words were not always going to teach the disciples about the great heart of God, and He thanked his Father for showing him what he was going to do. Heaven broke in upon the fish and the bread and it multiplied itself over and over again. There was laughter and tears of joy as young and old picnicked like children and marveled at the wonder of a good God. The people were not only fed but there was plenty of food left over. They felt special to God As more and more miracles occurred and people were healed Jesus' reputation grew and spread far and wide. He taught in the small and the large synagogues around the Galilean Lake Region and the areas surrounding Jerusalem. People flocked to the synagogues and followed him out into the fields to hear this greatest teacher and prophet of their time. Many said that he was The Promised One and that he would set up the kingdom of God on the earth. To the Jews this meant an army with a leader sent from heaven that would overthrow the Roman Empire and free them from its oppression over their lives. All of this excitement and adulation provoked the temple priests and lawgivers into a rage of jealousy and spite. They were frequently amongst the crowds that followed Jesus, waiting for a chance to discredit him and lead the people away from him. There were numerous confrontations between Jesus and the priests and lawgivers. They would try to trap him with difficult questions regarding the Life Commands but Jesus not only answered their questions with powerful words of wisdom and insight, but he also exposed the wickedness in their hearts. He was not afraid to call them hypocrites and to liken their words and their religion to tombs full of dead bones. What they hated most about him was that he acted as if he was God. He called God ‘My Father' which no-one had ever done before, and he told the people that their sins were forgiven, and only God could do that. They now made this a fight to the death. They knew they would either have to destroy him, or he was going to destroy their religion. Even the faithful temple worshipers were confused by Jesus going to eat and drink with all kinds of people at Matthew the tax collector's Inn, where Matthew exacted tolls upon merchants and travelers coming into Jerusalem. The unrest that all of this caused was not lost upon the leaders of the Roman citizens and the military, who had to keep law and order in the entire region. Among those that gathered at the inn was a man called Lazarus, a man respected by all, and one whom Jesus came to like and admire as an upright man. On one occasion Lazarus invited the people there to a gathering at his own home, where his two sisters would provide catering and hospitality. Lazarus had been waiting to talk to Jesus, and at the first opportunity, he drew him aside and led off the conversation with a direct and personal challenge. “Jesus, I have some difficulty in understanding the way you seem to put things in riddles when you talk. I mean no disrespect, but you very often do just what we do not expect, and you do things in a way that other teachers or prophets would not do.” “Like what?” replied Jesus. “Well, you do a miracle that glorifies your heavenly Father, and then you tell people not to tell anybody. You have done wonders that would earn you a seat on the Empire senate, like feeding thousands of people with a few scraps of food, which you have done more than once. No one will forget the marriage feast of your cousin's friend, where they ran out of wine, and you provided more wine for the guests than they had started with. I've heard the wine was the best that anyone has ever tasted. These things are unprecedented and yet you don't take credit for them.” “Go on” said Jesus. “You say things like 'Lose your life and you will find it' and other things like that.” “Anything else?” “Yes…um…you say we must become as children, in order to enter into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Why do you say things like that, why do you turn our lives, our world, upside down, and expect us to understand?” “Yes I know, my friend, but believe me, I am not really turning things upside down. I am turning them the right way up, so that people can find the true meaning of life. If I take glory for the miracles that I do then they lose their true meaning, but when I do them for Father's glory they have an entirely different meaning. What gives meaning to the things that I do is sharing the experience of doing them with Father. He guides me in these things and I trust him totally.” “I …I think I understand. This is so different to what we have been taught in the temple. I do now believe that my life has real meaning, not that I am anyone special in any way at all, but I feel such a peace about leaving everything in Father's hands, my family, my work, my health, my very life itself. Jesus felt a powerful presence of Holy Spirit in the words his friend had spoken “I know you understand my friend.” Jesus felt in his heart that God had something very special in store for his friend.  

Jason Hunter Joys of Suffering / James 1:1-4   Book of James has 59 Instructions written to Jewish Christians that were dispersed and persecuted.   Christian Joy is Insane Example – Paul & Silas – in jail – singing hymns and praising God – They had joy in the midst of suffering! Philippians 1:27-30 Do you want the Joy of Jesus??? Hebrews 12:2 - looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Christians can have joy no matter what they face.  Jesus understands us when we hurt.   Christian joy comes from the heart of a servant.  Jesus is Lord.  James, a bond-servant of God. I am His slave.  Do to me as you will. Beware of the pride of expectation - I expect, I deserve, I demand  Jesus, I need you to __________ for me, but we should be praying Jesus I Need You! Philippians 2:5-8 - 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus is our example how to live in this world. I Peter 3:17 - For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Jesus taught discipline – in our culture we see it as punishment, but in the Bible it is seen as education – training. Jesus learned to obey through suffering.   Christian joy comes from a refining process. Establish Faith Testing/Develops endurance – serve Jesus – stick with Him no matter what Endurance grows into maturity Be encouraged Acts 15:21-22-Acts 14 – Encourage to continue in faith through many tribulations Discipleship – student in Christ – God uses our difficulties to make us like Jesus.   Christian joy comes from the final product. The joy of today comes from reality of tomorrow. Romans 5:3  Rejoice in suffering  James 1:12  1 Crown of Life  Peter 1:6-7 End game Remembering how good Heaven will be will help us deal with the troubles we face.  Jesus is Lord

Is there a link between the Ten Tribes and Christianity? In this session, Eddie dives into the book of Hosea, as it is written to the Northern kingdom. The names of the children of Hosea and Gomer prophesy to the judgments that Yahweh would bring upon the Northern kingdom. Hosea then speaks forth words of comfort and speaks out a prophecy about the future redemption and restoration of the Northern Kingdom. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Hosea 1:10-11 A sign of the end of days is that Ephraim will have a love for Torah. We formerly call Ephraim’s love for Torah “The Hebrew Roots Community”. Who are the “sons of the living God?” They are those who have turned to Yeshua as their savior and who have returned to Yeshua’s Torah! That is the link between the Ten Tribes and Christianity! (John 1:12-13) Let’s summarize: *the prophets of Israel allude to Christianity *the name of the children born to Hosea and Gomer foreshadow and prophesy to the judgments that come upon the Northern kingdom *The restoration and redemption of the Northern kingdom comes through the Messiah *Yeshua died on the tree to gather the exiles of Israel For more Eddie Chumney teachings and beautiful worship music, visit us at our internet streaming radio station; http://hebrootsradio.com. Visit our home page at http://hebroots.com Are you being blessed by these teachings? Please consider making a donation at http://hebroots.com and click the donate button. Thank you for listening!

Everyone will react to Christ in some way Some outright oppose Him Some oppose but not in direct or violent ways Some of course accept Him and follow HimThe claims of Christ are as lofty as possible so how did Christ prove His claims In John 5 Jesus calls five witnesses to prove that He is the Son of God They are five witnesses that we continue to need to consider

When Catholic theologians speak about God, what sources and what kinds of reasoning should they use? What role does faith play in the practice of theology? In this episode, I discuss these questions with Paul Griffiths, the Warren Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke Divinity School. We also discuss broader questions about the rules and rationality of specialized languages like theology. Griffiths argues that theology is reasoned discussion about God. Anyone with the relevant background knowledge, resources, and skills can practice it. Theology isn’t only a spiritual exercise for Christians. How should Catholics answer questions about God? They need to discover what their authoritative sources like Scripture and traditional teaching say about those questions, to interpret those sources, and then to speculate about the best answer in light of them. Although Catholic theologians trust distinctive sources, they can still communicate with speakers of other specialized languages (those used in other religions or science, for example). This possibility has important political and cultural implications. The Practice of Catholic Theology: A Modest Proposal by Paul Griffiths is available here. Additional music from audionautix.com, hymnpod.com, and opengoldbergvariations.org

A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com. Today's Scripture Focus Mark 5:7-9 devotional summary Jesus commands the demon to come out of the man. And the demon replies, “…In the name of God, I beg you…” Did you notice that? The demons serve Satan. They devote their lives to the powers of darkness. That give their all to the enemy of God. They do everything they can to thwart the plans God has for His kingdom and our salvation. They want to capture our soul and turn us to wickedness and away from God and His holiness. These demons want to lead us on the world's path toward eternal destruction and join them in Satan's hell. Yet, when Jesus confronts these demons with the command to leave this tortured man, the demons cry out, “In the name of God…” They know where the real power lies. They understand their boss, Satan has no real authority. He has no real power. He cannot defeat the creator of the universe. His strength cannot match that of the Almighty's. He knows it and he is very afraid when Jesus comes near. The demon expects great pain, severe punishment because of who he is and what he's done when Jesus comes near. The demon is now in the presence of God and expects judgment when he encounters His Son in the flesh. He assumes his eternal punishment will begin right then since Jesus has come from heaven and touched His feet to this planet. The demon assumes time has ended for him. “I beg you - don't torture me.” Today's Bible reading plan: Read it in a year - Luke 23-24 see the whole year's plan here

Micah 4 had a message for his day but you and I are still living with the further fulfillment of the prophets words from God They are words of rescue for the faithful remnant

Value For Value - The Buttons Are Now Working! (Thanks Wayne Henderson!) I’m not going to talk much about value for value, but I did want to mention that longtime friend Wayne Henderson messaged me yesterday on FB to tell me that one of the giving buttons at support.lifespringmedia.com was not working. So if you went over there and tried to send a gift but were unable to, it should work for you now. I went through and installed fresh code for every button and double and triple checked each one. With Christmas coming up, now would be a great time to make a one time value for value gift or set up a monthly plan. I went to the funeral of the mother of one of my lifelong friends and learned that she used to put out a chilled can of soda every day for her mailman, and made Christmas cookies for him every year. I don’t drink sodas, and having lost nearly 50 pounds last year I eat very few cookies. So if you think I’ve brought any value to you in the time you’ve been listening to the LSFB, a gift at support.lifespringmedia.com would be very much appreciated. And if you would prefer to send a check, make it out to Steve Webb and send it to 5225 Canyon Crest Dr, Suite 71-152, Riverside, CA 92507. Thanks, Wayne, for the heads up! Commentary Today I’d like to focus on the last part of chapter 8 where Jesus dealt with some demons. I guess we should first quickly identify what a demon is. Some have said that people who are identified in the Bible as demon possessed are really just mentally ill. Schizophrenic or some other sickness. This scene from Matthew 8 disproves that. If the two men here were mentally ill, then why was Jesus able to send the demons into the swine? Now, don’t misunderstand. Mental illness is real, and not all people who display extreme or unbalanced behavior are demon possessed. But demon possession is real in some cases. So what is a demon? In Revelation 12:9 says, “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” If you would like to read the account of Satan’s fall from heaven, read Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-15. When satan fell, one third of the angels in Heaven fell with him. satan and this one third of the angels chose to rebel against God, and they make it their business to torment mankind, with the goal of keeping as many as possible from coming to know Jesus as their Savior. As we enter into the Christmas season, we will see and hear many people sing carols declaring the birth of the Son of God. It’s getting to be less common, but people who never think of Jesus the other eleven months of the year will have His name on their lips. But knowing or just saying that He is the Son of God will be no more help to them as it was for these demons who tormented the men here in Matthew 8. The demons said, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God?” They knew who He is, but they had no love for Him. As Matthew Henry said, “It is not knowledge, but love, that distinguishes saints from devils. This Christmas season, when you hear your friends and family who do not have a relationship with Jesus sing about Jesus, if the Holy Spirit prompts you, talk to them about how the Son of God, born in that manger, has changed your life. Show them that they can know him in a life changing way. He is not just a baby in a nativity scene. He is the creator of the universe. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is not only the One who was born, but the One who died on a cross for their sins and was raised again on the third day, and sits now at the right hand of God the Father, and who will come again. What a marvelous Christmas they will have!

Behold the land is filled full with beasts. The harlot captures children, and the pimp searches the highways. The adulterer waits to seduce the wife of another and the adulteress has a list of lovers to defile my land. Murder fills the heart of the hateful and the wicked refuse to hear the pleas for mercy. The thief robs in the daylight and the elderly are a prey to jackals and hawks. The sodomite screams with lust and the land shakes with disgust. The people lay down with demons and the land is filled with wickedness, the cries of which have come up to the heavens, into the hearing of the God of heaven. And the LORD has determined to kill the wicked in the land and to purge the fruitless. Now the officers of law are the servants of vanity; they are become pimps for the whores of socialism. How can they serve the LORD, though they vainly take an oath in the name of God? They do not know my laws, but they serve the idols of the land. They spoil the people and strong-arm the innocent; they enforce the extortion of protection money for the corporations and moneychangers. The false gods demand to rule in every part of life and they take away the children by force. My land is spoiled and the people mourn because they have no understanding. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. (from the prophesy, To the Pastors, Princes and Judges, 1991.  

What are the benefits of knowing the one true God? They implications of John's description may surprise you. We know that we have this benefit because it is grounded in the historic Gospel and through the hearing, considering, and believing of the objective truth of the Gospel we can access this benefit in the face of seemingly unanswered prayers, temptation, sin, trials, and every kind of evil.

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE…FOR YOUR BRAIN! Basil and Gonz talk about technology and it’s implications to humanity. Is all technology evil? Is it against the will of God? They bring up, cybernetics, brain computer interfacing, the recent reports of a robot controlled by a brain of a rat, as well as the technological singularity. LINKS: […]

The Jews will crucify their God—They will be scattered until they begin to believe in him—America will be a land of liberty where no king will rule—Reconcile yourselves to God and gain salvation through his grace. About 559–545 B.C.

Jake and Cathy talk about the latest Harry Styles song and ask the question of what it really means to adore someone. Isn't adoration only meant for God? They also explain how this time of COVID can teach us to give back the crown to God which is rightfully His.