Podcasts about good samaritan

Read the Substack articles here: https://substack.com/@nathancrankfield/note/p-199741491?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=28sukc Want to support this ministry? Join us on Locals where you can become a paid member for as low as $10/month: https://seekingexcellence.locals.com/landing/videoNathan Crankfield responds to criticism of his article on poverty and lays out a distinction he argues is often missed: material poverty is not a virtue, while detachment from riches and poverty in spirit are essential Christian callings. He connects that distinction to Scripture, the Catechism, and the different responsibilities of religious and lay people, especially husbands, fathers, and providers.He also responds to comments about the widow's mite, the rich young man, the Good Samaritan, and the prodigal son. Nathan argues that these passages support generosity, sacrifice, and detachment without implying that most lay people should pursue destitution. His main point: money is morally neutral but practically powerful, and Christians should discern how to use it for the good of their families and neighbors.Timestamps00:00 - Opening the conversation and responding to criticism05:18 - Virtue, extremes, and why poverty is different07:12 - Poverty is not a virtue, but a universal call is09:34 - Material poverty and poverty in spirit13:43 - Vows of poverty versus the lay vocation16:06 - How travel reshaped Nathan's view of poverty19:59 - Why avoidance is not the same as virtue22:45 - Why fathers should not subject their children to destitution23:13 - Money, family life, and providing for loved ones24:41 - Speaking to young men about ambition25:05 - Responding to comments about God, generosity, and the poor27:18 - The widow's mite and giving until it hurts32:07 - The Good Samaritan and the power to help37:51 - The rich young man and religious life41:14 - James on action, widows, and orphans42:53 - Money, options, discernment, and stewardship

Voices in my Head (the Rick Lee James Podcast) episode 635: Targets of Jesus   In this short, early-morning episode of Voices in My Head, I share some reflections from my reading of Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, particularly its observation that Jesus and His disciples often focused their ministry on those who were chronically ill, disabled, and marginalized. Drawing from my experiences as a healthcare chaplain, I talk about the many people I meet who long to be part of a faith community yet often feel excluded, overlooked, or underserved by the church. I reflect on what Scripture teaches about caring for those on the margins, from the Good Samaritan to the ministry of Jesus Himself, and I consider what it means for the church today to embody Christ's inclusive love. Rather than offering guilt or criticism, this episode is a heartfelt invitation to greater awareness, compassion, and community, reminding us that every person bears the image of God and has an essential place in the Kingdom.         Rick's Latest Single “Heaven Is Full of Criminals”     https://rickleejames.hearnow.com/heaven-is-full-of-criminals Connect with Rick Lee James Website: RickLeeJames.com Email: Rick@RickLeeJames.com Listen / Subscribe Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts. Music & Merch Bandcamp (music + merch): RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com Streaming: Search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform or on Spotify https://t.co/S7nCRl0xqa Audiobook Out of the Depths: A Songwriter's Journey Through the Psalms (Audible): Audiobook Link Special Offer 10% off at Bandcamp: use code 10off at checkout RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com Hosted by Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast  

Voices in my Head (the Rick Lee James Podcast) Episode 635: Targets of JesusIn this short, early-morning episode of Voices in My Head, I share some reflections from my reading of Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, particularly its observation that Jesus and His disciples often focused their ministry on those who were chronically ill, disabled, and marginalized. Drawing from my experiences as a healthcare chaplain, I talk about the many people I meet who long to be part of a faith community yet often feel excluded, overlooked, or underserved by the church. I reflect on what Scripture teaches about caring for those on the margins, from the Good Samaritan to the ministry of Jesus Himself, and I consider what it means for the church today to embody Christ's inclusive love. Rather than offering guilt or criticism, this episode is a heartfelt invitation to greater awareness, compassion, and community, reminding us that every person bears the image of God and has an essential place in the Kingdom.Rick's Latest Single“Heaven Is Full of Criminals”https://rickleejames.hearnow.com/heaven-is-full-of-criminalsConnect with Rick Lee JamesWebsite: RickLeeJames.comEmail: Rick@RickLeeJames.comListen / SubscribeSubscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.Music & MerchBandcamp (music + merch): RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.comStreaming: Search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform or on Spotify https://t.co/S7nCRl0xqaAudiobookOut of the Depths: A Songwriter's Journey Through the Psalms (Audible):Audiobook LinkSpecial Offer10% off at Bandcamp: use code 10off at checkoutRickLeeJames.Bandcamp.comHosted byRick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rickleejames.substack.com/subscribe

In this throwback episode Dr. Justin Moody joins Alan to chronicle the remarkable evolution of Implant Pathway—from early hotel seminars to establishing a massive, purpose-built 32-operatory clinical training and nonprofit center in Scottsdale . Together, they break down the philosophy of the Fast Track program, emphasizing actionable clinical judgment, live-patient mentorship, and the importance of immediate chairside implementation . The conversation also covers the regulatory landscape of Arizona's Good Samaritan temporary dental licenses, Dr. Moody's newest venture into winemaking with Titanium Winery in Napa Valley! Some links from the show: Implant Pathway : Hands-on and didactic dental implant education, surgical mentorship, and Fast Track programs . Aadland-Moody Winery: Dr. Justin Moody's boutique vineyard venture in the Spring Mountain District of Napa Valley . Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners : State licensing board details regarding Arizona Good Samaritan / temporary volunteer healthcare permits . We're proud to be supported by the folks at Net32! The Very Dental Podcast Network is supported by Garrison Dental Solutions! Garrison isn't just about the gold standard in sectional composite matrix systems—they've got solutions that elevate your entire restorative workflow. From the innovative Loop Curing Light to their incredible lineup of LM instruments, Garrison makes chairside dentistry faster, easier, and a lot more predictable. Go check out everything they have to offer and support the show at garrisondental.com! Crazy Dental has everything you need from cotton rolls to equipment and everything in between and the best prices you'll find anywhere! If you head over to verydentalpodcast.com/crazy and use coupon code "VERYSHIP" you'll get free shipping on your order! Go save yourself some money and support the show all at the same time! The Wonderist Agency is basically a one stop shop for marketing your practice and your brand. From logo redesign to a full service marketing plan, the folks at Wonderist have you covered! Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/wonderist! Enova Illumination makes the very best in loupes and headlights, including their new ergonomic angled prism loupes! They also distribute loupe mounted cameras and even the amazing line of Zumax microscopes! If you want to help out the podcast while upping your magnification and headlight game, you need to head over to verydentalpodcast.com/enova to see their whole line of products! I'm a big fan of the Bioclear Method! I think you should give it a try and I've got a great offer to help you get on board! Use the exclusive Very Dental Podcast code VERYDENTAL8TON for 15% OFF your total Bioclear purchase, including Core Anterior and Posterior Four day courses, Black Triangle Certification, and all Bioclear products. CAD-Ray offers the best service on a wide variety of digital scanners, printers, mills and even  their very own browser based design software, Clinux! CAD-Ray has been a huge supporter of the Very Dental Podcast Network and I can tell you that you'll get no better service on everything digital dentistry than the folks from CAD-Ray. Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/CADRay!

Scot Mcknight 7-27-26

Life in God's Kingdom is demonstrated by growing in our capacity to love others through compassion, sacrifice, and action.

The Trump administration stole our tax dollars to run a campaign ad during NFL games on Sunday. They're also breaking the law on congressional funding appropriations—and enjoying rubbing the public's face in all the illegality they're getting away with. In Dayton, The Bulwark had its largest live show ever, and the community came through in a huge way with donations for Haitian immigrants in Springfield. For a taste of the event, we're sharing Tim's interview with Democratic strategist Patrick Gaspard. Plus: Tim and Bill launch a new segment on longshot picks to back in the midterms, Trump is being unbelievably irresponsible on AI, the media is still not talking about the Iranian green card-holding family being held at the Dilley detention center, and Americans need a reminder of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  Bill Kristol and Patrick Gaspard join Tim Miller.show notes: Monday's "Morning Shots," with Bill on Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington Bill's longshot in Idaho, Todd Achilles Tim's longshot in Colorado, Jessica Killin The Trio on Victor Marx, running for governor in Colorado A sampling of Jim's newsletters on Springfield Ohio's Don Leonard for Congress campaign site Dan Scavino's AI image Tim referenced Closing Song: MJ Lenderman - She's Leaving You The Bulwark's campaign to help the Haitian community of Springfield The Bulwark store

Caleb Cole teaches from Ephesians 2:14–18 that Jesus has reconciled us to God and one another. Discover why Christian unity is not uniformity and how the church grows stronger when believers share, challenge, love, and build together. (00:00) - Team Is Our Strength (01:51) - Jesus Makes Us One (03:52) - Jews, Gentiles, and the Call to Peace (05:35) - The Temple's Dividing Wall (10:27) - One New Humanity in Christ (13:50) - Why We Need the Church (15:41) - We Share With Each Other (20:30) - We Push Each Other (22:14) - Peacemaking and Honest Challenge (26:05) - We Love One Another (27:38) - Reconciliation and the Good Samaritan (33:16) - We Build the Church (35:00) - What Is a Good News Christian? (37:53) - Together Is What Jesus Purchased (38:39) - An Invitation to Receive Jesus

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Haggai 1–2; Psalm 129; Luke 10 Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved. TODAY'S EPISODE Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible. Today is September 27th, and our readings are Haggai 1–2, Psalm 129, and Luke 10. Haggai speaks to a people who have returned from exile but have lost their way. They are busy building their own lives while the temple remains in ruins. So Haggai calls them back to their center. Consider how things are going for you. Pay attention. Remember what matters. And God tells them something they desperately need to hear: "I am with you." Psalm 129 is the prayer of people who have suffered and yet remain standing. Then in Luke 10, Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples with a message of peace and healing. He rejoices that God's kingdom is being revealed, not simply to the powerful and learned, but to those who receive it like children. And then a religious expert asks Jesus a question: "Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" That conversation leads Jesus into one of his most familiar stories, the story we call the Good Samaritan. But perhaps we've been standing in the wrong place in the story. Before asking whether we're being good enough neighbors, maybe we need to recognize the Neighbor who has already come looking for us. Jesus meets us in the ditch. He sees us. He comes near. He binds our wounds. He carries us. He brings us home. He is the neighbor we've all been waiting for. TODAY'S DEVOTION The Neighbor We've All Been Waiting For Who is the hero of the story? That's an important question. Because when we read the story of the Good Samaritan, I think most of us immediately put ourselves in the role of the Samaritan. Be a good neighbor. Help people who are hurting. Show mercy. Cross the road toward the person in need. And, of course, Jesus does invite us to become people of mercy. He ends the story by saying, "Now go and do the same." But before we rush too quickly to make ourselves the hero of the story, maybe we need to see something else. Maybe we're the one in the ditch. Maybe that's where the gospel begins. Jesus says a man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him. They stripped him. Beat him. And left him half dead beside the road. A priest comes by. He passes him. A Levite comes by. He passes him too. Religion sees him lying there, but religion doesn't save him. And then someone unexpected comes along. A Samaritan. Jesus says that when he sees the wounded man, he has compassion. He moves toward him. He kneels down. He tends his wounds with oil and wine. He lifts him onto his own animal. He takes him somewhere safe. He pays the cost. And he promises to return. Who does that sound like? Jesus. Jesus is the neighbor we've all been waiting for. He's the one who finds us lying in the ditch. He's the one who sees us. He's the one who has compassion. He's the one who comes near. He's the one who binds up our wounds. He's the one who carries us when we cannot carry ourselves. He's the one who pays the cost. He's the one who brings us home. And that changes the way we hear this story. Because the gospel isn't first about our ability to become the hero. It's about discovering that we have been rescued. It's about receiving mercy before we try to give it. It's about being loved before we try to love. It's about allowing Jesus to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. And maybe that's why the story of Mary and Martha follows immediately afterward. Martha is busy. She's working. She's serving. She's doing all the things that need to be done. But Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet. Listening. Receiving. And Jesus says Mary has chosen what is better. That doesn't mean serving doesn't matter. Of course it matters. But we can become so busy trying to do something for Jesus that we forget what Jesus has come to do for us. We need to sit at his feet. We need to receive. We need to let ourselves be loved. We need to let him bind our wounds. We need to remember that he is the Savior. Not us. Haggai speaks to people who have been busy building their own lives. And God calls them back to the center. "Consider your ways." Maybe that's a good word for us today. Consider your ways. What are you building? What are you striving to prove? What are you trying to accomplish so that you can finally feel secure, loved, or whole? Maybe Jesus is inviting us back to the center. Back to his feet. Back to the ditch where we first discovered mercy. Back to the realization that before we ever became the neighbor to someone else, Christ became the neighbor to us. He saw us. He came near. He had compassion. And he loved us back to life. And once we know that kind of mercy, something begins to happen in us. We become merciful. We cross the road. We notice the wounded. We stop. We listen. We bind wounds. We make room. Not because we're trying to become the hero. But because we've encountered the One who is. We love because we have been loved. We show mercy because mercy found us. We become neighbors because Jesus first became our neighbor. He's the neighbor we've all been waiting for. That's the prayer I have for my own soul. That's the prayer I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, and my son. And that's the prayer I have for you. May we see ourselves clearly. May we see Jesus clearly. And having received his limitless mercy and love, may that same mercy begin to flow through us toward the world. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Alex Snider thinks our constant rushing, and our obsession with being on time, may be costing us more than we realize. For Live Long, this goes to the heart of a bigger question: if longevity is about living well, not simply living longer, are we actually giving enough attention to the life happening now?Alex, author of Sometimes You Should Be Late, spent more than 15 years in high-pressure government roles before a cycling accident forced him to rethink urgency, productivity and what it means to be fully present.I was skeptical.  In this interview we challenge each other on punctuality, hard deadlines, wasted time, ambition and whether slowing down really helps us live better.We also discuss the classic Good Samaritan experiment, the physical cost of constant rushing, Alex's idea of “emotional punctuality,” and my own habit of leaving “white space” in the day.This is a conversation about choice: how we use our time, how we show up for other people, and whether living longer also means learning to live more fully now.--DISCLOSURE: This podcast is supported by affiliate arrangements with a select number of companies. We have arranged discounts on certain products and receive a small commission on sales. The income helps to cover production costs and ensures that our interviews remain free for all to listen. Visit our LIVE LONG SHOP for more details: Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifyEnergyBits algae snacksA microscopic form of life that could help us age better. Use code LLAMA for a 20 percent discountPartiQlar supplementsEnhance your wellness journey with pure single ingredients. DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE NOWDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Live Long podcast, a HealthSpan Media LLC production, shares ideas but does not offer medical advice.  If you have health concerns of any kind, or you are considering adopting a new diet or exercise regime, you should consult your doctor.

LIVE RESTORED, PART 6 | RESTORED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCESpiritual growth is more than knowing more about God. It is becoming more like Jesus. As we grow in Him, His heart of love and compassion begins to shape the way we see and respond to people. Galatians 6:1–2 teaches us to restore those who have fallen, carry one another's burdens, and fulfill the law of Christ, which is the law of love. Spiritual maturity moves us beyond simply seeing the needs around us. We begin to see people through the heart of Jesus, and His compassion moves us toward them.In the story of the Good Samaritan, the priest and Levite saw the wounded man and passed by, but the Samaritan “had compassion.” His compassion moved him to action. He went to the man, cared for his wounds, lifted him up, and made provision for his restoration. This is the heart of Jesus. He sees people, He is moved with compassion, and He moves toward them with restoring love. As we become more like Him, His heart becomes our heart, His compassion becomes our compassion, and His compassion moves us to make a difference.Restore Church | Yorkville, ILSunday Mornings | 10 AMJordan & Melissa Gash, Pastorshttps://www.restorechurchyorkville.com

Good Samaritan Pastor Lisa 09/27/26

Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan challenges us to examine the people we've learned to see as “the other” and calls us to love our neighbors—even those we may consider enemies. Through the story, we're reminded that following Jesus means choosing compassion, mercy, and love beyond the boundaries we've created.

The parable of the Good Samaritan confronts the gap between the love we know and the love we live. In this sermon, we discover Jesus as the one who rescues us with costly mercy, and whose love moves us to stop, serve and show compassion to those in need.Bible Reading:Luke 10:25-37Preacher:Sermon by Guy MasonFind out more at cityonahill.com.au

The hero of the story was the person nobody expected to stop.Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to a man looking for the limits of love, and instead handed him a command. This Sunday we welcome Bishop Catherine Mutua of the Kenya Methodist Church, who will open the story of the Good Samaritan and ask what it means for us — here, now — to go and do likewise.

Sermon Series of Who Do You Follow the Gospel of Luke by Pastor Chris Bossio

The beginning of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–32), teaches that how we treat others is the truest measure of our love for God and religious claims without compassion is no love at all.

Moon is sick, and The Rizzuto Show has officially instituted a new workplace policy: WE DON'T NEED HEROES. Stay home. Keep your germs away from Scott's newborn, Rafe's ancient dog and everybody else who has things to do besides spending the weekend fighting whatever plague you dragged into the studio.This daily comedy show then recaps the crew's broadcast from Scott Air Force Base, where Hockley's Bakery brought coffee cake and former NFL player Carey Davis apparently turned eating it into performance art. Rizz is trying to avoid sweets, so naturally he asks Carey to describe every bite while making direct eye contact and licking his fingers. Totally normal breakfast behavior.Things take a serious turn with a disturbing St. Louis story involving a 63-year-old retired truck driver who was attacked by multiple people after a minor car accident. A bystander recorded the assault, helping police identify suspects, but the video sparks a bigger conversation: if you witness someone being attacked, what should you actually do? Do you physically intervene and risk becoming another victim? Record evidence? Call police? The crew wrestles with where being a Good Samaritan ends and unnecessarily putting yourself in danger begins.That debate rolls right into MetroLink's new turnstiles, where riders have reported people “piggybacking” through behind paying passengers. Officials say not to engage, but Rafe and Lern quickly develop a significantly less official solution involving The Crow, a trench coat and vigilante MetroLink justice. Somewhere, Batman's attorneys are already preparing a cease-and-desist.Then this daily comedy show gets into a much more dangerous trend: Galaxy Gas and recreational nitrous oxide use. After discussing a case involving a young man who reportedly lost his ability to walk after prolonged use, the crew runs through other health trends doctors are concerned about, including vaping, ketamine, energy drinks, e-bikes and influencer medicine. Turns out getting your medical advice from somebody dancing next to floating captions may have some drawbacks.Relationship court is also in session after a woman writes in about her boyfriend refusing to actually say “I love you” after a year together. Instead, she gets “you too,” “love you, mean it” and — brace yourself — “wuv you.” Rizz would like him removed from society immediately. The crew debates when couples should finally say the L-word, whether love at first sight exists and how much baby talk one adult relationship can survive.And because parenting wasn't already complicated enough, apparently “park crawls” are becoming a birthday-party thing, with kids hitting multiple playgrounds and even riding party buses between stops. That leads to the eternal argument over whether adults without children are allowed to give parenting advice. Lern says absolutely. Rizz says you can give whatever advice you want — parents are equally free to throw it directly in the trash.Sick coworkers, seductive coffee cake, Good Samaritan dilemmas, MetroLink vigilantes, questionable health trends, “wuv you” and children apparently living the party-bus lifestyle before they can drive — another completely responsible daily comedy show from The Rizzuto Show.Follow The Rizzuto Show → linktr.ee/rizzshow for more from your favorite daily comedy show.Connect with The Rizzuto Show Comedy Podcast online → 1057thepoint.com/RizzShow.Hear The Rizz Show daily on the radio at 105.7 The Point | Hubbard Radio in St. Louis, MO.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Moon is sick, and The Rizzuto Show has officially instituted a new workplace policy: WE DON'T NEED HEROES. Stay home. Keep your germs away from Scott's newborn, Rafe's ancient dog and everybody else who has things to do besides spending the weekend fighting whatever plague you dragged into the studio.Things take a serious turn with a disturbing St. Louis story involving a 63-year-old retired truck driver who was attacked by multiple people after a minor car accident. A bystander recorded the assault, helping police identify suspects, but the video sparks a bigger conversation: if you witness someone being attacked, what should you actually do? Do you physically intervene and risk becoming another victim? Record evidence? Call police? The crew wrestles with where being a Good Samaritan ends and unnecessarily putting yourself in danger begins.Galaxy Gas and recreational nitrous oxide use. After discussing a case involving a young man who reportedly lost his ability to walk after prolonged use, the crew runs through other health trends doctors are concerned about, including vaping, ketamine, energy drinks, e-bikes and influencer medicine. Turns out getting your medical advice from somebody dancing next to floating captions may have some drawbacks.Happy National One-Hit Wonder Day! The Rizzuto Show celebrates by attempting to determine the greatest musical one-and-done of all time, and the nominees are basically a playlist from the weirdest wedding reception imaginable.Crap on Celebrities brings the first-ever Dolly Parton Day, a celebration tied to September 25 and the Imagination Library. Lern is also preparing for the Back to the Beginning concert screening, Turnstile anticipation is reaching dangerous levels, and Nick Cannon's 12 children somehow spark the fairly reasonable question of whether it's physically possible to be present for that many kids.Then this funny podcast heads into entertainment chaos with Gremlins 3, Morgan Freeman pushing back against unauthorized AI clones of his unmistakable voice, Marvel reportedly adding material to Endgame, and Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale transforming into John Madden and Al Davis. Rafe thinks Christian Bale nails it. Nicolas Cage remains impressively incapable of disguising the fact that he is Nicolas Cage.Tommy Davidson is back in the studio, and before we can properly discuss his decades in comedy, we have to address the important stuff: New York accents, breakfast hot dogs and the cruel moment when heartburn finally comes for you.Tommy talks about touring arenas with Katt Williams, being home during the week with his family and what it's actually like backstage on one of those massive comedy tours. He also celebrates finally getting The Varnell Hill Show made after seven years of work and explains how a late-night conversation with Kid from Kid 'n Play eventually helped revive the character he first played on Martin more than 30 years ago.But the conversation takes a powerful turn when Tommy shares the incredible story of his childhood. He talks about being found abandoned as an infant, being adopted by white parents involved in civil-rights work, growing up in Wyoming and Colorado, and later confronting racism from completely different directions after his family moved to Washington, D.C. It's a remarkable piece of his life story wrapped inside a conversation that somehow also includes communes, puppies and the 21st Wayans brother.Tommy also talks about his music ambitions, his new projects and his upcoming shows at Helium before sending us out with a Led Zeppelin-inspired Kool-Aid performance nobody knew they needed.Katt Williams. Jim Carrey. Ace Ventura. Hollywood secrets. Stevie Wonder. Heartburn. Breakfast hot dogs.Follow The Rizzuto Show → linktr.ee/rizzshow for more from your favorite daily comedy show.Connect with The Rizzuto Show Comedy Podcast online → 1057thepoint.com/RizzShow.Hear The Rizz Show daily on the radio at 105.7 The Point | Hubbard Radio in St. Louis, MO.Accused attackers apologize after 63-year-old man beaten following St. Louis County crashNew MetroLink gates spark rider concerns over piggybacking, harassmentIdaho woman warns of 'Galaxy Gas' risk after son's paralysis scare‘Genius' kids birthday party idea has some parents on edge: ‘Literally a nightmare of a situation'See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A lawyer asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" — not looking for information, but for a boundary, a place where love can stop. In this episode of Blueprint for Revival, Mike Plunket walks through the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) and shows why social compassion isn't optional for a Spirit-filled church — it's the fruit that proves the tree is alive.Mike unpacks how Jesus deliberately flips the lawyer's whole framework, putting the despised outsider in the position of power and the religious insider in the position of powerlessness. He traces this same call through Matthew 25's sheep and goats and James's blunt warning that faith without works is dead — not as a way to earn favor with God, but as visible evidence of a justification that's already complete in Christ.The episode closes with a simple, personal story: Mike's five-year-old son giving away his entire allowance to a homeless man in Costa Rica, understanding something many adults miss — "that's all right, Daddy. You have more."Blueprint for Revival is a weekly teaching series from Metro District, Christian and Missionary Alliance.Metro District Podcast is the voice of the Metro District, Christian and Missionary Alliance — resourcing and connecting churches across NY, NJ, and PA.This episode is part of Blueprint for Revival, a weekly teaching series with Mike Plunket.

Matt Mosman (friend from BYU MBA school, prior senior vice president of development at Oracle, currently general parter of venture capital firm in Salt Lake, well known expert on mergers and acquisitions), joins us to share the story of being called as the High Councilor over the Bay Ward in San Francisco and all they did to help the gay men and women feel welcome at Church. Those efforts including calling an “openly gay man” Mitch Maynes into the Bishopric as the executive secretary and sending a letter out to all ward members they are welcome and won't be excommunicated for showing up at Church. Matt talks about speaking throughout the Stake on better supporting LGBTQ members and how he handed “the heat his took” for his advocacy. He talks about how God created His queer children as intended and we should look at them as beloved children of Heavenly Parents. Matt wrote a powerful essay called “How to Read Your Religion's Foundational Texts” (see show notes) where he powerfully shares his feelings on: * Jesus's strongest condemnation was for the Pharisees—and how that applies today * The parable of the Good Samaritan—best summary I've ever read Further, Matt is completely clear about why he stays in the Church and how he feels about where the Church is with its LGBTQ members: “What I mean by "cafeteria Christian" is this: a person who accepts large portions of their tradition's teaching while consciously declining others. I am one of these people. I am a committed member of my own denomination. I believe deeply in its foundational claims. I try to live according to its principles. Yet there are positions my church holds on certain matters — including, specifically, the treatment of LGBTQ members — where I have concluded, after long and prayerful consideration, that my tradition is simply wrong. I hold that view while remaining within the tradition, because I understand my faith to be larger than any single institutional position.” One of Matt's gifts is being bold and clear—and he uses that gift to talk about how to better support our LGBT friends. Matt—who is politically left—also talks about speaking up to share how he feels even if it is a minority position. Matt shares his son coming out as gay several years after Matt's High Council assignment and how that was a non-event—as a closest youth he already knew his Dad loved him as he saw-first hand his Dad's advocacy—super powerful parenting experience for us all to consider. Thank you, Matt, for being on the podcast and all you do to help create Zion by helpful everyone feel welcome, loved and needed. You are a good man. I encourage everyone to listen to and share this powerful episode. Links: Matt's essay: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hd1utwih1h1qagx2eg0qn/How-to-Read-Your-Religion-s-Foundational-Texts-by-Matt-Mosman.pdf?rlkey=81quise3my3vii3brjri5jz74&dl=0

Throughout the Bible, we find references to oils used for anointing the sick, caring for wounds, and honoring God. How much do we really understand about these ancient healing traditions? Professor Gordon Pennington has dedicated years to researching the healing oils of the Bible and bringing ingredients such as frankincense, myrrh, and olive oil into a modern context. His work with biblical healing oils explores the historical, spiritual, and natural significance of these ancient ingredients. These include the biblical story of the Good Samaritan and the use of oil in caring for wounds. Personally, I love the Kure-it oils. I would like to learn more about what makes their oil better than most. Professor Gordon will share what he has learned about these ancient oils and why their story continues to capture the interest of people seeking natural approaches to wellness and a deeper connection between faith and health. Now you can listen commercial free at your leisure…Click here and let's grow together: Healing Oils of The Bible, Prof. Gordon Pennington If you love this podcast episode, share it with a friend. The Lillian McDermott Radio Show/Classroom ~ When You Need a Friend… PREMIERE:  Telegram, Facebook, YouTube, WhenYouNeedaFriend.com SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, & FOLLOW:    Facebook, Instagram, X, Website, Odysee, BitChute, YouTube! LISTEN:  Amazon Podcast, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, iHeartRadio! CALL or TEXT: 407-373-5959 “You can take a pill, or You can take Responsibility!” ®

MAGA Christians say love your neighbor, but what happens when ICE detains a church member and the church stays silent? Pat Kahnke talks with Tihomir Kukolja about the Good Samaritan, immigration, migrant injustice, and who is my neighbor.

https://jo.my/qmonasFirst Aid and AED ReadinessPicture this: a pallet slips. A teammate drops to the concrete floor. Blood is pooling, or maybe their chest stops moving entirely. Silence. Panic. Seconds turn into an eternity. In forty years on the floor, I have watched emergencies rip through a shift in an instant. Paper plans cannot save a life when the floor is cold, and someone is fighting for breath.Equipment and training do. Real safety means giving your people the exact tools to stand between a bad day and a funeral. It turns shock into automatic action. You build that readiness long before an alarm ever sounds.Here are a few tips to assist you with first aid and AED readiness:Audit kit dates every month. Ointments dry up into crust. Sterile packaging tears. Adhesive tapes lose their grip. A dried-out bandage is useless during a severe laceration. Swap expired gear immediately.Keep AED pads fresh and ready. Check the battery indicator light every single week. Green means ready. Yellow or flashing red means trouble. Replace expired pads immediately, as dried gel will not deliver a life-saving shock.Eliminate fear with Good Samaritan laws. Many workers freeze because they fear lawsuits. Explain the legal protections clearly. Good Samaritan laws shield your crew when they act in good faith to save a peer.Build overlapping shift coverage. Train multiple responders across every single shift, line, and area. Stagger their vacation days. A certification wall plaque means nothing if your only trained worker is home sick.As always, these are potential tips. Please follow the rules and regulations of your specific facility.Look around your floor today—notice who is working beside you. When an artery opens, or a heart stops, you cannot wait for an outside rescue crew. Emergency medics do their best. But the person standing ten feet away is the real first responder. Ready kits and sharp skills keep families whole. Build that reflex now, because out here, you will never get a second chance to react.Thank you for being part of another episode of Warehouse Safety Tips. Until we meet next time — have a great week, STAY SAFE, and here's a word from our sponsor.#Safety #5S #5S Methodology #Lean Manufacturing #SafetyCulture #StaySafe #SafetyFirst #SafetyTips #StayAlert #SafetyAwareness #FacilitySafety #WorkplaceSafety #WarehouseSafety #FirstAid #AEDReadiness #EmergencyPreparedness

A casual conversation at CrossPointe Coast about the scripture and sermon from the previous Sunday with Jeremiah Fyffe & Sam Powers. The Storm Stilled Luke 10:25-37Special Guest: Sam Powers.

We live in a culture that worships urgency. Many people move through their days in a near-constant state of rushing, multitasking, reacting, and catching up. Many of us may be quietly wondering: What are we losing in the process? In this episode my guest, former federal executive, Alex Snider (www.slowmindfulness.com) and I explore the hidden emotional, relational, and moral costs of chronic urgency and ask a deeper question: How does the way we move through time shape the people we become? SHOW NOTES SPONSORED BY: Soul of Business™ Experience Find out more at https://leader.blainebartlett.com/sobecommunity Summary In this episode, Blaine and Alex Snider explore the transformative power of slowing down through mindfulness and meditation, especially in high-pressure business environments. They discuss how slowing pace can enhance creativity, compassion, and decision-making, challenging the modern obsession with speed and punctuality. Key Topics: Blaine reflects on his four decades of meditation practice and its influence on business success. Alex explains the concept of slow mindfulness and how it counters the modern culture of speed. The paradox of punctuality and being "late" as a pathway to deeper connection and creativity. The famous Good Samaritan study illustrating how urgency diminishes compassion and awareness. The historical roots of modern urgency—religion, capitalism, and technology—and their costs. Practical techniques for leaders to model calmness and intentionality under pressure. The importance of designing environments (ontological design) to foster awareness and compassion. The relationship between speed, memory, and wisdom, informed by Kondurra's Slowness. How to manage expectations around deadlines while cultivating presence and patience. The role of stoic philosophy in acceptance, control, and resilience. As Blaine and Alex highlight, cultivating presence through slow mindfulness can be a powerful act of leadership, personal growth, and societal renewal. Embracing the paradox of being "late" in schedules to be "on time" with life and consciousness can lead to more sustainable success, connection, and well-being. #soulofbusiness #blainebartlett #compassionatecapitalism #mindfulness #meditation #sleep #creativity #presence #stoicism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GOOD SAMARITANHey parents! Use these questions as a guide to talk over this week's lesson, Good Samaritan, with your child after they've watched the video service!Jesus told a story. Who was today's Bible story about?A Samaritan man.A Jewish man was hurt – he had lots of owies. A Samaritan man came. He helped the Jewish man. Let's say, Hooray for the Samaritan man. It is good to help people when they are hurt.God made people because he loves everyone. Can you point to someone God made?Help your child point to you and to themselves!Jesus is happy when we help someone and we can be happy, too. Show me your happiest happy face.Take some time to pray with your toddler. Encourage them to sit with you and fold their hands, saying something like:“God, thank you for making us. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for wanting to be our friend. Help us to help people just like the Good Samaritan. We love you! Amen.”Parent Encouragement - The Good SamaritanHey Parents! Here's something for you to be encouraged by and get ideas from this week to make the Good Samaritan lesson part of your everyday conversation with your toddler at home!DownloadToddler Coloring Page - The Good SamaritanAs your child colors this coloring page, they will be reminded of today's Bible story and that God made them! There are additional coloring pages with familiar faces from today's lesson, too.DownloadToddler Craft – The Good Samaritan BadgesThis week, your child will create a Good Samaritan badge to remind them they can help people just like the Good Samaritan helped in the Bible story.DownloadToddler Activity – Find the Hurt ManIn this activity, your child will find the hurt man hiding under a cup. They will remember they can be like the Good Samaritan. When they see someone who is hurt, they can help.DownloadNavigating Parenthood Hey parents! Saddleback Parents has great training, tips, and tools to help you win. Check out this Two-Minute Tip, How to Help Your Children See Themselves Through God's Eyes Pt.1, all about solidifying the basis of your child's identity through three words.Download

On this week's episode with host Davis Hovey, the Alaska Beacon reports on changes to advance reservations for public cabins, the Kodiak commercial salmon seiner Emily Rose gets some help from Good Samaritan vessels, Coast Guard Base Kodiak hosted a 9/11 25th anniversary ceremony, a recap of the gubernatorial fisheries debate in Kodiak, state Sen. Gary Stevens is retiring from the Legislature, and KIBSD's Board of Education is considering closing East Elementary school.

In this parable, Jesus tells a story about what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. It takes love, compassion, and sacrifice. Three things with which our Savior knows more than anyone!

Won't you be my neighbor? On this episode of the Full of Joy Podcast, Pastor Eric sits down to discuss the well-known parable of The Good Samaritan. It's a story about understanding our role in caring for our fellow human beings. Eric gives a retelling of the story and asks the question: Where do we find ourselves in the story? Are we the Samaritan? The Traveler? The Priest? The Levite? Plus, Burning Questions with Heather Wald!

Decades after the murder of 17-year-old Lecia McGee went cold, advances in forensic testing gave investigators an opportunity to take another look at the evidence that remained. Testing on a cigarette butt recovered from Lecia's car produced a male DNA profile. That profile eventually matched a Fort Worth man already serving a prison sentence for a violent attack; a man who, as a teenager, had been questioned in the initial investigation.The discovery led detectives into the man's extensive history of violence. Years after Lecia's murder, he deliberately struck a woman with his truck as she was speed walking in her neighborhood, leaving her critically injured before attempting to force her into his vehicle. He fled after a failed attempt to abduct her, but was eventually arrested and put back behind bars. Investigators also examined an earlier crime spree involving burglaries, armed robberies, stolen vehicles, and gunfire.Perhaps most significant was his history before Lecia was killed. While living only a short distance from her family, he had already been involved in increasingly serious crimes. Shortly before Lecia's death, he abducted a young woman after playing Good Samaritan. Luckily, she escaped before he could do his worst. After hearing about Lecia's murder, someone familiar with that incident contacted homicide detectives and pointed out possible similarities between the two cases. Police questioned the teenager and his family, but the lead was never fully pursued.Decades later, the DNA match brought investigators back to him. He denied knowing Lecia well or ever being inside her car, despite his DNA being found there. Detectives believed the accumulated circumstances were significant, but prosecutors concluded the available evidence was not enough to bring a murder charge. With key physical evidence gone and no additional DNA linking him directly to the killing, Lecia's case remains unsolved.Part two of two.If you have any information about the murder of Lecia Ann McGee, please contact the Fort Worth Police Cold Case Unit at 817-392-4307.You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcastFind us at https://www.gonecold.comFor Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.comFollow gone cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click https://linknbio.com/gonecoldpodcast#JusticeForLeciaMcGee #FortWorth #FTW #TarrantCounty #Texas #TX #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #Unsolved #MissingPerson #Missing #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #MissingTrio #FortWorthMissingTrio #CarlaWalkerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.

Preacher: Jeremiah Fyffe Luke 10:25-37 Luke 10:25-37 | The Good Samaritan from CrossPointe Coast on Vimeo. A SELF-JUSTIFYING QUESTION AN ANSWER IN A STORY WHO PROVED TO BE A NEIGHBOR? THE ISSUE OF DUTY AND INHERITANCE THE ISSUE OF LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR Luke 12:32 (ESV) Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 18:18 (ESV) And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke 18:26 (ESV) Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” Luke 18:27 (ESV) But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 1 John 4:9 (ESV) In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 1 John 4:10 (ESV) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:11 (ESV) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Luke 6:35–36 (ESV) But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

How do you know you're really redeemed?Jesus shocked a lawyer with a truth that reaches far beyond knowing the right answers or doing the right things. In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus reveals that love from heaven's door produces love for those next door.If Christ has truly been to the doorstep of your heart, there should be evidence on the roads of your life.In Luke 10:25–37, we discover three marks of the really redeemed: they show mercy to self-inflicted wounds, they refuse to keep receipts, and they see beyond earthly bloodlines.The question isn't simply, “Do I know the right answers?” The question is, “Has the grace of Jesus changed the way I love the people around me?”

What if loving your neighbour begins with listening—before deciding who they are or what they deserve?In this message, we revisit the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 and explore how Jesus shifts the question from identifying our neighbours to becoming a neighbour. Along the way, we consider the invitation to hear at the heart of the greatest commandment, the familiar stories we've stopped listening to, and the compassion that grows when someone else's story becomes part of ours.An invitation to stay curious longer, open conversations without an agenda, and practise kindness even when the people closest to us get on our nerves. ★ Support this podcast ★

In Luke 10, the story of the Good Samaritan challenges us to move beyond obligation and performance and become people who give freely because of what Jesus has already given us. When compassion captures our hearts, it changes how we give our time, resources, and lives to others.

Jesus calls us to a faith that refuses to stand on the sidelines. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we discover that love goes first—crossing boundaries, meeting people in their places of need, and bringing the hope of Jesus with us. God has uniquely placed each of us in this world with a purpose. The question is: What will you do with the life God has given you?

The sermon examines the encounter between Jesus and a lawyer in Luke 10, highlighting the contrast between self-righteousness and genuine faith. It argues that eternal life is inherited solely through belief in Christ, not by keeping the law, as the lawyer's attempt to justify himself reveals his spiritual blindness. The narrative of the Good Samaritan is presented not merely as a lesson on who one's neighbor is, but as a demonstration that true compassion flows from a transformed heart. The preacher emphasizes that believers must move from asking who deserves their help to actively embodying the love of Christ. Ultimately, the message calls for the abandonment of pride and self-justification in favor of humble reliance on Jesus, who is the source of both salvation and the capacity to love others.

(English below)奉仕は「やらなきゃいけないこと」ではなく、キリストのからだの一員として与えられた特権です！今週は「良きサマリア人」のストーリーから、人に仕えることから生まれる本当の喜び、私たち自身に起こる変化、そして教会として共に永遠につながる違いを生み出せることを発見しましょう！【質問】・どうしたら喜びをもって仕えることができますか？（詩篇100:2）・あなたが持っている賜物や能力で、誰かのために使えそうなものは何ですか？・もし教会が1つの体だとしたら、自分はどんな「部分」だと思いますか？その理由は？・喜びをもって人に仕えることを邪魔しているものは何ですか？【SNSで繋がろう】ウェブサイト: mylifehouse.comInstagram: instagram.com/lifehousetokyoFacebook: facebook.com/lifehousetokyoビデオメッセージ: https://mylifehouse.com/ja/online/#messages ------------------------------Serving is a privilege as the body of Christ, not a burdensome chore! This week, Pastor Tasuke shares how serving like the Good Samaritan brings true joy, transforms our hearts, and allows us to make an eternal difference together as the church.QUESTIONS:・How can we serve with gladness? (Psalm 100:2)・What is one gift or ability you have that you could use to serve someone else?・If the church is like a body, what "part" do you feel like you are — and why?・What's one thing that gets in the way of you serving others with joy?CONNECT WITH US:Website: mylifehouse.comInstagram: instagram.com/lifehousetokyoFacebook: facebook.com/lifehousetokyoVideo Messages: https://mylifehouse.com/ja/online/#messages English Message Podcast: https://lifehousemessages.captivate.fm/listen

How depressed Ezekiel must have been! The LORD caused him to be aware of the totally godless attitude that existed in Jerusalem.  He writes, “certain of the elders of Israel came to see me.” [14 v.1]  The “word of the LORD” comes to him, “… these men have taken their idols into their hearts and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces.  Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?” [v.3]  The lesson is plain, it is folly to come to seek God and yet retain fleshly thoughts in our minds.  Ezekiel is further told, “any one of the house of Israel … who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart … and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I, the LORD will answer him myself.  And I will set my face against that man (or woman)…” [v.7,8] Surely the same applies today to those who “consult” God through reading his word – but have a wrong motive in their hearts.  Peter's words come to mind about Paul's writings,, “There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” [2 Peter 3 v.16]  In our chapter [10] in Luke there is some comparison with the attitude of the lawyer who asked Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”   He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”  And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” [v.25-27] Jesus says to him, “You have answered correctly: do this and you will live.”  But he asks, “and, who is my neighbour?” In response Jesus tells him the well-known account of the ‘Good Samaritan' and asks the man, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among robbers?” [v.36]  He answers, “The one who showed mercy” and is told, “You go and do likewise.”  Let us all love our Lord, with all our heart, our soul, our strength and our mind showing our love by our actions day after day: of course, we will sense at times, something similar to what the LORD caused Ezekiel to sense.  But surely, in at least some cases, it will cause others to “do likewise” and – for at least one or two to take serious notice of the message and meaning of what we talk about –  the wonder and real meaning of the word of God – as the only ‘light' in the darkness that covers the world today.

Have you ever wanted to read your story for Disturbed? Now is your chance!  Become a Premium or Diamond Patreon member from now until October 15 to be entered into a drawing for a chance to record your story with one of the producers of the show.  The winner will be announced on Oct. 16 through Patreon, and their story will be featured in a special Halloween episode of Disturbed.  What are you waiting for? Become a Premium or Diamond member now for your chance to win!  You'll also get early and ad-free episodes and bonus content. What more could you be waiting for?  Go to patreon.com/disturbedpodcast Featuring Narration by: Donovan Shepard Laura Lockwood  Jae-Yeon Hwang Story 1: The Good Samaritan Narrated by: Donovan Shepard On his way to his cabin in the mountains, a man comes across a younger man sitting on the side of the road. Concerned, he pulls over to make sure he is okay. After a few moments of intense screaming and crying, his friends emerge from the woods. Outnumbered three to one, the game has changed.  Story 2: Secluded Getaway Narrated by: Laura Lockwood A camping trip to Scottland begins as a secluded getaway, but things start to change when a visitor keeps coming around their tent. The next day, things get even weirder when a group of men arrives.  They seemed to be campers, but then screams break out into the darkness.  Story 3: Ghosts of the Past  Narrated by: Jae-Yeon Hwang A Korean Soldier trapped on an island has his turn with the past. While working in the ammunition bunker on the farthest part of the island, an unknown soldier comes in from the cold only to disappear before he could ever warm up.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're more divided than ever and sometimes, it feels like meanness is winning. So this week, Now or Never is going all in on kindness, with five totally unexpected stories on the kindness of strangers that will hopefully nudge you to be a little kinder, too.Two weeks ago, Ben Shannon got a call at work that every parent fears: his 12-year-old daughter, Sumire, was alone, at one of Toronto's busiest intersections, experiencing a sudden medical emergency. He raced to the scene and found a stranger cradling his daughter amidst the chaos. In the rush to get to the hospital, Ben didn't get the Good Samaritan's name. But now that Sumire is OK, Ben is on a mission to find the stranger who stepped up for his daughter in a crisis.On September 11, 2001, a terrifying plane detour brought Americans Sue Riccardelli and Maureen Murray to Gander, Newfoundland and into the life of a stranger named Mac Moss. Today, the three friends reunite to talk about kindness and gratitude, at a time when tensions between Canada and the U.S. are particularly high.We asked you for your stories about a recent moment of kindness involving a stranger, and you delivered! Hear how these small moments of connection have stayed with them.An act of kindness cost Nadine Green her business, her friendships, and her home. But that is only making Nadine double down on her efforts to help unhoused people in her community. Find out what motivates Nadine to keep giving, sometimes to her own detriment.A cancelled flight left Patricia Robinson wondering how she was ever going to make it to her 90th birthday celebration. Then two strangers stepped up and gave her a birthday road trip that she will never forget.When Colin Vickars was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a stem cell transplant was his only hope. From across the ocean came a match — an anonymous genetic twin. Once he recovered, Colin made it his mission to find the donor. Meet Scotland's Charlie Devlin and find out how you make friends with the stranger who saved your life.

One day while Jesus is teaching, an expert in religious law asks a question – “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life.” Today we think of eternal life solely as life after death – heaven. But this word ‘eternal’ was used as a particular QUALITY of life that comes from God. Eternal life was a life that could be had living right here and right now when living God’s way. This man was asking Jesus, how do I get God’s quality of life? How do I live better? The answer was, “you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind – AND – Love your neighbor as yourself”. And then Jesus is asked an important question – WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? It’s an honest question. If I’m going to follow Jesus’ instructions to love my neighbor as myself, I first need to understand who my neighbor is – then I need to understand what it would mean to love them as myself. And that’s where our next parable comes in. To explain who our neighbor is and how we are supposed to love them, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10: 30-37: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.' “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” So here we have a Jewish man who is attacked and left dying beside the road. The locals see him and walk by. They’re not only locals, but one is a priest and one is a temple assistant – they literally work for God – but they pass by the man in desperate need and don’t get involved. Then comes a “despised Samaritan”. To really understand this story, you have to understand why he would have been despised. A Samaritan was from the region of Samaria. Samaritans and Jews had a long history of hostility. They had deep religious and cultural differences, and there was tremendous prejudice and mistrust between them. They didn't associate with one another the way you might expect neighbors to. So when Jesus tells a story about a Jewish man in need and makes a Samaritan the one who stops to help him, there is serious shock factor. The most unlikely one was the neighbor. The outsider was the neighbor. The one who was different and disliked was the neighbor. The one kept at a distance was the neighbor. And the people who saw the need, crossed to the other side of the road, and kept walking? They were not acting like neighbors. Remember, the original question was, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus turns that question completely upside down. The question isn’t simply, “Who qualifies to receive my love?” The better question is, “Am I willing to become a neighbor to the person in front of me?” And that brings us right back to the command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” My friends, how many times are we failing to love our neighbors as ourselves? And is it because we don’t know how to first love ourselves? Nope. That’s cheap. Don’t settle for that answer. This isn’t a self-love message. Quite honestly, most of us are so totally selfish, so completely wrapped up in our own feelings and desires that we only think of ourselves. Here’s the truth – you know how to care about yourself. You know how to make sure you have food to eat. You know how to protect yourself. You know how to make sure you’re comfortable. You know how to avoid things that inconvenience you. We really don’t have a problem loving ourselves. We have a unique way of making everything about ourselves. We take the command of loving others as ourselves and twist it into a self-love lesson on putting ourselves first so we can then love others better. Don’t twist this. Jesus is simply telling us to take that same concern we naturally have for ourselves and extend it outward. Loving our neighbor as ourself is having the same concern for others as we do for ourselves. We care about us eating dinner – we should care about them eating dinner. We care about us being warm – we should care about them being warm. The Samaritan didn’t just notice the man’s need. He allowed the man’s need to interrupt his own life. That’s the part that gets me. The Samaritan was traveling this road because he had somewhere to go. This wasn’t a road you just took a joy walk on. He wasn’t out getting in his steps. He had things to do. He had his own life. And yet, when he saw someone hurting, he stopped. He got close. He got involved. He gave his time. He gave his resources. He gave his attention. He gave what he had. He’s the neighbor. He’s caring. He’s loving. Love isn’t always convenient. In fact, sometimes love is wildly inconvenient. Sometimes loving your neighbor means crossing the road instead of crossing your arms. It means noticing instead of ignoring. It means stopping instead of rushing. It means getting involved when it would be easier to mind your own business. Imagine the excuses the first 2 people had walking by this man laying on the side of the road bleeding to death. Maybe justified excuses. It was dangerous. They weren’t medically trained to save a life. They didn’t know how to help. Wow – how many times is that our leading excuse for not stopping, for not getting involved – I just don’t know how to help. What – girl, you don’t know how to just CARE about someone else? Jesus knows better. And sometimes the person God is asking you to love isn’t the person you naturally like. That’s the whole point of the Samaritan. Jesus wasn’t impressed by proximity to God. The priest was close to the temple. The temple assistant worked in the temple. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the commands. But when love required something of them, they walked away. The Samaritan may have been the last person anyone expected Jesus to put in the hero role, but he understood something the religious insiders had missed: Love doesn’t just know what is right. Love does what is right. We get so hung up on “who is my neighbor” – here’s the better question – “Who is God putting in front of me that I am tempted to walk past?” Who is hurting that I’ve learned not to notice? Who is difficult that I’ve decided isn’t my responsibility? Who is different from me that I’ve kept at a distance? Who is inconvenient? Who requires more of me than I’m comfortable giving? Love your neighbor. Even when it’s inconvenient. Even when they’re different. Even when they wouldn’t be your first choice. Even when you don’t get anything back. I know we can’t help everyone. I know our job isn’t to save everyone. I know sometimes it’s even dangerous to get involved. So how do we know? Really, on a practical level, how do we get started with this? I read this quote by Spurgeon, “When we see innocent people suffering as the result of the sin of others, our pity should be excited.” Maybe this is a good way to start getting involved. Is that an innocent person suffering as a result of the sin of someone else – STOP AND CARE ABOUT THEM. We don’t have to run after every need we see. However, when we see the innocent suffering, we are supposed to get involved! And what do we receive as a result? Remember where this story started? It started with the question of eternal life. The word ‘eternal’ here meaning God’s kind of life – a God QUALITY life. Here it is! Care about your neighbor – the innocent one in need right in front of you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

This week's WeatherBrains episode is all about Wisconsin Public Radio's "Weather Guys". Our Guest WeatherBrains for tonight's episode are some of the smartest people in the weather enterprise.  Dr. Jonathan Martin joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994.  He won the Edward Lawrence Teaching Award in 2016 by the AMS.  He's authored 90 papers and has helped publish several books including a biography on British meteorologist Reginald Sutcliffe about inventions on modern weather systems.  He was named by Princeton Review as one of the nation's top 300 professors.  Dr. Martin, welcome to the show! We are honored to also have on the show Dr. Steven Ackerman.  He was the Director of CIMSS (The Cooperative Institute of Meteorological Satellite Studies) for over a decade.  He was Vice Chancellor of Research and Graduate Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He's won many awards as public service medals and is very involved with leadership initiatives.  He's won the Exceptional Public Service medal and is very involved with the student body.  Dr. Ackerman, welcome to WeatherBrains! Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com. Tuscaloosa, AL hits record high of 101F on 09/14/26 (01:15) Ridge going nowhere anytime soon!  (01:30) What is "baratropic"?  (10:45) Revolution in access to data over the decades (17:30) Advice to meteorology students who are soon entering the workforce (20:00) Relationship between PBS and Wisconsin (21:30) Development of "Weather Guys" (26:00) Dr. Ackerman's and Dr. Martin's recommended weather apps  (38:00) CIMSS:  What it is and when it started (46:00) The Next Big Thing in weather satellites? (50:00) CubeSat constellations (01:02:00) The future of radio? (01:10:30) Correlation between specific weather and El Niño ENSO phase (01:20:00) The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (No segment this week) This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:26:00) E-Mail Segment (01:27:00) Sneak peak at future WeatherBrains episodes! (01:31:30) and more! Web Sites from Episode 1078:   UW Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences CIMSS (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies) The Weather Guys Wisconsin Public Radio Alabama Weather Network Picks of the Week: Dr. Steven Ackerman - Volcanic Eruption of Anak Krakatau Dr. Jonathan Martin - Atlantic hurricane season peak: no storms and a record hurricane delay James Aydelott - Out Jen Narramore - The Northeast Georgia History Center Rick Smith - Out Troy Kimmel - Disney College Program participant killed in lightning strike; Good Samaritans recount rescue attempt Kim Klockow-McClain - NASA CubeSat to Test Miniaturized Weather Satellite Technology Bill Murray - Out John Gordon - Jeremy Perez on X James Spann - James Spann on X: Auburn Football lightning delay on September 12th The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, John Gordon, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.  

Who are our neighbors? The people who live next to us? The people who look like us, think like us, or vote for us?Jesus confronts the prevailing belief that only a few people are worthy of our love, trust, and respect. The Parable of the Good Samaritan stands as a beacon of light against the darkness of prejudice, hate, and tribalism.Today's Bible verse is James 2:1, from the King James Version.Download the ⁠Pray.com⁠ app for more Christian content including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Pray.com is the digital destination for faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is Portland the perfect “test lab” for church and civic collaboration? What's the critical step most leaders skip when launching a new initiative? What can we learn from failed ideas with good intentions? Ben Sand and Carissa Quinn Bredlie—co-leaders of a new Certificate in Community Initiatives at Portland Seminary—join Brian for a rich conversation about the convergence of entrepreneurship, civic action, and practicing the way of Jesus.Carissa Quinn Bredlie is a biblical scholar, a coach, an author, and a strategist who invests in human transformation and connection: https://thealignstrategy.com/about-meBen Sand serves as chief executive officer of The Contingent, a venture non-profit focused on empowering leaders and mobilizing community for the common good: https://thecontingent.org/Dr. Brian Doak is an Old Testament scholar and professor: https://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/religion/faculty/doak.htmlIf you enjoy listening to the George Fox Talks podcast and would like to watch, too, check out our channel on YouTube! We also have a web page that features all of our podcasts, a sign-up for our weekly email update, and publications from the George Fox University community.

In week 3 of the Reform series, Samuel Goulet continues exploring what it means for God to make crooked paths straight by looking at the story of Nehemiah. Through Nehemiah's response to Jerusalem's broken walls, this message calls listeners to open their eyes to the brokenness around them, let compassion move them to prayer, and then rise up in obedience to build where God is leading. Rather than waiting for perfect credentials or expert status, Samuel challenges the church to respond with humility, faith, and willingness—trusting that God gives grace, resource, and assignment as His people step into the work of restoration.

"Someone else will do it." Those five words are why prayers go unprayed, offerings go ungiven, and teenagers go unreached — until no one does it at all. In this message, a visiting apostle from Armenia's Word of Life Church confronts the "diffusion of responsibility" mindset head-on and calls The Rock family to become Good Samaritans with our own platform and stage.Artur Simonyan, senior pastor of Word of Life Church in Armenia (and a fast-growing network of churches now planting across Florida), was invited to preach at The Rock after Pastor Jerry Dirmann and a Foursquare Church USA delegation — at the invitation of Foursquare USA President Randy Remington — traveled to Armenia this past June. The Rock had already sown financially into Word of Life's first U.S. building purchase in Florida a year earlier, and this message is the fruit of that partnership.

Davis Smith is the founder, chairman, and emeritus CEO of Cotopaxi, a Salt Lake City–based outdoor gear brand dedicated to poverty alleviation. Raised throughout Latin America, he developed a lifelong commitment to social impact after witnessing economic inequality firsthand. A serial e-commerce entrepreneur, Davis founded several successful ventures, including Brazil's 2012 “Startup of the Year,” before building Cotopaxi into a global brand that has assisted millions living in poverty. He has served as a Presidential Leadership Scholar and a member of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Leadership Council. Alongside his career in social business, Davis is a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, where he teaches courses on leadership and social entrepreneurship. Davis and his wife, Asialene, are the parents of four children and have served extensively in Church leadership, including as mission leaders in the Brazil Recife North Mission (2023–2026) and in a stake presidency. He holds degrees from BYU and the Wharton School and is the author of The Next Ten Years. Links The Next Ten Years: A Returned Missionary’s Guide to the Decade That Shapes Your Life Weaving a Vision into Your Service | An Interview with Davis Smith Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community Highlights In this YouTube livestream conversation, Kurt and Davis talk about navigating post-mission transitions, applying practical life skills, and developing lifelong discipleship centered on Jesus Christ. Key Insights Connecting Mission Skills to Real-Life Success: The competencies developed on a mission—such as goal setting, communication, team coordination, and networking—directly translate into professional, financial, and relational success when returned missionaries learn to connect those dots. Intimate Compassion (Oil Before Wine): Drawing from the parable of the Good Samaritan, effective leadership and personal correction require establishing love and empathy (“oil”) before offering invitation, counsel, or direction (“wine”). Aiming for Continuous Growth, Not Maintenance: A spiritual peak reached during dedicated service should serve as a baseline for future growth rather than a status to merely maintain. Immediate Post-Mission Focus & Purpose: The initial three to six months after full-time service are the most critical for establishing daily habits, securing church callings, avoiding technology distractions, and redirecting focus outward toward community service. Financial Stewardship Early in Life: Establishing foundational financial habits—such as paying tithing first, saving consistently, and utilizing simple long-term investment vehicles like index funds—early in adulthood creates long-term independence and security. Leadership Applications Ask Intentional, Reflective Questions: Rather than asking for casual stories, leaders and parents can help returned missionaries process their service by asking targeted questions about spiritual gifts discovered, personal habits to keep, and lessons learned from mission leaders. Provide Clear Purpose and Responsibility: Local leaders can ease tough life transitions by extending meaningful callings or mentoring assignments early on, helping individuals shift their focus away from self-centered anxiety and toward serving others. Support Alternate & Service Mission Paths: Leaders should exercise empathy and avoid judgment when a mission ends unexpectedly or transitions to a service mission, recognizing that God’s plan and approval apply to all sincere efforts to serve. The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

What does it actually mean to persist in prayer? In episode 505 of the Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb conclude their study of Luke 11's "Parable of the Night Friend" — and the answer is far richer than most Christians expect. Rather than teaching a technique for wearing down a reluctant God, Jesus presents a contrasting image: a grudging friend who finally relents out of pure annoyance, set against a Father who overflows with delight to give His people the very best gift imaginable. Through careful exegetical attention to the parable's logic, covenantal structure, and Trinitarian movement, Tony and Jesse show that the ultimate object of persevering prayer is nothing less than the Holy Spirit Himself — the supreme covenant gift of the new covenant age, promised by the Father to the Son, and freely given to all who ask. Key Takeaways The parable operates by contrast, not direct comparison. The annoyed friend is not a picture of God — he is a foil. Everything about God's character is the opposite of this reluctant neighbor, and reading the parable correctly depends on recognizing this reversal. Persistence in prayer is appropriate, not impudent. The word translated "persistence" in verse 8 carries a sense of shameless, boundary-crossing boldness. But unlike the midnight knocker whose asking had become socially inappropriate, our asking of God never crosses a line. There is no point at which we have asked too much. The shift from "friend" to "father" is a deliberate relational and moral intensification. Jesus moves the argument from voluntary friendship (revocable, lateral) to fatherhood (covenantally obligated, vertical), and then from sinful human fathers to the holy divine Father — two axes that together magnify the certainty and character of God's giving. Total depravity and common grace are both present in verse 13. Jesus calls even his disciples "evil," grounding the argument in the doctrine of total depravity, while simultaneously appealing to the nearly universal parental instinct to give good things to children as evidence of common grace operative even in fallen humanity. The ultimate gift is the Holy Spirit, not general blessings. Luke's version of this teaching specifies what Matthew's leaves general: the supreme "good thing" the Father gives is the Holy Spirit Himself. This is not a second-blessing theology, but a call to pray explicitly and persistently for the subjective experience and fresh working of the Spirit already indwelling believers. God's giving is grounded in the Covenant of Redemption. The Father's obligation to give the Spirit to believers is not merely an expression of His general goodness — it flows first from His pretemporal covenant commitment to the Son, to grant Him a people marked, redeemed, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is on full display in Christ's earthly ministry. The Father sending the Holy Spirit is unavoidably Trinitarian language — and Jesus' disciples received it without confusion. The Old Testament had already furnished them with this framework, and the New Testament simply brings it into full light. Key Concepts The Parable Operates by Contrast, Not Direct Comparison One of the most common misreadings of Luke 11 is to identify the sleeping friend with God — as though Jesus is saying, "If you pester God long enough, He will eventually give in." Tony points out that this reading produces a deeply distorted picture of God: an annoyed deity who only answers prayer when sufficiently harassed. The actual logic of the parable is a contrast. The friend is reluctant where God is eager. The friend gives grudgingly where God gives joyfully. The friend is moved by annoyance where God is moved by covenant love. Jesus is not saying, "God is like this friend." He is saying, "Even this friend eventually gave what was needed — how infinitely more will your Father, who is nothing like this friend, give you everything you need?" The parable's force depends entirely on the distance between its human character and the divine reality it points toward. The Ultimate Gift Is the Holy Spirit Himself A comparison of Matthew 7 and Luke 11 reveals something significant. Where Matthew records Jesus promising "good things" to those who ask, Luke specifies: the Holy Spirit. This is not a contradiction — it is Luke's Spirit-guided theological clarification, shaped by his characteristic pneumatological emphasis and his post-Pentecost vantage point. The teaching closes where it must: not with general providential blessings, but with God's own personal presence and power. Tony is careful to distinguish this from two-stage salvation theology. The call to ask for the Holy Spirit is a call for what might be described as the subjective experience of the Spirit — fresh assurance, sanctifying power, gifts for ministry — not a second indwelling. The Christian who already possesses the Spirit objectively is nonetheless invited, even commanded, to ask persistently for His living and active presence. That invitation is itself grounded in covenant promise. God's Giving Is Grounded in the Covenant of Redemption Perhaps the most theologically profound moment in the episode comes when Tony traces God's obligation to give the Spirit beyond the Covenant of Grace and back to the Covenant of Redemption — the pretemporal, intra-Trinitarian covenant in which the Father promised the Son a redeemed people whose redemption would be applied by the Holy Spirit. This means that when believers ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, they are not merely appealing to His general benevolence. They are appealing to a promise the Father made to the Son before the foundation of the world — a promise sealed in the Son's obedient life, atoning death, and glorious resurrection. God's faithfulness in answering prayer for the Spirit is, at its deepest level, an expression of His covenant faithfulness to Christ. That is the ground of Christian boldness in prayer, and it is the ground that never shifts. Memorable Quote God has covenantally bound himself to grant us the Holy Spirit when we ask him... That covenantal obligation first and foremost is not primarily his covenant with us. It is his prior commitment and covenantal obligation to his Son to grant him a people who would be marked by and redeemed and have redemption applied by the Holy Spirit. - Tony Arsenal We could not petition him enough to be annoying to him. There is no boundary for when it is inappropriate to stop asking or seeking or knocking. - Tony Arsenal It doesn't teach a doctrine of prayer as a technique, somehow like wearing down a reluctant God, but a doctrine of prayer as a filial confidence grounded in the Father's revealed character, exercised through this persevering, believing, asking. - Jesse Schwamb Full Transcript [00:01:03] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 505 of the Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse  [00:01:12] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony, and this is the podcast With Ears to Hear. Hey, brother.  [00:01:16] Jesse Schwamb: Hey, brother. So I'm excited for this little conversation because I tried to tee all, all of this up for the culmination of this amazing parable, which I, I don't know if you coined it or if it comes from somewhere else or if it's what the Patristics called it- [00:01:32] the parable of the night friends, but I really loved that. Yeah. It sounds like an amazing movie as well, so maybe there's a drama that can unfold. I mean, this is, this is cinematic. And if you're wondering what we're even talking about, you know it. It's the parable in Luke 11, the one where Jesus tells a story about a guy pounding on his neighbor's door at midnight begging for bread because apparently first-century hospitality customs did not include 24/7 7-Eleven. [00:01:58] And so a lot of [00:02:00] us get this one wrong. We hear in this parable words like ask, seek, and knock, and we turn it into some kind of prayer vending machine where if we do the right things or we ask long or hard enough that God will give us exactly what we want. And it turns out the whole parable is about God giving us what we need, the best blessing, the best gift, the thing that is the best in all the world, which is His spirit, and that's what we're gonna talk about on this episode. [00:02:25] So it's all- Yeah ... been set up, loved ones. Now it's time for the good stuff. Tony's here. We're going after it hard. How about that?  [00:02:33] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, it should be good.  [00:02:34] Jesse Schwamb: It's gonna be, it's gonna be better than good, Tony. It's gonna be, like, amazing. I- I was hoping, like, the, the energy. I, I was just anticipating you were just gonna come in hard with me on that. [00:02:45] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. I, I, I wish I had the energy. I mean, we'll, we'll talk about this maybe a little bit in denials. It's just been a, it's been a long day.  [00:02:53] Jesse Schwamb: Well, speaking of-  [00:02:54] Tony Arsenal: But it's good. It's good ... speaking- I'm excited.  [00:02:57] Jesse Schwamb: I, I felt like you were just like that was, [00:03:00] like, your pretty excitement for me and you were like, "All right. [00:03:02] Move us along." Yeah. "Enough of this stuff." I get it. No, no. I, I'm totally down with that.  [00:03:06] Tony Arsenal: It's good.  [00:03:06] Jesse Schwamb: Honestly, that's as good a set of a segue as any. It is time before we get to the, the full excitement, we'll war- we'll both warm up a bit.  [00:03:14] Affirmations And Denials Segment [00:03:14] Jesse Schwamb: Let's take us to that segment where we take a page from the Reformed tradition of writing confessions, except these are ones that nobody asked for. [00:03:21] It's that time where we affirm with something that we really like or we deny against something that we don't like so much. So I can only wonder now, given that little preamble, that just short little nugget that you dropped there, I am really curious, more than ever, are you denying against something or are you actually affirming with something else? [00:03:40] Tony Arsenal: I'm gonna cheat a little bit and go back, go old school and do an affirmation and a denial.  [00:03:44] Tony Denies Sleep And Twitter Bait [00:03:44] Tony Arsenal: So- Oh, okay ... I guess my denial is just sleep deprivation. It's, it's just been, for whatever reason, it's been a couple nights in a row of, of sort of disruptive sleep with the kids and the dog. And this time of year in New Hampshire, the, the nights start to get a little bit chilly, which is, is great. [00:04:01] Um, but you start to get rodents and other animals moving around and- When you live in the, the kind of house that I do, there's a large crawl space underneath, so even if, even if the animals aren't making their way into the house itself, they move around under the, the house. And so when you have a terrier that has been bred over many generations to hunt those kinds of animals, uh, when they start hearing them moving around under the floors, they don't, they don't stay quiet about it. [00:04:27] So denying sleep deprivation. We've talked a lot about how important sleep is, and how it's a blessing from God, and it's a way to show that we're not in charge, and we're not necessary, that God's, you know, God's plan and God's world keeps spinning even when our brains are shut off for the night. So I'm denying sleep deprivation. [00:04:45] My affirmation, uh, actually it's a denial too. It's two denials. It's a double denial. Uh, my denial, I guess what I'm gonna call it is I'm, I'm denying taking the bait. So there's, there's been a, a rather high-profile, uh, [00:05:00]Christian figure that I honestly was not super familiar with. I don't need to get into the specifics, but I was not super familiar with, and when I was silly enough to ask the question online as to like why is everybody even paying attention to this person who has no theology training and is clearly not articulating things in a reasonable way? [00:05:17] The answer was like, "Well, he has 4.5 million followers." I was like, "Oh. O- okay." Uh, where I'm denying taking the bait is that this is a person who's been railing against Reformed theology, Calvinism, uh, for a, like a week now probably, week and a half. Uh, total straw man arguments, just totally misrepresenting things, not a good faith engagement effort, not really trying to understand the position they're critiquing. [00:05:41] Just sort of like painting really broad, inaccurate strokes and then s- sort of congratulating himself when he knocks down that straw man. And where I'm denying taking the bait is that in the same breath as me saying like, "Why are we bothering to engage this person?" Uh, I engaged the person. And, uh, you know, like it [00:06:00] just turns into what you, what it turns into. [00:06:02] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah.  [00:06:02] Tony Arsenal: It turns into both parties kind of screaming into the void and just feeling like the other person's not listening, and I don't have time for that. So, uh, I've, I've come up with a new policy for myself on Twitter. If someone is clearly not a good faith actor, uh, then I'm just gonna block them, and then I don't have to worry about it anymore. [00:06:18] Good  [00:06:18] Jesse Schwamb: for you.  [00:06:18] Tony Arsenal: Um, so there's plenty of people who wanna have good conversations, who are interested in dialogue, critical or otherwise, uh- [00:06:41] -fashion. Um, first of all, we should always be asking like, "Am I even the person that should be responding?" But i- if you, in God's providence and in wisdom and Christian prudence decide that you are, uh, then, you know, like is this a person worth responding to? Is Twitter the place to respond or, or is it a longer [00:07:00] format or something like that the best, um, best option? [00:07:03] So I'm denying taking the bait. It's like that, uh, like that GIF, like that's bait, and then I total- I totally took it. I totally took it, wasted a bunch of my time. Uh, and I used to think like, "Well, there's people watching, and they're reading what I'm..." But like nobody's reading what I'm saying. Nope, nobody  [00:07:17] Jesse Schwamb: cares. [00:07:17] Tony Arsenal: Nobody cares. Yeah. It's just a bunch of voices online. So there's ways to have influence and, and there are certainly people that have influence through Twitter, and I've had some really good conversations, and I think there is some value at times to engaging in that, uh, that media. But, uh, this was not one of them, so I'm denying taking the bait. [00:07:35] Jesse Schwamb: Would you look at us? I mean, would you look at us? How, how far God has brought us. Yes. I, I just wanna commend you for bringing that up and just kinda laying that all out in transparency. I, bully for you. I think that's right on. There's a... Everybody listen to that again, 'cause there was a lot of good stuff in that short little denial. [00:07:52] Very good.  [00:07:54] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. What about you, Jesse? What do you got for us tonight?  [00:07:57] Jesse Schwamb: I'm in that place now where, remember you and I [00:08:00] said we should create a list of our affirmations, Niles? I think you have been more faithful in that, uh, honestly, than I have. I, I have- ... coveted your, your faithfulness in doing that. So then I did it, and now I can't remember. [00:08:10] I'm not crossing them off, so now I can't remember if I've actually- ... given this. So everybody please have mercy on me if I've already said this before. I don't think I have, because, you know, I'm just burying a lead that doesn't need to be buried.  [00:08:23] Jesse Affirms Invictus EP [00:08:23] Jesse Schwamb: But I've got a affirmation, and it's more music, and it'll hur- hit a certain group I'm sure. [00:08:29] But I'm affirming with a band called Invictus. They have a new EP that's out this year. It's called Sealed and Sent, and I'll just give you... I, I don't, I'm not trying to make light of this, but, like, I'm not gonna tell you what the music... I mean, I have a pedigree I'm sure in history here. But let me just give you, there's six tracks. [00:08:46] I'm just gonna give you the names of the tracks. Maybe you might guess the style of music from these tracks. Um, it starts with Crush the Snake, then goes on to Heaven's Weapon, Hymn for the Fallen, which is acoustic, Retribution, Drive Them Out, and I Won't [00:09:00] Break. This is a great album. It is, I'm gonna go with their definition of their own sound. [00:09:04] They're a cinematic Christian metal project blending crushing riffs, melodic metalcore, and scripture-inspired themes of spiritual warfare, redemption, perseverance, and victory through Christ. Here's the thing. All of that's true, and you might say, as I did when I first came across them, "Uh, sounds a little cheesy. [00:09:22] Sounds a little kitsch." Turns out it's just awesome. And sometimes, like, you need this kind of music that's so spiritually rich in victory with Christ, that is so expressive of... 'Cause there is, as you heard, like a tint there toward the supernatural realm, toward the battles that are in that realm. But I, sometimes you need that. [00:09:43] This is fantastic. The only word of warning I have is that, so if you're not into that style, and there is, like, beautiful, it's very melodic. There's a lot of beautiful melodies in this. A lot of, like, the voices are really truly fantastic. So it's worth listening to for just for that But my warning is, um, [00:10:00] kind of strange. [00:10:01] This track three, it's acoustic, it's Hymn for the Fallen, is, uh, exactly what it is. It's almost like an anthem for those, uh, condemned to hell, and it is troublingly haunting. Uh, I think it's, like, exactly theologically precise, and it's beautiful in its own right. It's a strange song to listen to because it is beautiful in its expression. [00:10:22] The music is phenomenal, and again, the voice work from this, this single artist is incredible. His range is fantastic. I think it'll leave you at parts just almost breathless. And yet what they're singing about is not quite a celebration, but it is like a song of mourning. And every, uh, time I listen to it, and I wanna listen to it, and yet when you're done with it, you do feel this different sense and urgency for those around you. [00:10:46] So that's my only warning is it's a really complex little EP, but it's strong, and it's beautiful, and it's glorious, and it's a little bit haunting, and it's certainly convicting and challenging. So it turns out, I guess I do like... I [00:11:00]just love the word cinematic. Like, I'm not sure entirely all that it entails, but I think it's probably an, an accurate description. [00:11:07] So if you're looking for some new music or some different music, I highly recommend Invictus because I think you'll be blessed by them  [00:11:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. My, um, my musical, uh, I don't know, repertoire consists mostly of, like, kids worship bop music. Uh, so, uh, maybe I'll, maybe I'll put that on the next time I'm in the car by myself just to listen to some sort of, like- [00:11:34] I don't know, like grown-up music. 'Cause, 'cause I don't listen to a lot of grown-up music as it is now. I, if, if I'm lucky, I get a couple, uh, couple minutes on the bus or something like that to listen to some real, real adult music. But yeah, I'll, I'll have to check it out, and there's always a chance that this will be the screaming music or the heavy music that I like. [00:11:55] There's always a chance.  [00:11:57] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. It's more, it's more heavy than maybe screaming. There is a [00:12:00] little bit of that good rasp, but it brings me back to, you and I are of a certain age. I'm, I'm older than you, but I think back to, like, maybe that late '90s, early 2000s, kinda like Creed style. Mm. Like, almost like that, but a little bit deeper and richer and, and a little bit harder. [00:12:16] But it's, it's not, I think, so dissonant that the average ear wouldn't find great value in it. And again, that- Yeah ... third track, which is acoustic, is very beautiful in its own right. It's just a very strange song. Usually you don't hear a song like that, and it really caught me by surprise. And the more I listen to it, the more it does create some kind of mourning within you, and I've thought about it quite a bit, even as I interact with people around me, thinking about the essential emergency of what it means that souls are, are in play here, so to speak. [00:12:44] That, of course, they're all under the providence of God, but He used us as a means in which to preach that gospel message, and we ought to be about that gospel message. And I suppose- Yeah ... in point, that started the podcast as we talked about the gospel and became excited every time we spoke about the [00:13:00] gospel, and then it's, it flowed into this whole series we're doing on the parables. [00:13:04] Back To Luke 11 Reading [00:13:04] Jesse Schwamb: And now, of course, we find it again in Luke chapter 11 here And I was excited to speak with you because I tried to set up for everybody, ourselves included, just like all of the little prolegomena, all the, all the kinda like little fine, fun details of like the circumstance and the interaction that's happening in this parable. [00:13:23] But really the punchline comes in this, I would say, unexpected twist that one, we have this friend going to another, and the friend is reluctant when he really shouldn't be, and there's this incredible juxtaposition of, well, how much more so is God going to be less reluctant because He's our Father, and He delights to give us that which is good, the best of gifts. [00:13:43] And this sometimes gets turned around in that we ought to just really continually annoy God to the extent that He just gives us the very thing, and that somehow this is explained to us that we have to have enough perseverance, hope against hope, to continue to pray against all odds. And instead what we find [00:14:00] buried in this parable is something far better than that. [00:14:02] Actually, the gift that God gives us is something that we really could not conceive of apart from the gospel itself. So I'm gonna take us back- Yeah ... into Luke chapter 11. I'm gonna read the whole passage or the parable that we were just talking about, started it last week. But we're really gonna pick it up in this, so everybody can be listening, at this turning point where Jesus begins to speak about the role of the Father and what He desires to give us. [00:14:27] So this is Luke chapter 11, beginning verse one. "And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of the disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.' And He said to them, 'When you pray, say, "Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. [00:14:45] Give us each our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."' Then He said to them, 'Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me [00:15:00] three loaves for a friend has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.' [00:15:05] And from the inside he answers, 'Do not bother me. The door has already been shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot rise up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not rise up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as much as we needs. [00:15:23] So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who receives asks, and he who, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks will be opened. But what father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if his son asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [00:15:45] If then you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?'"  [00:15:57] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah.  [00:15:59] Tony Unpacks The Parable Logic [00:15:59] Tony Arsenal: This is, um, one of those passages that I think... I think you're exactly right. We, we sort of fall into a very specific way of thinking because for some good reasons, right? [00:16:13] Like, this is a parable about prayer. It's couched, y- you know, it's, it's sort of sandwiched in different parts tea- teaching about prayer. And so I think we, we instinctively, kinda like we saw with the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we kind of instinctively assume who certain characters in the, in the analogy here are, right? [00:16:34] Sure. Just like in the, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we kind of assume that, like, the neighbor that is being talked about is the guy who got beat up and left for dead, but in, in the s- the punchline, we find out it's actually the Samaritan. In this case, I think we assume the person who is being, um, who is being e- entreated upon must represent God, and the person who is doing the entreating, uh, is, you know, is us.[00:17:00] [00:17:00] And I'm not sure that the parable, a- and again, like, what even is a parable? Some people would say, "Well, this isn't a parable," but w- we're really just talking about kind of like the figures of speech ministry of Christ, the figures of the sayings of Jesus that sort of circulate around these analogies. Um, w- what even is a parable? [00:17:19] And in this case, like- We need to be careful not to just make those assumptions without-  [00:17:25] Jesse Schwamb: Right ...  [00:17:26] Tony Arsenal: justifying them in the text because it'll lead us to the wrong conclusion. Like, like you've said, like if we assume that the person in the text, in the, the, the parable here who is being entreated upon represents God the Father, well, what we've done now is we've made God sort of like this annoying or this annoyed figure who doesn't really wanna answer our prayers, but because we harass him so much, because we're so persistent. [00:17:51] Another translation of that word is impudence, right? It's a word that has to do with, like, almost like a shameless begging. Like, [00:18:00] it's, it's someone who is asking something that goes beyond the boundaries of appropriate.  [00:18:05] Jesse Schwamb: Right.  [00:18:05] Tony Arsenal: Right? It's, it's impudence, it's persistence, but it's not just persistence in that, like, it's not just stick-to-it-iveness. [00:18:12] It's like persistence to the point of being, uh, inappropriate is really what this word is getting at. Well, now what we've done is we've made it so we have to inappropriately pursue God for prayer. Right. So I'm, I'm glad you set it up this way to sort of say, like, we need to think about this parable. Yes, there's something here about prayer, for sure. [00:18:29] There's more here about the fact that God desires to give us good gifts, but we really need to understand how it is that this teaching is functioning in almost like a, a, almost like a contrasting example kind of way compared to, like, a direct example. It, it's, it's not, it's not exactly an argument to the lesser, from the lesser to the greater. [00:18:51] I mean, it kind of is.  [00:18:52] Jesse Schwamb: Right.  [00:18:52] Tony Arsenal: But it's, it's almost like a reverse argument from the lesser to the greater. Like, there's this lesser that's so much lesser that he's actually [00:19:00] sort of- Yes ... like an annoying, like not a super admirable, noble figure. Then how much more noble is God? It's kind of the, the sort of the force of this parable, the force of this teaching. [00:19:09] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. I like how you said that. It was... You crystallized something I've been thinking about, which was, it's almost like in this text, think of, like, these two different shores. On one shore is this function, the action, and the worship of, uh, through prayer. On the other shore is this g- great supreme gift of the Holy Spirit, and there's something about a bridge that's being built between these two things, and it starts with this really interesting analogy. [00:19:34] But then there's, like, this turning point from friend to father, and for me, what, like I mentioned last week, I'm seeing, I'm picking up, maybe too much so, all of this interesting covenantal shadows and language here. And so, like, in this shifting, specifically from this analogy to friend to fa- from friend to father, there's almost in my mind, like, an intensifying of the relational bond. [00:19:56] I mean, friendship being voluntary and revocable, fatherhood, [00:20:00] especially in ancient thought, bound by nature, and then that again, covenant obligation. It does strengthen this interesting logic that's unfolding for us. But it's as if the bridge that's being built here by Jesus is taking and uniting or bringing together this idea of good gifts of the Father, and the greatest gift being the Holy Spirit, and prayer and how that accomplishes or receives or invokes those gifts, and the bridge being the right way in which to think about prayer and the right mode in which to consider prayer so as to ask for the things in the name of Jesus according to God's will, that is the greatest of all gifts, which is the Holy Spirit. [00:20:36] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:20:36] Hospitality Context And Midnight Bread [00:20:36] Tony Arsenal: And I, I think it's interesting too because this teaching, this parable opens with y- you know, kind of a s- sort of standard format that Christ use, uses in some of these circumstances, where He's talking to an audience who may or may not be hostile. In some instances it's hostile. In this instance it was a friendly, a friendly audience. [00:20:57] It was His disciples. Um, He says, "Which of [00:21:00] you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say, 'Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine- Right ... has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.'" This is parallel similar language to, like, which of you having a sheep who falls into a- [00:21:22] not like everybody has experienced it, right? I think I, I've never had, like, livestock, but, like, I know my dog has gotten into stuff. Like, everybody who's had a pet is like, "Yeah, my animal has done something stupid at some point." Like, ate something stupid, got stuck in something, hurt itself. So, like, the, the, the way that this is set up is [00:21:53] Tony Arsenal: In a way where it's like the scenario is sort of insane and nobody would [00:22:00] be in that situation. Um, and then there are times where he says, "Which of you having a friend, which of you having a sheep who falls into a ditch?" [00:22:09] Um, and, and the assumption is on some level either the, it, it's such a common scenario that of course everyone would have understood it, right? Which of you... It's like, it's like a woman losing a coin who sweeps the house to look for the coin. Everybody who has a, a, a valuable piece of money that they lose is gonna spend time looking for it. [00:22:29] Jesse Schwamb: That's right.  [00:22:29] Tony Arsenal: This one I think is more like that second one, which feels weird to us. Again, like we're, like you kind of alluded to and kind of joking, but I think is, is a, is a per- serious point, we can just go to the store. Like I could go to a 24-hour supermarket and buy resources if a guest shows up unexpectedly. [00:22:46] It's not like that in the ancient world. So this statement of like, which of you Basically like which of you who has unexpected company show up would not go to your friend or neighbor and ask for something to serve them? And especially in the sort of [00:23:00] hospitality-driven culture that the 1st century was, it would've been deeply, deeply troubling for a guest, especially a, a guest who's coming on a l- from a long journey who's showing up at midnight. [00:23:10] That feels like in our culture we'd be like, "Yeah, it's understandable that I don't have anything on hand." It would be deeply troubling for someone in that scenario to not be able to provide hospitality. So I think that's the first hurdle we have to get over with this one is the scenario feels, at least to me, feels a little bit insane, but I actually think the assumption baked into the teaching is that this is an understandable, relatable situation with an obvious answer. [00:23:36] Of course, all of us would go beg a friend for a few loaves of bread to serve our guest who shows up unexpectedly.  [00:23:43] Jesse Schwamb: That's right. There is like a foil in all of this. Again, it's not like Jesus is not commending like wear God down with nagging as a technique, but there is a lot at stake here in this scenario that's been set forward because there's, there's honor, there's covenantal honor like I think I [00:24:00] mentioned p- last time. [00:24:00] Again, this is where I'm seeing that there is something to be said for like the petitioner is a little bit shameless here. That is, like he's bold. It's, it's socially inappropriate maybe, the persistence in the knocking, but that's what secures the loaves. And so on this view, verse 8 does teach like persevering bold prayer. [00:24:18] I think then what we're being lead to, try, led to try to understand is well, what kind of bold prayer here? Is it just like any kind of prayer, or is there something specific that Christ himself is directing these people to ask for in prayer? And to me, it, to like, you know, maybe preempt a little bit, it seems like, of course, like he's saying, "Ask for God, of God the only thing that God can give you. [00:24:39] Ask boldly for that thing. Ask shamelessly, unapologetically for that thing," because we're gonna be led again to this kind of reprisal of roles here and see that he's gonna speak about himself again as, as Father, as being this really good father over and against this really reluctant friend who only gets up really because he has been annoyed, and that's certainly the opposite of [00:25:00] God's stance towards us. [00:25:01] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:25:02] Persistence Without Impudence [00:25:02] Tony Arsenal: And you know, there is, um, you know, like we mentioned, there's this element of- The an- sort of annoyed friend, right? And, and we don't wanna be too quick to compare God directly to the annoyed friend, right? It is this foil. It's kind of like, it's almost like God is not, is like this in some ways, but not like this- Yes [00:25:23] in the most important ways. I actually think the asking itself falls into that category, right? In, in the context of the parable, the asking, m- maybe not the asking, but the persistence, the continuing to pound on the door when the answer no has already been delivered. That is, in the context of this teaching, is, is seen as inappropriate, right? [00:25:45] It's, it's impudent. It's disrespectful. It's, it's an- Right ... unrelenting persistence beyond the bounds of propriety. Not only is God not like the annoying friend, or the annoyed friend, or the annoying friend, I guess, not only is God [00:26:00] not annoyed, uh, so there's this sort of like argument to the, from the lesser to the greater opposite or the greater contrary But our asking itself and our persistence is not impudent. [00:26:13] And I think that's a really key thing here, and that's why it goes directly into the next verse. "Ask and you will g- give it given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, it will be opened to you." He's not saying because you're so persistent, because you continue to wear God down, it's gonna be given to you. [00:26:29] It's almost like he's saying, like, look, in this context of this parable, not only is the friend, not only did the friend say no, and the, the seeker is seeking inappropriately, and the friend finally, not out of the goodness of his heart, not out of his loyalty to his friend, not out of his desire to serve a stranger, not out of any of those noble things, just because he's annoyed, he finally gives in. [00:26:51] Well, not only is that not what God is like, but your prayers are not like the persistent, annoying friend who won't give up when the answer is no. Right. [00:27:00] Your, your prayers are appropriate insofar as you persist. As you continue to persist, they are appropriate. And, you know, we could get into all of the Greek details about the, the participles and all of this stuff about it's, it's not just ask at one point. [00:27:15] It's, it's continue asking, it'll be given to you. Yes. Continue knocking, it'll be given to you. Like, we can, we can go into all that, and I'm sure we'll talk about a little bit. But the reality is the sort of like durable nature of prayer, the like ongoing, persistent nature of prayer here is not established by those participles. [00:27:32] It's established by the comparison to this inappropriate asking, this inappropriate persistence in the parable, but it's not inappropriate. And I think that's, again, like that's another sort of argument from the lesser to the greater contrary. I don't know if that's actually a term or if I invented that, but that seems like what's going on here. [00:27:49] There's this sort of like minimum situation, and then you flip it over a little bit and, and make it bigger, and that's what we're getting at here. It's, it's sort of a strange technique that, [00:28:00] um, again, like is it present in oth- a lot of other teaching? There's obviously like the parable of the widow and the unjust judge that's basically the same situation. [00:28:08] Right. And we're- I'm sure we'll get to that, but like it's the same basic situation. It's, it's this idea that like Christ is presenting this scenario that has this one touch point, and everything else is like flipped over. It's like everything else is sort of opposite day.  [00:28:24] Jesse Schwamb: And that is a little bit different than the stuff that we've covered so far, which is what makes this a little bit exceptional. [00:28:29] There are ones that mirror it, but this technique-  [00:28:31] Tony Arsenal: Right ...  [00:28:31] Jesse Schwamb: is something that we haven't really come across yet, of course, in our conversations.  [00:28:35] Covenantal Frame For Ask Seek Knock [00:28:35] Jesse Schwamb: And I would say, like, good Biblical hermeneutics, like you said, resolves all of that, what you just said, not by, like, weakening the promise, but by locating it within its covenantal frame again. [00:28:46] Yeah. This promise is spoken to disciples who have just been taught to pray, "Your kingdom come, give us, forgive us, lead us not." That is, all of this prayer needs to be conformed to God's revealed will and kingdom priorities. And so what's hard is I [00:29:00] hear this spoken about a lot, this parable, but it always gets cut, like, from the teaching that just preceded it. [00:29:06] Right.  [00:29:06] Why This Contrast [00:29:06] Jesse Schwamb: Like, a- as if, again, they're coming to Jesus saying, "John was really good at providing instruction to his disciples on how to pray, and you being the Son of God, like the ultimate teacher, teach us then. How do we see you pray? We know that you're a man of prayer. We know that you're Son of God. Teach us, instruct us in this way." [00:29:22] W- w- let's get it, as it were, the... These guys are like, "Boys, let's get it from the horse's mouth." And so it's interesting that Jesus gives the instruction, he gives the prayer, he gives some language and a framework, and then he's like, follows it immediately with this teaching. And this teaching, though, like you said, doesn't draw, like, often, like it's orthogonal. [00:29:39] There's no, like, parallel or linear lines here- Right ... so to speak. It's, it's all about creating this weird contrast. And you might ask, "Well, why do it this way?" And so it does beg the question of does that distinction, that almost like cognitive dissonance between these characters, and then again, like the comparison to God, does that draw out in different ways this character of God so that we might actually [00:30:00] see it more clearly in that juxtaposition? [00:30:02] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:30:03] Midnight Friend Parable [00:30:03] Tony Arsenal: And I think, y- you know, one of the other comparisons that I think's going on here, and, and again, I think this is basically the same teaching as the, the pa- the widow and the unjust judge. Like, she wears him down with her petitioning, and he finally gives her justice. Like, I think a big part of this, the idea here is when we look at this parable, everything in the parable is- uh, understandable and relatable, right? [00:30:28] To some extent. Um, again, we i- in our 21st century modern context, at least in the West here, we don't have a situation where we can't basically just drive to the store and get something, even, even in the middle of the night. I, I don't know m- many people personally who don't have access to some sort of 24-hour supermarket or convenience store, something where they could go and get something to present to a guest who shows up unexpected in the middle of the night. [00:30:57] Um, and even the idea of, like, someone showing up [00:31:00] unexpected in the middle of the night is kind of like, even then, like, what we think of as unexpected is, like, the person calls us and they're like, "Hey, I'm 35 minutes away. I'm gonna be there. Do you have a bed I can use?" What we're talking about here in the 1st century is literally like, I'm asleep, all of a sudden there's a pounding on my door, and my friend has come from a long journey. [00:31:18] There's no advance notice, there's no messenger that came. This is literally just someone who appears out of nowhere in the middle of the night, and so he has to go get something. That is actually a somewhat relatable situation, even to us What I think is interesting, what I, what I really love about these, this parable and the other one I referenced, is when you think about the way that the, the friend, the annoyed friend, the friend who's sleeping and gets woken up, the way he responds is still to provide the need. [00:31:49] But then look at how we are... Look at the language around how God gives us good gifts, right? Right.  [00:31:56] Ask Seek Knock [00:31:56] Tony Arsenal: He's not giving us... It, it's almost like the teaching is God gives us good gifts. We should ask, we should persevere in prayer. If you continue asking, it will be given to you. If you continue knocking, it, it will be opened to you. [00:32:07] If you continue seeking, you will find. Like, that's the, that's the positive teaching of this. But the contrast is not just, yeah, if you continue to be persistent enough, you're gonna get what you ask for. It's, look, God is going to give you what you need and what you ask for. He's going to give that to you joyfully and out of his own abundance and out of his own desire to bless you with good gifts. [00:32:30] Not like this worldly dude who just does it 'cause he's annoyed.  [00:32:34] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly.  [00:32:34] Tony Arsenal: So it's not just the argument of like, here's a picture of somebody who's persisting in prayer and gets what they want, and like, yeah, we have some language about the guy being annoyed and about inappropriate asking. God's not quite like that. [00:32:47] God Not Annoyed [00:32:47] Tony Arsenal: It's really designed to paint this picture of marveling at the goodness and, and graciousness of, of God in that not only does he grant us what we need, but he does so [00:33:00] joyfully. We could not petition him enough to be annoying to him. There is no boundary for when it is inappropriate to stop asking or seeking or knocking. [00:33:12] That's the real point of this, is not to just compare God to this annoyed friend who finally gives in, but to show us, like, this is what the world looks like. When you ask enough, you might get what you want, but you're going to annoy someone. That's what worldly pr- like, persistence in lateral prayer, if we wanna call it that, just to sort of keep the analogy going, right? [00:33:33] Lateral prayer, lateral petitioning, or lateral whatever. Like, lateral interceding, all of those things, however we wanna phrase it. That is real, and yes, if you do it long enough, you're probably gonna get what you want. You might burn a bridge in the process. You can never burn the bridge to God by being so annoying, because he's saying continue to ask, continue to seek- Right [00:33:55] continue to knock, and it will be given to you. And not only will it be given to you, but it will [00:34:00] be given to you out of the joy and goodness of my heart. That is really the big comparison that's going on here  [00:34:06] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there's something that we just get to see about God's character here. It's grounds this perseverance not in doubt about God's willingness, but in confidence about it. [00:34:15] And that's what's so interesting here is it comes about by seeing this distinction. It is like a great mockery of saying like you're saying this friend who w- should've been a good friend and had all the reason to be reluctant, even though you pers- persevered with him, he relented and gave you that very thing. [00:34:32] Guess who will be the exact opposite of that? Yeah. Is God himself who lavishes love upon you. And so therefore because of that, you come before him and see he's nothing like this friend. And even a friend will do this in the worst of all circumstances. How much more so will God, where he's given you every spiritual blessing in Christ? [00:34:50] From Friend To Father [00:34:50] Jesse Schwamb: And that's, that's where he leads us, and that's why I think then it transitions to this different set of characters or comparisons by speaking about fathers. So in verse [00:35:00] 11, where we find written, "What father among you, if he has sons, asks for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?" [00:35:09] And, and I've read that there's some commentators who will draw from these pairs being chosen for maybe, like, their potential visual tactile resemblance. Like, a, an eel-like fish might have resembled a snake, and generally there were, like, these whitish scorpions I, I guess that were common in Galilee that might have resembled an egg. [00:35:26] And perhaps even here there's a little bit of humor in the illustration just to show, like, just the extreme nonsensical nature of this thing. It's, it's- Yeah ... a really cruel bait and switch. It's deliberate. You know, Jesus is appealing certainly to this universally recognized parental instinct as evidence, again, like you're saying, Tony, for a still greater divine instinct which is present, and that's this love of God for us that we can't even imagine. [00:35:49] But we can comprehend by him saying, "Come, ask, seek, knock." And so, so to me, I think we've got these two axes kind of going on here which are really interesting and beautiful. We've got the reluctant friend [00:36:00] to the willing father. That's a kind of, like, I would say again, like, relational intensification. Like, we're firing it up. [00:36:05] Here, we're taking it to the next level. And then because we got... I gotta slip this in because we got a little, a little TD coming in here hot. From the second axis is from, like, the sinful human father to the holy divine Father, which I would say is, like, a moral intensification, and that's made explicit in verse 13. [00:36:24] Total Depravity Common Grace [00:36:24] Jesse Schwamb: And here's the TD. Like, lest anybody doubt this, to me, and I don't want to over-read, but that second axis is of course where Reformed theology's doctrine of total depravity becomes, like, exegetically significant here. Yeah. Because Jesus himself just calls it out in this verse, and that's part of the, the setup that he's gonna bring forward to explain just how loving God is. [00:36:44] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, and it's even, um... It's not only is it total depravity, it's also common grace, right? Yes. Even evil, even evil, wicked people. And again, like, evil is a, is in this instance is sort of a relative term, right? It's, it's, um- [00:37:00] The audience is the disciples, at least primarily the disciples. So it's not like he's talking to, he's talking to unregenerate people, right? [00:37:09] Jesse Schwamb: Right.  [00:37:09] Tony Arsenal: Um, the, the disciples by all realistic assessment, I think, uh, were regenerate w- with the exception of Judas at this point. Um, you know, you could make some arguments that maybe some of them came to faith during the course of his ministry, but, uh, for the most part we should think of the disciples not as like coming to faith and becoming regenerate after Christ is raised. [00:37:31] Like, they're, they're believers, they're followers with the exception of Judas at this point in his ministry, and he's still calling them evil. But even Even an unregenerate father, for the most part. There are exceptions. There are, are, there are those who are so wicked that even their base parental instincts are messed up, right? [00:37:51] And that's reality. It's terribly sad, but that's, that's the vast exception. Even the worst parents in the world still love their [00:38:00] kids and wanna give them good, good gifts. Like, it's just baked into the genetics of wanting to do that. Even that still is, uh, is an act of common grace. But I, I think you're right, too, and actually, as I think about it, too, like, this isn't even just one parable. [00:38:14] Right. This is actually, if we're talking about the first one as a parable, this is actually, like, its own second parable, right? That's which of you, having a friend that shows up in the middle of the night, would not go- Yep ... and then there's, "Now what father among you?" And it's, again, it's that eminently understandable, relatable scenario where either it, it's so common that everyone has dealt with it, or it's so, like, obviously practical that even if you haven't dealt with it, you, you couldn't come to any other conclusion. [00:38:42] Right. What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, would give him a serpent, right? It's one of those, like, who does that? The answer is no- nobody. Right.  [00:38:53] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly. Right?  [00:38:53] Tony Arsenal: Who, who asks for an egg and gives a scorpion? Nobody. So we've got these two [00:39:00]scenarios where the assumption is there's a question that has an obvious outcome, and it drives us to this understanding of the, this image of God as the supremely good giver of gifts, father, faithful, gracious provider, who provides not just a good gift, but the ultimate perfect necessary gift. [00:39:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:39:22] Tony Arsenal: Right?  [00:39:22] How Much More Spirit [00:39:22] Tony Arsenal: And that's where we come to, uh, at the end of verse 13 is how much more, right, there's that argument from... This is truly an argument from the lesser to the greater, like in the purest sense. How much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And I think there's all sorts of implications that we can come out of this, right? [00:39:42] Um, there are those, uh, in the Christian world who never ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit. And, and I'm not, um, I wanna be careful here because I'm not a two-stage salvation person. I'm not a second blessing person, right? We get the Holy Spirit as part of our [00:40:00] regeneration. Like, the Holy Spirit indwells us in regeneration and in, in, not in necessarily in regeneration, but when we are united to Christ, we're united to Christ by the, by the Spirit. [00:40:10] Right. And so there's never a point where we can be considered truly saved Christians- Those who are united to Christ, we cannot be united to Christ and not have His Spirit dwelling within us. But there is this element of the subjective experience of the Holy Spirit where we don't ask for the Holy Spirit, right? [00:40:31] Think of, like, Psalm 51, right? "Take not your Holy Spirit from me." David was not saying, uh, "I've lost the Holy Spirit." He was talking about the enjoyment of the presence of the Holy Spirit, the awareness of the gracious, loving presence of the Holy Spirit. That's what he was asking not to have taken away from him, and, and probably also there was elements of, like, anointing and office that were in there. [00:40:52] But there are lots of Christians who have the Holy Spirit in an objective sense- Right ... who don't take time [00:41:00] to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit in the subjective sense. I think that's the final sort of payout of this teaching, is that we need to continue to ask, continue to knock, and continue to seek, not for general gifts. [00:41:16] Yes, there's a general teaching about persevering in prayer for temporal blessings or spiritual protection, all of those things, all of those petitions that we have. Those are good things. It's good to be persistent in those. But the real point of this whole series of teachings here is that we need to persist in prayer to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit. [00:41:36] Like- Right ... full stop. That's the point  [00:41:40] Jesse Schwamb: Right. Wow, you just did a full stop right there. I thought there was gonna be more, but I, I was getting pumped as you were going on No, no.  [00:41:46] Tony Arsenal: It's all you. Full stop.  [00:41:49] Jesse Schwamb: Uh, yeah.  [00:41:50] Luke Versus Matthew [00:41:50] Jesse Schwamb: I mean, the comparison, of course, is not one of degree alongside, like, a single continuum where it's as though God is a better version of a human father, but it's a kind. [00:41:59] I mean, [00:42:00] God's fatherhood is the archetype of which human fatherhood is just this faint, fallen kind of analog. And so by the time you get to this payload, I like that. It's kinda like a nuclear bomb in a way. I mean, it's so theologically loaded here. Because I was just looking up Matthew's parallel passage here, and it reads, th- this is his punchline, "How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?" [00:42:26] So it strikes me that Luke, as we've been saying, writing to a largely Gentile audience after Pentecost, and with his kinda characteristic pneumatological emphasis, he emphasizes or specifies that the good things here are the Holy Spirit himself. And so we're gonna read this not as a contradiction between the Gospels, but as Luke's inspired Spirit-guided clarification/specification of what the good gifts ultimately are. [00:42:54] And while they're always pointing toward that even this temporal good gift from the Father is subordinate to and [00:43:00] finds, I guess it's like its telos in the supreme covenantal gift of God's own indwelling presence. That is a bomb. Like, that's incredible. Yeah. And so I like what you're saying here. I think it is a challenge for Christians to think about not just that we shouldn't, of course, go to God with the big and the small things, the concerns of all our lives, the anxieties and the cares which we cast before him. [00:43:20] This is all part and parcel of what real prayer means, what real communion with God is, and speaking with him and listening to his Word, uh, i- in our ear. At the same time, we shouldn't forsake the greater things that we ought to ask God with strong perseverance, knowing that he will give all those things to us. [00:43:38] I think, and you correct me if I'm wrong, I, I'm reading this as- All of this kind of momentum in Christ teaching about the Spirit coming and about where this passage had been placed in the whole kind of grand arc, and I, I think there's, like, all kinds of Ordo Salutis implications in here. But I love a good Ordo Salutis implication, so it's possible [00:44:00] I'm just coming in a little bit too hot. [00:44:01] But I think first it, it anchors this teaching within this broader Lucan narrative, narrative arc toward Pentecost, where the ascended, glorified Christ pours out the Spirit as the chief blessing of the new covenant. And so again, I'm reading this, I'm like, "Covenant, covenant, covenant." Like, only if you're watching this on YouTube can you actually see me do the, the point, like the g- the finger guns- [00:44:24] where really strongly emphasize that point. And so I just see so much covenant in this. I mean, how mu- how much covenant, how much covenant do you see in this, Tony?  [00:44:36] Covenant Obligations [00:44:36] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, I, there, there is also this element, and this goes back to sort of the first parable or the first teaching in this little segment here, um- The friend is obligated in a certain sense. [00:44:48] Like- Yes ... there is, there is a, there's a sense, a real sense I think, and again, this is something I don't think we understand. If, if, um, if I show up at my neighbor's house, my n- I live in a [00:45:00] small community. My neighbor's house is like 25 feet away from me, and if I knocked on his door in the middle of the night and said, "Gus, I need a cup of sugar," he would give it to me with a smile. [00:45:11] But he's not obligated to do that. Right. He has every right, and no one would look sideways at him if he told me to pound sand and go back to bed, right? I think, um, in the 1st century, the answer from this other friend, "No, I'm already in bed," like that actually is sort of a scandalous answer in and of itself. [00:45:29] And so even within that little dynamic, there's covenant implications, right? The a- the continued asking is inappropriate, but it, the continued asking is almost only reasonably necessary because the annoyed friend already broke a social contract. Not quite a covenant- Right ... but we might call it a social contract, where there's an a- there's an assumed position in the 1st century that if someone comes to you asking for hospitality, you give it. [00:45:57] Like there's no exclu- And that's what's [00:46:00] driving this other friend to go talk to him in mid- at midnight in the first place, is I have to provide hospitality. I'm obligated to do so. So I think, yeah, there's all sorts of covenant implications here. And when we're talking about the, the earthly fathers, right? [00:46:14] There's a covenant, um, I'm, I'm careful to use the term covenant. So I'm gonna use it, but I'm not talking, maybe we'll say lowercase C covenant rather than like formal covenants. Right, right. There's a, there's a covenantal, lowercase C [00:46:28] covenantal obligation that fathers have to their children, right? I didn't make a covenant with August and Addie, but I have obligations to them in light of my station and my role related to them, right? And there's an obligation that if they ask me for something that is reasonable and is good for them, that I should give it to them, right? [00:46:46] I'm obligated to provide food, shelter, um, I would say things like education, love, um, you know, attention. Like the things that are necessary for the health and wellbeing of my children, as a father I'm obligated to give that to them. [00:47:00] [00:47:00] Jesse Schwamb: Right.  [00:47:00] Tony Arsenal: Whether they ask me or not. When they ask me to, right, there are times it's funny. [00:47:05] I, I'll be the first to say, um, I maybe am a little bit on my phone more than I should be, just in general, right? There are times now Addie is old enough where she sees me on her ph- on my phone, and, and sometimes, like, it's fine. They're playing and I'm, I'm doing something on my phone. There are times where she'll come up to me and she'll say, "Daddy phone," and she'll tell me to put my phone down. [00:47:23] I'm obligated to do that. Like, there's a covenantal, lowercase C, covenantal obligation. When she asks me to play with her, if there's not a pressing reason I can't, I should play with her.  [00:47:33] Jesse Schwamb: Right.  [00:47:33] Tony Arsenal: That is really what we have at play here, and this is, this is what I think is amazing. God has covenantally bound himself to grant us the Holy Spirit when we ask him, right? [00:47:42] Jesse Schwamb: That's  [00:47:43] Tony Arsenal: what I'm  [00:47:43] Jesse Schwamb: saying.  [00:47:43] Tony Arsenal: That, and that's, that's, um, that covenantal obligation first and foremost... Man, I didn't even think we were gonna get here. Who would've thought we would've gotten to pretemporal covenant of redemption here just- Would you  [00:47:53] Jesse Schwamb: look at us ...  [00:47:54] Tony Arsenal: uh, look at us.  [00:47:55] Covenant Of Redemption [00:47:55] Tony Arsenal: Um, that covenantal obligation that the Father has to give us the Holy Spirit when we ask is not primarily his covenant with us. [00:48:03] It is, right? It's the covenant of grace, but that only is, is necessary because of his prior commitment and covenantal obligation to his Son to grant him a people who would be marked by and redeemed and have redemption applied by the Holy Spirit. The Father has promised the Son to give the people of the Son the Holy Spirit when they ask. [00:48:26] That's, that's profound in a way that I think, um, really only Reformed theology can fully get at-  [00:48:33] Jesse Schwamb: Right  [00:48:34] Tony Arsenal: on ... is that there is a promise that God the Father made to God the Son to, to send the Holy Spirit to apply the redemption that the Son purchased to his people. That's really what we're getting at here. [00:48:46] I think that's really the, sort of the final outcome of this, is there's this covenantal obligation- That the Father is not just out of His own goodness, of course out of His own goodness- Right,  [00:48:57] Jesse Schwamb: right ...  [00:48:57] Tony Arsenal: but even maybe if it, maybe it's, [00:49:00] hopefully it's not blasphemous to say this, but like even more than just His own goodness is His covenant faithfulness to the promise He's made- Amen [00:49:07] first and foremost to His Son, and then to steal some language from the Westminster Larger Catechism, first and foremost to His Son, but then also to all the elect in Him who are His spiritual seed.  [00:49:17] Jesse Schwamb: That's right. That's right. That's, see that's the good stuff.  [00:49:20] Wrap Up Holy Spirit [00:49:20] Jesse Schwamb: And so what's crazy is then this beautiful wrap-up, which is brings us back to exactly where we started, but we find that we're on another level because the passage closes exactly as it began with this imperative of asking, but now the object of asking has been specified as God's own personal presence and power, not merely material provision. [00:49:41] And so it's everything you just said all wrapped up, and we can ground then like the practice of specifically and explicitly praying for the Spirit's fresh working, which is sanctification, assurance, gifts for ministry, as entirely a biblical form of prayer distinct from, though not opposed to, a prayer for providential [00:50:00] needs. [00:50:00] In other words, I think the disciples started in a place where they were saying, "Teach us to pray so that we might receive that what which we need." And it's almost as if God says, "I will do that and one better for you. Because not only will I just open your eyes to the thing that you need most, but I'm going to instruct you on how to ask for and then receive by way of these covenantal promises, by way of my own character, my faithful precis- provision, both in establishing the promise and then seeing it to fulfillment that you might have the Holy Spirit reside within you." [00:50:33] And that is mind-boggling. We've, we've talked before just what it is to even conceive that God's presence be with us, but then that God's presence it, uh, the Holy Spirit, one of the Trinity, would be residing within us is just inconceivable. Yeah. Even now with the words coming out of my mouth it just sounds wild. [00:50:51] And yet that is what we have to give credit to here is we have to take God at His word. This is the thing that He's, He said to us. His son, His Son Himself has given us this proper [00:51:00] instruction. And I think all, all the other things we talked about, what it means again to seek after gifts for ministry, to serve in our churches and congregations, to have grand assurance, which is the right and the purview and the blessing, the propriety of the Christian to, uh, want to go after sanctification, that all of this strikes me now is part of praying for, to receive the Holy Spirit, a fresh working of the Holy Spirit in that it's not just, it's both like a command and a gift and the greatest priv