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Welcome back to America's leading higher education podcast! In this episode of The EdUp Experience, sponsored by Claremont Lincoln University, we welcome Daniel Dyboski Bryant, Co-Founder of Educators in VR. Daniel comes to The EdUp Experience to talk to us about virtual reality in education. Simply put, according to Daniel, higher education may not be adopting VR soon enough. VR can be explored from a number of different angles and have a number of different applications, and the budget to get started does not have to be as significant as one might think! A school can buy headsets first, use VR via 2D desktops, THEN move to immersive, creative perspectives. This is a future-thinking episode! Daniel is a life-long educator specializing in virtual and augmented reality, immersive technologies, 360 media, teacher training, communication and languages. He speaks 5 languages. He is a founder of Educators in VR, an open membership-based community of educators, trainers, researchers and startups who meet, share and collaborate in and with VR and AR across multi-user platforms. Here Daniel is also working on a remote VR learning network. His driving aim is to continually explore, test and develop immersive educational resources and methods that democratize education actually deliver improved learning results. Thanks so much for tuning in. Join us again next time for another episode! Contact Us! Connect with the hosts - Elvin Freytes, Elizabeth Leiba, and Dr. Joe Sallustio ● If you want to get involved, leave us a comment or rate us! ● Join the EdUp community at The EdUp Experience! ● Follow us on Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube Thanks for listening! We make education your business!

www.exxentric.com/speedandpower   www.multidirectionalpower.com    Daniel Back is an athletic development coach at Xceleration Sports Performance Lab in Austin, Texas. He's best known for his website and instagram handle, jump.science. Here Daniel, has tons of articles on the science behind jumping higher and running faster.    www.jump.science   https://www.instagram.com/jump.science/ 

Day 8 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 1st March 2021   This morning we have readings from the book of Daniel and also from the gospel of St. Luke. Before we go into that, the Lord is speaking to us through Daniel about the attitude and nature of our mind He is calling us to have. If you look at the book of Daniel, it is a book about a person in exile. Daniel was a foreigner, Daniel was in exile, Daniel was at the mercy of the king. That's how he was called to live his life. We will think that this was only the story of Daniel. But the reality is this is the story of every Christian, of you and me. We are people in exile, living away from the promised land. Our home is in heaven and we await that home, and therefore we are called to have the same attitude, life and heart that Daniel had. In fact Philippians 3:20 tells us our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. This tells us very clearly we do not belong here. So often people say, why don't you apply to Australia? Why don't you get your green card? Why don't you move away? We think it's going to be a lovely time if we go away, happily ever after. But we know as we travel all over the world, that everywhere people have the same problems, the same difficulties, the same challenges to face and it's never a greener pasture, but every family goes through different problems. In fact I just spoke to a person last night who said for 10 years he was in love, got married, went abroad and within a few months the family broke up. So he would have thought going abroad would have been the best idea possible but when they went there they had to face challenges. Anyway, we are Christians in exile. What happened to Daniel? Daniel had been taken by King Nebuchadnezzar from Jerusalem and placed in Babylon. The king had asked for the best people, the cleverest, the most handsome, the most promising people and he had taken them all away and placed them under his care in the palace in Babylon. They were supposed to eat a certain food, they were supposed to be nourished and they were supposed to provide the king with answers to well his problems. This was the life Daniel went through. But if you look at the book of Daniel, he went through different kinds of experiences. The king would suddenly build a statue or see a dream and then he would have to answer the dream. Suddenly there would be writing on the wall -- different kinds of experiences in every chapter. As we come to chapter 9 that's a place where they say it's a pause for prayer. In that chapter, Daniel devotes his time to prayer and that is the chapter we have been given today, where Daniel pauses in prayer to God. Before we go into that chapter, there are certain things we can learn from Daniel as he lived in exile in Babylon under the king. First of all, do not be impressed by applause or gifts. Daniel was there, he began to answer questions, he began to reveal mysteries and the king promised him this and that. But here was a person who was not impressed, whose heart and mind was fixed on God. That is reflected in the reading for today. His mind was fixed on God, he knew his salvation was in the God of heaven and not in the king. He was never impressed with what the king had to promise him. When the king asked for him to be fed very well, but he did not want to defile himself, and therefore they had their special food which they ate and they never drank the wine, and it is said that it was found that Daniel and his friends were ten times more filled with wisdom and healthier that the other people who were fed all the kings rations and food. There was a distinct favour of God upon Daniel, because he always fixed his gaze on God. Secondly, do not be intimidated by the world's threats. Each time the king had a dream, or saw something, or was told that "Daniel has mocked your gods," the king came forward and said, "I'm going to throw you to lions, I am going to kill you" but Daniel was never intimidated by threats. He always turned to God and sought answers in God.   Then, do not be infected by religious practices, what people do. For example, we know in Sri Lanka if a boy wants to get a girl in an office, the first thing he has to do is spike her drink with something or with some charm, and get her together. Then she falls in love with him, he takes her and they are supposed to be happily married. But recently I saw a testimony where a certain person charmed a girl and they got married and the family life began happily, but within four months the charm wore off and the girl wanted to break up the family. If we live according to the world's behaviour, ways or practices, we will never be happy, there will never be a lasting solution. So Daniel also was invited to worship this god and that god, but he stuck to the living God. Don't get caught up by gifts, do not be intimidated by the threats you receive, and do not follow the practices of others but follow the living God. Finally, we are called to be God's partners, in whatever we do, we seek God's face and we partner with God to do what He wants us to do. Here Daniel, like a movie, suddenly he's going through a problem, suddenly he's going through a threat, suddenly he's thrown to lions, suddenly he has to go and kill dragon, and in all this he was partnering with God, and in certain moments God revealed Himself to him in all glory as God saved him from these situations. It is said in the last book of Daniel, where he was in the pit with lions, that the prophet Habakkuk was sent and he dropped in a certain food because Daniel was for seven days with the lions and this prophet dropped in a little preparation of food for him to drink and to survive in the lion's pit. As Daniel partnered with God, he saw the glory of God, and God was in love with him and God was with him in that experience. We also see this in Exodus 3:7-8. Exodus 3:7-8 The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. This word tells us that today, if we are going through some bad experience, if we are going through some brokenness, if we are going through some suffering, there is a God, who is looking at our misery, who is hearing our cry, who is seeing our tears and He is concerned about our suffering. This was the experience of the Israelites in the desert, and this was the experience of Daniel in the lion's den, and in every experience he had, where he depended upon on the living God. As I said, Daniel reminds us that although God may sometimes allow us to suffer, He is always at hand, always able to free us, He sometimes offers us a glimpse of His coming glory. It is said, that the book of Daniel is also a book of revelation, prophecy about the future. If you look at it with the book of Revelation, there are different things about the future, about the Son of Man, and it's mystical, at the same time, it is a call for us and a teaching for us, how to live our journey with the Lord. What does the Christian do in exile? How does he live? Does he complain? Does he cry? Does he blame the others for what he's going through? No, he seeks the heart and mind of Christ. And today's readings are all about seeking the heart and mind of Christ. During this time of lent, we seek the heart and mind of Jesus. Let's go to the readings. It's taken from Daniel 9:4-10. It is Daniel pausing for prayer because we have all kinds of experiences throughout Daniel, and when you come to chapter 9, Daniel begins to pray a long prayer.   Daniel 9:4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, The first line says, "I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed." In fact the first song we sang today was, "Come, now is the time." Confess that He's God, that song asks us to confess. So confess does not just mean to go for confession or to confess your sins, but give the truth and say, "Lord, You are God. Lord, You are in control. This Monday morning as I begin my week, as I face challenges, I'm here Lord, and time is moving and I have to leave for work, but I confess You are God. That You are in control of every situation I am going to face. You are in control of every decision I make today and during this week. We confess." Generally we can confess, "Oh my God, so much of suffering. So many things to do, I don't know where to stand, where to go." Or we can confess as Daniel confessed. What did he confess? He said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God." He didn't say, "Oh Lord my schedule is so busy, my problems are so big." He confessed that God is great and awesome. He confessed that God is bigger than his situation. That God is greater than his challenges, that God is above everything he's facing. And this is the first principle of a renewed mind, we are called to have a renewed mind. We can go to God giving our list of problems, list of challenges, but this morning as you stand before God, you tell Him, "Oh God, great and mighty God, you are above it all, you are my King of Kings, you are my Lord of Lords and you are still in control." I remember when I had a problem and I was called to the immigration and I was told, "Buy your ticket and leave this country." The verse that came from the word said, "Not by flight. You will not leave this country by flight, you will be here." So I had innumerous threats over two years but I never had the need to leave the country and go away. Though they called me every time and said, "Where is your ticket? Why didn't you leave?" The word said, no, God is greater. God is above and God is in control. The first principle of a renewed mind is to acknowledge that God is greater. Do not try to deal with the crisis first. So often we are in love with the crisis. "Oh I have this problem, I have that problem. I cannot pay this" -- we're looking at the problem, we are loving the problem, we're embracing the problem, we are living with the problem, but we are called to fix our gaze on God, turn your gaze to the living God who has an answer. He knows you are in exile, He knows you feel like a stranger, He knows you have nowhere to turn to and He is in love with you. In the book of Daniel, God says, in the next chapter, that He loves Daniel. That He cares for Daniel. It was not just a God who came and did powerful things, it was a God who was in love with Daniel. The first chapter says, God's favour was on Daniel. His favour, His mercy. This morning as we go through this ancient reading, God is telling you: "My favour and love are with you. You may feel you are in exile, but I love you and I care for you." So if the crisis is coming to you, refuse to deal with it first. Refuse to deal with the crisis -- you have no answers. But go to the feet of the Lord and struggle with your human nature, which says there are no answers, there is no way forward. Have that struggle before the Lord. This was the same experience of Nehemiah as he was faced with the struggle and had to build the wall, he went to the Lord and he acknowledged the greatness of God. Remember who God is. God is above. God is able. With God all things are possible, and that's what you must be confessing. How can you confess it if your mind is not renewed? How do you renew your mind? By looking at the word, but looking at the life of Daniel, by reading the life of Nehemiah and the life of other people in the word of God. As we read the word of God our mind gets renewed.   I remember about a month ago on YouTube there is a video of an Iranian woman and man who came to experience the Lord. It was a long journey, but the beautiful part of it was they were staunch Muslim and that was their background. They had all the arguments, they knew in theory that the Bible had all the answers, that Jesus Christ was the Saviour, but they couldn't get themselves to accept this word. But when they had moved to Toronto and they were living alone in an apartment, husband and wife, and they had time on hand and they had to find their way forward, that's when they began to read the word of God. It is said, they read the word of God from 5 in the evening to 7 in the morning the next day. The whole night, they just lapped up the word of God. They never knew English, so they had the dictionary beside them, they were looking at words -- if you said the word Revelation, they would open the book and see what's the meaning of revelation. Every word they had to find that English meaning. But in a few days, as they began reading the word of God, first the man felt a presence in the room, and he just burst out crying and he experienced the power of the word of God, and his mind was renewed. And the wife said, "You know Lord, if you can do that to him, you can do that to me." Two days later, as she read the word of God like that, suddenly when she came to 1 John 1, and that chapter about God's love -- "While we were sinners God loved us -- as she read about that, she burst out crying and she experienced the presence of the living God. How do you renew your mind? How can you become a person like Nehemiah or Daniel? But looking at the promises, by reading the word of God, and spending time with Him. You will begin to think like them, you'll begin to respond to situations like Daniel and Nehemiah. So in this case, first, Daniel talks about the greatness of God. "Oh, Lord, great and awesome God." And it was the same with Nehemiah who said, "Remember who God is." Do not cling to your problem, to your situation, but turn and look at the greatness of God. He is greater than my problem. This morning as you think of a challenge you are facing, as you think of a person suffering and you're praying for, speak to that problem and say, "My God is greater than that issue. My God is alive, my God has the answers, and my God can do wonders." Daniel 9:5 We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. As Nehemiah did, Daniel is repenting. He's repenting for himself, for his country men and country women. If you look at that glass in the darkness, the water will seem so pure, so clean, like American drinking water, as they say it in the cans. But when you take that glass and as you hold it close to a source of light, you will see particles moving in that supposedly clean water. You'll see little particles. And that tells us as we go closer to the light, as we go deeper into the presence of God, we begin to see our sinfulness. We begin to see our true nature. Until then we say, "No no, I have no sin. I'm great, I never criticize people, I love everyone. I'm good. I'm so holy, I do my prayers," but as you go into the presence of God, God will reveal to you your nature, the way you speak. Everything will become very clear to you and that's when you will be called to repent. He knew his people. He must have been a person who was praying but generally not living with a transformed mind. Don't waste your time repenting about your husband or wife or child. Repent for the wrong you have done. Whenever we have a crisis this person has caused the breakup. Do not look at the other person. You also had a role to play and your mind is not open to it. Do not pin the blame.   The way you do it, your mind is not open to it. Therefore, do not pin the blame on somebody else, but accept your part in this problem. The second reality of how to handle a crisis, like in the second verse of Daniel, don't offer excuses and say, "I want to kill myself because of this person or that person." Don't offer excuses. But deal with your own sin. Repent of your sin. When I got for confession, before I enter, I always say, "Holy Spirit remind me of my sin." And lo and behold, the entire download happens. You actually want to forget your sinfulness. You do not want to tell the priest everything, but when you say "Spirit of God, reveal to me my sin," immediately, everything begins to fall into your mind, you begin to see the movie, you begin to be reminded of all the moments when you sinned. When you practice that and say, "Spirit of God remind me of my sinfulness," you will see how low you have fallen. Sometimes we tell the Lord, "Lord I am going through this because of that person. Because of that rotter, this is my life." But this morning, we are going to say, "Lord I repent for the wrongdoings of my family members, of my community, of the world. I repent of what is happening." Sometimes when we look at the television and see this person has murdered 10 people or this person has killed so many people, or this has happened, we always find fault. But let's say, "Lord have mercy. Have mercy on him, have mercy on his victims. Have mercy on us." If I never had a renewed mind I would have done the same. I would have fallen into the same pit. Recently I saw the story of a woman who was called out and she was living as a slave in Africa to a certain man and she had a life of prostitution. But as she related her story, she had gone through so much of suffering. Somebody had promised her a job, she was taken and to a place called Togo, and she thought she was going to earn US dollars in a beautiful job, but actually she was taken to join a prostitution ring. And from then on, she was taken to another place, again promised help, taken to another place and again used. And again taken to another country and used as a drug carrier. She says when she went to the customs, she was so broken she told the customs, "I think I'm carrying drugs," she admitted, and she received a seven year sentence. And that was her life. So when she shared her testimony, she was actually weeping, crying and speaking. We often think a prostitute is a terrible person with a horrible life, but that person only knows the pain they are going through, how they got into in, what their story is and we must have mercy as we deal with them. We must have love as we deal with such sinfulness. Not say, "Oh my gosh, my life is so clean, their lives are so bad," but no, have mercy as we look at them. Daniel 9:9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; Like in Nehemiah, what is Daniel doing? He is remembering what God has promised. God has promised that He is merciful and loving. God is great and awesome and then we have sinned against Him, and the third remembrance, God has promised to be merciful, to be loving. You have promised Lord to be merciful because You understand us, You see our weakness, You see how low we have fallen. And You have made us, You have created us, and You are still in love with us, and therefore we have hope. So this morning, as we look at the Lord and as we say He is merciful and loving, we know that we can approach Him. Very often many of us invite people to come for the prayer meeting, and there are a few cases where people say, "How can I come to God? I have been living in sin. I can't come right now because I am dealing with some sin of mine, so I will not come. So many friends who do not want to come for the prayer meeting or to experience God's love because maybe they are holding onto that sin and they feel   they are so unworthy that they will never be able to experience the greatness and goodness of God. But the point is, God is merciful, God is calling us, let's go to Him. Let's experience His favour. We can approach Him, we can go to Him. If you renew your mind with the revelation of scripture, you won't hide from God, you won't waste days and months running through your own thinking patterns. You allow the scripture to form how you handle events, you keep doing this. It's all about renewing your mind, transforming your mind. Now, you can't do it, because certain people believe for example, it's all in the mind. That if they make a decision, it's going to happen. But it's beyond that. So often, if somebody has an argument with you, what happens? Are you able to go to sleep? Are you able to say, "Mind, please shut down now. I want to rest"? We all know, that our minds keep on playing back the argument. "He said this, she said that, this one said this, and then I am going to tell them that, and this is going to happen" and we have this entire conversation going on and we are never able to rest after a fight. Are you able to sleep? No, it becomes difficult. It's the same with me. We cannot control our mind, just like a horse going on a ride. It's just galloping and galloping and talking away and chatting away. But with the grace of God, as we turn to the scripture, that's when the peace of God takes over and we experience the rest of God. This was Daniel's prayer, like Nehemiah, as he accepted the greatness of God, he repented for his sin, and then he approached God and said, "Lord, these are your promises. You are merciful and therefore I am able to approach you." In the gospel, Jesus is talking to us about our internal responses. Here, Daniel is telling God, "You are so great". And Daniel is saying, "Lord forgive us" and all of these things, but in his own life, is he showing the same mercy around him, is he sharing the same love? So you can be saying, "I'm saying Daniel's prayer" or "I am doing the Nehemiah prayer" but what is your internal journey, and what was the internal journey of the Lord Jesus. What did Jesus say? This is what was reflected in the gospel. Luke 6:36-37 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. You can saying Nehemiah's prayer, Daniel's prayer, but internally how have you been dealing with people around you? What is your nature? The transformed nature and attitude of Jesus was this. This is what he tells us. He tells us, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Here you are crying out to God and saying, "Lord, God, King of Kings. Have mercy on me." But have you shown the same mercy to people around you? Lent is a moment when we come back to God, when we retreat from the world and come into the presence of God, and we search our heart to see where we have fallen. And the Lord is telling us, "Be merciful, just as the Father has been merciful." God has been good to you. Do you think, if you are person who is praying, if you are a person reading the scripture, that it is by your own merit? Because you spend time in prayer, because you did that? Imagine if dryness comes over you, where does your journey go? You'll have nothing to say. So God in His mercy has given you an experience of His love, He has drawn you with cords of love, as the word of God tells us. He has touched your heart, He has renewed you, He has given you the grace to pray and spend time with Him, it is nothing about you. It is His love for you. It is the spirit that has descended upon you and drawn you into a relationship with Him. And therefore, that has been the mercy of God. We cannot point our finger and say, "I spend time in prayer, see these people   they don't pray." The gift of prayer that you have is from God. God has blessed you with that gift. God has been good to you. Be merciful, just as the heavenly Father has been merciful to you. Then it says something really extreme: "Do not condemn and you will not be condemned." Imagine, what is condemnation? It's almost saying, "Go and die. Go and be killed. I do not want to see you again." It's an extreme form of talking, or thinking. Condemning a person. You condemn a person to what? To a beach resort? No, you condemn a person to the gallows. I person has to be hanged over there. So often, we are in the journey, experiencing the love of God, and yet we are condemning people. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. The seriousness of our actions, the way we speak, the way we journey with God, living in the life of God, experiencing His love, and condemning people. We say "go to hell" and when we condemn that person we are condemning ourselves. That's why it says, when we stand before God, and He reviews our life, our own sin will speak to us, will condemn us. It's not God saying, "You have sinned! Son you have come here but your life is a mess." As we look at the goodness of God, we see the poverty of our spirit. We see how far we have fallen. As we see His purity we see our impurity. Like St. Peter said "My Lord and my God." He knelt before him, because as he saw the magnanimity, the greatness of God, he saw his littleness. This is the experience of spirituality. Not, "I am this, I am that, I have done this, I have achieved this." As we go closer to God, we see how great He is and how small we are. As we experience His purity, we see how impure we can be. This should be our experience, and therefore He is calling us to live a life of showing mercy. When you go to the carpark of a supermarket, somebody comes and says, "Sir, buy this thing", and you can condemn the person and say, "Oh, these people are all cheats." Or we can just have mercy, "Lord, you have fed me, clothed me, You have given me a meal, in Your mercy I will just share. I will not condemn." This is what God is calling us to do, to show mercy and not to condemn. Thirdly, he says, "forgive and you will be forgiven." The lack of forgiveness is like a bondage. You are held with your arms in shackles. And when you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. That's crystal clear. If you you cannot forgive, you will not be forgiven. It's reciprocal. If you do not take the chance to forgive a person, release the person, you are not being released. Therefore, you're telling God, "I'm all doing all these prayers, I'm doing the Four Steps, I'm doing Nehemiah's prayer, I'm praying all of this nothing is happening. My prayers are not being answered." God is saying, "Look into your life." This is the time of lent, look into your life. The more you begin to forgive, the more you are being forgiven. You are holding yourself at ransom, you are holding yourself in bondage, you are holding yourself with hands tied and saying, "Lord, why? Why is this happening?" This morning, as you are forgiving, as you are offering forgiveness, you are being forgiven. Now we come to the most important verse in this, which a lot of people love. It says: "Give, and it will be given to you." All of us think in terms of money, "Oh if I give this, I am going to get that" and we get so excited. But God is not just talking about giving money, he's talking about giving mercy. He already set the tone, giving forgiveness. He's talking about giving glory to God, giving all of that. And as you give that to God, as you give your pain to Him he begins to release you, He begins to bless you. Luke 6:38 Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. It's just telling us the nature of a person surrendered to God. If something has to be poured into your lap, it means you are not running after something. Like you're given something and you're waiting for it to   come. But you're searching everywhere. If you are searching everywhere it cannot be poured into your lap. It means you are seated, you are sitting somewhere and it is being poured over you, or into your lap. If you're running everywhere looking for the answer, it's falling off you, you're losing this opportunity. You're giving and then you are waiting. And you're not looking for answers, you're not searching, you're giving repentance, you're releasing people. And God is giving back to you. The grace of God is being poured into your life and you are experiencing His power and mercy. Luke 6:38 Give and you will be given a good measure, pressed over full and running over. For the measure you give, will be the measure you receive back. There's one little verse in Philippians which talks about this mentality that God is calling us to have today. This is the spirituality we are called to. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always I will say it again rejoice. That's why we began this time of prayer with a song of praise, because first of all God is asking us to come and rejoice. Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. We can react, we can angry, we can blame, but let your gentleness be evident, the Lord is near, the Lord is with us, the Lord is for us. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. We've heard Thaththa preaching about this before. It's a teaching by itself. But, it's just telling us about our mind. "Do not be anxious but in prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present them to God." Give them to God, give Him all you're going through. Like Nehemiah and Daniel. And what is the result of this? Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God which transcends all understanding... Your way of thinking, your way of working out things is on this level. And the peace of God, is above it all, which transcends all understanding: Philippians 4:7 will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This morning we spoke about having a renewed mind and heart in Christ Jesus. We saw the example of Daniel and Nehemiah, as they lived, as they faced different experiences, and as they saw the power of God in their life situations, they were able to achieve and do things. And then we saw, in the gospel, what   was Jesus' internal nature, his nature was, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do." He was a person who showed mercy, who showed love, who did not condemn. The nature of Jesus was to show mercy, to show love, not condemn. Give his life, not just give money. And this is our call today. If we want to have a renewed mind, if we want to have the peace that passes all understanding, God is calling us to come into His presence to look at His greatness, to repent of our sin, and to experience the power of His glory.

 Audio RecordingSermon manuscript:The Old Testament prophet Daniel lived during a time when everything had fallen apart. Long gone were the days of Moses, David, or Solomon. The northern kingdom of the people of God was no more. It had long been taken over by the Assyrians. During Daniel’s own lifetime the remnant of God’s people, the southern kingdom, Judah, where Daniel was from, was also taken over. The Babylonians had conquered Judah and torn down to the ground the great temple that Solomon had built. The king of Babylon decided to take back with him to Babylon the most talented and noblest of the Jewish people so that those left behind were leaderless. Things had not looked so bad for them since the days of slavery in Egypt. However, even with the rubble and ruin new growth was beginning to pop up. Daniel was one of these bright spots. He was among the leaders who were taken captive to Babylon. Although he was from a conquered and humbled people, God gave him strength and wisdom. He and three of his friends rose in the ranks of Babylon’s officials so that eventually they far surpassed all the others in power and influence. They were exiles and prisoners, but they couldn’t help but turn people’s heads. Even the king listened to them. Being placed in such positions of power would be remarkable enough, but besides governing and advising kings, God also gave Daniel many visions of what was to come. Our Old Testament reading today is a portion of such a vision. We generally do not spend much time studying the visions that are given in Scripture. As a teacher and a preacher I can understand why. They are not as easy to understand as other places in the Scriptures. There often seems to be a stubborn remainder that leaves you wondering whether you’ve quite gotten all of it—even after thoroughly explaining it. Be that as it may, we will still try our hand at it. We should not just always do what is easy. For better understanding the portion of Daniel’s vision that we heard about, I think it is helpful to know that this is a part of longer series of visions that are recorded in the book of Daniel. And although these several visions are all different from one another in the imagery that is used, they repeat a similar overall message. So before we look at what was specifically spoken of in today’s reading, lets consider three themes that are the most prominent throughout these visions. First of all, the subject or plot of the visions God gave to Daniel are about kingdoms and the rise of future empires. The Babylonian empire, which was dominant at that time, was soon going to be overtaken by the Persian empire. After the Persian empire was dominant for some time, it would be taken over by the great Greek general, Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great dies as a young man, and the very large empire was split up among his generals and their descendants. After that the Romans would come and rule with their iron fist for several centuries. This succession of great empires, one after the other, is something that runs through all the visions. The second theme that runs through all the visions is actually more important than the first one. The visions are prophecies concerning Christ. Daniel prophesies about 600 years before Christ was born. In these visions, after these empires turn over, one after another, the Christ rises up and rules over them all. In a sense, given Daniel’s circumstances, it is a little surprising that there should be such a vision or that it would be believable. After all, the people of God were in shambles at that time. His people were scattered hither and yon. There was no leadership left in Jerusalem. The sacrifices and services at the temple had ceased. The Jews were a tiny people, a conquered people, with no military power. How could one from them rise up and rule over the whole world? However, in another sense, Daniel would not have had a hard time believing this vision. Daniel had God’s promises in his Word. God said that there would be someone ruling from David’s line forever. The prophet Jeremiah had prophesied that these people in captivity would be brought back home after 70 years. The third and last theme that I think is helpful for understanding our reading today is that there is an apocalyptic, end times, aspect to the visions that Daniel received. With the rise and fall of nations, it might seem as though what God reveals to Daniel is merely mundane history. When we think of history we think of one thing happening after another, so on and so forth, world without end. But together with these other two themes of the rise and fall of kingdoms, and the rise to power and glory of the Christ, there is also this aspect where the history of the world is coming to an end with the rise of the Christ whom God has promised would redeem his people. This can be a little confusing because it seems like it creates a problem for us concerning time. We believe, teach, and confess that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. He was born, lived, died, was resurrected, and ascended nearly 2,000 years ago. If he is the Christ, and with the coming of Christ comes the end of the world, then why hasn’t the world ended? I’d like to explain that in a little bit, but before I do that, I’d like to show you how this is what the disciples at Jesus’s time believed about the Christ. Jesus’s disciples were students of the Scriptures. They knew these visions that were written down in the book of Daniel. So when they began to believe that Jesus was this Christ whom Daniel prophesied about, they assumed that he would overcome all other nations and that this world would end, and other one would begin. Consider when Peter first confessed Jesus to be the Christ. When Jesus heard him, he praised him. He said that the Church would be built on this, Peter’s confession: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But after that Jesus explained to the disciples that he was going to go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and be resurrected from the dead. That was the way that Jesus was going to rule as king—with a crown of thorns instead of a crown of gold. When Peter heard this he took Jesus aside and told him that that was not the way the story was supposed to go. The Christ should be great in power. It would take a lot of power, after all, to break free and subdue the Roman Empire. But Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan, for you are not thinking the thoughts of God, but the thoughts of men.” What the disciples were expecting, even on the basis of the Old Testament prophecies, was not correct. The Christ would not overcome in the way that they thought. This is also why Jesus’s cross was such a stumbling block for nearly all of his disciples. Dying like a criminal, seemingly helpless, seems to eliminate the possibility of overcoming all nations as a great king. The mocking of the soldiers and the people who passed by him seemed to ring true: “If you are really the Christ, why don’t you come down from there? Then we’ll believe you.” Or: “Look, he who saved others cannot save himself.” And if Jesus had not risen from the dead, then they all would have been absolutely right. But Jesus did rise from the dead, and it was with a special kind of resurrection too. It wasn’t like Jesus’s body was just reanimated. It was transformed. As Paul says, the corruptible must put on incorruptibility. The mortal must put on immortality. Death is swallowed up in victory. So here is where you might learn to think a little differently about the end times. You should not think that the end times are only off in the distance, sometime in the future. The end times have already begun 2,000 years ago. They began with Jesus, the first one resurrected like his saints will be resurrected; the first one who lives and will never die; the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Having risen from the dead, and have been given all authority in heaven and on earth, Jesus sent out his disciples in order to do end-times things. So he told them to baptize, which is a new birth, a second birth, by water and the Holy Spirit, which makes us sinners children of God. He told the disciples to announce the forgiveness of sins to all who would repent. This pronouncement of forgiveness for Jesus’s sake is the verdict that will be rendered for all who have fallen asleep in Jesus when the dead are raised, the court is seated, and the books are opened. He told his disciples to eat his body and drink his blood. This is the New Testament for the forgiveness of sins. “Do this,” Jesus says, “remembering him.” This supper, as our post-communion collect says, is a foretaste of the supper to come. We eat it and drink it in order to be prepared and strengthened for the joy of the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom when he comes again in glory. Through these end times things that Jesus has commissioned us, his disciples, to do, he reigns and rules in his spiritual kingdom from the right hand of God. He has not yet come again because he is patient, wanting all to come to repentance by hearing his Word. Eventually, though, that last person whom God has chosen from eternity to be saved will be converted to faith in Jesus. Then this old world will have served its purpose and will come to an end. Then the fullness of our redemption and salvation will take place with Christ’s second coming. And so let us take up what our Old Testament reading says, for it certainly speaks to this great coming Day. Daniel tells us that he sees the Ancient of Days, God the Father, seated on a throne of awesome majesty. His appearance was brilliant. His throne was fire and a river of fire flowed out from his presence. He was surrounded by thousands times thousands of mighty angels. The court was in session, and the books were opened. But while Daniel’s vision speaks to that great coming day, it also speaks to what has already happened—the beginning of the end times—when Jesus died, defeating our great enemies. In the middle of our reading Daniel tells us about a horn, speaking boastful words, and a beast that was killed. The other beasts have their rulership taken away, but they are allowed to live for a set period of time. Here Daniel is referring to an earlier portion of the vision that was not part of our reading. Earlier God reveals to him that great beasts rise up fighting, terrifying, and strong. These are God’s enemies with the antichrist and Satan at the head of them. Although it appears that they are unstoppable and strong and on the right side of history, their dominion is taken away. They lose their right to rule over the children of Adam and Eve because we were purchased with the blood of Jesus. Thus, in the middle of our reading, Daniel’s vision also refers to Christ’s cross and resurrection where he defeated death and the devil. In the last portion of the vision Daniel sees somebody coming in the clouds of heaven. He is the Son of Man, a name that Jesus most often used to refer to himself. The Son of Man comes to the Father, the Ancient of Days. He is given dominion, honor, and a kingdom. All peoples, nations, and languages will worship him. His dominion will be an eternal dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. Thus you see the second theme that I spoke about earlier—where the Christ will rise up and rule over all nations, no matter how powerful they might be. But remember that Jesus’s kingdom is not of this world. He rule and reign is not with worldly weapons. His is a spiritual kingdom, fought against spiritual enemies. These spiritual enemies would keep people in the darkness of unbelief. In this darkness they fear death, and they fear God. More than anything they fear Judgement Day, and understandably so. But Jesus, our King of kings and Lord of lords, has given us his end times gifts, tokens of his cross and resurrection. Thus we say: believe in your baptism, it is your second birth. Believe that you are forgiven. Did not Jesus die for your sins? Eat his body and drink his blood. This is the food of immortality. By what God has given you, you may look up, rather than cower, on that great Day of the Lord that is to come.

Martin tar med sin sin podklippare och barndomsvän Daniel Jordy till de nordligaste delarna av Irland. Här får Daniel chansen att för första gången i livet testa på riktig linksgolf. Inför rundan sätter de sig ned för en intervju med John Farren, klubbchef på Ballyliffin Golf Club. John berättar i sin tur om innebörden av ordet "links", ger en lektion kring klubbens historia, och så får vi höra en rolig historia om Rory McIlroy.Du får också insyn i hur det verkligen gick till när Ballyliffin förhandlade sig till Irish Open 2018.Avsnittet är på engelska.Martin brings podcasteditor and long time friend Daniel Jordy to the most northern parts of Ireland. Here Daniel gets the chance to play links golf for the first time in his life. Before the round they sit down for an interview with John Farren, manager at Ballyliffin Golf Club. John explains the meaning of the word "links" and gives a history lesson regarding the club. We also get to hear a funny story about Rory McIlroy.In addition to this you'll get an insight of what actually went down during the negotiations of getting the Irish Open to Ballyliffin.This episode is in English.

Here Daniel, Roxie and Barrett give their 5 WORST Big Brother Alliances ever. Daniel #5- 1:45 Roxie #5- 5:54 Barrett #5- 8:04 Daniel #4- 10:50 Roxie #4- 16:35 Barrett #4- 17:40 Daniel #3- 18:45 Roxie #3- 20:55 Barrett #3- 22:40 Daniel #2- 28:20 Roxie #2- 31:02 Barrett #2- 32:50 Daniel #1- 33:45 Roxie #1- 44:08 Barrett #1- 46:31 Be sure to LIKE, COMMENT and SUBSCRIBE for updated Big Brother content! Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuliesChinBB Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Roxie... Link to our Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClDj... Enjoy!! BB19 Support this podcast

We all know the importance of Self Love, but how do we experience it? Whats getting in our way. Here Daniel and Pearl continue on their deep look at How to be in-love with yourself. Continued on from Episode c38 - Needing More Friends and Fears of Intimacy. Do you have a question for Daniel? Book in at www.DanielAnswers.com

We all want more self love. But not everybody knows how to actually build it. Daniel Packard spent over fifteen years to figure out just that. Here Daniel explain his innovative approach and philosophy of how somebody can actually build self-love quickly.

PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION, AND A HUGHTY SPIRIT BEFORE A FALL. PROVBERBS 16:18  THAT'S ONE LESSON KING NEBUBCHADNEZZAR LEARNED.  BUT, WAIT, WHAT DO WE SEE, HERE DANIEL 4 ..... WARNING! WARNING! YEP, WARNING! HE WAS NOT LEFT IN THE DARK ABOUT HIS SITUATION. YET, HE JUST WENT RIGHT ON AND DID IT ANYWAY. SOUND LIKE SOME PEOPLE WE MIGHT KNOW ON A PERSONAL AND WORLD LEVEL, DOES TO ME.  RESTORATION, JESUS IS IN THE FIX IT BUSINESS. PRAISE YOU, JESUS.  OH! BUT WE HAVE OTHER THINGS TO LOOK AT TOO.  JOIN ME, I CAN'T WAIT TO BE WITH YA'LL CHAT ROOM OPEN, COME IN LOVE, SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. WHOLE WIDE WORLD WELCOME.   EVANGELIST LACEKY KAY GREEN GREETS YOU WITH A HOLY HEALING KISS                                 "KISSES FROM THE LORD HEALING MINISTRY."  PRAY FOR THE  PEACE OF JERUSALEM, THE WHOLE WORLD, THE FATHER AND MOTHERLESS, CLEAN FRESH WATER, FOOD, SHELTER, WIDOWS.                           JESUS IS COMING SOON, ARE YOU READY????