Podcasts about his bible

Shavuot - Episode 7 Let's consider those amazing connections between what happened at Sinai and during Pentecost shortly after Jesus' ascension.  These amazing connections are pictures to us today of God's amazing power to bring us to a deeper and more enhanced understanding that the feasts of the Lord, all eight of them, are shadows of the Messiah.  Consider … Both events occurred on mountains known as "the mountain of God." Exo 24:13 So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. (Ex. 24:13; Isa. 2:3).  The mountain of God in the Sinai when the Lord gives the Ten Commandments. But, the mountain of God moves.  The Lord changes its location.  Consider what we read in the book of Isaiah, “And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.' For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”  (Isa 2:3 ) Or in the book of Joel we read, “Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will pass through it no more.” (Joe 3:17) Then again in the book of Micah, “And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.' For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” (Mic 4:1-2) Both events happened on day 50. They arrived at Sinai in the third month on the very day (Ex. 19:1). “In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.” (Ex. 19:1) In Hebrew “on that very day” means they arrived on the third day of the third month exactly 50 days after their first Passover meal in Egypt. The feast of Shavuot is to happen on the 50th day after the weekly sabbath during Passover and Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:15-16). Both involved similar sounds and symbols, such as wind, fire, and voices (Ex. 19:16-19; Acts 2:1-3). Note that the Hebrew for "thunder" (kolot) means "voices" (Acts 2:4). Jewish tradition said that the Israelites heard God speak in 70 languages or, to translate direct from the Hebrew, God spoke in tongues! Both events involved the presence of God (Ex. 19:18,20; Acts 2:4). About 3,000 people died because of their sin when Moses received the Torah (Ex. 32:28). About 3,000 people believed (were born again into new life) when the Spirit came (Acts 2:41). At Mount Sinai, God wrote his revelation on stone tablets (Ex. 31:18). On the fulfillment of Pentecost, God wrote his law on people's hearts as he had promised He would (2 Cor. 3:3; Jer. 31:33). Torah means "teaching." The Spirit, given on Shavuot, also became the "Teacher" of the new community of Jesus' followers (John 14:26) Many Jews from all over the world heard in their own language from a bunch of kids, young men and women, who only knew Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew.  These 120 disciples of Yeshua received "power" and spoke in other language they didn't know or understand.   All the people, probably hundreds of thousands at the Temple on Shavuot, heard the Gospel!! Peter did a short five minute speech and 3000 wanted to be baptized.  It was as if it was SINAI REPEATED!! This is part of what Jesus meant when He said they'd receive “power.” Both events were times when God's people entered a NEW covenant with the Lord. Israel became a new nation, a nation of priests, and nation that would be the light of the world (Ex. 19:6, Isa. 49:6). And, for us, we have entered a NEW covenant with the Lord as we take the cup of Messiah in His Last Seder meal (Luke 22:20). We too become a new people, a new nation, a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9-10). We to are to be the light of the world (Mat.5:14, Acts 1:7-8).  But, this time, this covenant is the covenant to restore all people to Himself as our sins our totally cleansed and forgiven. This is the final covenant for Jew and Gentile to become one flock with one shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the Messiah Jesus (John 10:14-16). The Shadow of Messiah. On Shavuot there is a special sacrifice. Amazingly it uses two loaves of LEAVENED BREAD (Lev. 23:17). Is God giving us a picture that Jew and Gentile are a new people, a new culture, a holy nation, His two flocks coming together as ONE permeated and saturated with His Holy Spirit dwelling in us and through us?  Is God helping us see that His Bible is ONE book, about ONE God, about ONE Gospel, ONE Baptism, and ONE Savor of all – Yeshua!

This lesson is a prime example of the difficulty with taking the commentary from the rabbis on the Torah as the truth.  In this study the rabbis comment on these verses ... The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. Therefore she said to Abraham, "Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac." The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. (Gen 21:8-11) The rabbis conclude from these verses that Ishmael, he is now 14 years old, was doing evil to his baby brother.  The rabbis say that Sarah and Abraham saw this and knew that Ishmael had turned into a evil young man.  These conclusions are so far from the historical context and the ancient culture of that time.  It is clear the rabbis, whose commentary we read from the Middle Ages, are making up their own ideas and Christians get the impression they have to be right since it is the rabbis.  WRONG!   We will go back to Abraham's time and we will consider the culture of that day.  We will focus on the laws of those days like the Code of Lipit-Ishtar.  This law code (see the picture below of the code from Wikimedia) was in force in ancient Babylon of the area of the Chaldees.  This is where Abraham came from.  This is the law he is familiar with.  When we study this law and what it says about the first born of a concubine (like Hagar) and the first born of the real wife (Sarah), we see some amazing facts.  The laws of Lipit-Ishtar show that Ishmael, even though he was not the son from Abraham and Sarah, nevertheless was the real first born.  This means that Ishmael was the direct heir of Abraham as per the laws from the Chaldees where Abraham came from.  On top of that the English translation that says Ishmael was "mocking" his baby brother has another alternative meaning.  The Hebrew can also mean to play or have fun with in a good way.  It seems that Ishmael may have been playing nicely with his baby brother, Isaac, and Sarah saw that Ishmael was cementing his place in the family.  She just couldn't have this.  Isaac was her son.  She was the wife and not Hagar, the pagan Egyptian.  Hagar and Ishmael had to go.  Sarah could not have Ishmael be the heir - Isaac was the heir as the Lord promised.  But how?  This is where the laws come in.  John Currid in his Torah commentary "A Study Commentary: Genesis Vol.1" helps us with understanding the law and how it probably was applied to this situation.  See the picture below from his commentary. When one studies this it gives a whole new idea behind these events.  Abraham, the one man chosen by God to be the one whom all nations would be blessed, probably set Hagar and Ishmael free so that Isaac would have the legal right of the first born as per the law so Isaac would be the heir.  This makes so much more sense and provides a more realistic understanding in light of the culture in the 19th and 20th centuries B.C. But there is something else.  For Christians one verse that is probably a favorite verse is ... "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (Joh 3:16) Jesus said this when there was NO New Testament. Jesus was only teaching the Bible, His Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures or what Christians call the Old Testament.  John 3:16 is nothing new, it was not some new teaching but what is in the Hebrew Bible.  Consider some verses. The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. (Psa 146:9) The Hebrew of the highlighted phrase is that יהוה‎ Yahvay (when you see the word LORD all in caps it is translating יהוה‎ Yahvay) the LORD is the SHAMAR of the GOYEEM.  יהוה שׁמר את גרים                   GOYEEM  ET  SHAMAR  YAHVAY This means He is the Keeper of even Gentiles - with no qualifications.  The LORD is the Keeper of all people, the Hebrews and all non-Hebrews, the GOYEEM, the Gentiles, whether pagan or not.  Keeper is the Hebrew word SHAMAR שׁמר which means the LORD acting as a guard, a protector, like a good a father or a good a shepherd.   Then we read these verses ... "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD." (Lev 19:18) "The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:34) So we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  And, the next verse we are to love the stranger (Hebrew word is GOYEEM or any Gentile, pagan or not) as ourselves.  But combining the statements this means all non-Hebrews, pagan or not, are our brothers since we are to love the GOYEEM as ourselves; we are love them just as we love our brothers!!  This is John 3:16.  God loves Hagar.  God loved Ishmael.  He was their SHAMAR שׁמר - their keeper, their guard.  On top of that God loved all those HE sent to their death in the Great Flood.  He was not angry with the human race; HE was sad.  You can read it for yourself. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.  (Gen 6:5-6) When Jesus taught us John 3:16 HE was only teach Torah!  HE was only telling us from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, what God is really like.   Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  Ferret teaching in an ancient theater in Turkey What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0

Tim Wildsmith is a pastor, writer, and content creator whose goal is to help people find a Bible that's right for them and apply it their lives. His Bible-related content has been viewed tens of millions of times by people around the globe from a wide array of Christian traditions and denominations. Tim earned a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and then was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford's Wycliffe Hall. His first book, Bible Translations for Everyone, was just published by Zondervan and that's the topic of our conversation. -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; Luke, in these verses, now informs us that after the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, His presentation to Simeon and Anna in the Temple, and a short time in Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23), Jesus' parents move Him back to their hometown of Nazareth where He grows up. We need remember that Luke in his Gospel is presenting Jesus to the world as the perfect “Son of Man” and the emphases is on His humanity. John, in his Gospel present Jesus to the world as the “Son of God” and his emphases is on His deity. The Scriptures teach us that Jesus was totally God and at the same time He was totally human. We might not understand this, but we must accept this great truth by faith because this is the only way that Jesus could die in our place for our sins!   When you think about Luke presenting Jesus in His humanity, it is no wonder that he gives us the details of His birth as a Baby, then calls Him a Child as He grows up in Nazareth, and now calls Him “the Boy Jesus” in verse 43 as he tells us the only story we have in the Gospels of something that takes place in the life of Jesus between His birth and His baptism at thirty years of age!   Luke now has another delightful story to tell. Jesus was twelve, the age in Jewish culture when a boy begins to assume the responsibilities of a man. He was ready for His first Passover. Scholars tell us that by this time Jesus education had been thorough enough, first at His mother's knee and then in the local rabbinical school. The weekly Sabbath observance would have been His joy. The Scripture written on the doorposts (Deut. 11:20) of the house had a word for Him every time He left home and whenever He came home.   Jesus soon knew His Bible by heart, and, given His flawless memory and His brilliant mind, He doubtless knew it in both Hebrew and Greek. He came to know all of the people who crowd the Old Testament page, all of the precepts of the ritual law, and all of the principles of such books as Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Jesus knew and understood the full significance of all of the prophecies and promises that God had given to the Hebrew people.   From the age of five until He was ten, His only textbook was the Bible. From ten to fifteen, He was exposed to the Mishna, the traditions of the elders, what came to be known as "the oral law" supposedly given to Moses at Sinai. His keen mind would soon sort out the good from the bad in all of that. Not until He was fifteen would He enter an academy and be taught the endless lectures of the rabbis.   So, with a full heart Jesus joined the pilgrims marching to Zion to keep the feast. People traveled to the feasts in caravans, the women and children leading the way and setting the pace, and the men and young men following behind. Relatives and whole villages often traveled together and kept an eye on each other's children. No doubt they were all singing "the songs of degrees" or “songs of accents” found in Psalms 120-134.   As the Lord entered Jerusalem, His thoughts must have been mixed indeed. Here was a city that Abraham had visited thousands of years earlier, a city where David had reigned, a city that murdered the prophets and that one day would crucify Him. And crowning Mount Moriah and dominating everything was the temple. Tens of thousands of people could find room within its courts. The Lord's eyes would constantly be drawn to it. He called it "my Father's house," although it was, in fact, being built by Herod.   I trust this gives you a picture today of the humanity of Jesus as a Baby, a Child, and a grown-up Boy, as He prepares to present Himself to the world as the only Savior for our sins!   God bless!

How does The King see the scriptures in the Kingdom? How does Jesus think about the Bible? Have you ever thought about that? For us today, one of the big problems that we can have with the Bible is our familiarity with it. When we come to the Bible, instead of reading it as a book to redeem, challenge, and inform us, we can come to the Bible and think that we've got it figured out. But these words, the scriptures, written on different continents and different languages for thousands of years, inform and shape what a flourishing life looks like. The Lord Jesus, King of the universe, God's Son, and our Savior, believed His Bible was the Word of God, down to the tiniest speck, and that nothing in all those specks and in all those books in his Bible could ever be broken. We'd love for you to subscribe to our channel and turn on notifications to get updates on our latest content and resources that will help more people know Jesus and people know Jesus more. GIVE : We believe that generosity is golden. Freely we have received and so freely we give back to God. If you would like to give to support the work Jesus is doing here please visit: https://www.elevatecc.church/give. Elevate City Church is a Jesus Over Everything Church that launched in the Atlanta Perimeter area on October 4th, 2020. Jesus Over Everything. Give us a follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatecity.church/ Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elevatecc.church Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3H8BBrEFWxGKsTF8wPSvrn?si=epcQMMrmQIiTpeXEnyxMOQ Podcast on itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/elevate-city-church/id1536637567 Visit our website for more information about who we are as a church and how you can get involved. https://www.elevatecc.church/home

Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts Interview with Michael Norten In this Faith and Family Fellowship episode, Dallas interviews Michael Norten, author of "Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts". About The Author: Michael Norten received a ThM degree from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1974. His Bible teaching which expands over 40 years includes both pastoral and outreach ministries. About The Book: Amazing prophecies of God's plans for the world can be found embedded in the customs of the feasts of Israel. The intricate detail of the prophecies illustrated in the observances of these feasts provide insight into God's plan for the ages. Buy Your Copy of the Book: https://a.co/d/8jcmuNw Thank you for listening and supporting the 'Faith and Family Fellowship PODCAST SHOW'. We are excited to connect with our listeners on our various platforms. Below are just some of the ways you can connect with us and support our various Christian Ministry projects worldwide. ⁠⁠⁠Support the Show⁠⁠⁠ (https://cash.app/$laymedownministry) ⁠⁠⁠Connect with us on Various Platforms⁠⁠⁠ (https://linktr.ee/faithandfamilyfellowship) ⁠⁠⁠Connect with Lay Me Down Ministries ⁠⁠⁠(https://www.facebook.com/LayMeDownMinistries) For Marketing and Publishing needs, ⁠⁠⁠Buscher's Social Media Marketing LLC⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.facebook.com/buscherssmm)

In this message, Adrian Rogers shares three key thoughts concerning Jesus and His Bible. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/135/29

In His day, the Bible Jesus knew was the Old Testament. Jesus' unwavering devotion to it reminds us why we put our faith in the Word of God, cover to cover. In this message, Adrian Rogers shares three key thoughts concerning Jesus and His Bible.

In this message Bible prophecy meets current events, while history and core Bible teachings in the light of Jesus informs our minds and our hearts about the steps we should take whether Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise. Our world is heading somewhere right now that God in Bible prophecy outlined many years ago...Revelation speaks. This thought-provoking message underscores our need to seek Jesus and His Bible truth no matter our background or current situation. God loves every soul no matter what church we attend, Jesus died for us, and we can find true believers everywhere. In Jesus, let's examine the tenants of our faith, letting God be the arbiter of all truth, in love. [Corrective note: I mention at one point Trump as an Episcopalian; but to be more accurate as of now, Trump was Presbyterian before, attended Episcopalian sometimes, and is now said by some sources to be non-denominational/evangelical].

Is the Bible Inerrant? What About Bible Translations? Introduction: Is the Word of God Inerrant? What exactly is the Word of God? Is it the Bible that you hold in your hands at Church? What if someone spills coffee on it, is the Word of God lost? What if it's mishprinted ? Have you ever heard of the Evil King James Bible? Let's talk about that as we watch our culture stray further every day. The Problem: Many Theologians have ceded, or even gleefully proclaimed the notion, that the Bible is “not infallible, inerrant”, and is capable of harboring errors in its depiction of God's Word. From Wikipedia: There are 3 types of inerrancy or infallibility: Some theologians speak of the "infallibility" of the Bible. This can be understood in one of three ways. Some authors use "inerrancy" and "infallibility" interchangeably. For others, "inerrancy" refers to complete inerrancy and "infallibility" to the more limited view that the Bible is without error in conveying God's self-revelation to humanity.[3][12] On this understanding, "infallibility" claims less than "inerrancy". Citing dictionary definitions, Frame (2002) claims "infallibility" is a stronger term than "inerrant": "'Inerrant' means there are no errors; "infallible" means there can be no errors".[13] Yet he acknowledges that "modern theologians insist on redefining that word also, so that it actually says less than 'inerrancy.'" Harold Lindsell states: "The very nature of inspiration renders the Bible infallible, which means that it cannot deceive us. It is inerrant in that it is not false, mistaken, or defective".[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_inerrancy Here in an edition of Life and Letters, we see a representative argument from the liberal scholar: “The doctrine of inerrancy is more post-biblical, even modern. And it has been particularly influential among U.S. evangelicals, who often appeal to the doctrine of inerrancy in arguments against gender equality, social justice, critical race theory and other causes thought to violate the God's infallible word. The doctrine of inerrancy took shape during the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States. A statement crafted in 1978 by hundreds of evangelical leaders remains its fullest articulation. Known as the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the statement was a response to emerging “liberal” or nonliteral interpretations of the Bible. According to the statement, the Bible speaks with “infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches.”” https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2021/07/what-is-biblical-inerrancy-a-new-testament-scholar-explains/ https://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/ Theology: If God's word contains errors, what does this say about God? Philosophy: If God is incapable of keeping errors out of His Bible, then what does this mean for morality, eternity, and salvation? Culture: What Cultural allowances should be made if God's Word is inerrant? What happens if you may pick and choose as you please? Politics: Why have nations continuously attempted to rewrite God's Word? What does this allow the government to accomplish? Economics: What economic incentives are there for scholars to make their living upon “debunking” the Bible? The Story So when DID the Inerrancy issue become a topic of debate? Well, the issue became a heavy point of contention in the 1800s, you know, when the Counter-Reformation and the Humanist Enlightenment movements were in full force. An article at conversation jeeringly puts it this way: Roots of Fundamentalism “Christian fundamentalism has roots in the 19th century, when Protestants were confronted by two challenges to traditional understandings of the Bible. Throughout the century, scholars increasingly evaluated the Bible as a historical text. In the process they raised questions about its divine origins, given its seeming inconsistencies and errors. In addition, Charles Darwin's 1859 book “On the Origin of Species” – which laid out the theory of evolution by natural selection – raised profound questions about the Genesis account of creation. Many American Protestants easily squared their Christian faith with these ideas. Others were horrified. Conservative theologians responded by developing the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Inerrancy asserts that the Bible is errorless and factually accurate in everything it says – including about science. This doctrine became the theological touchstone of fundamentalism. Alongside inerrancy emerged a system of ideas, called apocalyptic or “dispensational premillennialism.” Adherents of these ideas hold that reading the Bible literally – particularly the Book of Revelation – reveals that history will end soon with a ghastly apocalypse. All those who are not true Christians will be slaughtered. In the wake of this violence, Christ will establish God's millennial kingdom on Earth.” https://theconversation.com/fundamentalism-turns-100-a-landmark-for-the-christian-right-123651 Theology: What does the Bible say about the philosophies of man and diverse doctrines? Philosophy: If the purpose and intent of a movement is not honestly seeking the good of an institution such as the Church, what challenges befall the Church if she accepts the precepts of such antagonists uncritically? Culture: Now that we abolished the inerrancy of God? What did Nietzsche's Dead God provide in the Culture? What are the results? Politics: After God was dead in the 19th Century, what did man do in the 20th Century across Europe through Asia? Economics: What does the Chinese Communist Party do with the Bible today? What is the purpose of this? Final Thoughts: One more thing: Favorite book of the Bible

Title Word of the Week: Inalienable - "Something that cannot be transferred or taken away” --  SUBSCRIBE to get the latest Experts content: http://www.youtube.com/@expertsaboutnothingmedia Listen to The Experts About Nothing podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/experts-about-nothing-podcast Listen to The Experts About Nothing podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kf8O5yeTv2vMnV24JsL4O Like The Experts on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpertsAboutNothingPodcast Follow The Experts on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutexperts Follow The Experts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expertsaboutnothingpodcast    Title Word of the Week: Inalienable - Something that cannot be transferred or taken away - SUBSCRIBE to get the latest Experts content: http://www.youtube.com/@expertsaboutnothingmedia Listen to The Experts About Nothing podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/experts-about-nothing-podcast Listen to The Experts About Nothing podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kf8O5yeTv2vMnV24JsL4O Like The Experts on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpertsAboutNothingPodcast Follow The Experts on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutexperts Follow The Experts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expertsaboutnothingpodcast Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4905104709255168 Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:15 Francis Scott Key Bridge Delays 03:18 Diddy Lawsuit and Raid Discussion 45:30 Discussion of Kobe's Ring Being Sold at Auction and His Parent's Part In That 59:14 Trump and His Bible 1:12:31 April Fool's Prank Discussions 1:17:59 Outro Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4905104709255168

War in the Middle East, AGAIN! America has funded our political ally Israel, while at the same time sending millions of dollars to Hamas (Israel's enemy that attacked them on Oct. 7, 2023) and BILLIONS of dollars to their lifelong enemy Iran (almost $100 billion) who just spent that money on thousands of missiles that they fired at our ally Israel. So why should we care? Who should we support, should we support anybody? "Not our war, not our fight"? Does your support even make a difference? We don't control our tax dollars, our evil government does. YES, we should care. Listen today to learn the truth and to understand what GOD actually says about our support in His Bible. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pastor-steven/support

Recently retired California Public Information Officer and whistleblower, Ron Owens, joins the program to discuss his experience working within California's public health agency during COVID which is under the Department of Health and Human Services. His experience is eye opening and exposes the purposeful concealment of important information the public needed to know to make informed decisions. You can purchase Ron Owen's explosive book, "Muzzled Truth" at https://muzzledtruth.com/   Links mentioned in the show: Sign up for Marjory Wildcraft's FREE seminar at “SarahsBackyardFarm.com” Buy Carbon60 from the industry leaders and get infused frequency and full spectrum health. Only buy the best at https://purebellavita.com/pages/c60-sarah-westall?sca_ref=1290220.bH1D9nyiWa Help fight human trafficking while boosting your kids immune system with Z-stack Kids – learn more at https://zstacklife.com/products/z-stack-kids?ref=Sarah&variant=41579270897830   Consider subscribing: Follow on Twitter @Sarah_Westall Follow on my Substack at SarahWestall.Substack.com See Important Proven Solutions to Keep Your from getting sick even if you had the mRNA Shot - Dr. Nieusma MUSIC CREDITS: “In Epic World” by Valentina Gribanova, licensed for broad internet media use, including video and audio         See on Bastyon | Bitchute | Odysee | Rumble | Youtube | Freedom.Social     Biography Ronald Owens Ronald F. Owens Jr. served as an Information Officer 2 at the California Department of Public Health's Office of Public Affairs—now Office of Communications— from March 2, 2009 to December 31, 2023. Mr. Owens started his 29-year California civil service career in 1995 as a Public Participant Specialist at the Department of Toxic Substances Control. He was an Information Officer 1 at the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. Owens earned an Associate of Arts degree in social science from Sacramento City College in 1980 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in government/journalism from California State University, Sacramento in 1986. He also studied at Fuller Theological Seminary, Northern California (Sacramento) Campus. He has authored five books and has rewritten about ten percent of The Holy Bible in newspaper format, titled The Testament Spectator. His Bible writings are available at ronaldfowensjr.com. “Muzzled Truth” reveals my experiences and observations before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Questioning flu shot efficacy, childhood vaccine risks, and the response to COVID-19, the book highlights my efforts to inform CDPH senior leadership about the potential of properly dosed ivermectin. It also exposes Secretary Xavier Becerra's shocking statement on vaccine risks, revealing how CDPH management suppressed the truth. Unmuzzle the truth by reading “Muzzled Truth”! Buy the book at https://muzzledtruth.com/    

Audio Transcript:This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston,or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your holy word, and we thank you for sending us your holy Son. We thank you that your son came as a savior to save us from our sins, but you also came as Lord. And Jesus, we thank you that you went to the cross and you paid the penalty for our law-breaking, our transgressions of the law. And Jesus, you bled. The holy Son of God, you bled on that cross in order to cleanse us, in order to save us, and then also to give us grace. And you came back from the dead as the conquering king and you gave us marching orders to go and make disciples of all nations and to take dominion of this world, to take it back from the usurper, back from Satan, back from the enemy. And I pray, Lord, that you empower us by the Holy Spirit. Baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Send each one of us a special anointing to proclaim your word everywhere we go. To know your word, study your word, meditate upon your word, and to testify to the greatness of our God. Lord Jesus, show us what it means that you are our king. And that when you tell us to follow you, that is a command. Those are marching orders. And wherever in our lives we are not following you, I pray, give us grace. Transform our wills, transform our minds, transform our hearts. Lord Jesus, we pray that you bless the sermon series. We pray that you anoint it and I pray that your holy church will be built up. And I pray those who are far from you will be redeemed and regenerated and transformed from being rebels to being your children. And I pray, Lord, in this season that you send us the gift of evangelism, a passion for evangelists to proclaim the gospel of the king. The king is here. We deserve His wrath, but He came to extend mercy and grace and call us to follow him. I pray that you bless our time in the holy scriptures. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're beginning a sermon series through the Gospel of Mark that we are calling Kingdom Come, the Gospel of Mark and the secret of God's kingdom. And Jesus Christ, when He came, His very first words were the kingdom of God is at hand. So He's established the kingdom, the king is here, and then the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us 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. And that prayer is not just a prayer, that's our purpose. Yes, we cry out, Lord, may your kingdom come. But what we're saying is, Lord, give me the power to establish your kingdom. The title of the sermon today is Tremendous News: The King Loves You. And it's tremendous news because we don't deserve that love. It's a shock that He comes as a loving savior. Why? Because we deserve the wrath of God for our law-breaking. And just to give you perspective on this, I take an example from history from Fyodor Dostoevsky. Before he wrote Crime and Punishment, before he wrote The Idiot, before he wrote The Brothers Karamazov, he was actually sentenced to death by a firing squad by Tsar Nicholas I. For what? Listening to stories, criticizing the armed forces, owning an illegal printing press in order to create anti-government propaganda, and contributing to plot against the Tsar. So he was part of a group of rebels. There were 21 members in the circle and Dostoevski is 27 at that time. And they were brought into a public square and they were forced to kneel, kiss a cross, and then undergo a symbolic beheading where swords were broken above their heads. They were tied to pillars in the town square, blindfolded and then they started awaiting their execution. But immediately before they were shot, an envoy from the Tsar arrived with the stay of execution saying, don't shoot. And the men were pardoned by the king from execution and forced to serve in hard labor and a labor camp for four years. And you say, how would that change a man knowing he's about to be executed and all of a sudden there is a stay of execution? Dostoevsky, after the averted execution said, "Today I faced death for three quarters of an hour. I was a hair's breadth away from death, and now I am living again." He wrote his brother after the event, "I'm being reborn in another form." In the same way that the brightest dawn follows the darkest night, the best and the greatest, the most tremendous news always comes right after the deepest realization of the most terrible news. Well, what is the terrible news? That you and I, we have broken the law of God, the holy law of the holy God. This is the ultimate act of insurrection. And God created you with eternal soul. He breathed his spirit into you. We have eternal souls created by an eternal God. So what's the punishment for insurrection against the holy God of the universe? It's banishment from God's kingdom. That's what we deserve. Exile. And how long is that exile? Eternal because God is eternal and so are our souls. We deserve execution. We deserve eternal damnation for rebelling against the holy God. So when the king of kings comes, it's surprising that He doesn't come with execution and eviction notices. When the king comes, the king comes with pardon and amnesty and forgiveness and mercy, but also grace. This is what the gospel is all about, that God is offering to us today, mercy. Mercy is you don't get what you deserve, but He also gives us grace. And grace is we get what we don't deserve. God has mercy on rebels and He gives us grace in adopting us as sons and daughters because of the sacrifice of king Jesus on the cross. Jesus came as a Jewish man, but He's not just the king of the Jews or just the king of Israel. He's the king of everyone and the king of everything. And there's only two kinds of people, children of God or rebels. Soldiers of King Jesus or soldiers of king Satan. And if you turn from your sin and you submit to the king, if you believe in His gospel, something incredible happens. The miracle of the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you are regenerated from within. God gives you a brand new heart with brand new desires and your mind is renewed by the power of God. And God now can look at you as He looks at His son Jesus Christ and say, this is my child in whom I'm well pleased. And grace also is a power source. God gives us grace as energy to become kingdom builders. Jesus Christ said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else shall be added onto you." St. Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace of God, but the grace of God was not in vain in me. It wasn't given to me in vain. Instead," he says, "I worked harder than the rest of them. "And he's talking about the other apostles. So God gives us grace to do what? To follow Him, build His kingdom. And it all starts with the tremendous news that He's willing to forgive us if we repent. And this news does change us, it rivets us and it changes your whole perspective on reality. Would you please look at the text with me today? We're in Mark 1:1-15, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is written in Isaiah the prophet. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight." John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached saying, 'After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved son with you, I'm well pleased.' The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, 'The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.'" This is the reading of God's holy and inert, infallible, authoritative word, may it write these truths upon our hearts. Four points to frame up our time. First, the king has come. Second, the king is anointed. Third, the king declares war. And fourth, the kingdom has come. First, the king has come. Mark 1:1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God written by Mark, who was probably an associate of Peter and Peter at that time was serving in Rome when this gospel was written. So this gospel is written to city dwellers and it's written in such a way where busy people can understand the gospel, understand who is Jesus, understand His person and His work. We see that Mark emphasizes action over teaching, it's very vivid. One of his favorite words is the word immediately. And what he's doing, he's writing to busy people. He's trying to get to the point as quickly as possible. And if you're new to the city, what you recognize is after a while here you realize you know who's from Boston because they walk fast and they talk fast. Fast walkers, fast talkers. And that's kind how I preach. I talk really fast, people tell me they can't 2X me on our podcasts or et cetera, but I want to get to the point as quickly as possible. And the point is, Jesus Christ, He's the point of everything. And here we see the freshness of discovery of who Jesus is. That's what Mark is trying to do. Over 150 times, he uses the historic present tense, putting past events in the present tense. Why? To increase the vividness. That what Jesus did, He's continuing to do today in and through the church as empowered by the Holy Spirit. It begins with the word the beginning. That's the very first word, and it's alluding to Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning God created everything and God created man and it was all beautiful. It was all wonderful, but we rebelled against God and Satan usurped dominion from Adam and Jesus Christ has come as a new Adam, as a new creation, as a new beginning for human beings. His name is Jesus in the English. In the Greek, it's Yesus, and Yesus is a transliteration of the Jewish word, Joshua. So Jesus is named after Joshua. In the Hebrew, His name, what it means is savior or literally Yahweh is salvation. So even in the name, what we see is that God is saying what Moses couldn't do, Joshua did. Moses could not take the promised land, could not bring the people of God into the promised land. Joshua did that. What Moses couldn't do, Jesus is going to do. Moses gave the law, but he couldn't transform hearts to obey God willingly. God can force His kingdom upon us and one day He will come with a flaming sword and He will judge. But the first time Jesus Christ comes, He doesn't come with a sword of power or physical sword. He comes with the sword of the spirit, wielding the word of God so people are transformed from the inside out. Moses gave the law, Jesus gives grace, which leads to heartfelt obedience, which empowers us to fulfill the law out of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ, a lot of people think that's His last name. That's not His last name. It wasn't Mary and Joseph Christ. This is a title, a kristos. It's from the Hebrew marcia or an anointed one. He's anointed to do what? He's anointed to be a royal figure. He's anointed to be king. So Jesus Christ actually just means is king. Sometimes they drive by churches and they're named Christ is king. I'm like, that means king is king. It's Jesus is king. That's the point, that He's come in order to establish the kingdom of God. He's the son of God. Son begotten of the Father. The Son of God is God as much as the Father is God, but the Son submits to the father's will. So we see right in the center of the faith, the faith is patriarchal with the Father up top and hierarchal, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. When Jesus took on flesh, He was male. Jesus was a man, a Jewish man who lived under the law. And Jesus is the Son of God and the son of man, that's His messianic title. And the Holy Spirit is not an it. It's not just a force. The Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit is a he. And just for clarity's purposes, God's pronouns are He/Him. And I say that because confusion has come from theological schools. I remember taking classes at BU School of Theology and I realized that's not going to go well because the very first prayer I heard was a prayer to mother God. Well, that is not true. God is father. The gospel, the word gospel means good news or literally an announcement of something good associated with a military victory. It's good news of victory from the battlefield. And the nuance of military victory is extremely important for Mark who presents Jesus' ministry as triumph over Satan, over the demonic forces and over their human agents. In Isaiah, the announcer of good news or the one that brings the good news proclaims the victory of Yahweh Israel's true king over hostile forces. And this is just the beginning. It's the beginning of what Jesus taught and what He began to do and He continues to do today. In Mark 1:2, "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." As it is written, it says. This is typical Jewish formula for citation of scripture. And the Greek, it's a perfect tense, has been written, implies past action with permanent results and suggesting that the ancient scriptures, it's not just a dead letter, but it's a living force in the present. As it has been written through the instrumentality of Isaiah, and then God speaks in the first person, meaning God inspired Isaiah by the spirit and he speaks to us through the word of God. And Mark affirms that what happened in Jesus followed the plan of salvation laid out by God and the prophecies of scriptures in the first 39 books of the Bible. Jesus came and His Bible were the Hebrew scriptures, the first three fourths of the Bible and this is why Mark quotes it in the very beginning. It was all promised. And He says, "I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way." So John the Baptist comes and John the Baptist is this voice and he's in the wilderness. And the word for wilderness or desert is érimos, is used three times in our texts today. And at the outset, all the action is in the wilderness. You say, why is that important? Because Adam was placed on the garden. The garden of Eden and everything was in bliss and everything was perfect. They walked in the presence of God, but he traded that garden for a wilderness by disobeying God. So the second Adam enters the wilderness to turn it back into a garden. Jesus is also the faithful son of God who unlike Israel, obeyed God completely. Israel disobeyed God. They were faithless and they walked in the wilderness for 40 years. But even there in the wilderness, God met them and He gave them the law and he cared for them and He provided for them. So in a sense, Jesus here is presented as the new Joshua, as the one who's going to lead the new exodus out of the wilderness to bring us into the presence of God. And what's the voice of one crying in the wilderness? What's he proclaiming? He's saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Prepare. God is here, the Lord is here. Prepare the way of the Lord." So Jesus is called Lord right from the outset. Who is John? John comes as an Old Testament prophet in the spirit of Elijah. He was a cousin of Jesus so he knew Jesus, he knew his life. In many ways he was a wild man, but the Lord used that. And what was his message? His message is the king is here, the king is coming. Prepare. Prepare. And what's the assumption? Is that we're not ready, that we need to do something to become ready. The king is coming and we need to present ourselves as best we can for the king. And John's not calling for just a coat of paint. No, we've got structural issues. We need an overhaul, a full gut down to the studs. I remember I took a trip to Sochi, Russia in 2013. It was before the Olympics and I wanted to see what they're doing in preparation for the Olympics and I was doing some missions work. And then we're driving up into the mountains of Sochi and I just noticed that everything's beautiful, everything's tremendous. And then I realized I don't see any houses. There are no houses. All I see is a beautiful fence on both sides. And they realized that if we're going to bring people to the Olympics, we have to make everything presentable, but we don't have time to make the houses presentable or the villages presentable so we're just going to cover it all up with a beautiful veneer. Well, John's not calling us to do that. John is saying, "No, no, no. It's not a veneer, not a facade change, not just your behavior must change. No, no, no. We need a regeneration of the heart." And how does that happen? What does he say? He says, "Repent and be baptized." Mark 1:4. "John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." So John here, he comes baptizing, and this is the Greek word vaftízo, which means to dip, plunge, immerse, and can be used of dipping a cup in water, et cetera. So John is called the baptizing one. A lot of people think he's baptist, because John the Baptist, there were no Baptist denominations at that time. And by the way, if we're going to call him any denominations, he's definitely not Baptist. He'd get ex-communicated from most Baptist churches. No, he's probably more Pentecostal than anything, but he comes baptizing and you're like, why is he baptizing? What is baptism? Well, baptism at that time was something that the priest did. They washed themselves in ablutions before taking part in sacrifices. And then the latter practice was when Gentiles wanted to become part of the people of God, what was the practice? How did they purge themselves of uncleanness of their pagan life, so to speak? Well, they were immersed in a ritual bath and that became a requirement for their conversion. So what John here is doing is he's going to Jewish people and he's saying, "You have not lived as the children of God. You have not lived as the people of God. You have not lived a life of love and obedience to God and people in submission of God's holy law. You are not saved through genealogy." And so he's calling them to faith in their own God, faith in their own scriptures and says, if he's saying you have lived as Gentiles, you have lived as pagans now through baptism, you are becoming the children of God and it's all started with the heart first. There's a passage in Zechariah that's used extensively in the New Testament that shares several motifs from our text, water imagery and repentance and confession, forgiveness of sins and even reference to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And what this passage emphasizes is even repentance, even asking God for forgiveness, even asking God for mercy and grace, that's a gift in and of itself that it starts with the spirit of God working in our lives. So Zechariah 12:10, "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn each family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by himself and their wives by themselves, and the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves and all the families that are left each by itself and their wives by themselves. On that day, there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness." So John's baptism departed slightly from the baptism practice in the day. In the practice of the day, the Gentile convert would baptize themselves. They would go down to the water themselves. But here there's a second party, John is doing the baptizing, which is a symbol that we cannot save ourselves. We need someone from the outside and that's only Jesus Christ. And also John's baptism was only anticipatory of cleansing from sinfulness. It wasn't until the blood of Jesus Christ that we can truly be ransom from our sins. He comes proclaiming and the message is a message of repentance. What is the word repentance? It's literally a change of mind, a turning a direction of life, a returning. Like in the Old Testament, the prophets would come and they would say, repent. Repent. What they're saying is people of God, people of God turn back to God. Turn back to the word of God, implies a total change in spiritual orientation. And when repentance comes, we are forgiven of sins. It literally means ascending away or release, the release from guilt before God. Verse five, "And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem, were going out to him and we're being baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins." And the phrase here for we're going out to him, it's a word that's applied in the Old Testament to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt under Moses. And what Mark is doing is deliberately invoking Exodus Moses typology. Why? To show us that the new Moses has come, the new Joshua has come, the new exodus is here. In verse six, "Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey." I've always thought that he just did that because he's kind of a nut and this is the way that you attract a lot of attention to start a movement, but actually it's a picture of the primal back to earth reminiscent of the garden of Eden. Remember in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve they sinned and God promised that the day that you sin you will die. That day began their spiritual death, but God pardons them and there's a blood sacrifice. He takes two animals and there's bloodshed and he creates clothing out of skins of the animals. This picture here is as if John is standing outside of the Garden of Eden. It's as if he's standing in that presence of the angel with a flaming sword that blocked the entrance and he's saying this is the way that we get back into the Garden of Eden. This is the way we get back into the promised land, into the presence of God himself. Here the description presents John as an Elijah figure, Elijah in 1 Kings 18, if you remember this is the great battle between Yahweh and Baal. And in the same way Elijah was preaching the same message, 1 Kings 18:21, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'how long will you go limping between two different opinions?' If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." John's clothing is similar to that of Elijah. Elijah preached a message of repentance and so does John. Elijah was associated with the wilderness, so is John and with the Jordan. And then also Elijah, when he was taken up to heaven before going he gave a double portion of his spirit to his disciple Elisha, doubling his power. So Jesus here similarly is presented as one greater than John, greater than even this great prophet of God and one that supersedes John. In verse seven, "And he preached saying after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie". He's mightier than I am, mightier in every sense. He's stronger than I am, and also he's more honorable. He's saying, "I'm not even worthy of taking the leather strap that holds his sandal on his foot and unstrapping it." And in rabbinic sources, the untying of the master shoe is the task of the slave, not of the disciple. One rabbi even wrote a pupil does for his teacher all the tasks that a slave does for his master except untying his shoes. So for the rabbis, this is the lowest of the low. The disciples would not do this And John the Baptist, he's saying Jesus is so much more worthy than I am, so much greater in every sense than I am I'm not even worthy of doing the slave like service. And we got to stop here for a minute and we got to meditate on the implications of the meeting behind Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. If John isn't even worthy of doing this, for that's how great Jesus is. Jesus, why would you wash the disciples' feet? You're the king of the universe, why are you stooping down? Why did you take a basin of water? Why are you doing that? And John 13:12-17, "When he had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, 'Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet for I have given you an example and you also should do just as I've done to you. Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.' If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." What kind of king is this? This is the king that came to build a kingdom of hearts. This is a king that came to save us from our sins, to wash us from our uncleanness and stark in contrast to any other king. In Mark 1:8, "I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." So Jesus is the anointed one, anointed with the Holy Spirit. That's what makes Him of the Messiah and the spirit endowed Messiah is the spirit endowing Messiah. And in the New Testament there's a linkage of spirit and water. 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews and Greeks, slaves and free and all were made to drink of one spirit." Titus 3:4-7, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Ezekiel 36, "This was promised, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart. And a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." This is the promise of God that when we come to Him, when we repent of our sins and we beg Him for grace and mercy that He sends us the Holy Spirit. And I wonder, do you have the Holy Spirit? Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Is the power of God, the indwelling power of God within you? And if you're not sure, look to the cross of Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness of sins and say, Lord God, send me the spirit. Make me a person that is filled with the spirit of God to do the work that the Lord has for us. Second is the king is anointed and we see the baptism of Jesus in verse nine. "In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan and when He came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on Him like a dove and a voice came from heaven. 'You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased.'" Here we see again the word immediately, it's Mark's favorite word. The word is used 51 times in the New Testament, and Mark uses it 41 times and what he's showing is that the spirit is at work and he can't be stopped. It says that the sky, the heavens were being torn open, being ripped apart. It's harsh words and not the one for opening of heavens in a visionary context, but it's literally the heavens tore open and all of a sudden we see the presence of God descending on Christ. Isaiah 64 cries out for this day, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil. To make your name known to your adversaries and that the nations might tremble in your presence." Mark uses this verb to tear apart twice in his gospel. Here he uses it and then he uses it that one time where Jesus is on the cross and He says it's finished, He's completed the work of redemption and then says that the veil in the temple was torn, ripped apart from top to bottom. What Mark is giving us is a glimpse into the very heart of reality, the meaning of life, the essence of the universe. According to scripture, it's the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit they are at the center of everything. And it's more as though invisible curtain right in front of us is pulled back and God reveals His person and His will. Christian life is like this, learning to differentiate between physical reality, which is not all there is and spiritual reality. And by God's grace we can walk by faith and not by sight. And we see the spirit descending upon Christ like a dove. It says why the dove? Well, the dove is an appropriate symbol for the spirit as it can cross the barrier between heaven and earth. And also, it's an echo of Genesis 1 where the spirit soars bird like fluttering over the waters. The trinity created the world. It was God and God's spirit and God's word, and here the Trinity is restoring the world. We see the Father speak, He is the voice, the son who is the word, and the spirit fluttering like a dove. And what does God say? God speaks and He says, "You are my beloved son." It's a near exact quotation of Psalm 2, which is a messianic psalm. Psalm 2:7 says, "I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you." Psalm 2 was interpreted messianically in Judaism and in the Psalm the kingship of the anointed one is congruent with that of God. He says, you are my son. And then he includes the word beloved. And where have we heard this before? This is Genesis 22 where God says to Abraham, "The son, your beloved son whom you've been waiting for, I want you to bring him as a sacrifice to me." That's when God tested Abraham and obviously God stopped the sacrifice of Abraham, but that was typology. That was an example of what God the Father would not stop from doing. God the Father would bring down the sword of God's wrath upon his own son in order to redeem us. You're the beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. This is the good pleasure of God revealed, and the first time that was revealed was His delight in creation where He said is very good. So His life giving conviction that is very good that my son is baptized in the Holy Spirit and He's prepared to do battle against the evil one. At the center of the Godhead is a father delighting in His beloved son. And fathers, we are called to be godly and we are called to delight in our children. And children we're called to be godly and to be a delight to our fathers and mothers. And the whole Christian gospel can be summed up like this, when the living God looks at us at every believing and baptized Christian, He says to us what He says to Jesus here. The gospel promises us an imputation of the righteousness of God. The very second that you repent of your sins, your sin was transferred to Christ on the cross and His righteousness is transferred to you. So in a sense, the moment you're justified, God looks at you and says, no matter how you lived, no matter how many commandments you've broken, it says, you are my dear, dear child, I'm delighted with you. And then it begins the process of sanctification where we grow to become a greater delight to our father so that one day we can hear from God the Father. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your father." The king is here, the king is anointed, the king is God's son. And what does the king do? Immediately after His anointing, He challenges the opposing king, which is Satan, and this point three, the king declares war. Verse 12, "The spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness and He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and He was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to Him. The spirits that drove Him out, ekballei it's the same word that Mark uses to speak of exorcism. It's like a forceful ejection. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit is like a dove gently descending on Christ, but then the Holy Spirit sends Jesus immediately into battle against the enemy. It's the same spirit. And the king here goes on the offensive. Satan means adversary and he's the prince of the fallen angels, the supreme enemy both of God and man. When God created Adam and Eve, He told Adam, "Work and guard the garden, take dominion." And he didn't take dominion of Satan. They obeyed the lies of the evil one and Satan, usurped power, he took dominion of this world. And Jesus here immediately goes to fight the king of this world. And Matthew 4 gives us an explanation of what happened. Jesus in the fasted state for 40 days and Satan comes to Him and tempts Him, Jesus fought Satan with the word of God over and over and over. But what was the temptation? The temptation was Jesus, do not obey the will of the Father perfectly. Jesus join my team. Jesus, you can rule with me. The only thing you have to do is fall down and worship me. And Jesus Christ at that point He understood what Satan is saying. Satan is saying, do not go to the cross. Jesus, you're going to die for these people. Don't die for these. You can rule over them the way I do without dying for them. And he promised Jesus the crown without the cross. And Jesus Christ, the first time he came, He knows that his greatest battle which began here, but his greatest battle will be fought on the cross where Satan through everything he had at the Son of God, but the Son of God conquered Satan's sin and death. 40 days like Elijah, who was also sustained by an angel's provision of food. And it says here He was with the wild animals. And that's generally a sense of close friendly association that the animals were kind to Him, they were nice to Him. And this shows us that Jesus when he came, he came to restore the distortion of the original harmony in the world. And the eschaton, the enmity will be reversed between humanity and the wild animals as promised in Hosea. But Jesus here is presented as the new Adam, that He is the son of man which is a messianic title, but also in a sense Jesus was the son of Adam. Adam was not a son of man, Adam was the son of God and that's made clear in Luke chapter 3 in the genealogy. But Jesus uses this phrase as a messianic title, son of man over and over in Mark 8:31. "He began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days, rise again." Adam was tested by God's adversary, the snake, which is Satan personified and he lost. Adam lived at peace with the wild animals before the fall and he lost that shalom. Adam was raised by God to a preeminent position to be a son of God, but he lost that as well. That's why Jesus when He uses this title that He is the son of man and why that is so significant because in Daniel chapter 7, this was prophesied. "I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the ancient of days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people as nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." He's the son of man, but He has an everlasting kingdom to show us that he's not just the son of man, He's also the son of God. And this is the only way that this could happen, the only way that we could have redemption is we need to be represented by someone, someone who is like us, someone who is human, but someone who can also bridge the chasm between us and a holy God. So he would have to be a son of God and he would have to be a son of man, and all that came to culmination on the cross where the son of man takes our penalty for sin upon Himself. And the reason why He came back from the dead was because He's truly the son of God. And here at the end says the angels were ministering to Him. It's from the Greek word to serve, to serve on a concrete level as a waiter serves food and drinks. So most likely after his fast of 40 days, angels came and brought him a feast. Fourth is the kingdom has come. Verse 14, "Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." John was arrested by Herod's agents for calling out the sin of Herod to calling him to repentance. So Jesus continues the ministry and He says the time is fulfilled. What He's saying and this is the Greek word kairos, "The old evil age of Satan's dominion is over." It's now fulfilled. The new age of God's rule is about to begin and God's rule enters our lives when? The first moment that we repent of our sin and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ, that the law was fulfilled by Christ and he bore the burden for our law-breaking to extend to us the blessing of His law-abiding. This king came to rule, but first initially He came to rule in our hearts. And this is why He doesn't come here with a crown, but He does go to a cross. And on that cross He allows himself to be wounded, allows himself to be fatally wounded. Why? Because that's what it took to heal us. It took the blood of the Son of God and the son of man. He was tempted by Satan to know our temptations, to give us power to overcome our temptations. He experienced suffering to know our suffering and to give us strength to overcome our suffering. He was rejected, mocked, beaten and crucified. He fully understands our pain, and He is able to help. 1 Peter 2:21-25, "For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, He did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds, you have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd, an overseer of your souls." Back to Dostoevski, and the idea that if you truly understand the mercy and the grace that God has given you, we are not to use that grace in vain, but we are to follow King Jesus. Dostoevski later in life he wrote this, "When I turn back to look at the past, I think of how much time has been wasted. How much of it lost in misdirected efforts, mistakes and idleness and living the wrong way. And however I treasured life, how much I sinned against my heart and spirit. My heart bleeds now as I think of it. Life is a gift. Life is happiness. Each minute could be an eternity of bliss." And then in his work of fiction, The Idiot, the main character's named Myshkin, and Myshkin talks about an acquaintance who was sentenced to be executed and then pardoned. And one of his friends asked him and he said, how's he doing now? Whatever happened to that friend who told you all his horrors? His punishment was changed, which means he was granted that infinite life. Well, what did he do with so much wealth afterwards? Did he live reckoning up every moment? And Myshkin's response was, "He didn't live that way at all and lost many, many minutes." I pray that the grace of God in your life is not in vain. Let us stop trusting in our own agendas. Let us stop building our own kingdoms. Let us turn from living as if we are our own king. Let's believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and live for God. Jesus is king, accept His pardon, enter His kingdom, do His will and worship the king. This is how we enter the kingdom, repent and believe in the gospel. It's good news because it's for everybody. Anyone who turns from sin is welcome in and it's good news because you're welcome to live under the kingship of the greatest king ever. And why did Jesus do this? Why did He do all of this? Why did He become God incarnate? Why did He live amongst us? Why did He obey the will of God perfectly in fulfilling the law? Why did He go to the cross? Why? Because He loves us. And when you understand what his love cost us, that gives us power to follow the king. Let us pray. Holy God, we thank you for your holy word, for your holy scriptures, and we thank you Holy Spirit that you're with us. I pray Holy God give us your power to follow you on a daily basis. Give us your power to be agents of kingdom change. Give us your power to seek first above everything else, the kingdom of God. Jesus, we thank you that you came and you went to a cross. And we thank you that now you're seated at the right hand of God and you are wearing a crown. And I pray, let us never forget that vision that Christ is king and let us be a people who would joyfully follow. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

Audio Transcript:This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston,or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your holy word, and we thank you for sending us your holy Son. We thank you that your son came as a savior to save us from our sins, but you also came as Lord. And Jesus, we thank you that you went to the cross and you paid the penalty for our law-breaking, our transgressions of the law. And Jesus, you bled. The holy Son of God, you bled on that cross in order to cleanse us, in order to save us, and then also to give us grace. And you came back from the dead as the conquering king and you gave us marching orders to go and make disciples of all nations and to take dominion of this world, to take it back from the usurper, back from Satan, back from the enemy. And I pray, Lord, that you empower us by the Holy Spirit. Baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Send each one of us a special anointing to proclaim your word everywhere we go. To know your word, study your word, meditate upon your word, and to testify to the greatness of our God. Lord Jesus, show us what it means that you are our king. And that when you tell us to follow you, that is a command. Those are marching orders. And wherever in our lives we are not following you, I pray, give us grace. Transform our wills, transform our minds, transform our hearts. Lord Jesus, we pray that you bless the sermon series. We pray that you anoint it and I pray that your holy church will be built up. And I pray those who are far from you will be redeemed and regenerated and transformed from being rebels to being your children. And I pray, Lord, in this season that you send us the gift of evangelism, a passion for evangelists to proclaim the gospel of the king. The king is here. We deserve His wrath, but He came to extend mercy and grace and call us to follow him. I pray that you bless our time in the holy scriptures. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're beginning a sermon series through the Gospel of Mark that we are calling Kingdom Come, the Gospel of Mark and the secret of God's kingdom. And Jesus Christ, when He came, His very first words were the kingdom of God is at hand. So He's established the kingdom, the king is here, and then the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us 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. And that prayer is not just a prayer, that's our purpose. Yes, we cry out, Lord, may your kingdom come. But what we're saying is, Lord, give me the power to establish your kingdom. The title of the sermon today is Tremendous News: The King Loves You. And it's tremendous news because we don't deserve that love. It's a shock that He comes as a loving savior. Why? Because we deserve the wrath of God for our law-breaking. And just to give you perspective on this, I take an example from history from Fyodor Dostoevsky. Before he wrote Crime and Punishment, before he wrote The Idiot, before he wrote The Brothers Karamazov, he was actually sentenced to death by a firing squad by Tsar Nicholas I. For what? Listening to stories, criticizing the armed forces, owning an illegal printing press in order to create anti-government propaganda, and contributing to plot against the Tsar. So he was part of a group of rebels. There were 21 members in the circle and Dostoevski is 27 at that time. And they were brought into a public square and they were forced to kneel, kiss a cross, and then undergo a symbolic beheading where swords were broken above their heads. They were tied to pillars in the town square, blindfolded and then they started awaiting their execution. But immediately before they were shot, an envoy from the Tsar arrived with the stay of execution saying, don't shoot. And the men were pardoned by the king from execution and forced to serve in hard labor and a labor camp for four years. And you say, how would that change a man knowing he's about to be executed and all of a sudden there is a stay of execution? Dostoevsky, after the averted execution said, "Today I faced death for three quarters of an hour. I was a hair's breadth away from death, and now I am living again." He wrote his brother after the event, "I'm being reborn in another form." In the same way that the brightest dawn follows the darkest night, the best and the greatest, the most tremendous news always comes right after the deepest realization of the most terrible news. Well, what is the terrible news? That you and I, we have broken the law of God, the holy law of the holy God. This is the ultimate act of insurrection. And God created you with eternal soul. He breathed his spirit into you. We have eternal souls created by an eternal God. So what's the punishment for insurrection against the holy God of the universe? It's banishment from God's kingdom. That's what we deserve. Exile. And how long is that exile? Eternal because God is eternal and so are our souls. We deserve execution. We deserve eternal damnation for rebelling against the holy God. So when the king of kings comes, it's surprising that He doesn't come with execution and eviction notices. When the king comes, the king comes with pardon and amnesty and forgiveness and mercy, but also grace. This is what the gospel is all about, that God is offering to us today, mercy. Mercy is you don't get what you deserve, but He also gives us grace. And grace is we get what we don't deserve. God has mercy on rebels and He gives us grace in adopting us as sons and daughters because of the sacrifice of king Jesus on the cross. Jesus came as a Jewish man, but He's not just the king of the Jews or just the king of Israel. He's the king of everyone and the king of everything. And there's only two kinds of people, children of God or rebels. Soldiers of King Jesus or soldiers of king Satan. And if you turn from your sin and you submit to the king, if you believe in His gospel, something incredible happens. The miracle of the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you are regenerated from within. God gives you a brand new heart with brand new desires and your mind is renewed by the power of God. And God now can look at you as He looks at His son Jesus Christ and say, this is my child in whom I'm well pleased. And grace also is a power source. God gives us grace as energy to become kingdom builders. Jesus Christ said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else shall be added onto you." St. Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace of God, but the grace of God was not in vain in me. It wasn't given to me in vain. Instead," he says, "I worked harder than the rest of them. "And he's talking about the other apostles. So God gives us grace to do what? To follow Him, build His kingdom. And it all starts with the tremendous news that He's willing to forgive us if we repent. And this news does change us, it rivets us and it changes your whole perspective on reality. Would you please look at the text with me today? We're in Mark 1:1-15, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is written in Isaiah the prophet. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight." John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached saying, 'After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved son with you, I'm well pleased.' The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, 'The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.'" This is the reading of God's holy and inert, infallible, authoritative word, may it write these truths upon our hearts. Four points to frame up our time. First, the king has come. Second, the king is anointed. Third, the king declares war. And fourth, the kingdom has come. First, the king has come. Mark 1:1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God written by Mark, who was probably an associate of Peter and Peter at that time was serving in Rome when this gospel was written. So this gospel is written to city dwellers and it's written in such a way where busy people can understand the gospel, understand who is Jesus, understand His person and His work. We see that Mark emphasizes action over teaching, it's very vivid. One of his favorite words is the word immediately. And what he's doing, he's writing to busy people. He's trying to get to the point as quickly as possible. And if you're new to the city, what you recognize is after a while here you realize you know who's from Boston because they walk fast and they talk fast. Fast walkers, fast talkers. And that's kind how I preach. I talk really fast, people tell me they can't 2X me on our podcasts or et cetera, but I want to get to the point as quickly as possible. And the point is, Jesus Christ, He's the point of everything. And here we see the freshness of discovery of who Jesus is. That's what Mark is trying to do. Over 150 times, he uses the historic present tense, putting past events in the present tense. Why? To increase the vividness. That what Jesus did, He's continuing to do today in and through the church as empowered by the Holy Spirit. It begins with the word the beginning. That's the very first word, and it's alluding to Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning God created everything and God created man and it was all beautiful. It was all wonderful, but we rebelled against God and Satan usurped dominion from Adam and Jesus Christ has come as a new Adam, as a new creation, as a new beginning for human beings. His name is Jesus in the English. In the Greek, it's Yesus, and Yesus is a transliteration of the Jewish word, Joshua. So Jesus is named after Joshua. In the Hebrew, His name, what it means is savior or literally Yahweh is salvation. So even in the name, what we see is that God is saying what Moses couldn't do, Joshua did. Moses could not take the promised land, could not bring the people of God into the promised land. Joshua did that. What Moses couldn't do, Jesus is going to do. Moses gave the law, but he couldn't transform hearts to obey God willingly. God can force His kingdom upon us and one day He will come with a flaming sword and He will judge. But the first time Jesus Christ comes, He doesn't come with a sword of power or physical sword. He comes with the sword of the spirit, wielding the word of God so people are transformed from the inside out. Moses gave the law, Jesus gives grace, which leads to heartfelt obedience, which empowers us to fulfill the law out of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ, a lot of people think that's His last name. That's not His last name. It wasn't Mary and Joseph Christ. This is a title, a kristos. It's from the Hebrew marcia or an anointed one. He's anointed to do what? He's anointed to be a royal figure. He's anointed to be king. So Jesus Christ actually just means is king. Sometimes they drive by churches and they're named Christ is king. I'm like, that means king is king. It's Jesus is king. That's the point, that He's come in order to establish the kingdom of God. He's the son of God. Son begotten of the Father. The Son of God is God as much as the Father is God, but the Son submits to the father's will. So we see right in the center of the faith, the faith is patriarchal with the Father up top and hierarchal, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. When Jesus took on flesh, He was male. Jesus was a man, a Jewish man who lived under the law. And Jesus is the Son of God and the son of man, that's His messianic title. And the Holy Spirit is not an it. It's not just a force. The Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit is a he. And just for clarity's purposes, God's pronouns are He/Him. And I say that because confusion has come from theological schools. I remember taking classes at BU School of Theology and I realized that's not going to go well because the very first prayer I heard was a prayer to mother God. Well, that is not true. God is father. The gospel, the word gospel means good news or literally an announcement of something good associated with a military victory. It's good news of victory from the battlefield. And the nuance of military victory is extremely important for Mark who presents Jesus' ministry as triumph over Satan, over the demonic forces and over their human agents. In Isaiah, the announcer of good news or the one that brings the good news proclaims the victory of Yahweh Israel's true king over hostile forces. And this is just the beginning. It's the beginning of what Jesus taught and what He began to do and He continues to do today. In Mark 1:2, "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." As it is written, it says. This is typical Jewish formula for citation of scripture. And the Greek, it's a perfect tense, has been written, implies past action with permanent results and suggesting that the ancient scriptures, it's not just a dead letter, but it's a living force in the present. As it has been written through the instrumentality of Isaiah, and then God speaks in the first person, meaning God inspired Isaiah by the spirit and he speaks to us through the word of God. And Mark affirms that what happened in Jesus followed the plan of salvation laid out by God and the prophecies of scriptures in the first 39 books of the Bible. Jesus came and His Bible were the Hebrew scriptures, the first three fourths of the Bible and this is why Mark quotes it in the very beginning. It was all promised. And He says, "I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way." So John the Baptist comes and John the Baptist is this voice and he's in the wilderness. And the word for wilderness or desert is érimos, is used three times in our texts today. And at the outset, all the action is in the wilderness. You say, why is that important? Because Adam was placed on the garden. The garden of Eden and everything was in bliss and everything was perfect. They walked in the presence of God, but he traded that garden for a wilderness by disobeying God. So the second Adam enters the wilderness to turn it back into a garden. Jesus is also the faithful son of God who unlike Israel, obeyed God completely. Israel disobeyed God. They were faithless and they walked in the wilderness for 40 years. But even there in the wilderness, God met them and He gave them the law and he cared for them and He provided for them. So in a sense, Jesus here is presented as the new Joshua, as the one who's going to lead the new exodus out of the wilderness to bring us into the presence of God. And what's the voice of one crying in the wilderness? What's he proclaiming? He's saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Prepare. God is here, the Lord is here. Prepare the way of the Lord." So Jesus is called Lord right from the outset. Who is John? John comes as an Old Testament prophet in the spirit of Elijah. He was a cousin of Jesus so he knew Jesus, he knew his life. In many ways he was a wild man, but the Lord used that. And what was his message? His message is the king is here, the king is coming. Prepare. Prepare. And what's the assumption? Is that we're not ready, that we need to do something to become ready. The king is coming and we need to present ourselves as best we can for the king. And John's not calling for just a coat of paint. No, we've got structural issues. We need an overhaul, a full gut down to the studs. I remember I took a trip to Sochi, Russia in 2013. It was before the Olympics and I wanted to see what they're doing in preparation for the Olympics and I was doing some missions work. And then we're driving up into the mountains of Sochi and I just noticed that everything's beautiful, everything's tremendous. And then I realized I don't see any houses. There are no houses. All I see is a beautiful fence on both sides. And they realized that if we're going to bring people to the Olympics, we have to make everything presentable, but we don't have time to make the houses presentable or the villages presentable so we're just going to cover it all up with a beautiful veneer. Well, John's not calling us to do that. John is saying, "No, no, no. It's not a veneer, not a facade change, not just your behavior must change. No, no, no. We need a regeneration of the heart." And how does that happen? What does he say? He says, "Repent and be baptized." Mark 1:4. "John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." So John here, he comes baptizing, and this is the Greek word vaftízo, which means to dip, plunge, immerse, and can be used of dipping a cup in water, et cetera. So John is called the baptizing one. A lot of people think he's baptist, because John the Baptist, there were no Baptist denominations at that time. And by the way, if we're going to call him any denominations, he's definitely not Baptist. He'd get ex-communicated from most Baptist churches. No, he's probably more Pentecostal than anything, but he comes baptizing and you're like, why is he baptizing? What is baptism? Well, baptism at that time was something that the priest did. They washed themselves in ablutions before taking part in sacrifices. And then the latter practice was when Gentiles wanted to become part of the people of God, what was the practice? How did they purge themselves of uncleanness of their pagan life, so to speak? Well, they were immersed in a ritual bath and that became a requirement for their conversion. So what John here is doing is he's going to Jewish people and he's saying, "You have not lived as the children of God. You have not lived as the people of God. You have not lived a life of love and obedience to God and people in submission of God's holy law. You are not saved through genealogy." And so he's calling them to faith in their own God, faith in their own scriptures and says, if he's saying you have lived as Gentiles, you have lived as pagans now through baptism, you are becoming the children of God and it's all started with the heart first. There's a passage in Zechariah that's used extensively in the New Testament that shares several motifs from our text, water imagery and repentance and confession, forgiveness of sins and even reference to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And what this passage emphasizes is even repentance, even asking God for forgiveness, even asking God for mercy and grace, that's a gift in and of itself that it starts with the spirit of God working in our lives. So Zechariah 12:10, "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn each family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by himself and their wives by themselves, and the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves and all the families that are left each by itself and their wives by themselves. On that day, there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness." So John's baptism departed slightly from the baptism practice in the day. In the practice of the day, the Gentile convert would baptize themselves. They would go down to the water themselves. But here there's a second party, John is doing the baptizing, which is a symbol that we cannot save ourselves. We need someone from the outside and that's only Jesus Christ. And also John's baptism was only anticipatory of cleansing from sinfulness. It wasn't until the blood of Jesus Christ that we can truly be ransom from our sins. He comes proclaiming and the message is a message of repentance. What is the word repentance? It's literally a change of mind, a turning a direction of life, a returning. Like in the Old Testament, the prophets would come and they would say, repent. Repent. What they're saying is people of God, people of God turn back to God. Turn back to the word of God, implies a total change in spiritual orientation. And when repentance comes, we are forgiven of sins. It literally means ascending away or release, the release from guilt before God. Verse five, "And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem, were going out to him and we're being baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins." And the phrase here for we're going out to him, it's a word that's applied in the Old Testament to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt under Moses. And what Mark is doing is deliberately invoking Exodus Moses typology. Why? To show us that the new Moses has come, the new Joshua has come, the new exodus is here. In verse six, "Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey." I've always thought that he just did that because he's kind of a nut and this is the way that you attract a lot of attention to start a movement, but actually it's a picture of the primal back to earth reminiscent of the garden of Eden. Remember in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve they sinned and God promised that the day that you sin you will die. That day began their spiritual death, but God pardons them and there's a blood sacrifice. He takes two animals and there's bloodshed and he creates clothing out of skins of the animals. This picture here is as if John is standing outside of the Garden of Eden. It's as if he's standing in that presence of the angel with a flaming sword that blocked the entrance and he's saying this is the way that we get back into the Garden of Eden. This is the way we get back into the promised land, into the presence of God himself. Here the description presents John as an Elijah figure, Elijah in 1 Kings 18, if you remember this is the great battle between Yahweh and Baal. And in the same way Elijah was preaching the same message, 1 Kings 18:21, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'how long will you go limping between two different opinions?' If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." John's clothing is similar to that of Elijah. Elijah preached a message of repentance and so does John. Elijah was associated with the wilderness, so is John and with the Jordan. And then also Elijah, when he was taken up to heaven before going he gave a double portion of his spirit to his disciple Elisha, doubling his power. So Jesus here similarly is presented as one greater than John, greater than even this great prophet of God and one that supersedes John. In verse seven, "And he preached saying after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie". He's mightier than I am, mightier in every sense. He's stronger than I am, and also he's more honorable. He's saying, "I'm not even worthy of taking the leather strap that holds his sandal on his foot and unstrapping it." And in rabbinic sources, the untying of the master shoe is the task of the slave, not of the disciple. One rabbi even wrote a pupil does for his teacher all the tasks that a slave does for his master except untying his shoes. So for the rabbis, this is the lowest of the low. The disciples would not do this And John the Baptist, he's saying Jesus is so much more worthy than I am, so much greater in every sense than I am I'm not even worthy of doing the slave like service. And we got to stop here for a minute and we got to meditate on the implications of the meeting behind Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. If John isn't even worthy of doing this, for that's how great Jesus is. Jesus, why would you wash the disciples' feet? You're the king of the universe, why are you stooping down? Why did you take a basin of water? Why are you doing that? And John 13:12-17, "When he had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, 'Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet for I have given you an example and you also should do just as I've done to you. Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.' If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." What kind of king is this? This is the king that came to build a kingdom of hearts. This is a king that came to save us from our sins, to wash us from our uncleanness and stark in contrast to any other king. In Mark 1:8, "I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." So Jesus is the anointed one, anointed with the Holy Spirit. That's what makes Him of the Messiah and the spirit endowed Messiah is the spirit endowing Messiah. And in the New Testament there's a linkage of spirit and water. 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews and Greeks, slaves and free and all were made to drink of one spirit." Titus 3:4-7, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Ezekiel 36, "This was promised, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart. And a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." This is the promise of God that when we come to Him, when we repent of our sins and we beg Him for grace and mercy that He sends us the Holy Spirit. And I wonder, do you have the Holy Spirit? Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Is the power of God, the indwelling power of God within you? And if you're not sure, look to the cross of Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness of sins and say, Lord God, send me the spirit. Make me a person that is filled with the spirit of God to do the work that the Lord has for us. Second is the king is anointed and we see the baptism of Jesus in verse nine. "In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan and when He came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on Him like a dove and a voice came from heaven. 'You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased.'" Here we see again the word immediately, it's Mark's favorite word. The word is used 51 times in the New Testament, and Mark uses it 41 times and what he's showing is that the spirit is at work and he can't be stopped. It says that the sky, the heavens were being torn open, being ripped apart. It's harsh words and not the one for opening of heavens in a visionary context, but it's literally the heavens tore open and all of a sudden we see the presence of God descending on Christ. Isaiah 64 cries out for this day, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil. To make your name known to your adversaries and that the nations might tremble in your presence." Mark uses this verb to tear apart twice in his gospel. Here he uses it and then he uses it that one time where Jesus is on the cross and He says it's finished, He's completed the work of redemption and then says that the veil in the temple was torn, ripped apart from top to bottom. What Mark is giving us is a glimpse into the very heart of reality, the meaning of life, the essence of the universe. According to scripture, it's the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit they are at the center of everything. And it's more as though invisible curtain right in front of us is pulled back and God reveals His person and His will. Christian life is like this, learning to differentiate between physical reality, which is not all there is and spiritual reality. And by God's grace we can walk by faith and not by sight. And we see the spirit descending upon Christ like a dove. It says why the dove? Well, the dove is an appropriate symbol for the spirit as it can cross the barrier between heaven and earth. And also, it's an echo of Genesis 1 where the spirit soars bird like fluttering over the waters. The trinity created the world. It was God and God's spirit and God's word, and here the Trinity is restoring the world. We see the Father speak, He is the voice, the son who is the word, and the spirit fluttering like a dove. And what does God say? God speaks and He says, "You are my beloved son." It's a near exact quotation of Psalm 2, which is a messianic psalm. Psalm 2:7 says, "I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you." Psalm 2 was interpreted messianically in Judaism and in the Psalm the kingship of the anointed one is congruent with that of God. He says, you are my son. And then he includes the word beloved. And where have we heard this before? This is Genesis 22 where God says to Abraham, "The son, your beloved son whom you've been waiting for, I want you to bring him as a sacrifice to me." That's when God tested Abraham and obviously God stopped the sacrifice of Abraham, but that was typology. That was an example of what God the Father would not stop from doing. God the Father would bring down the sword of God's wrath upon his own son in order to redeem us. You're the beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. This is the good pleasure of God revealed, and the first time that was revealed was His delight in creation where He said is very good. So His life giving conviction that is very good that my son is baptized in the Holy Spirit and He's prepared to do battle against the evil one. At the center of the Godhead is a father delighting in His beloved son. And fathers, we are called to be godly and we are called to delight in our children. And children we're called to be godly and to be a delight to our fathers and mothers. And the whole Christian gospel can be summed up like this, when the living God looks at us at every believing and baptized Christian, He says to us what He says to Jesus here. The gospel promises us an imputation of the righteousness of God. The very second that you repent of your sins, your sin was transferred to Christ on the cross and His righteousness is transferred to you. So in a sense, the moment you're justified, God looks at you and says, no matter how you lived, no matter how many commandments you've broken, it says, you are my dear, dear child, I'm delighted with you. And then it begins the process of sanctification where we grow to become a greater delight to our father so that one day we can hear from God the Father. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your father." The king is here, the king is anointed, the king is God's son. And what does the king do? Immediately after His anointing, He challenges the opposing king, which is Satan, and this point three, the king declares war. Verse 12, "The spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness and He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and He was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to Him. The spirits that drove Him out, ekballei it's the same word that Mark uses to speak of exorcism. It's like a forceful ejection. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit is like a dove gently descending on Christ, but then the Holy Spirit sends Jesus immediately into battle against the enemy. It's the same spirit. And the king here goes on the offensive. Satan means adversary and he's the prince of the fallen angels, the supreme enemy both of God and man. When God created Adam and Eve, He told Adam, "Work and guard the garden, take dominion." And he didn't take dominion of Satan. They obeyed the lies of the evil one and Satan, usurped power, he took dominion of this world. And Jesus here immediately goes to fight the king of this world. And Matthew 4 gives us an explanation of what happened. Jesus in the fasted state for 40 days and Satan comes to Him and tempts Him, Jesus fought Satan with the word of God over and over and over. But what was the temptation? The temptation was Jesus, do not obey the will of the Father perfectly. Jesus join my team. Jesus, you can rule with me. The only thing you have to do is fall down and worship me. And Jesus Christ at that point He understood what Satan is saying. Satan is saying, do not go to the cross. Jesus, you're going to die for these people. Don't die for these. You can rule over them the way I do without dying for them. And he promised Jesus the crown without the cross. And Jesus Christ, the first time he came, He knows that his greatest battle which began here, but his greatest battle will be fought on the cross where Satan through everything he had at the Son of God, but the Son of God conquered Satan's sin and death. 40 days like Elijah, who was also sustained by an angel's provision of food. And it says here He was with the wild animals. And that's generally a sense of close friendly association that the animals were kind to Him, they were nice to Him. And this shows us that Jesus when he came, he came to restore the distortion of the original harmony in the world. And the eschaton, the enmity will be reversed between humanity and the wild animals as promised in Hosea. But Jesus here is presented as the new Adam, that He is the son of man which is a messianic title, but also in a sense Jesus was the son of Adam. Adam was not a son of man, Adam was the son of God and that's made clear in Luke chapter 3 in the genealogy. But Jesus uses this phrase as a messianic title, son of man over and over in Mark 8:31. "He began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days, rise again." Adam was tested by God's adversary, the snake, which is Satan personified and he lost. Adam lived at peace with the wild animals before the fall and he lost that shalom. Adam was raised by God to a preeminent position to be a son of God, but he lost that as well. That's why Jesus when He uses this title that He is the son of man and why that is so significant because in Daniel chapter 7, this was prophesied. "I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the ancient of days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people as nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." He's the son of man, but He has an everlasting kingdom to show us that he's not just the son of man, He's also the son of God. And this is the only way that this could happen, the only way that we could have redemption is we need to be represented by someone, someone who is like us, someone who is human, but someone who can also bridge the chasm between us and a holy God. So he would have to be a son of God and he would have to be a son of man, and all that came to culmination on the cross where the son of man takes our penalty for sin upon Himself. And the reason why He came back from the dead was because He's truly the son of God. And here at the end says the angels were ministering to Him. It's from the Greek word to serve, to serve on a concrete level as a waiter serves food and drinks. So most likely after his fast of 40 days, angels came and brought him a feast. Fourth is the kingdom has come. Verse 14, "Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." John was arrested by Herod's agents for calling out the sin of Herod to calling him to repentance. So Jesus continues the ministry and He says the time is fulfilled. What He's saying and this is the Greek word kairos, "The old evil age of Satan's dominion is over." It's now fulfilled. The new age of God's rule is about to begin and God's rule enters our lives when? The first moment that we repent of our sin and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ, that the law was fulfilled by Christ and he bore the burden for our law-breaking to extend to us the blessing of His law-abiding. This king came to rule, but first initially He came to rule in our hearts. And this is why He doesn't come here with a crown, but He does go to a cross. And on that cross He allows himself to be wounded, allows himself to be fatally wounded. Why? Because that's what it took to heal us. It took the blood of the Son of God and the son of man. He was tempted by Satan to know our temptations, to give us power to overcome our temptations. He experienced suffering to know our suffering and to give us strength to overcome our suffering. He was rejected, mocked, beaten and crucified. He fully understands our pain, and He is able to help. 1 Peter 2:21-25, "For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, He did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds, you have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd, an overseer of your souls." Back to Dostoevski, and the idea that if you truly understand the mercy and the grace that God has given you, we are not to use that grace in vain, but we are to follow King Jesus. Dostoevski later in life he wrote this, "When I turn back to look at the past, I think of how much time has been wasted. How much of it lost in misdirected efforts, mistakes and idleness and living the wrong way. And however I treasured life, how much I sinned against my heart and spirit. My heart bleeds now as I think of it. Life is a gift. Life is happiness. Each minute could be an eternity of bliss." And then in his work of fiction, The Idiot, the main character's named Myshkin, and Myshkin talks about an acquaintance who was sentenced to be executed and then pardoned. And one of his friends asked him and he said, how's he doing now? Whatever happened to that friend who told you all his horrors? His punishment was changed, which means he was granted that infinite life. Well, what did he do with so much wealth afterwards? Did he live reckoning up every moment? And Myshkin's response was, "He didn't live that way at all and lost many, many minutes." I pray that the grace of God in your life is not in vain. Let us stop trusting in our own agendas. Let us stop building our own kingdoms. Let us turn from living as if we are our own king. Let's believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and live for God. Jesus is king, accept His pardon, enter His kingdom, do His will and worship the king. This is how we enter the kingdom, repent and believe in the gospel. It's good news because it's for everybody. Anyone who turns from sin is welcome in and it's good news because you're welcome to live under the kingship of the greatest king ever. And why did Jesus do this? Why did He do all of this? Why did He become God incarnate? Why did He live amongst us? Why did He obey the will of God perfectly in fulfilling the law? Why did He go to the cross? Why? Because He loves us. And when you understand what his love cost us, that gives us power to follow the king. Let us pray. Holy God, we thank you for your holy word, for your holy scriptures, and we thank you Holy Spirit that you're with us. I pray Holy God give us your power to follow you on a daily basis. Give us your power to be agents of kingdom change. Give us your power to seek first above everything else, the kingdom of God. Jesus, we thank you that you came and you went to a cross. And we thank you that now you're seated at the right hand of God and you are wearing a crown. And I pray, let us never forget that vision that Christ is king and let us be a people who would joyfully follow. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

Many who claim to believe in the Bible also say it cannot be trusted when it comes to science. That, they say, should be left to the "experts" (aka secular scientists). But is that fair to God? If God is perfect and His Bible inerrant, wouldn't we expect Him to also be accurate when speaking about scientific facts? And is it possible that the Bible has more to say about science than we originally thought?

A Place to Regularly Refocus Under the Sun What do I want church to be about for me? What does GOD want church to be about for me? Solomon has already taught that despite so much of life on earth not making sense because of sin in the world, God above is unfolding a beautiful eternal plan for those who seek Him and serve Him. Read Ecc. 5:1-7 A place to regularly refocus under the sun Let's Pray! Do you remember my theory about Proverbs & Ecclesiastes? I believe Solomon wrote both to be evangelistic tracts/ booklets/ scrolls to lead people to the Lord. Think through what is supposed to happen when you go to God's house V. 1-3 When we come to God's house, we should guard our steps, think about whose house we are going to, and come in a prayerful posture, humbly expecting God to speak to us with truth to live by. Here Solomon says that words some people speak when they go to God's house are just plain evil – don't let evil words come out of your mouth at church. What does it mean that we are different than the animals, created in God's image? A scholar named John Kilmer speaks of 4 dimensions to the image of God seen in humans – Reason; Rule; Relationship; Righteousness. Think through what's supposed to happen when you leave God's house V. 4-7 A vow is a promise you make to God in response to His Bible-based working in your life. Sad but true word from a speaker at camp – our churches are filled with people who promised God they would do something and went back home and never acted on what they had promised God. This section concludes with the reminder that our approach to God must be a realistic response to what He has shown us to be His will – not a wordy presentation of what we dream for ourselves. -Expositors Bible Commentary Draw near to discover how you can be the best you you can be; depart to help others become the best version of themselves God created them to be. FEAR = Forsake Evil & Align Reverently.

Bishop Robert E. Smith Jr. from Arkansas returned to The Two Mikes today and spoke eloquently about the dire crisis that Americans will be continuing to face as long as they don't turn back to God. Bishop Smith argued that the work of his ministry is to find and reinvigorate the most important group of leaders in our society, namely, the clergy. In a sense the church has been scattered by the season of Covid murder and checked by the anti-Christian policy and authoritarianism of the Biden administration. The clergy, in essence, is missing in action at this key point. The clergy must be helped to find their courage to again to teach the power and love of God and the words of the Bible, which is the armor that will permit Americans to fully understand the dire threat posed by their earthly and eternal lives by two things; (a) their self-imposed distance from God and His Bible, and (b) and their lack of courage to condemn and resist the anti-Christianity and anti-human nature of those who rule the country and much of the world. The start of a recovery is discovery, Bishop Smith said, and the only place that process starts is located in the Bible, in which death and life are inherent in the words of God. Americans are a ready audience for pursuing discovery, and they can get recovery by returning to God and His book, and they can find understanding and courage from the words and leadership of restored clergymen who have become the leaders of resistance to the anti-Christian authoritarian government. Bishop Smith added that at this juncture in our history, American morticians are extremely important because almost all persons of that trade in America can provide irrefutable evidence to all of us showing that our government, its bureaucracy, big pharma, and so many doctors and health officials were deliberately trying to kill millions of us. The road to safety and survival for Americans lies in God; His words and book; His courageous clergy; prayer, fellowship, and works of faith; and the frank and compelling truth-telling of morticians. Sponsors CARES Act Stimulus (COVID-19) Employee Retention Tax Credits (ERC): https://www.jornscpa.com/snap/?refid=11454757 Cambridge Credit: https://www.cambridge-credit.org/twomikes/ EMP Shield: https://www.empshield.com/?coupon=twomikes Our Gold Guy: https://www.ourgoldguy.com www.TwoMikes.us

In this continuing study I take a look at the Rapture Doctrine. Is this a Pre-Trib, as taught in most mainstream Churches are do Christians go through the Tribulation Period? I compare Thessalonians to Matthew 24 along with Revelation. I venture into Paul's writings to explore what he has to say, along with what Yahweh says in Ezekiel. I also ask the listeners to grab a pencil and paper as we create charts for comparison as we get deeper into this study. In this Part 42 I continue our study in this Matthew 24 however before I go to verse 29 we need to cover the Wrath of Satan. We will be studying 10 passages of scripture. We will see 5 common elements start popping up. We will see that there will be a war in heaven involving Michael, the archangel. We will see the Antichrist blaspheme Yahweh of Heaven and commit the Abomination of Desolation sparking a 3 ½ year period of time during which saints are killed.What is exactly is the Abomination of Desolation?There is a lot of speculation about the events know as the Abomination of Desolation. We will be looking at the scriptures that define it for us! Obviously Yahweh wants us to know what it is, because there are certainly enough scriptures in His Bible that speak of it and of the events surrounding it.Yahshua Messiah gave us a major clue concerning the Abomination of Desolation in Matthew 24:15.Not only do we know when it happens, but we also know what it is. It is when the Antichrist, also known as the man of sin and the son of perdition, sits in the Temple of Yahweh and claims to be Yahweh.2 Witnesses Revelation 11:3-1329      immediately = yoo-theh'-oce; directly, that is, at once or soon   Now we come to the Wrath of Yahweh!!!Immediately after the tribulation of those days. = We can conclude that the detail writing of Paul in 2 Thess has now come to pass. 1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Yahshua Messiah, and by our gathering together unto him, 2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Messiah is at hand. 3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called Yahweh, or that is worshipped; so that he as Yahweh sitteth in the temple of Yahweh, shewing himself that he is Yahweh. 5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause Yahweh shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!Have any questions? Feel free to email me at keitner@netzero.net

We welcome our campus ministry from RUF, Chris Blackman as he shares His Bible experiences and what it's like being involved in Christ Jesus through the LORD

What do you do when God calls you from one story into another? For author and speaker Christy Wright, that meant walking into the workplace she'd poured herself into for 12 years and resigning to begin a new chapter. A chapter that, to Christy, looked like a terrifying blank page. But as she put one timid foot in front of the other, Christy began to see the path God was laying for her all along—one she never could've dreamed of on her own.   Quotes “I felt God telling me that He was asking me to trust Him, that He was calling me into the unknown, similar to Abraham. And so He just kept taking me back to Scripture and showing me He's done this before.” - Christy Wright  “We tend to think as Christians is that if you're scared, you don't trust God. But one of the things that I have learned is you can be trusting God with your actions and still feel fear in your emotions.” - Christy Wright “We're all adult children. We're all walking around looking for something. And so much of how we can find intimacy with the Lord is through this story of His Bible.” - Christy Wright “He is with us in the valleys, in the tunnels, when we're walking away from everything we've ever known, when we're overwhelmed with our kids, when we're just having to make a hard decision, He's with us. And while the decision is probably still hard and you might still feel that fear when you're doing that scary thing, the knowledge that God is with you can give you an inner peace and comfort that will follow it through anyway.” - Christy Wright   Guest's LinksChristy's Website Christy's Instagram Christy's Facebook Christy's Twitter Connect with Sally Lloyd-JonesJesus Storybook Bible Facebook Jesus Storybook Bible Instagram  Sally's website Sally's Facebook Sally's Instagram *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

When Gwen and I were deciding what to name this week's episode, Gwen's title was 'Taking a Pause Before the Claus comes to Town: Last minute tips to survive the holiday.' I chuckled at the title's length and changed it to 'Last Minute Christmas Tips.' It turned out, however, Gwen was right, maybe not about the length of the title, but about needing to put the word ‘pause' into the title. This turns out to be key for more than one reason. First of all, we do need to pause before heading out to family gatherings this holiday season. We talk and plan and figure out what we can and can't do. We make backup plans and even escape plans to implement if things get too overwhelming, but an equally important piece that can be easy to overlook is to take a minute to pause. Before rushing out of the house, take some time for yourself. Take some deep breaths. Just be present in the moment. Take a break from the busyness. Pause. That brings me to the second reason that putting the word ‘pause' in the title this week is perfect. When I hear Gwen talk about taking a minute to pause, the words that jump into my mind are ‘be still.' Whenever Andy was feeling anxious about anything in life big or small, I would remind him to breathe and ‘be still.' His Bible verse that he truly clung to was Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God. Reciting those words during anxious moments would put his mind in a better place. This week at the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys annual Lessons and Carols concert, a song written by guest conductor, Richard Webster, in memory of Andy, debuted. The title was ‘Be Still and Know that I am God.' It was the most painful and beautiful and meaningful song I have ever heard in my life. A gorgeous piece of music was written to honor my boy that reminds choirs all over the world to take a minute to pause and to be still. So today, in the midst of the holiday bustle, I say to all of you the words that I said to Andy so many times, “Be Still.” *Listen to the end to hear the song. Go to andysmom.com/171 to see a video of the song. Go to the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys Webpage to hear the full concert (grcmb.org)

In this episode, I read from the book of Romans, revealing hard hitting truth from God's Word, Absolute Truth that our "cancel culture" obsessed society desperately needs to hear. If you would like to know more about Jesus OR if you have any other questions about what I have shared, please get in touch with me. If you have been blessed by this episode, please share it with others who might find it helpful. I am only a messenger; cancelling me will not change what the LORD God has already revealed in His Bible. God bless you. Sri Scripture References: Matthew 10:21-33; Romans 1:16-32; 2:1-11

Pastor David talks about a hot-button topic that is not being addressed enough from the pulpits in America. What does the Bible say about homosexuality? There are a lot of opinions on this topic, many in the progressive "Christianity" camp, the federal government, public schools, and more. What God has to say on this matter is all that matters. Pastor David will walk you through what God says through His Bible. To make a donation: https://davidcmcguire.org/donate My official website: https://davidcmcguire.org/ I posted my sermon notes on my website. They're on the homepage at the bottom. You can also download them here as a PDF: http://bit.ly/3EWC9MB These notes are for you to use as talking points on what the Bible says about homosexuality. You can watch the full sermon here: http://bit.ly/3XfByfU Come hang out on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidCMcGuire --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/restoring-your-voice/message

How many of us like 'Waiting"? Archdeacon Dane Courtney from Holy Trinity Anglican Church explains to us the value of waiting. His Bible reading is from Psalms 25:1-10. Holy Trinity Anglican Church can be found at 34 Cameron Street in Launceston & you can contact them on 6331 4460, email them at office@htl.org.au or check out their website: htl.org.au Sunday services are at 8:30am, 10:30am & on the first Sunday of each month 5:30pm. Weekday services are Wednesday: 10:30am & Thursday 12:15pm.

We have a brand-new Feast talk series titled Blessing and Curse which will run for nine weeks. The series centers on Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Why study Genesis? Whenever Jesus was asked hard questions by the Pharisees or by His disciples, He liked turning back to Page 1 of His Bible. Because Genesis shaped His thinking. And because we want to follow Jesus, we want to read the Bible the way Jesus read His Bible. He read Genesis in a very special way—and that's how we want to read it too. This is one of our lofty goals at The Feast. Talk 1 is titled God Made You Good— based on Genesis 1-3, about God making everything good — including humans.

TRUTH NUGGET #17 Jesus is the Lamb of God and the original Bible never says He is the Passover Lamb. This is clear in the ancient Greek manuscripts like Codex Sinaiticus dated to 330 A.D. We said He is the Passover Lamb. It is easy to see why but the Bible like the NASB or the KJV, the best translations from the ancient Greek and the Hebrew, state Jesus is the Passover and NOT the Passover Lamb in 1 Cor. 5:7. But, if we see Jesus as distinct from the Passover Lamb, if we see Jesus as the Lamb of God, these lambs on Passover create an amazing picture of God's redemption of His people, Israel, through Moses the first redeemer, and God's ultimate redemption of Jew and Gentile, the whole world, through Messiah Jesus the Ultimate Redeemer. Once again God has created an amazing literary structure in His Bible that creates a mirror to help us see His awesome truth. Let us now study the Mirror of Passover and see the centrality of the Cross from Genesis to Revelation. Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0  

Welcome to a brand new and exciting series, Jonah. For many, the Book of Jonah is nothing else but a simple children's story. Admit it. When we hear the word “Jonah”, the first thing we think of is “Whale”. (Note: The Bible does not say whale. It was a mistake of the translator of the King James Version.) Here's the truth. The Book of Jonah is one of the most sophisticated, complex, intricate writings in all of the Scriptures, jam-packed in one-and-a-half pages, crafted by a brilliant Jewish author some 2400 years ago. Sadly, people don't see the profundity of Jonah. By learning how to read Jonah, you'll learn how to read the Bible the way Jesus read His Bible. The key message: God is more loving than you think He is.

The Book of JOB (Episode #80) The Book of JOB marks a transition in our Journey through the Bible from 'historical' to ‘philosophical'. That is, we have now entered what are often call the Books of WISDOM. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon— the five Books of Wisdom— that deal with problems and issues that have been common to all mankind throughout human history. Issues such as SUFFERING (Job); EMOTIONS (Psalms); WISE BEHAVIOR (Proverbs); PURPOSE (Ecclesiastes); and ROMANCE (Song of Solomon). God places these books in His Bible to give us insight into ‘ourselves'. He uses the examples and personal exploits of ‘real life' people to help humanity ‘find it's way in this conflicted, broken and unfair world. This Episode-- and the life of JOB-- helps us understand the realness of Suffering across every culture and time span. None of us are exempt... and it often seems 'unfair'... but holding to FAITH and INTEGRITY will carry us through our SUFFERING to a deeper relationship with God and each other. The Book of Job Study Notes - if the link doesn't work in your podcast player, you can download the study notes from the Blog at the bottom of the home page at Whittington.org

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. This is a promise that God has given to all of us. Do you feel you do not measure up to what God says in His Bible? Do you feel like your heart is not clean before God? Expanded Verses: Psalm 26:2; Luke 9:62; Mark 7:21; Jeremiah 16:12; Jeremiah 17:9

Diversity is both a gift and enemy to unity. In it, we find a tug-of-war competition between quantity of disciples and quality of discipleship. In today's "pre-game speech" from Ephesians 4, Pastor James unpacks the purpose of diversity, discipleship, and maturity. No quantity of people can be a substitute for quality of disciples. Subscribe to our devotional: http://jamesmacdonaldministries.org Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

God made us in such a way that we NEED to meet with Him – in His house, every week. As tithing is to financial management so weekly worship is to time management. Subscribe to our devotional: http://jamesmacdonaldministries.org Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

God forgive us for being so easily impressed with so many claiming to be the "greatest of all time." Scripture continually affirms the inconceivable, unsurpassable, all consuming, unparalleled, unalterable greatness of Jesus Christ. In this message from Hebrews 1, renew afresh your sense of the greatness of Jesus Christ. Subscribe to our devotional: http://jamesmacdonaldministries.org Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

Have you bowed? This is not something you want to be foggy about. You can either bow before the King of Kings willingly today or forcefully in eternity. In other words, you have to get the second life during the first life or you’ll get the second death after your first death. A message in Matthew 2 from Dr. James MacDonald’s teaching series “King Forever.“ Subscribe to our devotional: http://bit.ly/OurJourneyDevotional Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

In the lows of difficulty and despair, Christ offers you hope for your hopelessness. In the highs of feeling like you don’t need Jesus, He gives grace for your strong will. He is a Savior who levels the ground between the mountains and valleys in your life, and guides you as you prepare your heart for His triumphant return. Listen and find out how to get ready to give Him a welcome fit for a King. Subscribe to our devotional: http://bit.ly/OurJourneyDevotional Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

God is a God of immense holiness and infinite transcendence. He is not like us, and we don’t have a parallel with which to describe him fully. In this message, Pastor James MacDonald walks us through the four throne room scenes of Scripture found in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation and our response to His Holiness. Subscribe to our devotional: http://jamesmacdonaldministries.org Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

Before the Wise Men could offer their gifts and worship to Jesus, they had to do a few things. You too must prepare yourself to adore Him. Find out how to recognize the King, verify that He is worthy of your loyalty, and present your gifts unashamedly. As you allow Him to fill your heart with abundant joy unrelated to your circumstances, coming to adore Him will never be the same. Subscribe to our devotional: http://bit.ly/OurJourneyDevotional Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

In this episode, we begin a three-part series on why the King James is God's preserved word. Dr. Alan Shelby, Dean of Living Faith Bible Institute, discusses with us the doctrine of inspiration and preservation in order to better understand God's character and purposes as it concerns scripture. In part 1 of our series, we address when inspiration occurred, why scripture goes beyond the original autographs, the problems with textual criticism, why we can trust God oversaw the process of transcription and translation, and much more. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the scriptures, consider enrolling in Manuscript Evidence. Additional resources & information on this topic: Top 5 Reasons People Have Rejected the KJV by Alan Shelby (article) The Preservation of the Scriptures (Certainty Conference 2018) (lecture series) Why the King James Bible by Alan Shelby (lecture series) For Love of the Bible by D. Cloud (book) A More Sure Word by R.B. Ouelette (book) King James, His Bible, and it's Translators by L. Vance (book) The Making of the King James Bible by L. Vance (book) The King James Defended by E. Hills (book)

Culture Is Changing. • What are we supposed to do? Culture is changing and Christians aren’t agreeing. In times like these, it is more important than ever to go to God’s word. "In times of moral decline, strengthen your foundation in the Lord." Subscribe to our devotional: http://jamesmacdonaldministries.org Follow us on social media: IG: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldIG FB: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldFB TW: http://bit.ly/JamesMacDonaldTW Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:12-14) 129 As I preached the other day on A Paradox, when Joshua stopped the sun. Becky back there, said, “Daddy, he couldn't stop the sun,” said, “the world would stop. He stopped the world.” 130 I said, “He stopped the sun.” God don't make any mistakes in His Bible. 131 Said, “How could He stop the sun, the sun don't even run? The sun stands still.” 132 I said, “But that, that missile out there, wasn't what He was talking about. This sun that was traveling and making it light across the earth, that's the sun He stopped.” 133 I don't know what God did, to bring it to pass, but He stopped the sun. The sun was going this way, the sun on the earth, the reflection of the sun. That missile out there, we couldn't see in a million miles of it, or millions of miles. But the reflection of the sun, that was traveling across the earth, from day to night, that's what Joshua commanded to stand still; and it stopped. A paradox is something that's “unbelievable, yet true.” So, that's unbelievable, but yet true. 134 How can God take a sinner, arrogant, high-tempered, fussy man, and make a saint of God out of him? How can He take a woman that's so low, till the dogs won't even turn to her on the street, and make a saint of God out of her? I can't tell you. But He did it! It's a paradox. Sure is! All God's great works are paradox. 61-1231e - "If God Be With Us, Then Where Is All The Miracles?" Rev. William Marrion Branham ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Order your own copy of the Family Altar at http://store.bibleway.org Appreciate what we do? Consider supporting us: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support

Today, Wednesday June 30 “Walking in the Light” 1 John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Wherever God is, there is light, which means wherever Jesus is, there is light! John loved using the analogy of light to illustrate the truth. How do you define darkness? Almost every definition you look up will say the same thing. “Darkness is the absence of light.” Where there is light, it cannot be dark! After John tells us the source of light, which is God Himself, he immediately speaks of having communion, closeness, fellowship with God. But he begins this sentence with the little word, “if”. If someone is trying to convince us that they know God and are in synch or fellowship with Him, there should be evidence! So we must ask the question, “What does it mean to walk in the darkness?” To answer that question all you need to do is to observe any culture, any society, any home, any community, any nation where God and His Bible is nowhere evident and you will find out what spiritual darkness is. It will be a place of lies, of deceit, of greed, of hate, of murder, of malice, of selfishness, of evil and wickedness! To personally “walk in the darkness” means that the God of the Bible, His truth and commandments, have no place in your life. God is ignored or denied. Instead of doing what God desires for you to do, you do what you what to do. Instead of pleasing God, you live to please yourself. It's a place where you have made yourself God. That is the first lie that Satan deceived Eve with in the Garden of Eden. “Ignore, disobey God and His Word about eating this fruit, and you will become your own God deciding for yourself what is good or evil.” How sad that this appears to be the attitude and lifestyle of so many in our culture and nation today. Any nation or culture that ignores and denies God and His truth is walking in the darkness of lies. And the end result is always hatred, murder and death. Look up John 8:44 and read what Jesus said about where this all comes from. Today, by God's grace ask the Lord to help you to “walk in the light”. Spend time with Jesus in His Word and prayer! God bless!

Join us for a short, but powerful meditation on how God is our shield. A shield protects us from things that might hurt us, and God protects us from things that might hurt us too.Does a shield work if we hold it far away? Nope. It needs to be close to us.We need God to be close to us to protect us. We can be close to God by reading His Bible and talking to Him in prayer.Imagine that you are carrying a shield, but it is God.And He's protecting you while you keep Him close to you.Verses:But you are my shield, and you give me victory and great honor. I pray to you, and you answer from your sacred hill.Psalm 3:3-4 (CEV)Ask Your Kids:What do you think it means that God is our shield?How has God been your shield and protected you?What happens when we forget to make God our shield?Engage Your Kids:Create shields from Amazon boxes (you know you have them) and actout a fun nerf gun war using your shields.Go Deeper:Join  “Finding Jesus in the Psalms: A Family Experience” for weekly handouts and other free resources connected with this episode.

There were many living witnesses to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ assembled during the course of the Messiah's earthly ministry... We recount the “widow of Nain” and all who attended the funeral of her only son in (Luke 7:11-17). Then there was Jarius' daughter raised again to the amazement of the onlookers in (Luke 8:49-56). Who can forget the account of Lazarus and the life-changing events surrounding this beloved man who was raised again by Jesus after 4 days in the tomb (Jn 11:1-44)? Perhaps the most incredible witnesses of all were the saints of old who had long since “fallen asleep” awakening at the moment of Jesus' death coming out of their tombs and appearing to many in the 'Holy City' (Mat 27:52-53). In our last sermon, we noted how Jesus “summoned” witnesses to testify against the unbelieving hearers of His day during His preaching ministry. These included Isaiah who saw His glory long before the incarnation (Jn 12: 37-41), Jonah, the men of Nineveh, and the queen of the South, (Mat 12: 40-42). His point was that the people of His day were without excuse for remaining skeptical and unrepentant because One greater than Jonah or Solomon was here. These witnesses joined the voice of Abraham who rejoiced to see Jesus' day as well (Jn 8:58). Abraham likewise witnessed aspects of Jesus' coming 100's of years before the incarnation. After Jesus rises from the dead, He continues to call witnesses in revealing the power and plan of the Gospel to those who still remain uncertain. Yet interestingly enough, He does not call on the living witnesses, but again opens the scriptures to the two on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). The very day our Lord rose form the grave, He reveals Himself to the distraught disciples who do not recognize Him at first. Along the way He explains the Gospel events they have witnessed beginning with Moses and all the prophets. “He interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Hebrews 11 lists Abraham as a chief witness among the “cloud” that surrounds us throughout covenant history (Heb 12:1). What testimony would Abraham have provided Jesus of His resurrection power for His Bible study lesson on the road to Emmaus? Hebrews 11:8-20 answers..

Womba and a group of wonderful ladies in the Middle East have an incredible ministry to ladies in the prisons, but it didn't start this way. Hear about the challenging circumstances in their ministry. Then, by God's divine mercy and using His Bible stories, a radical change occurred among the prisoners as well as the ministry team.   Today’s show: Middle east prison ministry Zoom Cells Growing in confidence   Links … Simply the Story … Upcoming workshops … God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity   Follow us on Twitter ~ YouTube ~ Facebook ~ iTunes Podcast ~ Vimeo 

Join us for a short, but powerful meditation on how God is our shield. A shield protects us from things that might hurt us, and God protects us from things that might hurt us too.Does a shield work if we hold it far away? Nope. It needs to be close to us.We need God to be close to us to protect us. We can be close to God by reading His Bible and talking to Him in prayer.Imagine that you are carrying a shield, but it is God.And He’s protecting you while you keep Him close to you.Verses:But you are my shield, and you give me victory and great honor. I pray to you, and you answer from your sacred hill.Psalm 3:3-4 (CEV)Ask Your Kids:What do you think it means that God is our shield?How has God been your shield and protected you?What happens when we forget to make God our shield?Engage Your Kids:Create shields from Amazon boxes (you know you have them) and actout a fun nerf gun war using your shields.Go Deeper Join “Finding Jesus in the Psalms: A Family Experience” for weekly handouts and other free resources connected with this episode.

Dr. David Swanson | We all have moments in life that cause us to question what we believe and why. Christmas is that way for many as year after year, we are brought near to the incarnation. Is this the Son of God? The hymn was written by a devout Christian as he lay near death, contemplating the things of God while reading His Bible. He wound up writing many other beloved hymns, but it was out of his questioning that deeper faith was born. Luke 1:26-38

Last week Dr Christopher Peppler wrote THIS article about Jesus and His Bible. What did he use before the full Bible (Old and New Testaments) was available? How did He interpret the texts that He did have at His disposal? What do we learn from this? Have you bought all Your Christmas Presents Yet? There are … TruthTalks: Jesus and His Bible Read More » The post TruthTalks: Jesus and His Bible appeared first on Truth Is The Word.

Are you ready for some serious soul stretching?  What kind of hitch-hiker would I stop for late at night?  Does human suffering prove that God is either impotent or cruel? Can people be good and decent without a belief in God? Does God and His Bible require people to renounce passion and exclude fun from their lives? Is belief in evolution a religious or scientific issue? Does God prefer poor people to rich? Science is terrible at telling us how to believe and horrible at informing us how to behave. It is not even much good at explaining things like gravity or colors or language. But it is outstanding at describing. Formulae, equations and theories all attempt to describe physical phenomena but never to explain them. Why didn't Einstein like the Big Bang Theory? Happy warriors are like salmon—we’re okay with swimming against the current. Just because the masses have been hypnotized and the crowds have been indoctrinated doesn’t change our beliefs or our behavior. Three cheers for happy warriors. This is the happy warrior’s textbook https://rabbidaniellapin.com/product/americas-real-war-ebook/ that I believe I wrote with Divine assistance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I had a wonderful time questioning Patrick about his life and was blessed to hear all that he had to share. Life is hard, but God has pulled him up out of the muck of this world, just like He does for others when they surrender their hearts to God Almighty. It doesn't mean life will be all roses and rainbows from here on out, but for those who do surrender, God will never leave them alone. If you are struggling with the weight of life on your shoulders and need to talk with someone, call a friend or family member. If no one understands you, call number below. No matter you are right now, bow your head and God will hear you and He will answer.The National Suicide & Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-8259One of Patrick's favorite things to say is “God does not have any grandchildren”. As the son of a pastor, Patrick grew up around church all his youth. But once he was old enough, Patrick stepped away from the church and charted a path on his own out in the world. Through his 20s and 30s, he wandered through various stages of life alone and lost. It was not until he hit rock bottom, after a second failed suicide attempt, did he see the need for Christ as his savior in his life.Once saved, Patrick took his talents and turned them to the work of the Lord. Patrick has served as the Mission Supervisor for his local Rescue Mission since 2017, has been a deacon at his home church and is on the A/V production team since 2015. In 2019, Patrick decided to take his years experience as a wedding DJ and turn it into A Guy and His Bible. Each week, he explores bible passages which have been meaningful and impactful to him the previous week.In his spare time, Patrick is working on obtaining his Associates Degree in biblical studies and enjoys reading (Steve Berry is his go to author) and is an avid music fan, with The Killers, The Beatles, Sister Hazel and Oasis topping his list of all time favorite artists. He is also a self proclaimed Apple Fanboy and shuns any attempt to sway him to Android.To read more about Patrick or contact him, read the Blog post that goes along with this episode HERESubscribe at your favorite Podcast player or send me a message atmomentswithmoni1@gmail.com or call and leave a voice message and I may use it on upcoming PodcastGoogle Voice 1-703-951-3077Continue the conversation of today's study atMoments with Moni Facebook Community GroupThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

A Man and His Bible