Podcasts about holy god

A line in Hebrews chapter 10 stops us cold: it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We lean into that tension—grace that saves, holiness that disciplines—and ask what willful sin truly is when we already know the truth. With Hebrews as our guide, we unpack why returning to old systems or familiar comforts isn't neutral; it quietly denies the sufficiency of Jesus' once‑for‑all sacrifice.We start with context. The original audience—Jewish believers—faced pressure to go back to temple sacrifices. The writer's warning is blunt: no other sacrifice remains if you walk away from the only effective one. From there, we explore the vital difference between God's wrath for His adversaries and His fatherly discipline for His children. Expect pruning that grows righteousness, not a pain‑free spirituality. If ongoing, deliberate sin sits easily on the conscience, the Spirit's grief is the alarm we dare not mute. We illustrate “trampling the Son of God underfoot” with a picture of gratitude denied—a rescued debtor ignoring the king who paid it all—because indifference can be its own form of contempt.The conversation turns practical. How do we care for people who claim faith yet persist in open rebellion? Pray with urgency. Confront with Scripture and clarity. And refuse to play judge and executioner—vengeance belongs to the One who knows perfectly. Holy fear is not for scaring the saved; it humbles the heart that's grown casual with God. That kind of reverence restores worship, honesty, and obedience.Finally, we remember the believing Hebrews' past: public shame, prison, and seized property accepted with joy. Why joy? They held a better, lasting possession that outshined every loss. So, we urge courage—do not throw away your confidence. Endure for reward. Live by faith as if Christ might return any moment. The choice stands in bright contrast: persevere toward great reward or shrink back toward ruin. If this conversation stirred you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with one insight you're taking into your week.Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve

Where do our kids learn what they're worth – and how do we guide them toward the truth that their value comes from God, not achievements or approval? Today, Amy and Marissa are joined by returning guest Margaret Sharpe to talk about how the question of worth shows up at every stage of childhood, from early elementary through high school. Together, they unpack the lies that kids often believe about themselves, how those lies evolve as kids grow, and how Scripture speaks directly to the questions our kids are asking – even when they can't find the words for them. You'll also get a sneak peek into WinShape Camps' upcoming theme for summer 2026, ASCEND: Encounters with the Holy God, and walk away with gospel-centered truths to help your kids (and yourself) rest in the worth God has already given.--WinShape Camps 2026 Theme Preview: Ascend--Question of the Week: What do you think that God thinks about you?--Hosts: Amy Lowe & Marissa RayGuest: Margaret SharpeProducers: Emily Alters & Cody Braun--Learn more about WinShape Camps at WinShapeCamps.org!Instagram: @WinShapeCampsTikTok: @WinShapeCampsFacebook: @WinShapeCamps Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This Sunday we will continue in our sermon series in Exodus studying how God invites Israel into relationship with Him through the giving of the Ten Commandments. As thunder, fire, and smoke surround the mountain, the people respond with awe and fear, recognizing the seriousness of standing before a holy God. This passage shows us both God's righteous standards and His gracious invitation to draw near to Him through reverent obedience. Exodus 20:1-21

What if encountering God is not about trying harder, but becoming more aware? In Week 2 of our sermon series There Is More, Pastor Dustin teaches on The Four Postures of Encounter—a pathway that helps us move from distraction into real, life-changing intimacy with God. God is not distant. He is near. But many of us miss His presence because we are distracted, rushed, or carrying shame. This message walks us through four spiritual postures that position our hearts to experience God more deeply. 4 Postures of Encounter 1. Awareness – God is Near Encounter begins with awareness, not effort. Like Moses at the burning bush, God is already present. The invitation is to turn aside and notice Him. Isaiah 41:10 Exodus 3:1–5 2. Reverence – God is Holy When we see God rightly, we see ourselves honestly. Isaiah's encounter with God shows us that holiness leads to humility, repentance, and calling. Isaiah 6:1–8 3. Assurance – God is Love and Mercy Shame blocks encounter. Assurance opens it. God does not tolerate you. He delights in you. His mercy is not permission to stay the same; it is power to change. Psalm 103:8–13 Romans 5:8 4. Surrender – God is Powerful God fills surrendered vessels. When we fully yield to the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus begins to work in us. Romans 8:11 Acts 1:8 Prayer of Encounter God, You are here with us right now. We turn our attention to You and choose to be present with You. Holy God, search us and know us. Cleanse what is out of alignment and draw our hearts back to You. We choose humility and honesty before You. Father, we receive Your forgiveness and Your mercy. We release shame and rest in Your delight over us. Thank You that we are fully known and fully loved. Holy Spirit, we surrender our lives to You. Fill us, lead us, and use us for Your purposes. We trust Your power more than our own strength.

This week we jump back into Exodus and look at the people of Israel coming into the presence of God. It is a fearful encounter that highlights the incompatibility of the people and their God. What is God trying to teach them about himself and how should we respond? Come this Sunday and find out!

What does it really mean to follow God when obedience doesn't make sense yet? In this episode, we step into David's final charge to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9–10 and uncover why knowing God must always come before doing for God. We talk about undivided hearts, wholehearted devotion, and why purity gives God permission to work freely in our lives. If you've ever wrestled with delayed obedience, divided affections, or uncertainty about God's calling, this conversation will challenge and encourage you to be strong—and do what God has asked.

Our theme for 2026 is "A Consecrated Life" - to faithfully live a life set apart by God's grace on God's mission for God's glory. We will have a two week sermon series introducing this theme and vision for 2026. For this Sunday, I will be focusing on the Holiness of God and how that becomes the basis and strength for our own sanctification. Peter mentions in his epistle: "You shall be holy, for I am holy." Our consecration begins with beholding our Holy God and understanding the depths of his grace to make us into a holy nation, called out of darkness into his marvelous light.

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." Joshua 3:5  Consecrate today (Joshua 3:5), expect a crowned year (Psalm 65:11), walk into what is being made new (Revelation 21:5). So, I encourage you to 'Step into Year 2026 with Promised Feet!' Imagine the footbridge between years: each plank is a promise, each step a surrender, the handrail His faithfulness, the path lit by His Word. Behind you, the river of “what was”; before you, a horizon of “what God will do.” Promised feet don't rush; they are steady, clean, and directed. What are Promised Feet? Consecrated feet: set apart to walk where He leads, not where fear pushes.Crowned-path feet: expecting goodness to meet them along the way.New-thing feet: ready to move when God says, “Behold, I make all things new.” This is simple format how to step into the New Year: 1) Consecrate yourself today (Joshua 3:5) by Laying down old grime: confess, forgive, release. By Offering God the calendar, the keys, the plans. And by Simple prayer, such as “Lord, make me wholly Yours in this year.” 2) Expect a crowned year (Psalm 65:11 says, "You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.")   Name the fields where you need His “fatness”: family, work, health, ministry.  Keep an answered-prayer journal — track the crown on each month.  Practice daily gratitude to spot the “wagon tracks” of His abundance. 3) Walk into what is being made new (Revelation 21:5)   Ask, “What new thing are You forming in me?” Then take the first small step.  Travel light: discard habits and narratives that can't cross the bridge.  Move at God's pace — obedience now is better than speed later.  Declarations for 2026: I am set apart for God's purposes; the Lord orders my steps.This year is crowned with His goodness; His paths drip abundance in my life.I welcome the new; I release the old; I walk by faith, not by sight.Courage rises in me because I have prayed; fear does not write my story. Declaration prayer:“Holy God, I consecrate my heart, my time, my gifts, and my pathway to You. Crown this year with Your goodness; let Your presence be the abundance on every road I travel. Make new what has grown weary, redeem what has been lost, and lead me step by step across this bridge into Your prepared future. In Jesus' name, amen.” A blessing as you step:May your feet be sure, your heart be clean, your eyes be bright with hope. May every plank of this year's bridge bear the weight of God's promises beneath you. May courage meet you at every threshold, and may the One who calls you faithful finish what He starts. Step into Year 2026 with Promised Feet. In Jesus name. Amen. Remember, Revelation 21:5 says, "He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Amen.

Romans 9:19-24 — Who is really in charge? Is a person free to do whatever they want? Is God really guiding everything to happen the way He wants? How can one understand the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of humanity? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones sheds some much needed light on this difficult subject as he preaches this sermon on Romans 9:19–24 titled “Holy God, Fallen Man.” The apostle Paul warns creation not to fight against the one who has both the authority and ability to exercise His power. In the same way that a potter has the right over the clay, God has the right to do what He desires. He alone decides what to make from the same raw materials, each person for a different purpose. Just as He chose to make both Jacob and Esau, He also chose to love Jacob and hate Esau. However, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, God never created anything evil nor forces anyone to sin, as he quotes from James 1. But because of Adam's choice to sin, human nature is fallen and sin is an instinct. So who then is responsible for salvation? The world offers hopeless, fatalistic answers that are contingent on heritage, context, and childhood experiences. While God is responsible for salvation, people remain responsible for their damnation. God offers hope since He sets His claim on His people and gives them His mercy in salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the sin payment. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

“Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt . . . for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” — Matthew 2:14 Not everyone loves Christmas. Maybe you've heard about Ebenezer Scrooge in the Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol, or about the Grinch in Dr. Seuss's story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Both of these fictional characters eventually change and join in to celebrate Christmas—but, tragically, the real-life King Herod in our Bible reading  for today did not. Herod's cruelty and suspicion led him to respond with murderous hatred when he heard about Jesus' being born as “king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2-3).Herod's cruelty may make us shudder, but the human heart is naturally prone to fight against God's gift of his Son for our salvation. Christmas confronts us with our need for a new king, one who dethrones our priorities and requires us to make space for God's plan in our lives. Christmas can be attractive as long as our focus is on tinsel and nostalgia. But when the coming of Christ demands that we turn our desires and goals over to God in repentance, our natural impulse is to fight back.Our anger and hostility over God's gift of Jesus bring heartache and tears. But God has a way of protecting his witness to us. Jesus escaped Herod's murderous grasp. But in the process Herod drove the Son of God away and could not hear the good news. His actions are a warning to us when we are prone to like the idea of Christmas but to resist its truth. Holy God, soften our hearts so that we may receive your grace and goodness in Jesus. Amen.

More than two thousand years ago, God broke through the barrier separating sinful humanity from a Holy God and took on human flesh in the form of a tiny baby. Christianity says all of human history had been building to that monumental event that separated time. Why did God, the creator of the universe, decide to enter our world, not as an avenging angel, but as a vulnerable and innocent baby? It's because of love. On this episode of the Lighthouse Faith podcast, Lauren revisits a conversation with best-selling author Pastor Max Lucado to talk about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas, says Lucado, "begins what Easter celebrates." The two highest holy days of the Christian calendar are eternally linked. While Christmas has become much more commercialized with shopping and Santa taking center stage, it hasn't changed the reality that the peace and joy we talk about on Christmas cards and ad slogans flow only from this one event, the birth of Jesus: "For God so loved the world!" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. — Luke 1:58 The story of Jesus' birth is intertwined with another miraculous birth—that of John, who was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah in their old age. Though Zechariah did not believe at first that this could happen, God fulfilled his promise. And when Zechariah named the child John, as the angel had instructed, he was able to speak again (see Luke 1:11-20; Dec. 4). The name John means “God is gracious.”While we might be used to thinking of God's grace in the birth and life of Jesus, we may also ask about other ways we see God's grace at work in this season. Maybe you have seen a strained relationship restored, or an illness healed. Maybe you have seen temptations lifted, or fears relieved. Can we name such gifts as illustrations of God's grace?Not only did Zechariah and Elizabeth receive God's mercy; they invited their neighbors and relatives to share in their joy in what God had done for them. During the Christmas season, many of us have opportunities to gather with family and friends. Do we also take time with others to share with them our experiences of God's mercy to us?Christmas is a season for reflecting on God's grace and mercy to his people. May you name, and celebrate, that mercy today. Holy God, you surprise us again and again with your grace. Open our eyes to what you are doing, and loosen our tongues to speak of your faithfulness. For Jesus' sake, Amen.

“Our Great High Priest” • Hebrews 4:14-5:10 – Elder Bryce Lowrance.    The way to God is guarded from us because of our sin. Therefore, we need a high priest to make intercession for us with a Holy God. Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest. He perfectly fills the role of priest in that He offered Himself once for our sins and is compassionately giving us aide in times of need.  This message was preached on Sunday, June 9, 2024.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 9th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Leviticus 10:3 (Amplified Version): “Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord said:‘I will be treated as holy by those who approach Me,And before all the people I will be honoured.'”So Aaron, therefore, said nothing.”What had happened was, the two sons of Aaron had decided to make a plan. They had decided to bring an offering of fire to the altar in the Tabernacle but God did not receive it because they did not do it with respect towards Him and they died on the spot. Then we go to John 2:5. and the servants came to Mary, Jesus' mother and they wanted to know, “What must we do?” Mary said, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”I want to say to you this morning, God has really laid this on my heart, for me as well - a good idea is not always a God idea. The Lord does not want you and I to help Him. He wants you and I to obey Him. Don't try and help God, rather obey Him because He is a Holy God. Commandment Number Five, which the Lord gave Moses to give us to obey is “Honour your mother, Honour your father, so that your days may be long in the land.” Now that is a commandment. It doesn't matter what they say to you, do it for God's sake so that the Lord will honour you. Do you know, that is the first commandment in the Bible with a promise added to it. “Honour your mother and your father so that your days may be long in the land.”I want to tell you a quick story before we close. I remember reading many years ago of a man sitting in his office, and on the windowsill of his office, there was a cocoon, and in the cocoon was a pupa, and this little worm was trying to get out of the cocoon so that it could turn into a beautiful butterfly, but it was struggling, and he watched it as he was doing his work at the desk and eventually he thought, “I will just help it.” He had a little knife on his desk, he took the knife and cut open the cocoon. He tried to help the butterfly. What happened? The butterfly just fell out of the cocoon and onto the ground. You see, when a butterfly comes out of a cocoon, it needs to exercise and strengthen it's wings and it's body so that it can fly.Do not try and help God, just obey Him! Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.

When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son. . . . — Galatians 4:4 Christmas can seem like a magical time for children. In our family we have several traditions that our children look forward to at this time of year. Especially when they were younger, it seemed to them like an awfully long time to wait for Christmas after putting up decorations in early December—particularly when presents under the tree caught their attention!For many long years, God's people waited in hope for a Savior to come. God had given the people his law, filled with rules and guidelines about how to live as his people. But the law was not enough to bring the people closer to the Lord, and they longed for a deeper relationship. God also promised that he would raise up a leader from his people who would “do what is just and right” (see Jeremiah 23:5-6). And they learned that God would fill their hearts and minds with his will so that they could live more closely with him (see Jeremiah 31:33).It must have seemed like forever to wait for God to keep those promises. But the Bible tells us that this happened at just the right time. God sent his own Son, Jesus, into the world to fulfill the law so that all who would believe could be saved from sin and freed by his Spirit to live with him, sharing his love and grace with others.This Christmas, look for ways in which God's Spirit is changing you because of Jesus' birth. Holy God, sometimes it seems hard to wait for you. But your timing is always right, and your promises are always rich! Help us wait faithfully for you, and make us your people in Christ. Amen.

Hi, I'm John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you're listening to Share Life Today. The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. Do you remember the angels saying to the shepherds: “I bring you good news of great JOY?!” Well, people need that Good News. While the traditional practice of exchanging gifts is in full swing, remember to share about the greatest gift ever given — eternal life through Jesus Christ. It's not something that we can earn and it's certainly not something that we deserve it because we are all sinners and our sin separates us from an all Holy God. But the Good News is that God solved our problem by sending His Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins and purchase a place for us in Heaven. This gift is received by faith. If you haven't received this gift, don't let another Christmas go by. And if you've already received this gift, share it with someone else. We have resources to help you do that like our program, The Christ of Christmas. Visit our website at sharelife.today.

The High and Holy God Isaiah 57:13-21

Speaker: Don West | Series: Exodus | Passage: Exodus 25:1-22

This week we are devoting several episodes to the theme of Thanksgiving.Reading Plan: Old Testament - Ezekiel 38-39Psalms - Psalm 135:15-21Gospels - John 12:1-11New Testament - Revelation 4Visit https://www.revivalfromthebible.com/ for more information.

Holy God, you are light when I need it most.John 8:12Keywords: Joy; light; life; celebration; I Am; light of theworld. Today's Prayer Starter is a “best of.” All new episodes willbegin January, 2024.

Leviticus ends with a call to commitment and follow-through: God promises blessing, presence, and peace for His people, and loving discipline when we wander. In this sermon, we explore what it means to be keepers of covenant and vows - and how Jesus, the true covenant-keeper, bears the curse so covenant-breakers like us can live forever in God's blessing.

Pastor Geoff Bohleen

In Leviticus 25, God calls His people to live “weird” in the best possible way, set apart in how we rest, handle money, treat the poor, and trust Him with our security. The Sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee paint a picture of a radically different kind of life: one marked by deep rest, faithful responsibility for a place and a people, and costly redemption for those in debt or bondage. In Jesus, the true Jubilee has arrived. He is our kinsman-redeemer who sets captives free and invites us to live as people of Jubilee in the middle of a restless, anxious, and greedy world.

The High Priest will minister to the people, but only if He is first a minister to God. It's only until Jesus comes, our Great High Priest, will this ministry be fulfilled and the people of God receive that gracious judgement once and for all: Forgiven!

How do we effectively put on the armor of God? In this replay episode, Apostle Tonya teaches on this topic and gives keys to prepare for intercession.For more teachings on our Lord Jesus Christ, and her testimonies on supernatural manifestations, visit ⁠https://apostletonya.org

“[God] said: ‘Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; . . . I will be honored.'” — Leviticus 10:3 On my first day of work at a McDonald's restaurant, my cash drawer was short 10 dollars, and my manager wrote me up, leaving me worried about keeping my job. But I was not afraid of being struck dead. We've all made mistakes and had some rough days at work, so we might wonder why Nadab and Abihu were struck dead when they began to work as priests. What went wrong?Nadab and Abihu's sin was not just a minor oversight or a misstep. After God had given detailed instructions about the priests' responsibilities, Aaron's sons ignored God's rules in favor of their own. This is a pattern as old as the human race; sin begins when we decide we know better than God does. But God is holy, and we are not free to improvise our own ways of approaching or relating to God. Tragically, just as “fire came out” and consumed the offering brought by Aaron (Leviticus 9), fire came out against Nadab and Abihu and consumed them. Even Aaron was silent in response, likely indicating that he accepted God's judgment—though he must have felt deep sorrow.Must we fear the same today? In all of history only one priest, Jesus, was flawless and worthy to enter God's presence. And when he did that for our sake, he took the wrath of God upon himself as it broke out against him—in our place. But this is good news for us! Jesus' sacrifice covered all our sin so that we never need to fear God's judgment. Holy God, it's difficult for us to understand your holiness. Thank you for giving us Jesus so that we can be forgiven. Amen.

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!Good morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)YouTube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comJames 4 Conflicts and quarrels often arise from inner desires that are not submitted to God. People want things but do not ask God or ask with selfish motives. None of this pleases the Father. Friendship with the world also opposes God because it leads the heart away from Him. Yet, God continues to offer His grace. He calls people to humility, urging them to submit to Him, resist the devil, and draw near. Cleansed hands and purified hearts are part of true repentance. Speaking evil against others and judging them is discouraged, for only God is the true lawgiver and judge. People are reminded not to boast about tomorrow since life is uncertain. Instead, they should seek God's will and do what is right, knowing that obedience brings honor to Him.  We often find ourselves in conflict because we pursue our own desires instead of seeking God. We desire things for selfish reasons and forget to ask with humble hearts. When we choose worldly values over God's ways, we create a distance between ourselves and Him. Yet, He offers grace for those who see their need for Him.  But we must take seriously our sin and approach him with absolute humility. We are instructed to purify our hearts and turn from pride. We must not speak against others or judge them harshly. Our lives are short, and we do not control tomorrow. Rather than boasting, we should seek God's will and act on what we know is right, honoring Him in everything.  Holy God, You see our hearts and know our desires. Help us lay down selfish ambition and seek Your will above our own. Teach us to be humble, to draw near to You, and to trust that You will lift us up at the right time. Cleanse our hearts of pride and guide our steps away from envy and strife. Remind us that life is short and each day is a gift from You. May we speak with grace, live with purpose, and live within your divine will. Let our plans be shaped by Your wisdom and directed by Your hand.  Thought Questions: How are lust, envy, and poor motives most often tied to self-centeredness? What helps you think selflessly and focus on God and holy things? What will God do if you submit to Him, draw near to Him, and be humble before Him? How would you advise someone to start doing this? “Do not speak against one another, brethren.” Is God serious about that? How should we treat each other if life is short and days are uncertain?

Pastor Jordan Porr explores the shift from a self-centered life to a Christ-centered life, drawing parallels to the Copernican revolution. Looking at the appointed feasts, the showbread, and the law of equal justice in Leviticus 23 and 24, he shows us: - The calendar God gave Israel to keep Him at the center. - The continual blessing of God's presence in a Christ-centered life. - The catastrophic consequence of a self-centered life, ultimately borne by Christ on the cross. Join us as we are challenged to reorder our lives and fight the drift away from Jesus, the true center of our universe.

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 3:8-13. Early in my ministry at Shenandoah Valley BaptistChurch, on Sunday mornings, I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to prayer walk aroundthe church facilities at least seven times. I continued to do this at all thechurches I was privileged to pastor. The verses we are studying today are reallyspecial to me because for the last 15 or so years, every Sunday morning, as Iwould take this prayer walk, I would quote these verses in Ephesians 3,reminding me of the wonderful responsibility and also the privilege and honor Ihave of proclaiming the mystery of the church. I was also praying these verses outloud knowing that the evil angels, “the principalities and powers in theheavenly place”, and Satan himself must tremble at the Word of God as weproclaim the mystery of the fellowship of the church. Verse8: “To me who am less than the least of all the saints. This grace was giventhat I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”As I would quote that verse, I'd remind myself, I'm the less of the least. Ihave been so privileged to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ that was longhidden in the Old Testament, called the mystery. Some people might ask, why didGod keep this mystery hidden for so long? Remember the mystery of salvationwasn't hidden because as far back as Genesis 12 God had promised throughAbraham and his seed that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Jesushad said in John 4 that “we know salvation is of the Jews”. It wasobvious that God's great salvation, His plan of salvation, that would bringredemption to mankind, would come through the Jewish nation, through the Jewishpeople.  Abraham'sseed would give us the Bible, give us the Messiah, give us the Old Testamentexample of a Creator and Holy God working in their midst. And how only by faithcan we experience and know Him. Yes, salvation is of the Jews. But the churchwas a mystery. How is that? That's what these verses are about. Because this ishow that believers can come together as one! Both Jew and Gentile, no matterhow rich or poor, no matter your background, your racial background, or anythingelse. No matter what differences, we can come together in the fellowship of thechurch through the blood of Jesus Christ. We can find grace to forgive eachother. To forgive each other for former offences despite the hurt and pain it mighthave brought us. And we can be one in Christ.  That'sa great mystery in the Old Testament. It's now possible through the blood ofChrist and the creation of the church. I believe the church was born on the dayof Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down upon the believers in the upperroom. The disciples were told to wait for the promise of the Father. On thatday, when the Holy Spirit came down, something new that took place. The churchwas born. Now the church has the opportunity on earth to make known not only tothe people of the world but even to the principalities and powers in theheavenly places.   That'swhy Paul goes on to say, "And to make all see what is the fellowship ofthe mystery”. The word fellowship could be translated, “thestewardship of the mystery..." Myfriend, what a wonderful mystery that has now been made manifest that we havethe privilege of being a part of. Even Satan trembles when he sees how thatpeople can forgive one another. How they can come together in unity and onenessand fellowship of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a great witness to theworld. People that hated each other now love each other. That is the Gospel ofJesus Christ. This Gospel, that to the lost world is foolishness, but unto uswhich are saved, it is the power of God.  Ohhow wonderful it is my friend, to be a part of His church. This great mysteryhidden in ages past but now made known to us. Today, we have the responsibilityand privilege to share this great news with the world around us.

God calls His people to be holy as He is holy - and to show that holiness through love for others. In this sermon, Ben LeClair reminds us that true holiness isn't separation from people but devotion to God that overflows in love, justice, and mercy.

Faith is an individual walk. Salvation is an interaction between one person and the Holy God. That being the case, what is the role of church? How important is the process of gathering together? We'll explore that question in this study. Judges 20:12 - 21:25 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can a believer of Christ forsake all for Him as the disciples in the Holy Bible? In this episode, Apostle Tonya teaches on forsaking all for a consecrated and devoted life to our Beautiful Savior.For more teachings on our Lord Jesus Christ and her testimonies on supernatural manifestations, visit ⁠https://apostletonya.org⁠

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!Good morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)YouTube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comHebrews 8Jesus serves as the true high priest, seated at the right hand of God in heaven, ministering in the eternal sanctuary established by the Lord, not by man. Earthly priests served in a copy and shadow of what exists in heaven, following patterns given to Moses. However, Jesus has received a superior ministry based on a better covenant established on better promises. The old covenant was not without faults, and God promised a new one. This new covenant is not written on stone but on hearts. God declared that He would be their God and they would be His people. Everyone would know Him, and He would remember their sins no more. With this new covenant, the old one becomes obsolete and is ready to vanish, replaced by something far greater. We are part of something greater than any system built by human hands. Jesus is not a distant figure in a temple made of stone. He is our high priest, seated with God, always interceding for us. We are not bound by the rules of the Old Law written on tablets. Instead, God has inscribed His truth on our hearts. We know Him personally, and He knows us completely. His promises are superior, and His mercy is genuine and life-changing. We are invited into a relationship founded on grace, where our sins are no longer remembered. Let us walk daily in His assurances, trusting that Christ is near us, and embracing the freedom of the new covenant with Jesus. Holy God, thank You for Your faithfulness through every covenant. We are grateful for the ways You have revealed Yourself, first through the law and now through Christ. You have written Your truth on our hearts and invited us into a closer relationship with You. Thank You for Jesus, our high priest who intercedes for us and makes the way to You clear and sure. Help us live with gratitude, not forgetting what came before but embracing the new, better, more excellent covenant in Christ. By Your abiding grace and the power of the blood, please remember our sins no more. Thought Questions: What makes Jesus the exalted, perfected, and most wonderful high priest of all time? How is He using this role for your benefit even today? In what ways is the new covenant in Christ superior to the Old Law and any law separate from Him? List a few incredible promises. What does it mean to say that the new covenant law “will be written on their hearts”? How do you know Christ's law is written on your heart?

Leviticus 18 opens the holiness code, calling us to honor God with our bodies - respecting marriage, protecting the vulnerable, and embracing His good design for true flourishing in Christ.

In a season of Stillness, but I'm still here. ❤️‍

A sermon from Geoff Zeigler on Leviticus 10:8-11 and 11

Leviticus 17 – Holy Worship A holy God deserves holy worship. This sermon unpacks three essentials of true worship: unadulterated allegiance to God, unwavering adherence to His design, and unconditional acceptance of His gift of atonement through Jesus Christ. Listen to the whole sermon.

Micah 1

By Walt HickeyWelcome to the Numlock Sunday edition.This week, I spoke to Alyssa Rosenberg, Sunny Bunch and Peter Suderman, the three panelists of the outstanding film podcast Across the Movie Aisle. I really enjoy the show and have been a longtime fan of their individual work.I think that they're a group with genuinely diverse opinions but who have a lot of love for cinema and as a result have some of the most deeply interesting conversations about the art form of any show I listen to. The show just split off from The Bulwark's network and is striking it out independently. Do check them out!This interview has been condensed and edited. Hey, Across the Movie Aisle. Thank you so much for coming on Numlock. I really appreciate it.Absolutely.Thank you for having us.Yes, this is the first three-on-one conversation that I've ever done here, so we're gonna have to juggle a bit. Either way, I am just such a fan of the show. I really, really enjoyed it, subscribed to the Bulwark for it when I heard that you guys were going independent. I was really excited to see what was motivating that, what opportunities you were seeing out there. It's just such a really fun program, and I think it's so unique in the space.Before we get into talking about the movies, do you wanna talk a little bit about where this show came from, where it started, then what you would say your perspective on the film industry is?Sonny: Sure.Alyssa: Who wants to tell the story?Sonny: The origin of the show was back in 2019. I started working for an independent film studio that's based in Dallas, where I live now. I moved here for the job. The pitch was, “it's like Fangoria,” but for action movies and thrillers and heist movies, that sort of thing. And one of the things I wanted to do when we came over was a little podcast network. We were gonna have some shows, some storytelling things, et cetera. And one of the things I had wanted to do for a while (and hadn't really had an outlet for) was a show I had envisioned as like Crossfire or McLaughlin Group or something like that, but by way of movies.So Across the Movie Aisle — I've always shorthanded it as Siskel and Ebert meets Left Right Center. And the idea here is that I am a conservative. I don't know how other people would describe me, but I still think of myself as a center-right person. Alyssa is the center-left person.Peter: Would you even say that you are a neoconservative?Sonny: Well, I'm a neoconservative with libertarian tendencies, which is a funny thing.Peter: “You work at the Weekly Standard,” is a good way to think about your politics? And they basically haven't changed since you worked at The Weekly Standard. Is that fair? That's the long and the short of it.Sonny: Then Peter is whatever Peter is. I'll let him define himself. But the idea here was you have three people with differing political views talking about movies and other stories about movies. The show has two segments. The first is called Controversies and Nontroversies. The second is a review. And the Controversies and Nontroversies segment was initially thought of as we tackle some dumb internet outrage of the day and decide if it's really worth being mad about.And that evolved into something slightly different, right? Right, guys? I feel like it's now more about the business of Hollywood.Alyssa: Yes, exactly. But I think it's worth noting that our story actually starts way before 2019. The three of us were all critics in some respect or other. I was over at ThinkProgress running their culture and sports verticals. Sonny, were you at the Weekly Standard when we started or were you at the Free Beacon then?Sonny: I think I was at the Washington Free Beacon when we met. So it must've been 2012 or 13.Alyssa: The three of us were going to screenings every week and somehow just gravitated towards each other. We would sit together. We were the people who were hanging out and hashing things out together after the screening ended. When I moved to the Washington Post, I ended up bringing Sonny over as a contributor to the blog that I was working on there. They were invited to my wedding. We were authentically contentiously friends years before we started the podcast.I think that's been a little bit of the special sauce for us, right? We are capable of having conversations that are somewhat harder to have elsewhere because (even before we started working together) there were five, six years of trust built up in in-person conversations and discussions over beers at the really terrible bar near the former AMC in Friendship Heights. Nobody is here on this podcast to blow each other up. But it's also not like “We're friends for the camera!”I think the show has always been like both a reflection of our dynamic. It's also the way that we hang out every week, even though Sonny lives in Dallas, and Peter lives in Boston some of the time. So for me, it's like my night out.I mean, as a listener, I really find the appeal to be exactly that. I think that having different perspectives on something as universal as film makes the show super compelling to listen to, even if I don't always necessarily agree with the perspective on it. What makes movies just so good to view from multiple different angles? There are lowercase “c” conservative films, there are lowercase “l” liberal films, that stuff. How do you guys find approaching the current state of the film industry from these different points of view?Peter: Alyssa talked about how our story goes back even before 2019, when the podcast started. And just for people who may not be familiar with the dynamic of Washington that all of us came up in in our 20s, Alyssa was working for ThinkProgress, which was the journalism arm of the Center for American Progress, which is this leading democratic or democratic affiliated think tank. Sonny was working for the Weekly Standard and then for the Washington Free Beacon, these feisty, conservative journalistic outlets.I actually started writing movie reviews for National Review for a couple of years. When I moved over full-time to Reason Magazine, which is where I've been for more than 15 years now, and also to the Washington Times, which is someplace that both Sonny and I wrote for. It's a conservative-leaning paper that has undergone many transformations. If you live in Washington, your social circle and your conversations and your life are so frequently segmented by politics.What we liked about being friends with each other and seeing movies with each other was that we saw that it didn't have to be the case. Movies and art and pop culture, even disagreements about them, were ways that we could come together and maybe not even agree, but like learn about each other. We're really good friends, but we also like each other's minds. This is something that is really important and drew us all together. I have learned a lot about movies from Sonny. I have learned about culture from Alyssa. I don't know if they've learned anything from me. Maybe they've been annoyed about how I'm fine with A.I.Having those perspectives, it's not just that it's like, “Oh, that's nice that you're a little different.” This is a learning opportunity for all of us. It also makes the act of watching movies together much richer. When you're watching the movie, if you're watching it next to Alyssa, I know what she's thinking. Maybe not what I'm thinking, but it's like having another set of eyes. If you're a critic, if you're somebody who likes movies, if you are somebody who likes movies for the social aspect of them, seeing them with somebody else and talking about them afterwards just makes it so much more enjoyable. The fact that we then get to have that conversation in public for an audience that seems to enjoy this is really rewarding.Alyssa: I have a very hard time with certain kinds of violence in movies. But I can sit in a theater with Peter, and he can tell me when I need to cover my eyes, but also when I'm gonna be okay when it's over. And he's always right, right? And that's the thing that we get.Peter: But also when we see the Taylor Swift movie, I show up, and Alyssa has friendship bracelets for us. Everybody's bringing something to the party here.Alyssa: Peter, you joked about whether or not we've gotten anything from you. And I actually think that in some ways, I'm the one of us whose politics and aesthetics have changed most as a result of doing the show with both of you. I came up in an era of lefty cultural criticism when there were real incentives for tearing things apart. And I think I, in some ways early in my career, helped advance a fairly doctrinaire vision of what political conversations about art should be. And I have some regrets about some of the things that I wrote and some non-regrets too. I did a lot of work at that point in my career that I liked a lot.But one of the things I've come to believe in my conversation with these guys is that art is at its most politically powerful not when it affirms an agenda or a worldview that is defined by a political movement, but it is at its most powerful and interesting when it creates space for conversations that are not possible in conventional political formats and political venues. I think the unpredictability of movies and the inability to shove movies neatly into a partisan schema is where their power comes from.It is not in being subordinate to an agenda, but in opening the space for new possibilities. And I think that having a space to come to that conclusion made me a better critic and a better person. Maybe less employable as someone who writes about this stuff full-time in a predictable way. But I really enjoy seeing the world through the lenses that Peter and Sonny helped me apply to all of this.Peter: And just to underline that really quickly, a little bit more. One of the things that brings all of us together is that we are all three people who moved to Washington to work in political journalism, to work in discourse about politics. We have very strongly held beliefs. At the same time, I think all three of us come to movies, to art and to culture thinking, “You know what, you can make good art. You can make a great movie that maybe I find doesn't in any way align with my beliefs, right?” It has nothing to do with my political world or is even critical of my political worldview, but it's still a great movie.And this is a thing that you see very rarely in Washington and political discussions of art and film, but also in criticism. You have so much criticism that is out there, especially in the movie criticism world, that is just straightforwardly, politically determined. I don't think that that is the best way to approach art and to live a life that is about art because. Of course, it engages with politics. And of course you have to talk about that. And of course, you have to deal with that, but it's not just politics. If what you want from a movie is for it to be an op-ed, then what you want isn't a movie, it's an op-ed.I think that's really interesting. And actually, let's dive into that real quick. We'll go around the horn, perhaps. Peter, you brought it up. What is an example of a film or a piece of media that maybe either subverts or goes upstream compared to your personal politics that you nevertheless enjoyed? Or you, nevertheless, in spite of where you were coming from on that, really tended to like?Peter: So we all had mixed reactions to Paul Anderson's, P.T. Anderson's One Battle After Another, which is quite a political film, just came out. All of us thought that on a micro level, scene by scene, as a piece of filmmaking, it's genius. But on a macro level, its big ideas are kind of a mess. I go back to another Paul Anderson film from the aughts, There Will Be Blood, which is fairly critical of capitalism and of the capitalist tendencies that are deeply rooted in America. And it's not just a polemic, just an op-ed. It's not something that you can sum up in a tweet. It is quite a complex film in so many ways. And I'm a capitalist. I am a libertarian. I am a markets guy. And it is, I love that movie.Sonny and I frequently have arguments over whether There Will Be Blood is the first or second best movie of the last 25 years or so. Sonny thinks it's maybe the best. I think it's the second best. This is a movie that I think offers a deep critique of my ideology and my political worldview. But it is so profound on an artistic character narrative, just deep engagement level. I could talk about it for a long time. It's a movie I really love that doesn't support what I believe about politics in the world.Yeah, Sonny, how about you?Sonny: Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor is commie agitprop, but it's also very good. It's one of those movies where the lesson of the movie is literally “The elite overclass needs to be taught how to pee correctly in a bucket, so as not to annoy the normals.” But it's a beautiful movie, including the bucket. You don't have to agree with a film's politics to recognize that it is a great movie. It certainly doesn't hurt. I flipped through my rankings, and a lot of it does line up.But another one is JFK. Oliver Stone's JFK is a movie that is nonsense as history. If you look at it as a history text, you are reading the film wrong. What it excels at and the way that it is great is that it's the absolute perfect distillation of sitting next to an insane conspiracy theorist and hearing them ramble. The way that Oliver Stone edits together all of these disparate ideas — the way he edits is like hearing a conspiracy theorist talk.The way a conspiracy theorist talks is that they overwhelm you with information. They will just throw out random things and be like, “And this is connected to this, and this is connected to this.” And you are not able to actually judge these things because you have no idea really what they're talking about. You're not steeped in this stuff like they are, but it all sounds right. And all of a sudden, yeah, I believe that the military industrial complex murdered JFK at the behest of a fascist homosexual conspiracy, which is just another amusing little element to JFK by Oliver Stone.Those would be two examples, I would say.I love that. Alyssa, how about you?Alyssa: I would say Dirty Harry. I did a huge project about 10 years ago on depictions of the police in pop culture. And the ways in which law enforcement, as an industry, has actually really shaped their depictions on film. And look, I don't think the police always get everything right. And I think that shooting people is not a viable solution to a crime, especially without a trial. But God damn, does Clint Eastwood make like a sweater and a blazer and a real big gun look awesome, right?Sonny: Those are things that look awesome. Of course, they look awesome on Clint Eastwood.Alyssa: Of course, they look awesome, but they look especially awesome on Clint Eastwood. And they look even more awesome when he's shooting a crazed hippie who has commandeered a busSonny: Full of children.Alyssa: Yes, a bus full of children. The evil hippie deserves to get shot, and Clint Eastwood is the man to set things right. The thing about aesthetics is that they can get you to set aside your politics momentarily in a theoretical way. But I also think that good movies can get you access to spaces and mindsets that you might not have access to otherwise.When you asked that question, the movie that I immediately thought of, not necessarily of challenging my politics, but like bringing me a place I can't go, is Alex Garland's Warfare from earlier this year. It is one of the best movies I've seen this year. And also a movie about (both as a social and cultural environment) an all-male combat unit in the US military and a situation (the war in Iraq) that I have no access to. I cannot go there. My being in the space would fundamentally transform the space. And that opening sequence with this platoon watching this music video in a weird, sexualized group bonding ritual, I just found fascinating and oddly touching in a way that I think is interesting to watch, especially if you're steeped in left-leaning critiques of traditional masculinity in all-male spaces.And I found that movie, despite how harrowing it was, kind of beautiful and tender to watch in a way. And I just felt very grateful for it.Awesome. Yeah, again, I really appreciate how much thought goes into viewing not only movies as cultural entities, but also their space in politics, but also how the culture can overwhelm that. I really think that you guys have such fun takes on this. I wanna back out a little bit and talk a little bit about this year and this moment. I think one thing I really enjoy about your show is that it's obvious how much you guys really enjoy going to the movies, enjoy consuming this stuff. I know that there's a lot of fairly understandable doom and gloom sometimes around the movie industry, around the exhibition industry. A lot of that, I think, comes from some of the more industry side of things and infects the viewing public's view.I'll just throw it to you. What is a trend or something going on these days within movies or Hollywood that you actually think is a good thing, that you're actually enjoying? Or a transitional moment that you think could be fun? I guess, Sunny, I'll start off with you. I don't know.Sonny: That's a hard question to answer because everything is bad right now.Alyssa: To be clear, this is Sonny's default position about all eras and all things. All things.Peter: He's a cheerful man.Sonny: All things, really. No, everything is bad. But if I were looking at a few green shoots, I like the rise of the draft house style theater, a combination of dining, bar, movie space. I know some people have issues with the waiters scurrying back and forth. And it's not my real cup of tea either, but that's all right. You mentioned this question right before we started taping. I was trying to sketch something out, so I didn't have nothing.But I do think the rise of the boutique Blu-ray and 4K UHD retailers has been a good thing. I don't know that it's enough to save physical media in the film context, but the rise of your Vinegar Syndromes. Criterion, of course, is the longest player in this space, and they've been doing it since the days of Laserdisc. They're very good at what they do, and they have a great catalog.But even smaller places, like your Vinegar Syndromes or your Shout Factory and your Scream Factory. The studios themselves are getting into it. Lionsgate has their Lionsgate limited thing that they do, which is just sucking money out of my pockets. A24 has also been good in this space. I like the idea that there is a small but committed cadre of collectors out there. And it's not just ownership for the sake of ownership. It's not the high fidelity, “the things you own matter. So you should show them off so everybody can see them and see how cool you are” kind of thing. There are actual quality differences to having a disc as opposed to a streaming service, which always come in at lower bit rates, and they look and sound worse.But this is so niche. Very few people who collect this stuff (Blu-rays, 4Ks, et cetera) really understand how niche they are.If you look at the monthly pie chart of sales of discs every month, it's still 50 percent DVD, 20 percent to 25 percent Blu-ray, and then 25 percent to 30 percent 4K, depending on what's out at any given time. But 50 percent of discs are still being bought by people browsing Walmart shelves, like “Ooh, I'll watch this new movie for $5. Sure, why not?”Yeah, having something for the sickos is always something viable, right? Peter, I'll throw it to you.Peter: So, on this podcast, I have probably been the biggest MCU, Marvel Movie Universe booster. What I think is a good thing that is happening right now is that the MCU is in a decline, or at least a reset period. It's not overwhelming Hollywood in the way that it was throughout the 2010s. It's hurting theaters and exhibition because those movies are not performing the way they used to, and that's a downside for real.But what it is doing is creating a space for young filmmakers and for young acting talent to rise up without having to immediately be sucked into the MCU or something comparable, like the DC movies that were trying to start up and never really got going. Now they've rebooted the DC universe with the James Gunn Superman film. But, it really felt like in the 2010s, anyone who was in their 20s or 30s and was a really promising actor or a really promising director was gonna make one or two movies. And then they were gonna get sucked into the Marvel or maybe the Star Wars machine, one of these big franchise things.It wasn't like even 25 years ago when Sam Raimi was making Spider-Man films, and they were very distinctly Sam Raimi films. I mean, you watch the Dr. Octopus POV sequence in Spider-Man 2, and it's the same thing he was doing in Evil Dead, except he had $150 million to make that movie, right?These weren't even altruistic superhero films. They were just being brought in to lend their names a small amount of flavor to whatever it was they were doing. And now, in an era in which the MCU is not gone, but is diminished, a lot of acting talent and a lot of directing talent are going to be free to spend that formative period of third, fourth, fifth, sixth movies to make the things that they wanna make and to experiment.Like I said, this does have downsides. This is not great for theatrical exhibitors who are suffering right now because there are fewer movies and because the big movies are not as big. But in that space, you get the opportunity to try new things. And I love seeing new things, and I love watching new talent develop.That is cool. I like that. Alyssa?Alyssa: I'm glad you said that, Peter, because what I was gonna say is I am delighted to see some of the directors who did time in the MCU or other franchises coming back and making original movies. Obviously, Sinners is one of the big success stories of the year. It's also a success story because Ryan Coogler is not only making franchise movies.I saw Seeing Fruitvale, which turned Fruitvale Station, at the Sundance Film Festival. It was like a seminal moment for me early in my career as a critic. I was like, “Holy God, this guy is great.” Even though I like what he did with the Rocky movies and I like the first Black Panther, I just felt this sense of profound regret for him getting diverted from telling these original stories. I'm really excited for Chloe Zhao's Hamnet. I expect to be emotionally incapacitated by that movie. Honestly, it is great for people who love movies that Immortals was just such a disaster.Peter: Eternals.Sonny: Eternals, that's how good it is we can't even remember the title.Alyssa: Yes, Destin Daniel Cretton is working on a Shang-Chi sequel, but he is also collaborating with Ryan Coogler on a project that I think is drawn from their childhoods.Sonny: He's directing a new Spider-Man movie right now.Alyssa: But there's other stuff coming. There's the possibility of life outside franchises. And, I'm excited to see what some of these folks do when they're not in front of a green screen and when they're telling stories about actual human beings. I am excited to just see more movies like Weapons, like Materialists, coming from younger directors who are still figuring things out, but have interesting things to say. And this year, at least, appears to be able to do okay at the box office.I love that. People are recovering from their exile in Atlanta and have a chance to make some cool movies. You guys have been so generous with your time. I do want to just finish on one last note: where do you assess Hollywood's position within the world to be?Obviously, in the States, they've had a lot of pressure from things like TikTok coming from below, things like the federal government coming from above. But even internationally and geopolitically, you've seen international players start to compete with Hollywood at the Oscars. For instance, in Best Animated Film last year, as well as some big markets shutting down for them, like China is not really doing anything. From a political perspective, where do you assess the state of Hollywood right now?Peter: From a political perspective, I think Hollywood is going to start producing movies that read less overtly liberal, less conventionally left-leaning. I think we're already seeing some of that. I don't mean that Hollywood is suddenly going to be MAGA, that it's suddenly gonna be like reading Buckley's National Review or anything like that. I just mean that at the margins, you're gonna see more movies that don't toe the line in the way that you saw movies before. There was a moment, especially right before and right after the pandemic, where it really felt like too many movies were towing a very predictable left-of-center political line. And it was obvious and there was no nuance to it.Again, I do not oppose movies that may have a different worldview than mine, but it felt like they were running scared in a lot of cases. I mean, in sports, if your team is behind, that's the time when you try new stuff. You don't use the same strategy if you are losing. Hollywood's losing right now. They're losing economically and they're losing as a cultural force. While that's in some ways not great for the art form, that is going to be good for experimentation. And that's gonna be formal and craft experimentation. That's going to be talent. We're going to see new and interesting people. And that's also going to be ideas both for stories and for politics and ideology.Sonny: A big question is what happens with the retrenchment of the global box office? Because I do think, for a long time, you could count on basically two-thirds of the box office of a major Hollywood release coming overseas and one-third coming domestically. And those numbers have, in some cases, inverted. It's closer to 50/50 for more of them. It's not universally true. F1 did more business overseas than domestically, which you might expect for something that's based on F1 racing. But the big question is what happens if the rest of the world is like, “We're not that interested in the big Hollywood blockbuster stuff that we have been eating up for the last 15 or 20 years”?This goes hand in hand with Alyssa's point about originals. That's probably a good thing, honestly. It's probably a good thing to get away from the theory of the movie industry being like, “We need to make things that appeal despite language barriers.” Language matters; words matter. And tailoring your words to the correct audience matters. American movie studio should tailor their stuff to American audiences.Alyssa: And also getting away from the idea of appealing to the Chinese censors who controlled which American movies got access to Chinese markets, which was not the same thing as appealing to Chinese audiences. But yeah, I totally agree.My father-in-law works in the foreign exchange industry, and he said something that I've been thinking about a lot. They're just seeing real declines in people who want to come here or feel comfortable coming here. Until July, I was the letters editor at The Washington Post, and it was astonishing to me just how much rage Canadians were feeling towards the United States. I don't know that these will translate into a rejection of American movies. American culture exports have been unbelievably strong for a long time.But I do see an opening for Korean pop culture, which has already been very popular abroad. I think there's a real chance that we will see a rejection of American culture in some ways. And, it will take Hollywood a while to respond to that. It always lags a little bit. But I do think it would be very interesting to see what more aggressively American movies look like. And I think that could take many forms.But scale is in many ways the enemy of interestingness. If there is not and opportunity to turn everything into a two billion dollar movie because you sell it overseas, what stories do you tell? What actors do you put on screen? What voices do you elevate? And I think the answers to those questions could be really interesting.Peter: I agree with all of this in the sense that I think it will be good for the art form, like I have been saying. But there's a cost to this that all of us should recognize. When budgets get smaller and the market shrinks, that is going to be bad for people who work in the industry. And in particular, it's going to be rough for the below-the-line talent, the people whose names you see at the end credits — when these credits now scroll for 10 minutes after a Marvel movie because they have employed hundreds, maybe even a thousand people.And there was a story in The Wall Street Journal just this summer. You mentioned the time in Atlanta about how Marvel has moved most of its production out of Atlanta. There are people there who had built lives, bought houses, had earned pretty good middle-class incomes, but weren't superstars by any means. Now they don't know what to do because they thought they were living in Hollywood East, and suddenly, Hollywood East doesn't exist anymore.We may be in a position where Hollywood West, as we have long know it, L.A., the film center, also doesn't exist anymore, at least or at least as much smaller, much less important and much less central to filmmaking than it has been for the last nearly 100 years. And again, as a critic, I like the new stuff. I often like the smaller stuff. I'm an American; I want movies made for me. But also, these are people with jobs and livelihoods, and it is going to be hard for them in many cases.Sonny: Oh, I'm glad to see the A.I. King over here take the side of the little guy who's losing out on his on his livelihood.Peter: I think A.I. is going to help the little guy. Small creators are going to have a leg up because of it.Sonny: Sure.All right. Well, I love some of those thoughts, love some of those lessons. Publicly traded companies are famously risk-taking, so we're going to be fine, definitely. Either way, I really do love the show. I really, really enjoy it. I think it's one of the best discussion shows, chat shows about any movie podcast out there. It is really, really fun. It is very cool to see you guys go independent.I just want to throw it to you a little bit. What is your pitch? What is the show? Where can they find it? What's the best way to support it? And where can they find you all?Sonny: The show's a lot like this, like what you just listened to.Alyssa: Peter has developed this catchphrase when Sonny asked him how he's doing to kick off the show, and he always says that he's excited to be talking about movies with friends. We want to be your movie friends. You should come hang out with us. Hopefully, we will be going live a little bit more, maybe meeting up in person some. I will hopefully be doing some writing for our sub stack, if you have missed my blatherings about movies and movie trends.But yeah, come hang out with us every week. We're fun.Sonny: Movieaisle.substack.com. That's where you should go. You should I'm I'm I'm sure I'm sure there will be a link to it or something. Movieaisle.substack.com is where it lives now. We'll have a proper URL at some point.Terrific. And wherever you get your podcasts?Sonny: And wherever you get your podcasts!That's great. Peter, Alyssa, Sonny, thank you so much. This is really, really fun. Again, I really dig the show so much. I'm very, very happy for you guys being able to spring out independent. So really, thanks for coming on.Edited by Crystal WangIf you have anything you'd like to see in this Sunday special, shoot me an email. Comment below! Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for supporting Numlock.Thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber! Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.numlock.com/subscribe

Message from E.J. Roussell on October 12, 2025

Today, Pastor Jack teaches that it's only when we realize how powerful, and how holy God truly is, will we understand that God's presence is not to be taken lightly. We must learn from what Samuel said to the people of God, and that is to respect what is sacred or serious consequences may come upon us.

Today, Pastor Jack teaches that when we do things that greatly displease the Lord, as did the Israelites during this time, both a warning and oftentimes a judgment will follow. But, this can make us realize the holiness of God, and the seriousness of staying in line with God's will for our lives.

Today, Pastor Jack teaches that what we do for a living can project who we are. Israel's enemy worshiped a wooden statue. Sounds ridiculous today, but we can have gods in our lives, like influence, money, even beauty, or perhaps fame. The danger is not in what we do, but how it could take the place of God in our lives.

Today, Pastor Jack teaches that it's natural for us to trust in what we see. We can get lost in carved images, or material worship instead of giving God the glory that is due His name.

We live in a culture where most people would say they are “good” or “decent” … and deserving of Heaven. But is being good enough to make a person righteous before a Holy God? It can appear that our culture has swung the pendulum toward viewing God through the lens of love only … and it’s almost become a religion of its own … but there’s a reality of God’s holiness and love that we often overlook. That’s the topic we’ll be exploring today on Bold Steps with Pastor Mark Jobe, as we continue with Paul’s letter to the Romans in our new series … City of God. Bold Step Gift: Walk Like Jesus: Who He Calls Us To BeBecome a Bold Partner: https://www.moodyradio.org/donateto/boldstepsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.