Podcasts about Christians

Mon » A bush pilot's seized Cessna tests the Eighth Amendment's ban on excessive fines at the Supreme Court.Also: David Bahnsen explains why the Fed's rate hike mostly caught up with markets that had already tightened. Plus: the WORLD History Book traces how Congress turned Article III's sketch of a federal judiciary into a working court system.EP 3491 · Mon Sep 21, 2026Today's stories—> Monday morning news> Legal Docket: Seized livelihood> David Bahnsen: Fashionably late> WORLD History Book: From sketch to system★ LIMITED TIME: Order your commemorative sticker celebrating 15 years and 100 million downloads. theworldandeverythinginit.org/sticker (Please place order by Wed Sep 30)Thank you for supporting The World and Everything in It ❤️ wng.org/donate──────────────Additional support comes from Cedarville University, located in southwest Ohio, committed to biblical faithfulness and academic excellence, preparing students to serve Christ with conviction in every profession. Every one of its 175+ undergraduate and graduate programs are grounded in a biblical worldview, equipping graduates with the knowledge, skill, and conviction to serve wherever God leads. New online undergraduate degrees through Cedarville Online offer flexible, affordable education rooted in biblical truth and designed for today's learners. Learn more at cedarville.edu, and explore online programs at cedarville.edu/online.Additional support comes from St. Dunstan's Academy, a farm, trades, and classics boarding school in Virginia. Now enrolling 9th and 10th grade boys. stdunstansacademy.orgAnd from The Voice of the Martyrs, serving persecuted Christians since 1967. More at VOM.org/theworld

Why are so many Christians afraid to share their faith—and have our churches softened the gospel in the process? Ray Comfort joins me to talk about evangelism, the reality of hell, spiritual warfare, the fear of the Lord, and why the good news only makes sense when we understand the seriousness of sin. We're also talking about Ray's new autobiography, Compelled, and his remarkable life of sharing Jesus with the lost.Sponsor: Thanks to today's sponsor, Angel Studios. Watch Bad Counselors at http://Angel.com/HSJ .Shop MyFreedomCart for trusted, American-made products that support your values.http://myfreedomcart.com/heidiShow mentions: http://heidistjohn.com/mentionsWebsite | http://heidistjohn.comSupport the show! | http://donorbox.org/donation-827Rumble | rumble.com/user/HeidiStJohnYoutube |    / @‌heidistjohnpodcast  Instagram | @‌heidistjohnFacebook | Heidi St. JohnX | @‌heidistjohnFaith That Speaks Online CommunitySubmit your questions for Fan Mail Friday | http://heidistjohn.com/fanmailfriday

In this episode of Pray the Word on 2 Kings 22:11, David Platt highlights the power of Scripture to lead us to genuine repentance.Explore more content from Radical.

How do you react when things don't go your way? As Christians, we know that God's watching over us but our relationship with Christ doesn't exempt us from struggle or pain. Brooke Jevicks truly learned how good God is through the hardship of being a single mom on the poverty line. Her faith was solidified and strengthened through one of the hardest seasons of her life. Join hosts Eryn Eddy Adkins and Vivian Mabuni as they learn Brooke's story and how we, too, can depend on God, even in our darkest times. You don't want to miss this encouraging God Hears Her conversation.   Guest Bio: Brooke Jevicks is a nonprofit leader, a speaker, a single mom of two amazing humans, and a woman of unshakable faith who has walked through seasons of deep adversity. From surviving abuse, navigating poverty, and nearly facing homelessness as a single mother to rebuilding her life, career, and faith, her journey is one of redemption and resilience. As Vice President of Advancement at Wedgwood Christian Services, Brooke leads efforts to serve vulnerable children and families, raising awareness and resources so that every child knows they are loved, worthy, and never forgotten. Brooke's heart remains the same: to point people to the One who redeems, restores, and writes beauty into every chapter of our lives.   Notes and Quotes:  “He never ever abandons you and always gives you what you need.” —Brooke Jevicks  “The closer you can get to Him, the more you can surrender.” —Brooke Jevicks  “We were not wired to stay in constant stress.” —Vivian Mabuni  “That pile of laundry isn't the picture of your walk with the Lord, or your life, or who you are as a human. It doesn't define you.” —Brooke Jevicks  Verses:  Psalm 23  Psalm 62:8  John 7:3-8  John 15:5  Related Episodes:  GHH Ep 181 – Nothing is Wasted with Jennifer DiVita: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/nothing-is-wasted/ GHH Ep 187 – Building Community as a Mom with Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tyan-MacLean: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/building-community-as-a-mom/ GHH Ep 219 – A Symbol of Surrender with Anna Laura: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/a-symbol-of-surrender/  Links:  Join our Email List : https://go.odb.org/sign-up-ghh Subscribe to the God Hears Her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GodHearsHerODBM Brooke's Website: https://www.embracingyouevents.com/brookejevicks 

What are you looking at? In this message, we are reminded that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Joy is not simply dependent on our circumstances—it is connected to what we believe, what we are filled with, and where we choose to place our focus. As believers, God's presence lives within us, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can experience His joy and peace even in the midst of difficult circumstances.The question is: What are you looking at? Through Philippians 4 and the example of the wise men following the star, we are challenged to choose rejoicing, bring our problems to God with thanksgiving, and intentionally meditate on what is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and praiseworthy. When we keep our eyes on Jesus and trust in what God has promised, we can experience a joy that is not dependent on what we see around us—a joy that is inexpressible and full of glory.MORE...  

In part 3 of the Overcoming Technology mini-series, Dave and Bethlie quickly recap the first three steps (determine if you need to change, educate yourself, recognize the damage) before landing on the three that close out the series: find alternative activities, create tech-free zones, and discuss the changes needed — together, as a family. Technology itself isn't evil — it's a gift from God (1 Timothy 6:17) — but Christians are called to walk circumspectly (Ephesians 5) and redeem the time, which is hard to do when technology is running the show instead of being run by us. Quick recap of steps 1–4 (from Parts 1 & 2): Determine if you need to overcome technology Educate yourself (books, podcasts, research) Recognize the damage it can cause (sleep disruption, social isolation, eye strain, shorter attention spans, addiction, loss of privacy, cyberbullying) Determine the changes needed (individual — time limits, habit changes, removing non-essential apps, silencing notifications) The final three steps: Find alternative activities — Step away on purpose through physical activity, hobbies, and face-to-face interaction. Suggestions: walks after dinner, biking, mountain biking, golf, tennis, painting, crafting, cooking. The point: if parents don't proactively offer alternatives, kids won't find them on their own. Create tech-free zones — Specific zones discussed: Mealtime — TV off, phones away, actual conversation The bedroom — phones stay out, use an analog/digital alarm clock instead; protects sleep and removes late-night temptation Ballgames and kids' activities — be present, not on your phone Family movie night — phone-free even during streaming ad breaks (use the break for a bathroom run, popcorn, or "a kissing break") Alternative approach: designate the family room (or one area) as the only place tech is allowed, making the rest of the house tech-free by default Discuss the changes needed — with your kids, not just for them — Ask questions rather than issue mandates: "Do you think you're on the internet too much?" "What would you do with your time if you weren't on TikTok?" Getting kids to buy in (rather than just enforcing rules) leads to better results. Consider one tech-free day a month as a family, agreed on together.

Christians told TruthSeekah that UFOs were demons, but his personal sightings revealed another possibility. TruthSeekah and Arien explore UFOs in the Bible, angelic encounters, spiritual discernment, prayer, Orion sightings and what military night vision revealed in the sky.Get your retreat tickets TODAY at TruthSeekah.com!➡️ Support on Patreon! https://patreon.com/join/truthseekah✅ Get access to 40+ video lessons + Weekly LIVE calls!✅ Worldwide Online Community!✅ Courses, Monthly Webinars, Prayer, Meditation, Discussion✅ TruthSeekah's Meditation Library

Share a commentSaying “Jesus is Savior” can sound harmless until you say it like the apostles meant it: Jesus Christ alone. That single word exposes why culture can tolerate vague spirituality but lashes out at biblical Christianity. We talk candidly about what happens when a believer takes a public moral stand, from angry emails and workplace complaints to legal pressure and, at the extreme, violence. The point is not fear or outrage. The point is readiness.We reflect on how Christians respond when the temperature rises: we learn the truth, we speak with boldness, we stay gracious and patient, we remain reasonable when the world is unreasonable, and we love enemies enough to pray for them and share the gospel persuasively. We also widen the frame to global Christian persecution and the long history of suffering in the church, from Stephen in Acts to believers who are reviled and harmed today.Then we move into 2 Peter 1:1 for the kind of backbone persecuted Christians need. We unpack saving faith versus everyday faith, why saving faith is a gift we obtain rather than earn, and why it is the object, not the amount, that saves. Peter's promise is deeply encouraging: every Christian has a faith of equal standing, equally precious, because it rests on the righteousness of “our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” That leads us into the deity of Christ, the mystery of the Trinity, and the practical, life-or-death meaning of calling Jesus “Savior” in a world that crowns its own saviors. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review.Learn more about twenty-five years of global impact, and reserve tickets to our gala. https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/25 Learn more: https://www.wisdomonline.org/Support the show

SEEDS: Download the free SEEDS app and take one small step today: plant your first seed and see what God can grow. In this Q&A episode, the KS Team chats through why a wife may not orgasm from intercourse, how to think about toys in marriage, how to respond when friends think swinging is acceptable, and so much more! Get on the waitlist for our upcoming Finishing Well orgasm course now! (Waitlisters will get it for an incredible price!) Watch the episode on YouTube!! Our Episodes: Talk Dirty To Me  Our Products: Orgasm Course Waitlist!!!!  Out Of Sync Audio Course Resources: GotQuestions.com ⁠My Counselor Online⁠ ⁠Better Help⁠ ⁠⁠Join Unite & Ignite ⁠⁠ Want more from Kingdom Sexuality? Come hang out! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook Group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Approximate Time Stamps: 00:30 — Verse of the day & sponsor break 01:33 — Listener Q&A begins 02:05 — Orgasm during intercourse 05:11 — Finishing Well course 06:13 — Advice for difficulty orgasming 07:48 — Future episode: unusual listener questions 08:20 — Using toys during sex 14:08 — Sexual language in marriage 15:08 — Why swinging isn't okay 18:55 — Closing prayer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following Jesus Feels Too Hard? Don't Quit Yet | Before You Quit #8 What if one of the reasons you're thinking about quitting Christianity is something you rarely say out loud? "It's just too hard." In Day 8 of Before You Quit: Hope for the Christian Who Feels Done, Rob Skinner begins Week Two of the book: Why People Quit and Don't Say It Out Loud. People rarely walk away from their faith in one sudden moment. A disappointment here. A conflict there. An unanswered prayer. A broken relationship. Little by little, discouragement accumulates until someone quietly begins drifting away. And sometimes underneath all of it is a simple feeling: Following Jesus has become too hard. Here's something Christians don't always like to admit: Christianity is hard. Yes, following Jesus is better. It's blessed. It's worth it. But Jesus never promised it would always be easy. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Jesus didn't hide the cost of discipleship. He actually told people to count the cost before deciding to follow him. So if following Jesus feels difficult right now, that doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong. You may actually be experiencing exactly what Jesus told us to expect. A Christianity of Convenience It's possible to customize Christianity until most of the difficult parts disappear. No sacrifice. Little prayer. No emotional engagement. Minimal commitment. But that's a Christianity of convenience—not the life of discipleship Jesus described. If you're struggling, you're also not the first Christian to feel this way. An entire New Testament letter—Hebrews—was written to Christians who needed encouragement to keep going. Hebrews 10:36 says: "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." If Scripture tells us to persevere, it's because there will be times when we desperately want to stop. Don't Just White-Knuckle It But Rob doesn't recommend simply gritting your teeth and trying harder for the next 40 years. Sometimes following Jesus becomes especially difficult when our focus shifts away from Jesus and onto the people and problems around us. Rob shares a line from Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ: "Whoever loves much does much." Looking back, Rob realized that some of the times he complained most about how difficult Christianity felt were also times when his love and interest in Jesus had diminished. He had lost some of the wonder and appreciation that originally drew him to Christ. So he returned to Jesus' words to Christians who had lost their first love: "Repent and do the things you did at first." — Revelation 2:5 Do the Things You Did at First Rob realized he had stopped doing many of the things that had originally helped his love for Jesus grow: Reading the Bible. Avoiding temptation. Spending time with other Christians. Living transparently. Praying. When he started doing those things again, something changed. His circumstances didn't suddenly become easier. The hard things didn't disappear. But God's love began to trickle back into his life, and those hard things didn't feel quite as overwhelming anymore. If you're in a hard place right now, you're not the first Christian who's been there. Don't quit before you receive the reward God has for you. Persevere. But don't merely white-knuckle your way through your faith. Rekindle your love for Jesus. Go back. Do the things you did at first. Because as your love grows, the hard things may begin to feel just a little smaller. This is Day 8 of Rob Skinner's Before You Quit series, based on his new book, Before You Quit: Hope for the Christian Who Feels Done. Rob's goal is to inspire you to live a no-regrets life, make this life count, and multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.

The world is constantly teaching us what to desire, celebrate, and accept as normal—but much of its message is rooted in deception. Widespread acceptance does not make something good or true.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260921dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. Psalm 115:2-4 He Does Whatever Pleases Him “Where is your God?” Those who deny God’s existence may taunt Christians with that question. “If what you call sin is bad, why doesn’t God do something about it? If your God is real, why doesn’t he help you when you are hurting or in trouble?” Maybe we struggle with the same questions. The writer of our Bible reading today asks an important question: “Why do the nations say, ‘Where is your God?'” Isn’t it because we think too highly of ourselves? We think we know better than God about how things should be. And so, we criticize God for failing to act or for acting in ways that don’t seem right. How foolish and arrogant! Our God is not absent or powerless. He is not unjust or uncaring. He’s in heaven, far above everything else we might put our trust in. He wasn’t made by human hands or invented by human imagination. And he does whatever pleases him. He doesn’t need to answer to us. The good news is that what pleases God is to have a relationship with the people he created. When that relationship is broken by our selfish disobedience, what pleases him is to restore that relationship by sending his Son to suffer in our place. What pleases him is to demonstrate amazing grace by showing mercy to every sinner for the sake of his Son. If God were limited in any way, if God operated according to what we think is right, we could only fear him. But instead, he is pleased to love, forgive, and restore. And nothing can stand in his way. Prayer: Gracious God, in all of life’s circumstances, I know that you will do what pleases you and bless me by your amazing grace. Help me to trust your loving care. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Share a commentSaying “Jesus is Savior” can sound harmless until you say it like the apostles meant it: Jesus Christ alone. That single word exposes why culture can tolerate vague spirituality but lashes out at biblical Christianity. We talk candidly about what happens when a believer takes a public moral stand, from angry emails and workplace complaints to legal pressure and, at the extreme, violence. The point is not fear or outrage. The point is readiness.We reflect on how Christians respond when the temperature rises: we learn the truth, we speak with boldness, we stay gracious and patient, we remain reasonable when the world is unreasonable, and we love enemies enough to pray for them and share the gospel persuasively. We also widen the frame to global Christian persecution and the long history of suffering in the church, from Stephen in Acts to believers who are reviled and harmed today.Then we move into 2 Peter 1:1 for the kind of backbone persecuted Christians need. We unpack saving faith versus everyday faith, why saving faith is a gift we obtain rather than earn, and why it is the object, not the amount, that saves. Peter's promise is deeply encouraging: every Christian has a faith of equal standing, equally precious, because it rests on the righteousness of “our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” That leads us into the deity of Christ, the mystery of the Trinity, and the practical, life-or-death meaning of calling Jesus “Savior” in a world that crowns its own saviors. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review.Learn more about twenty-five years of global impact, and reserve tickets to our gala. https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/25 Learn more: https://www.wisdomonline.org/Support the show

Luke 11Andrew, Isack, and Edwin discuss what stood out to them in Luke 11Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.    Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.    Join the Facebook community and join the conversation by clicking here. We'd love to meet you. Be a guest among the Christians who meet on Livingston Avenue. Click here to find out more. Michael Eldridge sang all four parts of our theme song. Find more from him by clicking here.   Thanks for talking about the text with us today.________________________________________________If the hyperlinks do not work, copy the following addresses and paste them into the URL bar of your web browser: Daily Written Devo: https://readthebiblemakedisciples.wordpress.com/?p=26839The Christians Who Meet on Livingston Avenue: http://www.christiansmeethere.org/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TalkAboutTheTextFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/texttalkMichael Eldridge: https://acapeldridge.com/ 

What does it actually mean to fight a spiritual war? In the second installment of Dissecting the Heart, Pierce Taylor Hibbs and Alfred Poirier explore David Powlison's approach to spiritual warfare, and why both secular psychology and deliverance ministries can miss the deepest battleground: the human heart. Rather than looking for demons to cast out or psychological explanations that remove human agency, Powlison returns to Scripture's ordinary but powerful pattern of spiritual warfare: repent, believe, and resist. Along the way, they discuss Satan as a “God mimic,” the absence of spiritual neutrality, the surprising hope found in calling sin what it is, and why sound theology must actually transform the way Christians live. The result is a vision of spiritual warfare that is less sensational than we might expect, but far more pervasive: a daily battle to turn from sin, trust the promises of Christ, and live by faith in the midst of a fallen world. You can preorder ⁠Dissecting the Heart here⁠. If you enjoy this episode, you can access tons of content just like this at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wm.wts.edu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you would like to join us in our mission to train specialists in the Bible for Christ and His global church, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wts.edu/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening!

In times of lawlessness, fear, persecution, and uncertainty, believers need more than human resolve—they need the supernatural strength of God. In today's episode of the MY Devotional Podcast, Dr. Michael Youssef explains how the Truth of the Gospel gives Christians the stability to stand firm when everything around them seems to be shaking.Jesus promised that He would lose none of those the Father has given Him. That means your security is not dependent on your ability to hold on to Christ, but on His faithfulness to hold on to you. He will not abandon His people, and He will carry them safely to the end.Dr. Youssef also reminds believers of the extraordinary comfort of God's sovereign calling. Before the foundations of the world, God knew His people, loved them, and chose them in Christ. Remembering that Truth can lift our eyes above present circumstances and anchor our hearts in eternal realities.True stability cannot be found in changing circumstances, economic security, political systems, or the approval of others. It is found in God alone. Whatever storm you are facing, stand firm in the confidence that you are held by your heavenly Father and that His strength is more than enough to keep you unshaken.Pray with me.Lord Jesus, because You know and love me, I have confidence that I will not be moved or shaken—the Most High God holds me in His hands. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. The voice you hear on the MY Devotional podcast is digitally generated with Dr. Youssef's permission. If today's devotional stirred a question, burden, or need for prayer, you don't have to walk through it alone.

Where did Joseph Smith get the idea of temples? It sounds like a simple question, but historian John Hamer’s answer stretches from the Bible to a domed assembly hall in Independence, Missouri, and includes a temple that was called for by revelation, designed by an architect, and never built. In this first conversation of his return to Gospel Tangents, John, a Community of Christ Seventy and co-editor of Scattering of the Saints: Schism Within Mormonism, walks me through the building blocks. https://youtu.be/1r98tnUC5Q4 Don't miss our other conversations with John: https://gospeltangents.com/people/john-hamer/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved   John starts with the Bible. Solomon’s temple is only one model, he explains. The New Testament offers another: the idea that the new covenant fulfilled the old, along with the gatherings of the early Christians in the Book of Acts. That second vision, he says, shaped the Kirtland Temple, a building of stacked assembly halls, and it became the model for Community of Christ’s understanding of temples ever after. When Community of Christ members regathered in Jackson County, Missouri, they wanted a temple on that Kirtland model. What they built, John argues, was Frederick Madison Smith’s Auditorium, a massive assembly hall that he sees as a 20th-century version of the Kirtland Temple in everything but name. He points to a published drawing of Joseph Smith III’s temple vision, which looks like the Auditorium with steeples added, and notes that the Auditorium was built without them. Then the story turns. Smith’s assertion of church authority sparked a schism, and a couple thousand members moved to the Temple Lot church, the Hedrickites. Their own temple plans carried the same Kirtland DNA. Otto Fetting’s revelations called for a temple, and an architect gave it a front like a Greek temple, or a bank, and a long, thin plan with one assembly hall stacked atop another. It was never built. The Depression hit, Fetting was pushed out of the church, and the diggers had to fill in the hole they had started. Restoration Groups Idea of Temples Splinter groups from Community of Christ have echoed the pattern since. John describes the Remnant Church’s headquarters in an old high school across from the Temple Lot, with an inner room of Kirtland-style pulpits and a planned community center with a Kirtland-like exterior that was never built. When he asked its president whether that was a temple, the answer was no. Then the conversation moves to Nauvoo, where something new enters. The Nauvoo temple began with Kirtland-style assembly halls but added a basin in the basement resting on oxen, drawn from Solomon’s temple. John connects that shift to the Old Testament practices Joseph Smith was restoring, including plural marriage, and to Freemasonry, whose traditions claim a lineage back to Solomon’s temple. That Nauvoo model, he says, went on to shape the other branches. Together, these threads show two rival visions of what a temple is: the Kirtland idea of a place of assembly, and the Nauvoo idea of an Old Testament-style house of ordinances. This first conversation of the six-part series lays out that fork in the road. Next, in part 2, John turns to the Endowment House and fundamentalist temples, including a pyramid-shaped temple in Utah and a temple whose dome ceiling turns into the night sky. Listen to the full conversation wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters 0:00 Welcome John Hamer 4:04 Where Did Joseph Smith Get the Idea of Temples? 7:22 Zion, Jackson County & Plans for 24 Temples 13:14 Kirtland as the Model for Community of Christ 14:00 The Auditorium: A Temple in Disguise? 16:44 Frederick M. Smith, the Schism & the Temple Lot Church 17:57 Otto Fetting’s Unbuilt Temple: The Hedrickite Plan 21:04 The Remnant Church Headquarters: Kirtland-Style Pulpits 22:20 Nauvoo: Solomon’s Temple, the Oxen & Freemasonry 24:32 What’s Next? Don't miss our other conversations with John: https://gospeltangents.com/people/john-hamer/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

ARCHIVE EPISODE: In this raw and deeply personal episode, Nancy shares from a place of real-time processing, calling listeners back to the simplicity and weight of daily obedience to the Father. She speaks of a quiet but powerful move of God—one not built on platforms or performance, but on hidden lives yielded to Him. Through reflections on formation, offense, pride, and the costly process of true discipleship, Nancy urges listeners to resist being outwitted by the enemy and to remain responsive to God's voice in the ordinary moments of life. This episode is both a warning and an invitation—to return to Him, to stay steady, and to allow Christ to be formed within, one decision at a time. Thanks for Listening! I hope that after listening to The Tent Talk Podcast, you'll want to start discussions with your team or small group. These resources can help guide your discipleship journey to maturity and destiny with the Father: Episode Notes & Conversation Guide DOWNLOAD HERE https://nancymccready.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/EPISODE-1057-Your-Response-To-Him.pdf LINKS The Devotional Podcast with Nancy McCready https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2hHjwQ_3Qrp1rhbR9nu68wnBtQY0IHzc The Producer's Way School theproducersway.com Nancy's book, From Trauma to Trust www.amazon.com/dp/B096ZML6R3/ JOIN THE CONVERSATION Every journey begins with a conversation, join us on social media to get started! Facebook: www.facebook.com/nbmccready Instagram: www.instagram.com/nbmccready/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@nancymccreadyministries SUBSCRIBE Like what you hear? Subscribe to Tent Talk with Nancy McCready so you don't miss an episode! nancymccready.com/podcast/ ABOUT NANCY MCCREADY Nancy McCready is redefining discipleship across nations, cultures, and denominations. Through Nancy McCready Ministries, she partners with leaders to build deep, transformative discipleship cultures that provoke people to walk in freedom and live as mature sons of the Father. Her powerful message comes from her journey of overcoming abuse, addiction, and self-destruction to walk in true freedom. She now dedicates her life to helping others grow in intimacy with the Father and live unto Him. ABOUT TENT TALK PODCAST Tent Talk with Nancy McCready is a listener-funded podcast dedicated to helping Christians along their journey of a deeper walk with Christ. With the support of donors like you, we are able to help our listeners gain a deeper spiritual understanding and connection with the Father. Thank you for your support of the Tent Talk Podcast! nancymccready.com/giving/ Brought to you by Nancy McCready Ministries nancymccready.com/

Replacement theology says the church replaced Israel. Romans 11 says God hasn't rejected His people.In this episode, Pastor Keegan defines replacement theology (supersessionism), traces where it came from, and walks through Romans 9–11 to show why Paul refutes it point by point. From the early church fathers to the Reformation, replacement theology reshaped how Christians read God's promises to Israel — and this teaching shows what those promises actually say. Perfect for the commute, the gym, or the drive.You'll Learn:✅ The three forms of replacement theology and the four errors behind them✅ Why Israel's hardening is partial and temporary, and why God's gifts and calling can never be withdrawn✅ The historical consequences replacement theology produced, and why Gentile believers are grafted in, not in charge

Does farming have anything to do worldview? In this episode, we're joined by Mike Hutten from The Good Ground to answer that question. We talk about modern farming, stewardship, and regenerative agriculture. We explore what it means to be good stewards of God's earth, how Christians should think about the way we use and care for creation, and and what a biblical worldview has to say about farming and food. Want to learn more? Check out Mike's work at www.thegoodground.ca   0:00 - How did Mike get into this? 7:40 - Health 11:00 - What is God's Design? 14:30 - Conventional vs. Regenerative 19:00 - How did we get here? 29:00 - Why is this “not good?” 33:00 - What does it mean to be a Steward? 46:00 - Innovation? 51:00 - Current Problems 58:00 - Can we pivot?   A BIG THANKS TO OUR OFFICIAL SPONSOR, TRIVAN! WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING US MAKE THIS CONVERSATION POSSIBLE. BE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT AT WWW.TRIVAN.COM   To keep up with the podcast, check out our website: https://www.realtalkpodcast.ca/ Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, clips, and more! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedRealTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrealtalk/ We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or other feedback at realtalk@reformedperspective.ca. Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please share this podcast with your family and friends!  

Steve DeWitt The Joy of Opposition - Part B Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, Nehemiah 4:1-23 Scripture Reference: Nehemiah 4:1-23 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, Nehemiah 4:1-23 Sermon Series: Spiritual ExilesMessage: The Joy of OppositionAirdate: 9/18-9/21/26Programs: 2360 and 2361Morning, Bethel Church, and this is our challenging weekend with Daylight Savings. I said, or I just was thinking about our first service people today, that those are the really early risers to show up at the 815 on the spring ahead weekend of Daylight Savings. You're sort of more the hoi polloi, the sort of the normal folks, and we'll see who comes to the next service. I stand before you as a tired man. My daughter was up throughout most of the night, and I'm running on fumes today. So I say that to you in some way to mitigate my guilt for something stupid that I might say, because my eyes are like rolling in my head, I feel like today. So we'll get through the morning and go home and take a really good nap. And you parents who've been there, you know how I'm feeling today. I do want to greet our Cedar Lake campus this morning, and thank you so much for joining with us. Our Hobart Portage campus, which is not in this service with us, but are next week celebrating their... grand opening. I can say our grand opening. We're just one church. Really excited about that.So if you happen to just remember that in prayer, we've got a lot of work that's gone into kind of kicking that off, and I've seen the plans, and it's really going to be a great weekend next weekend over there. And how often do you, you know, grand open a new campus? You know, like, well, we've done it twice in the last six months, but we don't know how many more ever in the future, so we want to celebrate that, and we're going to next week. Today, we're going to stay in the stream of our teaching in 1 Peter without being exactly in 1 Peter. We've seen in 1 Peter this focus on trials. That trials are meant by God to reveal and to refine us. We look at them often as being bad things. God looks at them as being good things because of the effect that they have. And 1 Peter is written to people that are in exile, that are experiencing opposition.They're experiencing... ostracization, and Peter encourages them to see even those things as being part of God's refining fire, that work that he works in us, and to embrace them, not as being bad things, but in the end ultimately good things. So today I want to take a little break from 1 Peter and to look at one particular kind of trial that we so often run into as individuals and as a church. And that is just the trials of opposition, the trials of opposition. And my title is The Joy of Opposition, which sounds oxymoronic, right? Who looks at opposition and goes, yay, we don't naturally do that. There is from Scripture and from the teaching of Scripture every reason for us to even look at opposition as being something that we can rejoice in. James, of course, says, “count it all joy when you fall into various trials and temptations”, and that includes the trials of opposition. We all face opposition, don't we? Maybe as I say that, names come to mind. Perhaps that person is sitting next to you today. and try not to be poking them throughout the sermon, especially if you're married.But we all face opposition, and we have to know how to respond to it if we're ever going to make it through these trials that God brings our way and these people that God puts in our path. How should we respond to opposition? And Nehemiah is just a fantastic... book and a fantastic story about a man who suffered great opposition and who not only endured it, but who goes down in history as a great example of somebody going through it in a way that honors the Lord. And so... is that Nehemiah hears that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and remained in that condition. He was serving King Artaxerxes in Susa, the capital of Persia, and he hears that Jerusalem is still in ruins, the wall is still in ruins, and he has a burden for that. He offers a prayer, and God blesses that prayer, and King Artaxerxes says, Nehemiah, you can go, and I'm going to... the thing. I'm going to provide what you need for this thing. I'm given a letter that ought to get you all the way there. And he was the most powerful man in the world at the time. And so that was like a huge endorsement.And so Nehemiah, he goes to Jerusalem and he inspects the walls and he gathers the Jews and he says, listen, my friends, let's rise and let us rebuild this wall. And Nehemiah is this amazing story of how a people that, you know, they weren't naturally masons and builders, but they come together and they accomplish this amazing feat of rebuilding the walls of the city of Jerusalem. And in the midst of all of this success, there is chapter 4 where there is trouble. There's trouble. Even in the midst of a great success, there's trouble. And it seems to me, my observation would be, and even my own experience, that whenever God is really doing something, whether that be in somebody's life, a new Christian, or maybe some victories that you've had spiritually in your life, or maybe it's your small group, or even a church or a mission work, wherever God is really moving, so often when there is a lot of momentum, something will happen or somebody will come or there'll be some sort of criticism that steps into that moment and can so easily derail the entire thing. And that's what Nehemiah faced.And I'd like to begin in our little study here of chapter four by looking at the strategies that the opponents of Nehemiah employed against him. So let me introduce you to the bad guys, okay? These are the bad guys. And their names are notorious, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. These were three kings of small kingdoms that surrounded Jerusalem. And they represent the opposition to the Jews rebuilding this. wall. We're introduced to them in chapter 2 verse 10 where they first hear that Nehemiah has come to rebuild the wall and the text tells us that they are displeased greatly. And they begin then to wage a kind of psychological war against Nehemiah. That continues throughout the story. Even after chapter 4, it's not the end of it, because as the story unfolds, they write an open letter, you know, a kind of assassination of Nehemiah's character. They post it on Facebook for everybody to see what this guy was really all about and what his motives were and questioning those. Later, they want to meet him in the fields of Ono. And when your enemies want to meet you in the fields of Ono, you say to them, Oh, no, I am not going to go there.They wanted to kill him. And so these guys were serious about this. And Sanballat is the ringleader. Tobiah is kind of... his sidekick, and Geshem was the schemer behind the scenes that was doing his scheming. This might help a little bit. Sanballat was the Sith Lord, Tobiah was Darth Vader, and Geshem was General Grievous, just to give some communication to some of you. Now, these guys surrounded Jerusalem. Their kingdoms surrounded Jerusalem. Maybe you're in a situation like that right now as I talk about opposition. You feel like you've got it on all sides. I got nowhere to go. There's no safe zone for me. There's no green zone for me. Everywhere I look, it seems like I've got opposition against me. That's what Nehemiah was facing. Everybody around them wanted them out of there. Now, these men couldn't attack Nehemiah directly because, remember, Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, the king of really the world at that time, had endorsed the project. So to come out overtly and to say, we're going to take you on, we're going to take you down, would have been in opposition to Artaxerxes. And even these guys didn't want to mess with Artaxerxes.So their strategy really is one more of cloak and dagger. All right, this is espionage. This is insinuation. It's the psychological guerrilla warfare that they employ against God's people in the rebuilding of this wall. So what are the strategies that they employ? Well, notice, first of all, that they begin where every schoolyard begins, and that is with taunting and with ridicule. Look at verse 1. “Now, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, He was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish and burn ones at that? Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, yes, what they're building, if a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.” Emphasis added for effect, okay? So here you have Sanballat now. He's the ringleader. He's the spokesperson. He's the Sith Lord. And he begins by ridiculing the effort that these Jews are doing in rebuilding the wall.And the text literally says this. It says that he became very angry. Literally, his nose became hot. This is a Hebrew idiom for when somebody is really mad. It's like the blood. They get red in the face all the way to the end of their nose. Like if you see a guy who's red all the way to the end of their nose, he's mad, right? And that's Sanballat. He's mad to the end of his nose, mad. And so he begins by taunting them. And visualize this with me. He gathers his cronies, he gathers the army of Samaria, and he begins to jeer the Jews in a way that he knows they're going to hear what he is saying, and he begins to mock them. And this sounds like, you know, the local elementary schoolyard, or maybe an IU-Purdue football game, because he begins by saying this. He says, these feeble Jews. Okay, what's that? Name-calling, right? They're wimpy. They've got nothing. He derides their ambition. Will they restore the wall? In other words, this project's a joke. Come on. Putting this whole thing together. He ridicules their optimism. He says, what are they going to do? Pray the wall up? They can't build this wall.All they have is their prayers. He mocks their enthusiasm. He says, well, they finish in a day. Word had gotten out that they were busy little beavers working so hard on the wall. All of their enthusiasm. Do they really think they can do this thing? I mean, come on. He undermines their confidence. Can they bring the stones back to life? In other words, they can't do it. They can't. Do it. And if you can visualize this, here's all these people, and they hate the Jews. They're not for this wall going back up. And every one of these that he says, all the guys, you know, they've been drinking. Think of a sort of a drunken sort of mob scene where they're all, wow, no Jews, and they can't do it. And so it kind of is building a Sanballat, kind of does this and does that. And I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where somebody tells a really good joke and somebody else thinks it's a great time to pile on. Or jump on the bandwagon. There's not a lot of humor in the Bible, but this is one of them, actually.Sanballat very effectively rolls out these ridicules, and there's Tobiah. He thinks it's a great time to jump in, and he goes, yeah, if a fox ran on the wall, it would fall down. I hear everyone going, oh, Tobiah, that's so stupid. Why would you say something like that? And we know from history and archaeology that it is stupid. They've done studies of the wall that Nehemiah built. It was nine feet thick. That would be a big fox. Knock that wall down. The point here is that he wasn't saying this for the armies, and he wasn't saying this for his cronies. He was saying this hoping the Jews would hear it, hoping they'd hear the mockery and the laughter. You know, the old adage in the schoolyard is, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. You've heard that before. You've probably said that. And the fact that you have to resort on the schoolyard to poetry ought to say that words are effective at discouraging us, aren't they? And even as adults, a little contrary word, a little criticism, a little taunt, a little mockery, and inside we can suddenly become so fleshly, we can be discouraged.And that is always the case. Words are effective. Now, why do you suppose Sanballat began with ridicule? Why not just march the armies out there and just take them all on? Because what is Satan? He's known as the father of what? Lies. Satan is the master of the subtlety. He's the master of the insinuation. We see that with Adam and Eve, or with Eve specifically in the garden, as he just twists the words and he plays with the mind. Those that Satan controls and follow his path, they do the same thing. Satan knows that he doesn't have to get a good Christian to deny the virgin birth or the fact that Jesus is coming back. All he has to do is discourage him a little bit. And with that discouragement, the good work that God's doing in them or the good work that God's doing through them, all of a sudden, it can come to a halt. Why? I'm so discouraged. And maybe you're there right now. You're rejoicing in what God's done in the past, but right now you're discouraged and somebody said something. Something's going on.This person's in my life. I got a Sanballat. I got a Tobiah. And you're just thinking, oh, that's the way the enemy operates. How should we respond? Notice how Nehemiah responds in verse 4 and verse 6. I won't read them, but in both cases, he prays. Now, I never saw anybody in the schoolyard do that. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray over these words that you've said. It's not our natural response, is it? have an example here from Nehemiah, I'll come back to this later, in how to respond to criticism and opposition. Go to God in prayer. And notice what he adds after verse 6. He says that the response of the people was that they worked even harder. And the text says they worked because they had a heart to work. I love that little phrase there. And as I read that, you know what I think about? I honestly think about Bethel Church.One of the qualities of this church that I love so much is that this is a church that has a heart to work. And I've seen that over the years. I can think of just even recent examples of moments where it just comes pouring out. A year ago right now, we said, hey, we bought this building in Gary. We got a clean 30 or 40,000 square feet. Y'all come out now. And I know a terrible cold, I mean, I-65 was a sheet of ice. I know because I drove down it. You know, we had 400 people, volunteers that showed up and we scrubbed every inch of that building. And I saw the way that people were working and laboring and sweating and all of that. No pay for God, you know, that kind of a thing. And I just admire that so much. And like the, you know, a month ago we said, hey. somebody's given us two gym floors, come pull planks. Nobody wakes up in the morning and goes, I think I'm going to pull planks today.But we had all these people that showed up and they pulled planks all day and they got blisters and sore backs, but they did it to the glory of God. Why? Because they had a heart to work. And I just think about our church and even the day-to-day kind of week-to-week ministries, I think it's a wonderful quality of our congregation. We're good at building walls. and projects, and just having a heart to work for the Lord, and I commend you for it. So look at that verse and go, that's us right there. We're just like them. Encouraged? I want to be encouraging. The second thing that we find the enemy doing is, and you see how these escalate, okay? Escalates. Ridicule doesn't work, the people just work harder. So they amp it up now in verse 7 and 8, and they just seek to make trouble. But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. Now before they were greatly disturbed, greatly upset, now they are really mad. And what do they do?And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. The second thing that opposition will do when the ridicule doesn't work is they will just seek to do mischief. They will seek to do something that can frustrate the plans. They'll plot. They'll come together and strategize against the work of God. They will gossip. They will slander. They'll do whatever they can to create trouble. It's a kind of verbal terrorism that takes place. And of course, again, God's enemies do this because their Sith Lord Again, notice Nehemiah's response in verse 9. But we prayed and we posted a guard. That little verse I find to be one of the most helpful and insightful with a common problem amongst God's people. When opposition comes or trouble comes or some conflict comes, whatever it might be, there are really, it seems, two kinds of Christians. There are the kinds of Christians who say, we're just going to pray about it. We are going to pray about it. And indeed, they do pray about it. And then you have another group of people. They say, you know what? We're going to post a guard, right? We're weaponizing. We're getting the guns out.They want to do battle. Bring it on, okay? We are going to take practical steps. to take them out. They're more of the sort of practitioner type. So you have the kind of praying types, and you have the kind of post-a-guard types. And what I've seen pastorally, this plays out this way, where you have some people say they're just going to pray about it. I have seen in my ministry, I've seen people, they'll get like, I have cancer. And their response is, I am simply going to pray about this. And I have urged them, I'll say, pray about it, but why not get some medical help and do whatever you can medically as well as praying in order to take care of this problem? And I've seen people who have refused to seek medical advice because in their minds, I think, they think it's more faithful to simply... pray about it. At the other side of this, I have seen often, and I have done this myself, a problem arises and I skip the praying and I go to the posting of the guard stuff. Well, let's just think about how to make this happen.And we're going to do this and we're going to do that and we're going to take care of this and we're going to take care of that. And there's no regard for seeking God. It's like Israel when the Gibeonites faked him out and Joshua said, eh, we won't go to war with you. And then they find out they're the next country over. Why? Because they did not seek the Lord in the matter. And so it seems like there are those two kinds of Christians. And Nehemiah shows the beautiful balance of embracing both of those. What ought we do when we come to some trouble or trial in our life? First thing to do is to pray about it. And we see Nehemiah over and over again. He prays. His instinct is prayer. And for us as Christians, that ought to be our first thing. Hey, let's pray about that right now. Let's seek the Lord about this right now. But when we say amen, it doesn't mean now I don't have to think about anything else. There are all kinds of wisdom and prudent matters that the Bible also talks about.Read through the wisdom literature of Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and it's filled with practical advice for faithful living in the real world. We live in a real world where real things have to be taken care of. And the wise Christian and the wise church We'll do both of those. So maybe ask yourself, am I a I'm going to pray about it and then sort of take my hands off kind of person? Or am I a forget about praying about it, get right down to fixing it kind of person? And maybe Nehemiah could inspire us to be both of those. Okay, both of those. An example of both of those would be a dear woman in our church a few weeks ago had a very, very difficult surgery. According to James 5, she asked if the elders would pray over her, and we did. We anointed her with oil, we prayed over her, we prayed over that surgery. And then she went and she had the best medical care that she could possibly find. And to me, that is Nehemiah. Praying about it, posting a guard. A great example, I think, for prudent and prayerful living.The third thing we find happened now, again, an escalation, okay? Taunting, troublemaking, and now we see threats. Look at verse 11. “Also, our enemy said, before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and we'll kill them and put an end to the work.” Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, wherever you turn, they will attack us. Wherever you turn, they will attack us. Wherever you turn, they will attack us. Over. The language here in the Hebrew means over and over and over again. They were saying, they're going to get you. They're going to get you. They're going to kill you. Now, how fun would that be? Right? There you are. You're building a wall. You're hewing out stones. You're piling them up. You're making a wall. And at the same time, you've got some of your own people, cronies of your enemies, who are saying to you, you're going to die. Now, these people realize they didn't know they were Bible characters. Right? They're not in there, oh, this is a Bible story. We're going to be fine. They have no idea. They're living life like you and I live our lives.Would that be an effective, fearful tactic? I mean, what if, as you came in, there's all these people outside of the church going, you walk in there, they're going to kill you. How many of us would go, oh, no problem? No, it would have its effect, wouldn't it? And indeed, it did in that day. It had an effect of discouragement. Word gets out, they're going to kill us. In fact, let's look at that effect. What is the effect of the taunting? And what is the effect of the ridicule? And what is the effect of the troublemaking and the threats? of opposition in this story at this point is discouragement. Look at verse 10 of chapter 4. “In Judah it was said, the strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” What Nehemiah is recording there is what is the word on the street. What were people saying as they were building the wall? They're looking at all the rubble now and they're saying there's so much rubble. This is weeks after, or days after, Nehemiah said, let's rise and build.Was there more rubble now than there was before? No. But when we are discouraged, everywhere we look, there's rubble, right? Oh, yeah. I'm a little discouraged right now. My whole life stinks. There's rubble everywhere. When we're encouraged, there's no rubble. When we're discouraged, everything's rubble. Are you with me? Remember, I didn't have a good night of sleep, so I have no idea what I'm saying right now. I just hope it's connecting somehow. These words were having their effect in spite of the amazing progress that was being made. This goes down as one of the greatest and most unified team efforts that God's people have ever done. And in spite of this amazing accomplishment, and in the midst of it, You have all of this turmoil and opposition and drama and people actually saying, we're never going to make it. We can't do it. There's too much rubble and too much trouble. The danger, I think, in verbal attacks is we begin to believe what's being said, even when it's not true, right?Do you think, how likely is it that Geshem and Tobiah and Sanballat are going to take their armies against people that the most powerful man in the world said had permission to build this wall? Not very likely that they would do it. But if you hear something enough, you believe it to be true, don't you? If somebody tells you that you're nothing enough or somebody tells you that you can't do it enough or somebody tells you that, you know, your faith is a bunch of hooey because I know the kind of person that you are enough, you begin to believe it and discouragement kind of creeps in and now the progress that you were making, it slows down or stops, right? And you're like, oh, there's so much rubble. Why are we even trying this? We're never going to make it. I wonder if you've lived. In verse 10, have you had your face flush as your nose gotten red all the way to the tip as a colleague or a family member or a neighbor or a former friend or a former spouse tells you what a terrible person you are and questions every character quality in your life?Have you been, in verse 10, discouraged? As a pastor, you know, as a leader of any kind, if you take on any responsibility, expect that you're going to deal with this. I can tell you, I've been a pastor for 22 years. I can think of names that come to my mind of Sanballats of Tobias and Geshams over the years that have said this or that and questioned this or that and on and on and la la la. It's just, it's part of what it means to be a leader. But I know well that sense of discouragement, that deep down thought that I'm a failure or my faith isn't real because this person says they don't think I'm a good Christian, etc. I don't want to ruin the ending here again, but they rebuilt the wall in 52 days. They're halfway done. They're only like three weeks away from the time that Nehemiah said, let's begin rebuilding the wall. This is one of the greatest projects and team efforts in history, yet it was criticized. It was mocked. And this is the danger, I think, of criticism is that it can sap the energy from the most spiritual and noble of efforts.These people were rebuilding the wall to the glory of God. They heard from Nehemiah earlier all the things that Artaxerxes, all the things really that God had done. I mean, what are the chances that the most powerful man in the world is going to come to the aid of the Jews in rebuilding the wall of a city that had rebelled against his predecessor? Why would a king do that? And yet that king came to Nehemiah and the Jews' aid and provided the resources and gave the letter and made all the provisions. I mean, you look at all of that and what can you say? This is a God thing, right? This is a God thing. And yet, in spite of it being a God thing, a little bit of criticism just takes the wind out of the sails. This was tough for Nehemiah. opposition outside, discouragement within. Maybe you're in verse 10 right now, and you can relate to this. It's like, man, you're describing my life here, where I am today on this Sunday. I'm discouraged.And here's where Nehemiah, I think, provides an inspiring and helpful example of how to respond when life brings opposition. to what God is doing and what God wants to do in our life. And I've got four things, four responses that Nehemiah has here and four ways that we can actually experience these oppositions and turn them into actually a kind of joy. And I share these with you not because I do this perfectly or even 75%. This is as much for me as it is for anybody. And we have to be reminded of this because it happens so often in our life. But how do we respond when opposition comes to us? First of all, I think it is so critical that we expect it, that we expect opposition to come. There are some people that think mistakenly that to be a Christian or to be a part of a church, I mean, it's like... where it never is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day. I mean, that's every local church, isn't it? To go there would be just a blissful experience of happy Christians all the time.I'll never have anybody tell me anything but something that's uplifting and encouraging to me. Nothing will ever happen in the church that I don't walk out of there going, I'm so glad I'm a part of that church. I mean, it's just gonna be, it's like heaven on earth. Well, nobody amen'd that. And that's because you all have been in churches and in this church. The reality is, no matter what God is doing, there is always going to be negative opposition, criticism, a discouraging person, a Sanballat, a Tobias, somebody like that. J. Oswald Sanders, great Christian man, wrote a classic book on leadership, said this, “no leader is exempt from criticism, and his humility will nowhere be seen more clearly than in the manner in which he accepts it and reacts to it.” Do you think that Nehemiah thought to himself as he was on his camel or donkey or walking or however he got from Susa to Jerusalem, you know what, I'm just going to show up there. I'm going to give an inspiring speech. And not only are the Jews going to rally to the cause, but everybody around Jerusalem, they're all going to be happy about this. It's going to be fantastic.My speech will do it. No. He knew what was coming. He knew there would be trouble. Chuck Swindoll, many of you know Chuck Swindoll, says this, “there will always, always be opposition from those who are by nature negative and critical, but the work must go on. Progress should not stop because of a few who were critical of the plan.” I think it's a falsely idealistic perspective on the Christian life to think that it's going to somehow be easy. that I'm going to skate along and everyone's going to be happy with what God is doing in my life. It won't happen. And we can look at examples in the scripture, not just Nehemiah, but Jeremiah certainly faced that. Paul faced that. Well, how about Jesus? I mean, if there was ever a leader who was such an awesome leader that, I mean, everybody would have loved everything that he did and just rallied to him. I mean, everybody would just applaud him and be like, you know, be like Palm Sunday every day of his life, right? No. What happened to our perfect leader, Jesus?Not only were there many people that opposed him, famous now, men like Caiaphas and Pilate and the Pharisees, but even within his own circle. Judas betraying him. The greatest leader who's ever walked this earth, beginning the greatest organization that has ever been begun, the church, faced trouble, didn't he? And opposition. So who are we to think that in our... smaller context and in our own lives that we are going to be able to follow the Lord, fulfill his will for us, and somehow think everybody's going to love it and everybody's going to applaud it. It simply won't happen. In fact, I think if there is a key truth here, it is this one, is that God's will didn't allow the wall to be built without opposition. I mean, could God have rebuilt this wall without Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem? You bet he could have. Could he have rebuilt this wall in some way where everybody thought it was great? You bet that he could have. But it was God's will that there be a Sanballat. It's God's will that there was Tobiah and all the rest. God included that in the plan for Nehemiah and the plan for the rebuilding of the walls.It included the conflict. It included the slander. It included the threats that were made. And I wonder today if you might have a Sanballat in your life. Even as I've been talking about this, there's been somebody coming to mind. And in your heart, you're like, you know, God, if you love me, you will destroy them, right? Because you're not the author of evil, and you don't like evil people, and yet this evil person is in my life. And it seems to me that... this whole thing to work the way that, in my opinion, it ought to work, that person needs to be eliminated. And we try to pray the Sanballats out of our life because we think something's wrong, that they are in our life. And too often we think that with even criticism, right? We think, I must be out of God's will because somebody said something negative. Mrs. So-and-so said something. And so we look at and we listen to so-and-so who says such-and-such about this or that, and we think, well, I must not be a good Christian, or maybe this faith thing isn't true, or maybe I'm out of the will of God.Joe Stowell III, his dad was the first pastor of our church, and he was longtime president of Moody Bible Institute, once said, “in every church I have pastored, God has placed difficult people around me to keep me dependent on him.” Now, I have no idea what he's talking about there in my own personal experience. But there is truth there, isn't it? That opposition is not out of God's will, but it is a part of God's will. And that indeed, God gains greater victory when his people trust him in the midst of trouble and overcome in spite of opposition. that there's a greater glory that comes from that why do you think God created Satan? Did God know when He made him the highest archangel? Did He know the whole story? Indeed, did He purpose the whole story, that Satan was going to rebel against Him and take a third of the demons, or the angels, with him, and that all of this would ensue? Why? Why does God do that? As Luther said, even the devil is God's devil, right?That God uses The taunts and the ridicule and the criticism and all the rest to gain a greater victory and a greater glory. God thought it best that there be a Satan. And we have to look at these kind of situations and realize that apparently God thinks it's best that there's a Sanballat in our life. Now that's a hard thing, isn't it? Because we want them out of there. But God has them and sovereignly places them. in our life. Now, if I might make a very quick tangent here, you may be here and in an honest evaluation, you're not Nehemiah in the story. You're Sanballat. And maybe you're like, you know what? This vindicates my role in this church. Somebody's got to do it. And that somebody is me. We have to realize that while it is God's will for there to be Sanballats, it is never God's will for us to be a Sanballat. And I would call you to change. In fact, you could ask the question, why was Sanballat so upset about this? And this is where conflict reveals the opportunity. of our hearts, doesn't it? Was it about the wall for Sanballat? No, it wasn't about the wall.It was about influence. It was about economy and money. It was about power. And Nehemiah and that wall being reconstituted represented a threat to Sanballat. And that's why he wanted them out. So don't be a Tobiah. Don't be a Geshem. Don't be a Sanballat. We need to expect there to be opposition. And maybe next week, one of you will come up to me and say, I didn't think that sermon was very relevant, but boy, the week I had. And I'll say, good. I don't know if I should say it that way, but hey, you're applying God's word. That's a good thing. Second thing we see here is that Nehemiah provides this wonderful example of prayer, of prayer. Look at verse 4. Look at the first thing that Nehemiah does. It says, Nehemiah prays this, “Hear, O God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.” Now that doesn't sound like a very loving prayer.And if you read through the Psalms, there are Psalms that are known as imprecatory Psalms where David writes psalms that sound sort of like that, you know, where he is praying God's justice and wrath down upon his enemies. I'm not into the content of the prayer as much as I am in the fact that he prayed. And we see that pattern. Verses 6 through 8, there's troublemaking and scheming. What is Nehemiah's response? Verse 9, but we prayed to our God. When we face opposition, that has been sovereignly brought into our life by God, why would prayer be an effective strategy? Because if this person or this opposition is in my life by the sovereign hand of God, when I pray, I'm talking to the right person about the issue. I'm talking to the person who has the power to mediate the situation and to mitigate it and to take it away if he wants or to do whatever, but I'm praying to the right person. I'm praying to God. I wonder, the Sanballat in your life that I referred to earlier, have you prayed about this person? Have you prayed about this situation? Have you gone to the Lord in prayer?The example of Nehemiah throughout the whole story is that trouble comes, trouble comes, trouble comes. Nehemiah's response, he prays, he prays, he prays, he prays. It's a book on prayer. And that prayer in response to trouble. And we don't, I think, naturally do that. Naturally, we want to post the guard, right? We want to man up. We want to soldier up. We want to go take care of business. We want to take care of this person. We want to fight back. We want to sort of Mike Tyson in his prime. But Nehemiah begins with prayer. I would call you to pray. You say, ah, it's just Nehemiah. What did Jesus do? What did Jesus do the week of his passion when he knew what was coming? You say, well, he knew it was coming. Why pray about it, right? I mean, if you know it's coming, you can ask God all you want, but it's coming anyway, so what's the point? And yet he prayed. He prayed in Gethsemane. He prayed even on the cross. His last words were prayers.And if that doesn't eloquently show us the importance of prayer, especially when we are in trouble, and we have people in our church who are in trouble. Life has brought trouble. Life has brought pain. And prayer sometimes is like, oh yeah, we prayed. No, this is a key part of how Christians respond to trouble. We go to God. We open our hearts to him. We ask for his help. We pray about the Sanballat. We pray that that good work that God wants, may that refining work be done. I want to be that goal that is purified. I don't want to waste this trial. I don't want to waste my cancer. I don't want to waste this. unemployment. I don't want to waste this conflict with a fellow Christian. I want it to have its good effect and to embrace that and to tell God that. I wonder, do you do that, friend? One thing I've noticed when I've been dealing with a kind of Sanballat situation, you know, my natural instinct is to pray that God would take them out, right?But I find that when I pray for that person, especially if they're a fellow believer, When I pray for that person, I find a little impulse of charity towards them. Have you noticed this? It's hard to pray for somebody and hate them at the same time. I find that when I pray for that person, it's a little step towards the command to love your enemies and to do good to those who despitefully use you, Romans 12. Give that a try. You're like, I don't want to pray for this person. Try it. Pray that God's will would be done in their life. Pray that even their taunts and their ridicule and their criticism, whatever 1% gain that your spiritual life could have from it, say, God, I want that 1% gain. What they're saying is evil and their motives, I believe, to be bad. But whatever good can come from it in my life, I want that. And I find that when I get my heart around to praying that way, it has a way of restoring some encouragement. And when you're discouraged, what do you need? You need encouragement. Pray. Keep praying. The third thing is to prepare for it.And I've said this before, but notice that even in this chapter, Nehemiah, he doesn't simply pray, but he takes actions to meet the opposition. Back to the text again a second, verse 9. But we prayed and posted a guard. In verse 13, it says that Nehemiah armed the workers so they could respond to an attack. Now, there might have been someone going, you're not a man of faith. Why are you giving us swords? And he's like, I prayed and I'm giving you swords. In verses 16 through 18, he had workers work with a chisel in one hand and a sword in the other. Does that mean he wasn't a man of faith? He brought a trumpeter with him. And the idea was that if there was attack anywhere on the wall, they would blow the trumpet and everyone would rush to that place in order to engage the fight. He had people work in the low spots in the wall in verses 12 through 15. Now, why do you think Nehemiah would have people working in the low spots? Where do you think an attack would most likely happen? In the high spots or in the low spots?It seems to me it'd be the low spots, and that's what Nehemiah thought as well. And he had people in verse 22. He said, everyone stays in the city until the wall is done. What do we see there? Practical wisdom, okay? He got prepared for the opposition. I think we ought to expect it. We ought to pray for those who oppose it. Oppose us, but we also must be prudent and wise in responding to it. And the fourth thing here, and this is really, I would say, the most helpful, is that after we've prayed about it, after we have prepared for it, we've expected it, we know it's coming, here's the final point. Look at verses 19 and 20, what Nehemiah says. “I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, the work is great and widely spread and we are separated on the wall for far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.” Here's the key phrase. “Our God will fight for us.” Nehemiah was a practical man. Nehemiah was a prayerful man.But Nehemiah was also a man who understood that in the end, the battle is the Lord's. And that bottom line for us has to be our bottom line, because all of our praying and all of our prudency, and I don't know if that's a word, but all of our, you know, sort of strategizing, in the end will feel superficial to us if our anchor and if our sort of our bottom line is not the God who has made promises to us. that he will fight for us, that he will come to our aid. And of course, as Christians, what do we know? We know the end of the story, don't we? You can read Revelation. At the end of the story, there is no opposition, there is no authority, there is no power that stands against the king of kings and lord of lords who comes riding out in that white horse. And he is going to return, and every enemy, Satan, included is going to go under his feet and in the end, Philippians 2, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.We know the end of this story is that God wins, and because we are God's children, we win with Him. And our walls may build or not, our troubles may come or go, our critics may say or not, but in the end, we know that with the Lord, we win. Our God will fight for us, and faith is the victory that overcomes the world. But we are living now in this time where we have to We have the tension between what we know to be true by the promise of God and the realization of that. And the Bible says that in this world, you're going to have trouble, right? You are going to have trouble. New Christian, it is going to be hard. Do not be discouraged by the trouble that comes and the critics that come and the opposition that comes. You're going to have people that are going to say things to you. You might even have people in this church that are going to discourage you in some manner. But we cannot have our hope in the people of this church or in the critic changing his mind or coming around and saying, you know what, I was mistaken.You really are a wonderful person. Can I hug you? It's not likely to happen. Our hope is in the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. “Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.” Psalm 121. And as God's people, when we face these temporary trials, which are achieving for us a glory that far outweighs them all, we look at that trial and we look even at that person, that Sanballat, and we see them as temporary in light of the big picture. And “though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.” Martin Luther. A mighty fortress is our God. And on and on. I mean, there's songs and verses. This is where real life is lived. It's in the trenches and in the troubles. And this is how God refines us. And when I can see that this is how God does it, then I can even embrace the tough times and to see that there is good that comes from it. You say, oh, that's not true. Let's look to the cross of Christ. I've got one behind me.If there is one great example of how God uses the taunts, the ridicule, the betrayals, the enemies of God and all of their schemings to do an ultimate good, it is the cross of Christ, the perfect person, the perfect leader, the perfect sacrifice, killed at the hands of Satan and all his minions, and yet the greatest wrong producing the greatest good and glory. And our lives are little microcosms of that grand narrative. And you might not have a Caiaphas, you might not have a Pilate, it may not even be a, it's not the Sith Lord you're dealing with, it's General Grievous, or some lesser situation. But all of them are a part of a temporary trouble, but an ultimate victory. I heard somebody one time say, You know, for unbelievers, this life is the best that they'll ever experience. But for Christians, this is the worst that we will ever experience. The future is bright. The future is glorious. And we live in light of that in the troubles and the trials of today. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” That wasn't in the Bible when Nehemiah lived, but I think it might be today his favorite verse.And he lived it out very well. And I hope that we will as well as a church. And those are just some words from a tired pastor. I don't know if they connected at all. And when I get up from my nap, I'll wonder what I said this morning. But maybe God will use them, and I hope that he does. Let's stand together. I'd like to pray and give a final benediction.This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

What does the wrath of God have to do with the gospel? In 2006, White Horse Inn released a year-long series titled Romans Revolution. This month, we're revisiting a few select episodes from this beloved series. In this episode, the hosts discuss the wrath of God in Romans 1 and how it is often differently portrayed in contemporary churches.   LISTEN TO ROMANS REVOLUTION SERIES FOLLOW US YouTube | Instagram | X/Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter WHO WE ARE Sola Media serves today's global church by producing resources for reformation grounded in the historic Christian faith. For over thirty-five years, Sola has walked alongside Christians in their faith, pointing away from novelty and ourselves, and toward Christ and his gospel as proclaimed in the Scriptures, articulated in the ancient Christian Creeds, and summarized in the confessions of the Protestant Reformation. Learn more: https://solamedia.org/

In this episode of Pray the Word on 2 Kings 20:19, David Platt calls us to genuinely care for the needs of others.Explore more content from Radical.

What does the Bible mean by “holy war”—and what does it look like under the reign of Christ?In this episode of Shadows to Substance, Pastor George Sayour walks through Zechariah 9 and its prophecy of the Messiah who comes lowly, riding on a donkey, speaking peace to the nations, and ruling from sea to sea.From bows, arrows, swords, and battle to Ephesians 6 and the sword of the Spirit, George shows how the warfare of Christ’s kingdom is carried forward through the Word of God, prayer, truth, righteousness, faith, and the proclamation of the gospel to the nations.

Evil isn't just something we read about in the news. Sometimes, we see it displayed without shame, and we're left wondering how people can be so cruel. But what is evil, where does it come from, and how do we reconcile its existence with a good and sovereign God? In this episode of Her Faith Inspires, we're examining the problem of evil through the lens of Scripture. We'll unpack the argument that God must have created evil, explore the difference between moral evil and the corruption of God's good design, and consider what evil reveals about the human heart. But understanding evil is only part of the conversation. How should Christians respond when we're confronted with hatred, cruelty, and wickedness? Does God call us to ignore it, fear it, or fight back? From the goodness of God's creation to Paul's command in Romans 12 to overcome evil with good, we're looking at what Scripture teaches us about living faithfully in a world marked by darkness. Evil is real, but it doesn't get the final word. And it doesn't get to dictate how we respond. Registration for the Bible Interpretation Workshop OPEN.  Find Shanda www.shandafulbright.com Instagram & Facebook: @shandafulbright Email: hello@shandafulbright.com Free Resources: https://shandafulbright.com/links YouTube: http://bit.ly/ShandaYT2021 Store: www.Shandafulbright.com/shop  

Donna Adelson's emails and family testimony became central evidence in the Dan Markel murder trial because they showed what followed the court ruling that kept Wendi Adelson and her sons in Tallahassee. Wendi testified that Donna pushed ideas aimed at pressuring Markel, including baptizing the children as Christians, dressing them in Hitler Youth uniforms, and offering him $1 million to permit the relocation. Wendi's description of her mother was equally direct. She told jurors Donna “micromanaged my life.” Robert Adelson testified that Donna was on the controlling side and “ran the show.” His testimony described a mother who stayed deeply involved in the choices of her adult children and expected compliance when she had decided how something should go. Charlie Adelson's relationship with Donna became another part of that picture. After Charlie was convicted in 2023 of murder, conspiracy, and solicitation, detention records showed 86 calls to Donna's phone number in seven days. Those calls totaled 2,118 minutes. At Donna's trial, financial investigator Mary Hull testified that Donna had also managed hotels, flights, and bills for Charlie. Katherine Magbanua testified that Charlie sometimes stepped away to contact Donna during discussions about the murder plot. She also told jurors that Charlie said Donna washed cash that was damp and moldy. Magbanua testified that she received 44 checks from the Adelson dental practice despite never working there. The defense maintained Donna wrote the checks at Charlie's direction and rejected the prosecution's interpretation of those payments. A Florida jury convicted Donna in 2025 of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation for orchestrating Markel's killing. She received a life sentence. Her direct appeal remains open before Florida's First District Court of Appeal, making the appellate record the next place the case will be tested. Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292 Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1 Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #DonnaAdelson #DanMarkel #TrueCrimeToday #WendiAdelson #CharlieAdelson #AdelsonFamily #MurderForHire #FloridaCrime #Tallahassee #TrueCrime 

Pride doesn’t always look like arrogance or boasting. Sometimes it shows up in quieter ways—talking more than listening, only investing in people who seem useful, or constantly saying there isn’t enough time for others. These subtle forms of pride can reveal that our attention is more focused on ourselves than on loving and serving the people around us. Philippians 2:3-4 calls Christians to replace selfish ambition with humility by considering others and their interests. Following Jesus means examining not only what we do, but also why we do it. When we become more willing to listen, make time for others, and engage with people without expecting something in return, we begin to reflect the humility of Christ. Recognizing subtle pride isn’t about condemning ourselves—it’s about allowing God to reshape our priorities, relationships, and hearts. Highlights How pride can appear in subtle ways we may not immediately recognize Why only engaging with people who are useful can reveal selfishness What listening more and speaking less can teach us about humility Why “I don’t have time” may actually reveal our priorities How Philippians 2:3-4 challenges us to consider others more important than ourselves Why honest self-examination is essential for recognizing pride in our lives Practical ways to replace selfishness and conceit with humility, generosity, and genuine care for others Want more encouragement throughout your week? Subscribe to The Good Word, LifeAudio’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up at LifeAudio.com/thegoodword Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! Full Transcript Below: Surprising Ways Pride Shows Itself By Aaron D’Anthony Brown Bible Reading:“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4, CSB) In his epistle to the church of Phillipi, Paul urges fellow believers to be “united in spirit” with one another (Philippians 2:2). He wanted everyone to be on the same page with what they believed and how they lived as Christ followers. He goes on to say that such a life is lived by esteeming others as more important than ourselves. Don’t look to what brings you the most glory; do what benefits others. We hear the same sentiment preached in church today, but how many of us live this out? While our pastors talk about loving our neighbors, building the church up from within, and sharing the Gospel with nonbelievers, we don’t often seem to be on the same accord. Even if we do these things, our motivations are sometimes selfish. We should be prioritizing others, but really, we’re interested in ourselves. I’ve heard believers say things like “I enjoy hearing myself talk,” or claim they don’t have time to hang out with other Christians. Then suddenly they’re dating someone, which requires a lot more time. Or perhaps the only time they show genuine interest in you is when you’re going through a hard time. Otherwise, you’re simply not important. Naturally, we won’t be close to or have deep conversations with everyone. However, it’s important to consider whether day-to-day relationships, conversations, and actions reflect selfish conceit or humility. Perhaps, we have such a hard time esteeming others as more important because in our minds, no one is more important than ourselves. Pride is often called one of the most deadly sins, maybe the most deadly. When we start thinking we know best, it becomes a gateway for other sins. You might not think of yourself as prideful - I generally don’t - but if we’re being honest, we can all be a bit prideful sometimes. C.S Lewis said, “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else, and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves” (Mere Christianity). The sooner we acknowledge this truth, the sooner we can change our thinking and get ourselves on one accord. Intersecting Faith & Life: Most people won’t need help identifying the major ways pride affects our lives, but who says pride can’t be subtle? Here are three ways we might not even realize: Only engaging with people who are useful. One mistake Christians make is only engaging with people at church who are useful. This means ignoring others until they join your team or become a friend of your friend, etc. Don’t we all have some measure of importance and worth given by God? Why not be open to speaking and engaging with people as the norm? For those who don’t, when you finally decide to interact, you risk making the encounter uncomfortable, and more than that, disingenuous. Talking as opposed to listening. The Bible says to be slow to speak and quick to listen, but few live this out (James 1:19). God gave us two ears and one mouth. I’ve been told there should be a ratio for how we communicate: listen twice as much as you speak. Not making time for others. We’re probably all guilty of using the phrase, “I haven’t had the time,” but if we took time to consider what that statement means, we’d say something else instead. Everyone is given the same amount of time within a day. Twenty-four hours. However, we all use our time differently. The issue is not having enough time, but rather priority - what’s important and what’s not. Or at the very least, what is most important. We prioritize what we value most. Therefore, we should stop telling people we don’t have time to do that favor, read that book, or do that thing. We simply haven't made the time yet. That’s the honest answer. And the sooner we can be more honest, the sooner we can stop pride from stifling our callings. Further Reading: Proverbs 11:2 Proverbs 16:18 Proverbs 29:23 Jeremiah 9:23 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Pakistani Christians could face renewed persecution following the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision to withdraw an honour to a leading Muslim cleric, Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali warns in this episode of Holy Smoke.The former Bishop of Rochester speaks to Damian Thompson following the news that Lambeth Palace has had to withdraw an award to Hafiz Ashrafi after previous comments by the Imam came to light. Following the ‘Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation' award being presented, it came to light that Ashrafi had praised Osama bin Laden in 2007, saying he would give the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks the title Saifullah – or 'Sword of God' – for 'serving Muslims by waging jihad against infidels'. The question remains ‘why there was not due diligence' Msgr Nazir-Ali tells Damian, saying Pakistani Christian leaders fear a backlash. The ‘reactionary action on the part of extremists' should have been thought about before making the announcement, Nazir-Ali said, as he criticised Lambeth Palace. Msgr Nazir-Ali, now a priest of the Catholic Ordinariate and who was born in Pakistan, is a world renowned authority on Islam's relations with Christianity. He talks to Damian about the debacle over the award, and warns against the increasing secularisation and desecration of British churches.Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For all that divides us, there's one thing we all have in common: we're going to die. On the surface, that seems like a grim connection, but for Christians, it's a reason to live with hope because Jesus Christ defeated death on the cross.In week 8 of “Hope Beyond Today,” we finish 2 Peter and learn what it means to live like we already know how the story ends. Because God is faithful, we can trust that what we do now matters far beyond our time on earth.

Jesus isn't just a good teacher or a good example. Jesus is God. He's supreme over all creation and over His people. Therefore, Jesus must be supreme in our hearts. Christians must cultivate a heart that sees Jesus in His Word and savors Him as the Savior of our souls, both now and forever!

Steve DeWitt Our Calling: Right Thinking and Right Living Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:13-16 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:13-16 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:13-16 Sermon Series: Spiritual ExilesMessage: Our Calling: Right Thinking and Right LivingAirdate: 9/16-9/17/26Programs: 2358 and 2359Well, good morning, and good morning to our Cedar Lake campus, our Hobart Portage gang that's gathered, and, here at Crown Point as well. Good morning. I'm gonna begin my, message with a little personal touch. Many of you know that Jennifer and I are pregnant expecting our second child, and we found out what this week, what the gender is. Thought we'd share it with you.So put up on the screen if you would. Now this is our this is our child. If you look really carefully, look really carefully. So Some of you still don't know what that means. Ask somebody later.Yes. We're having a little girl, we found out this week. So that's two girls. It's lost lots of estrogen in the house, isn't it? So it'll just be one more reason to pray for your pastor.Right? We're excited. June, sometime in June is the arrival date, and, we're we're, pretty pretty fired up about that. So let's get into our time in God's word together. And I remember some some years ago, somebody coming up to me and saying, you know, pastor Steve, you spent all that time in your messages on exposition, And then you get to the application.And, honestly, we really prefer the application. Could you just, like, skip forward to the to the application and do less of the of the exposition? And the answer to that is no. I will not. And the reason for that is that, like a a family that says, you know what? The meat, the vegetables, the fruit, it's also unnecessary. Let's skip forward to the dessert and just do dessert all the time. Would be a very unhealthy family. Similarly, when it comes to studying God's word, it's we always wanna move towards application, but it is the the doctrinal, exegetical, the truth, the words of Scripture that form the grounds for the application. And if you just do application and without any doctrine, your applications aren't gonna last very long.They won't be very deep for sure. And we see this happening in the in the letters of the New Testament. Most, if not all of them, begin doctrinally. They begin with truth about God. They begin with truth about the gospel.They begin with truth about, you know, the the nature of salvation, and then they move towards us. So what? This is what it means. This is how we sort of live this out on the street level of life. And Peter is doing that and has done that here in our little study so far.We saw in verses of chapter one in verses one through 12, a wonderfully, like, amazing, rich, fantastic explanation of the gospel, the nature of salvation, what God has done to save us, how Jesus has been key in that in his resurrection, and it's been it's been filled with hope. It's been filled with joy and gladness. And then you get to verse 13, and there is that word therefore. And that word is code for time for some application. Whenever you see that in the Bible, it's probably the the writer drawing now some conclusions for the way that we ought to live.And so we're gonna talk about that kind of application today. And, let's get into the text. I'm I'm studying with you today verses, 13 through 16 of First Peter one. Please listen as I read God's word. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as you who as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.” Now if you look at that section of Scripture, you'll see that there really are two kind of, like, commands here, two big things that he's saying, this is what we ought to do. And he says, first of all, set your hope fully on the grace to come. And secondly, that we are to be holy in all of our conduct.So hope fully, be holy. And before you think that doesn't sound very practical to me, there's a lot more here than meets the eye. And I want you to see just first of all that these verses are part of a larger section here beginning in chapter in verse 13 and following that is all about what the gospel ought to do in the lives on the practical level as it's lived out by the Christian. Not just what we have here before us, but the fact that God is holy. We're gonna see in verses 17 following that God is our judge, And then finally, that we were redeemed from this way of, this sinful life by the precious blood of Jesus.And all of those, the holiness of God, the judgment of God, and the blood of Christ are to call the Christian out of a life of sin and living according to the old ways and to call us into the new life. This new life lived to the glory of God, lived free from the bondage of sin. And so there's lots more of this to come. We're just looking at one section here today. Notice, first of all, that he says that we are to focus on future grace.Look look again at verse 13. “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” K? Set your hope your hope fully. Now what is hope?Hope is, by definition, future oriented. I don't hope, you know, I I I don't hope about something that has already happened. I don't hope the Seahawks win the Super Bowl. Why? Because it's done already, isn't it?Hope doesn't orient backwards. Hope always orients forwards or towards the future. And we've seen Peter saying this throughout this letter. It's the it's actually the third reference to the return of Christ. He did it in verse five.He did it in verse eight. Now he does it in verse 13. Are you surprised that a letter about suffering would have a lot about the future in it? I'm not. I mean, this is it makes sense, doesn't it?To cast our eyes towards what is yet to come in the midst of our trials, in the midst of our sufferings, to think about the future. And here, he says the grace that is yet to be revealed. Now what is that talking about? Because I think we could look at salvation and say, wait a second, I already got the grace of God. Right?When I when I put my faith in in Jesus, I received from God grace. I was saved by grace. I go to a church that sings amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I've already got the grace of God.How can I put my hope on some future grace? What might this be talking about? One of my favorite commentators, Wayne Grudem, says the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ means the further store of undeserved blessings, which God will pour out on them when Christ returns. Whenever we talk about grace or the grace of God, it is always highlighting that God is giving us something that we don't deserve. That's why it's grace.Salvation is by grace through faith. To think about the future and to realize that there is a storehouse of grace, there are blessings that are yet to come to us that we have not realized, that we have not yet fully received. The future is even better than it is right now. Might that be encouraging if you're in a trial of some kind? That maybe the best is yet to come, and that what I have, while wonderful, is not yet the fullness of what God has in store for those who love him, for those who are called according to his purpose.You say, well, that sounds nice. Preach as well. But, like, what are you talking about? Well, here's just a short list I just kind of compiled of future grace yet to come. The ongoing conscious life upon our physical death, the physical presence with God, our resurrected and glorified bodies, seeing and worshiping and savoring the presence of Jesus Christ himself, eternal rewards that God will give to us based on the quality of our service to him while here on earth.How about eternal life, enjoyment, and pleasure that we will have forever in real time on a new earth that has no curse upon it? We're gonna live on that new earth, and it's gonna be a much better version than this one. Eternal fellowship with fellow Christians and loved ones. If you've if you've had a loved one that's died in the faith, I guarantee there's a future grace coming to you. You're gonna meet him or her again and fellowship with them forever.Eternal status and relationship as children of God, which right now we don't totally get and realize what a big deal that is. But to step into eternity and the God of heaven, the God of eternity, we are part of his family. We're not just servants in the house. We are sons and daughters of God. Many other things.Someday you're gonna come to me and say that list was terrible. It was so small. We you could have added so many more things. Indeed. None of them we deserve.All of these things are God's gift to us. We deserve hell. We deserve punishment, and yet God is giving us what we don't deserve. And much of what we're going to receive, we haven't even tasted yet. And so Peter writing to exiles, suffering trials says, put your hope not here and not in the trial or maybe the trial going away.Set your hope fully on grace yet to be received from God. The inverse of this is true. Don't put your hope on anything less than this. Don't put your hope, Scripture says, in your riches. Don't put your hope in your life and in your physical vitality.Don't put your hope in any fellow man or pastor or anybody else. Don't put your hope in who you are and your achievements and your big stuff or whatever it might be. Don't put your hope in things in this world. All of it is passing away. The Bible calls God's people with the same faith that trusts in Jesus in the past dying on our on the cross for our sins, to look to the future with the same kind of expectant hope and to believe the best is yet to come.That helps you endure in them trials, doesn't it? Now that sounds wonderful, but how do we do that? Peter, get practical for us. K? We're tired of these long expositions, Peter.Could we just skip to the dessert? Can we get to the application? And Peter provides two specific means by which our hope is set fully on the future. You might have missed them as I read it. But notice, first of all, he says that we are to prepare our minds for action.Somehow, there's a connection between setting my hope fully and the grace to come and a mind that is prepared for action. What does this mean? Well, it's an intriguing illustration. In fact, if you have a King James Bible possibly with you, you might look at that and say, my Bible says it a little bit different. Indeed, here's how the King James translates it.And if you grew up in the church in the seventies with a good Scofield Bible like I did, this is more what you're familiar with. Right? It says this, gird up the loins of your mind. Ain't that a blessing? Gird up the loins of your mind.And, technically, that is what the text is saying here. The problem is that for most of us, a loin is something to put barbecue on. Right? And so we don't feel like we can apply that very well. What do you mean loins?Well, this is a historical cultural thing. Let's talk about this a little bit. A loin was a robe or the bottom section of a robe. And if you've watched, you know, the Jesus film or some things like this, you've seen the kind of robes and garments that the men would wear as just that was the fashion of the day. And so what would happen is is that these men would wear these long longer kind of flowing gowns, but they had to do what men today have to do.They had to work. They had to go to war. They had different things. And so if you were going to do that, you had to gird up your loins. You had to take those flowing gowns, and you had to get them out of the way if you were to do serious business.Now I happened upon an illustration on a website that I kind of like called the art of manliness. I go there just to see if they're manly enough, in my opinion. But I came across this illustration of how they actually girded up their loins. Now this is gonna be a blessing to each of you. Notice that the the the the gown that the guy has, he would pull it up, bring it cinch it together, pull it through between his legs, and then stick it into his belt.And when he'd done that, now he's ready to go to war. The art of manliness. Okay? I actually thought about demonstrating this myself, but maybe this will suffice for that. Okay?Now here's the point. You girded up the loins of your mind or your your your actual loins, it meant that you're about to get serious about something. You are about to take care of business. And that could be working in the field, or it could be defending your home or defending your honor. I mean, if you saw a guy if if you're, you know, if you're at the local pub and a guy starts girding up his loins, you're like, hey. What's going on around here? Right? Why? Fight's about to break out. This guy's getting serious right here.Calm down, man. Stop the girding. Peter says, with our minds, we are to gird up our loins. What is he referring to there? What Peter is saying is the same thing that Paul says in Ephesians six when he writes, “stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth.”I believe it's the same word, gird on the belt of truth. So for Paul, he's saying, get that belt of truth solidly in your mind. Peter is saying, get serious about truth with your mind and with your thinking. Why are our minds so important? Here's why.Right thinking leads to right living. When I am thinking rightly, my life is going to be consistent with that right thinking. When I am thinking poorly, when I am not thinking, when I am thinking with distraction, when I am thinking about lesser things, my life is going to reflect that also. Proverbs says, “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” If you wanna know who you really are, look at your thought life.Think about the things that you think about. Examine the way that you use your mind, and it will determine largely the shape of our lives, how important our thinking is. He doubles down on this. Peter does. And he says, secondly, be sober minded.Be sober minded. This word here is most commonly used in reference to alcohol and intoxication. He uses it Peter or Paul uses it in First Timothy three describing the qualifications of an elder. He is to be sober, and a godly woman is described as being sober. And it certainly includes not allowing alcohol or any other kind of substance like that to be a controlling influence in your life.But it's used here more broadly, not just alcohol, but a kind of soberness in thinking, not dour, not sad, not like I'm sober. We're Christians. We're very sober. Not like that. We can be we can be joyous, and we can be glad hearted, and we ought to be.But in our thinking, we are serious and sober. We are directing the thoughts of our minds, and it's shaping our whole approach to life. Another commentator. For Peter, the cares of this life and the pressure of persecution can intoxicate the Christian and distract his or her focus just as easily as wine might. The need of the hour is clear judgment and a mind and will prepared to resist anything that would distract them from a hope set on Jesus' appearing.Sober thinking is thinking with focus. It is clarity. It is the refusal to allow anything to distract. Again, it's not sober in personality. It is sober in thinking.It is a mind that says, I am. I refuse to think about life and my trials and my troubles in any other manner than this right here. I will look at life through the gospel. I will look at life through the grid of God's word, which is God's wisdom. I wanna look at my marriage.I wanna look at my parenting. I wanna look at my singleness. I wanna look at my schooling and my job and my hobbies and the dreams and hopes and my money and everything else. I wanna look at it through the wisdom of God's word, and I refuse to allow my mind to think anything else else than that. That is sober thinking.It is the Christian mind whose best and highest thoughts are reserved for kingdom and spiritual matters. So let me ask you. Think about what you think about when you don't have anything that you have to think about. What do you spend your time thinking about? How often in the course of the day do your thoughts turn towards spiritual realities?This is where I think some of the disciplines, Christian disciplines of prayer and Bible study and Scripture memory. These are all things that aid in this. It helps us to tune our hearts to sing his praise as the hymn writer says. It's in the day where my I am vertically oriented, and I'm looking at my life from the perspective that heaven vertically allows for me. How often do you think about God in the day or ministry or the needs spiritual needs of the people around you or Scripture or eternity?Do you intentionally direct your mind to think about what you want it to think about? And you say, I can't do that. My mind has a mind of its own. And now this is psychologically confusing, isn't it? But what I wanna say is we can direct our thoughts.We can, as Paul writes, take captive every or take captive every thought and and subject it to the lordship of Jesus Christ. It is a discipline. It is a way of using and thinking about life intentionally, but it takes habit. I've been thinking about this lately because I feel like in my life right now, I'm struggling in this regard. And I think why is it?Like, I I feel like I I I used to be able to think better than I do right now. And I think one of the reasons this is just one of them. One's just the aging process. But secondly, probably, I I think is that I find myself today often the the the gaps where I used to have time to think are now being filled with checking my email, social media, or passively watching something on a screen. Now maybe it's just me, but I don't think so.I think we are currently and unknowingly awash in a kind of mind muddling cultural habit of perpetual distraction. And I will never be able to say that sentence again. So I hope somebody wrote that down. Don't you think? I mean, now it's just common.We don't we think nothing of it to go to a restaurant and to look in the booth next to us and to see a family of five. They're not talking to each other. They're engrossed in their smartphone. Right? I have come to church and and walked through here before the service starts, and I've seen an entire family all sitting here minutes before the service is about to start.All of them are engrossed in their phone. And I don't think they're preparing for worship by reading the Westminster Catechism. What are they looking at? What are they reading? What are they filling their minds with?What are they directing their thoughts towards? And I say this to myself because I feel like my mind is I'm getting mushy. I don't like that. Distracted. You know, Satan doesn't have to convince us of a heresy.He just has to distract us from thinking about the truth. The one, if I got up and say Jesus isn't God, I hope you'd all rush the stage and beat me to a pulp in love. K? That's the obvious danger. How about the more subtle one where we just don't think about it at all and we're constantly distracted from the higher and holy things of life and eternity.We're awash, I think, in trivial things. Can I just sit on this a little longer? If you want I say, hey. Think about what you think about. If you if you view social media as any indication of the thoughts that people are having, I mean, if they're having the thoughts sufficiently that they think I need to post this, I need to communicate this with everybody that knows me, then this must be, one of their best thoughts.Right? And if you look at a at a news feed on Facebook or some other social media site and to see the kinds of thoughts that people in society and maybe even people in the church, what they're thinking about, what they are viewing, what they are finding humorous. Not all of it. There's lots of cute pictures of babies and gender announcements. And that's totally acceptable.But a lot of it is superficial, silly, banal. And it seems normal to us now. Right? Because it's just all the time going on. It troubles me to see on Facebook people, even in our church, posting, tweeting about, you know, the dresses at the Grammys or Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance.Really? Like, this is this what we're filling our thoughts and minds with? And then here comes the trial and life is devastating. I wonder why. I haven't set my hope fully on the grace to come in years.I've been filling my mind with all of these lesser things. I'm thinking poorly. Now this is not a rant against media or movies or Twitter. Not at all. I think Peter would have had a Twitter account, honestly.But I don't think he would talk about silly things. In fact, can we not look at First Peter as a kind of long Twitter account? What was Peter thinking about? He writes about what he was thinking about. And here we have before us the kinds of thoughts that the apostle Peter had about life.This is the kind of thing that he was dwelling on and thinking about. Does that not tell us something about what it means to be a spiritually mature Christian man or woman and the kinds of thoughts that we think about? And this is a struggle because our culture is so immoral and so materialistic and all the rest. But he was living in the Greco Roman culture, which would give ours a run for its money. And yet, he was thinking this way.I would encourage you to follow the example of the apostle Peter. Now one more thing, and I gotta move on here, because I wanna get particularly practical. How do we engage our mind in sober thinking? How do we make it intentionally oriented towards spiritual truth? Well, I thought I'd just have some fun with this.What's the gender of our baby? Girl. So how about maybe on the week that I announce this, here's my little acronym. K? Four ways to help think more seriously about higher things.Girl, g, get rid of distractions. If your whole life is beeping, humming, buzzing, smartphone, constantly calling your attention to something that somebody has said about this or that, you have no time to think high and holy thoughts. There's no time for prayer. You're distracted all the time. Now I sound like an old fuddy duddy with that, and the young people are going, he is so uncool.But let's see what happens to this generation in thirty years. Time will tell whether wisdom lies in the beeping and the humming and the buzzing or in the older folks who are saying, it didn't used to be like that. We used to talk. I thought maybe some of those old people would amen that point. But get rid of distractions.K? And I don't mean to focus on that one. There's a thousand distractions out there. Secondly, increase truth input. Get rid of the banal and the inane and the silly and the superficial and fill your mind. This is the garbage in garbage out principle. Fill your mind increasingly with truth. Philippians four eight. You know, “what sort of things are pure and lovely, of good report, excellent, and worthy of praise, think on these things.”Spend your time on the beautiful and the truthful and the glorious and the eternally significant. Third, r, recall the grace of God for all the times you don't do that and to seek his forgiveness and ask God to give you daily grace. And finally, love God with your mind. That's a whole another point we could make, but how critical it is that we're we are thinking Christians. And even from the beginning, we're called to love him with our body.I mean, we preach against, you know, sexual sin or, you know, abusing your body with drugs or something like that. But so we we're we're all about loving God with our bodies. But what about loving God with our minds? And to intentionally seek to think deeper and higher thoughts about God and to learn and to grow and to become a mature thinking Christian. Let's do that.K? Let's do that. Now I gotta move on. We got communion coming. Second thing that he is focusing on.First one is setting your, your hope fully on the grace that is to come. The second category is that we are to be holy or what I'm calling, we're to be like our daddy. Again, the text, verse 14. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.”So we see Peter here moving from right thinking to right living. What does holy thoughts in my brain look like in a holy expression in my life? And I want you to see, first of all, that this has a relational tone to this. He he began doesn't just say, be holy. He says, hey. As obedient children. And what is that referring to? It is referring to the relationship that we have with God. Right? The Bible says that when we become Christians, that God actually adopts us into his family.We are members of the family of God. We're brothers and sisters in this family. We're sons and daughters of the most high God. And because God is my Father, that relationship matters. It means something in regards to the way that I look at myself, the way that I want to live my life.God's my Heavenly Father. How should I live now? Well, he says here that we should live morally disciplined lives. And to proof text this, Peter reaches into the Old Testament, goes back to Leviticus, and he quotes from there's five passages in Leviticus that use the same statement. “You shall be holy for I am holy.”K? You shall be holy, not me. I'm I'm saying it like I'm I'm God. Okay? “You shall be holy for I am holy.”K? And so we see in that statement the ethical measure and the eth and the ethical motivation as well. God's character is the measure, and God's character is the motive. Because I am holy, you shall you shall be holy. God's holiness is the absolute moral unity of his entire being.He is completely good. He is morally without fail. He is not the author of evil. He has no inclination towards anything that is less than absolutely morally pure and upright. John writes this in First John one.“In him, God is light, and in him, there is no darkness at all.” There's no shadow. There's no little something hidden. He is absolutely, morally, purely bright and light. Everything he does always is holy.And so Peter says, this is our God. This is our Heavenly Father. This is the way that we are to strive to live our life in a morally disciplined manner where the ethics of life matter to us. We want to please our Heavenly Father. We wanna live consistent with what he is like.Notice in all your conduct. Okay? So it's not just, you know, be holy as I am holy. When you're at church on Sunday, when you are out with the pastor, when somebody is watching that maybe could look down on you, It is not in any sort of category. It is in all categories.Holiness of life impacts, shapes, directs every aspect of my life. Why? Because it shapes and directs every aspect of the very life and character of God himself. Now lest there be any confusion here, I wanna emphasize that we are not naturally holy. We are naturally sinners.And this is why Jesus came, and this is why Jesus died. He didn't die for holy people so that they could go, not go to hell. He died for I said that wrong. He let me just say it this way. He died for sinners.K? He died for sinners, and that's us. K? So without his righteousness, we have no standing with God. We have no adoption with God.But sometimes people confuse our position before God as righteous because of what Jesus has done and the calling that God has upon the practice of our life. You overemphasize the position and say, hey, I'm righteous before God, so who gives a rip? Right? I'm going to heaven anyway. That is an abuse of the grace of God.If I focus on the practice solely, then now I am all the time wondering if I'm good enough, wondering if I'm gonna earn my way to heaven. And that is a misuse of the gospel. The gospel is is that we are declared righteous by God. We are positionally righteous before God. We enter into a relationship with God through the gospel by faith that now shapes my desires where now I want to live like I'm a child of God.K? It is relational. It is not legalism. It's not antinomianism. No law.It is relationship. Grudem says to be holy as God is holy includes a full and pervading holiness that reaches to every aspect of our personalities. It involves not only avoiding outward sin, but also maintaining an instinctive delight in God and his holiness as an undercurrent of heart and mind throughout the day. God is our Father. He's always our Father.Everywhere we go, he's our Father. We're his children. And this is where I think the metaphor is helpful because children, not always, but naturally want to to please their or to be like their dad. I'm enjoying this almost every day. I have a 20 year old daughter.Okay? So here's here's what happens in my day. I find myself you know, I'll I'll be sitting at the couch or something and I'll stretch like this and I look over and there she is. She's looking for my affirmation. Right?I'm I'm I'm doing what you're doing, daddy. Right? I kinda like that. That's kinda fun. I'll say to her, I love you.And she'll say, I love you. Is that manipulation? I don't know. But I love it. I love it.Or the other day I was eating and I wasn't watching my manners very well. And so I'm kind of chomping away on something sort of loudly and all a sudden I look over and she's going, daddy needs to slow down and close his mouth while he chews apparently. Why does she raise her arms and mimic me? Why does she repeat the words that I say? Why does she mimic even some of my less wonderful qualities?Because at this point, at least in her life, she wants to be like me. That's a goal for her even though she couldn't articulate it. And here's where I think verse 13 and verse 15 come together. The goal of what God is doing in each of us is holiness and Christ likeness. That's the big picture.He is forming us into the likeness of Christ. As I muster my spiritual and my mental thoughts and energies towards loving God with my mind, my Heavenly Father, my will increasingly is shaped by that priority And the true thoughts that my now girded up mind, the loins of my mind, are thinking about and focusing on shape the desires that I have in my heart, which right thinking leads to right living. So I fill my thought, my heart, my mind with God's truth. And the more I think about the grace of God to me, both now and in the future, and the love of God to me both now and in the future, the more my life then is shaped around his will and his purposes. So that right thinking about God shapes my desires and produces a more righteous living, a more holiness in my life.And all of it is anticipating a future grace and goodness of God that he will shower upon me and is yet to be experienced. And the anticipation, the more I realize what God has already done for me, it elevates my anticipation of what God has yet to do for me. K? And anticipation is a very powerful motive in our life. I remember when, football season was about to start.I would run, and I would train. I would get ready for it. And when basketball season was gonna start, I would run and train and play and shoot. I would get I would get ready for it. I remember when we had, the Bethel five k here a couple years ago.I'm the pastor of the church. I don't wanna embarrass myself. I ran, and I got ready for it. And I remember, perhaps the best example for me is after forty-four years, I got married. And before my wedding, I'm here to tell you, after forty-four years I was thinking about my wedding, and I was thinking about my honeymoon.I wanted to get ready for it. So I swam, and I ran, and I got a tan, and I was thinking about anticipating being with my girl. And it shaped the way that I lived my life. And when we, as Christians, set our minds on things that matter, things that are spiritually true, the promises of God, gospel, the word of God, when my thoughts are high and holy as God would have them to be, I anticipate increasingly, this is good. The best is yet to come.And that anticipation of what is to come means I'm getting ready for it now. And it changes and it shapes the way that I think and the way that I live and the directions of my life, which increases my likeness to Christ and gets me ready for that day when Jesus returns and when his full grace will be revealed. So friends, set your mind on the grace to come. Be holy as God is holy. Is your mind disciplined?Is your life morally diligent? And is your hope oriented towards the amazing grace of God yet to come? To help us with that today, we are going to be partaking in the Lord's supper. And I'd like to pray, and you could begin to prepare your hearts as I do. Heavenly Father God, I do pray and ask that this very practical message would, lead to very practical results in our lives.Lord, help us to be a church that is disciplined in our thinking, that strives to know and understand the gospel, the God of the gospel, the Jesus of the gospel, that we would be serious about this. And that this might, Lord, grant to us an elevated sense of anticipation of what is yet to come. And as we take this communion now, I pray that the partaking in it, the reminder of the death of Jesus would serve to also prepare us with, holiness and anticipation of no more symbols but actual presence to see him and to be with him forever. All praise be to Jesus, we pray in his name. Amen.* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

What does it look like to live faithfully when you know Jesus is coming again?In this message from 1 Peter 4:1–11, Peter reminds believers that “the end of all things is near.” We may not know when Jesus will return, but we know that He will. What we believe about the FUTURE should inform how we live in the PRESENT.Peter was writing to Christians who were experiencing suffering, opposition, and even slander because of their faith. Following Jesus didn't remove the struggle—it changed how they responded to it. Instead of living for human desires or returning to their old way of life, Peter challenged them to spend the time they had left pursuing the will of God.So how should we live while we wait for Jesus to return? Peter gives us a practical picture: pray regularly, love constantly, live hospitably, serve faithfully, and speak wisely. In a world filled with chaos, prayer keeps our hearts focused on God. Don't let the chaos AROUND you create chaos WITHIN you.Peter also reminds us to “maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.” Not every offense needs to become a conflict. There are times when sin must be confronted with grace, but there are also moments when love means forgiving, overlooking an offense, and moving forward. You can't have deep relationships without deep forgiveness.Living in the last days also means recognizing that Christianity isn't a spectator sport. God has saved and gifted every believer to serve others. Whether your gift is teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, serving, or showing kindness, God has given you opportunities to use what He's entrusted to you for the good of others and for His glory.In this message, you'll discover:How the return of Jesus should change the way we live todayWhy struggle can be part of faithfully following ChristHow prayer brings peace in the middle of a chaotic worldWhat it means for love to “cover a multitude of sins”When an offense should be confronted and when it should be overlookedWhy Christians need community and shouldn't live as “lone rangers”How God has gifted every believer to serve othersWhy our words matter and how to use them wiselyWe are living in the “45-second window” between Jesus' ascension and His return. We know He's coming—the question is how we will use the time we've been given.

Can you recognize false teachers and false prophets? Sadly, so many Christians can't. These counterfeit Christians may appear genuine on the outside, but their hearts are far from God. In this message, Pastor Jeff Schreve exposes the traits of false believers who infiltrate the church and lead others astray. Discover how to recognize spiritual imposters and guard yourself from their deceptions. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.lightsource.com/donate/863/29

The disciples did not see the value of children coming to Jesus. But Jesus said to not hinder them. Every person is valuable to God and Jesus. Christians should see the value of each person, no matter who the person is.

Our love as a church is shown in how well we welcome fellow Christians.

This week on The Upload, Brooke Taylor and Pastor Mark Evans sit down with musician Madison Watkins for one of the most vulnerable conversations yet about ambition, compromise, trauma, shame, surrender, and what happens when God asks you to lay down the very dream you thought He gave you. Madison grew up singing in church in small-town Arkansas and says she knew from childhood that God had called her to music. At 20, that dream took her to Los Angeles, where doors began opening and the success she'd spent years chasing finally started arriving. But somewhere along the way, Madison says she began to lose herself. The pressure to fit into the industry slowly changed how she presented herself, what she was willing to compromise, and even how boldly she talked about Jesus. Eventually, Madison had everything she thought she wanted: viral music, money, sold-out shows and major opportunities. But on the morning of a sold-out show in L.A., she woke up covered in shingles and feeling completely empty. Looking in the mirror, she says she barely recognized the woman staring back at her. The next day, Madison felt God tell her clearly: “You forgot your first love. I need you to come back to Me and quit everything.” So she did. She laid down her career, stepped away from social media and spent eight months doing virtually nothing but resting, reconnecting with family and friends, and rebuilding her relationship with Jesus. Madison also opens up about just how dark her years in Los Angeles became. She shares experiences of betrayal in a relationship, being held at gunpoint, sexual assault, and constantly being told she wasn't good enough. Looking back, Madison describes her drift from God not as one dramatic decision, but as a series of “micro decisions”—small compromises made while she was exhausted, seeking affirmation and slowly taking her eyes off Jesus. The conversation turns deeply personal as Brooke shares parts of her own Hollywood story and the ways she searched for love and acceptance during a season when she had drifted from her faith. Together, Brooke, Madison and Mark unpack the shame that can keep Christians hiding, why vulnerability is actually a strength, and what it looks like to believe that no failure puts you beyond the reach of God's grace. Madison shares why she now refuses to hide the messier parts of her testimony. She believes Christians should be willing to talk honestly about addiction, sexuality, temptation, failure and the things we're often afraid to admit out loud. As she puts it, “Everyone is secretly waiting for someone to be vulnerable so they can be vulnerable.” After surrendering the career she'd worked so hard to build, Madison says God gave her a new vision for her music: to bring hope into places that feel hopeless and reach people who believe they're too far gone. Her message now is simple—you don't have to clean yourself up before coming back to Jesus. You're seen, you're loved, and your story isn't over. This is a raw conversation about what happens when success costs you yourself, why drifting from God often happens slowly, and the freedom that comes when you finally stop hiding and surrender everything back to Him.

Most Turks believe being Turkish and being Muslim are inseparably intertwined. Pastor Ramazan Arkan was an adult before he ever met a Turkish Christian. Then he became friends with a coworker who had left Islam to follow Jesus. That friendship started Ramazan on a journey that eventually led to the cross of Christ.  Pastor Ramazan is now leading the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey, and he is the pastor of Antalya Evangelical Churches in Antalya, Türkiye. Listen as he shares how he came to Christ, first asking questions about Islam and the Quran and then irresistibly drawn by the loving relationships he saw when he was invited to a local church. "The most effective way to share the gospel message is through relationship," Pastor Ramazan says. You'll hear how his name, Ramazan (Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting) is both a blessing and a curse. He'll also describe the Christian persecution when he left Islam for Christianity, and more about what our persecuted brothers and sisters in Türkiye face for their faith in Jesus. Pastor Ramazan will tell the story of the night he became a Christian and felt God's presence and Word come alive to him. He'll also explain why it's important to reveal the cost of following Christ to new Muslim background believers early on, why his church doesn't baptize new believers immediately, and the sad story of one new Christian who went back to Islam after seeing the high cost of following Christ. To learn more ways you can pray for persecuted Christians in Türkiye, Central Asia and around the world, sign up to receive weekly prayer emails at iCommitToPray.com. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

In this episode of Pray the Word on 2 Kings 19:19, David Platt reminds us that God saves us for his glory and our good.Explore more content from Radical.

In this sermon on Ephesians 2:14–16 titled “He is Our Peace,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that the main purpose of Paul's letter to the Ephesians is to encourage the church in the peace of Christ. Christians have been saved and are in the body of Christ and as such, they have been redeemed and the war with God is over. They now have the peace of Christ that governs them. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that the realization that Christ is the peace of believers is one of the most significant and meaningful encouragements to the soul. Only when people understand the true nature of sin do they understand the true nature of salvation. Additionally, Dr. Lloyd-Jones addresses some who would discount the first few chapters of Genesis. Dr. Lloyd-Jones stresses that without the beginning of the Bible, people will not understand why the world is as corrupt as it is, nor will they witness the roots of the gospel. Without understanding the sin that originates in Genesis, people will be confused about the lack of peace in the world. Unbelievers will never have peace with each other unless they have peace with God in salvation. Thankfully Jesus made a way to have peace with God through His death on the cross. Through Christ, all can have lasting peace.

Dometian, a prince and a fierce persecutor of Christians, was hunting in the mountains when he came upon an old man surrounded by wild beasts, who were as gentle and tame as lambs in his presence. When asked who he was, the old man answered that he was Zosimas, a Christian who had left the persecutors in the city to live among the beasts instead. Dometian, hearing that Zosimas was a Christian, ordered him seized and bound, and subjected him to many tortures. When the holy man was wounded and beaten all over, the prince tied a rock around his neck and hanged him from a tree, mocking him with the words 'Command a wild beast to come, then we will all believe!' Zosimas prayed, and at once a large lion appeared, came up to Zosimas, and took the weight of the rock on its head to ease the martyr's sufferings. The terrified prince freed Zosimas, who died of his wounds not long afterward.

In this sermon on Ephesians 2:14–16 titled “He is Our Peace,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that the main purpose of Paul's letter to the Ephesians is to encourage the church in the peace of Christ. Christians have been saved and are in the body of Christ and as such, they have been redeemed and the war with God is over. They now have the peace of Christ that governs them. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that the realization that Christ is the peace of believers is one of the most significant and meaningful encouragements to the soul. Only when people understand the true nature of sin do they understand the true nature of salvation. Additionally, Dr. Lloyd-Jones addresses some who would discount the first few chapters of Genesis. Dr. Lloyd-Jones stresses that without the beginning of the Bible, people will not understand why the world is as corrupt as it is, nor will they witness the roots of the gospel. Without understanding the sin that originates in Genesis, people will be confused about the lack of peace in the world. Unbelievers will never have peace with each other unless they have peace with God in salvation. Thankfully Jesus made a way to have peace with God through His death on the cross. Through Christ, all can have lasting peace. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

What if the only person willing to stand for justice was the one standing completely alone? History is filled with people who refused to follow the crowd, and sometimes, they were the only ones who got it right. In the Lindsay Clancy trial, one juror stood apart from the other eleven. In this episode, we explain why we stand with the lone juror, discuss what his holdout may reveal about the evidence and our culture's understanding of justice, and explore what Christians can learn about conviction, courage, and the willingness to stand alone when it comes at a personal cost. This conversation will challenge you to think more deeply about truth, accountability, and what it means to refuse to compromise your conscience. Let's get into it! Connect With The Few! Follow us and join the conversation:

In a culture increasingly defined by division, how can Christian parents teach their daughters to think biblically about race, identity, justice, and unity? On this episode of Raising Godly Girls, Patti Garibay welcomes public theologian, author, speaker, and seminary professor Dr. Krista Bontrager for an honest and hope-filled conversation about raising girls who can engage difficult cultural conversations with both truth and grace. With conversations about race and identity reaching girls at younger ages—and often through frameworks centered on division, group identity, and power—many Christian parents feel unsure about how to respond. Krista helps parents distinguish between race and culture, understand humanity through the lens of Scripture, and recognize how the Gospel reshapes the way Christians understand identity, belonging, and unity. Together, Patti and Krista explore how parents can have age-appropriate conversations about racism and injustice without surrendering Biblical truth or allowing cultural ideologies to become the foundation of their daughters' worldview. This conversation also equips parents to help their girls navigate tribal thinking, difficult conversations at school and online, and a world that often encourages people to find their deepest identity in group belonging. Rather than retreating from these challenging topics, parents can teach their daughters to engage them with discernment, confidence, compassion, and a firm understanding of who they are in Christ. Krista reminds families that the Gospel is the ultimate equalizer—and that Christian unity is rooted not in cultural agreement, but in the truth that we are one body in Christ. If you want to raise a daughter who can pursue unity without compromising Biblical truth, this episode offers practical encouragement and Gospel-centered clarity for the journey. Discover how to move beyond cultural talking points and equip your girl to see herself, others, and a divided world through the transforming lens of Scripture.   Scriptures Referenced: · 1 Corinthians 8:6 · Ephesians 4:4–5 Learn more about Krista Bontrager's work at centerforbiblicalunity.com . Explore more resources to raise girls rooted in Christ at raisinggodlygirls.com.    To find or start an AHG Troop in your area, visit americanheritagegirls.org.

In this episode of John Solomon Reports, host John Solomon reveals breaking news that President Trump has banned several mainstream media outlets, including CNN and MSNBC, from reporting from the White House. Solomon discusses the implications of this bold move and Trump's strong support for Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who is facing off against Democrat James Talarico. The episode also highlights a concerning federal appeals court ruling that allows law enforcement to search phones at the border without a warrant, raising questions about Fourth Amendment rights.Joining the conversation is House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who provides insights into the ongoing investigation into ActBlue and the weaponization of government. In the second segment, former Kansas Governor Sam Brownback discusses religious freedom and the alarming persecution faced by Christians and other faiths in China, emphasizing the need for greater awareness and action.The episode concludes with Tim Stewart, who sheds light on crucial legislation aimed at protecting conservation funding from oil sales, as well as potential discussions on energy independence and the future of American oil production.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Should Christian families accept government subsidies if the help is already available—or should we be worried about the strings attached? Today I'm answering that, plus when theological differences are serious enough to leave a church, loving an adult child who disagrees with you, baptism, tithing while in debt, teens working Sundays, discerning when “God told me” is really God, and helping a homeschool graduate find direction. Plus, a sobering look at why Americans are more dissatisfied than ever with our education system.Sponsor: BJU Press Homeschool — Biblically grounded, academically strong homeschool curriculum with flexible options for your family. Learn more at http://BJUPressHomeschool.com .Shop MyFreedomCart for trusted, American-made products that support your values.http://myfreedomcart.com/heidiShow mentions: http://heidistjohn.com/mentionsWebsite | http://heidistjohn.comSupport the show! | http://donorbox.org/donation-827Rumble | rumble.com/user/HeidiStJohnYoutube |    / @‌heidistjohnpodcast  Instagram | @‌heidistjohnFacebook | Heidi St. JohnX | @‌heidistjohnFaith That Speaks Online CommunitySubmit your questions for Fan Mail Friday | http://heidistjohn.com/fanmailfriday

Today On The Eric Metaxas Show, Seth Gruber joins Eric to discuss his new book and documentary The Last Stand: Christ Or Chaos? The War For The West.Seth argues that Western civilization is approaching a critical moment and points to a 1934 study he says found a recurring pattern linking sexual norms to the rise and decline of civilizations. He explains why he sees 1973 as a major turning point for America and why he believes Christians must recover a much more active understanding of their role in society.Eric and Seth also revisit the history of Athanasius, the early Church's confrontation with infanticide, cultural Marxism, the family, Christian passivity, and Charlie Kirk's role in helping launch the White Rose Resistance.⭐ ORDER NOW:Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World

The reaction to the Clancy trial reflects how many think about abortion. For the church, euthanasia is a hill to die on. How should Christians think about AI doomsday talk. And boys are filling the chairs in church youth groups.    Recommendations  Creation Regained Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview  by Albert M. Wolters   The Wonderful Works of God by Herman Bavinck and R. Carlton Wynne   Colson Fellows  Segment 1 – Clancy Trial Reaction; Euthanasia in the UK  Tearing Us Apart book  Townhall article on Clancy trial  Netherlands Toddler Euthanized  BBC article on euthanasia bill  AI short course  Segment 2 – AI Doomsday  AI whistleblower  AI short course  Segment 3 – The Boys are Back...in Church  Youth group attendance     

Alan's Soap https://AlansArtisanSoaps.com/Todd The legacy continues for Ian and Alan with Alan's Artisan Soaps “John's Favorites” bundle.  Get one bar of each of John's favorites for only $28.99. Bulwark Capital https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.comJoin Zach's “Game Plan” webinar October 1st at 3:30 Pacific. It's LIVE and it's FREE. Register at the link above today.Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/Todd Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.comGet the new limited release, The Sisterhood, created to honor the extraordinary women behind the heroes.   Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.SentryH2O https://SentryH2O.com/Todd Upgrade your drinking water.  There's a Sentry H2O system for every home and every budget. Use code TODD to save 10% off today.  **** LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE at: The Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple Podcasts The Todd Herman Show | Podcast on Spotify  WATCH and SUBSCRIBE at:  Todd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeDo Christians HAVE to Get Into Cryptocurrency?I've been anxious to ask Zach this question. We'll also discuss Seattle, and the capping of interest rates in the US.

In this episode of Pray the Word on 2 Kings 18:5–7, David Platt encourages us to hold fast to God in faith no matter what we face.Explore more content from Radical.

Marxism Got Into The Church. John Zmirak Says It Never Really Left. Today On The Eric Metaxas Show, John Zmirak joins Eric to discuss how the ideas of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud influenced modern Christianity. Zmirak argues that some churches tried to accommodate ideas they considered intellectually respectable and, in the process, began explaining away biblical miracles, reshaping Christian teaching around Marxist politics, and replacing traditional ideas about sin with Freudian psychology. Eric and John discuss Darwinism, Genesis, the Resurrection, liberation theology, Freud's influence, and what happens when Christians become embarrassed by the supernatural claims at the heart of their faith. Earlier, Eric continues his remarkable story from Greece and shares an update on plans to excavate the site believed to contain the palace of Odysseus.   John Zmirak Joins Darwin, Marx And Freud Inside The Church Why Christians Began Explaining Away Miracles How Marxism Entered Christian Churches Can Christianity Survive Without The Supernatural? Zmirak On Freud And Christian Morality Why Freud's Ideas Survived After His Theories Fell Apart C.S. Lewis, Freud And Eric's Unexpected Connection   Watch this video at- https://youtu.be/qvidVTUDGkE?si=xWigxQ7x7eh64glt Eric Metaxas 97.3K subscribers 14,182 views Premiered Sep 11, 2026 The Eric Metaxas Show ⭐ ORDER NOW: Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World