Podcasts about if christ

Citizens not only have rights and privileges, but they also have responsibilities. The same is true for us as citizens of Heaven. Let's not only experience the blessings of our new citizenship but let's conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.Main Points:1. You may not have thought about this, Heaven is not just a place you are waiting to see, but it's a place of which you are already a citizen. You have a legal right to belong in Heaven because the blood of Jesus has paid for your entry. 2. As citizens of Heaven, the Word of God calls for us to live as citizens of Heaven. We are not yet in Heaven, but we are to live with the values of our new home.3. Paul says we can live as citizens of Heaven by conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. In other words, if you are saved, live as someone who is saved. If Christ has come into your life, it should be noticeable in how you live. We are not worthy of what Christ has done for us, but we should do our best to live as though we were.Today's Scripture Verses:Ephesians 2:19 - “You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family.”Philippians 1:27 - “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.”Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook Group

Medical Aid (MAiD) in Dying is expanding across the U.S., often framed as compassionate care for the terminally ill. But when language shifts from suicide to medical assistance, the theological stakes change. This conversation examines euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and the biblical view of life, suffering, and God's sovereignty. If Christ alone is Lord over life and death, what does that mean for end-of-life decisions?  Transformed Podcast Episode 159 | January 22, 2026 ___ Thanks for listening! Transformed would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Transformed we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn't be more thankful for you if we tried!

“How is Jesus present in the Eucharist?” This question opens a discussion on the nature of Christ’s presence in the sacrament, addressing concerns about cannibalism and the essence of communion. Other topics include the implications for Anglicans considering Catholicism and the differing beliefs about the Eucharist among Protestants. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 03:24 – How is Jesus present in the eucharist? 15:37 – How is the Eucharist not cannibalism? I find that typically the answer is: it's not cannibalism because it's not destructive. My problem with that is destructiveness is not inherent in the definition of cannibalism. Cannibalism is eating another person, which is what we are doing. Did we just invent another definition for cannibalism so that we can say we aren't doing it? 29:59 – I grew up Anglican and am looking into Catholicism. I go to Anglican service with my Grandma. If I believe in the Catholic view of the Eucharist, but I'm not Catholic, should I stop receiving communion in the Anglican church? I'm worried how my grandma would react to that. 35:24 – Do Protestants who believe in some kind of eucharistic presence not really have the Real Presence because they don't have the Catholic sacramental priesthood? 45:20 – How is it that the Eucharist is really Jesus when most Protestants believe it's just a symbol? 49:16 – If Christ wanted to ensure belief in the Eucharist he chose an almost maximally ambiguous form, why do you think God allowed that ambiguity instead of clarity?

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. The argument started small. They always do. A comparison here. A subtle jab there. Then suddenly the whole church in Corinth was splintering into camps — Paul's camp, Apollos' camp, Peter's camp, even a "we only follow Christ" camp said with a smug twist. Division never screams at first. It whispers. Then it fractures. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. — 1 Corinthians 1:10–17 Paul doesn't tiptoe around the problem. He hits the heart of the issue. Because when people start attaching their identity to personalities rather than to Christ, unity dies. And Paul slices through the noise with one sharp question: "Is Christ divided?" Of course not. But when Christ isn't at the center, people start choosing sides. Here's the truth Corinth needed — and we need: When Christ is at the center, we won't take sides. Pastors don't unite the church. Preferences don't unite the church. Personalities don't unite the church. Only Jesus does that. So why are the names of your pastor, your preferences, and your personalities so important to you? But when Christ becomes the main thing again. The sides disappear. Comparison fades. Pride quiets. Unity rises. So let this settle deep today: If Christ stays at the center, division loses its power. And said another way — because we need the reminder — When Christ is truly at the center, we refuse to take sides. DO THIS: Reach out to one believer today — someone outside your usual circle. Send encouragement. Build a bridge where a wall once stood. ASK THIS: Where have preferences quietly replaced Christ as the center? Who do you tend to "follow" more closely than Jesus? Is there a person you need to reconcile with for the sake of unity? PRAY THIS: Jesus, keep me centered on You alone. Quiet my pride, crush my comparisons, and make You the center of everything I follow and everything I love. Amen. PLAY THIS: "Make Room"

If Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. — Romans 8:10 I used to think that becoming a new person in Christ meant I had to change myself—clean up, perform better, strive harder. But that left me exhausted and frustrated. The truth is that we're not called to muster up new life in our own strength. That's the Holy Spirit's role. Romans 8 reminds us that if Christ lives in us, then his Spirit breathes life into places that were once lifeless. The Spirit doesn't just improve our old selves—he transforms us from the inside out. That's powerful. It means we can stop trying to force change; instead, we can be open to what the Spirit wants to do in us. Whether you're battling old habits, healing from deep wounds, or longing to change in new ways, take heart. You are not alone, and you are not powerless. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. That's not just motivation—it's resurrection power at work. Let today be about surrender, not striving. The Spirit knows what needs to go and what needs to grow.  Holy Spirit, thank you for living in me and giving me new life. Help me to surrender today and to trust that you have the power to change and renew me. Amen.

If Christ makes us holy by His sacrificial gift of grace why are we commanded to live holy? Share. Make it a great day in the Love & Lordship of Christ (1 Peter 1:15-16)!

Send us a textWhat if the biggest threat to your peace isn't sin but a small view of the cross? We take on the fear-soaked idea that salvation can be lost and walk, step by step, through the scriptural logic of assurance. If you're saved today and believe you could lose it tomorrow, what explains your security right now—your effort or Christ's finished work? That question becomes a doorway into a deeper truth: we're saved by works, just not ours.Across the hour, we map the meeting point of God's sovereignty and human responsibility without flattening either. We examine James 2 and why “even the demons believe” is not a trump card against faith but a caution against lifeless assent. We revisit Galatians 2 and the heart of imputed righteousness, showing why any theology that makes salvation revocable quietly turns the cross into an installment plan. If Christ paid your entire sin debt, justice itself says God will not bill you twice. That's not license; that's liberation—fuel for obedience born from gratitude, not anxiety.We also confront confusion around universal atonement, clarifying how the cross is sufficient for all yet effective through faith. You cannot be righteous in Christ and remain an unbeliever; union and trust arrive together by grace. Through honest pushback, practical analogies, and careful reasoning, we trade fear for a durable assurance anchored in Jesus, not in our best day. If you've wrestled with doubt, moral scorekeeping, or the nagging question “Have I done enough,” this conversation offers a firmer ground to stand on: paid in full, held by Him, freed to live.If this helped you breathe a little easier, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs solid assurance, and leave a review so others can find it too.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

Today is Christmas Day! We will be reflecting on Isaiah 61, Psalm 98, Luke 2:1-20, The Promised Seed. If Christ's birth was ordinary, there wouldn't be angels announcing it. If Christmas was all about a cute baby, then the shepherds wouldn't have left the field, nor the magi their home. “Do not be afraid,” we read in Luke 2, “for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” The point isn't that a baby is born, but that the long-awaited Messiah is born. God “has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness.” But before we get too excited, this same Psalm warns, “he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Christmas is a time of wonder and awe, but also a time to reflect on our relationship with God. 

If Christ has already made true believers holy then why are we commanded to be and live holy lives? Share. Make it a great day in the Love & Lordship of Christ (Mark 12:29-31)!

"In this sermon from 1 Corinthians 15:12–22, we explore Paul's profound teaching on the resurrection and how it flows directly from the doctrine of union with Christ. Every benefit of salvation—justification, adoption, sanctification, and now glorification—comes to us because we are united to Christ, the second Adam and our covenant head.Some in Corinth denied the resurrection of the dead. Paul responds by showing that to deny our resurrection is to deny Christ's resurrection, because the two are inseparably linked. Christ is the firstfruits—the beginning of one great harvest. His resurrection guarantees ours. Your future resurrection is not only promised; it has already begun in Him.This reality transforms how we endure suffering in this life. Just as Christ entered glory after humiliation and suffering, so believers—united to Him—follow that same pattern. Our sufferings are “with Christ,” and our glorification will be with Him as well.At Christmas we remember why this union is possible at all: the incarnation. The eternal Son became man so that we could be united to Him and share in His life, His righteousness, and ultimately His resurrection. As we have borne the image of the man of dust, so we will bear the image of the Man of heaven.If Christ is raised, then you will be raised. If you are in Christ, you will live.This is the hope, the comfort, and the unshakeable foundation of the Christian life.#1Corinthians15 #UnionWithChrist #Resurrection #ChristianSermon #BibleTeaching #Glorification #ReformedTheology #GospelHope #Incarnation #ChristTheFirstfruits #EternalLife #ChristianLiving"

What does it mean to live between the two Advents of Christ? In week two of our Advent series Between the Advents, Pastor Chris Zauner delivers a powerful and deeply honest message titled "The Not Yet Kingdom." This sermon explores the tension of life between Christ's first coming in humility and His promised return in glory.Pastor Chris leads us through Romans 8:18–25, revealing how even in the midst of suffering, grief, and unanswered prayers, we are not without hope. We live in the "already but not yet" reality of God's kingdom—where Jesus has inaugurated something new, but the full restoration is still to come.This message doesn't shy away from the difficult questions many of us carry during the Advent season:If Christ has already come, why does the world still feel so broken?Pastor Chris reminds us that this ache, this groaning we feel, is not a failure of faith, but evidence that we were made for more—a longing for the completed kingdom to come.We are invited to wait honestly, expectantly, and faithfully—grieving honestly, hoping stubbornly, and living differently in light of the promise that Jesus will return. Advent is not merely a season of memory but one of formation. We are shaped by hope, rooted in the past, and propelled toward a glorious future.If you're navigating a season of pain, loss, or longing, this message is for you. It's a call to bring your full, unfiltered heart to God and to anchor your hope in the promise of restoration, renewal, and resurrection through Jesus.Join us as we continue to live between the manger and the return of the King—carrying a light into darkness that will not be extinguished.Scripture Focus:Romans 8:18–25Revelation 21Series: Between the AdventsMessage Title: The Not Yet KingdomSpeaker: Pastor Chris ZaunerLocation: Grace City Church

In this episode, we reflect on a talk given as part of the St. Michael's Speaker Series, exploring what it truly means when Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If Christ is the destination, then the Catholic faith is not a barrier—but the vehicle that leads us to Him.Drawing from Plato's Allegory of the Cave, this conversation looks at how faith moves us from shadows into light, from partial truths into fullness, and from confusion into clarity. It's an invitation to step out, see more clearly, and walk toward the Truth Himself.As always, thank you for tuning into Conversations with Chance Mutuku. Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to the channel.Big love to our sponsors, BBBBLANC* and Kabaka Concept. For more info, catch us here:

In this Sunday morning message from Florence Baptist Temple, Bill Monroe preaches on “The Indispensable Christ.” From Philippians 1:20–21 and Colossians 3:1–4, you'll discover that Christianity, the church, life itself, and our salvation all revolve around one Person—Jesus Christ.Christ is not an accessory to life; He is our life: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). If Christ is indispensable, then life without Him is inconceivable. Listen as Pastor Monroe calls believers to put Jesus at the very center of every area of life and invites those without Christ to trust Him as Savior.

If Christ lives in you, why are you still trying to do this alone? Discussion Questions: Read John 3:36 and 5:24. What does it mean to "see life" and to have "passed out of death into life"? Read John 14:19 and react to this statement: "Because I live, you will live also." Read John 14:23. What does it mean to you to have the entire Trinity living within you? Read Romans 5:10 and react to this statement: I am reconciled by Jesus' death and saved by Jesus' life. Read Romans 8:10-11. What does "the spirit is alive because of righteousness" mean for the imputed-vs-imparted righteousness debate? Read 1 John 4:13 and 2:27. How do you understand "abiding" better because of these? Read Galatians 5:16, 25. In your own words, describe what it means to walk by the Spirit.

What if the single claim that Jesus rose from the dead is the hinge your whole life swings on? We open John 20 and follow Mary, Peter, and John to the empty tomb, then step back to ask the bigger question: if the resurrection actually happened, what does that mean for truth, identity, and hope right now? No church brand or personality can hold that weight—only a living Savior can.We walk through clear, accessible evidence that invites both seekers and believers to think deeply. The apostles faced death for proclaiming what they saw, not just what they felt. Women were named as the first eyewitnesses in a culture that sidelined their testimony, a detail no fabricator would choose. James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, became a leader and died for his confession. Paul pointed to more than 500 eyewitnesses and told readers to verify it. And against the force of Rome, the message didn't fade; it flourished, beginning in Jerusalem where the claim could be checked.From there, we draw the personal lines. If Christ is risen, guilt does not get the last word—grace does. Identity stops yo-yoing with wins and losses and settles into who God says you are. Fear of death loosens its grip, reframed by a future that outlives the grave. Purpose becomes concrete: your labor in the Lord is not in vain, and everyday faithfulness matters in a kingdom that cannot be canceled. We end by calling each other to live from this living hope—steady, joyful, and all-in.If this encouraged you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Your words help others find the hope that could change everything.

If Christ is the Light of the World, what part of your life still needs to be surrendered to His light?Yesterday we opened our Christmas series in Isaiah 9 and faced a reality Scripture never softens: the darkness is real — but God's Light is stronger.The message is now up on Facebook, YouTube, and our Podcast. If you weren't with us, I encourage you to watch or listen. Let God's Word remind you that the Light does not just expose — it rescues, restores, and reigns.“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” — John 1:4 (NIV)At New Promise Church you will see people of all ages, from a variety of backgrounds, and at different stages of their spiritual journey. We desire to draw closer to Jesus by understanding who He is and what He has done for us.

Send us a textEver been handed “biblical” advice that felt like a rebuke wrapped in a compliment? We dive into Job 5 and Eliphaz's counsel to uncover how true statements about God can land as false comfort when applied without wisdom. We talk about God's unsearchable works, rain on the earth, and the lifting of the lowly—and why those beautiful truths don't grant us permission to diagnose a friend's pain as punishment.As we move through the text, we name the danger of transactional theology: the reflex to read suffering as a simple cause-and-effect verdict. Several voices share how that mindset shows up today—suggesting blessings prove righteousness and loss proves guilt—and why it distorts God's sovereignty and pastoral care. We highlight a better way shaped by the Psalms and by Job's own honesty: faith that doesn't silence questions. God welcomes lament. Confession becomes relational, not performative. If Christ carried our sins, daily repentance isn't re-earning mercy but living in the truth of it.We also explore the craftiness in Eliphaz's tone—praise to God used to conceal a rebuke—and offer practical guidance for spiritual conversations under pressure. Listen deeply before labeling. Refuse quick moral math. Match doctrine to context like tools to tasks. Offer presence instead of suspicion. Suffering people don't need a courtroom; they need companions who can hold paradox and wait with them for light. By the end, you'll have a sharper lens for reading Job, and a kinder posture for your next hard conversation.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who's navigating a hard season, and leave a review to help more listeners find thoughtful, scripture-rich conversations.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

Send us a textEver been handed “biblical” advice that felt more like a verdict than comfort? We open Job 5 and sit with Eliphaz's polished speech to see why true statements can still wound when they're aimed at the wrong heart. As we read his lines about God humbling the crafty and lifting the lowly, we also hold fast to what God has already said about Job—perfect, upright, God-fearing, and turning from evil—and let that testimony guide our discernment.We talk about the stubborn pull of retribution theology, the reflex to tie every hardship to hidden sin, and why the gospel disrupts that equation. If Christ absorbed condemnation, then a believer's trials are not penalties but refining fires. That shift matters in hospital rooms, at gravesides, and across kitchen tables. It shapes how we speak to the weary: less lecturing, more listening; less courtroom, more care. The panel points out how Job's patience includes enduring misguided counsel without returning evil for evil, modeling a holiness that holds its ground without hardening its heart.This conversation doubles as a field guide for wise comfort. Context is everything—both for Scripture and for souls. Knowing doctrine is only half the task; applying it with humility completes it. We trace Eliphaz's challenge—“Call now”—and contrast it with heaven's record, reminding ourselves that God's verdict stands louder than human suspicion. Along the way we highlight how sanctification refines like silver, why humility is the doorway to wisdom, and how careless certainty can compound pain.If you're hungry for a sturdier theology of suffering and a gentler practice of comfort, press play and study with us. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs thoughtful encouragement, and leave a review with one takeaway that will change how you walk with someone in pain.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

In an age where fragile egos masquerade as freedom and “No Kings” yard signs litter a nation allergic to authority, Psalm 110 thunders with a better word: Christ reigns now. This sermon exposes the madness of our kingless culture and proclaims the unstoppable dominion of Jesus, who is subduing His enemies, expanding His kingdom, and drafting His people into joyful, voluntary service. If Christ is King—and He is—then history belongs to Him, and so do we.

Colossians 1:11–20 is a hymn of praise to the excellence of Jesus Christ. Paul describes Christ as the image of the invisible God, the one in whom all things hold together, the head of the church, and the reconciler of all creation.But here is a question to consider. If Christ is the Son of God, and we are children of God, what does that mean for us? How do we reconcile this passage with our own identities?God bless,Rev Leon

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 7-10 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast! In today's episode for Friday, November 17th—day 321 of our journey through the Bible—Hunter invites us into a time of reflection, encouragement, and prayer rooted in Second Corinthians chapters 7 through 10. Together, we explore the themes of generosity, spiritual strength, and the source of true Christian living found in Christ. Hunter reminds us of the promises we have in Jesus, guiding us to cleanse our hearts, embrace holiness, and rely on God's power for a life that is both generous and resilient. Through thoughtful prayer and insightful commentary, we learn that we have all the riches and strength we need in Christ, empowering us to serve, give, endure, and heal. Prepare to enter a new day with God's word spoken over you, uplifting prayers for yourself and the world, and encouragement to walk in truth, peace, and hope—trusting in the deep love God has for you. Let's continue this journey together, discovering joy and strength in every step. TODAY'S DEVOTION: Do you want to live a life that is generous and strong? Can you afford to live a generous Christian life? Do you have strength to defend yourself against spiritual attack—or, forget about spiritual attack, just plain old discouragement, depression, or self-loathing? We all need strength to overcome these things, whether spiritual or otherwise. Paul reminds us in the previous chapters where our riches for generous living and the strength for our struggles come from. They come from the One who alone is rich enough and strong enough. They come from Christ. Christ in you. So, do you want to live a life that is generous and strong? Then Christ will be the source of your strength and the source of your riches—your heart partnering with him to serve, to give, to endure, and to be healed. Yesterday's reading sets this up for us: it says that God's power is working in us. And now, in today's passage, 2 Corinthians 7:1, we read, "Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. Let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." So, what's the promise? It's the promise of Christ's presence in you. What are the earmarks of holy living? Generosity and strength. Because Christ lives in you, you are able to cleanse yourself from everything that defiles your body and spirit. Now, you have the strength and generosity to move forward and to experience real change. Because you fear God, because Christ lives in you, you have what you need. Can you afford a generous life? It depends on how rich you are. Do you have the strength you need to move forward? Well, that depends on how strong you are. How rich are you? How strong are you? If Christ is in you, then you have all the riches you need and then some. If Christ is in you, then you have all the strength you need and then some. And I'm here to tell you, Christ is in you. As John said, "The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." So because we have these promises, we can live the Christian life. Let's be awakened today by the presence of God in you, your true life which is hidden in Him. You have been fully embraced in Christ just as you are in Him. You are a new creation, and because of Him, you can be wise and generous—strong. And the prayer of my own heart today is that we will all begin to see this just a little bit more today than we did yesterday. That's the prayer I have for my own soul. That's the prayer I have for my family—for my wife, my daughters, my son. And that's the prayer I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

It's Christ the King Sunday and you're about to hear how Jesus is dying the death of a criminal. On Christ the King Sunday we are declaring that Jesus has authority and power over all, yet we are talking about his crucifixion, not his resurrection. If Christ is a king, where is his kingdom? You'll hear that in the words Jesus speaks on the cross: “Father, forgive them.” CHALLENGE GRANTA Luther House of Study donor is sponsoring a challenge grant. If you sponsor one podcast episode by the end of the year, another podcast episode will be sponsored on your behalf. If you'd like to have your donation doubled, email Sarah Stenson at sarah@lhos.org or go to lutherhouseofstudy.org/donate CARE OF SOULS - ADDICTIONLutheran pastors and theologians come together to explore the deeply personal and pastoral task of preaching to and caring for those struggling with life's challenging situations: addiction, death, family disharmony, and more. Rooted in the theology of the cross and the Lutheran tradition of radical grace, this series offers both theological depth and practical guidance for pastors, church workers, and lay leaders.With conversations, real-life stories, and reflections from the front lines of ministry, Care of Souls equips listeners to enter the broken places of addiction not with easy answers, but with the crucified and risen Christ.Because in the end, it's not about fixing people—it's about preaching the Gospel.Listen to Care of Souls wherever you listen to podcasts or on the Luther House website: Care of Souls - Addiction SING TO THE LORD Martin Luther said, "Next to the word of God, the art of music is the greatest treasure in the world." To understand the importance of hymnody in the Lutheran church, Lars Olson and Mason Van Essen sit down with Zachary Brockhoff to discuss the lectionary's hymns, their meaning and history, and how the music preaches the Gospel. 

Sermon Summary: “The Resurrection Life” (Mark 12:18–27) Preached by Coleton Segars Introduction: You Can Learn a Lot from an Argument Coleton began with a story about a moment of conflict in his front yard—when someone yelled at his wife, and he immediately stepped in to defend her. His point was simple but powerful: you can learn a lot from an argument. That's true in life, and it's true in Scripture. The argument between Jesus and the Sadducees in Mark 12 shows us a lot—not just about them, but about how our own beliefs about the resurrection shape the way we live today. In this passage, the Sadducees—religious leaders who didn't believe in resurrection—try to trap Jesus with a clever theological puzzle. They present an absurd story of a woman who marries seven brothers (following the Levirate law in Deuteronomy). Each brother dies without leaving children, and then they ask: “At the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” (Mark 12:23) They aren't sincerely curious. They're mocking the idea of resurrection. But Jesus' response reveals two deep truths about life after death—and why those truths matter more than we realize. How We View the Resurrection Shapes How We Live “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” — Mark 12:24 Coleton explained that the Sadducees' disbelief in the resurrection shaped everything about their lives. Verse 18 says they were known as “those who say there is no resurrection.” Because they believed this life was all there is, they lived for this life only: chasing after wealth, status, and power. They looked down on others. They thought Jesus was foolish for believing in something beyond the grave. Jesus told them they were badly mistaken—but their mistake wasn't just intellectual. It was moral and spiritual. Their disbelief formed the foundation of how they lived. Coleton showed that this is always true:  What we believe about life after death determines how we live this life. He illustrated it with examples from history and world religions: Vikings believed dying bravely in battle led to glory in Valhalla—so they lived without fear. Certain Islamic traditions taught that dying in holy war brought heavenly rewards. Hinduism believe reincarnation depends on one's karma—so kindness and duty matter deeply in this life. Even for us, our view of the afterlife quietly directs how we spend our time, our money, and our energy. Coleton then described four common ways people misunderstand or misbelieve the resurrection today: “Never think about it” – Like the Sadducees, we live as if this world is all there is. “You only live once,” so grab what you can. “Think about it too much” – Some see this world as disposable and stop caring about God's purposes to renew it. “It won't be better” – Fear of the unknown or of death keeps us from living courageously like Paul, who said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” “Everyone goes to the same afterlife” – This leads to apathy about the gospel and the Great Commission. Coleton's conclusion was sobering: “Our current life is shaped by how we view the life to come.” So how should we view it? Life After Death Is True for Everyone—Whether They Believe It or Not “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” — Mark 12:26–27 The Sadducees didn't believe in resurrection, angels, or spirits. They only accepted the first five books of Moses as authoritative. So Jesus met them on their own ground—quoting from Exodus, one of Moses' books—to prove that even there, resurrection is implied. When God said, “I am the God of Abraham…”, He used the present tense. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been dead for centuries—but God said He is their God, not was. That means they are alive to Him even now. Jesus' argument is brilliant—and undeniable:  Resurrection life is real, and it's true for everyone, believer or not. Coleton tied this to John 5:24–29, where Jesus says that one day all the dead will rise—some to eternal life, others to judgment. There is no “sleep of nothingness.” Everyone will live again. That truth should stir two responses in us: Urgency to share Jesus.  “If you truly believe everyone will rise—either to life or judgment—you'll want to tell people about Jesus.”  Coleton asked, “Do you have people in your life who don't know Him?” If we believe in a real resurrection, we can't stay silent. A call to make Jesus compelling.  “Is the way you follow Jesus making Him beautiful or unappealing?”  He warned that if Christians live joyless, judgmental, bitter lives, our witness turns people away from Jesus. Paul, though suffering, radiated peace and joy that made others want to know his Savior.  The question Coleton pressed was:  “Is your life a reason people would want to know Jesus—or a reason they'd want to reject Him?” Life After Death Will Be Better Than We Can Imagine “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” — Mark 12:25 The Sadducees mocked the idea of resurrection by pointing out how complicated relationships would become. But Jesus' response essentially says: “You're assuming heaven works like earth—but it doesn't.” Coleton explained that Jesus isn't attacking marriage. He's saying that in the resurrection, all the brokenness and limitations of this life—our relationships, bodies, and systems—will be transformed. He quoted several theologians to help make the point: Mark Strauss:  “Jesus does not claim that the intimacy of earthly relationships will be discontinued in eternity. He only says there will be no need for the institution of marriage… all relationships will exist on an even higher plane.” D.A. Carson:  “The greatness of the changes at the resurrection will make the wife of seven brothers capable of loving them all… like a mother loves all her children.” Jesus' main point:  You think you'll face problems in the life to come—but you won't. It will be better than you can possibly imagine. Coleton addressed the common fears people have about eternity: The fear of forever (apeirophobia) The fear of boredom (thinking heaven will be dull or repetitive) The fear of losing relationships But Jesus says we'll be “like the angels”—not in form, but in fulfillment. Angels are fully satisfied in God. They sing not because they must, but because they want to. They've found the source of joy, meaning, and love—and they never tire of it. Coleton quoted David Guzik: “If it seems that life in the resurrection doesn't include some pleasures of life on earth, it's only because the satisfactions of heaven far surpass what we know here. No one will be disappointed with the arrangements.” And Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” CS Lewis put it beautifully: “This life is only the cover and title page. Now begins Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.” Coleton then told the story of the Christians during the plagues in ancient Rome. While the rich fled the cities, Christians stayed to care for the sick—even though many died doing so. Why? Because they believed in the resurrection. They knew death wasn't the end—it was the doorway. “This belief freed them,” Coleton said. “They didn't pursue death, but they weren't enslaved by fear of it either.” If we lived with that same confidence in the resurrection—believing the next life is better than we can imagine—we would live with joy, courage, and resilience in this one. Conclusion: The Resurrection That Changes Everything Everything Coleton said comes back to this:  How you view life after death will shape how you live right now. If you believe there is no resurrection, you'll live for this life only. If you believe there is one—but forget it's better—you'll live in fear. But if you believe in the resurrection Jesus promised—real, physical, glorious, and eternal—you'll live with purpose, peace, and courage. Jesus has accomplished this for us in His death and resurrection. “If Christ has not been raised, our faith is useless… But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” — 1 Corinthians 15:17–23 Because He lives, so will we. Discussion Questions How does your current view of life after death shape the way you live right now—your priorities, goals, and fears? Which of the four modern “views” of the afterlife that Coleton described do you relate to most? Why? How could believing that the resurrection is true for everyone change how you share your faith and how you live before others? When you think about eternity, what fears or doubts arise—and how do Jesus' words in Mark 12:24–27 address them? If you truly believed that the life to come is “better than you can imagine,” what would change in the way you approach suffering, relationships, and daily life?

What does Christian courage look like in the face of tragedy?Erika Kirk's grace, strength, and unwavering faith have shown the watching world the power of the Gospel.“If Christ is for us, who can stand against us?”

The first lines of Hebrews don't stroll—they soar. We open chapter one and climb fast: God has spoken in many portions and many ways, and now finally in the Son. That single claim reframes all of Scripture and resets our assumptions about authority, revelation, and hope. Together we explore how the author of Hebrews weaves Old Testament quotations, poetic Greek, and high Christology into a focused portrait: Jesus is heir of all things, maker of the ages, the radiance of God's glory, and the exact imprint of His nature.As we read Hebrews 1:1–4, we connect the dots across the canon. John chapter 5 clarifies that calling God His Father was a claim to equality with God. Colossians chapter 1 echoes that all things were created by Him, through Him, and for Him—and that in Him all things hold together. That means the stability of the universe isn't an abstract force; it's personal providence. We also unpack what “last days” means biblically, why Christ is God's final Word, and how the Spirit still guides believers without adding new revelation to Scripture.Then we linger over those luminous phrases: the Son as radiance, the Shekinah glory revealed in Jesus, purification for sins accomplished, and the royal seat at the right hand of Majesty. Angels are honored in Hebrews, yet Jesus stands infinitely higher—Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. The takeaway is both doctrinal and pastoral: relocate your trust. If Christ inherits everything, no rival can claim your heart. If He upholds all things by His powerful word, anxiety meets its match in His steady care. Come think deeply, worship clearly, and leave with your attention fixed where God has finally spoken—on the Son.If this journey through Hebrews 1 enriched you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so others can find it.Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve

This exploration of biblical friendship takes us deep into 1 Samuel 18:1-4, where Jonathan's soul becomes knit to David's in one of Scripture's most beautiful portraits of covenant relationship.We discover that true friendship isn't about collecting social media connections or maintaining surface-level acquaintances—it's about finding those rare souls with whom connection feels as natural as breathing.The message challenges our modern tendency to either avoid deep friendship entirely or spread ourselves so thin that we become everyone's friend and therefore nobody's true companion.Through the lens of Jonathan and David's relationship, we're invited to examine four essential elements: connection without effort, self-awareness that loves others as we love ourselves, covenant commitment that defines and protects the relationship, and humility that genuinely celebrates another's success even when it costs us something.Perhaps most striking is the reminder that Jesus himself, on the eve of his crucifixion, told his disciples he wanted to call them friends rather than servants.If Christ longs for that depth of intimacy with us, shouldn't we pursue it with one another? This isn't just about having community or fellowship—it's about fighting against the isolation that calcifies our hearts and daring to be vulnerable enough to truly know and be known.Website: https://impact.church Facebook: https://facebook.com/ImpactChurchHome Instagram: https://instagram.com/ImpactChurchHome YouTube: https://youtube.com/@impactchurchhome TikTok: https://tiktokcom/@impactchurchhome

If Christ has done everything, why is the Christian life still so difficult? The Apostle Paul teaches the Galatians the difference between spiritual freedom and slavery, and the power to transform self-centered love outward towards others.

Send us a textWhat if the deepest blessing isn't proximity to power or spectacle, but quiet fidelity to God's word? We walk through Luke 11, where a woman praises Mary and Jesus redirects the moment: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” That single turn reframes honor, obedience, and what God calls “blessed.” From there, we tackle Jesus' hard line on sign-seeking and why the hunger for wonders can mark an “evil generation.”We unpack the Sign of Jonah and how Jesus connects Jonah's three days in the fish to his own death and resurrection. Along the way, we explore the true purpose of biblical signs and wonders: to authenticate the messenger and confirm the message. Moses before Pharaoh, Jesus among the crowds, and the reports to John the Baptist all serve one end—show who speaks for God and confirm that the message is true. If the resurrection doesn't convince, nothing else will. That conviction resets the modern obsession with miracles, tongues, and spectacle, and invites us back to Scripture as our sure foundation.We also compare responses across history: the Queen of Sheba honoring Solomon, Nineveh repenting at Jonah's preaching, and our response to One greater than Solomon and Jonah. If Christ reigns now as Lord of Lords, how should we live? We press into practical, boots-on-the-ground discipleship: guard the word, move from milk to solid food, love your neighbor, and confess Christ in public without shame. Healing, if it comes, is a gift. Hope, because of the empty tomb, is a certainty. The greatest sign has already been given, and it is enough.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who's wrestling with doubt or chasing the next miracle, and leave a review to help others find thoughtful, Scripture-centered conversations.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

If Christ has set us free, it helps to know what he has set us free for. In the United States, we prize freedom. Here, more than most other places in the world, you are free to do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it. Is that what Christ has set us free for?

In this profound episode of the Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb delve deeply into the Parable of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30), exploring its implications for Christian assurance. Building on their previous discussion, they examine how this parable speaks to the mixed nature of the visible church, the sovereignty of Christ over His kingdom, and most significantly, the doctrine of assurance. Through careful theological reflection, the hosts unpack how true believers can find solid ground for assurance not in their own works or fruit-checking, but in the promises of Christ and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This episode offers both encouragement for those struggling with doubts and a sobering challenge to those resting in false assurance. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Tares teaches that the visible church will be mixed until the final judgment, containing both true believers (wheat) and false professors (tares) who may appear outwardly similar. True assurance is not based primarily on good works but on the promises of Christ, the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit, and the evidences of grace in our lives. False assurance is a real danger, as many who think they belong to Christ will discover at the final judgment that they never truly knew Him. The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18) provides a helpful framework for understanding biblical assurance as the proper possession of every Christian. Christ's role as the divine Master of the house (the world) and Lord of the angels is subtly yet powerfully affirmed in this parable, grounding our assurance in His sovereignty. Good works are the fruit of assurance, not its cause—when we are secure in our salvation, we are freed to serve Christ joyfully rather than anxiously trying to earn assurance. The final judgment will bring perfect clarity, revealing what was hidden and separating the wheat from the tares with divine precision that humans cannot achieve now. The Doctrine of Assurance: Reformed Understanding The Reformed tradition has always emphasized that believers can and should have assurance of their salvation—a conviction recovered during the Reformation in contrast to Rome's teaching. As Tony noted when reading from the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18), this assurance is "not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation." This assurance rests on three pillars: the promises of God in Scripture, the inward evidence of grace, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit. What makes this understanding particularly comforting is that it shifts the foundation of assurance away from our performance to God's faithfulness. While self-examination has its place, the Reformed understanding recognizes that looking too intensely at our own hearts and works can lead either to despair or to false confidence. Instead, we're directed to look primarily to Christ and His finished work, finding in Him the anchor for our souls. The Problem of False Assurance One of the most sobering aspects of the Parable of the Tares is its implicit warning about false assurance. Just as the tares resemble wheat until maturity reveals their true nature, many professing Christians may outwardly appear to belong to Christ while inwardly remaining unregenerate. As Jesse observed, "The tares typically live under false assurance. They may attend church, confess belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical, it's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual." This echoes Jesus' warning in Matthew 7 that many will say to Him, "Lord, Lord," but will hear the devastating response, "I never knew you." The parable teaches us that this self-deception is not always conscious hypocrisy but often the result of spiritual blindness. As Jesse noted, referencing Romans 1, Ephesians 4, and 1 Corinthians 2, the unregenerate are "not merely ignorant, they're blinded... to the spiritual truth by nature and by Satan." This understanding should prompt humble self-examination while simultaneously driving us to depend not on our own discernment but on Christ's perfect knowledge and saving work. Memorable Quotes "Assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions." - Thomas Brooks, quoted by Jesse Schwamb "When we are confessing, repenting, seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ, then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance." - Jesse Schwamb "The sacrifice and the service that a husband performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him, that is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it." - Tony Arsenal on how good works flow from assurance rather than cause it Resources Mentioned Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 7:21-23, Romans 1, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 2, 2 Timothy 3:5 Westminster Confession of Faith: Chapter 18 "Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation" Thomas Brooks: "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" YouTube Channel: My Wild Backyard Khan Academy: Educational resource recommended during "Affirmations and Denials" segment Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 466 of the Reform the Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. We're going back to the farm again. Can't stop. Won't stop. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. [00:01:02] Discussion on the Parable of the Tears Tony Arsenal: The last week's discussion was interesting and I think, um, it's gonna be nice to sort of round it out and talk about some things you might not think about, uh, when you first read this parable. So I'm, I'm pretty excited. Jesse Schwamb: Oh, what a tease that is. So if you're wondering what Tony's talking about, we're hanging out. In Matthew 13, we are just really enjoying these teachings of Jesus. And they are shocking and they're challenging, and they're encouraging, and they're awesome, of course. And so we're gonna be finishing out the Parable of the Tears and you need to go back and listen to the previous conversation. This, this is all set up because we have some unfinished business. We didn't talk about the eschatological implications. We have this really big this, this matza ball hanging over us. So to speak, which was the, do the TAs in this parable even know that they are tarry, that they are the TAs? And so in this parable, the disciples learn that the kingdom itself, God's kingdom, the kingdom that Jesus is enumerating and explaining and bringing into being, they are learning that it's gonna be mixed in character. So that's correcting this expectation that the kingdom would be perfectly pure and would have, would evolve righteous rule over all of the unrighteous world. And so it's a little bit shocking that Jesus says, listen, they're gonna be. Tears within the wheats that is in the world, the seed that God himself, the sun has planted and that they're gonna exist side by side for a long time. And so we, they have to wait patiently and give ourselves to building up the wheats as the sons of the kingdom and be careful in their judgment, not to harm those who are believers. We covered a lot of that last week, but left so much unsaid we couldn't even fit it in. This is gonna be jam packed, so I'm gonna stop giving the tees instead start moving us into affirmations and denials. [00:02:45] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: It's of course that time in our conversation where we either affirm with something really like or we think is undervalued or we deny against something that we don't really like or is a little overvalued. So as I usually say to you, Tony, what have you got for us? [00:03:00] YouTube Channel Recommendation: My Wild Backyard Tony Arsenal: I am affirming a YouTube channel. Um, I, I think the algorithm goes through these cycles where it wants me to learn about bugs and things because I get Okay, like videos about bugs. And so I'm, I'm interested. There's been this, uh, channel that's been coming up on my algorithm lately called My Wild Backyard, and it, it's a guy, he's like an entomologist. He seems like a, a like a legit academic, but what he does is he basically goes through and he talks about different bugs, creepy crawlies, looks at like snakes, all that kinds of stuff. It seems like his wheelhouse is the stuff that can kill you or hurt you pretty bad. Nice. But, um, it's interesting and it's. It's good educational content. It's, you know, it's not sensationalized, it's not, uh, it's not dramatized. Um, it's very real. There's occasionally an instance where he, he's not, sometimes he will intentionally get bit or stung by an, uh, by an animal to show you what it does. So he can experience and explain what he's experiencing. And sometimes he just accidentally gets bit or stung. And so those are some of the most interesting ones. So like, for example, just looking at his, his channel, his most recent, um, his most recent video is called The most venomous Desert Creatures in the US ranked the one previous was. The world's most terrifying arachni isn't a spider. And then previous to that was what happens if a giant centipede bites you? So it's interesting stuff. If you are one of those people that likes bugs and likes creepy crawlies and things, um, this is definitely the channel for you if you're not one of those people. I actually think this probably is the channel for you too. 'cause it kind of demystifies a lot of this stuff. Um. You know, for example, he, he will commonly point out that, um, spiders don't wanna bite you and they just wanna leave you alone. And, and as long as you leave them alone, even, even something like a black widow, which people are terrified of, and I think, right, rightfully so. I mean, they can be scary. Those can be scary bites. He'll, he'll handle those, no problem. And as long as he's not like putting downward pressure on them, uh, they have no interest in biting, they really just want to get away. So even seeing that kind of stuff, I think can help demystify and, and sort of, uh, make it a little bit easier. So my Wild Backyard, he can find it on YouTube. Um, he's safe for kids. He's not, he's not cussing even. I mean, I think occasionally when he gets bit on accident, you might, you know, you might have a beep here or there, but, um, he's not, he's not regularly swearing or things like that. And he does a pretty good job of adding that stuff out. Jesse Schwamb: What a great title for that, isn't it? This, yeah. Confluence of your backyard. That space that seems domesticated is also stealing its own. Right. Wild. And there's a be Yeah. Both those things coming together. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. It, it's interesting stuff and it's really good. I mean, it's really compelling videography. He does a good job of taking good photos. You'll see insects that you usually won't see, or spiders you usually won't see. Um, so yeah, it's cool. Check it out. [00:05:51] Discussion on Spiders and Creepy Crawlies Jesse Schwamb: What are you, uh, yeah, I myself would like to become more comfortable with the arachni variety. If only be, I mean, I don't know. It's, it's a weird creature, so my instinct is to be like, kill them all. And then if I can't find them and I know they're around, then we just burn everything that we own. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: They just can't sink into the ground fast enough. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. There's something about the way they move, like their, their bodies don't move the way you would anticipate them to. Right. And it freaks, it just weirds out human sensibilities, so. Right. Jesse Schwamb: They're also like, I find them to be very surprising. Often. It's not kind of a, a very like, kind of measured welcome into your life. It's like you just go to get in the shower and there's a giant spider. Yeah. Oh yeah. Although I guess that spider, he's, he or she's probably like, whoa, where'd you come from? You know, like, yeah. He's like, I was just taking a Tony Arsenal: shower. You know what's interesting? Um, I saw another video was on a different channel, um, like common jumping spiders. Yeah. Which there are like hundreds of species of common jumping spiders. Jesse Schwamb: True. Tony Arsenal: Um, but spiders and jumping spiders specifically, actually you can form almost like a pet bond with, so like the, that jumping spider that like lives in your house and sees you every day. He, he probably knows who you are and is like, comfortable with you. And they've done studies that like you can actually domesticate jumping spiders, so they're not as foreign and alien as you might think. Although they certainly do look a little bit strange and weird. And the way their bodies move is almost designed to weird out people like it just the skinness, like the way their legs skitter and move it, it just is, it's, it triggers something very primal in us to That's wild. Be weirded out by it. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: It's wild. I love it. That's a good, a affirmation. I'm definitely gonna check that out. I, any, anything? I really want to know what the, what like the terrifying arachni is. That's not a spider. Tony Arsenal: It's a, well, it's called a camel spider, but it's not really a spider. Oh, Jesse Schwamb: I know what you're talking about. That is kind of terrifying. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. They, they actually don't have any venom. Um, yeah. Check out the video. I mean, it, it was a good video. Um, but yeah, they're freaky looking and, um, but even that, like he was handling it No problem. Yeah. Like it wasn't, it wasn't aggressive with him once Wow. Once it figured out it wasn't, he wasn't trying to hurt him and, and that it couldn't eat him. Um, it, it just sort of like hung out until he let it go. So Jesse Schwamb: yeah, just be careful if you watch it one before bed or while in bed. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Probably not right before bed. Yeah. You'll, you'll get the creepy crawlies all night. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. But there's something somewhat. Like invigorating about that isn't there? Like it's, it's kind of a natural, just like kind of holy respect for the world that God has created, that they're these features that are so different, so wild, so interesting and a little bit frightening, but in the sense that we just draw off from them because they're so different than what we are. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And you know, again, there's places you would be happy to see them, but maybe your bathtub or like shooting out, like, you know, like where you live, the jumping spiders are legit and they will just pop out on you, you know? Yeah. You're just doing your own thing and then all of a sudden they're popping out. I think part of that is just that what, what gets me is like them just, you know, like I remember in my basement here, once one popped out from a rafter and then I was holding, happened to be holding up broom. My instinct just naturally was to hit it. I hit it with the broom and it went across the room and fell on an empty box and sounded like a silver dollar had hit the box. Like it was just a massive, I mean, again, like, it's like fish stories, like it's a massive spider. It was a big spider. Yeah. But you just don't expect to, to see that kind of thing. Or maybe, maybe I should, but anything that moves in that way, and again, like centipedes, man, forget it. We have those too, like in our basement. Like the long ones. Oh yeah. Yeah. That thing will come like squiggling down the wall at you, like eye level and you just wanna run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, you do run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. It's not that you want to, it's that usually you do. I don't mean like you specifically, although probably you specifically. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There's, yeah, you just react. Well, j Jesse enough freaking out. I mean, we're getting close to Halloween, so I suppose it's appropriate, but, uh, enough of that. What are you affirming or denying today? Jesse Schwamb: Once again, without like any coordination, mine is not unlike yours. I know you and I, we talk about the world in which we live, which God has created, and this lovely command, this ammunition to take dominion over that. And one of the things I appreciate about our conversations is I think you and I often have maybe not like a novel. Kinda perspective on that, but one that I don't hear talked about often and that is this idea of taking dominion over what it is possible to know and to appropriate, and then to apply onto wisdom. [00:10:27] Affirmation: Khan Academy Jesse Schwamb: And so my information is in that realm. It's another form of taking ownership of what's in the wild of knowledge that you can possess. And again, equal parts. What an amazing time to be alive. So I'm affirming with the website, Khan Academy, which I'm sure many are familiar with. And this website offers like. Thousands of hours. Uh, and materials of free instructional videos, practice exercises, quizzes, all these like really bespoke, personalized learning modules you can create for topics like math, science, computing, economics, history, art. I think it goes like even starting at like. Elementary age all the way up into like early college can help you study for things like the SAT, the LSAT AP courses, and I was revisiting it. I have an open account with them that I keep in love and I go back to it from time to time. And I was working on some stuff where I wanted to rehearse some knowledge in like the calculus space, do some things by hand, which I haven't done. And I was just like, I'm blown away at how good this stuff is. And it's all for free. I mean, you should donate if you. You get something from this because it's a nonprofit, but the fact that there are these amazing instructional videos out there that can help us get a better understanding of either things we already know and we can rehearse the knowledge or to learn something brand new essentially for free. But somebody's done all the hard work to curate a pedagogy for you. Honestly, this is incredible. So if you haven't looked at that website in a long time or maybe ever, and you might be thinking, what, what do I really wanna learn? Lemme tell you. There's a lot of interesting stuff there and it's so approachable and it's such a good website for teaching. And if you have children in particular, even if you're looking for help, either helping them with their own coursework or maybe to have like kind of a tutor on the side, this is so good. So I can't say enough good things recently about Khan Academy 'cause it's been so helpful to me and super fun to like just sit and have your own paced study and in the private and comfort of your own home or your desk at work or wherever it is that you need to learn it. To be able to have somebody teach you some things, to do a little practice exercises, and then to go on to the world and to apply the things you've learned. Ah, it's so good. Tony Arsenal: Nice. Yeah, I've, I've never done anything with Khan Academy. I'll have to check it out. There's, um, there's some skills of needing to brush up on, uh, at work that I am probably not gonna be able to find in my normal channels, so I'll have to see if there is anything going on there. Um, but yeah, that's, that's good stuff. And it's free. Love freestyle. It's, and of course, like Jesse Schwamb: things like this are legion. So whatever it is, whatever your discipline or your field of study or work is, there's probably something out there and, uh, might, I humbly maybe encourage you to, if you use something like that and it's funded by donations, it's worth giving, I think, because again, it's just an amazing opportunity to take dominion over the knowledge that God has placed into the world and then to use it for something. I mean, I suppose even if all it is is you just wanna learn more about, like for me, I, I find like the subjects of, of math and science, like just endlessly fascinating and like the computing section I was looking at, I, I don't know much about like programming per se, but there is such a beauty. Like these underlying principles, like the, the organization of the world and the first level principles of like physics for instance, are just like baffling in the most glorious kind of way. How they all come together. So having somebody like teach you at a very like simplistic level, but allow you to grasp those concepts makes you just appreciate it leads me to doxology a lot when I see these things. So in a weird way, it ends up becoming maybe not a weird way and the right way. It becomes worship as often as I'm sitting at my desk and working through like a practice problem on like, you know, partial differential equation or, or derivatives is what I was working on today. And ah, it's just so good. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one. I, it's not be super nerdy, but you, are you ever like at your desk studying something? And it might not be like theological per se, but you just have a moment where you're overcome with some kind of worship. Do you know what I'm talking about? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, um, this we're the nerdiest people on the planet, but let's Jesse Schwamb: do it. Um, Tony Arsenal: when I find a really fun, interesting. Uh, Excel formula and I can get it to work right. Uh, and it, and then it just like everything unlocks. Like, I feel like I've unlocked all the knowledge in the universe. Um, but yeah, I hear you like the, the Excel thing is, is interesting to me because, like, math is just the description. Like it's just the fabric of reality is just the way we describe reality. But the fact that we can do basically just take math and do all these amazing things with it, uh, in a spreadsheet is really, uh, drives me to praise. Like I said, that's super nerdy, but it is. Oh, you're speaking my language. Jesse Schwamb: I, we have never understood each other better than just this moment right now. We, we had some real talk and, uh, a real moment. Tony Arsenal: Yes. Welcome to the Reformed math cast. Jesse Schwamb: We're so glad that you're here. Tony Arsenal: Yes. We're not gonna do any one plus one plus one equals one kinds of heretical math in, up in here. Jesse Schwamb: No. Tony Arsenal: Well, Jesse, I have a feeling that, excuse me. Wow. Jesse Schwamb: We don't edit anything out. Listen, I'm choked up too. It's it, listen, love ones just so emotional. The moment Tony and I are having it. We're gonna try our best right now to pivot to go into this text, but it's, it's tough because we were just really having something, something special. You got, you got to see there. But thank you for trying to Tony Arsenal: cover for me for that big cough. Jesse Schwamb: This is like presuppositional editing. You know, we don't actually do anything in post. It's not ex anti editing. It's, it's literally presuppositional. [00:15:52] Theological Discussion on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: But to that end, we are in Matthew 13. This is the main course. This is the reason why we're here. There's lots of reasons to worship, and one of them is to come before and admire and love our God who has given us his specific revelation and this incredible teaching of his son. And that's why we're hanging out in Matthew 13. So let me read, because we have just a couple of really sentences here, this really short parable and that way it'll catch us up and then we can just launch right back into we're, we're basically like, we're already in the rocket. Like we're in the stratosphere. We're, we're taking it all the way now. So this is Matthew chapter 13. Come hang out here. It's in the 24th verse. And this is what we find written for us. This is the word of the Lord. He put another parable before them saying. The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, no less than gathering the weeds, you root up the weed along with them. Let both grow until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: That's good stuff. That's good stuff. Um, you know, we, we covered most of. I don't know, what do you wanna call it? The first order reading of the parable last week. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: On one level, the parable, uh, as Christ explains it, uh, a little bit down further in the chapter is extremely straightforward. It's almost out, it's almost an allegory. Each, each element of the parable has a, a, a figure that it's representing. And the main purpose of the story is that the world and specifically the church, um, is going to be a mixed body until the last days, until the end of time. And so there's, there's the Sons of God or the Sons of the Kingdom, uh, and then there's the sons of the evil one. And we talked a lot about how. These two figures in the parable, the, the, the weeds or the tears? Um, tears is a better word because it's a specific kind of, uh, specific kind of weed that looks very much like wheat at its immature stages. Right. And you can't actually discern the difference readily, uh, until the weed and the wheat has grown up next to each other. Um, and so, so part of the parable is that. The, the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the enemy, or the sons of the evil one, they don't look all that different in their early stages. And it's not until the sort of end culmination of their lives and the end culmination of things that they're able to be discerned and then therefore, um, the, the sons of the devil are, are reaped and they go off to their eternal judgment and the sons of the kingdom are, uh, are harvested and they go off to their eternal reward. What we wanted to talk about, and part of the reason that we split this into two episodes. Is that we sort of found ourselves spiraling or spiraling around a question about, uh, sort of about assurance, right? And false assurance, true assurance. And there is an eschatological element to this parable that I, I think we probably should at least touch on as we we go through it. Um, but I wanted to just read, um, it's been a little while since we've read the Westminster Confession on the show. So I wanted to read a little bit from the Westminster Confession. Um, this is from chapter 18, which is called of assurance of grace and salvation. This is sort of the answer to Jesse's question. Do the, do the tears know their tears or, or could they possibly think that their wheat? So this is, uh, section one of chapter eight. It says, although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presuppositions or presumptions of being in favor with God in the state of salvation. Which hope of their shall perish yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed. And so we, in the reform tradition at least, which is where we find ourselves in the reform tradition, um, we would affirm that people can. Deceive themselves into believing that they're in proper relation with God. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Tony Arsenal: And so it's not the case that, uh, that the weeds always know they're weeds or think they're weeds. It's not even the case. And this was part of the parable. It's not even the case that the weeds can be easily distinguished even by themselves from, uh, from the weeds. So there is this call, uh, and this is a biblical call. There's a call to seek out assurance and to lay claim to it. That I think is, is worth talking about. But it's not as straightforward as simple proposition as like, yeah, I'm confident. Like it's not just like, right, it's not just mustering up confidence. There's more to it than that. So that's what I wanted to start with, with this parable is just maybe talking through that assurance. 'cause I, I would hate for us to go through this parable. And sort of leave people with maybe you're a weed and you don't know it. 'cause that's not right. That's not the biblical picture of assurance. Um, that's the, that's the Roman Catholic picture of assurance that like, yeah, there's no such thing as assurance and people might not realize, but assurance of salvation is actually one of the, one of the primary things that was recovered particularly by the Reformed in the Reformation. Um, and so I think we, we often sort of overlook it as maybe a secondary thing. Um, but it really is a significant doctrine, a significant feature of reformed theology. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. I'm glad you said that because it is a, is a clear reminder. It's a clearing call as the performers put forth that it is. Under like the purview of the Christian to be able to claim the assurance by the blood of Christ in the application of the Holy Spirit in a way that's like fully orbed and fully stopped. So you can contrast that with, and really what was coming outta Catholicism or Rome at the time. And I was just speaking with a dear brother this past week who. Grew up in the Catholic church and he was recounting how his entire religious experience, even his entire relationship, if we can call it that in a kind of colloquial sense with God, was built around this sense of deep-seated guilt and lack of true performance, such that like assurance always seemed like this really vague concept that was never really fully manifested in anything that he did. Even while the church was saying, if you do these things, if you perform this way, if you ensure that you're taking care of your immortal sins and that you're seeking confession for all the venial stuff as well, that somehow you'll be made right, or sufficiently right. But if not, don't worry about it. There's always purgatory, but there'd be some earning that you'd have to accomplish there. Everywhere along the way. He just felt beaten down. So contrasting that with what we have here. I don't believe, as you're saying, Tony, that's Jesus' intention here to somehow beat up the sheep. I, I think it is, to correct something of what's being said about the world in which we live, but it's at the same time to say that there are some that are the TAs is to say there are some that are the children of God, right? That there are some that are fully crisply, clearly identified and securely resting in that identity without any kind of nervous or anxious energy that it might fall out of that state with God that, that in fact their identity is secure. And as I've been thinking about this this week, I, I'm totally with you because I think part of this just falls, the warning here is there's a little bit of the adventures in Romans one here that's waiting for us, that I like what you said about this idea of, of self deception and maybe like a. Subpart to this question would be, are the, are the terrors always nefarious in their lack of understanding? So we might say there's some that are purposely disruptive, that the enemy himself is, is promulgating or trying to bring forward his destruction, his chaos by way of these tears. But are, are there even a subgroup or another group, uh, co-terminus group or, you know, one in the same hierarchy where there's just a lot of self deception? I, I think that's probably where I fall in terms of just trying to explain that. Yes, I think it was present here is a real quantity, a real identity where they're self-deceived. Imagining themselves to be part of God's people, yet lacking that true saving faith. And this just, I'm gonna go in a couple places where I think everybody would expect in the scriptures, if we go to like Ephesians four, they're darkened and they're understanding alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. And one Corinthians, when Paul writes, the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, and he's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. And then the book that follows the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. And of course then like everything in Romans one, so I bring all that up because E, even at the end, we're gonna get there, the Es, this eschatological reality when you know God is separating out the sheep and the goats. Still, we find this kind of same trope happening there. But the unregenerate, what I'm reading from this. Importantly is that the unregenerate, they're not merely ignorant, they're blinded, as we all were on point to the spiritual truth. Yeah. By nature and by Satan. That that is also his jam. He loves to blind, to lie, to kill, steal, and destroy. So thus, even if they're outwardly belonging to the church, they're outwardly belonging to the world. They're outwardly belonging to some kind of profession. They cannot perceive the reality of their lost condition apart from divine illumination. Who can, that might be stating the obvious, but I think that's like what we're getting after here. I I, I don't know if there's like any kind of like conspiracy here. It's simply that that is the natural state of affairs. So why wouldn't we expect that to be reflected again in the world and that side by side, we're gonna find that shoulder to shoulder. We are, there are the children of God, and there are those that remain blind and ignorant to the truth. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know, it, again, I, I, um, I don't know why I'm surprised. Uh, I certainly shouldn't be surprised. Um. But Matthew is like a masterful storyteller Yeah. Here, right. He's a masterful, um, editor and narrator. Um, and he's, he's put together here, of course, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Um, and, and there's some good reason to think in the text we're not gonna get too, in the nitty gritty here, there's some good reason to think in the text that Christ actually delivered these parables as a set as well. So it's not just, it's not just Matthew coating these, although it could be. Um, but it, it seems like these were all delivered probably as like a common set of parables. And the reason I say that is because when we start to look at this parable and the one we previously went through, the parable of the soils, um, or the parable of the sower. Um, what we see is the answer to your question of why do some people, you know, why are some people deceived? Well, yes, there is secondary causation. The devil deceives them. They blind themselves. They, you know, suppress the, the, the truth and right unrighteousness. But on a, on a primary causation level, um, God is the one who is identi, is, is identifying who will be the sons of the, you know, devil and the sons of the kingdom. Mm-hmm. This is another, and yet another example of election is that the, the good sower sowed good seed, and the good seed was the elect and the enemy. Although in God's sovereignty, God is the one who determines this. The enemy is the one who sows the reprobate. Right? So all, all men. Star, and this is, I, I guess I didn't really intend to go here, but this is good evidence in my mind for, um, infra laps, Arianism versus super laps. Arianism, right infra laps, arianism or sub lapse. Arianism would say that God decrees, uh, to permit the fall and then he decrees to redeem some out of the fall, right? Logically speaking, not temporally speaking. Super laps. Arianism, which is the minority. It's the smaller portion of, of the historic tradition, although modern times, I think it's a little bit louder and a little bit more vocal, but super relapses. Arianism would argue that God, um, decrees. Sort of the, the decree of election and reprobation is logically prior to the decree of the fall. And so in, in that former or in the super laps area model, the fall becomes a means by which the reprobate are justly condemned. Not, um, not the cause of their condemnation, but a way to sort of justify the fact that they will be separated from God, right? Because of their reprobate. [00:28:36] Exploring the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares Tony Arsenal: I know that there's, there's probably some super lab streams that would nuance that differently and some that are probably just screaming straw man, uh, in a coffee shop somewhere and, and people are thinking you're crazy. Um, but by and large, that's actually a rel, a relatively accepted, um, explanation of it. There are certainly potential problems with, uh, sub, sub lapse agonism as well. But in this, in this parable, what we see is the people who are, um, who are elect, are sowed into the field and the people who are reprobate are also sowed into the field. And so God saves the people who are sewed into the field that are, they elect, he saves them out of this now mixed world by waiting and allowing them to grow up next to the reprobate, um, in sort of this mixed world setting. And then he redeems them out of that. Um, and, and, and so we have to sort of remember. Although it is a pretty strict, sort of allegorical type of parable, it's still a parable. So we shouldn't, we shouldn't always draw like direct one-to-one comparisons here. It's making a theological point, but, um, but it's important for us to re remember that, that it is ultimately, it is God who determines who is the elected and who is not. But it's, it's our sin. It's the devil deceiving us. It's the secondary causes that are responsible for the sons of the devil, right? It, the, the men come to the, to the sower and say, who is done this? He says it was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Right. Tony Arsenal: He doesn't say like, well, actually I put the seed there and so, you know, I'm, I, it's not an equal distribution. He's not sowing good seed and bad seed. He sows the good seed and the devil sows the bad seed. [00:30:24] Theological Implications and Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, and, and that's a, I think that's an important theological point to make. And as far as assurance goes. We, we can't depend on our ability to perceive or sort of like discern election in a raw sense, right? We have to observe certain kinds of realities around us. Um, and, and primarily we have to depend on the mercy and, and saving faith that God gives us. That's right. Um, you know, our, our assurance of faith does not primarily come from fruit checking. Um, we have to do that. It's important, we're commanded to do it, and it serves as an important secondary evidence. But a, a, a person who wants to find assurance. Of salvation should first and foremost look to the promises of Christ and then depend on them. Um, and, and so that's, I think all of that's kind of wrapped up into this parable. It's, it's, it's amazing to me that we're only like two parables in, and we're already, you know, we're already talking about super lapse arianism and sub lapse arianism, and it's, it's amazing. I, I love this. I'm loving this series so far, and we're barely scratching the surface. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it's all there. I think you're right to call that out. It strikes me, like, as you were speaking, it really just hit me higher that I think you're right. Really the foundation on this, like the hidden foundation is assurance and it's that assurance which splits the groups, or at least divides them, or it gives us, again, like the distinct, kind, discrete compartments or components of each of them. So. Again, I think it's help saying, 'cause we wanna be encouraging. That's, that's our whole point here is when the Apostle Peter says, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing of you. That herein we have the scripture saying to us, time and time again, be sure of what God has done in your life. Be confident in that very thing. And so if assurance is, as we're saying, that's the argument hypothesis we're making. That's the critical thing here. [00:32:11] False Assurance and True Faith Jesse Schwamb: Then the division between the children of God and the children of the devil is false versus true assurance. So the tears, I think what we're saying here, basically they typically live under false asserts. They may attend church, confess, belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical. It's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual. And of course, like just a few chapters before this, we hope those famous verses where Jesus himself drops the bomb and says, listen, many of you, he's talking to the people, the, the disciples around him, the crowds that we're gathering and thronging all about. He says, many of you're gonna say to me, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy your name? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. These are not people who knew they were false, they thought they belonged to Christ. Their shock on judgment day is gonna reveal this profound self-deception. And that self-deception is wrapped up in a false type of assurance, a false righteousness. So I think one of the things that we can really come to terms with and grab a hold of is the fact that when we are. Confessing, repenting seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ. Then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally, Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance. [00:33:38] Historical Perspectives on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: You know, I was reading this week from Thomas Brooks and did incidentally come across this, a quote, an assurance and reminded me of this passage, and here's what he writes. You know, of course he's writing in like 16 hundreds, like mid 16 hundreds. It's wild, of course, but we shouldn't be surprised that what you're about to hear sounds like it could have been written today for us. In this conversation, but, uh, he writes, assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions. However, most Christians live between fears and hopes and hang, as it were, between heaven and hell. Sometimes they hope that their state is good. At other times they fear that their state is bad. Now they hope that all is well and that it shall go well. Well with them forever. Then they fear that they shall perish by the hand of such corruption or by the prevalency of such and such temptation. They're like a ship and a storm tossed here and there, and. I think that he's right about that. And I think the challenge there is to get away from that. I love where it starts, where he says, what wonderful turn of phrase assurance is the believer's arc or Noah, like, you know, we're sitting and the commotion, the destructions, the commotion, the confusions of all the world. That's why to get this right, to be encouraged by this passage, to be challenged by it is so critical because we're all looking for that arc. We all want to know that God has in fact arrested us so completely that no matter what befalls us, that everything, as we talked about before, all of our, all of the world, in fact is subservient to our salvation. But that's a real thing that cannot be snatched away from us because God has ordained it and intended it, built it, created it, and brought it to pass. And so I think that's all like in this passage, it's all the thing that's being called us to. So. I, I don't want us to get like too hung up. It's a good question, I think to ask and answer like we were trying to talk about here, but you're right. If we focus too much just on the like, let's gaff for these tears. Who are they? Like let's people's, like Readers Digest in People's magazine these tears. Like who are they? Do we have a list of them? Who do we think they are? How could it be me? Is it really me? Am I, am I anxious about that? Really what we should be saying is following what Peter calls us to do that is to be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and his choosing. So even there like our emphasis and focus, isn't it like you're saying Tony about like, let me do some fruit inventory. I got like a lot of good bananas. I got a lot of ripe pears. Like, look at the tree. This, this is good. Even there, the emphasis is to turn our eyes on Jesus, as it were, and to make certain about his work, his calling and his choosing of us. And I think when we do that, we're falling down in worship and in yielding and submission to him, rightfully acknowledging that the righteousness of Christ is the one that is always in every way alien to us and imputed. And that is what makes us sons and daughters of God, that good seed sown by Jesus himself. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I just wanna read, I wanna um, round out a few more paragraphs here out of the Westminster confession because I do think, you know, when we even talk about assurance, we're not even always all saying the exact same thing. And I think that's important because when we talk about assurance of faith, we need to be understanding that this is the rightful, not only the rightful possession of all Christians, but it's the rightful responsibility of all Christians to seek it. So here's, here's section two of that same chapter. It says, this certainty referring to assurance. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a, a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the spirit of adoption, witnessing with our hearts that we are the children of God, which spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption. So. One of the, the things that I think is, is important here is people read this and say the inward evidences of those graces unto which these promises are made. They read that and they think that it's referring to like good work and like spiritual renewal, but it's, it's not, it's the inward evidence of those graces unto which of the promises are made. So it's this inner, inner renewal. It's the spirit testifying to our spirit. And then, um, chapter, uh, section three here, it says. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it, yet being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given of God. He may without extraordinary revelation there, right there is response to Roman Catholicism in the right use of ordinary means at attain there unto. And therefore, it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence, to make his calling and election. Sure. And thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and in joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience. The proper fruits of this assurance so far is it from inclining men to looseness? Right. [00:38:53] The Role of Good Works in Assurance Tony Arsenal: So we often hear and and I, I think there are good, um, there are good reformed Christians that put. The emphasis of assurance on, or they, they put an overemphasis, in my opinion, on how good works function within our assurance. Right. They, they often will ask us to look to our good fruit as sort of, not the grounding, but as a strong evidence. But at least in terms of the confession here, the cheerfulness in the duties of obedience is the fruit of assurance. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Not Tony Arsenal: the cause or grounding of assurance. So rather than, this is what this last line says. It says so far, is it from inclining? Mental looseness assurance should drive us to obedience and fruitfulness in Christ. And so yes, it is in a certain sense an evidence because if that fruitfulness and obedience is absent from our lives, there's a good reason for us to question whether this infallible assurance is present in our lives. But the assurance is what drives us to this obedience. Um. You know, like, I think you could use the analogy of like a married couple. A married couple who is very secure in their relationship and in their, uh, love for one another and their faithfulness to each other is more likely to cheerfully serve and submit to each other and to respect each other and to sacrifice for each other than a couple that's maybe not so sure that the other person has their best interest in mind. That's or maybe isn't so sure that this thing is gonna work out. I think that's the same thing, like the sacrifice and the service that a husband, uh, performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him. That is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it. It's good evidence that that love exists, but it's not caused by it. And assurance here is the same kind of dynamic assurance is not. We can't assure ourselves of our salvation by doing good works. No matter how many good works you do, there are lots and lots of people who are not saved and who will not be saved, who do perfectly good works in appearance. Right. They have the, the outward appearance of godliness, but lack its power. Right, right. Out of right outta Paul, writing to Timothy there. Yes. So that's, that's important for us as we continue to parse all this out, is yes, the fruit is present. Yes. The wheat is to, is discernible from the tears by its final, fruitful status. Right? It grows up to be grain, which is fruitful rather than weeds and tears, which are only good to be burned, but it is not the fruit that causes it to be wheat. It's wheat that causes the fruit to grow. If, if it wasn't wheat, it wouldn't grow fruit, not because the fruit makes it grain, but because it is in fact wheat to start with. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Yeah, that's right on. So I think like by summation we're kind of saying. At least the answer to this question. You know, do the tears know that they're tears? Yes and no. Some do, some don't. I think, yes, there are some that are gonna be consciously hypocritical, willfully rejecting Christ while pretending for worldly gain. I think that's, that's certainly plain to see. And at the same time, do the tears know the tears? Sometimes? No. There's self deceived under spiritual blindness and they have some kind of false assurance. And this idea of, again, coming in repentance before God and seeking humbly to submit to him is I think one of those signs of that kind of true assurance, not a false assurance. And you already stole where I was thinking of Tony by going to Second Timothy again. Thomas Brooks in precious remedies against Saint's device is one of like the best. Books ever. I know that he's really outspoken. He loves to harp on the fact that one of Satan's most effective snares is to make men and women content with a form of godliness without its power. Yeah. And that's often what we're talking about here, I think, is that Satan loves to fish in the shallow waters a profession. And really that can happen in any kind of church or religious culture, that there is this shallowness where that loves religious appearance, prayer, knowledge fellowship, but not the Christ behind them. And so whether we're looking to somebody like Brooks or Jonathan Edwards and we're trying to parse out what are our true affections, not in a way again, that somehow leans well, I feel enough, then somehow that justifies, not inwardly, but again, definitely trying to understand our conviction for conversion tears. For repentance that. Really what we're after is not like just the blessings of Christ, but Christ himself, which I think really leads us to this eschatological perspective then to round all everything out because you know, we talked about before, there's an old phrase, it's like everywhere. A lot of people talk in heaven. Not everybody's going there. And so this idea of like, people will talk about be so great to be there and it's sometimes this, the heaven that they speak of is like absent Christ, you know, as if like, if Christ wasn't there, at least in their perspective, it still wouldn't be half bad. And so I think that does lead us to understand what is this in gathering? What is this? You know, bringing everything into the barn and burning everything else up. And like you just said, if at the beginning you cannot tell the injurious weed aside from that beautiful kernel of wheat that's coming up, but if in the end you can see what's happening in the end, then that brings us all to consummation. What does it mean in this parable? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:44:19] Eschatological Judgment and Assurance Tony Arsenal: And, and I think this actually sort of forces us to grapple a little bit with, with another sort of persnickety feature of this parable that, that I think, I think personally sometimes gets overlooked is we are very quick to talk about this parable to be about the church. And it is. Right. And, and there's reasons to talk like that. But when Christ explains the parable, he doesn't say the field is the church. He says the field is the world. Right. And so we have to, we have to, we have to do a little bit of, um. We have to do a little bit of hermeneutics to understand that this is also speaking of the church, right? It's not as though the church is some hermetically sealed off body that the dynamics of the world and the, the weed and the tears like that, that doesn't happen in the church. But when we talk about the end of the age here, he says the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom. All causes of sin in all lawbreakers. Right? So, so the, the final eschatological judgment, it's all encompassing. And I dunno, maybe I'm, maybe I'm becoming a little bit post mill with this, um, the, the world is already the Kingdom of Christ. Right? Right. That's right. It, it's not, it's not just the church on earth that is the kingdom of Christ. And so when we talk about this eschatological reaping, um, what we see is, is very straightforward. There are those who are, uh, who belong to Christ, who were sown by him into the world, who were, uh, were tended by him, who were protected by him, who he intended to harvest from the very beginning, right? The good sower sows good seed into the field, and that good seed is and necessarily will be wheat. It's not as though, um, it's not as though, and again, this is one of those ways where like the parables sometimes, uh, are telling a little bit of a different story. Even though they're sharing some themes in the first parable, in the parable of the sower, he sows the same seed into the world. But the seed in that first parable is not the, is not the person receiving the seed. The seed is the one is the word of God. Yes. And so the word of God is sewn promiscuously, even to those who will be hard soil and who will be rocky soil and have thorns. The word of God is, is sewn to all of those people. Across the whole world in this parable. The seed that is the good seed that is sown is and always was going to be weed that was, or wheat, which was going to grow into fruitfulness and be gathered into the barn. Right? That was a foregone conclusion. The, the, when the sower decided to sow seed, all of that said he is the one who did that. He's the one that chose that. He's the one that will bring us to completion, right? And then also the ones that are not of his kingdom, the sons of the devil, they will also be reaped at the end. Actually we'll be reaped before the, you know, they'll be reaped and gathered and, and tossed into the furnace before the sons of the kingdom are gathered together. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: So it, again, this is a parable and even though this is Christ's explanation of the parable, I don't think that Christ was intending to give us like a strict timeline. Right. I don't think he was encouraging us to draw a chart and try to map out where this all happens in order. Um, I do think it's relevant that, that, at least in the explanation of this parable, I mentioned it last week, that, that the rap, the rapture is actually the wicked being raptured. They're the ones that are gathered and taken out of the world and cast into the fiery furnace before the, before the righteous are gathered together and, and brought into Christ Barn. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there's a great unmasking that's happening here in this final stage. I mean, that's critically the point. I think there's a lot of stuff we could talk about open handedly and kind of hypothesize or theorize what it means. But what is plain, I think, is that there's this unmasking, this unveiling of the reality of the light of Christ's perfect judgment. But that judgment is for both parties Here it is coming and what was hidden beneath outward religion or more, a facade is gonna be revealed with eternal clarity. That's just the reality. It is coming. So in some ways it pairs. I think at least well in this, well purposely of course in this teaching because Jesus is saying, hold on, like we talked about last time. Do this is not for you to judge. You are ill-equipped. You are not skilled enough to discern this. And therefore though, you wanna go in hot and get spicy and try to throw out all the weeds. Wait for the right time. Wait for the one like you're saying, Tony has from all of eternity past intended for it to be this way. Super intending his will over all things in the casting of the seed. And as we say, Philippians, of course, finishing that good work, which was started, he will finish. It is God's two finish again. And so he says, listen, that day is coming. There's gonna be a great unmasking. Uh, get ready for it. And the scriptures bear witness to that in so many other ways. So. There's such a journey in these like handful of verses, isn't there? I mean, it's really wild. The things that not like we come up with or we read into the text, but as we sit in it a little bit, as we just spend even a cursory amount of time letting it pour over us, that we find there's like a conviction in a weight in these things that are beyond just the story and beyond just even like the illustrations themselves. What we find is, again, it's as if Jesus himself in his brilliance, of course, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is illuminating the mind in the spirit to open up our conception, understanding of the kingdom of God by bringing it to us through his perspective in our own terms, of course, which is both our language and like the context of the world in which we live, and that simple example of farming and seed. And again, even just that there are these interest weeds that look like wheat. I went on this like rabbit hole this week and did a lot of research on like tears and Yeah, like especially people in like the Midwest United States who like know a lot more about agriculture than I do have a lot to say about this. It's not just like we shouldn't be surprised like. Isn't it incredible that like there are actually weeds out there that look like, yeah, it's a brilliance of just knowing that this teaching is so finely tuned. Like we can even just talk about that. Like the world is finely tuned. This teaching is so finely tuned to these grant theological principles that we can at one point be children and appropriate them enough and assume them into our own intellectual capacity so that we can trust in them. And yet even as like adults with like, let's say like the greatest gift of intellectual capacity, still find that we cannot get to the bottom of them because they're so deep. They draw us into these really, really grand vistas or really like extremely deep cold theological waters. And I just find. That I am in awe then of what Jesus is saying here because there's a truth for us in assurance that we ought to clinging to. And there's also like stuff that we should come back to. We shouldn't just stop it here and put it out of our minds until the next time we, we want to just be stimulated by something that's interesting or that we want to just grab somebody and shake them cage style, cage two style and say like, look at this great thing that I just learned about this, this particular parable. But instead, there's so much here for us to meditate on. And in that, I think rather than the Christian finding fear in this parable, what they should find is great comfort. We should be Noah alike sitting in the ark saying, it is well with my soul. And our reason for that is because we know God has cast a seed through his son Jesus Christ. And to be a child, a child of God is the greatest thing in all the universe. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I, I think that, um, transitions nicely to, uh, I'll make this point quick because we're coming up on time here. Um. [00:52:04] Christ's Divinity and Sovereignty Tony Arsenal: The other little subtle thing that Christ does here in this parable is he, he absolutely asserts his divinity and sovereignty overall creation. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Yep. Tony Arsenal: Right. It, it's almost like a throw. There's a couple little like lines that are almost throwaway lines, right in the, the first, the beginning of the parable here. Um, the parable itself, uh, he says, um, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed into a field. And then he says, um, the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, right? And then when he interprets the parable, he says, well, the, the servants are, the field is the world, right? So he's the master of the world, and the servants are the angels. So he's the master of the angels. And then if, if there was any doubt left in your mind. Says in verse 41, the son of man will send his angels. That's right. And they will gather out of his kingdom, which is the world, all the causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. Right? So we have this, this robust picture that there is election. The the good sower sows good seed into the world, and the good seed will necessarily grow into wheat and will be preserved and protected and ultimately harvest Well, why can we have assurance that that will be the case? Well, because the master of the house is the son of man who is the Lord of the universe and the creator of all things. And his angels do his will. That's right. So, so the whole thing is all wrapped up. Why can we have assurance? Because God is a good God and Christ is a good savior, and the savior of the world is the creator of the universe, right? If any of those facts were not true. Then we couldn't have assurance. If God wasn't good, then maybe he's lying. If Christ wasn't the savior of the world or the God of the universe, the creator of the universe, then he wasn't worthy to be the one who saves. All of this is wrapped up in the parables, and this is what's so exciting about the parables. In most of the instances that we look up, especially of the sort of longer parables, these kinds of dynamics are there where it's not just a simple story making a simple point, it is making one primary point. Usually there's one primary point that a, that a parable is making. But in order to make that primary point, there's all these supporting points and supporting things that have to be the case. If the, if the good sower was not the master of the house and a, a competent, uh, a competent landowner who knew the difference between wheat and weeds, even at the early stage, right? His, his servants go and go, what happened? What's with all of these weeds? They can tell the difference somehow, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: He's immediately able to go, well, this was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Tony Arsenal: And while they're bumbling around going, should we go rip it all up and start over? He is like, no, no, no, no. Just wait until, wait until it all grows up together. And when that happens, the Reapers will come and they'll take care of it and they'll do it in my direction, right? Because he's competent, he's the savior, he's the creator, he's the good master, he is the good sower. Um, we can be confi

Questions about how to reconcile the image of God as a judge with his love, grace, and kindness, why our sins are considered to be sins against God, and whether the idea that our debt was paid by Christ means we escape the penalty for our sins by right, not grace.   For most of my life, God has been portrayed to me primarily as a judge—watching closely, ready to point out where I fall short. But I'm learning there's more to him than that. How do I begin to reconcile that image with the reality of his love, grace, and kindness? If I commit a sin against someone but then make amends and ask for forgiveness, how is it that I've also sinned against God, and why would God still need to punish me? If Christ was literally punished for our sins and our debt was paid, then how can it be said we are “forgiven”? Wouldn't we escape the penalty by right, not grace?

The modern obsession with leaving the world began, oddly enough, with a fall. In 1827, John Nelson Darby tumbled from his horse, banged his head, and started writing a new idea into the Christian imagination. He sketched a future where the faithful are whisked away from the grit and grief of history while the rest of creation burns. A quick exit. An escape hatch. A promise that the real home is elsewhere and that the earth is disposable, like a cracked cup you set in the bin.This is not ancient. It is not apostolic. It is recent and it is seductive. It tells a suffering people, your pain will be over soon, the plane is already boarding, no need to change anything down here. If you have felt that tug toward evacuation, you are not foolish. You are tired. That fatigue is understandable in an age of fires measured in miles, plague-years mapped by grief, and a public life where cruelty is mistaken for strength. The promise of escape is shaped to meet that ache. It is also a lie.The Kin-dom is already here.That is the heart of realized eschatology, the teaching we carried in the episode and carry again in this essay. “Eschatology” means the study of last things. Realized means the future is not only ahead of us. It is breaking in now. Jesus described it as a reign spread out among us, hidden like yeast in dough, like a seed in soil, like light within the body. The Kin-dom is the web of right relationship in which all can breathe, eat, heal, and flourish. Not a passcode. Not a flight plan. The Kin-dom is a way of living.From DespairDespair is honest. It names what is broken. The temptation is to make despair a home. Rapture-thinking offers a furnished apartment in that neighborhood. It whispers, if the world is going to burn, the moral thing is to detach. Sell your goods. Quit your job. Leave your lease. Tell yourself it will be over soon and the pain will end. The trouble is simple. People get left behind in our leaving. Children, neighbors, the unhoused, the exhausted caregiver down the hall. And the earth herself.We must say this plainly because our faith is not a riddle. Jesus did not ask us to decode news cycles. He asked us to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the sick and the imprisoned. These are not optional extras. They are the criteria he gave for what salvation looks like when it is walking around in a body. If we are known by our fruits, then escapism is sterile ground. It cannot grow love.There is another reason the escape story keeps getting told. It flatters power. If we are leaving any day now, then the powerful do not have to reckon with what their choices do to air, water, soil, and bodies. If the earth is a demo model to be replaced, who cares about rivers turned to poison or forests to ash. If the poor are props in a cosmic drama, who cares whether they eat. History shows the same pattern again and again. Doctrines that separate faith from works turn out to be very useful to those who profit from our apathy.To DiscoveryDespair does not have to be destiny. What if the ache we feel is not proof that the world is ending but a summons to begin. The Kin-dom has already arrived. We do not wait for permission to love. We do not ask empire how to heal. We participate in the life that is present.The early church learned this quickly. Expectations of an immediate ending gave way to the discovery that Christ is already here. Not absent. Present. Not awaiting return from a distance. Active in the web of relationships that make for life. If that is true, our question shifts. Instead of asking when we leave, we ask how to live. Instead of hunting for dates, we look for neighbors.This is where realized eschatology becomes simple and practical. If the Kin-dom is here, then our daily life is the place of devotion. Prayer is our breath when we choose to share air with one another. Eucharist is the shared table where food becomes love. Repentance is not a sad impossibility. It is repair as ordinary as changing a habit, paying a debt we owe to a community, or stepping back from a lie we learned to speak without thinking.There is an old word for hell in the gospels, Gehenna. It was a trash heap outside the city. When Jesus warns that some will be given over to Gehenna, he is not talking about a theme park in the afterlife. He is asking whether we want to live in a world organized like a dump, a society that treats people and places as disposable. The counter-picture is the Kin-dom. A shared life where no one is tossed aside.To DevotionDevotion is what love looks like on repeat. Not a one-time burst of zeal. A cadence. A rhythm. A set of holy repetitions that strengthen the soul for a lifetime of service. In the episode, we joked that rapture apparently means selling your Xbox and leaving a note. That is darkly funny. It is also a parable. If you can decide in a weekend to abandon your life, you can also decide in a weekend to begin again. The choice is yours. The drills are daily.Let us choose a set of practices that make us steady, supple, and brave. Think of them as everyday drills of freedom. No need for special terms. No need for perfect conditions. We begin where we are and repeat.1) Begin with breath and blessing.Each morning, sit for three slow breaths. On the in-breath, say inwardly, “Here.” On the out-breath, “Now.” Place a hand on your chest and another on your belly. Say out loud: “The Kin-dom is within and among us.” This is not a trick. It is a way of waking the body to reality.2) Touch the ground.Step outside if you can. Touch soil, trunk, leaf, or light. Name what you feel. Cool. Rough. Wet. Warm. This is devotion, not escape. The earth is the altar. You are a priest of the living world. Ask quietly, “How can I tend you today?”3) Choose one work of mercy.Every day, do one small act from the list Jesus gave. Feed someone. Offer water, literal or metaphorical. Share clothing or blankets. Write a card to someone ill. Give to a bail fund or visit someone who is locked away. If you cannot leave home, support a group that does. Make the Kin-dom tactile.4) Tell the truth with kindness.Practice a single sentence of truth-telling to pierce a lie you meet often. Not a speech. A sentence. For example, “No one is disposable.” Or, “Health care is not a luxury.” Or, “Libraries are sacred.” Use it when the moment comes. Gentle. Steady. Clear.5) Learn to say no.Refuse demands from power that require you to harm your neighbor, yourself, or the earth. Start small. Decline gossip that erases someone's dignity. Decline a purchase you know funds harm. Decline a schedule that turns you into a machine. Each no makes room for a larger yes.6) Make and keep a neighborly promise.Choose one ongoing commitment in your place. A monthly food distribution. A tenants' meeting. An interfaith meal. A neighborhood garden. Keep showing up. Devotion turns from idea to muscle when it is scheduled and communal.7) End the day with examen.Before sleep, name one wound you witnessed and one repair you practiced. Offer both to the Holy One. If you failed, ask for strength to try again. If you succeeded, give thanks without vanity. Tomorrow you will begin again.These are not random acts. They are kin-making acts that reveal the Kin-dom that already is. They keep us from the trap of despair and the temptation to acquiesce to the demands of power. They grow fruit where propaganda said nothing could grow. They teach the body that hope is not a mood. Hope is a practice.The History We Carry, The Future We ChooseIt helps to remember how we got here. After Darby's invention took root, other ideas cleared the way for it. Some preachers told us we are saved by believing the right things, not by doing the right things. Others taught that destiny is already set and our actions do not matter at all. Across centuries, those messages made it easier to bless wealth, ignore the poor, and outsource responsibility to an imagined timetable. Power liked that. Power still likes that.Creation Spirituality says no. It says the Holy is immanent, present in the soil, the river, the neighbor, the stranger. It says original blessing, not original sin, is the first truth about you. It says the Four Paths are a way to live: Awe that opens our eyes, Letting go of lies and fears, Creativity that builds what is needed, Transformation that turns wounds into wisdom. The Kin-dom is not hiding in the sky. It is shimmering in our shared life, asking to be chosen again.Scripture keeps the edge sharp:“The Kingdom of God is within you.”— Luke 17:21, WEB“Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”— Matthew 25:40, WEBRead those lines slowly. If the Kin-dom is within and among us, we cannot leave without leaving Christ. If Christ meets us in the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned, then love is measurable and daily. Faith is not nullified by works. It is made visible by works.A Pastoral Benediction For Beginning AgainHoly One, Light within all lights, you who kindle stars and soup kitchens, gardens and grief groups, teach us to stay. Unmask the cheap promise of escape. Give us instead the costly joy of devotion. Take our despair and convert it into discovery. Take our discovery and convert it into daily love. Let our hands become sacraments. Let our words become shelter. Let our homes become small monasteries of repair. The Kin-dom is here. Help us live like it.Amen.How We Keep GoingWhen the next prediction comes, and someone names a date for leaving, remember what Jesus said about dates and hours. Remember how relief can trick the heart. Then look around. Where are the needs at the bottom of the hierarchy. Food. Water. Shelter. Medicine. Safety. Belonging. Begin there. Begin again tomorrow. This is how we refuse the empire of abandonment. This is how we become citizens of the Kin-dom.You are not powerless. You are not alone. You are not late. The future you long for is arriving in your next act of care. It will not trend. It might not be glamorous. It will be real. The earth is not a prison to flee. It is the body of God, aching for our touch, ready to be healed.Creation's Paths book: . Please share your feedback with us we want to hear your experience.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.Thank you for Tips / Donations: * https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett * https://patreon.com/cedorsett * https://cash.app/$CreationsPaths* Substack: https://www.creationspaths.com/New to The Seraphic Grove learn more For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com Social Connections: * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com * Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/#Rapture #RaptureMyth #AntiImperialFaith #RealizedEschatology #CreationSpirituality #Christopagan Chapters:00:00 Introduction: Why Do Christians Want to Escape the World?01:45 Announcements and Book Release02:31 Has Belief in the Rapture Failed Jesus?02:46 Biblical Context: Who Gets Taken?04:23 Jesus's True Criteria for Salvation05:07 The Reformation: Luther and Calvin's Influence06:35 Faith Alone vs. Works: The Protestant Divide08:01 The Fruits of Rapture Theology09:19 The Dark Psychology of Rapture Belief10:21 Power and the Reformation11:25 The Great Awakenings and American Christianity12:32 How the Rapture Enables Injustice13:13 Realized Eschatology: The Kingdom Is Here15:07 Offshoring Responsibility to Fiction16:19 Imagining a Better World Through Right Relationship18:07 The ‘I've Got Mine' Mentality18:48 Disposable Earth: Misreading Scripture20:54 Recent Rapture Predictions and Human Suffering22:37 Compassion for Rapture Believers23:44 The Work We Should Be Doing25:05 Ancient vs. Novel: The Age of Traditions Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe

Hosts Pastor Robert Baltodano and Pastor Lloyd Pulley Question Timestamps: Mark, MA (2:48) - Matthew 27:9 contains a quote from Zechariah but says it is from Jeremiah, why is that? Enoch, NY (4:46) - What does the passage "cast your bread upon the waters" mean? Matthew, GA (6:24) - Is fasting to build our strength in prayer? Would fasting help give us control over emotions, thoughts, or ADHD? Chris, email (9:09) - How have anyone's sins been atoned for since the destruction of the temple and loss of the Ark of the Covenant? Didn't God prescribe very specific processes to receive atonement for sins? What did Jericho's walls look like? Did they sink down, flat into the ground, and preserve Rahab's house on top? Cameron, MI (13:51) - If not all descended from Israel are of Israel based on Romans 9:6-7, how does that apply with Romans 11, that all Israel will be saved and grafted in? Tony, FL (16:23) - Are the two witnesses in Revelation Enoch and Elijah? Camile, NJ (18:00) - Is my friend still a Christian if she doesn't believe in the doctrine of hell? Chris, CA (23:21) - How did the Jewish priests fulfill the law of Moses after the Babylonian exile but before Jesus was crucified? They didn't have the Ark of the Covenant to use in the sacrifices, so how did they do it? John, NJ (33:12) - If Christ was crucified on a Friday, what happened to the third night? Why do they leave the word "the" out of Jesus's name, since Christ was not his last name?  Vincent, NY (36:44) - What was Jesus talking about when he said "anyone who believes in me will do the same works I've done and even greater things?" Who has done anything "greater" than Jesus? Why did Mary name Him "Jesus" and not "Immanuel?" Michael, AL (41:03) - How should I speak to my grandmother who believes Jesus came to deconstruct the God of the Old Testament? Robert, email (47:10) - I've been struggling with addiction. Do you believe people can change? If we can, can we change for our betterment? Edwin, NJ (50:20) - Is it acceptable to be cremated as a follower of Jesus Christ? Kate, email (51:53) - As a new believer, do I need to find everyone I ever lied to and tell them the truth in order to be truly forgiven by God? Ask Your Question: 888-712-7434 Answers@bbtlive.org

Send us a textWhat if the greatest barrier to truth isn't ignorance, but pride dressed up as certainty? We open with a vivid claim: Christ's victory ends the deception that fenced off the nations, turning the gospel outward to every tribe and tongue. From there, we press into Galatians with clear eyes and open hands, asking what happens when we smuggle “extras” into grace—circumcision, special days, dietary rules, or any badge that tries to share the stage with faith. The answer is simple and unsettling: justification by faith alone is not a slogan; it is the center that refuses rivals.As the conversation unfolds, we tackle deception from the inside out. Scripture warns that those who do not love the truth risk delusion, and we take that seriously. So we trade hot takes for heart checks: gentle restoration over public humiliation, testing our own work before touching someone else's, and carrying one another's burdens while owning our personal load. Stories from real life ground the text—how to confront with care, how to correct without condemning, and how Jesus models both mercy and moral clarity with the woman accused of adultery. We call out the culture of “I cooked them” as a counterfeit win that leaves real people wounded.Throughout, we return to a simple question: are we coming to heal or to be seen? The Spirit's harvest shows up in quiet repair, not loud comparison. If Christ has broken the power of deception for the nations, the least we can do is refuse micro‑deceptions—legalism, superiority, scoreboard spirituality—that creep into our churches and friendships. Expect a candid, thoughtful journey through Revelation's hope, Galatians' clarity, and the gritty practice of humility that makes communities whole.If this sparks something in you, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves honest Bible conversation, and leave a review telling us where you've seen gentle restoration change a life.Support the show

If we believe the Gospel has saved us, that God causes all things for good and He is for us, why do we hide it? Think about it: If Christ tells you to offer others the same Gospel that saved you, can you explain what makes you comfortable with saying no?

A sloth joke shouldn't lead to a movement story—but that's exactly the point: what felt slow and small suddenly accelerated. We walk through the Book of Acts to compare two defining communities—Jerusalem and Antioch—and uncover how persecution, prayer, and everyday witness propelled the gospel across cultures and borders. Jerusalem shows us a church under pressure: Stephen's death, Herod's violence, famine, fear, and an underground resolve. Antioch shows us a church flourishing: courageous witness to Gentiles, a multi-ethnic community where believers were first called Christians, and a year of deep teaching from Barnabas and Saul.We dig into why no culture owns Christianity and how Antioch broke the ethnic barrier without losing the heart of the message. Barnabas arrives with encouragement and integrity; Saul brings theological clarity rooted in the resurrection. Together they equip new believers leaving idol worship and learning a new way of life. Meanwhile, Jerusalem and Antioch model mutual care: Jerusalem sends Barnabas at great cost; Antioch sends relief to a hungry city. This is the church as both local and universal—one body, one Spirit, one Lord—expressed in distinct places with shared hope.At the center of everything is the resurrection of Jesus. If Christ is not raised, faith collapses; if he is, witness becomes bold, service becomes costly, and persecution becomes seed for mission. Whether your context feels like Jerusalem's hardship or Antioch's momentum, the path forward is the same: speak the gospel clearly, live it credibly, help other churches, and trust the Spirit to work across lines of culture and class. Listen to the full story, reflect on the lessons, and tell us which challenge you're taking on this week. If this conversation moved you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the show.Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xkhjiUrprY

Romans 8:3-4 — Why is it important that Christ was truly a man? In this sermon on Romans 8:3–4 titled “Jesus: Our Sinless Saviour,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers this vital theological question and explains how it changes lives. If Christ was not truly a man, how could He die in the place of humans? If Christ was not a man tempted like all humans, how could He relate to their weaknesses? This is why Christ had to come as a true man, and yet He was totally without sin. He had to be born as a man, live as a man, and die as a man in order to be a perfect Savior. The glory of salvation is that God becomes human and dies in humanity's place upon the cross. This message of good news commands all to believe in Christ alone for forgiveness of sin as there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. This leaves everyone to ask if they believe that Jesus died for them and are they trusting in the what God has done in His Son upon the cross. This question is not one of intellectual speculation, but has eternal significance for all of humanity. In this sermon the listener will hear the greatest truth that the world has ever seen in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:3-4 — Why is it important that Christ was truly a man? In this sermon on Romans 8:3–4 titled “Jesus: Our Sinless Saviour,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers this vital theological question and explains how it changes lives. If Christ was not truly a man, how could He die in the place of humans? If Christ was not a man tempted like all humans, how could He relate to their weaknesses? This is why Christ had to come as a true man, and yet He was totally without sin. He had to be born as a man, live as a man, and die as a man in order to be a perfect Savior. The glory of salvation is that God becomes human and dies in humanity's place upon the cross. This message of good news commands all to believe in Christ alone for forgiveness of sin as there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. This leaves everyone to ask if they believe that Jesus died for them and are they trusting in the what God has done in His Son upon the cross. This question is not one of intellectual speculation, but has eternal significance for all of humanity. In this sermon the listener will hear the greatest truth that the world has ever seen in the gospel of Jesus Christ. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29

The world tells men to find strength in hard work, grit, or sheer determination. And while those qualities have their place, they can only take you so far. True strength—the kind that sustains you in battle, carries you through trials, and fuels you to lead your family—doesn't come from within. It comes from prayer. A man of God is only as strong as his connection to the Father. Today we're talking about where real strength is found—on your knees, in prayer.Our springboard for today's discussion is:“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” — James 5:16 (ESV)Prayer is not a backup plan—it's the battle plan. It's where you lay down your burdens and pick up God's strength. It's where fear is silenced and faith is stirred. It's where the enemy's lies are crushed under the weight of God's truth.Strength through prayer isn't about eloquence or length. It's about intimacy. It's about being real with God, pouring out your heart, and letting Him pour His Spirit back into you. A man who prays is a man who cannot be shaken, because he knows his strength doesn't come from himself—it comes from the Lord.Think about Jesus. Even He, the Son of God, withdrew to lonely places to pray. If Christ needed that connection to the Father, how much more do we? Prayer was His lifeline, His source of direction, His strength before the cross.Brother, your family needs a man who knows how to pray. Not just for food at the table, but for protection, wisdom, and breakthrough. Your brothers need a man who knows how to intercede. Your workplace needs a man who walks in peace because he's already fought his battles in prayer.The culture says strength comes from self-reliance. God says strength comes from surrender. And prayer is where that surrender happens.Question of the Day:Are you trying to face life in your own strength—or are you daily seeking God's strength through prayer?Mini Call to Action:Set aside ten minutes today to pray with no agenda. Don't just talk—listen. Let God refill you with His strength.Prayer:Lord, make me a man of prayer. Teach me to find strength not in myself but in You. Remind me that every battle is won first in Your presence.Let's Get To Work!Strong men pray. And praying men become unshakable, because their strength is rooted in the presence of God.Thanks for reading My Reasons To Believe! This post is public so feel free to share it.My Reasons To Believe is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit myr2b.substack.com/subscribe

Send us a textThe battle between flesh and spirit plays out daily in our lives, especially when we're provoked to anger. This powerful conversation explores how Christians can navigate contentious situations without losing their spiritual footing.When someone pushes our buttons, our natural instinct is to react—sometimes explosively. But as believers, we're called to something higher: "Be angry and sin not." Participants share personal struggles with maintaining composure when provoked, acknowledging how difficult it can be to step back, pray, and recollect ourselves rather than immediately responding with anger.The discussion draws inspiration from powerful examples like Jesus Christ, Francis of Assisi, and Patrick of Ireland—individuals who responded to hatred with love and persecution with mercy. If Christ himself, who could have called down legions of angels, chose gentleness and humility, how much more should we practice restraint in our interactions?Perhaps most challenging is the examination of how Christians often become entangled in worldly politics, fighting more passionately for earthly kingdoms than for God's. We're reminded that believers should be present in every sphere—military, entertainment, politics—not to be consumed by these worlds but to be light within them. The fundamental error occurs when we begin identifying more with political affiliations than with our identity in Christ.True wealth isn't found in political power or worldly success but in Christian fellowship and brotherhood. While politicians may acquire riches through compromise, believers find their treasure in relationship with Christ and His people—a perspective that helps us maintain focus on eternal values amid temporal distractions.Join us as we explore these profound spiritual truths and discover how to maintain a Christ-like demeanor even when the world seems determined to provoke us to do otherwise.The Balance of GrayFaith That Challenges. Conversations that Matter. Laughs included. Subscribe Now!Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

There are moments in Scripture which, like doors slightly ajar, invite us into rooms far deeper than we first imagined. One such moment occurs in the Gospel of John, where Christ says: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). At first glance, the comparison may seem almost grotesque; our Saviour is likened to a serpent, an emblem of death and sin. And yet, here lies one of the profoundest truths in all of Christian thought: that God redeems not merely through might, but through our deepest pain.Recall the scene in the book of Numbers. The Israelites, having once again rebelled against God, are plagued by fiery serpents. They cry out for mercy, and Moses is instructed not to remove the serpents, but to lift up a bronze image of one on a pole. All who looked upon it were healed. They were not told to pretend the serpents weren't real, nor were they told to earn their healing. They had only to look. The very image of their suffering became the conduit for their salvation.And so it is with the Cross.Christ was lifted up, not as a mere martyr, nor as a teacher, but as the one who became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Cross is no mere symbol; it is the divine paradox. There, the Innocent bore guilt. The Holy bore shame. The Immortal embraced death. And in that darkest moment, the door to light was thrown open.But let us not rush too quickly to the light. For many of us, the problem is not believing in Christ's victory – it is believing that our pain, our guilt, our most unmentionable failures, could possibly be included in it. We imagine the Cross as something above us, clean and exalted. But in truth, the Cross descends. It is God stooping down into the filth of our humanity. If Christ is lifted up, He is lifted up with all the sins of the world pressing down upon Him – mine and yours.This is the invitation: not to hide your wounds, but to bring them into the light of the Cross. To look upon the Crucified One and see not only the cost of love, but its healing. Your deepest pain is not too deep for Him. In fact, it is precisely where He means to meet you.Lift your eyes, then, not in despair, but in hope. The Cross does not demand perfection; it only asks you to look. And in looking, you may find not only healing, but yourself. There are no more facades, or masks, or games pretending to be okay. Beholding the crucified one, we find the power and meaning behind our suffering. Jesus can use it for our salvation. Once we stop running from our pain, we can exclaim like the legendary 5th century bishop, St. Augustine – “In my deepest wound, I saw your glory and it dazzled me.” --- Help Spread the Good News --- Father Brian's homilies are shared freely thanks to generous listeners like you. If his words have blessed you, consider supporting this volunteer effort. Every gift helps us continue recording and sharing the hope of Jesus—one homily at a time. Give Here: https://frbriansoliven.org/give

ReadingThe waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock. Let the sea rage, it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise, they cannot sink the boat of Jesus. What are we to fear? Death? Life to me means Christ, and death is gain. Exile? The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world's threats, I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long to live, except for your good. I concentrate therefore on the present situation, and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence.Do you not hear the Lord saying: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst? Will he be absent, then, when so many people united in love are gathered together? I have his promise; I am surely not going to rely on my own strength! I have what he has written; that is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbor. Let the world be in upheaval. I hold to his promise and read his message; that is my protecting wall and garrison. What message? Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider's web. Indeed, unless you, my brothers, had detained me, I would have left this very day. For I always say: Lord, your will be done; not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do. That is my strong tower, my immovable rock, my staff that never gives way. If God wants something, let it be done! If he wants me to stay here, I am grateful. But wherever he wants me to be, I am no less grateful.Yet where I am, there you are too, and where you are, I am. For we are a single body, and the body cannot be separated from the head nor the head from the body. Distance separates us, but love unites us, and death itself cannot divide us. For though my body die, my soul will live and be mindful of my people.You are my fellow citizens, my fathers, my brothers, my sons, my limbs, my body. You are my light, sweeter to me than the visible light. For what can the rays of the sun bestow on me that is comparable to your love? The sun's light is useful in my earthly life, but your love is fashioning a crown for me in the life to come.Send us a textSupport the show

Did Jesus forget to mention a secret rapture? Discussion Questions: Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17. Paul describes one dramatic, public return of Christ with a shout, trumpet, and the resurrection of believers. Why do you think Paul emphasizes these visible signs instead of describing a secret return? Read John 5:28–29. Jesus says both “those who did good” and “those who did evil” will come out of the tombs at the same hour. How does this challenge the idea of two separate resurrections or two separate comings of Christ? Read 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10. Why does Paul connect Christ's return with both judgment on the wicked and relief for the suffering church? How does this strengthen our hope in times of hardship? Read Matthew 24:27–31. Why do you think Jesus compares His return to lightning flashing across the sky? What does this tell us about how obvious and undeniable His coming will be? For nearly 1,800 years, Christians believed in one visible return of Christ and one final judgment. Only in the 1800s did the idea of a “secret rapture” appear. Is it helpful to you to know that particular history? Why or why not? Read Hebrews 9:28. The writer says Christ will appear a second time “to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Why is Christ's return essential to completing God's plan of salvation? If Christ is returning once, visibly, and finally to judge and renew all things, how might this shape the way think? What perspectives might change if we live in the hope of His coming?

As we launch our Fall sermon series "Building PFC: Up, In, & Out" we are starting with the metaphor of Christ as the chief cornerstone. If we're not building on him, we're building on sand. If Christ is not at the center, then we are worshiping idols. Jesus says, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's". Caesar's face is on our coins. But whose blood courses through the veins of the church?

Segment 1: • John MacArthur's memorial service featured a booklet he wrote on finishing well. • Reflecting on legacy forces us to ask: Am I prepared to end faithfully? • Warm fellowship at the memorial reminds us the Christian life is a community journey. Segment 2: • Dr. MacArthur urged believers: don't just grow old—finish strong. • Intellectual pursuit is good, but love for Christ, and others, must not grow cold. • Purity in thought and conduct matters, especially when nobody's watching. Segment 3: • Celine Dion's documentary reveals how idols fail when life gets tough. • Six diagnostic questions to help uncover hidden idols of the heart. • If Christ isn't enough without your idol, He won't be enough with it. Segment 4: • Church isn't just a hospital—it's also a training ground. • Practical biblical principles help households navigate sin and struggle. • Gratitude and gospel-centered living prevent families from falling into cycles of dysfunction. ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn't be more thankful for you if we tried!

Send us a textGalatians 5Believers must stand firm in the freedom Christ has given them, not returning to the bondage of the Law. Paul warns that relying on the Law for righteousness separates them from grace. Instead, faith expressing itself through love is what truly matters. He cautions against false teachers and emphasizes that Christ has set them free. Paul explains that freedom is no excuse for sin but an opportunity to serve others in love. He contrasts the works of the flesh—such as immorality, hatred, and jealousy—with the fruit of the Spirit, which includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control. He encourages believers to walk by the Spirit, resisting sinful desires. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh and should live in step with the Spirit, producing godly character. If Christ has set us free, we must not return to anything that enslaves us. True freedom is not about doing whatever we want but about living by the Spirit and serving others in love. This chapter challenges us to examine whether we are led by the flesh or by the Spirit. The works of the flesh bring destruction, but the fruit of the Spirit produces godly character. Walking in the Spirit means surrendering to God, allowing Him to shape our thoughts, actions, and relationships. We must resist sinful desires and seek to grow in love, joy, peace, and self-control. As we live by the Spirit, we reflect Christ to the world and experience the fullness of life in Him. Gracious Lord, thank You for our liberty and security in Christ. Help us to stand firm and not fall back into anything that separates us from Your grace. Fill us with Your Spirit so that we may walk in love and resist the destructive and carnal deeds of the flesh. Produce in us the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Teach us to serve others humbly and live in step with the intentions of the Holy Spirit. We will crucify the flesh and live as blessed people who belong to Christ.  Thought Questions: -       Is it possible for a Christian to fall from grace? (v.4). What is the sin that causes this, and how do you prevent such a devastating mistake? -       When can your freedom in Christ become an opportunity for the flesh? How important is it to love others in everything we choose to do? -       How does the fruit of the spirit help you repel the deeds of the flesh? Choose one of each to illustrate how the light helps to repel the darkness.

In this episode, Dr. Leelo Bush addresses the hidden power of excuses, showing how they silently derail our God-given potential. She explains the neuroscience behind excuse-making, the difference between boundaries and excuses, and how to dismantle these mental barriers through ownership. With scriptural encouragement from Philippians 4:13 and 2 Timothy 1:7, listeners are guided toward living a life aligned with their calling—excuse-free.     What You'll Learn How to recognize the subtle language of excuses Why excuses feel justified and the brain science behind them The difference between boundaries and excuses How to replace “I can't” with ownership statements Practical strategies to retrain your mind toward courage and action Scriptural truths to overcome fear and avoidance     Quotable Moment “Ownership is the difference between a life lived by default and a life lived by design.”     Scriptures Mentioned Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Proverbs 26:13 – “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets.'” 2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.”     Resources Professional Christian Coaching and Counseling Academy: PCCCA.org/courses Private Facebook group: Courageous Christian Coaching Tribe Transcript Let's be honest. Making excuses can be cringeworthy. It's awkward for the person saying it and just as uncomfortable for the person hearing it—especially when we both know better. Yet we still do it, wrapping fear or procrastination in pretty words and hoping no one notices. It's been a while, but I've done it. How about you? Today we're going to pull back the curtain, audit those excuses, and replace them with ownership, because nothing feels better than living aligned with your calling—excuse free. Welcome to the Christian Coaching School podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Leelo Bush. I'm a master coach, author, curriculum creator, and the number one authority on Spirit-led Christian coaching. I've trained tens of thousands worldwide since 2003. And if you are ready to up-level your skills, find greater fulfillment, and employ the most powerful coaching available to mankind—let's go. Welcome back. I'm Dr. Leelo Bush, and today we're cutting through the "can't because" clutter. I've trained and certified thousands of coaches worldwide over the last 22 years, and as a result, I have watched many people rise to great heights. But unfortunately, too many people with God-given potential stay stuck because of a handful of worn-out excuses. Entering a new school year, I thought the timing of this episode would be perfect if you are stuck with excuses. We will do an audit and end their bondage today. Excuses look harmless, but they are silent dream killers. They feel justified. They can sound logical and keep you stuck. Today we're going to expose them, dismantle them, and replace them with unstoppable ownership. Since school is back in session, it's your turn. If you've been feeling the nudge to step into your calling as a Christian life coach, counselor, or specialty coach, the Professional Christian Coaching and Counseling Academy—otherwise lovingly called PCCCA—has world-class training for you to help you get there. I encourage you to visit PCCCA.org/courses where you will find all the details, because the future you are praying for isn't going to build itself. Excuses are not harmless. They quietly chip away at your confidence. They limit your opportunities and shrink the vision that God has placed in your heart. An explanation tells the truth and points toward a solution. An excuse stops the conversation, locks the door, and throws away the key. The cost of excuse-making is massive. You lose opportunities you can't get back. You delay callings God already equipped you to fulfill. And you settle for a smaller life than the one you were created to live. Here's the dangerous part: most excuses feel justified. You're tired. You've been hurt. You don't have time, money, or support. But when you stop there, you have given the excuse the final word. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” If Christ is your strength, the excuse has no authority. I remember when my daughter was in elementary school and taking ballet classes. She was really talented, and the teacher gave her solo lessons to do a solo dance in the recital. But she was terrified. When we talked about it, we decided that whenever she felt afraid, she would repeat, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And to this day, if she feels unsure about moving forward, she goes back to that scripture. We all get those feelings, but the Word has power—not because of who says it, but because it is the Word of God. We have to remember that excuses have a language, and once we recognize it, we will hear it everywhere. “I'm too busy.” “I'm not ready.” “I'm waiting for the right time.” Those can sound harmless, but they are all code for avoiding action. Look for patterns. Do you use the same excuse in your health, relationships, finances, or spiritual growth? If so, it's not circumstantial—it's habitual. Proverbs 26:13 says, “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets.'” Excuses are just imaginary lions keeping us from moving forward. But what's beneath the excuse? Excuses don't live in our words—they live in the mind and heart, wired into the brain. Every excuse we make is really a protective response from our nervous system, rooted in emotion. At the core, excuses are survival tools—the brain's way of avoiding perceived threats to our safety, identity, or sense of belonging. When you're faced with a challenge that feels overwhelming, the amygdala—the part of your brain constantly scanning for danger—lights up like a warning siren. Its job is to keep you safe, but sometimes it overreacts. It doesn't know the difference between stepping onto a stage to share your testimony and stepping in front of a hungry lion. It just says “danger” and looks for the fastest escape route. That's where excuses are born. The brain then recruits the prefrontal cortex, our reasoning center. But when you're stressed or anxious, your prefrontal cortex gets hijacked. Instead of helping you move forward, it starts manufacturing logical-sounding reasons to avoid the risk. And because those reasons sound rational, you accept them without question. This is why excuses often feel justified—they are supported by your brain's best lawyer, even when built on fear, not fact. Your brain's default wiring has three goals: avoid pain, increase pleasure, and conserve energy. This was useful when survival meant escaping predators and finding food. But in modern life, that wiring resists discomfort, challenge, or the unfamiliar—even when those lead to growth. Then there's your identity network—the deep wiring of beliefs about who you are and what's possible for you. If your internal story says, “I'm not the kind of person who succeeds at this,” your brain will work to protect that story, even if it limits you. Most people base their sense of what's possible on the past, not the future. But the past is not a good indicator of possibility. If it were, we'd never have developed planes, mobile phones, or countless other advances. People often confuse excuses with boundaries. Boundaries protect your values and priorities, coming from clarity and love. Excuses protect your comfort zone. One brings peace and alignment, the other brings guilt and frustration. Boundaries leave you feeling empowered; excuses leave you feeling smaller. Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.” That's your wiring in Christ—the Spirit designed you for power, love, and sound judgment. Every time you challenge an excuse, you weaken the old fear pathway and strengthen the neural circuit for courage and action. This is proven neuroscience. Here's how to shift: Name your choices out loud. Instead of “I can't because,” say “I choose not to because.” This admits you have the power to change it. If you don't like the choice, change it on the spot. Interrupt excuses as they form by asking, “What's the real truth here?” Upgrade your self-talk. Replace “I don't have time” with “I haven't made time yet.” Replace “I'm bad with money” with “I haven't learned money skills yet.” Create an ownership anchor—a quick physical trigger like snapping your fingers, tapping your chest, or standing taller—to remind yourself to move from retreat to responsibility. Track your wins. Progress, even small, proves you're rewriting your story. Taking ownership isn't about perfection—it's about refusing to give your excuses the final word. Every shift reclaims more territory from fear, delay, and self-sabotage, moving you closer to the life God has for you. You don't need another year with the same old excuses. God's calling on your life is too important to keep hitting snooze. Ownership is freedom. Excuses are chains. If today's episode gave you a breakthrough or fresh perspective, share it with a friend. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. And leave a review—it helps more people find this message. The best next step is to keep growing. Find your next course at PCCCA.org/courses and step boldly into the future God has prepared for you. I'm Dr. Leelo Bush, and I'll meet you in the next episode. Before you go, I invite you to join our private Facebook group, The Courageous Christian Coaching Tribe. This is where bold, Spirit-led coaches and aspiring coaches gather to grow, get equipped, and stay encouraged. Inside, you'll find exclusive tips, training, and kingdom-minded conversations you won't find elsewhere. If you feel called to coach or want to stay sharp in your calling, this is your place. Our culture is “each one, bring one,” so invite a friend. The more the merrier. Visit facebook.com/groups/courageouschristiancoachingtribe or tap the link in the show notes. Join now so we can start pouring into you. I'll see you inside the tribe.

Are We Abusing Grace—or Finally Getting It? Let's face it—grace makes people nervous. Say you're totally forgiven, and someone's bound to ask, “So… sin doesn't matter anymore?” Mention freedom from the Law, and suddenly you're accused of tossing out morality altogether.   In this message, “Grace Under Fire,” we take an honest, in-depth look at the toughest questions people ask about the message of God's grace, including: If I'm totally forgiven, then why confess at all? What keeps me in line if I'm under grace? Why do I still struggle if Christ lives in me? This isn't fluff or feel-good theology—it's the powerful, liberating truth of the Gospel. The kind that silences shame, dismantles fear, and anchors you in Jesus.   So, if you've ever wrestled with doubt or been grilled by others, this message will equip and encourage you in just how amazing God's grace really is. Watch now and discover grace that holds up under fire! Discussion Questions: Are we saying that sin doesn't matter? If we're totally forgiven, why confess at all? If we're under grace, what's going to keep us in line? Are we really righteous right now? If so, how do we know? If Christ is in us, why do we still struggle? What's the point of growth if we're already complete? Are we saying that the Law is bad? What about judgment day—shouldn't we still be nervous?

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comI Corinthians 15The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. He died for our sins, was buried, and rose on the third day as prophesied in the Scriptures and witnessed by many. Some doubt His resurrection. If Christ has not risen, faith is futile, and humanity remains burdened by sin. However, Christ has been raised, guaranteeing a resurrection to eternal life for all who trust in Him. What will that look like? Paul compares the resurrection to a seed that transforms into a new body, emphasizing that the perishable will be replaced by the imperishable. Christ's return culminates in eternal victory over sin and death. Disciples have victory in Jesus now and forever. Believing this, they must remain steadfast and immovable, never losing heart in serving the risen Lord. The gospel is inspirational and resides in the heart of every believer. We believe that Jesus died, was raised on the third day, and appeared to hundreds of witnesses. We believe the tomb is empty and that our Savior has forever defeated death. If these things are not true, then all who live as Christians are truly a pitiful lot. However, the evidence is overwhelming both in history and in scripture. He has been raised, and that means we too will be raised after death, or changed at His return. Our physical bodies will perish, but new spiritual bodies will emerge and live forever. In times of trial in the flesh, our hope for life rests in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we remain steadfast in our allegiance to Him. Glorious Lord, thank You for the victory over sin and death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thank You for the testimony that affirms His victory, filling us with hope for our future in Him. Help us to stand firm in faith, holding tightly to the hope of eternal life. We will labor for You, knowing that our efforts are not in vain. Teach us to grow in boldness, sharing the gospel and reflecting the understanding of Christ's victory. Thank You for the assurance that our King has defeated death and that our allegiance to Him will reap eternal reward.  Thought Questions: -       Why do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Are you prepared to present your case for Christ and His victory to friends and family? -       What will happen the moment that Christ returns? How does that information put perspective into your day and priorities in life? -       What does it mean to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord”? How are you demonstrating those qualities?

What did Paul mean when he wrote that Jesus was the "image" of God? If Christ wasn't created, as some cults claim, how do we explain the term "first-born of all creation?" Plus, do you know why you were created? Know what your purpose in life is? Find out as Jeff unpacks the greatness of Jesus in this week's episode.