Podcasts about in my father

Pippa speaks to Rod Douglas who set out to trace his father’s wartime travels, and after he came back from the trip he self-published a book about the experience called In My Father’s Footsteps. Lunch with Pippa Hudson is CapeTalk’s mid-afternoon show. This 2-hour respite from hard news encourages the audience to take the time to explore, taste, read and reflect. The show - presented by former journalist, baker and water sports enthusiast Pippa Hudson - is unashamedly lifestyle driven. Popular features include a daily profile interview #OnTheCouch at 1:10pm. Consumer issues are in the spotlight every Wednesday while the team also unpacks all things related to health, wealth & the environment. Listen live – Lunch with Pippa Hudson is broadcast weekdays between 13:00 and 15:00 (SA Time) https://www.primediaplus.com/station/capetalk Find all the catch-up podcasts here https://www.primediaplus.com/capetalk/lunch-with-pippa-hudson/show-podcasts/lunch-with-pippa-hudson/ Subscribe to the CapeTalk daily and weekly newsletters https://www.primediaplus.com/competitions/newsletter-subscription/ Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CapeTalk   CapeTalk on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@capetalk   CapeTalk on Instagram: www.instagram.com/capetalkza  CapeTalk on X: www.x.com/CapeTalk  CapeTalk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." -John 14:1-3 What you thought was dead, look again.What you thought was impossible, He disagreed with you--feel the Promise of It. All you have to do is keep facing the Son, and letting these words water you, letting your practice work the soil, while you face the Son. While you feel the blooming, the flowering, the fruiting, the Law of Love. It must be. Whatever it is... it must be. I Love you,niknikki@curlynikki.comPlease support the show: ▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings▶▶ Cash App $NikWalton __________________________________________LINKSSurrender Novena Day 7-Father Ruotolo Dolindo I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever perform miracles, not even among the saints. He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God. So don't think about it anymore, because your mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this all of you and you will see great continual silent miracles. I will take care of things, I promise this to you. O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)Mother, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.Amen""I Come to Him Running The Prophet said, God Most High has said: When my worshipper's thoughts turn to Me, there am I with him. And when he makes mention of Me within himself, I make mention of him within Myself. and when he makes mention of Me in company, I make mention of him in a better company. Ifhe draw near to Me a hand's breadth, I draw near to him an arm's length; and if he draw near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him the length of both arms wide outstretched; and if he come to Me walking, I come to him running. And if he meet Me with sins equivalent to the whole world, I will greet him with forgiveness equal to it." - The Mishkat Al- Masabih

John 14New King James Version:The Way, the Truth, and the Life14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many [a]mansions; if it were not so, [b]I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.The Father Revealed7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.The Answered Prayer12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you [c]ask anything in My name, I will do it.Jesus Promises Another Helper15 “If you love Me, [d]keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another [e]Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.Indwelling of the Father and the Son19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and [f]manifest Myself to him.”22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.The Gift of His Peace25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the [g]Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because [h]I said, ‘I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

The Way, The Truth, And The Life John 14:1-6 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” I. Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled You Believe In God, Believe Also In Me In My Father's House Are Many Mansions I Go To Prepare A Place For You Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” I Will Come Again! II. The Way, The Truth, And The Life I am the way, the truth, and the life.” No one comes to the Father except through Me

John 14 “Do not let your heart be troubled;  believe in God, believe also in Me.In My Father's house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where… Read More »Comfort

Miranda Seymour, celebrated as a biographer, novelist, memoir writer and critic, has been a visiting professor at Nottingham Trent University. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow, and the author of the award-winning memoir, In My Father's House. Her many acclaimed biographies include: A Ring of Conspirators, an innovative study of Henry James and his literary circle; Ottoline Morrell: Life on a Grand Scale; Robert Graves: Life on the Edge; Mary Shelley; In Byron's Wake, The Bugatti Queen and I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys. Today is a very exciting show for me as I have the opportunity to speak with, Miranda Seymour, the author of my favorite book, the “Bugatti Queen,” who writes the story of one of my favorite racers, Helle Nice. I have asked Mark Greene, the founder of Cars Yeah to co-host with me today.

A sermon from Revelation 21:1-8 A Renewed Home (vs. 1-2) A Restored Relationship (vs. 3-4) A Remarkable Offer (vs. 5-8)   GOSPEL CONNECTION “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:1-6) APPLICATION How will you remind yourself every day this week of God's promised future for His people? MEMORY VERSE And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

View the Bulletin for Wednesday, December 18, 2024Advent Worship Service: 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. During Advent, there will be no Wednesday Bible Study, it will resume Wednesday January 8, 2025All are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relativeVisit our YouTube channel — Click the red “subscribe” box, and then click on the “bell” next to that box to receive Live Streaming notifications. You must be logged into YouTube to activate these features.Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BULLETINSFirst Reading – Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. Second Reading – Colossians 1:15–20 [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. Third Reading – John 14:1–11 [Jesus said:] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Rev. Dr. Doyle Holbird was preacher for this service. John 14:1-6: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Order of Service: - Prelude - Hymn 543 - Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers - John 14:1-6: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. - Devotion - Prayer - Hymn 542 - in Heav'n Above, in Heav'n Above: vv. 1, 3, 4 - Blessing - Postlude Service Participants: Rev. Dr. Doyle Holbird (Preacher), Hannah Caauwe (Organist)

Whew! A good break we had, but I missed you all. If you listen to this podcast in a place that is a little dangerous, I really appreciate you listening. We pray for you each day, and we are asking all our family who listen to add your safety, the spread of the Gospel, and your edification (through the podcast). Though I don't mention where you live, rest assured of our prayers, and our gratitude you are there. Speaking of gratitude, as is our wont, I like saying that, but I'm not sure why, we begin each year with episodes on our thankfulness to our Creator, Savior, and Sustainer. This year, for the attributes of God! We begin with faithfulness, our verses of contemplation: "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." Luke 10:20 "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 "And you know the way where I am going." 5 Thomas *said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" 6Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. John 14" 1-6 Our So what? How do we know the promises of God are yes and amen? The Way, the Truth, and the Life said: "if it were not so, I would have told you;" Brethren, let's pray for one another. "What a man is on his knees before God, that he is and nothing more"" Robert MurrayM'Cheynee Donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64 Or go to www.freerangepreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab. Assistant Editor: Seven Jefferson Gossard. www.freerangepreacheronprayer.com freerangeprayer@gmail.com Facebook - Free Range Preacher Ministries Instagram: freerangeministries All our Scripture quotes are drawn from the NASB 1977 edition. For access to the Voice Over services of Richard Durrington, please visit RichardDurrington.com or email him at Durringtonr@gmail.com Our podcast art was designed by @sammmmmmmmm23 Instagram Season 007 Episode 001

John 13:33-14:14   33 Little children, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for Me; and just as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” 37 Peter *said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” 38 Jesus *replied, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.   14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be. 4 And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” 8 Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus *said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works.11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12 Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.     BIBLE READING GUIDE - FREE EBOOK - Get the free eBook, Bible in Life, to help you learn how to read and apply the Bible well: https://www.listenerscommentary.com     GIVE -  The Listener's Commentary is a listener supported Bible teaching ministry made possible by the generosity of people like you. Thank you! Give here:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com/give     STUDY HUB - Want more than the audio? Join the study hub to access articles, maps, charts, pictures, and links to other resources to help you study the Bible for yourself. https://www.listenerscommentary.com/members-sign-up   MORE TEACHING - For more resources and Bible teaching from John visit https://www.johnwhittaker.net    

Speaker or Performer: Pastor Grover Cleveland Scripture Passage(s): John 14:1-6 Date of Delivery: October 20, 2024 John 14:1-61 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Prayer is designed to transform our perspective from fear to trust, knowing that God has already prepared the way for us. Learn how to pray with confidence, rooted in your inheritance in Christ, and discover the beauty of responding to life's challenges from a place of peace and joy. Key Scriptures: + Genesis 18:14. "Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son." + Deuteronomy 31:8. "The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." + Hebrews 8:6. "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises." + John 14:2. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." + Ephesians 2:22. "In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." To stay connected with Graham Cooke and Team Brilliant, CLICK HERE. As always, thanks for listening!

What if you could take a trip around the world? Not just any trip, but a trip where you followed your father's footsteps? In My Father's Footsteps is a time-traveling documentary that takes you on a journey across three continents as Bella retraces her fathers 1982 solo trip around the world. Through Bella's eyes, you will gain a unique perspective on the changes and enduring aspects of our world over the past 40 years. Bella sits down with us to chat about what she experienced... and it's amazing!Connect with us! Instagram - Facebook www.visiteastdallas.comPartner with us! connect@visiteastdallas.com

It was fun seeing Fox Butterfield, the first New York Times correspondent in China since 1949, in Portland, Oregon back in July. I last visited Portland in 2022, and you never quite get over the sight of Mount Hood dominating the horizon on a clear summer day in its awesome fashion.Fox welcomed me to his home, perched on a small hill in a modestly upscale suburb. A history enthusiast, he has lived through and witnessed some of the most pivotal moments in modern history: from meeting Harry Truman as a teenager with his grandfather, to studying under John Fairbank, the progenitor of Chinese studies in America, to reporting on the Vietnam War and helping expose the Pentagon Papers, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize. Though trained as a China specialist, he only began his reporting inside China in the late '70s, culminating in his book China: Alive in the Bitter Sea. This bestseller set a benchmark for generations of China correspondents. Later in his career, Fox shifted his focus to domestic issues of race and crime, writing acclaimed works like All God's Children and In My Father's House.Talking to Fox was a breeze. I was pleasantly surprised that his spoken Chinese remains impressively sharp — his tones and pronunciations are still spot-on. Of course, we did most of our chatting in English. This piece will explore his early experiences, particularly his family background, his time at Harvard, and his reporting during the Vietnam War. While the bulk of the piece may not focus directly on China, it offers a glimpse into the intellectual formation of one of America's most prominent China watchers and how both domestic and global forces shape U.S. perceptions of China.Enjoy!LeoIndexSeeing China with Joe Biden and John McCain in the 70sCyrus Eaton, Lenin Prize and family legacy in Cold War“Rice Paddies”, and studying under John Fairbank at HarvardFrom Pentagon Papers to VietnamReporting on the frontlines in Vietnam Seeing China with Joe Biden and John McCain in the 70sCould you talk about your first trip to China?I was the Hong Kong correspondent for The New York Times from 1975 to 1979 because that's where we covered China in those days. I couldn't go to China until 1978, when I attended the Canton Trade Fair. That was my first trip to China; I can barely remember it.My second trip to China was much more memorable. In 1979, when the U.S. and China were about to normalize relations, China invited the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to visit, and I was invited as a New York Times correspondent. In those days, China had a shortage of hotel rooms, at least for foreigners, so they made everybody room with somebody else. The Chinese government assigned me to room with the naval liaison to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was a Navy captain named John McCain.For two weeks, John McCain and I were roommates. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together and traveled everywhere. McCain's best friend on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was Joe Biden. So, the three of us did almost everything together for two weeks. That one is easy to remember. What was your impression of Joe Biden?Joe Biden was a nice man, very earnest, but he was a typical career politician that when he approached somebody, he always grabbed them by the hand. He was tall, had a strong handshake, and would give them a big smile and grab their hands. He kept doing this to the Chinese, who didn't really know what was going on because they're not used to being touched that way, especially not somebody almost breaking their hand.So I finally said to him, “Senator.” And he'd say, “No, call me Joe.” I said, “Okay, Joe, please don't grab Chinese by the hand. It's kind of rude and offensive to them, and they don't understand it.” He would say, “Well, why not?” And I said, “Because that's not their custom.” He'd say, “Okay, thank you very much.” And then, five minutes later, he'd do the same thing over and over again.John McCain and I became good friends, especially because I had seen McCain in prison in Hanoi when I first started working for The New York Times, and we bonded over that shared history during our trip to China. They allowed me to go into his prison in 1969, and I was the first reporter to find out that John McCain was still alive when his jet fighter was shot down over Hanoi.I saw him then and as roommates 10 years later in China. We had a great time, and I would take him out and say, “Let's sneak away from our handlers and see how Chinese really live and what they really say.” We just went out and talked to people, and he thought this was a lot of fun.“He said something straightforward and obvious, but I had never thought about it. He said China is the oldest country in the world with by far the largest population. It's a big, important place.”That's a wonderful tale. What made you initially interested in China?When I was a sophomore at Harvard as an undergraduate in 1958, there was a fear that the United States was going to have to go to war with China over those two little islands, which Americans call ‘Quemoy' and ‘Matsu' and Chinese people call ‘Jinmen' and ‘Mazu'.America's leading sinologist and Harvard professor of Chinese studies, John Fairbank, decided to give a public lecture about the danger of the United States going to war for those two little islands.I attended his lecture. He said something straightforward and obvious, but I had never thought about it. He said China is the oldest country in the world with by far the largest population. It's a big, important place. Why would the United States want to go to war with China over those two little islands? It made no sense logically. And we had just finished the war in Korea. As I listened to him, I realized, “Gee, I don't know anything about that place.”So I began to audit his introductory class on the history of East Asia. And in the spring, I decided to take a second class in Chinese history that Fairbank was teaching. As a Harvard undergraduate, I would find out my exam grades at the end of year from a postcard you put in the exam booklet. When I received my postcard back from the final exam, it said: “please come to see me in my office, tomorrow morning at 10.” “Oh no,” I thought I really screwed up my exam. So I went to see John Fairbank. I was nervous, especially because he was a great man, a big figure on campus, and the Dean of Chinese studies in the United States. So I went in, and he said, “Fox, you wrote a wonderful exam. Have you considered majoring in Chinese history?” I went, “oh, no, I had not considered it.” I was so relieved that I had written a good exam.He said, “Well, if you are, you must immediately begin studying Chinese.” At that time, Harvard did not teach spoken Chinese, only classical written Chinese, and there were just about 10 people, all graduate students.So Fairbank said, “here's what you do. Going down to Yale, they have a special program that teaches spoken Chinese in the summer because they have a contract with the Air Force to teach 18-year-old Air Force recruits how to speak Chinese so they can listen to and monitor Chinese air force traffic.”So I spent the summer at Yale studying Chinese with air force recruits. I took classical written Chinese classes when I returned to Harvard that fall. Luckily, I got a Fulbright Fellowship to go to Taiwan after I graduated, so I studied in the best spoken Chinese program at the time run by Cornell University.Cyrus Eaton, Lenin Prize and family legacy in Cold WarI wonder whether there's any family influence on your China journey. Your father was the historian and editor-in-chief of the Adams Papers, and your maternal grandfather, Cyrus Eaton, was one of the most prominent financiers and philanthropists in the Midwest. Could you speak on the impact of family legacy on your China journey?My father certainly instilled a love of history in me. That was always my favourite subject in school and the one I did best in. Eventually, my major at Harvard was Chinese history. My father didn't know anything about China and never went. My mother visited Taiwan and stayed with me for ten days in the 60s.My maternal grandfather, Cyrus Eaton, would fit the Chinese notion of a rags-to-riches success story. He grew up in a small fishing village in Nova Scotia, Canada, and went to college in Toronto with the help of an older cousin. This cousin went on to become a Baptist minister in Cleveland, Ohio, across the lake. Among the people in his parish was a man named John D. Rockefeller — yes, the original John D. Rockefeller.The cousin invited my grandfather and said he had a job for him. So my grandfather started off as a golf caddy for John D. Rockefeller and then a messenger. Ultimately, he founded his own electric power company in Cleveland — Ohio Electric Power — and became quite influential. He had multiple companies but then lost everything in the Great Depression.During World War II, my grandfather heard about a large iron ore under a lake in Ontario through his Canadian connections. By then, he had already formed connections with President Roosevelt and then Truman, so he said, “If you can give me some money and help underwrite this, I can get Canadian permission to drain the lake for the iron ore deposit,” which became the world's richest iron ore mine, Steep Rock Iron Ore. That's how he got back into business. Truman and my grandfather ended up having a close connection, and he used my grandfather's train to campaign for re-election in 1948. My grandfather was an unusual man. He had a real vision about things.He was trading metals with the Soviet Union as well.I don't know the details, but when Khrushchev came to power, my grandfather became interested in trying to work out some arrangement between the United States and Russia, which is where the Pugwash movement came from. He was inviting Russian and American scientists to meet. They couldn't meet in the U.S. because it was against American law, but he arranged for them to meet in his hometown of Pugwash, Nova Scotia. We had American and Russian nuclear physicists meeting to discuss nuclear weapons in this little village. Eventually, he invited some Chinese people to come.At one of these conferences, I met Harrison Salisbury, an editor of The New York Times and the first NYT Moscow Correspondent. I was just starting out as a stringer for The Washington Post, but Salisbury saw something in me and suggested I send him a story. That connection eventually led to my job at The New York Times.He must have known people pretty high up in China too.I don't know the China connections; he didn't know Mao or Zhou Enlai. He did have a close relationship with Khrushchev, to the extent you could. It started with the Pugwash movement.He just sent a telegram to Khrushchev and became friends?Yes. What do you call that, guanxi?I guess so. Do you remember when he won the Lenin Peace Prize?I do. I think I was in Taiwan at the time. I didn't go to the ceremony.How did you feel about his activities growing up?I was never too sure what was going on. My mother had the intelligence of her father—in fact, she looked remarkably like him—but she was skeptical because she always felt that he was making all these big deals but wasn't looking out for his own family.What was your mom like?My mother was a smart woman. She went to Bryn Mawr during the Depression, but my grandfather refused to let her take a scholarship because it would signal he had no money. She worked full-time while in school and graduated near the top of her class. She was angry at him for making her life difficult for his own pride.My mother worked all her life. By the time I reached college, she was working at Harvard University, which was unusual for the time. She started as a secretary but eventually became the registrar in charge of all the records. When she died in 1978, the Harvard Crimson published a tribute saying she had been the most helpful person to many undergraduates.What did you want to become as a teenager?I wanted to be a baseball player. Yes, for a long time my life revolved around baseball. I thought I was pretty serious. Some time in college, I realized I wasn't going to become a major league baseball player, and I became much more interested in the life of the mind.“Rice Paddies”, and studying under John Fairbank at HarvardDid you think of Asia growing up?There was really almost nothing until I mentioned, in my sophomore year, when I was 19, beginning in 1958 as an undergraduate at Harvard studying with John Fairbank. No courses offered at high school that I could have gone to. Even at Harvard, the Chinese history class was almost all graduate students. Harvard undergraduates could take an introduction class to the history of East Asia, which included China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Harvard students nicknamed this course “Rice Paddies.”That's the famous course by Fairbank and Reischauer. What was it like studying with those two legends?Well, they were both significant people in every way. Fairbank helped start the field of Chinese history in the United States. Reischauer certainly started studying Japanese history.In my first year, they had just finished a textbook for the Rice Patties course. It had not been published as a book yet, just a mimeograph form. They gave us these big books you had to carry around, like carrying one of those old store catalogues with hundreds of pages printed on one side. You would bring these things into class. One was called East Asia: The Great Tradition, and the other East Asia: The Modern Transformation.What was John Fairbank like as a person?Intimidating. He was a tall, bald man, always looking over his glasses at you. But he was charming and friendly, and if he sensed that you were interested in his field, he would do almost anything for you. He reached out to students in a way that few other faculty members did.“He was an academic entrepreneur and missionary for Chinese studies, and was creating the field of Chinese history in the United States. Before him, Chinese history didn't exist for most Americans to study.”And he had regular gatherings at his house.Yes. His house was a little yellow wooden house dating back to the 18th century, right in the middle of the campus. Harvard had given it to him, and every Thursday afternoon, anybody interested in China who was in Cambridge that day was invited. You never knew who you were going to meet. Fairbank was a kind of social secretary. When you walked in, he'd greet you with a handshake and then take you around to introduce you to some people. He did that all the time with people. He was an academic entrepreneur and missionary for Chinese studies and was creating the field of Chinese history in the United States. Before him, Chinese history didn't exist for most Americans to study. I always wanted to major in history. That subject appealed to me and was my strongest area of study. I took some American history and intellectual history classes, but the Chinese history class became the one that I really focused on. I couldn't tell you exactly why, but it was interesting to me. The more I read, the more I liked it. After that first Fairbank class, I signed up for the more intensive modern Chinese history class and whatever else Harvard had. I signed up for a Japanese history class, too. At the end of my senior year, John Kennedy named my professor Edwin Reischauer his ambassador to Tokyo. So, on my way to Taiwan as a Fulbright scholar, I stopped in Tokyo to meet Reischauer at the US Embassy, and two of Reischauer's grown children took me around Tokyo. I reported in Tokyo later in my career.Was Ezra Vogel working on Japan at the time?Yes, Ezra had. Ezra was in my Spanish class in the first year. He hadn't yet decided what he would focus on then. We sat next to each other. We were always personal friends even though he was a bit older. He was a nice man and became a professor later. I sat in the same classroom with several other older people who went on to teach about China, including Dorothy Borg. Even then, she had white hair. She worked for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York but was taking classes at Harvard. When I first went to China, she was still involved with China.So, from that group of Americans studying China at Harvard at that time, many went on to do things related to China, including Orville Schell, Andy Nathan and me. I did not know Perry Link while in Harvard.Many major figures in China studies today were at Harvard with you.Yale had Mary and Arthur Wright, but they were graduate students at Harvard with me and went on to become full professors at Yale. This must be because that was a place where Fairbank was an evangelical figure that people gravitated towards, and he was preaching this new faith of Chinese studies.From Pentagon Papers to VietnamWhat did you do after Harvard?I spent a year in Taiwan when I graduated. I wanted to stay, but Fairbank hurried me up to get back to graduate school.Did you listen to Fairbank?I was going to get my PhD at Harvard and teach Chinese history, but after five years, I became less interested in actually studying Chinese history.During the 1960s, the Vietnam War happened. Vietnam is kind of a cousin of China, so I started reading everything I could about Vietnam. I even started a course on Vietnam so that Harvard undergraduate and graduate students could learn about Vietnam.I got a fellowship to return to Taiwan to work on my dissertation about Hu Hanmin. At that time, many American GIs were coming to Taiwan on what we call R&R — “rest and recreation.” The U.S. government made a deal with the American military that anyone who served in Vietnam for a year had an automatic R&R, a paid week leave to go anywhere in Southeast Asia. Many chose Taiwan to chase pretty young Chinese girls. So, GIs would show up in Taiwan and didn't know what they were doing. I would see them on the street, go up and talk to them.I became more interested in Vietnam over time. A friend told me, “You're spending so much time reading newspapers about Vietnam, you should become a journalist.” It hadn't occurred to me. By chance, I met a correspondent from The Washington Post, Stanley Karnow, who was the Hong Kong correspondent for the Post and covered Vietnam for quite a while. He asked me to be his stringer, a part-time assistant. So I would send my story to him, but he'd never do anything with it.I was discouraged, and that's when I met Harrison Salisbury through my grandfather in Montreal. Salisbury asked me to send stories to The New York Times. I thought I was a traitor to my job with The Washington Post. But it wasn't really a job; it was in my imagination. When I sent Salisbury my first story, I received a cable from the foreign editor of The New York Times saying they had put my story on the front page and given me a byline. My parents at home in Cambridge, Massachusetts saw it that morning, and they wondered, what is Fox doing?” They thought I was working on my PhD dissertation.“Oh, that looked like our son there.”The story was about Chiang Kai-shek's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who was becoming Chiang Kai-shek's successor. I wrote about how he was going about it. That was a good news story, so The New York Times sent me a message and said, “If you'd like to work for us, we'll be happy to take more stories.”So I started sending them stories once or twice a week, and after four or five months, they gave me a job offer in New York. That was just one of those lucky breaks. I guess The New York Times correspondent who made that initial contact with me, Harrison Salisbury, who had won several Pulitzer Prizes, must have seen something in me.What's your relationship with your editors over the years? Generally pretty good. They certainly intimidated me at the beginning. The person who actually hired me was the foreign editor at The New York Times, James Greenfield. When I returned to New York, it was New Year's Day, the end of 1971. James asked me about my training and asked me to spend the next couple of months sitting at the foreign desk to watch how they do things. I couldn't even write stories for a while; I just handed them the copy that came up. I later got promoted to news assistant and was asked to find something interesting and write one story a week. I wrote some stories about Asia for the newspaper. They wouldn't give me a byline at first as I wasn't a reporter. My first assignment was to Newark, New Jersey, which had gone through a series of terrible race riots in the late 1960s. I was going to be the correspondent in Newark.This was after they hired you and during those two years of training? Yes. One day, I was covering a story. The new mayor of Newark — the first black mayor of a major American city — called a meeting in city hall to see if he could stop the riots.He was trying to bring people together: white, black and Hispanic. Within ten seconds, everybody was having a fistfight. People were knocking each other out with the police and mayor in front of them. The mayor yelled at people to stop, and they still kept punching and hitting each other with big pieces of wood right in City Hall. And I was there. Two very large black men grabbed my arms behind my back. The nasty term for white people in those days was “honky”. They said, “What are you doing here, honky?” They began punching me in the stomach and hitting me in the head. I thought I was going to die right there before I finally broke free. I got to my office to send my story of the city hall by telephone across New York City. And they put that story on the front page.Your second front page at The New York Times. So the editor of The New York Times was a very intimidating man, Abe Rosenthal, a gifted correspondent who'd won several Pulitzer Prizes. He won a Pulitzer Prize in Poland and Germany. I got this message saying, “Mr. Rosenthal wants to see you in his office immediately.”I thought, “oh jeez I'm getting fired.” I just got beaten up in City Hall and they're going to fire me. So I walked in, and he said, “Fox, that was a really nice story.” He said, “you did a really good job on that story. We have another assignment for you. I want you to go over to the New York Hilton Hotel”, which was about ten blocks away.He told me that one of our correspondents, Neil Sheehan, had gotten a secret government document, the Pentagon Papers, which were boxes and boxes of government documents. Neil couldn't read all that by himself, so I had to go and read it with him. Besides, I knew about Asia. By that point, I had read as much as I could about Vietnam. I also knew Neil Sheen because I had helped him come to Harvard to give a talk about Vietnam while I was a graduate student. So we actually had a good relationship. I spent the next two months in Neil's hotel room reading documents, but two of us were not enough, so a third and eventually a fourth correspondent were brought in. Did you understand the risk you were taking working with the classifieds? You could be arrested. Right, yes. I had to tell my parents, “I can't tell you anything about what I'm doing.”When we finally started publishing, I wrote three of the seven installments, which was amazing because I was a junior person. Abe Rosenthal called me back into his office after we finished, and said, “Fox, you did a nice job on this, so we're sending you somewhere. We're sending you to Vietnam.” He said, “I want you to go immediately.” So I went from the Pentagon Papers to Saigon. That was a surprise. That was not where I wanted to go. In fact, what I really wanted was to go to cover China, but that would have meant Hong Kong. But Vietnam turned out to be fascinating. There was always something happening.Reporting on the frontlines in VietnamCan you talk about your Vietnam experience?It was an experience at many levels. Intellectually, it was seductive because there was so much going on, people getting shot every day. The only way to truly understand it was to be there.You could divide the correspondents into those who stayed in Saigon and those who went out to the field. I wanted to be in the field as much as possible. I spent time on Navy ships and even in a fighter plane, hitting what appeared to be factories.The GIs, or “grunts”, wanted to know what we wrote about them, and some would come to our office in Saigon. Sometimes they were angry. A few correspondents received threats, but we mostly had a good relationship. The more you were willing to go out into the field, the more respect you earned. I was out there from the beginning.Vietnam was more complicated than I initially thought. If you were strictly anti-war or pro-government, you missed the full picture.You had been against the war before. How did you feel once you were there?I was part of the anti-war movement and then found myself in the middle of the war. I got to know many ordinary Vietnamese who were actually happy to have Americans there because the communist soldiers would threaten to confiscate their property. Vietnam was more complicated than I initially thought. If you were strictly anti-war or pro-government, you missed the full picture.What was the relevance of the Pentagon Papers then?The Pentagon Papers showed that the U.S. government was deceiving the public, but we were also helping some people. It was more complex than the extreme positions made it seem.Were you at risk of being arrested for the Pentagon Papers?Possibly, yes. My name was on the case, but by that time, I was in Vietnam. I put it out of my mind.How long were you in Vietnam?I was in Vietnam from 1971 to 1975, with breaks in Japan. The New York Times didn't let anyone stay more than two years at a time because of the exhaustion of war. But I kept going back and stayed until the last day of the war in 1975 when I left on a helicopter to a Navy ship.I took the place of a brilliant female correspondent, Gloria Emerson. I inherited her apartment, and Vietnam was as exciting a place as it could be. There was always something to do, something to see, something that you shouldn't see but wanted to see. Vietnam was all that I talked about for four years. I stayed until the last day of the war, April 30th, 1975.Did you get hurt during the war?I was hit by mortar fragments and lost my hearing for almost a month. Once, I was left behind after the unit I accompanied ran into an ambush. I had to walk three hours to get back to safety.Vietnam absorbed all parts of your brain, your mind, your body, and your psyche. It just took over.How did the war experience change you?It depends on the individual. Some correspondents loved Vietnam and never wanted to leave. Others were terrified and left without a word. Even today, I still belong to an online Google group of ex-correspondents in Vietnam, and I still get dozens of messages every day. They always want to discuss Vietnam.Back in the day, some got afraid and just left. I had several friends who would literally just leave a message at their desk saying, “Please pack my belongings and send them back to New York.” It's hard to generalise and have an ironclad rule about. It was different from regular assignments in most other countries.Well, Vietnam was certainly special.Vietnam absorbed all parts of your brain, your mind, your body, and your psyche. It just took over. When the war ended, I came out on a helicopter that landed on a Navy ship. The captain said I could make one phone call. I called my editor in New York and said, “I'm out, I'm safe.” He replied, “Good, because we're sending you to Hong Kong.”Recommended ReadingsFox Butterfield, 1982, China: Alive in the Bitter SeaJohn Fairbank, Edwin Reischauer and Albert Craig, 1965, East Asia: The Modern Transformation, George Allen & UnwinEdwin Reischauer & John Fairbank, 1958, East Asia: The Great Tradition, Houghton MifflinAcknowledgementThis newsletter is edited by Caiwei Chen. The transcription and podcast editing is by Aorui Pi. I thank them for their support!About usPeking Hotel is a bilingual online publication that take you down memory lane of recent history in China and narrate China's reality through the personal tales of China experts. Through biweekly podcasts and newsletters, we present colourful first-person accounts of seasoned China experts. The project grew out of Leo's research at Hoover Institution where he collects oral history of prominent China watchers in the west. Peking Hotel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Lastly…We also have a Chinese-language Substack. It has been a privilege to speak to these thoughtful individuals and share their stories with you. The stories they share often remind me of what China used to be and what it is capable of becoming. I hope to publish more conversations like this one, so stay tuned!Correction note: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly referred to sinologists Mary and Henry Wright as "Fords." We thank reader Robert Kapp for bringing this to our attention. Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe

Speaker or Performer: Pastor Grover Cleveland Scripture Passage(s): John 14:1-6 Date of Delivery: October 6, 2024 1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus and His cousin John the Baptist came on the public scene at about the same time. John showed up first with a spectacular ministry of preaching down by the Jordan River in a wilderness area not far from the north end of the Dead Sea. Thousands of people came to see him and upon hearing him they repented of their sins and were baptized by him. It was there that Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by John.   John's voice rang out, and its echoes filled the Promised Land. The people of Israel were under the rule and oppression of the Romans and lived in expectation of the coming of the Messiah to deliver them. I can imagine that over the past thirty years the stories of the birth of Jesus by the shepherds, the appearance of the wise men, Herod killing all the boys under two years of age in Bethlehem, and the appearance of Jesus at the temple astounding the religious leaders, had spread across the land and when John showed up preaching, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1-2), must have caused that expectation of the Messiah's coming to rise even higher!   Luke tells in verses 15, that the people “were in expectation” and some people were confused by his crusade and wondered if maybe he was the Messiah. No doubt, the authorities were afraid of his influence with the multitudes, who believed him to be a prophet. Although he performed no miracles, his voice had an Elijah-like ring and his message had an unmistakable authority. As the days passed, more and more people even speculated that he might be the very Messiah Himself. In verses 16-18, John did his best to put a stop to their thinking this as he described the difference between his ministry and the ministry of Jesus.   John said, “He indeed baptized with water”, because it was the seal of repentance that he required of his converts. But there was more to it than mere baptism in water. That was all well and good for a ministry of repentance. But he was there to announce the coming of One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (3:16).   Between John and Jesus was a great gulf. John was a voice; Jesus was the Word. John had come in the spirit and power of Elijah; Jesus would come in the spirit and power of Jehovah. John's baptism related to repentance; Jesus' baptism related to regeneration (John 3:3-7).   Had the nation responded to the ministry of John and the Messiahship of Jesus, then the baptism of the Holy Spirit would have been for Israel. As it was, that side of things was postponed for some two thousand years, and the Gentiles came into the blessing that the Jews had spurned.   The baptism that John foretold took place on the Day of Pentecost when a small nucleus of believers were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the church, the mystical body of Christ (Acts 1:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; especially v. 13). John, of course, like all of the Old Testament prophets, knew nothing of the mystical body of Christ which we know as the church. All he discerned was that if Israel missed the baptism of the Spirit, they would be faced with a baptism of fire, which would be a judgment of fire.   John made this clear in verse 17: “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." Yes, my friend, Jesus and His angels will gather “the wheat”, the genuine believer, into His dwelling place in heaven one day as He promised in John 14:2-3: “In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” But if you reject Jesus and His salvation, like the “chaff” you will face the judgement of “unquenchable fire”!   To reject or receive Jesus is your choice! May the Lord help you to make the right one today!   God bless!

In My Father's Kitchen "Hometown Heroes" on Family Life You have been at an intersection, where a homeless person is standing at that street corner, holding a cardboard sign asking for help. Many people drive by, which makes sense, because a cash handout might be diverted toward furthering an addiction. Yet, one of those episodes became the spiritual calling for someone who knows a thing or two about feeding people. He bought a lunch, circled back, offered it to the man, and had a life-changing conversation.  For both men. John and Leigh-Ann Tumino launched In My Father's Kitchen in 2011 to address the physical and spiritual hungers which were widespread in parts of Syracuse. Chef John Tumino tells our Mark Webster about this ministry, the people it serves, and how the people who carry out this kind of loving work are transformed too.   You can find more about In My Father's Kitchen from their website, online video and history. IMFK also sponsors a program to help panhandlers and homeless individuals to build up work experience and skills. It is cleverly named "Hire Ground".    -   -   - Hometown Heroes is a Tuesday feature from Family Life News. Find these inspiring stories during the Noon Report, 5 O'Clock Report, and our podcast feed. These are available from the website, our livestream, the Family Life Now app, and many podcast players. Listen, subscribe or download them by searching for "Family Life News".  

"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." -John 14:1-3  What you thought was dead,  look again. What you thought was impossible,  He disagreed with you-- feel the Promise of It.  All you have to do is keep facing the Son,  and letting these words water you,  letting your practice work the soil,  while you face the Son.  While you feel the blooming,  the flowering,  the fruiting,  the Law of Love.  It must be.  Whatever it is... it must be.  I Love you, nik nikki@curlynikki.com Please support the show: ▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings ▶▶ Cash App $NikWalton  __________________________________________ LINKS Surrender Novena #1 (All nine days in one place!) Surrender Novena #2 (All nine days in one place!)   Surrender Novena Day 7-Father Ruotolo Dolindo  I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever perform miracles, not even among the saints. He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God. So don't think about it anymore, because your mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this all of you and you will see great continual silent miracles. I will take care of things, I promise this to you.  O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times) Mother, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus. Amen" "I Come to Him Running The Prophet said, God Most High has said: When my worshipper's thoughts turn to Me, there am I with him. And when he makes mention of Me within himself, I make mention of him within Myself. and when he makes mention of Me in company, I make mention of him in a better company. Ifhe draw near to Me a hand's breadth, I draw near to him an arm's length; and if he draw near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him the length of both arms wide outstretched; and if he come to Me walking, I come to him running. And if he meet Me with sins equivalent to the whole world, I will greet him with forgiveness equal to it." - The Mishkat Al- Masabih

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy The collaborations between Baptist preacher Estus Pirkle and the Ormond family of filmmakers are considered some of the most legendary Christian genre films ever for their shocking imagery and urgent sermonizing. With our review this week of THE BELIEVER'S HEAVEN, we here at Boys' Bible Study have now reviewed the entire trilogy, which also includes IF FOOTMEN TIRE YOU, WHAT WILL HORSES DO? and THE BURNING HELL. All three films feature fiery narration by Estus Pirkle intercut with colorful, dramatic vignettes by the Ormonds. THE BELIEVER'S HEAVEN is unique in the trilogy for focusing on the pleasure of heaven rather than the tragedy of earth or the horrors of hell (but don't worry — we still get enough of those in this piece to keep our interest piqued.) “In My Father's House there are many mansions,” says Estus Pirkle quoting John 14:2. He then proceeds to take us on a tour through a real mansion to hype us up for the delights of heaven. This gleeful literalness drives the rest of the film, which includes lots of time spent filming Christians with physical disabilities to prove to non-disabled viewers that they should be excited to take on “glorified bodies” in heaven. However, the close-up shots on the deformities of disabled people remind the viewer that the Ormond family first made their mark in vaudeville and carnival entertainment, where the disabled were frequently displayed as sideshow “freaks”. By titillating the viewer at the expense of the disabled and in the name of religious education, the Ormonds show their talent as “mondo” genre filmmakers, a style marked by a moralizing tone that barely disguises the actual purpose of selling the audience on morbid or lurid imagery. The contrast between the exploitative tone of the Pirkle/Ormond films and their seemingly sincere moral message makes THE BELIEVER'S HEAVEN, and the rest of the trilogy, one of the most fascinating watches in all of faith-based film. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy  

Revelation 21:1-4 (NASB) 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” John 14:1-4 (NASB) 1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be. 4 And you know the way where I am going.” Psalm 16:11 (NASB) 11 You will make known to me the way of life;In Your presence is fullness of joy;In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Isaiah 25:6-9 (NASB) 6 Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,And refined, aged wine.7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples,The veil which is stretched over all nations.8 He will swallow up death for all time,And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,And He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth;For the Lord has spoken.9 And it will be said on that day,“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.This is the Lord for whom we have waited;Let's rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Jesus said in John 14:1,27: “Do not let your HEART be TROUBLED; believe in God, believe also in Me ... Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you... Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” *(I) The TROUBLED HEART: “Do not let your HEART be TROUBLED” (John 14:1a). The Greek verb used here for ‘troubled' is tarassō: to stir up, agitate or roil, as of the sea (Matthew 2:3). It is used x3 of Jesus in John 11:33, 12:27, 13:21, before He said in John 14:1: “Let not your HEART be TROUBLED; believe (trust) in God, believe (trust) also in Me.” Jesus tells us to not allow the core of our being to be moved from its centre in God. Proverbs 4:23: “GUARD your HEART with all diligence, for out of it (your heart) spring (flow) the issues of life.” *(II) The TRUSTING HEART: John 14:1: “Let not your heart be troubled; BELIEVE (trust) in God, BELIEVE (trust) also in Me.” Having commanded us not to have a troubled heart, He then tells us what to do instead: BELIEVE! Instead of being TROUBLED, let us TRUST in Him. This is not talking about a vague belief in God, but Jesus commands us to TRUST in Him, to have a trusting heart. We can TRUST Him in times of TROUBLE, because He has given us certain PROMISES in John 14. These promises are like anchors for us, when we are tempted to have a troubled heart. *PROMISE (1): “In My Father's House (Heaven) are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to PREPARE a PLACE for YOU (in Heaven). And if I go and PREPARE a PLACE for YOU, I will COME again and RECEIVE you to MYSELF; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go (Heaven) you know, and the way you know” (John 14:2-4). *PROMISE (2): “Whatever you ASK in My NAME, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ASK anything in My NAME, I will do it” (John 14:13-14). *PROMISE (3): “I will not leave you orphans; I will COME to YOU (through the Holy Spirit)” (John 14:18). “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another HELPER, that He may abide with you forever, the SPIRIT of TRUTH, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He DWELLS with you and will be IN YOU” (John 14:16-17). See also 1John 4:4. Jesus says: “BELIEVE in ME, when I say I am going away to prepare a place for you and will come again to receive you to Myself” (John 14:1-3). Jesus says: “BELIEVE in ME, when I say I am leaving you My NAME, and you can ask whatever you need, and I will do it” (John 14:1,13-14). Jesus says: “BELIEVE in ME, when I say I will not leave you on your own, but I will give you the Presence of the HOLY SPIRIT, to live inside you and be available to help, strengthen and lead you” (John 14:1,16-18). Proverbs 3:5: “TRUST in the Lord with all your HEART, and lean not on your own understanding.” This trust in Jesus, centred and fixed on Him, brings us to a place of peace in the middle of trouble. Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in PERFECT PEACE, whose mind is stayed (fixed, leaning, resting) on You, because he TRUSTS in You.” *(III) The TOWERING HEART: After He promised to us the PRESENCE and HELP of the HOLY SPIRIT, Jesus also promised to give us His PEACE: “the HELPER, the HOLY SPIRIT, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. PEACE, I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you” (John 14:26-27). Jesus has left the HOLY SPIRIT with us, who is the GOD of PEACE (Philippians 4:9). In Judges 6:24, God reveals Himself to Gideon as Jehovah SHALOM - the Lord is our PEACE. PEACE is not just the ABSENCE of conflict, but God's PRESENCE in our heart in the midst of turmoil. John 14:27: ”PEACE, I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you (in your heart), not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not LET your HEART be TROUBLED (John 14:1), neither let it be afraid (don't be cowardly)." Philippians 4:7: “The PEACE of God, which passes all understanding, will GUARD (protect) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” His PEACE is like the WALLS of a castle, towering around our hearts. Romans 5:1: “We have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”, because: “Jesus is our PEACE” (Ephesians 2:14). He has given us His PEACE. That PEACE is already ours, because of His Sacrifice on the Cross. For this reason, instead of having a TROUBLED HEART, we can have a TRUSTING HEART. Moreover, we can have a TOWERING HEART, that towers over and above the trouble, by abiding in His PEACE. Proverbs 18:10: “The NAME of the LORD (Jehovah Shalom) is a STRONG TOWER; the righteous run into it and they are SAFE.” We can TRUST in JESUS and stand in the STRONG TOWER of His PEACE, no matter what's going on in the world around us. He is our JEHOVAH SHALOM - the LORD our PEACE (Judges 6:24).

Jesus said in John 14:1,27: “Do not let your HEART be TROUBLED; believe in God, believe also in Me ... Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you... Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” *(I) The TROUBLED HEART: “Do not let your HEART be TROUBLED” (John 14:1a). The Greek verb used here for ‘troubled' is tarassō: to stir up, agitate or roil, as of the sea (Matthew 2:3). It is used x3 of Jesus in John 11:33, 12:27, 13:21, before He said in John 14:1: “Let not your HEART be TROUBLED; believe (trust) in God, believe (trust) also in Me.” Jesus tells us to not allow the core of our being to be moved from its centre in God. Proverbs 4:23: “GUARD your HEART with all diligence, for out of it (your heart) spring (flow) the issues of life.” *(II) The TRUSTING HEART: John 14:1: “Let not your heart be troubled; BELIEVE (trust) in God, BELIEVE (trust) also in Me.” Having commanded us not to have a troubled heart, He then tells us what to do instead: BELIEVE! Instead of being TROUBLED, let us TRUST in Him. This is not talking about a vague belief in God, but Jesus commands us to TRUST in Him, to have a trusting heart. We can TRUST Him in times of TROUBLE, because He has given us certain PROMISES in John 14. These promises are like anchors for us, when we are tempted to have a troubled heart. *PROMISE (1): “In My Father's House (Heaven) are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to PREPARE a PLACE for YOU (in Heaven). And if I go and PREPARE a PLACE for YOU, I will COME again and RECEIVE you to MYSELF; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go (Heaven) you know, and the way you know” (John 14:2-4). *PROMISE (2): “Whatever you ASK in My NAME, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ASK anything in My NAME, I will do it” (John 14:13-14). *PROMISE (3): “I will not leave you orphans; I will COME to YOU (through the Holy Spirit)” (John 14:18). “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another HELPER, that He may abide with you forever, the SPIRIT of TRUTH, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He DWELLS with you and will be IN YOU” (John 14:16-17). See also 1John 4:4. Jesus says: “BELIEVE in ME, when I say I am going away to prepare a place for you and will come again to receive you to Myself” (John 14:1-3). Jesus says: “BELIEVE in ME, when I say I am leaving you My NAME, and you can ask whatever you need, and I will do it” (John 14:1,13-14). Jesus says: “BELIEVE in ME, when I say I will not leave you on your own, but I will give you the Presence of the HOLY SPIRIT, to live inside you and be available to help, strengthen and lead you” (John 14:1,16-18). Proverbs 3:5: “TRUST in the Lord with all your HEART, and lean not on your own understanding.” This trust in Jesus, centred and fixed on Him, brings us to a place of peace in the middle of trouble. Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in PERFECT PEACE, whose mind is stayed (fixed, leaning, resting) on You, because he TRUSTS in You.” *(III) The TOWERING HEART: After He promised to us the PRESENCE and HELP of the HOLY SPIRIT, Jesus also promised to give us His PEACE: “the HELPER, the HOLY SPIRIT, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. PEACE, I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you” (John 14:26-27). Jesus has left the HOLY SPIRIT with us, who is the GOD of PEACE (Philippians 4:9). In Judges 6:24, God reveals Himself to Gideon as Jehovah SHALOM - the Lord is our PEACE. PEACE is not just the ABSENCE of conflict, but God's PRESENCE in our heart in the midst of turmoil. John 14:27: ”PEACE, I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you (in your heart), not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not LET your HEART be TROUBLED (John 14:1), neither let it be afraid (don't be cowardly)." Philippians 4:7: “The PEACE of God, which passes all understanding, will GUARD (protect) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” His PEACE is like the WALLS of a castle, towering around our hearts. Romans 5:1: “We have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”, because: “Jesus is our PEACE” (Ephesians 2:14). He has given us His PEACE. That PEACE is already ours, because of His Sacrifice on the Cross. For this reason, instead of having a TROUBLED HEART, we can have a TRUSTING HEART. Moreover, we can have a TOWERING HEART, that towers over and above the trouble, by abiding in His PEACE. Proverbs 18:10: “The NAME of the LORD (Jehovah Shalom) is a STRONG TOWER; the righteous run into it and they are SAFE.” We can TRUST in JESUS and stand in the STRONG TOWER of His PEACE, no matter what's going on in the world around us. He is our JEHOVAH SHALOM - the LORD our PEACE (Judges 6:24).

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 31st of July, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Mathew 8:20:”And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then we go to John 14:2:”In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” What a beautiful promise from our Lord Jesus Christ. Today maybe I am speaking to some young couples who are really struggling to find a home to live in because there just doesn't seem to be any houses available. Jesus is telling you and I today, not to worry for He is building us a beautiful home in heaven. Rather be content with what you have at the moment and invest in heavenly things.I remember, long time ago, a gentleman who I regarded greatly, a very hard working man. He basically spent most of his working life building a house for his retirement, and when he had finished it and he had retired, I went to visit him one day, and I admired his house and he was sitting on the verandah and I said, ”What a wonderful job you've done here.” And tears started running down his face and he said, ”Yes, but what for Angus?” You see the man had cancer and three months after he had moved into his new house, he died.The Lord is warning you and me today not to put all our finances, all our effort, into things which will perish one day. Do not be like that foolish farmer - remember? - who had a bumper crop and made a lot of money and he said, “I'm going to build another barn to put all my bumper crop into, all my maize, my wheat, and then I'm going to sit down and I'm going to eat, drink and be merry.” The Lord said, ”Foolish man, this very night I will require your soul from you.”Let us concentrate on our eternal home where we'll live in peace with our beloved Jesus forever and not be so taken up by having to own a home on this earth.Jesus bless you and goodbye.

Today in Hebrews 3:6, Dr. Mitchell discusses two important truths. One is that the believer in Jesus Christ is a member of God's house. You'll remember Jesus' own words in John 14:2 when He said "In My Father's house are many dwelling places. And again, I go to prepare a place for you." Not only are we a member of God's household, we are God's house as Dr. Mitchell will explain. The Second truth is this: the believer in the Lord Jesus is kept saved by Jesus' faithfulness both to God and to the those who have trusted in Him. As Dr. Mitchell will state, Jesus' faithfulness is our security. So the question now is: Where have you placed your faith? In the Lord Jesus or someone else? In His finished work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead or on something else? So turn with us in your Bibles to Heb.3:6 with Dr. Mitchell for encouragement in Christ.

A fun chat with Kirsten Miller all about her new book Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books, representing the real South, how nosy some people have become, and her obsession with mushrooms. We also recommend: In My Father's Basement by T. J. Payne, The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong, and Mark of the Fool 7 … Continue reading Ep. 255 The Nosiness Of Strangers With Kirsten Miller

Kiwi actress Jodie Rimmer has played many roles on the screen and the stage - and now she's taking on her first one-woman show.  Rimmer's acting career includes well-regarded roles in In My Father's Den, The Strip, Netflix's Sweet Tooth, Nude Tuesday, Double Parked and the newly released Friends Like Her.  'Nicola Cheeseman is Back' promises to unpack the challenges of reaching 50, as our lead deals with ageing parents, motherhood, forgotten dreams and marital drama.  "She's trying to find her voice again - and really, the journey of the play is that she's trying to find out who she is at this point and come back to herself." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - Jn 14:1-6 - Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in Me. In My Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to Him, “Master, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2, 3) We need to return to tradition I https://catholicstand.com/for-eucharistic-revival-we-need-to-return-to-tradition-part-1/ 3, 4) We need to return to tradition II https://catholicstand.com/for-eucharistic-revival-we-need-to-return-to-tradition-part-ii/

John 14 New King James Version: The Way, the Truth, and the Life 14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. The Father Revealed 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. The Answered Prayer 12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. Jesus Promises Another Helper 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. Indwelling of the Father and the Son 19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and [f]manifest Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. The Gift of His Peace 25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I. 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

Have you ever gotten so tired of life that you wished you could disappear and start over somewhere else? Ever wish that fantasy would just pull you out of your circumstances? They make movies about things like that, but it's not real.   John 14:2–3 says, “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”   How incredible that Jesus is actually going to do this for us someday. If you live long enough, the cares of life sort of wear you down and you need a good, long rest.   Good for us that our Lord cares enough for us that He has already gone ahead to prepare a place of peace, rest, and joy for each of us. And it will be a real place, not just a scouting location for a film. One day, in His perfect time, He will call you out of this groaning world, and take you to a spot that has literally been prepared with just you in mind!    Let's pray.   Lord, you are good to us in countless ways. We thank you so much for the home you have prepared for us. In Jesus' name, amen.  

NB: 32 Poems was in fact founded by *both* Deborah Ager and John Poch in 2003ish.My book Midlife now exists. Buy it here!We've got new stickers! Free for Secret Show subscribers.For more SLEERICKETS, check out the SECRET SHOW and join the group chat!Wear SLEERICKETS t-shirts and hoodies. They look good!Some of the topics mentioned in this episode:– My Upcoming Conversation w/ Jimmy Pappas & Friends this Thursday, March 21, at 7:00 p.m. US Eastern (Zoom Link)– The Secret Show episode previewed at the end of the episode– 32 Poems No. 42 Winter 2024– Deborah Ager– John Poch– Hailey Leithauser– Amit Majmudar– Stephanie Staab– Zoe Mays– More Human Than Human by White Zombie– Will Cordeiro– Wayne Miller– George David Clark– Elisabeth Clark– Kay Ryan– Kevin Young– The Bridal Morn (anonymous medieval fragment)– Greg Williamson– The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche– Caitlin Doyle– Caitlin Doyle's interview with Amit Majmudar– Insomnia by Elizabeth Bishop– Pulling the Chariot of the Sun by Shane McCrae– Sex Elegy by Terence Winch– Sonnet 30– In My Father's Footsteps by Sebastian Matthews– The Bar at the Andover Inn by William Matthews– Coming Down in Ohio by Dave SmithFrequently mentioned names:– Joshua Mehigan– Shane McCrae– A. E. Stallings– Ryan Wilson– Morri Creech– Austin Allen– Jonathan Farmer– Zara Raab– Ethan McGuire– Coleman Glenn– Alexis Sears– JP Gritton– Alex Pepple– Ernie Hilbert– Joanna PearsonOther Ratbag Poetry Pods:Poetry Says by Alice AllanI Hate Matt Wall by Matt WallVersecraft by Elijah BlumovRatbag Poetics By David Jalal MotamedAlice: Poetry SaysBrian: @BPlatzerCameron: CameronWTC [at] hotmail [dot] comMatthew: sleerickets [at] gmail [dot] comMusic by ETRNLArt by Daniel Alexander Smith

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning. The 8th of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Isaiah 40:1:“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God.Folks, this is a time to comfort God's people in every aspect and walk of life. They need God's comfort. Now, when the Lord tells us to comfort His people, He does not mean that we need to go and visit somebody who has been through a tragedy with a whole lot of Bible verses. No - to comfort someone is to give them a big hug, be a listening ear, and sit and let them speak. To comfort someone is to call them and say, “Look, I just want to tell you that I am praying for you, that God loves you, and I love you.” A short message like “I have got your back.”A day ago, one of my spiritual sons, a wonderful man of God, sent me a message, “I want you to know I have got your back.” Do you know what that does for a man? It makes his day. Now, on the flip side of the coin, the devil is saying to you, “No, no, don't phone that person. They are too busy to listen to you. Don't visit that person because you won't even get an opportunity to speak to them. They are too important. Don't even go there. Don't trouble them. They won't receive you.” That is a lie from the pit of hell. The devil says, “Don't trouble her. She won't listen to you.” I want to tell you, don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Remember the old saying, “A stitch in time saves nine”? Now, young man, young lady, what that means is, in the old days, your granny or great-granny didn't have money to buy another shirt. As soon as there was a little tear in that shirt she would bring it in and sit down and stitch it up and that shirt would last forever. Today, we just chuck them away and get another one. I want to tell you, when the Holy Spirit says to you, “Comfort that person”, do it immediately. Do not wait. Now, the greatest comforter that ever lived is Jesus Christ; listen to these beautiful words He says in John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”He has a place for you in Heaven. Did you know that? That should be more comforting than anything else. We are not going to be here forever. While we are here, let us keep our eyes on the Lord, and let us comfort His people. Have a wonderful day,Jesus bless you and goodbye.

Glory be to God! Welcome everyone to Episode #762, Season 8. **

Thursday, 11 January 2024   “and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” Acts 23:24   A more literal translation would be, “And provide beasts, that, having set Paul upon, they might bring safely unto Felix the governor” (CG).   In the previous verse, the commander directed that soldiers, horsemen, and spearmen be readied to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night. Now, his words continue, saying, “And provide beasts.”   The word kténos is used. It simply means a beast, as in a beast of burden. It could be a horse, a donkey, or a camel. Being with the Romans, it was probably either a horse or a donkey. Paul would not have to walk the long trek to Caesarea because it next says, “that, having set Paul upon, they might bring safely unto Felix the governor.”   Being on an animal and surrounded by almost five hundred soldiers, there would be very little chance any harm would come to him. Once safely out of the local area, many of the soldiers would return to Jerusalem, but those continuing on would guarantee his safe passage and delivery to Felix. As for this governor named Felix, a short description from Adam Clarke will suffice –   “This Felix was a freed man of the Emperor Claudius, and brother of Pallas, chief favourite of the emperor. Tacitus calls him Antonius Felix; and gives us to understand that he governed with all the authority of a king, and the baseness and insolence of a quondam slave. ... He had, according to Suetonius, in his life of Claudius, chap. 28, three queens to his wives; that is, he was married thrice, and each time to the daughter or niece of a king. Drusilla, the sister of Agrippa, was his wife at this time; see Acts 24:24. He was an unrighteous governor; a base, mercenary, and bad man: see Acts 24:2.”   Life application: Imagine how safe Paul was as he was carried out of Jerusalem on his way to Caesarea. It is certain that no harm would come to him. And more, he had the assurance of the Lord Himself that he would be taken to Rome to testify concerning the risen Christ.   With such security, and with such a guarantee from the mouth of the Lord, he would have had no concerns at all as he traveled along the road out of Jerusalem. We all have trials and troubles in this life, some of them are greater than we might be able to bear at the moment. And some of them will lead to our death or the death of those we love.   But this is not the end of the story for those who know Jesus. We may have uncertainty about the immediate prospects in our lives but let us be as certain as Paul was that we will make it to our final destination. The Lord has spoken, and the promise is sure –   “‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.' 5 Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?' 6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'” John 14:1-6   This is a promise from Jesus Christ, the risen Lord and the eternal God. Yes, trials and troubles are the hallmark of our walk in this fallen world, but safe passage to the New Jerusalem is guaranteed. Even if the ride getting there is a bit bumpy, we shall arrive safely and be granted an eternal inheritance that will outshine any temporary darkness and difficulty we now face. Be confident in this.   O God, we are grateful to You for the assurance we possess because of the wonderful and exalted work of Jesus Christ our Lord. Though our trials are many and this earthly life is often difficult, we are confident that what has been promised shall be delivered. Thank You, O God, for this wonderful surety we can hold onto. Amen.  

Right before leaving, Jesus told His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled . . . In My Father's house are many mansions . . . I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:1-2). Will there be literal “mansions” in heaven for God's eternal offspring or is this a mistranslation? Three other questions: Will we know each other in heaven? Will there be genders in heaven? Is heaven our ultimate and final destination or something else?Comparative religion website: www.thetruelight.net Catholicism website: www.toCatholicswithlove.org Ministry website: www.shreveministries.org Video channel: www.YouTube.com/mikeshreveministries All audio-podcasts are shared in a video format on our YouTube channel.Mike Shreve's other podcast Discover Your Spiritual Identity—a study on the biblical names given to God's people: https://www.charismapodcastnetwork.com/show/discoveryourspiritualidentity Mail: P.O. Box 4260, Cleveland, TN 37320 / Phone: 423-478-2843Purchase Mike Shreve's popular book comparing over 20 religions: In Search of the True Light

     Jesus' suffering and death on the cross has both infinite and eternal value for both God the Father as well as those trust in Christ as their Savior. According to Francis Schaeffer, “Christ's death in space-time history is completely adequate to meet our need for refuge from the true moral guilt that we have. It is final because of who He is. He is the infinite second person of the Trinity; therefore, His death has infinite value.”[1]Though Jesus suffered for our sins for only a few hours on the cross, His death had infinite and eternal value and saves forever those who trust in Him as Savior. Geisler states, “Being by nature the infinite God, Christ's death had infinite value, even though His suffering and death occurred in a finite amount of time. Time is not a mandatory measure of worth—birth, for instance, happens over a relatively short span but produces something of extraordinary value. One death in limited time achieved something of limitless value for all eternity.”[2] Paul Enns states, “At the heart of orthodox belief is the recognition that Christ died a substitutionary death to provide salvation for a lost humanity. If Jesus were only a man He could not have died to save the world, but because of His deity, His death had infinite value whereby He could die for the entire world.”[3]      As a result of what Christ accomplished, there is great benefit for us who have trusted in Him as our Savior. By His work on the cross, Christians become the recipients of great blessings, both in time and eternity. Though He blesses some Christians materially (1 Tim 6:17-19), His main focus is on giving us spiritual blessings which are far better. Paul wrote that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3). According to Harold Hoehner, “Every spiritual blessing (eulogia) refers to every spiritual enrichment needed for the spiritual life. Since these benefits have already been bestowed on believers, they should not ask for them but rather appropriate them by faith.”[4] Some of the spiritual blessings mentioned in Scripture are as follows: We are the special objects of His love: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8), and “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). We are forgiven all our sins: “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col 2:13-14; cf. Eph 1:7; Heb 10:10-14). We are given eternal life: Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:27-28; cf. John 3:16; 6:40; 20:31). We are made alive together with Christ: “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:4-5). We are raised up and seated with Christ: God “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). We are the recipients of God's grace: “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16), “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). We are created to perform good works: “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal 6:10), and “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph 2:10; cf., Tit 2:11-4). We are given freedom in Christ: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1), “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13; cf., 1 Pet 2:16). We are given a spiritual gift to serve others: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet 4:10; cf. Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:11). We are children of God: “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are” (1 John 3:1a), “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:26). We are made ambassadors for Christ: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). We are gifted with God's righteousness: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21), “and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil 3:9; cf. Rom 4:3-5; 5:17). We are justified before God: “Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Rom 3:24, 28), and “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Gal 2:16). We have peace with God: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1). We will never be condemned: “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18), “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24), “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). We are given citizenship in heaven: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 3:20). We are transferred to the kingdom of Christ: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:13; cf. Acts 26:18), and “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Th 2:12). We are all saints in Christ Jesus: we are “saints by calling” (1 Cor 1:2), and “saints in Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:1), and “are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household” (Eph 2:19). We are made priests to God: “He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev 1:6). We are God's chosen: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph 1:4), “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Col 3:12). We are the recipients of His faithfulness: “He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you'” (Heb 13:5), and even “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim 2:13). We have been called to walk in newness of life: “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4), and “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love” (Eph 4:1-2). We are members of the Church, the body of Christ: “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Rom 12:4-5), and “He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:22-23; cf. Col 1:18). We are indwelt with the Holy Spirit: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16), “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you” (1 Cor 6:19). We are sealed with the Holy Spirit: “having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph 1:13b; cf. 2 Cor 5:5). We are enabled to walk with God: “I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal 5:16), and “Since we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). We are empowered to live godly: “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pet 1:3). We have Scripture to train us in righteousness: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). We are guaranteed a new home in heaven: “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). We are guaranteed resurrection bodies: “I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:51-53). We have special access to God's throne of grace: “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). We will be glorified in eternity: “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Col 3:4), for Christ “will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Phil 3:21). Dr. Steven R. Cook   [1] Francis A. Schaeffer, Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History, Second U.S. edition. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 206. [2] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Four: Church, Last Things (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2005), 403. [3] Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989), 225. [4] Harold W. Hoehner, “Ephesians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 616.

5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. 7 He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head. Today as we see the world around us spiraling down into chaos, anarchy, violence, corruption, war, hatred, debauchery, and evil, it would be so easy to personally slip into dismay, discouragement, despair, and even depression. Nothing seems to be getting better and we might feel that there is no hope for a better future. Well my friend, Psalm 110 is one of those Messianic Psalms that remind us that one day this will all be changed by our coming King! We can never forget what Jesus said in John 14:1-3; "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”  Jesus promised His disciples that He is coming again, and I assure you He will keep His promise! All of the "royal psalms" contain predictions about battles and victories for God's King (Psalms 2:7-9, 12; 18:16-19, 31-34, 37-42; 20:1-2, 7-8; 21:8-12; 45:3-5; 61:3; 72:8-9; 89:22-23; 132:18). Today is the day of Lord's grace and is the "day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:1-2), when Jesus is calling sinners to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-21). But there will come a day of wrath, "the day of the Lord," when Jesus the Lamb of God will begin to "roar" as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5-6), and judgment will fall on the world. This is the victory the Father promised in verse 1 and also in Psalm 2:5, 9. The psalmist here in verse 6 describes stacks of corpses on the battlefield with nobody to bury them. Even allowing for poetic license, the picture is not a pretty one.  John (the apostle of love), wrote about this same event in Revelation 14:17-20 and 19:11-19 (and see Isaiah 66:24). The word in verse 6 translated "heads" or "chief men, rulers" is singular in the Hebrew. It could be a collective noun or it may refer to the last great world ruler, the Antichrist or Beast (Rev. 13:1-10) whom Jesus Christ will destroy at His coming (2 Thess. 2:1-2; Rev. 19:17-21). Verse 7 says, “He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head.”  The warrior David, who knew something about battles, is possibly saying, "Nothing will detain Him, detour Him, or discourage Him as He attacks the enemy. Like every good soldier, He will linger only long enough to get a sip of water, and then He will raise His head and continue the chase." We remember that before His crucifixion, Jesus refused to receive the narcotic drink, but tasted death to the full on the cross (Matt. 27:34). Gideon and his men also come to mind (Judges 7:4-7), for their fitness for the battle was tested by the way they drank at the river. Remember the 300 careful and courageous men kept their head lifted up as they drank from the brook. My friend, in this crazy mixed up world today, we need to remember that Jesus Christ is the exalted King and enthroned in heaven! He is our Great High Priest seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us.  And one day He will come again and conquer the devil and his armies and establish His kingdom on earth! Hallelujah, what a Savior!  Are you prepared for His coming? God bless!

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Monday morning the 13th of November 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. We start with Hebrews 11:16"But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."Then we go straight to John 14:1-2"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."This home is not our home, not at all. We are just passing through. Let's not get too comfortable. What do you think your mansion will look like in heaven? Have you ever thought about that? Well, I looked up in the Oxford dictionary to find the exact definition: It is a large, impressive house. It is a country house; it is a stately home. You know, when I travel, I get off that aeroplane, and the first place I want to go is to use the bathroom. I go into the bathroom, and there's a gentleman standing at the door with a big smile. He says welcome to my office. Yes, I do give him a tip! I sometimes wonder what he will feel like (a man who has to clean the toilets) when he walks into the mansion God has prepared for him in heaven if he's a Believer. Keith Green, the gospel singer, former drug addict, and Rock & Roll star, became an amazing ambassador for Jesus Christ. He once said, "If God made Earth in one day and he's been preparing a place for you and me for 2,000 years, man," he said, "We're living in a garbage can..." But seriously, I want to tell you about a little boy, his name is Togo. He was part of our little children's home on the farm. He was a very sick little boy; he had a terminal disease, but he loved to go for rides on Snowy. He got so weak and thin that I had to put a pillow in front of my saddle so he could ride comfortably. We would talk about heaven, and Aunty Jill would read stories to him about heaven and say are you scared, Togo? No, he's not scared. We would talk about that big white horse that Jesus would be riding when he came to fetch him to take him home to be with him in his mansion in Paradise. Jesus came and took him home, and Togo is in heaven today. Psalm 84:10 says:"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my GodThan dwell in the tents of wickedness."Today, let's be sure we know where we are going when we die. God bless you and goodbye.

11/5/23 - John 13:36-14:3 - "In My Father's House" (Rev. Justin L. Hunter)

[Psalm 23:1-6 ESV] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. [2] He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. [3] He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. [4] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. [5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. [6] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Today may not be ______________ but God is always ______________. [Psalm 27:11-13] Teach me how to live, O LORD. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. [12] Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I've never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. [13] Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Sometimes God's goodness takes _________________ than we think. [Romans 8:28] And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Even if we ___________ ___________ God's goodness, He is still good. [Lamentations 3:22-23] The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. [23] Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. There is nothing that we do can _________________ or _________________ God's love. [1 Chronicles 16:34 NKJV] Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. God's goodness and mercy doesn't _________________ in uncertain times. [John 14:2-3 NKJV] "In My Father's house are many mansions; if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. [3] "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also.

Jesus' Return for His Saints      The eschatological subject of the Rapture of the church is briefly presented here under the study of Soteriology because it is regarded as a form of deliverance. When Messiah returns at the end of the church age, He will deliver His church from an evil world and a coming judgment that will last for seven years. A distinction is here drawn between Jesus coming for His saints at the Rapture, and Jesus coming with His saints at His Second Coming (Dan 7:13-14; Matt 19:28; 25:31; Rev 19:11-21). Jesus is now in heaven preparing a place for believers to be with Him there (John 14:1-3). Paul revealed Jesus will return for His church and that all Christians will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air (1 Th 4:13-18).      The doctrine of the Rapture was first presented by the Lord Jesus when He provided new information to His apostles on the night before His crucifixion. After speaking of His soon departure (John 13:33), Jesus comforted them, saying, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). The place where Jesus was going was heaven. The purpose of His going was to prepare a place for them. And, at some unspecified time, Jesus promised He would come again to receive them to Himself, that they may be with Him.      Paul described this as a time when “we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:51-53). And, when writing to the church at Thessalonica, Paul  explained, “the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Th 4:16b-17). The meaning of caught up (ἁρπάζω) is “to grab or seize suddenly so as to remove or gain control, snatch/take away.”[1] John Walvoord states, “The important point is that the verse says Christ will come for believers and take them from the earth to heaven, where they will be in His presence till they return with Him to the earth to reign. The Rapture will mean that all believers ‘will be with the Lord forever,' enjoying Him and His presence for all eternity.”[2]      As Christians, we are “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Tit 2:13). This Rapture is immanent, meaning it may occur at any time and without prior notice. All Christians who are alive at the time of the Rapture will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, will go with Him to heaven, and be saved from the wrath to be poured out during the seven-year Tribulation. Our future is not one of judgment; rather, we are assured we will be saved from God's future wrath, both in time and eternity (Rom 5:9; 1 Thess 1:10; 5:9; Rev 3:10). Jesus' Return with His Saints      When Jesus returns to the earth after the time of the seven year Tribulation, He will establish His kingdom on earth.[3] This is a time when humanity will be saved from the tyranny of Satan who currently rules over the earth.[4] At His Second Coming, it is written, “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses” (Rev 19:14). Concerning this passage, Radmacher states, “The armies in heaven may be angelic hosts (Rev 5:11; Matt 26:53), but Revelation 17:14 speaks of those with the Lord at His coming as being ‘called, chosen, and faithful,' all terms for believers (Rom 1:7; Eph 1:1; 1 Pet 2:9).”[5] Wiersbe adds, “Certainly the angels are a part of this army (Matt 25:31; 2 Th 1:7); but so are the saints (1 Th 3:13; 2 Th 1:10).”[6] Norman Geisler states: "Before the Tribulation, Christ comes for His bride (1 Th 4:16–17; John 14:3); then, at the end of the Tribulation, He will return with all His saints. Jude wrote, “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones” (Jude 1:14; cf., Matt 24:29–31). He cannot come with them until He has first come for them; we have identified the time interval between these events as seven years."[7] Wayne House comments: "It is important to remember that when we say “the second coming” of Christ, we are not talking about the rapture that occurs prior to the second coming. The rapture is most clearly presented in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. It is characterized in the Bible as a “translation coming” (1 Cor 15:51–52; 1 Th 4:15–17) in which Christ comes for His church. The second advent is Christ returning with His saints, descending from heaven to establish His earthly kingdom (Zech 14:4–5; Matt 24:27–31)."[8]      At His Second Coming, Jesus will put down all rebellion, both human and satanic. The two main leaders of the world, the Antichrist and his false prophet, will be defeated and “thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone” (Rev 19:20). Furthermore, those people who followed Antichrist “were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Rev 19:21). Afterwards, the Lord will send one of His angels to arrest and imprison Satan (Rev 20:1-3). John wrote about this angel, saying, “And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer” (Rev 20:2-3a). This will be a time of global deliverance from evil as Messiah reigns over all the earth in perfect righteousness.   Dr. Steven R. Cook   [1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 134. [2] John Walvoord, eds. Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck, Understanding Christian Theology (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), 1265. [3] The subject of Messiah's earthly kingdom is found throughout the OT (Dan 2:44; 7:13-14; 2 Sam 7:16; Psa 89:3-4, 34-37; Isa 9:6-7; Jer 23:5-6) and the NT (Matt 6:9-10; 19:28; 25:31; Luke 1:31-33; Rev 19:11-16; Rev 20:4-6). [4] Three times Jesus referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Other passages of Scripture call Satan “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4), and “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2), informing us “that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Satan rules as a tyrant who has “weakened the nations” (Isa 14:12), and currently “deceives the whole world” (Rev 12:9). Satan continues to attack God's people today (1 Pet 5:8), practices deception (2 Cor 11:13-15), and has well developed strategies of warfare (Eph 6:10-12). Furthermore, humanity is living in an “evil age” (Gal 1:4), under “the dominion of Satan” (Acts 26:18), whose sphere of influence is called “the domain of darkness” (Col 1:13). [5] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999), 1762. [6] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 618. [7] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Four: Church, Last Things (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2005), 618–619. [8] H. Wayne House and Timothy J. Demy, Answers to Common Questions about Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2011), 75–76.

In My Father's Footsteps is a time-traveling documentary by Bella Poscente that takes you on a remarkable journey across five continents as she chases her father's 1982 solo trip around the world. In this podcast we talk to Vince, Michelle and Bella Poscente about this remarkable journey. From Bella: "Through my eyes, you will gain a unique perspective on the changes and enduring aspects of our world over the past 40 years, witnessing my journey of discovering more about my father and seeing him in a more human light. The film introduces you to my father, Vince Poscente, who meticulously documented his travels through letters, postcards, and over 3,000 captivating photographs."Follow her journey! >>>  https://www.inmyfathersfootsteps.org/Connect with us! Instagram - Facebook www.visiteastdallas.comPartner with us! connect@visiteastdallas.com

In My Father's House by Apostle Joseph Mintah in the Series The Ministry System of the Believer.

“When the Son of Man Comes, Episode 46: In My Father's House.” Jesus has prepared something so much better than a mansion for us: we have a place in God's presence.

Have you ever gotten so tired of life that you wished you could disappear and start over somewhere else? Ever wish that fantasy would just pull you out of your circumstances? They make movies about things like that, but it's not real.   John 14:2,3 says, “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”   How incredible that Jesus is actually going to do this for us someday. If you live long enough, the cares of life sort of wear you down and you need a good, long rest.   Good for us that our Lord cares enough for us that He has already gone ahead to prepare a place of peace, rest, and joy for each of us. It will be a real place, not just a scouting location for a film.   One day, in His perfect time, He will call you out of this groaning world, and take you to a spot that has literally been prepared with just you in mind!    Let's pray.   Lord, you are good to us in countless ways. We thank you so much for the home you have prepared for us. In Jesus' name, amen.

This is the fifth episode in our Women of Valor series! These women have made a huge impact on Carole's life, and she wants to share them with you.Corrie Ten Boom is most notably remembered for her book, The Hiding Place, which details her family's story of hiding Jews in their home and how she suffered in a concentration camp alongside her sister, Betsie. In this episode, Carole shares about some of the other books Corrie wrote including: In My Father's House, Tramp for the Lord; Common Sense Not Needed; Don't Wrestle, Just Nestle. You will never regret reading one of Corrie Ten Boom's books! Click HERE to shop in the online store!Click HERE to learn about upcoming seminars! Support the showHelp us share the message of homeschool made simple with others by leaving a rating and review. Thank you for helping us get the word out!Follow along on Instagram here!Visit our website to sign up to receive an exclusive discount for your first purchase in our online store!

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - Jn 14:1-6 - Jesus said to His disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in Me. In My Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2) Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J. criticizes the Pachamama https://youtu.be/8byD6EBF-4s 3) Sister Deirdre Byrne: The battle for life best fought in a state of grace to "more easily see God's will" https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/sr-deirdre-byrne-the-battle-for-life-best-fought-in-a-state-of-grace-to-more-easily-see-gods-will/?utm_source=news&utm_campaign=usa 4) Science has proven the Real Presence https://catholicstand.com/science-has-proven-the-real-presence/ 

Janet Willis shows how Jesus tenderly prepared His disciples for the hardships that lay ahead for them (John 14:1-3). He wanted his followers to have a clear view of the long view. He said, “In My Father's house are many dwelling places…. I go to prepare a place for you.” But, what did Jesus mean by the Father's House? Where is it now? Where will it be in the future? In a recent podcast, Joel Richardson said, whenever Jesus refers to “My Father's House,” He means the Temple. He said the place that Jesus was going to prepare for His disciples was the future Temple described in Ezekiel 40-48. Janet will give evidence that when Jesus said “the Father's house” He did not mean that future Temple. The key is understanding that there are two separate places on the Holy Allotment, the Temple and the city (Ezek 37:26-27; 48:10-35). Janet presents evidence that Ezekiel and John were each given a view into the future, a view of the same city, New Jerusalem (Click here to see  Janet's comparison chart). In Janet's future podcasts, she will examine further the topic of timing, as well as the shape and the size of God's city. There are amazing clues all over the Bible, hiding in plain sight!    

When you're feeling Love, that's "putting the box aside", that's, "destroying your house", that's knowing that where you are, He is, and that He is you. This Love is risen and conscious as Itself where you appear to be, and the forecast is sunny with a GoOD chance of sudden miracles! Let's go!  I love you and I'm with you in this Place where the past is not and never was, Niknikki@curlynikki.com LOVE CHARGING STATION, Live, Daily, Group Practice-  6:30am ET (Spotify LIVE):▶▶ https://apps.apple.com/id/app/spotify-live/id1517524960Support the show:▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmorningsGoOD Mornings merch:▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmorningsWeekly LIVE Meditation, Tuesdays at 7pm ET (FREE on Spotify)▶▶ https://spotify.link/meditation____________________________________________Today's Quotes:Repeat: “This box is now too small for the person I've become.  I'm giving myself permission to live a bigger life that includes sudden miracles, and unexpected blessings.  I deserve this newfound state of freedom where my soul is unobstructed.  I am open, willing, and ready to let my spirit explore the endless ways in which I can be happy and at peace.  I am putting this box aside. I've outgrown my past.” - via IG @lawofattractionlive “Destroy your house, and with the treasure hidden in it,You will be able to build thousands of houses. The treasure lies under it; there's no help for it;Hesitate not to pull it down; do not tarry!” - Rumi"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” - John 14: 2-6**This "I" = the impersonal, invisible Christ = Love  = Awareness = your true Self**Support the show