Podcasts about in the church

Topic: UNITY, INTEGRITY, AND THE FEAR OF GOD: A CALL TO BE BUILDERS, NOT BREAKERS, IN THE CHURCH | ஒற்றுமை, உத்தமம் மற்றும் தேவா பயம் Date: 10th June, 2025Event: Tuesday Bible StudySpeaker: Rev. Dr. Jim Reuben Elliot

Unto God be glory in The Church, by Christ Jesus. IN THE CHURCH; FORSAKE NOT THE ASSEMBLING OF YOURSELVES TOGETHER!

The unbelievable true story of John Lee Bishop, a former megachurch pastor who ended up running drugs for the Sinaloa Cartel.For thirty years, John Lee Bishop was a pastor. Along the way, he learned that everyone does stupid things. We lie to our families. We lie to ourselves. We take long lunch breaks and sneak cigarettes when we said we'd quit. Sometimes, we take a sabbatical from our nice, comfortable life as a pastor and start running drugs for the Sinaloa Carte then get caught and spend five years in federal prison.Okay, that last one might just apply to John. But it does make for one hell of a story. In The Church of Living Dangerously, John tells that story in full for the first time-and you don't know the half of it. Along the way, he brings readers along for the harrowing ride from the rough small town in Washington where he was born all the way to the dirty villages in Mexico where he fell in with some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. There are backyard fight clubs where John learned to take a punch, the abandoned K-Mart where he used to preach every Sunday (sometimes with the help of wild animals), and the drug dens where he almost lost his life ten times over. It's a story that seems too wild to be true. But it is true-and John has the scars, both literal and figurative, to prove it. Ride along with John as he gets arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border and learn the story of his life in all its rough, stupid glory of guns, drugs, tigers, bare-knuckle boxing matches, and prison riots. John has learned a lot of important lessons about hardship and redemption and family, and what it means to live dangerously-and to experience another chance at life.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

The unbelievable true story of John Lee Bishop, a former megachurch pastor who ended up running drugs for the Sinaloa Cartel.For thirty years, John Lee Bishop was a pastor. Along the way, he learned that everyone does stupid things. We lie to our families. We lie to ourselves. We take long lunch breaks and sneak cigarettes when we said we'd quit. Sometimes, we take a sabbatical from our nice, comfortable life as a pastor and start running drugs for the Sinaloa Carte then get caught and spend five years in federal prison.Okay, that last one might just apply to John. But it does make for one hell of a story. In The Church of Living Dangerously, John tells that story in full for the first time-and you don't know the half of it. Along the way, he brings readers along for the harrowing ride from the rough small town in Washington where he was born all the way to the dirty villages in Mexico where he fell in with some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. There are backyard fight clubs where John learned to take a punch, the abandoned K-Mart where he used to preach every Sunday (sometimes with the help of wild animals), and the drug dens where he almost lost his life ten times over. It's a story that seems too wild to be true. But it is true-and John has the scars, both literal and figurative, to prove it. Ride along with John as he gets arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border and learn the story of his life in all its rough, stupid glory of guns, drugs, tigers, bare-knuckle boxing matches, and prison riots. John has learned a lot of important lessons about hardship and redemption and family, and what it means to live dangerously-and to experience another chance at life.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

In "The Church is a Movement," Pr. Kenneth Chin explores the profound significance of Jesus' Great Commission, urging believers to understand and embrace their role in missions. He unpacks the true meaning of missions, emphasizing that the Church is called to be the most powerful mission-sending force in history. Pr. Kenneth inspires us to see the Church not just as a place, but as a dynamic, global movement committed to sharing the Gospel. Join us as we learn how to actively engage in this mission and carry out the work that Jesus entrusted to us.

Send us a text‼️Beauty Beyond the Ashes Podcast is BACK for SEASON 4‼️I am so excited about everything that is happening. This episode is entitled, "Language of Faith: Who Do You Say You Are?" Expounding on the fact that it is imperative to have the correct language for your abortion healing journey, I discuss my upcoming NEW BOOK, "Pearls in the Pews: Bringing Post-Abortion Healing to the Church(ed)." Release date is JANUARY 22, 2025!!!There are so many Christian women sitting in the pews of the church who are suffering in silence because they feel there is no where to go to share their wounded souls. These God-loving women hide their secret behind the pearls. No one knows that they carry internal wounds from their abortions. The abortion-wounded Christian woman needs to know she is safe within the church body. She needs to have a safe place to bear her wounded soul."Pearls in the Pews: Bringing Post-Abortion Healing to the Church(ed)" is the book that will help the abortion-wounded Christian woman see herself in a different light and know she, too, can find healing for her soul...IN THE CHURCH. It will open the eyes of the church to understand that abortion-wounded women sit right there amongst them in the pews every single Sunday. It will help educate the church on the need for healing and the know-how to do so for these women. I am here to equip the church to handle the needs of this silent population. I am here to give voice to the abortion-wounded Christian woman!Listen to the book details and understand the importance of the RELEASE DATE!!!Get your PRE-ORDER TODAY at www.tonyabjones.comListen in each week and don't forget to SHARE, LIKE AND COMMENT!!!Connect with TonyaWebsite - https://www.tonyabjones.com/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@beautybeyondtheashes/videosFree Mini E-Book - https://tonyabjones.com/4pillarsEmail - bbta@tonyabjones.comFacebook - Tonya Bailey Jones https://www.facebook.com/thetonyabjonesInstagram - Blessed1_t2w https://www.instagram.com/blessed1_t2w/TikTok - Beauty Beyond the Ashes https://www.tiktok.com/@beauty_beyond_the_ashes?lang=en

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years in The Church of Rome-Atheist&Infidel Priests Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/14/2024 Length: 117 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years in The Church of Rome-Atheist&Infidel Priests Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/14/2024 Length: 117 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years in The Church of Rome-Atheist&Infidel Priests Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/14/2024 Length: 117 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years in The Church of Rome-Atheist&Infidel Priests Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/14/2024 Length: 117 min.

Dr. Jerry Bergman: Fred Williams and Doug McBurney welcome Dr. Jerry Bergman who has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology at several Universities for over 40 years. He has 9 degrees, including 7 graduate degrees. Dr. Bergman is a graduate of Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, The University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,900 publications in 14 languages and 50 books and monographs, and has taught at the Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in the department of experimental pathology, and he also taught at the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University.   Bergman's Books: Hear a bit about Dr. Bergman's books (buy them here) on topics such as the Scopes Trial, the harmful effects of evolution, and the role of evolution in World War II. Bergman's books will help you be steadfast in your faith and continue the work of using creationism to promote the gospel.   Mutations Creeping In: Hear about the evolutionary "mutants" Dr. Bergman has encountered IN THE CHURCH!   Adaptations by Design: Jerry explains the real science of researching adaptation by design, versus the ludicrous assumption that genetic mutations drive increases in sophistication of function.   Gain of What? Hear what Gain of Function research really is!   Balkin' Dawkins: Hear how Richard Dawkins continues to duck a debate with Dr. Bergman.   Spiritual Warfare: Dr. Bergman tells of teaching creation among atheists, and in churches. Find out where the spiritual resistance pushes back, and where Dr. Bergman breaks through! Hear how "changing the world" is one of the ways we can more effectively reach more of the lost!   Management Advice: Doug advises the administrators of any organization, (and especially Christian organizations) to observe McBurney's Mark. That's the point at which you allow acquiring the funding necessary to perpetuate the organization to alter decisions regarding quality or morality. Mark it down. It's time to disband the organization.   The War Between Creation and Evolution: Hear how the Scopes Monkey Trial was filled with racism & phony evidence, and Dwight Eisenhower was the creationist's general up against the NAZI evolutionists in WWII.

Dr. Jerry Bergman: Fred Williams and Doug McBurney welcome Dr. Jerry Bergman who has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology at several Universities for over 40 years. He has 9 degrees, including 7 graduate degrees. Dr. Bergman is a graduate of Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, The University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,900 publications in 14 languages and 50 books and monographs, and has taught at the Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in the department of experimental pathology, and he also taught at the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University.   Bergman's Books: Hear a bit about Dr. Bergman's books (buy them here) on topics such as the Scopes Trial, the harmful effects of evolution, and the role of evolution in World War II. Bergman's books will help you be steadfast in your faith and continue the work of using creationism to promote the gospel.   Mutations Creeping In: Hear about the evolutionary "mutants" Dr. Bergman has encountered IN THE CHURCH!   Adaptations by Design: Jerry explains the real science of researching adaptation by design, versus the ludicrous assumption that genetic mutations drive increases in sophistication of function.   Gain of What? Hear what Gain of Function research really is!   Balkin' Dawkins: Hear how Richard Dawkins continues to duck a debate with Dr. Bergman.   Spiritual Warfare: Dr. Bergman tells of teaching creation among atheists, and in churches. Find out where the spiritual resistance pushes back, and where Dr. Bergman breaks through! Hear how "changing the world" is one of the ways we can more effectively reach more of the lost!   Management Advice: Doug advises the administrators of any organization, (and especially Christian organizations) to observe McBurney's Mark. That's the point at which you allow acquiring the funding necessary to perpetuate the organization to alter decisions regarding quality or morality. Mark it down. It's time to disband the organization.   The War Between Creation and Evolution: Hear how the Scopes Monkey Trial was filled with racism & phony evidence, and Dwight Eisenhower was the creationist's general up against the NAZI evolutionists in WWII.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years in the Church of Rome: Celibacy & Confession Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Current Events Date: 6/16/2024 Length: 118 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years in the Church of Rome: Celibacy & Confession Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Current Events Date: 6/16/2024 Length: 118 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years in the Church of Rome: Celibacy & Confession Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Current Events Date: 6/16/2024 Length: 118 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: 50yrs In The Church of Rome-Evil of Jesuit Universities Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Current Events Date: 4/29/2024 Length: 116 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: 50yrs In The Church of Rome-Evil of Jesuit Universities Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Current Events Date: 4/29/2024 Length: 116 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Paths Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fifty Years In the Church of Rome - Mary’s Miracles & Jesuit Teachers Subtitle: 50yrs In The Church of Rome Speaker: Jason Cooley Broadcaster: Old Paths Baptist Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 4/21/2024 Length: 115 min.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we do not believe that equality means sameness. We believe that men and women are equal, but the same. In this episode, we examine the divine role of womanhood.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “obtaining an education and getting knowledge are a religious responsibility,” said President Russell M. Nelson. Charged with taking education to Latter-day Saints and others in the world is Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and commissioner of Church education. He joins this episode of the Church News podcast to discuss the expansive Church Educational System, the enlightening power of education and involving the Lord in learning.  The Church News Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners to make a journey of connection with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the globe. Host Sarah Jane Weaver, reporter and executive editor for The Church News for a quarter-century, shares a unique view of the stories, events, and most important people who form this international faith. With each episode, listeners are asked to embark on a journey to learn from one another and ponder, “What do I know now?” because of the experience. Produced by KellieAnn Halvorsen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Episode we continue to look at God's word where even though people think they serve God, God will accuse them of denying Christ. We will start in the book of Jude where God discusses a people who God says DENY Christ, yet they are IN THE CHURCH and are UNNOTICED.  The true church is commanded to contend earnestly for the faith as a result.  The problem is SIN.  God gives several examples.  One of those examples is the rebellion of Korah (Numbers ch16), a people who claimed to be servants of God, who did His will, a Holy people; yet God disagreed and destroyed them.  It is the same with His chosen people Isreal, WHY?  Because they couldn't walk in obedience.  These are the people who are accused of denying Christ.Passages covered:  Jude;  Hebrews ch 3, 4,  5:8-9;  1 John 3:11-12

#GAY #PROPHECY #CHURCH (Like & Share for a wider reach!)

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we have culturally painted a picture for what a good woman looks like and as a result we have seen in many ways how doing this has been damaging. Many of the podcasts here talk about how to help women break free of that story but on today's podcast we flip the coin to see how culturally in the Church we have also painted a picture of what a good man looks like and how that can also be damaging to these men and have negative effects on the most important relationship in their life.  Coach Rhonda Farr talks today on the podcast about what it is like to be a high achieving man in the Church who is doing all the things he was told he should do - like providing for his family and serving faithfully in a calling - and is still having significant struggles in his marriage. When a man in this situation struggles in his marriage, there is a lot of shame and guilt because he feels he is failing miserably in the one area he thought he would succeed in. What Rhonda talks about today is that the intimate problems these men find they are struggling with are really emotional problems that have gone unresolved. Rhonda shares some great examples of clients she's worked with and talks about what needs to change so that these men and their wives can have the connecting and deep intimate relationship they both truly desire.  This could be an episode that changes the life of someone you know or more importantly for yourself. If you think Rhonda's work would benefit you or someone you love, please share this with them and reach out to Rhonda to find out how to work with her. I promise, you won't be disappointed. For more information about Rhonda and for links to access all she has to offer, please click HERE! To watch this interview on YouTube, go HERE. For more information and available downloads, go to: https://ldslifecoaches.com/ All content is copyrighted to Heather Rackham and featured coaches. Do not use without permission.

Recently, the Colson Center announced an upcoming Breakpoint course entitled, The Essential Church: Why Christians (and the World) Still Need the Church.   The responses we have received just to the title reveal a lot about where people are in regard to the Church.   “Dear John, ‘What is the Church for?' It used to be the Body of Christ. And the Bride of Christ. Being conformed into His Image. They were to ‘love one another.' Despise is closer. ‘What is the Church for?' Well . . . I have no clue anymore.”  “The nutjobs and con artists have run people away: Get rid of them and maybe people might come back.”  “I had to quit hanging out with other Christians so I could hang out with nice people again.”  “What is the Church for? To psychologically abuse people, particularly children, with indoctrination into its religion of FEAR.”  Some critiques of the Church are nothing more than personal grievances that they've elevated into blanket condemnations. Some critics didn't appreciate learning the truth about their behaviors, beliefs, and lifestyles, which they then chose over Christ. Condemning the Church becomes an act of self-rationalization, not justice.   Others, of course, have more legitimate complaints. Christians have not been there for them at crucial points in their lives and families. And far too often, the Church has imitated the world in its worst depravities, and then, rather than expose sin within its ranks, closed them, protecting the institution or its leaders from being held accountable.   While there are times (like now) that Church scandals seem to add up, a recent joke turned meme on social media notes that, at least historically speaking, this is not really new. “There are two kinds of Paul's epistles to the early Church,” the meme goes. “One is, ‘I always thank God for you and His unsearchable blessings in Christ.' The other is, ‘Why can't you sick weirdos be normal for just a minute?'”   A great hymn of the 19th century tells a similar story. In “The Church's One Foundation,” Samuel John Stone proclaims Christ to be the security and preserver of His Bride, despite its obvious brokenness. This verse in particular speaks volumes.  Though with a scornful wonder   Men see her sore oppressed,   By schisms rent asunder,   By heresies distressed,   Yet saints their watch are keeping;   Their cry goes up, “How long?”   And soon the night of weeping   Shall be the morn of song.  These beautiful words describe the tension of life between Pentecost and the Second Coming, and underscore something hotly debated today, even among Christians. Despite the painful reality of sin's enduring power in its members, the Church is essential, not only for Christians but for the entire world.   Despite all these critiques—we could add so many more— Christians must see the Church as essential because Christ does. As a former colleague used to say, “the Church is Plan A, and there is no Plan B.” Jesus didn't call us merely to embrace a set of theological proofs and wait for the end of the world. To be Christian is not just to believe in Him for personal forgiveness and meaning and then to live a moral life.   When Christ saves us, He saves us into a movement, His Body, His redeemed people. Somehow, joining together with other frail saints is part of His plan to restore our hearts and minds, make all things new, and glorify the Father which is in heaven. We stick with the Church not because it is perfect, but because it is His plan.   Because of this and the current confusion about the Church, we invite you to ponder with us what it means that the Church is essential, especially now when it does not always seem as if it is. For a gift of any amount this month, you can join this online course hosted by theologian-in-residence Dr. Timothy Padgett, and it will include thought leaders like Collin Hansen and Dr. Peter Leithart. To give and register for this course, please go to colsoncenter.org/August.  After describing the church's obvious faults, Stone then, in the very next verse of “The Church's One Foundation,” proclaims this:  The church shall never perish,   Her dear Lord to defend   To guide, sustain and cherish,   Is with her to the end   Though there be those that hate her,   And false sons in her pale   Against a foe or traitor,   She ever shall prevail. 

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HOW'S YOUR FAMILY? JOSHUA 24:14-15 INTRODUCTION *MAN WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD WITH A PROPENSITY TO WORSHIP GOD. *EVEN THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BE ATHEISTS WORSHIP SOMETHING. *WHETHER IT'S CARS, MONEY, PEOPLE OR THEMSELVES, THEY WORSHIP, THEY SERVE SOMETHING. *AND EVERYONE ONE OF US THIS MORNING WORSHIPS SOMETHING OR SOMEONE. *AND WE BECOME LIKE WHAT WE WORSHIP. *THE MORE WE WORSHIP JESUS AND BEHOLD HIS LOVING FACE, THE MORE WE BECOME LIKE HIM. *THE MORE WE WORSHIP MONEY THE GREEDIER WE BECOME. *THE MORE YOU WORSHIP YOUR CHILDREN, THE HIGHER YOU PUT THEM ON A PEDESTAL AND DOTE ABOUT THEM THEY BECOME THE OBJECT OF YOUR WORSHIP. TRANSITION *IT'S TIME TODAY FOR THOSE WHO ARE ON THE LORD'S SIDE TO STEP TO THE FRONT AND DECLARE IT BOLDLY AND UNASHAMEDLY THAT WE SERVE THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD. *LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO. *DON'T KEEP SILENT. *DON'T HOLD YOUR PEACE. *IT'S TIME FOR US TO SET A STANDARD OF HOLINESS FOR OUR HOUSEHOLDS AND DECLARE THAT WE SERVE THE LORD. *IN JOSHUA CHAPTER 24, JOSHUA IS LAYING OUT THE CASE OF HOW THAT GOD HAD BEEN WITH ISRAEL AND HAD BLESSED THEM. *HOW THAT HE HAD BEEN THEIR DELIVERER; THEIR PROVIDER; THEIR DEFENDER; AND THE ONE WHO FIGHTS ON THEIR BEHALF. *BUT, HE CONTRASTS THAT THOUGHT WITH THE gods THAT THEY HAD MADE AND WORSHIPPED. *AND THE gods THAT THEIR FATHER'S HAD WORSHIPPED BEFORE THE FLOOD THAT LED THEM TO DESTRUCTION. *THEN JOSHUA MAKES THIS DECLARATION: JOSHUA 24 14Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. I. WE NEED TO TEACH OUR FAMILIES WHAT IT IS TO FEAR AND SERVE THE LORD. 1. THE WORD FEAR USED HERE.: 2. IT MEANS to fear, revere, be afraid to stand in awe of, be awed reverence, honour, respect to cause astonishment and awe, to be held in awe 3. EVERYDAY THERE NEEDS TO BE A RESPECT AND AWE FOR WHO GOD IS. 4. WE SHOULD NEVER TAKE HIM LIKELY. 5. HE'S THE AWESOME CREATOR AND WE ARE CALLED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AND STAND IN AWE OF WHO HE IS. 6. AND WE ARE CALLED TO PASS THAT DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. 7. TO TELL OF HIS MIGHTY POWERS TO DECREE HIS AWESOME ACTS; TO TELL OF HIS FAITHFULNESS. 8. BUT, WHAT IS OFTEN FOUND IN THE CHRISTIAN HOME IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE FEAR OF GOD. 9. THE OPPOSITE OF REVERENCE AND STANDING IN AWE OF WHO HE IS. 10. WE OFTEN HEAR COMPLAINING, MURMURING, PEOPLE WHO ARE MAD AT GOD AS IF HE CAUSES THE TROUBLE WE FIND OURSELVES IN. 11. BUT, THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US, WHO HAS MADE OUR SPIRIT MAN NEW, WANTS US TO PLEASE GOD IN ALL THAT WE SAY AND DO. 12. BUT, IF WE FOLLOW AFTER ANYTHING, A STRANGE GOD OR A LUST, A FAULT FINDING, CRITICAL SPIRIT, THEN WE ARE NOT BEING LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THEREFORE WE CANNOT PLEASE GOD. 13. THE JAMISON, FAUSETT AND BROWN COMMENTARY SAYS, Joshua calls on them to declare, in a public and solemn manner, whether they will be faithful and obedient to the God of Israel. He avowed this to be his own unalterable resolution, and urged them, if they were sincere in making a similar avowal, "to put away the strange gods that were among them"-- II. IT'S TIME TO MAKE A DECISION. 1. SO, OFTEN WE HEAR OF CHURCH PEOPLE, AND MINISTERS FALLING INTO SIN AND “DISGRACING” THE CHURCH AND THE PULPIT. 2. AND OF COURSE THE LIBERAL MEDIA LOVES IT AND TELLS ALL ABOUT IT. 3. BUT, THE TIME HAS COME IN THAT WE THE CHURCH, THE BRIDE OF CHRIST NEED TO DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND AND DECLARE THAT WE WILL NOT CROSS IT. 4. WE WILL SERVE THE LORD OUR GOD. 5. WE WILL BE FAITHFUL TO HIM AND HONOR HIM WITH OUR LIVES. 6. PAUL WROTE THE CHURCH AT ROME AND SAID THE MODERN RENDITION OF WHAT JOSHUA SAID. 7. ROMANS 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 8. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN, BUT WE WERE BOUGHT WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. 9. AND AS NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS WE NEED TO MAKE UP OUR MINDS NOT TO SERVE ANYONE OR ANYTHING, BUT, THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD. 10. IF YOU DO NOT HEAR ANYTHING ELSE THIS MORNING PLEASE HEAR THIS: AS A BORN AGAIN BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST, WE ARE HIS REPRESENTATIVES ON EARTH. 11. AND WHAT WE DO AND WHAT WE SAY NEEDS TO BE A REPRESENTATION OF WHO HE IS. 12. BEFORE YOU ARE A PARENT, A SPOUSE, A SIBLING, A CO-WORKER, YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD. 13. ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE, BEFORE EVERYTHING ELSE WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 14. AND OUR DECISIONS NEED TO BE MADE WITH THAT KIND OF MINDSET. 15. WHEN YOU'RE MAKING DECISIONS CONCERNING YOUR HOME IT NEEDS TO BE FROM THE MINDSET THAT YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN. 16. WHEN YOUR CHILDREN DISAPPOINT YOU AND NEED TO BE CORRECTED IT NEEDS TO BE DONE FROM A STAND POINT THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD. 17. AND YOUR CHILD NEEDS TO SEE JESUS IN YOU; NOT THE BOOGEY MAN. 18. WHEN YOU'RE UPSET WITH YOUR SPOUSE AND YOU FEEL LIKE TAKING THE FRYING PAN TO THEIR HEAD YOU NEED TO REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE: A CHRISTIAN. 19. WHEN THE CLERK AT THE STORE MAKES YOU ANGRY YOU NEED TO REMEMBER WHO IT IS THAT YOU REPRESENT. III. JOSHUA SAID AS FOR ME . . . 1. EVERY PERSON IN HERE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR FOLLOWING JESUS AND SERVING HIM. 2. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SKATE INTO HEAVEN ON THE PRAYERS AND THE BORN AGAIN EXPERIENCE OF YOU MOMMA, DADDY, GRANDMA OR SPOUSE. 3. WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE GOD YOU WILL GIVE AN ACCOUNT FOR YOURSELF. 4. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CHRIST? 5. DID YOU SERVE HIM WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART? 6. OR DID YOU SERVE HIM SOMETIMES AND SERVE MONEY AND GREED THE OTHER TIMES? 7. JOSHUA TOLD THE ISRAELITES, “CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHO YOU WILL SERVE”. 8. HE DIDN'T SAY LET MOM AND DAD CHOOSE OR YOUR WIFE CHOOSE BUT, YOU HAVE TO DECIDE TO FOLLOW JESUS. 9. AND IF YOU HAVE AN UNBELIEVING SPOUSE YOU HAVE TO KEEP SERVING JESUS BECAUSE IT'S YOUR ETERNAL SOUL AT STAKE. 10. AND A BELIEVING SPOUSE SANCTIFIES AN UNBELIEVING SPOUSE. 11. CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY. IV. JOSHUA THEN SAID, AS FOR ME, THE SPIRITUAL LEADER OF MY HOUSE, I SET THE LORD GOD AS THE ONLY ONE WHOM WE WILL SERVE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD. 1. YOU BETTER HEAR ME. 2. PARENTS, IF THERE ARE 2 OF YOU WHO BELIEVE IN THE HOUSE OR IF YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN THE HOUSE WHO BELIEVES, YOU SET A SPIRITUAL OVERTONE FOR YOUR HOUSEHOLD. 3. AND IF YOU ARE NOT ESTABLISHING THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS IN YOUR HOME THEN YOU ARE FAILING AS A PARENT. 4. IF YOUR CHILDREN KNOW MORE ABOUT SPORTS AND CARS THAN THEY DO ABOUT JESUS, YOU HAVE FAILED AS A GODLY PARENT. 5. IF YOUR CHILDREN DO NOT KNOW THAT THERE IS AN IMPORTANCE TO COMING TO THE HOUSE OF GOD, MAYBE THAT IS THE OVERTONE THAT YOU HAVE SET FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. Illustration: ON THE WAY HOME FROM CHURCH ONE SUNDAY MORNING A LITTLE BOY WAS SITTING IN THE BACKSEAT. HE WAS OBVIOUSLY UPSET. HIS MOTHER ASKED, “HONEY, WHAT'S WRONG?” HE SAID, “YOU HEARD WHAT THE PREACHER SAID THIS MORNING.” “YES I DID. BUT, WHAT PART ARE YOU REFERRING TO?” “HE SAID HE WANTED ALL THE CHILDREN TO BE RAISED IN A CHRISTIAN FAMILY. BUT, I WANT TO LIVE WITH YOU GUYS.” 6. PARENTS, YOUR CHILDREN KNOW IF YOU'RE REAL OR NOT. 7. THEY KNOW WHO AND WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE. 8. AND THEY'LL PATTERN THEIR LIFE AFTER YOURS IN SOME MANNER OR ANOTHER. 9. YOU CAN SEND THEM TO THE BEST SCHOOLS. 10. THEY CAN BE THE BEST DRESSED CHILD IN THEIR SCHOOL. 11. THEY CAN BE THE BRIGHTEST, MOST POPULAR, BEST LOOKING, AND IF THAT'S ALL YOU'VE DONE FOR THEM AS A PARENT THEN YOU HAVE FAILED THEM AND FAILED GOD. 12. BUT, IF YOU TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT JESUS, IF YOU ESTABLISH IN THE HOME THAT HE IS THE ONLY GOD AND THAT AS A FAMILY WE WILL SERVE HIM ONLY, IF YOU ESTABLISH THAT HE HAS FIRST PRIORITY IN OUR LIVES, THEN YOU WILL HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PARENTED THAT CHILD. V. I HAVE BEEN ANGERED AND SICKENED BY THIS TREND THAT I SEE IN THE CHURCH. 1. AND FOR WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY, I'M TALKING ABOUT THE PENTECOSTAL, TONGUE TALKING, HOLINESS, SUPPOSED TO BE SANCTIFIED PEOPLE. 2. WHO IN THE WORLD HAS TOLD PARENTS THAT IT IS OK TO HAVE THEIR DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND SPEND THE NIGHT AND EVEN STAY IN THE SAME ROOM AS THEIR DAUGHTER? 3. WE NEED SOME GODLY PROTECTIVE FATHER'S TO RISE AND BE MEN OF GOD ONCE AGAIN. 4. IF SOME BOY WOULD HAVE SAID TO MY DAD, “WE'RE GETTING UP EARLY TOMORROW MORNING TO GO TO CAROWINDS, SO I THINK I'LL JUST SPEND THE NIGHT HERE WITH YOUR DAUGHTER. I PROMISE I WON'T TRY ANYTHING WITH HER.” 5. IF THEY WOULD HAVE SAID THAT TO MY DAD, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SENT RIGHT OUT THE DOOR AND MY SISTER WOULD NOT SEE HIM AT CAROWINDS OR ANYWHERE ELSE. 6. BUT, IN THE CHURCH, THE PENTECOSTAL CHURCH, WE HAVE LESSENED OUR STANDARDS TO THOSE OF UNBELIEVERS WHERE THE BOY FRIEND STAYS AT THE GIRLFRIEND'S HOUSE AND THE GIRL FRIEND STAYS AT THE BOYFRIEND'S HOUSE AND IN THIS CULTURE THEY SAY IT IS OK. 7. PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, THAT IS A TEMPTATION THAT A 14, 15, 16, OR 50 YEAR OLD SINGLE PERSON DOES NOT NEED. 8. CHILDREN ARE MATURING EARLIER NOW THAN THEY DID WHEN WE CAME UP AND THEY SAY IT IS BECAUSE OF THE HORMONES IN THE MEAT. 9. AND IF YOU THINK THAT TEENS TODAY DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THE BIRDS AND THE BEES THEN YOU'RE WRONG. 10. WE AS ADULTS, YOU AS PARENTS HAVE TO RAISE A STANDARD THAT THE WORLD AND EVEN THE HOLINESS CHURCH HAS LOWERED. 11. I KNOW THIS ISN'T POPULAR, BUT, IT'S THE TRUTH. 12. YOU BETTER MONITOR WHAT MOVIES YOUR CHILDREN SEE AND WHAT MOVIES YOU DOWNLOAD OFF OF NETFLIX AND ALLOW IN YOUR HOME. 13. WHEN YOU GET A CALL FROM THE CABLE COMPANY THAT SAYS, YOU'RE SUCH A LOYAL CUSTOMER WE WANT TO OFFER YOU 3 FREE MONTHS OF HBO, SHOWTIME AND CINEMAX, YOU BETTER THINK AGAIN. 14. I TOLD THEM I WOULDN'T ALLOW SUCH FILTH IN MY HOUSE. 15. BUT, IT'S FREE FOR 3 MONTHS. I DON'T CARE IT'S TEMPTATION THAT I DO NOT NEED IN MY LIFE. VI. WHEN I WAS GROWING UP WE HAD ALL KINDS OF CLASSES FOR KIDS AT CHURCH ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS. Illustration: Working at Taco Bell - eating services off 7. DO YOU HAVE A CONVICTION LIKE THAT? 8. DO YOU TAKE A STAND FOR GOD AND HIS CHURCH? CONCLUSION: 1. I'M TALKING TO EVERYONE NO MATTER WHAT YOUR AGE IS. 2. IT'S TIME TO DECIDE WHO YOU ARE GOING TO SERVE. 3. IT'S TIME FOR THE CHURCH TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED. 4. IT'S TIME FOR US TO BE A VOICE IN DALLAS, IN NORTH CAROLINA, AND IN THE NATION. 5. IT'S TIME TO FALL ON OUR FACE BEFORE ALMIGHTY GOD IN HUMILITY AND REPENTANCE AND GAIN BACK THE STANDARDS OF HOLINESS WE ONCE SO PROUDLY STOOD FOR. 6. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT AN OUTWARD APPEARANCE OF HOW LONG THE DRESS OR HAIR IS, OR NO MAKE UP AND JEWELRY. 7. BUT, IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES THEN LET'S GO BACK THERE. 8. I'M TALKING ABOUT A DECISION TO REPENT THAT CAUSES US TO LOOK INTO THE HOLINESS OF GOD AND BE CHANGED IN OUR VERY BEING. 9. I'M TALKING ABOUT A HEART CHANGE WHERE THE WORLD CAN SAY, MAN, THOSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WITH JESUS. 10. I'M TALKING TO SOME DRY BONES THIS MORNING. 10. IT'S TIME TO GET OFF THE FENCE. 11. IT'S TIME TO MAKE A DECISION. 12. IF IT SEEMS GOOD TO YOU TO SERVE THE LORD, THEN SERVE HIM WITH ALL THAT IS IN YOU. 13. IF NOT, STOP BRINGING A REPROACH ON THE NAME OF CHRIST. 14. AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD. 15. LET'S DEDICATE OUR LIVES AND HOMES COMPLETELY, FULLY TO THE LORD. 16. LET'S LET OUR DECISIONS BE MADE WITH THE STANDARD THAT WE ARE A CHRISTIAN. 17. LET'S SEEK THE FACE OF GOD AND IN SO DOING, WE'LL DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS. 18. THEN WE CAN SHOW A LOST AND DYING WORLD WHO JESUS REALLY IS.

Truth offends and absolute Truth offends absolutely.  In Episode 17 Reverend Andrea Boutselis joins the guys on JSP to talk about how the Truth of God's Word is being censored... IN THE CHURCH.  In July of 2021 Rev Andrea preached a sermon in her church on the evils of CRT being taught in our schools and is now on the receiving end of great discrimination because of that.  Dive into JSP as we tackle the topic of freedom of speech being under attack in the United States... even within God's Church.  

By Kondo Simfukwe Did you know you can find your greatest fulfillment and purpose first IN THE CHURCH? Not in your major, not in your job, not in your accomplishments, not in trying to match someone else's life? Take a listen to Part 2 of our series for the to do list for life success!

By Kondo Simfukwe Did you know you can find your greatest fulfillment and purpose first IN THE CHURCH? Not in your major, not in your job, not in your accomplishments, not in trying to match someone else's life? Take a listen to Part 2 of our series for the to do list for life success!

Our guest for this episode, "Denise" shares her story of abuse. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints misogyny and patriarchy are common and defended. The church is still against the Equal Rights Amendment and expects its members to fall in line with this shared belief including the unwritten but widely understood expectation to vote against it. This belief and expectation encourages "unrighteous dominion." 

WHO CAN BLAME HIM? NO ONE LIKES HYPOCRITES....IN SOCIETY, IN THE CHURCH, IN POLITICS! Fr Louis Scurti reflects on the Words of Jesus. Check out our website: https://www.friendsoftheword.org Join our community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/www.FriendsoftheWord.org Donate and support FRIENDS OF THE WORD, INC.: PAYPAL.ME/FRIENDSOFTHEWORD

WHO CAN BLAME HIM? NO ONE LIKES HYPOCRITES....IN SOCIETY, IN THE CHURCH, IN POLITICS! Fr Louis Scurti reflects on the Words of Jesus. Check out our website: https://www.friendsoftheword.org Join our community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/www.FriendsoftheWord.org Donate and support FRIENDS OF THE WORD, INC.: PAYPAL.ME/FRIENDSOFTHEWORD

In "The Church pt.2," Pastor Greg Evans talks about the importance of evangelism in the Body of Christ.

In "The Church," Pastor Greg Evans talks about the importance of healthy relationships in the Body of Christ.

In The Church of Jesus Christ, there is a law known as common consent. Every single member has the opportunity to sustain or object to an official calling that has been extended to an individual by those in authority whether it is on the ward level, stake level, or general level. What does it really mean to sustain a calling for you? What are you saying when you raise your right hand in agreement with the extended calling? Are you making a covenant? Are you saying you will support, uphold, and follow that individual as he or she follows the promptings of the spirit in fulfilling that call?Do you really have an opportunity to object to the calling? Yes you do. Does that mean it will be overturned? Not necessarily, but you can object. Normally an objection would come down to a worthiness issues. Has the individual that is being sustained been involved in an action of sin that has not been fully repented of that you know about that others may not. Most importantly that the Bishop or Stake President does not know about. That would truly be the only time to not sustain an individual in that calling. Join us as we discuss what it means to sustain and what the law of common consent means for you.

Telling yourself that you are powerless. Helpful or not? For me, NOT! For every guy that ends up coming to me for coaching? NOT! Why we tell ourselves we’re powerless? For one thing, it’s become a tradition in 12-steps groups (NOTE: studies suggest that only 5%-10% of people find success with 12-steps groups). In The Church of Jesus Christ, 12-steps is called ARP (Addiction Recovery Program). And the ones who do find “success” there, or lasting sobriety, many of them still walk around telling themselves they are powerless, and still wishing they could turn to their habit. More importantly, many of us have pretty painful stories we tell ourselves when we start to take responsibility for all of our choices with pornography. Most guys, when starting this work (including my past-self), have a hard time wrapping their mind around the idea that maybe it was always a choice. Maybe they’ve always had the power to choose. And if they always had the power to choose, that means that they used their power to choose porn. And what do we make it mean when we actually used our power to choose porn? Usually a terrible, no-good, shame-filled, all-out attack on ourselves and our character. A should-y conversation where we should all over ourselves. The biggest self-beatdown we can muster. Because we think: the bigger the beatdown for choosing porn, the more likely we’ll be to not choose it again. Works great, doesn’t it? Actually, the more painful we make it for ourselves to accept that we chose porn all along, the more difficult it is to claim your power. Your already-existing power. Your always-existed power. Your always-will-exist power. Shame is not the answer. Love and acceptance are more powerful. Change requires power. If I were to sum up what I do as a coach. I would say that I show guys how to more fully access their own, built-in, already-existing power. I don’t give them all the answers. I show them their brain, and where their power is, and they, using their power, find their own way to success. Yes, I offer them a lot of support and many tools along the way to help them know where to direct this power, to help streamline the process. But it’s still a process. And that’s okay. Because we’re playing the long-game here. We’re going for sustainability. For regular, intentional healing. For genuine enrichment of our lives. For greater love and enjoyment. 2 Questions: What already-existing power might you be ignoring in your efforts to quit porn? How can you make it easier for yourself to access that power? Lindsay and Danny Poelman are certified life coaches and are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Danny helps guys to stop looking at pornography (and be happy about it) and make their real life and/or marriage what they want it to be. Lindsay helps women let go of the fantasy marriage that doesn’t exist and create the marriage of their dreams in real life. For more information: lindsaypoelman.com or www.dannypoelman.com Click Here for Lindsay’s Find Relief Right Now Guide: https://mailchi.mp/lindsaypoelmancoaching/reliefnow1 For Danny's free 3-Part video series on How to Stop Looking at Porn: https://mailchi.mp/ecb42a844001/az7gs45o8l Submit Questions or Recommend Topics you would like us to cover: https://lindsaypoelman.typeform.com/to/dtVOMk

Checkups are necessary but not always comfortable. Sometimes we are in and out and other times we walk away with news that is difficult to swallow. In The Church's Check-Up Pastor Todd shares from the book of Revelation where Jesus does a check-up on multiple churches. With each church, He shares a compliment, a complaint, and a challenge. The truth isn't always easy to receive but it's so necessary in order to experience God's best for our lives. May you continue to look more and more like Jesus as you remain humble and coachable.

During the last episode, we discussed grace from the sacrament of marriage. But why does our faith call us to follow a particular order, including marriage IN THE Church, rather than the beach or other locations? What does sex communicate to our spouse? Why is it good and necessary? Join Jo and John in today's discussion.

In the news recently are all sorts of reports of people who have decided that it is better to fight and break off relationships with spouses, friends, and relatives, that it is to work to maintain a relationship with those that disagree with them politically. One woman, famously, even told of the way she badgered her dying father to change his vote in this presidential election, rather than just spending time with him, and helping him to prepare for and accept his own impending death. Anybody here like that? You would rather fight with your friends, or end long-term relationships with others, simply because they disagree with your politics? Have we lost our minds? There is not much peace here right now, even in the Church. Unfortunately, it seems that even the shed blood of Jesus is not enough to help us!  When we talk about God’s Word providing us with a guide to help us find a “path to life,” one of those essentials is peace.  What we can learn from God’s Word today is that: A life of faith in God can lead us to a sense of peace in this life. Religion by itself is no guarantee of anything in this life – but when we place our faith in God, through Jesus, God can help us develop a way of living, and thinking, that can lead to peace: peace of mind, and peace in this life. READ Ephesians 2:13-16 In the early church there was a huge problem that threatened to destroy the ability of the Church to function. There were Jewish Christians, and non-Jewish Christians; and they tended to reject and distrust each other! Jewish Christians held on to their Jewish heritage, and felt ‘superior’ to anyone else, and non-Jewish Christians resented the idea that they were somehow inferior because they did not have a Jewish background. This was more than just a ‘preacher argument’ – it was “fighting words” to those involved! There were arguments, divisions, and the churches were threatened by the sense that there was no way the two groups could get along!To this, Paul responded.  Peace in the Church 1. Gentiles “brought near” by the blood of Christ. (v.13) Whatever “advantage” the Jews had over the Gentiles because of their religious background was gone – the “blood of Christ” had washed that advantage away! The problem in all our hearts, and all our relationships, is the problem of sin! Selfishness; impatience and intolerance; arrogance and the rejection of others’ place in life – these are all problems of our own sinful natures – and only Jesus can fix these things!  2. Lasting peace is based on Jesus. (v.14) Jesus “broke down” the barrier of the dividing wall. Not politics; not slick talk or deceptive practices; only Jesus. Lasting peace can be had, because it is based upon the character and grace of God! All other bases for peace will fail – only Jesus at work can change our natures, give us grace, and help us have and share the grace essential to have lasting peace. 3. all can be united in the Church. (v.16) “might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross.” In The Church – the body of Christ – there is the possibility of peace! All the differences that challenge us and separate us – political, gender and nation and race – can be dismantled in The Church, as we follow Jesus together, and we allow him to change our hearts and minds together, and as we allow God to work His will in us and we serve Him together – then there will be peace. (5 times in NT the phrase “of one accord” is used to describe Christ’s followers united in service through faith; Acts 1:14, 2:1, 2:46, 5:12; Philippians 2:2) Living as Paul challenged the early Christians to live was not easy – but through Jesus it can be done! God’s work, and our faithfulness to His call to the Christian life, can make it possible! Here are a few things we can do to help bring peace into our lives, and the lives of others: a) Make the choice to love and accept others. b) Practice patience and kindness, determined by your obedience to Jesus! (Not others’ actions) c) Control your emotional responses. Don’t let your feelings about an issue lead you to violate the Spirit of Christ within you. Avoid the cheap shot, or trap questions, or the rolled eyes. Just accept that some disagree with you! d) Pray.  “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, And loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it.” Psalms 34:11-14 The best way you can support our Ministry is by sharing our videos and podcasts with your friends and family. We also need your financial contributions to make our Ministries a possibility. You can contribute online at https://firstbaptistofindependence.aware3.net/give/ If you would like to stay up to date on all things FBC, download our App by clicking here https://a3a.me/firstbaptistofindependence or by Liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/1stBaptist/ Thank you for listening. We will see you next week.

As the political climate of this country continues to unfold, the hearts of many are revealed along with their respective affiliations causing much division. Particularly, IN THE CHURCH. In this episode we'll dissect where in politics the church resides currently and the heart posture a believer should have in the political forum.

Years ago, there was no term known world-wide as "church hurt." We just kinda bleed in silence, not wanting to expose the hurt that goes on in the church. DISCLAIMER: I'm not talking about that time, the pastor corrected you because you were wrong. That's what a good pastor, father, mother does. But those who have been unfairly judged, mistreated,  done wrong IN THE CHURCH....This is for you. Join Me (Prophetess Stacy) MON. NIGHT 10EST 9CST 7PST Log On Or Call 347-426-3782

In The Church, he was half of a world-famous twin guitar machine for 30 years starting in 1980 but has also released seven solo albums and been in several other bands, most notably releasing four albums with his old friend Dare Mason as Noctorum. We discuss two 2019 Noctorum tracks, "The Moon Drips" from Afterlife and "Dancing with Death" from The Afterdeath EP, plus "You Whisper" from his solo album Art Attack (1988). We conclude by listening to "Forget the Radio" from his solo album Hanging Out in Heaven (2000). Intro: "Spark" by The Church from Starfish (1988). For more see martywillson-piper.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon to get the ad-free feed. Sponsors: Visit mackweldon.com w/ code EXAMINED for 20% off, and masterclass.com/EXAMINED to get a free MasterClass All-Access Pass to gift when you buy one for yourself.

In The Church, he was half of a world-famous twin guitar machine for 30 years starting in 1980 but has also released seven solo albums and been in several other bands, most notably releasing four albums with his old friend Dare Mason as Noctorum. We discuss two 2019 Noctorum tracks, "The Moon Drips" from Afterlife and "Dancing with Death" from The Afterdeath EP, plus "You Whisper" from his solo album Art Attack (1988). We conclude by listening to "Forget the Radio" from his solo album Hanging Out in Heaven (2000). Intro: "Spark" by The Church from Starfish (1988). For more see martywillson-piper.com. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Like our Facebook page. Support us on Patreon to get the ad-free feed. Sponsors: Visit mackweldon.com w/ code EXAMINED for 20% off, and masterclass.com/EXAMINED to get a free MasterClass All-Access Pass to gift when you buy one for yourself.

Are you ready to cross over into your promise? It's time to move from the greatness of God. No more shackles or chains in this episode of In The Church we are going to discuss the process to crossing over to possess the promise of God.

Are you ready to cross over into your promise? It's time to move from the greatness of God. No more shackles or chains in this episode of In The Church we are going to discuss the process to crossing over to possess the promise of God.

Who Am I?, is the question that many ask as they doubt who God has chosen them to be. This question stems from the indentity crisis that has overshadowed them from their past hurt, pain, shame, and confusion. Today In The Church, we addressing Identity Crisis and how to overcome them In The Church.

Who Am I?, is the question that many ask as they doubt who God has chosen them to be. This question stems from the indentity crisis that has overshadowed them from their past hurt, pain, shame, and confusion. Today In The Church, we addressing Identity Crisis and how to overcome them In The Church.

When we look throughout society, we can quickly identify that there are identity crises with the church as it has lost it distinctiveness by conforming to the pattern of the world. In this episode of In The Church, we are addressing the topic of an identity crisis. We are looking at King Saul to discover characteristic that manifests in identity issue

This is part 4 of our series on the Crusades.The plan for this episode, the last in our look at the Crusades, is to give a brief review of the 5th thru 7th Crusades, then a bit of analysis of the Crusades as a whole.The date set for the start of the 5th Crusade was June 1st, 1217. It was Pope Innocent III's long dream to reconquer Jerusalem. He died before the Crusade set off, but his successor Honorius III was just as ardent a supporter. He continued the work begun by Innocent.The Armies sent out accomplished much of nothing, except to waste lives. Someone came up with the brilliant idea that the key to conquering Palestine was to secure a base in Egypt first. That had been the plan for the 4th Crusade. The Crusaders now made the major port of Damietta their goal. After a long battle, the Crusaders took the city, for which the Muslim leader Malik al Kameel offered to trade Jerusalem and all Christian prisoners he held. The Crusaders thought the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II was on his way to bolster their numbers, so they rejected the offer. Problem is, Frederick wasn't on his way. So in 1221, Damietta reverted to Muslim control.Frederick II cared little about the Crusade. After several false starts that revealed his true attitude toward the whole thing, the Emperor decided he'd better make good on his many promises and set out with 40 galleys and only 600 knights. They arrived in Acre in early Sept. 1228. Because the Muslim leaders of the Middle East were once again at odds with each other, Frederick convinced the afore-mentioned al-Kameel to make a decade long treaty that turned Jerusalem over to the Crusaders, along with Bethlehem, Nazareth, and the pilgrim route from Acre to Jerusalem. On March 19, 1229, Frederick crowned himself by his own hand in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.This bloodless assumption of Jerusalem infuriated Pope Gregory IX who considered control of the Holy Land and the destruction of the Muslims as one and the same thing. So the Church never officially acknowledged Frederick's accomplishments.He returned home to deal with internal challenges to his rule and over the next decade and a half, the condition of Palestine's Christians deteriorated. Everything gained by the treaty was turned back to Muslim hegemony in the Fall of 1244.The last 2 Crusades, the 6th and 7th, center on the career of the last great Crusader; the king of France, Louis IX.Known as SAINT Louis, he combined the piety of a monk with the chivalry of a knight, and stands in the front rank of all-time Christian rulers.  His zeal revealed itself not only in his devotion to religious ritual, but in his refusal to deviate from his faith even under the threat of torture. His piety was genuine as evidenced by his concern for the poor and the just treatment of his subjects. He washed the feet of beggars and when a monk warned him against carrying his humility too far, he replied, “If I spent twice as much time in gambling and hunting as in such services, no one would find fault with me.”The sack of Jerusalem by the Muslims in 1244 was followed by the fall of the Crusader bases in Gaza and Ashkelon. In 1245 at the Council of Lyons the Pope called for a new expedition to once again liberate the Holy Land. Though King Louis lay in a sickbed with an illness so grave his attendants put a cloth over his face, thinking he was dead, he rallied and took up the Crusader cross.Three years later he and his French brother-princes set out with 32,000 troops. A Venetian and Genoese fleet carried them to Cyprus, where large-scale preparations had been made for their supply. They then sailed to Egypt. Damietta once again fell, but after this promising start, the campaign turned into a disaster.Louis' piety and benevolence was not backed up by what we might call solid skills as a leader. He was ready to share suffering with his troops but didn't possess the ability to organize them.  Heeding the counsel of several of his commanders, he decided to attack Cairo instead of Alexandria, the far more strategic goal. The campaign was a disaster with the Nile being chocked with bodies of slain Crusaders. On their retreat, the King and Count of Poitiers were taken prisoners. The Count of Artois was killed. The humiliation of the Crusaders had rarely been so deep.Louis' fortitude shone brightly while suffering the misfortune of being held captive. Threatened with torture and death, he refused to renounce Christ or yield up any of the remaining Crusader outposts in Palestine. For the ransom of his troops, he agreed to pay 500,000 livres, and for his own freedom to give up Damietta and abandon the campaign in Egypt.Clad in garments given by the sultan, in a ship barely furnished, the king sailed for Acre where he stayed 3 yrs, spending large sums on fortifications at Jaffa and Sidon. When his mother, who acted as Queen-Regent in his absence, died—Louis was forced to return to France. He set sail from Acre in the spring of 1254. His queen, Margaret, and the 3 children born them in the East, returned with him.So complete a failure might have been expected to destroy all hope of ever recovering Palestine. But the hold of the crusading idea upon the mind of Europe was still strong. Popes Urban IV and Clement III made renewed appeals, and Louis once again set out. In 1267, with his hand on a crown of thorns, he announced to his assembled nobles his purpose to go a 2nd time on a holy crusade.In the meantime, news from the East had been of continuous disaster at the hand of the “Mohammaden” enemy (as they called Muslims) and of discord among the Christians. In 1258, 40 Venetian vessels engaged in battle with a Genoese fleet of 50 ships off Acre with a loss of 1,700 souls. A year later the Templars and Hospitallers held forth in a pitched battle, not with the Muslims, but  each other. Then in 1268, Acre, greatest of the Crusader ports, fell to the Muslims Mamelukes.Louis set sail in 1270 w/60,000 into disaster. Their camp was scarcely pitched on the site of ancient Carthage when plague broke out. Among the victims was the king's son, John Tristan, born at Damietta, and King Louis himself.  His body was returned to France and the French army disbanded.By 1291, what remained of the Crusader presence in the Holy Land was finally uprooted by Muslim control.Those more familiar with the history of the Crusades may wonder why I've neglected to mention the disastrous Children's Crusade of 1212, inserted between the 4th and 5th Crusades. The reason I've decided to mostly skip it is because historians have come to doubt the veracity of the reports about it. It seems now more apocryphal than real, conflated from several disparate reports of groups that wandered around Southern Europe looking to hop on to another campaign to capture Jerusalem. The story goes that a French or German child of 10 years had a vision in which he was told to go to the Middle East and convert the Muslims by peaceful means. As he shared this vision and began his trek to Marseilles, other children joined his cause, along with some adults of dubious reputation. As their ranks swelled, they arrived at the French coast, expecting the seas to part and make a way for them to cross over to the Middle East on dry land. Never mind that it was a trip of hundreds of miles. Anyway, the waters failed to part, and the children, most of them anyway, ended up dispersing. Those who didn't were rounded up by slavers who promised to transport them to the Holy Land, free of charge. Once they were aboard ship though, they were captives and were hauled to foreign ports all over the Mediterranean where they were sold off.As I said, while the Children's Crusade has been considered a real event for many years, it's recently come under scrutiny and doubt as ancient records were examined closely. It seems it's more a product of cutting and pasting various stories that took place during this time. The children were in fact bands of Europe's landless poor who had nothing better to do than wander around Southern France and Germany, waiting for the next Crusade to be called so they could go and hopefully participate in the plunder of the rich, Eastern lands.I want to offer some commentary now on the Crusades. So, warning, what follows is pure opinion.For 7 centuries Christians have tried to forget the Crusades, but critics and skeptics are determined to keep them a hot issue. While Jews and Muslims have (mostly rightly, I think) used the Crusades for generations as a point of complaint. In more recent time, New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris have raised them like a crowbar and beaten Christians over the head with them. Isn't it interesting that these God-deniers have to first assume Biblical morality to then deny it? If they were consistent with their own atheistic beliefs they'd have to find some other reason to declaim the Crusades than that it's wrong to indiscriminately kill people. Why, according to their Darwinist evolutionary, Survival of the Fittest motif, shouldn't they in fact applaud the Crusades? After all, they were advancing the cause of evolution by getting rid of the weaker elements of the race.But no! The New Atheists don't use this line of reasoning because it's abhorrent. Instead, they have to first don a belief in Christian morality to attack Christianity. Talk about being hypocritical.And let's get our facts straight. The 20th Century saw more people killed for political and ideological reasons than all previous centuries combined! Between the Communists, Nazis, and Fascists, well over 100 million were killed. Stalin, Hitler, and Mao Zedong were motivated by an atheistic agenda, one rooted in a social application of Darwinism.Karl Marx, the ideological father of Communistic socialism, applied Darwin's evolutionary ideas to society and turned human beings into mere parts of a vast machine called the State. Anyone deemed a cog instead of a gear was to be removed so the machine could run as the leaders wanted. In the name of Communism, Stalin killed at least 20 million; Mao, about 70 million!Adolf Hitler was inspired by the atheist Fredrick Neizsche's Darwinian concept of the ubermensche = the superman; humanity's next evolutionary step. He justified the killing of 10 million saying the Final Solution was simply removing those who would hinder humanity's evolution. He employed an entire army of science-minded killers who believed it was right and good to rid the world of “human weeds” as they called Jews, Slavs, homosexuals and the infirm.It takes a colossal ignorance of history to neglect this. Yet the New Atheists ignore the facts because they destroy their premise that atheism has the moral high ground.As calculated by historical evidence, the Crusades, Inquisition and witch trials killed about 200,000 in all over a period of 500 years. Adjusting for population growth, that would be about a million in today's terms. That's just 1% of the total killed by Stalin, Mao and Hitler; and they did it in a few decades!So, let's keep the Crusades, as brutal as they were, and as utterly contrary to the nature and teaching of Christ as they were, in the proper historical perspective. No! I'm not justifying them. They were totally wrong-headed! To turn the cross into a sword and slay people with it is blasphemous and deserves the loud declamation of the Church.But let's not forget that the Crusaders were human beings with motives not unlike our own. Those motives were mixed and often in conflict. The word crusade comes from “taking the cross,” after the example of Christ. That's why on the way to the Holy Land the crusader wore the cross on his breast. On his journey home, he wore it on his back.But the vast majority of those who went crusading were illiterate, even most of the nobles. They weren't taught the Bible as Evangelicals are today. People throughout Europe thought salvation rested IN THE CHURCH and was doled out by priests at the direction and discretion of the Pope. So if the Pope said Crusaders were doing God's work, they were believed. When priests broadcast that dying in the holy cause of a Crusade meant they'd bypass purgatory and gain immediate access to heaven, thousands grabbed the nearest weapon and set off.For Urban and the popes who followed him, the Crusades were a new type of war, a Holy War. Augustine had laid down the principles of a “just war” centuries before. Those principles were . . .A Holy War was conducted by the State;Its purpose was the vindication of justice, meaning the defense of life and property;And its code called for respect for noncombatants; civilians and prisoners. While these principles were originally adopted by the Crusaders when they set out on the 1st Campaign, they evaporated in the heat of the journey and reality of battle.The Crusades ignited horrible attacks on Jews. Even fellow Christians were not exempt from rape and plunder. Incredible atrocities befell the Muslim foe. Crusaders sawed open dead bodies in search of gold.As the Crusades progressed, the occasional voice was lifted calling into question the propriety of such movements and their ultimate value. At the end of the 12th C, the abbot Joachim complained that the popes were making the Crusades a pretext for their own advancement.Humbert de Romanis, general of the Dominicans, in making out a list of matters to be handled at the Council of Lyons in 1274, was obliged to refute no less than 7 well-known objections to the Crusades. They included these 4 . . .It was contrary to the precepts of the NT to advance religion by the sword;Christians may defend themselves, but have no right to invade the lands of another;It is wrong to shed the blood of unbelievers;And the disasters of the Crusades proved they were contrary to the will of God. Christians in Europe during the 14th and 15th Cs were to face far more pressing problems than a conquest of the Holy Land. So while there was still an occasional call for one, it fell on deaf ears.Erasmus, writing at the close of the Middle Ages, made an appeal for the preaching of the Gospel as a way to deal with Muslims.  He said the proper way to defeat the Turks was by conversion, not annihilation. He said, “Truly, it is not meet to declare ourselves Christian men by killing very many but by saving very many, not if we send thousands of heathen people to hell, but if we make many infidels Christian; not if we cruelly curse and excommunicate, but if we with devout prayers and with our hearts desire their health, and pray unto God, to send them better minds.”The long-range results of 2 centuries of crusading were not impressive. If the main purpose of the Crusades was to win the Holy Land, to check the advance of Islam, and heal the schism between the Eastern and Western Churches, they failed spectacularly.For a time, the 4 Crusader kingdoms held a beach-head on the Mediterranean coast of the Holy Land. In them, three semi-monastic military orders formed: the Templars, whose first headquarters were on the site of the old Temple of Jerusalem; the Hospitallers, also known as the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, originally founded to care for the sick and wounded; and the Germanic Teutonic Knights. These orders combined monasticism and militarism and had as their aims the protection of pilgrims and perpetual war against Muslims. They fielded 500 armed knights. Their great castles guarded the roads and passes against attack. For 2 centuries the Templars in their white robes decorated with a red cross, the Hospitallers in black robes emblazoned with the white Maltese cross, and the Teutonic Knights in white robes with a black cross were common sights in Crusader States and across Europe.While the Crusades seem to us today a terrible betrayal of Biblical Christianity, we must bring the historian's mindset to them and consider them against the times in which they occurred. This doesn't excuse them, but it does make them a bit more understandable.European society of the Middle Ages was ir-redeemably warlike. In feudal Europe, the whole economic and social system depended on the maintenance of a military; the knights, permanent professional soldiers; by necessity due to the cost involved, noblemen whose only profession was fighting. The city-states of Italy were frequently at war. In Spain, a line was drawn across the map for centuries by the presence of the Muslim Moors. So even if Christians had wanted to create a peaceful society, it would have been socially and practically difficult to do.One way of dealing with this was to idealize warfare. That is, casting war as a contest between good and evil. In the development of the idea of the Christian knight, there was an attempt to give the spiritual battle a corresponding literal application. The knight was a ‘soldier of Christ', a warrior for good.  At a time when priests and monks were deemed the only ones able to make contact with God, the Crusades were a way for laypeople to enter the spiritual realm and rack up some serious points with God. Priests fought the good fight by prayer; now laymen could fight as well, with a sword, mace, or if that's all they could afford, a pitchfork, until they got to the battlefield where hopefully they'd find a more suitable weapon.So it was important for medieval Christians to convince themselves the war they were fighting was justified. A sophisticated system of identifying a ‘just' war developed. Augustine had said a good deal about this, explaining that someone whose property or land was stolen is entitled to get it back, but that this was different from warfare designed to enlarge one's territory. The underlying principle was that reasonable force could be used to maintain order.The late 11th C saw the arrival of a new thought; not Augustine's “Just War,” but the concept of “Holy War”, one God called His people to fight to restore Christian control to the Holy Land. This was war which could not only be regarded as ‘justified', and the sins committed in the course of it forgiven, but meritorious. God would reward those who fought it. Guibert of Nogent, in his book The Acts of God through the Franks, explained how to identify a Holy War. It wasn't motivated by the desire for fame, money or conquest. Its motive was the safeguarding of liberty, the defense of the State and the protection of the Church. He considered this kind of warfare a valid alternative to being a monk.This idea was so engaging to the Medieval mind that as the 12th C wound on it had to be discouraged as it seemed everyone began seeing knighthood and combat as spiritual warfare. Bullies have always been able to villainize those they want to victimize. They justified their brutality by calling it a divine mission. So priests and theologians emphasized not all fighting came under the same umbrella. Crusading was special.Of course, one of the major tenets of Muslim theology is jihad, Holy War to spread the faith. Despite loud protests by some today, the fact remains that the Islam Mohammad taught, which of course is true Islam, endorses jihad. How else did it spread from its desert base in Arabia across the Middle East, North Africa, and into Europe in such a short time if not by the power of the scimitar?I find it interesting that modern Muslims decry the Crusades when it was their own bloody campaigns that took the lands the Crusaders sought to what? RECLAIM! How could they RECLAIM something what wasn't CLAIMED and conquered by the Muslims previously? I say it again: This in no way justifies the Crusades. They're an indefensible period of Church history that stands as a dark stain. But let's be clear; if they're a stain on Church history, the conquests by the Muslims that predate the Crusades are just as dark.

This Episode is simply titled “Leo”While there'd been several bishops of the church at Rome who'd been capable leaders and under their guidance had established Rome as the premier church, if not the whole Christian world, at least in the western portion of the now declining Roman Empire, it can be fairly said that for most of the earlier bishops the person was eclipsed by the office. Bishops Callistus, Stephen, Damasus, & Innocent I all added significant authority to the Roman See. But it was Leo the Great who saw the Bishop of Rome become what we might call the first real Pope. It was with Leo I that the idea of the Papacy became real.While previous bishops at Rome had certainly been theologically astute, as befitted their office, Leo can be classed as a first-rate theologian, arguably the greatest theologian of any who came before in that office and for a century & a half after. He battled the Manichæan, Priscillianist, & Pelagian heresies, and won enduring fame for helping to finish codifying the orthodox doctrine of the person of Christ.Leo's early life is shrouded in mystery. The chief source of information about him comes from his letters & they don't commence till AD 442 when he was already an adult. Leo was mostly likely a Roman who became a deacon, then a legate under Bishops Celestine I & Sixtus III. A legate is a special messenger, sent by a bishop, to carry messages to civil rulers. Think à Church ambassador to the king. Leo was so astute in his task as a representative for the Church, Emperor Valentinian III sent him on a special mission to settle a dispute in Gaul between a couple feuding generals. This was at a time of great turmoil in the north due to the barbarian threat. While Leo was on this peace-making mission, Bishop Sixtus died and Leo was chosen to take his seat. He served for the next 21 years.Leo describes his feelings at the assumption of his office in a sermon;“Lord, I have heard your voice calling me, and I was afraid: I considered the work which was enjoined on me, and I trembled. For what proportion is there between the burden assigned to me and my weakness, this elevation and my nothingness? What is more to be feared than exaltation without merit, the exercise of the most holy functions being entrusted to one who is buried in sin? Oh, you have laid upon me this heavy burden, bear it with me, I beseech you be you my guide and my support.”Leo's papacy faced 2 immense problems.First:  The emergence of heresies threatened the integrity of the Church; and àSecond: The political disintegration of the Western Roman Empire.Leo offered 3 tactics in dealing with these difficulties à1)    Actions to provide essential church doctrine with a clear, orthodox position;2)    Efforts to unify church government under a sovereign papacy; and3)   Attempts at peace by negotiating with the Empire's enemies.On the doctrinal front, Leo theologically refuted the era's main heresies & utilized imperial criminal prosecution & banishment to get rid of unrepentant heretics. Leo's finest achievement was probably the formation and acceptance of an orthodox Christological dogma.Though Arianism was in retreat, the 5th C battled with what's called Eutychianism. We're going to get into this in more depth in a soon coming episode so for now let me just say that Eutychianism was one of the 4th & 5th Cs' attempts to understand the nature of Jesus. Was He God, Man or both? And if both, how do the 2 nature relate to each other? Eutychianism said Jesus had 2 natures, human & divine, but that the divine had completely dominated the human, like a drop of vinegar is overwhelmed by the sea. Later it will come to be known by a label you may have heard = Monophysitism.Leo's manner of dealing with this aberrant teaching was brilliant. Rather than rely on suppression, he brought it's main advocate, Eutychus, to Rome for lengthy discussions and, after painstaking research & deliberation, issued a carefully written letter, the famous Tome of Leo. It set forth a clear exposition of Christ's 2 natures in 1 person & became the basis in 451 for the Council of Chalcedon's enduring formulation of Christological doctrine.This alone would mark Leo as worthy of the honorific “Great” but he did more, much more. He rescued the city of Rome from destruction, not once, but twice! When Attila & his Huns, known as the “Scourge of God,” destroyed the Italian city of Aquileia in 452 & everyone knew Rome was next on the barbarian's hit list, Leo, with a couple companions, travelled north, entered the hostile camp, and persuaded Attila to leave off sacking the City. Think of it; a bishop's simple word accomplished what the waning might of the once mighty Rome could not, convince the barbarian hordes to go home.Then, 3 yrs later when the Vandal king Genseric was poised to do what Attila had been deflected from, Leo was able to obtained a promise the Vandals would relieve the city of its wealth but not burn it or slay its people. The sacking lasted for 2 wks – but when the looters finally left, the city still stood and its citizenry, though badly shaken were still alive; and eternally grateful for Leo's intervention.He died in 461, and was buried in the Church of St. Peter.The literary works of Leo consist of nearly a hundred sermons and over 170 letters. His collection of sermons is the first we have from a Roman bishop. He declared preaching to be his sacred duty. His sermons were short and simple.Leo was a man of extraordinary activity. He took a leading part in all the affairs of the Church. While his private life is unknown, there's not a hint of anything that would give us cause to think he was anything other than pure in both motive & morals. His zeal, time & strength were all devoted to the interests of the Faith. If Leo saw the Faith primarily through the lens of the life & outreach of the Church at Rome, we ought to attribute that to his conviction Rome was meant by God to be THE Home Base for the Church; its headquarters.As Church historian Philip Schaff said, Leo was animated by an unwavering conviction God had committed to him, as the successor of Peter, the care of the whole Church. He anticipated all the dogmatic arguments by which the power of the papacy was later established. Leo made the case that the rock on which the Church is built, mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 16, meant Peter and his confession of faith, that set the cornerstone for THE Faith. Leo claimed that while Christ himself is in the highest sense the Rock and Foundation of the Church, His authority was transferred primarily to Peter. To Peter specifically, Christ entrusted the apostolic keys of the Kingdom. Also, Jesus' prayer that Peter be strengthened so he might strengthen others established Peter's role as leader among the Apostles. Jesus' post-resurrection affirmation of Peter's call, “Feed my sheep,” makes Peter the pastor and prince of the Church Entire, through whom Christ exercises His universal dominion on Earth.But Leo went further, He said Peter's primacy wasn't limited to the apostolic age; it endured in those subsequent bishops of Rome to whom Peter passed the authority Jesus endowed him with. Leo asserted only Rome could serve as the center of the Church because it was both a political & religious center. Sure, Constantinople was political headquarters but it lacked Rome's spiritual ancestry. Alexandria & Antioch were religious, but not political centers. Only Rome provided a sufficient political and spiritual weight to be the center of the Earthly manifestation of the Kingdom of God.While Leo made much of Rome's place as premier among the churches, he himself remained humble. This personal humility was offset by his determination others would honor his office as though he were indeed a modern Peter. Each year a special celebration was called to commemorate his ascension to Peter's seat. He took such confusing titles as, “Servant of the servants of God,” “vicar of Christ,” and even “God upon earth.”As an aside, if you've read my bio on the sanctorum.us site, you know I'm a non-denominational, Evangelical, follower of Jesus. As I've shared in a previous podcast, it's been interesting reading reviews by listeners that I'm obviously è Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed, Pentecostal, & a few other flavors of the faith. I guess people mistake what my personal view is because I'm trying, albeit haltingly, to treat the material in as fair & unbiased a fashion as possible. So, I suspect here's what's happening in a lot of listeners minds right now after sharing Leo the Great's apologetic for the primacy of Peter; they're wondering if I've gone RC!Let me respond to that by sharing this . . .While Leo did make a good case for the Bishop at Rome being the spiritual successor to Peter, what about the fact that Peter himself passes over his primacy in silence. In his NT letters he expressly warned against hierarchical assumptions while Leo used every opportunity to affirm his authority. In Antioch, when Peter played the role of hypocrite, he meekly submitted to the junior apostle Paul's rebuke. Leo, on the other hand, declared any resistance to his authority as an impious pride and sure way to hell. Under Leo, obedience to the pope was a condition to salvation. He claimed anyone not in harmony with Rome's See as the head of the body, from which all gifts of grace descended, was in fact not IN The Church, and so had no part in grace or the Body of Chrsit.Schaff wrote,This is the fearful but legitimate logic of the papal principle, which confines the kingdom of God to the narrow lines of a particular organization, and makes the universal spiritual reign of Christ dependent on a temporal form and a human organ.Another important point: Crucial to the idea that the Bishop of Rome was & is the spiritual heir to Peter's apostolic authority is the assumption Peter founded & led the Church at Rome. There's simply not a shred of evidence for that. Sure, Peter went to Rome, but besides being buried there, there's no evidence he ever functioned as the leader of fellowship there. The assumption that he must have been because he was an Apostle would be like assuming if Billy Graham visited your city and attended your church for a few weeks, he was THE pastor – and later pastors could then claim they operated in the authority & ministry of Billy Graham.In carrying his idea of the Papacy into effect, Leo displayed a cunning diplomacy & consistency that characterized some of the popes of the Middle Ages. Certainly, the circumstances of the times were in his favor. This was the era of the fall of the Western Empire. The East was being torn apart by doctrinal controversies we'll look at in a later episode. Africa was over-run by barbarians. The West was without political leadership, and there were no strong church leaders of the flavor of an Athanasius or Jerome to lead.Leo took advantage of the Arian Vandals rampaging across North African, giving rise to the word that memorializes their career – Vandal, to write the bishops there in the tone of an over-shepherd. They eagerly submitted to his authority in AD 443. He banished the last of the heretical Manichæans & Pelagians from Italy. Then in 444 Leo looked Eastward & began affirming Bishops to key posts, increasingly encroaching on territory that had been under the purview of Constantinople, Alexandria & Antioch. But Leo reserved to himself a right of appeal by lower bishops in important cases; things which ought to be decided by the pope according to divine revelation.We'll learn a little more about Pope Leo I, called Leo the Great in future episodes as he played a key role in the Church life of the 5th C.As we end this episode, I want to again invite you to stop by the sanctorum.us website for more info about the podcast, and to visit the Facebook page to give us a like. Do a search for Communio Sanctorum – History of the Christian Church. Leave a comment and tell us where you live. It's been fun seeing all the places our subscribers hail from.Till next time . . .