Podcasts about isarel

En la segunda hora del programa de hoy, repasamos las claves internacionales más importantes del día. Analizamos la información geopolítica en la tertulia global con Christophe Canler, profesor de la Universidad Carlemany y Víctor Manuel Egío, profesor de Ciencias Políticas en la Universidad de Murcia, especialista en política internacional. Por último, hacemos análisis de mercados con Fernando Carrasco, asesor financiero y fundador de LOYAL Capital Advisors.

Trong cuộc chiến Mỹ-Israel chống Iran, bùng lên từ cuối tháng 2/2026, có một ẩn số quan trọng : Phản ứng của lực lượng Houthi. Theo nhiều nhà quan sát, cho dù Houthi chỉ là một cộng đồng thiểu số tại Yemen, nhưng nếu lực lượng này quyết định tham chiến, tác động sẽ rất lớn đến khu vực. Vì sao ? Chiến tranh Iran : Houthi nhập cuộc ngày 28/03/2026 Sau gần một tháng kể từ đầu cuộc chiến, ngày 28/03, lực lượng Houthi tấn công Israel bằng tên lửa. Cuộc tấn công đã được thông báo vào hôm trước : Mục tiêu là để ngăn ngừa Israel và Mỹ leo thang quân sự chống Iran. Trên đài France 24, cựu đại sứ Pháp tại Qatar và Ả Rập Xê Út, Bertrand Besancenot, nhận định: « Đây là một tín hiệu quan trọng, theo tôi. Tín hiệu này cho thấy, thật không may, Teheran muốn khẳng định chúng ta đang ở trong giai đoạn leo thang xung đột. Do đó, việc lực lượng Houthi bắt đầu tham gia vào cuộc xung đột, bất chấp thỏa thuận ngừng bắn với Mỹ trước đó, rõ ràng có nghĩa là Teheran trên thực tế đã yêu cầu lực lượng Houthi can thiệp. » Từ thời điểm đó đến nay, quân Houthi dùng tên lửa đạn đạo oanh kích Israel ít nhất bốn lần vào các vị trí chiến lược, trong đó đáng chú ý có đợt tấn công ngày 02/04 cùng ngày với đợt oanh kích lớn nhất của Iran nhắm vào Israel từ đầu chiến tranh.   Tấn công Israel và cản trở giao thông ở Hồng Hải để phản đối chiến tranh của Israel tại Gaza Đây không phải là lần đầu quân Houthi tham chiến. Kể từ khi bùng nổ cuộc chiến tranh của Israel chống Hamas tại Gaza từ cuối năm 2023, để trả đũa vụ tấn công khủng bố của Hamas trên đất Israel, cái tên Houthi đã được thế giới biết đến rộng rãi. Tính đến đầu năm 2024, Houthi dùng ít nhất 40 tên lửa đạn đạo và hàng trăm drone tấn công Isarel, và khoảng 30 tàu thuyền trên biển Hồng Hải, nối liền Địa Trung Hải với Ấn Độ Dương. Ông David Rigoulet-Roze, nhà nghiên cứu tại Viện Phân tích chiến lược Pháp (Institut Français d'Analyse stratégique - IFAS), chuyên gia về Trung Đông và bán đảo Ả Rập, nhận định: « Sau ngày 7/10/2023, lực lượng Houthi là một trong các bên đầu tiên thể hiện ủng hộ về mặt quân sự đối với Hamas trong cuộc chiến ở Gaza. Đã có một kho vũ khí tồn tại dưới thời cựu tổng thống Saleh trước khi bị lật đổ, nhưng rõ ràng hệ thống vũ khí của lực lượng Houthi đã phát triển, nhờ sự hỗ trợ của người Iran, đặc biệt là Lực lượng Vệ binh Cách mạng, và của Hezbollah, giúp Houthi tăng cường khả năng tên lửa đạn đạo. » (Chương trình Arte Les Houthis : l'engrenage continue au Moyen-Orient ? / Lực lượng Houthi: Vòng xoáy bạo lực ở Trung Đông có tiếp tục?). Houthi là ai ? Lực lượng Houthi có tên gọi chính thức là Ansar Allah, tức « những người trung thành với Thượng Đế », được thành lập trong thập niên 1990, sau khi hai miền Yemen thống nhất dưới quyền lãnh đạo của gia tộc Saleh. Houthi là tên của nhà sáng lập phong trào Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, thuộc bộ tộc Houthi, thành viên một trong ba liên minh bộ tộc lớn nhất ở vùng núi miền bắc Yemen. Nhà sáng lập Houthi thuộc tiểu nhánh Hồi giáo Zaydism, hệ phái Hồi giáo Shia. Zaydism là nhánh tôn giáo chiếm khoảng 20 đến 30% dân số Yemen (tiểu nhánh này có rất nhiều khác biệt so với nhánh imam thứ 12 / Twelver Shi'ism, cũng thuộc hệ phái Shia, là nhánh tôn giáo chủ lưu tại Iran). Phong trào vũ trang của Houthi chống chế độ bị cáo buộc tham nhũng và tàn bạo của gia tộc Saleh thân Ả Rập Xê Út bùng lên vào năm 2003 khi Mỹ tấn công Irak. Năm 2011, cách mạng bùng nổ tại Yemen trong bối cảnh phong trào Mùa Xuân Ả Rập. Tổng thống Saleh bị lật đổ. Nội chiến bùng lên năm 2014, với ba lực lượng chính : (1) phong trào ly khai muốn tái lập nước Nam Yemen, được Các Tiểu Vương Quốc Ả Rập Thống nhất hậu thuẫn,  (2) chính phủ Saleh lưu vong, được quốc tế công nhận, và (3) người Houthi.   Cách mạng, nội chiến và can thiệp nước ngoài: Houthi tìm hậu thuẫn của Iran Cuộc can thiệp quân sự của liên quân quốc tế do Ả Rập Xê Út đứng đầu, với hậu thuẫn của Mỹ nhằm tái lập chính phủ Saleh, kết thúc với thỏa thuận ngừng bắn năm 2022 dưới sự bảo trợ của Liên Hiệp Quốc. Gần 400.000 người thiệt mạng tại Yemen, trong 7 năm chiến tranh. Yemen hiện tại được coi là một trong những xứ sở khốn khổ nhất thế giới, với 18 triệu trong số hơn 40 triệu dân bị thiếu ăn trầm trọng, thiếu nước sạch và phương tiện y tế. Lực lượng Houthi hiện kiểm soát khoảng 30% lãnh thổ Yemen, tại các vùng rừng núi hiểm trở, và các địa bàn chiến lược chủ yếu, như các vùng ven biển và vùng giáp biên với Ả Rập Xê Út. Chính trong bối cảnh cách mạng, nội chiến và can thiệp nước ngoài này, quan hệ giữa Houthi và Iran được siết chặt. Bà Agnès Levallois, chủ tịch Viện Nghiên cứu Trung Đông Địa Trung Hải (IReMMO), chuyên về vùng Cận Đông, nhận định (chương trình của Arte) : « Chúng ta hãy trở lại năm 2015, khi Ả Rập Xê Út quyết định phát động chiến tranh chống lực lượng Houthi, nổi lên sau các cuộc biểu tình năm 2011 buộc tổng thống Saleh phải ra đi. Phong trào phản kháng Mùa Xuân Ả Rập 2011 cũng đã lan đến Yemen. Sau khi tổng thống Saleh ra đi, đã có những cuộc đối đầu giữa các lực lượng khác nhau cấu thành nên xã hội Yemen. Lực lượng Houthi là một thành phần của xã hội Yemen, chủ yếu là người Hồi giáo theo hệ phái Shia, đã tìm đến Iran để nhận được các hỗ trợ. Đây là chiến lược được xác lập trong bối cảnh các cuộc nổi dậy sau phong trào Mùa Xuân Ả Rập năm 2011. » Eo biển Bab el-Mandeb, một huyết mạch hàng hải Á – Âu Theo một báo cáo của Liên Hiệp Quốc, lực lượng Houthi vào năm 2024 có khoảng 350.000 binh sĩ. Một lá chủ bài của Houthi là eo biển Bab el-Mandeb, tuyến hàng hải gần nhất nối liền châu Á với châu Âu, nơi trung chuyển của khoảng 10% thương mại hàng hải quốc tế (xem thêm về eo biển Bal el-Mandeb trên trang CNES - Trung tâm nghiên cứu Không gian Quốc gia Pháp). Tướng Dominique Trinquand, cựu lãnh đạo phái bộ quân sự của Pháp tại Liên Hiệp Quốc, nhấn mạnh đến nguy cơ Houthi phong tỏa eo biển: « Điều này có thể dẫn đến hệ quả gì ? Có thể nói một cách đơn giản là xung đột sẽ được mở rộng. Ngoài eo biển Hormuz, còn có một eo biển cực kỳ quan trọng khác là eo biển Bab el-Mandeb ở Hồng Hải. Lực lượng Houthi đã từng gây thiệt hại và làm gián đoạn đáng kể khu vực này trong nhiều năm. Có một lực lượng  hải quân của châu Âu được triển khai để bảo vệ Hồng Hải. Nhưng nếu lực lượng Houthi quyết định nhập cuộc và nếu như họ vẫn có đủ tên lửa để ngăn chặn tuyến đường hàng hải đó, thì xung đột sẽ mở rộng và tình hình sẽ trở nên ngày càng phức tạp hơn, bởi với việc hai eo biển Hormuz và Bab el-Mandeb ở Hồng Hải bị ngăn chặn, không một con tàu nào có thể đi qua tại khu vực này. » Sẵn sàng tham gia cuộc chiến « bất cân xứng » chống đại cường Cho đến nay, lực lượng Houthi mới tấn công Israel và chưa có hành động ngăn cản tự do hàng hải tại eo biển Bab el-Mandeb, thỏa thuận hưu chiến với Mỹ vẫn được duy trì theo nhiều nhà quan sát, trái ngược với nhận định của cựu đại sứ Pháp tại Ả Rập Xê Út. Chuyên gia Viện Phân tích chiến lược Pháp David Rigoulet-Roze lưu ý, với cuộc tấn công này, lực lượng Houthi muốn bắn tín hiệu đến Mỹ và Ả Rập Xê Út (chương trình Arte) : « Ẩn dưới hành động này, phe Houthi đã ngầm gửi đi một thông điệp đến Mỹ và Ả Rập Xê Út. Cụ thể là lực lượng Houthi có khả năng lập một liên minh với Teheran để phản công. Điều quan trọng cần nhớ là kể từ năm 2015, lực lượng Houthi đã liên tục oanh kích Ả Rập Xê Út bằng tên lửa. Sân bay của Các Tiểu Vương Quốc Ả Rập Thống nhất cũng từng bị tấn công. Ả Rập Xê Út sẽ phải đối đầu với hai địch thủ. Đây là điều không thể bỏ qua, cho dù khả năng hoạt động của lực lượng Houthi vẫn còn bị hạn chế. Việc có thêm mối đe dọa tiềm tàng ở sau lưng, bên cạnh mối đe dọa trực tiếp từ Iran, quả thực là khiến Ả Rập Xê Út lâm vào thế khó. Vì vậy, lực lượng Houthi không chỉ gây khó cho riêng Israel, mà toàn bộ cấu trúc an ninh khu vực đang bị xáo trộn, với những hậu quả rất, rất khó lường. » Một số nhà quan sát, như chính trị gia Pháp Thierry Breton, cựu ủy viên Châu Âu, xem cuộc chiến Iran chống Mỹ là cuộc chiến tranh « bất cân xứng » chống lại đại cường, mang tầm vóc thế giới « đầu tiên » trong kỉ nguyên đương đại (bài « Cuộc chiến tranh thế giới bất cân xứng đầu tiên », Le Grand Continent, ngày 27/03/2026). Một bên với vũ khí tối tân, chi phí lớn, muốn tập trung kết thúc trong thời gian ngắn, bên kia chủ trương kéo dài chiến tranh với cường độ thấp. Trong chiến lược chiến tranh « bất cân xứng », lực lượng Houthi có thể đóng vai trò đắc lực khi đe dọa eo biển ở Hồng Hải, có thể tác động mạnh đến các nước trong khu vực, đặc biệt là Ai Cập, mà một phần lớn nền kinh tế dựa vào kênh đào Suez, buộc các nước gây áp lực với Mỹ chấm dứt chiến tranh.    Houthi : « Proxy » của Iran hay tự chủ về chiến lược ? Lực lượng Houthi rõ ràng là chỗ dựa đắc lực của chế độ Hồi giáo Iran trong cuộc đối đầu với đại cường Hoa Kỳ. Tuy nhiên, trong vấn đề này, giới quan sát có hai luồng quan điểm đối nghịch. Nếu như nhiều người, như chuyên gia David Rigoulet-Roze cho rằng Houthi là « lực lượng ủy nhiệm » (proxy) hay thế lực thừa hành mệnh lệnh từ Iran (cho dù tác giả có ghi nhận đây là một proxy không giống như các proxy khác), thì ông Élie Tenenbaum, Viện Quan hệ Quốc tế của Pháp (IFRI), phê phán việc lạm dụng khái niệm « proxy », và khẳng định tính chất tự chủ cao về chiến lược của người Houthi (chương trình Arte) : « Houthi và Iran là các tác nhân có quyền tự chủ chiến lược riêng. Họ xích lại gần nhau vì nhu cầu hợp tác. Ngược lại với trường hợp của lực lượng Hezbollah ở Liban, Houthi không phải do Iran lập ra. Chế độ Teheran không có chỗ đứng nào trong giai đoạn khởi nguồn của phong trào Houthi. Mối liên hệ với Iran chỉ dần dần gia tăng từ năm 2015. Ban đầu, hỗ trợ của Iran rất hạn chế. Có sự hỗ trợ về vũ khí và tài chính, và có cả việc chuyển giao công nghệ, nhưng các tên lửa của Yemen chẳng hạn không hoàn toàn là tên lửa của Iran, mà là những tên lửa sử dụng công nghệ của Iran, đã được Yemen chế tạo theo cách của mình ». Houthi, tuy tham gia « Trục kháng chiến », chống bá quyền của Mỹ và chủ nghĩa dân tộc Do Thái cực đoan (Sionism), do Iran đứng đầu, nhưng chủ động về chiến lược. Đó cũng là quan điểm của chuyên gia hàng đầu về Yemen, ông Bruce Riedel, nhà phân tích của cơ quan tình báo Mỹ CIA đã nghỉ hưu, cố vấn cấp cao bốn đời tổng thống Mỹ, tác giả cuốn « Nước Mỹ và người Yemen » (Tọa đàm trực tuyến do viện tư vấn Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, có trụ sở tại Washington, tổ chức đầu năm 2024). Hòa bình cho người Palestine, hòa bình và độc lập cho dân tộc Yemen là những mục tiêu chủ chốt mà lực lượng Houthi theo đuổi cho đến nay, theo nhiều chuyên gia về Yemen.

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5:05 - Jordana Miller joins Amy with the latest from Jerusalem, talking about the US/Israeli War in Iran. 5:20 - The House Whisperer Dean Sharp discusses steps you can take to attract more birds and bees into your yard. 5:35 - The latest financial news from Bloomberg 5:50 - Will Ganss joins the show to talk about the latest Hollywood news. Is Project Hail Mary really that good?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa and I discuss the remarkable prophetess and judge in Isarel, Deborah. I consider the awkwardness of unwritten rules when it comes to paying workers. I give a summary of the ministry and message of the prophet Daniel and conclude by reminding us that we are to look through His good gifts to Him, the Giver.

Tuần vừa qua, xung đột leo thang giữa Mỹ - Isarel và Iran đã gây ra nhiều tác động toàn cầu. Trong đó, vận tải biển đang phải chịu ảnh hưởng nặng nề khi tuyến vận tải đi qua vịnh Ba Tư bị tắc nghẽn nghiêm trọng. Và đây cũng là nguyên nhân khiến giá xăng dầu toàn cầu tăng cao trong tuần qua.

Ce mardi 10 mars, Jacques Lemoisson, fondateur de Gate Capital Management, était l'invité d'Annalisa Cappellini dans Le monde qui bouge - L'Interview, de l'émission Good Morning Business, présentée par Laure Closier. Ils ont discuté du rôle de la Chine dans le conflit iranien, en tant que premier importateur mondial de pétrole, ainsi que des enjeux entre soutenir l'Iran et faire sortir le pétrole hors du pays. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.

Despite being named in the Epstein files, the former P-M maintains he never met the sex offender Calls for calm ahead of anti Isarel protests Bondi terrorist's widow asked police to fund his funeralSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite being named in the Epstein files, the former P-M maintains he never met the sex offender Calls for calm ahead of anti Isarel protests Bondi terrorist's widow asked police to fund his funeralSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite being named in the Epstein files, the former P-M maintains he never met the sex offender Calls for calm ahead of anti Isarel protests Bondi terrorist's widow asked police to fund his funeralSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST OF TST: The United States is close to declaring war on Venezuela. Well, sort of; the President said he won't actually seek a declaration from Congress and instead just “kill people that are bringing drugs into our country.” Just prior, however, the White House gave Maduro an ultimatum to flee Venezuela. So are we killing people with drugs on boats or orchestrating regime change? The 2024 US DOJ-DEA National Drug Threat Assessment literally did not even mention Venezuela. The only recent major indictment of the country came from a Presidential Memorandum on September 15, 2024, which declared several countries as having failed in “their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements.” Ironically, the President made “null” and “void” all “documents, proclamations, Executive Orders, Memorandums, or Contracts,” signed under former President Biden's autopen, essentially erasing the declaration that Venezuela had any connection serious to drug trafficking. But for drugs like fentanyl, nearly 100% of it comes through Mexico. One would be confused in learning this and then trying to figure out why the White House has targeted Venezuela in the name of those same drugs. Remember, Mexico refused to assist in cleaning up the cartels under Claudia Sheinbaum, and it is her ethno-state, Israel, which is verifiably behind training the cartels, arming them, and facilitating through HIAS mass human trafficking. The White House is also saying that Venezuela is a host of illegal immigration, though Mexico and several other countries play a far greater role.  This has people thinking that the whole issue is about oil, something the US State Department has denied. But perhaps it is about Sheinbaum. While Javier Milei of Argentina, who is also Jewish, just launched the Isaac Accords to strengthen political, economic and cultural cooperation between Israel and Latin America, Maduro of Venezuela, who himself has Jewish heritage, has consistently been condemning Israel as holding “an ideology more dangerous than Nazism.” He has accused Jews of controlling his opposition and the media, the same media now telling the public we have to stop Venezuelan drug trafficking by regime change only. Or perhaps, Maduro, who is Jewish, is playing the role of turning over the resource rich country to the US-Israel alliance, hence why he was given the option to flee. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.WEBSITEFREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVE-X / TWITTERFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMYOUTUBERUMBLE-BUY ME A COFFEECashApp: $rdgable PAYPAL: rdgable1991@gmail.comRyan's Books: https://thesecretteachings.info - EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / rdgable1991@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Kế hoạch hòa bình cho Gaza của tổng thống Mỹ Donald Trump được các bên xung đột chấp thuận và giai đoạn một đã nhanh chóng được triển khai vào giữa tháng 10/2025. Lần đầu từ kể khi xung đột bùng nổ cách nay hai năm, viễn cảnh hòa bình lâu dài cho Gaza hé mở. Giải giáp lực lượng quân sự của Hamas là đòi hỏi chủ yếu của Israel để tổ chức mà nhiều nước phương Tây coi là « khủng bố » này không còn là mối đe dọa với Nhà nước Do Thái. Tổ chức Hamas không tự nguyện buông súng và để ngỏ khả năng gắn liền vấn đề này với sự ra đời của một Nhà nước Palestine có chủ quyền. Theo giới quan sát, viễn cảnh giải giáp lực lượng Hamas, một nội dung chính trong kế hoạch hòa bình 20 điểm của tổng thống Mỹ, có khả năng thực thi được hay không là một vấn đề còn hoàn toàn để ngỏ. Hamas suy yếu, buộc phải chấp nhận thỏa thuận « hạ vũ khí » Sau khi kế hoạch 20 điểm của tổng thống Mỹ được công bố, chuyên gia về chiến tranh đô thị John Spencer, Học viện Quân sự Hoa Kỳ tại West Point, một người thân cận với thủ tướng Israel Netanyahu, tỏ ra rất tin tưởng vào viễn cảnh thực thi việc tước vũ khí của Hamas: « Kế hoạch 20 điểm được thảo ra là một kế hoạch hòa bình toàn diện, hoàn toàn loại bỏ Hamas khỏi vai trò là một tác nhân. Nếu mọi điểm của kế hoạch đó được tuân thủ thì sẽ không còn Hamas nữa. Hamas sẽ không có vai trò gì trong các nỗ lực chính trị, thậm chí là trong các hoạt động xây dựng xã hội trong tương lai. Điều quan trọng nữa là các quốc gia với đa số là người Ả Rập và Hồi giáo đã ký kết vào kế hoạch này. Đây không phải là một thương vụ để đàm phán, mà là một kế hoạch 20 điểm để thực hiện… Dải Gaza sẽ được phi cực đoan hóa và phi quân sự hóa. Hamas sẽ phải từ bỏ tất cả vũ khí. Chắc chắn kế hoạch này là chiến thắng hoàn toàn của Israel, nhưng cũng phục vụ các lợi ích của người Palestine không thuộc Hamas. Người Palestine sẽ có một chính phủ mới. Sẽ có một chương trình giáo dục giải cực đoan, và thậm chí cả con đường hướng tới quyền tự quyết của người Palestine nói chung. Kế hoạch này mang lại nhiều tiềm năng nhất cho hòa bình, không chỉ cho Gaza mà còn cho người dân Palestine. » Đọc thêm : Israel và Hamas đạt thỏa thuận về giai đoạn đầu trong kế hoạch hòa bình của Trump cho Gaza Tuy nhiên, thách thức của việc thực thi mục tiêu giải giới lực lượng vũ trang Hamas nằm ngay trong các điều khoản của kế hoạch này. Theo nhà nghiên cứu David Rigoulet-Roze, Viện Phân tích Chiến lược Pháp (IFAS), chuyên gia về các cuộc xung đột ở Trung Đông, điều 13 của kế hoạch quy định việc « phi quân sự hóa » bao gồm phá hủy cơ sở hạ tầng quân sự (đường hầm, kho vũ khí và xưởng sản xuất vũ khí), nhưng hiện tại vẫn chưa có thỏa thuận cụ thể về việc giám sát quá trình này. Trong chuyến công du mới đây tại Israel, phó tổng thống Mỹ J.D Vance thừa nhận là không có thời hạn cụ thể cho việc giải giáp Hamas. Sau hai năm chiến tranh, Hamas vẫn là một thế lực Theo giới chuyên gia, hai năm sau khi xung đột bắt đầu, lực lượng Hamas vẫn bám trụ vững chắc ở dải Gaza, mặc dù suy yếu nhiều. Hiện chưa có số liệu thống kê chính xác về tổn thất của phong trào Hồi giáo này. Nhiều nguồn tin đưa ra con số từ 8.000 đến 12.000 chiến binh thiệt mạng trong hai năm chiến tranh, trên tổng số 25.000 đến 30.000 chiến binh Palestine trước vụ khủng bố ngày 07/10/2023.  Hamas có thể vẫn tiếp tục tuyển mộ thêm đến 15.000 chiến binh trong thời gian chiến tranh chống Israel, theo một số nguồn tin Mỹ, được trang mạng Bỉ RTL trích dẫn. Theo truyền thông Anh quốc, chỉ vài giờ sau khi lệnh ngừng bắn được thực thi, Hamas đã ngay lập tức triển khai đến 7.000 chiến binh trên những vùng đất mà Israel rút quân. Một số giới chức Hamas cho biết mục tiêu là để bảo đảm an ninh chống lại những kẻ trộm cướp và các băng đảng người Palestine được sự hậu thuẫn của quân đội Israel trước đây. Đọc thêm - Trung Đông : Phe Hamas từ chối cam kết giải giáp Hamas sở hữu một kho vũ khí đa dạng, bao gồm vũ khí hạng nhẹ, hỏa tiễn tự chế và drone thô sơ. Theo ghi nhận năm 2018 của Small Arms Survey, một chương trình nghiên cứu chuyên về vũ khí của Thụy Sĩ, Hamas từ lâu đã phát triển một ngành công nghiệp tại chỗ để sản xuất hỏa tiễn từ các vật liệu dân dụng. Dự trữ vũ khí của Hamas được đánh giá là phân tán, rất khó truy tìm. Sức mạnh Hamas (1) : Hệ thống đường hầm hàng trăm cây số Sức mạnh quân sự của Hamas một phần chủ yếu dựa vào các hệ thống đường hầm nằm sâu trong lòng đất dài hàng trăm cây số, và các đô thị ở dải Gaza được Hamas dày công xây dựng để biến thành các thành lũy khó chinh phục. Chuyên gia về chiến tranh đô thị John Spencer nhận định hệ thống đường hầm quân sự nhưng gắn liền với các công trình dân sự, và hệ thống phòng thủ đô thị nói chung ở Gaza là độc nhất vô nhị : « Hamas cai quản dải Gaza từ năm 2005 đã chi hơn một tỷ đô la cho hệ thống đường hầm phức hợp ước tính dài hơn 350 dặm, dành cho mục đích quân sự, nằm bên dưới các khu vực đô thị của Gaza, bắt đầu từ ngay dưới các tòa nhà cho đến hơn độ sâu khoảng 60 mét dưới lòng đất. Không chỉ đường hầm, mà mọi khía cạnh của môi trường Gaza đã được Hamas chuẩn bị cho chiến tranh trong vòng 20 năm, kể từ khi họ nắm quyền vào năm 2007. Nhưng trước đó nữa, ngay cả trong giai đoạn Israel chiếm đóng dải Gaza (cho đến năm 2005), Hamas đã xây dựng nhiều đường hầm vì mục tiêu quân sự. Đó là một điều rất độc đáo và thực sự độc nhất vô nhị trong lịch sử chiến tranh đô thị. Trong lịch sử, hầu hết các trận chiến đô thị đều là nơi mà bên phòng thủ có rất ít thời gian chuẩn bị. Càng có nhiều thời gian chuẩn bị phòng thủ thì chiến tranh càng kéo dài và càng tàn khốc. Một số trận chiến lớn nhất trong lịch sử chiến tranh đô thị như Stalingrad về cơ bản là giao tranh giữa hai lực lượng quân đội trên địa hình đô thị. Trận chiến đô thị lớn nhất kể từ Đệ nhị Thế chiến II, trước chiến tranh Ukraina, là trận Mosul, một trận chiến kéo dài chín tháng để giành lại thành phố từ tay tổ chức Nhà nước Hồi giáo. Phải huy động đến hơn 100.000 quân, lực lượng an ninh Irak mới giành lại được thành phố (có từ 3.000 đến 5.000 quân cố thủ), vì Daech đã có hai năm chuẩn bị phòng thủ. Trong khi tại thành phố lớn như Gaza, Hamas đã có 20 năm chuẩn bị. Bên dưới mỗi bước chân người đi đường đều có một đường hầm. Về cơ bản, mọi ngôi nhà đều đã được quân sự hóa, hầu hết đều có kho chứa bom, thiết bị nổ tự chế hoặc vị trí bắn tỉa. » Sau hai năm chiến tranh, với khoảng 80% khu vực Gaza bị phá hủy, và 90% vũ khí hạng nặng của Hamas bị tiêu hủy, theo quân đội Israel, Hamas không còn là mối đe dọa trực tiếp với Israel, nhưng 60% của hệ thống đường hầm 500, 600 km vẫn còn nguyên vẹn, theo số liệu của chính Israel. Sức mạnh của Hamas không chỉ ở hệ thống đường hầm quân sự độc nhất vô nhị này, mà một phần chủ yếu nằm ở việc tại dải Gaza, Hamas không có đối thủ cạnh tranh. Theo nhà nghiên cứu Hugh Lovatt, chuyên về Trung Đông và Bắc Phi tại Hội đồng Quan hệ Đối ngoại Châu Âu, Hamas không thể sụp đổ, do các nhóm đối địch « không có đủ sức mạnh quân sự để đạt được điều này » và « cũng không có được sự ủng hộ của người Palestine, nhất là khi họ bị mất uy tín do mối quan hệ với Israel ». Sức mạnh Hamas (2): Từ phong trào thuần túy tôn giáo đến bàn tay sắt tại Gaza Về nguồn gốc của tổ chức độc quyền thống trị dải Gaza từ năm 2006, nhà xã hội học chính trị Laetitia Bucaille, Viện INALCO và Trung tâm CESMA, tác giả cuốn « Gaza quel avenir ? » (Tương lai nào cho Gaza ?) vừa ra mắt, nhấn mạnh đến quan hệ với Huynh đệ Hồi giáo, một tổ chức tôn giáo với tham vọng chính trị mang tầm vóc khu vực (Radio France) : « Hamas là từ viết tắt tiếng Ả Rập của Phong trào Kháng chiến Hồi giáo, được thành lập vào cuối năm 1987, thời điểm bắt đầu Intifada lần thứ nhất, tức phong trào phản kháng của người Palestine chống lại ách cai trị của Isarel. Phong trào này là một nhánh chính trị của tổ chức Huynh đệ Hồi Giáo. Chúng ta biết là Huynh đệ Hồi giáo bắt đầu thành lập các mạng lưới hoạt động tại các vùng lãnh thổ Palestine vào cuối những năm 1970, được Ả Rập Xê Út và Koweit tài trợ. Các thế lực này dựa vào việc tái Hồi giáo hóa xã hội để chuẩn bị về dài hạn tái chiếm Palestine. Với họ, chủ nghĩa dân tộc Ả Rập thế tục đã thất bại, và họ tin tưởng lực lượng tiếp nối giúp đạt được mục tiêu này chính là Hồi giáo. » Hamas độc quyền thống trị tại dải Gaza sau cuộc bầu cử năm 2006. Nhà nhân chủng học Đức Susanne Schroter, trong bộ phim tài liệu « Hệ thống Hamas » (của Arte), mô tả « sau chiến thắng bầu cử, họ đã tấn công Fatah, một phong trào chính trị yếu hơn, bằng những hành động cực kỳ tàn bạo. Bắn người tại nơi làm việc, buộc họ phải rời bỏ nhà cửa, trục xuất họ khỏi đất nước. Hamas đã bộc lộ bản chất thật sự của mình và gửi một thông điệp rõ ràng đến người dân Palestine: Không có sự phản đối nào được dung thứ. » Đọc thêm - Điểm lại lịch sử tranh đấu vì độc lập: Từ "20 năm bị xóa sổ" đến Nhà nước Palestine Nhà sử học Đức Ulrik Becker, cũng trong bộ phim tài liệu nói trên, nhấn mạnh đến việc tổ chức Hồi giáo này, trong thời gian độc quyền kiểm soát Gaza, đã truyền bá rộng rãi tư tưởng thánh chiến dân tộc chủ nghĩa chống Israel cho trẻ em, ngay từ trong nhà trường : « Điều tôi thấy bi thảm và đặc biệt khủng khiếp là hệ tư tưởng hiếu chiến và bài Do Thái này đang được gieo rắc vào đầu óc trẻ em từ rất nhỏ. Thật đáng sợ khi thấy ý tưởng hy sinh bản thân vì lý tưởng thánh chiến lại xuất hiện trong sách giáo khoa và trong mọi môn học. Ví dụ, trong môn toán, có những bài tập như, ‘‘chênh lệch giữa số liệt sĩ bị giết trong cuộc Intifada đầu tiên với cuộc Intifada thứ hai là bao nhiêu ?'' hoặc trong môn vật lý, ‘‘dùng ná cao su để nhắm vào người Israel, cần tính toán góc bắn như thế nào'' ». Vòng xoáy hận thù Israel – Palestine: Mảnh đất màu mỡ cho Hamas và quyền lực của Netanyahu Kế hoạch hòa bình 20 điểm cho Gaza của tổng thống Mỹ không xác định rõ lộ trình giải giáp Hamas, không có thời hạn cho việc phi quân sự hóa Gaza. Sau hai năm chiến tranh, bất chấp các tổn thất nặng nề, lực lượng quân sự Hồi giáo dân tộc chủ nghĩa Hamas vẫn còn sở hữu hàng trăm cây số đường hầm, được coi là căn cứ địa vững chắc. Đông đảo người dân Palestine tại vùng đất này, đặc biệt là giới trẻ dường như vẫn tin theo tư tưởng dân tộc chủ nghĩa Hồi giáo chống Israel mà Hamas truyền bá sâu rộng. Chưa kể các hậu thuẫn to lớn từ Qatar hay Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ (xem thêm : Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ và Palestine bàn cách viện trợ nhân đạo cho Gaza không qua Israel, RFI). Làm thế nào có thể giải giới được tổ chức Hamas tại dải Gaza trong những điều kiện như vậy ? Đọc thêm : Hòa bình cho Gaza: Vì sao « kế hoạch » của Trump có nguy cơ đổ bể ? Theo nhiều chuyên gia, để chấm dứt vòng xoáy hận thù miên viễn, cần trở lại cái gốc của vấn đề. Đó là đòi hỏi công nhận một nhà nước Palestine có chủ quyền tại các vùng đất đã được quốc tế nhìn nhận. Cho đến nay, cản trở cho hòa bình đến từ cả hai phía. Chuyên gia về xung đột Palestine – Israel Laetitia Bucaille nhận định : « Kể từ Hiệp định Oslo, Hamas đã cố gắng khẳng định vị thế của mình trên chính trường với tư cách là một đối tác chính trị. Nhưng họ chưa bao giờ trở thành một đối tác như vậy với cả Israel lẫn phương Tây, bởi đòi hỏi trước hết là Hamas phải từ bỏ bạo lực, công nhận Hiệp định Oslo và công nhận Israel. Nhưng rõ ràng, Hamas không muốn thực hiện ba điều kiện này nếu không nhận lại bất cứ điều gì. Vì vậy, họ chưa bao giờ làm được điều đó. » Một số chuyên gia, như nhà nghiên cứu Sébastien Boussois (La Tribune), chỉ trích việc chính quyền Israel của thủ tướng Netanyahu trong một thời gian dài xem việc dung dưỡng Hamas như là một thủ đoạn ngăn cản việc khẳng định một nhà nước Palestine độc lập, góp phần làm tình hình thêm trầm trọng. “Hoà bình bằng vũ lực” hay Chung sống hòa bình ? Việc Israel muốn chấm dứt mối đe dọa Hamas cần gắn liền với việc Tel Aviv công nhận Nhà nước Palestine, đình chỉ việc xâm chiếm các vùng đất Palestine. Trả lời RFI, chuyên gia về Trung Đông, giáo sư Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, chủ tịch Viện Nghiên cứu về Trung Đông – Địa Trung Hải (IReMMO) nhận định : « Nếu có một điều không bao giờ hiệu quả, đó là hòa bình bằng vũ lực. Hành động kiểu này sẽ chỉ tạo ra các lực lượng đối kháng và bạo lực đối kháng. Hòa bình thực sự chỉ có thể được thiết lập khi lợi ích của tất cả các bên được xem xét trong một thỏa hiệp rộng rãi mang tầm vóc lịch sử. Nếu chỉ là hòa bình bằng vũ lực, bằng cách ném bom Liban, ném bom Syria, v.v., chúng ta sẽ có một giai đoạn mà đối phương bị khuất phục, điều không thể phủ nhận được. Nhưng đó chỉ là sự thống trị của kẻ ngạo mạn. Sau đó, một khi khói lửa lắng xuống, người ta sẽ lại phải đối diện với cùng các vấn đề tương tự, nhưng trầm trọng hơn. Đọc thêm - Hòa bình cho Gaza và lợi ích của gia đình Trump : Một công đôi việc Câu hỏi đầu tiên mà chúng ta đặt ra là lệnh ngừng bắn và thỏa thuận đình chiến này sẽ hướng đến điều gì ? Sẽ đi theo hướng thuần túy kinh tế-thương mại như tổng thống Mỹ Donald Trump đã vạch ra ? Hay từ đây chúng ta sẽ nghĩ đến một điều gì khác mang tính toàn thể hơn, như hướng đến thực thi giải pháp hai Nhà nước Israel và Palestine cùng tồn tại ? Đối với tôi, đó là lựa chọn khả dĩ duy nhất. Nhưng hiện tại không có gì là chắc chắn cả. »

Title: Good News Reviled Text: Acts 28:17-22 FCF: We often struggle making the gospel the only offender of the world. Prop: Because the gospel offends sinful men and our character can hinder the gospel call, we must be blameless in our character. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 28. In a moment we will read starting from verse 17 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. By the hospitality and brotherly love provided to him by fellow followers of Christ, Paul has made it safely to Rome. He has been set up with a rented room and is under house arrest being guarded by a Roman soldier. Still, he is afforded a good deal of freedom, and today we will see that he really doesn't waste a lot of time before he sets out to work in the city of Rome. But where will Paul begin the ministry in Rome while he waits to see Caesar? Let's find out. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Oh Heavenly Father, we come to you today with hearts that desire that the whole world hears the good news of Your Son and His sacrifice for His people. We know that no man is without excuse having all the signs of nature around them. Yet we desire to share with them the hope of Christ crucified for sinners. We confess and know that you alone save the hearts of men. We cannot be persuasive enough to convince men to believe. You must give them a new heart to first. Still, we desire to be Your servants in delivering this call to the nations. At times we can live in ways that keep us from doing this. May we be shown by Your Spirit today, Lord, how we can live blamelessly so that we can be granted an audience with those who need to hear. We pray this in Jesus' name… Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] Richard Own Roberts: “The nature of the gospel is that it divides.” Charles Coleson: “The gospel is good news. But Jesus never said it was easy news.” Oswald Chambers: “There is nothing attractive about the gospel to the natural man; the only man who finds the gospel attractive is the man who is convicted of sin.” Since the gospel is this way… we must be sure that we don't provide even more reasons for natural man to turn aside from the gospel. May our offense be from the gospel alone and nothing else. Let me show you how this was Paul's concern… I.) Violating laws of government or using the legal system for vengeance harms the church's gospel witness, so we must be blameless in our character. a. [Slide 3] 17 - And it happened that after three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, i. So, Paul spends a little time settling in, no doubt getting accustomed to his new living arrangement and getting some specifics of what he can and cannot do. ii. It seems as though he is sequestered to his home and if he is permitted to go out, it would only be for essentials. iii. All the interactions we see in the book of Acts are when people come to Paul. iv. Because of Paul's love for his fellow Jews, and as was his custom in every new city he arrived in, if there were Jews present, he took the gospel to the Jews first. v. Normally he would go to the synagogue, where he would find the leading Jews of the city. However, because he cannot leave his home, he found it necessary to call them to him. vi. It is necessary for us to do a bit of historical background to fill out some of the context for this last segment of the book of Acts. 1. First, in regard to the Jews in Rome. a. In AD 48, Emperor Claudius responded to growing tensions in Rome between Jews and Jewish Christians by expelling all the Jews from Rome. b. When Paul entered Corinth for the first time on his second missionary journey, he met Aquila and Pricilla there. They were said to have been Jewish Christians who were expelled from Rome due to Claudius' edict. c. Before the expulsion there were probably around 40-50 thousand Jews living in Rome. d. Emperor Claudius died in AD 54 but Nero did not reinstate this edict. e. So, for the last 6 years or so, Jews had been steadily making their way back. f. It is estimated that there were around 20,000 Jews living in Rome at this time. g. Because of the recent expulsion though, history seems to indicate that the returning Jews tried to maintain a low profile within the city of Rome. There were at least 5 synagogues but they did not seem to be highly organized and the social status of the Jews living in Rome seemed to be rather low class and probably largely illiterate. h. Nevertheless, The Jews' influence over the Romans was not insignificant. Indeed, many high-profile Romans had converted to Judaism, which would have been quite scandalous for pagans to go from polytheism to monotheism. i. It is believed that Nero's second wife, which he would have been married to at the time of Paul's arrival in Rome, was at very least a Jewish sympathizer if not Jewess herself. 2. We also know that a thriving Christian community exists within the city of Rome. a. We glean this not only from the church existing in Rome for many years but also because of Paul's letter to the Romans indicating a thriving church albeit somewhat theologically imprecise. b. Luke has already shown us the interaction Paul had with some Christians from Rome as he made his way to the city. c. But Luke chooses not to focus on Paul's interaction with the church once he arrives. Instead, he focuses on Paul's desire to go to the Jew first with the gospel message. d. Luke does this in order to show yet another major theme in the book of Acts. Christianity is not a new religion. And no one thought so. Not even the Jews in Rome. More on that in a bit. b. [Slide 4] and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. i. Paul, wisely, tries to get ahead of the issue for which he has been sent to Rome. ii. In a sense, Paul is trying to put a truthful spin on the events that have led him here because he knows that those who have opposed him have not been the kind to value or always tell the truth. iii. So, what does he say? iv. He says first, that he has been a good Jew. He has not done anything against the Jewish people nor has he done anything against the customs of their fathers. v. Is this true? 1. We know that Paul has overtly violated the somewhat cultural law not to eat with gentiles. We also guess that he has himself violated the dietary laws while with Gentiles. 2. He has even advocated in some of his letters that the eating of meat offered to idols is not necessarily or inherently sinful so long it does not cause others to violate their conscience and so long as it is not consumed at the worship feasts for these idols. 3. Again, this goes back to what God has said about the dietary laws in the first place in Acts chapter 10. It is not that these laws are no longer in force. It is that God has purified the unclean animals. Therefore, the list of animals which are unclean is populated by exactly zero animals. 4. We have recently discussed something similar in foundations. When something ritually unclean interacts with God's presence, the ritually unclean thing is made clean. This is another aspect of Christ fulfilling the law of Moses. Ceremonial aspects of the law are completed, fulfilled. The picture they illustrated now has come to full fruition. 5. God making the unclean animals clean, is a signal that God's Kingdom is invading and permeating the world – whether the world wants it to or not. 6. But despite Paul probably not following dietary laws, we have seen him encourage Timothy to be circumcised. He has made great effort to regularly be in Jerusalem for ritual feasts and celebrations. He has even endured purity rites after having spent large amounts of time in gentile lands with gentile people. And he did this specifically to assuage the fears of Jewish Christians that he was teaching that the Jews should stop following the ceremonial aspects of the law of Moses. He wasn't. 7. And that brings us to what most recently happened in Jerusalem. 8. Did Paul do anything against the law of Moses or against the culture of the Jewish Fathers while he was in Jerusalem this past time? 9. The answer to that question is a resounding… NO. 10. They accused him of bringing gentiles into the temple courts, which is not actually in the law of Moses but would have been a tradition dating back to the late second temple era. 11. And, of course, Paul hadn't brought a gentile into the temple courts. vi. This is what Paul is referencing. He obviously cannot mean that he has never done anything to upset the Jewish sensibilities or cultural mores. Because he has definitely done that. vii. But Paul, in the most recent events in Jerusalem, was innocent of even doing that. viii. In spite of his innocence, they still delivered him to the Romans. ix. It is unclear which Romans he is talking about here, but it matters little because at every stage the same thing happened… c. [Slide 5] 18 - And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death. i. Now when the Sanhedrin examined Paul – they wanted to find cause to put him to death. ii. In the midst of that trial, Paul pivoted the discussion to center on the resurrection of the dead. A matter that is both core to the gospel and highly disputed among the Sanhedrin between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. iii. But in every stage of Roman imprisonment, Luke dutifully records the testimony of each judge-like-figure to be a declaration of Paul's innocence. At least innocence of anything for which he would be executed. iv. This is what Paul recounts. v. No Roman official saw any evidence of a charge which would lead to his execution. vi. Of course, this begs the question… well then how did you get here? d. [Slide 6] 19 - But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. i. This is a very quick summary of what took over 2 years to play out. ii. Festus saw no grounds to hold him on anything Roman, so he attempted to compromise with the Jews to curry their favor, and have the judgment of Paul take place in Jerusalem. iii. Paul had seen this play out before and did not trust Festus to be just in his dealings with him. iv. So, Paul was forced to appeal to Caesar. v. Paul knew it was because of the Jews' insistence that Festus desired to move the trail to Jerusalem. vi. And Paul knew the Jews wanted him dead any way they could because he actually discovered at least one of the two plots to kill him during this time. vii. But Paul assures these Roman Jews that he did not have an accusation against his nation. viii. If a Roman citizen is appealing to Caesar they can do so on a couple of grounds. ix. Either they feel as though the judge has acted unjustly or the ruling is unjust… or that those accusing are doing so unlawfully or with intent to not honor the legal system and harm the prisoner. x. Thus, Paul could bring a countersuit against the Jewish leaders for their sham of a trial. And he would be just to do so. xi. But Paul wants the Roman Jews to know that he did not appeal because he wanted to submit a countersuit. xii. He simply desired to go before Caesar because he did not feel that the justice he deserved would have been granted to him otherwise. e. [Slide 7] 20 - For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.” i. Finally, Paul wants to make it very plain why he is here as a prisoner of Rome appealing to Caesar. ii. What exactly was the beef was between him and the Jews in Judea? iii. It is because of the hope of Israel. He was given over to the Romans because of a theological dispute. iv. Specifically, he took the side of the Pharisees, which insisted that there was a hope for Israel in that there would be a future resurrection of all those who were God's people. An eternal kingdom made up of all those who were true Israel. v. Couched in this, of course, is the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah who was the first born from the dead. vi. This seems to be one of Paul's primary strategies to lead into presenting the gospel to Jews. To speak of this theological issue where he takes an established and very popular position in the debate and then expands it to speak of Jesus. vii. We'll see that he will do just that next week when he meets with the Jews again. f. [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: Luke begins this final segment in the book of Acts centered around some of the key themes he has been developing since the beginning. Indeed, everything in this text this morning is centered on the expansion of the church. In this first point specifically we see Luke zero in on the reason that Paul is here in Rome under house arrest set to appear before Caesar. It is incredibly important for Paul to clarify to the Jews of Rome why he is really in chains. Indeed, in order for Paul to have an audience with them to preach the gospel, he must clear his name from any hint of wrongdoing from the authorities of the Jews and of the Romans. If Paul is to preach the gospel to them, he cannot be viewed as a criminal. And so, Paul sets out to clarify that he is neither in chains for violating the Mosaic law and the customs of the Jews, nor is he in chains because he had committed some crime worthy of death according to Rome, nor does he plan to seek vengeance upon the Jews by filing a countersuit against them. Instead, Paul insists that he is in chains for the sake of the hope of Isarel. He is in chains because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This becomes our primary point of application today. We must be sure that our character is blameless and holy. Not as a replacement for preaching the gospel… but to keep ourselves from setting up unnecessary hindrances to people hearing the gospel. If we are criminals violating laws of men that do not directly contradict God's Word, or we use the legal system to seek vengeance on others, we should expect the gospel witness of the church to be hindered. So, we must live holy and upright lives, only suffering disdain for the sake of the gospel. Transition: [Slide 9(blank)] Being blameless affords us opportunities to give the call of the gospel to unbelievers. Does this mean that if we are blameless they will listen and receive the gospel? Will they even like us or see us as blameless? Let's look at the next two verses as the Roman Jews respond to Paul. II.) Stirring up disputes and social unrest while preaching the gospel cannot be helped, so we must be blameless in our character. a. [Slide 10] 21 - And they said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. i. After Paul explains his side of the story hoping to control the opinion of the Roman Jews, somewhat comically they inform him that this is the first they are hearing about it. ii. In fact, they haven't received any letters from Judea that indicate anything about Paul good or bad. iii. And they certainly haven't seen any brothers from Judea reporting or speaking anything bad about Paul. iv. This is quite comical because it is so anticlimactic. v. Perhaps Paul wasn't laughing. It had been around three years of his life, spent in prisons and shipwrecked, only to find out that the Jews in Judea had not even followed up with the case. vi. Now why might this have been so? vii. The most likely reason is that the Judean Jews had little interest in actually standing before Caesar and attempting to prove that Paul is guilty of a crime worthy of death. 1. If they were having difficulty proving it to local officials, they would certainly have even more difficulty proving it to Nero. 2. Also, this would have required a trip from Judea to Rome in order to accuse the apostle. 3. They were no doubt satisfied that he was no longer in Judea and wouldn't be for the foreseeable future. viii. Another reason they don't pursue it is probably because Festus rules well in the region for the next two years before dying unexpectedly. 1. While Paul travels to and waits in Rome, they enjoyed relative peace and harmony with the local Roman governor. 2. Traveling to Rome and accusing Paul before Nero could have repercussions that may even include Festus being removed from office. 3. They don't want that. ix. This report is also Luke's way as a storyteller to foreshadow the release of Paul after he meets with Nero. 1. It is difficult to know if Luke writes up to the point he knows or if he writes with the shared knowledge that Paul is released and freed to continue his missionary journeys. 2. But since Luke ends his book saying that Paul spent 2 years in Rome preaching without hindrance – it seems like Luke knows the end of the time in Rome, meaning he knows that Paul was released. 3. This would have been a detail that Theophilus was already well aware of. Perhaps because it had happened very recently, and perhaps because Theophilus was part of Roman legal system which acquitted Paul. 4. So, Luke recording this communication between the Roman Jews and Paul is a subtle way to foreshadow that no Jew from Judea is going to show up for Paul's trial. 5. More than likely this means that Paul will stand before Caesar and plead his case, but the trial will probably be very short. 6. Around AD 62 Nero's tutors had died. He loathed dealing with these appeals in the first place and without his tutors insisting that he perform this duty, he was very slow to deal with the backlog of appeals. History records that he rushed through many of these trials. 7. Paul was probably one of them. x. But the Roman Jews, although not knowing anything bad about Paul, are interested in the hope of Israel he spoke of, but not for the reasons we might think. b. [Slide 11] 22 - But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.” i. It is interesting that they understand what Paul says about the hope of Israel. ii. They know that he is a well-known teacher in this sect of Judaism known as “The Nazarene Sect” or “The Way” or “Christianity”. iii. They connect this hope of the resurrection with what the Nazarene sect taught. In many ways, to the Jews, the Nazarene sect would have seemed like an offshoot of the Pharisee party. iv. Learning this it isn't that hard to understand why there would be a Pharisee party within the church like we saw back in Acts 15. v. And once again, Luke reinforces the concept that Christianity is not a new religion. Even the Jews don't see it as a new religion. They see it as a sect of Judaism. Meaning that it is part of their own religion. Of course, the apostles would argue that it is TRUE Judaism and only those who receive Jesus as their Jewish Messiah remain TRUE Jews. But the point is well taken. vi. But why do they wish to know more about this sect? vii. They obviously have some idea of the resurrection being central to its teaching. But the main thing they've heard about it… is that it is causing problems everywhere. viii. And if they were in Rome before Claudius' edict, they would have witnesses this firsthand. ix. And so, we do find out that the Jews around the empire are talking bad about those who followed what Paul taught… not necessarily about him specifically. x. Having set aside the legal concern that he might be executed at this trial, now Paul will get a chance to preach the gospel to the Jews in Rome. xi. We'll see how that goes next week. c. [Slide 12] Summary of the Point: Luke conveys a similar point in verses 21 and 22 as he did in the previous section, only this time from the perspective of the Jews in Rome. They did not know any different of Paul. They had not received letters or any person saying he was a bad person. But they had heard rumblings from all over the empire of the problems that The Nazarene sect had been causing. Having read all of Acts up to this point, we know that they couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, we know that the unbelieving Jews had actually been the cause of all the strife. Primarily because they would not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of this, they stirred up crowds, instigated riots, beat and dragged Christians before judges, and pursued Paul and his team from town to town persecuting them and attempting to prevent them from preaching the gospel. Even if we are blameless, the church will still inevitably cause strife and civil unrest. This is all the more reason for us to ensure that our character remains blameless and that only the gospel offends and not our actions too. Conclusion: So, what have we learned today CBC that corrects and informs our beliefs and shapes and guides our lifestyles. Basics of Faith and Practice: [Slide 13] Today we've seen two truths that flow out of the same thought. The reputation of the church is quite important. When individuals in the church seek out trouble, become lawbreakers themselves, unnecessarily push the boundaries of legality, and/or use the legal system to punish their enemies, this actually hinders the church's ability to share the gospel. And yet, the church's witness to the nations will always cause civil unrest and stir up strife. Why? Because what the church preaches is naturally offensive to the world. So why guard our reputation at all when the message we preach will cause unrest anyway? When it is only the gospel that is offensive it validates and draws attention to its truths and not to us as lawbreakers. So, we must be blameless people. But let me apply this a little more specifically today. 1.) [Slide 14] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that our character can hinder the general call of the gospel. a. Peter and Paul both express in their letters that if you suffer for doing wrong things, there is no reward. You have gotten what you deserve. b. But as Jesus says, if you suffer for my name when you are accused falsely, then you are blessed. c. There is a saying floating around evangelicalism today which says “Preach the gospel and if you must, use words.” d. This represents a tension we must maintain. e. In one sense, the gospel cannot be preached without the Word of God. So, we must use words… always. f. But the point of this saying is well taken and proven by this text. g. The gospel preached without a life lived in blameless character, can severely limit the general call of the gospel. h. The general call is the when the gospel is preached to everyone. This is different than God's effectual call which will be heard by those whom He is drawing to repentance and faith. i. The effectual call is God's job. The General call… is ours. j. And our civilly malevolent behavior can heavily restrict or even eliminate our ability to deliver the general call of the gospel. k. Just as Paul was concerned that the Roman Jews knew that he did nothing to earn the chains he wore, nor did he plan to seek legal vengeance on those who falsely accused him, so too we must concern ourselves with blameless and upright character which becomes the perfect complement to our gospel proclamations. l. At the council of Nicaea, in AD 325 (which incidentally is the most blamed council for all the bad things the Roman Catholic church did. I've heard people say that this is where they decided the books of the bible, this is where they edited the bible to say what they wanted. And many more. But none of that is actually true.) At the real council of Nicaea, and not the one from fantasy, 220 bishops gathered together at the request of Emperor Constantine to define the nature of God and eliminate confusion within the church. m. It is here that Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria brought one of his Elders before the council with whom he could not agree on a particular definition of the divinity of the Son of God. n. Arius argued that Jesus was not fully God and had a beginning, not being eternal. o. He argued so strongly that a bishop known as Nicholas of Myra slapped Arius across the face for his heresy. p. Although never having a history of violence and generally being an example of generosity and giving (yes this is the Nichoas from which the Santa Claus story evolved) Nicholas was immediately stripped of his Bishop status and imprisoned for his actions. He was eventually released and the council did end up condemning Arius' beliefs as heresy, while also clarifying the hypostatic union of Jesus in the writing of the Nicaean Creed q. Still the church universally disapproved of Nicholas' action. r. This serves as a good illustration for us to harmonize this tension. s. I also hate Arianism. And if you are a follower of Christ, you should too. Why? Because Arianism can't save anyone from the judgment of God. t. That's ok, Arianism being declared a heresy means that it has been snuffed out of existence, right? u. No! v. Arianism is still alive and well. w. Modern Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and many more cling to a form of Arianism today. x. But if I were to set out to stamp out Arianism using every means available to me… if I went around slapping Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses, not only would they not listen to my call for them to repent… but other unbelievers would not listen either because of reprehensible behavior. y. Though I preached the gospel to them… pure truth… my actions would cause others to dismiss all that I had to say as something not worth hearing. z. This illustrates the point quite well. aa. Our character can adversely affect whether or not someone is open to hearing the general call of the gospel. bb. This is why Paul went to great lengths to clear his name. cc. But we must not pendulum swing too far here. 2.) [Slide 15] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that the world will accept the gospel if we are loving, kind, and winsome in our proclamation. a. Although poor character can adversely affect whether or not someone hears our gospel proclamation, loving, kind, and winsome character does not guarantee that the world will accept the gospel message. b. All blameless character gives to us is the opportunity to proclaim the gospel. c. It merely gains us an audience. d. If we enter into the ministry of evangelism with the expectation that people will accept the gospel if we are loving and kind, we will be sorely discouraged very quickly into that endeavor. e. Why is that the case? Well, we will get to that in a moment. But before we do… what should we do since our blameless character gives us opportunities to proclaim the gospel? 3.) [Slide 16] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must be blameless in character to ensure that the gospel is the only thing causing offense. a. Why do we do this? What is the motive of our having blameless character and being loving, meek, and winsome. b. Because this is what our Lord has commanded and demonstrated to us. c. We don't live with blameless character for the result of winning people to Christ. God alone saves. d. Our blameless character is in service to our Lord and merely to eliminate possible stumbling blocks to being heard. e. We will still be blamed for much and accused falsely. But when we live as blameless people, eventually the world will have to recognize that it is our message itself that is offensive, and not our methods. f. Friends, when the world hates us for our message – we are doing something right… not wrong. g. But if we offend them before we are even able to speak the message, this will not do. h. We must be above reproach and ensure that the only reason someone will not listen to what we have to say, is because of what we are saying. i. But what comfort can we find in this? 4.) [Slide 17] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” Knowing that we will cause offense to sinners even with a meek and blameless presentation of the gospel, gives us more realistic expectations of how we will be received. a. Many people never or rarely share the gospel with others because they are afraid that they will be rejected. b. They are terrified that the person will oppose the gospel message and raise many objections that they are not equipped to answer. c. They are frozen by the very real possibility that they will be despised because they affirm the truth of the Word of God. d. How comforting to know… that you will be rejected, you will be objected to, and you will be despised. e. Wait a minute, that doesn't seem comforting. f. Oh but it is. g. Knowing that something may happen can freeze us completely. Knowing that something will happen removes the fear of the unknown. h. When we know that we will be rejected, despised, and objected to, merely because of the things we say – we can put aside the fear of what might be, and trust the Lord for what will be and obey Him anyway. i. It removes the doubt and uncertainty and allows us to depend on our Lord to sustain us. j. But why is our blameless character not enough to convince people to receive the gospel? 5.) [Slide 18] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” The gospel is good news that no one wants until they know and believe the bad news. a. The gospel teaches all men that they are sinners by nature and subject to the judgment of a Holy God who is a Just Judge and will ensure that every single sin against Him is paid in full. b. This is the first word of the gospel. And generally speaking, men do not like anyone telling them that what they love and cherish is worthy of judgment and death. c. The Roman Jews had heard from various parts of the Roman Empire that the Nazarene sect had been causing problems. d. In reality, it was the rejection of the good news of their own Messiah that had stirred them up. e. Because the gospel confronts mankind with their wickedness and declares that the things they love are an abomination to God who is holy – many never make it beyond the bad news of the gospel. f. But even if they do somewhat believe that this is true, the good news is that Jesus has come as their substitute to free them from sin and to righteousness. g. That also is news that natural man has no interest to hear. h. If mankind loves their sin – they certainly don't want anyone freeing them from it to live differently. i. The gospel is good news to those who believe that they are condemned by a Holy God and desire mercy to be forgiven and grace to be made new. j. To everyone else… it is detestable. k. So, my friends, here is a question to consider – is the message that Jesus Christ was made sin so that you might become the righteousness of God – is that good news? l. If it is and for the first time you see it that way… I'd invite you to talk to an Elder and we can show you how you can become the righteousness of God. [Slide 19 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the English Reformer Myles Coverdale who assisted William Tyndale and many others in translating the bible into English. God of mercy, help us to cling to you and follow your commands. Tame our bodies in honest labor, so we escape the pull of bad habits. Draw our hearts always upward, so we set aside all worldly things and focus only on you. Gracious Father, give us faithful fishers, true and careful in their calling. With the net of your holy word, may they draw us out of the raging sea, so that we with them, and they with us, may enjoy the everlasting banquet. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Benediction: May your days be like the inscribed cooking pots in the Lord's House, setting them apart as HOLINESS TO THE LORD. As God Himself sanctifies you completely so that your spirit, soul and body be preserved without blame until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Title: Good News Reviled Text: Acts 28:17-22 FCF: We often struggle making the gospel the only offender of the world. Prop: Because the gospel offends sinful men and our character can hinder the gospel call, we must be blameless in our character. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 28. In a moment we will read starting from verse 17 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. By the hospitality and brotherly love provided to him by fellow followers of Christ, Paul has made it safely to Rome. He has been set up with a rented room and is under house arrest being guarded by a Roman soldier. Still, he is afforded a good deal of freedom, and today we will see that he really doesn't waste a lot of time before he sets out to work in the city of Rome. But where will Paul begin the ministry in Rome while he waits to see Caesar? Let's find out. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Oh Heavenly Father, we come to you today with hearts that desire that the whole world hears the good news of Your Son and His sacrifice for His people. We know that no man is without excuse having all the signs of nature around them. Yet we desire to share with them the hope of Christ crucified for sinners. We confess and know that you alone save the hearts of men. We cannot be persuasive enough to convince men to believe. You must give them a new heart to first. Still, we desire to be Your servants in delivering this call to the nations. At times we can live in ways that keep us from doing this. May we be shown by Your Spirit today, Lord, how we can live blamelessly so that we can be granted an audience with those who need to hear. We pray this in Jesus' name… Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] Richard Own Roberts: “The nature of the gospel is that it divides.” Charles Coleson: “The gospel is good news. But Jesus never said it was easy news.” Oswald Chambers: “There is nothing attractive about the gospel to the natural man; the only man who finds the gospel attractive is the man who is convicted of sin.” Since the gospel is this way… we must be sure that we don't provide even more reasons for natural man to turn aside from the gospel. May our offense be from the gospel alone and nothing else. Let me show you how this was Paul's concern… I.) Violating laws of government or using the legal system for vengeance harms the church's gospel witness, so we must be blameless in our character. a. [Slide 3] 17 - And it happened that after three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, i. So, Paul spends a little time settling in, no doubt getting accustomed to his new living arrangement and getting some specifics of what he can and cannot do. ii. It seems as though he is sequestered to his home and if he is permitted to go out, it would only be for essentials. iii. All the interactions we see in the book of Acts are when people come to Paul. iv. Because of Paul's love for his fellow Jews, and as was his custom in every new city he arrived in, if there were Jews present, he took the gospel to the Jews first. v. Normally he would go to the synagogue, where he would find the leading Jews of the city. However, because he cannot leave his home, he found it necessary to call them to him. vi. It is necessary for us to do a bit of historical background to fill out some of the context for this last segment of the book of Acts. 1. First, in regard to the Jews in Rome. a. In AD 48, Emperor Claudius responded to growing tensions in Rome between Jews and Jewish Christians by expelling all the Jews from Rome. b. When Paul entered Corinth for the first time on his second missionary journey, he met Aquila and Pricilla there. They were said to have been Jewish Christians who were expelled from Rome due to Claudius' edict. c. Before the expulsion there were probably around 40-50 thousand Jews living in Rome. d. Emperor Claudius died in AD 54 but Nero did not reinstate this edict. e. So, for the last 6 years or so, Jews had been steadily making their way back. f. It is estimated that there were around 20,000 Jews living in Rome at this time. g. Because of the recent expulsion though, history seems to indicate that the returning Jews tried to maintain a low profile within the city of Rome. There were at least 5 synagogues but they did not seem to be highly organized and the social status of the Jews living in Rome seemed to be rather low class and probably largely illiterate. h. Nevertheless, The Jews' influence over the Romans was not insignificant. Indeed, many high-profile Romans had converted to Judaism, which would have been quite scandalous for pagans to go from polytheism to monotheism. i. It is believed that Nero's second wife, which he would have been married to at the time of Paul's arrival in Rome, was at very least a Jewish sympathizer if not Jewess herself. 2. We also know that a thriving Christian community exists within the city of Rome. a. We glean this not only from the church existing in Rome for many years but also because of Paul's letter to the Romans indicating a thriving church albeit somewhat theologically imprecise. b. Luke has already shown us the interaction Paul had with some Christians from Rome as he made his way to the city. c. But Luke chooses not to focus on Paul's interaction with the church once he arrives. Instead, he focuses on Paul's desire to go to the Jew first with the gospel message. d. Luke does this in order to show yet another major theme in the book of Acts. Christianity is not a new religion. And no one thought so. Not even the Jews in Rome. More on that in a bit. b. [Slide 4] and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. i. Paul, wisely, tries to get ahead of the issue for which he has been sent to Rome. ii. In a sense, Paul is trying to put a truthful spin on the events that have led him here because he knows that those who have opposed him have not been the kind to value or always tell the truth. iii. So, what does he say? iv. He says first, that he has been a good Jew. He has not done anything against the Jewish people nor has he done anything against the customs of their fathers. v. Is this true? 1. We know that Paul has overtly violated the somewhat cultural law not to eat with gentiles. We also guess that he has himself violated the dietary laws while with Gentiles. 2. He has even advocated in some of his letters that the eating of meat offered to idols is not necessarily or inherently sinful so long it does not cause others to violate their conscience and so long as it is not consumed at the worship feasts for these idols. 3. Again, this goes back to what God has said about the dietary laws in the first place in Acts chapter 10. It is not that these laws are no longer in force. It is that God has purified the unclean animals. Therefore, the list of animals which are unclean is populated by exactly zero animals. 4. We have recently discussed something similar in foundations. When something ritually unclean interacts with God's presence, the ritually unclean thing is made clean. This is another aspect of Christ fulfilling the law of Moses. Ceremonial aspects of the law are completed, fulfilled. The picture they illustrated now has come to full fruition. 5. God making the unclean animals clean, is a signal that God's Kingdom is invading and permeating the world – whether the world wants it to or not. 6. But despite Paul probably not following dietary laws, we have seen him encourage Timothy to be circumcised. He has made great effort to regularly be in Jerusalem for ritual feasts and celebrations. He has even endured purity rites after having spent large amounts of time in gentile lands with gentile people. And he did this specifically to assuage the fears of Jewish Christians that he was teaching that the Jews should stop following the ceremonial aspects of the law of Moses. He wasn't. 7. And that brings us to what most recently happened in Jerusalem. 8. Did Paul do anything against the law of Moses or against the culture of the Jewish Fathers while he was in Jerusalem this past time? 9. The answer to that question is a resounding… NO. 10. They accused him of bringing gentiles into the temple courts, which is not actually in the law of Moses but would have been a tradition dating back to the late second temple era. 11. And, of course, Paul hadn't brought a gentile into the temple courts. vi. This is what Paul is referencing. He obviously cannot mean that he has never done anything to upset the Jewish sensibilities or cultural mores. Because he has definitely done that. vii. But Paul, in the most recent events in Jerusalem, was innocent of even doing that. viii. In spite of his innocence, they still delivered him to the Romans. ix. It is unclear which Romans he is talking about here, but it matters little because at every stage the same thing happened… c. [Slide 5] 18 - And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death. i. Now when the Sanhedrin examined Paul – they wanted to find cause to put him to death. ii. In the midst of that trial, Paul pivoted the discussion to center on the resurrection of the dead. A matter that is both core to the gospel and highly disputed among the Sanhedrin between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. iii. But in every stage of Roman imprisonment, Luke dutifully records the testimony of each judge-like-figure to be a declaration of Paul's innocence. At least innocence of anything for which he would be executed. iv. This is what Paul recounts. v. No Roman official saw any evidence of a charge which would lead to his execution. vi. Of course, this begs the question… well then how did you get here? d. [Slide 6] 19 - But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. i. This is a very quick summary of what took over 2 years to play out. ii. Festus saw no grounds to hold him on anything Roman, so he attempted to compromise with the Jews to curry their favor, and have the judgment of Paul take place in Jerusalem. iii. Paul had seen this play out before and did not trust Festus to be just in his dealings with him. iv. So, Paul was forced to appeal to Caesar. v. Paul knew it was because of the Jews' insistence that Festus desired to move the trail to Jerusalem. vi. And Paul knew the Jews wanted him dead any way they could because he actually discovered at least one of the two plots to kill him during this time. vii. But Paul assures these Roman Jews that he did not have an accusation against his nation. viii. If a Roman citizen is appealing to Caesar they can do so on a couple of grounds. ix. Either they feel as though the judge has acted unjustly or the ruling is unjust… or that those accusing are doing so unlawfully or with intent to not honor the legal system and harm the prisoner. x. Thus, Paul could bring a countersuit against the Jewish leaders for their sham of a trial. And he would be just to do so. xi. But Paul wants the Roman Jews to know that he did not appeal because he wanted to submit a countersuit. xii. He simply desired to go before Caesar because he did not feel that the justice he deserved would have been granted to him otherwise. e. [Slide 7] 20 - For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.” i. Finally, Paul wants to make it very plain why he is here as a prisoner of Rome appealing to Caesar. ii. What exactly was the beef was between him and the Jews in Judea? iii. It is because of the hope of Israel. He was given over to the Romans because of a theological dispute. iv. Specifically, he took the side of the Pharisees, which insisted that there was a hope for Israel in that there would be a future resurrection of all those who were God's people. An eternal kingdom made up of all those who were true Israel. v. Couched in this, of course, is the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah who was the first born from the dead. vi. This seems to be one of Paul's primary strategies to lead into presenting the gospel to Jews. To speak of this theological issue where he takes an established and very popular position in the debate and then expands it to speak of Jesus. vii. We'll see that he will do just that next week when he meets with the Jews again. f. [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: Luke begins this final segment in the book of Acts centered around some of the key themes he has been developing since the beginning. Indeed, everything in this text this morning is centered on the expansion of the church. In this first point specifically we see Luke zero in on the reason that Paul is here in Rome under house arrest set to appear before Caesar. It is incredibly important for Paul to clarify to the Jews of Rome why he is really in chains. Indeed, in order for Paul to have an audience with them to preach the gospel, he must clear his name from any hint of wrongdoing from the authorities of the Jews and of the Romans. If Paul is to preach the gospel to them, he cannot be viewed as a criminal. And so, Paul sets out to clarify that he is neither in chains for violating the Mosaic law and the customs of the Jews, nor is he in chains because he had committed some crime worthy of death according to Rome, nor does he plan to seek vengeance upon the Jews by filing a countersuit against them. Instead, Paul insists that he is in chains for the sake of the hope of Isarel. He is in chains because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This becomes our primary point of application today. We must be sure that our character is blameless and holy. Not as a replacement for preaching the gospel… but to keep ourselves from setting up unnecessary hindrances to people hearing the gospel. If we are criminals violating laws of men that do not directly contradict God's Word, or we use the legal system to seek vengeance on others, we should expect the gospel witness of the church to be hindered. So, we must live holy and upright lives, only suffering disdain for the sake of the gospel. Transition: [Slide 9(blank)] Being blameless affords us opportunities to give the call of the gospel to unbelievers. Does this mean that if we are blameless they will listen and receive the gospel? Will they even like us or see us as blameless? Let's look at the next two verses as the Roman Jews respond to Paul. II.) Stirring up disputes and social unrest while preaching the gospel cannot be helped, so we must be blameless in our character. a. [Slide 10] 21 - And they said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. i. After Paul explains his side of the story hoping to control the opinion of the Roman Jews, somewhat comically they inform him that this is the first they are hearing about it. ii. In fact, they haven't received any letters from Judea that indicate anything about Paul good or bad. iii. And they certainly haven't seen any brothers from Judea reporting or speaking anything bad about Paul. iv. This is quite comical because it is so anticlimactic. v. Perhaps Paul wasn't laughing. It had been around three years of his life, spent in prisons and shipwrecked, only to find out that the Jews in Judea had not even followed up with the case. vi. Now why might this have been so? vii. The most likely reason is that the Judean Jews had little interest in actually standing before Caesar and attempting to prove that Paul is guilty of a crime worthy of death. 1. If they were having difficulty proving it to local officials, they would certainly have even more difficulty proving it to Nero. 2. Also, this would have required a trip from Judea to Rome in order to accuse the apostle. 3. They were no doubt satisfied that he was no longer in Judea and wouldn't be for the foreseeable future. viii. Another reason they don't pursue it is probably because Festus rules well in the region for the next two years before dying unexpectedly. 1. While Paul travels to and waits in Rome, they enjoyed relative peace and harmony with the local Roman governor. 2. Traveling to Rome and accusing Paul before Nero could have repercussions that may even include Festus being removed from office. 3. They don't want that. ix. This report is also Luke's way as a storyteller to foreshadow the release of Paul after he meets with Nero. 1. It is difficult to know if Luke writes up to the point he knows or if he writes with the shared knowledge that Paul is released and freed to continue his missionary journeys. 2. But since Luke ends his book saying that Paul spent 2 years in Rome preaching without hindrance – it seems like Luke knows the end of the time in Rome, meaning he knows that Paul was released. 3. This would have been a detail that Theophilus was already well aware of. Perhaps because it had happened very recently, and perhaps because Theophilus was part of Roman legal system which acquitted Paul. 4. So, Luke recording this communication between the Roman Jews and Paul is a subtle way to foreshadow that no Jew from Judea is going to show up for Paul's trial. 5. More than likely this means that Paul will stand before Caesar and plead his case, but the trial will probably be very short. 6. Around AD 62 Nero's tutors had died. He loathed dealing with these appeals in the first place and without his tutors insisting that he perform this duty, he was very slow to deal with the backlog of appeals. History records that he rushed through many of these trials. 7. Paul was probably one of them. x. But the Roman Jews, although not knowing anything bad about Paul, are interested in the hope of Israel he spoke of, but not for the reasons we might think. b. [Slide 11] 22 - But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.” i. It is interesting that they understand what Paul says about the hope of Israel. ii. They know that he is a well-known teacher in this sect of Judaism known as “The Nazarene Sect” or “The Way” or “Christianity”. iii. They connect this hope of the resurrection with what the Nazarene sect taught. In many ways, to the Jews, the Nazarene sect would have seemed like an offshoot of the Pharisee party. iv. Learning this it isn't that hard to understand why there would be a Pharisee party within the church like we saw back in Acts 15. v. And once again, Luke reinforces the concept that Christianity is not a new religion. Even the Jews don't see it as a new religion. They see it as a sect of Judaism. Meaning that it is part of their own religion. Of course, the apostles would argue that it is TRUE Judaism and only those who receive Jesus as their Jewish Messiah remain TRUE Jews. But the point is well taken. vi. But why do they wish to know more about this sect? vii. They obviously have some idea of the resurrection being central to its teaching. But the main thing they've heard about it… is that it is causing problems everywhere. viii. And if they were in Rome before Claudius' edict, they would have witnesses this firsthand. ix. And so, we do find out that the Jews around the empire are talking bad about those who followed what Paul taught… not necessarily about him specifically. x. Having set aside the legal concern that he might be executed at this trial, now Paul will get a chance to preach the gospel to the Jews in Rome. xi. We'll see how that goes next week. c. [Slide 12] Summary of the Point: Luke conveys a similar point in verses 21 and 22 as he did in the previous section, only this time from the perspective of the Jews in Rome. They did not know any different of Paul. They had not received letters or any person saying he was a bad person. But they had heard rumblings from all over the empire of the problems that The Nazarene sect had been causing. Having read all of Acts up to this point, we know that they couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, we know that the unbelieving Jews had actually been the cause of all the strife. Primarily because they would not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of this, they stirred up crowds, instigated riots, beat and dragged Christians before judges, and pursued Paul and his team from town to town persecuting them and attempting to prevent them from preaching the gospel. Even if we are blameless, the church will still inevitably cause strife and civil unrest. This is all the more reason for us to ensure that our character remains blameless and that only the gospel offends and not our actions too. Conclusion: So, what have we learned today CBC that corrects and informs our beliefs and shapes and guides our lifestyles. Basics of Faith and Practice: [Slide 13] Today we've seen two truths that flow out of the same thought. The reputation of the church is quite important. When individuals in the church seek out trouble, become lawbreakers themselves, unnecessarily push the boundaries of legality, and/or use the legal system to punish their enemies, this actually hinders the church's ability to share the gospel. And yet, the church's witness to the nations will always cause civil unrest and stir up strife. Why? Because what the church preaches is naturally offensive to the world. So why guard our reputation at all when the message we preach will cause unrest anyway? When it is only the gospel that is offensive it validates and draws attention to its truths and not to us as lawbreakers. So, we must be blameless people. But let me apply this a little more specifically today. 1.) [Slide 14] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that our character can hinder the general call of the gospel. a. Peter and Paul both express in their letters that if you suffer for doing wrong things, there is no reward. You have gotten what you deserve. b. But as Jesus says, if you suffer for my name when you are accused falsely, then you are blessed. c. There is a saying floating around evangelicalism today which says “Preach the gospel and if you must, use words.” d. This represents a tension we must maintain. e. In one sense, the gospel cannot be preached without the Word of God. So, we must use words… always. f. But the point of this saying is well taken and proven by this text. g. The gospel preached without a life lived in blameless character, can severely limit the general call of the gospel. h. The general call is the when the gospel is preached to everyone. This is different than God's effectual call which will be heard by those whom He is drawing to repentance and faith. i. The effectual call is God's job. The General call… is ours. j. And our civilly malevolent behavior can heavily restrict or even eliminate our ability to deliver the general call of the gospel. k. Just as Paul was concerned that the Roman Jews knew that he did nothing to earn the chains he wore, nor did he plan to seek legal vengeance on those who falsely accused him, so too we must concern ourselves with blameless and upright character which becomes the perfect complement to our gospel proclamations. l. At the council of Nicaea, in AD 325 (which incidentally is the most blamed council for all the bad things the Roman Catholic church did. I've heard people say that this is where they decided the books of the bible, this is where they edited the bible to say what they wanted. And many more. But none of that is actually true.) At the real council of Nicaea, and not the one from fantasy, 220 bishops gathered together at the request of Emperor Constantine to define the nature of God and eliminate confusion within the church. m. It is here that Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria brought one of his Elders before the council with whom he could not agree on a particular definition of the divinity of the Son of God. n. Arius argued that Jesus was not fully God and had a beginning, not being eternal. o. He argued so strongly that a bishop known as Nicholas of Myra slapped Arius across the face for his heresy. p. Although never having a history of violence and generally being an example of generosity and giving (yes this is the Nichoas from which the Santa Claus story evolved) Nicholas was immediately stripped of his Bishop status and imprisoned for his actions. He was eventually released and the council did end up condemning Arius' beliefs as heresy, while also clarifying the hypostatic union of Jesus in the writing of the Nicaean Creed q. Still the church universally disapproved of Nicholas' action. r. This serves as a good illustration for us to harmonize this tension. s. I also hate Arianism. And if you are a follower of Christ, you should too. Why? Because Arianism can't save anyone from the judgment of God. t. That's ok, Arianism being declared a heresy means that it has been snuffed out of existence, right? u. No! v. Arianism is still alive and well. w. Modern Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and many more cling to a form of Arianism today. x. But if I were to set out to stamp out Arianism using every means available to me… if I went around slapping Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses, not only would they not listen to my call for them to repent… but other unbelievers would not listen either because of reprehensible behavior. y. Though I preached the gospel to them… pure truth… my actions would cause others to dismiss all that I had to say as something not worth hearing. z. This illustrates the point quite well. aa. Our character can adversely affect whether or not someone is open to hearing the general call of the gospel. bb. This is why Paul went to great lengths to clear his name. cc. But we must not pendulum swing too far here. 2.) [Slide 15] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that the world will accept the gospel if we are loving, kind, and winsome in our proclamation. a. Although poor character can adversely affect whether or not someone hears our gospel proclamation, loving, kind, and winsome character does not guarantee that the world will accept the gospel message. b. All blameless character gives to us is the opportunity to proclaim the gospel. c. It merely gains us an audience. d. If we enter into the ministry of evangelism with the expectation that people will accept the gospel if we are loving and kind, we will be sorely discouraged very quickly into that endeavor. e. Why is that the case? Well, we will get to that in a moment. But before we do… what should we do since our blameless character gives us opportunities to proclaim the gospel? 3.) [Slide 16] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must be blameless in character to ensure that the gospel is the only thing causing offense. a. Why do we do this? What is the motive of our having blameless character and being loving, meek, and winsome. b. Because this is what our Lord has commanded and demonstrated to us. c. We don't live with blameless character for the result of winning people to Christ. God alone saves. d. Our blameless character is in service to our Lord and merely to eliminate possible stumbling blocks to being heard. e. We will still be blamed for much and accused falsely. But when we live as blameless people, eventually the world will have to recognize that it is our message itself that is offensive, and not our methods. f. Friends, when the world hates us for our message – we are doing something right… not wrong. g. But if we offend them before we are even able to speak the message, this will not do. h. We must be above reproach and ensure that the only reason someone will not listen to what we have to say, is because of what we are saying. i. But what comfort can we find in this? 4.) [Slide 17] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” Knowing that we will cause offense to sinners even with a meek and blameless presentation of the gospel, gives us more realistic expectations of how we will be received. a. Many people never or rarely share the gospel with others because they are afraid that they will be rejected. b. They are terrified that the person will oppose the gospel message and raise many objections that they are not equipped to answer. c. They are frozen by the very real possibility that they will be despised because they affirm the truth of the Word of God. d. How comforting to know… that you will be rejected, you will be objected to, and you will be despised. e. Wait a minute, that doesn't seem comforting. f. Oh but it is. g. Knowing that something may happen can freeze us completely. Knowing that something will happen removes the fear of the unknown. h. When we know that we will be rejected, despised, and objected to, merely because of the things we say – we can put aside the fear of what might be, and trust the Lord for what will be and obey Him anyway. i. It removes the doubt and uncertainty and allows us to depend on our Lord to sustain us. j. But why is our blameless character not enough to convince people to receive the gospel? 5.) [Slide 18] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” The gospel is good news that no one wants until they know and believe the bad news. a. The gospel teaches all men that they are sinners by nature and subject to the judgment of a Holy God who is a Just Judge and will ensure that every single sin against Him is paid in full. b. This is the first word of the gospel. And generally speaking, men do not like anyone telling them that what they love and cherish is worthy of judgment and death. c. The Roman Jews had heard from various parts of the Roman Empire that the Nazarene sect had been causing problems. d. In reality, it was the rejection of the good news of their own Messiah that had stirred them up. e. Because the gospel confronts mankind with their wickedness and declares that the things they love are an abomination to God who is holy – many never make it beyond the bad news of the gospel. f. But even if they do somewhat believe that this is true, the good news is that Jesus has come as their substitute to free them from sin and to righteousness. g. That also is news that natural man has no interest to hear. h. If mankind loves their sin – they certainly don't want anyone freeing them from it to live differently. i. The gospel is good news to those who believe that they are condemned by a Holy God and desire mercy to be forgiven and grace to be made new. j. To everyone else… it is detestable. k. So, my friends, here is a question to consider – is the message that Jesus Christ was made sin so that you might become the righteousness of God – is that good news? l. If it is and for the first time you see it that way… I'd invite you to talk to an Elder and we can show you how you can become the righteousness of God. [Slide 19 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the English Reformer Myles Coverdale who assisted William Tyndale and many others in translating the bible into English. God of mercy, help us to cling to you and follow your commands. Tame our bodies in honest labor, so we escape the pull of bad habits. Draw our hearts always upward, so we set aside all worldly things and focus only on you. Gracious Father, give us faithful fishers, true and careful in their calling. With the net of your holy word, may they draw us out of the raging sea, so that we with them, and they with us, may enjoy the everlasting banquet. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Benediction: May your days be like the inscribed cooking pots in the Lord's House, setting them apart as HOLINESS TO THE LORD. As God Himself sanctifies you completely so that your spirit, soul and body be preserved without blame until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Young Judaea alumni in Israel are setting up a network to offer support for those planning to make aliya and also help those already here. The Young Judaea alumni in Isarel are also planning a gathering later this month to reconnect with old friends and meet fellow Judaeans living in Israel. Reporter Arieh O’Sullivan spoke with Aaron Leitner, a Young Judaean alumni, who is on the steering committee helping plan the event.(photo: courtesy) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dos de ellos los localizaron ya anoche y los otros dos han aparecido durante la madrugada. Los trabajos de rescate se han tenido que hacer con mucho cuidado por el estado en el que quedó la estructura. La crónica política estará hoy en le Congreso, donde se producirá la votación del embargo de armas a Israel, ante la duda de qué hará hoy Podemos. Antes hay una sesión de control, en la que está previsto que Feijóo le eche en cara a Sánchez el último informe de la UCO sobre Ábalos. En el exterior, Isarel ha interceptado la nueva flotilla de barcos que había salido esta vez de Italia para intentar romper el bloqueo de Gaza. Iban 150 activistas, de los que siete eran españoles.

En el acuerdo alcanzado con Trump, que incluye 20 puntos, figura la idea de crear un estado palestino una vez haya avanzado el plan de paz. Pero el primer ministro israelí dejó claro que eso no ocurrirá. Este acuerdo no se ha negociado con ningún representante de la Autoridad Palestina ni de Hamás. Ayer el Ministerio del Interior anuló ya oficialmente el contrato para comprar balas a Israel. Con esto el Gobierno retoma sus gestos para intentar aislar a Isarel. Interior asegura que no habrá que pagar las balas, pero sí una compensación si la empresa lo reclama. También devolverá lo anticipado como garantía del contrato: 280.000 euros.

Reading Hosea 4.

La guerra entre Irán e Israel ha desatado un debate polarizado: posiciones extremas que ignoran las sombras de ambos bandos. En este video exploramos cómo estos conflictos no son de buenos contra malos; en todos los rincones hay grises y decisiones que hay que cuestionar.

Personal Revival, Nation Awakening & Generational ReformationWe are currently raising funds for our Sanctuary Building that we are building. If you'd like to partner with us in building a resting place for the presence of the Lord, you can give today at: https://www.victoryfla.com/giveFor all the latest on all things Victory, be sure to check out our website at https://victoryfla.com and follow us on social media.Download our app at: https://victoryfla.com/appFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/victorychurchfla/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victorychurchfla/X: https://twitter.com/victorychurchfl/

Jason explains his stance on Donald Trump and his decisions with Isarel and Iran. He took some heat on socail media for his stance and wants dive deeper into them. Jason also explains recent spats involving Tucker Carlson, Ted Cruz and Elon Musk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crece la preocupación alrededor de las consecuencias que podría enfrentar el país si se involucra en el conflicto entre Irán e Isarel.En otras noticias: Las redadas de migración se intensifican en California. En un operativo en Pico Rivera las autoridades respondieron con bombas de humo a los reclamos de la comunidad.El presidente Trump habló del impacto en el sector agrícola por las redadas de ICE y aseguró que buscará opciones para proteger a algunos trabajadores de 'buena reputación'Por segundo día consecutivo misiles iraníes han impacto ciudades en el norte y sur de Israel.Mas de 200 millones de personas están en alerta por las temperaturas extremadamente altas que impactan desde el centro hasta el este del país. 

El presidente Trump estaría evaluando utilizar fuerza militar para atacar bases nucleares iraníes, en medio del conflicto entre Israel e Irán.Al menos 30 aviones militares estadounidenses se están trasladando a Europa.Quinto día de ataques entre Isarel e Irán y el conflicto se intensifica cada vez más. En otras noticias: Bob Menéndez ya está bajo custodia federal. Así serán las condiciones de su reclusión.El periodista salvadoreño Mario Guevara, quien denunció en redes sociales que las redadas migratorias estaban ocurriendo, podrías ser trasladado a un centro de detención para inmigrantes tras ser detenido.

www.commsolutionsmn.com-The news is starting to come out about how ill Joe Biden was as president. The whole world could see it, even though the media was denying it. Jake Tapper might have released a book now, but where was he while Biden was still in office? We just found out that Joe Biden has prostate cancer and that it has metastacized to the bone. With as bad as it's been, he most likely had cancer for quite a while. So this begs the question: what did the people around him know and when did he know it? This isn't the first time that this has happened. Just like Jill Biden, Edith Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt kept their husbands' medical states hidden from Congress... and America. So who was more at fault- the First Lady, his advisors, or was everyone so busy trying to stay in power that they all hid the truth from us? No one is supposed to wield the President's power except the President of the United States. Who was running our country? We need answers and people need to go to prison. Use the 25th Amendment, if it's warranted, but you can't hide behind a weakened president and use the power for yourself.

This episode is free on Youtube but available here as an audio file only with ads. Listners who listen to the ads, support us financially. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.-FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKMAIN WEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

In the part 2 episode of “racial hierarchy” we examine which group sits at the very top and is evidently responsible for the social and cultural strife experienced by each successive lower group; who sponsors the degradation of “black culture,” or fuels the racial tensions in society as a whole, or tensions of the religious sort; who promotes wholesale war; who promotes cultural degeneracy; who pushes all of this through the sports, entertainment, music (link 2), etc., they disproportionately control; who opposes free speech, self defense, and legal immigration; who has so much influence and control that cities in states like Texas are required by law to give away their tax dollars (Governor's letter) to support this group that they are also legally bound to speak only positively about, or require citizens to sign anti-boycott papers to receive natural disaster money; who lies about their own country to the point of justifying televised slaughter. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.-FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKMAIN WEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Fr. Elias Mary Mills, F.I. served as Rector of the Shrine Church at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lacrosse, Wisconsin from 2016 to 2021. He was ordained in May of 2000.   In Today's Show Did our Lord create the world just for Our Lady? Is it wrong to ask for your guardian angel's name? Is it wrong to ask St. Michael to pay your bills? Why is the Eucharist only given in one form? To fulfil the Sabbatine privilege, can you pray parts of the office instead? Can we ask our deceased father to pray for us? Why did God make original sin inheritable instead of an individual basis? What is your opinion on Fr. Ripperger's book and the controversy? I have had intense dreams about war in Isarel, what should I make of that? Do the wounds of Jesus on the Cross each represent a specific sin of humanity? How far does invincible ignorance go in your favor to acquiring salvation? Visit the show page at thestationofthecross.com/askapriest to listen live, check out the weekly lineup, listen to podcasts of past episodes, watch live video, find show resources, sign up for our mailing list of upcoming shows, and submit your question for Father!

Parents do have favorites. National holidays and celebrity birthdays over the weekend. Isarel news. Eric Adams is meeting with Trump. Trump watches. TikTok. Plus local news and sports.

Demonstrationer i Isarel och vapenvila som kan vara nära. Kulturnytts Björn Jansson intervjuar årets stora guldbaggevinnare. Uppgifter: Musk rekryterar techmiljardärer till Doge ska jobba gratis. Trumps utspel kan leda till bättre relation mellan Danmark och Grönland. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play.

Moçambique: Podemos diz que adesão às manifestações convocadas por Venâncio Mondlane é positiva e faz promessas. Analista desvaloriza aparente fracasso de manifestações, mas destaca relevância de uma organização. Alemanha: Advinham-se desafios e dificuldades depois de se ter desencadeado uma turbulência política.

Welcome to Gospel for the Glory of Jesus, the Soulful Witness of Christ. Come Worship and Praise the Lord with music from Donnie McClurkin, Isarel and New Breed, CeCe Winans and more of your favorite Black Gospel Artists! Kraj 100.9 FM Sunday 7:30AM to 9AM  Listen live on Sunday Mornings

Moçambique: Pertença do símbolo nacional Eduardo Mondlane está em debate acesso. RENAMO pode ter uma missão espinhosa de reconquistar o eleitorado moçambicano. Alemanha: Ascensão da extrema-direita nas eleições estaduais faz tremer coligação governamental.

Angola: Ativistas queixam-se de ameaças por quererem se manifestar contra lei que criminaliza o vandalismo. Guiné-Bissau: Fratura no partido MADEM-G15 pode chegar a tribunal. Cabo Verde: Caso do salário da primeira-dama continua a gerar polémica. EUA afirmam que Israel aceitou uma proposta de cessar-fogo em Gaza.

Mother Miriam Live - July 23, 2024 Explaining the Holy Trinity (continued) Are the blessings that God gave to Isarel still count for the modern state of Isarel? How do I repair my broken family when I was the cause? What is the essence to being Thankful? Can I become a Catholic if I disagree with something in the Catechism? (To be continued) My abusive wife wants to divorce me. What future do I have as a divorced man?

In Amerika wird Israels Premier auf Joe Biden treffen und vor dem Kongress sprechen. Es geht ihm um mehr als nur Unterstützung im Krieg.

EUA: Em pouco tempo Kamala Harris conseguiu angariar revelantes apoios para a corrida às presidenciais. Moçambique: CAD submete recurso no Constitucional e promete mobilizar marcha para protestar contra CNE. No caso da suposta fuga de atletas guineenses em Portugal, surgem os dedos acusadores.

This past week in our Bible study we looked at the First lesson from Amos and the Gospel lesson from Mark. It took some processing to find some good news in these passages. The people of Israel were not listening to God, not measuring up and they were going into exile. Then we hear what happened to John the Baptist after he had been arrested. He was beheaded. Would it have been better for me to have chosen other lessons? People are headed into exile and beheading is pretty gruesome. The other interesting thing in our Gospel lesson is that Jesus doesn't say a word. Mark is finishing a story that he started in his first chapter. We don't always like to hear these stories. Many of you may choose not to read or watch stories like this. Unfortunately, it is reality. How many times do we read about the Israelites going into exile? As human beings we have continued this cycle of connecting with God in Jesus Christ and then human nature takes over and God's definition of mercy and justice begins to fade. From my point of view, I am seeing this continue in our country today. God's mercy and justice is not about the I, but the “we”. The ten commandments are about living in relationship with God and each other. It doesn't mean that individuals are not important, but it does mean that living in community is about making sure our neighbor is taken care of. God's mercy and justice is not about power and control, but about love and respect for all people. In our welcoming statement we specifically name age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, marital status, neurodivergent status, faith background, political leanings, or mental, intellectual or physical ability and these are still places where people are discriminated against in churches, families, workplaces and in the community. I believe God's definition of mercy and justice is for all people regardless of anything in these areas of our lives. There are leaders, companies, foundations and courts who seem to have different ideas than we might on God's understanding of mercy and justice for all people regardless. The fact that we have a welcoming statement that states that we are always working on overcoming these prejudices in our congregation, what are we called to do about it outside our doors? When the voices are becoming stronger to take us backwards, we need to be asking ourselves, what is our voice saying? We have these words in our welcoming statement, what is our action and voice saying to support these claims? Now after reading these lesson today from Amos and Mark, we can easily think that it is easier to stay quiet. We can easily think that it is easier not to rock the boat. Now I don't think by speaking out we would literally be beheaded, but figuratively this could happen. Meridian Pride day is coming up on August 10. There are already negative comments on the township website regarding this. We are having an ecumenical worship service at 11:00 am that day at the pavilion across from the farmer's market. The service will include a lament about LGBTQIA+ people feeling like “other” in churches today. At our planning meeting on Thursday, we decided to request a police presence, just in case. I believe God is setting a plumb line, as we heard about in Amos this morning, in the midst of the turmoil in our country today.  How does Faith Lutheran Church measure up against the plumb line? Amos, shepherd from the southern kingdom, the non-professional prophet has been called by God to the northern kingdom to prophesy. Prophets did not always have good news for the people, they usually were pointing out how God was not happy. In this case Amos was even talking to a different kingdom about how they did not measure up to what God expected. God used the plumb line to point this out. The priest of Bethel, Amaziah, was offended as he was basically being told that he wasn't doing his job. Of course, he ran to King Jeroboam saying that Amos was plotting to get rid of him and he's doing it as an insider. Amaziah told Jeroboam that Amos' words would destroy the country. Amos was telling the people that Jeroboam would be killed, and the people would go into exile. Amos' only come back was that God told him to say these words. As you can imagine, most prophets were not well liked. Not one of the prophets that we read out about in the bible ever became rich or really seemed to have much to live on. It doesn't mean that they starved, but were never popular. God said that this was the last straw for the Israelites, but the good news is that even though they went into exile and eventually came out, God never left them. I don't believe God has ever said that God didn't love the children God created. There are always times that God is not happy with them. Amos stepped out courageously believing that he was doing what God called him to do. God chose Amos a common ordinary shepherd to give this message to the Israel people. Just as God chose John the Baptist. Here was a guy who lived out in the wilderness and in today's world would not fit in very well with church people. God called him to preach repentance and even baptize Jesus. The church leaders didn't like him as in a sense he was saying that they were not getting God's message across to the people. In today's Gospel lesson we see what happened to this prophet John. He was beheaded. How many of us are signing up to be a prophet? Not all of us are called to do what Amos and John were called to do, but in some respect we are called to be God's prophets. Pastors are in a precarious situation as we are called to minister to all people in our congregations even though not everyone may agree on things. What I like to do is ask the questions. I cannot answer them for any of you. So where does this leave us? First of all, the good news is that God was with the Isarel people, God was with Amos, God was with John the Baptist and his followers. God is with each one of us even when some are called to speak the hard words. Since we have stated that we welcome all people, the only way that all can feel welcome is that we stand up to the injustices against all. By having this welcoming statement, we are called to do our best to live up to God's definition of mercy and justice for all. Too often today, it becomes easier to define for ourselves what God's definition of mercy and justice for all people are, depending on what makes us comfortable. As people of God, as followers of Jesus, sometimes we are called to share what we understand God's definition of God's mercy and justice for all is. We will not always be well received. I believe in the coming months, Faith may be called to be speaking the truth as we understand it. Through this time of transition, we are still called to speak God's word of truth and love. Sometimes it may sound different than other churches and groups. We have stated in our welcoming statement what we believe God's kingdom looks like. This means that we are called to speak for those who are experiencing injustices, for those who are not being heard. Even though this may not be easy, God walks with us, and God's spirit will give us the words to be the prophets that we are called to be. Let us pray: God of mercy and injustice, Just as you called Amos and John the Baptist to speak the hard words, sometimes you call us to do it also. It is not something most of us would sign up for. We thank you that even when you call us to do the tough work for you, that you walk beside us and your Spirit will give us the words. We stand ready while holding your hand to be the prophets that you call us to be. Amen

Today we go back over romans 11:26 and how covenant theology is a better alternative to dispensationlism and connects to this passage

Un juez pide anular la condena a muerte de Melissa Lucio.En Chicago sentencian a Clarisa Figueroa a 50 años de prisión.Sindicato de pilotos de American Airlines advierten sobre la seguridad de los aviones.En Houston hallan el cuerpo de Carol Webber con varios impactos de bala.Donald Trump visita una bodega en Harlem.En el caso de Alejandro Mayorkas, envían al senado dos artículos para un posible juicio político.El senador Bob Menéndez declarara contra su propia esposa.Denuncian ola de secuestros masivos de migrantes.Las fuerzas de defensa de Israel realizarán un ejercicio militar.USC le cancela el discurso de graduación a Asna Tabassum.Prueban nuevo tratamiento para el cáncer infantil.La biblioteca del congreso incluye temas de Juan Gabriel y Héctor Lavoe.Escucha de lunes a viernes el ‘Noticiero Univision Edición Nocturna' con Paulina Sodi y Elián Zidán. 

Is the conflict in Israel primarily political, ethnic, religious, economic, or is it something deeper -- a spiritual battle?Join me for today's Daily Word & Prayer as we remember and pray for the hostages.Scripture Used in Today's MessageIsaiah 61:1-3Have you read my book, "Takin' it to Their Turf"?If not, you may request a copy on my website, www.åTomthePreacher.comWe send a copy to anyone who donates to our ministry, but if you can't do so, simply request a copy by sending us an email.Who do you know that needs to hear today's message? Go ahead and forward this to them, along with a prayer that God will use it in their life.To find Tom on Instagram, Facebook, TicTok, and elsewhere, go to linktr.ee/tomthepreacher To support Tom Short Campus Ministries, click herehttps://www.tomthepreacher.com/support************ Do you want to have all your sins forgiven and know God personally? *********Check out my video "The Bridge Diagram" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Kjwrlind8&t=1sCheck out my website, www.TomthePreacher.com, to learn more about my ministry and sign up for my daily email. And make sure to request a copy of my book, Takin' it to Their Turf, when you visit my website.Check out my videos on this channel to learn how to answer tough questions challenging our faith.

Los estafadores se aprovechan de fechas como San Valentin y se valen de inteligencia artificial para crear falsos perfiles y así enamorar y engañar a las personas a través de redes sociales. En otras noticias: El noreste del país sufrió el azote de una nueva tormenta invernal que afecta varios estados con acumulaciones de nieve históricas, temperaturas extremas, cortes de luz, cancelación de vuelos y cierre de vías y escuelas.Se conocen nuevos detalles del tiroteo ocurrido en el metro de Nueva York. La policía está en la búsqueda de al menos cuatro sospechosos.Descubrimos nuevos detalles de la historia de la mujer que desató la balacera en una iglesia cristiana de Houston. El senado aprobó un paquete de ayudas para Ucrania, Isarel y Taiwán. Sin embargo el proyecto tiene importante oposición por parte de los republicanos.Hablamos con Margarito Flores, el responsable de comprometedoras grabaciones que ayudaron a judicializar y condenar al Chapo Guzman. 

The October 7th terrorist attacks and the ensuing escalations have brought international attention back to the decades long Israel-Palestine conflict. Many commentators acknowledge Isarel's right to self-defence, but feel morally conflicted about the increasing number of civilian casualties. In this talk Yaron Brook will highlight the ethical issues involved in the conflict and explain why it might be moraly necessary for Israel to not only see Hamas, but the Palestinian population at large as an enemy.Show is Sponsored by The Ayn Rand Institute https://www.aynrand.org/starthereand Express VPN https://www.expressvpn.com/yaronJoin this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/@YaronBrook/joinLike what you hear? Like, share, and subscribe to stay updated on new videos and help promote the Yaron Brook Show: https://bit.ly/3ztPxTxSupport the Show and become a sponsor: / yaronbrookshow Or make a one-time donation: https://bit.ly/2RZOyJJContinue the discussion by following Yaron on Twitter (https://bit.ly/3iMGl6z) and Facebook (https://bit.ly/3vvWDDC )Want to learn more about Ayn Rand and Objectivism? Visit the Ayn Rand Institute: https://bit.ly/35qoEC3

Tribunal Internacional de Justiça reconhece risco de genocídio na Faixa de Gaza. Ideia de que "ilhas cabo-verdianas não são africanas" é "discutível", diz analista. Aumentam casos de violência doméstica na província do Niassa.

Xavier Vidal-Folch analiza la propuesta de Josep Borrell para acabar con el conflicto entre Isarel y Palestina.

Aumentan los casos de Covid-19 en Estados Unidos debido a la presencia de una nueva variante llamada JN1 altamente contagiosa. Tome estas precauciones durante las festividades. En otras noticias: Los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y Venezuela acordaron la libertad del empresario colombiano Alex Saab en medio de mucha controversia. Así fue recibido en el país sudamericano.Siguen las reacciones frente a la decisión de la Corte Suprema de Colorado, de no permitir  la participación de Donald Trump a las primarias en ese estado.El noreste del país se ha visto afectado por temporales que han causado desbordamiento de ríos, inundaciones y miles de familias damnificadas.Continúa la crisis en la frontera sur debido al récord cada vez mayor de migrantes que intentan cruzar.Suspenden las negociaciones respecto a las ayudas militares a Ucrania e Isarel. 

Un tiroteo en Cincinnati deja un muerto y cinco heridos.Netanyahu descarta un alto al fuego en Gaza mientras Hamas no libere a los rehenes.Catorce familias serán indemnizadas con casi 20 millones de dólares.Biden y políticos latinoamericanos discutieron políticas de manejo de flujos migratorios.Desfile de los Rangers de Texas.El domingo cambia la hora en EEUU.Escucha de lunes a viernes el ‘Noticiero Univision Edición Nocturna' con Maity Interiano y León Krauze.

Influencers viven momentos de terror tras ataques a israel.Israel lanza ataques a gran escala contra Hamas en Gaza.Métodos preventivos para no desarrollar artritisLe explicamos ¿qué es Hamas?Padre y otros peregrinos están atrapados en Israel.Ponte al día con lo mejor de ‘La Edición Digital del Noticiero Univision' con Carolina Sarassa y Borja Voces.

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor CBS Audio Network @Batchelorshow #Turkey: #France: Making peace gestures. Lazar Berman, Times of Isarel. Malcolm Hoenlein @Conf_of_pres @mhoenlein1 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-706229